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Master roaster and co-owner of Milano Coffee, Brian Turko, is celebrating  after being awarded two gold medals for their espresso blends – Silk Lili and Concept #9 at the prestigious International Coffee Tasting Awards in the category of Non-Italian Blends or Single Origins Beans for espresso.

This international competition is organized by the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and was held in Guangzhou, China. Of the 162 coffees, 39 gold medals were awarded to coffees from Italy, Canada, China, Korea, Spain, Taiwan and Thailand. Milano‘s coffees were the sole winners from Canada. A great win indeed!

The additions of Silk Lili and Concept #9 to Milano’s previous gold wins for blends – La Futura, Butter, Velvet, Miscela Royale, Nuovo, Lucky 13, Cognac, Suave Rico, New Italian and Franks brings Milano’s grand tally to twelve gold medals in six years – which is no small feat. All the award-winners are available under Milano’s  Espresso Master’s Reserve line.

You can have it as an espresso shot or incorporated into any espresso-based beverage. I tried both Silk Lili and Concept #9 as espresso shots to taste the subtle differences between each blend and I gravitated towards the Silk Lili. When it came to have a latte, the Concept #9 espresso blend was great.

If you are ever passing by a Milano Coffee in Vancouver, remember to give the Silk Lili and Concept #9 espresso blends a try.

Coffee Crisp has another flavour out in stores for a limited time – Macchiato Caramel. It comes in a 42g bar and can be found at most grocery stores.

Inside you will find the crispy wafers with layers of buttery caramel and espresso flavoured cream covered in a milk chocolate coating.

When we first opened the package, you can instantly smell the caramel and coffee. The addition of the caramel made it pretty sweet and I much prefer the regular Coffee Crisp.

 

Riz Sushi and Poké is located in a small plaza on Renfrew and Broadway in Vancouver. Their main business is catering, but they serve up lunch and dinner at their shop. You can find sushi combos, poké, udon, teriyaki and appetizers on their menu. We were invited to check out their poké bowls.

Interior

They have this epic mural on the wall of iconic artists. Even Kanye kissing Kanye can be seen.

Order up front and then you can find a seat and wait till your order is ready.

Onsen Egg

The onsen egg is delicious as it’s a egg cooked in a low temperature and then it sits in a soy broth with some green onions and tempura bits. We slurped it up and was tempted to get another.

Poké

We got one bowl with salmon and then another with tuna. I like the simplicity of the topping choices as you don’t really need too many toppings to over shadow the rest of the bowl. I personally found that there was too much sauce added to the bowl that you can barely taste the fish or the ingredients in the bowl. You probably want to tell them to go light on the sauce. As the tuna seems to be marinated in advanced, it created a gummy texture that I didn’t really enjoy.

On the other hand, my husband did enjoy their poké bowl with all the sauce. It all comes down to personal preferences. I’m a purist when it comes to poké so clean crisp flavours and my husband likes it saucy.

Final Thoughts

Both of us couldn’t come to a consensus so we agreed to disagree. Their hours of operation is 12pm – 8pm during weekdays. They are closed during the weekends.

We Rate Riz Sushi and Poké

Address:
2887 E Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.rizsushi.com/

Doritos drops an exclusive capsule collection that is inspired by Canada’s Love of Doritos Ketchup Chips.

It’s official, Doritos Ketchup Chips are back for a limited time. To mark its return, Doritos Canada is dropping its first-ever capsule collection inspired by Canada’s most coveted limited time offering of Doritos ever. The Doritos Ketchup Collection features a full range of streetwear staples, including a Doritos-shaped pocket tee, a crewneck sweatshirt and a Varsity jacket all featuring iconography straight from the Doritos Ketchup package, and complemented by an eyepopping snapback hat and must-have duffle bag. Beginning today, Doritos Ketchup fanatics can view the exclusive collection lookbook before it drops on January 31 by visiting DoritosDrop.ca. Shot by famed Toronto Instagram photographer, Jamal Burger and modelled by Canadian music, dance and fashion influencers Matt Mogul, David Forteau and Fateh “Doe” Singh, the lookbook brings the capsule collection to life for Doritos Ketchup and streetwear fashion lovers alike.

