Kishimoto

August 3, 2014Leave a comment

On my birthday, I asked to have dinner at Kishimoto. I’ve seen gorgeous platings from this Japanese restaurant for quite some time now, but Commercial Drive isn’t exactly the area I usually drive by. Finally, we made our way here, and there’s surprisingly quite a lot of free parking in the residential areas across the street. There was a line up as usual, and we waited roughly 15-30 minutes before we got a seat. The restaurant doesn’t have many fans, so it was boiling hot as well. Most of the servers and chefs looked and spoke Japanese, so I’m assuming it’s Japanese run. Not a huge restaurant though, so I see why there are always line ups.

Hamachi Ishinabe

First, we got the Hamachi Ishinabe, which I apologize for the blurry picture. It’s very similar to a Korean bibimbap, where the rice is served in a hot stone bowl. It’s topped with hamachi fish, a raw egg, and some seaweed. When you squish the sides of the rice to the sides of the bowl, you get some crispy rice.

The server helped mix the rice for us, and this is the final product. The fish was very soft and smooth, and I love the flavour of the sauce used. It tasted sort of like the unagi sauce.

Salmon Oshi Sushi

Next was the Salmon Oshi Sushi. If you’re familiar with Miku’s signature Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, then you’ll find the one at Kishimoto very similar. Except it’s a few dollars cheaper! The sushi rice is shaped into a rectangular shape, topped with salmon, a creamy sauce and crackled black pepper and seared with a torch to give it a nice char. It’s then topped with a slice of jalapeno. Everything was great about this dish, but if you’re had Miku’s, then I think that their special Miku sauce still wins. Otherwise, I could settle for this less pricey version.

Chopped Scallop Roll, Spider Roll, Dragon Roll

Kishimoto is known for their plating – especially that thinly sliced radish and edamame flower. I was excited when the rest of our rolls came, since it came just with that beautiful plating. It also came with a candle with a radish sliced into a cylinder. Super cool! You can basically eat all this art too, but I’m not sure how clean it is. On the top left was the Chopped Scallop Roll. Quite average, with a good amount of filling and fresh scallops. In front, was the Dragon Roll, which feature 2 pieces of prawn tempura, tobiko, and avocado and unagi on top. It was flavoured with an unagi sauce. On the right around the flower, there was the Spider Roll, which was filled with avocado, softshell crab tempura, massago, cucumber, and lettuce. It was wrapped around a thinly sliced sheet of radish.

Salmon Sashimi (9pc) & Tuna Sashimi (6pc)

Then came the sashimi, which came in an impressive block of ice. That’s a huge block! The fresh fish were decorated with flowers and leaves. Super pretty! In the back were the Salmon Sashimi, which we opted for 9 pieces. Each were cut at just the right amount to have a a good texture. Very fresh! In front, the Toro Sashimi were curled up like flowers. Again, very fresh and the toro was smooth and buttery.

Plain Okonomiyaki

Lastly, we had the Plain Okonomiyaki, which was probably one of my favourites! It came with a side of bonito flakes. The okonomiyaki was quite thick, but filled generously with vegetables. I loved the flavouring and it was something that helped fill our stomachs.

Overall, Kishimoto lived up to it’s hype. Great food at decent prices. I’m not sure if I would make the trip all the way here that often though. But if I’m in the neighbourhood, I wouldn’t mind coming here for some Japanese food!

Yolk’s Breakfast Restaurant and Commissary

June 26, 2014Leave a comment

Manmosa – P49 HayFever Saison, fresh squeezed orange juice

After exams ended, I met up with my Barca buddies K and U for brunch. I suggested we go try Yolk’s Breakfast Restaurant and Commissary. They have a food truck, but they also recently opened a restaurant near Knight and East Hastings. It was a far drive for me, but definitely worth it! We waited roughly 10 minutes and were given a seat. The restaurant is actually fairly large compared to many other breakfast spots. They don’t take reservations, like many of the popular breakfast restaurants. Our server was friendly and checked up on us once in a while. We first started off with some drinks. I went for the Manmosa, which came with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a bottle of beer. I was a bit skeptical of mixing beer and orange juice together, but it turned out great! It’s supposed to be the manly version of a manmosa, but I could care less! A bit of alcohol to start our day off!

Mimosa – sparkling wine, freshly squeezed orange juice

U got the girly version and chose the Mimosa. It comes in a skinnier glass and is already premixed with sparkling wine and orange juice. She said it was pretty good!

Yolk’s Caesar – Bacon infused East Van Vodka, Clamato juice, freshly grated horseradish, Worcestershire, Tabasco, lime, celery shrub

K got the Yolk’s Caesar. Very typical and nothing too fancy with the play on ingredients.

Hand Carved Honey Ham on truffle-lemon hashbrowns and English Bangers

For food, Yolk’s is famous for their Poached Free-Range Egg Sandwiches. Their menu has a cute design for this item, and it guides you through the options for this dish. You can choose the topping, whether you want two eggs or one, english muffin, hashbrowns or gluten-free buns, a sauce or cheese, and any additional sides. K got the Hand Carved Honey Ham, which came with fresh spinach & Yolk’s made Dijon. He also got two eggs and double everything. He chose the truffle-lemon hashbrowns instead which cost an additional $1.50. He had the double smoked bacon last time which he said he preferred. Other than the eggs, he also got the English Bangers which were perfectly grilled sausages. He said they were delicious!

Chicken & Waffles – organic fried chicken, Belgian waffles, chicken gravy & pure Canadian maple syrup

U didn’t go for the eggs, but rather their Chicken & Waffles. Yolk’s has a fairly simple menu, hence probably why they can execute good dishes. The chicken & waffles is also one of their famous dishes and it consists of organic fried chicken between two Belgian waffles. It also comes with a chicken gravy, but we all agreed it didn’t taste like gravy and was very bland. U said that the chicken and waffles, however, were very delicious! The chicken was moist and flavourful.

Poached Free-Range Egg Sandwiches – Portobello Mushroom on truffle-lemon hashbrowns

For myself, I also went for the Poached Free-Range Egg Sandwiches. I chose the third option which is Portobello Mushroom. It came with an aioli sauce and fresh arugula. Just like K, I chose two eggs and double everything and had my eggs on truffle-lemon hashbrowns by adding $1.50. I also chose the real hollandaise as my sauce. Cutting into the eggs, they were perfectly poached with the yolks running out. It doesn’t look like too much on the plate, but I was beyond full by the end of the meal. There’s plenty of hash and they were seasoned well! The option for two eggs and double everything comes to around $10.75. Since we substituted for hashbrowns instead of the English muffin, the total cost was $12.25.

Overall, I highly recommend Yolk’s for a breakfast spot. I know some people wait an hour for this, which I probably wouldn’t, but since I only waited 10-15 minutes, I really didn’t find it too bad. Plus, they have great drinks and the portion sizes of food are just right. A pretty reasonable priced breakfast. Only downside is how far it is for me!

Mimibuloveme (Revisit #2)

June 23, 2014Leave a comment

White Pasta – bacon and creamy Parmesan cheese

On my last day of final exams, that feeling I got walking out of the exam room was actually sort of bittersweet. I felt so relaxed, but at the same time, it would be my last final exam of my university life. I decided to celebrate so K came to pick me up along with others. She wanted her parfaits again, so we ended up going to Mimibuloveme. It was packed as usual, but we luckily scored a tiny square table for the four of us. I was extremely hungry after my exam, so I decided to actually get a meal. They recently added pastas to their menu, so I went for the White Pasta. I had originally wanted the Yellow Pasta, which is curry based, but they sold out! I like how it seems like their food is fresh as they will actually sell out! Anyways, the White Pasta reminded me of a Carbonara. A creamy white sauce with Parmesan cheese and loads of bacon. It also came with a small side of salad. I would say that their portions are quite small for the price, but the pasta was cooked to al dente.

Brownie Banana Parfait – chocolate ice cream, organic banana, brownie

The rest of them got some desserts. E got the Brownie Banana Parfait. It had a huge scoop of chocolate ice cream and a slice of brownie on the side. Underneath were slices of banana and topped with loads of whipped cream.

Black Sesame Parfait – black sesame ice cream, vanilla bean ice cream, mochi balls, gluten free graham crackers

K got the Black Sesame Parfait. It came with a scoop of the black sesame ice cream and lots of mochi balls which I liked! The black sesame ice cream was also rich in sesame flavour.

Chocolate Banana Waffle

Dad got the Chocolate Banana Waffle. The waffle itself isn’t too special, but you get loads of ingredients on top and on the side. They don’t cheap out on the slices of bananas, and there’s also a lot of chocolate brownie cakes on the side. A huge scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and whipped cream to top it off.

Overall, the food is always quite good at Mimibuloveme. The service is also very friendly, although the wait time can be a bit long. They only have 2-3 people working, so don’t expect fast service here. Prices are average like anywhere else. I guess the seating is the biggest problem here. This place is good for a maximum of 4 people. It’s also extremely difficult to find a seat during busy hours and weekends.

La Mezcaleria

June 16, 2014Leave a comment

After many attempts, S, J and I finally found time to try La Mezcaleria. The Mexican joint is located in the Commercial Drive area and is the newly opened sister restaurant of La Tacqueria.

The inside is dimly lit and has a casual vibe with a bar table and a small section of seats against the other side of the wall. They are famous for their Mezcal and Tequila flights as well. Mezcal is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from a plant similar to agave and is a typical Mexican drink. Unfortunately, we did not try their drinks this time, but I hear they are quite good.

After ordering, we were given 4 types of sauces that we could add to our food. It ranged from mildly spicy to very spicy. Salsa Verde was the least spicy, then it moved on to Chipotle, Chile de Arbol and the spiciest Habanero. The Salsa Verde was good in the beginning, but once you tried the spicier ones, you got hooked onto the spicy ones! In the end, most of us were using the Chile de Arbol or the Habanero. You can definitely feel the heat with those two.

Our food actually took quite some time to arrive, but it then came at a consistent speed. First, we had the Campechano Flight. It came with 4 glasses of dips that we could use with our tortilla chips. Starting at the front, the green one was the Guacamole. It was made with tons of fresh avocado, some lime, onion, jalapeno, tomato and cilantro. Next was the Albacore Tuna Ceviche. It consisted of diced up albacore tuna, avocado, lime, radish and pico de gallo. It also came with pork chicharron, which are like deep fried pork rinds. A nice crunch and the tuna was very fresh. Next, the glass in red was the Pico de Gallo. It’s very typical in Mexican cuisine and is also sometimes called the salsa fresca. It’s made with chopped tomatoes, white onions, and chilis. Definitely very appetizing. Lastly, there was the Pacific Red Snapper Ceviche, which included tomato, lime red onion, serrano and cilantro. I really liked it since I loved the bouncy texture the red snapper had. The flight is a really good deal if you have a group of friends to share, since for $17 you can try most of their ceviches and dips. Normally, one of these dishes around $9-$15 on its own and the sizes looked somewhat similar. We had so much leftover compared to the chips, so we had to order another side of chips for an extra $1.

Next up, we got their signature dish, the Queso Fundido. We’d been looking at pictures of this all over the Internet and were excited to try this interesting looking cheese fondue. It comes in a volcanic rock molcajete, which is a traditional Mexican mortar and pestle. Back then, people would use it for grinding food. We also added the chorizo for an extra $2.50. It was definitely very cheesy, but I also found it too oily. Well I guess cheese is oily to begin with. Unfortunately, I was too busy stirring this bad boy so I didn’t get a picture of how stringy the cheese is.

It comes with around 6 soft tortillas. I found these tortillas to be just okay. To be honest, I didn’t find the cheese dish to be amazing. I didn’t like how the cheese cooled so quickly, and you were just biting into a chunk of cooling cheese. You really needed the sauces to add more flavour to this dish.

I was told by the server to shake the bag up a bit, then open it and dump it on top of the rice. After shaking, you open the bag up, and this is what it looks like. Not too appetizing I know. We had chose the chicken, so it had been slow steam cooked along with a green tomatillo sauce, onions, cilantro and poblano peppers to add flavour. I thought this was just average. Not my favourite, and I found it quite pricey for the portions at $17.

Meat Tacos – Asada, Pescado, Carnitas, Al Pastor (front left clockwise)

We also got the Meat Tacos which were priced at 4 for $11.50. I’ve had the tacos at La Tacqueria and the menu is essentially the same (although La Tacqueria has more choices). I got the Asada which came with grilled ‘AAA’ flank beef and onions. I loved the flavour and tenderness of the meat. Above the Asada was the Pesacdo, which included Zarandeado fish with a chipotle mayo, radish and pepitas. Next to it, was the Carnitas which consisted of pork confit and pickled red onions. At the bottom right corner was the Al Pastor which was pork marinated in achiote chili and pineapple. Everyone enjoyed their tacos, although it gets quite messy since they fill them up quite full.

By the end of our night, we were beyond stuffed. Prices are average with each dish ranging at around $17. It’s a great place to go with at least 4 people, so you can really try many of their dishes and share. For the 3 of us, we found ourselves wanting to try more dishes, but we were definitely too full! A really cool, hip, and casual spot to spend your evening. I hear they are also having late night menus now with DJs too, so it’ll definitely be lots of fun. Looking forward to coming back again.

Phnom Penh (Revisit #2)

June 15, 20141 Comment

Marinated Butter Beef

I’ve been to Phnom Penh before, and although I really enjoyed it, it’s a bit far for me. When M and J suggested going there though, I said sure why not! However, when we got there at around 7pm, the place was packed as usual! We were told to wait an hour… I would’ve probably left, but M and J had never been, and we made a trip all the way down, so we waited. We ended up going over to Besties to get some German sausages first, which I wish I took pictures of… Next time! Anyways, by the time we got back, which was around an hour later, our seat was ready. We were all half full by now after the snack, so we tried not to order too much. I suggested we get their famous Marinated Butter Beef. I absolutely love this dish! The beef is so soft and tender! The sauce is what really makes the dish, but I do find it a little too acidic. It’s really sour but good at the same time. This time, I tried eating it with the cilantro (although I hate cilantro). Surprisingly, it worked really well together, and I didn’t mind it as much. A must order here.

Phnom Penh Deep Fried Chicken Wings

Next, we hard another famous dish – the Phnom Penh Deep Fried Chicken Wings. People say it’s the absolute best chicken wings, but I can’t say if they are the best. They are pretty damn good though, with a light batter on the outside, and a great salt and pepper seasoning. I’d probably wait half an hour for this, but probably not an hour again. We couldn’t end up finishing all of this, so M packed them home. This was the portion for a large size.

Filet Beef Luc Lac on Rice with Egg

If you look around, you’ll see that most diners order somewhat of the same dishes. The Filet Beef Luc Lac on Rice with Egg is again a very popular dish. It seems like such a simple dish, which anyone could make at home, but that filet beef is so delicious! The meat is so soft and tender and the sauce makes the dish perfect. Break the egg yolk and mix it with your rice, and you’ve got yourself a perfect comfort dish.

Chiu Chow Fried Oyster Cake

We decided to get one more dish and asked our server to recommend something. He suggested us to try the Chiu Chow Fried Oyster Cake. It was a huge portion, and at first bite, I thought it was average. I wouldn’t say it was amazing, but then soon after, J mentioned that it tasted disgusting. M and I were still eating it, and she began to describe how sticky it was. Indeed, the batter was very sticky. It was a clear goo, which is very common in say Taiwanese oyster cakes. The more she described it, the more we felt disgusted by it. I could understand that odd taste she was describing too. I’m not a huge fan of Taiwanese oyster cakes since they have a very gooey texture compared to some other oyster pancakes, so this literally eating a huge piece of goo. We ended up barely finishing half of this pancake, since the texture just really didn’t do it for us.

Overall, I had another good meal at Phnom Penh. Next time, I will stick to their signature dishes though. It seems that some of their other dishes are either a hit or miss. Look around and see what others have on their tables, and it’s probably a good one. The wait for an hour is a bit of a stretch for me though. Definitely would not wait for more than half an hour next time.

Check out my previous on Phnom Penh: https://everydayisafoodday.com/2012/07/18/phnom-penh/

Minami

June 12, 20141 Comment

A spontaneous night took J and I to Minami, the sister restaurant of Miku. Miku is one of my favourite Japanese restaurants when I’m looking for creativity and aburi sushi, so I had always wanted to try Minami. The restaurant was packed and although we had no reservations, we got a spot at the bar. The environment is definitely much more casual and loud compared to Miku.

Sitting at the bar was actually quite nice as the bartender pretty much serves you the whole night. We had some great prompt service and she was able to answer all our questions. The only downside is you may not have as much privacy since she’s always standing there making drinks.

You get two types of soya sauces at Minami. She said that one is the regular soya sauce, while the other is a little sweeter. I liked the sweeter one.

Premium Nigiri – chef’s selection traditional nigiri

J loves traditional Nigiris, so he got the Premium Nigiri set. It came with seven nigiris that the chef had chosen.

I believe there was tuna, salmon, saba, unagi, and scallop to list a few. He said they were all very fresh and the amount of fish to rice portion was perfect.

Aburi Sushi Sampler – aburi temari, oshi and roll topped with specialty sauces and garnishes

For myself, I got the Aburi Sushi Sampler. It came with 7 dainty little sushi. They were so cute! Some were in the form of temari, which are ball-shaped sushi. Others were oshi (square shaped), while some were regular rolls. They were beautiful to look at! I almost didn’t want to eat them.

Some of the fish I remember included, saba, scallop, salmon and tuna. They were all quite delicious, and the fish was very fresh. However, you don’t get too filled up by these, since they are really half the size of a normal nigiri.

Ebi Oshi Sushi – pressed shrimp, lime zest, ume sauce

We also shared an Ebi Oshi Sushi. We wanted to try one of the oshi sushi, since Miku and Minami are famous for them. The bartender recommended the Ebi Oshi and it was absolutely delicious. The shrimp was slightly seared and it melted in your mouth. I loved the hint of smoky flavour. Definitely recommend trying this!

Green Tea Opera – green tea genoise, dark chocolate ganache, matcha ice cream

Obviously we were still a little hungry by the end of the night. We shared a dessert, and I chose the Green Tea Opera. I’ve had this back at Miku, but I found the one at Minami presented slightly different. Again, it was delicious since I’m a huge matcha fan. It was made of a green tea genoise, which is an Italian sponge cake which is really thin. It had layers of dark chocolate ganache, which made the dessert very smooth in the mouth. It was then topped with fruits and caramelized sugar. On the side, there was a scoop of matcha ice cream topped with a sesame crisp. Definitely ended up our meal very nicely.

Overall, Minami wasn’t too bad. However, I find that the prices are only a few dollars cheaper than Miku. With that being said, I would rather pay a few extra dollars and dine at Miku, since the environment and dishes are much better in my opinion. I find the atmosphere too loud at Minami, and it’s more casual. I also found that the food at Miku was executed more carefully. Not a bad option if I’m in the Yaletown area though.

Trattoria Italian Kitchen – Dine Out 2014

June 11, 2014June 9, 2014Leave a comment

For my final Dine Out, it was last minute and we decided to visit Trattoria Italian Kitchen. They don’t take reservations, so we had to wait. There were plenty of people waiting, and we waited almost an hour. Super busy, but their $18 menu for 3 courses was definitely a good deal and probably attracted the crowds. Trattoria is part of the Glowbal group, and having been to the other restaurants, I’m confident that the food can’t be too bad. There’s an open kitchen and it’s quite noisy in here with families gathering for some Italian food.

Raspberry Italian Soda

We essentially celebrated Chinese New Years at an Italian restaurant ironically, so we started ourselves with some Italian Soda. My family aren’t drinkers, so we got these as virgins. They were surprisingly really good! A bit of fizz and there were a variety of flavours to choose from. I chose the raspberry flavour and it was a bit sweet and sour and definitely very refreshing.

Raspberry, Cucumber, Passionfruit Italian Soda

We pretty much ordered every flavour on the menu, including peach as well. Pictured here is raspberry, cucumber, and passionfruit. My favourite was actually the cucumber flavour. It was so refreshing! The passionfruit sort of tasted more like peach, so it wasn’t a huge hit.

Zuppa di Zucca

My mom ordered the Zuppa di Zucca. This was a roasted butternut squash soup with sage oil. It was a medium consistency and my mom enjoyed it. It also came with a prosciutto wrapped grissini, which is like a breadstick. That was a nice touch to the soup.

Tuna Salad

The rest of us got the Tuna Salad. We were actually slightly disappointed with the salad, since the menu had said seared albacore tuna. We were expecting something like tuna tataki. Turned out, it was more like poached can tuna. I’m not a huge fan of canned tuna since it’s really flaky, so I wasn’t a huge fan. It came with arugula, cannellini beans, radish and finished off with a citrus vinaigrette.

Pollo Marsala – pan roasted chicken breast, Marsala and mushroom sugo with fennel salad

Mom and dad got the Pollo Marsala as their main. It was a pan roasted chicken breast topped with a Marsala wine and mushroom sugo sauce. A sugo sauce is an Italian tomato based sauce. We weren’t expecting much from this dish, but it turned out to be probably the best! The chicken was so moist and juicy that my parents were raving about it the whole night. The sauce was also absolutely delicious. It wasn’t too creamy or rich, but a perfect consistency to lightly bring some flavour to the chicken. It came with a side of fennel salad that was similar to the tuna salad.

Braised Lamb Cheek Pappardelle – bean ragout, smoked pancetta

The rest of us got the Braised Lamb Cheek Pappardelle. I found this average. I like to eat lamb, but I found that they didn’t season it enough, so you could still taste the gamey flavour of lamb. However, the lamb cheeks were absolutely soft and tender, which was a plus. I think I just didn’t really enjoy the flavour of this dish overall. Something was a little off for me.

Tiramisu with Biscotti

Lastly, for dessert, the only choice was the Tiramisu. When the cake came, we were all underwhlemed. This was probably the nicest slice that was plated, as the rest were all lopsided and messy looking. However, when we took a bite into it, we all agreed it was delicious! It felt like a homemade traditional Italian recipe. The cake was moist and soaked in espresso and the Mascarpone cheese mixed with whip cream was just the right amount. The biscotti was also a nice addition on the side. We were all full by the end of our meal, but we still managed to stuff ourselves with the Tiramisu.

Overall, we were all very happy with Trattoria’s Dine Out menu. I wouldn’t say the choices were dishes I would normally order, but for $18, we were literally filled up and the service was great. Their regular menu also looks like a pretty affordable menu and I’m looking forward to coming back to try some of their other dishes. The only downside would be the no reservations policy.

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro (Dine Out 2014)

May 30, 2014Leave a comment

For my second dine out, I visited The Oakwood Canadian Bistro with J. Parking is a bit tough here since there’s only street parking and it’s pretty packed in the Kitsilano area. The bistro was packed and I found the atmosphere to be a bit too loud. It was sort of hard to talk, but it would be a nice place to hang out with friends.

Pork Terraine – maple cauliflower puree, pickled shallots

For the appetizer, J got the Pork Terraine. I took a bite and it was alright. We both agreed it sort of tasted like spam, but of higher quality. Wasn’t my favourite.

Smoked Seafood Chowder – cod, clams, bacon lardon, oyster crackers

For myself, I got the Smoked Seafood Chowder. It was quite flavourful, with loads of clams and bits of cod fish. It also came with oyster crackers, which I enjoyed. You could actually taste the oyster flavour in the crackers.

Grilled 16 oz Pork Chop – roast fingerling potato, charred cippolini and fennel, apple glace

For the entree, J paid an extra $10 for the Grilled 16 oz Pork Chop. It was decent, but I don’t know if I would pay an extra $10 for it. The meat was juicy and came with a nice apple glaze.

Roast Porchetta – confit garlic brocollini, dijon spatile, caramelized onion puree

For myself, I got the Roast Porchetta, that everyone talks about. However, I was actually quite disappointed in it! I found that my dish had more fat than anything! The amount of meat was so minimal. I know porchetta is supposed to come with some fat, which is why it’s so delicious, but this was too much. It felt kind of disgusting just chewing on the fat. The crispy layer of the porchetta, however was quite crunchy, although I found it under-seasoned. It was just salty, but not flavourful. My favourite part was actually the dijon spatile. Not exactly sure what it was, but it’s crunchy and sort of like popcorn.

Chocolate Mousse – coffee pistachio crunch, whip cream

For dessert, J got the Chocolate Mousse. This was the only item he really enjoyed the whole night. He loves coffee desserts, so this was perfect. It was a chocolate mousse with coffee flavoured bits mixed with pistachio, so you got a nice crunch. The whip cream just underneath this crunchy layer gave it a smooth texture along with the mousse. Mix it all up and you get a delicious mousse with a crunchy bite.

Maple Creme Caramel – pecan shortbread, cranberry gel, vanilla caramel

My dessert was the Maple Creme Caramel. It was such a Canadian dessert, with the red being a cranberry gel and the maple leaf being a pecan shortbread. Underneath was a vanilla caramel that tasted sort of like a pudding. I personally didn’t really enjoy this dessert. The cranberry gel gave it a sour taste and I found it a bit odd.

Overall, we were slightly disappointed with the Dine Out Vancouver 2014 menu at The Oakwood Canadian Bistro. Next to us was a friendly diner who said he visits the bistro regularly, and he agreed that the dine out menu did not showcase the best of what there is to offer. He suggested that we try their regular menu next time because there are some really good dishes. The Dine Out menu was for $28, and although I wouldn’t say that’s pricey for the amount of food we had, the dishes weren’t that great. They weren’t dishes that made me want to return to try out more of their menu. But again, I hear good things about their normal menu, so I’ll definitely think about a revisit soon.