Category

Type

Category

milkandsugar-bbt

Milk and Sugar Cafe is located on Kingsway near Joyce. They are best known for their $2 bubble tea specials and $3 all day breakfast. You really can’t go wrong with those prices. They usually have 3 different kinds of bubble tea on special.

When KoreanGirl and I came here, we didn’t particularly like any of the flavours, as they were cheesecake, slushes, and oreo ice cream flavours.

milkandsugar-avo

Avocado Mango Fresh Fruit Bubble Tea (Large $4.25) it was a strong combination but I wanted to try it for fun. I love both fruits, so I didn’t mind it at all. It was dominated by more of the avocado taste.

milkandsugar-green

Lychee Green Tea with Mango Stars was what KoreanGirl ordered.

milkandsugar-menu

Their food menu is limited, but it’s all under $5.

milkandsugar-toast

Condensed Milk Toast with Ice Cream ($3.50) it took a long time for this to be made. It was a busy day and they only had 2 people working here. We didn’t mind as we had our bubble tea to occupy our time. We loved the toast but though the ice cream was a bit too much, so next time we will probably order it without ice cream.

Overall,  decent place with good prices. The interior isn’t that pretty, but it will do.

We Rate Milk & Sugar Cafe

Address:
101-3365 Kingsway
Vancouver BC

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

Milk & Sugar Cafe on Urbanspoon

white-spot-brunch-menu

Sometimes you want brunch, but you don’t need to go to a fancy place. Our closest restaurant that offers brunch is White Spot. Sometimes we get really lazy and don’t want to travel far. It’s never occurred to me to go to White Spot for brunch, but when we went, it was packed!

It’s a good place for families especially if you have kids.

white-spot-benny

Classic Benedict has English muffin topped with back bacon, two poached eggs & hollandaise. It is served with smashbrown potatoes. The smashbrowns were good, especially the pieces with crispy skin. The bennies were pretty basic.

white-spot-egg

I always get sad if a restaurant makes my eggs wrong, it always should be soft or medium poached eggs. The true way of an eggs benny.

white-spot-burrito

Santa Fe Breakfast Burrito has chicken breast, scrambled eggs, cheese, sautéed tomatoes and green peppers wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. Served with our trio of sauces – avocado salsa, tomato salsa, cilantro sour cream and red nugget Smashbrowns. I really enjoyed the burrito it was hearty and everything in the burrito tasted great for brunch.

Overall, M and I had a good time at White Spot, but the service was quite slow for some reason. The manager apologized to our table and a few others and offered complimentary dessert. It was a nice touch, but M and I were too full, so we took the dessert home.

We Rate White Spot: 

Address:
6500 Hastings Street
Burnaby BC

Website:
https://www.whitespot.ca/

White Spot on Urbanspoon

revolver-inner

Revolver focuses on 2 key things – coffee and your experience. I come here once in a while to get a coffee and a morning treat. They have a rotating variety of beans for their espresso, so you might get something different each time. I can’t remember a time when someone asks what type of beans I want in my coffee. I always choose the one that has more of a chocolate taste to it. I always find the baristas are good at recommending which espresso fits my taste buds.

The space inside isn’t large, but most people take their coffee to go.

revolver-tart

Latte and Pecan Tart are my usual items that I order. You can’t go wrong with their coffee and that pecan tart is so delicious! It must be all that brown sugar and butter. Mmm Mmmm Mmm.

We Rate Revolver

Address:
325 Cambie Street Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://revolvercoffee.ca/ 

Revolver on Urbanspoon

cows-outer

Going to Whistler, I needed to make a stop at Cows to show M their really cool merchandise. If you are a fan of cows, you’ll find so many things with a cow on it. In the Summer, there are long lineups here, but since it was early in the day in the Fall, it was pretty empty.

Cow’s originated from Prince Edward Island on the East Coast of Canada. They have 10 locations across Canada, but mostly in Tourist areas like Whistler.

cows-inner

Stuffed animals, keychains, and stuffed animal cows. All things cow!

cows-store

Half of the place sells ice cream and everything else is merchandise.

cows-menu

Their flavours are pretty similar to the other Cows across Canada. I went to the one in Niagara on the Lake a while ago in Ontario.

cows-choco

Moo Crunch (Single Scoop – $4.25) is mostly chocolate with chocolate balls embedded inside. It’s a nice treat to have when you’re wandering around Whistler.

We Rate Cows

Address:
102-4295 Blackcomb Way
Whistler BC

Website:
http://www.cows.ca/

COWS Whistler on Urbanspoon

crepe-montagne-sign

Crepe Montagne is an authentic French Creperie located in Whistler Village. They have lots of breakfast and brunch items that are sweet and savoury. M and I came for a day trip to Whistler and he demanded we find some brunch. Doing a quick search on Urbanspoon, it lead me here.

crepe-montagne-inner

There are seats inside and outside, but we sat inside since there was only one table available. It’s a cute place and I’m amazed the chef can cook in such a tight space.

crepe-montagne-coffee

Coffee is a must for every morning. We left Vancouver pretty early to get here by 9am.

crepe-montagne-latte

Cappuccino was my drink of choice. This drink has alway stuck with me because I started drinking coffee in University when I was backpacking across Europe. I just loved the foam with the espresso. It’s exactly what I need to perk up in the morning.

crepe-montagne-benny

Pesto Eggs Benedict ($14) has a fresh pesto sauce with a lot of mushrooms, topped with a medium egg and hollandaise sauce. On the side, there are hashbrowns and fresh fruit. I couldn’t stop eating this! It was so good! It was just what I needed.

crepe-montagne-crepe

2010 Breakfast Crepe ($14) has 3 eggs, Canadian back bacon, cheese and tomatoes. The eggs are inside the crepe, so it doesn’t seem like you are consuming 3 eggs. M really loved this crepe and would barely share with me. The crepe is made of buckwheat and white flour.

Overall, the meals probably had lots of butter, but it was really good. I love their savoury items.

Address:
116 4368 Main Street
Whistler BC

Website: 
http://crepemontagne.com/

Crêpe Montagne 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

stake-hard-rock-casino

Hard Rock Casino Vancouver has revamped their flagship restaurant – Stake with a new menu created by Executive Chef Matthew Richmond. They are committed to putting local produce in all their dishes where possible.

Even though I live in the subburbs, I’ve actually never come here until now.

stake-logo

Stake doesn’t only serve steak as their name suggests. There’s a good variety of WestCoast dishes that will appeal to your tastebuds. Executive Chef Matthew Richmond’s goal is to bring the flavours of what you would find in Downtown Vancouver, back to Port Coquitlam, where he grew up. He has worked in numerous restaurant from the bottom up and really has a passion for creating delicious dishes as well as being a mentor to the young chefs in the community.

stake-kitchen

Of course, Chef Matthew has an amazing team that works behind the kitchen that beautifully puts together all the dishes.

stake-inner

There is lots of seating inside and has a lot of cool portraits and things up on their walls.

stake-knife

Their knives are pretty awesome too.

stake-bread

We started off with complimentary bread and butter.

stake-beettrio

Beet Trio ($9) has a blueberry goat cheese mousse, pea greens, walnut wafer, with a golden beet dressing. The different beets have their own unique tastes, some have an earthier taste and other are more sweet. It’s just incredible tasting these fresh beets. It also goes really well with the blueberry goat cheese mousse.

stake-pork-belly

Stake’s Signature Smoked Crispy Pork Belly ($12) has a green pea puree, butter braised white asparagus, tomato confit, and apple bourbon jus. The pork belly is yummy and has the crispy crackling on top. You can’t say no to pork belly…unless you’re a vegetarian.

stake-halibut

Pacific Halibut ($24) has king oyster mushrooms braised in abalone sauce, preserved olive, green beans & eggplant with wilted pea greens. This dish has a very asian flavour profile. The vegetables were very good, but a tad salty if you eat it alone. It’s much better when you eat a bit of everything together.

stake-polenta

Pan-seared Truffle Polenta ($16) has a leek fondue, ratatouille, thyme glazed portabella, garlic cream, and micro chard. This polenta was really good. It was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. This is probably the best polenta I’ve had so far in Vancouver.

stake-steak

6oz Seared Beef Tenderloin ($28) comes with Golden Ears Emmental fondant potato, glazed beets, crisp leek, truffle foam, and jus. The tenderloin was a perfect medium rare. Very good, tender and full of flavour.

stake-chocolate

Chocolate Marquise ($8) has a Irish cream anglaise, chocolate pearls, and a raspberry coulis. The chocolate cake was dense and smooth like a ganache.

stake-drink

Overall, their revamp of the menu works really well for Stake and the quality is definitely there. Executive Chef Matthew Richmond really put his mark on this menu. I’ll definitely be back with my friends or family.

We Rate Stake:

Address:
2080 United Boulevard
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.hardrockcasinovancouver.com/venue/stake/

Stake on Urbanspoon

green-mustache-window

The Green Moustache is located in the Whistler Village and serves up juices, smoothies, and healthy food. M and I were spending a day in Whistler and needed a place to have some juice. We passed by Green Moustache and decided to give their drink a try.

green-mustache-inner

Besides smoothie and juices, they have salads, soups, rice bowls, and raw food treats. It’s good for people with restrictive diets.

green-mustache-smoothie

Dali Smoothie (16oz -$8) is a berry smoothie.

Chaplin Smoothie (12oz – $6.50) is a mango and banana smoothie.

Both smoothies taste good but we both had a liking towards the Chaplin Smoothie because of the banana. Banana does wonders for a smoothie.

green-mustache-sign

Overall, it was a nice stop for a smoothie on the ride back to Vancouver. It’s a cute little place too.

We Rate The Green Moustache:

Address:
4340 Lorimer Rd
Whistler, BC

Website:
http://greenmoustachejuice.com/

Green Moustache on Urbanspoon

rajio-outer

Rajio is located near UBC and are owned by the same people who have brought us Suika Izakaya and Kingyo Izakaya. Rajio is Japanese for Radio, so you will notice their logo is a radio at the front of the restaurant.

The team at Vaneats.ca are currently offering up a $20 ‘Turn on the Rajio‘ dining package, which includes 4 items:

  • Kushikatsu – 4 bite size skeweres
  • Banga Cauda – fresh veggies and dip
  • Sashimi Salad
  • Heavenly Ebi Ramen

I came here on a weekday with 3 of my good friend to enjoy some yummy Japanese food. We used the package, as well as ordering a few items off them menu.

rajio-inner

The interior is quite nice and really connects you back to Japan.

rajio-cabbage

Complimentary cabbage with a light acidic dressing. Yummy!

rajio-veg

Bagna Cauda has fresh veggies with a dipping sauce made from garlic, anchovy, olive oil and sweet Japanese white miso. This was a really strange dish to see at a restaurant especially if it’s served in a pyrex cup. Funny to see all the vegetables, but it actually pairs well with the sauce. The sauce blew us away.

rajio-salad

VANEATS Sashimi Salad has their Chef’s omakase sashimi with crisp romaine lettuce tossed in kalamata olive soya dressing topped with tobiko. Very good sashimi salad.

rajio-dip

Kushikatsu is what Rajio is known for! It has the Chef’s recommendation of 4 deep fried, panko breaded, bite sized skewers with their dipping sauce. Just make sure you only take on dip. I was scared to use the sauce because what if someone double dipped by accident.

rajio-ramen

Heavenly Ebi Ramen is a new item and has tender ramen in deep-golden shrimp broth, embellished with slices of cha-shu pork and shrimp infused garlic oil. Its a bit disappoint to see there isn’t any who ebi shrimp in the dish. It tasted ok but I felt like it was still lacking something.

rajio-chalk

Overall, the Vaneats Turn on the Rajio package is a good start to dive into their menu, but you will need to order a few more dishes to round out the whole experience.

Let keep exploring some dishes outside of the dining package.

rajio-drink

Smashing Hit Punch ($13) looks pretty awesome. It is punch with watermelon, orange, grapefruit, vodka, rum, white wine and all served in a watermelon. It’s a small watermelon and not those regular large ones. It looked really cool, but M thought the beverage could have been colder to enhance the flavours.

rajio-chicken-knees

Chicken Knees is actually chicken cartilage with some meat. Some people may think this dish is weird, but it’s just like chicken karaage but with the added cartilage.

rajio-jowl

Tontoro Yaki is their grilled pork jowl with shredded onions and yuzu kosho – a citrus dressing.

rajio-kfc

The KFC ($7.80) has boneless chicken karaage coated with their secret spices.

rajio-skewer

We also ordered more Kushikatsu.

Chicken Kushikatsu, mochi Kushikatsu, and bacon wrapped tomato Kushikatsu.

rajio-skewers

Sausage Kushikatsu and Camembert Cheese

rajio-tako-wasa

Tako Wasabi ($3.80) has raw chopped octopus with pickles marinated in a wasabi sauce. You take the mixture and scoop them onto the seaweed and eat it together. I like this dish because you get the nice kick of wasabi.

rajio-napkin

Overall, my friends and I had a great time! We casually chatted over beer and food. The ambiance was great because they actually played some good music. Discovered a few songs that I wanted to put on a few on my playlists.

We Rate Rajio:

Address:
3763 W. 10th Ave.
Vancouver, BC

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

Rajio Japanese Public House 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

rolling-dough-outer

The Rolling Dough is a new pizza place in North Burnaby, which opened on August 2014. I often go to Gaya Sushi next door, so I was quite curious to try this place out when it opened. M and I came here to grab takeout for lunch as we noticed they had a few promotional deals going on. We ordered 2 medium pizzas and it took about 20 minutes to be completed. We called ahead of time so we didn’t have to wait.

rolling-dough-oven

Inside the store is their large stone pizza oven that they use to make all their pizza.

rolling-dough-stove

Making lots of pizza all day everyday, except on Sundays.

rolling-dough-counter

They have 3 sizes of pizzas – 8″, 12″ and 14″. They roll our their dough everyday and try to use local produce where possible. Nothing is frozen or premade.

rolling-dough-seats

There are a few seats inside and outside, but most people do takeout.

rolling-dough-box

M and I did a pick up order since we wanted to eat it at home. Too bad they don’t deliver.

rolling-dough-chicken

The Rolling Dough Chicken (12″ – $18) has roasted chicken breast, monterey jack cheese, salsa verde, cilantro, and Feta Cheese on the thin crust.

rolling-dough-meat-lovers

Meat Lovers (12″ – $17.50) comes with ham, pepperoni and spicy Italian sausage on top of the thin crust.

rolling-dough-thin-c

Both pizzas were quite thin and did stay crispy after we took it home.

rolling-dough-thin

The toppings held together nicely and did not fall apart.

rolling-dough-slices

Taking a few bites of each pizza, it’s very different from Panago or Dominos.  It’s much thinner crust and not as oily. The pizzas were average, but didn’t feel like they were worth the price because of their thin crust and you won’t get as full. Do keep an eye out for promos on their website as they do have some good deals. When we got 2 medium pizzas, the second one was 30% off.

If you are looking for a late night pizza joint, their hours are short and only open till 9pm.

We Rate The Rolling Dough

Address:
2900 Bainbridge Ave
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://rollingdough.ca/

Rolling Dough 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

Rouge-Bistro-window

There’s a new cozy bistro called Rouge Bistro located on 2nd Ave and Manitoba. Just right outside the Olympic Village. It has only been open for the last month and a half. I’ve actually come here a few time during my lunch hour because they have very homey tasting sandwiches and soups.

I’ve never had anything I was disappointed with . The shop is a family owned business and they want to provide customers with yummy food that makes them smile. Plus, most items on their menu is under $10. Perfect for the lunch hour.

Rouge-Bistro-inner

There aren’t a lot of seats, but I haven’t found it a problem yet. It’s not too busy, so you will still find a seat. As they are still new, I can see this place being quite busy in a few months.

Rouge-Bistro-wait

Their menu is mostly comprised of salads, sandwiches, soups and daily specials. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but they have a good selection for lunch.

Rouge-Bistro-combo

Wild Salmon Walnut Pesto Sandwich ($9) and it comes with a side of soup. The side of soup I chose was mushroom and it was good! Lots of mushrooms were in it and it was quite yummy.

Rouge-Bistro-sandwich

There was a lot of the salmon in it and they do not skimp out at all! It tasted very good and healthy. Plus, I was super stuffed when I finished it all!

Rouge-Bistro-set

The Roast Beef Sandwich ($9) and a side of broccoli soup. This was a simple meal but it tasted so good. I don’t know what their secret is, but it was just really good.

Rouge-Bistro-roastbeef

The owner comes in here every morning to roast his beef and lamb before the lunch rush. Inside the sandwich is mushrooms, cheddar and the roasted beef. I think the reason why it tasted so good is because everything is fresh! The beef was still very moist and flavourful.

Rouge-Bistro-salad

Chicken Soup, Quinoa Chickpea peanut sauce salad, Chicken Seaweed Salad was a nice trio for lunch if you wanted something a tad healthier.

Rouge-Bistro-curried-chicken

Curried Quarter Chicken ($9) comes with your choice of breast or leg/thigh. I chose the leg/thigh because I love dark meat and its juicier. This also comes with a side of soup! The soup this day was french onion soup. This chicken was really good and it has a few chunk of potatoes on the bottom.

Rouge-Bistro-wildsalmon

Overall, I love coming here to have lunch. Everything is fresh and delicious, with great prices. Having been here 3 times without any disappointment, I think this place is pretty solid. All my coworkers love Rouge Bistro too. It’s refreshing to have a good place to eat close to Science World without having to go to the usual places like Tap and Barrel or Craft.

We Rate Rouge Bistro:

Address:
91 West 2nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Rouge Bistro on Urbanspoon

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival

Whistler Village Beer Festival is a 4 day event of tastings, workshops, awards, and cask showdowns. The main tasting festival event was on Saturday and was open to the public with over 200 types of beer and 62 breweries. The event attracted over 3,500 people!

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-olympic

It was held in the Whistler Olympic Plaza surrounded by grass, trees, and mountains. What better place would you rather have a beer in hand? It’s really a beautiful location.

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-mug

Early Bird tickets were $30, General admission was $35 and GateCrasher Tickets were $45. The only difference is that GateCrashers get early access to the festival grounds one hour before it officially opens.

Your ticket includes:

  • WVBF Novelty Mug (4oz)
  • 5 beer tokens
  • $5 off-site food voucher

If you want additional beer tokens, you can purchase them during the event for $1.50 each.

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-gate

There were long waits right when the event opened up, so it’s best to be a GateCrasher to get early entry if you hate waits.

Whistler-Village-Beer-crowd

The breweries that were in attendance were:

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Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-tasting

At each booth, they have a selection of beer for you to taste. Just exchange one of the beer tokens for a sample. Having a taste of new beers really gives you a sense of what type of beers you enjoy the most.

I discovered I don’t like beers with a high IBU rating, like IPA. I do enjoy lighter beers or fruity beers. At the Samuel Adams booth, a beer that I enjoyed was the Summer Ale, which has a crisp taste with a hint of lemon flavour. I know, I’m such a girl when it comes to beer. I’m looking for good beers that will pair well with my weekly fried chicken trips.

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-vendor

Talking to the people at each booth was great to learn more about the beer as well.

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-band

There is also live music too. This little group of four dressed up in their lederhosen, played some fun music that went well with the festival.

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-trumpet

Most of the music played was German Oompah-style music. What better songs to have at a beer fest right?

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-KegArt

They also had a section with beer keg art from artists. Some of them looked pretty awesome!

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-mountain

Of course the crowd needed some snack to help them drink more beer! There were a  few food trucks and vendors in the area served up pies, pizza, and pretzels. There are also tons of restaurants in the Village if you need a beer break.

They also have a few water stations if you need to rinse your mug or just keep hydrated.

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-taste

Prost! The Whister Village Beer Festival is great for beer newbies and beer experts! Fun for all those who are over the age of 19. M and I definitely had fun.

Whistler-Village-Beer-Festival-love-of-beer

What would you do for the love of beer? Travel a few hours to go to a Beer Fest, thats what we did! Plus, some booths had a cool swag like beer openers! Samuel Adams had a cool one with their slogan – For the love of beer.

The next Whistler Village Beer Festival is set for September 17 to 20, 2015. So, keep an eye open for tickets to go on sale next year.

pizza-farina-outer

Pizzeria Farina is located right by the entrance to Chinatown near the Viaducts. They open daily at 5pm and stays open until the dough runs out. This place is really close to my work and never open for lunch. Apparently they always run out of dough, around 8pm or 10pm depending on the day you’re here. They are also the same owners as Ask for Luigi and Pourhouse.

I came here with M, KoreanGirl and Scarface came here on a Friday after work to enjoy some great pizza. You can either eat in or take out.

pizza-farina-inner

The interior is quite small and cozy. You will find a communal dining table in the centre for 10 – 12 people.

pizza-farina-window

The are also 2 tables of 2 and 4 seats by the window. So, that’s about 20 seats in total.

pizza-farina-water

They have sparkling or still water on tap! Pretty awesome! I’ve slowly grown to like sparkling water, so it’s great you don’t have to pay for it.

pizza-farina-soda

They also have different sodas. We got Boylan Ginger Ale, Boylan Cane Cola and Brio Chinotto.

pizza-farina

Margherita ($12) has tomato sauce, mozzarella, olive oil and basil. It was basic, but it was so good! The dough was thin and crispy with the perfect amount of toppings. I could eat this all day! Highly Recommended!

pizza-farina-funghi

Funghi ($15) has Mushrooms, mozzarella, parmesan, red onions, garlic and arugula. The edges were a bit burnt, but this pizza was good too. It was crispy at first, but if you do wait too long, it will get soggy in the centre because of all the cheese.

pizza-farina-special

Special ($15) has tomato sauce with prosciutto cotto, pancetta, parmesan, fior de latte & fresh basil. Mmm that pancetta was really good on the pizza.

pizza-farina-oil

They also have Chili Infused Olive Oil and Oregano Infused Olive Oil for the pizza. The chili one is quite hot, so don’t have too much. But, it is really good.

pizza-farina-marg

Overall, Pizzeria Farina has amazing pizza! I would definitely recommend it. Start with the Margherita Pizza as that is the best one! MMmmmm mmmmmm this place is really good! One of the best pizzeria’s in Vancouver.

We Rate Pizzeria Farina:  

Address:
915 Main Street
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.pizzeriafarina.com/

Pizzeria Farina on Urbanspoon

ask-for-luigi-menu

There is one place I love to take guests to in Vancouver, that place is Ask For Luigi. They just have very good freshly made pasta every night. When M’s relatives were in town, I took them here since I knew it would be a hit with them. Plus, it’s really hard to get good pasta in Korea. I wanted to blow their taste buds away.

As usual, I made a reservation a week in advance for 5:30pm on Saturday. I always find they have quick and efficient service right at the beginning of dinner time.

luigi-duck-ragu

Pappardelle and Duck Ragu ($19) is one of my favourites. Order this now!

luigi-meatballs

Luigi’s meatballs ($14) is a great starter and you can add any amount of additional meatballs if you don’t have the exact amount for the table. We had to add one more onto this plate. It comes with some toasted bread on the side. Mmmm it’s one of my favourite meatballs I’ve ever had! It is very flavourful and has a nice texture with the added pinenuts.

luigi-risotto

Saffron Risotto and Clams ($18) is another wonderful dish! The clams were fresh and of course had a lot of flavour packed into them. When you eat it with the creamy risotto, it’s just heavenly.

luigi-sausage

Tagliatelle, Fennel Sausage & Rapini ($18) had bits of sausage dispersed throughout the dish. Yum.

luigi-squid

Spaghetti Nero, Octopus and Jalapeno ($18) has an odd look to it, but trust me, it’s was another amazing dish. The octopus was tender and very enjoyable.

Overall, it was another great dinner at Ask for Luigi and I would highly recommend it…as long as you are willing to make reservations ahead of time or have to wait in line for a table.

We Rate Ask for Luigi

Address:
305 Alexander Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.askforluigi.com/

Ask for Luigi on Urbanspoon

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Sassafraz-outer

Sassafraz is located right in Yorkville and the serve up French inspired Canadian cuisine. I came here for lunch with Flo when I was visiting Toronto for a few days. We thought it would be a great place to catch up as they have a patio area outside.

Sassafraz-bread

As we waited for our order, some bread and butter arrived. We took a few bites of the bread and it was good and simple.

Sassafraz-juice

Cucumberland Detox ($8) is a cold-pressed juice with cucumber, apple, kale, spinach, lime, and coconut water. It was good to see a variety of drinks on their menu. For a traveller, it’s always hard to get a good dose of fruits or vegetables.

Sassafraz-scallops

Nova Scotia Digby scallops ($24) has a sweet soy glaze, citrus roasted cauliflower, forbidden rice, samphire, with a dashi broth. It was quite a small dish for $24. It barely had any rice in it. Also, the scallops looked super seared.

Sassafraz-steak

Ontario artisan flank steak salad ($19) is served medium with mixed greens, caramelized onion, pickled honey mushroom, and Dijon vinaigrette. This was a nice healthy lunch and it was good.

Overall, the lunch was quite pricey and the portions are a tad small.

We Rate Sassafraz: 

Address:
100 Cumberland St
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.sassafraz.ca/

Sassafraz on Urbanspoon