White Spot (Ackroyd)

September 22, 2014September 21, 2014Leave a comment

August 13th was Pirate Pak Day at White Spot, so of course we had to go check it out! I haven’t had a Pirate Pak in ages, and today was the day you could relive the past and order an adult sized pirate pak! We decided to go to the one at No. 3 and Ackroyd, hoping there would be less people. A 20 minute wait or so, and we were seated. It was quite busy in there, with families, young adults and teenagers all ready to relive their childhood.

Provolone Veggie Burger

K got the Provolone Veggie Burger, which is the vegetarian option. It came with loads of mushrooms and provolone cheese, which melted perfectly. The bun was also whole wheat, so much more healthy! All pirate paks come with a side of coleslaw, fries, soft drink, and ice cream.

Bacon Cheddar Bigger Burger

J got the Bacon Cheddar Bigger Burger, which came with a beef patty, but also bacon and cheddar. Looked really yummy!

Legendary Burger

For myself, I got the Legendary Burger and added the cheddar cheese. It looked quite messy, but the special O sauce was so delicious! It was a mix of ketchup and mayo. The patty was moist and cooked nicely.

The coleslaw that came with the pak however, was really gross. It was all dried up and the slaw wasn’t fresh. I also disliked the sauce they used. Barely finished that.

Chocolate Ice Cream

As for the ice cream, it was also quite a disappointment. It came already scooped into a container and was your typical superstore ice cream. You could select from strawberry, chocolate, or vanilla.

Overall, it’s nice to relive your childhood once a year on Pirate Pak Day. However, I wouldn’t say it’s anything special, especially when the adult pirate paks are twice the price. You can actually order children pirate paks online and get take out instead. I’m leaning towards that since they have more varieties in food choices other than burgers!

Moncton Cafe

September 21, 2014Leave a comment

I never really knew what Moncton Cafe was for the longest time. For some reason, I never notice it. Finally, we made a trip to Steveston to try out this Japanese restaurant. It features yoshoku, which means Japanese cuisine that has Western influences.

The restaurant was half filled but has steady customers. It feels like home in here, with wooden furniture and paintings of destinations around the world. Service is a bit slow here, but bearable. At lunch time, they have deals which include the an entree, soup, and salad at the price of just a regular entree.

Soup and Salad

Here is the soup and salad that came along. The Soup is a miso soup and comes in a little cup. Very typical and nothing too significant. The Salad was very good! I think the dressing made it so delicious. It’s zesty and very appetizing. It’s mixed with lettuce, corn and radish.

Hamburg Curry – hamburger steak with curry sauce over steamed rice

I chose the Hamburg Curry, which features the hamburger steak. The patty was moist and flavourful. The curry was a Japanese curry, with it being sweet with a hint of spice. It’s actually quite a big portion and you’ll be more than filled up after.

House Hamburg – hamburger steak with demi-glace sauce

J got the House Hamburg, which features the same hamburger steak but comes with a demi-glace sauce. The sauce came with mushrooms and was very flavourful. I actually preferred the demi-glace sauce to my curry sauce.

Vegetable Curry – pan fried assorted vegetable with curry sauce over steamed rice

K got the Vegetable Curry, which came with the same curry sauce but with an assortment of vegetables that had been pan fried. Very simple, but perfect for vegetarians.

Mentaiko Pasta – spaghetti with spicy cod roe cream sauce

S didn’t go for the rice, but rather the Mentaiko Pasta. The spaghetti was covered in a cream sauce, mixed with cod roe, and topped with seaweed. It was decent, but I didn’t think it was the best. The sauce could be worked on.

Overall, Moncton Cafe is a great place to go for yoshoku. I don’t think we have too many of these restaurant in Richmond. Portions are great for the price you pay, especially during lunch time. They also have other appetizers and desserts on their menu. We even saw takoyaki cream puffs! I wonder what that’s like!

Sushi Nanaimo

September 20, 2014Leave a comment

After hiking, we went to go look for some cheap sushi. We decided to go try Sushi Nanaimo, which is in the East Village. Sushi Nanaimo is very similar to Sushi Garden and is also run by Koreans. So, if you’re looking for authentic Japanese food – this is not the place for you. However, if you want cheap and large quantities, then this is a great option! There’s always a wait here, and we waited roughly 30 minutes to get a seat. We noticed that many people get take out here.

Spicy Salmon Sashimi (1/2 Order)

I knew the menu would be similar to Sushi Garden, so I went for my favourite Spicy Salmon Sashimi. Cubes of salmon with a spicy sweet sauce and topped with sesame seeds and green onions. It also comes with cucumber cubes. It’s not the most amazing salmon, but it does the deal for the price it costs. This was only half an order and was only around $6.

Agedashi Tofu

J ordered the Agedashi Tofu. Nothing too special. Typical fried tofu. The batter was light, but I felt the sauce to lack any oomph to it. Didn’t really do much.

Tray C – California Roll, Red Roll, Mangodise Roll, Chopped Scallop Roll, Dynamite Roll

Since we were quite indecisive in what to order, we decided to go for Tray C, which is supposed to fill 3 people. However, it’s more than enough for 3 people. It could probably fill up 4. It came with 5 different rolls, which were all fairly good. My favourite was the Red Tuna, which featured chopped scallop inside and topped with spicy tuna on top. The Mangodise Roll was also pretty good, which imitation crab filled inside, and ebi and mango on the top. The rolls aren’t spectacular, with them looking quite clumsily made. But what can you expect for the price you pay? Tray C also included the nigiris shown below and it came to a total of $36 for the two plates!

Tray C – Chopped Scallop, Ebi, Tuna, Salmon, Hokkigai (3 pc each)

As mentioned, Tray C also comes with 5 types of nigiris (3 of each type). The tuna and salmon is not as fresh, but they are large pieces. It’s similar to eating at an all you can eat restaurant, but slightly better. The Chopped Scallop was quite a disappointment. It didn’t taste fresh, but rather a little fishy. They seemed to add a lot of mayo to cover up the fishy taste. It was also very mushy.

Overall, I wouldn’t go for the nigiris at Sushi Nanaimo. However, their rolls are not bad for the low price. I also recommend getting their spicy sashimi. Don’t come into Sushi Nanaimo expecting authentic sushi. Just come in with a hungry stomach and you’ll be happy that you leave with your wallet still full.

Japanese Snacks

September 17, 2014Leave a comment

Last post to wrap up my trip in Japan is going to be about all the random snacks I had along the way. First up, was MOS Burger near the Shibuya station. We grabbed a quick bite here while waiting for our Airbnb host. MOS Burger is a fast food chain and the second largest in Japan after McDonald’s. I got the beef, onion and cheese melt. Tons of flavour from the onions and the cheese was really good.

In the mornings, we would sometimes go down to Family Mart to grab a quick snack. Family Mart is a convenience store, similar to 7-Eleven. We got the onigiris, which are rice shaped like triangles and wrapped with seaweed. Inside, they are filled with different ingredients, but ume or pickled plum is probably the most common. I chose the Spicy Tuna Onigiri, which was super delicious! It’s under 200 yen for one as well! Such a steal.

At Family Mart, we also found many alcoholic beverages. We got this lychee cider, which was so good! Wish we have this in Vancouver. Only 4% of alcohol content, so the lychee fruity flavour really comes through.

We also checked out Tokyu Food Show, which is connected to the Shibuya station. It’s located inside the Tokyu Toyoko Department store and offers many different stalls with food. We decided to get some nigiris at one of the stall. Here is the Tuna Nigiri, which was slightly disappointing. It wasn’t as fresh as the ones we had in restaurants and slightly overpriced.

We also got the Geoduck Nigiri, but it was only alright as well. All the ingredients didn’t seem very fresh for the price we paid.

Address: 2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Hokkaido Milk is very popular, so we had to give it a try. Hokkaido milk has a very unique taste and is very creamy, but light at the same time. It has to do with what they feed the cows. You could definitely immediately taste a distinct flavour, which was very good!

While in the Harajuku area, we got hungry and spotted a crepe kiosk. It’s called Cafe Crepe Harajuku, and offers many pretty looking crepes. We chose the Matcha Tiramisu Crepe. The crepe was thin and filled with a slice of matcha tiramisu, topped with whipped cream and matcha powder. It was actually very good! Not too sweet!

While in Yokohama, I picked up this super cute bag of ramen at a shop in World Potters. It features the Sapporo Maruyama Zoo Bear. So cute! I have yet to try it, but hopefully it’s as good as how the package looks!

At the Cup Noodle Museum, we purchased this cute box of ramen. You add eggs on top of it, and it’s supposed to be sort of like a ramen pancake. However, we made it the other day, and it kind of failed. Definitely did not look as good as the picture. Perhaps it was because we couldn’t read the instructions properly. It wasn’t bad though.

At the Narita International Airport, we did some Duty Free shopping. We picked up this bottle of Sparkling Ume Wine. The packaging definitely caught our attention. We had it on the plane and it was really good! Sweet and fizzy!

We also picked up a box of the Yubari Melon Pocky. They were the giant Pockys, so they are individually packed inside. It actually had a very strong cantaloupe flavour. Yummy!

At the Narita International Airport, after you pass security and customs, there isn’t much to eat in our terminal. We ended up having a last meal of Japanese food. K got the Soba Noodles which came with a side of fried potato croquettes.

For myself, I got the Shoyu Ramen. It was quite salty and very oily! Not good at all…

This probably shouldn’t be in this post, since it was a Korean snack we bought, but I’ll throw it in here anyways. These were banana puffs! Crispy and light chips with a strong banana flavour. It’s weird how Koreans make banana flavoured everything… So weird, but so good. We found it at Walmart in Vancouver!

And here were our suitcase filled with our goodies. Just some of them actually… A trip to Asia isn’t complete if you don’t bring back tons of goodies!

Fukumame ふくまめ (Ueno) – Tokyo

September 17, 2014September 17, 2014Leave a comment

There’s tons of things to do in Tokyo, but during our visit, we coincidentally were there for the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival. This year, it was on July 26. The Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival is a huge event held every year and attracts millions of people. We decided to head to Asakusa to see this event. We knew it would be crowded, but I have never been in such a huge crowd in my life. Asakusa is quite a tourist area, with the famous Senso-ji Temple. It is a Buddhist temple and the oldest in Tokyo. Both women and men were all dressed up in their kimonos as well!

We didn’t really know where we going, so we just followed the crowds. At one point, we saw the Tokyo Skytree, a very new addition and tall building. It’s used mainly for broadcasting, but also features an observation deck and restaurant.

We finally figured out that everyone was trying to cross the Sumidagawa or the bridge that is over the Sumida River. You’ll literally be walking one step forward and stopping when you near this area. Here, you can see the Asahi Brewery buildings and that odd gold piece of art that is on top of the Beer Hall. Not too sure what it’s supposed to be… Anyways, there are tons of patrol here and the organizers assign groups of people numbers. The police will announce when each group can start moving forward. It’s super organized even though you are literally shoulder to shoulder to the stranger next to you. Now imagine this in 30 degree weather. Yup, sweaty arms brushing up against you.

I couldn’t get a lot of nice firework pictures since I only had my iPhone, but it was pretty spectacular. Basically, the festival is very different from any of the ones I’ve been to. The idea is to let groups of people on the bridge so that they can experience the festival for at least 5 to 10 minutes. The displays are exploded from both sides of the river and is supposed to be a competition. The fireworks literally go on for 2 hours straight so that everyone has a chance to get on the bridge. Once you’ve had your time, they announce that you must proceed forward and let the next group view the fireworks. The fireworks are pretty crazy, with complicated shapes and colours that I’ve never seen. Apparently at one point, there was a Pikachu! Leaving the Asakusa area was also a nightmare. You could barely move and by the time you got to the train station, there are people patrolling the area to make sure not too many people crowd in the station.

I wanted to meet T since she coincidentally was in Tokyo as well so we decided to go to Ueno station for a late snack. Ueno is roughly 2 stations away, but it took us over half an hour to get there because of all the commuters trying to go home! Anyways, we finally arrived at Ueno station, and there are streets filled with bars and izakaya type of food. We decided to go to Fukumame which was on the 4th floor of a building. The restaurant is very posh looking and you get a lot of privacy with lots of barriers between tables. They are famous for their Yakitori, which are chicken skewers. I ordered the set which came with 5 skewers. To be honest, I was sort of confused at what I was eating. It didn’t exactly taste like chicken because it was very moist and soft. I feel like it was mixed with some sort of bean and battered with egg. Some had a teriyaki sauce on it, while other soy glaze, radish, and guacamole. They were good, but not meaty enough for me.

We also got a desert to share. It was the Vanilla Ice Cream with Mochi and Red Bean. A very typical scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream and sweet red beans. I was sad that it only came with three mochi balls, but they were very good! I can’t comment too much about the food since we only ordered two dishes. However, based on what we had, it was decent and the atmosphere was really nice for long chats. And that ended our last night in Tokyo!

Address: 6 Chome−13−9 Ueno, Taitō, Tokyo

Sushizanmai (Shibuya East Exit Branch) – Tokyo

September 15, 2014Leave a comment

C’s friend suggested that we should try Sushizanmai, which has several locations in Tokyo. A popular location is actually the one near the Tsukiji Fish Market. However, we decided to check out the one at Shibuya’s East Exit. Here, they are open 24 hours! When we arrived, there was a bar table and some tables, and all were empty but around two. However, they told us they were all reserved. We were only allowed to eat at the bar table.

Plum Wine

I love plum wine and since I hadn’t tried it in Japan this whole trip, I decided it was time to try it out. Sadly, it was slightly different from the ones I’ve had before. It wasn’t that sweet ume plum taste. It was also quite pricey for a very small glass. Should have probably bought a bottle at the sueprmarket instead.

Maguro Tuna, Squid Legs, Scallop

The nigiris here are a lot more pricey than the ones I’ve had so far. But by no means is it crazily expensive like Jiros. I would say it’s quite average pricing and similar to Vancouver’s. Since we were here for more of a snack, we each ordered a few nigiris only. I chose the Tuna, which was probably the best I had so far. Next were the squid legs, which were decent, but not the best. I wish they had added a sauce to it. Lastly, the scallops were very fresh.

Blue Fin Toro Temaki

I also added an order of the Blue Fin Toro Temaki. The toro was very fatty and buttery. There was actually quite a lot wrapped in the rice. Yummy!

Fried Squid

C ordered the Fried Squid for us to share. Grilled Squid which was then battered and fried. It was decent with the squid being very tender, but I thought the batter was just decent.

Uni Temaki

K ordered the Uni Temaki, which is sea urchin. She said the uni here was much more fresh than the one at Sushi Daidokoya.

Maguro Tuna, Fatty Tuna, Scallop

She also got a few nigiris. She got the Maguro Tuna and Scallop, just as I did. However, in the middle, she also got the Fatty Tuna, which she said was very buttery.

I believe they also have nigiri sets, which are probably a better deal. Good quality food, but I would settle for the standing sushi bar since it’s much cheaper.

Address: 2 Chome-22-11 Shibuya, Tokyo

Kirin Ichiban Garden – Ichiban Shibori Frozen Draft – Tokyo

September 14, 2014September 12, 20141 Comment

Walking around Shibuya, we somehow came across the Kirin Ichiban Brewery.

There were tons of people sitting outside in the beer garden. Apparently, it only recently opened.

There was also the Frozen Beer truck! We got in line to see what it’s all about. In Vancouver, they only recently began to sell it at Guu. They offer several different flavours for the frozen beer. You can get original, cranberry, lime, lychee, mango or cassiss (blackcurrent).

Cassiss Ichiban Shibori Frozen Draft

We got the Cassiss flavour, which is essentially blackcurrent flavour. The beer is flavoured with blackcurrent flavouring, so it just tastes like a fruity beer. The foam however is the frozen part. It’s like a slurpee at the top. However, the foam doesn’t have much flavour. Apparently, the invention was so that the frozen foam can keep your drink cold for 30 minutes without needing to add ice. Pretty neat. Worth trying!

Address: 3-7 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo

Yoshisoba (Shibuya) – Tokyo

September 13, 2014September 11, 2014Leave a comment

There are tons of restaurants near the Shibuya station. For breakfast, we decided to head to the street where the Standing Sushi Bar is and look for some food. We came across Yoshisoba, which is a standing noodle bar. The prices definitely drew us in. For under 600 yen, you can get a don and soba set! What a steal. First, you must insert your money in the vending machine and choose your food. A ticket will print out and you hand it to the chef. He will ask you whether you want soba or udon.

Squid Tempura Don

I went for the set, which first consisted of the Squid Tempura Don. I was utterly disappointed with this. The tempura is not fresh at all. You can see a bunch of tempura already premade on the shelf. All he does is heat it up a little and dip it in a tempura sauce. It is then served on rice. I could barely finish this because of how soggy and cold the tempura was. The squid itself was very tender, but the batter was gross. Do not order!

Soba in Cold Soup

The set also came with the Soba in Cold Soup. Luckily this was more decent, but still not the best I’ve had. The soba is already put in the broth. Usually the broth or dipping sauce is separate, so that you dip your noodles in as you eat. It was just average and tasted like soba you can buy at the grocery store.

Overall, we were all very disappointed with Yoshisoba. It is cheap and will fill you up, but none of us finished our food because of how bad it was… Stay away!

Address: 4-26-5 Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo

Every Day is a Food Day

Category: Cuisine