Category

Four Beakers

Category

L’Éclair de Génie has officially opened their first location in Canada. It is located on Robson Street in Vancouver. L’Éclair de Génie is a pastry concept started by renowned chef Christophe Adam. Christophe has dedicated the last 14 years to creating a chic snacking version of the French pastry landmark, the éclair, and the store now offers over 250 flavours. L’Éclair de Génie is adored worldwide with 25 boutiques throughout France, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, and now here in Canada.

They specialize in eye-catching eclairs. There are also other treats and beverages here. I was invited for a sneak peek to try a few different items. Paris-trained, Vancouver-based local chef, Melanie Patricio is behind this magic to keep Christophe Adam’s concept to standard.

Vanille Framboise

This has vanilla cream, raspberry confit, fresh raspberries and white chocolate. Very refreshing with the raspberry on top.

Chocolat Grand Cru

This is filled with chocolate cream inside and topped with chocolate on top. Great for chocolate lovers.

Vanille Pecan

This is stuffed with vanilla cream and topped with caramelized pecans. I really like the vanilla cream in the centre and those crunchy pecans.

Framboise Passion

This is filled with passionfruit cream, raspberry confit and topped fresh raspberries and a passion fruit jelly.

Pistache Framboise

This eclair is stuffed with raspberry confit, then pistachio chantilly, fresh raspberries and roasted pistachios.

Caramel Beurre Salé

This has salted caramel and mascarpone cream. It’s really delicious and I love the shiny top to this eclair. One of my favourites.

Praline Noisette

This is stuffed with caramelized mascarpone cream, hazelnut praline and topped with caramelized hazelnuts. So good. I love the contrasting texture of the hazelnuts. I would recommend this too.

Matcha Bambou

This is stuffed with matcha cream and white chocolate. It has a sweet white chocolate that dominates the matcha.

Siroup D’erable

This is made just for their Canadian store and it is stuffed with maple cream and its surprisingly not that sweet at all. A good balance. On top, I <3 Vancouver is written on top.

Citron Yuzu

This has lemon yuzu cream inside and topped with crispy meringue dots.

Anastasia Tea

This is a blend of earl grey, lemon and orange blossom. You can also get this as a hot beverage too.

Detox

The detox is a blend of maté, green tea and lemon grass.

Cappuccino

If you want something a bit stronger, they have espresso-based beverages. I got a cappuccino with a strong espresso topped with light airy foam. Goes well with eclairs too.

Iced Caffé Latte

They also have iced cold espresso drinks too. With hotter days coming to Vancouver, a good iced beverage perfect for the Summer.                         

If you aren’t into eclairs, they also have pastries and chocolates.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the eclairs are delicious. They will costs you between$5.85 – $6.75 depending on which kind you get. The price point is good for a few bites of decadent eclairs. I’m really excited to see L’Éclair de Génie opening up in Vancouver and giving us a taste of Parisian eclairs by chef Christophe Adam.

We rate L’Éclair de Génie Canada

Address:
1210 Robson St, Vancouver

Website:
http://leclairdegenie.ca/

Tracycakes Bakery Cafe in Langley is located in a cute little heritage home. This place about 30 – 40 minutes away from Vancouver depending on traffic. We were invited to give their high tea a try.

I was pretty excited since I love high tea and it’s not that often I visit Langley.

Interior

The interior is very cute like you’re dining in someone’s living room. since it is a heritage home, you are sitting in someone’s home.

Everything here is on point and very cozy. Fresh tulips on the table too.

Tea

They serve Mighty Leaf Teas as well as some other blends. I went with the Breakfast Americana, which is a blend of English breakfast black tea.

The saucers are all really cute and each one is a little different.

Add some milk and sugar to your tea.

Signature High Tea

Their signature high tea includes:

  • Assorted finger sandwiches on the first tier
  • Freshly baked scones on the second tier
  • Our house-made Devonshire cream
  • Artisanal preserves
  • Assorted dainties and babycakes on the third tier
  • Seasonal sliced fresh fruit
  • Your choice of loose leaf teas or Artisan roasted coffees

Sandwiches

The first tier had the assorted sandwiches with a cheesy palmier pastry. All the other sandwiches were really delicious, my favourite was surprisingly the tomato and pesto. The cheesy palmier pastry was also amazing as well.

Scones

On the second tier were their pineapple scones topped with powdered sugar. You can spread their jam and house-made Devonshire cream all over it.

