Late Night Archives - Page 3 of 6

In 24 hours

Duffin’s Donuts: Drunken Paradise in Vancouver

April 1, 2016

Duffin’s Donuts is an amazing place if you want cheap food 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. This place never stops running. You will find fried chicken, Chinese Food, Mexican Food, breakfast, burger, and hot dogs. It’s like every drunken person’s paradise. I came here with Amy and Nat to have an all out food feast. In total, we spent about $75 here. We were sober the entire time.

We ate…a lot. We didn’t make it though the whole menu, but we made a decent sized dent.

The space is super old school and it looks like it’s stuck in the 80s.

Fritou Fried Chicken is what they sell. It comes in Spicy and regular.

You can choose from wings, breasts, drumsticks or thighs.

We grab a 4 piece and it had one of each type. The taste reminds me of a Church’s and KFC, but slightly less crisp. It didn’t come straight out of the fryer, so that probably why it wasn’t super crisp.

White meat is dry, so stick with the dark meat.

Veggie Spring Rolls and Pork Spring Rolls is served here too and its crisp on the outside. It’s ok, pretty average. Nothing notable here.

Pupusas is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of a thick, handmade corn tortilla that is usually filled with pork, beans, or cheese. At Duffin’s they serve is was salsa and a simple slaw.

Chorizo Con Huevos Torta has lettuce tomatoes, avocado, scrambled eggs, and chorizo. A decent torta but it would be better if there was more egg and chorizo.

They also have Chicken and Beef Tamales hanging out by the cash register. All wrapped up individually and then wrapped up in plastic wrap.

The tamales are made with masa, potatoes, red bell peppers, chicken/beef and then wrapped in leaves. Tasted ok as well, but nothing worth noting.

All Day Breakfast with Hashbrowns comes with 2 egg, 2 pieces of toast, bacon/sausage/ham, peanut butter and Jam. Pretty basic. I wished the hashbrowns were more crisp and golden brown, it was mostly wedges of potatoes.

Viet Mixed Ham has cold cuts and loaded with carrots, cucumber and cilantro. It would have been nice to have an option with spicy jalapenos. It was decent, but like most items here, what you pay for is what you get.

Cheese Burger was ok, but I prefer other types of burgers out there.

Chili Hot Dog is pretty good. Not gonna lie, all it’s missing is a ooey gooey fried egg and you’ll be in heaven.

Horchata, Pina Colada and Avocado Fresh Fruit Bubble Tea were 3 drinks we got to get a feel of what they can make. I was just surprised they had this spectrum of beverages.

Of course, we had to end the meal with donuts. You can’t leave here without a box.

It definitely beats Tim Horton’s Donuts any day.

Overall, most of the food is pretty average. It’s decent, cheap and always open. It definitely attracts unique crowds here. You’ll find all types of people here. What makes people come back is all the different types of comfort food in one place. Sometimes you want something sinfully greasy.

Plus, those donuts are pretty good.

We Rate Duffin’s Donuts:

Address:
1391 East 41st Avenue, Vancouver

In Chinatown

The Tuck Shoppe: Soup, Sandwiches, Salads and Beer

March 28, 2016

The Tuck Shoppe is located in Chinatown and they serve up sandwiches, soups, salads, snacks and craft beer. All items are made from scratch and use local ingredients. I came here a few times with my coworkers during lunch as it seemed like a new addition to the neighbourhood.

All items on the menu are all under $11. The menu doesn’t change between lunch and dinner.

I love the look of the shop and they have super awesome retro accents here.

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There are Hudson’s Bay inspired pillows.

They have a bunch of Pez for sale, as well as little toys like frisbees, paddle ball and airplanes.

All the utensils and napkins are on the centre table and there is cucumber water.

Everything is made in the same space, so you can see them at work.

When you put in your order, your order number is on a wooden spoon. Very cute.

Celery Root Soup has their shoppe veg stock, celery root, fennel, and pork belly lardon. Mags commented saying it tasted great but there is only so much they could do to make it look pretty.

Wedge Salad has 2 slices of iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes, pork belly lardon, blue cheese, IPA ranch, and a balsamic glaze. It was a good sounding, but I felt the dressing was a bit heavy. If they eased up a little bit, that would be a lot better.

Tuck Salad has mixed greens, dates, pea shoots, shoppe croutons, white balsamic and tomatoes. Good simple and fresh salad.

Pork Belly Cubano has mojo pork belly, ham, swiss, shoppe pickles and mustard. It is served with a shoppe pickle and a handful of Hardbite chip.

Tuna Katsu has panko crusted rare albacore tuna, wasabi, daikon, and soy ginger. It is also served with a shoppe pickle and a handful of Hardbite chips. Unique flavours and its nice that there is the kick of wasabi.
Overall, the food is pretty good for lunch. Simple menu and very casual dining experience which I enjoyed.

We Rate The Tuck Shoppe:

Address:
237 Union Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.thetuckshoppe.com/

In Cafe

Snowy Village Dessert Cafe: Korean Bingsoo and Croissant Taiyaki

March 21, 2016

Snowy Village Dessert Cafe is the hottest…or should I say coolest dessert shop in Richmond at the moment. Line ups are long every evening and if you come in a group of 4 or more, you are going to be waiting for a while during peak times. They are best known for their Korean style shaved ice with milky ice instead of the pure ice shavings.

The group of 5 of us waited close to an hour on a Sunday around 7pm. You put your name down on the wait list and linger around till your name gets called. For us, it was a pretty bad experience since the server almost skipped us on the list and told us to wait outside in the pouring rain and gusty winds.

Apparently there was an option to leave your phone number and they will call you back when its closer to your groups turn. It would have been nice if they gave us this option.

All seats were occupied and there was also a line up to get take out.

If you don’t have patience, take out might be your best option.

The prices are higher for take out, but it comes in the regular size.

The price difference is due to the fact they add ice packs and have an insulated bag to keep it cool on the way home. We did see quite a bit of people ordering take out.

Once you go to the counter to order, they give you a ticket with your order number. Once the order is ready, they will call it out.

If you don’t know what to order, they have all their items on display.

All the ones in the display case is a large, so if you are getting a regular sized bingsoo, it will be a bit smaller.

Taiyaki is a fish-shaped cake with different types of fillings inside. They have 2 grills to cook them. The whole restaurant smells of the sweet taiyaki.

You can have it filled with either:

Red Bean
Ingeolmi Redbean
Custard Cream
Sweet Potato
Nutella

We got ours with Nutella and Custard Cream. The custard cream reminded me of vanilla pudding snacks from childhood. Not very good at all.

The Nutella was a bit better but it was slightly sweet.

Mango Bingsoo came with lots of fresh mango and whipped cream over the milk bingoo. I like the airy milky ice. A lot better than the traditional non-flavoured ice.

Green Tea Bingsoo with Korean rice cakes, red bean, green tea cake, and almonds.

Under all those toppings, the milky ice is hidden underneath.

Strawberry Bingsoo has strawberry bits, strawberry sauce and whipped cream.

Overall, I liked the fruit bingsoo a lot more. I prefer fresh fruits over the other types of toppings. I did enjoy it but the line ups were too long to come again.

We Rate Snowy Village:

Address:
8571 Alexandra Drive, Richmond

In Downtown

One Under: Urban Golf Club Review

March 16, 2016

One Under is Vancouver’s first underground urban golf club. Located right in the heart of downtown in the financial district, they have golf simulators, drinks and food. I was invited by BiteBC to try out the One Under experience.

Finding it can be a bit tough if you aren’t paying attention. Find the sign and walk down the stairs.

Golf Simulators

Make sure you have a reservation to insure your slot at one of their golf simulators. They have 6 booths in total. They also have a private room if you want more privacy.

Executive Simulators are $50/hr
1911 Private Room is $75/hr

Sundays & Mondays are 1/2 price on all golf simulator reservations, which is a pretty awesome deal.

You definitely don’t have to be an expert to play. The group of us had troubles playing as we are all beginners. The simulator has different types of games, so instead of playing on iconic golf courses, you can do a driving contest to see how far you can hit the ball.

There are extra balls and pegs around if you happen to lose a few. Since it is an indoor simulator, you shouldn’t be losing any balls.

The golf clubs are pretty nice too.

Drinks

If you’re here, you might as well get a drink.

Beer Flight is what I ordered. I told the staff to pick anything for me as long as it was light and had a slightly fruity finish. All very good beers but I really enjoyed the Phillips Blue Buck Ale.

If you’re a bit fancier, they have a good selection of cocktails on the menu.

Food

Burrata Cheese Plate has creamy burrata cheese, fresh bruschetta, arugula salad, and 18 month aged san daniele prosciutto served with balsamic crema and toasted crostini. I thought the burrata cheese was a bit small to split because it was so addictive. I wanted more.

Pulled Pork Sliders comes with soft brioche buns, bbq pulled pork, chipotle aioli, pickled jalapeño, fresh slaw & gherkin pickles. Good bite-sized sliders to share with a group. The pulled pork was very flavourful and juicy. I would order this again.

Spicy Sausage + Soppressata pizza has tomato, provolone, arugula, and fresh oregano.

The pizza was thin, had a good combination of toppings. The crust is a bit charred but it wasn’t as crispy in the centre.

Prosciutto, Mushroom + Olives pizza has caramelized onions and provolone cheese. It was ok, but I preferred the taste of the previous pizza.

Italian Sausage + Fennel Pizza has tomato sauce, beer braised onions, and fresh mozza. A good taste but the sausage could have been dispersed a bit more evenly around the pizza.

Hot Italian pizza has chorizo, sopresatta, mushrooms, banana peppers, sweet & smokey tomato sauce, and provolone cheese. I wasn’t a fan of this either.

The pizza’s were good but its pretty hard to eat pizza and golf at the same time. Wouldn’t you get mad at your friends if they got your golf clubs greasy?

If your group isn’t into golfing, you can still come here to have food and drinks.

One Under is a unique place to go Downtown with a large group to bond over golf and drinks.

If you are a BiteBC member, you get 2 for 1 meals from Monday to Thursday with a purchase of a beverage.

We Rate One Under:

Address:
476 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://oneunder.ca/

In Event

Romer’s: Red Truck Beer Brewmaster Dinner

February 6, 2016

Romer’s Burger occasionally offers a special 3-course Brewmaster Dinner to showcase local breweries with food pairings for $25. It’s open to everyone until they sell out of tickets. For the past 3 years, Romer’s has created the Craft Bowl, which pits local breweries against each other to compete for the title of Vancouver’s Most Popular Craft Beer.

I was invited to attend this event to try the food pairings with the different Red Truck Beers. Look at all the food being prepared.

Red Truck IPA Organic Beet Salad is made with goat cheese, wild baby arugula, sweet onions, and a IPA mustard vinaigrette. A nice way to start the meal. There were nice big chunks of beets, which were great because I love beets. The salad was paired with the Red Truck Lager.

Red Truck Lager is one of my favourite beers from them. It’s light and has a citrus finish. I usually tend to gravitate towards lighter beers.

Red Truck Lager Braised Rib Duo has beef short ribs and Maui pork ribs on top of wild mushroom risotto and topped with some veggies and a Red Truck Lager jus. The short ribs were nice and tender but the pork ribs were a bit tougher.

It was paired with the Red Truck IPA.

Red Truck IPA has floral, pine, and citrus aromas and flavours. It is a bit more hoppy especially with the aftertaste.

Maple Bacon Doughnuts came with 4 pieces on a plate. It has maple frosting, fresh thyme, and a Red Truck Ale caramel Sauce. I found that there was too much of the maple frosting that it just overpowered the dish. Can’t go wrong with the bacon. Some of the donuts turned out to be quite oily inside for some reason. It was paired with Red Truck Ale.

Red Truck Ale has a blend of Belgian malts, plus German and Pacific Northwest hop varieties giving a nice copper-hued ale with a nice aroma.

Keep an eye open on their Facebook or Twitter to find out when the next one is being held. For $25, it’s a pretty good deal, but you have no idea what the menu will be until you get there. It’s still a great way to support local craft breweries as BC has so many stellar breweries. All the dishes aren’t on their regular menu. I thought they would at least have a burger on the menu to showcase their signature item at the restaurant. Especially when beer and burgers are the best combination. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see what the chefs could come up with to pair with the beers.

Address:
1039 Mainland Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.romersburgerbar.com/

In Late Night

Bodega on Main: Spanish Tapas and Drinks

January 24, 2016

Bodega on Main opened in 2015 and is a fresh new take on Vancouver’s Spanish restaurants. La Bodega closed down a few years ago and the son of one of the original partners has opened this restaurant up to bring back a Spanish flair to the restaurant scene.

Bodega on Main is located on Main Street a few blocks from the Skytrain station. I came here after work with my coworkers to celebrate a great 2015.

The Interior

We came right at 5pm, so it wasn’t too busy yet. The restaurant is quite dim, so it really creates a lovely intimate mood inside.

The bar near the back has an old rustic charm, which I thought was pretty awesome.

The menu is nicely folded up, but when you open it, the huge menu will be revealed. If it’s your first time here, it can be quite overwhelming trying to figure out what to order.

Drinks

Sangria Pitcher was on special, so we got 2 pitchers for the table for the 7 of us. It’s essential to grab a few drink when you’re here. Since we came on a Sunday, it was their Sangria special for $20 a pitcher.

There are tons of fruits in the sangria, and it really helped make the sangria refreshing.

The Food

Filetes de Sardinas Ahumadas has soked sea salt cured sardine filets with fig jam on toast. It was a small size tapas but had delicious salty flavours.

Jambon Serrano is cured Spanish ham with olives. You can’t go wrong with cured meats.

Pisto Andaluz has stewed peppers, tomatoes, squash and onions. It was ok, but not that exciting.

Patatas Bravas are dad’s twice fried potatoes with a zesty dressing. Nice sauce on top but I wished it was more crisp and less soft.

Membrillo Y Queso is aged machego cheese and quince jelly.

Champinones are sauteed mixed mushrooms, garlic, sherry, and finely grated aged manchego. You need to order this.

These croquettes that I can’t remember their official name was really good. Delicious aioli to accompany it too.

Grilled Octopus was very delicious and tender. So good! I could have kept eating this.

Tortilla Espanola is a traditional potato omelette that you should order! It’s actually really good.

Pimientos De Padron has blisted peppers and topped with maldon salt. Eating this dish is like playing Russian roulette, you never know which pepper is spicy. Very fun to pay with the whole table and it tastes good too.

Chorizo a la parrilla is grilled spicy pork sausage with some mustard on the side.

Dessert

Churros are served with hot dipping chocolate and a vanilla mascarpone. SO addictive too.

Overall, Bodega on Main is a great place to drink and have small bites with friends. The main focus I felt was that its more of a drinking place and then secondary its the food. Since the menu is so large, its really hard to figure out what to order.

We rate Bodega on Main:

Address:
1014 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.bodegaonmain.ca/

In Chinatown

The Union: Drinks and Pan-Asian Eats

January 1, 2016

The Union is an industrial-chic hub serving creative cocktails & Pan-Asian eats, including bibimbop and banh mi. I was quite surprised by the pan-asian menu. It is located right by the Georgia Viaduct.

I came here with my coworkers after work for a few drinks and bites. It was close to our office and it wasn’t too busy yet. Most of the space was reserved for reservations later in the evening, but they were nice enough to squeeze us in.

Main Street Session IPA has a smooth hop bitterness balanced with premium malts, then dry hopped to create this “sensational session” IPA.

Main Street Saison No. 7 is a blend of three Saison yeasts. Light in colour with a golden haze, this Saison shows through with fruity esters, pepper and citrus notes. We all enjoyed this beer as it was definitely lighter than the IPA.

Crispy Pork Belly Vermicelli Bowl has noodles, carrot daikon pickle, cucumbers, lettuce, bean sprouts, peanuts, herbs, scallions, and nuoc cham, a Vietnamese dipping sauce. It was a pretty big bowl! I couldn’t even finish it. The pork belly was delicious deep fried and tasted so good. You can’t go wrong with that.

There are a few different types of sauces that you can also add to your bowl.

Around 7pm, this place got a lot busier. It’s a great place to hang out after work. We all got super full from the items we ordered, plus great selection of beer, wine and cocktails.

We Rate The Union:

Address:
219 Union St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://theunionvancouver.ca/

In Chinese

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot: Amazing in the Winter

December 26, 2015

It’s winter time and when the temperature drops, my friends and I get a craving for Hot Pot. Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot was the closest to our neighbourhood, so we decided to come after work during a weekday.

They have 3 locations in Burnaby, Vancouver and Richmond. We went to this one in Burnaby right across from Metrotown.

It is $20.98 per adult plus the price of broth ($9.99 per table). Drinks and premium items are extra.

There are a lot of tables and not too busy on a weekday. On the weekends, this place is busy.

While you are waiting for you order, make sure you go create your own dipping sauce.

All the sauce for the hot pot is available in the middle of the restaurant. It’s on top of a cart and you’re free to grab as much as your like.

The different sauces are:

Soy sauce
Vinegar
Peanut Sauce
Chili paste
Chili oil
Satay sauce

The peanut sauce and satay sauce are most popular.

The broth we had was a mix of spicy and original broth. It’s a good option to get if you have a group of friends who can’t decide which broth to get.

I generally find that spicy is great for cooking meat and the original is great for vegetables.

We ordered an assortment of items for the hot pot. Mostly yam noodles, udon, frozen tofu, tofu curds, tofu puffs, and lotus roots.

We piled on almost every kind of meat. We made sure to keep the vegetables to one basket.

All the food was great and the spicy side of the hot pot wasn’t too hot at all. A good balance.

Overall, a good hot pot option in South Burnaby. I hate coming when its busy, but a week day night is great.

The service here was pretty good as well, which was surprising. When we needed water, tea or coke refilled, they were very prompt and even took the initiative to ask us. In a Chinese restaurant, thats pretty crazy.

We Rate Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot:

Website:
http://littlesheephotpot.com/

Address:
#200 – 4755 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.littlesheephotpot.com/

In Calgary

Village Ice Cream: Late Night in Calgary

November 6, 2015

M and I were hunting for a good dessert place to go to after dinner when we were in Calgary. A lot of people suggested Village Ice Cream. They have 2 locations, but we ended up at the Victoria Park location.

Village Ice Cream is handcrafted in Calgary and made in small artisan batches to maintain their quality. They use local and seasonal ingredients where possible.

Lots of choices!

M ordered the Chocolate Fudge Brownie in a cup, which was their special for September. M thought it was pretty average tasting.

Toasted Coconut in a waffle cone came in a huge scoop. It was initially good but then it tasted quite rich, so it got harder to eat. The cone was super good and crisp.

Overall, I wasn’t too impressed by the flavours. I know a lot of people will probably disagree with me and thats ok. What I like about Village Ice Cream is their large scoops.

We Rate Village Ice Cream:

Address:
431 10 Ave SE, Calgary, AB

Website:
http://villageicecream.com/

In Cafe

Icy Bar: Chinese Dessert

August 20, 2015

Icy Bar has been around for a long time in the Lower Mainland. I remember the first time I had Icy Bar was in the food court of Crystal Mall. Before there were all the other shaved ice places around the city, this was my go to place for shaved ice.

I came here for an evening with a bunch of bloggers to try the different types of desserts that Icy Bar offers at their dine-in locations.

Traditional Eight Mix Icy 八寶冰 ($10) is easily customized with different toppings that they offer. You can choose 8 toppings from the following list:

[one_half last=”no”]

Basil Seeds
Green Bean
Barley
Taro
Black Rice
Red Bean
Peanut
Beans
Chendol
Coconut Jelly
Lemon Jelly
Mix Jelly
Green Tea Mochi
Mango Mochi
Taro Mochi
Original Mochi

[/one_half]

[one_half last=”yes”]

Grass Jelly
Almond Jelly
Pearls
Tapioca
Pudding
Watermelon
Mango
Strawberry
Lychee
Cantaloupe
Pineapple
Honeydew
Mango Poppers
Lychee Poppers
Coconut Milk
Mango Puree
Strawberry Puree

[/one_half]

If you add more than 8 toppings, it’s an additional $1.

They also have premium toppings too like ice cream and durian that costs a but more to be added.

I love this item since you can share with friends or hog it all to yourself. It’s pretty big, so sharing is encouraged. There’s a lot of flavour that the toppings can add to the chunks of ice.

Don’t forget to add the condensed milk to this. If you don’t, you will regret it.

Strawberry Mango Ice Cream Icy 芒果草莓雪糕冰 ($10) is part of their shaved icy series that already have the toppings predetermined. It’s good for those who are indecisive.

Mango Ice Cream Mochi Icy ($10) are for those mango lovers out there.

Tea Egg 茶葉蛋 is probably their only savoury item here. Seems pretty odd to me.

The exterior had a nice flavour, but could be a bit stronger. I just didn’t like the yolk.

Pancake Series 班戟 is a dessert wrapped with their special pancake with whipping cream and a particular filling.

Strawberry 草莓
Mango 芒果
Durian 榴蓮
Taro 芋頭

They taste ok, but I would prefer the whipping cream to be ice cream instead.

Plant Pudding 盆栽布丁 comes in 5 unique flavours below. It’s called plant pudding since the share of it resembles a potted plant. But this version is edible of course.

Original 原味 ($5.50)
Durian 榴蓮 ($6.50)
Mango 芒果 ($6.50)
Oreo 奧利奧 ($6.50)
Tiramisu 提拉米蘇 ($6.50)

I actually quite like the original flavour! It brought be backed to my childhood as there were graham crackers in it.

Black Rice with Coconut Milk 椰汁黑糯米 is served hot and it has a balance of both ingredients.

Chocolate Honey Toast 巧克力金磚 is a tower of toast drenched in ice cream, honey and chocolate. The toast is nice and crisp.

Red Bean Green Tea Ice Cream on Thick Toast 红豆抹茶冰淇淋 it’s not as impressive as the other toast but prehaps it’s because I don’t like red beans.

Tofu Pudding 豆腐花 can be customize similarly to the shaved ice. You can add any topping for an additional cost. I love tofu pudding, but I would keep it simple and add ginger syrup to it.

It’s not a Chinese dessert cafe without drinks right? They have a wide range of bubble teas, slushes, smoothies, etc.

Fresh Papaya Milk Slush is what I ordered. Very good flavour and super delicious.

Overall, a good range of dessert here and they ever had more that we didn’t end up trying. Most people end up getting shaved ice and a bubble tea of some sort.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to dine at Icy Bar and my desserts were comped. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate Icy Bar:

Address:
3618 Kingsway, Vancouver

Website:
http://icybar.ca/

In Downtown

Pizza Fabrika: Pizza for the People

April 6, 2015

Pizza Fabrika is located on Denman Street close to the West End. To go with their artisan pizza, they serve a variety of craft beers. I came here for a Zomato MeetUp event to enjoy some delicious food and meet some foodies.

The inside has 2 long tables, which are great for groups. They have smaller tables for 2 -4 people.

Beer Bison Meatballs ($8) is served with tomato sauce, gremolata & Grana Padano. There’s about 25% pork and 75% bison meat in the meatballs to give it the firm and unique taste.

Mac and Cheese was cheesy and full of flavour. It is topped with gremolata.

Beet Salad ($6) has herb ricotta and walnuts on top. It was a pretty good salad. Good for before the meal of pizza that we were about to devour.

Arugula Salad ($6) is topped with toasted pine nuts, yellow tomato dressing, and shaved Grana Padano. A simple and light salad.

Lamb Sausage Pizza topped with arugula.

Margherita Fabrika Pizza has tomatoes, fior di latte, and fresh basil. I had high hopes for this pizza, but the topping just fell off the pizza and didn’t hold together well.

Pesto Pizza with yellow pepper, tomato, and goat cheese. It’s a vegetarian option, but I just loved the pesto! Who doesn’t love pesto.

Dark Matter Pizza is their featured pizza and it has sausage made with Dark Matter Ale beer, braised short ribs, and sautéed mushrooms. Yummy flavour!

Overall, the topping had a great flavour, but some of the pizza’s were quite soft in the centre and didn’t hold well together. Sometimes we needed a knife and fork to eat it.

We Rate Pizza Fabrika:

Address:
1680 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.pizzafabrika.ca/

In Kitsilano

Baru Latino: Dine Out Vancouver

January 17, 2015

Baru Latino is located in the Point Grey area close to UBC. They serve up Latin cuisine and use responsibly caught seafood and local ingredients in their dishes. They also have classic and original drinks.

My friends and I decided to come here for Dine Out Vancouver for their 3 course meal for $28. We made reservations since we had a group of 7.

Blood Orange Mojito is what KoreanGirl to start off the meal. She enjoyed it but it was quite strong.

Chili Prawns comes with 3 pieces and tossed with their homemade house sauce. The sauce was quite spicy, so if you cant’ take the heat, don’t order this dish. The size of the appetizer was also a tad small.

Beef Tiradito is seared beef carpaccio with chimichurri, greens, yam hay and flatbread. It tasted ok, but the beef lacked much flavour. Most of the flavour comes from the chimichurri sauce and the little plums.

Ecuadorian Red Ceviche has citrus marinated scallops, shrimp, octopus in a roasted red pepper and smoked tomato mojo. It is served with a plantain chip.

My friends thought it was decent but the size was pretty small.

Paella Baru has chorizo, chicken, mussels, prawns, scallops, and halibut tossed with rice, cilantro, smokey salsa with homemade flatbread. It was good said my friends.

Cartagena Crusted Halibut has a plantain crusted halibut with seasonal vegetables and roasted tomatoes, served on a coconut polenta, finished with a tamarind glaze, and topped with crispy yam hay.

The coconut polenta was cold and didn’t match well with the hot halibut. The halibut was bland and needed the help of the sauce to keep it flavourful.

Costillas de Res is slow braised beef short ribs on mashed potatoes with seasonal vegetables finished with guava mojo. My friend said it was good and flavourful.

Latin Flan has orange blossom with caramel. It is topped with blueberry puree and a gooseberry. The plan was sweet and it tasted like condensed milk. We all loved it. The blueberry puree worked well with it to balance out the sweetness.

Overall, with the DineOut Vancouver deal, this place was packed and made the service slow and uncomfortable. The food would take about 30 minutes per dish to come out. Some of the dishes lacked the care and attention to keep up with the rush of orders. Servers were hustling to make sure customers had a good time, but didn’t quite hit the mark. For the $28 menu, it offers you a taste of whats on the menu. I’m not 100% sure if the small appetizers are the original sizes on their menu.

We Rate Baru Latino:

Address:
2535 Alma St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.barulatino.com/

In Izakaya

Manzo: Japanese Izakaya in Richmond

November 24, 2014

Manzo Japanese Restaurant is located on Alexandra Road in Richmond. We came here for some more drinks and smaller dishes to pick at, so an Izakaya was the perfect idea. They have been around for over a decade and they also have another restaurant on Capstain Way.

It is dim inside and has a lot of cool items on all the walls like lanterns, pictures and signs. Service was ok, but they couldn’t answer a few questions about the alcohol on the menu as they didn’t know the size of a small or large sake.

750ml Bottle of Gekkeikan was about $29. Price was a bit high since you know you can buy this for really cheap at the alcohol store. Of course the prices would be much higher in a restaurant. The bottle lasted us a while, so it wasn’t too bad.

Edamame ($2.50) was on special.

Mentaiko Agedashi Tofu was a delicious item! The salty topping with the mentiko mixture was salty, but it blended nicely with the agedashi tofu, which was bit more bland.

Kawahagi is a file fish. It is thin an crispy kinda like dried cuttlefish found in grocery stores.

Deep Fried Baby Octopus was delicious. Anything deep-fried is an addiction.

Grilled Beef Tongue Skewers were really yummy. Perfectly cooked, tender and had great flavour.

Some items are quite pricey like sashimi. Their Izakaya items are ok, but there’s nothing very special about what they offer.

We Rate Manzo:

Address:
8391 Alexandra Rd
Richmond, BC

In Chinese

0755 Restaurant and Lounge: Eating in a Club

November 23, 2014

0755 Restaurant and Lounge in Richmond really looks like a club on the outside with the blackened windows. Our friends told us its a great place for some food, drinks and lively atmosphere. We were first asked for 2 pieces of ID before coming in.

Then, we waited a few minutes before the seated us as they were cleaning up tables.

It’s a restaurant and lounge, but the inside looks like a club too. A few of my friends said it reminded them of restaurants in Shanghai. I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been to China.

When we sat down, there are complimentary sunflower seeds on the table. It’s something nice to pick at when you’re slipping on a drink.

Big Bowl Cauliflower is soaked in spicy sauce with slices of pork. It was pretty good but of course nothing can beat Nuba’s Deep Fried Cauliflower. It was interesting to see a dish presented this way.

Mao Stewed Pork is deliciously braised pork belly. Mmmm so good! You really can’t go wrong with this dish.

We ordered rice to go with the 2 dishes we ordered. The entrees were quite large, so we didn’t have to order too many dishes for a group of 4.

If you follow them on WeChat you can get discounts off your bill. The first person gets 5% off the bill and all others after that is an additional 1% off. Since 3 of us were following them on WeChat, we got 7% off. I’m not a WeChat user, but if there are discounts involved, of course I will download the app.

Their service is pretty good and the food comes out pretty much instantly. We were so confused since that never happens.

We Rate 0755 Restaurant and Lounge:

Address:
3779 Sexsmith Rd
Richmond, BC

In Happy Hour

Taboo Kitchen: New Fusion Korean Restaurant in Yaletown

November 22, 2014

Taboo Kitchen in Yaletown just opened in early November. My friends took me here on our usual Friday Happy Hour excursions. Rodney’s had a 45 minute wait and we wouldn’t be able to make it inside to order.

So, Taboo Kitchen was a good choice across the street for a few tapas and $4 on certain drinks like beer, cocktails and wine. Might as well since we were going to be drinking anyways.

The interior looked very nice. They have a long table to accommodate large groups. The bar looked pretty nice too.

The entree’s were pretty pricey, but with just drinks and tapas, it was not too bad. The items definitely are Korean fusion.

Complimentary Sampler of kimchi, Sweet potato and pickled radish were provided to everyone at the table. In any Korean place, it is expected to have complimentary side dishes provided as an indication of good service. It was presented nicely and gave us a taste of their food.

Apple Sojutini ($4) was quite strong and it was perfect! Just what my friends wanted. Yeah for happy hour prices.
Red Truck Lager ($4) was on special too.

Prawn Mayo has wasabi, fried capers, and rice crackers with the deep-fried prawns. There was delicious textures of the rice cake and the salty capers. As for the prawns themselves, it was a bit bland and could have used more of that wasabi sauce.

Tuna Rising Sun has chojang, endive, sweet potato on the bottom. Each endive has spicy tuna and spicy sauce. It was really good and a nice twist for a fusion dish.

Korean Spicy Chicken Wings is served with a pickled radish slaw and yuja cream. These were good wings.

Overall, it’s a nice place to go after work to chill have a drink and a few bites especially in the Yaletown area. I love traditional Korean food and the food they offer here is quite different, thus the fusion part of the restaurant.

We Rate Taboo Kitchen:

Address:
1233 Hamilton St Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://tabookitchen.com/

In Gastown

The Pint Public House: Nachos as Big as Niagara

November 18, 2014

The Pint Public House is located on Abbott and Pender Street close to Stadium Skytrain. It’s definitely a sports bar and attracts lots of people when there are games on. The prices are fair and the portions are huge! This is one of the reason it attracts M and all his coworkers to come here for lunch often.

I received a SocialShopper voucher redeemable at The Pint Public House for Niagara nachos platter, plus one-pound of chicken wings with 40 signature sauces. $14 is a pretty good price to be paying for the voucher when you get $28 worth of food.

Niagara Nachos are topped with jalapeños, olives, tomatoes, fajita vegetables, green onion and it’s smothered in cheese. It also comes with a gravy boat of beef chili and sour cream. Nice touch!

It was huge! You can probably split this among 3 grown men and they would be very very full. Definitely buy this when you are with a bunch of friends! It’s worth the price and it seemed quite bottomless. The only improvement would be to have the cheese gooey and warm. It wasn’t very hot.

Their wings come with 40 different sauces that you can choose from. We chose orange ginger, one of their classic sauces. Their sauces range from mild to insanity. You can definitely have a lot of games with those wings and dare friends to try super intense flavours.

Overall, pretty good pub atmosphere and the food is pretty good for the price. Service is decent during lunch hours.

We Rate The Pint:

Address:
455 Abbott St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.thepint.ca/

In Burnaby Cariboo-Lougheed

Midam Rice Cake House: Cocktails, Drinks and Dessert

November 17, 2014

Midam Rice Cake House is hidden in the Hannam Plaza on North Road right beside the grocery store. I have come here before during the day but never at night. I hear the atmosphere is much more lively and different. They specialize in Korean Rice Cakes, so you can find it in a majority of the menu items on the menu.

A lot of young Koreans come here at night for dessert or have dinner with beer or soju.

The owner also seems to have an obsession with NBA. There are pictures of a few great NBA players.

In the display cases, there are figurines and memorabilia.

Blueberry Soju Cocktail comes in a small and large size and obviously we got the large size. It was very fizzy and tasted like blueberry vinegar, spirit and a bit of soju.

We knocked back shot after shot and we felt nothing. I am usually a good indicator if there is alcohol in a drink and there seems to be very little.

Makkoli is a korean rice wine cocktail. It’s milky sweet and is about 6-8% alcohol content.

It’s served in these weird tin cup things. Weirdly enough, this did not get us drunk either. We are really cheap drunks and usually a beer is enough for me. I feel like the skimped on the alcohol.

Fried chicken in creamy sauce with rice cake ($20) was a large portion and easily sharable among a table of 4. The chicken was crunchy and it went well with the cream sauce. There are also onions and cabbage that you mix into it.

Our other friend got a dessert and a drink. A good combination for a late night out.

Overall, Midam has an interesting vibe at night and it’s mostly for the younger crowd. Good place to drink, but they skimp on the alcohol for cocktail drinks. Stick with shots or beer.

They also have a large menu for food, drinks and desserts. Prices are decent. Service is ok as the table has a bell to let servers know you need something.

We Rate Midam Rice Cake House:

Address:
110-4501 North Road
Burnaby, BC

In Korean

Zabu Chicken: Forgotten Orders, Lying Servers and Big Egos

November 11, 2014

I am always on the hunt for great Korean Fried Chicken and my friends are crazy about it too. We decided to go to Zabu Chicken on Robson Street close to Whole Foods. It’s always busy and seems to have a lively atmosphere, so we went.

As we arrived with a group of 4, we were immediately seated at a table of 2 with 4 chairs. We inquired if we could sit in their booths, but they said no as it was only for groups of 5 or more. A few minutes later, another group of 4 arrived and they were seated in the booth. We were a bit pissed off at this point because the server lied to us. As another table cleared, we decided to ask the server if we could sit at that table and they said no as it was reserved. We knew they were lying to us again because all the other reserved tables had a reserved sign on it. We didn’t even place our order yet, so moving us wouldn’t have been that big of a hassle. We were all really mad, but decided to stick it out since we were really here for the food.

Pitcher of Sapporo ($16.95) was pretty pricey, but you need beer to go with chicken. It’s just the Korean way.

After talking to about 3 servers to get a few napkins, we finally got napkins. It was our tiny victory of our evening since most of requests were ignored. They didn’t even serve us water or side dishes as per usual. Side dishes are an essential part of eating at a Korean Restaurant. We drank beer for over an hour waiting for the food to arrive.

Soy Chicken Drumsticks (Large – $19.95) comes with 10 pieces, but our order came 5 pieces at a time. It seemed like their kitchen was slammed, so they could only do partial orders. The next 5 pieces came 20 minutes later as we gobbled these up really quickly.

The chicken was good, yummy sauce with the crunchy skin.

We then asked a few servers for side dishes and they did come! We had pickled radish and shredded cabbage.

We also ordered some spicy wings but it never arrived. We inquired with the server and she told us it wasn’t put in. If we wanted them, we would need an additional 25 minutes. Clearly, we were not going to waste any more time here to wait for chicken with crappy service. So, we told them we would get our bill.

We spent a total of 1hr and 40minutes here to have 2 pitchers of beer and 10 chicken drumsticks. Majority of the time was waiting for the chicken drumsticks…all 10 pieces…I could have went to Church’s Chicken to have a better time than dining here.

We left hungry, so we decided to enjoy the rest of our evening at Guu and at Gyu Kaku, where they actually cared that we were dining with them.

We Rate Zabu Chicken: