Gastown Archives - Page 6 of 7

In Gastown

Guu Gastown: Guu’d Food

September 13, 2011

My goal in life is to go to every single Guu in the world! Hopefully that can be achieved in my lifetime….which may be hard since locations keep popping up around the world. Today, my adventures brought me to Guu Gastown for a friends “catch up” dinner.

Even though I put down reservations, we still had to wait in line. I came prepared and came a bit early to make sure we didn’t have to wait too long.

We got seated at their large window…my this wasn’t too bad of a view but it did get colder once the night rolled in. For the people attending the dinner that didn’t know where it was…its a fun idea to scream out the window so they know where Guu Gastown is. Keep in mind, that would be very embarrassing if others started looking at you.

The menu is similar on most days, but they also have a fresh sheet too.

You know me, Sapporo is a must at Guu. We ordered 2 pitchers and they have the tall Sapporo glasses. Yum!

Tako Wasa ($3.50) is marinated cooked octopus with wasabi and its served with sides of roasted seaweed. This is not a dish for everyone. If you hate wasabi, best to avoid. I love this dish because wasabi give your face a nice kick. I am not a big fan of wasabi, but I quite enjoy it in this form with the octopus.

Ebi Mayo ($7.80) are deep fried prawns in a crispy batter with spicy mayo. I really don’t like ebi mayo battered like this. It’s a bit thick and I think the other Guu’s make it better.

Takoyaki ($4.80) are deep fried battered octopus balls with tonkatsu sauce, wasabi mayo, mustard mayo, bonito flakes and dried seaweeed.

It’s pretty good and comes with 5 pieces. So much better than night market!

Saba with Garlic Herb ($7.20) is soy sauce + olive oil grilled mackerel with garlic chips, bill, peppers, herbs, lemon and onions.

I find the best part about this are the garlic chips! The saba has no bones, so it’s great for children!

Guu Tataki ($6.20) is seared beef sashimi with ponzu sauce, garlic chips and green onions. There’s really nothing I can say about this dish since its so delicious!

Eel Cutlet and Egg ($7.20) is deep fried panko breaded eel with kabayaki sauce, topped with a soft egg and japanese peppers. I’ve never had anything like this and CandiedZen and I just thought this dish was fabulous. The crunchiness of the fried eel matches with the soft gooey egg.

Sashimi Salad ($8.20), I was not very impressed by…but it did still taste good.

Guu Yakiudon ($7.50) is pan fried udon with beef, green onions and mushrooms topped with bonito flakes and dried seaweed. Always one of the most delicious dishes!

Overall, the choices on the menu were pretty good. I like how all the Guu’s have similar items, but are executed a bit differently. You really can’t get bored of the different Guu chains. After trying the Gastown location, I still prefer Guu Garden and Guu Garlic.

Words of Wisdom:

Yakiudon, eel cutlet and egg, beef tataki recommended
Very busy during the evenings
Best to get reservations
Closest Skytrain: Waterfront

We Rate Guu Gastown:
Address:

375 Water St
Vancouver, BC

Website:

www.guu-izakaya.com/gastown.html

Twitter:

@GuuIzakaya

In Gastown

Big Lou’s Butcher Shop: Sandwiches, Sandwiches, and Sandwiches

August 30, 2011

Big Lou’s Butcher Shop is best known for their selection of meats as well as their sandwich counter. Some say that their sandwiches are equally as good as Meat & Bread.

I am never in this part of town, so it took me a while to make a trip here. M wanted a sandwich as usual, so I thought this would be a perfect place.

The back of this small store is the sandwich counter. They have a decent sized selection of sandwiches, but you really have to come here before certain items run out. I really really wanted the Porchetta, but that was sold out…also the turducken was sold out too.

They have very ornate decoration in the store. I just adored their shelves because of all the old style items that are there. Mostly it was the Boylan bottles of pop, but it gave it a cool look.

M is a huge cherry cola fan but I have never liked the flavour of any cherry type of cola…..till now.

Boylan’s Black Cherry soda is so good! It has a nice refreshing taste of the cherry flavour and it’s the best I have ever had. even said it was the best he’s ever had as well.

We took the sandwiches home to eat since there were only 2 stools to sit on. Since they were closing in 30 mins, we really didn’t mind taking it out. I hear thats what most people do anyways. I love how they wrap up these sandwiches so nicely in butcher paper and wrap the string around it.

Banh Mi ($8) has pickled vegetables, shredded pork shoulder, pate, cilantro and spicy mayo. This was pretty good. The bread is super crunch on the outside and quite nice and fluffy on the inside.

It is packed with a good amount of the shredded pork shoulder! The sauce worked really well with the ingredients too! They really created a good variation of this vietnamese classic. Just look at all that tender meat, who could resist?

Big Lou’s Chicago Style ($7.50) has in-house made sausages, pickles, onions, mustard, tomato mayo, peppers and celery salt. This sandwich uses the same type of bread as the banh mi sandwich.

I wasn’t a fan of this sandwich. The sausage had a really good taste, but I didn’t like the combination of the pickled, peppers and onions. I didn’t feel like it accentuated the flavour of the sausage since it really is the star of this sandwich.

The Shooter has seared medium steak slices, mushrooms, caramalized onions and perhaps horseradish. This sandwich is definitely different than the other ones. All the ingredients are embedded into the middle of the sandwich like a cross-section. All the laters are quite visible and you can see the medium color of all the steak slices.

The bread is different and it’s more dense and full of grains than the other bread.

When you bite into the sandwich, you will notice that is cold. I think they prepare it ahead of time and slice a piece off when someone orders it. It did have a good combination of flavours, but since it was cold, it was hard to taste some of the flavours. If this was a hot sandwich, I am sure the caramelized onions would have stood out a bit more.

