Mount Pleasant/Main Street Archives - Page 5 of 8

In Four Beakers

Invitro: Food Labs and Eatery in Vancouver

December 25, 2014

Tucked away in a house close to Mount Pleasant is Invitro Food Lab and Eatery. The restaurant is owned and operated by Sarah Kashani, who has renovated the house to open her dream restaurant. She must have the best commute to work ever! Just walk downstairs to go to work.

They are currently only open for dinner, but you can call ahead of time to see if they will open for lunch.

This place is charming and cozy. I love hidden restaurants like these. Once you get here, you’ll fall in love.

Even the utensils are unique and awesome.

The menu looks pretty good and the prices are very good! Nothing is over $20.

They offer a variety of cocktails that taste really good! They only use fresh juices in the cocktails.

Dageraad Blonde is local and brewed in Burnaby. I never knew there was a brewery in Burnaby; so close to my house too!

It’s citrus and spicy flavours compliment salads and desserts, while its tartness and effervescence cut through fat and refresh the palate, making it a good counterpoint to heavier dishes. Dageraad Blonde is also excellent paired with semi-soft ripened cheeses and charcuterie.

The Typical Caprese ($11) has Buffalo Bocconcini, pesto, smoked prosciutto, oven-dried tomato, balsamic reduction, olive oil and basil. This dish is bursting with flavour, I highly recommend it.

The Payoff ($15) has baked brie with roasted garlic, olive oil, and crostini served with local fruit preserves. This is a fun sharable plate. You can’t deny the amazing taste of creamy brie, with the sweet preserves and the aromatic garlic.

Bolognese ($18) has home-made egg noodles served with veal, sausage, beef, & lardons, garnished with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs. Hand making noodles is really a labour of love and you can taste how fresh the pasta really is. There is bountiful amounts of meat in this dish. Really good!

Leeks & Cream ($18) has home-made egg noodles served with cream, parmesan cheese, butter, leeks and white wine. It’s creamy and the leeks really shine in this dish, a great combination.

Steak ($18) is a filet mignon and it’s best cooked a bit under medium rare to really let the flavour shine. It also has a salad and mushrooms. The price is really great for a filet mignon. Once you have filet mignon, its can’t compare to any other cut. It’s so smooth and buttery. Yum!

Time for dessert since that’s the part where everyone’s inner child just jumps for joy.

Chocolate Brownie with rosemary toffee, bourbon whipped cream, and berries.

Pavlova is meringue with whipped vanilla cream, nuts and fresh fruit. This portion is twice as big as normal since FoodQueen and I were sharing. The pavlova was like a big fluffy marshmallow.

Overall, the food was really good. I’ve recommended this place to a few friends and they all loved it.

We Rate Invitro Food Labs and Eatery:

Address:
2211 Manitoba St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://invitrorestaurant.com/

In Brewery

Steel Toad Brewpub and Dining Hall: Old to New

November 1, 2014

Steel Toad Brewpub and Dining Hall opened a few weeks ago and they are already buzzing. Long lines on Fridays and the weekends. The dining hall is 2 floors and the top floor is mostly for larger groups. We saw a lot of kids, so it is a popular place to bring the kids or infants and have a beer. Mount Pleasant is really buzzing with all these microbreweries opening up in the neighbourhood.

The venue has beautiful decor and ambiance, they do have live music every night too.

It was intimidating to go inside because we were confronted by their doormen that acted like bouncers warning us of the 1 hour wait and trying to detour everyone away from the doors. I totally understand since it would be a fire hazard. It really was a busy night, but luckily, I made reservations a week in advanced since I knew no other restaurant in town would have seats open for 15 people.

It was really packed inside. Some of my friends that joined us a little bit later had troubles coming in too. My friends were a couple and the staff didn’t believe they were with our party, so they sent them upstairs to us one by one a few minutes a part. This really made no sense at all.

Blonde was one of their house beers for October 2014. I ordered this one because it is one of their lightest beers. They brew it in small batches, so if the run out, it’s gone. This beer was quite popular, so by the time we finished our first glass, we couldn’t order more.

Marinated Tuna ($14) has cucumber, avocado, citrus, Thai chili, and caper vinaigrette. For the price, we imagined it be larger. It tasted ok, but it’s too expensive for what you get.

Carrot and Rabbit Soup ($7) has walnut, apple, and sultana. TaiwaneseGirl thought the soup was ok but nothing special.

Crispy Duck Salad ($12) has pea shoots, cress, pickled daikon & carrot,and black sesame.

The Burger ($13) has cheddar, lettuce, tomato, sesame bun, with their special sauce. You also get a side of their hand cut fries. The burger wasn’t anything special and a few of the burgers were overcooked. The friends that ordered this thought it was meh.

Mussels and House Ale ($20) is served with grilled garlic baguette. The mussels were large and plump, very delicious with the House Ale sauce. The grilled garlic baguette was pretty charred, so it tasted mostly burnt. Besides that part, the mussels were good.

Sheppards Pie ($16) has braised lamb stew, butter mash, and crispy shallot. At first glance, everyone thought it was takoyaki, but it was just the butter mash balls. My friends that ordered this dish really liked it. No complaints at all.

It was a birthday party, so we were able to bring in a cake and have them serve it for no extra charge.

Overall, the ambiance of the place was great for large groups, but the service and quality of the food could be improved. Since they have only been open a few weeks, I hope they improve those 2 aspects.

We Rate Steel Toad:

Address:
97 E 2nd Ave Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://steeltoad.ca/

In Bakery

Baguette and Co: New Bakery on Main Street

October 21, 2014

Baguette and Co has a new location by Main and Broadway. This is their third location and the other ones are in Kitsilano and the West End.

The intersection on Main/Broadway is really shaping up! Lots of new restaurants coming into the area. Mags and I came here before work to grab a coffee and a few treats before going into the office.

They serve up Salt Spring Coffee, sandwiches, pastries, and a variety of desserts.

The other side of the cafe has a few seats available. All the seating is in pairs, but I’m sure you can move around the tables.

I just grabbed a Small Cappuccino ($2.95) and 3 mini pastries ($2.95 for 3) to go. The mini croissant, mini chocolate croissant and raisin danish. They didn’t last on my desk for very long. Every email I responded to, I felt a need to eat each little treat.

I like the option of the miniature because you don’t have to eat the whole thing. Sometimes you just need a little taste.

The quality of the treats were ok, but it wasn’t anything unique. I also tried some of their brownies and it tastes more like chocolate cake than a brownie. I think they need some tweaking on some of their pastries.

It’s still a good place to go in the morning for coffee and treat before work. There’s lots of pastries to choose from. You can’t go wrong with a muffin.

We Rate Baguette and Co.:

Address:
2509 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.baguetteandco.ca/index.html

In Canadian

Frenchies: Montreal Smoked Meat and Poutine

October 17, 2014

Frenchies has relocated to Main Street right by Broadway. It now occupies the now closed – Cray Kitchen. Frenchies had their previous location on Dunsmiur. I went there years ago, but it wasn’t very good.

For a goodbye lunch for a coworker, we decided to come to Frenchies for poutine. It’s great for vegetarians because the gravy is veggie friendly.

Their menu is more or less the same as before.

You will still see favourite items like Smoked Meat Sandwiches, Poutines and Hot Dogs.

Breakfast Poutine (Small – $10.95) is topped with scrambled eggs, onions, bacon, cheese curds and gravy. Mags loved it as it contains all of her favourite breakfast items. She’s a sucker for anything related to breakfast. Small was a pretty big size, so you may want to share.

The ratio between the amount of fries and toppings was great. You will have enough gravy and cheese to cover those fries.

Smoked Meat Trio ($13.95) is something I always end up ordering. It comes with a pop, coleslaw, fries and a 5oz Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich. The fries were addictive and crunchy and the coleslaw was good.

I ordered a coke as part of the combo.

The smoked meat sandwich was average and I think quite lean. I still prefer the smoked meat from Schwartz or Rosemary Rocksalt.

At the end of the meal, you get a maple candy to finish off this Canadian experience.

As they are still settling into their new location, the service is atrocious. As they were short on staff, the owner helped to take orders and serve, but a lot of our orders were incorrect or missing. The owner was very honest and tried his best to make sure the experience was good. They kitchen was a bit slow in pumping out the lunch time orders for the rush, but they have a lot of things to work out.

We Rate Frenchies:

Address:
2470 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://frenchies-diner.com/home/

In American

Rouge Bistro: New Restaurant near Olympic Village

September 18, 2014

There’s a new cozy bistro called Rouge Bistro located on 2nd Ave and Manitoba. Just right outside the Olympic Village. It has only been open for the last month and a half. I’ve actually come here a few time during my lunch hour because they have very homey tasting sandwiches and soups.

I’ve never had anything I was disappointed with . The shop is a family owned business and they want to provide customers with yummy food that makes them smile. Plus, most items on their menu is under $10. Perfect for the lunch hour.

There aren’t a lot of seats, but I haven’t found it a problem yet. It’s not too busy, so you will still find a seat. As they are still new, I can see this place being quite busy in a few months.

Their menu is mostly comprised of salads, sandwiches, soups and daily specials. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but they have a good selection for lunch.

Wild Salmon Walnut Pesto Sandwich ($9) and it comes with a side of soup. The side of soup I chose was mushroom and it was good! Lots of mushrooms were in it and it was quite yummy.

There was a lot of the salmon in it and they do not skimp out at all! It tasted very good and healthy. Plus, I was super stuffed when I finished it all!

The Roast Beef Sandwich ($9) and a side of broccoli soup. This was a simple meal but it tasted so good. I don’t know what their secret is, but it was just really good.

The owner comes in here every morning to roast his beef and lamb before the lunch rush. Inside the sandwich is mushrooms, cheddar and the roasted beef. I think the reason why it tasted so good is because everything is fresh! The beef was still very moist and flavourful.

Chicken Soup, Quinoa Chickpea peanut sauce salad, Chicken Seaweed Salad was a nice trio for lunch if you wanted something a tad healthier.

Curried Quarter Chicken ($9) comes with your choice of breast or leg/thigh. I chose the leg/thigh because I love dark meat and its juicier. This also comes with a side of soup! The soup this day was french onion soup. This chicken was really good and it has a few chunk of potatoes on the bottom.

Overall, I love coming here to have lunch. Everything is fresh and delicious, with great prices. Having been here 3 times without any disappointment, I think this place is pretty solid. All my coworkers love Rouge Bistro too. It’s refreshing to have a good place to eat close to Science World without having to go to the usual places like Tap and Barrel or Craft.

We Rate Rouge Bistro:

Address:
91 West 2nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC

In Afternoon Tea

La Petite Cuillere: High Tea and Afternoon Tea in Vancouver

September 2, 2014

La Petite Cuillere Tea House is located in the Mount Pleasant area. They serve up all day brunch, high tea and afternoon tea sets. I came here with my coworkers for a team social with all 8 of us. Looking at a few of the High Tea places in town, this was definitely the cheapest.

We came here because it fit into our budget and it was very close to our office. Plus, a few others recommended we come here.

The interior is quite nice and it has a few tables and cupboards filled with saucers and cups. You also get a good view of the outside. If you have groups of 4 or more, you’ll want to make a reservation so they have everything ready ahead of time, especially for people with allergies.

The English Tea Menu has 3 main selections:

La petite cuillère Tea ($12.75 per person)
Two miniature sweets and one of our signature cupcakes. Served with your choice of tea.
The “Afternoon Tea” ($24.50 per person)
Full service of three miniature sweets, three finger sandwiches, two miniature scones, mini loaf, tea biscuit, fruit preserves, and Devonshire cream. Served on a traditional three tier stand with your choice of tea.
The “High Tea” ($13.75 per person)
A selection of two miniature sweets, two finger sandwiches, one miniature scone, fruit preserves, and Devonshire cream. Served on authentic English bone china with your choice of tea.

You can add $2 to the price if you want their premium selection instead of the standard.

We all ordered The “Afternoon Tea” and waited patiently as if arrived. While we waited, we loved looking at their little plates and cutlery.

They have a large selection of tea and i went with the Ti Kuan Yin Oolong. This tea is a semi-fermented Oolong tea, has long been one of China’s most popular teas. It has an aroma reminiscent of a Merseault wine with a creamy sweet flavour and some floral notes to it. The brew finishes with its famous cooked sugar taste.

I love asian tea! I’ve grown up with it and I can’t seem to like any other types of teas.

When the three tier stand arrived everyone started whipping out their phones to take pictures. Who wouldn’t right? It’s quite a sight when you see all the tiers appearing on the table.

The 3 finger sandwiches are on the first tier and there was a croissant sandwich, a asparagus and salmon sandwich and a veggie roll. The 3 items were decent.

On the second tier, you have the two miniature scones, mini loaf, and tea biscuit. You use the Devonshire cream and the fruit preserves from the first tier for the scones.

The third tier is the dessert. Macaron, cheesecake and a raspberry tart.

Every last item was enjoyable. Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom.

For $24.50 for their largest set, it is definitely affordable compared to some other places in town. The service is great and there is a cozy atmosphere. As for the quality of the items you get as part of the Afternoon Tea are decent. It’s not the best but you do get what you pay for. Nonetheless, I did have a great experience dining here.

We Rate La Petite Cuillere Tea House:

Address:
55 Kingsway Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.lapetitecuillere.ca/

In American

Tap and Barrel: Burgers in Olympic Village

August 16, 2014

Tap and Barrel has their first location in the Olympic Village. The second one is near Coal Harbour. I met M and the relatives for lunch at Tap and Barrel. It was a nice day, so we sat outside on the patio enjoying the sun and the view.

They are known for their selection of beer on tap and their pub-style food.

PB&J Burger ($15.45) has a 7oz 100% CAB chuck burger patty, chipotle peanut butter, bacon jam, mayo, lettuce and tomato. M also substituted with Yam Fries for an extra $1.75.

It’s a strange combination with the PB&J, but it’s not bad at all! Yam fries were a good upgrade!

Roasted Portobello Sandwich ($13.95) with sea salted fries. The sandwich has goat cheese, sprouts, avocado, lettuce, tomato, hummus, and red onion. The sandwich was ok, but it wasn’t amazing. It was like bitting into a garden. There could have been more portobello mushroom in it.

The sea salt fries were not crispy and pretty limp.

Overall, it’s pretty average when it comes to food. With CRAFT Beer Market down the street,

We Rate Tap and Barrel:

Address:
1 Athletes Way
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.tapandbarrel.com/

In Canadian

Rosemary Rocksalt: Bagels and Montreal Smoked Meat

July 22, 2014

Rosemary Rocksalt is a great place for bagels with Montreal smoked meat. Rosemary Rocksalt is the sister restaurant of Seigel’s Bagels. They have one location in North Vancouver and recently opened a new location on Main Street in Vancouver. They serve up Montreal-style bagels and they delicious!

The interior is nice and simple. All items are under $10 and makes for great snack or lunch.

They also have Rugolach, which is a Jewish pastry in the form of a crescent by rolling a triangle of dough around a filling.

Boylan Black Cherry Soda is sold here and M loves his cherry sodas.

Morning Bagel ($6.50) has Montreal Smoked meat, cheddar and egg. I chose it on the everything bagel.I like the texture of all the nuts and seeds on top of it.

You can see the cross-section of the smoked meat, cheddar and egg. Great for breakfast.

Montreal Smoked Meat (Reg – $9) on a Rosemary Rocksalt bagel. It also comes with a pickled.

It was delicious! The Montreal smoked meat bagel was great, tender and full of flavour.

Fries were ordered too. M needed some extra carbs since he was really hungry. The fries were ok, but nothing special.

Overall, the bagels are great and that Montreal Smoked meat is mighty delicious. Highly recommended.

We Rate Rosemary Rocksalt:

Address:
2515 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.rosemaryrocksalt.com

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In Brewery

Main Street Brewing Company: Beer and Snacks

June 26, 2014

Main Street Brewing Company is located on 7th and Scotia street, just off Main Street. It’s close to the residential areas and it’s a pretty awesome place to hangout after work. I came with a bunch of my coworkers to just chill after a long week.

There is a tasting room, so you can buy a few pints of beer or even try a tasting flight. You can also purchase growler sized beer too.

The building is of a 1913 Heritage building, so you can see the unique charm of this space.

If you look further on the right side of the tasting lounge, you will see all their equipment used to brew the beer.

When I was here, they had their 3 staple beers – Main Street Pilsner, Seasonal IPA, and the Brown Ale. They also had 3 casks available. It’s a good selection of beer.

They do sell food to munch on. All of them are perfect pairings with beer. Pepperoni sticks! Beef Jerky! Meat and Cheese Plate! Etc.

When you order food, you get a big empty beer bottle, a wooden spoon with a number.

BC pork liver pate board ($12) with fig jam, pickled, and bread. Mags thought it was pretty average, but not the best pate she’s had.

I ordered the Tasting Flight and asked them to choose the 4 lightest beers for me.

Main Street Pilsner
Seasonal IPA
Brown Ale
Belgian Hybrid Ale

My favourite was the Main Street Pilsner. I liked the flight because it was a nice way to try all their beers.

Overall, it was a great place to go to with good beer. We still couldn’t figure out why they had these holes in all the tables.

We Rate Main Street Brewing Company:

Address:
261 E 7th Ave
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://mainstreetbrewingcompany.com/

In Japanese

Manna Sushi: New Sushi Restaurant near Olympic Village

June 25, 2014

Working near Science World means very limited food choices. There are some great choices near the Olympic Village, but my coworkers and I have been to all of them. When we heard Manna Sushi opened on 2nd and Ontario Street, we just had to check it out. I’ve seen so many of my coworkers flocking to Manna Sushi for lunch. With the abundance of Japanese restaurants in town, I wanted to see how this really compared. Mags and I look our lunch break here in search of some good food.

The interior had lots of seating with very simple decor.

Chicken Teriyaki Bento ($9.95) is only for dine-in customers only. I chose this item because it was more affordable that some of the items on the menu. It was either this or one roll of specialty sushi. Of course I chose this. It has a few pieces of tempura, chicken teriyaki over rice, a salad, California roll, 2 deep fried gyozas and a miso soup. The bento box was average and nothing special.

Mags got the Pork Katsu Don ($9.95), which I forgot to take a picture of because it took so long to arrive. Other people got their orders before she did. It turns out, they thought she wanted it for takeout…which was weird because she would be watching me eat. I really wish I took a photo of the don because it look super disappointing. The katsu was heavily breaded, so there was really thin pork inside. She felt cheated because she really wasn’t getting her moneys worth. It’s a fairly simple dish too, but the rice was flavourless and didn’t have enough sauce.

Overall, it’s subpar food. Manna Sushi is quite new, so they are probably working out the kinks and looking for feedback. In the meantime, I don’t think I will be coming here anytime soon.

We Rate Manna Sushi:

Address:
6 E 2nd Ave
Vancouver BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/mannasushivancouver

In Filipino

Fliptop Filipino Fusion Food Truck: Flippin Fantastic

June 17, 2014

Mags and I were finding a place on Main street to eat lunch and then we stumbled upon Fliptop Filipino Fusion Food Truck. It’s one of the newer food trucks to hit the town and we just had to try it. They are usually on Main street on Saturdays, but it may change, So check out their schedule before going to the location.

Their menu has a good amount of items and everything sounds delicious. I personally love Filipino food, so I was very excited.

The aroma coming from this truck smelled amazing.

Flippin Adobo ‘Fili’ Cheesesteak ($12) has shaved prime ribs sauteed in Adobo sauce, melted provolone cheese, smoked chipotle aioli and crispy leeks served on a hoagie bun.

This was so good and there was plenty of meat. It was very tender and full of flavour. Highly recommended.

Long Silog Rice Bowl ($12) has cured pork sausage, fried egg, slaw, crispy leeks, garlic fried rice and a sriracha aioli. It was a good portion size and Mags enjoyed it so much, she bought a second box for her boyfriend.

Calamansi ($3) is what we washed our meal down with. Mmmmmm goood!

Overall, it was great. The wait wasn’t too long and the food tasted SO GOOD. I would highly recommend this food truck. If you see it, so grab some food!!

We Rate Fliptop Filipino Fusion Food Truck:

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FliptopTruck

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/FliptopTruck

In Brunch

Thyme to Indulge: Not This Time

May 29, 2014

Thyme to Indulge Catering has a little cute restaurant on Main Street. They are closed on Monday and Tuesdays, but they are open the rest of the week from 9am til 4pm serving breakfast and lunch.

They serve brunch on the weekend to showcase fresh local ingredients. I came here since it was voted one of the top brunch places according to a few websites.

It was packed on a Saturday around 11am and there was a 30 minute line up for a table of 3. Since I do love brunch and I am still trying to find the best brunch in town, I convinced me friends to just wait because its supposed to be good.

The interior is cozy. They seated us near the back of the bistro and the space was a bit cramped for the 3 of us sitting at a 2 person sized table. The service started out poorly as we were not give menus, no water, or a friendly welcome. It wasn’t until we approached a server that we finally got menus and water. My friends were pretty pissed off.

Crab Cake Benedict ($14) has two locally farmed poached eggs, two dungeness crab cakes, fresh dill hollandaise sauce with parmesan breakfast potatoes and tomato provencal. They have had rave reviews on this particular item.

CanuckGirl ordered her egg soft poached, but unfortunately, one of the soft poached eggs had bits of shell in it, and the other was more like hard poached. She was not impressed with the eggs at all. She really enjoyed the potatoes.

Pork Belly BLT ($13) has cured and sous-vide pork belly served with lettuce, tomato, sliced avocado, pickled cucumber and bacon aioli on a toasted house made brioche bun served with breakfast potatoes.

The portion of the pork belly was pretty small. compared to the whole size of the bun. The pork belly did taste fantastic, but was pricey for $13. The potatoes that came with this dish was good.

Corned Beef Hash ($13) has house cured beef brisket served with sautéed onions, peppers and kale, breakfast potatoes topped with two locally farmed poached eggs and house made hollandaise.

TaiwaneseGirl ordered her eggs soft poached, but it came back as hard poached eggs, so she got the kitchen to remake it. Sadly, the second time the dish came back, the eggs were super super soft poached that parts of the egg white were not cooked. She decided not to complain because by the time she got the 2nd dish, everyone else was done their meal.

Overall, it wasn’t a good experience. None of us left satisfied. I really wanted to love this place, but the poor service and the quality of the food did not meet our expectations.

We Rate Thyme to Indulge Bistro:

Address:
2858 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.thymetoindulgecatering.com/

In Late Night

The Narrow Lounge: Hidden Gem on Main Street

May 26, 2014

Where do you want to go for a great time with friends with cheap drinks? Find the Narrow Lounge by looking for the red light and the SUPER SKETCHY entrance. When my coworkers took me here, I thought it was like a place to buy drugs or something.

Once you get through this entrance, you will discover that it’s not a bad place at all. It’s a popular place and word is mostly spread by word of mouth. It’s been around since 2008.

It’s a dark lounge indoors and it fills up quite quickly on Fridays after work. Since we were sitting in offices indoors all day, we needed a glimpse of the sun, so we opted to sit outside on the patio.

The patio has so much characteristic. It opened up in early May and it’s here to stay for the Summer.

There’s not too many seats, but it’s good if you come early to snag a table for your buddies. Plus, you get a cool view of these tiki masks.

Sol ($3) seriously what a good deal. It was the special of the day. I’m impressed by the price of their beer menu too, most beers are under $7. If you really want to drink and not break your wallet, come here!

Fish Tacos (2 for $5) has tequila and lime marinated tilapia, cabbage, tomato, cilantro, and a creamy chipotle lime sauce on small corn tortillas. My coworker thought these were amazing and could have ordered a bunch more of these.

Mac and Cheese with pulled pork was what Mags ordered. It was a decent mac and cheese. You can add different types of protein on top, but it can become pricey. Not the best mac and cheese, but you can see for yourself.

Nachos ($14) had layers of cheese, jalapeño, olives, tomatoes, and salsa and sour cream on the side. Good size for nachos and fed 4 people perfectly. It was a bit burnt but it was still so good.

Overall, we all had a great time! Drinks on the patio and some finger food was perfect for after work. The service can be a bit slow on the patio since the servers aren’t always outside, but it’s not too bad.

We Rate Narrow Lounge:

Address:
1898 Main St Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.narrowlounge.com/

In American

Burgoo: Amazing Comfort Food

March 28, 2014

I’m so glad I work so close to Burgoo. Burgoo is the ultimate place for addictive comfort food. Sometimes, we have to put diets aside and just indulge in delicious food. Their location is on Main street and have others in Kitsilano, North Vancouver, and Point Grey areas.

They have Mac and Cheese, Grilled Cheese, fondue, soups, stews and a bunch of other satisfying items. They don’t take reservations on Fridays/Saturdays, but they only do reservations for large groups (8-12 ppl) on other days. The wait time can fluctuate. One time I had no wait and another time, it was an hour.

After School Special ($16.50) give you the choice of any sandwich and soup on the menu. To keep it classic, M chose Gooey Cheese Grillers which includes two grilled, angle cut, house baguette sandwiches with melted Mozzarella, Gruyere, Emmenthal and white Cheddar. For his soup, he chose Straight Up Tomato Soup with red wine simmered tomato and garlic, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

This is the ultimate comfort food! Best grilled cheese I’ve ever had. You can’t go wrong with this choice. They don’t skimp on the cheese.

Mussels Cocotte ($18) has fresh mussels cooked with white wine, cream, herbs and bacon, served with house bread. Its an appetizer that is supposed to be shared, but I had it all to myself. This is my version of comfort food. There was a lot of mussels and the size was definitely worth the price.

There was so much sauce too! Great for dipping the bread into. There was also large chunks of bacon. MMMMmmmmmm BACON.

Overall, M and I were impressed. The price is fair and if you make the right choices of your dish, you’ll be in heaven.

We Rate Burgoo:

Address:
3096 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://burgoo.ca/

In Cafe

Kafka’s Coffee and Tea: Yummy Coffee on Main St.

March 1, 2014

While getting a morning breakfast with my coworkers, we stopped by Kafka’s for some coffee. They are serious about coffee and use various brewing methods. I don’t know the different brewing methods, but I know a good cup of coffee when I taste it.

He’s making a pour over. Coffee is really an art and is essential for mornings of an office worker. I’ve heard much about their syphon coffee but I needed something quick to-go.

Latte ($4.25) in my to go cup. I wish they filled it up to the top, but it fell an inch short. The latte tasted good.

I put on the lid and off I went to work with some good coffee.

We rate Kafka’s:

Address:
2525 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.kafkascoffee.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=2525+Main+St&sll=49.2624274,-123.101198&sspn=0.0053772,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=2525+Main+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T+3E5&z=16″]

In Bakery

Rosemary Rocksalt: Open on Main Street

February 17, 2014

Rosemary Rocksalt is the sister restaurant of Seigel’s Bagels. They have one location in North Vancouver and recently opened a new location on Main Street in Vancouver.

They serve up Montreal-style bagels and boy are they delicious! You’ll never buy bagels from Safeway or Superstore again.

All their bagels are freshly made in the store and it’s all displayed in the counter as you walk into the store. There are 10 types to choose from.

The menu is slightly more expensive than Siegels. But if you take into account location and demographics, it makes sense.

Morning Bagel ($6.50) has Montreal Smoked meat, cheddar and egg. Magz chose to have it on a rosemary rocksalt bagel. She loved it! Breakfast for lunch is always the best.

Jalapeno melt ($8) has smoked meat, melted cheddar, jalapeno peppers, lettuce, tomato and mustard. I ordered it with the multigrain bagel. I’m really loving this type of bagel. It’s nice and crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle.

It was hard to hold together while eating it, but it tasted great. The best part is really the smoked meat.

We came here for lunch and we were not disappointed. It tasted great but it was a tad expensive.

We Rate Rosemary Rocksalt:

Address:
2515 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.rosemaryrocksalt.com

In Bakery

Hot Chocolate Festival: Terra Breads

January 29, 2014

Terra breads is participating in the 4th Annual Hot Chocolate Festival put on by City Food Magazine. From January 18th till February 14th. The event is a fundraiser that supports the Downtown Eastside Women’s Job Training Centre program of PHS Community Service Society and East Van Roasters. It’s really a great cause and I would highly encourage people to go out there and grab some hot chocolate.

There are many more restaurants and shops participating:

Beaucoup Bakery
Bel Cafe
Bella Gelateria
Blenz
Chocolate Arts
Chocolaterie De La Nouvelle
Cocoa Nymph
East Van Roasters
French Made Baking
Gem Chocolates
KoKo Monk Chocolates
Last Crumb Cafe
Leonidas
Mink Chocolates and Cafe
Schokolade Artisan Chocolate
Soirette Macarons and Tea
Terra Breads
Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe
Thomas Haas
UVA Wine Bar

I went to grab a hot chocolate from Terra Breads as it is a few minutes from my work.

‘Call me a Cab’ Hot Chocolate ($4.95) has cacao barry extra brute hot chocolate with cabernet, cinnamon and pear.

I liked the combination of flavours and didn’t really taste alcoholic at all.

It is served with a pear crisp and a cocoa sugar cookie. Very nice touch! Terra Breads always creates some awesome variation of hot chocolate. Last year, they had the Stand Up and Stout, which was hot chocolate and beer.

Address:
1605 Manitoba Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.terrabreads.com/

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In Dineout

Dine Out Vancouver: Chicha

January 24, 2014

Chicha is a fun and casual restaurant serving up Peruvian inspired cuisine. They opened up in May 2013 and located on Broadway near Main.

My coworkers have said amazing things about this eatery and I was very excited to come here for Dine Out Vancouver, Their menu is $28 and you get to choose, 1 entree, 2 mains, and a desserts. I love the tapa style dishes and great for sharing. It gives you an opportunity to try more dishes.

Their menu had lots of options and to be honest, I was very overwhelmed because I didn’t know what to order. Plus, a lot of the names of the dishes sounded very unfamiliar. These are times I wish I had one of those menus with pictures.

Chicha Morada ($3.50) is a traditional Peruvian beverage made of purple corn, spices, pineapple, and citrus. It’s a non-alcoholic drink and its very delicious. It comes with a cute paper straw and beautifully decorated with lime and pineapple.

Fresh Local Seafood Chowder has aji amarillo chili pepper, red nugget, sweet potatoes, corn and cilantro oil. Magz and FierceFeathers both got this as their appetizer and adored the unique combination of flavours.

Palitas de Yuca has cassava root and a huancaina sauce. The yuca was very crunchy and quite different from your usual fries. It’s a good dish but it really doesn’t compare to the seafood chowder.

Rocoto Braised Lamb and Wine Cured Chorizo Fettuccini has black olives, tomato and parmesan cheese, and cilantro oil.

Pollo anticuchos has aji chili marinated chicken breast skewers with brown butter fingerling potato, choclo corn, and trio of aji chili sauces. The chicken was moist and have great flavours that balanced out the aji trio sauces.

Yarrow Meadows Duck Spring Rolls has wild mushroom, five spice duck confit spring rolls served with a peashoot and pickled daikon salad and ginger and Japanese plum wine sauce. There’s a good amount of duck in the spring roll.

Lomo Saltado has flat iron steak, kennebec fries, red onion, peppers, tomato wok fried with soy sauce, garlic, and aji amarillo chili. Image it as like a Peruvian poutine. I actually imagined this dish quite differently. It tasted like an asian stir-fry with fries. We didn’t like this dish.

Spiced Aji Chili Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding with Peruvian dulce de leche, and pisco raspberry sauce.

Lucuma, white chocolate, and lime frozen torte with passion fruit and raspberry sauce. This was a very unique dessert and it really cleanses your palate.

We definitely felt there were dishes that were a hit and some a miss. You really have to read all the ingredients carefully or ask how the dish is presented. The food was ok, but I wasn’t very impressed by the choices of the dishes I chose.

We Rate Chicha:

Address:
136 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.chicharestaurant.com/

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