Kumare

December 20, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Lumpiang Shanghai
Deep fried bite sized pork spring rolls

Beef Mami
Beef, egg, spring onions, and vegetables

Inihaw na Pusit
Grilled squid

Pancit Langlang
Stir-fried vermicelli and egg noodles, diced chicken and pork, and assorted vegetables.

Leche Flan

Ube Macapuno Cake
Ube chiffon cake and cream cheese icing

This is my second time at Kumare now! First time, I have to admit that I had no idea what I was ordering and wasn’t ordering the right “Filipino” food, so this time, I brought a Filipino friend with me for lunch! First off, we got some spring rolls that were filled with pork. They were really good and the filling was quite different from the ones I normally eat. Then, there was the soup, which I found quite interesting. It had a lot of vegetables and it had a sour taste to it. Not something I would normally order, but it wasn’t too bad. The squid was really interesting, as it was filled with green and red peppers, and then it was grilled. I have never tried something like this before! It was delicious other than the parts that were grilled a little too much. Those parts had a burnt taste to it. This time, my friend ordered noodles that were supposed to be Filipino – not those Pad Thai noodles I ordered last time that clearly were originated from the Malaysian and Thai Cuisine. The noodles were like vermicelli and had an interesting flavour to it. Quite delicious! And last but not least, I finally got to try their desserts, since Kumare also has a bakery section to the restaurant. I insisted on trying the Taro Chiffon Cake as I wanted to for the longest time, but my friend also suggested the Leche Flan, which is basically like a caramel pudding. So glad she ordered that because it was so delicious! Definitely one of my favourite desserts now! The Taro Cake was also not bad, as it had a nice taro flavour to it and the cream wasn’t too thick. It was also topped with some coconut that seemed to be freshly peeled off! Overall, it was a great experience having Filipino food. I think I might have a better idea of what to order next time and I’m definitely coming back!

Chicco Coffee & Dessert Bar

December 1, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Cheesecake Parfait & Green Tea Parfait

I’ve been seeing pictures of these delicious parfaits in food magazines for a long time but never really knew where Chicco was. Finally decided to search it up, and found it was on Robson St, past all the shops. A very small store, but greeted immediately with friendly employers that seemed to be Japanese. They have a variety of hot and cold drinks, cakes and other small desserts, and their famous parfaits. My friend and I decided to try the Cheesecake Parfait and Green Tea Parfait. Both have pieces of cake at the very bottom, then a layer of cornflakes, then a layer of jelly depending on the flavour, and some whipped cream along with ice cream. The cheesecake parfait came with vanilla flavoured ice cream topped with a piece of Japanese soft cheesecake and drizzled with strawberry sauce. The green tea parfait came with green tea ice cream, red beans, mochi, and a piece of green tea sponge cake. Definitely satisfied my sweet tooth!

Adonia Teahouse

October 24, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Mini Afternoon Tea

I love the feeling of going to high tea. It’s like going back to childhood memories where you dressed up and had tea parties! Afternoon tea is a great choice to get together with your bestie or a few girls to catch up and indulge in some tasty mini sweets and savouries, while taking a sip from your favourite tea. I’ve gone to both the Urban Tea Merchant and Secret Garden, but Adonia is the place where you will feel as though you are in a fairytale. Their decor is beyond exquisite and the chinaware are gorgeous with floral prints. Oh so girly! For just $17 a person, you can enjoy a Mini Afternoon Tea, which includes 7 pieces of mini sweets and savories accompanied by your choice of tea. If you want a larger assortment, then you can go for their Afternoon Tea f or $27 a person. Both are priced at a reasonable price, and the food is delicious!

Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio Ice Cream

October 18, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Going States grocery shopping means buying some ice cream! The States sells branded ice cream like Ben & Jerry’s, Haagen Daaz and Dreyers for ridiculously cheaper prices than in Canada! Decided to try this pistachio flavour Ben & Jerry’s and it actually has pieces of pistachio nuts in it. Has a great pistachio flavour and the bits of nuts in it gives it a great texture. Delicious!

Bell’s Bake Shop

October 16, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Red Velvet Giant Cupcake

Did I make this myself? Nope…but it sure looks like one after a really disappointing cake fail story! I got my friend a giant cupcake for her birthday at Bell’s Bake Shop in Steveston Village, and by giant, I mean it’s supposed to be equivalent to around 20 cupcakes, so it feeds around 10 people. This one was red velvet with buttercream frosting. So I picked it up at the store, and they showed me how it looked inside the box, and I went back into the car carrying it on my lap while I was driven to the restaurant for dinner. I was told to just put it at room temperature so I handed it over to my waitress. Around 15 minutes into dinner, my waitress comes over and tells me that I should take a look at my cake. The manager was also there and said that he had opened it and the cake had fell. Basically the whole top half had toppled to one side. I was extremely disappointed and asked if they could do anything to fix it up. And this is what they came up with. Pretty good compared to what a mess it had looked like…The red colouring is from the birthday message I had paid to get written, and I told the chef to just smother it around since the message was ruined anyways. I had paid $35 for the cake with $2 extra for the birthday message. I don’t know if it was my own fault from the way I carried it, or the cake shop themselves, but I am definitely not going back there again – at least not for a giant cupcake. Yes, the giant cupcake looks really cool and presentable at the table, but if it is so unstable and just topples over, I really don’t think it’s worth it. I might as well just buy 20 different cupcakes.

Cookshop

October 11, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Given some complementary white wine!

Margarita Pizza with Fresh Tomatoes, young Bocconcini & Fresh Basil

Beef Tartar with Capers & Shallots served on Toast Points with a Quail Egg
Potato Ravioli filled with Chicken & Sage
Crispy Calamari with Tomato Caper Sauce
Local BC. Halibut Cakes Served with Spicy Aioli

Chocolate Panna Cotta

My birthday was a while ago, and one of my gifts was a cooking class at Cookshop! Located at West 12th, it’s a cookstore with a large variety of cooking and baking ware, but also a cookschool at the back where you can learn a variety of different cuisines. My friend knew I was interested in Indian food, and had originally paid for the Indian Favourites lesson, but with conflicting times, we ended up switching to the Summer Tapas workshop. It was however quite different from what I had imagined. I imagined the workshop to be like high school foods class, where we each had a unit with our individual ovens and such, but we were only given a few tables with cutting boards in front of us. A large demo table was in the front with a mirror above so we could see. The chef had prepared most of the items and we were divided into 3 groups to work on different parts of recipes. So some people minced meat, others kneaded dough, and also battered dough. But I guess it makes sense that we weren’t given a whole lot, since the whole workshop was only 3 hours. Quite impossible to make 6 different dishes! Classes are around $79 if you choose ones where you can participate. They are slightly cheaper if they are classes where you just watch the chef cook and enjoy the meal afterwards. There is also a decent amount of food you get at the end, so it’s quite filling. Looked around for a lot of different cooking lessons, but Cookshop is probably one of the few around Vancouver, where you aren’t attending “culinary school”.

Check out their cooking classes at: www.cookshop.ca/

Damien’s Belgian Waffles

October 8, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

White Chocolate Belgian Waffle

Always heard about Damien’s Belgian Waffles in Steveston Village but never got a chance to try it! Took me a while to even find the place since it’s not exactly near the wharf area. Place was quiet and small, but there were a variety of waffles to choose from. I decided to go for the white chocolate flavour. It started to melt really quickly when I began eating it though. It’s also cold, which is kind of weird for a waffle. I guess I had too high of an expectation coming in, so I only left with a “It’s alright”. I do want to give the matcha belgian waffle a try though since I love green tea flavoured food!

Cheesecake Etc.

September 27, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Cheesecake with Strawberries

Everyone has always been raving about Cheesecake Etc, but I had never been there despite me being a dessert junkie! So I finally got to on a Friday night, and the place was packed! The place was pretty big though, so we were able to grab a seat after waiting for about 5 minutes. To my surprise though, they barely had any varieties to choose from. It was either, Original Cheesecake, Chocolate Cheesecake, Cheesecake with Strawberries, Chocolate Cheesecake with Strawberries or Gourmet Special. So I decided to try the Cheesecake with Strawberries. It’s pretty good, but I didn’t think it was the best thing ever. I probably would prefer going to the Cheesecake Factory in the states and ordering a variety of different cheesecakes instead. Maybe I just like to try more unique desserts, but if you’re someone who likes the original cheesecake, then this is the place to go, at least in Vancouver!