On Friday, Karin and I celebrated our 5^th anniversary.  I had planned to write a post in honour of both the occasion and my gorgeous bride, but real life did not allow it thanks to time pressures last week.  I did start one in which I wanted to talk about all the ways Karin is special to me; but I just kept coming back to one thought…

One of my greatest friends had dated the same girl for almost eight years, with the three of us even backpacking Europe together; but after she decided to move on he was suddenly overrun by women who had been admiring him from afar until then.  One day he told me that he had met a girl that planned to go to Ireland in a month just as he was planning, and so they decided to go together.  When he got back, he told me they were engaged.  When I asked how you could date someone for years without proposing and then suddenly choose one girl that he hadn’t dated any longer than other recent pairings he had made, told me that, “When you meet the right one, you just know”.  I didn’t take him seriously at the time, as I had already been in love but had never felt anything like that; but then when I met Karin I “just knew”.  I have been happy ever since, and even years later I smile often whenever I think about that special feeling she invokes in me just as strongly now as back then.

Karin and I will be returning to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for our fifth anniversary, delaying our trip until after hurricane season just as we delayed our honeymoon there.  While many people take vacations regularly, our budget does not allow it and so we began saving for this trip years ago.  We will not be spending an extraordinary amount on the trip itself, but we have also budgeted for a number of new items to take along, most of which I will talk about soon.  Knowing that we have had this planned for a long time, we did not get anniversary presents for each other, and I had told Karin not to buy me a birthday present last month.  Karin’s birthday will be in Mexico.

So what did we do to actually mark the occasion?  We were together.  This might not seem like much, as we do most things together; but I made sure to leave the homework alone and stayed away from blogging so that I could pay even more attention to the most important person in my life.  I came home early from work on Friday and we went to the bluStone restaurant for dinner.  We spent the rest of the weekend just “hanging out”, for if you truly with your perfect match then you will never tire of being with the one you love even if you are not doing anything.

After appetizers downtown at the SIP a few weeks ago, Karin and I headed towards Vancouver General Hospital to find a full meal before her 6:30 appointment for an MRI. We wanted to park nearby and walk if possible to the hospital, and so I pulled into the parking lot of the former Chevy’s restaurant on Broadway at Oak. Chevy’s used to be one of my favorite spots in Vancouver, but when I had attempted to take Karin there previously we had found it had closed. A new establishment has opened in it’s place and we decided to try them.

Upon entering the Rugby Beach Club Grille, I was greeted with a familiar room. The restaurant has been renovated to give it an oceanside feel, but the layout has not been changed, largely I believe because it has always been comfortable and works well. Formerly TVs hung from the ceiling throughout the room so that every table would have a view of the sporting event; these have been removed and the ceiling is now covered with large large bamboo stalks. The large TV covering one wall of the lounge remains, and many people were sitting in the bar area awaiting the Canucks game. The built in tables remained as before, as well as the bar and open kitchen kitchen; with everything having been refinished.

The decor did have me worried a bit, as there was a nautical theme and we are not big fish fans; but we did not have to worry as the menu was extensive. In addition to numerous salads, the appetizer menu had nine seafood items, but then had eight non-seafood items. We started with an appetizer of Ribs, Ribs, Ribs. As the name and picture implies, there is three flavours of ribs in this starter; Mesquite Rye BBQ, Caramelized oy and demerarra sugar, and Cajun dry rub. I think we might have been cheating a bit on Karin’s diet, as vinegar is something she must avoid right now; but a little shouldn’t hurt too much. Each of the ribs was meaty and flavourful, and we gladly licked our fingers afterward. I would definitely try this again, which could be a problem as there were many other tasty items from which to choose.

