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Basho Cafe, East Van

May 18, 2014

I’ve been to Basho Cafe three times now, but wanted to make sure I had a variety of different things to share in this post, rather than make smaller revisit posts. This place is very popular and has been on the top 10 of Urbanspoon for many weeks now, and for good reasons too.

Basho Cafe is a cute, quaint, and lovely cafe owned by a Japanese family. They offer a few full meal sets, Japanese inspired pastries, and drinks. I’ve tried many items and my favourite would have to be the matcha latte.
Upon walking in, you will find a selection of mini pastries. Some of their items are vegetarian or gluten free, if you’re into that. Many of their pastries are made with matcha, as you can see from all the green in the shelf!
This is their menu. They only have three main dishes. You can add a plate of 3 pastries, tea, salad, and a daily soup for only $3, which is a really good deal as I’ll show you below what it looks like! Even though this place is a coffee shop, you can leave the place decently full and satisfied with their food.
The first time I went with my friend, we both decided to order the veggie lunch set ($10ish). Normally, I don’t like eating my veggies but I was surprisingly in the mood! I was pleasantly surprised at how big the plate was.

As for the veggie rice bowl, I enjoyed it very much. It came with avocado, cucumber, broccoli, carrot, cooked sweet apples, and a side of house made tofu mayo. The rice underneath made this dish very filling, and it was also flavoured with some sort of rice vinegar. The daily soup that day was broccoli, which was very flavourful and had a nice puree texture to it. The salad was a standard vinaigrette, as was the green tea.

A close up of my pastry selection. Sesame miso cookie, matcha cake, and chocolate mochi mochi. All three pastries weren’t super sweet, which I liked. The cookie had a toasted sesame, buttery taste to it but it wasn’t greasy at all. The green tea loaf had a very strong matcha taste, and was light and fluffy.

My favourite was the chocolate mochi mochi. I loved the chewy texture to it, and how the chocolate wasn’t super sweet! Out of the three, I would probably buy the chocolate mochi mochi again because the other two don’t feel as if it would be worth their separate price.
I really enjoyed my first visit, and wanted to show the boyfriend this place, so off we went the next day! Unfortunately, we went 30 minutes prior to closing and they were sold out of many pastries. We ordered the matcha brownie and matcha coconut cookie. The matcha brownie had a nice, chewy texture to it while the top had a toasted sugary taste. The matcha cookie wasn’t too sweet, and the coconut flakes added a light coconut flavour to it, which wasn’t too overpowering.
I told my friend about this place, and she really wanted to try it, so I went again! She ordered the veggie lunch set, which I talked about above. I wanted to try something different this time, and decided on the teri pulled pork lunch set.

The pulled pork was very tender and soft, and full of flavour. Just like the veggie bowl, it came with Japanese rice that was cooked with some sort of rice vinegar which I loved! The soup of the day was yam, which had a puree texture to it. The pastries I recieved were the green tea mochi mochi, sesame miso cookie, and another mochi pastry. I really liked the green tea mochi mochi because it was very chewy and squishy, and full of matcha flavour! I wasn’t a big fan of the other mochi square (forgot the exact name, sorry), because it was filled with different types of nuts, I would have preferred it without the nuts.
We also wanted to try the matcha latte, since the last two times I came here, I saw that it came in a pretty big bowl-cup and it looked very good. Turns out, if you order a lunch set, they will take off $1 off the matcha latte so that it only comes to $2.75! They also did not charge us for soy, which is a plus.

I also didn’t know that it came with a free pastry. I fell in love with the matcha latte at first sip. It comes unsweetened, so you can really taste the pure matcha flavour. It also wasn’t too hot, so I didn’t burn my tongue. I liked how it came with no foam.

It was very smooth,and full of matcha flavour. Delicious!
Overall, I think that Basho Cafe is worth the hype. They have very delicious matcha pastries, as well as matcha lattes. My friend mentioned to me that this place looks like a perfectly crafted Pintrest space, with all the eclectic decorations and focus on quilts and tea cozies.

It has a very welcoming atmosphere. The family that runs this place is also really friendly. Although the lady doesn’t speak much English, she is very friendly, and always has a smile on her face. I’m glad that Basho has opened up, I will come here again when I’m craving matcha goodies.

Le Petite Saigon, East Van

May 14, 2014

When I am in this neighbourhood, my go-to spot for authentic Vietnamese food is definitely Petite Saigon. I have been here numerous times, and always have great food here.

Petite Saigon is also well known for their spring rolls, which myself and my coworkers normally order to share. I’ve been here well over twenty times, but decided to finally create a post on it!
I used to not be a fan of their pho, but it has definitely grown on me or improved in the past two years that I’ve came here. I used to find their noodles clumped and hardened together, so that when you try to separate them with your chopsticks, it breaks into small chunks that don’t resemble noodles anymore.

However, their noodle texture has gotten a lot better and I love ordering their pho now! I normally get their pho beef noodles with rare beef, beef brisket, and tripe (small- $7.25). Their broth is bursting with flavour, which explains why their restaurant always smells so damn good. They give a decent amount of meat.I really like their beef brisket because there isn’t much fat to it.

This is my coworker’s bowl of pho with rare beef and beef balls.
I usually stick with pho or rice bowls when I come here, so I was intrigued with my coworker’s seafood with egg noodle soup. You can get this dish with or without soup, which my coworker had without.

The dish was full of flavour, and from what I remember, it was a bit sweet. I enjoyed the sauce that came on the noodles as well. It comes with a decent amount of seafood and I think it’s a good alternate for those hot summer days, where you don’t feel like having warm soup!

This was the grilled pork chop on rice with shredded pork. Each of their rice dishes come with a side of vegetable salad and fish sauce. I had a bite of the pork chop, and it was really juicy and sweet. There was also a hint of smokiness to it. The fish sauce that they have is amazing. For those who have not tried fish sauce before, you are missing out! It’s a Vietnamese staple, used as a dipping sauce for many dishes.
I usually order their salad roll to go. It comes with shrimp, Vietnamese ham, vermicelli noodles, and lettuce. It is a great, healthy tasting light snack that is packed with flavour. There are a few thin slices of ham in it which give it a light salty flavour, and the prawns are pretty juicy and big so it fills you up. The lettuce it also very crunchy.

This dish is complete with their peanut butter and chili dipping sauce! The peanut butter sauce is a mix of a soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sugar, and of course peanut butter which complements the flavour of the spring rolls really well!
Their deep fried spring roll is a must-order! I’ve ordered this many times, but I can’t seem to find the picture on my computer so I took this from Urbanspoon. Their deep fried spring rolls are really crispy, and bursting with flavour and ingredients. It comes with a mix of vegetables, noodles, and meat inside and is absolutely delightful! My coworkers and I love ordering these to share, and they are always gone in the back within 15 minutes.

I also often order take out from Le Petite Saigon as well, as you can tell with the salad roll. They are pretty efficient with cooking time, usually done in within 10 minutes of your call. Service there is also really friendly and attentive.

-Carmen

Bubble Queen

April 20, 2014

Bubble Queen is a very popular bubble tea joint in the Lower Mainland. My favourite is their fresh mango bubble tea with chunks of fresh mango on top, but I decided not to get that today because I have plenty of mangoes at home right now.

Their fresh mango bubble tea is to die for- it is creamy, sweet, blended perfectly, and on top of that, they add a generous amount of fresh mango chunks on top.
Upon walking in, we were really surprised that there were only five other customers here on a Saturday night (This picture above was taken from Yelp). I’ve been here five other times, and the line up is usually out the door.
I noticed that they have moved their menu on the wall, they used to have menus that customers pass around. It was easier to read, but there was so much on the menu, making it hard to decide what to get! I imagine that the menu would be hard to read when there are a lot of people, since the line up goes in front of it.
More options! If you choose the specialty drinks, you can get free pearls. However, the cost of the speciality drinks are at least $1-2 dollars more expensive, so I’m not sure if you’re actually getting a good deal or not. They also serve bubble waffles or toast boxes as well.
Notice all their mangoes in the fridge and shelf? Yummm! I’ve never seen this place so empty before. I also noticed that the floors were really, really sticky and the tables desperately needed to be wiped down. However, if you’re just grabbing takeout, it’s not a problem.
I finally decided on getting the passion fruit calpis slush with pearls. I always get their fresh mango slush with mango chunks on top, but I felt like having a change today. The other drink is their coconut slush with pearls. Both drinks came to $10.10.
I didn’t really taste the calpis juice in my drink, the passion fruit was very strong. I feel like this would taste better not as a slush, since calpis is usually served just like a juice. I probably won’t order this flavour with calpis again, because it was too sweet for me and I didn’t taste any calpis! The pearls were very warm, but as I mixed my slush with the pearls, they tasted pretty good. They were chewy and sweet!
The coconut slush with pearls was so good! It was so creamy, rich, and frothy with a strong coconut taste. I liked how smooth it was. I wish I had ordered this one instead!
Also would like to point out their enourmous stack of chocolates for their bubble tea! Overall, Bubble Queen has very good bubble tea at a decent price. I predict that as the weather becomes warmer, I will be paying more visits to this joint!

-Carmen

No 1 Beef Noodle House

March 11, 2014

I don’t know how they can call themselves “Number 1” when they had the worst bowl of beef noodles I’ve ever had. Even when I lived in Calgary, a city where they don’t offer nearly as much satisfying authentic Asian food, had better beef noodles.

We would have been better off cooking our own beef noodles at home, and that’s saying something because none of us know how to make it. Our visit to No 1 Beef Noodle House was really disappointing, from the service, to wait times and noodles. I can’t think of a single redeeming quality of this “restaurant”. Let’s start with the review…

When the four of us got inside, we were quickly seated. They gave us tea and it took longer than usual to flag down a server for hot water instead. When we were all ready to order, again, it took us awhile to find service. Keep in mind that the restaurant was not that busy, it was probably 3/4 full.

My friend’s chicken nuggets and rice dish came first (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture, sad face). He thought that the dish was okay, it came with a few other sides too. If we ever came again, I would order that instead.
Standard beef brisket with wide noodle: When we were ordering, the server was asking us which noodles we wanted and I asked for the wide ones, like at Wang’s or Chef Hungs.

The bowl of noodles were really disappointing. The “chopped” noodles were gross extremely soggy. The soup was really bland and had no taste to it. They also give you thinner slices of beef brisket than other restaurants (More on the beef brisket below..). The portion here was also smaller than usual, so I wasn’t particularly full or satisfied.

Oh wait! It gets worse! Initially, when the two of us got our noodles & fried chicken dish, we were waiting for the other two to get their dishes before we started eating. So, we waited… and waited.. 20 minutes came by, my friend and the boyfriend still didn’t their noodles.

They ordered the same thing as me, except with different noodles so we weren’t sure why it was taking them so long. After waiting for a long time, my friend finally decided to ask a server about their food. Of course, it took her another 5 minutes to actually wave down a server. At this point, everyone was pretty hungry and getting frustrated at the restaurant.
Spicy beef brisket with noodles: After waiting another 30 minutes for the rest of us to get our food, it finally came! I don’t understand why theirs took so long when it was similar to mine, and it wasn’t even that busy. I didn’t take a picture of my friend’s because it looked the same.

With his first bite, he didn’t taste any “spicy” soup even though his bowl cost $1.50 more. He told me to try it, and I didn’t taste any spiciness at all. Soup was bland, just like mine. Luckily, we had a side of chili paste so he ended up dumping the whole thing inside to salvage it. Of course, it gets worse, again!
This piece of brisket in the boyfriend’s and my friend’s was so hard that it was impossible to chew. They both tried to eat it but gave up after awhile because it wasn’t worth it.

Of course, finding a server was hard and when we told her that we wanted to split the bill, they didn’t understand what we meant.

No 1 Beef Noodle House was disappointing in terms of their food, service, and overall experience. After reading the reviews on Urbanspoon, I noticed that people had the same experience as us. When you read the reviews from oldest to newest, they slowly get worse and worse.

-Carmen

Thai’s Saigon Bistro

March 2, 2014

Whenever I am craving hearty, delicious, and authentic pho, my mind and tummy travels to Saigon Bistro. I love Saigon Bistro because their pho broth is lighter, and less salty than other places.

Their pho really reminds of authentic home cooking, and the vegetables served here are really fresh and crunchy. I never leave this place feeling bloated and gross due to their light but delicious broth. Not only is their broth healthier, the owner of the restaurant is an extremely friendly and cheerful Vietnamese man!

Let’s get the review started:
This is one of the pho dishes that I normally get, pho tai nam gan sach (rice noodle with beef flank, rare beef, tendon, and tripe) $6.75 for small. I normally ask for extra tripe and no tendon, and the owner is glad to accommodate my requests.

As you can tell from the picture, the broth is pretty light in colour and clear. Although the broth is lighter, the flavour of the pho itself isn’t sacrificed. It really reminds me of home cooked pho due to its light but delicious flavour- really only a broth that a mom/grandmother could perfect! But somehow, they accomplish it!

The noodles are also cooked perfectly, and do not clump together.
This is the nuong cuon (salad roll with grilled pork) ($3.50). This dish is pretty tasty due to the marinated and grilled pork. The wrap also isn’t that sticky, so pretty easy to eat.

There is also vermicelli and lettuce inside the wrap. In addition, the roll comes with a peanut butter (I think there’s also Hoisin sauce in it?) dipping sauce which complements the flavour.
This is the salad roll with shrimp & ham, goi cuon ($2.95 for 1 roll, $5.50 for 2 rolls). Nothing too special about this dish, but I love ordering it when I’m not that full yet and want something light.

All the vegetables taste really fresh and crunchy. I find that their slice of ham isn’t as big as other restaurants.
This is the banh mi thit nuong ($4) grilled pork with vegetables and hot pepper, toasted on a french bun. The bread is super crunchy on the outside, but soft in the inside. I love this sub because there is an equal amount of meat to vegetable. The vegetables, again, also taste really fresh (Look at that fresh, yummy cilantro!). I normally dip every bite into hot sauce and it’s delicious!

-Carmen