Rating Archives - Page 98 of 99

In One Beaker

Highland Pub (SFU)

September 18, 2010

Grabbing a bite with my good pal – ScienceNerd, we went to SFU Highland Pub because it’s close and it was the only decent food on campus, which is cheap.

Even though the Highland pub was under renovations, there were very minimal changes done to the pub. The menu was the same, the décor was the same, but the only thing different was the interior of the kitchen. It looked more organized and clean.

The menu is still the same offering pub-like food.

We ordered a coke and ginger ale, nothing fancy or alcoholic since it is during the afternoon. After looking at the menu, we both decided to have the Roasted pork bun. It also comes with your choice of salad or fries or both.If you wonder what is in this roasted pork bun, it has slow roasted pork loin shaved thin and piled on a potato scallion bun with BBQ mayo and applewood smoked cheddar. The sandwich was decent, but I was not very satisfied with it because the meat was cold and dry. My favorite part would be the applewood smoked cheddar and the BBQ mayo but that was it.

There service was strangely pretty good today but on a regular day, the waitress and waiters would be uber slow and the food would be really crappy.

After going to the highland pub for a few years, it has had some improvement in the quality of the food, but the items on the menu are really a hit or a miss.The items on the menu ranges from $7 – $11, so if you are a student that wants cheap decent food without going all the way to Cornerstone, then this is basically your only option. The only way to have good food at SFU is to go off campus.

We rate the Highland pub:

Visit their website: http://highlandpub.ca/

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 Chinese

East No. 1 Seafood Restaurant

September 12, 2010

Since I apparently like late night snacking, East No. 1 Seafood Restaurant seemed like a good place to get our Chinese food cravings fulfilled.

M liked their sweet and sour pork, so he insisted we go. Even though this place is usually for dim sum…we just took a gamble and went for evening dinner.

Unlike the weekend afternoons, this place was pretty empty compared to the super packed weekends where asian people are fighting over the last egg tart.

We started off the meal accidently ordering the house soup, which had corn and meat in it. It was really nice and refreshing and came out to be ~$10 and served about 4 people. Not bad, but I’m sure if you know how to make soup, it would be a fraction of the price. I should get my mother to make more soup.

Next we had the best sweet and sour pork in Vancouver… M and FragileBoy are the advocates of this claim. I clearly did not believe them until I tried for myself, the meat was really well fried but I wish there was more meat and less vegetables. Overall really nice!

Next we had the Yan Su Fried Rice, nothing too special about it since it tasted liked typical fried rice with shrimp. I love shrimp, so it easy for me to like it right away.

Also, we had a chicken fried noodle, which was amazing since I love crispy noodle. I actually eat it for the texture of the crunch noodle rather than what’s on top. The noodles were so crunchy so when you put it in your mouth you can hear the noodles go crunch.

Lastly, we had the spicy green beans, which was nice and spicy. What I didn’t like about the dish was that the beans were a bit soggy and it was not very crunch when you bit it. Compared to some other Chinese places, this dish didn’t make me like it.

At the end of our meal they gave us sesame balls, and red bean/wild rice soup. It was a nice end to the meal and I did enjoy the sesame balls and the soup. Made the meal a bit more enjoyable.

If you love Chinese food and want some place cheap to eat at in Vancouver. Try out East no. 1 Seafood Restaurant! They also do dim sum!

We rate East no. 1 Seafood Restaurant:

They are located at:

2800 E 1st Ave
Vancouver, BC

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 Commercial Drive / Grandview

Red Burrito (Commercial)

September 11, 2010

Red Burrito has always in our sights when we go back to Burnaby from Vancouver. After a long day of work and school, M and I decided today was the day we would walk into Red Burrito and see what treasures lie inside.

After a while of trying to find parking, driving into alleys, scratching the bottom of my car, we found a nice spot right near the restaurant. The pay parking is $2 per hour or $1 for 30mins.

You can never miss Red Burrito on Commercial and 1^st ave because the lit up sign just illuminates. We walked in and I was surprised it wasn’t really gross and dirty. They have some seats inside and outside to eat. I think a lot of the people who order just take out anyways…cause some sketchy people are around.. like hobos.

The menu was quite simple and it’s easily to read. You choose your item, add the meat, type of salsa, and any additional items in it.

M and I ordered the Red Burrito, which I assume is their best seller because that’s the name of the restaurant.

I didn’t really expect much from this place because of the low ratings, but I was surprised at so much food they gave for $6. There was so much stuffing…I don’t even know how they wrapped it up. It still stayed intact which is good. I was just sad they didn’t add cheese and guacamole free of charge….they cost 1.50 more!!! RIP OFF!

They wrap it up in tin foil and then you can unwrap to enjoy the deliciousness that lays inside.

This Red Burrito was FAT! It was so heavy and was stuffed with so many things that I was super full when I was finished. There was the right amount of ingredients inside and worked super well. I don’t know if this is good or not, but I had to chicken in my burrito and it had some nice texture! It was a bit nice and crunchy. I enjoyed it, but does it mean it’s not fresh chicken? Either way I enjoyed it and I didn’t get sick.

If you want a place that give you bang for your buck, go to Red Burrito to have a Red Burrito because you will get stuffed for $6. They just kinda piss me off that they need to charge extra for cheese and guacamole!

We rate Red Burrito:

Check out their website: http://www.redburrito.ca/

In Seafood

The Oyster at Pescatores Seafood

September 8, 2010

No trip to Victoria is ever complete without having some seafood! On our way back to Vancouver, InsecureGirl, FragileBoy and I really wanted some oysters and The Oyster was really calling out to us! Even the “Buck-a-Shuck” sign in the front tempted us to have oysters for $1 a piece.

We took so long contemplating the decision that the “buck-a-shuck” deal ended at 5:30pm. But nonetheless we went anyways because we are whores for oysters.

We walked in and the place seemed very lively with a majority of the seats full and the vibrant red walls screaming excitement. Soon enough, we found out this place was not so exciting after all.

We looked at the menu and it seemed really limited so we stuck to the steamed mussels and clams in garlic butter, as well as 3 types of oysters. It took the waitress awhile to get our order…even though she was a few steps away from us at the bar. All the food came fairly slowly and made us super hungry. ( you can click on the photos to see larger versions).

First up was the bread. Like all restaurants they bring bread. Nothing super special but free bread is always nice…since asians love free stuff!

Next the pound of steamed mussels and clams arrive in its delicious garlic butter. It was very good and even M said so himself….and he doesn’t really like seafood. I thought the garlic butter was just fantastic…I even dipped the bread into the sauce.

The 3 types of oysters that we chose were – kusshi, satori, and Fanny Bay. All oysters were served with 4 sauces: classic mignonette, cucumber mignonette, hot pepper sauce, house cocktail sauce and freshly grated horseradish.

My favorite was the Kusshi oyster. It has a very buttery texture, rich and salty with a sweet mildly fruity finish to it. Even The Oyster’s website said it is one of the oysters that beginners should eat. It’s small and not too intimidating for people starting out to eat raw oysters.

Satori was a bit salty but no distinguishing taste that I could get out of it.

Fanny Bay was very salty and sweet with a cucumber or melon finish.

One thing we didn’t like about the oysters is how there were still bits of shell near the meat of the oyster, so when you ate it, you would need to spit out pieces of the shell.

Also at the end, the service was still pretty bad….

If you are looking for a wide selection of oysters and other types of seafood, check out The Oyster! Just watch out for the service cause it’s bad!
We rate The Oyster:
Visit them at their website: http://theoysterbar.ca/

In Japanese

JagaSilk

September 6, 2010

When going to the Bug Zoo in Victoria, InsecureGirl suggested we go to JagaSilk for some amazing authentic green tea!

We were still uber full from The Empress Afternoon Tea, but InsecureGirl and I dragged the boys to go in. Good thing we did because it turned out to be a memorable experience! First of all I love green tea, I must have a cup everyday…it’s probably just the asian side of me.

JagaSilk is located in Nootka Court and owned by a lovely couple. The little shop looked very unique when we walked in, the store was filled with Japanese pottery – Chawan and had a nice bar to sit down.

Since I’m not an expert in green tea, I did not know what to get on the menu since there were so many options and different grades of green tea you could use in your tea. We asked the owner what he would suggest and we chose the Organic Green Tea Frappe and lemon matcha ice tea.

The matcha ice tea was made first where Jared – the owner shows us how he prepares the matcha for the drink. He carefully measures the amount of matcha and then adds in hot water and purified water then mixes with a chasen (matcha whisks). Then he goes to the back to mix the matcha mix with sugar water, lemon and ice. Thus the lemon match ice tea was made. It was really refreshing and the color of the matcha really resonated through this whole drink. It was very nice!

The Organic Green Tea Frappe was made next with the same mixing process and was blended with a blender. They take their drinks very seriously; they even went to the trouble of making the drink again because it was not perfect! After it was all made, I took a sip out of it and WOW such amazing green tea flavour in the drink. It was probably better than Starbucks and 100% more healthy!

FragileBoy decided to try out the Orange Duck Organic LondonFog Ice Cream. The Orange Duck is the brand of the ice cream; no ducks were hurt in the making of the ice cream. The ice cream was served in a nice cup and plate. It was served with frozen blueberries. The first bite of ice cream was unbelievable! It had so much flavour that it tasted like a real London fog. The blueberry was a nice addition since it is kinda like a pallet cleanser when you had too much of the same taste. If you go here you must eat this!!! There is nothing else like it!

They even have a green tea version too to go! This will soon be out in stores soon!

While we were drinking the drinks, we chatted with him for a bit asking about the business and green tea products. It turns out there’s different grades of green tea and how there is a myth were if the green tea comes from Japan, it’s automatically labeled organic. In reality, this is obviously not true. So, JagaSilk works directly with a Green tea farmer in Japan to ensure the products they are using are organic and live up to the grade that is specified. They even go far as using all purified water for their ice cubes.

They even sell their green tea and pottery in the store and online!

If you are looking for authentic green tea drinks go to JagaSilk. You will not be disappointed. They also support organic products, vegetarianism, and sustainable business practices! So, you know they are really dedicated to their work.

We rate Jagasilk:

Check out their website: http://www.jagasilk.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 Robson Street/West End

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House

September 2, 2010

After hearing so much about Joe Fortes, I thought it was time to go! A group of us went during lunchtime because they have $10 Blue plate specials and Prix Fixe set meals for either 14.95 (2 dishes)or 17.95 (3 dishes).

Since Joe Fortes is a seafood restaurant, Insecuregirl, Fragileboy and I decided to order some oysters! We love oysters, we would probably drink oyster if we wanted to. We started off with 3 types of oysters – Kumamoto, Joe’s Gold and Local Beach. If you do not know anything about oysters, just ask the waitress/waiter for suggestions because you don’t want to end up with oysters that taste nasty.

The Kumamoto Oyster had a firm texture and a rich creamy flavour. The after taste was quite interesting since it ended with a buttery-sweet and mildly fruity, with just a hint of briny flavour. Apparently it’s very popular. I really loved this one a lot. As you can tell, this oyster came from Japan.

Joe’s gold was a bigger than the Kumamoto Oyster. Joe’s gold oyster had a mild, fresh flavour with a sweet finish. These oysters are specially ordered from Saw Mill Bay for Joe Fortes…thus the name – Joe’s gold.

The last oyster – Local beach was about the same size as Joe’s gold. It also had a mild fresh flavour but it also tasted salty and briny.

For more info on local BC oysters check out:
http://www.pacifickiss.ca/about-bc-oysters/bc-oyster-buyers-guide

Enough about oysters, let’s get back to the meal! InsecureGirl, CanuckGirl and I had the Cup of New England Clam chowder as an appetizer, part of our prix fixe meal set. It came with oyster crackers on the side to add into the Clam chowder. Inside the clam chowder there were cream, potatoes, bacon, thyme and of course clams. It was an ok chowder but I really wished there were more clams in the chowder because I didn’t find much of it expect for maybe half a clam. The crackers were a nice touch when you wanted more texture in your chowder.

