It was Lager’s birthday and a celebration dinner was in store! Zefferelli’s was chosen and being the considerate and good friend Sangria was, she called to check there were dairy free options for me before placing the reservation.
After knowing there were dairy free options, I was quite excited to try it out! It has been at least two years since I’ve ate Italian food out due to my dairy restriction. Italian food kinda loses its charm once you can’t have dairy.
Zefferelli’s is located on Robson Street, on the second floor. Immediately walking in, I loved the cozy and classy atmosphere. It reminded me of having a fancy dining party at a rich person’s mansion.
The front has wide windows that overlook the trees on Robson, which were still lit up. It felt like Christmas again!
Also, check out that impressive wine wall!
Penne con salsicce, $19: Although our very friendly server told me that all the pastas were able to be modified with a non-dairy sauce, I decided to not make any custom requests. Since I don’t eat Italian food often, I wasn’t sure if changing a sauce would complement the flavours.
The penne con salsicce already comes dairy free, with roasted peppers, tomato sauce, and italian sausage. The penne was cooked al dente and there was a decent portion. The roasted peppers added some sweetness to it and tasted fresh.
However, the sausage was very salty and I found myself constantly drinking water. Luckily, each table had their own big glass of water!
Spaghetti carbonnara, $19: The boyfriend’s spaghetti carbonnara came with bacon, egg yolk, black pepper, and cream topped with a copious amount of parmesan. Since I would have died a dairy death from this, I didn’t try it.
The boyfriend said it was alright, nothing too special but nothing horrible about it either. He ended up adding lots of chili flakes and regretted it afterwards because it was too spicy. For our table of 10, we drank most of the water and were the ones asking for it to be refilled! Whoops.
Linguini al salmone, $19.50: Sangria’s dish looked very tasty, although I might be bias because I love salmon! This came with BC smoked salmon and spinach in a pernod cream sauce. I learned from writing this post that pernod is a type of French liqueur.
She had no complaints about her dish. The portion was pretty big and she ended up packing some of it home!
Penne Michelangelo, $19: Lager’s pasta came with chicken, sundried tomatoes, peas, and cream. Again, I didn’t try it but it looked really good, and he had no complaints!
Service throughout the night was amazing! Our server took note of my dairy restriction, and made sure that my dish would not come into contact with any dairy. He answered all of the questions from the others as well.
While I normally don’t eat Italian food out, it was nice to try Zefferelli’s and I enjoyed the atmosphere, service, and food. It was a very nice change from my usual food and I would definitely recommend this place for date nights or celebrations.
Yay! (Especially for romantic dates)
Bon Chaz is a very cozy cafe with really friendly staff. Most importantly to a student, it is also very cheap and they offer a 10% student discount (excluding combos). Whenever I go in, the atmosphere is always happy and welcoming. As they bake their bread fresh everyday, it smells amazing in there. Yet another reason why I love Bon Chaz so much!
Beef Pastrami Baguette w/ dijon mustard, $4.98: This is one of my two go-tos when grabbing lunch here. Their baguettes are amazing – so soft, doughy and fresh. Their baguettes also come with an extra layer of bread, like a double decker sandwich! On the top, are the super fresh and crunch veggies. There is a generous portion of beef pastrami and for $5, you just can’t beat the price and quality. Especially in downtown. Since it is a double decker sandwich, one of these keeps me full and satisfied the whole day! I would like to warn you that with the dijon mustard, this sandwich can get spicy!
Garlic Tuna Baguette, $5.48: A bit more than the beef pastrami baguette, but still just as delicious! Just like the beef pastrami, the baguette is very fresh and comes as a double decker sandwich. There is also a very generous portion of tuna that will fill you up. I love the strong garlic taste as well. I usually get the garlic tuna baguette if I want something warmer, as the beef pastrami sandwich is no toasted.
Panko breaded daikon: We thought this was meat, turns out it was daikon haha! The daikon was cooked and very tender.
Nigiri: Big eye (ahi), hamachi, striped jack, seabream, sea bass, amber jack. All were very, very, very fresh and tasty. The tuna pieces were incredibly soft, buttery, and melted in your mouth.
Bluefin tuna nigiri, $7.50: Can you spot the additional piece of tuna on the red plate? The boyfriend ordered this a la carte, because it is not commonly found in restaurants. At $7.50 per piece, it was the most expensive piece of nigiri I’ve had. But it was a special occasion and so tasty.
The omakase ended off with a dessert, which was a green tea panna cotta!
It was a double date dinner, following the night before when Maki and Nigiri got ENGAGED!!! I am still buzzing with happiness and so excited for them! 
We love dining with Maki and Nigiri because they enjoy eating early, like us! And with Sura, you must go early or you will have to wait over a hour. With all the Yelp reviews I read beforehand, almost everyone mentioned the 1+ hour wait. They opened for dinner at 5, and we got there at 5:30. However, the restaurant was already full with two names before us! The waiter quoted 45 minutes, which was shocking to us… but we decided to stay since it didn’t seem like it would have taken 45 minutes.
Seafood pancake, $20: The seafood pancake came bursting with a generous amount of greens and seafood! There were clams, squid, and shrimp inside. It came on a sizzling hot plate and we could still hear the pancake being fried on it. The exterior was nice and crunchy, while the inside was filled with delicious ingredients. It was a great start to our dinner!
Royal rice cakes, $15: The boyfriend and Nigiri chose this dish, as they love rice cakes. And boy, was this delicious! It was slightly sweet and full of such amazing flavour. The beef was tender as well. I kept helping myself to this because it was so good. I probably wouldn’t have ordered it myself, so I’m glad that the others picked it.
Spicy tofu hotpot with seafood: This picture came out blurry because it was still bubbling ferociously when I took the picture. I asked for the egg to be cooked inside, because cracking a raw egg in there makes me feel uneasy. This bowl came with a decent amount of seafood, and an excellent amount of tofu! It had a good spicy kick to it, so I’m glad that we were sharing everything as to avoid spicy overload at the end of the meal.
Korean BBQ beef and pork, $25: We ordered two plates of BBQ meat, which was the perfect amount for us. This one was the beef and pork mix. There was a lot of freshly sliced onions on the bottom! The dish came sizzling hot and it was sooo delicious. Although the pork was pretty oily, so I had the least amount of this due to my sensitive stomach. Due to the crazy amount of sizzling on the hot plate, some of the oil bounced onto Maki’s napkin and there was a giant splat of oil!
Korean BBQ beef: OH MY GOODNESS, this was my FAVOURITE dish of the night, if not the best new food dish I have eaten all year. It was soooo amazing. The Grade AAA beef was INCREDIBLY tender, and marinated in a delicious Korean BBQ sauce…mixed with the grilled taste of the barbecue. UGH, sooo good. I’m the type of person that thinks Korean BBQ is only okay, like it wouldn’t be my first choice. BUT, after eating this, I want more Korean BBQ!
It is in a very random and unique location, away from any foodie hotspots. The Workshop is tucked inside North Vancouver, along a stretch of quiet road that is mostly outdated car repair shops. I’m not too familiar with North Van transit other than the Seabus and Phibbs Exchange, so not sure how transit-friendly this place is.
There was a small nook on the side of the cafe where you can buy healthy and vegan to-go treats.
Organic nama shoyu ramen, $12.99: I am a big fan of truffle oil so naturally, I was curious to see if this would deliver. And boyyyy, did it deliver.
Since both pictures above didn’t include their bouncy noodles, here is a picture of them! I believe you might be able to change your noodles to either rice noodles or udon if you wanted. I overheard another customer saying that.
Avocado and I wanted to sit and chat more, but the place was getting busier and a line was forming so we each just got a pastry to go.