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Chinatown Night Market

The Chinatown Night Market has changed a lot since I was a kid. With the emergence of the other Night Markets in town, the quality of the Chinatown Night Market isn’t as good as it used to be. Despite that, it still attracts thousands of people every weekend to enjoy the festivities. It’s the closest night market to the Downtown core, so it makes sense. If you’re in the area, take a short stroller here and then enjoy the sunset at False Creek near Science World.

The Vancouver Chinatown Night Market is open from May 17th till September 8th, 2013 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.


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Chinatown Night Market

The market spans from Main Street  to Columbia Street on Keefer street. The block is closed off so people can walk freely on the streets.

Chinatown Night Market

There are a few stalls that sell toys, jewellery , clothing, and a lot of random stuff.

Chinatown Night Market

I honestly never come here to buy things. It’s all about the food for me. But when it was about 10 years ago, I would come here to buy  pokemon cards. Nowadays, there’s nothing very spectacular from the vendors.

Bar-B-Q

Chinatown Night Market

There’s a stall that sells a lot of skewers. It’s one of those staple items that you must have at a night market.

Bubble Gallo Tea House

Chinatown-Market-bbt

There’s bubble tea too. Perfect for the hot summer weather.

Dim Sum Express

Chinatown Night Market

The food area is quite popular and the most congested part of the street. There’s even Dim Sum Express, they have a food truck near Waterfront station too.

Potato Tornado

Chinatown Night Market

One thing that was a must for MedicalGiraffe and I were the potato tornadoes. You might know them as hurricane potatoes…. depending on where you’ve been. It’s $3.75 each and you can choose your seasoning. They also sell popcorn chicken for $4.50.

This was a popular stall, so the food did take about 10 minutes.

Chinatown Night Market

The way that they cut the potatoes is with a drill. Very strange but I guess it gets the job done. Then they deep fry it for the crunchy goodness. The last step is sprinkling on the spices.

Chinatown Night Market

We got our ketchup flavoured potato tornado and it sure looked pretty. The taste was ok, but it was very very oily.

Takoyaki

Chinatown Night Market

Takoyaki was another item on our mind. It was very very busy at this stall, so it took about 20 minutes to get our order.

Chinatown Night Market

They had a lot of people waiting for them, but it took me a long time to figure out something was off about this stall.

Chinatown Night Market

All the balls looked ready and perfect to eat, but they took a long time to cook. After watching them for a while, we realized they were frozen store bought takoyaki heated up in these pans.

She wasn’t poking to see if the batter in the centre was cooked, she was seeing if it was not frozen on the centre.

Chinatown Night Market

6 pieces for $4.50.

We did feel a bit ripped off since we now know we could probably go to T&T and get a gab of frozen takoyaki for that price.
It tasted passable, but sucks that it wasn’t prepared the way it should be.

Bubble Waffles

Chinatown Night Market

There was also bubble waffles too. 1 for $3.75 or 2 for $6.50.

Chinatown Night Market

Near the other side of the Night Market seemed a little more Gastown-like with artist, local produce, plants, and jams on sale. There were also 3 Food Trucks there too – JJ’s Trucketeria, Holy Perogy and Ze Bite.

JJs Trucketeria

Chinatown Night Market

JJ Trucketeria is a Filipino themed Food Truck. I’ve always wanted to go for a visit but they are usually on Fraser and 43rd. Way too far for me to get to during lunch.

Chinatown Night Market

During the night market, they had salads, garlic fried rice plate, panwiches and their market bowls. Their prices are pretty good for a food truck. We really wanted to try their meaty items but we held back and decided to try the market bowl.

Chinatown Night Market

Market Bowl ($5) has brown rice, carrots, leeks, caramelized onions, yams, black beans, chick peas with their signature JJ sauce. It is completely vegan, so good for those people with dietary restrictions.

MedicalGiraffe and I didn’t particularly like this item since it was mostly the brown rice mixture with a bit of sauce.

