Loving Hut

July 24, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Crispy Chick’n Burger

I’ve been interning in downtown these days, and finally met up with Andrew to grab lunch since we actually worked pretty close together! He brought me to Loving Hut, which is located just across the street from the Yaletown Canada Line Station, and in front of the Yaletown Roundhouse Community Centre. Loving Hut actually serves vegan burgers, but I honestly had no idea while I was lining up, until Andrew told me. And even when I took the bite, I still had no idea! I had the Crispy Chick’n Burger and the sauce, which was chipotle mayo was really delicious! It was a bit spicy, but something that I could handle. If I hadn’t known beforehand that the chicken was vegan, I probably would have finished the whole burger thinking I had ate real chicken. But since I knew, I took the bite of chicken more carefully, trying to taste it. It tasted like some sort of soy product I think. But honestly, I think the burger tasted better than some real chicken burgers I’ve had. Definitely a must try, and I would love to try the Grilled Mushroom Cheese Burger next time! They don’t operate everyday, and only during lunch hours I believe, so make sure to check beforehand.

Benkei Ramen

July 5, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Shio Ramen

Miso Ramen

Shrimp Gyozas

I was craving some ramen the other day, and we were headed towards the downtown area so I quickly urbanspooned what was around, and of course the typical Kintaro and Santouka come up. I spotted Benkei Ramen, which had pretty good ratings, so I was down to try something new.

The exterior is really Japanese with the wooden decor and upon entering, we found ourselves with a bunch of Japanese customers. I always think that if you find lots of Japanese people in a Japanese restaurant, it must be good. Same goes to other cuisines. The employees were also all Japanese, and after looking at the website now, I learned that it is also owned by a Japanese man who has many restaurants in Japan.

I had the Miso Ramen, which came with bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, green onions, and Chashu. It had a seafood broth, pork base soup, and their special miso, which was very delicious. I didn’t think this was the best ramen I’ve had, but it’s honestly not bad. I also tried a Shrimp Gyoza, which was something different since I usually get pork. It definitely had a shrimp in it, but I thought it tasted quite simliar in taste to the pork ones.

Benkei is a great place to go for ramen if you’re in the downtown area, although it is quite far down the shopping area. It’s also surrounded by both Kintaro and Santouka, but those places always have huge line ups, so if you can’t wait, then Benkei is a great place to go.

Red Robin

June 30, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

5 Alarm Burger with Yam Fries – Pepper-Jack cheese, jalapeños, fresh tangy salsa layered on a juicy beef burger and topped with crisp lettuce, tomatoes and chipotle mayo

Calamarvelous – lightly seasoned tender calamari fresh-fried golden, topped with red onions and served with tzatziki

I haven’t had Red Robin in quite some time now, so we decided to make a stop for a quick snack while shopping downtown. Red Robin always seems to have people eating no matter what time. I decided to get the Calamarvelous since I was craving some calamari. I thought it was just decent though. The batter wasn’t that amazing, and wasn’t as fluffy as I would have liked it to be. I’ve definitely had better calamari before. I never got a chance to try the burger, but it looked pretty delicious.

Twisted Fork Bistro

May 27, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Snails – Tender garlic snails cooked with shallots, mushrooms, herbs and white wine served with tomato basil sauce, arrugula and crushed croutons

Scallops and Bacon – Pan seared scallops marinated in thyme and chipotle oil served with caramelized onion, potato puree, Vancouver Island’s double smoked bacon and house corn relish

Stuffed Portobello Mushroom – Filled with arrugula, and pesto vinaigrette, topped with a cashew dill crust served with lentils, baby carrots and tomato basil sauce

Fresh Mussels – One pound, with cream, herbs and fresh tomatoes, served with frites

Confit Duck – Crispy Confit duck served with bacon braised cabbage, duck jus and finished with fruit ketchup

Lavender Creme Brulee

Chocolate Terrine – Frozen dark chocolate mousse layered with raspberry sorbet, with biscotti crumbs and raspberry coulis

Twisted Fork Bistro has been on my go to list for quite a while now. I was so excited to try it finally since there’s always huge line ups for it. Waited a little more than 15 minutes and finally got a seat. The place is really small, so it usually gets packed quite fast. It’s got a warm, homey feeling to it which I love. They serve cozy French cuisine, and are known for their great desserts.

First off, we got the Escargots, which I didn’t find particularly special or anything. There were a lot of escargots, but the flavour was nothing special. The Scallops and Bacon had a sauce that basically tasted like salsa with corn, and I found it a little too sour for my liking. The Stuffed Portabello Mushroom was just alright again. Nothing too special. As for the Fresh Mussels, I found that there were not enough flavour. It was a little bland for me, and I usually don’t eat very feisty flavoured things too. My favourite dish had to be the Confit Duck. The duck was cooked really tender and the sauce complemented the duck breast very well. And finally, we ordered desserts! Tha Lavender Creme Brulee was really delicious! It was infused with a lavender flavour, which I found very special since not many restaurants serve creme brulee with lavender. The lavender actually worked very well with the creme brulee. Lastly, we also ordered a Chocolate Terrine, which had raspberry sauce, and was extremely rich and creamy.

Overall, the main dishes were just alright, but I really enjoyed the desserts, and would probably come back again for that. Always so packed though, so I’ve got to come here earlier!

Fatburger

May 5, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Old Style Bacon Cheddar Burger – AAA Angus beef patty topped with real Canadian Cheddar and maple bacon, lettuce and tomato
Homestyle Onion Rings

Ultimate Backyard BBQ Bacon Burger -Two onion rings atop a BBQ sauce basted patty, with maple bacon, mayo, mustard, lettuce and tomato

Chocolate Milkshake

Fatburger is pretty much like Vera’s since in a way they are the more deluxe version of burgers. I went to the one on Dunsmuir, and the place reminded me of a diner. You basically order at the counter first, and then a server brings you the food. We tried two different burgers – both from the specialty menu since we wanted to be a little more adventurous than the original Fatburger. I especially liked the Old Style Bacon Cheddar Burger, but I do find the burgers a little expensive. I don’t think the quality is very deluxe or anything, but I have to say the portions are quite big. So I guess that makes up for how much I’m paying for a burger. I believe it was around $8-9 for a burger. We also got the Homestyle Onion Rings, which were a little on the oily side, but still very delicious. The Chocolate Milkshake was also pretty good! I think they use hand-scooped ice cream, so it’s quite comparable to Triple O’s milkshake. Come to think of it, they taste quite similar.

Kin Resto Bar

April 26, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Hand-made Lotus & Taro Chips – spiced soft tofu dip

Spicy Tofu & Mushroom – garlic honey, chili & soy sauce

Grilled Lemongrass Chicken – vermicelli noodles & herbs

It’s been so long since I’ve blogged, but I’m back! Exams are finally over and now I have two more weeks of summer until summer school starts again… Anyways! Finally got a chance to try Kin Resto Bar after seeing it probably a year ago while wandering around in downtown Vancouver. At first, Steph and I thought it was a restaurant with Caucasian food, but looking closer, we realized it was a Vietnamese restaurant that was of higher class I guess. Not the typical pho places where there’s mediocre decor and service. I think Kin used to be called Chau, and I overheard a customer speaking with the manager, and said that he just became the new manager recently. I love the brick walls on one side of the restaurant, giving a really vintage feeling to it.

We first got the Hand-made Lotus & Taro Chips which were really delicious! I especially liked the lotus chips. The sauce was a little spicy but really light and flavourful. It was also a great portion for $6. Next we got the Spicy Tofu & Mushroom. I thought it was really spicy after a few bites and had to drink lots of water! But the spice was a good spice. It made everything come together and the honey evened out the spice. Lastly, we got the Grilled Lemongrass Chicken. At first, I thought they had given us BBQ Pork at first since I hadn’t seen lemongrass chicken that was red before. The ones I always got at pho places were a light yellow colour. But when I tasted it, it was totally lemongrass! Weird. The chicken was very tender and easy to bite and worked well with the vermicelli at the bottom. I love how all the dishes are so different from traditional pho places, and they have a different flare to it. Service was also prompt and friendly. A great place to go to if you are around the Robson area and want some Vietnamese fusion food.

Soirette Macarons & Tea

April 7, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Tried all 21 flavours with a double for matcha, lavender and rocher 🙂

Rocher

Lavender Earl Grey Tea

Lavender Earl Grey Latte

Bought another box home 🙂

Matcha Macaron

Soirette Macarons & Tea has been so talked about around Vancouver as one of the newest and top macaron shop in town! I had it on my wishlist on Urbanspoon and can definitely check that off now! And yes, I’ve got to agree with all those bloggers out there. It seems like they have the largest selection of macarons, and they are really specialized in them, as they only sell a few desserts on the side. I got a sneak peak in the kitchen when I was on my way to the bathroom and also saw the owner of the shop. Pretty cool! Soirette is located near the Coal Harbour area, and the store is furnished so that it feels extremely clean and bright. Everything is white and modern, and the colours of the macarons totally steal the spotlight. It can seat around 10 people max, but many people get them to go.

Seeing all those different flavours, my friends and I wanted to try all of them, and we ended up getting all 21 flavours and cutting them into quarters! Yes, quite small pieces, but I don’t think we would’ve been able to finish all 21 individually on our own… The 21 flavours included: Matcha, Lavender, Cappucino, Rocher, Chocolate, White Truffle, Raspberry, Passion Fruit, Black Rose, Vanilla, Guinness, Orange Blossom, Malibu, Pistachio, Earl Grey, Violette, Maple, Lemon, Pink Peppercorn, Jasmine, Rose, and Caramel. So let me tell you which ones really caught my attention, and which ones I disliked! I left with another box of 6, so let me tell you which were my top 6! In order beginning with my favourite would be: Matcha, Lavender, Rocher, Pistachio, Cappuccino, Raspberry, Chocolate. Matcha is one of my favourite all-time flavours for almost anything…but I loved how this macaron had just a hint of matcha flavour and it worked really well against the white chocolate cream. Lavender surprisingly wasn’t too flowery and had just the perfect amount of flavour so it wasn’t too strong. Now let’s go on to the ones I disliked the most. Number one would have to be white truffle. The flavour was way too pungent and although it was supposed to be a savory macaron, I didn’t like it. Black Rose also had a very weird flavour to it, and pink peppercorn had a spice that I wish wasn’t paired with a macaron. Surprisingly, Passion Fruit and Vanilla really let me down. I thought they would be very original flavours, so should be quite typical, but I found Passion Fruit to be too sour, and Vanilla to be really bland and lacking even vanilla flavour. Both beverages were also very good with a lovely hint of lavender that I loved! Overall, this is the place to be if you want to try the most talked about macarons in Vancouver!

Macarons are $2 each, or you can purchase them in boxes of 6 or 12 at a discount.

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!