It was Groucho Marx that once said, “I’m not crazy about reality, but it’s still the only place to get a decent meal.” Well, he was only partially right – Vancouver is rife with ‘safe’ places to get fed – whether it be mega-restaurant chain with the pretty girls or the familiar-to many symbols of American imperialism, none of which make a far departure from the oh-so-standard burger and fries.

Last year, on the Urban Mixer blog, I wrote about r.tl in Yaletown and only about the pretty girls, the aesthetics and the opening party but not much about the food. A couple weeks ago, I was invited to check the restaurant out and satisfy my curiosity as to what r.tl was all about.

Firstly, r.tl, other than being a really cool website address (http://r.tl) purchased from a Timor-Leste website registry (very much like .ca names can be purchased from a Canadian website registry), stands for Regional Tasting Lounge. r.tl is located at 1130 Mainland Steet half-a-block down from Goldfish towards OPUS Hotel.

So what’s the food like?
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