Picnic at the Beach by the Vancouver Art Gallery

A Day at the Beach?

Not exactly at the day in the sand with ocean breeze blowing... this is in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery on Robson. It's called "Picnurbia" -- they encourage people to ... yes, picnic on yellow artificial turf. It has built in benches and yes, people actually are there picnicking and sunning as if they are at the beach.

(I was in Paris one summer, and they actually did bring the beach right in the city. They trucked in sand in open spaces and set up beach volleyball courts for people, they set beach lounge chairs all over the place and there were all sorts of beach activities and festivities. It was more authentic than yellow artificial turf. Oh, well, Vancouver is trying.)

Denman Tap House & Steamworks

Laughing Statues at English Bay

Denman Tap House
This location has been many many different eateries before. Despite the fantastic location (overlooking English Bay), they cannot seem to get enough loyal customers. I've been here when it was a "fancy" seafood place, and most recently as SOHO pub (recently all closed down). It was the first day of playoffs, so it was pretty much packed everywhere. It was a half hour before puck drop and there were still several tables around. This didn't last very long though.

I was pleasantly pleased with my food. I ordered the halibut with couscous. It was just a tiny bit overcooked but it was actually quite decent. I had my trepidations ordering seafood in a pub but it was my second pub of the day and I already had "pub grub" at Steamworks in Gastown.

I hope to come back here in the summer -- check out it they make a decent pitcher of sangria.

Steamworks

This place in Gastown has been around for a long time (since 1995) but until last week, I've never checked it out. It is pretty much what you'd expect for a brew place -- good central location, typical pub grub, excellent for a group, good pub ambiance.

I recommend the ginger beer (I can't remember what it's called, but I'm sure they will know.) It was perfectly refreshing.