Type Archives - Page 72 of 125

In Canadian

Rosemary Rocksalt: Bagels and Montreal Smoked Meat

July 22, 2014

Rosemary Rocksalt is a great place for bagels with Montreal smoked meat. Rosemary Rocksalt is the sister restaurant of Seigel’s Bagels. They have one location in North Vancouver and recently opened a new location on Main Street in Vancouver. They serve up Montreal-style bagels and they delicious!

The interior is nice and simple. All items are under $10 and makes for great snack or lunch.

They also have Rugolach, which is a Jewish pastry in the form of a crescent by rolling a triangle of dough around a filling.

Boylan Black Cherry Soda is sold here and M loves his cherry sodas.

Morning Bagel ($6.50) has Montreal Smoked meat, cheddar and egg. I chose it on the everything bagel.I like the texture of all the nuts and seeds on top of it.

You can see the cross-section of the smoked meat, cheddar and egg. Great for breakfast.

Montreal Smoked Meat (Reg – $9) on a Rosemary Rocksalt bagel. It also comes with a pickled.

It was delicious! The Montreal smoked meat bagel was great, tender and full of flavour.

Fries were ordered too. M needed some extra carbs since he was really hungry. The fries were ok, but nothing special.

Overall, the bagels are great and that Montreal Smoked meat is mighty delicious. Highly recommended.

We Rate Rosemary Rocksalt:

Address:
2515 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.rosemaryrocksalt.com

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=2515+Main+St&sll=49.2625553,-123.1009902&sspn=0.0053772,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=2515+Main+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T&z=16 “]

In Canadian

The Keg: Great for Birthday Celebrations

July 21, 2014

The Keg is one of my favourite restaurants to go to. I am not ashamed to say it because I have many fond memories of this place for celebrating milestones. This particular occasion was my little sister’s birthday. She loves steak and it’s the only thing she will eat mass quantities of.

We made reservations on Canada Day and celebrated here. This particular Keg is located beside BestBuy.

Filet Mignon (7oz – $32) is one of the specialty cuts they have to offer. The tenderloin is wrapped in applewood smoked bacon. It has the ultimate tenderness and cuts through like butter. I got the roasted garlic mashed potatoes for my side. It also come with beans, red pepper and a sauce.

It was delicious and now I always get the filet mignon in medium rare.

Filet Mignon (7oz – $32) was what my little sister ordered. She ordered mixed vegetables for her side and she got sauteed mushrooms, peppers, zucchini and asparagus.

Atlantic Lobster ($41) has two succulent Atlantic lobster tails served with hot butter. My dad ordered his side of baked potato with the works.

Prime Rib (10oz – $25) with the twice baked potato as the side. The prime rib is aged for extra flavour and tenderness, rubbed with a blend of spices and slow roasted. It is served with horseradish and red wine herb au jus. There’s also crispy onions. This was ok, but we felt there was a lot of fat and tendon in the cut. Wasn’t as good as previous times.

Overall, the food is good and you can’t go wrong with filet mignon

We Rate The Keg:

Address:
130 – 2991 Lougheed Hwy
Coquitlam BC

Website: http://www.kegsteakhouse.com/

In Chinatown

New Town Bakery: Go for the baked goods, avoid the lunch menu

July 17, 2014

New Town Bakery is one of the must-visit places in Vancouver’s Chinatown according to CNN. They have won multiple awards for their baked goods. New Town Bakery has been around since the 1980s serving Filipino and Chinese pastries. Their original location is in Chinatown, but they also have locations in Surrey and Richmond.

The front of the restaurant is the bakery section and this area is very busy. They even have a numbering system just to keep things organized when people order.

There’s a lot of options but most people order the egg tarts, steamed buns, pineapple buns, and their apple tarts.

At the back of the restaurant is the dining area where you can order full meals instead of the baked goods. Mags and I came here for lunch and ordered off their lunch menu.

Sui Mai ($4.25) comes with 4 pieces and consists of pork and shrimp. There’s a lot more pork than shrimp in these dumplings. It was ok, but not the best.

Iced Milk Tea ($1 extra with purchase of set meal) pretty standard taste.

Soy-Fried Flat Rice Noodles with Beef ($7.75) was a good portion size for lunch but it was super oily. The beef was tender and had a good flavour. You can probably share this among 2 people if you wanted to.

Curry Fish ball with Squid ($7.50) was a bit disgusting. The squid was not fresh and was very chewy. I struggled for a while trying to chew through the squid. The onions, peppers and carrots tasted fresh. The fish balls was very bouncy and tasted ok. The sauce was a bit gelatinous and a tad salty.

The entire meal was disgusting. This was everything that was leftover. I was so disappointed.

Overall, nothing was good about this lunch. Stay away from the meals and stick with the baked pastries.

We Rate New Town Bakery:

Address:
148 East Pender Street Vancouver BC

Website:
http://newtownbakery.ca/

In Cafe

Pazzo Chow: New Italian Restaurant in Chinatown

July 16, 2014

Pazzo Chow is the newest restaurant to open up in Chinatown. They serve up Italian food in their cosy little restaurant.

You can expect home-cooked Italian food for takeout or eating in the restaurant. They also serve espresso, homemade focaccia bread, salads, snacks, Brown Paper Packages Ice Cream, etc.

I came here with my coworkers – Janers and Mags to check this cute place out.

The space is really small. So there is one table inside and 2 table outside. It’s not a place for large groups.

The menu changes daily, so you never know what will be featured on the menu.

While you wait, there are a few items you can purchase from their grocery section.

They have carefully selected range of local and Italian-made and inspired goods that allow them to share their love of good food and great products with their customers.

The owners select fine quality products that have rich history and are not easily, if at all, found elsewhere in Vancouver. Many of the products are used in their menu too.

Fresh Focaccia with Nutella ($2) we got them to cut it up into 3 pieces since Janers and Mags wanted to share. It was a good decision to share since there is only so much Nutella we handle for lunch. They did not skimp on the nutella and there was tons of it! Yum Yum Yum!

We found that the salt on the focaccia balanced very well with the sweet nutella.

Bowl of Fresh pasta with focaccia ($8) had a few sauces to choose from. The pasta was al dente and was a good size for lunch.

Spinach with BBQ Pork, walnuts and water chestnuts ($7.50) was one of their featured salads. It looked amazing, but I felt there was a but too much sauce for the salad, so at the bottom, the leaves were drenched.

Salted Pistachio ($4.25/scoop) the ice cream was very smooth and the addition of the salted pistachio were delicious.

Janers and Mags didn’t want me to write about Pazzo Chow because they feared this little gem would be packed at lunch. But, in true blogger style, I had to share this little restaurant with my amazing readers. Pazzo Chow is a nice place to stop for a quick lunch if you work around this area.

We Rate Pazzo Chow:

Address:
620 Quebec Street Vancouver BC

Website:
http://pazzochow.com/

In American

Prohibition Tasting Bar: New Restaurant in Yaletown

July 14, 2014

Prohibition Tasting Bar is owned by their parent company – Prohibition Brewing Company, which is located in an old distillery on the outskirts of Kelowna in British Columbia’s Okanagan Region. They are 100% B.C. owned and operated and strive to bring clean, crisp and refreshing traditional beers while supporting local suppliers and communities.

They feature five different Prohibition beers, cocktails and small pairing menu. It’s a fantastic spot for lunch or after work drinks.

The interior is quite beautiful with their elegant black and red colour scheme. It’s a great place that can handle large groups.

The 5 beer they feature are:

Bootlegger Amber Ale
Lawless IPA
Getaway Lager
Smuggler Scotch Ale
Hideout Honey Lager

They also have a cider that is off the menu.

Flight of Four ($8) is a great way to sample most of their beers. I loved all the beers except for the Lawless IPA, but I never really liked IPAs anyways.

Moonshine Sour ($9.50) is served as a double and has moonshine, walnut butters, citrus and whites. The drink was sweet and refreshing.

Charcuterie Board ($16) has a selection of their market meat and cheese. It is served with some nuts, crostini, mustard, dipping sauce, and pickles. It’s a good dish to pick at while having drinks.

Duck Wings ($11) has a pound of the wings and you can get them hot, lemon pepper or BBQ. We got the lemon pepper and it was delicious! Highly recommended. TaiwaneseGirl and I couldn’t stop raving about these. It’s easy to eat and theres so much flavour.

Prosciutto Sandwich with Chips ($9 +$6) the chips are very addictive! It’s thick cut and super crunchy. Great flavour too.

Look at that meat.

The proscuitto sandwich contains tomato, balsamic, brie, lettuce, and proscuitto inside the bread. It tasted ok, but I wasn’t too impressed.

Pretzel Knots ($8) has ale cheese, dijon and pickles on the side.

You must dip the pretzel into the cheese and make it taste really good. Can’t go wrong with cheese right?

Overall, the drink selection is great and the food that accompanies it is also yummy. I would definitely bring my coworkers here after work for a few drinks. The staff were also very knowledgeable on all their drinks, so I definitely learned a lot. Great service!

We Rate Prohibition Tasting Bar:

Address:
1269 Hamilton St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.prohibitionbrewingco.com/

In Gastown

Taishoken Ramen: Newest Ramen Shop in Vancouver

July 13, 2014

Taishoken Ramen is the newest ramen join in Vancouver. It is located right across from Tinsel Town. During their soft opening, they were offering ramen up for $5. Sadly, I don’t like lines so I never ended up trying it in it’s first week. Once that deal was over, there are rarely any lines and there’s always a spot to sit. The ramen is around $9 – $14, so it is a bit pricey for the ramen they have on the menu.

Taishoken is a Japanese chain and is best known for their tsukemen. They have a small variety of ramen, but you can find the usual – miso, shio, and spicy.

The interior has a communal table in the centre and more seats on the side for groups of 2 or 4. I’ve been here twice so far for lunch and dinner, but it’s not too busy.

On the table, you have pepper, chili oil, soy sauce and vinegar to add to your meal.

Special Spicy Ramen has 6 pieces of pork belly, a soft egg, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, scallions, and seaweed. I got the least spicy version and it was quite spicy. They give you a jug of unseasoned broth to add, so you can adjust the flavour. The pork belly was delicious and fatty. Yum.

The special size gives you extra soft boiled egg, extra chachu, and extra nori.

The egg was soft but not too oozy.

Special Tsukemen was what M ordered and he chose the pork shoulder. It is more lean than the pork belly. The noodle is cold and in a separate plate so you dip it into the broth to eat. I find that most people order this item. It’s really good and addictive. M always orders this now.

Overall, it’s decent ramen but there are still better ones in Vancouver. The Tsukemen is pretty good and its one item you should order when you’re here.

We Rate Taishoken Ramen:

Address:
515 Abbott St
Vancouver BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/taishokenramen.vancouver

In British Columbia

McDonald’s Canada: Spicy Buffalo Poutine

July 12, 2014

Last year, McDonalds Canada introduced the poutine. Now, they have poutine 2.0 – the Spicy Buffalo Poutine. This got me curious because I would not expect spicy buffalo sauce and poutine to ever mix together.

The Spicy Buffalo Poutine ($4.99) has fries, cheese curds, gravy, green onions, chicken and the spicy buffalo sauce. You can get the chicken grilled or crispy. We went with the crispy chicken because we might as well indulge.

The poutine doesn’t look attractive, but once you dig in, you get a mouthful of the buffalo sauce and it is similar to Franks Red Hot Sauce. The vinegary taste from the hot sauce compliments the richness from the curds and gravy.

It’s not bad at all.

Website:
http://www.mcdonalds.ca/ca/en.html

In Bakery

Cafe Joie: Shaved Ice, Coffee, and Waffles

July 11, 2014

Cafe Joie is an independent cafe near Metrotown. I came here with Gastrofork and FoodQueen to catch up over some coffee and treats. You can easily take the Skytrain to Metrotown and then walk a block away from the mall.

Cafe Joie has coffee, tea, macarons, coffee buns, waffles, shaved ice and some other sweet treats.

The interior is quite beautiful, spacious and adorable. It’s a great place to do some homework or just catch up with some friends.

Cappuccino was what I ordered. Nice, strong, and delicious. A definite winner if you want to just slowly sip away and have some pastries with it. Too bad it didn’t have nice art this time.

Green Tea Matcha Latte was what Dee ordered and it has a cute spiderweb art on the top.

Milk Shaved Ice with Fruit was made in-house with their shaved ice machine. Instead of using ice to make it, they pour in milk to create the shaved ice, giving it a delicious taste when paired with the fruit and corn flakes. Highly recommended!

Green Tea Ice Cream with Waffles and Fruit was not impressive. The waffle was quite bland and has a soft texture. It was a good size for sharing but it just didn’t taste good.

Chocolate and fruit waffle was the same as the green tea waffle. The waffle batter just isn’t good. It would be nice if it was more crispy.

Overall, great coffee, pastries and shaved ice, but stay away from the waffles.

We Rate Cafe Joie:

Address:
110-6125 Sussex Ave
Burnaby BC

Website:
http://www.cafejoie.com/

In Brunch

Kessel&March: Brunch Time

July 10, 2014

Kessel&March is an awesome restaurant on Powell Street. They do have brunch! TaiwaneseGirl, CanuckGirl, and I headed off on a Saturday to have our usual brunch get-togethers. The menu looked great and you can get brunch between $9 and $13. Pretty decent price point and also the food is high quality.

Brunch is available Saturday and Sunday from 10am till 3pm.

Kessel&March isn’t a large restaurant, but it’s still pretty quiet during the weekend as it’s not very close to any skytrains.

The upstairs of the restaurant is pretty cool as you can see their huge shelves of food.

The upstairs is a nice cozy space. Great for large groups!

Fisherman’s Eggs ($12) has 2 poached eggs, tuna, cod, clams, bacon beer broth, fiddleheads & a side of toast. MMMmmmm Mmmmm good! If you love seafood, this is a dish you should get. I didn’t expect this combination to be good, but it tasted great. Very healthy! The toast was beautifully toasted and its the best toast I’ve ever had.

The poached eggs were beautiful too.

Chorizo Hash ($11) has 2 poached eggs, rainbow swiss chard, rapini, potatoes, romesco sauce & toast. You can also turn this into Smoked Tofu Hash for the same price if you are not a meat eater.

Meat Skillet ($13) has 2 baked eggs, ham, breakfast sausage, potatoes, baked beans, tomato, mushroom & toast. CanuckGirl was amazed at how healthy this dish felt because it was not greasy at all!

Overall, the brunch was pretty good and the quality is there. No matter what you get, it tastes great and that toast is addictive.

We Rate Kessel&March:

Address:
109-1701 Powell Street Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.kesselandmarch.com/

In Downtown

Fat Duck: Sinfully Delicious

July 9, 2014

Food trucks are mighty delicious and one of my favourites are Fat Duck Mobile Eatery. They are now outside Waterfront station, but can move around during the week. If you do happen to pass by, make sure to stop and have a sandwich.

They serve up sandwiches and tacos.

Le Cochon ($10) has pork belly, braised pork, cabbage, scallions, spicy pickle slaw, swiss cheese and chili mayo. This sandwich was dripping in fat and flavour. Really good! It a bit messy to eat, so make sure to have lots of napkins.

With the sandwich, you get chips! The chips are thickly cut and very very crunchy! Yummmmmmy!

Duck Confit Philly Style sandwich has marinated mushrooms, pickled red onions, scallions, swiss cheese and truffle/parm mayo. My coworker loved it. It wasn’t great for her diet, but sometimes its nice to indulge.

Since last year, they have changed up their bread and menu items. One thing they still do well is making mouth-watering sandwiches with a punch of flavour. Follow them on Twitter or check them out on the Vancouver Street Food App to find out where they will be next.

We Rate Fat Duck:

Location:
Varies

Website:
http://fatduckmobileeatery.ca/

In Farmers Market

Steveston Farmers and Artisan Market

July 8, 2014

Steveston Farmers and Artisan Market has been around since 2008. It’s a great venue where local farmers, artists and craftspersons make their products available in an open, fresh-air environment.

I came here on Fathers Day with my family and it was a nice sunny day in Steveston compared to the rest of the Lower Mainland where there were crazy rain storms. Luckily, we avoided all of that.

Summer 2014 Remaining Dates: July 20th, August 3rd and 17th , September 7th and 21st

The market was located right near the Cannery. There are 2 little areas of the market and it’s fairly close to each other. They have around 50 vendors participating. The vendors are proud to “Make It, Bake It, Grow It or Catch It” for customers who appreciate buying from, and supporting, local farmers and artisans.

It’s a good place for a foodie because they have a lot of specialty baked goods. If you are gluten-free, they will find shops that cater to your dietary needs.

My sister is celiac, so paying a visit to high crow gluten-free foods. We bought cookies, brownies, and other sweet treats.

Their gluten-free bread tasted great and you wouldn’t believe it does not contain gluten.

A lot of the produce at the different stalls are beautiful.

It’s great knowing you are getting fresh produce and supporting local farmers.

There’s even chicken being sold here.

Another cool discovery is BrainFood Dried Tart Cherries ($20). It’s really good and tastes way different than any dried fruit I found in stores. They also have some other dried fruit too like blueberries and cranberries. All were delicious.

Steveston Farmers and Artisan Market was a great place to take my family and we bought a lot of stuff. Let the cooking begin.

Website: http://sfam.ca/

In Bakery

Purebread: Unbelievably Addictive

July 6, 2014

Purebread is one of my favourite bakeries. They don’t have a storefront in Vancouver, but they have one in Whistler and they also make appearances at a lot of the Farmers Markets in Vancouver. They are at the Main Train Station Farmers Market every other week on Wednesday and my coworkers all go crazy when they are there.One week, we rushed right when they opened to see what they had available.

Everything looked amazing and you can find pastries around $3 or $4. I really wanted to get everything, but I had to restrain myself. Plus, the staff are very friendly and helpful if you can’t decide what to get.

Outrageous Brownie ($3.50) was really rich and delicious! It was a really large portion too! You could easily cut this up into 4 pieces and share. Plus it goes great with a glass of milk.

Crack ($3.50) was delicious and reminded me of Momofuku’s Crack Pie. It probably has lots of brown sugar and butter. Nonetheless, it is mighty addictive.

Jalapeno Cheddar Scone was AMAZING! The flavours were spot on and I fell in love with scones. Mmmmmm just come here and get a scone, you will not regret it.

Overall, I loved everything I tried and I would definitely come here everyday if I could somehow find them. Highly recommend you find them in Whistler or at one of the local farmers market.

We Rate PureBread:

Location:
Varies

Website:
http://www.purebread.ca/

In Dessert

Screamers Soft Serve and Treats: Mini-sized Screamers

July 5, 2014

My last visit to Screamers was a few years ago and it is literally the best Summer treat when you are down in that area. You can walk along the pier or take a stroll to Gary Point Park and enjoy your Screamer in the sun.

Last time, I got the small, but I left it was way too large, so this time I opted for the mini-size. Plus, it’s only $2.

A Screamer is part soft serve ice cream and part slushee. When I was here they only has 2 flavours – Crush Lime and Crush Orange. After all this time, I still like the Crush Orange flavour. Mini is the best size if you want a taste.

We Rate Screamers Soft Serve & Treats:

Address:
12211 Third Avenue
Richmond, BC

Website:
www.screamerssoftserve.ca

In Brunch

Oakwood Canadian Bistro: Brunch

July 4, 2014

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro is know for their delicious brunch on the weekends from 10am – 2:45pm. TaiwaneseGirl really wanted to taste their brunch since she’s heard great things. I was here a while ago too, when the brunch was only $10, but times have changed and prices unfortunately go up.

The place was very busy for brunch and we didn’t make reservations. You should make reservations to avoid the waits.

Nothing starts off the day than a cup of coffee with unlimited refills.

Confit Tuna Benedict ($14) has dill hollandaise, fennel salad, and home fries. TaiwaneseGirl and CanuckGirl did enjoy the bennies. They thought it was very flavourful and plus those home fries and crunchy.

Maple Confit Pork Belly ($12) has scrambled eggs, home fries, and toast. The bacon was mighty tasty. I love bacon. The eggs were a bit boring, but if you pair it up with some ketchup, they taste just fine.

We always ask for tabasco and ketchup for our order. Just for a little bit of added taste.

Overall, brunch is still good at Oakwood. Mmmm Mmmm

We Rate The Oakwood Canadian Bistro:

Address:
2741 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.theoakwood.ca/

In BBQ

Insadong Korean BBQ: Family BBQ Combo for 4-5 People

July 3, 2014

Insadong Korean BBQ Restaurant has been on North Road and Lougheed for a while now and have been serving guests traditional Korean cuisine. The restaurant is pretty huge and can accommodate large groups.

I came here with my family for Fathers Day and it was quite busy. Parking was a bit tough but we eventually found a spot.

Depending on which area of the restaurant you sit in, it will look different. The area we were in had pretty poor ventilation, so it was very smokey for most of the time. The table we were at wasn’t wiped down properly, so there were bits of food still on it.

Family BBQ Combination ($79.99) can serve 4 -5 people but we had a lot of leftovers…so you can have 6 people eat this if you really wanted.

In this combo, you get:

Smoked Salmon Salad
Radish Seaweed Roll
Seafood non-spicy tofu soup or soybeans soup
Seafood Pancake or Bulgogi Japchae
Marinated Beef Galbi Ribs
Marinated Chicken Bulgogi
Marinated Spicy Pork Bulgogi
Marinated Short Ribs
Mussels ( 3 pieces)
Prawns ( 3 pieces)
Oysters( 3 pieces)

Before the main dishes arrived, we were given complimentary side dishes (banchan). You will find a lot of picked vegetables like bean sprouts, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes and kimchi. The side dishes are refillable if you want more.

Radish Seaweed Roll was a light and refreshing dish and it’s good to eat your vegetables beforehand because all the meat will be coming next.

Next, all the marinated meat and seafood arrived on a large platter. Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm time to get this party started.

The marinated galbi beef ribs are cut and placed on the hot grill by the server. They didn’t really say anything and just placed it on there for us. We were confused since they didn’t explain what they were doing. As you can tell, service here is a bit strange.

Everything else we grilled on the stove ourselves. The chicken, beef and pork were great. The seafood was ok, but not as fresh and flavourful.

Seafood Pancake came on a hot plate. It was decent, but not the best one I’ve had.

Smoked Salmon Salad was good, fresh and had a good amount of smoked salmon.

Seafood non-spicy tofu soup was good to contrast the items part of the combo. Great clean taste and has a good amount of tofu and seafood.

Overall, we were so full at the end of the meal and had a few item to take home. We still had a little bit of uncooked meat, so they helped us cook it before we left.

We added 2 bowls of rice for $1.99 each and the end of the meal totaled to $88.17, which is not bad for so much food. You do get value from the combo sets on the menu. The downside about dining here is that the service can be quite poor.

We Rate Insadong Korean BBQ:

Address:
403 North Rd
Coquitlam BC

In Bakery

Bluebird Cakery: Cake in a Jar

July 1, 2014

What can be more hip than a cake in a jar? Especially Salted Caramel Chocolate cake. Sounds very intriguing and has potential. Bluebird Cakery makes custom cakes and sweets all over Vancouver, but recently, their Cake in a Jar became available at UrbanFare, Creme de la Crumb, Chioffis, Nourish Market, Meinhardt, and Fresh St. Market. I’ve seen so many photos on instagram, so I wanted to give it a try.

I went to the closest UrbanFare near my work and picked up 2 jars. It wasn’t cheap at all and it is $6.99, but it was on sale for $5.99.

There are 3 layers of cake, butter cream and salted caramel. When I glanced at the nutrition facts, the whole jar packs a punch to your gut with about 900 calories and tons of sugar and fat. Don’t eat this all in one sitting.

I was only able to eat 1/3 at each sitting as it is quite rich. It is a sweet dessert, but I wish there would be more cake as I really didn’t like all the cream.

Overall, it was ok, but I wasn’t amazed by the taste. The best part is that you can reuse the jar for later.

Website:
http://bluebirdcakery.com/

In Four Beakers

Minami: Minami Zen Lunch Set

June 30, 2014

Mags and I wandered to Yaletown to get a sandwich, but ended up going to Minami, which was the best idea ever. We just needed a taste of their delicious Salmon Oshi Sushi. If you’ve had it before, you know its pretty damn delicious. It’s always one of my favourite dishes in town.

Minami is the sister restaurant of Miku, which made famous the Aburi style or flame searing technique to Vancouver’s thriving sushi scene. I always find they use quality ingredients and have Ocean Wise seafood options.

Mags and I both had the Minami Zen ($28) which includes:

miso soup
Aburi Tuna
Tofu Salad
Chicken Nanban
Beef Tenderloin Skewer
5 pieces of Signature Aburi sushi

It’s a perfect set to really try a bit of everything off the menu. The price is reasonable and you get the most value out of it.

The first 4 items are served in a traditional Japanese hinoki box.

Aburi Tuna is lightly seared with a wasabi masatake sauce on top. It is also garnished with radishes and seaweed. There are 3 pieces of tuna and it tastes really good.

Tofu Salad is topped off with wonton crisps and a umami soy vinaigrette. It was light and refreshing and the wonton crisps really give it a nice texture.

Chicken Nanban has a sweet and sour soy sauce with an asian slaw. It was ok, but the chicken inside was quite bland and missing some flavour.

Beef Tenderloin Skewer has a sweet soy glaze and has tsukemono, which are pickled vegetables. The skewer was quite large, but it was hard to chew some parts.

Miso soup came in a large bowl and it has tofu, enoki mushrooms and seaweed. Yummy.

The 5 pieces of signature aburi sushi did include the widely popular Salmon Oshi Sushi.

Salmon Oshi Sushi is pressed BC wild salmon, jalapeno, and the secret miku sauce. The BEST!

I don’t know what this one was but I think it was Toro. It was melt in your mouth delicious! None of the aburi items disappointed. Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmmmmm!

Overall, the lunch was more than I would normally have spent, but it was so delicious. It’s always nice to have a treat at the end of the week especially when it’s pay day.

We Rate Minami:

Address:
1118 Mainland St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://minamirestaurant.com/

In American

Mamie Taylors: Food and Taxidermy

June 29, 2014

Mamie Taylor’s is one of the newer restaurants to open up in Chinatown across from Phnom Penh. It’s usually busy in the evenings and there is pay parking in the streets. They serve up modern American food on their menu and have a wide selection of drinks and cocktail. A perfect place to go after work with coworkers.

The inside is very nice, but it’s creepy when you start looking at all the taxidermy on the walls. It definitely gives this restaurant character.

Sapporo ($6) was my choice as usual. I’ve always liked it’s light crisp taste.

Japanese Whiskey Flight ($20) has nikka super, nikka from the barrel and nikka black. My coworkers enjoyed trying the different types and how their taste differed from one another.

Corn Bread & Biscuit ($4) comes with a jalapeño bourbon butter. These two items were very delicious! Full of flavour and quite enjoyable.

Fried Olives ($4) has blue cheese, currants, and sherry. I do love olives surprisingly and it was a nice way to add some crunch to an olive. It is a small dish, so these olives can go quickly if you are a quick snacker.

Pimento Cheese ($5) comes with cannoli, espellete, and salad o’ celery. This was yummy! The delicious cheese paired with the crunchy cannoli was perfect. I could eat a few of these.

Tuna Melt ($6) the tuna is cured & smoked, has potato salad, and cheddar. There’s some small onion on the side too. This was a yummy tuna melt.

Turducken ($6) has scotch egg in the centre. It is accompanied with tomatillo sauce and a garlic mayo. It’s not exactly what I imagined for a turducken but it’s their fun twist to it. It tasted alright.

Overall, we ordered all their snacks but didn’t stick around for dinner since we all had alternate plans after drinks. I’ll definitely be back for dinner since their entrees looked pretty damn awesome.

We Rate Mamie Taylors:

Address:
251 East Georgia St.
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://mamietaylors.ca/