Kinome

July 5, 2016Leave a comment

K loves soba noodles, so for our family outing, we decided to check out Kinome which has been much talked about for their handmade buckwheat soba noodles. They are only open for dinner and are closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Be sure to make reservations as it is usually full.

The decor inside is simple but gives an authentic Japanese feel. They have a fresh sheet that changes up.

The inside is very small. They have around 5 tables of four and the rest is bar seating. Bar seating would be perfect if you order their popular omakase menu. The only downside is there is no air conditioner here so it can get super hot.

Dashi Egg Omelette

We started off with their famous Dashi Egg Omelette. The egg was layered with seaweed and flavoured just enough while remaining a hint of sweetness. So fluffy and moist.

Today’s Sashimi

One order of Today’s Sashimi features whatever the chef believes is most fresh. You can let the server know if you don’t like a specific type of fish. Our order came with 5 types of sashimi. Our selection included Red Tuna (sustainable bluefin tuna), Sockeye Salmon, Tobi-uo (flying fish), Mizu-tako (water octopus) and Shiro-ika (white squid). Flying fish was something new for us and wasn’t too bad! It has a slimier texture but wasn’t too fishy in taste. However, this dish is quite expensive at $30 for very small cuts. Very fresh though!

Grilled Marinated Squid Legs

Next up were Grilled Marinated Squid Legs which came with a side of mayo. I liked how they had a bit of char on the ends and were very tender.

Prawn Tempura

The Prawn Tempura was battered so lightly and the shrimp itself was very fresh because it wasn’t mushy like the ones you get at all you can eat. It had that bounce! It also came with some asparagus.

Braised Berkshire Pork Belly with Grilled Leak & Miso Sauce

The Braised Berkshire Pork Belly was a delicious fatty goodness with the fat melting your mouth.

Chopped Kale & Prawn Kakiage Tempura

A favourite of mine was the Chopped Kale & Prawn Kakiage Tempura. Never though you could tempura kale! It was filled with bits of shrimp and scallop too which was delicious!

Asakusa Soba

Next up was what we came here for – their handmade buckwheat soba! They have three choices. First was the Asakusa Soba which features hand made buckwheat noodle with green onion, tempura bits, radish, seaweed, and sesame. This dish is served cold and you pour a cold broth on top and mix it together. They advise you eat it as quickly as possible so the texture remains. This one was great with a very fresh take on the traditional soba.

Zaru Soba

The Zaru Soba was what I was used to. With this one, you can truly taste how fresh the noodles are. The texture has just the right amount of firmness. I can see why people go crazy over the soba here!

Kamo Seiro Soba

My favourite was the Kamo Seiro Soba though. This was the same handmade buckwheat noodle but served with a warm duck dipping sauce. The sauce was just so flavourful without being too salty. This soba is pricey at $16 but it does come with three tender pieces of duck and is irresistible!

Cold Udon

Kinome’s dishes tend to be smaller in portion size so of course we were still hungry. We decided to try their udon which is new on the menu. There are two choices so we got both. First was the Cold Udon which I absolutely loved. I think I might even like this more than the soba. The udon here is handmade as well and very thin. The cold broth really makes the dish refreshing and keeps that firm texture.

Warm Udon

The Warm Udon featured the same thin noodles, but I felt that because it sat in the broth, the texture of the noodles became slightly soft. Still, I really enjoyed both version of the udon.

Overall, I was very impressed with Kinome’s dishes, especially their soba and udon. Prices are slightly on the higher side for the size of their dishes, but I think it’s well worth it. Plus, they are extremely environmentally friendly which is always a plus. Service was also very friendly.

Pros:
– Handmade buckwheat noodle and udon is a must order!
– Ingredients are extremely fresh

Cons:
– No air conditioning may be a problem in the summer
– Prices are slightly higher for the portions

Price Range: $20-30/person

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

Food:4.5 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 2.5 Parking: 3.5 Overall: 4

Tangram Creamery

July 4, 2016Leave a comment

With the sun out these days, I’ve been craving ice cream so I suggested we check out Tangram Creamery in the Kits area after seeing all the pictures on Instagram.

The ice cream prices are on par with most of the other gourmet ice cream shops starting at $5 for a single scoop. Cookie cones which are made in house and what Tangram is famous for is an additional $1 but a must purchase! They also have ice cream maracarons and affogato.

The menu is quite limited but they change it up about once a week so ensure to check out their social media to see what flavours are available.

We chose to get single scoops and got the Mango Sorbet and Salted Caramel. They pack quite a lot in a single scoop so the cone is filled inside as well. The mango sorbet was very refreshing, but the salted caramel was the star. I loved the mix of sweet and salty and the ice cream itself was very smooth. The cookie cones are also absolutely delicious and a great change from the typical waffle cones. I love how they dip the pointy end with chocolate so your ice cream doesn’t drip out.

Overall, S and I both really enjoyed the ice creams at Tangram Creamery. Service was very friendly and there is self-serve water available. There is limited communal seating, but with the nice weather, taking a stroll in the neighbourhood is a good option as well.

Pros:
– Delicious rotating flavours
– Love the cookie cone!

Cons:
– Very little seating

Price Range: $5-10/person

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

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

Sai Woo

July 3, 2016July 3, 2016Leave a comment

Super late post again but back in early May, us accountants finally celebrated the end of tax season! Our firm treated us to dinner and drinks at Sai Woo in the heart of Chinatown. Sai Woo doesn’t server your typical authentic Chinese food, it’s more of a westernized style of Chinese food.

We basically booked the whole restaurant and the inside decor is beautiful! I loved the fairy lights and the ambiance gave a nice chic and elegant feel.

Their cocktails are what I would come here for and they have a long bar on one side where you can come in if you want to just enjoy some drinks.

Sai Woo Sour

E and I decided to go all out that night (since we were’ paying!) and tried to go down the list of the cocktail list. Yes, huge headache the next day, but it was fun! We started off with the Sai Woo Sour which featured Bombay Sapphire East, Benedictine, ginger syrup, lemon juice, and egg white.

Elderflower 75

The Elderflower 75 was my favourite and consisted of Finlandia Vodka, St. Germain, lemon juice, and sparkling cava. This was the fruitiest drink and extremely easy to drink. Plus, it’s always classy to have some cava in hand.

Smoking Gun

The Smoking Gun is the men’s drink and the process in making the drink is super cool to watch. They light up the drink and some smoke comes out then they throw in this huge ice cube. The drink consisted of El Dorado 12 year old rum, bitters, brown sugar, oak, and tea smoke. A very bitter drink and great for those who like to drink straight rum. The guys said it was too sweet from the brown sugar though…but us girls found it bitter!

Carioca

Another favourite was the Carioca with Cacha 51, guava juice, orange juice, lime juice, and sloe Gin float. Another one of those lighter and fruitier drinks which I enjoyed.

Tuna Tartare

As we booked the place up for a private event, our menu was already pre-ordered and it included some canapés to start. I didn’t get pictures of all of them but a memorable one was the Tuna Tartare which came with nori on top. Quite yummy! They also seem to enjoy using raw ingredients at Sai Woo.

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio

We were able to choose two appetizers each. For myself, I chose the Wagyu Beef Carpaccio which came with broccoli puree, crudite, rye crumble, sorrel, and candied lime. To be honest, I found this to be just average. The beef lacked flavour and the plate itself was also extremely small for the price.

Beet Salad

E got the Beet Salad which came with buckwheat cracker, yoghurt, blackberry sauce, fermented grapes, and herbs. A colourful dish but E also said it was just average.

Sai Woo Salad

My second appetizer was the Sai Woo Salad which comes with smoked sockeye salmon, gem lettuce, frisee, pickled tomato, blue cheese cream, and fennel. Again, something was off about this dish. It was way too acidic with the pickled tomatoes overbearing the whole dish. The smoked salmon was also more like cooked salmon as it was fully cooked. Everyone agreed this dish was too pickled.

Pressed Lamb

For my entree, I got the Pressed Lamb which was my favourite of the dishes. The lamb was packed into a rectangle and was crispy on the outside while staying very moist in the inside. It came with seasonal vegetables of what appeared to be brocolini, braised shallots, kale, sherry jus and a side of long grain rice.

