north burnaby Archives - Page 2 of 7

In Japanese

Ramen Gaoh: New Ramen Shop in North Burnaby

November 3, 2018

Ramen Gaoh is a new ramen shop in North Burnaby on Hastings and Willingdon. They are the newest concept from the Menya Kouji Group, which also has Ramen Gojiro and The Ramen Butcher.

What is unique about Ramen Gaoh is that they specialize in miso ramen. Since they have been open for a few days, there have been large line ups due to a great $6 special, but that is now over. As menu prices are back to normal, there was still a line up during peak hours on weekends. Hopefully this dies down as weeks pass by.

Interior

The space isn’t too large but fits groups of 2s and 4s well. Any larger and it’ll be hard to fit.

There is indoor seating as well as heated patio seats.

Green Tea

They give everyone cold water, but I wanted some green tea, so they change for hot green tea. Pretty standard green tea and nothing exciting. You can always ask them to refill it with hot water.

Karaage

We got the original karaage and it came with 4 large pieces and a wedge of lemon. They have other versions with tartar sauce or teriyaki sauce too.

The exterior was crunchy, moist inside, and full of flavour. Highly recommended and great for sharing.

Okonomiyaki Gyoza

Each comes with 5 pieces with okonomiyaki sauce, mayo, bonito flakes and green onions. They use their original pork gyoza made in-house.

They have different gyoza topping like miso mayo, spicy and trufffle too.

Shiro Miso

This uses white soy bean paste. Generally, it is more mellow and sweet for a lighter miso flavour in the broth. My friend added an ajitama egg and butter to her ramen.

Scorpion Ramen

This is their signature spicy ramen and the broth is made from chicken and pork with their secret miso blend. You can get it in 3 levels of spiciness as well as numbing. At level 2 spiciness and level 1 numbing, it still packs a punch.

Misotarian Ramen

This is the miso ramen for vegetarians. It has a creamy miso and soy milk broth topped with assorted vegetables and a portobello mushroom. I added the spicy garlic sauce as well as some chashu. Not so vegetarian anymore.

It was decent if you like miso-based broths. I wished there was more of the spicy garlic sauce since it didn’t seem as fragrant. The portobello was a big size and gave the dish a nice meaty texture without the meat.

Final Thoughts

Ramen Gaoh is a great addition to the neighbourhood giving people a taste of miso based ramen. Is it my favourite ramen joint? Definitely not, but that’s only because I’m not a big fan of miso ramen. If you are, then this might be the place for you.

Address:
4518 E Hastings St, Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.ramengaoh.com/

In Event

Crave the Heights 2018: Discover the flavours of North Burnaby

August 23, 2018

Crave the Heights is back for 2018 brought to you by The Heights Merchants Association. From August 17 to 26, 10 participating restaurants will have affordable set menus, new food specials, happy hour food, and drink discounts.

The following restaurants are participating this year:

Pear Tree Restaurant
Cristos Greek Taverna
Butchers Block BBQ
The Gray Olive Cafeteria
Chez Christophe
Glenburn Soda
Green and Oak Malaysian Restaurant
Noodle Paradise at Jane’s
Chad Thai
La Villetta

I have lived in Burnaby since I was born and this area keeps on evolving with new eateries opening up every year adding to the diversity of Burnaby Heights. I love this neighbourhood and it’s 30 minutes away from Downtown Vancouver.

Here are a few places we checked out for Crave the Heights this year.

Gray Olive Cafeteria

Gray Olive Cafeteria is serving up their G.O. Reuben Sandwich for $12. It has housemade corned beef, garlic multigrain bread, swiss cheese, coleslaw, housemade thousand island, side of honey mustard pickles. A delicious comforting sandwich available on the weekends and weekdays for the duration of Crave the Heights.

Glenburn Soda Fountain

Glenburn Soda Fountain is one of the most popular places to hit up this summer. They are offering 4 different desserts inspired by The Heights restaurant neighbours to create a special menu of sundaes taking influence from around the world.

Southern Charmer (Butchers BBQ Block)
It’s all Greek to Me (Sfinaki Greek Taverna)
Hanoi Joy (Broken Rice)
Tongue Thai-O (Chad Thai)

We tried the It’s all Greek to Me as most of the other choices were sold out. It is inspired by Sfinaki Greek Taverna, a few blocks away. It has classic Greek flavours with a Canadian twist. You will find Maple Walnut ice cream, crumbled baklava, honey walnuts, whipped cream and topped with a baklava bite. It is a sweet and nutty treat.

La Villetta

La Villetta is an Italian restaurant that has been around on The Heights since I can remember. They are know for their signature dishes like Scallopine al Cognac and Lamb Osso Bucco.

They are offering a few food specials for Crave the Heights.

They have a red sangria for $5.50. A big glass with seasonal fruits to pair with your meal. Nice and refreshing for the summer.

There is a $15 Seafood platter featuring mussels and clams in white wine sauce. Drizzle a little bit of lemon and it will make for a good starter to go with the rest of your meal.

This was only a small taste of whats on the Crave the Heights menus being offered. Check out the full menu on their website to see what else is being offered. Just make sure to visit before August 26 or else these specials will be gone.

Website:
http://www.burnabyheights.com/news/crave-the-heights/

In Cocktails

Personas: Drinks and Bites at Grand Villa Casino

July 21, 2018

Personas at the Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby showcases a variety of over the top drinks and bites for your group of friends. We were invited to check out a few items off their menu just to see what they offer their customers. Since I live in Burnaby, I’m always excited to check out what’s new in the neighbourhood.

Interior

The space here is nice and it can get pretty busy on the weekends with large parties. Best to make reservations if you have a group.

Weekly Specials

Mexican Bulldog Para Dos

This impressive drink has 2 Coronas, Sauza Gold Tequila and lime slush in a huge martini glass. It will cost you $19, but its a drink that is meant to be shared among friends. This drink is very extra but fun to take pictures of too.

Personas L.I.I.T.

This is part of their Iceberg drinks as it is made with rum, vodka, gin, tequila, Triple Sec, Coca-Cola, and lime slush.

Cotton Candy Cosmo

Another fun drink is their Cotton Candy Cosmo with Smirnoff Raspberry, Vodka, Contreau, Cranberry, lime and the fluffy cotton candy on top.

California Sushi Taco

There are 3 pieces per order with crab, avocado, nori, cucumber, togarashi mayo, wasabi, sushi rice, and served up in a gyoza taco shell. Good texture with the crunchy shell. Very tasty and one of our favourites.

Ebi Prawns

Another Asian inspired dish made of tempura prawns, Japanese mayo, bonito flakes, and black sesame seeds.

Sticky Ribs

What makes these ribs stick is the galbi sauce. It is then garnished with sesame seeds and shreds of green onions. Definitely inspired by Korean-cuisine with that tasty sauce.

Chicken Wings

They have chicken wings on the menu they are first crispy and deep fried. You can choose it with Salt & Pepper, gochujang, chili sauce or galbi sauce. This particular one we had was gochujang sauce and it had a kick of spice to it.

General Hao’s Chicken

This cute dish is where sweet and spicy collide. There are bits of chicken lightly breaded and deep fried till a golden brown. Then it is tossed in the Generals secret lemon chili sauce. Their version of General Tso’s chicken.

Thai Shrimps Flatbread

The Thai Shrimps flatbread has onion, sweet pepper, lemongrass aioli, red Thai curry mozzarella, baby shrimps,, sweet basil and toasted coconut. It’ was very yummy and it was unique to taste the flavours of Thailand on flatbread.

Fig, Cheese and Honey Flatbread

There is caramelized onions, figs, mozzarella, parmesan, goat cheese and honey. Its’ cheesy and sweet at the same time.

Tropic Thunder Flatbread

This is one of the most popular menu items. It has grilled chicken, alfredo sauce, grilled pineapple salsa, bacon, cilantro, BBQ sauce drizzle and some chili threads.

Falafel Wedge Salad

For those who want something healthier, this dish has crispy garbanzo beans, sundried tomatoes, cucumber, pickled turnips, lemon-tahini dressing and sumac.

Poke Bowl

This isn’t your regular poke bowl. It has ahi tuna, cucumber, edamame, spicy mayo, gochujang chili dressing, kizami nori on regular rice. The ahi was well marinated and was super tasty. One of our favourites.

Persona’s Burger

This leans towards their pub fare and goes great with a pint of beer. This has 100% AAA ground beef chuck, lettuce, tomato, pickle, red onion, garlic aioli on their brioche bun. You can do some add-ons to it if you want like bacon, mushroom and cheddar.

The curly fries were really good and the garlic aioli dip is best with them.

Bourbon St. Blackened Chicken

It has a bed of brown rice, seasonal vegetables, and the blackened double breast of chicken with the bourbon maple jus. This dish was ok as more of the seasoning on the chicken took over.

Short Rib Pappardelle

This has toasted pine nuts, wild mushroom ragout, goat cheese, extra virgin olive oil and a grilled garlic crouton. This dish was good but the goat cheese was a bit overpowering to let the short rib shine.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of different menu items from pub fare to Asian Fusion. It’s good that Personas is in Burnaby to give residents in the area and travellers more options in this area because there really aren’t that many. Our favourite items of the evening were the California Sushi Tacos, Thai Shrimp Flatbread, Poke Bowl and the Personas Burger.

Address:
4331 Dominion St, Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://mypersonas.ca/

In Cafe

812 Cake and Dessert: Korean Cake in Burnaby

February 14, 2018

812 Cake and Dessert denotes their 8 signature cakes and desserts, crafted from a 12 step baking process. They specialize in cakes and desserts all handcrafted. All items here are inspired by local, seasonal ingredients and prepared daily. They are located close to Gilmore skytrain in Burnaby and there are parking spots out front.

Cakes

When we arrived, they have most of the cakes available but one of them was sold out.

Tiramisu

I got a slice of the tiramisu and it has layers of mascarpone cream and espresso chantilly. The slices are a good size and delicious.

Sweet Potato

This has sweet potato mousse made with freshly cooked sweet potato and diplomat cream. One of my favourite sweet potato cake I’ve had. Highly recommended.

Salted Caramel

This cake has salted caramel chantilly made with house made salted caramel sauce and fresh whipping cream. I personally wasn’t a fan of this cake.

Strawberry Cheese Tart

Strawberry Cake

There are layers of Mascarpone chantilly with fresh strawberries.

Blueberry

There are layers of Mascarpone chantilly with house made blueberry compote.

Blueberry Cheese

This cake is different as it has cheese mousse with house made blueberry compote.

Iced Tea

They also have different teas and coffees on the menu to go with the cakes. We had the Basic Black Iced Tea and the Berry Herbal Tisane.

Final Thoughts

There are some really good cakes here at this cafe.

We Rate 812 Cake and Dessert:

Address:
4208 Dawson St, Burnaby, BC

Website:
https://812cake.com/

In Four Beakers

Atlas Steak and Fish: Burnaby

December 25, 2017

Atlas Steak + Fish is the new restaurant inside the Grand Villa Casino and Hotel in Burnaby. It has taken the old location of EBO and is a modern twist on the iconic North American steakhouse.

They selecting fine ingredients, explore global flavours, showcase unique cooking techniques, and engage through table-side service. These are all elements that speak to their commitment in crafting a truly distinctive dining experience in Burnaby.

Interior

The dining space is very nice and great for any occasion. They even have a private room with lots of seats if you want something more cozy and intimate for your group.

El Diablo

Start the night off with an electrifying cocktail. It has Sauza Silver Tequila, Crème de Cassis, fresh lime juice, and Ginger Ale presented with sparks of fire using cinnamon. From the name of the cocktail, you would think it would be spicy, but this was such a refreshing cocktail. We really enjoyed it.

Agua de Valencia

This yummy drink has dry English gin, fine orange liqueur and orange.

Lobster Bisque

At the centre of the bisque is a seared scallop and roe. The broth had a lot of depth and essence of the lobster. It may not look that great, but it was delicious.

Steak Tartar

This has hand minced tenderloin, miso mustard, pickled daikon quail’s egg, and gnocco fritto. Mix the ingredients together and then eat.

Steaks and Mains

Only the top percentage of Alberta Angus Reserve Beef and U.S.D.A Prime make the ATLAS cut and are selected for dishes. Sourcing from North America’s top producers, they seek out the ultimate commitment to quality and stewardship to ensure the best in marbling, tenderness, and flavour. The steaks are hand-butchered from the top breeds, hand-selected, and aged before being prepared in our mesquite-fired Josper oven.

Chili Ribbed Cowboy Rib Steak

With got the steak done medium rare without the chili rub. The steak was very tender and it was 16oz, so it wasn’t small at all.

There were some leftovers, but we were happy to have it for another meal.

Tomahawk Pork Chop

This has snake river farms kurobuta pork chop, smoked pork belly and apple relish with warm potato salad. It was suggested that we order this as medium. This was recommended by the staff and it was also tender and delicious. We enjoyed the pairing of the apple relish on top.

Whipped Brie Mashed Potato

We got this on the side to share and it was so smooth and fluffy. Who knew brie and mashed potatoes would be so good together. Highly recommended.

Roasted Wild Mushrooms

Ultimate savoury side dish to share for the table. I enjoyed the variety of mushrooms in this. Another winner.

Salted Caramel Creme Brulee

It comes in a mason jar with the torched sugar on top. It is served with chocolate dipped biscotti. A good comforting classic dessert.

Baked Alaska

If you’re looking for something unique, try the baked Alaska that is flambed tableside. How cool is that? It’s a dinner and a little show.

The layers are made of raspberry coconut ice cream, lemon sorbet, orange vanilla cake, and italian meringue.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we enjoyed the experience and it’s something that Burnaby is lacking. They bring some exciting dishes that aren’t easy to find in the area. I would recommend Atlas for intimate dinners for special occasions.

We Rate Atlas Steakhouse and Fish:

Address:
4331 Dominion St, Burnaby

Website:
http://atlassteakandfish.com/

In Brunch

The Gray Olive Cafeteria: Best Brunch in Burnaby

September 30, 2017

The Gray Olive Cafeteria in Burnaby Heights is a hotspot for brunch on the weekends. I’ve come here quite a bit for brunch and every time, it’s consistent and very delicious. Plus, it’s just minutes away from place.

Interior

The space isn’t large as it’s pretty narrow. It’s pretty hard to fit large groups in here unless you go really early or wait for a while. I usually like to come here around 10am since after than. lines start to form. If you are a group of 2, waits are never that long.

If there is a wait, put your name and number on the list and take a stroll in the neighbourhood. They will call you when your table is ready.

Latte and Iced Coffee

Coffee is best to have in the morning if you love to be caffeinated. If you like it hot or iced, you can’t go wrong pairing it with brunch items.

Thai Iced Tea

They also have 2 versions of Thai Iced Tea, one with half & half and then another with coconut cream. Both of them are super damn good and I’ve had it several times.

Chicken & Waffles

A little bit pricey, but you have 2 fried boneless thighs, waffle, spicy Korean ketchup, maple syrup, and whipped brown butter. The waffles are well made, crisp on the outside a fluffy inside. The thighs we juicy and so delicious.

The Kitchen Sink

This has 2 eggs, sauteed veg, green onions, sausage, bacon, cheese, the g.o. potatoes. A little bit of everything in this bowl and it’s filling.

Pork Belly Breaky Sandwich

This sandwich has a thick cut of pork belly, egg, arugula, chives, chili marinated tomatoes, toasted sesame mayo, and a burger bun. The egg is supposed to be marbled egg, but my friend got it cooked through.

G.O. Potatoes

The side of G.O. Potatoes with the smoked shallot aioli is a must. Those potatoes are crispy and addictive.

Avocado Toast

The avocado toast has mashed avocado on sourdough and topped with oven roasted tomatoes, and balsamic reduction.

Final Thought

Overall, ever since my first bite, I’ve been hooked and have taken so many of my other friends here. A great weekend spot for brunch and I’ll be back.

We Rate The Gray Olive:

Address:
4190 Hastings Street, Burnaby

Website:
http://www.thegrayolive.com/

In Event

Crave the Heights: Delicious eats from August 16 to 30

August 23, 2017

Crave the Heights is back from August 16 to 30 with eateries crafting up full set menus, special appetizer deals, Happy Hour features, and after-dinner dessert selections for neighbours, visitors, and foodies to enjoy. I love the Heights and have lived in Burnaby for my entire life. The area has evolved and lots have great restaurants have opened up in the last few years. The full list of 2017 participating restaurants are:

The Pear Tree
La Villetta
Cristos Greek Taverna
Chad Thai
Butcher’s Block BBQ
The Gray Olive Cafeteria
Jane’s at the Heights
Caffe Divano
Chez Christophe
Glenburn Soda Fountain

I went to check out a few of these places on the list for Crave the Heights.

Glenburn Soda Fountain

Glenburn Soda Fountain has four cocktail themed treats that is only available for Crave the Heights. Whether you come earlier in the day or late at night, it’s always Happy Hour here.

This is the Cold War sundae made with vanilla ice cream, Kahlua, chocolate sauce, white chocolate ganache and chocolate pearls. The other sundaes are Mai Tai Fine, Derby Delight and Whole Lotta Cool. If you’re not into boozy sundaes, you can still indulge in their regular menu. Their milk shakes are always my favourite.

Butchers Block BBQ

Butcher’s Block BBQ has a special where you get free cornbread, iced tea, or lemonade with the purchase of any regular BBQ Platter. I got the 2 meat platter with beef brisket and pulled pork. It is also served with coleslaw and fries. We went with the free iced tea to pair with it. The BBQ was pretty good.

Gray Olive Cafeteria

Gray Olive Cafeteria is one of the newer restaurants in the neighbourhood specializing in breakfast, brunch and lunch. They are not open for dinner, but they have been plenty busy since opening. For Crave the Heights, you can find their Pork Belly Bao with a nice succulent piece of pork belly, sesame mayo, radish kimchi, green onion, and cilantro. The other feature – Fried Chicken Bao has a delicious piece of fried chicken, korean pickles, and chogochujang.

Final Thoughts

There is definitely lots to see and eat in Burnaby Heights. There’s more awesome eateries than what I included, but definitely check out what they are offering on their website. You definitely want to check out some of these menu items before August 30th.

Website: http://www.burnabyheights.com/events/crave/

In Chinese

Mr Chili Noodle House: Chongqing Cuisine in Burnaby

May 11, 2017

Mr. Chili Noodle House in Burnaby specialized in Chongqing cuisine. Sherman had a coupon he had to use up before it expired, so he was nice enough to invite myself and some other foodie friends to check out this place. I’ve passed by this restaurant so many times, but never though about coming here till now.

Interior

The interior is beautiful. It reminded me of a cafe, but with no coffee. I didn’t expect this place to look so nice and modern.

Drinks

You can ask for tea or water when you get a seat. The cups are really cute too.

Spicy Pig Ear

The pig ears were thinly sliced and had a good amount of spice to them. It was really good.

Chicken with Chili

So damn good. This is their smaller size and the chicken was so moist and flavourful. Even if you took the chili sauce away, the chicken would be fantastic on its own. I would highly recommend this.

Hot and Sour Potato Vermicelli

This was definitely spicy and it had a good balance of spice and sourness. There is minced meat and peanuts in here too.

Beef Noodle Soup

There are chunks of beef in this soup with nice marbling of fat. The broth was clean and not overly salty. They don’t use any MSG in their dishes. A good sold beef noodle but I felt like it was missing something.

Spicy Fish Tofu in Soup

This is one badass dish with tons of Szechuan peppercorn and the fish and tofu hiding inside. We tried not to eat the peppercorns as it would numb our mouth. The soup wasn’t very spicy at all.

Curry Beef Brisket Pot

Here is a pretty big bowl of curry to share with the table. You probably want to order this with some rice.

Stir Fried Green Beans

The stir fried green beans were ok, but we found it to be a bit old as it didn’t have a nice crispness to it.

Kung Pao Prawns

This dis was ok as well. You need to grab a piece of chili to go with the prawns to balance out the sweeter sauce with the pepper.

Final Thoughts

The spicy dishes were super delicious but a few other dishes were a miss. Its still really good to have a Chongqing restaurant in North Burnaby as its hard to find.

We rate Mr Chili:

Address:
3760 Hastings Street, Burnaby

Website: http://www.mrchilinoodlehouse.ca/

In Bakery

Chez Christophe: Pastries, Sandwiches and Holiday Treats

December 23, 2016

Chez Christophe is located in North Burnaby and they recently moved locations to a larger venue. There’s more seating and a lot more treats to be had. Since I live pretty close by, I was invited with a few other bloggers to check out a few of their new holiday items as well as their other items on the menu.

Sweet Treats

They have lots of delicious treats at the counter. Small cakes to larger ones for parties.

Freshly baked pastries are in basket that fill the aroma of the shop.

Their decadent chocolates are lined row by row.

Behind the Scenes

There is a huge window where you can see Chez Christophe work on some of his chocolate sculptures. It’s pretty fascinating.

Holiday Showpieces

All sculptures are created onsite with their award-winning Swiss chocolate Carma, which is unique to Canada. The pieces are completely edible and consists of hollow chocolate in its entirety, airbrushed with cocoa butter.

Sliding Penguin was my favourite. He looks so cute with the little santa hat on.

Abstract Santa is bright a red just like the big man.

Holiday Bear is probably really popular with the kids.

Santa’s Boot is decorated with a few chocolate treats.

Large Acorn is pretty cool, there are hidden chocolates inside. All you need to do is crack it open.

Lunch Time

We sat down to enjoy a few of their items on their menu to give more of a more thorough review.

Hazelnut Pain au Chocolate was flakey on the outside with a lot of layers. There was a good amount of chocolate in the centre too.

Creme Salee was an interesting pastry. I didn’t like the crust, but the filling was like a delicious custard.

Croissant Sandwich was pretty good here if you want a savoury lunch crossed with their croissants. You have Irish ham, provolone, arugula and aioli in this. Simple but delicious.

Beef Brisket Multigrain Croissant was put in a panini press, so the exterior. The grilled onions, mustard and that flavourful brisket was even better than the croissant sandwich.

Kalamansi Chocolate Tart has a bright orange centre covered in 70% dark chocolate ganache.

Paris-Brest has a choux pastry with almond hazelnut praline buttercream and kalamansi gel. I wasn’t a fan of the tart kalamansi gel.

Chocolate Bar Trio has:

Honey Ganache and Gingerbread Caramel
Eggnog Ganache and Marzipan
Mandarin ganache and Mandarin Jelly

He also has macarons at the store too. I didn’t end up trying these as I was so full eating all the other things here.

Hot Chocolate was really good and rich. They also topped it off with cocoa that is shaped like a heart.

Overall, a few good items to pick up at Chez Christophe. What they are best known for are the chocolates and some pastries.

We Rate Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie:

Address:
4717 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.christophe-chocolat.com/

In Event

Caffe Divano: 4 Weeks of Specials and Giveaways

October 31, 2016

Caffe Divano has been in my neighbourhood for a very long time and they are celebrating 8 years in Port Moody and 17 in Coquitlam. A big milestone and they have been keeping the neighbourhood caffeinated.

The Beecroft’s opened Caffé Divano’s first location in 2008. The duo’s vision for its Port Moody café was to offer the neighbourhood a place where members of the community could feel at home.

To celebrate this milestone, Lisa, Patrick, Gabi and Jules, invite you to participate in their month of giveaways. From October 31st – November 30th, they will have a month of delicious offers and be giving away daily prizes each week with one grand prize.

Specials and Giveaways

Motivation Monday: Happy Hour

9am – 11am: $3 latte or a $2 scone or muffin
Enter in-person to win a $20 Gift Card – drawn weekly

Thirsty Tuesday: Awesome Afternoons

3pm – 5pm: $3 spanish lattes and $2 off all desserts on Tuesdays
Enter in-person to win a free lunch or breakfast – drawn weekly

#TBT Giveaway

Share your favourite #TBT photo from Caffe Divano to be entered to win a $20 Gift Card
Winner announced on social media every Thursday

November 14th-18th Business Card Giveaway

At each location, drop off your business card between November 14th – 18th
WIN: 10 boxed lunches delivered to your office on Monday, November 21st

#DoGoodDivano Saturday Giveaway

With all purchases on Saturday, you can enter to win the grand prize drawn at the end of November
Grand Prize: $200 Caffe Divano Gift Card & $200 Donation to a charity of your choice

Caffe Divano Anniversary Events

Celebrating 8 Years in Port Moody

Monday, October 31st – 11am Anniversary Cake Cutting
Location: 101 Klahanie Dr, Port Moody, BC V3H 0C3

Celebrating 17 Years in Coquitlam

Wednesday, November 9th – 11am Anniversary Cake Cutting
Location: 3003 Burlington Dr, Coquitlam, BC V3B 6X1

If you are a returning customer or a new one, definitely check them out for the month of November.

Website:
http://caffedivano.ca/

In Fast Food

Costco Canada: Deep Fried Chicken Wings

October 14, 2016

Costco locations in Canada have chicken wings. A few months ago, they secretly added these to some of their locations. When I heard a few friends got their hands on these, I had to grab a bunch for dinner.

I came right here after work to the Willingdon location in Burnaby. A pound is $4.99 and family-size (3 pounds) is $13.99. They seem to have lowered their prices as the original prices were covered. It’s odd to see prices go lower rather than higher.

They deep-fry all their wings in a separate fryer than their other items. Since everyone else wanted wings and they can only make so much at one time, I waited about 25 minutes around 6pm on a Friday.

Make sure to get a hot sauce and BBQ sauce to dip your wings into. It helps add a bit of flavour. They gave us 1 hot sauce and 2 BBQ sauces for this bucket.

I got the family-sized bucket and it has about 32 pieces. M and I shared this and we were able to do a pound each. There are wings and drumettes in the mix. It is a bit crunchy, but it’s got nothing on Church’s Chicken.

It’s fun to try something different. It’s decent, but it’s lacking the super crisp exterior. The wings aren’t overly seasoned so it pairs well with the sauces. I preferred the hot sauce and M preferred the BBQ sauce. The wings are best eaten hot, so the skin a bit more crisp.

We rate Costco Wings:

Address:
4500 Still Creek Dr, Burnaby

In Japanese

Sushi UOmo: Sushi in North Burnaby

August 11, 2016

Sushi UOmo is located in North Burnaby in the Heights. M and I were looking for a new sushi place to eat dinner at. I’m trying to find more restaurants that I haven’t eaten at in the area and Sushi UOmo was a place I’ve never tried yet.

This place was busy on a Tuesday and they are open till 10am everyday. Normally a lot of restaurants close on Tuesday since it is one of the least busiest days of the week. It seems to be working that this place is open.

Miso soup came at the start of the meal. A pretty standard miso soup, but it was a nice touch.

Hamachi Sashimi is a yellowtail tuna. It has a buttery and rich flavour. It has a higher fat content than regular tuna.

Tonkatasu is served with salad and rice. A big piece of deep-fried pork. Great as an individual dish or to share.

Aburi Don was a very interesting dish. It had the rice underneath with the torched tuna on top with an creamy sauce. There is a bit of salad on the side. The sear on top could have been a bit better with more char.

Shrimp Tempura comes in either 4 pieces or 7. M and I chose the 4 pieces so we could have 2 pieces each. Crunchy exterior with lots of batter around the shrimp.

Overall, Sushi UOmo was ok. The price of their dishes are affordable and you get a good amount of value.

We Rate Sushi UOmo:

Address:
4280 Hastings Street, Burnaby, BC

In Fast Food

Pizza Hut Canada: 5 Cheese Stuffed Crust with Bacon

July 1, 2016

Pizza Hut Canada had their promotion for 5 cheese stuffed crust pizza and if you got a medium or large, they would also stuff it with bacon.

M saw this online and he just had to make me try it. Of course I never say no, since I love all types of food even fast food…especially fast food.

We got the medium Pepperoni Lover’s, which has extra pepperoni and cheese. It’s such has the classic pizza topping that you can’t go wrong with. I try to avoid veggies with my pizza.

As for the stuffed crust, it was pretty hollow and needed more cheese stuffed inside. Maybe 5 cheeses wasn’t enough to fill the cavity. Other areas had more cheese that others. The bacon also wasn’t stuffed inside, it was more on the edge of the toppings area and the crust.

This was just my experience, but maybe at other locations its done better.

Website: https://www.pizzahut.ca/

In Fast Food

Subway Canada: Butter Chicken Sandwich

April 17, 2016

Subway Canada has introduced their new Butter Chicken Sandwich for a limited time. Canadian’s have been asking for more unique flavours in their neighbourhoods, so they are starting to roll out limited edition flavours. In the West Coast, I don’t think diverse flavours are a problem here, but perhaps more in the smaller communities across Canada.

I used to eat at Subway a lot in my early teens, but as I got older, I rarely make visits here. M comes here if he needs something quick and convenient.

The Butter Chicken Sandwich features all white meat chicken tossed in a butter chicken glaze that is infused with a fragrant mix of ginger, cardamom, coriander and cinnamon. The sandwich is free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

All the butter chicken is portioned out ahead of time.

The person asked us what veggies and sauce we wanted on top. Apparently there isn’t any additional butter chicken sauce to add the the sandwich. It was had to pick a sauce that didn’t clash with the butter chicken sauce coating the chicken. You wouldn’t add BBQ sauce to it or honey mustard.

You can get it as a 6″ sub or a footlong.

Foot Long Butter Chicken Sandwich with Italian bread, lettuce, tomatoes, olives and mayonnaise. Mayonnaise was a good sauce to balance out the butter chicken and not over power it. The flavour did come through and was oddly satisfying.

6″ Butter Chicken with flatbread, the works, and sandwich sauce. I hate making decisions so I added everything into it. The sandwich sauce masked the butter chicken sauce a bit, so it wasn’t a good idea. Also the banana peppers overpowered the spice of the butter chicken. What you choose to add into it can really change the experience.

Overall, the butter chicken sandwich is a nice option if you come here a lot for lunch. It’s convenient and quick.

Of course, it’s not for everyone especially with all the controversy surrounding Subway in the last little while.

Website:
http://w.subway.com/en-ca

Disclaimer: I was provided a gift card from Subway Canada to try the Butter Chicken Sandwich, but all thoughts are my own.

In North Burnaby

Whole Foods Market Burnaby: Sneak Peek

January 27, 2016

Whole Foods Market will open their newest BC store in Burnaby on Thursday January 28th, 2016 at 8:30am with a bread-breaking ceremony with Mayor Derek Corrigan.

The new market is located in the Solo District right at Brentwood Town Centre. The new store serves as a gathering place for local residents and provide high-quality natural and organic goods, as well as locally-sourced products and dining options.

I’ve been waiting for a long time for Whole Foods to come to Burnaby for a very long time. I’ve always adored their spacious store with a large variety of foods. SO beautiful. When I was asked to come for a sneak peek of their store, how could I say no?

More than 230 new team members have been hired for this store, which many are residents of Burnaby.

Each Whole Foods Market is a reflection of the unique community it’s part of its history and heritage, its personal style, and the people who will shape and define its future. When you walk into the store you will see the core values spelled out on the wall as well as a beautiful metal crow art pieces created with a local elementary school.

If you live in Burnaby, you will always notice the huge murder of crows that pass by BCIT every night.

To help make your life easier while shopping, they have their concierge service to help you.

Vega Juice Bar

A juice bar is created in partnership with Burnaby-based Vega. If you need smoothies, juices or shots to perk up your day, it’ll be here.

They also have a pretty cool light fixture.

If you are an avid runner, you can plot your favourite route on the chalk board.

Bulk Section

Cheese

Their cheese department has a lot of different cheeses, plus if you ask their staff, you can try it all before you buy it.

It’s really great service if you have no idea what type of cheese you want to get for your meal.

Butcher Shop

Their full service meat department come from animals raised without antibiotics or added growth hormones. This location offers beef from BC ranchers and local chicken sourced from Thomas Reed and Maple Hill Farms. I love the extra mile they put into selecting their produce and it makes their employees proud of what they are selling to customers.

Seafood

The seafood department has awesome complimentary services like marinating your seafood, preparing your seafood, ice, and cooking advice.

All of the wild-caught seafood is certified sustainable by Marine Stewardship Council or by SeaChoice.

Prepared Meals

There will be a wide range of grab and go meals including pizza, sandwiches, burritos, salad, etc.

Theres also a sushi area to order sushi by the roll.

Black Bird Street Food

At the Black Bird Street Food area, it will be an Indian dosa bar where you will find a variety of curry, wrapped in a South Indian, sour lentil pancake.

Bakery

The delectable bakery department features a throwback menu of comfort classics like pudding by the gram, and icebox cheesecake.

They also have a warm dessert section station with piping hot cookies, cinnamon rolls and brownies. When was the last time you had fresh out of the oven treats?

Allegro Coffee Bar

Artisan Soap By Weight

They have this area where you can purchase artisan soap by weight. It actually spells pretty nice if you want something unique in your washroom.

Interior

Just looking around the store, I was super excited to see so many local producers of amazing products like Hagensborg Chocolates a few minutes away from the store. They have some pretty amazing chocolates.

That display is so beautiful!

When I came here, the staff were slowly putting together their produce displays up.

Overall

It’s a great alternative to have Whole Foods in Burnaby as there are no other large market that will be so transparent with what you’re buying, plus they have high standards of selecting what they carry.

Of course it is more expensive that your average grocery store, but the alternative is there. Especially with the weak Canadian dollar and skyrocketing produce prices, it will be interesting to see how the community responds.

Store details

Hours:
Open daily from 7am – 10pm

Address:
4420 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby BC

Telephone:
604 205 5032

Website:
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

In Kid Friendly

White Spot: New Comfort Foods Menu

January 20, 2016

Once in a while, I will let M choose a restaurant he wants to go for dinner and I’m not allowed to veto his decision. He wanted to go to White Spot to try their Macaroni & Cheese Bigger Burger. I didn’t mind since it was so close to home and you can’t go wrong with burgers.

Macaroni & Cheese Fritters is made with aged white Cheddar macaroni & cheese. Each plate has 5 crispy panko breaded fritters with Sriracha ketchup. There could have been more Sriracha ketchup for the dish, but it really just tasted like ketchup. The server even gave us a whole bottle of extra ketchup.

The inside of the fritter was nice and gooey. No complaints here.

Macaroni & Cheese Bigger Burger with Island Farms Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream ($15.99) has a 6 oz beef burger with macaroni & cheese, a slice of crispy cheddar cheese, sautéed onions, bacon, Sriracha ketchup, and mayo. Island Farms Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream for dessert.

M substituted the fries/salad with zoosticks. The ice cream also never arrived with this dish.

The burger is magnificent and the crispy slice of cheddar is awesome with the bacon. We just wished there was some more mac and cheese inside it. It’s not comfort unless the mac and cheese falls out of the burger.

Chipotle Mango Pork Chop ($15.99) has a tender chargrilled bone-in pork chop served with sweet potato mash, roasted broccoli & chipotle mango sauce. The sauce was drenched over the pork chop, so all you can see is the bone. I have no idea how chared it was. It was tender, which was good. The sweet potato mash was pretty sweet, so I wish I substituted it for something else. Perhaps normal mashed potatoes.

When we got the bill, we realized they forgot to give us ice cream that accompanied the mac and cheese bigger burger, so we reminded the server about it and asked for it to go. He then took our bill away and gave us a new one with the ice cream.

Afterwards, we realized they charged us extra for the ice cream. It was pretty annoying, but I didn’t realized this until we left the restaurant. If I knew it would cost us extra, I wouldn’t have wanted it.
Overall, there’s really nothing comforting about the comfort menu. If you were to come here, just stick with the burgers.

We Rate White Spot:

Address:
6500 Hastings Street, Burnaby

Website:
https://www.whitespot.ca/menu/promo/comfort

In All You Can Eat

Cockney Kings Fish & Chips: All You Can Eat

August 16, 2015

Cockney Kings Fish & Chips in North Burnaby has been here forever! They also have another location in New Westminster. I remember in High School, everyone would come here for cheap all you can eat from Monday to Wednesday and stuff their faces. It never really appealed to me.

M wanted to give it a try since he heard it was good from his friends, so after 14 years of avoiding this place, I saw what Cockney Kings is all about.

We came on a Tuesday, so this place was packed for dinner.

You can also get take-out to avoid the line up inside. We did see a lot of people ordering take out.

All You Can Eat Pollock Fish and Chips ($9.99) is only available Monday to Wednesday. They use pollock, which is a cheaper variety of fish, thus the great price. You can only order this if you dine in.

My plate came with 3 pieces and I found with all them was that the pollock was quite small and its encrusted with so much batter that all you taste is the batter. The pollock is quite bland and not juicy at all.

The all you can eat also comes with pop. A good way to wash down all that batter and chips.

M on the other hand opted to get the regular fish and chips items off the menu. 1 piece halibut and 1 piece salmon. It comes with coleslaw and a soft bun.

It’s part of the combo dinner and it was $16.25 as M wanted to upgrade a piece to halibut. It comes with a bun and coleslaw on the side.

The bun was quite large and has 2 pieces of butter on the side.

The halibut was flakey and juicy. 1000x better than the pollock! The batter is quite thin so you can really taste the fish.

The salmon is also very nice! Cooked well so its still juicy. The batter is also thin.

Having had both all you can eat and the regular menu, I would stick with the regular menu and pay a bit more.

We Rate Cockney Kings Fish & Chips:

Address:
Kensington Square
6574 Hastings Street, Burnaby

Website:
http://cockneykings.ca/

In Canadian

White Spot: Burger Guest Stars

May 24, 2015

Having a White Spot so close to our place is awesome when I need a quick and no-frills type of meal. For a chain restaurant, it’s not bad and I always find something I want on the menu. One item I can never go wrong with are their burgers. They have been making them since the very beginning with 100% fresh Canadian Beef.

Currently they have a “Burger Guest Stars” menu at White Spot for a limited time until May 31st. They have a line up of premium burgers:

Truffled Mushroom Bigger Burger
Steakhouse Supreme Bigger Burger
Crispy Almond Chicken Burger
Johnstone Strait Salmon Burger
Sriracha Goat Cheese Turkey Burger

Some of these are completely new to the menu and some are past guest favourites that they have brought back.

M and I came to grab lunch on the weekend and give them a try.

Truffled Mushroom Bigger Burger ($14.99) is a twist on their Monty Mushroom Bigger Burger. It has 6 oz. of 100% fresh Canadian beef burger with truffled mushrooms, Provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato ,and Triple “O” sauce.

M really liked the patty as it was just screaming with flavour.

Baked Potato Poutine (+$3.49) has cheese curds and gravy loaded with classic baked potato toppings – bacon, sour cream and green onion. By upgrading to the poutine, we had so much food! We could barely make a dent into poutines. Tastes good when you reheat it at home and crack an egg on top. Mmmmmm.

Sriracha Goat Cheese Turkey Burger ($14.99) is a new item they have introduced. It has a chargrilled BC Turkey patty topped with Happy Days Goat Cheese mixed with Sriracha sauce, bacon, apple relish, arugula, tomato and mayo. It is served with coleslaw and a side. Surprisingly it was really good! I never normally order a turkey burger, but they sauce and the bacon make this more flavourful.

I decided to upgrade my side to have the Monty Mushroom Macon Poutine (+$3.99).

Of course, we always wash it down with a glass of Coca Cola.

Overall, good place for a burger and I can see why they had this campaign. Good food done right. They are currently giving away a bunch of prizes as well as free burgers for a year. To enter, just snap a photo on instagram and tag it #BCsBurger.

More info: https://www.whitespot.ca/menu/bc/promo/burgergueststars
Contest ends on May 31st, so you only have a week left.

We Rate White Spot:

Address:
6500 Hastings Street
Burnaby BC

Website:
https://www.whitespot.ca/