Caramba! - Whistler

Food: * * * * 1/2

Service: * * * * 1/2

While in Whistler we stopped in for lunch. Place was quiet (off-peak lunch hour) and food was solid. Grilled calamari was the best; garlicky and aromatic and came with the most amazing rich dip. Hubbs & I both raved about it. My lamb wrap was good but heavy; roti instead of a tortilla was used as a wrap. Hubbs enjoyed his thin-crust whole-wheat pizza but I thought that was the weakest part of the meal. Overall a great lunch (or dinner) place; we'll be back to check out their dinner menu. Prices aren't cheap; go for something special but not for casual quick dining.

Samba Brazilian Steakhouse Churrascaria

Food: * * 1/2

Service: * * *

Though initially impressed with the sangria (it is very good) and AYCE meat, quality control has really taken a nose-dive here and I was actually *embarrassed* to have brought my family to such a cheap-feeling place. Oversalted meats, a lack of Rodizio variety when dining on weekdays, and a generally campy feel to the whole dining experience. The buffet lacks originality and is all about fillers. Go if you want a lot of red meat, and if you want tasty drinks (love their drink menu). Otherwise, skip it in favour of something worthy of your tastebuds.

El Taco

Excusing the cheesy name, El Taco is probably our second favourite burrito place (after Mucho Burrito in E-town).  Hubbs and I stopped in to grab burritos to go today, after we had gone on a long walk (my DPA-daily physical activity) ;)

Hubbs ordered a seafood burrito while I had the beef one.  The lady behind the counter was very friendly, and informed us that we'd be waiting 5-10 minutes for our food to be made.  Next thing I know, I see said lady having a very animated discussion with the cook lady in the kitchen.  My concern was that our food would take forever.  It didn't but it did definitely take the full 10 minutes.

We enjoyed our giant, one-pound-plus burritos when we got home.  Mine was leaking a bit (owing to a poor wrap job and the fact that this thing was monstrous in size), but it was sure tasty!  I didn't finish my entire burrito, but I did try to eat most of the filling and leave the white flour tortilla.  Hubbs really liked his burrito, which held together far better than mine did.  

At the end of our meal, we came to the conclusion that we liked El Taco much more than most of the other taco places we've tried, but not quite as much as we like Mucho Burrito.  El Taco did beat out Taco del Mar and that U.S. chain, Chipotle, though!  And the cost wasn't bad - we paid about $8 per burrito.

Service: 4 / 5

Food: 4 / 5

Ouisi Bistro - Dine Out Vancouver

Hubbs and I are total lovers of cajun/creole food.  We even loved the stuff at Louisiana Purchase in Edmonton and at the New Orleans restaurants at Disneyland, so our tastes aren't very refined in this food category.

Ouisi Bistro was selected based on their type of food alone.  We were excited to eat there, and we were not disappointed.

When we showed up for our reservation, the place was loud and packed.  The red

-hued walls were covered in paintings of jazz artists of yesteryear, and the atmosphere was bustling and full of life.  We loved it.  We got seated and promptly ordered a drink.  Our server misheard me and brought me a glass of wine when I wanted a fruity cocktail, but because it was so busy I actually didn't send it back.  Hubbs had a spicy Caesar, which I'm convinced is the best Caesar he has ever had; it's certainly the best I've tasted, and I hate clamato juice.

We ordered our food quickly (having studied the DOV menu online in advance), and also ordered an additional serving of corn bread.  The appies were brought out quickly.  Hubbs' crab cakes were flavourful and gently fried, falling apart when you poked it too much.  I loved my chorizo-crusted oyster.  It was perfectly fried and sufficiently rich, but not overly oyster-y or breaded.  

Our server came by shortly after this to ask if we were ready for dessert, which annoyed me slightly given that this was her second mistake of the night.  After informing her that we still needed our entrees and our cornbread, the bread was brought out to us.  I was expecting a warm, moist loaf, but our slices were cold and a bit on the dry side.  It was still hearty and filling, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the bread.  

After a bit of a wait (during which time the restaurant began to quiet down and clear out a

 bit), our entrees were served.  My pork chop was delicious, as was the sweet potato-bacon-pecan hash.  My chop had a nice little bit of fat on the edge (which I love) and wasn't overdone.  The hash was interesting texture-wise, and rich with flavour, but I found it very filling so I didn't finish it.  Hubbs' jambalaya wasn't what I was expecting, but he thoroughly enjoyed his dish and ate every last bit of it off his plate.

We had to wait a bit for our dessert, but we enjoyed the jazz music playing in the backround and didn't feel too badly about the delay.  My pecan pie was yummy, but non-descript, while Hubbs found his bread pudding to be quite delectable.  

Not bad for $28/person, and in the end our server who had messed up 3 times (she forgot to add one of our DOV meals to the bill) by the end of the night, waived the cost of our cornbread.  Not a huge consolation, but given that we loved the atomsphere of Ouisi and thought the food was really good as well, we didn't push it.

We'll definitely be back and we'll be bringing friends.  There are lots of other things on their menu we have yet to try, and we're pretty psyched about giving those dishes a go. :)

Service: 3/5

Food: 4.5/5