PeakFine at Sparkling Hill

September 2, 2016Leave a comment

Last month, S took me to Sparkling Hill Resort to celebrate my birthday. I’ll write a separate post on the resort itself and our adventures in Kelowna at a later date, but this post will focus on the restaurant inside the resort. PeakFine is the only restaurant they have, other than the cafe downstairs, but the cafe serves up snacks and drinks more. Be sure to reserve in advance, since we tried to reserve on the day and ended up having to eat very early. The interior is beautiful with the crystals adorning the ceiling and walls, just like the rest of the resort. Although this was fine dining, they did not seem to have a strict dress code. There is a pianist playing live music during dinner time.

Dinner started off with complimentary bread and sun-dried tomato whipped butter. The bread was warm and soft and I especially loved the sun-dried tomato butter. Light but flavourful.

Roasted Pork Loin

Dinner is not cheap at PeakFine. Well, I mean, everything at Sparkling Hill is expensive, so not a surprise. There are many options for food in Kelowna and even Vernon, but the problem is where Sparkling Hill is situated. It’s up on a hill, and literally requires driving quite far to get to city centre. With that, if you want to drink, you’ll need to call a cab to get around. Hence, we ended up having to dine at PeakFine. S got the Roasted Pork Loin which came with creamy peppercorn sauce, potato gratin and local vegetables. Not bad, but also not the best I’ve had. Nothing wrong with it, but it was quite average for the price we paid.

Pan Seared Salmon

For myself, I had the Pan Seared Salmon on white and wild rice with almond broccoli and topped with orange and maple beurre blanc. This was not bad with the salmon being moist in the centre, but it could’ve used a little more salt. Again, it’s quite expensive for what it is.

Overall, we both agreed that the food was quite average for the price we paid, but we were surprised that the portions were quite generous. Not like the fine dining where we’re used to having to catch another meal after.

Our stay also included complimentary breakfast buffet every morning, of which is located in PeakFine as well. I actually quite enjoyed the variety at breakfast and found that more pleasing.

Service is decent and the views are quite spectacular. Be sure to arrive early in the morning for breakfast to get seated next to the window.

Pros:
– Beautiful ambiance and great views by the windows
– Great selection for breakfast buffet

Cons:
– Mediocre food
– Quite pricey, although portions are decent

Price Range: $40-60

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

Food: 3 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 4.5 Parking: 4 Overall: 3

Victoria Sushi

August 31, 2016August 31, 20162 Comments

After seeing everyone posting pictures of Victoria Sushi, I decided to visit with my family. I liked it so much that I returned a second time recently! Anyways, Victoria Sushi is located in New Westminster in a residential neighbourhood. Apartment buildings actually sit on top of the restaurant. Because of where it’s situated, it can be quite difficult to find parking during peak hours, although they have an garage that’s connected to the apartment but for customers of retailers.

Kabocha Korroke

The restaurant is Korean run, so they aren’t known for traditional nigiris and such. We started off with some appies, like the Kabocha Korroke. Kabocha is an Asian variety of squash and is overlooked often but has become a popular ingredient in cooking today. I loved how they battered mashed kabocha and deep fried it. The tangy sauce along with the sweet squash was perfect! They also have this at Guu which is just as good!

Atlantic Salmon Sashimi

My parents love sashimi and for some reason, they always go for the Atlantic Salmon Sashimi. I guess it’s because of how fresh salmon is in Vancouver! Also, salmon is a fatty fish known to be a great brain food because of all the vitamins and omega-3 essential fatty acids it provides, so remember to eat lots! I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh the salmon sashimi they offered here. Very reasonably priced with the portions cut to a good size. I hate it when the cut is so large that I feel sick eating it, but I also hate it when the pieces are so small I keep longing for more! These were just right.

Mango Scallop Roll

Onto some of their creative rolls we tried, which included the Mango Scallop Roll. This was essentially your scallop roll but topped with a fresh ripe slice of mango, some avocado, a caper, and some Japanese mayo. Light and refreshing.

Aburi Tobiko Roll

One of my favourite rolls was the Aburi Tobiko Roll. This was essentially a California roll but filled with salmon sashimi and topped generously with tobiko and mayo and lightly seared with a flame on top to melt the mayo. What results is delicious sushi that practically melts in your mouth! A must order!

Salmon Oshi and Scallop Oshi

All the food we had tried were pretty good, but what we came here for was the oshi sushi! If you’re new to the wonders of sushi, then you may be confused over all the different types of sushi. However, with Miku and Minami making the aburi oshi sushi famous in Vancouver, it has literally become the hype here. Everyone is searching for an aburi salmon oshi sushi just as good as Miku’s to be exact! Well, here at Victoria, they do a pretty darn good version of this. We also tried their Scallop Oshi which again is so creamy and melts in your mouth!

Salmon Oshi

We loved the Salmon Oshi so much that we ordered a second order… A layer of salmon sashimi is placed on a rectangular formed rice and topped with mayo. The sushi is then lightly seared on top with a torch so that the mayo melts and the salmon is slightly torched. It’s then topped with a slice of jalapeno pepper to give it that kick. You end up getting a very creamy and smoky piece of sushi that melts in your mouth! Compared to Miku though, I still enjoy Miku’s more. I think it’s the secret sauce they put on that’s so hard to recreate. However, the price of this was only around $10-11 whereas Miku costs $16. So I’d say for the price, Victoria Sushi does a pretty good job.

Aburi Beef Oshi

Continuing on with the oshi trend, we tried the Aburi Beef Oshi. This was the same concept but with beef tataki, red pepper, a genourous amount of mayo and a piece of fried garlic chip. Another worthy dish!

Chicken Yaki Soba

Since S is not a huge fan of sashimi and fish in sushi…(he likes the boring stuff…), he ordered the Chicken Yaki Soba. This was a huge dish with great flavour without being too salty. I quite enjoyed the chewy texture of the soba noodles. Great for sharing.

Overall, we really enjoyed Victoria Sushi, hence we have already made a revisit! It may be quite far for some, but even for myself, it’s less than 30 minutes drive from Richmond, so it’s not that bad when you compare it to Downtown. Service can be a bit slow during peak times (the second time we went, it was late in the afternoon, so they were super quick), but the service is friendly and they try their best with the limited staff and chefs they have. The restaurant itself is quite small, so call in advance for reservations to guarantee you a spot!

Pros:
– Great alternative to Miku’s aburi salmon oshi at lower price
– Creative rolls are on well executed

Cons:
– Service can be a bit slow during peak hours
– Make sure to make reservations as can get packed!

Price Range: $10-30

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

Food: 4 Service: 2.5 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 2 Overall: 4

Morals Village

August 30, 20163 Comments

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary, but all opinions are based on my own personal experience.

Thanks to the team behind Chopstick Fest, I was invited to a tasting at Morals Village, as they will be a participating restaurant during the festival that will run from October 15 – 30, 2016. Morals Village is a chain restaurant popular in China, but has expanded to Canada with a location in Toronto, and now Richmond.

Whereas the Toronto location has all-you-can-eat, the Richmond location is only a la carte right now. For $2.85, you can make your own sauce.

Special Spicy Style and Mixed Mushroom Soup

Since we had a large group, we tried almost all their soup bases. They have different soup bases ranging from very spicy to a healthy and non-spicy soup base.

Pork Rib Soup and Black-Bone Chicken Soup

The pot in front of me was the Pork Rib Soup and Black-Bone Chicken Soup, so I ate mostly from this one. Both of these soup bases were filled with goji berries, a superfood, which is good for your health. The soup itself was cloudy and flavourful. But to be honest, with the sauces you dip your food in after, it’s hard to taste the true flavours of the soup base.

Beauty in the Golden House

One of their most expensive soup bases is the Beauty in the Golden House which must be ordered in advance and is limited. This beauty is priced at $68 so definitely not cheap. However, it’s filled with a whole chicken, winter melon, goji berries and abalone. It depicts the winter melon soup that you often find at Cantonese restaurants. The soup was absolutely delicious with a mix of seafood and chicken flavour.

Standard Joshu Wagyu Kobe Beef

Onto what I’m always excited about at hot pot – the meat! Well onto the luxury style of hot pot here at Morals Village, we were presented with the Standard Joshu Wagyu Kobe Beef. This sells for a hefty $58 for around 5 slices! Yes…very expensive, but man, this stuff melted in my mouth! Be sure to hold onto your meat and just dip it in the broth until it turns light brown and quickly take it out or you will overcook it!

Angus AAA Short Rib

Onto another favourite which was the Angus AAA Short Rib. The cut was just the right thickness and again this melted in your mouth. I highly recommend getting this as it won’t cost as much as the wagyu. This one goes for around $23. Still quite expensive for the number of slices you get, but its quality over quantity here.

Deluxe Lamb Roll

The Deluxe Lamb Roll is perfect for all you lamb lovers out there. Because of the marbling, the lamb was absolutely tender and juicy and it did not have a strong gamey flavour. Love how thin they cut the lamb as well.

Ox Tongue

Some may find this odd, but Ox Tongue is actually very popular in Chinese culture. The ox tongue is cut thinly and after cooking, it has a nice chew.

Pork Belly

Last but not least, we tried the Pork Belly which had tons of fat, but after cooking, the fat melted in your mouth.

Cheese Beef Ball, Fish Ball, Pork Ball, Prawn Ball

Morals Village has a variety of balls, which appear to be made in house because they are still fresh in a paste form. We were able to try the Cheese Beef Ball, Fish Ball, Pork Ball, Prawn Ball, with the seafood ones being my favourite. They were very bouncy and fresh.

Deluxe Seafood Platter

As if our meal wasn’t luxurious enough, we were presented the Deluxe Seafood Platter which goes for $108! The platter features abalone, BC crab, prawn, oyster, grouper, with the seafood being extremely fresh. So fresh, that the spot prawns were live! Yes – I skipped a beat when I realized I was cooking the prawn live… I usually cook prawns, fish and crab in my hot pot as well, but abalone was a first for sure.

Quail Eggs

Next, we got to try some Quail Eggs, also an ingredient that I’ve never put in the hot pot. I actually really enjoyed these in the hot pot as you could soak in the broth.

Shrimp Paste on Chinese Donut

A pretty random item was the Shrimp Paste on Chinese Donut. Yes – we threw a Chinese donut into the hot pot! I usually eat this with congee, but not at Morals Village. Since the shrimp paste is raw, we had to throw it in to cook, but the tobiko fell off and got lost in the soup. Not bad though as the Chinese donut is great at soaking up all the tasty broth.

Bean Curd Roll

Of course there is your typical hot pot ingredients including all the much needed veggies. The Bean Curd Roll was a bit more special since it was your typical bean curd but deep fried and rolled up. However, when boiled, it wasn’t anything special.

Gold and Silver Bread

They also have some cooked food including the Gold and Silver Bread with condensed milk. Everyone loves this Shanghai baked good.

Handmade Noodles

If you’re still hungry, then carbs are the way to go! They feature Handmade Noodles which we cooked to al dente. I really liked these!

Last but not least, remember the Beauty in the Golden House soup base? Well, they took out all the overcooked food sitting at the bottom and the chefs added in rice and tons of garlic. What resulted was a delicious rice in broth, sort of like a congee. This was filled with flavour from all the cooked meats and seafood we had thrown in and the garlic really gave it added flavour.

Overall, I really enjoyed the meal at Morals Village, but many of their top items will leave your wallet empty. However, it is worth a try for a special occasion, and you can of course go for their less pricey items. Private rooms are also available, perfect if you need to entertain your guests.

Bauhaus

August 27, 2016August 25, 2016Leave a comment

Bauhaus has been opened for over a year now and is famous for two things: the owner, Uwe Boll, a Hollywood director who some may dislike, and Michelin chef Stefan Hartmann. Bauhaus offers German fine dining, so the prices are definitely up there which is why I’ve delayed visiting for so long. Luckily, I found a Travelzoo deal (Groupon-like website) for $79 for a 2-course lunch for 4. That comes to around $20 before tax and tips per person which is a pretty good deal since their appies range from $13-14 and entrees go from $20-28 normally. And guess what, the travel zoo deal is still available! Check it out here.

Anyways, we called to make reservations ahead of time, and the deal is only available on weekdays for lunch. When we arrived, we quickly mentioned that we had the deal again just so it wouldn’t get awkward and the hostess kindly just asked me to pull up my voucher. We didn’t feel like we were treated differently at all.

The interior is modern and beautiful. We loved the white marble table tops and the business like leather chairs. The restaurant felt really upscale and polished with the high ceilings and use of mirrors.

Even the table setting was really nice. Definitely a place to impress your date.

We started off lunch with complimentary bread which came with a ricotta pesto spread and sea salt butter. Loved how they elevated the normal butter with the sea salt.

Nelson the Seagull Sourdough Bread

We were told the sourdough bread is from Nelson the Seagull, which is also in Gastown, so you know the bread is fresh.

Although the Travelzoo had shown a sample menu, we were actually allowed to choose any item off their regular menu. This consisted of one appetizer and one entree. Since we had four people, we ended up trying every appetizer. I started off with the Summer Greens which normally comes with burrata and tomatoes. However, they told me that they did not have burrata today, so it was substituted with a crumbly ricotta cheese. Not bad, but I didn’t think this was anything special. I definitely wouldn’t pay $13 for this normally.

Smoked Cauliflower Soup

MH got the Smoked Cauliflower Soup. It was pretty funny since when the server presented his bowl, there were only tiny pieces of cauliflower on the bowl. So we thought that was it. Luckily, he also had a pot handy which contained the actual soup, of which he poured in front of us.

This was really creamy and flavourful!

Rain or Shine Ice Cream

August 25, 2016August 23, 2016Leave a comment

Rain or Shine Ice Cream has been around for quite some time now and they have even opened up their second location on Cambie. For whatever reason, I had never visited the shop and thank god I finally did! MH, MW, S and I visited the Cambie store in the afternoon on a sunny day after lunch.

They make their waffles fresh in store but you can also have your ice cream in a cup. Their signature flavours are always on the menu, and the seasonal flavours will switch up based on what ingredients are fresh. “The ice cream is made from scratch in house using fresh, natural and sustainable whole ingredients, source locally, seasonally and organically whenever possible.”

Malted Milk Chocolate and Honey Lavender

We ended up choosing the Malted Milk Chocolate (on top) which features homemade honeycomb (free of corn syrup) coated in 70% dark chocolate and mixed into a Belgian milk chocolate base. Malted Barley is added to enhance the richness of this ice cream. We absolutely loved the crunch of the malted chocolate along with the sweetness of the honeycomb. The Honey Lavender (bottom) is made with organic and floral alfalfa honey from Aldergrove Farms paired with lavender from Tuscan farms in Maple Ridge. I’m a huge fan of floral, so this was my cup of tea!

Overall, we loved the ice cream here and the creative flavours they offer. The price is on par with the other gourmet ice cream shops in Vancouver and I felt the portions were pretty good for a double scoop (perfect for sharing). And did you know that their ice cream is 100% dairy with no eggs, no modified milk ingredients or artificial extracts? What goes into our food is really important these days and ice cream is no exception! Will be returning for some more ice cream before summer ends, but I guess they are open rain or shine anyways!

Pros:
– Creative and tasty flavours
– Seasonal flavours so you don’t get sick of the same ones!

Cons:
– Can have massive line ups on sunny days
– Waffle cones are okay in my opinion. I like the ones at Timothy’s more.

Price Range: $5-10

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

Food: 4.5 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 3.5 Parking: 4 Overall: 4

AnnaLena

August 24, 2016August 23, 2016Leave a comment

For my birthday, I gave a list of restaurants I wanted to try to S and told him to surprise me with something. He ended up choosing AnnaLena which I was super excited about! Located in the Kits area just before the Burrard Bridge, the kitchen is run by the talented executive chef, Michael Robbins.

The interior is whimsical but cool with modern art and lego toys. The restaurant is quite small, so I’ve heard that people have had to make reservations well in advance. I’m guessing S did just that to secure us a spot.

Because S had mentioned it was my birthday when he made reservations, I guess they noted it down and surprised us both with a complimentary cocktail. That was a really nice touch and the cocktail was delicious!

Chicken

As I had just came from happy hour, I really wasn’t that hungry so we ended up just trying out a few dishes. First was the Chicken, which was buttermilk fried, with a sesame dashi mayo, and accompanied with charred shishito peppers. These were so light and crispy! And the Asian style mayo was a nice twist and complemented the chicken so well.

Scallop

The second dish we tried was the Scallop which were seared, and came with smoked pork jowl, roast turnips, pickled apples, and cauliflower puree. The scallops were cooked to perfection without them being rubbery and the pork jowl was tender with a nice rebound texture.

Chocolate

For dessert, we had the Chocolate, which featured white chocolate mousse, sesame toasted mango, and passion fruit sorbet. Perhaps I took too long to take pictures, but the sorbet began to melt quite quickly. Still, I loved the different textures in this dessert and the strong passion fruit flavour in the sorbet.

Overall, just based on the few items we tried, I already enjoyed AnnaLena a lot and am looking forward to return and try the rest of the items. The portions are quite small for the price, but the quality and execution of the dishes are spot on. A great place if you want to celebrate a special occasion.

Pros:
– Quality and well executed dishes
– Professional service

Cons:
– Portions are on the smaller side for the price
– You’ll need to make reservations way in advance!

Price Range: $30-60

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

Food: 5 Service: 4.5 Ambiance: 3.5 Parking: 4 Overall: 4.5

Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot

August 23, 2016August 23, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary but all opinions are based on my personal experience.

As part of a preview for Chopstick Fest, Jacqueline, Dennis, Stephen, Kym, and I were invited to try Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot Restaurant on Robson St., which will be a participiating restaurant for the festival. The festival will run from October 15th – 30th, 2016 and will have a similar concept to Dine Out Vancouver, but feature all Chinese restaurants.

Liu Yi Shou is a Chong Qing style hot pot chain famous in China. It first brought their chain to Richmond under the name Thumbs Up Hot Pot, which I have yet to try. I think the two restaurant’s menus are pretty much the same though. The interior consists of booth seats with air ventilation from the prior barbecue restaurant.

I love sauce bars so this is always an added differentiation. Here, I think you pay $2.50 to mix your own sauce with a large variety of ingredients. To be honest though, I usually stick with the simple soy sauce and satay!

Chong Qing Spicy Broth and Wild Mushrooms Broth

We chose to split the pot in half and have two soup bases. One was non-spicy and was filled with mushrooms and goji berries. The other was their famous Chong Qing Spicy Broth at a medium spice level. They told us that their spicy is quite spicy, so we settled with medium. The medium was a spicy numbing flavour, as expected with Chong Qing style cuisine. However, I think this was tolerable, especially when we had the other soup base to eat in between. I’d definitely say I’ve had spicier at my Szechuan friend’s house.

Fish Tofu

They have all your typical hot pot ingredients, including fish tofu, fish ball, enoki, bean curd, tofu, lotus root, potato and taro.

Corn

We also sampled corn, luncheon meat, shrimp paste, fish filet, shrimp, and deep fried pork. All were very standard with everything you could find at your typical Cantonese style hot pot.

Supreme Lamb

Meat is everything for me at hot pot, so I usually choose a hot pot restaurant based on the quality of meat. We were able to sample Supreme Beef, Supreme Lamb, and Sliced Beef. I loved the Supreme Lamb as it was buttery and tender. It also wasn’t gamey at all so many of the bloggers who don’t normally eat lamb didn’t even realize it was lamb! The Supreme Beef could be slightly more tender if it has more fat, but it wasn’t bad for sure. The Sliced Beef was the most chewy as expected because of the thick cut, but still very fresh.

Overall, we were all pleasantly surprised by the quality of food at Liu Yi Shou. They are famous for their spicy hot pot, so definitely give that a try if you love spice. If you’re looking to fill up though, your bill might add up since it’s a la carte, rather than AYCE. However, the quality of food is therefore better than AYCE. Oh and for all you hot pot newbies, they have a list showing the time needed to cook different menu items! That’s something I haven’t seen before for sure. And did I mention, this is the only Chinese style hot pot you will find along the Robson/downtown area?

Beard Papa Sweets Cafe

August 16, 2016August 16, 2016Leave a comment

I’m sure most of you know about Beard Papa by now. It was the hype when it was first brought here from Japan, but they have locations everywhere now that it’s pretty accessible to everyone. However, a year ago, they closed down their stall inside of Richmond Centre and opened up a cafe under the London Drugs complex on No. 3 Road.

This got me really intrigued especially when I noticed that there were always customers sitting in the cafe everytime I drove by, no matter what time it was. Finally, I suggested to S that we take a small dinner and instead fill up with desserts! The cafe here has more than just their famous cream puffs and I could see why people liked to chill here. There were a mix of young and old and it was a great place to sit and chat since it is typically not packed.

Red Bean with Green Tea Ice Cream Waffle (+mochi)

We started off with the Red Bean with Green Tea Ice Cream Waffle but we paid extra to get mochi filling inside our waffle. The preset version with mochi inside doesn’t come with green tea or red bean. This reminded me of the time we first tried mochi waffles in Taipei. This was delicious with the warm and cold mix and is a great item to share with friends.

Cocoa Puff

Onto the cream puffs. We didn’t want to try the original ones since we’ve all had those. This time, we tried out their Cocoa Puff, which is essentially the same as the original but the puff itself is cocoa flavoured and the centre is filled with vanilla cream.

To be honest, I found the puff to be rather dense, so I much prefer their original batter.

Eclair

The Eclair was essentially what the name is. It’s the original cream puff with vanilla cream filling and dipped with chocolate sauce on top. I quite liked this as I’m a sucker for chocolate and this gave just the right amount of sweetness and chocolate flavour without the dense puff that the Cocoa Puff had.

Chocolate Fondant

Last but not least, we tried the Chocolate Fondant which also comes with the flavour choice of green tea.

Unfortunately, the chocolate did not ooze out as much as I wanted. These fondants are pre-made and then they reheat them so perhaps that’s why the ooze isn’t as apparent as those in restaurants. This was just average and too sweet for me personally.

Overall, we quite enjoyed Beard Papa’s Sweet Cafe. I think this would be a great spot to catch up with friends over drinks and sweets without having to crowd at the typical shaved ice and bubble tea joints. Service was also very friendly. Other than sweets, they also have savoury snacks and sandwiches, which seems a little odd. But I haven’t tried these, so I can’t comment.

Pros:
– Wide selection of both sweets and savoury
– Service is friendly and good spot to chill

Cons:
– Some hits and misses
– Many of their desserts seem to be pre-made so may not be super fresh based on traffic

Price Range: $10-20

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

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

Every Day is a Food Day

Tag: food

PeakFine at Sparkling Hill

Victoria Sushi

Morals Village

Bauhaus

Rain or Shine Ice Cream

AnnaLena

Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot

Beard Papa Sweets Cafe