tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25729338101593531682024-03-13T09:49:04.704-07:00Deeeelishyummy food in VancouverUnknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17692483192504983475noreply@blogger.comBlogger267125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-26159810822859759622010-12-12T02:21:00.000-08:002010-12-12T02:26:20.014-08:00Acme CafeI love trying new things, and with the abundance of restaurants in Vancouver, I don't often repeat a restaurant.. so the fact that I have been to Acme Cafe 3 times this year really says a lot..<br /><br />Located on Hastings, this little cafe looks a little out of place next to the model stripper shoes store, sketchy ass country bar across the street (where a friend of a friend got stabbed at..), and save on meats to the left. Walking in, you are greeted warmly by the staff into a room of brown and white booths and circular bar seating. with pies and other delectable goods placed by the cashier, you already know this will be a good meal.<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4647089444_ec3fbd2dcd.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4647089444_ec3fbd2dcd.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The first time I was here it was after a massive hike and I needed somethin to refuel. I ordered the turkey sandwich with the broccoli slaw and chips. I fell in love. Cranberry sauce + turkey is my weakness. but what I hate the most is either -super mushy turkey or too much cranberry sauce, not enough turkey. Well neither happened and it was a great sandwich for 12 dollars. It came with a broccoli slaw that I really liked because I liked the raisins, giving it a sweet component I don't usually expect in a slaw, and the chips were very crisp. It was great. Friend decided to eat a sandwich he made prior to our trek . whatever, his loss. The cafe was still relatively new, and there weren't a lot of customers on that day.<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5084647471_99f12849ec.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5084647471_99f12849ec.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The second time I came here, it was very packed, I had to wait about 10 minutes for a booth. Wanting to try something new, I ordered the meatloaf sandwich with the lovely slaw and chips. Friend had the mac and cheese and we both liked our meals. We also ordered a piece of apple pie to share since I've heard raves about it.. unfortunately we weren't a fan because it was cold :(<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5085243076_0614f0b085.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 361px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5085243076_0614f0b085.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/5085243108_604b883644.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 348px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/5085243108_604b883644.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The 3rd time we came here was before the game where chicity absolutely schooled the canucks (I am a hawks fan). Everything by rogers arena was packed (for obvious reasons) but luckily acme only had a few occupied seats. Ordered the good ol turkey sandwich and I remembered why I liked it so much all over again. friend had the roast beef sandwich and cheddar broccoli soup that was finished in less than 15 minutes. jesus. I think he liked it. maybe.<br /><br />I really like this cafe, and if ever I am in the area again, I will most likely come back and try something new- like the shrimp and guac sandwich or tuna :) I like the color tones and service has always been warm and friendly every time I've been here. I've recommended this little cafe to many others, and they've all had nothing but good things to say. I guess 12 dollars for a sandwich meal is a bit steep, but everything is made from scratch and quality is great in my opinion. and with 7 dollar crappy ass on the go sandwiches (I am looking at you starbucks) being sold nowadays, I think acme is fine. I really like the abundance of "new"er restaurants popping up around gastown- meat & bread and calabash bistro are also must-trys if you haven't yet :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1503936/restaurant/Gastown/Acme-Cafe-Vancouver"><img alt="Acme Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1503936/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-83694716125882315892010-10-27T12:57:00.000-07:002010-10-28T12:51:21.114-07:00L'Abattoir & Pair BistroSo sorry for the lack of posts.. So I've been back in Vancouver for a couple months now and have been eating out more than ever.. which completely goes against my "stop eating out after chi" promise but I just can't help it.. too many restaurants..too much good food! I promise more posts.. both from chi and van soon :)<br /><br />L'Abattoir is a relatively new restaurant (well, in my books anyways). Located in Gastown, it is adding to the abundance of foodie choices with Cork & Fin, The Diamond, Boneta, Irish Heather...etc<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5013518374_910313112e.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 431px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5013518374_910313112e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Room is 2 floors, with the bottom being the bar serving up some unique and fresh cocktails. There is also a room in the back that seems more secluded and private. We sat upstairs overlooking the bar. I usually try not to eat the bread served at restaurants but L'Abattoir offers 3 different breads that I couldn't help but devour it all. oi.<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5012912833_a8eb6ff3e8.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5012912833_a8eb6ff3e8.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I ordered the duck, friend had a salad. I loved my dish. Duck was perfectly cooked and the sauces/garnishes went very well with it. The salad was unique and extremely fresh. For dessert, I asked Paul, the gm, to surprise us. He picked the chocolate dessert which was very very decadent. Dinner was great, couldn't have asked for any better. Though a friend of mine recently went and recommended the scallops and wings, and the tapioca dessert.. which I will have to get next time I go. Service was great and accommodating. I was very happy.<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/5013517942_6965d890d6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/5013517942_6965d890d6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181349/restaurant/Kitsilano/Pair-Bistro-Vancouver"><img alt="Pair Bistro on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/181349/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> I went to Pair Bistro this past week. It has been on my to go list for quite some time now but it's a bit far for me .. I am so glad we went though , this restaurant embodies "pacific northwest" to a t. The restaurant is decorated with Native American art and proudly boasts the use of locally grown ingredients from all over BC.. from Chilliwack cornbread, to Wapiti Elk, to Kettle Valley Lamb.. it was quite refreshing.<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5040194473_6ce391e15f.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5040194473_6ce391e15f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I had the peace region bison ribs which were very tender accompanied with cornbread and salad. The blackberry sauce was different but added a sweet component to the usual smokey flavor of bbq sauce.. I like. The cornbread was soft and crumbly, while the radish slaw was extremely fresh. Friend had the shellfish medley from Cortes island which were very beautiful and tasteful. What a neighborhood gem, it's a must try for locals/tourists alike.<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/5040194583_6ac01296c9_z.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 529px; height: 425px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/5040194583_6ac01296c9_z.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-67842038626582703302010-08-23T16:31:00.000-07:002011-12-03T15:19:02.621-08:00Cupcake Insanity [Chicago]As I wrote before, I had almost 30 fricking cupcakes in Chicago. That's basically like one cupcake a day for a month! gosh! I am home and luckily I only gained 2 pounds. I thought I had gained at least 10. Anyways, here is a compiled list of the cupcake madness I went on in Chicity. I think I m only missing like 4 places. Get ready to freaking drool if you love cupcakes.<br />
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The first one I ever went to was Swedish Bakery in Andersonville. I really didn't mean to buy a cupcake here but that was what the worker there recommended me getting. Now this is a nice little bakery.. but I didn't find there goods to be very traditional.. especially if you are recommending the red velvet and chocolate cupcakes to me and not having any fresh cinnamon rolls around. The cupcake was large, but it wasn't very good in my opinion. it was rather sugary.<br />
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I went to Sugar Bliss Cupcake Boutique located in the loop after lunch at elephant & castle one day(whyyy did I go there, when they are in vancouver. ugh). It is rather new and filled with beautifully decorated cupcakes. They also have mini ones if you can't have the whole thing. They have a good selection of cupcakes, unforunately the pretty flowers they decorated on my cupcakes fell off when I got home :( They weren't bad, not super good.. but this started my cupcake craze..<br />
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I found More which was only 2 blocks from my apt. They don't have a ton of selections at the counter, but here, it is quality over quantity. The cupcakes are a bit more expensive but you can find some very different unique cupcakes here.. including Blt, lemongrass, etc etc. On the day I was there, I chose the white chocolate and chocolate marshmallow. What can I say? they were both HEAVENLY. I really wanted to come back here and try the rest of the flavors.. but there were too many other cupcake stores.. on to the next one!<br />
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Everyone in Chicago raves about Molly's Cupcakes. Everyone I talk to asks if I've been here so I knew this had to be a to-go place for me. Stepping inside, I see them hard at work making a batch of frosting for their cupcakes and I was already smiling. The place is extremely cozy serving all kinds of cupcakes. Delicious! I really liked that they had incoporated real fruits in the cupcakes, and the frosting on all 3 were absolutely to die for.<br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4777873853_9b9f704ea2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4777873853_9b9f704ea2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 380px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 500px;" /></a><br />
Another popular recommendation I received was Sweet Mandy B's. The shop is really cute but I personally found the cupcakes to be rather normal and nothing out of the ordinary..<br />
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We decided to have a picnic at the contemporary arts musuem one tuesday because they have jazz in the back. I brought the cupcakes and I decided to try out Swirlz. She was extremely gracious and kind but the cupcakes was a complete letdown. It was expensive and they were nothing amazing. Especially the "surprise" one which wasn't much of a surprise at all..<br />
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Sensational Bites is located by Southport. It is an extremely cute store with lots of delectable goodies. I got 3 cupcakes- red velvet (my staple), cookies & cream, and strawberry lemonade . unforunately, they didn't wow me like the first couple places I went to.. :( A week after, my friends tell me of a place called Southport Bakery and Cafe where, they only serve vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, but they are SO good people line up for them and there is a limit to how many each can buy. Dang, I wish I had stopped by there..<br />
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The day Sprinkles Cupcakes opened, I heard there were lineups down the street, for blocks, for this place. I was going to stop by after work, but in fear of the lines, went to Hershey's Chocolates down the street instead. The cupcakes are SO cute, with chocolate bar sticking out. I also got a smores bar, and I think of all the cupcakes I've had, these here at Hersheys were by far the sweetest!! Every bite was sugar.<br />
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I made a point to go to Phoebe's Cupcakes and got ABSOLUTELY lost and ended up giving up on this place and going for banh mi instead, but the banh mi I wanted to go to was extremely sketch so I wandered to Cupcake store after an hour.. and I am really glad I tried this place. Though I haven't heard much raves or reviews for them, This has got to be hands down my favorite cupcake store in Chicago. The cupcake was So fluffy, So moist, So Perfect! I was in love.<br />
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I finally stopped by Sprinkles at 4pm, and the line up was a little more bearable. Funny I actually tried to go to Sprinkles back in LA but we got lost and went to Spago instead (I get lost quite often, it adds to my adventure). I bought 4 cupcakes here just to see what the hype was about. They were pretty good. Very moist cupcakes, but I don't know if I would line up for blocks for this place..<br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4854751345_8e2d008815.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4854751345_8e2d008815.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 375px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 500px;" /></a><br />
Fox & Obel is a supermarket that supposedly has great cupcakes too. They are MASSIVE! I had to eat it with a fork but it was alright. The Last place I tried was Sarah's Pastries & Candies located near More and Sprinkles. Their selection of cupcakes is not as large, but I got a vanilla buttercream.. and it sure lived up to it's name. the frosting was EXTREMELY buttery.. felt like I was eating butter..<br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4855370796_99f2b99738.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4855370796_99f2b99738.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 415px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 500px;" /></a><br />
I also bought some cupcakes from Twisted Baker the last day for my coworkers. I also heard great things from here so I hope they liked them!<br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4866900671_91b9e1141f.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4866900671_91b9e1141f.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 336px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 500px;" /></a><br />
And to top it all off, here's a giant massive cupcake I decorated when I shadowed the pastry chef for a day at one of our restaurants. gawwgeous. hahah<br />
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/4836258362_3aff506d56.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 500px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 380px;" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-18680446245787888512010-08-01T16:15:00.000-07:002010-08-02T18:01:46.559-07:00Table fifty-two [chicago]Oh my god I've had 26 cupcakes in the last 2 months..and counting.. I don't even know why, I never even eat Cupcakes in vancouver!? major cupcake post to come..<br /><br />I've never had southern home cooking before and always wanted to. Good ol fried chicken with a side of buttery mashed potatoes.. that's all I really know and how can you go wrong really? I don't know much about this type of food but if it's anyone who was going to cook me some southern food, who else better than Art Smith. I don't remember much about him from Top Chef, just that he was really happy jolly guy.. :)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4850857129_d03cce6624.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4850857129_d03cce6624.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The restaurant off elm street did not fit in to its surroundings. It was a small white building with touches of green and the number 52 on the front. next to this was a empty grass ridden lot, and a ton of tall apartments. On the corner was a Popeyes and an old man selling knock off handbags. Walking into the restaurant, we were transported to a whole different world.<br /><br />Dark with sunlight coming in from the windows, the white and green with the wood fire oven in the back created an extremely cozy atmosphere. The plates were absolutely gorgeous and the room was also decorated with paintings of singers with upbeat music playing in the back. Right when we sat down, we had about 3 different waiters serve us water, deviled eggs, and goat cheese biscuit to start. It was a little overwhelming at first, seeing all these staff running around, but they all flowed with each other.. that's a weird thing to say, but the service all worked together and it was really attentive.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4851474744_f9a46bbb48.jpg"><br /></a><br />We ordered the duo crab cake to start for 16 dollars, and I had the salmon, friends had fried chicken and sweet potatoes and cornbread, and the other had the fish of the day.. which was striped bass I believe.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4851474744_f9a46bbb48.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 376px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4851474744_f9a46bbb48.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The deviled egg was very creamy, a nice little appy to start, and the goat cheese biscuit was soft and cheesy. That was nice, since I have grown a fondness for goat cheese..Last week, I sat in on a cheese tasting and sampled at least 30 AMAZING cheeses (mostly goat), and wow.. talk about mega cheese overload coming from a girl who usually buys the cheapest mixed cheese at superstore. I felt so fat after I walked for 3 hours.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4851474768_6d15acf343.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 344px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4851474768_6d15acf343.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Our crab cake was alright.. a little expensive for what we ordered.. but they were good nonetheless. I don't have much to say about this one, but I guess I could have done without. Our mains arrive and my salmon was SOO delicious. I asked for medium rare and it was perfectly cooked. Perfect! it was like butter, the fish. and the blueberry sauce added the sweetness it needed and the vegetables that came along were soo fresh it was amazing. Friends had no complaints on their dishes.. I will comment the sweet potatoes were a little too sweet (syrupy) for me but the cornbread was HEAVEN. it was sweet, warm, crumbly.. yum!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4850857057_97b57cf83b.jpg%20"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 474px; height: 325px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4850857057_97b57cf83b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Dishes were swooped away and we were presented by the desserts menu. The pecan pie and hummingbird cake looked great, but alas no room in my little belly. We were given little marshmallow sweet potato pie that was a nice little after thought to our dinner.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4851474812_be83287d4f.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 416px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4851474812_be83287d4f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My friend, who was from Texas, had no complaints to this dinner. She said the dishes all reminded her of southern home cooking, and the fried chicken was quite good, but not as good as her mothers :)<br /><br />The ambience, service, food, all transported me to a different time and place..it's rare to find a restaurant that good, but I think art smith did it for me. Good way to end my Chicago summer, home soon..<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/2/107476/restaurant/Gold-Coast/Table-Fifty-Two-Chicago"><img alt="Table Fifty-Two on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/107476/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-37826495981737515932010-07-13T12:46:00.000-07:002010-07-13T17:43:53.742-07:00Jam [Chicago]I am honestly in love with brunch here in Chicago. Not only are there restaurants that specialize ONLY in the art of breakfast food, not only do they serve large portions, but they also like to put twists and creativity in their dishes.. and they do it well.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4783080363_42b965812e.jpg"><br /></a><br />After finding out about Jam, we quickly planned it into our weekend to go first thing in the morning (to beat the rush). This cash only byob is subtly located on Damen St in Ukrainian Village. Being such a beautiful day, we decided to sit outside on their lovely rather big patio. It had a backyard vibe because of all the plants and their dog and cat on the side.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4783080385_9121bd807e.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 383px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4783080385_9121bd807e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The menu is small but filled with breakfast favorites with a unique twist you would not expect. Egg Sandwich with pork cheek, ricotta, and green apple ketchup.. Pork Loin with poached egg, rice grits, and cumin spiced carrot puree.. There is definitely nothing bland or boring about this menu!<br />We decided to order a half order of the Malted Custard french toast (with macerated fig & Quince, citrus cream, and pink peppercorn) to start, and I had the eggs benny (with pork belly, and pea hollandaise), and friend had the buckwheat crepe with braised lamb and hazelnut-sage glaze. Under the direction of Chef Jeffrey Mauro, who has worked at Charlie Trotter's and North Pond, our waitress assures us we cannot go wrong with whatever we get. She was right :)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4783080363_42b965812e.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 325px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4783080363_42b965812e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />To start, we got a amuse bouche of a snicker doodle cupcake. A nice sweet bite to start. I love amuse bouches :) Our french toast was perfect size for us since I am not a big fan of them. It was soft with a burst of custard flavor, going well with the fig & quince. The only thing that was offputting about this dish was the peppercorn.. which I did not like at all.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4783080409_31ec844bb5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4783080409_31ec844bb5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Our mains come and this has to be the prettiest eggs benny I have ever seen. The pork belly went fantastic with it and I loved how the sauces were on the side so it didn't overload my eggs benny. The lamb crepe was soft and flavorful, but could prove to be a little too heavy for a breakfast.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4783080419_a516c30171.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 385px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4783080419_a516c30171.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Service was prompt with our water glasses filled at all times. Having overheard our convo about where else to eat, our waitress gets the sous chef in training to give us some recommendations on diner joints (since we hinted how much we love them). The only downside I think, is that they don't have business cards (weird). Other than that, make sure you try Jam for brunch! :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/2/1465890/restaurant/Ukranian-Village/Jam-Chicago"><img alt="Jam on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1465890/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-11169370265741629132010-07-07T17:53:00.000-07:002010-07-07T18:07:44.688-07:00Glenn's Diner [Chicago]Last Summer, I had cable. and not just cable, I had up to channel 59 (I don't usually have cable, I just need ninjavideos and in my case right now, hulu :]). I really didn't care for all these channels, except one- the food network. Because I didn't really have internet last summer (what a pain), I would fall asleep watching channel 52. One of the shows I frequently watched was Diner Drive ins and Dives. Man, that show is a godsend. Greasy, oily, deep fried, meaty, massive portions, etc of food, how can you not like it?? So imagine my excitedness when I had a chance to go to Glenn's Diner.. one episode I actually vividly remember watching (because I remember the cereal boxes ha).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4758683307_e1de29415c.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 418px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4758683307_e1de29415c.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Located right at Montrose station, this little diner is known for serving 16 fresh fish daily. Inside, outside seating, either way you choose, you still get to see the chalkboard written fish specials of the day. We decided to share a crab cakes to start followed by Rainbow Trout for me and Mahi Mahi for friend. The crab cakes weren't bad, they were filled with crab meat but they weren't very big. Apparently Hugo Frog's has the best crab cakes. I will have to check it out soon :)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4758683357_3195d559fb.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 352px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4758683357_3195d559fb.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Our mains arrive and they look SO good. Not only was the piece of fish massive, but it was very fresh as well. My rainbow trout with pecan sauce went so perfectly together. Served with asparagus and potatoes, I finished up every last bite of it. It was made so well. My friend's mahi mahi, however, was overcooked :( How unfortunate. it looked nice though.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4758683337_c0926e8056.jpg%20"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4758683337_c0926e8056.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Service was great, and the desserts looked good but we were too full to eat on. Now I have to try Kuma's Corner and Depot Diner from the show :) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mf4Jwu0L9I">Link to the Clip</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/2/12811/restaurant/Lincoln-Square/Glenns-Diner-Chicago"><img alt="Glenn's Diner on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/12811/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-3224251160094049462010-07-05T13:48:00.000-07:002010-07-06T17:48:41.866-07:00Yolk [chicago]I am basically IN LOVE with Chicago. This city has it all.. shopping, tall buildings, beach, and obv the food. Last morning after tanning on the beach (which is 5 minutes from us, as opposed to 40 minutes before in Van), we were craving breakfast food so I suggested Yolk. The place was raved about and the menu sounded DELICIOUS.. might I add it was also extremely close to where we live. Score.<br /><br />Turning onto Wells St, we see a giant mass of people. Ah crap, there's a massive lineup. But I must say, the people at Yolk are extremely efficient and the table turnovers is quick and fast. Although they quoted us 30-45 minutes, names were called every 1-2 minutes so they were making it down the list of names quickly. Yes, it did take the quoted time.. but what did we expect on July 4th weekend.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4765441382_656aed1517.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 343px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4765441382_656aed1517.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We kept busy during this time by deciding on what to eat.. since the menu was quite large and I honestly wanted EVERYTHING. I was craving fruits and wanted Granola but my friend told me she would hit me if I waited for 45 minutes for some fruit and granola. She has a point. So after basically drooling over the guy who sat by the window's dish of something that looked like veggie omelette, I decided on getting the green garden omelette that came with fruit/potato and pancake/toast for 9.99. Friend got the scrambler for 7.99 that came with the same sides. Other things I wanted to try a lot were the tour de france (sample of the 3 french breads for 9.99) and the eggs benny (supposedly best in the whole chi?) and obv.. the yogurt and granola. :(<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4765441404_22b0f440eb.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 355px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4765441404_22b0f440eb.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Finally having our name called, we quickly ordered. The restaurant is pretty large and food was bustling out the kitchen at record speed and my gosh, there was a LOT of food. We finally got our order and WOW it was MASSIVE. For a side of fruits, I honestly expected those stupid fruit salads of melons, pineapple, and grapes in small portions.. but they gave us a watermelon slice, a bunch of grapes, 3 orange rounds and a pineapple slice (which I was CRAVING). I was impressed. The omelette was huge as well absolutely filled with veggies such as asparagus, tomato, mushroom, etc with sour cream and cheese on top. Man if I was hungover, this would have been HEAVEN. It was still pretty good but I was soo full I couldn't finish it all, the omlette was also a little too runny/watery for my liking.<br /><br />Loved it, well worth the wait. I can't wait to try Lou Mitchell's and Ann Sather now. more chicago posts to come.. and vancouver too :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/2/1459112/restaurant/River-North/Yolk-Chicago"><img alt="Yolk on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1459112/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-9429032901740186952010-05-30T13:37:00.000-07:002011-12-03T15:31:00.312-08:00Current RavesGoodbye Vancouver! I am jetting off to chicago for 2 months. I might make some sporadic posts (since there are a gazillion restaurants I never posted about) and there might be some chicity eats reviewed. Anyways, have a great summer vancityfoodies!<br />
<br />
here are just some quick posts about some restaurants I've been to recently :)<br />
<br />
After hiking butzen lake, we stopped at Rehanah's Roti and it was PERFECT. We were tired and these massive rotis really hit the spot. I got the beef roti which was FILLED with huge chunks of beef and potatoes. delicious. The only thing is they are a bit on the pricey side<br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4659378522_9f9b09f3ae.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4659378522_9f9b09f3ae.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 334px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 474px;" /></a><br />
We stopped by La Brasserie for lunch one day and both ordered the special- the rabbit sandwich. The price wasn't bad (think it was 11ish?) and it was really really good. We enjoyed it a lot and I want to come back here for dinner one night.<br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4600283379_4c5cbdde77.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4600283379_4c5cbdde77.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 342px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 456px;" /></a><br />
Before rollerblading, we picked up some banh mi's from One Saigon in Downtown. They have daily specials and luckily that day, it was 2 banh mi's for a special price. These subs are delicous. They have so much filling and bread was crunchy. Maybe I was starving but I quite liked them. I went to Tung Hing recently and I did not like..<br />
<a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/4585772659_0b934e835e.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/4585772659_0b934e835e.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 429px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 459px;" /></a><br />
Bo Laksa King has been raved about by quite possibly everyone in the blogosphere. It is located in a small supermarket and their "kitchen" is extremely minimal but the food is delicious. I don't know much about laksa or burmese food so who better to bring with me then my burmese friend :P she raved about bo laksa and ranted about the crappy ass burmese laksa at bowl of stars. there you go. Authenticity: check.<br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4545102574_4ae19db505.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4545102574_4ae19db505.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 334px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 446px;" /></a><br />
JAMBO GRILL! Awesome. though they gave us beef instead of chicken, this place is awesome if you are hungry and craving meat.<br />
<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4023/4527426446_d7349c7113.jpg" /><br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4527426290_994d0319ae.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4527426290_994d0319ae.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 323px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 431px;" /></a><br />
Locus.. friend said it: I think this would a better place at night. Gotta admit- they got some good sangria, but 12 bucks for 5 prawns? uhh.. give me more alcohol.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4675201555_711e5195d8.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4675201555_711e5195d8.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 336px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 430px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-29920605908580905362010-05-29T23:06:00.000-07:002010-05-30T13:31:08.198-07:00Le Gavroche<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181076/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/Le-Gavroche-Vancouver"><img alt="Le Gavroche on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/181076/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> Who knew skipping class one day would lead me to fancy dining of steak and lobster at le gavroche! I guess it's a good thing I don't scrub it out when I go to school :) After being pestered every 2 minutes to leave class leave class, I finally hopped on a bus to meet a friend dt in search of some grub.. who needs to learn about npv when I got free food waiting?? (don't worry I am not majoring in finance, I will not be dealing with your money one day haha). We walked on over to Oru only to discover there was a private function! UGH we almost got pooped on by a bird too walking here. (hence why I always dodge birds when I am walking.. it's actually quite a funny sight I've been told) having absolutely no idea where to go.. since market was veto-ed and I wanted something worthwhile, I suggested possibly Le Gavroche. Now if you have read my bio, you would know that I don't memorize addresses and usually just walk until I 'hit' the restaurant (1 in 4 this fails.. I am willing to take the chance). However, Le Gavroche was a bit different since I have honestly only seen this restaurant ONCE and it was also by mindless wandering around (yes I tend to walk a lot.. though not so much anymore after a 4 hr 8k walk I recently did out of the blue in sandals.. we then realized, once you start walking in Stanley Park by the water, there really is no way to cut through/walk back once you have reached halfway. oi).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2782/4478644086_5d091c3a08_o.jpg"><br /></a><br />I knew the GENERAL direction of the restaurant but really had no clue where it was HAH. after 15 minutes of me assuring friend we are walking in the 'general' direction, he got fed up and finally checked good ol' iphone. good thing he did hah because this 'general' direction I was heading in really was very GENERAL. as in.. a few streets down not quite at all.. hah.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4478018693_932f92ff6f.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 442px; height: 352px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4478018693_932f92ff6f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We finally saw the restaurant, being oh so happy since we had been looking to find a restaurant to eat for some time now, I ran on over only to drop my iphone on the cold hard concrete ground :( to this day, i have only had this phone for 5 months, and I have dropped on ground, dropped and KICKED by some passerby, and dropped in a puddle.. as you can see, I am not allowed to have nice things.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2782/4478644086_5d091c3a08_o.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 466px; height: 384px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2782/4478644086_5d091c3a08_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4478644160_f5f05d097e.jpg"><br /></a>We walked in and it immediately reminded me of Lupo (never got a chance to write a review so I'll sum up lupo in a sentence: Quaint restaurant serving delicious food served by gracious/lovely people). I think it is the whole house thing going on, really adds to the ambience. Anyways, we walked upstairs and were greeted warmly by three of the servers. The restaurant is very very small with the majority of tables occupied. We sat down and were given the menus, with their current 3 course special feature of lobster (I think it was 35 dollars?). YUM. YUM YUM. I friggin love lobster. My parents used to buy lobster from T&T steam it and we'd each eat one accompanied by butter- mmMmM<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4478644160_f5f05d097e.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4478644160_f5f05d097e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4478018781_3bafbc2594.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4478018781_3bafbc2594.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I ordered the lamb sweetbread and lobster, steak and lobster, and a creme brulee. Friend got lobster consomme, lobster thermadour, and pecan pie for dessert. mmm I don't think I have any complaints about anything. Everything was really really really good. I think my steak was a little too much on the raw side (moo moo) but I don't have major complaints nor did friend since we finished everything. During our time at the restaurant, there were no table turnovers and we were the last ones in and the last ones out the door. Nonetheless the service was so gracious and nice they never once rushed us out the door even when they were cleaning up ready to close up into the night. I wonder if this restaurant only serves one round of customers a night.. I sure hope they stay profitable because I would hate to see this restaurant close due to big chain bullies. Le Gavroche is perfect for romantic dates or special events.. or you know, random thursday dinner for uni students; one with a backpack the other with colorful striped mittens :P :) Thank you for the lovely dinner, I'll be back!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2683/4478644232_0df8e4e3b0.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 462px; height: 338px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2683/4478644232_0df8e4e3b0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-38834094042317859432010-05-17T22:45:00.000-07:002010-06-10T17:22:07.753-07:00Translyvania Flavor, Perogy Place, Ukrainian VillageWow sorry to be completely mia recently!<br /><br />My next door neighbor is from poland and she would occasionally invite us over and cook eastern european food for us. Last time, she made homemade perogies and cabbage rolls.. They were soo delicious I was hooked. I was never a real big fan of perogies because of a really bad experience but then I had them in Oświęcim and Krakow and realized that my bad experience was probably due to the fact that I bought them frozen from a small valley farm. Authentic is the way to go!<br /><br />Ever since the gracious dinner from my neighbor, I've been craving said perogies, cabbage rolls, schnitzels..all that good stuff.. So a visit to Translyvania Flavor was obviously in order! This was a restaurant I had wanted to go to numerous times but no one would come with me.. ughhh . whyyy!!<br /><br />Okay, I guess it had to do with the fact that from the outside, the restaurant is pretty hidden except for a little glowing sign on the side. It doesn't look like anything special and that sushi place next door takes most of the focus away. and I guess when I say the name of the restaurant, most of my friends are like huh? why can't we just go to normal places like milestones and moxies. UGH be adventurous guys! So I finally found a friend who was up to try some european food. Although he was thinking more like swiss swedish (though the only swedish place I can think of in van is ikea..), but I think he was pleasantly surprised.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181865/restaurant/Kitsilano/Transylvania-Flavour-Vancouver"><img alt="Transylvania Flavour on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/181865/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> The restaurant is operated by a family and we were greeted kindly by both at the door. The restaurant looked a little dark so we opted to sit by the window (i need the best lighting I can get for a p+s camera). Presented with our menus, there were numerous choices to choose from including borscht goulash and schnitzels. There were also several specials of the day to choose from. friend got one of them (grilled platter of various meats) while I obviously ordered the cabbage rolls and perogies.. what I was craving for a couple months now.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3297/4567735524_f76702d929.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 469px; height: 352px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3297/4567735524_f76702d929.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4567103901_887377b5ab.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 459px; height: 340px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4567103901_887377b5ab.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/4567735448_5973489b41.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 476px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/4567735448_5973489b41.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Perogies were yummyy. There was a bit of a sauce overload, but I quite liked the red pepper sauce so I just scraped most of the sauce off. no biggy. The Cabbage roll had too much saurekraut on top but it was tender with the right amount of filling inside. The meat platter was just a selection of various grilled meats. Some of them was a little chewy and not too good, so we weren't huge fans.. For dessert, she told us the special was a custard cake made by her mother. Although the fried doughnuts sounded tempting, the custard cake was the way to go! It was definitely something I've never had before. The custard part was bouncy and different but it was good.. though it got a little filling at the end. It was a large piece!!<br />I genuinely enjoyed this restaurant and I recommend everyone to try it out as well!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4569906292_bf3e73ff6b.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 382px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4569906292_bf3e73ff6b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I went to Granville Island one sunny day and went on over to Perogy Place. The place was ran by asians ..which was already a red light to how good the food would be.. We ended up just getting one cabbage roll to share because it was Massive. Upon cutting inside, it was FILLED with rice. The cabbage wasn't tender and I wasn't a fan of rice filled cabbage roll. This place was a thumbs down for me.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4635516245_d25cd8e00e.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 356px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4635516245_d25cd8e00e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Couple days ago, we went on over to Ukrainian Village for a shared lunch to give us some energy for pre biking (Great times, cept I fell off and now have a huge bruise..glad it's raining the next couple days at least). The restaurant is quite small and homey with a ton of cactus plants by the window. During lunch time they have a specials menu and we just ordered the 5 perogy and cabbage roll to share. There was only one waitress and she was really nice.. I thought she was not going to be pleased at us for sharing one thing, but she didn't mind :) The food came quickly and the perogies were okay. We had a selection of saurekraut, potato, and cheese I believe. We both thought they were nothing special..Seemed like the ones bought at superstore.. We found the cabbage roll also to just be good but nothing greattt. I think I was spoiled by my neighbor's homemade ones so it'll be hard to compare. I guess it was filling though, I wouldn't be opposed to come back and try the other items on the menu. Lots of people were stopping by to look at the menu and quickly coming in. I guess Ukrainian food is a hit after all :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-343814763919192672010-05-04T21:56:00.000-07:002010-05-04T22:06:49.418-07:00Irish heather<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >My friend DL was kind enough to write this for me.. hell it's even better than what I could have written.. I need to outsource more :)<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/180893/restaurant/Gastown/Irish-Heather-Vancouver"><img alt="Irish Heather on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/180893/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a> $15.00 for a set meal plus a chance to talk with friendly strangers!</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >These were two things that came to mind when preparing to experience Irish Heather’s Long Table Series in Gastown.</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Surrounded by Irish décor (including a giant U2 poster), the table extended from one side of the room to the other.</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >But like any other social gathering, each group kept to their own, even padding their personal space with an empty seat or two.</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >We sat in the middle, open to the elements.</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >The evening started off with a round of introductions… from the corporate sponsors.</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >The Orchard Hill representative talked about the 5 kinds of apples that were in tonight’s cider and how awesome Orchard Hill was.</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >The Mobio guy talked about how awesome the Mobio app was and if you were already fortunate enough to own an iPhone then you could get a discount for paying tonight’s meal with it.</span><p style="font-family: times new roman;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4522635852_e222322bff.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 384px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4522635852_e222322bff.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">The meal came out shortly after: roast suckling pig with apple-rosemary sauce atop braised cabbage and mashed potatoes. The pork was as tender as butter, delicately spiced to bring out the citric nuances of the cider… is what a food critic would write, which I am not.<span style=""> </span>I had confused the term ‘suckling’ with ‘succulent’ – but thankfully, we had a stranger sitting next to us that was kind enough to describe his experience with 300-pound pig farmers and their daily intake of suckling baby pigs… mmm.<span style=""> </span>Conversation continued from there and it turned out to be a pleasant experience partnered with a delicious meal!<span style=""> </span>The Long Table Series is interesting way to bring ‘supper to the table’ and even better with good company.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4522635880_c82b26488b_o.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 426px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4522635880_c82b26488b_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >*My Edit: and we also shared a delectable sticky toffee pudding. Yum! Also, while I found the mobio app to be a great concept and while I DID have an iphone, I opted not to use it just because I found it a hassle to put in my credit card info etc into my phone just for ONE meal.. to get a 5 dollar off a meal next time.. Maybe if mobio caught on and more restaurants/services began to use it, I’ll conform.. until then.. my iphone will be littered with useless apps I bought while half asleep (pedometer that tells me I burned 41000 calories in 45 min anyone? God.)</span> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-88021395914032716552010-04-24T19:00:00.000-07:002010-04-24T19:13:13.255-07:00Nook + House of Dosas<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">My live feed widget told me someone googled "I don't know maybe some yummy food" and got to my site. LOL Anyways..</p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Nook is a small italian restaurant on Denman Street. The sign really caught my eye awhile back but due </p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">to my long list of restaurants I already had to go to, it wasn't on my priority list until a reader of mine suggested to me I should try it out. I usually see a line up to this place so on one night when it looked like no wait, I decided it was an opportune time =)</p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">The restaurant is quaint and dark inside with specials written on chalkboards by the bar (and I think in the back as well). Their menu isn't very big but boasts some of italian favorites such as pizzas and pastas.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4317495069_611fb11e95.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 437px; height: 288px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4317495069_611fb11e95.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4317495149_9bcdd15e59.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 451px; height: 301px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4317495149_9bcdd15e59.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">We ordered spaghetti bolognese and magherita pizza to share. The pizza was a little oily but it was really delicious. This place is quaint and lovely. The only thing is the seating is a little cramped<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/180854/restaurant/Kensington/House-of-Dosas-Vancouver"><img alt="House of Dosas on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/180854/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a> I love House of Dosas. This is a 24 hour indian restaurant located on Kingsway. It is not exactly the prettiest of restaurants but it serves up some mean dosas and other indian cuisines. I've never had a dosa, but saw it on No Reservations one time (which is atm the only thing I watch on youtube). Basically it is an Indian pancake filled with ingredients of your choice. There were various choices but since we had no idea what to get, we asked for a recommendation in which the server suggested the Lamb Palak. Excellent. We ordered that and a Beef curry. The is dosa is friggin humongous and I am glad we were sharing. On the outer it looks boring and plain, but inside is FILLED with lamb and spices. It was delicioussss . I actually want one right now as I type.. The beef curry was also quite good. I like this because I liked how nicely it was presented and liked how it came with naan AND rice :) great!</p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4316334496_dbe93477f3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 415px; height: 260px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4316334496_dbe93477f3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4316334602_f72eac4185.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 457px; height: 306px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4316334602_f72eac4185.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I think I might just have to come back here again very very soon (cash only)<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">and some sweet taro pies from Hong Kong.. love love love love</p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4547212726_681a4c566b.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 425px; height: 298px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4547212726_681a4c566b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-1788064494622900212010-03-29T23:22:00.000-07:002010-03-29T23:38:48.346-07:00Sake Maki, Samurai Sushi, Bentei Sushi<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >Deeeelish is gonna go green for two months starting april. Meaning less restaurant eating and more greens and organic and etc. Oh dear, this is gonna be hard</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >Well.. I think I'll survive. The only part that's killing me is knowing no cheesecake and fried food.. My 2 weaknesses (I know.. fried food wtf but seriously..</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >Fried anything is amazing). Oi.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/723533/restaurant/Commercial-Drive-Grandview/Sake-Maki-Vancouver"><img alt="Sake Maki on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/723533/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> I have passed Saki Maki NUMEROUSSS times on the drive. That sign they have out front always caught my eye.. Because I love sushi rolls so much. I finally got a chance to try. The room is rather dark (what's with dark sushi restaurants?) so I sat by the window. The menu has everything.. But I was here for the rolls and that's what I got.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >We got the gomae roll and a sushi roll which the name escapes me.. The gomae roll had yam tempura on top stuffed with gomae inside. The other sushi roll was mango/avocado on top with purple yam in the middle. I recall rolls not being the cheapest but they were really good. I think one of the biggest factors is the sauce. Whether or not it goes with the roll and how much they put on. Most of my past encounters, sushi restaurants would always go crazy with the sauce so much that the sushi roll is basically drenched in it. Yuck. I liked this place because they didn't go overboard with it. As you can see with the purple yam sushi roll, there is only a dollop of japanese mayo on each! I really liked both of the rolls because they also didn't skimp out on ingredients. The service was really nice as well.. he even instructed me how long I should wait to eat my leftovers haha. Try this place if you're on the drive!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4390352273_e1b60ffba9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 448px; height: 240px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4390352273_e1b60ffba9.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2765/4391120930_7260c250e9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 475px; height: 327px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2765/4391120930_7260c250e9.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br />A friend of mine suggested me to go try out Samurai Sushi on Davie and that I did. It is a very tiny tiny sushi restaurant serving inexpensive combos, lunches, etc. I found the restaurant to be quite dark especially during lunch time. My friend wasn't hungry so he just watched me eat (happens quite often hah) . Although we were occupying a 4 person table, the waitress didn't get mad or anything that I was the only one eating . Upon looking at the sushi chef, he didn't look of asian descent. Which is rare. My friend turned around and said puerto rican. Ummmm.. Lol maybe it is the lighting and he is just really dark. But who am I to say who can do what. A cacausian sushi chef from london once</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >emailed me to ask where he should apply to work in vancouver. So if you can roll up a mean sushi, more power to ya. There also seems to be quite a few workers too. It's interesting to see restaurants that are basically the same sizes yet one has only one waitress (post below) and another has like 4<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/4405895058_6cd4f3e1fd.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 454px; height: 340px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/4405895058_6cd4f3e1fd.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" ><br />The dish was alright. It came out really fast and it was satisfying for a lunch. The rolls were quite big and beef teriyaki wasn't so bad. It's good for a quick cheap lunch.. but I prefer kadoya up the block more.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/180158/restaurant/Renfrew-Collingwood/Bentei-Sushi-Grandview-Vancouver"><img alt="Bentei Sushi (Grandview) on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/180158/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> I tried out Bentei Sushi even with its disastrous review just because it is so close to me and I walk past this place every day and night and see people inside.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >Only one lady is working</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >up front (owner?) and she is really efficient. She is non stop running around and able to tend to everyones needs. Props. I wanted to try some different things so we ordered the baked roll, the lion king roll, and gyozas. The Gyozas were alright.. Except the oil had that taste that it was oil used from last day.. Yuck.. The baked roll.. Was very different. I really didn't know what to expect.. Baked? In the oven?? Sushi?? It was weird.. There were too much sauce and the salmon on top was obviously not raw anymore, it was cooked.. I don't know.. This was just weird. I don't even know how they thought of this.. but points for creativity. The lion king roll was a sushi roll with a piece of yam tempura on top. Once again, the tempura had the bad oil taste but the roll itself was okay. Although I didn't try a box, everyone around me was getting them and they finished every scrap of it. So maybe it is alright.. just skip the fried stuff here.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/4419411484_85b7c10a76.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 462px; height: 374px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/4419411484_85b7c10a76.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4418645007_d31603a684.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 446px; height: 258px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4418645007_d31603a684.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" ><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4419411424_1aec57fa33.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 416px; height: 312px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4419411424_1aec57fa33.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-40652122586812876262010-03-23T23:28:00.000-07:002011-12-03T15:41:03.747-08:00Capstone + Hub<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px;">Afterwards, we headed on over to Capstone for some chocolate fondue like the old days. :) I don't necessarily LOVE this place, but it holds sentimental value to me and my friends (lots and lots of fondue trips back in first year :D) I also don't like ice cream but I really wanted to try the ice cream ball fondue. It was really neat with the toppings as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 100%;">Hub in Yaletown took over what used to be Browns. My friend and I were both absolutely starving and we decided on the closest restaurant to the skytrain. Inside, it still looks like Browns.. Dark spacious sports bar. I ordered the Linguine Carbonera and friend had the Teriyaki Bowl. My Linguine was nice, but very very cheesy and the teriyaki bowl was alright with wayyy too much onions. Mehhh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-91612953687361383192010-03-12T00:12:00.000-08:002010-03-12T03:12:16.647-08:00Chau + Gramercy GrillI know I have restaurants dating back to last year I haven't posted about yet, but I think if I wait another 6 months to blog these two, it won't be as relevant.<br /><br />After the infamous gold medal hockey game, it became the topic of choice for the following week, and the usual first question after "did you see that goal by crosby???" would be where did you watch the game?? Even though I am an avid hockey fan, going to a pub at 8am or live city did not appeal to me. People I know not only went at that time (or earlier), they proceeded to drink as well. Sorry, drinking was farrrr from what I was thinking about doing on a Sunday morning since I was still recovering from my Saturday night. I ended up waking up WAY late so my friends went off to look for a decent place to sit and watch the game.. They were late as well and ended up finding a spot at Chau, far down robson. As I was hurrying to get there, i saw soo many people standing on streets just watching the tvs, amazing!! I love this spirit. I think I also passed Victor Kraatz but I am horrible with famous people. (One time I saw Pat Quinn and we stared at each other only to have me go back into the car to tell my NON hockey fan friend that pat quinn was right there instead of saying hi to him. God. I think he heard me too).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4397238194_6d6f501c09.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 456px; height: 343px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4397238194_6d6f501c09.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4397237790_71e5681445.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 440px; height: 330px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4397237790_71e5681445.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1346679/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/Chau-Kitchen-Bar-Vancouver"><img alt="Chau Kitchen & Bar on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1346679/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> ANYWAYS, I've been to Chau once before to share a pho bo because we thought the name was funny. We found the price too expensive for a bowl of pho. But just finding a place to sit and watch the game was already good enough for me. We ordered spring rolls as an appy and even though my picture below looks like there's barely any, this is about halfway through the spring rolls (we were hungry), and they were quite nice. I ordered the lemongrass chicken lunch bowl with taro spring rolls, friends had the vegetarian bowl, and the beef stew. I believe food was all around 10-12 dollars.. The food looked really pretty and they were pretty large size lunch bowls. They were decent with I think the only critique being that the beef dish was too salty.. At the end, my friend couldn't eat anymore..<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2803/4397237692_986ef45bc1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2803/4397237692_986ef45bc1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />What a STRESSFUL game with honestly the best ending ever. Man, Zach Parise.. He's one of my fave players in the nhl, but WHY.. You sent canada into a temporary moment of depression. It's okay. I am good. After the game we went down and high fived/shouted/waved flags all the way around vancouver (yes I was also prepared to riot). Even though I had a midterm the next day.. Why would a professor be so cruel!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4396471033_39305c1ea1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 331px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4396471033_39305c1ea1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />And for all those that say they hate kesler because he supposedly said he "hates" canadians or because he played with so much grit for usa, think about CANADIANS and what WE say about AMERICANS . He just loves his country and wants to bring home the gold just like Crosby, Toews, Luongo, and everyone else does for Canada. But honestly, Kesler and Demitra needs to play the way they did in the olympics for the canucks.. I want another one of these epic games/craziness downtown for the playoffs :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/180740/restaurant/Kitsilano/Gramercy-Grill-Vancouver"><img alt="Gramercy Grill on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/180740/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> The game between Slovakia and Canada, I believe I watched this at the Gramercy Grill. Now, one might think why didn't you go to a bar to watch the game. This restaurant is not necessarily a neighbourhood spot for NEITHER my friend nor myself, why? Once again, it's the damn foodie nature in me.. And the exploitation of knowing my friend drives hahaha. So a place where transit is not as accessible and a new place I have never tried? Why not the gramercy grill! We got a seat right in front of the tv, prime spot. Me and my friend had a plan.. We were going to eat appetizer first period, main second, and dessert/drinks third. Funny how everyone around also had the exact same plan. One of the longest dinners I've ever had coming from someone who eats quite fast. During 2nd period we even thought about leaving before if we knew canada was going to win. Phewf glad we didn't.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4391076317_fcb1281a57.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 411px; height: 308px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4391076317_fcb1281a57.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We ordered the carpaccio to start and it was actually really good. It was flavourful and went really well with the bread they offered. Alas, as much as I wanted to scarf it all down, I had to nibble/eat every 5 minutes. OI VEY. The complimentary bread basket was yummy and also a time staller. I especially liked the corn bread.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4391844356_7b8675c7a4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 357px; height: 427px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4391844356_7b8675c7a4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The main, I had the spaghetti and meatballs, friend had the duck dish. The spaghetti dish is MASSIVE! WOW. You see, I also have really bad pics for this dinner because I wanted to test out my iphone capabilities as a camera, and I also didn't feel like flash taking pics since I was in the line of sight for everyone watching the game. I am a really secretive foodie taker.. Blink and you'll miss me taking it.. That is, if I don't shake and blur it up Ugh. The meatballs were friggin humongo. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. A lot of people around me ordered this dish so I am guessing it's a popular one. I found it to be just okay. I liked the duck my friend had more, cooked perfectly and very very good.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4391076229_8da5634b8e.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 404px; height: 437px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4391076229_8da5634b8e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />For dessert, I craved creme brulee and friend had the cheesecake. They were both decent desserts. For the final few minutes, the whole restaurant stopped eating and just started yelling at the tv. Just a tense moment, oh demitra.. It's okay that you almost scored, just score now on the Canucks and stop getting injured :) I like the ambience of the restaurant, definitely a good try if you are in the area.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-47713187667600233202010-03-03T23:55:00.000-08:002010-03-08T21:36:31.837-08:00Rhizome Cafe, Central City Brewing + Club IliaOi.. I briefly mentioned a new restaurant in gastown (not mentioning it again so it won't get more views on this site) and people are coming to my website from google expecting a review on them (same with sushiwa in van)... makes me wanna go there so i CAN review it and people won't feel disappointed.. :/<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/572039/restaurant/Mount-Pleasant-Main-Street/Rhizome-Cafe-Vancouver"><img alt="Rhizome Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/572039/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> I went to Rhizome cafe for brunch one sunny morning. There was a line up for seats but we got a table after 15 minutes. The room is quite spacious and had a casual laid back feel. I believe there are lots of events that goes on at this cafe so they would be great to check out one day.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/4280569318_8607c700b4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 447px; height: 316px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/4280569318_8607c700b4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />They have a pretty decent selection of food choices including the good ol' norms such as eggs benny, omelettes, and pancakes. However, the thing that makes this place special is the fact that they use healthy foods and some that you might not usually find in a usual breakfast joint. Stuff such as Kamut-banana pancakes, or Breakfast polenta, or even the golden miso tofu scramble. Wow. I decided to have the Eggs Rhizomedict which were eggs benny with squash sauce, spinach and peppers, while my friend had the Pumpkin seed pesto tofu scramble. They come with a choice of roots or salad (are roots just potatoes? I can't tell the difference if it<span style=""> </span>isn't?), or both. And the scramble came with corn muffins. The server asked us if we were running late or if it was okay if food took awhile to come out. We had no problem with time since we were hoping to catch up from a long overdue brunch date so we told them it was fine to wait. I thought this was a very nice gesture, to let us know the food will take awhile.. Since I am quite an impatient person.. after 15-20 minutes, stare downs at my waitresses and the chefs might ensue.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4279824727_efba84a1d0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 471px; height: 334px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4279824727_efba84a1d0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The food comes and wow it is beautiful! The colors were amazing and everything looked great. And the food really doesn't disappoint. I found my eggs benny to be perfect with the squash sauce, and apparently the tofu scramble was nothing to complain about. If you are looking for a good brunch spot, definitely give rhizome cafe a try :)<br /><br /><br />Central City Brewing company is located at Surrey Central in the same mall as SFU Surrey. It is a nice, one of the higher class pubs with all sorts of food and specials (although I find the prices a little more expensive). I've been here many years ago for a hockey game which led to a nice burger and some random shots. After class one day, we decided to venture here for some drinks food and hockey game. They have televisions situated at different parts of the restaurant so you can see a screen wherever you were sitting with a large one in the back. I had the wings with maui glaze.. Half off special, friend had cheesy bread with meat sauce. The wings were tasty (sweet and teriyaki like) and there were ample amount of wings. While the cheesy bread were nice as well. Decent meal, great game (because we won), good times.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/4308610954_af7da38e61.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 448px; height: 327px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/4308610954_af7da38e61.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2697/4308610980_67688decfe.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 452px; height: 340px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2697/4308610980_67688decfe.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We were low on time but I wanted something good to eat over Subway, so we went to Club Ilia at Cornerstone for lunch. Located right next to<span style=""> </span>Himalayan and Renaissance, the place is stylish and a perfect addition to the community. We told them we had little time and they made sure to rush everything. Service was prompt and nice. Food took a while to get out, but the pizza probably took awhile to bake. I had to carbonara pizza with Caesar Salad for 9.99 (lunch special). The salad was good and the pizza was decent.. Too much onions for me personally. Had the rest wrapped up and off we went to class with 10 minutes to spare. They have decent drink specials as well. Damnit, why did they open a year after I stopped living here (same with nesters).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/4308611038_8c99863de1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 457px; height: 329px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/4308611038_8c99863de1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-41689646968604854892010-02-23T02:02:00.000-08:002010-03-11T11:52:18.885-08:00Barefoot Kitchen, Bowl of Stars, the Diamond<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/740862/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/BareFoot-Kitchen-Vancouver"><img alt="BareFoot Kitchen on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/740862/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> Barefoot kitchen is a japanese restaurant situated on Davie Street. Upon entering, we were greeted with smiles and enthusiastic welcomes from the waitress and the chef. We sat down by the window and promptly given our menus filled with pictures of the food. I ordered the hamburg and karaage set and friend had the mackeral set. They both came with a soup. I chose corn and she had miso. I really liked the corn soup, it was very very tasty. The set was very big and filling. It also came with a little potato salad as well. I finished all the food and had no complaints. When we were leaving she hastily ran over to open the door for us. She was so cute and kind! I like this restaurant. It doesn't serve THE best food around, but it sure satisfies.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2540/4210497260_2764b0e208.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 317px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2540/4210497260_2764b0e208.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2520/4210497308_9cddd72cef.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 472px; height: 337px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2520/4210497308_9cddd72cef.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We went to Bowl of Stars accidentally for dessert. We just kept driving and driving and vetoing various other places for dessert that we landed here.. To get a sweet drink. I got the Lychee slush with coconut jelly ( i was low fat coconut jelly but ran out hahahah who am I kidding with getting low fat), and friend got blueberry slush with pearls. They also say they have free wifi but upon asking, they didn't really know the password.. And the password they gave me didn't work :( (I know,.. How lame am I tryin to use wifi when I am hanging with a friend.. But I just got a new phone and wanted to test it out). The drinks were both really good but gave me massive brain freezes. It got a little too sweet at the end for me and the pearls in his drink were not cooked! The restaurant was very quiet but very bright. I think they are known for noodles here , so I would like to try that out one day.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4267637033_0d8692b94c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 324px; height: 432px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4267637033_0d8692b94c.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1438122/restaurant/Gastown/The-Diamond-Vancouver"><img alt="The Diamond on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1438122/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> We went over to the Diamond one night for dessert and drinks. I would never have known this place existed if I wasn't such a foodie (aka crazy about trying new restaurants...cork and fin anyone?). Yes I looked up and I saw the Diamond, but I had no idea where the door was. oi. Anyways, I wanted to try this place out because of their unique cocktails and drinks, but when I pointed this restaurant out to several friends, they never shared the same enthusiasm as me. I guess from the outside, it doesn't exactly boast the best decor (or even any), but inside is a totally different story. It is a fun room with great music and happy and trendy customers. The menu is just a piece of paper with a few selections of food. We found it too cute (the drawings) and had to order the duck noodles even though we had a pretty large meal beforehand. We also ordered a tapioca dessert. I can't believe we got suckered into ordering food from pictures that aren't even real. I don't recall what drinks we ordered but they were quite good.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ggx6cGhzTuwsHLpXVmw5HCWxofHOn851u_8zZEbmQa-Zr2bC4C0B39DY7bVCAdGPaGsPZup2l5xHmj4UmaPiUzkZmym-jZ4HQ6usY2TZJkop9SbMN6suYNXZfJpZ-hqbqwzbO0pzuvAZ/s1600-h/IMG_8654.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 412px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ggx6cGhzTuwsHLpXVmw5HCWxofHOn851u_8zZEbmQa-Zr2bC4C0B39DY7bVCAdGPaGsPZup2l5xHmj4UmaPiUzkZmym-jZ4HQ6usY2TZJkop9SbMN6suYNXZfJpZ-hqbqwzbO0pzuvAZ/s320/IMG_8654.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441378954513771266" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4297492348_beeaa2e3a8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 428px; height: 336px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4297492348_beeaa2e3a8.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The duck noodles was loaded with veggies and not enough duck. It was just adequate. The dessert was actually quite big and tasty..but the top part was just too sour. We ate around the top layer. I like the ambience of the room, the food was just o-k, but the drinks were quite enjoyable. I also found there was quite a wait for the food, especially the dessert. Furthermore, a possible downside might be if you sit in the middle, it could get a little uncomfortable for the person sitting on the inside because there's no back to rest on. The group next to me changed seats because of it.<br /><p></p> <p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-48340631987550359392010-02-11T22:43:00.001-08:002010-02-11T22:56:39.516-08:00Waazubee + Seasons<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181929/restaurant/Commercial-Drive-Grandview/Waazubee-Cafe-Vancouver"><img alt="Waazubee Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/181929/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> Waazubee Cafe is located along Commercial Drive and has a bunch of burgers, sandwiches, and appys to share. The room is pretty large with an open kitchen. We ordered the trio of hummus to share and I had the chicken sandwich and friend had the burger. The hummus was alright..we both enjoyed it but I love hummus. I went through a bag of pita bread + hummus in sweden in one day. I know, disgusting. But i think it's better than eating a whole cheesecake in one sitting like my friend did =P Then she went on a 600 calorie/day diet.. God, insanity.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4259596149_ca98f407f4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 376px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4259596149_ca98f407f4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4260352360_20088ce863.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4260352360_20088ce863.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4259596059_44ce687580.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 444px; height: 316px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4259596059_44ce687580.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Our mains came and they both looked delicious but I had NOO idea how to eat it without making an absolute mess. I guess that it was good I was facing the wall or else I would have looked barbaric. The burger was GIGANTIC. I tried it but could barely eat it and instead just took a bite of the bun. Oi. Friend said if there were any "the" perfect burger, he might have found it here.. But then he went on to say, minus the onions, more tomatoes, lettuce back in, and less mayo. LOL so basically, a different burger but this one came close. He was referring to the meat patty mostly and how it wasn't too big that it's dry and meaty but not too small that you feel ripped off for getting a burger. My sandwich was lovely, but I ended up taking most of it home because the fries and hummus filled me up. Overall, we had a lovely time here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/4221752296_fc890be984_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 431px; height: 316px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/4221752296_fc890be984_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2635/4220991477_a4c234223f.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 366px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2635/4220991477_a4c234223f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181598/restaurant/Riley-Park-Little-Mountain/Seasons-in-the-Park-Vancouver"><img alt="Seasons in the Park on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/181598/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> What better way to spend family christmas brunch then at Seasons in the Park. It is a beautiful restaurant situated in Queen E Park. Valet parking is 3.50 but if you park yourself, it's only a dollar for 2 hours I think. So don't be lazy and just park yourself. The restaurant reminded me a lot of Horizons on Burnaby Mountain Park. The view is nice.. But I just came back from Europe, so I wasn't as stunned by it as I could have been half a year ago. They have a nice selection of omlettes, benedicts, french toast, crab cakes, etc etc. I ordered the sweet potato hash, mother had eggs benedict with salmon, and father had steak and eggs. Everything was great. Steak was cooked perfectly, the scrambled eggs with that was okay. The Sweet potato hash was really good, I enjoyed it and it was a nice brunch. Prices are a bit expensive but it's a lovely place for special occasions.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4221752640_0666a07f0c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 359px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4221752640_0666a07f0c.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Happy olympics everyone! party hardy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-34559356991098440452010-02-03T22:28:00.000-08:002010-02-03T22:42:22.112-08:00Joeys + Riz<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1430020/restaurant/Downtown/Joeys-Burrard-Pender-Vancouver"><img alt="Joey's (Burrard & Pender) on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1430020/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> I met up with a friend downtown for dinner at Joey's at Bentall Center. I am not a major fan of chain restaurants, but I wanted to watch the game and it was between Joeys or cactus and friend liked Joeys more. There's nothing wrong with Joeys. It is always a fancy room with ample seating and various menu choices.<span style=""> </span>Also the most beautiful bathroom in their Broadway location. But I've never had a good meal here except maybe a dessert encounter.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4274577603_9e8ee8c633.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 456px; height: 369px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4274577603_9e8ee8c633.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We sat down at the bar and ordered the calamari to share and I had the lobster grilled cheese. .. Once the game started, my friend moved over to sit next to me and we began to find it SUPER difficult to watch.. Because the bar has about 5 TVs all playing the game and we realized we couldn't stay focused on one screen without looking at the other. "why does the one on the left of the one I am watching look brighter and livelier? When they are all playing the SAME GODDAMN GAME. My friend ended up watching the farthest left TV even though there's a perfectly good one right in front of him. OI. Then friend informs there's a larger projector playing the game in the other room. So we quickly upped and moved there.. Only that he forgot to Mention/realize that yes the screen is bigger and theres just one screen, but there's NO SOUND. We watched the rest of the game with loud pumping music in the background. UGH<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4275324582_3cf5f267b0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 272px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4275324582_3cf5f267b0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The food was a huge let down. Calamari was absolutely disgusting with the fried parts falling right off. The Lobster grilled cheese was hella buttery and greasy and too rich for me. And we also lost badly to a crap team (cbj), which just pissed us off even more. No more Joeys, unless I have to pee and I am on Broadway.. Just kidding, :P<br /><br /><br />Now that I moved again (I am somewhat a nomad), I get to try new places in my neighbourhood! <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181518/restaurant/Hastings-Sunrise/Riz-Sushi-Bar-Vancouver"><img alt="Riz Sushi Bar on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/181518/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> I went to Riz on Broadway and Renfrew located in a small plaza with mr sub and a mexican restaurant (which seemed fairly busy so I just might have to try it one day)l. We ordered the unagi roll, cheese roll, and a lunch box. The owners are cantonese and they have a good amount of customers for a Monday Afternoon which included both sit in and take out. The menu had a bunch of different things as well.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4286717217_234cd2909a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 451px; height: 366px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4286717217_234cd2909a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2783/4286717173_ab83a05f52.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 438px; height: 295px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2783/4286717173_ab83a05f52.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2764/4287456700_087a9acd6e.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 465px; height: 349px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2764/4287456700_087a9acd6e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Food came out pretty fast which was good because I thought I was gonna be late. The unagi roll was alright, nothing spectacular.. The lunch box was also normal, quite solid for a lunch box because everything was adequate. But the cheese roll was just gross. Then again what the hell was I thinking ordering sushi with MELTED CHEESE on TOP. Inside was beef teriyaki and it came with salsa sauce.. So it was like a mexican sushi roll.. Except gross as hell. OI. I ended up eating HELLA fast because I thought I was gonna be late (like.. Stuffing everything in my face.. others staring at me) only to be early by 45 min so ended up playing toobz on my iphone. I love that game, and unblock me.. But I am currently stuck on puzzle 9. ugh. Riz is a great sushi place alternative to Bentei nearby which has such a bad rating on urbanspoon (I always see so many people there so I don't know why it is rated 43%.. I'll take one for the team and find out one day).<br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-42894652102807846322010-01-26T22:15:00.000-08:002010-01-27T00:39:04.185-08:00Lux, Cafe Barcelona, Whineo's<p style="margin: 0in;font-family:georgia;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/180316/restaurant/Downtown/Lux-at-Caprice-Vancouver"><img alt="Lux at Caprice on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/180316/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> I've been meaning to try Lux at Caprice for some time now but it never worked out! So when my friend from the valley came to visit me, I thought it would be a great time to try again. The restaurant is quite stylish, dark, and great for parties.<br /></span><p style="margin: 0in;font-family:georgia;font-size:11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4280725727_caa7b1c942_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 517px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4280725727_caa7b1c942_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0in;font-family:georgia;font-size:11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4281469980_369388f367_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 536px; height: 215px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4281469980_369388f367_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0in;font-family:georgia;font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">We ordered a flat bread to share and I had lamb (medium well) and she had the gnocchi. Food took half hour to get out.. With all of it coming out at the same time??? Why didn't we get our flat bread first? Oi. My lamb was medium RARE, not WELL. But since food took awhile and we needed to go elsewhere, I ate it. Everything was alright... Nothing too spectacular.. Just found the wait to be a little too much.. Same with ordering drinks.. but the ambience is great I think. We ended up telling our cabbie we had 5 min to our nxt destination and he proceeded to blast the Jay Z song on the radio and<span style=""> </span>dancing to it as if he was some gangster and drove hella fast. Lol, awesome. And he made it there with one minute to spare :) I hope to encounter you again one day mr cabbie man, and not the ones who throws the map at me and tell me to direct them or tell me to show them money first. Bastards.<br /></span></p><p face="georgia" size="11pt" style="margin: 0in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4278738152_9c76954707_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 483px; height: 315px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4278738152_9c76954707_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p face="georgia" size="11pt" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p face="georgia" size="11pt" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size:100%;">We went to Cafe Barcelona one night after realizing circa and lux were unavailable. The restaurant is very quaint and bustling with a ton of people. We ordered a pitcher of sangria to share (yum) and ordered the spanish omelette on tomato bread, pepper and cheese dish, and a cheese and quince paste dish to share (with the cheese + quince a highly recommended dish). I also got myself one croquette which ended up having very very little pieces of ham and way too rich for me. The omelette dish was delicious (even though my friend didn't want to get it :P) Everything went well together and was quite filling but the other two dishes were not good.. The cheese and quince paste was 9 bucks.. Serious?? For a second I thought we were supposed to dip the cheese/quince into the pepper dish. Neither of us were fans and left. Although we met a lovely man named James who was so friendly and talkative to us. Hope to see you one day again! Maybe we will run into you at the Cellar checking out the hot Gotti looking bartender? Hahahaha :)</span></p><p face="georgia" size="11pt" style="margin: 0in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/4278738094_f55bb167f9_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 378px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/4278738094_f55bb167f9_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Since I was still hungry as hell and needed some carbs in my body in preparation for a long night of drinking, we went to Whineno's so I could order a Spaghetti and Meatballs. Friend had the deconstructed cheesecake. I've been here one time but never ate here. I think I was offered a free drink from some random here the last time I was here. The room is nice but fairly dark. I personally enjoy Sip more but I've been there to eat so I wanted to try new things. My spaghetti dish wasn't very good unforunately. The meatballs were hella dry and whole thing was rather bland. Maybe I have been spoiled with swedish meatballs and can't go back, but they were not good at all. The cheesecake was fine though. We were in a hurry again off I went<span style=""> </span>with spaghetti breath and smell. Lovely.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4017/4277991739_c30b392f27_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 461px; height: 328px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4017/4277991739_c30b392f27_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-16845661317382959592010-01-19T01:13:00.000-08:002010-01-26T22:56:21.710-08:00Sun Sui Wah + Copa Cafe<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181722/restaurant/Riley-Park-Little-Mountain/Sun-Sui-Wah-Vancouver-Vancouver"><img alt="Sun Sui Wah (Vancouver) on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/181722/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a> I've never blogged about Sun Sui Wah ever even though I claim it to be my one of my favorite Dim Sum place. I came here recently and it was hustling and bustling with a ton of people (it always is). The room is pretty large and they used to have carts pushing out dim sum, but now they are an ordering place. We finally got sat down after half an hour and quickly began ordering. The roasted squab was 10.80 so we ordered that. I know pigeon is not a thing many people like (all my friends cringe when I tell them I eat it) but I absolutely LOVE squab. I eat it every chance I get even though it's probably about 3000 calories. It's so delicious. Even though the promoted squab was small, it was sooo good. Mmm. If you haven't tried it, DO SO</p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/4235507079_d9bfdb7e9a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 401px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/4235507079_d9bfdb7e9a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4236282738_53c0c7a9f0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 406px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4236282738_53c0c7a9f0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">We ordered spring roll, meat balls, siu mai, chinese bbq buns, beef rolls, ham sui gok, taro cake, and dou fu fa. Everything was just adequate, with the taro cake being cooked wayyy too long. It was hella dry. I think that this place has either gone downhill for the prices of the food or just had an off day from the crazy amount of customers. I know that there are better dim sum joints in vancouver but I've grown up eating at Sun Sui Wah, it's hard to not like a place you loved for so long! Will I come back anytime soon, probs not. Will I keep recommending it to others? Probably.. With a side caution that I might be bias and an extra suggestion to Golden Phoenix</p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4236282576_b70f96b6b0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 365px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4236282576_b70f96b6b0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1421767/restaurant/South-Cambie-Street/Copa-Cafe-Vancouver"><img alt="Copa Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1421767/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> I made a visit to Copa Cafe on Cambie with my family. I like the chef on the signs so I came here already liking the restaurant. Thus I was easily swayed to like this place as long as food is adequate (I am so bias sometimes. Gah). We sat down and I was overwhelmed by all the choices. But I picked the lamb chop and bbq short ribs with gravy sauce and mashed potatoes for 18.98. Also changed the soup to a lobster bisque (I only ate leftovers that morning, I wanted good food). My parents ordered a rice dish and the pork and crab cakes combo for 15 I believe. The set meals also came with a warm dinner bun and a drink. The lobster bisque was very very sad. The bits and pieces of lobster were very small and few. But I finished it because I was so hungry. The rice came first and it was very very tasty, I like. My meal looked overwhelming but came out short. The short ribs were very fatty and the lamb chops were like rare/medium rare instead of medium. My mashed potato was really dense and loaded with sauce. Euck. The pork dish, I only tried the crab cakes which were very rich and "laou", meaning you can't eat too much of it without feeling full/sick. I also LOVE crab cakes so this was a downer. The meal was a let down, except the take out bag, which is a bright yellow recycable bag with the chef on it. So cute. Will I come back? No. But I like your marketing. If I am your target audience, it worked<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4250510698_39ff2330f1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 365px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4250510698_39ff2330f1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4249737047_93bd2dc43a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 385px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4249737047_93bd2dc43a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-80181898344320631022010-01-12T01:06:00.000-08:002010-01-12T01:18:35.897-08:00Milestones, Old Spaghetti factory, HiBack home, I went to Milestones for dessert because I was dressed too scrubby for The Keg and my friend was dressed too nice for Red Robins. Gah. Milestones seemed like a good medium since RAIN had an EMPTY parking lot. I do wanna try the place, but come on people.. Go there. Milestones has a pretty good list of desserts, whether you want chocolate, ice cream, cheesecake, apple, etc etc. I felt like something different and ordered the ginger caramel cinnamon fritter thing. I am sure that is not the name but hell it was very long and along those lines. My friend had *the* cookie<span style="font-family:georgia;">. THE cookie was around 6-7 bucks so it better be some damn good cookie. My dessert was very good, had a little cinnamon spicy kick to it that I enjoyed. THE cookie was good in the beginning, but got a little too ric</span>h since it was like chocolate overload. Which isn't a bad thing sometimes. Believe me,<span style=""> </span>I went through 2 packages of ballerina cookies in 3 days couple months ago combined with 2 daim chocolate bars. If you don't know what they are, please make a trip to Ikea and pick up some. Words cannot describe how great they are. And you know what else is great? Pizza flavored rice cakes. Come on Canada, get with it.<br /><p style="margin: 0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2594/4217598405_fcc43d8f14.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2594/4217598405_fcc43d8f14.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p face="Calibri" size="11pt" style="margin: 0in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4218365350_f8f751f42e.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4218365350_f8f751f42e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p face="Calibri" size="11pt" style="margin: 0in;"> </p> <p face="Calibri" size="11pt" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I also checked out the old spaghetti factory EVEN though I've heard shit things about them from numerous people. I always see the big sign when I come home from the highway and I don't care how bad it is, it's just pasta. How bad can it be??? The room was pretty big and we were promptly served bread after we sat down. It's sourdough served with butter and garlic butter. It's alright. Here, the pasta come with bread, choice of soup or salad, and ice cream..all for around 11-15 bucks. I had the tortellini baked with cheese (added .99) and friend had penne with chicken. We both had soup that I found was really gross. It tasted bad. The pasta wasn't that bad though. I mean, it wasn't AMAZING but they were sufficient. Ice cream was also okay. I think for the price, it is a good meal for the family. Will I come back? Probably not. Since I already eat relatively similar tortellini stuff at home a la safeway. </span></span><br /></p><p face="Calibri" size="11pt" style="margin: 0in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4220991727_41fee598c1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 379px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4220991727_41fee598c1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/85/1467705/restaurant/British-Columbia/Hi-Lunch-Box-Abbotsford"><img alt="Hi Lunch Box on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1467705/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a> Hi Lunch Box is a place I've tried to go to once before only to realize it was closed. There are a ton of sushi restaurants nearby.. Midori..GrEAT bistro..and I saw 2 more across the street. Sushi places are dominating abby! Anyways, the room is very small but decked out in Japanese decorations. There was only one other customer inside and he seemed like a close customer. Another group of guests came while we were eating and I believe they were friends with the owners. The menu is pretty plain, with the normal sushi, sashimi, udon, rice bowls, combo sets, etc. We ordered a lunch box (chicken teriyaki, gyoza, sushi, cali roll, salad), unagi roll (even though I said don, but it's alright), and a crazy boy roll (deep fried cali roll). Unagi roll came first and it had wayyy too much sauce all over it.. Kinda killed the roll for me, even though it had good taste. The Crazy Boy, was too spicy so I didn't eat it much.. Although it looked nice. The lunch box A.. The chicken teriyaki pieces were falling apart and once again was drenched in teriyaki sauce. Like the rice were sitting in heaps of the sauce that it was inedible. The gyoza also fell apart when we tried to pick it up.. It wasn't a very good box.. The owner was a lovely lovely lady who told us the sushi chef was new and he recently came from a japanese restaurant in Vancouver (I asked which one but they both couldn't say it in English or didn't remember). She seemed really kind and I really wanted to like this restaurant but the meal we had was not good.. Maybe they had an off day. It sure beats the inflated prices at grEAT. </span></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/4224389088_43f3744efd.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 359px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/4224389088_43f3744efd.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4223622485_39e2f4a320.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4223622485_39e2f4a320.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-19372505154151004902009-12-27T07:48:00.000-08:002010-01-03T02:04:26.955-08:00Finch's, Simbas, PourhouseI am now homee in bc for another 4 months (maybe more, maybe not, who knows?) I thought I could battle jet lag as if it never happened but holy hell I felt soo sick by the 2nd-3rd days. On the 2nd day being back, I went downtown and met up with a friend for a quick coffee and sandwich bite at Finch's on W Pender. The cafe is famous for their ever so fresh sandwiches so I knew I had to try one (even though they were a tad expensive at around 7-8 bucks). I ordered the <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Smoked applewood cheddar, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, dijon mayo sandwich on baguette for around 8 dollars. The sandwich was lovely, I liked the presentation of it and will probably come back another time to try a different one.<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4210497348_5056ed4a65.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 361px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4210497348_5056ed4a65.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Then I went to Simbas on Denman for dinner. I was greeted by the owner, but he didn't seem very friendly to me.. =[. The restaurant had nice decorative art around and a few awards he has won displayed in the back. There were many groups of people out to dine. We sat in the back and ordered the chicken in coconut curry and lamb in spinach and spices and ugali (african maize meal) and naan bread. We had a coupon that we had to present when we first came in. I wonder, would the quantity/quality be better if my coupon wasn't presented? i don't know. anyways, the chicken in coconut curry had great taste, but I did not like the lamb. I found the taste to be too overpowering for me but I really wanted to eat lamb, so I just ended up scraping all the spices off. The ugali was different and went well with both dishes, but I liked the naan bread more :)<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/4210497178_31738c8c08.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 386px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/4210497178_31738c8c08.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1479432/restaurant/Gastown/Pourhouse-Vancouver"><img alt="Pourhouse on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1479432/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a> Afterwards, I was feeling a little sick and wanted tea, so we walked and walked and walked allll the way to the pourhouse.. The restuarant, formerly flux, was very posh and dark inside. I felt a little scrubby but whatevs. the only other thing I see open was black frog and I am pretty sure a shot of jager will not cure my sick feeling (although it would make me feel warmer from walking from effing denman to gastown).. and a customer is a customer riiight? The restaurant has a throw back feel to it (well, at least to me). I liked the ambience and the room, with an open kitchen in the back. I think there's a table right next to the kitchen.. secluded from the rest of the dining area.. I don't know if this is an actual table or not but it seemed kinda weird!! The servers were super friendly and talkative, points.<br />Anyways, we ordered peppermint tea and an apple cobbler for two to share. It comes out piping hot with a side of ice cream. yummy, no complaints. There were a ton of groups and parties going on, but I also think it would be a lovely place for a date. I'll probably come back one day for food =) At the end we saw that they were throwing an nye party with 20s theme. Maybe that's where I got the throwback feel from, it coulddd be fun! but I remember it was pretty expensive.. just like every other goddamn vancouver event going on that night. maybe I am just bitter because I was one of those suckers who paid for an overpriced thing when all I really need was a bottle of riesling, friends, and david guetta and could have had a great night too. lesson learned kids.<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2708/4210497208_5fa54d1b3d.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 422px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2708/4210497208_5fa54d1b3d.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Happy happy new year everyone! Hope 2010 will bring even better food than 2009!!!<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-88217454541179639932009-12-24T05:39:00.000-08:002009-12-24T10:44:10.150-08:00Neptune Wonton NoodleAfter a hellish plane ride back from heathrow (sitting on a plane for 4 hours waiting for them to de-ice it and not knowing when they were done), the only places left opened at around midnight were neptune wonton noodle or number 9. I had been to neptune before and recall having good congee and so we ventured over there for a late night snack (they are open until 2 and it's cash only)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4207033224_aeaa48ca2e.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 482px; height: 362px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4207033224_aeaa48ca2e.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4206274501_c57248a96d.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 459px; height: 344px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4206274501_c57248a96d.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The room was pretty big, and still had a large amount of people eating. We ordered sweet and sour pork, curry fish balls and pork intestines(?), congee, and squid balls with noodles. I liked the congee, it had a lot of ingredients in it. The sweet and sour pork had too many fatty pieces, and the curry fish balls dish was just o-kay..<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/4206274545_4348e73f7c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 486px; height: 365px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/4206274545_4348e73f7c.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/4206274653_7d47cd6133.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 488px; height: 346px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/4206274653_7d47cd6133.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />At the end it was a decent meal for a decent price, I am not raving but just happy to be eating chinese food again without having to pay over 10 bucks for one dish.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1431520/restaurant/Vancouver/Neptune-Wonton-Noodle-Richmond"><img alt="Neptune Wonton Noodle on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1431520/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none ; width: 104px; height: 15px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2572933810159353168.post-9700986666789795862009-12-14T14:45:00.000-08:002009-12-15T05:33:50.285-08:00Look at this beauty<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/4185382861_3ab5f5860e_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 468px; height: 379px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/4185382861_3ab5f5860e_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />ICA had no more turkey breast. so a huge turkey leg it is! hahaha with delicious scalloped potatoes and stuffing. I believe the turkey was 30 sek, which is around 4 bucks.. me and my american friend wanted to recreate some sort of north american christmas dinner.. only to result in scalloped potatoes, stuffing, and turkey leg that looked like it was from the flintstones. amazing.<br /><br />Alright, here's another European update.. featuring mostly christmas food. I am in LOVE with christmas markets at the moment. They are the most beautiful thing ever.<br /><br />BUDAPEST (my 2nd favorite country)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/4148262936_51d1388880.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 349px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/4148262936_51d1388880.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Look at this AMAZING hot chocolate. it was SOO thick and I felt like I was drinking a chocolate bar. WOW<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/4147441393_3b68a7d6e0_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 515px; height: 386px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/4147441393_3b68a7d6e0_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Christmas Market selling goose legs and sausages. The goose legs were deliciousss<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2787/4147502697_69aaf389d2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2787/4147502697_69aaf389d2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A Chimney cake.. very popular but it was very large and doughy! Good for a group!<br /><br />ANGELHOLM, SWEDEN<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/4137275378_3266d3907a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/4137275378_3266d3907a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Very very saucy but delicious nonetheless. We had this before we saw Rogle play against Skelleftea.. Modo was sold out unfortunately :(<br /><br />TALLINN, ESTONIA<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/4118599400_cc1f124d37.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/4118599400_cc1f124d37.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This was from a supermarket.. costing me 32 kroons which was around 3 bucks! The lemonade was yummy.<br /><br />PRAGUE<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2785/4169570173_65536523b5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 364px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2785/4169570173_65536523b5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Goulash soup in a bread bowl.. this was after walking around a very cold and rainy day.. so it was good.. although it was too heavy for me. I demolished the bread bowl.. although I am not so sure if we were supposed to eat it..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2512/4169533363_418fb7cb91.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2512/4169533363_418fb7cb91.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The Full monty at an irish pub.. which was suitable for 4 and more people, but it was just 3 of us.. 2 guys and me. We did pretty well at finishing it.. only leaving the fries around. It was damnnn good. It was steak bites, really tender ribs, fries, fried mushroom caps, fried jalapeno bites, and fried shrimp and chicken wings.. mmm..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2710/4170369612_a94bc77864.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 328px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2710/4170369612_a94bc77864.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A bohemian meal.. that I didn't enjoy but got because I wanted to be authentic. It was smoked meats, pork, bacon, cabbage, potatoes, and bread..<br />KRAKOW, POLAND<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/4170053728_c850d4cf2c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 388px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/4170053728_c850d4cf2c.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A traditional polish meal apparently.. deep fried pork chop, bacon, and cabbage. it was alright. the pork was such a hugeee piece!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4169193328_0c00de1719.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4169193328_0c00de1719.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>At the christmas markets.. we thought it was fried dough and some sweet dessert.. but it was cheese..<br /><br />Oświęcim, POLAND<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4168429417_29693700a8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 355px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4168429417_29693700a8.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Perogies! I wish I got meat inside instead of potato and cheese..<br /><br />BERLIN, GERMANY<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4183084430_09e038bd11.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 428px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4183084430_09e038bd11.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Dumplings! very yummy, but got too rich at the end, the sauce.. and my pretty christmas souvenir mug :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4174204552_4231ecc4b6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 325px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4174204552_4231ecc4b6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A sausage and bun :) I don't know why the sausage has to be bigger than the bun but it was good.<br /><br />Home, Sweden<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4175454526_fd3bfc8acb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4175454526_fd3bfc8acb.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I recently discovered Cafe Mondo and I wish I found this over Coffee break because this sandwich was DELICIOUS. It is chicken and bacon baguette.. the sauce was sooo good..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2803/4180476385_72b28ba338.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 365px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2803/4180476385_72b28ba338.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A traditional Christmas Dinner in Swedish.. Christmas ham with mustard, cocktail sausages, Jannson's temptation (potato with onions anchovies), cabbage, and kottbullar... everything was so salty and not good :( For appys we had bread+ cheese, hard boiled egg, beetroot salad, and 3 types of herring.. which my friend kept making gagging noises at me for eating, but watever.. swedes eat it, it can't hurt me. And for dessert we had rice pudding and gingerbread cookies. yums<br /><br />hejda!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com