Tacomio has shut down their locations in Vancouver due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, but has quickly adjusted their new menu for take out from their central kitchen in Strathcona.
As we are staying at home to flatten the curve, eating together at home made us come together as a family. It’s the highlight of our day and what better way than have a fun interactive taco dinner. They sent us their taco kit for 2 to give it a try.
The taco kits are very affordable:
Taco Kit for 2: $25
Taco Kit for 4: $45
The taco kits are massive and can definitely feed more than the suggested amount of people.
In the taco kit, you get:
Your choice of 3 taco fillings
Large rice
Large beans
Mild, medium and spicy house made salsas
Pickled jalapeños
Pickled red onions
Pickled veggies
Fresh cilantro
Corn chips and roasted tomatillo salsa
Corn tortillas
Frituras (tradicional Mexican wheat crisps)
Valentina hot sauce
Fresh lemon
Chicken A La Plancha – Sautéed bell peppers, caramelized onions, chipotle tomato sauce, and shaved cabbage.Beef Salpicon – Angus beef in Guajilo sauce, nugget potatoes.Roasted Cauliflower – Chipotle hummus, shaved cabbage, cilantro, lemon vinaigrette.Large RiceLarge BeansCorn chipsFrituras (traditional Mexican wheat crisps)
Final Thoughts
The Tacomio Taco Kits are a great affordable choice for an interactive meal. There’s a lot to this meal and you have to get the cauliflower as one of your fillings.
Highly recommend it for yourself or even as a gift.
Chance Cafe is a local Vancouver cafe on Commercial Drive and had to shift their business drastically because of the Covid-19 pandemic. They have introduced their DIY Bubble Tea Kits with 31 differing ingredients you can choose from to create your perfect bubble tea kit.
31 Different Bubble Tea Ingredients
Yes, thats right, 31 different individual ingredients. You can mix and match items in your kit to create your perfect bubble tea kit.
Here are the different ingredient options:
Bancha Roasted Tea
Boba Tapioca Pearls
Coconut Powder
Coconut Jelly
Crystal Pearls
Earl Grey Tea
Green Apple Syrup
Honey Dew Powder
Jasmine Tea
Longan Syrup
Lychee Syrup
Lychee Popping Pearls
Mango Syrup
Mango Popping Pearls
Mango Stars
Matcha Powder
Mint Chocolate Chip
Oolong Tea
Orange Pekoe Tea
Passion Fruit Syrup
Peach Syrup
Rooibos Tea
Rose Syrup
Strawberry Syrup
Strawberry Heart Jelly
Taro Powder
Thai Tea
Vietnamese Coffee (Grinded)
White Peach Oolong Tea
Yogurt Syrup
Types of Kits
1 bag of ingredient $13
2 bag of ingredients $25
3 bag of ingredients $35
1 Reusable BBT Cup $17
2 Reusable BBT Cups $30 (comes with 2 metal straws, 2 straw cleaners, 2 metal sealed lids, 2 customized plastic lid with hole for the straw to go through)
The Ultimate DIY BBT Kit for $50: 2 Reusable BBT Cups (comes with 2 metal straws, 2 straw cleaners, 2 metal sealed lids, 2 customized plastic lid with hole for the straw to go through) and your choice of 2 ingredients
The Ultimate DIY BBT Kit for $60: 2 Reusable BBT Cups (comes with 2 metal straws, 2 straw cleaners, 2 metal sealed lids, 2 customized plastic lid with hole for the straw to go through) and your choice of 3 ingredients
Eco-Friendly Bubble Tea Kit for $65: You get your choice of 3 bubble tea ingredients in mason jars with 2 matching bubble tea lids, stainless silver straws, and cleaner.
Turn any kit into an Eco-Friendly one with a $3 upgrade to jar packaging
If you have questions, feel free to contact them anytime and they respond quite quickly. The prices are current as of the writing of the article and is subject to change.
Final Thoughts
I love the 31 types of ingredients to choose from as I’m the type of person that has a little bit of everything in my kitchen. I’m just missing things like pearls, syrups, and powders to complete my bubble tea creation.
If you have your own milk, tea, and sugar at home, you can easily just pick up a few more ingredients to turn it into a bubble tea. I’m loving it and my husband can’t get enough of my peach green tea with coconut jelly and mango stars. I also love the eco-friendly options too.
C Market Coffee is located in Coquitlam near the IKEA and they have been around for years serving up delicious coffee to the neighbourhood. My friends and I would have mommy hangouts there before the Covid-19 pandemic as it’s very kid friendly. Unfortunately with dining rooms closed, they had to work fast to adapt to take out and delivery.
There were 2 things I’ve been searching for that my local grocery store would always be low on – Oat Milk and Yeast. I love that they carry a few staples for the home kitchen as well as many local products in addition to their coffees, pastries and meals.
I put in an online order to get some kitchen staples and coffee of course. They were kind enough to put in a few more extras into our order, which was very nice of them.
Black Salt Cream Coffee
This coffee has an Americano base with pure cane syrup, sweet cream, and Black Lava Salt. This is one of my favourite drinks here. I love the combination of the sweet cream and salt.
Mocha Frappe
I got a Mocha Frappe for my husband and he loved it. Not too sweet and had enough caffeine to get through the day. It’s also quite nice with the whipped cream and chocolate.
Meatloaf Sandwich
The sandwich is made with homemade meatloaf, pickled onions, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar cheese. It has a strong BBQ flavour that pairs well with the meatloaf. The bun is soft and squishy.
Chicken Salad + Grape Sandwich
The chicken salad sandwich is made with natural Chicken breast, lettuce, grape, mayo, celery, red onion, pepper, salt, mustard, lemon, cranberry, and dill. It uses the same soft bun.
Frozen Corn Flake Crusted Chicken
They are selling their frozen corn flake Crusted chicken in 5 piece packs. In the cafe, they use this for their chicken and waffles. It’s great that it keeps in the freezer for a long time. They do suggest you deep-fry these to get a really nice crispy exterior.
It’s pretty good and we paired it with mayo and teriyaki sauce.
Korean Beef Bulgogi
You can get raw marinated Korean Beef Bulgogi. You also have the option to add a veggie pack to it as well. It comes with more sliced onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms.
You can make this at home by putting it in a hot skillet. You can also put this on a Korean BBQ grill too if you want to get the extra charred flavour. We with the the frying pan method.
Chocolate Walnut Drop Cookie
This was really good! If you put it in the microwave for 10 seconds, it gets soft, warm, and gooey. Highly recommended.
Macarons
They have 5 different macaron flavours on the menu – green tea, clack sesame, strawberry, yuzu, and earl grey. They’re pretty big size and delicate.
Cheesecake
I really enjoyed the cheesecake. Simple and it hits the spot.
Carrot Cake
The carrot cake was also very enjoyable as the added nuts really give it more body and texture. It’s not too sweet and there is a good ratio of cream cheese frosting.
Groceries
They have a small section for groceries and they have a good amount of items there. We picked up come yeast and oat milk as it was hard to find at the bigger grocery stores.
They are always adding new items, so if you are looking for something in particular, definitely message them.
Final Thoughts
I do love that cafes like C Market Coffee offer more than what they normally would. Even the expansion of grocery items help a lot when people don’t want to venture off into crowded grocery stores.
Tojo’s is back with a new menu which focuses on takeout and prepare at home meals. With the Covid-19 pandemic, they really have to work hard to pivot their business to offer fresh and delicious meals to their customers while maintaining social distance.
Their main focus is to provide comforting, healthy and flavourful dishes using locally sourced ingredients. They have always stuck to this motto and it shows with their new offerings.
They offer curbside pickup and complimentary delivery to Vancouver addresses with a minimum order. If you do decided to pick up, they offer a nice complimentary side dish for all takeout orders.
Complimentary Side Dish
You can choose between miso soup, sunomono salad or potato salad with your order. We tried the miso soup and potato salad for our meal and its a nice accompaniment especially for the bento bowls.
Spring Vegetable Roll
This roll uses fresh organic vegetables, beautifully topped with Nanohana and pickled cherry blossom. It’s really nice and fits the season perfectly as the cherry blossoms are blooming right now for a short amount of time.
The ingredients are very fresh and provides a nice crunchy texture to this item.
Battera Sushi
Their newest items it the Battera Sushi Box sushi topped with either house smoked Canadian Sablefish, Salmon or Mackerel and pickled kombu. I was very impressed by strong flavours of the fish and it worked well with the amount of rice. I was skeptical at first, but it worked well. You can eat it right away when you get home. It does stay good for 2-3 days in the fridge.
The Battera Sushi depicted in our pictures are a different size and was part of a media sample to try a few different sushi items.
Tako Chirashi Bowl
The tako chirashi bowl features thinly sliced Pacific Octopus, and masago smelt roe with organic greens, wakame salad, seasonal veggies served over sushi rice. It is accompanied with a soy balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
It is a beautiful bowl and the seasonal ingredients are very fresh. The octopus is a touch chewy, but thats pretty typical of octopus.
Soy Ginger Sablefish
There are a few items on the menu where you can prepare at home. One of those items is their Soy Ginger Sablefish. This is Tojo’s famous Canadian Sablefish marinated in soy ginger honey. It’s so nice and tender that it melts in your mouth. Make sure you serve this over rice as it’s a perfect pairing. You can also pair this with steamed, sautéed or baked veggies.
If you don’t eat this right away, this can be stored for 12 months in freezer.
Final Thoughts
It’s great to see Tojo’s is back with different dining options with this pandemic. Their new items like the Bento Bowls and Battera sushi are more affordable option. I really love the marinated seafood in the pouches as it tastes so good and you just pop it in the oven to cook.
Times are changing with the Covid-19 pandemic and restaurants like Torafuku have created new menu items that are ready to be enjoyed at home. The Torafuku@Home is a new collection of heat-and-serve offerings featuring long-loved favourites and Kuan family recipes. It’s a great way to get a taste of their dishes without dining in.
The new Torafuku@Home dishes come in convenient packaging for storing or freezing; all meals can be prepared within 10 minutes. Each item or meal package is accompanied with reheating instructions. Most items are vacuum-sealed and require only a quick drop into boiling water to reheat.
All menu items can be ordered on their website at www.torafuku.ca
As a family of 7 (8 if you count the little spud), I built our dinner around the Family Meal for 4, then had a few extra items to add to the meal. We also made rice to stretch out the meal. Our family loves a taste of everything.
They have recently launched their regular menu for takeout and delivery. Now, you can have their classics like the Kickass Rice Bowl and Crack Salad. If you really can’t wait to reheat up the meal kits, these ready-to-eat dishes hit the spot.
Pick Up
Orders are available for pickup daily between 3:00pm – 5:00pm from the restaurant.
Delivery Options
Delivery is available for pre-ordered items and is complimentary for orders over $50 within Vancouver. Delivery to Richmond and Burnaby is available with a $10 fee. Delivery service is available daily between 5:00pm – 7:00pm.
Family Meal for 4
I got the family meal for 4 because it was a good way to try an array of items off their Torafuku@Home menu. This serves 4-5 people.
You get:
2 x Yuzu Pomme Puree
1 x Le Tigre Style Pork Belly
1 x Sake Braised Beef Shank
2 x Miso Veggie Chowder
2 x Everyday I’m Brusselin’
1 x Gone Fishing
They have instructions on how to reheat everything and it was easy. Since I was running around with the kid, my sister decided to reheat this slowly using a sous vide machine. Of course you don’t have to be fancy like us, but we just needed an excuse to use it.
Yuzu Pomme Puree
Mashed potato isn’t boring anymore! This has creamy and buttery mashed potatoes with house made yuzu butter and Japanese yuzu peels. It was a bit hard to wrap my head around eating dinner and having an Asian fusion dish of mashed potatoes. It was different but the yuzu was very fragrant and complimented nicely.
Le Tigre Style Pork Belly
The pork belly is braised with orange, star anise, and sweet soy. Tender and melt in your mouth pork belly. Remember to save the sauce and put it on your rice.
Sake Braised Beef Shank
These are sake and soy braised beef shanks with Torafuku house-made chili oil, house-mixed five spices, ginger, and shaoxing wine. This is also the asme beef shanks in the Beef Noodle for 2 kit. The beef shank is thick but still flavourful and tender. Very meaty and was enjoyed.
Miso Veggie Chowder
Miso vegetable chowder has cabbage, carrots, fingerling potatoes, Japanese Kabocha squash and onion. It’s not a thick chowder at all. It’s more like a soup.
Everyday I’m Brusselin’
This salad has grilled brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, balsamic black bean vinaigrette, crunchy chick peas, roasted almonds and crispy quinoa. It is so good. It’s always been my favourite dish. Highly recommended.
Gone Fishing
They take a whole market fish and deep fry it. It is paired with a tamarind sweet and sour sauce, mixed herbs, and fried soybeans sprinkles. This dish is great when you dine in at Torafuku, but the texture of the fish does suffer a bit.
Beef Noodle Soup Kit for 2
There are 4-5 pieces of sake and soy braised beef shanks, 1L of Torafuku beef noodle soup with hand-pulled white noodles (uncooked), Asian sauerkraut, and marinated soft-boiled eggs for 2 people.
The says it serves 2, but you can stretch it to make 4 bowls if you wanted to. The broth has a depth of flavour and a kick of spice. The beef shank just melts in your mouth and is so meaty. The noodles have a nice bounce to them and so enjoyable. Highly recommend this kit!
Pork Napa Stew
This is a traditional Taiwanese stew with marinated pork shoulder, Japanese Napa, shiitake mushroom, enoki mushroom and eggs. Add some rice to this dish and it soaks up all the sauce. The pork shoulder was nice and tender too.
Fried Egg Floss Cabbage Stew
This is Traditional style Taiwanese cabbage stew with wood ear, shiitake mushroom and house made fried eggs floss. Love the crunch of the wood ear mushroom. Definitely reminds me of home cooking. You will want some rice with this too.
Old Grandma’s Tofu
This is Mapo Tofu style with house-blended chili bean paste, green onions, garlic, ginger, and ground pork. There is 16oz in each pouch and easily reheated. It has a depth of aroma to this dish and it wasn’t too spicy at all. Very fragant and is amazing on rice to soak up all the flavour.
Three Cup Chicken
This has Taiwanese-Style saucey pan-fried chicken thigh with ginger, garlic, shaoxing, soy, basil and a touch of Thai chili. Another delicious dish that does great on rice. There is 20oz in the pouch, so its good for 2-3 people. Just make sure to make a pot of rice.
We saved the leftover sauce and added more chicken into it the next day to make a new dish. Their sauces are very very fragrant and can’t be wasted.
Ugly Zongzi (Frozen 2pc)
This is their Southern Taiwanese Style Zongzi, a special nostalgic food with flavoured sticky rice, marinated pork, salted egg yolk and mushroom. It is also paired with Torafuku’s house-blend special condiment.
Each Zongzi is smaller but the quality is nice and very very flavourful. That marinated pork with salted egg yolk is heavenly. It was good to have this in the freezer and ready to heat up either by boiling it or steaming.
I Love Dumpling (Frozen)
There are 20 pieces of frozen classic pork and chive dumplings. This is served with Torafuku’s house-made chili oil vinaigrette. Very good pairing. A quick boil for a few minutes and it’s ready. Very delicious and hits the spot. Can’t go wrong with dumplings.
Lucky Dumpling- Vegetarian (Frozen)
There are 20 pieces of frozen vegetarian dumplings with eggplants, wood ear, konyaku, kale, shiitake mushrooms, and gem tomatoes. This is also paired with the Torafuku house-made chili oil vinaigrette.
Another solid option as we always have frozen dumplings in the freezer. It was delicious and I loved the combinations of veggies inside.
Final Thoughts
Clearly, we have tried a lot of items off the Torafuku@Home. It’s a nice variety of items to choose from for families that are big or small. There are more asian fusion flavours and then the more traditional flavours inspired from Mama Kuan’s recipes.
As they do delivery and takeout, it’s easy to gift these items to friends and family or even enjoy for yourself. Of all the takeout options I’ve had during this pandemic, Torafuku is by far our favourite.
I heard about Ça Croustille on Facebook and people in Burnaby seem to love them, so I decided to put in an online order. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, they would sell their pastries at local farmers markets and pop up event.
Where do they deliver?
They do deliveries once a week and deliver to all regions of Greater Vancouver – White Rock, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, and Langley.
What do they have?
They do deliver if you have a minimum order of $20. Their pastries range from $3.50 to $4.50.
Butter Croissant
Pain au Chocolate
Almond Croissant
Almond Chocolate Croissant
Pain aux raisins
Cinnamon Swirl
Chocolate Twist
Pear Almond Turnover
Taste Test
Some of there’s items I haven’t seen at local cafe and it’s a decent assortment. We enjoyed the Cinnamon Swirl the most and goes well with a cup of tea or coffee.
The almond croissants had a bit too much almond extract as it was very prominent. The execution of the butter croissant and pain au chocolate ended up to very soft and fluffy, but the exterior could have had more crunch. As the pain au chocolate was so bloated, it needed more chocolate sticks inside to balance the ratio.
I was nice to have a box of pastries in the kitchen so the family could munch on it over the weekend. Something to brighten up the day with a delivery.
Butter CroissantButter Croissant Cross-SectionPain au ChocolateAlmond CroissantAlmond Chocolate CroissantCinnamon SwirlPain aux raisinsChocolate TwistPear Almond Turnover
Final Thoughts
It’s a nice assortment that arrives at the door and would be a great gift. It is a good price and comes with delivery if you meet the $20 minimum.
Getting our bubble tea fix can be difficult as we stay at home to flatten the curve of the Covid-19 pandemic. We find ourselves missing bubble tea, but there are a few local companies that are offering DIY Bubble Tea Kits delivered straight to your home or even sent to friends are a nice gift.
I think it’s a fantastic idea as we buy a lot of bubble tea but not too many people actually make it at home. With these DIY kits, you can see how easy it is to make at home.
Chance Cafe has quietly launched 31 individual ingredients and kits that you can order directly from them to create your own bubble tea. You can mix and match items in your kit to create your ultimate bubble tea kit.
Cha Yuan 茶園 is a bubble tea shop located in Yaletown, which opened in 2019. They have classic bubble tea kits available with Oatly as an option to purchase. Each kit makes 10 servings of bubble tea.
They have free local delivery for orders over $20 (Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.)
Paragon Tea Rom doesn’t have a bundled kit to make bubble tea, but they have everything you need in their online store to make your own bubble tea creation. They have an array of premium tea, pearls, and milks. If you need a recommendation, you can always ask for their HK Milk Tea recipe.
Passion Tea Room was the first to launch the bubble tea kit at an affordable price with free delivery (within Burnaby, Coquitlam, Vancouver, North Vancouver, New West and Richmond) when you spend over $20. They can also deliver to Surrey, Delta, and White Rock for a $5 delivery fee.
The kit includes tapioca pearls, non dairy creamer, tea, straws, and tea bag filters. They also have flavour kits where you can make taro bubble tea or coconut bubble tea.
Perchance Tea also has a Boba Bag where you get all the ingredients to make you own bubble tea. It comes with the tea of your choice, milk or milk alternative (soy, cream, or oat milk), organic cane sugar, dried boba, straws, and step by step instructions. Instead of plastic straws, you can upgrade to reusable metal straws for an extra charge.
What differentiates Perchance tea is their use of high quality ingredients. The owner and manager stand by using wholesome ingredients, which are as fresh as possible.
They deliver to Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby for free with a minimum order of $40. They do pick ups at their store too.
The Bubble Tea Shop has launched their DIY Bubble Tea Kits. Their shops are still closed because of Covid-19, but they are delivering Bubble Tea kits to your door.
They deliver free to Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby and New Westminster. A small charge to deliver if you are in Delta, Surrey, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and North Vancouver. If you aren’t in any of those area, they do Canada Wide Shipping too.
Besides their signature bubble tea drink mixes, they sell dessert in a jar, tofu desserts, reusable tumblers, and reuseable straws.
Royal City Donuts has been selling their decadent donuts at farmers markets and at pop up shops across the Lower Mainland, but with the Covid-19 Pandemic, they had to change the way they do business.
They have plans for a store front, but they’re not there just yet. For the time being, they have opened up their online store to order donuts for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday which will be delivered contactless between the hours of 10am-3pm.
They deliver to Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities.
Their orders sell out fast, so you have to check their social media to see when the orders open up on their website. I remember when I was trying to put in my order for Saturday, but while I was checking out, it sold out for that day, so I had to opt for Sunday instead.
They do their preparation from YVR Prep, which is a commissary kitchen located in Burnaby. It’s an awesome space and so many small business start out from that kitchen.
6 Pack
The six pack of donuts come with a random assortment and is predetermined at the beginning of the week when you place your order. There are no substitutions.
All of the donuts were pretty good. They have a nice flavour and texture. There are some execution issues with the filled brioche donuts as there could have had more filling. The other donuts are simple but done well. Their popular Ferrero Rocher and maple bacon donuts didn’t make it into the batch this week, but those are the ones to look out for.
Overall, they are pretty good donuts. I didn’t love all the flavours in the box, but its a nice assortment to give you a taste of what they have to offer. Besides the 6 pack of donuts, they also have a pack of 4 large fritters and 12 donut holes which is pretty great too.
Plus, you can’t go wrong with free delivery if you live within the delivery zone. Makes for a great gift too.
I love discovering new restaurant I’ve never been to, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, thats a little bit hard at the moment. Now, I rely on word of mouth and social media to figure out what restaurants are doing to innovate their business and keep things going.
The Hoké Poké is located in Kitsilano and they serve poke bowls. They are pretty far from me since I live in Burnaby, but a friend told me they deliver. They don’t always deliver, but you can always message them and ask.
I emailed my order and sent an e-transfer to the owner. Simple and with no issues. Food arrived on time and very fresh.
I ordered 4 regular sized poké bowls for the family to share.
Ohana Bowl
I got this bowl with salmon, albacore tuna, a mix of greens and brown rice, plus the crab meat, seaweed, and ginger as toppings.
The salmon and tuna is mixed with sweet shoyu, sweet onion, green onion, furikake, and cucumber. Nice classic combination of flavours to showcase the fish.
Yuzuke
I got this bowl with salmon, albacore tuna, a mix of greens and brown rice, plus the crab meat, seaweed, and ginger as toppings.
The salmon and tuna is mixed with yuzu ponzu, masago, green onion, cilantro, and furikake. The yuzu ponzu is a nice light sauce and the salmon and tuna still shine through if you want more of the fish taste.
Ono Bowl
I got this bowl with salmon, albacore tuna, a mix of greens and brown rice, plus the crab meat, seaweed, and ginger as toppings.
The salmon and tuna is mixed with sriracha aioli, masago, sweet onion, green onion, crispy onion. The ono was our favourite bowl. The sriracha aioli added a nice kick to the dish and it wasn’t too spicy either. Highly recommended.
Chef Special Bowl
I got this bowl with salmon, albacore tuna, a mix of greens and brown rice, plus the crab meat, seaweed, and ginger as toppings.
The salmon and tuna is mixed with their Chef sauce, green/sweet/crispy onion, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, masago, and furikake. This bowl is more saucy, but because of how much rice and salad was in the bowl, it was a good ratio. A good item to order if you can’t decide on a customized bowl.
Final Thoughts
The menu is limited but I don’t mind it at all. You get unlimited topping choices and I feel like the flavours are closer to the Hawaiian clean flavours. Simple and delicious.
Since we only make one trip outside a week from groceries, we have really been depending on delivery services to get us whatever will delivery to our home during the Covid-19 pandemic. I had mad cravings for Chinese buns, so when I was browsing through delivery apps, I discovered Pine House Bakery is close enough to deliver to us. Oh boy, was I super excited. A lot of the Chinese bakeries near us have either closed down or only do take out.
Pine House Bakery has many locations throughout the Lower Mainland. On UberEats, there aren’t a lot of options, so we picked up the pack of assorted sweet buns and another pack of assorted savoury buns. There’s no options to swap anything out unless some items are sold out.
Assorted Sweet Buns
This pack comes with 2 Coconut buns, 2 Pineapple Buns, 2 Red bean paste buns , and 2 Egg Tarts. All the items were decent. We didn’t like the red bean paste as there was too much bun and very little red bean paste. The ratio was really off. The best item was definitely the coconut buns. $14 for 8 buns was ok.
Assorted Savoury Buns
This pack comes with 2 BBQ pork buns, 1 chicken bun , 2 curry beef buns, 1 ham and egg bun, and 2 hot dog buns. Unfortunately, after we placed the order, they ran out of the ham and egg bun as well as the chicken bun. I just got an extra BBQ pork bun and curry beef bun.
All of the savoury buns were good and it hit the spot. $16 for 8 buns was ok.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it was decent and it was the only delivery option to us in Burnaby. I paid a bit more than normal, but at least we got the convenience of having it delivered. The buns tasted ok. It’s not my favourite bakery but it will do to get my Chinese bun fix.
If you’re looking to have Chinese Buns delivered too, you can find them on Uber Eats.
My favourite neighbourhood bakery and cafe – Chez Christophe has found a way to get their yummy treats to their customers anyway possible. As they have 2 locations, customers in Burnaby and White Rock will still be able to enjoy their treats.
Curbside Pick Up Call or order in advanced online
Take Out Burnaby: 9am-4pm Tuesday through Sunday White Rock: 9am-3pm Tuesday through Saturday.
Delivery Within a 10km radius of their Burnaby location
Shipping Options Free shipping on orders over $35. This excludes cakes, pastries and showpieces)
As we are huge fans of Chez Christophe, in the last 3 weeks, I’ve ordered from them at least 5 times for myself and gifts for friends and family. They really make it easy and I love that. I’ve had small to large orders and there is always a way to get the treats with minimal contact during Covid-19.
Make sure to check their social media and website as anything can change quite quickly as the policies for social distancing changes day by day.
Frozen Goods
Chez Christophe has always had frozen goods available in their shop, but now it’s very popular to get a few for yourself and some for friends and family.
Butter Croissant (5 pieces)
Pain Au Chocolat (5 pieces)
Cheddar Herb Scones (4 pieces)
White Chocolate Raspberry Scones (4 pieces)
Great item to just have in the freezer when you want to have a sweet treat. Even better if you have kids at home. They can help you prepare it and makes a great activity.
Individual or Large Cakes
Cakes are still available for any occasion. They will help you add a note to the cake too. We personally needed a large cake that feeds 10 and they had them available so it was perfect. No need to go outside as it was delivered to us as we live in Burnaby close to the shop. They can also do custom orders of 20+ servings, but you need to order in advanced so they can get it ready for you.
If you want a little sweet treat, they still have a large selection of cakes. You’ll find something for your sweet tooth.
Fresh Pastries
I’ve missed their fresh pastries a lot. I remember going on coffee dates here with friends, grabbing a coffee and a pastry. They have a good selection of pastries available. My personal favourite are the items that are double baked.
Butter Croissant
Pain au Chocolat
Hazelnut Pain au Chocolat
Croissant Puff
Ham and Cheese Croissant
Double Baked Almond Croissant
Double Baked Hazelnut Chocolate Croissant
Fresh Fruit Danish
Double Baked Almond and Chocolate Croissant
Final Thoughts
I absolutely love Chez Christophe as it’s my favourite pastry shop in North Burnaby. If you want to order, take a look at their website just in case information has changed.
Stay safe out there! Remember to spread some love and cheer as there is definitely too much negativity out there in the world.
It’s a very stressful time for everyone during the Covid-19 Pandemic. One of the hardest hit industry is the restaurant business. Many restaurants have had to adapt quickly to give customers what they need.
Many grocery stores are out of staple items the eggs, milk, butter, flour, and yeast to name a few. Restaurants have access to fresh local produce and have stepped up to be able to provide these items for delivery and/or pick up.
Below are a few restaurant in Metro Vancouver where you can find grocery items just in case you’re in a bind and can’t find it at the store. If you know of any other restaurants extending their services to include groceries, emails us at diana@foodology.ca or leave a comment below.
6 Degrees Eatery in Coal Harbour is now stocked up with eggs, milk, and other produce. They also have their regular menu available too. You can get pick up, take out, or delivery via UberEats.
Batard Bakery has begun to offer groceries and pastries online for pick up. Bread, pastries, to whole quiches. They have a decent collection to get your through a bad day with some sweets and kitchen staples.
Beaucoup Bakery just launched their ‘Acts of Kindness’ items available via UberEats for delivery. They have pantry items like butter, yeast, espresso beans and oat milk. Partial proceeds of these Acts of Kindness items will be donated to the Food Bank.
If you’re in the Coquitlam area near the IKEA, C Market is in a nearby plaza. They serve up coffee, breakfast, and other lunch items. They recently launched the sale of their groceries on DoorDash and UberEats. If you live outside the delivery zone, you can get contactless pick up from their cafe.
Earls has rolled out their Earls Grocery, which include everything from daily home essentials to fresh ingredients to fully prepared meals. You can pick it up or even get it delivered. If you need toilet paper or hand soap, they have that too.
Promo: Get 20% off on all Earls Grocery items when you pick up. Or, get them delivered to your door via Skip The Dishes.
Fat Cow Oyster Bar has closed its doors to welcome Fat Cow Essentials. They are located in Langley but can delivery to most regions in Greater Vancouver. They even have free delivery if you spend $50 or more.
A beloved local bakery sells bread, pastries, prepared foods, whole grains, beans, flour, eggs, sourdough starter, and produce. Their sourdough is amazing. We picked up their pizza dough and a few loaves of bread and it was really really good.
Gabi and Jules is a popular cafe and bakery in Port Moody. You can find baking essentials like a variety of flour, sugar, cocoa, chocolate, eggs, oats, butter, baking soda, and baking powder. Bread, fruit, milk alternatives, teas, coffee, and make at home kits can be found on their website.
You just order online and have contactless pick up, or if you live in the Tricities, it’s free delivery on orders over $50.
Joey Restaurants launched JOEY Market grocery delivery service with DoorDash. Customers will be able to shop a variety of restaurant quality ingredients including fresh produce, meat, baked goods and pantry essentials from JOEY Restaurants, delivered or picked-up curbside. You can even find toilet paper.
Promo: They are currently offering 20% off their food menu prices for curbside pick-up, 10% off food ordered through DoorDash with $0 delivery.
They’ve got more than just coffee beans. You can find milk, egg and flour too. These perishable items can’t be shipped, so you have to pick them up from the cafe.
They recently launched their grocery store and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find a good array of items like their signature waffles, meat, syrups, egg, milk, hummus, and many other items.
Their dining rooms are closed but that doesn’t mean you can’t have the taste of OEB at home. They have contactless pick up and delivery options. You can even grab a pack of eggs and bread whiles you’re at it.
Restaurants and Cafe’s are evolving quickly because of Covid-19. No more dining-in and they have to innovate and change the way they do business.
Since I live in North Burnaby, I wouldn’t want to see any of the businesses to close down permanently. A lot have has to close down for the time being, but it might be a while before things return to normal.
I thought I would compile some of my favourite restaurants and show you what they are doing now. If you would like me to add anything to the list, please email us at diana@foodology.ca or comment below.
Cioffi’s Meat Market & Deli opened in 1990 offering the best in Italian specialty cold-cuts, cheeses, and fresh butchered meats. They have expanded since then to offer wholesale, catering, & take-out. They have even opened up their Cucina for more delicious eat.
What they are offering:
Groceries for pick up by texting 604-346-9182 or email deli@cioffisgroup.com your order in advance
Chez Christophe opened in March 2013 in Burnaby Heights. Since opening their doors, Christophe has been serving both classic Swiss desserts and pastries along with his modern twists using fresh and local flavours.
What they are offering:
Home delivery within a 10km radius of their Burnaby location on orders over $35
Take Out by calling or order online with debit and credit only. You can pickup in store or curbside pickup.
Free shipping on orders over $35 (excludes cakes and pastries and showpieces)
Glenburn Soda Fountain is a small, family-owned and run shop serving ice cream and desserts. They offer a wide range of ice cream treats including sundaes, milkshakes and malts. You’ll be transported back in time.
This hidden gem in Burnaby is located in the same plaza as Buy Low Food. They specialize in dishes like banh mi and pho. One of my favourite places to order from as there is a $0 delivery fee if you spend $20 or more via Skip the Dishes.
What they are offering:
Take Out by calling 604-428-7522 to place your order or order in store
The Valley Bakery has been in business for over 60 years and they have the largest variety of fresh, delicious cookies, pastries and other baked items in Burnaby.
What they are offering:
Phone 604-291-0674 with your order and pay with a credit card. To pick up your order, go to the rear door, phone the store and they will bring your order to your vehicle.
Green Leaf Cafe is a Japanese and Korean Fusion restaurant near Lougheed Mall. They have a wide variety of dishes on their menu, but their aburi oshi are very popular.
There are a lot of Food Delivery Services in Metro Vancouver that bring restaurant take out to your front door. I usually use the same delivery service for my favourite restaurant, but I soon discovered that there are so many more options. In the last few years, many have popped up or expanded their services outside of the Vancouver area.
Not all restaurants are using multiple delivery services, so I like to browse a few of the apps to see what is available in my neighbourhood.
With the Coronavirus / Covid-19 / Novel Coronavirus or whatever you call it, I don’t dine out as much and opted for takeout or delivery where possible.
Below are a few of different options with discount and referral codes so you get a discount and we get a little bonus as well.
Door Dash facilitates door-to-door delivery between restaurants and customers. If you’re got a craving but don’t want to go out, they have lots of restaurant options on their app.
Promo code for total $20 off ($5 off each of their first 4 orders). https://drd.sh/RvILHu/
Fantuan is an Asian online food delivery platform, which lets users get deliveries and take out options from restaurant and stores. It is available in both English and Chinese. You definitely get more Chinese restaurant options on this app compared to others.
Foodee is a corporate catering company that specializes in local food delivery to companies. You can order office catering from a diverse selection of local restaurants and cuisines. They need a minimum of 24 hours notice for a delivery, but there are also last minute options that might accomodate.
The service started in Vancouver and is now in Toronto and the United States.
Foodly is a pick up and delivery app, which seems to have partnered up with more Korean restaurants and cafes. They also have exclusive promotions so you can get free dishes and discounts. Foodly.ca is owned and developed in Vancouver so it’s a nice local option.
On the app, you can find more restaurant options in Coquitlam and some others in Metro Vancouver.
Foodora is a food delivery app originally based in Berlin. They are in a lot of countries around the world. In other countries, Foodora is called FoodPanda, so that might be why it looks familiar.
They have some pretty good restaurants on their list that isn’t the usual Chinese, Pizza, or Indian food. There are nice healthy options too but it really depends on the geographical area.
Lazymeal is an on demand food marketplace to get your meal delivered or for pick up. They are founded in Vancouver, BC and is another local company to choose from.
Unlike the other options on the list, Ritual is only for take out. It’s a good way to skip the line at the restaurant and have the ability to pick it up when it’s ready. Thus, no more waiting for your dish to be ready. You can earn points to redeem rewards.
Skip the Dishes is my preferred delivery service as the prices are reasonable and sometimes restaurants will offer free delivery over a certain order amount. Plus, you can track you order from your phone or computer
Sweets – 15 different kinds of weird and wonderful Japanese sweets
Ramen + Sweets Mix – 2 bowls of noodles and 6 – 7 sweet and savoury snacks
Stationery – 10 kawaii and high-quality stationery products from Japan’s top brands
When ZenPop Japan approached me to review their subscription box service, I knew I wanted to check out their box dedicated to ramen. I am all about the ramen life.
Pricing
The plan starts at $27 USD with free international shipping. It’s pretty good that shipping is included as other subscription box services charge for that extra. With 7 ramen inside the pack, it is just under $4 USD per noodle.
It is more expensive than what you would find in a grocery store, but depending on where you live, Japanese ramen noodles may be hard to find. Plus, it’s exciting to try something new that you wouldn’t normally pick up.
Ramen Pack
The box I got was for October 2019 and the theme was Southern Japan. There were 3 varieties of Tonkotsu, which is from Fukuoka. Then 2 bows of Chanpon, a regional dish of Nagasaki, and then one from Osaka.
CupStar Tonkotsu Ramen
From the packaging, I wasn’t expecting much but this was one of my favourites. It has onion, garlic and ginger with the rich pork bone broth. It has a depth of flavour which I really enjoyed. There is also diced pork bits, roasted sesame seeds, scallions, and wood ear mushroom for added flavour and texture. I would definitely get this again if I saw it in a store.
Maru-uma Tonkotsu Ramen
This was surprisingly good. You get the aroma of the pork bone and veggie extracts when it’s cooking. The toppings – wood ear mushroom, sesame seeds, scallions, and red pickled ginger was very enjoyable.
Hyoubanya Koku Tonkotsu
The broth is light flavoured compared to the other ones in this package. It is topped with chashu bits and scallions. You can even make a boiled egg and add it into the bowl.
It was a decent ramen, but not my favourites as I personally prefer richer broths.
Men Dining Chanpon
This is a Chinese inspired noodle dish from Nagasaki prefecture in Kyushu. The noodles are smooth and in the rich soup with white and black pepper. There are also bits of cabbage, kamaboko, and wood ear mushroom. It was decent, but hard for an instant noodle to recreate the felling of this dish.
Seimen Yasai Chanpon
The noodles have a different texture that is soft and chewy. Just make sure not to overcook this instant noodle. The broth has pork, chicken and seafood so it’s unique. You’ll also find toppings like cabbage, onions, scallions, snap peas, carrots, squid, kamaboko, and wood ear mushrooms. To enhance the taste, they suggest adding a few drops of spicy sesame oil if you have any.
Sugo Negi Miso Ramen
This is the most popular ramen from the Sugomen collections. They have a special process of making the noodles and it’s not fried like other ramen noodles on the market. The noodles has a nice texture but the broth wasn’t my favourite as I generally tend to not love miso based ramen broths. Just a personal preference as I find it too salty.
Okonomiyaki Sauce Yakisoba
This was fun to try out as it was different than all the ramen in the pack. Very fancy packaging and way to prepare this. It’s a dry noodle, so you need to pour out the water after the noodles cook. Then all the sauce and toppings go into it.
It definitely had the aroma of okonomiyaki with the ginger and cabbage pieces.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it was an adventure going through all the noodles. 7 ramen was perfect for the month. The subscription boxes aren’t for everyone, but its great for those who are instant noodle fanatics who don’t have a good amount of selection in their local grocery store.
Where I live, I have tons of ramen options, but they don’t carry all the instant ramen from Japan. ZenPop was a great way to discover some new styles and brands. Instructions were easy to follow and made for a quick meal.
Now, I’m ready for my Japan trip, which is just a few days away.
Blended For You delivers blended, frozen, and ready-to-use smoothies across the Lower Mainland. As a mom, there are days where I barely have time to eat since all the attention is on Baby E. The freezer is my best friend because I can easily heat something up or whip something up.
When my friend connected me with Blended For You, they told me they had a ‘New Parents Sanity Pack’ of smoothies. I was intrigued.
Delivery
As they are based in Vancouver, they currently only to the Lower Mainland.
Vancouver- North Vancouver- West Vancouver- Lions Bay- Squamish- Whistler- Burnaby- Richmond- Surrey- White Rock- Delta- Maple Ridge- Coquitlam- Port Coquitlam- Port Moody
It arrives at the door and if you don’t want them to knock or ring the door bell, you can put in that request too. It was great for us because baby was sleeping when the delivery arrived.
New Parents Sanity Pack
The pack of smoothies comes with 8 different smoothies which give parents some nutrients back in their diet. When baby cries, you’ll do what you can to calm them down. I had days where I didn’t have time to cook, so the thought of turning on the stove was very difficult. I was really excited to give this sanity pack a try just to eat something that wasn’t take out. Especially when baby is sick and you’re sick, anything easy is helpful.
The 8 smoothies in the New Parents Sanity Pack were:
Maca Energy
Maca Java
Green Beginnings
Be Green
Inside & Out Acai
The Athlete
Nutty Banana
Greens Daily Dose
Ways to enjoy it
They suggest 3 different ways to enjoy Blended For You smoothies.
Blending it
Shaking it
Spooning it
Of course with having a baby, you know, turning on the blender is a no-go. Shaking up the thawed packet and mixing it with your liquid of choice was pretty good. If you have a shaker up, you can use that. But, if you don’t, any container with a lid works too.
The Green, Green Beginnings, Inside & Out Acai, and Green Daily Dose were my favourite mixed with a bit of Oat Milk.
My favourite method was actually spooning it right out of the pouch. It was extremely delicious if the ingredients contained banana and or almond. butter. Nutty Banana, Maca Energy, Maca Java, and The Athlete.
Giving Back
I also love how they give back to the community. They have a fundraising initiative for November and December where 15% of all gift pack purchases got to BC Women’s Foundation.
Final Thoughts
I’ve tried a lot of smoothie delivery companies but I do really enjoy Blended For You as there are many ways to enjoy the smoothies and they have combo packs suited for different occasions like getting well, good food gratitude, celebrations, student care, and new parents.
When I was pregnant and developed gestational diabetes, choosing smart meals was very difficult as everything has carbohydrates in an amount greater than what I should be consuming in one meal. When Gomae Meal Prep approached me to try out their service, I had to give it a try. They are a plant-based, zero waste, locally made, healthy and convenient meal option. Great to have another meal delivery service for customers to choose from.
Their mission is to make healthy food more sustainable and accessible. If you order take out or use other companies to deliver meals to you, there is a lot of waste in terms of paper and plastic which all can’t be recycled depending on the grade of material.
Use promo code ‘Foodology’ to get 2 free meals on your first order.
Gomae Meal Prep uses food containers and can be reused over and over again without any waste. They ensure the containers are clean and sanitized before the next customer uses it. Even the sauce containers inside are compostable.
Delivery
They schedule the deliveries on Monday so you can get your meals for the week. I got mine delivered at home, but alternatively, an office would work too. If you need to be available for the delivery, they will give you a 30 minute window, but if not, there is a cooler pack inside to keep the meals fresh and chilled.
The Meals
The meals do rotate, so you won’t be stuck with the same set of meals each week. We went with these 4 items for the week :
Macro Bowl
Almost Poke bowl
Shnitzelonim Salad
Black Bean Bowl
All the meal were pretty good and make for perfect portions for lunch or if you skip one, it can become dinner too. I like how on the website it states how many days it can stay fresh for so you can choose which meal you eat on which day.
My personal favourite were the Almost Poke Bowl as it has a delicious sauce and all the right texture to trick yourself into thinking it is poke when it’s not. I was very surprised and highly enjoyed it.
My second favourite was the Macro Bowl since the sauce was delicious and the vegetables used in the dish had the right combination of textures.
What do you do with the containers after?
After you’re done all the meals for the week, make sure you wash all the containers and they will schedule a time for pick up of the cooler bag, ice pack and the containers so nothing goes to waste.
I rinsed my containers and then threw them into the dishwasher but you can do a quick wash in the sink too.
Where do they deliver?
Surprisingly, their delivery route is quite large and can deliver to most parts of Metro Vancouver – Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Port Moody, Delta, Ladner, Surrey, and Langley. If your area isn’t on the list, let them know and sometimes they can make it happen.
truLOCAL is a monthly meat delivery service in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Buying the best local products from farmers and butchers doesn’t have to be hard, but it can be if you don’t know which places to go to or trust, you’ll just default to your usual grocery store.
I love supporting local farmers and butchers, but sometimes it’s a bit out of the way to go straight to the source. As I am from BC, they source their products from places like Organic Ocean Seafood, Farmcrest Farms, Two Rivers, Hopcott Farms, Georels Bone Broth, among many others. I was able to enjoy a few of my favourite local producers and discovered a few new ones. All the suppliers are very transparent about their processes and how they raise their animals and it’s now more important than ever.
Delivery
The box is delivered straight to your door in refrigerated coolers so the items inside stay frozen until you get home. Inside each box is a brick of dry ice, so it is very very cold. It stays very cold up into the late evenings, so if you don’t come home around 5pm, you have nothing to worry about. Everything inside will stay very frozen.
They can deliver to houses, apartments, the office or even the gym. Just provide detailed instructions so they know what to do when they arrive.
What’s in the box?
Inside the box is all the meats that you ordered for the month as well as the dry ice, so be careful handling it as it is very cold. You can choose a small box or regular box for the month.
Each portion of meat is individually packaged so you can easily throw this into your freezer and defrost each item as you need.
Pricing
The small box comes with up to 18 individual portions for $125 with free delivery. This is best for one individual. The regular box with 40 individual portions for $249 with free delivery as well and is intended for 2+ people.
You can pause, skip or cancel at any time if you need a break if you’re on vacation or whatever else comes up. It’s very flexible, so you just need to make changes to your account to make sure its reflected.
Quality
We got a selection of seafood, sausage, pork, beef, and poultry in our box and used it all up over a span of month. We mostly had the meats for dinner. The quality was pretty good and everything we had contained a lot of flavour even though most of the time we just used salt and pepper to season.
Final Thoughts
Overall, we were really impressed with truLOCAL and the prices are fair for the convenience a well as the ability to support local farmers and producers. Their subscription service is very flexible and easy to pause and start again whenever you need to.
It was very convenient to whip out a meal knowing I always have some meat in the freezer to use later in the evening.
