Old Town Pizza

Where has all the time gone? We can't believe it's already here! This year, my mom decided to take me on a pretty long trip around Asia and I missed majority  of the holiday time with Michael. When I returned Michael quickly whisked me away to Portland to spend what was left of the holiday together.

Old Town Pizza

This time Michael decided to stay at somewhere we have never stayed at before. We came across Old Town Pizza, Michael sounded very excited but  I thought I wasn't feeling pizza...until he said it was a haunted pizzeria? Okay now we're talking. As much interest as I have with the supernatural world, ironically I am actually the biggest wimp and I am afraid of everything, and I stupidly suggested to eat there at night to add a complete the eerie experience.

Ooo a "resident ghost"

Old Town Pizza is located at 226 NW Davis. This is a place the famous Rachel Ray and Jay Leno has dined at. This restaurant also claims it is somewhere you must visit before you die, something that needs to be crossed off the bucket list. When we walked in to the restaurant was quite dark but there was blaring sounds of alternative music. The gentleman that greeted us had a sleeve of tattoos. He said to us the menus are on the side and we order up front when we're ready and we can find a table while we wait for our food.

Nina the ghost's supposed carving

On the menu explains the history of the pizza restaurant, to make a long story short Nina, a sex worker who was pushed down the elevator shaft, and apparently she never left the place. According to the restaurant's history, she - or her ghost - carved her name on the wall at the bottom of the shaft, which now serves as one of the restaurant's walls. The restaurant did not change much from what it was from the 1900's. It used to be a hotel and the pizza order counter is the old check-in counter of the hotel.

Our split flavour pizza

Michael and I ordered a large split pizza on regular dough ($23.95) that we could share. I got the pesto pizza that had spinach, sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella and feta cheese, with pine nuts, and a light pesto sauce. I liked that the sauce and toppings were everywhere even on the crust. At the end of the pizza I liked that the crust wasn't hard and dry. It was soft and fluffy like the rest of the pizza. There was strong taste of the fresh spinach which I really liked because it added a organic touch to it. Of course the mozzarella was amazing but I didn't taste much saltiness from the feta cheese. I was a little disappointed because I didn't get as much crunch from the pine nuts as I hoped on the pizza, I felt a lot of  other strong flavour over powered  and the nuts got lost somewhere in there. I thought the pizza was very tasty overall, the dough was slightly thick and felt a little heavy but that was okay with me because it still consisted a soft texture. 

Michael got the House pizza which is a Portland classic, it consisted pepperoni, salami, mushrooms, olives, and a house sausage. Michael really liked that there was a lot of toppings he thought it was of course filling.  Michael was more interested with the restaurant than the food. Probably because we did have a little bit of a  "haunted experience," Michael's pretty positive it was the ghost but I'm not so sure.

There's a very "old town" feel to the restaurant

Here's how it happened: the restaurant was not that busy with diners that night Michael and I was sipping on our beers with a candle between us. All of a sudden, we both felt a cool rush of air - I felt it brush against my feet and within seconds our candle had blown out. When we looked around all the other candles on the other tables were still lit. Was it her? 

A little spooky for me. So, as much as I enjoyed dining at this haunted pizza joint I think the next time I'll come back in the day time, with a take out order!

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Lickerish

Whip that whip, that Lickerish whip! It was our last Dine Out restaurant and we ended up going to Lickerish located at 903 Davie St. in downtown Vancouver. I always go past this place and I thought it looked like a fancy restaurant. When Michael and I went in, my first thoughts was "did I just end up on Sunset Strip?"

The lounge/restaurant was rather small and felt very cramped since there were only a few seats laid out on the first level. It had a bar appeal to it with sports channel playing in the corner. I did enjoy the funky and colourful pictures of Michael Jackson and Tupac. There was an upstairs to the place as well, with maybe six or small eight tables from what we saw.

