9.30.2015

Tairyou Ichiba

Hey everyone,

After my Portfolio show at my school, we decided to eat somewhere near Metrotown. We came across this restaurant called Tairyou Ichiba. Apparently Phil tried this place with his family a long time ago but he forgot whether it was good or not. I always noticed this place because they have this very unique, traditional looking door. When we walked in, they have extremely high ceilings, which was a shocker to me because from the entrance it looks like it'll have an average ceiling height. Their interior is nicely decorated with Japanese posters all over the walls. At the bar area they also have the food menu at the top but its all written in Japanese words. I don't know the background of this restaurant or whether it is Japanese owned or not, BUT the waiter who was helping us was legit Japanese. There is always free parking along the side streets or there is pay parking at the front of the restaurant.





9.27.2015

Bistro Verde

Hey Everyone,

So Nordstrom finally opened up in Vancouver last week, and while Jess and I were there checking things out, we noticed this restaurant on the 3rd floor by the men's section. It looked pretty cool from the outside so we had to try it out and let you all know how it is!


9.26.2015

UYU Ice Cream

Hey everyone!

This years Summer trend has been rotating all around ice cream. New ice cream vendors are popping up all over the grounds of Vancouver. Even though Summer has ended and Fall is coming, it doesn't stop us Vancouverites from eating our favorite cold dessert. One of the latest additions to the Ice Cream list is UYU Ice Cream shop located in Gastown. Their interior has a very interesting pattern that repeats throughout the store but they kept everything else very minimalist, so it still feels very clean & chic.




9.25.2015

Shaughnessy

Hey Everyone,

A while ago Jess and I went to VanDusen Botanical Gardens to check it out, but we did not check out the restaurant that was there at the time. A little while later I was invited to lunch at the Shaughnessy restaurant, so it was a perfect opportunity to see how it was!

This restaurant is located as part of the VanDusen Gardens but on the side of the complex where their parking lot is located, so it is easily accessible, separate from the main lobby. They have a nice patio for the summertime, but we sat inside to avoid the bugs!

Their lunch menu isn't very extensive, which makes decision making a lot easier. I decided to go with a Seared Rare Albacore Tuna Burger $17.



9.24.2015

Chewies

Hi everyone!

The other day I went to Downtown to check out the new Nordstrom. With their massive 3 level retail space it made me extremely hungry after shopping around. We decided to leave Downtown and head to a restaurant located in Kits, called Chewies. I've never been to Chewies before so I didn't know what to expect but I heard from my friend that they serve amazing deep fried chicken. This restaurants menu is based on New Orleans inspired dishes that serves local seafood and Creole & Cajun dishes.

I tried to take some interior images but considering it was dinner time & they didn't have much bright interior lighting, it was very difficult to capture how the interior space looked like.
Their restaurant is split into two sections. The entrance level had several high top seatings and a open kitchen area. Two stair steps up, you reach the second section where the bar is located. They had multiple side seatings along the window side and they also had tables near the inner corner.

Parking could be a pain in the ass, so I recommend car pooling with your buddies. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot one block down. Majority of the paring spots are pay parking unless you are lucky enough to find the 2 hour max free parking, so be prepared bring some coins with you or have the PaybyPhone App ready.




9.23.2015

女煮人/ 聊Dry男 Cook Your Life- After Thoughts

Hey everyone!

Welcome back to Domoiscraving! Today's blogpost will be slightly different from our usual. We usually just talk about food but this post will be about the Cook Your Life & Mechat Show that happened last week. If you read my blogposts frequently, you may have noticed I did a preshow blogpost about this event. 

I want to thank Gateway Theatre for inviting us to this show and really engaging us in a whole new level of food involvement. Phil & I will move in together in a few years so going through this whole show was an eye opener. I love eating food but I'm not the best at cooking. I've been teased by my family multiple times saying I should just stick with eating out.

I usually don't go to these Live Stage performances and I think it has to do with my generation. We were brought up with televisions by our side, so Live Acts were never really on our mind. When we got this invite we thought "hey, lets just go and see what it's all about!" We went with minimal expectations but I must say they did a SUPERB job on stage. 



9.22.2015

Lido Restaurant

Hey Everyone,

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this one yet, but it's about time!

Lido is a place I've been to several times now and if you've heard of this place, you will know the main reason for coming here, this:



But more on this later!

9.20.2015

Taste of Aberdeen

Hey everyone!

This week I was invited by Chinesebites to their Taste of Aberdeen Media Event. This event we got to sample some of the top items from every food court vendor at Aberdeen. Everything was just absolutely amazing and I will list some of my personal top faves at the end of this post! 

I occasionally eat at Aberdeen but I usually just go to my usual vendors, so during this event it really opened up my mind to try out the other different vendors that are there. Phil goes to Aberdeen Food Court to eat quite frequently but unfortunately he wasn't able to attend this event with me because his company was invited to a Lobster Festival. Therefore, I brought my friend Alison with me. She personally eats at Aberdeen quite frequently as well so she was really excited to try some of the dishes that she never ordered before. 


Teppan Kitchen- Ice Honey Matcha Tea

Saboten- Iced Genmaicha (Japanese Green Tea)

Bubble Waffle- Ice Lemon Ribena

9.17.2015

Red Robin - Guildford

Hey Everyone,

To celebrate my touch football team's second win of our season, since we were in Surrey, we decided to have lunch at Red Robin! Now aside from the downtown location, Red Robin has almost completely disappeared from the Vancouver/Burnaby/Richmond area, so since we were somewhat near one after our game, why not give this place a visit!

It took quite a while to get us a table as we had a group of 9, so the wait was much longer than the other smaller groups waiting for a table. The restaurant was quite packed to our surprise, as the Guildford Town Centre area has a bunch of other dining options as well. 

When we were finally seated, the tables we were given made it quite squishy for the 9 of us, so we requested for another table to be added to our existing set, and they accommodated us without any issues. Off to a good start in the service department!

For drinks, I had to start off with one of my favourites from back in the day when Red Robin used to be outside Metrotown beside Boston Pizza, the Very Berry Raspberry Limeade $4.69.



9.16.2015

Uncle Lu

Hey everyone!

Welcome back to Domoiscraving and today we will be talking about Uncle Lu! The chinese wording at the front is exactly like Corner 23 so I assume they have some sort of a relation to each other. I'm not sure if this is exactly true but I heard that the boss of Corner 23 sold that name to another person and now opened Uncle Lu in Richmond to continue the popular Taiwanese chain restaurant here in Vancouver.

This restaurant is located in Continental Centre in Central Richmond. This plaza is usually filled with people because majority of the stores are restaurants. When we got there, we noticed at the front of the restaurant they have a sign up sheet where you can put down your name & number of people & they'll base off that list and give you a table accordingly. Also this place is CASH ONLY! Since their front isn't extremely big, we decided to step out to wait for our table. They taped up posters along the windows showing their signature dishes. Just looking at the images was making me drool already.

When we got to our table, we were given menus and they were probably the nicest looking menus I've seen in a Taiwanese restaurant. Their interior is smaller than expected but because of their tall ceilings, it didn't feel constricted at all. They had lantern decoration light fixtures above and at the back wall they featured this big piece with a bunch of asian words. Because my Chinese only goes to a certain extent, there's no way how I can translate that but at least it looks cool!









9.15.2015

女煮人/ 聊Dry男 Cook Your Life

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to share with you guys this upcoming show event happening at the Gateway Theatre in Richmond, they will be showing 女煮人/ 聊Dry男COOK YOUR LIFE 

It's a 3 day show, from September 17th-19th. The show starts at 8pm and it runs for approximately 2hrs & 45mins! 

This show incorporates comedy with cooking and it may just be the next great show for all foodies. I personally love food and I can't wait to watch this 4D cook your life show! I will be going on September 18th and I'll be vlogging my partial experience going to this show! The 4D experience allows the audience to smell, hear & taste the experience. It's a great show interaction and I can't wait!

The main character for this show is May May Chan who has her own cooking show in Hong Kong! I've watched her youtube videos and her food always look extremely delicious. Her cooking really does inspire me to really cook more at home with Phil and I'm hoping through this show it'll motivate me even more!

There will also be an act from Eric Tang, who is a rising Hong Kong theater & television star. He will be guiding the audience through scenes about the internet, such as online romance, self-mania, groupons, etc. It is an extremely fun comedy interaction that draws the audience in and show them how people are like nowadays with the internet roaming through our daily lives. 


If you guys are interested in checking them out, pls checkout Gateway Theatre website!

If you are going, let me know and tell me what you think about the show!
-Jess


9.14.2015

Reel Mac n Cheese

Hey guys!

Late post on this but I thought I'll still write about it because food trucks travel to multiple locations throughout the year, so in case you come across it somewhere else, you know what I think about it. From Phil's previous post on Bao Chau, you may know we went to PNE a few weeks ago. PNE is always PACKED full with different Food truck vendors and also they have the BBQ ribs section. When we went this year I didn't feel like eating the ribs therefore I was in search of a food truck that appealed to me. Every single food truck had a long line up so I really wanted to choose something that will not be a disappointment. To be honest, in these situations I don't expect much out of the food, because the workers there are in such a fast pace environment, they are more keen on getting the food out there than keeping their food at a standard expectation. We came across this Food truck called "Reel Mac n Cheese", the only ones on their menu that appealed to me were the "Godzilla" ($9.00) & The "Jurassic Pork" ($12.00). Considering the price difference, I just went with the Godzilla. Which came with seaweed, teriyaki sauce & mayo. Yup, sounds pretty simple right? But I was hungry, so I'm buying it!

Anyways, service was very quick. Once I finished paying, the food was already ready on the side. Considering all the other options and the prices, I think this was a good choice at the PNE. I don't recommend getting their other versions of Mac n Cheese because some random dude before us in line told us his was crap. But in terms of MY Mac n Cheese, it was good but obviously nothing out of the ordinary. It was easy, simple and filling. All the options at the PNE are basically over priced food, so the main thing for me was just choosing something that is not TOO expensive and yet filling.





Service: N/A

Food: 3/5

Price: $

Overall Rating: 3/5

Enjoy!
-Jess

 Reel Mac and Cheese Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

9.13.2015

Smokehouse Sandwich Company

Hey Everyone,

Smokehouse is a place I have heard of before, and passed by a few times in the past, but due to their very limited opening hours, I was never able to dine there until recently.


The outside is very unassuming, as it follows the same color scheme for their awnings as the rest of the building. The inside has some very cool design though.









The lighting fixtures were all made from mason jars, and there were a lot of rustic elements to the decor.


9.12.2015

Chill Winston

Hey everyone!

Last week I went to Downtown with my friend, Ali. Our main mission of the day was to go explore Downtown and check out the Map wall art at the Shangrila Hotel. But before exploring, obviously we have to go fill up our bellies first. We had several options on our list so we went with the one we favored most. But the top 3 options were COMPLETELY packed full of people by the time we got there. Each place notified us that it'll be around 45 minutes to 2 hour wait. WHAT???

So we ended up strolling among Gastown area and came across Chill Winston. Chill Winston has been on "My List" for a while but never got a chance to try it! All the tables were filled up outside so we were very scared the wait would be ridiculous. We took a chance and stepped up to ask anyways. We were surprisingly shocked that they had plenty of table indoors. It was a super gorgeous day so sitting outside would be the ideal seating BUT by that time me & Ali got there we were starving already therefore we were completely satisfied with an indoor seating.

The interior space looked amazing! Super luxurious but still have a sense of the whole Gastown characteristic. Gastown is all about the brick, so obviously in their interior they had brick walls. They had really comfortable padded seatings and the light fixtures were very unique. Overall, I was just amazed at the interior design and it was definitely a comfortable atmosphere to just relax and chit chat.




9.07.2015

Bao Chau

Hey Everyone,

Jess and I recently went to Bao Chau Vietnamese Restaurant prior to hitting up PNE. I've been here several times in the past, prior to blogging for Domo Is Craving, so I thought it'd be a good opportunity to check this place out again and blog about it!




In my opinion prior to blogging for Domo, Bao Chau had been one of my favourite pho places and I had considered it one of the best pho that I had tried at that point. Since blogging for Domo, my new favourite pho place has become Pho 37 so I was curious to see if this place will still remain one of my favourites.


9.06.2015

Hubbub Sandwiches On Cambie

Hi everyone!

Yesterday after my workout session, I decided to grab lunch at Hubbub Sandwiches on Cambie. When I arrived it was approximately 10:50am and they actually open at 11am, so I waited for 10 minutes outside with my friend. We were able to take a look inside through their big windows. The interior looks very nice. They had wooden panels along the wall and they used a lot of white tiles with red trim, which represented their logo/signage colors. Their color palette for the space is white and red and with the natural lighting popping in from the large head to floor windows, it really made the space look very bright and welcoming.

Their ordering system is you order from the front and pick up from the back. Seating is your choice, so you can choose where you would like to sit. I really like their garbage/recycling system because it really shows the customers where to put their garbage and recyclables.





9.02.2015

Hakkasan Bistro

Hey everyone!

Domo Is Craving's team was invited to a dinner event hosted by Hakkasan Bistro. Our invite first started at Canada Berries, which is a local Richmond fruit winery. We went there around 5:30pm for a wine tasting. Their fruit wines tasted amazing and my personal favourite was the Gooseberry. Their staff was very informative in terms of their history, their products & you can definitely tell how passionate they were about their wines. I highly recommend checking them out because they only sell their fruit wines at their Richmond winery. I will include their address at the bottom of my post in case anyone wants to drop by and check them out! I highly suggest trying the Gooseberry & the Blue Queen Dry! The ones I like are not the super sweet ones but if you are the kind who like sweet wines, I recommend trying out their Princess Peach or Princess Cranberry Fruit wine. The Princess Peach wine is also a great sangria mix!
We were also served with appetizers on the side to pair with our wine. I was really enjoying their home grown grapes. They told us to try the grapes because apparently people always say Richmond can't grow great grapes. I can personally say that their home grown Richmond grapes taste amazing and they are extremely juicy and sweet!