Foodology
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British Columbia

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In Downtown

Ventura Room: Happy Hour in Vancouver

Ventura Room is located across from Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Downtown Vancouver and opened in October of 2019. They were best known for the live music, dancing, and cocktails.

Since the pandemic, they have closed but recently re-opened with safety measures in mind. The tables are spaced apart in respect to social distancing. There is patio space with tables and picnic tables. Also, all staff were wearing masks.

We were invited for food and drinks and to check out the space.

Happy Hour

They have happy hour from 3-6pm and 10pm – close daily. It’s all day happy hour on Sunday, which is a great deal.

Interior

They have a laidback Californian lounge and its usually open late with live music. With the pandemic, they’re trying to find their way to being that but with safety in mind.

Menu

Strawberry Basal Spritz

It has strawberry infused aperol, campari, basil, prosecco, and orange bitters. It was very easy to drink and refreshing.

The Daquirita

It has havana 7, altos plata, yuzu, and seared pineapple. It’s a strong drink that is citrus forward and clean.

California Love

They do have alcoholic-free beverages as well. This has fresh grapefruit juice, lavender, lemon, and soda. You get the floral notes from the lavender and the sour notes from the citrus fruits.

Crispy Cauliflower

The crispy cauliflower has charred jalapeño ranch, parmesan, and chili. This was one of our favourite dishes as it was well fried and seasoned. Plus, the dip complimented well.

Ahi Tuna Taco

These tacos have ginger chili tuna, yuzu aioli, avocado, and a cilantro slaw. It comes with 4 mini tacos per order. Looks great but the taste was lacking. It really needed more tuna and sauces.

Crispy Coconut Shrimp Roll

This has panko shrimp, avocado, green onion, Thai peanut sauce, and sesame. This was our server’s favourite item on the menu. It’s a very fusion items on the menu. The Thai peanut sauce and the green onion combination was nice. The peanut sauce is chunky and sweet, which is different. Not necessarily a bad thing.

West Coast Aburi Roll

This roll is their Ventura roll with torch seared chili ginger salmon & jalapeño. It was a decent roll but it definitely needed more flavour for one of their signature rolls.

Torch Nigiri

The different nigiri have a soy saké glaze on top. You have an option of salmon or tuna. The glaze give it a good amount of sweetness and the torched sauce caramelizes nicely. Not your typical Japanese flavourings but we liked it.

Hollywood Burger

The burger is topped with cheddar, iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickle, and special sauce between the toasted buns. It was a decent burger but nothing too special. For your side, yam fries are a great choice.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the location is great if you’re in the Queen Elizabeth theatre area before or after a show. The food was ok, but sometimes people just want to socialize with friends and not go anywhere too far.

Going on Sunday for all day happy hour is a great deal. We recommend the crispy cauliflower and the torched nigiri.

Address:
695 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC 

Website:
https://www.venturaroom.com/

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In Fusion

Potluck Hawker Eatery: A Taste of South-East Asian Street Food in Vancouver

Potluck Hawker Eatery is now open in the Cambie Village area of Vancouver. This is a counter-service style restaurant inspired by the South-East Asian hawker street food markets.

Chef Justin Cheung put his own spin on Malaysian cuisine, paying homage to a comprehensive training of Thai cooking and a nod to a Filipino potluck. It is fantastic and we are all here for it.

Interior

The 993 square-feet restaurant draws inspiration from the ritual of potlucks, where families spend the day in the kitchen preparing their family’s signature dish and contributing to the table – a coming together of stomach-filling, soul-warming dishes. We absolutely love the space and don’t forget to take a selfie in the washroom because it’s amazing. Make sure you go into both washrooms too.

My favourite part is seeing the ingredients that go into the dishes on the walls. its gives it nice character and also transparency in what they cook with.

If anyone blames the smell on you, tell them it’s from the durian wallpaper.

Menu

Thai Iced Tea

One of our favourite drinks and its very nice and refreshing for a summer’s day. Bold tea flavour and they sweeten it with condensed milk. If you want it less sweet, just ask.

Beet Carpaccio

This has spicy fish sauce and lime juice dressing, fried shallots and fresh herbs. You heard that right beet, not beef. It was tangy and refreshing. The chilis give it a nice kick of spice. It really reminded us of butter beef but without the beef or butter.

Burmese Shrimp Ceviche

The dish has cucumber, cherry tomatoes and shrimp lightly pickled in fresh lime juice, fish sauce and chili. Not as flavourful compared to the other dishes but you’ll want to eat this before all the other dishes so the work better together. The shrimp was really nice and fresh in this ceviche.

Salted Egg Yolk Fried Chicken Sando

This beauty has crispy chicken thigh, green mango slaw, tamarind chili jam, in Fife Bakery milk bread. We also got their Malaysian shaker fries as an add-on.

This dish was our favourite. The fried chicken thigh was tender and juicy. It balanced well with the crunchy slaw, salted egg yolk, and jam. The bread was really good, lightly toasted but very soft. The shaker fries has that savoury-sweet flavour combination.

Nasi Goreng

This is an Indonesian style fried rice with house special soy topped with shrimp crackers and fried egg. You can choose to have this with chicken, seafood or tofu. The egg was cooked perfectly to moisten up the fried rice. The rice did end up to be quite moist.

Mama Cheung’s Laksa

This is dish is named after the chef’s mom. It has coconut curry noodle soup with fish cake, prawns, puff tofu, boiled egg and mixed noodle. You can choose to have this with vermicelli or egg noodles. Very flavourful with a kick of spice.

Fish Sauce Caramel Wings

They use free-run Farmcrest chickens from Salmon Arm, BC. It was finger lickin’ good with the pandan infused palm sugar and sesame. Their fried food is exceptional here. The chicken is seasoned as well as the batter so they really get the flavour to shine throughout the wings.

Roti Canai with Condensed Milk

Not the combination that I would have through would work together, but it was simple and tasty. A good way to end the meal.

Final Thoughts

The food at Potluck Hawker Eatery is fantastic and packed with a depth of flavour. The essence of South East Asian cuisine really shines through. A lot of the dishes do use cilantro and spicy peppers, so if you adore that, head on over to Potluck. If you’re not into those flavours, they can accomodate no cilantro and reduced spice levels too. Salted Egg Yolk Fried Chicken Sando is the best.

Highly recommend this place and we just can’t stop thinking about their fried dishes. All so nicely battered and seasoned. Vancouver definitely needed more restaurants like this.

Address:
3424 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.potluckyvr.ca/

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In British Columbia

Starbucks Canada: Cold Brew with Cinnamon Almond Foam Review

Starbucks Canada is expanding its summer-inspired menu by adding Cold Brew and Nitro Cold Brew with Cinnamon Almond foam to it’s line up. We’re definitely more fans of their coffee than their other beverages, so we had to give it a try.

These new beverages are intended as a lighter-tasting, subtly sweet option with coffee-forward notes. The non-dairy cold foam layer is made from flavourful ingredients like almond beverage, vanilla syrup, and cinnamon. Their regular cold foam has egg in it.

Cold foam is frothed cold instead of hot and blended until smooth, creating layers of creamy texture and flavour without the cream. Cinnamon Almond Foam is airier than other cold foam options and can also be modified with soy.

Cold Brew with Cinnamon Almond Foam Taste Test

Upon first sip, you can taste the cinnamon in the foam. The foam is very light and does dissipate quickly. There is a bit of sweetness from the vanilla syrup, but I wasn’t a fan of the almond beverage. That paired with the cold brew just didn’t jive as well with my personal taste preference.

It’s a great option for non-dairy drinkers, but not for me.

Other plant-based options at Starbucks

Here are some other plant-based options as well as non-dairy drinks they have on the menu.

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In Brunch

The Parlour: Brunch in Yaletown

Yaletown’s favourite pizzeria – The Parlour is now offering brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 11am till 3pm. Who can say no to benedict pizzas? We’ve been a big fan of The Parlour for years and the thin crust on their pizzas are so good paired with their delicious toppings.

We were invited to check out their new brunch menu.

Patio

Their patio is open and there are some space to socially distance yourself from others. Definitely the best option is to sit out on the patio for brunch on a nice day.

If its full, there is still lots of indoor seating. There is also a private back room that opens just for weekends.

Classic Eggs Benedict

This comes with 2 poached eggs, black forest ham, tomato sauce, mozza, and hollandaise. The eggs benedict is served on their pizza dough instead of a traditional biscuit or english muffin. A nice twist to showcase their dough.

This dish was very good and not too heavy at all for brunch. It was never greasy either. It is also served with a side of fruit to balance out the meal.

Huevos Benedictinos

The Huevos Benedictinos looks similar to the classic eggs benedict. It has 2 poached eggs, salsa, chorizo, hollandaise, avocado, tomato sauce, and mozzarella. It is served on their famous pizza dough. The combination of the eggs benedict with salsa and avocado worked very well together.

Side of Red Potato Cajun Hash

We ordered the Red Potato Cajun Hash on the side. We loved how its so flavourful and crisp. On the inside, the potatoes were soft and really soaked in all that cajun spice.

Side Andouille Sausage

The sausage was served on the side on its own plate. It has a nice kick of flavour and was firm.

French Toast

The french toast has brioche, cinnamon, bourbon whipped cream, maple syrup and blueberry compote. It’s a big portion, but they also offer half portions as well if you don’t have such a big appetite.

Surprisingly, the dish wasn’t too sweet with the maple syrup.

Blackberry Smash

Brunch isn’t complete without a cocktail in hand. This has muddled blackberries, Hennessy VS, fresh lemon juice, ginger, and honey syrup. It’s a well rounded cocktail and not too strong. Good fruity pairing for brunch.

Final Thoughts

Overall. solid brunch that you can’t go wrong. They do also have their other menu if you want their classic pizzas during brunch. With the Summer weather getting hotter and hotter, the patio is a nice place to be.

Address:
1011 Hamilton St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://theparlourrestaurants.com/

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In Chinese

Jingle Bao: Buns, Noodles, and Dumplings in Downtown Vancouver

Jingle Bao is located close to Denman and Robson serving up delicious buns, noodles and dumplings. Of those three items, the freshly made xiao long bao (XLB) is really what draws people in. The Signature Rainbow XLB and Supersize XLB makes it very instagram worthy.

