Seafood Archives - Page 4 of 14

In Seafood

The WaterShed Grill in Brackendale, BC

May 26, 2017

The Water Shed Grill is in Brackendale, BC, which is minutes away from Squamish. It has a casual bar and restaurant with West Coast eats with a riverfront patio.

This places sits right right above the Squamish River and is absolutely beautiful.

Interior

The interior has a very casual feel and as a local or a tourist, you’ll fit right in. The view from the heated patio is awesome. If you are into sports, they have a few screen to watch the game.

Blue Lip Steamed Mussels

The mussels are in a creamy white wine and garlic broth. It is served with focaccia bread. The mussels weren’t as plump, but it still tasted good and naturally sweet.

Local Fish and Chips

You get 2 3oz filets of local cod dipped in a beer batter and then its deep-fried. It is served with fried, tartar sauce, coleslaw, and wedge of lemon. It was pretty good and you can taste the quality of the cod. Moist and delicious.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a very great place to have food and drinks with friends. The food is very Westcoast and they source their seafood from sustainable places, so thats great. They also have good burgers too.

We Rate the Watershed Grill:

Address:
41101 Government Rd, Brackendale, BC

Website: http://thewatershedgrill.com/

In Downtown

Kobe Japanese Steak and Seafood House: Teppanyaki Dining Experience

May 22, 2017

Kobe Japanese Steak and Seafood House specializes in Teppanyaki Dining Experience and has been around since 1969. They require reservations and can fit up to 120 people. I’ve always known about it and wanted to go try it. M and I received a SocialShopper voucher for a complete hibachi teppanyaki dinner experience for two people and wanted to come try it for our anniversary. We made reservations online and came here on a Wednesday evening. The dinner included teppan shrimp appetizer, shabu shabu soup, rice, seared vegetables, beef, tiger prawns, teriyaki chicken breast, green tea and ice cream for dessert.

Izakaya Lounge

The lounge is on the main floor and they have drinks and some other nibbles that you can order.

Dining Area

The main dining area is upstairs and there were tons of people already at 6pm. The seating is a bit tight since they tried to maximize space. We got seated but then had to wait until 6:40pm until the table was all complete. So, we grabbed some drinks. Drinks are extra and aren’t included in the voucher.

I went with Tiger, a Singaporean lager that has a light, crisp, and clean taste.

M got a small size of sake to enjoy with his meal. Both very great options to have with teppanyaki as it compliments the flavour profiles.

Shabu Shabu Soup

Everyone started with the Shabu Shabu Soup, which has fried onions, mushrooms and some green onions in this tasty broth. A good way to start the meal.

Food + Entertainment

Once the chef started, we got really excited to see the electrifying fire on the hot hot grill. I loved seeing the fire and feeling the heat emanating from grill.

They have 2 different sauces to dip your meat and vegetables. One was a garlic sauce and the other was a ginger sauce. Both good sauces, but I didn’t use it too much since the food was already flavourful.

Seared Vegetables

As the table was celebrating a few different things, they seared vegetables on the grill with a I <3 U and an onion tower that went up in flames.

Super fun to photograph too. Those flames definitely went up high.

The veggies were cooked well and had good flavour.

Teppan Shrimp Appetizer and Tiger Prawns

They cooked the shrimp together on the grill. The teppan shrimp and the tiger prawns had a noticeable texture and taste difference.

The tiger prawns had a nice bounce in texture and was more plump.

Beef

When we got our steak, we were asked how we would like it cooked. We went with rare.

It was cooked more to a medium rare, but that was ok too. The steak was good and went well with the dipping sauces.

Teriyaki Chicken Breast

There was then the Terikyaki Chicken Breast cooked on the grill with soy sauce, butter and salt.

Then the bean sprouts are steamed up and served with the chicken.

All the food put on the plate doesn’t look appetizing, but the food was decent.

Ice Cream

The meal ended with a scoop of ice cream with a cute umbrella. We got green tea and mango.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a unique experience and I’m glad we got a chance to try it. The food was decent but because of the similar sauce used for the different proteins, the flavour profile was mostly soy sauce and butter. $68.99 for a Teppanyaki Dinner Experience for 2 people through SocialShopper was a good deal. They usually have these deals, so you never have to pay regular price again.

We Rate Kobe:

Address:
1042 Alberni St, Vancouver

Website: https://koberestaurant.com

In Downtown

Yui Japanese Bistro: Affordable Aburi in Vancouver

May 2, 2017

Yui Japanese Bistro recently opened in Downtown Vancouver and is a hidden gem tucked away in a business building. They pride themselves of making aburi sushi at affordable prices. Yui is located on the first floor. The restaurant is pretty small, so go for dinner earlier in the evening. They are open daily from 11am – 8pm except Sunday. I came with Dee for a visit at 7pm and there was a wait of about 20 minutes.

Tea

Before the meal begins, they bring over cups of tea. You can also ask for a small pot of tea.

Aburi Oshi

My favourite spot is at the bar, so you can see all the action of them putting each dish together.

They have 3 kinds on their menu – ebi, saba and salmon. Each sushi is torched with charcoal.

Salmon Aburi Oshi

They use sockeye salmon on top of the sushi and one embedded inside the rice. They apply the house-made sauce and then torched for added flavour. It is then topped with pepper and a jalapeno. So delicious and made to perfection. Also it’s only $10.25, which is very affordable.

Ebi Aburi Oshi

A block of rice topped with Shrimp, ume sauce and lime zest. The lime was a very interesting addition to the pressed rolls to bring more freshness and liven the flavour. The flame really transforms that ume sauce to add some smokiness.

Saba Aburi Oshi

It is topped with mackerel, shiso, and a miso sauce. The charcoal flame also lightly kisses the mackerel and miso sauce. Delicious as well.

Karai Rice Bowl

Bincho toro, okra, spicy kimchi cabbage, amakuchi soy, and some greens sits on top of white rice. You mix it all together with the soy and it makes a great dish for lunch. Very healthy too.

Salmon Carpaccio

The salmon carpaccio is beautifully cut and they use sockeye salmon.

Each order has 5 pieces and then its torched with some charcoal. They then top it off with some decadent garnish and sauce.

It was all really good and we just wanted more. hahaha. There are some black dried olives on top that balanced nicely.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I loved my experience at Yui Japanese Bistro. This small restaurant is bursting with flavour and it’s very affordable compared to some other places out there in Vancouver. I’ll be back!

We Rate Yui Japanese Bistro:

Address:
1185 W Georgia St, Unit 102, Vancouver

Website:
http://eatatyui.com/

In American

The Holy Crab: Louisiana-Inspired Seafood in Vancouver

February 1, 2017

The Holy Crab has opened their first location in Canada and it’s located on Vancouver’s Robson street. It’s very interesting to see something new open up in this neighbourhood that isn’t Japanese food. I was invited to try a few things off the menu, so I was ready to get my hands dirty.

The Holy Crab has partnered with suppliers to bring the best selection of local and premium sustainable seafood to its tables, with many of them Ocean Wise.

The menu includes a variety of seafood such as Dungeness crab, King Crab, Snow Crab, lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, oysters, and crawfish. Seafood is boiled and served with a choice between garlic pepper or The Holy Crab’s signature Cajun sauce.

Interior

The 2,900 square foot, 92-seat restaurant aims to focus on sustainable seafood offerings in a casual and friendly southern-inspired setting.

Preparation

They give you gloves, a bib, utensils and lots of paper towels to make sure you’re ready to begin devouring all the food. They have many different kinds of scissors too for cutting up the various types of seafood. The staff are nice and they will give you through how to each each item.

Dungeness Crab

The dungeness crab comes from the Pacific Northwest, on the coast of Washington. It is best known for its sweet and succulent taste. It is about 2lbs and is OceanWise certified. It was hard to figure out how to crack this open, but my trusty friend Gastrofork did all the dirty work and I just reaped the rewards. It’s good to have skilled friends.

It is topped with their original cajun garlic pepper sauce and you can have it as mild, medium, spicy or HOLY MOLY!. Of the bunch, we liked the holy moly as it has more flavour but it can be spicy for some people.

Crawfish

The freshwater crawfish also known as crayfish is like a tiny lobster. I would say this isn’t my favourite seafood as it’s mostly shell. You have to work hard to get a small piece of flesh.

Shrimp

The shrimp was pretty good and you can’t go wrong by adding corn to it. One of the easier items to peel with your hands.

King Crab Legs

Hailing from the Northern Pacific, these gigantic King Crab legs are filled with tender, slightly salty white meat. As the legs were spikey, it was a bit hard handling them and cutting into them.

Maggi was super determined to de-shell this for the table. Props to all her effort.

Clams

Clams are OceanWise certified and I found the meat inside the shells to be a bit tiny.

Onion Rings

Onion Rings were lightly battered and had a nice crunchy texture to it but it was missing some seasoning.

Crispy Soft Shell Crab

These baskets are so cute. The soft shell crab is delicious, I have a secret soft spot of soft shell crab.

Crispy Fish Fingers and Cajun Fries

This was one of our favourite sides. The fries and fish dipped into the tartar sauce was so good. We gobbled this right up.

Sweet Potato Fries

Another delicious item. Super crisp and you can’t say no to sweet potato fries.

Steamed Vegetables

Nothing exciting here, but if you need a balance of veggie goodness, it’s an option.

Drinks

The have alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. My favourite thing to have with good Cajun seafood boil is beer. Besides beer, there are mocktails and cocktails.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was great to give The Holy Crab a try as there have been other seafood boil restaurants popping up in Metro Vancouver. It’s very unique in the West End on Robson Street. The flavours of the sauce aren’t overpowering and goes well with the items on the menu.

We Rate The Holy Crab:

Address:
1588 Robson St, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.theholycrab.ca/

In Dineout

Vancouver Fish Company: Dine Out Vancouver

January 9, 2017

The Vancouver Fish Company is participating in Dine Out Vancouver from January 20 to February 5, 2017. They are offering guests with their 3 course meal on Granville Island for West Coast Cuisine for $40 or $29 for lunch. Reservations should be made in advance.

Dine Out 2017 Menu at The Vancouver Fish Company

Appetizers

VFC seafood chowder
Lentil soup
Humboldt squid salad
Maple walnut prawns

Entree

Lobster mac’n’cheese
Thai chicken curry
Crab-stuffed sole wellington
Steak oscar

Dessert

Apple bread pudding
Mango sorbet

As I came during a preview night, the items pictured might not be 100% how it looks when it arrives at your table.

Appetizers

Lentil soup has organic red lentils, and garam masala cream sauce. It is Vegetarian and gluten-free friendly.

Maple walnut prawns has lightly fried prawns, seaweed salad, maple, spiced walnuts, and sesame. It comes with 3 pieces to an order.

VFC seafood chowder has fresh seafood, fresh clams, thyme cream, and bacon.

Entree

Lobster mac’n’cheese has baked lobster casserole, creamy cheddar, and bread crumbs.

Thai chicken curry has braised chicken, scented basmati rice, coconut curry sauce, julienne vegetables, roasted peanuts, and cilantro. It has a nice kick of spice to this dish.

Crab-stuffed sole wellington with fresh sole, crab meat, cream cheese, puff pastry, braised kale, and lobster bisque. I found with this dish, the cream cheese and puff pastry masked the sole and the crab meat.

Steak oscar has seared skirt steak, crab meat, baby shrimp, hannah brook farm vegetables, garlic confit mashed potatoes, bernaise, and peppercorn jus.

Dessert

Mango sorbet has mango, coconut cream, and lime dust. I enjoyed this one as it felt like a palate cleanser.

Apple bread pudding has warm bread pudding, caramel sauce, and spiced walnuts. I felt it was a bit on the sweet side.

Overall, I felt the menu had a good amount of choices but the tastes were just ok. I felt the menu was lacking dishes that highlighted fresh piece of fish. For a $40 dinner option, it is a bit pricey for what you get.

We Rate The Vancouver Fish Company:

Address:
1517 Anderson Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.vanfish.com/

In Gastown

The Poke Shop in Gastown: Bowls and Drinks

November 8, 2016

The Poke Shop is the latest restaurant to open serving delicious poké to Vancouverites. Located in Gastown across from the steam clock, this restaurant is a bit hidden, so look out for the Poke Shop sign outside. With many poké stores opening in Vancouver, I wanted to see how it compares to the other shops in town.

Poke bowls typically feature seasoned sushi-grade seafood on top of rice and garnished with various ingredients like seaweed salad, green onions and sesame seeds. The Poke Shop offers their own fresh take on poke with a variety of bases, proteins, toppings, and signature sauces.

Interior

The interior is small, but they have a few tables for seating. Since there will be a mix of people eating in and doing take out, it shouldn’t be too bad.

I liked the little hints of Hawaiian decor. They also have a mural on one side of the restaurant with a large wave.

Ordering

They have 2 sizes for their bowl – super large and large. Both are good sizes, but generally large is a good size unless you are super super hungry. Price is on par with the other poke stores in Vancouver.

Step 1: Pick your base

Japonica White Rice
12 Grain Organic Purple Rice
Organic Mix Greens
Baby Spinach
Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles)

You can choose more than one. I got a mix of purple rice, spinach and zoodles.

Step 2: Pick your proteins

Ahi Tuna
Albacore Tuna
Atlantic Salmon
Wild Sockeye Salmon
Baby Scallop
BBQ Unagi
Oven Roasted Organic Chicken
Grilled Organic Chicken

You choose 2 proteins and any more is $2 extra. I went with the ahi tuna and the spicy wild sockeye salmon.

Step 3: Pick your toppings

[one_half last=”no”]

Macaroni Salad
Red Onion
Fried Onion
Green Onion
Garlic Chips
Pickled Ginger
Red Radish
Beets
Pineapple
Mango
Peaches
Strawberry
Watermelon
Oranges
Pomegranate
Lemon

[/one_half]

[one_half last=”yes”]

Lime
Cilantro
Carrot
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Zucchini
Edamame
Organic Avocado ($1 extra)
Poached Organic Free range Egg ($1 extra)
Imitation Crab Meat
Tobiko
Wakame Seaweed Salad
Furikake
Nori

[/one_half]

The toppings are unlimited, so you can pack your bowl with your favourite ingredients. Just make sure you get fried onions, red radish, beets, pineapple, watermelon, cucumber, seaweed salad, nori and imitation crab meat!

Step 4: Pick Your Sauce

Signature
Horseradish Aioli
Sweet Chilli
BBQ Shoyu
Miso
Wasabi
Spicy

You can’t go wrong with their signature sauce thats top secret. I also liked the wasabi sauce to add a kick to the meal.

Thats all the steps to put together your poke bowl. They have a few pre-constructed bowls, but I found that it was better customizing it to cater to your own taste buds.

The Taste

Depending on how many toppings you add to your bowl, it could either be enormous or the same size as the bowl. Being me, I loaded up the bowl with my favourite toppings and 2 sauces. The poke was good and had lots of marinade on it. It was delicious and healthy fast food.

Specialty Drinks

For $2 extra, you can adda drink to your poke bowl. Or it’s $3.50 for just the drink. A pretty good deal!

They have:

Roasted Macadamia Milk Tea
Pineapple Plantation Iced Tea
3 Berry & Lemon Soda
Cucumber Agave Lemon Water
Hawaiian Chocolate & Coffee Milk Tea
Iced Matcha Green Tea with Honey

We didn’t try them all but we gave a few of them a try.

Roasted Macadamia Milk Tea had a strong milky tea taste with bits of macadamia nuts at the bottom. I liked the texture from the bits of nuts but it didn’t add a lot of flavour to it, just texture. Not too sweet, which I liked.

Hawaiian Chocolate & Coffee Milk Tea is good for those who love chocolate. A good balance of the chocolate and coffee. There are also cookie crumb bits at the top of the drinks, so its nice added texture.

Pineapple Plantation Ice Tea was our favourite. It’s light and refreshing to go with the poke.

Final Thoughts

It’s a great option for something fresh and healthy if you’re in the Gastown area. They only have poke bowls and drinks for now. I love their unlimited toppings and their specialty drinks menu. SO much better. Soon they will be working on some dessert selections. I’ve been to a majority of the poké restaurants in Vancouver and find that each one varies slightly and it all comes down to personal preferences.

We Rate The Poke Shop:

Address:
306 Water Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://thepokeshop.ca/

In San Francisco

Farallon: Upscale Seafood Restaurant in San Francisco

October 19, 2016

Farallon Restaurant is an upscale seafood restaurant a few steps away from Union Square. They specialize in seafood and they have a raw and seafood bar. While I was in San Francisco, they invited me to give their restaurant a try. As it was literally a few steps from my hotel, I couldn’t resist.

Interior

The interior is beautiful and the high ceilings with sea creature embellishments make you feel like you’re in a grotto.

Amuse Bouche

An Amuse Bouche is a one bite taster from the chef. It was a nice way to start off the meal with this little surprise.

Complimentary Bread

Next, different bread and butter arrives at the table. As we put in our order, it was nice to have something to nibble on before the dishes arrive.

Drinks

They have a wide selection of wines and drinks of the menu – alcoholic and non-alcoholic. You can ask them for advice on what pairs best with the meal. The staff were able to surprise my friend with a virgin cocktail with delicious mango.

Appetizers

Herb roasted bone marrow comes with bragg sea urchin, dungeness crab and grilled garlic sourdough toast. What I liked about this dish was the amount of bone marrow inside and the richness of the marrow was balanced by the delicate seafood tastes.

Gnocchi & Cayucos Abalone also comes with rosemary brown butter, smoked trout roe, dulse seaweed, and aged balsamic.

Entrees

Seared Bone-Dry Scallops with boar-chetta di testa, farro verde risotto, and pomegranate. Very plump scallops and were cooked beautifully.

Local Albacore Tuna has marble potatoes, shaved fennel, smoked mussels and hollandaise sauce. The tuna and the mussels were delicious but the hollandaise sauce seemed a bit heavy for this light dish.

Dessert

Port Poached Pear has almond sherbet, pomegranate, and 2 pignoli cookies. Very delicious dessert with the pear’s sweetness enhanced by the port. The cookies gave a nice balance of texture to the dish too.

Cheesecake Custard is topped with green apple granita, graham crumble, and cotton candy grapes. This dessert was a treat, the tart green apple granita with the grapes give a burst of fresh flavour to the cheesecake custard.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the quality of the seafood is very good and fresh. The menu has a good amount of range to cater to those with varying tastes. The restaurant is high end, so you will want to dress up a little bit. We had a great dinner while we were in San Francisco.

We Rate Farallon:

Address:
450 Post St, San Francisco

Website:
http://www.farallonrestaurant.com/

In Four Beakers

Kilala: Japanese Restaurant in Burnaby

September 25, 2016

Kilala has been in the North Burnaby neighbourhood for about 10 years now. After all that time, I finally came here for a visit with M. It is a small sushi bar, so it can get pretty busy around dinner time. The outside of the shop may not look like much but their sushi is delicious.

They started us off with some tea and even gave us a whole pot of it so we could refill it ourselves.

We started off with some nigiri to see how it compares to other places.

Tamago was nothing like other restaurants. I loved the layers of the egg and how it towered over the ball of sushi rice. M loved it and i think its so far his favourite tamago.

Hokkaido Scallop Nigiri was really fresh and the pieces of scallop were very plump.

Next was the Unagi Battera with eel on top of pressed sushi rice. I love the car on the unagi and its so flavourful. It’s a pricey item to order, but its so good.

Look at that. So So good!

Toro Sashimi comes with 7 pieces and it is nice and fatty. The chef really knows his stuff.

Assorted Nigiri comes with 14 pieces of sushi – 1/2 tekka maki, 1/2 kappa maki, and 8 nigiri selections from the chef. There is a little wasabi hidden under the sashimi, so watch out.

All of the nigiri were pretty delicious. My favourite were the tamago and saba. All the others were pretty standard.

Overall, it’s a nice hidden gem in North Burnaby for good Japanese sushi. The prices can be high for some items, but the quality is here. You won’t find too wide a selection for cooked food. It is mostly sushi rolls and raw items.

We Rate Kilala:

Address:
4749 Hastings Street, Burnaby

In Downtown

Pokérrito: Burritos, Bowls and Salads in Vancouver

September 20, 2016

Pokérrito is one of the new poké shops opening in Vancouver this year. The poké hype is real and during lunch time, there was a 30 minute line up out the door. Vancouverites are going nuts over the poké.

Building your meal

When you get to the counter they first ask you what protein you want and if you want it as a burrito, bowl or salad.

The protein you can choose from are ahi tuna, spicy tuna, albacore tuna, salmon, sockeye salmon, scallop, shrimp and octopus. Some protein choices cost extra.

You can add in as much cucumber, kale, green onion, sweet onion and cilantro.

You can choose 5 from the following list – Sprouts, masago, jalapeño, pineapple, grape-tomatoes, ginger, wasabi, sweet corn, furikake, and chili flakes.

You can choose 2 of the below as your sides. Avocado, edamame, crabmeat, seaweed salad or spicy seaweed salad.

You then can top it off with some sauce – Umami, wasabi-basil, citrus ponzu, sweet chili or creamy mayo.

There’s a lot of items to put into your creation, but it can also be quite confusing to decide what you want.

Bowl

The most popular item to order is the bowl as you do get a bit more ingredients in it. There is a base or rice either white or brown rice.

It comes in a durable container, so its good to eat in or take out. A lot of people ended up getting take out.

Salad

The salad is similar size to the bowl, but with romaine lettuce instead of the rice.

Burrito

I ordered the burrito and I had added sockeye salmon, avocado, seaweed salad, corn, sprouts, masago, tamago and umami sauce. This is all wrapped up in white rice and seaweed.

Overall, the burrito was good, but next time I would get the bowl just to get a little bit more ingredients. All of us liked all 3 options and is quite healthy. Price is decent too.

We Rate Pokérrito:

Address:
558 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.pokerrito.ca/

In Chinese

0755 Restaurant & Lounge: Dinner in Richmond

September 16, 2016

0755 Restaurant & Lounge looks like a club on the outside, but surprisingly, they have really good dishes. They showcase dishes from different regions and provinces in China. They are named after an area code of Shenzhen.

I was invited to try out their signature dishes on their dinner menu by the crew at Chopstick Fest.

Interior

The 2 sides are split up between the restaurant and lounge. It has a dark atmosphere and doesn’t look too much like a regular restaurant setting.

Drinks

Their drink menu is pretty large but I found that most of the drinks are very sweet.

Appetizer

Sweet Olive Chin-Yam was an interesting dish on the menu. I really didn’t like it as it was strange to be slightly sweet. It might of been better if this dish was colder.

Sour Jellyfish Head was really good, I liked the amount of vinegar in the dish, plus the jellyfish pieces were large.

Chongqing Spicy Chicken was another delicious dish. It wasn’t too spicy and it added a lot of flavour to the chicken.

Spicy and Sour Lotus Roots was delicious, but I didn’t like the chopped up into smaller pieces.

Mains

Braised Spot Prawns was bathing in the spicy sauce with corn pieces. They give you plastic gloves so you can peel off the shells with your hands. They try to tone down the messiness, but I still found some seeped into the gloves.

Lobster Noodles had a good amount of lobster and the noodles soaked up all the precious lobster juices.

Garlic Steam Scallop had a lot of garlic on the noodles with the piece of scallop on top.

Pepper Steam Mandarin Fish was a surprising dish. I thought I wouldn’t like it, but the fish was so juicy and well executed. It wasn’t spicy at all. From the looks of it, I thought it would be, but just good flavours.

Spicy Sour Beef in Soup looked unappealing, but the flavours of the beef and enoki mushroom were good. A subtle amount of spice but not too strong.

Roast Duck Slices with Spring Pancakes was ok, but the taste of the duck is masked by all the sauce that its covered with.

Steamed Garlic Loofah was another surprising dish. Even though it was stuffed with garlic, it wasn’t too pungent.

Sauteed Pea Sprouts in Broth is a good refreshing veggie dish. I love pea sprouts.

0755 Stir-fried rice with preserved ham came in a tall bucket with the rice packed in it. Lots of ingredients inside the rice.

Soup

Stewed Chicken Soup came in a jar for everyone that orders it. It was a nice clear soup with pieces of vegetables and chicken. There was a good amount in the jar.

Dessert

Ice Cream Toast was large and a good item to share with a group. They make all the ice cream in-house and the green tea ice cream was delicious.

Coconut Pudding was electrifying when it arrived at the table. It had a sparkler inserted up top and lit when it comes to you. When you pop off the top, you will see the milky pudding up top, but when you did deeper, you’ll find the clear coconut water is gelatin form underneath. It tastes so good and refreshing after the heavy meal.

After you eat the pudding, you can then eat the flesh off the inside of the coconut. I would highly recommend this.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the food here. As a restaurant and lounge, I wouldn’t expect them to have a killer dinner menu. I came here once before for some nibbles and alcohol. I was impressed.

Some dishes were a miss, especially the drinks, but there were a few items that I really enjoyed.

We Rate 0755 Restaurant:

Address:
3779 Sexsmith Rd, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.0755lounge.com/

In Four Beakers

Christine’s: Lunch at Whister Blackcomb

September 10, 2016

Christine’s is located inside the Rendezvous Lodge on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler. They are a full service restaurant with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.

At 1,860m/6,102ft above ground, it’s pretty interesting to see their challenges with getting the produce up on the mountain as well as adapting to the altitude changes to the taste of food. Head Chef Steve Ramey did a great job on the menu.

Interior

The interior is very modern with clean lines and cute light fixtures. In the summer time, you can hang out in their patio, or in the winter time, you can sit inside and enjoy the breathtaking views.

Photo Credit: Whistler Blackcomb

Drinks

Gin Royale Caesar has 2 oz of gin, Motts Clamato, horseradish, bean, spices, olive, pickled pepper, and a gin beef stick. A pretty awesome caesar and the beef stick is fun to gnaw on .

Elderflower Mimosa has Prosecco, St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, and freshly squeeze orange juice. A nice start to the afternoon and elderflower works really well in a mimosa.

Watermelon Mimosa has Ruffino Prosecco, watermelon puree and agave nectar. The drink is very refreshing.

Amuse bouche

We all started with a amuse bouche to really kick off the lunch. A nice little touch to showcase the freshness of their ingredients.

Appetizers

Crispy Chickpea Falafel is paired with spiced yogurt, raw milk feta, dill, cucumber, and nigella seed. At first I wasn’t sure what to this of this dish, but I did enjoy the crunchy texture of the falafel.

Burrata has heirloom tomatoes, white balsamic, summer herbs, prosciutto, and grilled flatbread. Burrata is an awesome cheese as its is so silky.

Scallop Ceviche has lime, watermelon, sunflower, avocado, puffed rice and pickled onion. This was probably our favourite dish and you could really taste the fresh summer produce. It’s not your typical ceviche, so it was a nice twist.

BBQ Duck Salad has green papaya, black pepper, hoisin, sesame, citrus, and crispy taro. It had a decent amount of duck and it had a good flavour from the hoisin and sesame.

Entrees

Seared Albacore has asparagus, soft cooked egg, lemon ranch, and butter fried scallions. It has 3 pieces of the albacore tuna in an order. The tuna was lightly seared, so you can still taste the delicate tuna in the centre.

Charred 48 hour Shortrib has maple BBQ, jalapeno cheddar cornbread, marinated kale, bred and butter pickle. The cornbread was so good!

Slow Cooked Wild Salmon has soba noodles, scallion vinaigrette, pickled ginger, green apple, wild rice, and sesame. The salmon was cooked very well and it was a light dish compared to the shortribs.

Vietnamese Pork Burger has grilled cabbage, black pepper aioli, carrot, cucumber, smoked peanut and cilantro. It comes with a side of crisps. This was very flavourful and surprisingly one of our favour dishes. I know it doesn’t look like much compared to the other dishes, but the pork burger rocked it.

Overall, a good selection of food for lunch or dinner. It is more expensive than the other options up on the mountain, but if you are here for a special occasion, its nice to indulge. The views are nice and the service is great too.

We rate Christine’s:

Address:
Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler, BC

Website:
https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/the-village/dining/christines-restaurant

In Seafood

Cinnamon Bear Bar & Grille: Dinner at Hilton Whistler

September 9, 2016

Cinnamon Bear Bar & Grille is located inside the Hilton Whistler. They serve up Pacific Northwest dishes prepared fresh daily by their culinary team, led by Executive Chef Julian Owen-Mold. An engineer turned chef, Chef Owen – Mold is leaving his blueprints across the world creating original dishes and masterpieces using selections of the finest and freshest locally grown ingredients.

A few foodies and I were invited to come here for dinner while we were staying here over the weekend. The portion and items are slightly different that what is usually on the menu.

There is the bar side and the grille side to this place and they are quite different.

Cinnamon Bear Bar

We started off at the Cinnamon Bear Bar, a more casual and fun atmosphere après bar with TVs and pool tables. You can gather around the cozy fireplace in winter or gather in the sun soaked patio in the summer, taking in the mountain views. We came here first to have a cocktail before dinner. You can have beers, high balls, wine, or whatever your heart desires as long as they have it in stock.

Muddled strawberry with rosemary and gin was a fun cocktail with no name, but it was highly recommended to us by the staff.

Manhattan is made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. They also stick a cherry in the centre of it.

Summer Sangria was what I ordered. Great having in the Summer outside on their patio on a hot day.

Cinnamon Bear Grille

The interior has a good amount of seat and can accommodate small to large groups. Best to make reservations ahead of time to ensure no wait.

An assortment of bread and butter arrived at the table as we waited for our dishes.

Tomato gazpacho with ice shrimp and vanilla oil was the first appetizer. It was cold and refreshing. You can taste the freshness of the ingredients.

BC Dungeness Crab Cake with mango salsa and chipotle aioli. We noticed that the crab cake had a lot of crab and not stuffed with fillers like other restaurants.

Sumac Ridge Sauvignon Blanc from the Okanagan was paired with the first 2 appetizers.

Kale and Quinoa salad, organic wheat kernels, toasted pumpkin seeds, cranberries, and spiced almond dressing. I wanted to see more fresh ingredients with more flavours. It was weighed down by the dressing.

Grilled tenderloin of Alberta beef with Nova Scotia lobster, scallop, asparagus and a maltaise sauce. It was really good and tender. A good contrast between land and sea.

It was paired with Inniskillin Pinot Noir. A nice full-bodied wine with oak and spiced aromas.

Trio of desserts arrived at the table including smores, creme brulee and tiramisu. The desserts were fun, but the flavours were ok.

It was paired with the Taylor Fladgate LBV from Portugal. It is a port wine with flavours of ripe dark plums and cherry.

Overall, it was good to see what hotel restaurants are producing. With the great culinary scene in Whistler, hotel restaurants are easily overlooked.

We Rate Cinnamon Bear Bar & Grille:

Address:
4050 Whistler Way, Whistler, BC

Website:
http://www.hiltonwhistler.com/dining/cinnamon-bear-grille.php

In Chinese

Chuan Chu Ren Jia: Szechuan Cuisine in Burnaby

August 26, 2016

Chuan Chu Ren Jia is a Szechuan restaurant in South Burnaby on Kingsway. I’ve passed by this place so many times, but have never made a visit until now.

I was invited by the Chopstick Fest, a Chinese Cuisine Festival happening in October later this year to try out a few of their signature dishes.

Interior

The interior is pretty basic with Chinese decor and a few tables. It was pretty packed at dinner time and seems to be a local favourite.

They have large tables available for big groups, but just call ahead of time to make reservations.

Soup

Seaweed Spare rib soup was good and tasted pretty nutritious. This is the large size that 6 of us shared.

Appetizer

Sautéed Free Range Chicken with Chili was pretty good. Very flavourful and not too spicy. Try avoid eating the red chilis as those have a kick kick of spice to them.

Clear Noodles in Chili Sauce was pretty hard to pick up with chopsticks and forks. The noodles pick up most of the flavour from the sauce and the noodles themselves are tasteless.

Entree

Kung Pao Chicken is cooked with chilis, green/red pepper, peanuts and a delicious sauce. The chicken is tender and very flavourful. A good amount of spice to this dish, but it isn’t too intense.

Sauteed Pork with Chili pepper also has shaved jalapeños. It’s spicy, but I enjoyed the flavours.

Grilled Lamb with Cumin was very good. It reminded me of lamb skewers from other restaurants. I gobbled this plate right up.

Braised fish with hot sauce was the most spicy dish of the evening. The fish still had bones on it, so it was a bit difficult to pick out the bones. You definitely want to get a side of rice to go with this dish so it absorbs the hot sauce.

Overall, it was a pretty good dinner and the dishes were all delicious in their own way. If you love spicy food, you’ll enjoy this place. I would definitely come back again.

We rate Chuan Chu Ren Jia:

Address:
6408 Kingsway, Burnaby

In Kid Friendly

The Captain’s Boil: Seafood in Richmond

August 25, 2016

The Captain’s Boil is a new seafood boil restaurant in Richmond. They have a few locations in Toronto, but now has opened their first location in Metro Vancouver.

They take the seafood boil and toss it with their blend of secret, Asian inspired spices and aromatics. They are open quite late and do take reservations.

I was invited to give their signature items a try.

Interior

The interior uses wood, stone, and ropes to really give you a sense of being on a boat. There are long tables and booth seating for those in small to large groups.

Bibs and Gloves

Everyone gets bibs and gloves to keep clean. I love the pirate themed bibs, super cute. The gloves can break quite easily if you are vigorously cracking away at those shells.

Drinks

They have a range of domestic and premium beers, as well as soju and sake. I went with a light Asahi beer, which goes with seafood very well.

Seafood Boil

We ordered a pound of each seafood item on the menu:

clams
mussels
crawfish
shrimp
chicken slices
lobster
king crab leg
Dungeness crab
snow crab legs

It comes in one bag for each kind and arrives a few bags at one time. We got all of ours with the Captain Boil’s Mix, which combines their 3 flavours – cajun cajun, lemon pepper and garlic sauce. We also got it at medium spice.

You can order sides to go into boil like corn, lotus roots, sausages, and potatoes.

The best way to enjoy everything is to pour it all on the table, so everyone can grab it easily.

Of all the types of crabs, I really enjoyed the King Crab Legs, but it is super costly at $36.95 per pound. It was so big and meaty.

The other legs were hard to open, but there are scissors and clamps to crack the shells open.

They sell the lobsters at a seasonal price but always good to double check the cost. The bulk of the meat is in the claws and tail.

Of all the seafood, I thought the crawfish wasn’t worth it since it’s mostly shell. The shells are hard to crack open and there is very little meat inside. But then again, where else are you going to crawfish in Vancouver?

After eating a bunch of the seafood, the Captain’s Boil sauce was too heavy. I would have liked to choose the lemon pepper or the garlic sauce.

Sizzling Plate

Chicken Teriyaki Sizzling Plate Combo with rice includes their seafood platter before 4pm. You get 2 crawfish, 2 shrimps, 2 mussels, and 2 clams. A pretty good deal if you can go there for lunch.

Sides

Fried shrimp basket comes with 10 pieces, which is great for sharing.

Fried Chicken Wings comes in large or small, but we chose the small size. It was fried with light seasoning, which I enjoyed.

Overall, its a great addition in Richmond. Since all the seafood is by weight, it can get pricey if you’re a big eater. The Captain’s Boil sauce is overpowering, so you might want to consider the lemon pepper or garlic sauce to be able to taste more of the seafood.

We rate The Captain’s Boil:

Address:
1226 – 8338 Capstan Way, Richmond,BC

Website:
http://www.thecaptainsboil.com/

In Seafood

The Keg: Lobster Summer in Yaletown

August 21, 2016

The Keg has their awesome Yaletown location with rooftop patio. I’ve been to their other location in the suburbs, but this was my first time here.

Currently, they have their Lobster Summer promotion until the end of August. Lobster and steak is a perfect match and its a great time to get it in season. Even though there are no lobsters in the West Coast, they get it shipped several times a week from the East Coast.

I came here for an event to taste a few item off their Lobster Summer menu.

I started off with the Strawberry Fizz, which has Absolut vodka, Aperol, fresh lemon and lime juice with muddled strawberries and soda.

Crispy Lobster Tacos is tossed in crispy rice, golden fried lobster on warm tortillas with cabbage slaw and cilantro. The plate comes with 3 tacos and inside each taco and 2 pieces of the lobster.

It was paired with the See Ya Later Ranch Gewurtztraminer. I love white wine in the Summer as it is fruity, crisp, and finishes dry.

Steak and Half Lobster has a tender sirloin steak with a fresh, half Atlantic lobster. It is also served with your choice of a side.

Twice Baked Potato with bacon bits is a pretty good side. The potato inside the skin is soft and buttery.

I got the steak at medium rare, but I found that the cut was a bit tough.

To pair with the steak and lobster is Meiomi Wine’s Pinot Noir. It’s a very full-bodied wine from California.

Billy Miner Pie is a classic item to order. It’s pretty big, so it’s easily sharable with a friend.

Overall, it’s aways nice to have steak and lobster. Of all the cuts of steak, I wasn’t a fan of the sirloin steak. I like the NY Peppercorn or the filet mignon from The Keg.

We Rate The Keg:

Address:
1011 Mainland Street, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.kegsteakhouse.com

In Izakaya

Kuma Izakaya: Drinks and Asian Fusion in Yaletown

August 15, 2016

Kuma Izakaya is located in Yaletown close to the Skytrain. They serve up Japanese and Korean dishes with a hint of French influence. At first it can seem confusing how all 3 types of cuisines would come together.

We were invited to try out their signature dishes and learn more about the restaurant and their chef/owner – Hyun Woo Kim.

Chef Kim has worked at various restaurants around the world like The French Laundry in Napa Valley, the prestigious 3 Michelin star restaurant. You can see this influence penetrate the menu with French, Japanese and Korean.

The interior is pretty nice and cozy with a dark feel. They also have a patio so you can eat outside during the nice Summers. I can see this place bring very popular during that late evenings as they have a good range of Korean liquors.

Drinks

They have soju imported from South Korea, which is awesome since it’s hard to find the flavoured soju bottles.

Their flavours include:

Original
Citron
Apple
Peach
Grapefruit

My friends and I love finding restaurants in downtown with flavoured soju, its pretty hard to find because it gets sold out quite easily. I know I’ll definitely be back for these flavoured sojus.

They also have peach makgeolli, which is a flavoured rice wine. Also really good. It makes it super easy to drink.

Food

Kuma Salad with Tomatoes was piled up high and presented nicely. A good use of different textures in this salad.

Kuma Signature Salad has fresh greens topped with sliced avocado, sliced tomato, pickles, house-made ricotta cheese, and crispy yam. It is drizzled with balsamic and house dressing.

Mango Ebimayo comes with 5 pieces of the deep-fried prawns with mango sauce. The mango added a bit of sweetness to it. You should eat it right away as it loses its crunch quite quickly due to the sauce.

Crispy Chicken has crispy deep-fried boneless chicken with pan-fried veggies and a Korean-style sauce. A good dish for sharing among friends. With all the sauce in this dish, the skin wasn’t as crisp when it arrived on the table.

Osso Buco uses premium AAA beef ribs simmered in house made soy sauce. It is also served with rice.

They also have it as in a spicy version. The beef was super flavourful and tender.

Kuma Chirashi Tartare has balsamic spicy aburi tuna, assorted sashimi served on sushi rice, avocado dressing and garnished with tenkatsu and yam flakes. Taking the first few bites, I didn’t wow me like how Miku’s chirashi tart. The heaviness from the spicy tuna sauce over powered the rest of the layers underneath.

Assorted sashimi was served in an ice cold bowl. Chef Kim chose an assortment from like ika, tuna, hamachi, and sockeye salmon. Very cool presentation and the sashimi tasted great.

Kuma Seafood Champon has noodles in hearty tomato seafood soup. Simmered with assorted pan-fried vegetables, chilli oils, and chilli powder. A good amount of seafood inside and the broth was very good and flavourful. Not too spicy. It’s a pretty big portion, so it can be sharable.

Assorted Aburi Nigiri has Hamachi and Amaebi. The assortment was all presented on one plate.

The aburi amaebi is seared with some sauce on the top. A good sear

The deep fried shrimp heads were ok

The aburi hamachi was pretty good, but could have used a but more char to it.

Overall, a very diverse menu, but still their aburi doesn’t hit the mark as Miku does. Kuma does make it their own style and doesn’t compare. The dishes I thought were pretty outstanding are the dishes with more of a Korean flavour profile like the Kuma Seafood Champon and the Osso Buco.

We Rate Kuma Izakaya:

Address:
233 Hamilton Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.izakayakuma.com/

In Four Beakers

Hachibei: Authentic Japanese Food near South Cambie

August 12, 2016

Hachibei is a little hidden Japanese restaurant in South Cambie. I’ve been craving to try new places in town and I stumbled upon Hachibei. It was highly recommended by a few friends and I am a sucker for small authentic Japanese restaurants.

The space isn’t very large, but make reservations if you have a large group. Since it was only myself and 2 others, we took a chance.

Cold Sake comes in really cute glassware. The jug has a hold in the centre for putting ice in there so it stays nice and cold. The sake cups were very nice and seemed quite fragile.

Salmon Sashimi comes with 8 pieces and they use wild sockeye salmon. That colour is just beautiful and had a nice taste.

Ebi Sunomono was a good size with 2 pieces of shrimp. It came in a small bowl but it wasn’t too small. Nice flavour and served cold. Refreshing for a hot summers day.

Steamed clam with sake was their special for the day and ti comes with a delicious broth and 6 pieces of clams. Very delicious broth and nice big clams.

Chicken Karaage was crisp on the outside and flavourful. It came out a bit hot, so you want to cool it down before eating.

Deep-Fried Shishamo is smelt served with a creamy mayo sauce. Crisp on the outside and pretty delicious.

Battera is pickled mackerel sushi pressed into a rectangular shape. It seemed like there was ginger on top of the pickled mackerel too.

Chopped Scallop Roll had large chunks of scallops and tobiko inside. Very fresh and delicious.

Deep fried Oyster comes with salad and mashed potatoes on the plate. The 5 pieces of oysters were crisp on the outside and creamy in the centre. Very delicious and a good size.

It is also served with miso soup, rice, and pickled vegetables.A good wholesome meal for 1 person or can be shared among the group.

A nice accompaniment with the meal to balance out the deep-fried oysteres.

Overall, the food was great and was at a good price. The food was fresh and very delicious. I would come here again.

We Rate Hachibei:

Address:
778 West 16th Avenue, Vancouver

In Japanese

Sushi UOmo: Sushi in North Burnaby

August 11, 2016

Sushi UOmo is located in North Burnaby in the Heights. M and I were looking for a new sushi place to eat dinner at. I’m trying to find more restaurants that I haven’t eaten at in the area and Sushi UOmo was a place I’ve never tried yet.

This place was busy on a Tuesday and they are open till 10am everyday. Normally a lot of restaurants close on Tuesday since it is one of the least busiest days of the week. It seems to be working that this place is open.

Miso soup came at the start of the meal. A pretty standard miso soup, but it was a nice touch.

Hamachi Sashimi is a yellowtail tuna. It has a buttery and rich flavour. It has a higher fat content than regular tuna.

Tonkatasu is served with salad and rice. A big piece of deep-fried pork. Great as an individual dish or to share.

Aburi Don was a very interesting dish. It had the rice underneath with the torched tuna on top with an creamy sauce. There is a bit of salad on the side. The sear on top could have been a bit better with more char.

Shrimp Tempura comes in either 4 pieces or 7. M and I chose the 4 pieces so we could have 2 pieces each. Crunchy exterior with lots of batter around the shrimp.

Overall, Sushi UOmo was ok. The price of their dishes are affordable and you get a good amount of value.

We Rate Sushi UOmo:

Address:
4280 Hastings Street, Burnaby, BC