January 2012

In Dessert

Thierry Patisserie: Caneles and Latte

January 16, 2012

Last time I came to Thierry Patisserie, I found it a great place to chat with people over some delicious treats.

Since I was meeting up with CanuckGirl after work, I thought it would be a great place to just chill.

Everything is quite cute inside and it’s usually packed with people. Sometimes seating can get a bit cramped, but they do have heated patio seating if you wanna go outside.

They have lots of little cakes.

They also have a variety of different chocolates.

Also, they have their famous macarons. The flavours change every season, so it can vary from visit to visit.

Latte was really cute. Some pretty stellar latte art too.

Caneles is a small pastry that originated from Bordeaux, France. It has a soft tender custard center with a dark caramel crust. It tasted alright, but it could have more a vanilla taste to it.

Overall, Thierry Patisserie is a good place to chill with your friends over coffee/tea and pastries.

Words of Wisdom:

Large variety of pastries
Can be a bit pricey
Lots of tables
Beautiful decor

We Rate Thierry Patisserie:

Address
1059 Alberni Street
Vancouver, BC
Website:
thierrychocolates.com

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In Fast Food

Arbys: Reuben, Beef n’ Cheddar and Curly Fries

January 15, 2012

Every time I go to a food court, I can’t help but drool over Arbys. Anything with carbs and meat satisfies my cravings. Did you know Arby’s changed their slogan to “It’s Good Mood Food”? It’s a weird slogan, but I don’t think I was in a good mood during or after the meal. Just normal.haha.

Arby’s Reuben Sandwich has corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing on marbled rye bread. M said it was alright, but nothing spectacular. Typical food court food.

Classic Beef n’ Cheddar Sandwich has a decent amount of sliced meat with red ranch sauce on the bottom and a big good of cheddar on top in a bun.

I wish the cheddar cheese was a bit more spread out since it took me a while to get to the cheddar when biting into it. It was alright as well.

Curly Fries are a must. Well seasoned and has a combination of super curly fries and somewhat straight ones.

You can also grab a few packs of their signature sauces. Horsey sauce, which has a little bit of a mayo+horseradish taste to it. Can be spicy for a few people. Then there is also the Arby’s Sauce, which is their BBQ sauce. It’s a bit sweet and it’s already on some of the sandwiches already.

Overall, the food was alright for food court standards. Its still one of my go-to place in the food court if I don’t know what to order.

In Japanese

Sushi Izumi: Food Court Sushi

January 15, 2012

Hello Internet! RomanJ here with another review. Today we check out the Sushi Izumi in the Metrotown food court. During the holidays I spent a lot of time in the mall shopping for gifts. To satisfy my sushi craving without having to leave the mall, I tried Sushi Izumi, which is right besides Nando’s Chicken. Sushi Izumi has a big selection of combos, rolls and dons to choose from.

I ordered the Maki Combo ($7.75), which consists of a Salmon Roll, a California Roll and a Tuna Roll with avocado. In addition to the combo, I also ordered a Salmon Sashimi ($6.95).

The Maki Combo: Salmon Roll, California roll and the Tuna roll we’re okay to begin when I started eating. As I started to devour the rolls, I notice that the sushi rice has a slight pale taste to it, affecting each roll with every bit leaving me not to enjoy my rolls.

The Salmon Sashimi was surprisingly adequate, it was not too cold or too warm and it wasn’t thawed out. I enjoyed the Salmon Sashimi over the rolls.

Overall, I would probably not go here for the sushi rolls and the best item on the menu from what I have tasted is the Sashimi.

Words of Advice

Don’t get the rolls
Always ask for more soy sauce (2 packs isn’t enough)
Busy during peak hours

We Rate Sushi Izumi:

Address:

4820 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H

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In Downtown

Finch’s Tea & Coffee House: Delicious Sandwiches and Salads

January 14, 2012

Finch’s Tea & Coffee House is an amazing place for baguettes. The place is a bit small and super crowded for lunch. Sometimes its hard to find a seat, so lots of people do take out. I’ve been fortunate to find a seat every time..since I stalk people for seats.

Nonetheless, I always go here when I know I want something that won’t disappoint me.

Latte was alright, but it didn’t look good. It was more like a cappuccino due to the foam.

Avocado Baguette ($8.75) has avocado, roasted walnuts, Edam cheese, cucumber, lettuce, Dijon, mayo, oil and vinegar. The avocado and walnuts went beautifully together. Its really hard to eat, but this sandwich tasted so good!

Prosciutto Salad ($8.75) has lettuce, vine tomatoes, black pepper, oil and vinegar with a side of buttered baguette. If you aren’t into getting so messy, they have salads too. They give you plenty of prosciutto and I also liked it.

Overall, I haven’t been disappointed by their food yet….maybe their latte, but not their food. I come here quite often since it’s close to the office and it’s not too expensive.

Also, did you know the 50/50 movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen was filmed here!

Words of Wisdom:

Pay Parking on streets
Amazing baguettes!
Under $10
Very busy during lunch, so hard to find seats
Best Baguettes: Pear Baguette and the Avocado Baguette

We Rate Finch’s Tea & Coffee House:

Address:

353 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.finchteahouse.com

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In Downtown

Cham Mani: Quick & Cheap Korean Meal

January 13, 2012

Cham Mani is a Korean restaurant on Pender. The interior seemed very simple and would work for a quick lunch. The lunch are cheap and under $10. My coworker wanted some good cheap food, so I took her here.

KimchiJjiGae ($7.50) is kimchi stew with pork, tofu and onion. Comes with a side of rice. I like it! It was a tad spicy, so if you fear spicy, this isn’t for you. There’s a good amount of stew and rice, so you will be full.

I ate it by mixing the rice into the stew, but you could also put some stew onto the rice. Doesn’t really matter how you do it as long as it gets into your belly.

You also get some side dishes to share. We got Kimchi and tofu curds, which are complementary.

JeYukDupBap ($8.25) is spicy pork and vegetables over rice. It is also spicy, so do watch out. If you like spice, you’ll be alright.

Overall, pretty good. The place is family owned, so you do get a sense of “home” in the food when you eat here. I was looking at other tables and their other dishes looked pretty awesome too. The dishes aren’t too fancy, but its perfect lunch food.

Words of Wisdom:

Closest Skytrain – Granville or Waterfront
Under $10
Best deal is with the combos
Quick fast lunch
Small restaurant, not good for large groups.

We Rate Cham Mani:

Address:

529 West Pender St
Vancouver, BC

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In Brunch

Jethros Fine Grub: $10 Brunch That Will Leave You Smiling

January 12, 2012

After watching Jethro’s Fine Grub on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, FoodQueen and I just had to come here to try their amazing food. They are known for their breakfast and lunch. On the weekends, lines can be seen outside. We waited about 40 mins to get a seat, but we seemed to pass the time quite quickly.

The interior is quite small, so its not a place for large groups, unless you line up extra early to snag a few tables. It’s best to come in 2’s or 4’s.

Just like all places Guy Fieri visits, he leave his trademark somewhere in the restaurant. This can be found close to the door.

Coffee ($2) is a must in the morning.

Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread French Toast ($10) is topped with caramelized bananas and whipped butter. Read what FoodQueen said about the french toast here: http://thefoodqueen.com/2012/01/10/jethros-fine-grub/

The 426 Hemi ($11) has a 6oz burger topped with pulled pork, melted cheddar, mayo, tomatoes, and pickles. On the side I got a salad instead of fries for no extra charge. The pulled pork was not saucy at all and had a great smokey flavour that worked well with the burger patty. The price is really good and I was quite satisfied.

Overall, great comforting food, but the question is, are you willing to wait in line? I would totally wait again since the food is cheap and their dishes are a bit unique.

Words of Wisdom:

Lots of free parking on side streets
Long line ups
Limited seating
Good simple delicious food
Pancakes are huge and are quite popular
Pulled pork is popular too

We Rate Jethros Fine Grub:

Address:
3420 Dunbar Street
Vancouver, BC
Website:
jethrosfinegrub.com

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In Indonesian

Hawker’s Delight: Cheap $5 Dinners, But Is It Good?

January 11, 2012

Hawkers Delight is located on Main street and they are known for their amazing cheap food. All items on the menu are around $5. It’s cash only, but as long as you have a $10 in your pocket, you will be OK. They serve up Malaysian/Indonesian dishes and have good vegetarian options.

M, KoreanGirl and I came here because we were feeling pretty frugal and needed a super cheap dinner.

Tofu Goreng ($5.25) are little stuffed tofu puffs with cucumbers and bean sprouts with a lots of peanut sauce and sweet soy sauce. Each one of those puffs are soaked in a lot of sauce. When you take a bite, its gonna be messy, so watch out for your clothes!

Some of us at the table liked it, and I particularly didn’t like that taste of the sauces and how messy it was to eat.

Dried Noodle ($5.75) has a bed of warm dry noodles, bean sprouts, veggies, and a bunch of other ingredients. I thought it was alright, but I didn’t really love the taste of it.

Nasi Goreng ($5.25) is like Mee Goreng, but in a fried rice form. KoreanGirl and M both had their versions spicy. They were surprised by the low price and good taste.

Overall, I think there are a few items that are a hit and a miss. The prices are quite affordable, but you do get what you pay for. Perhaps it just didn’t suit my tastes.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking in side streets
Take Out containers are $0.25
Cash Only
Order at Counter and everything else is self serve

We Rate Hawkers Delight:

Address:
4127 Main St
Vancouver, BC V5V

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In Brunch

Cora Breakfast and Lunch: Fruit, Fruit and More Fruit

January 10, 2012

Cora opened on the West Coast last year. Its been established on the East Coast, but finally the chain is here! Cora is located in Coquitlam near Coquitlam Center. It’s quite a far drive but if you want a taste of their gigantic breakfasts and lunch, you may want to travel far.

Since I don’t live not too far from here, KoreanGirl, Gmoney, Jewels, and SuzySticks took a short drive here.

Coffee ($2.50)

1990’s Harvest with sunny side up egg ($11.95) has a large cinnamon-raisin brioche dipped in french toast batter with an egg and bacon strips on one side and a mountain of fresh fruit on the other.

One side of the cinnamon bun was dry and the other one was moist. Certain fruits weren’t as fresh as others, but there was definitely a lot of fruit.

1990’s Harvest with scrambled egg ($11.95) I think Koreangirl was missing a bacon here if you compare it to the image above. She found the same issues with the partially dry cinnamon bun and certain fruits not fresh.

Eggs Benedict ($12.25) has two poached eggs on an English muffin covered with Hollandaise sauce, served with roasted potatoes and fresh fruit.

Seventh of July ($11.25) has 2 crepes and french toast covered with a mountain of fresh fruit. It was OK, but it has a lot of carbs. Its a bit difficult to eat since Jewels didn’t know if she was supposed to eat the crepes with the fruit or eat them separately.

Buckwheat Blessing ($12.95) has 3 sausages and cheese wrapped in buckwheat crepes with a large amount of fruit. I thought the sausages wrapped in the crepes were really good! Yummm meat! There was plenty of fruit, but the watermelon was not fresh at all. It looked super pale. It’s a good touch that they have a few unique fruits like starfruit and persimmons.

Overall, you gets tons of fruit with each dish, but you should come in the summer when fruit is the freshest. Since you never know what fruit will end up on your plate, if you have an allergy, it’s best to let them know ahead of time.

Words of Wisdom:

Best to come when fruit is in season
Busy on weekends
Can be seen as a bit expensive
Lots of booth seating
Kid Friendly
Lots of parking

We Rate Cora:

Address:

3025 Lougheed Hwy
Coquitlam, BC

Website:

http://www.chezcora.com/coquitlam-en

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In Canadian

Dunn’s Famous: Montreal Smoked Meat Deliciousness

January 9, 2012

Dunn’s Famous has opened up their first location in Western Canada in Downtown Vancouver. I’ve heard their super sandwiches were really good, so the SFU Food Bloggers – FoodQueen, I’m Busy Eating, Good Eat, Eating with Kirby and Eat with Jenny decided to check out this restaurant.

Do check out their blogs for their version of their review since we all have different tastes and opinions.

The main dining area is quite large and can accommodate large groups.

They even have a smaller room in the back and I think it turns into a private area if you have a super super large group.

Salami Stacker ($12.99) has a stack of sliced all beef salami on light sourdough rye with mustard. Comes with a choice of side and coleslaw with a pickle. I chose fries for my side.

The salami in the sandwich was cold, but I guess that’s how the salami supposed to be. There is a generous amount of meat in the sandwich and it has mustard inside to complement the meat. I thought it was OK, but there are better items on the menu.

If you have this for lunch, you will be full for sure.

Hot Chicken ($11.99) has Two Rivers free run chicken breast on sliced white bread covered in gravy, topped with peas. Jenny chose the fries on the side.
The Famous Dunn’s Reuben ($13.99) has Montreal smoked meat, double stacked on dark rye with sauerkraut & melted Swiss cheese. The side is seafood chowder and it doesn’t cost extra! Kirby ordered this and Good Eat and I shared this too.

It tasted really good with the layers of smoked meat, sauerkraut and Swiss. One thing that sucked is how the bottom bread gets soggy.

You have your choice of choosing lean, medium or fatty for the Montreal smoked meat, but all of us chose medium since it was the best one.

The Combination ($12.99) gives you the choice of Montreal smoked meat & free run chicken or Montreal smoked meat & salami or salami & free run chicken on light sourdough rye. I’mBusyEating chose the Montreal smoked meat & free run chicken. She also had the seafood chowder on the side. She found the chicken to be pretty dry.

Super Montreal Smoked Meat ($10.99) has 6 oz hand sliced smoked beef brisket on light sourdough rye poutine. FoodQueen added the Québécois poutine of the side for $3.50 more.

Look at all that meat!

Super Giant Montreal Smoked Meat ($12.98) has 8 oz hand sliced smoked beef brisket on light sourdough rye. I ordered the salad on the side for no additional charge. GoodEat and I shared this too.

At first glance its hard to tell the difference between 6oz and 8oz, but you need to look carefully.

Medium was a good choice for the Montreal smoked meat and worked well for all the sandwiches.

If you need more flavour, they have ketchup and mustard for you. I really like mustard, but I would have much preferred Dijon Mustard with the seeds.

Overall, really great super sandwiches, they are so super you will definitely get full off of them.

Words of Wisdom:

Metered Parking in front, underground pay parking, ImPark Lot across the street
Decent Prices
Medium Smoked Meat is best
Chicken is very dry
Choose the featured soup for no extra charge
Lots of seats
Great for large groups

We Rate Dunn’s Famous:

Address:
827 Seymour Street
Vancouver, BC
Website:
dunnsfamousbc.com
Twitter:
@dunnsfamousbc

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In Brunch

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro: Fantastic $10 Brunch

January 8, 2012

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro is a new restaurant that opened up in Kitsilano. Everything they use is fresh and local. Since Etodac told me they have really cheap $10 brunch, we thought it would be a great place to check out. We brought along M and VideoGameGirl to check it out too. Plus, no one can resist brunch.

Vancouverites go crazy over delicious cheap brunch.

The interior is very nice and loungey, lots of tables, but it can bet quite busy after a while. They don’t take reservations, but you should be able to get a spot right away if you are in 2’s or 4’s.

Their ceiling is also made of wood! Do you think it’s Oak wood?

Pineapple Juice

Green Tea

The Lumberjack ($10) has scrambled eggs, house made breakfast sausage, smoked bacon, hash browns, salted cucumber and toast. VideoGameGirl said the bacon was really good and was nice and thick. Pretty good dish!

Corned Beef Hash ($10) as soft poached eggs, house corned beef, sauerkraut, Dijon hollandaise, and hash browns. M and Etodac both ordered this. M said it was alright, but this might be because he wanted more meat.

Albacore tune nicoise Benedict ($10) has green bean salad, hash browns, corn muffin with poached egg, tuna and hollandaise sauce. I thought it was a really good breakfast dish! All the flavours worked well together and I loved it.

Overall, $10 brunch is not bad at all! You’ll get full off delicious dishes!

Words of Wisdom:

Brunch only available on Weekends 10 – 3
Only $10
Parking on street or in residential area
They don’t take reservations for Brunch
No large line ups

We Rate The Oakwood Canadian Bistro:
Address:
2741 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6K
Website:
http://www.theoakwood.ca/
Twitter:
@theoakwoodkits

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In Japanese

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House: A Little Dash of Korean

January 7, 2012

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House is located in South Burnaby and I’ve always heard great things about their noodles. Since there was nothing else to do, I decided to go have a bowl of ramen with M to waste some time.

There are large booths and smaller tables inside the restaurant. When we walked in, we knew right away that this place was Korean owned. They even have buzzers on the table to signal the servers, so you don’t need to wave them down.

We found that even with the buzzers, the service was still mediocre.

No surprise, I love tea. The tea tastes like the Korean tea that you get at Korean restaurants.

Gyoza ($5.95) it comes in 6 pieces with ponzu sauce and it was pretty good. Good amount of pork inside.

Ji Su Men ($8.95) is ramen with sliced chicken. M hated this so much. It barely had any chicken and it tasted like a bowl of Korean noodles. Since he’s Korean, he didn’t expect the ramen to taste so Korean.

Don Ko Chi ($7.95) is made with pork bone soup with slices of pork. It was a decent size and the broth was very very good. I’m not sure why they named this dish – Don Ko Chi, but I think a better name is Tonkatsu.

The pork was slightly tough but still had a good amount of flavour.

Overall, I think a few dishes are a hit and a miss. Do remember that most of the dishes here have a bit of a Korean influence. You aren’t getting 100% authentic Japanese Ramen.

Words of Wisdom:

Free Parking in front
Mediocre Service
Korean influenced Japanese food
Don Ko Chi is the only good ramen

We Rate Kenzo Japanese Noodle House:

Address:
6907 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

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In Four Beakers

Sushiyama: Amazing Japanese Food!

January 6, 2012

Sushiyama is a very popular Japanese restaurant in Vancouver. It’s good for their cheap eats and quality food. No wonder during peak hours, there can be a lot of people lining up.

Luckily, it was after the lunch hour rush when I took MedicalGiraffe and BaguetteGirl here. They wanted something different and super delicious. They’ve passed by a dozen times, and thought this place was a bit sketchy, to their surprise, it would be some of the best Japanese food they would have.

They have a few killer items on their menu. If you come here, sushi is a must….or at least a few key rolls.

Negitoro Roll ($2.75) has chopped tuna belly and green onions. It comes with 6 pieces. Very good price, plus it tasted really really good.

Caterpillar Roll ($6.95) contains cucumber, avocado, mayo, crab meat, eel and BBQ sauce. It is probably the best thing to get! It is covered in a lot of thin slices of avocado. I can’t remember what was inside but it tasted really good! Highly recommended!

Crunch Roll ($4.25) has yam, sweet potatoes, shrimp tempura, and avocados. This was pretty horrible. After we ordered, it came like a minute after We were really confused why it came so fast and why it didn’t look as cool as the caterpillar roll.

Salmon Sashimi ($7.25) has come amazing thick pieces of salmon. Really delicious too!

Seaweed Salad was alright. If you love seaweed, you’d probably like it.

Grilled Black Cod was really good! One of my favorite items. Yummm.

Overall, really good food here for good prices. I would come her again and again!

Words of Wisdom:

Very cheap and affordable
Mediocre service
Long Lines
Best to go in 2′s if you hate to wait. the larger the group, the long it will take ..during peak hours
Caterpillar roll and sashimi!!!!
Bento boxes are of great value if you want to try a bit of everything

We Rate Sushiyama:

Address:
371 E Broadway
Vancouver, BC

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In Cafe

Miura Waffle Milk Bar: Waffle Sandwiches are Epic

January 5, 2012

Miura Waffle Milk Bar is located on Davie and Howe St. they are best known for the waffle sandwiches in sweet and savory flavours. This has been on my “To Eat” list for a long long time, but I seldom visit this area.

Since a few of us from my High School were meeting up again, I wanted to take them somewhere unique so I thought to myself, waffle sandwiches are unique!

The interior is not too large, but it fits a few parties of 2s and 4s. Sometimes more if you are able to put chairs together.

You can watch them create your waffles as you wait. They don’t have a ventilation machine, so, if they accidentally burn something, the whole place smells like burnt waffles.

Latte (12oz – $3.29) was not very good. It was very milky and could have had a stronger coffee taste.

Strawberry Flavoured Milk ($3.29)

Blueberry Yoggy Milk ($3.29) it’s a thin textured yogurt-like drink that’s slightly tangy.

HEC Savory Waffle Sandwich ($5.99) has ham, omelette and mozzarella cheese between 2 waffles. Sunny really liked it and it was quite cute.

BELT Savory Waffle Sandwich ($4.99 Tuesday Special) has bacon, egg, lettuce and tomatoes. What is awesome about this is that the bacon is cooked right into the waffles. You know no one is gonna steal your bacon cause it’s hidden in the waffle.

Wasabi Salmon Savory Waffle Sandwich ($7.99) has soy cured salmon, lettuce, wasabi ranch sauce and some herbs. Look at how flakey the salmon is inside the waffle. It complemented the wasabi sauce nicely and I would definitely eat it again!

Tiramisu Sweet Waffle Sandwich ($5.29) has cream cheese custard cream, coffee jelly and chocolate sauce. It clearly has no resemblance to a tiramisu, but it tastes good. It’s the same size as the sandwich, but they can split it into 2 so it’s easier to share. Tasted delicious!!

Overall, one sandwich was good enough for lunch! The prices are decent and you will leave with a smile on your face. Then, you can go on Facebook and brag to your friends you had a cool waffle sandwich. hahaha.

Words of Wisdom:

Weekday specials
Very unique and memorable sandwiches
Under $10

We Rate Miura Waffle Milk Bar:

Address:

829 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:

http://miurawafflemilkbar.webs.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miura-Waffle-Milk-Bar/115874321771418

Twitter: @MiuraWaffle

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In American

Jimmy’s Place Restaurant: Standard Breakfasts

January 3, 2012

Hidden in a small plaza on North Road lies Jimmy Place Restaurant. I’ve been in the plaza numerous times, but I’ve never seen this restaurant before. It’s easily missed when just passing by.

The interior seems a bit dated and has a diner feel to it. It’s cash only, but the food is quite cheap and affordable. It’s known as a neighbourhood favorite for their breakfast.

2 Pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 bacon with toast ($6.95) is a pretty standard breakfast.

Two eggs breakfast with 2 sausages, toast and hash browns ($5.95) They didn’t have hashbrowns left, so they give you fries instead.

Denver Omelet with cheese ($9.95). M thought it was alright, but its nothing amazing.

Everything Omelet ($10.95) has green peppers, tomatoes, onion, mushroom, green onions, ham, bacon and cheddar cheese.

I found this dish to be quite expensive for what you get. It tasted alright, but nothing too spectacular.

Overall, the food is ok, but it’s not the most amazing breakfast place to come dine at.

Words of Wisdom:

Cash only
Lots of parking
Lots to choose from in their menu
Cheap and affordable

We Rate Jimmys Place Restaurant:

Address:
435 North Road
Coquitlam, BC

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In BBQ

Raging Bull Mesquite Grill Food Truck: Open for Breakfast and Lunch

January 3, 2012

A new food truck has popped up on Granville St & Dunsmuir St called Raging Bull Mesquite Grill.

They only use prime cut sirloin and organic chicken. Its smoked with mesquite wood. They are open quite early at 8am and sell breakfast!

Here is a look at their menu. They only have a few items available, but caters to vegetarians too. This is a first time I’ve seen a food cart offering breakfast.

Chicken Fajita Wrap ($7.50) has salsa, spanish rice, beans, corn, cheese, chipotle sauce rolled up in a soft tortilla shell.

The wrap was pretty large and had very unique flavours inside. I loved the grilled chicken, it had lots of mesquite flavour and it really was the star. Certain ingredients in the wrap were warm and then some other were really cold. The cold salsa annoyed me and made the wrap get colder faster.

Overall the wrap was alright with some good unique flavours!

Words of Wisdom:

Offers Breakfast
Under $10
Delicious mesquite smoked meats

We Rate Raging Bull Mesquite Grill:

Location:

Granville St & Dunsmuir St (Outside Shoppers Drug Mart)

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In Downtown

Italian Kitchen To Go (IK2Go): Quick, Cheap and Easy

January 2, 2012

Italian Kitchen To Go (IK2GO) is a faster and cheaper alternative to dining inside Italian Kitchen. It’s very hard to find where it is, but all you need to do it find this sign and keep walking down the hall (don’t walk up the stairs).

I met up with Angela from Munchkie’s Munchies for some delicious lunch at IK2GO. You can find her detailed review here.

Just walk a few meters and you should see this. If you don’t see this, you are in the wrong place. Usually there is a long line up, but when we went it was quite short.

They have a large amount of panini sandwiches. It’s a perfect lunch if you are just walking around. Theres a ton of flavours to choose from, so you might have a bit of a headache. To be precise, theres 11 choices.

If you are feeling like something light and somewhat healthy, these can range from $3.95 to $5.50.

Squash and Bacon Pizza ($3.95) was a good size and had lots of delicious squash. It has cheese, bacon , squash, spice and chilli flakes. It had a good balance of flavour.

Timballo ($6.95) has baked pasta with lamb sausage, macaroni, egg, and caramelized onions. This was like a mac and cheese pie! The lamb sausage near the bottom was quite salty, but it matched well with the macaroni and cheese texture.

Macarons ($1.95 each) was poorly constructed. the inside of the shells were hollow and collapsed easily with little pressure. The filling was this weird jelly like disk, which didn’t seem right at all.

Chocolate Brownie ($2.35) was quite large and full of chocolatey richness. I would totally get this again!

Overall, the meal was good and theres tons to choose from. I would probably return for lunch.

Words of Wisdom:

All TakeOut, so you need to go elsewhere to sit down and eat.
Under $10
Can order online

We Rate Italian Kitchen To Go:

Address:
1030 W Georgia St
Vancouver, BC V6E

Website:
http://www.glowbalgroup.com/wp-content/themes/italiankitchen/ik2go/form.php

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In Coquitlam

IKEA Restaurant: All About The Meatballs and Nothing More

January 2, 2012

There is more to IKEA than just Swedish furniture. They have a restaurant to chill at since the whole store is so large that their patrons might get hungry. They are most famous for their Swidish Meatballs and other cheap affordable dishes. It’s very kid friendly too.

Since we were watching a movie across the street, we thought it would be a good idea to stop by IKEA for some uber cheap eats. The holidays have left us all quite broke, so this is how we compensate.

They also serve alcohol, which is super awesome, but I didn’t feel like drinking in such a public place with other peoples children. They have Stella, Sleeman and white wine.
I guess this section is for the parents that need to relax a bit.

They also have these weird Swedish juice flavours – Dryck Flader and Dryck Lingon. I haven’t tried it yet, looked a bit creepy.

They also have some desserts, but trust me, do not get them!

Self Serve Pop can be added to your combo for I think $1… but I could be wrong. The lingonberry drink wasn’t that good and tasted like on odd version of cranberry.

10 meatballs ($2.99) comes with lingonberry sauce and your choice of mashed potatoes or fries. Its also topped off with gravy. For a $3 meal, I quite liked it! It filled me up and I was happy.

15 Meatballs ($3.99) looks so much more appealing than the 10 piece. just look how it fills up the plate. It’s a good choice if you want to eat lot and lots of meatballs.

Apple Pie was really horrible! Not even close to what a decent apple pie should taste like.

Overall, I think the best item are the meatballs. I think the staff don’t really cook anything except reheat food and serve it out. Thats why you can’t go wrong with the meatballs.

Words of Wisdom:

$1 Breakfast before 11am everyday
Really cheap meals under $5
Only get the meatballs to avoid disappointment
Bad service

We Rate IKEA:

Address:
1000 Lougheed Hwy
Coquitlam, BC V3K
Website:
http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/IKEA_Food/restaurant.html

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In Japanese

Gaya Sushi: New Japanese Restaurant in North Burnaby

January 1, 2012

To ring in the New Year, how about doing a review on a newly opened restaurant? Gaya Sushi just opened up on Christmas Eve on Lougheed and Brainbridge. I live super close to this place, so I’ve been stalking to see when they open. I’m always a sucker for Japanese food, so I really wanted to see if it was any good.

Walking inside, I was surprised! It looked nice! Way better than any of the other restaurants in the area.

Spicy Tuna ($8.50) was on par with other restaurants that serve this. The tuna chunks were nice and thick with the typical korean hot sauce. It also has cucumbers.

Chilly Ebi ($5.95) has deep fried prawns with chilli sauce. This was alright, but wasn’t the best I’ve had. I think they could of had better batter.

Soft Shelled Crab ($6.95) is lightly breaded deep fried soft shelled crab with tonkatsu sauce on top. This was really good and tasted much better than the Chilly Ebi. I would definitely order this again.

Tako Salad came to our table as a mistake. It has a lot of pieces of octopus slices up on top of ponzu sauce and greens. They just gave it to us complementary and it tasted alright. If you like octopus, you’d probably like it.

Fire Cracker Roll ($4.99) has scallops, avocados, smoked salmon and spicy tuna on top. It was alright, but it wasn’t the best specialty roll I’ve had.

Philadelphia Roll ($4.50) has cream cheese, asparagus, avocado, cucumber and smoked salmon on top. The roll was also alright, but the texture of the asparagus didn’t blend too well with the roll.

Osaka Combo ($7.95) has dynamite roll, 1 pieces of salmon nigiri, 1 tuna nigiri and ebi nigiri. BusanGirl liked it and thought it was a good deal since it did some with a large roll and nigiri.

Tuna Tataki Salad came from the chef since I assume he was trying to experiment with new dishes.

The bottom has a tartar of chopped up tuna thats scorched on the exterior and topped with greens and daikon. On the bottom is a sweet type of ponzu sauce. It was also alright, but I didn’t take a liking to the sweet ponzu sauce. On the other hand, BusanGirl quite liked it.

Overall, the dishes are all quite affordable and have lots of choices. Their sushi needs a little bit of work, but should get a better overtime. It’s a good addition to the neighbourhood.

Words of Wisdom: