Cafe Archives - Page 25 of 28

In Cafe

Miura Waffle Milk Bar: Waffle Sandwiches are Epic

January 5, 2012

Miura Waffle Milk Bar is located on Davie and Howe St. they are best known for the waffle sandwiches in sweet and savory flavours. This has been on my “To Eat” list for a long long time, but I seldom visit this area.

Since a few of us from my High School were meeting up again, I wanted to take them somewhere unique so I thought to myself, waffle sandwiches are unique!

The interior is not too large, but it fits a few parties of 2s and 4s. Sometimes more if you are able to put chairs together.

You can watch them create your waffles as you wait. They don’t have a ventilation machine, so, if they accidentally burn something, the whole place smells like burnt waffles.

Latte (12oz – $3.29) was not very good. It was very milky and could have had a stronger coffee taste.

Strawberry Flavoured Milk ($3.29)

Blueberry Yoggy Milk ($3.29) it’s a thin textured yogurt-like drink that’s slightly tangy.

HEC Savory Waffle Sandwich ($5.99) has ham, omelette and mozzarella cheese between 2 waffles. Sunny really liked it and it was quite cute.

BELT Savory Waffle Sandwich ($4.99 Tuesday Special) has bacon, egg, lettuce and tomatoes. What is awesome about this is that the bacon is cooked right into the waffles. You know no one is gonna steal your bacon cause it’s hidden in the waffle.

Wasabi Salmon Savory Waffle Sandwich ($7.99) has soy cured salmon, lettuce, wasabi ranch sauce and some herbs. Look at how flakey the salmon is inside the waffle. It complemented the wasabi sauce nicely and I would definitely eat it again!

Tiramisu Sweet Waffle Sandwich ($5.29) has cream cheese custard cream, coffee jelly and chocolate sauce. It clearly has no resemblance to a tiramisu, but it tastes good. It’s the same size as the sandwich, but they can split it into 2 so it’s easier to share. Tasted delicious!!

Overall, one sandwich was good enough for lunch! The prices are decent and you will leave with a smile on your face. Then, you can go on Facebook and brag to your friends you had a cool waffle sandwich. hahaha.

Words of Wisdom:

Weekday specials
Very unique and memorable sandwiches
Under $10

We Rate Miura Waffle Milk Bar:

Address:

829 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:

http://miurawafflemilkbar.webs.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miura-Waffle-Milk-Bar/115874321771418

Twitter: @MiuraWaffle

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In BBQ

The Red Wagon: Amazing BBQ, But Why The Asian Plates?

December 30, 2011

The Red Wagon on Hastings is a neighbourhood joint that serves up delicious diner food. The interior is very retro, but their food packs some amazing flavour.

Flo and I were on Trinity Street checking out some Christmas lights and got quite hungry. I chose to take her here because it’s a bit of a dive, but it does have some pretty interesting food.

Recently, Guy Fieri of Diners Drive-ins and Dives came to film a segment on his show for the Food Network. According to the show, he ate the Pulled Pork Pancakes.

If you missed it, it should air again on Dec 31st at 4pm! I check out this blog (http://dinersdrive-insanddives.blogspot.com/search/label/British%20Columbia) to check when shows are airing.

Pulled Pork Sandwich ($10.25) is served on a portuguese bun served with coleslaw and fries…but Flo just substituted it with their soup of the day.

Soup of the Day

Flo really enjoyed the taste of the Pulled pork and it’s taste can even rival Reup BBQ’s pulled pork. Since she didn’t like coleslaw, she ordered it on the side and made me eat it. hehehe. The coleslow was good and lightly dressed.

Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich ($10.50) has pickled vegetables, jalapeno, cilantro, mayo on a baguette with a side of chips.

This sandwich was good, but it was SO OILY. The pork belly contains quite a bit of fat, so when you are eating this, it drips all over your hands and plate. To counteract this, the pickled vegetables and cilantro try to balance it out. I used about 7 napkins to soak up the excess fat. The jalapeno was quite strong too, but it made me grab a glass of water to quell the burning.

This isn’t a sandwich for everyone, the overall taste is good, but depends if you can handle the fattiness and sting of jalapenos.

The chips on the side were pretty good, but I was all oiled out when eating the pork belly sandwich. Tastes super good with vinegar!

Did you notice something in each of the photos? ASIAN PLATES!

Overall, good place for a brunch or a late night meal. I still think the best item is the Pulled Pork Burger. It’s not on the menu, but sometimes it’s a special item. You can also ask the chef to make it.

Words of Wisdom:

Good food
Anything pulled pork is amazing
A tad expensive depending on what you get
Free parking on adjacent streets

We Rate The Red Wagon:

Address:

2296 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.redwagoncafe.com

Twitter: @redwagoncafe

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/redwagoncafe

In American

Nestle Toll House Cafe: Open at Guildford Mall

December 25, 2011

Nestle Toll House Cafe has opened its newest cafe at the Guildford Mall in Surrey – the first location in Canada! Gmoney works in the mall, so she kept me updated on when they would open. The reason why Nestle Toll House intrigued me was because of an old episode of friends, where Phoebe’s Grandmothers cookie recipe originated from a relative named “Nestley Toulouse”… which turns out it was a lie and was just the recipe on the back of a Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag.

The serve up a lot of different items from cake cookies, brownies, cookies, cookie pizza, coffee, drinks…..etc.

There were lots of choices, which quite overwhelmed me as well.

I grabbed a few items to go. 2 cookies and a brownie came out to be around $9, which was really expensive. I don’t remember the exact prices, but I’m just guesstimating.

Button Brownie (~$3.49) has a mini chocolate chip cookie on top of a brownie. It tasted good and it was cute that there was the cookie on top. I found it was still a bit expensive considering it was just a brownie.

Walnut and Chocolate Chip (~$1.95) was really good. It was a bit hard to taste all the walnuts, but the texture was chocolaty and chewy.

Double Chocolate Chip (~$1.95) was also chewy and chocolaty.

Overall, the items are good, but there are still other places in town to get better cookies. I probably wouldn’t return since its a bit out of my way to go to Guildford Mall.

Words of Wisdom:

Can get Pricey
Large range of cookie flavours
A few seats
Located inside Guildford Mall

We Rate Nestle Toll House Cafe:

Address:

1237 – 2695 Guildford Town Centre

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In Bubble Tea

Bo Laksa King’s Bubbles & Bits: Roti Canai and Laksa

December 24, 2011

Bo Laksa King’s Bubble & Bits serves up Malaysian food! I heard their Laksa is really good, so I took a few friends here to try it out.

They are cash only, so you are outta luck, if you don’t have any….there should be a bank close by.

Their interior is not very large, but can fit a few groups of 4’s and 2’s.

Roti Canai (Large -$5.99) is like a asian pancake with a curry chicken dipping sauce. It was very fresh and crispy. It was probably one of the best Roti Canai I have had! The sauce was really really good too. The 4 of us fought over this dish since it was so good! Highly recommended.

Beef Rendang ($8.75) is marinated beef slowly cooked in coconut gravy plus a special sauce served with rice. M really liked it because it was very flavourful and the meat was really tender.

Mee Goreng ($7.75) is spicy stir fried noodle with veggies, chicken with a sweet and spicy sauce. I really did not like this dish because of the sauce they used. I much prefer the instant mee goreng from the store.

Laksa ($7.50) has vermicelli or yellow noodles, prawns, fish balls, tofu puffs, eggs, chicken and a nice coconut curry broth. Scarface and TaiwaneseGirl both liked it.

Overall, the food is pretty good if you go for the usual items. Too bad I lucked out and chose a dish I didn’t like.

Words of Wisdom:

Cash Only
Parking on Street
Laksa and Roti Canai Higly recommended

We Rate Bo Laksa King’s Bubbles & Bits:

Address:
2546 E Hastings St
Vancouver, BC V5K

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/BO-LAKSA-KING/139851834390

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In Bakery

Faubourg: A Little Taste of Paris

December 12, 2011

Faubourg is a cafe offering Parisian baked goods and other delicious goodies in the Kerrisdale area. I’ve heard they had some amazing desserts and bread, so FoodQueen and I headed off to Kerrisdale to try it out. It wasn’t a quick drive for either of us since we both live so far. Oh the things we do to try delicious food.

The interior looks really nice and has a good amount of seating.

They even have another area too.

All of their items are baker fresh daily and I hear their croissants are really crispy and delicious. Since it was nearing the end of the day, there wasn’t too much to choose from. Best to go early!

If you don’t have a sweet tooth, they also have a few savory items too.

Cafe Latte (Grande $3.85) was good and compliments well with some of their pastries.

Individual St. Honoré has a base of puff pastry with tiny pastry cream puffs covered in chocolate and whipped cream on top. I loved this dessert since I am a huge from of profiteroles-type of desserts.

Overall, good place to stop by for a quick treat and coffee.

Words of Wisdom:

They also offer breakfast, bunch, lunch and afternoon tea
Lots of unique items
Lots of seating
Best to go early before some items are sold out

We Rate Faubourg:
Address:
2156 W 41st Ave
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.faubourg.com/

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In Cafe

Starbucks: The Original Store in Seattle, WA

November 15, 2011

M and I arrived in Seattle way too early during the long weekend since we expected there to be a wait at the border…there was no wait. So, we were downtown by 7:30am. Nothing is open that early except for Starbucks, so we decided to head to Pike Place Market to roam around. A lot of the merchants were getting ready, so the market wasn’t open either.

As you may or may not know, Starbucks originated in Seattle Washington and has grown into a global phenomenon. Every time I go here and it’s PACKED. Since it was so early in the morning, I knew it would be empty.

The interior is quite spacious when there are a few people inside. On a normal day, it is just filled with people grabbing drinks. If all you want is coffee, best to just go to another Starbucks a block away. They serve the same drinks as all the other Starbucks locations.

They have tons of cups, coffee and stuffed animals to purchase. Since its always so packed in here during usual hours, its really hard to get nice photos of inside this location.

It is a tourists hotspot and it is always packed with people buying coffee and purchasing the original Starbucks mug with their original logo. There’s another location on Firstand Pike that also sells the merchandise. If you hate crowds, thats an option.

Location:
1912 Pike Pl Seattle, WA 98101

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In Bubble Tea

The One: Decent Food, Decent Prices

November 13, 2011

Since my mechanic is right beside The One, I needed somewhere to kill time. The closest thing was The One for some Taiwanese food. Since I was starving from a long day of school already, I was ready to chow down with my sister. They are known for their HUGE slush drinks that are super tall.

Preserved Egg With Tofu ($3.25) is definitely not for everyone. It has 2 slices of tofu with preserved egg on top with a sweet sesame sauce. I really liked it but I found that their yolk could have a be more creamy.

Meat Sauce on Steam Rice with Vegetable ($6.50) comes with side dishes too. Really good value since you get the bowl of rice and meat in addition to the 4 side dishes. Good price.

The One Wonton Soup with Noodle ($7.95) was quite horrible this time around. The bowl was HUGE and had so much noodle that I found it a very hard challange to finish it all. The wontons tasted so-so and bland. Also, the soup tasted like it had a lot of MSG inside.

Overall, I think a few dishes are a hit and a miss, but the pricing is very good.

Words of Wisdom:

Large portions
Under $10
Fried Chicken Nuggets!
Free parking in the front lot

We Rate The One:

Address:

5908 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

Website:
theonerestaurant.ca

In Cafe

Accord Food House: Amazing Taiwanese Noodles + Desserts

November 11, 2011

M and I were at Metrotown and we wanted to eat something delicious during the cold cold night. I really wanted noodles since the weather calls for it. My sister kept telling me to go to Accord since they have really good taiwanese food. We decided to take a visit. We almost walked past it since it really did not look nice from the outside.

If you have the same feeling too, just go inside since you will discover some delicious food.

The interior is quite small and homey. The interior is so-so, but at least it’s much better looking on the inside. Most tables are in 4’s, so best to come in 4’s.

Their menu is written on 2 large chalk boards. Left board is drinks and desserts and on the right it’s their food.

Italian Soda ($4.95) is something to set your eyes upon. I don’t know whats in it, but it tasted really good! Definitely worth a try!

Royal Milk Tea ($4.25) was super hot. Since it’s in a double-walled cup, it doesn’t get cold easily. The milk tea had a good taste, but it burned the heck out of my tongue. So, make sure it cools down before you drink it….or you can always get the cold version.

Tomato Beef Noodle ($8.95) has the most tender beef, with fresh veggies, tomatoes and a super yummy broth! One of the BEST Beef Noodles I have ever had!! Highly recommended!

My Grandpa Chinese Pasta ($7.95) has fresh vegetables, tomatoes with a yummy meat sauce. M thought it was alright.

Dark Chocolate Custard ($5.95) is topped off with berries, currants and oranges. I found that the fruit took away from the dessert. The chocolate custard tasted good, but it seemed a bit small for the price.

Parfait ($7.95) was pretty epic. It had loads of fruit, whipped cream, ice cream and wafers. It’s a super fun dessert to share! I got my hands kinda sticky from picking at all the fruit.

Overall, really good assortment of items that they offer. We noticed that it can be easy to spend a little….but in our case we did end up spending a lot trying everything.

Words of Wisdom:

Super ugly exterior, but don’t be afraid to go inside
Italian Soda, Parfait, Tomato Beef Noodle are highly recommended
Best to come in 4’s
Pay parking on street

We Rate Accord Food House:

Address:

4611 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H

Vancouver

In Cafe

Blenz: Addicted To Their Brownies

November 8, 2011

Ever since I started having class at SFU Surrey, I have been addicted to brownies. There’s no special illegal ingredients in them, but they taste so good. Since the school has a Blenz in the main level, I always find myself lining up for a brownie and a tea.

Gold Medal Brownie ($2.50) is a dense chocolate brownie with loads of walnuts inside and on top. It is very rich, so I suggest a coffee or a tea to accompany this.

Try to grab it in the morning when it’s a bit fresher because as the day goes on, it gets a little bit stale sitting in the fridge. I’ve never been so excited about a brownie before, but it’s definitely worth a try. Or…in my case 8 since the beginning of September. I need to stop eating these.

In Brunch

Cozmos Cappuccino Bar & Grill: Decent Food, Cold Service

September 8, 2011

MedicalGiraffe was back in town and she really does love brunch! The closest brunch place near our hood is Cozmos Cappuccino Bar & Grill. It’s quite popular in the Burnaby North area. If you are a student from Burnaby North Secondary School, I am sure you’ve heard of this place as well.

They have lots of seating and aren’t too busy during weekend brunch. At least when we went there, it wasn’t very full.

They have a few cool interior pieces that make this place stand out. They have metal Greek god art pieces and in the back of the restaurant they have a mini waterfall.

Their menu is very limited and you can get the usual omelets, and egg dishes.

Latte was nothing special. Just taste like any regular latte.

I tried ordering normal drip coffee, but the server didn’t know what I was talking about. So, I just ordered this. After ordering our meal, I didn’t get a good vibe from him. He seemed very cold towards us, like we were a bother to him. MedicalGiraffe and I were quite puzzled why he was so cold.

Mushroom & Cheddar Cheese Omelet ($8.75) comes with hash browns and a slice of orange. MedicalGiraffe thought the omelet was quite mediocre. Nothing mind-blowing, but quite bland. Perhaps they should have seasoned it a bit more.

The hash browns are deep fried, so you do get that nice crunch when you bite into them.

Eggs Florentine ($8.75) has 2 poached eggs with spinach and hollandaise sauce on english muffins. You also get hash browns and a slice of orange. I thought this dish was not too bad. The poached eggs were nice and runny on the inside, so when you cut into it, all the delicious yolk just runs out and covers everything. Yum. One thing I didn’t like was the english muffin, didn’t seem very fresh to me at all.

Just like MedicalGiraffe, I did like the hash browns! Nice and crunchy!

Overall, the food was alright, but we were very turned off by the cold service we received. Just because of his attitude when he took our orders, it made us feel very uneasy throughout the entire meal. Maybe they were having a bad day, so perhaps if you go, you might get different service.

Words of Wisdom:

Limited Brunch menu
Italian-feel to the restaurant
Under $10
Decent food
Very cold service
Eggs Florentine is a popular item

We Rate Cozmos:
Address:

6691 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC

In Brunch

Nice Cafe: Nice Breakfast and Delicious Mushrooms

September 6, 2011

Nice Cafe is another Vancouver hot spot for cheap delicious brunch! It’s cheap, it’s affordable, and it’s not just a pile of crap… the food looks pretty good.

The interior is not the most pretty place in the world, so don’t expect anything fancy. There is a row of tables down the middle and a few booths.

If you don’t mind the interior, you will find that Nice Cafe is a nice place to go on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Coffee ($1.60) is a norm for anyone that hates walking up before noon. I plan my weekends out where I make no plans until after 1pm…. unless something good is going on… like brunch with good company.

The coffee is refillable, but they don’t have soy option instead of the usual cream or milk.

2 eggs, hashbrowns, toast, sausage ($4.60) also known as the all day breakfast. It’s probably the most popular item since it’s cheap and you get a generous amount of food. The sausages are beautifully butterflied and grilled up! The hash browns are nice and crispy on the outside. It’s your typical breakfast, nothing fancy shmancy.

Side of mushrooms ($0.75) is a must at Nice Cafe. Obviously, if you hate mushrooms with a passion, you shouldn’t force yourself to eat it.

It is grilled and the flavours really come out! It kinda tastes a bit nutty. Yum.

Spinach & Feta Omelette ($6.10) it comes with hash browns and toast. For that price, it’s not bad!

Overall, pretty good price for what you get. The food is so much better than Bon’s Off Broadway….and looks better too!

Word of Wisdom:

Line up early to avoid line ups
All Day Breakfast is the most popular item
Free parking along adjacent streets
Under $10
Side of Mushrooms!

We rate Nice Cafe:

They are located at:

Mount Pleasant/Main Street
154 E 8th Ave
Vancouver, BC

In Bakery

Footo Delights: Brand New Pastry Shop Specializing in Croissants

August 19, 2011

I love discovering new restaurants and shops through Twitter. I was going through my followers list and thought @modernmixvan would be interesting to follow. I was looking at their site and I saw an article about a new shop – Footo Delights, which opened up and they were having their grand opening event. Since I work close by, I thought I would check it out. Plus, who can say no to croissants?

Food Delights is own and operated by Brenda, who is from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver. She has a huge passion for what she does and puts her heart and soul into the products she creates. Footo Deslight is located close to Homer and Robson. They are the first croissant specialty store in Canada. It’s all fresh from the oven, so you know its not sitting around for a while.

They have nothing to hide from their customers. Similar to larger restaurants, this little shop has an open kitchen concept where you can watch them make the next batch of croissants. They pride themselves of only using natural ingredients and having no artificial flavours, preservatives or chemical additives.

They have many different varieties of croissants – plain, whole wheat, almond, cheese, chocolate, Spinach & Feta and sometimes specialty flavours.

If you aren’t into the croissant spirit, they have other desserts too! Chocolate Mousse, Panna Cotta, Tiramisu, Fruit Mousse and cute strawberry tuxedos.

They have croissant sandwiches too.

It doesn’t stop there, they even have smoothies, yogurt parfaits and frozen yogurt.

Here is their menu.

Since there were way too many choices, I grabbed 2 Chocolate croissants, a complementary bag of mini pastries and a Matcha latte. Instead of just shoving your pastries into a little bag, they have boxes to carry your croissants. Since they don’t get smushed, you know they will stay fresh longer. Plus, the box is super cute! Look at the handle! It’s a croissant!

The Chocolate Croissant ($3.25) is filled with delicious chocolate in the center, layers of the croissant layers and drizzled with more delicious chocolate. I brought these back to the office to share with my coworkers since sharing is caring!

I loved the melty chocolate in the center! I have come upon some croissants that have rock hard chocolate centers, but this one was nice and soft. What is great about these croissants is that you can tell they use less fat and are healthier than other croissants. Since they do use less fat, the layers of the croissant are not as flakey as the ones at Faubourg. The layers are similar to very fluffy light bread. The taste is nonetheless still very good, despite the texture of the layers. The outer layer still has the crunch as well as the ends…yummy crispiness. Totally makes up for the cons.

Since I showed them a coupon for a complementary bag of their pastries, I got these for free. Inside the bag are mini spinach and feta croissant, mini almond croissant and a lemon poppy seed cookie. It’s more like a sampling of their signature items.

The lemon poppy seed cookie was alright, it had a good balance of the lemon and the poppy seed flavour.

The mini feta croissant was one of my favorites since I am also a huge fan of savory croissants. It also had a good taste, but I think I will go back later to try the regular size to see how it is in it’s original form.

The mini almond croissant was also very good. The ends were nice and crispy and the overall flavour was really good.

To grab your own bag of complementary bag of their mini pastries, just grab this coupon from their website and present it to the store. The offer ends tomorrow, so don’t delay.

Overall, good addition to the Downtown core. Great flavours, tons of desserts and are healthier. I saved a bit of the croissants for my sister for her to critique since she has strong opinions about croissants. She really liked it and was very surprised by the overall taste.

Words of Wisdom:

Made with natural ingredients
Large selection of desserts
Small local and independently owned
Not your typical croissant
Highly recommend the chocolate croissant
Closest Skytrain: Stadium or Granville

We Rate Footo Delights:

Address:

820 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.footodelights.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FootoDelights

Twitter: @FootoDelights

In Bubble Tea

Sweet Puritea: Fresh Fruit Bubble Tea

August 7, 2011

Near Gilmore Skytrain Station, there is a small Cafe called Sweet Puritea. They specialized in Bubble Tea and drinks that are made from 100% fruit. They also have teas that are infused with real fruit rather than the artificial flavourings. They also offer lunch specials too! This place comes in handy when you live in the apartment above.

I find that this place can be quite empty at times, so it is a good alternative to come with a group of friends if you want a more quite environment compared to places like Bubble World.

There is not a super large amount of seating, but it can suit you and a few friends quite comfortably. Very good for group meetings!

I went a few times and the first time I ordered a fresh pineapple juice and the next time I ordered the fresh watermelon juice. These were really good and super refreshing on a hot day. Way better than Bubble World or Estea! The other normal Bubble Teas taste good as well, but if you are unsure of what to order, you can always ask them for a recommendation!

Words of Wisdom:

Fresh Fruit options
Fruit infused teas
Quiet environment, great for group meetings
Lunch specials/ snack specials
Free Wifi

We Rate Sweet Puritea:

Address:

4248 Dawson St.
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.sweetpuritea.ca

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/sweetpuritea

Twitter:

@sweetpuritea

In Cafe

Sajin’s Green Tea Cafe: Best Matcha Green Tea Latte

August 3, 2011

Last week I checked out Sajin’s Green Tea Cafe. I was meaning to visit here a while ago after seeing a post by Janice of Goodeat.ca . The Green Tea Latte looked super good, so I just had to try it out! It is located pretty close to Chapters Downtown, but I was always too lazy to walk all the way there.

They serve up some really really super cheap lunch and beverages like tea and coffee.

The large latte ($3.20) was good. I think a large was way too big for my daily caffeine allowance.I think next time, I will stick with a small. I get jittery if I have too much.

Large Green Tea Latte ($3.20) was SO good! It’s not even comparable to any other cafe I’ve been to. They use quality matcha to get the bright vibrate green color and the taste is amazing. It was a mixture of milk and syrup, so it wasn’t too sweet nor overly milky. I really enjoyed this and no wonder this is their signature drink!

Also, after 2pm, the medium green tea lattes become $2! Good deal!

Overall, I enjoyed the rest of the green tea latte at my desk. It’s 5 blocks away from my office, but I totally have no problem using my entire 15 minute break to sprint there and sprint back just for the latte. After going here, I have actually abandoned Starbucks and Cafe Artigiano for hot drinks.

Words of Wisdom:

Matcha Green Tea Latte!
$2 Medium Green Tea Latte after 2pm
Cheap lunch specials

We Rate Sajin Green Tea Cafe:

Address:

110 – 840 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
sajinsgreentea.blog6.fc2.com

#tidal

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 Cafe

Sweet Revenge: Disappointed Take Out Dessert

July 12, 2011

It was a nice day and my sister really really wanted dessert desperately! Since I was on Main Street, I picked up a few items to bring home. Sweet Revenge is one of the popular places to head out to dessert after a dinner, but it’s always pretty packed since it cannot seat too many people. The best solution is take out, but is it really worth the price?

Here is the take out menu. Click to enlarge.

The first item I ordered was the Apple Pie ($6.35). It is just the apple pie and no whipped cream or anything on the side. You must finish off the dessert yourself by putting it in the menu for a few minutes on 2o0 degrees Celsius. Since we followed the instructions are did it in Fahrenheit, the apple pie was not crispy at all. Best to turn up the temperature !!

It was basically a fail for us. Plus eating the apple pie alone isn’t that great. I would suggest grabbing some vanilla ice cream to accompany this dessert.

The next item was the Chocolate Pudding Cake ($6.35 + $2 deposit). The cake comes with a ceramic dish, so they must charge a deposit to return. The chocolate pudding cake required some time in the oven as well. Since I’m a noob with the oven, the pudding cake just turned out decent. Best to under heat it than over cook it because the center should stay gooey.

This was another dessert that needed attention before being able to be served at your dinner table. I would suggest some whipped cream, strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

The last item we ordered was the Double “Smooth Operator” ($18). It is a chocolate sponge cake layered with mascarpone cheese, raspberries, white chocolate and raspberry sauce. Since they did not have a large enough box for the double, they just gave us 2 single slices. This was a pretty good dessert! It’s a bit pricy but at least no extra effort needed to prepare for this dessert.

Overall, it might seem like a great idea to do take out, you can’t just open up the box at your table and devour. Since I am a noob in the kitchen, heating problems with the oven did worsen the enjoyment of the dessert. Plus, you get way less than what you would get at the restaurant…but at the same price…. I feel like I paid more just to take out…when it should be cheaper…

If you don’t want to deal with all of this, it’s probably best to just dine in the restaurant and have it served to you. Plus, you don’t need to return to get your deposit back for the ceramic dish from the chocolate pudding cake.

Words of Wisdom:

Some assembly required for take out
$2 Deposit for desserts that have ceramic dishes
Best not to order the apple pie or chocolate pudding cake for take out, troublesome
Rip off for take out
A bit pricey

We Rate Sweet Revenge:

Address:

4160 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
sweet-revenge.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 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