Gastown Archives - Page 3 of 7

In Brunch

Belgard Kitchen: Brunch

January 16, 2016

Belgard Kitchen is inside the Settlement Building in the Downtown Eastside close to Ask for Luigi. My friends and I came here for brunch on the weekend to reconnect and enjoy some good food.

Their brunches are on Saturday and Sunday from 10am – 3pm.

The space is pretty awesome. High ceilings and tons of barrels that make the space quite unique. It’s a brewery and a winery all in one building.

Postmark Ale Sausage Skillet ($15) has crispy potatoes, roasted mushrooms, tomato, poached eggs, smoky onion parmesan cream, with grilled sourdough. A very hearty dish with a little bit of everything.

Belgard Bacon ($10) has maple bourbon pork belly with maple caramel. This definitely isn’t an entree for one person as it’s pretty tiny. It’s more like an appetizer where you would share it with the table. The bacon was nice and thick but it was a tad sweet.

Belgard Brunch Burger ($14) has Pemberton Meadows beef, Village Cheese Works cheddar, caramelized onions, house relish, iceberg, tomato, fried egg, brioche bun, and brunch spuds in a jar. Once you stack the 2 halves together, its quite large. I made sure to eat the egg yolk before putting it together as I didn’t want it to get messy. The potatoes were a good touch, but I wish it was a salad instead.

Salmon Gravlax Hash ($15) has house cured sockeye, crispy potatoes, avocado, pickled onions, arugula, beet with Postmark IPA puree, poached eggs, and smoky onion parmesan cream. It’s a beautiful dish was beaming with colour, but there would have been more salmon on the dish. Very heathy compared to other hashes around town.

Overall, it was good brunch food. Their menu is a good size and you will find a little something for everyone. One thing that we did notice was the service could have been more attentive.

We rate Belgard Kitchen:

Address:
Settlement Building
55 Dunlevy Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://belgardkitchen.com/

In Chinese

Bao Down: Fusion Steamed Buns in Gastown

September 2, 2015

Bao Down is located in Gastown and they specialize in steamed bun (bao) sandwiches. Just imagine an asian taco. I came here with BusanGirl to catch up since we haven’t seen each other in a little while. Bao Down has been on my to-eat list for a while, so I thought it was a great time to take a visit.

The space was quite nice with infused water too! We ended up eating outside since it was a nice day.

Two Worlds Collide Steamed Bao ($6) has star anise and ginger braised pork belly, chicharon and crispy pork belly with hoi sin glaze, carrots, daikon, scallions and Korean spicy sauce.

The bun came out barely warm. I thought that it was weird that it wasn’t hot. The ingredients that make up this bao is fusion as you wouldn’t normally have chicharon and Korean spicy sauce remotely close to each other. The flavour was ok, but because the bao wasn’t hot, it made eating the whole eating process unpleasurable.

Bao Chicka Bao Bao Steamed Bao ($6) has fried lemongrass and garlic marinated free range chicken breast, crispy garlic, palm sugar and fish sauce glaze, fresh cilantro, garlic scape mayo, pickled carrots and scallions. This bao was slightly warmer than the previous one, but still not hot enough to fully enjoy.

Since they did use chicken breast, the meat was dry so it reminded me of a chicken strip in a bao.

Kimchi Fries (Small – $5) has housemade double fried kennebec potato fries, crispy pork belly, sweet soy, crispy garlic, bean sprouts, garlic scape mayo and scallions. This is so loaded! I can’t even imagine what the large size looks like.

The fries were very crisp and super enjoyable since its double fried. It keeps its crispyness for a long time. There are big pieces of pork belly too.

Grilled Cheese and Kimchi Sandwich ($10) Smoked applewood cheddar, kimchi and miso mayo. This missed the mark of what a grilled cheese should look and taste like. There was barely any cheese in it. We mostly tasted the kimchi and a bit of the mayo. In a sense, you could call this a kimchi sandwich.

Seafood Chowder was their soup of the day. It has a good amount of seafood inside and had a delicious creamy taste, but it was also not very hot.

I’m usually not that picky, but a majority of the food wasn’t very hot when it came out. I know I didn’t take a long time taking pictures as I’m usually pretty quick.

Overall, interesting concept and unique menu items, but the taste fell flat a bit and most items we not warm enough. The only item I really liked was the Kimchi fries.

We Rate Bao Down:

Address:
12 Powell Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://baodown.ninja/

In Gastown

The Sardine Can: Spanish Tapas in Gastown

August 18, 2015

The Sardine Can in Gastown serves up Spanish Tapas. It’s a small restaurant, so they really can’t hold that many people here. We came here after work around 5:30 and it didn’t get busy till around 7pm on a weekday.

Their sister restaurants are La Buca, Pied-à-Terre, and The Abbey.

Kalimotxo (calimocho) is a drink mixed with red wine and cola. When the waitress suggested this, we had to give it a try. Apparently its a common drink in Spain. It was pretty good as there is a slight fizz to the drink.

Steamed Clams in White Wine with Chorizo ($7) were good. You should order some bread to go with it to soak up the delicious sauce.

Albondigas ($11) are Meatballs cooked in tomato and Rioja. There are about 5 meatballs and the dish is pretty hot when it arrives on the table.

Champiñones ($8.25) are mushrooms in sherry cream sauce. Very delicious! Make sure you order some bread to eat with this dish.

Pimientos de Padrón ($8.25) are Padron peppers with smoked salt and spiced oil. This is a fun dish to order since one of the peppers are spicy while the other ones are mild. Imagine like a Russian roulette. It’s slightly spicy, but not too much.

Crispy Pork Belly with sherry reduction ($11) the skin of the pork belly was crispy but the layers of meat were tough. If it was a bit more tender, that would be better.

Tostas de sardinas ($8.5) are smoked sardines on toast. These are the only items on the menu with sardines in it. It’s probably the most popular items since why would you come to The Sardine Can and not have sardines?

Overall, it was great to try a Spanish Tapas place in Vancouver. There aren’t too many places like these around. I enjoyed the food and it was a great place to hang out after work.

We Rate Sardine Can:

Address:
26 Powell Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.thesardinecan.ca/

In Dessert

UYU Ice Cream: Soft Serve Ice Cream in Gastown

August 11, 2015

UYU Ice Cream is soft serve ice cream parlour using only organic milk and ingredients. We came here during their soft opening last week. It’s located near Tacomio and Prado. This area has really changed up in the last few years.

UYU means milk in Korean.

Their 2 main items that you can purchase are soft serve ice cream in a cup or ice cream bars.

They offer a variety of toppings to their soft serve and ice cream bars ranging from freeze dried strawberry to the unusual black sesame powder.

Their ice cream has been crafted to ensure the perfect balance resulting in a flavour that is never too sweet or creamy and tastes fresh and delicious.

Original soft serve with 3 toppings – freeze dried strawberry, roasted sunflower seeds, and black sesame powder with Black Currant drizzle. It was pretty good and the topping were very unique.
I’m sure a lot of people are wondering how it compares to Soft Peaks, which is also in Gastown. We found that UYU has slightly sweeter soft serve and we like the variety of toppings and drizzles to choose from.

We Rate UYU Ice Cream:

Address:
433 Abbott Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.uyuicecream.com/

In Brunch

L’Abattoir: Weekend Brunch

August 6, 2015

L’Abattoir offers up a delicious weekend brunch in the heart of Gastown. Of course their dinner menu is stellar as always, but with their brunch menu, the mix comforting staples with hearty, unique entrees.

Always try to make reservations in advance since L’Abattoir is one of the hottest restaurants in town. You can still walk in without one, but it’s always nice to not have to wait. When we were here, we didn’t see it pick up until around 12:30pm.

We were seated upstairs and there is plenty of room for hungry weekend brunchers and probably the severely hungover too.

Thirsty brunchers can sip on creative cocktails, as well as different daily features. They also have non-alcoholic options like their daily bottled house made iced teas.

Their menu isn’t too large but it is still difficult to figure out what to order.

French Press JJ Bean Coffee comes in a small pot, but it was plenty enough for the both of us. They also do free refills, so if you are a coffee guzzler, you’ll be overjoyed.

Delicious and you really can’t go wrong with JJ Bean as they are amazing local coffee roasters.

The waitresses come around offering up their freshly made pastries a la carte. Of course I couldn’t decide so I had to ask the waitress for her recommendation.

Blueberry Danish ($5) was a nice start to the brunch. Nice crisp exterior with delicious blueberries and the sweet custard in the centre. The waitress said this was one of their more popular pastries and tends to sell out.

When all 3 dishes arrived, we couldn’t help but salivate. Just beautiful.

Poached eggs with smoked pork belly ($17) has a cheddar sabayon and a homemade English muffin. It also comes with a salad and a slice of orange.

We asked for the eggs to be soft poached and it did not disappoint. Let it ooze!

Full breakfast ($22) has 2 eggs, duck sausage, mushrooms, pork & beans, boudin noir, rösti, and toast. If you are a big eater, you will love this! Lots of carbs and lots of protein. A very hearty meal!

Boudin noir is blood sausage, the darker item behind the pork belly. It was a nice surprise to the dish since it’s not normally served during a breakfast. Most people probably wouldn’t realize its blood sausage unless they asked. It has a unique taste but not bad.

I love the crispy rosti!

Breakfast burger ($15) has a quarter pound patty, hashbrown patty, and a fried egg. It comes of a smaller plate than the other dishes, but don’t feel like it’s not substantial because it is filling.

We cut the burger in half and shared it. It’s a bit easier to eat that way. Delicious flavours but I found the hashbrown to be over salted.

Overall, the brunch items were fantastic and a good twist on brunch classics. I would definitely come here again.

We Rate L’Abattoir:

Address:
217 Carrall Street,
Vancouver

Website:
http://www.labattoir.ca/

In Cafe

Amoda Tea: Pop Up Matcha Bar

July 31, 2015

Amoda Tea had a Pop Up Matcha Bar this week at Eastwood Cycle Sanctuary from Monday July 27th till Thursday July 30th 2015. Only 4 short days but they drew a crowd from the Gastown offices and others in the area. By the time you read this, it will be gone. Hopefully they pop up in another area of town soon. Sometimes they are at the Vancouver Food Cart Fest.

They use 100% pure organic stone ground green tea from Japan. I love matcha.

They served up:

Iced matcha tea
Local blueberry mint matcha iced tea
Matcha lemonade
Raspberry matcha lemonade
Iced matcha latte

The prices are quite good and comes in 2 sizes. Since the weather has been pretty darn warm in Vancouver, you gotta go with the large size.

Iced Matcha Tea ($5) was very good. Refreshing and just plain awesome. Add a bit of sugar for added taste.

Local Blueberry Mint Matcha Iced Tea ($5.50) was also really good. Nice combination of flavours.

Iced Matcha Latte ($5.50) uses almond milk and coconut syrup. My coworker asked for half sweet and it was quite good. We never thought that coconut syrup and matcha would be a good combination, but it was.

Raspberry Matcha Lemonade ($5) was quite sour and muddles the taste of the matcha. The dominate flavour is definitely the raspberry and lemon.

Matcha Lemonade ($5) was quite sour as well and perks you up more than coffee. Still better than the raspberry. The 2 flavours didn’t mesh too well.

They sell their matcha on their online store in different blends. Having this pop up shop gave you a taste of what drinks you can make with their matcha. Check out their Facebook page to see if they will have another pop up in the near future.

Website:
http://amodatea.com/

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/amodatea

In Cafe

Prado Cafe: New Location in Gastown

April 1, 2015

Prado Cafe has finally opened their second location in Gastown. Their first location is on Commercial Drive and it’s a loved cafe in the neighbourhood. They really focus on crafting the perfect brew and creating a great atmosphere.

They use Parallel Forty Nine coffee in their brews, plus they have quality baked goods, sandwiches, light snacks and sweets.

I came before work to grab a coffee and a pastry before the work day begins. It’s always important to be caffeinated.

Their drinks are reasonably priced and the staff seem to be friendly.

Some of their yummy treats are presented quite nicely especially their bars.

Magic Bar ($3.60) was chosen because of it’s name. It has chocolate chips, toasted coconut and a buttery sugary mixture like a butter tart.

Cappuccino ($3.60) was really good! Just what I needed for the morning to wake me up.

I love how they name some of their baked goods especially the cookie with no name.

Overall, it’s a good addition to the neighbourhood. It’s also a very comfortable space to do some work and sip on coffee. I will definitely be back.

We Rate Prado Cafe:

Address:
100 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://pradocafevancouver.com/

In Dessert

Soft Peaks: Soft Serve Ice Cream in Vancouver

March 17, 2015

Soft Peaks Ice Cream serves up fresh organic soft serve ice cream. The soft serve is made with Avalon organic milk. I remember a year ago when I was in Korea, soft serve with honeycomb was the newest trend. Now, its hitting Vancouver.

Ever since they have opened, they have been crazy busy during peak hours.

Founders – Dan and Ken Kim of Soft Peaks are brothers and best friends who started Soft Peaks, the two came together to pursue a shared dream. They both love ice cream, so soft serve was a perfect shop to open up.

Small Size vs Regular Size

Honeycomb Peak (Regular – $6.75) is topped with their signature swirl topped with a piece of local honeycomb. They honeycomb is from the Okanagan and Fraser Valley.

The soft serve was quite rich but at the same time kinda bland. The honeycomb is pretty sweet, so you really need to disperse it through out the soft serve. I did enjoy the cereal underneath, but it would take a long time until I could dig down into it.

Mudslide (Regular – $6.25) has a twist topped with TimTam flakes and chocolate syrup. TimTams are these delicious chocolate biscuits from Australia.

Overall, Soft Peaks was ok, but I don’t believe I’m a fan of soft serve. The group consensus was that the soft serve was ok, but they still prefer to have ice cream from Earnest Ice Cream or gelato from Bella Gelateria. Soft Peaks is different and it’s really hard to compare it to ice cream or gelato. The Soft Serve is really geared towards asian taste buds as it is not too sweet at all.

We Rate Soft Peaks:

Address:
25 Alexander St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://softpeaks.ca/

In Gastown

Tacomio: New Restaurant in Gastown

March 4, 2015

Tacomio is a new taco place that opened up near Tinsel Town. The corner of Abbot and Hastings was marred by a run down hotel, but since then has been torn down and rebuilt as nice retail locations. There is a Frank Oak shop as well as a new coffee place opening up very soon.

The Tacomio staff was very friendly, and for the first few days of launch, is giving away free guac and chips, as well as a Hibiscus Limeade with a purchase of a meal. The tacos are the small soft kinds aka, authentic one’s made even more popular by La Taqueria down the street. You get to choose any 4 tacos for $10

I chose the Chicharron (Pork Rinds), Carnitas (Confit Pork), Cochinita Pibil (Pork), and Tinga de Pollo (Chicken). They also had a nice number of salsa and sauce ranging from super mild 1, all the way to La Bomba 8.

The tacos themselves, were super bland in my opinion. Putting La Bomba on them helped a little bit, but the meats themselves were not flavourful at all. I was expecting a Meat and Bread type of Pork and rinds for the Chicharron, but instead, they were whole pork rinds that were soaked in marinade, creating a consistency of fat and slime. While I was waiting in line, I saw one of the employees dump shredded pork from a vacuum sealed bag, which was a foreshadowing of tastes to come.

The best part of the meal was the drink for sure. The most depressing part of the meal was that if they didn’t give the drink and chips away for free, my meal would have costed $17! Definitely did not feel my bang for my buck. With similar prices but more delicious tacos at 3 nearby locations La Taqueria, La Casita, and Tacofino Gastown, I find little draw to come here. Tacomio doesn’t seem to have any specific edge over their competition, nor does it stand up on its own.

We Rate Tacomio:

Address:
435 Abbott St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.tacomio.ca/

In Cafe

East Van Roasters: Hot Chocolate Festival

February 12, 2015

East Van Roasters is an artisan chocolate and coffee shop in Gastown. They are a social enterprise created by the PHS Community Services Society. East Van Roasters is designed to provide training and employment to the women residents of the Rainier Hotel.

The Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival is back for it’s 5th year and Forty Ninth Parallel Cafe & Lucky’s Doughnuts is participating. They are currently serving 3 types of hot chocolates

Right now they are participating in the Hot Chocolate Festival until February 14th.

They are currently serving the Salty Malty, which is a Malted Madagascar drinking chocolate.

Salty Malty really reminded me of a liquified malteser. It’s quite a rich drink.

It is also served with a salted chocolate chip cookie. The cookie was delicious! I wish I had more.

A nice place to hang out over some sweets. What I love the most about this place is how they are giving opportunities to those in need and teaching them new skills. Plus, they have yummy drinks and treats.

We Rate East Van Roasters:

Address:
319 Carrall St Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.eastvanroasters.com/

In American

Black Frog Eatery: Pub in Gastown

January 23, 2015

Black Frog Eatery is located in Gastown right by the Steam Clock. M and his coworkers came here for lunch and I tagged along. I can’t say no to trying out new places.

I’ve never noticed this place till now.

It definitely looks like a sports bar with their big bar and all the sports scarves. Clearly I know nothing about sports. I just like to eat. I can see this would be a busy place during sports games, but since it was lunch time, there wasn’t much going on in here except a few people having lunch.

BLT ($10) is served with mayo on a toasted multigrain bread. I got the house salad on the side. The house salad has canned mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds with a balsamic dressing. It was alright.

Schnitzel Burger ($12) has deep-fried pork schnitzel with dijon, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. M got fries on the side.

The food here is pretty standard for pub food. It was decent, but nothing that really stands out.

We rate Black Frog Eatery:

Address:
200 Cambie St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.theblackfrog.ca/

In Gastown

Einstein Wrap House: Donair and Shawarma in Gastown

January 3, 2015

Einstein Wrap House is located in Tinseltown and they serve up donair and shawarma. I haven’t had a wrap or a platter in a long time, so I decided to drop by for lunch.

The prices are under $9 and it’s decent for the downtown area. There’s really no other donair/shawarma shop in the area. A lot of people love the platters since it’s a lot of food for under $10.

Chicken Shawarma Wrap ($6.25) has freshly sliced chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, hummus and tzatziki sauce. It was a good amount. Quality was decent but the hummus or tzatziki wasn’t very flavourful.

Can of Coca-Cola ($1.35)

Overall, I would come here again if I had a donair craving in this area. There are definitely better donair places in town.

We Rate Einstein Wrap House:

Address:
516 Abbott St
Vancouver BC

In Gastown

The Pint Public House: Nachos as Big as Niagara

November 18, 2014

The Pint Public House is located on Abbott and Pender Street close to Stadium Skytrain. It’s definitely a sports bar and attracts lots of people when there are games on. The prices are fair and the portions are huge! This is one of the reason it attracts M and all his coworkers to come here for lunch often.

I received a SocialShopper voucher redeemable at The Pint Public House for Niagara nachos platter, plus one-pound of chicken wings with 40 signature sauces. $14 is a pretty good price to be paying for the voucher when you get $28 worth of food.

Niagara Nachos are topped with jalapeños, olives, tomatoes, fajita vegetables, green onion and it’s smothered in cheese. It also comes with a gravy boat of beef chili and sour cream. Nice touch!

It was huge! You can probably split this among 3 grown men and they would be very very full. Definitely buy this when you are with a bunch of friends! It’s worth the price and it seemed quite bottomless. The only improvement would be to have the cheese gooey and warm. It wasn’t very hot.

Their wings come with 40 different sauces that you can choose from. We chose orange ginger, one of their classic sauces. Their sauces range from mild to insanity. You can definitely have a lot of games with those wings and dare friends to try super intense flavours.

Overall, pretty good pub atmosphere and the food is pretty good for the price. Service is decent during lunch hours.

We Rate The Pint:

Address:
455 Abbott St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.thepint.ca/

In Gastown

Shirakawa Gastown: Daily Happy Hour

November 16, 2014

What more do I love on a Friday than happy hour at a Japanese Restaurant? Spending time with friends on Friday eating happy hour!

They are located in Gastown right in Gaolers Mews. Shirakawa is focused on serving the highest quality proteins and organic produce without sacrificing traditional Japanese culinary methods. They specializes in Japanese kappo, sushi, teppan grilled high-end Kuroge Wagyu Beef from Japan.

Happy hour is everyday from 5:30pm till 6:30pm with select dishes being only $5 each with draft beer being $3.50.

They have a large dining area, which is great for large groups. Since this place is fairly new, it’s not too busy.

They select a few items on their regular menu for their happy hour menu with a cheaper price of $5! Also draft beers are only $3.50.

Pint of Asahi Extra Dry is on tap. Perfect to start off the weekend! Such a good price too!

Coffee Umeshu is coffee infused plum wine. I thought this was a strange combination, but it was pretty good. CoffeeLover naturally gravitated towards this drink because he loves coffee and wine.

Kakuni is slow cooked pork belly, teppan finished with a sweet soy reduction and spicy mustard. You may not want to share this because it’s so good! So addictive! The fat just melts in your mouth.

Buta Katsu has panko-breaded pork cutlet, harvarti cheese and black miso.

Spicy Tofu has deep fried tofu, seasonal vegetable garnish, with a spicy dashi broth. It wasn’t very spicy at all. I think it had about 8 pieces of tofu. Good size for sharing.

Teba ($8) is fried ginger soy marinated chicken wings. It was crispy on the outside and the meat was tender and flavourful. It reminded me of my childhood since my mom loves marinating wings in soy sauce and ginger.

Overall, we each ordered a drink and about 2 dishes each and it came out to be around $15 each person. Pretty good prices! I’ll definitely be back as I still have yet to try their signature dishes.

We Rate Shirakawa Gastown:

Address:
115 – 12 Water St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://shirakawagastown.com/

In Four Beakers

Ask For Luigi: Addictive Pasta in Vancouver

September 12, 2014

There is one place I love to take guests to in Vancouver, that place is Ask For Luigi. They just have very good freshly made pasta every night. When M’s relatives were in town, I took them here since I knew it would be a hit with them. Plus, it’s really hard to get good pasta in Korea. I wanted to blow their taste buds away.

As usual, I made a reservation a week in advance for 5:30pm on Saturday. I always find they have quick and efficient service right at the beginning of dinner time.

Pappardelle and Duck Ragu ($19) is one of my favourites. Order this now!

Luigi’s meatballs ($14) is a great starter and you can add any amount of additional meatballs if you don’t have the exact amount for the table. We had to add one more onto this plate. It comes with some toasted bread on the side. Mmmm it’s one of my favourite meatballs I’ve ever had! It is very flavourful and has a nice texture with the added pinenuts.

Saffron Risotto and Clams ($18) is another wonderful dish! The clams were fresh and of course had a lot of flavour packed into them. When you eat it with the creamy risotto, it’s just heavenly.

Tagliatelle, Fennel Sausage & Rapini ($18) had bits of sausage dispersed throughout the dish. Yum.

Spaghetti Nero, Octopus and Jalapeno ($18) has an odd look to it, but trust me, it’s was another amazing dish. The octopus was tender and very enjoyable.

Overall, it was another great dinner at Ask for Luigi and I would highly recommend it…as long as you are willing to make reservations ahead of time or have to wait in line for a table.

We Rate Ask for Luigi:

Address:
305 Alexander Street
Vancouver, BC

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

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In Cafe

Timbertrain Coffee Roaster: Awesome Coffee in Gastown

August 13, 2014

Timbertrain Coffee Roasters is located in the heart of historical Gastown in Vancouver, BC. They are committed to the science of brewing a perfect coffee every time. CoffeeGuy introduced us to Timbertrain and he swears their coffee is amazing and unique.

The space is quite unique as it has the coffee bar on one side and then seating on the other side. The seats are pretty cool and has a crazy design. to fit a lot of people in a weird configuration.

They sell coffee and pastries, but one item that is quite unique is the Cold Brewed Coffee on Tap.

What coffee comes from a tap? It’s pretty awesome and I haven’t seen any other place do this yet. You get a foamy coffee head just like beer. The Cold Brew is strong and smooth. You will sure be 100% caffeinated after this.

Latte is what you can get if you love milky foam and yummy espresso.

Affogato has a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso. It’s the perfect summer treat. The espresso and vanilla ice cream combo was great but I felt like their ice cream could have used a little bit of work.

They also have some cool contraptions to brew their coffee. At the very end, they is a tap that dispenses still water and sparkling water. It’s pretty damn awesome.

We all had a great time here with the family on a weekend. Great coffee, great atmosphere, and great company.

We Rate Timbertrain Coffee Roasters:

Address:
311 W Cordova St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://timbertraincoffeeroasters.com/

In Canadian

The Flying Pig: Gastown Appy Hour

August 2, 2014

Where in Vancouver can you get some good happy hour food after work? One of my go-to locations is The Flying Pig. They have a special chalk board menu with what is available for Appy Hour. It runs daily from 4 – 6pm. They also have another location in Yaletown.

When we were there, you can choose from:

Salmon Sampler
Beef and Bresaola Salad
Short Rib Croquettes
Truffle Mac and Cheese
Steamed Clams
Artisan Cured Meats
Halibut Poppers
Beef Carpaccio

All these items are either $5 or $6. The menu does change once in a while, but there is always something good on the menu.

Do note that your whole party has to arrive or else they will not be able to seat you. It’s a bit annoying since there is always bound to be someone in your party that is late.

A bunch of us come here after work for a few bites and drinks.

Beef Carpaccio ($6) is topped with an aioli sauce, arugula, cheese, crostini, capers and garlic. It was ok, but it was missing something acidic to bring the flavours together.

Halibut Poppers ($6) were yummy. It was tender and flavourful on the inside and the outside was nice and fried.

Truffle mac and Cheese ($5) is extra gooey and sinfully delicious! You can’t go wrong with cheese.

Pinot Gris ($7.75) comes from Calona Vineyards from the Okanagan Valley in BC. A nice choice of wine for a hot summers day to go with appetizers.

Overall, we had a great time after work. All the finger food was perfect.

We Rate Flying Pig Gastown:

Address:
102 Water St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://theflyingpigvan.com/

In Gastown

Taishoken Ramen: Newest Ramen Shop in Vancouver

July 13, 2014

Taishoken Ramen is the newest ramen join in Vancouver. It is located right across from Tinsel Town. During their soft opening, they were offering ramen up for $5. Sadly, I don’t like lines so I never ended up trying it in it’s first week. Once that deal was over, there are rarely any lines and there’s always a spot to sit. The ramen is around $9 – $14, so it is a bit pricey for the ramen they have on the menu.

Taishoken is a Japanese chain and is best known for their tsukemen. They have a small variety of ramen, but you can find the usual – miso, shio, and spicy.

The interior has a communal table in the centre and more seats on the side for groups of 2 or 4. I’ve been here twice so far for lunch and dinner, but it’s not too busy.

On the table, you have pepper, chili oil, soy sauce and vinegar to add to your meal.

Special Spicy Ramen has 6 pieces of pork belly, a soft egg, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, scallions, and seaweed. I got the least spicy version and it was quite spicy. They give you a jug of unseasoned broth to add, so you can adjust the flavour. The pork belly was delicious and fatty. Yum.

The special size gives you extra soft boiled egg, extra chachu, and extra nori.

The egg was soft but not too oozy.

Special Tsukemen was what M ordered and he chose the pork shoulder. It is more lean than the pork belly. The noodle is cold and in a separate plate so you dip it into the broth to eat. I find that most people order this item. It’s really good and addictive. M always orders this now.

Overall, it’s decent ramen but there are still better ones in Vancouver. The Tsukemen is pretty good and its one item you should order when you’re here.

We Rate Taishoken Ramen:

Address:
515 Abbott St
Vancouver BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/taishokenramen.vancouver