January 2015

In product

Good Life Cleanse: Classic Detox Cleanse

January 29, 2015

It’s a New Year and 2015 is looking like it’s going to be a great year. I’ve done juice cleanses in the past but I found none of them really tasted great plus I always feel like I’m slowly getting sicker.

When Good Life Cleanses sent me a 3-day Classic Cleanse, I had to give it a try. I knew there must be a juice cleanse that tastes good.

Good Life Cleanse is based out of Nanamio, BC, where creator Andrea Dershin develops the juices and cleansing programs. She thought about creating the company while living in NYC and came back to her roots in Nanaimo to launch the business and spread the good word of juicing to the Island. Andrea strongly believes she has the best tasting, most nutritionally balanced juice cleanse you can get your hands on.

Since I am located in Vancouver, the cleanse ships via FedEx and gets delivered to your door. I missed my initial delivery since I was at work, so I had to go to the FedEx depot to pick it up before they closed for the evening.

Luckily, the juices are kept cool with the insulated packaging and a few ice packs. I quickly moved them to the fridge to keep it cool for the next 3 days.

You will get a little card inside the box showing you how to do the cleanse effectively, plus how to intensify the cleanse.

The Classic Detox Cleanse comes with:

Classic Greens: apple, cucumber, romaine, celery, lemon, spinach, kale, parsley, ginger.
Sweet Life: pineapple, cucumber, apple, lime, mint.
All U Need: carrot, celery, spinach, parsley.
Master Cleanse: filtered water, lemon, organic maple syrup, cayenne.
Roots Remedy: cucumber, apple, celery, carrots, beet, lemon, ginger, parsley, mint.
Creamy Cashew: filtered water, raw cashews, dates, vanilla bean, cinnamon, sea salt.

Classic Greens has apple, cucumber, romaine, celery, lemon, spinach, kale, parsley, and ginger. This juice was really good, there were enough apples to really sweeten it up. It was a good start to the cleanse and I always looked forward to this drink.

Sweet Life has pineapple, cucumber, apple, lime, and mint. This is probably the sweetest of the drinks because of the pineapple. I could drink this on a regular basis!

All U Need has carrot, celery, spinach, and parsley. This juice was ok to drink, but I could taste a lot of carrots in this juice. I never liked any of these veggies to begin with, so it did take me a while to finish this juice compared to the others.

Master Cleanse has filtered water, lemon, organic maple syrup, and cayenne. This drink basically tastes like lemonade and quite refreshing, but the cayenne pepper kicks in a few seconds after. There’s a lot of cayenne, so it did feel like my sinuses were on fire. I found this sensation great for my allergies as it cleared my nose.

Roots Remedy has cucumber, apple, celery, carrots, beet, lemon, ginger, parsley, and mint. The beets make this whole drink a maroon red, so try not to spill it or else it will leave a slight stain. I accidentally spilled a bit all over the kitchen counter and it looked like I murdered one of my cats.

The earthy taste of the beets were balanced out by the sweet apples, lemons and carrots.

Creamy Cashew is made of filtered water, raw cashews, dates, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and sea salt. You drink this 2 hours prior to your bedtime. After I finished this drink, I was pretty full. The texture was thicker and creamier but you can really taste the vanilla bean and cinnamon making this like a dessert.

After the 3 days, you will probably be craving solid food again or some salty french fries, but try to refrain. You’re supposed to ease back into solid foods by incorporating certain foods slowly back into your meals. Easier said than done. I may have had a few hash browns here and there. It’s quite tough and you may develop some common detox symptoms like fatigue, crankiness, headaches, achy body, skin pimples, flakey skin, constipation or nausea. Fro myself, I always seem to get headaches.

If you can follow pre-cleanse, cleanse, and post cleanse instructions, I applaud you. You can choose to do this cleanse for a day or up to 7 days. 3 days seems to be a good amount of time and the first day is definitely the hardest since all the cravings really start kicking in. Out of the 3 juice cleanses I’ve done so far, these juices taste pretty good.

Website: http://www.goodlifecleanse.com/

In product

f’real: Milkshakes and Smoothies at the Gas Station

January 28, 2015

Where do my food adventures take me? Apparently to a convenience store at Shell Gas Station in Burnaby.

Our friend told us about these amazing milkshakes he found at the gas station. At first we didn’t believe him. There’s no way a gas station would be able to have the capabilities of making milkshakes. Apparently, we were wrong.

f’real makes these do-it-yourself milkshakes, smoothies and frozen cappuccino machines for convenience stores, colleges & universities, theatres, and military bases.

Chocolate Milkshake was not bad at all. You put the container into this contraption in the store and it will whip it for you. You can have the texture – regular, extra thick, or less thick. We went with the less thick option. All the Canadian f’real milkshakes use Chapman’s Ice cream.

M did enjoy it. I can see it being quite popular in the Summer time. They also have a bunch of other flavours too like strawberry, cookies n cream, vanilla etc.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie was really bad. They say it contains all natural fruit, but all the ingredients are purees and a million types of sugars. It tasted pretty artificial even though at some point, those fruits were real.

Skip the smoothies and stick with the milkshakes.

If you’re desperate for a milkshake, you can always stop by the gas station.

Website: http://www.freal.com/

In Fast Food

TacoTime: Mexi-Fries Poutine

January 26, 2015

I love going to food courts and having a quick meal. I love it even more when a fast food joint is offering up limited time offer menu items. When I was at TacoTime, I saw they were selling the Mexi-Fries Poutine. I love their classic Mexi-Fries with their signature hot sauce, but I wasn’t quite sure how it would taste with cheese and gravy.

Mexi-Fries Poutine ($3.99) is basically mexi-fries, cheese curds and gravy. At first inspection, the mexi-fries look very crunchy like as if they were double fried. I got a forkful of the poutine and the mexi-fries were stale. It wasn’t fresh at all.

If I wasn’t focused on the mexi-fries, the cheese curds and gravy were decent. It is a fast food poutine, so it kinda reminded me of the McDonalds Poutines but with larger cheese chunks.

Would I order it again? I would be open to it, but I will avoid the Lougheed Mall location.

Website: http://www.tacotimecanada.com/

In British Columbia

Costco Meat Lasagna: Lazy Dinners

January 25, 2015

We’ve all been tired after work and have little energy to cook when we get home. I just want to stick something in the oven and let it do it’s thing. My go-to lazy meal is Costco’s Meat Lasagna from their deli section. It can vary from $15 – $18 depending on the weight. This bad boy was about 5 pounds.

It’s pretty big, so it is also great for parties where you need to feed a lot of people. A great item to bring to potlucks too.

Since it’s not frozen, it takes under an hour to cook in the oven.

All you need to do is take off the plastic lid and follow the instructions on the sticker.

Once it’s all done, serve and enjoy. It tastes pretty good and it’s even better for leftovers for the next day.

Website: http://www.costco.ca/

In chicken

Turkey Congee: Recipe for Leftover Turkey

January 24, 2015

After Thanksgiving, most Chinese families look forward to turning the scraps into Turkey Congee. Anytime we have the opportunity to make turkey, I make it just so we can make turkey congee! Seriously, it’s so damn good!

My mom wanted to share her recipe with you…and of course teach me how to make this for the future so I could stop bugging her. I joke, she always loves feeding me.

[tabs tab1=”Ingredients” ]

[tab id=1]

8 cups of water
1 cup of Turkey Stock
1.5 cups of rice
150g of shredded turkey
1 slice of ginger
2 shiitake mushroom, sliced
65g of salted mustard green, sliced
1 teaspoon of salt
bits of leftover vegetables

[/tab]

[/tabs]

The turkey stock is taken from the pan drippings from the cooked turkey. Just strain out the particles with a fine strainer. You can keep the stock for up to a week in the fridge.

Start off with the turkey stock and water on medium heat.

Salted Mustard Greens is a form of pickled cabbage. We add it into the congee to give it more flavour and texture. You can find this at asian grocery stores. In Vancouver, we picked this up at T&T. We used about 65g of sliced mustard greens, which is like a small handful.

Measure out your shredded turkey meat or just have a bowl full.

Add in the salted mustard greens, turkey, salt, rice, ginger, and vegetables.

Then lastly, add in the shiitake mushrooms. Once all the ingredients are in the pot, we let it simmer for about 45 minutes.

It’s ready when the rice thickens it up and has the consistency of porridge. You can leave it for longer if you don’t want it too soupy.

Once it’s done, you can enjoy this for days! I seriously could eat it for all my meals.

In American

Black Frog Eatery: Pub in Gastown

January 23, 2015

Black Frog Eatery is located in Gastown right by the Steam Clock. M and his coworkers came here for lunch and I tagged along. I can’t say no to trying out new places.

I’ve never noticed this place till now.

It definitely looks like a sports bar with their big bar and all the sports scarves. Clearly I know nothing about sports. I just like to eat. I can see this would be a busy place during sports games, but since it was lunch time, there wasn’t much going on in here except a few people having lunch.

BLT ($10) is served with mayo on a toasted multigrain bread. I got the house salad on the side. The house salad has canned mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds with a balsamic dressing. It was alright.

Schnitzel Burger ($12) has deep-fried pork schnitzel with dijon, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. M got fries on the side.

The food here is pretty standard for pub food. It was decent, but nothing that really stands out.

We rate Black Frog Eatery:

Address:
200 Cambie St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.theblackfrog.ca/

In Bakery

Middlegate Aroma Bake House: Bakery in South Burnaby

January 22, 2015

Middlegate Aroma Bake House is located in South Burnaby close to the Edmonds area. The newest owners have been here for the past 1.5 years serving up a variety of baked goods from all over the world.

Throughout the year, they have close to 900 different items for sale.

Once you step into the shop, you will see so many baked goods and desserts.

The treats are quite affordable and most are under $2.

They also sells a variety of cakes, tarts and desserts.

Forty Ninth Parallel is what they serve if you need a little coffee with your treats.

Zaban Puff Pastry is a Persian pastry with a touch of honey on top. It is flakey and not overly sweet.

Danish Pastry had more of a bread to cream ratio. I wish there were more cream and peaches to their danishes.

Dark Chocolate Mousse is nice and creamy with a bit of cake on the bottom.

Fruit and Nut Scone is packed full of nuts and dried fruit. So much! I really enjoyed it and would make a great power breakfast.

Rice Cookies comes in 2s. It doesn’t contain gluten, so it’s great for people who are allergic to gluten. When you first bite into it, it is quite dry, so you will need some coffee or tea to go with it.

They also sell Zolbia and Bamieh, traditional Iranian treats drenched in honey. It’s quite sweet, so it’s not for everyone.

Baklava comes in square bite-size pieces. It has a strong taste of honey but is pretty addictive.

Almond Florentine is a brittle, roasted almond mingled with the taste of candied fruit. It is also dipped in chocolate on the other side.

Brownie bites in a cup.

Each bite was good and its the perfect size if you just need a bite of brownie.

Cannoli was good. The inside is made on dense fudge with bits of nuts and the crispy tube.

Tahini Granola Balls comes in a pack of 4. Another alternative treat for people who are vegan or gluten free.

Almond Apricot Tart has the apricots scattered all around. It tasted alright.

Buckwheat and Quinoa Cookies are gluten-free and is rich in Amino Acids, Dietary Fiber, Minerals, Vitamin Bs, Antioxidants, high in Protein, and easy to digest. Since my sister is Ciliac, this would be a better option than the other treats here.

Overall, they have a lot to choose from and have alternatives for people with dietary restrictions. If you’re looking for a bakery with European and treats from around the world, give Middlegate Aroma Bake House a try.

We Rate Middlegate Aroma Bake House:

Address:
7155 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.aromabakehouse.com/

In Dineout

Left Bank: Dine Out Vancouver

January 21, 2015

Left Bank is a French Bistro located on Denman Street close to Stanley Park. They participated in Dine Out Vancouver and had both a $28 and $38 menu to choose from. Their $38 menu wasn’t advertised anywhere, so we didn’t know about it until we sat down. We stuck with their $28 menu.

Complimentary popcorn coated in duck fat was quite interesting to eat. The texture of popcorn but tastes like pork belly.

Smoked steelhead croquettes with tomato vierge and lemon mayo. Everyone else at the table ordered this as it was the only option with meat. The croquettes were crispy on the outside and fluffy soft on the inside.

Curried butternut squash velouté topped with pumpkin seeds and raita. The raita is like a yogurt and adds a nice zing to the dish.

Braised chicken leg has potato cake, peas, veggies and mint pesto sauce. The chicken leg skin was crisp, full of flavour and the meat was tender.

Steak frites has flank steak, Szechwan peppercorn sauce and half a plate of crisp fries. The steak was cooked to medium, but could have been more of a medium rare. This dish was good but it wasn’t mind blowing.

Pan seared sockeye has beluga lentil and cabbage fricassee, and smoked red pepper coulis.

Yogurt and meyer lemon panna cotta is topped with maple oat crumble. M said it tasted like froyo because of the yogurt. Interesting taste but not as good as traditional panna cotta.

Chocolate and espresso torte comes with toasted marshmallows and an amaretto crème anglaise. The chocolate really packs a punch and is quite sweet and rich.

Overall, it was a decent meal for $28 but I didn’t find any of the dishes outstanding. Service was good and all the staff was friendly. Food came out at a nice pace.

We Rate Left Bank:

Address:
751 Denman St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://leftbankvancouver.com./index.php

In Cafe

New Mitzie’s Restaurant 美斯餐廳: HK Cafe in Chinatown

January 20, 2015

New Mitzie’s Restaurant is located in the heart of Chinatown in Vancouver. I feel like I’ve been to Mitzie’s when I was a kid as my parents would come to this area all the time. The interior seemed like it was stuck in the 90’s. I’m not sure what happened to Old Mitzie’s but maybe there were some ownership changes.

The servers were nice and spoke good English.

It’s a Hong Kong style cafe with western breakfast and burgers. I was pleasantly surprised.

Hot Milk Tea is a classic for Hong Kong Style Cafes. I can’t live without it.

Porkchop, 2 eggs, hashbrown and toast is a large breakfast dish.

2 slices of bread toasted and then buttered. There is strawberry jam on the side too.

Black Pepper Beef with Crispy noodle in Skillet all the noodles were very crispy and it was kinda like eating instant noodle blocks. The sauce on top didn’t soften up the noodles too much.

Pork Chop, vegetables and egg with teriyaki sauce was one of the lunch specials. It looked almost the same as the pork chop breakfast M ordered except its vegetables instead of hashbrowns.

Overall, it’s decent but don’t expect too much. Meals are cheap and you will get full, but not the best Chinese food out there.

We Rate New Mitzie’s:

Address:
179 E Pender St
Vancouver, BC

In Kitsilano

Pirate Joes: Legally Smuggling Trader Joe’s into Canada

January 18, 2015

Pirate Joe’s is a local store reselling Trader Joe’s items from the States so Canadian’s can have a taste of their yummy groceries without making a trip to the states. I know I certainly hate taking the highway to Bellingham just for cookie butter. That’s where Pirate Joe’s comes in to help smuggle the goods into Canada. It’s pretty funny.

Pirate Joe’s has been in the media a lot in 2013 and 2014 because of the lawsuit from Trader Joes. But luckily, both lawsuits were dismissed. So, they can keep on operating with a few minor tweeks to keep it legal.

Walking through the small store, you will definitely notice a few of your favourite items. The prices are higher of course, but it still saves you the gas from going down south.

The shelves were pretty stocked, so they really do a good job hauling everything over to Vancouver.

M and I didn’t go too crazy buying items. We just chose a few of our favourite items. Seriously, I love those Cheddar Cheese Sticks!

If you don’t see something you want on the shelves, they will try their best to get it. One day, hopefully they open up a Trader Joe’s in Canada so we can have access to all the yummy treats they have to offer.

Website: http://www.piratejoes.ca/

In Kitsilano

Baru Latino: Dine Out Vancouver

January 17, 2015

Baru Latino is located in the Point Grey area close to UBC. They serve up Latin cuisine and use responsibly caught seafood and local ingredients in their dishes. They also have classic and original drinks.

My friends and I decided to come here for Dine Out Vancouver for their 3 course meal for $28. We made reservations since we had a group of 7.

Blood Orange Mojito is what KoreanGirl to start off the meal. She enjoyed it but it was quite strong.

Chili Prawns comes with 3 pieces and tossed with their homemade house sauce. The sauce was quite spicy, so if you cant’ take the heat, don’t order this dish. The size of the appetizer was also a tad small.

Beef Tiradito is seared beef carpaccio with chimichurri, greens, yam hay and flatbread. It tasted ok, but the beef lacked much flavour. Most of the flavour comes from the chimichurri sauce and the little plums.

Ecuadorian Red Ceviche has citrus marinated scallops, shrimp, octopus in a roasted red pepper and smoked tomato mojo. It is served with a plantain chip.

My friends thought it was decent but the size was pretty small.

Paella Baru has chorizo, chicken, mussels, prawns, scallops, and halibut tossed with rice, cilantro, smokey salsa with homemade flatbread. It was good said my friends.

Cartagena Crusted Halibut has a plantain crusted halibut with seasonal vegetables and roasted tomatoes, served on a coconut polenta, finished with a tamarind glaze, and topped with crispy yam hay.

The coconut polenta was cold and didn’t match well with the hot halibut. The halibut was bland and needed the help of the sauce to keep it flavourful.

Costillas de Res is slow braised beef short ribs on mashed potatoes with seasonal vegetables finished with guava mojo. My friend said it was good and flavourful.

Latin Flan has orange blossom with caramel. It is topped with blueberry puree and a gooseberry. The plan was sweet and it tasted like condensed milk. We all loved it. The blueberry puree worked well with it to balance out the sweetness.

Overall, with the DineOut Vancouver deal, this place was packed and made the service slow and uncomfortable. The food would take about 30 minutes per dish to come out. Some of the dishes lacked the care and attention to keep up with the rush of orders. Servers were hustling to make sure customers had a good time, but didn’t quite hit the mark. For the $28 menu, it offers you a taste of whats on the menu. I’m not 100% sure if the small appetizers are the original sizes on their menu.

We Rate Baru Latino:

Address:
2535 Alma St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.barulatino.com/

In European

The Spud Shack Fry Co: Burgers and Poutine in New Westminster

January 15, 2015

The Spud Shack Fry Co is located inside the New Westminster Skytrain station. They open up everyday at noon and serve up twice cooked Belgian Frites and artisan draught beers.

They have $5 happy hour on the weekdays from 2pm – 6pm, where you can choose between select beers, wine or a medium poutine.

It’s literally a few steps from the platform. Great for a quick stop to grab a bite.

Looking at their menu, I was impressed by the amount of beers they had available. They also have a variety of poutines too. They have the usual poutines and then creative ones like ‘The Night Market’, ‘The Squealer’, and ‘The Brat’.

There aren’t too any seats, but good size for groups of 2’s or 4’s.

I tried a flight of a few of their different beers and its great they are using some pretty local craft brewers like Steel & Oak, Whistler Brewing, and Four Winds Brewing.

Frites are 100% local Kennebec potatoes cooked in high quality gluten-free Canola oil and tossed with Italian sea salt. They definitely take their time to prepare these fries since it was so good and crispy.

They have a variety of delicious sauces to choose from. If you have fries, you must order a sauce to go with it.

Andalusia mayonnaise
Bacon mayonnaise
Chipotle mayonnaise
Truffle mayonnaise
Parmesan mayonnaise
Malt vinegar mayonnaise
Curry mayonnaise
Jalapeño mayonnaise
Dill pickle mayonnaise
Dutch mayonnaise
Curry ketchup
Chipotle ketchup

Effing Good Burger has smoked onion mayo, BBQ sauce, tomato jam, bacon, lettuce, pickle, and Monterey Jack cheese. It’s also served with regular frites.

I was surprised by the smokiness of the burger, really god depths of flavour. Mmm Mmm Mmm!

The Classic Poutine has frites, cheese curds and gravy. That gravy is really good and just tasted so comforting. Plus, the frites were still crispy!

Overall, I really enjoyed the food here. I’ve been searching a long time for a poutine that has crispy frites. It’s good stuff and I highly recommend coming here for a visit. Just hop on the skytrain.

We Rate The Spud Shack Fry Co:

Address:
352-800 Carnarvon Street
New Westminster, BC

Website: http://www.spudshack.ca/

In Coquitlam

House of Tofu Soup: Korean Comfort Food

January 13, 2015

House of Tofu Soup is located on North Road in KoreaTown. It gets quite busy during dinner time with tons of people wanting to get a taste of their tofu soup and other dishes. The parking is a little bit nuts here since there are only so many spots and small spaces.

They have gone through a bit of a renovation to open up the space and make it a bit nicer. Before they had this strange divider that would separate the restaurant.

I personally think the best part of this restaurant is the banchan, the complimentary side dishes. Just waiting for the tofu soup and munching on these dishes are pretty awesome.

Kimchi is a bit spicy, but I love its slightly acidic flavour and the crunchy texture.

Pickled Radishes have a crunchy texture to them too. It is also slightly sweet.

Mashed potato is pretty cute and looks like ice cream.

Seaweed is so delicious. I could eat this all day!

Pork Kimchi Tofu Soup ($9.99) and I chose to have it regular spicy level. It also comes with rice.

Before you eat it, crack and egg into the hot soup and mix it around. The first few bites were good, but after a while, it was just salty. It wasn’t as good as a few years ago.

We rate House of Tofu Soup:

Address:
4563 North Road
Burnaby, BC

In Cafe

Coffee Monster: New Coffee Shop in Coquitlam

January 12, 2015

Coffee Monster is a new cafe on North Road in Coquitlam that just opened up last December. They are located in the same plaza as HSBC. It’s definitely needed in this area since there are no other independent coffee shops around.

It’s a Korean Coffee shop and they serve desserts, baked goods, tea and coffee.

The interior is spacious and there is lots of space. We saw people catching up with friends, doing some work on their laptops or just enjoying coffee.

They have sandwiches and sweets in their display case.

After you order, you get an electronic disk and once its ready, it will start buzzing and flashing.

The order came out quickly.

Latte ($3.50) comes with beautiful latte art on top. KoreanGirl did enjoy it.

London Fog ($4.75) comes in a 16oz size. A london fog is earl grey tea, with a pump of syrup, and foamy milk on top. Yummy.

Plain Cheesecake ($6.50) comes in a cute mason jar with chocolate and strawberry on top. It’s soft cheesecake and its a good size for even 2 people to share.

Gateau Du Jour ($6.50) came in a mason jar too and it had boston cream, cake, chocolate, whipped cream and strawberries. I had high hopes for this dessert but it wasn’t very good. The chocolate on top was very hard and it didn’t really work together very well.

They have only been open for less than a month, so I’m sure they will make tweaks here and there to their dessert offerings.

It’s finally good to have yummy espresso based beverages that’s not McDonalds, Starbucks, or Tim Hortons. Coquitlam is definitely changing slowly, but its great to see all the cool restaurants and cafes popping up.

I’ll definitely come back for some more coffee with friends. The atmosphere is perfect too.

We Rate Coffee Monster:

Address:
6-405 N Rd Coquitlam, BC

In Fairview

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ: Late Night Happy Hour

January 11, 2015

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ on Broadway is their second location in Vancouver. The other location is in Downtown.

They offer their Happy Hour special on these days and times:

Monday All Day
Lunch: Everyday 11:30AM–6PM
Dinner: Sun–Thu 9PM–10:30PM
Fri & Sat 9:30PM–11:30PM

The girls and I came here at 9:30pm on a Friday to indulge in this menu. We made reservations ahead of time to make sure we got seats.

They have booths large enough for big groups but not too large.

Iced Green Tea ($3) is the one drink I always get here. It’s not sweetened but it’s still good. The drink is also bottomless, so you can keep on getting refills.

Mug of Sapporo ($3) is on their “Super Happy Hour” menu. You definitely need beer to go with BBQ meats.

Shio Cabbage ($2) is very addictive. It has a distinctive sesame dressing.

Edamame is free when you check-in on Facebook and show the server.

Chicken Karaage Bowl ($6.95) has the rice on the bottom, topped with the fried boneless chicken, cabbage, mayo, and garnish. It’s good and filling.

Seaweed Soup ($2.95) is what Mandu had. She also added a bit of the rice from the karaage bowl into it.

Of course, we needed some meat to BBQ on their grill.

Kalbi Chuck ($5.95)

Toro Beef ($3)

Pork belly ($3.95)

The different meats were delicious and only needed to be cooked a few minutes per side.

Overall, service was friendly and the Happy Hour deals were great.

We Rate Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ:

Address:
201-950 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://gyu-kaku.com/cn/broadway.htm

In Four Beakers

Kazu Japanese Restaurant: New Japanese Restaurant in Burnaby

January 10, 2015

Kazu Japanese Restaurant opened in 2014 and they are serving delicious sushi in North Burnaby. It’s on Madison and Hastings to be exact. M and I were looking for dinner after work and decided to pop in here.

There have been a bunch of Japanese Restaurants opening on Hastings like wild fire, but none of them are really good until now. Kazu Japanese Restaurant is run by really nice and friendly people and the food is just back to the basics yum. Japanese owned too!

Their menu is quite limited and you will find the usual items on the menu, but they make it right. Simple but so delicious.

Tuna and Salmon Sashimi ($7.25) came in small pieces but the quality was definitely there. M just loved this and couldn’t stop eating it.

Toro Nigiri ($2 each) is one of our favourite items to order and the quality again was very good! Delicious and fatty. M put this into his mouth and instantly started smiling because it was so good.

Unagi Nigiri ($2.75) is BBQ eel on top of rice. Really delicious too!

Chicken Karaage ($5.50) was simple and delicious served with a slice of lemon. It is deep-fried boneless chicken.

Gyozas ($3.75) comes with 5 pieces and they are pork and veggie dumplings.

Special Scallop Roll with Tobiko ($4.50) also has mayo, masago and cucumbers.

Tamago Nigiri ($1.25) was delicious according to M.

Tuna Tataki ($9.50) comes with 7 pieces. The tuna is lightly seared on the outside and dressed with ponzu sauce, shiso leaves, and sprouts. Very delicious.

Overall, M and I enjoyed our experience at Kazu Japanese restaurant. It’s getting quite popular, so try to make it here early or on a weekday. The food is back to the basics simple and tastes authentic. Staff are really friendly too.

We rate Kazu Japanese Restaurant:

Address:
4332 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

In Coquitlam

Rehanah’s Roti: Trinidadian Wraps in Port Coquitlam

January 8, 2015

Rehanah’s Roti is located in Port Moody and they specialize in Trinidadian wraps made of roti. I pass by this restaurant all the time, but I thought it was about time I stopped here for a bite to eat.

KoreanGirl and I came here for a quick lunch before heading to Coquitlam Centre to do some shopping.

The interior is very simple and nothing fancy. It is run my one lady who is also the chef, which I will assume she is Rehanah. When we came here no one was inside, but she will come out to take orders and bring out the food. Otherwise, she’s just in the back.

Looks like there have been some famous people eating here.

Chicken Roti ($9.75) was filled with mostly potatoes and chicken. Koreangirl thought it was ok, but it did seem a bit bland. It comes with a slice of watermelon and it helps to really cut the heaviness of the roti.

Goat Roti ($11.50) was what I ordered to try to be more adventurous. It kinda tastes like lamb. It was an experience trying Trinidadian food, but I felt the flavours really didn’t shine through. I also found it to be pretty bland, but then again I’ve never had Trinidadian food, so I’m not expert on this cuisine.

Overall, I didn’t find the food here that special, but then again where else can you get Trinidadian Roti?

We Rate Rehanah’s Roti:

Address:
2518 St Johns St
Port Moody, BC

In Cafe

Starbucks: Flat White comes to Canada

January 7, 2015

Flat White is an Aussie-style latte made with two shots of espresso, steamed whole milk and a dot for latte art. Starbucks in Canada and the United States just launched this drink and

Starbucks uses their 2 bold ristretto shots matched with steamed whole milk to create a not too strong, not too creamy flavor. The extra ristretto shot ensures that it’s bolder than a latte, yet steamed milk keeps it smoother than an americano.

When I ordered this in Waterfront Centre location, the barista’s were quite new to this drink and could not make the signature white circle in the middle of the cup. The whole milk does give it a very rich creamy texture, but I really didn’t like it.

I think I will stick with ordering dry cappuccinos to have the bold espresso taste.

Website: http://www.starbucks.ca/coffee/espresso/flat-white-beverages