August 2011

In French

Chez Meme Baguette Bistro: Baguettes and Slow Service

August 31, 2011

Chez Meme Baguette Bistro is a hot spot for sandwich lovers! They are best known for their selection of baguettes and french onion soup. Since Louieseries is a sandwich fanatic, I just had to take her here!

I don’t find it wrong to revisit places, I really do love it because each visit is a story of its own and it reminds me of all the fun eating times I have with my friends.

The place was packed and we did have to wait in line for a table. We spent a large potion of the time here waiting. That seemed to be the trend since we waited for a table, waited for a menu, waited for water, waited for someone to take our order and waited a long time for our food to arrive.

If you do come here, do have a bit of patience. The 2 times I’ve been here, you probably spend more time waiting than eating. Their food is worth the wait.

Jambon- Brie Baguette ($9) has Black forest ham, brie cheese and mustard in a nice baguette. What Louieseries liked most about this is how the ham is wrapped around the brie. She enjoyed the melty brie and ham. The bread is quite crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

She also added an additional $3 to get the french onion soup. It has onion soup, beef stock, bits of baguette and swiss cheese on top. It’s really one of the must have side dishes! Some may not like the soup since it can be very bold with flavour and a bit salty.

Nordique Baguette ($9.25) smoked salmon, red onions, cucumbers, and lemon dill cream cheese in the fresh baguette. It is one of the lighter baguettes that they have. I liked it since it was simple are the cream cheese and the salmon were the stars of this baguette.

I had the side salad with the balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I found the greens in the salad were not very fresh. You can tell by the dark edges around some leaves. It was a bit scary, but I just ate it anyways. The only reason why I ate it was because of their balsamic vinaigrette sauce. I really love the acidity and the tingly sensation it gives my lips.

Overall, consistant slow service, but the food is pretty good…except the part with the wilted greens.

Words of Wisdom:

Amazing French Onion Soup! Must order!
Free Parking on adjacent streets
Busy during lunch hours
Slow service
Under $10

We Rate Chez Meme Baguette Bistro:

Address:

4016 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC

In Gastown

Big Lou’s Butcher Shop: Sandwiches, Sandwiches, and Sandwiches

August 30, 2011

Big Lou’s Butcher Shop is best known for their selection of meats as well as their sandwich counter. Some say that their sandwiches are equally as good as Meat & Bread.

I am never in this part of town, so it took me a while to make a trip here. M wanted a sandwich as usual, so I thought this would be a perfect place.

The back of this small store is the sandwich counter. They have a decent sized selection of sandwiches, but you really have to come here before certain items run out. I really really wanted the Porchetta, but that was sold out…also the turducken was sold out too.

They have very ornate decoration in the store. I just adored their shelves because of all the old style items that are there. Mostly it was the Boylan bottles of pop, but it gave it a cool look.

M is a huge cherry cola fan but I have never liked the flavour of any cherry type of cola…..till now.

Boylan’s Black Cherry soda is so good! It has a nice refreshing taste of the cherry flavour and it’s the best I have ever had. even said it was the best he’s ever had as well.

We took the sandwiches home to eat since there were only 2 stools to sit on. Since they were closing in 30 mins, we really didn’t mind taking it out. I hear thats what most people do anyways. I love how they wrap up these sandwiches so nicely in butcher paper and wrap the string around it.

Banh Mi ($8) has pickled vegetables, shredded pork shoulder, pate, cilantro and spicy mayo. This was pretty good. The bread is super crunch on the outside and quite nice and fluffy on the inside.

It is packed with a good amount of the shredded pork shoulder! The sauce worked really well with the ingredients too! They really created a good variation of this vietnamese classic. Just look at all that tender meat, who could resist?

Big Lou’s Chicago Style ($7.50) has in-house made sausages, pickles, onions, mustard, tomato mayo, peppers and celery salt. This sandwich uses the same type of bread as the banh mi sandwich.

I wasn’t a fan of this sandwich. The sausage had a really good taste, but I didn’t like the combination of the pickled, peppers and onions. I didn’t feel like it accentuated the flavour of the sausage since it really is the star of this sandwich.

The Shooter has seared medium steak slices, mushrooms, caramalized onions and perhaps horseradish. This sandwich is definitely different than the other ones. All the ingredients are embedded into the middle of the sandwich like a cross-section. All the laters are quite visible and you can see the medium color of all the steak slices.

The bread is different and it’s more dense and full of grains than the other bread.

When you bite into the sandwich, you will notice that is cold. I think they prepare it ahead of time and slice a piece off when someone orders it. It did have a good combination of flavours, but since it was cold, it was hard to taste some of the flavours. If this was a hot sandwich, I am sure the caramelized onions would have stood out a bit more.

Overall, Big Lou’s Butcher Shop has some interesting sandwiches. I found that some sandwiches can be a hit or a miss. Since I didn’t try the porchetta, I still don’t know which is better. For the time being, I will still stick with Meat & Bread. I will return for another visit and see which sandwich shop reigns supreme.

Words of Wisdom:

Super sketch area of town
Under $10
Banh Mi is good choice!

We Rate Big Lou’s Butcher Shop:

Address:

269 Powell Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.biglousbutchershop.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/BigLousButcherShop

Twitter:

@biglousbutcher

In Chinese

Tai Wan Restaurant: Amazing Korean Style Chinese Food

August 28, 2011

I was at Metropolis Comics & Toys near Metrotown buying some KidRobot Figurines, when M wanted to get some food close by. He didn’t want to walk far to find food, so we stayed on the same block to find something. I was so surprised at the restaurants on the block! I always thought it was super sketch.

Turns out there is a restaurant called Tai Won specializing in Korean-Style Chinese food. If you have never had Korean Style Chinese food, you must have some! It might even be better than authentic Chinese food. At one point, the restaurant was pretty packed for dinner time.

The tea is complementary like most restaurant and comes in a tea pot.

Their menu is quite simple and does not offer a large array of choices. Nonetheless, the items are good.

Like most Korean restauants, they provide you with complementary side dishes called banchan. Instead of the usual spicy sides such as kimchi, they have pickled radish and cabbage. It is pickled in vinegar and sugar. These are some of my favorite side dishes … and I ate all of them by myself. I didn’t want to share with M. hehehe.

Koon Man Doo / Deep Fried Dumplings ($6.99) has choppped pork and veggies inside. It is perfectly deep fried and has a nice crunch when you bite into it. One of my favorite dumplings ever. Definitely recommended.

Since you want some dipping sauce for the dumplings. Mix these 3 ingredients together. I think it’s vinegar, soysauce and chili powder. Mix these all together and you will get the perfect sauce to go with your fried dumplings.

Bo Keum Bab ($7.99) has fried rice with veggies, shrimp and ham. It is them topped off with the traditional korean black bean sauce. M really liked the dish.

Yoo San Seul Bab ($8.99) has rice with assorted veggies, pork and seafood on top. There’s a lot of sauce, so when you mix it around you will have plenty of sauce and taste of the rice. It kinda reminded me of the chinese egg swirl with rice, but with no egg. Still very delicious.

Overall, very good place despite the somewhat sketchy location.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking in rear
Under $10
Deep Fried Dumplings, Bo Keum Bab and Yoo San Seul Bab recommended
Closest Skytrain: Metrotown

We Rate Tai Wan (태원) Restaurant:

Address:

4727 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H

In Granville Island

Celine’s Fish and Chips: Worst Fish & Chips On Granville Island

August 27, 2011

I’ve been on a Fish & Chips hunt this Summer whenever I happen to pass by a place. While I was on Granville Island, I decided to try out Celine’s Fish & Chips. Its been here for a long long time and I thought it really couldn’t be that bad. I had it many years ago, but I totally forgot what it tasted like.

When I approached this place to order, I was a bit shocked at the way they communicated with customers. They didn’t seem very happy and the only thing they said was “$16 dolla”. The wait for my dish was quite long too, which was funny since there wasn’t a lot of people lining up. A few other people ordered after me and the serve was also cold to them as well.

Sample Platter ($16) was quite expensive. It has a few onion rings, fries, calamari, one small fried oyster, one small fried prawn, and a small piece of cod. I was very disappointed in this platter. The majority of this plate was onion rings and fries. All the seafood items were quite small.

The onion rings were heavily breaded with batter and it felt like you were eating more of the batter than the onion. The fries were also soggy and pretty bland. The cod was pretty good, but it was a small piece and also heavily coated with batter. I had to remove the batter to get a good taste of the cod. The prawn and the oyster were both mediocre and did not seem very fresh. Quite ironic because they are located on Granville Island. The only item that saved this patter was the fried calamari. It had a nicely seasoned light batter that surrounded it, so you can really taste the squid.

Overall, major disappointment. If they can’t get a platter right..I wouldn’t imagine the fish & chips to be good either. The food is quite greasy as well. I will never order from here again.

Words of Wisdom:

Self Serve napkins and condiments
Overpriced
Greasier than normal
Horrible onion rings and fries
Bad service

We Rate Celine’s Fish & Chips:

Address:
109 – 1689 Johnston Street
Vancouver, BC

In Granville Island

Market Grill: An Awesome Burger Find!

August 27, 2011

The Market Grill on Granville Island is in the marketplace. They are best known for their amazing burgers! My sisters and I were in the marketplace looking for seafood to bring back home, but then we felt kind hungry, so we decided to grab a bite here.

The Market Special Burger with Caesar Salad ($8.75) is one of their most popular items. It has Swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions, tomato and a thick beef patty on a toasted bun. The patty has a nice char on the outside, but when you bite into it, the flavours are just amazing. With the combination of the savory mushrooms and gooey cheese, it really just makes your day better.

The caesar salad is quite basic. It has romain lettuce, parmesan and dressing. Nothing too fancy.

Overall, great burger and we will definitely come here again. The burger was really good and I wouldn’t see why the other burgers wouldn’t be as awesome as well.

Words of Wisdom:

Good Prices
Market Special Burger!
Lots of seating, but usually full

We Rate Market Grill:
Address:
104 – 1689 Johnston Street
Vancouver, BC

In Coquitlam

Fuji Sushi: Your Friendly Neighbourhood Japanese Restaurant

August 26, 2011

Since I live near the Lougheed area, I wanted to try something different with M, BusanGirl and PoliceMan. I was tired of the usual Korean and Japanese Restaurants in the area, so I did a bit of research to find Fuji Sushi. I’ve never heard of this place before and it seems like it’s a local favorite for the people in the Burquitlam area.

When we arrived, the place was packed and there were also a few people in line. They have 2 bigger areas in the back for larger groups and everything else seats 1, 2 or 4. If you do come here with a large group of 4+, it’s best to make a reservation just so you don’t have to wait in line, or have awkward seating.

When we arrived, it took us a while to get our seat. As we were waiting, we actually considered perhaps just going elsewhere, but as we began to walk away, our table became available.

The menu has the usual items you would find in a Japanese restaurant. The prices are decent, but they are slightly higher than other places.

Since I found out that I passed my Finance course at SFU, I really needed a drink to relieve all the stress.

I had to get a bottle of Sapporo to celebrate! I thought it was funny how they gave me a Kirin glass to go with it. It boggles your mind when you drink from it.

M got his usual warm house sake. I don’t think we ever know what brand or type of sake we get. He loves sake no matter what brand or type.

Katsudon ($8.50) has a fried pork cutlet with egg, onions, green onions and pickled diakon. M thought it was quite average, but it wasn’t bad or anything like that.

Dinner Box – Sashimi Combo ($14.50) is comes with tuna and salmon sashimi, beef teriyaki, tempura, grilled salmon, fruit, garden salad, rice and miso soup. BusanGirl and PoliceMan shared this since they both weren’t too hungry. They enjoyed everything, but they did not take a liking towards the grilled salmon.

Miso soup that comes with the combo is just normal. Miso soup isn’t complicated since it’s just mixing water with miso paste. It’s just your standard miso soup with green onions.

Fried Oyster ($4) came with 3 pieces. They are medium sized oysters that are breaded and fried. The oysters were pretty good with a crunchy thin crust. It also tasted quite fresh as well.

California Roll ($2.50) has tobiko, artificial crab meat and avocados. It was alright, but it’s not the best.

Spicy Tuna Roll ($3.75) has a large chunk of tuna sashimi with green onions and spicy sauce. I liked this because even though the spicy sauce isn’t mixed into the tuna, they add enough sauce around it that there is enough spiciness.

Overall, it’s a decent place to go to. It might just be equivalent to California Sushi.

Words of Wisdom:

Bento Boxes are good value
Good fresh quality sashimi
Line ups at peak hours, make reservations
Decent Service

We Rate Fuji Sushi:

Address:

526 Clarke Rd
Coquitlam, BC V3J

Website:
www.fujisushi.com

In Brunch

Bino’s Family Restaurant: Bang For Your Buck

August 25, 2011

I have to be honest, I judge restaurants based on what they look like from the outside. Bino’s is a family restaurant of Kingsway and Joyce. They are best known for their cheap all day breakfast. For some others, it is their “hangover cure”. For M and I, its just good cheap eats! All their seating is booth style and the interior is quite dated.

We were introduced to this place through a friend and we were mesmerized by their cheap breakfast. We decided to come again since I somehow misplaced those pictures.

Their menu does really have everything from breakfast, lunch to dinner…it’s all there. They also have a kids menu. Most of their items are under $10.

M ordered the Monte Cristo with side of sausages ($6.30 +$2.60). It originally comes with fries, but M felt like sausages, so we opeted out of the fries for a discount of $0.65. Then he added the side of sausages. The sausages were the usual breakfast sausages and they were good.

Their version of monte cristo is egg dipped french toast with ham and swiss cheese. Since there are so many variations of the monte cristo, it wasn’t the version that M was looking for. He wanted it deep fried and smothered in jam. He’s still on the hunt for that kind.

In the case of Bino’s version of the monte cristo, it is still very good and it tastes best with syrup.

I had the Corned Beef special with a side of bacon ($5.95 +$2.60). It has slices of corned beef and mustard on rye bread. I substituted the fries for bacon. hehehe. BACON! I really liked the bacon here, its crispy!

The sandwich doesn’t have too much meat, but it is an ok amount for what you pay. I like how they have mustard on both sides of the bread so you get a good amount of mustard to go with the meat. Mustard+corned beef are a good combination! I really just wished there was more meat.

Bino’s doesn’t have the best breakfast you will ever have, but they give you the bang for your buck. They try to keep their prices low to cater to seniors. I think most of their customers are seniors who just like good eat for good price. It’s just simple and more like “home” type of food thats not overly complicated.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking in rear, don’t forget to register license plate with waitress
Cheap eats, decent food
Good breakfast deals
Corned Beef Hash is very good
Most popular item is the All Day Breakfast and

We Rate Bino’s Family Restaurant:

Address:

3312 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC

In Richmond

Pajo’s Fish & Chips: Down By The Sea

August 24, 2011

I’ve heard the Pajo’s in Steveston is quite popular for Fish & Chips, so it was time for a visit. Pajo’s is located on a dock, which floats on top of the green murky water and it’s attached to the waterfront by stairs. Since it was a very nice sunny day, there were pretty huge line ups just to order.

All the seats on the dock were taken up already!

They also have additional seating near the waterfront, so there is plenty of seating for all! On the hot sunny days, its best to find seating that has shade or else you my develop a nice tan!

They specialize in Fish & Chips, but they also have a large variety of burgers and hot dogs.

They also have beverages and lots of sides to add to your meal.

The first thing you must do is to is to take a look at the menu and order at the first menu, then line up to pick up your order.

Yep, thats tartar sauce that goes with your fish and chips! Yum Yum! Don’t forget to grab yours when you pick up your order.

M and ScarFace both ordered the “One of Each Fish & Chips” ($14.99), which has one piece of salmon, cod and halibut. The 3 pieces rests on a bed of fries. M thought the best fish was the salmon since he really couldn’t tell the halibut and the cod apart due to their taste and color. The fish nice and delicate with a crunchy layer of batter on the outside. M really hated the chips since they were quite bland and soggy.

Even though Vancouver is known for its fresh fish, M still thinks that the best fish & chips are still found in London. He hasn’t found a place here that has amazing Fish & Chips.

I ordered the Halibut Fish Burger and Chips ($10.79). It comes with the burger and a cone of the chips.

Similar to M, I did not take a liking to the chips. Perhaps they didn’t fry them long enough. The only way I could eat them all would be dipping them into the tartar sauce.

The Halibut pieces were quite small, so there were 2 pieces in the burger with tar tar sauce and lettuce. I was not a fan of the bun since it was not toasted. The bun was quite soft. The halibut had a really nice taste, but I wished it came with one large piece of fish and not just 2 smaller pieces. One of the pieces kept trying to escape. Nonetheless, I did enjoy biting into the fish

Overall, they taste of the fish was alright, but the fries are just horrible. Since it’s called Fish & Chips, both should be exceptionally delicious, but it wasn’t too greasy or anything like that.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking on streets
Decent Fish, Horrible soggy chips
Certain items can get expensive
Get seaside atmosphere
Salmon is good!

We Rate Pajo’s Fish & Chips:

Address:

3500 Bayview St
Richmond, BC V7E

Website:
www.pajos.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pajosfishandchips

Twitter: @pajos_fishchips

In Dessert

Screamers Soft Serve & Treats: I Scream For Ice Cream…and Slurpee

August 23, 2011

A long time ago, there was a shop at Metrotown that served up a delicious blend of ice cream and slurpee. It was one of the highlights of going to Metrotown with my parents. I was so devastated when it shut down. I thought I would never see the delicious concoction again.

As I was browsing through Twitter, I found out a shop called Screamers in Steveston was selling the wonderful dessert. Since it was so far away in Steveston, I had to give M a good reason to take me here. It really didn’t take much convincing since we were both bored after exams.

You order from the first window and pick it up in the other window. The simple menu is located on the right side. They only have 4 flavours of screamers, but its good enough.

Grape Crush Screamer (Small – $3.35) has the mixture of the vanilla soft serve ice cream with the grape crush slurpee. You can see that the ice cream is surrounding the entire cup and not just on the bottom or just at the top. Well integrated so you won’t miss a bite of the slurpee and ice cream.

Orange Crush Screamer (Small – $3.35) was my favorite because I’m a orange crush girl! Super delicious on a hot summers day.

Lime Crush Screamer (Small – $3.35) was also good. We all come to a consensus that the soft serve ice cream was really really good. M and ScarFace loved the combination of the 2 items but felt that the small was really large. We kept going at the screamer, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Well worth the money.

Words of Wisdom:

Mini or Small is a good size
All items under $5
Free parking on most roads (Super hard to find a spot during peak hrs)
Delicious soft serve ice cream

We Rate Screamers Soft Serve & Treats:

Address:
12211 Third Avenue
Richmond, BC

Website:
www.screamerssoftserve.ca

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/screamerssoftserveandtreats

Twitter:
@screamers_ss

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen: Great Addition to The Drive

August 22, 2011

My sister found a new Japanese place on Commercial Drive called Kishimoto that serves up sushi and different izakaya dishes. Since I just adore Japanese food to death, I dragging M to come eat with me.

There are a few other Japanese Restaurants on Commercial Drive and at first we accidentally went to the wrong place. It looked nothing like Kishimoto, but it had a similar name. M thought I took him to a crappy place, but we just went to the wrong place. We felt super bad to be leaving, so we just grabbed our stuff and quickly said “umm errr we have to go”. As we walked infront of Kishimoto, our eyes just lit up.

Their interior is quite dark, so it gives it a bit of a romantic intimate vibe. The servers were really nice!

I can’t live without beer, so I got a bottle of Kirin. Kirin isn’t as good as Sapporo or Asahi.

Ebi Chili Mayo ($9.75) comes with 5 pieces of the battered and fried prawns with chili mayo sauce. The prawns were beautifully butterflied so you can taste more of the natural taste of the prawn . I loved how the mayo is on the side since I really don’t like my ebi mayo doused in the sauce.

What I found was that even though this dish is good, it is quite pricey for just 5 pieces.

Sockeye Salmon Ishinabe ($14) is rice and sockeye salmon sashimi with a bunch of other ingredients in a 450 degree stone bowl. This reminded me of the Korean bibimbap, but with a Japanese twist. You need to leave the ingredients in the bowl until the bottom gets crispy. I love the crispy rice, so I let it sit there for awhile.

For the price, you wont’ get super full from the dish. It also tasted really good, but quite pricey.

My favorite dishes were probably the sushi! It comes with such a lovely presentation! It has a tea light candle in the center with red currants. Red currants are currently in season, so its a perfect garnish.

They do little things on the dish that just impresses me. They even turned bits of carrot into a butterfly!

Kishimoto Roll ($5.95) has scallop, salmon, radish sprouts, wrapped in rice and soy paper. It was really good!!! It’s probably one of the best sushi’s I’ve had in a while. Its the type of sushi that requires no soy sauce and the flavours really just shine through. It was not super dense and it was really just perfect.

Little Princess Roll ($7.95) has oba leaf, cream cheese, unagi, mayo wrapped in rice and inari. This roll even has edamame eyes! The roll just melts in your mouth and you really just fall in love with the combination of unagi and cream cheese.

Overall, M and I fell in love with their sushi! We did like the other items, but they got pretty pricey. You really need to look and choose the items carefully on the menu or else you will break your wallet. The quality of the food is amazing and I will probably come here again for their sushi.

Words of Wisdom:

Kishimoto Roll is a must order!
Prices are slightly high on certain items
dark intimate atmosphere
Great service
Free parking in residential areas

We Rate Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen:

Address:

2054 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/Kishimoto…

View Larger Map

Vancouver

In Bar and Grill

Rogue Kitchen & Wet Bar: More Than Meets The Eye

August 21, 2011

Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar is located in Waterfront station in Downtown. They are a great addition to the downtown core serving up pasta, burgers,pizza, salad, soup and a bunch of other items. It’s a great place to bring your clients or even a girls night out since they have some elegant decor with high ceilings.

Lobster Mac n’ Cheese ($17.99) is one of their more popular items and it has a blend of 4 cheeses, macaroni, lobster and topeed with bread crumbs and cheese.

M and Cdiddy thought it was subpar and there was not a ample amount of cheese flavour. There was plenty of lobster bits however. The whole dish was bland tasting, but the crumbs on top created a nice contrast texture from the smoothness of the mac and cheese. The real disappointment here was the salad. It was unbearably sour, and the selection of the greens didn’t help either.

The 9.2 oz ROGUE burger ($12.99) has a large sirloin patty, sesame brioche bun, bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, pickle, sweet relish, and mayo. It also comes with a side of fries. This is one massive burger and it is even skewered together by a knife.

Seafood Linguini ($16.99) it has prawns, scallops, salmon, halibut, lemon, herbs, red & yellow peppers.

Fries x 3 ($8.99) are hand cut kennebec fries that comes in 3 types – gorgonzola cream & bacon, poutine and truffle oil & parmesan. This appetizer is best shared.

The poutine fries is very typical – gravy and curds. It was alright, but not my favorite.

The truffle fries have been doused with truffle oil and has a strong taste of mushrooms. It was good.

The gorgonzola cream & bacon fries was my favorite since it was the most flavourful and most unique. The gorgonzola is a type of blue cheese, so it has a pungent flavour. Not everyone likes this kind of flavour. It is an acquired taste, but I highly recommend trying! The crunchy bacon goes well with the melty pungent cheese.

Overall, a few of the items on their menu are a hit and a miss.

Words of Wisdom:

Rogue burger and Fries x3 recommended
Pay parking in adjacent lot
Large selection of drinks
Some items can be expensive
Beautiful decor
Located in Waterfront Station

We Rate Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar:

Address:

601 West Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.roguewetbar.com

Twitter:

@roguewetbar

In Japanese

Yami Sushi Japanese Restaurant: Served with a Side of Hair

August 20, 2011

The @SFUSMN crew were having a car wash on Granville and we got super hungry after washing cars and ever large trucks. We went to a few other restaurants and discovered a lot of them only take cash. Seeing that we like to rely on plastic, we found this little restaurant called Yami Sushi Japanese Restaurant. They serve up your usual items at a sushi restaurant.

The interior is quite small and can seat up to a maximum of 4 per table. They only had about 3 tables, so it really doesn’t fit a lot of people.

Their menu is above so you can check out their full selection.

Sake Don ($9.99) has no sake whatsoever! Sake = Wild salmon sashimi. It comes in a bowl of rice with 6 slices of wild salmon sashimi on top. M loved the texture and taste of the wild salmon and its better than the regular orange one. This dish is very simple, so you may want to add a bit of soy sauce if you want a bit of taste.

Toro Sashimi (5pcs – $6.99) was really good. Melt in your mouth goodness!

Wild Sockeye Salmon Sashimi (5pcs – $7.99) is probably their specialty. It was good on the don and it was good on its own!

You are probably reading this whole article and wondering, where is this hair that she speaks of. It was in their Green salad ($3.50). In the picture above it looks quite innocent…has avocados, cucumbers, apple, tomatoes and mayo.

As you dig further, this hair can be revealed embedded between the lettuce. At first I thought it was mine, but upon further inspection, it was well embedded in the salad and not just fallen on top. I alerted the waitress and they made a fresh bowl without the hair.

