October 2014

In Italian

One Pot Pasta: Simple Dinner with Less Mess

October 28, 2014

I’m a pretty lazy person when it comes to making dinner. I like to keep the mess minimal and not buy a million ingredients at the store. I don’t know why I always end up landing on BuzzFeed when I need shortcuts. I started reading about the different One Pot Pasta recipes.

I’m not one to follow a recipe and I just use it as a guide and then throw things into the pot because I try not to have any left over ingredients.

[tabs tab1=”Ingredients”]

[tab id=1]

A box of cherry tomatoes, halved
A pack of smoked sausages, sliced
A pack of pasta
4 Cloves of Garlic, sliced
Handful of basil or 2 tablespoons of Basil Paste
1 Onion, sliced
Parmesan
3 Cups of Water
drizzle of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

[/tab]
[/tabs]

Chop everything up and threw it in the pot or deep pan. I chopped the cherry tomatoes in half and sliced everything else up. It cooked quite quickly! Once it came to a boil, it was done in about 10 minutes. Just keep an eye on it till your pasta is al dente. If you decide to use dry pasta, it will take a bit longer.

Then I put in a handful of parmesan to make the pasta more creamy.

Save a bit of basil and sliced cherry tomatoes for garnish. Also, might as well throw more parmesan on top.

Bam! Dinner is served. It’s an easy dish to make and you can mess up the ratio of ingredients and it will still taste fine. I got M to give the dish a try and he loved it. Score! He didn’t die. I have such low standards for my cooking right?

From beginning to end, it only took about 20-30 minutes to complete this meal. It depends how slow or fast you prepare your ingredients.

In Brunch

Hawksworth: #BrunchClub 2 for 1 Deal

October 27, 2014

Hawksworth has won multiple awards since it first opened in 2011. As one of Vancouver’s Best Restaurants, it can be a bit pricey. Luckily, they offer a special #BrunchClub deal every long weekend on Saturday and Sunday for brunch where if you bring a guest, their brunch entree is comped. So, basically thats like buy 1 get 1 free. If you and your friend split the bill, it’s definitely more affordable.

I do love brunch, so I didn’t pass up this deal up.

Cappuccino ($5) is the same price as juice, which I find kinda funny. Regardless, I do need my coffee in the morning.

Hawksworth Beef Burger ($20) is served with a side of crispy fries and a mayo and ketchup. Inside the burger is applewood smoked bacon, aged cheddar, tomato, an onion ring and lettuce. This is not necessarily a typical brunch item, but it’s pretty good. The burger is juicy and goes well with the crunchy onion ring and smoked bacon.

Steak and Eggs ($24) is quite elegant for brunch. I got the steak medium rare and it was really good! On the plate, there are 2 sunny side eggs, rosti, avocado, and a jalapeno salsa verde. I was surprised by this dish! Good flavours!

Brioche French Toast ($18) was a pistachio mousse, oranges, brown butter sauce and crumble sprinkled on top. There are 3 pieces of the brioche toast. Taking an initial bite of this, it was dry and no matter how much sauce you put on it, it’s couldn’t save this dish. No one at the table liked this dish.

You can read my previous review with more brunch dishes here.

Overall, I would say Hawksworth isn’t very consistent with their dishes for brunch. The cut of ham for their eggs benny can vary a lot. I would just go here when they have the deal on the long weekends.To get the #brunchclub deal, just whisper to the server with the words “brunch club” and they will understand. Just double check their Facebook and Twitter just in case they decide to discontinue the deal.

We Rate Hawksworth:

Address:
801 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.hawksworthrestaurant.com/

In Bakery

Purebread Bakery: Open in Vancouver

October 26, 2014

Purebread Bakery finally opened in Vancouver! They are a Whistler-based family bakery that makes some addictive treats. For the last little while, they have been at various Farmers Markets in Vancouver. I would plan to go to the Vancouver Farmers Market near Main Street Skytrain every other week to get a taste of their scones and brownies. They are crazy delicious.

When you walk inside, you will see the plethora of baked goods on the counters! There are so many things to look at. I was a bit over whelmed.

The staff all wear bandana’s on their heads just like the “We Can Do It” women.

They have their savoury scones. Pssttt….these are my favourite items from them especially the cheddar jalapeño scones.

They also have their sweet scones, cakes, brioche buns, etc.

They have a lot more sweet treats and they change them up daily. They also have loaves of bread and pies.

They also sell drinks too that go with the treats.

Beside the drink counter is a waiting room if you have ordered drinks.

I grabbed a Cappuccino to go.

Nutella Brioche ($3.50) the fluffy brioche was wrapped around crunchy roasted nuts smothered in lots of Nutella. The first few bites were good with the Nutella swirling around your mouth with the buttery brioche. After awhile, it did taste a tad dry if you aren’t drinking coffee or tea with this.

