Tasting Journey #12 - Crave on Main

Crave on Main
3941 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
604-872-3663
http://www.craveonmain.com/index.php

Another great dinner with an awesome friend whom I've known for 20 years. Wow.  It always puts me in awe whenever I think about how long we've known each other.  Not because it reveals our age, but on how our friendship never fails to last.  We've been friends since gr. 8, and since university, we've been going our separate ways, having our own circle of friends, and living in different cities.  I guess true friends don't need to connect everyday;  There are friends that you hang out with, and then there are friends that you connect with.  These are two completely different things.

This is the second time that I've met up with Judy since she's been in town.  We talked about work, talked about Lucas (Judy's baby boy), talked about food...all just random chit chats.  There's no need to think about what better to say, and what better not to say.  Our friendship is built on a simple, straight-forward bond.

So back to our topic on food... We were originally planning on going to the Grub on Main only to find out that all tables have been reserved for the night.  So to Judy's suggestion, we decided to head over to the Crave, located only 4 blocks north of the Grub.  Judy recommended the Crave for its beautiful garden located at the back of the restaurant.  Apparently, you'll have the option to have dinner in the garden during the summer time when the weather is warm, and the day is long.  It must be really lovely to have dinner in the garden...just imagine yourself a royal descendant enjoying afternoon tea in a garden full of beautiful flowers and green grass.  hm...^^ Well, back to reality - Since we are still in the season of winter (I hope it leaves soon), and that the weather was dark, wet and cold today, we had dinner inside.

The restaurant size is not huge...probably sits 30 people comfortably, and is around the same size as La Buca.  We had arrived the restaurant around 6pm, and all but two tables were full.  Most of the guests are already well into their entree.  I wonder why such early dinner?  We ordered 3 dishes to share: ahi tuna tempura roll, organic beef crave burger, and a shorty rigatoni.  The portions, to our surprise, were quite large.  Ahi tuna tempura roll was really well made. A large cube of tuna wrapped in a sushi roll, then deep fried.  The roll was crunchy and full of flavours.  Excellent.   The burger was juicy, and patty was wonderfully grilled.  Maybe the organic beef made a difference?  As for the shorty rigatoni, we both thought it was a meat dish (since we are both meat lovers), but it turned out to be a pasta dish with beef stew.  Still very well made, and delicious.  I would say that my tastes buds were happily satisfied this evening.

All 'n all, the experience was great.  I do look forward to revisiting the Crave during the summer time...just imagine....Cecilia relaxing in the garden, sipping wine, enjoying the summer breeze, birds chirping... happy thoughts... :)