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Vegetarian

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Melu-juices-inner

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

They recently opened a few weeks ago.

Melu-juices-seating

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

Melu-juices-combos

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

Melu-juices-meals

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

Melu-Juice-row

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

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

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

Melu-juices-black-magic

Melu-juices-wall

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

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

Melu-juices-cleanses

Melu-juices-bars

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

  • Mangolicious Health Bar – Mango, Walnuts, Almonds, Cashews, Coconut Mylk, Shredded Coconut, Dates, Agave Nectar
  • Kind of a Fig Deal Health Bar – Raspberry, Figs, Coconut Oil, Pecans, Oats, Dates, Himalayan Pink Salt
  • Cocao Banana Split Health Bar – Banana, Cashews, Walnuts, Coconut Oil, Shredded Coconut, Dates, Cocoa, Himalayan Pink Salt
  • So Fudgin Good Health Bar – Avocado, Coconut Cream, Coconut Oil, Cocoa, Pecans, Dates, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt, Strawberry and Goji Berry Topping
  • Frosty the Carrot Cake Health Bar – Shredded Carrot, Dates, Walnuts, Shredded Coconut, Cashews, Coconut Oil, Agave Nectar, Lemon, Vanilla, Pumpkin Spice, Himalayan Pink Salt
  • Lemon Razz Health Bar – Lemon, Coconut Cream, Coconut Butter, Almonds, Dates, Coconut Oil, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt, Raspberry, Lemon Rind, Mint and Shredded Coconut

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

Melu-juices-so-fudging-good

 

Melu-juices-nut-milk

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

There’s currently 4 flavours:

  • The Big Fig Mylk – Activated Almonds, Figs, Raw Vanilla Bean, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt
  • Cacao Monkey – Activated Cashews, Banana, Raw Cacao, Chia Seeds, Himalayan Pink Salt
  • The Pink Elephant – Activated Cashews, Strawberry, Raw Vanilla Bean, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt
  • Cold Brewhaha – Activated Almonds, Cold-Brewed West End Coffee, Agave Nectar, Himalayan Pink Salt

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

Melu-juices-detox-water

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

Melu-juices-hulk

Melu-juices-bars-milk

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

We Rate MELU Juice and Health Bar

Address:
1110 West Pender Street, Vancouver

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

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glory-juice-co-outer

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

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

glory-juice-co-inner

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

glory-juice-co-juices

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

glory-juice-co-mixed-citrus

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

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

glory-juice-co-thai-pad

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

glory-juice-co-juice

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

We Rate Glory Juices:

Address:
78 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://gloryjuiceco.com/

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graze-outer

Graze is a vegan restaurant in Vancouver that has an all plant-based menu, which includes their beverages as well. They make sure all their ingredients are organic and locally-sourced when possible.

Chef Karen McAthy is the culinary genius behind the food. The concept is for people of all eating preferences to be able to find something that they can fall in love with. From strict vegetarians to flexitarians, There’s bound to be something on the menu to tickle your taste buds.

I came here with VeggieGirl after work. I needed someone that loves vegetables to have a fair review since it would be very hard for me to give up steak and pork belly. I do appreciate vegetables and could eat carrots and tomatoes all day long.

graze-inner

The interior is quite beautiful. We came here at 5:30pm for an early dinner and it wasn’t very busy. It started picking up around 7pm.

graze-ginger-beer

Graze Organic Ginger Beer ($5) is non-alcoholic and comes with a wedge of lime. Good balance of flavour and it was very good.

graze-ginger

Dark and Stormy ($9) has Flor de Cana Rum, ginger beer, lime and ginger. VeggieGirl did enjoy it and the alcohol wasn’t too potent, but she did find there was a bit too much lime for her liking.

graze-menage-a-trois

Vegetable Menage a Trois ($10) comes with 3 featured veggies. When we were here, there were carrots, dragon tongue beans, and squash. It also came with a phenomenal pesto sauce. The veggies were lightly grilled to It makes for good finger food. That pesto sauce was frickin fantastic!

graze-portobello

Portobello Filets ($9) is gluten free and the coating is made with pepita, spices and corn flour, then panned until crisp. It is paired with a pink peppercorn aioli. I love portobello mushrooms, so naturally I was addicted. The crust was delicious and crispy and went well with the aioli.

graze-chorizo

One of their featured small plates for the night was the fermented collard leaf wrapped ‘chorizo’ with turnip puree, patty pan tempura, chili oil, and tomatoes from their garden.

The dish definitely tried to emulate the texture of chorizo, but it has no meat at all. It had a spongey texture but still delicious.

graze-macandcheese

Macaroni ($14) has brown rice pasta in a smoky coconut cheddar sauce, crispy eggplant & toasted nut crumble over a potato pavé, seasonal vegetables. You can add their house-smoked tofu & fresh tomato for $3.

Those seasonal veggies are mighty pretty.

graze-paella

Paella ($15) has spicy bomba rice, asparagus, red pepper, green garbanzo beans, kalamata olives, spring fava beans and saffron. It was a filling dish.

graze-cherry-cheesecake

Cheesecake ($7) dessert is their Blueberry & lavender cultured cashew cheesecake. It is topped with edible flowers and fresh cherries. The top had more of a mousse texture and the crust was so yummy and nutty.

graze-logo

Overall, we had a great time at Graze. You definitely need to appreciate vegetables to love this place. If you want to try a bit of everything, I would suggest getting their Prix Fixe set for $30, which includes their featured small plate, entree and dessert. Also check out their weekly specials as there are some good deals. Thursdays is date night, so you can get the 2 of the Prix Fixe courses for $50. Awesome deal!

We Rate Graze

Address:
3980 Fraser Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://grazerestaurant.ca/

Graze on Urbanspoon

Ask-for-Luigi-board

Ask for Luigi is a casual Italian-inspired restaurant serving up fresh handmade pasta. It is located in Railtown where the old 2 Chefs a Table until they closed the location. There is some free parking in the area.

The way you order is family-style, so all dishes are meant to be shared  among the table. The appetizers arrive first and then the pasta dishes quickly  follow.  They have some gluten-free option available each day. They also do take-out too.

Ask-for-Luigi-sign

FoodQueen and I tried making a reservation on a Wednesday for a Sunday dinner and all their reservations were all gone. But, they said to come at 5:30pm and we would have a high chance at getting a spot.

Ask-for-Luigi-inner

It was 5:29pm and there were already people inside with 70% of the tables occupied. By 5:45pm, this place was packed! Not a single seat was left. People are crazy about their pasta. Some people have indicated that they had to wait over an hour for a table. Best to come early or attempt to make a reservation.

Ask-for-Luigi-cauliflower

Fried Cauliflower & Aioli ($10) is their most popular appetizer. It reminded me of Nuba’s Najib’s Special. Really good!

Ask-for-Luigi-balls

Bocconcini Fritti ($9) is a vegetarian dish and its is essentially deep-fried cheese balls.

Ask-for-Luigi-cheese

Oh boy, was it ooey and gooey with the cheese super stringy and dripping out.

Ask-for-Luigi-beef

Beef Carpaccio ($14) is topped was many different ingredients and sauces. It was our favourite appetizer. It’s a bit hard to taste the real flavour of the beef with all the fragrant toppings, but it was still very enjoyable.

Ask-for-Luigi-duck-pasta

Pappardelle & Duck Ragu ($19) was the pasta that we ordered. The thick pasta they used was perfect and it latched onto the sauce. The shreds of duck was yummy and tender.

Overall, FoodQueen and I enjoyed our dinner. The service was good and the food came quite quickly. We were all done within an hour. We were glad we came early so we didn’t have to wait in line.

We Rate Ask for Luigi

Address:
305 Alexander Street
Vancouver, BC

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

Ask for Luigi on Urbanspoon

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Something-Healthy-outer

Finding something healthy near the office is quite tough. Near our office, we have McDonalds, Tim Hortons, and Starbucks. That’s not a very good selection of restaurants to go for lunch. Traveling a skytrain station away, we found Something Healthy.

Magz and I had a large morning snack, so when it came to be lunch time, we just wanted something small and healthy. When we saw Something Healthy, we knew it would  be a great place to have a light lunch.

Something-Healthy-inner

We didn’t see a lot of people in here later in the lunch hour. The places has a good amount of seats and has green every where.

Something-Healthy-packed

If you are really in a hurry, they have pre-packed wraps, fruits, veggies and salads.

Something-Healthy-take-out

Raw Green (16oz – $5.25) has spinach, apple, pineapple & fresh orange juice. The juice was sweet due to the amount of fruits. It was good if you enjoy sweeter juices similar to Jugo Juice.

Tropic Delight (16oz – $6.25) has orange, mango & pineapple. Magz was so funny and asked them for their sweetest juice. They helped her choose a good drink.

Fresh Salad ($6.35) has romaine lettuce, bell peppers, corn, cucumber, red onions, & craisins. You can choose your protein either chicken breast, salmon, or tofu. Then you can also choose your dressing – sesame pear, teriyaki, terragon, or sesame vinaigrette.

Overall, there are a good amount of choices, but their salad options are quite limited. Before I walked in, I thought they would have a salad bar, but they didn’t. The prices are quite fair but they definitely need more variety for salads.

We Rate Something Healthy

Address:
660 Abbott Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.somethinghealthy.com/

Something Healthy Wholesome Meals & Juice Bar on Urbanspoon

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Craft-Beer-Market-Vancouver

My coworkers and I have been keeping an eye on the Craft Beer Market opening up in the Olympic Village near Science World. What I love about this area is it’s amazing views and how this neighbourhood is transforming. It was supposed to be open during the Summer of 2013, but due to some delays, it is going to officially open on November 7th, 2013.

Word has spread around the office that they are currently having a soft opening and are open for business. We were bidding a coworker goodbye, so it seemed like the perfect place to have an office lunch.

Craft-Beer-Market-Vancouver

This place is HUGE! There are even 2 elevated private seating areas. Also, the beautiful bar in the centre with so many different types of Craft Beer.

Craft-Beer-Market-Vancouver

Wall of beer kegs.

Craft-Beer-Market-Vancouver

More beer!

Below are images of their food and drink menus.

Menu

Fast Food Sushi?! Red Racer IPA Infused Taquitos?!

Their menus are labeled with healthy, vegetarian, ocean-wise and  gluten-free options. It really help taking the guess work if you have dietary restrictions. Nice touch!

P1070402

Dark beer braised beef brisket?! Phillips Beer Can Chicken?!

P1070404

20 Napkin Burger?! Earnest Ice Cream!!

Looks like there are some amazing sounding items on the menu.

Beer Menu

SO much beer!

P1070407

Too many to choose from.

CRAFT Beer Market Poke

 Hawaiian Ahi Poke ($14) has chopped sashimi-grade tuna, cucumber, fresh ginger, garlic, and a sesame soy vinaigrette with crispy wonton skins. Magz said it tasted alright, but is lacking a few ingredients. Perhaps avocados.

CRAFT Beer Market soup

Craft House Soup (Bowl – $8) has cheddar, jalapeno, and their Village House Ale.

CRAFT Beer Market Wings Canadian

 Wings ($13) 1lb of crispy Rossdown Farms chicken wings tossed in Canadian sauce (bacon and maple syrup). The Canadian flavour was surprisingly good. It was subtle, but it just worked so well. For some reason we imagined it to be a thick sauce, but we were glad it wasn’t like that.

CRAFT Beer Market Fast Food Sushi

Fast Food Sushi ($12) cheeseburger and fries wrapped in bacon. It is dressed with jalapeño cream cheese and BBQ sauce. This was a very interesting item on the menu that JP just had to order. It was sinfully delicious and would be a great combination with some beer.

CRAFT Beer Market Thai Wraps

 Thai Lettuce Wraps ($12 + Chicken $5) has crispy noodles and veggies sautéed with sweet ginger and lemongrass served with julienne vegetables, rice and a trio of house made sauces. It’s a great interactive dish where you can build your lettuce wraps yourself. One thing my coworkers said was that they wished the lettuce would be larger so it could hold more of the filling.

CRAFT Beer Market waldorf salad

Waldorf chicken salad ($16) has parmesan and walnut crusted Rossdown Farms chicken, sun-dried cranberries, mixed greens, grapes, blue cheese, celery, and honey mustard vinaigrette. It was a big salad with a lot of ingredients.

CRAFT Beer Market Brewmaster Chicken Sandwich

Brewmaster’s Chicken Sandwich ($15) has Rossdown Farms chicken breast, avocado, bacon, aged cheddar, tomato lettuce, and red onion in a ciabatta bun. You have your choice of either Kennebec fries, mixed greens, caesar salad, spinach salad or soup. My coworker went with the spinach salad.

CRAFT Beer Market mac and cheese

Craft Mac & Cheese ($16) has a blend of cheddar, gouda, mozzarella and fontina cheese tossed with bacon and poblano peppers topped with parsley and garlic breadcrumbs. It is also served with grilled garlic bread. The portion was huge, but I really wish the mac and cheese was a bit more gooier.

Overall, the food was pretty good, but there are a few kinks to work out. Prices are a tad high, but its ok considering the area that it’s located in. Their menu is large and you can always find something to eat and plus, their beverage menu is massive. I can see it as a great place to come after work to chill with coworkers or friends. It’s a great addition to the Olympic Village area and definitely adds some competition in the area.

We Rate Craft Beer Market

Address:
85 West 1st Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://vancouver.craftbeermarket.ca/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CRAFT-Beer-Market-Vancouver/306941952714764

CRAFT Beer Market on Urbanspoon

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LeafyBox

Leafy Box serves up healthy salads and juices in Yaletown. If you’re into the cleansing thing, it’s a good option to go to if you don’t have lunch and you’re in the area.

I came here with KoreanGirl during lunch since we wanted to be a healthy. We had too much fried chicken and beer the past weekend for our own good.

Leafy Box

The inside was quite large and there are distinct areas to go grocery shopping, make a salad at the salad bar, and a hot food section. All the produce looks really fresh.

Leafy Box

The salad bar has its separate fruit and veggie section. For some weird reason, there was even jello as one of the options.

Leafy Box

Of course there is a juice and smoothie bar. With all the fresh produce, the juice is mighty enticing.

Leafy Box

For my lunch, I grabbed a salad and a bottle of their cold pressed raw juice.

Leafy Box

Salad from the salad bar (~$5) I threw in a lot of random ingredients, but you must get avocados because those are mighty yummy.

Leafy Box

Essential Greens Juice ($7) has kale, spinach, celery, apple, parsley, cucumber, lemon and ginger. Lots of good stuff bottled up inside. It’s made from 4 pounds of produce in each bottle. The juice was good, but the only ingredient that threw me off a bit was the cucumber, it’s probably because I don’t like cucumber.

Overall, I do like the concept of the store and I would come again for juice. It is a bit expensive, but if you’re lazy to make your own juice, definitely check this place out.

We Rate Leafy Box

Address:
1155 Pacific Boulevard
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.leafybox.ca/

Leafy Box on Urbanspoon

 

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Prasino
Photo from prasino

My first meal was at Prasino in La Grange, Illinois. My aunt and uncle brought me here right after my flight landed in O’Hare. They are best known for their sustainable practices for using organic and hormone-free produce when possible. They even try to be eco-friendly when thinking about vendors to pick or even decor.

Prasino

The menu has gluten-free options, vegetarian and vegan options.

Prasino

P.E.I. mussels ($11) is cooked with white wine, garlic, herbs, and butter. It is served with grilled bread. The mussels come in a cooking pan. The mussels were of a decent size, tasted great, but could be a little bit more plump.

Prasino

Lava spicy ($16) has tuna, crab, avocado and topped with tempura panko and firecracker sauce. It was a pretty mediocre tasting roll and quite expensive.

Prasino

Lobster Roll ($16) is made with warm maine lobster, lemon, herbs, and a New England bun. It has potato chips on the side. It was pretty delicious!

Prasino

Shrimp Curry ($22) has a vegetable fried rice, egg white, cilantro, and grilled shrimp and yellow Thai curry on the left. The curry was very aromatic and full of flavour.

Prasino

Tuna Nicoise ($16) has evoo poached tuna, romaine, olives, potato, summer vegetables, and an anchovy dressing. The ingredients were definitely fresh, but the tuna was very dry and over cooked. It would be much better if it was seared tuna.

Prasino

Gooey Butter Cake comes with lemon gelato, and a blueberry moscato compote. It was good! A perfect dessert to end the evening.

Overall, it’s great that a restaurant like Prasino is really into the local and organic food movement. I found some items on the menu a hit or a miss. I’ve head this place is pretty popular for brunch.

We Rate Prasino:

Address:
93 South La Grange Road
La Grange, IL

Website:
http://www.prasino.com/

Prasino on Urbanspoon

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Reel Mac and Cheese

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.

Reel Mac and Cheese

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.

Reel Mac and Cheese

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.

Reel Mac and Cheese

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.

Reel Mac and Cheese

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.

Reel Mac and Cheese

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.

Reel Mac and Cheese

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

Reel Mac and Cheese on Urbanspoon

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Burdock & Co.

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 & Co.

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

Burdock & Co.

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.

Burdock & Co.

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.

Burdock & Co.

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.

Burdock & Co.

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.

Burdock & Co.

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.

Burdock & Co.

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/

Burdock & Co. on Urbanspoon

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Nuba Yaletown

Nuba Yaletown is located on Seymour and Davie Street. If you are a fan of the Nuba chain of restaurants, this location is equally as good. Since Flo moved in across the street,  we wanted to search for some dinner close by. When turning on the Urbanspoon App, we discovered this was literally half a block away.

They sell amazing Lebanese cuisine and fresh juices.

Nuba Yaletown

The interior is very different from the other Nuba’s. It’s smaller and structured more for take out orders. There are a few tables, but can get quite busy during peak hours.

Nuba Yaletown

Najib’s Special ($11.25)  is crispy cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt, served with tahini. It also has hummus, salad, pickled cabbage, olives, pita and your choice of organic brown rice or roasted potatoes. I usually choose the organic brown rice. This item was very delicious as usual and is one of the most popular items. It’s vegetarian and gluten free.

Nuba Yaletown

Beef Brochette ($13) has a local grass-fed beef skewer and served with tahini sauce. It is also has hummus, salad, pickled cabbage, olives, pita and your choice of organic brown rice or roasted potatoes. Flo chose the brown rice for her dish. The beef was nice and tender and was super delicious.

Overall, food at Nuba is always great. The ingredients are fresh and the portions are good. I particularly like this location because they serve the lunch time items for dinner. I much prefer the lunch time items over dinner as the prices are better and its more of individual portions.

We Rate Nuba Yaletown:

 Address:
1206 Seymour St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.nuba.ca/

Nuba on Urbanspoon

 

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The Acorn Vancouver

The Acorn was participating in FeastVan and they were offering a 3 course meal for $30. You start off with the Sunchoke Soup, then you can choose any main and dessert on the menu. FeastVan was happening at the same time as Dine Out Vancouver, so I thought that was kinda weird. They had a few good restaurants, so I decided to check one of them out. I let Wongers decide where to go since she has pretty good taste in food. Join our awesome dinner was Foodobyte, so make sure to check out his blog to see what he thought about The Acorn.

You can find vegetarian, vegan, raw, gluten-free options on their menu.

The Acorn Vancouver

You can’t make reservations, but the only table you can reserve is the “family table” that can seat 6 or more. We reserved the table at 6:30 for 7 people. Soon after, this whole restaurant was packed! There was even a line up.

The Acorn Vancouver

Water comes in super cute bottles.

The Acorn Vancouver

Even the shape of the cup is kinda cute. Clearly, I get amused by little things.

The Acorn Vancouver

Coconut Water ($3) comes with a slice of lime at the bottom. The lime overpowered the subtle taste of the coconut. It’s quite a strange combination. I am a firm believer that coconut juice shouldn’t be mixed with anything…but thats probably because coconuts are best on their own.

The Acorn Vancouver

Sunchoke Soup (Starter Size) is topped with parsnip crisps, grilled scallion oil, and hazelnut salt. Very delicious soup!

The Acorn Vancouver

The Harvest ($19) always changes and is made with their seasonal vegetables, herbs, and produce from local farms. Today they were featuring a butternut squash risotto with grilled ridicchio, endive, green cauliflower, goat cheese and pecans.  This was my favorite dish of all the entrees.

The Acorn Vancouver

Halloumi ($19) has 3 pieces of beer-battered Halloumi, zucchini pancake, smashed peas, yogurt, and lemon balm. I wasn’t a fan of the halloumi because it was very rich and oily. Everything else I loved…just not the main ingredient. Some people on the table disagreed, but everyone has different tastes.

The Acorn Vancouver

Porcini ($18) has braised porcini mushrooms, daikon, edamame, buckwheat noodles, sesame, kombu Dashi, and nori chips on top. This dish was OK, but nothing too amazing.

The Acorn Vancouver

Zuni ($18) is a  heirloom zuni bean cassoulet with confit fennel, apple and rustic baguette on the side. Our group thought this was a pretty good dish a well.

The Acorn Vancouver

Goji ($11) is comprised of a raw chocolate ganache tart, walnut crust, lemon goji berry preserve, raspberry coulis, and frozen grapes.

The Acorn Vancouver

Chai ($8) is a chai pot de crème and 2 cardamom shortbread pieces on the side.

The Acorn Vancouver

Olive ($9) is an olive oil cake with apple puree, white chocolate, frozen yogurt, lemon balm, and candied olives.

The Acorn Vancouver

Pumpkin ($9) has pumpkin semifreddo, amaretti crumble, crème fraiche, and sage crisps. The BEST dessert on their menu! It wasn’t too sweet and who knew carrot would make such a delicious dessert. You must order this!

Overall, pretty good meal at The Acorn. I couldn’t believe it was vegetarian! There are a few dishes that can be a hit or a miss. The Harvest and the Pumpkin dessert are a must!!

We Rate The Acorn

Address:
3995 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.theacornrestaurant.ca/

The Acorn on Urbanspoon

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Sanchon or “Mountain Village” is one of the most famous restaurants that specialize in traditional vegetarian food served in Buddhist temples. The food is made from organic vegetables fresh from the mountainside. If you are tired of all the fried and grilled food in Seoul, this is definitely a great place to go to.

The location was a few restaurants away from my hotel – Tria Hotel. I came to dine here during lunch with M’s relatives.

The restaurant is located on the second level and instead of sitting on chairs, you sit on the floor. For those who are cannot cross their legs or not accustomed to sitting on the floor, you may feel uncomfortable dining here.

We ordered a set meal and a bunch of banchan arrives at the table. There are over 10 small dishes that arrive at the table made out of different vegetables. Even though these portions are small, it was a lot of food! Each dish had its own unique taste. Some spicy and some non-spicy.

Next, they gave us a plate with pork, perilla leaves and some other vegetable. We ate these together and it was so good!

There was even kimchi stew and a side of tofu that came along with it. There was a lot of food and it just kept coming.

There was also tofu soup.

Then there was more soup and then rice. By this point, we were SO FULL. I haven’t eaten this much in a long time. The meal was my favorite in Korea. It was a tad pricey than other meals in Korea, but it is so worth it to try this experience. I haven’t had this type of dining experience before and I loved it!

After the lunch we headed on up to Seoul Tower to check out the view of Seoul. It’s just amazing how large the city really is. We were fortunate that the monsoon storm disappeared so we were able to see most of the city clearly.

On one of the windows it shows how far away from home I really was. 7,174.20km to be exact.

Overall, this day was pretty awesome. I had incredible food at Sanchon and got a great view of Seoul from Seoul Tower.

We Rate Sanchon:

Address:
677-11 Yeoksam 1(il)-dong,
Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea


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We took the day to visit Nan Lian Garden, Chi Lin Nunnery and Hollywood Plaza. Its easily accessible though the Diamond Hill MTR station. The Garden and Nunnery are quite breathtaking and makes for very epic photos. This was my favorite site for far in my trip! You can’t forget the golden temple in the middle of the garden surrounded by modern apartment buildings that go up to 80 floors high (or more).

Sometimes looking for Vegetarian cuisine is quite hard if you are on vacation. Good thing I like to eat anything and everything. It was a good change from not scarfing down tons of pork and beef. I actually really like vegetarian cuisine.

At the eat end of the Garden, there is a restaurant called Chi Lin Vegetarian. It’s very popular for locals and tourists who visit this garden. It is located behind a waterfall and server very good vegetarian food with lots of vegetables, tofu and mushrooms.

Patrons can sit and admire the waterfall at the windows as they dine. This place can get quite busy.

Tea! You also have 2 chopstick of differing colors. One is your communal chopstick where you grab your food without sharing your germs with others. The other one is for eating. It’s a good way to not spread germs, but it’s easily to forget which one is which.

A little side dish arrived at the table. We all couldn’t figure out what this was and was torn between a mushroom or tofu. Nonetheless, it was delicious.

Small Five Fortune Appetizer Platter comes with green beans, beet salad, tofu, mushrooms and cucumber salad. It was really well done and you can see and taste the variety of vegetarian cuisine. My favorite was the mushrooms and the tofu. Just simply delicious!

Small Braised Supreme Assorted Vegetables is also another delicious dish. It has a large amount of mushrooms! I love mushrooms, so it was a delight for me to dig into it. This was probably my favorite dish.

Mixed vegetables with mushroom and Beans has a beautiful presentation with the vegetables on the outside and the mushroom and beans on the inside. It was a good dish, but I think I liked the previous dish better.

Fried Rice with Pinenuts was my sisters favorite dish. She usually doesn’t eat much, but she ate almost all of it and it’s not a small dish either. It was a very good fried rice with good amount of ingredients inside.

Sweet and Sour Bean Curd with Pineapples had a very interesting texture. It was a bit crispy and soaked up a lot of the pineapple sauce since it’s quite porous. I am not a fan of sweet and sour things, so I did not particularly enjoy it.

Overall, the food was pretty well executed and great for everyone. The menu is also in English, so it won’t be challenging for tourists to order. I would definitely go again.

After your lunch, don’t forget to check out Chi Lin Nunnery! It’s very beautiful and not very far away. It’s connected to Nan Lian Garden, so it won’t take too much effort to get there.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Large variety of vegetarian dishes
  • Diamond Hill MTR Exit C2
We Rate Chi Lin Vegetarian:

Address:
Long Men Lou, Nan Lian Garden, 60 Fung Tak Road,
Diamond Hill, Hong Kong


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Foodology Disclaimer: The Food Adventure was paid courtesy of the Salient Group. The reviews are unbiased as the restaurants were chosen by the winner and no restaurants had prior knowledge of our presence.


A few weeks ago, I held a contest to have a reader join me for an all-day food adventure with me. Through the powers of Excel, @depotato got drawn as the winner. Since it was also her sister’s (@seapotato)birthday, we took her along on our adventure in New Westminster. She selected a few places to go to – Ki Sushi, Tre Galli Gelato, Karmavore and the Boathouse.

Since they have never been to New Westminster, we walked around checking out a few really cool stores like the retro video game store and a board game store. Clearly, we 3 were very nerdy and loved video games. The day was very fun despite some restaurants being a hit and miss.


Ki Sushi


At 11am, we went to Ki Sushi. Since they just opened, it was quite busy, but by 12pm there were definitely more customers. They sell the usual type of Japanese dishes. I’ve been here about 5 years ago and they have undergone some renovations.

Salmon and Tuna Sashimi ($11.95) has about 5 pieces each and was a decent price. It tasted delicious and fresh. What I liked out the place is that they use Wild Sockeye salmon rather than the usual salmon.

Seafood Salad ($9.95) was very massive and had a good amount of seafood. It had ebi, hoki, tako, baby shrimp, avocado, shredded lettuce, and a citrus sauce. The salad was good, but we wished it was larger pieces of lettuce rather than the shredded lettuce. Also, there was way too much sauce.

Gyoza ($3.50) was very sloppy and poorly executed. When you pick up the gyoza, it would fall apart instantly. I assume when they were making them, they probably didn’t seal it well enough.

Prawn Tempura ($8.25) was a good size and was crunchy on the outside.

American Roll ($12.95) has half a soft-shelled crab and seaweed on top of 8 rolls. The inside of the roll has avocado and crab. It is wrapped with tuna. This was my favorite roll, but it was a bit expensive.

Vancouver Roll ($9.94) is topped with avocado and eel on top. It was also a favorite of the table.

Maple Roll ($6.96) has wild sockeye on top and the inside has tuna. If you love sashimi, you’ll definitely love this.

Overall, the food can be a hit and miss. The service was ok, but we did notice some of the dishes were quite dirty so we had to swap them. The food came out fairly quickly which wasn’t too bad.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Hit and Miss dishes
  • Good sushi
  • Decent prices

We Rate Ki Sushi:

Address:
31 8th St
New Westminster, BC
Website:
http://www.kisushi.ca/index.asp

Ki Sushi on Urbanspoon


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River Market


We stopped by after our lunch to check out The River Market near the waterfront. They have the worlds tallest toy soldier, a good amount of shops and restaurants. It was moderately busy on the weekends. The busiest areas were inside River Market since there are some amazing restaurants there – Wallys Burgers, Re-Up BBQ, and some other places.

I use to come to this area quite often as a kid and this area has definitely transformed a lot!

Right by the dock, there was also the Samson V Maritime Museum. It’s free to enter and you can look into their engine room, captains deck, and their living quarters.


Tre Galli Gelato


As we were walking around River Market, gelato caught the eyes of @seapotato and she just had an urge for gelato. Tre Galli Gelato Caffe has a large selection of gelato and they serve coffee.

Guava Gelato / Espresso Gelato ($3.75) was a strange combination by @seapotato but she enjoyed it.

Espresso Gelato / Hazelnut Gelato ($3.75) was chosen by @depotato and she liked both flavours. She also said the hazelnut gelato was more dominant compared to the espresso gelato.

Hazelnut Gelato ($3.75) was what I chose. The flavour was very nice and strong, so it was nice for a hot day outside.

Overall, the gelato was a good price and the flavours were very delicious. It’s a good item to snack on if you are at the River Market chilling with a few friends.

Words of Wisdom:

  • You can sample the flavours
  • A good selection of drinks
  • Decent prices
  • Close to New West Skytrain

We Rate Tre Galli Gelato:

Address:
810 Quayside Dr
New Westminster, BC

Tre Galli Gelato Caffe on Urbanspoon


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Karmavore – The Vegan Shop


Karmavore is a vegan shop in the heart of New Westminster. They have a eco-friendly retail shop on the main level and a grocery store/deli in the basement. They are 100% vegan. It’s the perfect spot if you are vegan.

They have a few tables downstairs, but the space isn’t too large. You can find some unique items here. We were drawn here by their root beer floats but it turns out they were not available. We were quite sad, but we decided to grab some other snack and drinks since we were there anyways.

We consumed the following:

  • English Breakfast Tea ($1.75)
  • Carob Peanut Butter Puck ($2.50)
  • Edible Flours Mini Red velvet Cupcake ($1.99)
  • Happy Planet Lost lagoon Mango Smoothie ($2.79)
  • King Island Coconut Water ($1.49)

Overall, we were a bit disappointed since they didn’t have the root beer float even though it was still written on their chalk board. As we ordered our pastries, they were quite hesitant to give us a plate since we wanted to eat it in the shop. It seems like it really was a “grab n go” deli. Nonetheless, it’s a good spot to go to if you work or live in the area to grab something.

We Rate Karmavore:

Address:
610 Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC

Website:
http://www.karmavore.ca/

Karmavore on Urbanspoon


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Downtown New Westminster


As we finished our snack, we walked around Columbia Street to see what was in the area. We stopped by the Trapp + Holbrook presentation center and had a tour of their apartments. It was very pretty and I was so amazed by their fridges since it was built into their cabinets.

We check out most of the stores on Columbia street and walked up a giant hill onto 6th st. We huffed and we puffed and then we went to Blenz to grab a drink before heading back down to the River Market for dinner. We also found some vegemite and marmite at Sherlock’s Cafe.


The Boathouse


For our dinner, we decided to get our fill of seafood by going to the Boathouse. It is located right by the River Market and is known for their steaks and seafood. As we arrived, we were really looking forward to oysters and lobsters. Unfortunately, they already sold out of lobster tails and Shrimp Kisses. We were very disappointed since it was very early in the evening, so there was no way they would have been sold out. It was a weekend, so it didn’t make sense they wouldn’t be prepared for the weekend rush of customers.

@depotato and @seapotato decided to get 3 course dinner set for $35 instead.

Complementary bread was very good. It was fluffy in the center and nice and nice and crisp on the outside. It also came with some herb butter to spread.

Boathouse original West-coast Chowder didn’t seem very hearty like how a chowder is supposed to be.

Crispy Calamari comes with Tzatziki. It was nice and tender. Very soft and chewy.

6 Kusshi Oysters + 6 Royal Miyagi Oysters ($17.99) tasted good and their tastes were a bit different, but Kusshi is definitely the better oyster. What I noticed when I reviewed by photos was how battered the oysters looked. Whoever shucked these were quite aggressive with them.

Thai Crab Cakes ($12.99) comes with 3 pieces and the taste was alright, but we did notice there was not a lot of crab meat compared to the amount of bread crumbs.

Mixed Seafood Grill has grilled sockeye, crab stuffed jumbo prawns, pan seared sea scallops and fire grilled prawns with tomato pesto orzo and vegetables.

7oz Sirloin Steak with stuffed prawns ($29.99) was asked to be cooked medium rare, but the cut of meat was very tough.It seemed to be cooked medium instead. I just left it since I didn’t want to be picky. They gave M a steak knife for his steak, but didn’t give me one for some reason. So, I just assumed I would use my regular knife. It was very hard to cut, I had to use a lot of strength to cut up my steak.

14oz Prime New York Steak ($39.99) was what M ordered and it was a huge steak. He ordered it rare and there are visible grill lines. On the menu it states “the top .2% of world class beef – the best quality available and exclusively cut for Boathouse”. M did not think the quality was there. He was quite disappointed as well.

Molten Chocolate Brownie ($8.99) is served warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and strawberries on the side. M said the brownie was very warm and the ice cream definitely balanced it out.

Famous Mud pie is also known as the mocha ice cream pie. It comes with a chocolate ganache sauce and maple almonds. It did taste good.

Creme Brulee was ok according to @depotato. She did say the crust was very hard and it made it a bit bitter.

Overall, I was not satisfied with the service or food at this Boathouse location. I’ve been to other Boathouse locations and the quality was not here. I would not return to this location again. Even though we told the server that it was @seapotato’s birthday, they did not provide a sparkler on her cake compared to the other customers in the restaurant. Also, they charged us for the cake when it was supposed to be complimentary. You can pay the same price at Black & Blue Downtown to get better quality…and pay less.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Quality is not there
  • Overpriced
  • Inconsistent service amongst customers

We Rate Boathouse:
Address:
900 Quayside Dr
New Westminster, BC

Website:
http://www.boathouserestaurants.ca/

Boathouse on Urbanspoon


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When AdventureTimeGirl was in town, I took her to Banditas Taqueria since it is a very popular vegetarian restaurant for bunch. We actually went twice in one weekend since she enjoyed it so much. The prices are quite fair and they just serve good vegetarian food.

Horchata is a traditional Mexican rice beverage. It’s refreshing, sweet, milky, nutty and has a nice cinnamon taste. M enjoyed it and I also stole a few sips from him.

2 Wolf and Goat Taco with Rice + Beans ($5.25 +$2.25) has fresh guacamole, purple cabbage, pinto beans, roasted salsa, cheese and cour cream. Delicious tacos and I really enjoy their guacamole and the purple cabbage. The beans and the rice were ok, but it was still a decent side since it fills you up.

Baked Breakfast Burrito ($7.50 + $2.25) has scrambled eggs, roasted salsa, pinto beans, sour cream and cheese in the whole wheat tortilla. The burrito was quite large and will really get you full. M enjoyed it!

Breakfast Burrito ($7.50) not baked, but it is still nice and large!

It’s packed with lots of eggs and beans! It’s a very hearty breakfast indeed.

Morgan Taylor ($8.50) is a new burrito they are serving at the restaurant. It has roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, roasted salsa, cheese and sour cream. AdventureTimeGirl really enjoyed it and was the perfect size.

Baked Morgan Taylor ($8.50 +$2.25) is the same thing as above, but with the added sauce and cheese. M actually liked this more than the breakfast burrito because of the texture from the potatoes.

Becky’s Omelette ($11) is another new item on their menu. It has roasted red pepper sauce, spinach, caramelized onions, cheese, hash, beans and purple cabbage. ScarFace enjoyed it and didn’t mind too much that it was meatless.

Egg Muffins with Veggie Sausage ($8.5 + $2.25) has 2 cornbread muffin tops, topped with guacamole, cheese, fried eggs with a tangy tomatillo sauce. I also really loved this dish because of the crispy cornbread and the taste of the tomatillo sauce. Definitely recommended!

Lemmy ($11) is also a new dish. It’s a poblano baked with pinto beans, cheese and sauce. It is also topped off with 2 poached eggs. On the side there is tortillas, purple cabbage and hashbrowns. AdventureTimeGirl also enjoyed this dish.

All the dishes were quite good and the picky boys also enjoyed their meatless meals, so it was quite a success.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Breakfast items are good!
  • No reservations
  • All Vegetarian food
  • Service is mediocre
  • Good quality ingredients
  • Closest Skytrain: Commercial/Broadway stn

We rate Bandidas Taqueria:

Address:

2781 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.bandidastaqueria.com

Bandidas Taqueria on Urbanspoon

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Nuba serves up authentic Lebanese cuisine which cater to both vegetarians and meat eaters. It’s quite popular and even AdventureTimeGirl heard about it from half way across the world. When she came to town, I knew it was a place that M and I had to take her. I haven’t been disappointed by this location yet. With their 4 locations, some items are a bit different, but I like this one the most.

Since the place is usually packed for lunch and dinner, it always good to make reservations for larger groups. We arrived 10 minutes earlier, but they wouldn’t seat us even though our table was clean and unoccupied. We thought this was pretty weird.

La Feast ($30) is a shared platter and comes with hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj, pickles, fattoush salad, najibs special (Baked Cauliflower), vegan stew, falafel, mjadra, macedonian feta, avocado and marinated olives.

The hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj, pickles and the pita bread (aka Le Petit Feast ($12)) comes first. Each person had their own personal favorite item of the first dish, but the hummus was really good!

Next, the rest of the items of La Feast arrived. There are more pickles, fattoush salad, najibs special (Baked Cauliflower), vegan stew, falafel, mjadra, macedonian feta, avocado and marinated olives. It’s really great for sharing if you want to try an array of items. Everything in La Feast is vegetarian! The taste of everything was really good and the nijibs special was the most popular item…so we ordered an extra order of it. Yum!

La Grande Feast ($50) is another shared platter that’s NOT vegetarian. It comes with hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj, pickles, fattoush salad, najibs special, roasted potatoes, lamb skewers, prawns with eggplant relish and chicken skewers.

The hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj, pickles and the pita bread came first too and its the exact same as the La Feast.

Then the rest of the items arrived. The fattoush salad, najibs special, roasted potatoes, lamb skewers, prawns with eggplant relish and chicken skewers! The meat eaters gobbled up all the skewers right away. There wasn’t a lot of meat, but the quality of the skewers were really amazing. The lamb skewers were so tender and medium rare. The prawns were ok, but not too amazing. The chicken skewers were good size, but a tad dry. It comes with a few dips too, so it will counter act the dry texture.

Overall, the food was good. 2 platters + an extra order of najibs special were good for 5 people.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Platters are good for sharing
  • Make reservations
  • Hummas + tabouleh is so good!
  • Vegetarian friendly

We Rate Nuba:

Address:

207 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
nuba.ca

Nuba (Hastings) on Urbanspoon


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I clearly had a week where I totally thought I needed to eat healthier, so I kept going to salad bars. M and I went to Coquitlam Center Mall just to go to the food court for lunch. We were trying to be somewhat cheap too. Students like us are cheap and poor. As M had Arbys, I decided to head to Garden Fresh Express to make myself a salad. It was $1.60ish per 100g.

Its a good alternative if you wanted something decently healthy.

Looking at this, I probably fail at making salads. I definitely needed more greens, but all the other stuff there was so tempting. Everything at the bar looked fresh, so I wasn’t afraid to consume anything.

Words of Wisdom:

  • Lots of parking
  • Ok price if you don’t get heavy items

Address:
2702 – 2929 Barnet Hwy
Coquitlam, BC V3B

Garden Fresh Express (Coquitlam Centre) on Urbanspoon

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