Robson Street/West End Archives - Page 5 of 8

In Cafe

Chicco: Japanese Coffee Dessert Bar

April 18, 2015

Chicco is a Japanese dessert cafe on Robson Street. I came here a lot when I was a bit younger, but recently I’ve noticed they have undergone a renovation to make better use of the space.

They have a display case to show all their yummy treats to go. Great for gifts.

Strawberry Shortcake has layers of the cake with whipped cream and strawberries. A good fluffy and light dessert.

Green Tea Parfait is an awesome dessert or yourself or to share with another friend. You will find red bean, rice cake, green tea ice cream, whipped cream, melon, grass jelly, frosted corn flakes, green tea mousse, sponge cake and a green tea stick.

I really liked the addition of the melon since it helps balance all the whipped cream. There was a lot of whipped cream, perhaps a bit too much.

How can you say no to this? A good combination of ingredients all in one cup.

They also have a canister of water to have with your dessert. It’s good when eating all the sweet treats here.

Overall, it’s a good place for dessert. There’s not a lot of seating, but the parfait are portable and you can take them to a park or beach to eat.

We Rate Chicco:

Address:
1504 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.chiccocafe.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1504+Robson+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1504+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C3&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Dineout

Left Bank: Dine Out Vancouver

January 21, 2015

Left Bank is a French Bistro located on Denman Street close to Stanley Park. They participated in Dine Out Vancouver and had both a $28 and $38 menu to choose from. Their $38 menu wasn’t advertised anywhere, so we didn’t know about it until we sat down. We stuck with their $28 menu.

Complimentary popcorn coated in duck fat was quite interesting to eat. The texture of popcorn but tastes like pork belly.

Smoked steelhead croquettes with tomato vierge and lemon mayo. Everyone else at the table ordered this as it was the only option with meat. The croquettes were crispy on the outside and fluffy soft on the inside.

Curried butternut squash velouté topped with pumpkin seeds and raita. The raita is like a yogurt and adds a nice zing to the dish.

Braised chicken leg has potato cake, peas, veggies and mint pesto sauce. The chicken leg skin was crisp, full of flavour and the meat was tender.

Steak frites has flank steak, Szechwan peppercorn sauce and half a plate of crisp fries. The steak was cooked to medium, but could have been more of a medium rare. This dish was good but it wasn’t mind blowing.

Pan seared sockeye has beluga lentil and cabbage fricassee, and smoked red pepper coulis.

Yogurt and meyer lemon panna cotta is topped with maple oat crumble. M said it tasted like froyo because of the yogurt. Interesting taste but not as good as traditional panna cotta.

Chocolate and espresso torte comes with toasted marshmallows and an amaretto crème anglaise. The chocolate really packs a punch and is quite sweet and rich.

Overall, it was a decent meal for $28 but I didn’t find any of the dishes outstanding. Service was good and all the staff was friendly. Food came out at a nice pace.

We Rate Left Bank:

Address:
751 Denman St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://leftbankvancouver.com./index.php

In Korean

Zabu Chicken: Forgotten Orders, Lying Servers and Big Egos

November 11, 2014

I am always on the hunt for great Korean Fried Chicken and my friends are crazy about it too. We decided to go to Zabu Chicken on Robson Street close to Whole Foods. It’s always busy and seems to have a lively atmosphere, so we went.

As we arrived with a group of 4, we were immediately seated at a table of 2 with 4 chairs. We inquired if we could sit in their booths, but they said no as it was only for groups of 5 or more. A few minutes later, another group of 4 arrived and they were seated in the booth. We were a bit pissed off at this point because the server lied to us. As another table cleared, we decided to ask the server if we could sit at that table and they said no as it was reserved. We knew they were lying to us again because all the other reserved tables had a reserved sign on it. We didn’t even place our order yet, so moving us wouldn’t have been that big of a hassle. We were all really mad, but decided to stick it out since we were really here for the food.

Pitcher of Sapporo ($16.95) was pretty pricey, but you need beer to go with chicken. It’s just the Korean way.

After talking to about 3 servers to get a few napkins, we finally got napkins. It was our tiny victory of our evening since most of requests were ignored. They didn’t even serve us water or side dishes as per usual. Side dishes are an essential part of eating at a Korean Restaurant. We drank beer for over an hour waiting for the food to arrive.

Soy Chicken Drumsticks (Large – $19.95) comes with 10 pieces, but our order came 5 pieces at a time. It seemed like their kitchen was slammed, so they could only do partial orders. The next 5 pieces came 20 minutes later as we gobbled these up really quickly.

The chicken was good, yummy sauce with the crunchy skin.

We then asked a few servers for side dishes and they did come! We had pickled radish and shredded cabbage.

We also ordered some spicy wings but it never arrived. We inquired with the server and she told us it wasn’t put in. If we wanted them, we would need an additional 25 minutes. Clearly, we were not going to waste any more time here to wait for chicken with crappy service. So, we told them we would get our bill.

We spent a total of 1hr and 40minutes here to have 2 pitchers of beer and 10 chicken drumsticks. Majority of the time was waiting for the chicken drumsticks…all 10 pieces…I could have went to Church’s Chicken to have a better time than dining here.

We left hungry, so we decided to enjoy the rest of our evening at Guu and at Gyu Kaku, where they actually cared that we were dining with them.

We Rate Zabu Chicken:

Address:
1635 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ZabuChicken

In American

Hamburger Mary’s: Stay for the Milkshakes

September 22, 2014

Hamburger Mary’s is located on Davie Street right by the intersection of the rainbow crosswalks. Since our favourite brunch place was closed, we needed to find a restaurant that was open for brunch on Davie street.

We stumbled upon Hamburger Mary’s to give it a try.

They have patio seating and seats inside. It feels like a diner. One thing we noticed was that the service was slow and non-attentive. It took us a while to get someone to take our order and the food and drinks took forever to arrive. It wasn’t a good start at all.

Peanut Butter Milkshake was huge! It filled up the entire tin and could easily be split between 2 -3 people. The taste of the peanut butter was very fragrant and make this milkshake amazing.

Philly Cheese Stake Hash has peppers, cheese, beef, with the deep fried potato squares. It is topped with 2 sunny side up eggs and toast.

Corned Beef Hash has the corned beef, onions, and fried potato squares and topped with cheese and poached eggs. There’s toast on the sides too.

Chorizo and Mushroom Hash came with slices of toast and my eggs done sunny side up. It was ok, but I hated the fried potato squares. Nothing seemed very fresh and the ingredients didn’t really blend together well.

Even though the portion was large, it was just mostly potatoes. I think it would have been more enjoyable if it was shredded potatoes in the hash.

My other friend got an omelette and it came with potatoes and toast.

Overall, any of Hamburger Mary’s hash dishes are not good. The ingredients don’t bind together and just doesn’t taste good. I would rather just come here for just for the milkshakes.

We rate Hamburger Mary’s:

Address:
1202 Davie St
Vancouver, BC

In Bakery

PappaRotti: Coffee Buns

June 7, 2014

PappaRoti has made its way to Vancouver as the first location in Canada. The first store opened up in Malaysia in 2003 selling their signature roti buns. It was a hit and now they have over 400 locations around the world.

Their signature item is the roti bun, which has a sweet caramelized coffee cream on top. It is best paired with tea or coffee.

KoreanGirl and I have been on search for Coffee Buns in Vancouver. Before coming to PappaRoti, we had some at Coffee Bun and Cafe Joie.

PappaRoti was quite busy during the night at 7pm. It got increasingly busy as the night went on. A lot of people were eating catching up with friends, having a meeting or doing homework.

Their menu has coffee, tea, frappes, and smoothies.

Original Bun ($3.65) is twice baked and coated with their caramel coffee cream topping. The top was crispy and the inside was light and fluffy. Eat it right when it comes out of the oven because that is the best.

Dry Cappuccino ($3.50) is my favourite type of cappuccino as it has more foam. I don’t like it with too much milk. The coffee they use is created by JJ Bean, which I was surprised as PappaRotti is a chain. I thought it would be pretty standardized.

KoreanGirl ordered a Milk Tea, but whatever tea they used made it taste a bit weird.

They don’t have a large variety for food, but people mostly come here for the coffee, tea and coffee buns.

Overall, it’s a nice place to chill. There is lots of seating and the coffee is good.

We Rate PappaRotti:

Address:
1505 Robson St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://papparoti.ca/

In Brunch

La Brasserie: Amazing Brunch in Vancouver

June 5, 2014

La Brasserie has been on my t0-eat list for a very long time. I came here for Brunch on a Sunday at 11am and they don’t take reservations. Brunch goes until 3pm, so have you have time to enjoy a taste of brunch. They serve Franco-German food and their brunch menu does look pretty delicious.

They also have a food truck, but obviously they sell different items.

I find that if you come right at 11am, you won’t have trouble finding a table as they can seat about 35 people. We decided to sit at the bar, but that turned out to be the best decision ever.

Usually 3 women can sit and chat forever, but when sitting at the bar facing the kitchen, you would not hear any of us talking to each other. We were too mesmerized looking at the chefs cook up a storm.

We decided on what to order by looking at what the chefs were creating rather than focusing on the menu.

French Press Coffee ($4) in what I needed to kick off the day. The coffee is freshly ground for the order and tasted really good.

Savoury Crepes ($14) has chicken, mushrooms, mornay sauce, and veggies on top. This is what I ordered. It’s not the most visually appealing dish, but I chose it because I love mornay sauce, mushrooms and chicken. It didn’t seem like it would disappoint. It was really good! It’s the type of dish I love. I would definitely order this again.

Roast Pork Neck & Eggs ($14) has poached eggs, potatoes, and hollandaise. TaiwaneseGirl really enjoyed hers and the egg was poached perfectly.

Brasserie Breakfast Poutine ($13) has poached egg, bacon, gravy, truffle oil, and hollandaise all slathered above the fries. CanuckGirl did enjoy it, but after awhile, she was sick of the fries as there were so many. This is perhaps a good item to share among the table rather than eat it individually.

One item that I really wanted to order was the Brasserie Burger. It looked amazing and it’s topped with a mountain of crispy onions. I haven’t been here for dinner yet, but so far, I love brunch here.

We Rate La Brasserie:

Address:
1091 Davie St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.labrasserievancouver.com/

In Four Beakers

Kingyo Izakaya: Lunch Time

May 10, 2014

We came to Kingyo Izakaya during lunch on a weekday and it was packed! My coworkers wanted sometime really really good, so i suggested we come here. Sadly, I am directionally challenged, so I didn’t realize how far it was from our office.

We wanted to get the Kingyo Bento Box set that is limited to 10 a day, but sadly it was sold out by 11:30am. So, we opted for their regular lunch menu.

AAA+ Beef Fillet Steak Bowl ($14.80) has beef fillet steak with balsamic vinegar, wasabi, butter soy based sauce, served with a poached egg and seaweed on top of rice. It also has miso soup.

Chicken Karaage Wasabi Oroshi Bowl ($9.80) has deep-fried chicken garnished with wasabi and daikon served with mayo and lettuce on top of rice. It has miso soup too.

Fresh Seafood Chirashi-Zushi was the April special on their menu. The chef special changes every month. The dish comes with miso soup.

It has a bed of hot rice topped with a lot of seafood, ikura eggs, sprouts, tobiko and egg. Really good and filling for lunch. Looks really pretty too. I enjoyed it.

Porkloin cutlet/Tonkatsu combo ($13.80) has the deep-fried pork cutlet covered in panko bread crumbs and deep fried. It comes with cabbage salad, miso soup and rice. It was an impressive dish and very fun to eat. The cutlet was also thick and tender with the crunchy exterior crust.

Overall, we had a great time at Kingyo for lunch. It is a tad pricier that some other places for lunch, but it is really good.

We Rate Kingyo:

Address:
871 Denman St
Vancouver, BC V6G

Website:
http://www.kingyo-izakaya.ca

In Cafe

JJ Bean: Chilling on the Weekend

April 2, 2014

KoreanGirl and I went to JJ Bean on the weekend to just chill. We do this quite often and it’s normal for us girls to do that. It was a rainy day too, so sitting next to the window pondering about life is perfect.

What I like about this location is that its structured nicely to optimize for real conversations rather than people on their laptops. You won’t find wifi here either.

They have great coffee and it’s certified organic. Everything is baked locally, which is great.

Double chocolate brownie cookie is huge and is soft and chewy. Plus it has huge dark chocolate chunks.

Small Cappuccino tasted great. It was a good strong cappuccino.

Overall, not a bad place to spend a weekend on a rainy day.

We Rate JJ Bean:

Address:
1188 Alberni Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.jjbeancoffee.com/

In Japanese

Aki Japanese Restaurant: Relocated to Pender Street

February 26, 2014

Aki Japanese Restaurant is located on Pender Street near Coal Harbour. They have relocated from their previous location on Thurlow. They are one of the oldest and authentic Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.

I came here with M and CoffeeLover for dinner after work. We haven’t been here in a while and thought it was good to take another revisit.

The interior is very modern and sleek compared to their previous location. New and shiny. Their sushi bar looks pretty awesome.

The restaurant has very high ceiling to give it a very open feel. They take reservation for small to large groups too.

Orion Beer ($10) is Japan’s 5th largest brewery and originated from Okinawa prefecture. Similar to Asahi and Sapporo as it is light and crisp. Pairs well with Japanese cuisine.

Kinpira ($3.50) is sauteed julienned burdock root. It’ s a small appetizer.

Yakitori ($4.50) comes with 2 skewers and you can choose to have it topped with teriyaki sauce or seasalt. We went with teriyaki and it was pretty good. Simple and straight forward.

Chicken Skin ($3.50) comes with 2 skewers as well. We had it topped with seasalt. The skin is crispy but it wasn’t amazing or anything. I thought it would be more flavourful, but it just tasted like burnt food. I wouldn’t order this again.

Salmon and tuna sashimi ($15) was quite expensive for 10 pieces. It tasted good, but the quality seemed standard among Japanese restaurants in Vancouver.

Toro nigiri ($3 each) wasn’t very fatty and it didn’t melt in our mouths. Unagi nigiri ($3.75 each) was flavourful and delicious. Tamago nigiri ($1.80 each) was ok.

Spicy Chopped Scallop Roll ($5.50), Negitoro roll ($4.95), and Unakyu Maki ($4.95) was nothing fancy. Pretty average.

Assorted Sushi ($15.95) is quite pricey but you do try a variety of nigiri and tuna rolls.

Overall, the food is pricey compared to other places in town. I feel like I’ve been spoiled by so many other Japanese restaurants in town that this place just seems average. Our entire meal was over $100 and it sure hurt our wallet.

We Rate Aki Japanese restaurant:

Address:
1368 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://akirestaurant.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1368+W+Pender+St&sll=49.2893783,-123.1267792&sspn=0.0053743,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=1368+W+Pender+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+3E3&z=16 “]

In Dessert

Hapa Izakaya: Japanese Tapas on Robson Street

January 13, 2014

Earlier last month a few of my friends and I were dining at the Hapa Izakaya in Coal Harbour. I’ve been to Hapa several times and had no issues, but that particular dining experience was horrible and I felt bad for my friends. I won’t delve into it, but you can read it all on thefoodqueen.ca. We were invited back to any Hapa Izakaya location to have a re-do of our meal.

Hapa Izakaya has a reputation for delicious Japanese food with pretty waitresses according to some of my Toronto friends. I spend more time staring at food than at people. Thats why I spend more time snapping pictures of food than of my friends. Horrible habit, but hopefully that will change one day.

The Robson location is quite large, so there is tons of room to accommodate large groups. We came on a snowy day, so that’s why this place wasn’t packed. No one wants to brave though the snow for some eats. Vancouverites fear snow, no matter how much there is.

Pint of Sapporo is my drink of choice at a Japanese restaurant. It’s light, crisp and refreshing.

Hello Kitty ($7.50) is a cocktail drink made of strawberry puree, calpis, absolut vodka, and soda. It was a fun drink and it did not taste too alcoholic.

Shigoku Oysters ($2.99) was recommended by our waitress and is OceanWise. It is from Washington and flavour profile is salty, mildly sweet with a water chestnut finish. It tasted pretty darn good.

Hapa has a large selection of fresh oysters with 17 different varieties. Very impressed.

Ahi Tuna ($11.99) is OceanWise and is beautifully cut. Yumm.

Sockeye Salmon ($10.99) is also OceanWise and are good cuts.

Beef Tataki ($9.99) is a very popular dish. It is made of lightly seared AAA beef with a sesame-chili sauce. I didn’t like it because of the sauce, I much prefer it with garlic chips and ponzu sauce. Just a personal preference.

Bintoro ($9.99) is made of OceanWise albacore tuna sashimi that is lightly seared. It also has Ponzu Sauce and fried garlic chips. Delicious!

Cho Wagyu ($12.49) is a fun dish. You get a super hot stone and you get to cool your own kobe beef. It comes with garlic ships, green onion and ponzu sauce.

Beef Short Ribs ($12.99) has grilled AAA beef short ribs with an apple-soy marinade. Its really good! The meat is quite tender and very flavourful.

Karaage ($8.99) has fried boneless chicken, and a soy ginger sauce.

Teriyaki Mochi Gnochi ($5.49) comes with 2 pieces on a stick. It’s a deep fried potato gnocchi with a teriyaki glaze.

Spicy Pork Ishi-Yaki ($9.99) has rice, minced pork, garlic sprouts, egg, tomato, lettuce, and spicy miso in a hot stone bowl.

Ebi Mayo ($8.99) has tempura prawns with a spicy mayo sauce. It was ok, but needs more mayo.

Kaki Fry ($9.99) comes with 6 pieces. It is pan-fried sawmill bay oyster, and panko breaded. It comes with tartar sauce.

Gindara ($11.49) has baked OceanWise sablefish in a sake-miso marinade with some veggies on the side. The skin of the sable fish was crispy.

Polenta Fries ($7.99) has polenta tempura, soy-balsamic reduction and arugula gel. All the fries are piles up in a stack like Jenga. It’s a fun dish to share.

