The Mac Shack

Lobster Mac and Cheese ($15) take out

Raincouver, Raincouver. There's always someone complaining about the rain and so we have portrayed an image that Vancouver is constantly raining. Come on, we do get some sunny days! Nevertheless, I quite like the rain sometimes - it's refreshing! The best food on a rainy day is definitely hot food though. I tried The Mac Shack, located on West Boulevard across from Point Grey Secondary. The Mac Shack opened late last year and is already looking in to opening another location! Their menu features a variety of mac and cheese and offers 3 different sizes (regular 6"skillet, ultimate 7.5" skillet, jumbo 10" skillet). Don't see a combo you like? No problem, you can build your own (by choosing the sauce, pasta, cheese, etc.)

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Bonne Crepe

One of my favourite desserts is crepe and Bonne Crepe is absolutely my favourite place for crepes in Vancouver. Located in downtown on Robson Street (and Bute St.), it is a part of the Konbiniya Japan Centre, a Japanese market with lots of authentic goodies, such as pocky, mochi, and bento boxes. You can order from the street window that they have or inside the store.

Bonne Crepe offers Japanese-styled crepes, which are different from French crepes. One thing you might notice right away is that Japanese-styled crepes are much chewier while the French crepes are crispier. Also, while the usual way of eating a French crepe is with knives and forks on a plate, Japanese crepes are usually eaten just handheld.

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Growing veggies in my backyard

The sun finally came out today even though it's still pretty chilly outside. However, just seeing the sunlight reminds me that my backyard will soon be turned into a little veggie farm. My dad loves growing all sorts of greens in our backyard. My favourite are the green beans. I love how convenient it is for my mom to just take a few steps outside and have a whole fresh range of choice for tonight's dinner. Thank you, Dad!

Here's a picture I took last year. This is a type of squash. It wasn't doing very well at its original position but my dad saved it. See the strings? It's hanging as high as the fence!

Squash hanging as high as my fence.

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A Bread Affair

As I was grocery shopping, a shelves of colourful paper bags caught my eye - A Bread Affair. The bakery is located in Langley and is a family-owned business since 2006. They are known for their artisan breads made from scratch with local, organic ingredients. 

I was impressed by the writing that each type of bread had. I think they all relate back to "A Bread Affair." I picked up the organic ciabatta bread as you can see in the picture, the writing written on it. Indeed, the entire bread felt very soft, just like a pillow. This is the first product that I've bought as well as the first time trying ciabatta. I'd definitely like to try more bread from A Bread Affair and read more of their phrases. 

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The Sandbar on Granville Island

The Sandbar is one of the 4 restaurants under the Sequoia Company with the others being The Teahouse (Stanley Park), Seasons in the Park (Queen Elizabeth Park), and Cardero's (Coal Harbour). As you can probably imagine, each restaurant is located in a significant setting of Vancouver and hence each has a unique scenery.

Homemade Clam Chowder
bowl (top), cup (bottom)

I was absolutely blown away by the view of False Creek and the Vancouver skyline when seated and I cannot imagine how awfully nice it'd be to sit on the patio on a summer night. This was my first time visiting The Sandbar, known for its fresh local seafood. To start off, I had their Clam Chowder ($4.50 for the cup or $8 for the bowl), both shown in the picture.

Pan Seared Scallops
with jasmine rice and baby broccoli

It was the thickest clam chowder I've ever had and it had a lot of ingredients in it. For the main dish, I had the Pan Seared Scallops, which was about $20.

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