food & drink Archives - Page 42 of 115

Brown Bites – Tsujiri

September 6, 2019

Brown Bites is a mini series on my blog featuring places the fiance has tried without me, so it wouldn’t be my own review. Why the name Brown, you ask? It is named after the Japanese LINE character, Brown. Brown is a cute, shy, emotionless cartoon bear but secretly full of love, and we adore him to pieces!

Tsujiri is a Japanese dessert cafe specializing in matcha desserts. Since they opened six months ago in February, there have been 1 hour+ waits to try their desserts. Reservations for their soba bar were also full weeks in advance.

The fiance and I aren’t the type of people to line up for food. In fact, we enjoy having dinner early to avoid rushes so we have yet to come here, until now!

After a mediocre dinner at Thai Son a couple of steps away, the fiance noticed that there wasn’t a long line at Tsujiri for once. So instead of Qoola, we came here!

Tsujiri is a matcha brand from Kyoto, Japan. All of the matcha here is high quality and sourced from Uji, which is a city near Kyoto. The interior of the cafe was warm and welcoming, with a traditional meets modern vibe.

The dessert shelf looked barren and a bit empty during our visit since we came in the evening.

Matcha houjicha swirl float: The fiance decided to try a mix of both tea flavours. The bottom was a matcha slush, then topped with a matcha/houjicha tea soft serve.

He really enjoyed the soft serve! The matcha had a really strong flavour and tasted authentic.

The slush was a bit disappointing and he wouldn’t get it again. The matcha flavour wasn’t as strong in the slush. The soft serve is definitely the way to go!

Yay!

Lucky Plus Restaurant

September 3, 2019

I’ve been writing so many dim sum posts lately! I went from writing 3 dim sum posts in the past 5 years of my blogging life…. to 5 dim sum posts in the past 5 months!

This time for dim sum, my mom suggested trying Lucky Plus. We’ve been here for dinner a few times with relatives, and enjoyed the dinner because the prices were reasonable and food was alright.

This was our first time trying their dim sum. I have mixed thoughts because it was pretty cheap and they don’t charge for tea, but the quality was not as good.

Rice roll with fish paste: There could have been more fish paste inside the roll. I only had fish paste every other bite, and it was spread pretty thinly.

Rice roll with prawn: There was more prawn in here, but the prawns weren’t fresh at all! The prawns did not have a fresh snap to it, so that was a bit disappointing.

Prawn dumpling: The prawn dumplings were a nice and plump size! The prawns in this dish were a lot more fresh than the rice flour roll ones. There was a nice snap to the prawns.

Sticky rice wrap: The sticky rice was delicious as well. The rice was fragrant from the leaves, and there was a good amount of meat inside.

Beef omasum: Sadly, the beef omasum here did not taste super fresh either. It was also really oily which made it more soggy.

Egg tarts: I didn’t have any because of the dairy, but my parents enjoyed the egg tarts. The crust was nice and flaky while the custard was flavourful and creamy.

The prices here are cheaper than other dim sum restaurants, but some dishes are a miss. Most places charge a tea fee, but Lucky Plus doesn’t.

If I wanted some cheap dim sum, I would come back. I wasn’t as disappointed because the prices were cheap. But keep in mind – you get what you pay for!

Sushi Mania

August 31, 2019

After going to a hot yoga class at Modo East Van, I was feeling refreshed and in the mood to try a new restaurant nearby.

I hopped into my car, and looked up restaurants on Yelp. Sushi Mania was only a 5 minute drive away and it had decent reviews, so off I went. However, I left pretty disappointed with my meal so Yelp failed me this time!

Sushi Mania is a pretty small restaurant and can be quite cramped during peak hours. It is located along Main Street, by King Edward.

Salmon and avocado rolls: One of my go-to rolls because salmon and avocado is such a great combination. The salmon was fresh and the avocado was ripe. However, the roll was on the small side and very loosely wrapped. The salmon and avocado kept falling out.

Chopped scallop roll: The chopped scallop was fresh, just like the salmon. But I also found the pieces to be quite tiny, and flimsy.

California roll: The California roll was alright too… but again, the pieces were quite small compared to what I was used to. There could have been more avocado as well, the roll was about 75% crab meat.

Overall, I left pretty disappointed. The rolls I ordered were small and also not wrapped tightly enough, so the ingredients kept falling out. They were also very stingy on the amount of wasabi. I don’t use that much wasabi but I had to ask for more because it was just a dab on the plate.

There are plenty of other sushi restaurants I rather go to. While the sushi tasted fresh, I wouldn’t go back due to the small portions and flimsy rolls.

Nay!

Thai Son – Richmond

August 28, 2019

When the fiance and I first started dating many years ago, the Thai Son at First Ave Marketplace was our go-to place for pho. It was close by, fast, and cheap although laden with copious amounts of MSG.

But over the years, we stopped going to Thai Son as much – mostly because we discovered Basil Garden and haven’t looked back.

I was craving pho and since we were in Richmond, I suggested Thai Son for old times sake. This location is also relatively new, only being open for the past 3ish years compared to the First Avenue Marketplace location that has been open since I was a child.

Starting off, service was rude but I’m not sure why I expected any different. Perhaps because it was a nicer location, but nope. One particular waitress was really snappy and rude when I asked for the menu and some water after sitting down and waiting for 5 minutes.

Small pho: I ordered a small pho with brisket, rare beef, and tripe. There was a generous portion of meat in the bowl which was appreciated. However, the broth tasted very flat and just like MSG.

I ended up giving the rest to the fiance because there was too much MSG for my liking and I didn’t want to feel like a lethargic, thirsty piece of crap after dinner.

Large pho: The fiance ordered the beef ball and rare beef pho. Like myself, he also found the pho to contain lots of MSG and too salty. But he ended up finishing it anyways.

Lemongrass chicken: The lemongrass chicken smelled amazing when it arrived! It smelled more like fried chicken than lemongrass though.

The chicken was very juicy and delicious. The meat was well marinated although it had the flavour of chicken karaage more than lemongrass. It was also very oily.

Overall, Thai Son is not the healthiest or best choice for Vietnamese food but it gets the job done. I probably will be offending some people but this is my own opinion.

Yes, it is a staple and well known restaurant chain in Vancouver but we found it too salty with copious amounts of MSG. There are definitely better choices for pho in Vancouver though.

Nay!

Whitby’s Coffee House

August 25, 2019

Whitby’s Coffee House is one of the many cafes along the main street by White Rock pier. After having lunch at The Boathouse a couple of blocks away, I was feeling like some dessert.

My parents and the fiance wanted dessert initially too, until they finished their lunches at The Boathouse and decided they were all too full.

I didn’t really have a preference to which cafe/gelato place, so we randomly walked into this one on the way back to the car. There are seriously so many places to pick from within the few blocks!

Passion fruit and mango sorbet: I’m actually not that big of a sorbet fan because it’s not rich or creamy enough for me. But since I can’t have ice cream and most gelato places currently do not offer coconut milk based dessert, I had to settle with sorbet.

I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious this was for a sorbet. I’m a big fan of anything passion fruit or mango based so this was right up my alley. There was more passion fruit flavour than mango here.

In the past, I’ve had sorbets which contained ice chunks because they weren’t blended properly. This was not the case at Whitby’s, the sorbet was smooth and blended well.

There are so many choices for dessert in White Rock that it is a bit overwhelming. I’m glad I stumbled into Whitby’s though, and would love to get the sorbet again if I ever came back to White Rock!