VEGAN IN VANCOUVER X 2

Hey everyone! I haven't posted anything in quite a while.. Im sorry!!! Life has been crazy, I'm working a ton and I'm about to move back to Campbell River! Im planning on helping my parents with their house because my mom is about to retire and hopefully get some down time to really focus on my baking/cooking. Theres an amazing farmers market up there every sunday in the summer time so my sister and I are going to start selling some of our baked goods there! I'm really excited. In other words stay tuned because there will be sooo much more coming up on my blog!! My sisters are great bakers too so it'll be awesome to have a team. Now just to think of a name for it.... Any suggestions?

Anyways my boyfriend and I just came back from going to NORTHWEST COMEDY FEST and it was INSANE. Every comedian was so good and we got to meet most of them. Todd Glass signed our book and Doug Benson was super nice and hung out for a long time. Rory Scovel even played a surprise set at Doug Benson's show so that was an extra big treat for Reece and I. Rory Scovel is one of our absolute favourites. In between all the shows I figured I'd make some documentation of the AMAZING vegan food I ate while in Vancouver. We stayed off of Commercial drive which is VEGAN HEAVEN in Vancouver. Most of the great spots to eat are around there just along the drive. If you haven't ventured down there before you must because it has such an awesome variety of different kinds of vegan food! We even managed to make it back to whole foods again, of course<3 In all the excitement I didn't get tons of photos but I went to some of my all time favourite vegan spots in Vancouver so I thought I'd share it with you! If you haven't been , please go. You will never want to leave. I never do. 

First stop! Deserts 905 Commercial Dr, Vancouver BC

http://vancityveg.com/deserts-the-falafel-oasis/

This is truly the falafel oasis. The food here is WAY TOO GOOD. Its so cheap too! You can see the two owners make your food while you're there. The wraps are the biggest falafel wraps I've ever had. They put pickles in them which is my FAVOURITE thing. They always have tons of veggie samosas and veggie pakoras ready in a glass case so you can stop in there if you're in a rush. Its pretty hard to spend over 20 dollars there and thats with two people. My boyfriend and I got one of these wraps each and two samosas for 15 bucks! If you buy 4 samosas its a deal too. The chutney is off the chain. Which is an absolute must for me while eating samosas. If you love indian food or you're looking for a cheap, healthy lunch this is the place to stop. The service is always good and theres a large menu with tons to choose from. I wish I got more pictures but I was so excited I kind of forgot! Hehe. :)

Second stop! Bandidas taqueria 
http://www.bandidastaqueria.com/
Now I know I have posted this place before but its seriously one of my favourite breakfast places in the world. Its a must go everytime I go to Vancouver. The breakfast there is some of the best you'll get ever. With so many different things to choose from and most can be made vegan or vegetarian. The prices are great. The inside of the restaurant is super funky and always has the best art on the walls. Everytime I go there I want to take a piece home hehe.

Coffee and their homemade salsa. That salsa is seriously spicy and its VERY rare I find things spicy.. I'm fijian haha

Reece had the "egg mcmuffins" Instead of using english muffins they use their own homemade cornbread buns and its the best thing i've ever had!! I want the recipe so bad. I could eat them every morning. When you make your meal vegan they automatically add guacamole, no charge and you can add some veggie bacon or sausage on the side:)

I got "the breakfast" made vegan. This is a lot better picture of their AMAZING cornbread muffins. I love some purple cabbage with my breakfast and a little apple salad on the side makes this the perfect meal. The hardest part is trying to eat it all! The portions are great! Thanks Bandidas.

Third stop! The Sweet Cherubim 
http://www.sweetcherubim.com/

I seriously love this place. It holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the first vegan places I came too in Vancouver and I never wanted to leave. With an organic grocery store attached you could live there. Their baked goods are especially amazing. They have a huge glass case when you walk in that holds tons of different vegan treats including nanaimo bars, bird nest cookies(my favourite), raw bliss balls, muffins, chocolate carrot cakes. ANYTHING, you name it , they will have it. Not to mention they look absolutely amazing so well done Sweet Cherubim. Ive always wanted to work there. Its an absolute must go everytime I come to Vancouver. A little bit pricier than the other places I mentioned but really worth it! Their veggie rolls are to die for. They have one of the largest vegan menus to choose from too. Why not support a vegan restaurant/health food store that started in 1980? Id pay any amount to keep that going!

