I recently spent a week test driving the Acura MDX Type S 2022 car around Vancouver and Squamish while trying some dishes at eateries in the area.
My friend Mark was visiting from Mexico and joined me on a few adventures around the city starting off with a delicious dining experience at Food by Fanta in downtown Langley. Here we shared some of their Thai inspired dishes
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.
Bechamel Taro Nachos – another favourite with marinated Tamarind Prawns with Avocado Bechamel Sauce served over fresh Taro Chips, topped with Swiss & Mozzarella Cheese; and the Ballerina Wings an award winning dish with 2 Fried boneless Chicken Wings with Tamarind-Palm Sugar Sauce & Tropical Fruit Salsa.
Mark then enjoyed the Thai Fish & Chips – Beer Battered Cod, served with homemade Taro & Yam fries & our special dipping sauces; while I had the delicious Gang Liang Soup – Butternut Squash, Lemon Basil, Lesser Ginger, Shrimp Paste, Cream Cheese Ice Cream
For dessert we shared the award winning Blue Hawaiian Sundae served in a coconut, so beautiful and tasty.
Later in the day we were back in Vancouver and he joined me at one of my favourite spots in Yaletown, Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant.
We also enjoyed a belly dancing performance by Lana she often performs on Friday and Saturday nights.
Started off our delicious dinner with their Chilled Zalouk Eggplant followed by the Chilled Taktouka Roasted Red Pepper Dip.
Their house-made Pastilla’s are always a treat and we enjoyed the Seafood Pastilla along wit the Vegetable Pastilla.
The restaurant is known for it’s tableside flambe experiences, we took advantage of this and had the Halal Tenderloin Cognac Flambe,
Next were a couple of their tagine’s, the Saffron and Lemon Halal Lamb Shank; and the Cardamom Duck with Figs and Sesame. For dessert we had the Milk Pastilla and Almond Briwat.
Make a reservation and go and enjoy some Belly dancing on the weekend.
There are some great features in the Acura MDX such as Acura’s intuitive and driver-focused True Touchpad Interface™ (TTI), featuring Acura’s largest-ever center display. At an ultra-wide 12.3-inches, the full-HD display works seamlessly with the Acura-exclusive touchpad with “absolute positioning” and a new, more powerful CPU for improved performance. The TTI in MDX features intuitive controls, including physical Power, Volume and Seek controls positioned within easy reach to the immediate right of the touchpad, along with more accurate swipe zones and handwriting recognition, and other performance enhancements.
The next day we left the city nice and early for a drive to Brackendale, just North of Squamish for breakfast and we went early so that we didn’t have to wait for a table at Fergie’s Cafe.
What a wonderful place, off the beaten track, with delicious food and gracious service. I had a Cappuccino and their Tofu Scramble Bowl, while Mark had one of their popular egg dishes.
MDX offers several great technologies including Precision Cockpit all-digital instrument display, Amazon Alexa Built-In, and Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.
We also visited the Squamish Farmers Market, which is one of my favourite markets, saw my friend Coconama and had a taste of his delicious chocolate truffles. Also visited Rising Knead Bakery for the first time, bought a RKB cookie (so good) and a loaf of their Light Rye with Pumpkin Seeds which was also very good. Long lineup for a reason, get in line the next time you see them at one of the Farmers markets in Vancouver or Squamish.
Next up was a light lunch at Saha Eatery, so many people have told me to visit, okay I finally visited, we had the Hummus and Falafel.
Next up was a visit to XOCO Chocolate, another spot that I have never been to and they have been there for over 30 years, Mark picked up some gifts to take bake home.
Lastly, Coffee at Galileo Coffee Roasters and that is one of my favourite spots for coffee in Squamish.
I really enjoyed the Acura MDX was a great car to drive in and around Vancouver as well as the Sea to Sky to Squamish to try some great eateries.
By: Richard Wolak
Disclosure: Acura Canada provided me with the 2022 Acura MDX for a week to test drive, and photograph.