Canadian Archives - Page 5 of 6

In Brunch

The Coquitlam Grill: Breakfast on the Weekends

November 27, 2013

Heading to Coquitlam early in the morning, what better way to have breakfast than to go to Coquitlam Grill. It has been here for a very long time and is a local favourite. They serve up breakfast, lunch and dinner.

At 10am, the parking lot was packed and you can see some seniors standing around hanging out with their friends.

The interior is the same as a Knight and Day because that was the previous restaurant that occupied the space.

There’s tons of seats, so its great for large parties. It’s usually packed on the weekends, but we came here early, so there were seats still in the back.

French Toast with sausages, eggs, and hash browns. Comes with a side of butter and syrup.

European Breakfast with sausage, perogies, sour cream and eggs.

Truckers Breakfast has eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast sausage and hash browns.

The truckers breakfast also comes with pancakes. It’s a huge meal.

All the breakfast items were pretty solid. Good ol’ breakfast. The portions are huge and definitely worth the price. It’s a favourite breakfast location for locals and you get your moneys worth. You will walk out happy and full.

The restaurant also has free wifi.

We Rate Coquitlam Grill:

Address:
108 – 2635 Barnet Highway
Coquitlam, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=108+-+2635+Barnet+Highway+Coquitlam,+BC&t=m&hnear=2635+Barnet+Hwy,+Coquitlam,+British+Columbia+V3E+1K9&z=16 “]

In American

White Spot: New Location in North Burnaby

November 17, 2013

The old ABC Country Restaurant in Kensington Plaza finally closed down after years of horrible service and food. When we passed by and saw White Spot opening up, we were ecstatic. Anything was better than ABC.

M and I decided to head over as it was very close in the neighbourhood and we were too lazy to cook.

The interior has had a complete makeover that matches their other restaurants. It was bright and welcoming. Lots of booth seating and it was pretty busy on the weekend.

The White Spot Club has turkey breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo & chili sauce on sourdough bread. I substituted my fries for their Spot Salad. The spot salad has dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, toasted almonds, greens and arugula with a honey sherry dressing.

I didn’t like the sourdough bread for this particular sandwich because the crust was quite hard and would cut my mouth, but other than that, it tasted good. There was a lot of bacon, so it made me happy.

Bacon Cheddar Bigger Burger has a 6 oz beef burger with bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce & tomato with Triple O sauce. M substituted his fries with the Zoo sticks, which as zucchini fries. The zoo stick were very thick, so you definitely get a lot of zucchini.

There was also some coleslaw on the side. The burger was pretty decent.

The Spot’s Salad with Chicken also has artisan greens and arugula with honey sherry dressing, cranberries, sunflower seeds & toasted almonds. It supposed to come with garlic panini bread, but I don’t know why I didn’t get any.

Either way, I still really like the salad.

B.C. Chicken Burger has chargrilled BC chicken breast, cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion and the Triple “O” sauce. M also got the Zoo sticks substitute this time too.

Overall, the food isn’t too bad. We left feeling satisfied with all this comfort food. It’s nothing fancy but its good and simple.

We Rate White Spot:

Address:
6500 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC

Website:
https://www.whitespot.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=6500+Hastings+Street+Burnaby,+BC&t=m&hnear=6500+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5B+4B3&z=16″]

In Bar and Grill

Storm Crow Tavern: Board Games, Beer, and Burgers

November 16, 2013

M told me about Storm Crow Tavern and now it is the nerdiest bar in Vancouver. I totally had to tell my nerdy blogging buddies – Gastrofork, FoodQueen, and EatingWithKirby. We are secretly really big geeks inside.

The tavern is on Commercial Drive right beside Grandview Park.

There’s a giant cthulhu with a mini skull.

There are battle axes, swords and a bunch of memorabilia on all the walls. You definitely have a tavern feel when you get inside.

There are also lots of board games to use free of charge.

Guns!

Mead ($6.50) is an alcoholic beverage made of fermented honey and water. If you play video games, you know this drink pops up a lot.

The Wolverine ($9) has maple whiskey, butter schnapps, frothy cream in an adamantium mug and a stick of crunchy bacon. It sounded like a cool drink but it definitely wasn’t for me.

The Jack Burton ($5) Jack Daniels with Lager. Dee rolled the 20 sided dice and landed on number 3, which was this drink. We all wanted her to land on 20 to get the Critical Hit drink, but it wasn’t meant to be. I think she just wanted to roll the cool dice.

Chickpea Fries ($6) are huge fries made of chickpeas. It also came with vegan gravy. This was the best thing we had here. Definitely recommended

With our drinks in hand, we played a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity. I think it’s probably one of the most popular games here. It’s an easy game.

Crow Burger with gluten free bread ($9) has chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, dijon, mayo, and onion.

Thunder Burger ($8 + $3) is a storm burger with a few upgrades. It has a 6 oz beef patty with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, sun-dried tomato aioli, bbq honey sauce, smoked provolone cheese, and crispy bacon on a Portuguese bun. I chose to have salad on the side.

The burger was ok. Lots of bacon, but everything else was pretty mediocre.

Elvish Veggie Burger Supreme with Daiya vegan cheese ($8 + $2) has a patty made of chickpeas, lentils and rice. The burger also has roasted corn, black beans, tomatoes and a salsa verde and veganaise sauce.

Barbaric Beef Stew ($8) is a savage stew of roasted potatoes, yams, onions, carrots, butternut squash and beef covered in gravy. There is also garlic bread that comes with it. Looks pretty meh and from Dee’s expression, it didn’t seem very good.

After our meals, we thought a proper game of Jenga was in order. It’s quick and there really isn’t too much strategy that goes into it. I lost twice out of three rounds and I totally blame the uneven tables.

When the bill came, we also got a few magic cards. As I don’t play magic, I just took them home and gave them to M. He’s a big magic fan, so I’m sure he will make use out of these.

Overall, the food is very mediocre and the drinks can be a bit expensive depending on what you order. I wouldn’t come again for the food. I’d come here for a beer and play some board games.

We Rate Storm Crow Tavern:

Address:
1305 Commercial Dr
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.stormcrowtavern.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1305+Commercial+Dr+Vancouver,+Bc&t=m&hnear=1305+Commercial+Dr,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5L+3X5&z=16″]

In British Columbia

Pizza Hut Canada: Crunchy Cheesy Bites Pizza

November 13, 2013

M and I were watching TV one day and we saw that Pizza Hut Canada just introduced the Crunchy Cheesy Bites Pizza. A large 2 topping pizza is $17.

Crunchy Cheesy Bites Pizza is different from a regular pizza. It has a crust made of cheesy bites topped with crunchy corn flakes. Even though type of pizza is new in North America, it has been around Asian for some time.

You can rip off the bites and eat the separately, or enjoy it in its original pizza style.

When the pizza arrived, it has some resemblance to what you see in the commercials. As I opened the pizza box, I was so excited to dig in.

The cheese does look like it’s oozing out, but wasn’t cheesy at all. The inside of the bite was hollow and the cheese was hard. When you bite into the entire bite, its squishy and doughy. There was not crunch in the crust at all. Maybe the pizza was overcooked.

It doesn’t live up to the hype. It was alright, but I wouldn’t order it again. I still liked the hotdog stuffed crust they introduced a year ago.

Website: www.pizzahut.ca

In Canadian

Craft Beer Market: Open in Vancouver

November 3, 2013

My coworkers and I have been keeping an eye on the Craft Beer Market opening up in the Olympic Village near Science World. What I love about this area is it’s amazing views and how this neighbourhood is transforming. It was supposed to be open during the Summer of 2013, but due to some delays, it is going to officially open on November 7th, 2013.

Word has spread around the office that they are currently having a soft opening and are open for business. We were bidding a coworker goodbye, so it seemed like the perfect place to have an office lunch.

This place is HUGE! There are even 2 elevated private seating areas. Also, the beautiful bar in the centre with so many different types of Craft Beer.

Wall of beer kegs.

More beer!

Below are images of their food and drink menus.

Fast Food Sushi?! Red Racer IPA Infused Taquitos?!

Their menus are labeled with healthy, vegetarian, ocean-wise and gluten-free options. It really help taking the guess work if you have dietary restrictions. Nice touch!

Dark beer braised beef brisket?! Phillips Beer Can Chicken?!

20 Napkin Burger?! Earnest Ice Cream!!

Looks like there are some amazing sounding items on the menu.

SO much beer!

Too many to choose from.

Hawaiian Ahi Poke ($14) has chopped sashimi-grade tuna, cucumber, fresh ginger, garlic, and a sesame soy vinaigrette with crispy wonton skins. Magz said it tasted alright, but is lacking a few ingredients. Perhaps avocados.

Craft House Soup (Bowl – $8) has cheddar, jalapeno, and their Village House Ale.

Wings ($13) 1lb of crispy Rossdown Farms chicken wings tossed in Canadian sauce (bacon and maple syrup). The Canadian flavour was surprisingly good. It was subtle, but it just worked so well. For some reason we imagined it to be a thick sauce, but we were glad it wasn’t like that.

Fast Food Sushi ($12) cheeseburger and fries wrapped in bacon. It is dressed with jalapeño cream cheese and BBQ sauce. This was a very interesting item on the menu that JP just had to order. It was sinfully delicious and would be a great combination with some beer.

Thai Lettuce Wraps ($12 + Chicken $5) has crispy noodles and veggies sautéed with sweet ginger and lemongrass served with julienne vegetables, rice and a trio of house made sauces. It’s a great interactive dish where you can build your lettuce wraps yourself. One thing my coworkers said was that they wished the lettuce would be larger so it could hold more of the filling.

Waldorf chicken salad ($16) has parmesan and walnut crusted Rossdown Farms chicken, sun-dried cranberries, mixed greens, grapes, blue cheese, celery, and honey mustard vinaigrette. It was a big salad with a lot of ingredients.

Brewmaster’s Chicken Sandwich ($15) has Rossdown Farms chicken breast, avocado, bacon, aged cheddar, tomato lettuce, and red onion in a ciabatta bun. You have your choice of either Kennebec fries, mixed greens, caesar salad, spinach salad or soup. My coworker went with the spinach salad.

Craft Mac & Cheese ($16) has a blend of cheddar, gouda, mozzarella and fontina cheese tossed with bacon and poblano peppers topped with parsley and garlic breadcrumbs. It is also served with grilled garlic bread. The portion was huge, but I really wish the mac and cheese was a bit more gooier.

Overall, the food was pretty good, but there are a few kinks to work out. Prices are a tad high, but its ok considering the area that it’s located in. Their menu is large and you can always find something to eat and plus, their beverage menu is massive. I can see it as a great place to come after work to chill with coworkers or friends. It’s a great addition to the Olympic Village area and definitely adds some competition in the area.

We Rate Craft Beer Market:

Address:
85 West 1st Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://vancouver.craftbeermarket.ca/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CRAFT-Beer-Market-Vancouver/306941952714764

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=85+West+1st+Ave+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=85+W+1st+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5Y+3K8&z=16″]

In Brunch

Milestone’s: Brunch at YVR Airport

October 21, 2013

On our way to Seoul, Korea at the YVR Airport, we saw they had a Milstone’s restaurant in the international terminal. We were looking for a place to go for breakfast and thought Milestone’s was a good option since they had eggs benedict on the menu.

Not the most delicious place at the airport, but it will have to do. Still better than Burger King.

There’s a bar if you need to grab a drink to settle the nerves before taking off.

The brunch menu is below.

Pineapple Juice came in a big cup and was needed to go with brunch.

Eggs Benedict ($10.99) is served on an english muffin with smoked ham, poached egg and hollandaise sauce. Roasted potatoes and some fruit on the side. Very simple but decent. Nothing very special either.

Overall, the food was ok, but the service was quite horrible. The servers were not very attentive and a lot of others were trying to stare one down to order or get the bill.

We Rate Milestones YVR:

Location:
YVR Airport beside the “aquarium”

Website:
http://www.milestonesrestaurants.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=3211+Grant+McConachie+Way+Richmond,+BC&t=m&hnear=3211+Grant+McConachie+Way,+Richmond,+British+Columbia+V7B+1Y7&z=16 “]

In Brunch

Grain Tasting Bar: Brunch in Downtown Vancouver

October 17, 2013

Grain Tasting Bar is located inside the Hyatt Hotel in Downtown Vancouver. It is literally a few steps away from the Burrard Skytrain and right above Staples.

It was a Sunday morning and my girlfriends all wanted some eggs benedict. Seeing that Chef Thomas Heinrich recently started a brunch menu at Grain, it really made my mouth salivate. We’ve been to Cafe Medina, Twisted Fork and Catch 122 for brunch and wanted something new, so we headed here for some yummy brunch.

The interior is really nice and has a very masculine-feel to it. A great mood to be drinking some cocktails after work.

What I like most about the interior is their sliding windows. On a hot day, they can open them all up to let the breeze in… or if it’s super cold, you’ll never notice that windows can open like that.

You can even be people-watching from above. No one will ever know, unless they look up.

Pineapple Juice ($5.50) was a bit steep for juice, but you can’t really go wrong with a big cup of juice for brunch.

Oyama Benedict ($15) is what everyone ordered. The description of it just caught our eyes since we saw prosciutto and we all craved meat.

The Oyama Benedict features Oyama meat products and trust me its’ good stuff. The benedict also has pamplona chorizo, red wine prosciutto, arugula, soft poached egg, and a hollandaise sauce. There are also roasted potatoes served on the side.

It looked simple, but it tasted great. I wish I had more after eating this.

Spring Creek Prime Rib Sandwich ($14) also has iceberg lettuce, crispy onions, and horseradish aioli. We chose to have potato chips on the side. The thick slab of prime rib was delicious.

Overall, not a bad place for brunch and it’s also a great place for after work drink and bites. The prices can be a bit high for some items, but seeing that it’s in Downtown, it’s acceptable. They do have daily specials for drinks and food, so you can always pick a day where there is something that matches your tastebuds.

We Rate Grain Tasting Bar:

Address:
655 Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.grainvbc.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=655+Burrard+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=655+Burrard+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6C+2R7&z=16″]

In Canadian

EXP Restaurant + Bar: Video Game Inspired

October 14, 2013

Exp Restaurant and Bar is located in Gastown and serves up food and drinks with a video game twist. I came here with my food blogging buddies – Dee and Amy since we are all video game nerds.

You will find video memorabilia on the walls and will definitely bring you back to your childhood days.

Mana + Health ($7.50) is a mixture of Red Sour Puss, Bols Melon, Blue Curacao, and Soda. It is meant to be drank like a drop shot. If you play games like Diablo, you’ll find these two colors familiar. The drink itself is quite sweet.

Thunder ($5.50) is made of Absolut Mandarin, Blue Curacao, Lime. Rimmed with Pop Rocks.

Arrow to the Knee ($5.50) has cake vodka, and baileys cream liqueur. If you play Skyrim, you’ll understand this reference.

Ultra Deep Fried Pickles ($7) has fresh pickles and fries with blackened jalapeño dip. It was a good bar dish. Something to nibble on. It’s not for everyone, but I have a secret love of pickles.

Raging Demon Spicy Chicken Sandwich ($13) has grilled cajun chicken breast, jalapeño jack cheese, fried jalapeño and garlic with fresh avocado. The chicken breast was quite dry and there wasn’t anything too special about this burger. It was a bit spicy, but it could have used more of a kick.

Chocobo Chicken Burger ($12) has crunchy garlic chicken breast, honey mustard, mayo, & lettuce. Dee ordered it and just fell in love with the title of this burger because of the reference to Final Fantasy.

Master Chief Burger ($13) has an 6 oz beef patty topped with baby greens, house red onion relish, roasted garlic aioli, finished with crunchy ‘Halo’ onion rings.

Doughnut-Shielded Cheesecake ($4) has a Piece of Rich Cheesecake Encased in Doughnut Batter and Deep-Fried to Perfection. You can choose from chocolate, oreo icing or cinnamon sugar. We went with the cinnamon sugar.

Smore-Tal Kombat ($5) has a huge house-made marshmallow, dark chocolate and caramel sauce, brutally squeezed between two honey graham Crackers. FINISH IT!

I love their description on their menu. It can get a bit distracting trying to figure what the dish really is. We spent way more time oggling at the name of the items rather than finding something we really liked.
We Rate Exp Bar:

Address:
309 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.facebook.com/expbar

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=309+W+Pender+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=309+W+Pender+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+1T3&z=16 “]

In Canadian

MoMA Contemporary Bistro: New Restaurant in Richmond

October 13, 2013

My mom scouted out a restaurant before my radar was on it. Where does my mother get this information? Apparently the Chinese radio station.

We decided to dine at MoMa Contemporary Bistro with the family. It’s on Cambie road close to Garden City Road. When I first heard the name of this restaurant, I immediately thought about the Moma in New York. It’s really just a combination of the Chef’s names – Chef Henry Mok and Chef Xin Mao.

The interior is very clean and modern compared to all the other restaurants in Richmond.

It has a bit of a hipster-feel with the mason jar candles.

Complimentary Bread arrives at the table with a curried chickpea dip.

Steamed Clams ($14) comes in a sake-miso broth with wakame. The clams were plump and juicy, plus the broth was pretty delicious. We used the bread and dipped it in the remaining sauce.

Prawn Fritter ($13) is enrobed in a sake butter with togorashi aioli sauce. The seaweed bits on top made it extra yummy.

Albacore Tuna Flatbread ($14) has nori, radish, and a house-made scallion flatbread. This dish was ok, but I felt the first 2 appetizer dishes were better.

10oz Grilled Angus Rib Eye ($33) has potato fondant, chimichurri sauce, and a black pepper jelly. My sister loved the tender medium rare of the rib eye, but felt the black pepper sauce to be a bit overpowering and salty.

Crispy Pork Belly ($22) has a base of the taro root puree, mostarda, soy beans and a natural jus. This dish was a bit heavy, but the pork belly just melts in your mouth.

24 hours braised lamb pappardelle ($21) has peas, ricotta cheese, and shredded mint.

Rainbow Trout

Maple and Mascapone Cheesecake ($8) has a kumquat coulis and compressed fruit. SO good! Highly recommended!

Overall, it’s nice to see a contemporary bistro in Richmond. It’s unique in the area and offer some tasty eats. Some of the dishes need a bit of tweaking, but overall a pretty good place to go to if you’re tired of all the restaurants in Richmond.

We Rate MoMa Contemporary Bistro:

Address:
8580 Cambie Rd
Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.momabistro.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=8580+Cambie+Rd+Richmond,+BC&t=m&hnear=8580+Cambie+Rd,+Richmond,+British+Columbia+V6X+4J8&z=16″]

In Canadian

Earls Kitchen + Bar: Lets Get Cracking

September 30, 2013

The Lobster Event is back at Earls on October 3, 4, and 5th, 2013. It’s a celebration of all things East Coast and apparently the birthday of Alexander Keith (Yes, that beer brand). They fly in 15,000 Nova Scotia lobsters for the 3 day event. It’s been going on for the past 11 years.

For $25, you get a whole steamed 1½ pound Atlantic lobster served up with prawns, grilled corn cob, fingerling potatoes, a brioche bun and chardonnay butter for dipping.

For an additional $5, you get a huge ice cold pint of Alexander Keith Hop Series Ale.

The best part about eating lobster is really the bib. Come on, every adult likes to reminisce about their childhood and get messy. Take all your rings off and get messy. Especially if you are certified in hand to claw combat, you can tackle this meal.

This is my favourite tool! You’ll need it to help you crack those big claws. The chef pre cracks the tail and the claws but there is still some work that needs to be done to get the flesh out. I wish I took more photos of the meal, but my hands were covered in butter and meat.

Throw all the shells away! This saying is quite true.

Sometimes you really need a wet nap at the end of the meal or run off to the washroom to wash your hands.

The meal was delicious and the amount was just right. You definitely want to make reservations ahead of time since they have limited quantities at all their locations. Happy cracking.

Address:
1095 Mainland St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.earls.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1095+Mainland+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=1095+Mainland+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+1A9&z=16 “]

In Canadian

Crave on Main: Goodbye My Favourite Burger

September 29, 2013

Crave on Main is coming to a close today – September 29th, 2013 after 7.5 years in operation. When M and I found out, we were quite sad because we were convinced they had the best burger in town.

We came here 2 years ago and fell in love with this restaurant. With all the great items on the menu, we always end up getting the same burger. Something about it was so magical.

Organic Beef Crave Burger with back bacon, truffle mayo and blue cheese ($12 + $1 +$1 +$1 = $15)

It comes with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, an organic beef patty on the soft focaccia bread. The additional toppings of the blue cheese, truffle mayo and back bacon.

Everyone at the table ordered this and it was just like music in our mouths. The patty was very moist and flavourful, the blue cheese just oozed everywhere and the back bacon was so good. We haven’t been able to find anything else in town that compares.

Mushroom soup (+$1.50) was needed as an upgrade since we didn’t want fries. I have a weird addiction to mushrooms, so I just had to have it.

Overall, after all these years, they have kept up the consistency of their food. I hope the owners decide to open another restaurant, but no word on it yet. I’ll be crossing my fingers to see this burger be back someday.

Instead of a restaurant, it will be replaced by housing. Boo.

We Rate Crave on Main:

Address:
3941 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.craveonmain.com

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=3941+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=3941+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3P5&z=16″]

In Bakery

The Pie Shoppe: Pies, Pies, Pies

August 20, 2013

I was walking around Chinatown with my coworkers and we came upon a cute little shop on Gore Street called The Pie Shoppe. It’s really a great neighbourhood since you have other awesome places close by such as Harvest, The Parker and Oyster Express.

[vimeo id=”60409159″ width=”620″ height=”360″]

Video of The Pie Shoppe.

When we walked into the shop, it was so tiny, so you can see everything that they were doing. So cute!

It’s so homey and the smells are just fantastic.

They sell pies by the slice or the whole pie. You can order the pies ahead of time or you can just come as see whats available.

My coworker got the Chocolate Pecan pie and thought it was the best thing ever.

I decided to get the Caramel Apple Pie for my Social Media Network teammates for a meeting. The crust is SO good! Nice and crunchy with the sweet apple filling on the inside. This size feeds about 8 people.

We all loved it and would definitely return again. Yum! It’s a bit pricey, but it seriously good pie.

We Rate the Pie Shoppe:

Address:
721 Gore Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.thepieshoppe.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=721+Gore+Ave,+Vancouver,+BC+V6A+2Z9&sll=49.891235,-97.15369000000001&sspn=45.72347923378347,88.1395350118194&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=721+Gore+Ave,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6A+2Z9&z=16 “]

In Cafe

Caffe Brixton: Cafe in Chinatown

August 18, 2013

Caffe Brixton is located in Chinatown and it’s a nice addition to the area. It’s hip and has a nice seating area to work if you have a laptop.

My coworkers decided to come here since Phnom Penh had a 40 minute wait and we were not going to attempt wasting a majority of our lunch time waiting for table. We are hangry people.

Grilled Pesto Chicken with Balsamic ($7.50) was really dry! That chicken didn’t seem very fresh or perhaps the grilling method ruined the chicken.

Gluten Free Breakfast Falafal Bake ($6) was ordered by two of my other coworkers. It looked like a delicious dish and tasted good too.

They ordered 2 but only 1 arrived. I think there was a mix up in the kitchen. When the dish arrived, it was the wrong item. Which confused us, but on a second try, it finally arrived. That was kinda crappy.

Quiche Sauteed onion and roasted eggplant was delicious according to Mags.

Overall, some of the food can be a hit or miss. The service was kinda crappy too since they messed up one of our orders. Not a pleasant experience if one dish arrives when everyone else is done theirs. Nonetheless its still a nice place to chill and do some work on your laptop or have a meeting.

We Rate Caffe Brixton:

Address:
212 East Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.caffebrixton.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=212+East+Georgia+Street+Vancouver,+BC&hl=en&geocode=+&hnear=212+E+Georgia+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6A+0B1&t=m&z=16″]

In Canadian

Mosaic Bar and Grille: New Summer Menu

July 20, 2013

Mosaic Bar & Grille is located in the Hyatt Vancouver on Burrard and Georgia Street. They specialize in locally sourced produce, sustainable seafood and choice ingredients with careful and creative preparation.

Their menu’s change often to really adapt to the seasonal ingredients. You are guaranteed that you will find something yummy on their new Summer menu.

Related Links:

As usual, the meal starts off with complimentary biscuits that arrive as you wait for your meal. It’s fluffy and comes with butter.

Mosaic Martini is a mix of absolut raspberri vodka, absolut mandarin vodka, grey goose la poire vodka and cranberry juice.

The first little dish was to show us their gorgeous skuna bay king salmon that arrived that morning. Chef Heinrich was very excited about it and amazed by the quality, so he shared a little sampler with us.

The skuna bay king salmon lays on top of a brine, and squid ink then garnished with lemon lime caviar and an ice plant from San Diego. I did enjoy the fresh taste of the salmon with the different textures and tastes.

The second dish is the GBE Heirloom Tomato Salad. The tomatoes are quickly blanched quickly in a sou vide and infused with onion and garlic flavours. It is served with a 12 year old balsamic reduction, basil fluid gel, local greens, and buffalo mozzarella. It was like a caprese salad, simple yet very complex.

Crab Cannelloni is on top of an avocado mousse. Below the mousse is a crouton crust. It was good! The crab meat was nice and sweet to go with the creamy mousse and crunchy crouton crust. Great textures that worked really well together.

Seared Scallops with a fire roasted green pepper coulis, and a succotash made of sweet corn and roasted tomato. The scallops were great but I didn’t really think the succotash complimented the dish very well.

Pan Seared Ling Cod served with baby bell pepper and a tomato nage. The dish was ok, it needed some more flavour to enhance the flavour of the cod.

Slow Cooked Lamb Tenderloin was beautifully cooked. It is served on a pomme puree, mustard greens and a peppercorn sauce. This was my favorite dish of the night! Really good!

The Cassoulet is a french bean stew with organic heirloom runner beans, duck confit, oyama sausage, tomatoes, onions, garlic and duck jus. The dish was hearty and rich. I didn’t particularly like this dish, but perhaps because I was pretty full. This item is meant to be shared among the table.

Ricotta Cheesecake was garnished with strawberries and a mango puree. It was deliciously creamy!

Creme Brulee was served with some berries and 2 macarons.

Mosaic Chocolate Cake is always a must! The slice is huge and tastes really good.

Overall, the menu does have its hits and misses but it’s generally delicious.

Words of Wisdom:

Follow @CheftHeinrich on twitter, You can be up to date on new menus that he launches at Mosaic
Steps away from Burrard Skytrain
Free Mosaic Chocolate Cake on your birthday
Beef Carpaccio is a must!
Great service

We Rate Mosaic:

Address:
655 Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://vancouver.hyatt.com/

In Bakery

Forty Ninth Parallel Cafe and Lucky’s Doughnuts

July 19, 2013

On Main Street lies 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters that also serve Lucky’s Donuts. They keep it simple in this cafe by just serving coffee and donuts. You can’t come here without being tempted with a donut to go with your coffee.

Kamsicle and I decided to take a break at work and head to here for a snack. I’ve always heard much about it but never stopped by until now.

They have lots of seats and seems like a really cool place to just chill and do some work.

I got a Soy Latte and it was really good. Nice, strong and great taste.

Salted Caramel is a classic old fashioned donut dipped in a creamy caramel and finished with maldon salt. It wasn’t too sweet, but the caramel does stick a little bit to your teeth.

French Cruller is a French choux paste fried and topped with a vanilla glaze. This was very good! The donut was very soft on the inside and not too sweet.

Overall, I quite liked this place. It’s simple and not complicated. A great addition to the neighbourhood, and I’ll definitely be back.

We Rate Forty Ninth Parallel Cafe and Lucky’s Doughnuts:

Address:
2902 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.luckysdoughnuts.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=2902+Main+St,+Vancouver,+BC+V5T+3G3&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=2902+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T+3G3&z=16″]

In Canadian

Emelle’s Westside Wheels: Caterer turned Food Truck

July 12, 2013

Emelle’s Westside Wheels was at EPIC, the sustainable living festival last weekend. Looking at the 12 or so food carts, I gravitated towards this food truck. I’ve heard much of Emelle’s amazing catering services, but was curious how they would fare as a food truck.

There was a long line up and the speed of service was quite slow during the noon hour. There were about 8 people in front of me, so imagine the wait.

Looking at their menu, they mostly have sandwiches. I thought they would have something more intricate beside sandwiches, tacos and soup. It was really hard deciding what to order.

On the left we have Mike’s Breakfast and in the back there is a bacon bomb.

Bacon Bombs ($4) is a slider with a slice of herb ground turkey wrapped in bacon and some vegetables. The turkey was nice and lean and had great flavour with the bacon wrapped around it. On the other hand, it was a bit expensive for a slider, which you’d finish in a few bites.

Mike’s Breakfast ($5) has a large egg, 2 slices of thick cut bacon, melted Canadian cheddar cheese, slices of tomato, and mayo on a toasted ciabatta bun. The bun was soft, but a bit thick. It tasted alright.

Overall, the food cart was ok. Simple sandwiches.

We Rate Emelle’s Westside Wheels:

Location (sometimes changes):
586 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.emelles.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=586+Granville+Street+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=586+Granville+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6C+1X6&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In BBQ

Chinatown Night Market: Closest Night Market to Downtown

July 6, 2013

The Chinatown Night Market has changed a lot since I was a kid. With the emergence of the other Night Markets in town, the quality of the Chinatown Night Market isn’t as good as it used to be. Despite that, it still attracts thousands of people every weekend to enjoy the festivities. It’s the closest night market to the Downtown core, so it makes sense. If you’re in the area, take a short stroller here and then enjoy the sunset at False Creek near Science World.

The Vancouver Chinatown Night Market is open from May 17th till September 8th, 2013 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Related Link:

2011 Chinatown Night Market Food Vendors

The market spans from Main Street to Columbia Street on Keefer street. The block is closed off so people can walk freely on the streets.

There are a few stalls that sell toys, jewellery , clothing, and a lot of random stuff.

I honestly never come here to buy things. It’s all about the food for me. But when it was about 10 years ago, I would come here to buy pokemon cards. Nowadays, there’s nothing very spectacular from the vendors.

Bar-B-Q

There’s a stall that sells a lot of skewers. It’s one of those staple items that you must have at a night market.

Bubble Gallo Tea House

There’s bubble tea too. Perfect for the hot summer weather.

Dim Sum Express

The food area is quite popular and the most congested part of the street. There’s even Dim Sum Express, they have a food truck near Waterfront station too.

Potato Tornado

One thing that was a must for MedicalGiraffe and I were the potato tornadoes. You might know them as hurricane potatoes…. depending on where you’ve been. It’s $3.75 each and you can choose your seasoning. They also sell popcorn chicken for $4.50.

This was a popular stall, so the food did take about 10 minutes.

The way that they cut the potatoes is with a drill. Very strange but I guess it gets the job done. Then they deep fry it for the crunchy goodness. The last step is sprinkling on the spices.

We got our ketchup flavoured potato tornado and it sure looked pretty. The taste was ok, but it was very very oily.

Takoyaki

Takoyaki was another item on our mind. It was very very busy at this stall, so it took about 20 minutes to get our order.

They had a lot of people waiting for them, but it took me a long time to figure out something was off about this stall.

All the balls looked ready and perfect to eat, but they took a long time to cook. After watching them for a while, we realized they were frozen store bought takoyaki heated up in these pans.

She wasn’t poking to see if the batter in the centre was cooked, she was seeing if it was not frozen on the centre.

6 pieces for $4.50.

We did feel a bit ripped off since we now know we could probably go to T&T and get a gab of frozen takoyaki for that price.
It tasted passable, but sucks that it wasn’t prepared the way it should be.

Bubble Waffles

There was also bubble waffles too. 1 for $3.75 or 2 for $6.50.

Near the other side of the Night Market seemed a little more Gastown-like with artist, local produce, plants, and jams on sale. There were also 3 Food Trucks there too – JJ’s Trucketeria, Holy Perogy and Ze Bite.

JJs Trucketeria

JJ Trucketeria is a Filipino themed Food Truck. I’ve always wanted to go for a visit but they are usually on Fraser and 43rd. Way too far for me to get to during lunch.

During the night market, they had salads, garlic fried rice plate, panwiches and their market bowls. Their prices are pretty good for a food truck. We really wanted to try their meaty items but we held back and decided to try the market bowl.

Market Bowl ($5) has brown rice, carrots, leeks, caramelized onions, yams, black beans, chick peas with their signature JJ sauce. It is completely vegan, so good for those people with dietary restrictions.

MedicalGiraffe and I didn’t particularly like this item since it was mostly the brown rice mixture with a bit of sauce.

Ze Bite

Ze Bite was there selling their amazing French food.

Nice Pops

Nice Pops were selling some gourmet popsicles with 4 flavours:

Rhubarb and Cardamom
Cucumber, lime and Chili
Strawberry and balsamic Vinegar
Strawberry and buttermilk

The prices are $4 each or 3 for $10.

Cucumber, lime and Chili starts off with the refreshing cucumber and lime flavours but them the spicy chili taste kicks in. MedicalGiraffe’s mouth was literally on fire. She can handle her spice, but this was definitely spicy.

Rhubarb and cardamom was very refreshing. Highly recommended.

On the day that we went, there was outdoor karaoke. Surprisingly a lot of people were fearless and stepped up on the mic. There was a variety of songs sang by people of various ethnicities.

The Chinatown Night Market is not as impressive as the Richmond Night market, so don’t go out of your way to come here. If you are in the area after dinner Downtown, you can just take a stroll over here after dinner.

Website: http://vancouverchinatownnightmarket.com/

In Canadian

Dishcrawl Vancouver: Exploring the West End

July 1, 2013

Dishcrawl Vancouver invited me to their event focused on West End restaurants. We went to 4 different restaurants in one night, but the catch is that we only knew the first location but the other 3 are a mystery. They try to showcase the best restaurants in this area within walking distance of each other.

There was about 25 people on this particular tour and we headed to Ap Gu Jung, Hida Takayama Ramen, Forage and Capstone Tea & Fondue.

Ap Gu Jung

AP Gu Jung was our first stop. It’s a Korean restaurant located on Robson Street. This place has been here forever. I remember coming here in high school.

The interior has 2 floors and kinda looks like a western pub rather than a korean restaurant because of the playoffs playing on the big screen, jerseys, and a drum kit.

We started off with 4 dishes of banchan, which are complimentary side dishes. There is seaweed, kimchi, broccoli, and potatoes.

On the plate they sampled:

Seafood Pancake
Kimchi Pancake
Chicken Skewers
Pork on Fire
Traditional Beef BBQ
Rice

For people with dietary restrictions, they got some different items. The portions here were pretty good since there were 3 more restaurants to go to. A lot of people couldn’t finish in time, so they did have to pack it to go. We definitely needed more than 40 minutes here.

Hida Takayama Ramen

Hida Takayama Ramen is located inside the Robson Public Market on the 2nd floor. I thought I went to all the ramen places in town, but I was wrong. This ramen joint is very hidden. The prices seem quite fair as it is all under $10.

The owner – Mike Asaoka is very charismatic about the ramen he makes and uses the best ingredients.

Hida Chuka Ramen was one of my favorites. It was simple and representative of some ramen you would find in Japan. The broth is chicken based and flavoured with soy sauce.

White Sesame Ramen was very rich and thick . We ate everything else, but it was hard to drink the broth.

Sweet and Spicy Ramen was ok, but not one of my favorites.

I didn’t fall in love with any of the particular ramen, but I found it very interesting how if you come here on a normal day, the price of the small and the large are EXACTLY the SAME prices. You can get huge bowl of noodles for about $7.

Forage

Our third stop of the night is Forage. I was quite excited about this place because they do have some killer food.

We were welcomed by Chef Wittaker who took us through the farm-to-table concept at forage and let us know what we would be eating.

Nettle gnocchi and brown butter is served in a cast iron pan. The texture of the gnocchi were like little pillows of mashed potatoes.

Foraged and cultivated mushrooms is topped with Okanagan goat cheese and comes with grilled caraway rye bread. I have an addiction for mushrooms, so I polished this dish. Yum Yum!

The Flatbread has pancetta, morel mushrooms, onion béchamel, and Jersey blue cheese. It was thin, crispy and very enjoyable.

Capstone Tea & Fondue

I haven’t been back to Captone in a few years after a bad experience. It’s been a few years and that experience has always stuck in my mind. It was good to see that they rebranded and hopefully this dining experience would be good.

We were given small personal pots of Dark Chocolate Fondue and some assorted items for dipping.

In the bowl were fruit, banana bread, cheesecake, cookies, macrons, and ice cream balls. Don’t leave the ice cream balls till the very end since they will melt. With the hot weather in Vancouver, its best to just gobble them up right away.

It was a nice end of the meal.

By the end of the night, we were all full and ready to have food coma. This is my second Dishcrawl and I still have the same thoughts about these types of events. It’s not an event for everyone. $60 is a little bit steep if you’re a picky eater. Even though they do accomodate dietary restrictions, you may not like certain types of cuisines.

On the bright side, you do get to explore 4 restaurants in one night and are great for indecisive people. Do look out for coupon codes since there are a few floating around for each Dishcrawl tour.

To check out DishCrawl Vancouver: www.dishcrawl.com/vancouver/