Jj's Trucketeria on Urbanspoon

 

Ze Bite

Chinatown Night Market

Ze Bite was there selling their amazing French food.

Nice Pops

Chinatown Night Market

Nice Pops were selling some gourmet popsicles with 4 flavours:

  • Rhubarb and Cardamom
  • Cucumber, lime and Chili
  • Strawberry and balsamic Vinegar
  • Strawberry and buttermilk

The prices are $4 each or 3 for $10.

Chinatown Night Market

 Cucumber, lime and Chili starts off with the refreshing cucumber and lime flavours but them the spicy chili taste kicks in. MedicalGiraffe’s mouth was literally on fire.  She can handle her spice, but this was definitely spicy.

Rhubarb and cardamom was  very refreshing. Highly recommended.

Chinatown Night Market

On the day that we went, there was outdoor karaoke. Surprisingly a lot of people were fearless and stepped up on the mic. There was a variety of songs sang by people of various ethnicities.

Chinatown Night Market

The Chinatown Night Market is not as impressive as the Richmond Night market, so don’t go out of your way to come here. If you are in the area after dinner Downtown, you can just take a stroll over here after dinner.

Website: http://vancouverchinatownnightmarket.com/

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie is located on Hastings Street in North Burnaby. It’s pretty awesome to see that The Heights is starting to get some amazing shops in the area. Over the past few years, I’ve always complained about how few dessert places we have. My go-to place was always Cumpari’s on North Road.

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

The interior of Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie is quite small with a few high tables near the windows. Not a great place for large groups, but it s a nice quiet setting for a few friends to catch up over some cakes.

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

M was intrigued by all the chocolate, so he decided to get one of each.  I think he didn’t know which ones to choose, so he got them all. Each piece is $1.40 and is a bit pricey, but they look very pretty.

  • Noix de Coco et Passion
  • Praline Amande
  • Citron et Thym
  • Pistachie
  • Mango
  • Gianduja Dark
  • Tanka Amande
  • Kalamansi Framboise
  • Noix de Coco
  • Caramel
  • Gianduja Milk
  • 70% Ganache

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

He ate them all quite quickly. All those in one sitting. He didn’t even leave me a piece. He said they were pretty awesome.

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

Besides chocolate they also have a variety of cakes and tarts. We came near the end of the day so most of the goodies were gone. All their treats looked quite cute.

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

Trio de Chocolate ($4.50) has layers of dark, milk and white chocolate mousse. It’s quite small and it can be easily gobbled up in a few bites, but did taste pretty good.

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

Box of Macarons ($9.95) comes with 6 flavours. The different flavours that they had were caramel, chocolate, coconut, lime basil, limoncello, maple syrup, passion fruit and pistachio. I have no idea which flavours were in the box since I got it as a gift for MedicalGiraffe. She did say they were tasty.

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

They also have bars of chocolates too.

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie

It’s a nice change to have such a delectable pastry shop in the area. If you are passing by this area, definitely stop and go inside. Parking is a little bit tricky but there should be some on Beta Street.

We Rate Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie: 

Address:
4712 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.christophe-chocolat.com/

Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie on Urbanspoon

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The latest craze hitting New York is the Cronut, a hybrid between a croissant and a donut. The trademarked item was the brain child of Chef Dominique Ansel, a French pastry chef at Ansel’s bakery shop in New York. These cronut are in such high demand that they have begun selling in the “black market” for over $100. They have been flying off the shelves and people wait in line for hours just to get a taste of the cronut.

Imitations have begun popping up around the world to catch up on the cronut hype. Luckily, there is one bakery in Vancouver that is selling their spin on the cronut. Swiss Bakery is selling the Frissant. It’s a mix of a fritter and a croissant….thus the name frissant.

Cronut

Ever since news hit on social media about the Frissant in Vancouver, these puppies have been flying off the shelves. Some people have even been saying they sell out by 10am. Swiss Bakery is located on 3rd and Main right across from Nuba.

