Four Beakers Archives - Page 18 of 24

In Culinary School

JJs Restaurant: Dining On A Budget

December 22, 2011

My coworkers and I went to JJ’s Restaurant in Vancouver Community College for our Christmas party. It’s really a perfect location since we work closely with all post secondary institutions. JJs is a great place since it’s cheap and a great learning experience for their culinary students.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad ($4)is one of my favorite items since I love shrimp. I’ve had it before and they’ve added an additional layer of coleslaw on the bottom. It worked really well since it added a unique texture to accompany the shrimp and avocados. On top is garnished with a cherry tomato that was skinned.

Some of us didn’t really like the addition of the cherry tomato because it felt a bit strange with the other flavours.

Lamb Cooked Two Ways($10) has Slow cooked leg of lamb and pan-roasted loin with rosemary jus. In addition, there was brussel sprouts, red cabbage, and mashed potatoes wrapped in phyllo pastry. I wasn’t in love with the pan roasted loin, but the slow cooked leg of lamb was very tender and flavourful. Overall, its still a pretty good dish. Price is awesome too.

Dark chocolate mousse with caramel espresso ice cream ($3) the mousse was nice and chocolatey and went really well with the ice cream. One of their awesome desserts. I did find the dessert a bit cake-like, but it still had the rich chocolate taste.

Overall, great lunch experience at a very affordable price! Sometimes the service is a bit strange, but remember they are all students that are learning. If you are on a budget and want some good food, this is the place to go.

Words of Wisdom:

Lunch is also super affordable!
Closest Skytrain – Stadium
Under $10
You’re missing out if you don’t visit this place!
Make reservations especially during the holidays!

We rate JJ’s Restaurant:

Address:

250 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

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Vancouver

In Dessert

La Chocolaterie: The Best Chocolates In The Lower Mainland

December 21, 2011

La Chocolaterie is the best chocolate store in the Lower Mainland. I really mean that because I have never been so excited and addicted to chocolates until now. Ever since my first bite at the Bakers Market, I have not been able to stop myself. They are my version of Willy Wonka. The owners – Taka & Kayoko have really dedicated themselves on making quality chocolates!

Their store is inside Izumi-Ya Japanese Marketplace. Its a small space, but thats where all the magic happens.

They are best known for their Ganache Chocolates. Really smooth chocolatey texture with amazing balance of flavour. I’m pretty sure they have over 30 flavours. Really unique flavours like blueberry, mango, green tea, black sesame, sake, red bean and even wasabi.

They also have chocolate bars too! These may look normal, but they are truly amazing. Earl Grey and the matcha bars are really good!

These ganache chocolates part of their coconama collection are really the gem of it all!

Favorite Pack ($5) contains 6 of the most popular flavours. You can’t go wrong with this since these are tried and tested flavours.

The green tea is quite strong, so if you aren’t familiar with the taste of green tea, it will be quite bitter.

Adventurers Pack ($5) is not for all. Judging by the flavours, it won’t appeal to everyone. The flavour is very subtle and acts as a secondary flavour to accompany the chocolaty ganache taste. The wasabi is not spicy at all, but you do get the faint flavour of wasabi.

I know some people may be scared of it, but it’s not bad at all.

6 pack of Tarts ($8.80) is assorted and you can choose what flavours you want inside. I initially thought the the tarts were a bit weird, but the tart make the ganache not as sweet. It makes for great presents…but in this case….I ate them all.

I also got Gift Basket A for $30 and it had a good assortment of everything in their store, so my coworkers really enjoyed it.

My all time favorite flavours:

Blueberry, mango, earl grey, coffee, black sesame, strong matcha and lemon basil.

Words of Wisdom:

Great Unforgettable Gifts (especially for the office)…step aside Ferrero Rocher!
Get a gift basket if you want to try a little bit of everything but can’t decide
Can be found at the Vancouver Bakers Market

We Rate La Chocolaterie:
Address:
7971 Alderbridge Way (Inside Izumi-Ya Japanese Marketplace)
Richmond, BC
Website:
http://www.lachocolaterie-vancouver.com/
Twitter:
@TKChocolate

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Vancouver

In Downtown

Guu Garden: Rice Burger Bento Lunch Is Awesome

December 20, 2011

Guu Garden is probably my favorite place to have lunch downtown. It’s cheap and you are guaranteed a fabulous lunch. Plus, I love Japanese food to death. For AvocadoGirl’s last day of work, I took her here since she really needed to see their amazing lunch.

You get super full for about $10.

The lunch menu is above, but they do change once in a while.

We grabbed some tea and waited for our order to arrive. Unfortunately, it was busy at lunch so it did take quite a while for our meal to arrive. I think it took about 30 minutes for our order to arrive. This was quite a bit long since lunch is supposed to be a fast meal. Eventually it did arrive, which is good.

Kobe Beef Hamburg Steak Rice Burger Bento ($10) it comes with green bean fries, prawn & avocado wasabi salad, side dish and miso soup. You can also double the patty for an extra $2.50.

Kobe Beef Hamburg Steak Rice Burger look really good and flavourful. It’s a bit hard to eat with your hands, so I used a knife and fork.

The Kobachi served when I went here was bean sprouts with a little bit of chili sauce. Overall pretty good, but it was small.

Prawn & Avocado Wasabi Salad is another one of my favorite dishes. It doesn’t have a strong overwhelming wasabi taste, so its good for people with varying spicy tolerance.

Green bean fries complimented all the other items nicely since it had a nice crunch. Not oily at all.

Grapes came as the finishing dessert. It was just normal grapes, so can’t really say much about that. They use to have this almond pudding instead and that was so much better than grapes.

Okara & Veggies Korokke Rice Burger Bento ($10) it comes with green bean fries, prawn& avocado wasabi salad, side dish and miso soup. Everything is the same except for the burger.

AvocadoGirl had this and I don’t think she had any complaints.

Pasta of the Day ($10) has their daily pasta, side of avocado shrimp salad and a miso soup.

They warned me that the pasta would be spicy, but it really wasn’t. It had a light tomato sauce with peppers, tomatoes, herbs and bacon. It was alright, but nothing too spectacular.

The miso soup was pretty good! It even has bean curd in it.

It’s the same avocado and shrimp salad that comes with the other combos. YUM!

Avocado Cheesecake surprised me at first! How can you put those two together? It tasted really good, the avocado is subtle but you can still taste it!

Overall, really good lunch deals especially in the downtown area. Highly recommended!

Words of Wisdom:

Amazing $10 bento lunch
Hard to locate the restaurant
Slow service

We Rate Guu Garden:

Address:

M101-888 Nelson Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.guu-izakaya.com

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Vancouver

In Coquitlam

Sushi Elephant: Hot Night Roll, Dancing Lady Roll, & Las Vegas Roll

December 18, 2011

Last time I went to Sushi Elephant, M and I did takeout and didn’t get the full experience of dining in the restaurant. Since a bunch of us were bored, we decided to try out more of the different items. They offer daily specials too.

The inside of the restaurant is quite large and can accomodate large groups!

The Tea was really good. I don’t know what type it was, but we all agreed it was some pretty good tea!

Tuna & Salmon Don ($10) comes with 4 slices of salmon and 4 slices of tuna.

Toro Sashimi ($14) was nice and fatty, but it can be quite expensive.

Katsu Curry ($11) was large! You get a big piece of pork cutlet with a mild curry with a mixture of meat and vegetables. It also comes with a bowl of rice. M though this curry was a bit dull and the sauce was thin. The price was good, but the quality could be a bit better.

Hot Night Roll ($10) has prawn tempura, crab meat and topped with spicy tuna.

The Hot Night roll was pretty good! Unique name for the roll too.

Dancing Lady Roll ($8) was something I’ve never seen before. The sushi roll was cut very thinly and plated like a dancing lady.

Las Vegas Roll ($8) has a little bit of everything – salmon, avocado, cream cheese, crab meat and some other stuff.

The roll was quite large and sizeable.

What I love about some rolls is how the outside of the rice is a bit toasted, so it gives it a nice texture.

Chocolate Covered Almonds and Frozen Grapes were a good touch to the end of the meal. I’m not a fan of chocolate at the end of the meal, but frozen grapes are awesome!

Overall, we were both amazed by the quality and taste of the rolls, but certain items can get be expensive. Since this restaurant is Korean owned, it does have a bit of a Korean twist to certain rolls.

Words of Wisdom:

Very good rolls
Daily Specials
Accommodates large groups
Lots of parking
Slightly expensive
Closest Skytrain: Lougheed Town Centre

We Rate Sushi Elephant:

Address:
403 North Rd
Coquitlam, BC

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In Cambodian

Phnom Penh: Delivered By Foodsters

December 16, 2011

The hardest thing about studying for final exams on campus is how crappy the food is…and how nothing is open at night. M, Scarface and I were studying and we really didn’t want to go off the hill to find food…plus there is nothing good nearby anyways.

There is this new service called Foodsters.ca and they deliver food from any restaurant to you. Pretty awesome concept especially when certain popular restaurants don’t deliver… or are out of range.

Since the three of us wanted some killer study food, we wanted Phnom Penh but didn’t want to do much of anything. So, we put in a request to Foodsters.ca and it was delivered in about 30-40 mins. Pretty good timing since we were near Coquitlam. All you need is a credit card.

We ordered two Vietnamese Ice coffees, Chicken wings, Butter beef and the luc lac. Perfect set of items for our hungry stomaches.

Butter Beef ($8.95) was much smaller than what you would have in the restaurant. Take out food always seems to be a bit smaller than dining -in. They give you this large constrainer of sauce and trust me, do not pour this onto the meat! Best to dip the beef slices into the cup of sauce. Nonetheless it was delicious!

Deep Fried Chicken Wings ($12.50) is another staple dish that you must get! It is topped off with garlic, onion, and other stuff. They left out the lemon and pepper sauce to go with the wings, which is sad since you can taste more the salt or MSG.

Luc Lac with egg is a rice dish with a bunch of tender marinated beef. This beef was really really tender!! It also comes with side of salad and cucumbers to balance out the meaty dish. You probably don’t want to pour all the sauce on top either since unless you wanting it to drown in that sauce.

It didn’t come with the complementary beef bone soup 🙁

Overall, it was pretty painless ordering from Foodsters.ca . It’s great for lazy students who just want food delivered to them! Since there is a delivery fee, it’s always best to order in large groups so it doesn’t seem like a huge addition to your bill. They also have a Christmas Campaign going on right now where you can donate 10 cans of food and receive free delivery!

The food from Phnom Penh was delicious as usual, but it was missing a few items. I had about the same meal when I was dining-in and this is how it com pared (https://foodology.ca/?p=7363). I always find that the usual items that are most popular will tingle your taste buds. Good price with good food! Can’t go wrong.

Words of Wisdom:

Marinated Butter beef, Chicken Wings, Luc Lac, and Deep fried squid!!!

We Rate Phnom Penh:

Address:

244 E Georgia St
Vancouver, BC

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In Bakery

French Made Baking: Macarons, Caneles, & Totoro Macarons

December 6, 2011

I go to a few food markets in Vancouver and I always have such good luck bumping into Catherine of French Made Baking. Catherine and David own French Made Baking and they can be found all over town selling their delicious treats.

Their most popular items are the Macarons and Le Caneles. Those are the items I usually purchase.

Le Caneles ($2.50 each or 5 for $10) is a small French Pastry. It is flavored with run and vanilla and baked in a mould.

I’ve never had anything like it! I’ve been to France, but I didn’t discover this till now. It’s just so good! It’s a bit custard-like in the middle with a nice golden exterior.

It goes very well with coffee and tea! Eating it just really makes me smile because it’s SO GOOD!

The Macarons ($2 each or 6 for $10) are 2 almond meringue sandwiching a ganache filling. What I love about their Macarons are that they taste good and don’t have too much food coloring

Le Breton filling has Salted Butter Caramel, Fleur de sel, sugar, butter, cream, and toffee bits.

Le Yuzu filling has yuzu juice, cream, and dark chocolate.

Le Passion filling has cream, milk chocolate, and passion fruit.

Le Framboise filling has white chocolate and raspberry jam. It’s also dairy free.

This is their Totoro Macaron that made everyone go crazy. I actually didn’t know they sold this especially for the Nikkei Center Craft and Bake Fair. Sadly it doesn’t taste like a Totoro…not that anyone would know how he tastes like.

It is made with their L’Anglais filling which is made of milk chocolate, cream and earl grey tea.

So cute, who could resist?

Soon they will be opening up a store soon on 81 Kingsway near Broadway and Main ! I’m just waiting for the day it opens!

Overall, pretty delicious macarons and Caneles.

Words of Wisdom:

Found at local bakers market or farmers market (Check their website for where they will be)
Must get the macarons and caneles!!
Store coming soon.

We Rate French Made Baking:
Website:
http://frenchmadebaking.com/
Twitter:
@FrMadeBaking

In Four Beakers

Aki Japanese: Lunch Combos Are The Way To Go

November 13, 2011

After going to Aki Japanese twice for lunch and once for dinner…I have to say I really enjoy their lunches much more than their dinners. Even though they have been around for a long time, I find their lunch is the best. With so many other Japanese restaurants surrounding the area, their dinners are not as good as others.

I came to lunch with my coworker that had a so-so experience here for dinner. Sometimes places require a second chance to discover how amazing they can be.

Lunch Box A ($10.75). This combo has miso soup, sunomono, short ribs, tuna and salmon sashimi, chicken karrage, pickled vegetables and rice.

She liked it since it has a little bit of everything. By the end of the meal, she was full!

Sushi Combo (~$11) has 4 pieces of nigiri, tuna and salmon sashimi, california roll and a few maki rolls. I was feeling like sushi, so this combo filled up my cravings. The quality of the fish is really good. The rolls were well built too.

Overall, we really enjoyed our lunch here! If you want a good experience and not kill your wallet, best to come here for lunch.

Words of Wisdom:

Closest Skytrain: Burrard
Decent pricing
Good quality
Lunch Boxes best for lunch

We Rate Aki Japanese Restaurant:

Address:

745 Thurlow St
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Tacofino Blue Food Truck: It’s all about the Burrito

November 9, 2011

I saw that there was another Tacofino truck near Burrard, but it had a different name “Tacofino Blue”. When I got there I just laughed because it was actually blue. I spent the whole morning trying to figure out how this one would be different than their other location. There is a big big difference between the two trucks – BURRITOS!

They still have a few tacos at this location, but you never know when they will be there or not. They don’t specialize in tacos here.

Their main menu has mostly Burritos. If you are feeling like Burritos, come here instead of their orange truck.

The burrito at first may seem a bit on the small side for about $10, but it has quite a bit of weight to it.

Chicken Burrito ($10) has slow cooked chicken with refried black beans, seasoned basmati rice, sour cream, chipotle mayo, salsa fresca and shredded cabbage rolled in a warm 12” flour tortilla. I really loved all the sauces and the flavours mixed together in this burrito. I was stuffed, so the $10 price tag was worth it.

Words of Wisdom:

Burrito are really filling
Tuna Ta Taco + Pork Gringa + Jarritos = Best meal!!
Really busy during lunch
Can get messy
Closest Skytrain: Burrard

We Rate Tacofino Blue:

Location: Burrard x Dunsmiur

Website: www.tacofino.com

Twitter: @TacoFinoCantina

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/TacoFino-Vancouver/157314964322202

In Coquitlam

Sushi Elephant: New Sushi Restaurant on North Road

October 30, 2011

I always visit the North Road area, so when I saw this huge blue sushi restaurant and I thought I should check it out. Their interior had a very strange layout. When you walk in, you are greeted by someone at a counter and you see 2 couches and thats it. The main dining area is hidden behind that wall. It kinda reminds me of a sketchy massage parlour if you know what I mean.

Nonetheless, it’s just a restaurant and I’m a bit delusional. M and I decided to just do takeout since it looked pretty dead inside and M didn’t want to dine-in. He’s weird like that. Sushi Elephant specializes in Japanese food, but I think they are Korean owned.

Spicy tuna combo ($10) has the spicy tuna roll and 5 pcs of nigiri. The price was decent, but a tad on the expensive side.

The nigiri was really good! It came with 2 salmon, 2 tuna and 1 ebi. Quality of the raw fish was really good!

Spicy tuna had a lot of filling which M and I really liked! It had a good amount of spiciness to it and it was again really good!

Miso soup comes with all combos. Like most restaurants, its quite average and there isn’t anything special to it.

We then got the Elephant Combo ($16), which has the sexy dynamite roll and elephant roll. You save $2 and get a miso soup.

Sexy Dynamite Roll is battered on the outside and then deep fried. It has crab meat, ebi and avocados. It was really well made and I was quite surprised.

Elephant Roll has salmon, ebi, avocados, crab and a spicy sauce on top. It was also very good and the sauce just added the little bit of spiciness it needed.

Overall, we were both amazed by the quality and taste of the rolls, but certain items can get quite expensive.

Words of Wisdom:

Very good rolls
Lots of parking
Slightly expensive
Closest Skytrain: Lougheed Town Centre

We Rate Sushi Elephant:

Address:
403 North Rd
Coquitlam, BC

In Downtown

Osa Tako Hero Takoyaki Food Cart: Best Takoyaki Ever

October 27, 2011

A new food cart has popped up at the other end of Pacific Center! I was just walking by and I just had to stop dead in my tracks to try this place out.

Osa Tako Hero specilizes in authentic Takoyaki. Their whole cart is theme like an cartoon RPG game. I was actually quite surprise and confused at the same time.

Their takoyaki is made of octopus (tako), a secret batter, green tea, cabbage, carrot, onion and seaweed. All their ingredients are fresh.

I took me a long time to figure out how to read the menu since the RPG theme made it so confusing. All you need to do is read the “hero magic scroll” and follow the steps!

Choose how many balls you want (5,7 or 10)
Choose your sauce ( takoyaki sauce +mayo or spicy takoyaki +mayo)
Choose your toppings ( Curry powder, shredded cheese, seaweed, maple syrup, or bonito flakes

Spicy takoyaki sauce + Curry Powder (10 – $5.99) I really had no idea what I was thinking when I made these 2 flavour combination. It didn’t taste bad, but I think it would have just been better with the traditional mayo and the bonito flakes instead.

I love how they make the takoyaki!!!!! It was nice and soft on the inside with a large piece of octopus on the inside. The octopus tastes really fresh!! It literally blew my mind! SO much better than the ones at the Richmond Night Market. If you are a takoyaki fan, you must try this food cart out!!

Overall, very impressed by the taste and quality. Best I’ve ever had!

Words of Wisdom:

Very well made!
Good Price! Under $10
A large selection of toppings!
stick with the normal teriyaki and mayo sauces with bonito flakes
Best takoyaki I’ve ever had!

We Rate Osa Tako Hero:
Location:
Howe & W. Pender – in front of Pacific Center Mall entrance

Website:
http://www.osatakohero.com/

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Vancouver

In Downtown

Mom’s Grilled Cheese Food Truck: Nom Nom Nom Omigosh!

October 25, 2011

Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck has been catching A LOT of buzz since it just opened a week or so ago! They specialize in GRILLED CHEESE! Nothing gets more delicious than that. Remember when you were a kid, grilled cheese was that ooey gooey snack that you craved so much?

When I arrived a little past noon, the line up was HUGE! It spread at least to that lamp post! Even it was a cold day, the people faced the cold to get grilled cheese! We actually waited 30 mins before we got our food. It was ok considering there were SO many people in front of us. Best to come with a friend to wait out the line. OR just go early or late to avoid the long line ups.

Then menu has a few specialities, build-it-yourself type of options, dessert, sides and drinks. Their desserts looks so good as well! The Fat Elvis has peanut butter and banana on grilled white bread. Even though the specialties are limited, you have endless combinations with the sandwich you want to build.

Sometimes they even have daily specials on their Facebook and twitter, so best to like and follow them.

Pop Shoppe Pop ($1.75) looks super retro, but I’ve heard it tastes amazing.

Roasted Tomato Soup (Cup $3.50) is the best tomato soup I have ever had. No joke about that! It’s worth it! I usually don’t like tomato soup, but this soup changed my whole perception of tomato soup. It is also topped with basil mascarpone, which is a yummy addition!

Karen’s Killer Chili ($5.50) is topped with cheddar, sour cream, and cilantro. My coworker had this as a “super deluxe add-on” to her sandwich, but I think they just gave her the full size. I don’t think she minded the mix up since she got way more than what she paid for.

As you wait for your sandwiches, you can sip on your hot soup or chili and watch “mom” hard at work grilling those sandwiches!

The Jackson 3 ($8.50) has triple cheese, triple decker grilled cheese…three pieces of sourdough surrounded by melted, Brie, Boursin and Gruyere! This was huge! When I was reading the menu, I missed the part where it said it was 3 pieces of bread. Look how big it is!

Look at that, isn’t that so pretty? The Brie, Boursin and Gruyere are melted inside so nicely with the nice crunchy sourdough bread. If you have a big stomach, totally get this!! Look how small my hand is compared to the sandwich!

If you like an extra kick to your sandwich, they have a bunch of hot sauces that you can add to your sandwich.

Your meal doesn’t just come with the sandwich! It comes with a wedge of pickle and chips! It’s was a nice surprise to see that since I originally thought I wouldn’t get full from just a sandwich. The chips were very good as well. I got super full and had foodcoma.

My other coworkers decided to build their own. Looks pretty good right? (P.s. does not come with iPhone 4s)

The sandwiches are very to vegans too! They have a special Daiya vegan cheese for an additional $.75!

Overall, I wasn’t disappointed in anything they made! It’s pretty popular right now, so you may end up waiting a bit in line.

Words of Wisdom:

Roasted Tomato Soup is a MUST!!!
Love the sourdough bread!
Under $10
Surprise addition of the chips and pickle!
Not something that you can have everyday…so cheesy and oily.

We Rate Mom’s Grilled Cheese Food Truck:
Address:
800 W Georgia St
Vancouver, BC
Website:
momsgrilledcheesetruck.com

Facebook:
facebook.com

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Vancouver

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Bandidas Taqueria: Vegetarian Tacos!

October 10, 2011

Bandidas Taqueria is a vegetarian Mexican joint on Commercial that sells some amazing vegetarian tacos. Since I have not seen Eva in a while, so some taco from Bandidas Taquria seemed fitting since she’s a vegetarian.

The interior is very rustic and has lots of tables.

The tables even have these cute little micro plants.

Horchata is a traditional Mexican rice beverage. It’s refreshing, sweet, milky, nutty and has a nice cinnamon taste.

Ronny Russell Taco has roasted yams and onions, fresh guacamole, black beans, green salsa, purple cabbage and toasted pumpkin seeds. You can turn the 2 tacos into an entrée for a little bit extra and you get rice and beans on the side. Eva usually gets this dish quite often, which means this must be good.

Fajitas ($12) has smoked tempeh, sautéed strips of poblano chilies, onions and red peppers. It is also served with rice, beans, cheese, roasted salsa, sour cream, red cabbage and corn tortillas. This was a pretty big plate of food.

I don’t usually eat vegetarian food, but this was so good! The flavours were amazing and the tempeh tasted very good. Tempeh is like a dense version of tofu.

Bandidas Taqeria did not disappoint at all! Good food, good location and good company!

Words of Wisdom:

No reservations
All Vegetarian food
Good quality ingredients
Closest Skytrain: Commercial/Broadway stn

We rate Bandidas Taqueria:

Address:

2781 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.bandidastaqueria.com

In Four Beakers

Pho Tam: Best Pho in Town

October 6, 2011

I started having class at SFU Surrey Campus and I was super excited because I could finally check out Pho Tam! They are known for the best Pho in the Lower Mainland! They may look pretty ghetto, but they do have the best pho and I really had to see for myself.

The interior is alright. It has lots of tables and there is always someone inside chowing down on rice or noodles.

There’s lots to choose from the menu, so it might take you a while to figure out what you want.

Their garnishes looked pretty fresh!

#1 House Special (L-$7.50) has beef and rice noodle in soup. It basically has everything in here. So, if you have no idea what you want in your pho, just choose this.

They also have a special combo, where you can add a spring roll to your pho for $9.75. This was probably the strangest looking spring roll i’ve had, but it was good. Crispy on the outside and savory on the inside.

#7 Well done beef slices Beef tripe and rice noodle in soup (L -$7.50) it has lots of meat and tripe!!

#6 Rare beef slices beef tendon and rice noodle in soup (Large- $7.50) made me super full! There was so much meat inside! Best pho I’ve ever had! This is really worth your money!

It had so much tendon! By the end of the meal, I still had so much tendon. My friends had to basically force feed me to finish the rest.

I don’t remember what this one was, but it looks good too!

#68 Grilled lemon grass chicken and spring rolls with steamed rice ($8.50) this was huge! Large slab of chicken, 2 spring rolls and lots of rice!

Pho Tam definitely met my expectations with their huge bowls of pho full of meat! Cheap too!

Words of Wisdom:

House Pho is the way to go
Limited parking
Closest Skytrain: Surrey Central
Under $10
Cash Only

We Rate Pho Tam:

Address:

10302 135 St
Surrey, BC

In Four Beakers

Cafe Medina: Lineups + Delicious Lunch

September 20, 2011

CanuckGirl gets off early sometimes, so I take advantage of it and eat delicious lunches without feeling lonely! I have to admit, I do quite often eat lunch alone and it can be mighty depressing. CanuckGirl loves Cafe Medina and they have a reputation of delicious eats…especially brunch!

I’ve been doing quite a few revisits lately, but every visit is special to me and it’s a good way to see how consistant restaurants are with their quality. Also, it’s good to note if something changes.

Whenever I see Matcha Latte (12oz – $4.25) on a menu, I must have it. I honestly did not like their matcha latte. I found it very gritty and made me want to grab some water. I have pretty high standard for matcha lattes ever since I’ve been to Sajin’s Green Tea House. Once you go to Sajin’s nothing else can really compare.

Best to stick with the Lavender latte instead when you are here.

They ran out of a few things on the menu, so CanuckGirl ordered the Saumon Fume ($12). It is served on a toasted open faced ciabatta bread with a fried egg, smoked salmon, caper cream cheese, avocados, and arugula. You don’t need to put these together like a sandwich, it’s best eaten separately with a knife and fork.

The best part is really the runny yolk. It’s always fun to pop it and smother it all over everything!

I felt very very meaty today, so I got the Les Boulettes ($14). The meatballs are made out of spicy moroccan lamb and beef. It’s actually not that spicy. In the sauce, there is roasted vegetables! to complement the meaty side of the dish, they also serve you with hummus and grilled foccacia. The taste of the meatballs were very nice, but I felt like I needed some rice to go with this. Perhaps that just my asian self craving rice. It was still a filling dish with exotic flavours.

Overall, the food at Cafe Medina is quite consistant. Even the line ups are consistant. I wouldn’t be embarrassed to bring anyone here. Great food and great atmosphere!

Words of Wisdom:

2 hours free parking at Tinsel Town (I know its for patrons…but FREE parking! I break rules)
Waffles and lavender lattes are popular
Best to go in 2s for quick seating

We rated Cafe Media:

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

Address:

556 Beatty St
Vancouver, BC

In Chinatown

Phnom Penh: Coffee, Butter Beef, Wings and Luc Lac

September 19, 2011

Back to Phnom Penh to try more of their delicious food! @etodac grabbed a few of us here because he just needed to try their famous chicken wings. I wanted to come here for more butter beef…if you’ve tried Phnom Penh before, you know what I’m taking about.

If you are new to Phnom Penh, they are a vietnamese restaurant serving up authentic dishes. It is the most talked about restaurant in Vancouver. The have amazing food at great prices… but it’s in the sketchy area of Chinatown.

Phnom Penh is always packed! For 4 people, it took us about 15 minutes to get a table. The turnover rate of each table gets cleared pretty fast. The larger the group, the longer it will to get a table. They have won numerous awards and is the “go to” place for Vietnamese food! Forget the Pho…theres more to their cuisine that just that.

Condensed Milk Iced Coffee is something I have to get here…every single time! You just wait for the coffee to drip down, then you mix the coffee and the condensed milk together. To cool it down, just add the ice. I love this coffee because its bold and strong!

The Buttered Beef ($8.95) is one of the dishes that I always get! You can’t come here and not try it… unless you are a vegetarian or hate raw beef. Its a dish that is great for sharing…plus you don’t want to eat this all by yourself or else you might get a heart attack.

Deep Fried Chicken Wings ($12.50) is another staple dish that you must get! It is topped off with garlic, onion, and other stuff. There’s also a lemon and pepper sauce to go with the wings.

Luc Lac with no egg is a rice dish with a bunch of tender marinated beef. This beef was really really tender!! It also comes with side of salad and cucumbers to balance out the meaty dish.

It also comes with a a beef bone soup on the side as well.

Phnom Penh two kinds of noodle no broth wasn’t as exciting as the other dishes. The two types of noodles are egg and rice. It was alright, but didn’t stand out.

Beef Bone Soup comes complementary with the rice or noodle dishes on the menu. Very nice clean broth with a good chunk of meat.

I always find that the usual items that are most popular will tingle your taste buds. Good price with good food! Can’t go wrong.

Words of Wisdom:

Very busy during peak hours…line up for sure!
Marinated Butter beef, Chicken Wings, Luc Lac, and Deep fried squid!!!
Metered parking on street
Kinda sketch looking area….near chinatown
Closest Skytrain: Main

We Rate Phnom Penh:

Address:

244 E Georgia St
Vancouver, BC

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Vancouver

In Four Beakers

Sushiyama: Cheap + Amazing Bento Boxes

September 17, 2011

InsecureGirl and I were itching to eat before we had to go to a friends party Downtown, so we decided to check out Sushiyama, I’ve heard their ebi sunomono was huge and people keep telling me to go.

The owners of Sushiyama are Korean, so don’t expect this to be super authentic. It seems like its a trend for Koreans to open up Japanese Restaurants for some reason.

Deluxe Yama Box ($12.95) comes with miso soup, assorted sashimi, ebi sunomono, gyoza, tempura and spicy tuna roll. For the price that you pay, its a really good deal

The miso soup is similar to most restaurants with the addition of the green onion.

The ebi sunomo is probably the best I have had in a while. This is because of their larger pieces of ebi. They are still not the best ebi, but it makes the sunomono much appealing to devour.

The assorted tempura is lightly battered and had the yummy “crunch” when you bite into it. I think if they added a little bit more salt, the flavours of the ebi and vegetables would pop out more.

The Gyoza is deep fried and comes with 2 pieces for this combo.

The assorted sashimi comes with 2 of each type – tuna, salmon, red snapper and toro. Good sized pieces and they were really good!

The spicy tuna roll was cut up Korean style…like how they cut the Kimbap. It had a good amount of spicy sauce added to the tuna , it is them complemented by the cucumbers and avocado to tone down the heat. Very enjoyable!

In addition to the Combo, we ordered Grilled Black Cod. I forgot what the price was, but it was definitely under $10. InsecureGirl wanted this because it just melts in your mouth! I had it a few time before at other restaurants and it still pretty good here! The meat is very tender and a bit oily.

Overall, the food was decent and it was cheap! The downside is that this place is PACKED and service is quite mediocre. If you can handle that, then you should be alright.

Words of Wisdom:

Very cheap and affordable
Mediocre service
Long Lines
Best to go in 2’s if you hate to wait. the larger the group, the long it will take
Bento boxes are of great value if you want to try a bit of everything

We Rate Sushiyama:

Address:
371 E Broadway
Vancouver, BC

In Four Beakers

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese: “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese

September 16, 2011

I came here a while ago with a few of my friends. I’ve been to Pike Place in Seattle before, but I never knew it was home to the “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese. The next time I visited, I knew this had to be on my list of places to go. I found out through Follow Me Foodie’s post about Beecher’s Handmade Cheese.

When we arrived in the afternoon, this place was packed! Line ups out the doors and people were everywhere. All these cheese are made in house and used in all their products.

They have a large open room, so while you wait, you can watch their staff in action making all the cheese. There’s so much cheese!!

Here’s a very bad view of their menu! I couldn’t move around to find a good spot to take a photo.

I know this is the place for Mac & Cheese, but we really couldn’t leave without some grilled cheese. With a row of their panini presses, you can’t resist!

Ham & Flagship ($7.27 USD) has ham, their all natural Flagship cheese and tomato on a rustic artisan bread. Imagine your classic ham and cheese, but so much better! The outside in perfectly grilled, so when you bite into it, you get an amazing “CRUNCH”. The inside is savory and deliciously gooey!

Grilled Cheese ($5.91 USD) is made with the Flagship cheese in the rustic artisan bread. Nicely toasted and it’s so good! Good choice of bread and quality of cheese just make this sandwich amazing!

‘World’s Best’ Mac & Cheese (5oz- $5 USD) is very very very very good! It is made with penne pasta with a good amount of their Flagship cheese. The whole dish is very savory and is very rich. I’ve never had anything as good as this.

Mariachi Mac & Cheese (5oz- $5 USD) is a Mexican twist to the traditional Mac & Cheese. It contains roasted chilies, vegetables, their Flagship cheese with penne. We all shared this and it was not our favorite. It does have an added kick, but the ‘World’s Best’ Mac & Cheese is still our favorite.

Overall, very amazing eat here if you are a cheese lover. They take a lot of pride in their flagship cheese and the quality really shows when you grab food here.

Words of Wisdom:

Recommended items: ‘World’s Best’ Mac & Cheese + Grilled Cheese
Packed during peak hours.. or long weekends
Decent prices
Under $10
AMAZING Delicious food!

We Rate Beecher’s Handmade Cheese:

Address:

1600 Pike Pl
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.beechershandmadecheese.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/beecherscheese

Twitter:

@BeechersSeattle

In Chinese

Tai Wan Restaurant: Amazing Korean Style Chinese Food

August 28, 2011

I was at Metropolis Comics & Toys near Metrotown buying some KidRobot Figurines, when M wanted to get some food close by. He didn’t want to walk far to find food, so we stayed on the same block to find something. I was so surprised at the restaurants on the block! I always thought it was super sketch.

Turns out there is a restaurant called Tai Won specializing in Korean-Style Chinese food. If you have never had Korean Style Chinese food, you must have some! It might even be better than authentic Chinese food. At one point, the restaurant was pretty packed for dinner time.

The tea is complementary like most restaurant and comes in a tea pot.

Their menu is quite simple and does not offer a large array of choices. Nonetheless, the items are good.

Like most Korean restauants, they provide you with complementary side dishes called banchan. Instead of the usual spicy sides such as kimchi, they have pickled radish and cabbage. It is pickled in vinegar and sugar. These are some of my favorite side dishes … and I ate all of them by myself. I didn’t want to share with M. hehehe.

Koon Man Doo / Deep Fried Dumplings ($6.99) has choppped pork and veggies inside. It is perfectly deep fried and has a nice crunch when you bite into it. One of my favorite dumplings ever. Definitely recommended.

Since you want some dipping sauce for the dumplings. Mix these 3 ingredients together. I think it’s vinegar, soysauce and chili powder. Mix these all together and you will get the perfect sauce to go with your fried dumplings.

Bo Keum Bab ($7.99) has fried rice with veggies, shrimp and ham. It is them topped off with the traditional korean black bean sauce. M really liked the dish.

Yoo San Seul Bab ($8.99) has rice with assorted veggies, pork and seafood on top. There’s a lot of sauce, so when you mix it around you will have plenty of sauce and taste of the rice. It kinda reminded me of the chinese egg swirl with rice, but with no egg. Still very delicious.

Overall, very good place despite the somewhat sketchy location.

Words of Wisdom: