Three Beakers Archives - Page 59 of 63

In Downtown

Lully’s Sandwich Bar

February 20, 2011

I posed a question on Twitter “Need suggestions for lunch in Downtown. Any good places that are not the “usual” places to eat at?”, I got a few replies back from the amazing followers! Since it was a nice sunny day in downtown Vancouver, I just had to try out Lully’s Sandwich Bar.

I actually pass by a few times a week and I always feel guilty that I don’t stop and say hi. Keep in mind, I am a very shy timid girl and at times socially awkward! This is why I will be that girl in networking events near the food tables just eating..and eating…and eating. It’s a bad habit, but I’m slowly working on my confidence.

Lully’s Sandwich bar is located outside Granville station. My first thought when I saw this cart was “I wonder who’s Lully, is there really a Lully?”. At this food cart, there are no people named Lully. 2 local entrepreneurs decided to bring Lully’s Sandwich Bar – a famous Victoria Restaurant, here to Vancouver!

Who are these entrepreneurs I am speaking of? They are the Ip brothers of PanDa Fresh Bakery! They have taken a hiatus from running the big yellow bus to start up their new idea of selling Montreal smoked meats in Vancouver. Since they are both from Montreal and hold a deep connection to where they were from, they jumped at the idea of opening a new cart.

No news on whether the PanDa Fresh Bakery will be back, but hopefully it will be back once summer comes around. The reason why they put PanDa Fresh Bakery on hold because of the location and the weather.

Now lets talk about their food. Looking at their menu, it was really hard to choose what I wanted since I was not super hungry. 2 different sizes of sandwich to choose from. So, I asked Michael Ip how big the jumbo and the regular sizes were. After looking at a few images, I really wanted to chow down on the Jumbo since i’ve never had such a massive sandwich.

The Jumbo Old Fashioned Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich ($10) was stacked with so much meat. I was watching him build this and he kept piling more and more meat on the sandwich. In total there was 12 oz of meat with mustard on a 2 slices of bread.

Once the sandwich was cut in half, you can see how large this sandwich really is!

I am not an expert when it comes to eating Montreal smoked meat sandwiches. All I know is that this sandwich is simple and good to honest just gives you a homey feeling. Not complicated and only has 3 ingredients – bread, mustard and meat.

Eating it needs a bit of a strategy since theres so much meat in this sandwich, what I did was to eat one half at a time and keep it in the wrapper so no precious meat falls on the floor. The meat was tender and easy to bite into. I enjoyed it because it was something new that I have never tried before.

Some may say this sandwich is too simple and not worth the $10. But everyone is entitled to their personal opinions.

We Rate Lullu’s Sandwich Bar:

Address:

650 Granville St.
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.lullyssandwichbar.com

In Cafe

Golden Oscar Cafe & Restaurant (Visit #2)

February 20, 2011

Visit #1

Another visit to Golden Oscars on Rupert Street with a bunch of people before heading out to Boss Night Club to check out an event. Since Oscars can usually accomodate a medium sized group of people, we headed over here..plus it’s cheap!

Golden Oscars is a Hong Kong style cafe, so you can find most of the usual items to be in the menu….fried rice, noodles, congee…etc.

I felt thirsty…very thirsty…perhaps it was from my lack of carbs for a while. Apparently it makes you very very dehydrated.
I started off my meal by ordering the Grilled Chicken Steak and Pork Chop on Rice meal ($8.99).

I ordered a cold milk tea with the meal. It came with a small canister of sugar water to add to the milk. I was a little bit distracted and poured a bit too much sugar into my milk tea. Not the best idea since it became super sweet.

I would recommend most people to just to add it in gradually until it’s the right sweetness for you.

The soup that comes with this meal is the usual creamed corn and ham soup. Nothing too special about this, jut normal soup.

What can I really say about the Grilled Chicken Steak and Pork Chop on Rice that I haven’t said in the last visit? There wasn’t anything different except I wish I had more meat. hahaha. No, seriously, I think the portion sizes have gotten a bit smaller in the past few years. Or, my appetite for meat is really large. The chicken and pork chop were both very tender and smelled amazing due to the gravy sauce they have poured on top of both steaks.

This dish also somes with a very very small side of steamed corn, carrots and broccoli. It is very minimal and for a women that likes her vegetables, it really was tiny.

M got his all time favorite dish, baked pork chop. He got the full sized plate rather than the dinner set. It comes with 2 large pieces of baked pork chop rather than just one.

A lot of baked pork chops are different, some come with out bones and some come with bones. Unfortunately Golden Oscars makes them with bones, so I would suggest you ask for an extra plate and cut up all the pork chops and removing the bone before digging into the meal. It makes it easier to eat…. and way less messy.

I do find it very hilarious every time I visit a HK Cafe because I can’t speak Chinese. I can only listen to Chinese but I just can’t speak, it’s super weird but thats what happens when you neglect speaking the language for many years. The waitresses always approach the table speaking Cantonese and i’ll only point at the menu and speak english. I always wonder what they think of me…

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking in parking lot or residential areas
Large Portions at decent prices
Very busy during peak hours

We rate Golden Oscar Cafe & Restaurant:

Address:

3868 Rupert St
Vancouver, BC

In Japanese

Guu

February 18, 2011

Guu on Thurlow is open for lunch. I heard from PinappleBun that they have great deals under $10. Since I’ve been to Guu for dinner and loved it, I thought lunch would be exciting too.

There are a good amount of tables for lunch and there’s a bar..if you are eating alone. I sat at the bar because it was just me. Don’t be afraid if you suddenly hear your waitress yelling to the chefs, it’s totally normal! They are just communicating your order in a fun way!

The menu on the walls, are dinner specials, so you can’t order them till dinner time. I was eyeing the Beef Carpaccio but I couldn’t get it.

Their menu is quite small, so you only have the main options of Bento box, Don, and curry. They have a few specials too

I ordered the assorted fry Bento Box ($8). I wanted a little bit of everything, so that was the best option.

There was chicken karrage, pork tenderloin cutlet, creamy croquette, bamboo shoots, daikon and a bit of noodles. This bento box also came with Miso soup and rice.

The chicken karrage and the pork tender loin was ok, but I really loved the creamy croquette! Nicely fried on the outside and rich/ creamy on the inside. Yum!

Words of Wisdom:

No waits during lunch
Under $10
Creamy Croquettes!
Small menu selection
No sushi

We rate Guu:

Address:

838 Thurlow St
Vancouver, BC

Website: www.guu-izakaya.com

In Bar and Grill

Bon Chaz 1 Year Anniversary

February 13, 2011

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Previous BonChaz Posts: Visit #1

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BonChaz was celebrating their one year anniversary last week by giving away free BonChaz to all their customers. They decked out the restaurant by putting up lots of balloons.

Since I work pretty close by, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to stop by for lunch.

You can choose from any BonChaz for free. I ordered the Banana Walnut BonChaz. I know some people hate banana but I love them in desserts and pastries. The inner of the BonChaz has the banana fillings and its SO Good!

If you don’t know what a BonChaz is, it’s a coffee bun type of pastry. Crunchy on the top and filled in the center with a nice sweet filling.

Since I didn’t want to take the BonChaz and go back to work. I ordered their Avacado and Brie Sandwich with a Curry Chicken soup (About $8). It is served on very soft bread and stuffed with tomatoes, cucumber, mayo, brie and avocados.

At first glance, you would expect you would taste more bread than filling, but this was not the case! They were quite generous with the brie and avocados, so it was nicely distributed throughout the sandwich and not cut too thin.

It was just perfect!

They had 2 types of daily soups but I chose the curry chicken. Had good sizable pieces of chicken and very good consistency.

And that was my fantastic lunch! Happy 1 Year BonChaz and I expect many great things from your team in the upcoming years!

BonChaz is a nice little cafe to do a bit of work and have a snack. They have pastries, sandwiches, tarts, soups, coffee, and tea. I don’t think you can find such pastries anywhere else.

