Chow Times » Free Stuff

Taste and Learn About Filipino Cuisine — For Free

Ben — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:17:03 +0000

Remember I told you two weeks ago in my Weekend Musings that There is Such a Thing Called Free Lunch? Well, here is the plan.

We had known Rey almost a year already. When we met, he was working in promoting the Filipino culture through raising awareness. Being a foodie too he brought us to Filipino restaurants and introduced us to Filipino cuisines.

Suanne and I always enjoyed learning about food and its associated culture. So we looked forward all the time to meet with Rey to learn from him.

Well, you can too … and believe it or not, FOR FREE!!

Crispy Pata from Pinpin Restaurant on Fraser

There is no catch, no selling of anything — so you don’t have to worry about this arrangement. It’s a long story how Rey end up with free lunches but he has quite a bit to use up. So Rey thought he might as well share it with chowtimes’ readers. What he wants to do it to promote Filipino culture and Filipino food. For Suanne and I we thought it would be another great idea to provide value to you readers and get to know some of you more.

Here is the arrangements:

Restaurant: Goto King
Address: 5183 Joyce Street, Vancouver (google map)
Date: March 6th, 2010 (Saturday) at 12:00 noon

Yeah, that is this coming Saturday. So time is a bit tight to arrange things (all thanks to my procrastination due to the Olympics!). Location wise, it is perfect because it is just next to the Joyce Skytrain station for those of you who don’t drive.

Pancit from Little Ongpin in Richmond

If you are interested, …
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Taste and Learn About Filipino Cuisine — For Free (166 words)

Results of Draw — Vancouver 2010 Olympics Opening Ceremony Dress Rehearsal

Suanne — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:00:08 +0000

The response was simply overwhelming. When Arkensen and Nanzaro donated three of their precious Dress Rehearsal tickets to chowtime’s readers we did not think much about it. After all, we had too many tickets and the event is held on work and school hours.

Credit metronews.ca - stig nielsen/for metro vancouver

It was in the news yesterday that thousands of volunteers were lining around the block in downtown Vancouver to get hold of just one ticket (with the option to buy another one at $50). Between Nanzaro and Arkensen, they were given ten without having to line up for it.

You know …

I want to say a heartfelt thank you for all the unexpected kind words you had for Arkensen and Nanzaro. We even received a long moving email from a reader just thanking the boys for putting the tickets out there. Those words meant a lot to Suanne and I because this allows us to demonstrate to our boys what it means to share and how people out there who truly appreciates such unselfish act. I want to let you know they are pleased and are proud of what they had done even though they did not say it. I can see it in their eyes. :-)

Thanks a lot!

It goes without saying that particular post generated the most number of comments ever. We had recorded a total of 308 comments. As expected, there are some frivolous submissions (i.e. 24 comments coming from one IP within a space of 30 minutes) … sorry to say we removed the entire swath of these emails from the draw.

We ended up with 272 email addresses which we ran through the Randomizer.

Here are the results:
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Results of Draw — Vancouver 2010 Olympics Opening Ceremony Dress Rehearsal (98 words)

McDonalds Mac Snack Wrap — Have One On Us!

Ben — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:00:18 +0000

Freebie time again!

McDonalds USA sent us another stack of “Be Our Guest” cards for give away to chowtimes’ readers.

This time it is for McDonalds latest addition to the new Snack Wrap Line — the Mac Snack Wrap.

Look at the picture above. What a beauty isn’t it? That is the official media picture of the product. They always look better than the real thing they sell in the restaurant.

I picked up the Mac Snack Wrap on the way home from work today. I just got to taste for myself how it is. Each one costs about $1.90 … or is it $1.60?

You know, I just can’t remember how much I paid for this. Suanne always says that I don’t check each time I use the credit card.

I must admit, I don’t. It’s a guy thing. Most guys never check these sort of things, don’t you think so?

Peeling open the warm flour tortilla, there is half of a normal beef patty. I think it is made with a normal quarter pound patty cut into half.

In it too are the same Big Mac sauce, shredded lettuce, some traces of cheese, a little bit of pickles, and chopped onions. It does not quite look like the official media picture.

I don’t know if you know this. The difference in the Big Mac from the other burgers is …
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of McDonalds Mac Snack Wrap — Have One On Us! (252 words)

Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony Rehearsal — Free Tickets

Ben — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:30:56 +0000

Update 04Feb: This contest is now closed. Will announce the winner of the 2+1 tickets later on today.

Some of you who follows chowtimes.com will know that Arksensen and Nanzaro will be performing in the Vancouver 2010 Closing Ceremony. Until today, Suanne and I still do not know a single thing about the closing ceremony. Any question we had always been met with “I am not commenting” response followed by a change of topic.

The Vancouver 2010 organizers surprised the boys by giving them 10 tickets to the Dress Rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. Frankly, Suanne and I were more excited than them. Arkensen and Nanzaro is more excited about their other freebies than the the tickets.

This is NOT from us. This is from Arkensen and Nanzaro. They have decided to donate 3 tickets to chowtimes.com as a give-away!!

We went and check if anyone is selling the tickets. Oh yeah, people are selling it at upwards of $250 per ticket on Craigslist (see here). But you are going to get it for free on chowtimes. Here is how …
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony Rehearsal — Free Tickets (499 words)

Complimentary Dessert from Tamarind Hill in North Vancouver

Ben — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:17 +0000

Hi All:

How would you like desserts like this … for free?

Coconut Crepes from Tamarind Hill

Tamarind Hill will be giving a complimentary dessert for every $35 spent in their new restaurant in North Vancouver.

We visited the Tamarind Hill on Lonsdale Ave about two months ago mainly because we wanted to check out if this new restaurant was as good as the popular restaurant in New Westminster. It was … even though the North Van restaurant is smaller than the first one in New West. We had blogged about our experiences here:

The first Tamarind Hill on 6th Ave in New Westminster
The new Tamarind Hill on Lonsdale Ave in North Vancouver

I wanted to let you know that our visit to the Tamarind Hill in North Van was unannounced. The staff did not realize who we were during the visit even though they noticed our camera. I think they assumed we were tourists because they asked us where we were from.

We paid for our meal. We are not paid in kind or money for this arrangement. We did because we wanted to give value to chowtimes readers — that reason and that reason only!

Tamarind Hill only realized that we had visited their restaurant after we posted our experiences on chowtimes and wrote to us about it. We took the opportunity to propose something that will benefit all parties … a free dessert to drive chowtimes readers to go out of the way to give Tamarind Hill a chance to show what they have to offer.

The details are simple: …
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Complimentary Dessert from Tamarind Hill in North Vancouver (74 words)

New McDonalds Product – The Angus Third Pounders

Ben — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:34:46 +0000

Hi All:

Chowtimes were informed by McDonalds USA that they were launching a new burger nationwide yesterday. Please note that this is currently being launched in the US and not in Canada. Normally we would not be interested because it’s for the US but since they offered to provide us BOG (Be-Our-Guest) cards, we jumped on it and said yes.

The new products are called the Angus Third Pounders. Obviously from the name itself it is large … a third larger than the quarter pounders. As a matter of fact, this is the first new burger launch from McDonald’s since the Big N’ Tasty burger was added to the menu in 2001 … eight years ago.

The Angus Third Pounders are available in three offerings: Deluxe, Bacon & Cheese and Mushroom & Swiss. The big-big difference between this and the other McDonald’s burgers are the introduction of ingredients never seen before on a McDonald’s burger:

Red onion rings
Full slices of bacon
Sauteed murshrooms
Natural Swiss Cheese
Bakery-Style sesame seed roll

It seems like McDonalds is upgrading their burgers to offer
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of New McDonalds Product – The Angus Third Pounders (259 words)

LetsGoForDinner.com … to Joe Fortes

Ben — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:00:21 +0000

Suanne and I first came across letsgofordinner.com Restaurant Loyalty Card during the EAT! Vancouver event. They got our fleeting attention with their claim of giving away 50% off dinner with the use of their Restaurant Loyalty Card. We did not think much about it until a few days after we got home while sorting through the stuff we collected at EAT! Vancouver.

The LetsGoForDinner card will certainly appeal to foodies, especially those who wishes to dine out at fancier restaurants. LetsGoForDinner offers half price certificates to some of Vancouver best restaurants. It’s as simple as that. Here are some of the the restaurants covered under this program (click on the links to see what they had to offer):

In addition the card will give you an automatic $10 discount without having to purchase discounted certificates at the following restaurants.
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of LetsGoForDinner.com … to Joe Fortes (351 words)

A Treat for Chowtimes Readers at Charm Modern Thai

Ben — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:00:50 +0000

Hi Chowtimes Readers:

Following our review of the dinner, Charm Modern Thai had very graciously agreed to offer Chowtimes Readers a chance to check out their restaurant at a discounted rate. This is exclusively available only through chowtimes.com.

All you got to do is to read the terms and conditions carefully on the coupon below and bring a printout of the coupon to the restaurant. For the “$5 off the $35 Set Menu”, please note that you need to call in advance to book your table. Also note that you will get $5 off for EVERY person in your party if you order the “$35 Set Menu” — good, eh?

You guys will have it better because Suanne and I did not even have this discount when we dined at Charm. So there you go … it’s not always that bloggers have a better deal then readers. LOL!

Getting the $35 Set Menu for just $30 is like a special on top of a special considering that it is a four course dinner with house wine! Their menu is below. See that the “$35 Set Menu” below states that this is applicable for a minimum of 2 and maximum of 6 person. I wanted to call that out so that you are not surprised if you so decide to dine alone or bring the entire hockey team. If you have more than 6 people, perhaps you could sit at separate tables and make believe you don’t know each other? You reckon? LOL!
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of A Treat for Chowtimes Readers at Charm Modern Thai (75 words)

Free Dinner At Morton’s

Ben — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Hi All:

Actually, I don’t mean all-all but all Certified General, Public and Management Accountants in the Metro Vancouver area.

I recently received a request from T2 Communications to post this particular contest on chowtimes and I thought why not, as long as it benefit our readers. Remember you just have a little more than a week to submit your details for the contest. I had verified with them that the info you submit will not be used for any other purpose than for this contest. I was assured that this is a genuine one-off promotion that Morton’s is offering to all hard-working accountants.

Here are the details … hope one of you wins this and bring me along for the dinner!

As millions of Canadians scurry to file tax returns by the April 30th deadline, Morton?s The Steakhouse in Vancouver is offering a special reward for those unsung heroes of the tax season ? certified accounts.

Morton?s is designating Friday, May 1^st as Certified Accountant* Appreciation Day and offering CAs the chance to ?file? for a complimentary Steak and Seafood Dinner for Two that will be awarded to one lucky CA and a guest on that date at the steakhouse to celebrate the end of the tax season.

If you?re a CA, all you have to do is email Morton?s at irene_laronde@mortons.com before April 24th to submit your name, business name, phone number and email address. Right before tax day, one winning CA in the Vancouver area will be randomly selected and notified by phone. The lucky CA and a guest will then enjoy Morton?s Steak and Seafood Dinner for Two on May 1^st. The winner must bring in proof that they are a CA (a province-issued certificate; a business card with their name and a CA title on it; or their CA license card.)

Certified Accounts deserve this tempting tax-time break from Morton?s because they are the ?prime? reason so many taxpayers file their taxes on time. Valued at $119 Morton?s Steak and Seafood Dinner for Two is a great way for anyone to enjoy Morton?s legendary cuisine and hospitality.

Morton?s The Steakhouse is located at 750 West Cordova Street in Vancouver.

*This offer is open to all Certified General, Public and Management Accountants.

Free Topping at Qoola

Ben — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:37:22 +0000

When I did a review of Qoola two months ago, I clearly remembered the Qool-Acai bowl that I enjoyed so much. I went to Qoola again yesterday to get a tasting. They have now a new and improved version of it. It used to be served soupy but is now thicker and more yogurty. I like it more this way.

OK, I know. The Qool-Acai is not exactly pretty looking but it is delicious. I can’t get enough of this.

Acai had been gaining popularity in Vancouver the past couple of months. Angie once told me that she was at Wholefood and the guy working there was telling her, “What’s up with this Acai? I’ve so many people asking for it!”. In fact, they had just stocked up because it was almost sold out during that weekend.

Even Google is showing the growing popularity of Acai in their searches. There is a little known feature called Google Insight which reports on the search trends of Google Search. Go ahead … filter it by Canada, Past 12 Months, and Food & Drink and you will find the results above. “Acai” is on #2 and #3 of rising searches.

If you had never tried Acai before, go to Qoola at 1116 Denman and try a bowl of it. Now, if you mention “Chowtimes Loves Qool-Acai“, you get a free topping of your choice. Try it with Mango. I think you will like it.

BTW, this offer is just for the month of April.