Hakkasan Bistro – ChineseBites Media Event

July 14, 2015July 14, 2015Leave a comment

NOTE: Today’s post will be a guest post since K attended the ChineseBites media event on behalf of me. As part of the ChineseBites media event, all food was free, but all opinions are based on K’s own experience.

With work being so hectic and exams coming up, K got the chance to attend another ChineseBites media event on behalf of me. This time, it was at Hakkasan Bistro, where we have both been years ago when it first opened. It’s located in such a random area, with industrial offices on No.5 Road, that I have almost forgotten about this restaurant as an option.

Honey Roasted Pork Cheeks

The ChineseBites media dinner featured a good 10 course meal. It started off with the Honey Roasted Pork Cheeks, which is a chef’s signature dish. The cheek, or jowl was very tender and had that nice chewy texture. It was marinated in a honey glaze so it had a hint of sweet flavour.

Chef’s Signature Whole Coconut Pork & Snow Fungus Soup

Another signature dish was the Whole Coconut Pork & Snow Fungus Soup. The soup is double boiled for over three hours with pork, snow fungus, and savoury broth. K liked how the soup had coconut flavour, but also that you could scrape the coconut on the side, which was soft enough to eat. It also came with a soy sauce and chives dipping sauce which helped flavour the chicken. K’s only complaint was that the hole was a bit small, so a bit hard to eat, but nevertheless, one of the favourites of the night.

Steamed Specialty Odorless Garlic Lobster, Jasmine Rice

Next up was the Steamed Specialty Odorless Garlic Lobster which is one of their famous dishes. The garlic is odour-less so you won’t have garlic breath after eating this! K thought that the garlic flavour was not as pungent, and many others agreed that they would still prefer the real garlic. However, the lobster was pretty fresh and came with a fragrant jasmine rice.

Ancient Style Salt Baked Chicken

Another specialty is the Ancient Style Salt Baked Chicken. The free range chicken is marinated with a special blend of ten different flavourful Chinese herbs and spices, and then wrapped in parchment paper and placed in a clay pot filled with hot salt. This ancient baking technique gives the chicken a unique aroma and taste.

K liked this a lot since it was not super salty despite being cooked in salt. She also found the meat to be very tender.

Braised Pork Hock and Steamed Mini Flour Rolls

The Braised Pork Hock is glazed in a sweet braise sauce and came on top of some broccoli. K said that the fat didn’t melt in your mouth like some other restaurant’s pork hock, but it was still pretty good. The Steamed Mini Flour Rolls were also perfect to pair as there were lots of dipping sauce.

A nice layer of fat on top of tender meat.

Mui Choy Stirfry Seasonal Greens

Some greens for dinner were the Mui Choy Stirfry Seasonal Greens. The mui choy was pickled and flavoured well, and was great to go with rice. You don’t see many restaurants using mui choy to stirfry with veggies, so this was an interesting dish.

Hakka Homestyle Steamed Egg, Pork with Duck Yolk

The Hakka Homestyle Steamed Egg was a favourite because it was simple yet had the homey feel to the dish. Again, it paired well with rice and featured pork and duck yolk inside the silky smooth steamed egg.

Stirfry Fish with Pickled Cabbage

The last savoury dish was the Stirfry Fish with Pickled Cabbage. K found it to be quite average and her least favourite dish. Not that it wasn’t good, but there wasn’t anything too special and she felt like she could order this at any other Chinese restaurant.

Steamed Milk Egg White Custard

To finish off the huge meal, there was Steamed Milk Egg White Custard, which was great to ease off the savoury dishes. The custard is not very sweet, and K said it seemed like a great dessert if you’re on a diet!

Overall, Hakkasan definitely had quite a few impressive menu items. Prices are a bit on the higher end but they execute well with good quality items. Be sure to check to make sure whether you need to order some of these items a day in advance. The coconut soup and salt baked chicken, for example, require reservations.

Boiling Point (revisit)

July 8, 2015Leave a comment

It’s been quite some time since I’ve revisited Boiling Point, and since I was craving hot pot, I suggested to S to give it a try. This was the Richmond location.

Beef Hot Pot

I decided to try the Beef Hot Pot this time, which features napa, vermicelli, sliced Angus beef, enoki mushroom, tomato, firm tofu, tempura, corn, pork meat ball, kamaboko, fried tofu skin, imitation crab stick, green onion and cilantro. At Boiling Point, you can also specify how spicy you want your soup. I chose medium, but it actually wasn’t that spicy.

Japanese Miso Hot Pot

S got the Japanese Miso Hot Pot, which comes with cabbage, udon, sliced pork, enoki mushroom, clam, Fuzhou fish ball, fish fillet, organic Maitake mushroom, crab, fried tofu skin, soft tofu, egg, green onion. There’s quite a lot of ingredients in this pot, but S had one complaint. Since there is a mini fire that keeps your pot still boiling for another 30 minutes, he complained that the food just never cooled down and was really difficult to eat. For myself, I like to put my food onto the side bowl of rice to cool it down, but I guess he has a point. Perhaps a flame that goes on for another 15 minutes is sufficient.

There are also various sauces you can use to flavour your food. I felt that my food was already well flavoured so didn’t use any.

Snow Cubes

We also tried their Snow Cubes, which are essentially flavoured ice cubes. We got Chocolate, Matcha, and Strawberry. They are really cold, so not for people with weak teeth. It is really difficult to bite into it, so you end up just putting the whole one in your mouth. I thought these were quite average for the price you pay.

Overall, I found Boiling Point to be just quite average this time around. I felt like the portions got smaller and service was also lacking. I guess it’s a good option if you want individual hot pots though.

Pros:
– Good variety of hot pot choices
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Service can be lacking
– Portions were a bit small

Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 2.5 Service: 2.5 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 2.5

Shiang Garden – ChineseBites Media Event

July 6, 2015Leave a comment

NOTE: Today’s post will be a guest post since K attended the ChineseBites media even on behalf of me. As part of the ChineseBites media event, all food was free, but all opinions are based on K’s own experience.

Since I have been quite busy these days, K attended the ChineseBites media event at Shiang Garden on behalf of me. Shiang Garden has been around for quite some time, and their decor is quite fancy with chandeliers hanging off the ceiling. We’ve both attended some weddings here and the food has always been quite on par. For the media event, K was able to try a whooping 13 dishes!

Prawns Salad with Papaya

First up was the Prawns Salad with Papaya, which was a very refreshing appetizer. K is not a big fan of papaya, but she actually quite enjoyed this dish. There is mayo on top of the prawns and it is great for the summer weather.

Sauteed Mixed Seafood

Next up was the Sauteed Mixed Seafood, which featured shrimp, scallops and sea cucumber intestines, which tastes sort of like a clam. All seafood were pretty fresh, although the clam was a bit chewy.

Tremella with Chicken & Crab Meat Soup

The Tremella with Chicken & Crab Meat Soup was quite delicious. Tremella is like a opaque jelly fungi and it was cut up into bits in the soup. It definitely gave the soup some texture. Allen, the general manager said that the soup normally doesn’t come with tobiko, but for presentation purposes this night, they did.

Whole Chicken in Abalone Sauce

The Whole Chicken in Abalone Sauce was presented like a piece of art! Looked like a peacock, and it was literally the whole chicken! The chicken was very moist and tender. The abalone sauce paired well with the chicken to give it more flavour.

XO Sauce

Allen also brought over some XO Sauce to try, which he said is homemade. K said this was really good since it wasn’t too spicy. It had bits of dried shrimp and scallop in the sauce.

Diced Beef Tenderloin in Honey & Pepper

The Diced Beef Tenderloin in Honey & Pepper had an awesome presentation. The beef bites were very tender and flavourful.

Specialty Layer Pork

The Specialty Layer Pork was really fatty but not super oily. K said it was one of the better ones she’s had. The meat was also pretty tender, while the fat just melted in your mouth.

The dish came with a side of steamed buns, which were perfect to pair together. Put some of that fatty meat in between your buns, and you get a delicious snack!

The meat to fat proportion was on point.

Lamb Chop with Honey & Pepper

The Lamb Chop with Honey & Pepper were really good. You don’t normally see lamb dishes at Chinese restaurants, so this was quite unexpected. The meat was very tender and wasn’t too gamey.

Whole Tilapia in En-Ping Style

Next up was the Whole Tilapia in En-Ping Style. There is a vermicelli like noodle underneath which is delicious when soaked in the sauce. The fish was also quite fresh and moist.

Lobster in Salted Egg Yolk

K’s favourite dish of the night was the Lobster in Salted Egg Yolk. You usually see this salted egg yolk batter on crab and shrimp dishes, but at Shiang Garden, they’ve done it to the lobster too! The batter is dry so it stays on the meat. The lobster was also very fresh.

BC Dungeness Crab in White Wine Sauce

The BC Dungeness Crab in White Wine Sauce was also a favourite amongst the bloggers. The meat is covered with egg whites to keep the meat very moist. It’s also heavily flavoured with the white wine sauce which is delicious. Again, very fresh crab!

Steamed Spot Prawns in Garlic

Another beautifully presented dish was the Steamed Spot Prawns in Garlic. These were butterflied, but K felt it was a bit unnecessary as it didn’t make it easier to eat. She felt that the spot prawns were just average and the ones she had weren’t very fresh.

Buddha’s Feast Roll with Cabbage

Basically the only real veggie dish of the night was the Buddha’s Feat Roll with Cabbage. These were cabbage rolls filled with enoki mushroom and julienned carrots. K felt that it was a bit hard to chew when it was all rolled up and ended up deconstructing it to eat.

Baked Durian Pastry and Osmanthus Flower Cake Pudding

To finish dinner off, there were two desserts. First was the Baked Durian Pastry, which K loved. The pastry was very flaky and there was an abundant of durian filling. You could tell it was fresh durian since it was very strong in taste and aroma. Great if you’re a durian lover! The second dessert was the Osmanthus Flower Cake Pudding. The jelly was light and refreshing, but quite typical. Nothing too special.

Overall, Shiang Garden executed the food well and their seafood was quite fresh. You can also count on them for presenting nice dishes for special occasions!

Sushi Van

July 4, 2015July 4, 2015Leave a comment

Roll Combo

Sushi Van is located on Granville near Broadway, and is among one of my favourite spots to have lunch with my colleagues since it’s close by and we don’t really have any other sushi restaurants nearby. It’s tucked away underneath the Vancouver Bullion Currency Exchange, so is a bit of a hidden gem for some. The tiny, but busy restaurant is run by Koreans, but the food is still pretty authentic and there are some decent eats.

My typical order will consist of the Roll Combo, since I find it to be a pretty good deal. For $9, you can choose any of their rolls which are under $6 and you get 5 pieces of assorted nigiri. The nigiris consist of Hokigai (surf clam), Tamago (egg), Ebi (shrimp), Tuna, and Salmon. The sashimi is actually pretty fresh and the rice portion is pretty on par. For the roll I can choose, I usually go for the House Roll, which consists of assorted fish, usually salmon and tuna, crab meat, cucumber, avocado, and masago. You really get a mix of ingredients here, and it works pretty well.

Negitoro Roll

I usually also add on a Negitoro Roll, and then I am filled.

Teriyaki & Sashimi Box

They also offer a variety of bento boxes during lunch hours,and E got the Teriyaki & Sashimi Box. It features beef teriyaki, an assortment of appy size sashimi, appy size tempura, salad, 4 pieces of California Roll, and rice. It’s quite a lot of food for around $12, but the quality is actually pretty good. You get quite a lot of sashimi too, with tuna, salmon, hamachi, and amebi.

Dynamite Roll and Chicken Teriyaki Roll

S went for some of the basics and got the Dynamite Roll which was filled with prawn tempura, avocado, cucumber, crab meat, masago. He also got the Chicken Teriyaki Roll, which is filled with chicken teriyaki and cucumbers. The neat thing about Sushi Van is that they use green tea in their rice, so you’ll find the rice to be a bit tinted in green. Apparently it’s more healthy this way.

Beef Box

Stevie D got the Beef Box, which features beef teriyaki, 4 pieces of California Roll, an appy size of tempura, salad, and rice.

Party Tray A

On another occasion, E and I decided to go all out and get the Party Tray A for just the two of us. It’s designed for 2-3 people, as the menu says, but I guess it’s really ideal for 3 as we ended up having quite a bit of leftover. You get quite a large variety, including the salmon roll, California roll, dynamite roll, spicy tuna roll, calamari roll, and Salifornia roll, which is California roll wrapped salmon and deep fried with BBQ sauce. For around $25, this is a pretty good deal if you share between 3 people.

Overall, Sushi Van offers some decent eats at a reasonable price. It can be quite busy during lunch hours, so service is not always the best. Seating can also be a bit cramped here since it’s relatively small. However, with the limited choices around here, it makes a good spot to enjoy some sushi. Oh, and be sure to try their Tokyo Tower, which is also a favourite!

Pros:
– Decent eats
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Service can be lacking during busy hours

Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 3 Service: 2.5 Ambiance: 2.5 Parking: 3 Overall: 3

Pepper Lunch Canada

June 28, 2015June 28, 2015Leave a comment

Pepper Lunch has been opened for some time now and it was the most talked about place when it first opened. I remember seeing line ups out the door and the hype was just crazy. Originally from Japan, they offer sizzling hot teppan style food. The Richmond location is the first location in Canada. Your order comes with a special electromagnetic cooker which will heat up to 260˚C in 70 seconds and then remain hot for more than 20 minutes at a lower temperature. Therefore, your food is still kept warm without overcooking.

Well when we visited the restaurant a few weeks ago after work, the place was completely empty except for another table of diners. The hype has died and there are no more line ups! At Pepper Lunch, you order at the front first, then they seat you and bring the food to you when it’s ready. You don’t really get much service.

Beef Pepper Rice

K got the Beef Pepper Rice. The server told us to start mixing the rice and meat together and pour the sauce in to give more flavour. It comes with a garlic soy sauce and a honey brown sauce which are both delicious when mixed together. This was pretty good and the meat was tender. It’s funny because they actually have screens around the restaurant playing videos on how to sizzle your meat.

Pepper Burger Steak

For myself, I got the Pepper Burger Steak, which is basically those Japanese hamburgers. My rice did not come on the plate, but I ended up pouring it in and also using the sauces that came with K’s dish in mine since it tasted so much better! The burger was well seasoned and wasn’t overcooked because of how the plate controls the temperature so well.

Overall, we thought Pepper Lunch is pretty good, but at the same time, it’s on the pricier side. The two dishes we got were on their lower end of the menu at around $10 after tax, but many of their other options are quite expensive. Their steaks for example, can go up to $30! Knowing that there really isn’t much service, it feels like the prices can get quite steep. K also mentioned that Teppan Kitchen at the Aberdeen Food Court essentially offers the same menu, but at a lower price and tastes just as good. We shall see if Pepper Lunch will stay around with all the competition in Richmond…

Pros:
– Quality and taste of food is pretty good
– Fun to have some interaction with your food

Cons:
– Can get pretty pricey depending on what you order

Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 3.5 Service: N/A Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 3

VanVan Izakaya – ChineseBites Media Event

June 27, 2015June 30, 2015Leave a comment

NOTE: As part of the ChineseBites media event, all food was free, but all opinions are based on my own experience.

A few weeks ago, I was invited by ChineseBites to try out the food at VanVan Izakaya along with a few other food bloggers.

It took over the old Benkei Ramen location not long ago, and I have passed by it many times. Something about their name just threw me off a bit, so I never ended up giving it a try.

The interior has many wooden accents and gives you that Japanese izakaya feel.

Raw Octopus with Wasabi

We started off with the Raw Octopus with Wasabi, which is really Tako Wasa. If you love wasabi and raw octopus, this is a great dish for you. I really enjoyed this as the octopus was fresh and you got that kick of spicy wasabi. It comes with seaweed so you can wrap the octopus.

Beef Carpaccio

The Beef Carpaccio came with mayo, balsamic vinegar, and cheese. The cheese was a stronger cheese and I think it might’ve been gorgonzola. The beef was sliced so thinly, that I couldn’t really taste it. I found this dish to be underwhelming.

Russian Roulette Octopus Balls

Next up was the Russian Roulette, which is a must order at VanVan. Not really because they are the best takoyakis, but more because of how it’s a fun dish to order with friends. One of these octopus balls are filled with a super spicy wasabi paste. Luckily, I didn’t get it, but apparently it was a very strong kick.

Beef Short Rib

The Beef Short Ribs were probably one of my favourites of the night. When it arrived, I thought that the beef was cooked rather medium rare compared to other restaurants, but it turned out to be perfect since it was very tender. Short ribs can be easily overcooked to dry, but this kept its moisture. The marinade was also very tasty.

Pork Jowl

The Pork Jowl was also another favourite of mine. They seem to be doing something right with their grilled dishes! It came with a Japanese citrus sauce, and the meat was extremely tender with that nice chew.

Ebi Mayo

Next up was Ebi Mayo, which was topped with a garlic chili mayo. These were only average as the batter slipped right out and the prawns were a bit mushy. I also didn’t really like that chili mayo seasoning they used.

Octopus and Marinated Mackerel Sashimi

Next up, we ordered every type of sashimi they had, which isn’t a lot since they focus more on their izakaya food. We started off with the Octopus and Marinated Mackerel. I really enjoyed the Octopus as it was tender with a slight chew. The Marinated Mackerel was also very fresh and surprisingly wasn’t too fishy for me. I’m usually note a huge fan of saba.

Albacore Tuna, Atlantic Salmon, Scallop Sashimi

Next were your typical Albacore Tuna and Atlantic Salmon. I found the tuna to be rather mushy and wasn’t as fresh as I’ve had. However, my favourite had got to be the Scallops. They were very fresh and had a great texture.

Chicken Thigh Karage

Chicken Thigh Karage followed and I found it to be average. It was crispy, but nothing that wowed me.

Marinated Jellyfish

Marinated Jellyfish tasted quite like your typical, which you can find at Chinese restaurants.

Curry Poutine

Curry Poutine was an odd dish, but actually tasted pretty good. The fries were crispy and topped generously with a Japanese curry sauce and some cheese.

Chopped Raw Salmon

The Chopped Raw Salmon came nicely presented in a box form along with some seaweed to wrap it in. The salmon was seasoned with a sweet garlic sauce.

Dried Squid Snack Tempura

We had originally wanted to order the Squid Tentacles Karage, but apparently they were sold out. Instead, we got the Dried Squid Snack Tempura, which was probably our least favourite at my table. It was literally the dried squid you would get in packs as a snack, but deep fried. I would’ve much rather ate the dried squid unbattered.

Whole Squid

One of my favourites of the night was the Whole Squid, which was essentially grilled squid. The squid was tender and had a nice char on top. The only issue was why do they put mayo on every dish! This really didn’t need any mayo since it was already very flavourful.

Japanese Old Style Omelette

The Japanese Old Style Omelette was again drizzled with an overload of mayo. There is supposed to be some pork in it, but it was quite little. My portion ended up having mostly cabbage and it had this odd sour taste to it. Not a fan.

BBQ Eel Rice in Hot Bowl

Onto some rice and noodle dishes. First up was the BBQ Eel Rice in Hot Bowl. This was pretty good with the eel being very flavourful. However, I wish the rice had that nice char from the hot bowl.

Pork Fried Noodle

The Pork Fried Noodle was alright. Sort of like a yakisoba. But again, I’m not sure why there’s a huge blob of mayo on the side. You really don’t need to mix that in, since the noodles are already flavoured well.

BBQ Pork Rice Bowl

Our last savoury dish was the BBQ Pork Rice Bowl, which I quite enjoyed. The BBQ pork was really tender and I enjoyed the light marinade.

Rice Cake Wrapped Strawberry

We then sampled one of each item on their dessert menu. The Rice Cake Wrapped Strawberry is a mochi ball filled with red bean paste and a whole strawberry. I love mochi and red bean paste, so I quite enjoyed this. However, I found that the strawberry threw things off a bit. It was a bit sour and the texture is much harder, so it didn’t work too well. Although it’s a nice concept, I would’ve preferred it without the strawberry.

Green Tea Soy Milk Pudding

Although the Green Tea Soy Milk Pudding had a weird texture when you scooped it, it was probably one of my favourite desserts. The pudding is in a very liquid form, but you get a good taste of the soy milk with just the right amount of green tea flavour.

Green Tea Ice Cream

We also had the Green Tea Ice Cream, which comes with whipped cream and some red bean paste. Nothing too special.

Black Sesame Ice Cream

And last but not least, we also had the Black Sesame Ice Cream, which is strong in black sesame flavour. Again, it comes with some whipped cream and red bean paste.

Overall, VanVan Izakaya has both hits and misses. I really enjoyed their grilled dishes, especially the short ribs, pork jowl, and squid. They only do sushi rolls during lunch time, but for dinner, you can still enjoy some of their sashimi dishes.

Ramen Jinya

June 26, 2015June 26, 2015Leave a comment

Ramen Jinya, located on Robson, closer towards Cambie, has been around Vancouver for many years. Finally, on a sunny weekend, S and I decided to try it out with K. We went at a pretty odd time in the afternoon, so we only had a short wait. Still, the place is packed any time of the day!

The interior is nice and modern, and seating feels much more spacious than many other ramen shops in Downtown. Service was also extremely friendly and attentive.

Crispy Chicken with Salad

S went for a combo for his noodles, so by adding an extra $4.50, he got the Crispy Chicken with Salad. I didn’t try this but it had a very nice crispy golden batter.

Tonkotsu Miso Ramen

K got the Tonkotsu Mison Ramen, which features pork belly char-siu, kikurage, green onion, spicy been sprouts, and corn. He said it was pretty good.

Tonkotsu Classic Ramen – Shio

S got the Tonkotsu Classic Ramen, which features a shio soup base. It featured pork belly char-siu, Kikurage, green onion, and fried onion.

JINYA Tonkotsu Black

For myself, I went with the JINYA Tonkotsu Black, which is their number one seller. It offers original pork broth with pork belly char-siu, kikurage, green onions, flavoured boiled egg, seaweed, black garlic oil, and garlic chips. I liked how the garlic oil wasn’t overbearing here, but you still got that hint of garlic flavour. The noodles they use in this broth are thin noodles, which I like since I find them more chewy.

Overall, Jinya didn’t disappoint and is a great option for ramen in Vancouver. Service is also extremely friendly. Jinya recently also opened a new store in Kerrisdale, so hopefully that disperses the crowds at the downtown location.

Pros:
– Great broth and noodles
– Friendly service

Cons:
– Expect waits during prime hours

Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 3.5 Service: 4 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 3.5

Temper Pastry (Summer Soirée and New Menu Launch)

June 13, 2015June 13, 20151 Comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary as part of the Temper Pastry media event.

Last week The PR Company invited me to Temper Pastry for their summer soirée and new menu launch. Temper Pastry is located in the village of Dundarave in West Vancouver, which is an area I am not too familiar with. However, going along Marine Drive, I realized how beautiful this area is! Tons of cute cafés and boutiques in this seaside village. Temper has both seating indoors and outdoors. The patio was perfect to enjoy the sunny evening.

Owner and chef, Steven Hodge was on site and greeted me as I arrived. Steven actually grew up in Dundarave, but later moved to California to study business administration and then at Le Cordon Blue, specializing in pastry and chocolate. Steven has years of experience from all over the world, from apprenticing at Dominic’s Restaurant in West Hollywood to working in England at Gordon Ramsay’s 3 Michelin star restaurant. He then returned to Vancouver to work with Thomas Haas to fine tune his culinary skills. And just last January, he decided to open Temper to follow his culinary dreams.

Temper offers many take home chocolates and are perfect for gifts. I especially loved the chocolate animals.

And of course they offer their gourmet handcrafted chocolates. Any items that are coffee flavoured feature Stumptown coffee.

Temper offers some items for the summer. That evening, we got to sample some of these summer items as well as new menu items.

Pink Grapefruit Iced Tea

I started off trying their Pink Grapefruit Iced Tea, which was extremely refreshing and pretty to look at. There is just a slight grapefruit flavour without it being too tangy or sweet.

Almond Croissants

We also got to sample various croissants. Temper’s croissants go through a three-day process: a 17 hour-polish and 24 hour dough. He also uses high quality ingredients like European butter to ensure that the croissants are the flakiest they can be. I got to try the Almond Croissants, which I had high expectations for, knowing that he had trained under Thomas Haas. Thomas Haas definitely makes the best croissants in Vancouver in my opinion, and you can tell that Steven has learned to do just that. These croissants were flaky and melted in your mouth. There were also various truffles, which were also exceptional.

Lime and Coconut Fruit Tart, Passion Fruit Dessert (Back – left to right)
Rum Baba Parfait, Pistachio & Strawberry Parfait, Eton Mess Parfait, Lemon Yoghurt Mousse Parfait (Front – left to right)

Next were some of the new desserts, featuring a variety of parfaits. I didn’t actually end up trying all these, but I did get to sample the Rum Baba Parfait. Just like how a rum baba should be, the cake was moist and saturated with rum, although I found it rather sweet than strong in alcohol flavour. There was just the right amount of cream and there were some crunchy bits at the top to give it some texture. Delicious treat and I liked how it wasn’t too heavy.

What’s great about Temper is that they also support the local community. They actually feature their neighbouring business, Sebastian & Co Fine Meats Ltd. We got to sample some charcuterie and the meats were delicious! I especially enjoyed their salami and prosciutto.

Sebastian and Co. also sell cheese, so we got quite a variety of cheese to sample that night.

Loved the Smoked Gouda!

Drinks were also being served that evening. For wines, Tightrope Winery was a featured sponsor, and I got to try the Pinot Gris (2014). I liked how it had a fruity aroma to it.

Several breweries also sponsored beer that night. This included Bridge, Grolsh, Hoyne, Black Kettle, and Postmark. Unfortunately, I did not get around to trying all these.

Mini Ice Cream Bars

And then the Mini Ice Cream Bars rolled in! These are homemade and featured just for the summer. The perfect size without feeling too guilty! There are three flavours: almonds, chocolate, and vanilla. The little cups featured a caramel dessert which I forgot what the name was, but other guests mentioned they were really delicious!

Chocolate Mini Ice Cream Bar

I went for the Chocolate Mini Ice Cream Bar, which was absolutely delicious! Just the right amount of sweetness, and the chocolate inside was creamy smooth!

A snapshot of the interior of the chocolate mini ice cream bar.

Affogato Espresso with Vanilla Ice Cream

Next up, I sampled the Affogato Espresso with Vanilla Ice Cream. I’m not a regular coffee drinker, but I loved the contrast of hot and cold in this drink. The espresso is from Stumptown Coffee and the drink was smooth and creamy. If you love coffee and ice cream, then this is the perfect drink for you.

Longaniza Sausage

Last but not least, Temper had a barbeque going on, so we got to try some of Sebastian and Co.’s specialty sausages. That night, they had three sausages being grilled: Hot Italian, Longaniza, and Classic Pork. I believe I got the Longaniza since it tasted like chorizo. The sausage was flavoured with chilies and spices, and I added some grainy mustard to my hot dog. Super tasty without an overwhelming amount of heat.

Guests left with a gift bag, which featured some of Temper’s chocolates. This included Temper’s Signature Dark Chocolate Bar, which I really enjoyed. A slight bitterness to it, but extremely smooth chocolate.

We also got some truffles and chocolates including, a Ganache, Pina Colada Truffle and Salty Ball, which has won an award. The Salty ball is chocolate enrobed in liquid caramel! Delicious!

Overall, I was extremely impressed with Temper’s chocolates and pastries. Steven’s creations show the years of experiences he has gone through in perfecting his skills. I guess I will have to make trips out to West Vancouver to try out more of his desserts now! Thanks to Naz from the PR company and Steven for inviting me to this wonderful event!