Caramelized Banana Brownie ($3.50) was as good as a regular brownie. I love bananas so I naturally loved this yummy treat. It is a big brownie, so I had to cut it up into 6 pieces and eat it slowly. The brownie is quite rich, so eating the whole thing

Cheddar Jalapeno Scone ($4) is huge and its packed full of cheese and jalapeño. It’s damn good and it’s my favourite item. For me it’s too big to eat in one sitting, but I slowly eat it throughout the day and share bits of it with other.

Pumpkin Pie for 2 ($7) was an item they were selling around Thanksgiving. They had larger versions, but a 2 person portion was perfect for M and I.

Overall, I love certain items at Purebreads. I usually stick with the scones and the brownies.

We Rate Purebread Bakery:

Address:
692 E Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

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

In Deli

Black Forest Delicatessen: Cheap Meats in West Vancouver

October 25, 2014

Black Forest Delicatessen makes a lot of appearances at German-inspired events like the Christmas Market and trade shows around the Lower Mainland. They have some pretty fantastic cured meats to choose from. Their main processing location is in North Vancouver, but they have retail locations in North Vancouver and West Vancouver (Park Royal – South).

Park Royal has gone through much changes over the years and it’s in their newer section of the South side close to the construction.

I really wanted to come to Black Forest Delicatessen after attending the Fraser Valley Food Show and tasting their award-winning pâté at the sausage contest. It was so addictive.

The store isn’t too large, but you will find a large deli counter and a few shelves of items that go well with their cured meats.

Lots of varieties of sausages, cold cuts, bratwurst, liver sausages, bacon, ham, turkey, salami, dried cured meats, pates, and a lot more.

I find that their staff are very helpful when trying to figure out what to buy. There really are a lot of choices.

I bought some spicy salami snacks, liver sausage/pâté and savoury crisp crackers.

The savoury crisps were a bit expensive, but it works perfect with the pâté.

I got about 50 grams of their herb liver sausage and it was between $1 or $2. I can’t remember the price, but it was cheap! I don’t think I could ever go back to ordering pâté at a restaurant.

I ate the pâté with the savoury crisps and it was perfect! Mmm Mmm Mmm.

Black Forest Delicatessen is pretty awesome and has a lot of delicious meats.

Address:
2002 Park Royal South
West Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.bfmeats.ca/

In product

Spread’em Kitchen: Veggie Dips

October 23, 2014

Spread’em Kitchen creates vegetable spreads that add a kick of flavour to your meal or as a snack. The dips are made of non-GMO vegetables from local farms that practice natural farming methods. The dips can also be used in sandwiches, eaten with crackers, or as an ingredient in your cooking.

They currently have five flavours selling at select stores and farmers markets:

Onion
Beet
Cilantro
Spicy Carrot
Jalapeno Cheesy Cashew

I gave their Onion, Beet and Cilantro dips a try at home. At the Yaletown Farmers Market, it was $6 each or 2 for $10.

The beet dip has a naturally bright pink colour from the beets. The sweet flavour of beets balance well with the balsamic and creamy cashew ingredients. You gotta be careful trying not to get this on your clothes!

The colour does make this dip look really cool and fun, it has a good earthy flavour that will pair well with salads.

The Cilantro Dip has a very potent flavour. This raw dip combines cilantro with iron-rich pumpkin seeds, freshly squeezed lemon juice and garlic. It doesn’t work too well for a dip, but if you spread it as part of a sandwich or use it as a flavour enhancer in a meaty dish, it will help liven the dish you are making. I used this in an omelette and also spread on turkey.

The onion dip also has apple cider vinegar, so it has an extra zing at the end. This dip can be incorporated in a lot of different foods you make, like a burger or a sandwich.

The veggie dips from Spread-em Kitchen can be found at Famous Foods, Drive Organics, Organic Acres, Greens Market, Harvest and Meinhardt Fine Foods. You can also find them at select Farmers Markets, but check on their website to see where exactly they will be next.

I liked having these dips on hand in the kitchen. If I’m stuck in the kitchen trying to figure out what else to add to my dish, I can easily throw in a few spoonfuls of this into whatever dish I’m making.

Website: http://spreademkitchen.com/

In product

Prima Taste Singapore Curry La Mian

October 22, 2014

Prima Taste brand of instant noodles can be found at T&T on sale for around $2.60 each. Inside the Curry flavour package, it contains the block of noodle, curry paste, and curry premix Apparently, there is no MSG and tastes quite authentic.

Besides Curry flavour, there is Chilli Crab flavour and Laksa. I think those 3 flavours are only available in Canada. They also have a fish soup version, but I haven’t seen it in stores. It has been consistently been rated one of the top instant noodles in the world by Ramen Ranter year after year.

