Twisted Fork Bistro: I ate for free!

I love weekend brunches, whether it's at home with my family or out with my friends. This weekend, we decided to go to Twisted Fork Bistro in Yaletown. It's a fairly small place and only have about 8 tables with an open bar. We were told that the wait was 45 minutes and we decided to wait as we had set our mind to it already. They have an electronic waiting list and you can even request a phone call or text message in which you'd be notified several minutes before your table is ready. What I don't understand is that another group came in after us, and they were offered the bar so they didn't have to wait. I would have totally be OK with sitting there. 

Twisted Fork Bistro

Why is it called Twisted Fork? I have no idea, but I think it's very unique and they actually have twisted forks as decorations which I thought was pretty cool! (But no, the forks you're given to eat with aren't twisted.)

All their brunch items are now $14.00 each. (They were $13.50 before June 2014.) I had quite a hard time choosing as I wanted to try basically everything on their menu. Finally, I decided to go with the Gruyere Baked Eggs and my friend was set on the Eggs Benedicts, but guess what was brought to me? 

Eggs Benny

Two plates of Egg Benedicts! Yup, they got my order wrong. They're so busy, they didn't seem like they wanted to make a new one for me because they said that "this is very popular and it'd be on the house, are you ok with that?" I said yes, even though I'm not a fan of bacon. I didn't mind trying their Eggs Benny, especially when they're $0 and I was starving from all the waiting. Also, I'd feel bad if they throw that plate away and have to hold up their waiting list.

Eggs Benny with bacon

Eggs Benny with bacon - toasted brioche, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, sautéed spinach, rosti, and baked beans. Only one of my poached eggs was perfectly done; the other one was overcooked, perhaps it was sitting there a bit too long before being served and got cooked. The hollandaise sauce was perfect and I also loved the baked beans.

Eggs Benny with honey lager sausage

Eggs Benny with honey lager sausage - Basically the same as mine, but instead of bacon, my friend had chosen honey lager sausage. If I had chosen Egg Bennys, I would have gotten the honey lager sausages instead as I prefer sausages over bacon. Again, same problem with the poached eggs.

Remember to ask for their homemade ketchup! I just gotta eat rosti with ketchup (same as with fries, hash browns, etc.)

homemade ketchup

I've heard so many good things about their ("best ever") banana bread that I had to order some to go.  $4 for 2 slices which came with homemade jam and whipped cream. They packaged it nicely in a box. Their banana bread was very moist and had walnuts in them - my favourite! They were indeed very good, especially with their homemade cranberry jam, but I wasn't blown away.

Overall, I think this is a fairly cute place for brunch, but be prepare to wait or go earlier to put your name down first. The food also took about 30 minutes to arrive so there was a lot of waiting to eat here. I was pleased with the food, but I don't think it justifies the wait time entirely.

Menu

Menu

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Matcha Green Tea Waffles [Recipe]: Super easy!

I finally tried making waffles! Waffles are one of my favourites - either for breakfast, afternoon snack, or dessert! Recipe below!

Ingredients

I used the Hamilton Beach Waffle Maker. It's very easy to use, and extremely easy to clean as well. Put in batter, flip, wait, flip, done!

Matcha Green Tea Waffles

Ingredients: 

1 egg

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk (I used Flax Delight)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp matcha powder
2 tbsp sugar
Topped with: Raspberries + Nestle Chocolate Syrup

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, mix together sifted flour, baking powder, matcha powder, and sugar thoroughly.

2. Make a hole in the middle and crack in the egg and pour in milk. Mix it until you get a smooth batter.

3. Depending on your waffle maker, you may want to butter the inside. Heat up the waffle maker and when ready, place 2 scoops of batter in the centre. Close the lid, wait for a minute, flip it over, and wait another 2 minutes. The waffle should be crispy on the outside, while soft in the inside.

4. Serve with chocolate syrup (or maple syrup) with fruits of your choice.

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Marulilu Cafe - Cozy, Cheap, and Calming

I always go down to Broadway and Cambie for food and groceries, but I don't know why I never noticed Marulilu Cafe until I saw it on a several foodies blogs. Marulilu Cafe is conveniently located right across from the Broadway City Hall Canada Line station. It's a small and cozy brunch/afternoon cafe with an affordable menu offering Japanese and western foods.

On other foodies blogs, I've heard a lot about the Japanese style breakfast which consists of grilled salmon, Japanese plain omelet, rice, miso soup and your choice of natto or tofu. So I've heard a lot about natto, (fermented soybeans), which have a very unique taste and texture and is high in protein. I'm always up for trying new foods, whether it be traditional or innovative, so I chose natto. 

Japanese Style Breakfast (grilled salmon, Japanese plain omelet, rice, miso soup, natto) $6.99

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Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe: Pannekoeks? Pannekoeken!

Exterior of Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe

I've wanted to try DeDutch for a while now, but Google told me that there's a better and less expensive place for brunch that's owned by the same people - Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe. They're located on Cambie St. and 16th Ave. and have a unique design/building that you probably can't miss. They've definitely put in effort for their decorations. 

Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe

Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe

So, what's there to eat at a Dutch restaurant? Pannekoeken (or Pannekoeks?)! Now, I'll let them define it.

Definition of a pannekoek

They didn't mention that pannekoeken is the plural form (as wikipedia told me) and they used pannekoeks? Hmm..

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Banana chocolate oatmeal

Steel oats take a much longer time to cook as compared to quick oats but it's worth it. I love the chewy texture that it brings to my bowl of oatmeal. After the steel oats are done cooking, I am at the point where I am quite hungry and I just want to be able to eat spoonfuls of it. So, I add some milk (from the fridge) at the end so my bowl of oatmeal will be at the perfect temperature to eat. Perfect way to cool down a bowl while making it creamier and yummier.

Banana chocolate oatmeal

Half cup of steel oats in over a cup of boiling water for 20 minutes. Add milk, bananas, and chocolate syrup.

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Banana Walnut Crumb Muffins [recipe]

 I love muffins, but muffins are definitely not my forte when it comes to baking. Mine has never turned out to be like the store-bought soft and moist muffins. However, I''m stubborn (and wanted a muffin) so I decided to give it a go again. 

Banana crumb muffins

I would say that these turned out relatively successful. They were soft and moist, and had a crumbly crunchy top. The inside of these muffins reminded me of banana bread and I'm still unable to tell the difference between them.

Here's what you'll need (for a dozen):

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• an egg
• 1/3 cup oil (I used grapeseed oil)

• 1.5 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

     Topping

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp softened butter
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Here's what I did:

1. Wet: Mash 3 ripe bananas, add in 1/4 cup of white sugar, 1 egg, and 1/3 cup grapeseed oil.

2. Dry: Mix together all the dry ingredients: 1.5 cup flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract.

3. Topping: Mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp softened butter, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts. Mix thoroughly.

4. Pour the wet into the dry and fold them together. Don't over-mix. After buttering the muffin pan, carefully pour the batter into 12 muffin cups. If you're using muffin paper cups, skip the buttering.

Muffin batter, ready to go into the oven.

5. After the oven reaches 375°F, place the tray in the center of the oven and let it bake for ~5 minutes. Take it out and place toppings on to the half-baked muffins. 

Toppings on muffins, ready for the oven again

6. Place tray back into the oven for another 13-15 minutes (until golden brown). Sorry for the blurry picture as I wanted them back in the oven AFAP (as fast as possible).

Fresh out of the oven!

Sit back and enjoy your fresh muffins, perhaps with a cup of tea. They will still be soft and moist the next couple days too. 

Banana walnut crumb muffins with tea

Though I was pleased with this batch, I'm constantly looking for improvements/tips for better muffins. Here is what I think I'd do next time: 

- Add walnuts to the batter.

- Make bigger ones so they look more like muffins. 

I adapted this recipe from the one on allrecipes.com by Lisa Kreft. I made a few changes/additions to the recipe. My family and I don't like extreme sweet things, so a major change is omitting some sugar. Nevertheless, I thought the sweetness was at a perfect level. Be sure to go gentle on the sugar when you also have ripe bananas because those are your natural sugar source already!

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Green Goodness

Some of you may already know, green is my favourite colour. Besides green pens and green walls in my room, I also like the "smell of green". Let me elaborate. One time when I went camping, I woke up to the fresh smell of crispy green leaves and trees. I was surrounded by nature's colour - green. That was my kind of paradise.

I also love matcha, green tea, green veggies and best of all, green smoothies. They're great for breakfast, as a snack, after workouts, for your sweet tooth, or simply for you to enjoy on a sunny day, like today. I basically just pop whatever I have in the fridge into the blender, taste it, and then adjust accordingly. 

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Start off each morning with a smile

...Or a drooling smile.

Aunt Jemima's pancakes

I love pancakes. 

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Fruit Sandwich

According to Health Canada, we need ~8 servings of fruits per day. I find myself constantly struggling to include more fruits into my daily diet. I usually find myself too full after a meal to eat more fruits. So I thought, why not include them in my meal? Here is a fruit sandwich I made with what I had at home. 

Fruit sandwich

Banana, apple slices, avocado, and peanut butter on whole wheat bread. Great for breakfast or lunch! Yum :)

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Solly's Bagelry

I've passed by Solly's Bagelry on 7th and Yukon St. quite a few times and it always seemed busy.  I stumbled into it with my mom for an afternoon snack and realized it was actually quite big with seats available inside and outside. They also have two other locations in Vancouver.

Solly's Bagelry (7th Ave. and Yukon St.)

Inside of Solly's Bagelry

Bagel bar

Goodies from Solly's Bagelry

This sign (below) was clear and big at the window and so I knew I had to get one because my mom loves warm, gooey cinnamon buns.

Their "world famous cinnamon buns" cost $2.85 each and I got myself a chocolate babka ($2.95). Yup, this place is owned by a Jewish family.

Chocolate babka & Cinnamon buns

My mom liked the cinnamon as it was soft, warm, and gooey, but I'm not sure if she would refer to it as  the "world's best"- that's quite a title. After having a bite of both the cinnamon bun and the chocolate babka, I don't understand why the chocolate babka is 10 cents more. It's just like a chocolate bun, while the cinnamon bun was more unique.

This certainly looks a lot bigger than it actually is - it's only two bites. This Jewish pastry is called rugelach and is rolled with some sort of sweet filling.  It costs less around $1. 

Before leaving, I also got half a dozen of bagels to take home with us. The guy who was helping me was very friendly as I'm an indecisive person and they had a variety of bagels. I got poppy seed, sundried tomato, raisin, mix, multigrain, and herbs. The raisin wasn't anything special and the herbs had a unique taste.

Bagels from Solly's Bagelry

I loved their bagels. I would definitely come back and perhaps try a more exotic bagel at the bagel bar (picture above).

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McDonald's Cinnamon Melts

Yes, a post on the restaurant that's known worldwide - McDonald's. I love how McDonald's comes up with different items on their menu every now and then. When I was a kid, I would be ecstatic when we take a trip to McDonald's, nevermind the happy meals. I also vaguely remember having a birthday party at McDonald's in the red boxcar, or am I just imagining that because I don't see the red boxcar at McDonald's anymore. What I do remember really well is playing at Burger King's ball pit and playgrond.. my goodness, that was so much fun.

McDonald's Cinnamon Melts

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Happy Valentine's Day

On transit today, I saw so many guys and girls holding flowers and roses, and my heart felt so warm. I still remember in elementary school where we would get the class list so that we don't miss anyone when writing valentine cards! Valentine's Day is such a great day for busy people to just take a moment to express their feelings for their loved ones. Or simply a perfect excuse to have your favourite dessert! Why stress over giving gifts when we do so on so many other occasions already? Plus, I think time is the most precious gift anyone can offer. So I hope you all had some time to spend with your loved ones!

Ok, on to where my heart is - food. Have I mentioned that I love breakfast food? Well, oatmeal is just one of my favourite things to have in the morning. I like my oatmeals simple, yet yummy (ie. getting to enjoy it without having to consume extra calories). Afterall, oatmeal is supposed to be healthy! I have really learned to savour the texture and taste of oatmeal the way it is. In other words, I've grown to love it the way it is. ;);)

steel cut oats x quick oats with blueberries

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Kam Do Restaurant & Bakery 金都餐廳餅店

I love bakeries and freshly baked goods. Among the abundant Chinese bakeries here in Vancouver and Richmond, Kam Do is my favourite for winter melon cakes (alternatively called sweetheart cake). In Chinese, they're called 老婆饼, which directly translates to "wife's cookie". Why such a name for a pastry? There are a few legends that describes the origin of this pastry. One legend says that winter melon cakes were invented by a man and dedicated them to his wife. His wife had sold herself in return for money that was needed for medicine for her father-in-law.

I've tried many winter melon cakes from many different Chinese bakeries here, and I have to say that I fell in love with Kam Do's after the first bite. Be gentle with them as the outside is flaky and delicate, but the inside is filled with a paste that makes it chewy. I think Kam Do does an excellent job of making the outside flaky as well as the taste of the paste and the degree of chewiness. And as you may know, I love chewy food! 

老婆饼 Winter melon cake

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Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant 紅日大酒家

Ever since I was young, I've always been excited to get up on the weekends for yum cha aka dim sum with my family. Most places that offer yum cha in the morning are also opened in the evening for dinner. Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant is located on Fraser Street and 19th Ave and I've been here quite a few times for dim sum as well as for dinner. Unlike traditional dim sum restaurants where they have people pulling out carts of dim sum, this restaurant provides you a menu in which you check off the items that you want.

One of my favourite dim sum is "zha liang" (炸两). It's basically steamed rice noodle wrapped around a  "Chinese doughnut" (油條), usually served with dried shredded pork, soy sauce peanut and hoisin sauce. Yum. For some, I know that they have to have some rice in their tummies to feel full. Rice dishes are also popular dishes for yum cha and the spare ribs with pumpkin is especially popular in my family. The server will usually pour some soy sauce over this dish and it came with a lot of spare ribs too.

zha liang 炸两

Rice in hot pot with
spare ribs and pumpkin

Steamed rice noodles dishes are my favourite because they are so smooth and tasty. We got another rice noodle roll, this time wrapping around beef (牛肉腸粉).

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