Natsumi Ramen: Ramen on Commercial Drive

November 16, 2016

Natsumi Ramen on Commercial Drive is one of the newer ramen shops to pop up in Vancouver. There aren’t any ramen shops in the area, so I was surprised this was here. I was walking along Commercial Drive with a few friends and we decided to stop here, avoid the rain and have a hearty bowl of ramen.

Interior

The interior has a lot of cat silhouettes. No problems here since I love cats. Dog lovers are welcome here too.

There are a decent number of tables here for small and large groups.

Side Dish

Before the ramen arrives, everyone was given pickled and marinated onions. Surprisingly really good. Something to munch on before the ramen arrives.

Ramen

Tsukemen has a soy sauce based broth with noodles on the side. There is also diced pork belly, soft boiled egg, bamboo shoot, green onion, and roasted seaweed. This is a dipping ramen, so you take some noodle and dip it in the broth, then slurp it up.

Miso Ramen has pork belly, bean sprout, bamboo sprouts, blacktree fungus, fried onion, green onion, corn and roasted seaweed. My friend added an egg to this.

Cheese Kimchi Ramen has a soy sauce based broth, pork belly, soft boiled egg, bean sprout, green onion, corn, mozzarella, chopped kimchi, and roasted seaweed. This loaded ramen had an interesting concept, but the cheese easily dissolves into the ramen and doesn’t hold together well after it melts.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the meal, cute little candies come in a box to finish up the meal. The ramen was pretty average, but it was nice to have a ramen shop in the area.

We Rate Natsumi Ramen:

Address:
1179 Commercial Dr, Vancouver

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

In Event

Cornucopia 2016: Tinhorn Creek Winemaker’s Dinner at Fairmont Chateau Whistler

November 15, 2016

Look no further than just a 2-hour drive to Whistler, BC for an immersive 11-day (November 10 – 20, 2016) celebration of food and drink, and a much-needed fall getaway.

2016 marks Cornucopia’s 20th anniversary dinners, grand tastings, culinary workshops and more. With range of events to pick and choose from, all you have to do is determine how many days you’ll want to stay and which events you’d like to attend.

With events and accommodation packages based out of Whistler Village, the location makes everything within walking distance. You’ll be able to enjoy all that Cornucopia and the village has to offer.

We were recently invited to take part in a few of their events over the Remembrance Day long weekend.

The Tinhorn Creek Winemaker’s dinner at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler was one of our favourite events and featured a beautiful marriage of food and wine. Featuring almost the full gamut of Tinhorn Creek’s wines, Executive Chef Isabel Chung was tasked with creating a 5-course menu that accentuated the best of both wine and her culinary creations.

It was a wonderful tribute to the season, the wine, and the local produce.

The elegant event started with the Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Series 2Bench White and a few canapes that circulated in the room. A great start to the night with this fruity, refreshing, and off-dry white.

Cute foccacia bread baked in a flowerpot! The chive butter that came with it was tasty too. I told myself not to fill up on bread because lots of food was coming.

Tinhorn Creek’s winemaker, Andrew Windsor as he explains the wines of the night.

Honey Roasted Okanagan Pear and Winter Beet Salad

Tinhorn Creek Pinot Gris 2015

Honey Roasted Okanagan Pear and Winter Beet Salad with white balsamic and puffed barley paired with Tinhorn Creek Pinot Gris 2015.

It was lightly dressed and was a great start to the evening. There was a fall comfort to her salad with the roasted pear and and sweet earthiness of the beets. The vegetables paired nicely with the pinot gris. The pears and beets meshed with the sweetness of the wine.

Caramelized George Bank Scallop

Tinhorn Creek Chardonnay 2014

Caramelized George Bank Scallop with maple glazed pork belly and sage butternut risotto paired with Tinhorn Creek Chardonnay 2014.

One of my favourite dishes of the night! The scallop was perfectly cooked inside and out with the flavourful caramelization. The pork belly was very flavourful and not overly sweet. The proteins went well with the risotto and had a more gentle sweet savoriness to it. The chardonnay had a tropical sweetness to it, a subtle hint of oak, and wasn’t overly buttery – the kind of chardonnay I like. Another great pairing!

Smoked Brome Lake Duck

Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Series Merlot 2012

Smoked Brome Lake Duck with preserved cherries, and wild baby arugula paired with Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Series Merlot 2012.

By the time that this dish came along I was starting to get full. I was imagining a duck leg and thankfully they were more like duck croquettes. At first I thought they were on the salty side but with the sauce, vegetables and cherries together, it married nicely. At first when I saw that the wine chosen was a merlot, I thought that it might not work well but with 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Syrah, it made for a more fuller bodied and complex wine. I would definitely drink this again.

Juniper Rubbed Black Apron Striploin Medallion

Tinhorn Creek 2Bench Red 2012

Juniper Rubbed Black Apron Striploin Medallion with oxtail braisage, matsutake mushroom, heirloom carrots, melted leeks with Pemberton potatoes paired with Tinhorn Creek 2Bench Red 2012.

This was my favourite dish of the night and could have been the best beef that I’ve had in my life so far. It was perfectly seasoned and the oxtail braisage placed underneath the striploin medallion gave it an interesting contrast in flavour and texture. The leek with potatoes were also creamy and nicely done. Paired with this was a big bold red.

Juliette and Juliette

Tinhorn Creek Cabernet Franc 2013

Juliette and Juliette – Salt Spring blue Juliette with apricot and hazelnut cracker; Salt Spring white Juliette with green apple, celery, and rye – paired with Tinhorn Creek Cabernet Franc 2013.

I’m not usually a cheese for dessert person but I was definitely open-minded for this experience as I knew we were in good hands with Chef Isabel. Salt Spring Island Cheese made the white and blue Juliette. Juliette is a surface ripened cheese made to taste like a goat camembert.

The cheeses were paired well once again. The white Juliette with celery was an interesting one and surprisingly went together nicely with the fresh vegetal taste. I normally don’t enjoy blue cheese but the blue Juliette was very mild and was outstanding paired with the apricot preserve and hazelnut cracker. The wine pairing was a lighter red with softer tannins and the right amount of acidity to take us down from the bold red we had with the beef.

Overall, it was a fantastic dinner. The flavours worked well together and everything felt like i was done for a specific reason with intent.

Prices for the winemaker’s dinner can be steeper but they always sell out. It’s the perfect dining experience for a special getaway. Hearing the winemaker and chef speak about their creations was also a good learning experience since we normally rarely get to hear the stories of planning that goes into the finished product.

To learn more about Cornucopia, Whistler’s celebration of food and drink, visit http://whistlercornucopia.com/.

In Coquitlam

Chicken Holic: Fried Chicken in Coquitlam

November 15, 2016

Chicken Holic is a new Fried Chicken shop in Coquitlam on Austin Road. We passed by and Chicken Holic caught our eye so we took the chance and decided to grab some food here after our first dinner.

They specialize in Korean fried chicken and have a few other dishes on their menu. I love going to unknown restaurants to discover those hidden gems around town.

Interior

The interior is very basic. A few tables and a counter to order. We did see people do take out but not too many eating in, which worked out for us as we had a large group.

Boneless Fried Chicken

Small Crispy Boneless Chicken was a must as it is the most classic item to order here. You can see how well they fry the chicken as it is crisp on the outside and the inside is still very moist. When I’m at a Korean Fried Chicken shop, I ordered this as I prefer chicken without sauce.

Small Soy Garlic Boneless Fried Chicken and Small Sweet & Chili Boneless Fried Chicken were combined in one larger plate. People around the table enjoyed these 2 flavours as there is more taste and dimension to these. Of the 2 favours, the soy garlic inched out ahead.

Deep Fried Dumplings are filled with veggies. 6 pieces to an order, so there is 2 orders in this basket. These were super crisp on the outside and the filling was delicious.

Side Dishes and Sauce

We got pickled radishes as a side dish to go with all the fried chicken that we ordered. It was nice to have to break up the fatty taste.

They also gave us honey mustard sauce and BBQ sauce to dip the fried chicken into.

Final Thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by Chicken Holic. This hole in the wall has some good Korean Fried Chicken.

We Rate Chicken Holic:

Address:
1104 Austin Avenue, Coquitlam, BC

In British Columbia

Culinary Capers: Behind the Scenes with Executive Chef Stewart Boyles

November 14, 2016

Culinary Capers is a Vancouver catering company specializing in social, corporate, special events and weddings. They have an amazing crew of event planners to turn your ideas into reality with their venue selection, menu design, event rentals and tenting, décor and floral, entertainment and service staff.

Their new Executive Chef – Stewart Boyles previously was the Chef de Cuisine for Hawksworth. At Culinary Capers, Stewart will be ambitiously striving to push the Vancouver catering scene to a new level.

We were invited to meet and dine with Chef Stewart and the team at Culinary Capers.

We were seated in their kitchen with a beautiful view of the prep area.

Canapes

Beetroot Tartare with celeriac crisp, horseradish and pea tips. This was really good, well balanced flavours and a delight to devour. The complimentary textures of the crisp and tartare.

Radish with smoked butter, sunflower toast and yuzu. This was a surprising canape and I liked the snap of the radish. Fresh and crisp.

Roasted New York Striploin with caramelized yogurt, crispy brioche, and watercress. One of my favourite canapes of the evening. The brioche was buttery and the striploin was delicious.

Chili Lime Coconut Lobster on top of puffed black rice. This was a joy to eat as the lobster was cooked very well and the tangy lime flavour.

Amuse

Albacore Tuna with chorizo vinaigrette, puffed quinoa, avocado, and cilantro. I really enjoyed the fresh taste of the tuna with the different flavours that compliment the dish.

This was paired with the Terravisa Fandango Albarino Verdejo from 2015.

First

Fraser Valley Savoury Pumpkin Tart with fresh cheese, roasted pumpkin, and a red onion reduction. This was a very unique way of presenting a pumpkin tart.

This was paired with the Coolshangh Chardonnay from 2014.

Second

Roasted Sablefish with pine mushroom, brussels sprouts, butternut squash, smoked celeriac broth and bark. The broth was poured into the dish and it was a fun way to interact with guests. I loved the presentation and the sablefish was moist.

This was paired with Moraine Pinot Noir 2014.

Third

Slow-braised Lamb Shoulder with roasted saddle, confit potato, crisp sunchoke, salsify, and parsnip purée. Beautiful plate and I love the presentation too. Who wouldn’t love a plate full of meat?

This was paired with the Château Saint-Martin de la Gerrigue.

Dessert

Deconstructed Apple Pie has brown butter bourbon ice cream, vanilla bean crémeux, salted caramel glaze, and shortbread soil. A fun way to eat this traditional dessert. My favourite part was the shortbread soil.

This was paired with the Sperling Vineyards Sper…itz 2014.

Final Thoughts

It was a great experience to see what Executive Chef Stewart Boyles could create for us to showcase their extensive catering menu. His philosophy is that food should be approachable, full of flavour, and the ingredients should always be treated with respect. Sourcing the very best local ingredients, he is constantly searching for innovative ways to elevate the culinary experiences of our clients and their guests. He definitely achieved it through this preview.

Website: http://www.culinarycapers.com/

In British Columbia

Escape on a Bucket List Adventure: Destruction and Big Sandwiches

November 13, 2016

Ford Canada challenged me to create my own unique bucket list adventure. What are some things that I want to do before I die? Taking some inspiration from Robin Esrock’s The Great Global Bucket List, I wanted to experience something scary without being in danger. I thought about bungee jumping, ziplining, or going ATVing, but I realized I wanted to learn how to fight for my life if the end ever came close.

Axe Throwing, Zombie Apocalypse Training and eating huge sandwiches to fuel up seemed the the best things to do with M.

We headed away from the city towards Coquitlam and Surrey with the 2017 Ford Escape. It’s an awesome car, so check out my previous review. The seats are comfortable, has lots of storage space and love the Apple Car Play.

Axe Throwing at Bad Axe Throwing

Hidden in Surrey is Bad Axe Throwing, home to the most Canadian sport ever. Even if you don’t have a beard or a plaid shirt, you’re welcome to test your accuracy of throwing axes against a target. I’ve chopped wood with an axe before, but hurled an axe intentionally against an intended target. We were given a short tutorial and we played a bunch of mini games against each other to see who reigns supreme.

I’ve learned I have good accuracy, so watch out! I might not be able to throw an axe with one hand but with 2 hands, I’m pretty awesome. M had a good time too. At first he was hesitant since he thought he would hit himself in the head, but with the safety rules explained, no injuries occurred.

After leaving Bad Axe Throwing, we got hungry, so it was time to grab some lunch. We had so much fun that the time passed by really quickly. I would highly recommend Bad Axe Throwing for something different.

Oh Canada-sized Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich at Estrellas

One place I’ve always wanted to go to was Estrella’s in Langley. I’ve seen their monstrous sandwiches from a few friends and I needed to get my hands on it. M and I decided to share the sandwich since it was spewing with meat. It was really hard to get our mouths around this.

Look at all those layers! Pure indulgence and it tasted fantastic! One of the best Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwiches I’ve had in a long time. It really hot the spot.

Zombie Apocalypse Training at DVC Ventures

Indoor Shooting Range

I always wanted to be ready for the Zombie Apocalypse and when I saw DVC Ventures offing a Zombie Apocalypse training special, I was sold! 50 9mm bullets for a hand gun, 5 slugs for a shot gun, and a zombie target for each person, we were ready to embark on this scary adventures.

They take safety as their #1 priority for all guests. We were trained on how to use the hand guns first and could smell all that gun powder in the air. Very fun experience but terrifying at the same time since there guns can do quite a bit of damage.

A video posted by Canadian Food & Travel Writer (@foodologyca) on Oct 23, 2016 at 1:32pm PDT

When it came to the shot gun, that was way more intense. The recoil almost made me fall over, so the intructor had to make sure I didn’t keel over.

I did pretty good at shooting and didn’t miss. Head shot.

Roast Beef Sandwich at Arby’s

I’m not a classy person and I love fast food. SO, I got the biggest roast beef sandwich and curly fries from Arby’s. It’s not as impressive as Estrella’s but it’s something that I’ve had as a child for a long time. Eating all the layers of roast beef with the horseradish and BBQ sauce.

That was my bucket list adventure with Ford Canada over 2 days. I could have gone to very scenic places around BC, but I love good experiences and destroying things whenever possible, while not breaking any laws. Plus, I love a good sandwich.

In Cafe

Tsim Chai Noodles: Dumpling Trail in Richmond

November 12, 2016

Tsim Chai Noodles is located in Richmond and serves Cantonese cuisine. I love Cantonese food since it reminds me of eating at home.

We were invited by Tourism Richmond to experience the Dumpling Trail. Tsim Chai Noodles is one of the restaurants featured in the trail for their dumplings in soup.

Interior

The interior is nothing impressive. Lots of seats and can accommodate small to large groups.

Dumplings

Sui Kau in Soup has a good amount of dumplings inside and they were larger than other places. Plump and there is big pieces of shrimp. One thing I didn’t like about the broth was that is a a little bit sweet. Teh dumplings differ from wontons due to the shape.

Wonton Noodle in Soup came piping hot. The noodles were good and chewy, wontons were delicious but that broth also felt a tad sweet. Perhaps it was just an off batch when we dined here.

Other Dishes

Beef Rice Noodle wasn’t too oily and has a good amount of beef, bean sprouts, green onions, and noodles. A good dish to share among people at the table.

Yeung Chow fried rice is another good dish to order for multiple people at the table. There is pork, shrimp, egg, and peas in it.

Preserved Egg and Pork Congee is a classic item on the menu. One of my favourite dishes. I had a lot of congee as a kid and when I need a dish that makes me feel better, it’s congee.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food is solid but we felt the broth of the wonton noodles and Sui Kau Soup to be a bit sweet.

We Rate Tsim Chai Noodles:

Address:
50-8251 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC

In Burnaby Cariboo-Lougheed

Standing Egg Cafe: Coffee in Korea Town

November 11, 2016

Standing Egg Cafe is located in Korean Town between Burnaby and Coquitlam on North Road. There are a few good cafe on North Road that has popped up recently, but none of them are as hip as Standing Egg.

Interior

The interior is really nice with a lot of metal and wood accents. There are a good amount of seating inside, which is great since a lot of cafes have very little seating.

They have a lot of cute glassware on display in the centre of the room and it just works so well with the decor.

Ordering

You go up to the counter first, put in your order and pay. Then, you will get this electronic device that will start buzzing and blinding when it’s ready.

I like this because you can just take a seat and chill with a friend so you aren’t standing around.

Coffee

After waiting a while, our order was ready. I got a latte and it was beautiful with a heart on top. The latte was nice and strong just the way I like it.

Desserts

They get their desserts from Chez Christophe, which is also located in Burnaby. I ordered the Chocolate Eclair and it was delicious. A good amount of fluffy chocolate filling with the choux pastry.

Overall, great new cafe with strong coffee and delicious desserts. They could be a little be quicker with orders.

We Rate Standing Egg Cafe:

Address:
4501 North Rd, Unit 109, Burnaby,BC

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

In Coquitlam

Ta Bom: Korean BBQ in Coquitlam

November 10, 2016

Ta Bom serves up Korean cuisine, but what they are known for is their Hot Plate items with egg, cheese and corn. The line up was ok at 5 pm, but once it got to 5:30, there was a long lineup out the door.

I’ve heard that lines could be anywhere from 30 mins to 1 hour. So, the group of us made sure we got here early to avoid any lines.

Side Dishes

Before the meal, they provide their customers with banchan, which are complimentary side dishes. There were potatoes, kimchi and bean sprouts.

Hot Plate

They have 6 different varieties to choose from:

Dak-galbi – Stir-fried spicy chicken
Bulgogi – beef bulgogi
Pork- bulgogi
Jeyuk-bokkeum – Stir-fried spicy pork
Jukkumi-bokkeum – stir-fried spicy small octopus
Jukkumi-Jeyuk-bokkeum – Stir Fried Spicy small octopus and pork

They all come with the side of egg and corn. You can add the extra cheese from $5 more.

You need to order a minimum 2 portions for these hot plates, but since we had 6 people, we just ordered 2 portions of the stir Fried Spicy small octopus & pork and 2 portions of the beef bulgogi.

Jukkumi-Jeyuk-bokkeum

Jukkumi-Jeyuk-bokkeum has stir-fried spicy small octopus and pork. We made sure to order the extra cheese.

As the gas stove starts, make sure to stir the items on the grill so it cooks evenly. The little octopus look really cute. This dish is delicious but it is spicy, so if you can’t handle spice, you may not want to order this.

They come over and cut the octopus into bite size pieces so you don’t have to have a hard time chewing it.

Once you’re done eating, make sure you leave the sauce so you can order the rice for $3 extra and they mix it into the sauce and bits left over.

Beef Bulgogi

We also got Beef Bulgogi as a non-spicy option. It was nice to have this with the other spicy dish to balance it all out. Good flavours and cheese was so gooey and addictive.

I would highly recommend Ta Bom for something a bit different than the other Korean restaurants in the area. There are no reservations, so come early.

We Rate Ta Bom:

Address:
1046 Austin Avenue, Coquitlam

In British Columbia

A&W Canada: Rise and Shine with Breakfast

November 9, 2016

A&W Canada is one of my favourite fast food restaurants and with the clocks turning backwards 1 hour for the fall, it’s easier for me to make it in time for breakfast before 11am. They also recently added pork raised without the use of antibiotics on the menu.

M and I went to the closest location to our place and came here to devour some breakfast on a weekend at 9:30am. Clearly the rest of the neighbourhood had the same idea too. The place was packed and the only seats available were outside.

All Canadian Special

I’ve never had their traditional breakfasts here before since most of the time we do take out. This time, we tried the All Canadian Special, which comes with toast, hash brown, sausage, bacon, and 2 eggs. You can have your eggs – scrambled, sunny side up or over easy. We were impressed that it was served on a ceramic plate with metal utensils. The eggs were cooked to order and it was good. Their eggs are antibiotic free and they are working to serving eggs from hens raised in better cage-free housing.

Sausage and bacon

When do you see sausage links and beautiful strips of bacon at fast food restaurants? They were good and not overly salted.

They use 100% Canadian pork products and no antibiotics. They have really stepped up their game in the last few years to give Canadians something better.

Hash browns

Lets not forget about their hash browns. Golden and crisp, which rivals other fast food restaurant’s hash browns. Throw some of the French’s Tomato Ketchup and it makes the perfect combo.

Breakfast Wrap

For those who prefer to dine out because they are in a rush, they have these cute breakfast wraps made with egg, cheese, ketchup and bacon in their flour tortilla.

Mushroom Mozza Cheese and Egger with Sausage patty

They brought back the Mushroom Mozza Burger and they offer a breakfast variety on an english muffin. Apparently, I could add a sausage patty to it. I love their special limited time sandwiches and they are actually really good.

Final Thoughts

I’ve been a fan of A&W since I was a little kid when they had the cute bear mascot and those crazy addictive onion rings. It was good back then and it’s still good today.

Website: www.aw.ca

In Gastown

The Poke Shop in Gastown: Bowls and Drinks

November 8, 2016

The Poke Shop is the latest restaurant to open serving delicious poké to Vancouverites. Located in Gastown across from the steam clock, this restaurant is a bit hidden, so look out for the Poke Shop sign outside. With many poké stores opening in Vancouver, I wanted to see how it compares to the other shops in town.

Poke bowls typically feature seasoned sushi-grade seafood on top of rice and garnished with various ingredients like seaweed salad, green onions and sesame seeds. The Poke Shop offers their own fresh take on poke with a variety of bases, proteins, toppings, and signature sauces.

Interior

The interior is small, but they have a few tables for seating. Since there will be a mix of people eating in and doing take out, it shouldn’t be too bad.

I liked the little hints of Hawaiian decor. They also have a mural on one side of the restaurant with a large wave.

Ordering

They have 2 sizes for their bowl – super large and large. Both are good sizes, but generally large is a good size unless you are super super hungry. Price is on par with the other poke stores in Vancouver.

Step 1: Pick your base

Japonica White Rice
12 Grain Organic Purple Rice
Organic Mix Greens
Baby Spinach
Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles)

You can choose more than one. I got a mix of purple rice, spinach and zoodles.

Step 2: Pick your proteins

Ahi Tuna
Albacore Tuna
Atlantic Salmon
Wild Sockeye Salmon
Baby Scallop
BBQ Unagi
Oven Roasted Organic Chicken
Grilled Organic Chicken

You choose 2 proteins and any more is $2 extra. I went with the ahi tuna and the spicy wild sockeye salmon.

Step 3: Pick your toppings

[one_half last=”no”]

Macaroni Salad
Red Onion
Fried Onion
Green Onion
Garlic Chips
Pickled Ginger
Red Radish
Beets
Pineapple
Mango
Peaches
Strawberry
Watermelon
Oranges
Pomegranate
Lemon

[/one_half]

[one_half last=”yes”]

Lime
Cilantro
Carrot
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Zucchini
Edamame
Organic Avocado ($1 extra)
Poached Organic Free range Egg ($1 extra)
Imitation Crab Meat
Tobiko
Wakame Seaweed Salad
Furikake
Nori

[/one_half]

The toppings are unlimited, so you can pack your bowl with your favourite ingredients. Just make sure you get fried onions, red radish, beets, pineapple, watermelon, cucumber, seaweed salad, nori and imitation crab meat!

Step 4: Pick Your Sauce

Signature
Horseradish Aioli
Sweet Chilli
BBQ Shoyu
Miso
Wasabi
Spicy

You can’t go wrong with their signature sauce thats top secret. I also liked the wasabi sauce to add a kick to the meal.

Thats all the steps to put together your poke bowl. They have a few pre-constructed bowls, but I found that it was better customizing it to cater to your own taste buds.

The Taste

Depending on how many toppings you add to your bowl, it could either be enormous or the same size as the bowl. Being me, I loaded up the bowl with my favourite toppings and 2 sauces. The poke was good and had lots of marinade on it. It was delicious and healthy fast food.

Specialty Drinks

For $2 extra, you can adda drink to your poke bowl. Or it’s $3.50 for just the drink. A pretty good deal!

They have:

Roasted Macadamia Milk Tea
Pineapple Plantation Iced Tea
3 Berry & Lemon Soda
Cucumber Agave Lemon Water
Hawaiian Chocolate & Coffee Milk Tea
Iced Matcha Green Tea with Honey

We didn’t try them all but we gave a few of them a try.

Roasted Macadamia Milk Tea had a strong milky tea taste with bits of macadamia nuts at the bottom. I liked the texture from the bits of nuts but it didn’t add a lot of flavour to it, just texture. Not too sweet, which I liked.

Hawaiian Chocolate & Coffee Milk Tea is good for those who love chocolate. A good balance of the chocolate and coffee. There are also cookie crumb bits at the top of the drinks, so its nice added texture.

Pineapple Plantation Ice Tea was our favourite. It’s light and refreshing to go with the poke.

Final Thoughts

It’s a great option for something fresh and healthy if you’re in the Gastown area. They only have poke bowls and drinks for now. I love their unlimited toppings and their specialty drinks menu. SO much better. Soon they will be working on some dessert selections. I’ve been to a majority of the poké restaurants in Vancouver and find that each one varies slightly and it all comes down to personal preferences.

We Rate The Poke Shop:

Address:
306 Water Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://thepokeshop.ca/

In North Vancouver

Thai House: Celebrating 30 Years with 1986 Prices

November 7, 2016

In 1986, I was -2 years old, Vancouver had Expo 86, Top Gun was the top grossing movie and Thai House Group opened their first location on Robson Street. 30 years has passed and Thai House is celebrating their 30th anniversary by bringing back their 1986 pricing with a $30 tasting menu for 2 with their top menu items.

For $30 you get:

Spring rolls
Tom yum goong soup
Kaeng kiew waan (green curry)
Pad ma-mung him ma-pan (sautéed chicken with cashews)
Steamed Thai Jasmine Rice

Foodgressing and I were invited to try out the menu and went to the North Vancouver location. This special menu is available throughout the month of November at all Thai House locations.

Interior

The interior was nice and has a good amount of seating for small to large groups.

Drinks

Drinks are extra but we tried out the Fresh Young Coconut and Thai Iced Tea. Both were delicious and what I liked about the Thai Iced Tea was that it wasn’t too sweet. Just the right amount of sweetness. Drinks aren’t included in the set meal, but it’s a nice accompaniment.

Appetizer

For the appetizers, we got 2 spring rolls and 2 bowls of tom yum goong soup.

Tom Yum Goong is a spicy and sour noodle soup with tiger prawn, mushrooms, lemongrass and Thai spices. It had a good amount of spice to the dish.

Por Pia Tod are spring rolls. They are deep-fried and served with their sweet chili sauce. Crisp on the outside and the savoury veggie filling inside.

Entree

For the entrees, there are Kaeng Kiew Waan (green curry), Pad Ma-Mung Him Ma-Pan (sautéed chicken with cashews) and Jasmine steamed rice with coconut milk. Plenty for 2 people to share.

The green curry has chicken, coconut milk, eggplant, bell peppers, and topped with fresh basil. I found the chicken to be a bit dry but other than that, the taste went well with the steamed rice. I liked the hint of coconut milk.

Pad Ma-Mung Him Ma-Pan is sautéed chicken with cashew nuts, veggies, and roasted chili. The chicken was also a bit dry too and I would have liked a bit more spice to this dish. You can ask the kitchen staff ahead of time to have your dishes more spicy or less depending on your preference. I generally like my food a bit more spicy to bring out those bold flavours.

Dessert

Sticky Rice with Mango is what we ended the meal with. A good item to share and I like how it isn’t too sweet. There are days where my sweet tooth isn’t there. This isn’t part of the set menu, but it’s an option to order if you need something to end the meal off with.

Overall, the $30 set meal for 2 is a great price. The spice level could be increased but thats just my personal taste preferences. You get a good amount of food at 1986 prices…something that we probably won’t see again like the housing prices in Vancouver. It’s only here until the end of November, so grab some reservations before its too late.

We rate Thai House:

Address:
116 W Esplanade Avenue, North Vancouver

Website:
http://thaihouse.com/

In Fast Food

Burger King: Chicken Fries Review

November 6, 2016

Burger King has had Chicken Fries for sometime now, but it’s the first time I’ve had them.

Before my flight to San Francisco, I grabbed some before I headed on my flight. It was a pretty bad choice since it did take a while for them to crank out orders. We were almost late boarding our flight.

The box is pretty cute and has a chicken on it of course.

The chicken fries are made of white chicken meat coated in a crispy breading seasoned with savoury spices and herbs.

It reminded me of chicken nuggets but shaped like fries. It’s a cute concept for kids to eat, but I didn’t really have a fond liking to it because it was more limp than crispy.

Location:
YVR Airport – US Terminal

Website:
http://burgerking.ca/

In Chinese

Xi’An Cuisine: Dumpling Trail in Richmond

November 5, 2016

Xi’an Cuisine is located in the Richmond Public Market and is popular for their hand-pulled noodles. It’s a local favourite and the owner started Xi’an cuisine since he couldn’t find it anywhere else in Richmond.

Dumplings

Potstickers are triangular in shape and golden brown on each side. The skin was a bit thick, but the meat inside was juicy.

Spicy wontons were really good. Soy sauce, chili oil and peppers made my tastebuds tingle.

Other items

Beef Roll was crisp on the outside and had a good ratio of meat.

BBQ Lamb Skewers are covered in spices. This was ok, but I wanted a bit more char to it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed the spices and flavour profile of Xi’an cuisine. The dishes are made from scratch and is something unique at the Richmond Public Market food court.

We Rate Xi’an Cuisine:

Address:
2370-8260 Westminster Highway, Richmond

In Cafe

Ghirardelli: Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop in San Francisco

November 4, 2016

Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop is located near Fisherman’s Wharf. Ghirardelli is one of the oldest chocolate company in the US. They are also a division of Swiss confectioner Lindt & Sprüngli.

Since I was in town, I wanted to stop to try a few of their chocolates and grab a beverage.

Once you head inside, they give you a small piece of chocolate to sample. A nice little touch.

The shop isn’t very large, so you can buy a few gifts and get a snack or beverage here.

Sea Salt Caramel Hot Cocoa is topped with whipped cream and served with a a piece of milk chocolate. After taking the first few sips, it was delicious, It wasn’t overly sweet, but just the right amount. The texture was smooth and that sea seal caramel worked so well together.

Overall, it was fun to stop here for a drink before carrying on with out day. There’s not much to do there besides shop for chocolate and have a drink.

We Rate Ghirardelli:

Address:
900 North Point Street, San Francisco, CA

Website:
https://www.ghirardelli.com/

In Bubble Tea

TMIX Butterfly Lover Series: Blue Coloured Tea

November 3, 2016

TMIX tea & dessert bar is located on Cambie and they recently introduced their Butterfly Lover Series of new drinks using Butterfly Pea Flower that gives a natural vibrant colour to their creation of drinks.

The Butterfly Pea Flower is an ancient Thai herbal plant which is believe to provide antioxidants, improve eyesight, nourishes skin and hair, prevents premature aging, boosts immunity, and it slims. I’m not 100% sure if these claims are accurate, but I find it pretty neat that it produces such a blue colour. They also don’t advise pregnant people to drink this.

Foodgressing invited me to tag along and since I’ve been seeing this pop up on Instagram, I wanted to try it for myself.

Interior

There are tons of seats inside the cafe and the staff is very friendly.

Butterfly Lover Series

They have 7 drinks in their series:

Starry Night: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Kumquat Soda with Ai-yu Jelly
Reverie: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Ribena
Blue Danube: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Earl Grey Latte
Romantic Sunset: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Passionfruit Green Tea
Love in Coco Island: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Pina Colada Slush
Snowy Lover: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Calpis
Blue Moon: Hot Honey Butterfly Pea Flower with honey

We tried 4 of the flavours and I liked the Starry Night the best because of the added ai-yu jelly, it adds a nice texture to the drink as you have it with the kumquat soda. The Butterfly Pea Flower is very subtle and you are tasting predominantly the soda.

We also had the Reverie and similar thoughts. They also advised us to shake this drink before consuming to mix the flavours.

Blue Danube has 3 distinct layers of colour from the different densities of liquid in the drink. With the strong earl grey tea flavour, it masks the Butterfly Pea Flower too. It’s not necessarily a bad thing because of the colours of the drink. You will want to mix up this drink too to incorporate all the flavours.

Blue Moon is the only hot beverage using the Butterfly Pea Flower and honey. Once it is steeped, it has the vibrant blue colour. You can get refills of this drink which is nice.

The tea has hardly any flavours to it. What special about it is the natural blue colour that makes it fun to drink and great for photos.

Overall, the new drinks are pretty unique due to the strong vibrant blue colour. As for the taste, because of the subtlety of the tea flavour, it does get masked by the other flavours in the drink.

We Rate TMIX:

Address:
3432 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.tmixtea.com/

In Fast Food

In-N-Out Burger in San Francisco: Hidden Menu

November 3, 2016

In-N-Out is a popular place to go to in San Francisco near Fisherman’s Wharf. We try to go to In-N-Out when we are in the states just to get their animal fries and a few burgers. Since this location was so convenient, how could we not go?

It was super packed by locals and tourist who wanted a taste of their burgers. We waited a little while to get our order and it was so hard to get a table inside, so we ended up eating at other tables outside.

The menu prices seem a bit higher than the location that I went to in LA. Even with the higher prices, we weren’t discouraged.

Protein-style Burger

You can get any burger ‘protein-style’, where your favourite burger wrapped in hand-leafed lettuce instead of a bun. I ordered the double double wrapped in lettuce. It was so good. Because I was already eating so much on this trip, I had to resist carbs. The lettuce held together really well and had a bit of a crunch to it.

Animal-style Fries

To add some excitement to normal fries, you can ask for them animal-style. This means your fries will come topped with melty cheese, grilled onions, and Thousand Island dressing. It tastes as awesome as it sounds.

When you’re in San Francisco, don’t miss the In-N-Out at the Wharf.

We Rate In-N-Out:

Address:
333 Jefferson Street, San Francisco

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

In product

Sudio Sweden: Vasa Blå Review

November 2, 2016

Sudio Sweden produces earphones with a nice aesthetic look. With the new iPhone 7, they removed the earphone jack, so bluetooth earphones was on my list.

Dealing with cords is a pain and if you need to carry an adapter around for wired headphones, it’s just more items you need to carry on the go. Sudio’s wireless bluetooth line of earphones – Sudio Vasa Blå was sent to me and I gave it a try for a month to see how it compared to my other headphones and wireless earphones.

The Look

The wireless earphones come in 4 colours – black/rose gold, pink/gold, blue/gold and white/rose gold. All of them come with the rose gold or gold accents on the ear bud. I went with the black since we have the matte black iPhone 7. Black earphones seemed to make sense.

The box comes with:

Vasa Blå earphones with 4 pairs of extra sleeves
Owner’s Manual & Quality Assurance Card
Genuine Leather Carrying Case
Metal Clip
Charging Cable
Battery

The Performance

I listen to a wide range of music from EDM to soft piano/violin instrumentals, so I put these earphones to the test.

I didn’t have any issues with battery life, it did last quite a long time without needing to be recharged. You get up to 8 hours of playtime. If they are inactive, the batteries last up to 10 days.

The sound quality is decent, but it is missing more of the bass that I look for when listening to music. I enjoy earphone and headphones that have more range and make you feel immersed in the song. I felt like these missed the mark.

The Price

The Sudio Vasa Blå retails online for $140 and it’s on par with a few other wireless earphones. When it comes to electronics, I do tend to invest more into it so it lasts longer. You’ll have to evaluate if you want these to be your primary earphones or if this is more on the go.

If you feel like it’s for you, you can use my promo code – foodology15 for 15% off.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Sudio Vasa Blå are decent earphones, but it wouldn’t be my personal favourite for wireless earphones. It was missing the heavy bass levels that make you feel immersed in the songs. If i’m travelling and needed something convenient to carry around, I would consider this.

In British Columbia

Dinner Parties Made Easy with Loblaws City Market

November 2, 2016

Putting together a dinner party isn’t easy and one thing that always stresses me out is the amount of planning that goes into each dish and making sure that everything is hot and ready by dinner time. Every Thanksgiving, everyone always anticipates the moist turkey that I make. This year we decided to have a few more friends join us for dinner, so a few extra side dishes needed to be prepared to make sure everyone’s bellies were full and as well as making sure there was plenty of leftovers. We paired it with Mission Hill Wine from the Okanagan, which is mighty delicious.

Preparation

A trip to the grocery store is essential to make sure you have everything for your meal. I went to Loblaws City Market as they just introduced their ‘From Our Chefs’ line of dishes as a good accompaniment to the turkey and roast beef for our dinner.

Loblaw Executive Chef Mark Russell ha spent the last few years perfecting their dishes to make sure they are store ready and the taste exceeds customers expectations. To save some time, I grabbed a few items to add to the dinner like salads, pasta, and mac + cheese. I don’t mind taking a shortcut because I only have so many ovens and stove tops for cooking.

Cooking

My favourite turkey to get is the President’s Choice Fresh Turkey as it’s already injected with butter. This turkey was 10kg/22 lbs and it took about 4.5 hours to cook at 350F. I layer the pan with cut up veggies and stuff the inside with more of the veggies.

Then, I rub the turkey with a butter and poultry herb mixture above the skin and under the skin. More butter the better right? Don’t forget to throw a pack of bacon on top too.

My sister made a delicious roast and it accompanied the dinner very well. The Angus certified beef is pretty amazing and make sure you get it spot on at medium rare.

Get a meat thermometer as that will be your best friend for getting perfect cooked roasts and turkeys.

Cheese and Meat Board

Before everyone gets here, the table needs to be set. So, in between checking on the turkey, setting the table is an important aspect that some people may forget about. While grocery shopping, I grabbed a few items from the Home Collection at Real Canadian Superstore to make sure the table was well presented. You don’t need to go overboard with centerpieces since food will take up most of the table.

I picked up some festive potpourri, a woven basket, cloth napkins, and placements to really tie the table together with hints of warm fall colours.

The table wouldn’t be complete without a cheese and meat board for the table. It’s a nice item to have when guests start arriving. I make sure to grab a soft cheese, hard cheese and then a few semi-soft cheeses. For meat, I got prosciutto and capicollo. My all time favourite crisps to get are the PC Black Label Cranberry + Fennel Artisan Crisps. So good. Throw some jam and fruit, then you’re set. Having some mini cheese knives are super handy and it fits perfectly on the board and not having long cutlery knives. Clearly, I’m such a fan of Presidents Choice products.

Main Feast

By dinner time, we had more food than we could fit on the table. There definitely was an abundance of food on the table. A half days of work and it’s really rewarding seeing all the happy faces at the table.

The sides from the Loblaws City Market ‘From Our Chefs’ dishes were such a huge help in adding a healthier part to the dinner. Heated up and ready to serve. Everyone’s favourite seemed to be the baked mac and cheese. Super cheesy and creamy.

Of course the star of the show was the turkey. Perfectly cooked and super moist on the inside. We did have the roast that we put in the oven but it needed a bit of extra time, so we accidentally missed it in our photos.

Once everything got plated, we dug in and didn’t stop eating until our pants needed to be unbuttoned. The guests who wore leggings and sweatpants were smart.

That’s my Thanksgiving dinner demystified. This dinner was partly sponsored by Loblaws City Market, but I stand behind their products. I make plenty of trips to The Real Canadian Superstore and I’m a proud customer.

November 2016

Interior

Side Dish

Ramen

Final Thoughts

Honey Roasted Okanagan Pear and Winter Beet Salad

Tinhorn Creek Pinot Gris 2015

Caramelized George Bank Scallop

Tinhorn Creek Chardonnay 2014

Smoked Brome Lake Duck

Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Series Merlot 2012

Juniper Rubbed Black Apron Striploin Medallion

Tinhorn Creek 2Bench Red 2012

Juliette and Juliette

Tinhorn Creek Cabernet Franc 2013

Interior

Boneless Fried Chicken

Side Dishes and Sauce

Final Thoughts

Canapes

Amuse

First

Second

Third

Dessert

Final Thoughts

Axe Throwing at Bad Axe Throwing

Oh Canada-sized Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich at Estrellas

Zombie Apocalypse Training at DVC Ventures

Indoor Shooting Range

Roast Beef Sandwich at Arby’s

Interior

Dumplings

Other Dishes

Final Thoughts

Interior

Ordering

Coffee

Desserts

Side Dishes

Hot Plate

Jukkumi-Jeyuk-bokkeum

Beef Bulgogi

All Canadian Special

Sausage and bacon

Hash browns

Breakfast Wrap

Mushroom Mozza Cheese and Egger with Sausage patty

Final Thoughts

Interior

Ordering

Step 1: Pick your base

Step 2: Pick your proteins

Step 3: Pick your toppings

Step 4: Pick Your Sauce

The Taste

Specialty Drinks

Final Thoughts

Interior

Drinks

Appetizer

Entree

Dessert

Dumplings

Other items

Final Thoughts

Interior

Butterfly Lover Series

Protein-style Burger

Animal-style Fries

The Look

The Performance

The Price

Final Thoughts

Preparation

Cooking

Cheese and Meat Board

Main Feast