After the infamous gold medal hockey game, it became the topic of choice for the following week, and the usual first question after "did you see that goal by crosby???" would be where did you watch the game?? Even though I am an avid hockey fan, going to a pub at 8am or live city did not appeal to me. People I know not only went at that time (or earlier), they proceeded to drink as well. Sorry, drinking was farrrr from what I was thinking about doing on a Sunday morning since I was still recovering from my Saturday night. I ended up waking up WAY late so my friends went off to look for a decent place to sit and watch the game.. They were late as well and ended up finding a spot at Chau, far down robson. As I was hurrying to get there, i saw soo many people standing on streets just watching the tvs, amazing!! I love this spirit. I think I also passed Victor Kraatz but I am horrible with famous people. (One time I saw Pat Quinn and we stared at each other only to have me go back into the car to tell my NON hockey fan friend that pat quinn was right there instead of saying hi to him. God. I think he heard me too).
ANYWAYS, I've been to Chau once before to share a pho bo because we thought the name was funny. We found the price too expensive for a bowl of pho. But just finding a place to sit and watch the game was already good enough for me. We ordered spring rolls as an appy and even though my picture below looks like there's barely any, this is about halfway through the spring rolls (we were hungry), and they were quite nice. I ordered the lemongrass chicken lunch bowl with taro spring rolls, friends had the vegetarian bowl, and the beef stew. I believe food was all around 10-12 dollars.. The food looked really pretty and they were pretty large size lunch bowls. They were decent with I think the only critique being that the beef dish was too salty.. At the end, my friend couldn't eat anymore..
What a STRESSFUL game with honestly the best ending ever. Man, Zach Parise.. He's one of my fave players in the nhl, but WHY.. You sent canada into a temporary moment of depression. It's okay. I am good. After the game we went down and high fived/shouted/waved flags all the way around vancouver (yes I was also prepared to riot). Even though I had a midterm the next day.. Why would a professor be so cruel!
And for all those that say they hate kesler because he supposedly said he "hates" canadians or because he played with so much grit for usa, think about CANADIANS and what WE say about AMERICANS . He just loves his country and wants to bring home the gold just like Crosby, Toews, Luongo, and everyone else does for Canada. But honestly, Kesler and Demitra needs to play the way they did in the olympics for the canucks.. I want another one of these epic games/craziness downtown for the playoffs :)
The game between Slovakia and Canada, I believe I watched this at the Gramercy Grill. Now, one might think why didn't you go to a bar to watch the game. This restaurant is not necessarily a neighbourhood spot for NEITHER my friend nor myself, why? Once again, it's the damn foodie nature in me.. And the exploitation of knowing my friend drives hahaha. So a place where transit is not as accessible and a new place I have never tried? Why not the gramercy grill! We got a seat right in front of the tv, prime spot. Me and my friend had a plan.. We were going to eat appetizer first period, main second, and dessert/drinks third. Funny how everyone around also had the exact same plan. One of the longest dinners I've ever had coming from someone who eats quite fast. During 2nd period we even thought about leaving before if we knew canada was going to win. Phewf glad we didn't.
We ordered the carpaccio to start and it was actually really good. It was flavourful and went really well with the bread they offered. Alas, as much as I wanted to scarf it all down, I had to nibble/eat every 5 minutes. OI VEY. The complimentary bread basket was yummy and also a time staller. I especially liked the corn bread.
The main, I had the spaghetti and meatballs, friend had the duck dish. The spaghetti dish is MASSIVE! WOW. You see, I also have really bad pics for this dinner because I wanted to test out my iphone capabilities as a camera, and I also didn't feel like flash taking pics since I was in the line of sight for everyone watching the game. I am a really secretive foodie taker.. Blink and you'll miss me taking it.. That is, if I don't shake and blur it up Ugh. The meatballs were friggin humongo. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. A lot of people around me ordered this dish so I am guessing it's a popular one. I found it to be just okay. I liked the duck my friend had more, cooked perfectly and very very good.
For dessert, I craved creme brulee and friend had the cheesecake. They were both decent desserts. For the final few minutes, the whole restaurant stopped eating and just started yelling at the tv. Just a tense moment, oh demitra.. It's okay that you almost scored, just score now on the Canucks and stop getting injured :) I like the ambience of the restaurant, definitely a good try if you are in the area.
