delicious food Archives - Page 2 of 2

Ken’s Chinese Restaurant

August 6, 2014

After my cousin’s high school graduation, we were all hungry and looking for a late restaurant to feed our hungry tummies. We were going to go to Congee Noodle House, but knew it would be busy since all the Chinese families that attended the graduation would probably go there. We drove a bit further into Burnaby, and went to Ken’s Chinese Restaurant. Funny, we went here a few years back for my high school graduation. We also sat at the same table this time as well! Ken’s serves authentic Chinese dishes, and satisfied my craving for late night Chinese food.
(Picture taken from Urbanspoon). Ken’s Chinese Restaurant is located in a small strip mall on Kingsway. There is plenty of free parking in the strip mall.
To start off our da lan, we got the standard plain congee, which came in a huge pot. The congee itself was good and was great quality. It wasn’t too runny and watery, and had a bit of a sweet taste to it. Very warm, and comforting. If your purchase is over a certain amount (my uncle told me this, I didn’t read their menu), you can get unlimited congee refills. We had two refills after this, and the quality and taste of the congee remained delicious. Some restaurants (like my visit to AYCE sushi at Toyotomi) diminish the quality of the orders, but this was not the case.
Stir fried broccoli with garlic. Unfortunately, I forgot the prices of each dish this time so they won’t be included. The broccoli was very crunchy and tasted fresh. There was a definite garlic taste to it, and the tips of the broccoli were smothered in garlic sauce. However, the garlic taste wasn’t unbearably strong, and not enough to give you horrid garlic breath afterwards.
Another late night classic! Clams in black bean sauce. This dish was very tasty as well. The sauce was very flavourful, and came with fresh green onions on top. The clams were also really juicy and there was a generous amount. I’ve been to some Chinese restaurants where they serve a plate of clam shells, where you have to scavenge for what little actual clam meat they have. This tastes really good when you add the shell, which is full of sauce, into the plain congee.
Deep fried tofu with spicy garlic salt. Another classic. Ken’s made this dish perfectly. There was a generous amount of peppers, and the tofu tasted really good with the garlic. The tofu was piping hot and crispy on the outside, while soft inside. I am definitely coming here again when I crave deep fried tofu.
Braised string beans with minced meat. We felt pretty gross after eating the deep fried tofu and clams because they were both such heavy (albeit delicious!) dishes, so we decided to order some veggies. The string beans were very crunchy and flavourful as well. However, this was a bit heavy on the oil so I’m not sure if ordering this dish was the best to “clear” our tummies with. But, it was delicious!

Late night Chinese snack is absolutely delicious, and Ken’s did not disappoint! The servers were also very nice as well. I would definitely come here again when craving late night snacks, but hopefully, that is not for a long time since it’s so unhealthy (minus the plain congee)!

-Carmen

Timothy’s Frozen Yogurt

July 24, 2014

After visiting Steveston back in May and trying Sockeye City Grill, I came back here with a few friends for the evening. We ended up eating at Sockeye City Grill again, since I had a decent experience back in May. Afterwards, we took a beautiful evening stroll as the sun began to set around us.

We decided to stop at Timothy’s Frozen Yogurt, as we were craving some dessert and I didn’t get to come here during my last visit. Thankfully, it wasn’t too busy since we came on a weekday evening, but it was tasty nonetheless.

Timothy’s Frozen Yogurt is really popular and a prime tourist spot in Steveston, you will often see visitors strolling the pier with a delicious, fresh waffle cone in hand. Of course, we had to give it a try as well 🙂
Timothy’s Frozen Yogurt only accepts cash. One thing that I found strange was that they do not offer any ice cream samples to customers. I guess it helps speed up the transaction and also saves on cost.

However, it might be frustrating for customers if they can’t decide on what they want. Especially if they are tourists, what if they’ve never tried or heard of certain flavours where they’re from?
I was torn between having ice cream or frozen yogurt. I decided on getting the mixed berry frozen yogurt! I got the kids size in a waffle cone($2.75, plus extra $.50 for a waffle cone) The yogurt itself was pretty good, it was flavourful and had a nice texture to it. It reminded me a lot of Yogen Fruz, which I love! The star of the show would have to be the waffle cone though.

When I was handed the waffle cone, it was still warm from their machine. The waffle cone was so crispy, warm, and fresh. The price for the cone wasn’t bad either, I was expecting it to cost more since it’s a tourist area and the waffle cones are freshly made! I actually ended up going back for a regular size because the froyo and waffle cone was that delicious…..hehe…

(Also, I just realized as I was typing this that the picture included my nails! I did a review on the Etude House Nail Polish trio, which you can read as well)

A picture of Rooibos’ gelato, I forgot which flavour they had but they enjoyed it!

Another picture of Parmie’s gelato, I forgot what flavour she had as well! Sorry 🙁

Here is a bonus picture of the sunset that evening, which I captured at the end of the dock (Click for bigger and better resolution!). Timothy’s Frozen Yogurt is a great place to buy a delicious fresh waffle cone before exploring the pier.

-Carmen

El Furniture Warehouse (Whistler)

July 23, 2014

My apologies for not posting as regularly! I have been preoccupied with a few personal things, and I was in Whistler for two days last week. My friends and I spent a bit over a day soaking up the sunshine in the village, lounging by the pool, and basically just relaxing the past day in the 37 degree weather. It was a much needed mini break from the usual swing of things. During the past day and a bit that we were there, we ate out every meal, so keep posted on some Whistler dining adventures!

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We decided to come to the Warehouse for brunch the second day we were here. After doing some quick research on Google, I’m not sure if they are sister restaurants or not. The logo isn’t the same as the one in Vancouver, and they do not list each others addresses on their websites.

But nonetheless, El Furniture Warehouse in Whistler has the same idea – all food items are $4.95. I’ve never successfully ate at any Warehouse location before (Went to the one on Granville in Vancouver two years ago, sat down for 20 minutes and no one came so we left) so I was quite excited to try this place out!
Walking down the village stroll the evening before, the Warehouse was packed and full of noise at night. Coming back the next day, it was a bit strange to see the patio completely empty and quiet!

We were one of the only tables seated around 11:30 am, and decided to sit inside since it was ridiculously hot outside, and there wasn’t much shade for the tables (don’t let the umbrellas fool you). Unfortunately, there was no a/c inside the restaurant but we sat at the booth right before the patio, so we got plenty of fresh air where we sat.
Opening the menu, I was in shock at how everything was actually only $5. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not, this place was definitely the cheapest restaurant I’ve been to. If I have never heard of the Warehouse, I would never have expected that everything on the menu was $5.
Nachos | The “Works” burger & fries | Roasted turkey sandwich & fries | Chiang mai bowl w added chicken for $2.25

There was five of us and we each got an entree, and shared nachos and mini donuts. Starting off with the nachos, they were a bit disappointing because we got the bottom of the bag, so all we got under those seemingly large pieces of chips were crumbs. The chips themselves were crunchy, cheesy, and came with the sauce on the side.

Moving on to the the Works burger, I didn’t try this but the boyfriend enjoyed it. It was very juicy, and came with bacon, cheddar, and onions- for $5, it was seriously a good deal and he was stuffed. For myself, I ordered the roasted turkey sandwich. I absolutely loved the cranberry sourdough. Without the cranberry sourdough bread, it would have been very plain. The second side of my sandwich only came with a really tiny piece of turkey breast, the rest was just lettuce and cheese. I think when the chefs cut the sandwich, all the turkey breast moved to one side of the sandwich. I wasn’t upset though, because the first side of my sandwich came with a lot of grilled turkey breast 🙂

Cheese ordered a noodle bowl with a side of chicken for $2.25. The noodles were very chewy and this was the perfect dish for a hot afternoon like today. It also came with half an avocado and fresh veggies. Again, a very good deal!
Macaroni ordered the deep fried apple pie with ice cream for dessert. I was too stuffed by the end of my turkey sandwich (I didn’t even finish my fries!) that I had to unfortunately pass down the opportunity for what looked like amazing dessert. Alas, Macaroni ended up sharing it and everyone that tried it loved the pie.

We also ordered mini donuts to share. They were a bit too oily for my liking and I didn’t find them soft and chewy, they were abnormally crunchy. It was also covered with an extremely generous amount of sugar and came with chocolate dipping sauce. I probably wouldn’t order this again because of how oily and strangely crunchy they were.

We were so stuffed by the end of this meal that we didn’t up going for Cows ice cream afterwards, which is usually a Whistler tradition for me! People say that the Warehouse is a hit and miss, and you gotta know what to order. I probably wouldn’t order the nachos or mini donuts again, but everything else was delicious and worth $5. Our sever was nice and attentive as well, she kept our water pitcher full at all times and was quick to come to our aid. I would definitely come here again when I’m back in Whistler, and will probably be trying the Vancouver locations in the future as well 🙂

-Carmen

Milestones (Yaletown)

July 6, 2014

A birthday celebration was in order two weeks ago, and Milestones was the location of our dinner. We have been to this Yaletown location before, it is tradition for Smores to hold his birthday dinner here every year before going dancing 🙂

However, we had slight management issues which I will explain down below. This location offers a semi-private room that seats 30 guests. It is in the back of the restaurant, right before the kitchen and washrooms and is closed off on all three walls, except for one wall which is completely glass where you enter from the sides. Even though it is covered off, you do not feel completely isolated but it’s nice when there is a large party, and you guys want some privacy. There were many plates of food, beer, and wine that were ordered, but I decided to only focus on the food that I actually tried that night!
For starters, my two friends got the baked goat cheese and slow roasted garlic flat bread. It came with cranberry relish and fig jam as well.

All of the flavours of this dish complemented each other tremendously well. The bread was extremely soft and warm as well. Definitely a great starter dish!
For myself, I ordered the California burger which came with avocado, salsa, and bacon. I fell in love with this burger the last time I got it, and this time was no different either. I loved the inclusion of the avocado, and felt that all the flavours worked really well together much like the flat bread dish. The fries were pretty standard and came with freshly ground pepper as well.
The boyfriend ordered the stacked burger. Prime rib, Montreal smoked meat, bacon strips, cheddar cheese, plus more goodies. This is the epitome of an indulgent and guilty meal, but it was delicious.

The Montreal smoked meat was very tender and juicy, along with the mushrooms. Burgers like these are to die for, but important to have them in extreme moderation because they are definitely not calorie or fat friendly!
For drinks, I ordered the Sombersby cider which I got the day before at Elephant and Castle. I just took this picture from that previous post as I forgot to take a picture of it at Milestones.

My friends decided to share a pitcher of sangria. It was made with Sombersby white wine (same company as my cider), and was absolutely delicious as well! There were many fruits in it, making it super refreshing.

Now for the management issue: We had buy one get one half price entree coupons, which I think the management was upset at, so they told us that we needed a minimum charge for the semi-private room. We suspect that they had just added that policy that night due to the coupons. My friend has had his birthday here for the past six years and they have never mentioned that “policy” before.

We thought it was a bit rude and unprofessional for the restaurant manager to suddenly barge in during our dinner, and ask to talk to the birthday boy. Other measures could have been taken that were less invasive and awkward. There was no fine print on the coupons nor restrictions, so we weren’t breaking rules nor was it our fault; they should have specified the limit of one per table or something like that if they were going to be upset about it. We also ordered alcohol and appetizers, so it wasn’t like we were there just to solely use the coupons. Apart from the management, our servers were very friendly and attentive.

-Carmen