It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Qoola! This review is on the Richmond location, located inside Central at Garden City.

We love going to Central at Garden City because there are so many restaurants to choose from. Plus, it’s one of the few plazas in Richmond where parking is plentiful and not atrocious!

The flavours vary slightly depending on the day and location, but there is usually something for everyone.

For those who are lactose intolerant or can’t have dairy, they have sorbet flavours although I find them to taste very artificial.

My only complaint about this location was that the fruit toppings looked quite sad and unfresh! I would have put some fruit on top, but none of them looked appetizing.

Original tart and taro froyo: I love the original tart flavour, and usually get it whenever I go to Qoola. I find the other flavours too sweet, or artificial tasting.

The original tart had a nice sourness to it. I added a bit of taro to sweeten it up a bit. The taro was lightly flavoured and not overwhelming sweet.

For toppings, I usually go with Oreo and then a mix of other things. That day, I went with oreo chunks, yogurt drops, and butterscotch drops.

Chocolate and coconut froyo: The fiance went with his go-to flavours, chocolate and coconut. To make the froyo even more coconut-y, he added some coconut flakes on top.

The staff (owner?) was really friendly and helpful that night. She even offered us some of her bubble waffles, which looked like it was part of her dinner. We declined because we were already full from dinner and froyo, but it was nice of her!

La Foret is one of those places where I seem to be the last person on earth (or at least in my network) to try. I’ve heard great things about La Foret and while looking for a new place to try, the fiance and I finally came here.

La Foret is located close to Metrotown, inconspicuously disguised as a garage. You wouldn’t expect it to be a popular, bustling cafe with Korean influences from the outside.

We had a bit of trouble looking for the cafe because it was so low key from the outside. But once we opened the doors, it was bumpin’! All the tables were full, people buzzing around, with upbeat music.

Although all the tables were full, the large ceilings and layout made the cafe airy and comfortable to sit in. The rock wall was pretty cool and I haven’t seen anything like that before.

Mango bingsoo with cheesecake: I believe this is a Korean owned cafe since they served bingsoo and bulgolgi lunch dishes. It’s been awhile since we had bingsoo so we decided to get this. You can pick from either cheesecake or mochi.

The bingsoo was delicious! The shaved ice was airy, fluffy and slightly creamy. To keep things interesting, there were some mango chunks hidden in the middle. The mangoes could have been sweeter, but that’s probably because it is currently off season.

We really enjoyed the cheesecake topping as well. I was not expecting such a large slice of cheesecake on top. The cheesecake was made Asian style, in the sense that it was light and fluffy. The almonds were a nice touch as they gave the dessert a crunchy element.

Pear & prosciutto sandwich: The sandwich was quite delicious as well, you really can’t go wrong with pear and prosciutto. It was a good balance of savoury and sweet. Meanwhile, the balsamic vinegar gave it a slightly sour touch.

Although there were a lot of ingredients going on (pear, prosciutto, vinegar, walnuts, sprouts, honey ricotta cheese), everything went together perfectly and wasn’t weird or overwhelming.

I really enjoyed our first visit to La Foret, and there definitely will be more. The atmosphere and ambiance was great, and the food was delicious. It’s in a very random spot but it’s a gem!

Milkcow is a Korean dessert chain focusing on high quality, organic milk soft serve. There was a location in Richmond so I suggested we try it out since the fiance loves his milk and dairy products.

We loved it so much that we have been back a few more times! This post contains multiple visits.

My digestive issues have settled down for now, so I am finally able to reintroduce dairy again! I hope that it can stay this way for awhile because cheese and ice cream are amazing. I am going to ‘MILK’ this for as long as I can =P

Cookies and cream: On our first visit, we split the cookies and cream soft serve. Within the first bite, we noticed the delicious, smooth and milky taste of the soft serve.

Compared to other soft serves, I would say this one has a pure, milky taste as opposed to ice cream. The oreo bits were a nice touch but the soft serve was delicious enough to eat by itself too.

Milky cube: The milky cube came with honeycomb and drizzled with honey. It was simple yet delicious.

Ube soft serve: Ube was one of their seasonal flavours. I’ve only recently tried ube so I jumped at the chance after seeing it on the menu. This flavour was delicious too!

I would describe the flavour of ube similar to artificial taro powder (such as in bubble tea), but lighter and muted.

Black pearl: Although the name says pearl in it, this soft serve didn’t actually come with pearls. In this case, pearls meant Maltesers, which are still delicious!

If you’re a fan of Nutella, you would enjoy this. The black pearl soft serve came with a chocolate hazelnut syrup. The sea salt enhanced the sweetness. The Maltesers were at the bottom of the cup as a nice finishing touch!

All in all, we loved Milkcow as evidenced by our multiple visits. The soft serve is delicious and high quality.

Price was quite reasonable too, at around $5-$6 per cup at the time of writing. The portion would be good for two people to share. We will definitely be coming back!

My original post on Rain or Shine was written over 5 years ago, when it first opened. I wrote it back in 2014 but didn’t end up publishing it until 2015! That was for the first location on West 4th in Kits.

Rain or Shine is a staple for artisan ice cream in Vancouver! The fiance and I used to come here more in the past, but ever since Elephant Garden opened, we have been going there instead since it’s closer.

However, after dinner at Nabebugyo a couple of blocks down, I suggested we head over here!

The name Rain or Shine was very fitting for the downpour that evening. Vancouverites truly do get their ice cream in rain or shine! The place was full so we aren’t the only ones who wanted ice cream in the pouring rain.

Malted milk chocolate: One of their most popular permanent flavours, and the fiance’s personal favourite. The ice cream came with honeycomb chunks which added a nice textural element. The malted barley also went really well with the chocolate and honeycomb.

If you’re a fan of maltesers or malt flavours, you should definitely try this flavour!

Vegan yumaste sundae: I usually order the vegan coconut chocolate ice cream, which is delicious. This time, I noticed they had it in sundae form with some extra toppings so I gave it a try!

The vegan ice cream was delicious as usual. It has a strong chocolate-y taste and was decadent. I enjoyed the candied hazelnuts, which went really well with the chocolate – ferrero rocher anyone?!

The berry compote was delicious too. It went well with the chocolate and hazelnuts and wasn’t enough to be overwhelming.

My only complaint would be the chocolate sauce. It was very dry and thick. I noticed that the staff member was having a hard time squeezing it out of the tube. The sauce didn’t add any additional flavour to the sundae as well. It would have been better if it was melted so that it would be more like hot fudge.

Anyways, it has been awhile so it was nice to go back to Rain or Shine again!

Back in June, I accompanied Sangria to Blaine to pick up a parcel. It was a very brief trip, but we did make a stop to Edaleen Dairy which is quite popular in the area! 

I’ve heard of Edaleen Dairy before, which is famous for their fresh, delicious and cheap local ice cream! 

Along with ice cream, Edaleen Dairy also carried other dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter, and more! I did end up getting a jug of chocolate milk for the fiance since we came all the way here anyways and he loves chocolate milk.

He really enjoyed it and said the milk was really creamy and delicious. 

Blackberry ice cream: The portion sizes are huge here! This was the small scoop for only $3 USD. That’s what America is all about, large portions and cheap prices.

The cone was so unexpectedly big that Sangria had trouble finishing it all. She did say it was delicious though. 

Despite not being able to have dairy, I wouldn’t mind coming back here to pick up some high quality, local dairy products for others. Perhaps one day my digestive system can tolerate dairy again…. I will be driving straight here to get my ice cream fix if that day ever comes.