Jan-chan’s Tidbits

With a wedding next Saturday and like three mothers to celebrate mother’s day with (my mom, my grandma and Al’s mom), my family decided to celebrate mother’s day earlier. Mom wanted to try brunch so a week ago I made reservations at Griffins Restaurant. The restaurant is located inside Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, right by the Burrard Skytrain Station.

Brunch at Griffins run from 11:30 to 2:30pm. We arrived at 11:30 and got seated promptly at a table by the corner so we got lots of privacy. Fresh orange juice along with your choice of coffee or tea was offered by our server. I love fresh OJ~! We let mom and dad get their food at the buffet station first and during this time I took a couple of photos:

[Chef at the omelette's station.]

[My fresh orange juice. Yum~]

I haven’t had brunch in a very long time (I think my last brunch buffet was when I was 12?) and was surprised to see the many selection of food they offered. Crab legs, smoked salmon benedicts, roast beef, prawns and scallops…they were all so yummy. I couldn’t resist any so I ended up trying out a little bit of everything. Good thing I came prepared for all those food - I went jogging before heading out. Hehe. Oh and here’s the best part - the dessert! Mango cheesecakes, creme caramel, fresh fruits, cream puffs…I think I stood there for 5 minutes trying to decide what to try first. Anyways, for a sample of their menu, visit the Griffins Restaurant website.

[Here's what I got: white & dark chocolate mousse, cream puff with raspberry sauce & macaroon.]

[Al got creme caramel, jello and the same chocolate mousse.]

It was a very enjoyable brunch and we all walked away with a full stomach. Actually Al and I were so full we didn’t even eat for the rest of the day, not even dinner! Their brunch and lunch hours are really busy so if you’re planning to go, be sure to make reservations (or go there early).

Oh and here’s a picture Al took of me after I finish my 2nd plate (you can see the bone off some braised ribs to the side…lol)

Last weekend, my family and I went out to eat at Metro Restaurant for my mom’s birthday. My parents doesn’t dine out too much so it’s nice to take them to fine dining once in a while. I’ve wrote about Metro before in my old blog [I'll see if I can import the post here], it’s the restaurant where you can order by the ounce.

Much to my delight, Metro had changed the look of their menu. The items are the same, it’s just the layout is much more “user friendly”. It didn’t take as long to decide on what to eat this time around. I ordered Bread Five Ways to start and had Baja Spiny Lobster for main course, something that I don’t usually see in other restaurants. The five different types of breads were all really good [that or maybe I was really hungry at the time]. My favourite one is the walnut bread. The spiny lobster was bigger than I thought. It was cooked just right and tastes just fine on its own. The butter/side dishes that came with the lobster added new dimensions to it.

I didn’t get to take photos of the dessert as I was busy eatting it. I had the Rice Pudding Ice Cream. It got a really interesting texture, a bit grainy and tasted a bit like rice pudding, but the coldness makes it hard to tell sometimes. I like it because it’s not too sweet. Al had the Baked Cheesecake Mousse. It was really good. Creamy and soft, with a hint of walnut.

Anyways, on Sunday I went out to eat dinner with Al and his family. We went to Dozo Izakaya, a Japanese restaurant in Richmond. They have a lot of different tapa dishes like beef tataki and tai capaccio which I really liked. Their chiwanmushi [茶碗蒸し] is really good too. It’s got shrimp, clam, chicken and mushroom all inside this steamed egg custard. The restaurant setting reminds me of Hapa Izakaya in downtown.

The first picture is the chiwanmushi and the second picture is just the table setting before the food arrived. Take note of that fat bottle with a cork on top. That’s the soyasauce bottle. I didn’t get to take much photos when the food was here as once they place the plate on the table, everyone started digging in so I didn’t have time to snap pictures.

Restaurant Info:

Metro Restaurant:
200 Burrard Street
Vancouver BC
V6C 3L6
Phone: 604.662.DINE (3463)

Dozo Izakaya:
120 - 9020 Capstan Way
Richmond BC
V6X 3V9
Phone: 604.278.5808