Adonia Tea House

January 29, 2013May 2, 2013Leave a comment

J and I finally met up to have some girl catch up time and we woke up early to go brunch. Well not that early, but we got to Vancouver around 11 and when we got to Jethro’s Fine Grub, we were told we would have to wait 40 minutes. The place was really tiny and 40 minutes is usually an okay wait for me, but I had other plans after. So we decided to go elsewhere. J suggested Adonia, and we called to make sure we could get a seat, and off we went.

I love how the chinaware is super girly at Adonia. All the floral and golden details make you feel like you’re at an actual tea party!

Jasmine Green Tea (back) and Mango Passion Fruit Green Tea (front)

Their teapots however, were not as girly as I had imagined them to be. For myself, I got the Mango Passion Fruit Green Tea. My mini afternoon tea set came with a choice of tea, so I chose this fruity green tea. I usually like floral teas, but this fruity tea was a nice change. A hint of sour and sweet, but not overwhelming.

Seafood Chowder – Crowded with fresh seafood

J got the Seafood Chowder, but I never tried it. It looked appealing though, with an actual large piece of shrimp in it.

Smoked Salmon – Gourmet sandwich with smoked wild sockeye salmon, dill cream cheese, sweet red onion and capers on foccacia bread. Served with a side salad.

For her entree, J got the Smoked Salmon Sandwich. I was so tempted to get this too! It looked delicious with loads of smoked salmon on the foccacia bread, topped with onions and capers.

Mini Afternoon Tea – A sampling of our afternoon tea. It includes 7 pieces of mini sweets and savories accompanied by your choice of tea.

For myself, I got the Mini Afternoon Tea. This was for $18 and included your choice of tea, so an average price for high tea. They also offer just an afternoon tea, which is their deluxe version and I’m guessing includes much more. That one, however, is $27.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich, Cucumber Sandwich, Egg Sandwich, Berry Scone with Devon Cream and Raspberry Jam

On the bottom tier, we have our savories. The sandwiches were all very basic sandwiches, but they were presented nicely and delicious! Simple ingredients, but executed right! The scone had berries in it and top with sugar on the top. It wasn’t my favourite, as I found it a bit too dry, but scones aren’t my favourite.

Brownie, Coconut Lemon Pie, Fruit Tart

The top tier was filled with 3 desserts. I’m always excited to try the dessert section! I didn’t find them any special though. They were all decent, but nothing made me go wow! I did enjoy the Fruit Tart though, but I think it was because of how nicely it was presented. Each piece of fruit, although small, was sliced nicely so it would all fit on the tart.

Overall, Adonia was average. I don’t think it was anything amazing and the service wasn’t exactly the best either. Also, you don’t know what the savouries and sweets are before hand. So you really just get a surprise, whereas many other high tea houses have a menu listing the different items that you will get.

Cheesecake Etc.

January 25, 2013May 2, 2013Leave a comment

After dinner, J and I went to get dessert at Cheesecake Etc. It was probably half full since it was a weekday night, so they told us to just choose a seat wherever we wanted.

Original Cheesecake with Strawberries

J got the Original Cheesecake with Straweberries, which I’ve also had in the past. They have actual strawberries on them, and the whip cream is fresh! However, I still like the cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory in the states the most!

Tonight’s Special – Tiramisu

The waitress told me that tonight’s special was the Tiramisu, so I immediately said yes to that. Their cheesecake is basically the same, except you can choose different toppings, so of course I wanted to try something new! I really enjoyed this. It wasn’t too strong in alcohol and the cake itself was soft and crumbly. Perfect when it was mixed in with the whipped cream!

That night, they also had a pianist and jazz singer performing. I’m not usually a jazz person, but jazz and cheesecake in a dimly lit seating area just seems to work so well!

Kyo

January 6, 2013May 2, 2013Leave a comment

I’ve gone to Kyo before, but the last time I went I was an hour late to dinner and everyone had pretty much finished eating. I ended up devouring a few pieces of sushi and sashimi and that was about it. When my family suggested Kyo, I was super excited to go try it out again. For $23.99 for all you can eat dinner, it’s a pretty good deal with the quality of food you get! It’s not only all you can eat sushi, but also Korean BBQ, which is always a plus!

They have a grill in the center and the service was actually extremely good. They changed our grill once after it got dirty, which you seldom get at other Korean BBQ places. That’s one reason why I normally dislike going to Korean BBQ since many places do not change the grill and you end up with just black coal on your food.

Miso Soup

First up were some appetizers.

Ebi Sunomono

Gomae

I had the Gomae, which was actually pretty good for all you can eat. You got to mix the peanut sauce yourself, and it was just enough for a tasty and refreshing dish.

