British Columbia Archives - Page 110 of 138

In Cafe

Thierry Patisserie: Chit Chats & Desserts

March 9, 2012

Thierry Patisserie is located near Alberni and Thurlow and sells some unique treats! From croissants to cakes… they have the tasty treats you want. It’s a great place that is open late and perfect to chill with friends.

The tables are very cramped together inside, but it’s usually hard to find places like this that are open late. I usually come here with friends when we just want a coffee and a snack to talk. Girls like to talk.. sometimes too much, but that’s what we do.

Latte was good as usual, but sometimes it can be a bit more milky than it should be. But, it’s up to your personal

Chocolate Succe Cake was quite hard to eat. It has hazelnut meringue, chocolate mousse and 70% chocolate ganache. The chocolate covering the cake was very thick and was hard to break through it to get into the ganache later inside. It still tasted good, but it was frustrating to eat it.

Chocolate trio was my favorite! It has white, milk and dark chocolate mousse and chocolate sponge. For a chocolate lover, this was my favorite item. It is very easy to eat and is filled with soft creamy deliciousness.

Lemon Tart was really good and best for those who like something more sweet and tangy. AdventureTimeGirl said this was her favorite out of the bunch of pastries.

Overall, Thierry Patisserie is a good place to chill with your friends over coffee/tea and pastries. Spiked Tea is good too if you like something new and different. It is a bit pricey than usual, so do be aware that it might cost you a bit.

Words of Wisdom:

Large variety of pastries
Can be a bit pricey, $5+ per dessert
Lots of tables
Beautiful decor

We Rate Thierry Patisserie:

Address
1059 Alberni Street
Vancouver, BC
Website:
thierrychocolates.com

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In Downtown

Hapa Izakaya Coal Harbour: New Beginnings

March 8, 2012

Hapa Umi was the higher-end restaurant of the Hapa Izakaya chain. From hearing much feedback from the customers, they decided to change Hapa Umi into Hapa Izakaya Coal Harbour. The prices are much lower and you will be having similar items to the other Hapa Izakaya restaurants.

Flo heard about the Grand Opening and how the first 40 people to make a reservation gets 30% off through Twitter. Since we like deals we quickly made a reservation online and came here after work. I also forgot my memory card at home, so I’m sorry the pictures aren’t as good.

The interior is the same and has a nice modern vibe. The hostess and the service was really good.

Kakuni ($10.99) is braised pork belly green pepper sauce and grilled garlic bread. This was my favorite dish. The pork belly literally just melts in your mouth and the green pepper sauce accompanies it very well. Definitely something you need to try!

Just look at that pork belly! If you are afraid of fat, just eat it! Sometimes fat is good for you. Flo and I just gobbled this whole dish quite quickly. YUMMM.

Seafood Rissotto Ishiyaki ($11.49) has scallops, squid, halibut, mushrooms, parmesan, shiso leaves and yuzu zest. It’s like a soupy rice in a stone bowl. It was good, but we both didn’t like the addition of the shiso leaves. It just has a minty taste to it. Just a personal preference.

Trout carpaccio ($10.99) has salmon style steel head trout with potato wedges, grainy mustard, vinaigrette and wasabi sour cream. This dish was quite different from any other carpaccio dish I’ve seen. The trout really looked like salmon, but was very delicious. At times I found that the potatoes were a weird pairing with the salmon. But… that’s just me since I’m not a potato person. Regardless, it was something new that no other izakaya place has created.

Ebi mayo ($8.99) is tempura wild shrimp and spicy mayo sauce. This was a disappointing dish since we both felt the tempura of the shrimp became very mushy because of the sauce. Flo said she preferred the mayo on the side.

A good thing about this dish is that the shrimp is quite large!

Banana Chocolate Cake was good, but different for a place like Hapa Izakaya. The banana bread has lots of chocolate chips inside but I felt like the cake could be much warmer. This dessert was just so-so.

Overall, it was great to see the change in their menu be similar to their other locations. If you like the other Hapa Izakaya locations, you’ll like this one too.

Words of Wisdom:

Great taste
Order their Fresh Sheet items
Can get a bit expensive
More higher end compared to other Japanese Izakaya Restaurants
Great place for special occasions

We Rate Hapa Izakaya Coal Harbour:
Address:
909 W Cordova St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://hapaizakaya.com/

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In Hastings-Sunrise

Song Huong: Beef Seven Ways

March 7, 2012

Song Huong ia a Vietnamese Restaurant near Nanaimo and 1st ave. KoreanGirl wanted to try out their Beef Seven Ways (Bo 7 Mon).It was about $26 and it serves 2 – 3 people. It’s a good item to order since you get a sense of the other Vietnamese dishes besides Pho and the rice dishes.

After we made the order, a few dishes came flying back to our table. There was no explanation into what we were supposed to do and what items went with which item. So.. good thing KoreanGirl and Mandu have common sense.

The first dish is a do-it-yourself rice wrap. You are given a hot-pot, raw beef, dehydrated rice wraps, vegetables, noodles, and sauce to create them. The waitress will turn on the stove and just wait for the broth to get hot enough to dunk your meat into it.

The raw beef looks pretty amazing for any meat eaters to set their eyes upon. Since the slices are so thin, you only need to dunk your meat into the hot-pot for a few seconds.

The other items to include in your rice wraps are the noodles and a plate of vegetables.

The plate has a large amount of herbs, pickled vegetables, cucumbers, bean sprouts, and bananas.

You also get some hot sauce, peanuts and onions. If you are allergic to certain things, best to let them know ahead of time.

The rice wraps are dehydrated so you need to soak them first before putting your wrap together.

You just throw it in the bowl with hot water.

Then you take it our and begin assembling your roll.

Mine turned out quite ugly, but at least it ended up in my belly. It can get a bit messy if you can’t roll it up tight enough.

