Archive for November, 2007
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
Samantha, Lucy, and I met up for bubble tea at L&G Bubble Tea after dinner one day. It is one of the many bubble tea houses in Vancouver and is located at the corner of Granville and W. 41st Ave (5701 W 41st Ave). After Dragonball Tea House, this is one of my favourite bubble tea joints in Vancouver.
L&G offers up a large array of bubble tea options that are sure to suit anyone’s tastes. 
After you settle on the type of drink you want, you also get to choose if you want milk or no milk, slush or no slush, and the type of pearls you want. Of course, pearls refer to the regular brown tapioca pearls but you can also have coconut jelly, grass jelly, and a bunch of others that I can’t remember. Most of the time, I choose half pearls and half coconut jelly…just because I can never make up my mind.
This time, I had a lychee green tea with no milk and half pearls/half coconut jelly. The reason I like the lychee tea here is because they always add chunks of lychee to the drink, which is a nice touch.
Samantha had strawberry slush with no milk and half pearls/half coconut jelly. This is one of her favourites and it was quite tasty. Lucy opted for something new and chose the jackfruit slush…also with half pearls/half coconut jelly. It was a bit on the sweet side though.
All of our teas cost $3.50 each. Considering that both Lucy and Samantha chose fresh fruit, the prices were quite reasonable. The coconut jelly and pearls are actually quite filling so I normally opt for a plain drink unless I am feeling hungry.
Details:
5701 Granville Street, Vancouver (but it’s actually on 41st Ave)
Tel: 604-269-3682
Summary:
Food: 
Service: n/a
Price: $
Posted in Drinks, Asian, Reviews | No Comments »
Sunday, November 18th, 2007
Samantha, Lucy, and I went to Toshi Sushi for dinner one day. It is located at 181 E 16th Ave and Main and is one of the busiest restaurants I know of. There is always a line-up to be seated and even though we went fairly late on a weeknight, we still had to wait 15 minutes!
There is a sign-up sheet at the front of the restaurant so the seating process goes fairly smoothly. I suppose due to the fact that there is always a crowd waiting to be seated, there are quite a few rules you have to observe. The biggest one is that they will not seat your table until everyone is there…and they are quite strict about this.
We decided to order a few dishes to share and the first to come was a negitoro roll and a salmon & avocado roll. Both the rolls tasted very fresh, especially the negitoro roll.
Next came the tuna tataki. The tuna was lightly grilled on the outside and then marinated in the special house sauce with fresh green onions. The grilled flavour on the outside contrasted with the soft raw insides of the tuna. This was recommended by one of Lucy’s friends and I’m glad we picked it.
Our last order was a dinner box with a selection of different items: nigiri sushi, ebi sunomono, chicken karaage, prawn tempura, sashimi, and BC roll. The nigiri sushi was a selection of salmon, tuna, ebi, and snapper (I think it is called kai?). Everything was very fresh and tasty.
I have to say that ebi sunomono is not one of my preferred dishes when it comes to Japanese, but this time, it was actually quite refreshing! The soup was not too tangy and it also had a couple of slices of persimmon, which was a nice touch.
The chicken karaage was pretty standard but still tasty. I like the extra punch of flavour that squeezing a lemon over the chicken provides.
The prawn tempura batter was not too heavy, which I like.
The sashimi was very tasty. We had a selection of tuna, salmon, and octopus. We could tell that it was very fresh…just like a lot of their other raw items.
The salmon skin on the BC roll was pretty mild and not scaly at all.
Before tips, our total bill came to around $33. The food here was really good but I don’t think it was good enough to justify the long wait for a table. Once you are seated, the food takes quite a while to arrive, which probably adds to the long waits outside. The servers are quite friendly and are always coming by to keep your tea topped up.
Details:
181 E 16th Ave, Vancouver
Tel: (604) 874-5173
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007
Jenkins and I headed over to the White Spot in Kerrisdale one weekend for some brunch. This White Spot is one of my favourites because the service is usually quite prompt and the food seems to taste better…although I don’t know why.
I decided to go for something new this time and tried the Original Sunny Start. As I have blogged before, I am a huge fan of Triple-O sauce but for whatever reason, I never tried the breakfast version of the White Spot burger. I decided that it was about time I gave it a try. This one came with cheese, bacon, a fried egg, and of course, Triple O sauce. :) Although I enjoyed the taste of the Sunny Start, the Triple O sauce was a bit too rich for my morning taste buds.
Jenkins chose Nat’s Hearty Brunch, which came with two each of eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, and some hashbrowns. If the picture below looked like a lot of food, it was. :) The food was pretty standard but quite tasty although Jenkins noted that the hashbrowns were a little on the greasy side. I liked the sausages because they were nice and crispy on the outside.
It was another satisfying brunch at White Spot. I like how the prices are fairly reasonable and the portions are always generous. The brunch items are pretty standard but always quite tasty.
Details:
5367 West Boulevard, Vancouver
Tel: 604-266-1288
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007
Victoria and I popped over to Sciue the other day for a quick dinner. It is billed as a bistro featuring Roman street food. When I was in Rome a few years ago, I couldn’t get enough of the pizzas and sandwiches for sale at the various stands and shops so I knew I had to try Sciue and see what it was all about. It is located in downtown Vancouver at 800 W. Pender St (by Howe).
Once inside, we quickly discovered that the restaurant was similar to Bread Garden or Cafe Artigiano in that there was a counter full of food that you can order and it seemed to be prepared fresh daily. Although they also have a variety of soups and salads, their featured items are the Roman-style pizzas…
…and panini sandwiches.
Victoria and I decided to split a mushroom pizza and the Emilia panini, which had prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, and mixed greens. The pizza is prepared in long thin rows and the portions are cut by the server and then weighed to determine how much to pay. We asked our server to cut enough for one person and he heated it up in the oven for us.
I found the pizza to look much better than it tasted. Perhaps it was because the pizza was prepared earlier in the day, but the crust was very hard and difficult to bite into. The mushrooms were also a bit soggy, although there were lots of them.
Similar to the pizza crust, we also found the bread of the panini to be too hard and dry. The items in the panini (tomato, mozzarella, greens, and prosciutto) seemed like they should go well together, but did not seem to form a cohesive unit in this sandwich. I felt like this would have tasted very good if it was made fresh, which was not the case for us.
All in all, the concept of Sciue was pretty interesting but just didn’t work for me this time around. It is unlikely I will come back for dinner, although I may give it a try for lunch sometime. Most of the items they feature would work best if made fresh and just wasn’t meant to be saved for the end of the day. :) They also have a selection of Italian sodas, coffees, and desserts (including gelato!).
Details:
110-800 W Pender St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-602-7263
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Italian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Van Cheong Tea House is located at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond. It is one of several outlets throughout the Lower Mainland but to my knowledge, this is the only one that has a restaurant component to the store. All the other Van Cheongs are retail stores only and sell a great selection of Chinese teas. This was my first time at the restaurant but I was assured by my parents that it was a great place to try.
The servers here were very friendly and when we mentioned that we weren’t sure what to order, they offered to select a bunch of dishes for us to try out. There were five of us there that day and we all agreed that would be an excellent idea.
Seeing that this was a tea place, first and foremost, we were served some tea. It came in a traditional clay pot and our server showed us how to prepare it the “proper” way. It was interesting to watch the way she would rinse or cleanse the cups and the tea before pouring it through a strainer and finally into our cups. They also give you a choice of teas that you can choose to accompany your meal.
While we were waiting for our food, we were also given a small dish of pumpkin seeds to munch on.
Since our server selected all the dishes for us, I’m not sure what anything was called but I will try to describe it in enough detail for you to order it if you decide to try it out yourself. First was a cold dish of chicken. The chicken was very juicy and delicious. I sometimes find that this dish is too salty, but this was perfectly cooked and seasoned.
Next came a dish of “ong choy” and beef in satay sauce. I’m not really sure what “ong choy” is in English but try to say it in your best Cantonese voice. The vegetables were crunchy but kind of tasted like spinach. The satay sauce really blended the beef and vegetables together and I really liked the way this dish was prepared. My only complaint was that it was a bit on the oily side. It was also slightly spicy.
Next came a dish of fresh bamboo shoots stir-fried with green onions and chilli peppers. Because all the seeds were left in the chillis, this dish was quite spicy. I’ve never had fresh bamboo shoots before (they are usually canned) and I could really taste the difference. The shoots were tender and tasty…you could really tell they were fresh! This was one of my favourite dishes of the day.
We also had fresh clams in a light soy-based sauce. We were told that this was one of their more popular dishes and was one of the first dishes to clear at our table.
Next came the soup, which was made with fresh lily buds, spring onions, and chicken. This was probably the dish I enjoyed the most. Again, like the bamboo shoots, I have never had fresh lily buds and it was very crunchy and light. Overall, the taste of the soup was very light and fresh. There was some sand at the bottom of the soup bowl though…although my dad noted that it was probably hard to clean the lily buds too thoroughly due to its delicate nature.
Our last dish was an oyster omelet. Also in this omelet was assorted vegetables and it was also accompanied by a slightly sweet sauce. This dish was also very good. I love omelets and Japanese okonomiyaki and to me, this Chinese version was also quite tasty.
Overall, I enjoyed lunch here very much. I don’t remember how much it cost, but remember it being quite reasonable for the five of us and we all left with full stomachs. The restaurant is also not very busy so it is quite easy to find a table even if you arrive at peak lunch hour. My recommendation to you is to ask the server to choose a selection of dishes for you if you are feeling adventurous…this certainly worked out very well for us! You can also tell them what you do not like and they will select the dishes accordingly. The service was also great and our server was especially interested in the pictures I was taking throughout the meal.
As a side note, their teas here are also very good and the clerks behind the counter are very knowledgeable and very willing to offer suggestions for possible gifts and presents.
Details:
2800-4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond
Tel: 604-295-8260
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Asian, Chinese, Reviews | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
Jenkins and I always like to go to Sushi Garden when we are in the area, but the timing always has to be right. We always go at non-peak times because otherwise, you can be guaranteed of a long wait…which we hate. It is located at 4635 Kingsway, across from Metrotown mall.
We were both quite hungry this day so we picked the medium sushi combo, which is meant for 2-3 people. It came with a selection of nigiri sushi and rolls. Our food came pretty quickly. First was the selection of nigiri sushi. We had ebi, surf clams, salmon, tuna, and tobiko. The pieces of salmon and tuna were very large and tasted very fresh.
Next came the BC and Dynamite rolls. I am not a huge fan of BC rolls but this time, it was not so bad. The salmon skin was not too overwhelming and it also had some crab meat, which was different from what I was accustomed to. The dynamite roll was also very tasty.
The last tray of rolls was chopped scallop and California rolls. The chopped scallop roll was very tasty and stuffed with scallops and crunchy tobiko. I liked that there was not too much mayo here. The California roll was also very tasty and was what you would expect from California rolls.
For the most part, Sushi Garden is not really innovative in their food but you can always expect large portions and very fresh sushi. One thing they are not known for is their service. They normally only have two servers for a relatively large and busy dining space and your best bet is to wave down the server whenever you can. It’s definitely the food, and not the service, that keeps me coming back.
Details:
4635 Kingsway, Burnaby
Tel: 604-436-0104
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Japanese, Asian | 2 Comments »
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