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Rice and Noodle serves up Southeast Asian inspired food in a convenient and affordable way on Robson Street right in the middle of Downtown Vancouver. All their dishes are MSG-free, made to order and highly customizable to your tastes. Their menu has rice dishes and noodle dishes where you can choose your own protein, spiciness level and any thing else extra you want in it.

You can also order online for pick up or you can get delivery through the different delivery services around town like Just Eat, Door Dash, UberEats, Foodora, Skip the Dishes, etc.

Interior

You order your meal at the counter in the back and then you can take a seat until they bring you over your order.

Laksa

The laksa soup is made with a coconut curry broth, rice noodle, broccoli, carrot, onion, tofu, zucchini, and then topped with bean sprouts, boiled egg, and cilantro. I really enjoyed this laksa as it had a good level of spice to the broth. I highly recommend this.

Tom Yum Soup

This has a lemongrass broth, prawns, rice noodle, cilantro mushroom, onion and tomato. It’s a little bit sour and a little bit spicy.

Panang Red Curry

This has red curry with basil, cauliflower and yam with rice. It has a hint of spice to it but not too much.

Creamy Peanut Stirfry

This has bean sprouts, carrot, onion, red pepper, spinach and then the rice.

Family Combo for 5

We got this combo for the rest of the dishes. It comes with all these 6 dishes for $50.

  • Pad Thai with Shrimp
  • Kung Pao Chicken
  • Mongolian Beef
  • Green Curry with Chicken
  • Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken
  • 5 Spring Rolls Thai

Pad Thai Shrimp

This dish has rice noodle, egg, tofu, bean sprouts, green onion, crushed peanuts, and prawns. Squeeze some lime on it and it’s ready to eat.

KungPao Chicken

On the plate is rice, chicken, green bean, onion, pineapple, red pepper, ginger, cashew, and spinach.

Mongolian Beef

This has beef, broccoli, bean sprouts, carrot, green bean, ginger, onion, red cabbage, water chestnut, and a mound of rice.

Green Curry with Chicken

Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken

I missed taking a picture of this, but I wasn’t a fan of this. It has fried rice, egg, carrot, green bean, onion, pineapple, red pepper and chicken.

Spring Rolls

One spring roll per person and it has a crisp and crunchy exterior.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I like how the dishes are highly customizable. You can switch up your protein options, spice level and add any extra items to it. For my own personal preferences, I love a little bit of spice instead of mild. I would choose 3 chili peppers next time.My favourite dish of the evening was the Laksa.

We Rate Rice and Noodle: 

Address:
1236 Robson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://thericeandnoodle.com/

The Big Flat Pancake Co. has just opened up in Coquitlam serving up breakfast daily from 8am till 2:30pm. A friend told me about this place and we decided to come to this mom and pop breakfast joint to start off the weekend. We got here early in the morning and there was already a line. News spread fast about this place and it’s good to see this addition in the neighbourhood.

Interior

The interior is clean and pretty standard with tables everywhere for small to large groups. For large groups, its best to arrive earlier to beat the rush.

They don’t take reservations, so it is first come first serve. There is a big chalkboard with the wait list, so you’ll always know if you’re next.

Menu

Coffee

The day doesn’t begin until I’ve had some coffee. I got some coffee to accompany our breakfast adventures.

The Hipster Hash Big Flat Pancakes

The big flat pancake is topped with a dish of hashbrowns, country ham, back bacon, and turkey bacon tossed with peppers, onions, corn, tomato, avocado, hollandaise and a golden egg. The ingredients in the hash were ok but it didn’t really standout too much except the egg and avocado.

Farmhouse Waffles

This has country ham and 2 eggs done any way you like. I went with sunny side up. The egg yolks were nice and golden, but the waffle was ok. It is served with maple syrup and butter too.

Tater Tots

The tater tots were nice and golden. You have a choice between fire roasted salsa or pesto. We went with the pesto and it was a great combination as you wouldn’t have thought dunking tater tots into pesto. The downside is that this particular pesto the taste lingered for a long time even after the meal.

3 Cheese Omelete

It is served with toast, fresh fruit and in-house fire roasted salsa.

Four Berry Cheesecake

To end off the breakfast, we got this four berry cheesecake big flat pancake. It has a compote of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries. It is them served with cream cheese whip and graham crackers. We just spread everything over the pancake and ate it up quickly. I would say it was my favourite item out of all the dishes we ordered.

Final Thoughts

I found a lot of them items were mediocre, but for the area, there aren’t a lot of breakfast options close by. I wouldn’t travel far to come here, but if I was in the area and wanted breakfast, it’s a consideration.

We Rate Big Flat Pancake Co

Address:
2020 Oxford Connector, Port Coquitlam, BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/thebfpc/

Fresh Ideas Start Here is a great local store to get fresh sustainable seafood in Burnaby and Kitsilano. They recently launched their sustainable poké bar with 6 different poke bowls or your can build your own. There isn’t space to eat in here, so it is all for take-out. I bought mine and headed home and has it for lunch.

The prices are higher, but you definitely get quality items in your bowl. All the fish is Oceanwise certified, which is really nice. I preferred to build my own bowl since I like to keep my poke as simple as possible.

Step 1: Pick your base
Japanese White Rice, Brown Rice, or Salad Mix

Step 2: Pick your fish
Wild BC Sockeye Salmon
Cooked West Coat Octopus
Pacific Yellowfin Tuna
Pacific Yellowfin Negitoro

Step 3: Pick your toppings
Salsa, cucumbers, seaweed salad, pickled red onion, Oshinko (pickled radish), kimchi, pickled ginger, imitation crab meat, sweet inari, masago, edamame, or Squid Salad.

Sauces:
Classic, spicy mayo, Korean Chili, or Thai style

Step 4: Pick your finish
Green onion, Furikake, fried onion or toasted sesame seeds.

All the ingredients looked really fresh and I couldn’t wait to dig in at home. I got a regular bowl and then a snack sized bowl.

Pacific Yellowfin Tuna

For the snack-sized bowl, it comes with one type of fish, 2 toppings and a finisher. I got the Pacific Yellowfin Tuna, seaweed salad, cucumber, furikake and the classic sauce on mixed greens.

Wild BC Sockeye Salmon and Pacific Yellowtail Negitoro

A regular bowl gets you 2 types of fish, 3 toppings and a finisher. I got the  Wild BC Sockeye Salmon, Pacific Yellowtail Negitoro, edamame, seaweed salad, tobiko, toasted sesame, brown rice and the classic sauce.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed the poké bowls and the toppings are simple and complimented the fish well so it still stands out. The best part about coming here for poké bowls is that you can also go shopping for good other seafood items if you want to make dinner.

We Rate FISH

Address:
#180 -7515 Market Crossing, Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.eatfish.ca/

Via Tevere is a Neopolitan Pizzeria in Vancouver close to Commercial Drive. I’ve heard they have some good pizza and it’s taken us a long time to come here for dinner. If you ask Vancouverites where is the place to have the best pizza in Vancouver, this place is probably on that list. We came here for Valentines Day unplanned as our original plan was to cook dinner…but both of us didn’t feel like cooking. As we passed by Via Tevere, we couldn’t help but park and see if we could get a seat. There are no reservations, so it is walk-in only. Luckily for us, it was still early and there were a few spots left.

Interior

There are a good amount of seats and a bar in the dining area. The pizza oven is in the back and there are a few seats there so you can see them make all the pizza.

Menu

Drinks

They have a bunch of ciders, beer, wine and spirits on the menu, but we had some Apple Cider to go with our meal.

Polpette della Nonna

These homemade meatballs in tomato sauce are delicious. You order it by piece but I would highly recommend it. It is so moist and the tomato sauce is so addictive.

Pasta del Giorno

Their pasta dish changes daily, so you’ll have to ask the serve what is on the menu. The day we were here, it had mushrooms and it tasted great.

Margherita Al Pomodoro

We went with the classic Margherita pizza as its a good way to see if they can make this delicious and they sure did. The pizza was thin and had a crispy crust with spots of char from the oven.

Tris di Dolci

This is the trio of their 3 dessserts, which is great to share between us. Since I love to try a bit of everything, we had to get this.

Graffe con Nutella 

This is handmade Neapolitan fritters dusted with sugar and cinnamon and lastly drizzled with Nutella. Essentially, it was like a Nutella donut.

Tiramisu

This Italian Classic has layers of coffee drenched lady fingers with Mascarpone cream It is then topped with cocoa powder. It has 2 layers of lady fingers and 2 more layers of cream.

Torta Caprese

This rich chocolate cake is made with roasted almonds and walnuts with a hint of orange. This is flourless and gluten free if you have dietary restrictions. It was pretty good and it also reminded me of nutella because of the nuts.

Baci Chocolates are given at the end of the meal and these Italian chocolates are made with hazelnuts, chocolate and sealed with a love note. A good ending to the meal.

Final Thoughts

The meal was great and we left happy with our stomaches full. We’ll definitely be back. You must order the meatballs as well as the pizza here.

We Rate Via Tevere

Address:
1190 Victoria Dr, Vancouver

Website:
http://viateverepizzeria.com/

It’s been a long time since coming to No 1 Beef Noodle House in Burnaby. The last time was about 10 years ago when I was in University. It’s a good, quick and affordable meal.
The only thing that bugs me is the lack of parking. As there are other businesses in the plaza, there are usually no spots at peak hours. I usually park in the residential areas a block away. Just make sure you be careful about the parking regulations.

Interior

The space has been updated, so it’s still modern. Lots of tables for small groups and large groups.

Crispy Salt and Peppery Chicken

A classic item to order here. Since we had a large group, we got this basket to share as an appetizer. You can also turn this into a combo with rice and some side dishes for a meal of your own.

Deep Fried Abalone Mushroom with basil

This was surprisingly very good as well. You have a good amount of the deep mushrooms and they were crispy.

Trio of Marinated Dishes

We got to choose 3 different marinated items for this dish, so we chose marinated eggs, marinated large intestines, and marinated beef tripe. I wasn’t a fan of this dish since I don’t really enjoy intestines but the other people sure did.

Sticky Rice Sui Mai

There are 7 pieces per order and each one if stuffed with sticky rice and then steamed.

House special fried sliced noodles

We got ours with beef and it was a really good item to order. Very tasty, the beef was tender, and I would definitely order this gain.

Classic Japanese Style Egg Fried Rice

A new item on this menu is this dish that is great for sharing or just for one if you’re up for it. It is topped with mayo, bonito flakes, seaweed and an egg.

House Special Mini Lamb Hot Pot

The lamb hot pot comes with rice and 2 sides of veggies. I wasn’t a fan of the hot pot since the lamb had bones in most of the pieces. I would have preferred slices of lamb.

Preserved Egg with Pork Congee

A good classic item if you’re not feeling well. It’s comforting and good.

Beef Noodle Soup

There are a few variations on their beef noodle soup, but we went with their special home style beef shank noodle soup and the tendon & beef noodle soup.

The noodle soup is delicious with depths of flavour in the broth.

If you come here, you definitely need to order this.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a good place for lunch or dinner, but you need to bring cash as they don’t accept debit or credit cards. The parking lot is atrocious, but if you can get past those 2 things, you’ll enjoy a solid meal at good prices.

We Rate No 1 Beef Noodle House

Address:
741 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://jynoodle.com/

During my 2nd trip to New York City, I had to come back again to eat from their lunch menu. I had an awesome time a few years ago, so I had to bring my friends. I’ve been to Morimoto Asia in Orlando, but it was more like Americanized Asian food.

Morimoto New York is my favourite so far, thus why I’m coming back again.

Interior

The interior is very nice and luxurious like you’re dining in a white tent because of the drapery.

The focal point of the dining room is their glass display in the middle of the room all lit up.

It’s so shiny and mesmerizing that you have to touch it.

Lunch menu

The lunch sets are a really good deal compared to their regular menu. You get pretty full off each box. I was eying the other table to see what they ordered before making my choice.

Uni Don

The uni don is an absolute stunner. It has grilled freshwater eel over a bed of sushi rice with cucumbers and green onions. It comes with a variety of pickles, green salad, and miso soup.

A very complete meal and I enjoyed every single bite. One of my favourite meals on this New York trip.

Angry Chicken

The angry chicken lunch set has shiso-cucumber pickles, citrus yogurt, and a roasted chili-miso sauce. It also comes with a variety of pickles, green salad, rice and miso soup.

The Washroom

Go to their washroom, it’s so beautiful like a piece of art. Very high tech and cleans your butt too.

We Rate Morimoto New York:  

Address:
88 10th Ave, New York

Website:
http://www.morimotonyc.com/

Junior’s Cheesecake was founded in Brooklyn back in 1950 and is best known for their delicious New York Style Cheesecakes. If you’re visiting New York, you don’t have to travel to Brooklyn to their original location. Right by Times Square is this location with lots and lots of cheesecake. We stopped by after a Broadway show for a little bit of a sweet treat but their dining area was packed full of customers and plenty of other people waiting in line.

They have a take-out section where you can take a slice of cheesecake or a whole one to go.

We ended up getting 2 pieces for takeout and share it with our friends too.

Strawberry Cheesecake

This beautiful slice of cheesecake has the  original cheesecake topped with fresh strawberry pie filling and baked into a graham crust with our macaroon crunch. Loved the texture of the crust, the soft velvety texture of the cheesecake and the big pieces of strawberry.

Original New York Plain Cheesecake

Of course we had to go with this classic. This is really creamy but not heavy at all. When you take your first bite, it won’t crumble at all. The rich flavour is so addictive that you want more. It was rated “Best Overall” by the Wall Street Journal.

Final Thoughts

If you’re in the area and never had Junior’s before, best to go grab a slice at the restaurant or grab it to go.

We Rate Juniors Cheesecake

Address:
1515 Broadway, New York, NY

Website:
https://www.juniorscheesecake.com/

Mr. Osmad Souffle Cheesecake is located in Damso restaurant on Bute Street near Robson Street. Osmad is Damso backwards.

They bake the Japanese Souffle Cheesecakes in-house everyday in 30 minute batches, so grab them before they’re gone or else you have to wait 30 minutes for the next batch to be done.

When we got here on a weekend, we only needed to wait about 10 minutes, so we patiently waited. If you don’t want to wait around, it’s best to order it ahead of time.

I got mine for take out so I could bring it home to enjoy. It is 6 inches in diameter and costs $9.52.

It’s best to eat it on the same day. You can either have it at room temperature or heat it up slightly. I wouldn’t suggest keeping it until the next day as it can get a bit dry. The texture and moisture was ok, but isn’t my favourite.

So far there isn’t a lot of places to buy this in Vancouver, so if you’re craving for Japanese Souffle Cheesecake, check out Mr. Osmad.

We Rate Mr. Osmad

Address:
770 Bute St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://mrosmad.com/

In New York we all chose somewhere we really wanted to go to. My husband decided he wanted to go to Go! Go! Curry! near Times Square. Go Go Curry started in Kanazawa-city, Ishikawa prefecture in Japan, so this style is known as a Kanazawa curry. It is served with black, thick curry sauce over Koshihikari rice, a premium short grain rice, with very thinly shredded cabbage and Pork Katsu – a crispy, deep fried pork cutlet – all in a stainless plate.

We came here for dinner as it was quick and relatively inexpensive.

Interior

The space is small and nothing that special. Not even a functional washroom, which we noticed was a common sight in New York.

Home Run Curry

This combination is a USA feature. It is has rice, curry, cabbage, sausage, pork or chicken katsu, shrimp and egg. We went with pork katsu and thought it was ok. The curry sauce is definitely different that what we’re used to.

Chicken Katsu Curry

This has the rice, shredded cabbage, curry and the chicken katsu on top. This was ok as well.

Final Thoughts

This is definitely quick and affordable curry in New York, nothing fancy. The katsu has a crisp exterior and goes well with the curry.

Address:
273 W 38th St, New York, NY

Website:
https://gogocurryamerica.com/

Sharetea opened their latest location on Cambie Street close to Broadway-City Hall Skytrain on the Canada Line. They started in 1992 in Taipei serving black tea and pearl milk tea. Since then Sharetea has opened over 450 stores in 18 countries. We came here to try a few of their signature drinks as well as their TorDa treats.

Interior

There are a few tables inside to sit with group if you are lucky enough to snag a table. They do offer free wifi too.Most people grab their drinks to go.

There is free parking in the underground.

Black Pearl TorDa

Inside is filled with Sharetea’s black tea custard and the chewy pearls. It has an interesting texture as it’s mostly the squishy pearls. The black tea is subtle.

Tuna Cheese TorDa with Honey Mustard

This is their savoury creation stuffed with tuna, cheese and honey mustard. It’s like a savoury sandwich waffle.

Red Bean Torda

In this one, there is custard and red bean, which is a great combination if you enjoy red bean.

Mango Green Milk Tea with Pearls

We is made with 50% sugar and less ice, which they recommend.

Oolong Milk Tea with Herb Jelly

We got this with 50% sugar and less ice which is recommended. One of my favourites.

Hawaii Fruit Tea

It is made with 50% sugar and less ice.It’s a good item if you love fruity teas. Great for a nice hot summer.

 

Hokkaido Pearl Milk Tea

We got this with 80% sugar with less ice. I like the depth of the Hokkaido milk tea and the pearl gives the drink a chewy texture as you drink.

Okinawa Pearl Milk Tea

Similar to the other ones, it has80% less sugar and less ice. This black tea is slightly different, but enjoy able as well. I am a huge black tea fan, so any milk tea is good.

Coffee Creama

It is recommended  50% sugar and less ice. I’m not a fan of coffee types of bubble tea, but if you do love coffee, this could be an option.

Taro QQ

For taro fan, you’ll enjoy this yummy taro drink. Decent flavour and taste.

Final Thoughts

Overall, lots of varieties of bubble tea to choose from and I love how you can customize ice and sugar levels to cater to your tastes. With the addition of the TorDa on the menu, it’s a delicious snack to pair with bubble tea.

We Rate Sharetea

Address:
2828 Cambie St, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.1992sharetea.com/

Doughnuttery NYC makes artisanal mini Donuts inside Chelsea Market. My friend suggested it, so we got a bunch for a snack. It was very busy lining up and finding a table, but with some patience, we got our box of mini donuts and seats.

They have a lot of flavours, so thats what draws in all the crowds. They have traditional flavours like cinnamon sugar, but they have an even longer list for unique flavours like Urban Monkey, Pumpkin Pie Brulee and Paris Time.

Menu

Interior

We ordered 25 mini donuts in total with 5 flavours, so we did have to wait a little bit for them to get through the orders.

They use their special donut machine to make everything. It’s fun to see them get created.

Once they drop into the basket, they either get glazed or covered in flavoured sugar.

Mini Donuts

In our little box, we got the:

  • Cinnamon Sugar
  • Pumpkin Pie: Pumpkin, Graham Crackers, bruleed sugar, and fall spices
  • Cacao Boy: cacao nibs, chocolate cookies, and mesquite
  • Paris Time: Lavendar, pistacho, and vanilla
  • PBCP: Peanut butter, cayenne and pretels

I did not like the Cacao Boy at all, the mesquite flavour just ruined thr who flavour in my opinion. I enjoyed the cinnamon sugar as it’s a classic and you can’t go wrong with that. Paris Time was a good one as well if you like lavender.

We Rate Doughnuttery NYC:  

Address:
425 W 15th St, New York

Website:
https://www.doughnuttery.com/

Boiling Point opened their latest location on Main Street near King Edward. They are best known for the individual hot pot meals that is perfect for the cold rainy weather in Vancouver. I’ve been to their location several times and it’s a good solid meal that enjoyable, plus you don’t have to share the hot pot with others.

Interior

There are lots of seats inside for small to large groups. Nice decor with an industrial look of wood, steel and brick.

Spicy Beef

The first appetizer we had was the spice beef. It’s cooked beef with the yummy spicy sauce. A good item to start with before the hot pots arrived.

Spicy Cumin Lamb

Another option is the spicy cumin lamb. Good flavours as cumin and lamb go great together.

Garlic Pork Belly

Garlic pork belly is also another one of my favourites. You can see the layers of meat and fat.

Spicy Fermented Tofu

This appetizer isn’t for everyone. It has a fermented odour that not everyone enjoys.

Korean Bean Paste Hot Soup

One of my favourites and it has a good amount of spice and flavour. Inside, you will find soybean sprouts, nira, green zucchini, kimchi, pork belly, fish tofu, kamabok, tempura, rice cake, enoki mushroom, fish fillet, wok noodle, lobster fish ball, crown daisy, seaweed, and Korean paste.

I liked this flavour as it has the right about of spice and I liked the wok noodles that were in this.

Japanese Miso Hot Soup

You will find inside the pot – cabbage, udon, sliced pork, enoki mushroom, clam, fish ball, fish fillet, maitake mushroom, crab, fried tofu skin, soft tofu, egg, and green onion.

Milk Cream Curry Hot Soup

This is a newer item on the menu and you will find napa, vermicelli, pork, enoki, mushroom, imitation crab, fish ball, fried tofu skin, corn, tempura, mountain yam, Chinese string beans and sea salt cream.

Taiwanese Spicy Hot Soup

Taiwanese Spicy Hot Pot comes in only flaming spicy, so you don’t have an option to make it mild. Not for the faint of heart.

It has cabbage, instant noodle, sliced Angus beef, tempura, enoki mushroom, clam, fish ball, cuttlefish ring, pork intestine, pork blood rice cake, fried tofu skin, maitake mushroom, frozen tofu, greenonion, and topped with cilantro.

House Special Hot Soup

House Special Hot Pot has napa cabbage, fermented tofu, sliced pork, enoki mushroom, kamaboko, pork balls, clam, quail egg, pork blood, pork intestine, nira, preserved vegetables, tomato, and cilantro.

Milk Tea

All the dishes is best served with some milk tea. I like their Fresh Milk Tea as it is made with real milk and has a bolder tea flavour.

Milky Soft Herbal Jelly

Something different that they have is a milky soft herbal jelly, which they have limited quantities.

Final Thoughts

It’s a great addition to the neighbourhood and is starting to get quite busy at peak hours. If you’re looking for something warm and delicious during rainy days, you’ll enjoy this place.

We Rate Boiling Point

Address:
4148 Main St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.bpgroupusa.com/

We were staying in the Wall Street area during our trip and we needed some caffeine to get us started for the day before heading off on our flight back to Vancouver. We did quick search and there was Black Fox Coffee Co. a few feet away with good espresso beverages.

Interior

The cafe is hip and super cute and I just love their fox logo. There are lots of seats inside, but most people were taking coffees to go.

We saw some delightful pastries too, but we opted to just stick to coffee. They also sell 49 Parallel coffee beans, which is surprising since it travelled a long way to be in New York City, just like us. hahaha. 49 Parallel is from Vancouver, BC.

Latte

I got a latte and it was what I needed this morning. Good temperature and the right amount of espresso to milk ratio.

Final Thoughts

We sat here for a little bit as we planned the rest of our morning on our phones before heading off to see a few more sights before heading to the airport.

We Rate Black Fox Coffee Co

Address:
70 Pine St, New York

Website:
https://www.blackfoxcoffee.com

MOD Pizza is a quick-service chain restaurant where you can build your own pizza and salad for a set price. We were shopping at the outlet across the street and wandered to MOD Pizza for lunch.

You can choose their prebuilt salads and pizzas, or you can create one of your own with as many toppings as you like. All the ingredients are in front of you, so you can see all the options.

Salad

I went with something that is like a chicken caesar salad. I was going to stick with regular caesar salad but all the other toppings tempted me. It’s a good option.

Pizza

They have mini (6″) or mega size (11″) but we all got mini. It was fun for everyone to put their pizza together and share what they created. No matter how much topping choices you add to it, it never gets overloaded. The staff somewhat spreads them all evenly around the pizza.

Drinks

They have a variety of bottle drinks and fountain drinks. Also beers.

Final Thoughts

It was good to check out this chain, but we all thought it was decent for customizable quick -service food option in Castle Rock.

 

We Rate MOD Pizza

Address:
4989 Factory Shops Blvd,  Castle Rock, CO

Website:
https://modpizza.com

There are so many Blue Bottle Coffee locations in New York City. A taste of the West Coast in NYC. When we were visiting Chelsea Market, we made a stop here for coffee before we began walking the High Line.

The space is very small, so there is barely any room to sit, so we took our drinks to go.

New Orleans Ice Coffee

It was a hot day, so an iced coffee was what we needed. This is is cold-brewed for 12 hours with roasted chicory and sweetened with organic cane sugar. Then they add organic whole milk to it. It’s a bit sweet and creamy, but most importantly delicious.

We rate Blue Bottle Coffee

Address:
450 W. 15th Street, New York

Website:
https://bluebottlecoffee.com

The Halal Guys is a food cart on the south-east corner of 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York. When we were in New York, we made sure to go to the right place to get some authentic Halal Guys. There are a lot of other copycat carts in the area, so make sure you’re at the right one.

We saw so many on the same street that we were confused. But we did end up at the correct place. The line moves pretty quickly as the staff are super efficient. Make sure you have cash on you as it’s cash only.

You can eat your meal on some benches close to the carts or you can take it back to the office.

Beef Platter

There is your choice of meat, salad, rice and bread. Initially we wanted the lamb but they apparently stopped serving it, so beef it was. It’s a pretty large meal for lunch, but it’s worth the price. The beef was deliciously spiced.

 

All meals come with your choice of red of white sauce. The white sauce is delicious like a mild ranch sauce, while the red sauce is really spicy hot sauce. Use the hot sauce sparingly as it’s like an inferno and we can usually handle out spices.

All that sauce!

Chicken Platter

The platter is the same but the meat is different as I chose chicken.The chicken was ok, but I would have liked it to be a bit more moist and hot.

To get best of both worlds, you can get a platter with both beef and chicken.

We Rate The Halal Guys

Address:
South West corner of 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue

Website:
https://thehalalguys.com

Corvus Coffee Roasters is a roastery and cafe in Denver, Colorado crafting up delicious cups of coffee each day.

They work directly at origin with dozens of farmers to give customers access to a variety of the finest coffees in the world. The beans are roasted by hand in small batches to highlight sweetness and vibrance in single origins and bring balance to blends.

I am with my family in the morning to grab a few pastries and coffee before meeting up with the rest of our family.

Latte

We both ordered lattes and it was delicious and at a good temperature. Very enjoyable.

Pastries

Croissants look really good here. Nice and flakey with a lot of layers.

Cold Brew

They sell a bunch of their cold brews to grab to go or to give as gifts.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the coffee was great for a morning snack to give us an extra step to our day. A croissant and a latte was our perfect pairing.

We Rate Corvus Coffee

Address:
1740 S Broadway, Denver

Website:
https://www.corvuscoffee.com/

Green & Oak is a new restaurant in North Burnaby on Hastings Street specializing in Malaysian cuisine. They took over the previous location – Mr Chili. A few of us came here for dinner to try it out.

Interior

The space is large and there are lots of seats for small to large groups. We made a reservation ahead of time since we had a large group for dinner.

Menu

Satay Skewers

The skewers come in chicken, pork or beef. Each order is 1 piece each, so we got 3 of each. The skewers were all ok, but could be a bit more juicy.

Roti-Canai

This is freshly made in-house and it is Malaysian flatbread.It comes with 2 pieces cut up and served with a curry dipping sauce.

Chicken Wings

These are deep-fried whole chicken wings and it comes with a garlic lemon dip. Very crunchy on the exterior and the meat inside was very juicy. It comes with 3 pieces per order.

Hainanese Chicken

The whole chicken comes with 4 soups and 4 rice dishes as well. It is a popular dish in Singapore as the chicken is cooked in delicious chicken stock and served in a red chili and ginger dipping sauces.

The Hainanese chicken was ok but nothing amazing. We wished it was served a bit warmer.

The rice was a bit oily but the soup was delicious.

Seafood Laksa Noodle Soup

This is a curry-based soup with tofu, bean sprouts, egg, lemongrass, lime juice, coconut milk, vermicelli noodles and seafood. You can also ask for it with egg noodles too. The flavour is different than most laksas in town, so people either love it or hate it. I really enjoyed the broth and I could eat the whole bowl.

Mee Goreng

This has egg noodle with beef, shrimp, tofu, cucumber and tomato. It was ok.

Belachan Fried Rice

This is fried rice with dried shrimp, chili pepper, pork, shrimp, egg, and sou sauce. This was pretty average too.

Char Kuey Teow

This was delicious. It has fried rice noodle with shrimp, tofu, pork, egg, chili, and soy sauce.

Malaysian Curry Rice

This is put together with curry paste, lemongrass, shallot, onion, basil, other herbs and is served with steamed rice.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I love the look of the space and the service was decent. Some of the dishes are a hit and miss. I enjoyed the chicken wings, Char Kuey Teow, and the laksa.

We Rate Green and Oak

Address:
3760 Hastings St, Burnaby, BC