Ling Cod

Some of the other diners got the Ling Cod which came with oyster mushrooms, green onion puree, greens, and jasmine rice. Apparently this was extremely salty for some while being perfect for others. Seems like they have inconsistencies in seasoning.

Lemongrass Chicken

The other entree option was the Lemongrass Chicken which came with vermicelli noodles, bitter greens, and a sunny side up fried egg.

Baklava

Dessert was just as disappointing. the Baklava was unappealing to look at and consisted of pistachio nuts, toasted nuts, honey rose pearls, and phyllo chips. This was sort of an deconstructed baklava but something about it just didn’t seem right.

Chocolate Cake

The Chocolate Cake came with candied fennel and orange marmalade and it appeared that most diners did not enjoy this. Perhaps it was gluten free and therefore the cake itself was very hard and dry.

Overall, we found the food at Sai Woo to be underwhelming but we think it might be because they aren’t experienced with catering to a large group. Most diners who have gone to Sai Woo on a regular day have had good experiences, so I would probably give them a try during their regular service. I have to say that their drinks are great so I wouldn’t mind coming here to grab a drink. Plus the decor is beautiful inside!

Kamei Royale – Grand Opening at New Location

June 27, 2016Leave a comment

Note: All food and beverages were complimentary, but opinions are based on personal experience.

Thanks to Loopp Media and Klip Magazine, we were invited to the grand opening of Kamei Royale at their new location in Coal Harbour at 1066 West Hastings. Kamei Royale used to be around Burrard and Georgia if you remember.

The event was packed so it was hard to really capture the interior space. A long bar is on one side.

They have a large selection of beers and wines.

This is only one side of the dining area. The new location is quite large and also features more private dining areas on the other side.

We were able to sample a variety of appetizers, sushi, and oysters.

We also got to watch the chef cut a blue fin tuna which weighed over 100lbs and to sample the melt-in-your mouth tuna!

Unfortunately, the place was packed and I was too short to capture any photos of the actual demonstration. I watched through other people’s camera screens… But here are some parts of the fish.

A Japanese lion dance followed to celebrate the opening.

I loved watching the sake barrel-breaking ceremony.

The chefs smashed the barrel and all those in the front row had a good splash!

Kamei Royale has their own brand of sake and it tasted delicious!

The restaurant is open to the public beginning Monday, June 27 for lunch only. Dinner service begins July 5.

Pink Elephant Thai – 5 for $55

June 22, 2016June 21, 2016Leave a comment

Note: All food and beverages were complimentary, but all opinions are based on my personal experience. Dishes pictured unfortunately have a yellow tint due to a misuse of a camera setting and therefore are not a true representation of the colours of the dishes.

Pink Elephant Thai is celebrating their 5th anniversary and the Alberni location is offering a special menu for a limited time. The anniversary menu allows diners to choose 5 items for $55. To be specific, that’s 2 appetizers and 3 entrees from their select menu. I would say this is perfect for 3 people or 2 if you’re really hungry.

I was invited by Grace along with other food bloggers to check out this anniversary menu specifically. It was actually my first time at Pink Elephant Thai and I was impressed by the ambiance! Those pink cushioned sofas are perfect for a girls night out!

We started off with some virgin drinks, including this citrus tropical drink (which I forgot the name of). Fruity and refreshing, and would’ve been perfect with a shot of alcohol!

Pink Colada

The other drink we were served was the Pink Colada which is their take on a pina colada but flavoured more strongly with cherry. This wasn’t my personal favourite since I don’t like cherry flavoured drinks.

Spring Rolls

Onto the appetizers! The menu has 10 appetizers to choose from so I can imagine choosing just two to be very hard. Luckily, we got to try all of them! Starting off was the Spring Rolls, which I found subpar. I didn’t like the wrapper and found it too chewy. The filling also lacked flavour.

Chicken Satay

I loved the marinade of the Chicken Satays which featured Thai spices and a hint of coconut milk. The satay sauce was also delicious but I found the chicken to be slightly on the drier side.

Fish Cake

The Fish Cakes are home-made with Thai spices and are perfect for those who love spice! I really enjoyed these and liked how it wasn’t mushy.

Thai Shrimp Cake

A personal favourite was the Thai Shrimp Cake which came with a sweet and sour plum sauce. As Sherman would say, the shrimp was “boing” or “bouncy”. You know that texture where this is some bite to it? Yeah, hard to describe, but let’s just say these were delicious!

Thai Style Pork Cheek

Another winner at the table was the Thai Style Pork Cheek which was marinated with Thai herbs and spices and grilled to perfection. This was not tough at all and again had the perfect chew. Highly recommend this!

Crispy Tofu

The Crispy Tofu showcased soft and silky tofu lightly battered and deep fried. As tofu does not have much flavour, you really needed the accompanying sweet chili sauce to go with it.

Som Yum Papaya Salad

The Som Yum Papaya Salad featured green papaya strips seasoned with fresh lime juice and Thai spices. I found this slightly too sour for my liking.

Larb Gai

The Larb Gai was really spicy but I really enjoyed it. This dish consisted of minced chicken mixed with fresh lime juice, roasted rice, and Thai spices.

Yum Neau

Yum Neau is a Thai Style Beef Salad. Pink Elephant Thai used sliced grilled New York beef and mixed it with fresh lime juice and Thai chili. This is again a very spicy and acidic dish, but I wish the beef was more tender. I found it slightly dry.

Tom Yum Gai

The last appetizer was the Tom Yum Gai. This is the perfect appetizer since the spicy and sour flavours open up your appetite. The hot and sour soup consisted of chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass and Thai spices. Only downside of this dish is the chicken being too dry once again.

Red Curry, Yellow Curry, Green Curry

Onto the entrees. Your entrees also come with two bowls of rice because you pretty much need rice to go with the spicy Thai food! First up were three curries: red, yellow, and green. They were all strong in coconut flavours but my favourite was the yellow curry as it was more aromatic.

Thai Basil Stir-Fried

Sautéed with Thai chili, bell peppers, green beans and fresh basil, the Thai Basil Stir-Fried was a great dish to go with rice.

Thai Black Bean Sauce

The Chicken Thai Black Bean Sauce was sautéed with Thai black bean sauce, ginger, fresh pineapple and snap peas. Again, the chicken was slightly on the dry side.

Cashew Nut Stir Fried

I actually found the Chicken Cashew Nut Stir Fried to taste similar to the Thai Black Bean Sauce. I guess they have similar ingredients and spices at the end of the day. I really like cashews in dishes though!

Pad Thai

Stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind sauce, tofu, ground peanuts, egg, green onions and bean sprouts

Pad Kee Mao

The Pad Kee Mao is more commonly known as Drunken Noodles. These rice noodles were stir fried with Thai chili, bell peppers, onions, green beans and fresh basil. Again, I found the flavours to be quite similar to the other entrees.

Chili Pepper Fried Rice

I really liked the Chili Pepper Fried Rice with chili, egg and diced vegetables. This was very spicy, but almost addictive! If you can’t take too much spice, I would suggest letting your server know.

Mixed Seasonal Vegetables

The last entree was the Mixed Seasonal Vegetables which looked underwhelming but tasted delicious soaked in oyster sauce.

Overall, Pink Elephant Thai’s anniversary menu is a pretty good deal to try a variety of their popular dishes. I found I enjoyed their appetizers the most as I found there was more variety in the flavours whereas many of the entrees tasted simliar. I would suggest getting one curry and one noodle or rice dish to get the most variety.

Green Leaf Sushi

June 21, 2016June 19, 20162 Comments

After seeing so many beautiful pictures of aburi sushi on Instagram, I suggested to SP and SK to check out Green Leaf Sushi.

I’ve been hearing there are long line ups so I came a little earlier to grab a seat. Luckily, it still wasn’t very busy on a Sunday for some reason. Ambiance is simple and nothing special.

Aburi Sushi Platter

We decided to get the Aburi Sushi Platter since we could try most of the aburi sushi. This came with the following:

Sime Saba Oshi Sushi
Yukke Tuna Oshi Sushi
Aburi Tobiko Roll
Salmon Oshi Sushi
Hotate Oshi Sushi
Basil Ebi oshi Sushi

This is around $60 so definitely a platter to share. Between three girls, we were beyond full and could barely finish it in the end. The sushi all have a very creamy topping which made it very filling and by the end of it, we felt like each one tasted very similar. I would suggest splitting it with more people so you’ll find each one more satisfying. Our favourite was the Salmon Oshi and of course I had to compare it to the famous Miku’s. Although the price is cheaper, Miku’s is still much better. We found that the rice easily fell apart and the sauce was too creamy at Green Leaf.

Overall, based on the aburi sushi platter we tried, Green Leaf was a good alternative to Miku especially for its price. However, I would still go to Miku if I wanted to treat myself. I would need to revisit and try their other dishes to really comment on the restaurant overall though.

Pros:
– Great variety of aburi sushi
– Prices are quite reasonable

Cons:
– Rice fell apart easily from the items we tried
– Found the aburi sushi to be too creamy

Price Range: $20-25/person

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

Food: 3.5 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 2.5 Parking: 3 Overall: 3.5

Parallel 49 Brewing – 4th Anniversary Party

June 20, 2016June 20, 2016Leave a comment

Last Thursday, Parallel 49 Brewing celebrated their 4th anniversary with a fiesta party along with the launch of their newest beer. We were invited to join the fun!

The anniversary was celebrated in style with sombrero hats, tacos, beer and live music.

We were able to sample some of their top beers, including the Craft Lager which won gold in the category of North American Premium Style Lager for their Craft Lager. Brewed by Graham With, Head Brewer at Parallel 49 Brewing Company, the Craft Lager is a light lager brewed with malted barley and local Sterling hops grown at Satori Cedar Ranch in Chilliwack, BC.

Parallel 49 is also known for their super wacky artwork label designs on their beer bottles as well as hilarious names for their beers. Since opening in 2012, they have brewed up over 60 varieties of beer including many collaborations with other breweries.

Other than the many beers we sampled, we were here mainly for the launch of their newest beer.

Their newest beer is the ¡Orale! which is a salted lime tequila Gose. There is a slight citrus flavour from the lime and this would be perfect for those who enjoy tequila.

Congratulations to Parallel 49 for 4 years in business and many more to come!

17°C Dessert Cafe – ChineseBites Media Event

June 19, 2016Leave a comment

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

After our huge meals over at Golden Eats, the ChineseBites crew walked a block over to the newly opened 17°C Dessert Cafe. Pictures have been all over social media and they even ran out of ingredients on their grand opening.

They focus mainly on fruit shaved ice and offer some drinks as well. The interior is rather small so can only fit around 20 people or so.

They also have the famous Lightbulb Drinks featuring four flavours right now.

Cantaloupe Icy

We started off with the Cantaloupe Icy with a milky shaved iced and melon balls scooped out on top along with popping balls. It also comes with condensed milk to drizzle on top. This was refreshing with the shaved ice being very creamy. I quite enjoyed this as it was not overly sweet.

Watermelon Icy

Another popular icy of theirs is the Watermelon Icy. Again, same concept with the watermelon being scooped out into balls resting on top of the same milky shaved ice. This one came with thinly shaved almond and Pocky sticks. The watermelon was not very sweet, so it really helped that a scoop of vanilla ice cream sat on top.

Pineapple Icy

We got to try one of their new menu items which was the Pineapple Icy. Same concept again, but I would say you get less of the pineapple balls just because of the size of the fruit. I was surprised they were able to scoop these out though since it can be quite difficult with a pineapple. This came with blackcurrant gummies which were pretty good on their own but I didn’t think it added much to the dessert overall. This was pretty good since it had a nice balance of sweet and tart.

Lightbulb Drinks

Lastly, we tried their series of Lightbulb Drinks. We tried the passionfruit, kiwi, lemon, and red pomegranate. This were slightly fizzy as they were carbonated and you could choose to mix it with green tea. Frankly, I found these underwhelming as they tasted like artificial flavour. They only look good in pictures but flavour is a definite miss.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the shaved ice but would skip the lightbulb drinks. The shaved ice do come at a price at $14.99 for both the cantaloupe and watermelon but I guess you are paying for the fruit itself and the labour of scooping the balls.