Beef Congee was ok, but not as good as Chinese restaurants. I found it was a bit bland and needed something to it.

Grilled beef slices on pickled cabbage was good. There wasn’t a lot of meat, but I really like pickled vegetables.

This dish has 3 types of meat sausages. I initially didn’t know there was a difference since they kinda all look the same. A few of them had different subtle tastes to them. This dish was particularly everyone’s favorite.

Beef Meatball was a mixture of mushrooms, noodles and other items. It was already cut up in quarters and you can just share it around the table. All of us didn’t particularly like this since it was a bit bland and tough.

It’s not exactly 7 dishes, but it’s 7 varieties of beef. The meal was good for the price and made us 3 full. Now we know there is more to Vietnamese cuisine than just pho.

Words of Wisdom:

Lots of space inside and good for large groups
Free parking on the side
Ok service, but not great
Good affordable prices

We Rate Song Huong:

Address:
1613 Nanaimo St
Vancouver, BC

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In Brunch

Slickity Jim’s Chat n’ Chew: The Breakfast of Broken Dreams

March 6, 2012

Slickity Jim’s used to be located on Broadway and Main, but due to a bad fire, their business was destroyed. They did reopen on Main and 19th serving brunch, lunch and dinner. It’s a popular place to have brunch on the weekend. I came down here with the YVRBreakfastClub! They have a few tables in the back that can accommodate large groups, so it was perfect. We did have to wait a while.

The interior is very ornate with a bunch of strange items on the walls and ledges. This is the main dining area, but there is another room at the rear of the restaurant with additional seating.

Their menu is the best! They have some very appealing dishes with unconventional names. It’s not everyday that you can have the breakfast of broken dreams or the Revolution Eggs.

It’s a fun menu to explore, but I found the titles distracting since you can be so concentrated on the unique names rather than the description of the dishes.

All the items are quite affordable and are mostly around $10.

Coffee is needed when eating any breakfast… or at least for me since I always manage to only get 4 hrs of sleep.

They also have soy instead of milk or cream!

Breakfast of Broken Dreams ($9.50) comes with poached eggs served on top of english muffins, spinach, caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese sauce. Also side of potatoes.

KC Dilla and Sunshine Salsa ($9.25) has roasted chicken with brie in a grilled tortilla with mango salsa and a salad.

Sweet Fancy Moses Benedictions ($11) has prosciutto, brie and artichoke on top of english muffins. It also comes with a side of potatoes.

The Morning Yearning ($9.75) has 2 eggs with bacon, chorizo, tomato, with rye bread and potatoes. You can have any style of eggs you want and for the toast you can choose from rye, sourdough or multigrain.

A Woman In A flowing Dressing Kissing her Lover Omelette ($9.75) has prosciutto, spinach, and asiago cheese in the omelette with potatoes and rye bread. Seriously this was the name of the omelette! No joke! I was a tad embarrassed to order this, but it had to be done. The taste of the dish was ok, but the food wasn’t outstanding. Nothing really stood out too much.

The side of potatoes were not very good, nor were they very hot when you bite into them.

Side of bacon ($2.50) was very disappointing, unless you like limp bacon. I like mine cooked a bit more so you get the crunchiness.

Overall, all the dishes were decent, but not outstanding. They have a great sounding menu but the expectations fell a but short. The service was mediocre as well. It took a while for our meals to arrive.

Words of Wisdom:

Unique menu items, but don’t be lured by the titles…read descriptions
Around $10
No reservations
Busy during brunch times

We Rate Slickity Jim’s Chat n’ Chew:

Address:
3475 Main St
Vancouver, BC V5V
Website:
http://www.slickityjims.com/

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In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Bandidas Taqueria: Vegetarian Mexican Brunch

March 4, 2012

When AdventureTimeGirl was in town, I took her to Banditas Taqueria since it is a very popular vegetarian restaurant for bunch. We actually went twice in one weekend since she enjoyed it so much. The prices are quite fair and they just serve good vegetarian food.

Horchata is a traditional Mexican rice beverage. It’s refreshing, sweet, milky, nutty and has a nice cinnamon taste. M enjoyed it and I also stole a few sips from him.

2 Wolf and Goat Taco with Rice + Beans ($5.25 +$2.25) has fresh guacamole, purple cabbage, pinto beans, roasted salsa, cheese and cour cream. Delicious tacos and I really enjoy their guacamole and the purple cabbage. The beans and the rice were ok, but it was still a decent side since it fills you up.

Baked Breakfast Burrito ($7.50 + $2.25) has scrambled eggs, roasted salsa, pinto beans, sour cream and cheese in the whole wheat tortilla. The burrito was quite large and will really get you full. M enjoyed it!

Breakfast Burrito ($7.50) not baked, but it is still nice and large!

It’s packed with lots of eggs and beans! It’s a very hearty breakfast indeed.

Morgan Taylor ($8.50) is a new burrito they are serving at the restaurant. It has roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, roasted salsa, cheese and sour cream. AdventureTimeGirl really enjoyed it and was the perfect size.

Baked Morgan Taylor ($8.50 +$2.25) is the same thing as above, but with the added sauce and cheese. M actually liked this more than the breakfast burrito because of the texture from the potatoes.

Becky’s Omelette ($11) is another new item on their menu. It has roasted red pepper sauce, spinach, caramelized onions, cheese, hash, beans and purple cabbage. ScarFace enjoyed it and didn’t mind too much that it was meatless.

Egg Muffins with Veggie Sausage ($8.5 + $2.25) has 2 cornbread muffin tops, topped with guacamole, cheese, fried eggs with a tangy tomatillo sauce. I also really loved this dish because of the crispy cornbread and the taste of the tomatillo sauce. Definitely recommended!

Lemmy ($11) is also a new dish. It’s a poblano baked with pinto beans, cheese and sauce. It is also topped off with 2 poached eggs. On the side there is tortillas, purple cabbage and hashbrowns. AdventureTimeGirl also enjoyed this dish.

All the dishes were quite good and the picky boys also enjoyed their meatless meals, so it was quite a success.

Words of Wisdom:

Breakfast items are good!
No reservations
All Vegetarian food
Service is mediocre
Good quality ingredients
Closest Skytrain: Commercial/Broadway stn

We rate Bandidas Taqueria:

Address:

2781 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.bandidastaqueria.com

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Vancouver

In Brunch

Jimmy’s Place Restaurant: Epic Hash Browns

March 3, 2012

Jimmys Place Restaurant is super hidden near North Road and they serve of breakfasts and lunch. WIth my last experience here, I wasn’t eager to come back, but M kept on insisting we have their eggs benedict and hash browns.

The interior seems a bit dated and has a diner feel to it. It’s cash only, but the food is quite cheap and affordable. It’s known as a neighbourhood favorite for their breakfast.

Pop ($1.95). It’s the classic bottles! In my opinion, it tastes the best from the bottles compared to the plastic bottles or fountain drinks.

Jimmy’s special burger ($8.95) comes with bacon and cheese as well as a side of fries.The bun was nicely toasted on the outside, but the patty wasn’t good at all. The fries were alright too. I probably wouldn’t get the burger again.

Black Stone Benedict ($8.95) is M’s Favorite items from Jimmy’s Place. This is all he will ever order. The eggs are nicely poached with lots of hollandaise sauce on top with bacon, green onions and tomatoes. The hash browns are also super crispy on the outside. After I tried a bit of this, I totally wanted to steal his whole dish away from him.

Overall, the food is ok, but the only item that is super good are the eggs benedict! The hash browns are super amazing too. Whatever you decided to get, you must have the side of hash browns!

Words of Wisdom:

Cash only
Some items are hit and miss
Eggs benny with hashbrowns are the best items
Lots of parking
Lots to choose from in their menu
Cheap and affordable

We Rate Jimmys Place Restaurant:

Address:
435 North Road
Coquitlam, BC

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In Downtown

Nuba on Hastings: Sharing is Caring

March 2, 2012

Nuba serves up authentic Lebanese cuisine which cater to both vegetarians and meat eaters. It’s quite popular and even AdventureTimeGirl heard about it from half way across the world. When she came to town, I knew it was a place that M and I had to take her. I haven’t been disappointed by this location yet. With their 4 locations, some items are a bit different, but I like this one the most.

Since the place is usually packed for lunch and dinner, it always good to make reservations for larger groups. We arrived 10 minutes earlier, but they wouldn’t seat us even though our table was clean and unoccupied. We thought this was pretty weird.

La Feast ($30) is a shared platter and comes with hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj, pickles, fattoush salad, najibs special (Baked Cauliflower), vegan stew, falafel, mjadra, macedonian feta, avocado and marinated olives.

The hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj, pickles and the pita bread (aka Le Petit Feast ($12)) comes first. Each person had their own personal favorite item of the first dish, but the hummus was really good!

Next, the rest of the items of La Feast arrived. There are more pickles, fattoush salad, najibs special (Baked Cauliflower), vegan stew, falafel, mjadra, macedonian feta, avocado and marinated olives. It’s really great for sharing if you want to try an array of items. Everything in La Feast is vegetarian! The taste of everything was really good and the nijibs special was the most popular item…so we ordered an extra order of it. Yum!

La Grande Feast ($50) is another shared platter that’s NOT vegetarian. It comes with hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj, pickles, fattoush salad, najibs special, roasted potatoes, lamb skewers, prawns with eggplant relish and chicken skewers.

The hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj, pickles and the pita bread came first too and its the exact same as the La Feast.

Then the rest of the items arrived. The fattoush salad, najibs special, roasted potatoes, lamb skewers, prawns with eggplant relish and chicken skewers! The meat eaters gobbled up all the skewers right away. There wasn’t a lot of meat, but the quality of the skewers were really amazing. The lamb skewers were so tender and medium rare. The prawns were ok, but not too amazing. The chicken skewers were good size, but a tad dry. It comes with a few dips too, so it will counter act the dry texture.

Overall, the food was good. 2 platters + an extra order of najibs special were good for 5 people.

Words of Wisdom:

Platters are good for sharing
Make reservations
Hummas + tabouleh is so good!
Vegetarian friendly

We Rate Nuba:

Address:

207 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
nuba.ca

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In Four Beakers

Nicli Antica Pizzeria: Neapolitan Pizza

March 1, 2012

Nicili Antica Pizzeria is a very popular for their Neapolitan pizza! Since there is always a long line up, we came around 2pm to avoid any lineups. Surprisingly it was packed even at that hour! We left our phone number and they texted us a cool link so we could walk around the neighbourhood and be notified how long the wait is and how many other parties are ahead of us.

AdventureTimeGirl, M, Scarface and I just wandered around to Gastown till we got a text saying our table was ready. It was about a 20 minute wait.

The seating for mostly groups of 2 or 4. If you have any larger parties, your wait may be a while. The interior has a simple white look accented with red chairs by the bar.

The menu is mostly appetizers and different pizzas.

You get 2 types of oil to use on your pizza – Rosemary Oil and Chili Oil. Maybe I’m crazy, but I didn’t get much taste from either oils. The taste is quite subtle.

Capocollo Pizza ($15) has pomodoro tomatoes, grana padano, garlic, marjoram cured pork shoulder, and chili oil.

Margherita Pizza ($12) has pomodoro tomato, grana padano, fior di latte, and basil. Good for the vegetarians!