Is that not the best veggie roll you've ever seen!?

My lovely boyfriend drinking one of their raw vegan shakes :) 

While my boyfriend and I were there too we also stopped at Vandusen Botanical Garden. I had never been there before and we had lots of down time before our comedy shows so we thought it would be a fun adventure. Wow. What a beautiful place. I went there in February and it was amazing! I can't wait to go back in the summertime when everything is blooming. I really appreciate living in BC for the amount of nature I get to see. I think i would go crazy living in a city without any green. If you haven't been there before you need to check this place out. Its 7.75 to get in for an adult. Theres so many different sections to look at my boyfriend and I didn't even get to them all! All in all it was a magical place though. Even the building there is beautiful. Check it out.

Heres a couple snapshots from there. British Columbia will always be my home. THE WEST IS BEST. :)

TWO VEGANS GO TO VANCOUVER

Last weekend my boyfriend and I hopped on a ferry to go to Vancouver. We went to go see Sebadoh and Norm Macdonald. IT WAS AMAZING. I will say, I got an autographed ep by two out of the three members of Sebadoh.  It made my life a little more complete. ANYWAYS one of the things I LOVEEE about going to Vancouver is how vegan friendly it is. Its almost impossible not to walk by a veg friendly restaurant there. Which is totally refreshing for me since I live on an Island. I wanted to take the chance to check out some new spots I hadn't yet as well as take pictures of the awesome vegan food to show all of you! The population of veg restaurants in Vancouver is just growing as we speak too. I hope we can get a Whole foods in Victoria, they are my favourite!! LETS START A PETITION. 

 First stop was Whole foods. Right as we walked off the skytrain we saw it so we thought why not! We were starving from our travels so we got the grilled veggie sandwich from the deli. It had amazing pesto sauce on it.

VEGAN CROISSANT!! Thats right. It had been so long. My boyfriend and I could not believe how buttery and light they were.  The burrito on the bottom is from BUDGIE BURRITOS. By far the best burritos I have ever had in Vancouver. So cheap and a really funky place inside. Had a total retro feel. Not to mention burrito flag shirts! I loved them. If you're a fan of hardcore punk you will probably know what I'm talking about ;)

Next stop THE BLACK LODGE. We decided we would go there for our pre show dinner. I was SO IMPRESSED. What a cool restaurant. Although very small, we didn't have to wait at all and when we got inside it was well worth it. The whole atmosphere was really cool. The design of the restaurant is simple yet awesome. They really were smart going with a TWIN PEAKS theme restaurant. Punk music was blaring through the speakers. All the servers were super friendly. Pretty much everything on the menu could be "veganized" and I just loveee punk owned businesses. The food although simple, was awesome! Ive been waiting for someone to open a comfort food kinda vegan place. 100% backed restaurant. I will be returning and telling friends about it. 

My boyfriend got the Philly Cheese Steak which I didn't even get a picture of before he started to gobble it up. Haha but it was OFF THE CHAIN. I got the B.A.L.T sandwich. Coconut bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato. I'm pretty sure they made the coconut bacon in house and it was the best part of that sandwich. I can still taste it. mmm. Oh yeah and thats a PULLED PORK POUTINE. So unique! So delicious. Bravo Black Lodge. 

Heres a picture of us seeing SEBADOH. Right up at the front. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday <3

The next night we went to go see Norm Macdonald. He was extremely intoxicated and extremely funny. One of my favorite comedians. The opener Sean O Connor was so hilarous too. You should check both out if you haven't already!

A little hard to see but you get the idea! 

After the show I was STARVING so we stopped at the Falafel Place just beside our hotel. It was in the 800 block of West Broadway st. Unfortunately I totally cannot remember the name and I feel silly for it because it was actually really good! For late night food i was really impressed. Only 6 bucks too. Well worth it.

Anyways that my Vancouver trip. I was hoping to go to EDIBLE FLOURS but I am going on the 16th for NAS so I will go to more places then and take more pictures and share vegan happiness. I hope this encourages you to go try different things and be open minded! Vancouver, you will always have a place in my heart <3