Copa Cafe (Cambie)

October 7, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

Again, this is like one month late. I really should get all these posts up! Anyways, congrats to our Sunshine Boy, Evan! He decided to treat us for dinner and since part of his reward was a gift card to Copa Cafe, why not use it! Plus, he loves HK style Cafes! Copa Cafe is literally right across from the St. Edwards Canada Line Station, so it’s super convenient. After seeing that little chef cartoon on their signage, I realized that I always see this cafe advertised in Chinese magazines.

7 Up Coffee

This was MP’s 7 Up Coffee. I thought it was so interesting that I took a sip. I normally don’t drink coffee since I can’t take the bitterness, but this was surprisingly so good! It wasn’t too strong in coffee, but instead had more 7 up, and then had a hint of coffee flavour. I actually liked this!

Thai Fried Rice?

And this was ML’s Thai Fried Rice (I think that’s what it was…). ML is some fried rice fanatic. He literally eats fried rice everyday I swear – well at least I see him eating that every time I have school with him. He seems to also get fried rice whenever he’s at some sort of Chinese restaurant. Oh, and he also makes his own fried rice. Anyways, I asked him what he thought of his fried rice, since he’s such an expert. He said that this one had too much soy sauce and not enough chicken. He also mentioned it wasn’t as good as the one he’s had at Kingspark Steak House in Richmond. He said that he would rate it a 6/10. So serious about his fried rice…

Baked Seafood with Cheese on Rice

For myself, I got the Baked Seafood with Cheese on Rice. I always get this at HK style Cafes! I probably shouldn’t have gotten this by myself though. It was HUGE. And yes, of course I didn’t finish it. I ended up just eating the top layer or rice mixed with the cheese and toppings, since that’s the best part. I’ve definitely had better baked seafood on rice before. The rice was also extremely dry. It was just alright. Nothing amazing.

This is what E got. I’m not too sure what everyone else got to be honest. But it looks like some sort of steak paired with veggies and fries. It also came with a soup and bread.

And what the rest of the boys got. They got the same thing apparently. Some sort of steak again, but this time paired with rice. It also came with soup and bread. I heard the steak wasn’t that great though.

And this was J’s chicken I believe? I think he tried ordering fish but apparently they sold out. This came with soup and also linguine.

And the rest of the girls shared a meal of steak with veggies and crab cakes and some other items? I’m not too sure again. This picture was actually the wrong order though, as it came with sausages, which they hadn’t ordered. So the crab cakes aren’t actually shown here.

So how good was the food? Just average. Nothing special and the prices seemed to be around the same as other HK style cafes. They have quite a large variety of food on their menu though. Convenient location, although I would probably stick around Richmond with so many cafe choices available.

Sushi Bang

October 3, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

Sushi Bang was sort of a random discovery. M and I had just gotten off the bus at Cambie and Broadway from school since we had a meeting at Starbucks there with the rest of our team. M was sort of hungry and decided we still had some time to grab some food. He debated on just grabbing a slice of pizza but when we continued to walk along Broadway, I came across this sign. It said 18 pieces of sushi for $5.95! I pointed that out to M and he stared in awe and the next thing I knew, we were inside Sushi Bang.

It’s a tiny little shop with limited seating, but still pretty much half filled. We sat down, thinking that it wouldn’t take too long, but when the food arrived, it was already pretty much time to go for our meeting. Service was quick up into waiting for the food to come. It took probably 15 minutes, but we thought it would be quicker than that for such a convenient looking shop. Anyways, we ended up getting our sushi to go, but I should mention that the sushi was actually presented quite nicely when it had come. Much better than what I had expected.

Sushi Special – 6 pc California Roll, 6 pc Yam Tempura Roll, 6 pc Tuna Roll, Miso Soup ($5.95)

Well this is what attracted M into the restaurant. Clearly their marketing seem to work since many other customers ordered this as well. This is actually quite a lot of sushi for $6. M said that quality-wise, you can’t say it’s anything amazing, but there’s worse sushi out there. You really pay for what you get.

Calamari Tempura Roll & Dynamite Roll

M also decided to get something sort of funky. The Calamari Tempura Roll was surprisingly really delicious. It had a nice chew to it, and although it reminded me of a dynamite roll in some ways, the chewiness of the squid made it really unique. Really delicious! For myself, I wasn’t too hungry, so I just got the boring old Dynamite Roll. Nothing special and just pretty average.

Sushi Bang is a place to get affordable sushi, but the quality is definitely not up to par. You can’t expect much when you’re paying that price!

TaiwanFest 2012

September 29, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

Again, I’m pretty much a month late on my posts. But anyways, TaiwanFest occurred during the Labour Day weekend, and was a festival to celebrate Taiwan culture and food! Since Vancouver is multicultural and has tons of Taiwanese, it made sense to have it here. And also Toronto I believe. It was hosted by Telus with all sorts of entertainment, with live performances, DIY art, music, and of course food! The event was held around the downtown Granville area and was free to public – well other than the food! Funny how J didn’t know about the event even though he’s Taiwanese, but I dragged him along nonetheless.

