February 2011

In Cafe

Cumpari’s Gelato & Caffe (Visit #2)

February 4, 2011

Since Cumpari’s is close to where I usually hang out, so here we are again! Check out my review from Visit #1

Since CanuckGirl and I wandered off from a party, we decided to take a quick trip to Cumpari’s for a late night snack.

CanuckGirl grabbed a small gelato with 2 flavours – pistachio and white chocolate.

I got this Tubular cookie with nutella and nuts ($3). I really wanted a churro but they ran out….so I had to settle with this..I thought it was some sort of profiterole, but it was hard. I’m not sure if it has a name (the staff didn’t even have a name for it). It’s basically a cookie with filling inside.

Craving italian pastries during the night but too lazy to drive to Vancouver or Richmond? Get your fix here, but it is slightly pricey.

We rated Cumpari:

Cumpari Gelato & Caffe is located at 535 North Road in Coquitlam, BC

In Bar and Grill

Yew Restaurant + Bar

February 4, 2011

A Year ago, PhotographyGirl and I went here for Dineout and loved it. Since I never came here for lunch, I wanted to try it out.

Yew is located at the Four Seasons Hotel in Downtown Vancouver. It has really gorgeous interior. I would say it would be pretty good for a business lunch or a nice date.

The lunch menu is pretty straight forward, you have your appies, mains, and then dessert. Most people are pressed for time during lunch…so you probably don’t want to order all 3 if you have a 1 hour lunch. There’s a lot to choose from on the menu, but since I was on my diet, I was limited in choices…. 🙁

I started off with a coke. Even comes with refills!

The bread came and it was a sour dough? I think and some crunchy bread sticks.

I ordered the Ahi Tuna Wrap ($18) which came with a salad and I added on the daily soup ($6).

Inside the Ahi Tuna Wraps were Daikon, Asian Pear, Cilantro, on Vietnamese Rice Paper. Really nice and had sizable chunks of tuna. For $18 for 3 pieces of wrap and a salad … I didn’t think it was worth the price…but at least it was healthy.

I also added on a side soup since the waitress described it so exquisitely. I can remember what was in it, but it had real crab in it too!

PhotographyGirl ordered the starter version on the daily soup ($8) and the Pear Salad ($10).

The salad has Grilled Bosc Pear, Baby Spinach & Frisee Salad, Blue Cheese. She found the presentation not as well as it could have been.

Words of Wisdom:

Great for DineOut Vancouver option or any regular meal
Reservations are recommended
Have good breakfast
Free Coffee in the morning!
Outstanding soups

We Rate Yew:

Website: http://www.yewrestaurant.com/

Address:

791 W Georgia St
Vancouver, BC

In Dineout

DineOut: Aqua Riva

February 3, 2011

Since the old gang was back together in Vancouver, going out to Dineout seemed right. We left all the planning to ConsultingGirl and she brought everyone together.

We chose to go check out Aqua Riva. Aqua Riva is located beside the Waterfront convention centre. The dine out was $28 for 3 courses.

We just had water since we got reservations for 5 people at 8:30pm. Since we all had to work or go to school the next morning, we just didn’t get any additional drinks.

2 types of bread came to our table, Focaccia bread and french bread? It also came with salsa and butter. Salsa was my choice of topping on bread…..yum!

LabRat and I started off with the Baby green salad with Smoked Wild Salmon. On top of the greens, there is white and green asparagus. THe sauce used was a sherry Dijon Vinaigrette. I liked it and the salmon was really really good!

PharmacyBoy got the Manhattan Seafood Chowder. In addition to the seafood was chorizo and saffron. He was quite disappointed by the chowder because it was a tomato sauce rather than the traditional white cream sauce in chowders.

ConsultantGirl and SpongeBobGirl ordered the Sesame Crusted Scallops. The scallops are served with spinach and couscous salad. Around it is a orange and sesame vinaigrette.

SpongebobGirl and I both ordered the Wood Grilled Rib Eye. The steak was done medium rare. It comes with Cajun jumbo fries, Salsa verde and a peppercorn sauce.

PharmacyBoy and LabRat ordered the Orachiette pasta with grilled prawns. Shittake Mushrooms, spinach, chilies, and pesto cream sauce.

ConsultingGirl ordered the GInger potato crusted wild salmon. There is a grilled asparagus risotto, corn + blackbean salsa and basil butter sauce.

For dessert there was Apple and cranberry crisp.

There was also the Banana Chocolate Mousse Cake.

No one could really decide which one was the better dessert since we all had different tastes. Since it was only limited to 2 choices of dessert, we didn’t feel that Aqua Riva had any extraordinary desserts.

Words of Wisdom:

Parking at Convention Centre for $9 all night
Decent dineout but not the best for the $28 range

We Rate Aqua Riva:

Website: www.aquariva.com

Address:

200 Granville St
Vancouver, BC

In Chinatown

Phnom Penh

February 2, 2011

I was really excited to finally check out Phnom Penh because it is Vancouver’s most famous vietnamese food. They have won countless awards….. year after year…after year!

When InsecureGirl, M and I came at 6:30, this place was packed! The line up was almost out the door!

The inside has tons of chairs and tables, but most of the time they were occupied. The interior is not anything special…usual asian restaurant.

Tea!

We ordered 3 of the Condensed milk vietnamese coffees. I’d rather have this than a regular latte! It’s really strong and tastes great with the addition of the condensed milk! When you were a kid, i’m sure you had a can at home…so you would take a spoon and just eat it from the can.

These additional sides came to our table along with out meal. Bean sprouts, chilli sauce, lime, and then this really delicious broth. I don’t know what is in it, but it was very nice and refreshing.

Dry Noodle ($6) looked really good, it was loaded with different types of seafood and meats. Underneath the meat and the cilantro and green onions were the dry noodles and this dark sauce. To eat this dish, you should mix everything together so all the noodles get a good coating of the sauce.

After having it all together, it was alright, but not the best.

Marinated Butter Beef ($12.85) was TO DIE FOR! It is essentially a plate of thinly sliced beef that is almost rare. It is loaded with cilantro, garlic chips, ginger, and an amazing sauce. This also one of their famous dishes.

Deep Fried Squid ($8.95) were also amazing! Battered, fried, seasoned with garlic, onion and other ingredients. You also get side dipping sauce that has a lemony taste to it.

Very good and highly recommend!

Deep Fried Chicken wings ($12.50) was really good! It’s one of their most popular dishes on their menu. Very well made and super delicious! One thing I started to notice was how the squid and the chicken seemed so familiar….but maybe it was just me.

There was also the same dipping sauce as the squid. Worked well since it was a nice accompaniment with acidic sauce matching with fried taste.