Portobello Ristorante

February 5, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

RISOTTO DI MARE
Italian Rice with Prawns, Squid, Sea Scallops, white wine, fresh herbs

COZZE ALLA MARINARA
Fresh mussels, steamed with butter garlic and white wine, touch of tomato sauce

FUNGO PORTOBELLO GRATINATO Portobello mushroom stuffed with bread crumbs, fresh herbs Served with roasted red pepper sauce
Amaretto Di Saronno crème brulee

Torta di Nocciola
Hazelnut chocolate Cheese cake

Portobello Ristorante is said to be hidden gem in the neighbourhood when you have a look at the reviews online! So of course, I decided to go try it out! I had imagined it to be a very fancy restaurant, but it was actually quite family-oriented. It is apparently an Italian family owned restaurant and therefore, the food is quite authentic. Both the risotto and mussels were very delicious! It had great flavour. The portobello mushroom stuffed with bread crumbs was my favourite. I’m guessing this is their signature dish since the restaurant has the word portobello in its name! It was extremely moist and juicy, and crispy at the top. The hazelnut chocolate cheesecake and creme brulee were also exceptional! Definitely need to check this restaurant out! It’s casual, but the ambiance is lovely!

Sauder Exchange Cafe

February 3, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Mmmm I love samosas, and it’s always a great snack at school. I usually get them at the Delly in the SUB, but it was so far, so I just grabbed it at the Sauder Exchange Cafe inside the Henry Angus building at UBC. This one is a Beef Samosa – I’m guessing they have chicken and vegetarian as well. The pastry is not as thin as the one at the Delly, but I prefer the fillings in this one compared to the Delly. Also quite large in size! It is however, quite oily, but nonetheless delicious!

ensemble Restaurant and Bar

February 2, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Prawn Cocktail

Black Cod with Pork Thai Broth – Bok Choy, Coriander, Chili Oil

Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio – Radish, Crisp Shallots, Rosemary Bannock

Beef Shin and Fritz – Carrot Purée, Watercress

Strawberry Soufflé

As a Top Chef fan, who got excited when we had Top Chef Canada, the discovery of ensemble Restaurant and Bar meant more excitement! Top Chef’s first Canadian winner Dale MacKay opened ensemble sometime last year in the spring, actually before Top Chef Canada was actually aired, and hearing pretty good reviews, I was excited to finally go try it out! Clearly, he did not disappoint! The Black Cod with Thai Broth had great flavour and the cod was cooked perfectly so that it was still moist. This was also top rated on his menu, and from what I remember, it was also featured on Top Chef. If you love carpaccio, the Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio is a must try! It was probably my favourite dish that night. It was extremely fresh and the seasonings were great! Lastly, for dessert, the Souffle of the Day was a Strawberry Souffle, which I enjoyed a lot. Not only did it look pretty, but it was fluffy and light and I liked the hint of strawberry twist to it. It’s interesting to also note that if you go to their website, they call themselves a French Restaurant, but I have to say that the food is more like contemporary WestCoast food.

Triple O’s Strawberry Sundae

February 1, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Craved some ice cream at school the other day…and Triple O’s was closest so I decided to give their Strawberry Sundae a try! I’m guessing no one really ever orders sundaes here, since the cashier paused for a second before processing my order. Pretty good vanilla ice cream, and you can even see the little black spots of vanilla in it! Came with a little wafer stick too! Not bad. At least it satisfied my cravings!

Kaneda Japanese Restaurant

January 31, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Assorted Sashimi, including Salmon, Tuna, Hokkigai, Tako (Octopous)

Beef Sashimi

Lobster/Kani, Chopped Scallop, Shark Fin, Mirugai Nigiri Sushi

Tobiko, Toro, Unagi Nigiri Sushi

Dynamite Roll, Alaska Roll, California Roll, Chopped Scallop Roll

Fresh Oyster, Gomae, Agedashi Tofu, Fish Soup, Prawn Tempura

Yakitori (Chicken Skewer), Beef Short Ribs

I was flipping through an asian food magazine and found that a new restaurant called Kaneda Japanese Restaurant had opened on West Broadway. I hadn’t had all you can eat sushi for a very long time since I hate that feeling of stuffing myself just to get my money’s worth, but I was definitely craving some this weekend. Decided to give it a try, but I have to say I was quite disappointed. I looked at the reviews and I saw that they had pretty good reviews, but I have to say that the food and service is not up to par. The food took extremely long to arrive and the order of food came in an awkward order. You would expect to get all your sashimi and salads first, but no, things like beef short ribs came before salmon sashimi was served. Salads as simple as gomae and shrimp sunomono took what felt like 30 minutes to come. You would assume that all you can eat places would have things like salad all prepared ahead of time since they need to send them out in bulk amounts. But no, they took forever, and they didn’t taste any better than other all you can eat places that served them right away. Our sushi was also all mixed up, or it was either that they didn’t have it and just substituted our food without asking. We ordered lobster nigiri sushi, but it tasted like imitation crab, and our albalone nigiri sushi never came, but something that was clearly chopped scallop, which we had not ordered, came. Would’ve appreciated if they let us know beforehand there wasn’t the items and they shouldn’t have just substituted it for something else. All the cook food, like skewers and agedashi tofu were pretty good though, and they presented the sashimi on a very nice platter. Food just took way too long to come though, and we had to even ask our server where our food was. He replied that there was only one chef preparing the sushi. Understaffed on a Saturday night? The restarurant wasn’t even full too though, so maybe that’s why. Service was just way too slow, and even when we asked for our bill, it took them 10 minutes to get it to us. Definitely not going back, but I have to say they have a large variety of food to choose from for all you can eat at around $25 a person.

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar

January 30, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Got these Cranberry Bliss Bars from Starbucks during the holidays, but never ate them til now. I’ve had their Cranberry Scones in store before, but never tried these bars. I got the ones that came in a box with 6 bars, and they’re supposed to be kept in the fridge. Surprisingly, they still taste really fresh, and are actually quite soft. They are basically a blondie cake base topped with sweet cream cheese icing. I love the white chocolate pieces in the dough and the cranberries and hint of ginger bring a great flavour to it.

Faubourg

January 23, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Cakes

Savouries

Types of Teas

Vert Provence – A grand green tea with flowery aroma combined with tastes of Provence, red and black fruits plus sweet lavender

3 sets of Purple Afternoon Tea – choice of 2 sandwiches, 2 pastries, and a scone with cream and jam, and choice of tea

My Purple Afternoon Tea Set! – Mini Opera, Chocolate Mousse, Smoked Salmon and Wasabi Cream Sandwich, Cucumber, Roast Beef, and Corriander Cream Sandwich, Scone with Cream and Mandarin Orange Jam

Went to Faubourg a little late in the afternoon, so most of their pastries and savoury items were already all sold out. We decided to have high tea, and they had a smaller set called the Purple Afternoon Tea for $16. We got to choose 2 sandwiches and 2 pastries, and it came with a scone and choice of tea. I have to say that service was quite terrible. We were served by a rude man who wasn’t very polite when we asked questions about the teas. He almost seemed impatient and didn’t want to serve us. Funny, since he was dressed in a dress shirt and all, and looked almost like a manager. He might’ve been, actually, but I don’t know. Food on the other hand was good, and everything was presented nicely. I extremely liked the Chocolate Mousse and the Smoked Salmon Roll. They also have another afternoon set for a slightly higher price, but it includes all the different pastries and sandwiches. I guess you have to go earlier if you want to try their full size pastries!

Thomas Haas

January 22, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Chocolate!

Cakes!

Mmmmm…

Macarons!

Tree made of Macarons!

Dark Chocolate Orange – Layers of thin chocolate manjari cake, orange bavarian, orange confit, caramelized cocoa bean crunch and dark chocolate mousse, Exotic Cheesecake – Classic cheesecake with passionfruit, mango and orange zest , Crispy Chocolate Raspberry – Dark Manjari chocolate-raspberry mousse, light vanilla Bavarian, chocolate sacher cake, and crispy hazelnut wafer

Double Baked Almond Croissant

I finally got to visit Thomas Haas! After a disappointing visit to find out it was closed on Tuesdays, I decided to go again on a weekend. Probably a bad idea though, because it was packed with people and there was nowhere to sit! The lineup almost reached the door! I decided to try a few desserts since it took me twice to finally get some desserts! I’ve had Thomas Haas chocolates and truffles from gifts before, but I never visited the store myself, so I was extremely excited to see all the desserts in the behind the window! The Dark Chocolate Orange was quite good, although I found it a little too sweet. The Exotic Cheesecake was not bad too, but the fruits were a little sour, so I probably would have preferred to an original cheesecake. The Crispy Chocolate Raspberry was definitely my favourite though. It had a wafer bottom, and it wasn’t too sweet. Really delicious. Another one of my favourites was the Double Baked Almond Croissant. I don’t know what it was, but something about it was REALLY delicious. You don’t get that really buttery oily flavour to the croissant, and the almonds make it extra delicious. I would definitely go back for that croissant. And there are still so many other cakes I would love to try! The chocolates and macarons also look delicious! I was also able to see Thomas Haas, himself, at the store, and he was kind enough to let us try a new cake, I’m guessing. I believe it was some sort of fruit cake, and it was quite delicious as well! Would love to go back soon now!