Type Archives - Page 60 of 125

In Dessert

MELU Juice and Health Bar: Healthy Option in Downtown Vancouver

August 21, 2015

MELU Juice and Health Bar is a new addition in Downtown Vancouver. They serve up a variety of cold press juices, smoothies, nut mylks, detox water, oatmeal, chia puddings, salads and health bars.

They recently opened a few weeks ago.

Their space is quite nice and good for a quick healthy lunch.

The price is a bit high since spending $18 for lunch seems like a lot.

They have a few varieties of salads, but a cool item they have is their Undercover Spaghetti and Meatball, which has zucchini noodles and vegan meatballs.

Cold press is a juicing method that extracts juice with no heat and minimum oxidization, thus preserving all nutrients. In each jar, there are about 2 -3 pounds of fresh fruits and veggies. The juices come in 250 ml or 500 ml jars.

Black Magic – Activated Bamboo Charcoal, Cayenne, Lemon, Himalayan Pink Salt, Agave, Pure Filtered Water
Easy Green – Pear, Grapefruit, Cucumber, Kale, Celery, Parsley
The Hulk – Apple, Romaine Lettuce, Jicama, Lemon, Kale, Mint, Ginger
RADical Detox – Cucumber, Pear, Radish, Kale, Bell Pepper
Grapefruit Heartbeet – Pineapple, Grapefruit, Beetroot, Lemon, Mint
Orange Glow – Carrot, Apple, Pineapple, Tomato, Ginger
Berry Beetiful – Apple, Tomato, Beetroot, Strawberry
Winter Wonderland – Winter Melon, Apple, Kale, Spinach, Celery

All the juices were pretty good and easy to drink compared to the other cold press juices out there in the market. Black Magic stood out as it is completely black but it tastes like lemonade. Easy Green and The Hulk are good green juices I would recommend.

Melu-juices-black-magic

Melu-juices-wall

All their drinks have a legend to show what their benefits are. I love this wall that they have in their store. Pictures are quite cute.

They also have the juices as part of their various cleanse programs too.

Melu-juices-cleanses

Health bars ( 3 for $14 or 6 for $26) are freshly made here and they are available in a variety of raw, vegan, and/or gluten-free options.

Mangolicious Health Bar – Mango, Walnuts, Almonds, Cashews, Coconut Mylk, Shredded Coconut, Dates, Agave Nectar
Kind of a Fig Deal Health Bar – Raspberry, Figs, Coconut Oil, Pecans, Oats, Dates, Himalayan Pink Salt

Cocao Banana Split Health Bar – Banana, Cashews, Walnuts, Coconut Oil, Shredded Coconut, Dates, Cocoa, Himalayan Pink Salt

So Fudgin Good Health Bar – Avocado, Coconut Cream, Coconut Oil, Cocoa, Pecans, Dates, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt, Strawberry and Goji Berry Topping

Frosty the Carrot Cake Health Bar – Shredded Carrot, Dates, Walnuts, Shredded Coconut, Cashews, Coconut Oil, Agave Nectar, Lemon, Vanilla, Pumpkin Spice, Himalayan Pink Salt

Lemon Razz Health Bar – Lemon, Coconut Cream, Coconut Butter, Almonds, Dates, Coconut Oil, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt, Raspberry, Lemon Rind, Mint and Shredded Coconut

Out of all of them my favourite was the So Fudgin Good Health Bar. The name is just perfect because it was SO good! So addicting. If my office was closer to MELU, I would always order this.

Melu-juices-so-fudging-good

Nut Mylks are made using activated almonds or cashews for an easy-to-digest and convenient meal on the go. Definitely more filling than the other drinks they have.

There’s currently 4 flavours:

The Big Fig Mylk – Activated Almonds, Figs, Raw Vanilla Bean, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt

Cacao Monkey – Activated Cashews, Banana, Raw Cacao, Chia Seeds, Himalayan Pink Salt

The Pink Elephant – Activated Cashews, Strawberry, Raw Vanilla Bean, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt

Cold Brewhaha – Activated Almonds, Cold-Brewed West End Coffee, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt

Of the ones I’ve tried I quite like the Cacao Monkey as it reminded me of a chocolate banana sandwich in a liquid format.

Melu-juices-detox-water

Detox Waters are made with seasonal produce to increase their taste and nutrient value. It’s definitely lighter than their juices and smoothies.

Overall, pretty delicious treats and juices, but it is a tad expensive. They do use quality ingredients in all their juice and drinks, so its one reason why it’s so high. I did find a few of my favourite items like the So Fudgin Good Health Bar, Cacao Monkey, Black Magic, Easy Green and The Hulk.

We Rate MELU Juice and Health Bar:

Address:
1110 West Pender Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.melujuice.com/

In Cafe

Icy Bar: Chinese Dessert

August 20, 2015

Icy Bar has been around for a long time in the Lower Mainland. I remember the first time I had Icy Bar was in the food court of Crystal Mall. Before there were all the other shaved ice places around the city, this was my go to place for shaved ice.

I came here for an evening with a bunch of bloggers to try the different types of desserts that Icy Bar offers at their dine-in locations.

Traditional Eight Mix Icy 八寶冰 ($10) is easily customized with different toppings that they offer. You can choose 8 toppings from the following list:

[one_half last=”no”]

Basil Seeds
Green Bean
Barley
Taro
Black Rice
Red Bean
Peanut
Beans
Chendol
Coconut Jelly
Lemon Jelly
Mix Jelly
Green Tea Mochi
Mango Mochi
Taro Mochi
Original Mochi

[/one_half]

[one_half last=”yes”]

Grass Jelly
Almond Jelly
Pearls
Tapioca
Pudding
Watermelon
Mango
Strawberry
Lychee
Cantaloupe
Pineapple
Honeydew
Mango Poppers
Lychee Poppers
Coconut Milk
Mango Puree
Strawberry Puree

[/one_half]

If you add more than 8 toppings, it’s an additional $1.

They also have premium toppings too like ice cream and durian that costs a but more to be added.

I love this item since you can share with friends or hog it all to yourself. It’s pretty big, so sharing is encouraged. There’s a lot of flavour that the toppings can add to the chunks of ice.

Don’t forget to add the condensed milk to this. If you don’t, you will regret it.

Strawberry Mango Ice Cream Icy 芒果草莓雪糕冰 ($10) is part of their shaved icy series that already have the toppings predetermined. It’s good for those who are indecisive.

Mango Ice Cream Mochi Icy ($10) are for those mango lovers out there.

Tea Egg 茶葉蛋 is probably their only savoury item here. Seems pretty odd to me.

The exterior had a nice flavour, but could be a bit stronger. I just didn’t like the yolk.

Pancake Series 班戟 is a dessert wrapped with their special pancake with whipping cream and a particular filling.

Strawberry 草莓
Mango 芒果
Durian 榴蓮
Taro 芋頭

They taste ok, but I would prefer the whipping cream to be ice cream instead.

Plant Pudding 盆栽布丁 comes in 5 unique flavours below. It’s called plant pudding since the share of it resembles a potted plant. But this version is edible of course.

Original 原味 ($5.50)
Durian 榴蓮 ($6.50)
Mango 芒果 ($6.50)
Oreo 奧利奧 ($6.50)
Tiramisu 提拉米蘇 ($6.50)

I actually quite like the original flavour! It brought be backed to my childhood as there were graham crackers in it.

Black Rice with Coconut Milk 椰汁黑糯米 is served hot and it has a balance of both ingredients.

Chocolate Honey Toast 巧克力金磚 is a tower of toast drenched in ice cream, honey and chocolate. The toast is nice and crisp.

Red Bean Green Tea Ice Cream on Thick Toast 红豆抹茶冰淇淋 it’s not as impressive as the other toast but prehaps it’s because I don’t like red beans.

Tofu Pudding 豆腐花 can be customize similarly to the shaved ice. You can add any topping for an additional cost. I love tofu pudding, but I would keep it simple and add ginger syrup to it.

It’s not a Chinese dessert cafe without drinks right? They have a wide range of bubble teas, slushes, smoothies, etc.

Fresh Papaya Milk Slush is what I ordered. Very good flavour and super delicious.

Overall, a good range of dessert here and they ever had more that we didn’t end up trying. Most people end up getting shaved ice and a bubble tea of some sort.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to dine at Icy Bar and my desserts were comped. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate Icy Bar:

Address:
3618 Kingsway, Vancouver

Website:
http://icybar.ca/

In Gastown

The Sardine Can: Spanish Tapas in Gastown

August 18, 2015

The Sardine Can in Gastown serves up Spanish Tapas. It’s a small restaurant, so they really can’t hold that many people here. We came here after work around 5:30 and it didn’t get busy till around 7pm on a weekday.

Their sister restaurants are La Buca, Pied-à-Terre, and The Abbey.

Kalimotxo (calimocho) is a drink mixed with red wine and cola. When the waitress suggested this, we had to give it a try. Apparently its a common drink in Spain. It was pretty good as there is a slight fizz to the drink.

Steamed Clams in White Wine with Chorizo ($7) were good. You should order some bread to go with it to soak up the delicious sauce.

Albondigas ($11) are Meatballs cooked in tomato and Rioja. There are about 5 meatballs and the dish is pretty hot when it arrives on the table.

Champiñones ($8.25) are mushrooms in sherry cream sauce. Very delicious! Make sure you order some bread to eat with this dish.

Pimientos de Padrón ($8.25) are Padron peppers with smoked salt and spiced oil. This is a fun dish to order since one of the peppers are spicy while the other ones are mild. Imagine like a Russian roulette. It’s slightly spicy, but not too much.

Crispy Pork Belly with sherry reduction ($11) the skin of the pork belly was crispy but the layers of meat were tough. If it was a bit more tender, that would be better.

Tostas de sardinas ($8.5) are smoked sardines on toast. These are the only items on the menu with sardines in it. It’s probably the most popular items since why would you come to The Sardine Can and not have sardines?

Overall, it was great to try a Spanish Tapas place in Vancouver. There aren’t too many places like these around. I enjoyed the food and it was a great place to hang out after work.

We Rate Sardine Can:

Address:
26 Powell Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.thesardinecan.ca/

In Ramen

Torafuku: Modern-Asian Restaurant on Main Street

August 17, 2015

Torafuku is located on Main Street right outside Chinatown in Vancouver. The restaurant is opened by Le Tigre food truck owners Clement Chan and Steve Kuan.

The 48-seat modern-Asian restaurant delivers bold interpretations on flavours traditionally found in Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cuisine. Every plate features seasonal ingredients, straight from local farmers. Torafuku’s menu is designed for sharing. Dishes are playful yet skillfully prepared.

They don’t take reservations, so it’s first come first serve.
Torafuku is open from Tuesday to Sunday for dinner, starting at 5:30 p.m.

33 Acres of Sunshine, Blanche ($6) is one of their beers on top. It is a French blanchè ale lightly hopped with Styrian Golding and flavoured with orange peel, coriander, and anise. It was a nice light beer to go with the meal.

Cocchi-Doodle Cobbler ($12) has BeefEater Gin, cocchi americano, hibiscus, Osmanthus, raspberries, and mandarin orange. This was recommended by the waitress.

Torafuku Ramen ($12) has braised duck leg, bean sprouts, leeks, scallions, seasonal veggies, yummy tonkotsu broth, fried egg. The broth was pretty good and the ramen was really packed with a lot of ingredients. I thought the noodles were ok, but I much prefer firm ramen noodles.

Dr. Octopus vs Mr Tuna ($12) has a pretty unique name, which compelled us to order the dish. on one side there is the octopus salad with tomato, jalapenos, scallions, and crispy nori. On the other side, you have the tuna crudo with romesco sauce.

I enjoyed the octopus as it was very tender. The tuna wasn’t as tasty.

Rye So Messy Chicken Wings ($12) was crowned the 2015 Chicken Fight Best Dish — rye and gochujang marinate, mango glaze, ramen crumble, KFC sauce. You can really taste the stronger gochujang sauce in the chicken wings. The wings were ok, but I left there were too many things going on in this dish.

Calamari Done The Right Way ($10) uses Humboldt squid, onion, tomato, lychee, arugula, and a sweet chilli dressing. The dish was ok, but the star of the dish – calamari fell a bit flat.

Brown Cow ($13) has Shaoxing braised oxtail, tomato, shiitake, cabbage, basil, fried egg, and sticky rice cake. This is comfort food right here. I personally didn’t like the rice cakes since they don’t soak up the delicious sauce from the dish.

Overall, we found the food was very well presented but the flavours were lacking. There wasn’t a a dish that we thought was outstanding. The service was ok, but we did find a fly in one of our beers, so we scooped it out and showed it to our waitress. She didn’t offer us a new drink out of courtesy which was odd.

We Rate Torafuku:

Address:
958 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://torafuku.ca/

In All You Can Eat

Cockney Kings Fish & Chips: All You Can Eat

August 16, 2015

Cockney Kings Fish & Chips in North Burnaby has been here forever! They also have another location in New Westminster. I remember in High School, everyone would come here for cheap all you can eat from Monday to Wednesday and stuff their faces. It never really appealed to me.

M wanted to give it a try since he heard it was good from his friends, so after 14 years of avoiding this place, I saw what Cockney Kings is all about.

We came on a Tuesday, so this place was packed for dinner.

You can also get take-out to avoid the line up inside. We did see a lot of people ordering take out.

All You Can Eat Pollock Fish and Chips ($9.99) is only available Monday to Wednesday. They use pollock, which is a cheaper variety of fish, thus the great price. You can only order this if you dine in.

My plate came with 3 pieces and I found with all them was that the pollock was quite small and its encrusted with so much batter that all you taste is the batter. The pollock is quite bland and not juicy at all.

The all you can eat also comes with pop. A good way to wash down all that batter and chips.

M on the other hand opted to get the regular fish and chips items off the menu. 1 piece halibut and 1 piece salmon. It comes with coleslaw and a soft bun.

It’s part of the combo dinner and it was $16.25 as M wanted to upgrade a piece to halibut. It comes with a bun and coleslaw on the side.

The bun was quite large and has 2 pieces of butter on the side.

The halibut was flakey and juicy. 1000x better than the pollock! The batter is quite thin so you can really taste the fish.

The salmon is also very nice! Cooked well so its still juicy. The batter is also thin.

Having had both all you can eat and the regular menu, I would stick with the regular menu and pay a bit more.

We Rate Cockney Kings Fish & Chips:

Address:
Kensington Square
6574 Hastings Street, Burnaby

Website:
http://cockneykings.ca/

In Burnaby Cariboo-Lougheed

Angie’s Malaysian Eatery: Hainanese Chicken near Edmonds

August 15, 2015

Angie’s Malaysian Eatery just opened up last May and they sell a fusion Hawker-style food from Brunei. I am on the search for the best Hainanese Chicken in the Lower Mainland, so I had to make a stop here. They are a family-run business, so its quite cool to see how they work together.

I came here around 6pm on a Friday and it was packed. Word must have spread about this little restaurant really quickly. It’s great that they were doing so well. We noticed there were a lot of large groups that took up most the tables.

Roti Canai comes with a small bowl of curry sauce for dipping. The roti itself was a bit disappointing as it was not very crispy. Quite doughy. I would of like it if they cooked it for longer.

Despite the texture of the roti, my friend still enjoyed it. I think it was mostly because of the curry sauce.

Curry Chicken Rice needed more meat in it. We mostly got vegetables in ours. It was good, but the curry was quite watery too. The portion is meant for one person, but I think you may need something extra to get full.

Seria Kolomee it has fish cake, BBQ Pork, minced meat sauce, fried shallots, veggies on top of dry noodles. It also came with a calamansi lime and some pickled peppers on the side.

I thought it was pretty good.

Hainanese Chicken is the personal sized dish and probably their most popular item. The chicken is cut up into very think pieces and comes with rice and a chilli vinegar sauce. The portion is definitely a bit on the small side. The chicken was small, so we wanted more.

We got their entree version that has double the amount of chicken.

Buttermilk Tiger Prawn comes with the shells intact with the delicious sauce and sprinkled with fried shallots. It got quite messy trying to remove the shells as the sauce would go everywhere.

Overall,the food was pretty good but I wish the portions were a bit bigger. The prices are reasonable as everything is mostly under $10.

We Rate Angie’s Malaysian Eatery:

Address:
7355 Edmonds Street, Burnaby

In Dessert

UYU Ice Cream: Soft Serve Ice Cream in Gastown

August 11, 2015

UYU Ice Cream is soft serve ice cream parlour using only organic milk and ingredients. We came here during their soft opening last week. It’s located near Tacomio and Prado. This area has really changed up in the last few years.

UYU means milk in Korean.

Their 2 main items that you can purchase are soft serve ice cream in a cup or ice cream bars.

They offer a variety of toppings to their soft serve and ice cream bars ranging from freeze dried strawberry to the unusual black sesame powder.

Their ice cream has been crafted to ensure the perfect balance resulting in a flavour that is never too sweet or creamy and tastes fresh and delicious.

Original soft serve with 3 toppings – freeze dried strawberry, roasted sunflower seeds, and black sesame powder with Black Currant drizzle. It was pretty good and the topping were very unique.
I’m sure a lot of people are wondering how it compares to Soft Peaks, which is also in Gastown. We found that UYU has slightly sweeter soft serve and we like the variety of toppings and drizzles to choose from.

We Rate UYU Ice Cream:

Address:
433 Abbott Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.uyuicecream.com/

In Cafe

Groundswell Cafe: DTES Cafe with a Large Heart

August 9, 2015

Groundswell Cafe offers a space to meet, mix, socialize with our neighbours and friends, strategize the democratization of the economy, collaborate and create – and get caffeinated! Being right in the Downtown Eastside right by Oppenheimer Park is not the nicest area in town, but Groundswell Cafe is making a difference in the community.

I was on my way to the Powell Street Festival and I saw this small wooden sign pointing towards a cafe a few meters away. We kept following it and ended up at Groundswell Cafe.

They took over the space of Fat Dragon BBQ, which was open a few years ago.

The space is quite large and you can even rent the space for special events. Lots of seating too.

They support people to contribute meaningfully to their community and work together to create a more just economy by:

fostering entrepreneurial and community building skills
providing mentorship
bridging sectors
supporting an ecosystem of change making individuals and projects in here in Vancouver
collaborating with movements around the world

My main goal coming here was to get caffeinated. Everything on the menu is reasonably priced. It’s not a large menu, but it’s just what you would want to see in a cafe.

Latte ($3.50) had a good balance of espresso and milk. I’m not exactly sure where they get their beans from, but it does have a slight sour taste to it.

Overall, my friends and I thought this was an awesome place in the neighbourhood. Good addition as it’s not just a cafe. They hire people from the area and offers a lot of resources to those who need it.

We Rate Groundswell Cafe:

Addresss:
566 Powell Street, Vancouver

Website:
groundswellcommunity.ca/cafe/

In Kid Friendly

Prata Man: Singapore Cuisine in Richmond

August 8, 2015

Prata Man Singapore Cuisine is located in Richmond in Oak’s Plaza on Capstain Way and Garden City Road. A lot of people have been telling me to come here to check out their Hainanese Chicken.

This place is cash only, so make sure you have some before coming here. Typical Richmond right?

The interior is alright, but not easy on the eyes. Very basic, but it will do. The service was quite bad when we were here, but we really focused more on the food. One of the neighbouring tables helped us flag down a waitress to get us some plates and utensils to share the food.

Single order of Hainanese Chicken with soup and rice ($7.25) was a pretty good sized meal for one. The chicken was nice and cold. When it’s dunked into the ginger and green onion oil, it’s so damn good. We didn’t really use the other sauce as it’s really all about the other sauce.

Curry Beef with Prata Bread ($7.95) was pretty good too. I liked the curry sauce and the huge chunks of beef.

The prata bread was pretty flat and dense like a pancake and not flakey all. It was ok, but i have no idea what prata bread is supposed to be like.

Mee Goreng ($6.50) was very different than what I usually would think it would look like. Either way, it was delicious and one of our favourite items from the menu.

BBQ Satay Skewers (half dozen – $7.95) we asked them for 2 chicken, 2 beef and 2 pork. These were ok but a bit on the drier side. I’ll probably pass on this next time.

Overall, I was impressed by the Hainanese Chicken, Curry and the Mee Goreng noodles. The prices are quite good and we all left with a very good impression. We were able to overlook the bad service since it is a family run restaurant. It’s all about the food right? I’m sure the food here isn’t 100% Singaporean cuisine, but good food is good food.

We Rate Prata Man Singaporean Cuisine:

Address:
Oak’s Plaza, 9060-9020 Capstan Way, Richmond

In American

Freshii: Juice, Wraps, Salads, Bowls and Froyo

August 7, 2015

Freshii has opened their newest location at the Broadway Tech Centre near Renfrew Station. It’s a convenient spot for those who go to school at the Art Institue or work in the office building surrounding the area.

It’s a great spot for lunch as they have salads, wraps, burritos, soups, smoothies, juices and even frozen yogurt. They are open for breakfast and dinner times too. There are Freshii locations in over 60 cities and 12 countries worldwide.

They have lots of tables inside for larger groups or single diners.

Mighty Detox Juice ($5.99) has pineapple, ginger, apple, celery, and cucumber. I wanted a drink that was refreshing an not too sweet, so the mighty detox was a good option. The pineapple and apple help sweeten the juice so it’s not a chore drinking it.

Banana Nut Crunch Smoothie ($5.99) has banana, walnuts, almonds, and low-fat frozen yogurt. M quite liked this drink as it had a nice thick texture and it wasn’t too sweet. A great cool drink for the hot summer.

You can eat in or take the items to-go. It’s very convenient to bring back to work.

Kimchii Bowl is a special item only in the summer. It has brown rice, kimchi, edamame, carrots, purple cabbage, mushrooms, hard-boiled egg, sesame seeds, nori, teriyaki sauce, and sriracha. It was a big filling bowl. A good mix of protein and vegetables. The kimchi was surprisingly good, so they really know how to source their kimchi.

M had chicken with the bowl and thought it was a bit dry.

Ninja salad with tofu ($7.79 + $1.49)has spinach and romaine, cabbage, edamame, carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, crispy wontons, and asian sesame dressing. We added tofu to it for extra protein. I thought it was ok, quite healthy but I would have preferred dressing on the side, but thats just a personal preference.

Sushiito is their sushi burrito, but not to confuse you with Sushiritto because those are two different type of sushi wraps.

They have two kinds of Sushiito – Kimchi Tofu and Chicken Teriyaki. No very sushi-like flavours.

Kimchi Tofu Sushiito ($8.99) is wrapped in nori and stuffed with brown rice, kimchi, tofu, avocado, carrot, cucumber, purple cabbage, and lemongrass sauce.

Chicken Teriyaki Sushiito ($8.99) has the nori, brown rice, chicken, edamame, mushrooms, carrot, cucumber, purple cabbage, and teriyaki sauce.

I found that the Sushitto needed a bit of work as the nori became quite tough and limp that it would actually be very difficult to bite into. Also, its a bit more expensive than the other items on the menu. The salads, wraps and bowls are better deals.

Low Fat Froyo ($4.99) comes in a huge cup for one flat price. It has a low fat probiotic frozen yogurt with your choice of two toppings.

You can choose from almonds, blueberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon, dried cranberries, green apples, honey, mango, oreo, or strawberries.

M and I love fruit so we naturally loaded it up with whatever fruits we can get them to pile on top. He had the mango and strawberries. Of course I like to be somewhat different, I got blueberries and pineapple. The frozen yogurt is more creamy like ice cream.

Overall, it’s a good place for a good quick and cheap lunch. The prices are fair too. It’s a better alternative than some other fast food places close by.

We Rate Freshii:

Address:
2 – 2920 Virtual Way, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.freshii.com

In Brunch

L’Abattoir: Weekend Brunch

August 6, 2015

L’Abattoir offers up a delicious weekend brunch in the heart of Gastown. Of course their dinner menu is stellar as always, but with their brunch menu, the mix comforting staples with hearty, unique entrees.

Always try to make reservations in advance since L’Abattoir is one of the hottest restaurants in town. You can still walk in without one, but it’s always nice to not have to wait. When we were here, we didn’t see it pick up until around 12:30pm.

We were seated upstairs and there is plenty of room for hungry weekend brunchers and probably the severely hungover too.

Thirsty brunchers can sip on creative cocktails, as well as different daily features. They also have non-alcoholic options like their daily bottled house made iced teas.

Their menu isn’t too large but it is still difficult to figure out what to order.

French Press JJ Bean Coffee comes in a small pot, but it was plenty enough for the both of us. They also do free refills, so if you are a coffee guzzler, you’ll be overjoyed.

Delicious and you really can’t go wrong with JJ Bean as they are amazing local coffee roasters.

The waitresses come around offering up their freshly made pastries a la carte. Of course I couldn’t decide so I had to ask the waitress for her recommendation.

Blueberry Danish ($5) was a nice start to the brunch. Nice crisp exterior with delicious blueberries and the sweet custard in the centre. The waitress said this was one of their more popular pastries and tends to sell out.

When all 3 dishes arrived, we couldn’t help but salivate. Just beautiful.

Poached eggs with smoked pork belly ($17) has a cheddar sabayon and a homemade English muffin. It also comes with a salad and a slice of orange.

We asked for the eggs to be soft poached and it did not disappoint. Let it ooze!

Full breakfast ($22) has 2 eggs, duck sausage, mushrooms, pork & beans, boudin noir, rösti, and toast. If you are a big eater, you will love this! Lots of carbs and lots of protein. A very hearty meal!

Boudin noir is blood sausage, the darker item behind the pork belly. It was a nice surprise to the dish since it’s not normally served during a breakfast. Most people probably wouldn’t realize its blood sausage unless they asked. It has a unique taste but not bad.

I love the crispy rosti!

Breakfast burger ($15) has a quarter pound patty, hashbrown patty, and a fried egg. It comes of a smaller plate than the other dishes, but don’t feel like it’s not substantial because it is filling.

We cut the burger in half and shared it. It’s a bit easier to eat that way. Delicious flavours but I found the hashbrown to be over salted.

Overall, the brunch items were fantastic and a good twist on brunch classics. I would definitely come here again.

We Rate L’Abattoir:

Address:
217 Carrall Street,
Vancouver

Website:
http://www.labattoir.ca/

In Chinese

Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant: Dinner Feast

August 5, 2015

Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant opened up in 2009 and serves up dim sum, dinner and can cater to large events like weddings. They can hold up to 500 people. We came here for a ChineseBites dinner with other bloggers during the weekday.

The atmosphere was definitely interesting as they partitioned a section of the restaurant for karaoke and dancing. We weren’t sure if this was a normal night here or just a special event.

We had our own little area to enjoy dinner.

Fraser Court Deluxe Appetizer Platter 紅日大拼盤 has marinated jelly fish, honey garlic spareribs, jellied pork hock and five spice beef shank. All of the items were good but I wish the pork hock and beef were sliced a tad thicker.

Everyone seemed to like the honey garlic spareribs as it has a crunch exterior and the sweet sauce.

Whole Winter Melon with Seafood 八寶冬瓜盅 is always a treat to look at when its brought to the table. You can’t help but take a picture of the beautiful container that it’s in.

The soup basically had everything – duck, scallop, fish maw, crab and so many other ingredients. I enjoyed the soup, but there was a lot of items in it.

For the rest of the soup, they set it aside in a bowl. You can see that there a re a lot of items that go into making this soup.

Lobster in Supreme Soy Sauce 頭抽龍蝦 had a delicious taste, but when getting into the meat, I felt like it was a bit tough and chewy.

Chef’s Secret Recipe Jumbo Crab 招牌秘製大蟹 the crab and the lobster had a similar taste. You will need to add extra effort getting the meat out of the lobster limbs.

Sauteed Three Kinds of Seafoods with Black Fungus & Greens 金瓜雲耳炒三鮮 was great. The peas were cooked perfectly so it retained a nice crunch when biting into them.

Roasted House Specialty Chicken 秘製生焗走地雞 was my favourite dish because the chicken was still moist but the skin was nice and crispy. I would order this again.

Clams & Whole Tilapia Fish Chiu Chow Style 潮式大蜆鰂魚煲 was very delicate. When we grabbed some meat off the fish, it would fall into the broth never to be seen again. It would have been nice if it was just served on a plate and the bowl created issues.

Scallops & Egg Tofu with Eggplants in Spicy Garlic Hot Pot 漁香三子煲 was smother in a sort of chili sauce. I kinda enjoyed the silky egg tofu and eggplants.

Sliced Tender Beef with Mushrooms 醬燒肥牛粒 was ok, but the beef was not as tender as I had from other restaurant. Maybe the meat needed to be marinated for longer.

Halibut Belly with Shallots & Green Onions 京蔥頭抽哈利拔頭腩 reminded me slightly of the sauce used for the crab and lobster. Nonetheless, yummy flavour.

Baked Tapioca Pudding 西米焗布甸 is always the best option at a Chinese restaurant. Step aside red bean soup because the baked tapioca pudding is awesome.

They portion it up amongst the table and it was consumed instantly…but after taking picture of course.

Overall the food was good but some dishes started to taste similar after a while like the crab and lobster.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to dine at Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant and my meal was comped. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
3489 Fraser Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.frasercourt.ca/

In British Columbia

Uncle Kebab: Middle Eastern Food Truck

August 4, 2015

The Surrey Food Cart Festival was a few weeks ago and Uncle Kebab was one of the food trucks there. Their food truck serves up Shawarma Wraps and Shawarma Plates on their menu. All items are under $10.

You can find them at various events throughout the city.

Watermelon Chiller (16 oz – $5) was so refreshing on a hot summers day. I really needed this. So good! There’s even a little mint leaf inside. Give me moar!

Chicken Shawarma Wrap ($8) has marinated chicken breast, pita bread, home-made hummus, salad, tahini sauce and hot sauce. The chicken breast was quite dry, but the flavours of the hummus and tahini were good.

The wrap itself could have been wrapped a bit tighter and it was quite loose and started to fall apart.

We Rate Uncle Kebab:

Find location:
http://streetfoodapp.com/vancouver/uncle-kebab

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/KebabsYourUncle

In Dessert

Hugos Churros: Vancouver’s First Churro Pop Up Stand

August 3, 2015

Inside Hawkers Mercado at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet is Hugos Churros, Vancouver’s first churro stand. I came here with my Food Blogger buddies – Gastrofork and FoodQueen.

I love churros and it’s hard to find them in Vancouver. Hugos Churros is at this location until Monday, September 7, 2015 (Labour Day). They also pop up at random places in Vancouver, so check out their Facebook Page.

You will find Hugos located near the back corner. I find they have one of the larger line ups compared to some of the other booths.

We found they were constantly busy and you might have to wait a bit for your order as they can only fry so many churros and one time.

Look at those churros being bathed in it’s sugary cinnamon coating.

Churro Ice Cream Sandwich ($7.50) has 2 spiral churros with vanilla bean ice cream in the centre from Mario’s Gelati.

Churro ($3 each or 2 for $5) is a good snack and quite satisfying! It’s crisp of the outside and piping hot on the inside. Plus, it’s coated in all that cinnamon sugar. nom nom nom.

I love churros that I always pretend to cast spells with it. I haven’t had a churro since Disney Land last February.

You can eat it inside the market or outside while you do more shopping. Since it was a hot day, we didn’t want to be inside with all the other people inside.

We Rate Hugos Churros:

Address:
1000-7899 Templeton Station Road,
Richmond

Website:
http://hugoschurros.com/

In Cafe

Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company: Pop Up Shop

August 2, 2015

Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company is currently having a pop up location at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet until Monday, September 7, 2015. If you miss them during their stay at the outlet, they are planning on opening a permanent shop in Vancouver in the near future.

They serve Indigenous teas and botanical tea sodas, foraged right here in B.C. Operated by a mother-daughter duo from the Squamish Nation. You won’t be disappointed when you taste the delicious sodas made with love, featuring the following flavours – Lavender Ginger, Rose Lemonade, Dandelion Burdock and Hibiscus.

When you get up to the counter, their tea specialists will guide you through the different flavours. You can samples some of their tea as well.

They have a lot of different types of tea, so be prepared.

Elderberry Green Iced Tea on Tap ($) is made with organic Mao Jian Green Tea with Elderberries. I had this tea sweetened with a tad of sugar.

Rose Lemonade Botanical Soda ($4) has rose petals, organic lemon and cane sugar. All of us didn’t like the soda because of the strong rose flavour. It reminded us of the scent of Grandma.

Our friends at Gastrofork purchased some of their loose leaf teas to feature on their segment – Tea Tuesday.

Overall, its a nice place to relax after a shopping trip. Sipping on cold tea and avoiding the Summer heat. I found that the tea I love is mostly traditional Chinese tea since thats what I’ve grown up with. So, I generally stay away from blends of tea with other ingredients that aren’t tea leaves.

We Rate Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company:

Address:
1000-7899 Templeton Station Road,
Richmond

Website:
http://www.thecapilano.com/

In Cafe

Amoda Tea: Pop Up Matcha Bar

July 31, 2015

Amoda Tea had a Pop Up Matcha Bar this week at Eastwood Cycle Sanctuary from Monday July 27th till Thursday July 30th 2015. Only 4 short days but they drew a crowd from the Gastown offices and others in the area. By the time you read this, it will be gone. Hopefully they pop up in another area of town soon. Sometimes they are at the Vancouver Food Cart Fest.

They use 100% pure organic stone ground green tea from Japan. I love matcha.

They served up:

Iced matcha tea
Local blueberry mint matcha iced tea
Matcha lemonade
Raspberry matcha lemonade
Iced matcha latte

The prices are quite good and comes in 2 sizes. Since the weather has been pretty darn warm in Vancouver, you gotta go with the large size.

Iced Matcha Tea ($5) was very good. Refreshing and just plain awesome. Add a bit of sugar for added taste.

Local Blueberry Mint Matcha Iced Tea ($5.50) was also really good. Nice combination of flavours.

Iced Matcha Latte ($5.50) uses almond milk and coconut syrup. My coworker asked for half sweet and it was quite good. We never thought that coconut syrup and matcha would be a good combination, but it was.

Raspberry Matcha Lemonade ($5) was quite sour and muddles the taste of the matcha. The dominate flavour is definitely the raspberry and lemon.

Matcha Lemonade ($5) was quite sour as well and perks you up more than coffee. Still better than the raspberry. The 2 flavours didn’t mesh too well.

They sell their matcha on their online store in different blends. Having this pop up shop gave you a taste of what drinks you can make with their matcha. Check out their Facebook page to see if they will have another pop up in the near future.

Website:
http://amodatea.com/

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/amodatea

In Gluten Free Options

Glory Juice: New Location Near Olympic Village

July 30, 2015

Glory Juice just opened their third location near Olympic Village on 2nd Avenue. Since I work close to this area, I thought I would grab a healthy lunch from this place. I brought along CoquitlamGirl to check this place out.

Also, right around the corner is Earnest Ice Cream. Best place for dessert ever!

They have a few seats inside and it’s a nice open space for lunch time. A lot of people went to grab take out, so it wasn’t too busy inside here.

They have so many juices available, but if you aren’t good at committing to a flavour, you can grab a sample if they have it available. The flavours range from pure veggies to sweet citrus tastes. It’s tough for a first timer to choose.

I grabbed a Small Pad Thai Salad and a small Mixed Citrus cold pressed Juice. I was feeling pretty healthy today.

The Mixed Citrus was one of the sweeter juices that had. It contains orange, grapefruit and lime.You can taste there is a dominant flavour of oranges.The juice is also organic, raw, unpasteurized, with no added water, sugar or preservatives.

The Pad Thai Salad came with a peanut sauce to enrobe all the veggies with its yumminess. There isn’t any noodles in the salad, but it was more like a bowl of thinly sliced vegetables with sauce and sesame seeds.

Overall, it was a good healthy lunch. The price is a tad high, but its understandable since a lot of effort goes into their juices and food, plus its organic where possible.

We Rate Glory Juices:

Address:
78 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://gloryjuiceco.com/

In Cafe

Golden Garden: Vietnamese Food in Chinatown

July 29, 2015

Golden Garden Vietnamese Cuisine / Kim Saigon Sandwiches is an affordable restaurant with amazing items like pho, bahn mi sandwiches, spring rolls, and a lot more. I was introduced to Golden Garden by my coworkers a few years ago and this has become my go-to place for lunch. Take out is quick and I always made sure I get a bahn mi since it’s only $4. Every few months, a couple of my coworkers will have a group lunch and dine in.

When you look inside the dining area, its clean and quite nice compared to other places. It’s not sketchy at all. You will find families, business workers in the area, and some tourists.

Vermicelli Bowl with chicken was what I ordered. It came with a small bowl of fish sauce and I poured a bit over the noodles. I added some hot sauce too for some added heat. It was really good as there were lots of bean sprouts and veggies. I couldn’t stop eating this.

On another day, I got bahn mi for take out. Remember that they can only do debt or credit card transactions for an order $5 or more. If not, you will have to have cash on you. Thats why I ordered a Bahn Mi and a drink to get me to $5.25 so I could use my debt card.

I love how its wrapped up and then tied up in a plastic bag.

I know I could have made this look better, but I didn’t have a knife to cut this in half.

Pate Bahn Mi ($4) has assorted cold cut meat, pâté, pickled vegetable, jalapeno, cilantro and some fish sauce. The bun is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Overall, a great restaurant in the heart of Chinatown with good food and prices. It’s a comfortable space and not sketchy at all.

We Rate Golden Garden:

Address:
509 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://goldengardenrestaurant.ca/