With the constant rise of Yelp reviews, many foodies (including us, the writers of this piece) live in a generation where they would not try a random restaurant on a street without reading them. We care about getting the best food dining/drinking experience. We care about the aesthetics– if a restaurant is “Instagram-worthy”. We care about what others think because who would want to go to a restaurant that is one star, half a star, or has no stars at all? Well, everything is changing for this article.
Setup
We decided to walk down a street, Yaletown in this case, and blindly choose places to eat. It was solely based on the outer appearance of the restaurant, and we even peaked into some restaurants to see what the atmosphere was like. We were not allowed to Google for a yelp review ahead of time or look at maps. No prior judgements.
Kelub – The International Kid’s POV
For both Charlotte and I, it was the first time for us to walk around the Yaletown area. Because of the rain in Raincouver, I was sure that we had a mutual agreement of not wanting to walk a lot in the rain.
Luckily, as soon as we took a right turn from Yaletown SkyTrain station, a beautiful alley welcomed us, and we were both mesmerized by the view. On our way to choosing a place to eat, we definitely did see this or this on the way, but the point of our adventure was (possibly) to find the secret jewel of that area. Luckily for us, we were able to find Yaletown Brewing Company
For me, the menu was definitely overwhelming. I mean, it was just way too hard to decide when you have to choose from this. After a heated debate, I ordered the “Jakarta,” a lamb tossed with sweet peppers, jalapeños, red onions, fresh cilantro, peanuts and sweet Indonesian soy over jasmine rice.
And oh boy, as soon as I tasted the lamb, I was in heaven. With the lamb’s soft, tender texture combined with the beautiful mixture of jasmine rice and the sauce, it simply pleased my taste buds. Especially with the beer we had, the meal was superb.
Charlotte – The Vancouverite’s POV
We didn’t want to go to the mainstream, big chain, restaurants that seemed to haunt us everywhere we turned. Instead, we finally settled on Yaletown Brewing Company for their infamous fresh brewed beer. When we walked in, we instantly felt the buzzing atmosphere. It’s a perfect space for a casual date or weekend hangout.
The menu was very family- friendly, but they incorporated many unique internationally flavoured dishes. I went for a “Backyard Burger”, where the name was exactly what the burger tasted like: a lightly seasoned summer bbq patty, spiced mayonnaise, fresh iceberg lettuce and juicy tomato slices. It tasted like an A&W burger, but with better beef essentially.
A foodie adventure is never complete without dessert. We walked past a cute and modern ice cream shop called Mister that makes ice cream using liquid nitrogen. There were many distinct flavours, but we each settled for “Earl Grey Brulée” and “Oreo chocolate chip” (unfortunately for Kelub, it was way too sweet). Although the shop was very petite and crowded, it ended our journey in the chillest way possible.
End
We hope you’ll enjoy the pictures from our foodie adventure and our different POVs. Because this was a trial run, we didn’t have any expectations of how the night would turn out. Maybe it would have been better if it was a whole day experience, but maybe the unexpected is what makes this adventure worthwhile.
It is about trusting our own instincts again, and not letting public opinions deter us from trying something new. So, what are you waiting for? Turn off those yelp reviews, the yet-to-be-discovered foodie world is waiting for you and your friends.