In true streetwear fashion, Doritos will release one new item each week for five weeks, beginning January 31, 2018. Every Wednesday at 11 AM ET, Canadians can get their hands on the limited-edition pieces of the collection only at DoritosDrops.ca, while supplies last. For Doritos Ketchup fans who have their eye on a specific piece, here’s a look at the Doritos Ketchup Collection drop schedule:

  • January 31: A snapback should show off your love for your favourite team, which just so happens to be a bag of Doritos Ketchup chips. Show your love off with the Doritos Ketchup Snapback (CAD $30), an authentic New Era fitted 59FIFTY snapback.
  • February 7: February is sweater weather, so keep warm and stylish with the fitted Doritos Ketchup Crewneck (CAD $65) – detailed with embroidered Doritos Ketchup iconography on the chest.
  • February 14: Make a statement with the varsity-style Doritos Ketchup Jacket (CAD $145) – it’s slick with a satin, and clearly inspired by the flavour of ketchup chips.
  • February 21: What’s red has three sides and 180° worth of symmetry? Not the square on your average pocket tee. The Doritos Ketchup Triangle Pocket Tee (CAD $35) – with Supima cotton features a bold red pocket that adds flavour to any look. o February 21: While your allegiance might come off a little more subtle with this one, the lightweight cotton Doritos Ketchup Micro Print Tee (CAD $35) has you sporting your love for Doritos Ketchup on your sleeve. Literally.
  • February 28: Take-off this weekend with the Doritos Ketchup Duffle Bag (CAD $50) – a classic red duffle bag that shows off your love for Doritos Ketchup chips and holds a copious amount of them.

If you missed your chance to get your hands on Doritos Ketchup gear once it’s sold out online, Doritos will be giving their fans a chance to win the weekly drop items and as a grand prize, the entire collection! To enter, fans are required to buy a bag of Doritos chips (80g – 255g) and upload a photo of the receipt for their chance to WIN! Head to DoritosDrops.ca to enter.

Doritos Ketchup chips are now available on store shelves, wherever Doritos products are sold, but only for a limited time only. Get them before they are gone.

 

 

Neverland Tea Salon is located in Kitsilano and is a popular cafe serving up high tea. They take inspiration from Peter Pan, thus the name Neverland. What stands out is their variety of high teas that can cater towards vegans and those who are gluten and diary free. Good for groups of people with dietary restrictions, so they can dine together. We made a reservation ahead of time to ensure a spot.

Menu

Interior

There are a few things that remind you of Peter Pan in the dining area, like a big quote.

The details of the tea cups, chairs and utensils give it a nice look.

Demi Tea

Two of us got the Demi Tea set which includes 6 items (3 savouries, 2 sweets, and 1 scone). It also comes with up to 2 pots of tea for $25 per person.

English Breakfast

I got the English Breakfast and added some honey and milk to my cup of tea. A classic.

Savouries

Tarragon chicken salad with candied walnuts, salt-roasted pears & pickled grapes.

Lemon-herb mascarpone, cucumber and arugula.

Thai red curry egg salad with mango chutney, cucumber and red pepper.

Sweets

New York vanilla cheesecake on red velvet blondie base.

Cinnamon crumble date square.

Citrus scone with cream and house-made strawberry jam.

Tiger Lily Jasmine

For my second pots of tea, I got the Tiger Lily Jasmine as a good way to end the meal.

Final Thoughts

The scone was delicious and so were the sweets. I felt like the savouries were a bit of a let down as they weren’t as interesting, but the Thai Red curry egg sandwich has a good depth of flavour. What’s good about Neverland Tea Salon is their varieties of high tea. You can get different sizes of the high tea and there are vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options. Good to get a group together that has varying dietary options.

We Rate Neverland Tea Salon

Address:
3066 W Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
http://neverlandtea.com/

Kit Kat Tiramisu is a new flavour I saw on grocery store shelves. The bar is larger than normal Kit Kat bars at 170g. There is plenty to share with 22 pieces depending on how you snap it.

I love to go grocery shopping to find those new and exciting sweets in hopes they are delicious.

When you open the pack, there are alternating milk and white chocolate wafer with similar flavours of tiramisu. There is the distinct coffee flavour with a very sweet aftertaste especially for the white chocolate.

The Kit Kat looks beautiful, but I didn’t really like this Tiramisu flavour interpretation.

A&W Canada just launched their ’56 Buddy Burger, ’56 Mama Burger, and ’56 Papa Burger. These burgers were inspired by their start in 1956. A throwback to the ol’ drive-in days with lettuce, tomato, cheese, mozza sauce and beef raised without hormones or steroids.

When I heard about these new burgers, I had to head to my closest A&W and give them a try. We got one of each to do this review.

 ’56 Buddy Burger

This little burger makes for a good snack at $2.99. This is made of lettuce, tomato, A&W seasoning, processed cheddar cheese, grilled onions, and mozza sauce in an unseeded hamburger bun. A good classic burger. Similar to the teen burger but with subtle differences.

 ’56 Mama Burger

This is $5.29 and bigger in size compared to the Buddy Burger. All the same ingredients but just bigger.

 ’56 Papa Burger

The Papa Burger is similar size to the Mama Burger but with an extra beef patty at $6.49.

Final Thoughts

All threes burgers taste the same but just come in different sizes. I personally prefer the ’56 Buddy Burger as a snack. You can’t go wrong with A&W burgers as they are one of the better tasting fast food burgers in Canada. It’s my personal favourite. I still prefer the Teen Burger as my favourite A&W Burger.

Website:
https://web.aw.ca/en/home

Kitchen by Yugo is located on Denman and Robson specializing in French and Japanese Fusion cuisine. I’ve heard lots about this place and I decided to come with a friend for lunch as it’s interesting how they will marry these two types of cuisines together.

Interior

The interior is nice with seating mostly on the left side and a kitchen and bar on the other.

Lunch Menu

Fish Miso Soup

This was the soup of the day and it was delicious, It has a piece of scallop and fish on the rim of the bowl. The miso soup had good depth of flavour. Highly recommended.

Pressed Aburi

This is pressed sushi with chef’s choice of assorted flame seared fish. It comes with 6 pieces and some fried veggie chips. My friend thought it was meh when you compare it to the other places in town that make similar aburi sushi.

House Bento

The house bento comes with 4 small dishes and served with rice. This seems to be quite popular item to order as you get to try a variety of items.

The items are:

  • Grilled Salmon with miso
  • Cauliflower Karaage
  • Tuna Tataki
  • Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Lardons and Onions

The flavours of the bento box is more on the Japanese side beside. The salmon was delicate and the miso paste on top paired well. Usually I see this combination on black cod, but salmon was good too.

The roasted brussel sprouts were more on the heavier side taking on the French influences. Tasty but was a bit of the odd dish out as the others were more delicate in flavours.

The tuna tataki was great. Nicely seared on all sides with some veggies and ponzu sauce.

The deep-fried cauliflower was a nice touch to compliment the meal with added textures and crunch.

Final Thoughts

Being to pull off French and Japanese fusion is pretty hard and I applaud the chefs for finding the balance as the styles are very different. Japanese is simple and delicate where French is most heavy and rich. Somewhat polar opposites.

We Rate Kitchen By Yugo

Address:
792 Denman St, Vancouver

Website:
http://restaurantyugo.com/

When in New York, visiting as a Canadian tourist is definitely not cheap. One of the fun things we did in the evening was go to a New York Islanders vs Vancouver Canucks games. It’s pretty easy to find tickets under $10 through Stubhub. As hockey isn’t as popular as basketball, it’s pretty easy to find a good deal. There seems to always be tickets available in advance or even same day.

This blog post isn’t sponsored at all, just a big fan of the site and sharing my personal experience.

We grabbed our mobile tickets and headed to Barclays Centre. I was a bit nervous because I had my DSLR Canon camera with me and information online wasn’t clear if I could bring a professional camera with me. As we went through security, they went through my bag and didn’t even comment about my camera.

We got our physical tickets and headed to our seats. They were in the upper bowl quite high, but still easy to see the whole game. Still clear to see who as who on the ice and following the puck.

It was a great evening spent with friends watching our hometown team while on vacation. Coming from Canada, hockey tickets aren’t cheap at all. So, it was really nice to see the game for cheap. If you’re ever on the hunt for cheap NHL ticket, definitely check out StubHub for tickets.

This year’s Donnelly Group Dine Out Vancouver menus blend new food program highlights with a number of fresh dishes created by the culinary team. With hearty entrees, satisfying vegetarian options, and tempting desserts-all made-from-scratch-Donnelly Group is proud to offer delicious, value-packed $20 Dine Out menus. Donnelly Group’s culinary team Alvin Pillay, Sarah Stewart, and Chris Stewart have put their stamp on menus which are built around a core group of 14 dishes, mixed and matched to create unique offerings with multiple options at each location.

I went to dine at BlackBird Pub House near Burrard and Dunsmuir with my husband with the added wine pairings too.

This special menu goes on from January 19th till February 4th 2018.

Interior

The space is large and super packed during happy hour, but if you come after 6:30pm, it’s not as crazy.

Kale Caesar

The kale caesar has green apple, garlic croutons, and pumpkin seeds. A good portion for the first course and the dressing is light which I enjoyed a lot. It is paired with Summerhill ‘alive’ organic white from the Okanagan. It was delicious and I liked how the green apple played off notes from the wine.

The BC VQA wine suggestions are from Bar & Beverage Director Trevor Kallies, and this year, each selection is available singly and in different sized pours for sipping, sampling, and sharing.

Cauliflower & Brie Soup

The soup had a hearty depth of flavour with a base of charred lemon yogurt. This was paired with the Gehringer Cabernet Merlot.

Brisket Cavatappi

There is tomato, oregano, olives and grana padano. It’s a pretty big portion with a big chunk of tender shredded brisket. Very comforting and not overly complicated. The only ingredient that threw me off a little bit were the olives.

This dish is paired with Tinhorn Creek Merlot which goes well with the sauce.

Spicy Lamb Shepherd’s Pie

On top is the sweet potato mash with bourbon bbq gravy and on the bottom is the spicy lamb. It was interesting to see it some in a pot since it’s not really a shepherd’s pie.

This was paired with Adega Malbec.

Chocolate Praline Bar

It has peanut butter in the centre and topped with sweet cream and bits of peanuts.

It is pair with the Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve, which pairs really well with the dessert. My husband loved it as it has a palate of citrus, baking spices and toffee framed by notes of vanilla and oak.

Coconut Panna Cotta

The coconut panna cotta is topped with peach compote and candied ginger. Along with 2 ginger cookies. This portion was larger than the chocolate praline bar and there’s quite a bit to it.

I had it with the Monkey Shoulder, a blend of three Speyside Single Malts aged in ex-bourbon casks which impart a smooth and mellow vanilla flavour into the whisky with hints of zesty orange, honey and spiced oak.

Final Thoughts

For a $20 3-course set meal, this was pretty good and affordable. If you get the pairings, it will definitely be a lot more than you imagined, but you don’t have to pair with every single dish. All the dishes were good except, the Spicy Lamb Shepherd’s Pie. The best dish of the night was the coconut panna cotta.

We rate BlackBird

Address:
905 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver

Website:
http://donnellygroup.ca/the-blackbird

Sliced Smoked Salmon

There are many types of smoked salmon products, but you are probably most familiar with the sliced smoked salmon that comes frozen. It’s very versatile in just about anything. With it’s smokey flavour and soft texture, cream cheese is it’s best friend.

Nanuk is Oceanfood Sales’ house brand with Nanuk smoked salmon being one of their top-leading products. Oceanfood Sales sent me a few different items to play around with, so below is everything I made with it. You can find them at Thrifty’s, T&T, Sobey’s Safeway, Buy Low, Quality Foods, and Whole Foods Market.

Bagel

This simple 3 ingredient bagel is great with an everything bagel, whipped cream cheese, and lots of smoked salmon slices. Pile it on high and don’t be shy.

Toast

Similar to a bagel is toast, but you have some creativity to jazz it up and have different types of toast to pair along with it. I had cream cheese, salmon, capers, and chives on one side and then smashed avocado and red pepper flakes on the other. A good balance of clean flavours.

Balik

Balik is usually sliced into thick blocks and topped with creme fresh and dill as well as sturgeon caviar.

I decided to slice the balik into smaller pieces and to keep its integrity as it’s a pretty good piece of smoked salmon. I added hummus on the bottom of the plate, but some radishes, avocado, and topped the salmon with sour cream and caviar.

Maple Smoked Salmon Nuggets

These bite-sized pieces of sockeye salmon are infused with maple syrup.

You can eat it as is when they defrost, or you can heat them up and serve. A good 2 bites per piece and goo smokey depth of flavour with a hint of sweetness.

I didn’t know what to go with some extras, so I chopped it up and threw them on toast with some dill and more cream cheese, Can’t go wrong with that.

Hot Smoked Rainbow Trout

Rainbow trout isn’t salmon but it can be smoked. I took the hot smoked rainbow trout, which is 100% boneless and goes great with salads. I broke up the pieces and put it all over the salad.

Hopefully this has given you some inspiration to cook up of great meal with smoked salmon or any types of smoked fish.