The Bunch Pizza with Bacon ($20) M really liked it because of the bacon and eggs. It’s really cool since it’s not usual to see a brunch type of pizza.

Funghi Pizza ($16) has pomodoro tomatoes, grana padano, fior di latte, wild and cultivated mushrooms. I thought this pizza was alright. The mushrooms reminded me of the chinese mushrooms. I wish there were more mushrooms since I am a mushroom addict.

All the pizzas had a thin crust with the right amount of toppings. The middle was a tad soggy, but didn’t take away too much from the pizza. They use fresh ingredients that shine through.

Overall, the pizzas are well made and you can easily split a pizza between two people if you don’t want to get super full. Even though the pizza was good, I am very deterred by the long line ups, plus they don’t do reservations.

Words of Wisdom:

Good simple pizza
Around $15
No Reservations, long waits
Service is mediocre
Limited paid street parking

We Rate Nicli Antica Pizzeria:

Address:
62 E Cordova St
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://nicli-antica-pizzeria.ca/

Twitter:
@NicliPizzeria

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Vancouver

In Downtown

First ImPrestons Dining Package Review

February 29, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: VANEATS.ca approached me to try out their “First ImPreston’s” dining package and write a review about it. I got a complementary dining package for myself and I brought along Abbytizer to keep the review as unbiased as I could. The review does not guarantee 100% similar service you might normally get from this restaurant

Abbytizer and I have never been to Preston’s before. From the outside it looks like a very nice, sleek lounge for drinks. The VANEATS “First ImPreston’s” dining package can fully satisfy one person, but is minimal for two people to share.

The Preston’s Dinning Package consists of 5 dishes:

Appetizer

Dungeness Crab Cake
Preston’s Pulled Pork Poutine
Chicken Karrage

Entree

1/2 Rack of Baby Back Ribs

BC Halibut Wrapped in Double Smoked Bacon

Dessert

Maple and Double Smoked Bacon Creme Brulee

The interior of the restaurant is very modern. There is a wall with a cool graphic display that illuminates a pink light throughout the restaurant.

On the left: “Dungeness Crab Cake” with panko breading, tomato dressing, micro herb salad, and fried capers.

The Dungeness Crab Cake, Chicken Karrage, and the Pulled Pork Poutine come as a trio in an appetizer. The first one we tasted was the Dungeness Crab Cake. The texture of the crab cake is crunchy and it was perfectly warm throughout. Abbytizer and I both enjoyed this dish. Abbytizer described it as “packed with real crab meat, which made it very tasty. The sauce that came with it was a perfect match. She enjoyed the crunchy texture of the panko breading because it gave the crab cake a good bite. The only negative thing she had to say about this dish was that it was a little awkward to cut in half in the presentation it came in”.

The center: “Chicken Karaage“, is flash fried marinated chicken with garlic sake, served with spicy sambal lime aioli and miso cabbage slaw.

The chicken karrage was a let down. There was nothing special about the chicken; it was borderline dry and lacked flavour. Abbytizer stated that it needs more aioli sauce to accompany it. The coleslaw is sweet and tasty, but it wasn’t enough to save the dish.

To the Right: “Prestons Pulled Pork Poutine“, with crispy French fries, Quebec cheese curds, and Rickards Red Gravy.

Abbytizer and I both enjoyed this dish because this poutine was not like any other poutine we’ve had before. There is a distinct sweetness from the pork and sauce. The pork is really soft and tender and it blended perfectly with the gravy and the cheese. The fries were crispy and added a nice textural contrast to the dish.

The presentation of the appetizers is quite nice, but the portion size is very minimal for two hungry people. The appetizers would are just enough for one person.

Before we received our main dish, we were presented with a tiny pellet that holds a compressed cloth. When soaked in water the cloth expands, and when peeled a part, the cloth becomes bigger. The tiny pellet became a wet nap. This process was quite amusing to Abbytizer and I before we had our main meals.

“1/2 Rack of Baby Back Ribs“, with sweet hoisin & ginger glazed pork ribs, roasted fingerling potatoes and crunchy coleslaw.

This meal is very pleasing to the eyes. Abbytizer enjoyed it very much. She described the dish as savory and delicious. The sauce was so tasty, she nearly licked her plate clean! The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender and the fingerling potatoes were perfectly seasoned with the right amount of salt. The coleslaw added a nice crisp contrast to the softness of the ribs. Overall, this entree was a winner!

“BC Halibut Wrapped in Double Smoked Bacon“, ($26) served with creamed leeks, quinoa and honey shallot j’us .

I ordered the Halibut to try the other entree offered in the “First ImPrestons” dining package. I never had quinoa before and the quinoa was delicious. The quinoa carried the flavor of the dish. The halibut, however, lacked flavor even though it was wrapped in bacon.

Green Tea Matcha Crème Brulee served with julienne slices of pickled granny smith. The restaurant made a mistake of giving us the green tea crème brulee instead of the maple and double smoked bacon crème brulee.

The green tea matcha crème bruelee was served in a tiny ramekin. However, it was packed with matcha goodness and was very enjoyable. The julienne slices of pickled granny smith apple have a distinct sour taste that is refreshing. People who don’t prefer sour tastes may not like the apples in this dish.

“Maple and Double Smoked Bacon Creme Brulee“, is a very interesting dish. It has a strong initial taste of bacon grease, and after a while of having it, you can taste the smokiness of the bacon. The top of the crème brulee is sweet and when broken and mixed with the crème, it tastes sweet and salty. Abbytizer described it as an acquired taste, especially for anyone who finds bacon as a very unusual dessert flavour.

Chocolate Brownie Sundae ($8) with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis.

Abbytizer enjoyed this dessert. She described the brownie as soft and moist, with a rich chocolate flavour. The raspberry coulis cut through the richness and sweetness of the brownie nicely, and the vanilla ice cream is a wonderful addition to the dessert. The portion of this dessert is large enough to be shared between two people.

The Chuck Norris ($9) with Beefeater Gin, Triple Sec, Lilet Blanca, fresh limejuice and Absinthe. This drink has a very strong initial taste of lime and a strong after taste that is a kick to the face. Who needs shots when you can drink a Chuck Norris.

Hot and Dirty ($9) This is a blend of Absolut Vanilla, Absinthe, lime juice, cordial and a dash of Bols Blue. Abbytizer found this drink to be pretty and potent. It was not as sweet as she anticipated it to be. Overall, a good cocktail.

Overall, one main entrée at Prestons cost just as much as the VANEATS dining package. The VANEATS “First ImPrestons” pass is great value for your buck, especially if you want to try out a restaurant with great food. However, the pass is suitable for one person, so if two of you are dining, you may want to order another appetizer or entree.

You can purchase the “First ImPrestons” Dinning Package at VANEATS.ca for $21 starting on February 29^th.

Words of Wisdom:

Large drink menu
Nice lounge area
Bathroom is outside the restaurant

We rate Prestons:

Address:
1177 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6E

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In Mount Pleasant/Main Street

Fray: Restaurant on Fraser

February 28, 2012

Hello Internet! Abbytizer and I checked out a fun, new restaurant on Fraser Street called Fray. The restaurant prides itself on having its dishes made from locally sourced and fresh ingredients.

The inside of the restaurant is dimly lit, has interesting decor that includes luchador masks and poster art on its walls. The Fray also has vintage board games and an “adult activity sheet” that provides amusement while waiting for the food. The restaurant has a very causal, laid back feel.

Fray’s Famous F-Bombs ($7.95) are fresh figs wrapped in crispy, Fraser Valley bacon with a balsamic reduction. I personally do not like figs but this appetizer was sweet in the inside, and salty on the outside.

Abbytizer describes as an interesting contrast between the sweetness of the soft figs, and saltiness of the crisp bacon. I enjoyed the balsamic reduction; it cut through and complemented the other flavours quite nicely.

The Portobello Fries ($8.95) is a Jenga tower of breaded portobello strips lightly fried and served with truffle aioli sauce. I personally loved this dish. The mushrooms are so tender and the breading made them perfectly crisp on the outside. Abbytizer describes it:

These fries are a perfect alternative to ordinary french fries! I love mushrooms and the idea of cutting strips of Portobello, breading them and frying them is great! They are perfectly seasoned and the aioli dip that accompanies them is a great complement.

It’s so good that we ordered this appetizer TWICE! We had one before our entrees, and one after our entrees.

The Mint Julep ($5.60 for a single) consists of Maker’s Mark bourbon, mint and simple syrup, shaken.

Abbytizer ordered this and describes it to be very strong. A single of this drink is more than enough to get a decent buzz on.

The Berry Fizz ($5.50 for a single) is strawberry-infused vodka, cranberry juice, ginger ale and lime juice, shaken over ice. A very light strawberry and cranberry blend drink. You’re going to need a lot of these to feel it.

The Pan –Seared Salmon ($14.95) consists of West Coast wild salmon, pan-seared with light cream sauce, balsamic vinegar and gnocchi tapenade. Abbytizer describes this dish to be a disappointment as the fish was cooked a little longer than it should have been, which made it slightly dry. However, the gnocchi was quite tasty, and the saving grace of the entire dish was the delicious cream sauce.

The Fat Bastard Pork Belly ($15.95) is a thick wedge of local pork belly with apple peach compote, white balsamic chive reduction and fresh slaw. The pork belly was sweet and juicy in the inside. The outside was cooked right, leaving the outside of the pork skin to be crunchy. Each bite was sweet and enjoyable. Also, the fruits on the side were out of the ordinary, but made the meal enjoyable.

The Rustic Apple Tart ($7.95) is a puff pastry with vanilla ice cream. It is a very simple dessert with an enormous amount of apple flavor. We finished the apple tart before the ice cream!

Overall, this restaurant has a lot to offer, especially if you’re looking for vegetarian or potentially gluten-free options. The dishes are reasonably priced for modern, western cuisine. On certain nights, The Fray serves as a venue for different events. At the time we went, Abbytizer and I watched an amateur stand-up comedian contest. Needless to say, the food was better than some of the jokes told.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking in front
Free WiFi
Mediocre service
The restaurant hosts special events after 9pm (variety show, trivia night, etc.) on certain nights.

We rate Fray

Address:
3980 Fraser Street
Vancouver, BC

Website: fray.me

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In Bakery

Cartems Donuterie: Pop-up Shop of Donuts

February 27, 2012

Cartems Donuterie opened up a pop-up shop in Gastown and another near Commercial. A pop-up shop means its only temporary. They sell unique donuts with very unique flavours and cater to people who are gluten-free and vegan.

My coworkers and I have heard a lot of buzz about Cartems Donuterie on Twitter and in the papers, so we decided to check them out during lunch. We also heard they like to be sold out quite fast, so we just monitored their twitter account to see what flavours were coming out next. On their first batch of donuts, they sold out in 39 minutes! So, we waited for their next batch to be ready before we headed out of the office.

They take online orders ( 2 days in advance) as well, just in case you don’t want to run into the problem with sold out donuts or the flavours you want aren’t there. They do free delivery in Downtown too.

Everything is made fresh with local ingredients! They don’t do their baking in the Gastown location since its just delivered to that location. It’s not a bad thing since it’s still fresh!

The shop is very small. When we went there, there were only 2 flavours left. 🙁 They are popular donuts.

It didn’t bother us too much since there were at least some donuts left and the guy serving us was very nice! There are no tables inside, so all the donuts you get at the store are for takeout.

After walking back to the office with our rain-soaked box of Cartems Donuts, we just dug in!

Since there were only 2 types of donuts left, we just grabbed a box of half a dozen ($15). They gave us an extra one since one of the donuts were a bit smaller. I didn’t notice the size difference, but a free donut is a good donut (hehehe…that was my asian side of me speaking).

Cinnamon Sugar Donut ($3 each) was coated with a lot of sugar on the outside. It was beautifully fried! When you bite into it, the outside is crunchy and the inside is spongey. There was a good balance between the ingredients.

Sweet Heat Donut ($3 each) tasted like a slightly dense chocolate donut. The dominant flavour is the chocolate, but there is a very very subtle taste of the chilies.

Overall, the donuts were good, but since I am not a donut fanatic…I don’t exactly have a huge love for them. With $3 per donut, I would probably try more of the other flavours that are more unique.

Since I wanted to try more of their flavours, Angela of Munchkie’s Munchies and I decided to order a dozen and split them during lunch. Such a healthy lunch right? Don’t attempt eating a whole box of 12, since thats really just unhealthy on many levels. The dozen donuts cost $30.

Ordering online was quite painless, choose the donuts you want in multiples of 12 and pay through PayPal. You just need to make your order 2 days in advance. The order arrived on time and I had no issues.

Even though we ordered one of each flavour, we couldn’t try the Bee Sting donut since they didn’t have it. The donuts came in various shapes and sizes. Some were smaller, some were larger.

Triple Chocolate Threat ($3 each) is made with a base of chocolate cake, then topped with ganache and crispy chocolate pearls.

This donut was a bit dense and slightly dry. I liked the texture of the chocolate pearls that complimented the donut.

Flourless Bouquet Gluten-Free Donut ($3 each) but it’s still made in an area with gluten. Eat with caution depending on what your level of sensitivity is towards gluten. The donut has a berry tea glaze on top.

I found the glaze to be quite sweet, but it did have a strong berry taste to it.

Cinnamon Sugar Donut ($3 each) was coated with sugar and cinnamon on the outside. The quality of the donut could have been a bit improved since the shape of it was a bit weird.

What I like about this donut is the crunchy exterior and then the soft inside of it. This donut isn’t super special or unique, but it is good.

Sweet Snow Donut ($3 each) has a white chocolate glaze with large organic coconut shavings.

I’m not a big fan of coconut, but I liked how the taste was subtle and didn’t dominate the flavour. Good balance.

Sweet Heat Donut ($3 each) tasted a little bit different this time around.

The chili flavour was more prominent but not too overwhelming. It just tickled your lips a little. It was kinda a cool feeling.

Earl Grey Donut is infused with organic earl grey tea and a earl grey glaze with edible flowers.

I really liked this donut because it has a good subtle flavour of the tea. Very unique and its a must order.

Breakfast Donut has organic figs, flax seeds, and honey. This was definitely a donut for the wee mornings.

It was quite dense and packed with a lot of ingredients, but it kinda tasted like a bran muffin.

Carrot Cake Donut has carrots in their donut dough with a caramel glaze and topped with candied carrots and oats.

I felt like it didn’t represent a carrot cake since it needed a bit more cinnamon to really bring out that taste.

Classic Donut is topped with a vanilla bean glaze.

I liked the simple taste of the donut. Good fresh ingredients done right.

No Animals? No problems! Vegan Donut has chocolate cake, topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate sprinkles.

I LOVED this donut! Even though it’s vegan, it was so moist and chocolaty. I would definitely order this again!

Overall, there is a bit of a consistency issue with the donuts, but Cartems has a great concept in trying to bring unique flavours and ingredients into their donuts. Plus, they do cater to vegans and gluten-free individuals. I am sure in time they will improve on their products! Don’t forget to check out Munchkie’s Munchies‘s review of Cartems!

Words of Wisdom:

My Favorite: Earl grey, Sweet Heat, Vegan, and Classic
Pricey for just a donut
Order Online to be guaranteed the flavours you want
Free delivery to the Downtown core
Under $10
Closest Skytrain: Stadium
Follow them on Twitter (@cartemsdonuts ) for availability of supply + flavours
Vegan + Gluten-Free Options

We Rate Cartems Donuterie:

Address:
408 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://cartems.com/

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In Downtown

Ensemble Tap: To Tap or Not To Tap

February 27, 2012

Ensemble Tap is opened by Top Chef Canada’s winner – Dale MacKay. They sell pub-style food with a large array of beer on tap, thus the name. It’s a spin off of his other restaurant – Ensemble, which is a higher end dining.

Since I helped Flo assemble some furniture, she treated me out for some food close to her place. Since Ensemble Tap was just downstairs, it seemed like a good place to go.

Steam Buns ($14) has seared albacore tuna, Mama Cho sauce, and fresh kimchi. The bun was cold and we felt it might have been better if it was warm like those Chinese-style steam buns. It was hard to taste the tuna since the kimchi and the Mama Cho sauce overpowered the tuna. It was a tad spicy and has a little sour taste to it. I really didn’t like the flavour combinations.

Thai Chicken Wings ($12 – 1 lb) The chicken was deep fried and came with the thai sauce on the side. I didn’t find it very amazing at all since it’s quite expensive for a pound of chicken wings.

Tap Burger + Bacon ($15) has mushrooms, caramelized onions, onion, lettuce, Swiss cheese, horse radish, and a side of fries. The beef patty was quite large and the added bacon was nice and crunchy. I really liked the burger since it was a good price and tasted delicious.

Key Lime Pie ($8.50) has whipped cream, toasted coconut, and lime zest. It was light and airy, so it was not a heavy dessert. It has a really nice lime flavour, but you know there was definitely some food coloring in this. I’ve never had a key lime pie, but this was good.

Overall, the appetizers are definitely expensive. The burgers are delicious and priced well. Service was ok.

Words of Wisdom:

Good burger
Around $15
Some appetizers not worth the price
Good array of beers
Closest Skytrain: Burrard

We Rate Ensemble Tap:

Address:
990 Smithe Street
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.ensembletap.com/

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In Gastown

Chronic Tacos Cantina: Taco, Taco, Taco

February 23, 2012

Chronic Tacos opened up their third location in Gastown! Since I saw a Social Shopper deal, I quickly got it! I’ve been to another location and the food was good. This Chronic Taco location is much larger and has 2 floors.

The interior is bright red with lots of TV around to watch games.

Lots of seating, a few booth seating and the upstairs area. The chairs are like outdated banquet chairs. Not the most pretty furniture or tables, but it’s about the food right?

Pop ($1.99) normal stuff and comes with refills!

Chips and Salsa ($2.99) I liked the crunchy chips but I wish there was more salsa. The salsa was alright but it was very watery.

For the two tacos that were part of the Social Shopper deal, we got the Carnitas taco and Fish taco. These are a bit small and nothing like Taco Time. You may need 3 or 4 to get full.

Fish Taco ($3.79) has a small tortilla with cabbage, and salsa. It was good, but wasn’t super amazing.

Carnitas Taco ($3.49) has tender and juicy beef with guacamole and lettuce. It was ok too.

Carnitas Quesadilla ($9.49) has a good amount of cheese and carnitas meat inside. It also comes with a few sauces. Its has a much larger size than the tacos.

It was well made, but you definitely need to dip it into the sauce to get more flavour. I probably liked the quesadilla out of all the other items.

Overall, the food was alright, but not super amazing. In a way, it is like a cantina, where you just drink more and have a few little snacks. They do have the bar and the room for it. It’s good game food too. Since the space is pretty large too, service wasn’t super good. It was alright.

Words of Wisdom:

Decent Mexican eats
Around $10
Lots of space to watch the game
Anything with Carnitas is delicious

We Rate Chronic Tacos Cantina:

Address:
102 Water Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:

http://www.chronictacos.ca/

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In Downtown

Verace Amore Dining Package Review

February 21, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: VANEATS.ca approached me to try out their “Verace Amore” dining package and write a review about it. I got a complementary dining package for myself and I brought along CandiedZen to keep the review as unbiased as I could. This review does not guarantee 100% similar service you might normally get from this restaurant.

I always pass by Verace but never went inside until VANEATS.ca began offering the Verace Amore Dining Package. The package was designed to feed one, but CandiedZen and I found that it’s best to share it and order an additional dish. This is because not everyone will love all the items in this package due to personal reasons. Some people hate olives, some people love olives. The dining package comes with 4 items:

Salati Assortiti
Burrata
8-inch Brick Oven Baked Pizza (half funghi, half Prosciutto e Rucola)
Lemoncello Layer Cake

The interior has lots of tables and can get busy on game days or holidays.

Limonata Al Mosmario has freshly squeezed lemons, rosemary and soda. We tried ordering the Italian Soda, but the waiter highly recommended this to us. It tasted really good with a strong lemon soda taste with a subtle hint of rosemary. It’s not part of the dining package, but it was nice and refreshing to go with the meal.

Burrata is burrata cheese finished with balsamic reduction, lemon oil and served with warm rosemary pizza bread.

CandiedZen and liked this dish since the rosemary bread was crunchy and melded well with the soft burrata cheese.

Salati Assortiti come with a daily selection of cured meats and cheese, vegetables, and marinated olives. It comes with more warm rosemary pizza bread.

Good selection of items, but not for everyone. That’s why its good to share one of these with another person. CandiedZen and I eat everything, so it worked well for us. For myself, I really loved the pickled artichokes and the cured meats.

8-inch Brick Oven Baked Pizza is handmade with naturally leavened dough

½ Prosciutto e Rucola – plum tomato sauce, fior di latte mozzarella topped with prosciutto, fresh arugula, grana padano and evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
½ Funghi – mushroom cream, cipollini balsamic onions, mixed crimini, portabella, and oyster mushrooms. Topped with fresh oregano, grana padano and evoo

The Prosiutto e Rucola was good, but it was a bit hard to eat with the arugula on top. The Funghi was really good since it had the fragrant mushroom cream sauce. It was strong, but I am a huge mushroom fan. The pizza is smaller in size than their regular pizzas. The regular ones are about 12 inches instead of the 8 inches. I did like this pizza since it gives you a sample of their top 2 pizzas.

Chili oil and garlic oil comes to the table and you can add it to your rosemary bread or pizza. I personally love the garlic oil since it has a subtle taste and goes well with most bread-y items.

Lemoncello Layer Cake has limoncello infused lady fingers layered with lemon curd and mascarpone cream.

It was a nice dessert at the end and its great they used lemoncello, which is an Italian lemon liqueur. It had a good taste and the ingredients went well together.

Candies come in the end when the bill comes!

Overall, we found the dining package was worth the $15, since a regular pizza on their menu is about $15 anyways. It’s a well-built package that shows you the variety of items that they offer.

You can purchase the Verace Amore Dining Package at VANEATS.ca for $15 beginning on February 22nd at 7am. All the items are on their regular menu too!

Words of Wisdom:

Good Pizza
Closest Skytrain: Stadium
Free Parking at Tinseltown (Just make sure the mall doesn’t close) or pay parking underground near T&T

We Rate Verace Pizzeria:

Address:
189 Keefer Pl
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.veracepizzeria.com/

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In Brunch

Bons Off Broadway: Grease-tacular Breakfast

February 21, 2012

Bon’s Off Broadway is known for their super cheap $2.95 breakfasts and has been a popular place for University students to eat ridiculously cheap food. The interior has lots of space.

They have been around for a long time and it’s just a good place to get cheap food.

Coffee is the normal black drip coffee. It’s definitely a must for the tired people of the world. It was hard getting a refill since the service wasn’t very good, so it was hard to flag down a server.

Corn Beef hash with a side of bacon was quite large! It comes with a few slices of toast and a mountain of potatoes, onions and corned beef slices. I also ordered bacon on the side too. The food was quite average and greasy, but I was super stuffed by the end of the meal.

Overall, the food isn’t super amazing, but you do get what you pay for. The service is a bit lacking, but they are quite busy in the mornings and on weekends.

Words of Wisdom:

Very affordable and cheap!
Under $10
Free parking in the residential area
Large portions

We Rate Bon’s Off Broadway:

Address:
2451 Nanaimo St
Vancouver, BC V5N

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In Cafe

Leonidas: Waffles, Hot Chocolate and Chocolates

February 20, 2012

Leonidas is a Belgian Chocolate shop inside the Convention Center near Waterfront Station. They sell lots of signature chocolates, macarons, waffles, drinks, and other chocolate goodies. The interior is quite small, but can fit a few small groups.

M and I were in the area and we wanted to redeem our Social Shopper deal good for 2 waffles, 2 hot chocolates, 2 chocolate covered strawberries and a box of 6 chocolates. Since it was Valentines Day, it seemed like a good day to redeem it.

Dark Hot Chocolate was good! It was very smooth and had a nice rich chocolate taste.

Leiage Waffles were not good at all. The waffles were pre-made and reheated. I found this very strange since I’ve heard lots of good things about their waffles. Perhaps they made them ahead of time since they knew the shop would be busy during Valentines Day. M and I really thought the waffles were hard and bland.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries were good. The strawberries were big, plump and juicy with a good coating of milk chocolate.

The chocolates you can choose any 6 from their display case. I chose anything with dark chocolate and they were really good!! If you have no idea what to get, you can always ask them for advice. They have tons of choices to choose from.

Overall, the chocolates are the best items here. I would go back just for those. As for this experience, M and I felt that the service was quite poor. Some customers were ignored when there was no line up, so they just left. Our table was left dirty for a long time and as I went back to get the chocolates, they forgot I was already dining there. Granted it was a busy Valentines Day, I can understand the staff was flustered by the amount of customers. Since they are still quite new, I am sure they will improve on their service.

Words of Wisdom:

Delicious Dark Chocolates!
Under $10
Closest Skytrain: Waterfront

We Rate Leonidas:

Address:
#29 – 1055 Canada Place
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.leonidaswaterfront.com/

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In Downtown

Verace Pizzeria: Calzones, Pizza, and Pasta

February 19, 2012

For Valentines Day, TaiwaneseGirl, M and I decided to Verace Pizzeria for dinner. Very romantic – 2 girls and M…I think M was a happy man and thought he looked pimp. I honestly just wanted pizza.

Verace Pizzeria serves up authentic Italian cuisine. They are located near Stadium Skytrain and T&T. They have lots of Groupon Now deals through their iPhone app.

They even have a brick oven that’s heated to 900 degrees. Now that’s hot stuff. The restaurant has a good amount of seats and was packed!

Limonata Al Mosmario has fresh squeezed lemon, rosemary and soda. We tried ordering the Italian Soda, but the waiter highly recommended this to us. It tasted really good with a strong lemon soda taste with a subtle hint of rosemary.

Pasta e Patate Affumicata Pasta ($15.25) has potato, fior di latte, smoked cheese, pancetta, onions, celery, tomatoes, grana padano, and extra virgin olive oil. The pasta was alright, but it wasn’t too amazing. There could have been a little bit more sauce or perhaps the sauce should be a bit thicker.

Diavola Pizza ($16.75) has plum tomatoes, spicy genoa salami, capicollo roasted red onion and peppers topped with grana padano, fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil. The pizza was nice and thin but does have a bit of a char since it is made in the brick oven. The flavours were good and it tastes really good with the garlic oil and chili oil that comes to the table.

Peppe Calzone ($16.75) is filled with pomodoro, capicollo, spicy genoa salami, fior di latte mozzarella and roasted bell peppers topped with basil leaf. It’s really large and half the side of the plate. It comes with your choice of salad or soup, but we went with salad. The inside of the calzone was a bit watery on the inside due to the tomatoes, but it was still good. The salad was perfectly seasoned and dressed!

Overall, the food is good, but the pizza is probably the best thing to order. Some items are a tad expensive, but with the Groupon discounts, its not too bad.

Words of Wisdom:

Good Pizza
Daily Groupon Now deals
Closest Skytrain: Stadium
Free Parking at Tinseltown or pay parking underground near T&T

We Rate Verace Pizzeria:

Address:
189 Keefer Pl
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.veracepizzeria.com/

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In Indian

Himalayan Peak: Restaurant on a Hill

February 16, 2012

The Himalayan Peak at SFU sells Indian food. You can either do takeout or eat in. They are best known for their all-you-can-eat buffet since its the best bang for your buck if you eat a lot.

Since a few of us weren’t super super hungry, we decided to pick a few items off the menu for lunch to share.

There’s lots of tables available and its not too busy.

Butter Chicken ($14) has boneless pieces of chicken breast cooked in creamy sauce. The flavours were good, but it could have been a bit stronger.

It tasted good and its always best with an order of naan or rice. There was a good amount of chicken, but it is quite an expensive dish.

Naan ($2) is what we chose to get with the butter chicken. It was made fresh and really good!

Chicken Naan-wich ($7) has very little ingredients inside, but I guess thats to keep it from falling apart. Since the naan is also thin, it has good proportions. Too bad there really isn’t a binding agent to really keep it all together.