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Shark Club - Sports Bar Review - Vancouver

Food:

Team GlueCrew came here for an early dinner and game and I had a great taste of the following:

Caesar ($6, down from $7.50)

Double Cheese Nachos with Spicy Beef and Guacamole ($19 + $4 + $2.50)

Cookie Skillet ($7)

Since it was Sunday, Caesars were all on special! This Caesar came with green beans instead of the usual celery stalk which I enjoyed as green beans have more flavour and these were arranged in a sort of latch for the pepperoni stick. As all Caesars go, this one had a pretty intense salt rim that was very enjoyable and this was easy to go bottoms up on.

Caesar

The main attraction for me were the Double Cheese Nachos. We opted to go all the way with spicy beef and guacamole too. I believe the right way to eat something is with all the trimmings provided, so I knew I had to get both. The cheeses (mozzarella and cheddar) had a great pull to them with a slight stringiness melting over the chips. The sauces were all pretty decent but the guacamole wasn't anything to write home about -- it had a watery look to it and I wish it were thicker. The least satisfying part of these nachos were actually the chips. Some chips were too burnt and left a charred taste. I normally prefer my nachos to be salty and crisp but these were a bit over-baked.

Double Cheese Nachos with Spicy Beef and Guacamole

I was too full to have a real entree, so I skipped right to dessert with the Cookie Skillet. I'm a firm believer that anything served in a skillet automatically looks homier, and this did not disappoint on presentation. The cookie was also quite satisfying with a chocolatey gooeyness that did not get stuck to the skillet. The ice cream looked awfully whipped and voluminous though. You might be able to see in my photo below there were gaps of air throughout the ice cream which helped it to melt quicker and taste icier. This was pretty much on the level of mass market grocery ice cream.

Cookie Skillet

Features:

At Shark Club, it's really all about the sports even if the food doesn't match. The vibe here is all sports all day. The wooden tables are thick so you can slam your beer (or fist) down with distinction. The biggest thing about Shark Club is their giant dual TV billboard running by the bar and in plain view of everyone. The screens are high quality and there's even a scoreboard running along the top of the bar showing you scores of other games and leagues. There are also a ton of smaller TVs around the venue, but the atmosphere is very inviting and well-lit. It's clear this restaurant was a sports-first arena. There's seating for about 200 guests here in booths, tables, longtables, and private sections.

Inside Shark Club

Service:

Service was less than ideal at Shark Club. After I seated myself, I was approached by two different servers who told me someone would be there to take my order. Both servers came back at some point and from then on it became a struggle to find our server. There were a lot of people in the restaurant and unfortunately for us, not enough servers. Asking for water was a pain that had to happen twice. Maybe this was just a situational thing where the restaurant didn't know the love for the Oilers in Vancouver. I'd recommend grabbing a seat in as central a location as you can as you don't want to be left alone in the corner and disconnected from servers. Food came out at average speeds though.

Inside Shark Club (this was a great game for the Edmonton Oilers)

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: A sports-first bar where TVs are great but service and food are middling or below average Highlight: The giant TVs and Caesar Price per person: $15-$25 Would I go back? Just for sports and drinks, really.

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KiMU - Japanese Restaurant Review - Vancouver

Neighbourhood gems are some of my favourite restaurant reviews to write. Away from the glitz and glam of widely publicized openings, the neighbourhood gems breed their sense of excitement organically. KiMU is a recent opening from 2016, and after renovating an old space, are fully open. Do the Korean staff make for great Japanese cuisine or should you stick to your regular Korean-owned Japanese restaurants? Read on to find out.

Food:

Team Tastic came here for an early Sunday dinner and I had a great taste of the following:

Spicy Agedashi Tofu (~$5)

Takoyaki (~$6)

Sushi Cake ($9.50)

Belly King Roll ($9)

Starting with some tried classic appetizers, the Spicy Agedashi Tofu had a plump look with a generous amount of spicy sauce lathered over. Taste-wise, the starch skin was mildly crisp and the tofu finished well with its garnish of green onions. 

Agedashi Tofu

Takoyaki was our other appy of choice. The shredded bonito flakes covered each octopus ball like a soft blanket, so while the bonito flakes weren’t waving with heat, they made each ball more distinguished and easier to eat. The batter inside was tasty with a standard size of chewy octopus within.

Takoyaki

The Sushi Cake was my favourite dish of the evening. With an ingredient list spanning two lines on the menu, this plate was packed with diversity. The rice dough was chewy and mixed with all the sauces was full of flavour. The metaphorical cherry on top here was the meticulous arrangement of seared salmon woven into a flower. 

Distribution was also well done as we had one slice of seared salmon and a chunk of spicy tuna and crab cake for each slice of rice dough. This Sushi Cake doesn’t appear on many menus, certainly wouldn’t appear at Sushi Garden, and was on par creatively with the menu at Sushi S. So if you’re looking for something unique at a Korean-owned Japanese restaurant, this sushi cake is a good candidate.

Sushi Cake

Finally, we had the Belly King Roll. This was a roll of avocado, negitoro, seared sake toro, jalapeno, capers, garlic chips, balsamic reduction, and pesto olive. This was quite a colourful roll but I noticed a lack of uniformity between pieces. That is, you could easily tell which piece were the end pieces and jalapeño slices were not distributed evenly. That being said, $9 is a fair price for an out-of-downtown sushi eatery (see, Bistro Hatzu charges $10.50 for something similar) and I’m a firm believer that capers make most things better.

Belly King Roll

Features:

KiMU is located on the border between Vancouver and Burnaby. It’s not on a transit accessible route so chances are you’ll need to drive to get here. There’s lots of free parking though. Inside you’ll find a number of tables similar to other Korean-owned Japanese restaurants. There’s a pretty bumping vibe inside despite the restaurant being tucked away in a neighbourhood, and the restaurant gets loud when the 60 or so seats are filled. You’ll notice that they don’t use any plastic serving plates which is a huge step up from places like Sushi Garden.

Inside Kimu Sushi

Service:

Service was average here. There were a couple servers for the restaurant so to get any help from our server we had to put effort into flagging her down. There weren’t any automatic water top-ups and paying by credit card required us to go up to the main POS terminal. Food took around 10 minutes to start coming out though which is quick and meets the average for sushi in this price range. The restaurant was full by 6pm so I’d recommend coming with a group no larger than 4 if you’d like to avoid waiting more than 15 minutes.

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Good value Japanese fare with a friendly neighbourhood feel Highlight: Sushi Cake Price per person: $12-22 Would I go back? Yes.

Enjoyed this review of Kimu Sushi? For more mouth-watering sushi-ventures, be sure to subscribe to my RSS Feed or follow me on Twitter!

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Tasting Plates North Vancouver - Overview

Disclosure: I had a complimentary media invitation and all opinions are my own.

Who knew there were so many places to eat at in North Vancouver? I was recently invited to a Tasting Plates crawl by Vancouver Foodster. With 7 stops along this diverse crawl, are the eats enough to convince the average Vancouverite that there’s more to see in North Van before the mountains? Read on and decide for yourself.

Tasting Plates Passport:

This Tasting Plates crawl had the following stops:

Bean Around the World

Lift Bakery

Maru Korean Bistro

The Juicery Co.

Coconama

Welcome Parlour Ice Cream

Hearthstone Brewery

Bean Around the World was serving up, you guessed it, coffee! I always enjoy starting a crawl with some caffine so I had the Flat White. Foam art left a little to be desired, but the baristas were firing espresso drinks really fast, so I’m convinced speed is the name of the game at this location.

Flat White

Bean Around the World

Lift Bakery is one of North Vancouver’s newest openings, and I’m convinced I need to come back here for a weekend brunch. Their Smoked Trout Benedict was made extra cute tonight with a poached quail egg and mixed with a fried rösti made for a savoury bite with lots of texture. The Kouign Amann dessert was also quite crisp and full of sweet flavour.

Smoked Trout Benedict and Kouign Amann

Lift Bakery

Maru Korean Bistro had the best lighting setup out of all the restaurants. The best seats in the house are part of a solarium that extends towards 2nd Ave. Here we had a sampler of oyster, seaweed puff, and beef tartare. The seaweed puff here gets mad points for creativity. Check out the stitched pattern on there! The gastronomic accents on the seaweed puff and oyster were pretty cool and I loved the meticulous presentation of everything.

Beef Tartare, Seaweed Puff, and Oyster with Foam

Maru Korean Bistro

Next up was The Juicery Co. who were offering juice samples and mini açai bowls. This was a fun midway stop to freshen up and the açai bowls were filled with all the things that make an average diner feel healthy again.

Acai Bowl

Juices

The Juicery Co.

Coconama was steps away (e.g. 10 steps) from The Juicery Co. and these folks were sampling Japanese style chocolate truffles, flavoured chocolate bars, and bean-to-bar chocolate. For those unaware, that means the cacao is prepped and roasted in-house (Coconama is in a long warehouse) and eventually moulded into a chocolate bar. How’s that for local! The truffles were my favourite part and I had no qualms about buying some matcha truffles for my girlfriend who made sure the truffles were finished by the time I wrote this (cue Drake’s “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”).

Coconama Treats

Outside Coconama

Next up was another recent North Van opening, Welcome Parlour. These folks are a family-run business and feature ice cream with all the buzz words (ie. natural flavours, natural ingredients, local, etc.) so I liken them to something like Rain or Shine ice cream but in North Vancouver. Here we had a flight of apple pie, bourbon, rocky road, and strawberry.

Welcome Parlour Flight

Outside Welcome Parlour

And finally, Hearthstone Brewery was our final stop. Alongside a Panzanella and Ninjutsu Pale Ale (medium bodied, hopped, apricot flavour), we were given a quick look into the brewery which sits in a building adjacent to the restaurant. This was a similar theme to places like Steel Toad Brewery, and a fitting end to the show of diversity in North Vancouver’s dining scene.

Panzanella and Ninjutsu Pale Ale

Hearthstone Brewery

Next up:

Tasting Plates will be visiting Burnaby Heights next on May 17th. For more information on tickets (early bird pricing ends on May 7th!), check out the Tasting Plates website at http://tastingplatesyvr.com.

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: A fun, 7-stop teaser of North Vancouver’s dining and tourism potential Highlight: Lift Bakery Price per person: As low as $35/person Would I do it again? Yes if the locales are all new to me.

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40 Years of Dim Sum - Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant - Vancouver

Disclosure: This was a ChineseBites tasting event and all opinions are my own.

Hey guys! Hope you’ve all had a swell weekend. One of my favourite weekend activities is dim sum. For those versed in the brunch game, dim sum is the Chinese equivalent where poached eggs get swapped for dumplings served in steamed bamboo containers. I was a lucky participant of a recent ChineseBites event at Pink Pearl Seafood Restaurant where I tasted dishes from 4 different decades of dim sum. This menu was prepared by Stephanie Yuen and partly sponsored by Gojoy Berries. From the 1980s to the 2010s, where do your favourite dim sum dishes lie? Read on and maybe find out.

1980s:

Liver and Pork Dumplings

Duck Web Wrap

Shrimp Toast

Pan-Fried Half-Moon Dumpling

The Liver and Pork Dumplings were not my favourite, but they definitely looked like a dim sum dish of older times. The chalky texture of liver actually went quite well with the cooked pork, but I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority as most people just use liver to season their hot pot these days.

Liver and Pork Dumplings

The Duck Web Wrap was a pretty cool relic. This was a duck foot wrapped in bean curd, ham, and mushrooms. While unique, it was hard to eat because the wrap would slide off, spilling out most of the ingredients.

Duck Web Wrap

The Shrimp Toast was my favourite dish from the 80s. The shrimp paste was deep fried into the toast which also had a fair bit of grease to it. It’s not for everyone unless you really love butter.

Shrimp Toast

The Pan-Fried Half-Moon Dumpling was unique as this was served individually rather than in a large container, and everyone got their own side of soup with it. The dumpling tasted good with a satisfying crispiness not seen in modern dumplings. The filling is quite minimal though so you’ll want sips of the soup in between chomps of the dumpling.

Pan-Fried Half-Moon Dumpling

1990s:

Mini Steamed Pork Bun

Black and White Sweet Sesame Roll

Lotus Wrapped Stuffed Sticky Rice

The Mini Steamed Pork Buns were cute and had a fluffy texture with a sweet pork filling. First-timers should take care to remove the plastic liner on the bottom of the bun. These are normally meant to keep the flour from sticking to the bowl but can be mistakenly ingested.

Mini Steamed Pork Bun

The Black and White Sweet Sesame Rolls looked like old school film canisters which seemed eerily appropriate for the 90s. This had a refreshing taste and was a nice change from the usual (and accepted) greasiness of dim sum.

Black and White Sweet Sesame Rolls

The Lotus Wrapped Stuffed Sticky Rice is a gem of the 90s dim sum scene. The lotus wraps here were gigantic meaning more of the container is filled and everyone sharing gets a larger chunk. 

Lotus Wrapped Stuffed Sticky Rice

2000s:

Steamed Shrimp Dumpling

Steamed Sticky Rice Roll

I’m sure any millennial who’s been to dim sum can identify with the Steamed Shrimp Dumpling. It’s important that these have a chewy skin and noticeable chunks of real shrimp inside. This dumpling had both.

Steamed Shrimp Dumpling

The Steamed Sticky Rice Roll was a cute display of carbs on carbs, but I think I prefer having these as separate items as lotus wrapped stuffed sticky rice and pork buns.

Steamed Sticky Rice Roll

2010s:

Steamed Beef Rice Roll

Steamed Shrimp Rice Roll

Wok-Fried Lotus Roots and Fresh Mushrooms

Gojoy Gojiberries Gelle

Moving into modern day dim sum, the Steamed Beef Rice Roll looked like blanketed pieces of meat but the beef here had a slight medicinal taste to it. It’s recommended that you douse the rolls with soy sauce first but I enjoy my rice rolls either way and I enjoyed the complex flavour profile.

Steamed Beef Rice Roll

The Steamed Shrimp Rice Roll is basically the same as the above but with shrimp instead of beef. For those who don’t like a medicinal taste in minced beef, this alternative is all shrimp.

Steamed Shrimp Rice Roll

The Wok-Fried Lotus Roots and Fresh Mushrooms was an interesting dish. This did not come in easily discernible pieces and was more of a dinner plate than what’s traditionally seen in dim sum. The goji berries here tasted fresh and the crunchy lotus root means kids might be encouraged to add some veggies in their diet.

Wok-Fried Lotus Roots and Fresh Mushrooms

Finally, the Gojoy Gojiberries Gelle was an original dish by Stephanie Yuen which combines modern ingredients (goji berries) and dim sum traditions (individual sized servings of a large item). The jelly had a good jiggle and the goji berries added a satisfying sweetness.

Gojoy Gojiberries Gelle

Features:

Pink Pearl Seafood Restaurant is one of Vancouver’s most iconic restaurants. It’s got a long history of being a go-to for dim sum in Vancouver before all the Dinesty’s or Empire Seafood Restaurants showed up in the early 2000′s. This historic restaurant suffered a setback in the late 2000′s where a fire caused them to shut down operations until 2012. As of 2017, Pink Pearl is celebrating its 5th anniversary of reopening with 4 Decades of Dim Sum (more details on their website).

Inside Pink Pearl Seafood Restaurant

Inside the space is still the same, which is to say it’s huge. Round tables, square tables, lazy Susans, you name it. If you have a party, Pink Pearl will fit the party in here. For a ballpark number I’ve been to weddings here as a kid and Chinese weddings can get have hundreds of people depending on the type of name your family wants to show for itself. 

Service:

As this was a ChineseBites organized tasting, dim sum was flying out quickly and our table slowly filled up to the brim of the lazy Susan. I think this is atypical of dim sum meals and so you can be in and out of here pretty quickly if needed. It was crazy busy here on a Saturday morning so I’d recommend making a reservation so you’re not disappointed. 

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: 4 decades of dim sum include modern favourites, but the best dishes are all from the 90s and onwards Highlight: Steamed Shrimp Dumpling Estimated price per person: $20-40 (the full 4 decades will be ~$560 for 12 people) Would I go back? Yes for anything after the 80s.

Enjoyed this overview of Pink Pearl Seafood Restaurant? For more brunchable restaurant reviews, check out my page on Facebook and maybe give it like. Everything helps!

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Starbucks - Unicorn Frappuccino Review - Vancouver

If your Instagram feed hasn’t told you already, Starbucks has recently unveiled its limited time Unicorn Frappuccino drink, only available until the 23rd. The hype has overrun Vancouver, so I was interested trying one for myself. Is this the drink of fantasies made true or should you stick to being the unicorn you know you already are? Read on to find out.

Unicorn Frappucino:

I popped into the Starbucks at International Village Mall and ordered a Grande Unicorn Frappuccion ($5). This drink contains the following:

Crème Frappuccino 

Mango Syrup

Sour Blue Drizzle

Vanilla Whipped Cream and a 

Sprinkles of Sweet Pink and Sour Blue Powder

Presentation:

Without a doubt this is one of Starbucks’ most visually striking drinks. Vibrant sour blues dance around the rim of a fully pink drink. Actual unicorn lovers may note the lack of horn to this drink. I’m on the team that suggests an oversized cake pop on a chocolate stick should be standard for this drink to be stuck through the lid’s opening. Your mileage may vary depending on the Starbucks you visit though, as my frappuccino teetered close to spilling over and the whipped cream lacked the uniform coils seen in the sandwich board sign outside.

Unicorn Frappuccino

Taste:

I think the best way to describe the Unicorn Frappuccino is that it’s a nostalgic call to your childhood where pink and blue cotton candy dominated most kids’ days at the carnival or amusement parks. At least, that’s what I get from being a Vancouver born-and-bred kid. That being said, you don’t fondly recall cotton candy because of its taste. You recall cotton candy for the novelty and its symbolic importance, say at the Fair at the PNE. 

In short, this was not a magical drink for me. My drink was blended creme with just a smidgen of mango syrup. If I hadn’t read the description beforehand, I doubt I would have tasted much more than the cream. If a Strawberries and Crème drink had a third of its concentration in mango form, the Unicorn Frappuccino would be it. I’m not sure why some Instagram accounts are boasting the hype or offering a non-opinion on this drink.

The sour blue drizzle, I admit, adds a cool zing to an otherwise mostly flavourless drink, but with the overabundance of cream compared to mango, you might want to ask for an extra pump mango syrup while paying for this drink.

Unicorn Frappuccino

In my opinion, the only type of people who should buy this drink are those with zero expectations, because chances are this drink won’t meet the hype that drives up expectations. The only type of people who will enjoy this drink are those who’ve never enjoyed anything else from Starbucks because I don’t see this drink replacing anyone’s morning Java Chip Frappuccino or Iced Green Tea Latte. 

For those with FOMO (fear of missing out), jump on the train before the 23rd and get your fill. For everyone else, hopefully you’ve read enough to make an informed decision.

Features:

Starbucks at International Village Mall is a small unit with doors to the mall and the corner of Abbott and Keefer. As such, it’s open very early in the morning. The seating inside consists of the usual longtable, smaller tables, and high stools. The display of baked goods is quite welcoming as are the menus. Starbucks is really good with designing engaging menus. There’s seating for about 20 guests in here and the vibe is pretty chill with a whole mix of people from the Crosstown neighbourhood.

Inside Starbucks

Service:

Like any Starbucks, you’ll place and pay for your order prior to receiving it. Starbucks takes your name as you order and this particular location added a heart next to my name. I’m pretty sure they do that for everyone but I still felt special. The staff here were well-equipped to push through an early Thursday morning crowd and this location accepts advance orders through the Starbucks app for your iOS or Android smartphone.

Outside Starbucks

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: The Unicorn Frappuccino is very likely to be a poor investment of your time and money at Starbucks Highlight: The little heart drawn next to my name on the cup Price per person: $4-$7 Would I go back? Not for the Unicorn Frappuccino.

Enjoyed this review of Starbucks’ new frappuccino? For more coffee-fueled reviews, follow me on Twitter or like my page on Facebook!

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5 Best Wines from Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench

Disclosure: I was a media attendee for this event.

Hey guys! For all the wine lovers, we’re in general agreement that more wine is better. Last Thursday, I was a lucky participant of Science World’s Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench. This 3-hour event had guests sampling unlimited wine from 13 wineries sourcing from British Columbia’s newly designated Golden Mile Bench. With each winery bringing an arsenal of wine for guests, which ones stood out to me and what can you expect from future Origins of Wine events? Read on to find out.

Wines:

I’m vocally biased towards white wines, having never been a big fan of tannins. Thus all my favourites were whites, and my top 5 are as follows:

Gehringer Brothers Private Reserve Dry Riesling ($13.29/bottle)

Tinhorn Creek Gewürzstraminer ($16/bottle)

Culmina R&D Rose Blend (est. $25/bottle)

Road 13 Sparkling Chenin Blanc ($40/bottle)

Checkmate Queen Taken Chardonnay 2013 ($125/bottle)

Gehringer’s Dry Riesling comes from their private reserve, a term which means the wines are held in higher regard compared to the winery’s other stocks. There was a quick acidity which flowed into peach and honey, mingled with apple, kiwi and floral notes. I think this would go well with any fruit salad.

Gehringer Brothers Dry Riesling

Tinhorn Creek’s Gewürzstraminer featured gingersnap spicing which brought some heat to the tastes of gooseberry, lychee and peach. 2015 was a warm year which may have contributed to the enhanced acidity. I think this would go great with any crusted salmon plate.

Tinhorn Creek's Gewürzstraminer

The Culmina R&D Rose Blend was extra special because it’s not even on their website yet! In any case, I’m a rose all day kind of guy so I enjoyed the sweet mild bubbles. The blended rose and red wine may make this more satisfying for those who don’t normally take to rose.

Culmina R&D Rose Blend

On the topic of bubbles, Road 13′s Sparkling Chenin Blanc was all sparkle which was all smiles for me. These guys had a sweet motto too: “It’s all about the dirt.”, eschewing terms like terroir commonly used by wine aficionados. This has a toasted scent, traditional fruit flavours, and a crisp finish of bubbles, and would go great for any party pleasing opener.

Road 13's Sparkling Chenin Blanc

Finally, the big one. Checkmate’s Queen Taken Chardonnay 2013 is probably the best chardonnay I’ve had in a long time, and it’s got the pricing prowess to boot. The big draw for me in this chardonnay was its finish, which I really couldn’t place in any fruit or flavour other than the term “textured wine”. It’s definitely worth a celebration if you’re in the market to congratulate somebody and wish them a pleasurable ride on their taste buds.

Checkmate Queen Taken Chardonnay 2013

Panel Discussion:

Being a celebration of the Golden Mile Bench, the evening also featured a short panel discussion amongst some of the winemakers and principals. This discussion took place in the geodesic dome where a sold out crowd filled the seats. Some key takeaways I got from this discussion were:

Cold nights and long sunny days in the Golden Mile Bench help grow a diverse crop of wines of different acidities

The mass planting of noble grapes in this area was boosted by financial incentives from the government in the 80′s to combat the coming market of wine

The Golden Mile terroir (earth) is full of calcium and grapes love calcium

I think the lecture highlighted that Origins of Wine is a learning experience that encourages audience inquiries. If you’re not big on oenology or wine history, then an event like Science of Cocktails might be better suited for you.

Golden Mile Bench Panel

Food:

Not to be lost behind the sea of wine, Backyard Farm was on premise serving up rows and rows of Olive Oil Poached “Road 17″ Arctic Char. This was my favourite food of the night. The arctic char was a very juicy cut and the fact there was a near constant stream of these meant guests were getting great bang for their buck. Pairing-wise, I pair fish with any bubbly so Road 13′s Sparkling Chenin Blanc was my choice pairing for this arctic char. 

Backyard Farm Arctic Char

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: An educational night dedicated to BC wine history and unlimited sampling Highlight: Pairing the arctic char with the sparkling wine Price per person: $65 Would I go again? Yes. 

Silent Auction Table

For future installments of Origins of Wine, I'd love to see more Canadian varieties featured. The recent gain in Nova Scotian wines comes to mind, and I'd love to see more science demonstrations involving different tannins and the spectrum of wine sweetness. Stay tuned to Science World's programming for more information.

Wine Tasting Room

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Republica Coffee - Latte Review - Vancouver

The downtown scene of Vancouver is always popping with interesting businesses. On the coffee shop side of things, Republica Coffee has recently sprung up pretty hot on the heels of Nemesis Coffee. Claimed as the freshest roast, do the lattes here take the cake or should you stick to more artisanal roasts? Read on to find out.

Coffee and Trears:

I came here on 2 separate visits (both still in the soft-opening phase) and had myself the following:

Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffin ($3.50)

Maple Latte ($4/small)

Latte ($3.50/small)

I don’t think they bake their own muffins here, but at 10am in the morning, the chocolate cream cheese muffin was quite moist. Biting into this muffin was like inviting myself to a gooey chocolatey explosion. The cream cheese flavour was a little intense though and was concentrated in the centre. To enjoy this muffin properly, you’ll want to bite off a good mix of muffin, chocolate, and cream cheese.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffin

The Maple Latte was a cool idea but ultimately fell short. Basically, this was a latte with some maple syrup added to it. The latte art was basically a lost cause here, and while there was a hint of maple, I feel the average person who sweetens their latte will end up needing more sweetener as the maple flavour was like a ghost, drifting in and out of each sip.

Maple Latte and Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffin

My second visit I decided to get a regular latte, and after having it prepared by a different barista, I conclude there’s a difference in skill levels among the staff. The art for this latte was much crisper though noticeably asymmetrical. For the price though, this was great value! $3.50 for what looks like a 12oz cup is solid and way cheaper than the nearby Nemesis Coffee. The microfoam was pretty spot on with just a few large bubbles and the taste was a standard balance of milk and espresso.

Latte

By my second visit, I'd realized there's no dishwasher on site so all drinks are served in paper cups, which I feel detracts from the coffee experience and brings the takeout vibe closer to the level of Starbucks (i.e. too much). Overall, I think the best quality here is the value.

Features:

Republica Coffee takes over the space of a retail spy shop, so the front windows are all barred up, and if you miss this stand outside, you’d be hard-pressed to even know the coffee shop was here. Republica's coffee beans are usually sold in stores all over Metro Vancouver but this is their flagship Vancouver location (there’s also one in Langley).

Outside Republica Coffee

Inside is a beautiful blackboard design of the brand and seating for about 16 guests. The space is lined with some cute potted plants, but it looks like a few fixtures were hacked together as things like the trash bin and counter cabinets look rough around the edges.

Service:

Here you’ll place and pay for your order prior to picking it up yourself. The staff were pretty friendly on both my visits and there were a different pair on each visit. As my visits were either late morning or in the afternoon on weekdays, it wasn’t too busy in the coffee shop so it’ll be interesting to see how this local roaster fares in a neighbourhood awash with options such as Nemesis, Revolver, Bean Around the World, Cartem’s, and heck, even Finch’s Cafe down the street. 

Republica Coffee Menu

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Great value coffee drinks without the glitz and glam of hipster coffee Highlight: Latte Price per person: $4-8 Would I go back? Yes.

Love lattes as much as I do? You might be interested in my review of Bows and Arrows!

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Moving Coffee - Pop-Up Latte Review - Vancouver

The local coffee aficionados are stirring. It must be that a new coffee shop has opened! In this case, Moving Coffee hasn’t reopened, but they have sprung up a new pop-up location at Fife Bakery, perhaps in an attempt to "move" their product eastwards where the lands of Main St and Commercial Drive are dense with coffee lovers. Is the latte worth stopping by this pop-up or should you just come for the baked sourdough on weekdays? Read on to find out.

Coffee:

A shortlist of items deserves a shorter review, but there's lots to say about this latte. I came here on a Sunday and discovered the bakery wasn’t in operation! The coffee roaster, Moving Coffee, is the only operator on Sundays. I was keen on trying the coffee and so ordered myself an 8oz Limu Latte ($4.50). 

How it works here is you pick the beans and choose your drink. There aren’t any specifications for how the espresso drinks are prepared, so for a crash course, you can get a macchiato, cortado, latte, cappucino, flat white, straight espresso, and probably more that a more seasoned expert would know.

Edit: I was informed on Twitter that Americanos are not offered, so I've removed it from the list above.

First, the presentation was excellent. The microfoam looked like a smooth blanket over the espresso with just the tiniest tinge of bubbles up top. Add in a sharp, neat leaf pattern and a glass cup and this was one stunning latte.

The Limu - Ethiopia (washed) beans were described as having nectar, citrus, tea, rose, and cola notes. This basically amounted to a noticeable acidity to the latte which is something you don’t often get in other artisanal lattes like at Nemesis Coffee. The temperature was perfect as none of my foam disintegrated while I was drinking my latte. There was still a great balance of espresso and milk so this was a very interesting and almost invigorating taste in my mouth.

Limu Latte

Features:

Fife Bakery is a tiny bakery that’s been taken up shop by the folks of Moving Coffee who operate an espresso machine and a couple of pour over stations. There’s only seating for 4 guests so you’ll either be very cozy waiting in line or likely taking your coffee to go. I highly recommend sitting in though as glassware is an essential part of consuming coffee. The latte glass here did not disappoint with a thickness that kept my hand warm and made it easy to grip the glass. The vibe is quite calm as this is located in an industrial/tech neighbourhood up the street from Swiss Bakery. Lots of natural light fills in through the window so your coffee should look great.

Inside Fife Bakery

Outside Fife Bakery

Service:

Here you’ll place and pay for your order prior to receiving it. Turns out the prices here all include tax so it’s not actually a $5 latte if you opt for a standard 12oz serving. It’s more like $4.75 which is on par with places like Revolver. The two staff here were chill and helped me understand the menu, and my latte was up in under 5 minutes (I was behind some other guests in line).

Coffee Tasting Menu

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Great latte with some of the smoothest foam in town Highlight: Limu Latte Price per person: $4-5 Would I go back? Yes and this time I want to get some sourdough too.

Thanks for reading! If you love coffee, you might also be interested in my review of Bows and Arrows in the Fraserhood!

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The Greek by Anatoli - Happy Hour Review - Vancouver

Disclosure: This was a complimentary tasting provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation.

If you can make it in for happy hour at a Vancouver restaurant, chances are you either don’t run a regular 9-5 job, you like snacking in the late evenings, or you’ve narrowly avoided tripping over yourself so you can order that discounted beer at the last minute. In Yaletown’s marquee Greek restaurant, aptly named The Greek by Anatoli, eats and drinks are all discounted so you can enjoy the finer life and pool your savings for a future visit. Is the happy hour really worth a future visit or should you stick to your food court souvlaki? Read on to find out.

Food:

Team Tastic came here for a happy hour (2-5pm on weekdays) and I had a great taste of the following:

Caesar ($11)

Keftedes ($6)

Spanakopita ($6)

Calamari ($6)

Dolmanthes ($6)

House Salad

“True Greek Pork” Souvlaki ($6)

When your Caesar comes with a piping hot prawn, you know you’re in for a good time. This (double) Caesar had some strong kick to it and the rim was delicious. On Sundays you can get this Caesar for $2 less!

Caesar Cocktail

The Keftedes were hefty meatballs that were as savoury as they were satisfying. It’s easy to mess up meatballs as they are often left on heating trays that overcook them, but the meatballs here were still juicy and enticed me to swirl up as much tomato sauce as possible.

Keftedes

The Spanakopita were something out of a fairy tale compared to what I’m used to. These were spreads of spinach, feta, and herbs wrapped in filo and baked. Comparing this to places like Maria’s Taverna or Stepho’s, this spanakopita was much less greasy but still full of gooey spinach flavour and crisp on each chomp.

Spanakopita

Calamari is a classic dish that is essential for happy hour. The version here is a no-frills crisp calamari served with tzatziki sauce. Lots of places do calamari well but the star here was the tzatziki sauce as it had a refreshing cucumber flavour and again, not too oily, which was starting to become a theme at The Greek.

Calamari

The Dolmanthes were the most radical item on the happy hour menu, and definitely something new for most people. Here we had grape vine leaves stuffed with beef and rice, and cooking in avgolemeno (egg lemon) broth. These were a savoury mix that finished with a sharp citrus zing. Dolmanthes are items you’ll generally need to go to a Greek restaurant for, unlike the calamari.

Dolmanthes

The House Salad wasn’t on the happy hour menu, but came out from the kitchen as a treat. I’m a big fan of capers, crispy kale, and cherry tomatoes. This salad had all of that and even managed to make cucumber slivers an elegant work of art. If this existed on the $6 happy hour menu, it would be a truly creative dish. If you’re looking to order this, try showing the photo below and say Nosh and Nibble sent you. :)

House Salad

Finally, the “True Greek Pork” Souvlaki. Apparently lamb has been cast as the stereotypical meat for souvlaki, but our sources at The Greek by Anatoli assure us pork is also the way to go. This was a juicy skewer duo of pork served atop some fluffy pita. Pita and skewers, like spanakopita, are found at all levels of Greek dining, but the plate here was low on grease and big on flavour, which is a huge plus for me. 

"True Greek Pork" Souvlaki

Features:

The Greek by Anatoli, like most restaurants in Yaletown, features indoor seating as well as the patio. For this experience, we were on the patio, and we had the comforts of a soft booth and blankets to keep us warm in the 12 degree weather outside. There’s ample seating on the benches and I reckon if people get comfortable, about 40 could dine out here. There’s also an extendable roof that can cover and help keep the heaters circulating on colder evenings.

Outside The Greek by Anatoli

With this in mind, the vibe is quite relaxed and I image myself sinking lower and lower into the comfy booths, so if you get into food comas like I do, maybe plop your butt on the bench or dine inside.

Happy Hour Menu

Service:

Service was fantastic at The Greek. The staff came by to check up on us and filled waters a couple of times. Food took no longer than 10 minutes to start coming out, and everything tasted fresh when it arrived. The restaurant wasn’t too crazy busy but who knows if that will change when people start discovering the great value in the $6 happy hour items. 

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Tasty happy hour food at a price you don’t normally get to dine out at in Vancouver’s Yaletown neighbourhood Highlight: “True Greek Pork Souvlaki” Price per person: $12-20 Would I go back? Yes.

Enjoyed this review of Greek cuisine in Yaletown? You might be interested in how the food is at a neighbour two doors away, West Oak!

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Masaladobo - Indian Mexican Restaurant Review - Vancouver

The genre of “fusion” in Vancouver cuisine has largely passed. What was once a popular term for places like Azia or The Change were feeble marketing attempts at mixing two things together and for the most part, soured the term among restaurant lovers. In comes Masaladobo. The word “fusion” appears nowhere on their website, but it’s apparent from the About page that they are blending Mexican and Indian cuisines in a fast-paced downtown neighbourhood. Do the two cultures mix into a great meal or do we have another generic example of fusion cuisine? Read on to find out.

Food:

I came here for a media opening event prior to a regular meal. I had the following during my regular meal:

Chicken Konomole Tacone ($6.50)

Masaladobo Chowder (Medium - $8)

Masaladobo Wings (1lb - $14)

Oceanwise Ceviche ($14)

The tacone is one thing that makes Masaladobo unique. A tacone is a taco hand roll that reminds me of an Indian roti roll but with the taste of a tortilla and Mexican shell. The chicken konomole here was gorgeous on arrival with chicken, and lots of colourful vegetables. This tacone tasted pretty good too with its juicy meat and crunchy veggies. You get a better deal on these if you order multiples (2 for $12) and I’d argue a couple of these are good enough to fill a person for lunch. The shell was borderline too charred for me though so be sure to confirm with your server how charred you like your tacone.

Chicken Konomole Tacone

We had to get the Masaladobo Chowder because I’m always attracted to items that bear the house name. This Oceanwise chowder came with pacific fish confit, smoked chili-coconut broth, masala roasted corn. This is a vegan chowder but just because it’s vegan does not mean it’s tastes bad. This was very savoury and if you love curry, this will taste very familiar to you. One problem with the chowder though was its serving tempurature. This was barely room tempurature on arrival, and I like to think the twenty seconds I spent photographing food does not significantly affect the dish's tempurature.

Masaladobo Chowder

The Masaladobo Wings were the chicken wings version of the chowder. Presentation-wise, these were prettier and obviously very shareable for cantina hour (happy hour). The meat was juicy and the sauce had lots of savoury curriness to it. The heat level options for the chicken wings are 0, 2, 3. Spice-intolerants will have to do with 0 or 2 because 1 is not an option here.

Masaladobo Wings

Finally, the Oceanwise Ceviche was another beautifully-plated cantina hour dish. Fun fact: During cantina hour (2pm-close), all food items are 2-for-1, which means you can get both the wings and ceviche for $14! The ceviche here was unique as the tortilla chips made everything holdable and provided a satisfying crunch. Dipping sauce from these chips was hard so I recommend you grab a fork and lather as much as you can.

Oceanwise Ceviche

Features:

Masaladobo takes over the former space of Cannibal Cafe. While the eclectic postery and colours remain, it’s a new chef behind the counter and the menu is all new. Seating comes in the manner of bar stools, high booths, and regular booths, and there’s a bounty of windows that lets a flood of light in (and likely why it was so easy to take photos of the food). I’ve never had a problem with the vibe of Cannibal Cafe and I personally think the downtown neighbourhood needs more eateries with the kind of interior Masaladobo has.

Inside Masaladobo

Service:

Service during our dinner visit was excellent. Our server had lots of spunk, made it easy to get into conversation, and came to check on us a couple times during the meal. Water is self-served by a jug at the side of the restaurant. For cantina hour on a Tuesday it wasn’t terribly busy so I’m guessing most people don’t yet know they can enjoy a double plate of wings for $14 on any weekday evening yet. Stay tuned to see how busy Masaladobo can become once everyone is aware of cantina hour!

Inside Masaladobo

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Fun, creative Mexican-Indian blends of food in an unpretentious downtown environment Highlight: Konomole Chicken Tacone Price per person: $12-$20 Would I go back? Yes.

Enjoyed this review of downtown Vancouver eats? Check out my overview of St. Regis’, located just a couple blocks away and their new dinner menu!

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Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench

Hey guys! After a successful Science of Cocktails fundraising event, Science World, is continuing their organization with adult-themed events. Coming soon on April 13th is Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench. Featuring one of the Okanagan Valley’s favourite neighbourhood’s for wine, read on to find out what’s in store for this educational (and probably tipsy) adventure.

What:

A talk on the science behind the Okanagan Valley’s sub-Designated Viticultural Area

Tastings from nine Golden Mile Bench wineries (located south of Oliver, BC)

This talk will feature Kurtis Kolt, a Vancouver-based wine consultant and a panel of BC principal winemakers. Wine, like food, is a diverse topic fit for diverse backgrounds, so you’ll see a former lawyer, MBA grad, wine enthusiasts, a geography grad, and more featured on the panel.

Wine’s best friend, food pairings, will be paired by Miradoro at Tinhorn Creek and Backyard Farm’s Chef’s Table, two farm-to-table restaurants hailing from Oliver, BC.

Culmina Winery Grapes

On The Road:

Proceeds from Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench will benefit Science World’s On the Road program. This venture provides road shows educating thousands of kids outside the Lower Mainland. Over 30,000 children who might not otherwise make it to Science World in Vancouver benefit from this program annually. 

For more event and ticketing information, visit https://www.scienceworld.ca/origins-wine

Golden Mile Bench

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Bao Down Snack Bar - Lunch Review - Vancouver

Bao Down is quite possibly one of Vancouver’s best success stories in the restaurant scene, having opened 3 eateries in the span of 2 years and featuring various cuisines of Hawaiian, Taiwanese, and now Filipino varieties. Bao Down Snack Bar, located steps away from Bao Down, is a brightly-coloured eatery with focus on homey Filipino casual foods and snacks. Is this the newest hip cuisine in town or should they have stuck to baos? Read on to find out.

Food:

Team Norquay came here for a weekday lunch and I had myself the Caldereta ($14) and added a side of Lumpia ($5). Lumpia are the Filipino version of dumplings. These featured a juicy pork filling that was crisp on the edges and chewy towards the middle. These were approaching the pricier side as you might imagine a bowl of ramen offers 5 dumplings for around $6. I might Bao Down the benefit of the doubt that these ingredients are harder to source though, but I don’t think these are a must-try.

Lumpia

The Caldereta was one of their lunch bowls and this featured braised wagyu beef stew, foie gras, potato, veggies, peas, and atchara (pickled papaya) served amongst a bed of brown rice. The beef stew was already quite savoury so it was hard to notice the foie gras, but I guess I shouldn’t expect much for a $14 bowl. The stew was great for mixing in with the rice though, and with most brown rice dishes, the more flavour you can add, the better. This was a filling bowl and rightly so because at $14 this is approaching the upper echelons of rice bowls. Overall, I want to suggest that Bao Down is a tinge more expensive than a casual lunch but you’ll likely get to try something new because Filipino options are few and far in between in Vancouver.

Caldereta and Lumpia

Features:

Bao Down Snack Bar is located in Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood, just behind the Gassy Jack statue. The inside’s got a traditional Gastown look with brick walls but there’s a giant mural and colourful splatters all over the space making the interior a bit of an art gallery. This falls right in line with the original Bao Down and Bao Down Gastropub. Amongst two levels, there looks to be seating for about 70 guests amongst bar stools and regular tables. There wasn’t any music for lunch, but dinners at the Bao Down family usually include R&B and hip hop.

are few and far between in Vancouver.

Inside Bao Down Snack Bar

Service:

Food came out lightning fast at Bao Down, but not suspiciously fast, at around 10 minutes. The prep system seems well done and our server was diligent with filling up our waters despite having left the pitcher of water on our table. It wasn’t busy on a weekday lunch hour here with only a couple tables filled, so I presume if you’re working in the area and have a large group (8-10) that you’ll have no problems finding a spot together here.

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Unique Filipino ingredients in a colourful eatery above the usual casual Bao Down lunch price Highlight: Caldereta Bowl Price per person: $12-18 Would I go back? Only if the neighbouring Bao Down were too full.

Thanks for reading my review! For more tasty photos and reviews, get social and follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

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The Gray Olive Cafeteria - Brunch Review - Burnaby

I’m always up for a great brunch, so when I saw on Penny and Rusty’s blog that Burnaby Heights was seeing a new opening, I got excited. The Gray Olive Cafeteria is a quick-service with menus for breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch. Does the calm vibe lead to an enthralling brunch or might there be something wrong with the bowls? Read on to find out.

Food:

Team Tastic came here back in February for a weekend brunch and I had a great taste of the following:

Smoked Ham Hock Benny ($16.50)

Chicken and Waffle ($18.25)

The Smoked Ham Hock Benny came with pea shoots, hollandaise, on a biscuit, and served with hashed potatoes. This was my first time receiving a benny in a bowl. Presentation-wise, this was as good as they come in this price range. A healthy dose of greens brightened up the bowl and tasted great smothered in the hollandaise sauce. The potatoes in particular were fantastic with an audible crisp. 

What didn’t go so well was the fact this came in a bowl. Knifing down the biscuit required an angle I’m not used to holding a knife at and the biscuit was pretty soggy. I presume the sogginess may be because the steam from the bowl-shaped container condensed into water, making the biscuit soggy. I think this would have all been avoided if this benny was served on a plate.

Smoked Ham Hock Benny

The Chicken and Waffle was a fried boneless thigh, fried drumstick, syrup, spicy Korean ketchup, whipped brown butter, and a whole waffle. Again, this was my first time receiving a chicken and waffle dish in a bowl and the first time getting a drumstick. The chicken here was juicy, but upon closer inspection, was a little too uncooked for my liking.

Questionable Chicken

The skin was pretty crisp, but lacked any meaningful seasoning (pretty much the opposite problem from The Eastwood’s version of chicken and waffles) and this is where the syrup and Korean ketchup came in. These two added a triumphant oomph of flavour for the crisp waffles. 

Chicken and Waffle

Features:

The Gray Olive Cafeteria may be called a cafeteria, but it’s actually a quick-service eatery that cooks food to order with infinitely more love than the stereotypical cafeterias seen in your local high school. The interior has great tiling and decor. The problem I had was the middle row of seats dividing the main seating area and condiments section. It’s too tight in here giving anyone who has to sit in the middle of the main dining area a tough journey in and out as there’s not enough room for the chairs to maneuver when occupied. This place seats about 30 guests, but it should really seat 5 fewer.

Annoying Chairs Inside The Gray Olive Cafeteria

Service:

Here you’ll place and pay for your order prior to receiving it. I don’t have a big problem paying $16.50 for a benny dish, but the use of compostable bowls is a bit concerning as other restaurants of this concept (e.g. Heritage Asian Eatery) use real kitchenware and reusable dimsum bowls which feel less wasteful. 

Menu

The staff here were cool though. The young, energetic, variety were on deck and the front of house team were all smiles as we placed our order. Water can be picked up by yourself. It’s tough enough getting in and out of the eating area so it might be best to leave a good tip and let the staff worry about bussing your table.

Inside The Gray Olive Cafeteria

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Fun new neighbourhood eatery that makes eating knifable food harder and seats you in a potentially cramped spot. Highlight: Smoked Ham Hock Benny minus the soggy biscuit Price per person: $15-$20 Would I go back? No.

Enjoyed this review of brunch in Burnaby? You may be interested in keeping updated with more restaurant reviews via my RSS Feed!

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Crab Park Chowdery - Chowder Review - Vancouver

Gastown diners can rejoice with the opening of a new eatery, Crab Park Chowdery. Taking over the former space of The Capilano, this kitchen-less establishment serves up homemade chowders, daily sourdough, and a variety of desserts. Does this new concept for Vancouver hit the spot or should Vancouverites fulfill their chowder needs elsewhere? Read on to find out.

Food:

Team GlueCrew and Team Tastic came here on 3 different visits and I had a great taste of the following:

New England Clam Chowder Bread Bowl ($11)

Bacon and Leek Chowder Cup ($8)

Bacon and Corn Chowder Bread Bowl ($11)

Chocolate Lava Cake (~$7)

Carrot Cake (~$7)

The New England Clam Chowder was a hearty bread bowl full of reduced chowder and topped with bacon. Presentation-wise, this looked as heartwarming as the famous chowders found in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. The bacon had a satisfying crunch and the side of sourdough was easily dippable in the self-contained chowder. Carb lovers should rejoice for this type of food in the neighbourhood as this is the first of its kind. This did not have as much clammy flavour as I hoped for but was still a hearty stock.

New England Clam Chowder Bread Bowl

The Bacon and Leek Chowder Cup was today’s (and yesterday’s) Chowder of the Day. This had the usual crispy bacon but featured a vegetable broth with an herbier taste that I likened to star anise. The cup version of the chowder still comes with sourdough but not the famous bread bowl. Those looking to be full may want to upgrade to the larger $16 cup as I felt the $8 cup was a mere snack size.

Bacon and Leek Chowder Cup

On my very first visit I also had the Chowder of the Day which at the time was a Corn Chowder. The corn made a huge difference, replacing the smokey bacon with a crunchy corn texture in a similar chowder. Overall, these folks love chowder and do it well. 

Corn Chowder of the Day

Dessert is where things fall a little short. The Chocolate Lava Cake indeed had chocolate in it, but there was no lava motion. There was, however, a fresh drizzle of caramel that was looked homey covering the wooden board plate. Being coated in a cool chocolate meant this dessert must have come straight out of a fridge. Lava implies chocolate is ready to ooze out of the cake, but that wasn’t the case here. 

The Carrot Cake was a better experience than the Lava Cake. While still straight out of the refrigerator, this had a moist body and balanced icing sugar. At around $7 though, these dessert prices are approaching full-service restaurant pricing and I’d rather pony up the extra money to upgrade my chowder. 

Chocolate Lava Cake and Carrot Cake

The funny thing is I only asked for a Lava Cake and the staff member threw in a Carrot Cake for free. Maybe these folks are really generous or they’re aware that a single dessert for $7 is quite the price at a small chowdery and that Purebread also stocks similar goods that are baked in-house.

Features:

There’s no kitchen here, so the chowders are prepared elsewhere and brought in. The desserts are also handmade off-site before arriving at Crab Park Chowdery. Inside the eatery are a longtable, bar stools, and hightables. There’s seating for about 16 guests and the feeling is quite comfortable with the full windows allowing light to stream in. There’s a TV for solo diners to immerse in and the hightables all have hooks for your belongings.

Inside Crab Park Chowdery

Service:

Here you’ll place and pay for your order prior to picking it up. As the chowders are kept in heaters, the service is nearly instant and the desserts can either come out of the fridge with your chowders or later on by your request. The staff here were quite pleasant and easy to get along with on all of my visits. The staff bus the tables so if you plan to leave your table dirty make sure to leave a tip. 

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Hearty chowders that hit a homey spot and provide a fresh new eatery category for Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood Highlight: Any Chowder of the Day Price per person: $11-$16 Would I go back? Not for the desserts.

Thanks for reading my review! Be sure to follow me on Twitter if you’d like updates on new reviews and further chowderventures.

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West Village Cafe - Review - Surrey

Disclosure: This was a complimentary tasting provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation.

New eateries tend to sprout in Vancouver more often than in its suburbs. South Surrey has recently seen the addition of West Village Cafe, an eatery providing fresh housemade treats and quick bites. With a clean look and traditional menu, does West Village Cafe get everything right or should they offer more creative options? Read on to find out.

Food and Drink:

Team Tastic came here for an early morning breakfast and we had ourselves the following:

Latte ($3)

Seed Bar ($2.99)

Local Beet and Goat Cheese Salad ($9)

Grilled Cheese ($8)

Waffle with Salted Caramel ($2.99)

When I wake up on Sunday, I gotta get a latte. I don't even drink coffee often during the work week but I like lattes for the milky froth and potential for latte art. Here the latte was also great value at $3 for a standard cup. The latte art here was more abstract than a leaf but better than anything an espresso machine would produce.

Latte

The Seed Bar was a vegan bar of cocoa, pistachio, peanut butter, and more. For those looking for calorie-dense items, this bar packed a ton into a neat, well-cut package.

Seed Bar

Moving onto some larger plates, the Local Beet and Goat Cheese Salad had candy cane and gold beets, radish, and standard greens. unlike some salads where the cheese is clumped in large balls, the goat cheese here was sprinkled over the salad in an even fashion, ensuring a consistent taste in each bite. The beets tasted fresh and overall the salad had good presentation and flavour.

Local Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

The Grilled Cheese here was a classic plate of cheddar, swiss, black pepper, and basil all grilled up between two slices of toast. Having the cheese ooze over the sides is a great aesthetic to have in a grilled cheese. The toast was crisp and the grill lines were pleasant to see. This wasn't too dramatic of a grilled cheese but still had a homey feeling to it.

Grilled Cheese

Finally, we had a Waffle with Salted Caramel. People in Vancouver might freak out over the waffles at Chambar, but I felt the waffle here was arguably just as good and a lower price to boot. The liege style waffle was toasted just right with a good amount of sweetness. The salted caramel made in-house had a good blend of salt and sweet and it was well worth pouring the entire container onto the waffle. Perhaps Surrey locals can rejoice they don't have to go all the way to Vancouver to secure some good waffles.

Waffle with Salted Caramel

Features:

West Village Cafe is a medium-sized eatery with seating for about 40 guests. There are couches, lounge chairs, a semi-communal table, and standard tables, giving the space a ton of variety when it comes to dining in. The decor looks very pleasant and modern; there are no obvious signs of age as the whole place was redone before opening.

Inside West Village Cafe

The atmosphere is quite comforting with lots of light streaming in through the windows and the soft look of all the colours. This place would be perfect for meeting with a friend who enjoys a calming environment. Unlike other cafes, West Village Cafe also offers 3 different house sauces of differing spice levels you can use for pretty much any dish you like.

Inside West Village Cafe

Service:

Here you'll place and pay for your order prior to receiving it. The speed of service is quick here as we only had to wait a few minutes for our grilled cheese to heat up and receive our latte. The staff were all happy on a Sunday morning and were busy keeping the space clean when the customer line was empty. There's a bin on the side to place your empty dishes so you can bus your own table.

West Village Cafe Menu

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Great, posh new eatery in South Surrey with homey classics Highlight: Grilled Cheese Price Per Person: $9-$15 Would I go back? Yes.

Enjoyed this review of a new cafe in Surrey? You may be interested in my review of Chatime by Surrey Central too!

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The Eastwood - Brunch Review - Vancouver

Disclosure: This was a complimentary tasting provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation.

On-and-off rain seems to be the norm in Vancouver when spring approaches. Something I find that makes the atmosphere less dreary is being in a bar for brunch. Daytime bars are a stark contrast to dimly lit evenings filled with alcohol and can feel quite serene with the mid-morning light often streaming in through the windows. The Eastwood, a new restaurant in the Fraserhood, was my brunch stop last Saturday. Does the brunch menu keep up with other bar brunch menus or should you stick to Wing Wednesdays? Read on to find out.

Food:

Team Tastic came here for brunch and I had a great taste of the following:

Pulled Pork Benny ($14)

Chicken + Waffles ($16)

The Pulled Pork Benny came with BBQ pulled pork, an English muffin, poached eggs, hollandaise , and home fries. The housemade BBQ sauce used in the pulled pork was fantastic. There was a ton of a flavour here! Normally I like a thicker hollandaise but this BBQ sauce was something special. The eggs popped with a satisfying amount of yolk and the hashed fries were crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside.

Pulled Pork Benny

The Chicken + Waffles were 2 pieces of buttermilk fried chicken, two waffles, and bourbon maple syrup. This was a little steep in price given there were only two waffles but the chicken was very juicy as this was chicken thigh instead of chicken breast which is the common cut. The seasoning was a little on the salty side so I recommend dousing this waffle with the included maple syrup. Overall this was quite satisfying though salt lovers will be the ones rejoicing.

Chicken + Waffles

Features:

The Eastwood takes up residence beside Pizza Carano and adds a community bar feel to the Mountain View neighbourhood. Inside there’s seating for about 60 amongst high tables, a bar, and some lower seats. It’s got an industrial feel with all the same high stools at most tables. I’d liken the vibe to be similar to that of The Bimini during brunch hours.

Inside The Eastwood

Inside The Eastwood

Service:

Brunch service wasn’t busy on this Saturday morning at 11am. This is great for diners because of the undivided attention but I suspect this hovel attracts more diners would much more enjoy the evenings crowds also come in for brunch. Our server was cheerful and brought out our food within 15 minutes of ordering which was standard pacing. She also came by to check up on us and top up our waters a couple of times.

Brunch Menu

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Classic brunch items in a neighbourhood that doesn’t have lines out the food for every weekend lover’s favourite meal Highlight: Pulled Pork Benny Price per person before tip: $15-$25 Would I go back? Yes.

Enjoyed this review of The Eastwood? For more brunch eats, you might be interested in my take on Mission in Kitsilano's new brunch menu!

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Ford Flex Limited 2017 - Crossover SUV Review

Disclosure: This was a complimentary rental provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation.

Whether you drive for pleasure or you drive for business, having a car is a luxurious experience with different tastes for everyone. I had the pleasure last week to give the 2017 Ford Flex Crossover SUV a spin. With dine outs on my mind and ease of handling a priority, does the Ford Flex command a powerful presence or did something get lost between the classic station wagon and modern SUV experiment? Read on to find out.

Key Features:

I had the Ford Flex Limited (starts at ~$46,000 CAD) for my week of test driving which had the following key features:

15.7L/100KM city mileage

19-inch painted aluminum wheels

Up to 2,356 cubic litres of storage capacity

Active Park Assist

3.5L EcoBoost® V6 Engine (All-Wheel Drive) @ 365 HP

Exterior:

The exterior of the Ford Flex Limited is a modern dream. Station wagon enthusiasts (or anyone who’s seen a Mel Gibson film from the 90′s) will be familiar with the shape as it sits a smidgen lower than a standard SUV’s height. The front headlights look sharp and the large tires demand attention. Those who notice front grilles will find a large “FLEX” in capitals across the front, leaving the Ford logo to be quietly noticed on the rear of the vehicle.

Front

Rear

Tires

Interior:

The interior of the Ford Flex Limited (seats 7 passengers) doesn’t feel as modern as the exterior and feels more like a traditional station wagon with extra moonroofs. Only the front moonroof can be adjusted but the rear ones can be covered up.

The leather seats feel premium and though Ford is a consumer line, the illuminated cup holders and infotainment system do have a touch of luxury to them. It was no trouble pairing my Android phone to the car via Bluetooth and the voice clarity on phone calls was crisp. Speaking of cup holders, drinkers will love the amount of cup holders; I found 10!

Front Row

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The touch screen is the main hub but the touch-sensitive buttons on the bottom largely do the same thing for controlling climate. I can’t wait for the day touchscreens just take over all the real estate for infotainment systems. My only gripe about the touchscreen was that it took 3 taps to turn on the 2nd row climate controls, but everything else (map and audio are what I use) was generally available through an AUTO command or within 2 taps.

Infotainment

2nd Row Climate Controls

The storage capacity of this car is massive. The seats can all be folded up to create a flatbed which is great for Ikea furniture or trips up the mountains. 

Full Storage Capacity

For those looking for adventure, the rear seats can be folded up tailgate style so you can lean back and enjoy the sunset from the trunk.

Tailgate Mode

Driving:

At 365 horsepower, city driving, which is what I do a majority of the time, is no challenge for the Flex Limited. I hardly ever needed to rev the car past 2000RPM and I got from 0-50 in a reasonable amount of time in the city. As a result, it feels very quiet in the cabin unless you’re pushing the car or using the S (Sport) Mode. 

Driver's Seat

I wasn’t a big fan of the Sport mode as it just felt as though the sensitivity of the gas pedal was doubled, giving passengers a larger lurch backwards in exchange for faster acceleration. Sports enthusiasts may not be pleased, but families looking for just a touch of acceleration may be okay with this.

The Active Park Assist is probably the coolest option you can get for the Flex Limited. This scans the right-side of the road (sorry Europe...) for empty spots for the car to automatically help you parallel into. I’m not great paralleling on a downhill so this was a useful feature for me. I didn’t find the assist to have spotted any obvious spots that I could have tried myself, but I also don’t think there were many opportunities for me to really test this feature. It’s definitely a boon for those who hate parallel parking though or those who can’t focus with the backup cam.

Gearbox with Active Park Assist Button

Ideas For Your Ford Flex:

In my opinion, Vancouver has a pretty great transit system, so if you’re around the city, you might not need a car. Where having a Flex becomes useful is if you’re looking at restaurants outside the main city. Here are some restaurant road trip ideas:

Sea-to-Sky Gondola in Squamish

Steveston in Richmond

Restaurant 62 in Abbotsford

Apart from Steveston, Translink doesn’t provide frequent routes to these locations, and I actually went to Restaurant 62 in our Ford Flex. The highway wasn’t challenging for our V6 and gas was cheaper outside of the GVRD!

Ford Flex Limited in Abbotsford

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: The station wagon is reimagined with a gorgeous exterior that doesn’t shout out its branding like most consumer brands Highlight: Active Park Assist Price Range: $30000-$50000 Ideal Driver: Families with frequent weekend drive outs