Looking at the main menu, it seemed that everything was extremely reasonably priced, even priced too low to believe. It took a little to realize the reason; all items on the menu come unaccompanied. If you order a steak, that is all you get on your plate. Vegetables and carbs are ordered separately, and the portions for these sides are enough for two people. As Karin and I are both watching the number of calories we stuff down our gullet, eating out has been a nemesis as almost any plate is almost half carbohydrates. Too top it off, we have had even more trouble eating out as of late due to Karin’s need to avoid the foods to which she is allergic. We had stumbled upon the perfect restaurant for us completely by luck!

Just like the appetizer menu, there were numerous choices when we choose our main course. In addition to the seafood section of the menu, there was a separate sections for shell (shellfish are fine by us, and I think I’ll try the prawns next time), chicken, vegetarian, turf (lamb), steak, ribs and surf & turf. Within each section there is numerous choices. I suspect that the separation of the sides from has allowed a much more extensive range of choices, as the chef did not then feel the need to have a unique starch and vegetable combination with each choice. With such a wide range of choices, you would think we would have had different things, but we were both attracted to the filet mignon, though I had mine with blue cheese topper. Without the sides, each filet cost $11.95! When was the last time you had filet mignon for that price?

Skipping the carbs, we had roasted asparagus with balsamic drizzle. Again, this was a bit of a cheat for Karin due to the vinegar. We had not been steered wrong, there was definitely enough vegetable for the both of us. The portions were just right, but had we not stopped at SIP earlier in the afternoon for an appetizer, we might have had two vegetables dishes, thereby having a filling meal without the starches and still at a very reasonable price.

While the ability to make your own main and side dish choices did fit our dietary needs perfectly, I also liked the idea purely from the point of view of being able to pick what you enjoy eating. Many a time I have been out and have seen something that seemed quite tasty, only to realize that the accompaniments were not something that I would enjoy at all. The Rugby Beach Club would also be the perfect place to go when some have a limited diet and others do not.

As we left, the crowd watching the Canucks game was just beginning to get into the game, and it was only Karin’s appointment that kept me from proposing we stay a while. This will definitely be a stop again in the near future. Overall, I’ll give the Rugby Beach Club Grille a 7.5 out of 10.

For more pictures, click on any of the above and explore the others on our Flickr site.

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I am trying to keep with my commitment to write a bit of a review for each place we go out to eat, and will therefore be writing two different posts regarding our experiences on Tuesday as we stopped for food twice. I’m sure it must not seem like we are not on the budget we claim to be, but Karin and I do avoid going out to eat as much as possible in order to keep the unnecessary expenses low. That is why the attentive reader will have noticed that most of our dining out is in Vancouver despite the fact that we live in Abbotsford; we normally eat out only due to circumstances, such as being in Vancouver for appointments. The other main reason we will eat out is if Karin’s son Colby is visiting from Kamloops, but in either case expect our reviews to be of reasonably priced establishments. Fancy dinners out would require quite the special occasion.

Yesterday we were in Vancouver as Karin had an appointment for an MRI of her jaw. I too was supposed to have an appointment at the dental lab, which we had planned for the same day to help the budget, but the lab needs more time and that is rescheduled for Monday. We kept our original plans to depart Abbotsford in the early afternoon, and therefore had several hours in Vancouver before we had to be at the hospital at 6:30.

We had been wanting to try out SIP Resto Lounge downtown Vancouver on Granville Street, but had driven right past it last time. Checking the map ahead of time this trip, we knew that it was directly across the street from the Chateau Granville. It is lucky that we had checked, as it was hard to spot the restaurant without knowing exactly where to look. This area of Granville is one of the few remaining areas downtown that has not seen major renovations, but as the renovations are ongoing a block away and there is now 20 storey condo buildings one street over, SIP was wise to move into this location now. They are still hard to spot between the seedier businesses, but we found it this time and parked nearby.

