September 2011

In Brunch

Nice Cafe: Nice Breakfast and Delicious Mushrooms

September 6, 2011

Nice Cafe is another Vancouver hot spot for cheap delicious brunch! It’s cheap, it’s affordable, and it’s not just a pile of crap… the food looks pretty good.

The interior is not the most pretty place in the world, so don’t expect anything fancy. There is a row of tables down the middle and a few booths.

If you don’t mind the interior, you will find that Nice Cafe is a nice place to go on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Coffee ($1.60) is a norm for anyone that hates walking up before noon. I plan my weekends out where I make no plans until after 1pm…. unless something good is going on… like brunch with good company.

The coffee is refillable, but they don’t have soy option instead of the usual cream or milk.

2 eggs, hashbrowns, toast, sausage ($4.60) also known as the all day breakfast. It’s probably the most popular item since it’s cheap and you get a generous amount of food. The sausages are beautifully butterflied and grilled up! The hash browns are nice and crispy on the outside. It’s your typical breakfast, nothing fancy shmancy.

Side of mushrooms ($0.75) is a must at Nice Cafe. Obviously, if you hate mushrooms with a passion, you shouldn’t force yourself to eat it.

It is grilled and the flavours really come out! It kinda tastes a bit nutty. Yum.

Spinach & Feta Omelette ($6.10) it comes with hash browns and toast. For that price, it’s not bad!

Overall, pretty good price for what you get. The food is so much better than Bon’s Off Broadway….and looks better too!

Word of Wisdom:

Line up early to avoid line ups
All Day Breakfast is the most popular item
Free parking along adjacent streets
Under $10
Side of Mushrooms!

We rate Nice Cafe:

They are located at:

Mount Pleasant/Main Street
154 E 8th Ave
Vancouver, BC

In Japanese

Kimura: Changes in Portion Sizes Makes Me Sad

September 3, 2011

It’s always a good end to a day by having a delicious Japanese dinner with friends. Since Fabo is leaving soon to the east coast, she wanted to come here to eat their crispy rice. I came with her before, but I guess it was time for a revisit since it’s been a few month, who knows what has changed.

2L Asahi ($27) was their only option. They didn’t have any pitchers, so we had to get this. I dont think they have anything on tap, so most of their alcohol is just bought from the store.

Hakutsuru Sake ($21) is a cold bottled sake you would also find at any liquor store. I’m not exactly sure why M chose this sake, but I guess he wanted to try something different since he always just orders the hot sake.

Chicken Curry ($11.50) comes with the side of curry, rice and chicken cutlet. M enjoyed this since it really brought him back to the days when he visited Japan. This dish is pretty large, so don’t order too many dishes.

Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice ($4.50) is much smaller than I remember! It has pureed spicy tuna sit on top of a piece of lettuce and on a circle of fried crunchy flavoured rice. It is also garnished with jalapeno, and various sauces. I think there are now 70% of their original size. It was still good, but it was just so disappointing to see it so big, to being so small.

Oyster shooter ($3.50) usually comes with the omakase, but I didn’t want to spent $30 to just have it in my meal, so I asked for an order of it and it was totally fine! It has quail egg on top, oyster on the bottom with ponzu and soy sauce mixture. I am not exactly sure what was 100% in the shooter, but it didn’t taste too bad. Just remember to mix it before drinking.

Everyone else at my table just stared at me as I drank this. They thought it was the strangest thing in the world.

They had a Black Cod Special ($19.50) that comes with grilled black cod, tempura, sashimi, yakitori, kobachi, rice and miso soup! I thought it was a pretty good deal since you get to try so many different items.

The miso soup is always my favorite since it has more than just the water, paste and green onions, He ads some tofu curds into it the soup so there is more texture.

Kobachi just means little dish. It has cucumbers and conch (I think). I’m not 100% sure, but it kinda tasted like it. It was a refreshing dish.

The Assorted Tempura had a light coating of the tempura batter and was nicely fried. What I like about their ebi is how they salt it a little but before battering. When you bite into it, you can taste more the of ebi and it really stands out.

Yakitori in this special comes with 2 skewers. One with chicken and bits of wasabi and mushroom and peppers. Their yakitori is pretty good! I think there might have been cheese wrapped around both of these. Yum!

The sashimi has salmon and tuna. Very thin sliced delicate pieces. I prefer my sashimi small because you can really taste the quality and favours of it.

Black Cod is the main dish of the combo and I have never had black cod till now! It is the most delicious delicate fish you will ever have. It is so fatty that it literally just melts in your mouth!

Another good experience at Kimura, it’s also good to note that some portions of items have changed. Spicy tuna Crispy rice…why couldn’t you have stayed the same size. I guess thats why revisits are good. Fabo was disappointed by the size too since she expected the size to be the same. Despite that little change, we all had a good time…and they way you can tell that is when the bill is over $200…for 6 people… ouch!