Oyster Risotto ($13.99) is a new item on their menu and it is served in a hot stone bowl. It contains rice, oysters, mozzarella, onion, carrot, mushroom, green beans, and a cream miso broth. It was a filling dish and it really good. I love mushrooms and oysters.

Chocolate Parfait ($5.99) is a mishmash of different ingredients. Blueberries, corn flakes, brownies, cake, and chocolate ice cream.

Creme Brulee ($4.99) is topped with fruits and cookies.

Matcha Roll Cake ($5.49) has matcha cream with the match cake. Good for those green tea lovers out there.

The desserts were all pretty comparable.

Overall, if you are looking for some delicious Japanese tapas and some drinks for a girls night out or a date, this is the place to go. But it can get pricey compared to some of the other izakaya restaurants in town.

We rate Hapa Izakaya:

Address:
1479 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://hapaizakaya.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1479+Robson+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=1479+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C1&z=15 “]

In BBQ

Chengdu Szechuan Bistro 成都美食: Drool For Peking Duck

November 26, 2013

Chengdu Szechuan Bistro is located close to the corner of Robson and Denman street and have been around for a little bit over a year now. They specialize in fusion Chinese Szechuan cuisine. It’s a family run restaurant and Executive Chef Henry has over 20 years of cooking experience from Hong Kong and Canada.

I came here with a few friends to check it out and we heard they have peking duck, so it peaked our attention.

The interior isn’t too large but it has a row of booths, some bar seats, and some tables near the front. It has a lounge feel to this place as there is a large bar.

Peking Duck with 12 crepes is served with green onions, cucumber, and hoisin sauce. On top of the duck are prawn chips. The duck and the crepes are all made in-house. This is their signature dish.

The skin is nice and crispy with a good layer of meat underneath. Probably one of the best quality peking ducks around town. It wasn’t too fatty either. Super moist and yummy.

You take a little bit of everything and wrap it in the crepe. It’s really good. Highly recommended!!

The second part of the peking duck meal is the lettuce wraps. The rest of the duck meat and stir fries it. On the side, there are 6 lettuce wraps for you to put to ingredients into.

Just roll it up and begin munching away. Delicious! We definitely needed more lettuce wraps since 6 were not enough.

The perfect things to pair with the peking duck is with beer! I ordered a bottle of Tsingtao beer. Asian beer with asian food is a good mix.

Chengdu Special Fried Rice ($12) has house special fried rice with shrimp, chinese sausage, onions, jalapeño, broccoli stem in a spicy Szechuan style. This fried rice was definitely spicy with the jalapeño and Szechuan sauce. It’s finally good to see a fried rice that can pack some heat. If you like spicy food, you’ll like the rice.

Ginger Beef ($11) has crunchy beef in spicy ginger kung pao sauce with onions, carrots and fresh ginger. It’s one of their signature dishes and quite popular amongst guests. The dish was decent.

Mapo Tofu ($9) has soft tofu, spicy ground pork, shrimp, onions, chinese mushrooms and water chestnut.

Szechuan Pan Fried Prawns ($12) has pan-fried prawns in spicy garlic pepper oil. We table had mixed review on this item. Some said it was too salty, but some loved how it had a strong garlic flavour.

Szechuan Green Beans ($8) has long green bean tossed in a spicy Szechuan sauce with ground pork and preserved vegetables. This was really good. A bit oily, but good flavours.

Pumpkin & Red Bean Sticky Rice Cake Ice Cream ($6) nice sweet end to the meal. Its sticky, chewy and a bit sweet. It goes well with the ice cream.

Deep Fried Banana With Ice Cream ($6) has a honey glaze around the battered bananas. A fun dish to share.

Of course there is a fortune cookie. Did you know it’s actually an American invention?

The peking duck dishes are pretty awesome here and would recommend it to anyone. I found the other dishes to be quite average and is a bit more expansive compared to other restaurants.

If you are tired of ramen in the area, definitely come here and try their peking duck. You won’t regret it. Yum.

We Rate Chengdu Szechuan Bistro:

Address:
792 Denman St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.chengdubistro.ca

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

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=792+Denman+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=792+Denman+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+2L5&z=16 “]

In Canadian

Dishcrawl Vancouver: Exploring the West End

July 1, 2013

Dishcrawl Vancouver invited me to their event focused on West End restaurants. We went to 4 different restaurants in one night, but the catch is that we only knew the first location but the other 3 are a mystery. They try to showcase the best restaurants in this area within walking distance of each other.

There was about 25 people on this particular tour and we headed to Ap Gu Jung, Hida Takayama Ramen, Forage and Capstone Tea & Fondue.

Ap Gu Jung

AP Gu Jung was our first stop. It’s a Korean restaurant located on Robson Street. This place has been here forever. I remember coming here in high school.

The interior has 2 floors and kinda looks like a western pub rather than a korean restaurant because of the playoffs playing on the big screen, jerseys, and a drum kit.

We started off with 4 dishes of banchan, which are complimentary side dishes. There is seaweed, kimchi, broccoli, and potatoes.

On the plate they sampled:

Seafood Pancake
Kimchi Pancake
Chicken Skewers
Pork on Fire
Traditional Beef BBQ
Rice

For people with dietary restrictions, they got some different items. The portions here were pretty good since there were 3 more restaurants to go to. A lot of people couldn’t finish in time, so they did have to pack it to go. We definitely needed more than 40 minutes here.

Hida Takayama Ramen

Hida Takayama Ramen is located inside the Robson Public Market on the 2nd floor. I thought I went to all the ramen places in town, but I was wrong. This ramen joint is very hidden. The prices seem quite fair as it is all under $10.

The owner – Mike Asaoka is very charismatic about the ramen he makes and uses the best ingredients.

Hida Chuka Ramen was one of my favorites. It was simple and representative of some ramen you would find in Japan. The broth is chicken based and flavoured with soy sauce.

White Sesame Ramen was very rich and thick . We ate everything else, but it was hard to drink the broth.

Sweet and Spicy Ramen was ok, but not one of my favorites.

I didn’t fall in love with any of the particular ramen, but I found it very interesting how if you come here on a normal day, the price of the small and the large are EXACTLY the SAME prices. You can get huge bowl of noodles for about $7.

Forage

Our third stop of the night is Forage. I was quite excited about this place because they do have some killer food.

We were welcomed by Chef Wittaker who took us through the farm-to-table concept at forage and let us know what we would be eating.

Nettle gnocchi and brown butter is served in a cast iron pan. The texture of the gnocchi were like little pillows of mashed potatoes.

Foraged and cultivated mushrooms is topped with Okanagan goat cheese and comes with grilled caraway rye bread. I have an addiction for mushrooms, so I polished this dish. Yum Yum!

The Flatbread has pancetta, morel mushrooms, onion béchamel, and Jersey blue cheese. It was thin, crispy and very enjoyable.

Capstone Tea & Fondue

I haven’t been back to Captone in a few years after a bad experience. It’s been a few years and that experience has always stuck in my mind. It was good to see that they rebranded and hopefully this dining experience would be good.

We were given small personal pots of Dark Chocolate Fondue and some assorted items for dipping.

In the bowl were fruit, banana bread, cheesecake, cookies, macrons, and ice cream balls. Don’t leave the ice cream balls till the very end since they will melt. With the hot weather in Vancouver, its best to just gobble them up right away.

It was a nice end of the meal.

By the end of the night, we were all full and ready to have food coma. This is my second Dishcrawl and I still have the same thoughts about these types of events. It’s not an event for everyone. $60 is a little bit steep if you’re a picky eater. Even though they do accomodate dietary restrictions, you may not like certain types of cuisines.

On the bright side, you do get to explore 4 restaurants in one night and are great for indecisive people. Do look out for coupon codes since there are a few floating around for each Dishcrawl tour.

To check out DishCrawl Vancouver: www.dishcrawl.com/vancouver/

In Four Beakers

Marutama Ramen: Ramen with Chicken Broth

June 19, 2013

It’s been a few weeks since Marutama Ramen opened and I’ve been there at least 4 or 5 times. Some may think I’m a little bit addicted, but I am just in love with the yummy seaweed and their gooey eggs. I mostly came with friends to introduce them to this new place. With so many ramen places on Robson street, it’s sometimes hard to decipher whats good and whats not.

The differentiator for Marutama Ramen is that they make their noodles in-house, they use chicken broth for their soup, the yummy gooey egg, and the seaweed.

Hot Green Tea isn’t free, but I can’t recall what the price was. It’s just a pre-purchased green tea packet that comes in hot water in this pot. Nothing fancy.

Kakuni ($5.75) is braised pork belly. It comes with 3 pieces.

From the 2 different visits here, I found the consistency of their kakuni to be very different. The first time I ordered it, it was super fatty and melt in your mouth, but the second time, it was more lean. Perhaps you can ask them for lean of fatty kakuni.

Marutama Tamago Ramen ($10.50) is the top seller. This time I ordered it with a spicy broth. The spicy broth is indeed spicy, so do watch out. If you love spicy food, then you must get it spicy. The ramen contains the soft-boiled flavored egg, aosa seaweed, green onions, 2 pieces of chashu, and handmade noodles in a rich chicken broth.

Marutama Aosa Ramen ($13.25) comes with 2 pieces of chashu, green onions and lots of the seaweed. Their seaweed is really good.

Marutama Zenbu Ramen ($18) has the works. It has slices of chashu, kakuni, aosa seaweed, and the egg. M ordered this since it had everything. He did enjoy it but it was quite expensive.

It’s all about that yummy egg. Their chicken broth ramen doesn’t particularly appeal to some people, but I really like it since it makes the broth more light and not so rich compared to pork based broths.

We rate Marutama Ramen:

Address:
780 Bidwell
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.japanesenoodle.com/

In Four Beakers

Kingyo: Best Japanese Bento Box in Vancouver

June 18, 2013

Kingyo has always been a great place to go at night, but I’ve never been here for lunch. Plus, working so far from Denman street, it would be a bit of a trek to go there, eat, and return to work in under an hour. Luckily Dpang decided to drive Magz and I. I’ve been looking forward to coming here for lunch for a long time.

For lunch, there is only one item that foodies must order – their bento box!

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Deluxe Bento Box ($16) is limited to 10 sets per day. It comes with 12 smaller portion items off their regular menu. If you’ve never been to Kingyo or just love everything on the menu, the deluxe bento box is like a sampler of their menu. The price for the bento box is a bit high compared to the other bento boxes in town, but it is a fantastic item to order.

The items in the set do change from time to time, but I’m sure you can’t be disappointed. When we were here for lunch, our bento box came with:

Rice
Miso Soup
Pickled Vegetables
Deep Fried asparagus
Salad
Chicken Karaage
Braised short rib
Tuna tataki
Truffle egg
Sesame noodles
deep fried fish
and one more dish I have forgotten what it is.

We were not disappointed by any of the items that are part of the bento box. You will definitely get full and walk out of the restaurant with a case of foodcoma. Good luck going back to work resisting the temptation to nap.

We Rate Kingyo:

Address:
871 Denman St
Vancouver, BC V6G

Website:
http://www.kingyo-izakaya.ca

In Cafe

Nero Belgian Waffle Bar: Amazing Waffles

June 17, 2013

Nero Belgian Waffle Bar has been on my list of places to eat for a while. I even got 4 emails from readers telling me about this amazing place. If you wrote me an email, trust me, I have never forgotten! Nero is located on Robson street across from the Safeway. It’s a small little place and doesn’t have too many tables to accommodate large parties. The two times that I have went, it was very hard to find a seat.

They serve 2 types of waffles, the Belgium waffle (light and crispy) and the Liege Waffle (Soft, sweet and chewy). You can then choose to have them sweet or savory. I always seem to get sweet since I usually come here after dinner.

Banella ($6.95) with a liege waffle. Banana on top of the waffle with a dish of nutella. It’s a classic combination that anyone would love. FoodQueen ordered this, so check out her blog post soon.

Rudolph ($9) on a brussels waffle. It is topped with whipped cream, fresh raspberries, vanilla ice cream, Belgium chocolate mousse and drizzle of chocolate. This was AMAZING. My absolute favorite. The brussels waffle was so light and crispy like the description. SO good! After this, I will always have a brussels waffle. MMMMmmmmmm.

Mocha ($8.90) on a Brussels waffle. It is topped with vanilla ice cream, 60% dark chocolate, and espresso infused whipped cream. GastroFork ordered this, so you can see it on her blog.

Razz ($7.50) is on a Brussels waffle. It is topped with fresh raspberries and dark chocolate. It was really good as well. After having a taste of their brussels waffle, I’m hooked. Now I can see why they have lineups out the door.

Overall the waffles are great, but the service can be a bit atrocious during peak hours. When I came with Amy and Dee, we were told we were not supposed to save a table before we ordered our food. I totally understand the logic, but there wasn’t a line up in front of us. We just wanted to secure a spot so we didn’t have to get our order and stand up. Putting that aside, I really do love their waffles. I haven’t been able to find such a delicious brussels waffle in Vancouver until I came here.

We Rate Nero Beligian Waffle Bar:

Address:
1703 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.nerowaffles.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1703+Robson+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1703+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Bakery

Chicco: Japanese Parfaits

May 23, 2013

Chicco has been on Robson street for a long time and I remember coming here a long time ago for Parfaits with friends. It’s great that it’s still around serving up their Japanese versions of parfaits. The parfaits have changed up slightly, but still a very cool thing to eat.

The shop is quite small, so it’s hard to find seats if it’s during peak hours. If the weather is nice, you could always go to a nearby park to walk around and munch on this.

Green Tea Parfait ($7) contains a cube of green tea mousse, rice cake, whipping cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, vanilla gelato, green tea jello, red beans, green tea gelato and a green tea stick. This is the most popular item and is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth. It’s not a heavy dessert and its like a very fun cereal to eat.

Mango Parfait ($7) contains a strawberry macaron, strawberries, cube of mango mousse, mango ice cream, strawberry jelly. whipped cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, and scoop of strawberry sorbet.

Very Berry Parfait ($7) contains a strawberry macaron, strawberries, blueberry, strawberry sorbet, whipped cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, and strawberry jelly.

All of the parfaits are somewhat structured similarly but the flavours are different. It is definitely expensive for what you get but when you get it, it looks beautiful. I would highly recommend the Green Tea Parfait.

We Rate Chicco:

Address:
1504 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.chiccocafe.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1504+Robson+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1504+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C3&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Japanese

Spaghetei: Japanese Style Spaghetti

May 16, 2013

Spaghetei opened on Robson Street a few days ago. They took over the former location of Benkei Ramen. This chain of restaurants has been around since 1975 and it’s finally landed in Vancouver.

KoreanGirl and I were wandering around Robson St for dinner around 9pm and we were curious about this place. It was quite empty, but we figured we should try it out anyways. Even though they are open, their card machines don’t work yet. To make up for the inconvenience, they are offering their customers 30% off. They are licensed too, so they have alcohol.

There are a good amount of tables inside.

Complimentary cup of soup was good and had bits of shredded lettuce inside.

Complimentary slices of garlic pesto bread was a cute touch before getting our meal. It’s lightly toasted and crunchy.

Mentaiko ($13) has spaghetti tossed with spicy cod roe, mushroom, and seaweed. This was my favorite and was the most expensive spaghetti. The taste reminded me of yaki udon. It wasn’t spicy either even though there is the spicy cod roe.

Neopolitan ($12) has bacon, chicken, sausage, and vegetables. It has a mild ketchup flavour. I wasn’t a fan of this dish since it seemed a bit simple and easy to make at home.

Overall, I was very torn about this place. I really wanted to love this place, but the price you pay doesn’t equate to what arrives. I definitely need to return to try a few more dishes. KoreanGirl already has plans to come back since she really wants to try their Clam Shellfish Spaghetti and butter & Soy sauce spaghetti. Eating here reminded us of being kids again when our parents would make us spaghetti.

We Rate Spaghetei:

Address:
1741 Robson St
Vancouver

Website:
http://www.spaghetei.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1741+Robson+St+Vancouver,&hnear=1741+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1E1&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Four Beakers

Marutama Ramen: Newest Ramen Restaurant in Vancouver

May 15, 2013

Marutama Ramen opened up in Vancouver on May 5th, 2013. They have been around for about 10 years and since then it’s been opening up shops around the world. There are several location in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and now in Vancouver!

All their noodles are handmade in the shop and you can definitely tell the difference between the other ramen shops in town. I first noticed this restaurant when TaiwaneseGirl began bombarding me with messages to go eat here. It’s only been open for a bit over 1 week and she’s been there at least 3 times.

There’s not too many seats, so it can get busy during peak hours. In their first week, they’ve been so busy that they are starting to run out of food before their closing hours. I actually went again today but they were all sold out by 9pm.

Complementary cold tea arrives as you wait for your meal.

Dashimaki ($7) is a Japanese Omelette cut up into 6 square pieces. This is a popular item that tends to be sold out too. It’s sweetened egg. I didn’t particularly like this as I never liked the idea of sweet savory foods. Probably a childhood thing. Some people love this, but it wasn’t for me.

Marutama Tamago Ramen ($10.50) is a must! It’s their top-selling item. It contains the soft-boiled flavored egg, aosa seaweed, green onions, 2 pieces of chashu, and handmade noodles in a rich chicken broth. You can choose mild or spicy broth. Other ramen places use pork broth, but I love their chicken broth.

It’s not a large portion, but it tastes quite healthy and not too rich. If you are a big eater, you might want to add an extra portion of noodles. I liked their noodles since they are thin and takes us more broth as you eat it.

Highly recommended!

Out of all the ramen places I’ve been to so far, this is by far the best egg I’ve ever eaten.

Overall, it’s become one of my favorite spots in town for ramen. The quality of their ingredients is great and that egg is so addictive. I have a feeling this place is going to get quite busy once people figure out that this place has amazing eggs in their ramen.

We rate Marutama Ramen:

Address:
780 Bidwell
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.japanesenoodle.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=780+Bidwell+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=780+Bidwell+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]