Vancouver Archives - Page 41 of 43

Sweet Obsession on West 16th Ave, Vancouver

Post author:Suanne
Post published:May 23, 2007
Post category:Cake & Dessert Vancouver
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Polly and I missed our cake meet as both of us have a busy schedule. Finally, we get to have a break this Tuesday to go to Sweet Obsession at 2611 West 16th Avenue, Vancouver. Sweet Obsession is located in a small street mall in a residential area.

There is hardly any signage except one small one in front of the shop.

Sweet Obsession has a selection of exquisite cakes and pastries. You will be amazed at the selection available there; ranging from cheese cake, chocolate cake, mousse cake, tiramisu, torte, tart, flan, etc. They cater for all occasions from small dinner parties to weddings and formal affairs.

Sweet Obsession also serves sandwiches, pastries, cookies and dessert bars.

We decided to order our favourite cheesecake. We ordered two slices of cheesecake to share. The first one is a Chai Latte flavour cheesecake. The Chai flavour is very strong and overpowering somehow.

We preferred the Lemon flavour cheesecake instead. The tanginess just goes well with the creaminess of the cheesecake.

The cheesecake cost slightly over $5 per slice. We also ordered a Mocha and a Cappuccino to go with the cheesecakes. The drinks cost between $2.50 and $2.70.

The total bill came up close to $20 including tips. This is the only cake place that we’ve seen with mothers coming in for a take out with their baby prams. Sweet Obsession has very good traffic with a lot of clients coming in for take-out. The traffic tells us that this is a great place for cake.

Click on the link below to see more cakes.

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Steeps Tea Lounge in Vancouver

Post author:Suanne
Post published:May 8, 2007
Post category:Cake & Dessert Vancouver
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Updated: 14th Jan 2011; This restaurant had closed according to Urbanspoon.com.

Polly and I met again for a girls day out. We went to Steeps Tea Lounge on West Broadway and Laurel in Vancouver. It was a lovely sunny spring day and as you can see, there are already people enjoying a cup of tea in the sun at the patio.

Steeps Tea Lounge offers some two hundreds teas ranging from matcha (green tea), herbal teas, rooibos (black tea), chais and premium loose tea.

There is a cabinet by the wall where stacks of china tea cups, old fashion tea cups and mugs for you to pick if you prefers.

The decoration in Steeps creates an ambiance for relaxation. It is a great place for friends to meet and chat while enjoying a great cup of tea. (more…)

Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant, West Broadway

Post author:Suanne
Post published:March 23, 2007
Post category:Japanese Vancouver
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Polly, me and the kids celebrated the arrival of spring at Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant on West Broadway, just next to Toy-r-us. Coincidentally, that day was Polly’s family landing anniversary. We also took this opportunity to celebrate the birthdays of our kids which fall in March. There are four March birthday kids in the group.

Tomokazu serves all you can eat; $9.95 for lunch, $21.95 for dinner and $11.95 for late-night. They also have regular menu which goes by the item you order. Check out their website for more details.

We were there very early, just before 11:30 am; their opening time. We were sitted at a Japanese style table where we have to remove our shoes and sat on benches around a square table.

As usual we were served green tea and the condiments like wasabi.

We ordered the Miso Soup, Goma-Ae (Sesame Spinach) and Ebi Sunomono Salad (Prawn Salad) as a starter.

Come along are the Beef and Chicken Teriyaki.

There is a limit of two orders per person for Sashimi. The boys love Sashimi and we ordered all that we can. Apparently, the kids do not quite like the Tuna Sashimi. They preferred the Salmon Sashimi.

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Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts on West Second Ave, Vancouver

Post author:Suanne
Post published:March 15, 2007
Post category:Cake & Dessert Vancouver
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Polly and I resumed our cake meet after a long break due to her change of work schedule. I saw a review on the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in the Vancouver Sun some time ago and decided to give it a try.

The Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts is located at the entrance to Granville Island. This school has a restaurant which serves three course gourmet set menu prepar3ed by the students. The menu ranges from $24 for weekday lunch, $26 for Saturday brunch to $36 for dinner from Monday to Saturday. The restaurant has a great marina view overlooking the North Shore mountains.

The institute also has a Bakeshop and Cafe which serves specialty breads, pastries, gourmet cakes, light lunches and dinners for dine in or take away. This is where Polly and I indulged our craving for cakes.

We ordered three items to share. It is just too tempting looking at the array of items offered at the Bakeshop & Cafe. Those with chocolate cost $3.25 while the rest cost $2.95 a piece. (more…)

Orchid Delight Restaurant

Post author:Ben
Post published:March 9, 2007
Post category:Malaysian Vancouver
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Update 27-Feb-2008: This restaurant could have been closed based on the status as seen on various restaurant review websites. Suanne and I had not personally verify this.

Last weekend, we did not know where to go for lunch. We wanted to go somewhere we had never blogged on before. So I drove to No 3 Rd in Richmond — can’t think of any place. Then I continued over the Oak St Bridge to Vancouver’s South East Marine Drive — nothing fancy. Then I drove up Main St — also nothing we liked. Then we drove through Broadway — sigh, also nothing we fancied. By that time, Nanzaro and Arkensen was complaining that they were hungry and asked why do I have to always go to someplace to blog … and why I can’t go just to eat!

After driving around for 15 miles, I decided to just go to the Orchid Delight. The Orchid Delight is a Singaporean-slash-Malaysian restaurant located on Burrard and Broadway. They were located some years back at Willingdon and Moscorp in Burnaby.

The owner is the same but it is much smaller now. However, because of their new location right smack in downtown, they now cater a lot to more non-Asians. They are much cleaner. I like the new look. Parking is limited to only two spots behind the restaurant. Otherwise, there are plenty of street paid parking.

Suanne ordered their special of the day, Fried Oyster Omelette. This is better known as oh-jian and is a popular Penang dish. It is rather expensive … 13 bucks. That is the special price of the day. The normal menu price is $16.

Parts of it is crispy and others are moist — it is a very good balance of texture. Suanne ordered this spicy. One thing though, there were hardly any oyster on this — or at least we can’t see it.

Nanzaro ordered the Salted Salmon Chicken Fried Rice — same old stuff! Good to know from our readers that there is redemption for our boys when it comes to food. Whew!

This one costs $9. It is not as salty as those we find else where. The chicken, we noticed, were not fresh. It seems like it’s from some leftover fried chicken. This is strange — they had bean sprouts fried together.

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Pho Hoang on Main St, Vancouver

Post author:Ben
Post published:March 5, 2007
Post category:Vancouver Vietnamese
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Nothing beats a steaming bowl of Pho on a cold and rainy winter day. Pho Hoang is one of our favourite Vietnamese restaurants. Located along Main at East 18th Avenue, it is easy not to miss this restaurant with a wide store front. What we like about Pho Hoang is not so much for their Pho but the fact that they had a very extensive menu beyond just Pho.

From the many reviews we read of Pho Hoang, the biggest beef (pun intended) is with their slow service. I think it is because of the way the restaurant is laid out. It is wide with two wings separated at the entrance. It took about 10 minutes before they came with the menu and our pot of tea.

It is without a doubt that it’s a very popular restaurant. The place were simply packed when we arrived late for lunchtime. Unlike a lot of other Vietnamese restaurants, this place has a good mix of Asians and non-Asians customers.

Thai Peppers! I love Thai Peppers but they game only one — unchopped. This means that they expect the customer to bite into it. They are lethally hot. They are 50,000-100,000 on the Scoville Rating. As a comparison, Tabasco is 7,000-8,000, while Jalapeno is only 2,500-8,000.

The Cha Gio (Vietnamese Spring Roll) costs $3.95 for a serving of three. The skin is deep fried and crisp. The fillings were seasoned with lots of ground black pepper. This is one of the best spring rolls I have tried. I like the way the skin is deep fried. Do you know how they make it so different from the normally smooth skin?

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Hawker’s Delight on Main St, Vancouver

Post author:Ben
Post published:February 6, 2007
Post category:Malaysian Vancouver
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Hawker’s Delight is perhaps one of the ugliest looking restaurants around. And they are not exactly one of the cleanest places too. However, we absolutely love this place because it is also one of the cheapest places where one can get a full meal for less than five bucks.

Hawker’s Delight, a Malaysian restaurant, is located on Main St Vancouver.

They have the menu on the wall. Many of the dishes are spicy. So, you want to make sure you know what you’re ordering. The pictures do look very delicious. They only have about seven small tables — very cramped. If you go during their busy lunch time, you will have to wait for a table ala Malaysian style … stand beside the table and try to wait patiently for people to finish their meal!

Don’t expect table service. You have to go to the counter to place your order and get your own drinks to your table. They have self-service hot tea and water. Oh, they don’t take credit cards or Interac at all. It’s cash only. Oh, they also have a tips box on the counter.

