Vancouver's Lookout, dinner at Italian Kitchen and dessert at La Casa Gelato, Vancouver

Vancouver's Lookout

Stand-up paddle was the scheduled activity of the day. The nice sunny weather turned gloomy and windy the next day so we had to find last minute activities. We decided to visit Vancouver's lookout since I felt like I needed to do something very touristy. After visiting other various "lookout" destinations like Empire State Building, Space Needle, and Sear's Tower; the best time to visit is right before sunset. After spending a good hour watching the sky turn from purple to orange to black with city lights we were hungry.

Kimbo (our cousin's girlfriend) told us when she entertains people from out of town she brings them to Guu, Italian Kitchen, and Hanako. She warns us to only order the bone marrow and the Kobe meatball dish. Again, Kimbo sternly told us those two dishes are enough to eat including leftovers!

...in one ear and out the other. We need supervision when ordering food, our-overzealous-selves over ordered. A typical downtown restaurant with a large bar area, outdoor seating with sliding doors that leads into the restaurant, and great candle-lit lighting for first dates especially after a few cocktails. We started with the bone marrow and beef tartare appetizer. The dish was substantial because of the richness of the bone marrow fat and chunky beef. However, having had beef tartare in so many variations and different places, Italian Kitchen's version is middle of the road.

Risotto Amuse

Bone Marrow and Beef Tartare

The Kobe meatball in a truffle cream sauce pasta is a very rich dish. The Kobe meatballs are moist, bouncy, and juicy. The alfredo-esque cream sauce hinted with truffle oil is good but too many things happening at once; like when someone is in trendy clothes from head to toe.

Kobe Meatball and Truffle Cream Sauce

In addition to our meal we ordered a side polenta, a little bland and more of a main dish portion. The mushroom pasta was also quite bland and the pasta was cooked a little over al dente. The ratio of mushroom to pasta was generous with enough to go around.

Tagliatelle Funghi

Polenta and Bolognese

Our friendly and sweet server packed our leftovers (we had hungry cousins at home) and we headed to La Casa Gelato for dessert (this was our third visit in a week.) The last time I was in Vancouver was when I was a wee little kid, like 4-5 years old visiting my Grandparents and World Expo. My Grandparents live near La Casa and they took me for ice cream a few times. I don't remember what I had BUT I remember how excited and happy I was to pick my ice cream.

Flash forward so many years later, I visit my Grandparents and get to bring my little cousins to La Casa. They house more than 200 flavors each day and they are as wild as Cheshire Cat's imagination. The really best part is trying out too many flavors until the tongue becomes numb and settling on a safe flavor like chocolate.

Bliss

Actually, I came back three times and indulged in the same flavors: durian jackfruit and guava mango. I don't see these flavor combinations often and it is usually artificially flavored. La Casa does not use artificial flavors and it was clean and sweet. Actually, the best part was visiting my Grandparents and then walking over to La Casa with my cousins and hope they will have the same memories as I did.