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Two Beakers

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bnb-cafe-counter

Brews and Bites Cafe open on Main Street near 2nd last Monday. Despite what you initially think, they do not brew beer, but they do brew coffee. My coworkers noticed this place a few weeks ago and we made it a mission to come give it a try. Since we work in the area, we basically have had coffee and eaten at most places in the area. When something new comes to the hood, we’re on it. hahaha.

bnb-cafe-inner

The interior is beautiful and has a good amount of seating. There is free wifi and is a comfortable space to work.

bnb-cafe-cappuccino-croissant

Cappuccino was delicious, nice and foamy. A good start to the day. I would be a nice touch if they had customized the to-go coffee cups rather than the generic ones.

Croissant was pretty bad. It was dense and didn’t taste very fresh.

My other coworkers got breakfast sandwiches and they all didn’t like those either and said it was too salty.

bnb-cafe-sign

I had higher expectations for this place as the space looks really nice. Coffee is decent, but the food really needs to improve if it wants to survive in this area. They definitely have a lot of competition since Starbucks, Terra breads, Tim Hortons, McDonalds and Matchstick Coffee is a few blocks away.

We rate Brews and Bites Cafe

Address:
1635 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.bandbcafe.com/

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express-bbt-deep-cove-view

I’ve gotten into hiking in the last few weeks. Vancouver is just so beautiful that I need to soak up as much sun as possible before the rain comes back in the Fall. I can’t eat out all the time. I have to balance out all the eating somehow right? Deep Cove for the Quarry Rock hike is my favourite since it’s short and there’s a great view. It’s no Grouse Grind, but it will do for now.

express-bbt-outer

We wanted to grab a juice or smoothie after the hike since we were thirsty and hot. Looking at the limited options at Deep Cove, we decided to check out Express Bubble Tea.

express-bbt-inner

We saw that they sell fresh fruit smoothies, so we made this our stop.

express-bbt-wall

They have a loyalty program, so you can see all the stamp cards on all their walls. I thought it was also weird how they were storing the fruit in the boxes on the floor.

express-bbt-strawberry-banana

Pineapple Strawberry smoothie ($5.49) wasn’t exactly fresh as they advertised. They did use real strawberries, but their pineapples were canned. You know, the ones that are preserved and dunked in syrup. I could taste the canned pineapple taste. It’s quite distinct to me since I hate them on pizza.

My friend ordered a Gyros Sandwich and they just microwave the meat to get it warmed up. I had a look of disgust on my face, but I felt like they were not pass a food safety test. He didn’t get sick, but it weirded me out.

My other friend got the peach and mango smoothie and requested no sugar to be added. The person at the shop didn’t listen and put in a few pumps of liquid sugar. Also, all her fruits were canned instead of the fresh fruit as advertised.

Perhaps I’ve grown to have higher standards for smoothies? I think I was just more mad that the fruit wasn’t 100% fresh for the smoothies.

We Rate Bubble Tea Express:

Address:
4377 Gallant Avenue,
North Vancouver

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osushi-sign

O Sushi is located right by Vancouver City Centre Skytrain. I’ve always walked by in the past never thinking much about this restaurant. A few days ago when my coworker suggested this place for lunch and I thought I should give this place a chance and have lunch here.

osushi-inner

They were having technical issues with their TVs, so there was a technician working on them during the lunch hour rush. Probably not a normal occurrence, but it didn’t seem to bother anyone.

osushi-menu

The menu is pretty simple with a few combos, specialty rolls and bento boxes. They also so healthier options with black rice. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it has what you need for lunch.

osushi-seat

You order up at the counter and then you are given an electronic device that buzzes when your order is ready at the counter.

osushi-bento

Sashimi Bento ($11.75) has your choice of chicken or beef teriyaki on rice, 4 pieces of sashimi, tempura and salad. It was a decent bento box if you’re looking for a quick lunch in the Downtown area. The quality was average and you can tell by the ingredients they use. There are canned mandarine oranges on the salad with a citrus dressing.

The tempura had quite a lot of bland batter. It could have used a bit more salt. The tuna and salmon sashimi were good but the other sashimi that came with it was more tough and chewy. Chicken Teriyaki was pretty meh.

