Strathcona Archives

In Delivery

Railtown Cafe and Catering: Heat-and-Serve Meals, Baked Goods, and Ice Cream Options

May 9, 2020

Everything at Railtown Cafe and Catering is housemade and they strive to use premium, local, and organic ingredients where possible.

They have their new take out meal program, which is available for pick up and delivery at the Granville or Railway St locations. Their current promotion is when you purchase 5 meals you get the 6th free.

We got a sneak peek at a few of the items on the take out meal menu at Railtown.

Heat-and-Serve Meals

Their heat-and-serve meals are a great option for yourself or to gift others. There’s a little something for everyone.

Chicken and Roasted Mushroom Rigatoni with madeira cream.

Smoked Turkey Pot Pie with spring vegetables and puff pastry (deconstructed).

Mom’s Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, and country gravy.

Traditional Lasagna, bolognese, mozzarella, parmesan, and basil.

Poached Salmon and quinoa salad with roasted mediterranean vegetables, and citrus herb dressing.

Chicken and Rib Combo, white and dark meat, slow cooked baby back ribs, baked beans, cornbread, and caesar salad.

Four Cheese Lasagna with spinach and house made ricotta (vegetarian).

Neha’s Sweet and Spicy Butternut Squash Curry with basmati rice (vegan).

Bread

What I was surprised to learn about Railtown is that they have a great bread program. They have demi focaccia, demi baguette, and ciabatta bun for sale. I didn’t know this and when we tried the focaccia and baguette, we really enjoyed it.

Seasonal Ice Cream Flavours

For their Spring/Summer ice cream flavours, there are:

Vanilla
Chocolate brownie
Pistachio
Burnt honey almond
Cold press coffee
Caramel corn
Lemon creme fraiche
Peach sweet tea
Passion fruit sorbet
Strawberry sorbet

Final Thoughts

It’s another option for take out that you can just heat up quickly without any fuss. The bread was very very good and we would definitely order that again. The portion sizes are great for an individual and will fill you up.

Address:
97 Railway St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://railtowncafe.ca/features/

In curbside pickup

Tacomio: Affordable Taco Kits in Vancouver

May 1, 2020

Tacomio has shut down their locations in Vancouver due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, but has quickly adjusted their new menu for take out from their central kitchen in Strathcona.

As we are staying at home to flatten the curve, eating together at home made us come together as a family. It’s the highlight of our day and what better way than have a fun interactive taco dinner. They sent us their taco kit for 2 to give it a try.

The taco kits are very affordable:

Taco Kit for 2: $25
Taco Kit for 4: $45

The taco kits are massive and can definitely feed more than the suggested amount of people.

In the taco kit, you get:

Your choice of 3 taco fillings
Large rice
Large beans
Mild, medium and spicy house made salsas
Pickled jalapeños
Pickled red onions
Pickled veggies
Fresh cilantro
Corn chips and roasted tomatillo salsa
Corn tortillas
Frituras (tradicional Mexican wheat crisps)
Valentina hot sauce
Fresh lemon

*Chicken A La Plancha – Sautéed bell peppers, caramelized onions, chipotle tomato sauce, and shaved cabbage.*

*Beef Salpicon – Angus beef in Guajilo sauce, nugget potatoes*.

*Roasted Cauliflower – Chipotle hummus, shaved cabbage, cilantro, lemon vinaigrette.*

*Frituras (traditional Mexican wheat crisps)*

Final Thoughts

The Tacomio Taco Kits are a great affordable choice for an interactive meal. There’s a lot to this meal and you have to get the cauliflower as one of your fillings.

Highly recommend it for yourself or even as a gift.

Address:
1245 Glen Dr, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://tacomio.com/

In curbside pickup

Earnest Ice Cream: Curbside Pick Up in Vancouver

April 27, 2020

Earnest Ice Cream is back as they have found a way to continue offering their delicious ice cream while keeping their staff and customers safe during this Covid-19 Pandemic.

You can find their product at a few shops around town, but it may be a bit hard to find. I like to go to the source! Every Tuesday morning at 10am, Earnest Ice Cream opens up their online store and once all the spots are filled for the week, they can’t add on any additional spaces to ensure physical distancing.

They offer pints of their ice cream as well as Ice Cream Sammies. There is a minimum $40 order, but it’s pretty easy to reach that amount if you get a few pints for yourself and a few to give away as gifts.

Curbside Pick Up

When you arrive, you call them saying you’ve arrived. Pop open your trunk and they will drop it in there. Very simple and no interaction required.

Pints

They have a long list of pints and the selection is great. It’s nice to have a decadent treat in the fridge waiting in there at the end of the day.

We went with :

Toasted Coconut
Oatmeal Brown Sugar
Apple Pie
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Mint Chip

All these flavours are solid and can’t go wrong with. A few classic flavours are Whisky Hazelnut. London Fog, and Espresso Flake.

We’re definitely going to be accumulating the jar quickly as they aren’t currently accepting the jars back. They do make great containers for storing other things.

Sammies

If you are looking for something different, there are ice cream sandwiches. The flavours change, but the ones that we got were:

Apple Walnut Sammie
Carrot Cake Sammie
Milk Chocolate Cookie Bar Sammie

The flavours sound amazing, but I personally wasn’t a fan. Some of them are either too sweet or the texture is just mushy.

Final Thoughts

Glad Earnest Ice Cream is back with their selection of delicious and addictive Ice Cream. One of the best places in Vancouver for great flavour combinations. I’ll definitely be back again for more pints once my current stash runs out.

Address:
1485 Frances St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://earnesticecream.com/

In Dineout

[Sneak Peek] Dine Out Vancouver 2019 at Donsanko Restaurant

January 18, 2019

Dosanko Restaurant serves up Yōshoku-style Japanese cuisine using seasonally inspired, local ingredients following Japanese traditions of using what’s around you.

They are one of the participating restaurants on the Dine Out Vancouver 2019 list. We got a special sneak peek to see what they are offering customers. You will be treated to their $25 menu lunch and dinner menu. There is also a vegetarian menu too.

Interior

The space is very rustic and features a bar and a good amount of seating. Best to make reservations as it will be pretty busy during Dine Out Vancouver to ensure a seat for your party.

Appetizers

Potato and leek soup is a vegetarian option and made from scratch. Good depth of flavour and a good way to start the meal.

Smoked Saba Croquette is outstanding. The exterior is crisp and the inside if fluffy and has a good smoked saba flavour inside. My favourite of the 3 appetizers.

Aki’s Salad is vegan and it has seasonal greens, vegetable, seeds, grains and a koji dressing. Light and refreshing.

Entrees

Cabbage Rolls are stuffed with a pork mixture and comes in 2 varieties of sauces. Very comforting and the sauces were very complimentary to the cabbage roll. An interesting twist to the dish.

Winter Veggie Doria is a vegetarian dish and is served in a hot stone bowl. There is rice on the bottom, an assortment of veggies and a delicious white cream sauce. Very filling, good flavours, and like comfort in a bowl.

Hayashi-Rice has their hayashi sauce made of beef shank and caramelized onion and served with pickled veg and rice. So comforting! A good potion size too. This was the favourite of the entrees.

Dessert

Panna Cotta with Citrus was a treat. The vanilla in the panna cotta was really good and the grapefruit and orange segments are beautiful and paired well with its bright flavours.

Amazake Rice Pudding is vegetarian and was the most surprising item on the menu that I adored. It has fermented rice with koji, rice pudding, azuki red beans, vanilla ice cream and kinako. Wow, just so damn good. No words to express how much I loved it.

Sorbet is the vegan option. 3 flavours – quince, peach, and berries. Good options for those who can’t have the other 2 dessert options. Very good flavours too.

Final Thoughts

For a $25 3-course menu, it’s one of the better values on the Dine Out Vancouver options. Highly recommend Dosanko for either lunch or dinner. One of my favourite dine out meals so far.

Address:
66 Powell St Unit #100, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://dosankorestaurant.ca/

In Noodles

Dundas Eat + Drink: Epic Vegan Bun Bo Hue Challenge

December 12, 2018

Dundas Eat + Drink are at it again offering up another epic food challenge. Last year, they introduced their Six O Pho challenge where you have to finish a 5lb bowl of pho in under 30 minutes.

Earlier this year, they launched a whole new vegan and gluten-free menu to accompany their other items on the menu. What better way to cater to those with dietary restrictions than to offer the first ever vegan eating challenge.

With a growing vegan community, it makes sense to offer this so more people can give food challenges a try.

Vegan Bun Bo Hue Challenge

The Vegan Bun Bo Hue Challenge totals a whopping 3 pounds of just noodles and toppings. This doesn’t include the broth. It has deep-fried tofu, king oyster mushroom, thinly sliced vegan Vietnamese ham, rice noodles, and a sour and mildly spicy veggie broth. You get 20 minutes to devour this whole bowl.

Finish noodles, toppings, and soup in 20 minutes. If you fail, you have to pay $25, which isn’t too bad at all.

The fastest five to finish will go into a final table round where they contend for a $500 worth of cash and prizes and each of the five will automatically receive a $100 gift card to Dundas.

This challenge is on until December 30, 2018.

Regular vs Vegan Bun Bo Hue Challenge

We weighed the total weight of everything and the bowl, it totaled – 5.45kg, which is over 12 pounds. My friend was able to eat a total of 1.96kg which is 4.28 pounds. With the super hot broth, it’s definitely very difficult to finish it all unless you have a stomach of steel.

For $25, this is an affordable eating challenge where it won’t break the bank. It definitely has more the 2 regular bowl fulls of pho.

The regular Vegan Bun Bo Hue was obvious a breeze to finish and costs $11.75.

Final Thoughts

The broth and toppings were really delicious for a Vegan Bun Bo Hue. There is a good depth of flavour and has a good kick of spice to it. If you didn’t tell me it was vegan, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. My vegan friend was very impressed with the taste too even though the challenge left her bursting at the seams and sweating a lot.

Address:
2077 Dundas St, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.eatdundas.com/

In Canadian

The Mackenzie Room: We Couldn’t Get It All

November 4, 2018

The Mackenzie Room is located in East Vancouver by Oppenheimer Park. The neighbourhood has seen better days, but there are some great restaurants located within a few blocks of each other. Make sure to book reservations as it can get quite busy, even on a weekday.