M and FragileBoy had the Halibut and Chips. M’s Halibut came on his dish looking like a fish. It was super amazing because FragileBoy’s Halibut looked nothing like a fish. The batter was really nice and crispy. The halibut inside was perfectly done on the inside. There was also tartar sauce to dip the halibut into. The tartar sauce tasted like normal tartar sauce but with more of a dill taste. The fries on th bottom were really good as well. One thing the whole table agreed on was that the fries had a “Mc Donald’s” aftertaste, which was interesting, but it made us all want to eat it more.

InsecureGirl, TaiwaneseGirl and CanuckGirl all got the Wild Salmon with mashed potatoes. The Salmon was just ok by itself but if you ate it with the corn and peppers on the bottom, it just adds to the dish so much more! The sweetness from the corn really balances out the taste.

I ordered the blue cheese meatloaf. It was really good since I’ve actually never had meatloaf before. Tasted really good with the corn on the bottom. I found that it was quite a large dish for myself and was quite meaty…since it is a meatloaf. I wanted more vegetables to really break the meaty taste from my mouth.

To finish everything off, there was dessert! I ordered the Vanilla crème brulee.

The crème brulee was nice and crunchy at the top and creamy at the bottom. I didn’t like the mound of whipped cream on the side. I didn’t think it added much to the dish.

TaiwaneseGirl ordered the Vanilla Gelato with Chocolate Ganache drizzled on top. The wafer and the chocolate ganache added a lot of texture to the gelato. It was very well done and great dessert to finish the meal.

For the price of the food, it could have been way better since there are so many other seafood restaurants in Vancouver. I might as well spend the same amount of money elsewhere to get better food with more amounts.

Joe Fortes is the king of seafood but the menu is quite pricy if you go for dinner. If you want to try this place out for lunch, it is way cheaper. A lot of the food we ordered was just ok and not super fantastical delicious.

We rate Joe Fortes:

Check out Joe Fortes website: http://www.joefortes.ca/

In Mexican

Cilantro & Jalapeño

August 29, 2010

My coworker suggested I go try out Cilantro & Jalapeño, which serves Mexican food. I am not a big fan of Mexican food since I hate beans. Nonetheless, I tried it out anyways.

The line up was pretty long so this indicated that this is a popular place to eat at Lonsdale Quay. So, I lined up and took a look at their menu. They had a large selection of Mexican food from enpanades to taquitos. It was pretty cheap since it was under $10 an entrée. The seating is not great, but what can you really expect from a food court.

I decided to have the small quesadilla with chicken. You can choose the type of meet that you want at no extra cost. You can choose from wither chicken of beef. So, if you are not a beef eater, then choose the chicken.
The quesadilla was very simple since it consisted of tortillas, Edam cheese and chicken. Even thought it was simple, it tasted very clean and fresh.

The quesadilla came with 3 sides – guacamole, salsa and beans. The guacamole and salsa were just amazing and fresh! I have never had such delicious guacamole and salsa in my life! You know its fresh because they make new batches everyday! So, you know you don’t get week old salsa sitting in a jar. Everything is made fresh right in their kitchen and you are able to see them make the dishes.

They also have a grocery section to their shop where people can purchase the guacamole, salsa, and different sauces they use for their dish. After eating this dish, I bought their signature tortilla chips and a large tub of guacamole.

If you love the taste of authentic Mexican food which tastes super fresh, try Cilantro & Jalapeno! You will not be disappointed. Remember to try their Guacamole and Salsa!

We rate Cilantro & Jalapeno:

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

In Dessert

BeaverTails (Lonsdale Quay)

August 29, 2010

What are BeaverTails? They are not tails of beavers but a type of hand stretched fried pastry covered in sugar and cinnamon. I kept hearing about this Canadian wonder called BeaverTails but I never got around to purchasing one on grouse. I always imagined it to be a cinnamon bun … or something like that.