We were invited to give their menu a try. We’ve dined here in the past and now we’re back again.

Dining In

When we were dining here, we saw they are using proper safety protocols during this pandemic to keep everyone safe. You can see all staff are wearing masks and there is plexiglass divider separating the dining area and preparation areas.

All guest were spaced far apart so there is proper social distancing.

Take Out and Delivery

It is always best to call them directly for take out as they retain more profit instead of giving a cut to the delivery companies.

If you do want to do delivery, they are on Uber Eats, Door Dash and Skip the Dishes for those in Vancouver.

Menu

Iced Lemon Tea

A classic drink made of black tea, sugar, and lemon. Can’t go wrong with this choice.

Hot Chrysanthemum Tea

If you’re looking for a hot tea, the hot chrysanthemum tea is served in a pot and is deliciously floral.

Signature Rainbow XLB

There is a colourful assortment of XLB in this bamboo basket. It has:

  • Classic (white)
  • Sriracha (pink)
  • Mushroom (brown)
  • Shrimp (orange)
  • Spinach (green)
  • Curry (yellow)
  • Garlic (blue)

Each XLB sits on top of a slice of carrot to prevent it from sticking to the bamboo steamer. It’s a very colourful dish. You’ll want to wait for it to cool down a bit so you don’t burn your mouth with the soup hiding inside the dumplings. The rainbow XLB is a great way to try a variety of their XLB on the menu. Our favourite was the mushroom truffle XLB.

Its hard to share, so we recommend one order per person so you can try them all.

Mushroom Truffle XLB

Just our luck that we also ordered a whole order of Mushroom Truffle XLB. We loved it. It has a very savoury umami flavour to it.

Crispy Snowflake Dumping

You can choose between pork, veggie, beef, chicken, or fish. We ended up choosing pork. The dish has a nice presentation. It is pan-fried and attached to each other like a snowflake, thus giving it the signature name. It is topped with green onions and spicy mayo sauce. The filling felt very soft and fell apart. We would have preferred it to be a bit firmer.

Taiwanese Salt and Pepper Chicken

This is a classic Taiwanese dish and it’s nice to have something fried to compliment the steamed items in the meal. All the chicken sits on top of a bed of fried vermicelli noodles. A solid dish compared to other places around town.

BBQ Pork and Seasonal Greens Chow Mein

It’s been a while since we had a chow mein dish and it also has seasonal greens in it. It’s not something we usually order but it was solid. Not too oily and good depth of flavour. This dish is good to order if you want more of a filling dish.

Seafood with Sticky Rice

In this sticky rice, it has tiger prawns, scallop, squid, onion and veggies served on top of a bed of sticky rice. The dish was bland and underwhelming. It could have been better executed.

Malay Cake

The malay cake is served in a steamer. It has good flavouring but was a touch dense and could have been fluffier.

Green Tea Sesame Ball

Each order comes with 2 pieces. This was one of our favourite items. It is nice and chewy on the outside. The inside has liquid black sesame inside. Absolutely loved it and its not too sweet. Highly recommended.

Final Thoughts

Overall, you can’t go wrong with their xiao long baos and theres such a variety. We enjoyed watching the chef craft each dumpling for the order and there are no secrets to them. Just good quality ingredients.

We definitely recommend some XLB and their green tea sesame balls.

Address:
774 Denman St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://jinglebao.com/

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In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Kawaii Salads: Japanese Salads and Sweets Delivered in Vancouver

Kawaii Salads in Vancouver specializes in Japanese salads in jars. Layered salads in jars isn’t a new concept and was very trendy on Instagram and Pinterest a few years ago. What makes them stand out is their pairing of ingredients and their homemade salad dressings.

Behind Kawaii Salads is Keiko and Yasuyo who created these Japanese salads in jars because couldn’t find Japanese-style salad dressings to pair with their salads. They use fresh high quality ingredients that might even convert salad haters. Their ultimate goal is to offer flexible work hours to women who are looking for opportunities to get back into the workforce. I love how they are making our community that much better.

We were invited to try out their different salads.

Pick up and Delivery

You can order pick up at the Coho Commissary on East Georgia in Vancouver. When you get there, just call and they will bring out your order.

If you opt for delivery, they have partnered up with Uber Eats, Door Dash, and Skip the Dishes. You just need to be in the delivery zone.

What’s in the Jar?

You’ll find these items inside:

  • Mixed greens
  • Your choice of protein (chicken or tofu)
  • Veggies
  • Toppings
  • Beans
  • Grains
  • Dressing (Pink Beet-licious, Popey the Green, Sunny Carroty, Sesame Street, and yuzu sweet)

More specifically, it has carrots, red cabbage, quinoa, cucumber, bell pepper, green onion, cilantro, edamame, corn, broccoli, mixed greens, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. These items could potentially change from season to season.

The salads dressings are Japanese-style, homemade, vegan and made with all-natural ingredients. 

Vegan Salad (Tofu)

The vegan salad with the fried tofu has chickpeas, quinoa, cucumber, bell peppers, carrot, red cabbage, green onion, cilantro, corn, edamame, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and mix greens. It is paired with their Pink Beet-licious dressing.

The salad is best poured into a large bowl and mixed up. I put them in really big bowl and I was surprised at the portion size. You can eat it by yourself and be really really full or share among the table.

Protein Salad (Chicken)

The protein salad with chicken has chickpeas, quinoa, cucumber, bell peppers, carrot, red cabbage, green onion, cilantro, corn, edamame, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and mix greens. It is paired with their Sesame Street dressing.

This dressing was very good! My favourite of the two just because I really love sesame flavours. The combination of textures and flavours worked very well.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking to get back to a healthy diet, Kawaii Salads might spark that habit. For me, I’ve been eating way too much fried chicken and sweets during the pandemic that I really miss salad now. The prices are fair and you can do pick up or delivery in Vancouver.

If you do have a sweet tooth, Kawaii Salads also sell cookies and brownies too. They are Japanese flavoured and also less sweet.

Website:
https://www.kawaiisalad.ca/

Address:
1370 E Georgia St, Vancouver, BC

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In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Takenaka: Family-Sized Japanese Bento Boxes Delivered in Vancouver

Takenaka Vancouver specializes in Japanese Bento Boxes to go. They craft these beautiful boxes using a combination of fresh local and Japanese ingredients. It’s not easy opening up a business during this pandemic, but these take out bento boxes are perfect for this time of year. With more picnics and get togethers during phase 3, these are a great way to feed small to large groups. They also have plans of launching their food truck and catering services soon too.

Owner and Chef Shogo Takenaka has spent the last 15 years at Kingyo Izakaya and Raisu showcasing his culinary talent. Both locations are known for their ornate bento boxes.

We were invited to try out their popular Family-sized bento boxes.

Pick Up and Delivery

You can order pick up at the Coho Commissary on East Georgia in Vancouver. When you get there, just call and they will bring out your order.

If you opt for delivery, they have partnered up with Uber Eats, Door Dash, Ordereze and Fantuan. You just need to be in the delivery zone.

Family-Size Deluxe Seafood Bowl

This is their stunning deluxe seafood bowl that serves 4-6 people. It comes on their bed of original sushi rice mix topped with sashimi, seafood cubes, egg, ikura, veggies, and spot prawns or uni depending on the season. They provide soy sauce and wasabi to go with the big bowl. It’s more like a sushi pizza or a platter. It is then topped with gold flakes for some extra bling.

I love how they use seasonal seafood to keep this as fresh as possible. They do recommend bring a cooler if you are travelling long distances to make sure it stays cool.

There is a lot of rice so you have to make sure you don’t grab too much sashimi and leave all the rice. It’s all about the ratio. This bento is definitely filling and you will want the soy sauce and wasabi to add a bit more flavour the dish.

If you don’t want want to go deluxe with the seafood, there is also the Family-size Seafood Bara Chirashi which is cheaper.

Family-Size TAKENAKA Special A La Carte Set

If you want more cooked items instead of raw seafood, this family-size TAKENAKA special A La Carte set is a great option. This also is great for sharing with 4-6 people. Chef chooses what goes in it and it’s usually a sampler of items from their menu.

Our set had these items and may change:

  • Chicken karaage
  • Ebi mayo
  • Sashimi Salad
  • Omakase Aburi Sushi
  • Pickled vegetables
  • Ramen eggs

If you wait too long, the karaage and the ebi mayo will go limp because of the moisture in the box. We put it in the oven to reheat and it did the trick. I thought this set was a great way to try the different items on the menu and it’s quite affordable.

This box was eaten up very quickly and our favourite items of it was the chicken karaage and ebi mayo. Can’t go wrong with fried goodness.

Final Thoughts

If you don’t have such a large group of people to feed, they have smaller bento boxes and salads as well. I really enjoyed these family-sized options as we are always with immediate family, so sharing food isn’t a concern as we see each other daily. Everything is very fresh and made to order.

Address:
1370 E Georgia St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://takenakavancouver.com/

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In British Columbia

Dairy Queen Canada: Cotton Candy Dipped Cone Review

Dairy Queen has a new Cotton Candy Dipped cone which launched at participating locations. This has their classic vanilla soft serve dipped in a a sweet cotton candy coating. We saw it on the menu and had to give it a try while we were here. The cone comes in 3 different sizes – small, medium and large. I ordered a medium and it was huge.

They also released a cotton candy blizzard on the menu as well, but we didn’t get it this time.

Taste Test

I was expecting to hate this but it wasn’t bad at all. The cotton candy coating was sweet, but it was balanced out nicely with the vanilla soft serve. I still prefer chocolate over this cotton candy flavour, but it all comes down to personal preferences.

It’s definitely a fun and colourful treat for the Summer.

Website:
https://www.dairyqueen.com/ca-en/?localechange=1

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In Mexican

Chancho Tortilleria: Backyard Picnic Kits in Vancouver

Chancho Tortilleria is a casual counter service restaurant serving up authentic Mexican cuisine in Downtown Vancouver. Like many restaurants operating during this pandemic, they have recently shifted to offer Backyard Picnic Kits for Vancouverites to enjoy the Summer weather while enjoying good eats and drinks.

The kits include your choice of filling for your tacos, margaritas or Micheladas, and sides for a group of 4. Just the perfect group size for social distancing without people looking at you funny.

Backyard Picnic Kits

Chancho’s new Backyard Picnic Kits include a choice of either:

  • Maciza (pork shoulder/leg) $80 + tax
  • Panza (pork Belly)  $86 + tax
  • Campechano (pork shoulder and belly) $82 + tax 
  • Papas dia (potato) $74 + tax
  • Verduras dia (veggies) $74 + tax

Included in the price are the sides and drinks:

  • Fresh-made Native Corn Tortillas
  • Chips and Guacamole
  • Salsas and Black Beans
  • Choice of either Margarita (375 mL bottle of Hornitos tequila and mix) or Michelada (4 bottles of Pacifico lager and mix) kit.

How to order Chancho’s Backyard Picnic Kits

Orders for Chancho’s Picnic Kits can be made seven days a week from noon to 8 p.m. both in store (560 Davie Street) or by phoning the restaurant at 604-336-9219, with a 20% discount applied to all orders placed and picked up between 3 to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Thoughts

The kits are very delicious and flavourful, you have everything you need to have a great time with friends. If you’re looking for high quality authentic tacos, this is it. The price is higher than other taco kits around town, but you get alcohol included in this. Plus, the quality of the ingredients used are very good.

Address:
560 Davie St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2G4

Website:
https://www.chancho.ca/

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In British Columbia

Lady M launches delivery in Canada but will cost you a lot

Lady M New York has launched their new site ladym.ca to offer shipping to Canada. Lady M is known for their decadent mille crêpe cake, which everyone goes crazy for. Although there are no storefronts in Canada, at least it’s possible to get a taste of Lady M while the borders are closed for the time being due to the pandemic.

I was curious how much it would cost in total to acquire a whole mille crêpe cake. Each cake features at least twenty golden and handmade paper-thin crêpes layered with whipped pastry cream. It really is a craft and no wonder it will cost well over $100 CDN per crêpe cake for the cheapest option.

I decided to see how much shipping would be and wow, it’s not cheap. They use one-day FedEx International Priority service, so it will arrive very quickly, but at a cost of $56.72 USD. It’s odd how check out converts everything back to USD instead of Canadian.

Either way, getting the cheapest crêpe cake with shipping to British Columbia would cost $151.32 USD or $205.26 CDN. The most expensive ‘Slice of the best mille crêpes’ would be $222.88 CDN.

It’s a very luxurious cake and not marketed to the average person. We’ve had a taste in New York, Chicago, and Hong Kong and these are really really good crêpe cakes that marry the best of French and Japanese techniques.

All the cakes are available for shipping to every zip code in Canada, so it’s possible to get Lady M in Canada if you have the budget for it.

Website:
https://ladym.ca/

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In Chinese

Cold Tea Restaurant: Modern Chinese and Vietnamese Fusion Cuisine in Vancouver

Cold Tea Restaurant has now taken over the spot of the historical Tsui Hang Village Restaurant. The veteran owners have reimagined the space and have filled a hole in the market through creating a modern dim sum experience with a Vietnamese twist that is laid-back and accessible to everyone.

We were invited to check out a few of their dishes at Cold Tea Restaurant.

The restaurant’s name is paying homage to the history of the building they have leased, as their predecessor, Tsui Hang Village Restaurant, was notoriously known for serving late night tea pots full of beer, which you could order as “cold tea” after legal serving hours.

Interior

The space seats 130 people seated and 160 people standing, but with the pandemic, they currently can only have a 80 person capacity with social distancing. The space is unpretentious, inviting, modern, earthy, with classic Chinese elements.

Garden Fizz

This cocktail has Hendricks Gin, Pimms no1, strawberry syrup, lemon juice, and egg white. It was a nice drink strong in flavour with citrus notes. The addition of lemon juice made it very refreshing. It is served in a tall glass served with strawberry and fresh mint.

Dark Tea

This mocktail has blackberry tea syrup, black tea, lemon, simple syrup, bitters, and coke. The dominant flavours were of the blackberry and black tea. You can taste the hint of bitters with the coke. There is definitely a lot of depth to this drink. The drink isn’t too fizzy because of the coke. It was a good drink served in a tall glass with blackberry and fresh mint.

Pork Belly Bao

This has braised pork belly, marinated cucumber, pickled red onion, sriracha mayo, and scallions. This bao has a very nice flavour and it was tender.

Big Bird Bao

This other bao has fried chicken thighs, marinated cucumber, pickled red onion, sriracha mayo, and cilantro. It was ok, but we did like the pork belly bao more as it fit more with our flavour preferences.

Vegan Potstickers

We tried the vegan potstickers and it has kobacha squash, coconut cream, and lemongrass. We normally wouldn’t have chosen this option, but the flavour combination surprisingly worked. We wished there were more pieces to an order.

Lai Fun Carbonara

This dish is definitely very fusion. It has lai fun noodles, 5 spiced cured bacon, cream, sous vide egg, parmesan, green onion, and chili threads. This turned out to be very good. It was flavourful and not too salty. Since they do use lai fun noodles, they are more soft in texture than regular al gente pasta.

Green Papaya Salad

This salad has beef jerky, green papaya, cucumber, red bell peppers, cilantro, mint, Thai basil, and a sweet and sour fish sauce. The flavours are very nice and refreshing. A good balance of flavours so nothing is too overpowering. The strips of beef jerky was really good. There is also a vegetarian option with tofu on the menu.

