Type Archives - Page 70 of 125

In Japanese

Saboten: Japanese Tonkatsu in Richmond

September 8, 2014

Saboten is the largest Japanese Chain Restaurant for Tonkatsu chain with over 500 shops across the world. They have been open since 2012 in Aberdeen Centre in Richmond BC.

I’ve passed by this place all the time, but I’ve never dined her until now. I’ve always been turned off by the huge lines, but today, there are hardly any lineups. Perhaps the hype has died down.

It’s always a busy time in the Aberdeen Food Court, the crowds can be a bit crazy during dinner time, but there are a lot of food options.

I loved looking at the display food and you are probably going to be mesmerized by how good it looks. FYI, it’s not going to be looking like this at all.

Tenderloin Katsu Curry set comes with 2 pieces of katsu soaked with the curry sauce. Then you have rice and cabbage on the other side. You also get miso soup and a small container of pickled vegetables.

Tenderloin & Loin Set has miso soup, rice, sesame seeds, pickles, sauce and the tenderloin and loin katsu.

After tasting both of these items, you really don’t get a lot of katsu. Plus, it does’t stay crispy for very long. I was a bit disappointed in the portions and didn’t satisfy my katsu cravings. I much prefer Zac Zac Curry in Downtown Vancouver.

We Rate Saboten:

Address:
4151 Hazelbridge Way
Richmond BC

Website:
http://www.saboten.ca/

In Brunch

Edible Canada: Brunch Time

September 7, 2014

Edible Canada has brunch and TaiwaneseGirl, CanuckGirl wanted to check it out and see how are their eggs bennys. We made reservations online at OpenTable just in case there was a rush of people during the weekend brunch hour.

As the space is big and does have a patio, there were plenty of seats available. Once we got seated, it was hard to get our server to take our order. We weren’t sure why it took so long, but we finally just flagged down anyone to put in our order.

Cyoni Apple Juice ($3.75)

Fish Cake Benny ($17) has poached free range eggs, halibut, salmon, true cod, hollandaise and a side of mixed greens. The eggs were not poached to medium. One was spot on and the other was just hard. The rest of the dish was enjoyable according to CanuckGirl.

Wild Mushroom Benny ($15) has buttermilk biscuit, poached free-range eggs, roasted garlic, spinach, hollandaise and a side of mixed greens. We had a similar issue with the eggs but this one was very runny and the other was hard.

They must have mixed up the eggs or something. It’s too bad they couldn’t make the perfect egg. A true test when going to brunch.

EC Breakfast ($12) has scrambled free ranges eggs, cripsy bacon, Sloping Hills Pork and apple sausage, and your choice of hash or butter potato biscuit. Instead of getting a benny like my friends, I got the breakfast because a simple breakfast is a sure way to assess their skills. Everything was good, simple and full of flavour.

Once our meal was done, one of the servers took away our salt, pepper and hot sauce to give to another table. I guess they ran out of extra sets for other tables or something. It would have been ok, but he left our empty plates on the table too. Seemed like he was in a rush to impress the other table.

We Rate Edible Canada:

Address:
1596 Johnston St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.ediblecanada.com/

In Fairview

Shishinori: New Japanese Restaurant in Vancouver

September 4, 2014

Shishinori is a new little Japanese Restaurant near Broadway and Cambie. My coworker told me to check this place out as it was in her neighbourhood and went back several times. I decided to come here with a bunch of my coworkers during lunch to get their lunch a try.

The space is quite nice and simple. The space is very cozy, so there aren’t a lot of tables available during peak times like lunch. Your order first up at the counter and then find a seat to sit if you are eating in.

All the utensils are already on the table.

Smoked Wild Salmon Eggs Benedict ($9) comes with tea and salad. It’s interesting how this comes on a bagel. It seemed like she had some issues eating it, but maybe it was just her being clumsy. She seemed to really enjoy her meal nonetheless.

Hawaii Ahi Poke Bowl ($12 +$2.50) with added cold tea and coffee jello dessert.

Ahi Tuna Carpaccio Bowl ($12 + $2.50) with the added enoki miso soup and cold Iced Green tea. It was a very healthy meal!

Matcha Parfait ($6) is great if you have a sweet tooth. There is cereal, green tea jello, mochi, green tea ice cream, pocky, strawberries, chocolate syrup, sponge cake and some other stuff. If you order a meal and this, you’re gonna be quite full. Get this if you want a sweet snack.

Overall, the food here is quite nice and healthy (besides the matcha parfait). The downside is that it is pricey.

We rate Shishinori:

Address:
2328 Cambie St
Vancouver, BC

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/shishinori

In Afternoon Tea

La Petite Cuillere: High Tea and Afternoon Tea in Vancouver

September 2, 2014

La Petite Cuillere Tea House is located in the Mount Pleasant area. They serve up all day brunch, high tea and afternoon tea sets. I came here with my coworkers for a team social with all 8 of us. Looking at a few of the High Tea places in town, this was definitely the cheapest.

We came here because it fit into our budget and it was very close to our office. Plus, a few others recommended we come here.

The interior is quite nice and it has a few tables and cupboards filled with saucers and cups. You also get a good view of the outside. If you have groups of 4 or more, you’ll want to make a reservation so they have everything ready ahead of time, especially for people with allergies.

The English Tea Menu has 3 main selections:

La petite cuillère Tea ($12.75 per person)
Two miniature sweets and one of our signature cupcakes. Served with your choice of tea.
The “Afternoon Tea” ($24.50 per person)
Full service of three miniature sweets, three finger sandwiches, two miniature scones, mini loaf, tea biscuit, fruit preserves, and Devonshire cream. Served on a traditional three tier stand with your choice of tea.
The “High Tea” ($13.75 per person)
A selection of two miniature sweets, two finger sandwiches, one miniature scone, fruit preserves, and Devonshire cream. Served on authentic English bone china with your choice of tea.

You can add $2 to the price if you want their premium selection instead of the standard.

We all ordered The “Afternoon Tea” and waited patiently as if arrived. While we waited, we loved looking at their little plates and cutlery.

They have a large selection of tea and i went with the Ti Kuan Yin Oolong. This tea is a semi-fermented Oolong tea, has long been one of China’s most popular teas. It has an aroma reminiscent of a Merseault wine with a creamy sweet flavour and some floral notes to it. The brew finishes with its famous cooked sugar taste.

I love asian tea! I’ve grown up with it and I can’t seem to like any other types of teas.

When the three tier stand arrived everyone started whipping out their phones to take pictures. Who wouldn’t right? It’s quite a sight when you see all the tiers appearing on the table.

The 3 finger sandwiches are on the first tier and there was a croissant sandwich, a asparagus and salmon sandwich and a veggie roll. The 3 items were decent.

On the second tier, you have the two miniature scones, mini loaf, and tea biscuit. You use the Devonshire cream and the fruit preserves from the first tier for the scones.

The third tier is the dessert. Macaron, cheesecake and a raspberry tart.

Every last item was enjoyable. Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom.

For $24.50 for their largest set, it is definitely affordable compared to some other places in town. The service is great and there is a cozy atmosphere. As for the quality of the items you get as part of the Afternoon Tea are decent. It’s not the best but you do get what you pay for. Nonetheless, I did have a great experience dining here.

We Rate La Petite Cuillere Tea House:

Address:
55 Kingsway Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.lapetitecuillere.ca/

In Brunch

Cora: Breakfast and Lunch in Coquitlam

September 1, 2014

When my relatives were still in town, they wanted more of Cora. They were here for 2 weeks and we came to Cora 3 times. They really loved this place because of their fresh fruit. It’s funny how we take things for granted some times.

We came to the Coquitlam location and they wanted to see if there was a difference with the Cora in Toronto and the one here.

The Coquitlam location is quite large and there were lots of people on the weekend.

Look at all that fresh fruit! From what I observed some dishes get all fresh fruit and some get prearranged ones that comes from containers.

Spinach and Cheddar Crepe comes with a few fruits on the side. In between the folded over crepe is more cheddar.

Samara Wake Up is a plate of freshly cut fruit and everyone else at the table ordered this. There was pineapples, strawberries, grapes, kiwis, green apple, red apple, orange, cantaloupe, star fruit, banana, grapefruit, honey dew, watermelon, and mango, and peaches.

It was a crazy amount of fruit.

If you order this, it might be a bit crazy for you to eat it all by yourself…or else your glucose levels with skyrocket because of all the fructose.

Some of their food items can be a hot or a miss, but anything with fresh fruit will definitely impress.

We Rate Cora:

Address:
3025 Lougheed Hwy
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.chezcora.com/home

In British Columbia

Vancouver Food Cart Fest 2014: Last Day Today

August 31, 2014

Vancouver Food Cart Fest gathers about 20 of the top food carts in Vancouver. It happens every Sunday near the Olympic Village till August 31st. If you haven’t made it down there yet, it’s their last weekend! It runs from 12pm till 5pm. Entrance is free to Vancity and Car2go members, this year it is also free with a non-perishable food donation to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. Or else, you have to pay $2 for the entrance fee.

Some of the participating food carts include:

Blue Smoke BBQ
Aussie Pie Guy
Chili Tank
Didi’s Greek
Dougie Dog
Festro the Rolling Bistro
Finest at Sea
Guanaco Salvadoran Cuisine
Holy Perogy
JJ’s Trucketeria
The Juice Truck
The Kaboom Box
Le Tigre
Mogu Japanese Street Eats
Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck
PazzaRella
Roaming Dragon
Soho Road
Street Meet
Tacofino
Taser Grilled Cheese
The Reef Runner
Vij’s Railway Express
Yolks

Not all of them are there at the same time, but you can always check with the Vancouver Street Food App to see who’s there.

Le Tigre is there and they serve up modern Chinese food. They always serve up some pretty amazing food, so I just had to stop by to have some.

BBQ Pulled Pork Steamed Bun has BBQ sauce, leaf lettuce, cabbage slaw, and fresh herbs.

Crack Salad has cauliflower, brussel sprouts, lemon juice, cracked chili, capers and parmesan. It reminds me of the brussel sprouts from The Flying Pig. This was a tad oily, but it was really good and addictive.

Johnny Pops was there and they are one of the most popular little carts there. They have delicious artisan popsicles. Most of the fruits and ingredients are locally sourced and made in Vancouver .

Mixed Berries and Mint Popsicle was absolutely fantastic. Great for the hot summer weather and packed full of flavour.

Some food carts definitely have long lines and with the hot summer weather, it can be a bit of a pain. Since the Food Cart Fest is open till 5pm, try avoiding the busy times around noon. I came here around 2pm and the lines were quite manageable.

There are white tents in the centre to eat your food in the shade. On hot busy days, everyone wants be be under there. You may need to stalk people for tables.

Website: http://www.foodcartfest.com/

In British Columbia

Japadog Food Truck: Roaming Around Vancouver

August 30, 2014

I was in the Olympic Village hunting for lunch near work and I spotted the Japadog Truck. I thought it was pretty awesome since they usually have their carts around town, but not a food truck.

I was pretty excited because I was tired of going to Urban Fare for my usual chicken and vegetables, today I could be bad and have a Japadog.

You will find 14 different Japadogs to choose from:

Kurobuta Terimayo
Oroshi
Okonomi
Negimiso
Love Meat
Tonkatsu
Croquette
Hot Spicy
Yakisoba
Ebi Tempura
Yakiniku Rice
Beef Terimayo
Spicy Cheese Terimayo
Ume

You can get them with a combo as well, which includes a drink and their shaked fries.

Love Meat Combo ($8.50) has a hot dog with aribiki pork sausage, cheese and a beef meat sauce mixture on top.

Then I grabbed a coke and Shichimi and Garlic Shaked Fries.

It was having a lasagna as a hot dog. Not the best meat sauce I’ve had, but it was ok. Their aribiki pork sausage was really good!

Shichimi and Garlic Shaked Fries reminded me of Mc Donald fries but with the roasted garlic and spicy seasoning on top. Most of the fries turn quite limp after a while, so it won’t stay hot and crispy for long.

Overall, Japadog does attract thousands of eaters a year and have become a global sensation attracting tourists from all over.

We Rate Japadog Food Truck:

Location:
Varies

Website:
http://www.japadog.com/

In British Columbia

McDonalds Canada: Pumpkin Spice Latte

August 29, 2014

Fall is right around the corner and all the Fall favourites are beginning to come back. In particular, the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Starbucks is offering it up on their menu earlier this year. Time flies doesn’t it?

I was taking a morning break at work to grab a hash brown and I noticed something on McDonald’s menu. It was written in orange and clearly stood out on their McCafe menu – Pumpkin Spice Latte. I actually never realized they would sell such a thing.

McDonalds Canada has been keeping this quite hush hush on social media, so you’ll only see it when you go into stores.

At the Vancouver location on Main Street, the prices were.

Small ($2.69)
Medium ($3.20)
Large ($3.69)

I grabbed a small Pumpkin Spice Latte just to see how it compared to the Starbucks PSL. When you open the lid, there’s not much to see, but foam and some spice. At Starbucks, their drinks look a lot prettier with the whipped cream.

Despite the lack of whipped cream, the taste was quite comparable to Starbucks, but a tad sweeter than how I would have liked it. It’s still much cheaper than Starbucks.

Website: http://www.mcdonalds.ca/

In Cafe

Balzacs Coffee Roasters: Featured on Dragons Den

August 28, 2014

While in Toronto, Balzacs Coffee Roasters caught my eye when walking around Yorkville. They were on Dragons Den looking for funding to expand their shop into 2 Downtown Toronto. They got their deal with Bruce Croxon and Arlene Dickinson.

This location at the Reference Library in Yorkville was one of the two that needed funding to expand.

The coffee shop is European inspired and you have the signature framed posters on the walls and the chairs.

It is connected right beside the library, so you can go borrow some books and then come to Balzacs for coffee.

You can purchase an array of baked goods and get your usual coffee, tea or cold drinks.

Latte was what I ordered. They had some issues frothing the milk, so they couldn’t do much latte art on it, but if you look closely, it could resemble a woman with long hair? Either way, the latte tasted great and had a strong shot of espresso inside.

If you are in the area for good coffee, give Balzacs a try!

We Rate Balzacs Coffee Roasters:

Address:
789 Yonge St
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.balzacs.com/

In Downtown

Guu Garden: Frozen Beer in Vancouver

August 27, 2014

Kanpai! Vancouverites are celebrating the Summer by cooling off with FROZEN BEER. Earlier in July, Guu Garden and Guu Richmond are the only 2 locations in Vancouver that serve Kirin Ichiban Frozen beer. Perfect for summer especially at Guu Garden’s roof top patio.

The foam is frozen at -5ºC which creates a unique texture and keeps beer cold for 30 minutes. Imagine a slushie that tastes like beer foam. It comes in mini size and pint size. As this was our first experience, we went with the mini size as it would be a safe choice just in case we didn’t like it.

The mini frozen beer was quite expensive and we would rather just get their Mega Sapporo for $9, which contains a litre of beer. It’s almost the same price as the frozen beer and you get a lot more beer.

Of course, you can’t just have beer at Guu, you gotta have some yummy fried food to accompany the meal.

Ebi Mayo (Large $16) are prawn tempura with a chili mayo sauce. If you have a big group of about 4 or 5, it’s best to order the large so there is enough to go around. It’s one of the popular dishes and you can’t go wrong.

Chicken Karaage (Large $12) is one of my favourite dishes. It’s deep fried to perfection and comes with a side of garlic mayo.

Green Bean Fries (Small $5) has the green bean tempura with a side of Japanese mayo. This is surprisingly really good!

Cheese Oden cames with a few pieces of deep fried cheese. This item was also surprisingly good. The stinginess of the cheese and the light and yummy broth worked well together.

Salmon Oshi Sushi ($9.80) is shaped into a block and has a cajun seared sockeye salmon sushi with sliced onion and ponzu on top.

When you compare this to Miku, this just falls flat.

Gyu Tongue Chazuke ($6.80) has beef tongue steak on rice topped with green onion, fried seaweed and wasabi. There is then kanto-dashi broth poured on top.

The tongue wasn’t very good and tasted bland and flavourless. I think if they grilled the tongue and anded some salt and pepper, it would taste a lot better.

Miso Calamari (Small $6) has their deep fried ume marinated squid with a black haccho miso sauce. It tasted ok, but it was pretty average calamari.

Unagi Nuku-Sushi ($7.80) is served in a bamboo steamer. It has sushi rice, bbq eel, sliced omelet and topped with dried seaweed and a side of sansho pepper. Cute presentation but it all tasted quite bland.

Tuna Tataki ($7.80) has the lightly seared sashimi with sliced garlic, scallions, garlic chips and yuzu ponzu sauce. Always a favourite amongst customers here.

Cauliflower Karaage (Small $6) has konbu marinated cauliflower with a side of Japanese Mayo. It tasted ok, but it still can’t compare to Nuba’s amazing cauliflower.

Overall, Guu Garden’s menu has changed over the years, but there are still staple items on the menu that are good – Tuna Tataki, green bean fries, oden, chicken karaage, ebi mayo and of course the beer.

We Rate Guu Garden:

Address:
M101-888 Nelson Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.guu-izakaya.com

In Fairview

#DiningAsian2014: Benkei Ramen

August 26, 2014

From August 1 to 31, when you order featured Dining Asian dishes at participating restaurants, proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. This is their second year hosting this campaign and the participating restaurants are:

Benkei Noodle Shop
Tamarind Hill
Scoop
Fatty Hi Chinese Restaurant
Friend’s BBQ Restaurant
Next Noodle Bar

Money raised for the Canadian Cancer Society goes towards funding cancer research, providing support services that inform and empower people living with cancer, leading prevention initiatives and advocating for healthy public policies. It’s an organization that is dear to my heart. When you tweet or instagram their featured dish with #DiningAsian2014, you can be entered to win prizes.

I came to Benkei with Phyllis to catch up over a bowl of yummy noodles. There used to be a bunch of Benkei locations, but this is now the last left. I remember coming to Benkei often when there were not a lot of ramen options on Robson street.

At Benkei Ramen, they are featuring their Shio TanTan noodles with a spicy buta-don for $10.50 for the #diningasian campaign.

The meal is quite big for lunch and will fill you up.

Shio TanTan had a lot of yummy rich pork broth with a side of egg. The noodles were cooked nicely and this was quite enjoyable.

Spicy Buta-Don tasted a bit strange as the pork was dry and overcooked that it just tasted like flaked tuna. I wasn’t impressed by this item. I think this was the same pork used in the ramen, but I don’t think I noticed as much since the broth helped moisten the pork.

Overall, it’s good to revisit Benkei after all these years, but I think I will stick to the ramen for now.

We Rate Benkei Ramen:

Address:
545 West Broadway Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.benkeiramen.com/

In Downtown/Ryerson University

Chipotle Mexican Grill: Toronto

August 25, 2014

No matter where I go in the world, there’s always time to stop at a Chipotle for a quick meal. There are currently only 4 locations in Toronto and the one I went to was just right near Eaton’s Centre. I’ve had Chipotle’s in New York, Seattle and in Vancouver…. and now Toronto.

They serve up Mexican fast food and you can find things like tacos, burritos, salad or a burrito bowl. All their ingredients are local and organic, so it is not 100% the same as the other Chipotle locations around the world.

You start by ordering from one end to the other creating your meal. The staff are always nice and friendly. They will try to go out of your way to make sure you have a great meal.

We ordered a variety of Soft Tacos and the Bowl. My favourite meats are the Barbacoa and the carnitas. I always ask half 2 kinds of meat instead of one. Then I add everything on top. Yummy!

If you want to get the most bang for your buck, definitely get the bowl as you can fit more ingredients inside.

We Rate Chipotle:

Address:
323 Yonge St
Toronto ON

Website:
http://www.chipotle.com/

In Canadian

Cows: Ice Cream at Niagara on the Lake

August 24, 2014

Cow’s originated from Prince Edward Island on the East Coast of Canada. They have 10 locations across Canada, but mostly in Tourist areas. When I was at Niagara on the Lake, a small town close to Niagara Falls our tour guide suggested we check out Cow’s as it is quite popular.

There is also a Cow’s in Whistler, BC…but I have no idea why I never go to Whistler when it’s so close to Vancouver. They are best know for their ice cream and their hilarious merchandise like t-shirts and keychains. Readers Digest even calls them the Best Ice Cream in Canada.

Who doesn’t love shirt with puns and cows that make lots of references to pop culture?

When we came here, there wasn’t a long line up, which was great! But then again, not that many people get ice cream before lunch.

Their board with the cow shows you what flavours they currently have. There’s around 20 flavours to choose from.

If you get yours in a cone, you have 4 kinds to select:

Plain
Chocolate
Chocolate + Sprinkles
Chocolate + Nuts

Peanut Butter Cup Cup with a plain waffle cone ($4.25) was what I ordered. I love peanut butter, so this was the perfect flavour for me. It was decent ice cream but it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had.

If you are at Niagara on the Lake and need a tasty treat, definitely check out Cows.

We Rate Cows:

Address:
44 Queen
Niagara-on-the-Lake

Website:
http://www.cows.ca/

In American

Canyon Creek Chophouse: Lunch at Niagara Falls

August 23, 2014

The main reason for our trip to Toronto was to see the Niagara Falls with my in-laws. So funny how they thought it was close to Vancouver. After the 4.5 hour flight, they realized it’s quite a distance away. Plus, not even close to downtown Toronto. They sure are silly, but since I knew this ahead of time, I made sure we still got here to cross one more item off their bucket list.

We even rode on the Maid of the Mist, which has now been renamed to The Hornblower. It’s still the same great experience.

After looking around the Niagara Falls area, it was time to hunt for lunch before heading back to the bus for Toronto. Somehow we ended up at Canyon Creek Chophouse as it supposedly has a nice view of the falls. Unfortunately, the view was obstructed by trees. We didn’t mind since we already got a great view of the falls on the boat.

Canyon Creek Chophouse is inside the Fallsview Casino and they are a steakhouse, but they also has a variety of items like burgers, salads, pasta and seafood. We came in the late afternoon, so this place was empty.

We started with bread, which was nice and warm and came with a side of butter.

Grilled Chicken Caesar ($16.95) has chicken breast, applewood smoked bacon, chopped romaine, sourdough croutons, shaved Parmesan, with house made garlic dressing. The salad was pretty plain for the price you pay. The chicken was also quite dry.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs (Half: $21.95) has the slow braised ribs, grilled and brushed in a smoky glaze, with skinny fries and slaw on the side. The ribs were very tender and about to fall off the bones. Each portion was quite meaty. The fries were extra crispy, which made them really enjoyable.

Kimchi Quesadilla comes cut into 4 pieces and served with sour cream and a pico de gallo salsa, but the server dropped it on the floor. The kimchi quesadilla was very good and had the perfect combinations of flavours inside.

Overall, the food was alright, but you are definitely paying more since you are in a tourist destination. I would definitely prefer to go to The Keg instead. I also found the service quite poor and it was very hard to get anyone’s attention when we wanted to order and getting the bill. Perhaps it was because we were one of two people dining here that there were not a lot of servers around.

We Rate Canyon Creek Chophouse:

Address:
6380 Fallsview Boulevard
Niagara Falls, ON

Website:
http://canyoncreekrestaurant.ca/

In Downtown

SKK Canada: Mediterranean Fast Food

August 22, 2014

SKK is a Mediterranean Restaurant on Robson Street across from the Vancouver Public Library. They are a chain restaurant that originated from Italy, where they provide customers with healthy fast food dishes inspired by the Mediterranean regions.

I received a SocialShopper voucher- $10 for $20 worth of Mediterranean food and drinks for two at SKK. I came after work with CanucksGirl for a quick dinner.

Turco Beef Wrap ($7.49 +$3) has beef shawarma, tomatoes, onions, pickles, cabbage, hot sauce and secret sauce wrapped in a tortilla. The wrap is then grilled. The wrap was tightly wrapped together and held nicely without falling apart.

It’s packed full of ingredients and is very filling. I split half of it with my friend and we were already quite full eating half of this. The beef shawarma was ok, but it was missing some flavour to make the wrap pop.

Shawarma Chicken Plate ($9.49 +$3) has Chicken shawarma, pita bread, hummus, tabbouleh, hot sauce, and another sauce that might have been tzatziki. I felt the chicken was a bit dry and lacking flavour. Pretty average flavours but it seemed it was lacking the freshness that I was looking for.

For our combo, we got a can of pop and a greek salad. We didn’t realize the meal already comes with tabbouleh, so we would have gotten a dessert if we knew. We just took it home and ate it the next day.

Arabella are grilled tortillas smothered with Nutella. I came with 2 sticks, so it was good to share as each one is quite long. I got this as part of the other combo. Best idea ever!

I cut one in half and you can see all the layers separated with Nutella. It was the perfect dessert to end the meal. Mmm Mmm Mmm you really can’t resist Nutella.

Overall, the staff are quite friendly, but I found the food to be quite average and lacked a bit of freshness. My favourite item was the Arabella!

We Rate SKK:

Address:
386 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://skkcanada.com/

In Chinese

Banh Mi Boys: Asian Fusion Sandwiches in Toronto

August 21, 2014

Banh Mi Boys is located on Younge Street close to Ryerson University and a few blocks away from Eaton Centre. They also have another location on Queen Street West. As this was right across from my hotel, I had to come to one of Toronto’s most talked about restaurants.

It’s been on my list forever and I finally made it here! They serve up Vietnamese subs – Banh Mi and a few other fusion items like tacos and steamed baos.

We came here during dinner time and this place was packed! There were barely any seats left and tons of people were taking their food to-go.

Their menu items are quite cheap and perfect for students on a budget. Plus, the food is good.

Once you put in your order, you wait on the side for you order to be called. When they call your name, they also ask you if you want any spice on your items. To be on the safe side, I chose everything I ordered not to be very spicy.

Five Spice Pork Belly Steamed Bao ($3.49) looked amazing and I couldn’t resist anything that has pork belly in it. The steamed bao also has cucumber, pickled carrots, picked radish, and cilantro.

I really liked the pork belly, but then again, who doesn’t?

Braised Beef Steamed Bao ($3.49) is what my aunt ordered. She thought this was ok, but it seemed strange to her as she’s never tried anything like this in Asia.

Kalbi Beef Taco ($3.99) has purple cabbage slaw, kimchi, pickled carrots, cilantro and the kalbi beef on top of the taco.

Kimchi Fries ($5.99) has pulled pork, mayo, kimchi, and green onion on top of the fries. My Korean relatives thought this dish was disgusting and weird. It was hard for them to grasp the concept that kimchi and fries go together. I thought this was a delicious dish! The hot and sour taste from the kimchi blend beautifully with the pulled pork.

Overall, Banh Mi Boys is a fun place for fusion food if you taste buds are up to the challenge.

We Rate Banh Mi Boys:

Address:
392 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.banhmiboys.com/

In Brunch

Cora: Early Morning Breakfast in Toronto

August 20, 2014

When travelling, sometimes its hard to get your daily fill of veggies or fruit because all the places I want to go have lots of meat and carbs. We were heading off to a Niagara Falls tour and we needed a restaurant that was open early in the morning and that served good breakfast.

Cora was 2 blocks away from our hotel, so I decided to take my relatives here. I thought it would be a good place to go since we could get lots and lots of fruit. Cora first opened in Montreal, but has since expanded across Canada with over 130 locations.

Coffee is what we got to go with our meal. Since it was 6am, it was definitely needed.

Buckwheat Blessing has 3 sausages and cheese wrapped in buckwheat crepes with a large amount of fruit. I thought the sausages wrapped in the crepes were really good! Yummm meat! There was plenty of fruit! It’s a good touch that they have a few unique fruits like star fruit and gooseberries.

This is probably my favourite item to order as it has the savoury crepes with the sweet fruit.

1990′s Harvest with scrambled egg has a large cinnamon-raisin brioche dipped in french toast batter with an egg and bacon strips on one side and a mountain of fresh fruit on the other. The brioche seemed a bit burnt, but it was still enjoyable.

Samara Wake Up is a plate of freshly cut fruit. There was pineapples, strawberries, grapes, kiwis, green apple, red apple, orange, cantaloupe, star fruit, banana, grapefruit, honey dew, watermelon, and mango.

This dish was a hit! We actually came back here twice just to have this dish. It’s a great place to take tourists! For my relatives, where they come from, fruit isn’t cheap and you would never see this abundance in a meal. They were very impressed by the amount of fruit.

Sunshine Panini comes with a side of fruit, but it’s not as large as the other dishes. Inside the panini is cheese, ham and egg.

You can also tell these fruits are not as fresh as the other plates too.

There’s also toast too. You barely touched the toast since our dishes were so big.

A good morning breakfast! If you love fruit, definitely take a visit to Cora’s.

We Rate Cora:

Address:
27 Carlton Street
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.chezcora.com/home

In Canadian

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory: Rocky Ridge Ice Cream Bars

August 19, 2014

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory recently launched their new line of Rocky Ridge Ice Cream Bars in their Robson location. It’s a perfect summer treat when you know we’ve had a crazy heatwave in Vancouver for the past few weeks.

Ice cream, ice cream, we all scream for ice cream.

The Rocky Ridge Ice Cream Bars will be rolling out to other stores soon, but so far the Robson location is the only one.

You will find the Ice Cream Bar section at the back of the store. Each Rocky Ridge Ice Cream bar is $5.99.

The 9 flavours you can choose from are:

Almond Summit Ridge
Candy Coated Ridge
Rockslide Ridge
Toffee Slab Ridge
Pay Dirt Ridge
Purest Ridge
Cougar Ridge
Mint Avalanche Ridge
Mystery Ridge (Flavour of the month)

For myself, I had a tough time deciding, which one to choose.

Candy Coated Ridge is what I chose since it looked really cute and colourful.Plus, any kid would choose this! I can be a big kid too. Perfect for all.

They have their signature logo on the front which is made out of all chocolate.

When you bite inside, you have their vanilla ice cream in the centre, then the 2 layers of chocolate and the candy coating on the outside. It really reminded me of the Magnum ice cream bars because of the thick chocolate crust.

Mystery Ridge is their secret featured ice cream bar that changes every month. For August, they had dark chocolate and coconut. M loved it because it wasn’t overly sweet and the dark chocolate was a nice touch with the coconut bits.

Cougar Ridge has white chocolate and peanut butter blended together to create the pieces surrounding the bar.

Mint Avalanche Ridge has the same milk chocolate coating around the vanilla ice cream. This one has minty chocolate and chocolate chips around the edges.

Pay Dirt Ridge has golden graham cracker and cheese cake goodness surrounding the bar.

Overall, the bars are quite rich and it’s quite hard to eat all in one sitting. I am not a huge sweet tooth, so I would prefer the Purest Ridge Bar so more vanilla ice cream ratio.

We Rate Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory: