Category

Cafe

Category

Lily Mae's

Lily Mae’s Comfort Cafe is located in the heart of Gastown. I came here with coworkers on the weekend to have some brunch. If you are looking for some comfort food, its a nice place to go to. They serve brunch on weekends from 10am till 3pm.

Lily Mae's

The cafe is very small but has a very cozy place to chat and chow down on food. Very adorable! The brick walls, the little windows and of course the hipster centrepieces on the tables.

They also have an small upper area for larger groups.

Lily Mae's

Coffee was needed or else I would have fallen asleep.

Lily Mae's

Maple Black Peppercorn Bacon ($4.50) is an expensive price to pay for 2 strips of bacon. Nonetheless, DeeBee enjoyed it and loved the flavour.

Lily Mae's

Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes ($10) is served with real maple syrup and strawberries on top. You get 3 big fluffy pancakes and it will definitely fill you up.

Lily Mae's

The Sunny Day Benny ($14) is a favourite on their menu. It has crab, avocado, and tomato smothered in hollandaise sauce. You get to choose your side of fried potatoes or mixed greens. There are a few pieces of fruit on the side too.

Magz really enjoyed the benny and would highly recommend it. She said there was a lot of crab in these bennies.

Lily Mae's

Chorizo Breakfast Wrap ($11) has scrambled eggs, basil pesto, chorizo and cheddar. I chose to have mixed greens as my side. The salad was pretty good and it had blueberries and cherry tomatoes. The wrap isn’t anything fancy, but the ingredients just go well together. Definitely comfort food that won’t destroy your waistline.

Overall, the food was good, but the wait time did take a while. They definitely need to work on their executing and timing a bit more.  Granted, they did warn us it might take a while and a large group put in their order ahead of us. Once the food did arrive, we ate pretty quickly.

We Rate Lily Mae’s:

Address:
12 Powell Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.lilymaes.ca/

Lily Mae's Comfort Café on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=12+Powell+Street+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=12+Powell+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6A+1E7&z=15 “]

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

It’s been a while since my last visit to Miura Waffle and Milk Bar. They were previously located on Davies and Howe, but have now moved to their new location on Main street close to Broadway. They serve made to order sweet and savoury waffle sandwiches.

During lunch, I came with my coworkers to indulge in some savoury sandwiches.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

When you enter the restaurant, you have to go up to the counter to order first. The interior isn’t very large but it is still larger than its previous location. Most of the tables are in 2s and 4s, but if you have more people, just combine more tables.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

Mango Passion Yoggy Milk was ordered by my coworker and it wasn’t very good. It did not have a substantial amount of texture to it and was runny and thin.

Strawberry Yoggy milk is like a strawberry milkshake but more tangy. This is probably the best out of all their flavours for yoggy milk. The texture was nice and thick like those YOP yogurt drinks.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

 Bulgogi Sando is their top flavour for savoury sandwiches apparently. It has beef, egg sauce, kimchi & bulgogi sauce in side the waffle. my coworker liked it but it was a tad messy to eat. You eat it like a normal sandwich with no forks or knives.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

Hoisin Sando has hoisin pork sausage, cilantro, cucumber, pickled radish & carrot in the waffle. The pickled vegetables reminded Magz of a Bahn Mi sandwich. She liked it so much she came back a few days later.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

 Wasabi Salmon sando has salmon, lettuce, herbs & wasabi ranch. The wasabi was subtle and doesn’t really make you cry. It’s a nice balance between the salmon and wasabi mayo. It wasn’t too messy to eat and nothing fell out of the sandwich while eating.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

One thing that I did notice is that the salmon was baked into the waffle. HOW COOL IS THAT? The reason why the salmon didn’t fall out was that it was there stuck in the waffle batter.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

All of the sandwiches come with Deep-fried Nori chips on the side. They are crisp seaweed pieces. It tasted ok, but need a little something extra. I’m not exactly sure what, but it sure needs some improvement.

Overall, they have a really cute concept of waffle sandwiches. The food was alright, but there are a few kinks they need to work out.

We Rate Miura Waffle Milk Bar: 

Address:
2521 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.miurawafflemilkbar.ca/

Miura Waffle Milk Bar on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2521+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=2521+Main+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T&z=16″]

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-outer

Patisserie Für Elise is a pastry shop and tea salon in Downtown Vancouver. It’s quite a cute location since its located in a house instead of a larger building. You know once you lay your eyes on this place, you just are curious to take a peak inside.

I came here with some of my bridesmaids to catch up, since it’s hard to get us together since half of them are on the east coast.

I heard of Patisserie Fur Elise a few years ago at the Vancouver Bakers Market before they opened up their shop. It is great to see the owners dream become reality with their new store.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-first-floor

When you enter, the first floor is their retail space with a few pastries, teas and little trinkets to buy.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-shop

There’s macarons on the left and pastries on the left.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-item

There’s tea sets too.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-shop-item

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-window

Patisserie Für Elise

On the second floor, the tea salon is located there. There’s one main room and another room in the back.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-prep

They do all their baking on the first floor in the kitchen and they set up all the tea sets in this area.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-logo

It costs $30 per person for a 2 hour seating and you get the following:

  • Your selection of tea
  • a layer of savory items
  • scones
  • Chef’s choice starter
  • a layer of sweet items

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-afternoon-tea

The items do vary, so its hard to say what exactly you get since they like to switch it up. I found the items listed on their website to be less accurate. The menu that you get here is pretty accurate.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-tea-menu

On the right page, you have all the teas to choose from.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-cups

Shortly after, our tea sets arrived.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-pot

A little while later, out pots arrived. You get a little timer and you can wait for the time to count down.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-pour

You have a bird to strain out the tea leaves. You pour your tea through this, but we found that some tea leaves did not get caught.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-tea

I ordered China Jasmine Premium tea and I found that it needed more than a minute to steep. My other friends got the Blue Earl Grey tea and they didn’t need to steep for very long, unless you want it strong.

Our settings didn’t come with milk and sugar, so we had to ask them for it. Usually it comes with it already on the table, but we found this strange.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-set

After about 40 minutes since we got here, we got our tea set. It seemed a bit long for them to put it together especially when are can only have a 2 hour seating. Nonetheless, we dug in and chatted about life.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-panna-cotta

Chef’s Choice starter is a blueberry panna cotta it was really good! The panna cotta had a lot of yummy vanilla beans and the blueberry compote on top just paired perfectly. There is also a little gold leaf on top.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-bottom

We began with the bottom layer of scones and savouries.

  • Prosciutto brie and fresh basil sandwich
  • Cucumber dill finger sandwich
  • Asparagus and mushroom quiche
  • Scone with cheddar and pancetta
  • Scone with almond streusel

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-cucumber

Cucumber dill finger sandwich was simple but very good. The position on the cucumber threw us off, so we just moved it to the other side and began eating away. I really liked the creaminess of the center.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-onion

Asparagus and mushroom quiche was a tad small, so it was hard to really taste the depth of flavour.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-croissant

Prosciutto, brie and fresh basil croissant sandwich was my weakness. I can’t resist prosciutto and brie. The croissant wasn’t crunchy, but it was a bit limp. It would be nice if it had more of a crunch to it.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-scone

Scone with Almond Strusel is best with their housemade jam. We asked them for some clotted cream and it makes the scone much enjoyable.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-savory-scone

Scone with cheddar and pancetta was good. Every time I bite into some pancetta, I would be in heaven. I really like meat.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-dessert

Next, we devoured into the sweet tier.

  • Maple Pecan Daisy Tartlet
  • Tiramisu
  • Mini Fur Elise
  • Honey madeleine
  • Macaron

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-walnut

Maple Pecan Daisy Tartlet was very cute and not too sweet. The texture of the pecan with the maple was nice.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-cheesecake

Tiramisu was bit size and had some chocolate balls on top.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-strawberry-cheesecake   

Mini Fur Elise was like a strawberry mousse. It was really good and hidden inside is a slice of strawberry. Good flavours and this was my favourite dessert.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-madeline

Honey madeleine was topped with powdered sugar. My friends liked it, but I didn’t really enjoy it.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-macarons

The macarons were were tough and chewy. They looked pretty, but no one liked them. Very disappointing since we were looking forward to devouring these.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-box

Some of us couldn’t finish, so they gave us boxes to pack up our goodies. We wanted to pack our items ourselves since we knew the service would take a while to help us pack it. Even when we asked for the boxes, it took them a while to get them too.

Patisserie-Fur-Elise-chairs

Overall, the ambiance is very nice and perfect for high tea or any special occasion. The food items included in the afternoon tea was decent and will fill you up. Unfortunately, the service was slow was annoying. There is definitely room for improvement.

We Rate Patisserie Für Elise

Address:
847 Hamilton street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.patisseriefurelise.com/

Patisserie Für Elise on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=847+Hamilton+street+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=847+Hamilton+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B&z=15″]

Les Faux Bourgeois

Les Faux Bourgeois has been on my list of places to eat for a long time. I just never had the right group or occasion to come here. MedicalGiraffe brought together a few of my friends for an intimate engagement party. Just the right occasion right? We made a reservation for 9 and was just 1 person shy of trying their prix fixe menu for 10. This worked out fine since not everyone was very hungry. The only time available was 5pm, so that explains why we were not hankering for lots of food.

Les Faux Bourgeois is a French restaurant, I suppose you can guess that by their name. They have had rave reviews and have won many awards over the past few years.

Les Faux Bourgeois

We were not seated in the bistro area, but we were seated in their cafe area. It was definitely intimate and we took up most of the space except for the bar seating and a table for 2.

Les Faux Bourgeois

Complimentary Bread arrived at the table with some butter. It wasn’t heated up, so it was cold and boring.

Les Faux Bourgeois

I enjoyed my dinner with a beer. Their wine menu has a good selection, but their beers are quite limited.

Les Faux Bourgeois

Escargots de Bourgogne ($9) are snails. Thats right, SNAILS. They aren’t that scary, but they have a chewy texture and drowned in the garlic butter/parsley combo.

Les Faux Bourgeois

Ris de Veau ($12) has seared sweetbreads, rémoulade, watercress and pickles. Just so you know, sweetbreads are glands of a lamb. No carbs here.

Les Faux Bourgeois

Soupe a l’oignon grantinee ($9) has caramelized onions, smoked bacon, Gruyère, and Mozzarella. I think I was anticipating this dish way too much and it just tasted ok. M said it was ok too, but he still prefers the french onion soup at Chez Meme Baguette Bistro.

Les Faux Bourgeois

Pleurotes ($17) has grilled oyster mushrooms, parsnip purée, brussels sprouts, squash, kale, hazelnuts, and brown butter. MedicalGiraffe likes this dish and it was sure yummy.

It was a perfect mesh of winter vegetables. Squash was soft and sweet, brussel sprouts crispy, kale still had their crunch and mushrooms were delectable.

All the flavours blended together well while still maintaining their own texture and taste

Les Faux Bourgeois

Moules Marinieres ($17) or best known as mussels and fries. The mussels are cooked in a white wine, garlic and parsley sauce. The pommes frites are on the side and you can dip them into the aioli sauce or into the broth.

The mussels were quite large and absorbed the delicious sauce but Chambar still knocks the socks off mussels and fries.

Les Faux Bourgeois

Queue de Boeuf ($19) has braised oxtail ragout, king oyster mushrooms, kale, carrot, pommes purée, and crispy leeks.

Les Faux Bourgeois

Le Steak Frites ($19) has Hanger steak served with fries. M chose to have his rare and it came out perfect. He chose to have the  green peppercorn cream sauce and he likes it. You get half a plate of meat and other other half of the plate is piled with fries. If you aren’t into fries, you can swap it out for salad.

Les Faux Bourgeois

Filet De Boeuf Grille ($23) has tenderloin with potato gratin and glazed vegetables. You can have your choice of sauce – red wine shallot jus, herb butter or green peppercorn cream sauce.

Overall, we had a good time at Les Faux Bourgeois some of the food was a hit or a miss, but most were average. French food isn’t my favourite cuisine, but it takes a certain type of person to appreciate French cuisine.

We Rate Les Faux Bourgeois

Address:
663 E 15th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.lesfauxbourgeois.com/

Les Faux Bourgeois on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=663+E+15th+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=663+E+15th+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T+2R6&z=16″]

Finding good dessert in Burnaby is tough! A few months ago, I came here and I was hooked! Good waffles and dessert is in Burnaby. We drove from Coquitlam just to get some yummy waffles. They are open quite late, so it a perfect place to chat with friends or study.

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee is located in South Burnaby behind Highgate Mall. There is parking out front, but if it’s a busy time, it would be best to park at Highgate and then walk a short distance up.

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee

Double Brussels Waffles Combo comes with two crispy brussels waffles, fresh strawberries, banana, kiwi, powdered sugar, syrup, and whipped cream. Scarface added a side of condensed milk, but they don’t give you very much.

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee

Double Liege Combo comes with 2 liege waffle with different toppings. It looks good and tastes good too.

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee

Matcha Shaved Ice has fresh fruit, red beans, ice cream, mochi, condensed milk, and nuts.

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee

It’s really big, so you definitely want to share with a friend or two. Its good to ask for a hot beverage to do with this drink or else you will be very cold. I tried eating this all by myself and I failed. I only finished about 1/3 of it.

Tealips is now my go to place when I want dessert that is close to home.

We Rate Tealips

Address:
7139 Arcola Way
Burnaby, BC

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=7139+Arcola+Way+Burnaby,+BC&t=m&hnear=Arcola+Way,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5E+2V1&z=17 “]

Le Marché St. George

Le Marche St. George is a little neighbourhood grocery store and cafe in Vancouver right smack in a residential area. It’s really a hidden gem and tucked away from all major streets and businesses. MedicalGiraffe and I came for a drink and discovered this place is the community hub and hangout for people in the neighbourhood. People know each other and it has such a cool vibe.

Le Marché St. George

Can you guess the street that it’s located on? St. George of course!

Le Marché St. George

On a Saturday afternoon, this place was packed! All the seats were occupied and there were long lines. This isn’t a bad thing as it’s a compliment to their success.

Le Marché St. George

Their grocery part of the store isn’t too large, but there’s a lot of things to look at.

Le Marché St. George

If you take a look at their shelves, you’ll find some pretty cool products that you won’t find at usual grocery stores. Instead of asking your neighbour for some cream or sugar, you can just walk a short distance to Le Marche St. George to stock up on something you don’t have.

Le Marché St. George

Milk, eggs, cheese, etc.

Le Marché St. George

There’s even fruits and vegetables.

Le Marché St. George

Their menu has a bunch of coffee, tea, pastry items, snacks, and ice cream.

Le Marché St. George

London Fog (12oz – $3.90)

Latte (12 oz – $3.90) was really good. Nice and strong! Just what I need to keep me awake.

Overall, this place is very cute and is very different than any cafe or grocery store you’ve been to. Definitely a great hangout place on the weekend.

We Rate Le Marche St. George

Address:
4393 St. George Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.marchestgeorge.com/

Le Marché St. George on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4393+St.+George+Street+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=4393+St+George+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V&z=16 “]

Mancakes Bakery

I was strolling around Downtown with MedicalGiraffe and stumbled upon this cute place. ManCakes Bakery Cafe opened up on Robson near Cambie. It’s the cutest cupcake shop that is catered towards men.

No worries, women buy cupcakes here too. Not just for men. The owners came up with ManCakes since they were sick of all the frilly over iced cupcakes. I’ve tried their ManCakes at an event a while ago before they had this location. They are definitely changing up the cupcake game with their unique concept.

Mancakes Bakery

You won’t find the regular flavours of cupcakes here. I was definitely drawn by the sign. Whiskey and lime?

Mancakes Bakery

Inside the store is a loungey area to enjoy some cupcakes and coffee.

Mancakes Bakery

The cupcakes look really cute and the flavours are like food and drinks that you can find at a pub.

Mancakes Bakery

There were 11 different types of cupcakes and it was very hard to figure out which one to get. The cupcakes don’t only sound good but they

Mancakes Bakery

Tool Box ($20) comes with a dozen mini cupcakes. It’s a great way to try all their cupcakes. It makes for great gifts for the office.

The tool box contains:

  • Apple Brie
  • Tequila Pineapple
  • Whiskey Lime
  • Buffalo Wing
  • King Kong
  • Bacon Chili Chocolate
  • Chocolate Red Wine
  • Pink Peppercorn Grapefruit
  • Rum & Coke
  • Breakfast
  • Chicago Popcorn

The flavours that stood out are chocolate red wine, Chicago popcorn, whiskey lime, king kong, rum and coke, and tequila pineapple. One flavour that we thought would be good but wasn’t was the Buffalo Wing. M and I didn’t like the sweet and savoury taste of it. Personal preferences.

You can eat the mini cupcakes in 2 bites.

Mancakes Bakery

Overall, the cupcakes were moist and had a great balance of flavour and quite innovative. A fun cupcake to give to any man or woman.

We Rate ManCakes

 Address:
288 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://mancakesbakery.com/

ManCakes Bakery on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=288+Robson+Street+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=288+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+6A1&z=16 “]

Bread and Croquette

There is a little hidden gem in Hondgae. M and I wanted to go for some croquettes at Chilli cha cha but it was closed. His cousin told us there was a better and more famous place, so we headed there. We tried going at 2pm to see if they had any croquettes left, but unfortunately, they sold out.

I’m not exactly sure why Koreans go crazy over these croquettes, but they must be good to have 10+ people line up prior to them opening.

Bread and Croquette

They open at 12pm and 4pm. They close when they sell out. Usually they sell out 30 minutes after they open. We came back at 3:45 and these was already a huge line up. As we were told it was the best, we just had to come eat the best. I clearly have an addiction to food when travelling.

Bread and Croquette

The interior is really small, so there is no room to sit especially when there is a huge line of people waiting to get to the counter.

Bread and Croquette

Duck Jin Oh has a certificate from the American Institute of Baking.

Bread and Croquette

Bread and Croquette

They have a ton of different croquette flavours:

  • Kimchi
  • Curry
  • Red Bean with walnuts
  • Cream cheese
  • Plain Potato

They also have other items like hot dogs and twist bread. Everything is fried in grape seed oil and the oil is changed daily to keep everything fresh and delicious.

Bread and Croquette

The croquettes are the most popular item and you can see people leave with bags and bags of these.

Bread and Croquette

We ordered a bunch as we wanted to try all the flavours, but we couldn’t finish them in one day. The first flavour that we tried was the curry.

Bread and Croquette

It’s nicely fried on the outside.

Bread and Croquette

The inside was packed with the potato and curry mixture. Really good! I had one and I was full. It’s not exactly authentic to Japanese croquettes, but they have their Korean twist to their croquettes.

All of the flavours were good, but I would come back for the curry and kimchi flavours.

We Rate Bread and Croquette 오군수제고로케

Address:
566-6 Yeonnam-dong (62 Donggyo-ro 27-gil)
Mapo-gu, Seoul
South Korea

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=%EB%A7%88%ED%8F%AC%EA%B5%AC+%EC%97%B0%EB%82%A8%EB%8F%99+566-6,+%EC%84%9C%EC%9A%B8%ED%8A%B9%EB%B3%84%EC%8B%9C&ie=UTF8&ll=37.547572,126.90033&spn=0.160327,0.335083&t=m&hnear=566-6+Yeonnam-dong,+Mapo-gu,+Seoul,+South+Korea+(62+Donggyo-ro+27-gil)&z=12″]

Tom's Cat Cafe

Tom’s Cat Cafe in HongDae has the most cats compared to some of the other cat cafe’s in the area. About 33 cats to be exact. The cafe was opened by the owner to share his love of cats. M and his sister really wanted to go find a cat cafe to all the cute little cats.

There’s no official fee to enter, but you just need to purchase a drink.

Tom's Cat Cafe

Before you enter, you must change into slippers and sanitize your hands. You also put your purses in a bag to protect it from the cat hair and then playing with it.

Tom's Cat Cafe

You then have to review the rules of the cafe.

  • Don’t disturb the cat if it doesn’t want attention
  • Don’t pick up any cats

Tom's Cat Cafe

The drinks are 8,000 won.

Tom's Cat Cafe

I got a green tea latte. The drinks were ok, but what you are really coming into the cafe is to play with the cats.

Tom's Cat Cafe

The cats roam around everywhere, so you better not be afraid.

Tom's Cat Cafe

The cafe is surprisingly clean, but it does smell a bit like litter.

Tom's Cat Cafe

nom nom nom the cats get to eat too.

Tom's Cat Cafe

In the middle of the day, a few of them are just chilling and taking a nap.

Tom's Cat Cafe

Totally didn’t know cats could sit like that on benches. This one was a bit camera shy.

Tom's Cat Cafe

This little guy was cute.

Tom's Cat Cafe

M really got into playing with the cats.

Tom's Cat Cafe

It’s great when some of the cats come to you and wants some attention.

Tom's Cat Cafe

This was the crazy two colored eye cat.

Overall, the cafe is a great place to go if you love cats. The drinks are ok, but it’s more about the cats. If you spend an hour or so here, you’ll definitely be sneezing because of all the cat dander. I’m usually not allergic to cats, but coming here affecting my sinuses.

We Rate Tom’s Cat Cafe: 

Address:
3F, 358-125, Seogyo-dong,
Mapo-gu, Seoul-si

Website:
http://www.tomscat.com/ 

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=3F,+358-125,+Seogyo-dong,+Mapo-gu,+Seoul&t=m&hnear=358-125+Seogyo-dong,+Mapo-gu,+Seoul,+South+Korea+(26+Wausan-ro+21-gil)&z=15 “]

JJ Bean

JJ Bean has open their latest location in False Creek on 1st Avenue.  It’s spacious and has a good amount of seats to just chill and have some coffee or even set up your laptop and study.

There’s lots of natural light that shines through the windows and is very relaxing. They have excellent coffee, but as we already had our morning coffee, we opted for juice and some yummy lunch.

JJ Bean

Curried Butternut Squash Soup (Large) was had it for here, so we got a side of salad. The large size was quite big. Magz had a hard time finishing it, so she had to take it to go.

JJ Bean

Spicy Southwest Chicken Wrap has a spicy chipotle mayo, cilantro chimichurri rice, corn, black beans, tomato, monterey jack cheese and roasted chicken breast in a spinach tortilla. I had the wrap here, so we got a salad on the side.

As a quick lunch and it was pretty good. Lunch with no fuss. It’s a good addition to the area.

We Rate JJ Bean:

Address:
188 West 1st Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://jjbeancoffee.com/

JJ Bean on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=188+West+1st+Avenue+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=188+W+1st+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5Y&z=14″]

Coquitlam-Grill

Heading to Coquitlam early in the morning, what better way to have breakfast than to go to Coquitlam Grill. It has been here for a very long time and is a local favourite. They serve up breakfast, lunch and dinner.

At 10am, the parking lot was packed and you can see some seniors standing around hanging out with their friends.

Coquitlam-Grill

The interior is the same as a Knight and Day because that was the previous restaurant that occupied the space.

Coquitlam-Grill

There’s tons of seats, so its great for large parties. It’s usually packed on the weekends, but we came here early, so there were seats still in the back.

Coquitlam-Grill

French Toast with sausages, eggs, and hash browns. Comes with a side of butter and syrup.

Coquitlam-Grill

European Breakfast with sausage, perogies, sour cream and eggs.

Coquitlam-Grill

Truckers Breakfast has eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast sausage and hash browns.

Coquitlam-Grill

The truckers breakfast also comes with pancakes. It’s a huge meal.

All the breakfast items were pretty solid. Good ol’ breakfast. The portions are huge and definitely worth the price. It’s a favourite breakfast location for locals and you get your moneys worth. You will walk out happy and full.

The restaurant also has free wifi.

We Rate Coquitlam Grill

Address:
108 – 2635 Barnet Highway
Coquitlam, BC

The Coquitlam Grill on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=108+-+2635+Barnet+Highway+Coquitlam,+BC&t=m&hnear=2635+Barnet+Hwy,+Coquitlam,+British+Columbia+V3E+1K9&z=16 “]

Paris Baguette

Paris Baguette can be found all over South Korea. You are 100% guaranteed to bump into this place somewhere on the street as there are over 2,900 locations. They have sandwiches, cakes, buns, drinks, and pastries. While I was in Korea, I probably came here almost everyday to get some breakfast or snack. It’s just convenient and sometimes open 24 hours.

They even have a few locations in North America, specifically in California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Paris Baguette

All the tables are filled with bread. There is even a little seating area too for you to enjoy your baked goods here.

Paris Baguette

Bread, bread, bread.

Paris Baguette

More bread.

Paris Baguette

Cheesy Pizza Bread was heated and sliced into 4 pieces. It was cheesy and a hint of sweetness to it.

Paris Baguette

English Muffin with ham, cheese, and egg. Tasted ok, but I wouldn’t eat it again. Needs more filling between the buns.

Paris Baguette

Sausage Wrap has sweet sauce, cheese, egg and fried onions. This was pretty good too.

Paris Baguette

Grapefruit Juice and bottled coffee.

Paris Baguette

Cream cake was for my birthday. It has layers of white cake with cream and fruit. It was good, but as you can tell, the fruit isn’t ask fresh.

Overall, I would stick with their savoury bread items. Those are my favourites. If you are a tourist like me and have no idea what to bring home, they have a few locations inside the Incheon Airport. Great for last-minute gifts because they have gift boxes of assorted treats.

It’s not the best bakery, but it sure is convenient.

Website: 
http://www.paris.co.kr/

Angel In Us Coffee

Angel In Us Coffee is a strong domestic brand in South Korea. You can basically find it in any city. It took me a long time to figure out why this coffee shop is named Angel In Us. Apparently it’s supposed to imply that coffee is a god’s gift delivered by angels. They also have a unique roasting process for the beans too.

We came here with some relatives to relax and have a beverage. We were walking for most of the afternoon, so we thought it would be good to take a breather here. All the other cafes in the area were packed like crazy, so we came to Angel In Us Coffee because of their large space.

Angel In Us Coffee

This cafe is 3 storeys tall and can fit large groups. We had about 8 people, so it made sense to come here.

Angel In Us Coffee

We took over the 3rd floor and used it at our own little space. The view from above is the shopping streets.

The ironic thing about coming here is that we didn’t order coffee. I had coffee almost everyday in Korea, so I thought it was time to get some tea.

Angel In Us Coffee

Iced Green Tea was literally a green tea teabag in iced water. There was a subtle taste of green tea, but it wasn’t very strong.

Angel In Us Coffee

Green Tea Frappucino is a nice sweet treat for a hot day.

 Angel In Us Coffee

Ice Cream Waffle comes with a thick crispy waffle, vanilla ice cream, green tea ice cream, whipped cream, and a chocolate and caramel drizzle.

This place was decent, but I’m pretty sure they don’t have the best coffee. It’s a nice place to just chill and have a snack and beverage.

Website: http://www.angelinus.co.kr/

Tealips

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee is located in South Burnaby behind Highgate Mall. It took me a while to find the place. There is parking out front, but if it’s a busy time, it would be best to park at Highgate and then walk a short distance up.

Jewels took me here a few days before I left for Vacation in Korea to catch up and of course nom on some delicious waffles. I’ve also gotten several comments and emails from people to come check out their waffles as they are darn good.

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee

Besides waffles, they have a large selection of drinks like teas, coffees, and smoothies. Lots of hot and cold options too.

The waffle menu is on the cashier counter and there are a few different choices and they all looked great. When you order, they give you an electronic device to let you know when your order is ready.

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee

Double Liege Combo comes with 2 liege waffle with different toppings. It looked way too pretty to dig in, so it took us a while to get started.

Overall, it’s a great place to hang out with a group of friends late at night for a waffle and a beverage. You’ll definitely see a few couples romantically sharing a waffle or a group of friends gossiping. And also the oddball that is studying alone.

We Rate Tealips

Address:
7139 Arcola Way
Burnaby, BC

Tealips Bubble Tea & Coffee on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=7139+Arcola+Way+Burnaby,+BC&t=m&hnear=Arcola+Way,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5E+2V1&z=17 “]

Chicago Food Tour

I had a week in Chicago and it’s quite hard to eat everything. There’s only so many restaurants I can go to in one day. I contemplated for a long time if I should take a food tour or not. 7 restaurants in 3 hours is always enticing for a foodie for $50.

Chicago Food Planet Food Tours offered a tour of Gold Coast and Old Town‘s best eats. It’s a cool neighbourhood, but the only reason I went on the tour was to try a slice of deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s. I really didn’t want to eat a whole pizza to myself or eat alone.

We explored:

    • Lou Malnati’s
    • Delightful Pastries
    • Kamehachi Old Town
    • The Fudge Pot
    • The Spice House
    • Old Town Oil
    • Tea Gschwendner

The group was only 16 people, so it was a nice decent size. What made me feel awkward was that everyone else came to the tour as a group or a couple. It made me feel like an awkward turtle.

Lou Malnati’s

Chicago Food Tour

Our first stop was Lou Malnati’s for their famous deep dish pizza. This was the starting point of the tour. They are an iconic Chicago-Style Deep Dish pizzeria. It’s been around since 1971.

Chicago Food Tour

All 16 of us sat down and started beginning chowing down on our meal.

Chicago Food Tour

We began with a salad.

Chicago Food Tour

Then the deep dish pizza! So satisfying and the crust is so crispy. Definitely the highlight of the tour.

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria on Urbanspoon


Tea Gschwendner

Chicago Food Tour

We then walked a short distance to Tea Gschwendner. They are Europe’s leading specialty loose Green, Black, Oolong and White teas merchant and have been around since 1987.

We were given a little lesson about different types of tea and how to make tea.

Chicago Food Tour

Iced tea was given to everyone as a refresher after the yummy pizza. As it was a hot summer we definitely needed.

Chicago Food Tour

We then headed into Old Town and was told about the history of some notable buildings and history.


Kamehachi Old Town

Chicago Food Tour

Kamehachi Old Town is Chicago’s first Japanese-style restaurant, sake cafe and sushi bar . It has been around since 1967.

Chicago Food Tour

We had 2 types of maki rolls, but only 2 pieces. It was ok, but not great. Coming from Vancouver, this doesn’t even compare to what good sushi is like.

Kamehachi on Urbanspoon


The Fudge Pot

Chicago Food Tour

The Fudge pot is Chicago’s oldest chocolate confectioner, butter toffee and home-made fudge shop. They have been around since 1963 making delicious sweets.

Chicago Food Tour

We were taken to their kitchen to hear the history of the Fudge Pot and their production.

Chicago Food Tour

The butter toffee samples we received were pretty awesome. So addictive.

Fudge Pot on Urbanspoon


Spice Merchants

Chicago Food Tour

We then stopped by the world-famous merchant of hand-prepared spices, blends and artisan seasonings. Once you step close to the door of this place, you’ll definitely smell the amazing flavours. It’s quite strong stuff.

Chicago Food Tour

They have hundreds of spices! They have even made their own special blends. You can probably find any spice you’re looking for.

Chicago Food Tour

We looked around the shop and then taken to the back to get a lesson on different spices, best ways to store spices and how to get the most flavourful spices. Interesting stop on this tour, but we only smelled spices.

Spice House on Urbanspoon


Old Town Oil

Chicago Food Tour

Old Town Oil is America’s premiere supplier of aged balsamic vinegars and 100% extra-virgin olive oils. I’ve never seen so many tins of olive oil and balsamic vinegar before.

Chicago Food Tour

We were able to try all the flavours we wanted. Interesting flavours.

Chicago Food Tour

We continued walking around the neighbourhood and heard more about the history.


Delightful Pastries

Chicago Food Tour

Our last stop of the tour was at Delightful Pastries. It’s an authentic Polish-European bakery serving pastries, pierogies and pies.

Chicago Food Tour

Two Macaroons

Chicago Food Tour

Two different types of perogies.

Delightful Pastries on Urbanspoon

The Chicago Food Planet Tour of Old Town and Gold Coast was fun and enjoyable, but if you are a hardcore foodie, a majority of the places aren’t super amazing. The shops are unique and have a long history, but it won’t keep you coming back. Especially if you are a local.

As a tourist, it was a good use of 3 hours to visit so many shops and restaurants, plus learn a little bit of history in these 2 areas. The 2 restaurants that stood out to me was Lou Malnati’s and The Fudge Pot. Mmmm pizza and chocolate.

Our tour guide was great! He was funny and was very personable to each person on the tour.

Website: http://www.chicagofoodplanet.com/tours/near-north-food-tour/

Swiss Bakery is at it again with combining different pastries together. First it was the frissant (fritter + croissant), but now it’s the Pretzel Croissant. The bakery is a few blocks away from Main Street/Science World Skytrain station.

As October is coming up, they created the Pretzel Croissant to celebrate Oktoberfest. They make limited amounts daily, but if you follow them on Twitter, you can scope out when they have some available. I had to go twice to acquire this creation. Good thing I work close by so I could run back. I wouldn’t call it desperation, it was more like…going to get exercise. hahaha

Pretzel Croissant

Pretzel Croissant ($2.15) has a soft fluffy centre with a crispy buttery exterior it was quite good. It’s kinda like a croissant but with the harder exterior. Definitely have some with beer!

Pretzel Croissant

I couldn’t just get one, so I got a few to spread the love. The best way to enjoy it would be popping it back into the oven for a few minutes to firm up the exterior to give it an extra crunch.

Address:
143 E 3rd Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.swissbakery.ca/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/swissbakery

Swiss Bakery on Urbanspoon

Argo Tea

Walking in the hot summer Chicago weather, BaguetteGirl and I were getting a bit thirsty and decided to head into Argo Tea for a drink. Argo Tea originated from Chicago and they serve a variety of teas and focuses on being sustainable and giving back to the community. They also sell coffee and baked goods.

Argo Tea

Walking inside, it kinda reminded me of David’s Tea with their large variety of teas. But, Argo has a larger focus on being a cafe rather than just selling tea. The location we were at, there was lots of seats to just chill and enjoy the air conditioning. They have some pretty strange drinks like Chocolate Mint, Red Velvet, Tea Sangria, Teappuccino, and many others. Weirdly enough, they also have bubble tea.

Argo Tea

I grabbed a latte and my friend grabbed a cold specialty tea drink. The drinks are pretty good, but for myself, I like plain teas like straight up green tea or black tea. I don’t like them with sweet smells or anything like that. They do have a nice variety of different tea, sweet teas, and other types.

We Rate Argo Tea:

Address:
140 S Dearborn St
Chicago, IL

Website: http://www.argotea.com/

Argo Tea Cafe on Urbanspoon

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=140+S+Dearborn+St,+Chicago,+IL+60603,+USA&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=140+S+Dearborn+St,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois+60603,+United+States&z=16″]

Brothers K Coffee House

Brothers K Coffee House is a cafe in the university town of Evanston in Chicago. It’s where Northwestern University is located. When I was in the area visiting my friend, we decided to come grab a coffee before we explore the rest of Chicago.

The cafe was opened by Brian and John Kim. They take pride in using Fair Trade Organic and Direct Trade coffee in their shop.

They have another coffee house in the area called “Other Brother Coffee House”. Both these cafe’s are popular among students and freelancers.

Brothers K Coffee House

Latte tasted really good and had some cute latte art on top.

Brothers K Coffee House

Soy Latte was good as well.

Overall, it’s a really cute little cafe and it’s a great place to just hang out and get some work done. The coffee gave us a nice little buzz to get our day started. It’s cheaper and better than Starbucks.

We Rate Brothers K Coffeehouse

Address:
500 Main St
Evanston, IL

Website:
http://www.brotherskcoffee.com/

Brothers K Coffeehouse on Urbanspoon
[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=500+Main+St,+Evanston,+IL+60202,+USA&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=500+Main+St,+Evanston,+Illinois+60202,+United+States&z=16″]