Vietnamese Coffee Creme Brulee

This was a good end to the meal. This has French roast coffee in the creme brulee with condensed milk.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we liked how each dish is thoughtfully put together and well balanced. They really nailed the combination of Chinese and Vietnamese flavours. Well executed and we will definitely be back.

Cold Tea Restaurant is a great addition to the neighbourhood.

Address:
1193 Granville St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.coldtearestaurant.com/

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In British Columbia

Drinks to Celebrate on Canada Day in 2020

#MakeitCanadian with Molson Canadian

Look out for this amazing Molson Canadian variety pack showcasing the various Canadian craft brewers out there.

Molson is extending the ultimate Canadian gesture by opening up its case to other brands for the first time to create the most Canadian case of beer ever for limited-edition sale. The Canadian Case is a one-of-a-kind variety pack featuring Canadian-founded brews, standing together, label to label. 

Molson will also be donating $5 for every special-edition case printed (up to $25,000) to local charities supporting people and communities in need of a helping hand in this particularly difficult year. 

You can find this special pack of beer in and around July 1st, 2020. Check out their website to find out where.

Website:
www.thecanadiancase.ca

Caesars with Walter Craft Caesars

Caesars are very Canadian and it’s always a treat to enjoy. We absolutely love Walter Craft Caesars mixes. They are all crafted in small batches and made using vine-ripened tomatoes, grated horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and select spices. They even have a Vegan Caesar Mix that uses dulse (edible seaweed) in place of clam juice for a true Caesar taste while being 100% plant-based.

All you need is the mix, vodka, and some pickles to pair.

Website:
http://waltercaesar.com/

Maple Spiked Coffee with Cabot Trail

Nothing screams more Canadian than maple. The cocoa, cinnamon and amaretto notes go perfectly with a cup of coffee if you’re so inclined to get an extra something something in your morning cup.

Website:
https://ungavaco.com/en/products/cabot-trail-cream/

Taves Estate Cidery – Barnyard Series

Looking to something refreshing like locally made cider? Taves Estate Cidery has their new Barnyard Series featuring flavours like apple, gooseberry, red currant and black currant. All the fruits are grown by Farmer Loren Taves right in Abbotsford.

Website:
https://tavesestatecidery.com/barnyard-series/

Farming Karma Fruit Co Apple Sodas

Looking for a non-alcoholic recommendation? One of our favourite Apple Soda’s is from Farming Karma Fruit Co in Kelowna. It’s made of real apples and the taste is so good and crisp.

They are also releasing a few new flavours in stores soon too. You can also buy it on Amazon.

Website:
https://www.farmingkarma.ca/

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In British Columbia

Dairy Queen Canada: Piñata Party Blizzard Review

Dairy Queen came up with yet another limited time only treat – Piñata Party Blizzard to celebrate their 80th birthday at participating locations. It’s essentially a birthday celebration in Blizzard format like a confetti cake.

When I heard about it from a friend, I just had to check it out. How could I not give it a try?

What’s inside the Piñata Party Blizzard?

It has vanilla soft serve ice cream with icing, pieces of confetti cake and multicoloured-white chocolate stars embedded inside. Then, it is topped with whipped cream and sprinkles.

It comes in mini, small, medium, and large.

Taste Test

The one I got from my local Dairy Queen definitely did not look like the images, but that’s just poor training and it’s just too bad. They seemed have put the sprinkles into the ice cream instead of on top.

The chocolate stars aren’t vibrant, so when I tried to scoop them out, it just looked like vanilla ice cream covered globs.

It is sweet and very reminiscent of a confetti cake with lots of surprises inside. My husband is a sweet-tooth so he gravitated towards this. I personally was indifferent about this flavour of Blizzard since I don’t like overly sweet desserts. It all comes down to personal preferences.

Final Thoughts

If you love the taste of Birthday Cake or Confetti Cake, you’ll love this flavour. It’s very fun and vibrant Blizzard. Catch it before it’s gone.

Website:
https://www.dairyqueen.com/ca-en/

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In North Burnaby

Peaked Pies: Opening in Burnaby Heights

Photo Credit: Peaked Pies

Peaked Pies is opening their third and biggest location in Burnaby Heights near Hastings and Gilmore. With the Covid-19 pandemic, it has delayed their opening but they now have an opening date of Wednesday, June 24, 2020.

They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

They also have two locations – Whistler and West End. We’ve been to both locations several times and we highly recommend their Aussie Pies. Make sure to get the peaked!! You won’t regret it.

The Burnaby location will now be home to the heart of the Peaked Pies operation with all the pies being made and distributed from there to the other two restaurants, a growing number of grocery stores and breweries, and in the future, more Peaked Pies locations.

Pies

The pies are prepared from scratch and baked in-house from recipes the co-owners have lovingly perfected since they came up with the concept back in 2011.They import grass-fed butter from New Zealand to create rich, flaky pastry, their steak is AA Alberta beef, the chicken is from the Fraser Valley and the vegetables are fresh.

There are currently 12 mouthwatering pie options including steak, bacon and cheese, butter chicken, and Hopper (kangaroo). There’s also vegetarian, vegan and sweet options, as well as seasonal pies like turkey and cranberry.

