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In Dessert

Fleuri: Worlds Best Chocolate Buffet

March 20, 2012

Fleuri is inside the Sutton Place Hotel on Burrard Street. According to National Geographic, they have the World’s Best Chocolate Buffet. The buffet is $28 per person and you can reserve for either 6pm -8:30pm or 8:30pm- 10pm. If you have dinner here, you can add the chocolate buffet on for $18. You get access to a crepe station, chocolate fondue, cakes and other pastries.

The chocolate table is just one long table. I expected a bit more than one table, but there is a good selection.

There are tuxedo cakes, nanaimo bars, mousse, and profiteroles.

There’s more cakes, brownies, pecan pie, and macarons.

There’s also warm apple crumble too. You must try this, it’s really good!

In the middle of it all is a 3-tiered fondue machine with cantaloupe, honey dew, pineapples, strawberries and grapes to dip.

The best way to tackle all the cakes is to grab a few varieties for your table and split it all. Our group did the opposite and started eating whole slices of cake until we decided to share amongst each other.

The crepe station is located on the lower level of the restaurant near the entrance.

The chef makes the crepes fresh to order right in front of your eyes. You can add many topping to it or even ice cream.

I decided to add some raspberry sorbet which was delicious! Then I added whipped cream, chocolate sauce and raspberry sauce. The crepes were good.

The cakes were alright, but you get too much of a chocolate dose.

The profiterole on the left was so good and it had a chocolate mousse filling on the inside. I don’t know what was on the right, but it was good .

The fruits were fresh and quite plump for the fondue. I kinda wish they had dark chocolate to dip into, but they only had milk chocolate.

The chocolate mousse cup was also good, but after eating all that cake and then this, it didn’t taste as good. Clearly I was starting to have chocolate overload.

The macaron wasn’t good at all since it was too hollow on the inside. The pecan pie, apple crumble, profiterole, and fondue was also good.

At this point I was so chocolated-out that I needed tea. My mouth felt so much better! We sat there looking at other tables and their delicious entrees…streak has never looked so delicious in my life. I also had a craving for salty McDonalds fries too.

To end it all, I got some passion fruit sorbet, it was also good, but it was a bit sweet compared to the raspberry sorbet.

While we were dining here, we caught a few glimpses of the ‘Once Upon a Time’ cast. We know for sure we saw ‘Grumpy’ and ‘Snow White’ (Ginnifer Goodwin). I don’t have pictures since we were too busy guessing if it was them. Plus, I’m sure they wouldn’t want to be disturbed during dinner by a mob of asian girls. We also asked the waitress what other famous people have dined here recently and she said that Justin Bieber was here too but had to leave because a bunch of fan girls were creeping outside.

Overall, the chocolate buffet is okay and a bit hyped up. Since the chocolate was so rich and sweet, it really made us full fast. I would have liked to see more varieties of chocolates than those usual items. We probably got super full after 1 hr of eating, so we sat and chit chatted till 9pm. Service was good.

Words of Wisdom:

$28 per person, $14 per child, or $18 with a dinner
Thursday, Friday and Saturday Only
Available during dinner time 6pm – 8:30 pm or 8:30pm – 10pm
Can get full quickly off the rich chocolate

We Rate Fleuri’s Chocolate Buffet:
Website:
http://www.vancouver.suttonplace.com/Chocoholic_Buffet.htm

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Vancouver

In Cafe

Thierry Patisserie: Chit Chats & Desserts

March 9, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Words of Wisdom:

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

We Rate Thierry Patisserie:

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

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In Cafe

Soirette Macarons & Tea: New Specialty Macaron Store

February 6, 2012

Soirette Macarons & Tea is a new little cafe that opened up near Pender and Broughton St. Flo bought me here since she really wanted to try out their macarons. She heard about them from an article in the Vancouver Sun and then bought a few Social Shopper deals.

We came too early to use the deal, but since we were there anyways, we decided to grab some macarons without the coupons. Since we heard good things from this place, we kinda knew we would be back in the near future.

The interior is very cute and cozy with mostly white and clear interior decor with a blue wall at the back. It’s definitely a place for the girls to just kick back and relax with the macarons.

There is very limited seating, so most people we saw just did take out. Definitely not a place for large groups.

They also have a large selection of specialty teas and drinks. I didn’t get a chance to get one, but tea does sounds like a good pairing with tea.

We came an hour before closing, so they were running out of macarons. We didn’t mind since there were still some great flavours.
Don’t let this picture discourage you from going since Flo and I just came late after work.

Macarons ($2 each, 6 for $11.50 or 12 for $22). Flo and I just got 6 macarons to snack on. We got the raspberry, cappuccino, matcha, Salted Caramel, Chocolate and pistachio.

All of them were equality as good as the next one. They are well made and had great texture and flavours.

Overall, one of the better macaron places in town! It seems to be the new fad, which everyone loves.

Words of Wisdom:

Great as gifts!
Priced similar to other places with macarons
Beautiful decor

We rate Soirette Macarons & Tea:

Address:
1433 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6G
Website:
http://www.soirette.com/

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In Downtown

The Teahouse: Perfect For Dates

January 29, 2012

Hello Internet! Romanj and Abbytizer review another restaurant. Today we review the Teahouse Restaurant located in Stanely Park. Abbytizer and I were at the Tea House for a group Christmas Party for the Holidays.

To start off, The Tea House is a high-class restaurant with beautiful interior decor and a view overlooking North Vancouver. It’s a perfect place for romantic dates or special occasions.

Since Abbytizer and I were here for a Christmas Party, the restaurant provided us with a group menu with a selection of Appetizers, Entrees and Desserts.

To start of our meal we had complimentary bread, which was delicious.

For Appetizers:

I ordered the Prawn Cocktail ($14), which were served on ice. The Prawns were large and delicious. The sauce provides an added spicy kick.

Abbytizer ordered the Teahouse mushrooms ($12), which consists of crab meat and cream cheese. Abbytizer describes it as:
“A friend suggested the Teahouse Mushrooms and it was a great suggestion! It was a simple dish, but it was extremely delicious. The crabmeat and cream cheese blended together very well, and the meatiness of the mushroom cap balanced out the creamy texture of the dish. Lastly, the balsamic glaze that was drizzled on top of it added the right amount of sweet and savoury flavours. This appetizer alone is reason enough to come back to Tea House!”

For Our Main Course:

I ordered the Roasted Chicken ($21) with micoise olives, tomato, pearl onion, and garlic confit. The chicken is delicious; it’s perfectly moist and tender. The mini tomatoes, olives and potatoes compliment the meal perfectly.

Abbytizer ordered the Roasted Sable Fish ($33) with miso marinade. Abbytizer describes her meal: “The Sable Fish was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth like butter. The miso marinade complemented the fish with the right amount of sweetness. It was the first time that I had sable fish and this dish was so succulent, that I’ll be more likely to try other sable fish dishes in the future.”

For Dessert each of us had a dish Crème Brulee and Chocolate Milano Cake.

Abbytizer had the Crème Brulee ($8). The Crème Brule was good, but nothing exceptional. Personally, I would prefer the Chocolate Milano Cake to the Crème Brulee for dessert. The Chocolate Milano cake was so good!

I ordered the Chocolate Milano cake ($8), which consists of chocolate mousse with chocolate ganache on top with raspberry sauce on the side. This was delicious.

Overall, The Teahouse is a very nice restaurant with a delicious menu. This restaurant is perfect dates. However, I would not recommend this place for group gatherings, space is very limited as Abbytizer and I thought our group was squished together.

Words of Wisdom:

Free Parking after 6pm
Set Menu for Large Groups
Perfect for a Date

We rate The Teahouse:

Address:
610 Pipeline Rd, Stanley Park,
Vancouver, BC V6G 2M5, Canada

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In Bakery

East Village Bakery: Mom & Pop Bakery With Artisan Treats

December 23, 2011

East Village Bakery is an artisan bakery specializing in artisan bread, pies and french pastries. I honestly thought it was just an asian bakery, but when M and stepped inside, we were just amazed by the amount of little ornate treats. Everything looked very fresh and the smell inside was just amazing.

They had a lot of delectable treats available! I’m sure you can come in to find lots of inspiration too if you love to bake.

They all looked picture perfect! From the scones to the gingersnap cookies. Pretty good prices too.

Palmiers AKA Butterfly Cookies are nice and crunchy with good layering. Not too buttery.

Doesn’t that look so delicious. It is one of my favorite cookies as a kid.

White chocolate blueberry scone ($2.35) was a really good scone. It was different that the usual scones since it was not very hard and was quite delicate. I wasn’t originally going to purchase this, but the owner suggested it. Good decision indeed.

Spinach Cheddar Scone ($2.35) is for the people who love savory baked goods. It wasn’t very flavourful, but it does taste better with some tea or coffee. The inside texture was quite light and fluffy similar to the other scone.

Sour Cherry Chocolate Truffle Tart (2 for $3.50) was surprisingly really good. Good balance between the sour cherry and the chocolate.

Callebaut Chocolate Banana Cake with Marzipan ($2.95) was good, the inside had a really cool texture and had some chewy bits inside. M liked it a lot.

Ginger Crackle Cookies ($1.95) was not that good since it was really tough and hard to eat. M likes his ginger cookies a bit softer and sweeter.

Overall, it’s a good place to grab a few treats and bring them back home.

Words of Wisdom: