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Haroo (revisit)

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Appetizers – Kimchi, Seaweed, Sweet Potatoes, Bean Sprouts, Salad

For my sister’s birthday, she chose to have dinner at Haroo, which I’ve had lunch there before. So this was my first time having dinner at Haroo and I was excited to try out some of their platters which could be shared among the diners. First up, we were given appetizers, which included kimchi, a marinated seaweed, sweet potatoes, bean sprouts, and a salad. The appetizers were quite typical, but I loved the salad. The dressing seemed to be a vinaigrette which was a little sour, but so addicting! It was also presented nicely.

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Congee

Each of us were also given a small bowl of congee. Apparently, you get a bowl for each dinner platter you order, and coincidentally we ordered five, so we each got our own! The congee was flavourful. It had a bit of sesame oil and was topped with both anchovy-like fish and black and white sesame. It was light and didn’t fill us up.

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Bibimbab

We got a Bibimbap, which is part of the individual dinner set meals. It came with a small bowl of rice. We found this to be quite bland unless we add the red sauce which was a little sweet and spicy. This was just alright. I didn’t think it was amazing.
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Japchae – stir fried potato noodle with beef & vegetable

We always get Japchae at Korean restaurants, so of course we chose to try the one at Haroo. This is essentially potato noodles which are clear and chewy, and they are stir fried with beef and vegetables. The sauce had a good consistency and the dish was flavourful overall.

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Haemul Pajeon – seafood pancake

The Haemul Pajeon, which is a seafood pancake, was one of the best seafood pancakes I’ve had. The outer batter was crispy, with the inside being soft. It was also generously filled with seafood, with lots of squid and mussels. The seafood was also cooked so it was tender and easy to chew on. A must try at Haroo! The pancake also comes in two other variations: bulgogi and kimchi, which I have yet to try.

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LA Galbi – marinated “AAA” sliced beef rib

We wanted some meat, so we went for the LA Galbi, which were marinated “AAA” sliced beef rib. This came sizzling hot and was a decent portion. The pieces I ate were quite tender, but my dad said some of it was tough.

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Gunjung Tteokbokki – royal court rice cake with marinated beef

My sister and I love rice cakes, so we got the Gunjung Tteokbokki. I often see spicy rice cakes at Korean restaurants, but since I can’t take spice, this is the one I always get. The sauce is sweet and it is mixed with marinated beef and vegetables. Delicious!

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Bulgogi Fried Rice

Since my dad loves to make his own fried rice (Chinese style), he got excited when he saw Korean style fried rice. So we ended up ordering the Bulgogi Fried Rice. It was much more moist compared to Chinese fried rice, and it definitely has much more flavours. I’m guessing it’s the garlic and onion. Mixed with some veggies, the dish was flavourful with a slight crunch. Not bad.

Overall, I was quite pleased with Haroo’s dinner menu. Don’t expect much service here as the man has limited English proficiency. You also serve yourself with water, tea, and utensils as they have a little drawer under the wooden table filled with the utensils and napkins.

Haroo Korean Homestyle Cuisine on Urbanspoon

La Casa Gelato

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After dinner, I dragged J along with me to visit La Casa Gelato. I’ve heard that the place has over 200 flavours of gelato and some pretty exotic ones too, and I’ve been dying to visit the shop. To my surprise, the place is painted bright pink, and even their parking lot across the street is pink…

IMG_3675The place is pretty huge for a gelato shop, but it’s got to be that size to store all the flavours! Some weird flavours included wasabi, curry, and garlic. They also had more normal flavours such as vanilla and chocolate.Sorbet is also an option if you don’t want gelato.

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Your gelato can be scooped in either a waffle cone or cup, which were seen all around the shop.

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Before purchasing your gelato, you are welcome to try the flavours. There are many employees behind each fridge, and they were extremely friendly and helpful. I didn’t dare try the exotic tasting flavours, such as curry or garlic, but I did try one of the alcoholic ones. I believe it was called Tequila Sunrise, and they definitely put some alcohol in it! However, I felt like it was too strong, and it just didn’t taste good. After trying several flavours, I found that most of the flavours didn’t actually work. They were creative, but the it was either too strong or lacking some flavour. The recipes definitely need work!

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Green Tea Gelato

In the end, I ended up with the Green Tea Gelato, which is my all time favourite ice cream flavour. However, I didn’t think it was the best gelato I’ve had. The green tea wasn’t strong enough, and the gelato wasn’t exactly smooth. They did, however, give me a pretty large scoop which I think was around $5. Overall, don’t expect any quality ice cream. It’s definitely a shop of quantity over quality. If you’re looking to try some crazy flavours, then you’re at the right place.

La Casa Gelato on Urbanspoon

Old Speghetti Factory (Gastown)

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Since it was dinner time and we were in downtown, J suggested we go to The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown. I’m not a  big fan of the family chain restaurant since I’ve had some pretty bad experiences with the food, but J insisted that they had some great salad, so I decided to give it another shot. The place is definitely a family restaurant, and since we went for an early dinner, we were seated immediately. The Gastown location is said to be haunted too which makes everything a little more spooky! In the middle of the restaurant is an electric trolley. It is said that a train conductor died in a crash years ago and that people have seen his ghostly figure in pictures. Kind of creepy, since we were seated right next to the trolley.

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Classic Sourdough Bread with Whipped Garlic and Plain Butter

All items that you order that are under the “It’s all included” menu include some bread, soup or salad and dessert. To start off, we were given the Classic Sourdough Bread with Whipped Garlic and Plain Butter. This was decent and I especially liked the Whipped Garlic.

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Crisp Green Salad with Low-Fat Sesame Dressing

J chose the Crisp Green Salad with Low-Fat Sesame Dressing, since he said the dressing was really good the last time he had it. I took a bite and it definitely was pretty good. The dressing was sort of a vinaigrette based dressing with a hint of sesame flavour.
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Clam Chowder

As for myself, I chose a soup isntead of the salad. You normally get a Minestrone Soup, but I chose to add $2.25 to substitute for a Clam Chowder. It was thick and creamy, but I’ve definitely had better Clam Chowder. It was just alright.

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Pot-Pourri Spaghetti with Meat, Mushroom and Clam Sauce

And onto our entrees, we got of course some spaghetti! Since I couldn’t decide which sauce to get, I ended up getting the Pot-Pourri Spaghetti, which included all three of their most popular sauces. The last time I had spaghetti here, it was just watery and disgusting. This time, it wasn’t watery, but it still wasn’t any better. The meat sauce wasn’t anything special and I swear I could just buy the sauce off the shelf. The mushroom sauce tasted pretty much like the meat sauce except with mushrooms. The only sauce that I thought was decent was the clam sauce which actually had many pieces of clams in it.

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Spaghetti with Spicy Meat Sauce

As for J, he got the Spaghetti with Spicy Meat Sauce. This too, wasn’t any good. The sauce  wasn’t flavourful and you could just taste the spaghetti with a hint of spice to it. Anyone could have made this dish.
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Spumoni Ice Cream

For dessert, J got the Spunomi Ice Cream, which was a mixture of pistachio, chocolate and vanilla. I thought it tasted extremely weird and wasn’t a big fan of it.

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Vanilla Ice Cream

For myself, I got the Vanilla Ice Cream. I’m usually a big fan of ice cream, and will literally eat any ice cream no matter how full I am, but I only took a few spoons of this. I was just dissatisfied with my meal and the ice cream wasn’t even good.

Overall, we were pretty disappointed with our meal. The food is decently priced with all the items that are included in your meal, but the quality just isn’t up to par. We left with half our dishes finished cause it was that bad.

The Old Spaghetti Factory on Urbanspoon

Wings Restaurants and Pubs (Granville)

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Last Wednesday, I met with my Pre-Law Society for a wrap-up dinner to a great year! It has definitely been one of my favourite clubs I joined throughout my university time. Tons of fun with a great team and I will surely miss them next year! We settled for Wings Restaurants & Pubs at the Granville location. There was a Canucks game on that night, but suprisingly the place wasn’t that packed. We had made reservations prior to secure seats anyways.

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House White Wine & Fusilli with Chicken in Garlic White Wine Sauce

Unlike many pubs and bars, Wings does not offer Wings Wednesdays. The wings are regular priced like on any other day. However, they do have Pasta Wednesdays! I decided to get that since I wasn’t exactly in the mood for wings that night. You get to build your pasta for only $7.98! What a deal. I chose Fussili with the Garlic White Wine Sauce and topped it with Chicken. The portion was not as large as many restaurants, but it was enough to fill me up. And for a little under $8, it is definitely worth it. Don’t expect anything amazing though. It’s literally just cooked pasta, with a simple sauce and some chicken. It was topped with some cheese and also came with a slice of garlic bread, which I found a little flavourless. As for my drink, I got the House White Wine, which I forgot what the name was… A little dry for my liking though.

Overall, my experience was alright at Wings. I don’t expect much at a pub, and I wouldn’t say our waitress was extremely friendly, but she got things done. It’s also a great place to catch the games as they have televisions at almost every corner of the wall.

Wings Restaurants & Pubs on Urbanspoon

Mega Sushi

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Mega Sushi opened last year in Steveston Village near Gary Point Park. It’s not exactly in the village area, so it’s quite hidden unless you are on your way to Gary Point Park. Parking is limited in front of the restaurant itself, but there are quite a few free street parking across and nearby the restaurant.

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We were greeted in Japanese by the waitress, but J told me they were Korean. And yes, we ended up learning that they could speak Korean. So I guess it’s not exactly authentic Japanese food. The place was quite busy on the weekday for lunch and was slowly packed with people.

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Nigiri – Unagi, Red Tuna, Hamachi, Salmon

The nigiri sushi were presented nicely on the plate. They were fresh and the rice was just the perfect amount. I normally only eat salmon, but it was nice to give some of the other fish a try. The Red Tuna had a softer texture, and since I enjoy fish that has more of a bite to it, I enjoyed the Hamachi which was closer to a salmon texture.

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Crispy’n Crunchy Roll – dynamite roll with crispy temkasu, sweet and spicy sauce

The Crispy’n Crunchy Roll was on their special roll menu, and it was essentially a dynamite roll with a twist to it. It was covered with crispy temkasu, and drizzled with a sweet and spicy sauce. It definitely had lots of crunch to it, but it still didn’t feel too oily. The hint of spice was evened out with the sweetness of the sauce, so it wasn’t too spicy.

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Mega Roll – deep fried salmon and green onion with spicy mayo

We also got the Mega Roll which was also under the special roll menu. This roll had seaweed on the outside, and it was then covered with batter and lightly fried to golden. I twas topped with imitation crab mixed with a spicy mayo sauce. On the top, were tobiko and golden yellow deep fried lotus chips. The lotus chips were my favourite as they added a crunch to it! I found this roll to be a little more spicy than the previous. Definitely a mouthful of flavour.

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Tuna Tataki Nigiri

Lastly, we were presented with a complementary dish to our surprise. The waitress said this was the Tuna Tataki Nigiri. A lightly seared tuna on top of rice, with a special sauce and topped with alfalfa sprouts. Quite delicious and a nice unexpected treat.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Mega Sushi. Food and service was up to par and they have  large variety of specialty rolls, which seem to be attracting customers these days. It’s good to have another addition of Japanese food in the Steveston area.

Mega Sushi on Urbanspoon

Slovakian Cuisine

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Slovak Sauerkraut Soup

Last week, M invited us to her house for dinner and she made a huge pot of  Sauerkraut Soup. It is supposed to be a typical soup that Slovakians have. It included some sort of meat that reminded me of ham . It also had potatoes and of course sauerkraut. With a scoop of sour cream, it was delicious. The soup’s consistency is quite similar to just a broth so it is not thick or creamy at all. The soup was also delicious when you dip bread in it.

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Slovakian Desserts

Her mother also sent us some Slovakian Desserts which I don’t remember the names of. I tried the cake on the left, which reminded me of a napoleon with the crust being flaky. The filling inside was custard like. It also wasn’t too sweet! I also tried the macaroons on the right, which were very delicious. Chewy and a little sticky. It’s always interesting to try out new cuisines and Slovakian food is definitely quite delicious.

Christmas Baking!

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Christmas Day is always good and bad at the same time for me. It’s great because it’s a time to reunite with family and friends, but at the same time, thinking of what to do can sometimes be a headache. It always seems to revolve around food though with all those family dinners. But what about the afternoon? This year, I celebrated Christmas and also S’s birthday by baking some Christmas goods! First up, we got the Pilsbury Christmas Cookies. So yea…we’re not exactly the best bakers, and we wanted to be festive, so what’s better than premade cookies where we just need to pop them into the oven right? I actually expected to cut the cookie dough, but apparently, they’ve gotten so advanced that they already come pre-cut too… Guess you literally just need to put them in the oven.

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These cookies were sold out everywhere too! My mom snatched the last box so I guess they’re a big hit during the holidays. And here’s the finished product! Don’t they look awesome?! Tasty too, and so easy to make! Oh, and no washing dishes required! Well other than the baking sheet.

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And then we also made Gingerbread men! We were also lazy and bought the kit from Superstore. However, it wasn’t as quick as the Pilsbury cookies. It came with the pre-mixed flour, icing flour, piping bag, cookie cutter, as well as some sweets that we didn’t end up using. I think we over mixed these guys since they came out pretty holey… And the shapes were extremely awkward looking. The cookie cutter shaped the arms and legs extremely skinny so it was really hard to lift the dough off the counter, resulting in awkward looking men. We used smarties instead of the included sweets and the icing was surprisingly really easy to use and also didn’t taste too sweet. The gingerbread was strong in flavour, but I found them quite hard after letting them cool. Either we over mixed it or the mix wasn’t great.

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Lastly, we baked a pie! We followed Grandma Ople’s Recipe and we were quite proud of our finished product! The lattice top just makes the pie look so much better. The filling definitely was too strong in cinnamon and spices for me though. Funny thing was we already cut down half of the cinnamon that was required. The crust was flaky, and that’s thanks to the Pilsbury unroll-and-fill pie crusts! Yes, we were being lazy again, but we didn’t have time to let our dough refrigerate!

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And more desserts! Well we didn’t make this, but my parents bought some Cheesecake from Costco, and it was not bad. 4 flavours including lemon, raspberry, chocolate and dulce leche. My favourite was the lemon since the hint of sourness balanced off the sweetness of the rest of the cake. At an affordable price too!

And that was my Christmas afternoon. Definitely a belated post! 8)