May 2013
1 post
4 tags
The Pourhouse Burger: a formidable yet sensuous meat pillow cradled between fluffy brioche duvets.
Roasted pineapple rice pudding: while fragrant and soft (still aligned with bedding analogy) it was a bit too much rice post-burger which actually was rather sleep-inducing.
My (best damn) verdict: I like Pourhouse. Many others do too for a good reason or two. The cocktails are divine, well...
February 2013
1 post
3 tags
Bella Gelateria
Did you know that you can do Dine Out at Bella Gelateria? I sure didn’t, until I spent half a day clicking through the restaurant list casually (casually meaning that I was no longer, like past years, frothing at the mouth desperate to make reservations at twenty restaurants all at once).
I was doing the ol’ scroll and skim (not a euphemism), when I happened upon Bella Gelateria (I...
December 2012
1 post
3 tags
West Restaurant
I’ve now lived in Vancouver for a number of years, and one thing I’ve learned in becoming a Vancouverite is that you have to lower your expectations as soon as the rain hits.
If you wake up one bleak and grey winter morning, and find out that it’s not raining? That’s a good day. Don’t get your hopes up.
Quite frankly, I think that line of reasoning is somewhat apt...
October 2012
1 post
7 tags
Crazy delicious thing I ate recently
If you like Thanksgiving, if you like fall flavours, if you like pie (specifically, pumpkin), then you’d better be sitting down before you scroll any further. This is going to blow your mind and your tastebuds into the next universe.
Handcrafted lovingly in Vancouver, Earnest Ice Cream has an eccentric laundry list of flavours like Cardamom, Maple Walnut, and Cognac.
I knew what I was...
August 2012
2 posts
Petite Kitchenesse →
This is my new favorite blog today!
Some of the delicious posts on the front page: French 75 popsicles, Zucchini & Sweet Corn Pizza, Roasted Mushroom Ravioli w/Thyme & Garlic Scapes.
4 tags
Vicino Pastaria & Deli
There’s a new kid on the block. Normally, I wouldn’t go to a place that calls themselves a “pastaria” (is it because Nicli next door is a pizzeria?), but it’s fitting. They do serve pasta (shock!), and it’s fresh to boot.
In between the front doors is a futuristic looking sprout incubator/fridge of some sort. It looked really quite nice and had a rather...
July 2012
1 post
5 tags
June 2012
3 posts
2 tags
#cravings
Let me preface this by saying.. #notpregnant
This, my friends, is why I take pictures of food. So I can longingly stare at them in a masochistic manner when I am at my hungriest. It is a strange habit of mine, really.
I haven’t eaten out in a little while now, so here’s to reminiscing the fancy flavors about town!
Engawa (Flounder) from Taka’s.
Canelé from French Made...
5 tags
Campagnolo
I never used to enjoy going out for Italian food. What a waste of time and money! I would huff. I can make pasta at home too!
Well, yes, I could. But over the years I have conceded that carby comforts can be done to a finesse that I, annoying and complainy foodie, would never be able to achieve. Blah blah worth the money going out blah blah. Shut up your faces.
I do like Campagnolo a lot. Have...
4 tags
April 2012
2 posts
3 tags
Nook
I’m cold all the damn time. I can’t help it; something to do with being tropical born (concrete jungle, ya know) and having a lazy heart.
That’s why each morning I wake up in the spring, besides wanting to commit sinus seppuku, I hope fervently for sunshine. I make small sacrifices to the sun gods in hope that they can hear me. (Dear Sun God(s), this morning I leave my toes...
5 tags
Portland: Euro Trash!
Hello friends! I was down in Portland over the long Easter weekend recently, enthused about visiting Portlandia for the second time. The first time it gave me warm fuzzies, but also wide eyes and a too-narrow stomach that did not accommodate for trying all that food carts had to offer. I heard that Portland had a lot of food carts, but when I first arrived I was flabbergasted. I thought I had...
January 2012
1 post
6 tags
Crazy delicious thing I ate recently
I recently came back from a business trip in Montreal, and my tongue felt leathery and dull after eating all the fast meals I had no choice but to participate in. When I came back, I embraced the humidity and the ubiquity of sushi joints surrounded by our majestic mountains. Oh Vancouver, how I missed you! The first thing I decided I wanted to do to cement my relationship with Vancouver as my home...
December 2011
1 post
5 tags
Crazy delicious thing I ate recently
I was looking for Japanese delivery recently and came across Ki-Isu. Unfortunately, it turned out that we were outside of delivery range (*shakes fist*), but remembered this place again when out and about looking for a tasty Japanese meal. In their seasonal specials page of their menu are a number of very interesting items such as Dark Sweet. According to their menu, Dark Sweet is: black brown...
November 2011
1 post
Delicious nuggets of thought
My friend Anna is a genius. I’m sure I’ve told her before, but here I am on the internet, validating her genius. With her permission, I am reposting her writing here as it is a completely brills diagnosis of the psychology of McDonald’s, and possibly hits home to the psychology of the rabid enthusiasm and obsession foodies nurse into blogs. The Id Burger by Anna W. I love...
October 2011
4 posts
5 tags
Big Lou's Butcher Shop
I’ve heard a lot about porchetta sandwiches. The local food scene has been much ado about the crispy, fatty, porky sammiches, and I was late (as usual) to the scene. I owe it to my mild OCD in loving to plan things, and I definitely planned this trip to Big Lou’s. Probably not in the way you might imagine, though. Big Lou’s Butcher Shop is sort of in our neighborhood...
5 tags
Sitar Indian
Continuing on the presentation streak of “what there is to eat in my hood”, J and I decided to go to the Indian place we’ve walked by numerous times (downstairs from the Diamond, across from Chill Winston and Six Acres… you know that spot). It was pretty quiet on a week night. We sat at a table next to a brick facade with a decorative display of Christmas lights and a...
3 tags
Crazy delicious thing I ate recently
I recently stopped by for one of the perogy nights at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you about (I had written about it once long ago, but the post has since been lost to the sands of internet time). No, after stuffing our faces with perogies and sausages and cabbage rolls, we walked over to the Rumpus Room for a drink. On the menu were deep fried...
5 tags
Gyo-O
I’ve been dying to tell you about this place, but hesitant at the same time. I have a soft spot for Gyo-O, and being that it’s already difficult enough to try to get a table on most nights, I’d rather not have more people to line up behind. But I have to tell you. It’s so good. I found this place when I was searching for a decent chirashi. Chirashi is a bit of a strange...
September 2011
4 posts
3 tags
Dirty Apron
One of my recent favorites: Dirty Apron. The hours are reasonable, and while the deli and shop are a bit compact, it’s full of variety. Popped in hungry one weekend afternoon to grab a sandwich. I had the roast beef, which comes snugly nestled in a delish chimichurri sauce, charred tomato salsa and watercress (according to the website… but it seemed like there may have been something...
7 tags
Cafe Medina
On one recent sunny Sunday morning, a few friends and I patiently waited our turn for Cafe Medina goodness. We watched from outside as crispy Belgian waffles made their way to the bustling tables inside the restaurant and the crowd of hungry breakfast patrons standing beside us continue to grow. Most people have been to Cafe Medina before so I’ll skip much of the description, but it’s...
6 tags
Canra Srilankan Plus
Hey guys, first off: I’m undergoing a little behind-the-scenes tinkering, so if the RSS feed has gone all bork-bork-borken on you recently, I’m sorry. Now returning to your regular programming! I’ve recently moved downtown and I’ve been exploring the five to ten kilometer radius around my apartment, scavenging for interesting eats and shops. The neighborhood is by no means...
4 tags
Mis Trucos
Mis Trucos is tucked away up the stairs in a building that is indented a few steps away from Davie Street. Locally inspired mediterranean tapas are served in a posh, minimalistic space. There is apparently a patio out back. I’ve been to Mis Trucos a few times, and admittedly two out of the three visits with a groupon-type dealio. Two six-course meals for cheap - I can’t resist! I...
August 2011
8 posts
2 tags
High tech grilled cheese!
Link of the day: Flip Video Founder Takes Stab at High-Tech Cheese Sandwiches
Flip Video founder Jonathan Kaplan chats about his latest venture, a high-tech grilled cheese chain called The Melt, where orders are made via QR code, and cheese sandwiches are pumped out in less than a minute. It opens in San Francisco on Tuesday.
I imagined robotic arms working the grills, but this is pretty...
4 tags
Is this gross?
From It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I present to you the Grilled Charlie.
What you’ll need: bread, cheese, chocolate syrup, peanut butter
Pre-heat stove to medium, then add frying pan coated in butter
Slather one side of a slice of bread with butter, and place it butter-side down on the pan
Add cheese slice (or 64—a future recipe idea!) to the bread and let it melt
Flip over (cheese...
7 tags
Food cart - The Kaboom Box
Food carts are a curious novelty now all over the place (by which I mean mostly downtown Vancouver and uh, other places that I never see food carts in). A novelty because the street eat scene had been previously dominated by hot dogs, and curious because in a city clearly defined by its Pacific Northwest climes (read: soppy) for at least half the year. I suppose you can’t stop the culinarily...
1 tag
Freaky Friday
Fellow friends, it’s Friday! Thank heavens. It’s about time for a bevvie.
What’s new in the TV food world? Oh, not a whole lot, just Paula Deen looking creepy as usual:
… and telling Anthony Bourdain to mind his own beeswax.
Speaking of, did you guys know that Anthony Bourdain is coming to Vancouver on October 29? You’re welcome. Me, I like the guy, but not...
5 tags
L'Abattoir
Happiness is French food - you can hardly do better to please me than taking me out for a nice French dinner. One place I’ve been craving and anticipating is L’Abattoir in Gastown. Fellow foodie Jonathan has sung its praises so many times, I knew I was in for a treat when I was brought there one recent July evening. I’ll go easy on the mushy, but you know your boyfriend loves...
5 tags
Don't tase me, bro
You guys, there’s a grilled cheese food stand on the corner of Main and Terminal just outside Pacific Central. It’s called Taser - as in, y’know, don’t tase me, bro. J works nearby and he’s been regaling me with stories of the convenient grilled cheese he’d pick up after work. “You love grilled cheese sandwiches! You have to try it!” Well, you...
3 tags
La Belle Province
A near-and-dear to my (now artery-clogged, probably) heart flashback to living life in Montreal: La Belle Province (the restaurant chain, not the actual province), a true Quebecois dedication to steamies, late-night poutine, gyros, and those ridiculously mushy and greasy fries.
A fuzzy phone picture from my recent business trip to Montreal, having stopped at a classically kitschy LBP after...
5 tags
Battle of the Brunches
What’s the best place for brunch in Vancouver? A real loaded question, and one posed to me by a reader (one out of all five of you, probably) way back in April.
Oh, there are so many places! I chirped happily in a reply, frantically trying to keep a manageable “to-try” list for out-of-towners. Topping the list was Cafe Medina, a surefire crowd-pleaser (me, I’m not that...
June 2011
1 post
2 tags
Stoked about Chronic Tacos
J and I met for lunch on a weekday - a rarity - and in the short time we had, we turbo’d over to Chronic Tacos for the first time.
The lunch lineup on an overcast Friday afternoon was still formidable; we anxiously fidgeted in line for our turn to order. The Californian skater ambiance didn’t help with our perception of its efficiency either.
But ‘lo, we got to the...
May 2011
2 posts
1 tag
Friggin' Foodcarts
Spied yesterday on Scout Magazine: the Grillenium Falcon, a foodtruck that just opened up in Arkansas.
Hot dang! That makes me think of being in Portland for the first time ever this past long weekend, which is a city famous for the ubiquity of an explosive plethora of foodcarts. A conversation cropped up between me and my travel buddy about the predominance of foodcarts over a fledgling...
1 tag
Sakura afternoon tea
What month is it now? I’m actually not entirely sure I’m perceiving time passing anymore. I’ve been a bit MIA of late for a number of things, not just writing, and I’ve really been hermiting pretty badly. My mysterious absence of late is due to being swallowed up by dense fog of work (business-y business, what? Yes, day jobs are good for… y’know… money.),...
April 2011
1 post
1 tag
Twisted Fork Bistro
I’m what you call a pretty busy person, or at least have the semblance of one. If I didn’t have anything better to do, I’d probably have a more well-tended food blog. Or not.
But you know, my to-do list is really long. And on that to-do list is a neverending turnover of restaurant after restaurant. In this city, even supposed giants fall one day. I was so surprised to hear a...
March 2011
4 posts
1 tag
Thank you, Chowhound
… for yet another detailed explanation of a burning question I’ve had on my mind for a while.
What is the difference between heavy cream vs. whipping cream?
According to one poster from Canada:
It depends on where you live. Here in Canada, heavy cream does not exist in supermarkets. I use whipping cream (35%) when heavy cream is called for. Heavy cream would have a slightly higher...
5 tags
Guu Garden
For the uninitiated izakaya virgins (do you still exist in Vancouver?), Guu is a chain of friendly restaurants offering Japanese style tapas that always have a fresh, creative twist which are best taken with some libations on the side. One of the latest openings was in downtown across from the Sheraton Wall Centre in Nelson Square, and Guu Garden has become a lunch favorite of corporate neighbors...
6 tags
Thomas Haas
Since Christmas, I’ve had some crazy sensory overload with all things chocolatey and sinful. I kept telling myself that I’d take a break from chocolate. Day after day, proclaiming that yes, zees ees zee day I abstain from ze chocolat! Mais non. The new year rolls around, ripe for resolution: aha! Today is the day, January 1st, when I will abstain from eating the irresistable...