The pineapple scone was very flakey. I cut it in half and spread the Devonshire cream and jam on it.

The third and final tier has their dainties and babycakes. There are brownies, eclairs, cookies, fruit and the little cupcakes.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a great high tea experience and the price is pretty good compared to some of the other places in Vancouver. If you live further away from the city, Tracycakes is a great place to go to. The atmosphere is nice and the staff are friendly too.

We Rate Tracycakes

Address:
21594 48 Avenue, Langley, BC

Website:
http://tracycakesonline.com/

Tracycakes Bakery Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Jinya Ramen Bar is opening up on April 21st at the Telus Garden on Robson Street. They have all their classic ramen dishes with an expanded menu with more appetizers and drinks. Jinya has been one of my personal favourite ramen shops in Vancouver and it’s funny how they are moving a block to Telus Garden.

I came here for a preview of the space as well as to try a few items off the menu.

Interior

The interior is really nice and modern with some brick accents. There are large windows to let in a lot of natural light. The space is larger than their previous location, so should seat more people.

I love staring at their amazing chefs creating each bowl of ramen. Stacks and stacks of ramen bowls linking the kitchen.

Their staff were pumping out ramen non-stop.

I love this picture. “No Ramen, No Life” is absolutely correct.

Drinks

They have local craft beers on the menu, which is fantastic!

Moody Ales, Steel & Oak, Fuggles & Warlock, Parkside, and Four Winds. Love the local flair in this international ramen chain.

They also have spirits like sake on their menu. Of course they also have whiskey and other harder drinks too.

Appetizers

Brussel Sprouts Tempura

It is crisp on the outside because of the batter. It also have white truffle oil.

Salmon Poke Mini Tacos

The salmon poke is served in a crispy wonton taco shell. Very addictive!

Takoyaki

These are octopus balls. It has battered octopus over egg tartar topped with kewpie mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, green onion and bonito flakes. It came piping hot, so let it cool before popping it into your mouth.

Ramen

Cha Cha Cha Ramen

This is for garlic lovers. It has pork and fish broth, pork chashu, seasoned egg, bean sprouts, chopped onion, green onion, garlic, chili powder, and served with extra thick noodles.

Vegetable Soup Ramen

It has a vegetable broth, mushroom, greens, broccoli, cauliflower and pepper. It is served with thin noodles. This was ok, but not my favourite.

Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen

It has their vegetable broth, tofu, green onion, onion, spinach, crisp onions, garlic chips, garlic oil, chili oil, sesame seeds and served with thick noodles. This was so good! The additional of the garlic and chili oil are so amazing. I thought I loved the Tonkotsu black broth, but this broth is killer!

Spicy Chicken Ramen

It has chicken broth: chicken chashu, spinach, spicy bean sprouts, green onion, and served with thin noodles. You can choose it to be mild, spicy or hot.

Kaedama Noodle Refill

If you are done slurping up your noodles and have extra broth, you can order an additional portion of noodles to keep on enjoying the ramen.

They have different types of noodles too.

Final Thoughts

Their new location will bring more menu items that are pretty standard with their other North American locations. Plus, the decor and space is a lot nicer, but nothing was wrong with their previous location either. You still get the same great ramen, but this time I found my other favourite ramen – spicy creamy vegan ramen. Jinya Tonkotsu Black is awesome too.

We Rate Jinya Ramen Bar

Address:
541 Robson Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://jinya-ramenbar.com/

JINYA Ramen Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Flower and Horse in Spring is a new restaurant serving Yunnan Cuisine with their signature ‘crossing the bridge’ rice noodles. The legend of the noodles comes from the Yunnan Province where a scholar was studying for the imperial exams and his wife would make a long walk crossing a bridge to bring him his midday meal. The meal consisted of hot chicken soup with a layer of oil to keep the meal warm. She would carry the ingredients separately and combine them together when she gave him the noodles until he passed his exam.

This story was passed down from generation to generation inspiring the creation of the noodles that symbolizes the wifes love for the scholar.

Interior

We passed by this place as it looked quite different from the outside. Looking at the menu and seeing this place was packed, we decided to line up. It was a 15 minute wait but the food smelled good.

The bright decorations really reminded my friend of China. She definitely felt nostalgia.

Traditional Crossing the Bridge Noodles

I ordered A5, the first overall pick according to the menu. Not sure what that means, but I felt most of the menu was lost in translation. This set has crispy pork, prawn, kelp, squid, marinated pork, fish, spam, corn, chives, bean curd, quail egg, yunnan pickle, tomato, carrot, bean sprout, parsley, and green onion.

