Kid Friendly Archives - Page 4 of 14

In Dessert

Snowy Village: Open on Robson Street

June 27, 2016

Snowy Village has their second location on Robson Street right beside Ramen Santouka. When they first opened in Richmond, people were lining up like mad trying to get a taste of their milky shaved ice and the croissant taiyaki.

You will see a line up outside the store, but it’s for Ramen Santouka. After being here twice, it’s not too busy compared to the Richmond location.

Ordering

We put in our order and started to wait for a table to open up. We noticed there were a lot of people getting bingsoo or the taiyaki for takeout. It’s pretty easy to get it to go and eat it at English Bay or Coal Harbour.

They also do cash, credit or debt.

Sizes

One major difference in what they serve is the size of the bingsoo. Even if you are eating the dessert in the store, they don’t use their nice metal bowls. It looks smaller, but because of the shape difference, I can’t be certain if the volume of shaved ice is different.

Bingsoo

Mango Bingoo is the most popular item that customers order, There is layers of mango chunks, mango puree and the milky shaved ice.

I like the fruity bingsoo as it is more refreshing.

Oreo Bingoo has the layer of oreo then the milky shaved ice. I like it but I always fear of smiling after since the oreo bits would hide between my teeth.

Injeolmi Bingsoo has red bean with it too. Injeolmi is a Korean rice cake snack. This smaller size also has the layers, but I found that as we kept digging into it, we wanted more of the injeolmi.

Green Tea Bingsoo has a sprinkling of green tea, red bean and some spongey cake. There definitely need to have more green tea in it.

Croissant Taiyaki

Each Croissant Taiyaki is made to order. You can watch the guy make it at the front of the store and smell the delicious aroma of the taiyaki.

They come in 5 flavours:

red bean
injeolmi red bean
custard cream
sweet potato
nutella

It did take a little while for them to be cook it, so the bingsoo came out before these.

We bought 3 for $10 and of all the flavours, I still prefer the nutella taiyaki.

Each order, we also got a wet nap to clean our hands. A nice touch, but we weren’t that messy.

Overall, it’s still good bingsoo and there’s no other shop to get it in the area of Robson. It would be nice if they had more fruit options on their menu. During peak hours it can be hard to get a table, but I find the turnover to be quite quick.

We Rate Snowy Village:

Address:
1696 Robson Street, Vancouver

In Dessert

Kul Cup: Soft Serve Ice Cream in Mount Pleasant

June 26, 2016

Kul Cup is a new organic soft serve shop in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. When you’re on Main and 12th, you’ll see their bright blue awning from the intersection.

They use Avalon dairy in their soft serve and try to source their other ingredients locally where possible.

All of the organic soft serve ice cream have the same base, but it is dressed up with a variety of different toppings.

Matcha Slim has organic ice cream with organic premium match powder, condensed milk and raisins. It was ok, but those raisins didn’t make much sense to us.

Swiss Bliss has organic ice cream, swiss chocolate milk, chocolate sauce, and a crispy wafer stick.

Honey Comb has organic ice cream with natural honeycomb, liquid honey and corn flakes. A good classic combination that you will see at other soft serve ice cream places around the world.

Magic Cookies has organic ice cream, crunchy oreos, and chocolate sauce. Good for those chocolate lovers.

Fancy Macarons has organic ice cream with macaron, toasted almonds and chocolate sauce. The macaron is cute and it’s made by French Made Baking a few blocks away.

Summer Love has organic ice cream with pistachios, macadamia nuts, cashews and caramel sauce. All the nuts for ground up into small pieces.

Caramel Popcorn has organic ice cream, Kernels Popcorn and caramel sauce. One of the favourites among the group as the flavours pair really well.

Raspberry has organic ice cream, fresh raspberries, organic quinoa granola, and a raspberry sauce.

Tropical Dream has organic ice cream, fresh pineapple, mango, organic aloha granola and either strawberry or raspberry sauce.

Avocado has organic ice cream, fresh avocado, toasted coconut and condense milk. It was a surprising favourite of the group as all our mind were blown that avocado would go well with ice cream.

Green Island has the organic ice cream with almonds, caramel sauce and served in a cantaloupe. An interesting combination, but could have been presented a little bit different.

Out of all the items we tried, they all kinda seemed similar after a while since the base flavour is the same. The ones that I really liked were Avocado and their Caramel Popcorn.

We Rate Kul Cup:

Address:
2751 Main Street, Vancouver BC

In American

Churros and Mickey Pretzels at Magic Kingdom

June 13, 2016

Walking around Magic Kingdom in Frontierland, we stopped by this cart for a quick snack. Since we had the Disney dining plan, we were entitled to one snack each per day. I was originally looking for a cart with Turkey legs, but turns out they don’t offer it as a snack item as it is $11.75. Since I didn’t want to spend extra money, we had to settle for Mickey-shaped pretzels and churros.

Mickey Pretzel looks super cute but they didn’t have anymore cheese sauce. When we ate this, it was pretty hard to eat this without any additional flavour. That cheese sauce would have come in handy.

Churro was what I’ve been waiting for. It’s super long, fresh and crisp. Tons of sugar was packed on but I didn’t care. More calories, no problem.

Everyday, we would walk a lot around each park, so I didn’t mind eating a lot.

Location:
Frontierland, Magic Kingdom

In Canadian

Smokehouse Sandwich Co: Charcoal Burger Bun

June 12, 2016

Smokehouse Sandwich Co has their newest location inside Cathedral Place in Downtown close to Burrard Station. I purchased the SocialShopper deal – 2 sandwiches and 2 sides/drinks for $12. A super good deal, but I didn’t realize the Downtown location has very limited hours. I was planning to visit after work, but they close at 3pm on weekdays and are closed on weekends. I ended up coming here with a few friends during lunch to check it out. If you wander around the first floor of Cathedral Place, you’ll be able to find it. It’s close to Bill Reid Gallery.

They have their first location in Richmond since 2014 and they serve original and fresh smoked meat sandwiches made from locally sourced ingredients. Their Richmond location is open till 8pm Monday – Saturday. If you don’t work in downtown, I would recommend you get the Richmond SocialShopper deal.

Seating

There are lots of seats but it reminds me of a food court. We came here around 11:45am and it wasn’t busy at all. By the time it was 12:30pm, it picked up as the office workers in the area headed here for lunch.

Sandwiches

Billie on the Charcoal Bun has salt cured pork belly, aioli sauce, salsa and lettuce. We got the regular portion of meat in the bun. How can you not go for the charcoal bun? It looks super cool. I enjoyed this sandwich and the pork belly had a good depth of flavour.

Sarah on high fibre bun has pulled tamarind Chicken with aioli, sesame ginger oil and asian slaw. I enjoyed the asian slaw with the sesame ginger oil. Definitely went well with the chicken.

Samson on a white bun has coffee-crusted strawberry-glazed beef brisket with aioli, red bell peppers and lettuce. Of all the sandwiches, we liked the flavour of the beef brisket the most.

Wilbur on white bun has cumin-spiced pulled pork with aioli and coleslaw. Of the 4 sandwiches we had, we didn’t really like the wilbur.

Sides

Mushroom Soup was their soup of the day when we were here. It was a pretty straight forward mushroom soup with a good amount of mushroom inside.

Crisps are yellow potatoes fried in olive oil. Really crispy and not overly salted. I liked it.

Asian slaw has shredded daikon radish and carrots pickled in rice vinegar and topped with mayo and crisps. I was surprised how much I liked it.

Drinks

On their menu, they have a few different beverages that are unique to Smokehouse Sandwich co – Honey Ginger Lemon, Strawberry Mint and Kombucha.

Strawberry and Mint can be made cold, hot or fizzy. At first it reminded me of liquified jam, but maybe it would have been better if it was fizzy.

Honey Ginger Lemon packed a punch and if you love ginger, you will enjoy it. I didn’t take a liking to it but a few of my friends really liked it and would return for it.

Overall, the food was good for a quick lunch in Downtown Vancouver. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here, but if you work in the area, it’s a good option for a fast lunch. Of course there are a lot of other sandwich places in the area, so it will be tough competition.

Disclaimer: I was provided a complimentary SocialShopper voucher for Smokehouse Sandwich Co for this review and I also purchased an additional one so I could try more sandwiches. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate Smokehouse Sandwich Co:

Address:
The Cathedral Place, 925 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.smokehousesandwich.ca/

In Epcot

Tangierine Cafe: Morocco in Epcot’s World Showcase

June 11, 2016

Take a stroll into Tangierine Café, where it reminds me of Aladdin. It is located in the Morocco area of Epcot’s World Showcase. If you’re lucky, you might be able to spot Aladdin and Jasmine close by.

This quick service restaurant serves up shawarma, wraps, and different types of platters.

The meat on the large skewers look severely processed. Traditionally, you will be able to see the different layers of meat, but this just looks like it was ground up with filler and spices, then moulded into shape.

We got 2 platters and ate outside in the shade.

Shawarma Chicken and Lamb Platter has a side of hummus, tabouleh and couscous salad with Moroccan bread. Very flavourful items and I liked the platter as you don’t have to get messy eating a wrap.

Shawarma Lamb Platter has the same side as the other platter. The only difference is the meat.

They have a few different items for dessert, but we went with the baklava.

Baklava is a sweet pastry made of filo, chopped nuts and honey. It was very sweet and we only could have a few bites each.

To wash all that food down, coke and water had to do. We usually end up sharing the coke and saving the water for later when we need it. It’s a lot easier to carry it around the park or put it into our bag without spilling.

Overall, the food was good compared to some other quick service restaurants in Epcot. If you compare this to real authentic Moroccan cuisine, it doesn’t even come close.

We rate Tangierine Cafe:

Address:
1510 N Avenue of the Stars, Orlando, FL
Morocco – Epcot

Website:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/tangierine-cafe/menus/

In Buffet

Liberty Tree Tavern: New England Themed Buffet in Magic Kingdom

June 10, 2016

Liberty Tree Tavern is located in Liberty Square inside Magic Kingdom. We made reservations ahead of time with our travel agent so we were guaranteed a spot to the restaurants that we wanted to check out.

They do all you can eat dinner buffet. The food is pretty standard, but it can be modified for those who have certain allergies.

We checked in when it was our time, but it was very busy, so all reservations were bumped back by 15 minutes. The interior looks pretty cool.

It feels like we were transported back in time to an 18th century American Inn.

Dinner is $33 for people over the age of 10 and $19 for those that are 9 and under.

Everyone gets to share:

Declaration salad
Patriots platter
Johnny Appleseed’s Tart

I went with Unsweetened Iced Tea with Lemon and M got his Coke. It was a super hot day, so we were so happy there is unlimited refills. Our server was very good at refilling our drinks without us asking.

Warn dinner rolls arrived with honey butter.

Declaration Salad is shared among the table and there is tossed mixed greens with house-made dressing. It was nice to have a salad that’s refreshing compared to the carb heavy meals we had earlier in the day.

The Patriot’s Platter arrived with mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans on the first plate. All these sides were really good.

On the second plate, there was roasted turkey breast, pot roast, tavern ham, and stuffing. The turkey was a bit dry, but the ham and pot roast were really good.

Of course, there was also a big bow of gravy too. This was good to put on the turkey to counteract the dryness.

Johnny Appleseed’s Tart has baked apples, cinnamon, cranberries on top of a pastry shell. It is also served with vanilla ice cream. I wasn’t a fan of this dessert as it was very sweet.

Overall, the meal was pretty good compared to the other casual dining restaurants in Disney World. If you are a large eater, a buffet like this will be worth the money.

We Rate Liberty Tree Tavern:

Address:
4600 World Dr., Orlando, FL
Liberty Square – Magic Kingdom

Website:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/liberty-tree-tavern/

In All You Can Eat

River Rock Buffet: Surf and Turf Night

May 29, 2016

The Buffet at the River Rock Casino in Richmond has Surf and Turf Night on Fridays and Saturdays starting at 5pm. They do not take reservations and can get very busy around 6 and 7pm. Always best to arrive early.

For $39.95 per adult, it’s not a bad price.

They can seat up to 260 people at one time but it is packed during peak times with hungry people wanting all you can eat. Their dishes are inspired by West Coast cuisine.

Since I was leaving on vacation soon, we had to celebrate Mother’s Day earlier. Not a bad thing since it is cheaper.

The line was super long that it flowed out of the lobby.

The staff were pretty good about treating their guests well. They brought lemonade to those who were thirsty.

We got seated about waiting in line for 1.5 hours. We did have a larger group, so it was harder for them to seat us.

Once we sat down, staff came over to take our drink order. Then it was off to scavenge for food in the buffet area.

Crab, clams, prawns and mussels

This should be the first area you go to if you are a seafood lover. The quality is pretty good for a buffet. You gotta get your money’s worth.

The staff are pretty good about making sure that it doesn’t get empty. When I was here, it was always fully stocked.

If you aren’t into cold seafood, they have hot versions near the back. There is cooked salmon, clams, mussel, prawns, and crab legs.

On my first round, I got a little bit of all the seafood. Between the cold and hot crab legs, I enjoyed the cold ones a lot more since it was easier to get the meat out of the shell. With the hot ones, the meat doesn’t slide out very well from the shell and also your hands get more oily.

The other clams, mussels and shrimp were good. I liked the hot and cold ones equally.

On round 2, I went with all cold seafood since it was easier to eat with my hands. I’m a savage when it comes to eating seafood at a buffet.

Roast Carving Station

At the roast carving station, you will find prime rib, ham, and roast chicken,

I grabbed a bit of prime rib and it was pretty good. Nice and fatty with some pink in the centre. Of course, I had to get some fruit and veggies to balance all the seafood and meat I was eating.

You can also get prime rib that is a bit more well done.

Sushi Station

At the sushi station, you will find sushi rolls and sashimi. The items didn’t look that great, so I decided to spend my calories on more crab.

Dessert

The main dessert area has a lot of little cakes. Many kinds, so it might be hard to choose.

Drinks

You can also grab pop and juice. Behind the machines are taps for filtered water and sparkling water.

Ice Cream

Behind the Pepsi and drink machines, there is ICE CREAM and POPSICLES! A lot of people seem to miss seeing these since its a bit hidden.

Double Chocolate Sundae is a good way to end the meal.

Overall, not a bad buffet at all. If you love seafood, you’ll have a good time eating all the crabs, prawns, clams, and mussels. Of course, it still doesn’t compare to the buffets in Vegas, but at least we have something.

We Rate The Buffet:

Address:
8811 River Rd
Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.riverrock.com/dining/the-buffet.aspx

In Food Carts

Tacofino Tofino: The Original Cantina on the West Coast

April 28, 2016

Tacofino has made waves in Vancouver with amazing fresh tacos and burritos. I’ve been to all of the Tacofino locations in Vancouver, but since I was in Tofino, I had to see where it all started.

West Coast tacos and burritos were screaming for us. The truck wasn’t open yet, but it already had a line up.

On the menu, you have burritos, tacos, gringas, drinks and soups.

Not sure what the menu means? There’s a little FAQ to help people navigate the menu.

The line up is pretty constant, but don’t be turned off by it, the food is worth it.

Choco-Banana Licuados is their milkshake and it has a good balance of the banana and chocolate. It’s a bit filling too, so M and I shared it so we could eat more food.

Tuna-Ta Taco has seared albacore tuna with wasabi-mayo, seaweed salad, and pickled ginger. Really delicious, but this will set you back $6.50 per taco. Expensive, but very delicious.

Fish Taco uses tempura ling cod with cabbage and fresh salsa on top.

Look at that crisp fish taco inside. Once you bite inside, you get the crunchiness of the cod and all that delicious salsa.

They also have different hot sauce on the table if you need an extra kick in your taco, put a few dashes in there.

The burritos are all wrapped up, so its easy to get it to go. We grabbed a few and took it back to our hotel.

Crispy Chicken Burrito reminded me of chicken karaage. It also has guac in it. I couldn’t say no to guacamole.

Fish burrito has that big chunk of cod inside. Delicious as well. One of the less heavier choices.

Pork Burrito was good as well. The pulled pork and those beans make it a very filling item to get.

Overall, the food is good and the burrito gets the best bang for your buck since you need at least 2 tacos to be full. You can still get the same good stuff in Vancouver, but if you haven’t had Tacofino before, give it a try. You really can’t go wrong with any items on the menu.

We Rate Tacofino:

Address:
1184 Pacific Rim Hwy,Tofino, BC

Website:
http://tacofino.com/

In Four Beakers

Wildside Grill: Local, Fresh, and Wild

April 25, 2016

Wildside Grill in Tofino gets their fish straight from the boat. Commercial fisherman Jeff Mikus and chef Jesse Blake are the minds behind Wildside Grill. Like many of the restaurants in Tofino, they source their ingredients locally, so you get high quality west coast cuisine.

The menu is quite large, so it was very hard to figure out what to order. I wanted it all. hahaha.

Breakfast Taco has 2 fried eggs, lettuce, avotillo, chipotle mayo, jack cheese in corn tortillas and topped with crude and lime. So good! Who would have thought these would go together. If you need some hangover food, this is it. The heaviness of the egg balances with the fresh avotillo.

Oyster Po Boy has panko fried oysters, lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, and a caesar dressing. it also comes with fries. Very fresh oysters and nice crunch in the panko crumbs. Fries were also very crisp.

Breakfast Ciabatta has 2 fried eggs, chorizo sausage, jack cheese patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, avotillo, smoked tomato relish on the toasted ciabatta bun. Another good breakfast item but it’s more cheesy and carb heavy.

Pulled Pork Poutine has smoked pork in BBQ sauce, cheese curds and gravy. Wow, this was so good. The pulled pork was tender and super flavourful.

Cod Club has panko crusted cod with lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, pink shrimp, sweet chili mayo and avotillo. The fries are served with it.

Smoked Salmon Chowder has local salmon smoked in house with mixed veggies and seafood in a creamy broth. It i topped with baby pink shrimp and dill. The chowder is a bit thin but it is very loaded with ingredients.

This is the large size and its pretty big. The half size is a lot better for an individual.

Overall, the food is very fresh and executed well. I’m glad we made a stop here to indulge on their comfort westcoast dishes. Don’t forget to save your receipt, so you can head over to Chocolate Tofino for 10% off gelato.

All the seating is outdoors on picnic benches, so don’t forget to bring a jacket.

We Rate Wildside Grill:

Address:
1180 Pacific Rim Hwy,Tofino, BC

Website:
http://www.wildsidegrill.com/

In Kid Friendly

Chocolate Tofino: Gelato and Chocolates

April 24, 2016

Chocolate Tofino cranks out handcrafted chocolates and homemade gelato right in their cozy little shop. My friend told me that we needed to make a stop here during our long weekend out here. They have been making chocolate here since 2003. They never use artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives. Instead, they seek to incorporate organic and local flavours into their artisan chocolates and gelato.

They are located right in the area where Tofitian, Tacofino, Wildside Grill, Live to Surf, and Swell Juice Bar is located. If you’re visiting Tofino, there is a 100% chance you are paying them a visit.

What I love about Tofino is their inherent nature to be sustainable and be hyper local. They don’t make sacrifices to their quality of their product.

Everything is made here in this tiny shop.

The chocolates were tempting, but I stuck with their gelato. I should have grabbed a few things, but I’ll make sure to do it next time.

Stracciatella Gelato is a combination of sweet cream, vanilla beans and single origin Dark Chocolate flecks from fine flavour Cacao. It was a good flavour and I like those dark chocolate flakes.

Summer Strawberry Gelato is very fresh and you will not get that artificial taste like other ice creams out there. This flavour is definitely a winner.

Overall, it was a great day to get a sweet treat from them before heading back home to Vancouver.

We Rate Chocolate Tofino:

Address:
1180 Pacific Rim Hwy, Tofino

Website:
http://www.chocolatetofino.com/

In Japanese

Green Leaf Sushi: Aburi Sushi and Sashimi

April 23, 2016

Green Leaf Sushi in Kitsilano has been generating quite a buzz lately for their Aburi Sushi Platter. They have their version of Miku’s Salmon Oshi Sushi, which is driving people crazy on instagram.

We came here for dinner with the family and waited about an hour and a bit for their large table that fits 8 people. We tried making a reservation in the morning, but they need at least 24 hours notice, so we went a bit early to put our name down since we knew it would be a wait. Even for groups for 4 or 5, they also seem to wait a while.

Always best to make reservations to avoid any waiting.

Complimentary tea arrives on the table or you can ask for water. They weren’t as diligent filling up the tea, but since the restaurant was so busy, it was ok. You just need to flag down a server.

Kabocha Korokke comes with 3 pieces. There is a quail egg inside covered in winter squash. It was pretty good, but we wished there were even pieces instead of just 3 pieces.

Prawn Tempura comes with 6 pieces. Crispy golden and light batter that surrounds the prawn. You’ll need to dunk it in the sauce or else it feels a bit heavy and oily.

For the family, we shared the Aburi Sushi Platter that comes with 6 pieces of each aburi and the roll that has 8. 6 different varieties with 38 pieces in total. it takes about 30 minutes to prepare, so make sure you order this right away when you sit down.

Salmon Oshi Sushi
Basil Ebi oshi sushi
Yukke Tuna Oshi Sushi
Sime Saba Oshi Sushi
Hotate Oshi Sushi
Aburi Tobibo roll

All the rolls were really good. Fresh ingredients and lots of favour. It’s a great item to share with the table, but it is about $60 something dollars.

Salmon Sashimi uses wild salmon, so the quality is really good.

Tuna sashimi was stellar! Some pieces were basically toro. Melt in your mouth!

Saba Miso Yaki is grilled mackerel with miso sauce on top. It also have grilled onions and a side of rice.

Tuna tataki salad was good and lightly dressed with lots of greens on top.

The udon that my dad got was ok, but it reminded us of kimchi stew.

Kimchi bacon Ishiyaki was so poorly put together, whoever made it does not know how to cook rice. The rice was so mushy that you know they added too much water to the rice. Since there was so much moisture, it could barely crisp up in the hot bowl.

Chopped scallop roll, House Roll and Negitoro roll were all well put together, fresh ingredients and super tasty.

Overall, the sushi and the sashimi were very good and fresh. The quality was great, but we didn’t like the cooked items like their udon and their rice bowl. Stick with the aburi sushi and some of their rolls and you’ll have a good time.

We Rate Green Leaf Sushi:

Address:
3416 West Broadway, Vancouver

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

In Canadian

Chachi’s: Sandwiches at Metrotown

April 21, 2016

Chachi’s is the newest addition to the Metropolis food court in South Burnaby. They are originally from Calgary and now they have their first location in BC. There are plans to open 2 more locations at Crossiron Mills and Tsawwassen Mills.

Their mission is to make mall food better by crafting gourmet sandwiches with local ingredients. It’s great to see they are working with local suppliers like Arctic Meats, Valbella, Nossack, and Alberta Cheese. Their produce is also sourced from Yen Bros in Vancouver.

Spicy Mac n’ Cheese with Capicollo comes in 2 separate containers. You put the together when you’re ready to eat it.

Taking the first few bites, it was really good. The mac n’ cheese is very cheesy, plus the capicollo added the right amount of spice.

I would order this again.

Hot Philly Sandwich has rib steak, bell peppers, onion, jalapeno, provolone, garlic aioli and spicy mayo. This sandwich has a good amount of spiciness and not too overpowering. I love the amount of provolone in this.

Clubbin’ Sandwich has bacon, turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheddar, garlic aioli, and spicy mayo. Not as exciting as the other sandwiches, but still good.

Spicy Italian Sandwich has calabrese salami, cry-cured capicollo, jalapeno, jack cheese, garlic aioli, red pepper spread, red onion, lettuce, and tomato. M loved this.

Pork with Mac sandwich has pulled pork, sweet chili BBQ sauce, and then slathered with mac n’ cheese. This is total comfort food, but it would have been nice if the mac n’ cheese was spread evenly. You can see there was more mac n’ cheese on one side than the other. Other than that, it still tasted darn good.

Overall, it’s a nice new option at the food court at Metrotown. Although it is pricier than other options at the food court, it’s pretty darn delicious.

We Rate ChaChi’s:

Website:
http://www.chachis.ca/

Address:
4820 Kingsway, Burnaby

In Japanese

Carp: Sushi and Bento Boxes

April 18, 2016

Carp Sushi and Bento is a little Japanese take out restaurant located near Kingsgate Mall. A friend of ours highly recommended this place for their sashimi and rolls.

M and I decided to come here after work for a quick dinner, it would have been quicker, but I ended up wanting to try so many items off the menu. Sometimes I can be such a pig.

Once you walk inside this small space, you will see a few things for take out in the fridge, a counter, and 3 tables.

I think they can fit about 10 people in here. Maybe less?

We put in our order at the counter, paid and found a seat. They also have a kids combo too.

You can find other items on their chalk board.

They gave us hot tea as we waited for our meal to be prepared.

I couldn’t stop staring at this moo-cow creamer as their soy sauce dispenser. Super cute.

Salmon and Tuna Sashimi were very good quality. That tuna was so fatty, that it might as well just be toro. 10 pieces of $12 isn’t bad considering the quality of it.

Moo-cow creamer in action with the soy sauce coming out of its nose.

Tuna Tataki Salad has the tuna tataki on the bottom topped with greens and a light dressing.

Truffled Mashed Potato was surprisingly good. The truffle is subtle, but it works well together as a side item to your meal. It is served cold.

Mini Japanese Curry comes in a small bowl, think of it as a little taster.

Sea Eel Candied Salmon Roll comes with 8 pieces. avocado, cucumber and candied salmon on the inside topped with the eel.

OMG Roll has 8 pieces as well. It is topped with spicy salmon and these crunchy ball bits. Good rolls as well.

Inari is a tofu pocket with rice, seasoning and these tiny crunchy balls. Good and simple.

Cone trio comes with California cone, crunchy prawn cone and a spicy tuna cone. All three were tasty and put together well.

Sesame Ice Cream and Green Tea Ice Cream was a nice sweet treat to end the meal.

Overall, all the items were really good. If you want to try a bit of everything and not want to spend too much, the bento boxes are a great option for under $10.

I would come here again. Awesome hidden gem.

We Rate Carp Sushi +Bento:

Address:
2516 Prince Edward st
Vancouver, BC

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

In Happy Hour

Pink Elephant Thai: Open at Marine Gateway

April 16, 2016

Pink Elephant Thai opened their second location at Marine Gateway serving up modern Thai food to hungry shoppers in this complex and the movie-goers at the Cineplex Theatres.

They also have happy hour on the weekday from 3 -6pm. The items on the happy hour menu range from $5 – $10 with Singha Beer, wine, and high ball for $5.

Their menu combines influences from Northern and Southern parts of Thailand, but they have added their modern twist to the dishes, so it’s not 100% authentic.

A few of us were invited to check out a few items on the menu and the space.

The interior is brightly lit compared to their Downtown location. They also can seat about 40 people here.

Thai iced tea is made of strong brewed tea, sweetener, ice and milk. It’s very good and always a treat at any Thai restaurant. Highly recommended!

Lime soda is very refreshing especially if you have spicy food.

Pad Thai Prawn is a stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind sauce, tofu, eggs, bean sprouts, green onions topped with ground peanuts.

You can also get this made vegetarian with tofu, or else you can choose your preference of protein like chicken or beef.

A classic dish that you can’t go wrong with.

Pink Elephant Thai Calamari is deep-fried and marinated with Thai spices. This dish was ok, looked more like an onion ring than calamari. There was a lot of batter and could have been a bit more crispy. After a while, it went a bit limp.

Goong Ob Woon Sen has Tiger prawns with glass noodles in a clay pot served with Thai spicy sauce. This was ok too, but I never really liked glass noodles as they tend to stick together a lot more.

Pad Kee Mao Prawn has stir-fried rice noodles with Thai chilies, diced green beans, onions, bell peppers and fresh basil. This was an ok dish as well.

Thai Style Pork Cheek is grilled and marinated with Thai herbs and spices. They use BBQ pork jowl in this dish. It was good, you can’t go wrong with jowl.

Chilli Basil Hot Wings are mild chicken wings but it does has a sight tingle from the chilli. I like the crispier skin on this flavour of wing.

Red Curry Hot Wings are a little more spicier, but the skin isn’t as crisp due to the red curry sauce.

Floating Market is an appetizer with deep-fried spinach with tiger prawns, cashew nuts served with spicy sauce. The deep-fried spinach was interesting, but it only tasted like the oily batter.

Pad Phed Chicken has bamboo shoots, mushrooms, Thai chilies, bell pepper and fresh basil stir fry. Grab some rice on the side and eat it with this dish. A good mix of spice to this dish.

Khao Soi with chicken comes with their Northern Thai Style curry soup noodles. Dunk the noodles into the broth and enjoy.

Deep fried banana with mango ice cream had us all wondering if the ice cream was really mango or some Thai Iced Tea flavour. Their mango ice cream uses the larger red mangos. No one seemed to like the ice cream. I love deep fried banana’s so, I was all over that.

Mango with sticky rice cooked in pandan leaves uses the sweeter mangoes that we know and love. With the green sticky rice, this dish looks like a carrot.

Overall, the food was ok, but I think I would want to try more of their of the other items on the menu like the satays and fresher items like the lettuce wraps.

All of the dishes are mean to be shared to have the best experience, but if you wanted a single dish to yourself, the noodles, curry or rice dishes will be good.

We Rate Pink Elephant Thai:

Address:
434 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver

Website:
http://thaihouse.com/pink-elephant-thai/

In Canadian

Matterson House: Cozy Dinner in Ucluelet

April 14, 2016

Matterson House Restaurant is a cozy eatery in the village of Ucluelet. The house was built in 1931, so you will see a lot of rustic charm dining here. It was originally known as Glendale, built by Basil and Mary Matterson. Back then, Ucluelet was only accessible by sea. Most roads that we see today were dirt roads.

In 1996, Sandy and Jennifer Clark took ownership and turned it into the restaurant we know today.

Since it was a busy long weekend, we were scrambling for dinner plans for our large group at the very last second, luckily Matterson House was able to hold us a table till we got there.

At first, I wasn’t quite sure about this place as it had visible age in the interior. As a foodie, I can’t really make judgements until I see the food in front of me.

Every single table was set up before the dinner rush. When we arrive around 6, there was plenty of space, but as it got closer to 7, it was pretty much full.

Homemade whole wheat bread with whipped butter arrived at the table. These loaves were huge.

Matterson Seafood Chowder has shrimp, scallops, white fish, spinach, cream and corn. It is served with crackers on the side.

Oyster Burger is dressed with mustard, relish, mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion. It is also served with your choice of mixed greens or potato salad. My friend chose it with mixed greens.

They give you a wedge of lemon, so you can squeeze it over the crisp creamy oyster.

My other friend got the same oyster burger, but with the potato salad.

They both said they enjoyed the oyster burger.

Verdi’s Verde Pesche has smoked salmon and pine nuts in a pesto cream sauce with spinach and fettuccine. I really enjoyed this pasta. It was very creamy and the salmon had a nice delicate taste to it. The added texture of the pine nuts was a good touch.

Straw and Hay Pasta has veal and mushrooms in a garlic and cream sauce. M liked it and there was a lot of veal in it, which is great. The sauce was very thick and creamy too.

Pollo Loco Pasta has chicken with chipotle cream cheese sauce and penne.

All the pastas come with a salad. You can choose between ranch blue cheese, Italian, French, 1000 island or Sandy’s blackberry vinaigrette.

Overall, the food was executed well and we all had a positive experience. The dining experience was pretty neat. Even with a busy floor, they were able to keep the food flowing. Nice little gem in Ucluelet. It’s very casual and relaxing.

We Rate Matterson House:

Address:
1682 Peninsula Road, Ucluelet, BC

In Food Carts

Jiggers: Fish & Chips Truck in Ucluelet

April 12, 2016

The first thing we did in Ucluelet was to pay a visit to Jiggers Fish and Chips for lunch. They are known for their Fish and Chips with locally caught fish. With the ocean so close and great produce nearby, it’s a no brainer to use the freshest ingredients possible.

Do note they are cash only. My friends went to the closest Co-op grocery store and grabbed some gum and requested cash back. A good trick to avoid ATM fees.

Their Fish and Chips truck has a permanent spot on Peninsula Road near Bay Street. There are picnic tables inside and outside, so if it’s windy/rainy, you can head inside where there are rest rooms too.

There is also a large parking lot, so plenty of room for vehicles.

The catch of the day was cod. In addition to fish and chips, they have burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, and chicken fingers.

My friends got the one piece fish and chips, it is also served with homecut fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon.

The one piece is quite large and it looks more like 2 pieces.

My other friend got the one piece and it seriously looks like 2 pieces too.

This is the 2 piece Fish and Chips. M and I shared this since we weren’t too hungry. The 2 pieces look like 3 pieces. The tempura batter was nice and crisp with a tender and fluffy cod underneath. It was enough for M and I to share. The tartar sauce had a good taste too.

Make sure you spritz some of the malt or white vinegar on the fish and chips.

Big Jig Burger is their loaded burger with cheese, mushrooms, fried onions, bacon, all the veggies, and all the sauces. It is also served with fries. A big burger with all the fixings.

The homecut fries are crisp and I couldn’t stop eating them. I liked to spray some of the vinegar on them to add more flavour.

Overall, the prices are a tad high, but when you do get the food, the portions are large. Plus, where else are you going to get amazing fish and chips in Ukee? I will be back for my next trip to the Island. it definitely rivals even some places in Vancouver.

We Rate Jiggers:

Address:
1685 Peninsula Road, Ucluelet

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Jiggers-Fish-Chips-178163522220314/

In Bubble Tea

Duotian Fish Soup Noodles Restaurant: Taiwanese + HK Style Cafe

April 10, 2016

Duotian Fish Noodles Restaurant is a mix of Hong Kong Style Cafe and Taiwanese Cafe. They are located in the plaza on 1st Avenue where T&T is located. They specialize in fish soup noodles, rice hot pots, Western dishes and hot pot meals.

I was invited to attend as part of ChineseBites to try a variety of items off their menu.

The seats inside have large booth and smaller tables.

Complimentary tea arrives in these metal cups. The handle seems to be made of plastic since the color has rubbed off.

One of their popular options is creating your own noodle soup with all these customizable options.’

You can choose your soup base, toppings, type of noodles, drinks and any extra items on the side.

One the reverse side, you can customize your congee or rice hot pots.

Laksa with rice noodles, BBQ pork and sliced beef brisket. Not bad at all, but there are a few other places in town that do customizable laksa a lot better, but if you don’t want to travel far, this will do.

For our customizable Rice Hot Pot, we got salty fish with pork and chicken with octopus. It is topped with bok choy to give it a bit of color.

When we dug in, it was pretty good. The combination of the meat and the salty fish worked really well.

Grabbing an Iced Milk Tea or Ice Coffee Tea mix is classic for Hong Kong style cafes. Both very good! We asked them to make it with less sugar. You will need to stir it a bit more to incorporate all the ingredients.

Iced Lemon Tea is another popular choice too. You have to take your straw and spoon to crush up the lemon slices to get more flavour out of it.

The bubble tea on the other hand wasn’t as good. The pearls were hard and could have used more time cooking.

Baked Spaghetti with meat sauce is one of my go to dishes at these types of cafes. All that meat sauce and cheese covering each strand of spaghetti.

Butter Biscuit toast was ok, but I felt the topping was too sweet. I wouldn’t be able to eat an entire slice by myself. Each of us had a quarter of the toast and it was enough to quell our sweet tooth.

Deep fried fish cake was ok. It had a slight sweetness to them.

Baked pork chop on rice with tomatoes bacon sauce was delicious. You can’t go wrong with pork chops and cheesy sauce.

Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets is a classic item to order. Crisp on the outside and a good amount of salt and pepper.

Yang Chow Fried Rice was a bit bland and sub par. The rice was hard and the texture was off.

Congee with sliced beef and fish balls. We wanted the BBQ quick but it was already sold out.

The first few tastes of the congee, it tasted burnt and there really isn’t a way to mask it.

It also comes with a pan-fried green onion cake as part of the congee combo.

Overall, the dishes were definitely a hit and miss. The most basic dishes weren’t executed well like congee and fried rice. The baked Western dishes and noodle soup dishes were decent.

We Rate Duotian Fish Soup Noodles Restaurant:

Address:
#212 – 2800 E. 1st Ave.
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://duotian.ca/

In Fairview

Pepper Lunch Canada: Vancouver Location Open

April 9, 2016

Pepper Lunch has their newest location in Vancouver on Cambie Street a block away from City Hall. I’ve been a fan of this place since they first opening up their Richmond location. This Japanese ‘fast-steak’ casual restaurant is popular all over Asia. I went to one in a Hong Kong food court, but I found that it wasn’t as good as these 2 Canadian location. This is most likely due to the sourcing of their ingredients.

I was invited for a sneak peek of the Cambie location.

The restaurant has 2 levels, but only the bottom floor is open. The owners said they would open up the 2nd level for private parties and special events. Their kitchen is open concept, so you can see right into the kitchen and observe how your meal is put together.

Here is the view from the other side. There’s not too many seats, so I would assume during peak times, there may be a bit of a wait. They can fit about 40 people on the main floor.

The menu has the same items as Richmond, so they have:

Pepper Rice
Premium Steak dishes
Pepper Pasta
Chicken and Salmon steak dishes
Combos
Kids Meals
Dessert
Drinks

They also have brown rice options for their dishes!

Genmai Cha is brown rice green tea with matcha. It comes in a prepackaged pouch.

You’ll need to do a bit of work, but thats ok since the tea is good. Since I’m a tea guzzler, I had to ask them a few times to refill my cup with hot water.

Beef pepper rice with added cheese and egg.

The dish is their best seller and you can’t go wrong with the added egg and cheese. When you mix it all together, it’s the perfect combination. We got this with the brown rice option.

Mix it all up so all the ingredients are well incorporated. Since the pan is piping hot, leave it in there to crispy up.

Kobe Burger with Egg was so good. Well spiced and had a good amount of cracked pepper.

Spread that brown butter on top and it’s ready to eat. It’s mostly cooked when it gets to the table, so you don’t have to cook it for a long time unless you want it really well done.

Scallop and Prawn Pepper Pasta was an item I haven’t tried yet. The pasta is topped with pepper, cheese, mushrooms and the seafood. The cream sauce is separate, so you have all the fun of pouring it into the skillet.

Look at that cream sizzle up when it hits the plate. Stir it up so the cream sauce coats all your noodles.

I found this dish ok, but I felt like it could have been more creamy or the noodles weren’t cook long enough.

Rib Eye Steak is 100% Canadian Certified Angus Beef, so you are getting the good stuff. We also got egg, corn and mashed potatoes added on. You will want to spread the butter on top and then cook both sides of the steak until its medium rare.

Once you are finished a bit of the dish, add the rice on the skillet to soak up the delicious sauce.

Steak is always best served medium rare. Or at least, that’s my preference.

Mushroom and Tofu Pepper Rice is the vegetarian option. You would mix up this dish as well just like the other ones. Since I’ve had the other pepper rice options, those who get this are really missing out on the beef, pork, chicken and salmon. It’s just not as good.

Salmon Pepper Rice is actually my favourite dish. The salmon they use is sashimi-grade, so you’ll be able to taste the difference. The corn is awesome too.

Make sure you don’t let the salmon overcook. We mixed it up quite quickly after it arrived on the table.

Mmmm Mmmmmm so good! I’ll always order this item.

I never realized they have Mochi Ice Cream for desserts. This was a surprise.

The flavours they have are:

Vanilla
Green Tea
Black Sesame
Mango
Strawberry
Red Bean
Chocolate

We tried all but the chocolate flavour. I enjoyed the vanilla and black sesame ice cream mochi. The fruity flavours felt a bit artificial. Green tea was a bit mute. The skin of the mochi was thin and not too thick. The ice cream that lies inside was really a nice treat to end the meal. Great item for those who just need a small bite of something sweet after a meal.

Overall, its great to finally have a Vancouver location so close to Downtown. For those who haven’t been here before, you must try the Beef Pepper Rice or the Kobe Style Burger. Don’t forget to add an egg. The addition of the egg really pulls the dishes together.

We Rate Pepper Lunch:

Address:
2323 Cambie St. Vancouver

Website:
http://www.pepperlunchcanada.com/