Type Archives - Page 63 of 125

In Bubble Tea

Pearl Castle: Cotton Candy Drinks and Food

June 2, 2015

Pearl Castle‘s main location is in Continental Centre in Richmond. They also have 3 other locations throughout the Lower Mainland. Pearl Castle is a Taiwanese Cafe and they have won the Chinese Restaurant Awards Diners’ Choice winner for ‘Best Taiwanese Restaurant’ year after year between 2010 and 2013.

I usually come to Pearl Castle late in the evening to grab a quick bite with friends and chat over some drinks. Ever since Deer Garden moved out from this complex, they have really been up-ing their game to expand their menu. I was invited by ChineseBites to try a variety of food and drinks off the menu, so just be warned, this isn’t a normal dining experience.

They offer a wide variety of tea-based beverages, slushes, bubble teas, and juices. They have added a few new drinks onto their menu recently and are launching their cotton candy beverages in mid June.

The group of us managed to sample (left to right):

Pudding Milk Tea
Coconut red bean
Peach lemon green tea
Green tea red bean
Traditional black tea with jelly noodle topping
Winter melon juice with jelly noodle topping
Green lattea
Fresh taro green milk tea
Roasted rice lattea

There’s also a Ferrero Rocher chocolate milkshake too.

I had the Roasted Rice Lattea all to myself. I really enjoyed it because you can just sip away at it and it’s not too sweet. You need to drink it with a cream on top. Without it, the drink is way too bland.

Young Girl’s Dream is a new drink launching mid June 2015. It has grenadine, calpis, pop and cotton candy. It looks really fun and exciting but it is on the sweeter side.

Blue sky has blue tangerine, calpis, pop and cotton candy. Similar to the Young Girl’s Dream, its fun but quite sweet. I’m sure you’ll have blue lips after drinking and eating the cotton candy.

Wonton with chili sauce was decent. The skin of it was slightly thicker and the pork inside could have been more dense as it fell apart easily.

Deep fried fish cake was pretty good. I’ve never had deep fried fish cake like this before. I find that Pearl Castle makes deep fried things super delicious. It comes with a seafood sauce and house special sauce, so make sure you dip the fish cake into it because its delicious.

Deep fried mushroom was another great item. You should also dip this into their seafood sauce or house special sauce.

Deep fried tofu comes with a side of kimchi and sauce. I just really love their deep fried food with the spices they put on top. I didn’t like the kimchi that came with it, it wasn’t very fresh.

Taiwanese Sausages comes in nice thin slices. A good dish for sharing with a few friends.

Pineapple shrimp fried rice is a new item on their menu. Yummy and you can’t go wrong with fried rice.

Kimchi seafood fried udon was more sour in taste that I would have liked. It was decent, but not the best one I’ve had.

Three cup chicken is an award winning dish from the 2015 Chinese Restaurant Awards Diners’ Choice winner. The dish is served with 3 side dishes, rice and some cookies. These set meals will make you quite full. Good flavours, but it was a bit dry.

Marinated chicken with rice is another new item added to their menu. You have the chicken steal with some veggies and tofu. On the side, you have some cookies. It seems like all the set meals comes with cookies. These cookies will seem familiar because I’m pretty sure you’ve had them when you were a kid.

Milk seafood & pork hot pot is pretty darn good. I would definitely come back to have this again. It tastes like a savoury creamy soup rather than milk. It has a decent amount of seafood and pork.

Curry coconut seafood & pork hot pot is a new addition to the menu and it’s similar to the hot pot above, but it has curry and coconut flavours. Another good flavour combination, but I still prefer the milk version.

Garlic sauce chicken is similar to the three cup chicken dish, but with more garlic.

Fish Nuggets with Sour Sauce comes with the 3 side dishes and rice. Red chili peppers are hot, but it balances well with the fish nuggets.

Original Taiwanese beef noodle was surprisingly good. The beef was tender and the noodles were really enjoyable with a good texture.

Spicy incense pot is a new item on the menu and it is heated underneath to keep it warm. When they say spicy, it’s pretty spicy because of the red chili peppers. Watch out.

Marinated pork with rice is another new dish and it’s similar to the marinated chicken dish. The only difference is the protein.

Vegetarian abalone mushroom with three spices comes with rice and veggies. It’s not the most exciting dish, but if you’re a vegetarian, this may be for you.

We went through a lot of dishes for one dinner, so near the end, most of the dishes started tasting similar. We don’t normally have so many dishes come at the same time, so it was a marathon to taste everything unless a lot of the dishes contain the three spice powder. My favourite items are the hot pots.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to try Pearl Castle’s dishes with a few other bloggers. The service is not representative of their usual service since they knew we were coming.

We Rate Pearl Castle:

Address:
Continental Centre
1128-3779 Sexsmith Road, Richmond

Website:
http://pearlcastle.com/en/

In Bakery

Propaganda Coffee: Cafe in Chinatown

May 30, 2015

Propaganda Coffee is located in Chinatown on East Pender and Main Street. They opened up earlier this year. They use beans from local companies like Timbertrain and Elysian.

Their bar is pretty neat so you can see what they are doing. You don’t have the big bulky machine that blocks the way.

The space can seat up to about 30 people. It’s another great cafe to just chill and do some work on your laptop.

The interior is very sleek and modern.

I grabbed a cappuccino ($3.50) and it came out looking beautiful with a little bit of latte art on top. The quality of it was pretty good and strong. My perfect morning pick me up.

Butter Croissant was something I needed to just fill my tummy before lunch time. It was crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Their logo on their cups is super cute! It’s a robot. I brought it back to the office and kept on sipping away.

Overall, I thought it was a great addition to the area. It’s another alternative with great coffee and space to work.

We rate Propaganda Coffee:

Address:
209 East Pender Street,
Vancouver

Website:
http://www.propagandacoffee.ca/

In Dessert

Earnest Ice Cream: Dessert near Olympic Village

May 29, 2015

Earnest Ice Cream‘s second location is on 2nd and Quebec St, which is close to Olympic Village. They create small batches of artisan ice cream with seasonal ingredients that will surely knock your socks off.

You can get their ice cream as a single scoop or get a pint of it.

The space really accommodates line ups and in the Summer, you will definitely see lots of line ups. Since it was on a weekday around lunch hour, it was not busy at all.

Cookies and Cream with a cone was what I had. It’s every kids dream! There were tons of cookie bits and I really felt like a kid again.

There are seats inside, but since it was a hot sunny day, we made sure to enjoy the sun. Best lunch break ever!

Overall, it’s always a great time getting ice cream at Earnest. The flavours are amazing and you’ll end up wanting more. That’s why I always have a few pints in my freezer at home. I do love the larger space at this location compared to their Fraser location.

We Rate Earnest Ice Cream:

Address:
1829 Quebec Street,
Vancouver

Website:
http://earnesticecream.com/

In Dessert

Bella Gelateria: Gelato in Yaletown

May 28, 2015

Bella Gelateria has opened their second location right in Yaletown by Marinaside. Bella Gelateria is best known for the award-winning gelato. Maestro James makes sure all the gelato is made to the finest quality.

They have the usual gelato, plus they have a whole food menu and dining area. A huge difference from their first location in Coal Harbour.

I came here just for some quick gelato, so we paid first, then we could go up the counter area to start tasting a few flavours that intrigued us.

On a quiet weekday, the staff are very attentive and have patience to go over some suggested flavours. Sometimes its hard deciding what you want. On a busy day, the experience will be quite different for sure.

Buko Pandan is a Filipino dessert that has the flavour combination of young coconut, green gulaman, nata de coco, sweet cream and pandan. It was a flavour that really intrigued me, so I usually end up getting it.

Stracciatella is M’s favourite. It’s a milk based gelato with shreds of chocolate bits. Very clean taste and pretty addicting if you want something simple. M had to have it with chocolate drizzle and the wafer cookie.

Overall, it’s a great treat for the hot Summer. Plus, since its right by the marina, you can’t help but eat this as you walk along the seawall.

We Rate Bella Gelateria Yaletown:

Address:
1089 Marinaside Crescent,
Vancouver

Website:
http://bellagelateria.com/yaletown/

In Izakaya

VanVan Izakaya: Japanese Sakaba on Robson Street

May 27, 2015

VanVan Izakaya is a relatively new restaurant on Robson Street. You won’t be able to find any sushi here except for the lunch hour. You will still find sashimi on the dinner menu. They call themselves a Sakaba, which translated to ‘Bar’ in Japanese. A few of us were invited by ChineseBites to try out their menu, so we did what any foodies would do…try to eat a majority of the items on the menu. We clearly had to eat through the pain.

The seating is what you would expect from an izakaya – wooden rustic furniture and funky walls.

You can even take some chalk and start drawing over the walls. Most of everything on the wall doesn’t make sense as people have written over other people’s drawings.

The dinner menu is a decent size and you can find the usual items on there. It’s a good selection. Their menu is also quite constant, so it won’t change too much.

Ebi Mayo ($7.80) is battered tiger prawns with chili mayo and balsamic vinegar. It was pretty average and the spinach leaves didn’t add much to the dish. Perhaps green onions would be a tad better.

Beef Tataki ($8.50) has thin slices of raw beef, garlic chips, radish, green onions, onions and ponzu sauce. You grab a little bit of everything and dunk it into the ponzu sauce.

I didn’t really like the way the beef was sliced. It was very thin, so you could hardly taste the beef. Plus the slices were a bit smaller.

Chicken VanVan ($7.80) is fried with a sweet and sour sauce. Then it is topped with tartar sauce. We thought it was ok, but it was a bit weird with the tartar sauce.

Curry Poutine ($8.80) has a bed of crispy fries, curry sauce and cheese. A great choice! The fries are very crispy and goes so well with beer.

Nasu Dengaku ($6.80) is a baked eggplant with 2 sauces – miso and tomato sauce + cheese. The miso glaze was a tad sweet for our liking. Surprisingly both of the sauces worked with the eggplant.

Yabaflower ($6.50) is deep-fried cauliflower and it’s served with tartar sauce, matcha salt and a lemon. It was delicious! You can’t go wrong with any deep-fried.

P-Toro ($8.80) is pork cheek served on a hot skilled. It has lots of green onion and a lemon wedge. I love pork cheek! Very flavourful.

Albacore Tuna Sashimi ($7.80)
Scallop Sashimi ($6.80)
Atlantic Salmon Sashimi ($7.80)

These were good, but we did find a little bit of debris on them, especially the scallops. Nat bit down on something crunchy that she couldn’t figure out. what it was. Perhaps shell or sand?

We ordered another plate of Atlantic Salmon Sashimi. We really do love our sashimi.

Spicy Pork Intestines ($7.80) comes in a sizzling hot bowl filled with cabbage and pork intestines. I ordered this just to scare FoodQueen, but in the end, no one really had a liking towards the dish. It had a particular chemical taste to them that really turned me off. If they were deep-fried or had some other textures, I think that would have added to the dish.

Ika Naruyaki ($7.80) is a whole grilled squid served with teriyaki sauce and mayo. Another great item on the menu. I loved it. I couldn’t stop eating.

Salmon Yukke ($7.80) is chopped salmon with garlic sauce and cucumbers. It is also served with dried seaweed. You scoop some onto the seaweed and enjoy.

Russian Roulette Takoyaki ($5.80) comes with 5 pieces, but one of them is super spicy and filled with wasabi. We went one by one and the victim was Angela. She knew right away because it has a pretty pungent smell. It’s a very fun dish for a group of friends. Plus, if you’re lucky to avoid the wasabi takoyaki, the normal takoyaki tastes pretty good.

Gyu Tongue ($9.80) has many thin slices of beef tongue that is BBQ’d and served with a Japanese leek mixture on top. The mixture is a bit salty, but it goes well with the tongue.

Matcha Tonyu Pudding ($4.80) was so good! If you want something unique, get this! It’s like a custard/soup. I wanted to eat the whole thing.

Matcha Ice Cream ($4) is topped with matcha powder, whipped cream and red bean. Very good and flavourful ice cream.

Black Sesame Ice Cream ($4) is paired with whipped cream and red bean. The sesame is very fragrant and tastes great.

Overall, VanVan Izakaya is a great atmosphere if you like Japanese bars. It’s lively, staff are attentive, and good atmosphere. Some of the food is a miss, but a majority of them are delicious.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to try VanVan Izakaya’s dishes with a few other bloggers. The service is not representative of their usual service since they knew we were coming.

We Rate VanVan:

Address:
1333 Robson St
Vancouver BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/robson.sakaba.vanvan

In Bubble Tea

Chatime: Bubble Tea in Downtown Vancouver

May 25, 2015

Chatime is a bubble tea cafe located all over the world. I remember seeing it in Asia when I was travelling a few years ago. They currently have 3 locations in Vancouver, and a few more across Canada. They differentiate themselves from competition by using fresh tea. They don’t use pre-made teas or powdered flavourings.

I was invited by ChineseBites to try some of their top Bubble Tea flavours.

The global franchise now has just over 1200 locations in 26 countries. They were founded in Taiwan.

I came here last Sunday and this place was buzzing. It was a hot day, so you can’t take us Asians away from our Bubble Tea.

Their regular menu is quite large, but these are their top 10 drinks. We got a chance to try a bunch of their drinks to see if they are really top 10 flavours.

Pearl Milk Tea
Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea
Taro Pudding Milk Tea
Brown Rice Green Milk Tea
Taiwan Mango QQ
Matcha Red Bean Milk Tea
Mango Smoothie
Red Bean Pearl Milk Tea
Matcha Tea Latte
Chocolate Mousse

What I like about the drinks is that it’s easily customizable and you know they won’t forget since they write it on the cup. They have 2 sizes of bubble teas, you can choose how much ice and sugar you want.

Ways to Customize your drink:

8 toppings available: pearls, grass jelly, coconut jelly, red bean, coffee jelly, aloe vera, rainbow jelly, pudding.
Ice level: regular, less, no ice
Sugar level: extra, regular, less, half, slight, no sugar

Pearl Milk Tea is a classic and there’s no denying that it hits the spot. I would actually go with no ice for this drink so you get a bit more milk tea. Plus, ice just dilutes the drink if you consume it too slowly. Also the ice gets in the way of sucking the pearls with your straw.

Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea is another favourite. Try getting no ice with the grass jelly because I had a hard time slurping up all the grass jelly.

Taro Milk Tea is another fan favourite. Instead of taro powder like most places out there, they use taro paste to create the drink. It drives me crazy when other places use powder.

Brown Rice Green Milk Tea was a surprising favourite. I would definitely order this again.

Matcha Red Bean Milk Tea has the layer of red bean on the bottom and then filled with matcha milk tea. I thought it was ok, but not my favourite.

Matcha Tea Latte looks pretty cool with the 2 different densities in liquid that gives it the two different colours. You definitely need to mix this before you drink to disperse the flavours.

Superior Milk Chocolate with pearls has a very strong chocolate taste. Great if you’re a chocolate lover.

Hawaiian Fruit Tea is nice and refreshing. Good if you’re not into milk.

Strawberry Au Lait was like a strawberry milkshake. Good, but could use half sweet.

We definitely consumed a lot of Bubble Teas as a group. They have different sizes, so it’s great if you don’t want a regular size.

Overall, it was good bubble tea in the area. It kicks Bubble World’s ass. I can never go to Bubble World again. Chatime is a good addition to the Downtown area on Robson Street.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to try Chatime drinks with a few other bloggers. The service is not representative of their usual service since they knew we were coming.

We Rate Chatime:

Address:
1274 Robson Street,
Vancouver

Website:
www.ichatime.com

In Canadian

White Spot: Burger Guest Stars

May 24, 2015

Having a White Spot so close to our place is awesome when I need a quick and no-frills type of meal. For a chain restaurant, it’s not bad and I always find something I want on the menu. One item I can never go wrong with are their burgers. They have been making them since the very beginning with 100% fresh Canadian Beef.

Currently they have a “Burger Guest Stars” menu at White Spot for a limited time until May 31st. They have a line up of premium burgers:

Truffled Mushroom Bigger Burger
Steakhouse Supreme Bigger Burger
Crispy Almond Chicken Burger
Johnstone Strait Salmon Burger
Sriracha Goat Cheese Turkey Burger

Some of these are completely new to the menu and some are past guest favourites that they have brought back.

M and I came to grab lunch on the weekend and give them a try.

Truffled Mushroom Bigger Burger ($14.99) is a twist on their Monty Mushroom Bigger Burger. It has 6 oz. of 100% fresh Canadian beef burger with truffled mushrooms, Provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato ,and Triple “O” sauce.

M really liked the patty as it was just screaming with flavour.

Baked Potato Poutine (+$3.49) has cheese curds and gravy loaded with classic baked potato toppings – bacon, sour cream and green onion. By upgrading to the poutine, we had so much food! We could barely make a dent into poutines. Tastes good when you reheat it at home and crack an egg on top. Mmmmmm.

Sriracha Goat Cheese Turkey Burger ($14.99) is a new item they have introduced. It has a chargrilled BC Turkey patty topped with Happy Days Goat Cheese mixed with Sriracha sauce, bacon, apple relish, arugula, tomato and mayo. It is served with coleslaw and a side. Surprisingly it was really good! I never normally order a turkey burger, but they sauce and the bacon make this more flavourful.

I decided to upgrade my side to have the Monty Mushroom Macon Poutine (+$3.99).

Of course, we always wash it down with a glass of Coca Cola.

Overall, good place for a burger and I can see why they had this campaign. Good food done right. They are currently giving away a bunch of prizes as well as free burgers for a year. To enter, just snap a photo on instagram and tag it #BCsBurger.

More info: https://www.whitespot.ca/menu/bc/promo/burgergueststars
Contest ends on May 31st, so you only have a week left.

We Rate White Spot:

Address:
6500 Hastings Street
Burnaby BC

Website:
https://www.whitespot.ca/

In Cafe

The Nosherie: Soup, Salads and Sandwiches in Downtown

May 20, 2015

The Nosherie is located in Downtown Vancouver serving up healthy options to the office crowd during the week. They are only open for breakfast and dinner. It was during the lunch hour that me and Jess would come here to check this place out. I’ve seen mixed reviews online but I wanted to give it a try.

They serve up breakfast items, sandwiches, soups, smoothies, and salads.

They have about 6 different salads daily. They look quite delicious. Since it was closer to the end of lunch, you can clearly tell people loved the broccoli salad and roasted beet salad.

Sandwich + Soup or Salad – $12.00

Miso Massage Kale with pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries was a pretty awesome salad. Very simple with that amazing miso sauce. I was so addicted!

Reuben sandwich has Montreal smoked beef brisket, cabbage sour kraut slaw, seeded mustard, smoked cheddar cheese, on a toasted pumpernickel bread.

The sandwich was not bad at all! Not the best reuben sandwich, but it was packed full of ingredients.

Large Soup + 1 Scoop Salad – $8.25

Yam Salad/ Kale Massage Salad apparently you can just get half of one salad and half another. The soup was good and warming.

Overall, it’s a decent place for lunch but the prices are a tad high for what you get. It reminded me a little bit of Tractor on Burrard, but with less options. For the area that it’s in, it’s good to have a healthy option.

We Rate Nosherie:

Address:
575 W Georgia St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.thenosherie.com/

In Brunch

Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar: Brunch Time in Downtown

May 18, 2015

Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster bar is open for brunch on the weekends. This place took over Fleuri, which was best known for the World’s Best Chocolate Buffet. You won’t be seeing that any time soon.

Boulevard Kitchen provides a distinctive showcase for the celebrated culinary vision of Executive Chef Alex Chen and redefines the fine art of dining with subtle, unexpected and playful approaches to cuisine, service and style.

The interior is beautiful and they have definitely put some money behind the renovations. The space is very open and makes a great setting for dinner or brunch.

The bar area is nice too with a good amount of high tables.

Complimentary bread arrived at the table with a side of butter. There were a few varieties, so we definitely had a fun time trying them out.

Spinach Eggs Benedict ($17) is what CanuckGirl ordered. It comes with potatoes and tomatoes. It rhymes. The eggs came out to be a delicious soft poached, which in my opinion is always the best type of eggs to go with eggs benedicts.

Beef Short Rib ‘Croque Madame’ ($19) has braised beef short rib, sunny side up egg, béchamel sauce on
sour dough bread. It also comes with a bucket of fries.

I found this dish to be very heavy and rich. I almost would have preferred a salad to go with this to counteract the Croque Madame. The sandwich is really a guilty pleasure.

Overall, the brunch was ok, but I felt like I wanted to see something a bit more creative from them on the menu. A lot of the items seemed ordinary. Perhaps it was the items we chose.

We Rate Boulevard Kitchen:

Address:
845 Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://boulevardvancouver.ca/

In Cafe

Platform 7: Coffee Shop like a Train Station

May 15, 2015

Platform 7 is located in the heart of the East Village on Hastings Street near Nanaimo. When you step in, you will be magically transported to a Victorian London Train Station to experience beautiful hand-crafted espresso and coffee brew bar drinks. They use Stumptown Coffee for their beans.

I stopped here with my bridesmaids a day before my wedding as we were in the area getting our nails done. It’s really a great setting to hang out with the girls and chat for a little bit. With all the hard wedding planning, I really needed some caffeine.

They also serve up a bunch of different pastries from locally-sourced artisan bakers in the area.

Hazelnut Brownie ($3.50) was amazing! It was very moist and so rich with chocolate flavour. It also has salted caramel. This was really the perfect brownie and we all shared a bite of it.

Iced Pour Over Coffee was just what BaguetteGirl and KoreanGirl needed for the hot weather.

Chai Latte ($3.50) was what Mandu ordered.

London Fog ($3.50) is what I ordered. I know, I should have tried their coffee, but it was the middle of the afternoon and I know if I have coffee late in the day, I won’t sleep. Plus, I needed my beauty sleep because my wedding would be the next day. The london fog was delicious!

Overall, Platform 7 is a pretty awesome café and I would come back with more friends to show them the awesome space and coffee.

We Rate Platform 7:

Address:
2331 East Hastings Street
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://platform7coffee.ca/

In Coquitlam

Wendy’s Canada: Jalapeño Fresco Spicy Chicken

May 3, 2015

Wendy’s Canada just released the Jalapeño Fresco Spicy Chicken Sandwich. It has five layers of spice with diced jalapeños, ghost pepper sauce, Colby pepper jack cheese, and spicy chicken breast on a jalapeño bun.

While we were there, we thought it would be fun to upgrade our fries to the Ghost Pepper Fries and their Poutine.

Ghost Pepper Fries has their regular fries with ghost pepper sauce, cheese, and jalapeño peppers. It’s not too spicy because the cheese really balances out the heat.

Ghost Pepper Poutine is their combination of ghost pepper fries and poutine. I thought this was AWESOME! Its much more saucier and the ghost pepper sauce, cheese curds and gravy work well together. A nice surprise.

Jalapeño Fresco Spicy Chicken Sandwich has five layers of spice with diced jalapeños, ghost pepper sauce, Colby pepper jack cheese, onions and spicy chicken breast on a jalapeño bun.

The sandwich was spicy and I was sweating a little bit. It’s the combination of ingredients that really bring out the punching spice. The chicken itself was pretty bland, but that ghost pepper sauce is great.

Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

In Downtown

O Sushi: Sushi on Granville Street

May 2, 2015

O Sushi is located right by Vancouver City Centre Skytrain. I’ve always walked by in the past never thinking much about this restaurant. A few days ago when my coworker suggested this place for lunch and I thought I should give this place a chance and have lunch here.

They were having technical issues with their TVs, so there was a technician working on them during the lunch hour rush. Probably not a normal occurrence, but it didn’t seem to bother anyone.

The menu is pretty simple with a few combos, specialty rolls and bento boxes. They also so healthier options with black rice. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it has what you need for lunch.

You order up at the counter and then you are given an electronic device that buzzes when your order is ready at the counter.

Sashimi Bento ($11.75) has your choice of chicken or beef teriyaki on rice, 4 pieces of sashimi, tempura and salad. It was a decent bento box if you’re looking for a quick lunch in the Downtown area. The quality was average and you can tell by the ingredients they use. There are canned mandarine oranges on the salad with a citrus dressing.

The tempura had quite a lot of bland batter. It could have used a bit more salt. The tuna and salmon sashimi were good but the other sashimi that came with it was more tough and chewy. Chicken Teriyaki was pretty meh.

Decent, but not greatest or worst bento box I’ve had. My other coworkers got udon and the specialty rolls and they thought it was decent too.

We Rate O Sushi:

Address:
742 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://osushivancouver.com/

In Brunch

41 West Restaurant: Brunch is Kerrisdale

April 26, 2015

I love exploring the brunch scene in Vancouver and I thought the best way to try new places would be to buy a Social Shopper deal. 4 people brunch for $36 fine dining brunch didn’t sound too bad.

41 West serves up modern French cuisine, but the interior didn’t really match the description of “fine dining”.

At first glance, we were really not impressed. There was a bowl of an unknown substance that looked dirty. Also, the table was lined with 4 cloth napkins instead of a proper table cloth.

Coffee arrived lukewarm and it wasn’t very warm after putting in milk and sugar.

Also, our iced water came with a tiny fleshy bit of lemon. It looked pretty disgusting and we wish they just didn’t add the lemon. At this point, all of us were not impressed and didn’t have much hope that it would get turned around.

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict ($13) has 2 poached eggs, smoked salmon, hash browns, with your choice of ham or sausage. My friend ordered it with sausages, but ham came instead. She didn’t mind and we were not going to fuss over this mistake. The dish was pretty meh.

Croissant Croque Monsieur ($12) has a croissant baked with ham and cheese and topped with béchamel sauce, with a green salad. The dish was ok, but the flavours felt flat.

Steak and eggs ($15) has grilled tenderloin with eggs, hash brown and toast. M asked for soft poached eggs but it turned out medium hard instead. The steak was small and looked a bit weird. M was unimpressed with the quality and flavours.

Dark Chocolate Espresso Mousse ($7.95) is light and airy, with a strong chocolate and coffee flavour combination. The redeeming factor of the meal were the desserts. The mousse was really good and it had a good flavour balance of espresso and chocolate.

Warm Butterscotch Croissant Bread Pudding ($7.95) has a croissant baked with custard and butterscotch, topped with a warm dark chocolate sauce.

Overall, this brunch wasn’t very good and could use considerable amounts of improvement. Our group consensus was that we would all not return again. Service was poor and food was subpar. The only good part about the meal was dessert, but people usually don’t order dessert for brunch. I’m glad it came with the Social Shopper or else we would be very sad diners.

We rate 41 West Restaurant:

Address:
2279 West 41st Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://41westrestaurant.com/

In Cafe

Tractor Foods: Everyday Healthy Foods

April 21, 2015

Tractor Foods has their original location in Kitsilano, but they recently opened up their second location in the Marine Building on Burrard Street. They mostly sell a variety of salads, soup, and sandwiches. They are quite popular with the weekday work crowd. I find that it’s a nice alternative in the area.

It’s a good place to eat out if you have a few food restrictions. They cater to people with nut allergies, vegan, gluten free or dairy free.

When you line up, it’s kinda like an assembly line where you pick and choose item that you want. The staff are nice and friendly too.

Don’t order too much or else it will get a bit pricey.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts salad ($3.25) has toasted hazelnuts, radicchio, italian parsley, double smoked bacon, apricot mustard vinaigrette. It is dairy free and gluten free. I enjoyed the whole hazelnuts as it added a lot of texture to the salad.

Pork Sandwich (Half – $5) has roast pork, wild arugula, tomato, roasted garlic aioli, and provolone cheese on a sourdough bread. Pretty decent sandwich and its grilled nicely too.

Kimchi salad ($3.25) has green cabbage, pickled carrots, clantro, mint, green onions, and sesame. It is nut-free, vegan, dairy free and gluten free.

Albacore tuna steak with grilled lemon $5 (2 oz) is a nice addition to any salad as it’s full of flavour and lightly seared on each side.

Overall, it’s an awesome cafeteria-style restaurant, plus great for the Downtown lunch crowd. If I had days where I feel like a little bit health conscious, I’ll definitely be back.

We Rate Tractor Foods:

Address:
335 Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://tractorfoods.com/

In Cafe

Chicco: Japanese Coffee Dessert Bar

April 18, 2015

Chicco is a Japanese dessert cafe on Robson Street. I came here a lot when I was a bit younger, but recently I’ve noticed they have undergone a renovation to make better use of the space.

They have a display case to show all their yummy treats to go. Great for gifts.

Strawberry Shortcake has layers of the cake with whipped cream and strawberries. A good fluffy and light dessert.

Green Tea Parfait is an awesome dessert or yourself or to share with another friend. You will find red bean, rice cake, green tea ice cream, whipped cream, melon, grass jelly, frosted corn flakes, green tea mousse, sponge cake and a green tea stick.

I really liked the addition of the melon since it helps balance all the whipped cream. There was a lot of whipped cream, perhaps a bit too much.

How can you say no to this? A good combination of ingredients all in one cup.

They also have a canister of water to have with your dessert. It’s good when eating all the sweet treats here.

Overall, it’s a good place for dessert. There’s not a lot of seating, but the parfait are portable and you can take them to a park or beach to eat.

We Rate Chicco:

Address:
1504 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.chiccocafe.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1504+Robson+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1504+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+1C3&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In American

Burger King Canada: HP Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger

April 17, 2015

Burger King Canada has a new burger called the HP Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger. M loves to try new items at Burger King since he’s a huge fan of their Whoppers. He loves the taste of the smokey patties.

We were having a super lazy day, so we decided to grab a quick bite at Burger King.

Inside the HP Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger, you will find two ¼ pound beef patties, melted cheese, bacon, sliced white onions, and HP sauce served on a toasted bun.

When the burger arrived, it was actually pretty small. The HP sauce really shines in the burger, but all the other ingredients in the burger was quite tasteless. The bacon wasn’t very crisp either and was limpy. The burger was missing that signature charbroiled taste.

The onion rings are a funny thing, you can’t find any onions inside of it. It really makes you wonder what you’re eating.

M would prefer to have the Whopper as the patties are much larger. HP Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger was an interesting invention, but it can’t beat the Whopper.

Website: http://burgerking.ca/content/hp-ultimate-bacon-cheeseburger

In Cafe

Linh Cafe: French Cuisine with a Twist of Vietnamese

April 16, 2015

Linh Cafe is located on West 4th in Kitsilano. I’ve heard very good things about this café, so when I saw a deal on Groupon for $49 to get 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts, I thought it was a steal. An entree is around $25, so getting the Groupon was awesome! What can I say? I like a good deal!

The other half of the restaurant by the front entrance looks for like a café.

Their menu is quite unique as it serves French Cuisine with a Vietnamese twist. Owner and Chef Tai Nguyen merges his two loves of French food and family.

Mussel ($16.50) comes with a wine and fresh herbs cream sauce. It is served with 4 pieces of bread on top.

The mussels were nice and plump! Very delicious and the sauce was great. We dipped a lot of the bread into the sauce.

Nem Cha Gio Spring Roll ($10.50) is packed with shrimp, pork, wood-ear mushroom, and glass noodles.

I loved how crisp the outside was. One of the best spring rolls I’ve had.

Cassoulet ($23.90) has duck confit, house made sausage, pork confit, and white beans in a hot skillet. This was really good! How can you not love all this meat in a pan?

It also came with frites. Very crispy on the outside.

Gigot ($27.50) has 12 hour braised lamb legs in red wine and mirepoix. It is also served with bread.

I found the meat to be a tad dry and the portion is a bit on the small side.

Don’t forget to dunk it into the stew.

By this point, M and I were quite full from the meal, so we had to take the dessert home.

Apple Chausson ($4.50) are French Apple Turnovers. I popped it into the oven until the pastry crisps up a bit more. It’s pretty good, but I wish I had some vanilla ice cream to eat it with.

Three Chocolate Mousse ($6.95) M loved it. He was very satisfied with the dessert.

Overall, the entire meal was very delicious and I loved the combination of French and Vietnamese. You really get the best of both worlds. Our entire meal would have been over $90, but with the Groupon, it was around $50. Not bad at all. You know it’s a good meal when M can’t stop raving about the restaurant.

We Rate Linh Cafe:

Address:
2836 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.linhcafe.com/

In Cafe

Cafe de l’Orangerie: Amazing Japanese Pasta

April 13, 2015

Cafe de L’Orangerie is now located in Marpole, a few minutes away from the Vancouver International Airport. They are a Japanese-style cafe serving up their interpretation of Western food.

After coming here, I really wish they had more locations. I love this type of food. You will find on their menu – pasta, curry, hamburg steak, beef stew, and teriyaki. Sounds pretty boring, but once you eat it, you won’t regret it.

I came here with the lovely ladies of Gastrofork – Dee and Nat to film a short interview … and eat of course!

London Fog ($4.55) is a black tea latte with vanilla and steamed milk. Mmmm my favourite! Seriously, I’m going on a long streak of ordering london fogs. It’s essentially my coffee alternative.

Campari Lemon ($6.50) is an alcoholic beverage with the bitter taste of Campari and limonata lemon juice cocktail. Nat and her early morning cocktails. She even got ID’d.

Matcha Green Tea Latte ($4.55) was what Dee ordered. Looks very vibrant and green due to the matcha. You can’t go wrong with this drink.

Curry with Pork Cutlet ($11.95) looks delicious and has a generous portion of curry to rice ratio.

Spaghetti Carbonara ($9.80) has bacon, mushroom, garlic, egg, cheese, and cream. OMG so good! I ate all o fit and didn’t even leave a single noodle on the plate. SO GOOD!