Hubby is a Poutine Believer 

Thursday, October 14, 2010 -
While in Vancouver, hubs and I came to the realization that we may miss the Monday Night Football game featuring our beloved Packers and our nemesis, da Bears.

Originally from Green Bay, this would make us sad.

But alas, we found a friendly bar, Ceili's Irish Pub, full of football fans (a Colts fans, an obnoxious Bears fan, and another Packers fan...plus others that didn't display loyalty in yelling or t-shirts) and were happy.

We drank some locally brewed Canadian beer (no, Molson was in that mix) and ordered a variety of items to share throughout the evening, including this....poutine.
I learned my potato loving husband had never had poutine.

My heart broke...a little...

A Canadian staple, poutine is an order of fries topped with cheese curds (and the Wisconsin girl in me cheers!) and brown gravy.  Hubs had a "why have I never thought of putting gravy on fries before?" moment before diving into the dish.  It makes sense, I mean we put gravy on mashed potatoes right?  This isn't a crazy dish - just a good one. The fries were seasoned well, the cheese curds were tangy and melted plus the gravy was creamy and piping hot.  Salty all over - perfect football food.

Thank you Ceili's for making hubs a believer.

I also had a cup of their pumpkin soup and it was delish.  No photo was taken - I'm assuming this was because I couldn't help but eat it immediately...it is pumpkin after all - but it was smooth in texture with a swirl of cream on top.  The waitress (who was phenomenal) even dropped off some brown sugar packets because she thought it made the soup better - she was right.  The soup was good, but the sugar bumped up the sweetness factor making it savory and sweet.  Nom.

We also had these...
Since nachos are one of my favorite foods of all time (really, I could be so full but still find room to eat more,) it shouldn't be a surprise that we had to order them.  They were great - crispy chips with chicken, jalapenos, scallions, tomatoes and black olives served with salsa and sour cream.  I noshed my way through despite being full.

Another fun thing about Ceili's - Monday Night Football trivia and Essay contest.  Yup, a bar who encourages you to write after drinking pints.  And I wrote...I wrote about my comparison of B.Favre to an ex-boyfriend.  It's a long story, but let's just say that Ceili's enjoyed it and bought me a round.  Yeats' quote "There are no strangers here, only friends that have not met yet," is the establishments quote.  It is the best quote for this restaurant as we never felt like a tourist.  The service was great and everyone was incredibly friendly - cheers for a great evening!

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Japadog - and I Don't Mean Nala! 

Wednesday, October 13, 2010 -
One of the major excitements for me when I travel is the food.  I love to get recommendations from the locals on the fantastic places, as well as research the big chefs of the city.  So when hubs and I made our way to the west coast, I immediately asked for recommendations via twitter and facebook.  When researching Vancouver specifically, one location was a shout out by many - Japadog.  Honestly, how could you resist a location with a name like that?!  Japanese style hot dogs...let's do this.

As hubs and I pulled into the city and turned onto Robson Street, I could barely contain my excitement when I saw this...
That is correct - across the street from our hotel was the coveted "must try" Japadog.  I couldn't wait to check in so we could go get our lunch!  I asked the concierge what the must try item was, and she told me the terimayo and butter & shoyo shake fries.  I had no idea what either was, but as always, I'm game to try anything.  We crossed our street, got into the line (absolutely there was a line - this is after all a BIG deal in Vancouver - people like Anthony Bourdain go here afterall!) and started to drool while we reviewed the menu.
I stuck with the recommendation of the concierge and ordered the terimayo beef hotdog, while hubby ordered the tonkasu beef.  

Let me tell you, this is probably the best hot dog I've ever had in my life.  

I dove right into this and was extremely happy.  The seaweed gave it an unexpected crispness, while the mayo was a whole different flavor.  I would have never thought of mayo on a hot dog (but why not, people put it on hamburgers, right?), especially a teriyaki flavored mayo.  It gave it a creamy, but slight sweet yet savory flavor.  There was a row of condiments, but it wasn't needed at all.  Hubs tonkasu was a fried pork hot dog slathered in tonkasu sauce and topped with fried cabbage and mayo.  A whole different taste from mine, almost smokey flavor like barbecue.  His was slightly more messy, but just as delicious.  Both were served (or should I say stuffed) into a soft roll to keep the fixings inside.  Happy to report - the roll was not soggy - thank you Japadog.

In addition to the dogs, our combo came with 'shake fries' - essentially fries with some sort of topping.  Going once again with the concierge recommendation, I ordered butter & shoyo fries while hubs ordered aonori.  The butter & shoyo fries were basic - some salt and butter.  I was actually disappointed with them because they were like any fast food restaurant.  But hubbies definitely had that "interest" factor, as his were green seaweed fries.  To me, they tasted almost like a how I would imagine a dill fry to taste.  The fries weren't epic like the dogs, but seemed like a side that just made sense to serve.  I don't think I would recommend the butter & shoyo...just try another if you can.
I've decided to add a little flair to these "reviews" of places we eat...a "who won" type of contest between the ever competitive husband and I.  And by "who won?" I mean who had the better meal.  So in this case, who "won" the best hot dog choice?  Well, I'm calling this one a tie.  They both were good in their own elements. Fries, hubs definitely won that one, but I wouldn't be bragging if I was him! ;)

If you ever make your way to the lovely city of Vancouver, hit up one of the stands or the store that is open (which is where we went.)  Try something off the menu and let me know your thoughts.  Did I mention they have dessert dogs?  I'd love to know how those were...

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