I recently spent a week test driving the Honda Insight 2019 car around the city while I was out and about trying some new dishes and such at restaurants and cafes inside Vancouver.

That evening I headed over to Gastown to try the latest chef’s Tasting Menu which happened to be Executive Chef David Mueller’s Late Winter Tasting Menu, 6 courses with optional wine pairings.

Potato soup with smoked eel, leek, dill making it a delicious soup.

Sablefish with yam, kale, butter sauce, this was my favourite dish and pairing, outstanding flavours.

Dry aged striploin with carrot, cipollini, potato dauphine, my 2nd favourite dish and pairing.

It’s Modern German cuisine at this stylish restaurant and these were my favourite courses of the dinner, Bauhaus is open nightly, advance reservations are suggested.

The next day I visited Chef Marco Cornalle to interview him at Fratelli Bakery on Commercial Drive and tasted some of his delicious baking, you can read the full interview here.

Later that evening I visited a new Thai Restaurant that had recently opened, a small gem called Unchai Restaurant with it’s 14 seats and a small menu, I then discovered husband and wife chefs who’s resume is chock full of kitchen experience at several of the top Thai restaurants both in Thailand and in Vancouver.

I loved the Spicy Shrimp Salad which full of flavours with a kick of spice, also loved the Khao Soi Curry noodles with won ton noodles and the Green Curry with chicken and rice.

One of the unique features of this Honda Insight Hybrid is that the car battery charges itself while you are driving which truly economizes on the gas consumption.  The all-new hybrid sedan falls between their civic and accord models, but it takes full advantage of the battery pack to increase its fuel mileage.

Another great feature is the three selectable drive modes, and the driver can choose with a push of a button located on the centre console. The Normal, Econ and Sport settings allow for varying customization between efficiency and performance.  these are the three drivetrain operations. In EV Drive, power comes solely by its electric drive motor, drawing power from the battery. In Hybrid Drive the gasoline engine drives a generator motor to supply electrical power to the drive motor. Engine Drive operation connects the gasoline engine directly to the drive wheels.

The next day I headed over to Manoush’eh to visit Chef George who made me one of his new specialties the Sham style Cheese Pie (originates in Damascus) this is something that I haven’t seen around our city before, it was unique and delicious.

One of the other unique features which I love is the large size monitor with easy navigation of Sirius xm radio stations, Apple car play, map navigation and so much more.

Over in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, is where one of my favorite pizzerias resides, AJ’s Brooklyn Pizza Joint serves up delicious Brooklyn style thin crust pizza in addition to other varieties, I dropped by for a cheese slice, the bonus to the pizza is the complementary Mike’s Hot Honey which sits on each of tables to add to their pizza.

Another great spot in Mount Pleasant is one of the newest additions to the neighborhood, Billy Button Dessert Bar, I visited to try some of their unique themed desserts; the first was the exquisite “The Garden” with cucumber slices wrapped around a yogurt mousse, yuzu cremeux, raspberry powder, crostini making for a delicious savoury and sweet creation; the other was the Matcha Green Tea Tart which was a matcha soufflé made to order served warm, with matcha micro sponge cake, matcha ice cream, served on a soil with meringue, simply wow.