Featured Archives - Foodology

In Anaheim

Disneyland Bachelorette Party on a Budget

August 26, 2015

Before getting married, one of the items on my bucket list was to go to Disneyland. What better time to go than with your besties. We planned to be here for 2 days so we could go to both Disneyland and California Adventure Park. Since we were all adults, we knew we didn’t need any additional days since we could get through each park effectively in a day.

When budgeting, the top 3 items that would be most expensive were transportation, tickets, and accommodations. I didn’t want my friends to go broke celebrating my bachelorette. We agreed to try to save wherever we could without being too cheap.

Transportation | Airfare

Being from Vancouver, Canada, we needed to take flights down to California. I prefer direct flight, so I’ll do what it takes to get a good price for them. We could have drove to Bellingham and then taken a cheaper flight, but it’s a hassle.

I like to use Google Flights to track flights to see if the price drops. I’ve had some pretty good luck using it. I would track it a few months in advance of the trip for the flights I wanted. If I’m lucky, I can save 50%.

Transportation | Sign up for Uber and Lyft using Promo Codes

Getting from LAX to Disneyland is going to be an expensive taxi ride and other options would still be pricey or take too long to get to Anaheim.

We took an UberX using a $20 off the first ride coupon that we found online. There’s tons of them around, so make sure you find those codes. From LAX to the hotel, it was just under $40. With the coupon applied, it was $20 in total, which was then split among 4 of us. This is a quicker and cheaper option than taking the Disneyland shuttle.

Uber also has a referral program where you get $20 and your referee gets $20. We kept referring each other, so we could maximize the amount we spent. It’s very useful and we saved over $150.

Lyft also has free credits too, so make sure you utilize it.

Tickets | Free Admission Tickets

Finding cheap tickets as a tourist is a hassle. Only buy tickets from authorized sellers or else you will be SOL when you discover they are fake. There are some online discount sites like Official Ticket Center, Undercover Tourist, and ParkSavers, but you usually have to spend more to save a bit. Some people have said you can get discount tickets at AAA or Costco, but we had no interest in hunting at either of those 2 places down before doing to Disneyland. We were on a tight schedule.

Our group of friends found 2 alternatives to get free entrance to Disneyland, thus saving our group over $500 in admission tickets.

1. Find someone who works for Disney or sister companies

Disney and some of their sister companies give employees free entry for family and friends. Usually, the employee has to be present when bringing you in for free. Luckily, one of my friends knew someone who had a shift during the day we were going, so she brought 3 of us in.

2. Apply for Media Accreditation

Having a food blog definitely has it’s perks.

Qualifying media can request two Park Hopper tickets, good for one day at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Parks, once every 12 months. Just contact their public relations department to apply. You will need to provide them stats from your blog like unique monthly visitors, amount of Facebook./Twitter followers and other engagement metrics.

Accommodations | Indigo Hotel Anaheim

Indigo Hotels in Anaheim was our go-to location for a budget stay close to Disneyland. It is about a 15 minute walk or 6 minute drive to and from Disneyland. It’s an older hotel that recently got renovations done, so it is clean and modern. This came highly recommended from a coworker of mine. It’s a lot cheaper than staying in the Disneyland resort.

With 5 girls, we crammed ourselves in a 2 Queen-sized bed room. It’s supposed to only hold 4 people, but we made a bed with a chair and a bench. Seems weird, but it was still comfortable.

At $113.99 (USD) per night, it was a good price to split amongst 5 people. Check-in is at 3pm and check out is at 11am. It’s close to Anaheim Gardenwalk and a CVS. Easy access to booze since you won’t find alcohol in Disneyland.

Dining | Snack, Snack, Snack

We didn’t end up spending a lot on food while we were inside Disneyland and California Adventure Park. Since we were so preoccupied with taking selfies, lining up for rides, and finding Disney characters that we mostly ate snacks or smaller meals.

You can’t leave without having a corn dog, turkey leg, Dole Whip and churros. All these items were well under $10.

We didn’t find that there were any other sit down restaurants that we wanted to dine at. We kept finding quick and simple meals at the parks. For our larger meals, we decided to eat closer to our hotel later in the evening. You can find the full list here.

Have Fun!

We didn’t dress up all bachelorette-style for this portion of our trip (we saved it for LA), but we had so much fun for 2 days! It’s fun being a kid again. We saw other bachelorette parties here too.

The best time to go would be in the Winter or Fall. Just remember to avoid any major holidays. It’s not fun if the parks capacity is at it’s maximum. We went in early February and the lines were quick and not too crowded.

If you have any money saving tips, please share!

In British Columbia

Lay’s Canada 2015: #DoUsAFlavourCanada

August 12, 2015

Every year Lays Canada does their annual Do Us a Flavour contests where fans can submit their unique flavour inspired by their favourite foods and the different Canadian regions.