The new salad was not very good. I didn’t like the mayo sauce that they had on top. I expected to have a citrus sauce on top instead of a mayo sauce. It’s my pet peeve to see mayo on salads…really not my thing.

Overall, they do have great sashimi, but items like the bento boxes are rather decent. The service was quite slow too, which was funny since it is a small restaurant. There were only 6 of us, so its a manageable size.

Words of Wisdom:

Good Sashimi
Green salad is not good
Slow service
Decent prices
Free parking on road and adjacent roads

We Rate Yami sushi:
Address:

8051 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

In Bakery

Footo Delights: Brand New Pastry Shop Specializing in Croissants

August 19, 2011

I love discovering new restaurants and shops through Twitter. I was going through my followers list and thought @modernmixvan would be interesting to follow. I was looking at their site and I saw an article about a new shop – Footo Delights, which opened up and they were having their grand opening event. Since I work close by, I thought I would check it out. Plus, who can say no to croissants?

Food Delights is own and operated by Brenda, who is from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver. She has a huge passion for what she does and puts her heart and soul into the products she creates. Footo Deslight is located close to Homer and Robson. They are the first croissant specialty store in Canada. It’s all fresh from the oven, so you know its not sitting around for a while.

They have nothing to hide from their customers. Similar to larger restaurants, this little shop has an open kitchen concept where you can watch them make the next batch of croissants. They pride themselves of only using natural ingredients and having no artificial flavours, preservatives or chemical additives.

They have many different varieties of croissants – plain, whole wheat, almond, cheese, chocolate, Spinach & Feta and sometimes specialty flavours.

If you aren’t into the croissant spirit, they have other desserts too! Chocolate Mousse, Panna Cotta, Tiramisu, Fruit Mousse and cute strawberry tuxedos.

They have croissant sandwiches too.

It doesn’t stop there, they even have smoothies, yogurt parfaits and frozen yogurt.

Here is their menu.

Since there were way too many choices, I grabbed 2 Chocolate croissants, a complementary bag of mini pastries and a Matcha latte. Instead of just shoving your pastries into a little bag, they have boxes to carry your croissants. Since they don’t get smushed, you know they will stay fresh longer. Plus, the box is super cute! Look at the handle! It’s a croissant!

The Chocolate Croissant ($3.25) is filled with delicious chocolate in the center, layers of the croissant layers and drizzled with more delicious chocolate. I brought these back to the office to share with my coworkers since sharing is caring!

I loved the melty chocolate in the center! I have come upon some croissants that have rock hard chocolate centers, but this one was nice and soft. What is great about these croissants is that you can tell they use less fat and are healthier than other croissants. Since they do use less fat, the layers of the croissant are not as flakey as the ones at Faubourg. The layers are similar to very fluffy light bread. The taste is nonetheless still very good, despite the texture of the layers. The outer layer still has the crunch as well as the ends…yummy crispiness. Totally makes up for the cons.

Since I showed them a coupon for a complementary bag of their pastries, I got these for free. Inside the bag are mini spinach and feta croissant, mini almond croissant and a lemon poppy seed cookie. It’s more like a sampling of their signature items.

The lemon poppy seed cookie was alright, it had a good balance of the lemon and the poppy seed flavour.

The mini feta croissant was one of my favorites since I am also a huge fan of savory croissants. It also had a good taste, but I think I will go back later to try the regular size to see how it is in it’s original form.

The mini almond croissant was also very good. The ends were nice and crispy and the overall flavour was really good.

To grab your own bag of complementary bag of their mini pastries, just grab this coupon from their website and present it to the store. The offer ends tomorrow, so don’t delay.

Overall, good addition to the Downtown core. Great flavours, tons of desserts and are healthier. I saved a bit of the croissants for my sister for her to critique since she has strong opinions about croissants. She really liked it and was very surprised by the overall taste.

Words of Wisdom:

Made with natural ingredients
Large selection of desserts
Small local and independently owned
Not your typical croissant
Highly recommend the chocolate croissant
Closest Skytrain: Stadium or Granville

We Rate Footo Delights:

Address:

820 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.footodelights.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FootoDelights

Twitter: @FootoDelights

In Brunch

Joe’s Grill: Brunch with Bennys and Hash

August 19, 2011

CanuckGirl and I decided we should go to the Pride Parade since we have never ever been to one. Living here for all my life and never going there…shame. Before lining up on the streets, we thought we would grab a bite to eat. I heard Joe’s Grill was pretty popular, so we decided to grab a quick bite here.

They are located on Davie and near Burrard.

The place was packed by 10am, but luckily there were seats on their patio.

You can find the usual breakfast and lunch items on their menu. Sandwiches, Pasta, Bennys, Eggs, omelettes, etc….

The service was quite slow and we were really confused by other customers that ordered after us got their meal before us. After seeing dish after dish not land at our table, I asked the waitress and she went to the kitchen to check. After awhile, she came back and told us the kitchen prepared all the tickets backwards and ours would be coming up soon. As others were half way done their meal, we finally got ours.

