L.A. Grill and Bistro

August 20, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

Bella Gelateria Handcrafted Gelato

August 16, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Matcha Organic Green Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Lavender

Espresso ‘La Futura’ – Milano Coffee

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

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

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

Cartems Donuterie

August 12, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

On our way to Nicli Antica Pizzeria, we drove by Cartems Donuterie, which is said to be one Vancouver’s best donut shops. S and I knew we had to stop by after desserts, and so we did. And of course we had a little adventure while heading over. We left the car at our paid street parking near the pizzeria, and started heading towards the donut pop up shop. It’s literally only 2 blocks away, and short blocks too, but did it ever feel like the longest walk ever… I have to remind you this is on the edge of Gastown, and not to be judgmental, this area is full of homeless people. And so S and I began to speed walk. Or more like run. We were so desperate for these donuts that we sped down that block to avoid all the sketchiness. We were literally panting when we got there, or at least I was. Shows how much I exercise…

Anyways, we were greeted by a friendly man, whom I’m guessing was the owner. S and I were just staring at all those donuts behind the window. So many choices! But we had just ate. So we decided to choose two! The man saw that we were kind of confused staring at all those donuts, so he offered some help. We told him it was our first time, and asked what were the most popular donuts, and he said the Earl Grey and the Maker’s Bourbon Bacon. And so we got those two. He was really nice, and actually gave us two Earl Greys. He said that he had made a batch of them that were smaller than usual, and so he gave us two of those instead. But when I looked at them, they were still pretty big! So nice of him. Anyways, I forgot to take pictures of them, since I was too excited to eat them, but you can see what they look like on their website. We basically ran back to the car again…excited to try these donuts.

The Earl Grey was oh so delicious! It’s a cake donut infused with organic earl grey tea, topped with earl grey glaze and a sprinkling of rose petals. I’m a fan of earl grey or green tea when I go for high tea so this was perfect for me! The earl grey wasn’t too strong, and I liked that, and the rose petals on top were perfect with the hint of floral aroma. Floral teas are also one of my favourites, so this was like full of goodness!! Next up was the Maker’s Bourbon Bacon. Bacon? Yes Bacon on a donut. (I’m still waiting to try Bacon Gelato by the way…) But yes, bacon on donut is now one of my favourite donuts! The donut was glazed with the Maker’s Mark bourbon glaze and topped with double smoked house cured candied bacon. So delicious! I love how it was sweet and salty at the same time, but it just worked all so well! Another note to keep in mind: these donuts are gourmet and expensive. They use local ingredients, and are priced at $3.00 a donut! Yes, that’s triple the price of the donuts and Tim Horton’s…

So worth the sweat and run to get these donuts though…

The Local Yolk Cafe

August 9, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Fresh Orange Juice

Our Famous Combos – French Toast, Sausage Links and Three Country Eggs

One Pancake – with two eggs and two slice of bacon

Eggs Benedict – English Muffin, Slice of Ham, Hollandaise Sauce and Hashbrowns

My family had stayed in Lynnwood since we booked our hotel last minute, and everywhere in Bellevue was full, or at a ridiculous price. We got up early to start our day of more shopping, and we decided to head out to grab some breakfast. I really wanted to try these KFC chicken bites that were new, but we were 30 minutes too early, and it wasn’t opened yet. We decided to go to Denny’s which was in close proximity, but we ended up passing by The Local Yolk, which seemed to be a local breakfast place. So hey, why not give it a try. The parking lot had a few cars, so we thought it couldn’t be too bad.

It seemed to be a family run business, and surprisingly it was quite packed on a Sunday morning. The prices were the typical breakfast prices, around $10-$15. My sister and I shared the Eggs Benedict, which was quite large, and consisted of 3 English muffins. The hashbrowns were also really tasty with some crispy edges to them! I also enjoyed their Fresh Orange Juice, which consisted of pulp, so you knew it was freshly squeezed – at least I hope it was!

By the time we left, the parking lot was jam packed, so I guess people really do like coming here for breakfast. Much better than Denny’s for sure in my opinion.

Facing East Taiwanese Restaurant

August 6, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Milk Tea with Tapioca

Five Spiced Beef Wrap

Soy Flavoured Chicken – (Three Cup Chicken) with fresh basil

Shrimp Fried Rice

Off I went to Bellevue for the weekend to do some shopping for the weekend. It seems to be a tradition by now that we head down to the south for some shopping during the summer. And even when I’m on vacation, I love to try new food, so of course I urbanspooned some places to eat! My sister ended up finding Facing East Taiwanese Restaurant, which is basically sort of like our Pearl Castle, where they offer bubble tea and Taiwanese food. It was rated 93% on Urbansppon, so we thought it better be good!

The mall was quite small, but was jam packed with cars, and we basically had nowhere to park during the lunch hours. We ended up having to park a few blocks down and walked over to restaurant. The restaurant was quite packed with families and young adolescents eating, but we got a seat quite fast.

We had just ate breakfast during a stop on our way, so we weren’t too hungry. We ended up just sharing a few dishes among ourselves. My sister and I decided to share the Milk Tea with Tapioca, and I have to say I was extremely disappointed. It’s not even up to par with some of the worse bubble tea places I’ve had back in Richmond. We could see the milk tea powder floating up, and when we tried to stir it in, we realized there was no point since our drink was cold. So they basically didn’t even dissolve all the powder to begin with before adding the ice. You could taste the powder, and it definitely wasn’t great. We also got the Five Spiced Beef Wrap as an appetizer, and it was alright. I personally don’t like cilantro, so it wasn’t exactly my favourite. I’ve definitely had better at Chef Hung as well. Next up, we got the Soy Flavoured Chicken. I found it a little too salty and the chicken was a little overcooked, so it was a bit rough. The chicken pieces were however huge. Lastly, we got the Shrimp Fried Rice, which I found was the best dish out of the 3. The flavour was just right, not too bland and not too salty. It also had loads of shrimp, and the rice was cooked well.

Overall, I don’t really understand why Facing East has such high ratings, because I honestly think it was just average. I’ve definitely had better in Richmond, but maybe that’s because Richmond is full of good eats!

Outpost Mini Donut Co.

July 25, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Vancouver weather has finally been more pleasant and a sunny day meant heading over to the Steveston Village for a walk. Everyone has been talking about these donuts at Outpost Mini Donu Co. for a while, but I never even noticed this donut shop although I walk past it almost every time I’m there. The interior is really cute and cozy, and you can see the making of donuts coming fresh out of the oven. I got half a dozen of a variety of donuts, including chocolate, vanilla, pink lemonade and cinnamon to name a few. Although they have all these flavours, my favourites are still the original cinnamon sugar coated donuts. Overall, great fresh donuts in a lovely area!

Loving Hut

July 24, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Crispy Chick’n Burger

I’ve been interning in downtown these days, and finally met up with Andrew to grab lunch since we actually worked pretty close together! He brought me to Loving Hut, which is located just across the street from the Yaletown Canada Line Station, and in front of the Yaletown Roundhouse Community Centre. Loving Hut actually serves vegan burgers, but I honestly had no idea while I was lining up, until Andrew told me. And even when I took the bite, I still had no idea! I had the Crispy Chick’n Burger and the sauce, which was chipotle mayo was really delicious! It was a bit spicy, but something that I could handle. If I hadn’t known beforehand that the chicken was vegan, I probably would have finished the whole burger thinking I had ate real chicken. But since I knew, I took the bite of chicken more carefully, trying to taste it. It tasted like some sort of soy product I think. But honestly, I think the burger tasted better than some real chicken burgers I’ve had. Definitely a must try, and I would love to try the Grilled Mushroom Cheese Burger next time! They don’t operate everyday, and only during lunch hours I believe, so make sure to check beforehand.

L.A. Chicken

July 10, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

8 piece Family Meal (1/2 regular, 1/2 spicy)

Everyone has been talking about L.A. Chicken and raving that their chicken is better than KFC’s and Church’s. I finally tried it and was surprised to see that the location wasn’t as sketch as I had imagined it to be. I was also greeted by an Asian lady at the counter who knew how to speak Cantonese. We first got the first tray of gravy, fries, and 4 pieces of regular chicken. I have to agree that the chicken was actually so much better than KFC’s or Church’s. The batter was pretty thin and I didn’t find it to be too oily. The seasoning also wasn’t too salty. The fries were just alright, and I think I prefer KFC’s more, since I like their fries with the potato skin. Then, the lady brought us out the other 4 pieces of spicy chicken, except she gave us one extra piece for free! No idea why, but that was very kind of her. Way too much food for us though! The spicy one had a different batter, and it reminded me of the KFC chicken when you ask for “crispy”. So it was basically crispy and spicy together, which made really good chicken! I brought the leftovers home for my parents, and they loved them too. I should mention that I went around 5pm, and people were all lining up to get take out, as well. Definitely will go there for some fried chicken again, although it’s a little far for me compared to Church’s.