It’s spot prawn season, and BC opened it up early May. The season is very brief (too short for our liking) lasting until late June. Spot prawn season, however, is usually accompanied by bouts of sunshine and shorts weather. So a bunch of us decided to celebrate both with a potluck featuring fresh, grilled prawns on the barbeque.

(Above: Barbeque BC Spot Prawns.)

There are many places to pick up spot prawns when they’re in season. Just take a jaunt down to any seafood market and it will run you anywhere between $11 to $19 per pound depending on where you get it and how late in the season it is. We grabbed our prawns jumping straight off the boat from Organic Ocean at the Fisherman’s Wharf right next to Granville Island.

This is our own simple preparation, which takes only a few minutes.

Ingredients

• 2.5lbs of live BC spot prawns (shell and head on).
• 2 to 3 teaspoon of finely minced garlic.
• juice from 1 lemon.
• pinch of salt & pepper

What to do

1. Combine garlic, salt, pepper and lemon juice with prawns.
2. Marinate for 10/15 minutes.
3. Snip off the antennae.
4. Throw them suckers on the grill for 1 minute each side.
5. Enjoy.

For some good tips on buying, handling and cooking BC spot prawns check out wildbcspotprawns.com. Be sure to follow Steve from @OrganicOcean on Twitter to get the scoop when the latest haul of “the love” arrives.

The Details:

Organic Ocean
Fisherman’s Wharf
604.862.7192
@OrganicOcean
1505 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver
organicocean.com

Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

Shopping on Granville Island has its privileges, such as the abundance of eateries available to hungry shoppers in need of a little sustenance. Kaisereck is a food court stand in Granville Island’s Public market that serves freshly made deli sandwiches and sausages — taunting passerbys with the enticing smell emanating from their grill.

(Above: European Wiener with Grilled Onions and Sauerkraut.)

Case ordered the European weiner — a thin, smoky sausage with a crispy snap when you bite into it. Every order comes with complimentary grilled onions and sauerkraut, with an assortment of condiments and toppings of your choice on the side of the deli.

(Above: Dude at Kaisereck doing his thing thing.)

I had the Bratwurst, a beautifully seasoned sausage that was unfortunately handicapped from overgrilling. Parts of the sausage were paper dry and brittle, while the rest was nicely flavoured.

Two dogs and a bottled water came to $15 — which felt pricey, but we expected to pay a little more when we hit the Island. The sausages were decent, nothing outstanding, but any meal tastes better on the dock, basking in the sun while the wind gently brushes against your face.

Perfect for: Seaside snack on Granville Island.

The Details

Granville Island
1689 Johnston Street, Vancouver
604.685.8810
Kaisereck on Facebook

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars

Out on the West Coast, we have some of the finest fish swimming in the sea, just waiting to be caught and devoured by seafood connoisseurs. OK, maybe not waiting to be caught — more like trying to get away. But either way, we have some great fish. The Sandbar Restaurant in Granville Island is known for their fresh seafood and the beautiful patio that perches over the waterfront overlooking False Creek and the shores of the West End.

After grabbing some local fruits and veggies from Granville Island, Tre was in the mood for seafood. The Sandbar was a natural choice. I was a bit hesitant at first, thinking The Sandbar was a tourist trap, but was interested in the patio. Tre and I are greeted by the friendly hostess who seats us upstairs in the patio. It was busy, but lucky for us we got a table near the front overlooking the water. I am loving the view and thinking — I don’t ever want to leave.

Our server was friendly and gave us the low down on the daily catch and his recommendations. Tre knew what he wanted, so we ordered some dishes to share. For starters, we had the warm beet salad with toasted walnuts, champagne vinaigrette and crumbled goat cheese. We also had Tuscan flat bread with goat cheese, caramelized onions and cracked pepper. And for the main dish, The Sand Barge for two: chilled prawns, raw oysters and crab served on a platter of ice.

(Clockwise: 1. Warm Beet Salad. 2. Tuscan Flatbread, 3. Oysters and Shrimp chilling in an ice bath.)

Our warm beet salad arrived first, and it was awesome! I can’t express how good this salad was: fresh, crisp greens with earthy red and yellow beets, tossed with toasted walnuts with generous chunks of goat cheese and a light, tasty vinaigrette. Our waiter had warned us the salad was going to be huge, and he wasn’t kidding. Next, the Tuscan flat bread, which was more like a pizza with toppings of sweet caramelized onions, goat cheese and garlic. The flat bread was thin, fluffy and really delicious. Finally, our seafood platter: four large fresh chilled prawns, four raw oysters and half a crab. The prawns were good and firm in texture. The oysters were good as well, although I prefer the smaller, Japanese oysters like those from Guu. The crab was refreshingly tasty, slightly sweet and ridiculously messy to eat.

Our meal was excellent, so good in fact, that we weren’t quite done. We surprised our server by continuing to order two coffees and a dessert. I suppose he wasn’t expecting two little people to polish off all those dishes and then order more. For dessert we went by our server’s recommendation — The Belgian chocolate pudding. The gooey pudding was topped with toffee cream and a crunchy pistachio praline. Our dessert was good — light and airy and went well with our warm cups of coffee.

(Top to bottom: 1. Coffee. 2. Belgian Chocolate Pudding with Toffee Cream and Pistachio Praline.)

The Sandbar was surprisingly enjoyable. We spent almost three hours kicking back on the patio, enjoying good food, great service and watching some poor guys sink in their homemade boats made out of plywood. The meal set us back just under $100 bucks including a beer, tax and tips — well worth it.

Perfect for: Fresh seafood and a knockout view.

The Details

Granville Island
1535 Johnston St, Vancouver
604.669.9030
vancouverdine.com/sandbar/home.html

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars :

I’ve never really been into donuts. That is, until we tried Lee’s. I didn’t understand the hype over donuts. They’re high in calories, heavy, dense and really not all that exciting. But then I realized, I just haven’t had a good donut. Ok, I have to admit Krispy Cremes are pretty good, but Lee’s donuts are better.

What’s great about Lee’s donuts is they don’t make you feel like you want to hurl after eating one, or feel like the sugar is eating away at your teeth. They don’t taste like preservatives, or chemicals have been added in order to maintain shelf life. The cake donuts are freshly made everyday with a wide range of flavours. Tre and I find it hard not to leave with a few during our Granville Island grocery excursions. There’s a lot of yummy flavours ranging from peanut, mango, pumpkin (seasonal), apple, chocolate, honey dip, glazed, unglazed… you get the picture.

There’s one downside to these yummy delights, they could add some extra pounds to your waist line if you eat too much. They’re a little thrifty on the fillings inside the donuts sometimes. Price wise: more expensive than the regular donut shops. But then again, you get what you pay for. And what you get at Lee’s Donuts is simply yummy!

The Details

#122 – 1689 Johnston St.
604.685.4021