Foodology, Author at Foodology

In British Columbia

truLOCAL: Sustainable Meat Delivered to Your Door

January 2, 2019

truLOCAL is a monthly meat delivery service in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Buying the best local products from farmers and butchers doesn’t have to be hard, but it can be if you don’t know which places to go to or trust, you’ll just default to your usual grocery store.

I love supporting local farmers and butchers, but sometimes it’s a bit out of the way to go straight to the source. As I am from BC, they source their products from places like Organic Ocean Seafood, Farmcrest Farms, Two Rivers, Hopcott Farms, Georels Bone Broth, among many others. I was able to enjoy a few of my favourite local producers and discovered a few new ones. All the suppliers are very transparent about their processes and how they raise their animals and it’s now more important than ever.

Delivery

The box is delivered straight to your door in refrigerated coolers so the items inside stay frozen until you get home. Inside each box is a brick of dry ice, so it is very very cold. It stays very cold up into the late evenings, so if you don’t come home around 5pm, you have nothing to worry about. Everything inside will stay very frozen.

They can deliver to houses, apartments, the office or even the gym. Just provide detailed instructions so they know what to do when they arrive.

What’s in the box?

Inside the box is all the meats that you ordered for the month as well as the dry ice, so be careful handling it as it is very cold. You can choose a small box or regular box for the month.

Each portion of meat is individually packaged so you can easily throw this into your freezer and defrost each item as you need.

Pricing

The small box comes with up to 18 individual portions for $125 with free delivery. This is best for one individual. The regular box with 40 individual portions for $249 with free delivery as well and is intended for 2+ people.

You can pause, skip or cancel at any time if you need a break if you’re on vacation or whatever else comes up. It’s very flexible, so you just need to make changes to your account to make sure its reflected.

Quality

We got a selection of seafood, sausage, pork, beef, and poultry in our box and used it all up over a span of month. We mostly had the meats for dinner. The quality was pretty good and everything we had contained a lot of flavour even though most of the time we just used salt and pepper to season.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we were really impressed with truLOCAL and the prices are fair for the convenience a well as the ability to support local farmers and producers. Their subscription service is very flexible and easy to pause and start again whenever you need to.

It was very convenient to whip out a meal knowing I always have some meat in the freezer to use later in the evening.

Website:
https://trulocal.ca/

In Brunch

Botanist Restaurant: Morning Breakfast at Fairmont Pacific Rim

January 1, 2019

The Botanist serves up breakfast daily 7 days a week. Since my friend was visiting from out of town, we decided to come here for breakfast on the weekend to catch up. It’s a great place to hang out as the space is very beautiful. The food and service is always on point. Since it is located in the Fairmont Pacific Rim, prices are higher, so most people come here for special occasions.

Interior

We got seated in The Garden near the front of the restaurant by the bar. If you love foliage, this may just be for you. We found some tables are very small, so some of our dishes were hanging off the table. The other areas of the restaurants have larger tables.

Breakfast Menu

sYou can choose item on the menu a la carte or you can get it with fresh-squeezed juice and pressed coffee or tea – thus The Pantry and The Kitchen options with the higher price.

French-Press Coffee

The Fresh-Press containers are quite cute and it comes with some milk and sugar on the side too. It’s quite a lot of coffee too.

Fresh Pressed Juice

They have a variety of Fresh-Pressed Juices like apple, orange, pineapple, cranberry or grapefruit. You can also choose their antioxidant juice too.

I went with the antioxidant juice as it has more greens in the juice. It was good and finished the meal off on a sweet note.

Peameal Benedict

There is a slice of house-made peameal bacon, hollandaise sauce, crispy potatoes and a grilled tomato. My friends enjoyed this dish. The potatoes were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Eggs were poached perfectly too.

Botanist Benedict

This has crab, avocado, hollandaise sauce, crispy potatoes and a roasted tomato. I got the eggs to be soft poached and it came out perfect. The avocado was creamy and the crab was sweet.

Brioche French Toast

For those with a sweet tooth, the Brioche French Toast is great. It has dulce de leche sauce, caramelized banana, and amaranth. Not too sweet but had a good balance.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a good breakfast with the ladies. The food was good and service was great as well. If you’re looking for a nice place to have breakfast with friends or family, definitely check out Botanist Restaurant inside the Fairmont Pacific Rim for a good time.

Address:
1038 Canada Pl, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.botanistrestaurant.com/

In British Columbia

Search & Rescue Apron Co: Premium Custom Aprons in Vancouver

December 31, 2018

Search and Rescue Apron Company is located on Granville Island in Vancouver and they specialize in luxury aprons that can be customized and full of style for yourself, gifts and those in different professions.

I’ve seen chef’s, bartenders, hair stylists, carpenters, and tattoo artists wear these aprons around town, and it really sets them apart. Each apron is hand-made right in the store using locally sourced materials by locals.

It’s great to see the transparency when you walk into the shop and they are getting every customers orders ready. Inside the store, you can see a variety of aprons and get a feel for what they create.

They also have different bags and small aprons for the mini chef at home. It’s quite cute and you’ll definitely discover a bit more in the store.

Custom Aprons

I ended up working with them on a customized apron that fits into my Canadiana theme that I didn’t see on the racks. You can come into the store to see the different fabrics, work with staff to see all the different sizing, feel the fabrics and see other details you can add to your apron.

It was really fun to see all the possibilities that can make it work for your style.

If you aren’t in Vancouver or want to build your apron online, they just launched their online apron builder so you can customize it all online or select one of their top selling aprons that are already created for different professions. They can ship across Canada, US, and other international companies.

The Results

As a food blogger and a home cook, I wanted an apron that worked well around the kitchen, so I didn’t need a lot of pockets that fit different culinary tools.

I made my apron with these specifications:

Top right pocket that fits a large iPhone on red plaid
Bottom left towel loop on red plaid
Black Canvas
Leather brown X Straps
Gold hardware
White stitching colour

I was very happy with the results and quality of the materials. It will be my go to apron in the kitchen. It is definitely a premium apron for those who want a bit more style in the kitchen that sets yourself apart from others.

If you are looking for something unique, definitely check out Search and Rescue Apron Company.

Website:
https://searchandrescuedenim.com/

In Chinese

No 1 Dumpling in Vancouver: Review

December 30, 2018

No 1 Dumpling is a new Chinese Restaurant near Broadway and Burrard specializing in all things dumplings. When I saw it, I needed to come check it out with some friends as we love discovering new hole in the wall restaurants especially when it involves dumplings.

Interior

The interior looks like a sushi restaurant, so I assume they only made minimal renovations prior to opening up. When you walk inside, you’ll see a brightly lit menu and a few tables in the front. There are larger tables in the back but the space isn’t very large. When we were here on the weekend, it seemed to get busier around 7pm.

Xiao Long Bao

The Xiao Long Bao comes with 8 pieces per ordered in a steamed basket. It was good but not as soupy as some other places in town. It wasn’t too salty and had a good flavour.

Spicy Soup Dumpling

The Spicy Soup Dumplings were really good. A good size to share among the table and there were a good amount of juicy dumplings inside. It has a decent spicy kick but it wasn’t too spicy at all.

Wonton Noodles

Wonton noodles were huge for what you pay for. Lots of noodles but the wontons could have been larger in size. It was pretty small so when you eat it with the noodles and veggies, it doesn’t stand out.

Peanut Butter Noodles

This peanut butter noodle is essentially dan dan noodles. It had a good amount of peanut flavour with a subtle spice behind it too.

Leek Pancake

The leek pancake is folded in half like a calzone and stuffed with leek and what seemed to be egg or tofu. They cut this up into 2 pieces so depending on how many people you are dining with, you may need more.

Green Onion and Egg Pancake

This is cut up into 4 pieces and had a good amount of egg and green onion inside. The exterior was crisp and delicious.

Guotie

These dumplings are pan fried and tasted good when you add some soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil to it.

Cucumber Salad

If you want some vegetables to balance out all the dumplings, the cucumber salad is good. It’s not marinated for a long time but it is delicious nonetheless.

Beef and Onion Dumpling, Steamed

They have a few varieties of dumplings but we chose the beef and onion dumpling and had them steamed. It comes with 12 pieces per order.

Chicken and Mushroom Dumpling, Pan Fried

This also has 12 pieces per order. The chicken and mushroom was really good and we found that having their dumplings pan-fried are the best as it adds texture to it.

Final Thoughts

The restaurant is homey and food is on point. The prices are also very fair. The downside is really the service as there is really one person taking care of the customers and 2 other people in the back preparing food when we were there. You really need to track the staff down to get water or tea refills, menu, bills and anything else. Don’t expect them to take any initiative of any kind to serve you.

Address:
1888 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.no1dumpling.com/

In Bubble Tea

Rad on Denman: Individual Hot Pots and Bubble Tea in Vancouver

December 29, 2018

Rad on Denman serves up Taiwanese dishes from individual hot pots, rice and noodle dishes, and bubble tea. You may know them from their first cafe inside Granville Skytrain Station serving up delicious bubble tea. With this Denman location, you can still get their bubble tea, but there is a wider offering of dishes.

I came here with a few friends to check it out to see how it compares to other Taiwanese cafes and hot pot restaurants around town.

Interior

It wasn’t very busy on a weekday night and on all the tables, you can see the hot pot equipment on the tables. Most people come here for that. We also noticed a decent amount of takeout orders too.

Taiwanese Hot Pot

You essentially build your own hot pot by selection your broth, protein, any extra toppings, sides and sauce.

Some of the bone broth flavours are:

Clear chicken broth
Tonkotsu
Sukiyaki
Kimchi
Thai
Satay
Spicy

You can choose your choice of protein:

Alberta Beef
Premium Lamb
Pork
Chicken
Shrimp

All hot pots come with free rice, but I upgraded to glass noodles for $2.50 extra. They give you a very generous portion.

My friends and I got Satay, sukiyaki and Tonkotsu for our bone broths. All of them were good and not too salty. Price was good for what you get.

There’s only a few places around town that do individual hot pots, but in the Denman area, there aren’t other options. They light the pot from underneath so it reminds me of another hot pot restaurant with a similar concept

Roasted Oolong Bubble Milk Tea

You get a free drink with your hot pot but you can add $2.99 to upgrade it to a bubble tea. I went with the Roasted Oolong Bubble Milk Tea and got it less sweet. It’s normally not very sweet to begin with, so getting it less sweet barely has any sweetness at all. Just a personal preference, but I know some people are thrown off by it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food was good but the service was very subpar. Even though the restaurant was pretty much empty, getting the staff’s attention was hard and when we asked for more sauce for our hot pots, it was forgotten. It would have been good if they checked up on us to see if we needed anything else.

Address:
774 Denman St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.radeatery.com/

In Delta

La Meza Grill: Filipino Food in North Delta

December 28, 2018

La Meza Grill is family-owned and specializes in traditional Filipino cuisine. They opened in June 2014 and created a menu that captures the richness of Filipino cooking. The cooking is heavily influenced by the Spanish Colonial era and a lot of the dishes are sweet, savoury and spicy,

They are located in North Delta right between Richmond and Surrey. Closer to Surrey, but it’s far from Downtown Vancouver to get to. Most people get here by driving and there are lots of parking spots in the plaza.

Interior

To get into the restaurant, you need to enter through Season’s Market, which is a Filipino Grocery store with tons of well-priced snacks and goods.

It can get quite busy on weekends at peak hours, but there are always tables available for groups. You can always call ahead for reservations. They also do delivery, take out and catering.

Longsilog

The boys were craving breakfast, so they got their own longsilog breakfast, which has sweet pork sausages with egg, salad and garlic rice. It’s pretty awesome and hits the spot. The garlic rice is so good and you’ll wonder how you went without garlic in rice for such a long time.

The best part is that it’s available all day.

Seafood Palabok

This noodle dish – seafood palabok has thick rice noodles, ground pork rinds, bard-boiled egg in a mixed seafood sauce. I personally loved it but my Filipino friend thought it missed the mark as she’s had many many seafood palabok in her lifetime. It could have used more seafood too.

Spaghetti

The spaghetti has ground beef and pork, hotdogs, Filipino-style sweet tomato sauce, and topped with cheese. We loved this especially my husband. It’s not too sweet but it’s like every kid’s dream to have spaghetti and hot dogs hahaha. Reminded us of an elevated comfort dish.

Fresh Lumpia

This is huge and it is a fresh vegetable roll with house special garlic sauce and topped with green onion and peanuts. The garlic sauce is a touch sweet but it goes well with the fresh lumpia.

Laing

This is a mixture of taro leaves and minced pork in a spicy coconut milk sauce. It also has some hot peppers in it, so watch out. As we never had taro leaves before, I thought it would be interesting to try. We all didn’t like it because it was more like a mush.

Arroz Caldo

I absolutely love this chicken congee with tons of garlic. It’s like elevated Chinese congee but probably worse for you health-wise, but so damn delicious.

Lechon Kawali

This is delicious deep-fried pork belly and served with a housemade sarsa sauce. You can’t deny the taste of deep-fried pork belly. It’s a must.

Chicken Chicharon Sisig

On a hot sizzling skillet is diced chicken and chicken chicharon marinated in soy and calamansi. There is also a freshly cracked egg on top, so make sure to mix it a little bit before eating. The hot skillet will cook the egg. I love this dish for its textures and salty and savoury taste.

BBQ Chicken and BBQ Pork Skewers

Both the pork and chicken skewers are marinated in their house sauce and grilled to perfection. It has a good amount of meat on each skewer too.

Garlic Rice

To go with all the dishes, garlic rice is a must. We got a big bowl to share.

Final Thoughts

Surprisingly, we really enjoyed La Meza Grill. The food was excellent, value for the price was outstanding, and the service was ok. It’s now one of my favourite places to go for Filipino Cuisine in the Lower Mainland and you really can’t beat their price for the quality of food you get. Highly recommended.

Address:
11955 88 Ave, Delta, B

Website:
http://lamezagrill.com/

In Japanese

Yuu Japanese Tapas: Volcano Ramen and Miriku Collection in Richmond

December 27, 2018

Yuu Japanese Tapas is located in Richmond, BC and they serve up contemporary Japanese cuisine. They have a wide menu from appetizers, individualized hot pots, ramen and other items. Earlier in the year, The Original beer Ramen made headlines around the world for their ramen that looks like a huge mug of beer, which was made of cold bonito broth ramen.

For the Winter, they have launched a few new items – Volcano Ramen and miriku collection. We came here to check it out.

Interior

There are a lot of tables for small to large groups inside.

Menu (new items)

Volcano Ramen

Their volcano ramen comes in 2 types -AAA Beef Volcano Ramen and Jumbo Clam and Prawn Volcano Ramen starting at $19.50.

What is great about Yuu Japanese Tapas is the experience and fun they provide the customers before the meal begins. When the ramen arrived, the server pours the ramen broth into the sizzling hot stone bowl and covers it with a volcano lid, so it steams up like a volcano.

AAA Beef Volcano Ramen

This has AAA Beef slices, Enoki mushrooms, bean sprouts, green onion, and a tonkatsu broth. You can add egg, butter, cheese, kimchi and more ramen noodles for an additional charge.

We had the choice of having it mild or spicy, so we chose mild. The tonkatsu broth is rich with a lot of beefy umami flavour. The noodles has a thickness to them too. We added cheese to the dish and it made the ramen consistency more thick and less soupy.

Jumbo Clam and Prawn Volcano Ramen

There are seasonal clams, prawns, bean sprouts, onions, and their rich tonkatsu broth. You can add egg, butter, cheese, kimchi and more ramen noodles for an additional charge.

We ordered mild, but it still had a kick to the broth and made it hard to taste the deep beef flavour. This was ok but we felt the AAA Beef Volcano Ramen was a bit better.

Strawberry Milk

You can get this hot or cold, but we went with cold. It tastes like milk with strawberry puree and you can’t go wrong with that. It tastes pretty good. The glass is a bit small for the price.

Melon Milk

We decided to switch things up and get this hot. It was served in the same container and served very hot to the touch. It has a strong melon taste and it felt more artificial tasting. Imagine those Korean melona bars.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the experience at Yuu Japanese Tapas was good as the dishes were unique looking, but when it came down to flavour, it missed the mark and the prices are a bit higher than normal Japanese ramen shops, nonetheless, they really make sure the experience, fun and interactivity of the dishes are their.

Address:
3779 Sexsmith Rd #1118, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.yuutapas.com/

In Bubble Tea

Bobii Frutii: Instagrammable Bubble Tea in Richmond

December 26, 2018

Bobii Frutii just opened their first Canadian location in Richmond BC and started in Taiwan, with another location in Singapore. They specialize in Instagrammable bubble teas that don’t have any artificial preservatives, stabilizers, or artificial colouring. The drinks are very beautiful, but we decided to stop here to see if it lives up to the hype.

Interior

The store has a few seats inside but its not too busy when we went on a weekday afternoon. The interior has a lot of concrete greys and brown woody colours.

Extraordinary Bubble Milk Tea 不甘平凡

This extraordinary bubble milk tea is made with layers of red tea, milk and brown sugar pearls. A classic choice and you can really taste the subtle brown sugar in the pearls that aren’t too over powering and it works nicely with the tea and milk. Delicious. Make sure it mix it before you drink it to incorporate all the layers.

Don’t Want to Work 不想上班

The name of this drink is so cheeky. It is made with oolong tea, milk and their Butterfly Pea Pearls. It looks similar to the extraordinary milk tea and taste similar but less sweet due to the type of pearls.

Uji Snow 宇治初雪

One of the more expensive options at Bobii Frutii and it’s their Matcha beverages as they use carefully selected Marukyu-Koyamaen matcha from Uji, Kyoto. Each order is hand whisked to ensure quality.

There is matcha, milk and their original pearls in this drink. The matcha is so good and you can taste the quality and its not too sweet. A good ratio of tea and sweetness.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a good quality of bubble tea, looks great, tastes great, but it is higher in price compared to other bubble tea shops in the area. With so many options in Richmond, it’s definitely hard to compete.

Address:
157-4800 No 3 Rd, Richmond, BC

Website:
https://www.facebook.com/bobiifrutii.ca/

In product

KitKat Senses Collection: Review

December 25, 2018

KitKat Senses Collection was released this holiday season containing 3 different types of small KitKats – Truffle, Hazelnut and Salted Caramel. There are a few different variations of their KitKat Senses line up like a box with just the Hazelnut version, or the hazelnut truffle in a star shaped box.

I went with the collection to try all 3 flavours and it was on sale for around $5 for this box.

A year ago, they launched KitKat Rubies with Truffle and Hazelnut filling, but they have since discontinued that.

What’s in the box?

Inside are 16 mini KitKat Bars – 8 Hazelnut, 4 Truffle and 4 Salted Caramel. It’s a pretty large box for a small amount of KitKats, so there is quite a bit of wasted space.

The box works well as a gift for the office or one of your friends, or family members as it is displayed nicely and there are descriptions of each flavour.

Truffle

The Truffle has rich ganache and crunchy truffle nibs inside in addition to the milk chocolate and wafer layers. This was our favourite of the 3 bars as the ganache and texture of the nibs really worked well.

Hazelnut

Hazelnut has a layer of praline and crunchy pieces of hazelnut with the 3 layers of wafers and milk chocolate. It was still good but was our second favourite.

Salted Caramel

Inside the salted caramel bar is their caramel filling infused with crunchy salted flakes. It’s nice to have the balance of salt and caramel to counteract the sweetness. This was of course our third favourite and doesn’t mean it was bad at all.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s great as a gift, but being a serial KitKat eater, the flavours didn’t seem too new as they have been coming up with similar flavours of their other KitKat lines. Nonetheless, I would still give this to a friend, family or the office to share as it’s a good selection of KitKat flavours that not everyone has tried before.

Website:
https://www.madewithnestle.ca/kit-kat/kit-kat-senses-assorted-collection-holiday-gift-box

In Alberta

The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old Paired with Meat and Cheese

December 24, 2018

The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old is a great gift this holiday. It is available at all government-owned liquor stores across Canada for a pretty affordable price of under $100. The price will fluctuate from province to province, but this smooth Scotch is at a great price point that won’t disappoint.

Taste

It has a golden sun colour to it. As you take your first wiff, you can really smell creamy butterscotch with a hint of toffee apple, candied orange, vanilla custard and newly felled oak on the nose. It’s very aromatic!

When you take a few sips, it has hints of honey, wood spices and citrus, balanced with raisins and caramel. As you finish your sip, the Oak lingers, which is warm and sweet at the back of your throat.

We prefer to have it neat so you can really take in the flavours of the The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old. Of course, you can have it on the rocks or alternatively a dram of it to your coffee or tea. The vanilla custard notes go well with crème-brûlée or pumpkin pie at the end of the meal.

Charcuterie Board Pairings

Of course you can’t just have a glass of Scotch without some delicious accompaniment. You can get cheesey with a simple charcuterie board to have a few nibbles before dinner begins.

To accentuate the butterscotch and caramel flavours of The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old, they suggest a young manchego, French sheep’s milk cheese, or any earthy pecorino.

If you can’t find those at your local grocery store, you can go with some light cheeses like a light Brie or light Cheddar. It gives a nice mouthfeel without overpowering the Scotch.

It’s a great way to enjoy the Scotch, have some bites while continuing your conversations with friends and family.

Pasa-Doble: A Classic Coaktail Twist

You can also make cocktails with The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old. This is a take on the classic Old Fashioned with American style, distinct European flair and a clever Canadian twist. It’s perfect for the holidays.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 oz. The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old
1/2 oz. Amontillado Sherry
Pinch of smoked salt
Drizzle of Canadian maple syrup

Instructions:

Add all ingredients and ice to a mixing glass. Stir gently with a bar spoon for 10 seconds.
Strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass.

Final Thoughts

The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old is good on its own and paired with a charcuterie plate, or turned into a cocktail. It’s versatile and at a great price point. Highly recommended!

Website:
https://www.themacallan.com/en

In Chinese

Mama’s Dumpling and Coffee in Richmond: Review

December 23, 2018

Mama’s Dumpling and Coffee is located in South Richmond near a bunch of warehouses. You definitely wouldn’t expect this restaurant to be here, but it has gained quite a level of popularity recently for their delicious homey dumplings. I came here with a few friends on the weekday to check it out and see what everyone is raving about. It’s family-run and operated, so its a great business to support.

Interior

On the weekdays around noon, it wasn’t too busy just yet. It got busy closer to 12:30pm. We’re not exactly sure about on weekends, but we hear some of their dumplings can sell out.

Ordering

They accept cards, so we were happy it’s not cash only. Once you place your order and pay, you get this electronic device that will beep once your order is ready. As it wasn’t very busy, nor were we doing takeout, this didn’t do much for us as they delivered our order to our table.

Green Tea

We were tempted to get coffee, but it just didn’t seem like a match for Chinese dumplings, so we ordered hot green tea. They charge $1.90 per cup of tea.

Shanghai-style Fried Noodles

You get your choice of pork or chicken and we chose chicken. It was deliciously pan-fried with a good amount of char on some noodles. The noodles were a good texture.

Wontons in Spicy Chili Oil

There are 8 wontons to an order and the spicy chili oil is mixed with a sesame paste, so that was surprising as I didn’t expect that. Nonetheless, it was still delicious.

Shrimp, Egg and Chives Dumpling

You can get these in portions of 12, 16 or 20 pieces. We sent with 12 since it was just the 3 of using having lunch. They were really good! Delicious filling and the skin wasn’t too thick.

Nanxiang-Style Xiao Long Bao

Each order comes with 6 pieces. It’s hot and soupy in the centre, so be careful when eating it. You can pair it with soy sauce and vinegar on the side of the table.

Green Onion Pancake

The green onion pancake is cut up into 4 pieces. Super crisp on the exterior and has a good amount of green onion spread out.

Shanghai-Style Fried Pork Buns

When coming to Mama’s Dumpling and Coffee, a lot of people order their Shanghai-style Fried Pork Buns. It’s their most popular item and comes in 4 pieces. It can take up to 30 minutes to prepare, so they recommend pre-ordering the dish so you aren’t waiting a long time.

The dumplings are fluffy on top, crisp on the bottom and the inside is so savoury and soupy. Highly recommended.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed the experience and all the dishes were very homey and hit the spot. For myself, the location is quite far for me to drive to and taking transit is a pain. If you’re in the area of South Richmond, definitely make a stop here.

Address:
103-11782 Hammersmith Way, Richmond, B

Website:
https://www.mamasdumpling.com/

In Cafe

Spiritea Drinks: Cold Brewed Teas and Cakes in Richmond (Aberdeen Centre)

December 22, 2018

Spiritea Drinks is located at Aberdeen Centre and they specialize in cold brewed tea and desserts. They soak the tea leaves in a low-temperature glacial water, which releases the tea tannins and caffeine to produce a smooth and rich tea aroma. It retains catechin and tea polyphenol of the tea leaves to lower blood sugar, increase metabolism, and good for tea lovers. They brew all of their teas on the spot in a special teaspresso machine

They aren’t a bubble tea shop and do not offer any toppings to their beverages. The owners want to provide healthier options and have been perfecting their drinks for the last year. A lot of their drinks use their green tea base, fresh fruit and sugar cane sweetener. No artificial sweeteners or powders are used.

Interior

The interior is beautiful during the day and night with it’s white and pink colours. It is modern, elegant and cute.

A lot of the tables are arranged to fit 4 people, so it’ll be hard to get a large group in here unless you start rearranging tables and chairs.

Jade Green Tea Cloudtea

This can be made hot or cold. You get a deep jade green tea flavour with the salted cream foam on top. They make the foam in small batches so it stays fresh, thick and delicious.

It’s a good option if you love green tea.

Super Combo Fruitea

This is one of their popular drinks on the menu. It has pineapple, passion fruit, orange, lemon slices, lime slices and a strawberry shaken with green tea and cane sugar. It is a solid fruit tea that is refreshing and light.

Very Berry Cloudtea

If you love berries, you’ll enjoy the very berry cloudtea. The mixture of tea, fruit and foam worked well together.

TanCho Black Tea

This comes in a cute skinny bottle. The quality of the tea is very nice, but it’s a pretty standard black milk tea compared to other shops.

Macarons

They have 4 different varieties of macarons on the menu to pair with their teas – salted caramel, matcha, lychee and earl grey.

Chocolate Mousse

The chocolate mousse has layers of cake and crisp crunchy layers. If you are a chocolate lover, you’ll really appreciate this cake.

Very Berry Cake

This has a layer of cream on the outside and on the inside, there is a berry jam and cake on the inside. The highlight of the cake was really the layers inside. We felt like there was a tad too much cream and it threw of the ratio.

Christmas Tree

This has 3 triangle cakes that make up this Christmas Tree. There is matcha, mango, and very berry flavours. Very cute concept but fairly regular cakes.

Cheesecake Snowflake

Probably the cutest cake of the bunch as it’s shaped like a snowflake and perfect for the holidays. It has more of a cheesy taste to it, so, it may not be for everyone. We still enjoyed it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Spiritea Drinks is a great addition to the Richmond area and inside Aberdeen Centre. It’s great that their concept of healthy tea and fruit beverages use quality ingredients. The prices are slightly higher than other cafes, but the quality is there. It’s a nice place to sit with friends and just chill over tea and dessert.

Address:
4151 Hazelbridge Way Unit 1968, Richmond, B

Website:
https://spiriteadrinks.com

In Cafe

Forêt Noire Pâtisserie: Now Open in Vancouver

December 21, 2018

There is a new French bakery on West Broadway close to City Hall – Forêt Noire Pâtisserie. They just opened a a few weeks ago serving up delicious treats like croissants, macarons, chocolates, cakes, and beverages. They have a few other items planned on their menu like sandwiches to cater to different times during the day.

Interior

The space is about 2,000 square feet with some seats inside and outside on their patio.

They can’t fit many large groups from the tables observed as most of them seem to be tables of 2.

Beverages

On the menu, they have a variety of hot and cold beverages – teas, coffees, and other non-caffeinated drinks.

Spiced Hot Chocolate

They have a spiced hot chocolate served with a whole cinnamon stick. A nice way to enjoy an aromatic hot chocolate that isn’t too sweet or bitter.

Latte

I went with a latte to go with the pastries. A good ratio of espresso and milk.

Cheese Croissant

This croissant is crisp and butter on the outside and the inside is stuffed with feta, ricotta with fresh herbs and lemon. It was good to have more of a savoury item as it was around noon.

Apricot Danish Puff Pastry

The puff pastry is crisp and buttery with the apricot and creme in the centre. Pretty good item for texture and sweetness.

Mont Blanc

The Mont Blanc has made of muscovado sablé breton, mascarpone rum cream, yuzu compote, chestnut cream, coconut meringue, and a marron glacé.

An interesting flavour combination with the yuzu incorporated into it, but it balanced out the other ingredients to keep it a tad light.

Paris-Brest

This has pâte à choux, hazelnut mousseline cream, homemade praliné and hazelnut craquelins.

This classic item was good with all the different textures. It is a bit sweet on its own, but when paired with a latte, it’s not as noticeable.

Final Thoughts

It’s a good addition to the City Hall area where you can get pastries, coffee and hang out with a friend. There are a lot of options on their menu too which is nice.

Convenient to get to and there is metered street parking around.

Address:
236 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://foretnoirepatisserie.com/home/

In Downtown

Black Rice Izakaya: 2018 New Winter Menu

December 20, 2018

Black Rice Izakaya continues to offer seasonal items on top of their regular menu.They are located near the Vancouver Public Library and BC Place. A very convenient location serving up Japanese izakaya, fresh specialty seafood, sushi rolls, sake and cocktails.

We were invited back again to check out these new items.

Interior

They have bar seating with a few high tops at the front of the restaurant and then larger tables in the back that can seat more people.

Regular Menu

Menchi Katsu

This has a minced Prime Angus beef patty with mozzarella and deep fried in Panko. Perfect for the winter as it’s very comforting and delicious. The panko makes for a crisp exterior with the beef and cheese hiding inside.

Angus Tenderloin Steak

This hot stone grill is topped with sous vide prime angus tenderloin, shiitake mushroom, asparagus, and house-made black truffle butter.

A fun dish and the truffle butter just amplified the flavour of the angus tenderloin.

Spicy Grilled Chicken

This is sous vide spicy marinated chicken thigh and its then finished on a charcoal grill. It’s the chef’s favourite dish and would go really well with rice to balance out the spice and salt.

Salmon Candy

This has beet cured salmon with pickled pearl onion and feta cheese. Then served with an herb avocado puree. A refreshing dish and interesting to see feta as a combination but it worked.

Beef Tongue Carpaccio

This has sliced sous vide beef tongue with fried onion, ponzu and mushroom puree. It was buttery, tender and delicious.

Aburi Hakozushi platter

This stunning platter has their signature Aburi salmon, Aburi Saba, Aburi negitoro, and Aburi scallop. A good way to try their different Aburi offerings at Black Rice Izakaya.

Aburi Platter for 2

This new Aburi Platter on the winter menu is composed of

6 pieces of spicy salmon halo
8 pieces of black mentaiko roll
4 pieces of chef’s choice aburi nigiri

Vegan Hakozushi

They have a small vegan menu, but one of those items are their vegan hakozushi that comes in two kinds. One had a heavy taste of guacamole and heavy lemon taste and the other had more avocado with a thin green veggie layer on top.

Sashimi Seafood Platter

This sashimi platter is incredible looking and great for a few people to share, this included:

Whole Horse Mackerel
Uni – Sea Urchin (Fave)
Button Shrimp
Golden Eye Sea Bream
Red Sea Bream
Halibut
Yellow Tale Amberjack
Greater Amberjack
Seared Sockeye Salmon

It’s stunning, tasted fresh and will really impress your guests.

Final Thoughts

The new items on the menu are a great addition to their regular menu like the Mentaiko Udon, Beef and Enoki Stone Bowl, and Black Angus Nigiri.

Address:
782 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.blackrice.ca/

In appetizer

Easy Baked Turkey and Cheese Pastry Ring

December 19, 2018

With the holidays, I am sure you have lots of potlucks and perhaps even hosting people in your home. Since there is so much to do, here is a quick appetizer to put together that is simple and will easily wow your friends and family.

For myself, juggling work, a social life, a food blog, and a little baby on the way, it really doesn’t leave me much time to cook up a storm, so I love making things that have few ingredients and takes 30 minutes or less.

We avoid ordering take out for our family gatherings as we like to make everything at home. It just makes everything a bit more homey and made with love.

When Grimm’s Fine Foods sent us a variety of sliced meats and cheeses, I knew I had to make a baked pastry ring since I’ve always wanted to make and eat one. They are from Langley, BC and specialize in offering high quality meat products, cheeses, tortillas, wraps and other snacks. Grimm’s Fine Foods has been around since 1951 and their integrity and commitment to quality never wavered. You can find their products at local grocers and retailers like Buy-Low Foods, Costco, Sobeys, IGA Marketplace, Save on Foods, and many others.

Grimm’s Fine Foods has been very active in the community and is always looking for ways to give back. They let us choose a charity of our choice for them to donate $500 worth of product to a food bank or charity of our choice. I chose the Union Gospel Mission as they work hard to provide meals, education, shelter, safe and affordable housing, drug and alcohol recovery programs, and support services to those struggling with homelessness and addiction in the Metro Vancouver area and city of Mission.

[tabs tab1=”Easy Baked Turkey and Cheese Pastry Ring” ]

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Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 can of crescent roll dough (8 rolls)
1 pack of Grimm’s Fine Foods Tuscan Style Turkey Breast (150g)
1 pack of Grimm’s Fine Foods Medium Cheddar Cheese, shredded (170g)
2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
Egg wash (1 egg and a table spoon of water combined and mixed)
Pinch of salt and pepper
0.5 cup of marinara sauce
Pinch of Italian seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven till 350˚F.
Prepare crescent roll dough and separate into individual triangles.
Place a small bowl in the centre and arrange the triangular crescent roll dough in a ring around the bowl. Make sure the dough overlaps and has a 2 inch area to put ingredients on top.
Spread dijon mustard on the crescent roll dough and layer with turkey breast slices and shredded cheddar cheese.
Flip the sharp corner of the triangle until you can tuck it under the bottom of the dough and repeat until all triangles are folded.
Apply your egg wash, salt + pepper and Italian seasoning on top of the pastry ring.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with marinara sauce in a bowl in the centre of the pastry ring and enjoy.

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With similar ingredients, you can also make ham and cheese pinwheels too with a quick swaps of a few ingredients. Since I grabbed a few more items from the store, I thought I might as well give this a try too.

[tabs tab1=”Easy Baked Ham and Cheese Pinwheels” ]

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Makes 12 pieces

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted
1 pack of Grimm’s Fine Foods Black Forest Ham (150g)
1 pack of Grimm’s Fine Foods Medium Cheddar Cheese, shredded (170g)
4 tablespoons of dijon mustard

Directions:

Preheat the oven till 350˚F.
Unroll puff pastry sheet.
Spread a thin layer of dijon mustard on puff pastry
Add shredded cheese and black forest ham on top.
Roll into a tight log.
Cut into 1cm discs
Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
Serve and enjoy.

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Enjoy these two recipes as it will give you more time to spend with friends and family rather than slaving away in the kitchen. Happy Holidays from the Foodology family.

This blog post was sponsored by Grimm’s Fine Foods but the opinions are all my own.

In product

‘Reptar on Ice’ Chocolate Bar and Deluxe Reptar Bar: Review

December 18, 2018

Nickelodeon and FYE in the United States have teamed up to create a holiday version of their famous Rugrats, Reptar bar – Reptar On Ice. I missed getting their original Reptar Bars last year, so I made sure not to miss it again. They have also released their larger Deluxe Reptar Bars shaped like Reptar.

Reptar on Ice

The bars come in a 5 pack and individually wrapped. It makes for great gifts to give friends and family who have a bit of 90’s nostalgia. I remember watching Rugrats on TV and Reptar was the coolest dinosaur around. It’s great that they finally made the bars in real life for fans to indulge in.

Each bar is made up of milk chocolate and the centre has a bright blue frosting that will turn your tongue ice blue. The bar tastes ok like any other milk chocolate bar. The fun part is really just the blue colour lurking inside.

Deluxe Reptar Bar

There are 2 versions of this – one with the Christmas Tree Packaging and another with Snow packaging. Both have the same Reptar Bar inside. You can’t go wrong with either as its just aesthetic.

It has green frosting filled caramel milk chocolate with peanut crunch. Once you take it out of the package, you can really smell the sweet caramel milk chocolate.

When you bite inside, you can see that green frosting that will turn your tongue green. Green like Reptar.

Final Thoughts

I would still get this again either of the Reptar Bars and give this out to friends as it’s so iconic to those who grew up in the 90s. Get it before it’s gone because it won’t last long.

Website:
https://www.fye.com/

In British Columbia

Empanada Papa: Fresh Empanadas Delivered in Vancouver

December 17, 2018

Empanada Papa serves up hand made empanadas with unique flavours using fresh, high-quality ingredients. Ian, the man behind Empanada Papa delivered a bunch of savoury empanadas to the office with their sauces to give us a taste of these Spanish treats.

You can find them crafting up empanadas at Commissary Connect, which is a shared commercial kitchen between some of Vancouver’s most talented and delicious small businesses.

Empanadas

The size of the empanadas are good and it’s not too small. I found for myself, eating 2 was enough for lunch. If you’re a large eater, then maybe 3. They also sell salads too if you want to balance out your meal.

As all the empanadas look the same from the outside, they stamp one of it with a number and it corresponds to the flavour inside.

They offer a few different savoury varieties:

1. Papa’s Empanada: Maple pulled pork, onions and roasted red bell peppers.

2. Smith Empanada: Shredded beef, carrots, corn and celery with aromatic seasoning.

3. Tarone Empanada: Shredded beef, orange, onions, peas and rice are seasoned with tropical herbs and a spicy kick.

4. Celine Empanada: Sweet honey-maple-cinnamon ham and Jarlsberg cheese.

5. Abuelos Empanada: Authentic Mexican with shredded chicken, mole sauce and grilled corn and zucchini.

7. Chula Empanada: Shredded chicken, with a full bodied flavour of coconut, curry and peanuts with roasted onions.

8. Hank Empanada: Vegan friendly. Peas, beans, and broccoli with sensational seasoning.

All of them were actually really tasty. The exterior was crisp, the dough was thin, so there was a good amount of filling inside.

Of the flavours, our top favourites were Papas, Smith, Chula and Hank. This was mostly because of the combination of flavours and spices.

Sauces

They have two sauces that go with the empanadas – Spicy Tomato and Sweet Mango. The sauces compliment the empanadas very well with it’s depth of flavours. Smoky Tomato was our favourite as it reminded me of a very flavourful marinara that isn’t too sweet. The mango was also good as it add a complimentary tang to the empanadas.

Where to get Empanada Papa

There are a few ways to get a hold of Empanada Papa.

You can get them catered if you have a large order and you can directly contact them with more information about your event or party.

You can get it delivered to you as they work with delivery companies like Foodee, Uber Eats, and Door Dash.

You can order for pick up for their freshly baked or frozen empanadas.

The last option is visiting select supermarkets for them like Spud.ca and Meinhardt.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we really enjoyed the empanadas and it’s not like everyday we have them either. It’s pretty hard to find really good ones around town. It’s great there is another option in Vancouver to get empanadas. If you are craving some empanadas, definitely give them a try.

Website:
https://www.empanadapapa.ca/

In British Columbia

Taco Bell Canada: Triple Double Crunchwrap Review

December 15, 2018

Taco Bell Canada introduced the new Triple Double Crunchwrap with double the amount of seasoned beef. It comes in original and spicy versions. Looks pretty darn good from the posters and how can you go wrong with more meat and cheese? The original crunchwrap is a treat to eat, so how can this go wrong at all?

In reality, the crunch wrap is more flat in nature compared to the advertisement. I went with the original version and added their hot sauce to it as I ate it. You’ll want to eat it right away at the restaurant to enjoy the crunchiness of the tostada shells. I waited till I got home and it go slightly limp. They layers of beef are quite thin, so you don’t really get a lot of it as you can see. There also could have been more nacho cheese sauce too.

The advertising made it seem like it was overflowing with beef and cheese, but that isn’t the case. If you are already a crunchwrap fan, you can give it a try but don’t expect anything too different.

Website:
https://www.tacobell.ca/en