At the Fraser Valley Food Truck Festival, there will be 20 food trucks, an artisan market featuring local businesses, live music, and kids entertainment.
Saturday September 19, 2015
11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Inlet Park
Murray Street, Port Moody BC
and
September 26, 2015
11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Albion Fairgrounds
23448 105 Ave, Maple Ridge BC
Price:
$2.00 at the door
Kids 13 and Under Free!
Website: http://www.fraservalleyfoodtruck.com/
Earlier in 2015, Lay’s America asked fans to submit regionally-inspired flavours. They got some wacky flavour submissions, but there are only 4 finalists:
They need your vote to win the $1 million grand prize.
Since I’m Canadian, I was intrigued by these flavours since we don’t have them in Canada. We have a separate contest. You can check out the Canadian versions here.
Jeff Solensky is the creator of the New York Reuben chip flavour he was inspired by the Reuben sandwiches being sold at his work place as it was their big seller.
New York Reuben flavoured Lays chips are using the regular chip-style. On first bite, you get hints of the smokiness to represent the meat with a slight sour finish. It was ok, but not my favourite chips to eat.
If you like New York Reuben flavoured Lay’s chips, give them a vote on the dousaflavour.com site.
This morning, WestJet announced the introduction of non-stop flights to Gatwick, London from 6 Canadian cities – Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and St. John’s beginning of May 2016.
The flights all operate as overnight flights leaving late afternoon or evening, which is ideal for those who are connecting to any of the six airports from other regions in Canada. It only costs an addition $20 for that connection. Not bad at all.
Toronto:
From $249
Daily flights
Vancouver:
From $299
Flights 6 times a week
Calgary:
From $299
Flights 5 times a week
Edmonton:
From $299
Flights twice a week
Winnipeg:
From $279
Flights once a week
St. John’s:
From $199
Daily flights
WestJet is able to offer these new long distance flights due to their recent acquisition of 4 new Boeing 767-300 aircrafts. These planes seat 262 guests and has a range of approx. 11 hours.
You are obviously curious if there will be in-flight meals to go with the plane ride, the answer is yes and no depending on your choice of seats.
Their Plus cabin has 24 wider seats arranged 2-2-2 (no middle seats) with increased legroom and deeper recline. They also provide a welcome drink, hot towel service, and hot meals served with wine or beer. You will definitely need to pay a bit more or schmooze your way into an upgrade.
The main cabin has 238 seats, with a 2-3-2 configuration. There are complimentary light snacks and non-alcoholic drinks served. You have the option to purchase more substantial snacks and meals from their Buy-on-Board service.
Sucks, but you can easily grab something from the airport for the long journey or bring food in your carry on bags.
More details: westjet.com/londongatwick
Planning to across the border this weekend? Check out the Bite of Bellingham!
The Bite of Bellingham is an annual event where the amazing food of Bellingham is on display, giving attendees the chance to indulge from a selection of more than 20 establishments. Cuisine ranges from pub fare to Cajun to Asian, and even some sweets sneak in there! This is an all-ages event with free admission, so bring the whole family to experience some of the best food in the Northwest.
[tabs tab1=”Food Vendors” tab2=”Beer and Booze Vendors” ]
[tab id=1]
[/tab]
[tab id=2]
[/tabs]
Cafe Eggstatic opened up in Crystal Mall in South Burnaby closer to the end of Summer. They serve up bubble teas and egg waffles. What has differentiated them from some other BBT shops is their use of the birds nest topping on their Summer specialty drinks.
Birds nest is typically found in Chinese cooking especially in soup and seen as a delicacy. It’s not the nest of the bird, but the solidified saliva. It is prized in Chinese culture due to their rarity, and supposedly high nutritional value and flavour.
Honey Green Milk Tea with Pearls ($3.50 +$0.50) came out quite sweet. We should have asked for half sweet. Good flavours, but too sweet.