Shanghai meatballs

Michael and I were drawn to the restaurant because their Dine Out menu seemed fun, casual, and of course it was part of the $18 menu. I must say I was pretty hungry when I got to Lickerish and I just wanted to order my food. For appetizers, I was contemplating between the Shanghai meatballs, which was dressed with their signature sweet and savoury Shanghai sauce, or the pistachio crusted brie with a crusted baguette with a strawberry butter sauce. Since I already had my eye on something cheesy for my entree, I went with the meatballs and Michael went with the brie and baguette. I thought the meatballs were just slightly dry and I needed more sauce to moisturize the meatball.

Brie and baguette

As for the sauce, I felt that it wasn't anything "signature" about it because it tasted exactly like Hong Kong barbecue pork. Michael also felt the same about the sauce as well. Michael the kind boyfriend he is, let me try the wonderful brie and baguette. I thought the baguette was lightly toasted and was perfect because I hate it when baguettes scratch the roof of my mouth. As for the pistachio crusted brie, I thought the brie tasted fine but a tad on the bland side. The pistachio crust wasn't very crunchy I felt, but the creaminess of the cheese had a really nice pairing surprisingly with the strawberry butter, with the creaminess and sweet tang from the strawberry was a pairing I never thought I would have liked. Michael loved every bite of it.

Mac & cheese

Entrees, as I mentioned earlier, I was saving myself for something cheesy of course it was mac and cheese. I just couldn't resist it, this cheesy dish was made pretty traditionally but there were tomato bits in there. I thought it was very interesting to have a touch of diced tomatoes with the cheesy pasta. It was a nice surprise. The dish was sprinkled with panco and parmesan on top. It was additionally perfect because it was oven baked and made the panco extra crunchy. I feel overall with the mac and cheese, even though there was so much cheese happening, the sauce underneath the baked panco and parmesan was a lighter cheese sauce and wasn't overwhelming at all. I would love to eat this cheesy delight again.

Cajun chicken taco pizza

Michael got the Cajun chicken taco pizza, just like a regular would be there was lettuce tomatoes, sour cream, onions, cheese, with a house made chipotle sauce and chicken. Michael thought the pizza had a nice crunchy crust and that there was plenty of chicken to enjoy. He especially liked dipping the pizza in the sour cream.

Cookies and cream

For dessert, I chose the cookies and cream option. I thought the cookie was very chocolatey and soft like a brownie. It was nice and chewy and it balanced out with the creaminess of the vanilla ice cream. But I did think the cookie was a bit hot, so it actually melted some of the ice cream. They also added whipped cream on the side, that was a nice bonus.

Deep fried Mars Bar

Michael thought the deep fried Mars Bar was a little too sweet for his liking. He didn't expect the ice cream and thought that was a good alternative. He only had a few bites of his Mars Bar though.

Now that I've finally experienced Lickerish, I feel that it doesn't deviate much from the standard bar and lounge food, like a place to drink beer and eat some wings. It would be fun to go when your wanting a good time with your friends, but if your looking for a place to spend a good Valentine's Day with a loved one, this is somewhere I wouldn't want to go.

On a side note, last week I had mentioned that I'm going to another Dine Out with a gal pal, we went to The Fishhouse tucked in the famous Stanley Park. I just had to mention this. The Fishhouse was on the $38 menu, I ordered the halibut with a pomme croquette served on the side. I felt since it is frowned upon for me to talk about my dining experiences that I didn't share with Michael, this pomme croquette needed a good recognition. The fried crunchy on the house and fluffy potatoes on the inside, it wasn't heavily seasoned the chef just let the natural flavours of the potatoes comes through. A toast to that!

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Portland Craft

You know when you're eating on Main Street when they play Postal Service music. Michael and I ate at Portland Craft at 3835 Main St., since we decided to put off a real trip to Oregon - we just had to go to Portland in a different way.

Organic beer

The restaurant has a Portland vibe, I am not sure how I could explain that but it certainly does a give a relaxed-pub kind of feeling. Their drinks is up on a wall that overlooks the restaurant and many of their beers are Oregon classics, I don't have much of a beer knowledge but I certainly think it was pretty cool. Michael got a pale ale, his favourite, and I got an organic beer. How healthy.

Portland Craft's drinks selection

Their menu really gave off the Oregon vibe, many of their selection reminded us of food carts, a Portland specialty, and served tasties like sugar dusted doughnuts. There were so many goodies on the menu, but in the end we decided to just order some appetizers to share together. That way, we get a taste of everything.

Salt n Pepper wings

We shared Salt n Pepper wings ($10) which was served with salt and pepper of course. But we really couldn't taste the pepper and the saltiness was really faint. The wings weren't greasy at all though, which was fabulous. And we got a Caribbean-inspired dipping sauce on the side, but it was so hot it I was reaching for the water the whole time. On the side it came with a slaw made of  carrots with habanero hot sauce. Such a delight to eat, crunchy from the carrots and refreshing from the sauce, making for a sweet and tangy flavour, what a delight to eat on a hot summer day.

House Frites

Next, I was dying to try the House Frites ($6) since it was fries seasoned with smoked paprika with a roasted garlic aioli on the side for dipping. Michaels thoughts were that it tasted a bit too herby. But I felt a little disappointed since I thought they were going to taste super-seasoned from the paprika, but found out that perhaps they could've used a dash more.

Sausage and green tomato pizza

Last, we shared the Daily Pizza ($9) there was a choice between meat or veggie, of course Michael chose meat. I really liked the pizza, the one thing I miss the most from Italy is pizza and I have been searching high and low for pizza that has been close enough to what I ate in Italy. Well let me say Portland Craft almost reached a full 10/10 for me. The pizza was nice and thin, served with sausage and green tomatoes. The sausages tasted really fresh there was a slight crunch noise when I bite in to it and the green tomatoes tasted really sweet. Just a little bit tomato sauce and thicker cheese would've made it perfect.


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Neighbour's Restaurant

We've got another food adventure inspired by John Catucci from You Gotta Eat Here on the Food Network. Michael and I went to Neighbour's Restaurant Pizza and Pasta House with my fabulous aunt, located on 6493 Victoria Drive in Vancouver.

The inside is dimly lit and blooms a cozy feel

I have a childhood friend who lives really close to the restaurant, so if she is reading this I wanted to say hello. When Michael and I walked in to the restaurant it seemed really cozy, like a family style restaurant. I liked that there were pictures of John Catucci around the establishment and on their menu.

The menu at Neighbours is really big, there is so much to choose, from pasta, pizza, a combination, or Greek food. It was such a big menu that the three of us, Michael, my aunt and myself, couldn't decided what we wanted and took a good 15 to 20 minutes to decide what we wanted.

Their most popular dish - baked lasagna

I initially thought I was going to order the pizza because that's what John got, but everything changed when I saw the menu. After a long time deciding our linner (a combination of lunch and dinner), I got the baked lasagna ($14.95) since the menu claimed it's their most popular dish. It tasted a lot more cheesier then an average lasagna, that was a major plus, and the meat sauce with the lasagna wasn't overwhelming, so everything went really well with the combination. I would describe the food as smooth and very flavorful from the gooey cheese and the light taste of the meat.

Chicken Mediterranean Dish

Michael got the Chicken Mediterranean Dish ($15.95), and thought the chicken was nice but it was a little over seasoned and a little salty for his liking. But there were lots of the chicken so that was nice. He said the mushrooms in the chicken was a nice combination as well and that the rice pilaf on the side was very enjoyable - good flavour and mixing well with the chicken. The salad was nice and light, with sprinklings of cheese giving a little creamy taste.

Canadian bacon and pepperoni pizza

My aunt got the Canadian bacon and pepperoni ($19.95) pizza, and was ever so nice to let me try. I thought the pizza was really good, meaty and cheesy, and the pizza overall was light so it didn't feel too overwhelming after finishing. I usually leave the crust behind when I finish a slice, but the Neighbour's crust was light and it was far from being dry.

Overall, Michael and I really liked Neighbour's and we wouldn't mind going back to try some more different selections on the menu. For the price that we paid, the amount of food we were served is outrageous. We left the restaurant really full and we can't wait to go back for more food.

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