Dessert Archives - Page 16 of 18

In Bakery

Cake-Ya: Delicious Purin Pudding and Cake Rolls

November 18, 2011

Cake-Ya is this little shop in Coquitlam that serves Japanese desserts and baked goods. Their location is a bit hidden and very small.

They have zero seating and it looks more like a bakery. FoodQueen and I decided to give this place a try, but then we realized there were no seats inside, so we walked up a block to share a cake roll at Starbucks.

A lot of the items can be sold out by 2pm, so if you know what you want, best to call ahead of time for them to save you whatever you want.

Strawberry Cake Roll ($6.50) has a very light cake surrounding fresh whipped cream and strawberries. The price for it was pretty good! I liked this roll because the cake is just so light with the whipped cream, you don’t feel heavy.

They only sell the cake rolls as a whole log, so it’s one of those items you must share.

I also bought 4 of the Caramel Cream’s (aka Purin Pudding). Green Tea, Black Sesame, Original and coffee. They ran out of a few flavours since I didn’t call ahead of time to reserve.

Custard Caramel Cream ($2.25) is probably one you must try. It’s the original flavour and you can’t go wrong with that. I gave this one to my little sister and she gobbled it up. She’s a picky eater but she loved this.

Green Tea Caramel Cream ($2.50) was also good. My mom commented saying the texture was very smooth and creamy. She was quite impressed.

Coffee Caramel Cream ($2.50) was quite interesting. The taste of coffee was strong. I found it was a bit rich in my opinion.

There’s so many ways to eat these desserts…in the cup or just flipped over like the ones above.

Words of Wisdom:

Take Out since there are zero seats
Call ahead of time to reserve specific items you want before it runs out
Cash Only
Good prices

We Rate Cake-Ya:
Address:
2415 Clarke St
Port Moody, BC V3H
Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CakeYa

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In Bakery

Manzano European Bakery: All About The Cookie

October 23, 2011

Manzano European Bakery relocated at Metrotown closer to The Bay. They have bee in Metrotown for a long long time. They have lots of baked goods, cakes, and sandwiches. What is good about this bakery is that they have gluten-free items as well!

Chocolate Croissant was not very crispy on the outside, it was pretty limp and doughy. I left the croissant in the bag for a while, so the chocolate drizzle on the top broke off. When I was biting into it, the chocolate drizzle kept cracking off, so it would end up all over my shirt.

The inside has a decent amount of chocolate. Some places but in one chocolate stick, but they have two! Overall, I thought it was alright, but nothing mind-blowing.

Chocolate Chip Cookie ($1.49) is the best thing to get here! At least in my opinion because I’ve been buying these cookies since I was a little kid. It was always a treat to get these since it’s so huge and the chocolate center is always the last thing I eat. Theres lots of chocolate chips in the whole cookie and then the huge one in the middle.

Words of Wisdom:

Just get the cookie…
Lots of parking at Metrotown!

We Rate Manzano:

Address:

4820 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H

In Dessert

Footo Delights: Pesto Turkey Croissant Sandwich

October 6, 2011

I went back to Footo Delights to try more items. Last time, I came here and bought a whole bunch of croissants for the office/home. I wasn’t disappointed at all. I really value little shops that focus on healthy natural ingredients. Looking at my slowly increasing weight, I could really cut down on bad stuff.

My goal during this visit was to try their croissant sandwiches since they did look pretty damn good from my last visit.

The croissant comes in a cute little box with their customized branding.

Inside this box is the Turkey Pesto Croissant Sandwich ($4.95 ala carte or $8.50 with soup), which has the most delicious pesto I have ever tasted! It is matched really well with the turkey, swiss, tomatoes and lettuce. Not a bad sandwich at all. The croissant was flakey on the outside with crispy ends! The inside was nice and fluffy.

Their daily soup that they had was the Carrot Ginger Soup. I’m not a huge carrot or ginger fan since I prefer more of the clear types of soup. Ya… I’m so asian. The soup has a dominant flavour and the ginger is very very subtle.

Overall, a good place for a quick lunch since I am a few blocks away.

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 and Turkey Pesto Croissant Sandwich
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 Dessert

Screamers Soft Serve & Treats: I Scream For Ice Cream…and Slurpee

August 23, 2011

A long time ago, there was a shop at Metrotown that served up a delicious blend of ice cream and slurpee. It was one of the highlights of going to Metrotown with my parents. I was so devastated when it shut down. I thought I would never see the delicious concoction again.

As I was browsing through Twitter, I found out a shop called Screamers in Steveston was selling the wonderful dessert. Since it was so far away in Steveston, I had to give M a good reason to take me here. It really didn’t take much convincing since we were both bored after exams.

You order from the first window and pick it up in the other window. The simple menu is located on the right side. They only have 4 flavours of screamers, but its good enough.

Grape Crush Screamer (Small – $3.35) has the mixture of the vanilla soft serve ice cream with the grape crush slurpee. You can see that the ice cream is surrounding the entire cup and not just on the bottom or just at the top. Well integrated so you won’t miss a bite of the slurpee and ice cream.

Orange Crush Screamer (Small – $3.35) was my favorite because I’m a orange crush girl! Super delicious on a hot summers day.

Lime Crush Screamer (Small – $3.35) was also good. We all come to a consensus that the soft serve ice cream was really really good. M and ScarFace loved the combination of the 2 items but felt that the small was really large. We kept going at the screamer, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Well worth the money.

Words of Wisdom:

Mini or Small is a good size
All items under $5
Free parking on most roads (Super hard to find a spot during peak hrs)
Delicious soft serve ice cream

We Rate Screamers Soft Serve & Treats:

Address:
12211 Third Avenue
Richmond, BC

Website:
www.screamerssoftserve.ca

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

Twitter:
@screamers_ss

In Dessert

Artisan Sake Maker: More Than Just Sake… ICE CREAM!

August 14, 2011

I was around Granville Island yesterday with my sisters and we were passing by the Artisan Sake Maker shop and the sign “Rice Raisin Ice Cream” caught our eye. We haven’t heard of this flavour, so we really wanted to try it out.

Since they are a shop dedicated in their craft of sake, we were a bit afraid the ice cream would be alcoholic. It turns out they are not and are 100% kid friendly.

You can also go for some sake tasting as well. You can try 3 of their signature sakes for $5 or just $2 for 1. A lot of people seem to be trying all their sake’s so, it is quite popular. Since I was with my sisters, we really didn’t feel like trying the sake out. Perhaps in the future I will return with M since he is a huge sake fanatic.

Green Tea ice cream with white chocolate chips ($3.50) was very subtle. It’s not as strong as the usual green tea ice cream you would encounter at other shops. I didn’t take a liking to it since it has the embedded white chocolate chips. I found it a bit random putting that in.

Some people may like it since it gives it more texture and something to chew on. My sister liked it, so it’s just a personal preference.

Rice Raisin Ice Cream ($3.50) was very nice. The rice ice cream was also very subtle and had a nice milky taste. The embedded raisin were soft, delicate and chewy. This was probably our personal favorite! This is probably a must if you are around.

The waffle cones were crunchy, but the ice cream just sits on top of the cone, so the middle is basically empty. There were a few times when we licked a bit too hard and the whole ice cream wanted to fall off.

Overall, it was not bad. It’s something fun to eat in the sun. It’s not like you can get these flavour combinations anywhere else.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking if you can find a spot on Granville Island
Sake tasting
Small selection of ice cream flavours, but unique

We Rate Artisan Sake Master:

Address:

1339 Railspur Alley,
Vancouver, BC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=149513155983

Twitter: @ArtisanSake

In Dessert

Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt: Fruits Fruits Fruits!

August 4, 2011

Pinkberry opened their first location in Canada at Park Royal in West Vancouver. They serve up frozen yogurt similar to Qoola. After a long hike at Lynn Canyon, I came here with ConsultingGirl and Monster.

When we arrived, there was a huge line going out the door. The line goes pretty fast, so you won’t be dying from the summer heat.

All you do is choose the size of yogurt, choose the flavour (you can have more than 1 flavour), and then add as much topping as you want! if you are not so into that, they also have Fresh Fruit Parfaits, Fruit bowls and smoothies.

There are so many toppings! So many to choose from! They are quite unique and they have more variety than Qoola.

Fresh fruit is honestly the way to go!! They only have the freshest ingredients. When I went, they didn’t have mango because they couldn’t get their hands on fresh ripe mangoes. It’s goo that they do not sell the frozen fruits.

I was excited when I saw the fruity pebbles!! I have search far and wide (Ok..just in Vancouver) for Fruity Pebbles. Does anyone know where I can buy a box of this stuff?

Monster ordered the mini size with toppings ($2.95). She’s not a big fan of a lot of sweetness, so she likes everything in a smaller size to have a small taste. It fits about 3 toppings comfortably. She enjoyed the original flavour as it was sweet and tart.

ConsultingGirl ordered the medium size ($5.55) with mango and original frozen yogurt. She piled quite a bit of toppings on top. She enjoyed the flavour combo since she wanted to try both.

I decided to be quite different and ordered the Fruit Parfait ($4.75) You get to choose your yogurt flavour and then 3 types of fruits. I went with the original since I really love the tart/ sour taste! I wanted mango, but no more… so I got kiwi, strawberries and pineapples. The granola was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Overall, I quite like Pinkberry but I am not very fond of their location. Since I live in Burnaby, it’s quite a long ways to go. I love their pricing of their yogurt and how you can have as many toppings that fit comfortably on top. I am a fan of Qoola, but I think Pinkberry wins on their quality and quantity of toppings, plus the large amounts of frozen yogurt flavours.

Words of Wisdom:

Large choices of toppings and more yogurt flavour choices
Fresh toppings
Unlimited combination of toppings
<3 fresh fruit and original flavour!

We Rate Pinkberry:

Address:

D2 – 860 Main Street
West Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.pinkberrycanada.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/PinkberryCanada

Twitter:

@PinkberryCanada

In Dessert

Coldstone Creamery: Everything Tastes Better in a Waffle Cone

August 1, 2011

Cold Stone Creamery is slowly gaining popularity and has about 7 locations in the Lower Mainland. To make their way into the Canadian Market, they have partnered up with Tim Hortons and make it part of their store.

If you look inside, it looks exactly like a Tim Hortons and at times it’s really hard to find a seat to sit at.

They have signature creations that you can choose from without making the decision of which ice cream to get with what topping.

If you want to be a bit different, you can make your own creation or just have some smoothies and milkshakes.

They have a few flavours to choose from. They have the usual mint, cotton candy, coffee, etc.

They have a lot of choices for toppings, so make sure you don’t go over board because it will cost you! You can even put your ice cream in a waffle cone. I had a horrible experience last time at the Coquitlam Coldstone by choosing my own toppings.

When you choose everything, they begin mixing it together on a “cold stone”, get it? It’s actually quite cool seeing them mash up all the ingredients together.

M ordered the ‘Cookie Doughn’t You Want Some’ in a ‘Like It’ Size with a chocolate waffle cone.

It has Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate chips, cookie dough, fudge and caramel. M liked it for the first few bites but felt it was quite sweet, so he was glad he got the smallest size.

I ordered the ‘All Lovin No Oven’ in a ‘Like It’ size with an original waffle cone.

It has cake batter ice cream, cookie dough, fudge and whipped cream. I really did not like the addition of the whipped cream, it felt way too sweet and added such a slimy texture to the ice cream. I also found that the waffle was quite old and stale. It didn’t have the nice crispy “snap” when you break it off.

Overall, we both found their signature creations to be too sweet and not really suited our tastes. I prefer my gelato or froyo.

Words of Wisdom:

“Like it” Is a good size if you don’t want to over indulge
Found their creations to be too sweet
Lots of Parking at Metrotown.

We Rate Coldstone Creamery:

Address:

Unit 1157 – 4700 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

I found this on a forum, so I hope it’s legit and you can redeem it and see for yourself.

http://smartcanucks.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/coldstonecreamery.jpg

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 Dessert

Capstone Tea House: How a Menu Change Ruined a Good Night

July 9, 2011

I was hanging out with a bunch of people downtown and we were craving dessert. Since it was late at night, only a handful of places could seat tables of 10+. We called up a few places and Capstone Tea House said they had space for us.

I came here about a year or 2 ago and I remember it being decent and not bad at all.

When we arrived, they already set up the table for us. The water came quickly out for everyone as well. It was weird how water was served in bbt cups.

One thing we noticed was the change in menu. This was really different than the one before. They raised their prices and removed some of the items we wanted to order. The prices had a dramatic increase and a few people at our table did decide to go elsewhere. I don’t blame them at all since it is quite expensive even for drinks.

Once everyone opened up the menu, we all wanted to leave. Out of courtesy, some of us felt guilty for leaving since they set up the tables for us already. Some items didn’t look too bad and since it is a fondue place, it was a logical choice to get the fondue.

When the cheese fondue for 2 ($22.95) arrived, we were a bit confused because the menu stated, “comes with 2 personal sized fondue pots”. This was not what was depicted on the menu. When we asked the waitress, she said it is only available in Richmond and not at this location. She said she could not do anything.

At this point we were wondering why they did not tell us this before placing the order. It is not acceptable to mislead your customers.

We did order 3 sets of the ‘cheese fondue for 2’ and expected it to be enough for 6 people. The cheese ran out fairly quickly, so we had to ration the cheese so we could use up all the vegetables and items that came with it. We wanted to order more cheese but, it would have cost us an additional $8.99 for a refill of cheese.

The cheese fondue is made of Swiss cheese and comes with endless assorted French bread cubes, tomatoes, grapes, apples, carrots and these mini garlic crackers. It also came with the unlimited bread. However, no one came to refill the bread and there wasn’t enough cheese to keep on eating unlimited bread.

The taste was all right and we did have fun, but $22.95 per pot was not worth it.

The other group at our table ordered the Chocolate Fondue for 2 ($22.95). It came with 6 ice cream balls, grapes, strawberries, apples, pineapples, bananas, biscotti, and 2 nutty toppings.

They use to offer gummy bears and pretzels too, but they don’t include them anymore. Their experience was better, but still expensive!

We were all pretty mad since why would you have a new menu and items that your location does not carry. It was ridiculous and the waitress did not say anything at all. No personal sized fondue pots were seen here.

The prices were not worth it. The website menu is also not updated to reflect the new changes. They no longer offer the $7 sampler items and the all you can eat fondue option on the menu increased by $2.

Just for the sake of complaining, I had to sit beside their really weird vase filled with dirty water and weird particles inside. It looked gross.

When the bill came, we were very surprised! There was an automatic 20% gratuity for tables of 8 or more. 20% is a bit steep and we were not informed before hand. Looking back at the menu, their clause was on the last page in small font. I would gladly pay it only if they provided us with excellent service, but sadly, the service was quite below par. At least they help us split the bill, but looking at the gratuity per item, its quite a lot.

Even for other restaurants, they would charge 17% or 18% gratuity, but 20% is a bit too high in my opinion.

I am not a very confrontational person, so I would have just let it slide. PRgirl was really furious and told the manager about how upset she was over the whole experience. The manager kindly explained that their shipment of dishware and would not arrive till a few weeks later, thus there was only one larger fondue pot instead of 2 personal sized pots. He was not trying to rip us off and kindly removed the 20% gratuity and gave us a 10% discount. It was good of him to do what he did to amend the issues.

If you are ever unsatisfied at any restaurant, don’t be afraid to speak up. No restaurant ever wants to make their customers angry. So, tell them your thoughts and hopefully they can fix any issues. I am glad PRgirl said something because I would be way to shy to say anything.

Overall, we did have a bad impression of the restaurant. As a dessert, this place is great to take a date or a small group of friends.

Words of Wisdom:

20% gratuity for 8+ group
New menu with increased prices
Slow service
Expensive for what you get
Delicious cheese fondue
No individual cheese fondue
Nice interior decor

We Rate Capstone Tea House:

Address:

1429 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Address:
www.capstonetea.com

In Cafe

WE. Coffee: Waffles + Dessert

June 1, 2011

WE Coffee opened up a few months ago and I have always wanted to try it out. I love waffles, so I am always on the look out!

It doesn’t look like there is a lot of seats inside when you first walk in, but you just need to walk further in and you can find seats for up to 6 or 8 people.

Their menu has coffee, tea, sandwiches, and desserts.

I ordered the London Fog (Medium – $3.59). It’s not on the menu, but I just asked if they could make it and they did! It tasted like a normal London fog, but on two occasions I found it to be very inconsistent. The first time I had it, I uncovered a huge tea bag underneath the foam…then the second time there was no tea bag inside. Not a bad thing at all, but I thought it was interesting.

The Al’ Opera Special Blend Tea ($5.99) is a special type of green tea but enhanced with red berries and spices. The tea was ok, but it was quite steep in price (no pun intended :P) at $6 a pot. You really need to be a tea expert to really appreciate it.

One cool thing about their teapot is that there is a metal shield that covers the pot. Not really sure what it’s purpose but we assume it was either to prevent the lid from falling off or to give the pot a sleek look.

KoreanGirl ordered the Iced Americano (Large -$2.75). It looks super cool and tall!

KoreanGirl ordered the one topping Waffle Sandwich with strawberry ice cream ($5.29). This was not very impressive at all. This was hardly a sandwich at all. Nothing sandwiched in the middle. Not worth the price.

I ordered the Strawberry Trifle ($7.99) and it had custard, cake, strawberries, whipped cream and almonds on top. The image on the menu was slightly misleading since there are no Pocky sticks in it. It still tasted pretty good.

CanuckGirl ordered the Waffle with Banana and Ice cream (Half-$6.99). It comes with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, custard, 3 pieces of banana, 2 quarters of a waffle and whipped cream. She thought it was alright but yet its not super impressive for the price.

I came back on another occasion and ate some more. This time, I ordered the Brownie and Ice Cream ($7.99). This looked so delicious! It is a very rich brownie with walnuts inside. It has vanilla ice cream on top and it topped with chocolate sauce, caramel, almonds and a few blueberries.

The brownie was very very good! One of the better brownies I have had.

AuditGirl and Eevaa both ordered the Strawberries and ice cream (Half- $7.99). It has the 2 quarters of a waffle, fresh cut strawberries. Custard and strawberry ice cream. They both thought that it was just average and yet again nothing special.

Overall, both groups that I came here with said it was just ok and nothing special. The items are a bit overpriced for what you get. Hands down, Michi Waffle house is still better. Even though this is so…I would still return just to chill and grab a coffee.

Words of Wisdom:

Strawberry Trifle and Brownie
A bit overpriced
Everyone must order an item
Free wifi

We Rate WE. Coffee:

Address:

1696 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.wecoffee.ca

In Dessert

Qoola: Do It Yourself Frozen Yogurt

May 24, 2011

I was just at Metrotown and I had a little sweet tooth craving. I really didn’t want anything unhealthy or anything super sweet and chocolately. As I strolled around, I decided to go to Qoola. They have ‘do it yourself’ frozen yogurt, so I could get as little or as much as I wanted.

Qoola is located near the Skytrain entrance to the Mall. You can’t miss it. Everything is self serve, so you just go around first by grabbing a cup and fill it up with your flavours of frozen yogurt.

Once you have that desired amount, you can begin the fun part by putting on all the toppings. You can choose from cereal, sprinkles, and all those other sweet toppings.

I love my fresh fruit, so I gravitated towards the counter with the containers of fresh fruit. I loaded on the Strawberries, kiwis and pineapples. I honestly find that is the best combination. It’s very fresh, simple and real.

This came to $4.15! Pretty good price and under $5. I got the plain frozen yogurt with a few scoops of strawberries, kiwi and mango. All the fruits were fresh and it did not seem like it was sitting there for a long time.

Overall, I like the ‘Do It Yourself’ concept. You can choose how much you want and you can choose your own combinations of toppings.

Words of Wisdom:

Steps from Metrotown Skytrain station
Under $5
Do it yourself

We Rate Qoola:

Address:

2250 4700 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

Address:
www.qoola.com

In Coquitlam

Cold Stone Creamery: Invading Vancouver

May 18, 2011

I have a lot of Korean friends and they were raving about how Coldstone was finally in Vancouver. Apparently it’s really big in Korea. Fabo took CubedTee, M, ScarFace, TanGuy and myself to the Coquitlam location.

When we got there, I expected to see a store that was on its own, but it seems like Coldstone can only be found in selected Tim Hortons. I guess that’s how they are bringing Coldstone into the Canadian market. The Coldstone at Metropolis is also inside a Tim Hortons.

Coldstone is very similar to Marble Slab Creamery, but instead of a cold marble surface to mix you ice cream, they have a cold stone, thus the name.

They have interesting names for their 3 sizes of ice cream – Like It, Love It and Gotta Have It.

One their menu has some premade flavours and topping concoctions, while the other one had ‘do it yourself ‘options, shakes and smoothies.

I decided to go for the ‘Do it Yourself’ option because I didn’t like any of the combinations. I chose my size – Love It, and then I chose the Cotton Candy Ice Cream.

The third step was to “pick from an endless combinations of mix-ins”. I thought we could pick any amount of toppings we wanted… so I put 5 toppings into mine – Skor, KitKat, Reese’s, almonds and walnuts. After the 3^rd topping, the person making my ice cream started giving me a funny look and I didn’t know why…until I went to the cashier…

Since I ordered so many toppings, can you imagine how hard it was to mix the toppings into the ice cream?

When I got to the cashier, I was charged for the base price ($3.69) + Waffle bowl ($0.85) + 5 toppings ($4.25). The toppings came out to be the same price as the bowl and ice cream……WOW. This small sundae became a $9 treat. Note to self, read signs carefully.

Since this was entrenched in so many nutty toppings, I could not taste any of the cotton candy ice cream! Every single bite was packed with nuts. Ya… I should never misread signs.

Everyone else got the Signature Creations so they didn’t have to end up like me.

M ordered the ‘Peanut Butter Cup Perfection’. It has Chocolate ice cream, peanut putter, Reese’s and fudge. This was very peanutty and sweet! If you are a chocolate and peanut fan, you should get this. If not, you may want to get something else.

Fabo had the ‘Coffee Lovers Only’. It has coffee Ice cream with Skor, almonds and caramel. This is her all time favorite.

TanGuy was feeling a bit girly today and got the ‘Our Strawberry Blonde’. It has strawberry ice cream, graham crackers, strawberries, caramel and whipped cream.

CubedTee has the ’Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip’. It has mint ice cream, chocolate chips, brownie and fudge.

There are lots of options and yes, the combinations are limitless…but with a price. For myself, I did not really take a liking to Coldstone. The concept is quite neat, but if I wanted some quality ice cream or gelato, I would go elsewhere.

Words of Wisdom:

Under $10
Busy at night
Signature Creations are the way to go

We Rate Cold Stone:

Address:

650- 3025 Lougheed Hwy
Coquitlam, BC

In Bakery

Beard Papa’s: Cream Puffs and More Cream Puffs

May 16, 2011

I was having a stressful day at work, so during my lunch break; I headed over to Beard Papa’s for some cream puffs. That’s the usual thing that cheers me up, sweets! I’m actually not a big fan of sweets, but I do love my cream puffs!

The location on Robson does not have many flavors and they have a schedule, so they only have 2 flavors available per day. They just have the usual flavors that you would see in the other Beard Papa’s.

I grabbed it to go as usual since I didn’t want to be the one in the office that makes everyone else jealous. I went home with the little baggie and shared it with my sister. Sharing is caring right? Eating it all by myself would be a little bit selfish.

I gave my sister the Chocolate Cream Puff ($1.75). She quite enjoyed it as usual. The cream is quite light and it is usually filled up very nicely so the cream tried to escape as you take a bite.

I had the Green Tea Cream Puff ($1.75). I think one of my favorite is the green tea. The green tea taste is very subtle and not too potent.

Some people don’t like the size of the cream puffs and think it’s too big. They do have mini cream puffs but it’s only in the original flavor. Sounds interesting, but you might end up eating more that you initially intended to.

Overall, I enjoyed it and the best was to really eat it is with the company of others.

Words of Wisdom:

Original Flavour is best
Closest Skytrain: Granville

We Rate Beard Papa’s:

Address:

548 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.beardpapascanada.com

In Dessert

Presidents Choice Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream Sandwiches

May 4, 2011

M and I were shopping at Superstore since there was No Tax! You can save a few bucks here and there but hey… I am Asian so I am entitled to fight others in the name of discounts.

We were walking up and down the aisles … then up and down more aisles… then I saw it in the distance; a HUGE freeze display of Presidents Choice Ice Cream Sandwiches.

You are probably asking why I am so excited over this. When I was a kid, I would often take their cookies and scoop ice cream between to cream my own version of the ice cream sandwich. Clearly, they never ever tasted right.

The ice cream sandwiches come in 2 flavours – Vanilla and Chocolate.

I prefer vanilla, but M prefers chocolate, so I really can’t tell you which one is better since it’s all about personal preferences. Essentially, the Ice cream sandwiches are made out of 2 chocolate chunk cookies with a large amount of ice cream in the middle. I personally found this ice cream sandwich ok, it was hard to taste the ice cream when there are chocolate chunks all over the place.

My all time favorite is still the usual rectangle ice cream sandwich with the black soft cookie.

In Dessert

Beard Papa’s: Good Desserts For a Bad Day

May 3, 2011

M was feeling a bit down, so I surprised him with some Beard Papa’s. He loves chocolate, so I thought I would get him one of their cool cakes. I love cream puffs and since Beard Papa’s is in Metrotown, I thought it would be convenient.

There wasn’t much of a line but there was a bunch of people just staring at the lady making cream puffs. I found this rather annoying because I just wanted to order. I stood behind a few people for a while and they weren’t moving in the line or talking to the people taking the orders. Turns out they were just looking.

I ordered and I was on my way with my little paper bag. I also saw the nutrition information and yikes….I was scared for my health.

They have a few more products since I came a year ago. They had this thing called ‘Paris Brest’. It sounded a bit scary at first, but it’s just a donut looking pastry with custard. If you want to be more technical, it is a Choux pastry shell with fluffy custard filling. It is a commemoration of Paris Brest et Tour, the worlds oldest existing bicycling event. This should not be mistaken with Tour de France.

It was pretty good and it reminded me of the original cream puff but in a different form.

The other item I got was the Fondant Au Chocolate. It is their version of a chocolate lava cake. It has a very nice oozing chocolate center when you break the cake with your spoon.

This is probably my favorite item from Bearded Papa since I love chocolate lava cakes. Yum! It is usually best served warm, so stick it into the microwave for a few minutes and it should taste amazing.

We rate Beard Papas:

Address:

4700 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.beardpapascanada.com

In Dessert

Bella Gelateria: Old-World Handcrafted Gelato

April 21, 2011

CandiedZen and I were on a search for some mochi after our day of eating, but it was nowhere to be found…plus we didn’t want to scarf down a whole box of mochi from Konbinya.

We decided to satisfy our sweet tooth cravings by heading to Bella Gelateria. As usual they have some amazing gelato flavours packed with a lot of flavour. What makes Bella Gelateria awesome is how all their gelato is made with care and in small batches so to ensure its quality.

Since I love London Fogs, I got the Earl Grey gelato. The taste was very amazing and you could clearly see the earl grey tea was perfectly infused. Lots of great rich flavour and it’s really great after dinner.

CandiedZen ordered the Yuzu Sorbetto. It doesn’t really look like much except for snow, but the yuzu sorbetto was also very amazing. Yuzu is the small little oranges on the small asian trees. They are usually made into teas, jams or the famous yuzu soy sauce. The yuzu does not taste like an orange, but more close to a lemon. It has a very nice crisp taste.

If you are looking for some amazing high quality gelato, be sure to check out Bella Gelateria. It will knock your socks off.

Words of Wisdom:

Amazing quality
Close to Waterfront or Burrard Skytrain
Expensive parking on the street

Address:

1001 W Cordova St
Vancouver, BC

We rate Bella Gelateria:

Website:

http://www.bellagelateria.com/

In Dessert

La Casa Gelato: 518 Flavours of Gelato

April 18, 2011

La Casa Gelato is a tourist destination and is very famous for their 518 + flavours and 218 choices on site. They have been in business for a very long time and I have been going there since I was a little kid. It was always a treat when my parents would take me here. They offer some of the most absurd flavours like – Wasabi, Balsamic Vinegar, Chocolate Chili, and gorgonzola cheese.

With the 218 flavours to choose from, you might spend a bit of time trying out a few flavours until you finally decide what you really want. Since there is usually a lot of traffic, there are no seats.

They have tons of cones in various styles.Their prices of gelato has also increased quite a bit over the years.

You need to get a token before you start ordering your gelato or else they will not serve you.

M ordered the Chocolate Peanut butter Gelato ($4.50). He decided to have it in a cup because he hates the messiness from the cones.

ConsultingGirl ordered the DragonFruit Gelato ($4.50). The flavour is good but she did not like how all our scoops were different sizes. She liked the size and shape of my scoop but was a bit jealous cause mine was bigger. (Look below).

Whats cool about La Casa Gelato is their amount of asian style gelato such as green tea, durian, mango, sour sop, la dua and the list goes on.

I ordered the Bubblegum Gelato ($4.50). I usually order this because it just reminds me of when I was a kid. It is a bright vibrant blue and has a subtle flavour of fruity bubble gum. It tastes great but one of the biggest downsides of this gelato is the abundance of food coloring in this gelato. Your tongue and lips immediately turn blue. Since there is so much food color…..what goes in must come out…if you know what I mean. If you don’t want remnants of blue lips the next day, avoid this.

Overall, after many years, I have found the quality has decreased, prices have risen, and the amount of flavours keep climbing. With their booming success, it is not a surprise. Since there is a large amount of traffic, the staff are not always the most friendly looking. They just seem to have a grumpy look on their faces.

One thing I can say is that it’s a cool novelty in Vancouver.When do you ever get to tell your friends you tried eating garlic gelato or some other crazy concoction.

Words of Wisdom:

Chocolate Chili is insane! Taste like chocolate and BAM spicy!
Always fun to try the most messed up flavours
Usually packed with locals and tourists
Parking lot usually full at peak hours

We Rate La Casa Gelato:

Address:

1033 Venables St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.lacasagelato.com

In Cafe

Dessert Dynasty

March 29, 2011

Beside T&T at Metrotown is a cafe place called Dessert Dynasty. They sell desserts and different types of bubble tea. If you are ever at the mall and wanted a bit of something sweet, it’s a decent place to head to.

I remember when I was younger…so many bbt places at Metro and I couldn’t decide which one to go to…. Till this day, I still can’t figure out which one is my favorite.

The menu is both in Chinese and English, so you will have no issues reading it. I usually skip reading the menu and get my 2 staple items – Milk tea and bubble waffles! You can’t get anymore asian than that. (You probably could but this is how I roll).

The Cold Milk Tea ($3ish) was like most average milk teas. It was slightly on the sweet side but not too bad. I find that as I get older I like things to be less sweet. I know I’m not THAT old, but I like to save my teeth for the future.

If you are like me, you may want to get half sweet. ( Plus, it’s less calories!)

Lastly, the Bubble Waffle ($3.33) was pretty good. A bubble waffle is basically little ball of puffy waffles. They mix this egg batter and pour it into a waffle-maker with a honeycomb pattern. It gets cooked, and voila! You have your waffle balls – crunchy on the outside, and if cooked just right, slightly chewy on the inside.

I thought the ones at Dessert Dynasty wouldn’t be that great since I’ve heard mediocre review about this place. The lady today made it well, nice and soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Yummy!

Overall, Dessert Dynasty is pretty average and not super outstanding. It’s place to go if you are in the area and want some sweets.

Words of Wisdom:

Address:

149 – 4800 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

Website:

http://www.dessertdynasty.com/