46 -

Wednesday, May 5, 1993 - North Shore News

1 GUGS THE 6)
REALLY ARE

THE BORN LOSER® by Art and Chip Sansom

" JOST FLEW IN FROM TORONTO! *

REMEMBER CLINTON'S
CAMPAIGN OFFICE SIGIO...
"15 THE ECONOMY, STUPID’?

Front, page az.
‘anda smoke filied atmosphere i in
‘ which the promise of dangerous...
~ confrontation was never far away. .
It was ‘usually just across the worn’

' lobby in the hotel’s lively beer se

parlor.-
The Cockatoo’s menu never.

_. went much beyond standard
« modern American deep-fry grub.
for the draft-beer masses.. :

And, of course,-a block to the
east, the Olympic Hotel lounge
featured the same seedy cast of

~ characters,but one storey up from
street level.

~ Atthe Olympic, ' you might im-

. press your date with a Cubanette
from the a+ or a pair of pickled

* eggs witiva double Zombie and a

- side of onion rings before dancing
the night away in the adjacent
Club 140.

- Cigarette smoke i in the face and

a possible fat lip from an ornery

~ drydock worker were also daily
menu specials.

~ Hotel lounge dining in the
Lower Lonsdale area has therefore
Not traditionally been a pursuit for
those seeking gastronomic
sophistication. No,.the meal was
the local social color and the

. tough and tumble interaction of
local characters.

The Q, however, represents a
more enlightened era of the local
hotel lounge’and its place in the
local social scheme of things.

Taking over from Loop’s, the
Lonsdale Quay Hotel's original
dining room, the Q features ‘its
predecessor's inspiring waterfront
location, bright interior and its
endlessly interesting view of North
shore harborside hustle and bus-
tle.

lt did not, however, adopt

_ Loop’s high- end menu and
pretensions to haute cuisine.

The Q instead went for a lighter

‘menu and more reasonable prices.

vit also added a lounge bar with
overhead TVs, draft beer taps and
live piano music on Friday and
Saturday nights.

The.Q’s menu showcases a
reasonably interesting selection of

Frou BeT! SATIN FIRST CLASS!

GEE, (NT THAT
AWFULLY
EXPENSIVE ?

NEW OVE NOW IN)
“THE OVAL OFFICE...

HD 1993 by NEA, Inc.

Canadian bistro appetizers ($4 to
$8.50), sandwiches, pizzas and

- hamburgers ($5 to $12) and simple

entrees ($8 to $15). °

There are vegetarian options in
all the aforesaid categories, and
the entrees range irom Broccoli
and Brie Chicken to Yaki Sobi
(chicken or prawns) and Salmon
Fillet.

Its wine list is limited ($15 to
$21), with only five non-house
reds available, but the selections
have been chasen with care.

The cafe's food is several
leagues above the boilerplate
turned out in area hotel lounges of
yore, but it is not as good as the
food served in.Loop’s on a good
day.

My Prince of Prawns, for exam-
ple, boasted a generous mound of
fresh prawns, but the sambuca
saute advertised was barely detec-
table, and the prawns tasted as if.
they had been reheated in a mi-
crowave rather than pan-fried.

The New Yorker entree, mean-

Make way for the white

From page 2G...
and Gon Max and take early
retirement.

We didn’t ignore the Aussies;-
we just arrived fashionably late.
Still in time for a nip of Wolf Blass’
‘President’s Selection” Cabernet
1988 listed at $22.88 and a steal,
ready to wrestle Don Melchor or
the Leaping Stag for top sput.

Not quite ready to calla
“cab,” we went hunting serious
shiraz and stumbled on Tyrell’s
eccentric, wonderful Vat 9 “Dry
Red’ with a deceptively
amateurish label (1987, $20.80,
and not listed), which the young
lady pouring assured me tasted
sike ‘a sweaty saddle.”

She was right and no, | don’t
want to discuss it ... but if you find
a bottle or two in a rack, we can
work something out,

IGHTIES
GONE... HAT COST A DOLLAR

AND A HALF!

Not fF YAoon'r

GET CAUGHT!

£ 1932 oy NEA ine

TS THE DEFICIT, A HEALTH
PLAN, HOMELESSNESS, THE

_ ENVIROMENT, SOMALIA,

BOSNIA, THE IRANIAN ARMS
BUILDUP THE PORATION
EXPLOSION), WORLD TRADE
AGREEWVENITS AND CHINESE
CNIL RIGHTS ABUSES, STUAD!

while, was accompanied with a
‘big portion of roasted potatoes
and pan-fried mushrooms, but the
meat was done well beyond the
requested medium rare.

However, the Louisiana Stirfry
was much better. it featured -
prawns and sweet red peppers
stir-fried in a mildiy spicy sauce
and presented atop a big heap of
fettuccini.

: The Salad Special was a pleasant
combination of grilled red pep-

ers, eggplant and zucchini with
aby corn and lettuce tossed ina
herb vinaigrette.

The Q’s serving staffisvery
friendly and obliging. An adjoining
non-smoking room provides
respite from barroom smoke,
droning televisions and the pleas-
ant, but distracting, piano sounds
of Mike Foster.

And the great waterfront outlook
from the Q is extremely seductive.

Lower Lensdale hotel lounge
dining is not what it used to he.

And thank God for that.

Trying to make a dignified exit,
we went for a nip of Renmano’s
E&E Black Pepper Shiraz (1990),
only to find ourselves standing
behind the guy who got the last
ounce.

He graciously let us sniff the
glass: there aren‘t many wines I'd

' splash out $30 for on the strength
of one snarf, but this is one of
them; it's listed and my budget is
in serious trouble.

White wine? You mean, it
comes in white, too?

We did try, but wherever we
went looking for a glass of white ©
there were long lineups of breath-
takingly beautiful young women in
drop-dead dresses. We were hap-
pily married middle-aged wine

"critics. What could we do?

We called a cab. :

WE'RE, USING SHAMPOO

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call me for pleasant surprise |

GRANT M. BOTTO_

SUSSEX REALTY 984-9711

Saran Group - $2.6. Reclty Corporation ,

Find the fish that doesn’t
belong in the Aquarium’s new
. Indonesian Coral Reef,
and you could win... -

an exotic trip for two
_ ty Indonesia. «:

One ofthese fish isin.
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£: imposter inhabits: the chiller. waters :
Square block of the Pacific Northwest.”
fairy basstet Find the phony and you could win a trip for
two to the tropical paradise of Indonesia.
Simply circle the fish that’s faking, fill.
in your.name, address and postal code’
below and drop the entry offto usin:
____ Stanley Park on or before Sunday,
June 6, 1993, Or inail it to the Loner os bone
Sy Vancouver Aquarium, P. O. Box. 3232,
; will be announced on CKNW’s Joy's s.
_ Journal, Friday, June 11, 1993. 0
Of course, 10 purchase i is necessary, but to be
certain you've got the right answer, come see the
new Indonesian Coral Reef, now open at the
Vancouver Aquarium. Tiere you can
look among hundreds of
brilliant species and see for

_ fish feel most at home... - .
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showing you their true colours.

Name.
Address_

Postal Code.

@otv Sh. se
Baki ¥ Orient Holidays

-Trp for nwa to Indonesia, ai peeocimate value $9,000 (no cash avant). Chance of sinning depends on mimber of”
erence Winning entry will be required to correctly answer a time lintited skill resting question. Residents of British
Columbin 19 years of age or older are cligsble to enter, Employees and their families of the Vancouver Aquarium,
adbeniang of promogonal agencies and paeticipating companies ane not eligible,
Full coatest rules are available at the Vancouver Aquarian.

Phone_