3.30.2015

PappaRoti

Hey everyone!

After a wonderful dinner with friends, we where thinking of a dessert restaurant to just chill and chit chat. My friend Suggested PappaRoti in Downtown. I've never heard of this place before but Apparently it's really popular. I've skimmed-through several blogs on the way there and Apparently They first started in Asia and finally expanded to North America. Some people say it's a lot cheaper in Asia. I do not know the background history of this restaurant but I'll just review about my first time experience. 

When you first step in, They Have ceilings exposed at the front of the restaurant and at the bar there is a drop down ceiling with recessed lights. They had a lot of wood features,: such as the counter Where They Have wood paneling along the front. They Also use wooden tables along the restaurant with different looking chairs. Overall the space Gave me a very comfortable, warm feeling. The circulation path to order is on the edge near the windows and I thought it was rather tight for people to line up Because there was people passing by to enter the back of the restaurant Where seats are located.

If you did not order a drink, They Provide cups and water along the front of the counter. They cucumbers and lime added in to the water. I thought the cucumber soaked in the water for too long and the flavor was way too much for my liking. Phil on the other hand thought the water was very refreshing and enjoyed it a lot.



For drinks, I ordered an Americano (approx. $ 3.00).

3.28.2015

Pacifico Pizzeria Ristorante

Hello everyone!

The other day we went to Pacifico Pizzeria Ristorante with our friend. We actually wanted to try this place for the longest time but never got around to it. Our friend tried the desserts from this place before but never main course so he suggested to come here for dinner.

Parking is such a pain in this particular area. The easiest way is to park right below Scotiabank theatre but it's extremely expensive. The first hour was $5.00 and then after the first hour, every 12 mins was a dollar. I highly suggest just skytraining to this location because it is not worth it to park your car there.

When you first step in, there's high ceilings, long windows, & colorful red, yellow walls. Definitely has a very Italian feel to the whole interior. The whole interior made it very comfortable and you would just want to sit there, chit chat and have a glass of wine.


Our friend ordered the "Caprese Pizza" ($17.00) which contains sliced tomatoes, bocconcini, red onions, capers, mozzarella cheese with fresh pesto & basil on a garlic brushed crust.

Friends Comments: Love the thin crust, very soft but yet crispy. I love the fact it has simple ingredients but still comes off extremely flavorful and delicious.
 

3.24.2015

Revisit- Earls on Kingsway

Hey Everyone,

After an exhausting football practice with my new team, some of us decided to grab a bite and happened upon Earls at their Kingsway location.

It happened to be Happy Hour when we were there, but for drinks I still stuck with my go to drink: Mojito. 



Now this wasn't an original mojito like I usually get, but rather a Cucumber Mojito $8.50! There were 3 choices, lime, raspberry or cucumber, and I decided on this one as I felt the cucumber would compliment a mojito well and I was not disappointed. You can definitely taste the subtle cucumber flavour in the midst of this refreshingly delicious mojito made with Appleton White Rum, mint, and fresh lime! Just what I needed after practice in the rain on a Sunday afternoon! Highly recommend this one!

We then ordered food and since it was happy hour, all of us ordered at least one item off their happy hour menu.

Personally, I ordered a plate of salt and pepper Chicken Wings $6.00 with Celery and Grana Padano Parmesan Ranch Dip $1.00.


3.22.2015

Tap & Barrel


Hi Everyone!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

I started off my weekend going to Tap & Barrel with Phil on Friday. At first we were seated on the second floor middle section table, which was slightly TOO centre of attention for us so we decided to move ourselves up to the bar section. The first floor was already packed full of people so I was pretty glad we got seated on the second floor, so I can actually have clear conversations with Phil and still enjoy the ambience of the space and the food.

We got there a bit past 5pm so it was still pretty bright outside. Full length windows bringing LOTS of natural light in to the space and I love the interior with barrel decors and wooden bar tables. The Village buildings were built to LEED Platinum standards which was indicated in the bathroom stalls. There were signage indicating that they use rain water for toilets, therefore the toilet water may not always be clear. So if you end up using the washrooms in the area, you'll notice that all the toilet water is yellowish color, so don't freak out!




Phil ordered "Phillips-Blue Buck Ale" $7.00.
His thoughts: "Great taste, great beer! Will definitely order this again"

For me, obviously I ordered a Sangria (White Wine) $7.75.

3.20.2015

Frites

Hello Food Family!

How ya'll doing? Today I'm back with another blog post on POUTINE. The combination of cheese, gravy & fries are just irresistible. I saw a voucher on social shopper a while back for this deal and I thought might as well give this place a try.
It is located in Downtown, Granville Street. Basically the clubbing street. They are opened from 11am-4am, so I'm assuming a lot of the night crawlers go there after a long night of pounding music and mass slurping on alcohol. I went there with my brother & Phil and we got there around 9pm. 

First glance impression of the interior, small restaurant with minimal edge seating along the walls with high stools. There is one cashier and one main cook at the back. I was pretty shocked noticing the cashier actually had a chair to sit on. I'm not concerned or anything because I'm actually glad they know how tiring it can be standing all day, so might as well sit when there's no customers.

They had a pretty extensive menu considering they base it on just poutine. They don't just serve the classic poutine, they have some crazy versions such as Kimchi Frites, Okonomi Frites, & Pad Thai Frites. I really wanted to order those ones but we went for safer options and ordered Pulled Pork ($8.99) & Montreal Smoked Meat ($8.99)




3.18.2015

Hy's Steakhouse | Cocktail Bar

Hey Everyone,

Jess and I recently dined at Hy's Steakhouse, one of Vancouver's high-end steakhouses! We had bought the $100 gift card deal from Costco which you can buy for $80, which is an awesome deal to dine at a restaurant like this. It was the first time either of us have dined here but we both heard mixed reviews about this restaurant, so we went in not knowing what to expect.

The exterior of the restaurant doesn't really look like a restaurant, as it looks like something more from the Harry Potter/medieval era. The banner with their crest/coat of arms seriously gives off the Harry Potter/Hogwarts vibe. It's attached to the side of Cathedral Place, but for the most part, it is its own building. 

There is valet parking at the restaurant, but the parking lot right beside it under Cathedral Place has very cheap parking for downtown, so I would recommend just parking there and walking up. 






3.16.2015

The Famous Warehouse

Hello everyone!

A lot of people who hangs around Granville during the weekends would probably know about this restaurant that is located right next to Caprice Nightclub called The Famous Warehouse. I personally don't club so I never knew there was this place until my brother told me a while back. He told me this place serves all food for only $4.95 per dish. I was always curious how could this be! Therefore, one night I decided to check this place out with my brother & Phil.

I recommend skytraining to Downtown because it's always difficult to find street parking and it may not be the cheapest way to go. I would say this place ain't too far from skytrain so it should be no problem walking here.

When we first got there, there was a fairly short line up but after a few more minutes the line up started to build behind us and we were so happy that we beat the rush. While waiting outside in the cold, I was peaking at the menus that were posted on the side to see what to order. They do have a big variety and I was still in shocked that everything on the menu was for $4.95!





3.14.2015

Gudrun Tasting Room

Hello everyone!

Last night I went out with several of my girlfriends from work and we reserved a table at this restaurant called Gudrun. It was suggested by one of our girlfriends who live in Richmond. She is very familiar with the Steveston location so I assumed her suggestion wouldn't be far off from greatness. Gudrun is located on Moncton Street (Aka.Storybrooke) If you've watched Once Upon A Time, you would recognize that particular street in an instance! It's the street where they filmed one of the hit TV Shows called "Once Upon A Time". I was being a complete fan girl, snapping photos and getting way too excited by looking at the buildings that were filmed and used during the TV Show. Some signage are still up, such as "Mr.Golds Pawnshop" & The clock tower known as the "library".

Now back to talking about Gudrun! This place is a complete hidden gem, it is located along this narrow path where a lot of people may just walk by and not even notice it being there. This place opens from 5:30pm-12am. I highly recommend making reservations because it gets fully packed by 7pm. We got there around 6:30pm and it was still very early so there were barely anyone sitting in there but by 7pm it became packed full of people!

 

3.09.2015

Gloucester Cafe

Hi everyone!

I always have those days with Phil where we randomly decide to go out for dinner but can never decide where to go. For us, there are WAY too many options and sometimes it gets difficult to see which restaurant we want to try out next. It also gets determined by what type of cuisine we want to eat that day... but it always ends up the same list...
My list is always either: Japanese or Viet...sometimes Chinese café food!
For Phil: WESTERN.

Therefore, we always end up listing the same types of restaurants OVER and OVER again... If you guys have any suggestions on restaurants, PLS comment or send us an email!

Anyways! Back to our topic of the day, Gloucester Café.
Back when I was a lot younger, this was one of the places my fam would hit up at least once a month. But because the restaurant market is increasing massively, customers expectations of the value of the food and the quality is raising up too. I remember at a certain point, Gloucester Café food was just not worth the price. After a few years now, I suggested to Phil lets give this place a try!

When we entered in to the restaurant we were seated immediately. When we looked at the menu we were overwhelmed but also disappointed. We were hoping they have the "Choose 2 meats, with rice or spaghetti + drink and soup on the side" combination. But unfortunately they don't. They have those types of set meals for around $20-23 dollars. Which I thought was ridiculous. I might as well just hit up milestone if I were to pay that kind of price for food.

None of the other meals came with drink unless you pay extra. Which would be approx. $2.50 extra for a lemon ice tea. Therefore, we just stuck with our tea the whole night as our beverage.

Phil ordered the Portuguese Chicken Baked Rice $12.99.
I don't think any restaurant would cook this badly because the sauce is just great! Every time we order this from whichever Chinese Café restaurant, this dish will never disappoint. Full of chicken, potatoes & onions. Great flavor.

If you never tried the Portuguese Chicken before, the sauce is similar to curry sauce but minus the spice. It is a very creamy texture.

3.08.2015

Me-n-Ed's Pizza Parlor

Hi Everyone!

Today I'll be talking about PIZZA! We actually ordered this on Valentines day and I totally forgot to blog about this, so here it is!

We ordered pizza from Me-n-Eds. Our ideal date always leans towards just chilling at home, movie & takeout! On Valentines day it was no difference!