Caramel Brulee Frappuccino
Finally decided to try the frappuccino version of the Caramel Brulée Latte. For some reason, it just wasn’t that great. I felt that the flavour was not as strong and I would much rather get a Green Tea Frappuccino instead. It was either that the flavour was not strong enough or my barrista put too much ice in it. I still enjoyed the caramel sprinkles at the top which added some sweetness to the coffee taste.
Crispy Chicken Sandwich
I’ve revisited Leisure way too many times by now. But there still seems to be items that I haven’t tried. I always tend to go for my favourites, but this time I decided to try some other menu items. These are actually two separate visits, but I’ll just put it in one post. The first item was the Crispy Chicken Sandwich. I’ve heard great things about their Club Sandwich, but I was curious to see what a Crispy Chicken Sandwich was. So glad I got this because it was really delicious! They come in a plate of four triangular sandwiches in white bread. Each sandwich has three layers of bread, so it makes it quite large in size. With the crispy chicken inside, which is really their famous Taiwanese chicken, the sandwiches are too big to take a whole bite of. But I didn’t mind that. Inside was also tomatoes, cucumbers and mayo. I would definitely recommend this.
Crispy Chicken Waffle
Then, on Christmas night after my Christmas potluck, I joined some friends to go to Leisure again… Only Asian restaurants are open on Christmas, so the place was surprisingly quite packed. With all Asians of course. Sadly, I wasn’t too satisfied with my potluck dinner, so I was actually craving some more food by then. I’ve had their Ice Cream Waffle before, but what was a Crispy Chicken Waffle?! I decided to give that a try and it was oh so delicious! It’s really the same thing as the Crispy Chicken Sandwich but in a waffle form. The waffle also had a lot more chicken than the sandwiches. It wasn’t too salty and all the ingredients just worked well together with the vegetables giving a refreshing feel.
Overall, extremely satisfied with both visits again. The food never seem to disappoint!
Caramel Brulée Latte – Espresso and steamed milk flavored with caramel Brulée sauce, topped with sweetened whipped cream and caramel Brulée topping
With school ending, I couldn’t resist myself and decided to get another holiday drink from Starbucks. This time I got the Caramel Brulée Latte, which is one of my favourite Starbucks holiday drinks. I’ve gotten this in the past years, and it has never disappointed me. I love the caramel sweetness at the top, and I find it creamy all throughout. I do find that the sweetness sort of disappears as you get lower and lower. It’s basically since the caramel Brulée toppings melt, so the sweetness disperses throughout the drink. Great drink to warm up during the holidays!
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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!
Pumpkin Spice Latte
I’m not a coffee drinker, so I really can’t judge what a good coffee is, but I love getting Starbucks’ espresso beverages. I don’t even know if they are really considered “coffee”, but I don’t drink their freshly brewed coffee for sure. I just love getting their frappuccinos, lattes, mochas and teas! And now that the holidays are here, I get super excited to try out the holiday drinks! This time, I chose to try their Pumpkin Spice Latte because I’ve been hearing really good things about it. People say even if you don’t like pumpkin or coffee, you’ll like this since it apparently doesn’t even taste like pumpkin. To be honest, I just thought it was average. It wasn’t really a taste that I absolutely loved. I don’t normally like drinks with spice, and even though the spice wasn’t strong, it was still there. It was alright, but I would probably choose another drink next time.
Americano
Veggie Sandwich – goat cheese, portobello mushroom, peppers, zucchini, sprouts, sun-dried tomato basil mayo. Ciabatta panini grilled; with cup of Curry Lentil
Chicken Club Sandwich – multi-grain, chicken, bacon, aged cheddar, tomato, arugula, sun-dried tomato may and grainy mustard; with cup of Curry Lentil
Shrimp Melt – shrimp, roasted peppers, and onions open faced and topped with Jack cheese. On a half-Ciabatta; with cup of Curry Lentil
High-faultin’ Grilled Cheese – cheddar, swiss, brie, cranberry-Grand Marnier relish. Ciabatta panini grilled; with cup of Curry Lentil
Close up of the High-faultin’ Grilled Cheese!
Mac and Cheese (side)
I barely ever wake up in time for brunch or breakfast, but KT, KC, J and I decided to make that happen. KT suggested to go to Acme Cafe in Gastown, and we tried to get there for their breakfast menu, but of course, we ended up late… So we were only able to order their non-breakfast food. Anyways, Acme Cafe was busy when we got there, but we only waited for perhaps 5 minutes to get a seat. The place is really cute, and reminds me of a vintage diner, yet a little modernized. They also have this seating area which is a semi-circle and you can watch the chefs prepare your food. Pretty cool place in my opinion.
Anyways, everything on the menu sounded delicious, so it was hard for me to choose something. I ended up getting the High-faultin’ Grilled Cheese since I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but this one seemed to be more than just a grilled cheese sandwich. They also had a normal grilled cheese sandwich, but this one was “high-faultin’”. The ciabatta was thin and crispy, with loads of cheese melted so it was stringy, and the unique part of it was that it had a cranberry-Grand Marnier relish. The hint of sourness actually worked really well with it and was a great twist to the normal grilled cheese sandwiches. I also took a bite from the Shrimp Melt, which was really delicious! It was open-faced so a little difficult to eat unless you cut it up, but the shrimp and all the ingredients together made it an excellent light sandwich to eat. Delicious! All the sandwiches also came with your choice of chips, or soup of the day. We all got the soup of the day, which was the Curry Lentil. Surprisingly, it wasn’t super spicy or anything. It just had a hint of curry flavour to it, but it was definitely a hearty soup. I’m not a big fan of lentils, so it was just alright for me. The two boys also got a side of Mac and Cheese, and a I stole a spoon. It was really good! There were loads of cheese. Like LOTS. But it worked well and I loved how the top was baked so it was a little crispy.
Overall, awesome place to grab brunch or even lunch. Service isn’t anything over the top, but was quick and efficient. Check it out!
Caramel, Green Tea, Black Sesame, Akbar Mashti – Saffron and Rosewater
Revisit to Bella Gelateria! After Afghan Horsemen, C, K, J and I decided to grab some dessert. We had walked around Granville Island for a bit, and were craving some ice cream on that nice sunny evening. And of course I wanted Bella after my first time there. It’s pretty much my favourite ice cream shop now. We got there pretty late..I can’t recall the time now, but the line up was massive! We couldn’t even see the doorway at the point we lined up at.
We waited around 15-20 minutes, and got inside the shop. I decided to get Black Sesame and Akbar Mashti, which I honestly still have no idea what it is… The black sesame was actually out of stock at my turn, but they had made another batch, and I waited around less than 5 minutes, and they were able to get me some. The black sesame was rich and full of flavour. Really delicious! As for the Akbar Mashti, it was…kind of weird. I mean, the description behind the name was Saffron and Rosewater, so I was expecting something with rose flavour, and it sort of did. But it also had some weird ingredients that I was not expecting. It came with a nut, and even something that tasted like chocolate. I was really confused to be honest. I probably won’t get that again..and I probably should have tried the flavour beforehand. C got Matcha flavour, which is my all time favourite. And J got Caramel flavour, which was actually really good! It was for some reason, pretty melted, and I usually don’t like caramel, but it was really good! It wasn’t too sweet too.
Bella Gelateria is definitely an ice cream shop to check out if you haven’t already!
Pistachio Gelato, Watermelon & Pineapple Gelato
Last food stop for the Seattle adventure! Of course dessert, and it’s my favourite – ice cream! We actually walked by Bottega Italiana on our way to Thoa’s, and we had a look around the market for other ice cream shops, but we decided this one was the one. Well actually, Bottega Italiana isn’t an ice cream shop, since it’s a gelato shop! Gelato has around 60% less fat and calories than American ice cream, so I like to think of it as a pretty healthy dessert…
Anyways, they let us try flavours, but I was mostly interested in the Pistachio Gelato, so I got a sample, and decided to get it right away. It was smooth and very strong in pistachio flavour. Maybe a little too strong actually. J got two scoops and got Watermelon and Pineapple. These were amazing! The Pineapple flavoured gelato was especially good. They were totally opposite from the creamy gelato I had, and was not at all creamy or milky. It was almost like eating pineapple slush, but not to that extent of iciness. It was still gelato, but without the cream. They were also made with fresh fruit since there were pieces of pineapple pulp inside. The watermelon flavoured gelato was also great, but not as good as the pineapple. I kind of regretted not getting one of the fresh fruit gelatos instead, since they had a variety of flavours.
Overall, great place to grab gelato around the market place, and the fresh fruit gelatos are a must try! Forget the normal gelato!
Every Day is a Food Day 