5 tags
Chiffon Patisserie
Ohhhh no. Oh no. I’m in trouble. As if it weren’t enough that I seem to be in the terrible grips of my sudden onset of pastry madness, I have stumbled upon a sugary fix just mere steps away from my office. This isn’t good, you guys.
I say stumbled upon, but Chiffon Patisserie has just recently been open for a year (they celebrated their one year anniversary on Wednesday,...
January 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Meaty Brunch
On Saturday morning, while the rest of the night crowd was still sleeping off their hangovers that were earned in the vicinity the night before, J & I schlepped over to Chill Winston for brunch. Not to say I wasn’t nursing some significant brain mush of my own back to its regular viscosity either, which had led me to texting J at about 9:30am with something to the effect of need brunch....
1 tag
Grilled Cheese Haven in San Fran
Spied this earlier today on This Is Why You’re Fat:
GRILLED CHEESE BIRTHDAY CAKE! This is from The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco. Oh my, will you look at that menu? I very much like the sound of this:
Mousetrap
Tillamook sharp cheddar, creamy havarti, monterey jack, on artisan sourdough 6- *add applewood-smoked bacon or artisan cured ham +1.5 *add roasted tomato...
November 2010
4 posts
1 tag
Vancouver Foodster's List of Grilled Cheeses
This is a list of grilled cheese options found throughout Vancouver put up by Vancouver Foodster from December of last year, with contenders in ascending order below:
Savary Island
Au Petit Chavignol
Salt Tasting Room
Burgoo
Pourhouse
Deacon’s Corner
I’ve tried Au Petit Chavignol (mon dieu, that croque monsieur), the g-cheese at Deacon’s Corner (breakfast...
3 tags
Recipe: French Onion Soup Grilled Cheese...
Oh, hi. Fancy seeing you here.
I think there’s something you need to try. And by you, I mean really me, because I’m the one who purports to be so madly in love with all things affected with melty and oozy cheese she could just die.
I’m not much of a cook, but I do try. Occasionally I come across a recipe that makes me really want to give it a shot. A good recipe will give me...
5 tags
The Best Damn Sandwich
I was in Toronto a few months back, on holiday, and embarked on an accidental epicurean tour de force around town (for all of the glorious 3 days I was there). Since I was hankering to squeeze in as many appointments with friends as possible, and since good conversations with friends are always better enjoyed with the lubricant of libations and lipids, there were a lot of eating and drinking...
6 tags
Misrepresentin' high falutin'
Hello friends!!
Yes, it’s really been a long time, and I apologize. I believe some of you have missed me. This I know from multiple occasions, when I am busy stuffing my face at a meal, and friend would remark, “Hey, what happened to your food blog?”
Your favorite blogger in the entire world: *munch munch munch* “Well… I gave it up. But I definitely did not give...
April 2010
1 post
2 tags
The return of the Buddha Lemon
Hello internet! Long time. I’m pretty much the worst blogger in the world, aren’t I? I mean, who goes out and even has lives separate from the internet anymore? Okay, I’m sorry. I really am. I have this growing backlog of interesting things I keep meaning to tell you about in the most roundabout and smarmy of ways, but alas, I can hardly come up with the time. But hey, here I...
February 2010
1 post
4 tags
The other side of takeout is mildew on rice
Editor’s note: Toyo Sushi has since closed down. Our entire office mourned its disappearance. Sad!
(You get bonus points for recognizing the subject without needing a quick Google.) One of my favorite places that’s close enough to work is Toyo Sushi. As per your typical Japanese joint, it’s got sushi. That’s all fine and dandy. But you know what the fun bonus is? Random...
January 2010
1 post
4 tags
Buddha's hand lemon
I caught this at the Whole Foods just a while ago, and while it looks a Lovecraftian alien bent on destroying all that is good and sacred, it’s just a lemon. How on earth do you eat this thing? I mean, besides the basic logistics of preparing it, how do you put this in your mouth? It looks like it not only has a (possibly wretched, tortured) soul, it looks like it eats souls. Next...
August 2009
1 post
3 tags
The Best Damn Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hey, long time no see. I know, I know, I’ve been gone a long time. Summer has been beautiful and really hot this year, just the way I like it. Why stay in facing a hot stove when you can be out in sandals on a patio drinking sangria? It’s a rather difficult choice, obviously. I’ve been spending less on eating out lately - if you haven’t been living under a rock or in a cave...
July 2009
1 post
3 tags
Dona Cata
I love Mexican food. I’m not gonna lie, because I can’t say I know what authentic Mexican food could possibly be really like, but I like almost anything I can get. Vancouver is good for having a variety of authentic cuisines available within reach, but (so I’ve heard) we’re sorely lacking in good Latin American restaurants. When I spot a Mexican restaurant that...