Lamb

Next, our BBQ dishes arrived. For meat, we only chose to get Lamb, Chicken, and the Black Pepper Beef Short Ribs. Each dish was supposed to be a serving of 4, but we found that they gave much more chicken than the rest. I guess chicken is supposed to be cheaper… The lamb was quite good. It was tender and the marinade wasn’t too strong or bland. It was just right.

Chicken

The Chicken wasn’t as good as the other two meat. It wasn’t tough or anything, but I found that the marinade was a little too salty for my liking. The first piece was good, and then after that, it was too salty.

Black Pepper Beef Short Ribs

The Black Pepper Beef Short Ribs were my favourite. The meat fell off the bones easily, and we weren’t given a bunch of ribs with no meat on it, like what most all you can eat places do. The marinade was also just right for the short ribs.

Prawn

We also got a few rounds of the prawns for the BBQ. They were small, but fresh and were perfect for the grill. For BBQ, there were also a variety of other meat such as beef and pork, seafood, such as salmon, mussels, and squid, and also vegetables, such as corn, eggplant and mushrooms.

Pork Gyoza

The Pork Gyozas were quite delicious for an all you can eat restaurant. They weren’t burnt and didn’t seem to be strong in MSG like some places.

Dynamite Roll & Alaska Roll

The Dynamite Roll and Alaska Roll were quite typical and average. They were quite well made and the salmon was fresh.

Chopped Scallop and Hokigai Nigiri

The Chopped Scallop was one of my favourite sushis of the night. Well, they are basically my all time favourite choice of sushi. The Sushi was actually filled with chopped scallop and they tasted fresh. The Hokigai Nigiri was also fresh.

Tuna Tataki & Beef Sashimi

The Tuna Tataki was quite good. My dad really enjoyed it, but I found that the thin layer of skin that was still attached to be a little disturbing. It was still good, but I would prefer the ones at Guu. But of course, with the price I’m paying for unlimited tuna tataki, it was pretty good. Not to forget, the pieces were also quite large. I probably had more than what I would get at Guu. The Beef Sashimi however, was a disappointment. It was quite tough and didn’t seem to be too fresh. They seemed to be frozen when they were served.

Salmon Sashimi & Tuna Sashimi

The Salmon Sashimi was excellent. The pieces weren’t exteremely large in size, but they were definitely larger than pieces I’ve had at many all you can eat places. The sashimi was extremely fresh as well, which is an important part of sashimi. I didn’t get a chance to try the Tuna, but I was told it was great as well. I do want to mention that upon placing our second order of sashimi, the sashimi basically never arrived until we asked for it. The server wasn’t rude or anything and quickly told us she would look into it. We still had to wait for quite some time, but in the end, our sashimi came, and it was still fresh. Not sure if they sincerely forgot to place the order, or if they were playing tricks, like many all you can eat places do. The great thing is that they do not have a limit on sashimi, but that’s also when they may choose to play tricks.

Chicken Wings

Lastly, we also had some chicken wings just for the heck of it. They were lightly battered and well seasoned. Not bad!

We also had some other items that I forgot to take pictures of because it’s so difficult to capture pictures of every item at an all you can eat place. Everyone just wants to dig in! The Zaru Soba, which was another item I ordered was excellent and I liked how it came in a small portion so you wouldn’t get all filled up just by ordering that. For desserts, they also had mango pudding and jello. Jello was typical and came in a large plate and the mango pudding was light and refreshing.

Overall, Kyo is a great all you can eat place for the price you pay. It’s almost impossible to find all around good quality food at all you can eat places, but I think Kyo is pretty good for the most part. If you’re looking for some decent sashimi, sushi, and BBQ food, Kyo would be worth the visit.

Sweet Revenge

November 22, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

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I’ve wanted to use my gift card for Sweet Revenge for a while, but I never really go to that area of Vancouver. Finally, I decided to head over there to get some desserts for my friend and I. I read reviews that the place is always packed with people since it’s only open at night, and indeed it was. People were lining up at the doors. I ended up getting take out and ate at my friend’s instead.

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The interior of the place is really cute though. It’s quite dim inside, but the red walls give it an interesting ambiance. They put framed pictures around, and the décor is quite vintage. I only waited around 5 minutes and my take out was ready.

Chocolate Mousse Cake – semi-sweet chocolate mousse, with cream cheese & a crunchy curst & White Chocolate Cheesecake – flourless cheesecake with home-made sauce

I got the Chocolate Mousse Cake, which was surprisingly not too sweet. It was smooth and had a really nice crunch at the bottom of the cake. There were also pieces of chocolate flakes on the top, which made a nice touch to it. The second dessert I got was the White Chocolate Cheesecake. It was recommended to me by the cashier. I really enjoyed this. It came with a raspberry sauce in a container. It wasn’t too sweet, and I love white chocolate and cheesecake, so it was the perfect pairing. Too bad I couldn’t see what it would look like presented on a plate with the sauce drizzled over it. My take-out box pictures clearly did not look as nice as the ones I saw in the store. Other desserts I really wanted to try were the tiramisu, and crème brulee, which were both recommended to me by the cashier as well. However, these had a $2 deposit that needed to be paid for the cups for take-out. I don’t live near that area so I wasn’t prepared to go back to return the cups, but I didn’t feel like paying that extra $2 either. I guess I’ll just have to try those desserts next time when I actually sit in. The place looks pretty cool with a variety of drinks as well. Check it out!

White Spot (Oakridge Mall)

October 14, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

After a late morning hike up the Grouse Grind, we decided it was time to grab some food. Well basically our super late lunch. We decided to head back to Vancouver since we didn’t really know where to go in North Van. And we ended up at Oakridge Mall – more specifically, White Spot. I hadn’t ate here in a while actually, other than those random days at UBC’s Triple O’s, but that’s different.

Baked Potato Inspired Poutine

Signature fries with cheese curds and gravy loaded with classic baked potato toppings – bacon, sour cream and green onion

I decided to share two dishes with K. First up, we got the Baked Potato Inspired Poutine. It was new on their menu, and it sounded like something amazing. And let me tell you, I LOVE poutine. I used to eat it almost every week during my breaks in the mall at New York Fries, but the mall’s renovating so I’ve had to resort to other food 😦 This was a large plate, but I didn’t think it was that great. It was lacking cheese curds, although I liked the bacon, and surprisingly the green onion on it (just because I typically arent’ a big fan of green onion). I would’ve rather gotten the Butter Chicken Poutine at New York Fries. Oh, how much I miss it…

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti tossed in our signature marinara sauce and topped with three house-made meatballs and Parmesan. Garlic Panini bread.

E got the Spaghetti and Meatballs. It looked pretty good, and he said it was decent. I took a bite from the Garlic Panini bread and felt it lacking flavour though.

Toasted Shrimp Sandwich

Shrimp, lettuce, mayo & our chili sauce on toasted white

And the second dish I shared with K was the Toasted Shrimp Sandwich. It came with more fries and a coleslaw. I didn’t like the salad since it came with something like flax seeds. I know those are healthy, but I just don’t like the taste of them!

Here’s a closer view of the Toasted Shrimp Sandiwch. The sandwich was actaully pretty small compared to what I had imagined, but it was filled with lots of shrimp. I really enjoyed the mayo mixture combined with the shrimp and it definitely made it a light and fresh lunch. It could have had a bit more of the mayo as I found it to be lacking a little of the sauce, but good thing the shrimp was moist so it didn’t make the sandwich too dry.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal, but I have to say the service was lacking. I’m surprised that White Spot has so many people around the 3pm time, but even so, the wait to get seated and food was too long. I saw seats available inside, but the hostess still had to take at least 5 minutes to be ready for us. And remember, we were starving by that time after the hike. Perhaps we should have just gone to the food court instead… The server also took forever to take our orders. We had sat down, read our menus and were ready in no time, and our server kept walking by us saying give me one more minute. No! It’s been like 10 minutes! And then we wanted to make use of our time, so K and I went to a shop to look for something she wanted to get, hoping that our food would arrive by the time we got back, but nope. Food took way too long to arrive, and our dishes weren’t even difficult to make. Our server pretty much only had a real conversation with us when she was waiting for us to pay. So service was definitely poor! Food-wise, it was typical White Spot food.

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt

October 9, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

People have been talking about Menchie’s for quite a while, but I still hadn’t visited this froyo shop yet. I’ve had Qoola before, but I’m still not a huge fan of frozen yogurt. There are a lot of other desserts that I rather have instead. But after our meeting, M and I spotted Menchie’s and I thought it would be the perfect chance to try it!

This is the yogurt bar. After you choose either a cup or waffle cone in a cup, you head over to the yogurt bar to choose your frozen yogurt flavours. I had no idea Menchie’s had so many flavours! It’s pretty cool how you can try all the different flavours in these little ketchup cups they give you. That way, you know beforehand if you’ll like the frozen yogurt. I tried at least half the flavours, and there was even Red Velvet Cake! Yum! It was like chocolate cake! I ended up getting the Mango flavour though, just because I wanted something that was more refreshing on this warm September night.

Then you head over to the topping section. There are loads of candy and pretty much any topping you can think of. Then there is a section with toppings that are gooey and such. There’s also syrups and sprinkles and more that you can add.

And then when you have finished decorating your frozen yogurt, you bring it to the till where you proceed to pay. The cashier will place your item(s) on the weight, and weigh it. You basically pay a base rate (which I can’t recall) and then for every pound, you also pay a rate. So everything is based on how heavy your items are. So don’t go crazy and pump as much froyo as you can, and add all that heavy candy on – well unless you’re ready to pay the ridiculous price for it. It’s actually pretty smart to make profit, since most people would just put whatever they like on it, and for those who love candy, those are probably one of the heaviest toppings you could put.

Mango Frozen Yogurt with Mango Popping Boba and Mochi

Some things I added were mochi – which were sooooo delicious! I love mochi 🙂 and I also added something called Mango Popping Boba. At first, I thought they were tapioca pearls that were mango flavoured, but no… these things actually pop in your mouth! Well more like burst. I don’t even know how to describe them, but they just pop when you apply pressure on them, and then you get a bit of a mango flavour to it. Kind of weird and I didn’t extremely like them. I enjoyed my frozen yogurt, but I’m still not a crazy fan of it. I’d much rather have some other desserts, but that’s just me. I like Menchie’s a lot more than Qoola though, just because of the wide variety of flavours and toppings.

They recently also opened a shop near UBC! So perhaps I will grab some when I crave frozen yogurt!

Sushi Bang

October 3, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

Sushi Bang was sort of a random discovery. M and I had just gotten off the bus at Cambie and Broadway from school since we had a meeting at Starbucks there with the rest of our team. M was sort of hungry and decided we still had some time to grab some food. He debated on just grabbing a slice of pizza but when we continued to walk along Broadway, I came across this sign. It said 18 pieces of sushi for $5.95! I pointed that out to M and he stared in awe and the next thing I knew, we were inside Sushi Bang.

It’s a tiny little shop with limited seating, but still pretty much half filled. We sat down, thinking that it wouldn’t take too long, but when the food arrived, it was already pretty much time to go for our meeting. Service was quick up into waiting for the food to come. It took probably 15 minutes, but we thought it would be quicker than that for such a convenient looking shop. Anyways, we ended up getting our sushi to go, but I should mention that the sushi was actually presented quite nicely when it had come. Much better than what I had expected.

Sushi Special – 6 pc California Roll, 6 pc Yam Tempura Roll, 6 pc Tuna Roll, Miso Soup ($5.95)

Well this is what attracted M into the restaurant. Clearly their marketing seem to work since many other customers ordered this as well. This is actually quite a lot of sushi for $6. M said that quality-wise, you can’t say it’s anything amazing, but there’s worse sushi out there. You really pay for what you get.

Calamari Tempura Roll & Dynamite Roll

M also decided to get something sort of funky. The Calamari Tempura Roll was surprisingly really delicious. It had a nice chew to it, and although it reminded me of a dynamite roll in some ways, the chewiness of the squid made it really unique. Really delicious! For myself, I wasn’t too hungry, so I just got the boring old Dynamite Roll. Nothing special and just pretty average.

Sushi Bang is a place to get affordable sushi, but the quality is definitely not up to par. You can’t expect much when you’re paying that price!

Loving Hut (revisit)

September 26, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

The new way to advertise: with a cute chick and cow…?

Cheese Sweet Potato Fries

Crispy Chick’n Burger – crispy Gardein patty, chipotle mayo, guacamole, jalapeno relish, tomato, red onion, lettuce

Grilled Mushroom Cheese Burger – beefless patty, grilled mushrooms, cheese sauce, mayo, mustard, (w/o tomatoes & red onions), lettuce

After a long walk around Yaletown by the water, where we almost hit Granville Island… K and I decided it was time to grab some Loving Hut burgers! I’ve been here once before and had the Crispy Chick’n Burger, which was delicious, so I decided to try something different. I got the Grilled mushroom Cheese Burger, which had a beefless patty and loads of mushrooms. It was really delicious, but I still think my number one favourite is the Crispy Chick’n Burger. That one is much more flavourful and I also like the spice it has, although I complain that it gets too spicy. So good though! We also got the Cheese Sweet Potato Fries, which at first, I had imagined it to be cheese inside the fries, but it was actually a cheese sauce drizzled on top. The cheese sauce also had a very interesting consistency. Not too sure what it was made of, but it definitely had spice to it! We had waited a while before we ate them too, and they became all soggy unfortunately, but they were still pretty delicious! Now I have to imagine how good they would’ve been when they first came out. If you’re looking for vegan burgers, Loving Hut is definitely the place to go to! Actually, if you’re just looking for a good burger, this is the place to go. I personally find that their burgers are probably better than some non-vegan burgers I’ve had. And I’m someone who enjoys my meat too… I guess that says a lot about their food! Check it out! Thanks Loving Hut for the delicious meal!