Benjarong Thai Cuisine

Hello everyone!

I'm always on the lookout for good deals online, such as Groupon, Socialshopper, etc. I love eating so if I can save a few bucks through vouchers, I WILL! I found this voucher for Benjarong on Socialshopper a few months ago and I've finally used it last night. I had tried several attempts to call this place to book a table before but its either they never pick up or they are not open. Thank goodness, I finally got a hold of them a few days ago and was able to book a table for last night. Unfortunately, their vouchers are no longer available on Socialshopper. The voucher was $12.50 for $25.00 bucks worth.

This restaurant is located right next to BC Sushi. I've passed by this place many times whenever I go to BC Sushi but it never appealed to me esthetically. The interior is very old fashioned, yet it gives off a very comforting, charming feel to it. The overall colors definitely screams Thai, with the yellow walls & red ceilings.

For drinks, I ordered the Thai Ice Tea with Milk ($2.50) (on the left) & Phil ordered the Thai Ice Coffee without milk ($2.50) (on the right).

I was kind of skeptical about my drink when it showed up as pink. On my first sip, it was a very familiar taste but I couldn't put my finger on it until Phil tried it and totally brought up the item that it reminded me of. If you are Chinese, you may know during Chinese new year, we receive red pockets and for candies, there is ALWAYS that red packaged candy that is white. The drink literally tastes like that candy. The first few sips were fine, but it got way too sweet for my liking.

As for Phils ice coffee, we both LOVED IT. Even without milk, it already had a hint of sweetness and there was literally no need for milk.

508 Bistro

Hey Everyone,

So after dining at this restaurant several times now, I've finally decided to write up a blog about it! This is a Taiwanese cafe style restaurant in Burnaby on Kingsway past Metrotown. When I say "past" I speak from the perspective of Vancouver. I was introduced to this restaurant by one of my best friends and although the service at the time wasn't that great, the food was pretty good so I kept coming back. 

One of my favourite things about this restaurant is something they started with, then stopped, then changed. They start you off with a bowl of something crispy to munch on while you decide on what to order. They used to give you a bowl of deep fried taro sticks with that Taiwanese salt and pepper flavouring. Then one day when I came here with some friends, they didn't give anything! I asked them about it that time and they said they stopped doing that! That was almost a dealbreaker for me so I was hesitant to return this time, but here we are! To my surprise, when we were seated, we were also given a bowl of something new this time!

I'm not exactly sure what type of deep fried chip this is, but it's really good! It has the same flavouring as previously mentioned and it is just addictive to snack on! In any case I'm just glad they brought this back as this differentiated them from the other BBT cafes (Bubble World, Pearl Castle).

Jess and I have eaten here before so we had some favourite dishes to fall back on if we didn't know what to order. We started off with one of our favourite dishes here, the Sliced Pork Belly with minced garlic $6.99.

This is by far one of my favs here after dining several times. It has that bit of sweet and sour flavour to it, likely from vinegar I'm guessing plus the garlic. The pork is cooked very nicely and very tender. I highly recommend trying this dish!

Dinesty-Aberdeen

Hey Everyone,

Jess and I were in Richmond looking to eat some dinner, and I thought of going here, which I was referring to as "Northern Delicacy", which was what was here before, but when we arrived, turns out it is now "Dinesty"! 

I had always wanted to try Dinesty but never ended up going, so this was perfect! It was a week night so the restaurant was not busy at all. We were seated fairly quickly by the "windows" of the restaurant that look out to the hallway with large windows that overlook the Browngate Rd. entrance. 

After we ordered, we were given tea and our dipping sauce for the Xiao Long Bao's.

First came the "Pork"

These were served with small buns so you can make a "slider" of sorts as the bun is split in the middle like a burger bun.

Pearl Castle-Richmond Centre

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the short absence lately but I'm back with another blog about a Taiwanese restaurant called Pearl Castle, located in Richmond Centre. I've gone to Pearl Castle many times ever since my high school years and I still very much enjoy it even though competition is piling up in the area. Their first location that I know of started off in Continental Mall. Very popular area filled with restaurants. The one I'll be talking about today is the location inside of Richmond Center, across from McDonalds.

So for drinks, 99% of the time I'll order my Honey Milk Tea with pearls ($5.25) but from time to time, that 1% might trigger me to get my next favourites which is between mango slush or green apple greentea. For this particular visit, I just stayed with my usual. 

As for Phil, he ordered Taro Milk Tea ($4.95), which is extremely rare because he usually goes for aloe or chrysanthemum.  

I ordered the Taiwanese Meat Sauce on Rice ($5.75) and I was extremely shocked that my meal came with side dishes. In order to have side dishes, it has to be considered a combo of some sort, but in my case I got all this for only $5.75! What a deal! The meat sauce was kind of on the drier side but still very tasty. 

I love their side dishes because everything in them are just so delicious. They consist of seaweed, tofu & cabbage. The seaweed & tofu is just a tad spicy but that's why I love them so much.

Catch 122 Cafe Bistro

Hello everyone!!

Long awaited blog on Catch 122, one of the finest brunches I've been to and with incredible pricing! Located in Gastown, right across from London Drugs. Two options for transportation, either drive down and pay for street parking or take the skytrain. The interior design of the place is right up my alley. I love the whole rustic look from the brick interior walls and the wooden tables. Our waiter was amazing, always there when we needed his help and provided excellent customer service. If you are planning to instagram your foodie pics from this place, you can also tag them @catch122. Kinda helping them advertise in a way but they actually look at your food photos and like them!

 

REVISIT- Blue Canoe Waterfront Restaurant

Hey everyone!

Phil blogged about Blue Canoe last time but I thought I'll blog about my first experience too :) We went to Blue Canoe for Mama Lims birthday and it was extremely lovely. The view was amazing, the weather that day was gorgeous and the food was just phenomenal. I tried to take some scenery photos of the night to show you guys how beautiful it is. I'm not a professional photographer so hope you all enjoy!

For appetizers, we ordered two different types of fresh oysters, Royal Miyagi & Effingham. I wasn't able to enjoy this dish since I wasn't feeling so well that day. But from the response i got back from Mama & Papa Lim & Phil, they loved it! Said it was super fresh & smooth. 

Riverway Clubhouse

Hey Guys,

Went to Riverway Clubhouse for the second time now and this time we sat inside due to the weather being quite rainy outside. The first time I was here, we were able to enjoy their nice patio with a nice big umbrella at the table. 

We had Crispy Calamari $11.95 to start. These were done differently than most calamari dishes we've had, but they were delicious!

This photo of the calamari and other photos other than the pulled pork were courtesy of my good friend and colleague Ricky! Check out his blog for random posts typed in ALL CAPS!
No drinks (mojito) ordered this time! Shocking!

I ordered a Pulled Pork Sandwich $14.50, which surprisingly is now off their menu online! Normally their burgers are very good, so I wanted to try their pulled pork sandwich to see how that was. The menu description of the sandwich did not mention any coleslaw, so I assumed there wouldn't be, but when the order came, there it was, coleslaw at the bottom of the sandwich! I am NOT a fan of coleslaw and definitely did not want it in the sandwich, but didn't bother mentioning it to the server as I was hoping it wouldn't be in there since they didn't mention it. They did add melted cheese to it as you can see in the pictures below.