After picking up some guitar strings for Matthew at Tom Lee Music up the street, we returned and found that SIP was just opening. It is situated in one of the old, narrow buildings in the area; and the necessity of a fire exit at the back leaves no room for a separate kitchen. Instead, the bar that stretches along one wall is half liquor bar and half open kitchen, with bar stools along the entire length. Most of the seating is small, high bar tables with stools around them, save for the tables along the opposite wall that have benches against the wall and bar stools on the opposite side. We asked to be seated in one of those seats so we could both sit on the wall side and check out the rest of the establishment. We were the only customers other than a couple of people sitting at the food bar who may have been regulars or may have been staff yet to come on duty. The bartender was bringing in and sorting the week’s liquor order through the back door.

One of SIP’s main attractions is that everything on the menu is cooked with liquor. The Casa salad’s dressing is made with Finlandia Lime Vodka, the filet mignon is marinated in Jack Daniel’s, and you can finish with a Mocha Bailey’s Crème Brulle. We checked out the menu, and decided to start with two Grilled Satays and the “World’s Best Crab Cakes”. The satays are each a single skewer, and so they only cost between $2.25 and $3.50 each. We tried a chicken tender seasoned with garlic, chardonnay and jalapeno peanut dip and a beef tenderloin flavoured with jack daniels and tarragon garlic aioli. Both tasted good, though I think they would have been even better with a beer, but due to the time and our plans we both were drinking Diet Pepsi. I did notice that in an empty restaurant, people do notice more when you take pictures of your food.

The crab cakes were much better than anything I’ve managed to make at home. They were small, but still held their shape when bit in half. The tops and bottoms had been perfectly grilled, offering a crispy exterior while the interior was a tasty blend of crab, shrimp, garlic and Grey Goose L’Orange sauce. I could have eaten this entire appetizer myself.

As we were the only patrons save the people at the bar that clearly knew the staff, we could not judge the atmosphere very well. It also did not help that this lounge themed restaurant had bright sunshine shining in the front windows; it did not fit with the decor. Opening time was not the best time for a first visit to a new restaurant, but we did experience enough to tell that there is great potential for SIP to be an enjoyable place to eat, drink and observe. We therefore decided to not have our main meal here, instead we will come back when we are downtown for an evening and enjoy a full meal while people watching.

Overall, I give SIP Resto Lounge a 7 out of 10, but will revise that after a visit for a full meal.

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Last week Karin and I were in town for my dental implants color matching and we had noticed when driving by that the restaurant on the ground floor level of the tower beside the library seemed to have been replaced with a pub. So Wednesday night, when my dad and I had parked under the new pub on our way to the Canucks vs Predators game, it did not take too much arm twisting to convince my dad to try it.

The Library Square Public House is in the ground floor of the small tower in the northeast corner of the block, directly across the street from the main post office. It is a large bar that is simply decorated but comfortable. It was quite packed, both with people on their way to the game, those planning to watch it at the bar, and “suits” having an after work drink before heading home. Because of the crowd, we could not get a seat, but rather ended up standing at the DJ’s area between the bar and kitchen. Despite the crowd, the beer was nice and cold and a waitress was attentive of us throughout our stay. This was pleasant, as I am used to establishments with half the crowd not being able to keep the beer cold due to the pace they are pouring it and not being able to get timely service.

Due to traffic on the way to the game, we did not have the time to find a meal elsewhere as we had originally planned, and so we took up the waitresses offer of menus. We did not have anywhere to place proper meals, so we ordered a plate of chicken wings (it was Wings Wednesday, and a plate of about 20 or more was $5.00) and a order of popcorn shrimp. From our vantage point we could see that the kitchen was very busy, but our food arrived quickly. They set our food out right on top of the plywood cover over the DJ’s sound board, and we ate our fill. The food was quite good, and I will definitely return for a proper meal.

After the Canuck’s win, we stopped again for one beer on our way back to the car. The bar was now less crowded and the DJ was playing tunes. We were able to appreciate the good sound system that pumped out the music, but still allowed you to talk to the person beside you.

I was quite impressed with the Library Square Pub, and now have a new favorite place for the area. An excellent route to a game or concert if one had time would be a stop at both the Kingston Taphouse and Library Square.

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