Thursday, August 27, 2009

Hello!

Hej Hej! I am now in the land of ikea, H&M, and volvos! It is truly truly beautiful here and I have just been trying to enjoy every moment of it. Lots of bicycles and little cars.. Lots of walking in the middle of the streets and cobblestones!! This quaint little town is a definite change from the tall buildings and traffic filled streets of Vancouver!

Unfortunately, I have not taken any pictures whatsoever of my food here in Sweden, because all I have been eating are falaffels (who knew there were so many middle eastern places in this town??) and pasta..

I think I am definitely getting a culture shock here, I am not used to any of these street names and they just look like jibberish to me. I mean, althelgona kyrkog. ... really?? really???? or filippavagen. My goodness. The first day, I think I took the bus all the way to another town. What a stressful time. But I am sort of determined to master this language.. so hopefully I'll get it!

I went to London and it was very nice. Suntanned in front of westminster abbey with big ben telling me the time. no biggie. just a normal day. haha ;) The food was okay- since I was on a budget (like.. 8 dollars or less), I really had to look for the cheap eats. which I will write about soon

Copenhagen is beautiful. The people are stunning, I don't understand how this is possible. Something in the water? The town is a little small, and language just as confusing but nonetheless astonishing.

Alright, I am off to explore again. this was just a quick update.. and when I have real time, I shall finish my vancouver foodie escapades (the list on the left)! Hejda!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Nikko Sushi + Restaurant 62 + sagano pics

I was talking to my father about the asian restaurants in abby, and it's funny how we somehow know the owners (or old owner) one way or another (Except flaming wok and some japanese restaurants.. apparently no one knows flaming wok. weird). what a little little town.

Nikko Sushi on Urbanspoon Anyways, we went to Nikko Sushi, where my father used to know the previous owners until they sold it to a group of korean individuals who also own other japanese restuarants in abby. it is a very tiny sushi restaurant near near master lee (where all 80% abby kids has been to to learn tkd. yes, I was one of them HAHA)

The restuarant is very very small and dark. a little stuffy as well, but had a good amount of customers. The whole place was ran by ladies and there were featured rolls all over the restaurant. I decided on ordering the takoyaki, doubld crunch dynamite roll, calamari roll, and las vegas roll. They definitely had some innovative sushi. I really liked it.

The takoyaki was soft with a little squid in the middle. Very good. The rolls were crazy! First came the calamari roll.. although it wasn't rolled very good, the ingredients inside was ample. I've never had fried squid in my sushi but it was delicious. Next was the double crunch dynamite roll.. that said it was deep fried. I thought they were just going to fry a bit of the outer or something, but no no. the whole sushi was actually deep fried in tempura batter. insane. inside tasted like a normal dynamite roll.. but honestly, the WHOLE thing deep fried?? that takes it to a whole other level. The las vegas roll featured sashimi and yam tempura inside. Very good as well. The last two rolls had hot sauce served with it. REALLY SPICY!

I think this place is my 2nd fave in abby, I still like Sagano more.. which I went to recently again. Before Sagano, was a chinese restaurant that my parents knew the owners of, that didn't do so stellar due to the location. Surprisingly, my parents don't know the sagano owners (know the waitress) but my best friend does. it's not even 6 degrees of separation, it's like 2 degrees of separation with all restaurants in the valley.


Anyways, we ordered bc ball (takoyaki without squid) but nikko was better. and the panda roll (with crab meat on TOP of the sushi) and another roll that I don't remember the name of, but very good because it had eggplant, tomato, and some other stuff! the oyako don wasn't very good though. Also, this restaurant's kitchen is Exceptionally Clean. I have never seen such a spotless kitchen. It's amazing.

My friend from richmond came and I thought we should try restaurant 62.. if only I could find it. Honestly, I've never had to give directions in the valley and let's just say we spent 40 min driving into farmlands and Marshall Road with him questioning whether or not I was actually from abby. lol. oops.

Restaurant 62 on Urbanspoon I've been to r62 once before I didn't like. It was for brunch and my omelette looked like a freaking pizza. But I decided to go here, because he vetoed goin to penang.. thinking it's too bizarre how a restaurant can be both szchewan and malaysian at the same time LOL I don't know. I wanted to try though.

The restaurant is very beautiful. A little dark, but sophisticated. There is an open kitchen you have to walk through to get to the dining area. I ordered the 62 sampler (of tiger prawns, tuna, and lamb chops). friend had duck. The duck was very good. it was tender and seared perfectly. The sampler was just o-k.. for 28 dollars, i don't know if it's worth it? there were just 2 prawns, the fish was okay, and the lamb was too tough. The mashed potatoes was really good though.. I also appreciated how all the ingredients were fresh, it definitely does make things better.

The restaurant is great for dates, and many people were dressed up. Wow, didn't I feel like a scrub. Since I thought we were gonna go to Penang! oi!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Ponchos + Don Guacamole's

Ponchos on Urbanspoon I've always wanted to go Ponchos. From the outside, it looks a little dodgy and old.. nothin spectacular.. but inside is a warm vibrant room full of music laughing and good times. There were a lot of spanish chatters so I m guessing it is authentic? there is a mexican singer in the back strumming his guitar. We sat down and ordered some nachos becaus we were starvinggg. There were loaded with sour cream, salsa, cheese, and meats. it was delicious, but the bottom nachos had nothing on them and were extremely soggy :(

we then ordered the beef faijtas and taquitoes to share. the food took quite a while to get out. The beef for the fajitas were very tough.. but the taquitoes were very tasty. Overall I found the food to be just o-kay. We also ordered the churros that was absolute sugar overload!!!

The margeritas are very delicious and they also have a coffee drink worth around 8-9 dollars that is made tableside. If this is too expensive, you can just enjoy the show when others order it :)

As the night went on, the singer began playing a song many of us knew (the name escapes me) and the waitresses began to distribute instruments like mini drums, rattlers, etc, to join in. The owner was just making noises with a whisk and a bowl! The restaurant isn't very big so it was very cozy and brought the whole restaurant together. It was fun and I loved it! The food isn't very good, but I think the entertainment turns ponchos into a to go restaurant.

ps damas is girl's bathroom. at least they are single washrooms. so it was not as embarrassing peeing in the guy's washroom by accident.

Don Guacamole's on the other hand was just not good. There's a lot of people here, but thankfully we got a table quickly. After salsa & agave, I love horchata and had to order another one. We also ordered the flautas and flan. This complimentary chips with dips came.. the dips were all very spicy =(
The flautas was described as 6 crispy mini tacos, but they were 3 longgg taquitoes that were very hard to eat. They were also extremely bland with no taste whatsoever! The flan was sweet and o-kay. The flan at Bandidas was much much better. I don't like this place.. bland food.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Burgoo (main/lonsdale) and Lattitude

I just found out that there used to be a restaurant on kingsway called pho bich nga. HAHAHA. too bad I didn't get to go before they shut down.


Burgoo (Main Street) on Urbanspoon Burgoo is seriously the home of comfort food. Slow cooked meats, hearty bowls of soup and sandwiches, bread pudding.. biscuits.. mashed potatoes.. need I say more?? I've always wanted to come here but everytime I attempted, it was extremely busy. so I went at 5. that should do it.

We sat outside to people watch (or really, watch the couple sitting in their car at bo kong until the restaurant opened :D something that I have done recently), and ordered the biscuits, a kentucky burgoo, and irish stew. The biscuits were soft and warm and went great with our dishes. However, I found the kentucky burgoo too bitter.. too much garlic?? or something. The taste would be better if it was seasoned lighter. I also realized I don't like okra.. for a while I thought someone spat in my food. ...

Burgoo (Lonsdale) on Urbanspoon So I didn't really have a great experience at Burgoo and have basically sort of written it off, until I ventured to North Van and we were looking for a plae to eat. It was, once again, like 5:30ish so lots of places were empty. Gutso is too expensive.. district looked really empty.. raglans looked cool and casual, but I wanted to sit outside and it was all occupied, and anatoli had a private function (although the waiter and chef there are definitely very friendly.. :D) so we settled on Burgoo.. as long as we didn't order the kentucky. The restuarant is smaller but had the same rustic feel. We sat outside again (I hate sitting inside.. bad lighting and usually dark), and shared the strong lemonade. it was so good! You can taste the alcohol, but it was so thirst quenching that I finished a glass in like 2 minutes. and moved onto the second one.. and the next one.. if alcohol didn't make me pee so much and I didn't have to sit through a 2 1/2 hour musical right after, I would have drank the whole pitcher.. anyways..

we ordered the foundumental (?) fondue. it came with apples, bread, grapes, and tomatoes. While my friend loved it with the bread, I found the bread to be a littly stale.. I think I like it when they toasted the bread, instead of serving it normal. so I ate mostly the apples.

We shared a butter chicken, that was very flavourful. I didn't know what to expect ordering an indian dish, but it was a good choice. There were ample amounts of chicken and potatoes and it had a great sauce. Definitely a filling meal for the two of us!

So.. I thinkI have come to the conclusion that Burgoo is a good place to go, if you order the right things :)


After Burgoo on Main, we ventured to Latittude to share a few desserts.. the passionfruit mousse and a panna cotta.. the mousse was wayyy too sweet. I couldn't even eat it after the first few bites, it sure was pretty though.


This next 6 days is going to be CRAZY for me (exams/packing/farewells), so if I am slow, I am sorry! I will hopefully get 1-2 more posts in!!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Zipang and Sushi Oyama

Zipang Sushi on Urbanspoon I saw zipang sushi when I was at shaktea awhile back.. Wanted to go in, but they were closed after my tea :( have been aching to go back, and glad I tried it!

The room is quite small but the decor is really nice. Not the usual japanese restaurant, it's more modern. The menu has a bunch of good stuff, I wanted to order everything.. since friend gave me absolute power to order =D Ended up only getting the kiwi roll, chicken karaage roll, a roll that has a name that I can't remember, and a modern jap pizza. I was going to get pook okonomiyaki because I was naive enough to think it was something different, some kooky jap. thing but it was just a typo for pork .


The rolls were very pretty, but I only liked the two on the right. The kiwi roll was way too sour. Hell I don't even like Kiwi, but I am tryin to make myself eat them because of the massive amount of vitamin C in it. and I thought I would grow accustomed to the taste (like I have done for blueberries). but no dice.

The roll in the middle was very creamy but I liked it like that! It was different, but a good different. The creaminess worked well with the unagi inside. yum, I ate all that and made friend eat the rest of kiwi roll hah. although he too winced at the sourness hah. The chicken karaage was surprisngly good too. but how can you go wrong with chicken karaage.

The modern okonomiyaki was a "pizza" made with noodles as a base. The first bite was very tasty and good, but the 3rd/4th bite was extremely filling.

The service is nice, but a little weird. I don't think she understood us or she just had a really weird personality. friend got there before me and wanted tea and she went "ooOOh First TIME!!" huh? when he reenacted this for me I was like w/e you're being dramatic, but then for takeout she goes "oOooOO .. ho ho ho... pack? oOoOO" and makes a face at me..? and then we left a tip and she goes "ooOOo Tip?..." and I thought she was going to complain about the tip (even though it was a good tip) then proceeds to go "oooOOoh!!" we left the restaurant going what.. the..fuck. nice lady, but a bit weird..

Oh ya, and the single washroom has a huge mirror with a big chair in front of it.. umm? do people like sitting in bathrooms over the restaurant?


Sushi Oyama on Urbanspoon I moved out of Burnaby and as a last dine near my neighborhood, I went to Sushi Oyama. I've passed by it several times and thought it looked intriguing for a Japanese restaurant to be in a big house setting. My feelings of eating in a house setting restaurant has ranged from cold and awkward (hart house) to cozy and lovely (old mac grill). So I didn't really know what to expect when i went inside. Although I must say I really liked how the patio was set up to dine outside.
We sat inside, near the sushi bar, but I found the booth to be quite cramped. and if you are a tall person, you will have to crouch down to eat.. something I despise (le merrackech)

The room is pretty big with ample seating, I think the sushi bar is big too, because there was another one on the other side of where we were sitting. On our side, there were 3 sushi chefs, I wonder if there were 3 on the other side too? quite a lot of staff then!

Is this restaurant affiliated with sushi town in any way? because they have very similar names of rolls (awesome roll.. mangodoise roll...) We ordered the potato croquette, oyama roll, tonkatsu, and dragon roll. The potato croquette was soft with a nice crispy outer crust..but I preferred the one I had at sushi town in coquitlam much more. The rolls were nice and beautifully presented, but the tonkatsu was a major letdown. The pork cutlets were deep fried wayyy too long, and it turned out extremely dry. yuck.

I started seeing 4 flies and knew it was time to get going. The food was average, and the prices were acceptable. I guess if you are in the neighborhood and wants some decent sushi, this would be a nice place to go. Although I find the location to be weird, we were there around 4 and they seemed to have good business.