Downtown Archives - Page 18 of 22

In Downtown

TacoFino Cantina Food Truck: Taco, Taco, Taco

July 29, 2011

Tacofino is another new food truck hitting the streets of Downtown Vancouver. Located on Howe Street and Robson Street. Tacofino originated from Tofino, BC thus their name Taco”fino”. They have spent the past 2 years operating on the island, but has finally made their way here.

When you are strolling around the Vancouver Art Gallery, try spotting this large orange truck. There will also be a huge line up during at lunch, so you really can’t miss it.

Tacofino specializes in fresh fish baja-style tacos. All you need to do is go up to the window to order. They also have daily specials as well, which as located near the cashier.

Their usual menu features the Fish Taco, Tuna Ta Taco, Pork Gringa/Bean Gringa, Black Bean Taco, Chocolate Diablo Cookie and their Lime Mint Freshie. All for under $10.

They also have a cooler filled with water and different varieties of Jarritos Mexican Soda. These are some really really good oh so addicting sodas.

I stick with my usual Pineapple Jarritos. It has an amazing flavour that no other soda company can capture. I find it funny how the bottle says “Naturally/ Artificially Flavoured Soda”, so what is it really? or is it a combination of both?

If you are also wondering how you are going to open the cap of the drink, they have a bottle opener to the left of the cashier.

Tuna Ta Taco ($6.50 each) is my FAVORITE taco from the truck. Be warned, this is a messy messy taco to eat. If you are wearing white, beware!!

This taco has seared sesame albacore tuna with a subtle wasabi ginger mayo, cabbage, mango, salsa and seaweed salad on top. The ingredients are very flavourful and the tuna is just so fresh! All the elements blend together nicely to create the ultimate taco.

I do find this taco a bit pricey, but once you take a bite, its so addictive!

The Pork Gringa ($4.50 each) is another treat as well! It has spicy braised pork, sour cream and salsa in a quesadilla tortilla. Depending how crisp they can get the quesadilla, it can also get quite messy. Remember, white shirts be scared!!

Their pork is very flavourful and not too spicy. I would definitely order this again!

On another lunch here, I ordered the Fish Taco ($4.50 each). It has tempura cover ling cod with chipotle mayo, cabbage, and salsa. I personally did not take a liking to this taco since the pieces of fish had too much tempura batter. It was very hard to fully enjoy the flavour of the fish. Everything overpowered the fish and the main ingredient did not shine through.

Overall, I really love this food truck for their taco offerings! Such amazing quality and it’s something you need to try!

Words of Wisdom:

Tuna Ta Taco + Pork Gringa + Jarritos = Best meal!!
Really busy during lunch
Can get messy
If you get 2 tacos, you will be paying close to $10
Closest Skytrain: Granville Skytrain

We Rate Tacofino Cantina:

Website:

www.tacofino.com

Twitter: @TacoFinoCantina

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/TacoFino-Vancouver/157314964322202

Vancouver

In Downtown

Bun Me Baguette Food Cart: Banh Mi Vietnamese Sandwiches

July 27, 2011

Bun Me Baguette is one of the newer Food Carts in Vancouver. They serve up Vietnamese style baguettes. Who doesn’t love grabbing a quick baguette rather than the usual hotdog? This really reminded me of the NomNom Food Truck in the states…but with just Banh Mi.

It took me a long long time to figure out why this cart is called “Bun Me” Baguette. It sounds similar to “Banh Mi”, which is the Vietnamese word of these baguettes.

The prices are quite affordable for $4.25 each. It’s actually a pretty good price compared to the other food carts Downtown. You have a vegetarian option too if you aren’t into chicken.

To keep quenched from the non-existant Summer weather, Coke ($1.25) and Black Soy Milk ($0.75) seemed like a good idea. I have always had regular Soy Milk, but black soy milk was new to me. It tastes more grittier texture since it’s made of black beans and its a bit thicker. It’s supposedly healthier too. I actually just prefer the normal sweetened soy milk than the black soy milk.

I ordered the BBQ Lemon Chicken Baguette ($4.25), it is a classic Banh Mi stuffed with lemongrass chicken, mayo, cucumber, cilantro, and pickled vegetables. It was quite large and I felt kinda powerful carrying this down Robson Street. If someone robbed you, you could take this and hit them over the head with it…but then at the same time you might ruin your lunch.

I really like their bread since its tough on the outside and soft on the inside, the taste of the bread was pretty good as well. I found that the flavours were well put together, but I couldn’t help noticing the amount of meat. There really could have been more since it would have made the baguette more enjoyable.

Overall, it’s decent, but there just needs to have more meat. Maybe they should just have an option to double the meat for a dollar or something…that would be nice.

Words of Wisdom:

Under $5
Vegetarian Friendly
Closest Skytrain: Burrard or Granville

We Rate Bun Me Baguette Food Cart:

Address:

Robson St and Hornby St
Vancouver, BC

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bun-Me-Baguette/154294347972371

In Aboriginal

Wild Salmon: Go Dine Here Before It’s Gone!

July 24, 2011

Wild Salmon is a pop up restaurant inside Vancouver Community College. It is entirely run by culinary students for the aboriginal cultural arts program. Students get hands on experience learning how to operate the front and back end of the house. They are only open from 11:30 – 12:15pm, so my coworkers and I were so lucky they still could serve us for lunch! 45 minutes for a seating is quite short, but they are quite kind and will keep on accepting guests till 12:30pm.

What really drew me into the restaurant are the low prices and the unique aboriginal cuisine! It’s not like everyday you get to eat aboriginal food.

The interior décor really reminded me of the Olympics at the aboriginal pavilion. All the art work is very interesting to look at.

Their menu is simple and short. Probably changes often as well.

As we sat down, we were served with Bannock Bread. This was the first time I have ever had this and I really liked it! It is a traditional simple bread that is fried.

We all got the Spicy Seafood Croquettes with smoked tomato jam ($4). It comes with 2 croquettes packed with seafood. All the flavors went really well together, but we noticed that it was not spicy at all. We really tried to see if it was a subtle spicy taste, but there wasn’t. It would have been good if it was a bit spicy to go with the sweet tomato jam.

Smoked trout with rhubarb, dandelion greens, and wild mushroom vinaigrette. ($4). It has 2 pieces of smoked trout and this was a refreshing appetizer.

Bora Bora virgin cocktail has pineapple juice, grenadine, lime, passion fruit juice and a few other ingredients. It comes with a plastic sword of pineapple and maraschino cherry. This drink was a bit on the sweet side, but it was all right. One thing I noticed was that the drink would separate after a bit of time, so you need to constantly stir it back together.

Traditional smoked salmon with parsnip dumplings and pumpkin sauce ($11). I really enjoyed this dish! It came with a sizable slab of smoked salmon. The skin was nicely crispy and had a nice smoky flavour. The parsnip dumplings aren’t exactly like the usual dumplings, but it was soft and chewy and went well with the pumpkin sauce. The fried vegetables were a plus as well and added more texture.

My coworker had the Crusted Sunflower seed halibut, watercress, and crispy sunchoke ($11). She enjoyed it and had a lot of fun identifying the unique flavours.

Venison meat loaf, sweet potato mash, with beat root tops ($11). The meat loaf was quite large and you can really get full off this dish.

Overall, it was a memorable lunch! It really isn’t everyday that you would get a chance to eat aboriginal food. Thinking about it, are there any aboriginal restaurants in Vancouver?

Words of Wisdom:

Under $15
Closes at the end of August
Open for lunch only
Call for reservations and to check hours

We Rate Wild Salmon:
Address:

250 West Pender Street (2nd floor)

In Downtown

NaanWraps Food Truck: Is It a Tree? Is It Green Lantern?…Nope, it’s Indian Food

July 23, 2011

I was randomly looking for a new Food Cart to eat at during my lunch break. I stumbled upon NaanWraps on Burrard. They operate on limited days, so you can’t always find them downtown.

Just look out for the large green truck and you know you have arrived here.

As the name of their truck suggests, they specialize in Tandoori Naanwraps. Their menu is quite limited and they tend to sell out of a few items.

Mango Lassi ($3.49) has yogurt, mango, and 2% milk. It’s a good refreshing drink for a hot afternoon. I love mangoes! They make them ahead of time, so you don’t need to wait for your drink.

Tanoori NaanWrap ($6.48) has tandoori chicken, bell peppers, onions, rice and mint sauce wrapped in Naan.

The wrap was larger than I expected and was definitely worth the money! The chicken was moist and the mint sauce was subtle and not too overpowering. All the ingredients worked well with each other and I had no complaints. I was super stuffed and walked back to the office happy.

Overall, good value for what you get!

Words of Wisdom:

Under $10
Credit, Debt, Cash
Tandoori NaanWrap is a must!
Closest Skytrain: Burrard Stn

We Rate NaanWrap:

Address:

400 Burrard st
Vancouver, BC

Twitter: @naanwraps

In Downtown

Ha Long Bay Vietnamese Restaurant: Good Addition to Pender St.

July 15, 2011

Its interesting when restaurants close and a new one pops up. In the case of The Best Pho House, it looked sketchy as hell. A few weeks ago, a new Pho restaurant called Ha Long Bay opened up. The definitely refreshed the look of the exterior and changed it to a bright blue. It seemed more welcoming, so Mandu and I headed out for some lunch.

The interior is quite small, but there were enough tables for the rest of the lunch crowd. The server was super awkward most of the time as well. This must be run by a family since this young girl kept filling up our tea and clearing out dishes.

Looking at the menu, there are the usual items you would expect in a Vietnamese restaurant. There are also pictures surrounding the walls of the restaurant, so you can see what it looks like before ordering. Everyone loves pictures, I sure do! Honestly, if you are new to the cuisine, you would want to some pictures to see what you are getting.

Mandu and I needed coffee as usual, so we ordered the Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk ($3.25). Some say this is really strong coffee, but I love it! It is basically drip coffee with condensed milk to give it a little bit of sweetness. No complaints here.

I ordered the Grilled lemon grass chicken sandwich ($4.75) and it was a decent size for the price. It had some juicy lemon grass chicken meat, pickled vegetables, cilantro and cucumber in a bun.

I found that the bun was a bit too much for my liking, there was obviously more bread than filling. Since the meat is in several pieces, there were parts where I felt it could have had more meat. It was still a good sandwich and the price is not bad at all.

Grilled pork with spring roll with vermicelli ($7.75). It comes with a bowl of sauce as well. I think Mandu did not have taste buds this day because either her taste buds were not working or the dish did not have a lot of taste. She used 2 cups of that sauce in it. Other than that, it was pretty good.

Words of Wisdom:

Under $10
Decent food
Coffee is a must for the coffee drinkers!
Closest Skytrain: Waterfront

We Rate Ha Long Bay Vietnamese Restaurant:

Address:

430 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

E-Mo Noodle House + Wang Ga Ma: H-Mart’s Hidden Food Court Downtown

July 11, 2011

Hidden at the H-Mart on Robson is a mini food court, which serves up some amazing Korean food! My Korean friends kept telling me to go there, but I thought it was the strangest things because many years ago, it wasn’t there. I am not exactly sure when they had the mini food court, but it’s super amazing! Since it is attached to H-Mart, you know they have fresh ingredients!

The 2 popular shops are E-Mo Noodle House and Wang Ga Ma. Once you walk in, you can look at their menus, walk to the counter, pay and wait for your number to pop up on the computer screen to see when your order is ready.

There are plenty of seats and you can grab your own water from the machine.

E-Mo Noodle House sells Korean-Style Chinese Food. There is very little on their menu that is remotely similar to Chinese Food. Actually there is really 0. I actually love Korean style Chinese food! It’s just so different and super tasty!

I went up to the counter and ordered the Fried Rice with Kimchi ($7.95). You get a large plate of kimchi fried rice and a side of pickled radish.

For the price, it’s a good value! It was not spicy at all and the flavours were really nice!! You gotta try this for yourself! One of the best Kimchi Fried Rice I have ever had!

Wang Ga Ma sells your authentic Korean food. I ordered the BBQ Beef ($8.95) and it came with rice, kimchi and soup.

You get a lot of beef with your meal and the soup does refresh your pallet. The beef is marinated in soy sauce, garlic, sugar and sesame oil (I think).

I was not a huge fan of this dish since it was way too meaty for me. If you are a meat lover, you will probably enjoy this.

When going through both the menus of E-Mo Noodle House and Wang Ga Ma, I actually liked E-Mo’s menu a bit better. Remember to clean up after yourself too.

Overall, great quick lunch that is super cheap!!

Words of Wisdom:

Kimchi Fried Rice is the way to go!
Under $10
Very fast for lunch
Closest Skytrain: Granville

We Rate E-Mo Noodle House/ Wang Ga Ma:

In Downtown

Re-Up BBQ Foodcart 1 + 2: Same Sandwich, Different Meat

July 4, 2011

M finally decided to come Downtown to eat lunch with me. Since it was a nice sunny day, a stroll for some good street food came to mind. M loves meat, so it just seemed fitting to take him to Re-up BBQ 1 and 2.

Yes, they finally expanded into 2 carts selling different things!

Lets start off with the original cart – Re-Up (Addictive) BBQ AKA Re-Up 1. They sell Pulled Pork Sandwiches ($7) and 3 different sodas.

The pulled pork sandwich has a mound of very very tender pork doused in an amazing smokey BBQ sauce with some coleslaw to add an extra crunch to the sandwich. All of this is housed in a Portuguese style bun. It is very fluffy and works well with the pulled pork.

M just fell in love with it as he walked down the street.

I did come here last year and there are a few changes. The sandwich is much easier to eat, probably since it’s not as packed full of meat as before. The price increased for $1, but it’s probably due to increasing costs of keeping the cart running.

Pretty spot on pulled pork sandwich. Definitely!

The next stop was Re-up BBQ 2, which is located less than a block away near the large protest stairs of the Art Gallery.

They specialize in Beef Brisket Sandwiches ($9) and they sell the same drinks as Re-Up BBQ 1.

M was surprised by the amount of meat in the sandwich. The make this by grabbing a slab of beef brisket and slicing it up nice and thinly. The coleslaw and bun are all the same as the pulled pork sandwich. The sauce was a little bit different, but I really could not put my finger on what it was. It tasted really really good.

It is quite a treat for lunch and you can’t really go wrong by going to either Re-Up BBQ 1 or 2. The only difference is the meat, so you just gotta figure out if you like beef or pork.

Both of these were super good! If you have the stomach, you could probably eat 2 sandwiches for lunch. hahaha.

Words of Wisdom:

Bring cash!
A bit of a wait during lunch hour
Grab your sandwich with also a Southern Sweet tea!

We Rate Re-Up BBQ Foodcart 1 & 2:

Website:

http://www.reupbbq.com/

Twitter:

@reupbbq

Vancouver

In Downtown

Dae Ji: Kimchi Roll Cutlet

July 3, 2011

Another quick lunch with my coworker and since it was raining, we wanted to choose something close by and not too expensive.

We ended up at Dae Ji, the Korean restaurant specializing in pork cutlet. The last time, I was here, I didn’t get the kimchi roll cutlet, but it’s always been on my mind. Today was time to put that curiosity to rest.

The Kimchi Roll Cutlet ($8.99) is cut up into 8 pieces and surrounded by some savory gravy. It also comes with coleslaw, macaroni, corn, pickled radish and rice.

The kimchi roll cutlet was not too bad. If you eat the roll without the sauce, the meat does not taste too moist and quite dry. It’s best to really slather it in the gravy.

The macaroni was quite bad and the other sides were not very special.

It’s a good quick lunch that just gets you filled up.

Words of Wisdom:

A block away from Granville Skytrain
Pay Parking on street
All items are under $10, very cheap

We Rate Dae Ji:

Address:

519 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver, BC

In Culinary School

JJ’s Restaurant: No Words to Express How Amazing it was!

July 3, 2011

Mandu and I were out at lunch again and well, we were both on a budget since the end of the month calls for a tighter budget. Being a student is not fun, plus working downtown can kinda suck the money out of your pockets since there are so many good places to eat!

I thought I would take her to JJ’s Restaurant in Vancouver Community College. It’s very close to both our offices and I never came here for lunch.

She first glanced at the menu and was so surprised by the very very affordable prices!

You start off with some bread and butter!

I started off with the Shrimp & Avocado Salad ($4). It was just amazing! All the items tasted very fresh and the avocado just blended so nicely with the little shrimp. The presentation looked very nice! I expected something totally different, but this just blew my mind. It seemed quite popular too since I kept seeing this fly out the kitchen.

Mandu had the Soup of the Day ($2.50), which is a roasted tomato soup with herb crème fraiche with a piece of bruschetta on the side. Unfortunately, she had to run back to her office for an emergency call, so she didn’t touch it until later. The server was very nice when she came back and offered her a new soup, but she insisted that they just heat it up since no food should ever be wasted.

The soup came back nice and hot like nothing ever changed. She loved the texture and the deep flavour of the roasted tomato soup. She even fell in love with crème fraiche. She even googled it and started saying the words a few times.

For her main, she had the Mild fragrant green Thai curry with chicken, fresh mango chutney, papadam and basmati rice ($9).

She enjoyed the taste but in particularly, she loved the papadam cracker. Super thin and was just the perfect amount of alt added to the top. You could probably sit at your desk eating papadam all day!

I had the Grilled steak cooked Medium, focaccia Bread, horse radish cream, grilled peppers, mushrooms, crisp onions and au jus ($8.50). For that price, it was really good!

The grilled steal was cut up into very thin slices covered in the delicious au just accompanied by the amazing ingredient. Worked really well together and the horseradish cream just added the extra kick that this dish needed.

Overall, great lunch experience at a very affordable price! I would go weekly if I could. Just amazing food! It’s a culinary school so you know that your money and your tips go back into the program to help the students. I really didn’t mind tipping more since the menu is already a steal! I love this place, so take my recommendation and GO!!

Words of Wisdom:

Lunch is also super affordable!
Closest Skytrain – Stadium
Under $10
AMAZING Service
You’re missing out if you don’t visit this place!
Check out their dinner

We rate JJ’s Restaurant:

Address:

250 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Beentoo Sandwich & BBQ: Quick Fast Lunch

July 3, 2011

I was having another quick lunch and I really needed a quick lunch since I needed to study for my midterm as well. The quickest thing I could think of was Beentoo Sandwich and BBQ across the street from the office.

Since I loved their burgers last time, I thought I would just go again.

They were heavily promoting their dollar menu, so I decided to get a drumstick for $1. The drumstick is basically what you would expect for a dollar. It was a bit on the small side, but the taste was not too bad. It’s best to eat it first since it will get cold. The meat was tender and juicy.

I also got the Lemongrass Sandwich ($4.29). It has a large piece of flavourful tender chicken. It was really good! There’s also some cabbage and pickled vegetables inside. Everything worked really well together, but what makes this sandwich so good is just the meat.

I think one thing that they would really do to improve their sandwiches would be to offer different buns. The McDonalds style buns really cheapen the look of the sandwich.

Overall, great sandwiches and it’s quick!

Words of Wisdom:

Has promotional deals going on
Lemongrass chicken burger + Korean Spicy chicken burger!
Under $10
Closest Skytrain – Granville
Limited seating

We Rate Beentoo:

Address:

552 Seymour Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.beentoo.ca

In Downtown

Aladdins Shawerma Cafe: Decent Shawerma

June 26, 2011

Every time I pass by Babylon Café, I wonder how the other shawerma restaurant compares. This place is a few shops down from Babylon Café called Aladdin’s Café. One major difference is that you can sit inside Aladdin’s Café and with Babylon Café, you can’t.

M and I decided to take our lunch here since all he wanted was meat, meat and more meat. It was quite busy during lunchtime, but most people were doing take-out.

We lined up and we really couldn’t help all the different types of currency on the wall. It was super cool looking at all the bills.

The service was pretty weird, it took them a while to acknowledge we were there standing there waiting to order.

I ordered the Shawafel Platter ($9.45). It came with two small falafel patties, chicken, rice, salad, hummus and 2 pieces of pita bread. I did enjoy the combination of both the falafel and the chicken.

This dish tasted all right, but I really couldn’t feel a little dis dissatisfied with the dish. I really couldn’t put my finger on it, but it might have been the amount of chicken.

M got the Chicken Shawerma Platter ($8.95). It has tzatziki, rice, salad, pita and of course the chicken. He thought it was all right, but nothing too special.

I think we were not very impressed because we are just so use to the large portions we would get at Donair Town at SFU.

We ended the lunch with some old school Strawberry Crush Sodas. It tasted pretty good, I never usually get sodas but I was glad I did.

One thing I thought was odd was the hookah’s as decorations. I guess it’s normal but it was weird having it in your face when you are trying to eat.

Overall, it was decent but I feel like Babylon Café is a bit better.

Words of Wisdom:

Open for late night eats.. especially after concerts or clubbing
Under $10
Decent food
Limited seating

We Rate Aladdin’s Shawerma Cafe:

Address:

720 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Good Late Night Eats at “The Refinery”

June 24, 2011

Hello Internet! It’s Roman J here with another food post. Today I explore a hidden gem in downtown Vancouver. After attending the Bruno Mars concert with Abbytizer, we were on the hunt for quality food. Not just fast food or restaurant chain food but late night quality food. Walking down Granville street at 12am with several restaurants closed and only fast-food joints open, Abbytizer and I stumbled across this restaurant called the “The Refinery”.

This restaurant is hidden beside Sip Lounge. Abbytizer and I mistook it to be the upstairs of Sip Lounge, little did we know it was another restaurant. The Refinery has an upscale feel with hardwood floors, modern decor and a large bar. They also had a dj pumping electro music. The music wasn’t too loud, you could still have a conversation with the person next to you. With a name called “The Refinery” they have a large selection of wines and drinks. We ordered the beef salad, sopressata and arrancini balls.

The Sopressata ($14.00) is composed of Sicilian spicy salami, taleggio, roasted red pepper on flat bread. This is literally a rectangular mini pizza. The spicy salami was not that spicy. Both Abbytizer and I enjoyed this flat bread.

The Beef Salad ($12.00) is composed of beef tenderloin, arugula, tomatos and croutons with candied horseradish. The salad although small in size, was delicious. The beef with the dressing along with the leaves blended well together.

Arrrancini Balls ($12.00) is deep fried truffled risotto with tomato relish on top. They came in a set of 3. Abbytizer enjoyed every bite of this meal. The deep fried truffled risotto was hot and had a crunchy outside with a smooth texture inside.

For dessert we had Profiteroles ($8.00) with amaretto cream and chocolate sauce. Profilteroles are good in general, but what added that extra sweetness was the fresh chocolate sauce.

Abbytizer and I loved the food here. The service was good too! The server/bartender made abbytizer a personal drink off the menu which consisted of pineapple juice, vodka and other ingredient.

Overall, we would come back even the though the portions are a bit small. We recommend this place to anyone looking for a quality late night food.

Words of Advice:

Quality food, open late till 2am
Service is good
Small portions

We rate The Refinery:

Address:

1115 Granville St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.therefineryvancouver.com

In Downtown

Cham Mani: Good Quick Lunch Combos

June 15, 2011

A new Korean restaurant opened up on Pender and I just wanted to check it out. The interior seemed very simple and would work for a quick lunch.

Cham Mani serves the usual Korean dishes such as Kimbop, Ramyun, Duk Bok Gi and rice. There are several Korean restaurants that serve about the same type of item. Notably the closest restaurant that is almost the same as Cham Mani is Kimbob & Ramyun.

Their menu is pretty straight forward if you know what’s what on the menu. If not, perhaps it’s best to ask the cashier what they would recommend.

Like most Korean restaurants, water, tea and utensils are all self serve.

I started off with Combo B – Ramyun and Kimbop ($7.95). It comes with 2 sides – pickled radish and kimchi radish. They tasted all right but they were not the best sides I have ever eaten. I think they might have made the sides themselves.

The Ramyun was also pretty good! This dish is essentially just instant noodles. I was just expecting to just be instant noodle in a pot. They add vegetables like bean sprouts and onions into it to taste better. It totally worked!

The Kimbop was made very well. Kimbop is just the Korean version of sushi. It held firm, sliced nicely and tasted good. I love to dip my kimbop into the ramyun soup, but maybe that’s just my way of eating things. ..not sure if anyone else does that.

Mandu ordered Combo C – Duk Bok Gi and Kimbop ($6.95). Mandu’s meal didn’t come with side dishes, so she did feel a bit sad. I am sure the waitress just forgot to give it to her.

She agreed the kimbop was pretty good. She was also craving it today, so it worked out perfectly! The Duk Bok Gi is Korean rice cake with hot sauce. She loved it because it was not just rice cake and hot sauce. They had a bit of vegetables into it as well. It was pretty spicy too.

Overall, Cham Mani is affordable and is great for quick lunchs. It is slighly better tasting than Kimbob E Ramyun, but Cham Mani’s decor is not very nice.

Words of Wisdom:

Closest Skytrain – Granville or Waterfront
Under $10
Best deal is with the combos
Quick fast lunch
Small restaurant, not good for large groups.

We Rate Cham Mani:

Address:

529 West Pender St
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Junsei River Japanese Restaurant: Horrible Bento Boxes

June 6, 2011

I went to Junsei River Japanese Restaurant for lunch since it was on Robson St. and I was craving a good ol’ bento box.

The restaurant is a bit narrow but it still has enough room.

Junsei River Japanese restaurant sells the usual items you would find in any Japanese Restaurant. My eyes were immediately drawn to the menu! One full page of Bento box choices! It took me a while to decide what I wanted to get, but eventually I settled on Bento Box F.

As I waited, some tea and miso soup arrived.

The Bento Box F ($10.95) has unagi, salmon roll, tuna & salmon sashimi, green salad & fruit. At first glance, the bento box looked appetizing, but at a closer glance, I was very very disappointed!

The unagi pictured on the menu had a large chunk of unagi, but when it arrived, you get 4 small thin slices of eel, it was not even comparable to the picture. The taste was ok, but you know this was probably frozen and thawed.

The salmon roll, was poorly put together and still contained some tough connective tissue. As you can tell from the image, one roll was about to come undone.

The salad was very very watery and the citrus dressing had a strong ginger taste to it.

The fruit that is part of the bento was a slice of apple. It was cut very poorly and the core was still part of the apple. Doesn’t the seed just look so appetizing?

The tuna and salmon sashimi were decent but not great. The tuna was still a bit icy since it’s been thawing.

The bill came and I was actually glad I could leave. I put my money down and waited for the waitress to come grab it. I waited… then I waited some more…3 waitresses passed by and none of them even picked it up. I even tried raising my hand but no one acknowledged me. It just sat there looking very lonely.

During the time I was waiting, the table next to me was complaining to the waitress about how she got their order wrong. After they talked to 2 waitresses, the waitresses wanted them to pay extra for what they wanted. They were indeed mad and just ate their incorrect order.

I was pretty fed up by now, so I just went up to pay. I grabbed my changed, didn’t tip and went back to work. With so many great restaurants Downtown, this sushi joint really does not compare.

Words of Wisdom:

Do not get their bento boxes
Cheap and of low quality

We Rate Junsei River Japanese Restaurant :

Address:
570 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Guu Garden: Amazing Dinner with the Girls

June 5, 2011

Nothing says fun like heading to dinner after a long day of work and school.

Mandu, KoreanGirl and I decided to head over to Guu Garden to check out their dinner menu.

The interior is nice!

We started with a huge Sapporo Pitcher ($18).

Mandu likes mixing her beer and sake, so we ordered the Large Cold Sake ($6.50). I don’t like the taste of sake, so I just stuck to the beer…until they sneakily poured some sake into my beer.

We started off with the Tuna Tataku ($6.50). It has lightly seared tuna sashimi on sliced onions dressed with ponzu sauce, topped with scallion and garlic chips. The garlic chips and the sliced onion make this dish so much better! I usually eat this by putting a bit of everything on top of the tuna, roll it up and eat it.

Mandy loves her saba, so we got the Saba Grill ($6.50). It is a Grilled mackerel on sliced onions, herbs and garlic. I’ve never had this before, but I found it to be a alright. The sauce on the bottom was a bit too salty for me.

Not trip to any Izakaya restaurant can be with out ebi, so we ordered His Ebi Mayo ($7.80). It is Deep-fried prawns served w/ chili mayo and cilantro. Not really sure why it was called His Ebi Mayo, but I wonder if they ever have Her Ebi Mayo. (Ok, sorry lame joke).

I love fried chicken, so we ordered the Chicken Karrage (5.80), which is deep fried chicken thigh with garlic mayo. It was really good since it was boneless! Very moist inside and well seasoned!

We then had the Cream Korokke ($6.50). This is deep-fried panko breaded cream korokke topped with bisque mousse and tonkatsu sauce. This was SO good! SO GOOD!

At this point, the beer was getting to me, so we ordered the Green Tea ($1.50). Ya, tea isn’t free. Since we still had more sake, we ordered a Mega Sapporo ($9.00). It’s just a HUGE cup of beer.

To be a bit healthy from all the fried food, we got the Prawn & Avocado Salad with Wasabi Dressing ($6.80). This was really good as well! The wasabi dressing added a little kick to the salad which we all loved.

We got the Sea Salt Grilled Pork Cheek with Yuzu Ponzu($5.80). Very delicious tender meat with amazing flavour!

Mandu loves oden, so we first had the Assorted Oden ($6.80). It came with daikon radish, fried tofu, mocha tofu bag, taro jelly and chikuwa fish cake. The broth that we chose with this is Kanto -daki oden soup base. Mandu dubbed this the BEST oden she has ever eaten in her life. The wasabi-like paste that comes with it is SPICY. Adding it to the oden is a must, just make sure you don’t add too much.

Since we carved way more oden, we got an extra on with Fried tofu ($1.50) and Mochi Tofu Bag ($2). The mocha tofu bag has a really cool texture…similar to the gluten balls for hot pot. So addictive!

Overall, we had an amazing time at Guu Garden. This is probably my favorite branch of their chain. We ate and drank so much but after looking at the bill, it was a bit steep, but we thought it was worth it.

Words of Wisdom:

Great place to go with friends for small bites and drinks
Amazing Oden
Decent prices

We Rate Guu Garden:

Address:

M101-888 Nelson Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.guu-izakaya.com

In Downtown

Gorilla Food: For Vegans + Gluten-Free Foods

June 2, 2011

I am slowly running out of places for lunch near my work area, but then I found this little place – Gorilla Food. They are a restaurant serving vegetarian and organic food. I thought their entire look of their store seemed super cool, so I decided to take my coworker here.

Walking inside, it felt more like a jungle than a restaurant. I have probably passed by this place a few times and it seemed quite popular. Their menu was so foreign to us. We really had no idea what to choose! If you are a meat eater, you probably do not want to step into this place since it’s ALL VEGGIE.

My coworker started with the Main Street Monkey Sandwich ($7.75). Inside this sandwich are avocados, zucchini type of hummus, olive tapenade, sprouts, tomato slices and cucumber in veggie flax bread. She found this to be quite interesting and very earthy. I don’t think she was super keen on the veggie flax bread.

I ordered the GO Veggie Burger ($8). It is made of 2 veggie burger patties, guacamole, tomatoes, cucumber, veggies, and a ginger tomato ketchup sauce served between two lettuce leaves. It’s so cool when a burger is served with lettuce instead of bread. It’s not a new thing, but it’s always fun.

The burger was quite small; it was probably slightly bigger than my fist. If you look at the picture carefully, you can guesstimate the size. It tasted alright, but was not my type of food.

I also ordered the Strawberry Zing Smoothie ($6). It has strawberries, bananas, orange juice, hemp seeds, and ginger. Yes…it had hemp seeds. I did not even go into a psychedelic state or anything crazy like that. The dominant taste was of the strawberries and orange juice. It tasted pretty good. Apparently, it ‘s their most popular smoothie. It’s quite big, so you will get pretty full from a burger and smoothie.

Words of Wisdom:

Cash Only
Great for Vegans or people with gluten allergies
Under $10

We Rate Gorilla Food:

Address:

436 Richards St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.gorillafood.com

In Downtown

Nuba: Amazing for Lunch

May 31, 2011

Since another one of my coworkers was leaving, it was another lunch outing at the office. We chose Nuba since it was a decent walk from the office and has a reputation for delicious food. They did not take reservations, so we needed to come up with a plan to steal a table for 8. One of my coworkers and I just hopped down there 30 mins. earlier to wait for a table, to our surprise there was an empty 8 person table. This was PERFECT! All the tables were packed…. Except for the large table.

Nuba has a pretty good selection for the lunch menu. I stuck by choosing one of the plate options rather than the Pita options are because you get hummus, tabouleh, and tzatziki. Those were the 3 things I really wanted to taste since it’s been a while since I visited Nuba.

My Coworker ordered the pita and even though it was quite large, she was a bit disappointed because it did not look as impressive as the plate.

I ordered the Lamb Kibbeh Sainish ($12). It has 2 halal lamb patties, lots of vegetables, pine nuts, burghul (kinda like rice). Of course it did include the hummas, tabouleh, and tzatziki. A lot of the flavours are very strong and does takes your taste buds to the middle east, but they work so well together that you will not be overwhelmed.

The halal lamb patties were similar to the meat you would find at the donair/ shawarma places. (But of course better!). You really need to smother the patties with the tzatziki sauce.

Overall, great lunch at an affordable price! I would totally come here again for lunch. (Dinner is good too).

Words of Wisdom:

Go for the plate options and you will not be disappointed
Under $15
Hummas + tabouleh is so good!
Vegetarian friendly

We Rate Nuba:

Address:

207 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
nuba.ca

In Bakery

BonChaz: Things Do Change…But Not For The Better

May 23, 2011

Did I ever tell you I love deals? As a student I love to save a bit here and there.

Since BonChaz had their ‘back to school’ promotions, they were giving away free coffee for the first 3 days of school. Plus, with a 15% off discount with a student card, I was sold. I am so Asian; I just love deals but I always spend more than expected.

Flo and I headed down for some lunch and coffee. It seemed like it was getting busy around lunchtime.

Flo got the Smoked Salmon Sandwich ($6.95). It has smoked salmon, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, salt and pepper. One thing that really lacked in this sandwich was the amount of smoked salmon.

I ordered the Roast Beef Sandwich with soup ($4.95 + $1.95). The Roast beef sandwich has lettuce, tomatoes, salt, pepper, cucumbers and 2 slices of Roast Beef. I too found the amount of meat lacking.

Apparently, you can get double the amount of meat for $2.

The soup was a chicken and herb soup and it was good! Had good amounts of chicken and vegetables.

Afterwards, we got our free coffee and ordered a BonChaz. I am not usually a black coffee type of person, but since it was free, I took the time to mix in the cream and sugar. I don’t really know if this was good coffee or bad coffee.

The one thing I noticed about the BonChaz was how small the filling as gotten from my previous visits. It did take a while to figure out where the filling was located.

Overall, we were both very disappointed this time around. Sandwiches could have used more filling and the BonChaz definitely needed more filling. When I visited them previously, it was good but now… not so much.

We rate BonChaz: