Purdy’s – Truffle-Making Class

February 29, 2016February 28, 2016Leave a comment

Over the weekend, S and I attended the truffle-making class at Purdy’s. The class is $50 per person and happens on select dates every month. Check on their website for dates and to sign up.

We chose the Granville location and it is really one of their retail stores, but they’ve turned their back room into a space to host their class.

We arrived a bit early so checked out their retail store, including the aweseome chocolate fountain while waiting.

Purdy’s actually began in Vancouver in 1907 and the first store was on Robson Street! We were then taken to the back office to begin our class led by our chocolatier, Mark.

The first hour was an introduction of Purdy’s history and how chocolate is made. We learned that chocolate begins with this huge cocoa pod and that most of the cocoa is from West Africa.

When you crack open the cocoa pod, there is some white flesh similar to lychee and these little cocoa beans.

Crack open these cocoa beans, and you will have cocoa nibs. We got to sample some of this and it was rather bitter and had a roasted flavour similar to coffee.

Cocoa nibs can go through a hydraulic press to be separated into cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is commonly used in cosmetics and is great for making lotion.

We were then shown the chocolate flavour wheel and told to taste some chocolates and determine what type of flavour profiles we could taste. We were also taught to smell the chocolate first and take a bite of the chocolate instead of putting the whole piece in our mouth.

We started off with this medium roast 72% dark chocolate made with cocoa beans from Peru. I found this to have a slightly tart flavour with cherry tones.

Next was a dark roast 72% dark chocolate with beans from Ecuador. I quite enjoyed this one as the flavours lasted longer in my mouth and had a bitterness to it.

A new creation we got to sample was the Yuzu Jelly Ganache. I loved this one as I enjoy the citrus flavours of yuzu. Jelly in chocolate is always a plus!

After the hour of history and chocolate processes, we finally got to put our hands to work! They set up a station with various liqueurs and flavours we could add into our chocolate. There were also toppings that we could put on top of our chocolates.

They provide you with chocolate shot cups which are our base where we pipe our truffle filling into. We then mixed cream into already melted chocolate and whisked it up until smooth and consistent. We then added our flavours. I chose a hazelnut liqueur while S chose the raspberry flavour.

We then did some piping and here is our finished product! We each got to take home 21 truffles. You can pay an extra $30 to make another set.

Overall, we had a great time learning the history and process of making Purdy’s truffles. A great two hours of knowledge and fun and you get to take home the recipe to make at home. Great event for a date or just with friends! They also have a chocolate bark-making class available.

Applause Japanese Restaurant

February 28, 2016Leave a comment

S and I have been on a roll trying out new restaurants around the Marpole area since it’s on our way home from work anyways. This time we tried Applause Japanese Restaurant in a small strip mall. There is some parking on the side of the mall.

We arrived pretty early (around 6pm) so the restaurant was not too busy yet. However, food still took quite a long time to come out. Service was friendly though.

For myself, I got the Chirashi Don which came with miso soup. All their dons come with miso soup. Quite average and wished there was more tofu.

Chirashi Don

The Chirashi Don was a huge bowl of assorted sashimi on rice. Toppings included tuna, octopus, hokkigai, hamachi, saba, ebi, salmon, and tamago. All the sashimi was very fresh and the rice was pretty good with a nice ratio of rice vinegar. For under $14 and the amount and quality of the sashimi, I thought it was pretty reasonable

Yakiudon

S got the Yakiudon which comes with chicken and baby shrimp. This was a huge plate even to share between two people, let alone to finish by one. It was sizzling hot when it arrived and we really enjoyed the flavours of this dish. Great deal for under $10!

Overall, I quite enjoyed the quality of food at Applause Japanese Restaurant. Some of their rolls are slightly more expensive than other restaurants, but the quality of their sashimi seem pretty good based on the chirashi don I had. Will be back to try other items.

Pros:
– Good quality sashimi
– Reasonable prices for portion and quality

Cons:
– Interior is not the nicest (odd curtains)

Price Range: $10-20/person

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

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

Le Crocodile (2016 Valentine’s Menu)

February 27, 2016February 27, 2016Leave a comment

For Valentine’s this year, S spoiled me with a fancy five course dinner at Le Crocodile. Le Crocodile has been around for over 30 years now and is known to Vancouverites for being the classic fine dining spot featuring French cuisine. This elegant restaurant is known to impress.

Surprisingly, the restaurant was quite brightly lit, although they did dim the lights later in the evening. Many couples had already been seated when we arrived. I don’t know if the seating is as tight on normal nights, but I found that we were quite close to the other couples next to us, so it wasn’t the most intimate experience. Perhaps they tried to fit more people in during this night to maximize capacity.

Dinner started off with complimentary bread, which featured both white and whole wheat. Slightly warm but not the best I’ve had. I found it on the harder side.

Dungeness Crab Cake Lady Purse

Our first appetizer on the menu was the Dungeness Crab Cake Lady Purse which was served with a heirloom tomato and fennel salad with lemon and yam aioli. The presentation was beautiful with the puff pastry shaped into a beautiful fan. However, it got quite messy as the pastry got everywhere on the table when we began to eat it. The crab cake itself was pretty good and I really enjoyed the salad which has a nice acidity to it.

Wild Mushroom Ravioli

Next up was the Wild Mushroom Ravioli served with thinly sliced duck breast in a foie gras veloute. The duck was nicely cooked to a medium rare and I loved the earthy flavour of the mushroom filling paired with the foie gras sauce. However, I did find that the ravioli was slightly undercooked for mine. The edges were still quite hard. Not sure if they did that on purpose.

Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Lobster Tail

For our mains, we could choose between the Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Lobster Tail or Sablefish with Tagliatelle Pasta and Grilled Alaskan Scallops. However, S and I both ended up choosing the Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Lobster Tail. This was served with a pinot noir and black truffle reduction. The tenderloin itself was quite a large portion and I liked the crispy edges. However, I had asked mine for medium rare and I found it to be slightly more of a medium. Only the very centre was more rare. S’s was cooked on point though. The lobster was slightly too salty for my liking. However, I really loved the red wine and black truffle reduction. I couldn’t stop dipping my meat into it!

Pineapple and Vodka Sorbet

We were then served a palette cleanser which was the Pineapple and Vodka Sorbet. It was really refreshing and definitely cleaned our palettes from all the previous flavours.

Valentine’s Dessert Creation

Lastly, for dessert, you get to share their Valentine’s Dessert Creation. This was perfect since we were already really full! It came with a delicious coconut soufflé. This was super light and fluffy! My favourite of the three. In the middle was a chocolate brownie with maple caramel ice cream. On the very end were two lemon curd tarts topped with raspberries. I found these a little too tart for my liking.

And of course dinner ends with their signature crocodile chocolates (one milk and one dark). Nothing too special about these to be honest…

Overall, we enjoyed our evening at Le Crocodile with a great fine ding experience and service. However, I had higher hopes for the food and left feeling everything was good but nothing “wowed” me. You know that feeling when you want to go back already and have the dish again? That didn’t happen based on the dishes on the Valentines’ menu… I guess they settled for dishes that could be easily executed during the busy night, so I think I will have to come back again on a regular day to get the full experience and choose dishes they are famous for. Plus for $98 a person, this was quite a hefty dinner.

Pros:
– Consistent and good quality dishes
– Professional and attentive service

Cons:
– Expensive, although portions are very reasonable
– Dishes from the Valentine’s menu were good but nothing amazing

Price Range: $98/person (Valentine’s menu)

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

Food: 3.5 Service: 4 Ambiance: 4.5 Parking: 3 Overall: 3.5

Mega Sushi (JUST EAT)

February 23, 2016February 21, 2016Leave a comment

Source: www.just-eat.ca

Recently I won a $25 credit voucher to be used towards Just Eat, an online food ordering system. Placing an order is easy. Just enter your postal code online or on their mobile app and they will show you a list of all the restaurants available for delivery to you. Choose the items you want and pay online with credit or debit card or choose to pay cash in person. Delivery may be charged or free depending on the restaurant. You can also choose to tip the driver online. You can also select the delivery time.

Assorted Sushi Combo

S and I get lazy on Saturday nights and enjoy just ordering take out home, so we took advantage of Just Eat without needing to head out. We chose to order from Mega Sushi since I’ve had good experiences at their restaurant. We made the order earlier in the afternoon and by 5:00pm, when the restaurant opened, they immediately called us to confirm our order and delivery time. We had set our delivery time to be 6:30pm and by 6:00pm, the restaurant already called us to confirm whether we would be home and our food arrived by 6:15pm – even earlier than what we had requested.

We got the Assorted Sushi Combo which featured a California roll and 8 pieces of nigiri. The rolls were well made and fish was very fresh. Had nothing to complain and tasted as if we were at the restaurant.

Mango Roll

We also got the Mango Roll which was still beautifully presented in the take out box. The roll was filled with prawn tempura, cucumber and avocado, and topped with fresh slices of mango and tobiko. This was delicious with the mango being very sweet.

Negitoro Roll

I also got a Negitoro Roll and it was filled generously with a good ratio to rice.

Overall, we were extremely please with the delivery service and food quality of Mega Sushi. From my experience with Just Eat for Richmond delivery service, it is always the restaurant employee or owner who is delivering the food. Therefore, it really depends on the restaurant for the quality of delivery service. We had a poor experience before where our food was almost an hour late, but Mega Sushi didn’t fail and I will be using their service again. Prices were the same as in their restaurant and delivery charge was only $3.95 or free if your order is over $35. Check out the ratings on Just Eat’s website to determine which restaurant is worth ordering from.

Just Eat

Pros:
– Easy to order online or on mobile app
– Can pay online so no need to fuss with cash

Cons:
– Hit or miss with delivery times depending on restaurant

Mega Sushi

Pros:
– Well constructed sushi
– Sashimi is very fresh

Cons:
– Prices slightly higher

Price Range: $15-20/person

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

Food: 4 Service: N/A Ambiance: N/A Parking: N/A

Sushi Mura

February 22, 2016February 21, 20162 Comments

We drive on Oak pretty much everyday going to and from work, and Sushi Mura is one of the restaurants that we pass by. Finally, I suggested to S that we should check it out on our way home. The interior and menu reminds me of Sushi Garden so I have a feeling they might be owned by the same people. Even by 6pm, the place was already filled but we luckily got a seat right away.

Chirashi Don

I decided to try their Chirashi Don because it was only for a low price of $10.95. The don came with an assortment of sashimi, including regular salmon, wild salmon, tuna, toro, tuna tataki, ebi, tamago, and hokkigai.

I was surprised with the amount of sashimi I got (around 3 pieces of each). However, you can tell from the picture that the knife skills were quite poor so many of the fish did not have any clean cuts. The sashimi was surprisingly quite fresh for the price though. The rice was not very good as it was served too warm and a bit mushy. However, I can’t complain for the price.

Special Mango Roll

S got the Special Mango Roll for $6.95 which was filled with mango, cucumber, avocado and topped with slices of mango and pineapple sauce. Price was good for the portion but quality was terrible! The rice was warm and mushy and mangoes were too tart. There was no texture to this roll at all.

Chicken Teriyaki Roll

S also got the Chicken Teriyaki Roll. The rice here looked slightly better but S still said it was quite average.

Overall, we were slightly disappointed with the quality at Sushi Mura. The prices are cheap but the quality is not there. Food came out so fast it was astonishing. There were many students eating dinner here after school and I can see why it is attractive for the students with the low prices and large portions.

Pros:
– Low prices and large portions
– Sashimi is pretty fresh

Cons:
– Sushi rice is very poorly made
– Knife skills are poor and sushi is poorly constructed

Price Range: $10-15/person

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

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

Taione Trading Launches New Chic Fruits in Vancouver

February 21, 2016February 21, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: As part of a media tasting event, all food and beverages were complimentary.

Earlier this month, I was invited to a media tasting hosted by Taione Trading at Fresh Street Market in West Vancouver. Taione Trading is a company that imports premium exotic produce from Taiwan.

Just in time for Chinese New Years, they hosted a traditional dragon and lion dance at the event as well.

A sampling booth was available for us to try a few of their fruits that are in season right now. We learned that most of these fruits are harvested in Kaohsiung, a city in Taiwan known for their agriculture industry. They are handpicked by the farmers and are air shipped.

Emerald Jujube

The first fruit we sampled was the Emerald Jujube. A fruit that looks like a green apple, but is really a fresh date. When these are dried, they become what we know as dried dates. The Emerald Green Jujube is the biggest of its kind.

The Emerald Jujube is crisp and tastes like a mix of pear and apple. They have a high source of Vitamin C and are used as a natural nutritional tonic, a blood cleanser, and to help strengthen the stomach in traditional Chinese medicine.

Black Diamond Wax Apple

One of my favourites was the Black Diamond Wax Apple. It is also known as the Black Pearl Bell Fruit sometimes. I first tried these in Taipei and found them to be very refreshing, especially after eating a lot of greasy, oily night market food.

These wax apples are seedless and have a slightly sweet flavour with a scent of rose. I found the texture to be similar to a pear. The fruit has no saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, or sugar and is high in calcium, niacin, potassium, and very high in both vitamin A and C.

Overall, we are excited that we can now enjoy these exotic fruits in Vancouver. They are now available at select Fresh Street Markets and IGA stores.

Commodity Juicery

February 17, 2016Leave a comment

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

Last month, I was invited by Zomato to enjoy a private tasting at Commodity Juicery on Fraser St. I drink juices I make with a blender at home, but this whole cold-pressed juice thing is fairly new to me. I brought along M and E who were keen to learn more about cold-pressed juices and what a juice cleanse was all about.

The store is fairly small and is more of a take-away place. There’s really only three stools at the counter plus some chairs against the window. As mentioned, they focus on cold-pressed juices and these are listed with colourful numbers along with the ingredients for each.

In addition to juices, they offer plant-based ready-to-go meals. They range from salad bowls, soups, and desserts. When they say plant-based, it basically means vegan (so no dairy, seafood, or meats).

On the side, they have a fridge filled with their freshly made cold-pressed juices in take-away bottles. Carissa, the co-owner who hosted our private tasting said these can last up to 4 days unopened.

Sample of Cold Pressed Juices

We got to sample some of the cold pressed juices which were customer favourites. This colourful array of fresh juice from left to right included:

10: Sunrise: grapefruit, apple, lemon, mint
8: Orange Roots: carrot, turmeric, apple, lemon
6: Purple Puppy: beet, cucumber, cilantro, orange, apple
1: Sweet Greens – pineapple, kale, romaine, cilantro, green apple, lime
7: Morning Love: carrot, yam, lemon, cinnamon
4: Bright Greens: romaine, cucumber, kale, parsley, green apple, celery, lemon

My favourites included Sunrise, which is the perfect drink if you love fruitier flavours, and Sweet Greens, which again was a sweeter juice. I’m a sucker for fruiter juices even though it may have more sugar. You could really taste all the ingredients in the juice and it tasted very clean and fresh. M even mentioned why he had never tasted these kind of flavours in a juice before. These go for $10 a bottle normally.

Kale Chips

We then got to sample some of their Kale Chips which are lightly seasoned with chili. These were delicious and addicting. E and I both agreed we could snack on these all day long at work.

Minestrone Soup

A new addition to the menu is the Minestrone Soup which Carissa said is from her grandmother’s recipe. This was hearty and flavourful with a good assortment of vegetables and beans. No chicken broth is used, so this is vegan friendly.

Kale Caesar

The Kale Caesar is again a vegan version as the Caesar dressing is actually cashew-based yet still giving that anchovy flavour. To substitute Parmesan cheese, the salad is sprinkled with Rawmesean, which is a raw vegan substitute and tastes just like cheese! We could hardly tell! The salad was a mix of kale and romaine and this is normally topped with coconut bacon which is the bomb!

Mighty Greens

One additional juice we tried was the #3: Mighty Greens. This was made with cucumber, green apple, mint, romaine, celery, kale, and lime. This juice is supposed to help with weight management, liver cleansing, digestion, and suppressing appetites.

Matcha Mylk

Moving on, we tried one of their milk based drink, the #12: Matcha Mylk. This is made with cashews, almonds, matcha, maple syrup, and vanilla bean. I found this to taste like those Vita-Soy drinks but much more clean and less sugary.

Macaroons

For dessert, we tried their Coconut Macaroons. These were surprisingly very delicious even though they are vegan. A subtle sweet flavour and it gives you that feeling of begin full. Carissa said these would be good to have just before you go to a yoga class.

Relief Shot

We were all curious about what these “health shots” were so Carissa let us try the Relief Shot. This is usually taken in the morning to get you going and powered up. The Relief Shot’s ingredients included lemon and ginger and was topped with some cayenne. Wow, this took us by surprise and that spicy and gingery flavour really woke us up. I could really use this every morning.

Overall, we had a great time at the private tasting and enjoyed the introduction to a plant-based diet. Who knew vegan could taste so good! The staff are also very knowledgeable and passionate to help find you the best fit and flavour profiles you enjoy. Juice cleanses are available as well so if you are looking into something like that, Commodity Juicery is a great option. A location is also in Smithers for those of you up north.

Bufala – Dine Out Vancouver 2016

February 10, 2016Leave a comment

For my last Dine Out Vancouver Festival of 2016, I checked out Bufala in Kerrisdale with MH and MW. They offered a lunch menu for $20 for two courses or $25 for three courses. Since the lunch price is cheaper than dinner for the same menu items, it was a better deal to visit at lunch.

They didn’t take reservations for Dine Out, but the restaurant wasn’t super busy on a Saturday, so we got a seat right away.

We were able to order off their regular menu during the festival as well. However, their dine out menu pizzas ranged from $14-17 anyways, so the dine out menu was a pretty good deal. We ended up being able to try all their dine out menu items since we had three people.

They don’t use a wood oven here, but they still make the pizzas fresh. Love the fun and bright decor in here.

Beef Carpaccio

The first appetizer was the Beef Carpaccio which were topped with fennel and salted kohlrabi, a type of turnip cabbage. It was also drizzled with an anchovy and black olive aioli. I found it slightly on the saltier side and the beef stuck together a lot for some reason. It was alright.

Meatballs

Their famous Meatballs were my favourite appetizer. It came with ricotta cheese, basil leaves, and some bread to soak up the tasty homemade tomato sauce. These were large meatballs but very moist! The sauce was also very flavourful with the right amount of acidity.

Kale Caesar Salad

The Kale Caesar Salad was also very delicious with the green and purple kale seasoned with anchovy and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano. It was also topped with a couple of slices of crispy bacon and a salt-cured egg yolk. The kale was fresh and crispy and I loved the use of the egg yolk.

Before our pizzas arrived, the server brought us three oils to use along with our pizza. This included the herb, parm, and chili oil. We were told to drizzle some on our plate and dip our pizza into it rather than drizzling straight onto our pizza. However, we found that the oils were not very strong in flavour. The herb oil was the only one that we could really taste the rosemary. I ended up eating the pizza on its own since it was already very flavourful.

Margherita Pizza

The first pizza we had was the classic Margherita Pizza. A beautiful marinara sauce topped with basil and fior di latte. Fior di latte is made of cow’s milk rather than water buffalo which is more costly. However, the mozzarella was still extremely stringy and I enjoyed the cheese very much.

Pesto & Ricotta Pizza Basil Pesto

Next up was the Pesto & Ricotta Pizza Basil Pesto of which we added an additional $5 to add prosciutto. In addition, the pizza was topped with fresh ricotta, pine nuts, Grana Padano cheese, and pesto. Loved the flavours of this pizza and I think the salty prosciutto really added flavour to it.

Finocchiona

The last pizza was the Finocchiona. This had a marinara sauce with fennel sausage, Castelvetrano olives, carmelized onions, provolone cheese and basil leaves. This is perfect for those who are meat lovers.

Classic Affogato

The Classic Affogato featured a vanilla bean gelato soaked in a single origin espresso. You can never go wrong with an affogato for dessert!

Salted Caramel Budino

I tried the Salted Caramel Budino which came in a jar. This was topped with a vanilla bean Mascarpone cream and Maldon sea salt. The budino was smooth and not overly sweet.

Overall, we were quite pleased with Bufala. The pizzas are thin crusted, fluffy, and crispy. Large portions and their meatballs and kale salad are delicious! Service was pretty friendly with our server extremely proud of the dishes.

Pros:
– Great pizza dough and flavours
– Meatballs and Caesar Kale Salad are flavourful

Cons:
– Some of their gourmet pizzas are a bit pricey on the regular menu

Price Range: $25/person for DOVF lunch menu

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

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

Every Day is a Food Day

Category: Location

Purdy’s – Truffle-Making Class

Applause Japanese Restaurant

Le Crocodile (2016 Valentine’s Menu)

Mega Sushi (JUST EAT)

Sushi Mura

Taione Trading Launches New Chic Fruits in Vancouver

Commodity Juicery

Bufala – Dine Out Vancouver 2016