Overall, Big Lou’s Butcher Shop has some interesting sandwiches. I found that some sandwiches can be a hit or a miss. Since I didn’t try the porchetta, I still don’t know which is better. For the time being, I will still stick with Meat & Bread. I will return for another visit and see which sandwich shop reigns supreme.

Words of Wisdom:

Super sketch area of town
Under $10
Banh Mi is good choice!

We Rate Big Lou’s Butcher Shop:

Address:

269 Powell Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.biglousbutchershop.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/BigLousButcherShop

Twitter:

@biglousbutcher

In Gastown

Vera’s Burger Shack: Waiting 40 mins for a Burger Isn’t Acceptable

July 28, 2011

A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Vera’s Burger Shack in Gastown with Mandu. Other restaurants in that area had line ups, so we decided to go to Vera’s since it seems it would be a fast alternative. Burgers don’t usually take too long to put together. We would soon realize how wrong we really were.

Looking at the menu, they had a really good deal on Fridays for their weekly specials. On Friday, you can choose any of the special without being limited on what day it is. I got the Big Chick and Mandu got The Stinger.

We were given our sides first. Mandu got the regular fries and I upgraded for Onion Rings. We decided to share since there were so many onion rings and fries. The fries were pretty average, I spent a lot of time searching for the crunchy ones. The onion rings were pretty good, but still not as good as A&W.

We spent a while eating these 2 baskets of sides and wondered where were our burgers.

We looked around and saw a group of others that were here before us and they were still missing a few burgers from their table. There were 2 more people on the other side of the restaurant waiting as well. Some of them kept going back to the counter to inquire about the status of their burger.

Mandu and I kept looking at our phones too since we are only permitted 1 hour for lunch.

40 long minutes later Mandu’s Stinger Burger arrives … then another 5 minutes till I got my burger. Seeing that we ate all the onion rings and fries, we really had no stomach to eat anymore. (Those sides are super filling!). You really can’t blame us since the burgers did take that long.

We were quite full but we decided to take the burgers to go. Another customer did the same thing. Since we both had dinner plans, we both never finished the burger. It really didn’t fit into our eating schedule. We didn’t want to spoil our dinner appetite. I gave my burger away and I think Mandu still has hers sitting in her fridge. Mandu told me to complain to the Manager about the slow service. I wanted to but I needed to go back to the office since lunch time was up.

I do what I usually do and complain via Twitter.

The person in charge of their Twitter account messaged me immediately after hearing the strings of complaints between other twitterers and I about the failed lunch. Later in the day, I also got an email from the owner about the situation, I replied back telling my experience and he told us to return for a complementary meal.

I have to say their social media presence and timing were pretty good! I wasn’t too upset about the experience but rather disappointed. I felt bad for Mandu because I just kept raving about how amazing the burgers were…I think it left a worse impression on her. I feel really bad when I take others to restaurants that are sub par since they assume I will take them to something amazing.

A week later we returned and the meal was compensated. It was a good thing since neither of us ate the previous burgers. I had a craving for something spicy, so we both got The Stinger Burger with Onion Rings.

As usual, the onion rings came with a lot in the basket! Same quality as before. I don’t know how Mandu did it, but she devoured her onion rings. I think she really has an obsession for them.

The Singer Burger has a beef patty, fried jalapenos, lettuce, sauce and cheddar. This turned out to be quite large! At times it would be hard enough to get my mouth around it. The burger was quite messy to eat, but it had the extra spicy kick from the jalapenos. Mandu didn’t like the burger and felt a bit disgusted by it.

I thought the burger was just ok and I prefer the Commercial location a bit better. I don’t like how the sides and burger come at different times. At the Commercial location, it comes at the same time.

Words of Wisdom:

Huge sides, save room in your belly and don’t eat all of it
Large portions
Closest Skytrain: Stadium or Waterfront

We Rate Vera’s Burger:

Address:

213 Carrall St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.verasburgershack.com

Twitter: @verasburgers

In Four Beakers

The Dirty Apron: Baguettes and Brownies

July 19, 2011

I was planning a lonely lunch by myself until I went on Twitter and @nik_wong tweeted saying she needed someone to lunch with. We met a few days earlier at Social Media Day. Since she was a few blocks away, I thought why not. Food is best eaten with others. Since Dirty Apron is pretty good, we decided to go. We both have been here before and it’s never failed either of us.

I ordered the Montreal Smoked Meat Baguette. It has Montreal smoked meat, shaved fennel, comte cheese, champagne shallot mustard, gherkins and basil. The baguette was well flavoured but I wish there was more meat! One cool thing about Dirty Apron is how they use a few uncommon ingredients. It opens your pallet to new ingredients that you would normally never pick up at the store.

Nikki suggested I get the Chocolate Pistachio Cheesecake Brownie, so I grabbed it and headed back to the office. This is one amazing brownie. It was moist, rich and has a subtle pistachio flavour. The 2 elements worked really well together. You probably don’t want to leave it out too long either, since it might dry a bit.

Overall, it’s a solid place for lunch.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking at Tinsel Town (Supposed to be for patrons…but it’s ok)
Cheap lunch
Specialty ingredients
Lots of seating

We Rate The Dirty Apron:

Address:

540 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.dirtyapron.com/

Twitter: @dirty_apron

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/115513438487855

In Cafe

Save On Meats Coffee Shop: Meals of Disproportion

July 6, 2011

My oldest memory of Save-On-Meats was winning a gift certificate in elementary school, but my parents decided not to go redeem the certificate since it was in such a sketchy area. Fast forward 15+ years later and that part of Hastings isn’t too bad with the new addition of SFU Woodwards and some other amazing establishments.

There has been a lot of buzz about Save-On-Meats since it reopened and I wanted to see for myself if it lived up to expectations. Never really thought I would ever be dining at a place called Save On Meats. They have a butcher shop and a restaurant, so you get a bit of everything.

They also have a window area outside for take out.

The interior is super retro!

I went here on two occasions to give you a bigger scope of what’s on their menu.

Mandu and I needed Coffee ($2) since we really we SUPER tired out of our minds. The coffee here is just the usual. Comes with cream and sugar to mix. Mandu is particularly picky about what she puts into her coffee, so she asked for milk and sugar substitute. They had those both, so she was quite happy.

It’s unlimited refills, so do have more than a cup if you feel like… Mandu and I had about 3 or 4 cups.

Mandu and I shared the Soup of the Day ($5), I think it was a corn and clam soup. It had a nice smooth texture with nice balance of flavour. It also comes with a homemade biscuit. The biscuits are really good!

I ordered the Open Face Roast Chicken Sandwich ($8). It comes with juicy roasted chicken smothered in Brown Gravy, served with mashed potatoes, fries or coleslaw.

When it arrived, I was a bit disappointed. It really didn’t seem very exciting at all. The bread was nicely toasted and the chicken and gravy is always great together. Coleslaw was just ok too.

Mandu got the Linguini Carbonara ($8). It has bacon, wine and cheese, which as all of Mandu’s favorite items! She was really disappointed when it arrived. She expected it to be at least 2 times larger.

Nonetheless, she still enjoyed the taste of the pasta. Very rich and creamy with great smoky bacon! If you are health conscious and want to be bad for just one day, eat this and don’t feel super guilty afterwards.

After the first time coming here, it wasn’t anything extraordinary at all. A few days later, I came with @wongers and @FloYVR to eat more!

Wongers was feeling like a beast, so she decided to eat 2 entrees.

She started with the ribs ($9) and had fries and warm biscuit for her sides. This rib was huge! An amazing price for just $9! The meat was very tender and the bones literally just fell off. The taste was not your usual BBQ sauce; we all agreed it kinda tasted “Asian”. The sauce had a large amount of tomato paste flavour with a little bit of spiciness. This reminded us of the baked pork cutlet from the HK style cafes.

The Savory Pie ($9) is their daily potpie served with mashed potatoes or green salad. She ordered it with mashed potatoes.

The pie was a bit on the small side compared to the ribs. Same price but there is a considerable portion difference. The chicken in the pie was dry and the only way to moisten it up was to pour the gravy all over it.

The mashed potatoes were really really good! Nice and fluffy! Great with the gravy too.

Flo ordered the famous Save On Meats Burger ($6). It comes on a toasted brioche bun, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, mayo and bacon. Also a side of fries too!

She loved it! The meat patty was very fresh and unlike anything else she had before.

I was having a very bloated day, so I just had the Chopped chicken Salad ($7). It has diced chicken, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, avocado, and celery.

This was a very simple salad and it seemed like something I could make at home. I also couldn’t taste the dressing as well. I thought the salad would be bigger as well since I looked at Wonger’s ribs and the proportions were very different.

I then ordered the Banana Triple Thick Milk Shake ($4). This was so good! I love bananas so that’s why. The whole time I was drinking it, Wongers just cringed in fear because she hates bananas. Since the shake came with an extra tin of left overs, I gave it to Flo since she wanted some too.

The best part of the milkshake is the lumpy bits of banana. By far the best banana milk shake I have ever had.

Since I took the last banana for the milkshake, they were unable to make a banana split. The server promised us a Special Dessert ($6), which would blow our minds.

We agreed and awaited the suspenseful dessert to arrive. It has 2 scoops of ice cream, lots of whipped cream + cherry, chocolate sauce, walnuts, marshmallows and their famous house made cookies.This is a large dessert! We were actually expecting something smaller. We all just shared it. This really brought out the kid in us! Their ice cream is made in-house as well as their baked goods! We were surprised, but it made us appreciate the food more.

Overall, we all agreed they had fun desserts and amazing milkshakes. One problem we had were the varying portion sizes and how hard it was to figure out if that dish would fill you up. A few items were a hit and miss, but you can’t go wrong with the Ribs or the Save on Meats Burger.

Words of Wisdom:

Save-On-Meats Burger, Ribs, Milk Shake, + Cookies recommended
Under $10
Very retro and hip interior
Everything is house made
Closest Skytrain: Stadium

We Rate Save On Meats:

Address:

43 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
saveonmeats.ca

In Gastown

Blarney Stone: Horrible Service but Decent Food

July 1, 2011

It was NotFauna’s welcome back/ Birthday celebration. She chose Blarney Stone for a good fun meal before heading out to Fortune Sound Club a few blocks away.

CanuckGirl and I arrived early since she wanted to see a few players being drafted into the Canucks…sadly none of the TVs were showing that and when we asked them to about changing the channel, but they couldn’t do it. As we waited for everyone to arrive, we watched a TV promoting the Blarney Stone.

The place was quite full around 6:30, so it was a good idea we got reservations for the large group. The service was pretty bad from the beginning; it was hard to find anyone to help us find NotFauna’s reserved section since there were several reservations for the night. They didn’t even reserve the right amount of seats that was requested. When CanuckGirl and I sat down, the waitress didn’t offer us a menu to start looking.

After more people arrived, the waitress finally gave us menus. The menu was not bad at all. Lots of choices between $8 – $15 ish dollars.

Before you get your food, you must pay for it ahead of time or keep a tab for the night. It was super super weird to all of us, but in a way it made sense since people can easily skip out on the bill.

CanuckGirl ordered the Blarney Burger ($9). It comes with a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayo and pickles. You can also choose between fries or salad.

It seems like it was a well made burger and she seemed to enjoy it.

A few others had the Fried Mac and Cheese loaf ($10). It has three types of cheese with macaroni, breaded and fried. It comes with a side salad too. It was not bad but it will probably get you full since it’s so rich in cheese.

CandiedZen ordered the Sheppard’s Pie ($11). It comes with side salad and focaccia bread. She enjoyed it and the addition of the cheese on top was pretty good.

I ordered the chicken focaccia Sandwich ($10). It has roasted chicken, cheddar cheese, bacon, onion, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo. I chose to have the side salad with balsamic and oil dressing.

It was a pretty good sandwich, but the chicken was a bit on the dry side. I loved the bacon! It was very nice and crisp!

Overall, the food was not too bad. It’s your regular pub style food; so don’t have super high expectations or anything. Service is really bad and they don’t usually refill your water either unless they flag you down.

Words of Wisdom:

Quite loud inside
Patio seating
Best to reserve for large groups
Decent food under $15
Pay before your meal arrives or start a tab
HORRIBLE service

We Rate Blarney Stone:

Address:

216 Carrall St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.blarneystone.ca

In Chinese

East Fusion Food: “Design Your Own Combo” Lunch

June 19, 2011

Mandu and I were out to lunch again. We always seem to have similar working schedules, so it just seems right to grab lunch since we are a skytrain apart.

One day. I was passing by Tinseltown, I saw this crazy open restaurant across from this Daiso looking store. They had some pretty good priced lunch, so I really wanted to try it.

The space is very open, so you do get a lot of natural light from the windows of the mall.

Looking at the menu, they have a “design your own combo” for $9.95. You choose a soup, appetizer and main and it’s just that simple. At this point, we really didn’t know if the quality would be good or not. We were prepared if this was bad or not since its only $10.

I started off with the Spicy & Sour Seafood Soup. Very good balance between the spicy and sour! I usually don’t get this soup, but I wanted to take a gamble and I really liked it!

Mandu started off with the Sweet corn Seafood Soup. It was an average corn soup. It was good.

For the appetizer, we had the vegetarian Spring Roll and the Deep-fried shrimp wontons. They both were nicely fried and just tasted average. Nothing too exciting but really was not bad at all.

For the main, Mandy chose the Coconut Curry chicken with rice. She really enjoyed the dish. Very good and it came with a lot of sauce! You won’t run into that problem where you have too much rice and not enough sauce.

I ordered the Beef with Satay sauce in fried crispy noodle. The dish was pretty good as well. Lots of good sizable beef slices and the noodles were deliciously crunchy. I am usually picky about how crunchy my noodles are and they did not disappoint.

Overall, we were super surprised at how decent the food was for such a good price. The service did suck though. The waitress was not very good at all; she was hard to wave down and was very slow in getting us more tea and the bill. I’m usually ok with it, but what ticks me off is when you and the server make eye contact and acknowledges that you need service…but never comes back.

Words of Wisdom:

Cheap lunch specials, most items under $10
Closest Skytrain – Stadium
“Design your own combo” is a good choice if you want to try several items
Service is a bit slow

We rate East Fusion Food:

Address:

88 West Pender St.
Vancouver, BC

In BBQ

Peckinpah: BBQ House in Gastown

April 15, 2011

Mandu and I wanted to grab some lunch, so I gave her a list of random restaurants and she chose Peckinpah because it was close to the office and wouldn’t break our wallets. Peckinpah is a BBQ house located in the heart of Gastown. They specialize in Carolina style BBQ and offer a wide selection of beer and alcoholic drinks.

The service was quite slow during their lunch hour and less than half the restaurant was full. We probably spent 30 minutes waiting when our lunch break isn’t really that long. 15 mins to order + 30 min waiting – 1 hr lunch = 15 mins of eating. We ate fast! Mandu ate so fast that she got stomach pains after.

Mandu ordered the Jalapeno Pork Sausage Sandwich ($ 8.50). It is a Pork sausage with roast peppers and onions in a french style bun.

She didn’t expect it to be basically a hot dog. Having the combination of the bun and the sausage posed problems for Mandu. She suggested that this would be better if they sliced up the sausage and then put it onto the bun. She did enjoy the taste of the sausage, very meaty and had a good kick of heat from the jalapeno.

We did also get a choice of a side and she chose the hush puppies. These are not shoes but rather deep fried cornbread balls. Embedded inside the ball were also bits of corn. We both liked the hush puppies and it seemed like it was a very popular dish since everyone else close to us ordered it too.

I ordered the Oyster Po’boy ($11.50). It is a sandwich with deep-fried oysters on french bread with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I remember my first time having an Oyster Po’boy at The Kaboom Box (AKA Fresh Local Wild) Food Cart and I enjoyed it!

I did not love this version of oyster Po’boy at Peckinpah, the bun was difficult to eat, so the filling would fall out, so I used my knife and fork. I really wanted to go down and dirty with the sandwich but it was way too messy. The oysters were a bit on the small side so it was hard to enjoy their full flavour and the texture of the oyster.

For my side I ordered creamed corn. Pretty average and nothing special.

Overall, I would not go back to pay those prices since there are better alternatives in the neighbourhood. The french style bread did not work very well with the sandwiches and made the eating process very difficult.

I would come back if I was in the area late at night. They have really good deals from 12am to 2am on Fri and Sat. This either means you gotta be living close by or partying it up in a nearby club/ bar (Fabric, Post Modern, Lamplights, Blarney….etc)

Words of Wisdom:

Overpriced for what you order
Lots of alcohol choices
Slow service
Interesting Southern Decor
Amazing late night deals (12am – 2am) on Fri and Sat
Online ordering service

We Rate Peckinpah:

Address:

2 Water Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.peckinpahbbq.com

In Gastown

Momo Sushi

March 13, 2011

I was trying really hard during my lunch time to find a new place to review. I was super stuck until I figured that Gastown was not too far of a walk. I decided to check out Momo Sushi since I’ve had mixed experiences there.

Momo Sushi serves the usual items you would find in a Japanese restaurant.

The first page of their menu, they had a much of their specials and box sets. Most of the items were under $10, so it seemed like a good option.

I ordered the Box Special A ($6.95). It was the cheapest special they had and it was not a bad set menu because it included sashimi. The set included 3 pieces of tuna sashimi, 3 pieces of salmon sashimi, 1 tuna nigiri, 1 salmon nigiri, 3 pieces of california roll, rice, salad, fruit and miso soup.

I also ordered the Chicken Karaage ( about $4/$5). There were 5 chicken wings on a bed of salad. I really did not like the taste of their karaage. It was sweet and it seemed like there was a bit of honey on the coating of it. They also added some small bits of seaweed on top.

Words of Wisdom:

Cheap Bento boxes and lunch sets
Closest skytrain: Waterfront Skytrain

We Rate Momo Sushi:

Address:

375 Water Street, Unit 6
Vancouver, BC

In Cafe

The Dirty Apron

February 14, 2011

The Dirty Apron is many things….a cooking school, delicatessen, grocer, and a lunch/dinner hot spot. They are owned by the creators of Cafe Medina and Chambar. They are actually located on the same block as well.

Mandu and I passed by a few weeks ago and noticed this new place. It wasn’t until today that we decided to try it out.

Walking inside, you can see there are 2 aisles of packaged products. Most of these are packaged products, so you can find canned items, pre-made pasta sauces, and specialty ingredients.

They have a variety of meats if you want to grab some for home or create your own sandwich.

They have about 5 of their grilled sandwiches on display. You can look at them and decide which one you want. Then they will grill it up for you!

They also have daily hot food such as roasted chicken, soups, rice, lentils, pasta, and stews. While you are there, you should try out some of their cheese samples. You may discover a new cheese which you will LOVE.

They have one main menu for baguettes and grilled sandwiches. They range from $7 – $9.

Mandu first wanted a sandwich but then when she saw a huge plate of lasagna ($6.99), she had to have it. First of all, this is some steller lasagna. It has lots of meat and vegetables. Perfectly cooked and had an amazing flavour. Highly recommended if you come here!

While we were there, 3 other people in the dining area had this as well. On any rainy day, this lasagna will turn your whole day around!

I ordered the prosciutto Grilled sandwich ($8.99). Inside this sandwich are figs, prosciutto, watercress, cheese, balsamic and onions.

The bread was really nice, it has inside nuts and cranberries. the outside was nicely grilled so it had a bit of a crunch to it. The balsamic and onions made this a very savory sandwich. I wish this sandwich had a but more prosciutto because at times I felt I could taste more of the figs than prosciutto. Still, the sandwich was amazing.

Oh, they also have cooking classes! Seriously, such an amazing looking set up. Who wouldn’t want to cook here?!

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking at Tinsel Town (Supposed to be for patrons…but it’s ok)
Cheap lunch
Specialty ingredients
Lots of seating

We Rate The Dirty Apron:

Address:

540 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.dirtyapron.com/

In Dineout

DineOut: L’Abattoir

February 8, 2011

DineOut #2 was at L’Abattoir! I have actually never heard of this place until PhotographyGirl took me here with a bunch of people. This was all on the $38 menu category. Expensive, but we still saved a lot.

The name ‘L’Abattoir’ mean Slaughterhouse in english. It’s kinda funny because it’s nothing you would expect from such a nice sounding name. When we figured this out, we were enjoying out meatly entrees. hahaha.

L’Abattoir is located in the building which use to be Vancouver’s first jail. Even thought it use to be a jail, they really made this place look super amazing. I wish I took pictures but I didn’t for some reason. You can even feel a bit of eeriness when you see the bricked walls.

I LOVE THE BREAD. It came with 3 types – Anchovy cheese twists, bread buns with bacon bits, and this flat cracker type thing.

One of their appetizers were the Dungeness crab and chickpea toast ($13), it has toasted brioche, light crab custard, and carrot pickles. Everyone who had it loved it.

I had the Raw pacific oysters ($15). It has Mushroom and marrow croquettes. It was SO GOOD! Very light and delicate and has so much flavour! The bone marrow croquettes were also very flavourful.

For the entree a few of us had the Pan fried filet of steelhead ($24) It has Squash puree, olive gnocchi, and anchovy butter. The people that had it loved it and the foam was a really cool touch.

I had the Slow cooked loin of pork. It has Cassoulet, brussels sprouts, and mushroom. The pork was cooked perfectly and was not tough at all. Unlike some people, loved the brussel sprouts! Everything blended nicely.

Another entree was the Lamb loin and sausage ($26). It is served with grilled endive lettuce and cleriac (root-like vegetable).

Everyone had the Dark chocolate and coffee layer cake ($10). It is served with cherry apricot compote, whipped vanilla crème fraiche. It is nut free and rich! Everyone loved it and i envied them because i got something else.

I was different and got the Fizzy lemonade ($9) It has Blood orange sorbet, tapioca pearls, and earl grey granita. This I found was very sour. It was still a really cool dessert.

Words of Wisdom:

Dineout menu items are also on regular menu
Amazing food
On the expensive side…
Cool looking interior
Pay Parking on adjacent streets
Great place to just get drink…good for intimate date

We Rate L’Abattoir:

Address:

217 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.labattoir.ca

In Brunch

Cafe Medina (Visit #2)

January 16, 2011

To celebrate a bunch of us working in Downtown, Mandu, NotFauna and I went to Cafe Medina. We went in the middle of the day at 1pm to get some lunch. Since we had 3 people, it was hard to sit us down because of the busy lunch rush. After 40 minutes of waiting, a table cleared up. If you have a lunch time limit of 1 hour, it’s probably best to come alone or in 2s.Caf Much much faster.

Cafe Medina has drinks (right side of menu) and Breakfast/Lunch (right side of menu).

I had a pot of green tea ($3.00). It came in a kettle and a cute little cup and saucer. The tea was very light and refreshing, so it was a perfect pick-me-up for the middle of the day. I’m trying to stray off of coffee because having too much coffee doesn’t work well for my digestive system.

Mandu ordered the Cappuccino.

NotFauna saw that Lavender Lattes ($3.60) were popular, so she decided to get one as well. The Lavender taste is very subtle in the latte. It took her a while to figure out if it was a regular latte or a lavender latte.

Mandu ordered the Fricasse ($16), which has 2 fried eggs, braised short ribs, roasted potatoes, caramelized onions, arugula, applewood cheddar and a side of grilled foccacia. If you are looking for a light lunch/breakfast, this may not be the dish for you. Under the arugula and eggs lie the heavy potatoes and short ribs. Mandu was very satisfied with this dish because she was really hungry and wanted a dish that had a lot of food.

NotFauna ordered the Les Merguez ($15), which is flat bread wrapped roasted merguez sausage, baba ganoush, haloumi cheese, grilled eggplant, and tabbouleh. We tried asking the waiter how to pronounce this dish, but we epically failed and looked like fools.

I ordered the La Salade de Crevette ($14). This salad has Crisp romaine lettuce, wild shrimp, aji parmesan dressing, croutons and lime. I was looking for a light lunch, so the salad was perfect. I really liked the parmesan dressing, it gave a little bit of saltiness to the dish which was yummy.

I also ordered the Waffle ($3.15) + Milk Chocolate Lavender Topping (+$1). The waffles are well made and they come with a variety of topping to choose from.

Words of Wisdom:

2 hour free parking at Tinsel Town (I know its for patrons…but FREE parking! I break rules)
Waffles and lavender lattes are popular
Best to go in 2s for quick seating

We rated Cafe Media:

Check out their website: http://www.medinacafe.com/

Address:

556 Beatty St
Vancouver, BC

In Gastown

Sea Monstr Sushi

January 2, 2011

Sea Monstr Sushi is located in Gas Town. I have heard much hype about this place and it looked cool, so CandiedZen and I went. They are known for the fresh sashimi and their specialty rolls.

Sea Monstr Sushi has bar seating as well as a small dining room.

The waitress gave us water is a cool Sea Monstr Sushi jug and also some green tea.

When sitting at the bar, you can watch the sushi chefs in action.

We ordered one order of Toro ($2.50) and Salmon Sashimi ($2.50). Each order comes with 2 pieces. The pieces of sashimi ad quite small compared to other places you go, but the taste and the texture are superb.

Daily Special Roll was a spicy ebi roll. It had shrimp, spicy sauce, and greens. CandiedZen and I thought the roll was ok, but it wasn’t amazingly good. The shrimp could have been more plump and tasteful. This was quite mediocre compared to other places and not as well built.

The House Roll ($7) had lettuce, salmon, tuna, tobiko, mayo, and scallops. This roll was pretty good. The lettuce gave this roll a crunchy texture.

Una Tama Maki ($4.50) has BBQ Eel, Japanese Style Egg Omelette, and Daikon Sprout. This roll again was quite mediocre. Rice was a bit loose and not like how other places are held firmly together.

Sea Monstr Sushi is a different type of Japanese restaurant, it is more for hanging out and having a bit to eat. If you think this is like a traditional Japanese Restaurant….don’t expect sushi like Samurai Sushi or Sushi Town. In a way you coud say it a a little bit fusion.

Words of Wisdom:

Meter parking at front and back of restaurant
Ask waitress for daily specials
Very fresh tasting sashimi

We rate Sea Monstr Sushi:

Website:http://www.seamonstrsushi.com/

Address:

A – 55 Powell Street
Vancouver, BC

In Chinese

Terracotta Modern Chinese

December 28, 2010

I have always been fascinated by the thought of modern chinese cuisine. Could this be possible? After hearing much about Terracotta Modern Chinese Restaurant on Urbanspoon and Twitter. It was something I needed to try in the future with a few gal pals.

I heard a bit of controversy between this restaurant and a UBC Student Club…lets just say it didn’t look good at all. I saw a Groupon for Terracotta Modern Chinese Restaurant the following day and just had to purchase it to see what this place really was like.

Since this place was best known for drinks, I thought I would take CandiedZen to celebrate her birthday.

The interior is pretty cool! It has a bunch of statues of Terracotta warriors. Sometimes I find I am creepily amused by Chinese statues. Being a totally whitewashed asian…It’s quite interesting and I wish I could have a statue on my desk.

The waitress started me and CandiedZen with some ice waters as we pondered over the menu.

For my drink I ordered the Chivas & Green Tea ($9). It came in a cool asian style cup. I had no idea what Chivas was, but it seemed like they heavily promoted that certain type of alcohol at the restaurant, so I didn’t think it would disgust me. Turns out Chivas is Whisky from Scotland. At first slip, I really did not like this drink. It was just tea and whisky! After eating a bit of food, it matched well with the dishes. and I slowly began to enjoy it.

CandiedZen ordered the Me-So-H69ny ($9.50). Yes, that is the name of this drink! Sounded hilarious and made us giggle a bit. This drink contained Raspberry Stoli, Red Alize, Cranberry Juice and a lychee. This was a really good drink. The drink is more on the sweet side and not too strong in terms of alcohol taste.

For our first dish, we ordered the Golden Squid ($8). It contained marinated squid, bettered and seasoned with salt. It also had garlic, jalapeno and some type of fruity salsa. This was one of our favorite dishes.

We next ordered the Terracotta Spring Rolls ($7), which has inside – tuna, mango and peppers. At first, the taste was quite bizarre. THe better did not match the taste of the tuna. Maybe if they used something else like maybe… avocados, it would be better.

Nest we ordered the Terracotta Short Rib Sliders ($9). It had braised beef short ribs with green onion served on golden mantou buns. CandiedZen and I agreed, it was actually “modern chinese”. They took the ingredients you would find in a chinese restaurant and add a twist. The braised beef was very tender and the sauce accompanied great as well. It had 3 pieces.

The last dish we had was the Barbecue Duck Wraps ($8). It came in 3 pieces and in each one was BBQ duck, hoisin sauce, green onion, and cucumber. CandiedZen commented how this dish as quite oily and assumed it was because the duck had a lot of fat in it. One thing which I think would make the dish amazing if it was more of a “do it yourself” type of wrap so customers can put in how much onions or cucumber to it because some people are picky about green onions.

Overall, Terracotta Modern Chinese caters to a very specific type of crowd of people – The young, hip, enjoys drinking and a lounge setting. I was clearly not their target market, as Follow Me Foodie has said several times in her posts. Growing up eating mass amounts of Chinese food, I am basically trained to gravitate towards dim sum restaurants or family style chinese restaurants.

Words of Wisdom:

Do not expect this place to be a traditional chinese restaurant
Sliders are highly recommended
Best to drink and have a few dishes
Pay parking on streets

We rate Terracotta Modern Chinese:

Website: http://www.terracottavancouver.com/

Address:

52 Alexander St.
Vancouver, BC

In Brunch

Brioche

December 6, 2010

Brioche has great food and atmosphere. They are known for their amazing daily specials. Located in Gastown, Broche offers up amazing items from pastas, soups and sandwiches.

Their daily specials are located on a chalkboard. The door leads to the washroom, so its not a good idea to stand in front of it just incase someone is inside and they happen to open the door. What is bad about the specials is that they do not specify the price. On their larger, there are prices.

The little cafe is a good place to have a nice little chat. Most of the tables either eat 2 or 4 people. Not good for large groups.

I got a latte. I didn’t think their lattes were extraordinary or anything. It was not as strong as other places.

I got the Grilled NY Steak Panini. It came with wild mushroom sauce. The bread was very fresh, it was very light and fluffy on the inside and nice and crispy on the outside. I was kinda skeptical about this sandwich, but the cut of the NY Steak was very tender and very easy to chew. This was a really really good sandwich and you will get full. The mushroom sauce worked well with all the ingredients.

It came with a greek salad. It was yet again very fresh and I did enjoy it. The latte, NY Steak Panini and the side of greek salad came out to be $18. I don’t remember the breakdown of this, but I was surprised how expensive it was for a lunch. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the panini and salad.

MedicalGiraffe had the Cioppino Mix Seafood Stew ($18), it had Sauteed Seafood, Penne Noodles, Veggies, and simmered in a Garlic Tomato Broth. She thought it was pricey, but she did enjoy the stew. It came wit 2 pieces of bread, but she wish there was more to eat with the stew.

Words of Wisdom:

Food is a bit pricey
Best in small groups
Panini’s are really good
Parking garage across the street. Discounted parking for SFU students after 6pm.

We rate Broioche:

Website: http://www.brioche.ca/

They are located at:

401 West Cordova Street

Vancouver BC

In Brunch

Two Chefs and A Table

December 2, 2010

When MedicalGiraffe was back in town, she told me that we should try Two Chefs and A Table. I have never heard of this place before and decided why not! They are known for the simple food with AMAZING flavours! Looking around the neighbourhood of where Two Chefs and A Table are located, you would never expect such a popular restaurant would be hidden!

When you look inside, you can see the chefs hard at work preparing the meal. The open kitchen really shows customers that they have nothing to hide!

The interior decor is nicely decorated and modern. The waiters are really nice and helpful! Hey look it’s a garlic painting.

I started off with a green tea ($2). It even came with a little tray of honey.

I ordered the Tomato, Feta, Ham Frittata ($9), which also had spinach and basil pesto. It also came with potatoes and 4 pieces of whole wheat bread. The frittata was superbly made, the only thing i wished they had were more feta cheese.

The bread was very simple and was spread with butter. Nothing fancy, but it’s the way toast is supposed to be like.

MedicalGiraffe was in a dilemma about her meal. She couldn’t decide between the Monsieur Andres brunch or the scrambled benedict. Mark, our waiter took away our menu and left it up to a surprise. You could tell MedicalGiraffe was really excited. When does a waiter ever do that and make the choice for you?! I was excited too because i didn’t know what to expect.

After waiting for the mysterious dish to come out, Mark brought MedicalGiraffe the Monsieur Andres Brunch ($9). He said “Anyone who comes here must try the Monsieur Andres”. The Monsieur Andres has chacuterie meats and cheese within grilled sour dough. On top there is an over-easy egg and Parmesan Hollandaise. On the side there are potatoes as well.

This was an amazing take on the Traditional French Croque Monsieur (Twisted Fork Bistro). The Monsieur Andres was much smaller and had a better rich bold taste. The ingredients worked really well together!

And thus, we enjoyed our last meal together in November until MedicalGiraffe comes back for Winter Vacation.

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Since I had a positive experience, this could not stop me from visiting again with FinanceGirl. We needed to catch up on SFU Finance Club matters, so I suggested we go here.

In a few days since the last visit, they decked out the restaurant in christmas decorations. Take note of the art piece on the left in the black. They replaced the garlic with 2 Christmas StarWars figurines. Darth Vader and Yoda! FTW!

I always have a habit of always ordering the first thing on the menu. Today for Lunch, I got the Mac and Cheese. It had a 4 cheese sauce and topped with a layer of cheddar cheese. I chose to have the salad as the side. this Mac and Cheese was so good and cheesey. It may have looked small, but I was satisfied with the size. I looked around and 4 other people at different tables had it too. The salad was quite bland and too drenched with mango sauce that the leaves just ended up being very soggy.

FinanceGirl had the Grilled Chimichurri Wrap ($9). Inside this grilled wrap was Argentinean green sauce, grilled chicken, chipotle mayo, cheddar, tomato and rice. She seemed to enjoy this wrap. It’s pretty filling too if you want to be full. Yet again, the ingredients did go together really nicely. SO jealous of her fries too.

I was surprised by Two Chefs and A Table. It is true when they say it’s a hidden gem! I will return for dinner someday and I hope it meets my expectations!

Words of Wisdom:

Affordable brunch and lunch
Must try Mac & Cheese and the Monsieur Andres
Very sketchy neighbourhood
Free parking on side of road
Best for small groups

We rate Two Chefs and A Table :

Visit their website: http://www.twochefsandatable.com/

They are located at :

Gastown

305 Alexander St
Vancouver, BC

In Cafe

Acme Cafe

November 16, 2010

Acme Cafe is located on Hastings near SFU Woodwards building. I have to admit, it was kinda sketchy getting to because it was right at the border or the good Hastings and the bad part of Hastings. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The interior does look like a little cafe. I went at about 2pm, so it was pretty empty and slightly creepy but I’m sure if you go during peak times, it’ll be looking awesome inside. I hear the sometimes there are line ups.

The menu is on 2 pages and you have many choices to choose from. If you are stuck, you can always ask the staff.

I got a latte ($3.50) to start off the meal since I was definitely in need of a caffeine rush. When it first arrived, I was really unimpressed by the presentation. I’ve had a lot of lattes, but it was really disappointing seeing it look like a mess.

I got the roast beef sandwich ($12) and it came with a side of their daily soup.

The roast beef sandwich had a whole wheat hoagie bun, beef, spicy horseradish, Swiss cheese, sliced pickle, arugula and grainy dijon mayo. The sliced pickle worked wonders for this sandwich. It was very simple and the ingredients worked REALLY well together.

The only thing I didn’t like about the sandwich was that the roast beef was sliced a bit too thick. I had to use a knife and fork to cut it up. It was only an issue for the first half of the sandwich, but after that all the pieces were a normally slices and easy to chew. Overall, I still enjoyed the sandwich despite this little issue.

The daily soup, which I could not remember what it was called…was ok. I usually don’t like these types of soups. So, I will be honest and super biased about it. I don’t like tomato and potato types of soups.

They also sell a bunch of pastries and breads.

I ended up getting the espresso butter tart. It resembled a poppy. Butter tart was <3. Nice as flakey on the outside, and just tasted SO GOOD.

The total came out to be $21. I was a bit surprised. I eat a lot, but I didn’t think I ate $21 worth of food by myself. I was satisfied with the sandwich, but the coffee and soup didn’t do it for me. I feel like I should return one day to give Acme Cafe another chance. For now, I will not rate Acme Cafe. Perhaps trying some pie and Mac & Cheese will sway my thinking.

In Gastown

Chill Winston

September 28, 2010

Wandering down Gastown with CanuckGirl, TaiwaneseGirl, and BebeYeoville for some lunch, we were growing very hungry when we found out Guu was closed. We wondered until we saw this huge restaurant called Chill Winston. People have said this place was good, so we decided to go in for lunch.

The exterior of the building looks very inviting with its red flags and masculine exterior. It screamed modern, hip and classy. When walking inside, we were drawn by the abundance of comfortable lounge chairs, intimate ambiance, and a very stocked bar.

Looking at their vast menu, we decided upon the Shrimp salad, Pulled pork burger and daily pasta.

Canuckgirl and BebeYeoville had the pulled pork burger($15). The pulled pork burger had pulled pork, onions, pickled carrots, thai chili’s, in-house smoked cheddar, caramelized apple spread, and cucumber spears on a vietnamese bun. On the side of the dish were fries. CanuckGirl and BebeYeoville were not keen on the fries because they were really thick. It would have been better if they had skinny fries. All in all, the pulled pork burger was quite mediocre and not very special.

TaiwaneseGirl has the Daily Pasta ($14). This changes every day to ensure the freshest ingredients are used in the dish. I’m not sure what exactly was in this dish but there was green pasta with a nice piece of fish on top. She said it was good, so it must be.

I had the Shrimp Salad ($13). It contained pan-seared prawns with avocado salsa, red onion, toasted cashews, cherry tomatoes, and red wine vinaigrette. I really enjoyed this dish but I really hated how the pan-seared prawns left a lot of black pepper bits in-between my teeth. The avocado salsa was nice and refreshing and was like an intermission to the dish.

Words of wisdom:

Daily specials are a must!

Chill Winston is a hidden gem in Gastown for the young, hip and classy individuals. Great ambiance resonates from the decors around the restaurant. Chill Winston is a good place to go with your best gal pals or a nice romantic date. This place is a bit pricey for what you get, so do watch your wallet. You are really just paying for the ambiance.

We rate Chill Winston: