Three Beakers Archives - Page 54 of 63

In Downtown

Bun Me Baguette Food Cart: Banh Mi Vietnamese Sandwiches

July 27, 2011

Bun Me Baguette is one of the newer Food Carts in Vancouver. They serve up Vietnamese style baguettes. Who doesn’t love grabbing a quick baguette rather than the usual hotdog? This really reminded me of the NomNom Food Truck in the states…but with just Banh Mi.

It took me a long long time to figure out why this cart is called “Bun Me” Baguette. It sounds similar to “Banh Mi”, which is the Vietnamese word of these baguettes.

The prices are quite affordable for $4.25 each. It’s actually a pretty good price compared to the other food carts Downtown. You have a vegetarian option too if you aren’t into chicken.

To keep quenched from the non-existant Summer weather, Coke ($1.25) and Black Soy Milk ($0.75) seemed like a good idea. I have always had regular Soy Milk, but black soy milk was new to me. It tastes more grittier texture since it’s made of black beans and its a bit thicker. It’s supposedly healthier too. I actually just prefer the normal sweetened soy milk than the black soy milk.

I ordered the BBQ Lemon Chicken Baguette ($4.25), it is a classic Banh Mi stuffed with lemongrass chicken, mayo, cucumber, cilantro, and pickled vegetables. It was quite large and I felt kinda powerful carrying this down Robson Street. If someone robbed you, you could take this and hit them over the head with it…but then at the same time you might ruin your lunch.

I really like their bread since its tough on the outside and soft on the inside, the taste of the bread was pretty good as well. I found that the flavours were well put together, but I couldn’t help noticing the amount of meat. There really could have been more since it would have made the baguette more enjoyable.

Overall, it’s decent, but there just needs to have more meat. Maybe they should just have an option to double the meat for a dollar or something…that would be nice.

Words of Wisdom:

Under $5
Vegetarian Friendly
Closest Skytrain: Burrard or Granville

We Rate Bun Me Baguette Food Cart:

Address:

Robson St and Hornby St
Vancouver, BC

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bun-Me-Baguette/154294347972371

In Cafe

Renaissance Coffee: Quick Cheap Lunch for the SFU Student

July 26, 2011

As a student, we don’t really have that much money to spend on food. I’ve decided I would try to find some good deals for lunch whether it be on-campus or off campus. Sometimes I do get cravings so I will splurge if it’s something I can’t resist…thats why its just so hard to save money 🙁

At SFU, it’s really hard to find food that is decent and at a reasonable. I am sure we all have had our share of disgusting meals. One place I quite like is Renaissance Coffee at Cornerstone. At lunch they have some pretty good deals that won’t kill your wallet.

I ordered the Half Panini Combo with a Small Latte ($5.60). I actually thought it would be a bit more, but perhaps there was a discount when getting the latte. You get a soup of your choice and half a panini of your choice as well with the combo.

This is so much better than instant noodles or the horrible Koya Chicken Teriyaki that you can get elsewhere on campus.

The Latte was quite normal, nothing too strange about it. One thing to note is that when you order drinks and food together, the drink won’t be delivered to you, so you need to wait at the counter till your beverage is called.

The chicken soup has some sizable pieces of chicken and noodles. I kinda doubt they make it themselves since they have about 8 soups available. It’s still better than the Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.

I got the Roast Beef Panini and it was nicely toasted on the outside. The inside has roast beef and mozzarella cheese. There isn’t a lot of meat, but it is gooey like a grilled cheese sandwich.

The food here is quick, but don’t expect amazing quality. For a student on a budget, this is not bad.

Words of Wisdom:

Long line ups during peak times
Free Wifi
Butter chicken at AQ Location
Panini’s & soups at Cornerstone Location
Usually the greek salad, pasta salad, wraps and yogurt are good choices for quick eats

We rate Renaissance Coffee:

Address:

8906 University High St
Burnaby, BC

In Downtown

NaanWraps Food Truck: Is It a Tree? Is It Green Lantern?…Nope, it’s Indian Food

July 23, 2011

I was randomly looking for a new Food Cart to eat at during my lunch break. I stumbled upon NaanWraps on Burrard. They operate on limited days, so you can’t always find them downtown.

Just look out for the large green truck and you know you have arrived here.

As the name of their truck suggests, they specialize in Tandoori Naanwraps. Their menu is quite limited and they tend to sell out of a few items.

Mango Lassi ($3.49) has yogurt, mango, and 2% milk. It’s a good refreshing drink for a hot afternoon. I love mangoes! They make them ahead of time, so you don’t need to wait for your drink.

Tanoori NaanWrap ($6.48) has tandoori chicken, bell peppers, onions, rice and mint sauce wrapped in Naan.

The wrap was larger than I expected and was definitely worth the money! The chicken was moist and the mint sauce was subtle and not too overpowering. All the ingredients worked well with each other and I had no complaints. I was super stuffed and walked back to the office happy.

Overall, good value for what you get!

Words of Wisdom:

Under $10
Credit, Debt, Cash
Tandoori NaanWrap is a must!
Closest Skytrain: Burrard Stn

We Rate NaanWrap:

Address:

400 Burrard st
Vancouver, BC

Twitter: @naanwraps

In Indian

Himalayan Peak: Naanwich, New Sandwich Technology?

July 23, 2011

Being on the SFU Burnaby Campus once a week still gives me plenty of time to check out their food. There really isn’t too much variety, but one of the better restaurants is the Himalayan Peak. They serve up Indian food!

There’s plenty of space for large groups or just a small bunch. They also take reservations. I would always go here with my coworkers for the all-you-can-eat buffets during lunch. Always a good deal for buffet.

Fabo and I ended class and headed here for their Naan-wich. I had it a long long time ago and I remembered it was a pretty strange concept.

When we sat down at the table, we instantly saw a little sign about the naan-wich. I read “A New Era in Sandwich Technology”, I thought it was a super weird tagline for the sandwich. I mean, how revolutionary can this be? Or do they just have horrible marketing?

The naan-wich comes in 2 choices chicken or vegetarian for $7. Since Fabo and I were meat eaters, we both had the chicken naan-wich.

The naan-wich was cut up into 4 quarters and resembled a quesadilla. I found that this was quite messy to eat since one of the naan breads would want to fall off as the other ingredients tried to slide off the other half. They really needed more stickiness on one side to stay adhered them together.

Fabo and I had different strategies of eating this and I just adopted the pizza way of eating this. You will need napkins. Even though this is so, the flavours were pretty good and naan is just so good! I really love naan bread!

The few days later, I was having lunch Downtown with my supervisor and she was taking about the “naan sandwich” at SFU, so I whipped out my camera and showed her. We thought it was a bit funny how it was such a coincidence that I had the photo on my phone.

When you pay your bill at the counter, you will find this strange bowl of candy with a spoon. It is Candied Fennel Seeds. It is very crunchy and tastes like anise or licorice. It refreshes your pallet after the meal!

Overall, it was a good snack and I really love the unique concept.

Words of Wisdom:

Regular items on the menu are quite pricey
All you can eat Buffet at noon is quite popular
Naan-wich is recommended or the paneer
No free parking anymore 🙁
SFU Student? Free Parking at UniverCity (they don’t check the 2 hr limit)

We Rate Himalayan Peak:

Address:

8901 University High St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.himalayanpeak.ca

In Brunch

Bandidas Taqueria: Veggie Bacon Strips, Veggie Bacon Strips

July 22, 2011

Waking up early is not my favorite thing in the world. Time is really best spent sleeping in, @wongers told me to meet up with the #YVRbreakfastclub at Bandidas Taqueria for some vegetarian breakfast and some good times with fellow twitterers such as @mananetwork @mini604 @wongers @alexglee @graceeeyang @EarlAlikpala
@gluttonwithacam @richerd and @alexglee .

Bandidas is near Commercial and they are quite popular for their vegetarian Mexican cuisine. I’ve heard much about this place but never had time to eat here.

The interior was pretty decent. If you want to go with a large group, it’s best to call ahead of time to let them know the size of your party so they can set up the tables before they open. They don’t do reservations, so it is best to go about 10 mins before opening to line up.

There wasn’t a huge line up, but it slowly did get filled up by other patrons.

They have a brunch menu and an all day breakfast section as well.

Its pretty cool how all their water are in jars.

Early morning breakfast is best with coffee! I live off coffee and thats what keeps me going and going.

Alan’s Breakfast ($11.75) has romaine, purple cabbage, cilantro, cheese, pinto beans, balsamic vinaigrette, guacamole, and fresh salsa, topped with two fried free-range eggs. It was basically a breakfast salad. I thought it was pretty good since the guacamole, salsa, and the beans really worked well with all the ingredients.

It was a light refreshing breakfast. I did get quite full from this as well.

I also added a side of Veggie Bacon ($2.25). I have never had veggie bacon and it really did not taste bad. Since they added some salt to it, it really mirrored the taste and crunchiness of bacon. When you try to taste the flavours of the veggie bacon, it is something familiar. I am not 100% what it’s made out of, but it reminded me of those asian fish sausages.

I found that the veggie bacon was quite expensive considering it was only 2 pieces.

Overall, we did have a great time. The waitress was really nice and accommodating. They forgot @richerd ‘s Horchata and brought it later on in the meal, they compensated him for the mishap by not charging him for it. The other items that people ordered seemed pretty good as well.

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 Downtown

Ha Long Bay Vietnamese Restaurant: Good Addition to Pender St.

July 15, 2011

Its interesting when restaurants close and a new one pops up. In the case of The Best Pho House, it looked sketchy as hell. A few weeks ago, a new Pho restaurant called Ha Long Bay opened up. The definitely refreshed the look of the exterior and changed it to a bright blue. It seemed more welcoming, so Mandu and I headed out for some lunch.

The interior is quite small, but there were enough tables for the rest of the lunch crowd. The server was super awkward most of the time as well. This must be run by a family since this young girl kept filling up our tea and clearing out dishes.

Looking at the menu, there are the usual items you would expect in a Vietnamese restaurant. There are also pictures surrounding the walls of the restaurant, so you can see what it looks like before ordering. Everyone loves pictures, I sure do! Honestly, if you are new to the cuisine, you would want to some pictures to see what you are getting.

Mandu and I needed coffee as usual, so we ordered the Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk ($3.25). Some say this is really strong coffee, but I love it! It is basically drip coffee with condensed milk to give it a little bit of sweetness. No complaints here.

I ordered the Grilled lemon grass chicken sandwich ($4.75) and it was a decent size for the price. It had some juicy lemon grass chicken meat, pickled vegetables, cilantro and cucumber in a bun.

I found that the bun was a bit too much for my liking, there was obviously more bread than filling. Since the meat is in several pieces, there were parts where I felt it could have had more meat. It was still a good sandwich and the price is not bad at all.

Grilled pork with spring roll with vermicelli ($7.75). It comes with a bowl of sauce as well. I think Mandu did not have taste buds this day because either her taste buds were not working or the dish did not have a lot of taste. She used 2 cups of that sauce in it. Other than that, it was pretty good.

Words of Wisdom:

Under $10
Decent food
Coffee is a must for the coffee drinkers!
Closest Skytrain: Waterfront

We Rate Ha Long Bay Vietnamese Restaurant:

Address:

430 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

E-Mo Noodle House + Wang Ga Ma: H-Mart’s Hidden Food Court Downtown

July 11, 2011

Hidden at the H-Mart on Robson is a mini food court, which serves up some amazing Korean food! My Korean friends kept telling me to go there, but I thought it was the strangest things because many years ago, it wasn’t there. I am not exactly sure when they had the mini food court, but it’s super amazing! Since it is attached to H-Mart, you know they have fresh ingredients!

The 2 popular shops are E-Mo Noodle House and Wang Ga Ma. Once you walk in, you can look at their menus, walk to the counter, pay and wait for your number to pop up on the computer screen to see when your order is ready.

There are plenty of seats and you can grab your own water from the machine.

E-Mo Noodle House sells Korean-Style Chinese Food. There is very little on their menu that is remotely similar to Chinese Food. Actually there is really 0. I actually love Korean style Chinese food! It’s just so different and super tasty!

I went up to the counter and ordered the Fried Rice with Kimchi ($7.95). You get a large plate of kimchi fried rice and a side of pickled radish.

For the price, it’s a good value! It was not spicy at all and the flavours were really nice!! You gotta try this for yourself! One of the best Kimchi Fried Rice I have ever had!

Wang Ga Ma sells your authentic Korean food. I ordered the BBQ Beef ($8.95) and it came with rice, kimchi and soup.

You get a lot of beef with your meal and the soup does refresh your pallet. The beef is marinated in soy sauce, garlic, sugar and sesame oil (I think).

I was not a huge fan of this dish since it was way too meaty for me. If you are a meat lover, you will probably enjoy this.

When going through both the menus of E-Mo Noodle House and Wang Ga Ma, I actually liked E-Mo’s menu a bit better. Remember to clean up after yourself too.

Overall, great quick lunch that is super cheap!!

Words of Wisdom:

Kimchi Fried Rice is the way to go!
Under $10
Very fast for lunch
Closest Skytrain: Granville

We Rate E-Mo Noodle House/ Wang Ga Ma:

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Havanas: Never Coming Here Again

July 8, 2011

A group of us were craving Havanas, so we headed there after Social Media Day at Ceili’s. I’ve been to Havanas several times but this visit was very disappointing! I don’t even know if I would ever go to Havanas again after this experience.

The men had the Latino Burger ($18). This huge burger has a beef patty, chorizo sausage, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, spicy mayo, avocado, and onions all on a toasted bun.

One thing we noticed instantly was how they don’t cut the sausage in half anymore. This makes eating it a bit problematic because the sausage tries to fall out of the bun. It’s probably best to cut your sausage up (no weird dirty pun intended). M really didn’t like the new bun or how the sausage was not cut up. The best part of the sides are the fries!!

Here was the past review about the burger.

Jojocake and I both ordered the Cobb salad ($15). It is a bed a mixed greens with fried chicken, avocado, pumpkin seeds, bacon, and eggs and finished with a balsamic vinaigrette.

I thought this was a pretty good salad. The fried chicken was very delicious and juicy inside. It’s a very earthy salad, all the ingredients were fresh. It doesn’t look impressive, but it has a good taste. It’s not a heavy meal but you will get full.

The Tuna ceviche ($13) was a major disappointment! They have changed the entire dish into 3 small little tart looking items. It was not even worth $13! That’s more than $4 per “tart”. It tasted so much better before too! The taste was ok, but noting too spectacular.

This is what it use to look like.

After we ate, it took us a while to get the waitresses attention. It also took a while to get the machine to pay with credit. Once she did bring it, she did one transaction … left and didn’t come back for a while. We spent the time waiting looking at each other at the table trying to figure out why it was so slow. It wasn’t a packed day, so this was super odd.

Overall, the food is ok, but the service was really bad and the increased prices are now just a turn off. With so many other restaurants on The Drive, you can go else where.

Words of Wisdom:

Overpriced
Hit and miss items
Great Sangria
Slow service

We rate Havana’s:

Visit Havana’s Website: www.havanarestaurant.ca

Address:

1212 Commercial Dr
Vancouver, BC

In Fast Food

Costco: Dirt Cheap Eats

July 8, 2011

Sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to eat, but thankfully most grocery stores have a little food area where you can guy good cheap food. Since M and I were at Costco picking up a cart full of buns and water for a BBQ, we thought we would check out their food court area.

All of their items on their menu are from their Kirkland brand. Everything is really cheap!

There is a bit of seating on the side as well. It reminded me of a mini inside picnic.

M got the ¼ pound hot dog with pop ($1.99). He said this was the biggest hotdog he has ever eaten in his life. A quarter pound of meat isn’t too bad, plus with a drink too? Good deal! He really enjoyed it as well!

We shared the Pizza (2.99). I love the pizza here! The crust is really crispy and the meat and cheese are just so good! Who doesn’t love meat and cheese? When you order the pizza, they always cut it in half since it’s easier to eat. It’s a huge pizza, so imagine fitting that all into your mouth.

I had the Montreal smoked meat sandwich ($4.99). It came with a huge pickle. I love pickles! It was a good addition to the sandwich.

I also enjoyed the sandwich because it came with a mound of smoky peppery meat. If they had some Dijon mustard, this would have been perfect. I wasn’t a big fan of the bread. I would have preferred something that was fluffier.

Overall, we had a good quick lunch before heading back to SFU. The prices are good and you get a decent snack.

Words of Wisdom:

Hundreds of parking spots
Grocery shop and eat at the same time
Hot Dog is the best deal
Cash only

We Rate Costco:

Address:

3550 Brighton Avenue
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.costco.ca

In Cafe

Save On Meats Coffee Shop: Meals of Disproportion

July 6, 2011

My oldest memory of Save-On-Meats was winning a gift certificate in elementary school, but my parents decided not to go redeem the certificate since it was in such a sketchy area. Fast forward 15+ years later and that part of Hastings isn’t too bad with the new addition of SFU Woodwards and some other amazing establishments.

There has been a lot of buzz about Save-On-Meats since it reopened and I wanted to see for myself if it lived up to expectations. Never really thought I would ever be dining at a place called Save On Meats. They have a butcher shop and a restaurant, so you get a bit of everything.

They also have a window area outside for take out.

The interior is super retro!

I went here on two occasions to give you a bigger scope of what’s on their menu.

Mandu and I needed Coffee ($2) since we really we SUPER tired out of our minds. The coffee here is just the usual. Comes with cream and sugar to mix. Mandu is particularly picky about what she puts into her coffee, so she asked for milk and sugar substitute. They had those both, so she was quite happy.

It’s unlimited refills, so do have more than a cup if you feel like… Mandu and I had about 3 or 4 cups.

Mandu and I shared the Soup of the Day ($5), I think it was a corn and clam soup. It had a nice smooth texture with nice balance of flavour. It also comes with a homemade biscuit. The biscuits are really good!

