food & drink Archives - Page 36 of 36

Sawasdee Thai

February 10, 2014 Leave a Comment

Hi everyone!

Thai cuisine always seems to be lacking in popularity, especially in Vancouver. Indeed, there are just as delicious Thai restaurants as there are with other Asian cuisines, but for some reason, I never really hear anyone talk about going to Thai food, which really is a shame!

We came across Sawasdee Thai on Urbanspoon and we were sold immediately due to its high rating and convenient location. So off we went!

Sawasdee Thai is located on Main Street. We decided to go a bit later, just because we thought it would be super busy on a Friday night and didn’t want to wait in line there. The restaurant really stands out from the rest of the restaurants on the block.

When we got there at 8:30pm, we expected it to be quiet and were worried that it was even closed! We went in and were taken by surprise by the fact that the restaurant was completely full, with 2 parties of 4 still waiting to eat! The host asked us if we had a reservation which we didn’t, and I was worried we wouldn’t get a table. However, after 5 minutes, another lady sat us down. Yay!

The door is completely filled with awards which we took as a great and welcoming sign. We sat down, and impressed at how fast the servers were with getting our water and menu despite it being super busy in there.

When we were ready to order, the sever was quick to come to our aid. I really appreciated this because often, when you go to restaurants, servers ignore you when they’re busy, but these guys were really nice and efficient.

Our food came really fast, which was pleasantly surprising. For our appetizer, we ordered Stuffed Chicken Wings ($8.95). We ordered this because it sounded interesting – “de-boned chicken wings stuffed with bean thread noodles, mushroom, and carrot”. I wondered how a stuffed chicken wing would taste….

I instantly fell in love with the flavour of the chicken wings. The noodles were what made this dish stand out, otherwise it would have tasted like normal chicken wings.

The spices in the noodles were really good and made my tastebuds do a happy dance! I liked how they were generous with the noodles, but not so much that it ruins the actual chicken itself (see picture on the right-bottom is the chicken, clear stuff on top are the noodles/carrots/etc).

The sauce was also light and mild, which is good for an appetizer. It also tasted super fresh!

Next up, was our green coconut curry with chicken (12.95). We ordered a side of coconut rice since it does not come with any sides. There was an abundance of wonderful exotic Thai spices mixed intricately with rich, creamy, coconut milk and chicken breasts.

I loved that it was equal parts spicy, yet creamy, rich, and sweet at the same time. They also give you a LOT of quality, white meat chicken in the curry as well. With every spoonful of goodness you scoop, comes at least 3 pieces of chicken on your small spoon, until the very end of the dish (usually the first couple of spoonfuls the chicken would be gone).

The bamboo shoots that came with the dish were also really soft and sweet. The basil leaf that came on top of the dish was also a really nice addition and detail to our curry. The side of coconut rice (2.95) was also steamed perfectly, and had a generous amount of coconut milk with it.

Our final dish was their pad thai with tamarind sauce (11.95). I am not a big fan of pad thai to be honest, but I thought it tasted pretty good. The flavours were really accentuated and lively, you could really taste the tamarind sauce. There was also a generous portion of prawns that came with the dish. I was really hoping to try dessert but there was no way I could have eaten more there!

Conclusion: Overall, we had an excellent experience at Sawasdee Thai. The staff was very accommodating and managed to fit us in even though the restaurant was packed and we had no reservation. Service was friendly, quick, and efficient. You can tell their food is cooked with the utmost quality and care, with great attention to detail which does not go by unnoticed. I would highly recommend coming here as long as you make a reservation.

What are some delicious Thai places that you’ve been to in the Lower Mainland? Any thoughts? Let me know!

-Carmen

The Fish Shack

February 3, 2014 Leave a Comment

Hi everyone!

The Fish Shack is one of the restaurants owned by Glowbal Group Restaurants, which is pretty well known in Vancouver. Seeing that it was one of the places on the Dine Out 2014 menu, we decided to try it this weekend after making a reservation.

We went as a party of four – my friend and her boyfriend, my boyfriend, and myself. I have mixed feelings about this place, and I’m going to be as honest as I can with it here. It was definitely an interesting and unique experience atmosphere-wise, and the food was decent but my friend got horrible food poisoning afterwards from one of the dishes.

Food: Originally, we came here for the Dine Out menu but all of us, (except for one) ended up ordering off the regular menu instead. All together, we ordered the New England clam chowder in a bread bowl, fish and chips (2 pc snapper),another fish and chips (1 pc ling cod + kimchi style cole slaw), Fish Shack salad, Fish Shack mixed fry (calamari, shrimp, fish bites), penne jambalaya, and sticky toffee pudding.

We all agreed that although the food wasn’t bad, it also wasn’t delicious either. The clam chowder was pretty good, generous portion of seafood inside and the bread bowl was also very big and filling. My boyfriend thought the fish batter for the 2 pc snapper was soggy, although the fish was alright.

He also said the chips were really good, which I agree with once they’re sprinkled with vinegar! My friends enjoyed their other dishes but one of them didn’t like the jambalaya. The Fish Shack mixed appetizer was alright as well, I think I just personally did not like the type of fish that was used. It tasted a bit bland to me, but the portions of the fish were generous.

Update: I posted this a few hours the same night after finishing our meal there. My friend told me this morning that they had severe food poisoning and had to see the doctor. He was the only one that had the fried oysters (which was an add-on option for the Dine Out menu), so that was probably what caused it. He didn’t eat anything after we went out, so chances are the culprit was the oysters! You have been warned.

Some of the food we ordered!

Decor: I really liked the decor of the restaurant. When you first walk in, you see a black wall which is filled with different facts on various types of fish, illuminated under cute little red lamps.

The other wall was filled with wooden pallets which gave off a legitimate seafood restaurant feel to it. Tacked to select pallets were cute trivial facts, jokes, or puns on seafood. The decor and look was what I liked most about this place!

Service: Our server was really funny and we enjoyed his presence. He had a sarcastic sense of humor which we enjoyed, but I could see other customers that would not appreciate it.

While we were eating, we heard some shouting and dishes dropping in the back. One of us saw and heard a server yelling in the kitchen, “don’t f**king talk to me like that” and some other workers pulling him back. However, it did not cause much of a scene or ruin our experience.

The wait time for the food was decent as well, my boyfriend and I had to wait longer for ours since we didn’t order starters, but our server confirmed this with us first.

Ambience: The restaurant was moderately busy. Not busy enough so that it was cray cray but the bar seats were all filled. There are 4 screens in the front of the restaurant, but they aren’t that big so I wouldn’t recommend coming here to watch a hockey game or the Superbowl. Speaking of the Superbowl, there was also a lady that seemed pretty intoxicated. She randomly got out of her seat at the bar and proceeded to walk all over the bar table, screaming “GO SEATTLE!!! WOOOO”. It was pretty entertaining but definitely not the right atmosphere for it, since no one else was drunk and the Superbowl had ended already (and wasn’t showing on their TVs).

Overall, the decor of the restaurant was very refreshing, friendly, and welcoming. The food itself was nothing special but the service is good. I would say to give this place a try if you are a big seafood fan and check out the decor while you’re at it!

Thanks for reading my post!
Carmen

Hapa Izakaya (Kitsilano) Review

January 30, 2014 1 Comment

EDIT: This was my first post on this Hapa location, but it has since gone downhill. You can compare this post with my second visit here.

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Hi everyone!

I have seen many posts on social media during the last couple of weeks on Dine Out Vancouver (#DOVF). However, for whatever reason, I was not that excited to check it out this year, probably because I had a lot on my plate already (pun intended). Anyways, I was bored one day and decided to browse through the restaurants. I ended up making a reservation for 2 at Hapa Izakaya for Friday, Jan 24th.

There were a few other Hapa Izakayas in Vancouver, but my boyfriend wanted to go to this one because parking in downtown can be stressful and expensive. We arrived, and overheard some customers asking for the approximate wait time without reservation, which was roughly one hour. We told the server my name but she said we didn’t have a reservation. Turns out we failed and accidentally made a reservation for the wrong night!

After hearing that, we were both pretty bummed out as we did not want to wait a hour like the customer before us that asked her. However, much to our surprise, she was really accommodating and asked us if we wanted to walk about the neighbourhood for a bit, and that she’ll give us a call when the next table is ready.

I guess since we actually made a reservation (just on the wrong day), she was willing to help us out which I really appreciate! We waited roughly around 15 minutes. The waitresses themselves were really friendly and answered questions that we had. Our food was delicious, I have no complaints about it and neither does my boyfriend. Here is the dine out menu for Hapa Izakaya Kitsilano: (Bolded are the ones we chose)

First Course 最初のコース (Choice of one)
Sesame cucumbers
Gomaae
Edamame
Kimchi

Second Course 第2クール (Choice of one)
Karaage
Ebi Mayo
Corn Croquette Corn
Popcorn Pork Panko

Third Course 第三のコース (Choice of one)
Spicy Tuna Roll
Dynamite Roll
Fish n’ Chips Roll
Veggie Roll Daily

Fourth Course 第四のコース (Choice of one)
Spicy Pork Ishiyaki Rice
Kinoko Ishiyaki Rice
Chipotle Beef Curry Ishiyaki Rice
Teriyaki Ishiyaki Rice

I would highly recommend trying Hapa Izakaya during Dine Out festival. I honestly have no complaints for this restaurant For what you are served, it is truly a great value as we would probably have spent $20-$30 MORE if we ordered each item during regular season.

Despite this being a generic menu, in the sense that the kitchen probably prepares all the Dine Out dishes ahead of time, they all the dishes tasted really fresh and delicious. The ishiyaki rice is essentially “cooked” in front of you, individually by your server- the rice, meat, veggies, and raw egg are put in a hot stone bowl, but the server is the one who mixes it in front of you and tells you to wait few minutes so that your rice is crispy and egg is thoroughly cooked. Effort is put into each dish and it really shows.

Thank you for reading!

-Carmen