food & drink Archives - Page 92 of 115

Cafe Medina

November 15, 2015

I finally, finally, FINALLY, went to Cafe Medina. I know that I say this for many restaurants I visit, but Cafe Medina has been one of my top picks in terms of restaurants that I have been wanting to try. But waiting in line for a hour or more didn’t really entice me, which is why it took me so long to try this place out.

Originally, I had made plans to go to Yolk‘s for a weekend brunch with my cousin. However, since she lives in downtown, I asked if she would want to have a sleepover and we could walk over to Cafe Medina afterwards. She agreed but said we would have to go right when they open at 9am or else the line up would be crazy.

We arrived right at 9am, and there was already a line forming. This restaurant is crazy busy at all times, but the worst would probably have to be between 11-1pm.

But I did hear that they allow you to put your name down and walk around for a hour or so to kill time, then go back to the restaurant.
I have been told that their waffles are a must-try when coming here. I was actually able to try some of their waffles at an event last month. Since it was outdoor and in the evening, the waffles were cold but still really good. I couldn’t imagine how delicious they would be if it was fresh and warm, and finally got that chance!

Liege-style waffle with passionfruit, $4.15: I actually didn’t know that the toppings were an extra $1, I was obviously too blinded by all the delicious flavours and missed that part. I was torn between the white chocolate or passionfruit, but am a huge fan of passionfruit desserts and thought it was more unique so I ended up going with it.

The waffle was warm, fluffy, and incredibly soft. Additionally, the passionfruit topping was slightly more on the tart side, which I preferred because I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. 10/10 would recommend the waffle. I was thinking of packing one home for the boyfriend, but decided that it’s a lot better trying it fresh in the store and this also gives me an excuse to come back here 🙂
Cyoni organic freshly squeezed apple juice, $5: This was unlike any apple juice that I’ve had before, but I enjoyed it as well. I don’t think I’ve had freshly squeezed apple juice before, the flavour was definitely a lot softer and purer than the bottled apple juice I’m used to. There was also a bit of pulp in it too.

Paella, $15: This is one of their most popular dishes, and comes with a fried egg, avocado, spicy chorizo sausage, and spicy tomato salsa. Everything in this dish balanced perfectly to a top-notch, hearty goodness dish.

I had a few bites and I really loved the spicy chorizo sausage mixed with the spicy tomato salsa. Very well done dish, I was in love at first bite!
Cassoulet, $17: I had a hard time picking what to eat, but my cousin assured me that everything on the menu is delicious as she’s been here a couple times before. I finally decided to try this dish because of the smoked bacon and andouille sausage.

My goodness, did I ever enjoy this dish. Everything was bursting with flavour, I don’t even know where to begin. I loved the andouille sauce and smoked bacon.
Here is a beautiful closeup of the cassoulet. I sent this picture to my boyfriend to show him what their bacon looked like but it turned out to be a really nice and crisp photo!

I was just expecting regular bacon strips, but obviously Cafe Medina took it to a whole ‘nother level. It was pretty thick and full of smoky and amazing flavour. The meat was extremely tender and flaked off perfectly.
Liege-style waffle with chocolate, $4.15: Both of us were really full and suffering from food coma after the meal as the dishes were really comforting, hearty, and filling. But since it was so good, we didn’t want to stop eating. After much consideration, my cousin decided to order a chocolate waffle for dessert but had much difficulty finishing it. I was too full to even attempt to have a bite, but she said the chocolate tasted like nutella!

There has been so much hype around Cafe Medina, and is it worth the hype? Yes, I definitely think so! Now, I understand why the lines are so long and why this place is popular. I’m already looking forward to my next visit, although I’m not sure when that would be!

As a side note, this place also reminded me of Toulouse in Seattle, which my boyfriend and I wandered across last year. Toulouse is one of Trip Advisor’s top 5 restaurants in America. We use Toulouse as a standard of rating because the food there was also top notch (and a 45 minute wait, haha). When asking me if the food was as good as Toulouse, I agreed that it was definitely on par, which shocked the boyfriend because Toulouse was probably one of the best brunch places we’ve been to thus far!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Milestone’s Bar & Grill – Girl’s Night Special

October 19, 2015

Back in the summer, a few of my girlfriends and I went to Milestone’s for their $40 girl’s night special. We have all never had the girl’s night special, but thought it was a really great deal and decided to check it out. This was at the downtown Milestone’s on Robson Street.

The girl’s night special is offered every Monday. It comes with four bellinis and your choice of four select appetizers for only $40, not all appies are valid for this deal. I was expecting the appetizers to be mini size, but turns out it was the full size. That itself makes the girl’s night special already worth it! Oh, in case you are wondering, they also have a guy’s night special where you can get beer instead of bellinis.

Our four bellinis – made with white rum, peach liqueur, sparking white wine, and sangria. Normally, these cost $7.50 each so you are definitely getting a good deal with the special.

You can never go wrong with this bellini, I’ve had it a few times before and the taste is always consistent, no matter which Milestone’s I go to. It is very smooth, sweet, and easy to drink. The perfect drink for relaxing and talking with friends. I find it identical to the bellini at Cactus Club taste-wise, except Milestone’s presentation is neater.
Hot spinach & artichoke dip: I had a friend recommend this to me when I told him I was at Milestone’s, he said it was the best dish there and a must try.

Andddd oh man, did we love this dip. It was amazing. It was incredibly creamy and cheesy, and full of flavour. There was also a generous amount of spinach. Hands down, my favourite appetizer that night. I couldn’t stop eating this!

Baked goat cheese & roasted garlic: I had tried this at a previous visit to Milestone’s, and remembered that it was pretty delicious so we ordered this as well.

The flatbread was really soft and warm, and was dusted with herbs – yum! As for the other toppings, everything went well together. The spiced cranberry relish jam was very sweet, which contrasted the savoury flatbread, goat cheese, and garlic. I am a big fan of arugula and it gave the dish a fresh crunch.

Sorry for the terrible lighting, the restaurant didn’t have good lighting for photos as you can tell!

Piri piri dip: Here is a bit of a side story to give you context on why we were disappointed with the dish, bear with me! When we went back in July, the piri piri dip was actually called the piri piri guacamole. Since it was titled guacamole, we were expecting… well, guacamole. Smooth and creamy avocado deliciousness.

When double checking the menu for this post a few months later, I noticed that they had changed the name of the guacamole to a dip. My friend remembered that it was called guacamole as well, which is why we all wanted to have it – who doesn’t love some guac?? She found an old menu online which called this the guacamole instead of dip.

What arrived was a questionable mound of mostly chick peas instead of the green and creamy guacamole we were expecting. I have nothing against chick peas and I actually love chick peas, but the description totally threw us off. In addition, we found the dip to be really dry, lacking in any flavour, and hard to eat. To make matters worse, we were expecting guacamole so it made an already not-so-good dish to an even worse dish.

I would definitely recommend avoiding this dish to save yourself the disappointment! I’m glad that they decided to rename this to a dip because it is definitely not the guacamole most people know about.

Mango chili shrimp: The shrimp was very fresh with a nice crispy batter and snap to it. It was slightly spicy due to the chili, but sweet due to the mango sauce. We all really enjoyed this dish but wish that it came with a few more pieces of shrimp.

Normally, this would cost $13.75, which doesn’t seem like a great deal for 6 pieces of shrimp – although it is really delicious!

Overall, we had a great time here and enjoyed our food and drinks, except for the piri piri dip confusion. Since we came here for a late dinner, happy hour started half way through our meal and there were more deals being offered!

The $40 girl’s night special is definitely a great value, and I would recommend trying it out. If the four of you were all hungry, it probably isn’t enough food but it’s a great snack after a small dinner. Or, you could just go with two people which would be filling enough for a dinner (you would just have 2 bellinis to yourself!). It’s a good way to try the different dishes Milestone’s has to offer, without paying full price.

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Jo Ju Hot Pot

October 9, 2015

The Heights neighbourhood has a plethora of cuisines to choose from… from the familiar to the more daring choices. However, the one thing that has been missing in that area is a bubble tea shop, ever since Pearl Drops closed down. I really miss that place.

So you could imagine my happiness when we were driving by this area and I saw a new restaurant signage indicating that they serve bubble tea! I was so excited that I messaged a couple of my friends right away to tell them. Sadly, I kept forgetting the name of the restaurant although it was in the back of my mind the next week… I wanted to read reviews on it but I didn’t know the name and it did not show up on Zomato yet… ahhhh! The next time we drove by, I made a mental note to myself to remember the name. Jo. Ju. Jo ju. Jo ju hot pot….!!

Cheese was helping me on a project one evening in August, so I suggested that we go try that place out before working.
After parking at one of the many free parking lots in this neighbourhood close by, we arrived at the restaurant. It wasn’t really busy, as you can tell from my picture above. We were seated pretty quickly and service throughout our visit was quick and friendly.

The restaurant was pretty clean and simple, most of the furniture there seemed pretty new. It was also pretty spacious and didn’t feel too cramped, with lots of natural light coming through the big windows.
I really did not like the design of the menu, and I felt that the pictures looked very inaccurate.. as if they took it from the internet. Furthermore, Cinnamon had visited this place before me and sent me some pictures, which looked nothing like the menu pictures! So, a word of advice… don’t order based on the menu pictures!

I ordered the seafood hot pot, which came with a bowl of rice on the side.

The broth did not have much depth and was pretty plain, but it wasn’t bad either. It was pretty average. It came with an egg, some shrimp, fish balls, and a mussle which I found on the bottom. You could definitely tell that the shrimp came frozen and did not have a bounce to it.

However, the portion was pretty big. I came in the restaurant really hungry, but left really full from this dish! If you are just moderately hungry, I don’t believe that you’ll need the rice bowl.
The egg came poached and hard, probably due to the hot temperature of the soup. If you’re not a big fan of hard poached eggs, I would recommend that you let them know or it will come out as a hard poached egg.

I also ordered it with medium spice, you can kind of see the spice in the picture. I didn’t find it spicy at all though.
Cheese ordered the signature BBQ meat on rice, but sadly, he thought it was disappointing. There was nothing special about this, you could easily cook this at home for a lot cheaper.

Originally, we were going to try the bubble tea but were too full after our meals to think about ordering a drink!

Overall, the food at JoJu Hot Pot is mediocre at best but it does fill you up. I know that they’re new, so I’m willing to come back another time to see if they have improved. There is not much special about their food, nor is it bad.. it’s just very plain, mediocre, and boring.

In a place like The Heights where there are plenty of restaurants to choose from, or just Vancouver in general, this is definitely nothing special or worth driving out for. It would be a place to go to if you were in the area, and definitely not a place where you would be craving.

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

The Fish Counter

September 29, 2015

Before summer ended, I spent the afternoon with Gin exploring Main Street. Both of us had been wanting to try The Fish Counter for a long time, and couldn’t find a better time to check it off both of our lists.
The Fish Shop serves up sustainable seafood, and all products are Ocean Wise. The place reminded me of a cool, local seafood shop.

Since it was a nice and sunny day, the windows were all open and so was the patio. The sun was coming in, the air was fresh and warm – what more could you ask for?

It took us quite a while to decide on what to order as everything looked so delicious! We ended up splitting three items for lunch.

The first thing we ordered was the special that day, the Greek fish taco. This caught my eye because I am a HUGE fan of Greek food and I can’t pass down anything with tzatiki sauce. Seriously, I don’t normally tend to finish all my dipping sauces with my food but when it’s tzatiki sauce… I’ll gobble it up so fast before you know it was there!

Everything tasted really fresh but unfortunately, we both found this taco to be lacking in taste and very plain.

We were torn between the chowder and BC bouillabaisse, and ended up deciding on the latter. This soup was seriously amazing and was a seafood lover’s dream. There was an extremely generous amount of seafood – with every scoop we had, there was an abundance of fish, clams, shrimp, etc that came along with it.

We really enjoyed the soup and would order it again in a heart beat! I must warn you though, if you’re not a seafood lover, you might find this soup a bit too ‘fishy’ but we thought it was absolutely perfect.
The last thing we ordered was the crab and shrimp baguette, or pretty much a shrimp/crabcake baguette 😉 Again, all the ingredients were really fresh and the flavours went well together. The baguette was nice and soft too, while the side salad came with fresh and crunchy vegetables.

I would recommend squeezing a bit of lemon juice on top to further accentuate the flavours!

Since this place is mostly self serve, you clean up after yourself once you’re done eating.

Overall, we really enjoyed our first experience at The Fish Shop and I would recommend this place if you’re a seafood lover. All the ingredients they use are really fresh and the quality of the food is definitely there. Since the seating area is a bit limited, this would be a good place to order take out as well. The staff are also extremely nice and welcoming.

On the other side of the restaurant is their actual fish shop! We didn’t buy any seafood to bring home to cook that day, but the option is there for those who want to.

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co.

August 26, 2015

Sometimes, the boyfriend and I are in the sudden mood to try out a new restaurant. More often than not, we will already have a list of restaurants we want to try together so it is a matter of deciding which one. It is a task that might not be as easy as you think! On one particular warm sunny evening in June, it was Rocky Mountain Flatbread that we decided to finally check off our dining list.

There are two locations in Vancouver, we went to the one on Main Street. I should make it a goal to try all, if not most, of the restaurants here!

Walking in, the atmosphere was fantastic and really set the mood for the rest of our visit. The patio was open, with the sunlight graciously pouring throughout the mid-sized restaurant. There was also a live band playing in the corner of the restaurant, featuring an amazing acoustic singer. The ambiance here was very warm, as well as the friendly service.

To start, we ordered the homemade iced tea and lemonade. Both were not very sweet. I would have preferred my lemonade to be sweetened a bit more because it tasted like concentrated lemon water (which I know is essentially what lemonade is… but more sugar would be nice). It was definitely a drink where you take occasional slow slips because of how sour it was.

I ordered the ‘parma’, which came with organic tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan, cured ham, arugula, mushrooms, and mango. Perhaps the most interesting topping on this was the mango, but I was very intrigued and had a good feeling that all the flavours would go well together. Was I correct?

A million times yes!! Everything was really fresh, and the mango gave it a bit of a ‘spark’ to an already awesome flatbread. The sweetness of the mango enhanced all the other flavours, this dish was just brilliant. 12/10 would order again.

The boyfriend ordered the Italian sausage, which came with pesto, mozarella, Italian sausage bits, and spinach. Again, this dish was executed very well and we enjoyed it. The ingredients for both flatbreads were very fresh, while the dough was soft and chewy but crispy on the outside.

I am really glad that we finally tried this place out, and I feel like we would come back here again. From the ambiance, to the service, and the food, everything was simply wonderful and we had a great time. I would recommend coming here with a group of people, so that you’re able to try more of the flatbread varieties they offer.