food & drink Archives - Page 3 of 108

Harbour Oyster Bar

June 10, 2021 Leave a Comment

I have been on a bit of a raw oyster kick lately! I have always enjoyed oysters but have cautiously enjoyed them because of the higher risk with food poisoning and getting vibrio. However, it seemed like I just threw caution to the wind this year and have been a few times already, more than the past few years combined!

It started with Ebisu, then Atlas, and now Harbour Oyster Bar. I also have some plans to try out some other oyster bars this summer.

Harbour Oyster Bar is located along Commercial drive, right next to Marcello’s and across from Famoso.

Harbour Oyster Bar is a pretty small restaurant, with a few tables inside and a bar. I am not sure if the patio was opened due to COVID restrictions or if they normally have a patio on the street.

We went when the indoor dining restriction was still in place, and the restaurant wasn’t accepting reservations on their patio but said we could give them a call 30 mins before we arrive to reserve our seat.

Raw oysters: The star of the show! The happy hour oysters are $1.50 from 11-5pm, a pretty good deal if you are wanting to come during lunch. The oysters were fresh and tasty, with no complaints about them. Very satifsying!

Fried oysters: The fried oysters were also on the happy hour menu and came with 4 per order. They were served deep fried fresh and very crunchy. It was a fun option if you don’t like raw oysters, or wanted them cooked.

Garlic prawns: The garlic prawns were also on the happy hour menu. They seemed pretty lackluster and not what I was expecting. They were also pretty expensive for the price, so I would recommend getting the oysters instead. Currently in 2021, the happy hour price was $12 and original price is $16, which is not worth it for 5 pieces of prawn.

Overall, the oysters were delicious and the service was really friendly. It is a decent choice for oysters in the Commercial Drive area, and if you don’t want to go downtown for your oyster fix. I will definitely be back for happy hour.

Nightingale

June 3, 2021 Leave a Comment

This review is a long time coming! I have been wanting to try Nightingale for maybe about 1.5 years or more now. We wanted to go last year for a couple special occasions, but COVID said no! Fast forward to now, we decided to settle with patio dining because who knows when restaurants will open again?

This is the entrance to the restaurant during normal times. The restaurant is located in downtown on West Hastings. Nightingale is the sister restaurant to Hawksworth, Nightingale is considered the “casual” equivalent but there is nothing casual about it to me (maybe the addition of the pizzas?? Or I’m just not fancy enough and think this would be considered fancy dining lol).

There was a storm that day so it was a pretty bad day to go, but we were determined to try it. Prior to going, I saw that the patio was open rain or shine, and had rain protection and heat lamps so we thought it would be fine. Rain will not stop us for a special occasion and since we’ve been wanting to come here for so long!

We didn’t realize that the patio to Nightingale wasn’t actually connected to the restaurant. Next to the restaurant, there is an office building, and then a courtyard. The patio was set up on the courtyard so servers had to walk past the office building to get there. We felt pretty bad for these servers going back and forth in the pouring rain and left a nice, big tip!

Ceviche: It’s been awhile since I had ceviche, and it’s not something we normally order but the fiance wanted to try it. At first glance, the ceviche looked different from what we were used to so I was a bit worried we wouldn’t enjoy it. Turns out, it was absolutely delicious.

The ceviche came with halibut, jicama, avocado, and a side of crispy plantain chips. The ceviche tasted extremely fresh and had a lot of fresh halibut inside. There was a strong fresh lime flavour, which was refreshing. The crispy plantain chips were great too, and reminded me of those Chinese shrimp chips you get with duck except the plantain chips were thinner.

Pizza: The pizzas don’t have a name, but we ordered the one with roasted mushroom, fontina, confit garlic, arugula pesto. They have a decent pizza selection for a restaurant that doesn’t specialize in pizza.

The pizza dough and crust was delicious. Slightly chewy and lightly charred, it was my favourite part of the pizza. I wish the toppings were spread out more evenly instead of being dollops on the pizza, so that we could have all the toppings on each bite. There was a bit too much garlic for my liking but overall, the pizza was still really delicious.

Spaghetti: When I saw this on the menu before we went, I knew I had to try this! There wasn’t a name for the spaghetti as well, but this was the one with manila clam, jalapeno, scallion, and white wine. The clams was what sold me, I love a good seafood pasta.

The spaghetti did not disappoint! It came with a simple garlic with some cheese (probably also some kind of dairy sauce in there too). Due to the clams, the sauce had a nice seafood flavour too. The fiance noted how generous they were with the clams, and he was right. The plate came with so many clams, and they were big, juicy and flavourful.

Despite the storm, we really enjoyed the food at Nightingale and it did not disappoint. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sit in the dining room where the ambiance was better, but we wouldn’t mind coming back here again.

Bombay Kitchen and Bar

May 30, 2021 Leave a Comment

It has been awhile since we had Indian food! After looking up some restaurants online, we decided to try Bombay Kitchen and Bar for delivery. I haven’t heard of them before, but the restaurant is located on Commercial Drive.

Chicken biryani: I love my chicken biryani, but I always find it to be hit or miss. Unfortunately, the chicken biryani was a miss. It was pretty oily and dense, and lacked the fluffiness that is sought after.

On the plus side, the taste was flavourful and the portion was pretty big.

Chicken korma: Luckily, the chicken korma was much better and delicious! We had no complaints about it. The chicken korma was fragrant and tasty.

Tandoori roti: We ordered a tandoori roti to go with the chicken korma, since it didn’t come with rice. The tandoori was hot and fresh, and went well with the chicken korma.

Yogurt: Sorry, I’m not sure of the exact name of this! They gave us a free yogurt, which came in a pretty generous size. It was refreshing and cooled our mouths down in between bites of the biryani and korma.

There are so many places to pick from for Indian delivery these days, which is definitely not a bad thing! Bombay Kitchen would fall somewhere in the middle for me.

Pacific Poke – Commercial Drive

May 24, 2021 Leave a Comment

I love poke but I normally don’t get it from a restaurant, preferring to make it at home because it is actually really easy! We like to buy the sashimi from Fujiya, then add some simple seasoning sauces and toppings. However, I was browsing on SkipTheDishes one day when I saw that Pacific Poke was having a deal for free delivery and a free coconut drink. I was sold!

DIY medium combo: For the DIY medium combo, you get two scoops of protein and three scoops of toppings with a choice for the base. I chose the salmon and ahi tuna for the protein, seaweed salad/diced mango/basil tomato for the toppings, and traditional sushi rice for the base.

The salmon and tuna were fresh and tasty! The toppings were okay, I wish there were some more sweet toppings at no cost other than diced mango. I wasn’t a fan of the basil tomato so I wouldn’t get that again.

As well, the sushi rice was slightly sour due to the vinegar. There was too many different flavours going on (sweet, salty, sour) that they didn’t taste good mixed together, but that’s my fault for choosing this combination. I did better on my second visit!

DIY medium combo: The fiance was at work so I guessed what he would like. I picked the negitoro and spicy ahi tuna for his protein, cucumber kimchi/pesto pineapple/mango for the toppings, and sushi rice.

The negitoro was really good and I wish I ordered that for myself instead. The toppings were interesting but I wish they had some plain ones instead of the mix, such as plain cherry tomato, cucumber or pineapple.

DIY medium combo: On the second visit, I had a better idea of what combinations I would like. I got the salmon and negitoro for the protein, mango/seaweed salad/pesto pineapple for the topping, and brown rice.

This time, the flavours went better together. I preferred the brown rice over sushi rice because the brown rice didn’t add a sour vinegar taste. Normally I love sushi rice but it was just too many flavours going on!

DIY medium combo: On the second visit, the fiance picked negitoro and tuna for his protein, corn/seaweed salad/miso hummus for the topping, and sushi rice.

The miso hummus was unique and the fiance said he would order it again.

Cocopanda: We ordered this drink on both occasions! There was a promo where this drink was free over $25.

You have to be careful though because Skip automatically charges you for two drinks, and gives you one free. I realized this on the first order but we forgot on the second order, which was fine because we loved the drink a lot.

The cocopanda was a blend of coconut milk and coconut water, and was delicious. It’s pretty simple and easy to make, but delicious and refreshing. It wasn’t too creamy since they use half coconut milk and half coconut water.

Overall, we both enjoyed our two delivery meals from Pacific Poke. We will probably continue to order from them more often, especially since they have the printing with Skip

Minus Cake Boutique

May 19, 2021 Leave a Comment

Minus Cake Boutique is a dessert cafe that opened a bit over a year ago. They are located by Kingsway and Boundary Road, next to Sharetea. I actually haven’t noticed Minus Cake Boutique before, but have heard about it on social media. I always thought it was in Burnaby.

Screenshot from Google Maps, next to Sharetea

It was the fiance’s birthday (this post is super late because I haven’t been motivated to write food posts lately), and Sangria and Lager surprised us with an UberEats delivery from Minus!

Minus specializes in cake and bubble tea. The cake comes in a plastic sphere that sits on top of the bubble tea drink. I haven’t seen other cafe stores offer something like this yet.

Combo Pandan Pineapple Coconut Cake: This was delicious! The drink was a fizzy kiwi lemonade, with fresh kiwi pulp inside. I really enjoyed the drink and it was good quality. The pandan pineapple coconut cake was equally as delicious as well.

The cake was part mousse, and part regular cake (sorry I don’t know the term….lol not a baker). The flavour of the cake was Asian style, light and slightly sweet. The pineapple and coconut went really well together and I would get this again.

Brown Sugar Hojicha Mochi Cake: The second dessert Sangria and Lager ordered for us was a chocolate style one! The drink had high quality, smooth chocolate in it. I would describe it as a high quality chocolate milk.

The hojicha mochi cake was delicious as well! There were some pieces of chewy mochi inside. The hojicha flavour was strong and delicious too.

All in all, we really enjoyed the surprise from Minus Cake Boutique and am glad that Sangria and Lager introduced us to it. I would recommend it as the perfect birthday treat, you get a bubble tea and personal sized cake on top! The quality of the cup and plastic sphere were sturdy, so no worries about the sphere falling off.