I have been away for the longest time and I have not been involved as much Regarding the food scene. My friends and Portland have revived my from this sight deviation and I hope to be able to get back on this.

Hope that I will be able to see you all back her on the site again!

Address: 1101-3779 Sexsmith Road Richmond, BC V6X 3Z9

I have always heard good things about this place so was really excited to give it a try. Many of my friends have raved about this place and compared it to Kintaro. They also said that it was difficult to compare the places as they were different. Like they would have cravings for both places for different reasons.

Walking it, it looked like a regular ramen shop with a simple setup. A booth and smaller tables mostly for 2-4s. It was pretty quiet when I got in and there were not too many people there.

Given that my usual test for ramen places is my Miso ramen I decided to get it. And as I wanted to test out other smaller things in the menu i decided to get the daily combo of the noodles and a side of rice.

First impression of the Ramen is that it is very flavourful, and I understood why my friends raved about the place. The noodles had a very pleasant texture when eaten and there was a good amount of meat and negi(green onions) to go with the soup. It had a little less items on the noodles then I was used to but overall it was a good amount. They kept it very simple and it works! But after eating more and more of the ramen I realized how salty it was. It was especially showed when I tried the negi butameshi (rice dish) I could tell it tasted good but I was not able to enjoy it without the soup flavour overpowering the side dish. I had to have a glass of water to be able to taste the subtle flavours in the rice. I have to say that I really enjoyed the flavour of the rice. It had a vary familiar Japanese taste mix of sweet and savoury. It felt very much like comfort food. The texture in the rice was pleasant, with the chewiness of the mushrooms and the burst of saltiness of the pork. Overall I have to say that I enjoyed the rice more then the noodles. If it was a little more balanced I definitely would have enjoyed them both as a package more

The service was usual for a ramen shop, where the get you seated and then get your order quite quickly. The servers were quite watchful of the tables and there was never any problems getting the attention of the servers. Very courteous Japanese service.

It was a little pricy for the ramen deal, or actually just the ramen by it self. For about $9 a bowl I expect something amazing! I mean my other fav ramen places always served for about $7.50++ for a bowl. I felt that it was a little over priced for the food when other places which are a little better serve for a lower price. The hours are not that conducive for me personally considering that they only open after 530pm. But that is a personal note.

Overall I have to say that I would go every now and then. Not on a regular basis but I think I would want that flavour once in a while!

Address: 207-B West Hastings on Cambie

I was honestly not expecting a restaurant as I have been to the other Nuba on Seymour and it was a Cafe style place. So when I walked in, I was a little surprised. A pleasant surprise. It had a good feel to place. Felt like a restaurant but still had a casual feel to it. Like you could bring anything from a group of friends to a date.

We were not very hungry so we ordered a couple of appitizers. What I ended up doing was sharing two appys with a friend. The Lamb Kibbeh Sainieh (Pan baked grain-fed halal lamb patties with burghul, pinenuts, onions and aromatic spices) and the Lamb Hushwie(sauteed lamb with onions, peppers, pinenuts and spices over hummus. Both were pretty good but I have to say that I prefer the Hushwie. The flavours blended really well when you had it with pita bread. The Kibbeh just felt like lamb patties with yogurt. It was not very impressive to me.

Lamb Kibbeh Saineh

Lamb Hushwie

The servers were friendly and were watchful of the table. There was never a cup left unfilled for too long. Server also provided good social banter as well.

Value was good if you expected dinner prices. Honestly I was expecting cafe style prices so was a little surprised when I saw the menu. But given the quality of the food and the feel of the place it is worth it.

I will have to go there and try the actual dinner meals the next time! I will be back!

(This photo from Urban Spoon)
Address: 2616 Main St, Vancouver, BC V5T
Junction: Main and Mount Pleasant

There was a night of no dancing so I asked a couple of friends out for a beer! Jane, one of my friends recommended this place as it was near her house. Great option!

THe ambience was great! When you walk in it is nice and dim, my favourite type of light for these types of social settings. Was already full when I got in and we managed to snatch up a table for us. The place is filled with a really good vibe. They had a bunch of electro music playing in the the background. Was loud enough for you to really feel the music and feel like getting up and dancing! They had a really good mix of music, I heard a couple of good Michael Jackson tunes through the night!

They had really cool decor too! Random pictures of Queen Victoria on the Lamp shades.

The table decor was nice and simple too!

We did not get to food till really late! We had some snacks at Jane’s place before we went out. The drinks were pretty reasonably priced. They had a special that night on the Farm Hand Ale for $5. That is a pretty decent price for a resto lounge. We did eventually decide to split a burger per Jane’s reccomendation.

Per Jane, she said that she was recommended the burger by friends. Honestly it was just ok. Nothing too fancy. I have had a few other really good places that are my go to burger joints and this just did not match up to in in taste, or quality. Was not impressed. The fries however were pretty darned good! I would actually be interested in trying the rest of their menu. My friend had a Daal and Naan bread which looked and smelled really good. I unfortunately did not have a chance to try it so I will probably be back for more!

Service was great! It was a little hard to get a seat to begin with but the servers were very watchful of their tables. They came often enough for us to feel comfortable ordering anything.

Value, it was a reasonable one as compared to other lounges in Vancouver. Food is about $6-10 for snacks, and about $10-15 for mains.

Overall, a great place! I will be back!

Address: Gastown, 213 Carrall St, Vancouver, BC V6B
Tel: (604) 915-7258

I have actually been here before for a some coffee with my friend and it was really good. So it was not my surprise when I was google searching for good sandwiches in Gastown that this was one of the options. When you see the place from afar, already looks like a place with great potential. The ambiance is really nice, and has a very good feel to it. When I stepped in, there a a few people in there just enjoying a light snack, or a cup of coffee. When you first go in you go in, there counter where you can order your food is right there, and above it, there is a huge board with all the items on the menu. Crossing a small divider, you go into a room that looks like a long hallway. There is a huge long table set right in the middle of it and it has chairs lining it.

This is a view from the back of the cafe to the front.

They even have a see through refrigerator with all the meats and pastas as well!

Soft rock music was playing in the background which made it a great place to go with a paper, a magazine, or a book to just sit and enjoy good food!

Food wise, I decided, after bantering with the girl taking my order and asking for her recommendations. I decided to order the Turkey Sandwich and soup. It had turkey, cranberries, mustard, and tomatoes. And the soup was the Potato and Onion soup.

The soup had a good flavour to it, and the texture was a typical of a root based soup. The sandwich was pretty amazing! The blend of flavours was great, with a hint of the mustard, the sweetness of the cranberries, overall an amazing sandwich. This is a place that I will come back for more and more!

Service is typical of most cafes here. You order up front and they serve you the drinks up there and you can take it to your table. If you do order food you can sit down and they will bring it over to you. Everyone was pretty friendly, and it had a very laid back atmosphere.

Value wise, I paid about $11 for the sandwich and soup so depending on your idea of value it can be pretty expensive. I did really enjoy the food and and the quality of the food was great. I will definitely be back for more!

Address: 401 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Y1R4
Tel: Tel: (604) 873-3277

So I just finished meeting up with a friend and I was in the neighbourhood so I decided to give this place a try. I have heard about it for quite a while but there was never a good motivation to actually head all the way over to try it. (Its kinda sad because I do live about half an hour to the place at the most.)

Food wise, I ordered a Miso Ramen, and made it a set, so it basically came with a onigiri and gyoza. The onigiri came first, and it was pretty good I have had better ones at Benkei before. It was the lightly flavoured rice. Personally, there was not much taste to it. Then the gyoza came, and it tasted very typical, but it was small. For the usual size that you get in other ramen places, it was about 1/2 to 2/3 the size. Flavour, was pretty good though. I am not sure if it was bought or made by the place but I liked it. The ramen came soon after, it looked good, and I liked the flakes of fried garlic on it. It added an additional pop of flavour whenever you took in a mouthful. The broth wise it was not very impressive, there was a little bit too much of something that tasted like ginger to me. The texture of the noodles were also not as good as some of the other places in Vancouver.

Ambience was like any regular normal ramen place, a little run down. Just some small booths and tables around. Mostly a place for up to groups of fours, but I did see them merge tables for larger groups while I was there.

Service was not that great. I had to wait quite a while for the bill to arrive though I had specifically asked for it. And the waitresses seemed to be too preoccupied by filling orders then everything else, ie filling up water, bringing up the bill, etc.

Value, for the price I paid, which was about 12 dollars, it was not too bad. I normally would just have a bowl of ramen that would be enough for me and it was $7.50 before tax so it actually is quite reasonable.

Overall, still feel that I would rather go to other ramen places to get my ramen fix.

***** Amazing place and I need to come back and bring friends to let them enjoy it too!
**** A reasonable option, will come here when lines to other places are too long!
*** Well, I guess if there is no other place this will do
** Oh man, must I? Can we go somewhere else!
* Woah! No! Not a good idea!

I have ignored my food blog for way too long! Goals to have this all set up again! Expect good posts in a little bit!

Hello everyone,

Sorry I have been really busy for the last while with work and dance and life. Have not really had the chance to go explore the food places here in Vancouver.

Well last night I had the opportunity to explore Chill Winston. It’s a lounge in Gastown Vancouver. It was a really good experience there. Weather was amazing and we were seated at the patio just enjoying. It was my friend Mauve’s birthday celebration and I had a Great chance to try the food.

The ambiance was amazing, the patio was great, with the sun and heaters when it started to get chilly in the evening. It was set up fir a very cost experience. The washroom concept is really cool. They have four cubicles, two guys and two girls, and a common hand washing area, with a fountain looking tap structure. You should go at least once just to see that.

The food was pretty good. I tried the a Bourbon Beef pizza. It had Goat cheese, grilled asparagus, bourbon oyster mushrooms and smoked beef on a thin crust pizza. Very good flavour, and the presentation was very simple but elegant. The other dishes that everyone else ordered were also plated really well. And the girls were gushing about the deserts but I did not get a chance to try it.

Service was good though a little slow. But being a lounge it is a little expected.

Value is pretty decent for a lounge, you are paying or the ambiance and everything

Overall totally worth going and I will be there to try something else!

Here is a picture of the pizza I had!

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast
Mayo
Ground Cayanne peppers
Paprika
2 leafs of Lettuce
1 Tomato
Thinly sliced onion
3 slices of bread
1 slice of cheese
Kosher salt
Gound black pepper

1) Season the chicken breast with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and half teaspoon pepper
2) Put a pan on medium high heat
3) Cook the chicken breast, about 5-6 minutes each side and there each side is nicely browned
4) While the chicken is cooking, we can prepare the mayo
5) Mix I tablespoon of mayo with half teaspoon of Cayenne pepper( more if you like the heat) an half teaspoon paprika
6) Toast the slices of bread
7) when the chicken is done, slice diagonally into thin pieces Layer the sandwich! Bread, mayo, lettuce, onion, tomatos, chicken,, cheese, bread, mayo, lettuce, onion, tomato, chicken, bread
9) Slice diagonally and serve!

There! Enjoy!