Affordable Dining Adventures for the Untourist in Vancouver

When you come to Vancouver on your Canada vacation a highlight will be sampling the city’s best restaurants. The problem is that the most well-known of these – usually the ones taking up all the space in your guidebook – can break the bank.





Here are my picks for the best Vancouver restaurants where you can have your cake and eat it too.





Best Summer Seafood: Go Fish! (1505 w. 1st ave, across from Granville Island) is a ramshackle shack on Fisherman’s Wharf serving up the freshest, tastiest seafood of any Vancouver restaurant. Work up an appetite with a stroll along the seawall or a tour of Granville Island before ordering a salmon tacone, beer-battered halibut and chips, or any of the daily specials. Take your fare to a sea-side bench with views of Granville Island and the mountains. This is a fair-weather summertime treat as there is no indoor seating.





Best Gourmet Indian: Rangoli (1488 w. 11th ave) is the sister shop to Vij’s, a well-known Vancouver restaurant often featured in international guidebooks, magazines, and TV shows. Vij’s food is superb, but the restaurant’s fame also means lineups out the door (they don’t take reservations) and a higher price tag. Rangoli, while more modest with decidedly smaller tables, features the same recipes and incredibly inventive cuisine for a fraction of the price.





Best Dessert: For a special night out in the luxury of a fine Vancouver hotel’s gourmet restaurant, you can’t beat the desert buffet at Griffins at Hotel Vancouver (900 W. Georgia). A delicious assortment of as many freshly made pastries, cakes, and chocolate confections as you can eat for only $13 ($8 when accompanied by a meal).





Best Asian: Guu (838 Thurlow St) is not for the faint-of-heart. A Japanese BBQ chain serving up unique cooked small plates (or tapas) to Japanese exchange students and locals in the know. This is not the place to go for generic yakisoba or California rolls, but a great, loud place to try something new.





Wherever you choose to dine, be sure to choose something a little different. Vancouver has some of the best restaurants in the world, in every type of cuisine you can imagine.





Learn more about travel possibilities in Vancouver and beyond with Fresh Tracks Travel (http://www.freshtracks.com).

Affordable Dining Adventures for the Untourist in Vancouver

When you come to Vancouver on your Canada vacation a highlight will be sampling the city’s best restaurants. The problem is that the most well-known of these – usually the ones taking up all the space in your guidebook – can break the bank.





Here are my picks for the best Vancouver restaurants where you can have your cake and eat it too.





Best Summer Seafood: Go Fish! (1505 w. 1st ave, across from Granville Island) is a ramshackle shack on Fisherman’s Wharf serving up the freshest, tastiest seafood of any Vancouver restaurant. Work up an appetite with a stroll along the seawall or a tour of Granville Island before ordering a salmon tacone, beer-battered halibut and chips, or any of the daily specials. Take your fare to a sea-side bench with views of Granville Island and the mountains. This is a fair-weather summertime treat as there is no indoor seating.





Best Gourmet Indian: Rangoli (1488 w. 11th ave) is the sister shop to Vij’s, a well-known Vancouver restaurant often featured in international guidebooks, magazines, and TV shows. Vij’s food is superb, but the restaurant’s fame also means lineups out the door (they don’t take reservations) and a higher price tag. Rangoli, while more modest with decidedly smaller tables, features the same recipes and incredibly inventive cuisine for a fraction of the price.





Best Dessert: For a special night out in the luxury of a fine Vancouver hotel’s gourmet restaurant, you can’t beat the desert buffet at Griffins at Hotel Vancouver (900 W. Georgia). A delicious assortment of as many freshly made pastries, cakes, and chocolate confections as you can eat for only $13 ($8 when accompanied by a meal).





Best Asian: Guu (838 Thurlow St) is not for the faint-of-heart. A Japanese BBQ chain serving up unique cooked small plates (or tapas) to Japanese exchange students and locals in the know. This is not the place to go for generic yakisoba or California rolls, but a great, loud place to try something new.





Wherever you choose to dine, be sure to choose something a little different. Vancouver has some of the best restaurants in the world, in every type of cuisine you can imagine.





Learn more about travel possibilities in Vancouver and beyond with Fresh Tracks Travel (http://www.freshtracks.com).

Affordable Dining Adventures for the Untourist in Vancouver

When you come to Vancouver on your Canada vacation a highlight will be sampling the city’s best restaurants. The problem is that the most well-known of these – usually the ones taking up all the space in your guidebook – can break the bank.





Here are my picks for the best Vancouver restaurants where you can have your cake and eat it too.





Best Summer Seafood: Go Fish! (1505 w. 1st ave, across from Granville Island) is a ramshackle shack on Fisherman’s Wharf serving up the freshest, tastiest seafood of any Vancouver restaurant. Work up an appetite with a stroll along the seawall or a tour of Granville Island before ordering a salmon tacone, beer-battered halibut and chips, or any of the daily specials. Take your fare to a sea-side bench with views of Granville Island and the mountains. This is a fair-weather summertime treat as there is no indoor seating.





Best Gourmet Indian: Rangoli (1488 w. 11th ave) is the sister shop to Vij’s, a well-known Vancouver restaurant often featured in international guidebooks, magazines, and TV shows. Vij’s food is superb, but the restaurant’s fame also means lineups out the door (they don’t take reservations) and a higher price tag. Rangoli, while more modest with decidedly smaller tables, features the same recipes and incredibly inventive cuisine for a fraction of the price.





Best Dessert: For a special night out in the luxury of a fine Vancouver hotel’s gourmet restaurant, you can’t beat the desert buffet at Griffins at Hotel Vancouver (900 W. Georgia). A delicious assortment of as many freshly made pastries, cakes, and chocolate confections as you can eat for only $13 ($8 when accompanied by a meal).





Best Asian: Guu (838 Thurlow St) is not for the faint-of-heart. A Japanese BBQ chain serving up unique cooked small plates (or tapas) to Japanese exchange students and locals in the know. This is not the place to go for generic yakisoba or California rolls, but a great, loud place to try something new.





Wherever you choose to dine, be sure to choose something a little different. Vancouver has some of the best restaurants in the world, in every type of cuisine you can imagine.





Learn more about travel possibilities in Vancouver and beyond with Fresh Tracks Travel (http://www.freshtracks.com).

Sydney's Diverse Fine Dining Options

The broad scope of Sydney's restaurants, pubs and cafes is a mirror reflection of the city's status as a melting pot of cultural diversity. As one pundit put it, the choices are so wide and culturally varied that they read like an atlas. They range from local Australian cuisine to Italian, European, Asian, Japanese, Mediterranean and more.

Foreign visitors who want to sample traditional Australian fare should take a trip to Harry's Café de Wheels for the best meat pies in the city. The so-called bush-tucker, which features original aboriginal cuisine that includes kangaroo meat, is also available in select venues. Although the Australian government allowed restaurants to serve kangaroo meat starting only in 1993, bush-tucker meals have become a must-taste delight among many foreign visitors.

Since Sydney is a harbour city, seafood is a staple of most restaurants and is served exclusively by many of the leading dining places in town, including Fishface and Five Dock Seafoods Cafe. These places - and many others - always provide a fresh supply of barramundi, snapper, mussels, prawns, calamari and octopus, thanks to the nearby Sydney Fish Market. Of course, Sydney's king of seafoods is the popular Doyles Hotel, the oldest seafood restaurant in town. From its beachside location, Doyles also provides a breath-taking view of Watsons Bay.

The best Italian restaurants in Sydney are Gelbison and Mezzaluna, while some of the best pasta in the city can be found at Norton Street in the Leichhardt inner city, which is also known as Little Italy. There is a strong Italian influence on Sydney's fashionable café society as one can glean from the many cafes on Darlinghurst, Potts Point and Bondi Beach. The hippest spots in town also happen to serve the best coffee and these include Bills, Tropicana, Bar Coluzzi and La Buvette.

Aside from Italy, the Euro influence on cuisine is also evident in the very popular French restaurants Bistro Moncur and Sel et Poivre, while foreigners and locals alike regularly patronize such excellent fine dining venues such as the Greek restaurant Mykonos and the Spanish restaurant Capitan Torres. Meanwhile, the most sumptuous Eastern European cuisine can be sampled at Corner 75.

There are several excellent Asian restaurants that serve the best cuisine from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Cambodia and Iran. Among the outstanding Asian restaurants are The Malaya, Chinta Ria, Lebanon & Beyond and Blue Elephant.

If it's Japanese food that your heart desires, the most popular places for sushi, sashimi, noodles, tempura and teriyaki are Sushi Suma, Shimbashi, Dragonfly and Raw Bar.

If your plan is to go restaurant hopping in each district, here's a useful general guide that you can follow:

The suburbs in the West host several Cambodian and Turkish restaurants while the suburbs in the South host Greek and Lebanese restaurants. Suburbs in the north host Indian, African and Japanese restaurants while suburbs in the east host Indonesian and European restaurants.

If you want to enjoy a good view while dining, your best options are The Boathouse, Catalina and The Summit. The best vegetarian restaurants are Govinda's and Harvest. The trendiest culinary enclaves are Bayswater Brasserie Restaurant and Hugo's.

New Dining Options in Orlando

Orlando is a vacation paradise because it combines great attractions, multiple accommodations possibilities and wonderful dining options. On top of all this, each year something new is added. In the field of dining, there are a lot of new restaurants and new sections in the well established eateries. Below is a brief guide to some of the latest culinary developments awaiting this year's visitors to Orlando, Florida.

Bar Louie Tavern & Grill is now open on Sand Lake's "restaurant row." The bar specializes in oversized sandwiches and specially prepared cocktails. In addition it also features a wide selection of appetizers, pastas, entrees as well as a large assortment of beers and wines. This is an award winning restaurant with a warm décor decorated with photography, paneled walls and plasma televisions.

Belly Busters is a brand new comedy club and restaurant located in Winter Park. Comedy shows take place from Thursday to Sunday and the restaurant offers an affordable menu featuring meatloaf, chicken parmiagiana and baked Ziti. The restaurant is open dally from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

The Black Olive is a new restaurant in downtown Orlando (located in the Plaza building). It features a Mediterranean-inspired Italian cuisine. The dishes are simple but elegant and offer the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oils and locally- grown herbs. Cantina Laredo is another new addition to Sand Lake Road's "restaurant road." The gourmet restaurant serves authentic Mexican food featuring daily fish specials, grilled chicken and steaks complimented by special sauces, sauteéd artichoke hearts and roasted red bell peppers. Pizza Fusion is a restaurant chain that specializes in organic pizza.

Their first branch in Central Florida opened up on Orlando's Sand Lake Road. This large 100 seat eatery is the first certified organic restaurant in the Orlando area. Bento Cafe is still another new restaurant on Sand Lake Road. It is modeled after cafes in urban Japan and Taiwan and as its name suggests features bento box rice and noodle bowls along with boba teas. If you are looking for a quick and casual dinner, then try it out. Tommy Bahama Bar and Grill is an existing restaurant with a new feature.

It offers a Sunday "Reggae Brunch" every week from 11 a.m. to 3p.m. Diners get authentic Jamaican food and drinks and can listen to a three-piece reggae band. Ala carte meals average around $12. The Sancturary Diner is located in downtown Orlando's South Eola District. Formerly known as FiFi's Patisserie, the new diner features classic diner foods with low prices and classy surprises.

For example, you can get French toast with brie cheese and wash it down with a root beer float. FiFi's Patisserie in downtown Orlando's South Eola District was transformed into the Sanctuary Diner. The new restaurant serves classic diner comfort foods, with an eclectic twist, at low prices. Menu items include French toast with brie cheese, root beer floats and Kobe-style meatloaf. Sanctuary Diner will be open 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

As you can see there are a number of new dining options waiting for you in Orlando. If you have never been there before then take your pick of the restaurants that attract you most. If you are a regular visitor, then be sure to try some of the new restaurants.

Healthy Choices When Dining Out

Making healthy choices when eating out can be difficult but with a little thought and planning ahead you can maintain your goals!

Chinese restaurants offer a wide variety of broth-based soups, stir-fried specialties (with seafood, tofu, vegetables and lean meat), steamed fish and vegetable dishes, steamed rice, hot mustard sauce, chow mein, and other menu items that you are free to enjoy for low-fat, low-calorie, choices. Dishes to avoid include anything fried, for example spring rolls and fried wontons, most dishes that include duck, egg foo yung, and fried crisp-skin chicken. Fried rice should be replaced by steamed rice. The all-you-can-eat buffet should always be avoided.

Most Japanese food is healthy and low fat. Sushi and sashimi, nori rolls, udon noodles in broth, yakitori and all suitable healthy meals. Just avoid anything fried like tempura.

Thai food is another low-fat and healthy choice. Their hot and spicy soups are satisfying and extremely low in fat. Thai stir-fries are another excellent choice. Avoid dishes that are simmered in coconut - delicious but high in fat.

Indian cuisine offers a number of delicious and healthy, low-fat choices. Chicken, fish, veggies, steamed rice and dhal are included in a healthy menu. Bean soups are delicious and healthy. You can opt for chapatti or roti if you want a bread substitute although you should avoid fried naan bread. Generally, Indian and Thai cuisines are a healthy dining option when you are watching what you eat.

Many of the most fattening dishes are found in Italian restaurants. Fried mozzarella sticks, lasagna, any pasta dish with a cream-based sauce like Alfredo or carbonara and many more have a high fat content and should be avoided. However, you will also find many healthy dishes that will make your mouth water. Thin crust pizza with vegetable toppings, pasta with tomato-based sauces, chicken cacciatore, chicken Marsala, and biscotti are a few items that will keep you at the Italian table without having to give up your commitment to cut calories and watch your fat intake. Salads and soup choices are also something to consider but order your salad without dressing. Avoid most desserts in Italian restaurants - many are cream-based and very rich.

Mexican cuisine need not be avoided just you just because you are choosing to slim your waistline and count calories. Black bean soup, grilled chicken or shrimp dishes, chicken soft tacos, chicken or shrimp fajitas, salsa, and chicken quesadillas are all good healthy choices. You are probably aware of the foods to avoid here: nachos, refried beans, enchiladas, and fried choices such as chimichangas.

Dining out offers many opportunities to try new cuisines and most menus offer healthy food choices. Put some thought into what you order and you won't need to limit your dining out experiences!