I wanted to come here for my Birthday because the menu looked great and I wanted the “I Want It All” Tasting Menu for $65 per person. But, more on that later.

Interior

The dining room is all set prior to guests arrival. We made our reservations at 5:30pm when they open and it was quiet, until more around 6:30pm when most people booked their table.

The space is cozy and I love the old rustic look.

I was so excited to try the menu of 12 items, but unfortunately, you can only have it all if you have a minimum of 4 people. As we came here with a party of 2, we could only do half of it. The chef chooses what those 6 items will be, so it is completely a surprise. If I knew ahead of time, we would have came with more people. Its not written anywhere that you need 4 people to truly have it all.

Pinot Noir

We started with the Pinot Noir from Carson, Okanagan Falls with a 2015 vintage. Full-bodied and very delicious with hints of stone fruit.

Veggies From the Garden

The first dish to arrive are the Veggies From the Garden featuring locally grown veggies with a ‘Bagna Cauda’ of anchovies, garlic and other ingredients. It is then topped with a gremolata.

Simple but very delicious and a good way to start the meal. Even my carrot looks like it has 2 legs. Love these perfectly imperfect veggies.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Leek

This dish has squash, sous vide egg, frisée, pesto, mutsu, apples, and blue cheese. An interesting combination of ingredients but it worked out pretty well with the pungent blue cheese balanced with the pesto, and sweet apples.

Chicken of the Sea

This dish has sea urchin paté, ink brioche bread, pickled pears and hazelnuts. This was definitely a rich dish and may not be for everyone. My husband didn’t like paté in general, so this was all mine.

The ink brioche was pretty awesome but the slab of paté is pretty generous.

Sicilian Octopus

This dish has pepperonata, fennel, chickpeas, meyer lemon, and some local greens. The octopus was tender and matched well with the crispy chickpeas and the sauce.

Boar’n Ultimatum

This slab of bone-in boar is topped with soubise, Nduja, quince, and fermented turnip. It was a good size and the taste of boar really reminds us of pork.

Movie Night

This final dish was awesome. It has torta caprese, puffed sorghum, and popcorn ice cream. A fun way to end the night and I liked the different textures.

Final Thoughts

We were disappointed that we couldn’t have it all. The six dishes we had were unique but there were some items that we both didn’t like. Our favourites were the Veggies From the Garden, Sicilian Octopus, Boar’n Ultimatum and the Movie Night.

Address:
415 Powell St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.themackenzieroom.com/

In Cafe

The Garden Strathcona: Mushroom Bowls and Lattes

October 7, 2018

The Garden Strathcona is the newest cafe and retail shop in East Vancouver. When they opened their doors a few weeks back, they were praised for their delicious food as well as the abundance of greenery and cute local products available for purchase. I knew I had to make a trip out here with friends to relax and have some food.

Interior

The space isn’t too large but there are spots for small groups. Best with pairs.

Their big glass windows gives lots of natural light into the space, which is good for the plants too.

Mushroom Bowl

They have a good amount of items on their menu, but we all ordered the same thing – The Mushroom Bowl. It is gluten-free and vegan unless you do the add on’s like pulled pork or their ramen egg.

In the bowl are mushrooms, peas, wild rice, brown rice, black kale, pickled beets, picked carrots, and pumpkin seeds. We added the Ramen Egg for $2 extra and it was worth it. It was a hearty lunch and tasted really good.

The produce is local and organic where possible and all meat and dairy are humanely sourced.

Latte

They use beans from Argo Roasters, who are also located in Strathcona. The latte is made with their Equinox Espresso blend, which has a balanced combination of beans from Brazil, Colombia and Ethiopia. Fair trade and organic too.

You can also purchase Argo Roaster beans here too if you really enjoy the taste.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I had a great time spending the afternoon with my friends just catching up, eating mushrooms bowls and drinking lattes. It’s a nice addition to the neighbourhood with other delicious businesses close by like Strathcona Brewing.

Address:
868 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://thegardenstrathcona.com/

In Cafe

Roost: Cafe and Bistro in Strathcona

July 13, 2017

Roost Cafe and Bistro has been around for about a year in the Chinatown/Strathcona neighbourhood. I came here for lunch with a friend since we wanted to try something new close by our office. I ended up finding this place through Google Maps. We saw they had some avocado toast, so we wanted to give it a try.

Interior

The interior is very cute and hip. They’ve really transformed the space to suit the people moving into this neighbourhood. They have bar seats, patio seats and a few tables inside.

Soup of the Day

We originally wanted some avocado toast, but they ran out of avocados before noon, so C went with the soup of the day which was a tomato soup. It is served with buttered sourdough toast. It was not very impressive.

Sandwich of the Day

I originally wanted another sandwich, but since there were no avocados in sight, I went with the sandwich of the day, which had pesto, ham, cheese and tomato between 2 slices of sourdough bread. It is served with a side salad with vinaigrette dressing. It was ok, but a bit pricey for $12.

Overall, we were not very impressed by this lunch experience. For the neighbourhood, the food is a bit pricey. It was too bad they didn’t have avocados stocked on a Tuesday since that option would have been better.

We Rate Roost Cafe and Bistro:

Address:
789 Gore Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.roost.cafe/

In Dessert

BETA5 Chocolates’ Summer Ice Cream Socials Returns for 2017

July 9, 2017

BETA5 Chocolates Ice Cream Socials are back. It is Vancouver’s best kept secret to enjoy hand-crafted unique sundaes. The talented BETA5 team creates a new sundae every week. It happens every Saturday until September 30, 2017 from 1 – 5pm. With the hot weather in Vancouver, I’m always looking for something to satisfy my sweet tooth. We were given a sneak peek of what some of these sundaes look like.

The planned ice cream sundae line-up may include – Mimosa, Green Tea Latte, S’more, Melon Fro-yo, Black Sesame & Grape, Apple Pie, Mint Chocolate Chip, Raspberry Earl Grey, Peach Cobbler and more. Their quirky sundae ideas, like Mango Bubble Tea. Not only are all the ice creams and toppings made in-house, each weekly sundae is crafted with special attention to flavour, contrasting textures, and nostalgia.

Sparkling Mimosa Sundae

This sundae is comprised of mimosa sorbet, grapefruit sorbet, grapefruit + campari curd, orange cotton candy, orange madeleines, and sparkling manadarin chocolate. So refreshing for the summer with the sorbet and I would definitely recommend this.

S’more Sundae

This decadent sundae is made with dark chocolate ice cream, ceylon cinnamon ice cream, graham cracker macarons, toasted marshmallows, chocolate sauce, vanilla chantilly. If you are a chocolate lover, you will enjoy this. The macarons were also excellent.

Matcha Latte Sundae

We lastly tried the Matcha Latte Sundae, which has matcha ice cream, tahitian vanilla ice cream, matcha milk jam, vanilla mochi, red bean chiffon cake, and vanilla chantilly. This Japanese twist to a traditional sundae might tingle your taste buds if you love matcha.

Instagram It

BETA5 is bringing back their ‘weekly repost’ Instagram contest too.
To enter snap a picture at a weekly ice cream social and post to Instagram by the following Thursday, tagged with #beta5icecreamsocial (or DM direct to BETA5Chocolates). Weekly winners will be announced every Friday and will receive a $25 gift card and the chance to win the end-of-the-season grand prize.

How will you know what flavour they will have for the week? Check out their Facebook page a day before to find out. They will also be planning BETA5 pop-up ice cream socials at different spots in the lower mainland. If you are a local or a tourist, you’ll love their ice cream sundae, but they also have cream puffs and chocolates too.

Address:
413 Industrial Ave, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.beta-5.com/

In Chinese

Pink Pearl: 4 Decades of Dim Sum

April 28, 2017

We were invited to Vancouver’s longest-running Chinese restaurant – Pink Pearl for a culinary journey of Dim Sum. Signature dim sum dishes representing different decades at Pink Pearl was prepared by Dim Sum Chef F.K. Jiang and his team. We were taken on a tour of 4 decades of items featured in past menus from the 1980’s to 2010’s.

13 different dim sum dishes were featured and some dishes brought me back to my childhood. The event was co-hosted by Gojoy Berries, Stephanie Yuen and Chinese Bites.

1980s

I remember the good ol days when there were more carts roaming around Chinese restaurants and all the guests were scarily fighting over the last sui mai. Lots have changed since then and there are only a handful of restaurants left where they will push around the carts. Pink Pearl still has push carts, which is great.

Liver & Pork Dumplings

This was an interesting dish and I felt like it should have stayed in the 80s. The chalky taste of the liver with the dumpling didn’t blend too well, but yet again, I’m not a big fan of liver.

Duck Web Wrap

The webbed duck feet were wrapped in a sheet of bean curd and there was also ham and mushrooms inside. It was ok, but it was tricky to eat as the duck feet would slide out of the wrapper.

Shrimp Toast

This was another item you don’t see as often. You have the shrimp paste on top of toast and then deep fried. The toast did get a bit oily.

Pan-Fried Half-Moon Dumpling

The dumpling is served with a light refreshing broth. The dumpling was ok but it had minimal filling.

1990s

Mini Steamed Pork Bun

A classic item and you can’t go wrong with a mini steamed pork bun. I liked it.

Black and White Sweet Sesame Roll

This really brought me back to my childhood. I don’t see this as much anymore. As a kid we would pretend they were film canisters and unroll the “film” and then eat it. It was a tradition and I totally forgot about it until now.

Lotus Wrapped Stuffed Sticky Rice

The sticky rice was really packed full of ingredients and it was pretty good. It was easy for 2-4 people to share one basket.

2000s

Steamed Shrimp Dumpling

A very popular item ordered for dim sum. A classic and you can’t deny this.

Steamed sticky rice roll

This is an item that I normally don’t order, it’s like carb on carb. It tasted good.

2010s

Steamed beef rice roll

Steamed beef rice roll is something we are all so familiar with. The minced beef in the centre is delicious. You add some sauce on top of the rice rolls to add more balanced flavour.

Steamed shrimp rice roll

Similar item to the above but with shrimp instead of beef.

Wok-fried lotus roots & fresh mushrooms

A decent dish but it didn’t mesh too well with the other dim sum dishes. It was a good way to incorporate the gojiberries, but I was more use to the dried gojiberries.

Gojoy gojiberries gelle

A nice sweet touch to the end of the meal with this gelle, which was pretty good.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was good to see some of the different dim sum dishes thought out the decades and there were some interesting dishes that stayed in the 1980s. Starting May 1st, Pink Pearl is showcasing their ‘4-decades of Chinese dinner’ with a 4-month long campaign to benefit Food Bank and Sowers Society. You can find more information on their special dinner menu on their website.

We Rate Pink Pearl:

Address:
1132 E Hastings St, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.pinkpearl.com/index.php/en/

In Four Beakers

Campagnolo Upstairs: Dirty Burgers and the Secret Menu

February 21, 2017

Campagnolo Upstairs is a hidden gem for those who love cocktails and burgers. I came with M and MagMei after work to try out their delicious dirty burger. You enter from the door on the right side and go up the stairs, past the curtain, keep on walking up until you see the bar.

They are open at 6 pm on weekdays; 10:30 am – 2 pm on weekends and long weekends.

Interior

I love how they’ve incorporated the old Fat Dragon BBQ sign on their ceiling.

The bar area has the menu hand drawn on brown paper. The bar has lot of variety and the staff are super friendly.

There are a few tables around the restaurant, but we had a really great time sitting at the bar and conversing with the bartender.

Secret Menu

They have their standard menu with different items, but their secret menu has more of the customization to the dirty burger.

They have fun code names for the burgers, but the staff are super nice and suggest ways to build you burger.

You can add a sunny side egg, crispy chicken skin, pimento cheese, 80g of foie gras, or an additional patty to your dirty burger.

Dirty Burger

Dirty Burger is their take on the classic cheese burger with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a pickle. The size is a bit small in diameter, but there’s so much flavour in their beef patty. It is 4oz, 40-day dry-aged beef patty smashed in a hot cast iron pan.

You would want to order an extra patty or a side of fries to fill your belly a little bit more.

In the Sun

In the Sun is essentially a dirty burger with egg.

You can add additional toppings into your burger. M added an egg to go into it. That yolk is still gooey, so the best way to eat it is to bite a small hole and suck out all that yolk.

It’s super delicious.

Gang Bang

If you want the most stacked burger that they can create, get the Gang Bang. This ultimate burger has two beef patties, a sunny side egg, crispy chicken skin, pimento cheese and 80g of foie gras.

Once you put the buns together, it has a bit of difficulty standing up. It’s more like the leaning tower of burgers. It will cost you around $50 for this burger and it’s super decadent.

Crispy Chicken Skin

Crispy chicken skin is covered in honey, hot sauce and mint. It’s a very interesting combination, but it needed some more salt or a stronger sauce to balance out all that skin.

Drinks

There are lots of cocktails and a few beers on the menu, but I went with the 311 Three Eleven Helles Lager from Coal Harbour Brewing Company. It is a smooth and delicious German-style Lager made in Vancouver.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we loved their burgers and this whole experience. They sell out of their burgers on the weekdays around 8/8:3opm, but if they run out, you can head over to The American, a few shops away for more dirty burgers. They have the same delicious patties but cooked slightly differently.

We Rate Campagnolo Upstairs:

Address:
1020 Main Street, Vancouver, BC

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

In Cafe

Shop the Neighbourhood: Lisa Lou’s Chocolate Bar

January 18, 2017

With the holidays behind us, shopping local should still be top of mind for Vancouverites. Local businesses keep dollars close to home. Dollars spent within our neighbourhoods directly benefit the local economy and are re-invested within the community in the form of local employment or the contracting of locally-based suppliers and services.

Shop The Neighbourhood, a local shopping initiative from Yellow Pages, celebrates small businesses all year round, and reminds Canadians how shopping locally makes a difference in our lives and directly impacts the local economy. Small businesses are our economic backbone – they create jobs, funnel funds back into the community, keep decision-making power localized, and generally contribute to building healthy, thriving neighbourhoods.

In partnership with Yellow Pages, I wanted to highlight another awesome shop that opened in 2016 near Chinatown – Lisa Lou’s Chocolate Bar.

Lisa Lou’s Chocolate Bar

The area in and around Chinatown on Main Street is definitely changing with new restaurants and shops popping up every month. Last year, Lisa Lou’s Chocolate Bar was born; a 12-seater chocolate, ice cream, and coffee shop. They join other restaurants like Campagnolo, Torafuku, Bodega and Kobob Korean Burgers just a few steps away. Given great foot traffic and a transit friendly area, this up and coming neighbourhood was a great fit for Lisa Lou’s.

Lisa Lou’s vision is to be fun and whimsical with their package design and characters, and to have a strong stance on natural and ethically sourced ingredients, supporting the local community, and offering outstanding service to their customers.

Lisa Gardin AKA “Lisa Lou”

Lisa Gardin has been in the chocolate industry for 15 years working at places like the Wedgewood Hotel, Thomas Haas, and Chocolate Arts. It has been a long time dream for Lisa to open her own boutique chocolate shop. She always wanted to put her own whimsical spin on chocolate, making products that are more accessible than some of the higher end chocolate shops around town.

Lisa Lou is a nickname inspired by her father. It embodies that fun nature of her shop, brought to life by the bold turquoise on their packaging and the shop’s interior décor.

Yummy treats

You can see the fun and whimsical side of Lisa Lou’s in their package design and characters. They currently have three lines of their chocolate bars. These are the shop’s signature items:

The Boys – Pete, Joe, Marc, and Frank
This line is fantastic. I particularly love the Joe, featuring coffee cardamom caramel, shortbread, and pistachios.

The Hipsters – Zoe, Lily, Oscar, and Kylo
They are wheat free and vegan and have crispy chocolate mixed with fruity caramel.

The Ladies – Joan, Ruth, Sue, and Helen.
The Ladies feature sweet, fruity jellies and crunchy, nutty, chocolatey pralines.

These lines are great for gifts or for your own personal snacking.

There are so many good products on the shelves of Lisa Lou’s and one of the items that just make my taste buds sing is their candied almonds.

In addition, Peanut Brittle was an especially hot item over the holidays.

When it was warmer in the summer, I remember coming here for ice cream with my coworkers all the time. They have some really unique flavours like Bourbon Caramel Ripple, Coffee Cardamom, and many other flavours on rotation. Two of my favourites were the Caramelized Banana and the Assam Tea. You can get these in 8oz or 16oz sizes. Also, you can turn them into ice cream sandwiches or ice cream floats.

What’s Next?

More collaborations are on the way for 2017. Look out for birthday parties, workshops, and community events hosted in this space. If you’re curious, give Lisa a visit to see what is possible.

In particular, Chocolate Hazelnut Hearts, along with a few other items, are on their way for Valentine’s Day.

Go for a Visit

Lisa Lou’s Chocolate Bar is one of many amazing local businesses near the Chinatown neighbourhood. Stop by and grab a coffee or tea along with some tasty chocolates to enjoy. You’ll definitely find something unique for yourself or for a friend!

Local businesses are neighbourhood-oriented. Business owners and staff share the community’s interests, and are personally invested in the welfare and future of the neighbourhood.

If you want to learn more about Shop The Neighbourhood, follow Yellow Pages on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Address:
1007 Main St, Vancouver

Website:
http://lisalouschocolatebar.com/

In Late Night

Bodega on Main: Spanish Tapas and Drinks

January 24, 2016

Bodega on Main opened in 2015 and is a fresh new take on Vancouver’s Spanish restaurants. La Bodega closed down a few years ago and the son of one of the original partners has opened this restaurant up to bring back a Spanish flair to the restaurant scene.

Bodega on Main is located on Main Street a few blocks from the Skytrain station. I came here after work with my coworkers to celebrate a great 2015.

The Interior

We came right at 5pm, so it wasn’t too busy yet. The restaurant is quite dim, so it really creates a lovely intimate mood inside.

The bar near the back has an old rustic charm, which I thought was pretty awesome.

The menu is nicely folded up, but when you open it, the huge menu will be revealed. If it’s your first time here, it can be quite overwhelming trying to figure out what to order.

Drinks

Sangria Pitcher was on special, so we got 2 pitchers for the table for the 7 of us. It’s essential to grab a few drink when you’re here. Since we came on a Sunday, it was their Sangria special for $20 a pitcher.

There are tons of fruits in the sangria, and it really helped make the sangria refreshing.

The Food

Filetes de Sardinas Ahumadas has soked sea salt cured sardine filets with fig jam on toast. It was a small size tapas but had delicious salty flavours.

Jambon Serrano is cured Spanish ham with olives. You can’t go wrong with cured meats.

Pisto Andaluz has stewed peppers, tomatoes, squash and onions. It was ok, but not that exciting.

Patatas Bravas are dad’s twice fried potatoes with a zesty dressing. Nice sauce on top but I wished it was more crisp and less soft.

Membrillo Y Queso is aged machego cheese and quince jelly.

Champinones are sauteed mixed mushrooms, garlic, sherry, and finely grated aged manchego. You need to order this.

These croquettes that I can’t remember their official name was really good. Delicious aioli to accompany it too.

Grilled Octopus was very delicious and tender. So good! I could have kept eating this.

Tortilla Espanola is a traditional potato omelette that you should order! It’s actually really good.

Pimientos De Padron has blisted peppers and topped with maldon salt. Eating this dish is like playing Russian roulette, you never know which pepper is spicy. Very fun to pay with the whole table and it tastes good too.

Chorizo a la parrilla is grilled spicy pork sausage with some mustard on the side.

Dessert

Churros are served with hot dipping chocolate and a vanilla mascarpone. SO addictive too.

Overall, Bodega on Main is a great place to drink and have small bites with friends. The main focus I felt was that its more of a drinking place and then secondary its the food. Since the menu is so large, its really hard to figure out what to order.

We rate Bodega on Main:

Address:
1014 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.bodegaonmain.ca/

In Kid Friendly

Harvest Community Foods: Ramen and Grocery Store

November 15, 2015

Established in 2012, Harvest Community Foods is a community-driven retail space. As voted on by Chinatown-Strathcona residents, the grocery provides local, seasonal food products. The business also offers Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares, further fostering accessibility to B.C. produce.

Chef and owner, Andrea Carlson has revamped prepared grocery eats with heartwarming and sophisticated ramen dishes. More than a market, the store serves as a community gathering place for good eats, conversation, and appreciation of local fare.

When you walk into the store, you will see a variety of products like:

To Die For Fine Foods
Namasthé Tea
Vancouver Island Salt
Bittered Slings
Vancouver Honey
Noble Handcrafted Maple
Sapadilla Soaps
Earnest Ice Cream
Solefood Greens
Sugo Sauce

Of course many more items. It’s not a large store, but you’ll find a bit of everything you need.

Freshly made jams are available too.

Harvest Community Foods draws large crowds during lunch for their Harvest noodles.

It’s made all in-house.

The most popular ramen on the menu is the #39 Ramen with pork shoulder, radish, egg, and candied bacon.

How can you not say no to this beautiful creation. It’s not authentic Japanese ramen, but they put their own twist on it. This is my favourite dish too. The bacon and egg are just amazing.

They also sell some cold sweet treats like Brown Paper Packages Ice Cream and Earnest Ice Cream.

Really, how can you say no to Ice Cream? I used to come here often for Earnest Ice Cream before they opened another location on Quebec and 2nd close to Science World.

They even have drinking vinegar from Pok Pok. No more trips to the states are needed to get these.

If you’re ever in the area, stop by for a bowl of ramen and check out some cool local products.

We Rate Harvest Community Foods:

Address:
243 Union Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://harvestunion.ca/

In Ramen

Torafuku: Modern-Asian Restaurant on Main Street

August 17, 2015

Torafuku is located on Main Street right outside Chinatown in Vancouver. The restaurant is opened by Le Tigre food truck owners Clement Chan and Steve Kuan.

The 48-seat modern-Asian restaurant delivers bold interpretations on flavours traditionally found in Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cuisine. Every plate features seasonal ingredients, straight from local farmers. Torafuku’s menu is designed for sharing. Dishes are playful yet skillfully prepared.

They don’t take reservations, so it’s first come first serve.
Torafuku is open from Tuesday to Sunday for dinner, starting at 5:30 p.m.

33 Acres of Sunshine, Blanche ($6) is one of their beers on top. It is a French blanchè ale lightly hopped with Styrian Golding and flavoured with orange peel, coriander, and anise. It was a nice light beer to go with the meal.

Cocchi-Doodle Cobbler ($12) has BeefEater Gin, cocchi americano, hibiscus, Osmanthus, raspberries, and mandarin orange. This was recommended by the waitress.

Torafuku Ramen ($12) has braised duck leg, bean sprouts, leeks, scallions, seasonal veggies, yummy tonkotsu broth, fried egg. The broth was pretty good and the ramen was really packed with a lot of ingredients. I thought the noodles were ok, but I much prefer firm ramen noodles.

Dr. Octopus vs Mr Tuna ($12) has a pretty unique name, which compelled us to order the dish. on one side there is the octopus salad with tomato, jalapenos, scallions, and crispy nori. On the other side, you have the tuna crudo with romesco sauce.

I enjoyed the octopus as it was very tender. The tuna wasn’t as tasty.

Rye So Messy Chicken Wings ($12) was crowned the 2015 Chicken Fight Best Dish — rye and gochujang marinate, mango glaze, ramen crumble, KFC sauce. You can really taste the stronger gochujang sauce in the chicken wings. The wings were ok, but I left there were too many things going on in this dish.

Calamari Done The Right Way ($10) uses Humboldt squid, onion, tomato, lychee, arugula, and a sweet chilli dressing. The dish was ok, but the star of the dish – calamari fell a bit flat.

Brown Cow ($13) has Shaoxing braised oxtail, tomato, shiitake, cabbage, basil, fried egg, and sticky rice cake. This is comfort food right here. I personally didn’t like the rice cakes since they don’t soak up the delicious sauce from the dish.

Overall, we found the food was very well presented but the flavours were lacking. There wasn’t a a dish that we thought was outstanding. The service was ok, but we did find a fly in one of our beers, so we scooped it out and showed it to our waitress. She didn’t offer us a new drink out of courtesy which was odd.

We Rate Torafuku:

Address:
958 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://torafuku.ca/

In Cafe

Groundswell Cafe: DTES Cafe with a Large Heart

August 9, 2015

Groundswell Cafe offers a space to meet, mix, socialize with our neighbours and friends, strategize the democratization of the economy, collaborate and create – and get caffeinated! Being right in the Downtown Eastside right by Oppenheimer Park is not the nicest area in town, but Groundswell Cafe is making a difference in the community.

I was on my way to the Powell Street Festival and I saw this small wooden sign pointing towards a cafe a few meters away. We kept following it and ended up at Groundswell Cafe.

They took over the space of Fat Dragon BBQ, which was open a few years ago.

The space is quite large and you can even rent the space for special events. Lots of seating too.

They support people to contribute meaningfully to their community and work together to create a more just economy by:

fostering entrepreneurial and community building skills
providing mentorship
bridging sectors
supporting an ecosystem of change making individuals and projects in here in Vancouver
collaborating with movements around the world

My main goal coming here was to get caffeinated. Everything on the menu is reasonably priced. It’s not a large menu, but it’s just what you would want to see in a cafe.

Latte ($3.50) had a good balance of espresso and milk. I’m not exactly sure where they get their beans from, but it does have a slight sour taste to it.

Overall, my friends and I thought this was an awesome place in the neighbourhood. Good addition as it’s not just a cafe. They hire people from the area and offers a lot of resources to those who need it.

We Rate Groundswell Cafe:

Addresss:
566 Powell Street, Vancouver

Website:
groundswellcommunity.ca/cafe/

In lunch

Tea Wok Cafe: Bubble Tea near Science World

June 9, 2015

Tea Wok opened right under Columbia College on Terminal close to Science World. The cafe is pretty hidden and you will probably only notice it if you walk around this area. They serve up Taiwanese dishes, bubble tea and dessert.

Their menu is quite limited and is not like the full Tea Wok Restaurant. When we came, they said their fryer was broken so they couldn’t make any other that good salt peppery chicken.

The interior isn’t too large inside, but can still fit large groups if its not busy. During lunch time I did notice most people did do take out.

Jasmine Green Tea is always a cold drink that I enjoy. I find that it was a tad sweeter than most places, so I should have ordered it half sweet.

Minced Pork with marinated egg on rice was one of their lunch specials. It’s pretty basic for a lunch meal and there wasn’t anything special about it.

A lot of the food on the menu is more like Asian fast food. The food is average and nothing special.

We Rate Tea Wok Cafe:

Address:
418 Terminal Avenue,
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://teawok.com/

In Bakery

Beta5: Chocolates, Ice Cream Sandwiches and Cream Puffs

October 13, 2014

Beta 5 Chocolates is a few blocks away from Main Street Station in a hidden industrial area. I am quite lucky to be working close by too, so lunch trips to Beta 5 are quite fun and mighty delicious. If you see sleeping food trucks and warehouses in the area, you are in the right spot.

They are one of Canada’s top Chocolatiers and have won multiple awards since they have opened. Once you get a taste of their chocolates, you will know what I’m talking about.

Their chocolates are works of art! They have 3 signature chocolates from the 2013 International Chocolate Awards.

The Whole Cherry – awarded SILVER in both the Canadian and International competitions for Dark Chocolate Ganaches
Bay Leaf – awarded GOLD in the Canadian competition for Milk Chocolate Ganaches
Fisherman’s Friend – awarded GOLD in both the Canadian and International competitions for Dark Chocolate Ganaches

You can grab a box of their Award-Winning Signature Chocolates ($30), which comes with 12 unique flavours. The flavours are:

Imperial Stout
Caramelized Banana
Coconut-Lime
Pear & Praline
Earl Grey
Jasmine Tea
Salted Chocolate Caramel
Crispy Praline
66% Mokaya
Bay Leaf
The Whole Cherry
Fisherman’s Friend

It’s a good option for gifts.

Their cream puffs are pretty amazing too. Sometimes when I come here in the afternoon, a bunch of flavours are already gone. Make sure you come early to make sure you get the flavours you want. All the cream puffs are made to order, so its always fresh.

You can always order ahead of time by calling them (minimum of 12) to make sure you get the flavours you want.

Some of the flavours are:

85% Dark Chocolate and Caramel Cream Puff
Banana Cream Puff
Black Forest Cream Puff
Blueberry Yuzu Cream Puff
Coconut and Passion Fruit Cream Puff
Milk Chocolate Praline Cream Puff
Milk Chocolate S’more Cream Puff
Salted Caramel Cream Puff
Vanilla Cream Puff
Vietnamese Coffee

I’ve ordered a bunch of their cream puffs over the last year and I definitely have a few of my favourites. There are no bad cream puff flavours at all. Plus, they all look amazing.

I always have to get the Banana Cream Puff and 85% Dark Chocolate and Caramel Cream Puff.

They also sell Ice Cream Sandwiches. It’s a newer item they introduced this year and it was quite popular in the summer.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Sandwich was huge. The ice cream sandwich has a graham cracker crust with a lot of blueberry ice cream with embedded blueberries…lots of them.

If you are gaga over their various treats, they have a Chocolate Union membership where they ship you a box of their assorted goodies every month. I’ve been taking a look on Instagram to see what they make for each month and man, they really are works of art.

The membership is pretty expensive:

3 months – $180
6 months – $345
12 months – $660

It’s something I could never afford, but if you got the money, I am sure you will enjoy everything that comes as part of the membership.

If you buy too many things at Beta 5, your wallet will definitely hurt, but you tummy will thank you for it. Go for the chocolates, cream puffs or Ice Cream Sandwiches.

We Rate Beta 5 Chocolates:

Address:
413 Industrial Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.beta-5.com/

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