Tapas 24 – Barcelona

February 17, 2014Leave a comment

On exchange, I was able to meet some amazing friends from all over the world. I was especially happy to have met C, who was from my hometown and was also a fellow food blogger! It was great to have someone understand the time we go through to write these posts and why we could take minutes just trying to take a good picture of our food. I have to say, C is a serious foodie compared to me! You can check out her food blog here: http://cherriehui.blogspot.ca/She definitely did her research, and suggested we go try out Tapas 24 as it is owned by Chef Carles Abellan. Carles is a Catalan chef who was trained at elBulli, which is a former restaurant famous for their molecular gastronomy. Now, Chef Carles has several Michelin star restaurants all over Barcelona, and Tapas 24 is just one of them. It’s probably one of the most casual and affordable restaurants he owns. The restaurant is always packed and we luckily got a seat outside.

It’s cute how your utensils come in a little envelope with the menu on it. As you can see, prices are above average for small portions. It’s quality over quantity here, so definitely don’t come with an empty stomach unless you’re ready to empty your wallet.

Sangria de Cava

We got a pitcher of Sangria de Cava for drinks, which is Sangria but instead of red wine, it’s champagne. Therefore, it’s a bit fizzy! This was good!

Bikini Comerc 24

The Bikinis are one of Tapas 24’s most well known item. In Spain, Bikinis are essentially sandwiches with ham and cheese. Inside this prized Bikini, is a white mild cheese, jamon iberico, and flecks of black truffle! The sandwiches are cut into little pieces, and you can basically finish it in two bites. Extremely small for around 8 euros, but so worth it! The bread was toasted perfectly and the truffle flecks made a simple sandwich full of flavour. A must order!

Les Braves

Braves are one of the most popular tapas in Spain. Chunks of bite size potatoes which are deep fried. They were topped with a garlic mayo and ketchup. The sauce was excellent and the potatoes weren’t oily. Excellent!

McFoie – Burguer

The McFoie is also extremely popular at Tapas 24. I didn’t expect the burger to look like this, but it tasted so good! It’s essentially a beef patty mixed with foie gras and this is filled inside the burger like a pocket. I can’t even really describe how the outer burger was like. It’s definitely not a burger… It was crispy, warm and soft. It also came with a dipping sauce which was made of foie gras. It was like foie gras heaven. A small portion, but so good and well worth it if you’re a foie gras lover!

Pan amb Tomaquet

Bread brushed with tomatoes is eaten at almost any Spanish restaurant. It’s interesting to note that Tapas 24’s menu is all in Catalan, so the menu names are a little confusing sometimes for a Spanish reader. However, our server was really nice and basically went down the whole menu and translated it into English despite her running around for several minutes before helping us. These were toasted to perfection and lathered lavishly with tomatoes, olive oil and lightly seasoned with salt.

Alitas “coreanas”

These were Korean inspired Chicken Wings! This was off their regular menu and on a menu they had written on the chalkboard. Definitely one of our favourite dishes. The sauce had an Asian flare to it and was a little spicy. I loved how the chicken wings had the bones removed so it was easy to eat. The skin was slightly crispy and the meat was tender and moist.

Sepionetas

These were baby grilled cuttlefish and they were also a big hit at our table. Cuttlefish in Barcelona are so tender! These were slightly grilled, topped with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lightly seasoned with salt. My favourite!

Xocolata amb Oli

And for dessert, we got their signature Chocolate with olive Oil. Who would have thought olive oil would go with chocolate right? Well at Tapas 24, they know how to play with their ingredients. It was essentially scoops of chocolate mouse and it was drizzled with olive oil. On top, they placed pieces of thinly cut crostinis so you could scoop the mousse. The mousse was already smooth, and along with the olive oil, it was just chocolate heaven! It was also topped with some salt, so it was a mixture of sweet and savoury, which was unexpected, but somehow worked!

All in all, Tapas 24 is worth a try if you’re ready to try something different and challenge your taste-buds. Their menu is very limited, but they do have some daily specials which are worth trying. It’s a cheaper alternative than trying the other elBulli restaurants which could really break your bank! And to finish today’s post off, is a view from the top of Montserrat. Montserrat is a multi-peaked mountain just a few hours away from Barcelona. If you’re ready for a hiking activity, challenge yourself by climbing to the peaks of Sant Jeroni for a spectacular view. If hiking is not your thing, then visit the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary. The mountain is known for its religious significances in the past, but for myself, I was wowed by the beautiful formations of the mountains. Not exactly the same as the mountains in British Columbia, and the hike itself was actually pretty easy! Nothing compared to the Grouse Grind, so definitely check it out if you want a physical activity here in Barcelona.

Tapa Tapa (Arenas) – Barcelona

February 16, 2014February 16, 2014Leave a comment

I took a Spanish history class at ESADE, and it was one of the best classes offered there! Truly learned so much about Spain and coming from a country with such a young history, it was so interesting to actually finally understand some of the European history. One our our assignments was to visit an assigned site in Barcelona. For my group, we were assigned to visit the Olympic Museum and then check out the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, which was the stadium that was renovated for the 1992 Summer Olympics. For tourists who are only in Barcelona for a few days, the Museum is definitely not worth your time as it only gives a timeline of the history of the Olympics. However, the stadium is worth a visit if you are going to see Montjuic since it is on the way up the mountain and also free. Not anything impressive, but it’s pretty cool to know how the Olympics really changed Barcelona from a city of nothing to one of the top tourist destinations! The Barcelona Olympics is said to be one of the only Olympics where the investment and costs actually benefited the city more than any other host city in Olympic history. It’s almost difficult for any city to repeat the dramatic change that occurred.

Anyways, after an afternoon researching for our assignment, we headed back to Plaza Espanya on the bus. Next to the Arenas, which is now a mall, but a bullfighting arena in the past, is Tapa Tapa. There are around 3-4 Tapa Tapas around Barcelona, and it’s known to be catered towards tourists.

We chose to settle here anyways to grab a snack. The menu barra really caught our eyes since it was a pretty good deal. I believe the menu was only 8,60 euros, which is really cheap! An amazing deal, since most of their tapas are at least 3 euros anyways. I’ve been to other Tapa Tapas before as well, and I realized that they do not offer this lunch menu. I think it’s because the Tapa Tapa at the Arenas has less traffic, especially tourists. The other locations include Maremagnum at Port Vell and on Passeig Gracia, which constantly has tourists. Since it’s a tourist spot, they also offered an English menu to make things easy.

I think what attracts tourists to Tapa Tapa are the colourful pictures of their menu that’s always placed outside. For foreigners, it’s always great to see pictures to know what they’re ordering.

For our menu, we were given a choice of water, soda, or beer. I ended up choosing a sparkling water. It’s called “agua con gasse” in Spanish. I find that Europeans drink sparkling water a lot more than Americans. It’s not something very common for us. This one was called Vichy Catalan, and the bottle was really cute!

Potato Omelet

We each ordered the set menu, but chose to share some of our food, so hence there are lots of food pictures! To start, we all chose the Potato Omelet, which is a typical Spanish tapa. I actually ate this quite frequently at school, since it was an affordable item at the school cafeteria. It would come in a sub with the potato omelet inside. Potato chunks are mixed with egg to form this little cube. It’s usually served cold and placed on bread that has been brushed with tomatoes.

Lettuce with Goat Cheese Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing

My friends ordered this as they were huge fans of goat cheese. I still haven’t been able to acquire to this taste, so it was only okay for me. Came with some croutons, and the vinaigrette dressing really made the salad tasty!

Three Cheese Risotto – Gorgonzola, Emmental, Brie

Some of us also got the Three Cheese Risotto. I loved this one! It was very creamy and cheesy since it had three types of cheese. For people who aren’t into very strong cheeses, this dish may be a little strong for your liking. Since I’m not into blue cheeses, the Gorgonzola really hit my taste buds. However, since it was mixed with two lighter cheeses, it wasn’t as strong.

Three Cheese Croquettes

This was by far one of my favourites! Ever since my first time trying croquettes, I have been so into them! These were purely just cheese, and hence extremely cheesy when you bite into them. The outer layer was also deep fried, but not too oily.

Crispy Shrimp

These were great to snack on! Reminded me of popcorn shrimp back at home. It came with a garlic mayo. The outer layer wasn’t too thick, and the shrimps were still fresh.

Trio of Mini Hamburgers with Cheese, Onion and Mustard

This was also one of our favourites. They were actaully hamburgers without the burger. So essentially the beef patty only. On the left, the patty was topped with mustard. The mustard was so delicious! Not the cheap American yellow mustard on hot dogs. This was grainy mustard with mustard seeds still in it. My absolute favourite! In the middle was a patty topped with melted cheese. This was also quite good, but the cheese cooled down quickly, so wasn’t as cheesy anymore. Lastly, on the right was a patty topped with grilled onions. I didn’t expect this to taste anything special, but the seasoning they used on the onions and after being grilled really made it a great patty!

To finish off your meal, there’s coffee! It’s popular to finish your meal with a cafe! We really enjoyed this since they let us choose any type of cafe. Usually, it’s strictly coffee. They let us choose and we chose the Cappuccino. It came with plenty of foam and topped with a bit of coffee powder. Not shabby!

So even though many people say Tapa Tapa is just for tourists, I think the lunch menu at the Arenas is quite worth it. I’ve been to the other locations and don’t think it’s as worth the money you pay for, and agree that they are quite touristy. Our service was attentive, and sitting at the bar was lots of fun! You get a taste of typical Spanish tapas at a great value.

Cervecería Catalana – Barcelona

February 8, 2014February 8, 2014Leave a comment

Cerveceria Catalana is Ciudad Condal’s sister restaurant. The layout of the restaurant is quite similar, with a bar table and dining seats as well. Focused on tapas, I find that the two restaurants offer many tapas that are the same. I couldn’t really tell a difference in terms of food or price. The only thing that seemed missing way my favourite smoked salmon montadito!

Grilled Razor Clam

Razor clams aren’t very popular in Vancouver, but they are everywhere in Barcelona! I don’t recall myself eating them before, but my sister had and suggested we order them. The Grilled Razor Clams aren’t bad as they weren’t too tough or soft. It had a nice chewy texture to it and the light seasoning was perfect when grilled. A bit of seasalt and lemon made the dish perfect. However, in perhaps one or two of them, we found a little sand. It wasn’t a lot, but you could feel it. I guess they are quite difficult to clean. Because of the sand, I found them average.

Grilled Cuttlefish

We finally ordered the right cuttlefish! The Grilled Cuttlefish is one of my favourite seafood to order in Barcelona. It’s a must order at Cerveceria Catalana or Ciudad Condal. The cuttlefish at these two restaurants are the most tender I’ve ever had. It has the same seasoning as the razor clams, and the simplicity of it is what makes this dish so wonderful. Absolutely love it!

Foie with Roquefort Flauta

These are flautas. They are essentially a baguette sandwich, but mini sized and a bit narrower. We chose the flauta filled with Foie and Roquefort. Roquefort is French sheep milk blue cheese and since I’m not a fan of any blue cheeses, I found the taste to be a little strong. Mixed with foie, which also has a strong taste, but one that I enjoy, made this flauta full of strong flavours. I thought it was just average. After eating half of it, I didn’t really want any more of it. Since foie’s texture is very soft and almost slimy, it’s not exactly the most appealing or texturally satisfying food. Decent to share, but probably wouldn’t order this again.

Veal with Pepper

The Veal with Pepper is quite a good montadito, and one that I have ordered again. However, it’s quite pricey as it is around 3 euros for one. The veal is grilled and seasoned to perfection and is extremely tender. On top, it has a padron pepper, which are typical Spanish peppers that are smaller in size. They are actually very mild in spice, and only very few are spicy. The one here was very mild and didn’t even have much pepper taste to it. The Spanish, however, enjoy just eating these peppers as tapas. It added a nice grilled flavour to this montadito.

And that was our meal for two! Absolutely filling and at a decent price. Remember to grab a bar seat again to see what daily montaditos they offer.

And to finish off, here is a picture of the Magic Fountain in Barcelona. It’s situated right in front of the art museum at Plaza Espanya and is a must see. Beautiful colours and display of water accompanied with music.

El Vaso de Oro – Barcelona

February 5, 2014Leave a comment

My sister had met up with her coworker and wife, and they had asked me where to eat… We were near Barcelonetta, and I was not very familiar with the restaurants in that area. A quick search on Tripadvisor suggested us to go to to El Vaso de Oro. It’s extremely close to the Barcelonetta metro station, but when we got there, we questioned if we were at the right place. From the outside, the wooden signage makes it look like an old pub. Peeking in, you’ll see a line of chairs against the bar. Locals all having some beer and tapas. Along the wall, you’ll see a few tables with no chairs. But don’t make that be the reason you leave, because it offers some of the best food! You’re going to have to squeeze yourself here to even find a spot to stand… Yup, we ended up standing by one of the bar stools, because there was no room at the long bar table. Worth it though!

We had no idea what to order and with the menu being all in Catalan, it was quite difficult for me to understand anything. Service isn’t amazing or anything because it’s extremely busy in here, but this old Spanish man who worked behind the bar was really nice and would pop by to help us out. We asked what he would recommend, and with his limited English abilities and some finger pointing, he ordered several dishes for us to share. We got some complementary free baguettes, which were typical. Then, we got some Iberian Ham Croquettes. We also got some Iberian Ham Montaditos. Very typical Spanish tapas. I really enjoyed the croquettes since they are a little cheesy with the hint of ham. The Iberian Ham Montaditos were just alright. I’ve learned that I’m not a huge fan of Iberian Ham. I find it very strong in the pig flavour, and it’s not something I’m entirely into. It can also be quite tough sometimes and if there’s fat, then it’s very hard to chew. I’m more into the prosciutto type of ham, where it’s sliced very thing and easy to chew.

Next up, we got the Russian Salad. This is also a typical Spanish tapa. It’s basically like a tuna salad. It came with these little baked pieces of bread, so they were super crunchy. The only thing was there was more salad than the bread, so you would get so much leftover salad to eat on its own. Putting the salad on the bread was so much better because you get a crunch as well. I would recommend getting this salad!

Lastly, we got the Steak, which is what this cerverceria is famous for! Honestly, I didn’t get how good steak could be when I was reading the reviews. In fact, the steak isn’t that cheap either, and you only get around 8 pieces. But holy….these were heavenly. It’s cooked to perfection at medium rare and were the most tender pieces of steak I’ve ever had. They come already cut into cubes so it’s easy to eat, and there isn’t too much seasoning or what, but the flavour of meet just bursts in your mouth. Super juicy and is a must order! They also have steak with foie, but our friends were not big fans of foie. I could only imagine how great that would taste. We ended up ordering another plate of this steak because it was so good. I could seriously just come here to have a plate of this to myself and being fully satisfied.

Overall, extremely satisfied with El Vaso de Oro. We almost came back here another time because we were craving the steak so much. Even my Spanish professor recommended this spot for good steak. Super local place where you’ll here Spanish or Catalan only. I don’t think I saw any tourists when I went! It’s not the cheapest place to get tapas, but I think the quality of food makes it worthy. Good place to just grab a snack, but maybe not get full.

Ciudad Condal

January 15, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

I’m so excited to write this post, becuase Ciudad Condal is my absolute favourite tapas restaurant in Barcelona! Whether you are here for just a few hours or months, you must give Ciudad Condal a try! I’m not paid to sponsor them or anything, but I swear that everyone I’ve brought here has had a great meal! I’ll have more revisits, as I’ve been here probably 5 times in the 4 months I stayed in Barcelona. Anyways, Ciudad Condal essentially is another name for Barcelona in Spanish, as they used to be the County of Barcelona. In Catalan, it is Ciutat Comtal, hence you will see two confusing names.

The place was extremely packed the first few times I went, (mostly because it was the summer, or early fall months, and there were tons of tourists). Yes, this place is very tourist friendly, with most of the servers understanding English, and the people at the bar are actually Filipino and not Spanish. However, this place is definitely not a tourist trap! To get the most of your experience, try to aim for the bar seating. Seating is very limited here, and you cannot reserve a seat there. You essentially wait around behind the people eating until you spot them leaving, and you just gotta snatch a seat.

If you don’t want to wait around, then you most likely will still need to wait. However, you will leave your name with the hostess and she will call your name when your table is ready. There is always a line up, so the best times to go are around 5 or 6 pm, although you would need to sip on a drink before the montaditos come out. I suggest sitting at the bar because you will get the view of what’s in this picture. Food! Since most of the items are not always on the menu, as a foreigner and first-timer, it’s easiest to just point and order. No need to figure out the confusing menu, and if you want something specifically on the menu, you can also order from the bar here. The bar people are also extremely friendly and I find they give the best service! So what essentially are montaditos? They are similar to pintxos, where ingredients are served on top of a piece of bread, but without the toothpick.

Other than montaditos, they have flautas, which are very skinny baguette sandwiches filled with your choice of ingredients. They also have a variety of tapas and desserts. Prices are not the cheapest here, but they also aren’t too expensive. I would rather pay here at an average price for some decent food, then for two meals of cheap bar tapas. It’s just worth it! Trust me!

Anyways, we started off with a pitcher of Sangria. Yup, I think I was starting to get sick of this… The sangria here does not have a lot of fruits, but instead lemons. It was alright. I found it quite pricey for what it was and relatively expensive compared to many restaurants.

Now let’s get to the montaditos! This was our first time here, and we unfortunately did not know the trick to sitting at the bar. The bar was filled with people, so we just grabbed a seat in the dining area. We had serious troubles figuring out what to eat since the menu doesn’t show the names of the montaditos. My sister ended up having to get up and take a few photos of the montaditos at the bar and bring it back for us to decide. We ended up telling our waiter what we wanted by describing what was on each. We got the Iberian Ham, and Smoked Salmon. The Iberian Ham is a must try in Spain. Well, I mean, Spain is famous for this! However, I’m not a huge fan of it, so trying it once is really enough for me. I find the pork taste to be too pungent for my liking, but people here love this stuff. However, what I can rave about all day and night is this Smoked Salmon montadito. If you like salmon, then you must order this. I never knew smoked salmon could be cut so thick and be so smooth. Each one has around 1.5 pieces of salmon layered on top of each other. Underneath is a slather of cream cheese, and on top are diced peppers which give it a really fresh taste. You won’t regret ordering this, and this is one of the reasons why I come here.

My sister is a fan of pasta salad, so of course she ordered that. It’s quite a large serving, but it’s around 6 euros, so I guess that’s reasonable. They come with two pan de tomates, which are baguettes brushed with tomatoes and olive oil. This was quite good, but it gets you filled up really quickly. They also have a variety of other salads, and if you sit at the bar, you can see all the different types.

Patatas Bravas. This is another typical Spanish tapa, which you can essentially find at almost any Spanish tapa or bar joint. However, each place does it slightly different. They are essentially fries, but diced into cubes and topped with a tomato and spicy aioli sauce. Some places only use one sauce, while others use a variation of the sauces such as mayonnaise or garlic sauce. I enjoyed these since they weren’t fried too oily and the sauce was really good. This aioli sauce was a bit garlicky!

I had looked over at other people’s tables and saw some grilled cuttlefish. However, I didn’t know what that was on the menu and we settled on the ‘Roman style’ Small Squids, which apparently meant calamari. Bummer. But these were still alright. The batter was light and fluffy and the squids were very tender. I swear Spain has some of the best squid and cuttlefish! Anyways, if you want the actually grilled ones, just let your server know “grilled cuttlefish”. Yup, it was on the menu too…but who knew…

Lastly, we got the Prawn Skewers. They are quite expensive, at about 3 euros each, but the good thing is that the prawns are huge. They were lightly salted and extremely fresh! So I guess that was worth it. Plus, they actually fill you up quite a lot.

All in all, Ciudad is a must try in Barcelona. I have never told my friends about a restaurant so much. Whenever I’m asked for restaurant advice in Barcelona, Ciudad is the first place I recommend. It’s truly an experience there, and the seafood is amazing. Remember not to order too much though! This was a meal for only three people, and we were so full we couldn’t finish our food. You think that tapas are small at first, but as you eat, you’ll realize they really do fill you up! Remember that there’s always a piece of bread!

Txapela – Barcelona

January 14, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

There are now 3 Txapelas in Barcelona, and the one we went to was one of the larger joints on Passeig de Gracia. When we went in a mid-afternoon, the place was filled with people. It took a while for us to be noticed, and then seated.

Txapela was recommended to us by a local, but is definitely filled with tons of tourists as it is centered in the city centre and easy to find.

The menu is basically your table mat, and it shows colourful pictures of pintxos, which have become one of my favourite things about Spain! They are essentially little snacks where the bottom is usually a piece of thinly cut baguette, and on top can be anything from cheese to meat to fish. It really depends on how creative the restaurant gets! Other than that, they also offer some typical Spanish tapas, a few selection of desserts, and drinks. The menu is not in English, but since the pictures are so pretty, I just chose based on the appearance. Not a lot of frustration with ordering since you can just point or say the number.

These were some of the pintxos that my table ordered. I just love how they always look so pretty, so even if it doesn’t taste good, you can get sold just by the appearance.

And these were the ones I got. I got the Pincho Urruti, which is a classic cannelloni with wild mushroom sauce. It’s pretty small, but the mushroom sauce was so good. Everything just melts in your mouth. On the right on the plate is the Pincho Mallorca, which is warm brie with spicy pork sausage. This was okay, but I found the pork sausage to have a very strong pork flavour which I wasn’t very used to. Lastly, I got the Pincho Arantxa, which is pictured on the left of the plate. This included prawns, bacon and grilled mushroom, which was my favourite pincho. I just enjoy grilled seafood and grilled mushrooms, and everything was lightly salted, so you could taste the freshness.

The pintxos range from 1.45 to 2.45 euros, so some can be quite affordable. However, you need at least 3-4 of them to be sort of full. As a snack, that is perfect, but for a meal, you may need 5. Don’t order too many at first, as they can really fill you up. You need to remember that each pintxo has a piece of bread under, which for some reason will fill you up! All in all, not a bad pintxo joint, but it is definitely not my favourite. It’s a good place to start if you want to try a variety of pintxos at a decent price though.

La Surena

October 24, 2013October 25, 2013Leave a comment

La Surena is inside Centro Commercial El Saler in Valencia. This mall was near our hotel and on a rainy evening, M and I decided to look for nearby food. We ended up in the mall and on the floor where all the food stalls and restaurants were. We came across La Surena and thinking that I knew all the Spanish in the world after just taking Spanish100, I decided to attempt to translate the menu. I read chicken and fish and all, and naively thought that I would be having a fantastic meal for a ridiculous price. Yea right… So our meal came to $11 euros and that included 2 large pints of beer.

And this is really what he had ordered… 7 mini sandwiches and a salad for S (which was also the most expensive item on our bill). So apparently on specific days, you can get mini sandwiches for just 1 euro! Yea, and they were filled with all the ingredients I had attempted to translate…So I hadn’t exactly gotten the translations wrong, I just didn’t know they would be coming inside a sandwich…a mini one to be exact. And although M hates sandwiches, he admitted that these were pretty good! The ingredients and sauce inside really made it delicious. I actually wouldn’t mind having these agin to be honest. Just funny how I sort of tricked M into getting sandwiches when I really didn’t know. The place was packed and their other popular items are nachos which are also dirt cheap. This would be the perfect place to grab a quick snack and a beer. On different days, they also have other deals such as a bucket of beer for a really cheap price.

Yuu Japanese Tapas

April 13, 2013April 26, 2013Leave a comment

Originally, we had wanted to go to Sushi Hachi, but it was closed on a Sunday! So instead, we went to mall across to look for food. I’ve walked by Yuu Japanese Tapas many times, but I haven’t tried it before, so I decided to give it a try.

The place doesn’t serve authentic Japanese food, but it does offer a large menu of different Japanese snacks, noodles, and desserts. I heard the owner speaking Chinese, so I was already a bit hesitant on how good the food would be. The place is filled with young diners and families though. I’m guessing it’s because the prices are decent.

Deep Fried Boneless Chicken

First, we got the Deep Fried Boneless Chicken as our appetizer. It’s basically chicken karaage and it came with a spicy mayo. This was alright, but I found the batter a little thick.

Ramen in Special Pork Bone (Tonkatsu) Soup Base

I got the Ramen in Special Pork Bone (Tonkatsu) Soup Base. It came with Cha-Siu, corn, leeks, and an egg with a half-runny yolk. The ramen, however, wasn’t that great. It reminded me of instant ramen. The soup base on the other hand, was rich, but salty. It says on their website, that the chef makes this daily.

Unagi Fried Udon

J got the Unagi Fried Udon. He said it was just alright. It looked nice when it was presented, but I guess it wasn’t anything spectacular.

Green Tea, Red Bean Parfait

Yuu has tons of desserts that look really good on their menu. We got the Green Tea, Red Bean Parfait, but I was quite disappointed with it! The green tea ice cream on the top was decent, and I loved the mochi that came with it. What disappointed me was that the rest of the cup was just filled with whip cream! And it wasn’t even good whip cream. I was expecting layers of different snacks since it’s a parfait… Chico on Robson definitely makes better parfaits!

Overall, I left quite disappointed with the food at Yuu. I can’t say the food is bad, but I was expecting better. The service was alright, as our server was quite friendly. However, I don’t think I would be coming back. I can get better food for similar prices elsewhere.