May 2013

In Japanese

Yo Sushi: I Had a Feeling

May 27, 2013

Since Yo Sushi opened up on Hastings, I was always curious to see how their sushi would be. It resides in the old Bombay Behl. It is completely different inside and has lots of booth seating. The first thing I noticed when I went inside was a foosball table and a mini air hockey table. Pretty cool to have if you’re young at heart or dining with kids.

I came with M on a weekday night and this place was completely empty. There were a few takeout orders but besides that, we basically had the restaurant to ourselves, I had a feeling something wasn’t right. Yo Sushi was voted by Burnaby Now as the best sushi restaurant in Burnaby, but its something I have to strongly disagree with.

We sat down they gave us tea. When we proceeded to order our food, we asked the waitress what was something good on the menu that we must try. She told us that she hasn’t tried anything on the menu. This seemed a bit odd, so I rephrased to as her what is popular on the menu.

Red Dragon Roll ($9.95) has prawn tempura, crab meat, cucumber, and then it’s topped with spicy tuna, bread crumbs, and a spicy sauce. The roll had way too much sauce. It really drowned out most of the taste of the roll. The roll itself was poorly put together and the temperature was very strange. The roll and the spicy tuna on top were slightly warm.

Hawaiian Passion Roll ($9.95) has pineapple, avocado, and mango wrapped in soy bean paper. It sounded unique and we thought it would be an adventurous roll to order. We were very wrong. In short, fruit should not be in sushi.

Sweetheart Roll ($11.95) has cucumber, prawn, and tuna wrapped with salmon. It is also topped off with a maraschino cherry. Cute concept but it was nasty. All the raw items were slightly warm and it was a very basic roll that has been shaped into a heart. Not worth the price.

Magic Sushi Pizza ($10.95) has crispy rice on the bottom topped with onions, crab meat, scallops, tuna, salmon, and tai with a special sauce. It looked beautiful when it came out, but the crispy rice on the bottom was more stale and hard as a rock. The sashimi on top was also slightly warm.

By this point of the meal, we were pretty disappointed. Having spent $49.45 on these 4 items that were well below average. The service was sparse even though we were the only customers. The staff mostly congregated near the sushi chefs to chat. There is definitely lots of opportunity for the restaurant to grow, but the quality wasn’t there.

We Rate Yo Sushi:

Address:
4266 Hastings St.
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4266+Hastings+St.+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=4266+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5C+2J7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Sandwich

Taser Grilled Cheese Sandwiches: Guilty Pleasure

May 26, 2013

I love when there is great weather since all the food carts and food trucks are open. The hardest part of my day is trying to figure out where to eat. It’s a bad case of #FirstWorldProblems. I know, I know…horrible! There is only a small amount of food options around my work and I’m not that keen on going to McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks or Tim Hortons. It’s like a fast food paradise near the office. As I stepped out to stroll around the neighbourhood for a restaurant, I stumbled upon Tasers Grilled Cheese. I felt like indulging on something bad, so I decided to get a grilled cheese.

When I looked at the menu, the first item caught my eye! BACON! They have a few different items that vary from day to day, but there is always something good.

Swiss gruyere and cheddar melted on caramel onions and smoked bacon served between two sourdough bread. It sounded good and it did taste good. Everything that could go amazingly into a grilled cheese is in here.

Overall, it’s a good place to grab grilled cheese if you’re in the area.

We Rate Taser Grilled Cheese Sandwich:

Address (Can vary):
Main Street & Terminal Avenue

Website:
http://www.tasersandwiches.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Main+Street+%26+Terminal+Avenue&hnear=Main+St+%26+Terminal+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In British Columbia

EAT! Vancouver 2013: Food and Cooking Festival

May 25, 2013

Eat Vancouver is back for its’ 11th year. It’s a food and cooking festival that brings together food lovers in Vancouver with some amazing exhibitors. It’s held at BC Place on May 24th – 26th. Entrance is $14 (online ticket) and $16 at the door. Buy the ticket online if you want to save $2.

Here are some old write ups about the past 2 EAT! Vancouver festivals that I’ve been to:

Even way before starting this blog, I remember coming here in my University days. It has evolved over the years to have different activities for everyone.

This year there are about 250 exhibitors. Lots of sample to taste and some booths charge $1 – $5 for special types of samples. You either pay cash or in the form of tickets that you can purchase.

Urban Fare has a large booth sampling various items like quinoa salad. They were giving out coupons for free coffee at their stores too. Their booth is like a mini-store, so you can purchase anything here. They have a variety of pasta, salads and fruit.

You can even purchase items that they have displayed on the shelves. Look carefully at this picture, you’ll find some very odd sounding cereal.

Near the Urban Fare booth, they were also giving out samples of Cloud 9 Gluten free baked goods.

Coconut Bliss was giving out ice cream samples. Surprisingly good! I can’t believe it’s dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free and non-GMO. Their ice cream is usually a bit expensive, but it’s good you can take some $1 off coupons to use for later.

Kitchening & Co. was there selling their delicious macarons and cookies. They are the only macaron booth here. The creator Carly wasn’t there when I went, @wongers and @apwong was there representing.

No samples at this booth, but you definitely should grab some of their macarons and cookies. They are softer in texture but has a lot of flavour and depth.

Snackbox was promoting their subscription-based snack box service filled with organic and gluten-free snacks. I’ve done reviews on some of their snack boxes before and they are definitely worth the money. They aren’t selling them at the event, but you can sure win one.

Rain City Soups was giving out samples of the ginger carrot soup. It wasn’t my favorite soup that they had but their other soups are pretty awesome.

A Good Portion was sampling their variety of pistachio nuts. I love pistachios and what I enjoyed about these is that it’s not too salty.

Hopcott Premium Meats was sampling their sausages and jerky.

Bosa Food always has a large variety of samples like risotto, cheese, crackers, and sauces. It’s one of the popular booths.

So many beverage samples!

You know when you get thirsty from all the food samples, you come to these booths to get a refreshment.

Peanut Butter & Co. has crazy peanut butter flavours. I dare you to try the spicy one.

There’s so many booths at EAT! Vancouver. There’s no way I would be able to visit everyone and tell you where has the best samples of food, but there’s a large variety. There’s also a handful of booths that aren’t even food related… like jewelry, car services, and phone services.

Free Cheese Seminars

Besides eating all the samples, they have cheese seminars. You should line up early so you are guaranteed a spot. It is usually filled by the time the seminar begins. It’s presented by the Dairy Farmers of Canada, so you’ll probably learn everything you need to know about cheese.

Schedule:

Saturday May 25th
12:00pm, 1:30pm, 3:00pm, 4:30pm, 6:00pm, 7:30pm

Sunday May 26th
11:00am, 12:30pm, 2:00pm, 3:30pm

Culinary Classes

Culinary Classes are $28 each and you have to buy tickets in advance online. Most of the spots are sold out, but its pretty cool that you can learn how to sharpen knives, bake cakes, learn about brunch, gluten-free baking, and other stuff.

Demonstrations

Some booths had demonstrations of their own. They must have learned something interesting.

Food Network Celebrity Stage

This was my favorite area. You can see a few of the Food Network Celebrities take the stage and do some demonstrations.

The Celebrity Chefs that will be there are:

Rob Feenie
Chick Hughs
Bal Arnsen (Spice Goddess)
Anna Olson

Celebrity Chef Throwdown

Celebrity Chef Throwdown was pitted 3 amazing chefs together to cook an entree in 20 minutes using a secret ingredient.

Competitors:

Rob Feenie – Executive Chef, Cactus Restaurants Ltd.
Anna Olson – Host of Food Network Canada’s Bake with Anna Olson
Trevor Bird – Chef/Owner of Fable Kitchen & Runner Up on Top Chef Canada Season 2

Erin Cebula of Entertainment Tonight Canada hosted the event and chose the secret ingredient to be Ninja Ginger Beer from Granville Island Brewing.

After a fierce 20 minute battle, the judges – The Spice Goddess and Erin declared Rob Feenie the winner.

I thought it was pretty cool seeing them in real life. It’s always one of my highlights of Eat Vancouver is to see them. I watch a lot of Food Network when I’m bored.

Bites of Vancouver

Beside the Food Network Celebrity stage is a section called Bites of Vancouver that features 16 different local restaurants.

The list of restaurants are:

BeaverTails Pastry
Bella Gelateria
Cafe Kathmandu
Dunn’s Famous Restaurant
Ebo Restaurant
Establishment Lounge
Frankies Italian Kitchen & Bar
Glowbal Restaurant Group
Gramercy Grill
Jamaican Pizza Jerk
New India Buffet
Noodle Box
Secret Location
Spice Up Indian Cuisine
Siddhartha’s Indian Kitchen
Tacofino

You will need to purchase a sheet of tasting tickets 20 for $10 or 10 for $5. Some items can use up a lot of tickets, so make sure to browse the booths before you buy your tickets. You might need more or less depending on what you want to eat.

Siddhartha of Siddhartha’s Kitchen was there serving up Butter Chicken and their spinach paneer.

If you’ve read my reviews before, you know I love their spinach paneer. You must get that if you’re here.

Tacofino was serving up some beef tartare tacos and Chilled Avocado soup.

I got the chilled avocado soup and it was pretty darn tasty. The presentation was good too. The downside is that it was for 8 tickets. It gobbled up a large chunk of my tickets.

The Glowbal group was serving up large meatballs and mini New England Clam Chowder. It was really cute, so I couldn’t resist.

It tasted ok and I wasn’t disappointed.

The verdict, if you’ve been here a few times before, you may not enjoy it as much as some other years. There’s a lot of repeat vendors, so you may not be as enthused as you would have been before.

If you’ve never been to EAT! Vancouver and you love food, it is definitely an event for you. Plus, it’s awesome to see the Food Network Celebrities there.

Website: http://eat-vancouver.com/

In Canadian

Richmond Night Market 2013: SaucyPops, Takoyaki, Chef James, and Mogu

May 24, 2013

The Richmond Night Market is back and is often confused with the Summer Night Market (the one by IKEA). This one is located right beside the River Rock Casino and Canada Line. There are tons of shops and food stands in the market.

There are also 1,500 parking spots in the lot and it’s free, but entrance into the market is $2 per person. Sucks, but I just tell myself that it’s worth the easy parking.

My friends and I came here to eat food at 7pm and it wasn’t too busy as we came on a long weekend. We aren’t too keen on shopping at the market but we just love the food stalls. Meat on sticks!

This year the theme is the Magical Duck Island, named after the stretch of land that the night market resides on. There’s a lot of hype around ducks this summer as Hong Kong has the duck art installation in Victoria Harbour. I’m not really sure if there is a correlation there or perhaps good timing.

There are rows upon rows of shops, but I can’t remember exactly how many stands there are. When I was younger, the usual items we would purchase would be stationary, Korean socks, and a stack of blank CDs.

The food section is much busier. It can get crowded at peak hours and you will probably fear the people walking and holding their skewers. Even though I wear glasses, I’m always afraid someone will poke my eyes out. It’s not likely to happen, but beware the crowds.

This year the sitting area is slightly larger. If you have 2 plates of food in your hands, you know you need a place to sit and actually enjoy your meal.

SaucyPops

SaucyPops sells homemade chicken wonton lollipops or as I call it jumbo fried wontons on a skewer. Their fried wontons are served with 4 signature sauces:

Wasabi Aioli – Mild sweetness with a wasabi kick
Korean Spicy Aioli – Spicy and salty
Honey Garlic Aioli – Sweet and savory
Citrus Orange Marmalade Aioli – Sweet and spicy

You can get all 4 for $4.75. It’s not a bad price and it’s a fun treat to share with others too.

I really liked the different sauces that went along with the wontons. When you bite into them, you get the crunchiness of the wonton wrapper and the great flavour from the sauces. My favorite was the Korean spicy aioli and the wasabi aioli. Clearly I like it spicy when it comes to fried food.

Takoyaki

It’s everyone’s favorite! Theres a few other stands in the night market but most of them are about the same.

For this particular stand, it’s 6 pieces for $5 and you can choose from octopus, shrimp, scallop or veggie for the center filling.

Chef James Xin Jiang Man BBQ

Chef James Xin Jiang Man BBQ is best known for his lamb skewers. There was a HUGE line for these bad boys and there were at least 10 – 15 people waiting to pay and another line waiting for the food. The lines move fast, so don’t be intimidated by the large amount of people. Just make sure you line up correctly cause it can be very confusing where the line begins.

3 skewers for $7.25
5 for $11.50
Buy 6 and get a free pop ($13.75)

They cook a bunch and then have it kept under the warm lights, so that’s how they move quickly through the long line ups.

We got a bunch of different skewers, but you can’t go wrong with any of them. They all taste good. My personal favorites was the beef and lamb.

Mogu Japanese Street Eats

Food Trucks make me excited, but what makes me even more excited is when they are at the night market. Mogu was selling their signature item – the chicken karaage. They aren’t selling their sandwiches, but thats ok since the chicken karaage is pretty darn good.

3 pieces – $4.75
5 pieces – $7.50

I liked the chicken karaage and so did my friends. Some were a bit iffy about the sauce, but the way they batter and fry the chicken was spot on.

Rotato

Rotato serves up the hurricane potatoes. The line up is always long. It seems to be the only stall that served these. We didn’t line up, but they do have this really cool illustration about what you can do with your Rotato.

You can now learn how to propose with a rotato, make a baby stop cry with a rotato and even go fishing with a rotato.

I usually go to the night market a few times a year and it’s fun for the summer. Lots of things to see and buy, but its all about the delicious food.

Address:
8351 River Rd
Richmond, BC

Website:
richmondnightmarket.com

In Bakery

Chicco: Japanese Parfaits

May 23, 2013

Chicco has been on Robson street for a long time and I remember coming here a long time ago for Parfaits with friends. It’s great that it’s still around serving up their Japanese versions of parfaits. The parfaits have changed up slightly, but still a very cool thing to eat.

The shop is quite small, so it’s hard to find seats if it’s during peak hours. If the weather is nice, you could always go to a nearby park to walk around and munch on this.

Green Tea Parfait ($7) contains a cube of green tea mousse, rice cake, whipping cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, vanilla gelato, green tea jello, red beans, green tea gelato and a green tea stick. This is the most popular item and is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth. It’s not a heavy dessert and its like a very fun cereal to eat.

Mango Parfait ($7) contains a strawberry macaron, strawberries, cube of mango mousse, mango ice cream, strawberry jelly. whipped cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, and scoop of strawberry sorbet.

Very Berry Parfait ($7) contains a strawberry macaron, strawberries, blueberry, strawberry sorbet, whipped cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, and strawberry jelly.

All of the parfaits are somewhat structured similarly but the flavours are different. It is definitely expensive for what you get but when you get it, it looks beautiful. I would highly recommend the Green Tea Parfait.

We Rate Chicco:

Address:
1504 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.chiccocafe.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1504+Robson+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1504+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C3&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In American

Reel Mac and Cheese: Comfort Food On Wheels

May 22, 2013

The list of new food trucks was revealed a few weeks ago and I just had my eyes on the Reel Mac and Cheese Truck. When I saw them open, my coworkers and I just had to go. It was a nice sunny day, so why not. I’ve always had a soft spot for childhood comfort food. Growing up with Kraft dinner…you know you either loved it or hated it. I loved it as a kid, but as I grew older, it just didn’t satisfy anymore.

The Reel Mac and Cheese Food Truck has movie inspired menu items. The mac and cheese is all made by scratch. The menu has 7 items can be customized with some additional add ons.

The Main Event ($7) is a blend of 5 cheeses, with butter, whole milk, spices and of course the elbow macaroni. It is then topped with crispy onions. The portion size was a good size, but my coworker was underwhelmed by the mac and cheese. It didn’t taste anything special but she did love the crispy onions for the added texture.

The Main Event ($7) with Kevin Bacon’s Bacon (+$2). I can’t say no to bacon, so I had to add it on. It also had the fried onions on top. Once you add the bacon on top, it does get quite expensive and there isn’t too much of it either.

Run Fatboy Run ($6) is deep-fried Mac and Cheese balls. It comes with 3 pieces. They are quite big, so its best splitting with a few others.

Once you open it up, its nice and gooey inside with the crispy exterior. We actually liked this item more than the mac and cheese dishes.

Overall, it was an OK food truck. It has a nice concept that brings people back to their childhood, but the mac and cheese could be more rich and cheesy.

We Rate Reel Mac & Cheese:

Location (can vary):
600 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.reelmacandcheese.com

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=600+Hamilton+Street+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=600+Hamilton+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+2R4&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In lunch

Patron Tacos & Cantina: Lunch Time

May 21, 2013

Patron Tacos & Cantina is located on Robson street at Cambie Street. The interior is like a Mexican restaurant with a sports bar. There are tons of TVs everywhere, so no matter which seat you have, you can be in the vicinity of a TV. It seems like it would be great to view games.

My coworkers and I came to have some lunch as we saw their lunch specials looked good.

They have a pretty cool chandelier too.

Complimentary Chips and Salsa arrived at the table. The chips were awesome and you could tell they were made in house. The salsa was a bit watery and lacked any spicy taste or heartiness. I like my salsa chunky.

Tortilla Soup came with the lunch combos. It’s deliciously cheesey with chunks of avocado and crunchy tortilla bits inside. You should probably get this soup if you’re here for lunch!

Tacos ($12) comes with 2 Tacos of your choice. My coworker chose the battered fish and the carnitas. It also comes with soup or salad. She felt a bit underwhelmed by this dish.

Tostadas was also part of one of the lunch items. It came with a side of rice and refried beans. I also chose the side of tortilla soup. The tortilla on the bottom of the tostadas was nice and crispy and all the items that layed on top were just delicious. The rice and the refried beans were ok.

Torta is like a sandwich made with a Mexican bun. It is served with a side of criss-cross fries. This will definitely bring you back to your childhood. On the inside, there is chipotle mayo, refried beans, cheese, tomato, lettuce, jalapeños, avocado, and onion. I’m not sure which torta he chose, but he said he enjoyed it and there was a lot of meat inside.

As we only have a hour lunch, the service here is quite slow and inefficient. A few simple things did take a long time like beer, soup and the bill.

We Rate Patron Tacos & Cantina:

Address:
265 Robson St.
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.patrontc.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=265+Robson+St.+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=265+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+2A8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Dim Sum

Long’s Noodle House: Long Story Short, It’s Awesome

May 20, 2013

Long’s Noodle House is located on Main street right beside Au Petit Cafe. Both of these places are very busy and there are line ups during peak hours. I came here for a family lunch as we heard it has some pretty darn good xiao long bao. We made a reservation since it was for a large party. As the traffic was very busy, we called ahead to let them know we would be 15 minutes late. They were very accommodating and the table was still there as we arrived.

There is paid parking in the front and free parking in the street behind the restaurant.

The interior is basic and there aren’t too many seats. Always make a reservation.

Wine Chicken comes in a little cute jar. Inside is a bunch of chicken pieces marinated in wine and is slightly warm. Its one of the popular items on the menu. The pieces were tender and deliciously soaks up the wine flavour. Kids usually don’t like this dish, but its more for older people. My little sister refused to eat it since there’s alcohol.

Yellow Fish with Seaweed is pretty awesome. It has the yellow fish covered in a seaweed batter. The seaweed has a prominent taste and I was surprised it went so well together. Mmmmmm highly recommended.

Crispy rice with salty egg sauce was another strange dish, but it was surprisingly good too. The fried crispy rice is on top and the salty egg sauce is on the bottom. It’s salty, its fatty, its crunchy, and it’s quite addictive.

Xiao Long Bao comes with 6 pieces. It is packed full of soup and really delicious. One of the good XLB in town.

Eel noodle in soup was an interesting dish. I never would have thought of ordering this. It was good and definitely a good items share among the table.

Beef Roll has the five spiced meat, cilantro and cucumber inside. I found it different from other places as the wrap is much softer.

Hot and Sour soup came last and tasted good. This probably should have been ordered early in the meal, but we didn’t mind that we had this last.

Overall, Long’s Noodle House is a great place for some good Shanghainese food. The prices are fair and the food is just great.

We Rate Long’s Noodle House:

Address:
4853 Main St
Vancouver, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4853+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=4853+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3R8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Mount Pleasant/Main Street

Burdock & Co : Farm to Table Concept

May 19, 2013

Burdock & Co has open up in the former location of Cafeteria. This restaurant is headed by Chef Andrea Carlson. Her menu reflects the locavore philosophy with using local organic produce throughout the menu. The interior is quite cozy with a communal table and a few separate tables on the side.

My coworkers and I came here after work one day just to chill over some delicious food. The plates are best shared with a group. The 3 of us shared 4 dishes and a dessert.

Burdock & Beer ($11) is a mixture of saison, gingerbeer, burdock root & sour, ginger, plum & rootbeer bitters.

Seasonal Garden-Slug ($11) contains vodka, lemon, apple & fenugreek, western elderberry bitters, and moondog bitters. I chose this cocktail for its name since ‘garden-slug’ sounded adventurous. There’s no garden slug in this, but it tasted good and went well with the intricate dishes.

Urban Digs Egg ($9), wild cress, hazelnut & blue cheese granola, browned butter and potato vinaigrette. It’s a vegetarian dish. The quality of ingredients was great and the items did blend nicely together. Portions are on the smaller side.

Fresh Oysters ($15) comes with finger lime caviar, french breakfast radish, chickweed,apple & verbena sorbet, and a kasu emulsion. Beautiful presentation of the ingredients and tasted good but as you can tell, it won’t fill you up if you just order this item.

Pickled humpback shrimp ($14) also has house made tofu, wild ginger, charred spring onion, and fiddleheads. It’s yet another beautiful dish, but it’s not enough to fill a person up.

Harvest Oxtail Ramen ($13) also has swiss chard and kimchi. This item is best to order as it has more substance to it. If you have been to Harvest Community Foods and tried this ramen, you’ll be a fan of this. Before opening up Burdock & Co, the Chef Andrea Carlson was at Harvest Community Foods, so you can see how aspects are infused into her menu. It tasted good and I would recommend this dish.

Salted Caramel Apple Pot Pie ($8) topped with Elderflower Ice Cream. When we saw the salted caramel words, we gravitated towards this dessert. The elderflower ice cream was very subtle in flavour that balanced the butteriness of the crust. The crust was crispy and under it laid the piping hot apple mixture.

Overall, Burdock and Co isn’t for everyone. It’s a bit pricey than other places in town, but if you consider the ingredients that goes into their items, you know it’s not processed or frozen. They care about the ingredients and have built strong relationships with local farmers. It’s best to share the dishes as they are a bit of a tapa style.

We Rate Burdock and Co:

Address:
2702 Main St.
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.burdockandco.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2702+Main+St.+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=2702+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T+3E8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Japanese

Spaghetei: Japanese Style Spaghetti

May 16, 2013

Spaghetei opened on Robson Street a few days ago. They took over the former location of Benkei Ramen. This chain of restaurants has been around since 1975 and it’s finally landed in Vancouver.

KoreanGirl and I were wandering around Robson St for dinner around 9pm and we were curious about this place. It was quite empty, but we figured we should try it out anyways. Even though they are open, their card machines don’t work yet. To make up for the inconvenience, they are offering their customers 30% off. They are licensed too, so they have alcohol.

There are a good amount of tables inside.

Complimentary cup of soup was good and had bits of shredded lettuce inside.

Complimentary slices of garlic pesto bread was a cute touch before getting our meal. It’s lightly toasted and crunchy.

Mentaiko ($13) has spaghetti tossed with spicy cod roe, mushroom, and seaweed. This was my favorite and was the most expensive spaghetti. The taste reminded me of yaki udon. It wasn’t spicy either even though there is the spicy cod roe.

Neopolitan ($12) has bacon, chicken, sausage, and vegetables. It has a mild ketchup flavour. I wasn’t a fan of this dish since it seemed a bit simple and easy to make at home.

Overall, I was very torn about this place. I really wanted to love this place, but the price you pay doesn’t equate to what arrives. I definitely need to return to try a few more dishes. KoreanGirl already has plans to come back since she really wants to try their Clam Shellfish Spaghetti and butter & Soy sauce spaghetti. Eating here reminded us of being kids again when our parents would make us spaghetti.

We Rate Spaghetei:

Address:
1741 Robson St
Vancouver

Website:
http://www.spaghetei.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1741+Robson+St+Vancouver,&hnear=1741+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1E1&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Four Beakers

Marutama Ramen: Newest Ramen Restaurant in Vancouver

May 15, 2013

Marutama Ramen opened up in Vancouver on May 5th, 2013. They have been around for about 10 years and since then it’s been opening up shops around the world. There are several location in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and now in Vancouver!

All their noodles are handmade in the shop and you can definitely tell the difference between the other ramen shops in town. I first noticed this restaurant when TaiwaneseGirl began bombarding me with messages to go eat here. It’s only been open for a bit over 1 week and she’s been there at least 3 times.

There’s not too many seats, so it can get busy during peak hours. In their first week, they’ve been so busy that they are starting to run out of food before their closing hours. I actually went again today but they were all sold out by 9pm.

Complementary cold tea arrives as you wait for your meal.

Dashimaki ($7) is a Japanese Omelette cut up into 6 square pieces. This is a popular item that tends to be sold out too. It’s sweetened egg. I didn’t particularly like this as I never liked the idea of sweet savory foods. Probably a childhood thing. Some people love this, but it wasn’t for me.

Marutama Tamago Ramen ($10.50) is a must! It’s their top-selling item. It contains the soft-boiled flavored egg, aosa seaweed, green onions, 2 pieces of chashu, and handmade noodles in a rich chicken broth. You can choose mild or spicy broth. Other ramen places use pork broth, but I love their chicken broth.

It’s not a large portion, but it tastes quite healthy and not too rich. If you are a big eater, you might want to add an extra portion of noodles. I liked their noodles since they are thin and takes us more broth as you eat it.

Highly recommended!

Out of all the ramen places I’ve been to so far, this is by far the best egg I’ve ever eaten.

Overall, it’s become one of my favorite spots in town for ramen. The quality of their ingredients is great and that egg is so addictive. I have a feeling this place is going to get quite busy once people figure out that this place has amazing eggs in their ramen.

We rate Marutama Ramen:

Address:
780 Bidwell
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.japanesenoodle.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=780+Bidwell+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=780+Bidwell+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Fairview

Suika Snackbar: SupaSUIKA Dining Package

May 13, 2013

I’ve been to Suika Snackbar several times in the past few years and it’s always been a great experience. They have sister restaurants located around town – Kingyo and Rajio. Suika means watermelon, Kingyo means goldfish and Rajio means radio. I find it funny how all those restaurants are named after things.

Vaneats.ca and Suika have teamed up together again to offer another dining package. It’s $35 and you get the following:

Salmon Battera
Magical Mojito Pitcher
Steak Salad
Ma-Po Rice Cake

I came with Mandu and KoreanGirl to check out the package since there was a mojito pitcher that is more for a group rather an individual.

It’s pretty busy usually, so it’s always best to make a reservation. Most of the tables we saw when we arrived had reserve signs too. To avoid disappointment, definitely reserve!

As always, this is their amazing light installation that catches everyone’s attention.

Magical Mojito Pitcher (Regular $28). You can choose from watermelon, pomegranate or aloe. We had a hard time figuring it out, so we asked the staff which one was most popular and they suggested the Suika Mojito, which is the watermelon flavoured one. I’m not a fan of artificial watermelon flavour, so I didn’t particularly like the flavour. They didn’t skimp on the alcohol because I turned bright red like Rudolph after having one glass.

There was enough in the pitcher to fill up 6 glasses. Pretty good amount. For 3 people, it was enough for us on a weekday.

Steak Salad has diced & marinated AAA beef filet steaks on a bed of organic greens, then topped with watercress and beets.

The steak pieces were done to about medium rare and was a tad chewy. It was still a pretty solid dish and we enjoyed it.

Ma-Po Rice Cake is deep-fried rice cake with spicy ground pork sauce. It comes with 4 pieces and has the sauce drizzle on top of each piece. My friends loved the stickiness of the rice cakes and the savoury sauce.

Salmon Battera is topped with sockeye salmon, salmon caviar, spicy cod roe mayo, Japanese basil, and then avocado shiso between the rice.

Overall, the 3 of us enjoyed the #SupaSUIKA dining package from Vaneats.ca. $35 for the 3 food dishes and the huge pitcher of mojito is worth it. There are also other items on their menu that will definitely make you drool. If you spilt this package with a few friends and add a few items on the side, it’s not too expensive.

Items not included in the SupaSUIKA Dining Package (Delicious things I ordered in addition to the package)

Deluxe Suika Box ($12) comes with a set of 9 assorted appetizers. If you are a person that like a little taste of everything, you’ll enjoy this box.

Deep Fried Chicken Cartilage with curry spice. It was an interesting dish to try. Who knew chicken cartilage would be tasty. It’s the curry spice that really makes this dish mighty delicious. Don’t worry, there is chicken meat in the dish and not just cartilage.

Corn Kakiage is one item you must order everytime you eat at SUIKA. It comes in 3 pieces and really good.

Tokyo Oxtail Ramen is another good choice too. It has slowly braised oxtail and noodles in a soy based broth topped with green onions.

Words of Wisdom:

Corn Kakiage, chicken kaarage, Deluxe suika box, Tuna tataki, Sashimi shake salad and ebi mayo recommended.
Nice decor and good service
If it’s your birthday, the staff sing to you
Pay parking on Street
Reservations highly recommended!

We Rate Suika:

Address:
1626 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.suika-snackbar.com/

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In Kid Friendly

Chen’s Shanghai Restaurant: XLB and Salty Soy Milk

May 12, 2013

I don’t go to Richmond that often, so we decided to make Kirsty (Eating with Kirby) take us to the good places in town. She was pretty confident that this place had some good xiao long bao. I am still a big fan of Dinesty, so she really wanted to show me this hole in the wall with amazing XLB. She even wrote a blog post about Dinesty vs Chen’s a few months ago.

This place is cash only and has won several awards too. It doesn’t have a nice interior but they are best known for their food.

Salted Soy Milk ($2.95) sounds like a weird dish, but it was surprisingly good. It’s also only $2.50! SO cheap! Somehow all the ingredients blended together very nicely to make a savory soup.

Mixed Meat Wo Ba was a cool dish to eat. You take some soup and then you throw in a chunk of crispy rice into it. Its a good combination of crispy rice and the smooth saltiness of the soup.

Noodle Soup with pickled cabbage and shredded pork ($6.50) was ok. Nothing special.

Xiao Long Bao comes in 6 pieces per order ($4.95) whats unique about these is that there is a lot of soup packed into these. Half of the table broke their XLB as they were transporting the dumpling from the bamboo steamer to their spoons.

Shanghai Spicy Green Beans ($7.95) was good as usual. A little bit oily, but not as bad as other restaurants.

Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns ($4.95) were oily and a bit burn on the pan-fried side.

Deep fried buns with condensed milk is a must! The deep fried buns come in 6 pieces and great for sharing. Crispy on the outside and steaming hot and fluffy on the inside.

The food was good and the prices were great. Some dishes can be a hit and a miss.

Words of Wisdom:

Must order the Xiao Long Bao, Salted Soy Milk, Deep Fried Man Tou
Cash Only
Free parking in the parking lot
Horrible Service
Hole in the Wall Decor

We Rate Chen’s Shanghai Restaurant:

Address:
8095 Park Rd
Richmond, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=8095+Park+Rd+Richmond,+BC&hnear=8095+Park+Rd,+Richmond,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6Y+2Y8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Four Beakers

Dark Table Vancouver: Spoiler Alert! Photos!

May 11, 2013

Dark Table dining experience is really an adventure. Blind dining is popular in other larger cities around the world and has finally landed in Vancouver, BC. You’re dining in pitch darkness, so you can definitely feel how it’s like losing one of your senses. When it was first opened , I didn’t feel an urge to come here, but I’m glad I finally did it.

They are giving diners a unique experience and they proudly hire people with visual impairments. They state that the unemployment rate is 70% among the blind. In the dark dining environment, they are the ones guiding us through our dining experience and we follow.

We made reservations ahead of time and on a Friday night, it wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t crowded and was a good size for the amount of people freaking out over the darkness.

You order your meal outside in the lounge and choose from either 3 courses ($39) or 2 courses ($33). The main dishes you choose, but the starter and dessert are a mystery. Once you order, you wait a short while until one of their legally blind servers takes you inside. Lazaare was our server and he was very nice and humble. The dinner lasts 1.5 hours on average. They make you turn off your cell phone and any light producing devices like illuminating watches.

This is what we saw the entire night looked like. I felt pretty disoriented most of the time. You’re unaware of your surroundings, sense of time, and weird emotional feelings. My friends were scared and excited to be trying this out. The first thing you’ll notice is that your hearing gets better. You could hear everything in the room, but maybe it’s because your sense of sight is taken away, so you speak louder. For some reason I felt a bit anxious for no reason and when the food came, I had an urge to eat it fast.

It was fun trying to navigate the plate and seeing where to put the fork. I spent a bit of time eating with my hands and feeling my food. We made guesses to our mystery starters and dessert, but we soon discovered our sense of taste was quite weak.

Stop reading now if you don’t want to be spoiled by real pictures of their food.

This is what I would have posted, but we asked the restaurant to help us take pictures. They were happy to do so since no one really knows what the food really looks like. It is carefully put together and we should be celebrating the dining experience and the food.

Plus, it’s always fun to see the food that you image and what it really looks like.

Surprise Starter

While eating this, I thought it was a plate full of salad and poking it with my fork. My friend said she felt cups. “Stuff in cups” was her explanation. So I started navigating the plate with my hands. The “cups” that she was referring to were endives stuffed with some mixture and cheese. On the other side is a salad with walnuts and strawberries. I guessed the endives right, but I had no idea what else was on the plate. I actually thought the strawberries were peaches.

My failed taste buds fail me.

Fresh Ravioli with jalapeno, rosemary cream sauce.

M had this dish and he used a fork to pick at it. He kept going at it until there was no more. He did enjoy it.

Veal Schnitzel (Viennese Style) with potatoes and seasoned vegetables.

My friends ordered this dish and they said “It’s so big and feels hard”. We made a lot of bad jokes since were dining in the dark. The taste of it was pretty good.

Goat Cheese and dates stuffed chicken breast with orange gastrique, roasted potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

Looks pretty good. Too bad we couldn’t see it while we ate it.

Beef Tenderloin with a peppercorn sauce and potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

I ordered it medium rare and they made it right. You didn’t have to see the image to know. When I bit into the dish, I was so glad it was pre sliced so I didn’t have to accidentally slice off any fingers.

Surprise Dessert

This was the hardest dessert to decipher while eating it. In my mind, I was so sure it was a black forest cake. Our table had debates about what it could be. In the dark I ate it all, but when seeing it in pictures, it wouldn’t be a dessert that I wouldn’t pick. I’m pretty mindblown that I learned I eat with my eyes more than my tastebuds.

Another version of the Surprise Dessert. I’m sure they have different desserts with people with diet restrictions.

After the dark dining, we left quite satisfied with our meal. I remember thinking everything tasted great and had this idea of how the plate was presented. My imagination was soaring.

We then were led to the cashiers area to pay for the meal. After that, we were led back outside and all we saw was white for a few seconds since it was so bright outside. We were so curious what our food actually looked like since we all had different reactions to what was on our plate. The food tasted good but when you look at the pictures what you image may or may not align.

The food isn’t fine dining , but it’s more for the experience. You have to come here with an open mind and try everything. Definitely recommended.

We Rate Dark Table:

Address:
2611 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://darktable.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2611+W+4th+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=2611+W+4th+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6K+3V9&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Burnaby Cariboo-Lougheed

Jong Ga Korean Restaurant: More Restaurants in Korea Town

May 8, 2013

Jong Ga Korean Restaurant is another newer restaurant that has popped up in North Road AKA Korea Town in the past year. It’s a small restaurant, but its packed during peak hours. We went around 1pm as a group of 6 and there was still a decent amount of people inside.

Its located a few shops away from the Steve Nash Gym on North Road. Also steps away from the Lougheed Skytrain. Parking can be quite annoying during peak hours, but you’ll find parking close by.

Banchan are complimentary side dishes that arrive before the meal. It’s normal to see this at Korean restaurant and is expected. Jong Ga has 6 that comes and may vary from visit to visit.

Seafood Pancake ($13.99) was massive and quite thick. There is definitely lots of seafood and ingredients inside, but it was so thick that the center is mushy and falls apart. The exterior is still crisp, but could be done a bit better.

Beef Bone Broth with Noodles ($8.99) comes with rice in a stone bowl. This dish has always confused me. It tastes quite bland when you don’t add salt into it. We asked the waitress for salt but she gave us mustard and vinegar instead. It still made the soup bland. This is one time where we wished we had MSG. My sister said this dish tasted like water and noodles.

Buckwheat noodle in chilled broth ($8.99) was what my other sister ordered. It’s quite a big bowl and put together nicely.

Pork Bone Soup in Hot Pot ($8.99) is probably one of the better items to order here. It also comes with rice. The meat is delicious and tender and the soup was good. Not the best I’ve ever had, but good.

Overall, the food is good, but the service was quite sparse. They didn’t give us tea or water till we bugged them. They didn’t give us condiments for our dishes, so we also had to ask. The condiment jars were not filled up and only had a few drips left.

We Rate Jong Ga Korean Restaurant:

Address:
4333 North Road
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4333+North+Road+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=Bikram+Yoga+Burnaby,+4501+N+Rd,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V3N+4R7&gl=ca&t=m&z=15 “]

In Happy Hour

Joe Fortes: Happy Hour

May 6, 2013

Joe Fortes has happy hour from 4pm till 6pm daily, where select items are 50% off. InsecureGirl and I decided to come here after work to indulge ourselves in some oysters and other items. They don’t take reservations for this and you can only have the happy hour items in their bar seating area. It’s first come first serve, so you will have to be lucky enough to find open spots if you come in a group. Since it was just the two of us, it was easy to find open seats.

They have been open for more than 25 years and known for their seafood.

Basket of complimentary bread arrives and it comes with a lobster oil and balsamic vinegar dip. A good nibble before your food arrives.

Truffle Parmesan Frites (Reg $9.95 | Happy Hour $5) is seasoned with grana padano, herbs, and sea salt. It comes with a side of ketchup. It comes in a cute presentation on a skillet. The skillet is piled full of fries and is definitely enough for 2 people to share. There is a strong douce of truffle oil and it smelled amazing.

Jumbo Tempura Prawns (Reg $14.95 | Happy Hour $7.50) comes with 3 pieces and accompanied with togarashi mayo and a wedge of lemon. These prawns were massive!

Buck a Shuck (Happy Hour $1) are the bomb. They shuck them very cleanly and the size of the oysters are massive. It comes with a few sauces and lemon wedges. Of all the happy hour places I’ve been to in Vancouver, they probably have the best.

I do love happy hour since all the prices are great! You can’t beat 50% off. Downside of this great deal is the limited seating by the bar. You must get the oysters.

We rate Joe Fortes:

Address:
777 Thurlow St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.joefortes.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=777+Thurlow+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=777+Thurlow+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6E+3V5&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Chef

Chef’s Table: Chef Thomas Heinrich

May 5, 2013

Chef Thomas Heinrich is the executive chef of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. He comes from the land down under – Australia, working at several high-end restaurants before making his way to New York. It’s great that his culinary journey has led him here to Vancouver.

I first met him via Twitter to check out Vaneat’s Art of Taste dining package at Mosaic. What I loved about his style is that he uses amazing ingredients that are in season and I was impressed by the presentation. Of course the taste was amazing, but it was the first time in a few years that I really enjoyed fine dining. A lot of places in town were disappointing, but I love eating here. In the past month, I’ve dined in the hotel at least 5 times. I never knew the Hyatt would have such amazing food. Twice for the #ArtofTaste, once for a company function , once at Grain Tasting Bar, and another time for a chefs tabled prepared by the Chef and his team.

Chef prepared a 10-course meal showcasing 10 unique themes – Oyster, Horseradish, peas, Artichokes, Bacon, Pasta, Foraged, Strawberries and Chocolate. He invited a handful of bloggers to the kitchen and created a meal we wouldn’t forget.

He teased us on Twitter to give us a sneak peek at what was to come. Every time the tweets came, I salivated. All the dishes prepared aren’t on the hotel’s menu, the Chef’s Table is where Chef can create whatever he wants.

What was so cool about this experience is a dining table smack dab in the middle of the kitchen. We could watch every step of preparation happening in the kitchen as we stared at what dishes were going to come out.

Around the table were amazing bloggers from Vancouver – Alvin (Foodimagery), Dee (Gastrofork), Grace (GraceCheung604), Janice (Good Eat), Kevin & Billy (Vaneats), Sean (Sean’s Adventures in FlavorTown), and Sherman (Sherman’s Food Adventures). A great bunch of people I admire and of course we love food. You can image there were lots of cameras on the table.

Oysters

Fresh oysters with pickled onions and micro greens in an escabeche foam served in a cute tin with giant tweezers.

On the table were potted plants, we thought this was part of the decorations, but little did we know, it would be our next dish.

This is an avocado & buttermilk mousse topped by pumpernickel bread crumbs with wild celery and baby carrots. This dish was inspired his trip to the famous Noma Restaurant in Denmark.

Horseradish

Argentinian Red Shrimp with raw Wagyu Beef, wasabi chips, wasabi foam and freshly grated wasabi atop a kalamansi gel. It’s a cross between Japanese and Spanish influence.

Peas

Peas prepared with different techniques skinless pea ravioli (via spherification), isomalt encapsulated pea oil and pea powder served atop black garlic puree.

Artichoke

Seared Halibut with artichoke relish, confit and puree that was sandwiched in a coconut and squid ink macaron. Also a ring of the dried halibut skin. Most people would think the protein in the main focal point of the dish, but in this case, it is the artichoke.

Bacon

Bacon-wrapped Skuna Bay salmon with citrus caviar, bacon disks, bacon relish and bacon fat powder atop a fava bean puree.

Pasta

Duck Confit Ravioli atop stinging nettle puree and crispy leaves was served with apple-brined duck and a Maple vanilla gastrique.

Foraged

Australian Lamb Tenderloin with fiddlehead ferns, pickled ramps and morels with black truffle.

Strawberries

Fresh green strawberries macerated in honey, strawberry chips and a pistachio-strawberry glass with cardamom ice cream. As well as a strawberry and vanilla streusel.

Chocolate

This is made of dehydrated chocolate, a 30 second chocolate cake and a chocolate fondant bar atop streusel with blood orange reduction and white chocolate ice cream. Grand Marnier fluid gel.

This amazing meal was put together by Chef Thomas Heinrich and his awesome team. You won’t find these items on their regular menu, but I wrote it to showcase his amazing talents. Sometimes its easy to forget what happens behind the scenes during your meals. We have amazing chefs in Vancouver that shouldn’t be overlooked. With the Chefs Table, we were able to see Chef’s range of skills sets that were not confined to the menus of the hotel.

One person we can’t forget is Mosaic’s chef-apprentice Tyson Gee. He helped create this amazing meal and is an alumnus of the Vancouver Community College culinary arts program. Tyson was also part of a team that prepared meals for Prince William and Kate Middleton when they were in Ottawa. He definitely has a bright future ahead.

At the end of the day, we all had fun and left crazy full. Thanks Alvin for this picture and Sherman for typing out the menu descriptions. If you get a chance to dine at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver, you will know who’s creating the dishes behind the scenes.

In Uncategorized

1000th Blog Post: My Favorite Place to Eat

May 2, 2013

It’s my 1000th blog post! What better way to celebrate by revealing my all time favorite place to eat. When I was younger, I tried to strive to fold 1000 origami cranes and 1000 stars, but I never had the attention span do undertake such a tedious task. I’m not sure why 1000 is the lucky number that is considered lucky … and Google didn’t help me try to demystify my curiosity.

I’ve never written a review with a 5 ‘beaker’ rating since there is never a place that compels me to always go back. Don’t get me wrong, there are tons of great places in town, but there’s one place that I always go home to. This place is obviously my kitchen! Seriously, no joke. I do love going out to eat, but sometimes home is really where the heart is…but in my case, the kitchen is where the heart is. The kitchen has always been the focal point of the house where everything happens.

I’ll share with you some of my favorite foods from the kitchen.

For those who know me, I only cook one meal a year and that is turkey. I marinade the crap out of it with butter and herbs, then cover it with bacon. With all the leftovers during thanksgiving, my mom makes an amazing turkey congee. The only reason I make the turkey is so she can make the congee. It’s so damn good and it’s something that I’ll never get tired of. Thanks mom!

The freezer is always stocked with Earnest Ice Cream. Seriously, Salted Caramel and Oatmeal Brown Sugar are the best flavours.

Also, being asian, we have tons of tea. Tea all the time!

We have 2 sections in our kitchen for tea. I can be your crazy neighbour that can offer you tea instead of a cup of sugar. We have more tea than we can drink.

There you have it, my favorite place to eat is in my kitchen. I know, it might sound pretty lame, but I really do love the kitchen. I can go there in my PJs, theres always something to fill my tummy up, no line ups, and my mom is usually in there cooking up a storm. A large tribute to my parents for keeping it stocked all the time! You’re probably wondering where is the fridge and all the other fruits and vegetables. It’s in there but it wasn’t very pretty as we have quite a bit of leftovers right now.

You were probably expecting a cool restaurant to be my 1000th post, but there’s nothing that gets me more excited than going into the kitchen and rummaging for some food.