Family Lin

Taiwanese Soup Noodle ($5)

The streets were pretty packed and we saw a huge lineup to the booths for the Tainan Street Banquet. Some teen volunteers however, told us to go check out the other food booths since it would take a while to get in. Shouldn’t have listened to them since the lineup when we got back was even longer! But anyways, we ended up going to the International Food Fair area, where J got the Taiwanese Soup Noodle. I took a sip of the soup and thought it had a strange taste. Apparently it’s the taste of onions…? He said it wasn’t too bad though.

Sasaya Bistro

Oyster Omelet ($6)

A lot of the food I saw weren’t actually too familiar to me. Or they were fried food that I wasn’t craving that day. I ended up spotting a booth that sold the Oyster Omelet and purchased that instead. The wait was quite a while as they had told me beforehand. I guess it takes a little longer to cook this dish. I’ve had a really delicious oyster omelet at a family Taiwanese restaurant in Richmond a while back before, and I have to say this one wasn’t up to par. The outside of the omelet didn’t have that crispy texture and instead had a very glutinous jelly-like substance – something that I didn’t find too appealing for my taste. I also wasn’t too used to the sauce which was a little sour and spicy. I’m guessing the sauce is what they usually use though, but I would’ve liked it on the side.

Totoro

Passionfruit Slush ($5)

J got thirsty and also got a Passionfruit Slush. This was actually really good since it was refreshing on a hot sunny day. The passionfruit flavour wasn’t too sour as well, since I’ve had ones that were really sour. We then realized that the booth was Totoro, which is a bubble tea shop in Richmond. I don’t think they’re even Taiwanese operated, but oh well. It was still good.

Tainan Street Banquet

Fatty Pork with Young Bamboo on Vermicelli ($5)

Steamed Rice Pudding ($5) – Glutinous rice steamed with mushroom, minced pork and shrimps in circular pudding shape, served with sauce and coriander

We got filled up a bit now, so we decided to walk around and explore the other booths that were not related to food…After an hour or so, we decided to head back to the Tainan Street Banquet to check out why there was always a lineup. We waited roughly 10 minutes, and finally got to the entrance where we were given a tray. This area was actually all owned by the same restaurant/chef, and there were basically around 10 different menu items to choose from, and as you move along the line, you can let the people know what you want. They then place it on your tray and you proceed to pay. All items were $5, which wasn’t too bad, considering you’re at a special event and the portions were pretty good too. They also had tables to sit down at in this area. I was pretty confused with what to get, since I wasn’t familiar with most of it. We ended up getting the Fatty Pork with Young Bamboo on Vermicelli and the Steamed Rice Pudding. Good choice since we soon realized that almost everyone got those items too. The vermicelli wasn’t soup based so it was just moist. The fatty pork was actually really good, although it was lots of fat. I felt kind of unhealthy eating it, but I have to admit it’s good. The Steamed Rice Pudding was something that I had wanted to try since I got there. I saw other people eating it and I thought it looked really pretty! I really liked the mixture of minced beef, mushrooms, shrimp, and the sauce. It was flavourful and sort of reminded me of the sticky rice my mom makes. Good stuff!

I wish I posted this earlier so others could read and go, but I’m sure they will be back next year again. A great event to check out with family and friends!

Acme Cafe

September 27, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

Americano

Veggie Sandwich – goat cheese, portobello mushroom, peppers, zucchini, sprouts, sun-dried tomato basil mayo. Ciabatta panini grilled; with cup of Curry Lentil

Chicken Club Sandwich – multi-grain, chicken, bacon, aged cheddar, tomato, arugula, sun-dried tomato may and grainy mustard; with cup of Curry Lentil

Shrimp Melt – shrimp, roasted peppers, and onions open faced and topped with Jack cheese. On a half-Ciabatta; with cup of Curry Lentil

High-faultin’ Grilled Cheese – cheddar, swiss, brie, cranberry-Grand Marnier relish. Ciabatta panini grilled; with cup of Curry Lentil

Close up of the High-faultin’ Grilled Cheese!

Mac and Cheese (side)

I barely ever wake up in time for brunch or breakfast, but KT, KC, J and I decided to make that happen. KT suggested to go to Acme Cafe in Gastown, and we tried to get there for their breakfast menu, but of course, we ended up late… So we were only able to order their non-breakfast food. Anyways, Acme Cafe was busy when we got there, but we only waited for perhaps 5 minutes to get a seat. The place is really cute, and reminds me of a vintage diner, yet a little modernized. They also have this seating area which is a semi-circle and you can watch the chefs prepare your food. Pretty cool place in my opinion.

Anyways, everything on the menu sounded delicious, so it was hard for me to choose something. I ended up getting the High-faultin’ Grilled Cheese since I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but this one seemed to be more than just a grilled cheese sandwich. They also had a normal grilled cheese sandwich, but this one was “high-faultin’”. The ciabatta was thin and crispy, with loads of cheese melted so it was stringy, and the unique part of it was that it had a cranberry-Grand Marnier relish. The hint of sourness actually worked really well with it and was a great twist to the normal grilled cheese sandwiches. I also took a bite from the Shrimp Melt, which was really delicious! It was open-faced so a little difficult to eat unless you cut it up, but the shrimp and all the ingredients together made it an excellent light sandwich to eat. Delicious! All the sandwiches also came with your choice of chips, or soup of the day. We all got the soup of the day, which was the Curry Lentil. Surprisingly, it wasn’t super spicy or anything. It just had a hint of curry flavour to it, but it was definitely a hearty soup. I’m not a big fan of lentils, so it was just alright for me. The two boys also got a side of Mac and Cheese, and a I stole a spoon. It was really good! There were loads of cheese. Like LOTS. But it worked well and I loved how the top was baked so it was a little crispy.

Overall, awesome place to grab brunch or even lunch. Service isn’t anything over the top, but was quick and efficient. Check it out!

Loving Hut (revisit)

September 26, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

The new way to advertise: with a cute chick and cow…?

Cheese Sweet Potato Fries

Crispy Chick’n Burger – crispy Gardein patty, chipotle mayo, guacamole, jalapeno relish, tomato, red onion, lettuce

Grilled Mushroom Cheese Burger – beefless patty, grilled mushrooms, cheese sauce, mayo, mustard, (w/o tomatoes & red onions), lettuce

After a long walk around Yaletown by the water, where we almost hit Granville Island… K and I decided it was time to grab some Loving Hut burgers! I’ve been here once before and had the Crispy Chick’n Burger, which was delicious, so I decided to try something different. I got the Grilled mushroom Cheese Burger, which had a beefless patty and loads of mushrooms. It was really delicious, but I still think my number one favourite is the Crispy Chick’n Burger. That one is much more flavourful and I also like the spice it has, although I complain that it gets too spicy. So good though! We also got the Cheese Sweet Potato Fries, which at first, I had imagined it to be cheese inside the fries, but it was actually a cheese sauce drizzled on top. The cheese sauce also had a very interesting consistency. Not too sure what it was made of, but it definitely had spice to it! We had waited a while before we ate them too, and they became all soggy unfortunately, but they were still pretty delicious! Now I have to imagine how good they would’ve been when they first came out. If you’re looking for vegan burgers, Loving Hut is definitely the place to go to! Actually, if you’re just looking for a good burger, this is the place to go. I personally find that their burgers are probably better than some non-vegan burgers I’ve had. And I’m someone who enjoys my meat too… I guess that says a lot about their food! Check it out! Thanks Loving Hut for the delicious meal!

Granny’s Cheesecake & More

September 26, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

Deep Fried Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid. Deep Fried? Wait, what? How can Kool-Aid be deep fried?! I think I asked that question so many times when I saw the signage. At Granny’s Cheesecake & More at PNE, they deep fry everything. From the typical bananas, to cheesecakes, and then all the way to the extreme: Deep Fried Kool-Aid. I tried to take a picture of the signage they had for “What on Earth is Deep Fried Kool-Aid”, but the lighting was pretty bad. So to summarize:

They make a super concentrated Kool-Aid mixture. Then they apparently add Granny’s secret ingredient, and then they deep fry it in small balls and then cover it with icing sugar!

Pretty cool idea, but how well did it taste is the question! They were definitely not as good as the Deep Fried Oreos, but you couldn’t say they were terrible. They lacked flavour, and I could just taste a hint of berry flavour, and then the rest was just like eating a piece of red dough. One is enough, and when you keep eating it, it becomes too much.

Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ (at PNE Vancouver)

September 24, 2012May 2, 2013Leave a comment

Rib n’ Meat Combo – 1/3 rack of Ribs & Pulled Pork

The Fair at the PNE was also having a Rib Fest! Pretty much all of the participants had tons of awards, so it was hard to really choose which one was the best. I ended up going to the Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ, which originates from Regina. We got the Rib n’ Meat Combo so we could try more than just the ribs. The ribs were flavourful and they weren’t too dry. The pulled pork was also quite delicious. It would’ve made a great pulled pork sandwich, which they also sold. I kind of wish I got the platter so I could try the brisket as well, but I didn’t really want a side dish.

Salt Spring Island Noodle Bar (at PNE)

September 23, 2012August 21, 20176 Comments

Chicken + Veg + Pad Thai + Thai Chow Mein

Continuation of The Fair at the PNE! We also looked for some actual food instead of just desserts, and we came across this Asian looking booth called Salt Spring Island Noodle Bar. We thought Pad Thai sounded appealing at that time, so we decided to get it, but we soon realized that it wasn’t the Pad Thai noodles, but the Pad Thai sauce! But it wasn’t even really close to that sauce anyways… It was actually some sort of spicy sauce with chow mein noodles. Although it wasn’t what we had expected, it was still pretty good. It’s not even Asian operated, but I have to say it’s probably better than most of the non-Asian operated food places I’ve tried. After searching it up, I also found that the noodle bar is actually from Salt Spring Island in the Gulf Islands! So it actually came all the way from Victoria to attend The Fair. Pretty cool!