Oh Canada!

Phnom Penh, Vancouver. We had dinner here Thursday evening. 

Touch down YVR. It is now Saturday (I landed on Thursday morning) and I now feel that I am compos mentis, and steadily getting with the programme here in Vancouver. I am sitting typing whilst watching the Canucks game against San Jose, so you could say that I am a fully fledged Canadian already!

I will just run through the past couple of days. I spent much of Thursday in bed, after Krista met me at the airport and lovingly guided me back, in full zombie state, on the SkyTrain back downtown. After getting showered and doing some much needed general arranging we headed out to dinner. 

First up. We went to Phnom Penh in Chinatown where we had a great meal of butter beef, which had great zingy acidic taste, along side a pounds worth of their famous chicken wings. Dinner was great, just what I needed. However, the weather, not so much. -7 degrees downtown was a considerable shock, coming from what has been a very, very mild Winter back in the UK.

After another prolonged rest (13 hours) we decided to finally leave the warmth of the apartment yesterday. This time it wasn't the cold so much, but the driving rain that we were up against. To compensate for the disappointment with the elements we headed to the American Cheesesteak Co. on Davie. Oh boy! Do they know how to make a sandwich. Splitting a Cowboy between the two of us was more than enough. How you deal with sides on top of all that meat I don't know... Needless to say we took a stroll around soggy Vancouver to try and walk it off before dinner. 

Heading up the trio of Van eateries that we hit-up in under 24 hours was Maenam. As part of Dine Out Vancouver, we decided to go and try their fare - serving innovative Thai dishes with big flavour. They did a great job of turning around tables in the hour and a half slots promised. Great service and attention to detail did not go unnoticed. The surroundings within the restaurant are stylish, sophisticated and intimate, which make for a personal dining experience. Food wise, the steamed mussels and seared tuna salad were fresh and flavoursome, whilst the penang curried beef was creamy, rich and tender. 

All in all, a crazy couple of days food wise. At home, in the UK, not much can beat what my mum rustles up in the kitchen. I couldn't be much further from home-cooking at the minute so it's awesome that with these three meals, all so different, they delivered the same result, a very happy and full stomach.