Kit Kat Canada has their Confectionary line of chocolate bars on store shelves now. I picked up the Espresso Biscuit and Ganache, but there is also Caramel Burst & Sea Salt and Mint Cream & Cookie Smash. Finally we are getting some fun an unique flavours of Kit Kat in Canada. When they released their 70% dark chocolate Kit Kat, I was so happy, so I couldn’t wait to try this.

At 140g, it is larger than a regular Kit Kat bar, There are 10 segments, but if you split them in half, you’ll have 20 pieces. Upon first smell, you can tell the espresso is definitely in there. The ganache was masked by the dark chocolate exterior, so it was hard to notice. Good flavour if you do love your espresso and chocolate.

Did you know, British Columbia is one of the world’s major mining regions. Our province encompasses the largest part of the Canadian Cordillera, a mountain belt rich in minerals and coal. British Columbia is an important producer and exporter of copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, molybdenum, coal and industrial minerals.

The Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) presents Discovery Day, a free family-friendly event on Sunday, January 21, 2018 designed to educate everyone about the mineral exploration industry and build awareness for the importance of minerals and metals in our everyday lives.

Many people don’t realize that the products we use everyday, like lights, iPhones, cosmetics, and medical equipment, would not exist without the minerals and precious metals found in our province. Mineral exploration also leads to the discovery of metals like copper, which are integral to the production of solar panels and other clean energy technologies.

Discovery Day highlights include:

  • Gold panning with Yukon Dan: Professional gold panner Yukon Dan will be drawing for a sought-after private gold panning session for a family of five where he will teach the art of competitive gold panning
  • “Stump a Geologist”: Bring your favourite rock and one of our geologists will help identify what it is and where it came from.
  • Everything you need to know about Ice Age Fossils at the Yukon Government’s Ice Age Fossil Display.
  • An exploration camp set-up, including a tent and work area.
  • An informative display from Britannia Mine Museum, an award winning national historic site.
  • An Instagram photo contest will give guests the opportunity to win exclusive prizes!

Also, AME’s Mineral Exploration Roundup 2018 will take place January 22-25, the world’s premier technical mineral exploration conferences. Every year, explorers from around the world come together to share their latest findings, stories, successes and innovative ideas to further the exploration industry. As the industry gains momentum, and sees a resurgence in many regions, Roundup’s theme, “New Generation of Discovery” will bring experienced mineral explorers together to examine new geoscience ideas, technologies and creative business solutions to lead the way to success. Everything from 3D/VR/AR applications to undiscovered places to unlikely partnerships.

Don’t forget to enter the Instagram contest to win a family pass to the Britannia Mine Museum while you are at AME’s Discovery Day and Roundup. Follow @bcminex , share a photo of the event on your Instagram, tag @bcminex and use the hashtag #AMERoundup2018.

I’m excited to learn more about the journey from minerals to consumer goods at Discovery Day. See you there!

Discovery Day

Sunday, January 21, 2018 – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Free
Vancouver Convention Centre West
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver, B.C.

The fad of making zoodles / zucchinni noodles is all over the internet as a grain-free and healthy alternative to making “pasta”. I got this hand-powered machine – Cuisinart Food Spiralizer to make dinners more exciting and easy to prep my ingredients. With this machine, there is a Safe Blade Lock Design and Sealed storage compartment which makes it easy for kids to get involved in meal prep without getting close to the blade.

There are 3 cutting options:

  • Thin Julienne
  • Thick Julienne
  • Ribbon Slice

Thin or Thick Julienne are best for making veggie noodles, so that what we are going to make today. You can eat them raw, microwaved, sauteed, boiled or baked.

I just my zucchini into 4 sections and removed either ends. There are nobs on either side of the device to adjust the blades so you know what you’re cutting them into.

You swing the handle in a circular motion and it begins slicing up the zucchini effortlessly. If you accidentally cut the zucchini segments in an angular way, the spiralizer will have a hard time gripping onto it, thus some slippage.

Thick Julienne

I refer the thicker julienne zoodles as it holds better when cooking. The longer you cook them, the mushier they get.

Thin Julienne

Depending on what you’re making, you may feel one style is better than the other.

Seared Tuna with Pesto Zoodles

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Serves: 2

Ingredients:

  • 1 Zucchini
  • 80g Pesto
  • 2 Tuna Steaks (170g each)
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Directions:

  1. Cut the end of the zucchini and cut them into 4 sections.
  2. Use the spiralizer to create your zoodles.
  3. Season tuna steaks with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. In a medium heat pan, sear each side of the tuna steak for 1.5 minutes and let rest.
  5. In another pan, cook zoodles with pesto for 2 minutes.
  6. Plate the your dish with the zoodles and them top it with your slices seared tuna.
  7. Enjoy

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The Pie Hole opened their new location in Burnaby this weekend. Their first location is on Fraser Street and since it was a hit, they opened this one in Burnaby. Great for me since I live in Burnaby. Jenell Parsons is the owner of The Pie Hole. She spends countless hours in the kitchen baking, creating new recipes and delivering pie delicious pies to those in the Lower Mainland. I remember way back in 2011 when they first started out at the Baker’s Market in Vancouver. They have come a long way in 7 years.

Interior

The space in the Burnaby location is pretty large. There are 3 large refrigerators that have ready to cook pies and ice cream. Pie and ice cream go great together.

Near the counter are the pies that you can buy by slice or the whole pie. You can find sweet and savoury varieties.

You never know what pies they will have, so you might want to order the pies that you want online and then pick it up. We wanted some banana cream pie, but it wasn’t ready when we were there.

Hand Pies

Since it was early on in the day, we picked up some savoury hand pies to enjoy for lunch. We took them home and reheated them at 350F for 10 minutes.

Chicken Carbonara

Chicken Carbonara pie sounded pretty unique and is made with chicken, cream, parmesan cheese, bacon, flour, butter, peas, onions, mozzarella, garlic, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, water, and free run eggs. Delicious flakey exterior and meaty pieces of chicken inside.

Bacon Cheeseburger

Bacon Cheeseburger pie is made with ground beef, cheddar cheese, milk, flour, butter, mozzarella, bacon, pickles, mustard, onions, salt, sugar, pepper, water, sesame seeds, vinegar, and free run eggs. One of the popular flavours and it was moist with good flavour.

Mini Pies

They were giving way 100 mini pies to their first 100 customer when the store opened, so, the hubby and made sure we were the fist people to get there. I got the Butter Pecan and he got the Buttermilk Apple Crumble.

Buttermilk Apple Crumble

In this delicious mix are Granny Smith apples and Gala apples mixed with that butter brown sugar crumble. Nice flaky crust with the crunch of the crumble.

Butter Pecan

This is my ultimate weakness. Ooey gooey and  has a good amount of pecans. My favourite kind of pie.

Chocolate Cream Pie

This slice was beautiful as it has dark chocolate ganache, chocolate silky layer, fresh whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle.

Final Thoughts

About time for a pie shop to open in Burnaby. I enjoyed their sweet pies over their savoury pies but maybe thats because I have a little sweet tooth. Either way, it’s good to have more pie options in the subburbs.

We Rate the Pie Hole

Address:
7832 6th St, Burnaby

Website:
https://www.thepiehole.com/

Beijiang Restaurant opened in 2009 as the first Halal restaurant in Vancouver serving Uyghur dishes like Dapanji and Cumin Lamb. They recently moved to Leslie Road in Richmond, which now has their own parking lot. I was invited to check out the restaurant since I haven’t been here before. I don’t normally eat Uyghur dishes but I absolutely love the flavour profiles of chilis and cumin.

Interior

There are lots of large round tables for small to larger groups in the restaurant. Everything has been renovated, so you get a lot of decor that reflects the Beijiang region. They also have a bookable private room with a minimum spend if you ever need privacy with your group.

DaPanJi 大盘鸡

This Xianjiang dish is like a chicken stew with potatoes, veggies, and chicken with bones. It is cooked with a delightful sauce and you can adjust the level of spice. Some of us at the table liked spicy and some are ok with a little bit of spice, so the staff were able to choose the right amount.

Handmade noodles come with the dish too, so you can add them to it after so it can be coated in all that sauce.

Lauan Twigs Lamb Kebob 红柳枝羊肉串

The skewers are pretty meaty and covered in a good amount of spices like cumin. It does have a spicy kick to it which I enjoyed. I’ve never had lamb skewers on a sharpened stick, so it was fun to eat. One of my favourite dishes of the night. You can order this piece by piece.

Stir Fried Slice of Lamb with Steamed Buns

This is a fun dish to eat as you get to assemble your bun with the lamb and peppers. A good dish to share if you have a lot of people around the table.

We found this dish to be more on the oily side, so tea or Coca Cola pairs well.

Xianjiang-style Lamb Leg Shanks 新疆风味羊拐

Each order comes with one, so for our table of 4, we had 2 in total. It’s best to cut up the shanks to share among the table.

Some pieces were moist but then some pieces were more tough.

Baked Puff Pastry with Lamb 烤包子

Inside has a lamb filling wrapped in puff pastry. It was crisp on the outside, but I wanted a bit more seasoning in the filling.

 Lamb Scorpion Hot Pot 羊蝎子

This was my absolutely favourite dish of the evening. They call it lamb scorpion hot pot is because the bones looks like the shape of a scorpion. The bubbling hot pot comes with boney pieces of lamb that you can eat with your hands. They provide you gloves so you each nibble away at each piece.

Once you get through most of the bones, you can add in freshly made noodles to the pot. It’s fun to see it being unwound. As it cooks in the broth, the flavour really soaks into the noodles.

Sweet Corn Pancake

The sweet corn pancake reminded me of a pizza. It was interesting to see this as one of their desserts, but surprisingly the corn went well with the sugar. Definitely unique but not for everyone.

Drinks

They have non-alcoholic drinks, beer, wine and tea at this restaurant. As some dishes are on the oily side, I found that tea and Coca-cola were great to go with the meal.

Final Thoughts

A great new space for Beijiang Restaurant gives them more space to do what they love. You will also find a good balance of Cantonese-style dishes on the menu too. I enjoyed their Halal Uyghur dishes and I’ll definitely be back.My favourites were the Lamb Scorpion Hot Pot, Lauan Twigs Lamb Kebob, and the Stir Fried Slice of Lamb with Steamed Buns.

We Rate Beijiang Restaurant

Address:
8111 Leslie Rd, Richmond, BC

Website:
https://www.beijiangrestaurant.ca/

Last Fall, I was visiting Colorado Springs and all the locals were raving about Four by Brother Luck and how he will be in Top Chef. He is no stranger to the culinary scene as he appreared on Beat Bobby Flay and won. Also he and appeared on Chopped. His restaurant – Four by Brother Luck focuses on the four providers behind his cooking – hunters, fisherman, farmer and gatherers.

Interior

The interior is pretty casual with lots of tables around the restaurant. We came here pretty late into the evening so it wasn’t too busy.

Menu

The menu is split up into 4 sections to to show the four regions that has been influenced by Western European, Spanish Colonial, Native American and Latin American cuisine. You can order the tasting menu by choosing 4 courses. You can stick to a section or pick and choose from each section.

Popcorn with Pork Fat

As we waited for our dishes to arrive, some popcorn arrived for us to nibble on. It was cooked in fat and covered in some spices.

Broccoli Rabe Toast

For the starter, we chose the broccoli Rabe Toast which has mozzarella, pimento cheese, and garlic toast. This was ok, but I left the garlic toast took over this dish.

Charred Octopus

The charred octopus was delicious and was very tender. It is served with soy caramel, squid ink and kalamata. One of my favourite items.

Game Hen

This dish is gluten-free and it has apples, salsify, sunchokes, carrots and sorrels. The game hen was well seasoned and the root vegetables were enjoyable.

Beignet

The beignets is served with whipped milk, orange sugar, and espresso syrup. A sweet treat to end the night. Since it was my birthday, they added a candle in the centre.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the thought this restaurant was ok.It was one of the “fancier” restaurants in Colorado Springs, but none of the dishes stood out in particular.

We Rate Four by Brother Luck

Address:
321 N Tejon St, Colorado Springs, CO

Website:
http://www.fourbybrotherluck.com/

Gimme a break, Gimme a break, Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar.

For Chinese New Year, Kit Kat has launched Green Tea flavoured Kit Kat Bars into grocery stores across Canada. Green Tea / Matcha Kit Kat has been a long standing popular flavour in Japan and across Asia. You would only be able to find these in specialty stores with Japanese writing on the packaging.

I noticed at my local grocery store the new display ready for Chinese New Year in February. This flavour went quickly and was only $1 per pack. I bought myself 2 packs before they sold out.

Inside the package are 4 pieces of the delicious chocolate. It’s sharable between 4 people if you insist, but it’s so good that I would have it all to myself.

The crunchy wafers inside covered in the milk green tea chocolate is tasty. One of my favourites beside the regular Kit Kat chocolate bar. If you see it in stores, pick it up because it’s not going to be available for a long time.