My office is 3 blocks away, so I decided to come here with a coworker to grab a few. When we arrived at 9:30am, there were a few people inside and 3 frissants left. They were in the process of making more batches for the day.

Cronut

Frissants come in 2 flavours at Swiss Bakery – Vanilla and Chocolate. They sell for $4 a pop, which isn’t too cheap, but they do spend lots of time working on the recipe and perfecting each batch. Small price to pay compared to what people in New York have to end up paying on the “black market”.

Cronut

I decided to grab one of each flavour to see which one was better. I usually don’t like donuts, but I just had to see what was so good about them.

Cronut

The exterior of the frissant is crispy and the layers are quite fluffy. Hidden inside is the yummy delicious custard. I preferred the vanilla flavour over the chocolate one.

If a donut hater can be convinced that a Frissant is delicious, that means its mighty delicious. It has been hard for some people to get their hands on the Frissant in Vancouver. I’ve heard multiple people being disappointed that its been sold out before they got there. I would suggest going in the morning to get some before noon. Or you can see what the status is on Twitter.

They don’t do preorders are it’s been difficult to coordinate orders. Best to just walk in if you’re already in the area.

Address:
143 E 3rd Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.swissbakery.ca/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/swissbakery

Swiss Bakery on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=143+E+3rd+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=143+E+3rd+Ave,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T+3B8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

Ze Bite

Ze Bite is located on Cordova and Burrard close to Waterfront Skytrain. The truck is bright and teal, so you won’t be able to miss it.

Ze Bite

My coworker and I came here for lunch since we needed some quick shots of food cart imagery, so we decided to grab a bite to eat too.

Ze Bite

They sell French inspired cuisine. When we went here, the main items were baguette sandwiches and savory crepes. They also have a few items in the sides menu.

Ze Bite

Risotto ($5) contains roasted vegetables, rice and cream.

Ze Bite

Ze Tangerine ($10) is a savory crepe and has marinated chicken, lemon, mint, spices, hummus, grainy dijon, and mixed greens. This crepe was quite large and tasted great. It was a bit challenging eating this on the street, but with just be careful that come things don’t fall out. It’s packed with a lot of ingredients.

Ze Bite

Overall, Ze Bite has a few limited option for lunch, but their savory crepes are mighty delicious. I found their hours to be incorrect on the Facebook page, so it’s best to check their updated hours on Twitter or the Street Food App.

We Rate Ze Bite

Location: Cordova and Burrard

Website:
http://zebite.ca/

Ze Bite on Urbanspoon

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L’Express is located on the plateau in Montreal. The serve authentic French dishes and it’s usually packed every night. It’s best to make reservations because most people in Montreal rely on reservations. CanuckGirl and I decided to go to L’Express without reservations and got a seat at the bar fairly quickly. Even though people will make reservations, not everyone shows up, so there is hope for those with no reservations.

As we sat down, we were given complementary bread with butter. The bread was quite hard and the butter was solid too, thus making it hard to spread.

You also get a jar of complementary little pickles. I love pickles so I naturally ate them up. I didn’t eat the whole jar, but I was very tempted to.

Octopus Lentil Salad ($16.55) the lentils is hidden under the thin slices of octopus. The sauce around it gives it a it of acidic taste which compliments the dish nicely. THe octopus has been well prepared and very tender.

Shrimp Risotto ($20.30) had lots of shrimp for the portion size and very creamy. CanuckGirl also said it was a good portion for dinner too since other places can give you less.

Duck Confit Salad ($24.40) had lots of warm duck on top. Since duck is naturally oily, it made the bed of salad quite oily. It’s still pretty good. Duck is delicious and tender.

Overall, it was good French Fine Dining experience. The only disappointment was over the service. Our main server ignored us most of the evening, so we had to always resort for asking questions to an alternative server. We had a hunch that the server was acting snobby because we did not order wine. We were quite bitter over the service since it was clear our server was treating all of the other customers much better and having long conversations with them.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Make reservations to have a seat at a table
  • You’ll usually get a bar seat without reservations
  • Fine Dining
  • Decent prices

We Rate L’Express:

Address:
3927 Rue Saint-Denis
Montreal, QC

Website:
http://www.restaurantlexpress.ca/

L'Express on Urbanspoon


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Since I was in the area, I decided to stop off to grab some treats for myself at French Made Baking. It was a nice day, so I felt like I needed to spoil myself. I initially wanted to get a pack of macarons, but I found some other delicious goodies too!

French Made Baking is near Broadway and Kingsway and they sell some delicious pastries! They have caneles, macarons, croissants, tarts, and other items.

Box of 6 assorted macarons ($10) looked scrumptious and it came in all the different flavours like earl grey, pistachio, lemon, vanilla bean.

The macarons were not all uniform in size, some were a bit thinner, some had a bit more filling. The consistency differed slightly, some crumbled easily and some had a good texture. Each macaron still had its own distinct subtle flavour. My favorites are earl grey and pistachio.

Chocolate Almond Croissant was friggin delicious! It has a stick of chocolate in the center and biting into the croissant revealed a very crisp texture with the delicious taste of the almond. It wasn’t too sweet and the flavours of the chocolate, almonds, butter and powdered sugar just went so well together.

Just looking at it, you know it’ll be super delicious. I’d come back for this!

Overall, the croissant blew my mind.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Must get the croissants!
  • Consistency of macarons could be a bit better
  • Some items can be a hit and a miss
  • Under $10
  • Limited seats

We Rate French Made Baking:

Address:
81 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://frenchmadebaking.com/
Twitter:
@FrMadeBaking

French Made Baking on Urbanspoon


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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

Fleuri on Urbanspoon


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French Made Baking finally opened up their store on Kingsway and Broadway. I’ve been waiting for them to open for a while and I finally made a trip down to check out their store for the Hot Chocolate Festival. They are one of the many vendors participating in the month long festival. They feature new flavours everyday till February 14th!

Since I had lunch with Angela from Munchkie’s Munchies , we decided to come here after to chill over desserts and hot chocolate!

Their flavours of hot chocolates change everyday, so do keep an eye on their schedule.

  • Praline – Milk chocolate | January 14, 20, 26, Feb 1, 7, 12
  • Yuzu – Dark Chocolate | January 15, 21, 27, February 2, 8,
  • Vanilla Chestnut – White Chocolate | January 17, 22, 28, February 3, 9,
  • Passion Fruit – Milk Chocolate | January 18, 24, 29, February 4, 10, 14
  • Earl Grey – Milk Chocolate | January 19, 25, 31, February 5, 11

Once you walk into the store, you can look through into their kitchen to see them hard at work creating all their cute pastries.

Praline Hot Chocolate ($5.25 with Macaron) had a beautiful smooth texture with little bit of praline integrated into it. This is probably one of the better hot chocolates I’ve had.

I’m generally not a big fan of hot chocolate, but I did enjoy this. The price is pretty good too since other vendors can charge up to $8  for a hot chocolate.

Pistachio Macaron I thought were really good! One of my favorite places for macarons!

Le Caneles ($2.50) is a small pastry that originated from Bordeaux, France. It has a soft tender custard center with a dark caramel crust. I’ve had it in the past, but this time it tasted alright, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was different.

Creme Brulee didn’t have the nice “crack” when you break into the toasted sugar top. I don’t think Angela took much of a liking to it either. We did notice that it was toasted ahead of time, which may have contributed to that.

Another thing we noticed was the use of the paper plates and cups, since we were eating it all in the store, it probably would have been better to have real cups and plates. ** UPDATE: They have now plates, mugs, and cutlery! **

Since they are still in their soft launch of their store, I am sure they will improve on their products in the near future. Nonetheless, the macarons and hot chocolate are super good!

Words of Wisdom:

  • Can be found at a few local farmers’ markets
  • Must get the macarons and hot chocolate!!
  • Some items can be a hit and a miss
  • Under $10
  • Limited seats
  • Gluten-free

We Rate French Made Baking:

Address:
81 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://frenchmadebaking.com/
Twitter:
@FrMadeBaking
French Made Baking on Urbanspoon


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Chez Meme Baguette Bistro is a hot spot for sandwich lovers! They are best known for their selection of baguettes and french onion soup. Since Louieseries is a sandwich fanatic, I just had to take her here!

I don’t find it wrong to revisit places, I really do love it because each visit is a story of its own and it reminds me of all the fun eating times I have with my friends.

The place was packed and we did have to wait in line for a table. We spent a large potion of the time here waiting. That seemed to be the trend since we waited for a table, waited for a menu, waited for water, waited for someone to take our order and waited a long time for our food to arrive.

If you do come here, do have a bit of patience. The 2 times I’ve been here, you probably spend more time waiting than eating. Their food is worth the wait.

Jambon- Brie Baguette ($9) has Black forest ham, brie cheese and mustard in a nice baguette. What Louieseries liked most about this is how the ham is wrapped around the brie. She enjoyed the melty brie and ham. The bread is quite crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

She also added an additional $3 to get the french onion soup. It has onion soup, beef stock, bits of  baguette and swiss cheese on top. It’s really one of the must have side dishes! Some may not like the soup since it can be very bold with flavour and a bit salty.

Nordique Baguette ($9.25) smoked salmon, red onions, cucumbers, and lemon dill cream cheese in the fresh baguette. It is one of the lighter baguettes that they have. I liked it since it was simple are the cream cheese and the salmon were the stars of this baguette.

I had the side salad with the balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I found the greens in the salad were not very fresh. You can tell by the dark edges around some leaves. It was a bit scary, but I just ate it anyways. The only reason why I ate it was because of their balsamic vinaigrette sauce. I really love the acidity and the tingly sensation it gives my lips.

Overall, consistant slow service, but the food is pretty good…except the part with the wilted greens.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Amazing French Onion Soup! Must order!
  • Free Parking on adjacent streets
  • Busy during lunch hours
  • Slow service
  • Under $10

We Rate Chez Meme Baguette Bistro: 

Address:

4016 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC
Chez Meme Baguette Bistro on Urbanspoon

Every time I’m in Seattle at Pike Place, I must have my dose of Le Panier! They are most famous for their macarons and croissants. I also have a crazy obsession for their cookies. Since we were in the area, we decided to take a look and buy a few goodies.

It is usually quite busy with lines close to the door.

They have a lot of bread and different types of croissants.

Lots of cookies and pies!

Of course, there are macarons! Fabo ordered one of each macaron ($1.50 USD). They come in many flavors – Chocolate, raspberry, coffee, vanilla, lemon, pistachio and orange. I had these in the past and they were so good! Probably one of my all time favorite places for macarons.

There are also other pies and cookies that are packaged. It’s great for gifts and to bring back home. I got a package of mini hazelnut cookies to bring back for my parents (~$5 USD). These were all finished within a day! It had large chunks of hazelnuts and I really just love their texture and the satisfying way they crumble with every bite.

I also ordered all of their cookies they had that day.

Sable Chocolat ($1.75 USD)

Sable Noisette ($1.75 USD)

Sable Duo Chocolat ($1.75 USD)

Sable is the french term for their Butter Cookies. They all have a nice crumbly texture and is by far the best cookie I have ever had. My favorite is still the Sable Chocolat because it has both chocolate chips and hazelnuts integrated into a butter cookie.

Overall, all the items at Le Panier are really good! Their Danishs were also very good!

Words of Wisdom:

  • Macarons and cookies are a must!
  • Long Lines
  • No parking

We Rate Le Panier:

Address:

1902 Pike Pl
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.lepanier.com
Le Panier on Urbanspoon

I love watching the “Best Thing I Ever Ate” on the Food Network. The first thing we did in Seattle was visit Toulouse Petit for their cheap Happy Hour breakfast. Melissa d’Arabian, the host of Food Network’s Ten Dollar Dinners said her favorite “bang for the buck” meal was at Toulouse Petit for their Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash.

Arriving 5 minutes before they opened, there was already a line up. We quickly parked across the street and I was amused at how the parking receipts had to be stuck on the inside of the windows.

It is quite easy to pass by Toulouse Petit without noticing it, but when you see the green building and this board, you are at the right place.

The max capacity is 176 people, but it fills up fairly quickly when everyone want to devour their Happy Hour Breakfast. After 5 minutes of opening, every table was filled and there were people waiting for tables! The interior is very old and outdated. The lamps are quite eerie as they hang off the ceilings.

The menu is quite large and everything is $7 USD unless noted on the menu. A lot of the items are quite different from what you would find at usual brunch places in Vancouver. It took us a while to figure out what to get, because of all the choices.

I got the green tea ($3.50 USD) and everyone else needed a caffeine fix so they got the press coffee ($~3 USD)

Fabo and TanGuy both ordered the Creme Caramel French Toast ($7 USD). It has nice thick slices of toast drizzled with caramel with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar. You can also add a side of meat or eggs for an additional $3.00. Fabo and TanGuy both thought the eggs and the meat were for free since the waitress asked so casually if they wanted it, so they said yes. Fabo asked if it came with the meal and she heard the waitress say yes, but later when the bill came, the waitress seemed a bit annoyed and said very firmly that she did indeed say no.

M loves his meatloaf so he ordered the Cajun Meatloaf  and eggs with Tasso Gravy ($7). It comes with hashbrowns, eggs, gravy and 2 large pieces of meatloaf.

Even though it says Cajun, it wasn’t spicy at all. M really loved it and he dubbed this the best breakfast he has ever had. The meatloaf had a nice texture, and the potatoes were finely covered in cajun powder.

BusanGirl and I shared the Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash ($7 USD). The pork cheek had a nice smokey flavour and it is very flavourful when you start chewing on it. There is also some potatoes in it as well. It is topped off with an egg.

It’s a very simple dish but the flavours were really incredible.

BusanGirl and I also shared the Rustic Duck and Pistachio Terrine ($7 USD). It comes with hash and 2 poached eggs. I’ve never had a terrine before, but it’s basically a meatloaf. It was wrapped in bacon and you can clearly see the pistachio inside. The bacon added a nice salty texture and the pistachio nuts added some nutty flavour to the meatloaf. I really like it because it was different and was incorporated together very nicely.

Overall, we all had a great time. We were all so surprised how cheap the meal was! Great price, great meal! One thing that could be improved was the service.

As our meal ended, we headed off to more food adventures, as well as sightseeing!

Words of Wisdom:

  • Arrive Early
  • Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash Featured on Food Network
  • $7 Breakfast Happy hour (Weekday 9am – 11am)

We Rate Toulouse Petit:

Address:

601 Queen Anne Ave. N.
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.toulousepetit.com
Toulouse Petit on Urbanspoon

When I heard there was a French Baguette Restaurant in Burnaby, I had to go here. It has been on my “To Do” list for a long time, but I just never had the chance to go because of school and work. See, they close at 3pm, so I never get there on time.

Today, I was working at home and could stray off to finally grab lunch at Chez Meme Baguette Bistro! M was working on his essay at my house, so we took a little break/ adventure.

They serve up breakfast and lunch, but they specialize in baguettes.

I ordered the Cordon Bleu Baguette ($9.25). Inside this baguette is chicken and emmenthal cheese wrapped in blackforest ham. You get a side of dijon mustard to accompany your sandwich.  You get your choice of soup salad or fries, but I stuck with the green salad with balsamic dressing.

The Cordon Bleu had a decent taste, but when you add the dijon into it, it adds a really nice flavour. The baguette was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Fresh! The salad was fresh as well with a little bit of tomato. The Balsamic dressing is not the usual black sauce, but more of a creamy dressing. It still have a good acidic taste but I felt like there was a bit too much dressing on the salad. Hurt my lips a tiny bit. If you are picky about the amount of dressing on your salad, perhaps ask for the dressing on the side.

M ordered the Bourguignon Baguette ($10.25). It has a bunch of beef short rib, carmelized onions and horseradish. He loved this sandwich! Full of great tasting meat and no vegetable fillers. Why do men dislike vegetables?

The Bourguignon sandwich has considerably more filling than the Cordon Bleu. The meat was very tender and packed a bot of savory juices. The horseradish added a really nice kick to the sandwich! Perfect accompaniment,

M substituted his Soup Du Jour for the French Onion soup for an additional $3. He’s always been on the hunt for some amazing French Onion Soup. Clearly, the Tim Hortons version does not cut it for him.

The top of the soup has a thick layer of melted cheese, so you need to break through it in order to get to the center. Breaking the cheese layer gives you a exciting feeling as all the onion soup gushes out. M had a great time digging around it trying to see what was inside. Under the cheese layer, there’s the savory soup, onions and mushy croutons. He gobbled the soup right up and said “Now I know why the french love to smoke”. In my head I was like, WTH… Something I will never understand. Men….

Some people cannot finish both their baguettes, so you can take it to go! They wrap it up nicely for you as well.

Overall, good food but the hours of operations are quite limited.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Amazing French Onion Soup
  • Free Parking on adjacent streets
  • Busy during lunch hours
  • Slow service
  • Under $10

We Rate Chez Meme Baguette Bistro:

Address:

4016 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC
Chez Meme Baguette Bistro on Urbanspoon

DineOut #2 was at L’Abattoir! I have actually never heard of this place until PhotographyGirl took me here with a bunch of people. This was all on the $38 menu category. Expensive, but we still saved a lot.

The name ‘L’Abattoir’ mean Slaughterhouse in english. It’s kinda funny because it’s nothing you would expect from such a nice sounding name. When we figured this out, we were enjoying out meatly entrees. hahaha.

L’Abattoir is located in the building which use to be Vancouver’s first jail. Even thought it use to be a jail, they really made this place look super amazing. I wish I took pictures but I didn’t for some reason. You can even feel a bit of eeriness when  you see the bricked walls.

I LOVE THE BREAD. It came with 3 types – Anchovy cheese twists, bread buns with bacon bits, and this flat cracker type thing.

One of their appetizers were the Dungeness crab and chickpea toast ($13), it has toasted brioche, light crab custard, and carrot pickles. Everyone who had it loved it.

I had the Raw pacific oysters ($15). It has Mushroom and marrow croquettes. It was SO GOOD! Very light and delicate and has so much flavour! The bone marrow croquettes were also very flavourful.

For the entree a few of us had the Pan fried filet of steelhead ($24) It has Squash puree, olive gnocchi, and anchovy butter. The people that had it loved it and the foam was a really cool touch.

I had the Slow cooked loin of pork. It has Cassoulet, brussels sprouts, and mushroom. The pork was cooked perfectly and was not tough at all. Unlike some people, loved the brussel sprouts! Everything blended nicely.

Another entree was the Lamb loin and sausage ($26). It is served with grilled endive lettuce  and cleriac (root-like vegetable).

Everyone had the Dark chocolate and coffee layer cake ($10). It is served with cherry apricot compote, whipped vanilla crème fraiche. It is nut free and rich! Everyone loved it and i envied them because i got something else.

I was different and got the Fizzy lemonade ($9) It has Blood orange sorbet, tapioca pearls, and earl grey granita. This I found was very sour. It was still a really cool dessert.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Dineout menu items are also on regular menu
  • Amazing food
  • On the expensive side…
  • Cool looking interior
  • Pay Parking on adjacent streets
  • Great place to just get drink…good for intimate date

We Rate L’Abattoir:

Address:

217 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.labattoir.ca

L'Abattoir on Urbanspoon

This post is long overdue and I totally forgot about it.

Back in October, InsecureGirl, FragileBoy, M and I went to Smoking Dog Bistro. We heard it was good so we tried it out. The Smoking Dog Bistro specializes in french cuisine.

The interior is very nice and dogs can been seen all over the restaurant.

M, Fragileboy and InsecureGirl ordered Heineken Beer ($6.50), while I had the House White Wine ($5)

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Insert the longest waiting time in THE WORLD for our food to come. It took so long that I had to add this little section. We waited 1hr 15mins for our appetizers to arrive. Even while we waited, bread did not arrive until the same time as appetizers.

The waiter just said it was a busy night.

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M ordered the Lobster Bisque ($10), which also had in it cream fraiche and cognac. M and I thought it was way over priced for soup, when it is mostly broth-like. It was really unappetizing and we would never order this again.

I would rather go to Yew in Four Seasons to have Lobster Bisque because they actually have real pieces of lobster in it.

Fragileboy ordered the escargot de bourgogne ($12) It was flavoured with garlic and parsly.

Finally the bread arrived!

I was super full rom a previous dinner, so i got the Goat Cheese appetizer ($13). It is goat cheese wrapped in phyllo pastry and topped off with a portobello mushroom and mixed greens. The cheese was really rich and the mushroom and greens balanced out the strong taste.

InsecureGirl had the Salmon Fillet ($15). It is salmon with a mushroom and oil type of sauce. It comes with fries as well. She said ti was not very good and was on the dry side.

The men both got Steak Frites ($15). This was s Canadian AAA beef – grilled NY steak with bordelaise sauce. Fries on the side. The men said it was good and worth the price. Good size as well.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Good for drinks
  • Steak frites
  • Great $15 entree menu
  • meter parking on streets
  • expensive appetizers

We rate the Smoking Dog Bistro:

Website: http://www.thesmokingdog.com/

Address:

1889 W 1st Ave
Vancouver, BC

Smoking Dog Bistro on Urbanspoon

The Twisted Fork Bistro is THE place to go for brunch. It is claimed to be the best brunch place in town. I am always skeptical when people tell me it’s the best. Twisted Fork Bistro opens at 10am, but there are people lining up at 9am to be the first seating. CanuckGirl and I got there at 10:45ish and we were only waited 15 mins to get a table. Unfortunately, for the groups that were over 5 people…had to wait well over 45 mins for a table.

If you are one of the unlucky ones waiting outside in the FREEZING cold, you can take a look at their menu to anticipate what you want to order! Sometimes this may not be the best idea because it may make you hungrier …and hungrier….and then you may want to kill someone.

The interior of the Twister Fork Bistro is quite narrow and hard to accomodate since well….you can see for yourself.

Their menu is on one page and brunch is only $11!

There is a reason this place is called Twisted Fork Bistro…the forks on their menu is TWISTED!

I ordered Grapefruit Juice ($3.50).

The Croque Monsieur is a ham and cheese sandwich battered and fried. This Croque Monsieur has brioche, gruyere, and ham. It is served with fresh green and a house tomato sauce. I found the sandwich to be quite big for breakfast. A bit heavy as well. You must dunk the Croque Monsieur with the house tomato sauce!

CanuckGirl ordered the eggs benny! It had brioche, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. Served with baked beans and sauteed spinach.  You can even choose our choice of filler – chorizo, ham, bacon, chicken, smoked salmon, avocado, tomato or prosciutto. CanuckGirl chose the prosciutto filled. She was amazed with it because they were not skimpy on the prosciutto!

The brioche made the eggs benny taste like heaven. No more typical english muffin!

Words of Wisdom:

  • Long lineups for brunch
  • Best to go in 2’s or 3’s to avoid 30+ min waits
  • Eggs Benny is a must!

We rate Twisted Fork Bistro:

Check out their website:  http://www.twistedforkbistro.ca/
Twisted Fork Bistro on Urbanspoon