Kitsilano Archives - Page 2 of 4

In Cafe

Trees Organic Coffee & Roasting House: Cheese Cake in Vancouver

January 28, 2017

Trees Coffee is also known as Trees Organic that is popular for their cheese cakes. I came here with my mother in law over the holidays for some coffee and cheese cake. It was on her list of places to hit up while it town, so we just had to have an afternoon coffee and share a slice of cheese cake.

Coffee

I got a cappuccino while my mother in law had a mocha. Both very delicious and go very well with cheesecake.

Cheesecake

The Sin is their Chocolate and Cherry Cheesecake made with real Belgian chocolate and sour cherries.

The texture of the cheesecake was dense, but very delicious. The consistency was smooth and we really liked it.

A nice treat for the afternoon. Perfect for us to take a break, enjoy some coffee and cheesecake.

We Rate Trees Coffee:

Address:
1598 W Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
http://treescoffee.com/

In Bakery

Grounds for Coffee: Cinnamon Buns and Coffee

January 24, 2017

Grounds for Coffee has been around since 1993 making delicious cinnamon buns. They are made by hand with locally-sourced ingredients, to hundreds of locations across B.C. and Alberta. I was invited to stop by to try some coffee and cinnamon buns. I’m usually not in this area, so it was great to explore more shops on Alma close to UBC.

Interior

The interior is a bit dated, but it brings me back in time with all the pictures on the walls. A lot of people that were here were studying or reading while enjoying coffee or their cinnamon buns.

There aren’t a lot of seats here, but a good amount of people did take out.

Coffee

I got a latte to go with my cinnamon buns. It’s the perfect combination.

They sell 100% premium organic Arabica coffee beans, with at least 50 percent of their coffee sourced free trade at any given time.

Cinnamon Buns

Frosted or unfrosted, that is the big question, so I got both. The cream cheese frosting is so good, that you want lots of it smothering the top. It’s been a while since my last cinnamon bun but you can tell the difference of the ingredients and it’s made fresh. The cinnamon bun is pretty big, so even splitting one among 2 people is pretty good.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a nice place to stop by for a cinnamon bun and coffee. If you’re in the area, check it out. Just remember to get your cinnamon bun topped with the cream cheese frosting.

We Rate Grounds for Coffee:

Address:
2565 Alma Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://groundsforcoffee.ca/

In Japanese

Raisu: Japanese Cuisine in Kitsilano

January 1, 2017

Raisu is the newest sister restaurant to Kingyo, Rajio, and Suika. I came with my friends late at night as we wanted to try something new in town. The restaurant is hidden on the second floor, so the door is a bit hard to find, but once you make your way up here, the space is very rustic.

Drinks

Raisu Premium Sake Flight comes with 5 cups of sake. The staff chooses the five choices for you.

I went with a glass of Sapporo as I personally don’t like sake. Beer is my kind of drink. Light, refreshing and pairs well with Japanese food.

Milky Sily Mentaiko Udon

The chewy Sanuki Udon noodles are in a broth made of Saikyo white miso, mascarpone cheese, and briny cod roe soup. The udon came in a huge bowl and can be shared among the table. Good deep flavours of the broth.

Chicken Karaage

This is Raisu’s original spice rubbed vegetarian-fed free-range chicken Kara-age. The skin is crisp and very moist inside when you bite in. Flavours were good, but expensive for this price.

Deluxe Seafood Bowl

The bowl is stunning and very Instagram worth with its slices of seafood – Ahi Tuna, Sea Urchin, Yellow Tail, Snow Crab, Tai Snapper, Toro Salmon, Ikura and Sweet Shrimp on top of premium Koshihikari Sushi rice. It is also served with miso soup.

It is beautiful, but expensive for what you get. There is a large shell on the back that help prop up all the ingredients, so you don’t really get as much as you see. It is delicious still, but I know I get get better value else where.

Overall, the food is good but the prices are a bit high for what you get. The most popular items are the Sho Ka Do Bento, the Ocean Offering, and Seafood Donabe Takikomi Rice but there are limited quantities per day for lunch and dinner. You’ll have to get their early. If I were to revisit, I think I’ll try those limited items instead.

We Rate Raisu:

Address:
2340 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.raisu.ca/

In Dessert

Cupcakes: Holiday Wreaths and Treats

December 20, 2016

With the holidays upon us, thinking of what to bring to a holiday gathering at a friends place or at the office is pretty tough. Cupcakes has a few holiday treats that will brighten up the party. It’s been a while since I’ve had a cupcake from here, so when they asked me to try a few of their holiday features, I couldn’t say no.

Cupcake Wreath

Their cupcake wreath comes in 4 different sizes – Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. I got the Medium, which is comprised of 22 mini cupcakes. You can customize the taste with any of their cake and buttercream flavours. I got the chocolate cupcake with a green coloured butter cream. It is also decorated with beautiful fondant pieces and a big red bow.

We took it to the office and it disappeared really quickly. It was hard to be the first one to dig in, but the cupcake was moist and the frosting was light.

Holiday Flavoured Cupcakes

In addition to the cupcake wreaths, they have special holiday flavoured cupcakes like:

eggnog
gingerbread
ginger holiday
rudolph
chocolate rum
frosty
candy cane
peppermint patty

Lots to choose from, but I personally liked the rudolph as it has a chocolate marble cake with chocolate and vanilla buttercream and a red button. Another super festive one is candy cane with vanilla and pink peppermint marble cake with white peppermint buttercream and candy cane sprinkles.

With the full size cupcakes, I always have to split it with a friend. It’s a pretty big size.

Overall, if you are stuck on what to bring to the holiday potluck, their sweet treats will impress.

We Rate Cupcakes:

Address:
2887 West Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
http://cupcakesonline.com/

In Japanese

Green Leaf Sushi: Aburi Sushi and Sashimi

April 23, 2016

Green Leaf Sushi in Kitsilano has been generating quite a buzz lately for their Aburi Sushi Platter. They have their version of Miku’s Salmon Oshi Sushi, which is driving people crazy on instagram.

We came here for dinner with the family and waited about an hour and a bit for their large table that fits 8 people. We tried making a reservation in the morning, but they need at least 24 hours notice, so we went a bit early to put our name down since we knew it would be a wait. Even for groups for 4 or 5, they also seem to wait a while.

Always best to make reservations to avoid any waiting.

Complimentary tea arrives on the table or you can ask for water. They weren’t as diligent filling up the tea, but since the restaurant was so busy, it was ok. You just need to flag down a server.

Kabocha Korokke comes with 3 pieces. There is a quail egg inside covered in winter squash. It was pretty good, but we wished there were even pieces instead of just 3 pieces.

Prawn Tempura comes with 6 pieces. Crispy golden and light batter that surrounds the prawn. You’ll need to dunk it in the sauce or else it feels a bit heavy and oily.

For the family, we shared the Aburi Sushi Platter that comes with 6 pieces of each aburi and the roll that has 8. 6 different varieties with 38 pieces in total. it takes about 30 minutes to prepare, so make sure you order this right away when you sit down.

Salmon Oshi Sushi
Basil Ebi oshi sushi
Yukke Tuna Oshi Sushi
Sime Saba Oshi Sushi
Hotate Oshi Sushi
Aburi Tobibo roll

All the rolls were really good. Fresh ingredients and lots of favour. It’s a great item to share with the table, but it is about $60 something dollars.

Salmon Sashimi uses wild salmon, so the quality is really good.

Tuna sashimi was stellar! Some pieces were basically toro. Melt in your mouth!

Saba Miso Yaki is grilled mackerel with miso sauce on top. It also have grilled onions and a side of rice.

Tuna tataki salad was good and lightly dressed with lots of greens on top.

The udon that my dad got was ok, but it reminded us of kimchi stew.

Kimchi bacon Ishiyaki was so poorly put together, whoever made it does not know how to cook rice. The rice was so mushy that you know they added too much water to the rice. Since there was so much moisture, it could barely crisp up in the hot bowl.

Chopped scallop roll, House Roll and Negitoro roll were all well put together, fresh ingredients and super tasty.

Overall, the sushi and the sashimi were very good and fresh. The quality was great, but we didn’t like the cooked items like their udon and their rice bowl. Stick with the aburi sushi and some of their rolls and you’ll have a good time.

We Rate Green Leaf Sushi:

Address:
3416 West Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.facebook.com/GreenLeafSushi/

In Dessert

Tangram Creamery: New Ice Cream Shop in Kitsilano

January 25, 2016

Driving around Kitsilano, M and I stopped by Tangram Creamery for some delicious ice cream after dinner to end the night. I’ve seen so many picture of this new shop on instagram that we had to check it out.

The shop is cute and doesn’t have too many seats but on the evening that we came here it wasn’t that busy.

They have a limited menu of their ice cream and sorbets, but there’s always something that will intrigue your taste buds.

Double Chocolate with Sugar Cookie Cone ($5 +$1) was what M got. The single scoop is a great size since they stuff the cone so you get your moneys worth. M enjoyed the double chocolate as there were bits of chocolate pieces inside. He did not that there were some ice crystals in it.

The sugar cookie cone is awesome and worth the extra $1.

Hoji Cha with Sugar Cookie Cone ($5 +$1) I got this Japanese roasted tea flavour since it has a pretty unique taste. A really enjoyed it and they really got a nice concentration of flavour. I also did notice small bits of ice crystals in here too, but it wasn’t too distracting.

The ends of the sugar cones are dipped in chocolate to seal the cone so any dripping ice cream doesn’t seep out. Great idea and it also tastes yummy.

You can also grab water from their super cool water dispenser that looks like an espresso machine.

Overall, they have some unique flavours that no other ice cream shop has, but they also have classic flavours to satisfy those who are less adventurous. With both flavours, we did find small ice crystals inside, but since they are quite new, hopefully they will improve that.

We Rate Tangram Creamery:

Address:
2729 Arbutus Street
Vancouver BC

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/tangramcreamery

In Canadian

The Oakwood: Dine Out Vancouver

January 23, 2016

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro is located in Kitsilano. I’ve been here before for brunch and dinner but I thought it would be great to take a few friends to Oakwood for Dine Out Vancouver. A 3-course meal for $29 is a pretty good price for this place. To add on wine pairings, its an additional $20.

Dine Out Menu

You get to choose 1 item from each category

Course 1

Potato and leek soup with bacon and cheddar roll
Lemon pepper calamari with blistered green beans and sauce rouille
Buttermilk fried chicken, endive and pear salad with honey mustard ginger dressing

Course 2

Braised beef shank bourguignon, pomme puree, gherkins, and crispy onions
Olive oil poached ling cod, wild rice, puffed rice, cauliflower puree, coconut curry, and pickled fennel
Smoked ham hock orecchiette, shemiji mushrooms, brussel sprouts, creme fraiche, and pangratatto

Dessert

Salted Caramel and Apple Cheesecake
Chocolate and orange tres leches cake

Their space is quite cozy even on their patio. Its heated and theres blankets to keep you extra toasty.

Our table sat inside right by the fireplace in a large booth for the 4 of us.

Drinks

Before we dug into the menu, drinks are needed! They have a good selection of wines, cocktails and beer on the menu. Also, the bar looks pretty nice.

Bomber Pilsner has a floral aroma, which makes it a refreshing and clean-drinking lager. It won a gold medal in Vancouver Magazine’s International Craft Beer Awards in 2015.

Nagging Doubt Pinot Noir has intense strawberry, red cherry, spice, and pepper notes. Medium-bodied with nice acidity and extremely soft tannins, this pinot will pair well with duck and salmon.

Buffalo Eat Grapes ($11) buffalo trace bourbon, pinot noir syrup, lemon and bitters.

Course 1

Buttermilk fried chicken has endive and pear salad with honey mustard ginger dressing. It tasted delicious, but it was a bit small and the presentation was pretty much lacking. It looked like chicken nuggets on top of salad. It’s hard to not judge it by its presentation, but when you taste the fried chicken, its very delicious and tender! The endive worked very well in this dish to give more texture to the rest of the greens.

Lemon pepper calamari is served with blistered green beans and sauce rouille. The calamari is very tender with delicious green beans. Since it was a small starter, we wish we had more.

Course 2

Braised beef shank bourguignon comes with pomme puree, gherkins, and crispy onions. The gherkins felt like it was oddly placed in the dish. The dish was delicious but we wished there as more beef. The beef was super tender, but there were only a few pieces.

Smoked ham hock orecchiette has shemiji mushrooms, brussel sprouts, creme fraiche, and pangrattato. It was more filling than the other dish. I love this grungy presentation and the flavours of the brussel sprouts are awesome. The pangrattato add awesome texture too.

Dessert

Salted Caramel and Apple Cheesecake is what half the table ordered. Pretty average tasting.

Chocolate and orange tres leches cake came in a jar as well. I wasn’t very impressed by the dessert as the flavours didn’t shine through. It was a cute idea to have it in the jar, but felt below par for what they usually serve.

Overall, I find with Dine Out that its a love-hate relationship. I love a 3-course menu at a reduced price, but i just hate how there are time limits imposed on eat seating, and also the quality decreases since its all batch cooked. Thats what they need to do since it’s a packed night every night. Oakwood has amazing dishes but this visit was average. The entrees were definitely worth devouring and I’ll be back again for a regular dining experience.

We Rate Oakwood:

Address:
2741 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.theoakwood.ca/

In Brunch

Au Comptoir: Breakfast in Kitsilano

January 10, 2016

Au Comptoir is a classic Parisien cafe in Kitsilano. Flo was back in town and we love meeting up over coffee and delicious food. Thats what foodies do best.

They are open at 8am everyday for breakfast. It’s great that they are open so early.

No breakfast is complete without coffee. I grabbed a cappuccino with my meal. It has a nice pit of latte art on top. They also serve it with a small little cookie. Nice touch.

The water bottle is pretty neat as they reuse old Whiskey bottles.

Breakfast Au Comptoir ($13) has oeuf cocotte, potato rösti, and your choice of house-made sausage or bacon. Flo got the bread replaced with more salad. Bacon is deliciously crisp.

Croque Madame ($14) has gruyère, ham, fried egg on country bread, and salad. I liked how it was served open-faced and it wasn’t too heavy for breakfast. The salad balances out the croque madame.

Overall, it was a good place to catch up with friends over breakfast. The servers were nice and a good place to start the day with food and drinks.

We Rate Au Comptoir:

Address:
2278 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://aucomptoir.ca/

In Dessert

720 Sweets: Steamy Ice Cream in Kitsilano

November 1, 2015

720 Sweets is an ice cream store that seeks to explore revolutionary flavours on their menu. If you are from Vancouver and have Instagram, I’m sure you have seen their steamy treats.

The shop is in the Kitsilano area on West Broadway.

The shop is quite small and doesn’t fit a lot of people, but most people just do take out and walk around the neighbourhood. There’s so many restaurants nearby, so it’s great to have dinner else where and then make a stop here for some late night treats. That’s what M and I did. We had dinner a block away at Mamalee Malaysian Delight and came here after.

They have 5 types of Ice cream:

The Classic – crushed graham crackers, sweetened condensed milk, and a freshly baked butter cookie
Honey720 – Rich honey drizzle and golden honeycomb
S’Mores Please – chocolate corn flakes, dark chocolate drizzle, crunchy almond stick and a toasted marshmallow
The Milky Way – crushed walnuts, light caramel drizzle, espresso grass jelly, and a crunchy almond cookie
Cloud Nine – crunchy almond stick, cotton candy popcorn, and a dreamy fluffy cotton candy.

All of the are $5.95, which is a pretty good price.

M and I got the S’mores Please and the The Milky Way. The steam coming up from the bottom of the cup is a mixture of dry ice and hot water that creates the beautiful steam. The ice cream sits on top of a separate cup, so they never touch each other.

Both ice creams were put together so beautifully. You really need to take some pictures before you dig in.

S’more Please has a good strong chocolate taste in the ice cream. Probably one of the best I’ve had. Lots of chocolatey good toppings.

The Milky Way was my favourite. The combination of the strong milk tea flavour and the texture of the grass jelly is every asian’s dream. I loved it! I am not a big sweets fan, but I couldn’t stop eating this. Highly recommended.

M and I both agreed that the Milky Way was our favourites.

Overall, the flavours were great and so much fun taking pictures of these beautiful ice cream creations. It’s not just the flavour but the experience of eating these. I’ll be back for sure.

We Rate 720 Sweets:

Address:
3278 West Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
http://720sweets.com/

In Cafe

Mamalee Malaysian Delight: Hainanese Chicken in Vancouver

October 30, 2015

Mamalee Malaysia Delight was Cafe D’Lite but underwent rebranding in 2013 as a tribute to the owner – Betty for her spirit and heritage. It represents Betty’s continuing commitment to an authentic Malaysian dining experience that is second to none.

I have been looking for the best Hainanese Chicken in Vancouver and a lot of people recommended Mamalee. Since I was in the area, M and I came here to have a quick dinner.

By 6pm, this place was packed! We were fortunate to get the last table so we didn’t have to wait in line. Looking at the other tables, it seems like almost everyone orders the same few items.

Can you guess their specialty? Of course! Hainanaese Chicken. It can come on rice, or in soup with noodles. So manu choices.

To order, you fill this out and return it back to the server.

Roti Canai ($5.95) comes with laksa sauce for dipping. The roti was flakey on the outside and was very delicious.

Regular Hainanese Chicken Rice ($9.95) you get yummy rice with a lot of Hainanese chicken. I gobbled this right up. All the chicken is boneless and so addictive.

It also comes with soup, which is a nice bonus.

Large Hainanese Chicken Rice ($12.50) is definitely larger! M had this and he just loved it too.

Overall, the food is delicious and the prices are pretty good as well. Hainanese Chicken all the way! A majority of the people who come here order their Hainanese Chicken. So far, this place is on the top of my list to get Hainanese Chicken. Great potion size too. I would definitely come back.

We Rate Mamalee Malaysian Delight:

Address:
3144 West Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
http://mamalee.ca/

In Japanese

Ramen Danbo: Ramen in Kitsilano

July 19, 2015

Ramen Danbo is the newest ramen shop to open up in Vancouver. They are known for their Fukuoka-Style Tonkotsu ramen. Ramen Danbo is a chain restaurant from Japan and the first location in North America.

What makes them unique is that you can customize the ramen you order by selecting

amount of spicy tare sauce
firmness of noodles
amount of lard
thickness of broth

At first I was overwhelmed by the amount of choices.

The interior is simple and there aren’t a lot of seats.

Pan-fried yaki gyoza ($4.75) is a crispy pork and scallion dumpling. Its nice and crisp on the outside and the pork inside is very delicious. Even a little bit of soup comes out.

You can dip them in their gyoza and chili sauce.

Mentaiko Rice ($3.50) has a bed of rice with spicy cod roe, sesame and seaweed. I mixed everything up and there really needs to be more roe. I wouldn’t recommend this. perhaps their Yakibuta chashu pork donburi or yakibuta tanka rice is more flavourful.

Yakibuta Chashu Pork Ramen with soft boiled egg topping ($11.95 + $1.50) it has size chashu slices that are tender and flavourful. The signature tonkotsu broth is delicious. We found the price pretty good since there are six slices of chashu.

If you are still hungry after this, you can order extra noodles for $2 or have a half order for $1.

Negi-goma Tonkotsu Ramen ($11.45) has scallions and toasted sesame with two slices of chashu pork slices. It is in their signature Tonkotsu pork broth.

I got it with firm noodles and standard amount of lard, thickness, and spice. The options were confusing so I stuck with the standard. It was good, but there is a lot of sesame seeds in it. Check your teeth before you head out of the restaurant because you don’t want to have a teeth full of sesame seed.

They also have garlic paste and pepper at the table if you want to enhance the taste.

Overall, I would say it is my third favourite ramen place in Vancouver. It’s quite subjective based on the type of ramen you like. I still prefer Santouka and Jinya.

We Rate Ramen Danbo:

Address:
1833 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://ramendanbo.com

In Cafe

Linh Cafe: French Cuisine with a Twist of Vietnamese

April 16, 2015

Linh Cafe is located on West 4th in Kitsilano. I’ve heard very good things about this café, so when I saw a deal on Groupon for $49 to get 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts, I thought it was a steal. An entree is around $25, so getting the Groupon was awesome! What can I say? I like a good deal!

The other half of the restaurant by the front entrance looks for like a café.

Their menu is quite unique as it serves French Cuisine with a Vietnamese twist. Owner and Chef Tai Nguyen merges his two loves of French food and family.

Mussel ($16.50) comes with a wine and fresh herbs cream sauce. It is served with 4 pieces of bread on top.

The mussels were nice and plump! Very delicious and the sauce was great. We dipped a lot of the bread into the sauce.

Nem Cha Gio Spring Roll ($10.50) is packed with shrimp, pork, wood-ear mushroom, and glass noodles.

I loved how crisp the outside was. One of the best spring rolls I’ve had.

Cassoulet ($23.90) has duck confit, house made sausage, pork confit, and white beans in a hot skillet. This was really good! How can you not love all this meat in a pan?

It also came with frites. Very crispy on the outside.

Gigot ($27.50) has 12 hour braised lamb legs in red wine and mirepoix. It is also served with bread.

I found the meat to be a tad dry and the portion is a bit on the small side.

Don’t forget to dunk it into the stew.

By this point, M and I were quite full from the meal, so we had to take the dessert home.

Apple Chausson ($4.50) are French Apple Turnovers. I popped it into the oven until the pastry crisps up a bit more. It’s pretty good, but I wish I had some vanilla ice cream to eat it with.

Three Chocolate Mousse ($6.95) M loved it. He was very satisfied with the dessert.

Overall, the entire meal was very delicious and I loved the combination of French and Vietnamese. You really get the best of both worlds. Our entire meal would have been over $90, but with the Groupon, it was around $50. Not bad at all. You know it’s a good meal when M can’t stop raving about the restaurant.

We Rate Linh Cafe:

Address:
2836 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.linhcafe.com/

In Kitsilano

Pirate Joes: Legally Smuggling Trader Joe’s into Canada

January 18, 2015

Pirate Joe’s is a local store reselling Trader Joe’s items from the States so Canadian’s can have a taste of their yummy groceries without making a trip to the states. I know I certainly hate taking the highway to Bellingham just for cookie butter. That’s where Pirate Joe’s comes in to help smuggle the goods into Canada. It’s pretty funny.

Pirate Joe’s has been in the media a lot in 2013 and 2014 because of the lawsuit from Trader Joes. But luckily, both lawsuits were dismissed. So, they can keep on operating with a few minor tweeks to keep it legal.

Walking through the small store, you will definitely notice a few of your favourite items. The prices are higher of course, but it still saves you the gas from going down south.

The shelves were pretty stocked, so they really do a good job hauling everything over to Vancouver.

M and I didn’t go too crazy buying items. We just chose a few of our favourite items. Seriously, I love those Cheddar Cheese Sticks!

If you don’t see something you want on the shelves, they will try their best to get it. One day, hopefully they open up a Trader Joe’s in Canada so we can have access to all the yummy treats they have to offer.

Website: http://www.piratejoes.ca/

In Kitsilano

Baru Latino: Dine Out Vancouver

January 17, 2015

Baru Latino is located in the Point Grey area close to UBC. They serve up Latin cuisine and use responsibly caught seafood and local ingredients in their dishes. They also have classic and original drinks.

My friends and I decided to come here for Dine Out Vancouver for their 3 course meal for $28. We made reservations since we had a group of 7.

Blood Orange Mojito is what KoreanGirl to start off the meal. She enjoyed it but it was quite strong.

Chili Prawns comes with 3 pieces and tossed with their homemade house sauce. The sauce was quite spicy, so if you cant’ take the heat, don’t order this dish. The size of the appetizer was also a tad small.

Beef Tiradito is seared beef carpaccio with chimichurri, greens, yam hay and flatbread. It tasted ok, but the beef lacked much flavour. Most of the flavour comes from the chimichurri sauce and the little plums.

Ecuadorian Red Ceviche has citrus marinated scallops, shrimp, octopus in a roasted red pepper and smoked tomato mojo. It is served with a plantain chip.

My friends thought it was decent but the size was pretty small.

Paella Baru has chorizo, chicken, mussels, prawns, scallops, and halibut tossed with rice, cilantro, smokey salsa with homemade flatbread. It was good said my friends.

Cartagena Crusted Halibut has a plantain crusted halibut with seasonal vegetables and roasted tomatoes, served on a coconut polenta, finished with a tamarind glaze, and topped with crispy yam hay.

The coconut polenta was cold and didn’t match well with the hot halibut. The halibut was bland and needed the help of the sauce to keep it flavourful.

Costillas de Res is slow braised beef short ribs on mashed potatoes with seasonal vegetables finished with guava mojo. My friend said it was good and flavourful.

Latin Flan has orange blossom with caramel. It is topped with blueberry puree and a gooseberry. The plan was sweet and it tasted like condensed milk. We all loved it. The blueberry puree worked well with it to balance out the sweetness.

Overall, with the DineOut Vancouver deal, this place was packed and made the service slow and uncomfortable. The food would take about 30 minutes per dish to come out. Some of the dishes lacked the care and attention to keep up with the rush of orders. Servers were hustling to make sure customers had a good time, but didn’t quite hit the mark. For the $28 menu, it offers you a taste of whats on the menu. I’m not 100% sure if the small appetizers are the original sizes on their menu.

We Rate Baru Latino:

Address:
2535 Alma St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.barulatino.com/

In Gluten Free Options

Novo Pizzeria and Wine Bar: Fresh Made Pasta

November 30, 2014

Novo Pizzeria and Wine Bar specializes in pasta even though they are a pizzeria. All the pasta is made in-house and they also have gluten-free options. They are located in Kitsilano near Burrard and West 5th Avenue. There is street parking and underground parking as well.

The interior has the open kitchen where you can see them putting your dishes together or firing up your pizza in their oven. There are lots of tables to accommodate small to large groups.

Burrata Cicheto was served on a spoon and also has tomato jam, balsamic pearls, pistachio, pink peppercorn and mint. It was a delicious bite that left us wanting more.

I still prefer their regular burrata dish, its so good!

Truffled Fettuccine has funghi misti, truffle oil and pecorino romano. It was a good dish and not too over powering with the truffle oil. Good balance of flavours. I am a huge fan of mushrooms, so this dish really was eaten quite quickly. nom nom nom nom nom. The Fettuccine noodles were cooked al dente.

Risotto Di Bufala has mozzarella di bufala, over dried tomatoes, thyme, cashews, and arugula pesto. I love creamy risotto! Carbalicious! It was really good. Mmm Mmm Mmm

Handcut pappardelle served with tender rabbit, roasted tomatoes, California black olives, white wine, pecorino cheese, arugula and olio al tartufo.

Yes, they serve rabbit and it tastes like chicken. Maybe you were better off not knowing what protein is in this dish. It was good and adventurous to those who have not tried rabbit before.

Braised Beef Cheek Ravioli has onion confit, black pepper and tarragon cream sauce, and orange zest. The one thing that threw me off about this dish is the orange zest. The ravioli were large and stuffed with a good amount of beef.

Sausage Orrechiette has fennel pollen, allepo pepper, and parmigiano reggiano. This was M’s favourite because of the chunks of sausage.

Sicilian Cannoli has bufalo ricotta, citrus oil, orange blossom water and pistachios. Delicious cannoli and its the perfect size.

Overall, Nova has a good variety of pasta on their menu with unique ingredients.

We Rate Novo Pizzeria:

Address:
2118 Burrard Street
Vancouver

Website:
http://www.novopizzeria.com/

In Bakery

Panne Rizo Gluten Free Bakery: Black Forest Cake

October 6, 2014

Panne Rizo is a local Gluten Free Bakery with locations in Kitsilano and South Burnaby. They only sell Gluten-free items and have won Georgia Straight’s People’s Choice Winner for Golden Plates for both 2012 and 2013. Also, they were voted Top Choice Cafe of 2014. They have also been around for over 15 years.

I received a SocialShopper voucher redeemable for an 8-Inch Gluten Free Custom Cake or Black Forest Cake from Panne Rizo. As my little sister is Celiac, she gets really sad when she can’t eat cakes or suffers through the side effects of eating gluten. It’s usually the latter, but she loves bread and cake.

I called them to order the cake with 48 hours notice. They won’t take any orders under that time.

This place has shelves upon shelves of baked goods. They also serve lunch here as well.

Or you can grab some pies, pizza, or sandwiches to go.

Black Forest Cake originates from Germany and is known for their layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Then, it is topped with more whipped cream, chocolate shavings and cherries.

When I was a kid, we ended up having a lot of black forest cake for some reason. So, fast forward 20 years or so, I had the delight of trying black forest cake again.

There’s lots of whipped cream, 2 layers of chocolate cake and the cherry jam in the centre. I got the whole family to taste test and they thought it was ok. My little sister thought the cake was dense and had too much whipped cream.

We all had our varying opinions, but Black Forest Cake alone isn’t very exciting. I would suggest choosing a different cake with the voucher and pay a little bit more for their chocolate hazelnut cake or carrot cake.

Overall, I think I will need to make a revist to really have their true colours shine by trying some cookies and bread.

We Rate Panne Rizo Gluten Free Bakery:

Address:
1939 Cornwall Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.pannerizo.com/

In Izakaya

Rajio: Turn On The Rajio Dining Package

September 24, 2014

Rajio is located near UBC and are owned by the same people who have brought us Suika Izakaya and Kingyo Izakaya. Rajio is Japanese for Radio, so you will notice their logo is a radio at the front of the restaurant.

The team at Vaneats.ca are currently offering up a $20 ‘Turn on the Rajio‘ dining package, which includes 4 items:

Kushikatsu – 4 bite size skeweres
Banga Cauda – fresh veggies and dip
Sashimi Salad
Heavenly Ebi Ramen

I came here on a weekday with 3 of my good friend to enjoy some yummy Japanese food. We used the package, as well as ordering a few items off them menu.

The interior is quite nice and really connects you back to Japan.

Complimentary cabbage with a light acidic dressing. Yummy!

Bagna Cauda has fresh veggies with a dipping sauce made from garlic, anchovy, olive oil and sweet Japanese white miso. This was a really strange dish to see at a restaurant especially if it’s served in a pyrex cup. Funny to see all the vegetables, but it actually pairs well with the sauce. The sauce blew us away.

VANEATS Sashimi Salad has their Chef’s omakase sashimi with crisp romaine lettuce tossed in kalamata olive soya dressing topped with tobiko. Very good sashimi salad.

Kushikatsu is what Rajio is known for! It has the Chef’s recommendation of 4 deep fried, panko breaded, bite sized skewers with their dipping sauce. Just make sure you only take on dip. I was scared to use the sauce because what if someone double dipped by accident.

Heavenly Ebi Ramen is a new item and has tender ramen in deep-golden shrimp broth, embellished with slices of cha-shu pork and shrimp infused garlic oil. Its a bit disappoint to see there isn’t any who ebi shrimp in the dish. It tasted ok but I felt like it was still lacking something.

Overall, the Vaneats Turn on the Rajio package is a good start to dive into their menu, but you will need to order a few more dishes to round out the whole experience.

Let keep exploring some dishes outside of the dining package.

Smashing Hit Punch ($13) looks pretty awesome. It is punch with watermelon, orange, grapefruit, vodka, rum, white wine and all served in a watermelon. It’s a small watermelon and not those regular large ones. It looked really cool, but M thought the beverage could have been colder to enhance the flavours.

Chicken Knees is actually chicken cartilage with some meat. Some people may think this dish is weird, but it’s just like chicken karaage but with the added cartilage.

Tontoro Yaki is their grilled pork jowl with shredded onions and yuzu kosho – a citrus dressing.

The KFC ($7.80) has boneless chicken karaage coated with their secret spices.

We also ordered more Kushikatsu.

Chicken Kushikatsu, mochi Kushikatsu, and bacon wrapped tomato Kushikatsu.

Sausage Kushikatsu and Camembert Cheese

Tako Wasabi ($3.80) has raw chopped octopus with pickles marinated in a wasabi sauce. You take the mixture and scoop them onto the seaweed and eat it together. I like this dish because you get the nice kick of wasabi.

Overall, my friends and I had a great time! We casually chatted over beer and food. The ambiance was great because they actually played some good music. Discovered a few songs that I wanted to put on a few on my playlists.

We Rate Rajio:

Address:
3763 W. 10th Ave.
Vancouver, BC

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

In Brunch

Oakwood Canadian Bistro: Brunch

July 4, 2014

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro is know for their delicious brunch on the weekends from 10am – 2:45pm. TaiwaneseGirl really wanted to taste their brunch since she’s heard great things. I was here a while ago too, when the brunch was only $10, but times have changed and prices unfortunately go up.

The place was very busy for brunch and we didn’t make reservations. You should make reservations to avoid the waits.

Nothing starts off the day than a cup of coffee with unlimited refills.

Confit Tuna Benedict ($14) has dill hollandaise, fennel salad, and home fries. TaiwaneseGirl and CanuckGirl did enjoy the bennies. They thought it was very flavourful and plus those home fries and crunchy.

Maple Confit Pork Belly ($12) has scrambled eggs, home fries, and toast. The bacon was mighty tasty. I love bacon. The eggs were a bit boring, but if you pair it up with some ketchup, they taste just fine.