food & drink Archives - Page 67 of 115

Insadong Korean BBQ

July 31, 2018

It was Sangria’s birthday, and a dinner celebration was in store! We all went to Korean BBQ to celebrate. Since it was a large group of 18 or so, they gave us a semi-private room which had another group of 10. At first, the room was really chilly but once the BBQ started, it was really warm in there!

Since there was 18 of us or so, we were split into 3 different tables. Each table of 6 split the giant BBQ meat combo, which was a better deal than getting everything separately.

Seafood pancake: The seafood pancake was smaller than most, but that was fine since we had more food coming. It was crispy and had a good amount of seafood in it!

Japchae: The japchae was delicious! It was seasoned very well and a bit more towards the salty side, but not overly salty. Korean glass noodles are so good!

Salad: Can’t forget our greens right? The salad was a big portion for 6 people. All of the vegetables we’re fresh. My favourite part was the sauce. It was some sort of sweet tangy fruit sauce. I had seconds and thirds of this because of how delicious the sauce was. Would love to learn how to make this at home!

Tofu soup: We also got a bowl of spicy tofu soup with a side of rice. It had a good amount of spice but Cocoa found it to be too spicy. More for the rest of us then 😉

Assorted BBQ meat: The star of the show- all the meat! We had different kinds of meat which were already marinated. Beef, chicken, and pork… Mmmm. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but believe me when I say all the meats were seasoned very well and had lots of flavour to it!

It was a very delicious dinner and I would love to come back with a group for the combo again. It was such a fun night and my stomach was so satisfied!

Yay!

Anh and Chi

July 25, 2018

My mom and her friend were meeting up for lunch, and she asked me if I wanted to tag along since I haven’t seen her friend for many years! Her friend also suggested going to Anh and Chi, which I wanted to try so along I came.

When I was a kid, I remember this used to also be a Vietnamese restaurant. But it has definitely changed a LOT, the previous one was a family owned, no frills type of restaurant. Anh and Chi is definitely one of the fancier and boujee Vietnamese restaurants that I have been to, and the prices reflect that.
The interior of the restaurant was quite nice. It had a modern, wooden and natural vibe to it. The seating was comfortable too, we got a corner booth. Since we came before the lunch rush, we didn’t have to wait, but noticed towards the end of our meal that a line was forming.
Mushroom spring rolls, $8: My mom and I haven’t been here before, so we let her friend order as she’s been here many times. I’m glad that she ordered because she chose things that I wouldn’t have chosen myself, so I got to try new dishes!

This was the mushroom spring roll which came with vermicelli, carrots, and a mix of herbs. The spring roll was crispy and fresh, with a delicious crunch. Inside, it was bursting with flavour and so delicious.
Bun bo hue, $14.00: Another thing that I normally would not have ordered… but after having this, I am definitely going to order it when I’m not feeling like a regular pho! Bun bo bue is a type of spicy broth, if I’m not mistaken.

There was a subtle hint of spice, but nothing super spicy that your tongue was on fire or you needed water to pair it with. In addition, there was a hint of slight sweetness that made it too. The noodles were the thick vermicelli ones, which are different than the rice noodles typically served with pho.
DIY Street side platter, $22.00: Another thing that I’ve never ordered from Vietnamese places or seen on menus before! The street side platter comes with a variety of different proteins, greens, vermicelli, and fish sauce. On a side plate, they give you dried rice paper and a bowl of warm water. You are then instructed to dip the dried rice paper into the warm water, and then make your own wrap.

It was a fun experience and all the meats that we had were delicious. I also got to try the pork spring rolls, but I liked the mushroom ones more. It came with pork, beef wrapped in betel leaf, grilled prawn, and grilled chicken. All the meats were delicious and I have no complaints, but my favourite was definitely the grilled chicken!

As we were leaving, I found the washroom to be quite cool so I took a picture to include in this post. There isn’t a female and male washroom, just some private stalls and communal sinks. This set up works in favour of females because the female washrooms are always the ones that are lined up, haha!!!

Anyways, the 3 dishes that we ordered were new to me and I’m glad that I got to try them. The prices are on the pricier side for Vietnamese food, so I would suggest coming here if you’d like something a bit more fancy. Even though it’s pricier, I would say that it’s worth it because the food and quality was great. I can see why this place gets line ups during peak hours.

Yay!

Ebisu – Revisit

July 22, 2018

A couple years ago, I did a review on my first visit to Ebisu. Since then, Ebisu has become one of mine and the boyfriend’s place to go for happy hour. We have brought numerous people here to try it because we love it so much! I figured it was finally time to do a revisit post of the go-to items.

The location that we go to is the Broadway one. There is metered street parking which is easy to find at night. If you’re lucky, you can also score one of the free street parking spots!

Virgin strawberry slush, $4: I don’t order a drink each time, but when I do, I always get the strawberry slush. It is sweet like strawberry syrup and has bits of strawberry pulp throughout. It doesn’t taste super artificial because they add some strawberries in there.

Chicken karage, $5.99: This is the boyfriend’s must order. The chicken karage is always AMAZING. It always comes out piping out and fresh. The batter is crispy while the inside is very juicy. Squeezing the fresh lemon slice on top makes it taste even better!

Takoyaki, $5.99: The takoyaki is my must order. Just like the karage, it always comes out fresh. The outside is crispy while the inside is nice and doughy.

We ordered this at the Richmond location once and it wasn’t as good and crispy.

Salmon and avocado roll, $4.25: Ebisu has higher prices for Japanese food, but the happy hour is very cheap and affordable. The salmon and avocado roll is always fresh. The avocado is ripe and buttery too.

Ebisu happy hour is an amazing deal compared to their regular prices. We’ve been to dinner here as well, but find that happy hour is the way to go because it’s cheaper. It’s a good place to enjoy some snacks with friends after a long work week!

Also, if you’re into drinks, Ebisu has quite the drink selection! They have many different types of cocktails which we see other people drinking. The downtown Ebisu is more popular for getting lit though, because the Broadway location closes at 11, and last call is 10-10:30.

Sekai Udon Bar

July 18, 2018

Tofu was in town and had some limited time to catch up with me! Since Tofu’s city does not have Uniqlo yet, she wanted to check it out while in Vancouver. Also, she wanted to try Uncle Tetsu’s but we only had a couple hours so sadly, couldn’t make it.

Anyways, since she mostly wanted to just go to Uniqlo and we only had a couple hours, we grabbed a quick dinner at Sekai Udon Bar inside the mall. Sekai Udon Bar makes their own udon so I was quite curious as to how it would taste.

This restaurant used to be an AYCE sushi place which wasn’t that good. It was so long ago since I went to the AYCE place so I can’t remember if it was renovated after Sekai opened up.

Spicy tuna roll, $4.00: We ordered a couple of rolls to share. The first was a spicy tuna roll. The spice was not marinated inside the roll. There was just some hot sauce put on top which isn’t as good. Anyways, the roll was pretty average.

Salmon avocado roll, $4.00: There was a generous portion of salmon inside, while the avocado was ripe and buttery.

Nothing special or super appealing about the rolls, but for $4.00 each it was pretty decent!
Niku udon, $7 (small size): There are two different sizes of their udon bowls – either small or regular. Since we were sharing some rolls, we both got a small size. Portion wise, it was perfect!

Now, the star of the show… the udon! The udon was chewy and denser than most places. Noodles are my favourite food ever (apart from chicken strips) and these get an approving yes! They also have frozen udon that you can buy.

The broth was light and clear, as you can see from the photo. This dish was simple yet comforting and delicious.

Curry udon, $8 (small size): Tofu ordered the curry udon. Compared to mine, the sauce was pretty thick. The menu described it as a soup but I think it was more like a sauce. She didn’t have any complaints about it.

I’m glad I tried Sekai because I found it to be pretty decent. The prices were on the low end too, which is always great. I wouldn’t drive here just to eat it, but if I was at Metro and wanted some food, I wouldn’t mind coming here.

Yay!

Hart House

July 15, 2018

It was a special occasion and the boyfriend and I decided to celebrate by going out for a nice dinner. After doing some research, we both wanted to go somewhere quiet and intimate. It seems that we are both drawn towards nice restaurants in parks such as Seasons in the Park, and the Fish House which is sadly closed down now.

Hart House is located in a historic mansion that was slightly changed to meet the needs of a restaurant. On the evening that we went, it was a beautiful day and the ambiance was what we were looking for. Since it was a weekday evening, it wasn’t too busy (but the food still took forever).

Bread: Some complimentary bread to start. It was warm and toasted, and kept our starving stomachs somewhat full until our food came.

Mussels and clams, $21: Finally, our appetizer arrived! We got mussels and clams in a garlic, roasted pepper and tomato cream sauce. Everything about this dish was amazing. There was a decent amount of mussels and clams which tasted fresh. The sauce was so delicious and we used some for the leftover bread.

A bonus was the smoked ham hock which was tender and full of savoury flavour. I liked that the ham hock was the lean portion instead of fatty.

Soup, free: After we were done the appetizer, the waitress came by and gave us some complimentary soup. Although it was in a small cup, the flavours were not small at all! There was the same tender ham hock inside, just like the mussels and clams. We noticed outside that there was a wedding rehearsal, so we were thinking perhaps they had some leftovers.

Seafood pasta, $19: I just can’t stay away from seafood, can I? Haha! My pasta came in a garlicky sauce with crab, mussels, and clams. The flavour was a bit flat but after adding some pepper and salt into it, it tasted a lot better! Again, the seafood was very fresh, nothing to complain about here.

Hart house burger, $21: When looking up the menu online, the boyfriend knew that he was ordering this after seeing ‘truffle aioli’ as the sauce. He was not disappointed with his burger at all. Just look at how towering it is! It came with AAA beef AND pork belly. This dish doesn’t seem like something that a fancy restaurant would serve, but it was quite delicious.

My only complaint about the Hart House is that the service and food was soo0o0o0 sloooo00w. We were there for almost 3 hours because it took so long for the appetizer to come, and then the entrees to come. Other than that, the food itself was really delicious and we left satisfied.

Yay!