Bubble Queen- Hail to The Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake!

Bubble Queen used to be located on Cambie street but have recently moved to Odlin Crescent. They have really short operating hours compared to other bubble tea places in Richmond so make sure to come early especially when its a weekday.

Random fact of the day. I actually took my Firearms Licence test at a place right next door to Bubble Queen! 

Once you walk in, you'll be hit with their beautiful display counter of chocolates, mango puree, pearls, coconut jelly...etc.

In addition to bubble tea, they have expanded to serving hot foods such as thick toast, toast boxes, and Hong Kong style bubble waffles. I've had their bubble waffle plenty of times and most of them are really delicious.

If you are not a mango lover, I am sorry... because everything I ordered in this post are mango flavoured! Bubble Queen is known mango flavoured bubble tea so I always get that when I come here. This one here is called Fresh Mango Slush with Mango Cubes (~$5.50) and this is one of their most popular drinks.

The drink is huge and the mango cubes on top are always ripe, fresh, and yummy. Definitely get this if you are a mango lover like me! You won't regret it.

If you love mango but am not totally feeling the cubes at the moment, you can go for their Fresh Mango Slush with Mochi (~$5.50). Instead of fresh mango cubes, they give you a big portion of handmade mochi balls that acts as great jaw exercisers.

They hand make each mochi ball in store for reals! I saw it one time when I came in during the afternoon. 

If you are feeling mango but am not feeling the slush, mochi balls, nor mango cubes, go for the Mango Milk Tea with Pearls (~$3.50)!

Meta Knight and I came here recently and saw they added yet another item on their menu! Cheesecake! But don't be fooled, these are no ordinary cheesecake. The flavours range from Almond Roca to Lavender White Chocolate.

We got the Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake ($~3.95) to go and were surprised to see them decorate it with whipped cream, toffee bits and a full ferrero rocher chocolate on top. The cheesecake was not overly sweet, but it was rich, exactly like we anticipated. 

Service Rating: N/A

Food Rating: 4/5

Price: $

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://diylol.com/meme-generator/y-u-no/memes/cheesecake-y-u-no-grow-on-trees

Read More

Easy Chocolate Tofu Quinoa Cake Recipe- Vegan and Low Fat

Listen up guys. I'm going to share a secret recipe with you that I've had for almost 10 years but have never revealed. It is RIDICULOUSLY easy. And healthy. All you need are 3 ingredients. You heard that right.

Ingredients:

1) Box of Chocolate Cake Mix (doesn't matter what kind, I've tried every kind there is)

2) One Package of Dessert Tofu 

3) One Cup of Cooked Quinoa (you can omit this- measurements of the other ingredients will remain the same)

4) 1/4 Cup of Water (I didn't really count water as an 'ingredient')

That's it! See? I told you it was super easy!

I cooked by quinoa in a rice cooker and it always works out fine. Half a cup of uncooked quinoa will yield approximately one cup of cooked quinoa.

I just used a standard 9 inch round cake pan and lined the bottom with parchment paper to ensure easy removal after baking.

I used to do this by hand but I have come to realize what a waste of time that is since I had a blender that could have done the work for me! Just dump your dessert tofu, quarter cup of water, and cooked quinoa and blend in a blender until there are no longer any large chunks of quinoa. Don't blend it for too long however as it might deflate your overall product.

Follow the baking instructions on the back of the cake mix box but I just put the cake in the oven for about 20 minutes and it came out like this! All perfect and chocolatey looking... and summoning me to have a taste.

The finished product is a delicious, moist, reduced calorie, low fat, vegan chocolate cake with added dietary fiber from the quinoa. Dessert tofu is used to substitute oil and eggs which makes this dessert virtually guilt free!!

Here are some hard facts for those people who want proof in 'numbers'.

'Chocolate Tofu Quinoa Cake' as compared to 'Chocolate Cake made with Eggs and Oil'

• Cholesterol free
• 12% calorie reduction
• 71% fat reduction
• 25% saturated fat reduction
• 2% increase in iron and calcium

I hope you enjoyed this post and as always...

Happy (and Healthy) Eating!! 

courtesy of http://www.memecenter.com/fun/647954/eating-healthy

Read More

Minami Restaurant (Dine Out Vancouver 2013)- Flame Torch ALL The Sushi!

One of the restaurants on my Top Picks for Dine Out Vancouver 2013 list included Minami, the sister restaurant of Miku (also known as the aburi or 'flame torched' sushi place). Meta Knight and I decided to check this off our Dine Out list because we couldn't resist tasting the delicious aburi salmon oshi again.

Their dine out menu is different from other restaurants in that it does not allow you to choose, rather it gives you a sampler set of items called the Minami Zen. For their appetizer, they give you a selection of four seasonal items.

(left to right) The Ebi Fritter consisted of a black tiger prawn, spiced couscous, soy balsamic, and sweet chili aioli. The beer batter was delicious and Meta knight said it was the best shrimp tempura he has ever had. The Slow Roasted Beet was compiled of baby frisse, fuji apple-raisin chutney, creamy tuzu, and goat cheese. I like the combination of goat cheese with beets so it was a good starter for me.

(left to right) My favourite of the night was the Soy Braised Short Rib. I mean, who could resist the taste of an extremely tender AAA sterling with yukon potato puree and wasabi pickles? I couldn't get enough of this. Meta Knight on the other hand enjoyed the Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish the best with kale goma-ae on the bottom. 

For your entree, you are given a 7 piece sushi platter consisting of (left to right) Hamachi Aburi, Zuke Maguro, Saba Aburi, Minami Roll, Sunset Roll, Aburi Ebi Oshi, and Aburi Salmon Oshi.

Out of the 7 pieces of sushi, I enjoyed the Aburi Ebi Oshi the best, followed by the Saba Aburi, and then the Aburi Salmon Oshi. The least memorable two were the Sunset Roll and Zuke Maguro.

Our waiter highly raved about the Dine Out Menu dessert which was a Piemonte Panna Cotta with Bitter Orange Sorbe Cassis Coulis. Boy, it did not disappoint. The creaminess and sweetness of the panna cotta was balanced out by the bitter (indeed it was quite bitter!!) orange sorbet and granola. Spectacular dessert! It was the perfect way to end our meal. :)

I had high expectations for Minami but it lived up to my expectations with its extremely prompt service and delightful and creative offerings. I highly encourage everyone to give this place a try, especially during dine out when it gives you more bang for your buck. But, thats if you can still make reservations.

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $$$$$ ($40+)

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://www.hsmemes.com/locale/18118/Oxbridge-Academy/24

Read More

Kyung Bok Palace- Japchae, Seafood Pancake, and Pork Bone Soup!

Kyung Bok Palace is located inside Lansdowne Mall and is a place I rarely go to for Korean food as I found their food and service to be inconsistent.

Knowing they had a 'Happy Hour' special going on, Meta Knight and I were determined to give it a try.

The 'Happy Hour' Promotion is available all day excluding 5-9pm on Fridays and Saturdays. All of the items on special were under $10 and came with your choice of a free drink.

Aside from serving regular Korean a la carte items, you can also choose to have All-You-Can-Eat BBQ and Sushi for $21.95 (dinner price). I have never tried it before but they seem to have less items than the new Korean BBQ place in Richmond, K-Town BBQ in Aberdeen mall.

The usual side dishes such as kimchi and sweet potatoes. We both ordered a Cold Lemon Tea and it was alright.

I chose the Stir- Fried Potato Noodle with Vegetables and Beef on Steamed Rice ($9.95) also known as Japchae in Korean. 

I didn't really like how the Japchae was served with a side of steamed rice as they are both carb heavy. Nonetheless, the Japchae was done quite well but just don't expect stellar authentic Korean food here.

Feeling chilly that day, Meta Knight opted for the Pork Back Bone Soup served with Rice ($8.95) to warm himself up. He enjoyed the large chunks of meat/bone and thought it was overall okay.

We felt like big eaters that day (which failed as we packed so much stuff home) so we also ordered a Korean-style Pancake topped with assorted seafood and green onion ($7.95) to share. The seafood pancake had an average amount of seafood toppings but we did appreciate the fact that it was served in a hot iron skillet, thus keeping it warm and crispy.

Service Rating: 2.5/5

Food Rating: 2.5/5

Price: $-$$

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://www.meme-comics.com/99gagmocha-gangnam-stylehttp99gag-tumblr-com/

Read More

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House- Ramen Made For The King Of Kings

I recently heard of Kenzo Japanese Noodle House via Meta Knight's brother. Kenzo is a mom and pop shop specializing in Korean inspired ramen dishes and it seemed like an interesting idea as I haven't come across too many of these in the Vancouver area. Kenzo is located in South Burnaby.

They are located across from 'Wings' if that gives you a better reference point.

Meta Knight noticed the ramen titled "King of the Kings" and knew instantly that he had to get it.

They also have a nice variety of cold ramen dishes too such as soba noodles and Tsukemen which would be great during summer time.

I opted for the Don Ko Chi (~$10.75) which should actually just be called 'Tonkotsu' because their method of preparing the broth is the same. Essentially, they simmer pork bones, meat, and marrow for an extended period of time until all the calcium is extracted and the broth results in a white milky colour with rich pork flavour.

I would have preferred more green onions just to add more colour and flavour to an otherwise plain looking bowl of ramen.

I really enjoyed the perfectly cooked al dente ramen noodles so I'd definitely give them two thumbs up for that. However, I felt the price was way too steep for what it was, considering Kintaro's ramen are in the $8-11 range and are a hell of a lot larger in quantity. On another note, I noticed as well that other food bloggers paid only roughly $7.50 for the same bowl of ramen so either they raised the price in general or they increase each dish by 3 dollars for their dinner menu.

So onto the King of the Kings Ramen ($11.45). Clearly you can tell from this picture that his ramen was almost double the size of mine but for only a 75 cent increase.

His ramen was good but he said the broth was bit one dimensional and lacked depth. If he was super hungry, he would go with this again, but otherwise, he would probably choose something else next time.

All in all, this isn't a bad place to go for ramen, especially if you are in Burnaby and don't want to drive too far for it. I definitely would avoid coming here for dinner though and just stick with their lunch menu as it is apparent that their prices increase exponentially during night time.

Service Rating: 2.5/5
Food Rating: 3/5
Price: $-$$

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://weknowawesome.com/2011/08/28/serve-up-a-plate-of-horrors/

Read More