October 2014

In Coquitlam

Qoola: Frozen Yogurt in Coquitlam Centre

October 8, 2014

M has an endless obsession with Frozen Yogurt. Qoola is a proud Canadian company serving frozen yogurt. Their products are fresh and certified kosher, most flavours are fat-free (no trans or saturated) and gluten-free.

They have numerous locations in Vancouver and has expanded to Alberta, and Ontario. They will soon have 2 locations at UBC and 1 in Pacific Centre.

When we were there, 8 flavours were available, and you can create twist options too. We went with the original tart flavour since it’s always the best mixing with the toppings.

They have a variety of sweet toppings like cereal, sprinkles, gummy bears, etc.

We were more interested in the fresh fruit section. Depending on what season it is, there may be a lot of fruit or very little. I love this section and I usually top mine off with all fruit.

You pay for the yogurt and toppings by weight. They change $0.65 per ounce.

M grabbed some of the original yogurt with the exploding lychee and strawberry pearls. He also got mango chunks. He thought it was good and it was just what he needed to satisfy his cravings.

We Rate Qoola:

Address:

Coquitlam Centre

2929 Barnet Hwy, Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.qoola.com/

In Canadian

Paul’s Place Omelettery Restaurant:

October 7, 2014

Where do Vancouverites go for all things omelettes? Paul’s Place Omelettery Restaurant serves all day breakfast and all day lunch. We came early in the morning and there was already a line up of people waiting to be seated. It is located just off of the Granville Street bridge.

I’ve heard of this place before but hadn’t come here until JK took M and I here. Making new friends and discovering new restaurants around town.

Lots of seats downstairs. There’s a staircase that goes upstairs but I have no idea where it leads to.

Coffee is necessary to fuel to sleepy minds of people who haven’t had breakfast yet.

3 Cheese Omelette ($7.25) is made with a blend of cheddar, edam & cream cheese. The eggs used are B.C. Free Run Eggs. It is served with your choice of toast. You can also add $1.50 for pan fries.

Florentine Omelette ($9.75) has shiitake, oyster, button mushrooms sautéed with garlic, onions, spinach and feta. M chose his toast to be whole grain. The omelette is folded together nicely, but it wasn’t as big as I had imagined.

It tasted good , but the omelette was quite thin, but that means you get a lot more toppings than egg. The portions are a bit small, so if you are a big eater, you might want to order an extra side dish.

Side of Sausage ($2.95) comes with 1.5 sausages.

Meatlover Omelette ($10.25) has bacon, oktoberfest sausage, ham, onions, cheddar, edam and romano cheese. Very good item with lots of meat.

Zimmer ($9.75) is one of their specialty items and it comes with avocado, sauteed mushrooms, cream cheese, 2 free run poached eggs
on toasted rye bread topped with cheese sauce and alfalfa sprouts.

Overall, is pretty good, but may not make you super full. The quality of the omelettes are great, but the omelette is a bit on the thin side. The food is simple and nothing fancy.

We Rate Paul’s Place Omelettery:

Address:
2211 Granville St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.paulsomelettery.com/

In Bakery

Panne Rizo Gluten Free Bakery: Black Forest Cake

October 6, 2014

Panne Rizo is a local Gluten Free Bakery with locations in Kitsilano and South Burnaby. They only sell Gluten-free items and have won Georgia Straight’s People’s Choice Winner for Golden Plates for both 2012 and 2013. Also, they were voted Top Choice Cafe of 2014. They have also been around for over 15 years.

I received a SocialShopper voucher redeemable for an 8-Inch Gluten Free Custom Cake or Black Forest Cake from Panne Rizo. As my little sister is Celiac, she gets really sad when she can’t eat cakes or suffers through the side effects of eating gluten. It’s usually the latter, but she loves bread and cake.

I called them to order the cake with 48 hours notice. They won’t take any orders under that time.

This place has shelves upon shelves of baked goods. They also serve lunch here as well.

Or you can grab some pies, pizza, or sandwiches to go.

Black Forest Cake originates from Germany and is known for their layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Then, it is topped with more whipped cream, chocolate shavings and cherries.

When I was a kid, we ended up having a lot of black forest cake for some reason. So, fast forward 20 years or so, I had the delight of trying black forest cake again.

There’s lots of whipped cream, 2 layers of chocolate cake and the cherry jam in the centre. I got the whole family to taste test and they thought it was ok. My little sister thought the cake was dense and had too much whipped cream.

We all had our varying opinions, but Black Forest Cake alone isn’t very exciting. I would suggest choosing a different cake with the voucher and pay a little bit more for their chocolate hazelnut cake or carrot cake.

Overall, I think I will need to make a revist to really have their true colours shine by trying some cookies and bread.

We Rate Panne Rizo Gluten Free Bakery:

Address:
1939 Cornwall Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.pannerizo.com/

In Cafe

Matchstick Coffee Roasters: New Location in Chinatown

October 5, 2014

Matchstick Coffee has opened their newest location in Chinatown close to Phnom Penh. They are a specialty roastery and retailer in Vancouver, BC, with an emphasis on hand-crafted preparation and delivery of single-origin coffees. Their Chinatown location is a lot bigger than their Kingsway/Fraser location. It’s a great place to work or relax with friends.

I came here with my coworkers to grab a cup of coffee and a snack and then head back to our office. Besides coffee and pastries, they do sell breakfast and lunch.

They sell coffee in their cute packaging. They have 6 varieties that vary in taste.

They make really good and strong pour overs.

I decided to get my usual cappuccino.

Cappuccino ($3.25) is quite smooth and creamy. The espresso is strong and I really enjoy their coffee.

Savoury Puff Tart has squash, béchamel, ricotta & kale. The puff pastry was really flakey and made lovely crunch noise when I bit down on it. Then the yummy ricotta taste fills your mouth.

Overall, it’s great to have a hip coffee shop in Chinatown. It’s really changing up Chinatown and it should be interesting to see how that neighbourhood transforms in the next few years.

We Rate Matchstick Coffee Roasters:

Address:
213 East Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.matchstickcoffee.com/

In Bubble Tea

Milk & Sugar Cafe: $2 Bubble Tea Special

October 4, 2014

Milk and Sugar Cafe is located on Kingsway near Joyce. They are best known for their $2 bubble tea specials and $3 all day breakfast. You really can’t go wrong with those prices. They usually have 3 different kinds of bubble tea on special.

When KoreanGirl and I came here, we didn’t particularly like any of the flavours, as they were cheesecake, slushes, and oreo ice cream flavours.

Avocado Mango Fresh Fruit Bubble Tea (Large $4.25) it was a strong combination but I wanted to try it for fun. I love both fruits, so I didn’t mind it at all. It was dominated by more of the avocado taste.

Lychee Green Tea with Mango Stars was what KoreanGirl ordered.

Their food menu is limited, but it’s all under $5.

Condensed Milk Toast with Ice Cream ($3.50) it took a long time for this to be made. It was a busy day and they only had 2 people working here. We didn’t mind as we had our bubble tea to occupy our time. We loved the toast but though the ice cream was a bit too much, so next time we will probably order it without ice cream.

Overall, decent place with good prices. The interior isn’t that pretty, but it will do.

We Rate Milk & Sugar Cafe:

Address:
101-3365 Kingsway
Vancouver BC

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

In Brunch

White Spot: Brunch Time

October 3, 2014

Sometimes you want brunch, but you don’t need to go to a fancy place. Our closest restaurant that offers brunch is White Spot. Sometimes we get really lazy and don’t want to travel far. It’s never occurred to me to go to White Spot for brunch, but when we went, it was packed!

It’s a good place for families especially if you have kids.

Classic Benedict has English muffin topped with back bacon, two poached eggs & hollandaise. It is served with smashbrown potatoes. The smashbrowns were good, especially the pieces with crispy skin. The bennies were pretty basic.

I always get sad if a restaurant makes my eggs wrong, it always should be soft or medium poached eggs. The true way of an eggs benny.

Santa Fe Breakfast Burrito has chicken breast, scrambled eggs, cheese, sautéed tomatoes and green peppers wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. Served with our trio of sauces – avocado salsa, tomato salsa, cilantro sour cream and red nugget Smashbrowns. I really enjoyed the burrito it was hearty and everything in the burrito tasted great for brunch.

Overall, M and I had a good time at White Spot, but the service was quite slow for some reason. The manager apologized to our table and a few others and offered complimentary dessert. It was a nice touch, but M and I were too full, so we took the dessert home.

We Rate White Spot:

Address:
6500 Hastings Street
Burnaby BC

Website:
https://www.whitespot.ca/

In Cafe

Revolver: Lattes and Pecan Tarts

October 2, 2014

Revolver focuses on 2 key things – coffee and your experience. I come here once in a while to get a coffee and a morning treat. They have a rotating variety of beans for their espresso, so you might get something different each time. I can’t remember a time when someone asks what type of beans I want in my coffee. I always choose the one that has more of a chocolate taste to it. I always find the baristas are good at recommending which espresso fits my taste buds.

The space inside isn’t large, but most people take their coffee to go.

Latte and Pecan Tart are my usual items that I order. You can’t go wrong with their coffee and that pecan tart is so delicious! It must be all that brown sugar and butter. Mmm Mmmm Mmm.

We Rate Revolver:

Address:
325 Cambie Street Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://revolvercoffee.ca/

In Dessert

Cows: Moo Moo for Ice Cream in Whistler

October 1, 2014

Going to Whistler, I needed to make a stop at Cows to show M their really cool merchandise. If you are a fan of cows, you’ll find so many things with a cow on it. In the Summer, there are long lineups here, but since it was early in the day in the Fall, it was pretty empty.

Cow’s originated from Prince Edward Island on the East Coast of Canada. They have 10 locations across Canada, but mostly in Tourist areas like Whistler.

Stuffed animals, keychains, and stuffed animal cows. All things cow!

Half of the place sells ice cream and everything else is merchandise.

Their flavours are pretty similar to the other Cows across Canada. I went to the one in Niagara on the Lake a while ago in Ontario.

Moo Crunch (Single Scoop – $4.25) is mostly chocolate with chocolate balls embedded inside. It’s a nice treat to have when you’re wandering around Whistler.

We Rate Cows:

Address:
102-4295 Blackcomb Way
Whistler BC

Website:
http://www.cows.ca/