I recently spent a week test driving the Honda CR-V 2022 car around Vancouver while trying some dishes at some of my favourite restaurants as well as taking in some music festivals.

I visited Aiyaohno Café in the Gastown area for their award winning Iced Sencha Tea with Kinome and Guava and the delicious Vegan Dumpling bowl with seasoned sushi rice, quinoa + sprouted bean salad, seasonal salad greens in apple carrot ginger dressing, pickled vegetables, vegan dumplings and marinated firm tofu. At the same time I tried a selection of their tasty house-baked banana bread and cookies; loved the Chocolate roasted walnut cookie, followed by the Kinako roasted matcha pecan cookie and then the Bird seed cookie.

The next night I visited Potluck Hawker Eatery in Cambie Village for their refreshing and flavourful Watermelon Salad to go. I then headed over to nearby Mount Pleasant Park to the Music on Main outdoor Summer music festival to hear a Chamber music trio.

The CR-V car has a roomy front area as well as a large cargo area of the back of the car. It has good driveability, a smooth ride, and comfortable seating. A few things that I liked in this model was the Blind spot detection, great fuel economy, econo mode, and multiple USB charging outlets.

The next day I took a drive out to Langley for a wonderful dinner at Food by Fanta where my friend AJ shared some of the tasty Thai inspired dishes that both Chef Fanta and Chef Sadapphin had created.

Loved the Chor Muang Flower Dumplings traditional Thai flower dumplings and one of my favourite dishes, each dumpling is stuffed with different tasting fillings such as with chicken, pork and veggie along with peanut, sweet radish, onion & cilantro. The Bechamel Taro Nachos – is another favourite with marinated Tamarind Prawns with Avocado Bechamel Sauce served over fresh Taro Chips, topped with Swiss & Mozzarella Cheese. I enjoyed one of their new dishes, the Yellow Curry Garlic Chicken and then finished off the meal with their Blue Hawaiian Sundae served in a coconut, so beautiful and tasty.

The next night we headed to Kitsilano to have dinner at Delara Restaurant; Lawrence and I were joined by our friend Debbie who was visiting from Toronto. Here we all enjoyed a wonderful Persian dinner. We started off with the Roasted Cauliflower and Yogurt with cauliflower roasted in butter and spices, served on a bed of spicy yogurt topped with hazelnut, sumac, sesame seeds and mint.

I tried the Chicken and Barberries dish for the first time which I loved with delicious turmeric marinated chicken breast, grilled over charcoal; with roasted veg and herbs and a barberry and orange sauce. Served with crispy saffron rice.

The Fesenjoon with chicken leg was also delicious, it’s a beloved sweet and sour Persian stew with a base of walnuts and pomegranate molasses; served with crispy saffron rice.

Lawrence had the new dish which I got to try, and it was a flavourful Roasted Eggplant with Beef short rib dish topped with salad; served with crispy saffron rice.

When driving friends who are seated in the rear seats it is always beneficial that they have leg room and enjoy the ride and this car has both.

The next night Lawrence joined me for dinner at 75 West Coast Grill in Richmond where we tried some of their new Summer features.

The restaurant specializes in West Coast fare & wild BC seafood; and our favourite dish was the Spicy Prawn & Avocado Salad cold water prawns, avocado, pineapple, artisan greens, spicy lime; this was delicious.

We also tried the Street tacos with Baja coconut prawns with watermelon salsa; along with the Calamari sweet chili lime tequila glaze, onions, peppers, jalapeños, chipotle lime aioli, cilantro; followed by the Summer Berries Salad mixed berries, shallots, candied pecans, goat cheese, cucumber, white balsamic vinaigrette.

Both the BC Wild Salmon pan seared 6 oz salmon, sweet corn risotto, summer succotash, lemon herb butter; and the Halibut pan seared, lemon herb couscous, avocado and mango salsa, lemon beurre blanc were good entrees to share.

Later that evening I headed over to the Ambleside Music Festival for opening night where I saw a fantastic performance by Mother Mother.

On Sunday afternoon I was out in the UBC area and stopped by JamJar Canteen to get one of their Falafel plates to go which I ended up eating once I got home.

I really enjoyed the Honda CR-V 2022 was a great car to drive in and around Vancouver to try some great eateries as well as to enjoy some wonderful music.

By: Richard Wolak

Disclosure: Honda Canada provided me with the 2022 Honda CR-V for a week to test drive, and photograph.