I ordered the Open Face Roast Chicken Sandwich ($8). It comes with juicy roasted chicken smothered in Brown Gravy, served with mashed potatoes, fries or coleslaw.

When it arrived, I was a bit disappointed. It really didn’t seem very exciting at all. The bread was nicely toasted and the chicken and gravy is always great together. Coleslaw was just ok too.

Mandu got the Linguini Carbonara ($8). It has bacon, wine and cheese, which as all of Mandu’s favorite items! She was really disappointed when it arrived. She expected it to be at least 2 times larger.

Nonetheless, she still enjoyed the taste of the pasta. Very rich and creamy with great smoky bacon! If you are health conscious and want to be bad for just one day, eat this and don’t feel super guilty afterwards.

After the first time coming here, it wasn’t anything extraordinary at all. A few days later, I came with @wongers and @FloYVR to eat more!

Wongers was feeling like a beast, so she decided to eat 2 entrees.

She started with the ribs ($9) and had fries and warm biscuit for her sides. This rib was huge! An amazing price for just $9! The meat was very tender and the bones literally just fell off. The taste was not your usual BBQ sauce; we all agreed it kinda tasted “Asian”. The sauce had a large amount of tomato paste flavour with a little bit of spiciness. This reminded us of the baked pork cutlet from the HK style cafes.

The Savory Pie ($9) is their daily potpie served with mashed potatoes or green salad. She ordered it with mashed potatoes.

The pie was a bit on the small side compared to the ribs. Same price but there is a considerable portion difference. The chicken in the pie was dry and the only way to moisten it up was to pour the gravy all over it.

The mashed potatoes were really really good! Nice and fluffy! Great with the gravy too.

Flo ordered the famous Save On Meats Burger ($6). It comes on a toasted brioche bun, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, mayo and bacon. Also a side of fries too!

She loved it! The meat patty was very fresh and unlike anything else she had before.

I was having a very bloated day, so I just had the Chopped chicken Salad ($7). It has diced chicken, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, avocado, and celery.

This was a very simple salad and it seemed like something I could make at home. I also couldn’t taste the dressing as well. I thought the salad would be bigger as well since I looked at Wonger’s ribs and the proportions were very different.

I then ordered the Banana Triple Thick Milk Shake ($4). This was so good! I love bananas so that’s why. The whole time I was drinking it, Wongers just cringed in fear because she hates bananas. Since the shake came with an extra tin of left overs, I gave it to Flo since she wanted some too.

The best part of the milkshake is the lumpy bits of banana. By far the best banana milk shake I have ever had.

Since I took the last banana for the milkshake, they were unable to make a banana split. The server promised us a Special Dessert ($6), which would blow our minds.

We agreed and awaited the suspenseful dessert to arrive. It has 2 scoops of ice cream, lots of whipped cream + cherry, chocolate sauce, walnuts, marshmallows and their famous house made cookies.This is a large dessert! We were actually expecting something smaller. We all just shared it. This really brought out the kid in us! Their ice cream is made in-house as well as their baked goods! We were surprised, but it made us appreciate the food more.

Overall, we all agreed they had fun desserts and amazing milkshakes. One problem we had were the varying portion sizes and how hard it was to figure out if that dish would fill you up. A few items were a hit and miss, but you can’t go wrong with the Ribs or the Save on Meats Burger.

Words of Wisdom:

Save-On-Meats Burger, Ribs, Milk Shake, + Cookies recommended
Under $10
Very retro and hip interior
Everything is house made
Closest Skytrain: Stadium

We Rate Save On Meats:

Address:

43 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
saveonmeats.ca

In Coquitlam

Kulinarya: Authentic Filipino Food in Coquitlam

July 3, 2011

M was in the mood for something “different” and I kinda ran out of ideas…but since I have never had Filipino food, I thought we could go with Scarface to Kulinarya in Coquitlam.

This little restaurant in just north of Coquitlam Mall and specializes in Filipino food. Since M and I had no idea what we were ordering, we just left it to ScarFace to order all the food.

The interior is very small, so it does get busy during peak times. Since we went at 2pm, it wasn’t busy at all.

The menu can be found on the walls or just on the paper menu that is given.

Drink Dessert Menu

You get a small dish of complementary corn nuts. These corn nuts were very good and lightly seasoned. Much better than the corn nuts you buy at the store. It is light and airy so biting into it is no problem at all.

Calamansi Juice ($2) is essentially lime juice made out of calamansi- the tiny tiny Filipino limes. It tastes very good and it’s something you should try.

The Sago Gulaman ($3.50) is a popular Filipino refreshment served in a tall glass. It is made of sugar water, shredded ice, jellies and tapioca balls.

The waiter said the drink is similar to Taiwanese Bubble Tea, but it’s only the “bubble-like” texture of the tapioca balls and jellies that is similar. The drink was alright, but I wouldn’t order it again.

We started off with the Ginataang Baka ($12). It is beef with various vegetables in coconut curry type of sauce. Their version has potatoes, carrots, celery, peas and onions.

The beef was very tender and it was basically like a curry. For $12, it didn’t seem worth it for the price since you can’t really eat it on it’s own.

We also ordered the large Garlic Rice ($4.50). We used this to accompany the Ginataang Baka. The addition of the garlic was just great! Very aromatic!

The second dish was ordered was the Pinakbet ($9). It has pork and vegetables in a shrimp paste sauce. This was different than the usual Pinakbet as Scarface told us. It was missing quite a few ingredients than the traditional Pinakbet.

This one has okra, green beans, bitter melon, eggplant and green onions. This tasted all right and the the ingredients tasted quite fresh. I loved the okra, I think I was the only one that ate them all. I really didn’t like the bitter melon in this dish, but I know some people do like it.

The most memorable dish of this meal was the Sizzling Sisig ($10). It is crispy minced pork served on a sizzling plate. On the middle of the plate is a raw egg. You must mix everything together and it’s just so delicious. Don’t eat this dish on your own because it’s filled with a lot of calories! The taste is so good, but it’s best with a bit of rice as well because it’s quite oily.

Overall, the food was not bad and it’s great to see what Filipino Cuisine tastes like. The only issue is that a lot of the menu items are hard to choose from because if you aren’t familiar with the items, you have no idea what you are ordering. Plus, a few of the dishes are quite expensive and can rack up your bill.

Words of Wisdom:

Free Parking in the front
A bit expensive
Pretty good authentic Filipino food
Sizzling Sisig is highly recommended
Busy during peak hours
Popular for take out

We Rate Kulinarya:

Address:

114 – 2922 Glen Drive
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
www.kulinarya.ca

In Downtown

Dae Ji: Kimchi Roll Cutlet

July 3, 2011

Another quick lunch with my coworker and since it was raining, we wanted to choose something close by and not too expensive.

We ended up at Dae Ji, the Korean restaurant specializing in pork cutlet. The last time, I was here, I didn’t get the kimchi roll cutlet, but it’s always been on my mind. Today was time to put that curiosity to rest.

The Kimchi Roll Cutlet ($8.99) is cut up into 8 pieces and surrounded by some savory gravy. It also comes with coleslaw, macaroni, corn, pickled radish and rice.

The kimchi roll cutlet was not too bad. If you eat the roll without the sauce, the meat does not taste too moist and quite dry. It’s best to really slather it in the gravy.

The macaroni was quite bad and the other sides were not very special.

It’s a good quick lunch that just gets you filled up.

Words of Wisdom:

A block away from Granville Skytrain
Pay Parking on street
All items are under $10, very cheap

We Rate Dae Ji:

Address:

519 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Beentoo Sandwich & BBQ: Quick Fast Lunch

July 3, 2011

I was having another quick lunch and I really needed a quick lunch since I needed to study for my midterm as well. The quickest thing I could think of was Beentoo Sandwich and BBQ across the street from the office.

Since I loved their burgers last time, I thought I would just go again.

They were heavily promoting their dollar menu, so I decided to get a drumstick for $1. The drumstick is basically what you would expect for a dollar. It was a bit on the small side, but the taste was not too bad. It’s best to eat it first since it will get cold. The meat was tender and juicy.

I also got the Lemongrass Sandwich ($4.29). It has a large piece of flavourful tender chicken. It was really good! There’s also some cabbage and pickled vegetables inside. Everything worked really well together, but what makes this sandwich so good is just the meat.

I think one thing that they would really do to improve their sandwiches would be to offer different buns. The McDonalds style buns really cheapen the look of the sandwich.

Overall, great sandwiches and it’s quick!

Words of Wisdom:

Has promotional deals going on
Lemongrass chicken burger + Korean Spicy chicken burger!
Under $10
Closest Skytrain – Granville
Limited seating

We Rate Beentoo:

Address:

552 Seymour Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.beentoo.ca

In Coquitlam

Dasarang Chicken: Good Korean Style Chicken

July 2, 2011

At the beginning of the semester after a meeting, we all headed down to Dasarang, a new Korean chicken restaurant to eat and mingle with other members of the club.

Dasarang is your usual Korean restaurant that’s has chicken, Korean food and alcohol.

The place is quite large and a little bit dark. Great for group parties.

Their menu has a bit of variety, but most of it is chicken. All the plates are supposed to be shared with others, thus the higher price tag on the menu.

We started off with a pitcher of Granville Island Honey Lager ($15.95).

As we waited, we were given side dishes of pickled radish and cabbage salad. It tasted ok, I think its supposed to be eaten with the chicken to refresh your pallet.

We first ordered the Half & Half ( $18.95). Half of the fired chicken is doused in a spicy hot sauce and the other half is normal seasoned fried chicken. The hot fried chicken in VERY hot! Even the Koreans agreed it was on the spicier side. I really couldn’t candle it after a few pieces.

The texture of the chicken was quite nice, tender, and juicy.

The next order that we got was the soonsal chicken ($17.95). Similar to the fried chicken before but boneless. It was pretty good!

Overall, the chicken was not bad, but a bit pricey. Might as well buy a few chickens at the store for that price. Since I am not a chicken expert, I asked the Koreans what their input was and how did it compare to the authentic chicken in Korea. They said it was pretty close and it seemed to be one of the better chicken places they have been to in Burnaby or Vancouver.

I would say this is not the best place to take your family since it seems more like a Korean bar with chicken. With the steep price tag, it’s not worth it. This place is best for late nights drinking with a plate of chicken.

Words of Wisdom:

Expensive
dark atmosphere
service is mediocre
pretty good chicken
Lots of parking in the front but parking gets pretty full around peak hours

We Rate Dasarang Chicken:

Address:

4501 North Rd
Burnaby, BC

In Gastown

Blarney Stone: Horrible Service but Decent Food

July 1, 2011

It was NotFauna’s welcome back/ Birthday celebration. She chose Blarney Stone for a good fun meal before heading out to Fortune Sound Club a few blocks away.

CanuckGirl and I arrived early since she wanted to see a few players being drafted into the Canucks…sadly none of the TVs were showing that and when we asked them to about changing the channel, but they couldn’t do it. As we waited for everyone to arrive, we watched a TV promoting the Blarney Stone.

The place was quite full around 6:30, so it was a good idea we got reservations for the large group. The service was pretty bad from the beginning; it was hard to find anyone to help us find NotFauna’s reserved section since there were several reservations for the night. They didn’t even reserve the right amount of seats that was requested. When CanuckGirl and I sat down, the waitress didn’t offer us a menu to start looking.

After more people arrived, the waitress finally gave us menus. The menu was not bad at all. Lots of choices between $8 – $15 ish dollars.

Before you get your food, you must pay for it ahead of time or keep a tab for the night. It was super super weird to all of us, but in a way it made sense since people can easily skip out on the bill.

CanuckGirl ordered the Blarney Burger ($9). It comes with a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayo and pickles. You can also choose between fries or salad.

It seems like it was a well made burger and she seemed to enjoy it.

A few others had the Fried Mac and Cheese loaf ($10). It has three types of cheese with macaroni, breaded and fried. It comes with a side salad too. It was not bad but it will probably get you full since it’s so rich in cheese.

CandiedZen ordered the Sheppard’s Pie ($11). It comes with side salad and focaccia bread. She enjoyed it and the addition of the cheese on top was pretty good.

I ordered the chicken focaccia Sandwich ($10). It has roasted chicken, cheddar cheese, bacon, onion, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo. I chose to have the side salad with balsamic and oil dressing.

It was a pretty good sandwich, but the chicken was a bit on the dry side. I loved the bacon! It was very nice and crisp!

Overall, the food was not too bad. It’s your regular pub style food; so don’t have super high expectations or anything. Service is really bad and they don’t usually refill your water either unless they flag you down.

Words of Wisdom:

Quite loud inside
Patio seating
Best to reserve for large groups
Decent food under $15
Pay before your meal arrives or start a tab
HORRIBLE service

We Rate Blarney Stone:

Address:

216 Carrall St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.blarneystone.ca

In Cafe

Renaissance Coffee: Butter Chicken

July 1, 2011

In the Academic Quadrangle at Simon Fraser University, there is a branch of Renaissance Coffee that sells the usual items plus butter chicken! I always see my past coworkers eating it, so I thought to myself, if everyone else is eating, I should try it as well!

Sure enough I tried it with Fabo during lunch.

The butter chicken comes with basmati rice, the butter chicken, side of lettuce and cucumbers. For the price of about $6, it’s not too bad for a lunch on campus.

Since all the sauce is on top, it’s best to stir all the sauce and rice together so it is evenly distributed. I did this and I didn’t have too much issue with the sauce/rice ratio. I also didn’t mix the rice under the salad.

Fabo didn’t mix her sauce and rice, so she really needed more sauce with hers. We also felt that the butter chicken could have had more chicken as well. Chicken was a bit overcooked, tough and dry.

I also got a London Fog. Probably one of my favorite places to get it at campus.

Overall, it was not bad for campus food. KoreanGirl also had it the other day and she thought it was good, but it was not something she would get over and over again. You do get full from this, so it’s a good thing.

Words of Wisdom:

Long line ups during peak times
Butter chicken at AQ Location
Panini’s & soups at Cornerstone Location
Usually the greek salad, pasta salad, wraps and yogurt are good choices for quick eats

We rate Renaissance Coffee:

Address:

8906 University High St
Burnaby, BC

In Burnaby Cariboo-Lougheed

Anducci´s Italian Kitchen: Something About Their Walls…

June 29, 2011

It was TaxMan’s Graduation Day, so we celebrated at Anducci’s. It’s one of his go to places near Lougheed Mall when he can’t think of anywhere else to eat.

M and I were the first to arrive and we really could not help but touch the wall. It’s like they had extra plaster, so they decided to smear it all on to the wall into the weird blobs. I think I spent a large portion of the dinner poking and touching it.

There are a lot of choices on their menu, ranging from pastas to salads to pizza. Here are a few shots of their menu.

As we waited for our meal to arrive, the amazing bread with balsamic and oil arrived. I LOVE this bread!

CatGirl got the Laverne & Shirley Pasta ($17), which has tiger prawns and roasted chicken sautéed with onions, garlic, and lemon juice in white wine sauce. She also thought it was all right and a bit salty.

M ordered the Carbonara Pasta ($16), it has capicola (Cold Cuts), garlic, cracked pepper, cream and parmesan cheese. He really liked the pasta and was happy with the amount of capicola.

ScarFace ordered the Mixed Seafood Pasta ($17), it comes with prawns, scallops, clams and smoked salmon sautéed with garlic in dill cream sauce. He thought the pasta was alright, but a bit on the expensive side when you can go to Anton’s to get a HUGE plate for a cheaper price.

You can choose between the spicy tomato sauce or the dill cream sauce.

I thought I would be a bit different and order the Chicken Avocado Wrap ($11). It has roasted chicken, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce and Italian dressing. You can also choose between soup, salads or fries.

I really liked it! It was quite big for the price and definitely worth the price. Avocados were nice and ripe, greens were quite fresh, but the chicken seemed a bit on the dry side. Nonetheless, still pretty good.

Overall, it was not a bad dinner. We were all full by the end.

Words of Wisdom:

Expensive for pasta dishes
Well priced sandwiches and wraps
Free parking in the front

We Rate Anducci’s:

Address:

9604 Cameron St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.anduccisitaliankitchen.com

In Japanese

Sushi Town: Quantity over Quality?

June 27, 2011

I always came here in high school since it was less than a block away. For a student, it is the perfect place to eat for cheap. Ever since M kept getting very sick after eating here… we knew that something wasn’t right. He didn’t just get sick once or twice, but three times. Later on we found out some of the chefs do not wash their hands after smoking and/or going to the washroom. I am sure this happens at other restaurants as well, but it’s just kinda gross when you know about it.

Since I was kinda sick of campus food and BusanGirl insisted we go here for Alaska rolls, I agreed. It is a fact they have some damn good Alaska rolls.

We arrived at noon on a weekday and it was slightly busy.

My greatest fear of Sushi Town is the scary machine that hangs above the back table.

Their menu layout has changed too.

BusanGirl had the chicken teriyaki ($7.95). It has bean sprouts, broccoli, carrots, chicken and teriyaki sauce. You also get a bowl of rice too. She said she liked it. The chicken was nice and tender as well.

I ordered the spicy tuna sashimi (half order $5). I had this a long time ago and I was never disappointed. This time, I was disappointed; the tuna was chopped up in very ununiformed pieces. Some pieces were as large as their usual sashimi pieces.

I then got the Chicken karrage ($3.95), which comes with 6 large pieces of wings. I really love these simple types of fried chicken wings. My favorite!

We then shared the Alaska roll ($3.95), it has avocado, cucumber, tobiko, salmon, and topped off with their citrus sauce. For $4, it’s a good roll.

Overall, the food isn’t too bad. You really can’t go wrong with the rolls.

Words of Wisdom: