Like Korean barbecue and shabu-shabu, Hong Kong-style hotpot combines the excitement of a night on the town with the hassle of cooking your own meal. Granted, it’s not for everyone, but for those willing to put in the extra effort, it can be a sociable and fun experience - provided no one adds anything unexpected…

I’m a restaurant owner’s dream. I arrive promptly for my reservation, eat my meal, and leave. Immediately. No sitting around after dinner, casually sipping my green tea, making idle chitchat while the famished looks of the looming diners-in-waiting go unheeded. I can usually be counted upon to be in and out within an hour and…

Well, I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. After countless enjoyable dinners out and a multitude of generally positive reviews, I finally sat through a horrible meal. Congratulations to Aurora Bistro for quashing my blind faith in the Vancouver restaurant scene. Dine Out Vancouver offers the opportunity to sample some of the…

In the event I’m ever in the passenger seat of your car and you happen to lose your way, do not count on me to render any sort of practical assistance. Get me to recommend a good restaurant or to reach back and grab that Kleenex box sitting on the back seat, but do not,…

If one were to ask the average Vancouverite to pick the city’s most romantic dining destination, Umberto Menghi’s Il Giardino would surely prove a popular choice. With its warm Tuscan decor and beautiful Summer garden, it’s the perfect place for that perfect date. And so, when my wife made the reservation two weeks ago, I…

The diecast models of the Doctor Who 40th Anniversary Gift Set received an lowly 6/10 while the Lost promotional towel fared much better, garnering an impressive 9/10. So any guesses as to what Dreamwatch will award the Swiss-made, aluminum Young People F*cking: promotional water bottle for young Martin Gero’s upcoming first feature foray? Personally, I’d…

We'd circled the area twice and were considering just going somewhere else for dinner when I spotted to the VALET sign. Granted, it was for the neighboring restaurant but maybe the guy manning the booth wouldn't be too picky about where his $6 was coming from. Well, it was either give it a shot, use…

Whether it’s The British Lottery Corporation congratulating you on your big win, or the cousin of deposed Prince Mogolobowi of Nigeria exhorting you to help yourself to his formidable fortune, spam, like color-superconducting quark matter, comes in many varieties. Some are darn tempting - “Apple MacBook Pro Laptop at no cost to you!”. Others, not…

All too often, we allow our passions to overtake us. We become caught up in the heat of the moment, saying, sometimes writing things we honestly believe to be true at the time - only to later sit back and realize no, I was wrong. I should have taken a deep breath and thought long…

Many years ago, when I was just a budding young screenwriter, my boss came into my office and demanded a total rewrite of a script I had written. It was, in her words “a mess”. I humbly complied, completing the rewrite in five days, and handed it in just before Friday lunch. But it was…

I am touched and, quite frankly, a little overwhelmed by all of the support I’ve received in my mango-eating venture. Advice, website links, detailed explanations. In the unlikely event I ever again eat another mango, I’m now confident I’ll be able to do so in a dignified manner. So, thanks to everyone who contributed. Also,…

Level with me. Is there some trick to eating a mango? Some secret strategy to separating the edible from the inedible parts? One that doesn’t culminate in my having to insert the entire pit in my mouth in an attempt to chew the flesh free? Okay, admittedly I’m not what you’d call a Mango Man.…

We had arrived in San Diego for Comicon and were in the taxi, on our way to the hotel the network had booked us into, when I glanced out the window and noticed the lurid lettering on the side of the bus beside us. “HAUNTED TOURS” it screamed. Perfect, I thought. Fondy is a big…

Unlike a lot of people, I actually enjoy the company of chatty cab drivers. Rather than sitting forlornly in the back of the taxi, silently contemplating a script, the last book I read, or whether or not that snoopy neighbor is going to discover the cadavers of the two vagrants buried underneath the toolshed, I…

They say that you should never go shopping when you're hungry. To this, I would add: Never park your car equidistant to two or more take-out restaurant when you're hungry. I decided to pick up dinner on my way home, intending to drop by The Memphis Barbecue House for some ribs and pulled pork. However,…