One day as I was wondering around Lonsdale Quay for lunch and I saw the Beavertails stand! I was so amazed by it because I finally found it and had to try it before I missed out again. This small little stand was just a franchise owned by a cute Asian couple. The average price of these Beavertails are about $4 or $5.

I was really excited and I didn’t know what to get, so many topping and choices for these BeaverTails, but I just decided to be plain and boring and order their most popular – Cinnamon and sugar. While ordering, I could see how they made the whole BeverTail, they would first start off with the dough and begin stretching it into the shape of the tail, afterwards, they would then dip the dough into the vat of oil. After a few minutes of frying, they would cool this off and begin coating the fried dough with the cinnamon and sugar.

The BeaverTail did resemble and Beaver’s tail. I decided to take a big bite out of it. It was good but I found that there was too much sugar and cinnamon that it was getting all over my shirt when I ate it. I could even feel all the sugar granules being stuck between my teeth. I felt like I needed to start brushing my teeth right there in front of the shop.

In the end I did not finish it because it was so big! (That’s what she said). I just wrapped it up and took it home. This was probably not a good idea since it went limp really fast and became not crispy.
Don’t be fooled by this BeaverTail, it packs a lot of sugar so if you do not have a sweet tooth; this may overwhelm your teeth and cause cavities.

We rate BeaverTails:

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

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:

Visit Thomas Haas website: http://www.thomashaas.com/

In One Beaker

Nando’s Flame Grill Chicken

August 28, 2010

Hey all, M here with my first review on foodology.ca! The restaurant DesignGirl went to this fateful day was Nando’s on Kingsway near Metrotown. Now I met Nando’s for the first time while living in London, England for a year and I can tell you my expectations were high. Nando’s in London were middle to high end type restaurants with great interior design and great quality food. I was surprised when I saw Nando’s present itself as a fast food place in Metropolis, Metrotown but I had hopes for the restaurant location.

First impressions of this Nando’s restaurant was pretty bad. Bad location, and poor outside and inside presentation. Terrible doors that are found in the worst of KFC’s and when we went inside, there was duct tape holding cushions together in one booth. There was no improvement in the cashier booth either. Seriously ordering counters from McDonalds looked better. There were no fountain soft drinks, only bottles! We ordered and waited patiently for our food in our booth with a wooden number stand.

DesignGirl got the standard Nando’s order of chicken breast and a side of coleslaw. I ordered Nando’s chicken sandwich with a side of spiced rice. The food came relatively quickly, but as you can see from the pictures , they did not look that appetizing on the plates. DesignGirl’s chicken breast was on the dry side but tasty. Her side of coleslaw was awful though. It just tasted like bad lettuce and nothing else.

My chicken sandwich was delicious but small in portion. The rice was dry and not that delicious. It was so bad that we spent a total of 10 minutes there and left. I guess the only positive way to look at this Nando’s experience was that the coke bottle was cold and refreshing.

Perhaps I am looking at Nando’s the wrong way. In London it’s an actual restaurant like Earl’s and Cactus Club here in Vancouver, but maybe the Nando’s in Canada just presents itself as a fast food slash restaurant hybrid. If so, who can explain the bill coming to $28.99 with mandatory tips? Tips??? There was no waiter or waitress, only a cashier and cook! You don’t see people tipping in KFC do you?

You can easily find better chicken sandwiches anywhere else and Church’s Chicken spiced rice tastes so much better with actual chicken bits in it too! The price was too high, you can eat great food at a real restaurant with that money.

Nando’s is great for their Peri-Peri sauce, and London Nando’s makes a great deal about it. However, the Nando’s here seemed to have stopped trying. Just buy their Peri-Peri sauce and make your own chicken at home!

If you are looking to pay a lot of money for a nice seat in chicken restaurant to eat… Buy an airplane ticket to London, England’s Nando’s Chicken! If not, do not go to Nando’s in Vancouver and head over to KFC or Church’s!

We rate Vancouver Nando’s Chicken:

Check out Nando’s Canada’s Website (Newly Renovated and pretty neat flash): http://www.nandoscanada.com/

Also for comparison here is Nando’s London UK Website: http://www.nandos.co.uk/

In North Vancouver

Screaming Mimi

August 27, 2010

I was at work at a special event at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. At lunch I really wanted seafood and my friend had a craving for clam chowder!

After walking around loops at the market, we had decided to try out Screaming Mimi, which apparently has a good selection of seafood as well as dishes with seafood. Located right near the plaza, it is in a spot with lots of traffic. Since the place is inside Lonsdale Quay, their seating is limited and the ambiance is pretty ugly. When they are very busy, the service is slow, so you will need to flag someone down for an order.

TaiwanGirl decided to order first and got a large Cream Roma Clam Chowder. Unlike the traditional clam chowder, it was a mix of cream and tomato together to make a very nice soup. What amazed TaiwanGirl was how many clams they gave you in the soup. They scooped one huge ladle of clams into the cup and then filled it with the soup. She commented saying how it was totally worth the $4 since it had so many clams and also they were delicious!

Right after, I ordered a large tomato clam chowder because there was no more Cream Roma soup left. But nonetheless it was good trying something different. I too was amazed by the amount of clams they gave and how delicious they were! I am a huge seafood fan, if I had to drink seafood, I probably would. In addition to the chowder, I got the fried oysters. WOW! These were so delicious and I am going to get these again! It was not oily or strangely cooked. It tasted like what an oyster should taste like. You can even taste the butter that the oysters were fried in. It gives it a nice texture of crunchiness. You can order these as single, doubles or colossal! And they are around $2 each.

If you are on the quay and craving some seafood while looking at the river and the sight of downtown Vancouver, you must try Screaming Mimi! If you love seafood, you will end up screaming for more Screaming Mimi! But don’t expect too much from their decor.

We rate Screaming Mimi:

Screaming Mimi is located at:
123 Carrie Cates Crt
North Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Market by Jean-Georges

August 27, 2010

Two of my friends and I decided to embark on a journey to The Market, this was no market indeed. This was The Market by Jean-Georges in the Vancouver Shangri-La. We knew it would be a bit pricey during the dinnertime, so we opted to go during the lunchtime.

The Market I located on the third floor of the Shangri-La so you will need to take the elevator or the stairs up from the main floor. The little area that we were seated in reminded me of the 70’s. The green furniture worked with the decor but if you put it into your living room, it would be quite awkward.

For the Appetizer, we started off with the Beef Carpaccio Pizza, which was quite unique and super delicious. But, I’m not quite sure if you can still call it Carpaccio is it’s a bit cooked? I’m not sure either but it was yummy. If you are not a big fan of raw food, you won’t even notice the raw beef on this pizza. The Parmesan, arugula and mushroom balance this dish out so it is very flavorful.

For the main dish, Taiwanese girl ordered grilled salmon with a side of fries. It seemed like she really enjoyed the salmon especially the sauce that came with it since she kept dipping her fries into it. Apparently, your salmon can be rare, medium rare, medium, or well. I really thought this was only for steak or lamb, but salmon too. The green peppers on the plate seems like it could be super spicy but when you taste it, it was not anywhere near spicy. Very mild and had a nice taste.

CanuckGirl ordered the Grilled MARKET Burger. It was a very nice tasting burger with the regular stuff plus Russian dressing and a cool Onion Ring. The burger had 2 patties of meat! A very meaty burger if you are a carnivore. Also, you can choose what type of cheese you can have on your burger! Swiss and cheddar are the ones I can remember off the top of my head,

For my main dish, I had the halibut which was so soft and delicate. it came on a bed of boiled spinach with a nice creamy sauce. It was so yummy that I was so tempted to lick the plate.

To finish it all off, I had the chocolate pudding! This was by far the BEST part of the meal. If you look at the picture, the green part is the cup. For the longest time, we were staring at other tables thinking there was cool jello under neither the pudding. On top was a softly whipped cream and crystallized violet. As you dig deeper into this pudding, you find a nice piece of cake in the center and it just really gives the dessert a bit more of a texture.

If you are looking for a fancy place to eat, this is the place to go! Everyone must try this place at least once … or twice in their lives because it is just so delicious!!!!

We Rate The Market:

Check out The Market’s Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/vancouver/shangrila/dining/restaurant/market

In Coquitlam

California Sushi

August 25, 2010

After M came back from Whistler, we decided to go out and eat at California Sushi. Sushi California is one of the better sushi places in Burnaby. It’s a block away from Lougheed Mall and has a wide selection of sushi. The restaurant is owned by Koreans which seems to be the trend in Japanese sushi restaurants which I can never figure out. Lunch times and dinner times can be quite busy, so i really suggest going a bit earlier so avoid the rush.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I couldn’t help but notice one of the soy sauce dishes was a bit dirty. So, you should watch out too if your plates look like it as bits of food on it.

We started with half order of spicy tuna sashimi which tasted not as spicy as I expected. It was a bit sweet. M said they used Korean hot sauce paste and mixed it with sugar to get that taste. As most sushi places, it usually comes with radish garnish, but we did not get any with this one. If you don’t want to eat too much of this dish, just do half an order because it’s cheaper and you know you can finish it without wasting it. You could take it home to eat but it will not taste as good.

We ordered Tempura scallop asparagus roll as well. At first I thought it was probably the weirdest thing to order a sushi roll fried in tempura batter. It had a nice crunch texture to it and it did not taste too oily.

Followed smoked salmon cream cheese roll II. I guess they have two versions of this roll, so they had to add a “II” to the end of it. I’m not exactly sure how it’s different but I did not find this roll too special. It reminded me of an Alaska roll but with different insides.

The next thing we ordered was toro nigiri. I always enjoy ordering a piece of toro at sushi restaurants. If you don’t know what toro is, it is the belly portion of the tuna which is more fatty. Compared to other sushi restaurants, I found this toro was a bit icy, so i assume they froze it and defrosted it for the day. I’ve had better.

Then finally we had tobiko with quail egg nigiri, these just remind me of boobies because it has the yellow dot in the middle. This is certainly very odd to eat and you must make sure you shove this into your mouth so no tobiko or the quail egg spill on the plate. Whenever i encounter a restaurant with red tobiko, i get kinda weirded out since I usually see orange tobiko. According to google, they come in various colors like green and black.

If you like sushi in the mid-range price, then sushi california will be for you. They have the basics as well as some specialty roles. Just watch out for the cleanliness of your dishes.

We rate Sushi California:

Sushi California is located at: 501A North Road in Coquitlam, BC.

In Coquitlam

Cumpari’s Gelato & Caffe

August 23, 2010

Cumpari’s Gelato & Caffe used to be the home of Burger King in the 1990’s and after years of abandonment, Cumpari’s took over this deserted venue. There is no other authentic Italian dessert place near Lougheed Mall. They have anything from cakes, gelato, to coffees and teas. They even play Italian opera music to set customers in the mood.

At a given day, there are a dozen of different cakes and pastries produced. Even though they look super delicious, it will put a bit of a dent in your wallet. Each piece can range from $5 to $8 per piece. If you have that sweet tooth right after dinner, it’s quite enjoyable.

Along with their cakes, they produce gelato! Without the gelato, they could not pull off the whole Italian dessert place. They do not have 300 flavours but they do have one that people will enjoy. We ordered the large which gave us 3 flavours – pistachio, mango creme, and Hazelnut. If you are not so keep on so many flavours they also have smaller sizes too.

Ferrero Rocher cake! Yes, it is made out of Ferrero Rocher! It was a big slice, so sharing is key! I found it to be a bit too sweet for my liking.

This cake, which I have forgotten it’s name was sweet and when you got to eating a strawberry they were a bit sour.

Mini Von Horne is made out of small profiteroles filled with cream and drizzles with chocolate. This dessert was not overly sweet and was just perfect.This is probably the best way to share a dessert since there are 5 balls that come apart easily without the messy ripping and sharing.

Craving Italian pastries during the night but too lazy to drive to Vancouver or Richmond? Get your fix here, but it is slightly pricey.

We rated Cumpari:

Cumpari Gelato & Caffe is located at 535 North Road in Coquitlam, BC