Birds Nest Mango Slush Infused with Aloe Vera ($5.70) the bottom with the aloe vera chunks were very good.
The birds nest sits right on top and it really tastes like nothing, but that’s just my opinion. The strawberries were a nice addition to the drink as it adds color and it has a sour taste that paired well with the mango slush.
HK Style Bubble Waffle ($3.75) comes out quite crispy with a slight chewiness in the centre.
The batter is thin, so you get a lot of hallow space in the center. Not as filling as other bubble waffles. I still enjoyed it.
Overall, it’s a good place to get bubble waffles. Great texture and I enjoy the crispiness. The birds nest topping draws a lot of people here, but depends how traditional you are.
We Rate Cafe Eggstatic:
Address:
Crystal Mall
1021 – 4500 Kingsway, Burnaby
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/cafeeggstatic
\
With colder weather approaching, access to fresh and healthy food will be an increasing concern for many communities. In order to raise awareness around the importance of food, Gordon Neighbourhood House and Vancity have teamed up to present Vancouver’s annual West End Food Festival.
The festival run between September 17 – 22, 2015 with a bunch of different workshop and events around the West End focused on food.
You will want to sign up for the workshops/events that you’re interested in ASAP as space is limited.
Register here: westendfoodfestival.wordpress.com
[tabs tab1=”Sept 17″ tab2=”Sept 18″ tab3=”Sept 19″ tab4=”Sept 20″ tab5=”Sept 21″ tab6=”Sept22″]
[tab id=1]
Gardening with Mushrooms
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Help create an oyster mushroom container garden, producing food while cycling agricultural waste into nutrient rich soil! Learn basic fungal biology and cultivation techniques to care for the mushroom garden, ensuring continued harvests.
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
Community Lunch
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Enjoy a delicious homemade meal. Chef’s Salad / Beef Bolognaise / Garlic Toast
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Tickets are limited: Reserve yours by visiting or calling the front desk.
Cost: $5
Fermentation Workshop
5:00 – 6:00 pm or 7:00 – 8:00 pm
A hands-on workshop on home food production, fermentation, and heritage homesteading skills. You will be provided with the necessary supplies to make a jar of sauerkraut. Please bring your own knife and a cutting board. You are welcome to bring your own garden veggies to shred (some cabbage and carrot will be made available).
Location: Roedde House Museum, 1415 Barclay St.
Cost: Free! Registration required
Rainbow Soup Social
5:30 – 7:00 pm
Want to meet other awesome people while making soup for a great cause? Check out this weekly soup making group for queer people and their allies!
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Register: register@checkhimout.ca
Cost: Free!
Craft Brew & Comfort Food
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Sit down, relax, and enjoy an evening of great food and craft beer at the Whole Foods Market Robson patio. Menu features chef favourites paired with local craft beer from Doan’s Craft Brewing Company. Proceeds benefit Gordon Neighbourhood House.
Location: Whole Foods Market Robson, Patio, 1675 Robson St.
Cost: tickets are $20
Purchase tickets in advance
[/tab]
[tab id=2]
Brews n’ Chews 2
7:00 – 10:00 pm
A 90s house party/ pop-up pub night. The event will highlight craft beer and feature local DJ Teyshan spinning 90s hip-hop. Refreshments will be served and beer will be available for purchase.
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Register with Young Ideas at www.ow.ly/RdhFb
Cost: $5. ticket includes one beer
[/tab]
[tab id=3]
Native Edibles Workshop & Walk
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
It can be easy to forget about the wealth of food that grows all around us. In this workshop presented by the West End Neighbourhood Food Network, you’ll learn about edible plants that call our region home, and we’ll discuss how to identify and harvest wild, edible, and medicinal plants in an ethical way. Please wear comfy walking shoes!
Meeting Place: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
Harvesting Love – Sharing the Bounty
1:00 – 2:30 pm
How to make the most of your garden, herbs and all! Join us at the Diamond Centre for Living in making an assortment of beverages, salads, dressings and simple desserts with herbs and all good things from the Friends For Life garden.
Location: Diamond Centre for Living, 1459 Barclay St.
Cost: Free! Registration required
West End Annual Picnic
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Drop by for a picnic hosted by the West End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert and organized by Gordon Neighbourhood House. Also join in for a cake and ribbon-cutting celebration of the community garden’s 2014 expansion project. These groups are collaborating to bring you music, face-painting, rock-painting and games.
Location: Nelson Park
Cost: Free! No registration required
Latin American Food Accents
3:00 – 4:00 pm
Come and enjoy the colours & flavours of traditional Mexican and Venezuelan dishes prepared for you by Gordon Neighbourhood House’s Spanish Conversation Club.
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
Social Food Exploration
5:00 – 7:00 pm
Video, images, collaboration, and actual food will be used to explore our relationships with food and communities. Participants will have opportunities to engage in activities and collaborate in this Social Food Exploration. Shy and quiet people are welcome and participation is optional.
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
[/tab]
[tab id=4]
BC Perennials & Food Policy
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
In this workshop presented by Village Vancouver, learn to grow organic perennial food plants from cultures around the world. The workshop will link to issues like desertification, pesticides, food policies in Canada, and human wellbeing through social development. All ages welcome!
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
West End Soup Challenge
12:00 – 2:00 pm
Come and sample soups prepared by local West End restaurants and community programs. Which soup will win the 2015 Soup of the Year award? You be the judge!
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
Harvest Celebration & Winter Planter Workshop
1:00 – 3:30 pm
Celebrate the harvest at the West End Neighbourhood Food Network’s September Potluck. From 1-2 pm, sample fruits and desserts purchased from our local Farmer’s Market. Please bring something to share along with your plate, cutlery and cup. Then, join in a hands-on workshop on Winter Planters. Register fast; Supplies for building the planters will only be provided for the first 20 participants who register. (Additional participants will receive hand-outs and seeds.)
Location: West End Community Centre, 870 Denman St.
Register at WECC (604.257.8333), or online at www.ow.ly/RahaO
Cost: Free!
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Growing Food – Lord Roberts Elementary Kids’ Garden
Come to the Lord Roberts’ Kids’ Garden to talk about growing food from food scraps. We’ll discuss fruit and vegetables that can be grown from what we often put into the compost, including pineapples, celery & herbs.
At: Lord Roberts’ Elementary School, Picnic area adjacent to playground, 1100 Bidwell St.
Cost: Free! Registration required
Veggie Slaw! Fermenting Local Foods
3:30 – 5:30 pm
In this workshop presented by Village Vancouver, you will learn to make your own fermented vegetables using local, seasonal foods. You will be fully active in creating the slaw, and take home a jar with your own customized spice mixture. If possible, bring any of the following items: cutting board, large knife, large bowl or tub, kitchen scissors, wide-mouth jar and lid. Wear clothes that you don’t mind preparing food in.
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
Cooking with Steve Seki
4:30 – 8:30 pm
Learn to cook prosciutto wrapped feta stuffed chicken leg and strawberry rhubarb crumble for dessert. 8 participants will cook and share the meal with 12 guests, and also take a meal home for themselves.
Location: Robert Lee YMCA, 955 Burrard St.
Register at Gathering Place Community Centre (604.665.2391)
Cost: Free! Registration required
[/tab]
[tab id=5]
Creative Playtime – A Healthy Start for a Healthy Body
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
A fruit salad ‘potluck’ for parents/caregivers with their children aged 0-5. Each participant will bring a fruit of their choice to be washed and prepared for a fruit salad. At the potluck we will talk about different ways to enjoy fresh fruits, where different fruits come from, and what to look for when buying them. Please do not bring anything that has been in contact with nuts!
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
Introduction to Home Canning
6:00 – 9:00 pm
In this hands-on workshop presented by Village Vancouver, participants learn to make jam and pickles using the boiling water bath canning method. We will also discuss canning equipment, food safety concerns, and canning other foods. Suitable for participants with little or no experience; participants take home a jar of jam.
Location: The Lauren, Kitchen, 1051 Broughton St.
Cost: Free! Registration required
Eat Think Vote Vancouver
7:30 – 9:30 pm
Join Gordon Neighbourhood House, Vancouver Food Policy Council, BC Food Systems Network, Neighbourhood Food Networks, and the Vancouver Urban Farming Society for a conversation with local candidates on putting a national food policy on the agenda this federal election. Refreshments will be made available.
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
[/tab]
[tab id=6]
Community Lunch
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Enjoy a delicious homemade meal. Chef’s Salad / Chicken Souvlaki / Rice Pilaf
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Tickets are limited: Reserve yours by visiting or calling the front desk.
Cost: $5
Afternoon Tea
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Afternoon tea including refreshments.
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
Saving Seeds
7:00 – 9:00 pm
In this workshop presented by the West End Neighbourhood Food Network, we’ll discuss the best seeds to start saving, the easiest seeds to save in a small garden, and why and how to harvest, dry, and store seeds. Take home free seeds for your garden.
Location: West End Community Centre, Barclay Room, 870 Denman St.
Register at WECC (604.257.8333), or online at www.ow.ly/RahXq
Cost: Free!
Pizza from Scratch
6:00 – 9:00 pm
In this whirlwind program we’ll make fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and pizza dough, then put it all together into margherita pizzas to bake and enjoy. You’ll learn about making and stretching cheese curd from the best quality nonhomogenized milk, cooking down whole tomatoes, and grinding fresh flour for the crust.
Location: Gordon Neighbourhood House
Cost: Free! Registration required
[/tab]
[/tabs]
Earlier in 2015, Lay’s America asked fans to submit regionally-inspired flavours. They got some wacky flavour submissions, but there are only 4 finalists:
They need your vote to win the $1 million grand prize.
Since I’m Canadian, I was intrigued by these flavours since we don’t have them in Canada. We have a separate contest. You can check out the Canadian versions here.
Angie Fu is the creator of the West Coast Truffle Fries Flavour and was inspired by seeing Truffle Fries on restaurant’s menus. Apparently, it is the first thing that she orders as the aromatic flavour of truffle is mouth-watering.
The West Coast Truffle Fries are on Lay’s Wavy chips, so its thicker and has more of a crunch to them compared to their original type of chips.
At first taste, we really couldn’t get the truffle oil essence from the chips. The taste was more like a baked potato with sour cream. Not very impressed.
If you like West Coast Truffle Fries, give them a vote on the dousaflavour.com site.
Having brunch on the weekend is a must! One of my favourite places in Vancouver to have brunch is at Nice Cafe near Main Street and 8th Ave. It’s a greasy spoon type of cafe, that will take you back to the 90s.
You will find homestyle breakfast items on their menu like sandwiches, bennies, omelettes, and other items.
Blackstone Benny ($8.50) comes with delicious Kennebec hashbrowns. Inside the benny is bacon, grilled tomato, poached egg and hollandaise sauce.
Spinach and Feta Omelette ($7.50) and it also come with the Kennebec hashbrowns. I really love the hashbrowns. Super crispy and its even better with ketchup and hot sauce.
Side of Grilled Mushrooms ($1.95) is a must unless you really hate mushrooms. Its grilled to perfection and slathered in butter. So good.
Overall, it’s another good greasy spoon breakfast. Service can be poor when its super busy, but since the place is quite small, you can eventually flag a server down.
We rate Nice Cafe: 
Address:
154 E 8th Ave
Vancouver, BC
Adesso Bistro is hidden in a residential neighbourhood in the West End. I’ve been searching for new places for brunch and this popped up as one of the suggestions on Zomato. Since I’ve never been, I thought it would be a good chance to have brunch and hang out with a friend. We love brunch, so we do love to explore.
The interior is nice and intimate, which is good for a dinner setting. As the building is older, we could really smell the age of the building. The smell reminded me of a museum.
They also have a patio, which is pretty awesome. Since it was cold in the morning, we stayed inside.
Strata ($14) is a brunch dish, similar to a quiche or frittata. It is oven baked in a hot skillet. There is pancetta, eggs, oyster mushrooms, and fontina cheese. There is a cherry tomato and arugula salad with a light dressing.
It sounded like a cool dish when the waiter described it, but it fell kinda flat.
Trota Hollandaise Benedict ($18) has house smoked trout , poached eggs, roasted tomato, chives, hollandaise, and spring onions. They also serve it with a tomato and arugula salad with light dressing.
The poached egg was made to a perfect medium. I liked the use of focaccia bread instead of the typical english muffin. It gives it a nice texture and it soaks up the hollandaise and yolk a bit more.
Overall, the brunch was good if you have the bennys but it is a bit pricey.
We Rate Adesso Bistro:
Address:
1906 Haro Street, Vancouver
Website:
http://www.adessobistro.net/
Earlier in 2015, Lay’s America asked fans to submit regionally-inspired flavours. They got some wacky flavour submissions, but there are only 4 finalists:
They need your vote to win the $1 million grand prize.
Since I’m Canadian, I was intrigued by these flavours since we don’t have them in Canada. We have a separate contest. You can check out the Canadian versions here.
James Wagner is the creator of the Greektown Gyro Chip from Wichita Falls, Texas. He got the inspiration from a great little Greek place in his town that makes the amazing gyros.
The Greektown Gyro is on the Kettle cooked Lays chips so it is crunchier and slightly thicker than the regular chip.
At first taste, there was a creamy tang flavour like tzatziki and cheese. If I was blind folded, I probably wouldn’t be able to guess it was a gyro.
If you like Greektown Gyro, give them a vote on the dousaflavour.com site.
I’ve come to Kulinarya serveral times in the past few years for their delicious Filipino food. This would be my 4th visit to be exact. This cozy restaurant serves up authentic Filipino cuisine in the heart of Coquitlam. There is free parking outside and it’s located quite close to Coquitlam Mall.
Complimentary Boy Bawang garlic corn nuts arrive at the table before you begin your meal. They are delicious corn nuts with garlic flavour. It’s so addictive! You can find bags of theses at T&T for under $1. It’s so damn good.
Calamansi Juice has changed this time. They use Gina brand instead of the Philippines brand. It tastes different but not in a good way. It tastes a lot more artificial.
Large Garlic Rice ($5) is a good item to order if you have saucy dishes or stews to go with this. Garlic rice is so much better than regular rice. Garlic is so addictive, but don’t forget to pop a mint or eat gum right after.
Chicken Adobo ($12) is a Filipino classic! It has chicken braised in vinegar soy sauce. Delicious dish!
BBQ Pork Skewers ($9) were ok, but they were a tad dry and had a lot of char on them. I still prefer the skewers at Kumare in Richmond.
Sizzling Sisig ($12) is crispy minced pork with egg. This is a heart attack on a plate, but very addictive.
Galunggong ($12) is deep-fried mackerel. It is served with pickled vegetables and a vinegar soy sauce. It’s definitely not a dish for everyone as the head is still attached. You have to eat all the bones with it as well.
Bistek ($13) has fried beef and onions cooked in soy sauce and lemon. This was a good dish but the onion was cut into large pieces. The beef was tender and the sauce went very well with it. Definitely eat it with the garlic rice.
Overall, it’s still an awesome place to go to. If you haven’t been to a Filipino restaurant before, you should add it onto your list of things to eat. In the Lower Mainland, there is only a handful of Filipino restaurants and this on is one of the better ones. My other go to place is Kumare in Richmond.
We Rate Kulinarya:
Address:
Coquitlam Square
114-2918 Glen Drive, Coquitlam
Website:
www.kulinarya.ca
Since Vancouver rains for most of the year, it does get a bit depressing to go out and hunt for food. I love Le Tigre but sometimes their truck is too far away from the office, so when we saw that Foodee delivers for them, we definitely had to do an office order. The minimum order is $40 with a $15 delivery fee. It’s not too bad if you can get a lot of your coworkers to order it with you.
Le Tigre serves up culinary inspired Asian street food and they deliver their most popular items like Kickass Rice and Crack Salad.
“Crack” Salad ($8.15) has brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, cabbage, capers, cracked chilies, lemon juice and parmesan cheese. It is vegetarian and gluten-free.
It’s such a sinful salad! I love the balance of savoury, sour, salty and spicy.
Angry Kitty Squares ($5.80) has crispy fried rice, kimchi, chilies, basil, spicy mayo and nori. It comes with 4 pieces and its also pretty darn delicious. The texture of the crispy fried rice is amazing.
Another item you should definitely order is their Kick Ass Rice With Pork Belly ($11.55). I forgot to take a picture, but it’s a larger dish. It’s cooked in sake, butter, dashi and topped with a perfect poached egg, fresh herbs and thai chilies. Most of their dishes seem to have chilies, but when I tried my coworkers dish, those Thai chilies are painful.
We rate Le Tigre: 
Website:
https://www.food.ee/restaurants/vancouver/le-tigre
Scouring for a place to eat lunch is getting quite difficult since I’ve been to a majority of the restaurants in Downtown Vancouver. It was a rainy day, so we decided to go down under into the Bentall Towers but then we realized there’s a good amount of shops and restaurants down there.
One place that caught my eye was Ridia Garden, at first I thought it was a sushi restaurant because of the word ‘garden’. Taking a closer look at the menu, they have Korean dishes as well as a lot of Western food like salad, sandwiches, mac and cheese, and lasagna.
They have a lot of seating inside, so it is quite suitable for bringing a group of coworkers.
Kimchi Fried Rice with Daily Soup was a large portion for lunch. The kimchi fried rice was ok, but it fell a bit flat. It definitely needed a bit more love to it. Perhaps a bit of beef to go with it. Or a fried egg would be amazing.
Japchae is Korean dish made of sweet potato noodles with veggies and beef. It was a large size too, so Mags had to take half of it back to the office. The noodles and the beef seemed a bit disjointed and you know they were cooked separately.
Overall, the food is acceptable, but not the best. The price is great for the portion.
We Rate Ridia Garden: 
Address:
Bentall 2
206-555 Burrard Street, Vancouver
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ridia-Garden/256712691106578
reLiSH Gourmet Burgers just opened up their newest location on Davie Street close to English Bay. The restaurant comes from the East Coast of Canada – New Brunswick. They also have another location on Commercial Drive and will soon open another in North Vancouver.
The space is a good size and lots of chairs. With the communal tables, you can fit large groups in here.
Jersey City Burger has fried field mushrooms , pickled peppers, pancetta bacon, provolone cheese and their ground turkey patty. The turkey patty went well with the burgers since it balances the pancetta quite nicely. The burger was not greasy at all. I felt pretty good and not too bloated afterwards.
L.A. is my Lady Burger has sliced avocado, roasted peppers, basil pesto, creamy goat’s cheese and their veggie patty. I loved the veggie patty since it has a very nice crunchy texture on the outside. The taste of the veggie patty reminded me of falafel.
The Odyssey is only served in this location to represent Davie Street and the community. Inside you will find pickled red cabbage, spicy miso Sriracha glaze with a pan-fried egg. M really enjoyed this burger. You can’t go wrong with a burger with a fried egg in it. Their egg is fried till the yolk is medium, so it still has a bit of moisture without it leaking all over your hands.
Their bun held all the ingredients together. They only use really produce in their burgers, so you won’t find any processed cheese in their burgers. You won’t find any cheese burgers here.
Overall, we did enjoy all the burgers that we tried. It wasn’t too greasy and each ingredient on the burger complimented each other. I would definitely come back.
We rate reLiSH Gourmet Burgers:
Address:
1708 Davie Street, Vancouver
Website:
http://www.relishlife.com/
In 2014, the winning flavour of the American ‘Do us a Flavour‘ contest by Lays was Wasabi Ginger. They have this contest every year and the winner gets $1,000,000 or 1% of net sales of their flavour for a year.
The list of contenders were:
Meneko Spigner McBeth, a nurse from Deptford, New Jersey created the unique Wasabi Ginger flavour.
Since I live in Canada and make a few trips to the States, I wasn’t able to get my hands on the other flavours last year. Of all the flavours, I was really scratching my head trying to figure out why Americans would love this flavour.
After picking up the first chip, you really get a strong taste and smell of ginger and then a spicy feeling in the nose. This bag has everything except the sushi to go with it. I did like the Kettle chips as it is a bit thicker than normal chips, so it adds an extra crunch.
I found it to be ok, but I will stick with my Canadian Ketchup chips.
I gave the rest of the wasabi ginger chips to my coworkers and surprising a good amount of people did enjoy it.
Website:
https://www.dousaflavor.com/
Harrison Hot Springs is a great day trip from Vancouver, BC for families or couples. It is a 1.5 hour drive away from the city via Highway 1. There are spas, recreational activities, and restaurants to enjoy. The best part is really the view. A 10 minute drive away, you can even visit Sasquatch Provincial Park to see Hicks Lake.
There is a tiny village where you can check out stores and some other local restaurants. Or take awesome selfies with Sasquatch.
Harrison Hot Spring Resort and Spa is located closer to the East side of the lake. The full-service resort really is surrounded by mountains and has a beautiful view of the lake. There are 340 guest rooms with varying views. Of course try to get a room that has a view of the lake.
If you are a guest of the resort, there is complimentary parking.
There’s lots of activities like their 3 outdoor, 2 indoor hot springs pools, golf, fishing, tennis, lake tours, boat rentals, kids programs, nature walks, and their Healing Springs Spa for added relaxation.
Check-in begins at 4pm, but if you get there earlier, you room might be ready and you can also grab some complimentary tea service.
Our room was in the West Tower on the executive floor with a lake view.
When we arrived in the room, awaiting us was a selection of Farmhouse cheeses, fruit and crackers for two as well as champagne. A great way to start the weekend with this surprise.
The room was clean and comfortable. The balcony is great to watch the sunrise or sunset. Just make sure to keep the screen doors on since there are bugs outside.
There is wifi, a coffee maker, and flat screen tv in the room. You can tell from the interior that they have renovated a little bit but you can tell certain things are out dated. They don’t have a mini fridge.
The washroom is pretty standard and has a slightly different look than the rest of the room. Definitely a more earthy feel. If you’re missing anything, you can call up the front desk and they will help you out.
Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa features five different hot-spring-fed mineral pools – 3 outdoor and 2 indoor pools. Each pool is kept at different temperatures.
They have 4 on-site restaurants if you want to stay close to the resort. Each one is different from one another.
The Copper Room is like a throwback to the 80’s with a live band and dance floor. From Sunday to Monday, Patsy B. And The Lefties play live and then from Tuesday through Saturday, The Jones Boys play. This restaurant isn’t for everyone, you will notice the age group is a little bit older. There is a minimum dress code, so make sure you don’t wear t-shirts, shorts or sneakers.
Lakeside Cafe is located on the second floor of the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa. Their breakfast buffet starts at 7am and goes on till 11am on the weekdays or 12pm on the weekends. Lakeside Cafe offers dinner too and it’s much more casual than the Copper Room.
Overall, a nice mini getaway from Vancouver. It’s always nice to get away from the city and enjoy nature. It was a nice stay at the resort, but since I don’t particularly spend a lot of time swimming or being in pools, I didn’t get to fully embrace the whole experience. I’m afraid of water.
I enjoyed the car ride to and from Harrison Hot Springs as it’s just a nice drive down the Highway with lots of mountains and farms. Don’t forget to check out the Circle Farm Tour.
Website:
http://www.harrisonresort.com/
Camellia Tea & Coffee is a few steps away from Royal Oak Skytrain. They serve up coffee, tea and a bunch of delicious treats. During the wind storm in the Lower Mainland last week, they still had power, so people who needed a place to chill over some drinks came here. It’s not fun staying at home hoping the power will come back on…when it doesn’t for many many hours.
My friends and I grabbed a bite to eat a few blocks away and then came here to chat and have coffee.
The space is quite nice and there is a lot of room. We saw a lot of large groups just chilling and some others that were just working on their computers.
Latte is my usual. I got mine in their smallest size – 12oz. Good flavours and it really perked me up.
Caramel Macchiato is so beautiful! Since they use the clear double layered cup, you can see the milk, coffee, foam and caramel all separated.
They also have mint infused water at their counter for free.
On another occasion, I cam here just to get dessert for take-out. We wanted to try their desserts but were just too full to eat it in the cafe, so we took it home so we could digest a little before digging in.
Original Cheesecke with mixed berry compote was pretty good. Very dense but very consistent in texture.
Strawberry and cream cake was decent, but not as exciting as the other desserts. The fruit was fresh and also had good texture.
Caramel Fan was addictive. I love caramel fan. Not too sweet and I gobbled this up pretty quickly.
Overall, the desserts were pretty good! All the desserts were not too sweet and all made in-house. It’s a good place to hang out and chill with friend over coffee and desserts.
The only downside is that when you enter the store, it seems like they have a lot of rules to follow like how you shouldn’t stay longer for 2 hours, everyone has a minimum order, etc. It was a bit of a turn off, but I can understand why they have that.
We Rate Camellia Tea & Coffee: 
Address:
104-6888 Royal Oak Ave, Burnaby
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/camelliateaandcoffee
Cattle Cafe on Kingsway moved a few stores from their original location. They are a Hong Kong style cafe that has a comfortable fast-casual dining experience. The Kingsway location is their flagship store as they a few more items that their other locations.
Beware, it’s cash only, so make sure you go visit an ATM ahead of time.
The new location has more seats and better decor.
Ice Bath Milk Tea ( Add $2 with meal or $3.99) has been trending in Asia and has finally come to Vancouver. Having the milk tea in an ice bath keeps the milk tea from being diluted. When it arrived at the table, I wished they put more ice into the bowl as it barely did anything. It only covered the bottom bit.
Iced Milk Tea (add $1 with meal) is the version with ice in the drink. It was good too and you can’t tell too much of the difference between the two milk teas. If you aren’t hardcore about your milk tea, save a dollar and get this version.
Signature Noodle Combo ($9.79) lets you choose your Soup Base/ Sauce, toppings and type of noodle. As well as a drink. My friend chose the Malay Laksa Soup with beef brisket and fish tofu. It comes with 2 toppings, but you can choose to add more for $1.59 each.
Pork Chop in Cream Onion Bacon Demi-Glace with Rice ($10.59) was good as well. My friend loved the tenderness of the pork and it was very juicy. She was impressed since she has never seen pork so tender like this before.
Mixed meat and fish balls with flat noodle seaweed soup ($9.79) was comforting on a cold day. It was pretty good with the flat noodles. Super filling and I enjoyed the subtle taste of the seaweed soup.
Overall, the meal was quite decent and it’s priced well. The new restaurant is great and has more of a modern feel to it. The service is still pretty average as its hard to get a servers attention.
We rate Cattle Cafe:
Address:
4877 Kingsway, Burnaby
Website:
http://www.cattlecafe.ca/
