Roll 'Em, Roll 'Em, Oats Oats Oats

Last week I had the biggest urge to bake, so I bought ingredients....And then they sat for a week, until I finally had the time to sit and relax. Relaxing to me, is expression, in this case, through baking.

While I'm still sitting in a healthy binge, I need to satisfy my sweet tooth, while still staying within my limits.

The item of choice was Walnut Oat & Raisin cookies. I didn't have whole wheat flour which is what the recipe called for, and I would have replaced the sugar with Splenda; however, nonetheless, they were still a pretty delicious treat.

I recently bought health, after-work-out cookies from my gym, and they seemed to be a similar resemblance. They felt healthy, and a protein packed snack. Which, by the way, was also sweetened with crushed pineapple =)

If you're interested in a snack that will leave you feeling guilt-free, I'd recommend these.

Healthy Times, Healthy Measures

My lifestyle, and in this day and age, I have decided that it's time to change some of my eating habits. I have vowed to choose healthier options, with the weekly deliciously "bad" days.

An early saturday morning had brought me to iHop. Maybe not the best place to launch my new profound decision; but what better way to start, than full on.

I contemplated getting the most healthy item on the menu, which happened to be a simple fruit bowl. I love fruits, and don't get me wrong, but spending $10 on a small fruit bowl sat a little uneasy with me.

I decided to opt for the next best thing. Blueberry Harvest Grain 'N Nut combo. Two pancakes made with grain, oat and nuts. Topped with sliced bananas, served with scrambled egg whites.

This was a great option, I do have to admit. I love the texture and content of the oat and nuts. I walked away guilt-free, and had just enough syrup to satisfy my sweet craving. Not to mention, because of the grains, I felt nice and full, and I thought it was money well spent(I think it was around $10).

All in all, even at iHop, there is still the lesser of evils, so take a chance. You'll be surpised what will tickle your healthy tastebuds .

Common down, to downtown

Sorry for the late postings =(

A couple weeks ago, we went and ventured to downtown Vancouver in search for some good spicy wonton to satisfy a friend's craving. We had found our destination. Our landing destination, Tsui Hang Village Chinese Restaurant (Granville Downtown) .

Years ago I used to work downtown. Working the late shift made it hard to get a decent meal; however, around the corner of my work was a local known gem, nicknamed "Hole in the Wall". It was a walk-by window that served good priced chinese food until the late hours. Perfect.

Attached to this "hole in the wall" was actually pretty darn good Chinese restaurant. Looks can be decieving, but inside this, what looks to be a little "worn" restaurant, it quite a nice, clean and spacious inside.

We arrived just as it opened for the evening, so we had the chance to enjoy the quiet environment. Service was quick and efficient, and food was delicious, as it was served with well dressed waiters.

My favorite dish, hands down, was the Mongolian Beef. I'm the most keen person to beef, but it was great, with bold flavor, and consistent texture. I found myself reaching for this dish most of the time.

Salmon Fillets in Butter & Cream sauce was our next dish. Not for those that are on diets, but for those that appreciate the art of cooking fish well. I was a little reserved, thinking that bold flavor of salmon would overpower the dish, but it was well balanced, and cooked to perfection, as the pieces stayed very plump and moist.

Spicy wonton. It took a while for me to finally get to the dish, as it wasn't the first on my list, but once I tried it, I had realized I had understimated how good it was. It has heat, but not overbaring.

Pan fried string beans w/ Szechwan sauce. I love veggies, so I had no problems with this dish. Because it had some spice, it gave it a good kick.

It was nice that at the end of the meal, they give a little dessert. In this case it was a type of red bean soup. It was a good palette cleanser.

So all in all, if you want an authentic chinese restaurant, in the downtown area, at a decent price, that's clean with decent service, and can go to at 3am, this is the place to be.






Tsui Hang Village Chinese Restaurant
1193 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC
(604)683-6868

Sun Sui Wah you're talking about =S

The main reason we went to Sun Sui Wah =) Dessert.

This is a dessert that you cannot rush to eat. To best taste the flavor, you must savor each bite =) I don't know the official name of this dessert, but it's basically a crepe folded into a pillow. Inside is dense whipped cream and the most flavorful mango. mmmm. We personally call them, Little Pillows of Heaven =)

Oh, and let's not forget the warm, flakey egg tarts below.

Dim sum is one of my usual cravings. On this Friday holiday, dim sum is usually a nice and busy time. However, considering we were craving a specific dessert, that is what lead us to Sun Sui Wah on Main Street. I took us a long while to find parking. It was busy! When we finally found parking, there was a large crown waiting to be seated, however, thanks to the idea of calling about 20minutes prior to make reservations, we were seated rather quickly.

We ordered:
Har Gaw(shrimp dumplings) + deep fried spicy squid
Sticky rice
Pork Sui Mai

Sun Sui Wah is a little more on the expensive scale of dim sum, but you can taste the quality difference. If you decide to go, just make sure to make a reservation.

Vancouver:
3888 Main Street, Vancouver
B.C. V5V 3N9
Ph: 604.872.8822
Toll Free: 1.866.872.8822
Fx: 604.876.1638

http://www.sunsuiwah.com/

Joe Floats my Boat

After many many years, I finally got the chance to go back and dine at Joe Fortes. It's not the most affordable places, so the last time I went there, it was because my friend was a chef there, and now I have the pleasure to know one of the pastry chefs.

We started off w/ complementary appie. Bruchetta accompanied by foie gras pate, summer pate, and a type of apple gelee. The flavors of the patees were great and very bold, but was nicely tamed with the sweetness of the apple gelee, and what seemed to have been a type of raspberry puree.

Classic Brown Derby Cobb Salad.$17.95
A classic at Joe Fortes w/ blue cheese, avocado, tomatoes, chicken and dressing. I didn't try it, but I was very impressed when the waitress came out w/ the ingredients all separated. then mixed them together on 1 plate, as she tossed it with one hand. A very entertaining party trick, I must say.

Miso Marinate Sablefish. $25.95
I was a little suprised at the size of this dish, compared to the salad I thought it might be bigger. Nonetheless, I tried a little of this dish. It had a nice rich savoury taste, with a nice hint of sweetness, almost caramelized miso perhaps? But the fish itself was like butter. Full of flavor, and so moist. Cooked perfectly.

Seafood Linguine.$21.95
I don't think I stopped saying "yum" the whole time I ate this. This dish was full of flavor, and full of rich, large pieces of seafood(salmon, scallops, prawns etc) however, the flavor wasn't overpowered by seafood taste. I had absolutely nothing bad to say about this dish.

Last but not least, brought out to our table by our friend pastry chef herself. This wasnt even on the menu. Lava cake, chocolate mousse, vanilla ice cream w/ coconut wafer and my personal favorite, disassembled banana cream pie. Absolute bliss.

My overall impression, I was amazed by the customer service that we recieved, and the food was great. It's quite pricey, but with food and service that good, it's all worth it.

Joe Fortes Seafood Restaurant
777 Thurlow Street
Vancouver, BC
604-669-1940
http://www.joefortes.ca/

Dunkin' Oreos

A few weeks ago, I decided to finally re-visit my childhood pastime and visit PNE to see what's new. This was what was knew, that I discovered.... Deep fried oreos. yessir.

For many years, it's been observed that Canada took pride in having food that were in no comparison to the U.S.A....at this moment, it seems as though we're catching up. Please don't misunderstand me, I was one of the lost souls that fell into temptation and bit down on these fluffy and crunchy pillows.

As I stepped up to the window to order, I noticed that they also served deep fried Jelly Bellies, however, the sound of that didn't tickle my fancy. So, as I stood in line waiting for the deep fried treats, one person, after another, after another came to the window to order the oreos, and clearly out of pure curiosity.

In short, they were quite satisfying, soft and chewy dough outside, and a little bit softened warm oreo inside. Delicious, yet decident enough, so make sure that if you do order these devlish puffs, arm yourself a good ol' glass of cold milk, and a buddy to share this with.

It's too late to Brew

This weekend, my friends any I found ourselves wandering the streets of Yaletown, looking for something to quench our hunger. Our goal was Cactus club, but somehow found ourselves in the walls of Yaletown Brewery Inc. I have never been there, and this definately wasn't the 1st impression I was looking for.

Sometimes, service out rules good food.

Our server(who will remain nameless) was definitely not placed in the employment that played on her best qualities.

Occurrences that happened that would never make me go back again(all has to do with the server, not the restaurant itself):
1. Server claimed that the Backyard Burger was 'the best burger you'll ever try'.(That's one thing you should never do. If it really is the best burger, the customer will figure it out on their own.

2. When asked for a wine list, she listed out, "oh, we have really good Merlot, Cab Sav, Chardonnay etc etc...". All very vague. When asked for a wine menue, to get the specifics, all she got in immediate response was a dirty look.

3. I had to ask 4 times before recieving my requested straw.

4. When it was brought to the attention of the server that she forgot to add cheese to the burger, the server actually argued with my friend that she never ordered it, and left the plate at the table, and came back with a cold slice of cheese on a plate!

5. They busboy took away our dishes without asking if we were finished.

6. It let us sit waiting for 15min, after finishing and clearing out table to bring us our bill.


Food was good, but it sure left a bad taste in my mouth.