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In Downtown

Coast Restaurant: Lunch Specials in Downtown, Vancouver

July 13, 2012

Coast Restaurant is part of the Glowbal Group and they specialize in seafood. Located on Alberni Street, tourist and locals flock to Coast for fresh and delicious seafood. They a a bit expensive for dinner, but for lunch time, they have some amazing lunch sets for under $15. It has a good atmosphere to bring coworkers or friends.

Before I left to Hong Kong for vacation, I met up with Flo to have some lunch here. She’s been here several time, but I haven’t, so she was nice enough to join me on this food adventure.

Fish & Chips Cones ($8.95) has tempura cod, japanese tartar sauce, sprouts and tobiko wrapped up. The tempura was lightly battered and very delicious! It’s unlike the traditional Japanese sushi cones, these ones won’t make you too full.

Linguine Vongole ($14.95) has manila clams, bacon lardons, crushed chillies in linguine. Flo thought it was alright, but it wasn’t anything amazing. You can get the same item for dinner for $16.95.

Oyster Box ($13.95) has an oyster po’ boy sandwich, caesar salad, fries, and smoked fish chowder.

The Smoked Fish Chowder thats part of the Oyster Box was ok. I didn’t get a lot of the smoky fish taste in the chowder.

The Fries were my favorite part of the box. It was very crispy and awesome when dipped in the mayo sauce.

The Caesar Salad was quite plain. The dressing was very light, which isn’t a bad thing. The strip of bacon was yummy and crispy .

Oyster Po’boy sandwich was very poor. The bread was very hard and thick that it didn’t allow much flavour of the oyster to pop out. It was very hard to eat through the bun, so I just ate the oyster. The oyster wasn’t too bad, it was very large.

Overall, the Oyster Box wasn’t every appetizing even though the price is quite fair. It had lots of food, but didn’t hold up to the reputation of the restaurant. Flo commented saying how the food wasn’t as good as before. The service was also slow and was hard to have a meal in under one hour. You need at least 1.5 hrs to have a lunch here. We really didn’t know why the service was so slow because it was pretty empty at 11:30am. It started to get very busy around 12:30pm. Also check your bill since they may accidentally charge you the dinner price instead of the lunch price. Good thing Flo and I checked the bill!

Words of Wisdom:

Always good to have reservations just in case
Well priced lunch box specials
Good friendly service
Allocate more than 1 hr for lunch

We Rate Coast Restaurant:

Address:
1054 Alberni St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.coastrestaurant.ca/

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In American

Arby’s: Good Mood Food in a Food Court

July 12, 2012

I’m sure it’s no surprise that I have a secret addiction to fast food. Give me a burger and fries and I’ll slurp it right up. M and I were at Metrotown in the food court and were feeling hungry, so we stopped at Arby’s. It’s kinda our go-to place when we don’t want to make too many decisions. The roast beef is quite yummy and addictive.

This is the only location that we have Arby’s because it’s convenient.

Theres lots of seats, but it can get very crowded at peak hours. M and I have a tradition of always going down to the pet store to check out the kittens after lunch.

We grabbed a bunch of things and found a seat.

Don’t forget to grab some Horseradish sauce and Barbecue sauce! You can add it to your fries or into your burger.

Curly Fries are a must! It’s crispy and golden brown and is so much better than normal fries. Some curly fries can be really curly and some other not so much.

Large Roast Beef has heaps of roast beef sandwiched between a sesame bun.

Look at the layers. You probably would want to add the barbecue sauce to this.

Bacon & Cheddar Deluxe has the thinly sliced roast beef with lettuce, mayo, cheese and bacon in between the sesame bun.

The bacon was a bit of a disappointment since it was so small.

Thats the cross section of it. It tasted ok, but I felt the lettuce and bacon didn’t add much to the sandwich.Perhaps next time, I’ll just get the sandwich with cheese and roast beef.

Overall, if you like meaty sandwiches with loads of roast beef, go to Arby’s.

In Downtown

Holy Perogy: Perogy on Wheels in Downtown Vancouver

July 11, 2012

Holy Perogy is a new Food Truck that has hit the streets of Downtown Vancouver. They sells perogies of course. Since Jen and I were going on a little Vancouver food cart adventure, we decided to stop at Holy Perogy since it was new and different that some of the other food trucks out there. Holy Perogy is located outside the library.

Their truck has a cute perogy mascot too. Sometimes I wonder if they have a name. hehe.

Their menu is quite small, but has enough flavours to entice your taste buds.

Smoked Salmon Perogies ($10) contain bits of smoked salmon, cream cheese and potato filling. It’s topped with cream cheese and fried onions. The topping was supposed to have capers, but it wasn’t on there for some reason.

It tasted alright, but the salmon flavour needs to stand out a bit more. Perhaps even have bits of smoked salmon as a topping? It was a pretty expensive box of perogies compared to what you could buy at the grocery store said Jen. The quality was ok as some of them were falling apart. Perhaps we went on an off day.

Overall, it was a good experience, but kinda disappointing. Nonetheless, you do get a good amount of perogies to get full for lunchtime. With the variety of different food trucks in Vancouver, you might as well try it once.

Words of Wisdom:

A bit expensive for perogies
Easy to share
Good for perogy lovers

We Rate Holy Perogy:

Address:
700 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.holyperogy.com/

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In Dessert

True Confections: Dessert Restaurant in Vancouver

July 10, 2012

True Confections is an award winning dessert restaurant. They have 2 locations in Vancouver and it’s usually a go-to place for University students and cake lovers. The cakes are HUGE and thats what draws customers into the restaurant.

M, CandiedZen and I came here for some dessert. M and I have never been here, so it was definitely an adventure for huge slices of cake.

It was still pretty early, so there were tons of seats. The decor isn’t amazing, but it’s all about hanging out with friends and indulging on cake.

There is a large display case that houses the cakes and pies.

You’ll probably be staring at all the desserts for a while. It’s always good to bring friends so you can steal a taste of their cakes!

Devil’s Food Cake has layers of dark chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and marshmallow icing. It was very large! M liked it but he couldn’t finish it all in one sitting.

Hazelnut Belgian Chocolate Mousse has a thin layer of flourless chocolate cake, piled with rich hazelnut chocolate mousse and decorated with shards of Belgian milk chocolate. This is CandiedZen’s go-to cake when she’s at True Confections. M and I agreed it was pretty delicious.

Banana Cream Pie is made the old fashioned way, with lots of bananas and cream. You can really identify the two layers of the cake. I really love banana cream pie and it did not disappoint!

The slice of pie was huge. Here’s a comparison shot of an iPhone and the slice of cake.

Overall, it was a good experience. I would suggest sharing the cakes with your friends so you can try a taste of a few cakes without getting sick of your own cake.

We Rate True Confections:

Address:
3701 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.trueconfections.ca/

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In Bar and Grill

Relish Gastropub and Bar: Happy Hour Oysters of Disappointment

July 8, 2012

Relish Gastropub and Bar has buck-a-shuck oysters from 3 -6PM everyday, plus $3 beer specials. This really enticed KoreanGirl, Mandu and I to dine here.

I’ve been here several years ago and it has changed a lot! It use to be really large and was always packed for dinner. I also remembered they had some pretty awesome food back then too. I always wanted to make a return trip and now was the chance to do so over some oysters with the girls.

Their beer/wine specials are listed on a big chalkboard.

Bottle of Moosehead ($3) tasted good and it had a light and crisp taste.

Buck-a-Shuck Oysters ($1 each) were very tiny! Mandu had a look of terror on her face as it arrived.

They were also not shucked very well as there were bits of shell inside.

There are also a few vinaigrette sauces you can put on top.

Overall, the experience was quite poor. I would never return again for the oysters. I would go chill and relax with some beer, but I would never order oysters again. They were also very understaffed. Our host, server, and oyster shucker was the same person. We did have to wait for a long time for it to arrive too.

If you are looking for buck-a-shuck oysters in Vancouver, there are tons of other alternative places to go to.

Words of Wisdom:

$3 daily beer specials
Daily wine specials
Loungy atmosphere
Do not order the oysters

We Rate Relish Gastropub and Bar:

Address:
888 Nelson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.relishthepub.com/

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In BBQ

Gyu Kaku Japanese BBQ: Happy Hour Makes Us Happy

July 7, 2012

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ is a Japanese restaurant in Downtown. It’s located beside Relish Gastopub and below Guu Garden.

They have a lot of good lunch combos and even a wicked Happy Hour special. They sell Japanese BBQ grill dishes, noodles, rice and other dishes. You can have a good lunch for under $10 after tax. If you come at happy hour times, it’s pretty damn cheap too! KoreanGirl, Mandu, and I came on Monday for their all day happy hour special to just pig out and celebrate graduation.

Edamame ($1.75) is the perfect starter if you want something to snack on while drinking beer. It is lightly salted on the outside to give it a little bit of flavour when you chew at the edamame to extract the beans.

Pitcher of Sapporo ($9.99) is a good price. It’s kinda needed if you want to just drink and chill.

Large Sake ($5) we got a large sake too since mandu is always wanting some sake bombs.

We also decided to do a bit of barbecuing too.

The grill is hot and flames will shoot out of it. We ordered a bunch of different meats to go on the grill.

Kalbi Chuck Tare ($3.95) is thin cut beef. It was good.

Horumon shio ($3.95) is intestines! It’s not for the squeamish or people who hates eating animal organs. It was a bit tough and interesting to eat, but I’d probably never order this again.

Yakishabu Tare ($2.95) we got them to put spicy miso sauce on it to give it some more flavour when grilling.

Toro Beef Tare ($3.95) was good tasting as well.

Pork Belly ($2.95) comes in 4 pieces and it a must when doing barbecue.

Filet Mignon ($5.95) was our favorite. The cuts were nice and chunky, so you could cook them medium rare if you wanted to.

After you finish grilling your meat, you can dunk them into 3 different sauces – soy sauce, ponzu sauce and something else.

Chicken Karaage Bowl ($5.95) is a must order item!!! It’s the best karaage you will ever have. We order this every time!

Pork Belly chips ($3.95) was good too but it did taste similar to the chicken Karaage.

Overall it was a good experience. We usually come here during happy hour if we want to pig out and not spend over $20 per person. The first two dining experiences were great, but for my graduation dinner, we made reservations and they did not honor it. They made all 8 of us wait for 30 minutes for a table and we got fed up and went to Guu Garden instead. We tried asking the host several times for an update on when our table will be available, but they were not there most of the time. All we knew was that the table was finishing their dessert. We were quite pissed.

Words of Wisdom:

$9.99 pitchers of beer during happy hour
Some items are a hit and miss
Under $10 lunch specials
Happy Hour deals
Make reservations

We Rate Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ:

Address:

888 Nelson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.gyu-kaku.com/

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In Bubble Tea

Bubble Queen: Mango Madness in Richmond

July 6, 2012

Bubble Queen is a very popular restaurant in Richmond that serves up a variety of drinks and bubble waffles. I’ve been meaning to check out this place but it took me a while since I don’t live in Richmond.

After going to the Night Market, FoodPunk and FoodQueen decided to come here. I think we were all excited. The place was packed and lots of people were doing takeout. We were determined to get a seat, so I had to stalk tables to snatch one up. A group left and I accidentally ran over a person to grab that table. I felt bad, but I really wanted a table.

Fresh Mango Slush with Mango Cubes is everything a mango lover needs.

The chunks of mango were very large and delicious. You may need a spoon or fork to help you out when eating this.

Overall, they have a HUGE selection of drinks and bubble waffles. You may need some time to figure out what you want to order. It’s a very popular place to hang out, but since the store is very small, most people won’t find a table to sit and chill.

Words of Wisdom:

Cash Only
Free Wifi
Large selection of drink and bubble waffles
Very limited seating
Paid Parking in front or free after a certain time (I can’t remember the time)

We Rate Bubble Queen:

Address:
8888 Odlin Crescent
Richmond, BC

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In Sandwich

Shake Shack: Iconic Burger Joint in New York

July 3, 2012

Shake Shack is another iconic restaurant to dine at in New York. This location surely doesn’t look like a shack, but still has the delicious burgers that customers want. The original location isn’t this once, but it’s very close to the Museum of Natural History.

It was on CanuckGirl’s list of must eats, so we decided to go here. We were in the area anyways, so we didn’t want to miss a chance at eating their famous burgers and milk shakes.

It was packed inside!! There was a long line to the counter and a bunch of people waiting for their order.

They have seating upstairs and another seating area in their basement. It’s better eating on the main floor because of the nice natural light.

CanuckGirl and I ordered a little bit of everything. It’s not that healthy for you, but hey…when you’re on vacation, you can indulge a little. Plus all the walking in New York will surely burn off the fat.

Strawberry Shake ($5) is what CanuckGirl ordered and she enjoyed it.

Fair Shake ($5.50) is a vanilla shake with 100% certified organic coffee. It was good, but there could have been a stronger coffee taste to it. Nonetheless, it was still good for the hot summer weather.

Cheese Fries ($3.65) has the bed of crispy fries with a large amount of melted cheese. It was more like cheese spread rather than cheese. It was still very gooey and fun to eat.

Shack Burger ($4.55) is made with 100% angus beef, cooked to medium and comes with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and shack sauce.

Shack Stack ($8.60) is their cheese burger with a shroom burger topped with lettuce tomatoes and shack sauce. If you can’t decide between the cheese burger or shroom burger, might as well choose this one. I really loved this burger since the portobello mushroom was very crispy and very juicy at the same time.

Overall, we did enjoy our experience here. The waits are long and you might have to stalk other for a table, but it you have patience, you’ll do just fine. The prices are a bit high on a few items, but it’s worth it.

Words of Wisdom:

Shack Burger or Shack Stack Burger!
Lunch will probably be around $10
Long waits and limited tables

We Rate Shake Shack:

Address:
366 Columbus Ave.
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.shakeshacknyc.com/

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In American

Black and Blue: A Dinner of Meaty Proportions

July 2, 2012

Black & Blue is owned by the Glowbal Group. The same people who bring us Coast, Italian Kitchen and many others.Black & Blue is a steakhouse that prides themselves of having amazing steaks.

It was a special occasion for a few awesome SFU alumni and the amazing Sam Thiara! FoodPunk chose this place to have our little get together.

The interior is very gorgeous. High ceilings with two floors.

Fresh Oysters ($3.75) We ordered the Kusshi and the Effingham oysters. They are both locally sourced from BC! Angel has never ever had a raw oyster before, so, Ange and I made it a mission to get her to eat one. She loved it! Both of the oysters were really good and had their own subtle tastes that differentiated from each other.

Louie Salad with Dungeness Crab ($17) has romaine, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, eggs, avocado, louie dressing, and dungeness crab. This was an interesting twist on a salad. Its basically half a romaine. You have to cut it up yourself. Angel seemed to be enjoying it, but she really didn’t expect the salad to be more hands on. hahaha

P.E.I. blue ribbon 12oz New York Strip ($39) comes ala carte. You probably want to order a side for this dish. The steak is known for their superior marbling since they feed their cattle longer.

Mac & Cheese ($9) are deep-fried into little sticks. It is accompanied with a truffled cheese sauce. It was very delicious and the inside of it was very cheesy and gooey. It was highly recommended by the server and now I highly recommend it as well!

The steaks also came with 3 accompanying sauces – Chimichurri, Cabernet Jus,and Peppercorn. I actually quite liked the chimichurri sauce!

32 oz prime rib ($32) comes with yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, red wine jus, caramelized pearl onions and some horseradish. This prime rib was a good deal since it comes with a few items on the side. The prime rib was done perfectly and everything was very delicious!

New York Cheesecake was the special dessert of the day. We devoured it like a maniac. Very delicious and it was great how there were fresh berries.

20 Layer Chocolate Espresso Cake ($12) actually have 20 layers! We actually counted several times until everyone agreed there were 20 layers. This was my favorite since there were bits of crunchy espresso beans. It also comes with whipping cream and brandied cherries.

Overall, the experience was pretty good! The prices are reasonable and the ambiance is very nice! I’d probably come back for other special occasions since the prime rib wasn’t too expensive.

Words of Wisdom:

Reservations are recommended
Beautiful decor
Great steaks

We Rate Black + Blue:

Address:
1032 Alberni Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://blackandblue.ca/

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In East Village

Momofuku Noodle Bar: Ramen and Pork Buns in New York

July 1, 2012

Momofuku Noodle bar is a popular restaurant to have noodles and are known for some amazing pork buns. CanuckGirl and I went here for dinner and the place was packed! It was about 30 minutes for a table for 2.

This location is the first momofuku restaurant. It serves ramen and dishes that changes with the seasons.

There is a bar and also a lot of other seating in the back.

Pork Buns has pieces of fatty pork belly with hoisin, scallion, and cucumber.

The meat was very nice, but I wish the skim was crispy…that would put this item over the top! CanuckGirl thought it was good too, but a bit too fatty.

Momofuku Ramen has pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg and some other items. Canuckgirl thought it was ok, but a bit salty.

Ginger Scallion Noodles has pickled shiitakes, cucumber, and cabbage. This bowl of noodles were quite big. I expected some broth to go with this, but it was mostly dry noodles. I was kinda disappointed with this item.

Overall, the noodles were decent and the pork buns were delicious. The wait is very long during peak dinner times, so be prepared to wait. The tables are very close together, so you won’t have any to deal with people everywhere. They try to pack a lot of people into this restaurant.

Words of Wisdom:

Pork buns a must
Long line ups
A tad expensive
No reservations

We Rate Momofuku Noodle Bar:

Address:
171 1st Ave
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.momofuku.com/

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In Chelsea

Morimoto: Iron Chef’s Restaurant in New York

June 30, 2012

Morimoto is a very famous Iron Chef from Iron Chef (Japan) and Iron Chef America. He has opened up various restaurant all across the world. When I was in New York visiting Chelsea Market, I knew I had to come here. One does not simply watch Morimoto compete in Iron Chef. You gotta try the food to really see why he’s usually a winner. Morimoto is located on the outside of Chelsea Market and it has drapes of curtains by the entrance.

As Alvin was taking a vacation in Waikiki, he went to Morimoto Waikiki and I went to this one. Check out his site to see what the Waikiki location has to offer.

The interior is very gorgeous! Very large and spacious.

They even have an open kitchen concept so you can see what the chefs are up to. Unfortunately, Morimoto wasn’t here.

The big glowing centerpiece of the restaurant looks like it’s made out of cups. When you walk downstairs to the washroom, you can get a close up view of this.

Also downstairs in a bar area.

Morimoto Iced Tea($7) contains fruit flavored iced tea, calpico, and muddled blueberries. It was very refreshing and tasted like flowers. It’s a bit pricey, but it is really really good! Highly recommend it.

Bento boxes ($24.07) comes with your choice of:

grilled wagyu beef box
braised black cod box
vegetarian box

The boxes comes with miso soup, salad, tempura, sushi, seasonal fruit panna cotta.

It is an expensive bento box compared to Vancouver standards, but you are paying for the name of the restaurant, the ambiance, and of course the quality. The miso soup, salad and tempura is very very delicious! The best tempura I’ve ever had!

I ordered the grilled wagyu beef box. There are perfect grill marks and was very moist and tender.

The sushi that comes with it is just magnificent! Very delicate and packed with a good amount of flavour.

Braised black cod box has the same items but you get a different protein item. CanuckGirl got this one. She really enjoyed the overall quality of the box. It was her favorite meal of the trip!

Mango Panna Cotta with fresh berries was very yummy! It was a perfect dessert to end the meal

Also, the toilets are so pretty. I know it’s gross to take photos of the toilets but it’s very modern and cool! The seats are heated and there are so many additional functions.

Overall, the lunch at Morimoto was epic! The food was simple but had so much flavour. I would highly recommend this place if you are in New York.

Words of Wisdom:

Not too busy during lunch
Bento box lunch is the best bang for your buck

We Rate Morimoto:

Address:
88 10th Ave
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.morimotonyc.com/

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In Bakery

Magnolia Bakery: A Taste of Sex in the City in New York

June 29, 2012

If you have ever watched Sex in the City, you will know about this famous bakery. CanuckGirl and I were just walking around Rockefeller Center and suddenly just saw the bakery and immediately lined up. Since this isn’t the original location, it wasn’t too busy. It wasn’t too difficult getting a few of their cupcakes. For those who have never seen the clip of Carrie eating Magnolia Cupcakes, the clip is below.

The exterior and interior is very beautiful and a bit retro. You order on the left and you pay at the cashier in the back.

I went straight for the cupcakes and they had a few different varieties.

Once I picked my cupcakes, they all went into a very travel friendly box!

Your cupcakes won’t be moving around the box! Definitely very travel friendly! Too bad I couldn’t wait to eat it…so we ate it on a street corner. We couldn’t find a table.

S’mores Cupcake ($3.50) was very messy to eat! The wrapper was sticky so it will definitely need some napkins.

The cupcake is comprised of a graham flavored cupcake dipped and filled with chocolate ganache with a meringue icing. It was good, but not the best cupcake I’ve had.

Red Velvet Cupcake ($3.50) was bright red and topped with a meringue icing.

It was very bright inside and obviously has a lot of food coloring. The color of the cupcake is very vibrant, but the flavour wasn’t anything exciting.

Overall, its a great place for Sex in the City fans to go to and reminisce, but the quality and the flavours aren’t there.

Words of Wisdom:

Very close to Rockafeller Centre
Is not the original location
Can get a bit busy during peak hours

We Rate Magnolia Bakery:
Address:
1240 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.magnoliabakery.com/

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In East Village

Ippudo: Ramen in New York with Huge Lines

June 28, 2012

Ippudo NY is the first overseas branch of the famous Japanese ramen chain. It was open in 2008. Ippudo was founded by Shigemi Kawahara in 1985 in the Daimyo District of Chuo Ward, in Fukuoka City. By the time Ippudo NY was opened, there were over 30 branches throughout Japan. By 2012, Kawahara had expanded his ramen empire to over 40 locations.

I arrived at 5pm for 1 person and the wait was already one hour! I wanted to give up at this point since that wait was ridiculous. Fortunately, CanuckGirl really wanted some noodles and they take same day reservations…so we made a reservation for 2 at 10pm.

The bar at the front of the restaurant has some nice decor.

There is even a wall of ramen bowls!

The East Village location features two dining rooms, a sake bar, an open kitchen for non-ramen dishes, and an open ramen bar. The noodles are made in-house in the basement.

It’s very dark inside, but it made for good ambiance.

Complementary tea is something I definitely needed on my travels.The servers were very good about refilling my cup.

Miso Ramen ($15) has soy bean paste flavored noodle in Tonkotsu (pork) based soup with pork chashu, cabbage, menma, ginger, and scallions. CanuckGirl did enjoy her ramen.

“The Kuro Kasane, or Kasane Black is a limited time special ramen at Ippudo NY. It has an authentic “Kasane” tonkotsu & chicken soup with noodles, topped with pork loin chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, red pickled ginger, naruto, scallions, and fragrant “Black” garlic oil.

It was pretty good, but with the addition of the garlic oil and the broth, it was a bit salty for my liking. It’s still a pretty solid bowl of ramen.

Overall, the waits for a table are ridiculous, but if you make a reservation on the same day, you should have no issues at all. The prices are a bit high compared to what you would find in Vancouver, but you’re in NY, so be prepared to pay more.

Words of Wisdom:

Make same day reservations
Has daily specials
Ramen is a must!

We Rate Ippudo:

Address:
65 4th Ave
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.ippudony.com/

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In Midtown West

Carnegie Deli: Huge Expensive Reuben in New York

June 27, 2012

Carnegie Deli was founded in 1937 and has attracted visitors from all over the world. Even notable celebrities have visited here. They have a few locations in other parts of the States as well. They are best known for their huge sandwiches! I came here since I heard the reuben is something I must try.

At 5pm, there was quite a long line up already, so I opted to just do take-out and eat it back at the hotel.

If you do take out, just walk to the left counter and put down your order. Once you grab your order, you can pay at the counter on the right.

Ah, There`s the Reuben Sandwich ($24.95) was so expensive!! I actually didn’t expect it to be over $20, but it did hurt my wallet. There are layers and layers of pastrami underneath, then topped with sauerkraut and swiss cheese.

It also comes with a container of their mustard and Russian dressing. I love the mustard so much since it complimented the dish so well.

I thought the taste was quite average and nothing too amazing. For $24.95, I expected it to be much larger that what was presented to me. I think I would have had a better time eating a sandwich from Carnegie instead.

Overall, you can definitely get better food for the price of this reuben. I wasn’t too impressed.

We Rate Carnegie Deli:

Address:
854 7th Ave
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.carnegiedeli.com/

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In Dessert

Wafels and Dinges: Throwdown Wafel by Bobby Flay in New York

June 26, 2012

Wafels and Dinges has been featured on Eat St. and even Throwdown with Bobby Flay. I was at Columbus Square and this cart caught my eye. I saw them a few months ago being featured on Food Network and I just had to see what all the buzz is about. They have won several awards and were well publicized by various publications in New York.

If you were wondering what dinges are…don’t get it confused with dingus. Dinges = toppings.

You can watch the video below from the episode from Throwdown with Bobby Flay.

Looking at the menu, it makes for a nice snack and it’s all under $10. The line wasn’t too long and the staff at the cart were friendly.

de throwdown wafel ($6) was the wafel that beat Bobby Flay. It’s crunch on the outside and light on the inside. The wafel is topped with spekuloos spread and then a load of whipped cream. Spekuloos is like a spread that tastes like gingerbread cookies. It’s simple , but I did have to use a fork and knife to eat it. There was way too much whipped cream to eat it with my hands. I didn’t want to get any on my face or my clothes.

Overall, it was a great experience and I can see why they have won so many awards. Definitely check it out when you’re in New York.

We Rate Wafels and Dinges:

Location:
Outside the Time Warner Centre
Website:
http://www.wafelsanddinges.com/

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In Fast Food

Chipotle Mexican Grill: Late Night Eats in New York

June 25, 2012

Chipotle Mexican Grill is awesome Mexican Fast Food in America. Since there were a few locations in New York, CanuckGirl and I decided to go have a cheap dinner during our first night in New York. There aren’t any locations in Vancouver, so we were definitely craving some.

Their hours on Mondays to Sundays are 11am to 10pm.

Burrito Bowl has your choice of rice or beans, meat and additional toppings. I loaded by bowl up. I prefer the burrito bowl over the usual burrito is because it’s easier to eat.

The meat I chose was the carnitas, which is braised pork. The meat was very tender and juicy. I added additional guacamole and the server was very very generous. She put on tons of guacamole and sour cream! Yum!

Overall, Chipotle Mexican Grill is awesome fast food. The quality is pretty standard amongst all locations, so the taste shouldn’t vary too much. It’s easy to do take-out too.

We Rate Chipotle Mexican Grill:

Address:
2 Broadway
New York, NY

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

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In Bakery

Momofuku Milk Bar: Crack Pie in New York

June 23, 2012

When visiting New York City, we knew we had to try the Momofuku Milk Bar. People around the world rave about their amazing desserts. I’ve never heard of a milk bar before, so this would be a fun-filled adventure to East Village with CanuckGirl. They have various locations around New York. They even sell their popular Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook here too.

Blueberry Miso + Cereal Milk Soft Serve Ice Cream ($4.50) I didn’t know which flavour to get since they were so good, so I asked them to twist the two flavours. To my surprise, they were able to do it. I think my favorite would have to be cereal milk because it reminded me of the sweetened milk after you eat your cereal. Highly recommended.

Another item on the menu that really intrigued me was the crack pie. Looking at the first few ingredients, you know this isn’t a pie if you are on a diet. Butter, sugar, brown sugar and cream.

Crack Pie ($5.25) was so good. Bad for the hips, but very delicious. It will definitely satisfy any sweet tooth.

All the items that was sold at this shop was all pre-packaged, so don’t expect a bakery type of setting. There are very little seats inside, so most people just do take-out. The locations do vary, so not all locations have all their items.

Words of Wisdom:

Order anything with Cereal Milk!
Crack Pie is a must!
Under $10
Very little space to sit and eat

We Rate Momofuku Milk Bar:

Address:
251 E 13th St
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/milk-bar/

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In Fairview

Suika Snackbar: Suika Punch Dining Package Review

June 21, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: VANEATS.ca approached me to try out their “Suika Punch” dining package and write a review about it. I got a complementary dining package for myself and I brought along M and CandiedZen to keep the review as unbiased as I could.

Suika Snackbar is owned by the same people who bring us Kingyo Izakaya. It is located on Broadway near Fir St. I’ve been to Suika Snackbar a few times and it’s a great place to dine with friends over yummy Japanese food.

The guys at VANEATS.ca is offering a new dining package called Suika Punch for $25, where you get 6 courses consisting of:

Lightly Smoked Tuna Tataki
Tomato Kimchi
Yellowtail Carpaccio
The Hellz Chicken
Chinese Poutine
Pitcher of Sapporo

I always end up taking a picture of this because it’s so pretty.

Pitcher of Sapporo is an awesome addition to this package because everyone wants to relax and have a drink with friends. CandiedZen and I shared the pitcher since M was the driver for the night. Sapporo is one of my favorite beers since it’s light and pairs really well with Japanese food. No joke, I actually prefer Sapporo over Asahi.

Lightly Smoked Tuna Tataki, Tomato Kimchi, and Yellowtail Carpaccio come on one plate. It’s not 3 full courses, but it’s more of a sampler.

Lightly Smoked Tuna Tataki is topped with chili oil and scallions. M really liked it since it’s nicely seared on all sides. It was a nice change to have the chili oil on top of this instead of the usual ponzu sauce. It’s not spicy! There are 4 pieces that come with it, so if you come with an odd amount of people, someone is gonna fight for the last piece.

Tomato Kimchi has kimchi marinated tomato with chinese chives & cilantro oil. I loved this since the taste just tickles your tongue. It’s not spicy at all. I am not sure if I was crazy, but it seemed like there was a bit of sesame oil to this dish as well.

Yellowtail Carpaccio has thinly sliced yellowtail topped with sesame soy dressing, tobiko and mayo. I thought the mayo was a bit too much since it just killed the light delicate taste of the fish.

Chinese Poutine has french fries topped with spicy ground pork sauce, mozzarella, chili oil, sansho and minced cilantro. It’s actually not spicy either. It’s a really weird spin on poutine. It tasted good, but it seemed a bit peculiar for the menu.

The Hellz Chicken has 4 balls of deep-fried chicken tossed the most most evil sauce imaginable. (It’s a lie, but it’s spicy! Wing’s Bobby wings are hotter.) The sauce is made with a combination of jalapeno, hot sauce, lemon, garlic, vinegar & tabasco. Since I knew this was coming, I had to bring a Korean to see how intense the spice really was.

M loves his spicy food, but he did not feel like there was a yummy spicy taste to this dish. I had to agree with him since it just burns your mouth. I ate 2 of the pieces and I drank a glass of beer and a glass of water to quench the burn. I can usually handle my spice since I eat jars and jars of spicy kimchi at home.

At the end of the meal, you get some awesome frozen grapes. I always look forward to these since it’s very yummy.

Overall, we felt that the ‘Suika Punch’ is not for everyone. If you can’t handle your spice…or have weak friends, someone is gonna end up crying because of the Hellz Chicken. For $25 for the dining pass, it’s a good price since the pitcher of Sapporo does come with it. It’s a good package for 2 people. If you have 3 people, you would be ok ordering a few more additional dishes.

You can purchase the Suika Punch Dining Package at VANEATS.ca for $25!

Words of Wisdom: