Category

Kitsilano

Category

novo-sign

Novo Pizzeria is located in Kitsilano near Burrard and West 5th Avenue. There is street parking and underground parking as well. Novo Pizzeria serves up Neapolitan pizza created in their wood burning oven. Owner Carmine Paradiso opened Novo in 2011 because he loves Neapolitan pizza and couldn’t find any authentic ones in Vancouver.

M and I decided to give Novo a try after work one day. We have been to a bunch of other pizza places in town and wanted to see what people were talking about.

novo-inner

The interior has a comfortable and relaxed setting. You ca see the open kitchen at the back of the restaurant. It’s pretty fun to see them making pizza and preparing all the other dishes.

novo-burrata

Burrata ($14) is served with  arugula, oven-dried tomatoes, and house made bread. Oh boy, was this delicious! It had a soft texture, so, when you put it on the bread, it just oozes all over it. Highly recommended.

novo-meatball

Sicilian Meatballs ($10) also is packed with currants, pine nuts then topped with reggiano and marinara sauce. The meatball were a nice size, but M thought it was just an average meatball. Nothing is noticeably different.

novo-ravioli

Ravioli ($19) has roasted pecans, gorgonzola pear balsamic cream sauce, and prosciutto.

novo-raviolio

I wasn’t a fan of the dish because it was rich and had a sweet taste. When you take a bite with prosciutto, it helps cut away the sweetness.

novo-dop

Novo DOP Margherita Pizza ($20) is made with DOP (denominazione di Origine Protetta) marked ingredients. These items have been made it it’s traditional ways to set a high quality of standards of produce in Europe.

This pizza is made with imported DOP San Marzano tomatoes, DOP Bufalo mozzarella from the Campania region of Italy, basil, Frantori Cutrera DOP, cold extracted olive oil, DOP parmigiano reggiano, and pesto.

Clearly, there is a lot of love and passion for quality ingredients that went into this pizza. You can really taste the freshness of the ingredients.

novo-tartufo

 Tartufo ($21) has fior di latte, truffled mushrooms, fennel sausage, and truffled oil. This pizza was ok and I was surprised it didn’t have a strong truffle taste.

novo-chili

You can ask for chili oil for your pizza. It’s not spicy, but it adds a bit more flavour to the pizza.

novo-creme

 Toasted Hazelnut Creme Brulee ($9) has Frangelico ganache under the creme brulee, rosemary and pinenut cookies, and a orange granita. Best creme brulee that I’ve ever had! The flavours were great and I could eat this over and over again.

novo-cappucino

Cappuccino was ordered at the end of the meal to finish off the evening.

novo-menu

Overall, there were items that were a hit and a miss. I didn’t find their staple items – pizza or pasta exciting. But, this is based off the few items I tried. My most favourite items are the burrata and the toasted hazelnut Creme Brulee!

We Rate Novo Pizzeria:

Address:
2118 Burrard Street
Vancouver

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

Novo Pizzeria and Wine Bar on Urbanspoon

rain-or-shine-outer

Who says ice cream is only for sunny days. With 365 days of the year, it mostly rains in Vancouver but ice cream is so delicious, you can have it any time of the year. There’s a new shop called Rain or Shine Ice Cream close to West 4th and Burrard.

A lot of people compare this place to Earnest Ice Cream.

rain-or-shine-sign

They try to use the best ingredients possible in their menu. Fresh, natural and sustainable ingredients are used and you can see it being reflected on their menu.

rain-or-shine-flavours

The Keepers sections are flavours that are kept year round. Seasonal flings are the ones with ingredients that are currently in season.

The Keepers:

  • Chocolate
  • Vanilla
  • Salted Caramel
  • Coffee Toffee
  • London Fog
  • Honey Lavendar
  • Blueberry Balsamic
  • Peanut Butter
  • Coconut Chocolate Chunk
  • Cracked Mint

Seasonal Flings:

  • Spiced Honey Hazelnut
  • BrownButter Snickerdoodle
  • Oatmeal praline Rum Rasin
  • Ginger Coconut
  • Power St White IPA

On Tuesday, they sell ice cream tacos. It looks pretty awesome. But, since it was a weekend when we visited, it wasn’t available. They also have sundaes and shakes.

rain-or-shine-seats

There’s not a lot of seats inside, but you might get lucky. When we came around noon, it wasn’t busy at all. Which is perfect for us cause we then occupied all the seats.

rain-or-shine-peanutbutter

After sampling a few flavours, I really had a clear favourite.

Peanut Butter (1 scoop- $4.50) was so good. I really like peanut butter. The ice cream was smooth but I did find a few ice crystals inside of it.

rain-or-shine-cow

Overall, the nice place to grab some ice cream on a day that is either rainy or sunny.

