Four Beakers Archives - Page 23 of 24

In Bar and Grill

Romer’s Burger Bar

December 1, 2010

Romer’s Burger Bar is the new burger joint in town. They serve up gourmet burgers with the freshest ingredients and stay true to being sustainable.

Romer’s Burger Bar has parking on the side, you will have to enter from the back alley. It is pay parking, so expect to pay $1.50 per hour. If you are impatient, this may be a better solution than stalking parking stalls and spending 15 mins roaming the block. (I try to be cheap and find free parking…but sometimes it just too hard).

The inside really does look like a bar. Tons of screens to see the game, lots of seating, and great interior decor.

M started off with the Fentiman’s cola ($4). This is a botanically brewed soda. I am not sure what that means, but it must mean something good. This cola had very strong flavours compared to Pepsi or Coca Cola. You can tell the makers of this soda took their time and care into producing them. It tastes like liquified cola balls…those silver candy balls.

TaiwaneseGirl had the Wicked Deadly Cheese Burger ($10). It had all-natural beef, plenty of cheese, red onion, Tuscan greens, tarragon Russian dressing.

I had the Magic Mushroom ($10), which had all-natural beef, plenty of chopped BC portobellos, arugula, herb and garlic Boursin cheese, and caramelized onions. With one bite, you can really taste the fresh ingredients used in the sandwich. It was very flavourful compared to other burgers i’ve had. The bun was very light and fluffy so you get the full taste of the mushrooms and the patty. The burger does not come with any sides…so you have to order a side.

In addition, I got the Fresh Garlic with tasted Sea Salt ($4) as my side. Wow, was the garlic fresh! It was raw garlic and it very potent. I think it would be better if the garlic was fried to bring out a more savory taste. Perhaps i should have gotten some dipping sauce to dull the strong taste. I should have brought some mints with me because my breathe was vile! At least I kept the vampires away.

M got the righteous rib burger ($12), it had all-natural beef, thick-sliced applewood bacon, braised short ribs, sweet onions, Gorgonzola garlic sauce, fresh thyme leaves. M could tell this was a very healthy type of burger with really good ingredients.

M got the GORGONZOLA GARLIC SAUCE serrano chili, and applewood bacon fries ($7) for his side. He thought it was ok, but way overpriced for $7.

Overall, Romers Burger Bar was a good experience. All the ingredients used in all their food really shined through. I can really say Romer’s Burger Bar sells gourmet burgers. The good balance of ingredients and the rich succulent taste can’t be matched by any typical burger joint. But, be expected to pay a bit more than your average burger.

We rate Romers Burger Bar:

Check out their website: http://romersburgerbar.com/

In Brunch

Havana’s – Revisit

December 1, 2010

A few months ago, we wrote a post about Havana’s. Since MedicalGiraffe was back in town, we thought it would be most appropriate to go back to Havana’s to try out some more tasty treats.

I started off with a latte ($4 or $5). This latte is huge! It’s like comparing it to a really big mug? Ok, that was just a bad comparison. This latte was not as strong as some other places. It lacked a very bold strong flavour.

Last time I had the Tuna Burger ($16) and this influenced MedicalGiraffe to get it! This is still my favorite burger of all time. YUM!

I had to try their brunch since I am in such a brunch phase these days. I got their Chorizo Hash ($13). I had 2 poached eggs, peppers, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, chorizo sausage, brown toast and Hollandaise sauce.

I found this breakfast to be a bit heavy, but for some I guess this is what you need to get you started for the day.

The poached eggs were done soft. You can tell by the super runny yolk.

We rate Havana’s:

Visit Havana’s Website: www.havanarestaurant.ca

In Four Beakers

Toratatsu

November 29, 2010

Toratstau is slowly becoming my favorite Izakaya restaurant. They are located near Robson and Denman. They have a good variety of choices to choose from. The downside about this place is that it’s quite small, so reservations are a must on busy days like Friday and Saturday.

In their menu, if you are indecisive, they have a set course for 2. It basically gives you a taste test of everything on the menu. I had this a few months ago. M and I basically fell in love with Toratasu after having the set course. It did cost us a total of $60…but for that amount of items, it was decently priced compared to the other Izakaya restaurants. Today we didn’t order this, so sorry no pics.

M and the men has the bamboo sake ($9.50). It comes in a really cool bamboo container. Even the little cups are made of bamboo. The sake does come cold rather than the traditional hot sake. The guys said hot sake tastes better than cold ones. But we all try things for the experience, so now they can always tell people the story of when they had sake from a bamboo shoot.

FragileBoy and InsecureGirl ordered the Sashimi Platter($15.80). It’s really cool that they give you a little “show” to your meal. They bring over a blowtorch to sear the top of the makerel.

The Ebi Mayo ($8.00) is THE BEST ebi mayo we have ever had! The battered prawns give the sense that these prawn are bigger than they really are. Its not a bad thing, but the batter does give it more body and more of the mayo sauce covers the shrimp. Each Ebi Mayo even comes with a fried wonton skin. For about $2 a piece, it does seem very pricy, but it is the best ebi mayo ever and I would pay for this every time!

I got the SukiYaki Hot Pot ($14.00ish). Apparently it serves 2, but I just ate it all myself. I know, it may seem piggish but there really wasn’t that much to eat. It had barley fed pork, tofu, enoki mushrooms, napa cabbage, and 2 organic eggs. I thought it would be different than Posh, but it tasted quite similar. But, without the “all you can eat” aspect to the dish.

Everything up to this point was fantastic! Dun Dun Dun. It took them about 45 minutes to get the Ishiyaki Risotto ($8.30). It really made us wonder why it was taking so long. Everyone else was maybe 80% done their meal, till their risotto finally arrived. Not really sure what the reasons were, but maybe it was a super busy night and we did order 5 of these.

Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable risotto. It was a bit different than what you would normally expect. This Risotto had seared scallops, mushrooms, Iwanori seaweed served in a hot stone bowl. Yes, in a hot stone bowl. Imagine korean bi bim bap but with risotto.

All in all it was a good experience at Toratasu. For some reason the service started decreasing after half way through our meal. It took us a long time to flag down a waitress for the bill. It took even more time trying to get them to bring the debit/credit machine over. In that whole time of flagging down a waitress, another table wanted to leave but no waitresses in sight. Very puzzled by the odd service since last time we came here, it was great service.

Words of Wisdom:

Best Ebi Mayo in town!
Parking at back of restaurant, but is usually full
Get reservations on busy nights
Hot Pot is not worth it
Set course menu is good for dates

We rate Toratatsu:

Check out their website: http://www.toratatsutapas.com/

In Brunch

Twisted Fork Bistro

November 25, 2010

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/

In Four Beakers

Gohan Japanese Restaurant

November 17, 2010

Gohan Japanese Restaurant is hidden near the Brentwood Mall area. It’s one of those hidden places that you would not expect to find. They serve west-coast influenced Japanese food at a decent price. I went here a few years ago and I remember it having some really good roles, so M and I decided to go after class on a Tuesday Night.

The interior is brightly lit and there servers were really nice and friendly. Notice the “A” in Gohan, it looks like an onigiri.

The menu made it easy for M and I to decide what to eat..since there were 2 of us, it seemed right to get the “Special for 2” for $28.95. We thought it would be a good idea so we can try a large variety in the menu. It comes with a tempura appetizer, California roll, runa roll, toro nigiri, edamame, agedashi tofu, 2 main courses with miso soup, green salad and steamed rice. We also added a ebi tiger mayo gyoza ($6.50). We also added cokes to it too.

M had the coke…look at him pour some coke. I decided to be super asian and stick with some green tea. I think they had the best service because I was asked 4 times in total if I wanted more tea. I felt so happy because usually at Sushi Town or California Sushi, I would be neglected and left with empty cups of tea. Gohan is <3. A full cup of tea is a happy DesignGirl.

To start it off, we both got some miso soup. It was good that it wasn’t too large since there was so much to eat. The miso soup was similar to other restaurants.

The Tiger Shrimp Mayo Gyoza ($6.50) was very innovative. It came with a nice soy sauce/mayo. It was delicious but sometimes I felt like I ate the gyoza skin before devouring the shrimp.

The tempura appetizer arrived with the usual sauce. What I liked about this one is how it didn’t taste super oily.

The agedashi tofu was the best agedashi tofu we have ever had! It came with 5 pieces and had a nice sauce. The presentation looked very simple.

The edamame beans were salted on the outside. They were cooked perfectly and we had no complaints.

The ingredients in these 2 sushi rolls are really fresh and they use the best ingredients for their sushi. The tuna was really good….REALLY GOOD. They do have a good selection of sashimi at Gohan.

Best TORO NIGIRI EVER! So much better than any other sushi place in Burnaby. The toro literally melted in your mouth. Amazing quality!!

I got the Chicken Teriyaki as my main. It came with steamed rice, green salad and a small little korokke. I enjoyed it and it had teriyaki sauce on top. When this arrived, I was super stuffed so I couldn’t eat it all. I ate about half and it was a pretty damn well made chicken teriyaki.

M got the Unagi as his main. It came with the same sides. M enjoyed the Unagi and had no issues with it.

The green salad had a big tomato in it. I think it was a bit too big to eat it in one bite. It was still pretty tasty nonetheless. It took M a while to figure out the small ball on the plate was korokke. I thought it was takoyaki. But when you take a bit, you are greeted with the taste of fried mashed potatoes. It was good that it was just one bite rather than a big thing or else we would have been SUPER STUFFED.

Instead of having big white boxes, they package all the left overs in small little containers. No big boxes…unless it is hot food like the chicken teriyaki.

Words of Wisdom:

Great fast service
Food came very fast
High quality ingredients
The best toro you will ever eat!
Reasonably priced.
Closed on Sundays

We really enjoyed Gohan and it has become our favorite place to go to in Burnaby to get sushi! M really loves toro, so I am sure he will always go to Gohan from now on. The whole meal can to be $44, which was amazing since there was so much food.

We rate Gohan:

They are located at:

Burnaby
1815 Rosser Ave S
Burnaby, BC V5C

In Dessert

Bella Gelateria

November 14, 2010

Bella Gelateria is located under the Fairmont Pan Pacific. I always go to La Casa Gelato to get my fix of gelato, but I find that their quality has gone down. On my search for gelato, why not check out the most talked about gelato place in Vancouver.

Their interior is really nice, but all the gelato is all covered up, so no visuals of what they look like. I asked what was their most popular flavour but they said most of them are pretty even.

All the different kinds were very nice and flavourful. You can tell they really put the best ingredients in their gelato. Even with the small batches they make, you know they try to have the freshest quality for their customers. After trying a whole bunch of flavours, I made my decision on Black Sesame! I would have to thank Our Food Adventure for helping me make the decision. I must agree it tasted SO much like the black sesame desserts in the Chinese restaurants. I just sat there eating this and thinking about my sister sitting in a Chinese restaurant eating and unraveling black sesame rolls.

What I didn’t like was how the cone began leaking, so I had to us a napkin to prevent it from leaking through the tiny hole.

They have some seats in the restaurant to just chill.

Near the seating area of Bella Gelateria, there is a display case with Gelato Cakes, and gelato desserts. If you are looking for something different besides gelato in a cone/cup, such a gelato cake for your best buddy…you can order one!

We rate Bella Gelateria:

Check out their website: http://www.bellagelateria.com/

In Bar and Grill

Little Billys Steak House

November 1, 2010

Little Billys Steak House is a gem that is hidden in North Burnaby near SFU. They specialize in steaks, seafood and traditional greek dishes.

One thing I really don’t like about this place is the very very cramped entrance to the restaurant. When you are with a group of 6 waiting for your table to be set up, you are literally standing next to the person seated at the bar. I took this shot from the back of the restaurant.

To start off a nice meal, I decided to try Becks beer ($5.75) and my grandfather got a Heineken ($5.75). Both beers were good, I wish they would fill it up closer to the top of the glass. I probably got 1/5th less.

My little sister got a shirley temple. It’s grenadine, 7 up, OJ and some cherries. Very delicious and great for kids. It’s not on the menu, but they can practically make anything.

Depending on what you order, they will give you a green salad with balsamic vingar or a greek salad. They both taste really good and fresh. You won’t be disappointed with either. These come included in your meal, just read the menu and it should say which one is included.

My grandfather ordered the Lamb Chops ($24). It had about 5 or 6 lamb chops with vegetables, rice, tzatziki , and potato. The lamb chop was very soft a tender and not tough at all.

My mother had the Halibut ($25). It is a pan seared halibut fillet with a Greek style lemon butter sauce. It also came with vegetables and potato. $25 for this was quite expensive but my mother seemed to like it.

My dad had the 9oz Beef Tenderloin ($30), it comes with vegetables, and your choice of either a baked potato, mashed potatoes or fries. He chose the baked potato, which you could add on sour cream, chives and bacon. It was delicious and cooked right at medium. My little sister even stole a few bites off his plate.

WorkingGirl has had the Paidakia Ribs ($24) a few times and this time, the quality has gone down. They use to be very plump and large. This time, it looked very small and thin like a starving animal. It also comes with potato, rice, tzatziki and grilled vegetables. She really hated the potato since it was very lemony and not potato-like. I guess its the greek way of making potatoes.

I got the roast lamb ($21). It is a marinated lamb shoulder baked in a special mustard sauce. It was very tender, and the meat fell off the bones nicely. I know the picture looks very ugly, but it was delicious. In contrast to WorkingGIrl, I did like the potato since it was not bland and boring like regular potatoes.

My little sister had the gorgonzola Mac and Cheese. They were very accommodating when making her meal. My little sister doesn’t eat a lot, so they can do half orders of most items on their menu. She loves Mac and Cheese, so she chose this option. But, the waiter suggested different types of cheeses since gorgonzola is a type of pungent mouldy cheese. In the end, we got Cheddar/Mozzarella Mac & Cheese (Half order), which came out to be $7. The noodles of the mac and cheese are not the usual tube shapes, they are curly!!

At the end of the meal, they give everyone mint chocolates. I love these more than mints or mints with chocolate in the middle.

After tax and tip, this whole meal came to about $170.

Words of Wisdom:

Amazing servers that are helpful
Make reservations to avoid waits
Meals can be customizable and have half orders
Expensive for dinner time

We rate Little Billys Steak House:

Check out their website: http://www.littlebillys.com/

In Bar and Grill

The Keg (Burnaby)

October 30, 2010

The Keg has always been a favorite place for M and I. Today we were suppose to go to Gothams, but after paying for parking and walking one block to the restaurant, we decided to go back to Burnaby. SO close! Damn the little fights that couples have…. long story short, we ended up at The Keg to celebrate my birthday.

Since we went so late to the Keg, we were seated right away. In the past we would have to wait a while to get a seat. The Keg has the usual items that you think a steak house would have. I always love the combos! More variety means more types of things to eat! Since I love shrimp, I had to get some type of means with shrimp!!

To start the dinner off, M ordered both of us some Brut champagne ($9.95)! We didn’t want a big bottle, so we got 2 of the mini ones. As it was my Champagne Birthday, we had to have it. You only have a champagne birthday once in your life! I enjoyed this champagne but I am not a drink expert so I really can’t tell the difference between champagne of any kind.

They also gave us a basket of bread with whipped butter. For 2 people to share, we could not finish it. We probably had half since we wanted to save room for the steaks!

M has the Peppercorn New York Steak ($28.95). It is a New York striploin with black peppercorns and Keg peppercorn sauce. It comes with baked potato and peas on the side. M has it medium rare and LOVED IT! I had a taste of it and it tasted like peppery goodness. A bit too peppery for my taste, but I guess thats why they call it Peppercorn New York Steak.

I had the Prime Rib and Tiger Shrimp ($28.95). I think I get this every time because I get to have meat and shrimp at the same time. This dish came with 3 sauces – horseradish, gravy and some fruity type of sauce. I loved it. I think im just a sucker for anything that is medium rare. Thinking about it makes me want to eat it again!

I really love the Keg, it has some well priced steaks and the quality is fairly consistant every time we go for food. It is way cheaper than some high end restaurants. Our bill after tax and tip was about $100.

Words of Wisdom:

No reservations, so go early or go late
Slightly hard to drive to, so make sure you are driving from the south

We rate The Keg:

Check out their website: http://www.kegsteakhouse.com/en/locations/BC/burnaby/burnaby-keg/

In Brunch

Locus

October 23, 2010

After hearing Locus is a sweet place to have brunch, CanuckGirl and I went to check out Locus. InsecureGirl recommended to check this out too. Apparently, BaguetteGirl’s sister works here too.

The interior was quite neat too, they had these fake trees coming in and out of the walls. If you have been to a Kettle of Fish, this can never beat their REAL tree.

They seated us and gave us the specials and the regular menu. Even though the specials were very tempting, our goal was to try out the brunch! Egg Bennys all the way!

Bread arrived at our table and there were 2 kinds of bread. I think one was sour dough and the other one was raisin bread and it came with a nice sweet cinnamon spread.

I got the latte, as usual. Lattes are my friend! This latter required a bit of mix to get started.

CanuckGirl ordered the traditional benny ($12), it contained smoked ham, tomato, poached egg and hollandaise sauce. It also comes with a side salad and potatoes.

I got the Seafood Benny ($13), it had scallop and prawn cake, tomato, dill, lemon zest, pepper and hollandaise sauce. Yet again, there was the side salad and potatoes. I’ve never had a eggs benny with a seafood cake. It was ok, but not super great.

Locus has various sauces that you can use on your food to add an extra KICK to your meal. There’s habanero sauce, Tabasco, HP and of course ketchup! I tried using the habanero sauce on my potatoes since it seemed cool at the time cause it was green.

Words of Wisdom

Do not consume too much hot sauce because eventually it comes out the other end
Eat the bread! It’s fantastic
Not a lot of street parking, so best to try to find some place in the residential area a few blocks down and they won’t have residence only signs

Overall, I did enjoy Locus, they had very good service. The brunch did live up to expectations and I think CanuckGirl and I will be back for more brunch!

We rate Locus:

Check out their website: http://www.locusonmain.com/

In Chinese

Sun Sui Wah

October 2, 2010

When the whole family gets together, what is the first thing you want to do? If the answer is going out for FOOD, that is RIGHT!

My relatives and I headed out to Sun Sui Wah on Main Street to have some awesome afternoon tea. They have free parking underground so finding a parking spot was not problem at all. Taking the elevator up from the parking lot, we walked into the restaurant and saw the pretty décor. On one of the walls was a traditional dragon and bird panel. On the ceiling, there was a long white fabric draping down. It was neat to look at and it opened up the space for more light.

We sat down and our place setting consisted on Chopsticks, teacup, bowl, and saucers. All normal. Looking at the vast menu, I had no idea what I was doing, so I sat there and waited for the oldies to order food. They ordered off a Chinese menu with no English, so I have no idea what something’s are called, but I hope you enjoy the photos.

The first dish that came was roasted squab. This is one of their signature dishes for Sun Sui Wah.

The second dish was a cold cut platter. It contained 7 spice beef, tofu curds, red clam, jelly fish, and fried imitation crab.

The third was Fresh lobster and crab sauteed with superior stock.

The fourth dish was Shark’s fin soup with fish maw and crab meat.

The fifth dish was Pan fried e-fu noodles. This came in a bigger bowl but the server split it up amongst the people at the table.

The sixth dish was Sauteed prawns and scallops with vegetables.

The seventh dish was fish in a sweet and sour sauce. I was not a big fan of the dish because I have never seen fish with sweet and sour sauce.

For dessert, we ordered baked tapioca.

The next dessert we have is mango pudding. This mango pudding has bits of real mango inside and topped with evaporated milk.

The mango pillows were really unique. I have never seen them at any other restaurant before. It is basically a piece of mango and whipping cream wrapped in a crepe skin.

Overall Sun Sui Wah is a really nice Chinese restaurant for Dim Sum or a large family dinner. Being a bit more expensive than normal chinese restaurants, Sun Sui Wah does offer nice decor and better quality food.

We rate Sun Sui Wah:

Check out their website: http://www.sunsuiwah.com/

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Uncle Fatih’s Pizza

September 26, 2010

M here, and tonight I decided to order in for once. Who says take aways and delivery food are subpar to eating at a restaurant? I went to Uncle Fatih’s Pizza online and let me tell you, their website is awesome! It beats Dominos’, Papa John’s, and Pizza Hut’s website hands down! I chose Uncle Fatih’s thanks to Sherman’s Food Adventures. (Link: http://www.shermansfoodadventures.com/2009/03/uncle-fatihs-pizza.html) Like Sherman, I thought Uncle Fatih was Uncle Faith. I still call it that!

Unfortunately, they could not deliver to my house, even though I live pretty close to their East Broadway branch. No matter I ordered online for a pickup. I was worried the order didn’t go through for a nervous 30 minutes, when the phone call came.

I rushed down there at 11:30 PM and I was surprised on how packed and clean this small pizza place looked. It was VERY clean. If it was slightly bigger, it would’ve made an awesome pizza parlour. A group of people eating pizza at 11:30 at night is a good sign that the pizza is cheap and delicious.

I ordered the Meat Lover’s Large pizza and believe me, it is loaded with meat. In my personal opinion, the best pizzas are the ones with extra pizza sauce and good cheese. Unfortunately there wasn’t an excess of both of these on this pizza.

What lacked in sauce and cheese are the toppings! Ground beef literally fell off because it had no cheese surface to cling to. The ingredients were delicious and was on par with major chain pizza places. There was no option online to add extra anything, so next time I’m going to order by phone!

The large pizza came to a measly $16.95, so awesome price for awesome pizza.

Have Faith in Uncle Fatih’s Pizza and order now on their awesome website: http://www.unclefatih.com/! Why pay more for pizza when you can get great quality pizza at Uncle Fatih’s Pizza? 2 slices and drink for under 5 bucks is a deal when you are on commute in Commercial station!

Rate:

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Havana

September 20, 2010

Oh Havana’s…how much I love thee. When I am in need of a drink or some oh so yummy food, I turn to you.

Havana’s on Commercial serves up Latin American and Cuban cuisine. When you walk into the restaurant, you can’t be helped but to be drawn towards the wall. People have scratched it up and have written on the walls…and then there are old photos of people up. Kinda creepy, but it’s interesting to look at.

On a nice summers day they have air conditioning inside! They also have a patio on the outside to soak up the sun.

To start off the whole meal, MedicalGiraffe and I had a pitcher of Champaign Sangria because if you plan to have more than one glass (which you will), you save more money. I think it was $25 compared to about $8 per glass. It’s a big pitcher, so 2 or 3 people will be a bit tipsy after drinking so much.

We ordered the Halibut ceviche ($12) with warm corn tortilla chips. The tortilla chips were nice and crunchy. The Halibut was just ok but not super compared to the Tuna Ceviche. I have yet to try the crab ceviche.

Medical Giraffe ordered the Goat Cheese Salad ($12), which had fresh greens, crumbled caprini goat’s cheese, fresh strawberries and champagne-ginger vinaigrette. I tried a bit of it and I never knew this before but GOAT CHEESE IS AWESOME.

I had the Tuna Burger, which the tuna was nice and seared on the outside and pink on the inside. It also came with choice of salad or fries or both. I would recommend getting both the fries and salad since both are really good to try out. I particularly like the fries because they are thin. I think it was about $15 or $16. I’m not 100% sure since it’s not on their website.

As we were eating our meal, we noticed a couple outside eating shrimp. Since I am addicted to shrimp and all things seafood. We decided to order the Shrimp cocktails ($9). It had 15 pieces (not 30 as per the menu), house made cocktail sauce, and lemon. The house cocktail cause was very spicy and was kinda in your face. I think they added either wasabi or horseradish to it.

I’ve been here a lot, so let me impart some words of wisdom:

Do no order the Tostones ($7 Fried plantain chips), tasted burnt and Super fried
Sangria is a must, or the mojito will do
If you are a man who loves meat, try The Burger
Do check out the art gallery in the back of the restaurant near the washrooms

Havana’s is my favorite spot to go to! It has AMAZING Sangria and lots of choices on food. I always end up spending about $25 here by ordering appetizer, entrée and sangria.

We rate Havana’s:

Visit Havana’s Website: www.havanarestaurant.ca

In Four Beakers

Rodney’s Oyster House

September 20, 2010

MedicalGiraffe and I went here because we both love oysters. Rodney’s Oyster House is really popular and has a great “low tide” option between 3pm to 6pm! $1.50 per oyster…who wouldn’t want that? (I guess if you don’t like oysters…then you probably wouldn’t like it).

The inner décor reminded me of the décor in a boat because of all the ropes and nets hanging inside. Even the exterior of the restaurant makes you think of the ocean with the white wooden panels. The ambiance was quite nice and what added a big PLUS was how friendly the staff was.

Their menu’s are even on a piece of wood. Very different from most restaurants I’ve been to.

We sat at the bar in front of the clam steamer contraption and had really good conversation with the Oyster Shucker man and the other guy in charge of making all the steamed mussels.

We started off with a glass bottle of Coke and a bottle of Keiths. All bottled and nothing super special.

We decided since its 3pm, we should get a dozen of the oysters from the low tide menu. We even watched the Oyster Shucker man prepare it. He even went step by step on how he goes about shucking them.

As we waited patiently, we got some bread with butter.

When the oysters arrived, it came with a whole platter of sauces – Worchester sauce, 2 types of Tabasco sauce, vodka pepper sauce, and 4 of their house sauces.

The low tide oysters were the Fanny Bay Oysters. Fanny Bay Oysters are from BC and they have firm meat, a mild brininess and a pronounced cucumber finish. I enjoyed them. We tried the different sauces on them as well.

The vodka pepper sauce was horrible in my opinion. It really just tasted like vodka.

The Worchester sauce, and the 2 Tabasco sauce are all the standard type of sauces to put on oysters. It’s really worth trying their house sauces for the unique taste, which you can’t buy from stores.

The sauces on the right side are quite mild and works their way to a sauce called “Back from Hell”. I reassure you, that sauce is hot and will leave a stinging sensation in your mouth even if you put a little tiny bit of it. If you have the will power to test it out for your self, why not.

As we were eating the oysters and talking to the Oyster Shucker Man, we got a lot of samples of the different types of oysters to see how oysters are really different. We had – kumamoto, stellar bay, some other one that I don’t remember. Some were creamy, some were really salty, and the other was sweet. 6 free oysters and we were really happy!

After eating a dozen and a half oysters, we decided to have the pan fried oysters, which apparently is one of their other specialties. I lost the picture of my camera, so I can’t show you but they were golden brown and had a nice nutty flavour to them. This dish came to about $10.

In total we spent around $40.

Rodney’s Oyster House is probably one of the best places to go to if you want to get your Oyster craving out of your system…or make you come back for more until you run out of money. Go between 3pm and 6pm because that is when you get most of the deals.

We rate Rodneys Oyster House:

Visit their website: http://www.rodneysoysterhouse.com/

In Downtown

Japadog

September 17, 2010

JapaDog crossed my path as I went to the Advanced Screening of The Town starring Ben Affleck. So, I decided to grab one because it’s quick and always satisfying. They also have several flavours at all their locations so it’s kinda like a scavenger hunt to try all the different types.

One thing I noticed from a few months ago is that they got a new cart, which seems more shiny and cleaner than before!

The Burrard and Smithe is the original locations of the world famous Japadog. It’s so famous that even my relatives in Hong Kong know about it. The line ups during lunch times is really long, so its best to avoid the lunch time rush.

I ordered the oroshi, which starts with a Bratwurst smokie, which is pork. For the toppings, it has grated radish, green onion and soy sauce. It’s very simple but it a major improvement on the traditional hotdog. I love really thick smokies since it does have a lot of flavour compared to those small dinky hotdogs. The grated radish adds a nice texture to the Japadog. After a while, eating it was quite a drag because it was the same flavour. I should have added a bit more sauces to this…perhaps some wasabi mayo or more soy sauce.

Overall, good experience and good fast food!

They also have super unique types of japadogs such as the edamame one where the sausage has beans. They do have regular hotdogs too, but why have that when you can have a JapaDog!

For about $5 to $6, you can get a japadog of you own! No need to go to a regular hotdog stand when there are JapaDog stands springing up all over downtown Vancouver!

We rate JapaDog:

Visit their website: http://www.japadog.com/

In Four Beakers

Hapa Izakaya (Robson)

September 11, 2010

Hapa Izakaya apparently is known to people in Toronto as the Japanese restaurant with super hot waitresses. Since I’m a girl, I really care more about the food!

BaguetteGirl and I went to have dinner before she departed on exchange to France. We chose Hapa because I’ve never been there and I’ve heard great reviews about the food!

We couldn’t decide where to sit. So we decided to sit at the Sushi Bar because it would be interesting to see a chef at work! It was a delight because we went some time looking at the food he was making and pointing to it and wondering what they were.

To start off the exciting experience, BaguetteGirl ordered the Hello Kitty and I ordered the Harajuku Girl. Very girly drinks but THEY TASTE SO GOOD! The Hello Kitty was made out of Vodka, Calpis, strawberry puree and soda. The Harajuku Girl had Vodka, Sourpuss Raspberry, Butter Ripple Schnapps, Calpis, and soda. The drinks were refreshing to the start of the meal and not alcoholic tasting…even though it had vodka. One thing that suck with these drinks was that the lemon and lime were cut really badly, they were not firm and just slouched over.

The menu reminded me of Guu! Lots of tapas, lots of choice, super good.

We started off with the ebi mayo, which is prawn tempura in spicy mayo sauce. It was not overly spicy and had a good balance of flavour. This dish is a staple dish in my opinion whenever you go to a Japanese tapas place!

Next we had the beef tataki! I love beef tataki!!! It’s so good! I LOVE MEAT. Anyways, the beef tataki was made out of Seared AAA beef slices with a sesame-chilli sauce, onions on top! Very nicely put together.

Next we had the GINDARA & TAKANA MESHI which is Hot stone bowl rice with baked sablefish marinated in miso and soy with Japanese mustard leaves. It was also super delicious. The waitress would bring it to the table and help you mash up all the ingredients in the bowl so all the items are mashed up to the right size.

After that we had the pork belly and lettuce wrap, for some reason that took a while to get to the table. The dish contained Crispy pork belly, apple yuzu jam, pickled red onions & butter lettuce! The dish was good but when we put all the ingredients together it did not taste extraordinary. Something was missing from this dish. Perhaps something more acidic to balance the pork belly?

To end off the meal, we had the assorted ice cream. It comes with 3 different ice cream flavours. It was a very interesting experience and if you are craving dessert, why no just try it for the heck of it.

The first ice cream was a roasted tomato which sounded really strange at the time.

The second was similar to a frozen crème brulee.

The last was a coffee and pepper ice cream.

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. Nice atmosphere, nice décor and servers!

We rate Hapa Izakaya:

Check out their website: http://hapaizakaya.com/

In Four Beakers

The Empress Afternoon Tea

September 6, 2010

The Empress in Victoria has the most elegant afternoon tea! During the long weekend, InsecureGirl, FragileBoy, M and I decided to go to Victoria and explore the sights and sounds of Victoria! Even with the 1 hour of sleep we got earlier during the night, this did not bother our trip…not even the 5% amount of oil left in my car ( it eventually started flashing -61…but at least the car didn’t break down).

We drove around finding parking for the day and found the cheapest option EVER. Take this as a very good tip if you ever want to drive to Victoria!!! Park at the Valet at The Empress and say you are going to Afternoon Tea, they will not charge you since the Valet is for the people staying overnight. We just tipped them after leaving the car there for the whole day! If you are just walking around downtown and doing a day trip here, this saves you a lot of money!

We went in our “business smart” dress code as instructed on the website, but we soon found out we were dressed up a bit too much since there are a lot of tourists going for Afternoon tea in their t-shirts and shorts.

The décor of the room was very elegant and you could kinda feel a chill as you drank your tea because all the furniture and décor was so dated. Even walking past the elevators felt a bit eerie because they were so old. Apparently, there’s a rumor where the hotel is haunted (GASP!).

As we sat down and was greeted by our lovely waitress, she explained how the afternoon tea works and what we should be expecting. We choose a type of tea – the Empress Blend, which is made especially for the Empress. Which I find very hyped up because it just tastes like red tea.

Before the tiers of food came, they gave us seasonal fruit with whipped cream on top. It was a very nice beginning to the meal. The seasonal fruit was strawberries!

Next came the tiers of food, even though it didn’t look like a lot of food, if you ate slowly you will surely be filled. We started at the bottom with the sandwiches.

There was a curry sandwich, carrot sandwich, egg salad croissant, salmon pinwheel sandwich and mushroom crostini. I think my favorites were the curry sandwich and the mushroom crostini. M went nuts over the egg salad croissant. Apparently its very hard to make such a miniature croissant and have all the ingredients work really well together.

The second tier were scones with shipped butter and jars of jam. Embedded in the scones were raisins and had a very nice rich taste to it. It was well made but you can tell there was a lot of fat to this scone. It was quite filling and probably was the item that stuffed us the most. The scone was not particularly overly enjoyable or too exciting.

The last tier and probably the tier that is most interesting to devour! It came with a strawberry meringue tart, sugar cookies, tulip chocolate Ganache with candied blue berries, checkered cake covered in fondant, and greentea cheesecake.

When we finished and asked for the bill, the waitress gave us a gift of complementary Empress Blend Tea which was a very nice touch and made the afternoon a bit more special! I guess that had to do that because the bill came to a shocking $200+ for 4 people. That probably came out to be $65 per person after tax and tips. (OUCH!)

The experience of going to a super nice afternoon tea location was very nice, but probably overpriced. After this experience, I would not go again because I don’t think it was worth the amount of money we paid. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, it was a bit expensive for my taste. Next time perhaps I will go to the Secret Garden or The Market for some High Tea for a cheaper price.

We rate The Empress Afternoon Tea:

Check out the site: http://www.fairmont.com/empress/GuestServices/Restaurants/AfternoonTea.htm

In Downtown

Nuba (Hastings)

September 6, 2010

Nuba is a fantastic Lebanese restaurant and even does catering for events Downtown! The first time I had a taste of Nuba was at Marketer’s Night – SFU’s Marketing Networking Event where they served appetizers.

After this day, I vowed to visit here one day. 9 months later I did!

CanuckGirl, TaiwaneseGirl, BigBaby and I were just in the Downtown area and used the Yelp App on the Iphone and this was on the list of most popular restaurants!

The restaurant was located almost near the sketchy part of Hastings so we were walking past the Scientology building and got really weirded out … then saw a few Hemp shops but we got there alright.

When we got there, we really didn’t know what to choose since there were so many options to choose from. We were in a sharing mood so we had the La Feast and Le Grande Feast. The waitress said it would fill us all up and we would be able to taste the varieties of the menu.

I started of with the Organic Sangria, which was really nice since it was made out of Cono Sur Organic Carbernet-Carmenere Wine, OJ, Lemon Juice, pomegranate and a hint of cinnamon. I really wish I could have had more.

Everyone else had the water but this was no tap water, or lemon water, this was CUCUMBER WATER. It was really refreshing and unique. I know this other restaurant – Le Cobre that does this too.

When the Le Grand Feast arrived and it contained a plate of – Hummus, baba ghanooj, taboulleh with pita bread. I personally liked the Hummas a bit more because I am in love with garlic! Thats why the vampires don’t ever come close!

I didn’t love the Baba Ghanooj because of the citrus flavour but it was still a good dip which others at the table liked more.

The next dish that arrived with the Feast was the grilled lamb chops and chicken. The lamb chops were medium rare as requested which was fantastically done. It had an incredible flavour and you could taste that there was a mint aftertaste to it.

The last one with this combo was the roasted potatoes, salad and Najib’s Special.

The Najib’s Special is crispy cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt served with tahini. It was surprisingly really good but looks really awkward.

The roasted potato was nothing special, it was what normal roasted potatoes would taste like.

La Feast came and boy, this was a FEAST! There was so much food that it did not fit on our table. We had an additional plate of hummas, taboulleh and baba ghanooj! The waitress even gave us extra pita bread for our left over dips.

For the main feast, there was more cauliflower, eggplant stew, falafels, olives, feta and so many other things that I have no idea what they were called.

We were so stuffed after the platters that we could not continue eating.

If you are looking for authentic Lebanese, go to Nuba! There are 3 locations, so there is no excuse to not eat here. The staff is very helpful when choosing your dishes because you probably won’t know what to choose!

We rate Nuba:

Check out Nuba’s Website: http://nuba.ca/

In Dessert

Thomas Haas Patisserie

August 28, 2010

Thomas Haas Patisserie is located in North Vancouver. It is a bit tricky to get to if you are unfamiliar with the North Vancouver area, about 5 minutes from Lonsdale Quay when driving. Thomas Haas focuses on high-end gourmet pastries. There are 2 locations in Vancouver and they have won countless awards and received major media coverage.

Taiwanesegirl won a $50 gift certificate so we decided to go since she wanted to use it and she wanted a ride there.

The store is quite cozy and quaint! You walk in and you see all sorts of chocolates from bars, sculptures, and cakes to drinks. It’s like dying and going to chocolate heaven! Even the owner – Thomas Haas (duh) was there to serve his customers.

For beverages, TaiwaneseGirl and I got the Passion Fruit Iced Tea came in eco friendly cups!

M got the Iced Mocha that was nothing special but it had a very bold and not too sweet taste.

The Champagne cake is composed of layers of champagne ganache between 3 layers of sponge cakes: chocolate, almond and hazelnut. On top there is even a bit of gold leaf! The chocolate frosting surrounding the cake was very gooey and rich. To balance this out, the bottom had a nice crunch bite to it.

The Exotic CheeseCake had a passion fruit, mango and orange zest on top of the cheesecake.

Manjari Chocolate Cake contained chocolate mousse, chocolate cake and rum creme brulee, which made this cake very velvety, rich and super enjoyable. You can hardly taste the rum.

To finish everything off, we all got a piece of chocolate each.
M got Palet au cafe truffle, iced mocha and Champagne cake. The Palet au Cafe Truffle was very smooth and rich. The center was filled with velvety dark chocolate ganache infused with fragrant Hawaiian coffee beans.

The Pistachio Marzipan contained delicate almond marzipan refined with pistachios from Sicily and a hint of kirsch. I did not take a liking to this chocolate because of the almond marzipan taste. It’s just a personal preference.

The Caramel Truffle was basically a ball of chocolate surrounding a liquid caramel center. It was delicious and sweet.

Thomas Haas is the place to go for quality desserts! You may burn a hole in your wallet but it is worth it!

We rate Thomas Haas: