food blogger Archives - Page 17 of 17

Bella Gelataria Handcrafted Gelato

June 26, 2014

Back when I did not have a blog, I came here with my friend who was stopping in town from Japan for a few days. Prior to him landing in Vancouver, he told me that he had to try this place before leaving, because apparently this place is very well known in Japan. Well damn, if people across the ocean raved about this place, it must be one good gelato place!

We ended up loving our gelato, but to be honest, I don’t remember much of the gelato itself as I was too happy that I was able to reunite with my friend living halfway across the world after a year.

So, half a year and one beautiful sunny afternoon later, I decided to stop by again and enjoy some delicious gelato after a delicious meal at Kintaro Ramen!

Bella Gelatria is located on the main floor of the luxurious Fairmont Pacific Rim, right by the water. There was a line up out the door, and almost around the corner the day we went. In total, we waited about fifteen minutes in line.

The staff working there are very experienced in heavy volume traffic, so they had a pretty efficient system going. There are also awards and framed newspaper articles lined up from top to bottom, so you definitely will not get bored in line.
Of course, if you do not want to read their framed articles, you can take the time to decide what flavour you want to try. I was craving strawberry that day, but unfortunately, the worker told me they didn’t have it. She was then interrupted (in a friendly manner) by the owner and master gelatier, James Coleridge as he informed me that they only make strawberry when in season.
After much debate, I settled with the chocolate belgian brownie. I was in love at first bite. The chocolate was extremely rich, smooth, decadent, and soft. I fell in love with how well-rounded the chocolate flavour was, and how creamy it was.

I have never had gelato, or ice cream, as creamy and rich like this before. You could really tell the difference in quality. Typing this post is making me so hungry now.
Next up (no, I did not order three all to myself, incase you’re wondering) is the Thai coconut milk gelato. Just like my chocolate one, this one was extremely creamy as well. There was a strong and delicious coconut taste. It came with little slices of fresh coconut as well, which added to the freshness of the gelato.
This was the mint chocolate gelato, but I didn’t get a chance to try it. Delicious is actually just an understatement for Bella Gelataria.

Honestly. I’m not the only one that thinks so, either considering that Bella Gelataria has won numerous awards in Italy for their gelato and their rating on Urbanspoon.

-Carmen
PS. Here is a picture of the outside, with their big sign. This picture was taken at my first visit in chilly November (read first paragraph above), hence the jackets.

Yo Sushi, Burnaby

May 25, 2014

The boyfriend and I were feeling like sushi a few weeks ago, and wanted to try a new place as opposed to our regular sushi joints. We decided on going here based on a recommendation from my friend, who said that they have really great quality there.

I remember a year or two ago, when this place first opened, I was told by a different group of friends who did not like their experience here. They said that it was overpriced, and wasn’t that good for what you pay for. But I decided to try it, since that was over a year ago, things probably would have improved, right?
The first thing I noticed after walking in was how spacious the place was. We were the second party there, so we were greeted and seated pretty fast. Service was pretty friendly throughout the night.
To start off, we received complimentary chips.
We ordered a plate of tuna and salmon sashimi , $11.95. The sashimi was pretty disappointing and we would not order it again. The salmon did not taste fresh or sweet, and was very thin. It was also folded, which I’m not too sure why… maybe to make it look like bigger pieces? As for the tuna, it was still frozen and not thawed properly. It also did not taste super sweet or fresh.
Moving onto the rolls, we ordered the chopped scallop roll and negitoro roll. Both rolls were pretty average, nothing too special or outstanding about them. We appreciated that there was a bunch of chopped scallop on top of the roll, making it a better deal.
For the specialty roll, we ordered the red dragon roll which came with spicy tuna sashimi, crunchy flakes, and spicy mayo. This was probably the only thing that we thoroughly enjoyed, but for $9.95, it is a bit overpriced. Other sushi joints by Yo Sushi (Sushi Nanaimo, Sushi Garden, Sushi Town) have their red dragon rolls for around $5-6.

After our quick meal, we received hi-chew candy! I love hi-chew candy so this made me feel a lot better about the visit. They also gave us a free coupon for gyoza salad. We paid $32.35 for our meal, not including tip.

I don’t think we will be back here again, because there are other sushi places in this area that have better quality dishes for cheaper prices and there was nothing special about this place.

-Carmen

Venice Garden Seafood Restaurant

April 12, 2014

During work one night, I was craving Chinese late night snack (aka “da-lan”) and found out from my friend Venice Garden is open until 2am!

I have been to Venice Garden numerous times, since it is a convenient location, food is decent, and they accept debit unlike most other Chinese restaurants. Since I always get the same two things here, this review will be relatively short.

But this was my first time having late night snack here, so we’ll see how it goes!
I used to come here a lot when I was a child. I think it used to be named “Happy King” and I’ve heard some sketchy rumours why they had to change it which isn’t worth mentioning.

We got here around 11:30pm, after I finished working. Normally, this parking lot is filled to the brim with people so it was quite refreshing to see it so quiet here for once.

When we got in, there was only one other table eating here. Compared to the daytime, their service at night was SO MUCH better, I can’t believe it’s the same restaurant. It’s not even due to the fact that it’s quieter so they have more time to serve us. We’ve been here during the day when it wasn’t as busy and their service is very brief and sporatic. So, it was a great surprise to have friendly service!

Incase you’ve never had Chinese late night snack before, let’s give you a quick rundown. The menu is completely different from the rest of the day. A lot of the things are deep fried, and the portions are smaller but cheaper. Some popular items are deep fried Chinese donut, congee, deep fried fish/tofu/prawns/clams in spicy salt, or fried green beans with spicy pork. The first thing we ordered was congee with preserved duck egg and shredded salty pork. This is my go-to congee, I love preserved duck egg and I could care less that it’s a health concern (well I care, but I don’t eat it that much so whatever). The amount of preserved duck egg and shredded pork that they give you is very generous.

Their congee is really flavourful, and is cooked perfectly for my taste. I also love how much green onions and peanuts they include, it makes the congee taste so much yummier! We stir in the peanuts and onions, so that the peanuts give you a “crunch” when you’re enjoying the congee. The salted pork is extremely salty, even for myself so definitely eat it in moderation! We usually don’t end up finishing the salted pork since there’s so much sodium in it.
The second thing I was craving that night was deep fried beancurd (tofu) in spicy salt. I was a bit surprised when this came because I’m used to the tofu being cut in larger rectangular chunks, but this was fine too. They gave a great amount of jalapeno peppers, so I ended up eating all of those with each piece of tofu.

Overall, I thought that this tofu was too soft for my liking. Yes, I know that soft tofu is good, but I was craving the firmer and rectangular chunks of deep fried tofu restaurants normally use for late night snack. The tofu they used remind me of the Sunrise tofu dessert, which didn’t feel that fitting but the boyfriend thought it was fine, so it’s probably just me.
This was not from the late night menu, but the lunch menu when we came a few months ago. I love spaghetti bolognese. I find that this place doesn’t have the greatest spaghetti bolognese, but it’s not atrocious either. Their sauce has more tomato flavour to it, making it more acidic tasting. The acidic taste takes away the rest of the flavour of the dish.

Overall, Venice Garden is a decent place to eat Chinese food if you’re in the area, but it’s nothing too special. Their service is sporadic, and minimal at best unless you go during late night. I would love to try more of their late night dishes but there was only two of us, and we didn’t want to stuff ourselves with that much food.

-Carmen