Vancuver Food Cart Festival 2013

October 10, 2013Leave a comment

Ever since I left for Europe, I have been traveling so much or so busy with school that I have totally neglected this blog. I feel terrible and now that I have finally settled down and won’t be traveling as frequently, I am going to promise that I post at least once a week or more frequently! I am already more than a month behind, hence I am still posting about Vancouver food I ate before I left…

Anyways, in August, I finally went to the Vancouver Food Cart Festival by Olympic Village. I had wanted to go the previous year, but because they only operate on Sundays from around end of June to end of August, I never was able to attend due to my work schedule on Sundays. Every Sunday, over 20 food cart vendors meet at this area along with other craft food, art, and community vendors. There’s music and also kids activities, so perfect for some family fun. I was here, obviously because of food! There were many that I could find right in the hot spots of downtown, but also some that I had never heard of.

Mogu Japanese Street Eats

First up, we decided to try Mogu Japanese Street Eats. I always see this when I go shopping in downtown, but have never came to try it. They are also featured at the Richmond Summer Night Market this year, so it is actually quite easy to try it. I did find that the pricing is quite high for a burger, but to be honest, most of the food trucks price their food relatively high.

Pork Miso Katsu – breaded deep fried pork cutlet, housemade red miso sauce, Asian hot mustard coleslaw

We got the Pork Miso Katsu Menu, so it also came with two pieces of Chicken Karage and a small drink. People have raved that Mogu has one of the best Chicken Karage, and I did enjoy it a lot. It is sweet and spicy because it comes with a house made sweet chili sauce. Definitely enjoyed it and I would put it as one of my top favourites for chicken karage.

This was the Pork Miso Katsu Burger, and the pork was cooked tender and moist. The bread was also soft and the sauce really made the burger stand out. I didn’t necessarily taste much miso flavour, but you could get the Asian feel to the burger.

PazzaRella

Next, we tried PazzaRella which is famous for the Napoletana Wood Fired Pizza. It takes a little while since they actually make the pizza on spot and fire it in the oven. Pretty cool and one pizza will fill you up. So it’s best to share it with a friend if you want to try other food at the festival.

Prosciutto Pizza

We got 2 Prosciutto Pizzas to share between four, and it was more than enough. They are around $11 each, so you can imagine they are quite large. Extremely thin crust and easy to bite and topped with fresh tomato sauce, arugula and prosciutto. I did find that they burnt the edges a bit, so it was a little bitter tasting at the edges, but other than that, it was fine.

Dougie Dog Diner

Dougie Dog Diner seemed to be a crowd pleaser, so E decided to try it as well. They are famous for their innovative hot dogs and they also have their own root beer. Apparently they were on Dragon’s Den, so I thought that was pretty neat.

Charlie Mac Dog – bacon, Mac and cheese, melted cheddar

E got the Charlie Mac Dog which is loaded with mac and cheese and topped with more cheese. He thought that it was alright, but definitely not worth the price though. It’s something you can make at home if you really want to.

Overall, the Vancouver Food Cart Festival is pretty nice if you want to have a collection of food cart vendors in one area. However, to be honest, it’s hard to try every food cart because each item on the menu is fairly large. It’s basically one whole meal, and it’s also quite hard to share the food. There was also an entrance fee, but you got a discount if you went in a large family. Cool place to check out, but probably just once a year. Parking was also extremely difficult to find, and was mostly paid parking.

Toyotomi

September 7, 2013Leave a comment

Salmon Sashimi

I’m currently in Barcelona, so I’m super behind on my blog, so let me finish blogging some of the food back at home in Vancouver. Before I left, I basically tried to eat as much Asian food as I could as I knew I would miss it. Japanese is my favourite, so my mom suggested we try Toyotomi for lunch. We had gone there a few years ago, but now that they have changed it to hot pot, just a sushi lunch menu was offered. When we got there on a Saturday afternoon, there was literally no one. We ordered some Salmon Sashimi, and it came on the ice cubes, just like the ones you get during hot pot. It was fresh and each piece was cut thickly, but not to the extent of Banzai’s enormous portions.

Duo Dynamite Roll – imitation crab meat, cucumber, avocado, w/ spicy tuna and crispy, Maple Roll – special spicy tuna topped with crispy and salmon sashimi, Chopped Scallop Roll

We also got some rolls, and they all came together on a wooden plate. They seem to present their food in an appealing way compared to many other sushi restaurants. The roll in the front was the Maple Roll. It had spicy tuna inside, and was topped with salmon sashimi, masago, and some crispy flakes and green onion. It was full of sauce and you didn’t need to use any soy sauce for it. This one was one of my favourites. The Duo Dynamite Roll was a typical dynamite roll but with two tempuras in it. The portion was quite large, but was quite typical. Last, the Chopped Scallop Roll was just okay for me. I did like that they had black sesame on it, since that makes it a little more deluxe, but I felt like there was too much rice on it, so the texture didn’t taste quite good.

Beef Sashimi

We also got some Beef Sashimi and I believe this was only under $5 which was a steal because the dish was huge. There were tons of beef sashimi in it and they sliced it fairly large. The sauce was quite acidic, but it was really good at the same time. This is a must order.

Chicken Teriyaki Don

Lastly, we got the Chicken Teriyaki Don. It came sizzling in a clay pot and was a very larger portion. Tons of rice, but also a lot of chicken and teriyaki sauce. It also came with some ripped up seaweed. It was flavourful with all the onions in it.

Overall, we were quite pleased with the food. The food also isn’t that expensive, and you will get really full from it. Sort of awkward that there was only one other table of diners the whole time we were there and it’s already a weekend. I guess people usually just come here for the hot pot!

Marutama Ramen

August 21, 2013Leave a comment

Marutama Ramen recently opened and people have been talking about this place quite a lot. It’s located on the first floor of what looks like a personal home. I wonder if the owners live upstairs. Anyways, it’s pretty hidden, so you won’t see many other restaurants nearby on this street.

When we arrived, we luckily got a seat right away. The interior is full of wooden furniture and there is a long communal table on one side. There is a also a bar area if you want to see how your ramen is cooked.

Marutama “Tamago Ra-Men”

This is their number 1 best seller. Inside is a slice of cha-shu, seaweed, and a soft-boiled flavoured egg. What makes Marutama extremely different from other ramen shops is their ultimate richly textured cloudy chicken soup. Yes, that is what they call their soup. So instead of using pork bone, they use a chicken soup base. The soup is extracted entirely from chicken, so at first, you will think it tastes quite odd. The soup definitely isn’t as strong as pork-bone based soups and I felt that it also wasn’t as oily. The seaweed is a Aosa Seaweed, which gives it an ocean flavour. It’s more like kelp so it brings a balance of salt to your soup. Extremely unique flavour, and it’s hard to describe until you have tried.

Here is the soft boiled egg broken up. You can see that the yolk is half cooked, so it is golden yellow and has a jelly like consistency. The egg was extremely delicious and cooked to perfection. Although you only get one piece of cha-shu, it was extremely delicious and melted in your mouth.

They also give you some fried garlic that you can add to your ramen for more flavour. For drinks, they serve you a cold tea, which is similar to the ones at Korean restaurants.

All in all, this is definitely a different ramen experience. I personally enjoyed it, but K still thinks the traditional porkbone soup is better. Also, the prices here are quite expensive. The Tamago Ra-Men was 10.50, and many of them were beyond this price if you wanted extra ingredients. However, you do get full from one bowl, and they also offer additional ramen for a small price. There were people waiting when we left as well, so I believe it gets packed the later you go.

The Red Wagon

August 10, 20131 Comment

After watching countless Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives after midnight and having cravings of those greasy dishes, I’ve finally made my way to one of the featured diners. I’ve heard people raving about The Red Wagon, but it’s not exactly located in an area I would often go by. To be exact, I didn’t even know where it was. Located in the East side, this is definitely an area I never visit. It wasn’t too bad to get there though. A Canada Line skytrain to Waterfront, and then a short bus ride takes you one block away from this diner. As you can see, people were lining up, and it was around 1pm on a weekday.

But then J and I just walked in, since we weren’t sure if we should leave our name first, and the waitress told us to grab a seat right away. I guess the group outside was quite large and needed to wait for a large table. So if you’re looking for a table for two, it’s definitely easy! Literally no wait at all! So awesome, since we had imagined ourselves lining up.

This picture reminds me of the scene I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives! But yea, as you can tell, the place is quite small. The kitchen area is extremely small as well.

Iced Lemonade, Iced Coffee

On a hot, sunny day, we needed some refreshers. I chose the Iced Lemonade, even though I was afraid it would be too tart. Surprisingly, it was quite sweet! They must’ve put some sweetener in or something. The colour was also extremely yellow…almost golden yellow. Not exactly the colour of lemonade I see when it’s freshly squeezed. But hey, it tasted great! J said his Iced Coffee was quite strong, but good. They also gave him an agave sweetener syrup, since he told us that sugar wouldn’t melt nicely in the iced drink. How thoughtful!

Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich – pickled veg, jalapeno, cilantro, mayo, baguette, chips

Onto our food! OMG. This was like delicious. We sort of chose the Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich, since the daily special was sold out, but am I glad I decided to try it out. It comes with a side of chips, which I believe are freshly baked, and extremely crispy. They are also ever so lightly seasoned with salt and are absolutely delicious. I wish they sold these to go. For $12, it’s a decent price for the amount of food you get, because you will actually get full by the end. I mean, you pay that price for a burger at many Western restaurant chains, but this is way better.

Onto the sandwich itself. I was not expecting so much pork belly in it, but it was filled with it! They were quite large pieces, but the pork belly was so soft, that it wasn’t a mess to eat. Other than the grease that was just pouring out. Yup, by the time I finished devouring this sandwich, my plate was filled with oil and grease. The pork belly had a good balance between the amount of fat and meat. This is definitely not something you should be eating everyday, but this is worth having a cheat day. I’m not a big fan of cilantro or even veggies in my sandwich, but for some reason, all these ingredients just added so much flavour and worked so well. I didn’t even pick out any cilantro, like I would usually. The baguette was also soft to bite on the inside, and crispy on the outside. I have to say, I enjoyed this sandwich more than the one at meat and bread, even though the two aren’t exactly the same.

Pulled Pork Pancakes – 3 buttermilk pancakes layered with pulled pork, JD-spiked maple syrup

And of course, we had to get their infamous Pulled Pork Pancakes. Pancakes aren’t my usual go-to item for breakfast, but these ones were amazing. The buttermilk pancakes were extremely fluffy. One thing I usually hate about pancakes are how dense they are made, and it makes you feel like you are eating a bunch of cake. This one was exactly the opposite. Fluffy and light. And who knew pulled pork would go with pancakes? I sort of questioned that at first, but once you try it, it will change your mind completely.

There is so much pulled pork in between each layer of pancake, and the flavouring is perfect. They also have their signature Jack Daniel’s syrup. I actually didn’t really taste any alcohol, but the flavour was definitely a bit different from normal maple syrup. This is a must try and well worth your $13!

By the end of the meal, we were completely full. We both shared each of the plates, and we couldn’t end up finishing all the pancakes. It’s a good idea to also take a walk after…since you will feel very guilty for eating all that oily food. I wouldn’t suggest coming here every week for breakfast, but it is definitely a must try! Oh, and when your bill comes, you get some coca cola gummies. I don’t know why, but it gives me a retro feel to it. Service was also quite pleasant. Our food did take quite a while to arrive though. At least 20 minutes. Other than that, I was extremely pleased with my food at The Red Wagon! PS. You could say this is heart attack food…so beware 🙂

Toe Dam Korean Fusion BBQ

August 8, 2013August 9, 2013Leave a comment

Toe Dam Korean Fusion BBQ is located in the same mall as the H-Mart on North Road. I think they are popular for their barbeques since each seating area has a ventilation area and grill installed. Most of the items were large dishes, perfect for sharing, but with only myself and J, we felt like it would be too much food. We saw that they had a lunch menu with set lunches, so we asked if we could get those instead. Even though it was clearly dinner time, they allowed us to order from the lunch menu.

Food took way too long to come out. I think it was around 30 minutes before we even got the appetizers. But then all our food shortly appeared. They could’ve at least brought us the appetizers a little earlier so we could have something to nibble on. Appetizers included radish, sweet potatoes, kimchi, and spicy marinated zucchinis. Everything was quite typical.

For my set lunch, I chose Marinated Beef with Spicy Tofu Soup. Portions were quite large, but quality was lacking. The beef was flavourful, but overcooked. It was tough to chew and not even close to being tender. The spicy tofu soup on the other hand, was a bit better. It wasn’t too spicy, and its consistency was a thin broth. Lots of tofu, but not really any other ingredients. The set also came with a bowl of rice.

J got his usual, Naengmyeon, which is a chewy noodle in a cold beef broth. This one was also spicy.

Lastly, he also got some Marinated Short Ribs. He also said these were quite tough and overcooked.

All in all, I was quite disappointed with the food at Tae Dam. Perhaps their hot pot or barbeques would be better, where diners can actually cook the meat themselves. Clearly, the chef just overcooks all the meat. Price points are decent for lunch, but the dinner menu looks quite expensive.

Guu Garlic (Robson)

August 7, 2013Leave a comment

For my birthday dinner, J took me to Guu Garlic on Robson St. I’ve never been to this location and I heard that each Guu has a different menu, so I was pretty excited to see what was different. We sat at the bar and we could see the chef preparing our food. I still don’t understand how they can just yell the orders and remember what to make. Their communication and teamwork skills are definitely great here.

Kimchi Udon – marinated udon with cod roe, soy sauce, butter, kimchi & green onion

I always get the normal Yakiudon, so this time we tried the Kimchi Udon. It’s not exactly kimchi on the noodles, but the flavour is a kimchi flavour. I’m guessing they didn’t use traditionally prepared kimchi. The noodles were similar to the yakiudon one, and were cooked until chewy. I still prefer the original yakiudon over this one though.

Ishiyaki – Today’s hot stone bowl dish

We also decided to try the Ishiyaki, which is a hot stone bowl with whichever rice they were serving on the day. I don’t exactly remember what the waitress described the dish as, but it reminded me of Italian flavours. Here, she began to mix the rice before I got a picture.

This is what it looks like after it is mixed thoroughly. The rice is filled with meat, tomatoes, green onions, onions and some other ingredients. We definitely thought it didn’t taste like something you would eat at a Japanese restaurant. The flavours were very westernized and I personally thought it tasted like Italian rice.

Tuna Tataki – lightly seared tuna sashimi with green onion, garlic chips & ponzu sauce

Tuna Tataki is always included in my usual orders. This one was seared really well so that the inside was still raw. I’ve had it a couple of times where the tuna is over-seared.

Salmon Carpaccio – Sokeye salmon carpaccio

I’ve had the Salmon Carpaccio at the Richmond location before, and it is always one of my favourites. This was once again executed very well. I just love the sauce and dressing they use on it. Tons of flavour and the salmon is fresh.

Grilled Japanese “Kurobuta” Sausage

Lastly, we ordered the Grilled Japanese “Kurobuta” Sausage from the daily special menu. Kurobuta is the famous Japanese term for pork meat from a Berkshire pig. These pigs are black and are a rare breed, hence the dishes are usually more expensive than a dish made from the typical breeds. These pigs are originated from England, but they are also bred in Japan, and therefore called Kurobuta if they are bred in Japan. They are prized for their juiciness, tenderness, and flavour. It also has much more fat than normal pork meat. These sausages had a crisp outer layer and the inside was definitely much more juicy. They came along with two dips. One was a mustard seed sauce, which I really enjoyed. I thought the red dip was ketchup, but my sausage became really spicy! I later realized it was a spicy ketchup.

We didn’t end up getting dessert or finishing our meal since we had an emergency and had to leave halfway. The servers were very accommodating and cancelled our dessert order right away. I really wanted to try their dessert too… it had green tea ice cream in it. Oh well, next time!

Dinesty

August 1, 20132 Comments

Dinesty is next to Starbucks and Ebisu in Richmond, and I believe they recently opened one in Downtown on Robson. I’ve gone by this restaurant multiple times, but I don’t think I’ve actually ate here before. At last, J and I decided to grab an early dinner, and he suggested we go to Dinesty. It seems to be his favourite place to go.

I think we got there around 5 pm, so it was quite empty. However, shortly after sitting down, the place quickly became filled. Apparently, there are usually long waits during dinner time, and it’s almost impossible to get a seat without reservations. The food here seems to be a mix of Taiwanese and Shanghainese food. Decor is simple and clean, and I like the open kitchen they have. You can see the chefs preparing your food, just like Shanghai River. Sort of a similar concept in terms of their floor plan.

Steamed Pork Dumplings

I wanted some Steamed Pork Dumplings, or better known as Xiao Long Bao! An order came with 8 hot and steamy dumplings. The wrappers were thin, yet held the pork, and inside, it was juicy. The soup was very delicious!

Ma Po Tofu

J chose the Ma Po Tofu. It was a large serving, and definitely too much for two people to share. The tofu was soft and the sauce wasn’t too spicy. It would’ve been perfect with white rice, but we had ordered another rice. We ended up mixing it with our Shrimp Fried Rice, since it would be too spicy and salty to eat alone.

Shrimp Fried Rice

Lastly, I chose the Shrimp Fried Rice. It had a hint of shrimp paste flavour, and the rice was cooked so it wasn’t too moist and sticky. There were also an abundant of shrimps inside.

Overall, I enjoyed the dishes we had at Dinesty. I can see why people enjoy coming here for meals. You get a good amount of food, which is of decent quality, at a decent price. I hear that service isn’t as great once it gets really busy during peak times, so perhaps going early is the way to go here. I also like how all their menu items have pictures, so you get a sense of what you are ordering beforehand. Perfect for beginners of Chinese food!

Guu Richmond (Revisit #3)

July 31, 2013Leave a comment

I’ve been to Guu in Richmond plenty of times, and for my birthday dinner with my family, we somehow ended there again. I wanted to Zakkushi, but we were quite last minute, and they were fully booked up. My family ended up wanting to go to Guu, so why not, since it’s close by.

Complementary Salad

After placing our orders, we were given two small bowls of this Complementary Salad. It was mostly yellow cabbage, and was lightly marinated with a sour sauce. Quite refreshing, but nothing too special.

Beef Tataki – thin sliced seared beef w/ ponzu sauce

As usual, I went with the Beef Tataki, because I always enjoy the sauce that Guu uses. I’ve had some bad experiences with the beef tataki at Guu Richmond, but this time, they were very nicely seared. It wasn’t overdone, and each bite was easy to chew.

Oden – Fish Puff

K ordered Oden, and got the Fish Puff. This was my first time trying this. It had a very funny texture and was a bit bouncy, but soft at the same time. It’s so hard to explain, but it was good! Reminded me a little of fish tofu puffs. The oden was also very delicious.

Kabocha Korokke – Pumpkin and boiled egg croquette

The Kabocha Korokke is also one of my all-time favourites at Guu. It’s essentially mashed pumpkin wrapped around a boiled egg and then deep fried. It’s then topped with a mayo sauce. I also love the pumpkin chips on the side.

Okonomiyaki – Deep fried squid & cabbage Japanese pancake w/ tonkatsu sauce & mustard mayo

This time, I also wanted to try some new items. I chose the Okonomiyaki, and this was really good! I think the mustard mayo really made the pancake taste really good. It had a decent amount of squid inside each piece. This is a perfect dish to easily share between four people.

Aigamo Pizza – teriyaki duck breast Guuu’d style pizza w/ tomato sauce & mayo

And then I decided to try the Aigamo Pizza! Yea, I’ve seen this plenty of times on their menu, but have never thought of trying it. So glad I did, because this was really delicious! There were an abundant of teriyaki duck breast, and each piece was thick, yet had an incredible chew. Extremely tender. We were however, disappointed that half our pizza crust had been burnt. Sort of too burnt to be edible, at least in a health perspective…

Karubi – BBQ garlic sauce marinated beef ribs

My dad is always a beef ribs person, so he ordered the Karubi. There were only a few on the plate, and it came with some mustard on the side. We thought that this was way too salty though. My mouth just felt like salt after and I had to wash it down with tea. Not recommended!

Crazy Salmon Sashimi – lightly seared salmon

We also wanted some sashimi, and like many authentic Japanese restaurants, salmon sashimi is not usually found. They had it in some assortment sets, but my dad wanted just salmon sashimi. Well we saw something on the daily special menu called Crazy Salmon Sashimi, so we asked our server what it was. She told us it was basically salmon sashimi, but it is lightly seared, just like tuna tataki. So we ordered 12 pieces. It was definitely lightly seared and melted in your mouth with a few chews. The only issue we had was the saltiness again! It was topped with way too much freshly ground pepper and salt. It had a very smoky flavour to it, which I didn’t mind, but the saltiness of it was beyond what I could take. It seemed that tonight’s chef seasoned everything too salty!

Yakiudon – Pan fried udon w/ beef, mushroom, green onion & soy sauce and butter

Lastly, we got our usual Yakiudon. Guu’s yakiudon is always my favourite. Their sauce is just spot on, and the udon is cooked so it has a nice chew, and the sauce makes the noodles a little sticky, which I really like.

All in all, it seems that the dishes I usually order are still spot on. And now I will add the pizza and okomiyaki to the list. However, I would stay away from the beef ribs and crazy salmon sashimi. Service was wonderful as usual, and we didn’t need to wait long before our dishes arrived.

To read my previous visits at Guu: https://everydayisafoodday.com/2013/01/04/kitanoya-guu-richmond/
https://everydayisafoodday.com/2013/01/24/kitanoya-guu-richmond-revisit/