We rate BonChaz:

Check out their Facebook page: http://www.bonchaz.ca/

In Dineout

DineOut: Ciao Bella Italian Restaurant & Piano Bar

February 12, 2011

My last Dineout of 2011 was at Ciao Bella was with FinananceGirl, SFUPretender, EnvyGirl and LGirl.

Ciao Bella is an Italian restaurant on Denman Street which has a lot of traditional italian dishes.

When we walked inside, the interior was very homely and they even had a piano player. This is seriously a perfect location for an intimate romantic dinner. Someone even get engaged while we were there. So crazy!

They have the DineOut menu and their regular menu. We stick to the DineOut since thats the purpose why we are going. It was $28 for 3 courses.

Before we got our appetizer, we got bread. You can drizzle oil and balsamic vinegar all over it! It’s so delicious. I even accidentally poured too much balsamic….so my bread looked all black. BUT it was still delicious because I love balsamic!

For my appetizer I got the Grameroni Della Casa, which is cold poached prawn cocktail with horseradish dip. This was a small appetizer since it only had 4 prawn. Since I love prawns I gobbled them down like they were potato chips. The prawns and the horseradish dip was just quite average and nothing too special.

Everyone else had the Zuppa Al Aragosta , which is the chef’s lobster bisque. They all liked the soup and loved how there were bits of lobster in it!

LGirl, SFU Pretender and I got the Pollo Pavorotti, which is a breast of free rangec chicken stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach. It is topped off with a Porcini mushroom demi glaze. You can choose either vegetables or pasta. But I chose vegetables because of my diet of no pasta or rice.

One thing that was a pain was cutting into the breast and the filling would just pour out. The chicken was a little on the dry side, but it you smother it in the sauce, it’s tastes just fine.

FinanceGirl and EnvyGirl ordered the Agnello E Gamberoni , which is grilled Lamb Chops and tiger prawns. Both of them got it with the pasta option.

LGirl ordered the Tiramisu. It has layers of lady fingers, marscarpone cream cheese, and chocolate.

SFUPretender and FinanceGirl ordered the Creme Carramelo, which isa custard dessert with a layer of caramel on top.

EnvyGirl and I had the Torta Chocolate, which is their house special chocolate italian cake. I think this was by far the best dessert, you have some rich chocolate cake and very nice chocolate mousse in the middle. Yum!

Words of Advice:

Parking in rear
Amazing live piano music
Amazing weekly deal and evening dinner specials (50% off pasta on weekday lunches)

We Rate Ciao Bella:

Website: www.ciaobellavancouver.ca

Address:

703 Denman St
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Dae Ji

February 8, 2011

I went to Dae Ji during lunch and the hamburg steaks just looked pretty good. Dae Ji, serves up korean Pork cutlet and many other dishes. It is very popular amongst international students. BCIT, SFU, and a bunch of language school are only a few blocks away.

The interior is very orange and not too bad looking inside. The kitchen is an open kitchen, so you can watch the cooks cook up your meal.

THe menu isn’t too large, but there’s everything you need to be happy for a lunch.

I ordered the hamburg Steak ($8.50). Hamburg Steak is basically hamburger patties without the bread and fillings.

The dish came with 2 patties smothered in gravy and ketchup. There is also rice, macaroni, coleslaw and pickled radish.

The steaks were very moist and delicious, but the ketchup was a bit too sweet to go with the steak. it’s just a personal opinion, some people love it with ketchup.

As for the sides…the coleslaw and macaroni were really bland.

Words of Wisdom:

A block away from Granville Skytrain
Pay Parking on street
All items are under $10, very cheap

We Rate Dae Ji:

Address:

519 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver, BC

In Cafe

Michi Waffle House (Visit #2)

February 8, 2011

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Continuation of :

Visit #1

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I went to Michi Waffle with a few friends but I was a bit too full for dinner to enjoy their amazing waffles. So, I got some tea instead.

I ordered the Premium Macha . I like to buy things blindly, what can’t be exciting about something that starts with premium. This tea is made with real macha, even though it does look a bit milky at the top, it’s just the foam from mixing it. Like most teas that come without sugar, it was quite bitter and strong, which is usual for green teas. They even give you a bit of red bean jelly thing. It works well to counter act the bitterness of the tea.

I always come here with friends just to chill when theres nothing else to do on Robson, plus we are pretty asian, so we enjoy our teas and dessert. We prefer this place over the other places like Capstone Tea House.

The ambiance of Michi Waffle and Espresso Bar is the perfect place to have a conversation. If you go there on a date or a meeting, it will leave a lasting impression.

We rate Michi Waffle and Espresso Bar:

Visit their website: http://michicafe.com/

In Bar and Grill

Yew Restaurant + Bar

February 4, 2011

A Year ago, PhotographyGirl and I went here for Dineout and loved it. Since I never came here for lunch, I wanted to try it out.

Yew is located at the Four Seasons Hotel in Downtown Vancouver. It has really gorgeous interior. I would say it would be pretty good for a business lunch or a nice date.

The lunch menu is pretty straight forward, you have your appies, mains, and then dessert. Most people are pressed for time during lunch…so you probably don’t want to order all 3 if you have a 1 hour lunch. There’s a lot to choose from on the menu, but since I was on my diet, I was limited in choices…. 🙁

I started off with a coke. Even comes with refills!

The bread came and it was a sour dough? I think and some crunchy bread sticks.

I ordered the Ahi Tuna Wrap ($18) which came with a salad and I added on the daily soup ($6).

Inside the Ahi Tuna Wraps were Daikon, Asian Pear, Cilantro, on Vietnamese Rice Paper. Really nice and had sizable chunks of tuna. For $18 for 3 pieces of wrap and a salad … I didn’t think it was worth the price…but at least it was healthy.

I also added on a side soup since the waitress described it so exquisitely. I can remember what was in it, but it had real crab in it too!

PhotographyGirl ordered the starter version on the daily soup ($8) and the Pear Salad ($10).

The salad has Grilled Bosc Pear, Baby Spinach & Frisee Salad, Blue Cheese. She found the presentation not as well as it could have been.

Words of Wisdom:

Great for DineOut Vancouver option or any regular meal
Reservations are recommended
Have good breakfast
Free Coffee in the morning!
Outstanding soups

We Rate Yew:

Website: http://www.yewrestaurant.com/

Address:

791 W Georgia St
Vancouver, BC

In Dineout

DineOut: Aqua Riva

February 3, 2011

Since the old gang was back together in Vancouver, going out to Dineout seemed right. We left all the planning to ConsultingGirl and she brought everyone together.

We chose to go check out Aqua Riva. Aqua Riva is located beside the Waterfront convention centre. The dine out was $28 for 3 courses.

We just had water since we got reservations for 5 people at 8:30pm. Since we all had to work or go to school the next morning, we just didn’t get any additional drinks.

2 types of bread came to our table, Focaccia bread and french bread? It also came with salsa and butter. Salsa was my choice of topping on bread…..yum!

LabRat and I started off with the Baby green salad with Smoked Wild Salmon. On top of the greens, there is white and green asparagus. THe sauce used was a sherry Dijon Vinaigrette. I liked it and the salmon was really really good!

PharmacyBoy got the Manhattan Seafood Chowder. In addition to the seafood was chorizo and saffron. He was quite disappointed by the chowder because it was a tomato sauce rather than the traditional white cream sauce in chowders.

ConsultantGirl and SpongeBobGirl ordered the Sesame Crusted Scallops. The scallops are served with spinach and couscous salad. Around it is a orange and sesame vinaigrette.

SpongebobGirl and I both ordered the Wood Grilled Rib Eye. The steak was done medium rare. It comes with Cajun jumbo fries, Salsa verde and a peppercorn sauce.

PharmacyBoy and LabRat ordered the Orachiette pasta with grilled prawns. Shittake Mushrooms, spinach, chilies, and pesto cream sauce.

ConsultingGirl ordered the GInger potato crusted wild salmon. There is a grilled asparagus risotto, corn + blackbean salsa and basil butter sauce.

For dessert there was Apple and cranberry crisp.

There was also the Banana Chocolate Mousse Cake.

No one could really decide which one was the better dessert since we all had different tastes. Since it was only limited to 2 choices of dessert, we didn’t feel that Aqua Riva had any extraordinary desserts.

Words of Wisdom:

Parking at Convention Centre for $9 all night
Decent dineout but not the best for the $28 range

We Rate Aqua Riva:

Website: www.aquariva.com

Address:

200 Granville St
Vancouver, BC

In Cafe

Well Tea House

January 28, 2011

Since I am on co-op, I’m basically using any lunch time that I have to go out to eat food downtown. Since I am usually in Burnaby during regular semesters…I obviously had to go eat as much as I could.

What better way to enjoy a lunch by going to a bubble tea place!

The interior in Well Tea house is very hip and colorful. This place really attracts international students and the universities near by.

FinanceGirl had the Sweet and Sour Pork ($7.95). She swears by it that it’s the best that she’s had. Since it’s a set lunch thing, it comes with a bowl of rice and 3 little side dishes.

I had the peppery beef slices ($7.95) for my lunch. It was very peppery and I liked it. Some people may not like it. It also came with a bowl of rice and the three side dishes. I also got a Milk Tea ($4.75).

Theres a lot of food, so it’s pretty filling. I was really stuffed!

We Rate Well Tea House:

Website: www.welltea.ca

Address:

551 Seymour St
Vancouver, BC

In Lynnwood

Yogu San

January 23, 2011

On the way to Blaine to pick up some parcel (Yes I’m Canadian and Im cheap). TaiwaneseGirl, CanuckGirl and I stopped at Bellis Fair Mall to look around. This mall is about 1 hour away from Vancouver and you know it’s Bellis Fair Mall when half the parking lot is filled with people from BC.

We were just passing by and the shop Yogu san caught my eye. They have a cute little yogurt character as their logo and it just looked so cute.

They even have other items in the store to sell besides frozen yogurt.

They sell frozen yogurt, smoothies and other drinks. All items are under $6.

I got the small green tea with kiwis and strawberries ($3.50 + $1.25 = $4.75). I found the size of small like a medium. They do say “everything is bigger in America”. Perhaps it is. Even though this was green tea flavour,it really didn’t taste too much like green tea. No green color either. I guess that is fine because it still tasted good.

We Rate Yogu San:

Website: www.yogu-san.com

Address:

1 Bellis Fair Parkway
Bellingham, WA

In Downtown

Kimbob E Ramyun

January 21, 2011

Since I go to SFU, this is essentially a few steps away from the Downtown campus. It’s cheap, it’s fast, it’s Korean.

This restaurants has mostly students that come to eat since SFU, BCIT, and a lot of international schools are less than a block away. Most of the tables are in 2’s and 4’s.

FYI, the store is self serve, so you must go up and order, grab utensils and get water yourself.

When I first came here a few years and at first…..I was like …what the hell is written on the board.

Translations:

Ramyun = Ramen
Kimbob = Korean Sushi
O Deng = Fish Cake in Soup
dukbokki = Spicy Rice cake
Rapbokki = Spicy Rice Cake with noodles
udong = udon
bibimbob = white rice topped with various vegetables

I had the Kimbob and Ramen combo ($6.45). You get a bowl of spicy ramen noodles, it’s essentially instant noodles, they use shin brand ramen noodles to make it. You also get 2 rolls of their Kimbob and a small dish of kimchi.

You don’t need soy sauce for the kimbob since it’s not supposed to be eaten with it.

Did you know, it is debated where the origins of sushi came from. Koreans believe it originated from Korea, and Japanese believed it originated there. With their history, it seems like they both have beef with each other. Plus, the war didn’t help it either.

Words of Wisdom:

quick and cheap food
authentic korean street food

We Rate Kimbob E Ramyun:

Address:

423 Seymour St
Vancouver, BC

In Chinese

Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

January 19, 2011

My parents wanted to go out to eat with my grandfather, so they looked at a Chinese newspaper to see where they should go. They found Grand Dynasty and wanted to try it out. They have never been to a Chinese restaurant in casino before, so they seemed excited to go.

Grand Dynasty is located at the Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby.

The interior was really nice and they had these really cool chandlers.

For lunch they have a dim sum menu, and for larger dishes they have the regular menu.

What my mother loved were the super asian place settings. They also charge for their tea…which I suppose is a bit strange…but some restaurants do do that. One tea pot is $1.25.

Shredded Bitter Melon ($6.75) was on the dim sum menu and my parents ordered it. I really don’t like bitter melon but I usually try a piece or 2 in hope that maybe it won’t be so gross. Older asians tend to like it, younger people not so much.

This is the Beef Ball in Soup ($4.95). There were 3 beef balls cut in half, the soup was watercress soup I think. It also came with sauce to dip the beef into. This dish was pretty good.

Bean Curd w/ Crab Meat ($4.95) was probably my favorite, it usually is. I love the texture because it’s nice and soft on the outside and the inside has lots of ingredients. Plus, the sauce makes it really good. I’d probably get this again.

Veggie wrap with bean curd sheet ( $4.95). There’s actually 3 pieces, but my father ate one before I could take a picture. I didn’t eat this dish so I am not sure if it was good.

Steam Stick Rice ($5.25) is not serves wrapped up in a leaf! It was in a bowl with a leaf on top. I am not sure if that matters…anyways, the dish was layered, so on the bottom is rice, then meat, then rice again on top.

According to the server, you have to mix the ingredients together and not just eat it as is.

Shark Fin Dumpling in Soup ($6.50) was really good according to the family. It had more than just whatever you see in the photo.

steamed ribs with blackbean sauce ($4.95) tasted like any normal spare ribs.

House Special Chow Mein ($14.85) looked really good and tasted good! On the bottom you have the crunchy noodles, and on top you have squid, prawns, mushrooms, scallops, meat, and vegetables.

Sweet Osmanthus Cake ($4.50). I have never had this before, but apparently its made out of flowers. Very well made!

Words of Wisdom:

Good food!
A little bit on the pricy side, but still decent
Weekday afternoon you usually get good service since it’s not packed.
After food adventure to the ….CASINO
Free parking

We Rate Grand Dynasty:

Address:

4331 Dominion Street
Burnaby, BC

In Chinese

Red Star Seafood

January 19, 2011

The family went to Red Star Seafood Restaurant in Richmond. They are another large Chinese restaurant specializing in Dim Sum for Lunch and large dinners at night.

When we asked if Red Star was affiliated with the Red Star in Tsimshatsui, HK…they said they are not related at all. Apparently, lots of patrons come in asking the same question since the name is the same.

Red Star is located in Presidents Plaza, which is on top of T&T. They are not as elegant as Fortune House in Metrotown, but it’s normal. They have high ceilings, draped curtains and a chandelier in the middle.

We first ordered the watercress soup. This came delivered in a pot and made about 8 bowls. The waiter will soup it out into bowls for you.

They remove all the watercress, meat, dates, and other ingredients into a separate dish for you. They also give you sauce to dip the meat.

This soup was refreshing, but it’s something you can make at home yourself. When the meat came out of the pot, it started drying up really quickly.

The next dish we got was geoduck. At The geoduck was cooked and slices into very thin slices. When the dish arrived, we thought the whole dish was geoduck, but turns out it was bean sprouts in the bottom and that the geoduck was laying on top. This dish also came with a special soy sauce for dipping the geoduck in. It was a pretty good dish. My grandfather said it was good how it was cut so thinly.

Next, we had 2 lobsters. I think we had the lobster sauteed. I’m not exactly sure because I was not paying attention. They prepare the lobster well, so you don’t need to use your hands to crack it open. Tasted good.

For $5 more, you can add noodles to the dish. As you can tell from the picture, there is a layer of noodles under it.

We also ordered 3 bowls of rice.

We also ordered steamed broccoli with crab and egg sauce. We didn’t know what type of vegetable to have with this dish, so the waiter suggested this and it was really really good.

We ordered half a crispy BBQ duck. The duck was really crispy and most on the inside. This is probably one of the best ducks I have had so far. The duck also came with prawn crackers. They also give you soy sauce and salt to add more taste to the duck.

What I love about chinese restaurants is that you get complementary dessert to go with your meal. =)

The Red bean soup had barley and red beans. This was alright, not my favorite dessert since I am not into beans…or anything starchy tasting.

They also give you sesame balls and cookies. These were good, so I ate most of it.

Words of Wisdom:

Park in the parkade instead of near T&T. You will get towed at T&T after the time limit…the parkade is not as strict
Servers are really friendly and can offer advice on what to order

We rate Red Star Seafood:

Address:

#2200 – 8181 Cambie Road
Richmond, BC

In Korean

Jang Mo Jib (Robson)

January 18, 2011

NotFauna, Mandu, BusanGirl and KoreanGirl were out at Tunnel for Girls Night to get free cover and free bottle of champaign. We were aso craving Jang Mo Jib, so we left early to get some soju and hot pot. When we arrive, we found out they close at 5am…..5AM! Intense!

The inside is quite big as it has another room in the back. It’s good for large groups of people as well.

They give you tea, but apparently, they have hot and/or cold tea! If you get cold tea, it’s not a mistake.

Since it was nearing 1am, we wanted to order all our alcohol before then. We got 2 bottles of soju ($15 each). It was a bit expensive since you can get it at the alcohol store for less.

They also have deals on Soju on Thursdays for cheaper.

Since I drove, I opted for a less potent drink. Blueberry Soju Cocktail. One part blueberry juice, one part sprite, one part soju.

It came in a tea pot which seemed a bit odd at first. The others wanted it to be strong, so they did half soju and half cocktail.

With anything you order, you get complementary sweet potatoes, seaweed, kimchi and kimchi radishes. Free refills too. Apparently, these dishes are suppose to be eaten with the meal…but since half of us were Chinese…we just ate the like pigs!

Our main item was Gam Ja Tahng + extra 1 person ($27.65 +$15). This is a great meal! My favorite! This has pork back, pork neck, green onion, various vegetables, potatoes in a traditional korean broth. You can have it mild, little spicy, or spicy.

I find it can fill 4 girls pretty well without adding the extra $15.

Since we left the table a mess, it was a good night.

Words of Wisdom:

Amazing korean hot pot
Open SUPER late – 2am and 5am

We rate Jang Mo Jib:

Website: www.jangmojib.ca

Address:

1719 Robson St
Vancouver, B

In Japanese

Kura Japanese Restaurant

January 15, 2011

Since I go to Bubble Word often at Night, I always pass by Kura and it is always closed. Their ornate Japanese doors have always made me curious about this place. This curiosity made me look up every single Urbanspoon review about Kura – Chow Times, Parker Pages, The Friday Lunch, and Deeeelish.

This place seemed legit and has a long history. They have this location in Burnaby for about 14 years and another one in Japan for 25 years. They even have specials to celebrate their long legacies with both locations.

M and I decided to head over here after class for a night afternoon lunch.

The interior had very high ceilings and tables that are sectioned off with high walls. You and your friends really reel like you have lots of privacy. They also have a bar were you can sit and watch the chefs prepare your dishes.

They really emphasize their dedication to fresh daily sashimi by having a Chef feature on all their special sashimi for the day. Certain types of sashimi sell really fast.

At first glace of this picture, is this kimchi?

This is certainly not! This is Spicy Tuna Sashimi ($6.95). No kimchi ever made its way to this dish, even though it does look like kimchi.

You get a lot of sashimi for the price. The special Kura spicy sauce they have in this dish is sesame oil and hot sauce I think. It was really well made and we would get this again.

The next dish we ordered was a Small Beef Sashimi ($5.95). It came with ponzu sauce, green onions and radish. The biggest problem we had with this dish was that it was still frozen. They didn’t give it enough time to defrost, so the first piece we had were crunchy and icy.

We did wait till we finished the rest of our dishes to finish off this dish. Once the beef fully defrosted, it was really good.

M didn’t have a big stomach for the day, so he ordered Unagi ($7.95). You get 2 slabs of unagi. It came in a nice sweet glaze to flavour the eel.

M and I are still on the search for the best Ebi Mayo, so we always have to order it at a Japanese Restaurant. Kura’s Ebi Mayo ($7.95), was nicely prepared and perfectly butterflied to remove the “vein” and it made enough surface area for the mayo to adhere to the ebi.

Nothing was wrong with this dish, but Toratatsu’s Ebi Mayo is still superior.

I generally like to try a bit of everything, so I ordered the Combo D ($8.95).

This combo included:

Assorted sushi
Salad
Udon
Tempura

The assorted sushi was quite average. I really did not like how the california roll had so much rice surrounding the ingredients.

The salad had citrus sauce on top of the salad which gave it a really nice bite to the salad. I find that most japanese people like to either add ponzu sauce or citrus sauce over salad.

The tempura that came with the combo was very crisp on the outside and still remained quite firm when dipped in the tempura sauce. The vegetables are sweet potato, yam and zucchini. You get a prawn too.

The last part of the Combo D was the udon. I’m not a fan of udon, but the udon was quite normal and nothing was bad about it.

Words of Wisdom:

Meter parking on street or free parking near residential area close to Waves.
Large assortment of sashimi
Large menu (really! The menu was like a book)
Great prices, most items under $10

We rate Kura Japanese Restaurant:

Address:

4300 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

In Cafe

Leisure Tea & Coffee

January 14, 2011

After eating massive amounts with FinanceGirl and SFUPretender, we decided we needed a break from all the food to have some tea. The first place in mind to just chill and have tea was Leisure Cafe on Alexandra Road.

The interior is very awkward. The walls are covered in old photographs of European landmarks.

They mainly sell drinks, snacks and desserts.

SFUPretender ordered the Jasmine Tea.

I ordered Oolong Tea.

FinanceGirl ordered the Earl Grey Tea.

The teas taste like normal teas, so there not much to explain. Each drink was about $4 or $5. I can’t remember exactly. You could probably get it for way cheaper if you were just at home.

Another review will be put up soon about their desserts.

Words of Wisdom:

Free Parking in back (usually full)
Large variety of sweet and chinese tea

We rate Leisure Cafe:

Address:

1110-8391 Alexandra Rd
Richmond, BC

In Cafe

Cattle Cafe

January 14, 2011

Cattle Cafe may sound familiar if you have been to Cattle Hot Pot in Richmond on Alexandra Road. Same company, different style of food.

Cattle Cafe is a Hk style cafe serving up delicious meal…and are famous for their noodles.

They are usually packed during peak hours, they have limited seating, so big groups may have to wait.

Tea comes in this cute cup.

I ordered a cold milk tea ($2.50) to be simple. It tasted fine as usual.

M ordered the Banana Chocolate Milkshake ($4.95). You can really taste the banana and chocolate in it. It was good.

M got the Curry Deep Fried Pork Chop on Rice ($8.75). Comes with 2 pieces of pork chop, rice, curry sauce and a few bits of vegetables. he liked it.

I ordered the Unagi (eel) sandwich with fries ($5.75).The presentation looked normal for an HK Cafe. What puzzeled me was how could they offere an unagi sandwich for only $5. So, I opened up the sandwich and the eel does not cover 1/3 of the sandwich. I was sad because always like eating every bite with all the ingredients…especially the part with protein.

It is quite obvious their unagi was frozen and just heated up…the fries probably were too. But, this is a cafe, so we can’t expect everything to be fresh or else prices would be higher.

The overall tast was fine. Simple sandwich and it had taste.