Happy Canada Day, Our Anniversary dinner at Wa Dining Okan & Dessert at ED (downtown)

First of all, Happy (late) Canada Day to any Canadian readers out there! C, I'm talking to you! :)  Time to crank up that Rush or Triumph! Thank you Canada for also bringing Ryan Reynolds into this world! We'll forgive you for Justin Bieber!

July 1 is Canada's "national day", which celebrates the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act ,which united two British colonies and a province of the British Empire into a single country, still within the Empire, called Canada.

I didn't know this (duh on me, ha ha) but Queen Elizabeth II is the symbolic head of state for Canada. She recently visited Novia Scotia earlier this week and I happened to see that in the newspaper...

July 1 is not only Canada Day, but also our wedding anniversary. Bert and I are celebrating15 years this year!  Although it's 15 years of marriage, we've been "together" for 25 years. Yeah...we were pretty young.

In 1995, the biggest news at the time of our wedding was the arrest of Hugh Grant after he solicited the "services" of a certain Ms. Divine Brown (and his subsequent apology interview on Jay Leno "What the hell were you thinking?"), as well as the scandal involving the suicide of Marlon Brando's daughter, Cheyenne Brando. A fews years prior to her downward spiral into depression and drug abuse, her boyfriend was shot to death by her half brother, Christian Brando (Brando's son from his first marriage). Anyhow, the suicide was only notable to me because Cheyenne was the daughter of his third wife, Tarita Teriipia who was Tahitian (she met Brando during the filming of "Mutiny on the Bounty". Our honeymoon destination was Tahiti.  Also, that same year, in mid June, French President Jacques Chirac

announced the resumption of nuclear testing in French Polynesia.  There were protesters at the airport when we arrived! Yikes!

So...enough about that trivial history! Bert and I were going out tonight sans TC!  Instead of some fancy schmancy place where we'd have to "dress up", we decided to try this place I'd read about and heard about, Wa Dining Okan which is right next to Nijiya Market on Convoy. Check out other bloggers' posts here: Kirk from Mmm-Yoso (there is part 1 and a link for part 2 plus descriptions of the interior and the origins of the restaurant), Alice Q. Foodie, Clayfu, Dennis from A Radiused Corner (lunch) and Darlene from My Burning Kitchen (she does dessert)...

Although we initially arrived at 7 pm, there was no room as it's pretty small in there. We were told to come back at 8 pm. So we killed time by picking up a few items at Nijiya and also at nearby Zion Market. Thane was in town so we bought some sake, snacks, and shoju.  Next time, I'll remember to make reservations here. There are menus in Japanese and English...Appetizers, side dishes, grilled dishes, small dishes, etc...

They sat us at the bar. Bowls of pre-prepared side dishes were on the counter top...

I'll let the pictures do the talking here...

Yam Noodles with Spicy Cod Fish Roe:

Pumpkin Salad (Kabocha squash):

Deep Fried Baby Octopus (this was my favorite dish that night!):

Beef Rib Steak with Balsamic sauce (this was our other favorite!):

Pork Wrapped Asparagus:

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab:

The small dishes were just right for the two of us. There was a group of four guys next to us that had the grilled beef and vegetables on the magma plate. They looked like they were having fun. We loved the presentation of our dishes. I think I want to come back here just for that octopus!

This was the seasoned salt on the deep fried soft shell crab plate...The crab tasted so good with a squeeze of lemon and dipped into the salt!

Potato with pork, carrot and fish cake...

Deep fried oysters...these kicked butt on the "to go" bentos at Mitsuwa. For one, these oysters were much much bigger and fresher tasting! Plus, no pesky un-openable Tonkatsu sauce packet!

Chicken Karage:

One of the specials that night was Fried Chicken Gizzards with garlic salt...

In all, we enjoyed ourselves a lot at Wa Dining Okan. Great service and great food! Looking back, we got a lot of fried stuff but it didn't feel "heavy" or greasy at all. We got to sample a bunch of different dishes for the same cost as we would have paid  for one meal at a fine dining establishment. If we go again (and I'm sure we will), we will try more of their non-fried item as well as more seafood.

Next up, we headed downtown for the Little Italy location of Extraordinary Desserts...

It was a strange feeling for us to be out on a weeknight! The place was packed with young uns. I felt kinda old! But age is just a number, right?

We had a short 10 minute wait...

Bert got the Vanilla Macadamia nut coffee (they were out of the chocolate version)...Ooh, loved the sugar rock crystals. I ate a few!

I got the "Caribe" cake which has "chocolate mousse infused with mangos and bananas, layered between dark chocolate ganache, bathed in passion fruit juice and decorated with fresh tropical fruits...There was gold leaf on the kiwi! And no, I didn't "see it the next day"! Loved the presentation!

Bert got the Coffee Cake with raspberries inside...

My piece of cake was taken home to be enjoyed the next day...we'll have to go here again to try their paninis...

I can't believe 15 years have gone by so quickly! Of our two flower girls, one just graduated high school and will be attending UCSD; the other will be a high school senior. We are still friends with most of our friends who were in the wedding party. In fact, Thane was our best man. He's been a good friend since junior high up to the present day.  He flew down from S.F. this week to celebrate his birthday and spend the 4th of July in San Diego with family and friends...

I'm just going to try and relax these next few days. I start work again in one week!