Type Archives - Page 88 of 125

In Resort

The Painted Boat Resort: Exploring the Sunshine Coast

June 7, 2013

It has taken me a long time to explore the Sunshine Coast. I’ve always assumed it was very far away from Vancouver, but it’s only about 2 hours and 30 minutes away from Downtown Vancouver. When I got the invitation to go to the Painted Boat resort, I couldn’t say no.

The drive up was incredible, especially Davis Bay Pier outside of a small town called Sechelt. The trip does require a 40 minute Ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay. 4 adults and a car cost us about $120 on BC Ferries, which also includes the return trip too.

Once you get off the highway 101 and into some smaller streets, you will arrive at The Painted Boat Resort.

We checked-in to our villa at the reception area, which is located right beside the spa. We loved the entrance way of the spa and thought this place would be an awesome place for a girls getaway.

There are about 30 villas in the resort right by the harbour. The weekend we came for a visit, it was a mix of sunny skies and periods of heavy rain. You can definitely tell in the picture.

Despite the mixed weather, the view is very calming. It’s great to get away from the city and just relax for the weekend.

Accommodations

We were put in to the Sakinaw building in Unit #6, which is the upper level of the villas. It has a nice view, but I’ve heard there are no bad views since everything overlooks the water. Our particular unit has 2 bedrooms, a loft, den, gourmet kitchen, and a balcony.

We walked inside and we were just amazed. This beats any hotel. It was like being in a nice home that’s not yours. Everything you need is essentially there. The kitchen has stainless steel appliances and is stocked with all the necessary items. We didn’t do any cooking since the only place around here for groceries was at an IGA a few minutes away.

Nice high ceilings with a loft at the top. The loft just had a sofa couch, a tv and a balcony.

The view of the living rooms, kitchen and dining area from the view of the loft.

The balcony has a table with 4 chairs, a BBQ and 2 other lounging chairs. We really wanted to BBQ some pork belly when we saw the BBQ.

Hidden in the fridge was a bottle of white wine and some small pastries. A nice touch to begin relaxing for the weekend.

The master bedroom has a king size bed, a tv, a soaker tub, and a really large bathroom.

The second room is smaller and has a separate bathroom in the hallway.

There is access to a pool, a gym and a hot tub. Its located in the middle of the resort.

There isn’t too much to do around in the area. We found the area called the Pirates Bluff and thought it was a trail, but it was just a very small hill. Exploring is always fun. The immediate resort area isn’t too large, but you can travel a bit farther to town, which is just one road with a few coffee shops and an IGA.

The Restaurant

The purpose of the trip was to visit The Restaurant at Painted Boat Resort. They recently re-opened on May 1st with their new Head Chef Marcus Bugoy. He brings his passion for modern cooking techniques and ability to create delectable French inspired dishes to The Restaurant’s new menu. As the restaurant is known for its coastal cuisine, it’s cool to see the blend of tastes.

The interior isn’t very large but can seat about 70 people. The view over looks the water and docks.

A basket of bread arrives at the table and there were 2 kinds – one was regular and the other was olive bread. Olive bread is always yummy!

An Amuse Bouche arrives from the chef at the beginning of the meal. When we were there, it was a truffled egg custard topped with fresh spot prawns. It was a nice item to start the meal and stimulate the palate. It’s light and has a subtle sweetness from the spot prawns.

West Coast Mussels ($15) comes with a toasted baguette on top. The mussels were very plump and has a nice light curry sauce to it. It was perfectly good. Highly recommended.

Duck Confit & Ham Press ($13) has a carrot & cardamom sauce on the bottom. M gobbled this right up.

Chilled Pea Velouté ($14) also has spot prawns, buttermilk, and mustard tuille. The blended peas did give the soup a bit of a gritty texture, but is enjoyable on a hot summers day.

Albacore Tuna ($15) has squid ink aioli, egg yolk, herb salad, and radish. It’s a very pretty dish. The tuna tasted very fresh.

Heritage Chicken Breast ($26) has a mushroom puree, vegetables, potato pave, and a sherry glaze.

Butter Poached Lobster ($34) has fava beans, lobster tortellini, and a warm tarragon vinaigrette.

Ribeye For Two ($69) comes with crispy bone marrow, pomme anna, beans, truffle béarnaise, and chimichurri sauce. This was definitely a meal for two. Each person gets their own set of sauces, and plate of the pomme anna and the vegetables.

The downside of this dish is that it does take a bit of time to make. When we were there, it seemed like there was a fair amount of people ordering this.

The ribeye was very tender, but it’s also due to the fat content of the ribeye. This particular piece was quite fatty, so we had large globules of fat. We just ate around it. I am not an expert on different cuts of meat, but if we knew it was this fatty, we would have chosen a different dish.

We had it cooked to medium rare and was cooked perfectly, too bad there was so much fat.

I ended the meal with a latte. It wasn’t anything fancy.

We had to save room for dessert. Looking at the menu, there were a few items that tickled our taste buds into wanting to consume more. This is what happens when you’re on vacation, you want to eat everything.

Chocolate Ganache is what M ordered. The liked the different textures of chocolate incorporated into the dish.

Panna Cotta was much prettier than we would have imagined. It doesn’t have that usual look. It has a berry puree on the bottom and lots of fresh fruit on the plate.

Housemade Ice Cream was another option on the dessert menu. You get to choose up to 3 different ice cream choices. I don’t remember what the flavours were but it wasn’t the usual chocolate or vanilla. It’s was something a little more exotic.

Chef Select Cheeses was what I ordered. I just wanted to be a bit different from the rest of my friends. The cheeses change depending on that they have available. I never had cheese as a dessert, so this was a first. I don’t remember what the cheese were but they all had different textures and flavours, some nuttier, some sharper, and it all paired with something on the side.

Overall, we did enjoy our meal. The dishes that featured seafood were a hit. If you are coming to The Restaurant, I would highly recommend choosing a seafood dish. Might as well since you are dining right by the sea and this restaurant is known for their OceanWise dishes. If you are looking for other dining options, there isn’t any other places at the resort.

As the sun set in the distance, we relaxed watching some TV and chatting in the villa. We would have taken a dip in the pool or hot tub, but we felt so full after dinner. If you are stay here, definitely take a swim as the sun sets. What makes The Painted Boat Resort stand out is that they are trying to be as sustainable as possible. They urge their guests to recycle and as well as making it smoke-free.

Breakfast baskets was hidden in the fridge. We had bagels, croissants, danishes, salmon, jam, orange juice, yogurt and granola. It was nice to have first thing in the morning before checking out so we didn’t have to scramble thinking about where to eat.

Overall, we had a great time on the weekend here and will definitely be back. One of our friends thought it would be a great place to have their wedding. We had good fun teasing them about it. Being here was like home away from home. It was very relaxing and peaceful.

On the drive back to the ferry, we made some more stops along the way before hoping on the ferry.

Website: http://www.paintedboat.com/

In Gibson

Smitty’s Oyster House: Seafood Galore in Gibsons, BC

June 4, 2013

Smitty’s Oyster House is located in Gibson’s Wharf. It’s tucked away and hidden, so you need to walk closer to the wharf to be able to see the restaurant. Smitty’s Oyster House was opened by the same owner as Rodney’s Oyster House. It’s named after Henry Smitty, one of Gibsons’ early pioneers who built the blue box which used to be a marine repair shop.

On our way back from the Sunshine Coast, we decided to make a stop here to try some seafood. It was a bright and sunny day, so this place was buzzing by the patio. They were also recently feature on You Gotta Eat Here on Food Network.

Parts of the interior you can definitely tell have some resemblance to Rodney’s Oyster House. The staff don’t have the sexy sounding t-shirts, but they do have similar items on the menu.

Manhattan Clam Chowder ($9) is a tomato-based baby clam chowder. The baby clams were tiny, so it was sad to have so few clams in the chowder.

We ordered a dozen raw oysters, but we never figured out what types they were since the server never informed us. The sauces that came to the table was also a mystery since nothing was explained. Nonetheless, the oysters were shucked beautifully and had a great taste. Definitely recommended.

Halibut Fritters ($17) have crispy tempura beer battered halibut pieces topped with a malt vinegar reduction. It is also served with tartar sauce. He thought it was good, but it was quite expensive.

DIY Fish Tacos ($19) has cumin-baked mahi mahi, hand-cut pico de gallo, avocado, sour cream and shredded iceberg lettuce and warm corn tortilla. It was fun to put together, but with the amount of cumin on the mahi mahi, it was hard to taste the original flavour of the fish.

Oyster Po Boy ($15) has fried oysters on a steamed bun with spicy remoulade, lettuce & tomato.

Mmmm look at that fried oyster. CoffeeAddict really liked it.

Overall, the food was good, but one thing you have to order is the raw oysters. The food is a pricey, but where else in Gibson are you going to get this type of food? One thing we were not impressed with was the service, the server was rude at times and the speed at which the food arrived was very strange. One person finished their dish before the rest of the dishes arrived. The item I originally ordered was sold out, so they didn’t inform us until later in the meal and told me my dish would arrive way later than everyone else. Luckily it arrived a few minutes after everyone else’s meal. Despite it all, I would still come back for the raw oysters.

We Rate Smitty’s Oyster House:

Address:
643 School Rd
Gibsons, BC

Website:
http://www.smittysoysterhouse.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=643+School+Rd+Gibsons,+BC&hnear=643+School+Rd,+Gibsons,+Sunshine+Coast,+British+Columbia&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Brunch

The Waterfront: Breakfast in Gibsons, BC

June 3, 2013

We were heading to the Sunshine Coast and as we left the Langdale Ferry terminal, we decided to make a stop at Gibson for a few hours before continuing on our journey. I’ve never been outside of the Lower Mainland in BC, which is very odd since I was born here. Perhaps I may have forgotten, but it was good to get away for the weekend and explore some new places.

The only way to get here is by Ferry from Horseshoe Bay and it takes about 40 minutes. Gibson is a small coastal community of about 4,200 people.

There wasn’t too much to do but we did stop by Gibson’s landing to have lunch and explore. We mostly stayed by the ocean to take some pictures and oddly enough play a lot of rock, paper, scissors.

The Waterfront was where we went for lunch. We came here because we saw they have a delicious sounding breakfast menu. We couldn’t say no to breakfast.

The interior has a nice view of the harbour if you happen to sit by the window.

Coffee ($2.50) was something that was needed on any trip. It’s refillable too.

Corned Beef Hash ($12.60) also has tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, 2 poached eggs, and sprinkled with cheese. I found this dish to have more potatoes than corned beef. It was a hearty item to order but it did have a lot of excess oil.

Small Breakfast ($9.90) comes with 2 eggs, toast, hashbrowns and your choice of wither 3 strips of bacon, 3 sausages, or 2 slices of ham. CoffeeAddict chose the sausages. It was decent, but not the best breakfast.

Reuben ($11.95) comes on grilled rye bread with sauerkraut, mozzarella, and Dijon mustard. It also comes with your choice of salad, fries or soup.

Overall, the food as ok, but the service was a bit frazzled and slow at times. The prices are a bit high compared to what you would find in Vancouver.

We Rate The Waterfront:

Address:
440 Marine Drive
Gibsons, BC

Website:
http://www.waterfrontgibsons.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=440+Marine+Drive+Gibsons,+BC&hnear=440+Marine+Dr,+Gibsons,+Sunshine+Coast,+British+Columbia+V0N+1V9&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Four Beakers

Chad Thai: Thai Food in North Burnaby

June 2, 2013

Chad Thai Restaurant is located in North Burnaby on Hastings street. M and I were looking for some place to eat on Hastings and when we passed by, we began craving Thai food. Since we don’t have Thai food that often, we thought we would give it a try.

The interior isn’t large, so there is limited seating. We came at around 2pm, so there was plenty of seats available. The service was nice and friendly.

They are the winners of the best Thai restaurant according to the readers of the Burnaby Now.

Their lunch menu comes with complementary appetizers. There were fried wontons and a salad. We weren’t expecting this but it was definitely a nice start to the meal. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was delicious.

Khao Soi Gai ($10.99) has egg noodles with sliced chicken breast in curry sauce, topped with crispy egg noodles, green beans and coriander. It is served with red onions, lime and chili oil on the side.

The portion wasn’t too large, but it was a decent size for lunch. It had a lot of intricate flavours and we were not disappointed at all.

Khao Moo Kratiem Kai dao ($9.99) has stir fried of pork, ground garlic on rice with a fried egg. It was simple, but it was really good.

Overall, the food was pretty good and worth the price. M and I loved it and would come back again. I am not an expert at Thai food, but all I know is that the flavours tasted great.

We Rate Chad Thai:

Address:
4010 E Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.chadthai.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4010+E+Hastings+St+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=4010+E+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5K+2A9&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Canadian

Mosaic: Spot Prawn Tasting Menu

June 1, 2013

It’s May and it’s BC Spot Prawn season! I go nuts since BC Spot Prawns are my favorite thing to eat. I usually got to T&T to grab a few pounds, it’s never occurred to me that I could go out and eat them, especially in a 5 course meal.

Mosaic is located on the 2nd floor of the Hyatt near Burrard station. The executive head chef of the Hyatt is the amazing Chef Thomas Heinrich, who crafts the delicious dishes coming out of the hotel. Mosaic currently has a spot prawn tasting menu till May 29th. I know it just ended, but they always have some special menu for whatever ingredient is fresh in season. I just get all my news from the Chef on Twitter. You can follow him at @CheftHeinrich

This menu is the 5 course tasting menu focusing on spot prawns. It’s $45 or $65 with alcohol pairings.

The alcohol pairings is a nice touch as you get to try different wines. I had the wine pairings and my friend didn’t. You don’t need alcohol to have fun with this tasting, but if you have a good appreciation for wine, you should do it.

Complementary biscuits come before the meal. It’s deliciously fluffy and comes with butter.

Spot Prawn Terrine came with fiddled head ferns and topped with fried lotus roots and ikura. There are also dots of fermented black garlic gel and lemon fluid gel. I really liked this dish since the spot prawns were nicely presented and their natural flavours shined through.

Spot Prawn and Arugula Salad comes with almonds and a citrus caviar. It was a nice dish, but I felt like there was a little too much dressing so it wilted the leaves a little bit.

Spot Prawn Carbonara has freshly made linguini, peas, geldermen farms pork belly, truffle oil, parmesan, and a 64 degree egg yolk. It is a very rich creamy dish

Spot Prawn and Spring Creek Beef has fava beans and a pomme maxim which is a ring of fried potatoes. This dish is beautiful but by this part of them meal, I started to wonder why the spot prawns weren’t that star of each dish if it’s a spot prawn tasting.

I had the beef done at medium rare and it was beautifully cooked, but it was quite tough to cut through. Perhaps it was the aging of the beef that made it a tad tougher, but the flavour of the meat itself was very lovely.

Tangerine Consomme was a lovely end to the meal. In the center is the cardamom ice cream.

Overall, the menu was great but since the menu is supposed to showcase spot prawns, I felt like there could have been more cooking techniques used to showcase the versatility of the spot prawn. Whether its serving the spot prawn raw or frying the shell…it just seemed the spot prawn was the secondary item in most of the dishes except the spot prawn terrine dish. $45 for 5 courses and $65 for 5 courses plus wine pairings is a fair price.

Below are a few other item off the tasting menu that we tried.

Asparagus Consomme with gruyere cheese balls was an interesting soup. Never would have thought about asparagus as a soup. As asparagus is fibrous, we did feel small strands of fibres in the soup. At first I thought I was getting my hair in my mouth but realized it was the asparagus.

Besides that, the gruyere cheese balls were so delicious when dunked in the soup. Mmm so good! My friend even said she would eat a whole bag full of these if she could.

Seared Scallops with a stinging nettle puree oh boy, this was really good! The scallops were seared perfectly and the stinging nettle puree was so delicious. I would eat this over and over again.

Words of Wisdom:

Follow @CheftHeinrich on twitter, You can be up to date on new menus that he launches at Mosaic
Steps away from Burrard Skytrain
Free Mosaic Chocolate Cake on your birthday
Beef Carpaccio is a must!
Great service

We Rate Mosaic:

Address:
655 Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://vancouver.hyatt.com/

In Japanese

Yo Sushi: I Had a Feeling

May 27, 2013

Since Yo Sushi opened up on Hastings, I was always curious to see how their sushi would be. It resides in the old Bombay Behl. It is completely different inside and has lots of booth seating. The first thing I noticed when I went inside was a foosball table and a mini air hockey table. Pretty cool to have if you’re young at heart or dining with kids.

I came with M on a weekday night and this place was completely empty. There were a few takeout orders but besides that, we basically had the restaurant to ourselves, I had a feeling something wasn’t right. Yo Sushi was voted by Burnaby Now as the best sushi restaurant in Burnaby, but its something I have to strongly disagree with.

We sat down they gave us tea. When we proceeded to order our food, we asked the waitress what was something good on the menu that we must try. She told us that she hasn’t tried anything on the menu. This seemed a bit odd, so I rephrased to as her what is popular on the menu.

Red Dragon Roll ($9.95) has prawn tempura, crab meat, cucumber, and then it’s topped with spicy tuna, bread crumbs, and a spicy sauce. The roll had way too much sauce. It really drowned out most of the taste of the roll. The roll itself was poorly put together and the temperature was very strange. The roll and the spicy tuna on top were slightly warm.

Hawaiian Passion Roll ($9.95) has pineapple, avocado, and mango wrapped in soy bean paper. It sounded unique and we thought it would be an adventurous roll to order. We were very wrong. In short, fruit should not be in sushi.

Sweetheart Roll ($11.95) has cucumber, prawn, and tuna wrapped with salmon. It is also topped off with a maraschino cherry. Cute concept but it was nasty. All the raw items were slightly warm and it was a very basic roll that has been shaped into a heart. Not worth the price.

Magic Sushi Pizza ($10.95) has crispy rice on the bottom topped with onions, crab meat, scallops, tuna, salmon, and tai with a special sauce. It looked beautiful when it came out, but the crispy rice on the bottom was more stale and hard as a rock. The sashimi on top was also slightly warm.

By this point of the meal, we were pretty disappointed. Having spent $49.45 on these 4 items that were well below average. The service was sparse even though we were the only customers. The staff mostly congregated near the sushi chefs to chat. There is definitely lots of opportunity for the restaurant to grow, but the quality wasn’t there.

We Rate Yo Sushi:

Address:
4266 Hastings St.
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4266+Hastings+St.+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=4266+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5C+2J7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Sandwich

Taser Grilled Cheese Sandwiches: Guilty Pleasure

May 26, 2013

I love when there is great weather since all the food carts and food trucks are open. The hardest part of my day is trying to figure out where to eat. It’s a bad case of #FirstWorldProblems. I know, I know…horrible! There is only a small amount of food options around my work and I’m not that keen on going to McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks or Tim Hortons. It’s like a fast food paradise near the office. As I stepped out to stroll around the neighbourhood for a restaurant, I stumbled upon Tasers Grilled Cheese. I felt like indulging on something bad, so I decided to get a grilled cheese.

When I looked at the menu, the first item caught my eye! BACON! They have a few different items that vary from day to day, but there is always something good.

Swiss gruyere and cheddar melted on caramel onions and smoked bacon served between two sourdough bread. It sounded good and it did taste good. Everything that could go amazingly into a grilled cheese is in here.

Overall, it’s a good place to grab grilled cheese if you’re in the area.

We Rate Taser Grilled Cheese Sandwich:

Address (Can vary):
Main Street & Terminal Avenue

Website:
http://www.tasersandwiches.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Main+Street+%26+Terminal+Avenue&hnear=Main+St+%26+Terminal+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Canadian

Richmond Night Market 2013: SaucyPops, Takoyaki, Chef James, and Mogu

May 24, 2013

The Richmond Night Market is back and is often confused with the Summer Night Market (the one by IKEA). This one is located right beside the River Rock Casino and Canada Line. There are tons of shops and food stands in the market.

There are also 1,500 parking spots in the lot and it’s free, but entrance into the market is $2 per person. Sucks, but I just tell myself that it’s worth the easy parking.

My friends and I came here to eat food at 7pm and it wasn’t too busy as we came on a long weekend. We aren’t too keen on shopping at the market but we just love the food stalls. Meat on sticks!

This year the theme is the Magical Duck Island, named after the stretch of land that the night market resides on. There’s a lot of hype around ducks this summer as Hong Kong has the duck art installation in Victoria Harbour. I’m not really sure if there is a correlation there or perhaps good timing.

There are rows upon rows of shops, but I can’t remember exactly how many stands there are. When I was younger, the usual items we would purchase would be stationary, Korean socks, and a stack of blank CDs.

The food section is much busier. It can get crowded at peak hours and you will probably fear the people walking and holding their skewers. Even though I wear glasses, I’m always afraid someone will poke my eyes out. It’s not likely to happen, but beware the crowds.

This year the sitting area is slightly larger. If you have 2 plates of food in your hands, you know you need a place to sit and actually enjoy your meal.

SaucyPops

SaucyPops sells homemade chicken wonton lollipops or as I call it jumbo fried wontons on a skewer. Their fried wontons are served with 4 signature sauces:

Wasabi Aioli – Mild sweetness with a wasabi kick
Korean Spicy Aioli – Spicy and salty
Honey Garlic Aioli – Sweet and savory
Citrus Orange Marmalade Aioli – Sweet and spicy

You can get all 4 for $4.75. It’s not a bad price and it’s a fun treat to share with others too.

I really liked the different sauces that went along with the wontons. When you bite into them, you get the crunchiness of the wonton wrapper and the great flavour from the sauces. My favorite was the Korean spicy aioli and the wasabi aioli. Clearly I like it spicy when it comes to fried food.

Takoyaki

It’s everyone’s favorite! Theres a few other stands in the night market but most of them are about the same.

For this particular stand, it’s 6 pieces for $5 and you can choose from octopus, shrimp, scallop or veggie for the center filling.

Chef James Xin Jiang Man BBQ

Chef James Xin Jiang Man BBQ is best known for his lamb skewers. There was a HUGE line for these bad boys and there were at least 10 – 15 people waiting to pay and another line waiting for the food. The lines move fast, so don’t be intimidated by the large amount of people. Just make sure you line up correctly cause it can be very confusing where the line begins.

3 skewers for $7.25
5 for $11.50
Buy 6 and get a free pop ($13.75)

They cook a bunch and then have it kept under the warm lights, so that’s how they move quickly through the long line ups.

We got a bunch of different skewers, but you can’t go wrong with any of them. They all taste good. My personal favorites was the beef and lamb.

Mogu Japanese Street Eats

Food Trucks make me excited, but what makes me even more excited is when they are at the night market. Mogu was selling their signature item – the chicken karaage. They aren’t selling their sandwiches, but thats ok since the chicken karaage is pretty darn good.

3 pieces – $4.75
5 pieces – $7.50

I liked the chicken karaage and so did my friends. Some were a bit iffy about the sauce, but the way they batter and fry the chicken was spot on.

Rotato

Rotato serves up the hurricane potatoes. The line up is always long. It seems to be the only stall that served these. We didn’t line up, but they do have this really cool illustration about what you can do with your Rotato.

You can now learn how to propose with a rotato, make a baby stop cry with a rotato and even go fishing with a rotato.

I usually go to the night market a few times a year and it’s fun for the summer. Lots of things to see and buy, but its all about the delicious food.

Address:
8351 River Rd
Richmond, BC

Website:
richmondnightmarket.com

In Bakery

Chicco: Japanese Parfaits

May 23, 2013

Chicco has been on Robson street for a long time and I remember coming here a long time ago for Parfaits with friends. It’s great that it’s still around serving up their Japanese versions of parfaits. The parfaits have changed up slightly, but still a very cool thing to eat.

The shop is quite small, so it’s hard to find seats if it’s during peak hours. If the weather is nice, you could always go to a nearby park to walk around and munch on this.

Green Tea Parfait ($7) contains a cube of green tea mousse, rice cake, whipping cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, vanilla gelato, green tea jello, red beans, green tea gelato and a green tea stick. This is the most popular item and is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth. It’s not a heavy dessert and its like a very fun cereal to eat.

Mango Parfait ($7) contains a strawberry macaron, strawberries, cube of mango mousse, mango ice cream, strawberry jelly. whipped cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, and scoop of strawberry sorbet.

Very Berry Parfait ($7) contains a strawberry macaron, strawberries, blueberry, strawberry sorbet, whipped cream, corn flakes, sponge cake, and strawberry jelly.

All of the parfaits are somewhat structured similarly but the flavours are different. It is definitely expensive for what you get but when you get it, it looks beautiful. I would highly recommend the Green Tea Parfait.

We Rate Chicco:

Address:
1504 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.chiccocafe.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1504+Robson+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1504+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C3&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In American

Reel Mac and Cheese: Comfort Food On Wheels

May 22, 2013

The list of new food trucks was revealed a few weeks ago and I just had my eyes on the Reel Mac and Cheese Truck. When I saw them open, my coworkers and I just had to go. It was a nice sunny day, so why not. I’ve always had a soft spot for childhood comfort food. Growing up with Kraft dinner…you know you either loved it or hated it. I loved it as a kid, but as I grew older, it just didn’t satisfy anymore.

The Reel Mac and Cheese Food Truck has movie inspired menu items. The mac and cheese is all made by scratch. The menu has 7 items can be customized with some additional add ons.

The Main Event ($7) is a blend of 5 cheeses, with butter, whole milk, spices and of course the elbow macaroni. It is then topped with crispy onions. The portion size was a good size, but my coworker was underwhelmed by the mac and cheese. It didn’t taste anything special but she did love the crispy onions for the added texture.

The Main Event ($7) with Kevin Bacon’s Bacon (+$2). I can’t say no to bacon, so I had to add it on. It also had the fried onions on top. Once you add the bacon on top, it does get quite expensive and there isn’t too much of it either.

Run Fatboy Run ($6) is deep-fried Mac and Cheese balls. It comes with 3 pieces. They are quite big, so its best splitting with a few others.

Once you open it up, its nice and gooey inside with the crispy exterior. We actually liked this item more than the mac and cheese dishes.

Overall, it was an OK food truck. It has a nice concept that brings people back to their childhood, but the mac and cheese could be more rich and cheesy.

We Rate Reel Mac & Cheese:

Location (can vary):
600 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.reelmacandcheese.com

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=600+Hamilton+Street+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=600+Hamilton+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+2R4&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In lunch

Patron Tacos & Cantina: Lunch Time

May 21, 2013

Patron Tacos & Cantina is located on Robson street at Cambie Street. The interior is like a Mexican restaurant with a sports bar. There are tons of TVs everywhere, so no matter which seat you have, you can be in the vicinity of a TV. It seems like it would be great to view games.

My coworkers and I came to have some lunch as we saw their lunch specials looked good.

They have a pretty cool chandelier too.

Complimentary Chips and Salsa arrived at the table. The chips were awesome and you could tell they were made in house. The salsa was a bit watery and lacked any spicy taste or heartiness. I like my salsa chunky.

Tortilla Soup came with the lunch combos. It’s deliciously cheesey with chunks of avocado and crunchy tortilla bits inside. You should probably get this soup if you’re here for lunch!

Tacos ($12) comes with 2 Tacos of your choice. My coworker chose the battered fish and the carnitas. It also comes with soup or salad. She felt a bit underwhelmed by this dish.

Tostadas was also part of one of the lunch items. It came with a side of rice and refried beans. I also chose the side of tortilla soup. The tortilla on the bottom of the tostadas was nice and crispy and all the items that layed on top were just delicious. The rice and the refried beans were ok.

Torta is like a sandwich made with a Mexican bun. It is served with a side of criss-cross fries. This will definitely bring you back to your childhood. On the inside, there is chipotle mayo, refried beans, cheese, tomato, lettuce, jalapeños, avocado, and onion. I’m not sure which torta he chose, but he said he enjoyed it and there was a lot of meat inside.

As we only have a hour lunch, the service here is quite slow and inefficient. A few simple things did take a long time like beer, soup and the bill.

We Rate Patron Tacos & Cantina:

Address:
265 Robson St.
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.patrontc.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=265+Robson+St.+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=265+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+2A8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Dim Sum

Long’s Noodle House: Long Story Short, It’s Awesome

May 20, 2013

Long’s Noodle House is located on Main street right beside Au Petit Cafe. Both of these places are very busy and there are line ups during peak hours. I came here for a family lunch as we heard it has some pretty darn good xiao long bao. We made a reservation since it was for a large party. As the traffic was very busy, we called ahead to let them know we would be 15 minutes late. They were very accommodating and the table was still there as we arrived.

There is paid parking in the front and free parking in the street behind the restaurant.

The interior is basic and there aren’t too many seats. Always make a reservation.

Wine Chicken comes in a little cute jar. Inside is a bunch of chicken pieces marinated in wine and is slightly warm. Its one of the popular items on the menu. The pieces were tender and deliciously soaks up the wine flavour. Kids usually don’t like this dish, but its more for older people. My little sister refused to eat it since there’s alcohol.

Yellow Fish with Seaweed is pretty awesome. It has the yellow fish covered in a seaweed batter. The seaweed has a prominent taste and I was surprised it went so well together. Mmmmmm highly recommended.

Crispy rice with salty egg sauce was another strange dish, but it was surprisingly good too. The fried crispy rice is on top and the salty egg sauce is on the bottom. It’s salty, its fatty, its crunchy, and it’s quite addictive.

Xiao Long Bao comes with 6 pieces. It is packed full of soup and really delicious. One of the good XLB in town.

Eel noodle in soup was an interesting dish. I never would have thought of ordering this. It was good and definitely a good items share among the table.

Beef Roll has the five spiced meat, cilantro and cucumber inside. I found it different from other places as the wrap is much softer.

Hot and Sour soup came last and tasted good. This probably should have been ordered early in the meal, but we didn’t mind that we had this last.

Overall, Long’s Noodle House is a great place for some good Shanghainese food. The prices are fair and the food is just great.

We Rate Long’s Noodle House:

Address:
4853 Main St
Vancouver, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4853+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=4853+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3R8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Mount Pleasant/Main Street

Burdock & Co : Farm to Table Concept

May 19, 2013

Burdock & Co has open up in the former location of Cafeteria. This restaurant is headed by Chef Andrea Carlson. Her menu reflects the locavore philosophy with using local organic produce throughout the menu. The interior is quite cozy with a communal table and a few separate tables on the side.

My coworkers and I came here after work one day just to chill over some delicious food. The plates are best shared with a group. The 3 of us shared 4 dishes and a dessert.

Burdock & Beer ($11) is a mixture of saison, gingerbeer, burdock root & sour, ginger, plum & rootbeer bitters.

Seasonal Garden-Slug ($11) contains vodka, lemon, apple & fenugreek, western elderberry bitters, and moondog bitters. I chose this cocktail for its name since ‘garden-slug’ sounded adventurous. There’s no garden slug in this, but it tasted good and went well with the intricate dishes.

Urban Digs Egg ($9), wild cress, hazelnut & blue cheese granola, browned butter and potato vinaigrette. It’s a vegetarian dish. The quality of ingredients was great and the items did blend nicely together. Portions are on the smaller side.

Fresh Oysters ($15) comes with finger lime caviar, french breakfast radish, chickweed,apple & verbena sorbet, and a kasu emulsion. Beautiful presentation of the ingredients and tasted good but as you can tell, it won’t fill you up if you just order this item.

Pickled humpback shrimp ($14) also has house made tofu, wild ginger, charred spring onion, and fiddleheads. It’s yet another beautiful dish, but it’s not enough to fill a person up.

Harvest Oxtail Ramen ($13) also has swiss chard and kimchi. This item is best to order as it has more substance to it. If you have been to Harvest Community Foods and tried this ramen, you’ll be a fan of this. Before opening up Burdock & Co, the Chef Andrea Carlson was at Harvest Community Foods, so you can see how aspects are infused into her menu. It tasted good and I would recommend this dish.

Salted Caramel Apple Pot Pie ($8) topped with Elderflower Ice Cream. When we saw the salted caramel words, we gravitated towards this dessert. The elderflower ice cream was very subtle in flavour that balanced the butteriness of the crust. The crust was crispy and under it laid the piping hot apple mixture.

Overall, Burdock and Co isn’t for everyone. It’s a bit pricey than other places in town, but if you consider the ingredients that goes into their items, you know it’s not processed or frozen. They care about the ingredients and have built strong relationships with local farmers. It’s best to share the dishes as they are a bit of a tapa style.

We Rate Burdock and Co:

Address:
2702 Main St.
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.burdockandco.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2702+Main+St.+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=2702+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T+3E8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Four Beakers

Marutama Ramen: Newest Ramen Restaurant in Vancouver

May 15, 2013

Marutama Ramen opened up in Vancouver on May 5th, 2013. They have been around for about 10 years and since then it’s been opening up shops around the world. There are several location in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and now in Vancouver!

All their noodles are handmade in the shop and you can definitely tell the difference between the other ramen shops in town. I first noticed this restaurant when TaiwaneseGirl began bombarding me with messages to go eat here. It’s only been open for a bit over 1 week and she’s been there at least 3 times.

There’s not too many seats, so it can get busy during peak hours. In their first week, they’ve been so busy that they are starting to run out of food before their closing hours. I actually went again today but they were all sold out by 9pm.

Complementary cold tea arrives as you wait for your meal.

Dashimaki ($7) is a Japanese Omelette cut up into 6 square pieces. This is a popular item that tends to be sold out too. It’s sweetened egg. I didn’t particularly like this as I never liked the idea of sweet savory foods. Probably a childhood thing. Some people love this, but it wasn’t for me.

Marutama Tamago Ramen ($10.50) is a must! It’s their top-selling item. It contains the soft-boiled flavored egg, aosa seaweed, green onions, 2 pieces of chashu, and handmade noodles in a rich chicken broth. You can choose mild or spicy broth. Other ramen places use pork broth, but I love their chicken broth.

It’s not a large portion, but it tastes quite healthy and not too rich. If you are a big eater, you might want to add an extra portion of noodles. I liked their noodles since they are thin and takes us more broth as you eat it.

Highly recommended!

Out of all the ramen places I’ve been to so far, this is by far the best egg I’ve ever eaten.

Overall, it’s become one of my favorite spots in town for ramen. The quality of their ingredients is great and that egg is so addictive. I have a feeling this place is going to get quite busy once people figure out that this place has amazing eggs in their ramen.

We rate Marutama Ramen:

Address:
780 Bidwell
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.japanesenoodle.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=780+Bidwell+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=780+Bidwell+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Fairview

Suika Snackbar: SupaSUIKA Dining Package

May 13, 2013

I’ve been to Suika Snackbar several times in the past few years and it’s always been a great experience. They have sister restaurants located around town – Kingyo and Rajio. Suika means watermelon, Kingyo means goldfish and Rajio means radio. I find it funny how all those restaurants are named after things.

Vaneats.ca and Suika have teamed up together again to offer another dining package. It’s $35 and you get the following:

Salmon Battera
Magical Mojito Pitcher
Steak Salad
Ma-Po Rice Cake

I came with Mandu and KoreanGirl to check out the package since there was a mojito pitcher that is more for a group rather an individual.

It’s pretty busy usually, so it’s always best to make a reservation. Most of the tables we saw when we arrived had reserve signs too. To avoid disappointment, definitely reserve!

As always, this is their amazing light installation that catches everyone’s attention.

Magical Mojito Pitcher (Regular $28). You can choose from watermelon, pomegranate or aloe. We had a hard time figuring it out, so we asked the staff which one was most popular and they suggested the Suika Mojito, which is the watermelon flavoured one. I’m not a fan of artificial watermelon flavour, so I didn’t particularly like the flavour. They didn’t skimp on the alcohol because I turned bright red like Rudolph after having one glass.

There was enough in the pitcher to fill up 6 glasses. Pretty good amount. For 3 people, it was enough for us on a weekday.

Steak Salad has diced & marinated AAA beef filet steaks on a bed of organic greens, then topped with watercress and beets.

The steak pieces were done to about medium rare and was a tad chewy. It was still a pretty solid dish and we enjoyed it.

Ma-Po Rice Cake is deep-fried rice cake with spicy ground pork sauce. It comes with 4 pieces and has the sauce drizzle on top of each piece. My friends loved the stickiness of the rice cakes and the savoury sauce.

Salmon Battera is topped with sockeye salmon, salmon caviar, spicy cod roe mayo, Japanese basil, and then avocado shiso between the rice.

Overall, the 3 of us enjoyed the #SupaSUIKA dining package from Vaneats.ca. $35 for the 3 food dishes and the huge pitcher of mojito is worth it. There are also other items on their menu that will definitely make you drool. If you spilt this package with a few friends and add a few items on the side, it’s not too expensive.

Items not included in the SupaSUIKA Dining Package (Delicious things I ordered in addition to the package)

Deluxe Suika Box ($12) comes with a set of 9 assorted appetizers. If you are a person that like a little taste of everything, you’ll enjoy this box.

Deep Fried Chicken Cartilage with curry spice. It was an interesting dish to try. Who knew chicken cartilage would be tasty. It’s the curry spice that really makes this dish mighty delicious. Don’t worry, there is chicken meat in the dish and not just cartilage.

Corn Kakiage is one item you must order everytime you eat at SUIKA. It comes in 3 pieces and really good.

Tokyo Oxtail Ramen is another good choice too. It has slowly braised oxtail and noodles in a soy based broth topped with green onions.

Words of Wisdom:

Corn Kakiage, chicken kaarage, Deluxe suika box, Tuna tataki, Sashimi shake salad and ebi mayo recommended.
Nice decor and good service
If it’s your birthday, the staff sing to you
Pay parking on Street
Reservations highly recommended!

We Rate Suika:

Address:
1626 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.suika-snackbar.com/

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In Kid Friendly

Chen’s Shanghai Restaurant: XLB and Salty Soy Milk

May 12, 2013

I don’t go to Richmond that often, so we decided to make Kirsty (Eating with Kirby) take us to the good places in town. She was pretty confident that this place had some good xiao long bao. I am still a big fan of Dinesty, so she really wanted to show me this hole in the wall with amazing XLB. She even wrote a blog post about Dinesty vs Chen’s a few months ago.

This place is cash only and has won several awards too. It doesn’t have a nice interior but they are best known for their food.

Salted Soy Milk ($2.95) sounds like a weird dish, but it was surprisingly good. It’s also only $2.50! SO cheap! Somehow all the ingredients blended together very nicely to make a savory soup.

Mixed Meat Wo Ba was a cool dish to eat. You take some soup and then you throw in a chunk of crispy rice into it. Its a good combination of crispy rice and the smooth saltiness of the soup.

Noodle Soup with pickled cabbage and shredded pork ($6.50) was ok. Nothing special.

Xiao Long Bao comes in 6 pieces per order ($4.95) whats unique about these is that there is a lot of soup packed into these. Half of the table broke their XLB as they were transporting the dumpling from the bamboo steamer to their spoons.

Shanghai Spicy Green Beans ($7.95) was good as usual. A little bit oily, but not as bad as other restaurants.

Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns ($4.95) were oily and a bit burn on the pan-fried side.

Deep fried buns with condensed milk is a must! The deep fried buns come in 6 pieces and great for sharing. Crispy on the outside and steaming hot and fluffy on the inside.

The food was good and the prices were great. Some dishes can be a hit and a miss.

Words of Wisdom:

Must order the Xiao Long Bao, Salted Soy Milk, Deep Fried Man Tou
Cash Only
Free parking in the parking lot
Horrible Service
Hole in the Wall Decor

We Rate Chen’s Shanghai Restaurant:

Address:
8095 Park Rd
Richmond, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=8095+Park+Rd+Richmond,+BC&hnear=8095+Park+Rd,+Richmond,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6Y+2Y8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Happy Hour

Joe Fortes: Happy Hour

May 6, 2013

Joe Fortes has happy hour from 4pm till 6pm daily, where select items are 50% off. InsecureGirl and I decided to come here after work to indulge ourselves in some oysters and other items. They don’t take reservations for this and you can only have the happy hour items in their bar seating area. It’s first come first serve, so you will have to be lucky enough to find open spots if you come in a group. Since it was just the two of us, it was easy to find open seats.

They have been open for more than 25 years and known for their seafood.

Basket of complimentary bread arrives and it comes with a lobster oil and balsamic vinegar dip. A good nibble before your food arrives.

Truffle Parmesan Frites (Reg $9.95 | Happy Hour $5) is seasoned with grana padano, herbs, and sea salt. It comes with a side of ketchup. It comes in a cute presentation on a skillet. The skillet is piled full of fries and is definitely enough for 2 people to share. There is a strong douce of truffle oil and it smelled amazing.

Jumbo Tempura Prawns (Reg $14.95 | Happy Hour $7.50) comes with 3 pieces and accompanied with togarashi mayo and a wedge of lemon. These prawns were massive!

Buck a Shuck (Happy Hour $1) are the bomb. They shuck them very cleanly and the size of the oysters are massive. It comes with a few sauces and lemon wedges. Of all the happy hour places I’ve been to in Vancouver, they probably have the best.

I do love happy hour since all the prices are great! You can’t beat 50% off. Downside of this great deal is the limited seating by the bar. You must get the oysters.

We rate Joe Fortes:

Address:
777 Thurlow St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.joefortes.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=777+Thurlow+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=777+Thurlow+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6E+3V5&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Downtown

Vij’s Railway Express: Indian Food On Wheels

April 30, 2013

It’s great working downtown since there is always good restaurants and food trucks around. On a nice sunny day, my coworkers and I took a little adventure to Vij’s Railway express to have a taste of their indian food on wheels. Their location is at West Georgia and Thurlow, but this location can vary.

If you’ve heard of Vij’s, they are known for their indian food.

Their menu always changes and they have some pretty cool items.

Mushroom Medley with Rice and Naan ($11.25) was a good portion for lunch. I love mushrooms, so it was a perfect dish for me. From the description, I didn’t know it was spicy. It was a tolerable spice, but it can pack a punch if you don’t like spicy food. I loved the naan, it was nice an crisp on the outside and was amazing.

Punjabi Lamb Curry with rice and naan ($12.50) was ordered by my coworker. On the way back to the office, she kinda spilled some on herself, so remember when carrying the box back to the office, keep it upright. She did enjoy it.

Overall the food was good and better than most food trucks. Do note, that you probably need to pop in a few mints before getting back to the office. One of my coworkers said she smelled like garlic for 3 days.

We Rate Vij’s Railway Express:

Location:

Varies but is usually at E Georgia and Thurlow. Double check on their Facebook or Twitter.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/vijsrailway