My personal favourite is the chicken, mushroom and leek. Yum!

You can opt to have your pie “peaked” which means a generous helping of mashed potato, peas and rich gravy is added to the top.

If you think you could fit in a sweet treat after all that then they have lamingtons (chocolate covered sponge squares covered in coconut), salted caramel tarts and vanilla slices to name a few.

Delivery Option

If you’re not ready to dine-in, they have partnered up with DoorDash to offer delivery.

Take Out Option

If you want to cut down on delivery fees, they also do take out.

Catering

They also do catering for private functions if you need a lot of Aussie pies.

Photo Credit: Peaked Pies

Interior

You can dine-in or take-out in the new 2,700 square foot space, which has seating for 22 inside and 8 on the patio. The team from Harmony Pacific Construction and Ply Architecture brought Peaked Pies’ vision to life by bringing the outside in with a hanging pergola structure, giving the large space a light and airy feel in the day, and an intimate and cozy ambience in the evening.

Photo Credit: Peaked Pies

Photo Credit: Peaked Pies

We are very excited to see them finally open as we are located in Burnaby Heights as well. If you’re in the area, definitely check out Peaked Pies.

Address:
4114 Hastings St, Burnaby, BC 

Website:
https://www.peakedpies.com/

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In British Columbia

Wendy’s Canada: 99¢ Frosty All Summer

Summer is here and Wendy’s has their 99¢ Frosty promotion. No coupon or special codes needed. Just put in your order and it will be 99¢ with no hassle at all.

A lot of other fast food companies have great promos throughout the summer to get us through the hot weather. I’m all for it.

The 99¢ Frosty applies to their small size only. If you want a junior size, it’s 79¢, which isn’t bad either if you just want a small taste of their chocolate frosty.

Website:
https://order.wendys.com/product/30541?referrer=category%2F107

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In Bakery

Whisk Premium Matcha x Level V Bakery: Now Open in Vancouver

Whisk Premium Matcha and Level V Bakery have finally opened their doors in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. They are located right at the library on Kingsway. This plant-based matcha tea, cafe, and bakery has no dairy and eggs. Great for those who are lactose intolerant, vegan or vegetarian.

Both of these companies have been around for a while and they have finally made their dreams a reality by having a storefront. It’s definitely a challenging time with the pandemic, but they made it happen.

Keeping You Safe

There are a few things they are doing at the cafe and bakery to keep everyone safe.

  • One way: Enter from the entrance on Kingsway. The door on E 8th is Exit Only to maintain ONE WAY flow through the space.
  • Hand Sanitizers: They have hand sanitizers available by the cashier’s table, as well as the exit.
  • Facemasks: They can also provide you a face mask upon request.
  • Sneezeguards: They have this covering the entire counter.
  • Limited capacity: They are only allowing 5 customers in at a time to respect social distancing.
  • Card payments: No cash is accepted.

Soft Opening Menu

Regular Menu

Interior

The space is very narrow, so there aren’t tables available for more than 2 people. It’s a good spot for just 2 people to be chatting.

I did see this larger table, but not sure if it will be available when dine-in is available.

Iced Strawberry Matcha Latte

This has a base of organic housemade strawberry puree, organic coconut milk, and their matcha. I also decided to add pearls to it because it was an add-on. Why not? It’s a pretty trendy drink and I honestly got it for the looks. I was also very curious how it tastes.

You have to mix this drink well. You get the freshness of the strawberries, then the strong matcha taste afterwards. It was actually a pretty good drink.

Mochi Muffins

When I was here, they had matcha and chocolate flavours of their mochi muffins avalable. It was pretty good! One of the better ones I’ve had so far.

Final Thoughts

It’s good to have another matcha cafe and bakery open up in the area to give people more options in the Mount Pleasant area. They offer some pretty unique items on the menu that I haven’t see elsewhere, so I’m excited to visit again when they have their grand opening.

Address:
39 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC V5T 3H7

Website:
https://whiskmatcha.ca/
https://levelvbakery.com/

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In Uncategorized

Bonjour Vietnam Bistro: Instagramable Cafe in Vancouver on Fraser Street

Bonjour Vietnam Bistro is one of the newest restaurants to open in Vancouver. During the pandemic, we are seeing lots of restaurants close down, but there are still lots of restaurants in the pipeline that are opening. It’s a hard time for all, you’ll want to make sure to pay Bonjour Vietnam Bistro a visit to experience their food and beautiful Instagramable space.

They are located on Fraser Street in Vancouver putting a modern twist on authentic Vietnamese food which is very Vancouver.

Keeping You Safe

To keep everyone safe, we noticed these safety measures:

  • Sanitize hands at door
  • All servers wearing face shields
  • Washrooms had a side that said max 1 person at a time even though there are 2 stalls
  • Distancing of tables
  • Limiting group sizes

Interior

The space is like a garden! It’s so stunning and makes you feel like you’re outside. They have definitely put in a lot of thought into their interior design. It’s the perfect spot for photos and a meal with all your friends.

We absolutely enjoyed the ambiance. The music is mostly jazz and went nicely with the theme of the restaurant.

Dishes

On the menu, you’ll find items like skewers, salad rolls, spring rolls, tropical salads, noodle soups, vermicelli bowls, platters, BBQ rice dishes, and dessert.

The currently have a smaller menu due to the pandemic, so they won’t have their full menu as they were originally intending.

Chopstick Drive

You can purchase their beautiful chopsticks for a cause! All proceeds go to BC Children’s Hospital. The chopsticks come in pink, blue, and yellow.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a fun space with solid food from what we tried so far. While we were here, there were lots of people passing by trying to get a glimpse of the space since it does stand out. Now that it’s open, you can see for yourself, what the buzz is all about.

Address:
3944 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC V5V 4E4

Website:
https://www.bonjourvietnambistro.com/

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In British Columbia

[Sneak Peek] Magkasama: A Virtual Filipino Market in Vancouver

Magkasama is a unique Vancouver virtual market for Filipino entrepreneurs to showcase their business, with the goal of growing, educating and delighting. The word ‘Magkasama’ means ‘together’ in Tagalog and it’s the perfect phrase for this event.

The event is focussed on celebrating modern and progressive Filipino businesses that have their sights on the future, while maintaining the integrity of the culture.

The event is in it’s second year, they wanted to make it an in-person market, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they decided to make it virtual so anyone can browse in the safety of their homes. Shoppers can buy items from various vendors and pick up at a select date and time.

When are the shopping dates?

You can go to magkasama604.com from June 15 – July 5, 2020 to browse and do you shopping.

When is pick up?

The pick up dates are on July 10-12, 2020 from 11am – 6pm. To have social distancing, you will select a date and time to show up to pick up your items.

Where do I pick up my items?

302 Industrial Ave, Vancouver, V6A 2P3

Look for the Shameless Buns Food Truck and you’ll know you’re in the right place. They will also be serving up delicious food as well.

Who are the Vendors?

This year, there are 15 amazing vendors to choose from. I personally heard of a few of them before this market was put together, so I was so excited to get a taste of what these vendors had to offer.

Bukobaba

Bukobaba produces healthy premium coconut food and wellness products. Their coco jam is delicious and recently, they launched their Coconut Black Vinegar, which can be used like a balsamic vinegar for salad dressings and sauces.  

Coco Cakes

 Dan is behind Coco Cakes and he crafts Filipino-inspired Mochi Cakes featuring flavours like buko pandan, ube, mango, calamansi, chocolate peanut butter swirl.

Ensaimada Moment

They craft up come beautiful and mighty delicious Filipino Ensaimadas. One bite of their Gouda Ensaimada and I was hooked. Their best selling flavours include Parmesan, Gouda, Queso de Bola, Dulce de leche, Salted Egg, and Ube halay. Highly recommended.

Gigil Clothing

They have modern and playful Filipino and Chinese inspired clothing for kids and adults. They even started selling adorable face masks. Their line of kids clothing is so adorable from their lumpia designs to their siopao.

Hapag Restaurant

Hapag Restaurant on Victoria Drive is an authentic and delicious Filipino restaurant offering ready made meals. They have combo meals and buko pie.

Kape Coffee

Kapé is a social enterprise promoting farmer-first coffee from Philippine Indigenous women growers, and small batch roasted in the traditional unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-waututh nations.

You can have a great cup of coffee and feel good about where it comes from and who they support.

Kasama Chocolate

They craft small batch, artisan, bean-to-bar chocolate with cacao from the Philippines. They have some unique flavours, so be sure to check them out.

Kayebakes

Kayebakes serves up classic Filipino desserts and cakes. We tried the Yeamamon Chiffon Cake and we were hooked. Highly recommended.

Kiligraphy Co.

 Find Filipino inspired cards, signage, buttons, digital art and much more. If you’re looking for something unique, reach out for custom designs.

La Meryenda 

They serve up Filipino inspired pastries and desserts like their popular cheese bread and ube cheese pandesal. They also have Spanish bread, puto flan, and leche flan.

Panaderia Corner

Panaderia Corner serves up authentic Filipino breads and baked goods like cheeese bread, Spanish bread, ube roll, putok/star bread, pandesal, pan de coco, cheesy ube pandesal, kalihim/talembang, pan de longga, longanisa, and ube cheesymada roll.

Sago ToGo

Sago Togo serves up Filipino inspired bubble tea, waffles and the classic Filipino treat – Taho. Their cold taho is delicious and they have a lot of other treats at their shop in New Westminster.

Shameless Buns

Vancouver’s funkiest Filipino inspired Food Jeepney, specializing in creative and delicious sandwiches, loaded fries, house made sauces, Filipino dessert and the occasional wacky creation.

Their menu items are definitely very cheeky and their spam fries are a must.

The Sweet Alley

The Sweet Alley specializes in custom cakes and artisan confections to satisfy any cravings, giving you sweets not only pleasing to the eyes but deliciously divine to satisfy any sweet tooth. If you’re looking for something custom for a special celebration, contact Christine, the Sweet Artist behind The Sweet Alley.

VanCity Cookies

Vancity Cookies is a local gourmet cookie maker, bringing you a variety of thick, freshly baked cookies. They have thick cookies with and ooey gooey centre. The Oreo Chocolate Chip and Nutella Hazelnut were our personal favourites.

Website:
https://magkasama604.com

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