Tarts from Whole foods bakery - alternatives to Jordan's bday cake!!

I love whole foods!

This is a statement :) .  Their bakery, their cheeses, and their salad bar.... I just can't seem to get enough of them every time I visit!

Caper's, now known as Whole foods on Robson, still carries some great dishes from Whole foods and bakery items from Terra breads (my fav bakery!!)

Anyhow, this time, I got 4 small individual tarts for Jordan as his birthday cake.

I know... it's quite inappropriate... but I think variety matters! (esp after you have been dating for 8 years!)

Here is what I have got for him!

From top right hand corner, clock wise - Seasonal berry tart, blueberry almond tart, chocolate raspberry tart and lemon tart ($3.99 ea)

Our favourite tart (Jordan and I) was the seasonal fruit tart.  (sorry.. no close up photo as Jordan devoured it up in like, 5 seconds or something..... it was that good!)  The fruits were really fresh - the strawberries retained their bites even after sitting in the room temperature for one day!  

The pastry cream filling was smooth, creamy and had just enough sweetness to balance the tartness of the fruits.

I also really liked the tart shell - they tasted crumbly, sweet and just with enough hint of salt to balance everything out.  It was almost like a shortbread cookie (although I am thinking if eaten fresh, they would've been less crumbly but more crunchy?)

chocolate raspberry tart - $3.99 - 3.5/5

The chocolate raspberry tart was quite predictable (yet excellent) as the raspberry provided the necessary tartness to the already sweet and rich chocolate.  Though I have to say that the chocolate ganache filling was really smooth and velvety; and they used real raspberries in the tart filling.

kudos to the tart shells - all are crumbily and buttery and sweet.... 

lemon tart - 3.5/5 - $3.99

This was our 3rd favourite tart.  The lemon filling was really lemony and the tartness again, balanced well with the shell.

A good tart; but pretty ordinary. 

It was a, well, lemon tart.

Almond blueberry tart - 2.5/5 - $3.99

This was our least favourite tart!  We simply didn't like the drier almond paste focused filling because it felt drier compared to all the other tarts.

I still liked it for its crust but this is totally by personal preference!

The sliced almonds were crunchy and nutty; combined with blueberries - it was a perfect combination :)

if you like marzipan and almond paste based dessert (i.e. flour less cakes etc) - you should enjoy this tart!

Over all we enjoyed the tarts and like I said at the beginning - I love whole foods!

Food - 3.5/5 - Based on my over all visit! (surprisingly low? This score is compared with all my other dining experience!! so as a supermarket, I think it's a pretty high score, don't you think?)

Ambiance - N/A - :$ really depends on which location you visit!

Service - N/A -  it's a supermarket!  Though all stuffs are really friendly... I've never had a bad experience here!!

Market by Jean-Georges at Shangri-la hotel Vancouver - Great patio!!

It was supposed to be a girl's night out but... we had several guys joining us for the night :)

We wanted a nice patio for these hot summer nights, so I arranged us to meet at the Market by Jean Georges at Shangri-la hotel.

I had a great experience at the restaurant's patio, so I recommended the place and everyone agreed!

Off we went!

We had 7 people so it was a little hard arranging for us at the patio as the patio seats were first come, first served.  So we actually had to wait for quite a bit for our tables to be ready....

At least the complimentary rosemary dusted popcorn was quite tasty!

When we were seated, we were presented  with the full menu.

Judy went for the watermelon and goat cheese salad and the truffle, fontina cheese pizza.

Watermelon and goat cheese - $10 - 3/5

Truffle, fontina cheese pizza - $19 - 3.5/5

Judy enjoyed the watermelon, goat cheese appy quite a bit.  She thought it was creamy yet refreshing with the use of the watermelon.  I felt that the watermelon was too warm and not sweet enough - hence the entire dish became a little too sour and bland.  The goat cheese tho was really creamy with just the right amount of gaminess.  

Only if the watermelon was a tad colder (and sweeter!!)

Overall, it was a good balance between creaminess and refreshing, grassy taste of the watermelon.

The black truffle, fontina cheese pizza with a tad of fricassee and chives topped was a good pizza.  I got a tiny hit of truffle scent which was perfect because it wasn't too strong.  However, the truffle paste felt like the truffle paste I have once purchased from one of the "eat Vancouver" event - which is a bit disappointing.  I know how much I have paid for that entire jar of truffle paste........ 

Though, the pizza had a great, well balanced taste.  

don't you just hate it when the truffle oil really over powers?

Tuna tartare - $16 - avocado, spicy ginger relish dressing

Jenny and I shared a Tuna Tartare and a steamed shrimp salad ($18 - no picture...)

I had these two dishes last time I visited them and they were simply amazing!

I had to recommend them to my friends so... we got the two to share :)

The Tuna tartare was refreshing with the spicy la-yu oil providing a great kick and the ginger dressing cutting through the richness of the tuna.  I liked the tanginess from (perhaps ponzu?) some sort of citrusy dressing.  It really brightened things up a lot! The avocado beneath the tuna tartare provided another layer of creaminess to the already creamy tuna tartare that when you place the entire thing into your mouth, it is an explosion of flavours with a perfect  balance of creaminess, tartness, spice, and savoury.  

Loved it!!

The steamed shrimp salad with Champagne dressing was another stunning dish.  The dressing was a great balance between sweet. savoury, and tang.  I loved how they placed arugla together with shiso leaves and mint.  

Every bite was like a little surprise of flavour burst in your mouth because it wasn't your usual combination of the greens.

ahhh - so heavenly!!

cheesecake - N/A

Siny decided to order  a dessert instead of an appie or a meal.  She opted for a cheesecake.  

According to her, it was creamy and well balanced.

She enjoyed it!

Over all, our experience at Market was pretty good.  We loved the patio and courteous service.  Though the price was to the higher side, it was still well worth the trip if you were looking for a fun evening with courteous service.

Food - 3.5/5 - I really did not enjoy their main dishes last time, so make sure that you stick to the appies instead.

Service - 4.5/5 - impeccable! Always courteous just like their hotel service!

Ambiance - 5/5 - we LOVED the patio!! Though the inside is also really nice!

2005 Yiron Galilee from Israel - $$?

2005 Yiron Galilee from Israel - $$?

2005 Yiron Galilee from Israel - $$?

2005 Yiron Galilee from Israel - $$?

Gosh this was a tasty wine!!  I just randomly found it in Jordan's collection (he hates wine... :$ so I am doing him a favour.....)

Anyhow, I have no idea where this was from or why he has this and I just randomly picked it up and opened it.... The first glass tho wasn't so great because I didn't aerate it enough so the flavour was really harsh with really strong hints of barrel (oak?) flavour and it was actually quite unpleasant.  

The second day when I had my second glass... 

Oh My God, it was SO good.

Hints of cherry wood with a touch of oak barrel in the background; with predominantly the flavours of berries and some vanilla; it was unexpectedly fruity and surprisingly with minimal tannin (unlike many aged wines!!)  I love it........... and I feel terrible finishing the bottle all on my own!

Keep my fingers crossed that Jordan will not find out :$  

Player's chophouse

A while back, I picked up a groupon issued by Player's chophouse.  It was $45 for $101 worth of food - 1 appetizer; 2 entrees; and 1 dessert.  

After I read through the review from a blogger who also just recently dined there using a groupon, I decided to use mine as soon as possible because it seemed that the steaks weren't of great values (despite being a "chophouse") and also they were allowing the diners to simply order $101 worth of food instead of strictly following the groupon condition of: 1 appetizer, 2 entrees and 1 dessert.

So off we went! 

Cream ale - $6

The restaurant was quite empty; however the decor wasn't as dated as I thought it would be (although it was definitely not hip; more like a milestones in burnaby).  We were given couple menus to look at, but I only had one question in my mind: whether I can simply go ahead and order whatever items I can that would eventually worth a total of $101 or I have to strictly stick to the 1 appie, 2 entrees and 1 dessert option.

So after approximately 10 minutes, I finally got a chance to speak to our server.

And that was when I really just decided to forget about service and try to focus on food.

He was quite rude and not very attentive at all.  I had to ask him 3 times regarding the question I had in mind - but he couldn't make it clear to me and he sounded quite impatient when I approached him with the same question.
Anyways, services are perhaps hit and misses so I will not make a huge deal out of it.  Though I just want to make a note here that it took us a looonnnnnnnnnggggggg time to get our food......

Steamed mussels - $16

After we placed our order, the drinks came pretty quickly.  So we just sat there and waited for our appetizers to arrive.

...........

.....

More than half an hour later, our appetizers finally arrived.  Jordan and I were so hungry we polished up the plate in no time!

The steamed mussels were alright.  The mussels were a tad over cooked and the curry fennel sauce was quite salty.  But we were really hungry so other than the fact that it was too salty, it tasted alright in general.  

pulled pork poutine - $12

There were so much pulled pork on it!  This dish was almost like, 50% pulled pork and 50% cheese curds+fries... definitely a filling dish!

We enjoyed it mostly because we were really hungry at this point... but even when I was starving, this dish simply tasted mediocre to me.  The pulled pork lacked flavour entirely; and some parts were really dry (though to me dry meat = less fat = healthier protein choice... I know, twisted)

The fries were pretty good - they were quite crispy and held up to the moisture from the gravy and the pulled pork.

When will smoke's poutinerie open?!

Rack of lamb - $36 - pistachio-herb crusted, raspberry dijon mustard, mint demi

I was pleasantly surprised with the lamb rack!

This was probably the best thing that happened to me this evening.

The lamb was really tender and juicy.  The centre was perfectly medium rare and although the sides were a tad pass medium, they were tender regardless.

I also loved the pistachio-herb crust with raspberry dijon mustard - it was slightly sweet and crunchy with plenty of rosemary flavours.  I chewed off the crust from the fat - that's how good it was!

I barely detected mint in the mint demi so... however I still enjoyed the sauce <3

prime rib 16oz - $38 

This was not bad either: the meat was perfectly medium rare and it was so tender (when it just arrived)

I took couple bites of the prime rib and I enjoyed it quite a bit because it was different from the lamb.  The meat was really flavourful and it had a great meaty texture/chew.  However as the prime rib got colder, the texture became chewier.  Solidifying fat maybe?

The yorkshire pudding was really really overcooked.  But the mashed potatoes and grilled veggies were nice.  The au jus didn't taste quite like the au jus; however, the rest were all pretty decent tasting.

I didn't find the dessert to be worth taking photos because I found it really over-priced.  We opted for a deconstructed cheese cake and it was some cheese + whipping cream/sour cream mixture topped with some fruit compote sauce - there was a piece of phyllo pastry baked till crisp to give a textural contrast to the whole dessert.  It was served in a martini glass - really quite small for $8!!

Overall, our experience here wasn't entirely horrible but given the quality of the food, the ambiance and the price point; we will not be back.

Service - 2/5 - rude server (manager)

food -3.5/5 (mediocre!)

ambiance - 2.5/5 :$

Birthday dinner #2 - Joe Forte's, smoking dog bistro, and r.tl (regional tasting lounge)

So, there was a little funny story to this birthday of mine.

I got upset at Jordan for letting me plan everything myself.  I know, I know.... being a guy, he just thinks that it's the best if I plan everything myself so that I'd get everything I want.

But I don't want that!!

I just want a quiet  and relaxing birthday - I just don't want to plan!!! I'd be pleased with anything he plans, even if it were a free burger at Red Robin's! Anyhow.... so I got upset :(

Him, being the insensitive and man of the men and know that I simply can't resist seafood, surprised me with a seafood dinners weekend. LOL So now, after my crab dinner at The Keg, we are back to Joe Forte's (right across the street from the Keg) for more seafood!

Bread - with balsamic vinegar and lobster oil (3/5)

Seafood tower on Ice - 2 tiers - $60/person 3/5

The Bread - I loved the lobster oil.  But it was just, cooking lobster shells and heads in olive oil..... I don't understand how it can be sold for $22/bottle when it is easily replicated at home.. (with the waste parts too!) I'd recommend to make this at home if you love lobster - why wasting the shells and everything right? :)

The seafood tower - what a disappointment!  It was composed of (from top, clock wise) salmon fillet, oyster rock feller, steamed half lobster, dungeness crab, seared scallops and (middle) steamed mussels in white wine scarce.  The salmons were really really dry and tough; though the dill flavour really came through.  The mussels were the worst; they had a foul smell to them.  (This was the biggest turn off, as I didn't expect the mussels to smell funky... it didn't have to be fresh, but unsanitary was a whole different story!  Jordan had a mild allergic attack after consuming the food.... and I am suspecting the dirty mussels)

Our favs of the dish were the scallops and the oyster Rockefeller.

The scallops were really nicely seared and with a perfect doneness being plump.  It was bouncy and sweet; a great sign for it being fresh.  The Oyster Rockefeller, well, hands down for it to be their signature dish.  It was garlicky, sweet, savoury, crunchy and creamy... all the greatest flavour and texture combinations you can ask for!  A little splash of lemon cuts down the richness of the sauce a little and it was super heavenly!  

The ambiance tho was a bit too touristy - it almost seemed like everyone in the restaurant were a tourist.... our server wasn't very attentive either and we had to ask multiple times just for our water to be filled.  He only came around to take our orders and basically to give us our bill.  I didn't feel welcomed or well taken care of and really was a bit disappointed.

Food - 2.5/5 (fairly average for the quality....)

Service - 2.5/5 (not very attentive

Ambiance - 3.5/5 - great if you are a tourist!  but it looked a bit dated for me...

The smoking dog bistro - bouillabaisse - 3/5

I planned my girl's night out with the girls on the day of my birthday; so I picked the Smoking Dog Bistro in kits.  There were many more dishes ordered and other than the bouillabaisse I also tried the escargot as well as the baked brie.  The escargot was a tad too salty but it was plenty garlicky and buttery - but it was really salty....  The baked brie tho was creamy and paired well with the balsamic vinegar, cranberry, and (esp) the garlic!  

My bouillabaisse tho, was quite bland.  The saffron broth lacked any depth or flavour, the seafood was predominantly mussels and that piece of toasted bread was like a joke.... There were some spicy mayo at the bottom of the bread that not only made the bread soggy but also made no sense at all.  I didn't enjoy it very much.

However, what made the night was the company and also Jordan's second surprise.  

He phoned the restaurant and paid for all of our meals!

It was definitely a surprise and although a tad cheesy, it was definitely a plus point among all my girl friends :) A word of advice for all you boys out there: 

it is feasible - so try impress your girl's girls with this! 


Service for the night was great too; but that could have been because we were the only customers there.  We received all the attentions and even got a glass of wine on house!

Food - 2.5/5 - really average food...

Service - 4/5 - minus for server watching hockey during work

ambiance - 3.5/5 - not exactly romantic but definitely casual and comfortable

Bread chipotle butter - 2.5/5

Another day for my bday in yaletown with my faux sister - Sophi <3 we were roommate for 3 years in Toronto and she's just like my little sister; probably the closest person to me other than Jordan and my mother. :)  We headed to R.TL (Regional Tasting Lounge) in yale town for my bday gathering.

It really took me by surprise that a restaurant of this calibre is charging extra for the bread.  At $5, it does not live up to what it is at all.  The bread was cold and the chipotle butter was nothing special.  I wouldn't order this again; and I don't think you should either.  It's just not worth it!

We ordered the "La Formule for two" that was composed of :

Mussels - green curry - 3/5

(From left to right) Szechuan steak sliced flank, vegetables & spices 1.5/5 ; (choice) wild mushrooms 3/5;  mushroom  & truffle risotto, wild mushrooms, shaved parmesan 3/5

dessert - 

saffron gelato rose water, pistachio, crème congelé 

The mussels were really flavourful with a lot of lemon grass flavour.  However the steak was so tough that I could barely chew.  I liked the risotto as the truffle oil really came through and the rice was al dante.  (I love truffle oil so... it might be a bit overwhelming for some...)

The whole meal was $55 (+$5 bread) and Sophia and I ordered a bottle of wine to share.  It was definitely  not the best value but given the ambiance and the service (quite nice; but it was slow when we went in...) it was Okay.  

Food - 2.5/5 - mediocre at best - maybe we didn't order the right items?

Service - 3.5/5 - very good - but it was slow when we went in!

Ambiance - 3/5 - not the most romantic place; but definitely cute and chic

Birthday dinners - The Keg on Thurlow

I love the Keg.

Despite that they are chain restaurants and all, I find them to be one of the more reasonably priced steak houses that serve up great steaks.

Jordan and I made it to their Crab festival month for this birthday dinner, here is what we ordered.

20oz rib steak

Jordan ordered the rib steak.  It was a really nice piece of steak.  It was perfectly rare with a really nice char on the outside.  The meat was also really really flavourful ( I didn't understand the "flavourful" until I've had a filet mignon and a sirloin grilled to the same doneness side by side; if you have difficulty grasp that, you should try my method too!)  He enjoyed this!

Crab dinner

I had a really great experience with their crab dinner when I was back in Toronto.  The crab was sweet and meaty and it was everything a crab lover could as for on a dungeness crab!  I loved it so much that I was so excited when I found out that the Kegs here in Vancouver also has the crab fest so that is exactly what I ordered.  After all, Vancouver is where dungeness crabs come from!  How can this go wrong?

What a disappointment.

The crab must have been starved for days before they cooked it.  It didn't have much meat in it and was incredibly salty.  The meat was quite dry (probably from being boiled or steamed for too long) and it was just quite awful.  The grilled veggies were nice tho - but those will never make up for the failed crab dinner.

The ambiance here is great tho, definitely more lively than some of the other Keg restaurants and the high ceiling really upstages everything.  Service was phenomenal and our water glass was never empty.  Over all I enjoyed this dinner, not because of the crab but because of everything else.  (I will be smart and order a steak next time.) 

Food: 4/5 (crab was the reason for -1)

Service:  5/5 (amazing, despite the traffic)

ambiance: 5/5 (great for date nights or nights out!!)

 

Japanese snacks (Bourbon petites and more!) - from konbiniya on robson

I love Japanese snacks!

Not only that they automatically come in portion controlled sizes; the unique Asian influence on them just make them 10 x better than your usual ketchup flavoured chips!

Strawberry langue de chat - $1.49

I loved the prominent strawberry flavour and the strawberry chocolate/cream centre!  Petite sizes are also perfect for study/work time snacks and for sharing (if you want to share!)

BBQ corn - $0.99 

I got this one on sale because it was close to expiring.  I want to explain the definition of expiry date (at least in Japan) here because many people have misconceptions toward it.  In Japan, the expiry date on foods usually means "best before" - so even some foods "expire", it doesn't mean that they are not fit for consuming; it simply means that the manufacturer cannot guarantee the flavour of foods to be just as good as if consumed before the "expiry" date.

I loved the simple BBQ-ed sweet corn flavour of this chips.  In Japan, BBQ does not mean BBQ sauce flavoured; so that's great because they can provide you with the smokiness that comes naturally with BBQing foods yet you do not have to taste the horrid artificial BBQ sauce flavour. (I love barbecue sauce tho, just some chips use too much!!)

  

Brown sugar kinako (soybean powder) wafers - $1.49

Brown sugar kinako (soybean powder) wafers - $1.49

Brown sugar kinako (soybean powder) wafers - $1.49

 I know, I know... what is kinako/soybean powder and how do they put THAT into wafers??!!!  Relax :) kinako is sweetened soybean powder that is used prominently in Japanese snacks (wagashi).  They put it on mochi (sticky rice cakes), on sticky rice (ohagi), warabi-mochi (sorry I've got no translation for this one but it's a special type of mochi made of an Japanese herb extract)...etc - this is a very typical Japanese ingredient!

This one is my favourite as I am a sucker for anything traditional Japanese! (older generation taste buds :P )  It is definitely for those of you who are more adventurous as kinako is more an acquired taste.  It definitely tastes soybean and the bitterness of the brown sugar is perfect for balancing the whole thing out.  Loved it!!

rice cracker (senbei) Korean nori/seaweed flavoured - $1.49

This was my least favourite as I did not grasp the concept of Korean seaweed from this item at all.  Maybe it's just I do not understand how Japanese interpret Korean seaweed; but I found this to be on the bland side and almost tasted just like the normal ao-nori (Japanese powdered seaweed) flavoured rice cracker.  To me, it could have used more sesame oil flavour for sure.

Butter and soy sauce flavoured Curl - $1.99

Curls (yes, that's what they are called because of their curly shapes!) are one of the more traditional Japanese snacks as they have been around for more than 25 years!  The fact that they use butter with soy sauce screams traditional Japanese!  It is almost like a Japanese barbecue sauce but they also eat it with rice and they can incorporate it into pastas.  

I love Curls because they are my childhood memories!  It's amazing how inexpensive they are in Japan but how expensively they are sold here..... but yes, definitely worth a try, just for the butter-soy sauce flavourings!