Bel Cafe

March 26, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Crispy Choux, Orange & Milk Chocolate Ganache

Rose and Raspberry Macaron & Cookies and Cream Macaron

Happy belated International Macaron Day!! And yes, it’s macaron, not macaroon. Honestly, I didn’t really know the difference until sometime late last year after getting all confused and deciding to do some research into it. But what I’m talking about here aren’t the coconut macaroons, but those colourful Parisian desserts that are made with almond flour. And I believe there is a difference in pronunciation too, but I guess most people don’t realize. So yes, International Macaron Day was on March 20th, and honestly, I did not know about this big day until Steph told me. She is clearly the bigger foodie here! So yes, of course we had to celebrate and get some macarons! We wanted to go to Soirette but it was kind of far from where we were, so I did a little googling, and off we went to Bel Cafe. And we discovered it was actually right next to Hawksworth, and is the sister cafe to it! So they are both situated in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia. Honestly, I’m not a crazy fan of macarons as I think there are tons of other desserts that are more worthy, but Vancouver has been on a macaron craze these past few years. Everyone talks about them, and I’m no expert to judge which ones are better. The rose and raspberry macaron definitely had a very strong rose taste to it, but I actually didn’t really taste any raspberry flavour. I did like the strong rose flavour though, as I love rose flavoured desserts! The cookies and cream macaron was really good too. You could totally taste the cookies and cream flavour with a strong vanilla flavour as well. Almost tasted like a chewy Oreo! Overall, they had a consistent smooth texture with a little chewiness inside which I like! Next, we also got the Crispy Choux, Orange & Milk Chocolate Ganache. It was basically a cream puff with a strong orange flavour to it. Not bad, but I found the puff a little tough, but I think it was supposed to be the “crispy” part of it. Service was exceptional, and the cafe is extremely busy! We almost couldn’t find a seat and had to go for take out. Busy busy cafe with exceptional desserts and savoury items as well!

Hubbub Sandwiches

March 25, 2012April 25, 2013Leave a comment

Pork Sandwich

Marinated for 24 hours to be spicy and tender, then perfectly slow roasted.

Such a lovely day in Vancouver, but still pretty chilly. Went downtown to try Hubbub Sandwiches since people have been talking about these gourmet sandwiches. And of course I go on my food expedition with Steph! It was actually their 1st anniversary last week, which is when I went so they were having daily promos and giveaways all week! That day, if you bought any item on the menu that had chicken in it, you would be entered for a chance to win a gift basket! Unfortunately, Steph and I had come here hearing about the pulled pork sandwich and desperately wanted to try that! So no contest for us… Anyways, their concept is that there is “the sandwich” and then your “protein.” So basically, every sandwich starts off with the same base: pickled jalapenos, creamy garlic sauce, romaine lettuce, cilantro, and crunchy caramelized onions on top of a toasty baguette. And then you choose your protein, which they offer pork, turkey sausage, chicken breast, veggie or prawn! You would think how special can a pulled pork sandwich be, but believe me, it was amazing. First bite, i thought the baguette was a little tough and hard for my liking, but the pulled pork which was moist worked well with the tougher bread. It became easier to bite afterwards, and oh did it get really spicy too! I can’t usually take spice, and I could literally see jalapenos in my sandwich, but I still chewed on. The spice gave such a nice punch to the sandwich and the marinade had such a good flavour to it! They even had cilantro and onions in it, which I was never a big fan of, but I ate everything. All the ingredients just worked so well with each other. Now I know why they can just use the same base for every sandwich they make. Portions were also quite filling, as I only shared one sandwich with Steph and was already quite filled. So definitely go try it out when you’re in downtown since it’s extremely close to the shops and skytrain too. $9 for a sandwich is pretty pricy, but it’s definitely worth it.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar

March 22, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Cookies & Cream Waffle
oreo, whipped cream & chocolate sauce

Banana Caramel Waffle
banana, whipped cream, cookie crumbs & caramel sauce

Tiramisu Waffle
cream cheese custard cream, coffee jelly & chocolate sauce

Finally got to try the well talked about Miura Waffle Milk Bar! They are apparently family owned and operated, and upon entering, we were greeted by a very friendly waitress. I believe they are Japanese owned. They basically offer both savoury and sweet “waffle sandos,” which basically means waffle sandwiches in Japanese. They also specialize in flavoured milks and drinks, which I never got a chance to try. I did a little digging on their site and found that they have flavoured milks and yoggy milks. It’s pretty cool since they actually have milk that are flavoured with real fruits and juices, and the yoggy milk are yogurty milk drinks that are thicker than plain milk. Next time, I will definitely try. All my friends got sweet waffle sandwiches since we were really look for a dessert place. However, I believe that their savoury ones are quite popular since most customers had ordered them… I never got to try the Banana Caramel, but I did prefer the Cookies and Cream to the Tiramisu one. I found the Tiramisu to be a little bland since the coffee jelly was not strong in flavour. The Cookies and Cream actually had a good crunch to it and was much more flavourful. Overall, they were still very good, and I would love to try their savoury waffles and drinks next time. The store is quite small, but people seem to always be going in and out, so that’s a good sign!

Aoyama Cafe

March 20, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Seafood Curry Japanese Spaghetti

Seafood Salad

Went to Aoyama Cafe at Aberdeen Centre to have a small little birthday dinner with the girls, and the restaurant was surprisingly quite empty on a Saturday night. I’ve been here a few times when it had just opened and I think they had more customers back then. I had the Seafood Curry Japanese Spaghetti and it was alright. Had a good portion of seafood and had a hint of curry flavour that wasn’t too strong. Nothing too special though, and I’ve had better spaghetti. My friend had the Seafood Salad, which actually looked quite appetizing amongst all the greens. Overall, I think it’s decent for some unique Japanese fusion food, but I think it is a little overpriced for the portions and overall taste. I think I’ve had better pasta, but I have to say, I am always pleased with their service since it’s quick and friendly. They also have awesome desserts and drinks, so I would definitely recommend going for that. It’s worth a try if you haven’t been, but definitely isn’t my go-to place.

The Pit Burger Bar (UBC)

March 19, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Mushroom Burger

I’ve been going to the Pit Burger Bar a lot for dinners when I have exams at school on a late night, and decided to try the Mushroom Burger. Usually they have specials each day which comes along with a drink and fries for around $5, but I didn’t want that day’s special so ended up just getting the burger on itself. It’s okay – probably just really typical A&W style burger, but it was loaded with mushrooms. I guess I was really hungry, so it tasted pretty good to me.

Thomas Haas

March 17, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Caramel & Chocolate Brownie Cake
Chocolate pecan brownie, caramel cremeux and caramel Bavarian

Totally haven’t been updating since I’ve been so busy with school and exams! But I’m back! I’m guessing they usually have specials that they have for a certain time, since they had a chalkboard with specials written on it. And of course I decided to try something new and special! Here’s a Caramel & Chocolate Brownie Cake. It’s supposed to look much nicer than this, but unfortunately I had probably swayed the box around too much, which I guess wasn’t the best idea… But hey, it still tasted great! The caramel made it a little more special than just regular chocolate cake, although I found it a little sweet for my personal liking.There were also pecans at the bottom which gave the cake a great crunch. Be sure to try it out before they aren’t on the menu anymore!

If you want to read about my first experience at Thomas Haas, check out the previous post: http://everydayisafoodday.tumblr.com/post/16270765615/thomas-haas

March 7, 2012April 25, 2013Leave a comment

Homemade Chocolate Dipped Strawberries! Yum!

The Sweet Spot Bakery

March 5, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Friend of mine brought me some sweets from The Sweet Spot Bakery! I’ve been talking about trying this place for ages but they’re closed on Mondays, and somehow I always end up in that area on a Monday, so never got the chance to try it out! I don’t know what the names of these sweets are on the menu, but I’ll give a guess to what I think are in them. Top Left hand corner was a dark chocolate cake, that kind of had mousse in it I believe? Whatever it was, it was delicious! The bottom left hand corner was a hazelnut cake. The bottom was crunchy as it had some type of wafer at the bottom, and a few nuts (I believe they were pecans) along the bottom. Also very good, but I would choose the dark chocolate cake over the hazelnut one! On the right, we have a homemade ice cream. It’s called Malted Kulfi, according to the label, and I really had no idea what it was. So I did some googling, and found that Kulfi is an Indian dessert, that is quite like western ice cream, except that it is not whipped, and therefore is much more solid and dense compared to ice cream. It is also the reason why it doesn’t melt as quickly as western ice cream. No wonder it took forever for me to even be able to grab a scoop! The colourful little grains are what I believe are malted candies. It had an interesting flavour, maybe not something that I’m extremely fond of, as it almost tasted like licorice. But then again, it was interesting! I have never tried a dessert quite like this before. Now I really want to go to the bakery again on my own to see all these wonderful desserts!