North Vancouver Archives - Page 2 of 2

In Mexican

Cilantro & Jalapeño

August 29, 2010

My coworker suggested I go try out Cilantro & Jalapeño, which serves Mexican food. I am not a big fan of Mexican food since I hate beans. Nonetheless, I tried it out anyways.

The line up was pretty long so this indicated that this is a popular place to eat at Lonsdale Quay. So, I lined up and took a look at their menu. They had a large selection of Mexican food from enpanades to taquitos. It was pretty cheap since it was under $10 an entrée. The seating is not great, but what can you really expect from a food court.

I decided to have the small quesadilla with chicken. You can choose the type of meet that you want at no extra cost. You can choose from wither chicken of beef. So, if you are not a beef eater, then choose the chicken.
The quesadilla was very simple since it consisted of tortillas, Edam cheese and chicken. Even thought it was simple, it tasted very clean and fresh.

The quesadilla came with 3 sides – guacamole, salsa and beans. The guacamole and salsa were just amazing and fresh! I have never had such delicious guacamole and salsa in my life! You know its fresh because they make new batches everyday! So, you know you don’t get week old salsa sitting in a jar. Everything is made fresh right in their kitchen and you are able to see them make the dishes.

They also have a grocery section to their shop where people can purchase the guacamole, salsa, and different sauces they use for their dish. After eating this dish, I bought their signature tortilla chips and a large tub of guacamole.

If you love the taste of authentic Mexican food which tastes super fresh, try Cilantro & Jalapeno! You will not be disappointed. Remember to try their Guacamole and Salsa!

We rate Cilantro & Jalapeno:

Check out their website: http://www.cilantroandjalapeno.com/

In Dessert

BeaverTails (Lonsdale Quay)

August 29, 2010

What are BeaverTails? They are not tails of beavers but a type of hand stretched fried pastry covered in sugar and cinnamon. I kept hearing about this Canadian wonder called BeaverTails but I never got around to purchasing one on grouse. I always imagined it to be a cinnamon bun … or something like that.

One day as I was wondering around Lonsdale Quay for lunch and I saw the Beavertails stand! I was so amazed by it because I finally found it and had to try it before I missed out again. This small little stand was just a franchise owned by a cute Asian couple. The average price of these Beavertails are about $4 or $5.

I was really excited and I didn’t know what to get, so many topping and choices for these BeaverTails, but I just decided to be plain and boring and order their most popular – Cinnamon and sugar. While ordering, I could see how they made the whole BeverTail, they would first start off with the dough and begin stretching it into the shape of the tail, afterwards, they would then dip the dough into the vat of oil. After a few minutes of frying, they would cool this off and begin coating the fried dough with the cinnamon and sugar.

The BeaverTail did resemble and Beaver’s tail. I decided to take a big bite out of it. It was good but I found that there was too much sugar and cinnamon that it was getting all over my shirt when I ate it. I could even feel all the sugar granules being stuck between my teeth. I felt like I needed to start brushing my teeth right there in front of the shop.

In the end I did not finish it because it was so big! (That’s what she said). I just wrapped it up and took it home. This was probably not a good idea since it went limp really fast and became not crispy.
Don’t be fooled by this BeaverTail, it packs a lot of sugar so if you do not have a sweet tooth; this may overwhelm your teeth and cause cavities.

We rate BeaverTails:

Check out their website: http://www.beavertailsinc.com/

In Dessert

Thomas Haas Patisserie

August 28, 2010

Thomas Haas Patisserie is located in North Vancouver. It is a bit tricky to get to if you are unfamiliar with the North Vancouver area, about 5 minutes from Lonsdale Quay when driving. Thomas Haas focuses on high-end gourmet pastries. There are 2 locations in Vancouver and they have won countless awards and received major media coverage.

Taiwanesegirl won a $50 gift certificate so we decided to go since she wanted to use it and she wanted a ride there.

The store is quite cozy and quaint! You walk in and you see all sorts of chocolates from bars, sculptures, and cakes to drinks. It’s like dying and going to chocolate heaven! Even the owner – Thomas Haas (duh) was there to serve his customers.

For beverages, TaiwaneseGirl and I got the Passion Fruit Iced Tea came in eco friendly cups!

M got the Iced Mocha that was nothing special but it had a very bold and not too sweet taste.

The Champagne cake is composed of layers of champagne ganache between 3 layers of sponge cakes: chocolate, almond and hazelnut. On top there is even a bit of gold leaf! The chocolate frosting surrounding the cake was very gooey and rich. To balance this out, the bottom had a nice crunch bite to it.

The Exotic CheeseCake had a passion fruit, mango and orange zest on top of the cheesecake.

Manjari Chocolate Cake contained chocolate mousse, chocolate cake and rum creme brulee, which made this cake very velvety, rich and super enjoyable. You can hardly taste the rum.

To finish everything off, we all got a piece of chocolate each.
M got Palet au cafe truffle, iced mocha and Champagne cake. The Palet au Cafe Truffle was very smooth and rich. The center was filled with velvety dark chocolate ganache infused with fragrant Hawaiian coffee beans.

The Pistachio Marzipan contained delicate almond marzipan refined with pistachios from Sicily and a hint of kirsch. I did not take a liking to this chocolate because of the almond marzipan taste. It’s just a personal preference.

The Caramel Truffle was basically a ball of chocolate surrounding a liquid caramel center. It was delicious and sweet.

Thomas Haas is the place to go for quality desserts! You may burn a hole in your wallet but it is worth it!

We rate Thomas Haas:

Visit Thomas Haas website: http://www.thomashaas.com/

In North Vancouver

Screaming Mimi

August 27, 2010

I was at work at a special event at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. At lunch I really wanted seafood and my friend had a craving for clam chowder!

After walking around loops at the market, we had decided to try out Screaming Mimi, which apparently has a good selection of seafood as well as dishes with seafood. Located right near the plaza, it is in a spot with lots of traffic. Since the place is inside Lonsdale Quay, their seating is limited and the ambiance is pretty ugly. When they are very busy, the service is slow, so you will need to flag someone down for an order.

TaiwanGirl decided to order first and got a large Cream Roma Clam Chowder. Unlike the traditional clam chowder, it was a mix of cream and tomato together to make a very nice soup. What amazed TaiwanGirl was how many clams they gave you in the soup. They scooped one huge ladle of clams into the cup and then filled it with the soup. She commented saying how it was totally worth the $4 since it had so many clams and also they were delicious!

Right after, I ordered a large tomato clam chowder because there was no more Cream Roma soup left. But nonetheless it was good trying something different. I too was amazed by the amount of clams they gave and how delicious they were! I am a huge seafood fan, if I had to drink seafood, I probably would. In addition to the chowder, I got the fried oysters. WOW! These were so delicious and I am going to get these again! It was not oily or strangely cooked. It tasted like what an oyster should taste like. You can even taste the butter that the oysters were fried in. It gives it a nice texture of crunchiness. You can order these as single, doubles or colossal! And they are around $2 each.

If you are on the quay and craving some seafood while looking at the river and the sight of downtown Vancouver, you must try Screaming Mimi! If you love seafood, you will end up screaming for more Screaming Mimi! But don’t expect too much from their decor.

We rate Screaming Mimi: