Food for Thought Archives - Page 2 of 5

In Food for Thought

FAO Schwarz: Legendary Toy Company in New York

July 14, 2012

F.A.O Schwarz has been around for 150 years and is the oldest toy store/retailer in the US. At the time, it was the worlds largest toy dealer. Now, it has been acquired by Toys R Us and still making kids smile.

CanuckGirl brought me here and I was so amazed by the size and the amount of toys in this shop. It’s also conveniently located near the Apple store too.

Half of the lower level and the entire 2nd floor contains toys of all sorts! Theres also a big lego area upstairs!!

The other half of the first floor is filled with candy!! FAO Schweetz! They have bulk candy, packaged candy, and basically all candy you can think of. There are a lot of tourists and kids here.

The lollipops are elegantly displayed! Very colorful!

They even have the world’s largest jawbreaker. It’s the size of a baseball and I have no idea how anyone would be able to eat it.

There is a section for big candy. Huge gummy bears, gummy worms, nerds, etc.

One thing that blew my mind was this HUGE Rice Krispies marshmallow square. Thats my hand..and thats the size of it! HUGE! It’s also quite expensive! You could probably buy a few boxes of cereal for that price.

Their selection is quite large and they do have candy from around the world. Since it is very popular and in New York, the prices are very expensive. I bought a few Angry Bird gummies for $3.99 and when I came back home to Vancouver, I found them at London Drugs for half the price. Clearly I felt cheated! Nonetheless, it was still fun running around the store looking at all the stuff they have.

Address:
767 5th Avenue
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.fao.com/

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In American

Arby’s: Good Mood Food in a Food Court

July 12, 2012

I’m sure it’s no surprise that I have a secret addiction to fast food. Give me a burger and fries and I’ll slurp it right up. M and I were at Metrotown in the food court and were feeling hungry, so we stopped at Arby’s. It’s kinda our go-to place when we don’t want to make too many decisions. The roast beef is quite yummy and addictive.

This is the only location that we have Arby’s because it’s convenient.

Theres lots of seats, but it can get very crowded at peak hours. M and I have a tradition of always going down to the pet store to check out the kittens after lunch.

We grabbed a bunch of things and found a seat.

Don’t forget to grab some Horseradish sauce and Barbecue sauce! You can add it to your fries or into your burger.

Curly Fries are a must! It’s crispy and golden brown and is so much better than normal fries. Some curly fries can be really curly and some other not so much.

Large Roast Beef has heaps of roast beef sandwiched between a sesame bun.

Look at the layers. You probably would want to add the barbecue sauce to this.

Bacon & Cheddar Deluxe has the thinly sliced roast beef with lettuce, mayo, cheese and bacon in between the sesame bun.

The bacon was a bit of a disappointment since it was so small.

Thats the cross section of it. It tasted ok, but I felt the lettuce and bacon didn’t add much to the sandwich.Perhaps next time, I’ll just get the sandwich with cheese and roast beef.

Overall, if you like meaty sandwiches with loads of roast beef, go to Arby’s.

In Beacon Hill

Cheers Pub: The Two Pubs in Boston, MA

June 13, 2012

When visiting Boston, I knew I had to check out the Cheers Pub that was made popular by the TV show Cheers. I knew it was the ultimate tourist trap, so we decided not to get any food or drinks here. For all the die-hard fans out there, you know they didn’t film the show here. Nonetheless, they have 2 locations – one in Beacon Hill and another at Faneuil Hall.

Cheers Pub @ Beacon Hill

This location was formerly known as the Bull and Finch Pub, which opened in 1969. This location is most famous because the Cheers show used the exterior shots for the show. In 2002, it was renamed Cheers Beacon Hill.

The interior does have a replica bar. If you are a huge fan, I would recommend having a drink. If you are not a Cheers fan, just go to a normal bar for beer. They also have a gift shop and a few areas for some photo ops here. The interior was never used for filming.

Address:
84 Beacon St
Boston, MA

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Cheers Pub @ Faneuil Hall

In 2001, the Cheers in Faneuil Hall was created to capitalize on its popularity. It’s exterior is quite different from the first location and does have patio seating.

Since it’s in a tourist area, you know that there would be tourists here too. They also have a gift shop here too!

Address:
Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Boston, MA

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In Food for Thought

Hershey Store: Best Cupcake Ever at Niagara Falls

May 27, 2012

Hershey has a store in Niagara Falls. I was surprised, but I just had to go inside. I’m such a candy lover. Clearly I was really excited because I loved Hershey’s as a kid. Plus most people like chocolate.

They have tons of items branded with their signature candies such as Reeses. It’s a tourist attraction, but hey…there’s really nothing else to see around Niagara Falls besides the Maid of the Mist.

Instead of merchandise, they sell unique snacks too, such as this Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookie. They also have good milkshakes too.

I on the other hand decided to get this Cookie Monster Cupcake for about $3. It’s so cute! I just had to get it. It was not too sweet, but the cupcake portion of it was just a vanilla cake.

Overall, super cute store to browse around and has some yummy desserts and snacks to purchase.

Address:
5701 Falls Ave
Niagara Falls, ON

Website:
http://www.hersheycanada.com/en/discover/niagarafalls.asp

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In Airplane Meals

WestJet: Food Options for Flights

May 16, 2012

CanuckGirl and I headed off to Toronto from Vancouver on WestJet for a little bit of a Summer vacation. The flight is about 4.5 hours, but there was no information anywhere about snacks or food on the flight. I’m a newbie when it comes to travelling. To be safe, I grabbed a few nibbles before boarding.

As we boarded, we were informed by the stewardesses that we would receive 2 rounds of complementary drinks and snacks. All other items can be purchased off the menu.

At your seat, you should be able to find their food and entertainment menu.

They have meal combos too and they aren’t too expensive. You can only pay by credit card and no cash!

They have a bunch of other snacks too that you can order. It’s a bit expensive, but at least you won’t starve to death.

You can choose from juice, pop, coffee or tea when the stewardesses come around to offer the complementary drinks and snack. As for the snack, you can choose from a cookie or Bits n Bites.

As it was a short plane ride, I won’t think I really minded what they provided us since I wasn’t expecting anything at all. Plus the plane tickets are cheap, so everything is quite standard.

In Food for Thought

T&T: Steamed Bun Festival Until April 8th

April 7, 2012

T&T is celebrating the Steamed Bun Festival again! They have 16 different flavours of steamed buns. Some look quite ordinary and some look super cute!

You can purchase these hot and ready to eat or cold and just steam them at home. The prices are quite good as it is less than a dollar for these guys.

The buns are only available until April 8th, which is this weekend! Get them before they stop selling these!

Custard Bun is shaped like a little piggy. It is very very cute and who could resist sinking their teeth into this piggy. The custard inside was good but it did not have as much filling as their image in the poster.

Pineapple Bun is indeed shaped like a pineapple. The filling is surprisingly sweet, but it does have a nice strong flavour. I liked it but my sister felt the filling was a bit too sweet.

Pumpkin Bun has a pumpkin type of custard inside. It tasted ok, but it is sweet.

Tomato Bun has a savory filling. It just has a mixture of vegetables, but its predominantly mushrooms.

The Hedgehog Bun has a sweet red bean filling. It had a good flavour.

In Coquitlam

Cineplex VIP Theatre: In-Seat Food & Beverage Service

April 5, 2012

M and I only go watch movies on Tuesday since that’s when there are cheaper tickets. M wanted to watch 21 Jump Street and really hates going early to grab tickets, so we reserved tickets online and saw that we could reserve seats in the VIP Cinemas. He was pretty excited and said to me “Di, you can go review food”. I was like “oh, but no one wants to read about overpriced popcorn”. After reading the description, I really had no idea how the VIP Cinemas worked.

VIP Cinemas really give you an “upgraded” experience different from AVX or the regular movies. It’s not just about the movie, but the quality and service. It will cost you $13.99 on a Tuesday ( $19.50 normally) compared to the usual $6.99 for a regular movie on Tuesday. It is only available to the Coquitlam Cineplex location. For the VIP Theatre experience you get:

19+ (Yeah! No annoying kids!)
Over-sized Premium Seats
Large lounge area with bar
In-Seat Food and Beverage Service
Specialty food options

You walk into the VIP Cinema area near the entrance to the theatres. You walk thought the sliding doors and you will see what lies inside.

There’s a bar with beer on tap and any other drinks you want. If you go early, you can grab a drink with a friend prior to the movie. They don’t allow you to bring any alcoholic beverages into the theatres.

In the lounge, there is also plenty of seating, a fireplace and a few TVs. This is movie watching at a new level! You can chill before the movie! Great for a group of girls to drink and chat and then go for a good ol chick flick.

The seats are much larger than the regular theatres or the AVX seats. There’s lots of leg space and an arm rest that swivels out into a table that can make eating much easier. There is also a little space between seats for your purse! As a woman, that is quite important! It was great knowing my purse wasn’t touching sticky floors.

The arm rest is awesome too since its soft and spongy so your elbow will feel comfortable.

The screen is a good size and quite clear. I couldn’t take a photo of the movie because well…they would kick me out so I took a photo of the Cineplex gadget guy.

As you are waiting for the movie or in the process of watching the movie, you can order food from the servers. They walk around with tablets to take your order. The servers are really nice and friendly. During the middle of the movie, the servers light from their tablets can get a bit bright and can annoy some people. Nonetheless, it’s a great service and you have access to much better food.

When we ordered, the movie already started and the lights went out… so it was quite difficult to take pictures without flashing everyone in the theatre.

Brownie Explosion ($5.99) has a slab of brownie with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Eating this in the dark was definitely quite difficult as I didn’t know if I was scooping up ice cream or brownie. The quality was ok, but nothing too amazing. It’s still a good treat to have at night when you watch a movie.

Strawberry Smoothie ($4.99) comes in a tall glass. M liked it but I felt it was a tad sweet.

Overall, it was a great experience except you do have to pay a bit more. If you want to impress a special someone, definitely take them here. Have a few drinks in the lounge and then head over to the theatre and order some desserts! I don’t think it’s worth the regular price, but on a Tuesday, I would definitely go again.

In Fast Food

KFC Zinger Double Down Only in Canada

April 1, 2012

KFC has brought back a much talked about sandwich – the Double Down.

Having had a horrible experience with the original Double Down, I was quite hesitant to try it agin. This time around, they have a new version too – Zinger Double Down. This is a spicy version. It only available in Canada!

When you open the box, this little guy is wrapped up in a wrapper to avoid your hands from getting all dirty from eating it.

You can see the 2 pieces of deep-fried chicken, Monterey jack cheese, bacon and spicy mayo sauce.

Upon closer inspection you can see everything inside. Not a pretty sight.

The bacon is quite sad, it’s quite limp and not crunchy. I love crunchy bacon. You can tell the chicken pieces are spicy, just take a look at the spice in the meat.

After taking a bite of the sandwich, I did enjoy it way more than the original Double Down. The sandwich is indeed spicy and it pairs well with the mayo, cheese and bacon. Since the spice is quite strong, it doesn’t taste very salty anymore.

I would definitely order this again and perhaps eat it with a bottle of beer. I am pretty sure it would pair well with beer. It’s only available for a limited time, so get it before its gone.

In Fast Food

A&W: Chubby Chicken Strips and Onion Rings

March 20, 2012

It was a busy day in the office and I needed something quick to devour for lunch. I just popped downstairs to the A&W and got a 3 piece chubby chicken strip combo with onion rings and a coke. It cost me about $10, which was super expensive!

The 3 chicken strips were of uneven sizes. From the picture, you can see that the middle piece is considerable smaller than the others. The chicken strips also seem burnt and over cooked. This made me a bit sad, but I ate it anyways since I already paid for it. Make sure you get some honey mustard to go along with this.

I always enjoy the onion rings! Its always perfectly seasoned on the outside and has real onions. My only complaint is that sometimes the batter does fall off.

All in all, it was a decent, quick, unhealthy lunch.

In Fast Food

A&W: New Buddy Burgers with Grilled Onions

March 5, 2012

Last week, A&W introduced their new line of burgers called the “Buddy Burgers“. These are smaller burgers that are under $3. Pretty good prices and good for people who don’t wanna eat so much. Their images look really good, but in reality they don’t look very appealing. I think A&W is starting to run out of names.

They have 4 different burgers, but the variations don’t really vary too much.

Little Buddy Burger ($1.75) they messed up my order…imagine this without the cheese. It has one patty, mayo, and caramelized onions between the toasted buns.

Little Buddy Burger with Cheese ($2.25) is similar to the one above but WITH cheese.

Buddy Burger ($2.45) has 2 patties with mayo and the caramelized onions between toasted buns.

Buddy Burger with Cheese ($2.95) is the same above but with the cheese.

You can make any of the above a combo by adding $3 for fries and a drink. If you are wondering if I ate all 4 of these with a combo…yes I did…I was way too full afterwards. A normal person will be ok with just 2 burgers to get full.

The burgers were ok, but I did like the addition of the grilled onions. The 4 burgers don’t vary much except for the extra patty and cheese. Even though these are cheap, I probably wouldn’t order them again.

In Fast Food

McDonalds: New McBistro Sandwiches

February 26, 2012

I was walking at Metrotown and I saw that McDonalds has new sandwiches called the ‘McBistro’. They are a new line of chicken sandwiches, which are for people who are a bit health conscious. You can have the option of having grilled chicken or fried chicken in your sandwich. The sandwiches come in 3 types:

Chicken BLT
Southwest Chicken
Swiss Mushroom Melt

A combo costs $7.59 and just the sandwich is $5.19. These were the prices at Metrotown, but may be different at other locations.

Southwest Chicken McBistro with fried chicken was nothing interesting. It just had lettuce, swiss cheese, tomato, southwest sauce and the patty between the whole grain bun.

The fried chicken is so uniform in shape that it looks kinda gross. For a second I almost mistook it for a hashbrown. We didn’t take a particular liking to it since it was just so plain. I think it would have been better if it was the grilled chicken instead of the deep fried.

Chicken BLT McBistro with grilled chicken has mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, and chicken between the whole grain bun.

The chicken looked pretty good and natural. It didn’t have the same uniform shape as the fried chicken. The chicken looked like it was real chicken meat.

There was also a good amount of bacon on the sandwich, so I was not disappointed. I would have to say the Chicken BLT is probably the best out of the bunch. I haven’t tried the swiss mushroom, but that might be good.

Overall, the McBistros are pretty good only if you get the grilled chicken option. They are probably only available for a limited time, so get them before they’re gone.

In Food for Thought

Twix Peanut Butter Bar Review

February 24, 2012

I find the strangest things while waiting in line at the checkout in Walmart. I was looking at all the candy and the Twix Peanut Butter bar caught my eye. I love the original Twix and I was so curious how this would taste.

Like the usual Twix bars, it comes with 2 sticks.

There are the layers of peanut butter and a chocolate cookie covered in milk chocolate. Since I am a peanut butter lover, it tingled my taste buds. It tasted quite good and not too sweet. I still think the original Twix is better and I would probably continue to get the original ones.

In Food for Thought

Konbinya: DragonBall Z Coffee, Kirby Candy & Noodles

February 22, 2012

Konbinya is this specialty store on Robson Street that sells a bunch of Japanese products. They have lots of drinks, candy, and other stuff. I love this place to find some unique snacks.

Since M was feeling a bit sick, I decided to pick him up a few things to cheer him up. Then I took everything back to take pictures hahaha.

DragonBall Pokka Coffee ($2 each) was something that I had to get! If you grew up watching DragonBall, you know this is something you need to get. M loved the taste of the coffee and liked how it was stronger than most canned coffees.

Kirby Fruity Gum was bought by accident. Since I can’t read Japanese, I thought it was little sour candies, but it turns out that its gum. M really didn’t like it.

Remember this noodle guy? They make them in little tablet form. It still tastes the same but it a different shape. It definitely has less noodles, but I thought the packaging was cool.

I thought I found some cool stuff at Konbinya. I also come here when I get bored too. Some items can be a bit expensive.

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In Food for Thought

McDonalds $1 off Coffee Feb 20 – 26th

February 17, 2012

After Tim Hortons offered their $1 lattes for a limited time, McDonalds joins the promotional race by offering $1 off Coffee from February 20th – 26th, 2012. I saw several advertisements around Downtown Vancouver, so it is legit.

It’s applicable to all their different types of coffee like Mochas and Lattes from their McCafe. It’s still a good deal if you are getting their plain black coffee.

In Fast Food

Tim Hortons $1 Lattes and Honey Crullers

February 13, 2012

Tim Hortons has been advertising their $1 lattes until February 19th, 2012. They are trying hard to promote these drinks. They are definitely trying to rival other companies like Starbucks and McDonalds by creating more types of coffee. Since I needed a bit of a caffeine boost in the morning, I grabbed a small latte and a honey cruller.

The Latte ($1) was pretty bad in my opinion. The price point of the Lattes are very appealing, but everything is automatically dispensed from a machine. I asked for very little sugar to be added and it tasted quite sweet. I couldn’t finish the rest of it. I am usually not too picky, but I’d rather go back to the their regular coffee or walk a few extra blocks to go to McDonalds.

Honey Cruller Donut is my all time favorite out of all their donuts! It sweet on the outside and light and airy on the inside.

I would stay away from their lattes if you are a regular coffee drinker. Nothing good can come out of it.

In Fast Food

McDonalds Oreo Cookies N’ Cream Pie: Surprisingly Crazy Good

January 17, 2012

McDonald’s introduced this new item – an Oreo Cookies N’ Cream Pie. I heard about it over Twitter, so I thought I would just go to a random McDonald’s to find one. The one I went to had zero signage and it wasn’t on the menu, but the workers knew what I was talking about. They indeed had the pie.

The strange thing is that the new pie doesn’t even has a special box, it’s just a generic Baked Pie box with images of fruit on it. Perhaps it’s a trial product or something. It cost about a buck.

The pie does not look like any of their other pies. Its thinner and smaller. Even though it looks dark, its is not burnt. It’s just a large chocolate cookie-like shell.

The inside is filled with this fluffy marshmallow type of filling. Kinda like the spreadable marshmallow in a can. It was really good and I was pleasantly surprised.

It wasn’t too sweet and was the perfect size. I gobbled it up and left me wanting more.

Have you tried this yet?

In Coquitlam

Church’s Chicken: Finger Lickin’ Good

December 17, 2011

My sister and I didn’t want to make lunch…and we had a HUGE craving for some fried chicken. We always have these random moments where we love to overindulge ourselves with fat. Plus, Church’s Chicken is SO good!! We went down to the closest location and ordered a 10 piece meal with gravy and fries. It ended up to be about $25ish after tax.

It comes with an assortment of thighs and drumsticks. I personally prefer all the thighs because it has more delicious skin and more meat.

The best part is the gravy. I know it might seem like i’m a fat ass, but I LOVE dunking the fried skin into the gravy!! Do you do this too?

The gravy isn’t fresh, it’s made from a huge pack of powder mixed with water.

The fries are pretty normal, nothing special about them. They go soggy after a while too, so eat them fast or reheat them in the oven.

Overall, good stuff and ten thousand times better than KFC!

Words of Wisdom:

Check for coupons in the mail…sometimes there are some
Take out is best
Sometimes they have good combos
Jalapeno Poppers and chicken tenders are awesome
Free Wifi

We Rate Church’s Chicken:
Address:
555 North Rd
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.churchschickenbc.ca/

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In Event

Vancouver Christmas Market: Bratwurst, Baked Potato and Roasted Almonds

December 13, 2011

My coworkers and I decided to check out the Vancouver Christmas Market since it’s only $2 from 11am – 4pm on weekdays. It’s located on the Plaza of Queen Theatre. It usually cost $5 to get in and you get to check out delicious authentic German food, snacks and ornate crafts.

I went to the Christmas Market last year and I found that going during the daytime and night time are 2 different experiences. During the daytime there are no lines, but at night time there are more….especially for food.

What I found super cool is there are 2 gingerbread characters running around interacting with the crowds. There is also live singer in the middle of the Christmas Market, so it was neat. This year they also have a small carousel too.

One of the most popular places to eat here is the Black Forest Meats and Sausage booth. They serve up delicious bratwurst and other types of sausages.

Grilled Bratwurst with onions and sauerkraut ($8) was really good and the addition of the onions and sauerkraut. This is probably one of the cheaper items there and most popular. Highly recommended.

Baked Potato ($9.50) was quite expensive! Prices definitely increased from the previous year. AvocadoGirl liked it.

You can find this at the Potato Hut vendor.

Coffee-Flavoured Roasted Almonds ($8) was really good! The price was a bit steep, but it’s something quite unique. It has a strong coffee flavour, which all coffee lovers will definitely enjoy!

You can find these at Haerthe Roasted Almonds Booth.

Overall, the Christmas Market has some unique eats, but the prices are quite steep. It’s a good experience to go with a bunch of friends.

Words of Wisdom: