April 2013

In Downtown

Vij’s Railway Express: Indian Food On Wheels

April 30, 2013

It’s great working downtown since there is always good restaurants and food trucks around. On a nice sunny day, my coworkers and I took a little adventure to Vij’s Railway express to have a taste of their indian food on wheels. Their location is at West Georgia and Thurlow, but this location can vary.

If you’ve heard of Vij’s, they are known for their indian food.

Their menu always changes and they have some pretty cool items.

Mushroom Medley with Rice and Naan ($11.25) was a good portion for lunch. I love mushrooms, so it was a perfect dish for me. From the description, I didn’t know it was spicy. It was a tolerable spice, but it can pack a punch if you don’t like spicy food. I loved the naan, it was nice an crisp on the outside and was amazing.

Punjabi Lamb Curry with rice and naan ($12.50) was ordered by my coworker. On the way back to the office, she kinda spilled some on herself, so remember when carrying the box back to the office, keep it upright. She did enjoy it.

Overall the food was good and better than most food trucks. Do note, that you probably need to pop in a few mints before getting back to the office. One of my coworkers said she smelled like garlic for 3 days.

We Rate Vij’s Railway Express:

Location:

Varies but is usually at E Georgia and Thurlow. Double check on their Facebook or Twitter.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/vijsrailway

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=V6E0B6&hnear=Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6E+0B6&t=m&z=16 “]

In Gastown

Rodney’s Oyster House: Gastown

April 29, 2013

Rodney’s Oyster House has opened a new location in Gastown. The have taken up the space of Cobre that used to be there. They have the same items like their Yaletown location. My coworkers and I came here for their happy hour from 4pm till 6pm. Oysters are $1.50 and their other items are on special too.

The interior is decorated similarly to their other location and has 2 floors too. They servers are really nice and know how to make their guests at home.

Complementary bread comes to the table with a lump of butter.

Zydeco Stew aka Caesar ($10.25) it contains the usual stuff with fresh grated horseradish and topped with a lemon and a huge shrimp. It was a really good caesar and the shrimp was fantastic.

Low Tide Oysters ($1.50) can vary in variety when ever you go. These were from Denman Island and are somewhat similar to a Fanny Bay Oyster. I found that this time around, they shucking wasn’t done as cleanly, so there were bits of shell when I ate some of them.

When the oysters arrived, it came with a whole platter of sauces – Worchester sauce, 2 types of Tabasco sauce, vodka pepper sauce, and 4 of their house sauces. If you want to burn in pain, try using the ‘back from hell’ sauce.

Pan Fried Oysters ($16.95), which are freshly shucked oysters, breaded and fried. They also some with tartar sauce and lemons for taste. Delicious as always and the oysters are a good size. The oysters are different kinds than the low tide ones as you can tell these are super long in size. This dish was ordered after the happy hour, so it was quite expensive.

Overall, the quality of good is great, but it will be quite expensive when it’s not happy hour. The only problem we had were the bit of sediments or shell that was left in the shell when we ate it. They usually shuck really well, but I guess I came on an off day.

We Rate Rodney’s Oyster House Gastown:

Address:
52 Powell St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.rohvan.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=52+Powell+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=52+Powell+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+2J1&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Four Beakers

Nuba Yaletown: Najibs Special and Beef Brochette

April 28, 2013

Nuba Yaletown is located on Seymour and Davie Street. If you are a fan of the Nuba chain of restaurants, this location is equally as good. Since Flo moved in across the street, we wanted to search for some dinner close by. When turning on the Urbanspoon App, we discovered this was literally half a block away.

They sell amazing Lebanese cuisine and fresh juices.

The interior is very different from the other Nuba’s. It’s smaller and structured more for take out orders. There are a few tables, but can get quite busy during peak hours.

Najib’s Special ($11.25) is crispy cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt, served with tahini. It also has hummus, salad, pickled cabbage, olives, pita and your choice of organic brown rice or roasted potatoes. I usually choose the organic brown rice. This item was very delicious as usual and is one of the most popular items. It’s vegetarian and gluten free.

Beef Brochette ($13) has a local grass-fed beef skewer and served with tahini sauce. It is also has hummus, salad, pickled cabbage, olives, pita and your choice of organic brown rice or roasted potatoes. Flo chose the brown rice for her dish. The beef was nice and tender and was super delicious.

Overall, food at Nuba is always great. The ingredients are fresh and the portions are good. I particularly like this location because they serve the lunch time items for dinner. I much prefer the lunch time items over dinner as the prices are better and its more of individual portions.

We Rate Nuba Yaletown:

Address:
1206 Seymour St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.nuba.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1206+Seymour+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1206+Seymour+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+3N6&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Downtown

Street Meet Food Truck: Mushroom Soup and Risotto Balls

April 27, 2013

Street Meet Food Truck is located on Pender and Burrard. It’s quite close to Burrard Skytrain. The chefs are very focused in providing great food while being as sustainable as possible in everything they do. They try to use local ingredients in their food and have gluten-free options too.

I came here during a lunch break with my coworker to grab something back to the office. They were raving about the risotto balls and I just had to join in the fun.

Wild Mushroom Soup ($3) has local mushrooms, cream and truffle. It’s smells amazing once you open the lid. They claim it’s ‘the best mushroom soup ever’ and it’s definitely great soup but could have more mushroom chunks. I really wish they had larger portions. I could drink this all day. I am a huge mushroom fan.

Crispy Risotto Balls ($5) is stuffed with homemade Italian sausage, and basil aioli. It comes with 2 pieces and it’s a great size if you don’t want a huge meal. It’s also good to split among 2 people. The exterior is nice and crispy and the inside is oh so delicious.

Tuna Nicoise Salad ($12) has Ocean Wise seared local BC albacore tuna, organic mixed greens, pickled beans, tomatoes, olives, egg, kettle chips, potatoes and dijon vinaigrette. This salad has everything, so many ingredients. It tasted alright but I felt there was too much sauce on the salad. Perhaps I will have the sauce on the side. Other than that, it was good.

Overall, really great food and different from some of the other food trucks in town. They also sell Cannoli’s but they weren’t available on the day we came here. Must make a return visit! Their location varies, so best to follow they on twitter – @StreetMeetTruck.

We Rate Street Meet:

Website:
http://streetmeettruck.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=burrard+street+and+pender+street&hl=en&sll=49.280328,-123.11844&sspn=0.100562,0.244446&hnear=Burrard+St+%26+W+Pender+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia&t=m&z=16 “]

In British Columbia

Tim Hortons: New Thick Cut Bacon?

April 26, 2013

Tim Hortons recently introduced their new Thick Cut Hickory Smoked Bacon on March 12, 2013. They have really made a large push to show their customers that their bacon has changed. They even created a bacon mascot called ‘Evan‘ to personify it’s change.

I do frequent Tim Hortons on a regular basis as it is a block away from work. I do admit, sometimes I can have a love affair with bacon. I always order the same thing….the Turkey Bacon Club with a soup and a double double. Luckily, I happen to come here before and after they made the bacon switch. Lets see if there is really a difference in their bacon.

March 11, 2013 – Tim Hortons

I Instagram every meal, so even if I don’t blog about it, I have a log of what I eat. The Turkey Bacon Club with Turkey and Wild Rice Soup with a double double.

As we take a closer look at the bacon, there are 2 strips and stacked up in the center. Looks pretty firm as well. I remember it tasting like any other TIm Hortons experience. Decent and got me through the afternoon.

April 09, 2013 – Tim Hortons

This time I had the Turkey Bacon Club with Turkey and Chicken Noodle Soup with a double double. From this time, you can definitely see more of the bacon protruding out, but thats not a clear sign of the bacon being any better or thicker.

This time around, the staff made the sandwich a little bit sloppy. The bacon is more visible, but it’s clearly not as cooked as before. It’s for flimsy. I like my bacon harder.

From another angle, you can see the bacon is still quite thin. If the new bacon is going to be thicker, it really doesn’t show.

I am going off my experiences from this particular location in Vancouver. It didn’t resemble the imagery of the bacon on their promotions and the taste of the overall sandwich was the same.

Do you find any difference with their bacon during your experience?

In Chinese

Green Lettuce: Indian Style Chinese Food

April 24, 2013

Taiwanesegirl sometimes takes me to the strangest places I’ve never heard of. She took a bunch of us out to Green Lettuce Restaurant saying how amazing their food is. When I heard ‘Indian Style Chinese food’, I wasn’t sure what to think about it. It was hard to wrap my head around how those two cuisines would fuse together.

There’s parking in the back and this restaurant was packed early in the evening. It’s always good to make reservations here.

When we arrived, we were glad we made a reservation since most of the tables were already occupied.

Vegetable Pakora with Chutney Sauce seemed like it was a fitting choice to have at this restaurant. I was really good!

Chicken lettuce wrap was probably more on the Chinese side and it was also pretty darn good. It’s not exactly the same as the usual Chinese restaurants as they spice this dish quite differently.

Beef chow mein had the very crispy noodles topped with the vegetables and the beef. I’ve always been a fan of the crispy noodles ever since I was a little kid. What I love about this dish is that it stays pretty darn crispy even after they put the stuff on top of it.

Masala Chicken with Roti Nan was more on the Indian side, but we still loved it. They understand the amazing power of spices.

Chicken Fried Rice was pretty darn good too.

We all left happy and the prices were pretty good. I never thought I would like Indian style Chinese food, but it was so good. The combination of the spices work wonders with Chinese food. The taste was very flavourful. We all loved it and were pleasantly surprised by this restaurant. It doesn’t look very appetizing from the outside of the restaurant but they do have some great food.

We Rate Green Lettuce:

Address:
1949 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.greenlettucerestaurant.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1949+Kingsway+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1949+Kingsway,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5N+2T1&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Japanese

Hakkaku Ramen: Ramen in North Burnaby

April 18, 2013

I’ve passed by this place for about a year and a half, so I thought it was about time I try this place out. A friend of ours told us it had great ramen, so M really wanted to try it out. There really isn’t any other close ramen shops in the area, so we wanted to give Hakkaku Ramen a shot.

It’s located near Hastings and Willingdon in North Burnaby. There’s a lot of new restaurants popping up in this area.

As the bus stops right outside, there is a good flow of customers eating here.

Chashu Burger with a steamed bun ($3.95). It’s quite a fluffy bun and I chose to have the fatty pork belly meat instead of lean shoulder meat. Everything is a bit more delicious when its fatter. The bun was very thick, but it was very hard to hold and keep together when you bite into it. The burger was ok, but not worth $4.

Miso Ramen ($7.95) has chashu, bean sprouts, onions, corn, green onion, seaweed and bamboo shoots. You can choose from a regular or rich broth and type of chashu (fatty or lean). Scarface chose to have his rich broth and lean chashu. THe broth is rich and flavourful.

Shio Ramen ($7.45) has chashu, bean sprouts, onions, corn, green onion, boiled egg and bamboo shoots. M ordered is ramen with Rich broth and fatty chashu. The soup is smooth and light.

Hot Miso Ramen ($8.25) has chashu, bean sprouts, onion, corn, bamboo shoots, green onions, boiled egg, and spicy garlic. I got the rich broth and fatty chashu. I felt this was too oily as I got the most fatty options. The broth could have had a bit more depth.

Overall, the ramen here was ok for the price. It’s not the best ramen in town, but the closest one in North Burnaby. The portions are large, so you will get full.

We Rate Hakkaki Ramen:

Address:
4530 E Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4530+Hastings+St+Burnaby,+BC&hl=en&sll=49.28112,-123.023351&sspn=0.006285,0.015278&gl=ca&hnear=4530+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5C+2K6&t=m&z=16 “]

In Chinatown

Finch’s Market: This Place Be Hipster

April 17, 2013

If you have ever heard of Finch’s in Downtown Vancouver, you will love their sister restaurant – Finch’s Market. They have been open since December 2012 serving up their delicious sandwiches and salads. It’s located on East Georgia and Jackson Avenue in the heart of Strathcona. It is literally in a residential area, so it can be a tad difficult to navigate from Chinatown if you don’t have a map.

I came here with my coworker and we were so amazed by the neighbourhood. The houses are quite beautiful and reminded us of houses we would see in San Francisco. If you are going to Finch’s Market, do take the time and look around the area.

Given the location is quite out of the ordinary, the vibe of the restaurant is quite calm and enjoyable for lunch. What is so unique about Finch’s Market is the small selection of local produce and ingredients. You can find spices and baking ingredients. You can enjoy lunch and also grab some ingredients for dinner, whether it be milk, cinnamon sticks or some cane sugar.

You will definitely notice their large shelf full of items too. From pasta to hot sauce. There is a lot of the out of the ordinary items you won’t find at larger grocery stores.

They have baked goods too but we were here for the sandwiches and salads. muhahahaha.

They also have this weird coffee contraption too.

Water in mason jars.

Pear Baguette has prosciutto, roasted walnuts, oil, vinegar and blue brie. My coworker loved it! You wouldn’t normally think these ingredients go well together, but they do!

Avocado and Walnut Salad comes with tomatoes, cucumbers with a balsamic dressing. It also comes with bread. The salad was very filling and held up to the same standard as the other Finch’s.

Overall, we both left full and happy. It was a lovely surprise to see such a restaurant in Strathcona. The prices are a bit pricey, closer to the $10 mark, but it’s good food.

We Rate Finch’s Market:

Address:
501 E. Georgia St
Vancouver, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=501+E.+Georgia+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=501+E+Georgia+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6A+3E1&gl=ca&t=m&z=14 “]

In Riley Park/Little Mountain

Au Petit Cafe: Pho and Banh Mi

April 16, 2013

My friends love food and a cheap meal is what they love the most. We went to Au Petit Cafe on a weekend to get a taste of their spring rolls and banh mi sandwiches. All of their items are under $10 and it’s pretty good. Au Petit Cafe is family owned and has won several awards for their delicious food.

Even though it was a rainy Saturday morning, there was a line up outside. They don’t take reservations and it’s cash only.

Spring Rolls ($7.75) comes with 12 pieces and it’s plenty to pass around the table. The outside is very crisp and tastes great.

Pho Tai Bo Vien (Large $8) has raw and cooked sliced beef with beef balls and noodle in soup.

Banh Mi Dac Biet ($5) contains french bread, ham, meatballs, vegetables and hot peppers. This is one of their most popular items on the menu and tends to sell out.

It was pretty good, the bun is weirdly addictive as it’s soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The ingredients are quite simple. but the way they prepare them for the sandwiches works well.

Overall, it’s pretty solid Vietnamese food and good prices. No wonder there are huge line ups and the sandwiches can get sold out by the end of the day. The food isn’t fancy or anything but it’s good for something simple and easy.

We Rate Au Petite Cafe:

Address:
4851 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.aupetitcafe.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4851+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=4851+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3R8&gl=ca&t=m&z=14 “]

In Fast Food

Arby’s: Loaded Curly Fries

April 15, 2013

Whenever we’re at the food court, we kinda like to see what new products are being created by fast food chains. It’s kind of a weird obsession of mine. Also, Arby‘s is one of my favorite fast food chains. Seriously, those curly fries are so good. I’m sure you know what I mean. Who can make curly fries better than Arby’s?

There is only 1 country that McDonalds sells curly fries and that’s in the Philippines…but they call them twister fries.

They just introduced the Loaded Curly Fries. It has Arby’s signature curly fries, topped with creamy cheddar cheese sauce, sour cream and bacon bits. At first, I was quite skeptical of this item, it’s like a weird version of a baked potato but with curly fries.

I didn’t really notice too much amazement from the additional toppings since the curly fries are still the main spectacle of the dish.

Have you tried the Loaded Curly Fries yet?

In Canadian

Mosaic Bar & Grille: Local, Sustainable, Creative, and Delicious.

April 14, 2013

I was invited to Mosaic Bar and Grille by Chef Thomas Heinrich to explore their amazing cuisine. They specialize in locally sourced produce, sustainable seafood and choice ingredients with careful and creative preparation. When you look at their dishes, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Mosaic is located inside the Hyatt Vancouver Hotel on the 2nd floor. It is easily missed if you come out from the Burrard Skytrain. It’s right above Grain Tasting Bar.

When you sit by the window, you get a great view of Georgia Street and Burrard.

Right now, they have teamed up with Vaneats.ca to create a 3 course dining pass for only $22. Seriously, it a really good deal!

We start off with complementary biscuits that arrive as you wait for your meal. Good bite-size pieces and you can always ask for more.

Spring Creek Beef Carpaccio has 15 thinly sliced pieces topped with fried capers, crispy chives, castillo de canena smoked olive oil, and a 68-degree yolk.

It was really good! If you’ve ever had beef carpaccio, this will blow you away! The crispy capers and chives add an amazing texture to the savoury beef slices. Highly recommended!

Pork Jowl lays on top of pickled radish, and snow peas. The dish has a galbi marinate sauce drizzled around the dish. The dish is garnished with crisp lotus roots and edible flowers. The pork jowl was deliciously fatty and super tender.

Local Seasonal Spring Salad looks amazing. Probably one of the prettier salads I’ve seen in a while. The greens are very fresh and you can definitely tell they put a lot of care into sourcing the ingredients. The housemade sheep milk ricotto and the citus/mustard dressing liven the dish.

Warm a la Minute Smoked Skuna Bay Salmon arrives on your table with a dome-shaped cover. Insides the dome is smoke. When they remove the dome, the delightful smokey smell envelop your senses.

Once the cloud of smoke goes way, you will see the salmon, avocado terrine, maple matured sherry bourbon oak vinegar gel. The presentation is really amazing, so it was hard to take the first bite out of it. You can tell the restaurant puts so much love into their food. Each item is beautifully arranged. Highly recommended!

Grilled Skuna Bay Salmon lays on a bed of British peas and topped with a lemon foam. The salmon was beautifully cooked, so the center was very juicy and tender. I usually don’t liked cooked salmon, but they do a fantastic job!

Oceanwise Long Line BC Gray Cod has a bed of baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms surrounded by a dashi broth. The combination of all the items have it a bit of an Asian flare to the dish.

8 hour braised short rib with BC foraged ramps, sweet onions, and morel mushrooms. The meat is tender and the morel mushrooms was a treat to devour.

Lamb Medallions were cooked nicely with fresh greens on the side.

Mosaic Chocolate Cake is their signature triple layer cake. This cake has been with Mosaic for years and years and year. The recipe has never changed and will probably be there for more years to come. Anyone that comes here raves about how huge this cake it. I’ve had this twice and it’s quite hard to finish. But have no fear, there is always a takeout box for it.

Banana Split is huge! There is caramelized banana, vanilla ice cream, almond brittle, chocolate sauce and fresh fruit. What I love about Mosaic is that their desserts aren’t small.

Overall, I loved my experience at Mosaic. After this experience, I came back with a bunch of my friends with 11 Vaneats dining passes. They all loved it too. 3 courses for $22 is totally worth it because a regular entree is a about $20. I would go back again for special occasions and pay regular price. I am usually not impressed by fine dining, but I’ve enjoyed my 2 visits to Mosaic and was not disappointed.

Words of Wisdom:

Steps away from Burrard Skytrain
Free Mosaic Chocolate Cake on your birthday
Beef Carpaccio is a must!
Great service

We Rate Mosaic:

Address:
655 Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://vancouver.hyatt.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=655+Burrard+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=655+Burrard+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6C+2R7&gl=ca&t=m&z=14 “]

In Hastings-Sunrise

Tacofino Commissary: Hello Churros

April 13, 2013

We went to Tacofino Commissary on a weekend to catch their brunch. Tacofino has come a long way since their days of running a food truck in Tofino, BC. I can remember having my first bite of Tacofino Cantina and Tacofino Blue. When I discovered they finally had a restaurant on Hastings, I had to go.

M, Scarface and I came just in time for brunch and were super excited. The restaurant was hard to spot as the outside doesn’t look very unique.

When you look at their ceiling, they have a really cool light installation. It’s a jumble of copper and lights with plants inside some of them. Pretty cool!

They also play records! It adds a nice touch since it matches the restaurant. Plus, it’s so rare to see people play records these days.

The back of the restaurant looked pretty cool. All the bottles lined up on the shelves looked very unique.

Tortilla Soup ($9) has bits of chicken, ancho chile, avocado, queso fresco, and slow cooked egg to top things off.

Burrito ($10) is filled with chorizo verde, egg, potato, and cheese. It’s grilled on the outside, topped with salsa and stabbed with a knife.

Inside, you can see all those ingredients. M liked the burrito!

Gringas ($11) contains pork al pastor, cheddar, kimchi, sunny side egg, and kimchi hollandaise. You eat this with a knife and fork or else it’ll be awkwardly messy. Scarface said it was really good.

Torta ($9) has grilled skirt steak, pickled vegetables, cilantro, egg, and black garlic mayo. The bun was soft and went well with the ingredients. When you bite into the sandwich, the egg pops, so it coats whole sandwich with the ooey gooey yolk that adds flavours. It can get messy, so make sure you aren’t eating it over your lap. I found the grilled skirt steak could have been a bit more tender since it was a little bit tough to chew through.

Banana Churros ($8) comes with 3 pieces and 2 sauces – dulce de leche and spicy chocolate. We loved this item! The sauces paired perfectly and the churros was so fresh! Highly Recommended!

Overall, the food is good but can be a bit pricey. There is still one item I’ll come back for and it’s their amazing banana churros! SO GOOD.

Word of Wisdom:

Free parking around the corner
Churros are amazing
Most items just under $10 for brunch

We Rate Tacofino Commissary:

Address:
2327 E Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.tacofinocommissary.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2327+E+Hastings+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=2327+E+Hastings+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5L+1V6&gl=ca&t=m&z=14 “]

In BBQ

Friend’s BBQ Restaurant: Just Stay Away

April 12, 2013

Friend’s BBQ Restaurant is a new restaurant in the former location of Mui Garden on North Road. We came here thinking it would be a BBQ place where we could grill our own meats. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. They specialize in HK style food similar to Mui Garden but has an emphasis on the BBQ meats like crispy roasted pork or BBQ duck.

As we entered, a majority of the decor was the same as Mui Garden but a few little changes here and there. When we sat down, we immediately knew the place was going to be bad. Even though the restaurant was fairly empty, we had a really hard time flagging down a server to take our order. They all congregated by the cashier and one of the managers were eating in the hallway near the kitchen and washrooms. We thought this was a strange sight.

When one of the servers finally took our order, they forgot all the drinks that we ordered. So, we had to get another server to grab us our drinks. Instead of getting the drinks, they gave us a receipt… and the drinks came about 10 minutes later. The food took another 45 minutes to arrive. All we ordered were BBQ meats that are already cooked….so we were very confused why putting rice on a plate and chopping up BBQ meat would take that long.

Daily Soup came with our order of 3 BBQ meats on rice. It was a nice touch since it makes it more of a complete meal. The soup was good and had lots of beef and radish inside.

3 BBQ meats on rice ($8.50) took 45 minutes to arrive. By 8pm, they only had 3 meats left so we had no options to choose from. We really wanted BBQ Roasted Pork or BBQ Duck, but that wasn’t available. We had the BBQ Pork, Soy Chicken and Ribs. The quality of meats were passable, but not as delicious as some other places in town. It was a bit tough and riddled with lots of bones. Rice was very dry. I would still say T&T has better BBQ meats.

Red Bean Soup came at the end of the meal. It wasn’t very sweet, which I liked.

Overall, the prices are decent and the amount that you get will surely fill you up. I usually can handle crappy service, but the service was down right BAD. The servers took inaccurate orders, food took too long to arrive, and very inattentive. When we wanted to grab the bill to pay, none of the servers turned around from the cashiers area. We decided to go up and pay. As we paid with debt, the machine declined the card. Then we tried credit card and it declined the card too. The machine flashed “Cannot connect to base”. The server said the machine worked fine and didn’t believe us that it was the machine. So we just paid cash and left. With so many restaurants in the area, you can go elsewhere.

Words of Wisdom:

Quality not as good as Mui Garden
Horrible service
Decent prices and set meals
Not open on Wednesdays

We rate Friend’s BBQ Restaurant:

Address:
4327 North Road
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4327+North+Road+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=Bikram+Yoga+Burnaby,+4501+N+Rd,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V3N+4R7&gl=ca&t=m&z=14″]

In Korean

Chui Restaurant: Korean Fusion Restaurant

April 10, 2013

I’ve never heard of Chui Restaurant until my friend decided to have dinner here. It’s a relatively new restaurant on Robson across from Whole Foods. They serve Korean fusion food.

The space is pretty cool. It’s divided up so there is an upper floor and a lower flood. It’s separated by bricks and fake cherry blossoms.

Complementary side dishes consist of kimchi, tofu and edamame beans. It was a nice variety of items, but if you are a large group waiting for your order to arrive, this will be eaten quite quickly. We had to ask for several refills of this.

Beef Yaki Udon was the first item that arrived at the table. It tasted pretty good but had a strong sesame taste to it.

Seafood Paella was a very interesting item to see in a Korean restaurant, but I guess its one of those dishes that make it “fusion”. It has a ample amount of mussels, prawns, squid, and a larger spot prawn in the centre.

Seafood Pancake was large and tasted good. Decent amount of seafood inside too.

Pork Belly with fried vegetables. I’m sure there is a real name for this dish, but sometimes my memory fails me. The fried vegetable can be eaten together with the pork. They definitely compliment each other as you have the crispy vegetable with the savory pork.

Overall the food isn’t bad but some items aren’t that great for Korean fusion food. The service for the food can be a bit slow, so make sure you have some drinks in hand. It gets pretty busy on Friday and weekends as it attracts a young crowd.

We Rate Chui Restaurant:

Address:
1660 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

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In British Columbia

Snackbox by Foodee: 50% Discount Code

April 8, 2013

A lovely package arrived at work from Vancouver-based company – Food.ee. They have recently revamped their monthly Snackbox subscription service. Whats different about their new snackboxes is that they contain healthy, delicious snacks that are ethically produced by small to large companies. The products that you will receive are gluten-free and natural.

I thought this was an awesome idea since it’s pretty hard to figure out what cool snack to pick up at the supermarket. The snackbox gives you a sample of whats out there in the market. Each snack box is well-curated by their staff. There are 3 sizes to choose from: individual ($33), Family ($67) and corporate ($97). The one I’m reviewing is the individual size.

Once you open the box up, the snack are hidden under the paper that hides the snacks that will be devoured shortly.

When I opened the box, I had no idea what anything way. My version of snacks are chocolates and chips. This was a nice healthy change since I’ve never heard of any of these products before. If you go to Urban Fare and Whole Foods, you know these snacks aren’t cheap at all.

One of my favorite items were the coconut chips! How on earth did anyone think of turning coconut meat into chips?! I shared some with my coworkers and they gobbled it all up.

My favorite of all the items was the Kale Krunch chips. The crunchiness of the dried kale and the ranch seasoning went so well together. I ate this whole bag in a few hours. yum.

The pack also came with 2 Pirates Booty Aged White Cheddar. Imagine Cheetos but with white cheddar. I really didn’t like the flavour of these, it just reminded me of some stinky feet. My coworkers did like the brand of Pirate’s Booty but agreed this flavour wasn’t the best.

Another item in the box was Glazed Almond’s by Dave & Friends. It’s a local product from Burnaby, BC. I’ve had their products before and I love it but this particular flavour didn’t resonate well with me. This item is a Thai chilli flavour so it is a bit sour. Some of my coworkers loved this item.

The Hippie Granola was another cool item too! Interesting to see brown rice and Quinoa in Granola.

In the snackbox was some tea. It was great to see that it wasn’t just snacks but a nice drink to complement the snacks. I wasn’t a fan of cinnamon so I didn’t try this…plus I already made a batch of my daily green tea at my desk. My coworkers tried it and loved the aromatic flavours and perked them right up for their meetings.

Overall, I did enjoy the Snackbox! There will definitely be items you love and some you won’t be too fond of. The reason why I love this box was because it gets you to try a bunch of different items without thinking about it at the grocery store. It comes right to your door and you don’t have go do anything extra.

COUPON CODE: Use the code “FOODOLOGY” to get 50% off your first Snackbox. It’s valid until August 31st, 2013.

Website: http://getsnackbox.com/

In Downtown

Guu Garlic: Lunch Time

April 7, 2013

Guu Garlic is open for lunch from Tuesday to Sunday 11:30am till 2:30pm. It’s a nice place to go for lunch if you want to spend about $10 and have a good Japanese meal. I was never able to make it here during a weekday since my office is too far away. M and I were downtown during St. Patricks Day and was looking for a place downtown to eat. As we wanted something Japanese, we decided to go to Guu as they have lunch specials.

Ramune is a Japanese soda and they have their own Guu branded bottles. The bottle is sealed with a marble, so when you open the bottle, it makes a ‘POP’ sound. Imagine it as like a 7-up, but without the lime flavour.

Pork Cutlet on Rice ($9.25) was the St. Patricks Day special. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t any extra green to this dish besides the green onions for the garnish. Anyways, the meal came with miso soup, and pickled vegetables on the side.

The pork cutlet was nicely cooked with egg, cucumber and green onion on top. M did enjoy it and the size was perfect for lunch. He thought the pork was nice and tender without bones.

Deep-Fried Assorted ($9.20) comes with karaage, cream croquette, pork tenderloin, pickled vegetables, miso soup and rice.

Fried things for lunch probably isn’t the most healthiest thing, but when it’s at an izakaya, they make it taste amazing. The chicken karaage and the cream croquette is always a hit. I’ve never had pork tenderloin battered and deep-fried, but it tasted great as well. It was a good thing that there were vegetables and miso soup to complement these items. I’d probably order this again during lunch.

Overall, pretty good choice for lunch. When looking at their lunch offerings, there’s a lot of fried items. It’s a nice space to eat too if you love the izakaya feel.

We Rate Guu Garlic:

Address:

1698 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.guu-izakaya.com

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1698+Robson+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1698+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C8&gl=ca&t=m&z=14 “]

In Bar and Grill

Falconetti’s East Side Grill: Dining Package Review

April 5, 2013

Falconetti’s is located on Commercial Drive near 1st Avenue. They are famous due to their sausage. Even Guy Fieri came here to film Diners Drive-ins and Dives. They make all their sausages in-house on the right side of the restaurant and the right side is a restaurant.

Right now they are doing a dining package with Vaneats.ca, where you pay $16 to get a mini poutine, 2 4oz glasses of beer, slow smoked pork ribs, and one of their famous sausages. I came here with my sister during the evening to try the package.

The interior is narrow and has a long bar on the right side. They have special performances at night too.

The 2 4oz glasses of Phillips Beer’s Blue Buck arrives first. As you wait for your meal, you can enjoy the taste of beer. The Phillips Blue Buck Beer is a deep amber coloured beer with a crisp finish featuring a delicate hop aroma. If you like your beer, you know just 4oz won’t do the trick. You’re just getting started.

The Mini Poutine is made of skinny fries with gravy cheese curds and a bit of pepper. This item was our favorite of the night. The skinny fries were crisp and it was the perfect type of fries to have in this poutine.

The slow smoked pork ribs comes with 4 pieces and is slathered in their special rub and tequila BBQ sauce. The meat was quite tough, so it made the eating a bit difficult. We thought this would be tender, but it wasn’t.

Honey Bratwurst was the sausage we chose for the package. it is an old world flavor, dressed with honey mustard, and caramelized onions on top. My sister and I were torn on the sausage, she thought it was very moist and I thought it was kinda dry. Clearly, we have different tastes.

Outside of the menu, we ordered the Polish ($12) that has beef sirloin sausage with sauteed sauerkraut, onions & grain mustard. We got the yam fries on the side. Their fries are pretty damn good. As for the sauasage, it was ok.

This is probably not a very healthy dining package, but it get us really fully. I’m not a huge fan of pub food, so this wasn’t my favorite package, but you do save some money by getting the Falconetti’s Fix package from Vaneats.

We Rate Falconetti’s:

Address:
1812 Commercial Dr
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://falconettis.com/

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In Four Beakers

Nuba on Main: Munching on Lunch

April 4, 2013

Whats awesome about my new job is that I’m so close to some pretty yummy food. When I discovered Nuba is close by on 3rd and Main…I just had to have a taste of their food. I come here at least once a month since the closest places – Starbucks, McDonalds and Tim Hortons are not the best options for lunch.

Nuba offers up authentic Lebanese cuisine that is fresh and healthy. Trust me, its good stuff! I usually go for lunch for their plates.

Since it was anti-bullying day, they had a special beet juice on special. I’ve never had beets before and wow, did it ever taste like dirt. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the taste profile of beets is very earthly like dirt. If you had beets, you will know what I’m talking about. It’s also quite healthy for you too.

Lamb Hushwie ($9) has sauteed lamb, onions, peppers, pine nuts and spices on top of hummus. There is avocado, pickled cabbage and a spicy sauce.

Sometimes they have specials and this one was a lamb of some sort. I should have written it down, but alas my memory does fail me.

Najib’s Special ($11.25) has crispy cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt, served with tahini. It also has hummus, olives, pickled cabbage, and salad. The crispy cauliflower is deep-fried and tastes sinfully delicious. It’s a very popular dish during the lunch hour. All the ingredients are fresh and it’s so addictive.

This was my first time going to this location and I have to say, the food was pretty consistent. It can get pretty busy during a weekday lunch.

We Rate Nuba on Main:

Address:
146 3rd Ave E
Vancouver, BC

Website:
nuba.ca

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