To add a little more substance to the ramen, I added some assorted fish balls from T&T. It comes in all shapes and flavours. It’s a good option. Or you can add chicken into the noodles, but I didn’t have any on hand.

followed the instructions in the back and it takes about 7+ minutes to cook. It does have a longer cooking time, but its worth it.

Ta da! The curry noodles are complete! The noodles are nice and chewy. The broth is full of flavour and its a tad spicy, some may say the broth can be a bit rich. M and I did enjoy it. It’s very different from the other instant noodles out there in the market.

Website: primataste.com.sg

In Bakery

Baguette and Co: New Bakery on Main Street

October 21, 2014

Baguette and Co has a new location by Main and Broadway. This is their third location and the other ones are in Kitsilano and the West End.

The intersection on Main/Broadway is really shaping up! Lots of new restaurants coming into the area. Mags and I came here before work to grab a coffee and a few treats before going into the office.

They serve up Salt Spring Coffee, sandwiches, pastries, and a variety of desserts.

The other side of the cafe has a few seats available. All the seating is in pairs, but I’m sure you can move around the tables.

I just grabbed a Small Cappuccino ($2.95) and 3 mini pastries ($2.95 for 3) to go. The mini croissant, mini chocolate croissant and raisin danish. They didn’t last on my desk for very long. Every email I responded to, I felt a need to eat each little treat.

I like the option of the miniature because you don’t have to eat the whole thing. Sometimes you just need a little taste.

The quality of the treats were ok, but it wasn’t anything unique. I also tried some of their brownies and it tastes more like chocolate cake than a brownie. I think they need some tweaking on some of their pastries.

It’s still a good place to go in the morning for coffee and treat before work. There’s lots of pastries to choose from. You can’t go wrong with a muffin.

We Rate Baguette and Co.:

Address:
2509 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.baguetteandco.ca/index.html

In Chinese

Doolami Dessert 多乐蜜甜品: Chinese Dessert in Vancouver

October 20, 2014

Doolami Dessert on Granville Street in the Marpole area specialized in Asian Dessert. If you love durian, this is your place to go. You will find durian ice cream and durian sago cream. Durian is a very pungent fruit from asian. It has a spiky exterior shell with soft silky fruit. Some love and some absolutely hate it because of it’s smell.

I came with M and KoreanGirl for some late night dessert just to try this new place out.

Their hours of operation are very limited:

Monday – Thursday 7:00pm-11:00pm
Friday – Saturday 7:00pm-12:00am
Sunday 7:00pm-11:00pm

The interior is not very large, so there is limited seating.

Durian Sago Cream ($7.99) it was cold, smooth and yummy. It comes in a small bowl it is enough for one person or to share. The taste of the durian was like onions. Eat this with caution because if you burp, someone is going to smell the durian on you.

Chilled Mango Cream with Pomelo ($6.99) is a popular dessert. Good and delicious for all. Can’t say no to mango.

Chocolate Doolami Ice Cream ($7.99) was quite expensive for what you get as there are only 2 scoops. It was also the last dessert to arrive as they make it fresh to order. The ice cream was soft and its served over a cone bowl.

They have homemade pints of ice cream for $11.99. Their ice cream has no additives, made of real fruit and made in-house.

There are a few flavours available:

Durian
Mango
Matcha
Blueberry + Lavender
Chocolate

They sell out of their pints quite early in the evening, so go early or call ahead of time to request flavours. We got the last durian pint at 8pm, which was one hour after they opened. Imagine Doolami as the asian Earnest Ice Cream.

We Rate Doolami:

Address:
8030 Granville St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.weibo.com/doolami

In Fast Food

LA Chicken: Church’s Chicken + KFC

October 18, 2014

LA Chicken has been around for many many years and has been Richmond’s hidden gem. If you haven’t heard of LA Chicken, now you have. You won’t find them on social media and they also don’t have a website. People seem to stumble upon this place or just hear about it from a friend.

The interior is very outdated and if feels like you’ve walked back in time. When was the last time you saw wallpaper on walls? Most people do take out.

8 pieces of Chicken with fries and medium gravy ($23.00) you get to choose the option of spicy or regular chicken. We got a mixture of the to see the differences.

Original flavour is exactly like KFC but with the crispiness of Church’s Chicken. The first few bites were really great, but some pieces had a crazy amount of salt in the batter. Perhaps it wasn’t mixed properly.

Spicy Flavour is pretty amazing. It wasn’t as salty as the original flavour. It has the right amount of spice, the texture and the flavours were all there. Yum.

Fries were great too. Pretty firm and not soggy. We did eat it in the restaurant, so it was hot and fresh.

Overall, they did combine the positives of both Church’s Chicken and KFC, but my friends and I still prefer Church’s Chicken.

