vancouver food file

One week ago at this time I was looking at whales and dolphins at Vancouver Aquarium. Now, I'm on the sofa in sweltering SoCal, binge-watching Mr. Robot and remembering all the fun food places I visited in Vancouver. Here are the food fotos!

Once we'd landed at YVR (that's the airport code for Vancouver if you need it for your Expedia search) and gotten checked into The Burrard, we realized we were starving, and considering we were basically surrounded by water, decided to go eat fish. So we went down the street and around the corner to a recommended sushi restaurant - Shizen Ya. They are known as the only place in Vancouver to use only organic brown rice. While it looked a bit odd, it's stickiness actually made the rolls a lot easier to eat. We ordered Spicy Tuna and Salmon Avocado rolls + Quinoa vegetable cones and SAPPORO! (You have to have eaten at Tokyo Delves in NoHo to get that last reference.) And yes, it was only lunchtime, but by then it was 5pm on the east coast and we were on VACATION!

After lunch, we went to Granville Public Market, which was full of food and had a bunch of restaurants and wine bars outside the market. I wanted to buy all of these towers of strawberries that greeted me almost as soon as I walked into the market, but alas, even I can't eat that many strawberries in two and a half days...

I could, however, eat some really yummy strawberry swirl gelato while listening to a local singer/guitarist play on the pier as small children chased pigeons all around him. He deserved every tip people dropped in his guitar case. 

For dinner, we also took a friend's recommendation and when to The Mexican Antojitos Y Cantina. Sadly, you don't get free chips and salsa at Mexican restaurants in Canada. You do get really good margaritas though. And okay food... I mean, they are a whole United States away from Mexico. And I was born in El Paso, TX, which has its own Mexican food brand named after it, so I have kinda high Mexican food standards.... I ordered enchiladas with the chile sauce. To me (and everyone in Texas, New Mexico and most of California) that usually means a green chile sauce. Not in Canadia though... lol.

Canadian Mexican food

Breakfast almost every day included a stop across the street at Starbucks because a) I'm a chai tea latte addict and b) I didn't have to deal with foreign transaction fees on my pre-loaded Starbucks app. Starbucks' cup lids (which you put on yourself if you want one vs. the barrista doing for you automatically, which to me seems a bit dangerous, but maybe Canadians aren't as clumsy as Americans. They are definitely more polite.. but I digress.) Starbucks cup lids illustrate one of the really lovely things about Canada. Everything is in two languages.. English and Le Francais. Even the "Caution Hot"  warnings :)

The next night we again took recommendations (from the hotel and my financial adviser) and went to The Flying Pig in Yaletown. We were immediately drawn to all the appetizers so we ordered a bunch of those instead of a meal -- the BC Salmon sampler, crispy brussels sprouts and the TO DIE FOR truffled jumbo macaroni. (Sorry no photos.. it was too dark inside.)


Combined with cocktails and catching up with one of QBall's friends now living in Vancouver, this was a fun and yummy Friday night.

Saturday was nature day -- walking across the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and a bike ride around the Stanley Park Seawall. But in the middle of our bike ride, we stopped for lunch at The Teahouse in Stanley Park. It was kinda fancy, but there were lots of people in the middle of nature days too. (The waitress even offered to store our bike helmets for us.) I was kinda looking forward to afternoon tea, but The Teahouse is a restaurant, not actually a tea house, thus no afternoon tea service. But they did have (mmm) hot tea that I ordered to go with my AMAZING Belgian Waffle covered (and I mean COVERED) in fresh fruit! 

Mmm hot tea with a view of the Pacific Ocean

There are actually two Belgian Waffles buried under all that kiwi, strawberry, blackberry, banana and grapes. This became not only my lunch but my dinner too. #foodcoma

QBall ordered the Kassler Pork and Apple Sausage Benedict. I had some of the sausage to counteract my sweet waffles with some savory protein.

After walking across bridges and riding bikes all day, we stopped on the way home for some beverages and to watch Team Canada beat Team Russia in the semi-finals of the World Cup at Elephant & Castle Pub in the historic Marine Building.

On our final day, we went to brunch before going for massages. Yelp named Twisted Fork one of the best brunches in Vancouver, and it was just down the street so we headed over ... and then waited 45 minutes for a table. But it was worth it. They make their own crispy Asagio scones and preserves, which Qball ordered that comes with a giant fruit salad. I was craving eggs and ordered the first thing on the brunch menu - the "Green onion, mixed bell peppers and zucchini Scrambled Eggs served with toasted sourdough and housemade jam, roasted roma tomatoes, rosti and sauteed spinach".... make that garlicy spinach. It was delish! As were the roasted tomatoes.

This was our view (sitting on one of the breakfast bars) as we waited for our food. Pretty. 

sunday funday: a dim sum food coma

Months ago, my Club Cupcake gal pals and I discussed going for Dim Sum. Today, it finally happened. We drove out to Rosemead in the San Gabriel Valley early and were the first in line at Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant when it opened at 10am. 

When we left at 11:40 -- with two boxes of leftovers and in food comas -- the restaurant was packed and there were probably 20-30 people waiting for tables. It's been voted best dim sum in LA by LA Weekly so if you want to go, go early :)

Here's what we had to eat that induced said food coma. (I've listed the menu numbers next to each one so you can be prepared if you go.)

#61 Baked BBQ Pork Buns
These were delish! And apparently they sell out of these a lot, so we ordered them first.
Note: This is LA Weekly's #1 dish at the restaurant.

#35 Shrimp Dumplings
These were also delish and easier to eat since they were small. They were also our cutest dish -- they look like little shells :)

#46 Soup Dumplings
These were good but hard to eat since their sauce is poured over them in the little tin, making them slippery little suckers. I accidentally dropped my dumpling back in (chop stick user error) and splashed sauce all over the white tablecloth. #oops 

#45 Shrimp Dumplings with Chives
These were HUGE and hard to eat because of their size. You'll need to hack it in half with your chopstick if you don't want to drop shrimp and chives back all over your plate.

#113 Stir Fried Rice Noodle with Chopped Chicken
When they say chopped chicken, they mean it. It's got hacked chicken STILL ON THE BONE in it. So be careful when you bite the chicken. The noodles were really good though once I got past the possible choking-on-a-chicken-bone factor. 

#25 Sauted Runner Beans with Minced Pork
I LOVED these! But I love fresh green beans and pork, so what's not to love?

#40 Steamed Beefballs
These were just kinda meh. It's a seafood restaurant, so don't come here for the beef.

#17 Sticky Rice with Preserved Meats (aka Pork)
This was really good and different from fried rice I'm used too. More meat and seasoning, less veggies and no egg.

#85 Almond Pudding and #64 Baked Low Fat Milk Buns
LOVED the Almond Pudding! It was sweet but not too sweet and very light and refreshing after a lot of meat and noodles. Did NOT love the Low Fat Milk Buns, but Katharine did. Why? Because the "milk" was of (my tastebuds red-alerted me) the coconut milk variety. I hate coconut. #menudescriptionfail

Fried Sesame Seed Buns
These were good but sticky on the inside and kind of hard to chew. I was so full by this point, I gave up on my second half. 

downtown adventure day

Last Saturday turned into one of my favorite kinds of days... wandering around downtown exploring! My friend James' sister Karen was in town from Austin to watch her favorite hockey team, the Boston Bruins, lose to my LA Kings. So along with Daryl, we set off downtown with the 7:30pm puck drop as our only scheduled activity.

Stop #1 was at my second favorite place to hang out downtown (after Staples Center, of course), the amazingly delicious foodie paradise on the corner of 7th and Grand, Bottega Louie. It was 1pm and the weekend, so the brunch menu was still in effect, and we took full advantage!

Daryl and Karen had Bloody Mary's, I had a Bellini.
Dessert was the caramel butterscotch parfait on the lower right, with a salted chocolate macaroon.
We also, of course, made Karen try the famous portebello mushroom fries! (Sorry, no photo. They were gone too fast ;)

Our brunch meals were (clockwise from top left): My lemon ricotta pancakes, Karen's smoked salmon benedict, James' salmon millefeuille with soft boiled egg on the side and Daryl's lobster hash.

After brunch, we were walking back to my car to put stuff (ie: my Bottega Louie sugar cookies and raspberry beinget, which I had for breakfast on Sunday) away, when we spotted R2D2 and some storm troopers. Now, I've seen a live cow wandering the streets of downtown, but seeing an actual celebrity like R2D2 had to be investigated! Turns out, they were there to promote the 24th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (aka FIDM), which is a block from my go-to DTLA parking lot. The exhibit was free, so we wandered in and saw all the costumes nominated for Oscars this year, plus the wanna-be's (Jem and the Holograms anyone?). It was a welcome surprise on our Downtown Adventure Day!

The Force Awakens costumes, official exhibit greeter R2D2 and a combo land cruiser/back to the future prop car (it had a flux capacitor inside, along with a mini-BB8). Check out the cool "Kenobi 2016" bumper sticker and the "Yoda" "fish" :)

My fave movie surprise of the year, Brooklyn, Academy Award Winner Mad Max: Fury Road, and the Cinderella princess dress

After the stop at the car, we wandered to LA Live. Karen wanted to check out the Grammy Museum (which -- tip! -- only costs $10 with your AAA card). They had exhibits on Otis Redding (4th floor), The Supremes (3rd floor) and a Bob Dylan photography exhibit (2nd floor). But my favorite thing on the 2nd floor was found in the hallway on the way to the restroom... framed photos of Adele and the Foo Fighters. Apparently 2011 was an excellent year for the only two music acts I've listened to on the iPod in my car for the last four months (with the exception of an experimental week, which I'll be blogging about here soon ;)

After the Grammy Museum, we hit up Rosa Mexicana for their famous pomegranate margaritas, guac and a mini-dinner.

Then it was time for Karen and I -- well our hockey teams -- to go into battle. Luckily, the good guys prevailed so Karen got a ride home ;)

old school eating

Saw this article/list online recently ...

Offbeat L.A.: The Oldest Surviving Los Angeles Restaurants… A Master List of the Vintage, Historic and Old School

.... and thought:
1) that's a really cool list

2) it's amazing there are so many vintage, original, independent restaurants left in LA's land of corporate franchises

and

3) I can't believe I've actually been to A LOT of these restaurants (41 to be exact!)... the best ones on the list being Casa Vega (that I used to live around the corner from) and Little Toni's (that I used to work down the street from).

But for those of you that like to debate who invented the French Dip first, Philippes and Cole's are both on here.

As is El Coyote, which I have wanted to go to forEVER but have still never been too.

So is Heart's Coffee Shop up Balboa Blvd. from my house... I should go there for breakfast one day. That's an easy hit for 42 :)

wine and cheese and jalepenos - oh my gawd!

In today's series of new-to-me places to hang out with good food and fun people, I present On the Thirty, a wine bar in Sherman Oaks, tucked into that super-busy strip mall between Van Nuys and Kester on Ventura Blvd. (You know, the one with the Lazer Tag place upstairs.) 

The atmosphere was fun and casual, and our waitress (who's name I can't remember) was awesome with wine recommendations, if not so awesome with remembering to bring everything we ordered (Umm... love the bacon-wrapped dates, but where are my truffle fries?!?) 

I was, however, impressed with our "mix & match" cheese & meat plate. You can choose a combo of 3, 5 or 7 meats and cheeses. We ordered two meats and told her what types of cheese we liked, then the "chef de fromage" selected three cheeses to compliment the meats. What you see below was the final result -- with olives, almonds, drizzles of honey and a side of jalepenos! Why have I never thought to have jalepenos with my non-nacho-plated cheese?!? Delish!

The only downside to the experience (other than having to ask where my truffle fries were) was the price tag. Eating lots of "small plates" (vs an entree) adds up quick. (Remember that if you go to Bottega Louie downtown. You've been warned.) 

It's much cheaper to go to Trader Joe's and copy the photo below... which I've done. So I would therefore like to thank On the Thirty for ruining my psuedo healthy summer eating plan. Since visiting this place, I've had wine, cheese, salame, crackers and jalepenos for dinner at home like four times recently. Ugh. Cheese is sooo good, but soooo bad. ;)

m street kitchen is mmmmm!

I ventured over the hill a few weeks ago for an early Sunday dinner in Santa Monica and discovered a delish new (at least to me!) spot on Main Street called M Street Kitchen. 

Located about two blocks up from the beach, it's got a comfy wrap-around patio if you want to sit outside (that's dog-friendly!) and has great happy hour specials from 4-6:30pm each day. We arrived early enough to order their yummy $3 sangria and guacamole as an appetizer before chowing down on this yumminess for dinner and dessert :)

Scottish Salmon with moroccan spices, artichoke hearts, chickpeas, tzatziki and arugula

Brussell sprouts salad with manchego cheese, almonds, berries and mustard vinaigrette

Warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream 

Then to work off the chocolate chip cookie, we walked down to the beach to check out the sunset... but being the west side, the cloud cover was already rolling in and kinda ruined the view... oh well. :)

#2 of the top 10 new... yep!

Each year, my friend Katharine and I go eat someplace fancy for our two birthdays, which are half a year apart. This year, she couldn't choose whether to go to Laurel Hardware or Bestia for her birthday in August.

Based on reservation availability, we ended up at Laurel Hardware in September. But I'd also managed to get a reservation at the hard-to-get-reservations-at Bestia for November. So we kept that... until the day of, when illness struck. We rescheduled... for January. And even though we were both battling nasty colds, kept the reservation this time (because otherwise this would have become my birthday dinner!) and drove to a scary little alley in the Downtown LA Arts district to sample the culinary wonders of the recently named #2 restaurant on Los Angeles Magazine's Top 10 New Restaurants of 2013 list.




Two things to note about Bestia:

1. The bar is very crafty. They have signature cocktails, beer and wine. I was denied my cranberry vodka, but received a bartender-created "fruity vodka something" (that's what I requested, not what they called it ;) that was super yummy.

2. The dishes on the menu are meant to be shared, and that's awesome because you get to taste twice as much. Although we'd been warned that they sometimes try to get you to order more than you need, we did okay and were pleasantly filled (but not in a full food coma) with two appetizers, a pasta, pizza and dessert, all split in two.

Here's what we ate: 

Little Gems antipasti. We ended up getting two salads to start. Both were fabulous!

Burrata with Persimmons + pickled shallots, scarlet frill, aged balsalmic and sea salt. (Thanks Katharine!) Can't go wrong with tomatoes, balsalmic and burrata!

Cavatelli alla Norcina, aka ricotta dumplings with pork sausage and black truffles. This was amazing! One of my new favorite things!

Margherita pizza with mozzarella, basil, olive oil, sea salt and a "toasty" crust. 

Not the best pizza ever (I think I like Mozza better), but still very good. 

Dessert was the Chocolate Budino Tart with salted caramel, otherwise known as a plate of ooey gooey chocolate on a crunchy crust. It should come with a glass of milk. So chocloate-y, but so good!

tea times two to celebrate national tea month!

While in my house, every month is Hot Tea Month (Coffee. Ick!), January is officially National Hot Tea month. So to celebrate, I started off the month with two afternoon teas out with good friends at new spots. 

Around New Year's, I trekked out to Sierra Madre with friends to have lunch at the Four Seasons Tea Room. This is a cute converted house with two tea rooms and a back patio (that was closed for winter, but looks super cute -- might have to come back in the summer). 

The tables are covered in lace tablecloths and doilies and the tea is served on pretty china. There were three of us, so we were able to order two pots of tea. They make their own blends, and we chose the "Holiday" blend, which was cinnamon-y, and a traditional English Breakfast. Both were very good.


We had the "Afternoon Tea," which comes with five tea sandwiches -- cucumber and dill, egg salad, tarragon chicken salad, roasted bell pepper with sundried tomato, and a very yummy banana bread with cream cheese. We ate them all before I remembered to take a photo (sorry!), but I will warn that the sandwiches were smaller than at most tea rooms I've been to. I was afraid we wouldn't get full enough but then they brought out the scones...

In case you haven't read my past blogs on my adventures around LA's tea rooms, I LOVE SCONES!! And these scones, were warm (actually HOT) out of the oven. And they were DELISH! They were plain (no fruit baked in), but were lightly brushed with butter. And did I mention they were hot out of the oven? Clotted cream and a sweet raspberry jam + warm, buttery carbs = HEAVEN! I was no longer worried about leaving hungry :)

 

Next they brought out the dessert plate. The chocolate truffle was a tad too chocolate-y for me -- I could have used a big glass of milk to wash it down... it was that chocolate-y. But the other two desserts were two of my faves: lemon bars and homemade shortbread cookies, dusted in powdered sugar. Mmm.

Overall, I give the Four Seasons Tea Room two thumbs up! It was definitely worth the trek east. (Well, the tea plus the shopping visit to Savor the Flavor down the street where I bought some amazeballs Tequila Lime peanut brittle and a canister of Hot Cinnamon Spice Harney & Sons [you guessed it] tea!)

A couple of weeks later, I took my super-sweet goddaughter Olivia and her mom Alicia to Afternoon Tea at the American Girl Store as a belated Birthday experience for Livie.

Now don't laugh at the fact I'm blogging about this. For a store specializing in driving small girls insane with new dolls every year, and tons of clothes for those dolls, and the ability to then make appointments for those dolls at the in-store beauty salon and photo studio, the food at this tea was surprisingly good, while also being totally kid-appropriate.... and doll-friendly. (We got a table-attaching booster chair for Olivia's doll, Little Livie, and they bring out a little tea cup for the dolls too!)





As a starter, they bring out a basket of cinnamon buns. Then you get to choose your beverage... anything from tea or hot cocoa to lemonade or juice. Alicia and I had tea. Livie had lemonade.

Next, the three-tiered tray of tea foods arrives, and with a few exceptions, it's very like any other tea. (The main exception is every item is named after one of the famous American Girl dolls...thank goodness Livie was there to explain this to me ;) The top "pastry" tier that would normally be scones (sniff!) had more kid-friendly food: "Cecile and Marie-Grace's Petit Fruit Muffins," "Kaya's Fresh Fruit Kabobs" and "Julie's Jello Smiles."

The next two tiers were the tea sandwiches -- soy butter and jelly, turkey and cheese, cucumber and cream cheese -- plus pigs in a blanket! The sandwiches were all cut into cute shapes like hearts, stars and flowers. And they were all very yummy!

Then it was time for dessert! 

Chocolate covered strawberries, a vanilla custard fruit tart and chocolate mousse in a flower pot, which was my fave -- not too chocolate-y, but just chocolate-y enough.

It was really fun, and a great way to introduce kids to tea. And they get you in and out in an hour... so we had plenty of time to shop afterwards. Little Livie now has a fluffy white cat named Tutu, and Tutu has a nice new kitty bed :)