late night with La Belle Patate

Name: La Belle Patate
Address: 1215 Davie Street
Cuisine: fast food, fries, poutine, beer, montreal smoked meat
Price point: budget, combos <$15
Hours: Monday-Sunday 11:00am - late
My experience:
This is probably one of those meal reviews that my parents will just hate that I consumed. Oh well, too late now...If you know me at all, there are a handful of things that I love...
Edamame
sashimi - mainly sockeye
rice
salt
miso soup
trail mix
grilled cheese
mum's soups
mum's cooked apples (essentially apple pie filling)
renee's blue pear dressing and...
fries!
Yep, I have very random tastes but I like what I like. Anyway, this week I signed up last minute to do my tennis instructors course in North Van. Shoulda done this years ago, but oh well, better late than never. I felt the recent desire to connect with my tennis roots again, and network with a community that I once thrived off of...How does this pertain to food?? Well, I have about 6 hours of homework to complete in one day.....that is my last minute punishment. So at about 11pm last night, I needed something to keep me up. I thought about what I was craving, and that cheesey an salty dish of poutine just called my name!
So I dashed up to belle patate for a smoked meat poutine and a coke zero. What I love about this place is the in our face Quebecness....the staff are french, the food is quebec inspired an there is montreal jerseys and memorabilia. So how was my snack??
Oh dear it was worth it!!! I've never had the smoked meat in it before but lord that was fantastic!!! Those salty pieces of meat with the cheese and the gravy, what more could I ask for (I still need to try the breakfast one)?!?!?!?!?
It was a medium, and on special for something like $8.50, but it lasted me through the entire night, and most of the morning as I typed away!
For fries, i usually enjoy Fritz with a Garlic Lovers mayo but I can never park around there, so this was a quicker option.



Reasons to visit: Close to home, tasty, warm, comforting, very friendly service, meme si vous parlez francais!
Reasons not to visit: Not diet friendly, kinda pricey, parking my be hard
Extras: J'aime beaucoup!

lunch @ Sushi Mart

from the website
Name: Sushi Mart
Address: 1668 Robson Street Vancouver BC (robson and bidwell ish)
Cuisine: sushi, beer, some appys (sunomono, goma ae, edamame etc)
Price point: budget, combos <$10
Website: www.sushimart.com
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11:30am-8:00pm (closed Mondays)

My experience:

Living in the West End is spectacular! When I first moved here last year, I lucked out discovering this area of town. I wanted to live downtown, near a beach or two, tennis courts, grocery stores and a good sushi place or two. Oh and a Starbucks but really, that could be anywhere!!
So fast forward to my random move to pretty much the corner of Robson and Denman...need I say more??? Also, since I am still hunting for a consistent day job, I have many free lunches, and I (unlike many) love to dine solo. And since I know very few people in the city, that works out for me ust fine!!!
This particular adventure takes place only a block or so away. Oh Sushi Mart. Next to the new designer ramen place which I have yet to frequent!!! And across from Whole Foods' Capers so I can treat myself to an organic cocoa ball of yummy or carrot cake or something granola like that!!
This is simplicity done well. Young and super friendly Japanese workers who are always happy to see you and converse with you no matter how broken your Japanese is (since my mummy is Japanese, I have a handful of words I can say...it lasts me 5ish minutes).
If you stay, complementary green tea and miso soup is yours, if not, well you just get ridiculously inexpensive and fresh yumminess (I also like to make up words)!! The inside is clean, simple and basic, one long table on one side, less than 20 seats, and the cashier, sushi chefs and menu on the other. They also have a fresh sheet showing what beautiful fishies died recently to fill your tummy.
Being from Alberta, sockeye salmon sashimi was only a dream. Not here!! Oh is it ever good, and way too affordable! I've eaten almost everything on the menu, but have only taken the pictures for this post of Chirachi (I only recently decided to record my culinary experiences). I love love love good sushi rice, fresh sashimi, those marinated mushroom garnishes, daikon, and everything else in this bowl. It's a great size, and the fish are cut nice and plump! The tamago is good too and there is lots of fish roe too, which I love (although they always get stuck in my teeth). No matter! If only there were slices of avocado in this bowl....just because I love them with rice!!
This place can get busy at lunch for those on-the-go-day-job-type people who want a quick lunch so take out is a good option. On a nice day, there is ample scenic people watching spots in the area!! There is online ordering as well, and as an aspiring foodie, restaurants with good websites, and twitter updates on catches of the day, are just "on point"(Guy Fieri reference).
There's not much in the way of warm food, other than miso soup and edamame (which takes a long time) and I always feel guilty for ordering it when I can walk to Homa Market next door and steam some myself.

The Shrimp sunomono is also nice and the plump ebi is just right!!
For rolls, I usually stick to anything with the aforementioned avocado or masago, I'm told the unagi is good too! The combos rock too, lots of sushi for more than reasonable cash, they also have Japanese beer and the usual soda. Hmmmmm what more to say...........love it! Go there now, unless it's Monday because they are closed....like today :(

Reasons to visit: Good value, fresh sushi, friendly service, free miso soup, quick in-and-out dining, party trays to enhance your popularity at your next dinner party, close to my home ;), clean, simple, great for solo dining.
Reasons not to visit: You don't like sushi, craving more warm or fried Japanese food (tempura, teriyaki meats etc.), it's a recession and your kraft dinner is calling your name...
Extras: cute place, love it a lot and frequent it weekly!!

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