August 2011

In Dessert

Artisan Sake Maker: More Than Just Sake… ICE CREAM!

August 14, 2011

I was around Granville Island yesterday with my sisters and we were passing by the Artisan Sake Maker shop and the sign “Rice Raisin Ice Cream” caught our eye. We haven’t heard of this flavour, so we really wanted to try it out.

Since they are a shop dedicated in their craft of sake, we were a bit afraid the ice cream would be alcoholic. It turns out they are not and are 100% kid friendly.

You can also go for some sake tasting as well. You can try 3 of their signature sakes for $5 or just $2 for 1. A lot of people seem to be trying all their sake’s so, it is quite popular. Since I was with my sisters, we really didn’t feel like trying the sake out. Perhaps in the future I will return with M since he is a huge sake fanatic.

Green Tea ice cream with white chocolate chips ($3.50) was very subtle. It’s not as strong as the usual green tea ice cream you would encounter at other shops. I didn’t take a liking to it since it has the embedded white chocolate chips. I found it a bit random putting that in.

Some people may like it since it gives it more texture and something to chew on. My sister liked it, so it’s just a personal preference.

Rice Raisin Ice Cream ($3.50) was very nice. The rice ice cream was also very subtle and had a nice milky taste. The embedded raisin were soft, delicate and chewy. This was probably our personal favorite! This is probably a must if you are around.

The waffle cones were crunchy, but the ice cream just sits on top of the cone, so the middle is basically empty. There were a few times when we licked a bit too hard and the whole ice cream wanted to fall off.

Overall, it was not bad. It’s something fun to eat in the sun. It’s not like you can get these flavour combinations anywhere else.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking if you can find a spot on Granville Island
Sake tasting
Small selection of ice cream flavours, but unique

We Rate Artisan Sake Master:

Address:

1339 Railspur Alley,
Vancouver, BC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=149513155983

Twitter: @ArtisanSake

In Bar and Grill

Wings: What Else Is On The Menu Besides Wings?

August 13, 2011

I came to Wings with a bunch of SFU-ers to chill, hangout and of course eat! What was very ironic is that we did not order any wings. For a place called wings, you would think we would order wings. Since it was not a Sunday and they did not have any wing specials, we all ordered entrees. Don’t get me wrong, the wings are good, but it’s best to come here on Sunday for the specials.

ShumBum ordered the Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla. It comes with a side of sour cream. The dish is nice and colorful using 2 types of tortilla wraps – tomato and herb. The inside of the quesadilla had a good amount of chicken and cheese.

KoreanGirl had the Fiji Blond Beer-Battered Fish and Chips. It comes with fries, tartar sauce and coleslaw. It has a generous amount of fish. There was so much that she did not end up finishing it. Nicely battered on the outside with delicate meat on the inside.

I ordered the Beef Dip. I chose the salad on the side instead of the fries since I know I didn’t need the excess calories from the fries. The beef dip is served on a garlic herb ciabatta with a large amount of beef and a side of au jus for dipping.

The au jus is what really makes the beef dip amazing. Once you dip the sandwich in there, it just soaks up all those nice fatty flavours from the sauce. I fell in love with the beef dip and its a worthwhile dish to order.

Overall, not bad choices from Wings. It’s great for accommodating large groups.

Words of Wisdom:

Decent priced items
Sunday wings special
Good Beef Dip
Great for large groups
Beer specials and they can create some nasty shots for the Bday boys/girls

We Rate Wings:

Address:

345 North Road
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
www.greatwings.ca

In Farm

Driediger Farms: Always Best To Pick Your Own Berries For Cheap

August 12, 2011

For the longest time I really believed there was no berry picking near Vancouver until I started Googling for berry farms. Turns out there are a few in Langley. I grabbed ConsultingGirl and Monster to join me in the berry picking festivities.

I was really excited because it was something I have never done before. We drove for 40 minutes and google maps sent us to the wrong place. You are in the right place if you see a red building with a few picnic benches.

Since I brought my own bucket I didn’t have to purchase a bucket. If you are here without a bucket, you can purchase one from them.

The bucket costs $1.50 and it is similar to the ice cream tubs.

In order to get to the Blueberry patch, we needed to cross the road and pass by the strawberry patch.

Since strawberries aren’t in season, we couldn’t pick any of them. Strawberries are my favorite of all the berries. 🙁 They still do grow strawberries, but they are off-limits for the U-pick option. You can also purchase it from them, but they didn’t look very good.

Since it might take you a bit of time to find the right patch, remember to read the signs. You know you have arrived when you see the open sign.

The blueberry bushes are the ones that are higher. There are many many rows for you to pick, but you really won’t need to go down to more than one row.

The blueberries look really good and certain bushes are full of them. Some are not as plentiful, but you should be able to have good luck filling up your bucket.

After a while, it gets pretty hot in the field, so remember to wear sunscreen. You will find yourself really digging through the bushes to find a branch that has a large amount of ripe berries. It’s really fun!

There were also a few people sitting on the ground picking the berries that are closer to the ground. Most people pick from the top and move on.

We all slowly filled up our buckets, so it really didn’t take too much time. If you take a lot of care picking your berries, you will obviously take a longer time.

Their raspberry patch is also open. This is located closer to the parking lot where you arrived at, so you need to cross the road back to your original location. The raspberry bushes are way higher and is probably taller than you.

I didn’t have as much fun picking the raspberries because I found it a bit difficult trying to find the cleaner ripe berries. I tried to avoid the ones that did not come off the branch easily.

The berries looked super amazing and delicious. I probably ate a few in the fields without washing…but that should be fine. Just make sure there are no bugs in it.

After you are done, bring it to the red house to get it weighed. If you fill up the ice cream tub near the top, it will cost you about $6 – $7. It’s not bad at all since it’s only $1.50 per pound. You get a great deal and you picked it all yourself.

If you are planning to bring your own bucket, make sure to weigh it prior so you aren’t paying for the weight of the bucket itself.

After this experience, I found it hard to pay regular price at stores. Even if you don’t finish it all, you can freeze them in the future to make smoothies.

Since the 3 of us had so many blueberries, we decided to make blueberry pies! We just found a regular blueberry pie recipe on Allrecipies.com . We decided to do 2 pies, one with the full top and another with the crisscross top.

Making the pies were really easy and it really wasn’t as difficult as I thought! As long as you follow the recipe, you can’t go wrong.

From the farm to your plate. Isn’t that so amazing? I thought it was worth it.

Words of Wisdom:

$1.50 per pound for U-Pick
Blueberries, raspberries and currants are in season
Bring your own bucket and weigh it prior to picking
Wear sunscreen, old shoes and sunglasses

Address:

7361 240 St
Langley, BC V1M 3P8

Phone:
(604) 888-1685

Website:

http://www.driedigerfarms.com/

In Japanese

Nao Sushi: Disappointing Food and Service

August 11, 2011

It was another sushi adventure with M and Fabo. After our final exam, we wanted some sushi in the Metrotown area and found Nao Sushi. People in the area rave about this place and their good food, so I wanted to see if it is really as good as people say. They sell similar items to other restaurants like Sushi Town, Sushi California and Sushi Garden.

At first glance this place looked really large and all the seats were filled so it must be a popular place.

Indeed, the inside was full of people. It took the servers a while to get us a seat, even though there was an empty table right in front of us. Throughout the night, the service was not that great and our tea cups grew empty.

Sashimi salad ($7.95) has mixed greens, salmon, seared tuna, ebi, and tako with citrus sauce and crispy wonton crisps on top. The top half of the salad was good, but the rest of it was very soggy at the bottom. There was a lot of liquid and it probably came from the excess water from washing the vegetables.

A plus is that there is a good amount of sashimi with this salad.

Gyoza ($3.50) comes with 5 pieces and was very plain. It seems like this was just pre-frozen and just boiled in water. It’s really not worth what you pay and you can get the same quality by buying the frozen gyozas from T&T.

Veggie tempura ($4.20) was disappointing. It wasn’t cooked well enough so some of the vegetables were very tough to eat… especially for the carrots and yams.

Salmon Sashimi ($9.80) has 7 pieces and was uniformly cut. Nothing wrong with this. The salmon sashimi was slightly more expensive than usual places.

Chopped Scallop Roll ($4.25) was alright, nothing too special at all.

Spicy Tuna Roll ($3.25) was a big disappointment, it has a bit of cucumber and tuna, but it lacked the spicy flavour that makes it a spicy tuna roll.

Sound Trap Roll ($8.50) was delicious. M really liked the sesame on top of the roll and it gives it a nice texture. The inside was deep fried eel and cream cheese, since he is a fan of cream cheese, he loved it. I had a few of them and it was really good!

The prices of some items were reasonable. For the dinner time, the bento boxes seemed very very expensive. I wasn’t too impressed by Nao Sushi and we all didn’t have a good impression either.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking on adjacent streets
Well priced
Some items poorly executed
Slow mediocre service
Good Sashimi

We Rate Nao Sushi:

Address:

7060 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.naosushi.com

In Hastings-Sunrise

Blowfish Japanese Restaurant: Best Bento Boxes

August 10, 2011

Blowfish Japanese Restaurant is located a few blocks away from PNE/Playland on Hastings. This small little Japanese restaurant is a favourite amongst the residents in the area. They have amazing priced Japanese food that won’t break your wallet.

Seating is quite limited they have about 6 tables that seat either 4 or 2 people. Most people who come in do take out especially during the peak hours.

I started with the House Salad ($4). It is a very simple salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, crispy wonton-like topping with ponzu sauce. It was good a refreshing like how a salad should be.

I’ve been to other japanese restaurants with horrible salads, but this one is good!

Crazy Buster Roll ($11) has crunchy tuna stick wrapped with tuna sashimi and avocado, drizzled with spicy mayo and tobiko. It’s a bit expensive for just a roll.

The roll was pretty good, but I really could not feel the “crunchy” texture of the roll from the tuna. It was probably masked by the rice. The tuna felt a bit dry and it might have been better if it they lightly seared the tuna instead. The spicy mango sauce was nice and it was very subtle and it won’t hurt you. Good roll, but expensive!

Dragon Roll ($12) has 2 prawn tempura & daikon sprouts wrapped with slices of grilled eel & avocado. Yet again, the specialty rolls are expensive!

The taste was also very good! Delicious combination of the eel and tempura. I really like the little tobiko on top since it reminds me of mini dragon balls. They also make crunchy noises when you bite down on them.

Deluxe Bento Box ($12.95) comes with your choice of Chicken, Beef, Salmon or Tofu Teriyaki. Also Ebi, Tako or Vegetable Sunomono Soup with Tempura, Chicken Karaage, California Roll, Green Salad.

This box is super cheap and it worth every penny! It’s equivalent to the specialty rolls, which I found very funny.

The Miso Soup is nothing special. It’s the same stuff you would get anywhere else.

The sunomono we chose was the tako sunomono. It has 2 thick slices of tako, which is octopus. Very good like the ones you would find else where. I like how they give you many choices so you are not just stuck with the ebi sunomono like most restaurants.

The california roll was nicely put together and it did not fall apart. It has imitation crab and avocado inside.

The chicken karrage was good as well. Moist inside and not over cooked. I love this fatty addition to any bento box!

The green salad is different than the house salad. It is mostly lettuce with a citrus sauce.

We chose the salmon teriyaki since its different than the usual chicken or beef. M did not take a liking to this since it was very very salty. Perhaps it was just the way they cooked it..or they accidentally added too much salt.

The tempura was assorted, so you get a few vegetables and ebi.

Overall, pretty good items and large selection on their menu. The best deal from Blowfish are the bento boxes! All the ingredients seem pretty fresh and we were quite impressed by our visit.

Words of Wisdom:

Take Out + Delivery
Very affordable Bento boxes
Expensive specialty sushi rolls
Free parking in parking lot of adjacent roads

We Rate Blowfish:

Address:

Suite 107-2828 E. Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.blowfish101.com

In Fast Food

McDonald’s New Supreme Chicken Sandwich: Grilled or Crispy?

August 9, 2011

More new sandwiches from Mc Donalds! They recently introduced their line of sandwiches called “Supreme Chicken Sandwiches”. There are 3 variations of this sandwich – Mushroom + Swiss, Tangy Thai, and the BLT. You have the option of choosing between grilled or crispy chicken meat.

If you are trying to be slightly healthy, grilled is the way to go. If you are like me and like to be bad…crispy is good. Since I was sharing all the sandwiches with M, we got Mc Donalds to cut all the sandwiches in half. All the sandwiches are in a longer form like a sub, so it’s not like the usual round sandwiches.

There isn’t too much information about these sandwiches online, so most of the promotions are seen in stores.

The Mushroom and Swiss sandwich was really good. I am a mushroom lover, so I will be a bit biased on this one. It has lettuce, grilled mushrooms, swiss cheese, savory mayo sauce, and the grilled chicken in a soft ciabatta bun.

This has a strong taste of mushroom, which complements the meat nicely. I think this would be much better with a grilled chicken breast instead. The fried chicken meat reminded me of the meat from the McChicken sandwich.

The Tangy Thai Sandwich has a light covering of the spicy thai sauce with cucumbers and roasted peppers in the ciabatta bun. This was very interesting and had a good taste as well. The sauce was slightly sweet, but with the cucumbers give a nice refreshing crunch.

The BLT Sandwich has bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo with a grilled chicken breast in a ciabatta bun. This doesn’t seem so different from the usual items, I feel like this has been done before since its so common. It still tasted pretty good and the grilled chicken breast is the best choice for this sandwich.

Overall, pretty good line of chicken sandwiches from McDonalds. It is quite expensive for a little over $5 per sandwich, but it is yummy.

Sean of Sean’s Adventures In Flavor Town also wrote a review on these sandwiches as well and it’s an interesting read filled with a curly hair! Check it out!

In Downtown

Fresh Local Wild: Awesome Sandwiches and Fish & Chips

August 9, 2011

Fresh Local Wild is a food truck brought to us by Chef Wolfe. The truck is located on Hastings and Burrard. They are open for weekday lunch serving up different types of fish and chips as well as sandwiches.

Even though there are long lines, Chef Wolfe always finds a way to entertain the crowds.

Their menu is located on a chalkboard on the side of the truck. A lot of their items run out quickly, so be sure to not come too late. When I was there the Cod Fish and Chips was all sold out by 1pm.

Near the tires of the truck are utensils, napkins, ketchup and I think it’s balsamic vinegar. You can add this to your fries/ fish & chips / whatever you want.

Since the patio seating only fits 4, it’s always full. The few times I went, I spent it sitting on these stairs along with the many other strangers.

Albacore Tuna Melt ($8.50) comes on whole grain bread with cookied albacore tuna and smoked cheddar cheese. It was really good and it was like a well cooked grilled cheese with tuna. Ooey gooey yumminess!

The best part was the crispy cheese the oozes outside of the sandwich and gets grilled! The sandwich is toasted on the outside, so bits of it are dark and burnt. Nonetheless, it’s still very good.

Grain Fed Chicken Club ($8) it has grilled chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, bacon on toasted whole grain bread. The smokiness of the bacon can be tasted throughout the sandwich and it makes it so delicious! The chicken isn’t too dry and the bacon blends so well with the chicken. The bread is toasted on the outside as well, so you get a nice crunch every time you sink your teeth into this.

This item is one of the most popular items at the truck. Highly recommended.

Sockeye Salmon Fish and Chip ($12 – 1 piece) comes with tartar sauce and a bed of rustic fries. The fries are one of the best fries I have ever eaten!! Really crispy and full of flavour. Some may not like it since it can taste burnt… but I lurve burnt crispy fries!

The salmon was good, you can really taste the natural flavour of the salmon and it is not over powered by the batter. The most popular fish was the Cod and the Halibut during the times that I was there.

Overall, pretty good selection of fresh items from Fresh Local Wild.

Words of Wisdom:

Best Fries!
Grain Fed Chicken Club is a must!
Small Patio seating

We Rate Fresh Local Wild:

Location:

Burrard St & W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:

http://www.freshlocalwild.com/

Twitter:

@freshlocalwild

In Fast Food

Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Burgers, Fries and Peanuts

August 8, 2011

Five Guys Burgers and Fries is a burger chain in North America and is famous for their large burgers, fresh meat, and complementary peanuts. They have a few locations in the Lower Mainland – West Vancouver, Surrey and Langley.

Since a few of us were in the area, I thought it would be cool to check out another burger joint and see how it stacked up against the others.

The menu is a bit different and they do not have any combos. All items are ala carte, so having a complete meal can add up quite quickly. The descriptions of the burgers are a bit different “little” just means that item has one beef patty and the regular items have 2 patties.