There are instructions at the table on how to put together the noodles, but I learned quickly that I was so hangry that I can’t follow instructions.

It says:

  1. Beat the quail egg
  2. Coat the sliced raw meat with egg and place into the boiling soup
  3. Add cooked meat to soup
  4. Put Veggies into the soup
  5. Add rice noodle to the soup

We just dumped all the meat in first to cook it while the soup is hot. We then put in the rest of the veggies to cook. Then lastly, we throw in the noodles.

Once all the items were put together, it looked and tasted good. I wish it had more spice, but there was some chili oil that you can add a kick to the noodles.

Rice Noodle with sauteed pork sauce

The dish has a soup on the side too. The egg on top was delicious. The menu said the sauteed pork sauce was spicy, but it really wasn’t.

Noodles with with house special braised pork sauce in soup

It also has with shitake mushroom, bean curd sheet, bean spouts, chives, and other stuff. The menu had a big HOT warming on this item, but my friend said it wasn’t very spicy.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a great experience to try something a bit different in the city. The ‘crossing the bridge’ noodles were delicious and I’ll be back. It’s a small space and they don’t do reservations, so make sure to come earlier or have a bit of patience waiting.

We Rate Flower and Horse in Spring

Address:
1741 Robson St, Vancouver

Flower and Horse in Spring Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

While in Vegas, I always have to try to eat as much as I can. One go-to place for breakfast is Eggslut in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Eggslut originated from Los Angeles and there are a few other location in the states.

On a Friday, I wandered down to Eggslut to get a taste of their breakfast sandwiches and there was already a line at 10am.

The line looked long, but I waited about 10 minutes before putting in my order. Waiting for the food wasn’t too bad.

There is minimal seating, so if you are in a large group, you’ll be out of luck getting a seat. If you are insistent about getting a seat, you’ll just have to wait. The turnaround time is quite quick.

Sausage, Egg and cheese sandwich

This was delicious and perfect for the morning. The sausage patty had lots of flavour and wasn’t too salty. A good balance of ingredients. The egg yolk was slightly runny, so when I bit into the sandwich, I got it all over my shirt. Napkins are definitely needed.

Fresh Pressed Orange Juice

What better way to balance out all the food I’ve been having in Vegas with some fresh orange juice. A good pairing with the sandwiches here, but I wish there was more pulp in their juice.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed it and I wish I had more than one sandwich. I’ll definitely be back next time. There’s a good amount of choices on their menu and it’s a quick meal.

We Rate Eggslut

Address:
The Cosmopolitan Of Las Vegas, Level 2

Website: https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/restaurants/eggslut

Eggslut Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar has Happy Hour from 3pm – 6pm daily. The location is great as it’s close to Burrard Skytrain station and also right by the Scotiabank Theatre. I came with a few friend after work to kick off the long weekend.

The Happy Hour menu has food and drinks under $10. It’s a very good deal compared to their regular menu.

Interior

You have to stalk for a table in their lounge as it is very crowded at 5pm. The staff are nice and can help move around chairs to best seat your party.

Oysters

One thing you’ll want to get here are their 2 bucks-a-shuck local oysters. They are Joyce Point Oysters from Sawmill Bay with shallot mignonette sauce and lemons. The oysters were shucked very well and tasted very fresh.

Korean Galbi ‘Dog’

There were no dog hurt in the creation of this item and it’s a fancier hot dog. It uses American wagyu beef in a brioche bun and served with pickled vegetables and chili paste.

House Smoked Salmon Pâté

The house smoked salmon pâté is served with grilled sourdough, pickled red onion, and capers. Very delicious as well. The pate is very smooth and I love the smokey flavour.

Final Thoughts

Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar is a great place to come for Happy Hour to enjoy some appetizers and drinks. I really enjoyed it and I’ll be back.

We Rate Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar

Address:
The Sutton Place Hotel, 845 Burrard Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://boulevardvancouver.ca/

Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar - The Sutton Place Hotel Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Campagnolo Upstairs is a hidden gem for those who love cocktails and burgers. I came with M and MagMei after work to try out their delicious dirty burger. You enter from the door on the right side and go up the stairs, past the curtain, keep on walking up until you see the bar.

They are open at 6 pm on weekdays; 10:30 am – 2 pm on weekends and long weekends.

Interior

I love how they’ve incorporated the old Fat Dragon BBQ sign on their ceiling.

The bar area has the menu hand drawn on brown paper. The bar has lot of variety and the staff are super friendly.

There are a few tables around the restaurant, but we had a really great time sitting at the bar and conversing with the bartender.

Secret Menu

They have their standard menu with different items, but their secret menu has more of the customization to the dirty burger.

They have fun code names for the burgers, but the staff are super nice and suggest ways to build you burger.

You can add a sunny side egg, crispy chicken skin, pimento cheese, 80g of foie gras, or an additional patty to your dirty burger.

Dirty Burger

Dirty Burger is their take on the classic cheese burger with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a pickle. The size is a bit small in diameter, but there’s so much flavour in their beef patty. It is 4oz, 40-day dry-aged beef patty smashed in a hot cast iron pan.

You would want to order an extra patty or a side of fries to fill your belly a little bit more.

In the Sun

In the Sun is essentially a dirty burger with egg.

You can add additional toppings into your burger. M added an egg to go into it. That yolk is still gooey, so the best way to eat it is to bite a small hole and suck out all that yolk.

It’s super delicious.

Gang Bang

If you want the most stacked burger that they can create, get the Gang Bang. This ultimate burger has two beef patties, a sunny side egg, crispy chicken skin, pimento cheese and 80g of foie gras.

Once you put the buns together, it has a bit of difficulty standing up. It’s more like the leaning tower of burgers. It will cost you around $50 for this burger and it’s super decadent.

Crispy Chicken Skin

Crispy chicken skin is covered in honey, hot sauce and mint. It’s a very interesting combination, but it needed some more salt or a stronger sauce to balance out all that skin.

Drinks

There are lots of cocktails and a few beers on the menu, but I went with the 311 Three Eleven Helles Lager from Coal Harbour Brewing Company. It is a smooth and delicious German-style Lager made in Vancouver.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we loved their burgers and this whole experience. They sell out of their burgers on the weekdays around 8/8:3opm, but if they run out, you can head over to The American, a few shops away for more dirty burgers. They have the same delicious patties but cooked slightly differently.

We Rate Campagnolo Upstairs

Address:
1020 Main Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.facebook.com/CampUpstairs/

Upstairs At Campagnolo Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Temper Chocolate & Pastry is located in West Vancouver in the Dundarave neighbourhood. Owner and chef, Steven Hodge grew up in this neighbourhood and decided to put his years of experience to use by opening up his own shop. He has a plethora of experience working with world renowned restaurants.

Foodgressing brought me along to give a few of their delicious treats a try. I couldn’t say no as I have a little sweet tooth.

Interior

Their interior has beautiful marble on their counters and wood surrounding the shop. Very sleek, modern and beautiful.

In their display cases are their pastries, cakes, chocolates, sandwiches, and other sweet and savoury treats.

Individual Desserts

We started off with a few desserts. All the desserts looked really good, so it was hard decide where start. Some of these have large full cake sizes available.

Coconut Lime Tart

The tart has a coconut mousse, lime curd, chocolate coconut dacquoise on an almond sable crust. Very beautiful tart with it nice colour. The crust was crisp and I love the tartness from the lime curd.

Mango Caramel

I love the look of this cake as it has a galaxy-look to the exterior. I liked the combination of mango and caramel.

Dark Chocolate Ganache Cake

All those layers of chocolate ganache cake and buttercream. It is even topped with a but a gold flakes.

Cheesy Bite

Cheesy Bite was one of my favourite items here. It’s so cheesy and I am so in love with this item. I would definitely get this again.

Hot Chocolate

They are also participating in the Hot Chocolate Festival until February 14th. They have 3 different types of hot chocolate available:

  • Smoking Bullet
  • Princess and the Frog
  • Memoirs of a Geisha

 Memoirs of a Geisha

It has Valrhona white chocolate blended with raspberry matcha. It is also served with a matcha shortbread cookie. The chocolate with dried raspberries that sits on top of the hot chocolate. I love the contrast between the raspberries and matcha. Very nice combination.

Princess and the Frog

This uses Valrhona milk chocolate steamed with pistachio butter. It is served with a rose macaron. This hot chocolate is slightly more traditional and has the rich body of a hot chocolate with the subtle hints of pistachio.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was great to discover another awesome cafe in our city. We are definitely very lucky to have such talented pastry chefs in Vancouver. If you’re in the area, definitely stop by for a coffee, cake or pastry.

We rate Temper Pastry:

Address:
2409 Marine Drive, West Vancouver

Website:
http://www.temperpastry.com/

Temper Chocolate & Pastry Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

La Mezcaleria has their second location in Gastown and I was quite excited to come here with a few friends to have some cocktails and a few bites. It was busy here on a Saturday evening. Most of the tables were reserved, but there was enough seats at the bar to slot us in.

They are best known for their a wide variety of the finest mezcals, as well as, high quality tequilas and cocktails inspired by the different regions of Mexico.

Their menu had lots of items to choose from, but it did take us a while to get familiar with the choices.

Ceviche Callejero

Ceviche Callejero has their seasonal fish cured in lime with tomato, onion, jalapeno and cilantro. It is also served with chips. A good item to start and share with friends. Very fresh and flavourful.

Queso Fundido

This is Mezcaleria’s signature molten cheese fondue served in a volcanic stone bowl called molcajete.  We got the Con Chorizo, which has ground Mexican chorizo. It also came with some soft tortillas to eat all the cheese. Very delicious and cheesy.

Ancho Old Fashioned

Ancho Old Fashion is smoky. boozy and spicy. It has Reposado Tequila, mezcal, ancho reyes, agave, and angostura bitters.

Pablito’s Way

Pablito’s Way is on the rocks, spiced, rich and creamy. It has cream sherry, cold brew coffee, horchata and cardamom bitters. Surprisingly, it was really good. It originally wanted a horchata, but this arrived and I was pleasantly surprised.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed the drinks and the food that we had. Great atmosphere, hug out with awesome friends, and of course had lots of laughs. Since it was busy, service was alright, but it could have been a bit better and friendlier.

We Rate La Mezcaleria

Address:
68 E Cordova Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.lamezcaleria.ca/

La Mezcaleria Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Fable Diner opened last year and they took over the space of Reno’s, which was previously a diner. It is located at the Lee Building at the corner of Main and Broadway. I enjoyed their first restaurant – Fable, so I really wanted to come here for brunch to try their interpretation of diner food.

Interior

The interior is completely renovated and it doesn’t have much resemblance to the old Reno’s Diner. It’s beautiful. There are lots of booth seating, bar seating and a few smaller tables.

West Coast Toast

West Coast Toast has avocado, smoked fish, fresh horseradish, and salad. I added an egg on top for a little extra. I love the avocado and the smoked fish. Very fresh. The egg was poached perfectly too.

Benny

Fried Chicken Benny is served on a scone and draped with hollandaise. It is also served with potato rosti. Of the different bennies on the menu, this seemed to be the most popular among guests. The chicken is super crisp and moist.

Heuvos Rancheros

Heuvos Rancheros has refried beans, avocado, eggs, pasilla sauce, cilantro, and pico de gallo.

All Day Breakfast Plate

All-Day Breakfast Plate has eggs, bacon or sausage, potatoes, toast and jam. A very hearty breakfast with everything you need.

Coffee

Coffee is definitely a must. Their coffee comes with free refills, which is always nice.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was an awesome brunch experience. It was busy on the weekend, but the waits weren’t too crazy. We waited about 15 minutes for a table, but that was ok since a few friends were running behind. The food was great as well as the service.

We Rate Fable Diner

Address:
151 E Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
http://fablediner.com/

Fable Diner Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

La Catrina is a restaurant on Denman Street that serves Mexican Tacos. When they say Voted by 100 Mexicans Vancouver’s Best Mexican Tacos, you know its legit. I came here with a few friends to share some tacos. I’ve heard about them on Instagram and I was curious about their tacos. We were in the area and I knew we had to make a stop here.

We got 4 tacos for $11 among us and shared it all.

Papas Mexicanas has Mexican potatoes with cream and parsley.

Fajitas Tacos has grilled beef, roasted green peppers and onions, with cheese on top.

Cachete taco has a pile of slow cooked beef cheeks.

Carnitas taco has confit pork with red pickled onion on top.

There is different salsa varying in spice level and pickled vegetables you can add to your taco.

  • Avocado
  • Chipotle
  • Arbol
  • Habanero

Of the 4, I really enjoyed the avocado as it was subtle but had a good amount of flavour. Their tacos are really good and have very deep flavours. The meat is moist and is so addictive.

We Rate La Catrina

Address:
1187 Denman Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.tacoscatrina.ca/

La Catrina Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Peaked Pies has finally opened in Downtown Vancouver on the West End. They specialize in Aussie Meat Pies, coffee and dessert. What makes their pies extra special is having them ‘peaked’ with mashed potato, mushy green peas and gravy.

We wanted a taste of Peaked Pies without going to Whistler, so we were happy their second location was in Vancouver.

Interior

The space isn’t huge, but they have more seats compared to their Whistler locations. There is one large communal table, a few tables and window seats.

They also have a self-serve kiosk if there are long line ups. Very easy to use and you can beat the line.

The few times that we were here for lunch, it wasn’t too busy.

I also love their lights with the familiar colours sprayed on them.

Aussie Pies

All the Aussie Pies and  Sausage Rolls are on display and there are lots of flavours to choose from. I had a hard time choosing which one to get.

If it’s your first time, getting the Traditional Aussie, which has ground beef, onions and gravy is a good start. Make sure to get it peaked too.

We’ve been here several times, but a few of our favourites are:

  • Traditional Aussie
  • Chunky Pepper Steak
  • Chunky Steak and Mushroom

The fillings are delicious and the crisp flaky crust makes it so enjoyable. the mashed potatoes are fluffy and the peas were so good draped in gravy.

Their Sausage Roll has ground beef, onion and garlic. It tasted alright, but the best things here are their pies.

They even have Aussis desserts like Lamingtons.

Final Thoughts

Overall, same great pies as their Whistler location. I love their pies and I will definitely be back.

We rate Peaked Pies

Address:
975 Denman Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.peakedpies.com/

Peaked Pies Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Burma Superstar is the go to place when visiting San Francisco. I live in Vancouver and I found that in the past year a majority of them have closed down. When doing a quick search on Burmese cuisine, a lot of people recommended Burma Superstar.

Taking a look at the menu, a lot of the items looked pretty authentic, so I had to come here. There were some other restaurants that I was looking at, but it was a bit further away from the city.

We came here for a late lunch and this place was still busy, but there was just one table available, so we didn’t have to wait.

Tea Leaf Salad

Of both noodles, I loved both of them. So delicious and I wanted more. My friend preferred the Oh Noh Kauswer a little bit more. Of all the meals I had on my trip to San Francisco, this was my favourite place. The price is good and you’ll leave satisfied.

We Rate Burma Superstar

Address:
309 Clement St.
San Francisco

Website:
http://www.burmasuperstar.com/

Burma Superstar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Estrella’s has been one of our favourite places in Langley for their gigantic Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwiches. Everything is made from scratch, so the definitely don’t compromise on taste or quality.

They are known for their O Canada-sized sandwiches with smoked meat piled high. We come here on Saturday mornings as they are closed on Sundays.

Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich

This is a beast. Sliced Old Fashioned Montreal Smoked Beef Brisket on light rye bread with your choice of regular or dijon mustard. You can choose from lean, medium or fatty. Of course we chose the biggest size – O Canada and had it fatty. It’s so good and can be split between 2 people.

Poutine

A good Canadian classic – Poutine. Has crisp fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. You can also add some smoked meat on top too. We just went with the basics as we already had the huge sandwich to start.

Roast Beef Panini Sandwich

It has roast beef, caramelized onions, horseradish, mayo and swiss cheeese. It is served on crispy ciabatta bread and comes with a pickle. Not as monstrous as the smoked meat sandwich, but it was delicious.

Overall, I really love to go to this place for their Montreal Smoked Meat. The staff are friendly and it’s not too busy here. I’ll be back again.

We Rate Estrella’s

Address:
5932 200th Street, Langley

Website:
http://www.estrellasdeli.com/

Estrella's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Edible Canada is participating again in Dine Out Vancouver from January 20 to February 5, 2017. They are offering guests with their 3 course meal on Granville Island for Canadian Cuisine for $30. Reservations should be made in advance.

I came here for a sneak peek of the full Dine Out menu to show potential guests what the menu would look and taste like. You’ll notice on their menus, there are a few menu items that you need to add extra money to the meal.

Dine Out 2017 Menu at Edible Canada

Appetizer

  • Hazelmere Roasted Carrot Soup
  • Pacific Cod and Pemberton Potato Pakoras
  • Hazelmere Kale Salad
  • Crispy West Coast Humbolt Squid + $3
  • Grilled Alberta Lamb Heart + $4
  • Range Land Bison Tartar + $5

Entree

  • Honey Butter Basted Fried Chicken
  • Prairie Farro Risotto
  • Haida Gwaii Rockfish & Mussel Stew
  •  Newfoundland Seal Pappardelle + $3
  • Quebec Rabbit Orecchiette + $4
  • Char Grilled Alberta Hanger Steak + $6

Dessert

  • Chocolate Pot du Crème
  • Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding

Appetizers

Pacific Cod and Pemberton Potato Pakoras has jalapeño apple chutney, fresh mint and pickles. It is served on a mini skillet pan. Very good start to the meal. The pakoras were crisp and went very well with the chutney.

Crispy West Coast Humbolt Squid has chermoula vinaigrette, white bean hummus, and dried olives. This is a dish where you need to add $3 on top of the Dine Out Vancouver menu. Squid was tender and was like a glamorous calamari.

Grilled Alberta Lamb Heart has Gaujillo adobo, cilantro, and hominy corn grits. You need to add $4 to get this dish. Man, those lamb hearts were tender. I love how Edible Canada uses all different parts of each animal.

Entree

Haida Gwaii Rockfish & Mussel Stew has a Moroccan tomato broth, heirloom carrots, chickpeas, and cilantro. A good portion of seafood in this stew. Beautiful flavours too.

Quebec Rabbit Orecchiette has mushrooms, confit onions, shaved brussels sprouts, and parmesan. You need to add $4 extra to get this dish. The rabbit a nice unique protein to have with this meal as it brings you out of your comfort zone. Pasta was cooked perfectly and the sauce just covered nicely.

Dessert

Chocolate Pot du Crème has cassis, and crystallized ginger. This dessert was ok, but I felt the berries on top was a bit sour.

Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding has maple bourbon custard, and candied walnuts. This dessert was my favourite as it wasn’t too sweet and it just warms you up for the end of the meal. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, Edible Canada has always been a good pick for Dine Out Vancouver. The use of their proteins are adventurous. They have more options on the menu, but some items you do have to pay extra for it. I’ve been here in the past before for Dine Out and it’s very good.

We Rate Edible Canada

Address:
1596 Johnston Street, Vancouver

Website:
https://ediblecanada.com/

Edible Canada Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Sun Bo Kong is an award-winning vegetarian restaurant for Chinese cuisine. They are open 7 days a week from 11 am to 9 pm. Reservations are also available.

I came here for lunch to try Chinese vegetarian food. A nice change to eating a meal without meat.

Gluten Combination comes with a 4 flavours on a plate with different sauces. The gluten is spongey kinda like tofu. A good starter to the meal and easily can be shared.

5 Spice Bean Curd Rolls Stuffed with Mushroom has 2 rolls and was very delicious.

Deluxe Premiere Bamboo with Vegetarian Thick Soup is filed with different kinds of mushroom. A clean and clear tasting soup with rich mushroom flavours.

Pea Tips Rice Sheet Roll is stuffed with the naturally sweet and crisp pea tips.

Vegetarian Cutlet with Orange Sauce was one of our favourite items. We ate this dish us really quickly.

Monkey-head Mushroom with Vegetables doesn’t have any monkeys in it despite the name. The mushroom is porous and soaks up the sauce.

Lo-Hon Chow Mein had mushrooms, black fungus, and other veggies on the crisp noodles. This was ok, but we probably wouldn’t order it again.

Deep-fried Taro Rolls were so delicious. The exterior was nice and crisp, so when you bite down, you get the soft taro inside.

Deep Fried Seaweed and Enoki Mushroom Rolls had mixed reactions at the table. I personally liked it because I inhale anything mushroom.

Overall, Sun Bo Kong Vegetarian Restaurant was delicious and it’s hard to find a really good vegetarian Chinese restaurant in town that appeals to meat eaters as well.

We Rate Sun Bo Kong Vegetarian Restaurant

Address:
1363 Kingsway, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.sunbokong.com/#vancouver-vegetarian

Sun Bo Kong Vegetarian Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Tucked into the upper story of a delightfully faded building in Chinatown, Kissa Tanto serves up a posh fusion of Italian and Japanese food. They take their inspiration from the delicate flavours of Japanese cuisine and the warmth of ltalian cooking.

Kissa Tanto won Canada’s best new restaurant by enRoute magazine. Their sister restaurant is Bao Bei, only a few blocks away. All of us haven’t heard about Kissa Tanto when they won the award, so we made it a mission to check it out for dinner. We had a large group of 6 and had to wait over a month for a seat as they only have one table for 6 people.

We had to provide a credit card in advance for the reservation. If we didn’t show up, they would charge us $150 cancellation fee.

Interior

Once we headed upstairs, we were transported into the 1960’s. It is styled like old Tokyo jazz cafés.

The dusty-pink leather banquettes, banker’s lamps and brass railings really make this place shine and give it the ambiance.

The space isn’t that large, so reservations are highly recommended to avoid waits and disappointment.

There are 12 seats at the bar that are first come first serve, which require no reservations.

Drinks

Four Winds Saison is what I ordered. One of my favourite light fruity tasting beers.

Four on six sour was what the others ordered. It has a mix of Bourbon, noilly prat amber, charred pineapple, lemongrass shrub, ardberg, and egg white.

To Begin With – Appetizers

Albacore tuna crudo with shiso vinaigrette, radishes, Tokyo leek, capers, pickled almonds, Castelvetrano olives, and mustard greens. Very delicious light and you can taste the freshness of the tuna paired with the other ingredients. One of my favourite appetizers.

Octopus Salad has crispy octopus, citrus mayonnaise, daikon, radish, basil, ikura, and parmesan. The octopus was a decent texture, but I thought it would be a bit softer.

Frittelle di Melanzane is a garlic eggplant fritter with yuzu gribiche, basil and bonito salt, and shaved katsuo. It comes with 3 pieces was delicious. Soft on the inside but crisp on the outside.

Terrina Frita has pink, pickled daikon and nori mustard on bruschetta. This was one of the specials for today. I love the vibrant colours, but it was a so-so dish.

Tender to the Tooth – Pasta

Lasagne del Giorno was the lasagne of the day and it featured winter chanterelles & pork with a miso bechamel and basil cream sauce.  Very delicious and each layer melded well together.

Tajarin is made of butter, roasted mushrooms, and miso cured yolk. Three of my favourite ingredients. the simplicity of this pasta dish really spoke to my tastebuds.

Casarecce is pasta in a pork and sake kasu ragu. The type of pasta helps capture some of the sauce in it’s crevices.  Also very delicious.

Sharing is Caring – Entrees for Sharing

Lamb Shoulder is served with tosaka seaweed, fregola, anchovy butter, puréed egg yolk, Sicilian olives, and pickled peppers. The lamb was tender and it was an interesting experience navigating how to eat this dish.

One of the other specials for the day was their Beef Cheeks with braised tomato and anchovies, and gnocchi. The delicious jus of the beef covered the fluffy gnocchi. Tender and flavourful beef.

Whole Fish of the Day was Sea Perch for $40. It is flash-fried and served with a daikon soy dipping sauce. It was super crisp and easy to eat as every bit of it was edible – even the bones. The bones were crunch like chips.

Dessert 

Yuzu Cream has Sicilian pistachios, olive oil crumble and season fruit in it.

Tiramisu has a touch of plum wine. Very light and fluffy layers.

Flourless Chocolate Cake was rich and dense. It is served with miso-caramel ice cream.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a fun dinner with friends – Foodgressing, Vie a Maggi, Picky Diner, Sherman, and Drunken Noms – who all enjoy good food. With the 6 of us, we shared 13 dishes. 2 and a bit dishes for each person.

From what we tried, I could really see the fusion between Japanese and Italian cooking. It’s pretty interesting to see these 2 cuisines come together as it’s not common at all.

We Rate Kissa Tanto

Address:
263 E Pender Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.kissatanto.com/

Kissa Tanto Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

philz-coffee-1

Philz Coffee in San Francisco is very popular and has several locations. I was visiting a friend in Palo Alto and she recommended we come here for a cup of coffee.

philz-coffee-2

They aren’t your typical coffee shop.

philz-coffee-3

The coffee shop was packed and full of people on the weekend when we were here.

philz-coffee-4

You order your drink with the barista, then you pay at the counter a bit further away, then you go back to the barista to wait for your order. Weird system, but it works.

philz-1

Mint Mojito Ice Coffee is very popular for the sprigs of mint. It is minty, sweet and creamy. I was surprised by how well mint and coffee go together.

philz-2

Jamaican Blue Mountain is described as having the aroma of citrus, milk chocolate and honey. It as a medium acidity and body. Very good!

Overall, I really enjoyed the coffee and they were super unique. I would highly recommend it.

We Rate Philz Coffee4rated

Address:
101 Forest Ave, Palo Alto, CA

Website:
http://www.philzcoffee.com/

Philz Coffee Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato