Pop-Up Shop Archives

In Dessert

[Sneak Peek] Tsujiri: Metropolis at Metrotown Pop-up Now Open in Burnaby

January 25, 2020

Tsujiri has opened their Metropolis at Metrotown Pop-up location near Superstore and Saint Germain Bakery. There has been much anticipation over the opening as it took over the previous Sweet Jesus retail spot. Now we don’t have to travel all the way to Richmond for Tsujiri.

When speaking to staff about this temporary pop-up, they will be around for at least 6 months as they find another larger permanent location.

We heard they were open for soft-opening, so we decided to come right when they opened today. I never thought I would get dessert at 10am, but why not? I really wanted to share their menu with you all.

Grand opening is set for February 1, 2020 and will have the same hours as the mall.

Interior

There isn’t much here except standing counter space. Its all to go so you can walk around the mall and enjoy your desserts and drinks.

Yuzu Citron Float

This has a base of the yuzu citron and then topped with your choice of matcha, hojicha, or mix. My husband loved this drink as you get a little taste of everything.

Hojicha Float

I got the hojicha float which has the hojicha frappe on the bottom and then topped with the mix option of matcha and hojicha. Very good deep flavour of hojicha.

Shiratama Parfait

The parfait has matcha warabi mochi, azuki red beans, matcha soft serve, sweet chestnut, shiratama mochi, syrup and a dusting of kinako powder.

It’s a pretty good size parfait to have a taste of what they have to offer. All the components of the parfait were good.

Brown Sugar Jelly Parfait

I haven’t seen this Brown Sugar Jelly Parfait being served anywhere else. It has brown sugar jelly, which are like denser pearls, matcha warabi mochi, matcha soft serve, syrup, sweet chestnut, shiratama mochi, and tea box monaka. It is sweeter than the other parfait bit the Brown Sugar Jelly was really good. It was a nice contrasting texture to the soft serve.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a great addition to Metropolis at Metrotown even though it is temporary. Hopefully they decided to keep it around for longer. If you stop by for a quick drink or dessert, it’s good. It is a bit pricey but where else are you going to get this in Burnaby? They staff are very quick, so you don’t have to wait too long for your order.

I’d definitely go back as it’s so close to us.

Address:
4700 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://tsujiri.ca

In Cafe

Ca Phe Vietnamese Coffee House: Vancouver Vietnamese Coffee Bar Review

March 10, 2019

Vancouver’s First Pop Up Vietnamese Coffee Bar – Ca Phe Vietnamese Coffee House just opened up inside Chinatown House. I love Vietnamese Coffee, so when I heard they were opening, I had to drag some friends to check it the coffee and pastries. This pop-up is set to be around until mid-May.

Ordering

They take orders via Instagram if you don’t want to wait in line. Sometimes the line does get long, so having it ready when you arrive is amazing! Just send them a direct message with what you want and when, they will get it ready for your arrival.

Interior

There are 16 seats inside but it’s nothing fancy. Most people get their coffee’s to go but some people just find a seat and chat. That’s what I did as I was meeting up with a friend. The tables are in configurations of 4 but usually the line up builds for getting the coffee is long and not too many people sitting down.

Really Strong Vietnamese Coffee

The classic Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk. It’s like a Vietnamese Americano with the sweetened milk. Good if you like your coffee hot.

Really Strong Iced Coffee

This is similar to the one prior but with ice. I actually prefer it with ice as it brings the strong Vietnamese coffee and condensed milk together. Plus, it’s the way I have it at restaurants. Highly recommend this coffee.

Avocado Coffee

This is Vietnamese Coffee with Avocado. You really get a strong taste of avocado when you drink it. It’s an interesting combination that I have never had before. It’s a good way to get avocado into your diet for the day, but the combination wasn’t for me.

Brown Butter Matcha and Cream Cheese Swirl Blondies with Black Sesame Caramel

This was an interesting combination but there was a lot going on with this blondie and the matcha didn’t stand out as much. The more prominent flavours were the brown butter and black sesame.

Black Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookie

Watch out of the black sesame crumbs that may lurk on your clothing as your devour this cookie as a few pieces of the black sesame tends to fall off. The black sesame taste is strong in this cookie with the amount of it coating the cookie.

Spiced Chocolate Hoisin Swirl Brownies with Vietnamese Coffee Salted Caramel

This was our favourite out of the 3 options. It has a good depth of flavour of the spiced chocolate, hoisin swirl and the salted caramel. It worked well together.

Final Thoughts

It’s great to finally have a place dedicated to Vietnamese Coffee in Vancouver even if it’s temporary. The pop-up is meant for a quick to-go Vietnamese coffee, so you won’t have the full restaurant experience with the glass cups and Vietnamese coffee dripper. It helps bring customers unique options like the avocado coffee and egg coffee to show there is more to Vietnamese Coffee than just the standard hot and cold option.

Address:
188 E Pender St, Vancouver, BC

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/caphevancouver/

In Canadian

Over the Hill Orchards and Winery: Supper in the Orchard

June 7, 2018

Over the Hill Orchards and Winery is hosting their Supper in the Orchard series and are located 30 minutes outside Regina. They have partnered with the Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC) Regina and have invited chefs to create a 4 course meal for guests using mainly ingredients from local Saskatchewan farms. If you really want to experience something unique, you’ll want to come here. Most of the proceeds do go back to the CCFCC which sends their junior members to locations across North America for training.

On June 2, the day that we went for Supper in the Orchard, Curtis Toth from The Hotel Saskatchewan, Autograph Collection created us a 4 course meal with an asparagus theme. Along with Sous Chef Brett Stecyk, it was a fun evening to see the meal come together.

The Cost

The supper is $65 or $90 with wine pairing. You can also purchase individual glasses of wine for $6, and non-alcoholic beverages for $3.25. It’s not a bad price since you get a unique meal which you can brag to friends as you show them pictures. I made a reservation a week in advance and they took my credit card information just in case I cancelled. They send you an email confirmation with invoice and a map to get to the orchard.

Arrival

Getting to the orchard was a fun drive, but as you get closer by following your navigation, make sure you follow the signs. If you encounter a very steep hill driving up, you’re in the right direction. Going up can be scary as the view is limited, so just drive slowly.

When we got to the top, we parked and made our way inside. It was windy and cold, so they didn’t have drinks on the patio. Usually if its a nice day, you will see people come early to enjoy the views of the orchard and hills. We got our drinks and made our way to our table and chatted with our tablemates before the meal began.

Asparagus and English Pea Salad

The first dish has charred asparagus, marinated peas, pea puree, sous vide egg , cracked pepper and burnt leek and lemon aioli. It was so damn delicious and a sous vide egg is heavenly. The flavour of the peas and asparagus are so fresh and work well together. This is paired with the Over the Hill Peach Chardonnay as it is an off-dry wine that isn’t as sweet.

Asparagus and Cucumber Gazpacho

The second dish of the evening has the refreshing asparagus and cucumber gazpacho topped with prosciutto smoked parmesan and camelina oil. We slurped it all up and wanted more. Good flavour combinations. This was paired with the Over the Hill gewurztraminer.

Dry aged Striploin

The main dish of the night was delightful. It was sous vide striploin that was seared on the outside. It is served with asparagus gremolata, buttered asparagus, smoked fingerling potatoes, mushroom jam and natural jus. The centre of the striploin was medium rare and showcased the piece of meat. This was paired with the Over the Hill Pinot Noir.

Lemon and Greek Yogurt Cake

You will find zucchini coulis, lemon curd, Over the Hill Sour Cherries, tarragon meringue and pumpkin seeds praline. Who knew zucchini would go well in a dessert. The skilled chefs made it happen. This is paired with the Over the Hill Apricot Riesling.

Tour of the Orchard

As you noticed, each course is paired with their wines from the orchard. They guide you on a short tour of the orchard but as the day we went, the weather was bad, so it was omitted. If you come here on a sunny day, you can see where the fruits grow and hear the process of how it becomes the products that you enjoy.

Final Thoughts

As the night concluded, we settled our bills and enjoyed the sunset as the night ended. I really enjoyed the meal and a visit out to the orchard. It was a unique experience that I would highly recommend if you are in Saskatchewan.

Website:
http://overthehillorchards.ca/

In British Columbia

Terra Vancouver: Unique Plant-based Pop Up Dinners

May 15, 2018

Terra Vancouver creates unique plant-based pop ups in Vancouver, British Columbia. Their goal is to bring together great culinary expertise and passion for innovative dining experiences for gluten-free and vegan lifestyles – perfect for Vancouverites.

These events are currently hosted once a month, each one at a different location, with a different theme, and menu. For the month of May, we were delighted to attend the inaugural pop up at Mission Kits with the meal created by Chef Max Straczek and David from Terra Vancouver.

Canapes

The meal began with beautifully presented canapes which included Beetroot cappuccino lemon verbena foam, vegetable “pirogies” – bean filling / turnip wrapper, carrot tartare, and a sesame spinach gomae. All the canapes are paired with Prosecco.

The perogies has a fresh crispness to the radish with the bean filling. The beetroot cappuccino had a rich yet smooth sweet beet favour. You can see the deep beautiful colour.

The carrot tartare had a nice texture and a crunch in every bite. Also a perfect touch of sweetness too.

The spinach gomae has crispy textures and is complimented with an acidic tangy taste. All the flavours tied in very well together.

Course 1: Cauliflower soup

This dish is themed around the many uses of cauliflower. The flavours were very smooth and every spoonful had a different flavour but each were delicious. The taste of the creamy coconut cauliflower broth did shine through. You can see the crispy cauliflower, mint jelly, pickled grapes and fried capers on the side. This was able to add saltiness, sweetness and texture to the dish overall.

Course 2: Asparagus

This beautifully green inspired dish has asaparagus, charred jus of asapagus, marinated zucchini rolls filled with lemon confit, almond and garlic puree, peas, and quinoa. The dish was fresh yet warm and comforting., like a twist on a traditional risotto. Overall, it has a very mild green pea flavour. The Tannat grape wine from France that was paired with this dish goes well with asparagus.

Course 3

This dish had potato rosti, roasted and pickled turnips, roasted king oyster mushroom, roasted celery roo, vegan demi and truffle duxelle. The flavour were amazing, simply delicious.

Courses 4: “Cheese”

In this dish is nettle crusted grapefruit mostarda cheddar, sorrel, horseradish, and crispy broccoli tips. The cheese is made of cashew milk, which was a great substitute to the real thing as it tasted very real.

Pallet cleanser

The pallet cleaners is made of compressed cucumber with red wine vinegar and sugar. Very tangy but sweet at the same time

Course 5: Dessert

This vibrant dessert has cocoa crumb, coffee crumb, raspberry caviar, a raspberry gel, and vegan chocolate with a pop rock surprise.

Lastly an acorn and peanut butter square.

Everyone went home with a nicely packaged apple jam. A little reminder of this deliciously prepared meal. Hilda was impressed with all the dishes and this meal exceeded my expectations. The food was very fresh and creative. Everything was very well done and she would come back again.

Visit their website – terravancouver.ca for future pop up dinners around Vancouver. Their next dinner is set for June 25th 2018 to showcase the seasonality of ingredients through Spring to Summer.

In Cafe

Taste & Circle: Selfie Lattes

September 7, 2017

Taste & Circle is a shop with different pop-ups inside. They are currently giving away 1,000 selfie lattes if you show them their Snapchat filter. Otherwise, a selfie coffee is around $4. My friend took me here for a coffee break.

The coffee bar is at the front and when I came here, they opened at 11am.

You can either take a selfie there or send them a selfie or image that you want to have printed on top.

Once they create the latte, they put it into a machine that burns the image into the foam.

It gets “printed” very quickly and you get to enjoy it all afterwards.

Address:
206 Carrall St, Vancouver

Website:
http://tasteandcircle.ca/

In British Columbia

Curbside Fresh Market Provides Access to Affordable, Fresh Produce in Vancouver

July 26, 2017

Vancouver Food Bank’s social enterprise – Curbside Fresh Market is now in its fourth season. The mobile market delivers affordable, fresh, local produce to low-income, high-density communities throughout Vancouver. These locations are set up in food deserts, a term that identifies areas that have limited access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, throughout the growing season.

Access and affordability are the top two barriers to a healthier diet that includes regular servings of fresh fruits and vegetables. Rising rates of diet-related illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity are drawing new attention to the importance of fresh, unprocessed foods as part of a healthy diet. Markets such as Curbside Fresh is one way to increase access to nutritious food at affordable prices.

The Curbside Fresh Market is also a wonderful collaboration with local growers. Through its relationships with local growers, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank already distributes over 860,000 lbs of fresh produce to its members during the growing season.

Locations

The Greater Vancouver Food Bank is committed to new initiatives like the Curbside Fresh Market that help realize its vision of accessible, healthy and sustainable food for all. Look for the Curbside Fresh Market in the following communities starting mid-June:

Tuesdays: Gordon Neighbourhood House from 3pm to 6pm
Wednesdays: South Granville Seniors Centre from 11am to 2pm
Wednesdays: Mt Pleasant Neighbourhood House from 3pm to 6pm
Thursdays: Collingwood Neighbourhood House from 3pm to 6pm
Fridays: City Heights from 11am – 1:30pm
Fridays: Mt Pleasant Community Centre from 3pm to 6pm

My Haul

I stopped by the Mt. Pleasant Community Centre after work before heading home and grabbed a few items for our dinner. From the selection of in-season, locally-sourced fruits and veggies, I grabbed some cherries, zucchini and black kale. The prices were low and the produce was definitely fresh.

Personally, I find it great that the Vancouver Food Bank is finding ways to reduce barriers since sometimes we do forget access to fruits and vegetables can be tough for those on a lower income. It helps draws attention to the importance of unprocessed foods as part of a healthy diet.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/curbsidefresh/

In Gastown

Orchard and the Sea: Cider House and Restaurant in Gastown

June 15, 2017

My friend and I love wandering town to find unique places to eat and drink. We wandered deep into Gastown and stumbled upon Orchard & the Sea, which is a Cider House and Restaurant every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night at Birds & the Beets.

They are committed to serving the best ciders from local and international producers, paired with expertly hand-crafted small plates.

Cider Flight

I got a flight since I love trying a variety of drinks to see what my tastebuds are in-tune for. Plus, I never have that much cider, so I wanted to try different types.

Shacksbury Cider Basque: a still, extra dry, and unfiltered cider. This was an interesting cider since it had a funky taste. You’ll find grapefruit rind, spice and apple cellar muskiness.
Twin Islands Cider Boat Days: An off-dry blend of apples harvested from trees on Pender, Mayne and Samuel Island, as well as Vancouver Island and Worrenberg Farms in Keremeos. A partial wild fermented cider aged 6 months in their cellar.
Scenic Road Cider Co Razz: This was my favourite of the bunch. It has a hint of sweetness as it is made exclusively with local dessert apples and raspberries. Their craft ciders from Kelowna are hand blended in small batches.

Final Thoughts

Orchard and the Sea is a cool place to hang out after work on the weekend to have a bite and some craft cider. There isn’t really anything like it in Vancouver, but it’s great to see the variety of local and international Ciders.

We rate Orchard and the Sea:

Address:
55 Powell St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.orchardandthesea.ca/

In Pop-Up Shop

BETA5 Chocolates’ Spring Pop-Up Shop

April 10, 2017

Beta5 Chocolates is back with their Spring Pop Up Shop at 3345 Cambie St (near the corner of 17th and Cambie). They currently have their Springtime in Vancouver 2017 Easter Collection and an upcoming season of ice cream social creations. We were invited for a sneak peek of what they are showcasing for spring.

From cream puffs to ice cream sandwiches, they are ready for your sweet tooth. I’ve been a fan of Beta5 for quite some time now and they always knock it out of the park for creativity and originality in the products they create.

Peanut Butter Rain Drops

The bags of Peanut Butter Raindrops were so beautiful and absolutely delicious.

In a nod to Vancouver’s wet west coast weather, chocolate clouds shower peanut butter raindrops to encourage Easter eggs to blossom.

Corcus Buds

Beautiful inside and out, this year’s intricately layered eggs are truly works of art. It comes in 3 types – Raspberry + Cocoa Nib, Coconut + Passionfruit, and Hazelnut Praline flavours.

Featuring alternating flavours of dark chocolate and house made praline, the eggs are available in two sizes – single-serving “bulbs” and larger “buds” that make the perfect shareable dessert.

April shower brings May flowers right?

Cream Puffs

BETA5 Chocolates recently introduced three new tea-infused flavours to their cream puff family: Mango Bubble Tea, Strawberry Jasmine and Matcha.

Hopping in for Easter are their Peanut Butter Cup and Lemon + Yogurt Cloud cream puffs.

Lemon and Yogurt Cloud cream puff has lemon curd, yogurt panna cotta, and a baked meringue cloud.

Peanut Butter Cup cream puff has dark chocolate cremeux, peanut butter mousse, and a blue peanut butter egg. Of the two, this was my favourite. I am a sucker for peanut butter.

Ice Cream Socials

Keep an eye on their social media as they always have sold-out ice cream socials. The next ones are April 21 and May 5 starting at 7pm until they sell out.

This one was the Rhubarb Crumble composed of toasted oatmeal and rhubarb-vanilla swirl ice creams, rhubarb-hibiscus compote, granola crunch, strawberry marshmallows and vanilla chantilly cream.

Final Thoughts

The BETA5 Chocolates Cambie Street pop-up will be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30am to 6:30pm, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30am to 10:00pm, and Sundays from 11:30am to 5:30pm, starting April 4 through May 15.

The 413 Industrial Avenue location will be keeping their regular hours of Tuesday through Sunday, 10:30am to 5:30pm. Select items from the Easter collection are also available to order online.

Address:
3345 Cambie St, Vancouver

Website:
beta5chocolates.com

In Dessert

BETA5 Chocolates’ Valentine’s Pop-Up

February 2, 2017

BETA5 Chocolates‘ has launched their Valentine’s Pop-Up on Cambie and 17th in Vancouver.

Starting Thursday, February 2 the pop-up will be open 7 days/week from 12 pm – 7 pm until Tuesday, February 14. I came here for a sneak peek of their new temporary space and the unique chocolates and treats they are launching for Valentines Day.

What is so awesome about the pop-up is that they work with local artists in their mural, decor and furniture. Love how they always strive for local collaborations.

Strawberry and Jasmine Tea Cream Puff

This beautiful cream puff is topped with a macaron and gold flakes. A fancy cream puff made right. The flavours go well together and isn’t too sweet. I ate the macaron first and then devoured the rest.

Valentines Day Chocolate Collection

The Valentines Day collection has 6 different flavours in each box:

Sparkling Raspberry
Chai
Turkish Coffee
Sriracha-Sesame
Red Velvet
Hibiscus-Pistachio

There are 2 sizes for this collection – $15 for 6 pieces or $30 for 12 pieces.

Sparkling Raspberry

One of the most unique experiences because once you pop this into your mouth, you can hear the ‘pop rocks’ in action.

Turkish Coffee

This snowy white chocolate with a golden heart has a rich chocolate coffee taste. I love coffee, so this chocolate really made my day.

Hibiscus – Pistachio

The combination of hibiscus and pistachio is so interesting. I wouldn’t have thought they would go together, but it works.

Sriracha – Sesame

The Sriracha and sesame is a very interesting combination I tasted the sesame dominating the flavour then the subtle spice from the sriracha started to kick in.

Red Velvet

This pink chocolate has 3 tiny hearts on top. The red velvet surprise hides underneath the chocolate coating.

Chai

Chai balances out this Valentines Chocolate box with this great combination.

Heart of Gold

The Heart of Gold is shaped in a sphere and it has raspberry jelly, dark chocolate and tonka bean ganache, and crunchy almond-hazelnut praline.

Queen of Hearts

Their Queen of Hearts chocolate bar has freeze-dried raspberries and candied earl grey tea in 35% white chocolate. The raspberries give this bar a beautiful pink colour. It tastes great too.

Ice Cream Social

To celebrate the launch of the pop up shop, they help a one-night only ice cream social. You can get their raspberry and earl grey sundae, which has earl grey ice cream, raspberry sorbet, raspberry compote, vanilla chantilly and macarons.

They have these socials one in a while, so keep an eye out on their social media to find out when they happen.

Other items

They also have a few other items to purchase at the pop-up shop. Lots of chocolate to choose from.

Address:
3345 Cambie St, Vancouver

Website:
beta5chocolates.com

In Event

Crunchtime Cereal Bar: Pop Up by Milk Creative Communications

September 30, 2016

Crunchtime Cereal Bar is popping up in Gastown this weekend on Saturday October 1st and Sunday October 2nd 8am – 6pm. This pop-up cereal bar offers domestic and imported cereals with all proceeds donated to local charity Backpack Buddies.

After Cereal Killer Cafe in London opened up, word spread about an amazing cafe serving up over 100 different types of cereal from around the world. With 30 different varieties of milk and 20 toppings. Vancouverites were really excited when a similar pop-up concept was coming to Vancouver.

Milk Creative Communications launched in Vancouver today using Crunchtime Cereal Bar as the official launch event for Milk, an eight person Vancouver-based agency, previously known as Heth PR.

Interior

They created a neon-meets-tropical escape in the heart of Gastown inside the space of Timbertrain Coffee Roasters. You can see floral flourishes, brightly coloured accents and a cereal curtain.

Cereal selection

There are 12 different cereals to choose from:

Krave
Frosted Flakes
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Fruit Loops
Cookie Crisp
Batman Chocolate Strawberry Cereal
Lucky Charms
Smorz
Cap’n Crunch
Nature’s Path Choco Chimps
Golden Nuggets
Lion Cereal

A majority of these cereals were not very interesting, but there are a few ones that I haven’t seen before.

Price

All pop-up proceeds will go to local charity Backpack Buddies, which supplies hungry schoolchildren with food during non-school hours.

Bowls of cereal with regular milk for $5
Almond, soy and chocolate milk available at an additional charge of $0.75
Toppings will be available for $0.50 per topping

Cereal Bowls

You can craft your own bowls in any way you want. You can definitely make it into a super sugary treat by adding extra toppings.

Final Thoughts

At first, it wasn’t known who was behind Crunchtime Cereal Bar, it seemed a bit strange but who doesn’t like a good bowl of cereal? Milk Creative Communications wanted to treat their rebrand like how they would do for their clients, by offering an array of creative communications strategies and solutions.

It definitely drove a lot of attention, but customers coming here on the weekend can still enjoy bowls of cereal that will benefit Backpack Buddies.

Details:
Saturday October 1st and Sunday October 2nd, 2016
8am – 6pm

Website:
http://www.crunchtimecerealbar.com/

Address:
311 W Cordova St. Vancouver

In Culinary School

VCC Chef’s Table: Pop-up Kitchen

May 28, 2016

Vancouver Community College has brought back their popular – VCC Chef’s Table for the Summer until June 30 at the Downtown Campus. I am a huge fan of dining at culinary art schools as the food is cheap, tastes great and it helps train our future chefs.

Chef Hamid Salimian shares his knowledge and expertise with a new generation of chefs as an instructor in the VCC Culinary Arts program. He did an awesome job crafting the menu with the students.

This pop-up style restaurant is located in the Bistro on the 2nd floor. Just walk up the stairs and it’s on your right.

Guests are seated while the students use modern techniques to create a 5 course set menu before your eyes for $30 or $45 with wine pairings.

It’s a small space, so I think there were 5 tables. All reservations are gone, but be sure to check back in the Fall for their next Chef’s Table series.

The menu rotates every 2 weeks and its a surprise what you will be served.

If you don’t want to do the wine pairings, they have cocktails and other beverages they can prepare for you.

The first course is the Puffed Foie Gras with an apricot puree, candied almond, and rose water honey bubble. It is paired with Grey Monk Odyssey Brut Rose 2012.

The texture was very delicate and tasted so good. We popped the honey bubble and mixed it into the puffed foie gras.

Cavatelli and Lobster has NextJen gluten-free cavatelli, lobster, sweet onion, parmesan, and lobster foam. It was paired with the Fern Walk Sauvignon Blanc 2014.

The lobster was cooked perfectly and the lobster foam was so addictive.

Roasted Squab has sour cherry, red beet, brown butter vinaigrette and topped with greens. It is paired with a Sumac Ridge Pinot Noir 2015.

The squab was tender and full of flavour, but I wish the piece of squab was larger.

24 hour Short Rib has popcorn sweetbreads, hen of the woods, and potato. It is paired with a Red Rooster Hen House Ruffled Wine.

This was our favourite dish of the night. Short rib was tender, potato puree was additive, and we could eat a whole bucket of those little popcorn sweetbreads.

Chocolate Bar has hazelnuts, milk chocolate, and salted caramel ice cream. It is paired with a See Ya Later Ranch Gewurztraminer 2014.

It was so good! The dense chocolate bar and the salted caramel ice cream was a match made in heaven.

It was so much fun seeing all the students create the dishes right in front of our eyes. All the dishes came at a good pace and it was a great experience. For $30 for 5 dishes, it is worth the price. You get a good amount of food, but if you are a big eater, you might not be completely full.

I would come back again in a heartbeat for their VCC Chef’s Table.

Address:
250 West Pender Street, Vancouver‎

Website:
http://www.vcc.ca/international/about/news-and-events/events/article/the-chefs-table-pop-up-kitchen-april-19—june-30.html

In Dessert

Hugos Churros: Vancouver’s First Churro Pop Up Stand

August 3, 2015

Inside Hawkers Mercado at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet is Hugos Churros, Vancouver’s first churro stand. I came here with my Food Blogger buddies – Gastrofork and FoodQueen.

I love churros and it’s hard to find them in Vancouver. Hugos Churros is at this location until Monday, September 7, 2015 (Labour Day). They also pop up at random places in Vancouver, so check out their Facebook Page.

You will find Hugos located near the back corner. I find they have one of the larger line ups compared to some of the other booths.

We found they were constantly busy and you might have to wait a bit for your order as they can only fry so many churros and one time.

Look at those churros being bathed in it’s sugary cinnamon coating.

Churro Ice Cream Sandwich ($7.50) has 2 spiral churros with vanilla bean ice cream in the centre from Mario’s Gelati.

Churro ($3 each or 2 for $5) is a good snack and quite satisfying! It’s crisp of the outside and piping hot on the inside. Plus, it’s coated in all that cinnamon sugar. nom nom nom.

I love churros that I always pretend to cast spells with it. I haven’t had a churro since Disney Land last February.

You can eat it inside the market or outside while you do more shopping. Since it was a hot day, we didn’t want to be inside with all the other people inside.

We Rate Hugos Churros:

Address:
1000-7899 Templeton Station Road,
Richmond

Website:
http://hugoschurros.com/

In Cafe

Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company: Pop Up Shop

August 2, 2015

Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company is currently having a pop up location at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet until Monday, September 7, 2015. If you miss them during their stay at the outlet, they are planning on opening a permanent shop in Vancouver in the near future.

They serve Indigenous teas and botanical tea sodas, foraged right here in B.C. Operated by a mother-daughter duo from the Squamish Nation. You won’t be disappointed when you taste the delicious sodas made with love, featuring the following flavours – Lavender Ginger, Rose Lemonade, Dandelion Burdock and Hibiscus.

When you get up to the counter, their tea specialists will guide you through the different flavours. You can samples some of their tea as well.

They have a lot of different types of tea, so be prepared.

Elderberry Green Iced Tea on Tap ($) is made with organic Mao Jian Green Tea with Elderberries. I had this tea sweetened with a tad of sugar.

Rose Lemonade Botanical Soda ($4) has rose petals, organic lemon and cane sugar. All of us didn’t like the soda because of the strong rose flavour. It reminded us of the scent of Grandma.

Our friends at Gastrofork purchased some of their loose leaf teas to feature on their segment – Tea Tuesday.

Overall, its a nice place to relax after a shopping trip. Sipping on cold tea and avoiding the Summer heat. I found that the tea I love is mostly traditional Chinese tea since thats what I’ve grown up with. So, I generally stay away from blends of tea with other ingredients that aren’t tea leaves.

We Rate Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company:

Address:
1000-7899 Templeton Station Road,
Richmond

Website:
http://www.thecapilano.com/

In Cafe

Amoda Tea: Pop Up Matcha Bar

July 31, 2015

Amoda Tea had a Pop Up Matcha Bar this week at Eastwood Cycle Sanctuary from Monday July 27th till Thursday July 30th 2015. Only 4 short days but they drew a crowd from the Gastown offices and others in the area. By the time you read this, it will be gone. Hopefully they pop up in another area of town soon. Sometimes they are at the Vancouver Food Cart Fest.

They use 100% pure organic stone ground green tea from Japan. I love matcha.

They served up:

Iced matcha tea
Local blueberry mint matcha iced tea
Matcha lemonade
Raspberry matcha lemonade
Iced matcha latte

The prices are quite good and comes in 2 sizes. Since the weather has been pretty darn warm in Vancouver, you gotta go with the large size.

Iced Matcha Tea ($5) was very good. Refreshing and just plain awesome. Add a bit of sugar for added taste.

Local Blueberry Mint Matcha Iced Tea ($5.50) was also really good. Nice combination of flavours.

Iced Matcha Latte ($5.50) uses almond milk and coconut syrup. My coworker asked for half sweet and it was quite good. We never thought that coconut syrup and matcha would be a good combination, but it was.

Raspberry Matcha Lemonade ($5) was quite sour and muddles the taste of the matcha. The dominate flavour is definitely the raspberry and lemon.

Matcha Lemonade ($5) was quite sour as well and perks you up more than coffee. Still better than the raspberry. The 2 flavours didn’t mesh too well.

They sell their matcha on their online store in different blends. Having this pop up shop gave you a taste of what drinks you can make with their matcha. Check out their Facebook page to see if they will have another pop up in the near future.

Website:
http://amodatea.com/

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/amodatea

In Bakery

Cartems Donuterie: Pop-up Shop of Donuts

February 27, 2012

Cartems Donuterie opened up a pop-up shop in Gastown and another near Commercial. A pop-up shop means its only temporary. They sell unique donuts with very unique flavours and cater to people who are gluten-free and vegan.

My coworkers and I have heard a lot of buzz about Cartems Donuterie on Twitter and in the papers, so we decided to check them out during lunch. We also heard they like to be sold out quite fast, so we just monitored their twitter account to see what flavours were coming out next. On their first batch of donuts, they sold out in 39 minutes! So, we waited for their next batch to be ready before we headed out of the office.

They take online orders ( 2 days in advance) as well, just in case you don’t want to run into the problem with sold out donuts or the flavours you want aren’t there. They do free delivery in Downtown too.

Everything is made fresh with local ingredients! They don’t do their baking in the Gastown location since its just delivered to that location. It’s not a bad thing since it’s still fresh!

The shop is very small. When we went there, there were only 2 flavours left. 🙁 They are popular donuts.

It didn’t bother us too much since there were at least some donuts left and the guy serving us was very nice! There are no tables inside, so all the donuts you get at the store are for takeout.

After walking back to the office with our rain-soaked box of Cartems Donuts, we just dug in!

Since there were only 2 types of donuts left, we just grabbed a box of half a dozen ($15). They gave us an extra one since one of the donuts were a bit smaller. I didn’t notice the size difference, but a free donut is a good donut (hehehe…that was my asian side of me speaking).

Cinnamon Sugar Donut ($3 each) was coated with a lot of sugar on the outside. It was beautifully fried! When you bite into it, the outside is crunchy and the inside is spongey. There was a good balance between the ingredients.

Sweet Heat Donut ($3 each) tasted like a slightly dense chocolate donut. The dominant flavour is the chocolate, but there is a very very subtle taste of the chilies.

Overall, the donuts were good, but since I am not a donut fanatic…I don’t exactly have a huge love for them. With $3 per donut, I would probably try more of the other flavours that are more unique.

Since I wanted to try more of their flavours, Angela of Munchkie’s Munchies and I decided to order a dozen and split them during lunch. Such a healthy lunch right? Don’t attempt eating a whole box of 12, since thats really just unhealthy on many levels. The dozen donuts cost $30.

Ordering online was quite painless, choose the donuts you want in multiples of 12 and pay through PayPal. You just need to make your order 2 days in advance. The order arrived on time and I had no issues.

Even though we ordered one of each flavour, we couldn’t try the Bee Sting donut since they didn’t have it. The donuts came in various shapes and sizes. Some were smaller, some were larger.

Triple Chocolate Threat ($3 each) is made with a base of chocolate cake, then topped with ganache and crispy chocolate pearls.

This donut was a bit dense and slightly dry. I liked the texture of the chocolate pearls that complimented the donut.

Flourless Bouquet Gluten-Free Donut ($3 each) but it’s still made in an area with gluten. Eat with caution depending on what your level of sensitivity is towards gluten. The donut has a berry tea glaze on top.

I found the glaze to be quite sweet, but it did have a strong berry taste to it.

Cinnamon Sugar Donut ($3 each) was coated with sugar and cinnamon on the outside. The quality of the donut could have been a bit improved since the shape of it was a bit weird.

What I like about this donut is the crunchy exterior and then the soft inside of it. This donut isn’t super special or unique, but it is good.

Sweet Snow Donut ($3 each) has a white chocolate glaze with large organic coconut shavings.

I’m not a big fan of coconut, but I liked how the taste was subtle and didn’t dominate the flavour. Good balance.

Sweet Heat Donut ($3 each) tasted a little bit different this time around.

The chili flavour was more prominent but not too overwhelming. It just tickled your lips a little. It was kinda a cool feeling.

Earl Grey Donut is infused with organic earl grey tea and a earl grey glaze with edible flowers.

I really liked this donut because it has a good subtle flavour of the tea. Very unique and its a must order.

Breakfast Donut has organic figs, flax seeds, and honey. This was definitely a donut for the wee mornings.

It was quite dense and packed with a lot of ingredients, but it kinda tasted like a bran muffin.

Carrot Cake Donut has carrots in their donut dough with a caramel glaze and topped with candied carrots and oats.

I felt like it didn’t represent a carrot cake since it needed a bit more cinnamon to really bring out that taste.

Classic Donut is topped with a vanilla bean glaze.

I liked the simple taste of the donut. Good fresh ingredients done right.

No Animals? No problems! Vegan Donut has chocolate cake, topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate sprinkles.

I LOVED this donut! Even though it’s vegan, it was so moist and chocolaty. I would definitely order this again!

Overall, there is a bit of a consistency issue with the donuts, but Cartems has a great concept in trying to bring unique flavours and ingredients into their donuts. Plus, they do cater to vegans and gluten-free individuals. I am sure in time they will improve on their products! Don’t forget to check out Munchkie’s Munchies‘s review of Cartems!

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