After receiving almost 950,000 flavour submissions, Lay’s Canada has revealed the four finalist for this year’s Do Us a Flavour Tastes of Canada contest:

Cowboy BBQ Beans on Lay’s Wavy, inspired by Western Canada
Brenda Boghean from Calgary, AB
Butter Chicken on Lay’s Original, inspired by Ontario
Darryl Francispillai from Mississauga, ON
Montreal Smoked Meat on Lay’s Original, inspired by Quebec
Zdravko Gunjevic from Waterloo, ON
PEI Scalloped Potatoes on Lay’s Original, inspired by Atlantic Canada
Jordan Cairns from Burlington, ON

Do you remember last years finalists – Bacon Poutine, Cinnamon Bun, Jalapeño Mac N’ Cheese and Tzatziki?

Or the year before that – Creamy Garlic Caesar, Grilled Cheese & Ketchup, Maple Moose, and Perogy Platter

Even Lay’s in America has had a few odd choices – Chicken and Waffles, Sriracha and Cheesy Garlic Bread.

Lots of weird flavour combination have been seen in the past few years. I’m hooked every year to try them all and do a review.

Cowboy BBQ Beans uses the Lay’s Wavy chips. It remind me of BBQ chips. I couldn’t pin point any other familar flavours to these chips.

Butter Chicken flavour was pretty spot on. The spices were pretty good and fragrant. It wasn’t too strong, but do able.

Montreal Smoked Meat definitely had a unique taste to it, if you didn’t know it was smoked Montreal meat, you will be wondering what flavour this is. You can taste the smoked taste and a sour after taste.

PEI Scalloped Potatoes have a distinct cheese, chive and butter taste. I ate a good amount of scallop potatoes, so I could really pin point those flavours.

Which flavour will I choose? I would have to give it to the PEI Scalloped Potatoes. The flavour was most accurate and I’m sure you could make scalloped potatoes with those potato chips. That would be quite funny to make. Butter Chicken was a close second. It will be interesting which flavour will win this year.

If you have tried them and decided which flavour you like, you can vote once per day on each of the following platforms from August 11 until September 30, 2015:

Lays.ca/Flavour
Text VOTE to 101010
Tweet using one of the flavour finalist voting hashtags
Instagram one of the flavour finalist voting hashtags

Voting hashtags for Twitter and Instagram are:
#VoteCowboyBBQBeans, #VoteButterChicken, #VoteMontrealSmokedMeat and #VotePEIScallopedPotatoes.

In British Columbia

Lululemon x Stanley Park Brewing: Curiosity Lager Review

August 10, 2015

Lululemon and Stanley Park Brewing collaborated to create the limited edition Curiosity Lager just in time for the 2015 SeaWheeze Half Marathon and Sunset Festival in Stanley Park. It comes in 500ml cans and 4.6% alcohol.

I’ve never done a half marathon and I’m not likely to start, getting it at the SeaWheeze Half Marathon wasn’t an option. Luckily, beer-drinkers can get this at public and private liquor stores in Alberta and B.C.

There are only 80,000 cans that will be available through the Fall, so who knows, maybe one day it will be a collectors item.

I went to the BC Liquor Store and got this all access pack of 8 Stanley Park beers for $17.

2 x Curiosity Lager
2 x Windstorm
2 x 1897 Amber
2 x Noble Pilsner

Not too bad since I wanted to try their other beers a well. For this review, I will stick with the Curiosity Lager.

You can also purchase them in individual cans, but the store I went to didn’t have it.

When poured, it is clear, bright medium golden yellow colour to it. It is made with chinook and lemon drop hops, to give it its citus hop nose with a taste of bready malt, subtle fruit notes, and slight crisp and clean finish.

It pairs well with BBQ meats, rich seafood dishes, spicy Vietnamese or Thai.

The beer was ok, but it wouldn’t be my top pick of beer. I tried it out for curiosities sake. I much prefer lighter and fruity beers. Just a personal preference. I think if I had this with a spicy pepperoni pizza, I think it would taste amazing.

http://www.stanleyparkbrewery.ca/our-beer/curiosity-lager/

In British Columbia

Vancouver Food Cart Fest: Every Sunday, All Summer Long

June 29, 2015

Food Cart Fest is Vancouver’s biggest celebration of street food and they are returning for a fourth year with more food carts and expanded entertainment programming that includes a live-music patio.

It goes on every Sunday during the summer from June 28th to September 6th, 2015 during the hours of 12pm -5pm.

The Food Cart Fest is located between the Cambie Bridge and Olympic Village. It’s easily accessible by transit.

Admission is $2.50, but there are ways to get in for free:

Free for Vancity Members
Free with a non-perishable donation to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society
Free for children 13 and under
Free for seniors 65 and over

Travelling on a bike and not sure where to keep it secure? There’s free bike valet so you don’t need to worry about your bike being stolen.

Food Trucks and Food Vendors

Every week the food truck vendors do switch up, so keep an eye out for which ones will be there.

The list includes:

There’s probably others that aren’t on this list.

Be ready for lineups! The most popular food carts like Mom’s Grilled Cheese and Tacofino will constantly have long lines. Especially during the hot summer weather, make sure you have sun screen on or a really big hat.

The Food

Lets be real, food is really the main attraction and everyone needs a bite of the Vancouver Food Cart Scene. I love food carts and summer is a great time to see them out and about at special events.

Mogu Japanese Street Eats serves up Japanese inspired burgers and their famous chicken karaage. You can also find them at the Richmond Night Market as well as their usual location in Downtown during the weekday.

Ebi Katsu has a breaded deep-fried prawn patty, house made Japanese tartar sauce, and lettuce. That patty is loaded with shrimp! Definitely try it out.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Karaage has marinated deep-fried chicken topped with their house made sweet chili sauce. A crowd favourite!

Dougie Dog serves up all-natural gourmet hot dogs. You may have heard of them because they made an unsuccessful pitch on Dragons Den.

La Mexicana Hot Dog has guacamole, salsa, bacon, jalapeño peppers, and topped with cheddar cheese. It was pretty spicy because of the hot dog and the jalapeño peppers, but the guacamole balances it out a bit more to cool off the initial spicy taste.

Johnny’s Pops is always a popular option for awesome popsicles! Make sure to grab some quickly because they sold out before 3pm on opening day. I waited too long and wanted it to be the last thing I ate here, but I was too late.

Don’t forget to take a photo of it first! Photo first! Eat second!

Don’t forget to stay hydrated. They have their odd booth called “World of Drinks”. Drinks range from $2 – $4.50.

Summer Patio

New this year is the summer patio with live music and alcoholic drinks. It is 19+, so make sure you have ID. They try to showcase the best craft beer and wine the province has to offer.

There are lots of tables and seats available in the area.

You just need to buy drink tickets to be able to sample the drinks. They are around $5.

While I was here, there was Maui Brewing Co, Laurelwood Public House & Brewery and Redhook Ale Brewery. Also Summerhill Pyramid Winery, River Stone Estate Winery and Bombay Sapphire.

I’m sure there will be a rotating selection of craft beers, wine and liqueurs.

Activities

Of course there is more to the food cart fest than just eating. They have included a few fun activities to keep you occupied like life-sized connect 4!

Super-sized checkers game.

They have big jenga too! These 3 games are all located inside the huge shady tent.

Ping Pong

An imitation beach with a live DJ.

The East Side Flea

They were here for the opening weekend. There are a variety of vendors selling some pretty neat stuff.

I’m not 100% if they will be back again, but you can check out their future locations on their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/eastsideflea

The food cart fest is a zero waste event and they try to divert as much waste away from landfills as possible. With the amount of garbage generated, it’s not great for the environment if we just chuck it all away. Last year the festival was able to run for 11 weeks, diverting 93% of the waste generated onsite. Thats pretty damn awesome.

I was actually quite confused how to separate my waste, but there’s usually someone around to guide you.

Overall, it is a fun Summer event in Vancouver. It’s a great way to hit a bunch of food carts at once all in one place. I did find on the opening day that the line up to enter the food cart festival was long and also certain line ups to the popular food trucks were also long. Paying an entrance fee and then paying for food seems a bit off since food trucks are all over the city on the weekday. Luckily, there are options for free entry.

This event isn’t for everyone. If you hate the sunny weather and hate lines, this isn’t the event for you.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by the Food Cart Fest organizers for a media preview to sample some food and also I am an employee of Vancity. I ensure you that all thoughts are my own.

Address:
215 W 1st Ave (between the Cambie Bridge and Olympic Village).

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

In Bubble Tea

Chatime: Bubble Tea in Downtown Vancouver

May 25, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ways to Customize your drink:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We Rate Chatime:

Address:
1274 Robson Street,
Vancouver

Website:
www.ichatime.com

In Cafe

Pepper Lunch Canada: Sizzle Sizzle Sizzle

February 27, 2015

Pepper Lunch is finally coming to Canada with it’s first location in Richmond, BC and soon another location in Downtown Vancouver. It officially opens on March 14th, 2015 but we got a sneak peak. Mmm Mmm Mmm.

Pepper Lunch is very famous in Asia as a fast-food steak restaurant franchise. There are over 350 locations. I remember going to one in Hong Kong a few years ago. Whats great about Pepper Lunch being in Canada is that we have high quality beef, chicken and fish available. Pepper Lunch Canada uses Certified Angus Beef and BC Steelhead Salmon.

Pepper Lunch in Richmond is a sit-down restaurant unlike a few food court style ones in Asia. The seating is comfortable.

When you first enter the door, you can place your order, then they seat you.

Their items on their greatly varies in price as some dishes are $8.50 and can go all the way up to $29.95.

For those who are indecisive, there’s even a picture menu. It definitely helps give you a visual of the food.

Salmon Pepper Rice ($10.95) uses sashimi grade tuna, loads of corn, green onion, pepper and sauce.

You just need to mix the ingredients together and try not to burn yourself on the skillet. It’s 260 degrees! This was my favourite dish! full of flavour and the salmon is so fatty and delicious.

Beef Pepper Rice ($8.95) is similar in composition as the salmon pepper rice. It’s a good dish, but it wasn’t as flavourful as the salmon. If you add their signature sauces – Garlic soy sauce (Karakuchi) and honey brown sauce (Amakuchi), it will give it more flavour.

Kobe Style Burger Steak ($12.95) comes with bean sprouts, beans and rice. Very flavourful beef and Mags seemed to really like it.

Rib Eye Steak ($29.95) is one of their more expensive items on the menu. The 8oz Rib Eye is Certified Angus Beef and very tender when cooked.

You leave it on the skillet for however long you want, then you flip it to cook the other side. Once you are finished a bit of the dish, add the rice on the skillet to soak up the delicious sauce.

I’m glad Pepper Lunch is finally arriving in Canada. No more trips to Asia for DIY cooking. Plus, it tastes a lot better in Canada than the ones in Asia. You really can’t beat our beef and salmon.

We Rate Pepper Lunch Canada:

Address:
5951 Number 3 Rd Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.pepperlunchcanada.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 Brewery

Whistler Village Beer Festival 2014: Recap

September 17, 2014

Whistler Village Beer Festival is a 4 day event of tastings, workshops, awards, and cask showdowns. The main tasting festival event was on Saturday and was open to the public with over 200 types of beer and 62 breweries. The event attracted over 3,500 people!

It was held in the Whistler Olympic Plaza surrounded by grass, trees, and mountains. What better place would you rather have a beer in hand? It’s really a beautiful location.

Early Bird tickets were $30, General admission was $35 and GateCrasher Tickets were $45. The only difference is that GateCrashers get early access to the festival grounds one hour before it officially opens.

Your ticket includes:

WVBF Novelty Mug (4oz)
5 beer tokens
$5 off-site food voucher

If you want additional beer tokens, you can purchase them during the event for $1.50 each.

There were long waits right when the event opened up, so it’s best to be a GateCrasher to get early entry if you hate waits.

The breweries that were in attendance were:

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Bowen Island Brewing
Stanley Park
BrewHouse – High Mountain Brewing Company
SteamWorks Brewing Co.
Red Racer
Whistler Brewing Co.
Dead Frog Brewery
Lighthouse Brewing Company
Deepcover Brewers and Distillers
Parallel 49
Driftwood Brewery
Old Yale Brewing Co
Granville Island Brewing
Canuck Empire
House Sound Brewing
Four Winds Brewing Co

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[one_half last=”yes”]

[/one_half]

[/tab]
[tab id=2]

[/tab]
[tab id=3]

[/tab]
[tab id=4]

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At each booth, they have a selection of beer for you to taste. Just exchange one of the beer tokens for a sample. Having a taste of new beers really gives you a sense of what type of beers you enjoy the most.

I discovered I don’t like beers with a high IBU rating, like IPA. I do enjoy lighter beers or fruity beers. At the Samuel Adams booth, a beer that I enjoyed was the Summer Ale, which has a crisp taste with a hint of lemon flavour. I know, I’m such a girl when it comes to beer. I’m looking for good beers that will pair well with my weekly fried chicken trips.

Talking to the people at each booth was great to learn more about the beer as well.

There is also live music too. This little group of four dressed up in their lederhosen, played some fun music that went well with the festival.

Most of the music played was German Oompah-style music. What better songs to have at a beer fest right?

They also had a section with beer keg art from artists. Some of them looked pretty awesome!

Of course the crowd needed some snack to help them drink more beer! There were a few food trucks and vendors in the area served up pies, pizza, and pretzels. There are also tons of restaurants in the Village if you need a beer break.

They also have a few water stations if you need to rinse your mug or just keep hydrated.

Prost! The Whister Village Beer Festival is great for beer newbies and beer experts! Fun for all those who are over the age of 19. M and I definitely had fun.

What would you do for the love of beer? Travel a few hours to go to a Beer Fest, thats what we did! Plus, some booths had a cool swag like beer openers! Samuel Adams had a cool one with their slogan – For the love of beer.

The next Whistler Village Beer Festival is set for September 17 to 20, 2015. So, keep an eye open for tickets to go on sale next year.

In Chinese

Richmond Night Market: What to Eat?

August 7, 2014

The Richmond Night Market is a summer attraction in Vancouver. I’ve come here for many years and I always gravitate towards the food stalls. The smell of grilling skewers, the slurping sounds of people drinking Bubble Tea and the sight of all the people speeding past you. Entrance is now $2.75 per person. Alternatively, you can purchase a Zoom pass for $20 to get up to 15 visits. It is transferrable and you get to go in the VIP line up rather than the regular line up. It’s good if you are planning to make multiple visits to the night market, have lots of friends, or just hate waiting in line.

I only come to Richmond Night Market once a year, so I paid $2.75 and went in the regular line up. Even though the lineup does look SUPER LONG. It does go by quickly. Their staff is pretty efficient.

There are many options to get to the Richmond Night Market – Driving, Canada Line Skytrain, or you could walk if you really wanted to.

We opted to just drive since we live in Burnaby as they do not charge for parking. So, we thought we could beat the 7pm rush and get here at 6:40pm. To our surprise, there was still a line up for parking.

They made us park a fair distance away from the Night Market entrance. Turns out, their closer parking lot isn’t open until AFTER 7pm.

So, we began our walk to the entrance.

Then we kept walking…and walking until we got to the closer parking lot.

We did eventually get to the Night Market. We just didn’t like the fact that we got “punished” for arriving early and have to park so far.

We headed straight towards the food section! I always get overwhelmed by all the different vendors, so I walk around the booths to see if there are a few booths that make my mouth water. You will find a plethora of different items here like German Pork Hocks, Skewers, crepes, grilled squid, donuts, curry, dim sum, takoyaki, etc.

Shaka Shaka Squid is an awesome new booth this year that serves up Deep Fried Squid. I much prefer deep fried squid over the grilled ones.

There are 3 flavours to choose from:

Shaka (Original Salt and Pepper)
Sweet Seaweed
Spicy Shaka

Small sizes are $7 and Large sizes are $11.

Shaka Deep Fried Squid (Large – $11) is what M, CCK and myself started with. The batter is definitely super crunchy and full of flavour. The squid was not chewy at all and cooked perfectly. The mayo on top went well with it. The Shaka flavour was by far our favourite. I would highly recommend this place.

It was so good, we went back and bought 2 more to try the rest of the flavours

Spicy Shaka Deep Fried Squid (Large $11) is quite spicy after you eat a few of them. It’s good if you love spicy. The amount of batter and crispiness was consistent.

Sweet Seaweed Deep Fried Squid (Large $11) was still good, but it wasn’t our favourite. I think I just really love salt and pepper.

No matter what flavour you get, i’m sure you’ll like it. The batter is what makes it so addictive. M, CCK and I were so addicted to these.

Another new booth this year is Tenryu Hashimaki which sell Japanese savoury crepes on chopsticks.

They have 5 main flavours:

Curry
Cheese
Ramen
Crab
Shrimp

It’s $6 each or 2 for $10.

They even have a diagram to show people how to eat it.

Crab Hashimaki ($6) has the crepe wrapped around the chopstick and topped with the crab, seaweed, and a generous handful of dried bonito flakes. You definitely need two hands to eat this or else it will get messy with just one. I felt the crab didn’t add much flavour to the crepe.

Ramen Hashimaki ($6) was quite similar but it has the crispy ramen noodles, mayo, seaweed, and bonito on top. The ramen added nice texture to the hashimaki.

It definitely reminded me of an Okonomiyaki on a stick or a takoyaki in a different form.

A visit to the Richmond Night Market isn’t complete until I take a visit to Chef James to buy a few of his skewers.

You can choose from:

AAA Steak Beef
Chicken
Lamb
Honey Prawn Garlic
Crispy Green Onion Bun
Lamb Kidney

The skewers are 3 for $7.25 or 5 for $11.50.

We chose an assortment of skewers – Lamb, Chicken, and 3 beef skewers. Delicious as usual.

M started getting thirsty from all the salty food, so he made a visit to Sugar Cane Juice for some Young Thai Coconut.

Young Thai Coconut ($4) M really enjoyed it. Thirst quenching and delicious as always. We prefer these ones over the brown-looking coconuts. These are much sweeter and the coconut meat tastes good. Too bad we didn’t have a spoon to eat it.

For my beverage/dessert, I took a trip to my favourite booth – Icy Bar. I love these items and remind me of my childhood. Plus, I also love mangoes.

They also have a permanent location inside Crystal Mall in Burnaby.

Mango Tapioca Icy ($5) has fresh mango, small tapioca pearls, coconut milk, shaved ice, and condensed milk all layered in a large clear cup. Tastes delicious and looks delicious.

Overall, despite our failed attempt at arriving early to the Richmond Night Market to get a close parking spot and beating the crowds, the food is undeniably delicious and is quite a unique experience.

There’s definitely more food options than what I covered, but you will find something you will like.

On Friday and Saturday, they are open from 7pm till 12am. Sunday and statutory holidays, they are open 7pm till 11pm. It is open this season till October 13, 2014, so you have plenty of time left to visit.

Website: http://www.richmondnightmarket.com/

Address:
8351 River Rd
Richmond BC

In Four Beakers

Minami: Minami Zen Lunch Set

June 30, 2014

Mags and I wandered to Yaletown to get a sandwich, but ended up going to Minami, which was the best idea ever. We just needed a taste of their delicious Salmon Oshi Sushi. If you’ve had it before, you know its pretty damn delicious. It’s always one of my favourite dishes in town.

Minami is the sister restaurant of Miku, which made famous the Aburi style or flame searing technique to Vancouver’s thriving sushi scene. I always find they use quality ingredients and have Ocean Wise seafood options.

Mags and I both had the Minami Zen ($28) which includes:

miso soup
Aburi Tuna
Tofu Salad
Chicken Nanban
Beef Tenderloin Skewer
5 pieces of Signature Aburi sushi

It’s a perfect set to really try a bit of everything off the menu. The price is reasonable and you get the most value out of it.

The first 4 items are served in a traditional Japanese hinoki box.

Aburi Tuna is lightly seared with a wasabi masatake sauce on top. It is also garnished with radishes and seaweed. There are 3 pieces of tuna and it tastes really good.

Tofu Salad is topped off with wonton crisps and a umami soy vinaigrette. It was light and refreshing and the wonton crisps really give it a nice texture.

Chicken Nanban has a sweet and sour soy sauce with an asian slaw. It was ok, but the chicken inside was quite bland and missing some flavour.

Beef Tenderloin Skewer has a sweet soy glaze and has tsukemono, which are pickled vegetables. The skewer was quite large, but it was hard to chew some parts.

Miso soup came in a large bowl and it has tofu, enoki mushrooms and seaweed. Yummy.

The 5 pieces of signature aburi sushi did include the widely popular Salmon Oshi Sushi.

Salmon Oshi Sushi is pressed BC wild salmon, jalapeno, and the secret miku sauce. The BEST!

I don’t know what this one was but I think it was Toro. It was melt in your mouth delicious! None of the aburi items disappointed. Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmmmmm!

Overall, the lunch was more than I would normally have spent, but it was so delicious. It’s always nice to have a treat at the end of the week especially when it’s pay day.

We Rate Minami:

Address:
1118 Mainland St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://minamirestaurant.com/

In Four Beakers

Ask For Luigi: Dining on Mothers Day

June 6, 2014

Ask For Luigi is located in Gastown and has pretty awesome fresh pasta. My sisters and I came here for Mothers Day and we were fortunate enough to get a reservation. We made the reservation a few weeks prior just to avoid disappointment. This is my second visit as I really enjoyed my first visit.

When we got there at 5:30pm, there was a large line up. A handful of people didn’t have reservations, so some of them were lucky to get a seat and other had to come back later in the evening.

I would try to get a reservation, if not, put your name down and just head to a close lounge/bar for a drink. A good option is the Alibi Room.

Beef Carpaccio ($14) was the special for the night and it had garlic chips, capers, and a few other ingredients. Sprinkle some lemon on top and its quite delicious.

Anchovies & Eggs ($9) comes with 4 slices of bread, and the eggs with anchovies.

It’s a pretty neat dish and strangely visually appealing. The egg with the soft creamy yolk, anchovies, and roe. Eggs on Egg!

Luigi’s Meatballs ($14) comes with 3 pieces and toasted bread. These were a good size and perfect for sharing around the table.

Risotto ($17) has asparagus and topped with a piece of smoked sablefish. I think this is the most beautiful risotto I have ever eaten. This was really good!

Pappardelle and Duck Ragu ($19) is always a hit. It’s not too salty and is also quite addictive. You must order this.

Gluten-Free Pasta with pancetta, chilies & tomato sauce was what my little sister ordered. She’s celiac, so we were glad they had the option on the menu. It was ok, but not as exciting as the other pasta dishes.

Tagliatelle, fennel sausage & rapin ($18) was another pasta we had and it was good too!

Olive Oil Cake ($8) has slices of candied oranges on the bottom and topped with ricotta cheese, basil and a drizzle of olive oil. It was delicious!

Overall, the whole family was very happy with all the dishes and they could not stop eating. For the best experience, I would suggest making reservations at 5:30pm for their first seating as the service is fast and won’t disappoint.

We Rate Ask for Luigi:

Address:
305 Alexander Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.askforluigi.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=305+Alexander+St&sll=49.2844485,-123.0976786&sspn=0.0053748,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=305+Alexander+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6A+1C4&z=16 “]

In Brunch

La Brasserie: Amazing Brunch in Vancouver

June 5, 2014

La Brasserie has been on my t0-eat list for a very long time. I came here for Brunch on a Sunday at 11am and they don’t take reservations. Brunch goes until 3pm, so have you have time to enjoy a taste of brunch. They serve Franco-German food and their brunch menu does look pretty delicious.

They also have a food truck, but obviously they sell different items.

I find that if you come right at 11am, you won’t have trouble finding a table as they can seat about 35 people. We decided to sit at the bar, but that turned out to be the best decision ever.

Usually 3 women can sit and chat forever, but when sitting at the bar facing the kitchen, you would not hear any of us talking to each other. We were too mesmerized looking at the chefs cook up a storm.

We decided on what to order by looking at what the chefs were creating rather than focusing on the menu.

French Press Coffee ($4) in what I needed to kick off the day. The coffee is freshly ground for the order and tasted really good.

Savoury Crepes ($14) has chicken, mushrooms, mornay sauce, and veggies on top. This is what I ordered. It’s not the most visually appealing dish, but I chose it because I love mornay sauce, mushrooms and chicken. It didn’t seem like it would disappoint. It was really good! It’s the type of dish I love. I would definitely order this again.

Roast Pork Neck & Eggs ($14) has poached eggs, potatoes, and hollandaise. TaiwaneseGirl really enjoyed hers and the egg was poached perfectly.

Brasserie Breakfast Poutine ($13) has poached egg, bacon, gravy, truffle oil, and hollandaise all slathered above the fries. CanuckGirl did enjoy it, but after awhile, she was sick of the fries as there were so many. This is perhaps a good item to share among the table rather than eat it individually.

One item that I really wanted to order was the Brasserie Burger. It looked amazing and it’s topped with a mountain of crispy onions. I haven’t been here for dinner yet, but so far, I love brunch here.

We Rate La Brasserie:

Address:
1091 Davie St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.labrasserievancouver.com/

In Four Beakers

Bar Isabel: Canada’s Best New Restaurant

May 4, 2014

My most recent trip to Toronto to visit a few friends over the long weekend was a blast. I got to catch up with old friends and chill. Flo recommended we hit up Bar Isabel as it is one of the hottest restaurants in town. I am not familiar with any restaurants in Toronto, so she made reservations a few weeks in advanced and we got a spot. This experience in Toronto was created in partnership with momondo.

It is highly recommended you have reservations before you come dine here or else you might be out of luck. The open everyday from 6pm – 2am.

They serve up spanish tapas and are best known for their grilled octopus. They have been named Canada’s Best New Restaurant 2013 by Air Canada’s enRoute magazine. Also, they have been named one of Toronto’s top restaurants in 2014 by Huffington Post.

The interior is pretty cool. It’s a bit dark inside and really red. It was really hard to take photos in here. To have a good time, groups of 2 or 4 are best.

Hopeless Mermaid ($16) has Elyx vodka, St.Germain elderflower liquor, fresh lime and grapefruit juice, rich ginger syrup, Angostura bitters, and grapefruit zest.

We Choose Yer Own Adventure ($15 – $20) is great for indecisive people. The server will have a chat with you to see if you like refreshing/light or bold/sturdy drinks. Then, they will choose something for you.

Roundhouse ($16) has Auchentoshan 12yr scotch, Jameson Irish whiskey, Los Arcos amontillado sherry, bad azz orgeat, fresh lime juice, Angostura bitters, and lemon oils.

All the drinks were pretty good! Pricey…but the quality was really good.

Cured Meat Plate ($16) has some pickled vegetables and you can choose 3 types of cured meats from the menu. We chose chorizo, beef carpaccio and coppa.

Bread ($4) was soft in the centre and has the crunchy crust.

Spicy Fried Squid ($8) has crispy tongue and kale on top. The squid is very soft and tender. I found that the tongue and the kale didn’t add anything special to the squid to accentuate the flavours.

Smoked Sweetbreads ($18), has raw tuna, spicy pickled green tomato, and brown butter. If you don’t know what sweetbreads are, it’s not what you think. It’s really glands from an animal. This dish tasted pretty good and the sweetbreads had a chewy spongy texture to them.

Albacore Tuna Tiradito ($14) has asian pear, celery, jalapeño and fried rosemary. It had a good assortment of ingredients that pairs nicely with the tuna.

Whole Sea Bream Ceviche ($26) was pretty awesome! It even comes with the deep-fried fish carcass and on top of that is the ceviche. Very delicious!

1/2 Grilled Octopus ($34) was my favourite part of the meal. The half-size was plenty enough for the 4 of us. Wow, this octopus was tender. When you bite into the tentacles, the suction cups just fall apart in your mouth. Hands down best octopus I’ve ever eaten. It has great flavours! I still think about this dish a few times a week. MmmMmmmm so good!

Leche Frita & Salted Dulce de Leche ($6) this was my favourite dessert. It was really delicious and the sweetness and flavours were nicely put together. It was like a churro.

Salted Dark Chocolate Ensaimada ($7) was ok, not as good as their other 2 desserts. The star here is the salted chocolate ice cream. The ensaimada didn’t add much to the dish.

Basque Cake ($8.50) has Sherry Cream all over it. The cake was moist and the sherry cream was perfect with it. So simple but so good. My other friends thought this was the best dessert.

Overall, the four of us had a good time at Bar Isabel. The food was good and I would definitely come back.

We Rate Bar Isabel:

Address:
797 College St
Toronto ON

Website:
http://barisabel.com/

In Cafe

Starbucks: Oprah Chai Tea Latte

May 1, 2014

Oprah Chai Tea latte was just introduced at Starbucks for a limited time. When I first heard about this, I was very confused why there was a drink named after Oprah.

The drink was created in partnership with Oprah Winfrey and Teavana teaologists to create the distinctive chai blend. Each beverage purchased, $0.25 is donated back to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation to help benefit youth education.

As there was a Starbucks right below the office, I might as well wander downstairs to try it out.

Here are the prices at Main and Terminal location in Vancouver.

Tall – $3.85
Grande – $4.55
Venti – $4.95

They are the same prices for Oprah Chai Tea Latte and Ice Oprah Chair Tea Latte.

Oprah Chai Tea Latte (Tall – $3.65) has a spicy chai blend of cinnamon, black tea and rooibos, lightly sweetened and finished with steamed milk.

I’m not a usual Chai tea drinker but I thought it tasted fine. Nothing too special.

Website: http://www.oprah.com/app/steep-your-soul.html

In Four Beakers

Sanchon: Vegetarian Temple Food From Korea

August 31, 2012

Sanchon or “Mountain Village” is one of the most famous restaurants that specialize in traditional vegetarian food served in Buddhist temples. The food is made from organic vegetables fresh from the mountainside. If you are tired of all the fried and grilled food in Seoul, this is definitely a great place to go to.

The location was a few restaurants away from my hotel – Tria Hotel. I came to dine here during lunch with M’s relatives.

The restaurant is located on the second level and instead of sitting on chairs, you sit on the floor. For those who are cannot cross their legs or not accustomed to sitting on the floor, you may feel uncomfortable dining here.

We ordered a set meal and a bunch of banchan arrives at the table. There are over 10 small dishes that arrive at the table made out of different vegetables. Even though these portions are small, it was a lot of food! Each dish had its own unique taste. Some spicy and some non-spicy.

Next, they gave us a plate with pork, perilla leaves and some other vegetable. We ate these together and it was so good!

There was even kimchi stew and a side of tofu that came along with it. There was a lot of food and it just kept coming.

There was also tofu soup.

Then there was more soup and then rice. By this point, we were SO FULL. I haven’t eaten this much in a long time. The meal was my favorite in Korea. It was a tad pricey than other meals in Korea, but it is so worth it to try this experience. I haven’t had this type of dining experience before and I loved it!

After the lunch we headed on up to Seoul Tower to check out the view of Seoul. It’s just amazing how large the city really is. We were fortunate that the monsoon storm disappeared so we were able to see most of the city clearly.

On one of the windows it shows how far away from home I really was. 7,174.20km to be exact.

Overall, this day was pretty awesome. I had incredible food at Sanchon and got a great view of Seoul from Seoul Tower.

We Rate Sanchon:

Address:
677-11 Yeoksam 1(il)-dong,
Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

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In Four Beakers

Minimani: Eating Raw Octopus (Sannakji) in Seoul, Korea

August 14, 2012

Minimani is a restaurant in Myeong-Dong that specializes in grilled meats. Kirby and I met up to venture out to find some raw octopus to eat. We were passing by and saw they had a tank of live octopus, so we were sure they would sell sannakji!

Since it is a BBQ restaurant, all tables do have gas stoves on top. Depending on what you order here, you may or may not need it.

Since we were here only for the raw octopus, we had our side dishes (banchan) on the grill instead.

We were given diced up cabbage with a mayo sauce and kimchi.

Sannakji was on the menu! Yeah! It looks much better in video format since you can see it squirm. The texture was slimy and yes, the octopus does attach to your tongue, inside of your mouth, and teeth. You just need to chew the octopus several times until you are certain the suction cups aren’t working anymore.

If you have had takowasa before at a Japanese restaurant, it’s like that but not spicy and more alive.

Here is the video above! The octopus is alive! In a sense it is dead, but the nerves are still twitching and squirming.

We were given a mixture of sesame oil, salt and pepper to drip the octopus into. It complimented to raw taste quite nicely.

Here is video proof that I ate it. Its really was fun and tasted good! If you are ever in Korea, give it a try! Have you had Sannakji before?

We Rate Minimani:

Address:
199-44, Euljiro2-ga, Jung-gu,, Seoul, South Korea

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In Fairview

Suika Japanese Snackbar: Stingray, Pig Foot, and Other Odd Dishes

July 17, 2012

Suika Japanese Snackbar is owned by the same people who created 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 famous chandelier!

Chicken Karaage ($7.80) is deep fried chicken pieces with a side of salt and pepper. Very yummy! I usually order this when I go to any Izakaya restaurant.

Corn Kakiage ($4.80) are corn niblets fried in cilantro batter, soy sauce and butter. It’s one of my favorite items! It comes with 3 pieces and the butter definitely enhances the flavour!

Tonsoku ($6.80) is a sauteed pig foot until it’s crispy. It is flavoured with soy butter. On the menu it says “Don’t try, if you never had”. Just because of that line, it made CandiedZen and I eat it! When it arrived at the table, it was indeed a pig foot. It tasted good, but it’s not for everyone. There’s not much meat on it, so you are basically eating skin, fat and cartilage.

Sweet Balsamic Sauteed Portabella Mushroom ($6.80) was a very interesting dish. It looked really weird, but with the balsamic vinegar, it was sweet.

Eihire – Dried Sting Ray ($4.20) was something that caught our eye on the menu. CandiedZen and I were so curious about how this would taste! It is also accompanied by a chili sauce and mayo. The look of it was quite weird as I commented saying it looked like very thick feet skin. I think I ruined M and CandiedZen’s appetite. hahaha. The taste was like dried squid, so it tasted totally fine.

Ahi Tuna Carpaccio ($9.20) had lots of slices of tuna with mayo, onions, tobiko, and pea shoots. It’s a pretty solid dish to order at any izakaya restaurant and Suika does a good job at making this. Yum.

Words of Wisdom:

Pay parking on Street
No refills on pop (M accidently spent $7.50 on 3 cups of coke)
Reservations highly recommended!

We Rate Suika Snackbar:

Address:
1626 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.suika-snackbar.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: