Kitanoya Guu - Japanese Bar

What tasty treats are waiting.... One of my favorite restaurants is Kitanoya Guu or better known as Guu on Robson St, in downtown Vancouver. First I need to describe the food, because yes it does sound Japanese but this is far from sushi. This is also far from a bad thing. I am a heavy sushi eater but that is when I turn to Guu for some amazing dishes that are really outstanding. Guu specializes in Izakaya food - various dishes of small portions that are popularly eaten while drinking in Japan. Small dishes of goodness very similar to Tapas style eating but think Japanese. Still interested? Guu on Robson really feels like you are somwhere else and get a great experience just being in the small but very cool decor. It has a friendly warmth to the place and filled with good vibes and a place that I feel friends hang out. This is not your typical no personality restaruant. Screaming orders to the chef as you order, to wooden benches through to good service and great food. Many plates later and always a few good beers and you are well on your way to making a great evening. Recently there have been a few places popping up that are Izakaya style but guu is still my favorite. Maybe it is the fact I first discovered this style of food through a friend at Guu but Guu holds a warm place in my heart. The place is usually pretty packed so expect to wait if you come at peek times but as I keep saying well worth the wait.

Now go and enjoy a good meal with friends :)

Main and Funky

Where do you go to find funky local designer clothing or art? If you are at all interested in driving the 5-10 min to get to Main and mid 20's you will be pleasantly surprised but the selection. Hottie and Twigg is a personal favorite with hot local designers, everything from one of a kind hats to dresses, pants the works. My wife shops there but I enjoy just looking at the creative use of fabrics and patterns. If you like off the beaten path this is your place. All along that area, there are several similar shops all caterging to people that like off the beaten path, no GAP here. Not too many shops in Vancouver get New York Times (Travel Section) press for Fashion-forward,relaxed destination - this is in Vancouver right? You Bet. Twigg and Hottie have some of the the best local and Canadian designers featuring work that is outstanding. This is a must stop on a shopping day.

Safari in Vancouver?

Sea Safari why not! Our family decided on an amazing day in Vancouver to get up and rent a boat, something I always recomend for visitors or locals and especially if the weather is nice. There is no better way to see the city than from the outside, waterside. There are many places to rent water crafts, boats, canoes, kyacks, etc. If it is nice, get on the water!

There are several places to rent boats but trust me if you are close to downtown then go to Granville Island and there are a few places. I would encourage you to rent from Bonny Lee Charters, they have the nicest boats and if I dare say, have a smaller chance of breaking down. They also have fishing charters and are really nice folks that run the place. Their boats are always clean and they are closer to the end of the marina than some others.

Not to mention any names, but we rented a boat one beautiful day but the boat was in really rough shape, sure it was cheap but it was also the only place left with boats (another good tip is to reserve ahead if you can, even the night before) only to break down WAY up in Deep Cove. Spent more time on the boat than expected and my wife had the "told you so" look on her face as we slowly ran out of fresh water. This sounds more dramatic than it actually was but it was a great adventure that ended well and is a great story. A boat stopped and towed us to a very small island - right across from Deep Cove Marina - and you can camp on the island. There were tons of canoes and kyacks as people paddled to the island to camp. It was so amazing, we are planning on camping there this summer for sure.

So back to the Safari ... we had 8 people but Sewells Marina only has 17' boats to rent (unless you are going on a guided fishing trip) so our options were 2 boats or go on the Sea Safari which is a largish boat full of seats (see pict) that goes nice and fast but also comes with a guide that has some really great information along the way. Our path was up the right side of the Bay, along the sea to Sky Hyway, stopped every once in a while to see Bald Eagles, Seals and various birds.

Seal island which is easy to locate on a map even if you rent your own boat has more than a few seals. When we went past, there were a ton lying on the beach rocks and a ton more splashing around in the water. Seal island and the surrounding super small islands are protected with some birds that are rare and just amazing. I am not much of a bird person but seeing them from the boat, a good distance from the mainland was really cool and amazing for the kids. From there we went completly around Bowen Island and back to the mouth of Horseshoe Bay with the most spectacular view of the city with Mount Baker in the background. I would highly recomend doing this with your family, my smallest child is almost 4 and she had a blast!

Lighthouse: On the way back the guide past Lighthouse Park, an amazing park that is on the water and massive rocks. We viewed rock climbers, hikers, people having picnics, cliff diving... it is a great park with easy hikes down to the rocky waters. You can stand on the rocks and depending where you are, the views are usually unreal. Some of the trails are a bit steeper than others so I would say it is a bit harder than easy. Great for kids, climbers and people who love panaramic views.

Back in Horseshoe Bay there are a good amount of small shops and places to eat. We were in a tad of a rush and foscued on boating that day but we have been there a few times in the past, it takes about 45min to get there from downtown Vancouver but will depend on the traffic leaving Vancouver at that time.

The bottom line is if it is sunny and warm, getting on the water and enjoying this amazing city is your best bet! Now get out there and enjoy. :)

All About the Food

Vancouver, BC, Canada is more than just a beautiful city that has easy access to the water as well as amazing snow capped mountains that are less than an hour from the city. The city is a true melting pot of culture and you can see that when you start looking for places to eat. When selecting a place to eat I always start at what kind of food I either love or even want to expand and go outside my comfortzone and try something new. I am always amazed at the diverse amount of selection in vancouver, which makes it one of my favorite cities especially to eat. Even though I have favorites I always try new places. My wife and I as well as another couple went out each Friday night with the goal that we would eat a different kind of food each week, we went for months before we actually ran out of types of food from around the world to try.

One of my favorite places is an Indian restaruant called Vij's Restaurant . The food is amazing so on weekends the place is packed but always worth the wait. While you are waiting there are a ton of shops around the corner on Granville St and if you want to just hang outside and wait on the small bench then they will have homemade Chai for you to sip on. And once you try it the storefront next door is all take home, frozen and super good for just at home. Perfect to impress a date at home - Eat in or Take out, Viji's is still after 12 years on my top 10 in Vancouver! Go try it!

There is a great cook book from Vij called Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine and totally worth the purchase. It has easy to follow instructions but it for cooks that are more comfortable in the kitchen or do not mind spending a bit of time to prep. The photography is superb and the detail throughout the book ranks this book an 8/10 for me. A great gift idea for any aspiring chef.