The current economic climate is hitting the tourism business pretty hard, with American tourism way down and businesses needing to cost-cut. Tourism Vancouver alone has laid off 20% of its staff.

News article here.

Not good news with the Winter Olympics in Vancouver only a year away, when all these businesses thought they were going to cash in big time. However, the tourism sector is expected to recover towards the end of the year with the Olympics providing a big boost - see article here.

I wrote in a previous post that I had had a hard time finding a curry in Vancouver that in any way compared to my experience of eating curry in the UK. As I have recently come back from the UK and some curry tasting I am pleased to report that I have now found a place that serves the best curry in Vancouver, in my opinion.

It was a beautiful sunny day last Sunday and we had 3 or 4 hours to spare in the late morning/early afternoon before we had to do some viewings on our house, so we took a quick drive over to Ambleside village in West Vancouver - an area of shops and restaurants alongside Ambleside Park and Beach.

We sat on the beach for a long time just people watching, soaking up the unusual February sun and taking in the views of Lion’s Gate Bridge, Stanley Park, the UBC peninsula and, because it was such a clear day, the snow-capped peaks of Vancouver Island in the distance.

We eventually tore ourselves away from the relaxation in order to find something to eat and our first and only stop was Handi Cuisine of India, who were offering a “eat all you want Kabob buffet” for $11.95. We’d heard good things about this place and at that price we figured we couldn’t go wrong, and we were absolutely right! The buffet consisted of chicken tikka, tandoori chicken and shish kabobs along with mixed vegetable curry, palak paneer, dhal, butter chicken, rice, naan and salads. It must have been the best quality meat I’d ever had in an Indian restaurant and everything was spiced just right. The chicken tikka was absolutely amazing - so juicy and tender and it was the first time that I actually enjoyed butter chicken in any restaurant in any country. The palak paneer was one of the best I’d ever tasted as well and the naan was soft and fluffy. For dessert they offered some gulab jaman which, again, were the best I’d ever tasted - so light and fresh and sweet.

A definite two thumbs up for this place - we are sure to return, as Ambleside is such a nice place to hang out in the summer anyway.

I haven’t written any blog posts in a while because I’ve been away in England. I’m back now and we’ve just bought a shiny new car after being car-free in Vancouver for two and a half years. We’re very much looking forward to getting out to new places at weekends and I’m looking forward to being able to blog about them!