Coquitlam Archives - Page 3 of 7

In Coquitlam

IKEA Canada: Twist Cone

October 21, 2015

For the longest time, IKEA only sold vanilla frozen yogurt for $1 in their cafe past the checkout. Recently, I saw on Instagram that some people were able to get twist cones. So, on the weekend I was in IKEA browsing for furniture, I had to grab a twist cone.

They don’t advertise it anywhere, but the cashier will ask if you want vanilla or chocolate. You can ask them for a twist.

So exciting. I’m not exactly sure if the other IKEA locations have twist cones, but the one in Coquitlam has it for sure. It was good and I sure enjoyed it.

Address:

1000 Lougheed Highway, Coquitlam

Website:
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/

In Coquitlam

Hearthstone Pizza: Build Your Own Pizza with Unlimited Toppings

September 17, 2015

Hearthstone Pizza is located in Port Coquitlam close to Michaels. They serve up thin crust pizza where you have the choice to build your own with unlimited amounts of toppings for a flat rate.

There are lots of seats in the shop, but all the magic happens up at the front counter.

You get to choose between 2 sizes – small ( 9 inch – $6.95) or regular (11 inch – $8.95). The ones pictured above are smalls. After you select your dough, you can choose any of their sauces, cheeses, meat and vegetables.

Sauce:
red sauce, white sauce, olive oil

Cheeses:
mozzarella, low-fat mozzarella, feta, ricotta, parmesan, blue cheese

Meats:
pepperoni, spicy pepperoni, grilled chicken, ham, meatballs, anchovies, italian sausage, bacon bits

Veggies:
mushrooms, pineapples, spinach, garlic, red onions, green onion, black olives, tomatoes, banana peppers, red peppers, green peppers, basil, jalapeno, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, zucchini, onions, capers, cilantro

Post-bake sauces:
pesto, hot sauce, EVOO, roasted red peppers, black pepper, BBQ sauce

They evenly distribute the toppings so each slice will have a taste of each topping. We piled on a lot of toppings, but they did a good job making sure it would still be enjoyable without a mound of toppings.

Once its all put together, you get to sit back, relax, and watch your pizza bake in the 600 degree open hearth wood stone oven. It takes about 4 minutes to bake.

Once it comes out of the oven, the crust is crispy with a slight char. You can ask them to have less char, but we asked them to keep it in longer so it can get really crispy. I love a good crispy crust.

Meat Lover pizza has pepperoni, meatballs, mozzarella and red sauce. It could have used a bit more meat, but if you overload it with toppings, the centre will go limp and soggy.

I like their signature pizza selection since you don’t have to build it yourself. I am indecisive sometimes, so it stresses me out building a pizza since I don’t really know what would go together.

Margherita Pizza has tomatoes, garlic, basil, mozzarella, and red sauce. We chose this as it is always a good baseline of how a pizza tastes. Of course it isn’t an authentic margherita pizza, but it was ok. I wasn’t a fan of the tomato slices.

This pizza was made by Sherman, he went with white sauce, mozzarella, blue cheese, chicken, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, artichokes, basil, bacon bits, and pesto. This combination was a lot better than what I built, I think because of the white sauce.

I went with the red sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, Italian sausage, mushrooms, pesto, meatballs and olive oil.

Overall, I enjoyed the pizza. I’m a sucker for thin crispy pizza. It’s not authentic Neapolitan pizza, but they aren’t trying to be like that. I enjoyed the experience and it was good. I can imagine it would be fun bringing kids here so they can build their own meal with all the silly topping combinations that they can come up with.

We Rate Hearthstone Pizza:

Address:
2755 Lougheed Highway, Port Coquitlam

Website:
http://hearthstonepizza.com/

In Coquitlam

Kulinarya: Delicious Filipino Food in Coquitlam

September 10, 2015

I’ve come to Kulinarya serveral times in the past few years for their delicious Filipino food. This would be my 4th visit to be exact. This cozy restaurant serves up authentic Filipino cuisine in the heart of Coquitlam. There is free parking outside and it’s located quite close to Coquitlam Mall.

Complimentary Boy Bawang garlic corn nuts arrive at the table before you begin your meal. They are delicious corn nuts with garlic flavour. It’s so addictive! You can find bags of theses at T&T for under $1. It’s so damn good.

Calamansi Juice has changed this time. They use Gina brand instead of the Philippines brand. It tastes different but not in a good way. It tastes a lot more artificial.

Large Garlic Rice ($5) is a good item to order if you have saucy dishes or stews to go with this. Garlic rice is so much better than regular rice. Garlic is so addictive, but don’t forget to pop a mint or eat gum right after.

Chicken Adobo ($12) is a Filipino classic! It has chicken braised in vinegar soy sauce. Delicious dish!

BBQ Pork Skewers ($9) were ok, but they were a tad dry and had a lot of char on them. I still prefer the skewers at Kumare in Richmond.

Sizzling Sisig ($12) is crispy minced pork with egg. This is a heart attack on a plate, but very addictive.

Galunggong ($12) is deep-fried mackerel. It is served with pickled vegetables and a vinegar soy sauce. It’s definitely not a dish for everyone as the head is still attached. You have to eat all the bones with it as well.

Bistek ($13) has fried beef and onions cooked in soy sauce and lemon. This was a good dish but the onion was cut into large pieces. The beef was tender and the sauce went very well with it. Definitely eat it with the garlic rice.

Overall, it’s still an awesome place to go to. If you haven’t been to a Filipino restaurant before, you should add it onto your list of things to eat. In the Lower Mainland, there is only a handful of Filipino restaurants and this on is one of the better ones. My other go to place is Kumare in Richmond.

We Rate Kulinarya:

Address:
Coquitlam Square
114-2918 Glen Drive, Coquitlam

Website:
www.kulinarya.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 Coquitlam

House of Tofu Soup: Korean Comfort Food

January 13, 2015

House of Tofu Soup is located on North Road in KoreaTown. It gets quite busy during dinner time with tons of people wanting to get a taste of their tofu soup and other dishes. The parking is a little bit nuts here since there are only so many spots and small spaces.

They have gone through a bit of a renovation to open up the space and make it a bit nicer. Before they had this strange divider that would separate the restaurant.

I personally think the best part of this restaurant is the banchan, the complimentary side dishes. Just waiting for the tofu soup and munching on these dishes are pretty awesome.

Kimchi is a bit spicy, but I love its slightly acidic flavour and the crunchy texture.

Pickled Radishes have a crunchy texture to them too. It is also slightly sweet.

Mashed potato is pretty cute and looks like ice cream.

Seaweed is so delicious. I could eat this all day!

Pork Kimchi Tofu Soup ($9.99) and I chose to have it regular spicy level. It also comes with rice.

Before you eat it, crack and egg into the hot soup and mix it around. The first few bites were good, but after a while, it was just salty. It wasn’t as good as a few years ago.

We rate House of Tofu Soup:

Address:
4563 North Road
Burnaby, BC

In Cafe

Coffee Monster: New Coffee Shop in Coquitlam

January 12, 2015

Coffee Monster is a new cafe on North Road in Coquitlam that just opened up last December. They are located in the same plaza as HSBC. It’s definitely needed in this area since there are no other independent coffee shops around.

It’s a Korean Coffee shop and they serve desserts, baked goods, tea and coffee.

The interior is spacious and there is lots of space. We saw people catching up with friends, doing some work on their laptops or just enjoying coffee.

They have sandwiches and sweets in their display case.

After you order, you get an electronic disk and once its ready, it will start buzzing and flashing.

The order came out quickly.

Latte ($3.50) comes with beautiful latte art on top. KoreanGirl did enjoy it.

London Fog ($4.75) comes in a 16oz size. A london fog is earl grey tea, with a pump of syrup, and foamy milk on top. Yummy.

Plain Cheesecake ($6.50) comes in a cute mason jar with chocolate and strawberry on top. It’s soft cheesecake and its a good size for even 2 people to share.

Gateau Du Jour ($6.50) came in a mason jar too and it had boston cream, cake, chocolate, whipped cream and strawberries. I had high hopes for this dessert but it wasn’t very good. The chocolate on top was very hard and it didn’t really work together very well.

They have only been open for less than a month, so I’m sure they will make tweaks here and there to their dessert offerings.

It’s finally good to have yummy espresso based beverages that’s not McDonalds, Starbucks, or Tim Hortons. Coquitlam is definitely changing slowly, but its great to see all the cool restaurants and cafes popping up.

I’ll definitely come back for some more coffee with friends. The atmosphere is perfect too.

We Rate Coffee Monster:

Address:
6-405 N Rd Coquitlam, BC

In Coquitlam

Rehanah’s Roti: Trinidadian Wraps in Port Coquitlam

January 8, 2015

Rehanah’s Roti is located in Port Moody and they specialize in Trinidadian wraps made of roti. I pass by this restaurant all the time, but I thought it was about time I stopped here for a bite to eat.

KoreanGirl and I came here for a quick lunch before heading to Coquitlam Centre to do some shopping.

The interior is very simple and nothing fancy. It is run my one lady who is also the chef, which I will assume she is Rehanah. When we came here no one was inside, but she will come out to take orders and bring out the food. Otherwise, she’s just in the back.

Looks like there have been some famous people eating here.

Chicken Roti ($9.75) was filled with mostly potatoes and chicken. Koreangirl thought it was ok, but it did seem a bit bland. It comes with a slice of watermelon and it helps to really cut the heaviness of the roti.

Goat Roti ($11.50) was what I ordered to try to be more adventurous. It kinda tastes like lamb. It was an experience trying Trinidadian food, but I felt the flavours really didn’t shine through. I also found it to be pretty bland, but then again I’ve never had Trinidadian food, so I’m not expert on this cuisine.

Overall, I didn’t find the food here that special, but then again where else can you get Trinidadian Roti?

We Rate Rehanah’s Roti:

Address:
2518 St Johns St
Port Moody, BC

In Cafe

Miracle Belgian Waffle: New Cafe in Coquitlam

January 5, 2015

Finding a good waffle in the subburbs is quite hard. I always end up gravitating back to Nero’s Waffle Bar, but sometimes it’s a bit of a drive.

A few people told me about Miracle Belgian Waffle near Coquitlam Centre Mall. They opened closer to the end of 2014, so they are still fairly new.

The interior is quite cute and I wanted to steal some items off the walls for my upcoming wedding. Love the strung up lights and banting.

The space is large enough for small to medium-sized groups. It might be difficult to get a big group in depending on the time. We came in the afternoon and it wasn’t too busy.

The first side of the menu has sweet waffles on either Brussels or Liege Waffles.

On the other side of the menu, there are savoury waffle options and a variety of beverages.

Cafe Latte ($3) is a good combination with the waffles.

Kiss Me ($6) has strawberries whipped cream on a liege waffle. KoreanGirl said it was good but Nero still reigns supreme for liege waffles.

Mango Paradise ($7) has whipped cream, condensed milk, mango ice cream and mango pieces. I got it on a brussels waffle. I love brussels waffles and they make it nice and crispy here!

The mango pieces could have been a bit fresher, but given the time of the year, it’s a bit hard to get fresh mangoes for cheap. The mango on this seemed like it was canned.

Overall, the waffles are good and I would come back again. No need to travel all the way downtown for just a waffle. It’s definitely one of the better places in the Tri-Cities area.

We Rate Miracle Belgian Waffle:

Address:
2950 Glen Dr
Coquitlam, BC

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

In Coquitlam

Stake: Hump Day Date Night Menu

December 3, 2014

M and I wanted to spend a lovely Wednesday out at Stake to eat some steak. Of course, they serve much more than just steak. They have a variety of items that are inspired by local produce and west coast cuisine.

They have a special on Wednesday nights called the Hump Day Date Night Menu, which costs $49.99 per couple.

This includes:

Artisan Greens for Two

Dinner Platter for Two
Select two of your favourites served with silky mashed potatoes and sautéed baby vegetables

Pan-seared Spring Salmon
Braised Lamb Shank
BBQ Whiskey Glazed Beef Ribs
Free Range Chicken Breast
Pan-Seared Truffle Polenta

Dessert Platter for Two

Mango Cheese Cake
Chocolate Marquise

You can even do a few add-ons to the menu.

Bottle of Wine (+$20)
Pan Seared Garlic Prawns (+$10)
Pan Seared Scallops (+$10)
Stake-cut Onion Rings (+$8)
Roasted Mushrooms and Garlic with Fresh Thyme (+$8)
Glazed Golden Beets with Fresh Thyme (+$5)
Steam Asparagus with Lemon (+$8)

There’s not too many people here on a Wednesday evening, but with the holidays coming up, the tables are nicely decorated.

We stated off with complimentary bread and butter. It came with a good amount of slices. M and I couldn’t finish it all. We both just had one piece since we wanted to save room for the platter.

Artisan Greens comes with Golden Ears Quark Cheese, walnut wafer, shaved carrots, roasted red pepper with a raspberry vinaigrette. We got 2 of these as part of the meal. It was a yummy simple salad.

The dinner platter arrived and M and I chose the Braised Lamb Shank and the Pan-Seared Truffle Polenta. There were 2 balls of mashed potatoes, carrots, beets, asparagus and gravy. It was a good size for 2 people to share.

I found it was actually quite fun having it all on one platter. Instead of having our own individual meals, we had fun fighting who gets the last bite of lamb.

Braised Lamb Shank was very tender and fell apart beautifully. Mmm Mmm very delicious!

Pan-Seared Truffle Polenta looks like an omelette but it’s not. The polenta is very delicious and quite fluffy. One of the best polenta’s I’ve had so far.

We decided to add on the Stake-cut Onion Rings (+$8). The looked more like donuts than onion rings. It was very salty and had mostly batter. We didn’t like these very much.

Mango Cheese Cake was very good! Whats not to like? Cheesecake is always a winner.

The Chocolate Marquise wasn’t very good this time. It was very hard to cut through. This was very different from the last time I had it.

Overall, the food was good but it was only the Chocolate Marquise and the onion rings that we didn’t like. Service was good and the food came out at a good speed.

We Rate Stake:

Address:
2080 United Boulevard
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.hardrockcasinovancouver.com/venue/stake/

In Coquitlam

Hanamori Sushi: Aburi Sushi in Coquitlam

October 15, 2014

Hanamori Sushi, located beside the Foggy Dew in Coquitlam has been around for years but recently has gone under new management/owners. I’m not exactly sure how this has impacted their menu, but it seems like it’s still similar.

The interior has a sushi bar and a few booths. There is limited seating but we didn’t have too much trouble getting a seat on the weekend. Most people did take out.

Chicken Karaage ($4.95) is battered with panko crumbs. The price was good for the portion, but was like eating dry chicken strips. The chicken wasn’t very moist.

KoreanGirl and I heard a lot about their aburi sushi, so we ordered 2 of each. We are suckers for aburi, so we wanted to see how this place compared.

Torched Wild Salmon ($2.95 each) has rice in the centre wrapped in torched wild salmon, and scallops. Then it is topped with tobiko, green onions, teriyaki sauce and hot sauce. I looked unique but I found that the wild salmon was torched for so long that it was fully cooked. The teriyaki sauce and hot sauce didn’t complement the delicate flavours of the seafood.

Torched Tuna Tataki ($1.75 each) was torched till it was cooked. The light sauce on top did not do much for the sushi.

Torched Ebi ($1.75 each) was similar to the others where they were overly torched and made it rubbery. The sauce on top didn’t pair well either.

Torched Scallop ($2.25 each) was not as torched as the other aburi, but the sauce combinations were not good. You can tell there is a Korean-twist to these with the added hot sauce.

Torched Toro ($2.25 each) was what I have been looking forward to. Toro is highly fatty, so it should fall apart in your mouth when you are eating it. Sadly, it was yet again over torched and tasted bland.

I really wanted to like the aburi sushi, but every single piece was torched too much that you miss the delicate flavours of the raw seafood. Plus, the sauce choices that accompany the aburi did not go well with each other.

As all the seafood was overdone, we needed a taste of something raw, so we got the Salmon and Tuna Sashimi (Half order – $6). The quality of the cuts were ok.

Overall, I was not impressed with the aburi at all. Maybe I have been spoiled by Miku, Minami, and Sushi K. I’ve eaten a lot of aburi over the past few years and Hanamori Sushi definitely misses the mark on what makes an aburi so damn good. KoreanGirl thought it was not good at all and wouldn’t return.

As we didn’t try any of their rolls, we only focused on what we ordered.

We Rate Hanamori Sushi:

Address:
#102 511 Rochester Ave
Coquitlam, BC

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

In Coquitlam

Qoola: Frozen Yogurt in Coquitlam Centre

October 8, 2014

M has an endless obsession with Frozen Yogurt. Qoola is a proud Canadian company serving frozen yogurt. Their products are fresh and certified kosher, most flavours are fat-free (no trans or saturated) and gluten-free.

They have numerous locations in Vancouver and has expanded to Alberta, and Ontario. They will soon have 2 locations at UBC and 1 in Pacific Centre.

When we were there, 8 flavours were available, and you can create twist options too. We went with the original tart flavour since it’s always the best mixing with the toppings.

They have a variety of sweet toppings like cereal, sprinkles, gummy bears, etc.

We were more interested in the fresh fruit section. Depending on what season it is, there may be a lot of fruit or very little. I love this section and I usually top mine off with all fruit.

You pay for the yogurt and toppings by weight. They change $0.65 per ounce.

M grabbed some of the original yogurt with the exploding lychee and strawberry pearls. He also got mango chunks. He thought it was good and it was just what he needed to satisfy his cravings.

We Rate Qoola:

Address:

Coquitlam Centre

2929 Barnet Hwy, Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.qoola.com/

In Coquitlam

Stake: Flagship Restaurant at Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam

September 28, 2014

Hard Rock Casino Vancouver has revamped their flagship restaurant – Stake with a new menu created by Executive Chef Matthew Richmond. They are committed to putting local produce in all their dishes where possible.

Even though I live in the subburbs, I’ve actually never come here until now.

Stake doesn’t only serve steak as their name suggests. There’s a good variety of WestCoast dishes that will appeal to your tastebuds. Executive Chef Matthew Richmond’s goal is to bring the flavours of what you would find in Downtown Vancouver, back to Port Coquitlam, where he grew up. He has worked in numerous restaurant from the bottom up and really has a passion for creating delicious dishes as well as being a mentor to the young chefs in the community.

Of course, Chef Matthew has an amazing team that works behind the kitchen that beautifully puts together all the dishes.

There is lots of seating inside and has a lot of cool portraits and things up on their walls.

Their knives are pretty awesome too.

We started off with complimentary bread and butter.

Beet Trio ($9) has a blueberry goat cheese mousse, pea greens, walnut wafer, with a golden beet dressing. The different beets have their own unique tastes, some have an earthier taste and other are more sweet. It’s just incredible tasting these fresh beets. It also goes really well with the blueberry goat cheese mousse.

Stake’s Signature Smoked Crispy Pork Belly ($12) has a green pea puree, butter braised white asparagus, tomato confit, and apple bourbon jus. The pork belly is yummy and has the crispy crackling on top. You can’t say no to pork belly…unless you’re a vegetarian.

Pacific Halibut ($24) has king oyster mushrooms braised in abalone sauce, preserved olive, green beans & eggplant with wilted pea greens. This dish has a very asian flavour profile. The vegetables were very good, but a tad salty if you eat it alone. It’s much better when you eat a bit of everything together.

Pan-seared Truffle Polenta ($16) has a leek fondue, ratatouille, thyme glazed portabella, garlic cream, and micro chard. This polenta was really good. It was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. This is probably the best polenta I’ve had so far in Vancouver.

6oz Seared Beef Tenderloin ($28) comes with Golden Ears Emmental fondant potato, glazed beets, crisp leek, truffle foam, and jus. The tenderloin was a perfect medium rare. Very good, tender and full of flavour.

Chocolate Marquise ($8) has a Irish cream anglaise, chocolate pearls, and a raspberry coulis. The chocolate cake was dense and smooth like a ganache.

Overall, their revamp of the menu works really well for Stake and the quality is definitely there. Executive Chef Matthew Richmond really put his mark on this menu. I’ll definitely be back with my friends or family.

We Rate Stake:

Address:
2080 United Boulevard
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.hardrockcasinovancouver.com/venue/stake/

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 Cafe

Creekside Coffee Factory: Independent Coffee Shop in Coquitlam

August 10, 2014

Creekside Coffee Factory is located in Coquitlam in a small plaza area. They are proud to be serving the freshest coffee possible. They even roast the beans in-house. CoffeeGuy introduced me to this place and told me there was a cafe with a happy Korean man roasting beans, while playing the guitar. I love independent coffee shops because you can really feel their passion for what they do and putting a smile on customers faces.

Since M’s relatives from Korea love coffee, it just seemed fitting to take them to a Korean owned cafe.

You can even watch them roasting the beans. Unfortunately, when we took a visit, nothing was happening here. I wanted to see this machine in action.

You can buy the beans too. Once you purchase it, they are prepared right after to maintain optimal freshness.

The interior is quite nice and cozy. It’s a good place to sit and chat with friends. Or even just do some homework.

There’s even free wifi and extra plugs for your devices.

There are a few snacks a well. We came later in the afternoon, so I think the morning rush bought all the food.

Cappuccino came in a huge cup. I ordered a small, but I think a Large came. It tasted great and has lots of delicious foam.

Iced Dew Drip Coffee is one of their specialty drinks and is quite popular. It is made fresh on site every day and has some great flavour and low acidity. M drank his black and it’s a lot better than regular drip coffee.

Soy Latte and Americano were what the relatives ordered. They were both pleasantly surprised by the strong taste of their drink and totally put a good start to their day. It’s funny how they can’t function without their coffee.

Overall, Creekside Coffee Factory is a good place to get coffee if you are in the area.

We Rate Creekside Coffee Factory:

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

Address:
2773 Barnet Hwy
Coquitlam, BC

In BBQ

Insadong Korean BBQ: Family BBQ Combo for 4-5 People

July 3, 2014

Insadong Korean BBQ Restaurant has been on North Road and Lougheed for a while now and have been serving guests traditional Korean cuisine. The restaurant is pretty huge and can accommodate large groups.

I came here with my family for Fathers Day and it was quite busy. Parking was a bit tough but we eventually found a spot.

Depending on which area of the restaurant you sit in, it will look different. The area we were in had pretty poor ventilation, so it was very smokey for most of the time. The table we were at wasn’t wiped down properly, so there were bits of food still on it.

Family BBQ Combination ($79.99) can serve 4 -5 people but we had a lot of leftovers…so you can have 6 people eat this if you really wanted.

In this combo, you get:

Smoked Salmon Salad
Radish Seaweed Roll
Seafood non-spicy tofu soup or soybeans soup
Seafood Pancake or Bulgogi Japchae
Marinated Beef Galbi Ribs
Marinated Chicken Bulgogi
Marinated Spicy Pork Bulgogi
Marinated Short Ribs
Mussels ( 3 pieces)
Prawns ( 3 pieces)
Oysters( 3 pieces)

Before the main dishes arrived, we were given complimentary side dishes (banchan). You will find a lot of picked vegetables like bean sprouts, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes and kimchi. The side dishes are refillable if you want more.

Radish Seaweed Roll was a light and refreshing dish and it’s good to eat your vegetables beforehand because all the meat will be coming next.

Next, all the marinated meat and seafood arrived on a large platter. Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm time to get this party started.

The marinated galbi beef ribs are cut and placed on the hot grill by the server. They didn’t really say anything and just placed it on there for us. We were confused since they didn’t explain what they were doing. As you can tell, service here is a bit strange.

Everything else we grilled on the stove ourselves. The chicken, beef and pork were great. The seafood was ok, but not as fresh and flavourful.

Seafood Pancake came on a hot plate. It was decent, but not the best one I’ve had.

Smoked Salmon Salad was good, fresh and had a good amount of smoked salmon.

Seafood non-spicy tofu soup was good to contrast the items part of the combo. Great clean taste and has a good amount of tofu and seafood.

Overall, we were so full at the end of the meal and had a few item to take home. We still had a little bit of uncooked meat, so they helped us cook it before we left.

We added 2 bowls of rice for $1.99 each and the end of the meal totaled to $88.17, which is not bad for so much food. You do get value from the combo sets on the menu. The downside about dining here is that the service can be quite poor.

We Rate Insadong Korean BBQ:

Address:
403 North Rd
Coquitlam BC

In Bakery

The Coffee Bun: Yummy Snacks in Coquitlam

April 29, 2014

The Coffee Bun is located in Coquitlam in Henderson Mall. This is their second location as their original one is in North Vancouver. KoreanGirl and I drove past it and were curious about this place, so after we had lunch somewhere else, we came here for a coffee and some snacks.

The space is quite spacious with lots of tables. Perfect for studying or a good place to hang out with friends. The tables are spaced out far apart, so you aren’t up close to others.

Iced Coffee was what KoreanGirl ordered. It was a hot day, so that made sense. The coffee is made with Kicking Horse coffee beans.

Hot Cappuccino is also made with Kicking Horse coffee beans. It was really hot, but after it cooled down it tasted good. It was made by a machine, so it doesn’t have that strong taste of espresso.

The coffee bun is baked with a coffee cream on top to create the aromatic coffee crust on top of the bun. There are 10 flavours of filling for the buns.

Original Plain (filled with butter)
Cream Cheese (filled with cream cheese)
Custard Chouz (filled with soft vanilla cream)
chocolate (filled with chocolate chips)
red bean (filled with red bean)
garlic (topped with coffee and herbs)
cinnamon (topped with cinnamon)
pumpkin (filled with sweet pumpkin)
ice cream (sandwiched with ice cream)
coffee bun sandwich (sandwiched with ham and cheese)

Depending on the location, the fillings and options can vary.

The original plain coffee bun came right out of the oven and was SO GOOD. The are fresh every 30 minutes, so I would definitely wait till the new batch comes out. The crust is really good and the little bit of butter inside pairs nicely.

Cream Cheese Coffee bun was ok. This one was got wasn’t heated up, so it was a little big unsatisfactory. We thought they would heat this up a little bit.

Custard Coffee bun is filled with the custard cream inside. If you have a slight sweet tooth, then this is what you might enjoy. It’s like a cream puff but inside a coffee bun.

Strawberry and ice cream toast was another item they had for their more dessert-like options. They also have Korean shaved ice and belgian waffles too. The strawberries were frozen and sliced. We weren’t impressed with this.

Overall, a cup of coffee and a fresh coffee bun is best to be ordered.

We Rate Coffee Bun:

Address:
1011-1163 Pinetree Way
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.thecoffeebun.com/

In Cafe

Pink Sugar Cafe: Japanese Lunch Set

April 28, 2014

Pink Sugar Cafe is located in Coquitlam close to the mall. KoreanGirl and I came here for their signature lunch sets. There’s a few parking spots and if you come early enough, there will be plenty of parking spots and seats.

We came here around 11:30am and it wasn’t packed at all. When it got closer to 12:30pm, thats when it gets quite busy.

If you come early enough to catch their early bird special, you get a free upgrade to any item on their drink menu. Usually you would get house coffee or tea with your lunch set. This is only applicable till 11am. If you are looking for an early lunch, it’s a good deal. But, if you don’t want to wake up early on the weekend, you won’t miss out too much.

People usually come here for their lunch sets anyways.

Japanese Lunch Special changes every day. You never know what they are going to feature. Some people call in ahead of time to see what they are serving as their feature.

We came when they had ginger pork. It also comes with miso soup, chawan mushi, salad, rice and a custard dessert. What I liked about this is that you get a little taste of everything and not overwhelmed by one dish for lunch.

Ginger Pork that was part of the set was delicious and very aromatic and full of flavour. The slices were quite large.

The salad has lettuce. onion, tomato, orange and a delicious dressing.

Chawan Mushi is an egg custard and it was silky smooth. Very light and enjoyable. It has a distinct dashi broth taste in this dish and it goes well with the mushrooms and shrimp.

Miso Soup was also good!

Rice has some sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

Dessert was a smooth silky custard dessert topped with whipped cream and fruit.

After you are done your lunch set, you have the option of having tea or coffee. They have a lot of different teas to choose from. I just got green tea.

Overall, the food was great. KoreanGirl liked the little tastings of each dish. It was a great portion for lunch and you won’t be bursting at the seams.

We Rate Pink Sugar Cafe:

Address:
#115-3030 Lincoln Ave
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.pinksugarcafe.com/

In Chinese

Grand Palace Restaurant: Dim Sum in Coquitlam

February 25, 2014

Grand Palace Restaurant (富豪酒家) is located in Henderson Mall across from Coquitlam Centre. The mall has been here for a very long time and it gives me a vibe of like the asian mall similar to Tinsel Town. They are owned by the same development company, so that’s why the vibe is similar.

The restaurant and food court are probably the most busiest parts of the mall.

We came around 11 and there was already a line up outside with people eagerly awaiting a table.

My sister and I stared at the tanks looking at the lobsters barnacles.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, we got our table! The dining room was packed!

Tea arrives at the table when you begin ordering. You get one pot of the tea and another pot of hot water.

Fried Taro Dumpling (wu gok) is my sister’s favourite. It is deep-fried to create the extra crispy exterior. On the inside is a savoury taro mixture.

Pork Dumpling (Sui Mai) is always an item ordered in dim sum. The ones here are pretty large and does not contain too much fat.

Minced Beef Meatballs were very bland. The added water chestnuts did not add any extra crunchy texture that its supposed to.

Steamed Beef Rice Rolls was ok as well. The beef mixture reminded me of the minced beef meatballs.

Steamed Pork Buns comes with 3 buns and was quite decent.

Shrimp and vegetable dumping has 3 pieces in an order. The dumpling mixture inside wasn’t mixed together well, so you get the veggies on the bottom and the shrimp on the top.

Seafood Congee was alright. It had lots of seafood hidden at the bottom.

Stuffed Eggplant has 3 oddly shaped pieces. It has the shrimp mixture on top with the eggplant on the bottom. I usually like this dish but this was a bit bland.

Pork Spareribs were yummy. The meat was tender and the sauce paired well nicely.

Shrimp Dumplings (har gow) is a dim sum classic. It has shrimp inside the rice skin. It’s a two-bite dumpling and it was not bad here.

Deep Fried Tofu was horrible. The skin was thick and tasteless and the crumbly topping was very salty. We all agreed that this was a horrible dish and we would not order it again.

Overall, it is a decent dim sum restaurant. There are good dishes here, but if you venture into one of the horrible dishes, it’s gonna taste bad. As long as you stick to the classic dim sum items, you can’t go wrong.

We Rate Grand Palace Restaurant:

Address:
2001 – 1163 Pinetree Way
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.grandpalacerestaurant.ca/

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