Bubble Waffle Cafe – ChineseBites Media Event

May 1, 2016May 1, 2016Leave a comment

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

Bubble Waffle opened a sit-in location in Kerrisdale and ChineseBites invited us to a media tasting.

The interior is rustic and the owner said he wanted to give a HK style feel to it. The prices here are a little higher than the food court stalls, but they are still affordable.

They even have a mural painted on the wall showcasing Hong Kong.

I sat with Instagrammers, Tina, Sharon, and Elaine. First up, we got to sample all the different soup bases. This was great since there are a few soups that I wouldn’t normally order, like the really spicy ones.

We then got to sample a selection of their Bubble Waffles.

They have a variety of flavours here, including original, chocolate, Oreo, cheesecake, matcha and cinnamon. These were okay, but not crispy enough.

My favourite was still the original although I found the cheesecake flavour surprisingly quite good. The cinnamon flavour was probably my least favourite.

Next up were some Taiwanese snacks. The Taiwanese Sausages were quite a hit at our table. They are a mix of sweet and savoury and have a firm texture.

My favourite snack was the Deep Fried Stinky Tofu. The outside was very crispy and the inside was piping hot. Along with the sweet and spicy sauce, this was delicious. A miss for some because of the fermented smell.

The Fish Siu Mai was quite typical and I found that it was soaked in too much soy sauce. I kind of wished it had a chili sauce on the side.

I enjoyed the Takoyaki quite a lot as these were filled with a generous amount of octopus bits and the inside wasn’t doughy like some I’ve tried.

The Taiwanese Chicken Nuggets were a hit as they were crispy with the chicken itself very moist. I loved the salt and pepper flavouring.

The Fried Shrimp Balls were a beautiful orange colour but I found them to be slightly bland. It needed a sauce to go with it.

Overall, Bubble Waffle Cafe has a great variety of snacks which you can order on its own or pay extra to add on as a side with your noodles.

The drinks came along and I got the HK Style Iced Milk Tea. Their milk teas are actually made with a blend of 5 different Sri Lankan teas. The tea also goes through a filter and is pulled, a common way of making milk teas in Hong Kong. Very silky smooth as a result.

Finally our noodles which we got to customize arrived! E got the Laksa soup base which is one of my usual orders. The soup is flavourful without being too spicy.

T got the Satay soup base which again is very flavourful. It almost tastes like you’re having hot pot!

For myself, I chose the Chiu Chow Style Minced Pork Fish Soup along with rice noodle, sliced beef, sliced beef brisket, fried shrimp ball and fish ball with shrimp. All noodles come with cabbage and bean curd. For some reason, my soup also came with corn.

Overall, Bubble Waffle is great when you’re craving hot noodles in soup on a rainy day. I also love the ability to customize everything from the soup to the toppings. You’ll be very full by the end of your meal for sure with the large portion sizes and affordable prices. A nice option to be able to eat at a location with a nicer ambiance compared to the food court now.

Ken’s Chinese Restaurant – ChineseBites Media Event

April 20, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: As part of the ChineseBites media event, all food was free, but all opinions are based on my own personal experience.

Last month, I was invited by ChineseBites to do a tasting at Ken’s Chinese Restaurant. The restaurant has been around for many years and serves traditional Chinese dishes as well as some HK style cafe dishes.

Fish Soup with Winter Melon & Dried Scallop 瑤柱冬瓜粒魚湯

Chinese dinners always start with soup, and we got to sample the Fish Soup with Winter Melon & Dried Scallop. Flavourful with lots of ingredients and great for a cold rainy night.

Ken’s Specialty Chicken 南軒走地雞

Ken’s Specialty Chicken was tender with a nice layer of jelly under the skin.

Lobster with Konnyaku in Hot Pot 芋絲龍蝦煲

One of their signature dishes is the Lobster with Konnyaku in Hot Pot. This was very flavourful with the lobster cooked just right and the konnyaku noodles soaking up the delicious broth. A must order!

Crab with Garlic & Spicy XO Sauce XO 金蒜炒蟹

We got to sample two of their signature crab dishes. The first was the Crab with Garlic & Spicy XO Sauce. The sauce is more of a dry sauce and great if you love spicy flavours. I could eat the whole dish if I didn’t have to share!

Golden Dungeness Crab 金沙蟹

The Golden Dungeness Crab was one of my favourites as I love crab or lobster that is coated with a salty egg yolk batter. Very flavourful but some found it to be too filling because of the egg yolk. I loved it though!

Braised Fatty Layer Pork 杭州東玻肉

The Braised Fatty Layer Pork seems like a must order at ChineseBites events, and this one didn’t disappoint. A good layer of fat to meat ratio but I did find that this one felt more oily than others I’ve had.

Pan Fried Chicken Fillet with Spicy Thai Sauce 泰汁煎雞扒

The Pan Fried Chicken Fillet with Spicy Thai Sauce was quite average for me as I didn’t find it too special. The chicken was quite tenderized, but nothing too special with the sauce as it tasted like store bought Thai sweet chili sauce.

Malaysian Style Fried Rice 馬拉臘味炒飯

I actually quite enjoyed the Malaysian Style Fried Rice as it had a bit of a kick to it. Good amount of ingredients in the rice.

Black Pepper Diced Beef Tenderloin 七彩黑椒牛柳粒

I was pleasantly surprised with the Black Pepper Diced Beef Tenderloin as I find that this dish can be easily overdone. This was however delicious with the beef extremely tender and cooked to a nice medium to medium rare. The colourful peppers also made the dish visually appetizing and tasted great.

Baked Seafood on Rice 焗海鮮飯

Lastly, we had the Baked Seafood on Rice. This was quite average with a nice layer of white cream sauce and melted cheese. Nothing too special compared to your typical HK style cafes.

Overall, there were some hits and misses, but I would highly recommend trying their crab and lobster dishes. A great casual Chinese restaurant for families but ambiance is rather dated. Reasonable prices and some great dishes though.

8th Annual Chinese Restaurant Awards Ceremony

March 20, 2016Leave a comment

On March 2nd, 2016, we were invited to the 8th Annual Chinese Restaurant Awards (CRA) ceremony held at the River Rock Show Theatre.

The afternoon recognized the winners of the Critic’s Choice Signature Dish Awards and Social Media Choice Awards.

We were able to sample some of the winner’s dishes along with some drinks thanks to sponsors.

Each year, the CRA recognizes a Canadian food product-of-excellence that has incorporated into Chinese cuisine. This year’s winner is the B.C. Geoduck by Underwater Harvester’s Association.

We got to sample a dish using geoduck by the award winning Chef Sam Leung from Dynasty Seafood Restaurant. They presented to us a plate of B.C. Geoduck with Dungeness Crab Roe and Yuzi. This was creamy and the flavour and texture of the geoduck was right on.

Others who were present included the chefs from Peninsula Seafood Restaurant, including executive chef Yao Wei Guang and dim sum hed chef Keong Wong. Peninsula won the 2016 Diner’s Choice Awards for Best Fine Dining Restaurant.

They served us Chef’s Special Red-braised Pork which had just the right amount of fat to meat ratio. This was also extremely flavourful.

Memory Corner won Diner’s Choice Awards for the best Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice which we got to sample. Flavourful and fatty pork with a side of marinated hard boiled egg.

Saint Germain Bakery won Diner’s Choice Awards for best bakery shop and showcased a variety of their delectable cakes. Light and fluffy and not overly sweet.

Mission Hill Family Estate helped cover us for wines and we got to sample their Five Vineyards 2013 Chardonnay.

Hennessy showcased their Very Special Cognac.

K sampled the cognac with a mix of ginger ale.

Heineken was also at the event to cover the guests who wanted some beer.

Dawn Chubai from Breakfast Television, CityTV and William Ho Wood Kuen from Fairchild TV and Radio were the emcees for the afternoon and we got to congratulate all the winners of the recipients of the Critic’s Choice Signature Dish Awards and Social Media Choice Awards.

Another great year of delicious food and congratulations to all the chefs and restaurant winners!

To see the list of winners for the Chinese Restaurant Awards’ 2016 Diners’ Choice Awards which was released earlier, check out Vancity Buzz’s article.

Winners of the Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Awards – Metro Vancouver

SALT AND PEPPER CRUSTED DUNGENESS CRAB

Landmark Hotpot House
4023 Cambie Street, Vancouver (604) 872-2868

SABLEFISH WITH SHREDDED PORK, LUFFA, PICKLED VEGETABLES IN CONGEE SOUP

Dynasty Seafood restaurant
#108-777 West Broadway, Vancouver (604) 876-8388

STEAMED EGG WITH CLAMS

Shroom Restaurant
6555 Fraser Street, Vancouver (604) 568-7797

CHEF TONY’S SPECIAL CHARCOAL GRILLED DUCK

Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant
#101-4600 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 279-0083

CHICKEN WITH STICKY RICE IN CLAYPOT

Golden Eats Seafood Restaurant
2141 Kingsway, Vancouver (604) 336-3389

LAMB HOTPOT

The Jade Seafood Restaurant
8511 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 249-0082

LAMB IN SOUP

Old Xian’s Food
#2010-8580 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 370-3888

BRAISED WINTER MELON WITH VEGETABLE AND MUSHROOM

Dynasty Seafood restaurant
#108-777 West Broadway, Vancouver (604) 876-8388

TOFU SKIN WRAPPED MUSHROOMS WITH VEGETABLES

Hoitong Chinese Seafood Restaurant
#155-8191 Westminster Hwy, Richmond (604) 276-9229

DURIAN EGGTART

Yue Delicacy Restaurant
8077 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 233-1219

Winners of the Social Media Choice Awards – Metro Vancouver

BEST SICHUAN WATER-BOILED FISH

Tian Shi Fu Restaurant
8151 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 273-3388

BEST TAIWANESE BRAISED PORK RICE

Corner 23
4008 Cambie Street, Vancouver (604) 879-8815

BEST HONG KONG-STYLE ROAST DUCK

Parker Place (Aberdeen) Meat & B.B.Q.
#1020-4380 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 233-1138

BEST SHANGHAI-STYLE DRUNKEN CHICKEN

Top Shanghai Cuisine Restaurant
#120-5880 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 278-8790

BEST MANGO SAGO WITH POMELO/GRAPEFRUIT

Doolami Dessert
8030 Granville Street, Vancouver (778) 737-7123

Purdy’s – Truffle-Making Class

February 29, 2016February 28, 2016Leave a comment

Over the weekend, S and I attended the truffle-making class at Purdy’s. The class is $50 per person and happens on select dates every month. Check on their website for dates and to sign up.

We chose the Granville location and it is really one of their retail stores, but they’ve turned their back room into a space to host their class.

We arrived a bit early so checked out their retail store, including the aweseome chocolate fountain while waiting.

Purdy’s actually began in Vancouver in 1907 and the first store was on Robson Street! We were then taken to the back office to begin our class led by our chocolatier, Mark.

The first hour was an introduction of Purdy’s history and how chocolate is made. We learned that chocolate begins with this huge cocoa pod and that most of the cocoa is from West Africa.

When you crack open the cocoa pod, there is some white flesh similar to lychee and these little cocoa beans.

Crack open these cocoa beans, and you will have cocoa nibs. We got to sample some of this and it was rather bitter and had a roasted flavour similar to coffee.

Cocoa nibs can go through a hydraulic press to be separated into cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is commonly used in cosmetics and is great for making lotion.

We were then shown the chocolate flavour wheel and told to taste some chocolates and determine what type of flavour profiles we could taste. We were also taught to smell the chocolate first and take a bite of the chocolate instead of putting the whole piece in our mouth.

We started off with this medium roast 72% dark chocolate made with cocoa beans from Peru. I found this to have a slightly tart flavour with cherry tones.

Next was a dark roast 72% dark chocolate with beans from Ecuador. I quite enjoyed this one as the flavours lasted longer in my mouth and had a bitterness to it.

A new creation we got to sample was the Yuzu Jelly Ganache. I loved this one as I enjoy the citrus flavours of yuzu. Jelly in chocolate is always a plus!

After the hour of history and chocolate processes, we finally got to put our hands to work! They set up a station with various liqueurs and flavours we could add into our chocolate. There were also toppings that we could put on top of our chocolates.

They provide you with chocolate shot cups which are our base where we pipe our truffle filling into. We then mixed cream into already melted chocolate and whisked it up until smooth and consistent. We then added our flavours. I chose a hazelnut liqueur while S chose the raspberry flavour.

We then did some piping and here is our finished product! We each got to take home 21 truffles. You can pay an extra $30 to make another set.

Overall, we had a great time learning the history and process of making Purdy’s truffles. A great two hours of knowledge and fun and you get to take home the recipe to make at home. Great event for a date or just with friends! They also have a chocolate bark-making class available.

Le Crocodile (2016 Valentine’s Menu)

February 27, 2016February 27, 2016Leave a comment

For Valentine’s this year, S spoiled me with a fancy five course dinner at Le Crocodile. Le Crocodile has been around for over 30 years now and is known to Vancouverites for being the classic fine dining spot featuring French cuisine. This elegant restaurant is known to impress.

Surprisingly, the restaurant was quite brightly lit, although they did dim the lights later in the evening. Many couples had already been seated when we arrived. I don’t know if the seating is as tight on normal nights, but I found that we were quite close to the other couples next to us, so it wasn’t the most intimate experience. Perhaps they tried to fit more people in during this night to maximize capacity.

Dinner started off with complimentary bread, which featured both white and whole wheat. Slightly warm but not the best I’ve had. I found it on the harder side.

Dungeness Crab Cake Lady Purse

Our first appetizer on the menu was the Dungeness Crab Cake Lady Purse which was served with a heirloom tomato and fennel salad with lemon and yam aioli. The presentation was beautiful with the puff pastry shaped into a beautiful fan. However, it got quite messy as the pastry got everywhere on the table when we began to eat it. The crab cake itself was pretty good and I really enjoyed the salad which has a nice acidity to it.

Wild Mushroom Ravioli

Next up was the Wild Mushroom Ravioli served with thinly sliced duck breast in a foie gras veloute. The duck was nicely cooked to a medium rare and I loved the earthy flavour of the mushroom filling paired with the foie gras sauce. However, I did find that the ravioli was slightly undercooked for mine. The edges were still quite hard. Not sure if they did that on purpose.

Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Lobster Tail

For our mains, we could choose between the Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Lobster Tail or Sablefish with Tagliatelle Pasta and Grilled Alaskan Scallops. However, S and I both ended up choosing the Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Roasted Lobster Tail. This was served with a pinot noir and black truffle reduction. The tenderloin itself was quite a large portion and I liked the crispy edges. However, I had asked mine for medium rare and I found it to be slightly more of a medium. Only the very centre was more rare. S’s was cooked on point though. The lobster was slightly too salty for my liking. However, I really loved the red wine and black truffle reduction. I couldn’t stop dipping my meat into it!

Pineapple and Vodka Sorbet

We were then served a palette cleanser which was the Pineapple and Vodka Sorbet. It was really refreshing and definitely cleaned our palettes from all the previous flavours.

Valentine’s Dessert Creation

Lastly, for dessert, you get to share their Valentine’s Dessert Creation. This was perfect since we were already really full! It came with a delicious coconut soufflé. This was super light and fluffy! My favourite of the three. In the middle was a chocolate brownie with maple caramel ice cream. On the very end were two lemon curd tarts topped with raspberries. I found these a little too tart for my liking.

And of course dinner ends with their signature crocodile chocolates (one milk and one dark). Nothing too special about these to be honest…

Overall, we enjoyed our evening at Le Crocodile with a great fine ding experience and service. However, I had higher hopes for the food and left feeling everything was good but nothing “wowed” me. You know that feeling when you want to go back already and have the dish again? That didn’t happen based on the dishes on the Valentines’ menu… I guess they settled for dishes that could be easily executed during the busy night, so I think I will have to come back again on a regular day to get the full experience and choose dishes they are famous for. Plus for $98 a person, this was quite a hefty dinner.

Pros:
– Consistent and good quality dishes
– Professional and attentive service

Cons:
– Expensive, although portions are very reasonable
– Dishes from the Valentine’s menu were good but nothing amazing

Price Range: $98/person (Valentine’s menu)

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

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

Sushi Mura

February 22, 2016February 21, 20162 Comments

We drive on Oak pretty much everyday going to and from work, and Sushi Mura is one of the restaurants that we pass by. Finally, I suggested to S that we should check it out on our way home. The interior and menu reminds me of Sushi Garden so I have a feeling they might be owned by the same people. Even by 6pm, the place was already filled but we luckily got a seat right away.

Chirashi Don

I decided to try their Chirashi Don because it was only for a low price of $10.95. The don came with an assortment of sashimi, including regular salmon, wild salmon, tuna, toro, tuna tataki, ebi, tamago, and hokkigai.

I was surprised with the amount of sashimi I got (around 3 pieces of each). However, you can tell from the picture that the knife skills were quite poor so many of the fish did not have any clean cuts. The sashimi was surprisingly quite fresh for the price though. The rice was not very good as it was served too warm and a bit mushy. However, I can’t complain for the price.

Special Mango Roll

S got the Special Mango Roll for $6.95 which was filled with mango, cucumber, avocado and topped with slices of mango and pineapple sauce. Price was good for the portion but quality was terrible! The rice was warm and mushy and mangoes were too tart. There was no texture to this roll at all.

Chicken Teriyaki Roll

S also got the Chicken Teriyaki Roll. The rice here looked slightly better but S still said it was quite average.

Overall, we were slightly disappointed with the quality at Sushi Mura. The prices are cheap but the quality is not there. Food came out so fast it was astonishing. There were many students eating dinner here after school and I can see why it is attractive for the students with the low prices and large portions.

Pros:
– Low prices and large portions
– Sashimi is pretty fresh

Cons:
– Sushi rice is very poorly made
– Knife skills are poor and sushi is poorly constructed

Price Range: $10-15/person

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

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

Taione Trading Launches New Chic Fruits in Vancouver

February 21, 2016February 21, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: As part of a media tasting event, all food and beverages were complimentary.

Earlier this month, I was invited to a media tasting hosted by Taione Trading at Fresh Street Market in West Vancouver. Taione Trading is a company that imports premium exotic produce from Taiwan.

Just in time for Chinese New Years, they hosted a traditional dragon and lion dance at the event as well.

A sampling booth was available for us to try a few of their fruits that are in season right now. We learned that most of these fruits are harvested in Kaohsiung, a city in Taiwan known for their agriculture industry. They are handpicked by the farmers and are air shipped.

Emerald Jujube

The first fruit we sampled was the Emerald Jujube. A fruit that looks like a green apple, but is really a fresh date. When these are dried, they become what we know as dried dates. The Emerald Green Jujube is the biggest of its kind.

The Emerald Jujube is crisp and tastes like a mix of pear and apple. They have a high source of Vitamin C and are used as a natural nutritional tonic, a blood cleanser, and to help strengthen the stomach in traditional Chinese medicine.

Black Diamond Wax Apple

One of my favourites was the Black Diamond Wax Apple. It is also known as the Black Pearl Bell Fruit sometimes. I first tried these in Taipei and found them to be very refreshing, especially after eating a lot of greasy, oily night market food.

These wax apples are seedless and have a slightly sweet flavour with a scent of rose. I found the texture to be similar to a pear. The fruit has no saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, or sugar and is high in calcium, niacin, potassium, and very high in both vitamin A and C.

Overall, we are excited that we can now enjoy these exotic fruits in Vancouver. They are now available at select Fresh Street Markets and IGA stores.

Commodity Juicery

February 17, 2016Leave a comment

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

Last month, I was invited by Zomato to enjoy a private tasting at Commodity Juicery on Fraser St. I drink juices I make with a blender at home, but this whole cold-pressed juice thing is fairly new to me. I brought along M and E who were keen to learn more about cold-pressed juices and what a juice cleanse was all about.

The store is fairly small and is more of a take-away place. There’s really only three stools at the counter plus some chairs against the window. As mentioned, they focus on cold-pressed juices and these are listed with colourful numbers along with the ingredients for each.

In addition to juices, they offer plant-based ready-to-go meals. They range from salad bowls, soups, and desserts. When they say plant-based, it basically means vegan (so no dairy, seafood, or meats).

On the side, they have a fridge filled with their freshly made cold-pressed juices in take-away bottles. Carissa, the co-owner who hosted our private tasting said these can last up to 4 days unopened.

Sample of Cold Pressed Juices

We got to sample some of the cold pressed juices which were customer favourites. This colourful array of fresh juice from left to right included:

10: Sunrise: grapefruit, apple, lemon, mint
8: Orange Roots: carrot, turmeric, apple, lemon
6: Purple Puppy: beet, cucumber, cilantro, orange, apple
1: Sweet Greens – pineapple, kale, romaine, cilantro, green apple, lime
7: Morning Love: carrot, yam, lemon, cinnamon
4: Bright Greens: romaine, cucumber, kale, parsley, green apple, celery, lemon

My favourites included Sunrise, which is the perfect drink if you love fruitier flavours, and Sweet Greens, which again was a sweeter juice. I’m a sucker for fruiter juices even though it may have more sugar. You could really taste all the ingredients in the juice and it tasted very clean and fresh. M even mentioned why he had never tasted these kind of flavours in a juice before. These go for $10 a bottle normally.

Kale Chips

We then got to sample some of their Kale Chips which are lightly seasoned with chili. These were delicious and addicting. E and I both agreed we could snack on these all day long at work.

Minestrone Soup

A new addition to the menu is the Minestrone Soup which Carissa said is from her grandmother’s recipe. This was hearty and flavourful with a good assortment of vegetables and beans. No chicken broth is used, so this is vegan friendly.

Kale Caesar

The Kale Caesar is again a vegan version as the Caesar dressing is actually cashew-based yet still giving that anchovy flavour. To substitute Parmesan cheese, the salad is sprinkled with Rawmesean, which is a raw vegan substitute and tastes just like cheese! We could hardly tell! The salad was a mix of kale and romaine and this is normally topped with coconut bacon which is the bomb!

Mighty Greens

One additional juice we tried was the #3: Mighty Greens. This was made with cucumber, green apple, mint, romaine, celery, kale, and lime. This juice is supposed to help with weight management, liver cleansing, digestion, and suppressing appetites.

Matcha Mylk

Moving on, we tried one of their milk based drink, the #12: Matcha Mylk. This is made with cashews, almonds, matcha, maple syrup, and vanilla bean. I found this to taste like those Vita-Soy drinks but much more clean and less sugary.

Macaroons

For dessert, we tried their Coconut Macaroons. These were surprisingly very delicious even though they are vegan. A subtle sweet flavour and it gives you that feeling of begin full. Carissa said these would be good to have just before you go to a yoga class.

Relief Shot

We were all curious about what these “health shots” were so Carissa let us try the Relief Shot. This is usually taken in the morning to get you going and powered up. The Relief Shot’s ingredients included lemon and ginger and was topped with some cayenne. Wow, this took us by surprise and that spicy and gingery flavour really woke us up. I could really use this every morning.

Overall, we had a great time at the private tasting and enjoyed the introduction to a plant-based diet. Who knew vegan could taste so good! The staff are also very knowledgeable and passionate to help find you the best fit and flavour profiles you enjoy. Juice cleanses are available as well so if you are looking into something like that, Commodity Juicery is a great option. A location is also in Smithers for those of you up north.