Bits and Pieces of Venice

January 23, 2014Leave a comment

City of water…If you guessed Venice, you’re correct! I don’t normally post pictures of myself, but I took so many pictures while traveling, I might as well share some of the scenery with you all! During our stay in Milan, we actually took a day trip to Venice by train. The train was pretty fast and we were there in less than 2 hours. Maybe even less! We decided on a one day trip, since we found that the hotels in Venice were extremely expensive! We basically had half the day to explore and hoped it would be enough. If you’re planning to go to Venice, I can assure you that a day trip is enough. The city is beautiful, but it’s honestly quite small. If you want to really take it slow, then a maximum of two days will give you enough time to literally explore the whole city. First off, we hadn’t done any research of this place. We were hoping there would be a tourist center where we could get some maps and such. Yea, there was a tourist booth, but all the maps cost money! We ended up wandering without a map and actually hit all the tourist spots! So no need to really buy a map…To be honest, I found Venice one of the most touristy cities I visited. I felt like everyone around me was a tourist, and I couldn’t really figure out if locals even lived here (well, of course they do). Plus, be warned that everything is expensive! They really know how to get the most out of us tourists…

Spritz Veneziano

So we were warned ahead of time that food would be expensive, so we tried to settle at average looking cafes and restaurants. After exploring the city, we decided we would grab an early dinner since we would be on the train around dinner time. We walked back towards where we arrived by train as we remembered there were a line up of restaurants. At this point, it didn’t even matter if they were tourist traps – honestly the city was catered to tourists. During our exploration, we realized everyone was drinking this orange drink in a glass. They often came in a wine glass, and my sister insisted that we had to try this. According to her, it must be the drink all the locals drink here… Alright, after doing some research on it, I can tell you that it’s so popular here because the Spritz Veneziano is actually originated in Venice! A-ha. Anyways, it is a drink prepared with prosecco wine, which is an Italian white sparkling wine. It is then combined with a dash of a bitter liqueur such as Aperol, Campari, or in Venice, Select. It is then topped off with sparkling mineral water. Sometimes it is also garnished with a slice of orange or olive. Sadly, all three of us hated this drink. I guess it was the bitter liqueur that they used, that really turned us off. Even worse, was this drink cost a lot, and the three of us had each ordered one. Just when we thought it would be a delicious, fruity cocktail…

Spaghetti with Clams in a White Wine Sauce

We had settled at this restaurant that had what was called a “tourist menu”. Now most of the restaurants in Venice basically have this. They also have something called a cover charge. Cover charge is essentially a charge per person for just sitting outside. Actually, I’m not sure if you need to pay a charge just for sitting. But we sat outside, and this was added to our bill. Not to mention that service was just terrible. And they expect you to tip here… Service like that really does not deserve any tip. Anyways, K and my sister order the tourist menu. If I remember correctly, it came with a salad, pasta and another dish, which I wish I could remember. This was their pasta dish which was Spaghetti with Clams in a White Wine Sauce. This was actually pretty good! It had a lot of clams and the pasta was cooked to al dente.

Seafood Risotto

For myself, I ordered the Seafood Risotto, which was off the regular menu. I absolutely loved this. It was a bit pricey, but I think it was still under 20 euros. It was really good though! The rice was cooked to perfection, not too chewy and not too soft. The sauce was amazing. There were bits of clams and shrimps inside and it came with three more mussels. The seafood was surprisingly quite fresh. Not the freshest I’ve had, but quite decent! Loved this dish.

And now let me show you some of the shops around the city! Venice is basically filled with narrow streets which are really pedestrian walking only. Every once in a while, you would see the canal, and then you would enter just a street with buildings on both sides. It’s almost like a maze. Along these streets, you will find shops from bakeries, to pasta shops to mask shops and etc. It’s extremely popular to see these shops that sell almond cookies and these gigantic meringues. If you’ve been to Macau in Asia, my friends told me that is what Venice really reminds them of.

There are also tons of pasta shops! Well Italy is famous for pasta, so it’s no surprise. They claim they are handmade, and I was just drawn into their colours and detailed patterns. I love how they are shaped into Venice infrastructure, gondolas, hearts and much more! The colouring is also natural as they are made from vegetables or spices, which is pretty cool.

More pasta! I thought these were pretty cool since it was curry flavoured. They also had some truffle flavoured ones. Mmm!

And yea…we ended up getting some gelato again. This was amazing because it was pear flavoured! I love how the Italians use every fruit they can think of. Super refreshing. Underneath is a scoop of pistachio. I can never get enough of that.

And my sister decided to buy one of those gigantic meringues. It’s literally the size of two fists put together. This one was pistachio flavoured. However, all we could taste was sugar. Well meringues are made of egg whites and sugar… It was so sweet that we both took a few bites and threw the rest out… You need ten people to finish this! It was pretty expensive too…

And last but not least, I’ll finish this post with a picture of gondolas! I didn’t get a chance to take one since they are quite pricey and wasn’t worth it when we only had three people. Also note that these guys don’t actually sing… Thought it would be all romantic like in those movies…Nope! Oh well, Venice is still a beautiful city to visit! Jealous of anyone who is heading there! Next post: we head back home to Barcelona!

Bits and Pieces of Milan

January 22, 2014January 22, 2014Leave a comment

Blogging while traveling proved to be a huge challenge. It’s even harder to remember what the name of the restaurant was 4 months later. I didn’t do my work as a food blogger to take down the names of the places I ate at, but there’s some worthy meals I had that I think should be recognized! I hope anyone reading this and planning to travel to Milan can hopefully find the places! So here are some of the random meals I had while in Milan:

Mignon! Yes I believe this is what these cute mini pizzas are called. I call them pizzas since they are really a squished down bun filled with ingredients on the top. This one was ham and cheese, except sometimes they surprise you with an olive right in the middle. This place was near my hotel, which is near the Lambrate metro station. It’s called Pizzeria Mundial and after doing a quick search, I realized that it’s actually quite popular! They are known for their warm and soft dough and they offer a variety of other products, including pizzas. This place is very busy most of the day, especially in the mornings, so you need to be quick before what you see is sold out!

For dinner one of the nights, we were tired and strolled around the luxury shopping area to look for food. Of course that’s a bad idea because everything is expensive in that area! We wandered into this mini square which had a few cafes and bars that looked more affordable. We saw the sign saying Free Wi-Fi and we immediately fell for it since we were desperate for some Internet. Not sure what the place is called, but it is a cafe. We sat outside and ordered a few dishes to share. This is the Caprese Salad which is very typical in Italy. However, this one came on bread! It is essentially fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese with tomatoes, basil and olive oil. The cheese isn’t strong and it has a rubbery texture to it which I really like. I’m not a fan of tomatoes, but this whole dish really goes well if you eat everything together!

We also got a Ravioli with Ham. When in Italy, you eat pasta. But honestly, I don’t think this place was great for pasta. Their pastas are not handmade nor fresh, so it was quite a disappointment. Price-wise, yes – they are definitely cheaper, hence what we get.

We also shared a Carbonara, which again was just alright. If you have the chance, be sure to try some good carbonara though, as it is famous in Italy, especially in Rome. It is an egg based pasta dish and can be quite filling.

Pretty much when we have nothing to do and are thirsty, we end up going to a gelato shop. They are everywhere and these were mostly around the Duomo area. On our first day, we literally went to three gelato shops in the day. One time, it was one after another. Literally gelato shop hopping… Anyways, I think the coolest thing about some of the shops I saw in Milan were that their gelato are filled with fruits or the actual product of the flavour itself. For instance, I was addicted to their melon gelato, because you would actually get bits of melon in it and it was a thirst quencher on a hot day. If you really prefer creamier gelatos, then those will also have ingredients in it such as the bueno chocolate wafers.

I got the Melon and Tiramisu I believe. If the shop has banana, you should also give it a try! It’s pretty good! I became addicted to trying a bunch of fruit gelatos as they are much more light.

One morning, we wanted to go to Luini again, but it was unfortunately closed. We settled at a cafe where we saw Italians taking espresso shots in their tiny Illy cups! They would literally stand at the bar, take their coffee and head off to work. My sister wanted to try that, so we headed in, but after looking around to figure out how the system really worked, the server told us to just take a seat. I guess we looked too touristy to know what we were doing. I guess standing to take an espresso in Italy remains on her checklist now. Anyways, we tried to figure out the menu, and they had some sort of special about a coffee and croissant for a set price. Keep in mind this is all in Italian and we don’t know any other than “cafe”. So we each got a cafe with a croissant. I chose a cappuccino, and I don’t normally even drink any type of coffee. The closest thing is a Starbucks white chocolate mocha, but that’s about it. But heck, I was in Italy, so why not. Illy is known for their high quality of coffee, and seriously, after this coffee, I have begun to enjoy my cappuccinos. Not sure if that’s a good thing since I’m afraid of being caffeine-addicted, but that was seriously some good cafe! As for the croissant, it was more than a typical plain croissant. They had a sticky jam in the middle which made it ten times better. It was so flaky! Absolutely one of my favourite croissants I’ve had in Europe. Sad news was our Italian had failed on us. Our bill ended up being twice what we had imagined. We didn’t bother questioning since we didn’t want to cause a fuss and we probably wouldn’t have understood what they said. However, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure the deal was for people who stand at the bar only. It’s kind of a weird system in Europe, but most places charge you less if you take your coffee standing at a bar. If you require a seat, then the item becomes double the price. Kind of silly, but I guess Europeans who usually sit down will literally just order a coffee and sit there for half a day. Turnover is then very low and hence they charge you more. I guess it only makes sense in Europe!

Last but not least, another gelato! This was lemon and mango. Extremely refreshing! We literally ate gelato everyday in Milan! Now off to the next city…”city of water”… can you guess where?

Luini Panzerotti (Milan)

January 20, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

Milan is a fairly expensive city to travel in as food and accommodation can be said to be more expensive relative to some other European cities. Therefore, finding food was a struggle, especially when we had all emptied our wallets after a long day of shopping at the outlet. We hadn’t researched which restaurants were good and local before arriving, and with no data on our phones, it definitely wasn’t the best idea. I’m someone who doesn’t want to be trapped in a tourist restaurant, or eat somewhere that is only mediocre while being expensive. I should’ve totally done my research, but I got lazy. However, my sister had done a quick search and remembered that people had recommended Luini Panzerotti for a cheap snack. Desperate for food that was cheap and filling, we headed off to look for it. It actually took us quite a while to find it as we walked into many alleys and made lots of turns. However, we realized that it was actually really close to the Duomo…So if you are looking for it, do not make the same mistake we did! It’s super easy to access as a tourist! When we got there at around dinner time, there was a huge line out the door. And everyone who had just bought their panzerotti were also eating outside, as they do not have sit in tables.

Baked Luini – Mozzarella and Tomato

The line moved fairly quickly, and although their menu was huge with tons of different flavours, there were only two choices left at that time. I believe they were just trying to sell the last few batches, but luckily they were the most popular and typical fillings that a first-timer should try anyways. I chose to get the Baked Luini filled with Mozzarella and Tomato. This is their original and classic panzerotti. So what exactly is this panzerotti? Well, if you’re from North America, I’d compare it to a pizza pop or calzone, since we ate tons of those as a child. However, panzerottis actually originated from central and southern Italy, where it is said to have way better ones than the ones at Luini in Milan. But unless you are prepared to go there, then this will do! They really do remind me of pizza pops or calzones, but the dough is much more soft. It almost has a bread dough texture, whereas the pizza pops we eat in North America are harder. Sadly, I have to say I love the texture of an Italian panzerotti much more! When you bite in, the dough is soft, and the cheesiness of the mozzarella just makes everything so much better! However, I do find that the flavour is a little bland, but it’s perhaps due to the fact that there are only two fillings and both are not salty flavoured. I’m guessing ones that were filled with ham or another meat would be much more flavourful.

As well, Luini Panzerotti has fried luinis and sweet luinis! Kind of cool, but sad that I wasn’t able to try as they sold out. The next day, I tried to grab lunch with my sister there again, and they were renovating! Either they were closed on that day, or they were taking a break. So we were extremely lucky to have tried it out! Definitely check out their opening hours, as I don’t believe they are always open. It’s worth a try, and it will definitely fill you up for cheap!

Bar Duomo (Milano)

January 19, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

Since classes in Spain are fairly chill during exchange, I took advantage of the cheap flights and easy access of traveling to other countries on my weekends. My sister had came to visit me, so off we went to Milan. It was fashion week as well, so it was the perfect time! K joined us as well, and when we arrived in the city centre, we were amazed by the Duomo. It is a Gothic Cathedral in the heart of Milan and is the 5th largest cathedral in the world! I can honestly say I can stare at this church all day. We wanted to take pictures, but honestly, we were starving. We told ourselves our mission would be to look for food first! Since we’re students and on a budget, eating at fancy restaurants isn’t something we can do all the time. So we headed outwards of this square in hopes that cafes would be cheaper since it wasn’t facing this beautiful church. Funny enough, after 30 minutes of looking for food and believing that the prices were still too expensive, we ended up back at this spot in front of the Duomo. Tired of walking and by now starving, we settled for Bar Duomo, which was literally facing the Duomo. Yea…what were we thinking? I’m not sure if we even looked at the menu before sitting down… But anyways, if you want to eat with a magnificent view, I guess this is the place to eat at.

Your utensils even come in this fancy paper bag. We chose to sit outside as we obviously wanted a great view of the cathedral and the weather was quite nice that day.

Mushroom, Ham, and Cheese Pizza

After looking at the menu, we realized the items weren’t that cheap. Well honestly, they aren’t extremely expensive, but for a student on budget, it’s a little more than we were budgeting. We ended up sharing two items between the three of us, and decided we would grab snacks on our way when we explored. First, we had to try some Italian pizza! This was the funghi pizza, which mushrooms, ham and cheese. I must’ve been starving, because this tasted really good. But I have to say, this isn’t the traditional types of Italian pizzas I’ve had in Rome, where there is only tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil leaves. Well, really, the classic Margherita. This was still made with fresh tomatoes and there were an abundance of toppings.

Risotto Milanese

We were in Italy, and so why not a classic Risotto? My sister had heard that when in Milan, you must try the Risotto Milanese, so why not? I did find that it was a bit bland though because it did not have any other toppings. It was still extremely good with a good creamy base and cheesiness to it. What’s special about the Risotto Milanese is that the ingredients are simple, but still bring flavour. I guess I just wanted some other ingredients to change it up a bit as I was really just eating all rice. The creaminess is created by butter and Parmesan cheese, and the yellow colour is created by the hint of saffron.

It’s interesting to note that we did not end up getting any drinks. We assumed that the prices would be quite ridiculous and we knew we could get cheaper drinks elsewhere. But as I write this post today, I had taken a look at what other diners had said about Bar Duomo. I am amazed that they had charged diners such high prices for drinks! It’s ridiculous! So before you head here, definitely check out other diner’s reviews as the ridiculous price of drinks is definitely an issue. Unless you’re ready to just eat, then I probably wouldn’t recommend coming here.

And lastly, I had to finish this post with the Milano Duomo. It’s so breathtaking and although Milan could be said to be a city full of luxury and shopping, this Duomo is definitely worth the visit.

Vancuver Food Cart Festival 2013

October 10, 2013Leave a comment

Ever since I left for Europe, I have been traveling so much or so busy with school that I have totally neglected this blog. I feel terrible and now that I have finally settled down and won’t be traveling as frequently, I am going to promise that I post at least once a week or more frequently! I am already more than a month behind, hence I am still posting about Vancouver food I ate before I left…

Anyways, in August, I finally went to the Vancouver Food Cart Festival by Olympic Village. I had wanted to go the previous year, but because they only operate on Sundays from around end of June to end of August, I never was able to attend due to my work schedule on Sundays. Every Sunday, over 20 food cart vendors meet at this area along with other craft food, art, and community vendors. There’s music and also kids activities, so perfect for some family fun. I was here, obviously because of food! There were many that I could find right in the hot spots of downtown, but also some that I had never heard of.

Mogu Japanese Street Eats

First up, we decided to try Mogu Japanese Street Eats. I always see this when I go shopping in downtown, but have never came to try it. They are also featured at the Richmond Summer Night Market this year, so it is actually quite easy to try it. I did find that the pricing is quite high for a burger, but to be honest, most of the food trucks price their food relatively high.

Pork Miso Katsu – breaded deep fried pork cutlet, housemade red miso sauce, Asian hot mustard coleslaw

We got the Pork Miso Katsu Menu, so it also came with two pieces of Chicken Karage and a small drink. People have raved that Mogu has one of the best Chicken Karage, and I did enjoy it a lot. It is sweet and spicy because it comes with a house made sweet chili sauce. Definitely enjoyed it and I would put it as one of my top favourites for chicken karage.

This was the Pork Miso Katsu Burger, and the pork was cooked tender and moist. The bread was also soft and the sauce really made the burger stand out. I didn’t necessarily taste much miso flavour, but you could get the Asian feel to the burger.

PazzaRella

Next, we tried PazzaRella which is famous for the Napoletana Wood Fired Pizza. It takes a little while since they actually make the pizza on spot and fire it in the oven. Pretty cool and one pizza will fill you up. So it’s best to share it with a friend if you want to try other food at the festival.

Prosciutto Pizza

We got 2 Prosciutto Pizzas to share between four, and it was more than enough. They are around $11 each, so you can imagine they are quite large. Extremely thin crust and easy to bite and topped with fresh tomato sauce, arugula and prosciutto. I did find that they burnt the edges a bit, so it was a little bitter tasting at the edges, but other than that, it was fine.

Dougie Dog Diner

Dougie Dog Diner seemed to be a crowd pleaser, so E decided to try it as well. They are famous for their innovative hot dogs and they also have their own root beer. Apparently they were on Dragon’s Den, so I thought that was pretty neat.

Charlie Mac Dog – bacon, Mac and cheese, melted cheddar

E got the Charlie Mac Dog which is loaded with mac and cheese and topped with more cheese. He thought that it was alright, but definitely not worth the price though. It’s something you can make at home if you really want to.

Overall, the Vancouver Food Cart Festival is pretty nice if you want to have a collection of food cart vendors in one area. However, to be honest, it’s hard to try every food cart because each item on the menu is fairly large. It’s basically one whole meal, and it’s also quite hard to share the food. There was also an entrance fee, but you got a discount if you went in a large family. Cool place to check out, but probably just once a year. Parking was also extremely difficult to find, and was mostly paid parking.

La Casa Gelato

May 9, 2013Leave a comment

After dinner, I dragged J along with me to visit La Casa Gelato. I’ve heard that the place has over 200 flavours of gelato and some pretty exotic ones too, and I’ve been dying to visit the shop. To my surprise, the place is painted bright pink, and even their parking lot across the street is pink…

The place is pretty huge for a gelato shop, but it’s got to be that size to store all the flavours! Some weird flavours included wasabi, curry, and garlic. They also had more normal flavours such as vanilla and chocolate.Sorbet is also an option if you don’t want gelato.

Your gelato can be scooped in either a waffle cone or cup, which were seen all around the shop.

Before purchasing your gelato, you are welcome to try the flavours. There are many employees behind each fridge, and they were extremely friendly and helpful. I didn’t dare try the exotic tasting flavours, such as curry or garlic, but I did try one of the alcoholic ones. I believe it was called Tequila Sunrise, and they definitely put some alcohol in it! However, I felt like it was too strong, and it just didn’t taste good. After trying several flavours, I found that most of the flavours didn’t actually work. They were creative, but the it was either too strong or lacking some flavour. The recipes definitely need work!

Green Tea Gelato

In the end, I ended up with the Green Tea Gelato, which is my all time favourite ice cream flavour. However, I didn’t think it was the best gelato I’ve had. The green tea wasn’t strong enough, and the gelato wasn’t exactly smooth. They did, however, give me a pretty large scoop which I think was around $5. Overall, don’t expect any quality ice cream. It’s definitely a shop of quantity over quality. If you’re looking to try some crazy flavours, then you’re at the right place.

Old Speghetti Factory (Gastown)

May 8, 2013Leave a comment

Since it was dinner time and we were in downtown, J suggested we go to The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown. I’m not a big fan of the family chain restaurant since I’ve had some pretty bad experiences with the food, but J insisted that they had some great salad, so I decided to give it another shot. The place is definitely a family restaurant, and since we went for an early dinner, we were seated immediately. The Gastown location is said to be haunted too which makes everything a little more spooky! In the middle of the restaurant is an electric trolley. It is said that a train conductor died in a crash years ago and that people have seen his ghostly figure in pictures. Kind of creepy, since we were seated right next to the trolley.

Classic Sourdough Bread with Whipped Garlic and Plain Butter

All items that you order that are under the “It’s all included” menu include some bread, soup or salad and dessert. To start off, we were given the Classic Sourdough Bread with Whipped Garlic and Plain Butter. This was decent and I especially liked the Whipped Garlic.

Crisp Green Salad with Low-Fat Sesame Dressing

J chose the Crisp Green Salad with Low-Fat Sesame Dressing, since he said the dressing was really good the last time he had it. I took a bite and it definitely was pretty good. The dressing was sort of a vinaigrette based dressing with a hint of sesame flavour.

Clam Chowder

As for myself, I chose a soup isntead of the salad. You normally get a Minestrone Soup, but I chose to add $2.25 to substitute for a Clam Chowder. It was thick and creamy, but I’ve definitely had better Clam Chowder. It was just alright.

Pot-Pourri Spaghetti with Meat, Mushroom and Clam Sauce

And onto our entrees, we got of course some spaghetti! Since I couldn’t decide which sauce to get, I ended up getting the Pot-Pourri Spaghetti, which included all three of their most popular sauces. The last time I had spaghetti here, it was just watery and disgusting. This time, it wasn’t watery, but it still wasn’t any better. The meat sauce wasn’t anything special and I swear I could just buy the sauce off the shelf. The mushroom sauce tasted pretty much like the meat sauce except with mushrooms. The only sauce that I thought was decent was the clam sauce which actually had many pieces of clams in it.

Spaghetti with Spicy Meat Sauce

As for J, he got the Spaghetti with Spicy Meat Sauce. This too, wasn’t any good. The sauce wasn’t flavourful and you could just taste the spaghetti with a hint of spice to it. Anyone could have made this dish.

Spumoni Ice Cream

For dessert, J got the Spunomi Ice Cream, which was a mixture of pistachio, chocolate and vanilla. I thought it tasted extremely weird and wasn’t a big fan of it.

Vanilla Ice Cream

For myself, I got the Vanilla Ice Cream. I’m usually a big fan of ice cream, and will literally eat any ice cream no matter how full I am, but I only took a few spoons of this. I was just dissatisfied with my meal and the ice cream wasn’t even good.

Overall, we were pretty disappointed with our meal. The food is decently priced with all the items that are included in your meal, but the quality just isn’t up to par. We left with half our dishes finished cause it was that bad.

Froshberg Gelato

March 5, 2013April 28, 2013Leave a comment

Matcha Gelato

The new Dining Terrace at Richmond Centre has been open for quite some time now, and everyone was talking about the new Froshberg Gelato. I finally decided to go try it out during my break from work, and chose the Matcha Gelato. However, I wasn’t too satisfied with the flavour. I found it really sweet and almost artificial. It didn’t have the true matcha tea leaves flavour to it. It almost felt too milky and creamy for it to be a matcha gelato.

I’ve yet to try the other flavours though, so perhaps the other flavours are much better.