Romer's Burger Bar

Romer's Burger Bar

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Romer's Burger Bar | $$-$$$
(River District & Kitsilano)
8683 Kerr Street, Vancouver
(604) 566-9545
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Claim to Fame 

Gourmet burgers, waterfront view and patio, craft beers.

Plus

Monthly drink and burger specials, all-natural, free-run, or wild sourced burgers, great menu and drink selection, modern and open concept, good atmosphere, friendly staff, quick service.

Minus

Staff a bit inexperienced, fruit flies in the washrooms, unisex (single) washrooms means putting the toilet seats up and down.

Quick Picks

The fresh garlic fries and the chipotle aioli that came with the popcorn shrimp were heavenly. The drinks were light and refreshing, and went well with the food.

Top: View from the front door

Centre L-R: Chorizodor, garlic fries, kick start juice Bottom L-R: View of the patio, view of the kitchen
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Journey down to the river's edge, they said. With that advice in hand, our party of three bounded down the hill to greet the fresh waters of the Fraser River. The friendly staff at Romer's Burger Bar in the River District added our name and phone number to the 30 minute wait-list. I made a quick run to one of the spacious single washroom. I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose at the gross amount of fruit flies flitting by the brightly illuminated mirror.

We made our way out the door and down to the dock overlooking the Fraser River. After taking several pictures of the surrounding scenery, a passerby did his best to capture our smiling faces on the sunny occasion. A few more moments with a meandering beaver in the waters below, and the buzzing phone beckoned our return.

Once seated, the servers were quick to ask us multiple times if we were ready to order. I asked for a Kick Start Power Juice to jump-start my healthy vibes. It arrived promptly. I enjoyed the fresh orange and bee pollen taste. There was little, if any, mango flavour to it.  After perusing the extensive burger selection, we decided to ignore the special weekly burger (paired with a craft beer). I ordered the Chorizodor, while my companions opted for the Man's Man and the Magic Mushroom burgers.

L: Man's Man | Top R: Chorizodor (cilantro topping)
Bottom R: Magic Mushroom
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Our delicately battered popcorn shrimp with chipotle aioli sauce arrived first. The sauce was so good, I decided to save it for the upcoming fresh garlic fries. The portion of shrimp was underwhelming, but the garlic fries made up for this shortcoming. The fries were plentiful, thick-cut, and crispy. They were wonderfully salted and delicious with the garlic.

The burgers arrived next with a nice sheen to the buns. My Chorizodor was quite the handful and prompted me to carefully devour my burger with a knife and fork. The patty sat on some onion, lettuce, and tomato. It was topped with some light cheeses, avocado, sauce, and cilantro. Despite the combination of toppings, my burger was not overly dry or soggy. I enjoyed the balanced tastes and textures of the patty, toppings, and bun. The crispy onion strings on the Man's Man looked delicious, though everything on that plate was gone within five minutes. The Magic Mushroom disappeared slowly. By the end of our time, we regretfully did not have room for dessert. If anyone tries the Famous Drunken Doughnuts or the Warm Chocolate Sticky Toffee Pudding, please tell me how you like them!

Suika Snackbar

Front: Yuzu Shirley Temple (white)
Back: Honey Shirley Temple (yellow)
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Suika Snackbar | $$-$$$
(W. Broadway x Fir)
1626 West Broadway, Vancouver
(604) 730-1678
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Claim to Fame 
Japanese izakaya, mixed drinks, shared tapas, fresh sheet.

Plus
Delicious food, daily specials, good drinks, beautiful decor, natural lighting, open concept, meticulous washrooms, lively staff.

Minus
Overwhelming menu, rushed sentiment, some items over-priced.

Quick Picks
My recommendations go to the "shake" salad, the frozen creme brulees, and the bibimbap. The octopus was tasty as well, but the grilled duck and tuna tartare were a bit lacklustre.

Nothing follows a lazy day at the beach better than a cool drink and fresh grub. On one of the busiest restaurant nights of the year, my friend and I snagged reservations at Suika Snackbar, Kingyo Izakaya's little sister. We packed up at the beach and made our way to Suika for a 5:30 dinner seating. We waited with a throng of eager diners until the host began to shout out names and seat parties. We were politely informed as we sat down that we would need to leave by 7PM. We were handed multiple menus to whet our appetite. The selection was exciting and overwhelming. It seemed that some items were repeated on the different menus, and it was difficult to keep track of our options. We were also given a lunch menu, which was quickly replaced once they realized their mistake. My friend and I each ordered a non-alcoholic beverage, a honey Shirley Temple for her and a yuzu one for me. My drink had a fizzier, citrus taste, while my friend's drink had a natural honey flavour, which she claimed complemented her meal.

Top L-R: Tuna tartare, sashimi "shake" salad
Centre: Matcha frozen brulee
Bottom L-R: Octopus, bibimbap, grilled duck
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We settled on five items, in order to leave room for dessert. We began with a sashimi "shake" salad, followed by grilled duck, fresh octopus slices,* braised beef bibimbap,* and tuna tartare with garlic bread.* As we munched on our items, a server came by to do "last call" for us. We realized we had only about 30 minutes until 7PM and quickly ordered dessert. We attempted to scarf down the rest of our meal and strategically finished the raw items, but still had half the tuna tartare and bibimbap to pack up when our matcha and vanilla* frozen creme brulees arrived. The server picked up our plates and left us our bill. We scarcely paused to admire our desserts before efficiently dividing those between us.

With 5 minutes to go until 7PM, a server stopped by and told us we could stay until 7:30. We both noticeably slowed down, but I continued to feel hurried as new tables sat down around us. My friend and I waited to pay during this turnover period, and each asked for $5 change. The server scrutinized our bill before agreeing. She seemed cross, rather than confused. Our total bill was approximately $55 before tax, and approximately $62 after tax. What are your thoughts on leaving an $8-$10 tip on the amount before tax in our situation?

*Items from special menu, not always available

Fat Dragon Bar-B-Q

Fat Dragon Bar-B-Q

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Fat Dragon Bar-B-Q | $$-$$$
(Downtown Eastside)
556 Powell Street, Vancouver
(604) 558-0880
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Claim to Fame
Southern barbeque dishes with Asian flavours. 

Plus
Daily specials, imaginative menu and drinks, warm and comfortable setting, friendly staff.

Minus
Removed from the downtown core, some items over-priced.

Quick Picks
I highly recommend the smoky sambal long beans and daily drink specials.

This installment of date night involved a single long-stemmed red rose and a trip to the Downtown Eastside.  On a Friday night, Fat Dragon was hardly filled to half-capacity and its dinner rush never materialized. We found free parking in front of the restaurant (after 6PM) and strolled into the newest member of the Campagnolo family. Despite its drab surroundings,  its interior was a pleasant oasis of soft lights and tasteful decor.

Warm lighting

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The varied and innovative menu was easy to navigate. Our first server was very informative. We requested a different table, and did not realize we would be switching servers as well. Our second server was pleasant, but less knowledgeable. We ordered the specials that our first server told us about. I also opted for one of the two non-alcoholic beverages on special, a strawberry ginger beer.  It was a refreshing summer drink and very reminiscent of something that I could not quite put my finger on! The ginger taste was not very apparent, but produced a warm tingle in the back of my mouth. We tried the ribs on special ($13), the green papaya salad ($8), a beef deckle and a squid bao bun ($2.50 each), the thick cut pork belly ($12), along with a side of sambal long beans ($5) and some jasmine rice ($4). Our dishes came out in a different order than I expected. Our green papaya salad came out first and was delicious. It was quickly followed by the pork belly and the ribs, rather than the bite-sized bao buns. We prompted our server for the jasmine rice to accompany our dishes. We dug into the pork belly and ribs. The bao buns arrived, followed by the long beans shortly after.

A tasty mess
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I enjoyed the pork belly, but I did not enjoy the accompanying piece of white bread in balsamic vinegar. Perhaps our server should have explained how these items were meant to complement each other, but I ended up surrendering my piece of somewhat soggy bread to my date. The jasmine rice was also too sticky for my liking. I prefer my ribs to be juicier and meatier, but MM was content to gnaw away at the BBQ ribs. The smokiness in the beef bao bun was more apparent than in the squid bao bun. Both were good, but I found the portions too small to adequately savour each bun's flavours and textures. A word of warning, the menu inaccurately listed the squid bao bun with coriander, rather than cilantro. It was piled on top of the squid and easy to pick out. We decided to skip dessert, though I was delighted to learn that the soft serve ice cream made in-house for the day was Thai basil.