Words of Wisdom:

Grilled Black Cod and yakitori is delicious
They now accept reservation again!
Parking in front or in residential areas
Customizable dishes, order off the menu
Sushi is not very good
Best to stick with combos and special to get the bang out of your buck

We rate Kimura Japanese Restaurant:

Website: http://www.sushikimura.com/

Address:

3883 Rupert Street
Vancouver, BC

In Fast Food

KFC: Wicked Stix Big Box Meal of Disappointment

September 2, 2011

I went to grab some lunch on the road and I always wanted some Wicked Stix. I heard from a friend that they are so good and I should try it out. I really doubted I would get full just by the wicked stix, so I saw they were selling the Wicked Stix Big Box Meal, so I opted for that choice.

Like all advertisements, it does not look like the advertisement at all. I know it wouldn’t look like the image, but thats what you get with fast food.

The Wicked Stix had no resemblance to the advertisement and didn’t look like 4 uniform blobs, it looked a bit pornographic to me, but maybe I’m just stick minded.

The taste of the Wicked Stix was not very hot, so I asked from extra hot sauce to go with it. Taste good with the hot sauce and lives up to their name. The taste of it was similar to their chicken and popcorn chicken. Same batter as most of their products.

The Chicken Sandwich had a fried chicken patty, mayo, and lettuce on 2 buns. The sandwich was pretty flattened and looked very miserable. The best part is only the chicken because its the main showcase of this burger. The untoasted bun did nothing to enhance the flavours. The lettuce was pretty minimal and the big glop of mayo just made it so gross.

The Coleslaw is probably one of their better sides. It has a little bit of wasabi kick, but I really don’t know if it is. It does have this very sharp taste.

The fries tasted really good since I guess they use some delicious oil to fry it in. They aren’t super crispy and after a while, they do get pretty soggy.

Overall, it was just ok. Wicked Stix was alright if you add more hot sauce! Everything else is pretty meh. Might as well just go to McDonalds. If I really wanted chicken, I would probably go to Church’s Chicken!

Have you tried the Wicked Stix yet? What is your verdict?

In Downtown

Japadog Restaurant: Novelty Has Worn Off

September 1, 2011

I have to admit, when I heard they opened up a Japadog shop, I wasn’t very keen on visiting. I mean, they do serve up really unique Japanese inspired hotdogs, but no more street eating culture. I just find the best part of eating Japadog is just sitting on concrete steps and trying to fend off the rain.

For the others, the Japadog restaurant is great for people who just want to stay indoors and sit on some real chairs. The restaurant isn’t very large, so there is still very limited seating. Most people just do take out.

I came here with MedicalGiraffe and MedicalDog when they came to visit. She wanted to show him the world famous Japanese Hot Dog.

You order at the counter on the left and then you can pick up from the right side.

They have many options to their menu. The main one above the cashier has the usual japadog, sweet japadogs, ice cream japadogs and the shake fries.

Near the door is another menu, where they have additional items and substitutions such as vegetarian options.

Here are all 3 of the Japadogs that we ordered – Oroshi, Terimayo, and Okonomi.

Terimayo ($4.75) has a beef hotdog with mayonaise, teriyaki sauce and shreds of dried seaweed. This is probably the most popular Japadog. The bun is toasted on the outside, and you can tell by the grill marks. MedicalDog thought it was good! He thought it was pretty unique and is nowhere to be found in the States.

If you really want to be cheap, you can also remake it at home. very simple and easy.

Okonomi ($6.25) has Kurobuta Pork Sausage with mayo and bonito flakes. “Okonomi” means “what you want”, which if funny for this Japadog because the toppings are already preset.

MedicalGiraffe thought it was alright, but didn’t taste as good as a few years go. Perhaps the novelty of the Japadog wore off for her.

Since I was doing Meatless Mondays with a few people on Twitter, I really had to try my best to not eat meat. So, I just substituted the normal bratwurst sausage with a veggie sausage.

Oroshi with Veggie Dog ($4.74) has a veggie sausage with radish and some light sauce with green onion on top. The bun for this one was slightly different, it seemed to be oiled and then grilled. The taste was alright, every time I eat this, I do feel a bit healthier since I am eating vegetables.

Butter + Shoyu Shaked Fries ($2.39) is the most popular shake fries, but I was very disappointed. It just tasted like McDonalds fries and looked like them too. The flavour of the butter and Shoyu were very very subtle. I actually didn’t full taste it until, I picked up a large clump of the butter and shoyu in the bottom of the bag.

Shichimi & Garlic Shaked Fries ($2.39) were really good! You coud actually taste the seasoning compared to the Butter + Shoyu!

They also have a curry flavour of shake fries too and that flavour is pretty popular as well!

Overall, I found the Japadogs not as exciting when it comes from the restaurant. The food is pretty average, but people eat it for the novelty of it because it is THE Japadog! My relatives from Hong Kong heard about it on the news and just had to get one when they visited. A lot of people have differing opinions about it, but if you love a good hot dog with crazy toppings, come here to Japadog.

Words of Wisdom: