Robson Street/West End Archives - Page 8 of 8

In Japanese

Bon Crepe

November 4, 2010

Bon Crepe is located outside Konbinya Japanese convenience store on Robson Street. Before work, I was scouring Downtown for some good and quick food. SInce most street carts close before 5pm, I needed to find something fast and filling to get me through 3 hours of work. TaiwaneseGirl always tells me to go to Bon Crepe for amazing crepes. Since I was in a hungry snack mode, I got a savory crepe rather than a sweet one.

I settled on the tuna corn salad crepe ($3.53). What is different about their crepes compared to other places are the texture of the crepe skin. It was soft and chewy unlike places such as Cafe Crepe. It was the perfect size for a snack! As for the ingredients they used, I really wish they used fresh ingredients….tuna was canned…corn was canned…

The crepes are reasonably priced and I would go here again to try their sweet crepes, but maybe not their savory crepes.

Words of Wisdom:

No seats, more like grab and go
Some ingredients are not fresh, so choose which crepes your get wisely
I heard the sweet crepes were better than their savory ones

We rate Bon Crepe:

In Bar and Grill

Milestones: Girls’ Night Out

October 20, 2010

Girls’ Night Out @ Milestones

4 bellinis and 4 appetizers went for $40(before taxes) at Milestones on Robson. A great night with four of my best-ests however, was priceless. After hearing about the Girls’ Night Out deal at Milestones, we’ve been dying to get together and try this out. That night, I went with CreepyGirl, SkullsAndStuds, and EndlessLegs.

The night started off with bellinis and who can complain about a good bellini? I have to admit that I don’t drink very much, and didn’t remember about brain freeze… so, remember folks, sipping too quickly on your frosty drink will leave you with a case of bad brain freeze!

While the Girls’ Night Out menu had 6 items (2 of them being salads), CreepyGirl decided for us that salad wasn’t food. She seemed really insistent on it and even exclaimed at one point, “No salad! SkullsAndStuds, you aren’t going to ruin this for the rest of us!” We ended up getting the Milestones’ Famous Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Yam Frites, Baked Goat Cheese & Slow Roasted Garlic Flatbread Plate, and the Crispy Honey Phyllo Shrimp.

The artichoke dip also came with sour cream and salsa on the side and I had no complaints about it. I find that sometimes at other places, the dip cools off too quickly and the cheese makes it too thick, but in this case, it was quite consistent and was good to the end.

The Yam Frites I thought were average. They came with Chipotle sauce, which is typically standard with yam frites.

I don’t know my cheeses very well yet, but the goat cheese that came with this dish was awesome! It came baked, so it was easily spreadable. Don’t leave the cheese untouched for too long though because it starts getting harder to work with and clumpy. It also came with spiced cranberry relish, and fig jam. I found that the fig jam was a bit on the sweet side but still good.

Yum! Hello deep-fried morsels! The shrimp were perfectly fried and as you bit through the crunchy outer parts, it was moist and had the perfect bounce on your teeth. Yes! I’m describing it as having a good bounce. It wasn’t over cooked and tasted really fresh. The honey chipotle glaze was a bit too sweet for our liking though. We sort of hoped that it would have a bit more kick to it.

Overall, I thought that the food was solid. It didn’t blow me away, but for $40, I thought that it was a good deal. More importantly, what mattered most to me was the time spent with the people around the table. =)

Here’s to a good night! Guess what we did after dinner? We went shoe shopping.

We rate Milestones:

In Dessert

Michi Waffle & Expresso Bar

September 19, 2010

Walking along Robson Street CanuckGirl, TaiwaneseGirl and I were looking to find something to satisfy our sweet tooth.

Michi Waffle & Expresso Bar caught my eye with their really pretty storefront display.

Walking into their store, the décor was very nice, simple and clean. Just the type of décor I like.

When I looked at their menu, I was confused and it took a while to see what waffle options we had. There was a small waffle menu near the fridge…and then there was the main menu on the wall that had the drinks and the waffle platters. Perhaps they could have had the menu in one booklet to give consumers all their options.

After thinking for a while we got the 2 waffle platter for $9. We chose the chocolate waffle and the original. It also comes with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, banana, and strawberry sauce.

Once the platter arrived, we dug in! The original waffle was quite boring and not too interesting, but when you added the ice cream on it, it tasted good. On the other hand, it might have been the ice cream that was really good. The chocolate waffle was the original waffle but covered in chocolate sauce. I particularly liked the chocolate waffle because of the extra texture it gave the waffle.

The banana did not taste like the banana’s you would buy at the store. It was a bit starchy and different but good.

Overall, it is one of the better waffle places I have been to because the waffles were crunchy rather than bland and boring. Plus, the plating of the waffles looked good and appealing to the eye.

After devouring that, I got thirsty, so I ordered a latte. Yes, I love latte’s; they are like cappuccinos, but with more milk and less foam. The coffee was good and their latte art is quite unique. Reminded me of Café Artigiano. You can tell they are skilled baristas by the machines they use and the foam art they produce.

They could really make more than just coffee and waffles. I think if they had more variety than just waffles, more people would go to this place.

The ambiance of Michi Waffle and Espresso Bar is the perfect place to have a conversation. If you go there on a date or a meeting, it will leave a lasting impression.

We rate Michi Waffle and Espresso Bar:

Visit their website: http://michicafe.com/

In Korean

Pork Belly Beer House

September 18, 2010

At first glace, you would think Pork Belly Beer House is the most shady place you have ever seen. A restaurant with no name, crappy interior décor, lots of white fans everywhere, and lot of plates and soju bottles everywhere equals major sketch. If you are Korean and know your way around town, this place serves all you can eat Pork Belly! Pork Belly is basically like bacon but so much more thicker.

Interior is quite small.

When we sat down, we looked at the menu and just went with the $16 buffet, which included meat, salad, side dishes, soup, rice, and pop. Totally worth it and you get more than the $10 option. We wondered how they could keep their prices so reasonable but we concluded that the crappy décor probably kept their costs down.

Once the meat arrived, we did not waste another second to put the meat on the grill. All 9 of us were really excited to eat it but sadly we had to wait till it was nicely cooked.

It would have been nice if our salad, rice and soup all came at the same time…. These items came half way through our meal. Totally not a “buffet” if they don’t give it to us in the beginning.

When the meat is done, you can put it in the lettuce with kimchi, bean sprouts, jalapeño, and garlic. Once assembled inside the lettuce wrap, you can dip it into the miso paste or in the salt and pepper sauce.

If you grill the kimchi, bean sprouts and the garlic, it will make the wrap a lot better! Thanks to BusanGirl for that tip!

To add to this buffet, we got beer and Soju. I am a light weight, so having both got me a bit tipsy.

The service was not great since they would forget an order and take way too long refilling our food. Conversing in English would have probably been a problem but luckily I had 4 Koreans with me to do all the ordering.

Also, some of the meat the gave us was VERY FATTY ( 85% fat and 15% meat). It was pretty gross and they “boys” table got that so I think it ruined their start of the night since their meat did not cook well cause it had so many fat streaks in their pork belly. The “girls” tables got lucky since their meat turned out nice and brown.

The damage of the bill came to be over $200… but after splitting it up, it turned about to be about $26 per person.

I would advise you to not eat this often…maybe once or twice a year because this is quite fatty. We left this restaurant smelling like BBQ, I woke up feeling oily, and one person spent a while in the washroom…if you know what I mean…

When you go here, make sure you have a Korean with you. The service may be pretty crappy and if all the items in the buffet do not arrive, do ask them because you are paying for it. The pork belly should be nicely marbled with fat….and not strips of fat…so send it back if there is too much fat. Remember you are paying for all you can eat pork belly and not all you can eat fat.

We rate Pork Belly Beer House:

Pork Belly Beer House is located:

Robson Street/West End
841 Bidwell Street
Vancouver, BC V6G

In Four Beakers

Hapa Izakaya (Robson)

September 11, 2010

Hapa Izakaya apparently is known to people in Toronto as the Japanese restaurant with super hot waitresses. Since I’m a girl, I really care more about the food!

BaguetteGirl and I went to have dinner before she departed on exchange to France. We chose Hapa because I’ve never been there and I’ve heard great reviews about the food!

We couldn’t decide where to sit. So we decided to sit at the Sushi Bar because it would be interesting to see a chef at work! It was a delight because we went some time looking at the food he was making and pointing to it and wondering what they were.

To start off the exciting experience, BaguetteGirl ordered the Hello Kitty and I ordered the Harajuku Girl. Very girly drinks but THEY TASTE SO GOOD! The Hello Kitty was made out of Vodka, Calpis, strawberry puree and soda. The Harajuku Girl had Vodka, Sourpuss Raspberry, Butter Ripple Schnapps, Calpis, and soda. The drinks were refreshing to the start of the meal and not alcoholic tasting…even though it had vodka. One thing that suck with these drinks was that the lemon and lime were cut really badly, they were not firm and just slouched over.

The menu reminded me of Guu! Lots of tapas, lots of choice, super good.

We started off with the ebi mayo, which is prawn tempura in spicy mayo sauce. It was not overly spicy and had a good balance of flavour. This dish is a staple dish in my opinion whenever you go to a Japanese tapas place!

Next we had the beef tataki! I love beef tataki!!! It’s so good! I LOVE MEAT. Anyways, the beef tataki was made out of Seared AAA beef slices with a sesame-chilli sauce, onions on top! Very nicely put together.

Next we had the GINDARA & TAKANA MESHI which is Hot stone bowl rice with baked sablefish marinated in miso and soy with Japanese mustard leaves. It was also super delicious. The waitress would bring it to the table and help you mash up all the ingredients in the bowl so all the items are mashed up to the right size.

After that we had the pork belly and lettuce wrap, for some reason that took a while to get to the table. The dish contained Crispy pork belly, apple yuzu jam, pickled red onions & butter lettuce! The dish was good but when we put all the ingredients together it did not taste extraordinary. Something was missing from this dish. Perhaps something more acidic to balance the pork belly?

To end off the meal, we had the assorted ice cream. It comes with 3 different ice cream flavours. It was a very interesting experience and if you are craving dessert, why no just try it for the heck of it.

The first ice cream was a roasted tomato which sounded really strange at the time.

The second was similar to a frozen crème brulee.

The last was a coffee and pepper ice cream.

If you are looking for some delicious Japanese tapas and some drinks for a girls night out or a date, this is the place to go. Nice atmosphere, nice décor and servers!

We rate Hapa Izakaya:

Check out their website: http://hapaizakaya.com/

In Robson Street/West End

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House

September 2, 2010

After hearing so much about Joe Fortes, I thought it was time to go! A group of us went during lunchtime because they have $10 Blue plate specials and Prix Fixe set meals for either 14.95 (2 dishes)or 17.95 (3 dishes).

Since Joe Fortes is a seafood restaurant, Insecuregirl, Fragileboy and I decided to order some oysters! We love oysters, we would probably drink oyster if we wanted to. We started off with 3 types of oysters – Kumamoto, Joe’s Gold and Local Beach. If you do not know anything about oysters, just ask the waitress/waiter for suggestions because you don’t want to end up with oysters that taste nasty.

The Kumamoto Oyster had a firm texture and a rich creamy flavour. The after taste was quite interesting since it ended with a buttery-sweet and mildly fruity, with just a hint of briny flavour. Apparently it’s very popular. I really loved this one a lot. As you can tell, this oyster came from Japan.

Joe’s gold was a bigger than the Kumamoto Oyster. Joe’s gold oyster had a mild, fresh flavour with a sweet finish. These oysters are specially ordered from Saw Mill Bay for Joe Fortes…thus the name – Joe’s gold.

The last oyster – Local beach was about the same size as Joe’s gold. It also had a mild fresh flavour but it also tasted salty and briny.

For more info on local BC oysters check out:
http://www.pacifickiss.ca/about-bc-oysters/bc-oyster-buyers-guide

Enough about oysters, let’s get back to the meal! InsecureGirl, CanuckGirl and I had the Cup of New England Clam chowder as an appetizer, part of our prix fixe meal set. It came with oyster crackers on the side to add into the Clam chowder. Inside the clam chowder there were cream, potatoes, bacon, thyme and of course clams. It was an ok chowder but I really wished there were more clams in the chowder because I didn’t find much of it expect for maybe half a clam. The crackers were a nice touch when you wanted more texture in your chowder.

M and FragileBoy had the Halibut and Chips. M’s Halibut came on his dish looking like a fish. It was super amazing because FragileBoy’s Halibut looked nothing like a fish. The batter was really nice and crispy. The halibut inside was perfectly done on the inside. There was also tartar sauce to dip the halibut into. The tartar sauce tasted like normal tartar sauce but with more of a dill taste. The fries on th bottom were really good as well. One thing the whole table agreed on was that the fries had a “Mc Donald’s” aftertaste, which was interesting, but it made us all want to eat it more.

InsecureGirl, TaiwaneseGirl and CanuckGirl all got the Wild Salmon with mashed potatoes. The Salmon was just ok by itself but if you ate it with the corn and peppers on the bottom, it just adds to the dish so much more! The sweetness from the corn really balances out the taste.

I ordered the blue cheese meatloaf. It was really good since I’ve actually never had meatloaf before. Tasted really good with the corn on the bottom. I found that it was quite a large dish for myself and was quite meaty…since it is a meatloaf. I wanted more vegetables to really break the meaty taste from my mouth.

To finish everything off, there was dessert! I ordered the Vanilla crème brulee.

The crème brulee was nice and crunchy at the top and creamy at the bottom. I didn’t like the mound of whipped cream on the side. I didn’t think it added much to the dish.

TaiwaneseGirl ordered the Vanilla Gelato with Chocolate Ganache drizzled on top. The wafer and the chocolate ganache added a lot of texture to the gelato. It was very well done and great dessert to finish the meal.

For the price of the food, it could have been way better since there are so many other seafood restaurants in Vancouver. I might as well spend the same amount of money elsewhere to get better food with more amounts.

Joe Fortes is the king of seafood but the menu is quite pricy if you go for dinner. If you want to try this place out for lunch, it is way cheaper. A lot of the food we ordered was just ok and not super fantastical delicious.

We rate Joe Fortes: