Re-Up BBQ Foodcart- This Is The Famous Pulled Pork Sandwich?

Continuing on the food cart binge that Rae, Yoshi, and I had a few weeks earlier, we stopped by The Re-Up BBQ. I told them this cart was famous for their pulled pork sandwiches (from what I heard and read online). I had never actually tried their pulled pork, but because it was highly reviewed and talked about, it expected it to be a for-sure-win. Oh how wrong was I.

There was only one person running the truck and she was in charge of collecting money and making the food. I wasn’t surprised that everything was pre-made because it IS a very small truck with limited cooking space. However, seeing pulled pork come out of a container didn’t really wet my appetite.

They sell only three items at this food cart, Pulled Pork sandwich, Beef Brisket sandwich, and Sweet Tea. We opted for 2 Pulled Pork sandwiches ($7.00). One for Yoshi, and one for Rae and I to share.

Roaming Dragon Food Truck- Korean Short Rib Taco!

I remember hearing of Roaming Dragon ever since the food cart craze hit Vancouver because there was so much hype and every food blogger reviewed it. Heck, they were even featured on the Eat St. program on the Food Network! However, even with all that hype, I never cared to try it out, until last week with Rae and Yoshi.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from their menu because I didn’t know if the food was Asian fusion or “authentic” Asian. They have a few interesting items like Fried Rice Balls, Roaming Dragon Sub, Chinese Pork Slider, and Lychee and Basil Lemonade.

Mangal Kiss Mid East BBQ- Healthy AND Delicious

Last week, Rae, Yoshi, and I went on a food cart binge and tried out five different food carts in one sitting! It was a bit savage. We ate continuously for 3 hours... :P

The first food cart we visited was the ‘Mangal Kiss Mid East BBQ’ because it was recommended to me by Sean of Sean’s Adventures in Flavour Town.

Mangal Kiss’ main item is the Shishliks ($7.00). The menu looked confusing at first and it took us a while to understand it even with Phyllis’ (I believe is the owner) help. But you basically choose either the Fraser Valley rib eye or the Rossdown Farms chicken and the rest will take care of itself. If you don’t request anything else, you will get all the vegetables (hummus, tahini, purple cabbage, beets, radish, onions...etc) and sauces (spicy and savoury mango sauce, hot sauce, and BBQ sauce) in your wrap.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka- Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pork Jowl, Very Salty Broth

After having croissants at Footo Delights, Meta Knight and I checked out Hokkaido Ramen Santouka. I have heard so many great things about this place through blogs and word of mouth but I distinctively remember trying Ramen Santouka when it first opened and was not impressed with their ramen.

Their display case is so eye-catching. I bet a lot of people who walk by stare at it and decide to try the restaurant because of it.

Footo Delights- Made With All Natural Ingredients

Footo Delights is a local bakery that specializes in fresh-out-of-the-oven (footo) croissants. It is owned and operated by Brenda Yip, an SFU and Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts graduate. All of the pastries and desserts are handmade daily by Brenda and she uses only the most natural ingredients such as fresh eggs, fresh milk, Himalayan crystal salt, fresh yeast...etc.

The bakery is quite small and quaint but its attractive storefront definitely stands out from the neighbouring cafes and restaurants. The store hours are from 7:30am-5:00pm Mon-Fri, so you can pick up a croissant in the morning as breakfast or at night when you get off work.

In addition to selling croissants, they also sell natural frozen yogurt and individual desserts.

Frozen Chocolate-Dipped Banana Popsicle Recipe

I have a super quick and easy recipe for you guys today. It’s called ‘frozen chocolate dipped banana popsicle’! What a mouthful eh? It’s a delicious and (relatively) healthy treat when you’re craving a snack in the afternoon or a chocolatey dessert at night.

First, you need to cut the bananas into threes. I suggest using bananas that are no longer green but not ripe to the point of getting spots yet. Stick each piece of banana through a popsicle stick (or in my case, disposable wooden chopsticks :P) and lay it on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Then freeze for a few hours or overnight.

Toyotomi Restaurant- An All-You-Can-Eat Hidden Gem!

Toyotomi is a Chinese-run Japanese restaurant that opened on Anderson Road (in Richmond) over a year ago. I dined there once before when it just opened but found their Japanese dishes to be a bit underwhelming. Thus, it fell off my food radar and I never bothered for a re-visit. Recently, I heard about this restaurant again and specifically about their Hot Pot/ Sashimi All-you-can-eat deal. Their AYCE hot pot is only $13.99 and you can have AYCE sashimi (not sushi) if you add an additional $6.00. So...$20 for AYCE hot pot and sashimi?! I’m there.

The front area contains an elaborate display of different Japanese beer/wine and other trinkets.

The restaurant is actually quite large and nicely decorated. I don’t think most people would expect that just from looking from the outside.

Enjoy Cafe 1+1- Weird Name But Serves Up Great HK Style Milk Tea!

 I realized that I have never been back to E-Canteen ever since it changed to Enjoy Cafe 1+1. I have heard good things about their ‘HK Style Milk Tea’ so Trixie and I decided to go for an early breakfast one day. I really don’t know what’s up with the name “Enjoy Cafe 1+1” though... it sounds quite random to me.

Trixie ordered the Mushroom and Cheese Omelette (~$5.00) which came with two pieces of buttered toast and a drink. We realized after a while that they gave us the wrong omelette but we didn’t inform the server because we were in a rush and really didn’t care all that much. I found the toast to be slathered with way too much butter but that’s just me. :P 

Kirby's Masago Yakiudon Recipe- Yummy In My Tummy!

One item I always love to order whenever I’m dining at a Japanese Izakaya place is their Yakiudon. The chefs from any Izakaya restaurant can somehow always make Yakiudon taste extremely tasty, moist, and flavourful, but when I attempt to re-create it, I always end up with a dry, sticky, and unflavourful mess. My favourites are the Mentaiko Yakiudon from Ebisu, and the Guu’s Yakiudon from Guu Otokomae. My goal is to make homemade Yakiudon that is (almost) as good as theirs, so I did a bit of research, and found a few tips here and there, and thus made the... Kirby’s Masago Yakiudon!!

First, boil two packages of frozen udon in a pot of boiling water. Take it out right when they begin to separate because you will be cooking them again in the skillet and you don’t want to overcook the noodles.

Here are a few items you’ll need: Seaweed (as garnish), Japanese Mayo, and Masago. I got a small pack of Masago at Izumiya Marketplace for ~$3.00 which is not bad.

Thai Son Vietnamese Restaurant- You Will Definitely Get Your Money's Worth

I recently went to West Lake with my mom and had a less-than-impressed time there. I was yearning for some actual good authentic pho so Meta Knight and I decided to grab some lunch at Thai Son on Garden City road. It was a safe choice because to this date, Thai Son has never failed me. :)

The interior and tables are always clean so that’s a thumbs up in my book! No greasy or sticky smudges anywhere. :P

Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe- Molten Chocolate Goodness

Hi guys, this is a just quick recipe post on Chocolate Lava Cakes! I have never made lava cakes before but a couple of my friends and I decided to tackle it yesterday and it turned out really really well! It’s not the healthiest thing you can eat, but I would say it’s worth the occasional splurge :D

We followed the “Ghirardelli Individual Chocolate Lava Cakes” recipe from allrecipes.com but we modified it by using regular Baker’s dark chocolate instead of the Ghirardelli brand. This is what it looked like right before we put it in the oven. You can’t really tell from the picture, but there is a ball of cold ganache in the middle of the batter of each ramekin.

The batter rose beautifully and you can still see that the center is quite gooey from the molten ganache.

Oh, look at how good that looks... *drools*

Copa Cafe- Nothing Out Of The Ordinary

When it comes to HK style cafes, my family has tried almost every single one of them. One I have never tried until now is Copa Cafe. Copa Cafe is located on Cambie Street.

We went at 10am-ish and the places was virtually empty. The seats are plush and comfy and the place is quite clean.

Their breakfast menu is pretty similar to all the other HK style cafes out there. Price-wise, Flo in Richmond is cheaper, but it’s not by much.

If I was a man and had a bigger appetite, I so would order the House Special Combo and get the Rib Eye Steak & eggs. :D

Romer's Burger Bar- Great Burgers. Better Doughnuts.

I have heard many good things about Romer’s Burger Bar but just never found the time (and effort) to try it out because it’s quite a distance from where I live. I recently found out that they opened a new location near Marine Drive and Kerr Street so now I have no excuse not to go! I met up with B-boy for lunch and we chatted and ate... and ate some more... And by the time we were done our lunch, I was in a food coma. =.=

The interior has a cool modern vibe to it with its red and black colour scheme. I liked how the kitchen was completely open because I got to see them cook my food. :D

The burgers come a la carte (am I saying this right??) which means all you get is the burger itself, no sides. B-boy ordered the Romer’s Righteous Rib Burger ($12.00) which contains “thick-sliced applewood bacon, braised short rib, sweet onions, Gorgonzola garlic sauce, and fresh thyme leaves”. The burger is served on a lightly grilled (maybe too lightly) brioche bun. They also give you a garlic olive and pepperoncini on the side.

It looked pretty delicious, I gotta tell ya. However, even though B-boy said it was really good, he preferred the Man’s Man Burger from his previous visit because he didn’t like the fact that he had to tear at the ribs with every bite.

West Lake- There Are Better Pho Alternatives

Kirma (my mama) and I haven’t had Pho in a while so we decided to go to West Lake for some big ol’ bowl of soup and noodles. I love hot soup and noodles on a cold chilly day. :D

West Lake used to be located at Empire Center in between Parker Place and Aberdeen. Now it’s located on No.3 road across from Superstore. I’m not sure if the owners changed or anything but it seems like a completely new restaurant to me except for the fact that the name stayed the same.

Their menu is quite extensive and they have a pretty cool lunch combo for $9 in which you get a bowl of pho, a hot or cold drink, and an appy.

I ended up ordering the Lunch Combo ($9.00) and I chose the House Special Noodle Soup, Cold Horlick, and Satay Pork Skewers (2 pieces).

Here is the plate of bean sprouts, lemon wedges, mint leaves, and spicy peppers. Very standard.

The Buffet (Wynn)- Amazing Dessert Selection and Fantastic Creme Brulee

Since I’m writing about Vegas, I might as well do a post on “The Buffet” at Wynn Hotel. This buffet was expensive (~$40 US) but completely worth it. I’d go back again and again... if I had the luxury of coming back to Vegas again and again LOL.

Here’s the menu. They really should have listed what desserts they have because that is the main attraction of this buffet. Cupcake recommended Trixie, Dirtygirl, Rae, and I to check out this buffet because he went to Vegas a month prior and was blown away by their Crème Brulee. He said it was the best Creme Brulee he’s ever had.

The dining area is split into two sections. This section is farther from the food but you get to be surrounded by absolutely beautiful flower arrangements. It feels very whimsical.

As for our group, we were seated at a table in the other section. Maybe our lack of self control during dinner was because we were so close to the food. Especially the desserts... the delicious, mouth-watering desserts... I ended up having four or five of the crème brulee because darn Cupcake was right. X.X

Earl of Sandwich (Las Vegas)- Move Aside, Subway

I want to tell you guys about my favourite hot sandwich place. It’s unfortunately not in Vancouver (or Canada) but it’s the best sandwich chain I’ve ever been to in my life. Move aside Subway, Quiznos, and Mr.Sub!! Once you’ve tried Earl of Sandwich, you’ll never wanna go back. 

I went to Viva Las Vegas a few months ago with Dirtygirl, Trixie, and Rae, and I recommended forced them to eat lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Earl of Sandwich is located inside Planet Hollywood and is right next to a casino. Most of their items are around $6 which is a great deal for the quantity and quality that you get.

Their sandwiches are grilled and pressed, then wrapped in gold foil. It’s like a brick of gold :D. We ordered the Earl’s Grey Lemonade and it’s half lemonade, half Earl Grey Tea. It was a great thirst quencher because it’s not very sweet.

One of the most popular items on their menu is their Hawaiian BBQ (~$6) signature hot sandwich. It contains grilled chicken, roasted ham, aged Swiss, fresh(!) pineapple, and Hawaiian BBQ sauce.

House of Tofu Soup (Richmond)- Total Comfort Food :)

House of Tofu Soup is a Korean tofu hot pot restaurant that previously had only one location in Coquitlam. They have expanded and now the second location is in Richmond! It is in the same complex as Thai Son (the Pho restaurant).

From the outside, it looks like a small quaint restaurant, but the inside is nothing like that O.O. The restaurant is actually really big and the interior is very spacious and modern.

Another visually stunning menu! Score! Ahem... anyways. They specialize in tofu hot pot (wouldn’t have guessed right?  :P) and you get to choose between 7 choices of meat or veggies. Then you choose your level of spiciness.  The tofu hot pot comes with a large bowl of rice and a raw egg for you to crack into the hot pot.

Their Soup Combination looked like a good value because you get a tofu hot pot plus a choice of Bulgoghi for $15.

Stephos Souvlaki Greek Taverna- Oh Em Gee Lamb Chops!

I finally tried Stepho’s for the first time after hearing about this place for years and living in Vancouver for 15 years!! I cannot believe it took me this long to try this place out. LOL

My family of four decided to order the Roast Lamb Dinner ($10.95) (above) and Lamb Chops Dinner ($11.95) as our dinner because we knew the serving sizes would be humongous. We just steamed some additional vegetables and cracked open a can of soup and we were completely full!

The Greek salad was pretty good and the vegetables tasted fresh.

The potato was standard and nothing to rave about. I actually didn’t touch them because there were other carbs to keep me occupied.