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March 2015

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In Gastown

Tacomio: New Restaurant in Gastown

tacomio-outer

Tacomio is a new taco place that opened up near Tinsel Town. The corner of Abbot and Hastings was marred by a run down hotel, but since then has been torn down and rebuilt as nice retail locations. There is a Frank Oak shop as well as a new coffee place opening up very soon.

tacomio-order

The Tacomio staff was very friendly, and for the first few days of launch, is giving away free guac and chips, as well as a Hibiscus Limeade with a purchase of a meal. The tacos are the small soft kinds aka, authentic one’s made even more popular by La Taqueria down the street. You get to choose any 4 tacos for $10

I chose the Chicharron (Pork Rinds), Carnitas (Confit Pork), Cochinita Pibil (Pork), and Tinga de Pollo (Chicken). They also had a nice number of salsa and sauce ranging from super mild 1, all the way to La Bomba 8.

tacomio-meal

The tacos themselves, were super bland in my opinion. Putting La Bomba on them helped a little bit, but the meats themselves were not flavourful at all. I was expecting a Meat and Bread type of Pork and rinds for the Chicharron, but instead, they were whole pork rinds that were soaked in marinade, creating a consistency of fat and slime. While I was waiting in line, I saw one of the employees dump shredded pork from a vacuum sealed bag, which was a foreshadowing of tastes to come.

The best part of the meal was the drink for sure. The most depressing part of the meal was that if they didn’t give the drink and chips away for free, my meal would have costed $17! Definitely did not feel my bang for my buck. With similar prices but more delicious tacos at 3 nearby locations La Taqueria, La Casita, and Tacofino Gastown, I find little draw to come here. Tacomio doesn’t seem to have any specific edge over their competition, nor does it stand up on its own.

We Rate Tacomio:

Address:
435 Abbott St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.tacomio.ca/

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In California

Cactus Taqueria: Mexican Food in Hollywood

Cactus-Taqueria-signs

When in Los Angeles, get your Uber driver to recommend places to eat. Thats what we did. We really wanted Mexican food, but it was so hard finding something close to the place we were staying at. It’s pretty hard navigating Yelp and Urbanspoon to find the right place.

Our driver dropped us off at Cactus Taqueria in Hollywood. He guaranteed us it would be amazing. He told us how one of his drunk passengers made him drive here in the middle of the night just to get a few tacos. Clearly he was feeling the late night munchies.

Cactus-Taqueria-order

We had no idea where we were but that was ok since there was a long lineup for tacos. The staff were friendly. Seating is outside but it can get a bit chilly in the winter. We decided to do take out as our place was a short distance away.

Cactus-Taqueria-table

We ordered a bunch of items to go and took tons of sauce and pickled vegetables. The sauces all tasted amazing!

Cactus-Taqueria-carnitas-taco

Carnitas Tacos ($1.25 each) is topped with onion and cilantro. Definitely grab some of their signature sauces and add them on top. Mmm so good.

Cactus-Taqueria-fish-taco

Fish Taco Supreme ($2.25 each) is topped with cilantro, onions, tomatoes, and sour cream. Very delicious and the sour cream works so well with these tacos.

Cactus-Taqueria-quesadilla

Cheese and Avocado Quesadilla ($5) was cut up into 4 pieces and was oozing with delicious cheese. The avocado was a nice addition.

Cactus-Taqueria-wet-burrito

Wet Chicken Burrito was delicious! So saucy and so good. You will definitely need a knife and fork for this item.

Cactus-Taqueria-sign

Overall, the food was great! We were glad our Uber driver recommended this place for dinner. The prices were great and we loved every single bite.

We Rate Cactus Taqueria: 

Address:
950 Vine St
Los Angeles, CA

Website:
http://cactus.menutoeat.com/index.cfm

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In American

In-N-Out Burger: Not So Secret Menu

inandoutburger-line

As a Canadian, one of my goals in life was to have a taste of In-N-Out Burger. I know, it’s a really sad goal but I love trying different fast food restaurants out. Vacations are a good reason to pig out.

In-N-Out Burger is located mostly in the South Western States. When we were in Hollywood, we decided to come here for a snack. The line ups were quite long.

inandoutburger-menu

Their menu is quite limited with only 3 types of burgers – hamburger, cheeseburger and the double double. There are a few hidden item on their menu like the Flying Dutchman, 3×3, 4×4, grilled cheese, protein-style and animal style.

inandoutburger-double-animal

Double Double with Animal Fries.

Double Double has 2 patties, 2 slices of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, secret spread on a toasted bun.
Animal-style fries come with two slices of melted cheese, spread, and grilled onions on top.

inandoutburger-veg

Protein Style Cheese Burger is their regular burger wrapped a lettuce. Great for those who hate carbs.
Cheese Burger has lettuce, tomatoes, onion, a patty, and secret sauce in a grilled bun.

inandoutburger-peppers

You can grab some ketchup and hot peppers.

inandoutburger-interior

My first few bites of In-N-Out Burgers and they were good for Fast Food Burgers, but not the best out there. It was a good experience, but I still prefer A&W in Canada.

We Rate In-N-Out Burger: 

Address:
7009 West Sunset Boulevard,
Hollywood, CA 90028, United States

Website:
http://www.in-n-out.com/

In-N-Out Burger on Urbanspoon

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In Bakery

Renfrew Cafe: Pies, Coffee and Tea

Renfrew-Cafe-outer

Renfrew Cafe just opened up a few months ago. They are located a few blocks away from PNE and Playland. Their boutique cafe serves fusion Asian & Western pies (both savoury and sweet), as well as a range of specialty coffees.

Renfrew-Cafe-pie

They use local, natural ingredients in their savoury and sweet pies. The pies are served fresh and made from scratch on site every day. They brew a rotating selection of coffee from Elysian Coffee and serve single origin teas from Oollo Tea.

Renfrew-Cafe-inner

The interior is nice, cozy and clean. It’s a good quiet place to get some work done or a chat with a friend.

Renfrew-Cafe-menu-food

Renfrew-Cafe-menu-drinks

Renfrew-Cafe-cappuccino

Cappuccino (6oz – $3.50) was delicious and beautifully put together.

Renfrew-Cafe-iced-coffee

Iced Coffee ($3.50) is brewed to order with an aeropress and then iced.

Renfrew-Cafe-spinach

 Mushroom and Spinach Pie ($7) has sautéed mushroom & spinach, all natural mozzarella cheese from Scardillo Cheese and homemade tomato sauce. This pie is pretty awesome and it smiles back at you. Instagram worthy!

I liked the balance of flavours and it reminded me of a calzone instead of a pie due to the shape. This one was my personal favourite.

Renfrew-Cafe-beef-kimchi

Beef and Kimchi Pie ($7) is made of all natural beef brisket from Okanagan with locally made kimchi.

Renfrew-Cafe-ham-cheese

Ham and Cheese Pie ($7) is made of all natural ham from Johnston’s in Chillwack, all natural mozzarella cheese from Scardillo Cheese, homemade tomato sauce and organic pineapples.

This reminded us of a Hawaiian Pizza.

All 3 savoury pies were on par with each other and had a good combination of ingredients. For $7 a pie, it’s a good size for a snack, but not for a meal to make you full. You probably need 2 or 3 to get full.

Renfrew-Cafe-sweet-pie

Their dessert pies are $4 each and the flavours vary day to day. All of them are delicious when paired with coffee or tea.

Renfrew-Cafe-apple

Classic Apple ($4) is made with stewed Granny Smith apples with cinnamon.

Renfrew-Cafe-bananamocha

Mocha Banana Pie ($4) is made with organic bananas, homemade mocha sauce and almond cream.

Renfrew-Cafe-blueberry

Very Blueberry Pie ($) is made with stewed all natural blueberries with almond frangipane.

Renfrew-Cafe-matcha-mochi

Matcha Mochi Anko Pie ($) is made with Matcha from Kyoto, homemade mochi and anko (Sweet red bean paste).

Renfrew-Cafe-mochi

It’s very good and filled with the mochi and red bean paste, we wished the matcha stood out more. It was hard to taste since it’s sprinkled on top.

Renfrew-Cafe-toys

They have a few toys in the store to keep kids occupied while you sip away on coffee and devour pies.

Renfrew-Cafe-shun

Renfrew Cafe is a great addition to the neighbourhood and serves great pies and coffee. Definitely stop by this cute cafe.

We Rate Renfrew Cafe:

Address:
826 Renfrew St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.renfrewcafe.ca/

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