Suanne ordered Prawn Noodle. The prawn soup tastes alright. It has a few large prawns and BBQ pork, bean sprout and garnish with fried shallots and chopped green onions. Just like the way they make it in Malaysia.

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Dine Out Vancouver 2007 – Chambar Restaurant

Post author:Ben
Post published:February 4, 2007
Post category:Belgian Vancouver
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I brought my local Vancouver project team for a little celebration for meeting a critical phase of project deadline. Those guys and gals had been working lots of overtime and weekends and had a major delivery completed on schedule. They all truly deserved a break, a time to sit back and celebrate a job well done.

So, to celebrate we went to the Chambar Restaurant. Chambar is a popular Belgian restaurant located on Beatty St in Vancouver. Unless you already know Chambar, a lot of people don’t even know it exists. From the outside you would easily miss this place because the restaurant does not stand out at all.

We ordered from their Dine Out Vancouver menu. It is $25 … and is a much more better deal food wise than some of the $35 ones I tried earlier. Some had the “La Salade” … the La Salade de Cresson – Watercress & endive salad, red wine poached pear, candied pecans, shallot crisps, gorgonzola dressing.

For me, I had the “la prawns” … Crevettes de safran – Saffron marinated prawns, peashoot & soba noodle salad. Spiced raita. Nice large prawns.

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Dine Out Vancouver 2007 – CinCin Ristorante

Post author:Ben
Post published:February 3, 2007
Post category:Italian Vancouver
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I am glad to learn that at least one reader missed our regular daily blog. It was a hell of a week for me at work. I could barely do anything else after work, let alone blog. Suanne had some blog entries left but we decided to not release those just yet so that we can keep this series of Dine Out Vancouver intact … it is my job to blog on this series. Am now back in action …

Lets see … we started off with a west coast style restaurant, and then we went to a grill, then a seafood restaurant followed by a french restaurant. This next one is perhaps the best Italian restaurant in Vancouver. It is located in the upscale Robson Street. Robson St is famous for the fashion shops and dining. It’s our version of Rodeo Drive and Fifth Avenue.

CinCin (pronounced as chin-chin) had won many awards especially in 2005 and 2006 in the Italian and wine categories. Some of the award mentioned were:

Best Italian – Where Most Memorable Meal Award, 06
Best Ambiance – Where Most Memorable Meal Award, 06
Best Restaurant in Vancouver – Les Clefs D’Or Silver Service Award, 06
Best Italian Readers Choice – Vancouver Magazine – Gold 06
Best Italian Critics Choice – Vancouver Magazine – Silver 06
Best Wine List in BC – Vancouver International Wine Festival – Gold 06
Best of Award of Excellence – Wine Spectator – 06

It is located on the second floor just above the fcuk Connection.

A stone stair case winds up from the hustle and bustle from the street level to the first floor dining room and bar. The restaurant is decorated throughout in earth tone. Lighting was dim.

I got to learn to order another type of cocktail. I have always had the same thing — Bloody Caesar. What is your favourite pre-meal drink? Give me some suggestion?

Anyway, the Caesar as always is spicy but this one is so much more heavier with vodka. Six bucks, small glass but perfecto!

Starters were the normal bread but with some thingy that is made of Olives, Roasted Garlic, Herbs. We think this is called Tapenade. How is this pronounced? I said that it’s ta-pa-nah-dey but Suanne insists that it’s ta-pa-ned. Anyway, this tapenade thingy is, well, sourish and salty at the same time. It doesn’t taste bad but it’s not good to me. I preferred good old butter and so I asked for some.

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Dine Out Vancouver 2007 – Le Gavroche

Post author:Ben
Post published:February 1, 2007
Post category:French Vancouver
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Updated: 18th Jan 2015; This restaurant is closed according to Urbanspoon.com

Le Gavroche is a french restaurant set in the middle of downtown. Tucked amidst tall high-rise apartments and office buildings, Le Gavroche is set on a pretty two-storey Victorian house.

It used to have a sweeping view of the North Shore mountains and habour. There are high-rise now blocking the commanding view. The setting is romantic. However, I find that the tables are placed too close together.

For some reason, I came expecting very formal service. Perhaps it’s because the exterior looked so Victorian. However, the service were quite informal and yet friendly — even loud. They talk to us like we’ve been eating there everyday. I like that.

We started off with a Bloody Caesar — spicy and with vodka. Caesar is a very Canadian cocktail.

The bread was quite OK. The crust was crispy. Nothing particularly exciting to this.

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