Eggs Florentine Benny ($8.55) has spinach, hollandaise and poached eggs on top of toasted english muffins with side of panfried potatoes and an orange slice. CanuckGirl thougt this dish was alright, but it wasn’t the most amazing benny she has ever had. She much preferred Subeez.

Corned Beef Hash ($8.25) has diced corned beef, fried onions, green peppers with potatoes and 2 eggs. They used real corned beef in this dish. I was kinda expecting the canned corned beef for this since I love the salty salty taste. Having it the other way wasn’t too bad. The potatoes, green peppers and the onions made to be a delicious combination of flavours. I am not a potato eater, but with this dish I could eat all the potatoes without hesitation. Not a very pretty dish, but the flavours make up for it. I also douse my food in tabasco too. Early morning kick in the face of spiciness.

After we headed off to the parade. Instead of watching the parade like everyone else, I took my time staring across the street as 2 security guards were yelling at some guys to stop sitting on an “under construction” structure. I find strange things amusing.

Overall, Joe’s Grill wasn’t as good as we expected. Slow service with some decent food, but there are plenty of brunch places in the area.

Words of Wisdom:

Pay Parking on street
Poor and slow Service
Busy during peak hours (especially brunch)
Good low prices

We Rate Joes Grill:

Address:

Robson Street/West End
1031 Davie St
Vancouver, BC

In Bar and Grill

The New Oxford Public House: Shots, Shots, Shots and Of Course Food

August 18, 2011

I went to ConsultingGirl’s going away party and she had it at The New Oxford Public House, it is owned and operated by the Donnelly Group. They are located in Yaletown and has very vintage looking decor. They even have a shuffle board in the back room to play. It’s easy to make reservations for your large party.

I think in all celebratory occasions, you must order a drink, so I got a bottle of Stella Artois ($6.47). They didn’t have any Japanese beer, so Stella is my go to beer.

Prosciutto Brie Sandwich ($12) has prosciutto, brie, arugula, tomatoes, basil aioli and balsamic vinegar on toasted panini bread. It also comes with a pickle on top. It is a very simple sandwich and it’s one of the more healthier items on their menu. The outside of the sandwich is nicely toasted and the filling was simple and delicious. The sandwich isn’t very large, so you may get hungry if you plan on staying a bit longer.

Instead of getting the regular fries, I ordered the Truffle Fries for an additional $1.50. They were really good and had a subtle mushroom taste. Definitely recommended for the upgrade.

Overall the food was alright, but a bit expensive. The service was very slow and it took a while to get our order and bill.

Since the night was still young, I needed to get ConsultingGirl slammed, so I ordered her a JagerBomb ($7.59) and a Prairie Fire ($8.04), which has tobacco and vodka. Prairie Fire is pretty nasty. If you want to disgust your friends, I would recommend the Cement Mixer (Baileys + lime juice) and the Dirty Panty (Baileys Irish Cream, Sambuca, Tabasco Sauce, Tequila).

You have any nasty drink choices?

Words of Wisdom:

Good for drinks and hanging out
Expensive food
Truffle Fries
Closest Skytrain: Yaletown
Reservations are probably wise on busy nights

We Rate The New Oxford Public House:

Address:

1144 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC V6B

Website:
donnellygroup.ca/oxford/

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/newoxfordpub

Twitter:

@DonnellyPubs

In Downtown

Slingers Mobile Food Truck: It’s Like Pasta Between Two Buns

August 17, 2011

I was walking near Burrard to find something interesting to sink my taste buds into during my lunch break. I really had no idea where I was going, until the Slingers Mobile Food Truck caught my eye. I always have such bad luck trying to catch them because they are at various locations and not always at the same spot. They are located on Burrard and Pender on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Their menu is quite simple and has an Italian flair to their menu. They serve up their signature parmesan sandwiches and pasta.

Seeing that I was hungry for lunch, I ordered the Chicken Parmesan Sandwich Combo ($11.75). It comes with the sandwich, fries and a can of pop.

I was looking through their pop and my eyes gazed upon Brio,italian style herbal drink. It tasted different of course, but it was not bad at all.

They give you a lot of home cut fries for the combo. They are made to order and some of the fries are soggy, some of them are crunchy. I guess it depends how long you leave it in the box too. They probably could have used a bit longer in the fryer.

There were really way too many fries to eat, so I ate a bit of it because I still had the sandwich to get through. I have a weird eating habit, I must eat the sides first and then the main item.

You can choose from chicken or veal for your sandwich, but I chose chicken. It is lightly breaded in a mixed herb batter and deep fried. It is also topped with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and served on a Calabrese bun. This really was like pasta between two slices of bread, but without the noodles. It tasted alright, but really nothing too special. They could have done more to it to make it more exciting, but it just seems kinda premade. I am probably wrong, but I didn’t see it as amazing.

Words of Wisdom:

Closest Skytrain: Burrard
Pricey for what you get

We Rate Slingers Mobile Food Truck:

Address:

W Pender St & Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.slingers.ca

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/SlingersMobileFood

Twitter: @slingersmobile

In Izakaya

Electric Owl Social Club: Surprising Asian Inspired Menu

August 16, 2011

It was @wongers birthday and she decided to have it at the Electric Owl. The name of the place sounded very interesting, seemed more like a pub/lounge to me. Since we went there early and it was fireworks night, this place was pretty much desserted except for our large group and some other people.

They serve up items you would see at an izakaya place. This place really confused me because there were chopsticks and most items on the menu didn’t match the look of this place. Their Japanese style snacks are prepared by a Vietnamese chef in an izakaya-inspired room and a live band.

Their whole philosophy is that, like great drinks and creative food, good is always better when there’s more.

There are 2 bars, a large stage, an open dancing area in the middle and lots of seating around the restaurant. Its actually great for large birthdays where you want to have food and drinks. Usually there is nightly entertainment, so there isn’t a need to go elsewhere if you want to party.

On all the tables are the Japanese-like ceramic cups with napkins and chopsticks.

Since the menu was so Japanese, I decided a Sapporo (Pint – $5.30) was a must. Straight from the tap and it comes in the tall glass.

Spicy-cured Beef Tataki ($7.90) is seared NY steak spiced with togarashi seasoning with greens and mayo. The cut of beef was really nice, but I felt that the dish did not have the spice I was looking for. It was not at all spicy. The mayo did not work very well with the beef since it does not give your pallet a good clean feeling compared to the traditional ponzu sauce.

If you are going to get this dish, you might as well go to Guu or any other Izakaya to get the traditional item with ponzu sauce.

Karaage Chicken ($6.90) is deep fried chicken seasoned in soy sauce. It is topped off with leeks and has a side of mayo. M said it was alright, but he wasn’t full from just one dish. You probably need to order about 2 dishes to get full.

Drunken Ebi Mayo ($7.80) is sake-marinated, deep-fried prawns with mayo cocktail sauce. It was alright, but anything out of the ordinary. I liked the side of the cocktail sauce since some other places like to just douse it all in the sauce.

Owl Poutine ($6.20) has fries with teriyaki gravy, cheese curd, green onions, nori, and mayo. You can also add bacon for $1.60. This is one of their popular dishes. It tastes really good!

Matcha Rice Pudding ($4.30) is creamy matcha-infused rice pudding. I liked it even though the presentation is not that exciting. It’s not very heavy and a great light dessert to finish off your meal.

Ice Cream agemono ($5.30) is deep-fried phyllo-wrapped vanilla ice cream with fresh fruit and green tea compote. It tasted alright, but it melted pretty quickly.

Overall, the food is really not the main attraction. It’s a good venue to just chill with your friends and have a drink. They always have large special events, so great social place. Even though their website advertises 2 for 1 ‘appy hour’ from 5pm – 7pm, we didn’t get it. Perhaps it was because we were in a large group.

Words of Wisdom:

Large amount of items are not available on their menu anymore. No brunch, No Bubbletea.
Customizable drinks and super nice bartenders
Lots of large events
Reservations for large groups
Owl Poutine is a must
Free parking in rear
Closest Skytrain: Main

We Rate Electric Owl:

Address:

928 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.electricowl.ca

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/ElectricOwlSocialClub

Twitter: @electricowl_ca

In Chinese

Sha Lin Noodles: Reopened and Better Than Ever

August 15, 2011

A few months ago, there was a fire that started at Japas Bistro, which caused their unit to go up in smoke and affect the neighbouring restaurants as well. I was so sad that Sha Lin Noodles was affected and closed down because they were my go-to noodle place.

After passing by Broadway with M, we saw that they had reopened. We quickly parked the car and lined up. We really didn’t mind the line up since we wanted their noodles so badly! On the plus side, due to the fire, they had to do minor renovations and now the interior looks cleaner.

I first found out about this place when it was featured on Rachel Ray’s show – ‘$40 a Day’ a few years ago. Sha Lin Noodles was highlighted and a few days later I went. Ever since that first time, I fell in love with their food. All their noodles are hand made and their broth has no MSG at all. You can actually watch one of their chefs cooking up the noodles at his station. In this image he is making cutting noodles… thus the knife.

The best noodles to watch are the dragging noodles since they have to stretch the dough out and create an amazing display. It’s really a craft.

Tea comes in little ceramic cups. I was impressed with the service since my cup of tea was never empty.

Theres also the usual sauces where you can spice up your dish. My personal favorite is the hot chili oil. Add a good kick to your noodles.

Pan Fried Dumplings ($10.95)is a large dish. It is meant to be shared amongst a few people. Could be good enough for 4 -5 people. Its funny how it actually resembles a pan.

The dumplings have a nice firm skin with juicy pork inside. The best sauce to go with these dumplings is the black bottle of vinegar. It’s very unique and it’s one of those items to get here. This dish was so large, M and I couldn’t finish it, so we took it back home.

Large Dragging Noodle with Spicy Beef ($8.95) was really good. You can have it spicy or non-spicy. It has large slices of beef, bean sprouts with a delicious savory sauce. M loved this dish since its simple and has a good flavour.

Dragging noodles with chicken and vegetables ($6.95) comes with carrots, bok choy, chicken, noodles and the clean delicious broth. I simply adore this dish, this is my type of comfort food. It’s yet again simple and has great taste. I like to add the spicy chili oil into this dish to add more flavour.

For the longest time, I thought the chicken looked super weird, but it’s just the white meat and how they cook it.