Another guest post from Cat! It’s been such a long time since I was last in Steveston…would really like to try this out sometime

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Last Friday, my friends and I decided to go to Gudrun Tasting Room for some wine and cheese before dinner.  Gudrun is a quiet wine and cheese joint, tucked away from the main street.  As you walk up to its entrance, you’ll see a long wooden table built around a beautiful oak tree.  Unfortunately, we went on a rainy day.  Otherwise, it would be nice to be able to sit at this long table.

As one of our friends had purchased a Groupon, the four of us ordered the wine flights and two fondues to share.  The fondues were made with appenzeller, emmenthal, gruyere, kirsch, and some wine.  We were given two small plates of bread pieces (white and wheat) to dip.  Not being a fan of cheese fondue, I thought the fondue was good.  It was neither too rich nor heavy and it went well with one of the wine I had.

Aside from fondue, Gudrun is also known for its cheese + charcuterie.  Every day, there’s daily selection of cheeses and the choices are written on the blackboard found on one end of the place.

Overall, I had a pleasant experience at Gudrun and would recommend it as a place to hang out before or after dinner.

Details:
3500 Moncton St, Richmond
Tel: 604-272-1991

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$$

I was working downtown one day and was on my way home when a craving for bubble tea suddenly struck. Perhaps it was because it was a sunny day or maybe I just wanted to reward myself after a long day. In any case, I remembered that there was a bubble tea place right in Yaletown that I had not visited yet so I figured now was as good of a time as any to check it out.

Even though it was a relatively sunny day, I was the only person in the store at the time. Perhaps it was because it was still early in the day. I already knew what I wanted to order so it was just a matter of checking out whether Dash had it on the menu. Luckily for me, they had fresh watermelon in stock that day. For an extra $0.50, I made my fresh watermelon juice a slush. At that point, my drink already cost $5 so I declined to add any pearls or coconut jelly.

As far as the juice went, my fresh watermelon slush was pretty standard but I felt it was a bit on the expensive side. I had never been to a place where I was charged extra to make my drink a slush so that came as a bit of a surprise to me. Given the high cost, I am not sure when I will come back to try out their milk teas or drinks with pearls.

Details:
1239 Pacific Boulevard, Vancouver
Tel: 778-688-2616

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

A couple of weeks ago, Michelle Ng, founder of Foodie Tour, invited me attend the Granville Foodie Tour. I had heard about food tours in other cities so I thought it was a great idea that something similar had finally started up in Vancouver. From what I understand, Michelle started the Foodie Tour a little while back but I was attending a media launch that she had organized. Foodie Tour currently has organized restaurant tours that concentrate on Granville Street downtown, Downtown in general, and Richmond. Originally, I was under the impression that we were going to four or five restaurants during the two hour duration of the tour. So I was pretty surprised when I arrived at our first destination and found out we were actually going to seven locations!

Our first stop and initial meeting location was at Twisted Fork on Granville Street. Twisted Fork was actually on my list of places I wanted to check out because Sherman had recommended it to me a while back. We were served a couple of items on toast. First was a cured duck breast on brioche crouton. The duck went quite well with the sweet jam (I think blueberry?) and the green bean on top provided a nice crunch. The other appie I sampled was a roasted beet, grilled pear, goat cheese, and arugula on a baguette crouton. I This was a classic combination of ingredients and the slight sweetness from the pear and beet went nicely with the creamy tartness of the goat cheese.

Our dessert tasting was a frozen chocolate terrine with house-made raspberry sorbet and fresh wild mint. The dessert sampling was just enough to leave me wanting more…I should have grabbed a second sample! The chocolate flavour was very rich and the raspberry cut the richness of the terrine. I would be a happy camper if I had a full-sized version of this dessert.

I was too engrossed in the tasty treats to hear what this drink was, but it tasted like a strawberry mojito. In any case, it was quite a refreshing drink on a sunny day.

We were rushed out of Twisted Fork after what seemed like only a short period of time and walked briskly to our next stop, The Refinery.

We were treated to a combo meal made by the staff at The Refinery and Sip Resto Lounge, which was located downstairs from The Refinery. Our drink here was The Refinery’s twist on ginger beer, which was made with their house-made bitters. It was full of great ginger flavour, which really gave this drink a nice kick.

To go with our drink, we were served Sip Resto’s take on eggs benny, the Southwest Kickass Benny.  A deep-fried poached egg was perched on top of cornbread with chorizo, jalapenos, and a drizzling of BBQ sauce and hollandaise. The poached egg was crispy on the outside and softly poached on the inside and the chorizo and jalapeno gave the eggs benny a nice kick. This turned out to be one of my favourite dishes of the tour and my only complaint was that the cornbread was too crumbly. Sherman noted that this may have gone better with a brioche, which I think may have worked.

Our next stop was at The Edge Social Grille, a place I didn’t even know existed. One thing I liked about the Foodie Tour was that it exposed me to a bunch of new restaurants, some I had never heard of and others that I had wanted to try for quite a while.

We had quite a selection of treats at The Edge. I sampled a couple of flat breads, one with beef tenderloin and blue cheese and another with smoked salmon and goat cheese. I preferred the beef tenderloin version more but both were tasty. The bread was still crispy and the blue cheese actually enhanced the flavour of the beef. The grilled vegetable gazpacho was pretty run of the mill but was a nice refreshing soup for a sunny day. My favourite item at The Edge was definitely the Chocolate and Van Gogh Espresso Vodka Truffles though. The truffles were quite soft and had a lot of great chocolate flavour to it. I couldn’t totally taste the vodka but I still really enjoyed the flavour and consistency of the truffles.

Along with all these treats, we were served some white sangria. This was another delicious and refreshing drink for a sunny day and I liked how they loaded the sangria with a lot of fruit.

Our next stop was the Granville Room.

First, we were served a glass of their Mr. Pink, which was vodka with muddled watermelon, mint syrup, and lime juice. This was one of my favourite drinks on the tour and definitely a great drink to have while hanging out on a patio on a sunny day.

We were also served some sesame crusted tuna with some salsa on top of some multi-grain crisps. I’m not sure if these had been prepared quite a bit in advanced but the crisps were soggy by the time we arrived. The sesame also didn’t appear to be toasted, which made these nibbles a bit lacklustre.

By this point, I was starting to get full so I was quite glad we were walking from location to location, which gave us a slight opportunity to walk off all the food we were eating. With three more locations to go, I was suddenly starting to wonder if I would even have an appetite for dinner later that evening…

I should note before I sign off in today’s post that attending this event gave me a great opportunity to meet a bunch of really cool people, from writers for the West Ender and Georgia Straight to other bloggers, including Mijune and Karra!

…to be continued in my next post!

Details:
http://www.foodietour.ca/

It was our last day in Portland and Jenkins and I were on our way to the Saturday Market in downtown Portland. Even though it was early in the day, I wanted to check out Voodoo Doughnuts but since the line up was so long already, Jenkins and I decided to check out the market first. Before we headed over there though, we stopped by Stumptown Roasters to eat a light breakfast. Since it was morning, I decided to have a cappucino. The cappucino had a great flavour to it and the foamy milk on top gave it a nice creaminess which I really enjoyed.

Jenkins and I both decided to have a ham and cheese croissant. This was pretty different from other ham and cheese croissants I had eaten before. The ham and cheese mixture on the inside had a creamy consistency to it while the croissant section was very crispy almost to the point of being overbaked slightly. I actually liked this because it gave the cheese on top a nice and slightly burnt taste but I wasn’t sure if I liked the creamy filling of ham and cheese on the inside.

I really liked the environment inside Stumptown Roasters. It’s pretty funky and definitely a place where you can hang out and do a lot of people watching.

Details:
128 SW 3rd Avenue, Portland, Oregon
Tel: 503-295-6144

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

I had heard of Mink Chocolate Cafe when it first opened but due to its location at Hastings and Hornby, it was just too far for me to give it any consideration. I finished lunch early one day and Harpreet convinced me that we had enough time to go to Mink for some hot chocolate. Evidently, it was one of his favourite hot chocolate places and since he’s a bit of a connoisseur, I figured it was time for me to pay Mink a visit and see for myself what the fuss was all about.

Mink Chocolate Cafe not only serves drinks, pastries, and fondue, but it also has a selection of chocolates and other delectable desserts.

I didn’t have a chance to try the chocolates this time around but it’s definitely on my list of things to eat. There were so many different varieties of chocolate that it will take you a while just to decide on what you want.

And finally, on to the hot chocolate. Harpreet chose his usual of milk hot chocolate (38% cacao) whereas I chose to have the 70% cacao hot chocolate. Although I enjoyed the initial flavour of my hot chocolate, it had an odd aftertaste, almost akin to powdered hot chocolate. Harpreet noted that his 38% cacao version did not have a weird aftertaste so I wonder if I was the victim of a poorly made hot chocolate. For the price that I paid (almost $5), I did not feel it was worth the money. However, due to all the rave reviews I’ve been hearing about this place, I wouldn’t mind giving it a second chance.

I should note that the little piece of dark chocolate that came with my hot chocolate was very tasty. It had a rich dark chocolate flavour to it, just the way I like it. The next time I’m back, I’d like to try the chocolate fondue in addition to giving the hot chocolate a second chance.

Details:
863 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-633-2451

Summary:
Food: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

With the coming Olympics, many restaurants have been prone to making Olympic themed foods and beverages. Awhile back, I had the chance to try an Olympic drink at YEW Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel, when Jenkins, Gigi and I dropped by for a holiday dinner. We all ordered our regular sized (and delicious) entrees, but I also ordered the most expensive drink I’ve ever had. Some people know, I’m a real sucker for caesars (the drink, not the salad), so when I saw on the YEW drink menu a new type of Caesar, I just had to try it!

In the spirit of the Olympics, the drink is called the “Silver Calgary 1988″, and is made with Crystal Head Vodka, YEW’s own clamato recipe, spices, and topped off with a piece of buffalo jerky. This was most likely one of the best Caesars I’ve ever had. The Caesar was spicy, flavorful, and had a smoke-flavor to it.  Gigi commented that it tasted like a Caesar with BBQ sauce added to it, which might have been one of the secret recipes. If it weren’t for the price of the drink ($19.88), I could have chugged a few more with no problem at all.

gigi’s note – Although not Olympic-themed, I had the caramel apple-tini and I really liked the presentation and the taste. The apple flavour had a hint of caramel and although not super unique, it was still quite tasty. YEW will also be running Olympic-themed promotions throughout the course of the games (Feb 12-28).

Details:
791 West Georgia Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-689-9333

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: 4 out of 5 stars
Price: $$$

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: 1 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Note: this is my last post before I tackle my China trip series!

I was in the mood for some bubble tea one evening after dinner so Jenkins and I made a quick stop at Dragonball Tea House.  As mentioned before, it is one of my favourite bubble tea places in Vancouver.

I opted for the guilinggao milk tea this time around.  For those of you who don’t know, guilinggao is a Chinese herbal jelly made with turtle shells.  At only $3.50 for this drink, I’m not sure how much guilinggao is actually in the drink.  The taste is actually very refreshing and tastes very similar to grass jelly.  My mom used to make guilinggao for me all the time when I was younger because it was supposed to be good for my skin. 

The guilinggao milk tea seems to be just regular milk tea with guilinggao jelly chunks at the bottom.  It was a good thing I didn’t add coconut jelly nor pearls to my drink since the jelly chunks were filling enough. 

Yet another good pick at Dragonball…although I must admit that I have rarely made a poor choice when picking drinks here.  I think I may order the guilinggao again the next time I’m at Dragonball.

Details:
1007 W King Edward, Vancouver
Tel: 604-738-3198

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

Jenkins and I went to Dragonball Tea House for some bubble tea one evening after dinner. Dragonball is my absolute favourite bubble tea place in the Lower Mainland. I like how they have a great selection of bubble tea drinks and the pearls are always the perfect texture. Their specialty would most definitely be the fresh fruit drinks…with or without milk and slushy or no slush. The fruit drinks are especially refreshing on a hot summer day and more thank likely, there will be a long line-up at the counter. It is located right at the corner of King Edward and Oak in Vancouver.

I had eaten a light dinner that day so I was feeling particularly indulgent and selected the green tea ice cream bubble tea with pearls. The consistency is not as thick as a traditional milkshake and the taste is full of green tea goodness. This drink is extremely filling, especially when you add pearls to the mix! I like how the pearls are slightly frosty from the ice cream.

Jenkins was a tad healthier than I was that day and picked the fresh strawberry slush with milk. He also requested half pearls/bubbles and half coconut jelly. This option is especially great for those of us who can never pick just one. With the milk, this drink is slightly creamy although you can always choose “no milk” for a slightly healthier option.

The seating area at Dragonball is tight and cramped at best. I usually order my drinks to go and either take it home or some other place where I can enjoy my yummy drink. Most drinks run about $3.50-4 depending on what you order.

Details:
1007 W King Edward, Vancouver
Tel: 604-738-3198

Summary:
Food: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $

Louis and I popped over to Bubble World for an end-of-week debrief one Friday. As you have probably noticed by now, it is our preferred location for bubble tea due to its proximity to our work office. It was pretty cold that day so we both picked hot drinks.

Louis picked the hot almond milk tea. I like almond tea, both hot and cold. It is made with Chinese almonds and the taste is stronger than the regular brown almonds people usually snack on. Sometimes, this drink is a bit on the sweet side but is still one of my favourite drinks to order.

I picked the honey green tea. I like the taste of green tea more than black tea and the lemon really brings out the green tea flavour. I normally opt for honey because I feel that is healthier than plain sugar.

While we were at Bubble World, who should walk through the door but Farz and Derek! Derek ordered the hot longan tea, which came in a nice little tea pot. The taste is a bit medicinal but it is supposed to be very good for you.

Farz picked the hot taro milk tea and also added bubbles to his drink. Because plunking the bubbles directly in the tea would probably melt them, they came in a cute little pot. One thing to note is that if you put all the bubbles in your drink right away, the hot liquid will overflow in the cup so take a few sips first before adding the bubbles.

Hot drinks at Bubble World are usually about $0.50 cheaper. I guess ice is expensive these days.

Details:
1-4300 Kingsway, Burnaby
Tel: 604-434-5551

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 2 out of 5 stars
Price: $