The Georgia Straight, a local Vancouver newspaper, writes in their dining guide:

Traditional barbecue in a young, fun, attitude-free environment.

I enjoyed some beer with friends, and also ordered a delicious burger item, the Drunk and Dirty Chicken ($11.99, pictured below) which their menu describes as chicken “grilled with your choice of: teriyaki, cajun, bbq or pesto – topped with cheddar cheese and bacon”. It was reasonably priced, a good sized portion, and mighty delicious.

View Part 1 for another photo.

Drunk and dirty chicken ($11.99) from Dix BBQ and Brewery in Vancouver BC Canada.

My friend and I first ordered the Dragon Roll Sushi ($13.50, pictured below), which looked and tasted amazing. The Dragon Roll was on their special rolls menu (not listed on their web site) and was a creation made with shrimp, tempura, avocado, barbecued eel (unagi), and of course the sushi rice and nori seaweed. It was quite sweet tasting (because of the sauce that the eel is marinated with), and was light and immensely satisfying. I commented to my friend that I could easily eat one of these every day. If only I could afford it!

The Tako Sunomono (a cold salad made with octopus, vermicelli noodles and a sweet and tangy vinegary broth) was $7.50 and was presented very nicely in a large cocktail glass (pictured below). It is one of my favorite appetizers at Japanese restaurants and the Irashai version did not disappoint! I would have liked it to be bigger, but that is just my wishful thinking because it was a decent size for an appetizer after all.

Now comes to the most interesting part of the meal. We were perusing the menu and discovered a very unusual sounding sushi roll item. Unusual I say? Yes! I’ll explain.

In general, for creative dishes that are designed by the chef using a culinary “artistic license”, the name of the dish, if it is somewhat abstract and not a simple description of the ingredients, will relate to the theme of the dish in some way. What this means is, I was curious to see exactly what a Poison Spider Volcano would taste like. No kidding! Would there be an actual spider involved in this sushi, and would this spider have some sort of deadly poison? Also it was very important for me to find out how a volcano would be represented in the form of rice and other sushi-like ingredients on a dinner plate.

The good old poison spider and its friendly volcano home ($16, pictured below) was made with asparagus, soft shell crab, cream cheese, and was sprinkled with cheese. It was baked before serving and then topped with a super spicy miso sauce. Super spicy is an understatement! The powerful spicy sauce reminded me of the Crazy Boy Roll at Mr. Sushi but the Poison Spider Volcano sushi had a much more complex and rich flavor (thanks to the cheese and cream cheese). It was very filling, which is a good thing in my books. My vote: thumbs up, but the sauce was too spicy for my friend.

For dessert we tried their Marscapone Tiramisu ($5.50, also pictured below) which was a generous amount of cool sweet marscapone cheese served in an interesting ceramic tray topped with a layer of dusted cocoa. The cocoa was very fine and powdery. This was a wonderful contrasting dish to calm things down after the spicy spider!

Dragon Roll Sushi from Irashai Grill Japanese Fusion Restaurant in Vancouver BC Canada ($13.50)

Tako Sunomono Salad ($7.50) from Irashai Grill in Vancouver BC Canada.

Poison Spider Volcano Sushi ($16.00) from Irashai Japanese Restaurant in Coal Harbor, downtown Vancouver BC Canada.

Marscarpone Tiramisu dessert ($5.50) from Irashai Grill Japanese fusion restaurant in downtown Vancouver BC Canada.

At Toratatsu the Uno family has created a space that looks like a cozy New York bistro, but with a definite Japanese vibe that they say “would fit downtown Tokyo perfectly.” Chef Kodai Uno, 26, trained at the Pacific Institute of Culinary arts and at French restaurant L’Emotion, and is the youngest in a family of professional chefs. He brings a great deal of creativity and skill to his kitchen, crafting modern Japanese tapas with a fusion twist.

itadakimasu, a reviewer on DineHere.ca writes (click here to read review):

I was getting a little tired of Gyoza King and Hapa (which I both still like) so had to try this place. The decor is cool and comfy. The service friendly (always smiling) and the food was great! familiar dishes like Agedashi Tofu but with a twist (yama imo potato on top with tasty sauce). We also had the daikon salad (those are little fish sprinkled on top) which was so good, had to order a second.

My friends and I were quite hungry so we sampled a lot of delicious dishes (some pictured below).

For an order of chef’s special sashimi ($15.80) we chose the saba (mackerel), scallops, and salmon. The mackerel and scallops were seared with a blow torch right at our table, which made for quite the fiery entertainment!

The crab avocado salad ($8.80) was delicate and light, combining two of my favorite ingredients in a most favorable way.

The Ebi Chili Mayo ($8.00, deep fried prawn with Japanese mayonnaise and hot chili sauces) was gigantic and disappeared in a flash.

The Cheese Tofu ($6.80) looked like a fancy dessert cheese with strawberries, slivered almonds, and a sweet glaze, but tasted like a combination of custard, tofu, and a soft brie cheese. We also tried the Ishiyaki Risotto ($8.30) which was a nice sticky rice mixed with some succulent seafood.

My friends also ordered the Smoke Kissed Duck ($8.80), the Tarako Kimchi Udon ($7.80), and the Sashimi salad ($8.80), which looked amazing but I didn’t get a chance to try them. Hopefully next time!

Sashimi Salad from Toratatsu Japanese restaurant in downtown Vancouver ($8.80)

Crab Avocado salad ($8.80) from Toratatsu Japanese Tapas restaurant in the West End of Vancouver (Denman).

Chef's special Sashimi ($15.80) from Toratatsu in Vancouver (being seared with a blow torch!)

Another shot of the Chef's special sashimi from Toratatsu Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.

Smoke kissed duck ($8.80) from Toratatsu on Denman Street in Vancouver.

Ebi Chili Mayo (deep fried prawn, $8.00) - wonderful!! from Toratatsu Japanese Tapas Bistro in Vancouver

Ishiyaki Seafood Risotto ($8.30) from Toratatsu Japanese Tapas in Vancouver.

Cheese Tofu ($6.80, a nice sweet dessert or appetizer) - with strawberries and slivered almonds. From Toratatsu Japanese restaurant in Vancouver BC Canada.

Digging up on Wikipedia reveals a bit about the history of the Speakeasy:

A speakeasy was an establishment which illegally sold alcoholic beverages during the period of United States history known as Prohibition (1920–1932, longer in some states).

Darien, a writer from Vancouver, comments on yelp.ca (click here to read review):

The drink prices are downtown average and the place is deceptively large. I often come to this spot when I want to get a drink late on a Friday or Saturday night. Due to the size of the room, one tends to be able to sit down most times during the evening. This is certainly not a destination, but true to the name is a relaxed place to unwind.

Pictured below are the nachos and beer that I ordered with my friends. The food tasted great, and was around $10.

Nachos from the Speakeasy on Granville (pub in downtown Vancouver).

The crepes are made in front of you, by smartly dressed chefs, at round grills at the restaurant’s front window. They are made sweet (try chocolate, or apple and cinnamon) or savory (pick from ham, cheese, or a bunch of other ingredients such as mushroom or spinach). Crepes (such as the ones pictured below) cost in the range of $5 to $8 depending on the ingredients. I really like the rich Emmenthal cheese and spongy crepe batter. For the Foot Long hot dog (pictured below, around $5) be sure to try their French mustard and maybe even mayo if you’re a fan.

There are two locations of Cafe Crepe very near to each other on Granville Street downtown. The smaller one (796 Granville, Cafe Crepe “express”) is located next to Future Shop just north of Granville and Robson. The larger one, further down Granville near the Commodore Ballroom (map, 874 Granville St, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-806-084), has more sit-down tables and even a private room for parties in the back.

Sometimes they get pretty busy and there might be a bit of a wait, especially if you want to eat-in. Take out orders are usually quite fast.

The other locations of Cafe Crepe in Vancouver are:

Robson Shopping District (map, 1032 Robson St, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-488-0045)

South Granville (map, 2861 Granville St, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 604-488-1326)

UBC Campus (map, 103-2151 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 604-221-1142).

French Hot Dog from Cafe Crepe (yum) - click photo for larger version

Ham and Cheese Crepe from Cafe Crepe in downtown Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Cafe Crepe logo on a take-out bag with a glass of wine.

Another photo of the crepe from Cafe Crepe restaurant in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

For more info on the Yaletown Brewing Company, please view Part 2 and Part 1. The restaurant is offering a special 3 course meal during Dine Out Vancouver 2009.

Video from Yaletown Brewing Company:

Macaroni and Cheese with Chorizo sausage (around $14) with lots of premium cheese. Salad had goat cheese crumbled on it. From Yaletown Brew Pub in Vancouver, BC, Canada.