Something about the interior decor keeps telling me it is the “Best Burger”. I swear, there were 10 large signs saying that. This place is plastered with testimonials. I am always skeptical when there seems to be a strange amount of good comments.

They cook everything in their open kitchen, so if you want to sneak a peek at how they fry their fries or grill their patties, you can do that!

Their drinks ($1.99) are unlimited, so go nuts with all the pop.

The peanuts are complementary and can be found on the side of the restaurant. They have boxes and boxes of them, so if you just had a burger and the nuts, you can still get full. The nuts are salted, so they nuts do have a bit of taste.

Regular Fries ($3.49) are freshly cut and fried in peanut oil. It has no preservatives and cholesterol. M and I didn’t really like their fries. A few of them were nice and crunchy, but a majority of them went soft and limp really fast.

Little Bacon Cheese Burger ($6.59) comes with your choice of toppings. If you add all the toppings, the burger gets fairly larger and can be quite messy. The taste of the beef was really good and a bit smokey. All the toppings were good and I have no problems.

The burger as a whole, was alright, but nothing was too special about it.

Does this burger live up to their great reputation? I think it’s hyped up too much and can be comparable to Vera’s or Fat Burger. After eating up everything, we felt super fat and with all the salt in this meal, I am sure we consumed quite a lot of calories.

Words of Wisdom:

Getting a whole meal can be quite expensive
Burger is nothing special
unlimited peanuts

We Rate Five Guys Burgers and Fries:

Address:

2002 Park Royal South
West Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.fiveguys.com

Twitter: @Five_Guys

In Bubble Tea

Sweet Puritea: Fresh Fruit Bubble Tea

August 7, 2011

Near Gilmore Skytrain Station, there is a small Cafe called Sweet Puritea. They specialized in Bubble Tea and drinks that are made from 100% fruit. They also have teas that are infused with real fruit rather than the artificial flavourings. They also offer lunch specials too! This place comes in handy when you live in the apartment above.

I find that this place can be quite empty at times, so it is a good alternative to come with a group of friends if you want a more quite environment compared to places like Bubble World.

There is not a super large amount of seating, but it can suit you and a few friends quite comfortably. Very good for group meetings!

I went a few times and the first time I ordered a fresh pineapple juice and the next time I ordered the fresh watermelon juice. These were really good and super refreshing on a hot day. Way better than Bubble World or Estea! The other normal Bubble Teas taste good as well, but if you are unsure of what to order, you can always ask them for a recommendation!

Words of Wisdom:

Fresh Fruit options
Fruit infused teas
Quiet environment, great for group meetings
Lunch specials/ snack specials
Free Wifi

We Rate Sweet Puritea:

Address:

4248 Dawson St.
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.sweetpuritea.ca

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/sweetpuritea

Twitter:

@sweetpuritea

In Tulalip

Auntie Anne’s Pretzels: Quick Snack at the Outlets

August 6, 2011

If you are from Vancouver, going to the Outlets in the states during the weekend is super fun! Who loves discounts? Something about 40% off clothes makes me overjoyed. Since there really isn’t much food around that area, getting a little snack at Auntie Anne’s Pretzels is always enjoyable.

They make all their pretzels by hand! You can stare at the working if you feel super bored.

I ordered the Pretzel Hotdog Combo ($5.97). It comes with the pretzel dog, choice of dip and a drink.

The pretzel dog is just a normal hotdog wrapped in the pretzel dough. For some reason I thought it would taste super awesome, but I was a bit disappointed. Honestly, it just tasted like a hotdog with minimal bun.

For the dip, I chose the marinara sauce, but there are others you can choose from. I thought a savory type of sauce would go well with it and it wasn’t too bad at all.

In the end, I kind regretted getting the pretzel hotdog since I should have just ordered the normal pretzel. The combo was not very filling and it left me wanting more food to eat.

Words of Wisdom:

Only get the Pretzel!
Good for a snack

We Rate Auntie Anne’s Pretzels:

Address:

#312-10600 Quil Ceda Blvd
Tulalip, WA 98271

Website:
www.auntieannes.com

In Fast Food

Subway: BBQ Rib Sandwich, the new McRib?

August 5, 2011

I have no idea where M finds out about new sandwiches since he doesn’t have TV. He always seems to know when a new sandwich have launched in Canada. He told me about Subway and how there is a better “McRib” that they are offering.

We hurried down to Subway like 2 kids on a Christmas morning. We walked inside and didn’t see much advertisement about this sandwich, but good thing the workers knew what we were talking about. Their rib meat is similar to McDonalds with the artificial look of rib bones embedded to the meat mixture. Honestly, it looked a bit disgusting especially when there is no BBQ sauce to cover it up.

Like any Subway sandwich, you have to choose the size and type of bread that you want. Then you can have the option of adding additional cheese or bacon for an extra charge. Since M is a bit of a pig, he had the addition of bacon. Then once the protein portion is complete, you can have it toasted in the oven to heat up the meat and cheese.

When choosing the toppings, this is actually the most crucial step since this can make or break your BBQ Rib Sandwich! I actually ruined mine by adding all the vegetables and putting in honey mustard sauce on top. I KNOW! I forgot the BBQ sauce. I go on auto pilot when I put on toppings and sauces!

The best combination – Lettuce + BBQ sauce. Thats it! No need to go fancy and put on all the vegetables. You can’t give me choices or else I will ruin something good.

I tried it with my weird combination and it really did not taste as good. It tasted like any ordinary Subway sandwich, but just with different meat. With the customizable toppings, theres a lot that can go wrong when constructing the sandwich. With the amount of vegetables, it made the “ribs” go cold fast and the meat didn’t have good taste either.

M on the other hand had a decent sandwich with the addition of bacon, lettuce and bbq sauce. He still didn’t think it was as good as the McRib. Since the whole “rib” isnt doused in the BBQ sauce, it does lose a bit of flavour.

Overall, not as good as we first imagined. Would you go out and try this sandwich?

In Downtown

Coma Food Truck: Korean-Mexican-American Fusion

August 5, 2011

Coma Food Truck finally makes their way to the Downtown core. They originally had their truck across the bridge on Broadway, but thats a bit hard to get to during my lunch break. They are now located outside the Vancouver Public Library. They sell delicious fusion food that combines Korean, Mexican and American cuisine.

They will probably put you in Food Coma afterwards, but Coma stands for Korean (Ko), Mexican (M), American (A).

I was just on Twitter and I saw that @DennisPang was getting a bunch of people together to grab lunch at here, so I decided to check it out. If you are wondering, yes, I paid for this meal from money from my pocket.

Their menu is located on a white board and features items such as Bibimbap, seaweed rolls, burritos, burgers, and quesadilla. They are infused with korean flavours, so these are not your regular items. Since everything looked super delicious, @kathygko and I split the Burrito, Bibimbap and the quesadilla.

They also have a few pictures too. If you have no idea what to order, you can see what it looks like. While looking at the menu, you can also stare at them making your meal!

I started off with the Yuzu Iced tea ($2.49). It sounded a bit different and sure it did taste different. Yuzu is a citrus fruit in asia that is similar to an orange. In Korean culture, it is used more for drinks.

The yuzu iced tea is very similar to normal iced tea, but the tones of the yuzu do shine through and give you a slightly tart taste. It was still good nonetheless.

The Kimchi Quesadilla ($5.99) comes with a chipotle quesadilla with vegetables, kimchi, and salsa. It is not very spicy at all and its a good fusion between korean and mexican. The flavours blend nicely together and it’s the type of comfort food you want to sink your teeth into. The quesadilla is crunchy on the outside. On the inside you get some oogey gooey cheese with savory ingredients. Yum!

@kathygko didn’t take a liking to this due to the lack of spice.

Kibimbap ($6.99) has rice with bean sprouts, mushrooms, daikon, zucchini, carrots and egg with Korean bbq beef, spicy sauce and hint of sesame oil.

To eat this, you just take your utensils and mix it up until it’s well so the sauce and vegetables are well combined. It’s a decent dish, but I felt like I needed more spicy sauce. If you have been to Korean Restaurants before, you have the option of having it in a stone bowl or just regular. I prefer my bibimbap in a stone bowl (I love the crunchy rice), but its really not possible from a food truck.

This also came with a Korean version of Miso soup, but M just calls it seaweed soup. I don’t have a picture of it because I took it home to drink. @kathygko and I were way too full to finish the other items that we ordered. The miso soup was really good!! It was a tad spicy with lots of enoki mushrooms, seaweed, tofu, and green onion. So good!

We also got the Spicy Pork Korean BBQ Burrito ($5.99) kimchi, vegetables, cheddar jack cheese, and spicy pork all housed in a wrapped up 12in tortilla. I took it home to eat too, so I shared it with M. He thought it was a mexican burrito, the first thing that came out of his mouth was “tastes strangely Korean”. I forgot to tell him the part where it’s a Korean-Mexican fusion fish. This was so good and had that nice kick of the korean spicy sauce.

Overall, Coma Food Truck has some good offerings from their truck! I didn’t get a chance to check out their american fusion items, but I’ll be back!

Words of Wisdom:

Burrito and Quesadilla are recommended!
Good prices
It’s hard to figure out where they are, so best to stalk them on twitter

We Rate Coma Food Truck:

Website:

www.comafoodtruck.com

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coma-Food-Truck/126803084055777

Twitter:

@ComaFoodTruck

In Dessert

Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt: Fruits Fruits Fruits!

August 4, 2011

Pinkberry opened their first location in Canada at Park Royal in West Vancouver. They serve up frozen yogurt similar to Qoola. After a long hike at Lynn Canyon, I came here with ConsultingGirl and Monster.

When we arrived, there was a huge line going out the door. The line goes pretty fast, so you won’t be dying from the summer heat.

All you do is choose the size of yogurt, choose the flavour (you can have more than 1 flavour), and then add as much topping as you want! if you are not so into that, they also have Fresh Fruit Parfaits, Fruit bowls and smoothies.

There are so many toppings! So many to choose from! They are quite unique and they have more variety than Qoola.

Fresh fruit is honestly the way to go!! They only have the freshest ingredients. When I went, they didn’t have mango because they couldn’t get their hands on fresh ripe mangoes. It’s goo that they do not sell the frozen fruits.

I was excited when I saw the fruity pebbles!! I have search far and wide (Ok..just in Vancouver) for Fruity Pebbles. Does anyone know where I can buy a box of this stuff?

Monster ordered the mini size with toppings ($2.95). She’s not a big fan of a lot of sweetness, so she likes everything in a smaller size to have a small taste. It fits about 3 toppings comfortably. She enjoyed the original flavour as it was sweet and tart.

ConsultingGirl ordered the medium size ($5.55) with mango and original frozen yogurt. She piled quite a bit of toppings on top. She enjoyed the flavour combo since she wanted to try both.

I decided to be quite different and ordered the Fruit Parfait ($4.75) You get to choose your yogurt flavour and then 3 types of fruits. I went with the original since I really love the tart/ sour taste! I wanted mango, but no more… so I got kiwi, strawberries and pineapples. The granola was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Overall, I quite like Pinkberry but I am not very fond of their location. Since I live in Burnaby, it’s quite a long ways to go. I love their pricing of their yogurt and how you can have as many toppings that fit comfortably on top. I am a fan of Qoola, but I think Pinkberry wins on their quality and quantity of toppings, plus the large amounts of frozen yogurt flavours.

Words of Wisdom:

Large choices of toppings and more yogurt flavour choices
Fresh toppings
Unlimited combination of toppings
<3 fresh fruit and original flavour!

We Rate Pinkberry:

Address:

D2 – 860 Main Street
West Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.pinkberrycanada.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/PinkberryCanada

Twitter:

@PinkberryCanada

In Cafe

Sajin’s Green Tea Cafe: Best Matcha Green Tea Latte

August 3, 2011

Last week I checked out Sajin’s Green Tea Cafe. I was meaning to visit here a while ago after seeing a post by Janice of Goodeat.ca . The Green Tea Latte looked super good, so I just had to try it out! It is located pretty close to Chapters Downtown, but I was always too lazy to walk all the way there.

They serve up some really really super cheap lunch and beverages like tea and coffee.

The large latte ($3.20) was good. I think a large was way too big for my daily caffeine allowance.I think next time, I will stick with a small. I get jittery if I have too much.

Large Green Tea Latte ($3.20) was SO good! It’s not even comparable to any other cafe I’ve been to. They use quality matcha to get the bright vibrate green color and the taste is amazing. It was a mixture of milk and syrup, so it wasn’t too sweet nor overly milky. I really enjoyed this and no wonder this is their signature drink!

Also, after 2pm, the medium green tea lattes become $2! Good deal!

Overall, I enjoyed the rest of the green tea latte at my desk. It’s 5 blocks away from my office, but I totally have no problem using my entire 15 minute break to sprint there and sprint back just for the latte. After going here, I have actually abandoned Starbucks and Cafe Artigiano for hot drinks.

Words of Wisdom:

Matcha Green Tea Latte!
$2 Medium Green Tea Latte after 2pm
Cheap lunch specials

We Rate Sajin Green Tea Cafe:

Address:

110 – 840 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
sajinsgreentea.blog6.fc2.com

#tidal

In Downtown

Nu Greek Street: Amazing Grilled Souvlaki Pita

August 2, 2011

Nu Greek Street is a Street Cart spin off of Nu Restaurant. It is on the corner of Granville and Georgia. They specialize in a few traditional Greek items. When I walked up to the cart, one of the guys operating the cart looked familiar. So, to not embarrass myself, I just ordered, but then he gave me a strange look and it seems like the Ip brothers are back at it again! First it was the PanDa Fresh Bakery, then the Lullys Sandwich Bar, and now Nu Greek Street.

The cart serves up souvlaki and sides such as Greek Salad, tzatziki and hummus.

I ordered the Grilled Chicken Souvlaki Pita ($6.50). The pita is so delicious! Lightly grilled and crispy with a nice buttery salt taste. It is loaded up with onions, tomatoes, a skewer of chicken and a generous helping of tzatziki.

This was surprisingly not messy at all! The chicken was charred on the outside, but it gave it such an amazing flavour! It really made me want some more, but I really had to control myself. You must get this!!!

Next I had the Greek Salad ($4). It’s the traditional greek salad you would see with peppers, cucumbers, onions, olives, tomatoes, feta cheese and a nice light sauce. This tasted pretty average, but I really did not like the large chunks of onions, it made me feel like I had super bad breath during lunch. I think if they had smaller pieces of onions, it would be better.

Overall, pretty solid main item – Grilled Souvlaki Pita. Quick, fast and super delicious!

Words of Wisdom:

Grilled Souvlaki Pita is the way to go!!
Decently priced
Not messy when eating on the go
Closest Skytrain: Granville or City Centre

We Rate Nu Greek Street:

Address:

Granville St & W Georgia St
Vancouver, BC

Twitter: @NuGreekStreet

In Dessert

Coldstone Creamery: Everything Tastes Better in a Waffle Cone

August 1, 2011

Cold Stone Creamery is slowly gaining popularity and has about 7 locations in the Lower Mainland. To make their way into the Canadian Market, they have partnered up with Tim Hortons and make it part of their store.

If you look inside, it looks exactly like a Tim Hortons and at times it’s really hard to find a seat to sit at.

They have signature creations that you can choose from without making the decision of which ice cream to get with what topping.

If you want to be a bit different, you can make your own creation or just have some smoothies and milkshakes.

They have a few flavours to choose from. They have the usual mint, cotton candy, coffee, etc.

They have a lot of choices for toppings, so make sure you don’t go over board because it will cost you! You can even put your ice cream in a waffle cone. I had a horrible experience last time at the Coquitlam Coldstone by choosing my own toppings.

When you choose everything, they begin mixing it together on a “cold stone”, get it? It’s actually quite cool seeing them mash up all the ingredients together.

M ordered the ‘Cookie Doughn’t You Want Some’ in a ‘Like It’ Size with a chocolate waffle cone.

It has Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate chips, cookie dough, fudge and caramel. M liked it for the first few bites but felt it was quite sweet, so he was glad he got the smallest size.

I ordered the ‘All Lovin No Oven’ in a ‘Like It’ size with an original waffle cone.

It has cake batter ice cream, cookie dough, fudge and whipped cream. I really did not like the addition of the whipped cream, it felt way too sweet and added such a slimy texture to the ice cream. I also found that the waffle was quite old and stale. It didn’t have the nice crispy “snap” when you break it off.

Overall, we both found their signature creations to be too sweet and not really suited our tastes. I prefer my gelato or froyo.

Words of Wisdom: