Salade de Fruits Café: The Night I Got 'Musseled'

My birthday falls two days after one of my good friends' birthday, and it's the first time in 5 years that we're in the same city! Hence, a celebration awaited. We decided to go to Salade de Fruits Café for fancy-ish dinner with another one of our good friends from high school. Salade de Fruits Café is a very small French bistro located inside the French Cultural Centre building on 7th Ave.

Salade de Fruits Café

It was packed with people on a Saturday night so reservations are highly recommended. The waiter asked us whether we wanted the table outside of the restaurant (still inside the building) or the smaller one inside. Great minds think alike, we decided to take the cozier one to enjoy the atmosphere as well. 

French bread

We were served with hot-out-of-the-oven French bread. Extremely fresh, extremely soft. Have I mentioned I love restaurant bread? Already couldn't stop eating.

For appetizer, we got l'escargot à l'ail (snails with garlic) to share. This was my first time eating snails. It came with 8 snails, which were already out of their shells and soaked in strong garlic and oil, so I couldn't really tell what snails taste like. The texture was like mushrooms though. 

Escargot à l'ail $8

With a full house, our main dishes took a while to arrive, so the waiter served us more French bread. That didn't help with saving space for my main course.

We sat at the Place de la Tour Eiffel table! A little small for three of us though. 

Hearing from many other foodie blogs that their mussels are good, I wanted to try their mussels. Since my friends wanted to as well, we got the large size and with fries instead of salad. 

Moules et frites (Mussels and fries) Large $22

Each one of the mussels in the pot were extremely juicy and plump. The picture above does not justify so here is a picture of one of them close up (and personal).

A juicy, plump mussel

As you start digging in, you'll see that the mussels are actually in creamy soup, which added a nice taste too them (a bit too salty imo though). This is definitely not great as a dish for one person, but perhaps great for sharing. As this was my main dish, I ate it the most.  Man, I have no idea how many mussels I ate, but it was A LOT. I'm really bad with estimations but I'm going to throw a number out here anyways, I think well over 20. I say there were well over 40 mussels in there? No idea. Just a lot. Because I felt so sick of mussels by the end of this. 

The New York steak was juicy, nicely seasoned, and huge. 

New York Steak

I'm not a fan of lamb as I don't like that unique taste. Though it wasn't very strong in this dish. The meat was very tender and I liked the sauce.

Carré d'agneau (lamb rack) $29

It's horrible that I'm basically uncontrollable when it comes to eating. I simply can't stop until there's no food in front of me. Even my friend tried to move the fries away from me, but that didn't stop me - I just had to reach a bit farther. Stuffed my face. Note to self: get salad as a side next time. 

Ok, so the food was really good. The service was great - the waiter was nice and he also told us about the specials of the day (which we did not order). There seem to be some nice decorations in there, but it was too dark to see. It was loud in the small place, so it may be difficult to chat. One thing I don't like about this place is that they only accept cash. No cards. 

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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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Pajo's Fish & Chips: Free birthday meal and for winter babies

Pajo's Fish & Chips

One of my mom's fondest memories during her early days in Canada is having fish and chips. Apparently that's the only thing she had no problem ordering. Fish and chips - easy to pronounce and simple to the point.

Pajo's Fish & Chips has 4 locations and I went to the one at Fisherman's Wharf, the best location in my opinion. Why? Because it's their very first location (original location is always better!) and near the water on the dockside wharf!

Steveston Fisherman's Wharf is absolutely a stunning place even on a not-so sunny day, like today. It's very easy to commute to too. I just took the 401 bus from Richmond Centre and in about 20 minutes, bam, I'm there! Yay for transit! Yay for the dockside,  beautiful views, fish boats, and fresh seafood!

Steveston Fisherman's Wharf

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Creamy Avocado Almost-Pesto Pasta: Simple & Yummy

Creamy Avocado Almost-Pesto Pasta

I love pasta with creamy sauce. I'm constantly trying to make my meals healthier, nutritious, and of course, easier with less prep time, which means that the food would be ready in no time! Now, this dish has all three of those elements plus more (that being extremely satisfying and yummy).

Here's what you'll need (for two):

Pasta for two (any type will be great) - I used spaghetti

A clove of garlic

Avocado

Half a lemon

Basil leaves

Salt & pepper 

Here's what I did: 

1. Boil pasta in salt water. 

2. Dice garlic into very tiny pieces.

diced garlic

3. Mash Avocado with a fork. Mix in garlic, squeeze in lemon juice, and stir in some basil leaves, depending on how much you like. I put in about 2 tablespoons of basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

Creamy avocado sauce

4. Mix avocado sauce with drained pasta. Sprinkle on some lemon zest if you wish.

Enjoy!

This was absolutely guilt-free as avocado is a superfood and contain all the 18 essential amino acids, rich in omega-3, high content of good fats, and the list goes on! So why use cream when you can have creamy avocado pasta? 

Each person is different so tweak the amount of ingredients to your tongue's liking and make yourself happy! =) 

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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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Costco's hot dog: Both my tummy and wallet are happy

One of my favourite things to do is grocery shopping. I don't usually go to Costco, usually only when my mom asks me to go with her. 

Our shopping trip ended with a stop at the food court outside which is opened to everyone (not only Costco members). They have poutine, fries, pizza, and of course, the jumbo quarter-pound all beef (or polish) hot dog. I got the all beef hot dog which comes with self-serve bottomless soda, but I'm indifferent about that as I'm not a fan of soda. My friend told me that he's gotten just the hotdog before for less than a dollar, but I'm not sure if that works at all locations and I have yet to try that. 

Hot dog with 20 oz. soda for $1.50

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Romer's Burger Bar

Romer's Burger Bar (Kitsilano)

It was my friend's birthday and so we had a dinner gathering with a large group at Romer's Burger Bar (1873 West 4th Ave.) in the Kitsilano neighbourhood. They have another location on Kerr Street in the Killarney neighbourhood and a new location opening next month in Yaletown. Since we had ~20 people, my friend booked the vault, which is just a private room downstairs and so we were also able to get their set menu. They have 3 sets to choose from: Bronze, Silver, Gold at $19, $21, $25/person respectively. We all agreed on the Silver menu - continue reading to see the food featured in their silver menu!

Toasted pepper wings

Edamame

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Jethro's Fine Grub

One of the first things I've heard about Jethro's, is their large and fluffy pancakes. As a fan of pancakes, I had to go and try them. We went there for brunch on probably the most popular brunch day - Sunday. The place is pretty small and it was packed as we were leaving and there was even a line up. I've heard that people wait over an hour for seats, so it's best to arrive there earlier as they don't take reservations. I guess we were quite early (10am) because thankfully, we were lucky as we were seated after only a few minutes. Jethro's is located on the corner of 16th and Dunbar Street.

The Rooster (buttermilk pancakes with a shot of
espresso and dark chocolate chips)

We ordered The Rooster (~$10) - buttermilk pancakes with a shot of espresso and dark chocolate chips, topped off with whipped cream. You have the option of getting chocolate gravy for an additional $1.50 but we decided not to after talking to the waitress and she told us that it's already quite chocolate-y with the chocolate chips. The dish came with only two pancakes, but they were huge. I have to say, they were very fluffy and filling - we couldn't even finish it. The whipped cream melted on top of the pancakes and I think that made it yummier.

Crab cake benedict (with hashbrown and toast)

We also got the house made crab cake benedict ($~11). Those were some yummy crab cakes! The rest of the food on the plate was pretty normal - poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, potatoes, and toast. The description on the menu says hash brown, but it's basically just potatoes. I thought they were a little plain, but other than that, I did enjoy this dish.

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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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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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The Point Grill

I was staying at UBC pretty late so I decided to try The Point Grill on campus. The Point Grill is considered a one of the higher end restaurants on campus and it is located at the Marine Drive residence.  

Turkey wrap with soup ($13)
Salmon burger with fries ($13)  

From this meal, what stood out to me the most was the salmon burger - it was very good! The salmon was flavourful, yet still had the pure salmon taste and it was not dry at all. The turkey wrap was not exceptionally good, but still tasty. However, I did not enjoy the soup very much

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