We Rate Rain or Shine Ice Cream

Address:
1926 W 4th Ave #102
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://rainorshineicecream.com/

Rain or Shine Ice Cream on Urbanspoon

zen-cafe-sign

If you’ve been following my blog, you will know I’m on the hunt for some good eggs benny in town. A fellow reader – Joey sent in a recommendation and told me to check out Cafe Zen on Yew. Cafe Zen has been around for over 25 years and is best know for their breakfast. Especially eggs benny.

zen-cafe-coffee

Coffee ($2.59) is required in the morning and I can’t function without it.

zen-cafe-bacon-benny

Whats great about Cafe Zen is that you can mix and match bennies. They just take the higher one of the price.

Peameal Benny ($10.49) on the left and Flo – Benedict on the right. It comes with hashbrowns on the side. It was pretty good.

Bennies can also be ordered singularly so if you only want one, you can get one rather than two.

zen-cafe-yolk

Their poached eggs are uniformly shaped and I ordered mine soft and it came out perfectly soft.

zen-cafe-bacon

Bacon ($3.29) I added a side order of bacon since I really craved it with my eggs benny. The strips are quite big and there are many strips. It’s definitely worth it.

zen-cafe-benny

Here’s another picture of eggs benny.

zen-cafe-lumber

Lumberjack Breakfast ($12.99) comes with your choice of pancakes, french toast, or waffles. Then your pick of  bacon, ham or sausage. You get two eggs, and hashbrowns. The one depicted here is the french toast with sausage.

zen-cafe-waffle

This one is the Lumberjack Breakfast but with Waffles, sausage and soft poached eggs. It’s definitely lots to eat for breakfast. Overall, the food is good and the service is great. This place is busy on the weekends but if you go around 10:30am, you won’t be waiting long. It’s nothing fancy, but it hits the spot. The best part is the mix and match bennies where you can choose two different types. Great for people who can’t decide which benny they want.

We Rate Cafe Zen on Yew

Address:
1631 Yew St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.cafezenonyew.com/

Cafe Zen on Yew on Urbanspoon

SiegelsBagels-kits

Siegel’s Bagels sells authentic Montreal-style bagels in Kitsilano. After coming back from a trip, we decided to stop here for a quick lunch. I’ve heard much about this place, but I’ve actually never been here. I wanted to see if it was true that it’s like a Montreal Bagel.

SiegelsBagels-inner

The Kitsilano location is open 24 hours and have lot of sandwiches to choose from. They even have Montreal smoked meat.

SiegelsBagels-bagel

Lot of bagels to choose from. They make it all in-house and are fresh.

SiegelsBagels-club

Club Bagel ($8.50) has Montreal smoked meat, golden turkey breast, tomato, lettuce, cheddar, mustard and mayo.

SiegelsBagels-cross

Their Montreal smoked meat is pretty awesome. It has a great combination of ingredients.

SiegelsBagels-salmon

Lox and Cream ($8.95) has smoked sockeye salmon, cream cheese, onions, and capers. It’s quite pricey for what you get, but the combination of the cream cheese, salmon and capers is sure yummy. I got it on a multigrain bagel because I love the texture of the grains on the outside.

Overall, great bagels and its great they are made fresh. Don’t forget to buy a few for home! They also have their sister restaurant – Rosemary Rocksalt open in North Vancouver and Main Street.

We Rate Siegel’s Bagels

Address:
1883 Cornwall Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.siegelsbagels.com/

Siegel's Bagels on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1883+Cornwall+Ave&sll=49.2724816,-123.1477055&sspn=0.0053761,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=1883+Cornwall+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6J&z=16 “]

Rajio

Rajio is owned by the same people who have brought us Suika Izakaya and Kingyo Izakaya. It is located close to the UBC campus. Rajio is Japanese for Radio, so you will notice their logo is a radio.

Vaneats.ca and Rajio teamed up to bring a $18 dining package that features 4 items:

  • Kushikatsu Set
  • Dynamic Balsamic Sweet & Sour Pork Rib
  • Mini Carpaccio
  • Choice of Cold Tapas

The packages is available from August 12th, 2013 till October 12th, 2013 in limited quantities.

Rajio

I came with M after work and we really love the look of the interior.

Rajio

Complimentary cabbage with a light sesame dressing. It’s really good and addictive. Plus, guilt free since it’s all veggies. I could eat this all day.

Rajio

Bang Bang Chicken was my choice of cold tapa. It has steamed chicken with jelly fish and okra with a sesame dressing. It was a nice and light start to the meal.

Rajio

Mini Carpaccio came with 3 types of fresh fish. When we came here, there was tuna, yellowtail and sockeye salmon. It is topped with crisp lotus roots. One delicious dish!

Rajio

Kushikatsu Set is one of their specialties. It had 6 deep fried skewers with chicken, scallop and lotus roots. I actually found the coating on the skewers to be a bit thick, so it’s hard to appreciate the ingredients hidden inside.

Rajio

The skewers are paired with some special sauces – Onion, teriyaki yuzu kosho, kushikatsu, tartar, and lemon salt. My pick was the kushikatsu since it paired well with the fried coating of the skewers.

Rajio

Dynamic Balsamic Sweet & Sour Pork Rib are pan-fried stewed pork ribs marinated in Rajio’s original balsamic sweet sour sauce. You can definitely tell they were fried and then sauced. The outside has a nice crisp texture and then the tender meat on the inside. Yummy. It’s a good contrast between the earlier items in the package.


Items excluded from the package, but are great to add on.

Rajio

Tuna Salt Tataki was beautifully presented! If you recognize what it is topped with, you know thats my favourite snack! It’s the dried noodles that are addictive. Really good!

Rajio

Negitoro battera is pressed sushi with tuna belly, scallions, tobiko & sesame topped with home made soy dressing & seaweed sauce.

Overall, the package is well put together and you get a taste of a few items on the menu. You can definitely get the package and split it among 2 people and add an extra dish or two to round out the experience.

Visit Vaneats.ca  to grab the $18 dining pass before October 12th, 2013.

We Rate Rajio:

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

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

Rajio Japanese Public House on Urbanspoon

 

Strike 破店

Strike is a Taiwanese Restaurant near UBC and they will soon open another location in Richmond. I came here twice before and I’ve been addicted to their sizzling plates. You can super full for $12.

I came here again for a ChineseBites dinner with my fellow food bloggers.

Strike 破店

Yam Fries is probably one of the last things I would think would appear on a menu of a Taiwanese restaurant. It tasted good, but I wouldn’t normally order it off the menu unless I wanted something to nibble on with bubble tea.

Strike 破店

Wonton with Chili Oil was good. Meaty plump wonton pieces wrapped in a thin wonton wrapper. If you like it more spicy, go ask for some hot sauce.

Strike 破店

Stewed tofu with garlic sauce was alright.

Strike 破店

Five spice beef wrap was ok. It fell apart easily as the wrap itself was a bit thick.

Strike 破店

Deep fried chicken nuggets is a must have dish at any Taiwanese restaurant. Well seasoned and very crunch. Yum.

Strike 破店

Thai style chicken was good, nice sweet sauce on top, but of all the deep-fried chicken items, I would stick with the Deep fried chicken nuggets.

Strike 破店

Deep fried pork chop was tender, well seasoned and I really did enjoy this. Good appetizer if you just want to pick away at something.

Strike 破店

BBQ chicken is probably not an item you want to order on its own. You may want to order it as a combo with rice. The skin in spiced really well.

Strike 破店

House special beef noodle soup was ok, but I found the beef to be a bit tough.

Strike 破店

Taiwanese cold noodle is a great item for the summer. It has peanut sauce, cucumbers, carrots and the noodle. You mixed it all up together and enjoy.

Strike 破店

Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork Rice with meat sauce, tea egg, pork fluff and pickled mustard greens. It was really good! One of the must order items here.

Strike 破店

Taiwanese style chicken steak with black pepper sauce is one of my favorite item to order here. You have so much going on with this dish and you will get full. Highly recommended. You can choose either noodle or rice.

Strike 破店

Taiwanese style steak with black pepper sauce is the same as the dish above but just the protein is different. I liked this dish too but My personal preference is to get the chicken instead. Don’t get me wrong, both dishes are awesome.

Strike 破店

Milk Tea with Pearls is definitely a must if you want to indulge in the whole experience. I wanted to get it with real milk, but they didn’t have it on hand to accommodate. They did use the powdered milk to make it. It tasted good, but

Overall, the food is pretty good at Strike, but the best way to enjoy your time at Strike is to order the combos or the sizzling plates.

We rate Strike

Address:
3217 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Strike/113553352131031

Strike 破店 on Urbanspoon

Maenam

M has this goal of finding the best Thai restaurant in Vancouver. We heard much about maenam and decided to come here for dinner. The space looks beautiful and very modern.

We really didn’t know what to order since there were so many choices, but in the end we settled on the Chef’s Menu that includes 5 courses for $32.50 per person. Traditionally, Thai dishes are supposed to have a balance of hot, sour, sweet and salty in the flavour profiles. As we didn’t know what dishes would be arriving, we were very very excited and worried at the same time.

Maenam

The first item to arrive was a mixed mushroom and halibut hot and sour soup. This dish was really good and did have a great balance of sour and hot. I really liked it.

Maenam

Steamed Mussels in Lemongrass and Thai basil arrived next.

Maenam

The mussels were plump and full of flavour. The lemongrass and basil were nice accent flavours that went well with the mussels, but the sauce that came with it was pretty hot, so we didn’t use it.

Maenam

The final 3 dishes arrived and are meant to be shared. In the Thai culture, meals are best shared amongst family and friends.

Maenam

Pork Cheeks came with 5 pieces and tasted ok. They were not very tender nor very fatty. We thought it would melt in our mouths, but it was a bit dry.

Maenam

This salad had some salmon, ikura eggs, kaffir lime leaves, orange chili dressing, peanuts, and cilantro. The salad was very sour and salty. The balance of this dish was not to our liking.

Maenam

This curry has fresh baby corn, pea eggplants, thai basil, holy basil,and  Fraser Valley chicken. This dish was incredibly hot. We ate this with the jasmine rice, but it still packed a punch.

Overall, as this was our first time at Maenam, choosing the chef’s menu was a bit of a mistake. The dishes were definitely a hit and a miss. Best to start out with dishes you are familiar with and then start venturing out. I also thought that it was weird that this set menu didn’t come with dessert. Next time, I’ll probably not do the Chef’s menu and just chose items off the menu, it would be cheaper.

We rate Maenam

Address:
1938 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.maenam.ca/

Maenam on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1938+W+4th+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1938+W+4th+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6J+1M5&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

My friend told me I had to go check out Strike on Broadway closer to UBC. There’s a lot of Taiwanese Restaurants in town, but only a handful of them are really good. TaiwaneseGirl kept telling me I had to come here. All of her recommendations to me are pretty solid.

As usual, I can’t say no to trying new restaurants, so we came here for dinner. We found street parking right outside the restaurant and wasn’t too difficult.

Strike

Five spice beef wrap ($5.75) comes cut up in 4 pieces. Beware the toothpicks, but other than that, its a decent beef wrap.

Strike

Deep Fried Chicken Nugget Rice Combo ($8.50) comes with rice, 3 side dishes and the deep-fried chicken nuggets. The food was well executed and nothing seemed weird at all.

Strike

Taiwanese Style Steak with Black Pepper sauce on a sizzling plate with noodles ($11.95) this is probably one of the most popular items. It looks really good and boy was the meat mighty tender. If you’re a fan of black pepper sauce. You should get this.

I don’t know too many Taiwanese restaurants in this area and it seems like a good addition. Most items are under $10 and you get a good amount of food.

We rate Strike

Address:
3217 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Strike/113553352131031

Strike 破店 on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=3217+W+Broadway+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=3217+W+Broadway,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6K+4N7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

Fable Kitchen

Fable Kitchen is owned by Canada’s Top Chef contestant Trevor Bird. The idea of the restaurant came about from the episode ‘Restaurant Wars’, where Trevor named his farm to table concept – Fable. When returning from the show, he began working on bringing the vision to life.

They work with amazing local farms to make sure they have the best ingredients to use in their meals. My friends and I wanted some brunch on the weekend, so we decided to come here. There was a bit of a line up, so we ended up spending 30 minutes waiting. We didn’t mind since it was nice and sunny outside.

Fable Kitchen

I spent some of that time staring at the roasted piggy by the window. It looked so good! Crispy skin!

Fable Kitchen

The interior was quite nice, the back wall is a chalk board, so all the imagery is drawn on. The chandelier in the centre of the room has pitch forks. Really nice to bring the concept of farm to table in the decor.

Fable Kitchen

Farmer’s Muffin ($10) has sausage, scrambled eggs, cheddar, tomato jam on top of the muffin. It also comes with salad and rosti on the side. Oh my, this was packed full of flavour and you can’t deny the amazing taste. The sausage was juicy and nicely seasoned and the egg is just so creamy.

Fable Kitchen

 Omelette ($11) is made with 3 eggs, bacon, mushrooms and cheddar. It also comes with salad, rosti, and rustic bread. My friend really enjoyed this too. She thought it was a bit on the small side, but after she finished it, her face was beaming because of its great flavours.

Fable Kitchen

Pulled Pork Johnny Cakes ($12) comes with tomato jam, picked jalapeño, a poached egg, and rosti.

Fable Kitchen

Scrambled Eggs ($12)  is in the jar with the bacon, spinach, parmesan with the foam on top. There is also brioche, tomato jam and rosti that comes with it.

Fable Kitchen

House Bacon ($4) is one of the side items you can add to your meal. It’s thick cut and quite delicious. It’s a bit expensive, but I couldn’t say no because it was bacon.

Overall, the brunch here is pretty solid. We all had a good meal and left happy. The portions aren’t too large and the prices were ok. It’s not a place for everyone. It’s hard to figure out what item to order for brunch, but if you stick with the eggs, you can’t go wrong.

We Rate Fable Kitchen

Address:
1944 West 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.fablekitchen.ca/

Fable Kitchen on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1944+West+4th+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1944+W+4th+Ave,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6J+1M7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

Dark Table Vancouver

Dark Table dining experience is really an adventure. Blind dining is popular in other larger cities around the world and has finally landed in Vancouver, BC. You’re dining in pitch darkness, so you can definitely feel how it’s like losing one of your senses. When it was first opened , I didn’t feel an urge to come here, but I’m glad I finally did it.

