Noshwellmenu

[rating:3]

Shari’s is an Oregon-based restaurant chain similar to Denny’s in both menu and atmosphere — which is to say, very middle-of-the-ground — but they’re open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It’s Christmas day. After over 6 hours on the road, we quickly checked in to the hotel and started researching places for dinner. Lesson learned: Portland literally shuts down on Christmas day. Yes, Chinese restaurants are open — but really, Chinese food in Portland? We weren’t willing to risk it.

We here at Noshwell try to do our best to stick to our roots — keep it fresh, keep it interesting, and most of all keep it local. We love Vancouver and all the culinary curiosities it has to offer. One reason we don’t review restaurants from our travels is twofold: 1. We don’t know the locale, and aren’t familiar with the neighborhoods. 2. We want our readers to have the best possible chances of actually trying out the places that we write about. Therefore, reviews about a nice little cafe in Paris or trattoria in Italy would serve no more than a cruel tease to most readers (not that we’ve been to any of those places ourselves).

[rating:1]

Joe’s Grill is a diner on West 4th. Case and I used to frequent the one on Davie and had fond memories of the eggs for breakfast as well as the corned beef hash. We’ve been to the West 4th location a couple times prior, but were consistently underwhelmed. We found ourselves once again on West 4th seeking a quick and inexpensive brunch. Bypassing our West 4th default, the Gypsy Rose Cafe, we headed onto Joe’s Grill to seek redemption.

[rating:3]

La Taqueria Taco Shop is nestled amongst the graffiti-riddled storefronts in Downtown Vancouver bordering East and West Hastings. The distinctively purple and yellow shaded spray-painted imagery of a rose and the Virgin Mary on the front facade blends effortlessly into the gritty landscape as the busy heads of hard-at-work chefs prepare freshly made tacos in plain view of passerbys.