Cactus Club (web site) is a chain of really trendy, energetic and fun restaurants with outstanding food.

Their location in West Vancouver (at Park Royal Village, 855 Main Street, West Vancouver, BC, phone, 604-922-1707) also features live jazz by the Geoff Peters Trio on selected Tuesday nights. Please call the restaurant to confirm about the live music.

Prices for dinner entrees are in the $15-$25 range. I really enjoyed the Steelhead Salmon Entree (pictured below) as well as my favorite snacking items, the Westcoast pockets (also pictured below). The Chicken Jambalaya rice bowl (also pictured below) was tasty as well.

Cactus Club’s Steelhead salmon Entree – grilled to perfection!

Westcoast pockets – like sushi, but bigger and better.

Chicken Jambalaya rice bowl. A colorful melange of ingredients combine for a yummy taste experience.

Sushi Town (visitor reviews, 5935 East Hastings, Burnaby, BC, phone 604-294-6155) has got to be one of my all time favorite Japanese restaurants. It’s run by a young Korean chef who takes his food seriously, and the quality, portion size and freshness of the seafood are outstanding considering the modest prices.

The Ebi Sunomono salad (pictured below, $3.50) is cool and refreshing; thin noodles are served cold in a clear sweet-and-sour broth topped with fresh cooked shrimp and a garnish of lemon. The various maki rolls are delicious, such as the Futomaki (half order, $4.00), chopped scallop roll ($3.75, pictured below), and the “Awesome Roll”.

Regarding the Awesome roll (pictured below), frugalgourmet writes on Dinehere.ca:

“The roll is slightly baked and served warm, topped off with a delightful combination of green onions, bonito flakes, barbeque sauce and spicy mayonnaise. It provides some great flavor and texture contrasts (crunchy/soft; sweet/salty; piquant/creamy). A meal on it’s own – 8 generous pieces for $6.95.”

The Chicken Karage (deep fried chicken wings, $3.95) were also very tasty – what juicy and tender chicken!

As the restaurant is located in Burnaby, it is a bit of a trek from downtown Vancouver (about a 30 minute drive). However, Sushi Town doesn’t seem to have trouble attracting diners to its suburban location; it was fully packed on the Saturday evening with several large families and smaller groups too.

Ebi Sunomono salad (shrimp and cold noodles in a sweet and sour broth)

Futomaki and chopped scallop roll

The signature dish, of Sushi Town: “Awesome roll”

Calhoun’s Cafe and Catering (web site, 3035 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC, phone 604-731-7062) is a popular hangout and studying place for UBC students that is open 24 hours. They have a good selection of ready-to-eat entrees as well as delicious made-to-order sandwiches, alcoholic beverages, ice cream, cakes, and gourmet coffees. They have free wireless internet access, as well as live music several nights a week. Calhoun’s recently installed wide screen televisions that are tuned to the sports channels.

I usually order a shrimp and avocado sandwich ($6.50, pictured below); it’s huge, and is served with freshly baked sourdough bread and lots of toppings. (They do all their own baking at Calhoun’s and the quality of the bread is really evident.)