They are giving diners a unique experience and they proudly hire people with visual impairments. They state that the unemployment rate is 70% among the blind. In the dark dining environment, they are the ones guiding us through our dining experience and we follow.

We made reservations ahead of time and on a Friday night, it wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t crowded and was a good size for the amount of people freaking out over the darkness.

Dark Table Vancouver

You order your meal outside in the lounge and choose from either 3 courses ($39) or 2 courses ($33).  The main dishes you choose, but the starter and dessert are a mystery. Once you order, you wait a short while until one of their legally blind servers takes you inside. Lazaare was our server and he was very nice and humble. The dinner lasts 1.5 hours on average. They make you turn off your cell phone and any light producing devices like illuminating watches.

Dark Table Vancouver

This is what we saw the entire night looked like. I felt pretty disoriented most of the time. You’re unaware of your surroundings, sense of time, and weird emotional feelings. My friends were scared and excited to be trying this out. The first thing you’ll notice is that your hearing gets better. You could hear everything in the room, but maybe it’s because your sense of sight is taken away, so you speak louder. For some reason I felt a bit anxious for no reason and when the food came, I had an urge to eat it fast.

It was fun trying to navigate the plate and seeing where to put the fork. I spent a bit of time eating with my hands and feeling my food. We made guesses to our mystery starters and dessert, but we soon discovered our sense of taste was quite weak.


Stop reading now if you don’t want to be spoiled by real pictures of their food.


Dark Table Vancouver

This is what I would have posted, but we asked the restaurant to help us take pictures. They were happy to do so since no one really knows what the food really looks like. It is carefully put together and we should be celebrating the dining experience and the food.

Plus, it’s always fun to see the food that you image and what it really looks like.

Dark Table Vancouver

Surprise Starter

While eating this, I thought it was a plate full of salad and poking it with my fork. My friend said she felt cups. “Stuff in cups” was her explanation. So I started navigating the plate with my hands. The “cups” that she was referring to were endives stuffed with some mixture and cheese. On the other side is a salad with walnuts and strawberries. I guessed the endives right, but I had no idea what else was on the plate. I actually thought the strawberries were peaches.

My failed taste buds fail me.

Dark Table Vancouver

Fresh Ravioli with jalapeno, rosemary cream sauce.

M had this dish and he used a fork to pick at it. He kept going at it until there was no more. He did enjoy it.

Dark Table Vancouver

Veal Schnitzel (Viennese Style) with potatoes and seasoned vegetables.

My friends ordered this dish and they said “It’s so big and feels hard”. We made a lot of bad jokes since were dining in the dark. The taste of it was pretty good.

Dark Table Vancouver

Goat Cheese and dates stuffed chicken breast with orange gastrique, roasted potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

Dark Table Vancouver

Looks pretty good. Too bad we couldn’t see it while we ate it.

Dark Table Vancouver

Beef Tenderloin with a peppercorn sauce and potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

I ordered it medium rare and they made it right. You didn’t have to see the image to know. When I bit into the dish, I was so glad it was pre sliced so I didn’t have to accidentally slice off any fingers.

Dark Table Vancouver

Surprise Dessert

This was the hardest dessert to decipher while eating it. In my mind, I was so sure it was a black forest cake. Our table had debates about what it could be. In the dark I ate it all, but when seeing it in pictures, it wouldn’t be a dessert that I wouldn’t pick. I’m pretty mindblown that I learned I eat with my eyes more than my tastebuds.

Dark Table Vancouver

Another version of the Surprise Dessert. I’m sure they have different desserts with people with diet restrictions.

After the dark dining, we left quite satisfied with our meal. I remember thinking everything tasted great and had this idea of how the plate was presented. My imagination was soaring.

We then were led to the cashiers area to pay for the meal. After that, we were led back outside and all we saw was white for a few seconds since it was so bright outside. We were so curious what our food actually looked like since we all had different reactions to what was on our plate. The food tasted good but when you look at the pictures what you image may or may not align.

The food isn’t fine dining , but it’s more for the experience. You have to come here with an open mind and try everything. Definitely recommended.

We Rate Dark Table

Address:
2611 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://darktable.ca/

Dark Table on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2611+W+4th+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=2611+W+4th+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6K+3V9&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar is located in Kitsilano. The specialize in oysters and seafood inspired by New Orleans. I came here with FoodQueen and Gastrofork. Parking is always scarce in this area since you either have to have a parking permit or fight for the paid parking spots. This is what I usually dislike about this area, but since we came here for brunch on a weekend, we were lucky enough to find a few parking spots open. Boooyah!

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar

Who doesn’t love brunch with oysters? I love oysters any time of the day.

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar

We tried 3 types of oysters – Kumamoto, Kusshi, and Fanny Bay. They were all really good and fresh! The person who shucked this did a fantastic job too, there were not particles inside. Of all the oysters, the best one was the smallest oyster – Kusshi.

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar

The oysters come with 3 different types of homemade sauce. My favorite sauce to use was the habanero sauce. It’s really spicy, so watch out.

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar

Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles ($12) comes with 2 buttermilk waffles topped with fried chicken and then drizzled with a cajun honey butter. Amy and Dee both ordered this. It’s one of the more popular items on the menu.

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar

Braised Short Rib and Hash ($15) consists of black eyed peas, smoked gouda, diced Kennebec potato fries and topped with 2 poached eggs. I thought this was ok.

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar

French Quarter Beignets ($6) are Cafe Du Monde style classic beignets with a chicory coffee anglaise. We were all trying to be anonymous and acting like people who really like to take food pictures, but that didn’t work out well. One of their staff asked jokingly if we were bloggers and gave us this complementary dessert and didn’t charge for our oysters. This rarely happens, but it didn’t affect our reviews.

You can’t get this item during brunch, but it’s a pretty awesome item to order for dinner. It’s the size of an iPhone and is hollow inside. The coffee sauce went really well with the beignets. Really delicious.

We Rate Chewies Steam and Oyster Bar:

Address:
2201 W 1st Ave
Vancouver, BC

Websitehttp://www.chewies.ca/

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2201+W+1st+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=2201+W+1st+Ave,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6K+3E6&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

Rajio

Rajio is owned by the same people who have brought us Suika Izakaya and Kingyo Izakaya. It is located close to the UBC campus. Rajio is Japanese for Radio, so you will notice their logo is a radio.

I came here with Food Queen and Gastrofork for dinner as we were craving some good ol Japanese Izakaya food. Some of the items are similar to Suika and Kingyo, but they do have a few differential items on their menu like skewers and a crazy huge steaks.

Rajio

Their decor is quite cool and the lanterns are soothing.

Rajio

They have a cool bar too. They take reservations and have lots of seating. I didn’t take a picture of the other seats, but its not just a bar.

Rajio

Complimentary cabbage with a light acidic dressing. Probably one of the healthier appetizers since its vegetables! Guilt free.

Rajio

Corn Karaage ($4.80) was different that we anticipated. At Suika, they make is really different, more like a corn fritter. Eating the corn karaage was like a nice buttery corn on the cob, but much smaller.

Rajio

*Y* Ebimayo ($6.80) are battered tiger prawns topped with a chili mayo. Delicious as always!

Rajio

Kimchi Sobameshi Stone Bowl ($8.80) it has yakisoba noodles, ground pork, cheese, kimchi and vegetables on rice in a hot stone bowl.

Rajio

Tuna Salt Tataki ($5.80) was beautifully presented! If you recognize what it is topped with, you know thats my favorite snack! It’s the dried noodles that are addictive.

Rajio

Tako Wasabi (3.80) is chopped raw octopus in a wasabi sauce. You are given few sheets of seaweed so you can wrap it up together. It’s not an item for everyone since it is spicy. I enjoyed it.

Rajio

Hellz Ramen ($8.80)  is noodle in a clam and shrimp broth seasoned with spicy miso and spicy pepper topped with egg, ground pork and pickles. Contrary to the name of the ramen, it wasn’t too hot.

Rajio

Octopus Balls ($1.50 each) is like a takoyaki on a stick. Tasted alright but you definitely need to add some seasoning to enhance the flavour.

Rajio

My favorite condiment was the lemon salt.

Rajio

Premium Kushi Katsu Set ($12.80) was a featured set that came with the following skewers: shiitake mushroom stuffed with shrimp, asparagus wrapped with pork, stewed pork belly, shiso chicken meat ball, lotus root stuffed with chicken, shiso wrapped shrimp, and seaweed wrapped rice cake.

I thought it was ok, but not as mouth-watering as Zakkushi’s skewers.

Rajio

Smooth pudding ($3.80) was so good! It was like an inverted caramel pudding. You must get this!

Rajio

Mango Pudding ($3.80) wasn’t what I expected. it was like a subtle tasting mango mousse with mango slices on top.

Rajio

Almond Tofu ($3.80) the top has some gelatine and pieces of citrus. It was our least favorite. When you think almond tofu, you don’t really think of this.

Overall, pretty good dinner with the girls at Rajio. If you are around the area and love Japanese food, you definitely want to stop by for dinner. There is pay parking on the street.

We Rate Rajio:

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

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

Rajio Japanese Public House on Urbanspoon

 

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=3763+W.+10th+Ave.+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=3763+W+10th+Ave,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6R+2G7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

Temaki Sushi

Temaki is a sushi restaurant in Kitsilano. I had a few recommendations from readers to dine here, so I decided to come here for dinner with KoreanGirl, M and TractorDean.

Temaki Sushi

It was pretty busy on a Friday night. Decent interior and you can get a nice view of the sushi bar.

Temaki Sushi

Spicy Sashimi with Avocado ($6.99) Tuna & salmon pieces topped with cucumber, avocado & house spicy sauce. The sashimi was good, but it was a tad expensive for the amount of sashimi you get.

Temaki Sushi

Chicken Karrage ($6.99) has deep-fried boneless chicken pieces. It tasted ok, but it wasn’t crazy amazing.

Temaki Sushi

Banzai Roll ($8.99) has tuna, salmon, & masago roll deep-fried in tempura batter drizzled with spicy mayo.

Temaki Sushi

Chef’s Roll ($9.99) has fresh mango, crispy tempura bits, cucumber & mayo inside topped with tuna & masago. The roll was very disappointing and everyone at the table hated the mango inside. The roll was expensive

Temaki Sushi

Alaska Roll ($5.99) is a California roll with salmon on top.

Temaki Sushi

Kamakaze Roll ($8.99) has smoke salmon on top with cream cheese, cucumber, avocado and crispy tempura bits inside.

Temaki Sushi

Overall, the sushi rolls were carefully put together but in the end it was nothing amazing. There are tons of sushi restaurants in Vancouver, but this place was pretty average. None of my friends liked this place and felt dissatisfied coming here.

We Rate Temaki Sushi

Address:
2156 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://temakisushi.ca/

Temaki Sushi on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2156+W+Broadway+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=2156+W+Broadway,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6K+2E4&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

Maria's Taverna

I’ve always found Greek cuisine to be quite hard to please my appetite since it is always a bit expensive and not sure what to order except for the usual Chicken Souvlaki. We asked TractorDean to take us to his go-to Greek Restaurant. When in doubt, as a Greek person to take  you to a Greek Restaurant. They always know best!

Maria's Taverna

We all ordered a bunch of items to share and we were not disappointed.

Maria's Taverna

Complementary Pita bread and Tzatziki arrive at the table. You can ask for more pita bread at no extra cost.

Maria's Taverna

Saganaki ($7.95) is pan-fried goat cheese with lemon. It comes on a hot skillet and is SO delicious! The nuttiness of the cheese and the lemon is addicting.

 Maria's Taverna

Spanakopita ($7.50) is a spinach and feta pie wrapped in phyllo pastry. It comes with a side of tzatziki sauce. We thought this item was very delicate and crisp on the outside with the savory filling inside.

Maria's Taverna

Kalamari ($10.95) is deep-fried marinated squid with tzatziki sauce. The batter is light and crispy, but could have used a bit more salt to enhance the flavours.

Maria's Taverna

Kelftiko ($17.95) has a generous potion of lamb shoulder in their special rub. It comes with rice, greek salad and potatoes. It wa so delicious! The meat was very flavourful and tender. This is a must order item.

Overall, the experience was great and the food was very delicious. The interior space is very cramped and not a lot of room to move around. The service was decent and nothing much to really fuss about. It’s a good idea to stray away from the usual items and be a bit more adventurous. I know it’s kinda hard to do that at a Greek restaurant since some items are pretty pricey.

We Rate Maria’s Taverna

Address:
2324 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://mariastaverna.ca/

Maria's Taverna on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2324+W+4th+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=2324+W+4th+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V6K+1P2&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

On Sunday nights, Oakwood Canadian Bistro has $15 Growlers! It’s 64oz of any local craft beer on tap. Janice, Andy and I came here to try it out. I am not exactly sure if we were attracted by the amount of beer or just the cool bottle. If you remember the time when Vancouver had a basketball team…you’ll definitely go crazy over these bottles.

On the back of the bottle it says “Get your grizzly on”. Unfortunately, they don’t sell them and it’s quite hard to steal it and hide it in your purse. I’m still trying to find ways to acquire these bottles.

All Canadian Poutine ($11) has fries, curds, gravy, and smoked meat. It was a pile of deliciousness especially when pair with beer. The poutine isn’t very large, so sharing it with lots of people might be an issue if you’re really hungry.

Overall, I still love this restaurant for late night drinks or even brunch. Can’t go wrong with either!

Words of Wisdom:

  • Parking on street or in residential area
  • Great late night eats and specials

We Rate The Oakwood Canadian Bistro:

Address:
2741 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6K

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

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2741+West+4th+Avenue+Vancouver,&hnear=2741+W+4th+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V6K+3V9&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

True Confections is an award winning dessert restaurant. They have 2 locations in Vancouver and it’s usually a go-to place for University students and cake lovers. The cakes are HUGE and thats what draws customers into the restaurant.

M, CandiedZen and I came here for some dessert. M and I have never been here, so it was definitely an adventure for huge slices of cake.

It was still pretty early, so there were tons of seats. The decor isn’t amazing, but it’s all about hanging out with friends and indulging on cake.

There is a large display case that houses the cakes and pies.

You’ll probably be staring at all the desserts for a while. It’s always good to bring friends so you can steal a taste of their cakes!

Devil’s Food Cake has layers of dark chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and marshmallow icing. It was very large! M liked it but he couldn’t finish it all in one sitting.

Hazelnut Belgian Chocolate Mousse has a thin layer of flourless chocolate cake, piled with rich hazelnut chocolate mousse and decorated with shards of Belgian milk chocolate. This is CandiedZen’s go-to cake when she’s at True Confections. M and I agreed it was pretty delicious.

Banana Cream Pie is made the old fashioned way, with lots of bananas and cream. You can really identify the two layers of the cake. I really love banana cream pie and it did not disappoint!

The slice of pie was huge. Here’s a comparison shot of an iPhone and the slice of cake.

Overall, it was a good experience. I would suggest sharing the cakes with your friends so you can try a taste of a few cakes without getting sick of your own cake.

We Rate True Confections:

Address:
3701 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.trueconfections.ca/

True Confections (Broadway) on Urbanspoon


View Larger Map

Scoop! is a Frozen Yogurt place on West 4th. They have frozen yogurt with some amazing toppings.

After an event Downtown, a bunch of us headed here since Wongers insisted we go! It’s probably because its good and I’ve never been here. She raves about this place and now I know why.

The interior is quite homey with a few seats at the front and some more in the back.

Their most popular items are the frozen yogurts, but they also have smoothies and juices.

Their frozen yogurt machine pumps out their original flavour, so if you want green tea, mango, raspberry or chocolate hazelnut, they manually blend that together. You can choose 2 flavours and combine them together.

After choosing your size and flavour of the yogurt, you can then begin adding toppings. Its an additional $0.93 per 50g.

The best topping that they have are the Mochi! It’s made in-house and out of all the frozen yogurt places I have been to, it’s is really the best. I do also love all the fruits!

You can also add different syrups on top such as white chocolate, chocolate sauce, hot fudge, condensed milk, dulce de leche, and many more.

Small Original ($3.29+additional topping cost) goes best with fruit. It’s the best way to enjoy your froyo!

Small Original and green tea ($3.49 +additional topping cost). The green tea was mushed up at the bottom and the original was put on top. It was good and I liked the toppings!

If you do order the blended flavour, it looks more flat and melts faster than just the original.

The fun doesn’t end there! They have a lot of board games to play! They have a few classics such as Monopoly, Battleship, Jenga…etc. It’s really a great place to just hang out with a few friends. They also have this puzzle game called “Vortex”, I dare you to play it! I spent the whole time trying to solve it…but we couldn’t. If you figure out the secret, do let me know!!

They also have a Fooseball table! How cool is that? This little frozen yogurt place is cooler than some peoples houses.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Lots of games to play
  • Original flavour is best
  • Blended favours melt faster and not as pretty looking
  • Decent prices
  • Pay street parking

We Rate Scoop!:

Address:
2050 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC
Website:
scoopyogurt.com
Scoop! on Urbanspoon


View Larger Map

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro is a new restaurant that opened up in Kitsilano. Everything they use is fresh and local. Since Etodac told me they have really cheap $10 brunch, we thought it would be a great place to check out. We brought along M and VideoGameGirl to check it out too. Plus, no one can resist brunch.

Vancouverites go crazy over delicious cheap brunch.

The interior is very nice and loungey, lots of tables, but it can bet quite busy after a while. They don’t take reservations, but you should be able to get a spot right away if you are in 2’s or 4’s.

Their ceiling is also made of wood! Do you think it’s Oak wood?

Pineapple Juice

Green Tea

The Lumberjack ($10) has scrambled eggs, house made breakfast sausage, smoked bacon, hash browns, salted cucumber and toast. VideoGameGirl said the bacon was really good and was nice and thick. Pretty good dish!

Corned Beef Hash ($10) as soft poached eggs, house corned beef, sauerkraut, Dijon hollandaise, and hash browns. M and Etodac both ordered this. M said it was alright, but this might be because he wanted more meat.

Albacore tune nicoise Benedict ($10) has green bean salad, hash browns, corn muffin with poached egg, tuna and hollandaise sauce. I thought it was a really good breakfast dish! All the flavours worked well together and I loved it.

Overall, $10 brunch is not bad at all! You’ll get full off delicious dishes!

Words of Wisdom:

  • Brunch only available on Weekends 10 – 3
  • Only $10
  • Parking on street or in residential area
  • They don’t take reservations for Brunch
  • No large line ups

We Rate The Oakwood Canadian Bistro:
Address:
2741 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6K
Website:
http://www.theoakwood.ca/
Twitter:
@theoakwoodkits
The Oakwood Canadian Bistro on Urbanspoon


View Larger Map