Jan-chan’s Tidbits

Our friend Daniel came up to visit us from San Diego. I know that he’s got a sweet tooth due to all the ice cream stories I heard from him (most of them about the ice cream melting due to the freezing not being cold enough), I tried to plan a lot of dessert trips during his stay in Vancouver.

The dessert trip we went to is for cakes and teas at Berry Good Cake Cafe in Richmond. This little gem located in the Excel Center on McKim Way, Richmond, serves what I call Asian cakes and pastries with a variety of teas and blended drinks. Asian cakes and pastries are generally lighter and less sweet than their original, “Western” form.

The cakes at Berry Good changes daily. You can check our their daily selections of cakes from their display (fridge) by the counter. Here’s what we got that night:

Petite Formage (kind of like a cheese cake, very soft and creaming inside)

Berry Pie - the bottom is actually a cake layer

Strawberry Tea - with real strawberries

The strawberry tea was very good. I looked inside once we were done and found real strawberry bits.

Our second dessert stop (not in the same day of course, thought if would a bit of sugar over dose if it was) is La Casa Gelato on Venables Street, Vancouver. They have over 200 flavors now. The best thing about having ice cream at La Casa is that you can try before you buy. Out of curiosity, I asked about the Spicy Mango flavor and whether or not it’s really spicy. The guy behind the counter said “ya”, but I didn’t quite believe him since I figured, ice cream are cold, that’d take some spiciness away. Plus it just looked orange, no sign of any spices to add the heat. I guess my skeptical look gave me away as he then proceed to hand me a little spoonful of the Spicy Mango ice cream. The first few seconds after I had the spoonful in my mouth, I can only taste the mango. Then the spicy kicks in and it’s REALLY spicy. The worse part (well worse is because I’m not a spicy food person) is that the spiciness lingers in your mouth for a VERY LONG time. I tried a couple different ice cream after hoping it’d wash away the spiciness. I didn’t work.

After like 20 minutes trying to decide on what flavors to have, we’ve finally come to a decision on our ice cream. I wasn’t able to take photos because I was too busy trying to dig my little shovel (or spoon) into Daniel and Al’s ice cream to have a taste, but I did managed to get a picture of the Akbar Mashty ice cream in Al’s cup. It’s made with a Persian spice and I think mango? It has a very flowery taste.

Akbar Mashty (yellow one on the bottom) - taste like flowers

Rows of ice cream from La Casa Gelato - check out the colours

We also bought 1L of durian ice cream home, which is one of their top 5 best sellers! Next time I’ll try the Death by Mango to see just how “mango-y” it is.

Posted in dessert. dining in Vancouver. fun byte. yummy tidbits

Tags:desserts.dining in Vancouver.restaurant.sweets

Tripel Karmeliet - Blonde, robust, and smooth with a fruity finish.

Chambar has been one of my favourite restaurant since I’ve discovered it through Food Network Canada. Since June is the month of our anniversary and Daniel had decided to visit us from San Diego, I decided to take the guys to there for dinner & beer.

Petrus Gouden - Tripel - Hazy golden straw colour. Pears & lychees on the nose.

The Drinks

The list of Belgian beer from Chambar has something for everyone, even if they are not beer drinkers. Ken got the Tripel Karmeliet. It was very smooth and fruity, but not too sweet. Al got the Petrus Gouden – Tripel which is also a little bit sweet. I believe Daniel got the Gulden Carolus Classic – a bold dark ale, malty with a touch of bitter chocolate. As for myself, I got “The Grape Within” cocktail – Hennessy vs. pineau des charentes, fresh grape juice & citrus, topped with lustau sherry. It was very refreshing and it went very well with my main course – spot prawns!

The Food

Seared scallops & Kurobuta Pork Cheeks

Grilled Ostrich & Sweet Balsamic Onions

We decided to share 2 appetizers between the four of us: 1) Les coquilles st. jacques – Seared scallops, smoked kurobuta pork cheek, pickled green beans & horseradish vinaigrette; and 2) La brochette d’autruche – Grilled ostrich, sweet balsamic onions, marinated prunes, five herb pesto, crisp potato chips, vin cotto. The seared scallops were as expected, cooked just right. I didn’t get a chance to try the kurobuta pork cheeks but I did try the picked green beans which were quite interesting. The grilled ostrich on the other hand looked a bit too charred, however it wasn’t over cooked. The sweet balsamic onions were superb and I like nibbling on the crisp potato chips made with fingerling potatos (I’m guessing from the shape).

Canard à l’orange (duck breast)

For main course, both Al and Ken got the duck breast and goat cheese spring rolls (or Canard à l’orange as they named it on the menu). The meat looked really tender (I didn’t get a chance to try it). Daniel decided to get Chambar’s signature dish, the braised lamb shank with honey, figs, cinnamon and cilantro (Tajine d’aziz à l’agneau). This is also my dad’s favourite dish. It smells amazing and the meat falls off the bone so all you really need is a fork (sorry, I didn’t get a chance to take pictures).

Les Scampis de Colombie Britanique - Spot Prawn Taster

I got the spot prawn taster as the main course. I love seafood and this dish just screams “pick me” from the menu. There prawns are cooked 4 different ways. Sorry the picture didn’t turn out very good. I was trying to take it quickly so I can dig in and failed to notice my hand appearing on the side of the photo. Here are some close ups of each prawn taster:

Curry & Beer Battered

Citrus Poached

Prawn & Halibut Cake

Sautéed in Absinthe Butter

All of them were really delicious. My favourite would have to be a tie between the curry & beer battered prawn and the prawn sauteed in absinthe butter. The curry & beer battered has a very interesting flavor. The hint of curry is just right. The absinthe butter brings out the sweetness in the prawns which is also why it was one of my favourites.

The Desserts

The wonderful thing about dining out with a group of friends is that you’d get to try more desserts than if you were going out with just yourself and one other. Here are our dessert picks: Daniel got the Le Bavarois Sale – Salted hazelnut praline bavarois with Caramel, sour apple, fig compote & Calvados ice cream. I love this ice cream. The salted hazelnut praline was good but the ice cream stole the show for me.

Le Bavarois Sale

Ken got the espresso cheesecake with belgian chocolate mousse. It has a very rich espresso flavor. Since I’m not a big fan of coffee, I didn’t particularly like this dessert. However, it is very smooth and I’m sure coffee lovers would really enjoy it.

Le Café Belge - Espresso cheesecake with belgian chocolate mousse

Since it was to celebrate our anniversary, Al and I shared the dessert trio – L’Abeille et son the, which has honey ice crea, chamomile creme caramel & lemon meringue puff. I couldn’t taste the honey in the ice cream but again it was very smooth. The hint of flower in the creme caramel made it very interesting and refreshing. I wish the lemon meringue puff were bigger because I love meringue.

Lemon Meringue Puff

Chamomile Creme Caramel

Honey Ice Cream

I can’t wait for the next chance to dine at Chambar. The have a chef’s selection tasting platter for dessert which I would love to try.

PS: If you haven’t noticed I’ve been using the iPhone camera to take pictures. Thus the quality can be a bit poor at times. For photos with special filters/effects (the square ones) I’ve also been using Hipstamatic.

Posted in dining in Vancouver. yummy tidbits

Tags:dining in Vancouver.restaurant

I wanted to eat those prawns so bad.

I’ve been going to Eat! Vancouver for three years now. Every year there are new exhibitors showcasing their products, whether it’s local or across the nation, I’d always find something new. This year, while we were at the exhibition, Al and I also visited the culinary exhibition where they showcased dishes prepared by culinary students as well as ones for other competition. While we were there, we followed the herd of students around to listen to thoughts and advices from master chefs. It was a very educating experience as the chefs were not judging on taste, it was only on presentation and selection of ingredients for the plates.

I took a lot of pictures (and missed a lot too since I was too busy sampling)! But I only have my iPhone camera so some turned out a bit fuzzy. Enjoy the photos (click to enlarge). For more yummy photos visit my Flickr account. There were too many to post here so I’ve uploaded them to Flickr. They’ll make you hungry and probably want to attend Eat!Vancouver with me next year.

PS: Some of the hand “modeled” in the pictures is not mine. In case you’re wondering why it’s so bony and wrinkly.

Switzerland Cheese

Bonchaz. Must visit one day.

Strawberry & Basil Ice Cream

Culinary Exhibition

Sausage & Meatballs...Yum.

Flower Tea

Posted in fun byte. yummy tidbits

Tags:event.food.Vancouver

Last month the twins and I went down to Las Vegas to attend a friend’s wedding. It was a pretty rushed trip as both Al and I don’t have any more vacation days and I didn’t want to take time off work since I had just got back from my trip to Hong Kong. So on Friday, we ended work earlier and drove down to the Bellingham Airport for our evening flight to Las Vegas. When we arrived at Wynn Hotel it was already 11:00 pm.

My dinner when we arrived at the Wynn on Friday night.

The rooms at the Wynn is so nice. This is probably my first time staying at a hotel room with such a huge bathroom and the beds are super comfortable. There were also lots of snacks tempting me but I resisted as they’d probably break my wallet.

The tub in the bathroom. Shower is to the left and his & her sinks to the right.

Basket of bathroom amenities. First time seeing shoe polish at a hotel bathroom.

The yummies that were trying to get me to lift them off the tray (if you lift something off the tray or take something out of the fridge for more than 60 seconds, you'll get charged even if you put it back). Did I mentioned that water is $10?!

The next day we went for a walk at the Palazzo and Venetian hotels and had lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio Bar & Grill. The twins ordered two pizzas which they only managed to eat half of each at the end. The food were really good. See pictures in the thumbnails below.

The wedding ceremony took place in the afternoon and reception in the evening. The food was good but the best part is probably the dessert! Since we didn’t have a chance to catch any shows while we’re there. Al and I walked to Treasure Island at night and caught their last show (the one outside, forgot the name) at 11:20. On Sunday, we tried Wynn’s buffet brunch. Again the desserts were excellent. They also have a very wide selections in their hot and cold menu, including items like congee with preserved duck eggs and Chinese donut. Check out the pictures below.

When we arrived back at Bellingham airport, it was 5pm. My total parking bill came to $20, which is roughly about 50 hours ($9/24hr). I wish we could’ve stayed in Vegas a little longer since I didn’t get to see much this time.

Desserts from the buffet.

Posted in fun byte. outside vancouver. travel

Tags:travel

For those that live or have been to HK, you’d know there are dessert places called “tong sui dim” 糖水店 (literally translated as “sweet soup store”). There are a lot of dessert places in Vancouver that serves a variety of cakes and other baked sweets but I have been looking for a place that sells sweet soups for the longest time. Sure there are those red bean or green bean soup you get after your meal at a Chinese restaurant or the ones my mom makes at home which is usually Coconut Sago (西米露) or sweet potato soup (番薯糖水) but I wanted something different, like  bean curd (or tofu skin) with ginko nuts and egg (腐竹白果鷄蛋糖水) or a mango dessert with tapioca and grapefruit (楊支金露 ).

In the summer I can get my craving fix at the night marketing. There’s a vendor there which sells a variety of sweet soups but I have no idea where their store is located. Last summer, being the foodie that we are (more like “wai sik guai”), Nel and I asked for their address. We didn’t take it down but remembered roughly that it’s behind the Richmond Public Market. Last weekend we decide to search for this mysterious dessert place and found it! Well more like we all recognized the banner it used at the night market with the name 桂花林 and a list of their desserts.

It was pretty busy on a Saturday night. We ordered tofu pudding with ginger syrup (豆腐花), sweet almond soup (杏仁糊) and two mango dessert with tapioca and grapefruit (楊支金露). They were all very very yummy. They also have some light snacks such as pork sandwiches, noodles and bubble tea.

Mango dessert (楊支金露)

Tofu pudding with ginger syrup. (豆腐花)

I also had a pork sandwich.

Info: Bubble Fruity 桂花林 (180-8188 Saba Road) Tel: 604-233-1130

Posted in asian byte. dessert. dining in Vancouver. yummy tidbits

Tags:desserts.dining in Vancouver.restaurant