food & drink Archives - Page 25 of 115

Mink Chocolate Cafe

August 8, 2020

I remember seeing Mink Cafe a lot during the hot chocolate festival. I believe they had some kind of special grasshopper drink that people were posting online! How interesting. I tried crickets once and it was interesting… they were dried so they were very crispy. Anyways, I’m going off topic.

While venturing out to South Surrey, Latte looked up a place where we could hang out after having lunch at Pho Sunrise and suggested Mink.

I haven’t been before but heard good things, and their chocolate seemed like great quality so why not give it a try?

This Mink location is located inside Morgan Crossing. It was pretty spacious inside, with half of their tables gone for social distancing. They had hand sanitizer by the door and I felt clean and comfortable in there.

I wish they would have asked for our contact information for tracing though.

Hot chocolate, 70% cacao dairy free: I was happy to see that they had a dairy free version with their dark hot chocolate. I chose oat milk as my dairy substitute.

The hot chocolate was delicious! It was creamy, rich, and decadent. The dark chocolate was very smooth and easy to drink. The sweetness level was perfect, not too sweet but not too bitter either.

They also gave me a free chocolate on the side (weird that Latte didn’t get one with hers though….) I gave it to the fiance when I got home and he enjoyed it.

White chocolate waffle: The waffle was not good. Although they had heated it up, the waffle was still hard and tasteless. I wouldn’t order it again.

All in all, Mink has really high quality chocolate as evident in their drinks. You can also buy a bunch of chocolate as gifts. In addition, they also have fondue which sounded delicious, but I was already feeling full from lunch.

I’m glad we came here and I would go back to Mink for a solid cup of high quality hot chocolate.

Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba

August 5, 2020

After discovering Ramen Danbo‘s delicious vegan ramen (their regular ramen was great too!), I went on a vegan ramen hunt. For those uninterested in vegan reviews, keep reading because we also had a regular meat dish too.

I was really happy to see that Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba had added some vegan additions to their menu! I knew the fiance would love this sort of noodle, and now there was finally something on the menu that I could eat as well that wouldn’t upset my stomach.

I remember when Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba first opened in 2018, Vancouver went absolutely nuts for it!

I wanted to try as well but due to the rich and fatty nature of the noodle sauce, I knew my chronic stomach problems wouldn’t be able to handle it. Also, no I am not vegan. My stomach can’t handle rich, animal fat based ramen broths so I can only have vegan broths which are better for my stomach.

We weren’t sure how busy the restaurant would be these days, but we went early around 5pm just incase. Fortunately, it wasn’t busy at all and we were seated right away.

Kokoro was one of the few restaurants I’ve been to that have asked for contact tracing so I was impressed with that.

Niku mazesoba: The fiance went with the pork belly mazesoba. He found it delicious – very rich, creamy, and fatty. I had the smallest nibble (quite sad, really) and I found that small bite to be really good.

The noodles were wrapped with the seaweed and green onion once mixed, which elevated the rich and fatty flavour of the pork belly even more. The pork belly was also very flavourful and tender. The fiance’s only complaint would be that this was pretty salty, which I also did see mentioned on other reviews.

I read other reviews and their menu advertised that you could get some rice after to soak up the sauce, once you’re done with the noodles. However, there was no sauce left once the fiance finished his noodles so it made us wonder if they gave us less sauce this time?

Vegan ramen: The vegan ramen was made with some kind of creamy soybean broth. Overall, I found it alright. There was a nice creaminess to it with a slight richness. It looks like it would be spicy, but it actually wasn’t.

The redness came from what I am guessing is tomato, since the broth was pretty tomato-ey.

In addition, the vegan ramen came with two pieces of firm, sliced, tofu which was slightly grilled. There was a generous amount of onions, corn, and wood ear mushroom. It was not bad for a vegan dish but I prefer Ramen Danbo‘s more. However, I wouldn’t mind having it again if someone suggested coming here.

Overall, our visit to Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba was pleasant. The mazesoba was delicious and the vegan option was alright too. We wouldn’t mind coming back again for it. They also opened a new location by Lougheed Mall earlier this year.

Brown’s Socialhouse – Burnaby

August 1, 2020

Disclaimer: There has been an identified COVID-19 case at the Brown’s location in Port Moody in late July. This review is for the Burnaby location. This visit also took place in June when cases were lower. I am responsible and would not go to a restaurant with a known, identified case.

Please stay safe, wear masks, wash your hands and avoid gatherings as cases are rising again.

Brown’s Socialhouse is a restaurant I have yet to try. I would describe it as a mix between Cactus Club/Joey’s/Earl’s and a sports pub. Maybe a sports pub but slightly fancier? Anyways, I digress.

Avocado and I came here for happy hour after finding out that Cactus Club had bumped their happy hour time to 2-5pm and I couldn’t make it that early. Cactus Club is the usual go-to for happy hour, so I guess them moving their time allowed me to try both Joey‘s and now Brown’s for happy hour!

We came to the Brentwood location. They are located in the same building as the Viet Noodle Guy and Sooda, which is on my list still. There is free parking underground and it was easy to navigate.

Hopefully this part won’t matter much a few months later or even next year, but social distance and sanitation practices were pretty good here. Directional arrows, hand sanitizers, tables closed off, staff had masks…. I felt safe.

Social soda: I tried the social soda, which was on their happy hour special. It reminded me of Cactus Club’s peach bellini watered down once you mix the slush around. Because of that, I wouldn’t recommend it. If the drink was smaller, that would probably be better so it tastes less watery.

Social lager: Avocado went with a better choice, their happy hour lager on tap.

Spicy fried chicken and pickles: I wasn’t too sure what to expect for this. Would it be chicken thigh? A mix of chicken wings? To my surprise, these were made with chicken breast and were bite sized nuggets.

They were served piping hot, fresh, and crispy. The chicken could have used more flavour, but I didn’t mind and would happily order it again.

Pork taquitos: The pork taquitos were another item off their happy hour menu. I’ve never had pork taquitos before, so I can’t really compare them to anything.

I liked that the taquitos came with a thicker tortilla that was doughier than your usual tortilla skin. The pork was seasoned well and full of flavour, although I found it to be very salty.

Parmesan garlic fries: The fries were nothing special, just your typical fries with a sprinkle of parmesan and cheese. Compared to the other dishes, I’d skip this one next time.

Crispy cauliflower: We ordered this after all our food came, and it ended up being one of my favourite items! The crispy cauliflower was piping hot and crunchy.

It was served with some parmesan and a delicious jalapeno ranch sauce. I’m not usually one to order cauliflower dishes so I’m glad Avocado suggested this!

All in all, we enjoyed our happy hour experience at Brown’s. The prices were quite reasonable, and the food was not bad. Although it does not beat out Cactus Club or Joey‘s for me, Brown’s is definitely going to be added to my list of happy hour places that I’d go back to.

Pho Sunrise

July 29, 2020

South Surrey is an area that I rarely, or ever, have ventured out to! However, due to the pandemic, I haven’t seen Latte for a long time so I thought I’d drive down to hang out and check out this area.

We had plans to get takeout from Emilio Finatti Pizzeria in White Rock and enjoy it at the beach, but the weather wasn’t on our side that day so Latte suggested Pho Sunrise, where she goes frequently.

Pho Sunrise is a small Vietnamese restaurant located inside Peninsula Village. According to Latte, Pho Sunrise is a decent Vietnamese place for South Surrey, where there aren’t that many Vietnamese options. I read some reviews online and that seemed to be the general consensus as well!

We came a bit after they opened, so it wasn’t too busy yet. We noticed that the pace picked up a bit after 12pm. Half of the tables were closed off and there was sanitizer for us.

However, I did notice that the beansprouts were sitting on a shelf by the cashier and it was not covered. It wasn’t a big deal to me because I normally order my beansprouts cooked, but just a heads up during the pandemic.

Pho w/ rare beef and tripe: I found the price to be slightly higher here than usual places, at $13 for a small (2020 prices). On that note, I wanted to share a Viet sub but we decided not to after we saw that it was $8 for a sub! Craziness.

For comparison, Obanhmi‘s, Saigon Bistro, and Basil Garden‘s subs are all about $4-$6! But I guess that’s cheaper than DD Mau‘s $15 sub, LOL!

Anyways, the pho was delicious. The broth was well rounded, flavourful, and comforting. There were many pieces of rare beef and tripe inside.

Pho w/ rare steak and beef balls: Latte went with her go-to, the rare steak and beef balls. She had no complaints about it either.

All in all, Pho Sunrise was pretty good and comparable to the Vietnamese restaurants in Vancouver. The prices were a bit higher though, I wonder if that’s because they are one of the only Vietnamese places around here so they can up their prices. If I found myself in South Surrey, I wouldn’t mind coming back here.

Lee’s Donuts

July 25, 2020

The fiance and I decided to go to Granville Island for some takeout by the dock (we decided on Kaisereck Deli, you can read my review here) earlier this month, and enjoy some donuts afterwards! I have heard great things about Lee’s Donuts for awhile, so it was about time we try it out.

Lee’s Donuts is located inside Granville Island Market. They are known for their quality donuts, made from scratch each day. While in line, you can actually see them making the donuts.

As expected, there was a lineup. However, it went by very fast – I would say we waited less than 5 minutes!

Honey glazed: I went with their classic honey glazed. This was delicious and I could see why this place is so popular. The donut was soft and fluffy.

Mango madness: I haven’t tried a mango donut before, so decided to give it a try. The donut was also delicious and very fresh. The mango filling inside was still a bit warm!

Dutch crumb: The dutch crumb came with a cake crumb topping and cinnamon sugar. The cake crumb added a slightly crunchy texture to the soft donut. The cinnamon sugar was a tasty addition as well!

Bavarian: The bavarian came with a dark chocolate custard filling. Like the rest of the donuts, this one was amazing too.

All in all, we enjoyed our visit to Lee’s Donuts and glad that we finally tried it after hearing so many great things about it.

We ate them outside the market, and had to keep an eye on a pigeon who was eyeing us the whole time… it was not his or her lucky day though because they did not get a donut from us! 😉