Lift Bar & Grill

August 15, 2016Leave a comment

Looking for a spot to go happy hour, I suggested we try Lift Bar & Grill. It’s situated by the water along the seawall before you enter Stanley Park.

The restaurant has an awesome patio outside perfect for the summer.

Happy hour is from 3-6pm daily, but unfortunately, you can only sit at the bar for happy hour. The bar seats around 10-15 people, so be sure to arrive early!

The decor inside is elegant and perfect for date night. I would highly recommend sitting outside if the weather is nice, or by the glass windows inside to enjoy the views.

Their happy hour menu is pretty good with a variety of food other than their select drinks. Plus, they have buck-a-shuck oysters! As you can see, the prices for happy hour isn’t extremely cheap though. Their regular menu is quite pricey normally, so this is already discounted.

Red Truck Lager, House White Wine

We started off with some drinks which were part of the happy hour menu, all for $5.

Buck-a-Shuck Oysters

I wanted some oysters, so I got the Buck-a-Shuck Oysters. I don’t remember the names of the oysters but they were quite small, but sweet. I think they could’ve done a better job with the shucking though as I found some bits of shell in my oysters. The typical cocktail sauce, Tabasco and vinaigrette comes on the side.

Lobster Mac & Cheese

As I was quite hungry, I decided to get the Lobster Mac & Cheese which was on deal for $10. It came with atlantic lobster, grana padano white cheddar and mascarpone cheese.

This was a pretty good deal since there were chunks of lobster meat in my mac n cheese! Usually, you just find little strands of meat in this dish, but I was surprised how much lobster I found in here. It’ll definitely fill you up as the cheese is very heavy. I also loved the crispy coating of bread crumbs on top.

Fish & Chips

S got the Fish & Chips which normally comes with a single piece of local beer battered halibut and french fries. He was quite hungry, so he asked to add another piece of halibut. The normal size is $14 and I think the additional piece was around $6. So it came to around $20 which isn’t too bad for getting fish and chips (halibut) at a high end restaurant.

Overall, we were quite pleased with the happy hour selection of food and drinks at Lift Bar & Grill. However, service was pretty much non-existent. We sat at the bar without menus for the longest time and we ended up having to ask for the menus. It also took incredibly long to get our bill. I would hope that their service is much better during regular hours, since this is the perfect place to take your date to, but if service is so poor, I wouldn’t risk ruining your date night here. Ambiance is spot on though!

Pros:
– Beautiful ambiance and views
– Great selection for happy hour – $1 oysters, deals on food and drinks

Cons:
– Service was poor
– Not exactly cheap even for happy hour

Price Range: $20-30

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

Food: 3.5 Service: 1.5 Ambiance: 5 Parking: N/A Overall: 3.5

Beta5

August 10, 2016August 11, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: All desserts provided in the media event in the first section were complimentary. All opinions are based on my own experience.

Beta5‘s 2016 summer collection, ‘livin’s easy’ launched last month and we were invited to attend their media event to try out all the new items. Beta5 is located in an industrial area which is not transit friendly, but so worth the trip!

The shop front is quite small but you can see the chefs at work in the back which is pretty cool.

Remember to come here early as these goodies run out quick. Many times, I arrived near closing and they sold out of many of the flavours I wanted.

Cherry Cola Cream Puff – botanical cola custard, Okanagan cherry jelly, whipped vanilla ganache, fizzy cherry chocolate, amarena cherry

I really enjoyed that fizz in the chocolate. It was like eating those popping candy!

Pina Colada Cream Puff – coconut ash choux, pineapple curd, whipped coconut-lime ganache, black chocolate rings

One of my favourite desserts of the night was the Pina Colada Cream Puff. Something about it was so mysterious being all black! But inside was filled with a fruit pineapple curd and was perfect for the summer!

Lime Spritzer Cream Puff – mint-lime curd, greek yogurt pannacotta, cucumber meringue, cucumber pearls

Refreshing and perfect for the summer!

Ants On a Log Eclair – milk chocolate and peanut whipped ganache, celery whipped ganache, white chocolate celery stick, peanut glaze

This was super witty as the eclair tasted just like peanut butter on celery! Perfect for those who enjoy celery.

S’More Eclair – 68% dark chocolate mousse, 46% milk chocolate mousse, toasted vanilla meringue, cinnamon graham cracker crust

This brings back memories of having s’mores in front of the campfire in the summertime. Tastes just like a S’more!

Neopolitan Eclair – vanilla cremeux, strawberry cremeux, chocolate cremeux, caramelized white chocolate crunch, neopolitan whipped ganache ice cream in a chocolate cone

Another one of my favourites and who can resist how cut this looks! Gobble it quick before the ice cream melts!

The 2016 summer collection also includes some new flavours of their delectable chocolates. The new flavours include Cinnamon S’more, Strawberry Daiquiri, Raspberry Lemonade, Cucumber Cooler, Root Beer Float, and Celery + Peanut.

The flavours are bold and bright and bring back childhood memories of summer.

Mint Chocolate Sundae

We also got to try their Mint Chocolate Sundae which is part of their ice cream social.

Beta5’s Ice Cream Social happens every Saturday from 1-5pm. They serve up sundaes, ice creams and sorbets and they have a special flavour every week.

On another occasion, separate from the media event, S and I checked out their ice cream social which featured the Raspberry Earl Grey Sundae.

Raspberry Earl Grey Sundae

This was so delicious! It came with earl grey sundae, raspberry swirl ice cream, fresh raspberry compote, raspberry-earl grey macarons and chocolate garnishes. Loved how creamy the ice cream was!

Signature Chocolate Sundae

One of the sundaes they featured in July was the Signature Chocolate Sundae. We were able to choose from a variety of sorbets and ice creams and the toppings were preset. We went with the cola sorbet and it was so refreshing! I loved the textures of the different chocolate garnishes as some had a nice crunch.

Overall, we had an amazing time at the media event as well as our own visit to Beta 5. Definitely worth checking out during the summer as you can grab some ice cream (which is only available during summer) and take a box of the summer collection goodies home! Makes a perfect gift too!

Storm Crow Alehouse

July 29, 2016July 28, 20162 Comments

Looking for a place to chill after work and have drinks (other than the typical Earls and Cactus) turned us to Storm Crow Alehouse which opened earlier this year on Broadway.

Long Island Iced Tea

What’s cool about this spot is that there is a whole wall of board games which you can borrow while enjoying your drink. They have all types of games from 2 player games to games for a large group. We started off with jenga along with some Long Island Iced Teas. They have a large selection of drinks, but I found their cocktails to be just okay. Perhaps stick to the beers.

Mount St. Nacho

Since we were quite hungry from work, StevieD and I shared the Mount St. Nacho. The nachos were topped with cheese, jalapeños, red onions, roasted corn and black beans, pico de gallo salsa and sour cream. We added pulled chicken for an extra $6 so the whole dish came to $26, which is not cheap at all. And frankly, the dish sucked. The chips were not crunchy and the chicken was dry. I expect a lot more if I pay this much, and we left disappointed. Probably some of the worst nachos I’ve had.

Hillbilly Style Chik’n & Waffles Dee-Lux

S got the Hillbilly Style Chik’n & Waffles Dee-Lux and these sucked too. This came with house-breaded chicken strips and waffles served with maple cream sauce and honey mustard. The chicken strips were so dry! And same with the waffles…

All in all, we were extremely disappointed with the food at Storm Crow. I’d suggest coming here just for the drinks and the board games, but grab dinner elsewhere. They do a treasure box thing when your receipt comes which goes along with their whole theme.

Pros:
– Fun board games
– Good place to chill with large groups

Cons:
– Skip the food
– Service isn’t too great

Price Range: $20-30

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

Food: 1.5 Service: 2 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 2

Cuchillo

July 28, 2016July 26, 2016Leave a comment

After being hungry at a beer event, J suggested we go grab some tacos at Cuchillo. I didn’t know this place existed and it is quite a hidden gem with only a skull on the outside of the restaurant!

We started off with some white wine and rose. I can’t remember the names of these but that they were rather fruity.

Baja Style Battered Rockfish

Our first taco was the Baja Style Battered Rockfish. The beautiful green coloured kale and hemp corn tortilla was topped with jicama slaw, chipotle aioli, and of course the battered rockfish. This had a good spicy kick but man this was good! The batter was light and the fish remained moist. Their tacos are quite packed for the amount of tortilla you get so it can be quite messy to eat!

Pulled Duck Y Cracklin’

The second taco we had was the Pulled Duck Y Cracklin’ which came with roasted garlic, blackberry habanero jam, pulled pork, crackling, and this all sat on top of a black bean corn tortilla. I really enjoyed the sweetness of the blackberry jam against the tender pulled pork.

Pork Belly Confit

We also tried one of their larger dishes, which was the Pork Belly Confit which came with a maple chipotle and tamarind glze, a granny smith puree and was topped with chicharon and patacones (or fried plantains). The ratio of fat to meat was right on and the meat was tender! So much fatty goodness.

This is definitely a great spot to grab some tacos and enjoy Mexican food. I like how the place feels more upscale yet it’s casual enough so you don’t need to dress up. If you’re feeling a little fancy but want tacos, then here’s the place to go. Great for a girls night out or date night.

Pros:
– Solid tacos
– Great ambiance and service

Cons:
– Not the cheapest for portions

Price Range: $25-35

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

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

Wild Sweets

July 26, 2016Leave a comment

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

Thanks to Jacqueline, I was invited to Wild Sweets for a tasting of their new summer products. I live in Richmond and am always on the lookout for new restaurants, but looks like I’ve missed this one. Tucked away in the commercial offices behind Ironwood mall, Wild Sweets offers a small retail section but focuses on selling to retailers. However, they have recently launched their new summer collection: Prêt-á-Manger, which is only available at this retail location.

Mousse Chocolat Milk

We got to try their whole collection, with each container sold for $4.99. If you purchase 5, you can get 1 free. The first set were mousse based, so they were all very creamy. Each were topped with chocolate pearls. Flavours for the mousse included:

Mousse Chocolat Milk: milk chocolate mousse & passion fruit creme brulee cream
Mousse Chocolat Dark: dark chocolate creme brulee cream
Mousse Chocolat White: white chocolate lemon zest mousse & raspberry fruit creme brulee cream

Mousse Chocolat Dark

Mousse Chocolat White

My favourite was the white chocolate as I love the pairing of white chocolate and raspberry. I liked how it wasn’t too tart or sweet.

Tarte Banane

Next up, we sampled the tartes which containes housemade cookie, cream, and fruit. These are great if you want more texture as you’ll get some crunchy parts as well. The tartes come in four flavours:

Tarte Banane: banana custard cream & white chocolate
Tarte Citron: lemon custard cream & white chocolate chantilly
Tarte Chocolat: chocolate creme brulee cream & dark chocolate chantilly
Tarte Framboise: raspberry custard cream & white chocolate chantilly

Tarte Citron

This was my favourite out of the tarte collection as I loved the fresh lemon flavour without it being overly sour. It was just the right balance.

Tarte Chocolat

Tarte Framboise

Pistachio Strawberry Ice Cream

Lastly, we got to sample my favourite items, which were the ice creams! The ice creams come in 3 flavours:

Pistachio Strawberry Ice Cream: strawberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream & pistachio butter parfait
Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream: banana ice cream, chocolate ice cream & peanut butter parfait
Hazelnut Passion Fruit Ice Cream: passion apricot sorbet, chocolate ice cream & hazelnut butter parfait

These were all delicious but my favourite had to be the Pistachio Strawberry. The sorbet was so refreshing and I loved the nutty flavour of the pistachio.

Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream

Hazelnut Passion Fruit Ice Cream

I think what’s worthy to note is that the goodies at Wild Sweet go through intense research to get to where they are. The owners, Dominique and Cindy Duby, are world-acclaimed chefs, chocolate makers, and designer chocolatiers. They really know what they are doing and have even written cookbooks and won many awards.

They also use a bean to bar approach so all the chocolate is actually made in house from the start of the bean. I find that very amazing as their production facility is quite small and taking this approach can be very costly. Everything is produced in house, except for the chocolate pearls. They really pride themselves in the quality of their products.

Other than the new Prêt-á-Manger collection, you can find chocolates and fruit confits. Their fruit jams are to die for! The intensity of the fruit flavours are so strong and only contain 20% added sugar.

Their selection of chocolates and confections make great gifts for family and friends.

At the end of our tasting, we got to take home some delicious snacks, including some of their chocolate bars, the buttered caramel popcorn, and the dark chocolate bark. Everyone at home really enjoyed these and devoured them in no time!

Overall, I am extremely happy to have discovered Wild Sweets and learned a ton about chocolate from the owners. They are truly passionate about what they do and it is amazing to see how much time into perfecting each product. Currently, the retail store hours are only Saturday 10AM-4PM, but if you order online, you can arrange for pickup by appointment.

Spaghetei

July 25, 2016July 25, 20161 Comment

Source: Canadoo

NOTE: All food was complimentary but all opinions are based on my own personal experience.

A few weeks ago, we were invited by Spaghetei for a menu tasting. Read along to find out how you can get 10% off on your dinner during weekdays! Spaghetei originates from Aomori, Japan where the original store is located. Around 3 years ago, they decided to open a store here in Vancouver on Robson Street near Denman Street. They specialize in Japanese style spaghetti and has an open air concept during the summer months.

Garlic Pesto Toast

We started off with their famous Garlic Pesto Toast. The secret ingredient to this delicious toast is honey which brings a subtle sweet flavour to the usually savoury bread. So addicting!

Pork Chili Oil Bread

Next, we tried the Pork Chili Oil Bread. The pork and eggplant was cooked to tender and served in a piping hot bowl so be sure to cool it off before you eat it! S and I loved how it was slightly spicy. I highly recommend this as an appie.

Clam Spaghetti

Onto their spaghettis, we started off with the Clam Spaghetti. I’m a huge fan of clams so this was perfect for me. The spaghettis come in two sizes: medium or large. All the ones we sampled were medium and I found it to be a good size if you have a smaller appetite. The Clam Spaghetti came with clams, mushrooms, tobiko, dried seaweed, shiso leaves, and a home-made ginger soy sauce. It was light and perfect for seafood lovers.

Mentaiko Spaghetti

The Mentaiko Spaghetti is one of their most popular items and comes with mentaiko, shrimp, mushrooms, shiso leaves, and dried seaweed. Mentaiko is not for everyone but if you like seafood or fish roe, then this is for you. I loved how this was not too creamy or heavy.

Barayaki Spaghetti

If you’re not into seafood, then the Barayaki Spaghetti is a great option. It comes with pan fried beef and onions with their barayaki sauce which tastes similar to a teriyaki sauce but I would say it’s sweeter. My mom and boyfriend don’t like Italian pasta, but I know they would love this dish as it’s full of Asian flavours.

Salad Spaghetti

And for those who are vegetarians or just love their veggies, then the Salad Spaghetti is perfect as it’s filled with fresh vegetables, slices of hard boiled eggs, and a home-made dressing. We found this to be refreshing and a great option for the summer when you want something very light.

Crème Brûlée

To end our lunch, we tried the Crème Brûlée, which was smooth in the centre with the sugar on top torched perfectly to create a hard brittle tap. We appreciated how they used real vanilla beans instead of just vanilla flavouring.

Powder Snow Milk Syrup

Lastly, the Powder Snow Milk Syrup surprised us for sure. We didn’t expect much for shaved ice at a restaurant that specializes in spaghetti, but this was some real good shaved ice! If you don’t want to wait in line at Snowy Village, then I highly suggest just coming to Spaghetei. The shaved ice is so soft and powdery like snow and the ratio of matcha, milk, and condensed milk is right on. Definitely coming back for this!

Overall, we were extremely pleased with the food at Spaghetei. We really enjoyed how the dishes are light and not overly creamy. In fact, I feel like all the dishes taste very healthy as they are not too salty or oily. Ambiance is casual and service was also very friendly. Prices are very reasonable and there is also happy hour on weekdays from 11:30am to 2:30pm!

Spaghetei is offering my readers 10% off weekday dinners just by showing this coupon on your smartphone. Feel free to bookmark this page and share with your family and friends!

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice (Richmond)

July 21, 2016July 19, 2016Leave a comment

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice opened up their first location in Vancouver a few months ago in downtown and have since opened another in Richmond in Broadmoor Shopping Centre. Since there was a grand opening promo going on, there was a huge line up.

We ended up waiting over 30 minutes because of the long line ups. We found service to be quite unfriendly at CoCo. I know there’s a huge line and they want to get things moving, but a smile or just thanking the customers for waiting would have been appreciated.

There is some seating in this location, but most people grab take out here.

The promo during their grand opening was buy any one of their top 10 drinks and you get a free regular sized milk tea with pearls for free.

You can choose large or regular size with a difference of 50 cents.

Three Guys

I decided to try the Three Guys which is one of their most popular drinks, consisting of grass jelly, pudding, and pearls. This is quite good as you get a bit of everything but some may find that it’s too much. I actually didn’t mind the variety especially since I love all three toppings.

Milk Tea

The free Milk Tea that came with the promo is pretty good but I still prefer the Chatime roasted milk tea. However, it definitely beats the Shiny Tea one. I would say it’s pretty good compared to the other options out there, but Chatime’s roasted milk tea is still my favourite. In terms of the pearls, they were quite chewy, a little too chewy for me personally.

Taro Milk Tea with Pearls

On another occasion, I went back to take advantage of the deal, and also because I wanted to try the Taro Sago. By the time we got to the cashier, we were told there was no sago and only pearls. I was quite annoyed as I wish they had announced that earlier since I came mostly for the sago. Well, since we had waited forever in line, we got the Taro Milk Tea with Pearls instead. This was quite disappointing with the taro tasting like powder.

Overall, CoCo falls below Chatime but above Shiny Tea for me personally. Price is around the same as Chatime at $4-5. Apparently you can also customize ice and sugar level just like Chatime but the cashiers never let the customers know. Perhaps it was because they were too busy during the promo period.

Pros:
– Solid milk tea
– Customizable sugar and ice levels

Cons:
– Service is unfriendly
– Pearls are too chewy

Price Range: $5

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

Food: 3 Service: 1.5 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 4 Overall: 3

The Ramenman

July 20, 2016July 19, 2016Leave a comment

The Ramenman opened last year but recently I’ve been seeing tons of posts on this restaurant. Since I’m always on the lookout for good ramen, I suggested to S we give it a try. It’s literally on the other side of Robson from Marutama.

You can watch the chefs in action by sitting right at the bar table. The other tables are communal tables with a few tables for four. It wasn’t very busy on a Friday night.

Water is self serve and comes in these glass bottles.

Chicken Ramen

Ramenman focusses mainly on chicken ramen with variations to it such as the clam, stew, and of course the original. S decided to go with the regular Chicken Broth which comes with your choice of pork or chicken or a mix, bamboo shoots, green onion oil, green onions, corn, garlic , ramen egg and black pepper. S chose pork and their pork char shiu is quite different as it is cooked with a sous-vide method. That’s why you’ll notice it is pink in colour, but it’s actually cooked thoroughly. I loved their meat as it is so soft! The chicken broth also had a lot of depth and was velvety smooth.

Vegetarian Ramen

For myself, I heard that the Vegetarian Ramen was really good so gave it a try and made it non-vegetarian by adding pork char-siu. I usually choose meat options if available, but this vegetarian broth blew my mind. Yes, it lacked the richness of what a pork broth would have, but the vegetarian broth was still very flavourful of shiitake mushrooms and kombu and was not too salty. It came with spinach, corn, bamboo shoots, green onion, cabbage, chili pepper, black pepper and some crispy lotus chips.

As for the noodles, they are the straight kind and were cooked to an al dente.

The vegetarian broth also comes with a 63 degree egg and upon cutting into the egg, the yolk just spilled out. So good!

Overall, I was very impressed with The Ramenman even though they don’t offer my favourite pork based broth. I highly suggest trying the vegetarian broth and adding the pork char-siu. It may not be your traditional ramen with the sous-vide technique, but is definitely worth trying.

Pros:
– Flavourful broths without being too salty
– Sous-vide pork is tender and moist

Cons:
– Not for you if you’re looking for traditional ramen

Price Range: $10-15/person

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

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

Every Day is a Food Day

Category: Price

Lift Bar & Grill

Beta5

Storm Crow Alehouse

Cuchillo

Wild Sweets

Spaghetei

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice (Richmond)

The Ramenman