food & drink Archives - Page 3 of 48

Myst Asian Fusion

September 6, 2018 Leave a Comment

After seeing my friends always posting about Myst, I felt like the only person in this city who hasn’t tried it before! My friends have been recommending this place to us, so one evening, the boyfriend and I decided to go and see what we were missing out on. Spoiler alert: a lot!

I read reviews that it was hard to find parking here, and I would agree with that. The first time we came, it was super busy which was not surprising at all.

Luckily, since we only had two people, we were given a spot right away! On our second visit with my parents, I made sure to call ahead with a reservation. I should also mention that they will only seat you once everyone has arrived at the restaurant, and if you’re 10+ minutes late for your reso, it will automatically be cancelled.
Calamari: The food came out within minutes of ordering, it was quite impressive! Cheese recommended the squid tentacles here, so we had to give it a try. They were very fresh and crispy, and fully seasoned with Taiwanese style spices. If you’re craving squid tentacles, I would definitely recommend ordering them here!
Chicken nuggets and rice: Again, the boyfriend’s dish came out so fast! It came with a pretty big basket of Taiwanese chicken nuggets. Just like the squid tentacles, the chicken nuggets were super fresh and crispy. They had the signature Taiwanese spices which are so addicting!

I really enjoyed the vegetarian side dish, which was some sort of chilled marinated tofu and wood ear mushroom. It reminded me of the ‘jai’ that you can purchase at TNT.
Taiwanese beef noodles: A long time has passed since I had Taiwanese beef noodles, it just seems so hard to find these days! I ordered it with thick noodle for an extra $1.00.

This was super comforting and satisfied my Taiwanese soup noodle craving. There was a good ratio of preserved veggies and green onions. The broth was flavourful and the thick noodles were deliciously dense and chewy.

As for the beef, oh my GOSH was it delicious. It was so incredibly tender!

Needless to say, we were very impressed with Myst and can see why it’s so busy and popular. Service was very fast and efficient too. I know where to go for my next Taiwanese craving (which probably will be soon because the beef noodles are LIFE!)

Yay!

East One Seafood Restaurant

September 3, 2018 Leave a Comment

The boyfriend and I didn’t know where to go for lunch one day, so we decided to go to East One because it’s been a few years since we came here. East One has gone through many name changes and possibly owner changes throughout the year. Growing up as a kid, I remember coming here but it was a different name.

I also did a review of this place for their late night snacks back when it was called Venice Garden Seafood Restaurant – not sure if the owners are the same or not though.

The cuisine has always remained the same though – Hong Kong/Chinese comfort food.

We definitely over ordered but we brought the rest of it back for his little brother, who likes the food here!

Spaghetti bolognese: I’ve been ordering this dish for the past 15 years or so of my life (minus the 3 years I couldn’t have dairy), and don’t plan on switching anytime soon. It’s my comfort food and it usually tastes the same, but there are some restaurants who don’t make it as well. This is the boyfriend’s little brother’s comfort food too and he is quite picky about it, but he likes the one at East One so I ordered it.

It did not disappoint! There was a generous portion of meat, and there was enough sauce to evenly distribute it with the noodles. It was also cheesy as well. It was a delicious carb heavy treat! The portion is pretty big and I ended up packing half of it back.

Pepper beef with crispy chow mein: Another classic comfort food! This was a pretty big portion which we ended up bringing back home as well.

There was a generous portion of beef. Meanwhile, the sauce was peppery and delicious. The chow mein was crispy too. Overall, no complaints about this!

Deep fried squid: This isn’t a traditional comfort food at Chinese/Hong Kong style restaurants and more of a Taiwanese dish, but the boyfriend’s family loves the squid here so we gave it a try. The batter was fresh and crunchy, with a good amount of squid.

Chinese/Hong Kong style restaurants are plentiful in Vancouver. East One is a decent option, at least for the things that we ordered. They also have many servers working so the service is quick and efficient.

An added bonus is that they are not cash only!
Yay!

Trattoria Burnaby – Revisit

August 31, 2018 Leave a Comment

Last year, I went to Trattoria for my birthday and it was a good experience (see first visit here). Fast forward eight months later, Sangria suggested that we come here for their Tuesday special!

I’m glad that she made a reso because it is very busy on Trattoria Tuesdays, where all of their pastas are on sale for $13.00. We came early around 5:30, and there was already a line forming. If you’re coming on a Tuesday, making a reservation is a really good idea or you’ll have to wait.

Cheesy bread $7.50 ($5.00 happy hour): I remember that this was delicious during my first visit, so we ordered this as a starter to share. It did not disappoint as well. It was incredibly cheesy and garlicky, and served warm.

Crab & Lobster ravioli $24.95 ($13.00 on Trattoria Tuesdays): I was disappointed that they don’t have the smoked salmon & dill pasta anymore, that was so good! Since that was the original plan, I chose the crab and lobster ravioli instead. It was served in a creamy and cheesy pesto sauce.

The ravioli was not stuffed and a bit flat, but the crab and lobster was delicious nonetheless. I liked how cheesy it was and there was a good amount of herbs in there to keep the dish exciting.

Truffled spaghetti and signature meatballs, $24.95 ($13.00 on Trattoria Tuesdays): The guys both decided on ordering this dish. I had a bite of the spaghetti and it did was so good! It came with a truffle cream which made the spaghetti very aromatic.

Sometimes the food only has the truffle smell, and not the case which is disappointing. But I’m happy to say this was not the taste, you could definitely taste the truffle oil in it. I didn’t try the signature meatballs, but both of them did not have any complaints about their dish.

Short rib pappardelle $20.95 ($13.00 on Trattoria Tuesdays): Sangria has ordered this dish before and enjoyed it, so she got it again. This came with braised short rib, pine nuts, and wild mushrooms. She offered me a bite but I was quite full from my own creamy and rich ravioli so I declined. She had no complaints about it.

Tiramisu $8.95: Sangria and Lager split this the tiramisu cake for dessert! They enjoyed it a lot.

All in all, Trattoria Tuesdays is a very great value. The pasta is delicious and made with quality, so $13.00 is an absolute steal! Service wise, it was a bit hard to waive our server down but he did come by a couple times to check in on us. Make sure to book a reservation because it gets very busy on Tuesdays.

Yay!

Marutama Ramen

August 19, 2018 Leave a Comment

Every summer for the past 5 years, the boyfriend and I have been doing this thing where we bike from East Vancouver to downtown, along the seawall, and then have ramen. We usually go to Santouka or Kintaro, but this time, we decided to try out Marutama Ramen since we’ve been hearing and seeing it a lot on social media. We are also huge fans of chicken broth and Marutama Ramen makes all their ramen with chicken broth!

When we got there around 3pm ish, we waited about 10-15 minutes outside. Walking in to Marutama, it was so nice to find that they had the AC blasting! It made the meal much more comfortable because it was really hot that day. The servers also came by often to refill ice water, and kindly refilled my water bottle too.

Tamago ramen, $11.25: I requested for my broth to be leaner since my stomach does not handle rich foods well. Despite it being ‘lean’, I still found it to be deliciously creamy. It was the first time having a chicken broth ramen and it did not disappoint.

The pieces of chashu was not too dry either. The noodles were bouncy and cooked perfectly too. The seaweed was a nice addition as well.

They’re pretty well known for their Ajitama egg, and I must say it was delicious! It was perfectly seasoned and the egg yolk oozed out.

Zenbu ramen, $18.75: This is the largest size ramen that you can get here and it also has the most meat. It came with cha-shu pork, seasoned pork belly, and an Ajitama egg.

The boyfriend had no complaints about his bowl. He said it was very satisfying and the pork belly was delicious.

I’m glad that we finally tried Marutama Ramen. It definitely did not disappoint!

Yay!

Tap & Barrel Olympic Village (Re-visit)

August 18, 2018 Leave a Comment

I’ve written about Tap & Barrel in the past, and thought it was finally time for an updated post four years later! The Olympic Village location is one of my top places to go in the summertime because the view is great and it is located in my favourite Vancouver neighbourhood. After eating here, I love taking a walk down the seawall and around the area. If you’re a tourist or showing people around the city, I would recommend this place for their view and vibe.

It can get quite busy here in the summer, especially on the patio. Latte and I came on a weekday evening a bit before 6pm, and there was already a line up for the patio. If you don’t want to wait as long, you can get a spot inside. A month later, I came back here with the boyfriend and we sat inside because it was super hot that evening.

Pineapple and pulled bacon flatbread pizza, $16.95: This came with a good amount of pulled bacon and pineapple, as you can see from the picture! It was delicious, the sweetness of the pineapple balanced out the pulled bacon. I would describe the pulled bacon more like a pulled pork though. I liked how the pizza was not greasy or oily.

Spicy tuna burger, $17.95: This isn’t something I would normally order but it sounded pretty good, so we split this as well. The tuna burger came with seared ahi tuna, sesame lemongrass panko crust, avocado, cucumber, crispy onion, pickled shallots, spicy miso mayo. The burger was not that spicy. Everything in this burger went well together and I’m glad that we got this! Tap and Barrel also has good fries so we enjoyed this immensely too.

While the view and food was great, the service was lacking which is what I find the only bad thing about Tap and Barrel. It was hard to flag down our waiter and we didn’t get much service during our dinner. It was a struggle to get our drinks filled and to get the bill. The patio was completely full so I understand the lack of service, but I think they could benefit more by adding a couple more waiters. I would still come back for the atmosphere and food though. Compared to CRAFT which is across the street, Tap and Barrel has better prices and also a water view.

Yay!