I recently spent a week test driving the Honda Accord Hybrid 2022 car around snowy Vancouver while enjoying a festive season lunch and catchup with friends.

Headed over to Showcase Restaurant in the Coal Harbour neighborhood for a festive holiday buffet lunch with a friend. Their holiday weekday lunch buffet that featured a salad bar, soup, a selection of hot dishes and a full range of festive desserts.

Later in the afternoon I headed over to the new location of L’Atelier Patisserie which opened recently for a couple of their pastries. This beautiful French bakery had moved from a small spot in Mount Pleasant to a larger spot where they can bake and offer more to their customers. I took the pastries home and enjoyed the Raspberry Millefeuille and a Hazelnut Croissant.

My next stop was over to the Rise Up Marketplace in the Strathcona neighbourhood for some of their Jamaican patties to have later that evening for dinner at home. I got the delicious Tropical Chicken as well as one of the Veggie Jamaican Patties. It’s a spot I had been wanting to visit for quite sometime and now I am looking forward to revisiting very soon for more.

The next day I was over on Granville Island and stopped in to Kasama Chocolate where I indulged with a cup of their 70% Philippines liquid chocolate which was delicious. All of their chocolates and other products are made in this space and you can pickup their selection of chocolate bars as well.

One of the great features is the three selectable drive modes, and the driver can choose with a push of a button located on the centre console. The Sport, EV (electric only) and Econ mode which is what I drove in most of the time.

The next day my friend Debby joined me at one of my favorite Yaletown restaurants for a delicious Moroccan dinner at Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant.  

We shared the Zalouk eggplant pepper stew as well as the outstanding Classic Moroccan Harira Soup.

We then had our favourite Chicken Pastillia (Moroccan flaky pastry stuffed with ground chicken and spices) with the Fresh tomato and Basil salad; and one of the Vegetable Pastilla.

As I always love flambe experiences here we had the outstanding Flambé Full Rack of Lamb that came with roasted veggies, we also had the Lemon & Olive Halal Half Chicken Tagine with Safron and Couscous.

For dessert we had the tableside flambe Cherry Crepes Suzette which is always a treat with the Almond Briwat and Moroccan tea to finish.

The next day I headed out to Surrey to visit Lyra Lou Cakes and try their winning Pistachio Ube Gateau Opera which was outstanding. This cake ship specializes in all sorts of Philippine cakes and pastries.

I also visited Happy Singh Street Eats in Delta for lunch and here I had one of the holiday menu choices, the Tandoor Chicken Tikka Kulcha and this was a tasty dish on their holiday feature menu that had bits of chicken tikka stuffed in naan bread, cooked in the Tandoor. Served with Makhan, Pindi Choley, Raita, Mint Chutney, Aam ka Achaar & Gur.

On Sunday it was time for Lawrence and me to catchup with our friend Kenji and we do so over lunch at Anh and Chi Vietnamese Restaurant where I hadn’t been in years and they had not been before.

I had the delicious Bánh Xèo – Turmeric Crêpe. Lawrence had the Hủ Tiếu Xào Chay – Wok Fried Noodles and Kenji had the Cơm Gà Sườn – Number 37 with Lemongrass Chicken.

Lawrence and I who both love our coffee had the Vietnamese coffee to go with our desserts.

For dessert we shared the delicious Banana Bread Pudding and each had a different ice cream flavour, I had the Vietnamese coffee, Lawrence had the Pandan, and Kenji had the matcha.

The snowy weather gave me a chance to try out the snow tires on the car and they provided for smooth driving around the city on ice covered streets. The car has an excellent fuel economy; benefiting from the Honda Accord Hybrid car battery that charges itself while you are driving which truly economizes on the gas consumption. 

By: Richard Wolak

Disclosure: Honda Canada provided me with the 2022 Honda Accord Hybrid to test drive, and photograph. As always, all opinions and photos are my own.