We Rate LA Chicken:

Address:
160-11780 Thorpe Road
Richmond, BC

In Canadian

Frenchies: Montreal Smoked Meat and Poutine

October 17, 2014

Frenchies has relocated to Main Street right by Broadway. It now occupies the now closed – Cray Kitchen. Frenchies had their previous location on Dunsmiur. I went there years ago, but it wasn’t very good.

For a goodbye lunch for a coworker, we decided to come to Frenchies for poutine. It’s great for vegetarians because the gravy is veggie friendly.

Their menu is more or less the same as before.

You will still see favourite items like Smoked Meat Sandwiches, Poutines and Hot Dogs.

Breakfast Poutine (Small – $10.95) is topped with scrambled eggs, onions, bacon, cheese curds and gravy. Mags loved it as it contains all of her favourite breakfast items. She’s a sucker for anything related to breakfast. Small was a pretty big size, so you may want to share.

The ratio between the amount of fries and toppings was great. You will have enough gravy and cheese to cover those fries.

Smoked Meat Trio ($13.95) is something I always end up ordering. It comes with a pop, coleslaw, fries and a 5oz Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich. The fries were addictive and crunchy and the coleslaw was good.

I ordered a coke as part of the combo.

The smoked meat sandwich was average and I think quite lean. I still prefer the smoked meat from Schwartz or Rosemary Rocksalt.

At the end of the meal, you get a maple candy to finish off this Canadian experience.

As they are still settling into their new location, the service is atrocious. As they were short on staff, the owner helped to take orders and serve, but a lot of our orders were incorrect or missing. The owner was very honest and tried his best to make sure the experience was good. They kitchen was a bit slow in pumping out the lunch time orders for the rush, but they have a lot of things to work out.

We Rate Frenchies:

Address:
2470 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://frenchies-diner.com/home/

In Downtown

VanVan: New Japanese Izakaya on Robson Street

October 16, 2014

VanVan opened in the Summer of 2014 and a lot of people have been attracted by their $9.50 pitchers that they were offering, but sadly it has now ended, so a pitcher will cost $12.95. They are a Japanese Izakaya, so they an assortment of food to go with drinks.

There isn’t too much seating and they encourage people to make reservations because it always seems like they have large groups for the weekends. We tried coming here a few weeks ago and they told us there was no more space for a table of 3.

They also have chalkboard walls around most of the interior. You’ll find cute drawings and a lot of other stuff written on there.

Pitcher of Sapporo ($12.95) is how KoreanGirl and I kicked off the evening. They surprisingly made a great pour to the top of the pitcher. Very minimal head. It made us sad that there was no more cheap beer anymore. Perhaps it was because of the government.

Either way, we enjoyed the beer over girl talk and food.

Ebi Mayo ($7.80) is battered prawns with a thousand island mayo sauce. It came with 5 pieces and was crunchy on the outside and soft and steamy on the inside. I wasn’t a fan of the thousand island mayo sauce, but it would be nice to have something more spicy.

Nasu Dengaku ($6.80) is deep-fried eggplant with miso sauce and the other one has a tomato cheese sauce. I love eggplant, so I naturally gravitated to order this dish. It came out piping hot and slathered with yummy sauces. I really enjoyed the one with miso sauce.

Ichigo Daifuku ($4) is strawberry and red bean wrapped in mochi. It had a lot of red bean inside. It would be better if it was filled with ice cream instead.

Overall, the food was quite average for an izakaya. The atmosphere is great, but food still needs an improvement. Since they are still quite new, I am sure they will improve over time.

We Rate VanVan:

Address:
1333 Robson St
Vancouver BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/robson.sakaba.vanvan

In Coquitlam

Hanamori Sushi: Aburi Sushi in Coquitlam

October 15, 2014

Hanamori Sushi, located beside the Foggy Dew in Coquitlam has been around for years but recently has gone under new management/owners. I’m not exactly sure how this has impacted their menu, but it seems like it’s still similar.

The interior has a sushi bar and a few booths. There is limited seating but we didn’t have too much trouble getting a seat on the weekend. Most people did take out.

Chicken Karaage ($4.95) is battered with panko crumbs. The price was good for the portion, but was like eating dry chicken strips. The chicken wasn’t very moist.

KoreanGirl and I heard a lot about their aburi sushi, so we ordered 2 of each. We are suckers for aburi, so we wanted to see how this place compared.

Torched Wild Salmon ($2.95 each) has rice in the centre wrapped in torched wild salmon, and scallops. Then it is topped with tobiko, green onions, teriyaki sauce and hot sauce. I looked unique but I found that the wild salmon was torched for so long that it was fully cooked. The teriyaki sauce and hot sauce didn’t complement the delicate flavours of the seafood.

Torched Tuna Tataki ($1.75 each) was torched till it was cooked. The light sauce on top did not do much for the sushi.

Torched Ebi ($1.75 each) was similar to the others where they were overly torched and made it rubbery. The sauce on top didn’t pair well either.

Torched Scallop ($2.25 each) was not as torched as the other aburi, but the sauce combinations were not good. You can tell there is a Korean-twist to these with the added hot sauce.

Torched Toro ($2.25 each) was what I have been looking forward to. Toro is highly fatty, so it should fall apart in your mouth when you are eating it. Sadly, it was yet again over torched and tasted bland.

I really wanted to like the aburi sushi, but every single piece was torched too much that you miss the delicate flavours of the raw seafood. Plus, the sauce choices that accompany the aburi did not go well with each other.

As all the seafood was overdone, we needed a taste of something raw, so we got the Salmon and Tuna Sashimi (Half order – $6). The quality of the cuts were ok.

Overall, I was not impressed with the aburi at all. Maybe I have been spoiled by Miku, Minami, and Sushi K. I’ve eaten a lot of aburi over the past few years and Hanamori Sushi definitely misses the mark on what makes an aburi so damn good. KoreanGirl thought it was not good at all and wouldn’t return.

As we didn’t try any of their rolls, we only focused on what we ordered.

We Rate Hanamori Sushi:

Address:
#102 511 Rochester Ave
Coquitlam, BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/hanamorisushi

In Dim Sum

Shanghai Elan Restaurant 上海粗菜館: Dim Sum Time

October 14, 2014

Shanghai Elan Restaurant is located in Crystal Mall. It takes the place of Pittsburg Cafe, which I’m glad closed down since they did had such horrible food. Crystal Mall probably has the most poorly designed parkade as I like to avoid all life-forms there. People drive crazy and there is a good chance someone is gonna mess up your car.

Besides the craziness of the parking, I love Shanghai food and it has never disappointed me. It’s a bit hard to find Shanghainese food in Burnaby, so I’m glad there’s something close by. I came here with my parents for an early lunch on the weekend. It was kinda like Dim Sum but without the traditional type of dishes.

Hot and Sour Soup ($10.50) was what we started the meal with. It was easily sharable with a table of 4. It was thick and contained a lot of ingredients inside.

I’ve always loved this soup since it was a bit spicy, a bit sour and loaded with different textures like bamboo shoots, fungus, and other things.

Shanghai Fried Rice Cake with shredded pork and vegetables ($10.50) it has a lot of rice cake. Good taste and it has a chewy texture to them.

Marinated Beef Wrapped in pancake ($6.50) was ok, but I hated how the pancake was so thick and doughy.

Steamed Chicken and Pork Wonton Soup ($14.50) has a delicious broth but the wontons were tiny and had very little meat in each wonton. I think I’m just used to having those big wontons in soup.

XLB Steamed Pork Buns ($5.50) is a popular dish and almost everyone orders it. Inside there is a light broth with pork encased in the bun. It’s good but it’s still not as addictive as Dinesty.

Pan Fried Chives Dumpling ($5.50) came with 2 deep fried dumplings and sauce.

When we opened it up, I thought there would be more Chives inside. It was a mixture of chives, glass noodles and egg.

Overall, the food was ok, but I expected a little bit more from the dishes I ordered. I prefer their dinner items at Shanghai Elan Restaurant.

We Rate Shanghai Elan Restaurant:

Address:
1687-4500 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4500+Kingsway+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=4500+Kingsway,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V5H&t=m&z=16 “]

In Bakery

Beta5: Chocolates, Ice Cream Sandwiches and Cream Puffs

October 13, 2014

Beta 5 Chocolates is a few blocks away from Main Street Station in a hidden industrial area. I am quite lucky to be working close by too, so lunch trips to Beta 5 are quite fun and mighty delicious. If you see sleeping food trucks and warehouses in the area, you are in the right spot.

They are one of Canada’s top Chocolatiers and have won multiple awards since they have opened. Once you get a taste of their chocolates, you will know what I’m talking about.

Their chocolates are works of art! They have 3 signature chocolates from the 2013 International Chocolate Awards.

The Whole Cherry – awarded SILVER in both the Canadian and International competitions for Dark Chocolate Ganaches
Bay Leaf – awarded GOLD in the Canadian competition for Milk Chocolate Ganaches
Fisherman’s Friend – awarded GOLD in both the Canadian and International competitions for Dark Chocolate Ganaches

You can grab a box of their Award-Winning Signature Chocolates ($30), which comes with 12 unique flavours. The flavours are:

Imperial Stout
Caramelized Banana
Coconut-Lime
Pear & Praline
Earl Grey
Jasmine Tea
Salted Chocolate Caramel
Crispy Praline
66% Mokaya
Bay Leaf
The Whole Cherry
Fisherman’s Friend

It’s a good option for gifts.

Their cream puffs are pretty amazing too. Sometimes when I come here in the afternoon, a bunch of flavours are already gone. Make sure you come early to make sure you get the flavours you want. All the cream puffs are made to order, so its always fresh.

You can always order ahead of time by calling them (minimum of 12) to make sure you get the flavours you want.

Some of the flavours are:

85% Dark Chocolate and Caramel Cream Puff
Banana Cream Puff
Black Forest Cream Puff
Blueberry Yuzu Cream Puff
Coconut and Passion Fruit Cream Puff
Milk Chocolate Praline Cream Puff
Milk Chocolate S’more Cream Puff
Salted Caramel Cream Puff
Vanilla Cream Puff
Vietnamese Coffee

I’ve ordered a bunch of their cream puffs over the last year and I definitely have a few of my favourites. There are no bad cream puff flavours at all. Plus, they all look amazing.

I always have to get the Banana Cream Puff and 85% Dark Chocolate and Caramel Cream Puff.

They also sell Ice Cream Sandwiches. It’s a newer item they introduced this year and it was quite popular in the summer.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Sandwich was huge. The ice cream sandwich has a graham cracker crust with a lot of blueberry ice cream with embedded blueberries…lots of them.

If you are gaga over their various treats, they have a Chocolate Union membership where they ship you a box of their assorted goodies every month. I’ve been taking a look on Instagram to see what they make for each month and man, they really are works of art.

The membership is pretty expensive:

3 months – $180
6 months – $345
12 months – $660

It’s something I could never afford, but if you got the money, I am sure you will enjoy everything that comes as part of the membership.

If you buy too many things at Beta 5, your wallet will definitely hurt, but you tummy will thank you for it. Go for the chocolates, cream puffs or Ice Cream Sandwiches.

We Rate Beta 5 Chocolates:

Address:
413 Industrial Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.beta-5.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=413+Industrial+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=413+Industrial+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6A&z=15 “]

In Thai

Urban Thai Bistro: Taste of Yaletown

October 12, 2014

Taste of Yaletown is back for its 10th year full of bites, treats, sips and sights of Yaletown. Every year, Taste of Yaletown brings together the talents of chefs with culinary treasures in the best dining district in Vancouver.

From October 16th-30th, Yaletown kitchens will offer featured menus, special tastings and innovative pairings to tempt the most adventurous foodie. With a fresh approach to fixed price menus of $25, $35 and $45 restaurants will offer combinations of food and drink or even special in-house events.

Urban Thai Bistro is participating this year showcasing their Thai dishes. They have been around since 2000 in Yaletown and is owned by the Thai House group.

[toggle title=”$35 Taste of Yaletown Menu”]
APPETIZER
BBQ chicken
(Thai Style marinated BBQ Chicken served with sweet chili plum sauce)
+
Papaya Salad
(Green papaya strips, carrots mixed with tomatoes, green beans, fresh chilies, roasted peanuts, diced garlic, fish sauce and lime juice )
+
Shrimp Balls
(Marinated shrimp paste wrapped with spring roll wrap served with sweet chili plum sauce)

Jalapeno Shrimp
(Fresh Jalapeno stuffed with shrimp paste served with house sauce)
+
Beef Salad
(Sliced New York beef w/ lime dressing, red onion, tomatoes & Thai chili)
+
Spring Roll
(Deep-fried with mixed vegetables and glass noodles served with homemade sweet chili plum sauce topped with ground peanuts)

SOUP
Tom Kah Prawns or Mussels – Coconut milk broth with galanga, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and mushrooms

ENTRÉE
Green curry prawns & scallop – eggplant, Peas, Bell Peppers & Fresh Basil

Pra Lunm Long Shong Lamb – Thai Peanut sauce topped with Lamb

Kra Pau Duck – Sautéed with Thai Chili, bell peppers, green beans & fresh hot basil

All entrée are served with stir-fried green vegetables

Choice of Rice or noodles

DESSERT
Lychee Jelly

[/toggle]

You can choose from 2 different sets of appetizers. The first one contains:

BBQ chicken has a Thai-style marinated BBQ Chicken served with sweet chili plum sauce.
Shrimp Balls has marinated shrimp paste wrapped with spring roll wrapping served with a sweet chili plum sauce.
Papaya Salad has green papaya strips, carrots mixed with tomatoes, green beans, fresh chilies, roasted peanuts, diced garlic, fish sauce and lime juice.

The BBQ chicken was tender and had a nice flavour. The shrimp balls were crispy and it was great to have it to add a crunchy bite. Papaya Salad was surprisingly quite spicy.

The second appetizer option has the following:

Jalapeno Shrimp has Jalapeno stuffed with shrimp paste served with house sauce.
Spring Roll is deep-fried with mixed vegetables and glass noodles served with homemade sweet chili plum sauce topped with ground peanuts.
Beef Salad has sliced New York beef with lime dressing, red onion, tomatoes & Thai chili.

The alternative dish is quite similar, but it depends on personal preferences.

Soup is the next item to come and you can choose Tom Kah with Prawns or Mussels. It has a coconut milk broth with galanga, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and mushrooms. It is quite spicy, so some people may need a big cup of ice water to quench the heat.

Green Curry Prawns and Scallops has eggplant, peas, bell peppers and basil. It is also served with vegetables and your choice or rice or noodles. I’ve never seen a Thai dish displayed like this. Quite fancy.

The sauce was good and well balanced. I did like the noodles over the rice.

Kra Pau Duck is sautéed with Thai chili, bell peppers, green beans and fresh hot basil. There is also veggies and your choice or rice or noodles.

Pra Lunm Long Shong Lamb has Thai Peanut sauce on top. You also get the same veggies and choice of rice or noodles.

Lychee Jelly has layered jello with different colours and embedded inside are two small lychees. It was quite a basic dessert and I didn’t feel like it represented Thai dessert very well.

Overall, you get quite a large appetizer and yummy entree. The dessert falls a bit short, but you get a well rounded taste of what Urban Thai Bistro has to offer.

We Rate Urban Thai Bistro:

Address:
1119 Hamilton St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://thaihouse.com/urban-thai-bistro/

In Four Beakers

Minami: Taste of Yaletown

October 11, 2014

Minami is participating again this year with 3 different menu options. I was invited for a sneak peak of their dinner menu and I was excited because they are one of my favourite restaurants in Vancouver.

[tabs tab1=”DINNER MENU $45″ tab2=”VEGETARIAN DINNER MENU $35″ tab3=”ZEN LUNCH $25″]
[tab id=1]

Optional sake pairing 15

FIRST – SUSHI
Sake pairing: Dassai 39

wild boar bacon salmon oshi bite, sunset roll, maguro and kani maki, tai and hotate temari

SECOND – MINAMI ZEN
Sake pairing: Yu Junmai

Stone fruit salad
endive, goat feta, dried olives, maple sherry thyme vinaigrette, fig balsamic reduction
Jidori chicken and foie gras gyoza
truffle dashi consommé
Saikyo miso baked sablefish
coconut creamed kale, wasabi shoga relish, yuzu miso sauce
Braised fraser valley pork cheek
roasted kabocha-onion puree, apple red cabbage kraut, sweet & sour soy ginger glaze

DESSERT
Sake pairing: Hakkaisan Sparkling Nigori

Matcha tiramisu
matcha-genmai ladyfingers, azuki paste, matcha-white chocolate ganache, sesame crumble

[/tab]
[tab id=2]

Optional sake pairing 15

FIRST – FALL GARDEN PLATE
Sake pairing: Dassai 39

fresh market vegetables, soy paper roll, moromi miso sauce, sesame pesto, olive tapenade

SECOND – MINAMI ZEN
Sake pairing: Yu Junmai

Stone fruit
endive, goat feta, dried olives, maple, sherry thyme vinaigrette, fig balsamic reduction
Kaiso salad
baby frisee, umami soy vinaigrette, lotus root chip
Crispy tempeh
spiced tomato chutney, sautéed kale
Shiitake mizuna ricotta ravioli
truffled saikyo miso sauce, organic maple ginger granola

DESSERT
Sake pairing: Hakkaisan Sparkling Nigori

Matcha tiramisu
matcha-genmai ladyfingers, azuki paste, matcha-white chocolate ganache, sesame crumble

[/tab]
[tab id=3]

FIRST – ABURI SUSHI
Sake pairing: Dassai 39

salmon oshi, ebi oshi, sunset roll, nigiri

SECOND – MINAMI ZEN
Sake pairing: Yu Junmai

Aburi bincho
wasabi masatake sauce
Miso marinated tofu salad
baby greens, avocado, crispy tempeh, pickled daikon & carrot, umami soy vinaigrette
Saikyo miso baked sablefish
coconut creamed kale, wasabi shoga relish, yuzu-miso sauce
Braised fraser valley pork cheek
apple red cabbage kraut, roasted kabocha onion puree, sweet & sour ginger soy glaze

DESSERT
Sake pairing: Hakkaisan Sparkling Nigori

Spiced pumpkin brownie ice cream
cinnamon-nutmeg spice blend, walnut brownie pieces

[/tab]

[/tabs]

The sushi assortment has 5 pieces of tai temari, hotate temari, sunset roll, wild boar bacon salmon oshi bite, and maguro + Kani Maki. You really need to savour these 5 pieces of sushi because they taste amazing. Every single bite is a work of art.

Tai Temari was beautiful like a little sushi ball.

Hotate Temari is scallop cut in half and draped over sushi rice.

Sunset Roll has spicy tuna, cucumber, smoked salmon, and tobiko.

Wild Boar Bacon Salmon Oshi Bite and Maguro + Kani Maki were my 2 favourite rolls because of that amazing Miku sauce. That sauce makes your mouth water.

Next is the second course consisting of Braised Fraser Valley Pork Cheek, Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish, Jidori Chicken and Fois Gras Gyoza, and their Stone Fruit Salad.

Braised Fraser Valley Pork Cheek has a roasted kabocha-onion puree, apple red cabbage kraut, with a sweet and sour soy ginger glaze. The cheek was tender and full of flavour.

Saikyo miso baked sablefish also has a coconut creamed kale, wasabi shoga relish, and yuzu miso sauce. The skin was crisp and the delicate flavours of the sablefish went well with the sauce.

Jidori Chicken and Foie Gras Gyoza also comes with a truffle dashi consommé. The gyoza was good!

Stone Fruit Salad has endive, goat feta, dried olives, maple sherry thyme vinaigrette, and fig balsamic reduction. The fruit was really fresh and everything blended nicely together. It’s good to have one of the item a salad to break up the taste of meat.

Last but not least is their Matcha tiramisu for dessert. It has matcha-genmai ladyfingers, azuki paste, matcha-white chocolate ganache, with a sesame crumble. Oh man, this was good. No more need for regular Tiramisu because this is amazing.

Overall, it’s always a good time at Minami. The $45 dinner menu is reasonable and you get a taste of everything Minami has to offer. If you aren’t keen to spending that much, the $25 lunch is a good option too.

We Rate Minami:

Address:
1118 Mainland St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://minamirestaurant.com/

In Gluten Free Options

Fernwood Inn: Dinner in Victoria

October 10, 2014

Fernwood Inn is committed to providing locally sourced organic products, wild seafood, and Victoria’s best micro brews. They have a large dining room and an outdoor patio. They also have a private Art Room that can be reserved for groups of over 60 people.

You can’t miss this building as it is large and yellow. I came by after work with my coworkers and we had a quick dinner before heading back to Vancouver.

Saltspring Island Mussels ($13) is steamed with oven roasted tomatoes, crispy pancetta, and a garlic butter white wine sauce. It is served with garlic toast. There was lots of mussels in this dish and it was enough for 4 people.

Those mussels were really plump and delicious. It was really good! The broth was perfect for dipping bread into. Mmm Mmm Mmm I love garlic and of course mussels.

Fernwood Burger ($13 + $1.50) has a sirloin beef patty, lettuce, tomato, onion and smoked paprika aioli on a ciabatta bun. We added sauteed mushrooms on top.

Thai Curry Prawns ($9.50) has black Tiger pawns sauteed in a coconut curry with sweet mango chutney, cilantro, lime and bean sprouts. Served with garlic toast.

Look at that prawn hiding inside.

Wild Rice Jambalaya ($17) has organic brown and wild rice sautéed with creole vegetables, slow simmered with prawns, clams, ham and chorizo sausage in a spicy tomato broth. There is garlic toast on the side.

The “Inn” Salad ($12) has triple cream brie, wild blueberries, butter roasted macadamia nuts, tart apple vinaigrette and greens. It was a decent salad. The ingredients were fresh, but I didn’t feel like all these ingredients really blended together. The macadamia nuts were really delicious.

Overall, it was a nice casual place to dine and their patio is much more relaxing than their dining area. If it’s a nice sunny day, definitely go sit at the patio.

We Rate Fernwood Inn:

Address:
1302 Gladstone Ave
Victoria BC

Website:
http://www.fernwoodinn.com/

In Bakery

2% Jazz Coffee: Coffee in Victoria, BC

October 9, 2014

2% Jazz Coffee has been serving coffee in Victoria since 1996. They offer a unique coffee experience with an open space concept where coffee roaster and cafe culture collide.

The Roastery and Cafe is outside the historic Hudson building. Right by the Victoria Public Market and block away from Chinatown. I got a bit lost finding the place, but as long as you walk around the outside of The Hudson, you will find it.

The baked goods looked amazing. Prices are pretty good too.

I wish I had the stomach for some treats, but all I needed was coffee. Next time, I’ll have to make sure I grab a treat.

Latte was made beautifully with some latte art on the top. The espresso in it was nice and strong and the milk was smooth.

Overall, the atmosphere in the cafe was great, plus the staff is nice and friendly. I can image lots of people here just doing some work or chilling with friends. If you are ever in Victoria, definitely check out 2% Jazz Coffee. They have 2 locations in Victoria.

We Rate 2% Jazz Coffee:

Address:
1701 Douglas Street
Victoria BC

Website:
http://2percentjazz.com/