food lover Archives - Page 2 of 5

Peqish – Healthy fast food sandwiches

June 10, 2015

Hi everyone!

I first noticed Peqish in January after our office had moved closer to this area. My coworkers came here one morning, and arrived back at the office with piping hot, melt in your mouth, freshly made chocolate cookies. We decided to try this place out for lunch a few months ago in February.
As you can see, Peqish is pretty small. The concept behind Peqish was to provide people with healthy fast food on the go. Each of their items are made fresh daily. With emphasis on the express, the place has a mere 5 bar seats which is pretty narrow. You also order your coffee/drinks on the computer and pay there, similar to restaurants that I’ve seen in Tokyo with the same system.
The shelves are filled with healthy sandwiches, wraps, mini salads, and smoothies. This is a picture of their hot food section, while 3/4 of the other items are stored in a fridge. There were so many to pick from and took us all awhile to decide on what to order. So many decisions.
I settled on the “bohemian wrapsody” – shwarma beef, hummus, tahini sauce, peppers, and carrots enveloped in a Middle Eastern style flatbread. I also got one of their “protein booster” chicken snacks and the green smoothie made with kale, coconut, and pineapple. This was a lunch combo for $10.

I found both the meat in the wrap and protein snack to be extremely dry. It took me awhile to finish because it was so dry, which was disappointing. Aside from that, the vegetables were fresh and sauces were flavourful. There is a lot of potential in the wrap, but sadly the meat was just too dry to be edible.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the smoothie and think I’ll be back in the future to get this. The coconut and pineapple were really strong, and it tasted refreshing! Much healthier and cheaper than going to Starbucks, haha.

My coworker ordered the 5 spice pulled pork wrap from the hot shelf (mine was from the fridge shelf). Like my meat, the pulled pork was extremely dry.

For her side, she chose the orzo pasta salad cup which was really good. It had a good amount of herbs and the vegetables tasted fresh.

She ordered the berry smoothie, but said it was disappointing because all she could taste was the banana. It tasted exactly like a pure banana smoothie but berry coloured… but bananas are easily over powering in smoothies so it’s important to get the ratio right!

This is a close up of my coworker’s pulled pork wrap, since the previous picture is just covered in condensation.

Overall, we were disappointed with the wraps since the meat was so dry and inedible, but I liked the green smoothie and she enjoyed her pasta salad cup. I’m not sure if we will be back for the sandwiches, but I did enjoy the smoothie and wouldn’t mind having another one!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Longtail Kitchen – Modern take on Thai street food

May 8, 2015

Hi everyone!

I’ve been hearing many great things about Longtail Kitchen on social media, and decided that it was finally time for me to try it out.

Longtail Kitchen is a sister restaurant of the very popular and successful Thai restaurant, Maenam. I actually didn’t know that Longtail was a Thai inspired eatery until reading the reviews and their website!

Longtail is located inside the River Market at New Westminster Quay. I haven’t been to New West for awhile, and don’t remember seeing this building the last time I was here… but basically, the bottom floor is like an upscale food court. You won’t find any greasy, old looking stands here (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) but instead more local and new eateries.
At Longtail, you order and pay at the front, then the staff will bring your food to you. This was our first meal of the day at around 3pm, so we were pretty hungry! We sat at a table right next to the window wall (? Is there a specific term for these??) which I’m pretty sure they open up so people are able to sit outside in the summer.

You are able to see a bit of the Fraser River and the boardwalk, but unfortunately I was too short and my eye level hit right where the white window pane was and couldn’t see anything. =( You can see the picture above to understand what I mean.
The boyfriend ordered the green curry with chicken. When it arrived, we could smell the delicacy and aroma of all the spices that went into this dish. The green curry had a strong, rich coconut taste to it. The chicken was very tender and juicy as well. It came with a rice bowl side, we were hoping that it would be coconut rice but sadly it was just plain rice.

For myself, I ordered ‘Mama Cheung’s laksa’, which I don’t see on the menu anymore, so I guess they rotate their menu frequently to ensure freshness of all the food items! The laksa came with a seafood curry broth, chicken, fish cakes, prawns, veggies, and noodles.

I was expecting the curry to have a fishy taste to it due to the seafood broth, but it was very mild. Again, the curry was rich and spicy. The prawns were big and juicy, and had a nice snap to it- a sign of freshness. I saved the tofu puffs for the end so that they would be saturated with the curry! Everything tasted extremely fresh and made with great quality.

The laksa soup was so good that I drank all of it, I wasn’t even thirsty afterwards! That is a wonderful sign and says a lot about how it was prepared 😉
Another cool thing to add about Longtail is that they also offer some Thai cooking products to bring home! We spent some time looking at what they sold, as we haven’t heard of some of these products before.

Needless to say, we found ourselves savouring every single bite and were glad that we made the trek out here! One thing to add though, was that the portions were a bit smaller than what we were used to. But it is understandable, they use quality and fresh ingredients and the prices aren’t bad for how delicious everything was.

Which would you rather order – chicken curry or laksa soup?

Thanks for reading!
-Carmen

Soft Peaks Ice Cream

March 4, 2015

Hi hi!

What type of food blogger would I be if I didn’t talk about the latest ice cream shop that has been taking Vancouver’s social media by storm? Can you guess which place I’m talking about? Yep, Soft Peaks Ice Cream! Soft Peaks is located in the cobblestone streets of Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood.
After hearing many stories of people waiting upwards of one hour for a cup of organic ice cream, I did not want to partake in that so we decided to not go on a weekend, which is probably when it’ll be the most busy. Finally, the boyfriend and I found time to go one weekday evening. There wasn’t much parking available and it’s probably easier to commute there, we paid for parking three blocks away.

Soft Peaks has very high walls, which gives it a spacious appearance. There is also a small alcove on the second floor where customers can enjoy their ice cream. Overall, I would say seating is pretty limited if the place was packed but it doesn’t feel cramped.
The girl at the counter was very friendly and had great service. We waited approximately 7-10 minutes for our soft serve, but it seemed a lot longer than that because I was really anticipating my order.

I was a bit surprised when I saw the size, I thought that for $7 it would be a bit bigger. But, quality over quantity?
The boyfriend ordered the rocky mountain with his choice of chocolate syrup. I was secretly hoping he would order the caramel syrup so that I could try it =P

Being the milk lover he is, he really, really, REALLY loved his soft serve. He emphasized how creamy and smooth it was, and how delicious the Avalon milk was. He would be back again in a heart beat. But what about those who don’t have a “soft” spot for dairy?
I ordered the mudslide, which came with crushed tim tam flakes. Unlike the boyfriend, I was not in love at first bite. I didn’t think it was amazing, but it wasn’t bad either as what seems to be the general consensus around this place.

Since the soft serve is made with organic Avalon milk instead of cream, the good thing meaning that it is lower in fat, but the negative thing might be that people aren’t used to this taste. When eating soft serve, people are accustomed to super sweet soft serve like at Dairy Queen or McDonalds.

Without the chocolate syrup and tim tam flakes, I would have found this very plain. I’m really glad that I had the chocolate and flakes which gave more excitement to an otherwise plain soft serve.

Another thing I noticed while reading reviews were that people were angry and felt ripped off because the soft serve had a giant hole in the middle! If I was paying $7 for a small sized soft serve, I would be angry too. I think they have since corrected the problem since my soft serve only had a slight hole and the boyfriend’s didn’t.

Soft Peaks had a great idea by re-inventing the soft serve with organic and high quality Avalon milk. The quality of the soft serve is definitely there, and it is very smooth but it is not the sweet soft serve that people are accustomed to.

-Carmen

PS. If you haven’t bought a bottle of Avalon milk before, you must try it on its own – the quality and smoothness of it is undeniable.

*Media sample provided by Soft Peaks. Opinions and thoughts are my own, and are not altered by the requests of the company.

Purebread

February 7, 2015

The latest and most popular bakery has hit the streets of Vancouver by the name of Purebread, which also has locations in Whistler. I have been eyeing Purebread since their construction days, as I pass by that area when I go to work each morning.

I remember their clever “coming soon” sign back in the Fall- your breakfast is t o a s t , with each letter in toast printed on a fake piece of bread. I had a feeling it would be hit among Vancouverites, and I was correct!
We came around 2 pm, and there was no lineup but most of the seats were filled up. It took us a bit to absorb all of the seemingly delicious pastries in front of us… there was so much to pick from! I’m glad there was three of us so that we could share and get more, as opposed to just coming alone.
I wish that Purebred would put a brief description on what is included in each pastry item, as I’ll explain below. All the food is behind a tall clear glass and is covered.

I ordered the avalanche bar because it looked pretty good and it reminded me of a rice krispie bar, which I haven’t had for awhile! However, when I took a bite I was a very disappointed. It didn’t specify that it was a peanut butter bar! If I had known, I wouldn’t have ordered it. I do like peanut butter, but not in pastries.

I gave some to my coworkers and ended up packing it back home as the boyfriend is a serious peanut butter addict. He thought this was simply amazing and was on cloud 9 after gobbling the whole thing up (in 5 seconds).

My coworker had a tough time deciding as well, but ended up chosing the raspberry brownie. It was moist and chewy, and wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet. It came with a layer of tart raspberry and custard inside.

I liked this a lot more than my avalanche bar… sorry, I’m still sour over how they didn’t bother to mention it was a peanut butter pastry >=( But I guess lesson learned, I’m going to make sure I ask what’s inside anything if there’s no description offered.

The last thing we got was a whoopie pie, made with two very sweet oatmeal cookies that were hard instead of chewy. The filling and oatmeal cookie went really well together, but it was a bit messy to eat. As you bite down on the cookie, the filling on the opposite size will ooze out.

Purebread is a good place to try out, the quality of the pastries is noticeable and service is friendly as well, with reasonable prices. Just be sure to ask what is inside the pastry if you’re not sure what is inside to avoid disappointment like I did.

However, they’re still relatively new so I shouldn’t be too hard on them – the quality was there, and I probably would have LOVED the bar if I was an avid peanut butter fan.

-Carmen

Peckinpah

January 8, 2015

After almost a year of wanting to try this place out, I finally was able to cross this off my mental check list of restaurants I wanted to try! Doesn’t it feel great to finally go to a restaurant you have been wanting to go to for so long? Granted, I still have many restaurants I want to try but at least Peckinpah is finally crossed off 🙂
Peckinpah is situated right on the skirts of Gastown, on the corner of Water and Carall street. At first, we almost walked by the restaurant as it was quite small, but I recognized their signature bull logo. We also walked into the take out part of the restaurant by accident, and had to leave and come through the main entrance. Oops!
Peckinpah is southern style barbeque joint, most known for their slow cooked meat and big meat platters. Walking in to the main part of the restaurant, there was a rustic and southern vibe to this quaint restaurant. It reminded me of a casual pub but with more class and character if that makes any sense. Since we came around 1:15, the lunch rush had gone and we almost had the whole restaurant to ourselves!
I started off with a root beer. All their soft drinks are from Boylan Bottling Co. I believe, so this one was no different. It was very sweet and refreshing.
I ordered the chopped beef po’boy with a choice of corn bread as my side. When it first arrived, I thought it looked smaller than I imagined. Despite its small sized, it was packed with intense and delicious flavour. It came with stewed beef brisket bits which were incredibly soft and cooked to perfection, the type of deliciousness that can only be made with patience and skill. The baguette was soft, and the lettuce and tomatoes were fresh and crunchy. Nearing the end of my baguette, I was beginning to get pretty full. I was surprised considering that I thought the portion looked small in the beginning, that’s how much beef brisket is packed in that thing!

As for the corn bread, it was a bit sweet and grainy. The outside was a bit hard, but once you chewed it, the inside was soft. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either 🙂 I would probably try another side if I came back. Our server told us that the cream corn and potato salad were pretty good.

My coworkers ordered the beef brisket sammie, which they both enjoyed. Our other coworker ordered the mac and cheese, which I fell in love with at first bite. It was extremely cheesy and flavourful. She added a side of chicken, which was marinated really well and went with the flavours of the cheese. Who would have known that a specialty BBQ meat place would have such great mac and cheese? 🙂

-Carmen