When Jenkins and I heard that the Re-Up BBQ street cart was stationed near the Vancouver Art Gallery, we decided to give it a try one weekend. Stationed in the courtyard right next to the Olympic countdown clock, it was located in a pretty sweet spot and could be seen by all the foot traffic that went past that location. Even though it was a sunny day and during the prime lunch hour on a weekend, there was only one person in front of us so we did not have to wait long to order.

Re-Up BBQ keeps things short and simple. Along with a few drinks on their menu, the star of the show is their pulled pork sandwiches. Nestled between a fresh bun from Calabria Bakery, the pulled pork is super tender, yet juicy and packed full of flavour. There was a generous dollop of BBQ sauce that provided a hint of tanginess and sweetness but did not drench the meat. There was also just enough freshly made, crunchy coleslaw on top that provided the requisite crunch.

As you can see from the pictures, there is quite a generous amount of pork in the sandwich. Because the bun was not toasted, it soaked up all the delicious juices from the pork and sauce so everything came together in a delicious fashion.

For our drink, Jenkins and I decided to sample some of Re-Up BBQ’s homemade watermelon soda. The watermelon flavour was light but still very refreshing and there was a hint of carbonation from either the club soda or sparkling water that was used.

Jenkins noted that because we weren’t super hungry that day, the pulled pork sandwich was filling enough for him but he wasn’t sure if he would need something to supplement his lunch if he had been hungrier. I found it to be a good size for lunch…and also provided me with the opportunity to add a small snack later in the day. The sandwiches at Re-Up BBQ are one of the best I’ve had in Vancouver and is definitely something for you to check out. They told me they are open at 11:30AM on weekdays, 12PM on Saturdays, and closed on Sundays.

Details:
700 Hornby Street, Vancouver (by the fountain at the Art Gallery)
Tel: 604-724-0894

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

One of my stand bys when I’m not sure where to eat is usually a Hong Kong-style cafe. I grew up eating at such places so the food is quite familiar to me and it also doesn’t hurt that the prices are generally quite reasonable. I was first introduced to Cafe Gloucester several years ago and I remember it was my first experience with the HK cafe classic, the baked pork chop with rice. When Louis suggested one day that we venture out of downtown for lunch, we decided we should make the short jaunt to Cafe Gloucester.

We were lucky to be seated pretty quickly because Cafe Gloucester is pretty popular and is usually quite packed. I quickly settled on the baked pork chop with rice because it had been quite a while since I last had it. Looking at the picture below, you’ll see that it’s not the healthiest dish. The pork chop is battered and fried (kind of like a tonkatsu) before being nestled on top of some fried rice, topped with a sweet tomato sauce, and baked in the oven with a sprinkling of cheese. It’s definitely a rich dish and is probably not for the faint of heart. I ended up eating only half of this dish and packed the rest away for lunch the next day.

Like many dishes at Cafe Gloucester, my order came with a hot drink of my choice. I decided to go with the hot almond milk, since it was a chilly day. Unlike some places, the almond milk had a nice flavour and was not watered down. Still, it was likely made from a powdered drink mix.

Louis wasn’t too hungry that day so he decided to have a Portuguese chicken sandwich. The sandwich was a bit smaller than he expected. The chicken itself was only lightly seasoned and came with some lettuce and tomatos. Flavourwise, Louis wasn’t sure what made it Portuguese and said it was your run of the mill grilled chicken sandwich. He also noted that the fries were a bit boring and did not seem very crispy.

As expected with such places, service was brief but fairly efficient. I generally stick to the Chinese classics or baked items as that is generally what HK cafes are good at making. I’ve never ventured to try their sandwiches but I wasn’t surprised at the lacklustre nature of Louis’ Portuguese sandwich. In general, portion sizes are quite generous and unless you’re very hungry, you’ll likely be able to pack some to take home with you.

Details:
3338 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-873-3338

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $

Tomorrow is White Spot’s annual Pirate Pak Day. As with most people when they were younger, Pirate Paks were the thing to order when you were at White Spot. I was quite sad the day I turned 11 because that meant I was no longer eligible to order the Pirate Pak! Don’t tell the authorities but I admit that even after I was past the allowable age, I tried my best to continue ordering the Pirate Pak well after I had turned 10. Whether or not I was successful in my attempts though…well, that is another story.

White Spot contacted me to let me know that this Wednesday August 18 is White Spot’s annual Pirate Pak Day. To celebrate this great occasion, White Spot sent me and Jenkins a gift certificate to take advantage of White Spot’s one-day only adult Pirate Paks. For tomorrow only, $2 from every Pirate Pak ordered will be donated to the Zajac Ranch for Children. The Zajac Ranch is dedicated to bringing summer camps to children with serious medical conditions.

Jenkins and I know where we’ll be having our dinner tomorrow. Hope you are able to make it out to White Spot tomorrow to partake in the adult Pirate Paks and to support a great cause!

One thing that I always lamented about downtown was the lack of bubble tea and casual Asian eats available. I was used to my old stomping grounds in Richmond where there were a multitude of options available to me if I wanted to have bubble tea or go for some Hong Kong-style cafes or Taiwanese food. With several options opening up along Cambie Street, including, Corner 23 and Copa Cafe, there were some places close by but downtown options were still a bit lacking. Louis told me one day about the new Well Tea location opening up on Dunsmuir and Seymour so we knew we had to give it a try.

My first trip to Well Tea was actually with Tarri. We had been wanting to meet up for lunch for a while and when I told her that Well Tea had bubble tea, we decided that it was the place for us to meet up. I decided to order the Taiwanese sausage with rice set meal. It was actually pretty standard…the sausage itself was a little bland tasting and it was also a bit smaller than the servings I’ve had at other places.

The veggies that came with my meal were also a bit bland. The celery and cabbage tasted pretty similar (top and middle) and the potato salad had too much mayo for my taste.

I decided to go all out and ordered some bubble tea as well. Actually, I ordered milk tea with no pearls, so technically, I suppose it wasn’t bubble tea. One thing I like about the milk teas at Well Tea was that they give you the option of choosing how much sugar you want in your drink. I usually go with 25% sugar because I find bubble tea is normally too sweet.

About a week later, I went back with Jenkins for a quick bite to eat before going to the movies. I decided to have a hot pot item this time and chose the lemongrass chicken hot pot. I expected this to have a lot of chicken, but it was actually more of a cabbage hot pot with some chicken and fish balls. I also found the lemon flavour stronger than I would have liked, and I think it was because slices of lemon were also added. With so much cabbage added to the hot pot, this turned out to be a very filling dish but not really my cup of tea.

Jenkins decided to go with one of his favourites, the three-cup chicken. This was a pretty well made version of a Taiwanese classic. Unlike some other three-cup chicken dishes that we’ve had, spring onions were also added, which gave the dish a slightly different spin. The pieces of chicken were also pretty meaty and Jenkins noted that he was quite full afterwards.

I’ve been to Well Tea quite a few times now and although there seems to be a lack of consistency with their dishes, they are generally executed quite well. Service also seems to be a bit spotty at times but I think it’s due to the fact that they’re still trying to iron out the kinks. All in all, it’s not a bad option to check out if you’re ever in the mood for some bubble tea of Taiwanese food in the downtown core.

Details:
551 Seymour Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-681-9777

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

For my birthday, I decided to have dinner with some friends at Pourhouse. It was yet another place on my list of restaurants to check out and I had heard that the atmosphere at Pourhouse was quite nice so I rounded up a few friends for a nice little dinner gathering. When our super friendly server found out that it was my birthday, he volunteered to supply me with some beverages based on what I told him I liked.

First up is this drink with lemon, gin, elderflower liqueur, and some egg whites, I think. It was a bit difficult for me to remember everything but our server told me that this was a drink that they had just invented the evening before. It was quite refreshing on a hot summer day and the elderflower liqueur provided just a hint of sweetness.

I started first by sharing a oven-roasted beetroot salad with Jenkins. Tossed greens were mixed with pears, beets, blue cheese, and a walnut vinaigrette. If you are a blue cheese fan, there definitely was a lot of it in this salad but since it was mostly on the side, you can also pick it out if you wish. The mix of red and golden beets were very sweet and provided a nice contrast to the cheese and slightly peppery mix of greens.

For my main course, I decided to be somewhat indulgent and had the crispy cheese sandwich with house roasted tomato soup. The grilled cheese sandwich was crispy on the outside and had a gooey, cheesy filling. It was very different from the version I had at Burgoo, which was very buttery on the outside. This version from Pourhouse was crispier and more “dry”. The tomato soup was also more savoury and peppery. Although I enjoyed the soup, I would have liked it to be slightly sweeter.

The grilled cheese and soup was actually quite filling, so I decided to share dessert with Jenkins rather than order my own. The warm chocolate cake was recommended by our server and it turned out to be quite the hit. It came with a drizzle of salted caramel and a side of salted caramel ice cream. The cake itself was nice and molten on the inside and not too sweet so it actually paired quite well with the sweet caramel. The salt also brought out the flavours of the chocolate and caramel.

I ended up having a great time at Pourhouse. Although I only took a picture of one drink, we were kept entertained throughout the evening with the different drink creations that were presented to us. The food was quite tasty and had an interesting twist to many classic dishes. However, I have to say that the drinks are the definite stars at Pourhouse.

Details:
162 Water Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-568-7022

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Drinks: 5 out of 5 stars
Service: 4 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Generally, I don’t blog about my visits to weddings or other large meals that are paid for by other people. My reasoning for this is that if someone was nice enough to spend money to take me out for dinner and in the event that the meal wasn’t very good, I’d feel pretty bad about putting down their treat to me on the internet. So as a result, you’ll find that most of the meals I blog about are paid by me and if they aren’t, I try to make it as clear as possible who paid for the meal or how it came about.

Whew, now that I’ve gotten that disclaimer out of the way… Grick and Snoopy got married a little while back now. After some re-jigging of their reception venue, they ended up choosing to host their lovely reception at La Terrazza in Yaletown. I had such a great time at the wedding and Grick knew that I enjoyed the food sooooo much that he gave me the go ahead to blog about their reception menu. Thanks Grick! I should note that I blogged about La Terrazza before and although I enjoyed the food, it didn’t blow me away. However, the meal put together for Grick and Snoopy’s wedding was fantastic and I felt it was much better than the last meal I had there. After all this explaining, I’m sure you want to read about the food, so here goes…

Before the guests were all seated, several antipasti bites were passed around by the servers. There was quite a selection but unfortunately, I did not take any pictures. The first sit-down course was the Rigatoni Bolognese. The rigatoni was perfectly al dente and retained a nice, slightly chewy consistency to it with some bite. The Bolognese sauce had a wonderful meaty flavour and there was just enough to lightly coat the pasta without being too heavy. Jenkins had the vegetarian version of this dish and he also noted that the pasta was excellently prepared. I also felt that the dish was quite large, considering that we still had three more courses to go.

After the relatively heavy rigatoni, we followed up with a light Insalata Misto. The mixed greens, carrot, tomatoes, and cucumbers were lightly tossed in a red wine-dijon vinaigrette. The vinaigrette had a very light flavour with a hint of tanginess and the veggies were all very fresh.

For the main course, we had a grilled AAA beef tenderloin with sangiovese demi glace and scalloped potatoes. I generally find that the flavour is lacking in tenderloins due to its cut but the one we had at La Terrazza was surprisingly flavourful. The meat was very tender and juicy and the demi glace was the perfect accompaniment. I’m not a huge scalloped potatoes fan so I only found them to be ok but Jenkins and several other people raved about how they enjoyed it so much that they were hoping the kitchen had seconds tucked away somewhere.

After Grick and Snoopy went for their pre-wedding tasting, Grick came back telling me about how great the warm white chocolate cheesecake wrapped in phyllo with sour cherries was. I was a bit skeptical but I have to say that this cheesecake completely surpassed my expectations. I would even venture to say that it was my favourite dish of the evening. The phyllo was perfectly light and crispy and delicately tucked away inside was a warm and creamy piece of cheesecake. I could taste the white chocolate but it was not overly sweet and the sour cherries provided the right amount of tanginess to cut through the rich cheesecake. I found out later that some people were able to score multiple servings of the dessert because they found it to be so good! If only I had known about that too!

As if the cheesecake wasn’t a luxurious enough dessert, there was also wedding cake from Ganache. I’ve blogged about Ganache countless times and since I dove right into the wedding cake table, I neglected to take any pictures in my haste. Rest assured that similar to many of Peter’s creations at Ganache, it was very tasty.

If you’re in the process of planning your wedding and trying to figure out a reception venue, I highly recommend La Terrazza. The service was top notch and everyone was super friendly. From what Grick and Snoopy told me, working with them prior to the wedding was very straight forward and they were easy to deal with. And if you’re not planning a wedding, I still recommend La Terrazza and that at a minimum, you give the cheesecake in phyllo a try!

Thanks Grick and Snoopy for a wonderful time and congrats!

It was Jenkins’ birthday recently and since I was in charge of choosing the restaurant, I decided to go to Nook. It had been on my list for quite a while since my co-worker recommended it to me. After that, it seemed like I was hearing about Nook from a bunch of people, several of whom told me about their delicious pizzas. I tried to make reservations but found out that they did not accept them. However, when we arrived at about 7:30PM on a Sunday night, we only had to wait about 10 minutes, which wasn’t bad.

After we settled in, we ordered some San Pellegrino to buy ourselves some more time to peruse the menu.

To get the maximum amount of variety without eating too much, Jenkins and I decided to order a few items to share. First came one of the crostini of the day, which was a gorgonzola, walnut, and mushroom crostini. The gorgonzola was not too overwhelming and provided a nice sharp taste to the walnut and mushroom. The bread was still crispy and the whole thing was drizzled in a healthy amount of olive oil. I really enjoyed this crostini, which had familiar flavours but also tasted very original at the same time.

Next came our pasta selection, which was the orecchiette with Italian sausage, fennel, rapini, and chilis. I found the pasta to be well prepared but the combination of the ingredients just wasn’t my thing. The flavour of the chilis was quite mild and there were only a few pieces of the Italian sausage but the flavour of the fennel was very strong in the pasta. I guess if you are a fan of fennel, this would definitely be your thing.

I had heard from several sources that the pizza at Nook was one of their best menu items. Jenkins and I decided to order the prosciutto pizza, which came with arugula and roasted garlic. The pizza crust was perfectly prepared and crispy and there was just the right amount of toppings. The prosciutto was top notch and the roasted garlic was divine. I couldn’t stop raving about the pizza and even Jenkins, who is super picky when it comes to his pizza, declared it to be the best he’s had other than in Italy.

The next time I’m at Nook, I think I’ll probably stick with the pizza and crostini because those were my favourite dishes. However, I also heard afterwards that their spaghetti with meatballs is a popular item and is usually sold out before the evening is over. If that’s the case, I suppose I’ll need to try that too. The atmosphere at Nook is cozy and comfortable and it’s obvious that the food is created with care. They also have an open kitchen so you can watch the chefs tossing your pizza dough before the put the whole thing in the oven. I should also note that the desserts looked pretty interesting but since Jenkins and I had birthday cake waiting at home, we had to pass this time around.

Details:
781 Denman Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-568-4554
No reservations

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Jenkins and I were wandering the streets of Commercial one weekend afternoon when we realized it was time for lunch. We weren’t really sure what we wanted to eat that day and after passing a bunch of potential locations that required a line-up, we finally ended up at Taiyo Sushi, more because we’d be seated right away rather than anything else.

Both Jenkins and I weren’t feeling particularly adventurous that day and we were also rushing somewhere else afterwards. As a result, we both decided to order sushi boxes…not very original, I know! First came the miso soup. It was pretty standard. It was raining the day we were there so it helped to warm us up a bit.

I ordered the beef teriyaki lunch box, which came with beef teriyaki on rice, tempura, green salad, and California rolls. The beef teriyaki was a bit on the dry side but did not have too much teriyaki sauce, which I appreciated. The tempura was slightly over-battered but fairly regular tasting. The same went for the California rolls and the green salad; all fairly standard and predictable.

Jenkins had the same thing as me but with chicken teriyaki instead. The chicken was actually nicely fried and had a modest amount of teriyaki sauce on top. Jenkins noted that the chicken was juicier than it looked but overall, his sushi box was also quite standard.

I went to Taiyo Sushi with modest expectations but it looked like they produced some pretty predictable and standard fare. I didn’t try some of their other items rather than the fairly generic sushi boxes so it’s a bit difficult for me to judge them on their menu as a whole. I do have to note that the service was super friendly and very attentive. Our server did a great job of checking on us and ensuring that our tea was regularly topped up, which was a nice bonus.

Details:
1179 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Tel: 604-251-1788

Summary:
Food: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 4 out of 5 stars
Price: $

I had been wanting to go to Cibo Trattoria for quite a long time. The price range is such that I need to find a special occasion to justify going so it took me a while to find a good reason. I was talking to Grick and realized that it had been quite a while since we had gone out for a family dinner. In addition, I had been out of town during Mother’s Day so we decided to roll two in one by having a super belated Mother’s Day dinner at Cibo Trattoria.

Shortly after we ordered, we were presented with some complimentary focaccia bread. There were two choices, one with herbs and another with cheese. It appeared to be freshly made and was still warm. The bread was quite light and I especially liked the cheese version, which had a slightly crispy topping.

For my appetizer, I decided to have one of the daily specials, which was bruschetta with fresh morrels, a poached egg, and parmesan cheese. The bread was crispy and provided a great base for the flavourful morrels. The poached egg provided a nice creaminess and richness to the bruschetta.

My grandma decided to have the 3-course special, which came first with a spring salad that had pears, parmesan, and a fruity balsamic vinaigrette. The pears provided a slight sweetness to the salad and everything was quite fresh.

For my main course, I decided to have the pasta of the day, which was freshly made tagliatelle with a pork bolognese sauce. The pasta was about as al dente as you can get with fresh pasta but I found the bolognese sauce a little too salty for my taste. I’m not sure if all the pasta at Cibo is a bit on the salty side though because Snoopy also found her pasta dish to be too salty and she even mentioned that she likes her food on the salty side. She ended up sending the pasta back and Cibo was nice enough to take it off the bill for us. Since the pasta serves as a primo course at Cibo, it was a little small but since I wanted to save room for dessert that day, it was the perfect size for me.

Jenkins also ordered the 3-course special and his main course was the roast pork. It came on a bed of lentils, which made this dish quite hearty and filling. The roast pork was perfectly made and the skin was slightly crispy while the inside was nice and juicy. My grandma had the same thing and although she noted that she liked Chinese roast pork more, she still enjoyed it. I also think that she’s a bit biased when it comes to things like this.

For dessert, Jenkins and I decided to share our desserts. The coffee panna cotta was quite light and had just a hint of coffee flavour, which I think went well with the sweet crumbled amaretto biscuits on top. I don’t know if it was my imagination, but I felt like I could also taste a hint of caramel in the panna cotta, which was a nice balance to the coffee.

The chocolate nemesis cake was definitely my favourite dish of the evening. It came with a side of creme fraiche that added a hint of tartness to the rich chocolate dessert. The chocolate flavour was very evident in the cake and if you’re a chocolate lover, this is definitely the dessert for you! Snoopy noted that she enjoyed the torte so much that she didn’t even need the creme fraiche.

We all had quite a good time at Cibo Trattoria. The service was great and the room was smaller than I expected but the ambiance was quite nice. I definitely enjoyed the appetizers and dessert more than the mains but this could have just been due to the choice I made for my main course. I wouldn’t mind coming back to try some of the other dishes here so I guess I’ll just need to find another excuse to celebrate a special occasion.

Details:
900 Seymour Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-602-9570

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$$

One of the good things about working downtown is that there are a variety of options available to you if you are in need of procuring a lunch. Most of the time, I try my best to bring a packed lunch but every once in a while, I am inclined to go out or I just plain forgot my lunch at home. On one such occasion, I needed to buy my lunch and Louis and Amelia decided to join me. We were all in the mood for Thai food so we decided to go to Go Go Thai. It’s nothing fancy, but the food is decent and with lunch specials for $8.95, it’s not too bad for Thai food.

I decided to order the Green Curry with Beef lunch special, which came with a bowl of won ton soup, a spring roll, and a small salad. The won ton soup was basically chicken broth with two pork won tons. It was pretty standard fare and the won tons had more flavour than I expected.

I forgot to take a picture of my spring roll and salad but below is the spring roll and salad that came with Amelia’s dish. Similar to the won ton soup, the spring roll was pretty standard. It was fried to order and the veggies and spring roll wrapping provided the requisite crunch. I should also note that Amelia enjoyed her eggplant with chicken, which was the special of the day. The portion for her special was actually quite large and she ended up packing half of it to take home.

I normally order my green curry with chicken, but I decided to switch things up that day and ordered it with beef instead. The green curry was actually quite flavourful and did not have too much coconut milk in it, which can sometimes be the case. The beef had obviously been marinated and tenderized with some corn starch but still went quite well with the curry. However, I think I still prefer my green chicken with chicken more than beef.

I’ve eaten at Go Go Thai a few times now and their food is fairly consistent. It’s nothing special but I find their lunch specials to be a pretty good value and is comparable to some other Thai places downtown with slightly lower prices. The ambiance is pretty bare bones though so I suppose that’s where the cost savings come from. There is also a lunch counter with premade Chinese food but I’ve never tried it before.

Details:

682 Seymour Street, Vancouver

Tel: 604-688-3218

Summary:

Food: 3 out of 5 stars

Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Price: $