Riley Park/Little Mountain Archives

In Cafe

Eclettico Serves Coffee and Art on Fraser Street

June 4, 2019

Eclettico is an interesting new coffee shop with an art gallery and an ongoing art installation. The atmosphere is a departure from other coffee shops because it invites you to slow down, savour your drink and take your time to peruse the artwork on its walls.

Interior

Inspired by coffee shops in Europe, Eclettico aspires to be a gathering place for people to enjoy coffee and have inspired conversations. Past the bar is the gallery, where art from local artists are featured and available for purchase.

The space is warm and welcoming. Customers can peruse the art along its walls, bond over board games available and listen to live piano music on the weekends.

Behind the bar is an ongoing steampunk inspired art installation. A new piece is added every few days, so it’ll be different with each visit.

I know you want a closer look at that cat painting, so here it is:

Coffee and Food

Eclettico was very selective in the type of coffee beans they chose for their espresso. They selected beans with low acidity, as preferred in the northern region of Italy.

Their espresso differs from other coffee shops because it’s prepared with an Italian Victoria Arduino lever press, which uses manually adjusted pressure and lower water temperature to extract the flavour. In other words, the coffee will never taste burnt. It was also interesting to watch the barista manually control the espresso pull instead of just pressing a button.

Eclettico partnered with a local Italian baker to offer fresh baked pastries every day. We tried their espresso, monthly drink special and a latte. Their selective approach to choosing the coffee bean and espresso machine makes a difference. I typically shy from straight espresso because of the acidity, but theirs was smooth and nicely complemented their pastries.

They also offer lunch options, as well as a savoury Aperitivo menu from 4:00pm to 8:00pm. We’ll have to come back to try them out!

Final thoughts

I was excited to visit because their logo has a gear shaped like a cat wearing a bowler hat and a monocle.

It was a pleasure speaking to the owners to witness their passion talking about the concept they’ve envisioned for Eclettico. It would be interesting to visit every few months just to see the progress on their ongoing wall art!

Website:
h ttp://eclettico.ca/

Address:
4172 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC

In Event

Dining at the Nat: Pulled Pork Tottine, The Nat Bat, and Oreo Churros

August 22, 2018

You don’t have to choose between classic baseball snacks and gourmet food while watching the Vancouver Canadians play at the Nat Bailey Stadium. You can have both!

We were invited to a media tour to try their 2018 menu. Chef Dallas took us to all the food cart locations throughout the stadium. Each area serve and specialize in different foods. There’s no shortage of the classic snacks like peanuts and Cracker Jack, or popcorn, hot dog, corn dog, and beer.

But if you want a meal, here’s what to eat at the Nat:

Nachos Grande

Nachos Grande is available in the main concession area. It’s piled high with brisket, olives, jalapeños, tomato, sour cream, salsa, and cheese.

If you don’t want to line-up at the concession area, head to the food carts by the third base where they offer creative culinary and beverages options.

Drinks

Craft Corner offers a rotation of craft beers on tap.

Head up the stairs leading to the Hey Y’all Porch for The Keg Caesar Bar.

When you find the caesars, immediately next to it is the only food stand that serves the following gourmet ballpark favourites.

Pulled Pork Tottine

Pulled Pork Tottine has Cavendish tater tots, smoked pulled pork, gravy, cheese curds, green onion, and sour cream. (A tottine is a poutine with tater tots instead of fries.) It’s perfect for bite-sized snacking throughout the game.

Double Pig Smoked Mac n’ Cheese.

This dish is loaded with rich flavours, so be prepared to share or drink it with a good hoppy beer from the Craft Corner.

The Nat Bat

The Nat Bat is a massive turkey leg that is brined for 36 hours, then smoked to perfection. There is enough meat to share, but you can also gnaw on it by yourself for all nine innings.

The Yard Dog

The Yard Dog is only available from the food cart by the third base near the Hey Y’all Porch. Bring a friend because it takes two people to carry and apply all the condiments of your choice.

What new this year?

Sweet Tea

Sweet Tea is kept simple with black tea and sugar, because you don’t mess with a classic.

Oreo Churro

Oreo Churro is perfect. To be honest, I dislike the cream in the Oreos cookies (fight me!) but the filling in this churro tastes like melted marshmallow. It’s good, it’s not too sweet, and it’s addicting. This is your new favourite dessert at the Nat.

Group parties

Watching the Vancouver Canadians play at the Nat is a great option for parties and corporate events. In fact, there are two areas perfect for it.

Telus BBQ in the Park is located by the first base and accommodate large groups (up to 400). It’s equipped with its own bar! Food is offered as a buffet which include: Red Nugget Potato Salad, Cracked Black Pepper Coleslaw, Baby Spring Greens, Corn on the Cob, Herb and Garlic Roasted Chicken, Bacon Cheese Burger, Char Grilled Hot Dog & Bratwurst Sausage, BBQ Smoked Brisket Mac n’ Cheese, as well as freshly baked cookies and an assorted dessert bar.

The Hey Y’all Porch by the third base seats up to 200 people and offer unlimited ice cream, so it’s a great spot for kids parties.

Final Thoughts

When you’re watching the Vancouver Canadians, make sure to visit the food stands by the third base if you want gourmet ballpark meals.

I’m glad to find out that the culinary team at the Nat Bailey Stadium continually create culinary options beyond the classic concession choices. The menu is refreshed yearly and only the popular items get to stay, so keep ordering your favourites!

Address:
4601 Ontario St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.milb.com/vancouver

In Hot Pot

Boiling Point Main Street: Now Open

March 4, 2018

Boiling Point opened their latest location on Main Street near King Edward. They are best known for the individual hot pot meals that is perfect for the cold rainy weather in Vancouver. I’ve been to their location several times and it’s a good solid meal that enjoyable, plus you don’t have to share the hot pot with others.

Interior

There are lots of seats inside for small to large groups. Nice decor with an industrial look of wood, steel and brick.

Spicy Beef

The first appetizer we had was the spice beef. It’s cooked beef with the yummy spicy sauce. A good item to start with before the hot pots arrived.

Spicy Cumin Lamb

Another option is the spicy cumin lamb. Good flavours as cumin and lamb go great together.

Garlic Pork Belly

Garlic pork belly is also another one of my favourites. You can see the layers of meat and fat.

Spicy Fermented Tofu

This appetizer isn’t for everyone. It has a fermented odour that not everyone enjoys.

Korean Bean Paste Hot Soup

One of my favourites and it has a good amount of spice and flavour. Inside, you will find soybean sprouts, nira, green zucchini, kimchi, pork belly, fish tofu, kamabok, tempura, rice cake, enoki mushroom, fish fillet, wok noodle, lobster fish ball, crown daisy, seaweed, and Korean paste.

I liked this flavour as it has the right about of spice and I liked the wok noodles that were in this.

Japanese Miso Hot Soup

You will find inside the pot – cabbage, udon, sliced pork, enoki mushroom, clam, fish ball, fish fillet, maitake mushroom, crab, fried tofu skin, soft tofu, egg, and green onion.

Milk Cream Curry Hot Soup

This is a newer item on the menu and you will find napa, vermicelli, pork, enoki, mushroom, imitation crab, fish ball, fried tofu skin, corn, tempura, mountain yam, Chinese string beans and sea salt cream.

Taiwanese Spicy Hot Soup

Taiwanese Spicy Hot Pot comes in only flaming spicy, so you don’t have an option to make it mild. Not for the faint of heart.

It has cabbage, instant noodle, sliced Angus beef, tempura, enoki mushroom, clam, fish ball, cuttlefish ring, pork intestine, pork blood rice cake, fried tofu skin, maitake mushroom, frozen tofu, greenonion, and topped with cilantro.

House Special Hot Soup

House Special Hot Pot has napa cabbage, fermented tofu, sliced pork, enoki mushroom, kamaboko, pork balls, clam, quail egg, pork blood, pork intestine, nira, preserved vegetables, tomato, and cilantro.

Milk Tea

All the dishes is best served with some milk tea. I like their Fresh Milk Tea as it is made with real milk and has a bolder tea flavour.

Milky Soft Herbal Jelly

Something different that they have is a milky soft herbal jelly, which they have limited quantities.

Final Thoughts

It’s a great addition to the neighbourhood and is starting to get quite busy at peak hours. If you’re looking for something warm and delicious during rainy days, you’ll enjoy this place.

We Rate Boiling Point:

Address:
4148 Main St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.bpgroupusa.com/

In Dessert

O! Taho: Filipino-Style Tofu Dessert on Fraser St

September 12, 2017

O! Taho has been on my list of places to go to for a while to try their Filipino-style Soya Pudding. There’s only a handful of places to get handmade soya pudding in Metro Vancouver, but I’ve never heard of the Filipino version. My friends were having lunch close by, so we decided to come here.

Interior

The interior isn’t very interesting. Simple, but they focus their efforts of their food. There are 2 small tables to eat here, but most people do takeout. They have on the menu Filipino congee, various longanisa, lumpia, empanada, BBQ, halo-halo and the soy pudding. When we were here, they didn’t have any more congee, so we stuck with the soy pudding.

Hot Soy Pudding

We decided to share the 1 serving size for $5. They also have cold soy pudding too. We went with the hot and it is served with the sweet brown sugar syrup and tapioca pearls on top. Mostly everyone takes it to go, but we had some time to kill, so we had it here.

The tofu was delicious and very smooth. I’ll definitely try it cold next time.

We Rate O! Taho:

Address:
4223 Fraser Street, Vancouver

In Bubble Tea

The Tea of Brightness (TTOB): Bubble Tea in Vancouver

August 20, 2017

The Tea of Brightness or TTOB is a Bubble Tea Cafe from Taiwan. There’s really not much I could really find online, but their cute menu items drew me in. I was with a few friends in the area and we made it a mission to give this place a try.

Princess Milk Tea

The Princess Milk Tea was really the main reason why I wanted to come here. I thought it was initially latte art, but it turns out it’s a marshmallow. SUPER CUTE. MEOW. The milk tea wasn’t very good, but them again, I’ve had a lot of milk teas in my life time, so I’ve become a milk tea snob. I could taste the powdered milk and I really don’t like that taste.

Three Flavoured Bubble Waffle

The 3 flavours are original, chocolate and matcha. We didn’t take a liking to the matcha flavour as it seemed super artificial. The original and chocolate are very good. Where else are you going to find a 3 flavoured bubble waffle? It’s pretty unique but it’s too bad the matcha didn’t stand out.

Final Thoughts

The basic milk tea was definitely lacking, but since I didn’t try any other drinks, I can’t comment on the other drinks. At any new bubble tea shop, I always get the basic milk tea as it’s a basic sign if the shop is good or not. The aesthetic of the princess milk tea was great but the flavour and taste was lacking.

We Rate TTOB:

Address:
3318 Cambie Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.ttob.com.tw/

In Cajun/Creole

Captains Boil Cambie: Cajun Seafood Boil

August 19, 2017

The Captain’s Boil has just opened on Cambie Street serving up delicious cajun seafood boil. They have open a few locations in Vancouver in the last year. Definitely expanding quickly. We were invited to check out the space and a few of their popular items to order.

Crawfish

Crawfish are essentially like mini lobster. To eat this, you have to take off the head, peel off the shell and eat the meat inside. I personally don’t like crawfish compared to all the other types of seafood available because its a lot of work to get a little bit of meat.

Clams

Clams are delicious especially with the roasted garlic and melted butter. Naturally sweet and very delicious. Also, easy to eat as you pick the met from between the shells.

Mussels

The mussels were very plump and meaty size. I enjoyed them with the sauces. I would recommend this too.

Snow Crab Legs

They do say crabs are like the spiders of the sea, but don’t let their spikey legs scare you. Inside is succulent sweet crab flesh. It will take a bit of work to get into it, but it’s not too difficult.

Lobster

They get lobster shipped in daily for freshness and it’s good. It’s best paired with the secret Captain’s Boil sauce. The tail is the meatiest part and the best part. The claws are meaty too but the taste is slightly different.

Okra and Corn

You need some veggies to balance the seafood heavy meal. Okra is something I personally like but some people may not like it due to its slimey texture. The corn is amazing especially during the summer as it’s in season and so sweet.

Cajun Seafood Fried Rice

This was a hit and miss with the table. If you’re looking for something extra on the side to have with the meal, this might be good. I personally don’t like rice too much.

Fries

How can you go wrong with a basket of fries?

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s fun to have cajun seafood in a while especially with a table full of people. Getting your hands dirty with bibs and gloves on is super fun. Be sure to check to market price of some of the seafood before coming here so you know what to expect in terms of pricing.

We Rate The Captain’s Boil:

Address:
3250 Cambie St, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.thecaptainsboil.com/

In Riley Park/Little Mountain

U & I Thai: Thai Cuisine in Vancouver

April 14, 2017

For our 9 year anniversary, M and I went to U & I Thai Fine Cuisine on Cambie Street for a quick dinner. I’ve never been here before, so it was perfect. We came pretty early in the evening after work and we really were craving Thai Iced Tea. Staff were friendly and they guided us through the menu.

Interior

The interior was large and had lots of tables. We did see there were a few tables with reservations signs on them. As it got later in the evening, more and more people filled up the dining room.

The only thing I didn’t like was the strong citrus lemon smell inside.

Thai Iced Tea

This is beautiful and mighty tasty. It is a bit more dark than what we normally see, but it was so good and addictive. If you’re never had Thai Iced Tea before, it is a must.

Chicken Satay

Chicken is marinated in Thai spices, coconut milk and served with peanut sauce and cucumber relish. It comes with 6 pieces and the satay skewers were moist. I liked it with the sauces.

Authentic Pad Thai

This has rice noodles stir fried with chicken, tofu, egg, bean sprouts, and palm sugar in a Tamarind sauce. It is then topped with ground peanuts, chilli powder, fresh lime, bean sprout and chives. It was decent, but seemed more wet than other places.

Green Curry

We got this with beef and at medium spice. When we wanted it medium spice, it was definitely medium spicy with a good kick. It came with coconut rice on the side. It is our go to curry when going to Thai restaurants. Good taste too.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the meal, they give you some mint candy to end the meal. I really did enjoyed the meal and will be back.

We Rate U&I Thai:

Address:
3364 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.uandithai.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 Noodles

Pho Xe Lua 24: Vietnamese Cuisine in Vancouver

January 8, 2017

Pho Xe Lua 24 is a little restaurant on Cambie Street serving up traditional Vietnamese food. A few of us came here for dinner an event. We all haven’t been to this restaurant yet, so we decided to come in and give it a try.

Just note, it is cash only.

Appetizers

Shrimp Salad Rolls comes with 4 pieces and a dipping sauce. It good, packed with vermicelli noodles, lettuce and shrimp held together by the rice paper. The sauce was delicious too.

Deep-Fried Chicken Wings comes with crisp pieces of wings and drumettes. The sauce that came with it was nice and tangy, which balanced well.

Vermicelli

Lemongrass Chicken with Spring Roll and Vermicelli had the chicken cooked well, the spring roll was crisp.

The fish sauce poured over the vermicelli was good.

Pho

Extra Large House Special Pho was what we ordered since we wanted to see how big this bowl really is. There’s a bit of everything in here from beef balls to tripe to rare stake. Good clean tasting broth that wasn’t too salty.

Overall, we had a good time dining here, the food was good and the price was cheap. The 3 of us spent $40 after tax and tip. Not bad at all. If you’re in the area and want large portions of good food at good prices, it’s here.

We Rate Pho Xe Lua 24:

Address:
3346 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC

In Bubble Tea

TMIX Butterfly Lover Series: Blue Coloured Tea

November 3, 2016

TMIX tea & dessert bar is located on Cambie and they recently introduced their Butterfly Lover Series of new drinks using Butterfly Pea Flower that gives a natural vibrant colour to their creation of drinks.

The Butterfly Pea Flower is an ancient Thai herbal plant which is believe to provide antioxidants, improve eyesight, nourishes skin and hair, prevents premature aging, boosts immunity, and it slims. I’m not 100% sure if these claims are accurate, but I find it pretty neat that it produces such a blue colour. They also don’t advise pregnant people to drink this.

Foodgressing invited me to tag along and since I’ve been seeing this pop up on Instagram, I wanted to try it for myself.

Interior

There are tons of seats inside the cafe and the staff is very friendly.

Butterfly Lover Series

They have 7 drinks in their series:

Starry Night: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Kumquat Soda with Ai-yu Jelly
Reverie: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Ribena
Blue Danube: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Earl Grey Latte
Romantic Sunset: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Passionfruit Green Tea
Love in Coco Island: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Pina Colada Slush
Snowy Lover: Iced Butterfly Pea Flower and Calpis
Blue Moon: Hot Honey Butterfly Pea Flower with honey

We tried 4 of the flavours and I liked the Starry Night the best because of the added ai-yu jelly, it adds a nice texture to the drink as you have it with the kumquat soda. The Butterfly Pea Flower is very subtle and you are tasting predominantly the soda.

We also had the Reverie and similar thoughts. They also advised us to shake this drink before consuming to mix the flavours.

Blue Danube has 3 distinct layers of colour from the different densities of liquid in the drink. With the strong earl grey tea flavour, it masks the Butterfly Pea Flower too. It’s not necessarily a bad thing because of the colours of the drink. You will want to mix up this drink too to incorporate all the flavours.

Blue Moon is the only hot beverage using the Butterfly Pea Flower and honey. Once it is steeped, it has the vibrant blue colour. You can get refills of this drink which is nice.

The tea has hardly any flavours to it. What special about it is the natural blue colour that makes it fun to drink and great for photos.

Overall, the new drinks are pretty unique due to the strong vibrant blue colour. As for the taste, because of the subtlety of the tea flavour, it does get masked by the other flavours in the drink.

We Rate TMIX:

Address:
3432 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.tmixtea.com/

In American

Nat Bailey Stadium: 3-Foot-Long Yard Hot Dog and More

August 28, 2016

Nat Bailey Stadium has cranked up some cool menu items for the 2016 Vancouver Canadians baseball games. From baseball game classics like burgers and nachos to sushi and the new 3-foot-long Yard Dog, the Nat has something for all fans.

When at the game, grabbing a drink or food item is part of the whole baseball experience. Since the games start at 6pm, it’s prime eating time.

We got a chance to try out a few of their signature items that are a hit with fans.

Smoked Brisket Sandwich

Smoked brisket sandwich is a popular item to eat during the game. Easy to eat when its tender and juicy. It comes with a bag of chips on the side too.

The brisket is rubbed for 24 hours with Regional Executive Chef O’Brien Tingling’s secret home recipe then smoked for 15 hours and is ready to be served when the doors open at 6pm on game days.

3-foot-long Yard Dog

The new 3-foot-long Yard Dog has only just been introduced to the stadium this season. In the previous year, they’ve only offered 2-foot-long hot dogs, but they knew they had to step it up. This all-beef giant is perfect for splitting between 4 -6 people.

Or if you are super ambitious, you can try eating it yourself. It’s an huge hot dog, but they couldn’t acquire a large enough bun for the 3 foot hot dog, so they have 2 2-foot buns from a local bakery. They are trying hard to see if they can source a 3-foot bun thats fits better for the next season.

If you aren’t up to the challenge, they have 1 foot or 2 foot hot dog options.

Nachos

Nachos are a game day staple, cover it with a lot of cheese and toppings to make it amazing. Easy item to share too.

Pretzels

Pretzels are another traditional game day favourite. A pretzel in one hand and a beer in the other.

Ice Cream

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. You can get an ice cold treat in a Canadian’s Baseball cap cup. We got the mint chocolate chip ice cream housed in that super cut cup. With the hot summers, have a nice cold ice cream for the kids in a great accompaniment.

Beer and other alcoholic beverages

Speaking of beers, they have a large variety of domestic and international beers. Whistler Brewing has a few of their beers here. They also have Hey Y’All hard iced tea for those who want a little something something without a strong alcohol taste.

Food and drinks are an essential part of the game with the Vancouver Canadians. Of course the game itself is entertaining when someone hits a home run or when people strike out. They also have fun things to engage fans beside food, like, their bobblehead giveaways.

Website:
http://www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t435

Address:
4575 Clancy Loranger Way, Vancouver, BC

In Cafe

Mui Garden: Curry Beef Brisket and Fried Rice

December 3, 2015

Mui Garden is a Hong Kong style Cafe and they have been around for so long that it just makes me feel nostalgic every time I dine here. The hand written posters on the walls in all Chinese characters, the big booth seating and so many variety of dishes on the menu.

It was a super cold day in Vancouver, so M and I didn’t want to travel to far for a quick dinner.

M and I came here at 5:45pm just in time for their Tea Time Menu, which have lunch sets for a cheaper price before the dinner time rush.

Curry Beef Brisket set comes with rice and soup on the side.

Winter melon soup with pork was the soup of the day.

The curry has big tender chunks of beef brisket and some potatoes. The portion was good for one.

Shrimp and BBQ Pork Fried Rice was what M got. He used to order this all the time when he was in university. M thought it was pretty mediocre in taste.

Overall, the food is pretty average and nothing too special about it, but most people come here for a quick cheap meal.

We Rate Mui Garden:

Address:
4265 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.muigarden.com/

In Farm to Table

Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co: Flatbread Pizza on Main Street

December 1, 2015

Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co has 3 locations in Vancouver. One on Main St, Park Royal and another in Kitsilano. They are best known for their pizza making parties as its fun for families or a large group of friends.

They currently are featuring a 3 course meal for $19. I was invite to check it out.

You can choose your starter which you can pick their traditional salads or feature soup of the day.

The mains are their small traditional flatbread pizzas.

Then you can end your meal from choosing either their double chocolate brownie, baked cheesecake, seasonal sorbet or vanilla ice cream.

Their dishes feature local and organic produce, free range organic meats & OceanWise seafood. Each dish is handcrafted daily in house.

All of their flatbread pizzas, pastas, salads, daily soups and desserts are available gluten free. Great for people with allergies.

M and I got a coke each in addition to the meal. Coke and pizza go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly.

Field Mushroom soup served with a slice of flat bread. Good flavours with a slight hint of spice. You can’t go wrong with it.

Fig and Goat Cheese Salad is one of their most popular salads. It has assorted greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, goat cheese, black mission fig dressing and Vancouver grown sunflower sprouts. It is also served with flatbread on the side. Nice fresh salad with just the right amount of dressing.

Naturally Meaty Traditional Flatbread Pizza has organic tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy certified organic ground beef, kale, Italian sausage, shaved red onions, roma tomatoes, herbs and asiago cheese.

It has a nice thin crust and crisp on the outer edges, but the centre of it seemed a bit droopy. There wasn’t a lot of beef or sausage on top which I was a tad disappointed in. Despite that, they did balance the amount of toppings on the pizza so its not overly loaded.

Italian Fennel Sausage Artisan Flatbread Pizza is 10 inches and is bigger than their traditional flatbread pizzas.

It has organic tomato sauce, roasted local red bell peppers, Italian sausage, roasted garlic cloves, semi-dried roma tomatoes, caramelized red onions, Mozzafina Di Latte and Goat Cheese.

When we picked up a slice, all the toppings just slid off. The flatbread didn’t told all the toppings in place. The peppers seemed to weigh it down.

The pizzas were a hit and a miss. I love that they use local and organic ingredients, which made the meal a lot healthier that a regular pizza. I just felt the flat bread wasn’t crisp enough in the centre.

Baked Cheesecake with a Toasted Coconut base was a nice treat to end the meal.

Warm Double Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream was my favourite. You also can’t go wrong with this classic dessert.

The 3 course meal is a good deal since the pizzas are already more than $10.

We Rate Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co:

Address:
4186 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://rockymountainflatbread.ca/

In Chinese

Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant: Dinner Feast

August 5, 2015

Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant opened up in 2009 and serves up dim sum, dinner and can cater to large events like weddings. They can hold up to 500 people. We came here for a ChineseBites dinner with other bloggers during the weekday.

The atmosphere was definitely interesting as they partitioned a section of the restaurant for karaoke and dancing. We weren’t sure if this was a normal night here or just a special event.

We had our own little area to enjoy dinner.

Fraser Court Deluxe Appetizer Platter 紅日大拼盤 has marinated jelly fish, honey garlic spareribs, jellied pork hock and five spice beef shank. All of the items were good but I wish the pork hock and beef were sliced a tad thicker.

Everyone seemed to like the honey garlic spareribs as it has a crunch exterior and the sweet sauce.

Whole Winter Melon with Seafood 八寶冬瓜盅 is always a treat to look at when its brought to the table. You can’t help but take a picture of the beautiful container that it’s in.

The soup basically had everything – duck, scallop, fish maw, crab and so many other ingredients. I enjoyed the soup, but there was a lot of items in it.

For the rest of the soup, they set it aside in a bowl. You can see that there a re a lot of items that go into making this soup.

Lobster in Supreme Soy Sauce 頭抽龍蝦 had a delicious taste, but when getting into the meat, I felt like it was a bit tough and chewy.

Chef’s Secret Recipe Jumbo Crab 招牌秘製大蟹 the crab and the lobster had a similar taste. You will need to add extra effort getting the meat out of the lobster limbs.

Sauteed Three Kinds of Seafoods with Black Fungus & Greens 金瓜雲耳炒三鮮 was great. The peas were cooked perfectly so it retained a nice crunch when biting into them.

Roasted House Specialty Chicken 秘製生焗走地雞 was my favourite dish because the chicken was still moist but the skin was nice and crispy. I would order this again.

Clams & Whole Tilapia Fish Chiu Chow Style 潮式大蜆鰂魚煲 was very delicate. When we grabbed some meat off the fish, it would fall into the broth never to be seen again. It would have been nice if it was just served on a plate and the bowl created issues.

Scallops & Egg Tofu with Eggplants in Spicy Garlic Hot Pot 漁香三子煲 was smother in a sort of chili sauce. I kinda enjoyed the silky egg tofu and eggplants.

Sliced Tender Beef with Mushrooms 醬燒肥牛粒 was ok, but the beef was not as tender as I had from other restaurant. Maybe the meat needed to be marinated for longer.

Halibut Belly with Shallots & Green Onions 京蔥頭抽哈利拔頭腩 reminded me slightly of the sauce used for the crab and lobster. Nonetheless, yummy flavour.

Baked Tapioca Pudding 西米焗布甸 is always the best option at a Chinese restaurant. Step aside red bean soup because the baked tapioca pudding is awesome.

They portion it up amongst the table and it was consumed instantly…but after taking picture of course.

Overall the food was good but some dishes started to taste similar after a while like the crab and lobster.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to dine at Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant and my meal was comped. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
3489 Fraser Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.frasercourt.ca/

In Izakaya

Itadakimasu Izakaya: Japanese Food on Main

April 24, 2014

Itadakimasu Izakaya is a Japanese restaurant on Main street. They are only open for dinner and they have some good drink specials at night. We came here for a triple birthday party as they had great drink specials and good price on food.

Sapporo Pitcher ($9.99) and Large Geikkaikan Sake ($5.99) are an amazing deal.

Daily Cute Temari Sushi Box ($12) has 10 assorted ball shaped sushi. They are essentially nigiri’s in a different form. They definitely look amazing, but once you taste it, its quite standard. Nothing different tasting.

Beef Tataki ($10) has seared rare AAA beef tenderloin marinated in ginger soy and mirin. It also has ponzu sauce in gelatin form.

Chicken Karaage ($6) is marinated chicken thats been deep-fried. It comes with 6 pieces and its delicious as always.

Geso Karaage ($6.50) is deep fried squid legs. Squeeze some lemon to it to add some more flavour. I thought it was a bit bland.

Pari Pari Ebi Mayo ($7) has crispy prawns with a spicy chilli mayo sauce. It was good! We all enjoyed it. The sauce has a nice level of spiciness.

Butter Mentaiko Udon ($8) has udon noodles tossed in a butter and cod roe sauce. It is garnished with shreds of seaweed. Simple and delicious. You just mix it all together before eating.

Tsukemono ($5) has assorted pickled vegetables. It was alright.

Tako-yaki octopus dumplings (10 pcs – $7.50) is topped with tonkatsu sauce, kewpie mayo and bonito flakes. It tasted pretty average.

Toro sashimi was delicious and always enjoyable.

Tuna Tacos ($7) comes with 3 pieces and it contains seared tuna, coleslaw, yuzu, pepper, mayo, and some garnishes.

Tuna Tataki ($8) has Shichimi crusted tuna, ponzu jelly and scallions. It comes with 8 pieces.

Fried Udon Noodles ($7.50) has pork, kimchi, and fried udon noodles with garnishes. It was a tasty dish.

Overall, the food was good and a plus are the cheap drinks! I’d definitely come back.

We rate Itadakimasu Izakaya:

Address:
4148 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.itadakimasubar.com/

In Canadian

Crave on Main: Goodbye My Favourite Burger

September 29, 2013

Crave on Main is coming to a close today – September 29th, 2013 after 7.5 years in operation. When M and I found out, we were quite sad because we were convinced they had the best burger in town.

We came here 2 years ago and fell in love with this restaurant. With all the great items on the menu, we always end up getting the same burger. Something about it was so magical.

Organic Beef Crave Burger with back bacon, truffle mayo and blue cheese ($12 + $1 +$1 +$1 = $15)

It comes with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, an organic beef patty on the soft focaccia bread. The additional toppings of the blue cheese, truffle mayo and back bacon.

Everyone at the table ordered this and it was just like music in our mouths. The patty was very moist and flavourful, the blue cheese just oozed everywhere and the back bacon was so good. We haven’t been able to find anything else in town that compares.

Mushroom soup (+$1.50) was needed as an upgrade since we didn’t want fries. I have a weird addiction to mushrooms, so I just had to have it.

Overall, after all these years, they have kept up the consistency of their food. I hope the owners decide to open another restaurant, but no word on it yet. I’ll be crossing my fingers to see this burger be back someday.

Instead of a restaurant, it will be replaced by housing. Boo.

We Rate Crave on Main:

Address:
3941 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.craveonmain.com

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=3941+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=3941+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3P5&z=16″]

In American

Shameful Tiki Room: Get Fired Up

August 23, 2013

During a group outing with my coworkers, we came to the Shameful Tiki Room . It’s on Main and 28th. What we found strange about this place is that you go through the door, then you have to go through the heavy curtains into pitch darkness.

It’s not actually that dark, but when you come from the bright sun outside, it takes your eyes some time to adjust.

The interior had the right mood for a tiki bar. From top to bottom, you can see everything decorated to fit the theme. There’s so much decoration, that there is always something to stare at.

Near the entrance, there is a stage and there are usually performances during the evening. We came here after work, so there wasn’t anything playing.

Complimentary chips and salsa were good to munch on before the meal, but the chips were a tad stale.

Their menu is pretty interesting, they have lots of descriptions but it doesn’t go into detail of what items contain. When I was just browsing the menu, one item caught my eye, the mystery bowl. With a description like that, who could resist? Especially if there is a gong involved.

Mystery Bowl is meant for 2 people or 1 heavy drinker. hahaha. The bowl is lit on fire via the limes floating on both ends of the bowl. As we aren’t allowed to know what is inside, we had a hunch there is a little rum inside. The mystery bowl came up to be about $18 I think.

Large Share Plate ($40) feeds up to 4 people, but with 5 of us, we were ok with this amount. There were ribs, sliders, pineapple rice, skewers, nuts, grilled vegetables, and spam balls. The food was alright, but wasn’t crazy amazing.

Overall, the atmosphere is great and they have a very unique menu with cool food and drinks. It’s a nice place for drinks and some nibbles, but the food didn’t really stand out.

We Rate Shameful Tiki Room:

Address:
4362 Main St
Vancouver, BC

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In Cafe

Beefy Beef Noodle House: Beef Beef Beef

August 17, 2013

M and I tried going to Zakkushi without a reservation, but we would have to wait over an hour for a table. So, we opted to eating at Beefy Beef Noodle House as we’ve heard they had good Taiwanese food. Seeing that it was Summer, the interior was quite cold and it didn’t help that they were playing a winter-themed thriller movie on their TVs.

We saw they had a Top 8 Food list, so we relied on that to order the best items.

House Special Beef Noodle in Soup ($9.50) had some pretty fresh ingredients. M was quite pleased with the quality of the veggies. The beef was tender and the broth was decent. The bowl was pretty big, so he couldn’t finish it.

Curry Beef Brisket with Rice ($9.50) it comes with 2 small side dishes . It was marinated bamboo shoots and cauliflower. The beef brisket was decent it had lots of beef brisket chunks in it.

I still prefer to get my beef brisket curry dish from Mui Garden. If you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about.

Overall, the dishes that we had were decent. It’s a good place for a lot of young people to chill and have some bubble tea to catch up.

We Rate Beefy Beef Noodle House:

Address:
4063 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.jynoodle.com/index1.html

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