Sapporo Ramen Shogun

August 27, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Gyoza

Miso Soup

Bibimbap

ChaShu Miso Ramen

It’s my last day interning at the office so M and H decided to take me out for lunch. And now I’m back in the office blogging, instead of working… All is good 🙂

Anyways, I took out my wisdom teeth last week, so I’m still stuck with eating soft food. At least I’ve moved away from drinking soups and congees all day! H decided we should get ramen since it’s something that I could eat. H and I both agreed that Denman had lots of great ramen places, but it was kind of far from our office, so H brought us to Sapporo Ramen Shogun instead. It’s a tiny little shop with wooden decor and cool Japanese cartoon decorations. It seemed pretty busy during the lunch hour as well.

We were seated quickly and service was prompt. Got our orders in, and food came within 5 minutes. We ordered Gyozas to share, and I thought these were quite good. Quite flavourful, and they weren’t burnt! Not bad! M got the Bibimbap, which I believe came with the Miso Soup and the side dish with what I believe were veggies. I didn’t try, but he said it was pretty good. H and I both got the ChaShu Miso Ramen. It was quite large in size and had lots of ChaShu pieces. The ChaShu pieces were not as tender as some I’ve had, but they were not bad. I liked the ramen noodles though, as they were soft but still had a chew to it. The broth could have been more rich in flavour, but it was alright. Wasn’t bland or anything, but could have been more flavourful.

Overall, a decent place to grab a quick lunch if you’re craving ramen in downtown. I wouldn’t say it is as great as the ones at Denman, but you won’t need to line up forever to get some food. Thanks M and H again! It’s been a pleasure working at the office 🙂

Thoa’s Restaurant & Lounge

August 27, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Mango Fizz

Strawberry Lemonade

Chicken Pad Thai – Traditional Thai styled rice noodles pan-fried with chicken, bean sprout, cilantro, crushed peanuts, lime and onions in tamarind paprika sauce

Chicken Curry Fried Rice – Chicken, rice, eggs, carrots, pineapple, coconut milk,
hint of yellow curry & onions

Recently J and I decided to go explore downtown Seattle and check out the Pike Place Market. I had this feeling that I came here when I was really young, but I really had no memory of it. We got there around lunch time and we were starving, so of course we decided to look for food. I had checked out some popular spots in the market beforehand, but since it was lunch time, line ups were everywhere. What a busy area! We were way too hungry to wait, so we walked beyond the market, more into the downtown area, but still near the waterfront. We finally found Thoa’s Restaurant & Lounge, which seemed to be a pretty nice, modern-looking Vietnamese restaurant. We were starving, and saw no line up, so we didn’t care anymore! We just wanted food! Thoa’s was definitely not as busy compared to those popular shops in the marketplace, but it was still roughly half occupied.

I decided to get the Strawberry Lemonade, while J got the Mango Fizz. I found my lemonade a little sour, but it was alright. It was a hot, sunny day, so the drink was greatly appreciated. As for food, I got the Chicken Pad Thai. I found the noodles a little overcooked, as they were pretty soggy and clumping together. It was also pretty bland, and lacking flavour. I’ve definitely had better pad thai back in Vancouver, so I was not too impressed. I tried a bit of J’s Chicken Curry Fried Rice, and it was also just mediocre. We both agreed that we’ve had better versions of these dishes. Service was also not that great. We weren’t greeted right away when we walked in, and the server also gave us no utensils until I asked for them. The mood seemed pretty “dead’ in there, even though it was all decorated to fit the cuisine’s culture. Overall, not bad, but probably wouldn’t revisit again.

Leisure Tea & Coffee

August 23, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Shaved Ice with caramel pudding, tapioca pearls, red bean, peanuts, raisins and much more..I don’t remember!

Strawberry Crepe

Revisit for Leisure again! I swear I revisit this place too often… But that’s cause the food and drinks are so good! This time, I decided to try their crepes. I got the Strawberry Crepe and it was presented really nicely. The middle was filled with lots of strawberries, and then it was topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. I found the strawberries a little sour, but the ice cream helped add some sweetness to it. Not bad!

Gingeri Chinese Cuisine

August 22, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Fresh Fruit Salad & Deep Fried Crab Claws w/ Shrimp Paste

Braised Whole Dried Scallops in Mo Qua Rings

Braised Superior Shark’s Fin in Supreme Thick Soup

Braised Whole Australia Abalones with Vegetables

Pan Fried Lobsters in Consomme Sauce

Steamed Rock Cod

Fried Rice with Shrimps in Cream & Chicken in Tomato Sauce

Dumplings in Supreme Soup

Chinese Petit

Coffee Jelly

Sweetened Sesame Dumplings in Red Bean Cream

Gingeri is one of my mom’s favourite dim sum place. I swear she suggests to come here every time we want dim sum food. Not long ago though, I attended a wedding and they held it at Gingeri. I don’t normally come here for dinners, so I was actually kind of curious what the food was like for dinner time. Chinese weddings always have some crazy dinner banquets, with hours of food. This one had around 12 courses I believe? I’m missing two pictures I think, since I was too excited to eat…

First up was Roasted Pig Slices with Jellyfish Appetizer, which was one of the dishes where I got too excited to eat that I totally forgot to take a picture of. The pig skin was roasted to a nice crisp, and the meat wasn’t too salty. Jellyfish is one of my favourite Chinese appetizers, and this one was marinated very well. The second dish was the Fresh Fruit Salad & Deep Fried Crab Claws w/ Shrimp Paste. It was basically a crab claw with shrimp paste surrounding it to form a round shape and then it was deep fried. I really liked the shrimp part, but the crab claw didn’t really have any meat to it. Way too many fruits on the side too..I was already starting to get full. Third dish: Braised Whole Dried Scallops in Mo Qua Rings. This was a really nice dish, as the Mo Qua, which were basically some sort of melon were braised in a very nice sauce. The dried scallops were also extremely soft. Fourth dish: Braised Superior Shark’s Fin in Supreme Thick Soup. The soup was definitely very thick, and you could feel the collagen stick to your lips. They also didn’t cheap out on the ingredients. Fifth dish: Braised Whole Australia Abalones with Vegetables. Another delicacy in Chinese cuisine. The abalone was quite large in size, and it was cooked so it wasn’t too chewy or too soft. Perfect tenderness! I also loved the sauce that it was paired with. But oh my, I was getting REALLY full by the fifth course…so I started leaving my vegetables behind.. Moving on, sixth course was the Pan Fried Lobsters in Consomme Sauce. These were alright. I’ve had better lobsters before. Nothing too special. Seventh course: Deep Fried Crispy Squabs. And yes, I forgot to snap a picture of it as well. It was served still hot and crispy. Good stuff! Eighth dish: Steamed Rock Cod. I’m not a big fan of fish, so this was probably my least favourite of the night. I have to say that the fish wasn’t fishy though, and the meat was quite tender. Still, steamed fish isn’t something I like to eat. Ninth course: Fried Rice with Shrimps in Cream & Chicken in Tomato Sauce. This dish, no one at my table even touched it. We were all too full, and stuffing ourselves with more rice seemed silly. Some of us ended up packing it away instead, so I can’t comment. Tenth dish: Dumplings in Supreme Soup. These were actually really nice to end the dinner off. The dumplings were filled with shrimp and the soup was a thin clear broth. As for the desserts, there were Chinese Petits, which were basiaclly some sort of cookie dough batter, with read bean paste inside. As well, there was Coffee Jelly, which was one of my favourites. It was strong in coffee flavour and was a great dessert for a summer night. Lastly, there was the Sweetened Sesame Dumplings in Red Bean Cream. I’m not a fan of red bean soup, but I enjoyed the sesame dumplings as I love the surprise of the filling spilling out when you bite into these sweet dumplings.

Way too much food for this set menu, and I wish everything was portioned smaller, so I could actually eat everything without feeling like my stomach would explode… Good food though! And service wasn’t too bad.

L.A. Grill and Bistro

August 20, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Curry Penne served with Garlic Bread – olives, tomatoes & onions in curry cream sauce

Grilled Chicken Pesto Sandwich – toasted whole wheat bread with grilled chicken breast topped with house-made pesto, melted mozzarella, served with roasted potatoes & green salad

L.A. Grill and Bistro used to be a place I went with my friends back in high school. It was cheap with large portions, and their daily specials always attracted us back when we were students. Especially since I’ve moved away from that neighborhood, I haven’t been to Blundell Mall for quite a while. It’s kind of out of my way, but since I hadn’t had it since..probably high school, J and I decided to revisit it.

I got the Curry Penne, which was alright. The curry soup is definitely not the curry you get at Asian restaurants. It’s the westernized curry, which isn’t my favourite compared to Asian curry, but still not bad. All that pasta totally filled me up though.

You can’t expect any high quality food at L.A. Grill and Bristo, but the portions are definitely filling for the price you pay. It’s also got a very nice casual environment, and I think they offer some pretty good deals for late night snacks now too.

Banana Leaf

August 19, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Curry Boneless Chicken – boneless chicken breast simmered in creamy curry with lemon grass, coconut cream

Coconut Rice in Banana Leaf – rice wrapped in fresh banana leaf cooked with coconut milk

Singapore Laska – rice noodle in coconut soup base made of dried shrimps, chili, garlic, lemon grass & turmeric with bean sprout, cilantro, tofu, egg, chicken, fish-cake, squid & shrimps

After hitting up Bella Gelateria, we went on Davie Street, since I wanted to try Thai Basil. Sadly, it was going to close in about an hour or so, and the seating was very limited. So off we went to explore what food there was to eat on Davie. And there was a lot! Such a busy street. We ended up at Banana Leaf, since it was still sort of Thai/ Malaysian – well it’s supposed to be Malaysian, but close enough. It was actually already pretty late for dinner time, but the place was still quite full. It’s dim inside, and you get a pretty Malaysian feel to it.

I got the Singapore Laska, which was actually quite delicious. I’m always kind of unsure about places that seem pretty westernized, just because I feel like the food may not be as authentic and probably just catered for the Canadians. But the laska was actually quite comparable to many of the laskas I have tried at other Asian restaurants. I loved the tofu puffs and fish-cake, and there was a large abundance of ingredients. The soup was really nice with a hint of coconut flavour, and wasn’t so spicy that I couldn’t eat it.

Good food and service! I believe it’s a chain restaurant, so there are a few more around Vancouver.

Bella Gelateria Handcrafted Gelato

August 16, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Matcha Organic Green Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Lavender

Espresso ‘La Futura’ – Milano Coffee

J got me a gift card to Bella Gelateria Handcrafted Gelato, and I must say it was my favourite gift card out of all of them! I didn’t even know of this place, but I looked on Urbanspoon after and found it was one of the top places! I was extremely excited to try it since my favourite dessert is ice cream! And so why not get three flavours at once…I wanted more, but the biggest size only contained three flavours, unless I wanted to get a second cup… We got there around dinner time, but it was packed! There was a line up, but it moved fairly quickly as they make you pay first, and then you can try and decide what flavours you want.

So many flavours to choose from, but I knew I wanted to try the Matcha Organic Green Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Lavender, although I still want to try the sesame flavour. Next time! Anyways, The Matcha was definitely my favourite. My next favourite was the Lavender. I personally love anything lavender, as I think it smells so good! It had a strong floral flavour to it, and I found it really interesting. I don’t think J really liked it though. The earl grey was alright too. Not my favourite, but pretty interesting. I find that earl grey flavours are usually pretty bland for most desserts though. J got the Milano Coffee, which was pretty good. It was really strong in coffee flavour.

Bella is a great place to get genuine Italian gelato, and although it is a bit pricey, it is definitely worth it!

Dragon View Chinese Cuisine

August 15, 2012May 5, 2013Leave a comment

Chinese Donuts Wrapped w/ Rice Rolls

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings

Steamed Chicken Feet in B/B Sauce

Deep Fried Squid Tentacle

Mini Sticky Rice Wrapped w/ Bamboo Leaf

Lychee, Goji Berries and Chrysanthemum Gelatin Dessert

My parents decided to grab some dim sum for lunch, and since we were already at Continental Centre, we decided to just go to Dragon View Chinese Cuisine. I’ve been here a few times, but not recently, so I had forgot what it was like. Food was typical and I quite liked it. My family and I both felt that the chef seemed to cook most of the food with less feisty flavours. Most of the dishes were on the bland side, but not to the extent that it was terrible. I actually quite liked it since I don’t like to eat too flavourful stuff sometimes. My favourite was the dessert! It was a gelatin dessert that had lychee, goji berries and chrysanthemum in it. So refreshing on a sunny day!

Service that day was really well. This lady, who I believe was the owner, was extremely friendly and quick. A few days later though, I went back for dinner with some family friends, and the service was just plain terrible! Our server was extremely rude, and in the middle of taking our order, he just told us to hold on and he walked away for like 5 minutes. What kind of service is that? He was also extremely unfriendly when we asked questions about the menu, and he just seemed arrogant. Definitely was disappointed the second time.