Shabusen

Shabusen | 202-755 Burrard St.

I was starving today so I hit up Shabusen. It's an all you can eat (AYCE) sushi joint and if you order correctly, it's not half bad! The tuna nigiri, gyoza & chicken wings are all quite edible. Stay away from the rolls as they are all loaded with mayo. The tempura is also a greasy mess. AYCE is $15 so come hungry! They also do Korean BBQ here but the price goes up a bit if you choose that option.

I should also mention the service here is laughable. They literally drop stuff in front of you and grunt incoherently. It is not the place to go if you feel like being treated nicely!

Tuna nigiri:

India Abroad

India Abroad | 530 Hornby | International Food Court

Whenever I have a hankering for curry, I hit up India Abroad. It's nothing fancy as it's in a food court, but it is pretty damn good. I usually grab the chicken curry and chickpeas. You can order naan if you like but I usually skip it. The naan is good though. It's pretty cheap too. I think it's around 8 bucks for what you see below. Most people tend to order the butter chicken but the chicken curry has a little more heat if that's your thing.

The sandwich joint right beside India Abroad is pretty decent as well. It's actually not a bad food court overall.

Chicken curry and chickpea curry:

Aki

Aki | 1368 W. Pender

I took one for the team today and tried a new place. It wasn't good. Do yourself a favour and take a big pass. The tuna was decent. Everything else was not. Bland miso soup, salmon had weird texture, spicy tuna roll falling apart. They did have a lot of cooked food on the menu so perhaps that is better?

Sushi combo & spicy tuna roll:

Pick & Chews

Pick & Chews | 1055 Dunsmuir | Bentall IV Food Court

Pick & Chews is a fast food stir fry joint. You get to pick all your meat & veggies and then they fry it up for you and serve it on rice. It's not fancy but it fills the gap. Price is based on weight. I usually spend around 10 bucks. As far as food court chow goes, Pick & Chews is quite edible.

Tractor

Tractor | 335 Burrard St.

Tractor is a fairly new joint just down the street from my building. There's one in Kits too. I decided to check it out today & grabbed a kale caesar salad. At $13 the value is not great as I know I'm going to be hungry in an hour! The good news is it was very tasty. The room itself is very modern with plenty of hipster stylings. The clientèle is largely waify looking girls and hipster men. I was surprised to see they are licensed. This is not a drinking crowd and not a place where I'd want to hang out for a beer. It's loud as they have no soft surfaces anywhere. Overall, not a fun room...it feels very cold. Despite this, I will return when I feel like something light & healthy. I'll just make sure it's "to go."

Chicken kale ceasar:

Lions Pub

Lions Pub | 888 W. Cordova

I've hit up the Lions a couple times in the last 2 weeks. I had the beef dip both times. The beef dip is killer here! The food at the Lions has improved a lot over the last few months. There must have been some changes made in the kitchen as things were quite bad in the past. They have a lot of decent beer on tap as well. I like the Driftwood Farmhand. It's also never all that busy here during the rush.

My Toan

My Toan | 200 Burrard St | Waterfront Centre Food Court

My Toan is a new spot that just popped up in the Waterfront Centre Food Court. This is my "home" food court as I work in the building. If I could use one word to describe this food court it would be atrocious. Lunch today was a pile of clumpy luke warm rice, a deep fried spring roll and some chicken on a skewer. The chicken was so dry it was closer to jerky. Oh, there was some salad too. At least the lettuce was crunchy.

As far as Waterfront Centre goes, you're better off at Nature's Fair, Thai Express or Fatburger. Neither of these is particularly appealing either but they beat My Toan. Do not attempt eating at any of the other places in Waterfront Centre as they are guaranteed to cause revulsion.

My half eaten lunch today:

MoMo Sushi

MoMo Sushi | 375 Water St.

MoMo is a very decent little sushi joint in Gastown. Sushi is generally awful downtown so when I don't feel like walking all the way to Miko, I'll hit up MoMo. Be warned, the place is a bit crazy during the rush (12pm-1pm) so it's best to go before or after.

Miso soup, spicy tuna roll and tuna nigiri:

Tableau

Tableau | 1181 Melville St.

I've been meaning to check out Tableau for quite some time so I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch today. The room is beautiful and there's an excellent bar if you happen to be dining solo. I ordered the steak frites ($24). The steak was very slightly overcooked (I ordered medium-rare) but it was delicious. The red wine sauce was particularly awesome. The frites were bang on as well. After a nice glass of wine the damage was a cool $50 after tax and tip. Expensive? Very. Worth it? You bet!

Steak frites:

Brioche

Brioche | 401 W. Cordova

I'm feeling a little under the weather today. It seems my 3 year old has lovingly passed on her head cold to me. Thanks dear! Anyway, today I decided to hit Brioche for some soup. Whenever I feel a bit shitty and need some soup, Brioche is my go to spot. They make lots of other stuff too like sandwiches & pastas. There's always a couple specials as well. They usually have two soups to choose from. I went with the split bean. It was great and just what I needed. It was quite hearty and I found some mushrooms, white beans, and potatoes lurking in the bowl. A large soup comes to $5.50.

Split bean soup:

Joyeaux

Joyeaux | 551 Howe St.

I hit up Joyeaux today. This place tends to get packed so I'd recommend going before or after the 12-1pm rush. Today I had the shrimp wonton noodle soup. It's a safe bet. The broth is not overly salty but there's good depth of flavour. If they use MSG, it wouldn't be much at all. I also enjoy the beef brisket soup here. There's a ton of things on the menu which I have never tried but this place is busy for a reason. The shrimp wonton noodle soup came to $9.40 - excellent value!

Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup:

La Taqueria

La Taqueria |  322 W. Hastings

Any day with tacos is a good day and today was one of em! I had a craving for tacos on Friday but the line up was huge. Luckily for me, today was much quieter. La Taqueria is easily one of my favourite lunch spots down town. They have 12 tacos to choose from plus a daily special. I usually go with something of the beef or pork variety but they have excellent fish, chicken & veggie options available. 4 meat tacos will run you $10 all in. I've eaten a lot of street tacos in Puerto Vallarta and these stack up against the best. A must try.

Carne Asada, Pork Special, Carnitas, De Cachete (From top left clockwise):

Rice n Spice

Rice’N Spice | Harbour Centre Food Court

I tried to grab tacos today but the lineups were massive at both La Taqueria and Tacomio. Bummer. I didn't have much time left so I hit up the food court at Harbour Centre for a guilty pleasure of mine. Rice' N Spice has about ten different curries and a bunch of veggie dishes you can choose from but I usually grab a small order of chicken shawarma. They put butter chicken sauce on the rice and tzatziki and hot sauce on the chicken. It sounds (and looks) quite disgusting but is excellent stuff! The small order with a Coke comes to $10 tax in. Deal.

Small chicken shawarma plate with rice, potatoes & chick peas:

Miko

Miko | 1335 Robson St. |

Miko is not to be confused with Miku. Both are great places for sushi, but very different vibes! Miko is on Robson near Jervis. It's an old school sushi joint and most importantly, Japanese run! It also happens to be my favourite sushi joint in the down town core. Admittedly, I am a hard core sushi snob, so this is high praise indeed.

Miko can get on the pricey side if you start ordering a la carte, but they do have a couple of lunch boxes that are delicious. I normally order the sushi box. I toss the california roll and substitute a spicy tuna roll (+$3) so it comes out to around $17 after tax.

Everything at Miko is awesome. I'm not going to bore you with the details. Just stop reading this and go now. If you like sushi, Miko is the shit.

Sushi box with spicy tuna roll: