Taco Mexico Rico is an interesting spot. It is a busy restaurant, located in a bit of an obscure location near Vancouver Community College and Victory Square park on Pender Street at Hamilton. It has been around a for awhile now, I had previously known this place to be just down the street from it's current location. In a past life this place was known as Mexico Sabroso so if you've been wondering where it moved, now you know.

Inside we found a quiet table in the corner and the EU Cup playing on the screen. There was a wait once at the table and a bit of confusion on our part about what to order but we eventually figured everything out, finally settling on some drinks from an unspecified cola company and some enchiladas and a quesidilla as the main course.

What did we find? This is the place you want to go when you want good spicy food without the window dressing. "Rustic" is a good way of characterizing the place, but "well traveled" might be a better term. I think this place would be great spot at 4am but they keep hours which are pretty much limited to standard business day.

The Topanga Cafe is a little gem on the west side between Point Grey and Kitsilano that should not be missed. The menu is largely made up of Mexican dishes prepared with a Californian flare. The result is a flavourful mix of tastes and some great drinks that will make most anyone relax a little bit as they ease into the weekend.

The food is decent if ramen is your fare and the order will be at your table fast. If you opt for a fried rice and/or curry dish you will also get a kind of miso soup that differs from the norm: a very oniony soup which is very good, it reminds me of a Korean BBQ dish I had in the West End once. Pickled bean sprouts also come with the non-ramen foods on the menu.

Sala Thai's Burrard Street location is a good option for lunch with colleagues, potential clients and even your mom when she comes to town. The prices are reasonable for a casual dining environment that borders on having a formal atmosphere.

There were three of us, so we ordered three appetizers and three noodle dishes. We started with the Tudou Si, a type of shredded potato dish available in pretty much any restaurant in China. It was very well done, with just the right amount of spice and flavor. We then tried the Pea Shoots with Garlic, which were fresh and incredibly tasty. I would go back again just to have them. We also had Guo Tie (fried dumplings) - these were a favorite of mine in China, but the ones at this restaurant had just a little too much ginger for my liking.

More on the main dishes after the jump...

When you are ready for a REAL adventure I would take things a step further and use the handy form to create a sandwich from scratch. To do this you must pick up this piece of paper near the till and check off what sandwich options you are craving. For my selection I chose some turkey, cranberry relish, humus, banana peppers and some greens. Sound gross? It was! I did enjoy it though because I picked everything myself so I had nobody else to blame.

When I think of Vancouver's Gastown I'm often thinking of all the places to get a soup and sandwich at lunch. Today though, I have another pleasure on my mind: the rich and flavourful tastes of Incendio Pizzeria, a well-known haunt for locals and tourists looking to fly under the radar and enjoy some time with friends.

The signature of the Incendio brand is the wood fired brick oven that is used for their home style thin crust pizzas. With all the fresh ingredients kicking around the kitchen this restaurant also features a
wide selection of salads and pasta dishes to keep you coming back when you're not in the mood for a slice.

Our latest attempt to check an item off on the list involved a popular style of Chinese food. My good friend, affectionately referred to as "C-Donk", has resided in Vancouver all his life, but yet surprisingly he's never tried the Chinese cuisine (more like religion) known as dim sum. So taking personal responsibility as a noble member of the Chinese community, I found the perfect restaurant to de-virginize him to the dim sum experience.

And so we ventured over to the "ghetto", East Van, to a somewhat isolated Chinese restaurant with a damn good reputation. Happy Valley Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant (I love Chinese restaurant naming conventions!). It's rated on Dinehere.ca as one of the best dim sum joints in our little corner of the Pacific Rim. This place was little bit off the beaten track, but well worth the journey. It's actually just up the hill and around the corner from the Rupert Skytrain station. It's too bad this place isn't immune to the long queues that plague the other traditional two-dollar dim sum institutions that we also frequent - you'll still need to line up after 10 a.m. on weekends if you haven't made reservations.

You will be pleased to know that the sushi is topped up with some veggies that add to the character of the rolls you order. Spicy rolls (shown here) get even spicier with a bit of onion and other fixings. It makes me feel like I'm getting a balanced diet even if I do not order any vegetarian rolls.

Until recently I had never given that bit of my childhood a second thought, that is, until I discovered sandwiches at Capers Community Market. Yes folks, it is on Robson (depending on the location you choose) but Capers is a worthwhile trip in certain situations.

Back when I worked in Gastown my office fell in love with a café with an unusual name: Bambo. If you're worried that you might call it "bamboo" like we did at first, fret no more: we have unofficially renamed the restaurant to "sandwich heaven" by popular consensus.

Bambo serves up sandwiches and coffee with all the fixings. The daily soups are a hearty and healthy option like only mom could make and the salads are consistently good as well.

I have a little secret. Everyone in Vancouver seems to love small portions but every now and then I sneak off to Momo Sushi for what can only be described as the "venti" sized bento box.

My long-time favorite, "Box C", has with it all: miso soup, house salad, at least 4 types of sashimi, tempura, some California roll, rice... should I go on? Yes! Even ebi sonomono is included.