Feb 23rd - #Olympic Box Seats for Belarus v Switzerland and Rodney's Oyster House, Yaletown for Canada v Germany

Belarus Shootout last try and miss

Last Suisse Shootout Goal

What a day! I had planned for the worst really it turned out AMAZING! D's niece is in town and we were supposed to spend time with her. I was rather excited about it. Unfortunately she's staying with her other uncle in Abbottsford as well she travelled here with her paternal grandmother. She's lovely lady but she's not very mobile. As a result, all the things, I had hoped to do with her sort of evaporated. Oh well, Sunday was very low key as a result and so I had planned for similar audible calls on the itinerary so I wouldn't be disappointed for today.

I had booked Tuesday off to wander around town with her. In the end, they decided not to come in town right away and checked out Steveston and the OZone in Richmond. Well, it was their choice and I had decided not to be disappointed by it. They were going to call us at noon then it got pushed to 3pm. I refused to not take the day off as I'd been looking forward to that at least. The one thing that was pretty bad was that IT POURED like mad all day. ALL DAY!

I walked over the the provincial pavillions hoping that a mid week visit would be better. It was not. The line for Ontario House 4D movie at 10 am was longer than the first Saturday!!!! I visited Right to Play and bought a pin and took some photos. I then hiked it, still in good spirits, to Aboriginal House. Well, I stood in line at Live City Vancouver but it was nearly noon and there was a line and I was expecting the call that we were going to Richmond so I left Canada House for another day. I went to the Bell Cube instead. I got a wimpy Bell cowbell and some nice earbuds. The Bell cube was okay. They had loads of TV screens and you used your new earbuds to listen to the screen you wanted from over head plug ins. I watched a Canadian Women's Curling match between UK go into the 11th end but I didn't stay. I went to Alberta House, which was LAME. It's just a bar/resto. It's normally this really dingy dive across from BC Stadium but they did it up with wood and covered patio. It looks great but there is nothing to see. They have a stage with music in the evenings. Then D called to say that they weren't coming downtown for sure and only after checking out OZone at 3pm. Okay. No problem. I was going to enjoy my day.

I started to walk to D so we could at least walk around together. I'm about a 5 minute walk to his office when he calls me and says we got Box Seats to the mens game at noon. I said, it's quarter to noon now. I was tempted to say what about his niece but decided that I wasn't going to forego box seats at an Olympic Hockey match. After a mad dash in a cab, we were running through security and then ushered into a golf cart to take us to the gates. We only missed 10 minutes. How fantastic is that!??

The seats were amazing. The suite was right behind the press which is lower than normal. We were lined up by the side of the net. NICE. The suite was furnished with cheese, appetisers and sodas. How fun! We ordered a bottle of Robert Mondavi Chardonnay. You could only buy the liquor buy the bottle. Not a problem! Hello? Seats were free!

Suisse won in the end after OT and after shootouts. I was hoping for Belarus because I didn't want Canada to play them later. Now that I think of it, the Suisse had a better chance of taking out the US than Belarus.

We visited the Aboriginal House and saw a nice film. No shows on but I at least finally got in!! We then ran to Rodneys where some of D's work friends had booked a table. We ordered some food and lots of wine and beers.

Fried Oysters

Fresh Oysters

Oyster Condiments

The staff knew them all as regulars so it was like being in someone's living room except they were bringing us food and drinks. We had their specialty of Oysters or at least D did. Aesthetically speaking, it, next to offal, the least appealling edible in the world to me. Their oysters come with a condiment tray full of dressings like red or green hot sauce, chillies, vodka, lemon, fresh horseradish. We always say that if you have to use all that stuff, why do you need the oyster. They smelled okay in that they didn't smell at all. Everyone seemed to enjoy them.

We also had fried oysters. They were great. I'm not sure if it was the breading or the meat but they were quite sweet. Nicely cooked. Nothing raw or slimely left but not rubbery like I've seen in other restaurants. They were enormous but not dominated by breading.

We then ordered some mussels. It was still 'Low Tide', i.e. before 6pm so they have a lighter, less expensive menu. The mussels were not very good. In a small portion, we had three closed or broken ones. The meat was okay but the broth was salty and rather plain. I wouldn't order these again. The best places in town are Chambard and Bin941. Actually, I had a great chowder with mussels at Goldfish which was nice too. Don't get them here. Their daily specials are much better selection. Try to go for Friday for their Fish and Chips. They only serve them on Friday for some reason. Really nice as well as their Fish Club Sandwich is yummo!

The definite gold star for them is the big hunks of bread they serve you . They're sourdough rounds of different varieties like wholewheat, olive, white, walnut. Super tangy and chewy. I wish I knew where they get it.

Cost: $$ (Lowtide)
Ambience: welcoming, casual (Toronto kin is no longer affiliated and a bit posher)
Decor: atlantic/maritime pub
Staff: Very friendly without being overbearing about it.
Wine List: Very decent with great variety. I had the Parducci Pinot Noir. Wonderful!

Rodney's Oyster House
405-1228 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 6L2‎
(604) 609-0080‎