Decent, but not greatest or worst bento box I’ve had. My other coworkers got udon and the specialty rolls and they thought it was decent too.

We Rate O Sushi:  

Address:
742 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Website: 
http://osushivancouver.com/

O Sushi on Urbanspoon

bubba-gump-shrimp-outer

We spent a whole day in Disneyland and needed a late night snack. Close to our hotel is a Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant inspired by the movie Forest Gump. If you are a fan of the movie, you gotta visit this place at least once. It’s a good thing I watched Forest Gump a few weeks ago, so I understood all the little references it makes to the movie.

They have happy hour daily from 9:30pm until closing. Also, Monday to Friday from 3:30 to 5:30pm. Select items on their happy hour are $4 – $6. Select drinks are $3 to $6. Great deals!

bubba-gump-shrimp-inner

Since 9:30pm is quite late, the restaurant is pretty empty. Everyone must have been tired from all the Disney Parks madness. We were all tired, but we needed some food.

bubba-gump-shrimp-sign

At your table, you have these license places that have 2 sayings to indicate if you need assistance.

  • Run, Forest, Run = Everything is A OK
  • Stop, Forest, Stop = I need some service here

bubba-gump-shrimp-beer

We grabbed a beer to go with the meal. $5 for imported pints. It’s been a few weeks so I forgot what type of beer we ordered.

bubba-gump-shrimp-dip

Bubba’s Far Out Dip ($4) has spinach, roasted red peppers, artichokes and Monterey Jack cheese with homemade Tortilla chips. The dip was really good and creamy. It probably has a lot of fat but we’re on vacation so we eat everything.

bubba-gump-shrimp-sauteed

Cajun Shrimp ($6) is sautéed in a hot and spicy cajun butter sauce. It is also served with garlic bread. It wasn’t very spicy at all. The quality of the shrimp were ok but not great.

bubba-gump-shrimp-taco

Fried Fish Tacos ($6) is pretty disappointing, its breaded fish with cheese and lettuce with a side of lime. You can just avoid these at all costs unless you order a side of salsa and sour cream.

bubba-gump-shrimp-sampler

Shrimper’s Heaven ($21.49) has hand breaded coconut shrimp, chilled shrimp, fried shrimp, and Japanese style tempura shrimp with fries. It also comes with a few sauces – Tangy Asian, Cajun Marmalade, and Zesty Cocktail.

This items is a good way to try all their different shrimp.

bubba-gump-shrimp-bucket

Overall, the food is pretty meh. I didn’t care much for it. I don’t think I would come here again.

We Rate Bubba Gump Shrimp

Address:
321 W Katella Ave Anaheim

Website:
http://www.bubbagump.com/

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on Urbanspoon

tacomio-outer

Tacomio is a new taco place that opened up near Tinsel Town. The corner of Abbot and Hastings was marred by a run down hotel, but since then has been torn down and rebuilt as nice retail locations. There is a Frank Oak shop as well as a new coffee place opening up very soon.

tacomio-order

The Tacomio staff was very friendly, and for the first few days of launch, is giving away free guac and chips, as well as a Hibiscus Limeade with a purchase of a meal. The tacos are the small soft kinds aka, authentic one’s made even more popular by La Taqueria down the street. You get to choose any 4 tacos for $10

I chose the Chicharron (Pork Rinds), Carnitas (Confit Pork), Cochinita Pibil (Pork), and Tinga de Pollo (Chicken). They also had a nice number of salsa and sauce ranging from super mild 1, all the way to La Bomba 8.

tacomio-meal

The tacos themselves, were super bland in my opinion. Putting La Bomba on them helped a little bit, but the meats themselves were not flavourful at all. I was expecting a Meat and Bread type of Pork and rinds for the Chicharron, but instead, they were whole pork rinds that were soaked in marinade, creating a consistency of fat and slime. While I was waiting in line, I saw one of the employees dump shredded pork from a vacuum sealed bag, which was a foreshadowing of tastes to come.

The best part of the meal was the drink for sure. The most depressing part of the meal was that if they didn’t give the drink and chips away for free, my meal would have costed $17! Definitely did not feel my bang for my buck. With similar prices but more delicious tacos at 3 nearby locations La Taqueria, La Casita, and Tacofino Gastown, I find little draw to come here. Tacomio doesn’t seem to have any specific edge over their competition, nor does it stand up on its own.

We Rate Tacomio:

Address:
435 Abbott St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.tacomio.ca/

Tacomio on Urbanspoon

Rehanahs-Roti-plate

Rehanah’s Roti is located in Port Moody and they specialize in Trinidadian wraps made of roti. I pass by this restaurant all the time, but I thought it was about time I stopped here for a bite to eat.

KoreanGirl and I came here for a quick lunch before heading to Coquitlam Centre to do some shopping.

Rehanahs-Roti-inner

The interior is very simple and nothing fancy. It is run my one lady who is also the chef, which I will assume she is Rehanah. When we came here no one was inside, but she will come out to take orders and bring out the food. Otherwise, she’s just in the back.

Rehanahs-Roti-celebs

Looks like there have been some famous people eating here.

Rehanahs-Roti-chicken

Chicken Roti ($9.75) was filled with mostly potatoes and chicken. Koreangirl thought it was ok, but it did seem a bit bland. It comes with a slice of watermelon and it helps to really cut the heaviness of the roti.

Rehanahs-Roti-lamb

Goat Roti ($11.50) was what I ordered to try to be more adventurous. It kinda tastes like lamb. It was an experience trying Trinidadian food, but I felt the flavours really didn’t shine through. I also found it to be pretty bland, but then again I’ve never had Trinidadian food, so I’m not expert on this cuisine.

Overall, I didn’t find the food here that special, but then again where else can you get Trinidadian Roti?

We Rate Rehanah’s Roti:

Address:
2518 St Johns St
Port Moody, BC

Rehanah's Roti on Urbanspoon

good-wolf-outer

Good Wolfe? Good Wolf? I’m not quite sure which name they are going for. Weird how they have dropped the ‘e’ in their name. It turns out Chef Josh Wolfe, the original owner has left the restaurant earlier this year. Good Wolf has been on my list for a while, but too bad I didn’t come here sooner before he left.

Good Wolf Kitchen and Bar specializes in European food and they try to get most of their ingredients sourced from the West Coast.

I came here for brunch with a few of my friends to catch up over some good food.

good-wolfe-inner

good-wolfe-back

good-wolfe-juice

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice ($4) comes from across the street at Chaser’s Fresh Juice & Deli. Its yummy and has a good amount of pulp.

good-wolfe-hash

Kale & Potato Hash ($12) has 2 soft poached eggs, chorizo, mushroom, and hollandaise sauce. CanuckGirl and FloRida thought this dish was quite one dimensional and missed the mark. The hash really wasn’t as flavourful as they had imagined.

good-wolfe-BELT

Signature B.E.L.T ($14) has house cured bacon, fried egg, lettuce and tomato. It is served with home fries on the side. The bun was an interesting surprise because this made it seem more like a burger. With the amount of bun, the ingredients inside really didn’t shine through. Plus, those home fries needs some work.

good-wolfe-spaetzel

Breakfast Spaetzle ($12) has 2 soft poached eggs, bacon, chorizo, and maple syrup. The eggs were so soft that the yolk just popped right out. I do like a good soft poached egg. The bacon was really the best part of the dish as it added more flavour. It was quite a large portion and I could barely finish it.

good-wolfe-toast

Cinnamon Brioche French Toast ($13) has a blueberry compote, whipped cream, and maple syrup. This was really good! The french toast has a nice crunchy exterior and the blueberry compote was yummy.

Overall, the french toast was a winner, but every other dish we ordered wasn’t as delicious.

We Rate Good Wolf Kitchen and Bar

Address:
1043 Mainland St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.goodwolfe.ca/home.html

Good Wolfe Kitchen & Bar on Urbanspoon

steeltoad-inner

Steel Toad Brewpub and Dining Hall opened a few weeks ago and they are already buzzing. Long lines on Fridays and the weekends. The dining hall is 2 floors and the top floor is mostly for larger groups. We saw a lot of kids, so it is a popular place to bring the kids or infants and have a beer. Mount Pleasant is really buzzing with all these microbreweries opening up in the neighbourhood.

The venue has beautiful decor and ambiance, they do have live music every night too.

steeltoad-upper

It was intimidating to go inside because we were confronted by their doormen that acted like bouncers warning us of the 1 hour wait and trying to detour everyone away from the doors. I totally understand since it would be a fire hazard. It really was a busy night, but luckily, I made reservations a week in advanced since I knew no other restaurant in town would have seats open for 15 people.

It was really packed inside. Some of my friends that joined us a little bit later had troubles coming in too. My friends were a couple and the staff didn’t believe they were with our party, so they sent them upstairs to us one by one a few minutes a part. This really made no sense at all.

steeltoad-blonde

Blonde was one of their house beers for October 2014. I ordered this one because it is one of their lightest beers. They brew it in small batches, so if the run out, it’s gone. This beer was quite popular, so by the time we finished our first glass, we couldn’t order more.

steeltoad-cucumber

Marinated Tuna ($14) has cucumber, avocado, citrus, Thai chili, and caper vinaigrette.  For the price, we imagined it be larger. It tasted ok, but it’s too expensive for what you get.

steeltoad-soup

Carrot and Rabbit Soup ($7) has walnut, apple, and sultana. TaiwaneseGirl thought the soup was ok but nothing special.

steeltoad-salad

Crispy Duck Salad ($12) has pea shoots, cress, pickled daikon & carrot,and  black sesame.

steeltoad-burger

The Burger ($13) has cheddar, lettuce, tomato, sesame bun, with their special sauce. You also get a side of their hand cut fries. The burger wasn’t anything special and a few of the burgers were overcooked. The friends that ordered this thought it was meh.

steeltoad-mussels

Mussels and House Ale ($20) is served with grilled garlic baguette. The mussels were large and plump, very delicious with the House Ale sauce. The grilled garlic baguette was pretty charred, so it tasted mostly burnt. Besides that part, the mussels were good.

steeltoad-shepardspie

Sheppards Pie ($16) has  braised lamb stew, butter mash, and crispy shallot. At first glance, everyone thought it was takoyaki, but it was just the butter mash balls. My friends that ordered this dish really liked it. No complaints at all.

steeltoad--cake

It was a birthday party, so we were able to bring in a cake and have them serve it for no extra charge.

Overall, the ambiance of the place was great for large groups, but the service and quality of the food could be improved. Since they have only been open a few weeks, I hope they improve those 2 aspects.

We Rate Steel Toad

Address:
97 E 2nd Ave Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://steeltoad.ca/

Steel Toad Brewpub and Dining Hall on Urbanspoon

baguetteandco-outer

Baguette and Co has a new location by Main and Broadway. This is their third location and the other ones are in Kitsilano and the West End.

The intersection on Main/Broadway is really shaping up! Lots of new restaurants coming into the area. Mags and I came here before work to grab a coffee and a few treats before going into the office.

baguetteandco-inner

They serve up Salt Spring Coffee, sandwiches, pastries, and a variety of desserts.

baguetteandco-chairs

The other side of the cafe has a few seats available. All the seating is in pairs, but I’m sure you can move around the tables.

baguetteandco-sandwiches

baguetteandco-apple baguetteandco-brownie  baguetteandco-croissants   baguetteandco-mini   baguetteandco-pastries

baguetteandco-desk

I just grabbed a Small Cappuccino ($2.95) and 3 mini pastries ($2.95 for 3) to go. The mini croissant, mini chocolate croissant and raisin danish. They didn’t last on my desk for very long. Every email I responded to, I felt a need to eat each little treat.

I like the option of the miniature because you don’t have to eat the whole thing. Sometimes you just need a little taste.

baguetteandco-mini3

The quality of the treats were ok, but it wasn’t anything unique. I also tried some of their brownies and it tastes more like chocolate cake than a brownie. I think they need some tweaking on some of their pastries.

It’s still a good place to go in the morning for coffee and treat before work. There’s lots of pastries to choose from. You can’t go wrong with a muffin.

 We Rate Baguette and Co.:

Address:
2509 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.baguetteandco.ca/index.html

Baguette & Co on Urbanspoon

hanamori-outer

Hanamori Sushi, located beside the Foggy Dew in Coquitlam has been around for years but recently has gone under new management/owners. I’m not exactly sure how this has impacted their menu, but it seems like it’s still similar.

hanamori-inner

The interior has a sushi bar and a few booths. There is limited seating but we didn’t have too much trouble getting a seat on the weekend. Most people did take out.

hanamori-chicken

Chicken Karaage ($4.95) is battered with panko crumbs. The price was good for the portion, but was like eating dry chicken strips. The chicken wasn’t very moist.

KoreanGirl and I heard a lot about their aburi sushi, so we ordered 2 of each. We are suckers for aburi, so we wanted to see how this place compared.

hanamori-salmon-torched

Torched Wild Salmon ($2.95 each) has rice in the centre wrapped in torched wild salmon, and scallops. Then it is topped with tobiko, green onions, teriyaki sauce and hot sauce. I looked unique but I found that the wild salmon was torched for so long that it was fully cooked. The teriyaki sauce and hot sauce didn’t complement the delicate flavours of the seafood.

hanamori-torched-tuna

Torched Tuna Tataki ($1.75 each) was torched till it was cooked. The light sauce on top did not do much for the sushi.

hanamori-torched-ebi

Torched Ebi ($1.75 each) was similar to the others where they were overly torched and made it rubbery. The sauce on top didn’t pair well either.

hanamori-torched-scallop

Torched Scallop ($2.25 each) was not as torched as the other aburi, but the sauce combinations were not good. You can tell there is a Korean-twist to these with the added hot sauce.

hanamori-torched-toro

 Torched Toro ($2.25 each) was what I have been looking forward to. Toro is highly fatty, so it should fall apart in your mouth when you are eating it. Sadly, it was yet again over torched and tasted bland.

I really wanted to like the aburi sushi, but every single piece was torched too much that you miss the delicate flavours of the raw seafood. Plus, the sauce choices that accompany the aburi did not go well with each other.

hanamori-sashimi

As all the seafood was overdone, we needed a taste of something raw, so we got the Salmon and Tuna Sashimi (Half order – $6). The quality of the cuts were ok.

Overall, I was not impressed with the aburi at all. Maybe I have been spoiled by Miku, Minami, and Sushi K. I’ve eaten a lot of aburi over the past few years and Hanamori Sushi definitely misses the mark on what makes an aburi so damn good. KoreanGirl thought it was not good at all and wouldn’t return.

As we didn’t try any of their rolls, we only focused on what we ordered.

We Rate Hanamori Sushi

Address:
#102 511 Rochester Ave
Coquitlam, BC

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

Hanamori Sushi on Urbanspoon

gyoza-bar-outer

Gyoza Bar + Ramen is the third restaurant created by the Aburi Restaurant, which also own upscale restaurants Miku and Minami. Seeing they have 2 killer restaurants, I really wanted to see how Gyoza Bar + Ramen could compare with the other restaurants in town. I came here with CandiedZen for some lunch.

Their signature items here are Teppan Gyoza and their Kaisen Tomato Ramen. You won’t find any sushi here.

gyoza-bar-inner

Gyoza Bar is located in Downtown in an old heritage building and you can see the classic brick walls. You will see the mixture of old and new.

gyoza-bar-kitchwn

The kitchen is open concept, so you can see what they are doing. It’s cool how the staff in the kitchen all wear plaid shirts. Seems so fun and casual.

gyoza-bar-lunch-salad

Gyoza Bar Zen ($17) comes with brown rice, house salad, kale gomae and 12 pieces of pork Teppan Gyoza. The first part of this dish is super healthy. The kale gomae is pretty good.

gyoza-bar-12

Teppan Gyoza uses the ancient cooking technique of using the cast iron pans. They use Fraser Valley pork inside. I had lots of hope for these gyozas but they fell a but flat. one side was a tad crispy and the other side was soft like it had been boiled. These were nothing special.

gyoza-bar-sauce

The gyozas are also served with a spicy garlic soy sauce and an umami sauce.

gyoza-bar-ramen

Umami Lunch Duo ($17) gives you a medium ramen of your choice and 7 pieces of Pork Teppan Gyoza. The Ramen ordered was the Pork Tonkotsu Broth topped with Aburi Pork Char Siu and an egg.

CandiedZen thought it was quite rich, but the over flavour fell flat as there didnt seem to be much depth to the broth.

gyoza-bar-small

Teppan Gyoza (7 pieces) came in a smaller iron pan. The gyozas definitely need more crunch!

Overall, I wasn’t very impressed by the meal considering it was quite expensive for lunch. I’m sure they use high quality ingredients, but the flavours and textures didn’t shine.

We Rate Gyoza Bar + Ramen

Address:
622 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://gyozabar.ca/

Gyoza Bar + Ramen on Urbanspoon

healthfare-outer

Healthfare is a restaurant located in Market Crossing on Marine Drive. They have salads, smoothies, sandwiches, and other healthier items. M and I were passing by and thought we should try it out instead of going to McDonalds.

healthfare-counter

All the menu items have calorie counts if you are into controlling your daily calorie intake.

healthfare-inner

They have a few seats inside but M and I decided to just do take out.

healthfare-smoothies

Strawberry Banana Smoothie ($5.29) was good and you get a nice balance of strawberry and banana. It’s a decent smoothie. Good to have if you’re on the go and need something quick. It is 305 calories.

Mmmango Smoothie ($5.29) had a strange taste, like a strong honey taste. I wonder what type of mango they used.

healthfare-butter-chicken

 Not So Butter Chicken Rice Bowl has 452 calories, which is not bad at all. It has brown rice, which is a nice touch if you hate white rice. It also comes with pita bread and cucumbers. M thought it tasted ok.

healthfare-greeksalad

Greek Village Salad ($7.99) has mixed field greens, english cucumbers, sweet bell peppers, slice red onions, herb goat cheese and balsamic dressing. I needed a basic salad and it came in the large styrofoam container. A few of the field greens were a bit wilted and changing a dull green color. The cucumbers didn’t taste fresh either. It was probably cut up earlier in the day. There also wasn’t enough dressing as it needed more acidity.

Overall, the food was ok, but it needed to be a bit more fresh. Perhaps it’s because I went later in the evening.

We Rate Heathfare:

Address:
7366 Market Crossing
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.healthfare.ca/

Healthfare Restaurant Marine on Urbanspoon

marys-hamburger-outer

Hamburger Mary’s is located on Davie Street right by the intersection of the rainbow crosswalks. Since our favourite brunch place was closed, we needed to find a restaurant that was open for brunch on Davie street.

We stumbled upon Hamburger Mary’s to give it a try.

marys-hamburger-inner

They have patio seating and seats inside. It feels like a diner. One thing we noticed was that the service was slow and non-attentive. It took us a while to get someone to take our order and the food and drinks took forever to arrive. It wasn’t a good start at all.

marys-hamburger-milkshake

Peanut Butter Milkshake was huge! It filled up the entire tin and could easily be split between 2 -3 people. The taste of the peanut butter was very fragrant and make this milkshake amazing.

marys-hamburger-cheesesteak-hash

Philly Cheese Stake Hash has peppers, cheese, beef, with the deep fried potato squares. It is topped with 2 sunny side up eggs and toast.

marys-hamburger-corned-beef-hash

Corned Beef Hash has the corned beef, onions, and fried potato squares and topped with cheese and poached eggs. There’s toast on the sides too.

marys-hamburger-hash-sausage

Chorizo and Mushroom Hash came with slices of toast and my eggs done sunny side up. It was ok, but I hated the fried potato squares. Nothing seemed very fresh and the ingredients didn’t really blend together well.

Even though the portion was large, it was just mostly potatoes. I think it would have been more enjoyable if it was shredded potatoes in the hash.

marys-hamburger-omelette

My other friend got an omelette and it came with potatoes and toast.

Overall, any of Hamburger Mary’s hash dishes are not good. The ingredients don’t bind together and just doesn’t taste good. I would rather just come here for just for the milkshakes.

We rate Hamburger Mary’s:

Address:
1202 Davie St
Vancouver, BC

Hamburger Mary's on Urbanspoon

Chewy-Junior-sign

Chewy Junior opened their first location in Downtown Vancouver inside the Harbour Centre Building. This is their expansion into the North American market. Chewy Junior is a chain of cream puff stores from Singapore. Founder, Kevin Ong experimented with recipes for 2 years before he opened the first store, soon it became a hit and now they are all over the world.

I actually passed by a few time, but from far away, I thought Chewy Junior was a kids clothing store…clearly I was wrong. A few weeks later, M tells me about this new cream puff place that sells out everyday. His coworkers actually tried coming here 3 times for cream puffs, but they seem to have some production issues. When they sell out, they close early…so you may want to call ahead of time.

Chewy-Junior-chocolate

In the store, there is one section of chocolate filled cream puffs with different toppings:

  • Chocolate Oreo Crunch
  • Chocolate Zebra
  • Chocolate Almond Crunch
  • Double Chocolate crunch

Chewy-Junior-fruit

Their other display case has the ones that are vanilla cream filled:

  • Blueberry Cheese
  • Apple Cheese
  • Strawberry Cheese
  • Almond Sweetheart
  • Neoploitan

Chewy-Junior-box

Each cream puff ranges from $2.75-$3.25 a piece. If you get a dozen like how we did, it can get quite pricey. We ended up spending a little under $40 for these 12.

Chewy-Junior-apple-cheese

Apple Cheese Cream Puff has the vanilla cream filling inside of the cream puff, with a cheesy ring on top surrounding the apple topping. At first bite I really didn’t like the combination of the vanilla cream and the cheese. It just made it taste like it was spoiled.

Chewy-Junior-blueberry-cheese

Blueberry Cheese Creampuff had the same filling. M and I both hated this one too. It wasn’t good and the cream puff was soft and not crisp.

Chewy-Junior-chocolate-beads

Double Chocolate Crunch cream puff is filled with chocolate cream, then dipped in chocolate, and topped with crunchy chocolate balls. The chocolate versions are slightly better than the vanilla ones.

Chewy-Junior-double-chocolate

Chocolate Zebra quite similar to the double chocolate crunch cream puff. Meh. The cream tasted like chocolate pudding.

Chewy-Junior-single

Overall, I did not like any of their cream puffs. I would much prefer going to Beta 5 or Bearded Papa. As they are new, they are probably still working out a few kinks.

We Rate Chewy Junior:

Address:
508 W Cordova St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://chewyjunior.ca/

Chewy Junior's on Urbanspoon

ouisi-bistro-outer

Ouisi Bistro is located on Granville Street in Fairview. They are an New Orleans Restaurant in Vancouver serving up Cajun and Creole cuisine. M was missing this food since he hasn’t had it in over 10 years. There really aren’t a lot of restaurants in Vancouver specializing in this type of cuisine. M insisted we come here as I haven’t been here yet. They have been around since 1994.

ouisi-bistro-inner

The dining room is dark, romantic, and filled with Jazz pictures.

ouisi-bistro-patio

They also have an outdoor garden courtyard to dine at. It’s a good option for the Summer if you want to still be out in the sun.

ouisi-bistro-lights

There are even little lights above you….also TONS OF BUGS.

ouisi-bistro-whiskey

Ouisi Bistro has a good collection of single malts and bourbons. So, M got himself an ounce of Ardbeg. He’s been on the search of the best Whiskey, but he didn’t like this one because it had a plastic after taste.

Too bad the first drink had a fly in it, but we asked them to get us a new one.

ouisi-bistro-sausage-seafood

Jambalaya ($17) is a classic Louisiana dish with tomatoes, smoked ham, andouille, chorizo sausage and two sautéed Gulf prawns. The dish comes with corn bread and your choice of 2 sides.

M thought the dish was ok, but did not have much rice. It was mostly the sauce and chorizo. M did not like corn bread either as it was very dry.

ouisi-bistro-seafood

Seafood Creole ($19.75) has Gulf prawns, scallops, mussels and baby shrimp sautéed in their homemade creole sauce. The seafood was not fresh and quite small. This was not worth the price. I was disappointed with this dish.

I think I needed more carbs than just the Corn Bread. Perhaps some rice so it soaks up the sauce.

ouisi-bistro-sides

For our sides that came with our meal, we got Jicama Slaw, Lemon Braised Kale, Sweet Potato-Pecan Hash, and Cajun style Potato Salad. None of them were particularly good.

Overall, the first visit here was disappointing. It took a while for the dishes to come out but nothing tasted fresh…like it was sitting in a pot for a few days waiting for it to be scooped up.

We rate Ouisi Bistro:  

Address:
3014 Granville St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.ouisibistro.com/

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saboten-express

Saboten is the largest Japanese Chain Restaurant for Tonkatsu chain with over 500 shops across the world. They have been open since 2012 in Aberdeen Centre in Richmond BC.

I’ve passed by this place all the time, but I’ve never dined her until now. I’ve always been turned off by the huge lines, but today, there are hardly any lineups. Perhaps the hype has died down.

saboten-mall

It’s always a busy time in the Aberdeen Food Court, the crowds can be a bit crazy during dinner time, but there are a lot of food options.

saboten-plastic

I loved looking at the display food and you are probably going to be mesmerized by how good it looks. FYI, it’s not going to be looking like this at all.

saboten-curry

Tenderloin Katsu Curry set comes with 2 pieces of katsu soaked with the curry sauce. Then you have rice and cabbage on the other side. You also get miso soup and a small container of pickled vegetables.

saboten-set

Tenderloin & Loin Set has miso soup, rice, sesame seeds, pickles, sauce and the tenderloin and loin katsu.

After tasting both of these items, you really don’t get a lot of katsu. Plus, it does’t stay crispy for very long.  I was a bit disappointed in the portions and didn’t satisfy my katsu cravings. I much prefer Zac Zac Curry in Downtown Vancouver.

We Rate Saboten

Address:
4151 Hazelbridge Way
Richmond BC

Website:
http://www.saboten.ca/

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edible-canada-inner

Edible Canada has brunch and TaiwaneseGirl, CanuckGirl wanted to check it out and see how are their eggs bennys. We made reservations online at OpenTable just in case there was a rush of people during the weekend brunch hour.

As the space is big and does have a patio, there were plenty of seats available. Once we got seated, it was hard to get our server to take our order. We weren’t sure why it took so long, but we finally just flagged down anyone to put in our order.

edible-canada-juice

Cyoni Apple Juice ($3.75)

edible-canada-benny

Fish Cake Benny ($17) has poached free range eggs, halibut, salmon, true cod, hollandaise and a side of mixed greens. The eggs were not poached to medium. One was spot on and the other was just hard. The rest of the dish was enjoyable according to CanuckGirl.

edible-canada-poached

Wild Mushroom Benny ($15) has buttermilk biscuit, poached free-range eggs, roasted garlic, spinach, hollandaise and a side of mixed greens. We had a similar issue with the eggs but this one was very runny and the other was hard.

They must have mixed up the eggs or something. It’s too bad they couldn’t make the perfect egg. A true test when going to brunch.

edible-canada-breakfast

EC Breakfast ($12) has scrambled free ranges eggs, cripsy bacon, Sloping Hills Pork and apple sausage, and your choice of hash or butter potato biscuit. Instead of getting a benny like my friends, I got the breakfast because a simple breakfast is a sure way to assess their skills. Everything was good, simple and full of flavour.

Once our meal was done, one of the servers took away our salt, pepper and hot sauce to give to another table. I guess they ran out of extra sets for other tables or something. It would have been ok, but he left our empty plates on the table too. Seemed like he was in a rush to impress the other table.

We Rate Edible Canada:

Address:
1596 Johnston St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.ediblecanada.com/

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bcferries-ferries

Going to Victoria Island on the weekend in the morning is a bit of a pain.  Our Ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal has a Cafe on board called Coastal Cafe. As we got up pretty early, we didn’t make a stop for breakfast, so we decided to have breakfast on board.

bcferries-line

For the morning menu, they have:

  • Waffles
  • Oatmeal
  • Cereal with Milk
  • Eggs (scrambled & fried)
  • Hashbrowns
  • Sausage
  • Bacon
  • Ham
  • Toast
  • Fruit Salad
  • Baked Goods

For their afternoon menu, they have select WhiteSpot items, salad, sandwiches, sushi and other items. You can even get Pirate Paks here.

bcferries-bacon

All Aboard Breakfast ($10.99) has scrambled egg, hash browns, bacon and sausages.

bcferries-toast

It also came with toast.

bcferries-sausage

Bon Voyage Breakfast ($9.75) comes with scrambled eggs, french toast and 3 sausages.

The breakfast is pretty bland and boring, but that’s expected. The eggs tasted very bland and you need some ketchup smothered on top. You can’t go wrong with the bacon or sausages.

We Rate Coastal Cafe

Location:
BC Ferries

Website:
http://www.bcferries.com/onboard-experiences/amenities/coastalcafe.html