Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot

August 23, 2016August 23, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary but all opinions are based on my personal experience.

As part of a preview for Chopstick Fest, Jacqueline, Dennis, Stephen, Kym, and I were invited to try Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot Restaurant on Robson St., which will be a participiating restaurant for the festival. The festival will run from October 15th – 30th, 2016 and will have a similar concept to Dine Out Vancouver, but feature all Chinese restaurants.

Liu Yi Shou is a Chong Qing style hot pot chain famous in China. It first brought their chain to Richmond under the name Thumbs Up Hot Pot, which I have yet to try. I think the two restaurant’s menus are pretty much the same though. The interior consists of booth seats with air ventilation from the prior barbecue restaurant.

I love sauce bars so this is always an added differentiation. Here, I think you pay $2.50 to mix your own sauce with a large variety of ingredients. To be honest though, I usually stick with the simple soy sauce and satay!

Chong Qing Spicy Broth and Wild Mushrooms Broth

We chose to split the pot in half and have two soup bases. One was non-spicy and was filled with mushrooms and goji berries. The other was their famous Chong Qing Spicy Broth at a medium spice level. They told us that their spicy is quite spicy, so we settled with medium. The medium was a spicy numbing flavour, as expected with Chong Qing style cuisine. However, I think this was tolerable, especially when we had the other soup base to eat in between. I’d definitely say I’ve had spicier at my Szechuan friend’s house.

Fish Tofu

They have all your typical hot pot ingredients, including fish tofu, fish ball, enoki, bean curd, tofu, lotus root, potato and taro.

Corn

We also sampled corn, luncheon meat, shrimp paste, fish filet, shrimp, and deep fried pork. All were very standard with everything you could find at your typical Cantonese style hot pot.

Supreme Lamb

Meat is everything for me at hot pot, so I usually choose a hot pot restaurant based on the quality of meat. We were able to sample Supreme Beef, Supreme Lamb, and Sliced Beef. I loved the Supreme Lamb as it was buttery and tender. It also wasn’t gamey at all so many of the bloggers who don’t normally eat lamb didn’t even realize it was lamb! The Supreme Beef could be slightly more tender if it has more fat, but it wasn’t bad for sure. The Sliced Beef was the most chewy as expected because of the thick cut, but still very fresh.

Overall, we were all pleasantly surprised by the quality of food at Liu Yi Shou. They are famous for their spicy hot pot, so definitely give that a try if you love spice. If you’re looking to fill up though, your bill might add up since it’s a la carte, rather than AYCE. However, the quality of food is therefore better than AYCE. Oh and for all you hot pot newbies, they have a list showing the time needed to cook different menu items! That’s something I haven’t seen before for sure. And did I mention, this is the only Chinese style hot pot you will find along the Robson/downtown area?

PappaRoti

August 16, 2016August 15, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary but all opinions are based on my personal experience.

PappaRoti began in Malaysia and opened their first North American store in Vancouver on Robson St. a year ago. Thanks to Sharon, a group of food bloggers were able to try a selection of their items.

The interior reminds me of a Blenz, with a variety of different drinks and quick bites. Very spacious and I saw many people on their laptops working away.

Crazy for Kaya

Of course, they are famous for their freshly baked caramel coffee buns. They are twice baked so that the outside is crisp and crunchy, and pillowy soft, buttery and rich on the inside. They feature a variety of different toppings and sides and Crazy for Kaya features kaya and honey. Reminds me of kaya toast which I have a love for!

The Works

You can also choose The Works where you are able to select your choice of any four toppings. Here, they paired strawberries, whipped cream, ice cream and bananas.

The Classic

I think my favourite was still The Classic which features nutella and banana. The two flavours are just perfect complements and paired great with the buttery bun.

Rise and Shine

Rise and Shine features Pappa cream cheese and jam on the side. Be sure to eat these fresh from the oven to best enjoy them. I tried them cold and they weren’t as good for sure.

Choco Banana Pappa Rollie

Their newest addition is the Pappa Rollie. These are made with a croissant dough but has the same sweet and crispy exterior. So flaky and I liked the chocolate filling inside with banana flavouring. They also have a Coconut Pappa Rollie

Roast Beef, Chicken Chipotle, Apple Chicken Blue Cheese, Turkey & Brie, Vegan Moroccan

I always associated PappRoti with coffee buns and had no idea they had other menu items. Well turns out you can also get sandwiches and wraps here! My favourite was the Turkey & Brie.

They also have salads including the Island Salad and Tuscan Salad, all of which make a healthy meal.

Other than their gourmet coffees, teas and smoothies, they also carry drinks from other brands, including Revel Juice.

Overall, I really enjoyed the coffee buns but was surprised that their other items were just as good. PappaRoti is the perfect spot to grab a quick snack or even a meal.

Lift Bar & Grill

August 15, 2016Leave a comment

Looking for a spot to go happy hour, I suggested we try Lift Bar & Grill. It’s situated by the water along the seawall before you enter Stanley Park.

The restaurant has an awesome patio outside perfect for the summer.

Happy hour is from 3-6pm daily, but unfortunately, you can only sit at the bar for happy hour. The bar seats around 10-15 people, so be sure to arrive early!

The decor inside is elegant and perfect for date night. I would highly recommend sitting outside if the weather is nice, or by the glass windows inside to enjoy the views.

Their happy hour menu is pretty good with a variety of food other than their select drinks. Plus, they have buck-a-shuck oysters! As you can see, the prices for happy hour isn’t extremely cheap though. Their regular menu is quite pricey normally, so this is already discounted.

Red Truck Lager, House White Wine

We started off with some drinks which were part of the happy hour menu, all for $5.

Buck-a-Shuck Oysters

I wanted some oysters, so I got the Buck-a-Shuck Oysters. I don’t remember the names of the oysters but they were quite small, but sweet. I think they could’ve done a better job with the shucking though as I found some bits of shell in my oysters. The typical cocktail sauce, Tabasco and vinaigrette comes on the side.

Lobster Mac & Cheese

As I was quite hungry, I decided to get the Lobster Mac & Cheese which was on deal for $10. It came with atlantic lobster, grana padano white cheddar and mascarpone cheese.

This was a pretty good deal since there were chunks of lobster meat in my mac n cheese! Usually, you just find little strands of meat in this dish, but I was surprised how much lobster I found in here. It’ll definitely fill you up as the cheese is very heavy. I also loved the crispy coating of bread crumbs on top.

Fish & Chips

S got the Fish & Chips which normally comes with a single piece of local beer battered halibut and french fries. He was quite hungry, so he asked to add another piece of halibut. The normal size is $14 and I think the additional piece was around $6. So it came to around $20 which isn’t too bad for getting fish and chips (halibut) at a high end restaurant.

Overall, we were quite pleased with the happy hour selection of food and drinks at Lift Bar & Grill. However, service was pretty much non-existent. We sat at the bar without menus for the longest time and we ended up having to ask for the menus. It also took incredibly long to get our bill. I would hope that their service is much better during regular hours, since this is the perfect place to take your date to, but if service is so poor, I wouldn’t risk ruining your date night here. Ambiance is spot on though!

Pros:
– Beautiful ambiance and views
– Great selection for happy hour – $1 oysters, deals on food and drinks

Cons:
– Service was poor
– Not exactly cheap even for happy hour

Price Range: $20-30

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3.5 Service: 1.5 Ambiance: 5 Parking: N/A Overall: 3.5

Spaghetei

July 25, 2016July 25, 20161 Comment

Source: Canadoo

NOTE: All food was complimentary but all opinions are based on my own personal experience.

A few weeks ago, we were invited by Spaghetei for a menu tasting. Read along to find out how you can get 10% off on your dinner during weekdays! Spaghetei originates from Aomori, Japan where the original store is located. Around 3 years ago, they decided to open a store here in Vancouver on Robson Street near Denman Street. They specialize in Japanese style spaghetti and has an open air concept during the summer months.

Garlic Pesto Toast

We started off with their famous Garlic Pesto Toast. The secret ingredient to this delicious toast is honey which brings a subtle sweet flavour to the usually savoury bread. So addicting!

Pork Chili Oil Bread

Next, we tried the Pork Chili Oil Bread. The pork and eggplant was cooked to tender and served in a piping hot bowl so be sure to cool it off before you eat it! S and I loved how it was slightly spicy. I highly recommend this as an appie.

Clam Spaghetti

Onto their spaghettis, we started off with the Clam Spaghetti. I’m a huge fan of clams so this was perfect for me. The spaghettis come in two sizes: medium or large. All the ones we sampled were medium and I found it to be a good size if you have a smaller appetite. The Clam Spaghetti came with clams, mushrooms, tobiko, dried seaweed, shiso leaves, and a home-made ginger soy sauce. It was light and perfect for seafood lovers.

Mentaiko Spaghetti

The Mentaiko Spaghetti is one of their most popular items and comes with mentaiko, shrimp, mushrooms, shiso leaves, and dried seaweed. Mentaiko is not for everyone but if you like seafood or fish roe, then this is for you. I loved how this was not too creamy or heavy.

Barayaki Spaghetti

If you’re not into seafood, then the Barayaki Spaghetti is a great option. It comes with pan fried beef and onions with their barayaki sauce which tastes similar to a teriyaki sauce but I would say it’s sweeter. My mom and boyfriend don’t like Italian pasta, but I know they would love this dish as it’s full of Asian flavours.

Salad Spaghetti

And for those who are vegetarians or just love their veggies, then the Salad Spaghetti is perfect as it’s filled with fresh vegetables, slices of hard boiled eggs, and a home-made dressing. We found this to be refreshing and a great option for the summer when you want something very light.

Crème Brûlée

To end our lunch, we tried the Crème Brûlée, which was smooth in the centre with the sugar on top torched perfectly to create a hard brittle tap. We appreciated how they used real vanilla beans instead of just vanilla flavouring.

Powder Snow Milk Syrup

Lastly, the Powder Snow Milk Syrup surprised us for sure. We didn’t expect much for shaved ice at a restaurant that specializes in spaghetti, but this was some real good shaved ice! If you don’t want to wait in line at Snowy Village, then I highly suggest just coming to Spaghetei. The shaved ice is so soft and powdery like snow and the ratio of matcha, milk, and condensed milk is right on. Definitely coming back for this!

Overall, we were extremely pleased with the food at Spaghetei. We really enjoyed how the dishes are light and not overly creamy. In fact, I feel like all the dishes taste very healthy as they are not too salty or oily. Ambiance is casual and service was also very friendly. Prices are very reasonable and there is also happy hour on weekdays from 11:30am to 2:30pm!

Spaghetei is offering my readers 10% off weekday dinners just by showing this coupon on your smartphone. Feel free to bookmark this page and share with your family and friends!

The Ramenman

July 20, 2016July 19, 2016Leave a comment

The Ramenman opened last year but recently I’ve been seeing tons of posts on this restaurant. Since I’m always on the lookout for good ramen, I suggested to S we give it a try. It’s literally on the other side of Robson from Marutama.

You can watch the chefs in action by sitting right at the bar table. The other tables are communal tables with a few tables for four. It wasn’t very busy on a Friday night.

Water is self serve and comes in these glass bottles.

Chicken Ramen

Ramenman focusses mainly on chicken ramen with variations to it such as the clam, stew, and of course the original. S decided to go with the regular Chicken Broth which comes with your choice of pork or chicken or a mix, bamboo shoots, green onion oil, green onions, corn, garlic , ramen egg and black pepper. S chose pork and their pork char shiu is quite different as it is cooked with a sous-vide method. That’s why you’ll notice it is pink in colour, but it’s actually cooked thoroughly. I loved their meat as it is so soft! The chicken broth also had a lot of depth and was velvety smooth.

Vegetarian Ramen

For myself, I heard that the Vegetarian Ramen was really good so gave it a try and made it non-vegetarian by adding pork char-siu. I usually choose meat options if available, but this vegetarian broth blew my mind. Yes, it lacked the richness of what a pork broth would have, but the vegetarian broth was still very flavourful of shiitake mushrooms and kombu and was not too salty. It came with spinach, corn, bamboo shoots, green onion, cabbage, chili pepper, black pepper and some crispy lotus chips.

As for the noodles, they are the straight kind and were cooked to an al dente.

The vegetarian broth also comes with a 63 degree egg and upon cutting into the egg, the yolk just spilled out. So good!

Overall, I was very impressed with The Ramenman even though they don’t offer my favourite pork based broth. I highly suggest trying the vegetarian broth and adding the pork char-siu. It may not be your traditional ramen with the sous-vide technique, but is definitely worth trying.

Pros:
– Flavourful broths without being too salty
– Sous-vide pork is tender and moist

Cons:
– Not for you if you’re looking for traditional ramen

Price Range: $10-15/person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food:4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 4

Peaceful Restaurant (Seymour)

July 19, 2016July 18, 2016Leave a comment

S and I enjoy dining at the Broadway and Cambie location of Peaceful Restaurant so when we heard they opened a new one close to where S works, I suggested to go for dinner after work. Peaceful has expanded so quickly, they have just opened their 5th location on Robson.

Peaceful Beef Rolls

We ended up getting similar items to compare. Our favourite at the Broadway location is the Peaceful Beef Rolls.

We found these to be less crispy and the dough to be slightly thicker. However, these were still not too oily which I liked. Still, the Broadway ones are much better.

Xiao Long Bao

The Xiao Long Bao comes with 8 dumplings.

As you can see, the skin is rather thick and upon biting in, there is not enough broth. Not the best XLBs so I would skip these next time.

Mu-Shu Stir-fried Noodles

We tried the Mu-Shu Stir-fried Noodles again but this time chose them hand pulled instead of knife cut. Again, these are not overly oily and the noodles are chewy with a nice bite. However, I think I do prefer the knife cut noodles since they are more chewy and a bit more special.

Overall, it seems like the Seymour location’s execution of the dishes can’t compare to the original location. Not sure if they are still relatively new, but I feel like there are other restaurants in the area I would rather eat at. I do like that this location has very spacious seating and it isn’t very busy.

Pros:
– Spacious seating
– Noodles are pretty good

Cons:
– Execution is not as good as Broadway location

Price Range: $15-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3 Service: 2.5 Ambiance: 2 Parking: 2.5 Overall: 3

Snowy Village

July 15, 2016July 14, 2016Leave a comment

When Snowy Village opened up their first location in Richmond, it was rage with line ups outside. I still remember trying to come here for over 3 times and leaving with take out because of the wait. Since then, they’ve opened up more locations including one on Robson so I feel like the waits aren’t as crazy. Still, the place is packed so be sure to come here at odd times to avoid the crowds.

I ended up visiting both the Richmond and Robson location, so I’m just going to combine the review into one post. The set up is similar at both locations, where you order at the front and pay first. At the Richmond location, they will bring you the food, whereas you must pick up at the counter for the Robson location.

Other than shaved ice, they are famous for their Taiyaki also known as croissants boong bread.

You can smell these upon entering the shop. A must order!

Injeolmi Shaved Ice (small)

Snowy Village is famous for their shaved ice because they brought over the famous Korean powdery ice that feels just like snow. The Injeolmi Shaved Ice was topped with red bean, peanut powder and mochi balls. We really liked this as the peanut powder was not overly sweet and I lvoed the chew of the mochi.

Mango Shaved Ice (small)

Another favourite was the Mango Shaved Ice which is topped with lots of mangoes which are ripe and sweet. The fruit ones are a favourite as the dessert is more moist, whereas the ones with powder tend to be a little dry.

Taiyaki

You can choose from a variety of fillings for the Taiyaki, including red bean, injeolmi red bean, nutella, and custard cream. I’ve tried quite a few but my favourite is still the injeolmi red bean and nutella. The custard cream is too sweet for me. I love how flaky the taiyaki is and tastes just like a croissant.

Overall, we quite enjoyed the Richmond location and I found service to be very friendly here. However, parking is horrendous here.

Oreo Shaved Ice (large)

On another occasion, we visited the Robson location. The first thing you will notice is that the Robson location uses plastic cups instead of the metal bowls. We found that the size of these appear to be much smaller than the Richmond lcoation yet we pay the same price. The Oreo Shaved Ice was surprisingly very good even though I normally find Oreos too sweet.

Mango Shaved Ice (large)

We also got the Mango Shaved Ice and again it did not disappoint. The mangoes they use are so sweet!

Injeolmi Shaved Ice (small)

As you can see, the small size here appears to be much smaller because of the cup they use. It’s also extremely easy to tilt the cup because of the narrow base. Loved the Injeolmi Shaved Ice again!

Matcha Shaved Ice (small)

The Matcha Shaved Ice was probably my lease favourite despite the fact I love matcha everything. Since it was mostly matcha powder, the shaved ice was rather dry and needed something moist like condensed milk.

Overall, I think I would prefer the Richmond location more based on the service and also sizing of the shaved ice. However, the consistency of both locations are on par for their menu items.

Pros:
– Shaved ice is so powdery smooth
– Taiyaki is really flaky

Cons:
– Long waits all the time
– Parking at Richmond location is terrible

Price Range: $10/person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food:4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 2.5 Parking: 2 Overall: 3.5

Kamei Royale – Grand Opening at New Location

June 27, 2016Leave a comment

Note: All food and beverages were complimentary, but opinions are based on personal experience.

Thanks to Loopp Media and Klip Magazine, we were invited to the grand opening of Kamei Royale at their new location in Coal Harbour at 1066 West Hastings. Kamei Royale used to be around Burrard and Georgia if you remember.

The event was packed so it was hard to really capture the interior space. A long bar is on one side.

They have a large selection of beers and wines.

This is only one side of the dining area. The new location is quite large and also features more private dining areas on the other side.

We were able to sample a variety of appetizers, sushi, and oysters.

We also got to watch the chef cut a blue fin tuna which weighed over 100lbs and to sample the melt-in-your mouth tuna!

Unfortunately, the place was packed and I was too short to capture any photos of the actual demonstration. I watched through other people’s camera screens… But here are some parts of the fish.