Archive for the 'Lower Mainland Cities' Category
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
After my birthday dinner at Bistro Sakana, we decided to continue the evening and go for bubble tea. We were all in the mood for something new so Lucy suggested Corner 23. She had bubble tea there the other day and said that it was pretty good. Corner 23 is a new-ish Taiwanese eatery that opened at the corner of …you guessed it! West 23rd and Cambie in Vancouver.
I decided to try the malt milk tea with pudding chunks. I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with this. It didn’t taste milky at all and had cereal-like chunks floating around. The pudding was actually kind of interesting but since I didn’t like the milk tea itself, I wasn’t able to actually enjoy the pudding. This was the first time in a while but I didn’t even finish my drink!
Lucy had a pudding milk tea with pudding chunks. She had the same thing a few days earlier and said that one tasted way better. The pudding milk tea was overly sweet and also had a strange consistency to it.
Samantha had a strawberry milk tea. She had ordered this initially because she thought it was made with fresh strawberries but it was actually made with strawberry powder. It was too sweet for her taste although she said someone who enjoyed really sweet drinks may have liked it more.
Jenkins had a lychee green tea slush with half coconut jelly and half pearls. He also noted that the lychee slush was quite sweet and the lychee flavour was a bit artificial tasting.
The one saving grace about Corner 23 was that their drink straws are individually wrapped. It drives me nuts when people touch all the straws in a bucket before finally selecting the one they want. I think more places should have individually wrapped straws…although I suppose this may not be as good for the environment. Perhaps they can wrap it with paper similar to what is at MacDonald’s and Starbucks. 
The four of us wondered if the spotty quality of the bubble tea was because it was late at night and everyone was just eager to go home. Or perhaps the regular bubble tea maker didn’t work the night shift. For whatever reason, I think it will be quite a while before I try the bubble tea here again. The service was also really slow. It took about half an hour for our drinks to come and the restaurant wasn’t even busy! The servers were quite polite and nice though. I did go back a couple of weeks later to try their food and I have to say that was pretty tasty. Check back later to see my food review on Corner 23.
Details:
4008 Cambie St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-709-9788
Summary:
Food: 
Service: 
Posted in Vancouver, Lower Mainland Cities, Drinks, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Another year, another birthday! :) This year, I went for dinner with Samantha, Lucy, and Jenkins. I really wasn’t sure where to go for dinner but then I remembered it had been a while since I was last at Bistro Sakana. I’m not sure why there was such a lag since my last visit since my meals at Sakana are always yummy and enjoyable. In any case, here is what we feasted on for my birthday dinner…
We were first served complimentary appetizers. It was a light and refreshing salad with bean sprouts, cucumbers, and diced chicken tossed in a sweet chili vinaigrette.
Samantha enjoyed the green tea immensely and requested that I take a picture. :) It was quite strong and had a very nice green tea taste.
Sakana always has a list of daily specials. On the day that we went, they had a bunch of fresh oysters. We all decided to try a Kusshi oyster with ponzu sauce. The oysters were very fresh and slightly sweet.
The yaki-spaghetti with chicken was an interesting spin on yakisoba. The spaghetti was cooked al dente and had a nice texture to it. It also served as a great “filler” dish for us.
The miso black cod came with a small bed of wild rice and a drizzling of balsamic vinegar and cranberry sauce. Although it was quite a small dish, this was very tasty. Then again, how can you really fail with black cod? :) The cranberry sauce added a nice tanginess to the rich fattiness of the cod.
We also ordered quite a few rolls. I can’t really remember the names of everything that we tried, but I can assure you that they all tasted great.
The spicy tuna roll was a regular tuna roll with spicy sauce drizzled on top. It was different from what we were used to but very tasty. The spicy sauce was also slightly sweet, which I think added to the overall taste. The crunchy California rolls are always my favourite here. Regular California rolls are rolled in some crunch panko bread crumbs. It was so good that we ordered a second serving! The Negitoro rolls were more commonplace but still very good.
The chopped scallop rolls were probably the most mundane dish out of everything we ordered. It just didn’t seem to have much taste to it.
The okonomiyaki took a while to make (about 20 minutes) so when it arrived, we were actually quite full. It was much thicker than the okonomiyaki I was accustomed to although I’m not sure which version is more authentic. It was packed with veggies, spaghetti, and some seafood. I have to admit though that I was not too fond of this dish. Because it was so thick, it seemed like the middle parts were not well cooked and had a cakey/thick texture to it.
Although it had been a while since I was last at Sakana, I was quickly reminded why I used to go there so much. The food is always fresh and tasty with a nice mix of sushi and izakaya items. I also like that they have a list of daily specials so you can always try something new. My only peeve is that the service is quite slow so make sure you are not in a rush when you go there for your meal. They are friendly enough to make up for the slowness though. :p
Details:
1120 Hamilton St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-633-1280
Summary:
Food: (I would have given it a 4 had it not been for the scallop roll & okonomiyaki mini-busts)
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Vancouver, Lower Mainland Cities, Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 21st, 2008
It was my birthday a few weeks ago and my team decided to take me out for lunch. :) Christina suggested Riddim & Spice over on Commercial Drive. It is a small Caribbean restaurant that also does quite a bit of take-out. Christina has been going there for years and highly recommended it.
The restaurant was about half full when we got there so even though there were about seven of us, we didn’t need to wait for a table. The menu is pretty small and basic, making it easy to navigate.
I decided to have the jerk chicken with coco bread. It was quite popular with several people in our party. :) It also came with a small serving of green salad with an onion dressing. The chicken wasn’t very spicy and was cooked very nicely. The meat fell off the bone and had a nice helping of jerk sauce drizzled over top. Christina recommended that we stuff the meat into the coco bread, creating a jerk chicken sandwich. The serving size was quite generous and I wasn’t able to finish my dish even though I was quite hungry. My only complaint was that I was used to the fried coco bread at The Reef on Main Street. I’m not sure which version was more authentic but I liked the taste of the version at The Reef more.
Jay ordered basically the same thing as me except with roti bread instead.
Christina ordered a curry chicken in a roti roll wrap. I think her dish was the biggest out of all of ours. She was only able to finish half and ended up taking the other half home.
Lorie ordered the curry chicken with roti bread. It was spicier than she anticipated and she had to be careful to pick out the chicken bones from her dish.
Overall, the meal was quite good. I wouldn’t mind coming back here to try their other items. Even though it was a Friday afternoon, the restaurant was quite empty so I can only assume it gets busier during the dinner hour. Service is a bit laid back so it does take a while for your food to come so if you are in a rush, be sure to let them know.
Details:
1945 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Tel: 604-215-9252
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Caribbean, Vancouver, Lower Mainland Cities | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
I headed over to Spicy Court one day for some dim sum with Jenkins’ family. Spicy Court is located diagonally from Oakridge Centre and is pretty close to Jenkins’ family and some of my family members. As a result, I tend to go there pretty often. :) If you order your food and get the bill before 11AM, you can also get 10% off your meal.
We started with sui mai (pork dumplings) as this is one of Jenkins’ favourite dishes. The sui mai at Spicy Court are quite big and juicy. I usually break it into four pieces with my chopstick so it’s more manageable.
Jenkins’ family introduced me to this chicken and noodle dish at Spicy Court. They are a pretty healthy bunch so this dish is right up their alley. The noodles come in a light broth with shredded chicken and lettuce. The bowl is fairly large and makes for a good filler dish.
It was the first time I had tried the scallop and spinach rice rolls at Spicy Court and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The scallops were quite large and plentiful and went very well with the spinach.
Shredded chicken with jellyfish is one of my favourite dim sum items…as mentioned several times before. I don’t think the one at Spicy Court ranks among the best I’ve had…although that doesn’t stop me from ordering it!
Jenkins always likes steamed bbq pork buns. There is quite a bit of filling in this version at Spicy Court…which is much better than when all you get is the white bun part.
We also had some steamed bean curd stuffed with pork and bamboo shoots. Nothing too special about this dish but it was still quite tasty.
Spicy Court seems to be mainly a dim sum place and can get quite busy during lunch time. Sometimes, it even seems busier earlier in the morning because everyone is scrambling to get their 10% discount before 11AM! The dim sum is a good price for what you get although the selection can sometimes seem a bit limited.
Details:
101-5638 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-325-1189
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Vancouver, Dim Sum, Lower Mainland Cities, Asian, Chinese, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
I first went to Po King a while back when my grandparents introduced it to me. It’s a relatively cheap Chinese restaurant that opened a few months ago and offered dim sum for $2.99 per dish. As such, it’s pretty busy at lunch and it’s best to get there a bit before 12 (at least on week days) if you don’t want to wait for a table. Po King is located along Kingsway about a three minute drive east of Metrotown.
Most dim sum restaurants these days require you to order from a sheet and the dim sum is then brought to your table. Po King kicks it old school by bringing carts of dim sum around. One thing to note though is that the rotation of dim sum can be pretty scant at times so if you see something you want, it’s best to grab it right away.
The bean curd with pork and bamboo shoots was quite tasty. Sometimes, this dish can get a bit oily but Po King’s version was not so. Because there is so much pork packed in the bean curd wraps, it is actually quite filling so it’s best to ask your server to cut them in half.
I am always a fan of these Chinese beef balls, especially when there is an accompanying vinegar dipping sauce.
These bbq pork buns also have a sweet topping which makes for a unique combination of salty and sweet. My aunt first introduced these to me quite a while ago and they always make for a tasty filler dish.
We sure do like our bbq pork buns! We also had the regular version with no sweet coating on top.
My grandma ordered this dish of steamed eel. There were quite a few bones so it is some work to eat it but also worth it.
I really enjoyed this dish of fried leather jacket fish in Maggi sauce. The bones weren’t too difficult to navigate and the crunchy outside of the fish went very well with the Maggi sauce.
We were still a bit hungry so we also ordered some fried noodles with chicken and veggies. This dish was made fresh so the noodles were nice and crunchy.
One of my favourite dim sum dishes is the shredded chicken with jellyfish “salad”. I would say that there was more jellyfish than chicken and I found it to be a bit watery towards the bottom. It tasted good though and I liked the pickled sweetness of the pickled ginger and turnips.
Po King is a great deal for the type of food you get and the price. I’m really glad that another good dim sum place has opened up near where I work. I’ve already dragged my co-workers here a couple of times since first going there with my grandparents.
Details:
150-5665 Kingsway, Burnaby
Tel: 604-436-2986
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Burnaby, Dim Sum, Lower Mainland Cities, Asian, Chinese, Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Today’s post is going to be extra long because:
(1) I have not been posting as regularly these days and I’m feeling guilty
(2) I happened to eat at Water St. Cafe twice during a 3-week span so I thought it would be better to post about both visits at once
The first dinner was a gals’ night out with Tricia and Juanita. It’s always fun to meet up at a new place for dinner. I’ve never been to Water St. Cafe before but both Tricia and Juanita had and were happy to go back. It also didn’t hurt that we had an Entertainment Book coupon that gave us a free entree.
After we ordered, we were presented with some fresh bread. There were two different kinds and they were both warm, which I enjoyed. The butter was also easy to spread, which is something too often overlooked by many restaurants.
Tricia and I shared the spinach salad, which came with tomatoes, goat cheese croutons, pancetta, pine nuts, and a red wine vinaigrette. The crispy elements in this salad went really well with the soft spinach. I also liked how the vinaigrette was very light and didn’t drench the salad.
Juanita had a Caesar salad to start her meal. This looked very tasty and Juanita enjoyed it quite a bit.
All three of us chose pasta entrees. First up was Juanita’s clam pasta in white wind sauce. This came loaded with clams (some fresh and some canned) and looked delicious.
Tricia picked the spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli. Although there weren’t as many pieces of ravioli as she would have liked, the ravioli was quite big and it was very tasty. Even though initial thoughts were that the dish was kind of small, it turned out to be very filling.
I chose the pesto linguine with chicken. I found the pesto to have too much oil puddled at the bottom but it tasted great overall. The linguine came with a lot of chicken chunks, sundried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. I only ate half of this and ended up bringing the other half to work the next day.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable meal. We were too stuffed for dessert but luckily for you, we had dessert at the second Water St Cafe dinner…
Fast forward a few weeks and I was back at Water St Cafe for a Father’s Day dinner with my family. I’ll highlight some of the dishes we tried as well as dessert.
We decided to share a couple of appetizers that day and settled on the smoked salmon and the bruschetta. Although I enjoyed the tomato and basil spread on the bruschetta, I like my bread to be a bit toastier and crunchier.
The smoked salmon was very good. There wasn’t anything very unique about this dish but it was done well. The dill cream cheese went great with the salmon and triangle toasts.
Gricked decided to have the potato gnocchi with shrimp, prosciutto, and squash. If this sounds filling, it really was! Even after sharing with all of us, he still had about half left over, which he ended up bringing for lunch the next day. The shrimp and squash made for an interesting combination and this was a very tasty dish.
Most of us were too full for dessert but we decided to share a couple of items anyway. I decided to have the flourless espresso chocolate tart. For some reason, I thought this was going to be like a chocolate lava cake but it turned out to be more like a dense truffle tart. It also came with some preserved cherries, which went pretty well with the tart but created a watery soup in my dish, which I could have done without. I would have also enjoyed the cherries if they had a stronger flavour.
My grandparents and my mom chose the tiramisu. It tasted pretty standard and nothing stood out about it though.
The next time I’m at the Water St Cafe, I’ll probably do without the dessert and just stick with a main course. Their pastas were great but I’ll probably try their non-pasta mains next time just to see how they compare. I should also note that on my second trip to Water St Cafe, service was extremely slow and they seemed to be quite understaffed despite it being Father’s Day. I didn’t keep count but it must have taken us at least 20 minutes just to get the bill at the end.
Details:
300 Water Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-689-2832
Summary:
Food:
Service: (mostly due to the slow service the second time around)
Price: $$
Posted in Vancouver, Lower Mainland Cities, Italian, Reviews | No Comments »
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