Riley Park/Little Mountain Archives - Page 2 of 2

In Cafe

Beefy Beef Noodle House: Beef Beef Beef

August 17, 2013

M and I tried going to Zakkushi without a reservation, but we would have to wait over an hour for a table. So, we opted to eating at Beefy Beef Noodle House as we’ve heard they had good Taiwanese food. Seeing that it was Summer, the interior was quite cold and it didn’t help that they were playing a winter-themed thriller movie on their TVs.

We saw they had a Top 8 Food list, so we relied on that to order the best items.

House Special Beef Noodle in Soup ($9.50) had some pretty fresh ingredients. M was quite pleased with the quality of the veggies. The beef was tender and the broth was decent. The bowl was pretty big, so he couldn’t finish it.

Curry Beef Brisket with Rice ($9.50) it comes with 2 small side dishes . It was marinated bamboo shoots and cauliflower. The beef brisket was decent it had lots of beef brisket chunks in it.

I still prefer to get my beef brisket curry dish from Mui Garden. If you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about.

Overall, the dishes that we had were decent. It’s a good place for a lot of young people to chill and have some bubble tea to catch up.

We Rate Beefy Beef Noodle House:

Address:
4063 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.jynoodle.com/index1.html

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=4063+Main+St,+Vancouver,+BC+V5V+5C8&sll=49.891235,-97.15369000000001&sspn=45.72347923378347,88.1395350118194&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=4063+Main+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+5C8&z=16″]

In Four Beakers

Trilussa Pizza & Pane: Thin Square Pizza

August 11, 2013

Trilussa Pizza and Pane is located on Main Street near 28th ave. They serve up authentic Roman pizza and uses fresh ingredients that make the pizza taste great.

Alessandro Fonseca is the owner and the creator of the pizzas. Very friendly staff here too.

Our department at work decided to do a mini food crawl during the afternoon at Trilussa. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this place because it’s so cozy…plus they have good pizza.

One thing you just have to get is the pizza. The prices are quite fair and all under $10.

Once you look at their counter full of the thin crust pizza, I am sure you mouth will start drooling.

They have a pretty cool way of cutting the pizza, so you won’t find triangle slices, but you will have squares.

Trastevere on the right has pancetta, mozzarella and pecorino cheese. Really good and goooey.

Garbatella has sausage, tomatoes and mozzarella.

Margherita has the tomato and mozzarella. It’s very simple, but is really good.

Attilio on the right side of the board has mushrooms and mozzarella. Simple, but really good!! This was my favourite because I love mushrooms.

Overall, the pizza was pretty good! I’ll definitely be back again. If you’re a fan of thin crust pizza and want to try something different, take a visit to Trilussa.

We Rate Trilussa Pizza and Pane:

Address:
4363 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://trilussa.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=4363+Main+St,+Vancouver,+BC+V5V+3P9&sll=49.178436500000004,-123.1360005&sspn=0.3447883506423936,0.7033394507619536&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=4363+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3P9&z=16″]

In Cafe

The Mighty Oak: Neighbourhood Coffee Shop

July 16, 2013

The Mighty Oak is literally your neighbourhood coffee shop. It is located in the middle of a residential area with nothing but houses. Imagine just waking up and walking a few houses down to grab a coffee and a treat. Flo and I were in the area and just had to check this little place out.

They are also a small grocery store. They sell pies, Earnest Ice Cream, Nice Pops and so many other little things. If you are in some need of some yogurt or ingredients, I’m sure you can find it here.

It’s very cute. Instead of having a front lawn, I suppose they wanted a coffee shop/grocery store instead. Even though I don’t live in the area, it really brought me back to my childhood where you would go with your parents for a short walk to get a nice treat.

The interior is very nice and simple. You can tell the owners put a lot of their heart and soul into the business.

Since it was a very hot day, Flo and I decided to get some Ice Lattes and a Baileys Pecan Butter Tart.

Iced Latte was just what I needed on a hot summers day. It was nice and strong. Just perfect.

The Baileys Butter Pecan Tart was very cute and from the outside, you definitely see more crust than filling.

When we cut into it, there’s a good amount of filling and doesn’t make it too sweet. It paired well with the coffee.

I couldn’t resist but to get a Raspberry and Basil Nice Pop. The flavour was really delicious! It wasn’t cheap though, it was about $4. The amount of fruit they pack in there is pretty good.

Overall, we liked The Mighty Oak. Cute little place! We will definitely be returning when we’re in the area.

We Rate the Mighty Oak:

Address:
98 W. 18th Ave.
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://themightyoak.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=198+W.+18th+Ave.++Vancouver,+BC&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=198+W+18th+Ave,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5Y+3B8&z=16″]

In BBQ

Zakkushi Charcoal Grill: Delicious Japanese Skewers

June 10, 2013

Zakkushi Charcoal Grill serves a bunch of tapa dishes and specializes in skewers. They have a few locations in Vancouver and one in Toronto.

M really wanted a good dinner, so I suggested Zakkushi. After all these years, I have no idea why we’ve never gone together. When we got here, we thought the exterior was pretty cool. It’s all covered up in dark wood. Very nice.

Sakura Cocktail ($7) has lychee liqueur, grapefruit juice, calpico and soda.

Toro Sashimi ($9.50) has 5 pieces of the sockeye salmon belly. It’s not the same texture as the tuna toro, but was more chewy. The quality nonetheless was very fresh.

Karaage ($5.80) is deep-fried chicken with an oroshi sauce. It’s different from most places as it comes with a shredded daikon, ponzu, and green onion sauce. Anything fried is delicious.

Tsukune is a chicken meatball and on their menu, they have 5 different kinds, but we stuck with the cheese and norimayo flavours.

Cheese Tsukune ($1.90 each) has white cheese melted on top with some pepper. It was really good! The cheesiness of the cheese and the juicy chicken meatball tasted really good.

Norimayo Tsukune ($1.90) is topped with mayo and seaweed. It’s really good! You really need to try this.

Zakkushi Set ($8.80) has 5 skewers momo (Chicken thigh), umeshiso yaki (chicken thigh with shio leaf and sour plum), Me Maki (garlic shrubs wrapped with pork), p-toro (Crunchy juicy pork), and oropon beef (AAA grade beef with diakon and ponzu sauce). It was a nice set of skewers to order if you are indecisive. You get a little bit of variety from the skewer menu.

Negi P-Toro Don ($7.50) has p-toro pork, green onion sauce, picked veggies, half boiled egg, and seaweed on top of rice. We mixed this all together and it was so good!

We also ordered Oden, but I was too excited about it that I ate it before taking a picture. The sake flight was good as well if you are into sake.

Overall, we had a great time here and will definitely be back. The food and atmosphere are awesome. It’s best to make a reservation ahead of time if you don’t want to wait for a seat. They also have a semi private party area for large groups.

We Rate Zakkushi:

Address:
4075 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.zakkushi.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4075+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=4075+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3P6&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Dim Sum

Long’s Noodle House: Long Story Short, It’s Awesome

May 20, 2013

Long’s Noodle House is located on Main street right beside Au Petit Cafe. Both of these places are very busy and there are line ups during peak hours. I came here for a family lunch as we heard it has some pretty darn good xiao long bao. We made a reservation since it was for a large party. As the traffic was very busy, we called ahead to let them know we would be 15 minutes late. They were very accommodating and the table was still there as we arrived.

There is paid parking in the front and free parking in the street behind the restaurant.

The interior is basic and there aren’t too many seats. Always make a reservation.

Wine Chicken comes in a little cute jar. Inside is a bunch of chicken pieces marinated in wine and is slightly warm. Its one of the popular items on the menu. The pieces were tender and deliciously soaks up the wine flavour. Kids usually don’t like this dish, but its more for older people. My little sister refused to eat it since there’s alcohol.

Yellow Fish with Seaweed is pretty awesome. It has the yellow fish covered in a seaweed batter. The seaweed has a prominent taste and I was surprised it went so well together. Mmmmmm highly recommended.

Crispy rice with salty egg sauce was another strange dish, but it was surprisingly good too. The fried crispy rice is on top and the salty egg sauce is on the bottom. It’s salty, its fatty, its crunchy, and it’s quite addictive.

Xiao Long Bao comes with 6 pieces. It is packed full of soup and really delicious. One of the good XLB in town.

Eel noodle in soup was an interesting dish. I never would have thought of ordering this. It was good and definitely a good items share among the table.

Beef Roll has the five spiced meat, cilantro and cucumber inside. I found it different from other places as the wrap is much softer.

Hot and Sour soup came last and tasted good. This probably should have been ordered early in the meal, but we didn’t mind that we had this last.

Overall, Long’s Noodle House is a great place for some good Shanghainese food. The prices are fair and the food is just great.

We Rate Long’s Noodle House:

Address:
4853 Main St
Vancouver, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4853+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=4853+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3R8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Riley Park/Little Mountain

Au Petit Cafe: Pho and Banh Mi

April 16, 2013

My friends love food and a cheap meal is what they love the most. We went to Au Petit Cafe on a weekend to get a taste of their spring rolls and banh mi sandwiches. All of their items are under $10 and it’s pretty good. Au Petit Cafe is family owned and has won several awards for their delicious food.

Even though it was a rainy Saturday morning, there was a line up outside. They don’t take reservations and it’s cash only.

Spring Rolls ($7.75) comes with 12 pieces and it’s plenty to pass around the table. The outside is very crisp and tastes great.

Pho Tai Bo Vien (Large $8) has raw and cooked sliced beef with beef balls and noodle in soup.

Banh Mi Dac Biet ($5) contains french bread, ham, meatballs, vegetables and hot peppers. This is one of their most popular items on the menu and tends to sell out.

It was pretty good, the bun is weirdly addictive as it’s soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The ingredients are quite simple. but the way they prepare them for the sandwiches works well.

Overall, it’s pretty solid Vietnamese food and good prices. No wonder there are huge line ups and the sandwiches can get sold out by the end of the day. The food isn’t fancy or anything but it’s good for something simple and easy.

We Rate Au Petite Cafe:

Address:
4851 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.aupetitcafe.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4851+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=4851+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3R8&gl=ca&t=m&z=14 “]

In Riley Park/Little Mountain

The Acorn: FeastVan 2013

February 5, 2013

The Acorn was participating in FeastVan and they were offering a 3 course meal for $30. You start off with the Sunchoke Soup, then you can choose any main and dessert on the menu. FeastVan was happening at the same time as Dine Out Vancouver, so I thought that was kinda weird. They had a few good restaurants, so I decided to check one of them out. I let Wongers decide where to go since she has pretty good taste in food. Join our awesome dinner was Foodobyte, so make sure to check out his blog to see what he thought about The Acorn.

You can find vegetarian, vegan, raw, gluten-free options on their menu.

You can’t make reservations, but the only table you can reserve is the “family table” that can seat 6 or more. We reserved the table at 6:30 for 7 people. Soon after, this whole restaurant was packed! There was even a line up.

Water comes in super cute bottles.

Even the shape of the cup is kinda cute. Clearly, I get amused by little things.

Coconut Water ($3) comes with a slice of lime at the bottom. The lime overpowered the subtle taste of the coconut. It’s quite a strange combination. I am a firm believer that coconut juice shouldn’t be mixed with anything…but thats probably because coconuts are best on their own.

Sunchoke Soup (Starter Size) is topped with parsnip crisps, grilled scallion oil, and hazelnut salt. Very delicious soup!

The Harvest ($19) always changes and is made with their seasonal vegetables, herbs, and produce from local farms. Today they were featuring a butternut squash risotto with grilled ridicchio, endive, green cauliflower, goat cheese and pecans. This was my favorite dish of all the entrees.

Halloumi ($19) has 3 pieces of beer-battered Halloumi, zucchini pancake, smashed peas, yogurt, and lemon balm. I wasn’t a fan of the halloumi because it was very rich and oily. Everything else I loved…just not the main ingredient. Some people on the table disagreed, but everyone has different tastes.

Porcini ($18) has braised porcini mushrooms, daikon, edamame, buckwheat noodles, sesame, kombu Dashi, and nori chips on top. This dish was OK, but nothing too amazing.

Zuni ($18) is a heirloom zuni bean cassoulet with confit fennel, apple and rustic baguette on the side. Our group thought this was a pretty good dish a well.

Goji ($11) is comprised of a raw chocolate ganache tart, walnut crust, lemon goji berry preserve, raspberry coulis, and frozen grapes.

Chai ($8) is a chai pot de crème and 2 cardamom shortbread pieces on the side.

Olive ($9) is an olive oil cake with apple puree, white chocolate, frozen yogurt, lemon balm, and candied olives.

Pumpkin ($9) has pumpkin semifreddo, amaretti crumble, crème fraiche, and sage crisps. The BEST dessert on their menu! It wasn’t too sweet and who knew carrot would make such a delicious dessert. You must order this!

Overall, pretty good meal at The Acorn. I couldn’t believe it was vegetarian! There are a few dishes that can be a hit or a miss. The Harvest and the Pumpkin dessert are a must!!

We Rate The Acorn:

Address:
3995 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.theacornrestaurant.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=3995+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=3995+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3P5&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Cafe

Salt Spring Coffee: Fair-Trade Coffee Shop in Vancouver

September 26, 2012

Salt Spring Coffee was just named Best Fair Trade Coffee Shop in Vancouver for 2011 and 2012 according to The Georgia Strait. The coffee shop sells a variety of drinks such as Happy Planet, San Pellegrino, juice, tea and of course coffee. They also sell pastries and sandwiches.

I came here since I needed some wi-fi to get some work done. Plus, I was getting bored with Starbucks coffee. This place is a definite refresher.

I also needed a snack and caffeine to make my day complete.

Soy latte ($3.05 +$0.75) was very smooth and had a nice strong flavour. I had to add $0.75 cents for soy, which was a bit much in my opinion. Nonetheless, it still tasted good.

Chocolate Croissant is flaky on the outside with 2 chocolate stick inside. It tasted alright.

Overall, it s a good atmosphere just to study or do work. When I was here, there was a bunch of people on their Macbooks.

Words of Wisdom:

Complementary Wifi and electrical plugs available
Tables inside and outside
Friendly service
Great tasting fair-trade Coffee

We Rate Salt Spring Coffee:

Address:
4295 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.saltspringcoffee.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4295+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hl=en&hnear=4295+Main+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V5V+3P9&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

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 Japanese

Ogenki Sushi: Sushi on Main Street

December 10, 2011

Hello Internet! RomanJ, here with another Sushi Restaurant review. Today we explore Ogenki Sushi Restaurant in Vancouver

I have been to this restaurant before with Abbytizer. However, since my last visit the restaurant has changed. Ogenki Sushi has been divided into two restaurants in the same location. One side is called Ogenki Sushi and the other side is Ogenki Ramen. Today I tried out the Ogenki Sushi side of the restaurant.

Ogenki Sushi is in a very small area with modern décor.

Their menu has a list of specialty rolls that look delicious to try as well as other items.

Ebi Sunomo ($3.25) is a very standard delightful dish.

Salmon Sashmi ($9.25) and Cheese Lover’s Roll ($7.95)
The Cheese Lover’s roll is loaded with salmon, avocado, cucumber, cream cheese, smoked salmon and tobiko. This roll is very creamy and blends deliciously well in your mouth.

Salmon Sashimi was pretty standard, not too cold at all. The salmon sashimi felt like it was freshly cut.

Chirashi Don, ($10.95) is a bowl of assorted sashimi on top of sushi rice. The assorted sashimi ranges from, salmon, wild salmon, tuna, octopus, shrimp and tamago. The assorted sashimi tasted wonderful but the sushi rice on the bottom does not bring the whole bowl to justice.

Miso Soup comes complementary with any order of a Don.

Overall, this restaurant has a lot to offer in terms of Japanese cuisine offering Ramen and Sushi. The service was adequate and the specialty roll I tried was delicious. I would probably come back here again to try out the other specialty rolls and of course try the Ramen.

Words of Wisdom

Lunch and Dinner Specials
They serve Ramen and Sushi
Fresh Sushi

We Rate Ogenki Sushi:
Address:
4342 Main St
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.ogenkisushi.ca/

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In Cafe

Sweet Revenge: Disappointed Take Out Dessert

July 12, 2011

It was a nice day and my sister really really wanted dessert desperately! Since I was on Main Street, I picked up a few items to bring home. Sweet Revenge is one of the popular places to head out to dessert after a dinner, but it’s always pretty packed since it cannot seat too many people. The best solution is take out, but is it really worth the price?

Here is the take out menu. Click to enlarge.

The first item I ordered was the Apple Pie ($6.35). It is just the apple pie and no whipped cream or anything on the side. You must finish off the dessert yourself by putting it in the menu for a few minutes on 2o0 degrees Celsius. Since we followed the instructions are did it in Fahrenheit, the apple pie was not crispy at all. Best to turn up the temperature !!

It was basically a fail for us. Plus eating the apple pie alone isn’t that great. I would suggest grabbing some vanilla ice cream to accompany this dessert.

The next item was the Chocolate Pudding Cake ($6.35 + $2 deposit). The cake comes with a ceramic dish, so they must charge a deposit to return. The chocolate pudding cake required some time in the oven as well. Since I’m a noob with the oven, the pudding cake just turned out decent. Best to under heat it than over cook it because the center should stay gooey.

This was another dessert that needed attention before being able to be served at your dinner table. I would suggest some whipped cream, strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

The last item we ordered was the Double “Smooth Operator” ($18). It is a chocolate sponge cake layered with mascarpone cheese, raspberries, white chocolate and raspberry sauce. Since they did not have a large enough box for the double, they just gave us 2 single slices. This was a pretty good dessert! It’s a bit pricy but at least no extra effort needed to prepare for this dessert.

Overall, it might seem like a great idea to do take out, you can’t just open up the box at your table and devour. Since I am a noob in the kitchen, heating problems with the oven did worsen the enjoyment of the dessert. Plus, you get way less than what you would get at the restaurant…but at the same price…. I feel like I paid more just to take out…when it should be cheaper…

If you don’t want to deal with all of this, it’s probably best to just dine in the restaurant and have it served to you. Plus, you don’t need to return to get your deposit back for the ceramic dish from the chocolate pudding cake.

Words of Wisdom:

Some assembly required for take out
$2 Deposit for desserts that have ceramic dishes
Best not to order the apple pie or chocolate pudding cake for take out, troublesome
Rip off for take out
A bit pricey

We Rate Sweet Revenge:

Address:

4160 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
sweet-revenge.ca

In Riley Park/Little Mountain

Crave On Main: Yummy Burgers Indeed!

July 11, 2011

I am always on the hunt for the best burgers in town and I keep hearing that the burger at Crave on Main is just fantastic. I had to see for myself! Since I was in the area, it was a great chance to try it.

The interior is quite nice and they have plenty of patio seating in the front and back.

M ordered the Organic Beef Crave Burger with back bacon and blue cheese ($11 +$1+$1 = $13). It comes with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, beef patty on the soft focaccia bread. M really loved the optional additions of the blue cheese and back bacon. Everything was just so right about this burger. It was so good he really had no words for it. He dubbed it the best burger he has ever eaten.

On the side, he had the caesar salad. He hated the salad. There were no croutons and he felt that it really was sub par to other places.

I had the Pulled Pork and Slaw Sandwich ($12). I really enjoyed this sandwich because the pulled pork was very nice, tender and it was not doused in BBQ sauce. You can really taste the amazing smoky flavour of the meat. The focaccia bread was very soft and worked well with the tender meat.

I got half mixed salad and half fries. I think that is always the best combination. You don’t feel guilty that you ate a whole side of fries. The fries were nice and crunchy and lightly seasoned. I just love when sandwiches come with pickles! Yumm.

Overall, it was a great dinner. The prices were quite reasonable and it is a great atmosphere to just chill.

Words of Wisdom: