Type Archives - Page 53 of 125

In Cafe

Qoo Cafe: HK Style Cafe

March 1, 2016

Qoo Cafe is located in the Marpole area. They are an Asian fusion restaurant featuring HK Style favourites, an assortment of Asian dishes, Western selections, pastas, sandwiches, noodle soups, and bubble tea. I was invited by ChineseBites to try a few things off their menu.

The space is large and can fit up to 90 people. It’s been here for a while now, but haven’t been here until now.

M and I went with the classic drink – coffee and tea mix and the HK style milk tea.

Mango Slush with Pearls is what the others ordered.

Goose Liver Toast and Truffle Mushroom Toast was surprisingly good. I love how they toasted the bread and it has no crust! The truffle mushroom was a lot better than the goose liver version.

Baked Mussels with pesto sauce comes with 8 pieces. Juicy and not over cooked.

Lobster with rice cakes is surrounded by a decorative cucumber barrier.

They have their mix and match special where you can choose 2 types of protein from the menu, soup of the day and a hot beverage for $14.95 during dinner.

You can choose from:

Pan fried chicken steak
Pan fried pork chop
Basa fillet
Pork Chop fillet
Baked salmon fillet
Wiener sausage
Spicy chicken skewer
Deep fried chicken wings
Pan fried cod fish fillet
Grilled ox tongue
Shrimp skewer
Honey beef short ribs ($3 extra)
Rack of lamb ($6 extra)
Baked lobster ($7 extra)
Charbroiled New York steak ($5 extra)

They gave us a platter full of the proteins to try. Most of them were pretty average, but the rack of lamb and New York steak were tender and medium rare. Of course, you have to add a bit of money for those options. If I didn’t want to add money to the set, I would get the pan-fried pork chop and the pan-fried chicken steak.

The sets also include either rice, spaghetti, french fries, or mashed potatoes. Mixed veggies, you have to add an additional $2.

To accompany the meats, you can choose from black pepper gravy, red wine gravy, onion gravy, garlic gravy, mushroom gravy or butter cream.

We got the Yeung Chow Fried Rice to end the meal. It is a wok fried dish with ingredients like pork, shrimp, scallions, veggies and eggs.

Overall, they are definitely more expensive than the average HK Style Cafe.

We Rate Qoo Cafe:

Address:
7994 Granville Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.qoocafe.ca/

In Japanese

Masayoshi Sushi Bar: Omakase Set

February 29, 2016

For Valentines Day, M took me to Masayoshi sushi bar to indulge in their Omakase set for $120 per person. Usually its $100, so not sure why it was a bite more expensive than normal. Even on their regular menu, it states $100. Perhaps it was because it was Valentines Day. Either way, we were excited to give it a try since it’s been on my ‘to-eat list’ for a while now.

When we made the reservations, we had no idea what would be in the set. Even when we arrived at the restaurant, the whole meal was a mystery. It was ok for us, but it seemed to bother the table beside us as they were not very keen on raw seafood…and it made me wonder why they would dine here for the omakase.

The restaurant is pretty small and seats around 20 people, perhaps a bit less. When making reservations, make sure to request to sit at the bar. We didn’t so we sat further away watching the chef do his magic.

The other tables still have the view of the chef but it’s definitely not as engaging.

Orion Beer ($12) is a larger 633 ml beer and its imported so that why its more expensive than the other beers on the menu. Nice, light, and goes well with Japanese food.

Green Tea ($3) comes in a small pot and they pour a bit of it at your table, they come by when its empty. I thought it was pretty inefficient as I am a tea guzzler, so after a while we asked them to place the pot at our table so we could pour it ourselves. Usually tea is complimentary at other restaurants, but it kinda sucks that they charge for it here and don’t say anything about it.

Skewers of avocado, tuna and mangoes came in wine glasses on a bed of shredded radish. Very simple and refreshing dish to start off the meal. I like how you can taste the freshness of each item without transforming it too much.

Shooter of baby eels and quails eggs is a mind boggling item to process as the eyes stare back at you. The way the instruct you to eat it is to just shoot it. I was excited to try it because I am a pretty adventurous eater. M looked at it for a while and shot it down with no problem. It tasted ok and it was a slimey mixture of ingredients inside.

Our neighbouring table just couldn’t eat it.

Next item is the seafood chawanmushi with a prawn, uni, eel, clam, fish, and other things. Very delicious! So much flavour in this warm egg custard.

Smoked Salmon Salad is filled with a nose tingling smoke, so when the bowl is lifted, you get a pleasant smell and a slight smoke show.

On the plate, there is papaya, apple, shio herbs, and nuts. The items didn’t seem very cohesive on the plate, but there were varying types of texture but fell a bit flat in taste.

Torched Gindara stuffed with mushroom was one of my favourite items here. It really cooked well and infused with a lot of flavour. Plus, the presentation was nice.

The most entertaining dish was the clear soup boiled in a coffee siphon machine. You have the water in the bottom chamber and the shitake, kelp, bonito and sardines in the top chamber.

As you wait for the water to boil, it slowly pushes the water up.

Once they take the fire away, the clear broth comes down. When the soup cools down a bit, they pour it into your bowls.

After waiting a few minutes, we dug in. Definitely a clean clear broth, but pretty basic.

Red rockfish nigiri, scallop nigiri, o-toro bluefin tuna nigiri and isaki nigiri was the next plate.

Of these 4, I liked the scallop and o-toro nigiri.

Tamago, needle fish nigiri, sardine nigiri, and eel nigiri. These were ok. The tamago was an interesting texture, slightly sweet and with a spongey texture. I thought there would be more layers to it.

To end the meal, matcha jelly with creme fraiche, gooseberry, blueberry and strawberry. Simple dessert to end the night.

Overall, having the omakase was a good way to taste a variety of items on the menu. They were able to create some fun unique items on their menu, but it is a bit pricey for what you get. I definitely understand they use quality ingredients and the chef has 10+ years experience coming from Tojo’s. I found they try to keep the dishes simple but some execution and flavour combinations didn’t work. It was nice to come here for the first time, but there wasn’t anything else that would draw me to come back over and over again. For the 2 of us, after tax and tip, we spent just over $300, which really hurt our wallets, but on the plus side it lasted 3 hours.

We Rate Masayoshi Sushi Bar:

Address:
4376 Fraser Street, Vancouver

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

In Hastings-Sunrise

Bai Bua Thai Cuisine: Dinner Time

February 28, 2016

Bai Bua Thai Cuisine is a family owned business in the Hastings-Sunrise area and has authentic Thai cuisine. Since I’ve never been to Thailand, I can’t really comment on the authenticity, but a few friends have said its pretty close. There is pay parking at the front of the restaurant, but it can be tricky to find a spot since there is a bit of traffic near the intersection. Luckily we were able to find a large space out front since it was pouring outside.

The restaurant has a good amount of space. We made reservations just in case this place filled out, but when we went around 6pm, it wasn’t too busy. Later in the evening, it did get very busy.

We started off with the Thai Ice Tea with Milk and omg it’s so darn good. I can not express how amazing and delicious this drink is. It was like milk tea but a lot better. If they made this into an ice cream, it would be awesome. Highly recommended item to order.

Laab is a warm salad that is North-Eastern Thai Style. You can choose to have it with ground chicken or pork. It also has lime, fish sauce, onion, green onion, coriander, ground chili and ground roasted rice.

It was like a warm meat salad. Good flavours, but I wish I had some rice with it.

Chicken Wings comes with 8 pieces. They are marinated in spices and garlic before being deep-fried. It came piping hot to the table and was very enjoyable. The batter reminded me a little bit like Church’s Chicken.

Khao Pad Pring Poo is their spicy fried rice. You have the choice of having it with chicken, beef, or pork. We went with the pork. The dish also has rice, chili, egg, green onion and carrots.

When first tasting this dish it wasn’t very spicy at all. It could have been a bit more spicy.

Green Curry comes with your choice of chicken, beef or tofu. We went with tofu. The dish also has green curry paste, thai herbs, coconut milk, eggplant, green beans, thai basil and bamboo shoots.

It was really good. We ordered a large coconut rice to go with it too, which was great.

Pad Thai Chicken comes with thin rice noodles, tamarind sauce, sugar, salted radish, egg, chives, bean sprouts and ground peanuts.

It was ok, but the sugar really threw me off. Didn’t like the slightly sweet taste to it.

One item that I was really looking forward to is the mango sticky rice dessert in the shape of a rose. It’s just so beautiful!

It is served warm with some coconut milk drizzles on top. I’ve never had this before, so it was a nice treat.

The 3 of us had a great meal but some dishes were definitely a hit and a miss.

At the end of the meal, they give you the bill with some apple hard candies.

We Rate Bai Bua Thai Cuisine:

Address:
2443 East Hastings Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.baibuathaicuisine.com/

In Dessert

Shaughnessy Restaurant: Drink and Dessert

February 27, 2016

Shaughnessy Restaurant is located right outside VanDusen Botanical Garden. I was invited to attend dinner with the Bite BC blogging team, but silly me arrived an hour later. I was super embarrassed since I’m usually pretty early or on time when going places. I made it in time for the end of the entrees, so I was still able to enjoy a drink and some dessert with great company around the table.

There are lots of seat in here and its quite a large space. If you come in the evening when there are special light shows at Van Dusen, it will look really nice by the windows. Since there’s not much going on right now, its not as beautiful.

A round of cocktails were ordered for everyone. I got the Shaughnessy Lemonade with rosemary infused bourbon. It is topped off with a candied lemon and a sprig of rosemary. Quite a strong drink compared to other cocktails but it was still good.

When the dessert arrived, the phones and cameras came out. Dishes were strategically placed so everyone could get a good shot.

Flourless Chocolate Cake has pecan praline and a large scoop of vanilla ice cream covered in caramel. I was quite surprised by this dessert. Dense with a lot of chocolate flavour and the added nuts were great. One of my favourites of the night. I am a chocolate fanatic, so I naturally gravitated to this dessert.

Lemon Shortbread Parfait has lemon curd, shortbread crumble, lemon ice cream, and torched meringue. Others at the table loved it, but I didn’t like it as much because I don’t like lemons. Shocker right? Maybe it was because I drank too much lemonade as a kid.

Apple Crumble is topped with a french vanilla ice cream and a strawberry. It was a solid dessert, but not too unique.

If you have a BiteBC Membership, they have a special deal. When you order 2 entrées and 2 appetizers, you receive 2nd entrée free. This is available all week long. Check out Nosh and Nibble, Pork Ninjas as well as Foodgressing to see what they thought of the appetizers and entrees. They have a 30 day trial for their service to get deals at a few restaurants around town.

Overall, its a nice place to go to after you visited Van Dusen Garden to grab a drink and dessert with a few friends. I found the most of the dishes pretty average, but the location is convenient.

We Rate Shaughnessy Restaurant:

Address:
VanDusen Botanical Gardens, 5251 Oak Street, Vancouver

Website:
www.shaughnessyrestaurant.com

In Canadian

The Flying Pig: Olympic Village Appy Hour

February 25, 2016

The Flying Pig located on 2nd Ave near Olympic Village has appy hour between 4pm and 6pm every day. It’s great that they open a location closer to my workplace since my coworkers and I love a good appy hour. The items on the menu are all $6 and there are $5 drink specials too. What better way to rejoice after a long day at work?

We came right at 5:45pm before appy hour ended and put in our order. I actually prefer this location over the Gastown location since the staff here seen nicer.

We even spotted a flying pig on the wall. Oink. Oink.

Crimini Mushroom Gratin isn’t an appy hour item, but it’s a side item off their regular menu. It’s only $6.50 but it’s so worth it. Delicious mushrooms covered in parmesan and herbs. Whats not to love?

Beef Carpaccio comes with dijon aioli, olive oil, and crostini. I liked it since the fried capers give it a nice salty taste.

Truffled Jumbo Macaroni comes with a 4 cheese cream sauce but I thought this dish could have been a bit more cheesy.

Their House Terrine comes with a salad, 4 pieces of terrine and and toasted bread. The terrine was a bit stiff and not easily spreadable, but that was ok. We liked the flavour of it as it has a slight smokey taste.

Beef Short Rib Croquette comes with a spicy dipping sauce. It comes with 4 pieces in an order. The croquettes were crispy on the outside and had the short rib mixture on the inside. It tasted alright.

Crispy Brussel Sprouts are a must. Drizzled with lemon, parmesan and capers. Always a favourite among the table.

Overall, I love coming here for appy hour. The food and drinks are a good price, plus its a great time to hang out with friends. All the dishes are filling and you can’t go wrong. We didn’t even need dinner after coming here.

We Rate Flying Pig:

Address:
127 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://theflyingpigvan.com/

In Chinese

Claypot Hot pot and BBQ: Richmond 3 Tier Hotpot

February 24, 2016

After work, a few of my coworkers and I went to Claypot Hot pot in Richmond on Alexandra Road. It was a busy Friday on this strip, but since it’s in a plaza, there is no need to fight over parking spots unlike other restaurants. We close to come to Claypot since a few of my coworkers have never been to hot pot before. We thought it would be awesome to take them here for their 3 tier hot pot! Go big or go home right?

The price isn’t bad here, for the 3 tiers, it was around $21. With the price of the 2 types of broth and drinks, each person ended up paying around $30 after tax and tip.

At the bottom, there is the hot pot, 2nd tier is the grill and 3rd tier is the steamer. We went with the Pork Bone Broth and the Szechuan Spicy Broth.

Before the hot pot arrives at the table, hot tea is heated in the middle of the table. It’s nice to have piping hot tea before the meal begins.

Soy sauce and Satay sauce in large bowls are on the table for you to create a sauce for dipping your cooked hot pot items in.

You can’t have a hot pot without plum juice or beer. As others got plum juice, I went with Tsingtao Beer. It’s light and refreshing. Goes great with hot pot.

Once we put in the order, the food slowly started arriving. We did notice there was a discrepancy between what we ordered and what arrived. Dumplings didn’t arrive for a very long time.

You gotta get a mix of meat, veggies and seafood. You really just need to pile on the meat to make your monies worth.

I love dunking the beef into the Szechuan spicy broth. Adds a lot of flavour! I liked the pork broth more for seafood and veggies. Definitely a good balance to have 2 types of broth especially if you have a large table of people with varying tastes.

The grill isn’t too powerful, so it does take some time to get the meat to get charred a little bit especially if you’re putting on short ribs.

The steamer basket up top works really well. The only items we put into there were dumplings and chicken wings. I know, chicken wings are a weird thing to put in the steamer but it cooked a lot faster than grilling.

Round 2 of ordering is a must. You can never say no to more food. We grabbed more meat and tofu.

The service here is ok, but it’s pretty typical for a Chinese restaurant. Our group was very keen on making our server smile/laugh since she always has a serious face on. After a while, we loosened her up and made her laugh a few times. The food was good, with great company around the table.

They definitely stand out from the other hot pot places around town. You’ll definitely want to make reservations in advance as some nights can be quite busy.

We Rate Claypot Hot pot and BBQ:

Address:
Alexandra Plaza, 105-8291 Alexandra Road, Richmond

In Brunch

Fraser Park Restaurant: German Breakfast in Burnaby

February 21, 2016

It’s been years since my last visit to Fraser Park Restaurant in South Burnaby. M comes all the time without me, but it was time to take my food buddies here to the subburbs to enjoy this hole in the wall restaurant for German Breakfast. We came early in the morning and it was already packed by 10am.

I’m always surprised because there’s nothing around here except for warehouses.

The interior has nothing special, just a bunch of tables everywhere.

It’s not about the decor, its really all about the food they serve.

Dee went with their Classic German Breakfast with 3 scrambled eggs with sauteed peppers, onion and cheese. It also has hash browns, sausage, bacon, ham, potato pancake and toast.

The rest of us went one step crazier and got the Deluxe German Breakfast. It has everything in the classic German breakfast, but with added Schnitzel and Gravy.

Meat on meat on meat. This is the perfect start to the day if you have a big appetite. Everything tasted good and you can’t go wrong with a brunch of grilled meats.

Overall, the price is good and you get a large meal. Total comfort food for breakfast right here. Of course they have more than just German Breakfast. They have the usual items you can think of for breakfast and lunch. A true hidden gem.

We Rate Fraser Park Restaurant:

Address:
4663 Byrne Road, Burnaby

Website:
http://www.fraserparkrestaurant.com/

In Bakery

Swiss Bakery: Lunch Time

February 17, 2016

Swiss Bakery has been around since 1993 baking up a storm in Mount Pleasant. They made headlines years ago for creating the Frissant – fritter + croissant combo in Vancouver similar to a Cronut. Since the shop is so close to my work, a few of us came here for lunch on a beautiful Friday.

The space isn’t too large but there are a few seats and a large communal table. Most people did get take out.

What caught my eye when ordering lunch are the mini frissants! Half the guilt of eating a whole frissant. It was a few days before Valentines day, so their usual frissants were shaped like hearts.

Elderflower Mini Frissant was quite greasy. It sat in a paper bag on my desk and all the grease seeped out. This isn’t for those who are on a diet. Since it was a Friday, I didn’t mind. I found the flavour of the elderflower to be a bit odd. Slightly sour.

Coconut Chocolate and caramel Mini Frissant was awesome! That mix of chocolate and caramel were amazing.

Italian Salami on Olive Bread was a good lunch item to order. A good amount of salami and cheese. I got it toasted so the bread was nice and warm.

Overall, its a good lunch time alternative if you are in the Mount Pleasant area.

We Rate Swiss Bakery:

Address:
143 East 3rd Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://swissbakery.ca/

In Brunch

Craft Beer Market: Weekend Brunch

February 16, 2016

Craft Beer Market is open for brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10am till 2pm. It’s a huge space inside and can easily fit a few hundred people. Great for large groups.

They have at least 140 taps available, which makes their craft beer selection massive. Plus the have a long list of wine, cocktails, and spirits. Brunch and booze? Great combination.

Their tap system is pretty complicated but it’s very fascinating to look at.

Four Winds Saison was what I chose to go with brunch. It has notes of flower and spice, fermented hot for a fruity ester profile. It is slightly hoppy.

Caesars in the morning, goes well with brunch. Perhaps a mimosa would do well too.

Hawaiian Ahi Poke is made of Ocean Wise sashimi-grade tuna, cucumber, fresh ginger, garlic and sesame soya vinaigrette served with crispy wontons on the side. We also added avocado too. It’s definitely different that the traditional poke.

Craft Madame has sliced tomatoes with two types of bacon sandwiched between fresh sourdough, baked until crispy and topped with two fried eggs and beer mustard sauce. It comes with potatoes on the side.

Classic Farm House Bennies has two farm fresh eggs poached with ham and served on a house made buttermilk biscuit with hollandaise and crispy hash browns.

The egg was poached to a perfect softness. When we poked into it, it oozed and oozed. I felt the buttermilk biscuit was very thick and dry compared to the rest of the dish. The grapes that came with it seemed unwashed, and the potatoes were ok.

Overall, great beer selection but the brunch is pretty average.

We Rate Craft Beer Market:

Address:
Olympic Village, 85 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://vancouver.craftbeermarket.ca/

In Cafe

The Capilano Teahouse: Tea and Coffee in Gastown

February 15, 2016

The Capilano Teahouse finally has a permanent location after having their pop-up shop at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in Richmond. Their new location is on Abbott St right in Gastown.

They serve Indigenous teas and botanical tea sodas, foraged right here in B.C. Operated by a mother-daughter duo from the Squamish Nation. You won’t be disappointed when you taste the delicious sodas made with love, featuring the following flavours – Lavender Ginger, Rose Lemonade, Dandelion Burdock and Hibiscus.

It was a rainy day, so my coworkers and I decided to stop by for some tea and coffee before going back to work.

The shop has a long communal table and some more seats near the front.

I love the iconic Gastown brick walls. I can imagine a lot of selfies being taken in this shop.

They have a variety of their own blends of teas available for purchase as loose leaf or as a tea.

They also sell some pretty cute air plants and cactuses.

Their menu is mostly all drinks except for a few dishes.

Elderberry Green Tea has Organic Mao Jian Green Tea with Elder Berries. If you are into teas that aren’t too flowery or smell sweet, this is a good option.

Goliath Coffee is made with an Espro Press and it does take a little bit of time to get ready.

Goliath Coffee – Cameroon Boyo is a lighter roast. It came piping hot, so I had to wait a little while before drinking it.

They have a little station to add any sugar or milk to it.

If you want to try something a little bit different, give The Capilano Teahouse a try. It’s a great space to hang out with friends and catch up too.

We Rate The Capilano Teahouse:

Address: 221 Abbott Street, Vancouver

Website: http://www.thecapilano.com/

In Gastown

Salt Tasting Room: Italian Gas Station Experiment

February 14, 2016

Salt Tasting Room introduced the Italian Gas Station Experiment, in partnership with Port Moody-based Urbani Foods. Those who order wine, by the glass, flight or bottle, will get complimentary Italian tapas for the month of February. The experiment is offered Mondays through Sundays from 4pm – 6pm.

If you order a glass of beer/wine, you get 1 complementary item off the list. If you get a flight, its 2 items and if its a bottle of wine, you can choose 4 items.

The tapas include items such as Venetian Tea sandwiches (Tramessini) with cheese, salami and olive tapenade or fresh sausages sous vide, and Urbani’s famous Arancini Risottoballs (Polpette di Riso) which are the most popular street food in Italy.

I came here after work with a friend to enjoy a flight of wine and some of those tapas after work.

I got a flight of white wine and since I’m so indecisive, I told them my taste preference and then made the decisions for me. They ended up choosing:

My favourite was the Synchromesh Riesling.

My friend got the red wine flight and they chose these:

With the Italian Gas Station experiment, we got to choose 2 tapas each with the purchase of the wine flights. With 9 tapas to choose from, it was a tough choice.

Sous Vide Fresh Sausage with croutes, olives and peppers. Was our favourite of the night. Large chunks of sausage with delicious flavours. I could definitely used more of this. Yum.

Tramezzio of Fig and Toscano Salami with Quebec Brie, green apple, olive oil and smoked sea salt. Nice 2 bite sandwiches and the olives that came with it were pretty good.

Mozzarella-filled with tomato sauce Polpette de Piso came with 2 balls. I thought it was ok, I left like it could have been more creamy and cheese inside.

Tomato Ragu risotto, with pesto mayo Polpette de Piso was similar to the other one. Just ok and needed more creaminess inside.

If you liked their food, you can take home your favourite food items from Urbani Foods for up to 50% off the retail price. Salt Tasting Room will have the various flavours of Arancini Risottoballs, Kale & Quinoa bites, and a selection of salami available for purchase on site during the month of February.

Overall, we thought it was a great offer to have a few treats with wine after work.

We Rate Salt Tasting Room:

Address:
45 Blood Alley, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.salttastingroom.com/

In Gastown

Tacofino: Taco Bar in Gastown

February 9, 2016

Tucked away in Gastown is Tacofino’s Taco Bar near Army and Navy. The area around it is still slightly sketchy, but has gotten a lot better over the years. With this new location, people who work in the area don’t need to go so far to hunt down their food truck near Burrard.

I was in Gastown with a few coworkers, so we decided to stop for a bite here. The inside was really nice. They also have a Burrito bar but its take out only. It works out fine since most people want to go take out and go back to their offices.

Our group decided to sit down inside to eat as there were seats left and no wait. We had to give up the burrito, but at least we would be satisfied with tacos.

Fish Taco ($6 each) is made with pacific cod, salsa fresca, and a chipotle mayo. The fish is nicely battered and crispy.

Chicken Taco ($6) has pickled vegetables, epazote chimichurri, and a buttermilk chili crema. Imagine chicken karaage in a taco.

Pork Al Pastor ($6) has pineapple, pickled onion, and cilantro.

Lamb Birria ($6) has an herb salad, arbol chili, pickled nopales, and preserved lemon zest.

Not Caesar Kale Salad ($9) has seasonal & kale greens, cotija, pickled okra, pomegranate, and hazelnut croutons. It was a good salad and I did enjoy it. I just didn’t like how hard the croutons were.

Overall, a good quick lunch but I wished they offered the burrito during lunch when eating in.

We Rate Tacofino:

Address:
15 Blood Alley, Vancouver

Website:
http://tacofino.com/

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 Japanese

Ramen Danbo: Fukuoka Style Tonkotsu Ramen on Robson

February 5, 2016

Ramen Danbo has their 2nd location on Robson Street. With Robson Street already having a huge cluster of ramen shops, you would think its hard adding another into the mix. On a Sunday night, this place was packed for dinner. I’ve been to their West 4th location and loved it.

What makes them unique is that you can customize the ramen you order by selecting:

amount of spicy tare sauce
firmness of noodles
amount of lard
thickness of broth

At first I was overwhelmed by the amount of choices.

I took my food blogger friend – Sherman and MissVancouverPiggy to indulge in some good ramen.

They have taken over the VanVan Izakaya and made slight modifications to the interior. Mostly removed the chalkboard walls and put the white textured pattern on the walls which is much nicer.

After waiting about 15 minutes, we got a seat at the bar.

Classic Tonkotsu Ramen with egg has their signature Tonkotsu Pork Broth and is essential to those who are new to Ramen Danbo. Don’t forget to order it with their egg!

It makes the whole bowl like a smiley face…a delicious smiley face.

Classic Tonkotsu Ramen ‘Shio’ is slightly different with their simple Tonkotsu soup broth and special Shio ramen-dare soup base. Can’t go wrong with this either.

Blazing Hot Rekka Ramen is 5x the spiciness of their classic ramen. It uses their Ichimi Togarashi red pepper imported from Japan to ignite your palete. You can select from 5, 10, 15, or 20 times the standard spiciness. I went and got the 15x amount of spiciness. It is awesome for people who love spicy. Good flavours.

Pan-fried Yaki Gyoza is a pork and scallion dumpling. Crispy on one side. These were ok.

Overall, I love their rich broth and the ability to customize a lot aspect of the dish.

We Rate Ramen Danbo:

Address:
1333 Robson Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://ramendanbo.com/

In Bakery

Sweetery Cafe + Dessert: Open on Saturdays

February 4, 2016

Sweetery Cafe + Dessert finally opens up on Saturdays. Even thought I work close by, it was always just out of reach. Seeing all their mouth water photos on Instagram, made me go a little bit nuts. I came with a friend to indulge on some coffee and waffles during brunch.

It’s located on 2nd close to the Granville St Bridge. There’s free parking out front for 1 hour.

There is a good amount of seating inside. We got here at around 10:30am and stayed here for both their breakfast and lunch menu.

We put in our order and waited patiently for the wonderful food to arrive.

Cappuccino was what I needed this morning. Nice and frothy.

Eggs Benedict on Waffles comes with potatoes on the side. You have the option to have it on waffles or english muffins. Highly recommended item!

We chose to have our eggs soft and they did deliver! Once I cut inside, it was so delicious and gooey.

I love the option of having it on a waffle.

Chicken and Waffles is what I was craving. We had to wait till 11am till they started taking orders for their lunch menu. It comes with maple syrup and hot sauce.

The chicken was tender on the inside, but the exterior could have been more crisp. On the other hand, the waffle was very delicious and crisp. I guess it kinda makes up for it.

Overall it was a good experience. You must get their Eggs Benedict and double baked croissants.

We Rate Sweetery Cafe + Dessert:

Address:
340 W. 2nd Ave, Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.sweeterycafe.com/

In Coquitlam

Hee Rae Deung: Chinese Korean Food

February 3, 2016

Hee Rae Deung is a Korean Chinese Restaurant on North Road in the same plaza as the Independent Grocer. Since we knew it was a busy day, we came here at 5:45pm on a weekend for dinner, to our surprise, there was already a long wait ahead of us. We waited for about 30 minutes until we got seated.

To start off the meal, they give us pickled radish, bean paste and onion. You take a piece of the raw onion and put a little bit of bean paste to it. It changes the flavour completely.

Deep fried dumplings are a must if you are in a group. There are about 10 dumplings to an order.

Packed full of delicious pork and veggies inside the deep-fried shell.

Sweet and Sour Fried Pork comes with a lot for one dish. Plenty to go around the table. They serve the sauce and pork separately to ensure the pork remains crisp until you devour it with the sauce.

The pieces are pretty big, so you may want to cut them up into smaller pieces.

You definitely need the sauce since it’s not the same without it.

Gan Ja Jang is noodles with a mixture of stir fried veggies, pork and black bean sauce. This is one of the specialty items here, plus some Koreans have said this is the best place to get Ja Jang Myun.

Look at that delicious bowl.

You have to mix vigorously with your chopsticks to combine the sauce and noodles together. It takes a bit of effort, but its so worth it.

Messy bowl, but it sure is delicious.

Stir Fried Rice is my absolute favourite! There is the fried rice with egg on top, with a salad and black bean sauce. It is also served with a spicy seafood soup.

Overall, we enjoyed all the dishes. We think all groups should order the above items. We came in a group of 4 and had a little bit of leftovers.

We Rate Hee Rae Deung:

Address:
435 North Road
Coquitlam, BC

In American

The Keg: Dine Out Vancouver

January 30, 2016

The Keg Steakhouse + Bar is a Canadian chain of steakhouse restaurants and bars located in Canada and the United States. M really was craving steak and I had a $50 gift card to use from my work, so we decided to come here for dinner. We actually come here quite often since the steaks are good and prices aren’t too high compared to other places.

I totally forgot it was Dine Out Vancouver, but customers don’t have to order from the set menu. I contemplated for a long time to see if I wanted to order from the menu. My asian mind started calculating numbers to see what was a better deal. A $40 3-course meal isn’t cheap here, but I only had to pay a few more bucks for an appetizer and dessert.

In the end, M decided to order from the regular menu and I got the Dine Out Vancouver menu.

Concannon Pinot Noir was M ordered to start off the evening. He has a pinot noir phase at the moment and wants to try them all. He didn’t particularly like this. Perhaps it was because of the toasty oak finish to it.

Complimentary loaf of bread arrives with whipped butter. It comes very hot, which is perfect for all that butter to melt.

As part of the dine out menu, I started off with the Caesar Salad, which is typical with their regular Keg Classic meals. I had a mad craving for a caesar salad, so I didn’t get the baked garlic shrimp or the wild mushroom soup. It had the right amount of dressing on each leaf, plus cheese and croutons are so good.

For my entree, I got the New York Striploin at 12oz with some veggies and you choice of side. I chose to have the roasted garlic mashed potatoes as my side.

I got them to cook it the striploin to medium rare, just the way I like it. It was very tender and has nice grill marks on it. The veggies are ok, but it felt a tad undercooked. The mashed potatoes were awesome.

As for dessert, I tried their cheesecake since I’ve never had it from here before. It has a graham cracker crust on the bottom, with cherries on top. The cheesecake itself was good and you can tell there is a lot of cream cheese in it.

M and I shared the appetizer and the dessert, but he went with his own steak as he wanted something more tender.

10oz Filet Mignon has the tenderloin wrapped in applewood smoked bacon and served with Béarnaise sauce on the side. He got mixed vegetables as his side. He also felt like the vegetables were a bit undercooked as well. Other than that, his steak was cooked to a perfect rare. He really enjoyed it.

On average, we always spend close to $100 for the 2 of us. I don’t mind since I can never make as good steak at home. I found the quality of their steaks are pretty good even for dine out since all the items they offer on that menu is on their regular menu. Their mixed vegetables could be a bit better but can’t go wrong with their mashed potatoes.

We rate The Keg:

Address:
4510 Still Creek Avenue, Burnaby

Website:
https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/

In Coquitlam

Kimbab Cheonguk: Casual Korean Restaurant in Korea Town

January 29, 2016

It’s been 3.5 years since my last review of Kimbab Cheonguk and I’ve missed their delicious and cheap Korean food. Oh where has the time gone?

The girls and I decided to come here for lunch on the weekend. It’s pretty busy when we went, but it was a short wait for a table since most people were finishing up.

Beef Broth comes complementary to the table. Instead of hot tea, they give you this. It is a very delicious broth and I always guzzle this down.

Sometimes they will just give you water, but definitely ask for it if they don’t give it to you. You won’t regret it.

They give complimentary pickled radish and kimchi radish. They were ok, but I wish these were colder.

Al Bab has seaweed, picked radish, tuna, fish roe, cabbage, carrots, and cheese in a hot stone bowl.

Mix it! Mix it! They provide you with 2 sauces on the side, but just mix a bit of that in and keep on mixing. This is one of our favourite dishes.

Dduk Ramen has rice cake, ramen noodles, fish cake, egg and vegetables in a spicy sauce. Surprisingly it wasn’t as spicy as before. Not sure if I built up a strong tolerance for spice, but either way, it was still delicious.

Kimchi Kimbap and Tuna Kimbap area must. Sometimes when I want a cheap dinner, I get a few of these for take out. You can’t go wrong with these.

Dduk Mandoo Gook has a rice cake dumpling soup. It has a few dumplings, a good amount of rice cakes, egg, seaweed and green onions in a delicious broth. I always try to finish all the broth.

Thats what the girls and I always order when we come here. Exact same dishes and we don’t really stray to other items as these are the best. Good price too so it doesn’t break your wallet. Very casual dining and all dishes are under $10.

We Rate Kimbab Cheonguk:

Address:
3A-341 North Road
Coquitlam, BC