July 2014

In Farmers Market

Steveston Farmers and Artisan Market

July 8, 2014

Steveston Farmers and Artisan Market has been around since 2008. It’s a great venue where local farmers, artists and craftspersons make their products available in an open, fresh-air environment.

I came here on Fathers Day with my family and it was a nice sunny day in Steveston compared to the rest of the Lower Mainland where there were crazy rain storms. Luckily, we avoided all of that.

Summer 2014 Remaining Dates: July 20th, August 3rd and 17th , September 7th and 21st

The market was located right near the Cannery. There are 2 little areas of the market and it’s fairly close to each other. They have around 50 vendors participating. The vendors are proud to “Make It, Bake It, Grow It or Catch It” for customers who appreciate buying from, and supporting, local farmers and artisans.

It’s a good place for a foodie because they have a lot of specialty baked goods. If you are gluten-free, they will find shops that cater to your dietary needs.

My sister is celiac, so paying a visit to high crow gluten-free foods. We bought cookies, brownies, and other sweet treats.

Their gluten-free bread tasted great and you wouldn’t believe it does not contain gluten.

A lot of the produce at the different stalls are beautiful.

It’s great knowing you are getting fresh produce and supporting local farmers.

There’s even chicken being sold here.

Another cool discovery is BrainFood Dried Tart Cherries ($20). It’s really good and tastes way different than any dried fruit I found in stores. They also have some other dried fruit too like blueberries and cranberries. All were delicious.

Steveston Farmers and Artisan Market was a great place to take my family and we bought a lot of stuff. Let the cooking begin.

Website: http://sfam.ca/

In Canadian

Pajo’s Fish and Chips: The Quality Sailed Away

July 7, 2014

It’s been a few years going to Pajo’s Fish and Chips. When it was Fathers Day, we took the family out for a stroll around the area and check out the farmers market too. During lunch, we decided to head to Pajo’s for lunch. It was a nice day, so naturally, this place was packed with people. It’s a pretty cool place to eat since you care on a floating platform.

You order on the left side of the building…

Then you wait for your order on the right side. A lot of people accidentally mix the areas up as the waiting area is closest to the entrance.

Once you have you order, you can take it to your table and place it in these slots. Once done, you must return the trays back or else they get mad.

Large Cod Fish and Chips ($13.99) it comes with 2.5 pieces on top of fries. It is a lot of food for one person, so we shared it among the family. When you peel the batter off, you don’t have a lot of fish inside. We were quit disappointed that there was barely any meat.

Cod Fish Burger and Chips ($10.99) has the burger on top and then the fries on the bottom. I always accidentally order the same item at Pajo’s. Every time it is a mistake and I keep forgetting. I should have read my previous blog post.

The cod pieces were definitely smaller, so you get a lot more bun than what inside. It’s just tartar sauce, deep fried cod fish and lettuce. I would not order this again. I hope I remember if there is a next time.

The fries were limp and bland.

Large Fish Only ($10.99) has 2.5 pieces of battered fish. These were bad too. If you’re paying that much for 2.5 pieces, give us some meat and not just batter.

Overall, it’s a great atmosphere to eat fish and chips outside, but I feel like Pajo’s has lost its quality over the years. None of my sister liked it and has a bunch of other places they would rather go to.

We Rate Pajo’s Fish and Chips:

Address:
3500 Bayview St
Richmond BC

Website:
http://www.pajos.com/

In Bakery

Purebread: Unbelievably Addictive

July 6, 2014

Purebread is one of my favourite bakeries. They don’t have a storefront in Vancouver, but they have one in Whistler and they also make appearances at a lot of the Farmers Markets in Vancouver. They are at the Main Train Station Farmers Market every other week on Wednesday and my coworkers all go crazy when they are there.One week, we rushed right when they opened to see what they had available.

Everything looked amazing and you can find pastries around $3 or $4. I really wanted to get everything, but I had to restrain myself. Plus, the staff are very friendly and helpful if you can’t decide what to get.

Outrageous Brownie ($3.50) was really rich and delicious! It was a really large portion too! You could easily cut this up into 4 pieces and share. Plus it goes great with a glass of milk.

Crack ($3.50) was delicious and reminded me of Momofuku’s Crack Pie. It probably has lots of brown sugar and butter. Nonetheless, it is mighty addictive.

Jalapeno Cheddar Scone was AMAZING! The flavours were spot on and I fell in love with scones. Mmmmmm just come here and get a scone, you will not regret it.

Overall, I loved everything I tried and I would definitely come here everyday if I could somehow find them. Highly recommend you find them in Whistler or at one of the local farmers market.

We Rate PureBread:

Location:
Varies

Website:
http://www.purebread.ca/

In Dessert

Screamers Soft Serve and Treats: Mini-sized Screamers

July 5, 2014

My last visit to Screamers was a few years ago and it is literally the best Summer treat when you are down in that area. You can walk along the pier or take a stroll to Gary Point Park and enjoy your Screamer in the sun.

Last time, I got the small, but I left it was way too large, so this time I opted for the mini-size. Plus, it’s only $2.

A Screamer is part soft serve ice cream and part slushee. When I was here they only has 2 flavours – Crush Lime and Crush Orange. After all this time, I still like the Crush Orange flavour. Mini is the best size if you want a taste.

We Rate Screamers Soft Serve & Treats:

Address:
12211 Third Avenue
Richmond, BC

Website:
www.screamerssoftserve.ca

In Brunch

Oakwood Canadian Bistro: Brunch

July 4, 2014

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro is know for their delicious brunch on the weekends from 10am – 2:45pm. TaiwaneseGirl really wanted to taste their brunch since she’s heard great things. I was here a while ago too, when the brunch was only $10, but times have changed and prices unfortunately go up.

The place was very busy for brunch and we didn’t make reservations. You should make reservations to avoid the waits.

Nothing starts off the day than a cup of coffee with unlimited refills.

Confit Tuna Benedict ($14) has dill hollandaise, fennel salad, and home fries. TaiwaneseGirl and CanuckGirl did enjoy the bennies. They thought it was very flavourful and plus those home fries and crunchy.

Maple Confit Pork Belly ($12) has scrambled eggs, home fries, and toast. The bacon was mighty tasty. I love bacon. The eggs were a bit boring, but if you pair it up with some ketchup, they taste just fine.

We always ask for tabasco and ketchup for our order. Just for a little bit of added taste.

Overall, brunch is still good at Oakwood. Mmmm Mmmm

We Rate The Oakwood Canadian Bistro:

Address:
2741 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.theoakwood.ca/

In BBQ

Insadong Korean BBQ: Family BBQ Combo for 4-5 People

July 3, 2014

Insadong Korean BBQ Restaurant has been on North Road and Lougheed for a while now and have been serving guests traditional Korean cuisine. The restaurant is pretty huge and can accommodate large groups.

I came here with my family for Fathers Day and it was quite busy. Parking was a bit tough but we eventually found a spot.

Depending on which area of the restaurant you sit in, it will look different. The area we were in had pretty poor ventilation, so it was very smokey for most of the time. The table we were at wasn’t wiped down properly, so there were bits of food still on it.

Family BBQ Combination ($79.99) can serve 4 -5 people but we had a lot of leftovers…so you can have 6 people eat this if you really wanted.

In this combo, you get:

Smoked Salmon Salad
Radish Seaweed Roll
Seafood non-spicy tofu soup or soybeans soup
Seafood Pancake or Bulgogi Japchae
Marinated Beef Galbi Ribs
Marinated Chicken Bulgogi
Marinated Spicy Pork Bulgogi
Marinated Short Ribs
Mussels ( 3 pieces)
Prawns ( 3 pieces)
Oysters( 3 pieces)

Before the main dishes arrived, we were given complimentary side dishes (banchan). You will find a lot of picked vegetables like bean sprouts, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes and kimchi. The side dishes are refillable if you want more.

Radish Seaweed Roll was a light and refreshing dish and it’s good to eat your vegetables beforehand because all the meat will be coming next.

Next, all the marinated meat and seafood arrived on a large platter. Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm time to get this party started.

The marinated galbi beef ribs are cut and placed on the hot grill by the server. They didn’t really say anything and just placed it on there for us. We were confused since they didn’t explain what they were doing. As you can tell, service here is a bit strange.

Everything else we grilled on the stove ourselves. The chicken, beef and pork were great. The seafood was ok, but not as fresh and flavourful.

Seafood Pancake came on a hot plate. It was decent, but not the best one I’ve had.

Smoked Salmon Salad was good, fresh and had a good amount of smoked salmon.

Seafood non-spicy tofu soup was good to contrast the items part of the combo. Great clean taste and has a good amount of tofu and seafood.

Overall, we were so full at the end of the meal and had a few item to take home. We still had a little bit of uncooked meat, so they helped us cook it before we left.

We added 2 bowls of rice for $1.99 each and the end of the meal totaled to $88.17, which is not bad for so much food. You do get value from the combo sets on the menu. The downside about dining here is that the service can be quite poor.

We Rate Insadong Korean BBQ:

Address:
403 North Rd
Coquitlam BC

In product

Old Dutch Foods: Dutch Gourmet Chips

July 2, 2014

Some of us are familiar with Old Dutch Chips from our childhood. I would have boxes and boxes of them when I was a kid. Chips are always my favourite snack.

A few years ago, Old Dutch launched their signature line of chips – Dutch Gourmet that features low sodium, clean seasonings, indulgent gourmet flavours, and the full flavour of a Gourmet Rip-L “Thick Cut” Potato Chip.

There are 4 flavours – Sea Salt, Slow Cooked Ribs, Szechwan, and Honey Dijon Vinaigrette. M and I just grabbed the sea salt flavour since we were not interested in the other flavours. It retails for about $5.49 and it is quite a large bag.

The ripple-cut chips are thick and super crunchy. What I love most about these chips is how they are actually low sodium and you can taste the difference between these chips and other ones. I liked these!

Eh, it’s not super good for you since they are chips and not health food.

Another cool feature is the ziplock seal at the top. No more finding elastic bands or folding the bag over. This comes in very very handy.

Website: http://www.olddutchfoods.com/products#/dutch-gourmet

In Bakery

Bluebird Cakery: Cake in a Jar

July 1, 2014

What can be more hip than a cake in a jar? Especially Salted Caramel Chocolate cake. Sounds very intriguing and has potential. Bluebird Cakery makes custom cakes and sweets all over Vancouver, but recently, their Cake in a Jar became available at UrbanFare, Creme de la Crumb, Chioffis, Nourish Market, Meinhardt, and Fresh St. Market. I’ve seen so many photos on instagram, so I wanted to give it a try.

I went to the closest UrbanFare near my work and picked up 2 jars. It wasn’t cheap at all and it is $6.99, but it was on sale for $5.99.

There are 3 layers of cake, butter cream and salted caramel. When I glanced at the nutrition facts, the whole jar packs a punch to your gut with about 900 calories and tons of sugar and fat. Don’t eat this all in one sitting.

I was only able to eat 1/3 at each sitting as it is quite rich. It is a sweet dessert, but I wish there would be more cake as I really didn’t like all the cream.

Overall, it was ok, but I wasn’t amazed by the taste. The best part is that you can reuse the jar for later.

Website:
http://bluebirdcakery.com/