Frites (Granville) - Poutine All Day Every Day

Frites, not to be mistaken with Fritz (both french fry restaurants), is located in the downtown core a couple of blocks away from Pacific Centre. They boast authentic Belgian fries double layered poutine.

The owner that served me was super friendly and passionate about his product. It's great to support entrepreneurs like him because you know they put their heart and soul into their business.

They serve authentic Belgian fries on its own with a huge variety of gourmet sauces. From Gochujang (Korean hot sauce) to Jamaican Jerk, this place seems to have it all.

Everything on the menu looked so delicious it took me forever to choose! In the end I felt like I didn't choose the best kind of poutine so I might have to come back and try their other varieties. Marinated Smoked Meat poutine...Kimchi Frites...Pad Thai Fries.... HOMG I'm drooling just thinking about it.

I ended up choosing the Regular Traditional Poutine ($6.99) with one gourmet sauce (Rosemary Garlic Mayo).

I thought the gourmet sauce would be served on the side but it was actually all on top of the poutine. Because the fries were already drowning in gravy and cheese curds, the rosemary mayo was overkill and made it wayyyyyy too heavy. On the other hand, the fresh rosemary really shined through and you can tell they only use the best ingredients.

I wouldn't get the same thing again but I definitely won't write this place off until I've tried it once or twice more. The positive and friendly environment was infectious and I can't help but want to support this business, regardless of whether the poutine is the best in Vancouver! >.<

Service Rating: 4.5/5
Food Rating: 2.5/5
Price: $

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!


                                        #datYOLOlife

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Glowbal by Glowbal Group (Telus Garden) - Flagship Restaurant Just Ok

Glowbal recently relocated their Yaletown location to the Telus Garden on West Georgia and it is apparently their big, bold, new flagship restaurant. From the outside, the restaurant looks impressive. From big human sized bird cage booths to large steaks drying behind a glass wall, you'll feel like a baller just dining there.

Meta Knight and I came during their Happy Hour (50% off - 2:30pm-5:30pm everyday) and ordered their Truffle and Rosemary Fries ($7). It satisfied our truffle craving but were definitely not the best truffle fries we've had.

Kusshi Oysters ($3.70/ea) are our favourite so we got four of them to share. Although they're small, Kusshi oysters deliver a sharp bold taste that is hard to beat.

This sounded good on the menu but unfortunately was the worst dish of the meal. This Whole Roasted Acorn Squash ($10) had maple brown butter, kale, and hazelnuts. Sounds like a winning combination right?? The 'maple butter' tasted like pure maple syrup and the entire dish was drowned in it. It was so sweet we could barely eat 1/4 of it.

Even though we normally go with the truffle spaghetti and meatballs, we decided to be adventurous and get the Short Rib Pappardelle ($24). It was a good choice, and we both really liked the thick flat pasta. It soaked up the sauce real good so we would definitely get it again.

Overall, Glowbal didn't impress us with the food so I would only recommend going there for their Happy Hour.

Service Rating: 3.5/5
Food Rating: 3/5
Price; $$-$$$

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!


                Sweet like that acorn squash dish >.<

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The Belgard Kitchen - Grilled Cheese and Tomato Fondue is Da Bomb!

This little hidden gem called The Belgard Kitchen is located in the DTES area inside the Settlement Building. My friends Queen B and Hipster heard this place serves up wine flights so they really wanted to give it a try. I just tagged along for the ride. :P 

It's unassuming on the outside so I would definitely recommend using Google Maps to guide you here.

Once you step inside, the environment transports you to a different world. Full of rustic wooden and metal steel decor, it's half brewery and half pub/restaurant. When I say half brewery, I literally mean they brew the beer next to where you eat and you can see the 'factory'. Super cool.  

 They had a pretty good selection of beer for the Beer Flights ($8.00). I honestly don't remember the exact names, but all of them were premium craft beer.

I went with the White and Pink Wine Flight ($12) and I absolutely loved it. I am in no way a wine connoisseur so it was really interesting to taste all the different flavours and tones of the white and pink wines. All were delicious and if it weren't a little pricey, I would've gotten another one. :P

They don't give you that much wine in each flight so I would recommend trying the flight, finding the one you love, and getting a glass of that.

 The Shrimp Spaghetti Nero ($16) while super delicious and was everything I love about squid ink pasta, the portion was a bit small and lacked depth of flavour. For 16 dollars I feel like the portion could definitely have been doubled but that's just my gluttony talking. :P

Now this ladies and gentlemen, should be the reason you visit The Belgard Kitchen. They elevated the comforting homey grilled cheese and tomato soup to a dish called Tomato Soup Fondue with Grilled Cheese Toasties ($13). The cheese could not be gooeier and more delicious when paired with the concentrated tomato fondue. So good....just...so good.

The Red Wine Flight ($12). I didn't try this so I can't speak to how the red wine was. 

Flank Steak with Chimichurri ($15). Very delicious but similar to the other dishes, I wish there was more of it.

Even though the Belgard Kitchen offers a lot of unique offerings I have yet to find in other Vancouver restaurants like wine flights and tomato soup fondue, I found the price/portion ratio to be a bit off for me. We all spent around 45 dollars and when I got home I was already hungry again!

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

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!


                      I'm always hungry >.<

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720 Sweets - Eating Ice Cream in Style

If you are at all active on Instagram or follow any food blogger accounts (like mine!), you must have come across at least one photo of 720 Sweets.

720 Sweets is a new little ice-cream shop that's one half hipster and one half nerd. It combines the science of dry ice and uses it to enhance the typical ice-cream experience.

They support a local baker by selling his or her homemade marshmallows. They not only sell them in packages for people to bring home, they also use these homemade marshmallows in their ice-cream creations.

Their menu is quite simple. They have 5 different varieties. 

• The Classic - crushed graham crackers, condensed milk, and a freshly baked butter cookie
• Honey720 - Rich honey drizzle and golden honeycomb
• S'Mores Please - chocolate corn flakes, dark chocolate drizzle, crunchy almond stick and a toasted marshmallow
• The Milky Way - crushed walnuts, light caramel drizzle, espresso grass jelly, and a crunchy almond cookie
• Cloud Nine - almond stick, cotton candy popcorn, and a fluffy cotton candy

Queen B and I decided to share The Milk Way ($5.95). Besides the super cool effect of the dry ice flowing from the cup, there is nothing crazy outstanding about the ice-cream. The milk tea flavour was definitely on point and I would say it's one of the better soft serves I've had. However, it wasn't enticing enough for me to make the drive to Kits again just to get it. We both did notice that the dry ice kept the ice-cream cold throughout so YAY for not having any melty parts!

Service Rating: 3.5/5
Food Rating: 3/5
Price: $

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!

                              dry ice made us go

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Icepik Shavery - So Refreshing During the Summer

Icepik Shavery is another shaved ice restaurant on Kingsway, similar to Icy Bar. I came here on two occasions to try out their frozen treats since the weather has been getting really nice here. 

On my first visit, I came with Diana, Amy, and Curtis. We all tried to get different combos so we could try a bit of everything. On my second visit, I came with Meta Knight after a run and OH MY GOD it was amazing.

Meta Knight and I shared a Large Emperor's Pik ($6.85) which consists of matcha shaved ice, diced mango, grass jelly, rice cakes, and coconut jelly. This combination is fantastic and tastes even better with condensed milk (you can grab the bottle from the counter).

This is also the Emperor's Pik but in regular size.

The Fresh Pik'd Fruit ($5.85) is the fruitiest combination of all with mangoes, strawberries, housemade rice cakes, and mango jelly, all on top of mango shaved ice.

This one is called Penguin Pik ($5.85), probably because it's completely black and white. This one has black sesame shaved ice, rice cakes, oreo crumble, grass jelly, and pearls. It looks delicious but Curtis thought the sesame shaved ice was really bland.

I think the toppings on this ice pik combo is really good, but next time I might try this with a different flavour of shaved ice. Perhaps green tea or 'original' yogurt flavour.

The matcha shaved ice flavour is my favourite so I definitely would recommend that!

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

Overall Rating: 3/5


             the weather is too hot to handle... :D

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VanVan Izakaya - Russian Roulette Takoyaki!

VanVan Izakaya is an izakaya (Japanese pub) serving up beer and Japanese tapas on Robson street. I've passed by this location many times before but never stopped to give it a try.

Disclaimer: Chinese Bites kindly invited me to a tasting event at Van Van Izakaya along with a few other bloggers. Even though the food was complimentary, the view and opinion of the dishes are my own.

This is their whole izakaya menu. It has everything from sashimi, to salads, to deep fried items...etc. The coolest item on the menu was the Russian Roulette Takoyaki. More on that later. :)

Started off with a Takowasabi ($3.80). It's essentially chopped up raw octopus mixed with wasabi. It tastes amazing wrapped up in seaweed (nori)!

We thought the Chicken Gristle Karaage ($4.80) was the same as 'deep fried chicken knee' dishes we normally order at dim sum. How wrong we were. They were pure cartilage which made it a little difficult to eat. I prefer some more meat with the cartilage.

 For $8.80, I didn't think the Ebi Mayo was really worth it to be honest. It was good, but not amazing.

The Russian Roulette Takoyaki ($6.80)!!! I highly recommend this dish as a fun thing to do with your friends. One of the takoyaki balls is filled with wasabi but you don't know which one it is. Watch one of your buddies squirm in pain when they get the ball of wasabi!

The Beef Short Ribs ($9.80) were pretty good.

I really enjoyed the citrus fresh flavours of the Pork Jowl with Japanese Citrus ($8.80). Definitely recommended!

We really really didn't like the Korean Style Vegetable Pancake ($8.80) because it was mainly dough.

Tuna, Scallop, and Salmon Sashimi ($8.80 each)

I quite enjoyed the Marinated Jellyfish ($4.80). It had a great crunchy texture but was a little over seasoned.

More Salmon Sashimi ($8.80) and Marinated Mackerel ($7.80).

I LOVED the Scallop Sashimi!! So fresh, so big.

I didn't try the Deep Fried Chicken Thigh Karaage ($6.80) but I heard it was good!

Whole Squid with Teriyaki Sauce ($8.80) was deeeelicious. It was especially good with the mayo/togarashi spice.

I didn't expect this Curry Poutine ($6.80) to beat the Japanese poutine from Cafe de L'Orangerie so I wasn't surprised when I was right.

Japanese Old Style Omelette ($8.80) was like an Okonomiyaki but made with only egg.

The Chopped Raw Tuna Rice Bowl ($6.80) was delicious and paired very well with the immense amounts of green onion.

I'm not a fan of natto so the Chopped Raw Tuna with Natto ($7.80) was something I tried to avoid. However, if you like natto, this would be a pretty good dish!

For a restaurant that does not specialize in ramen, their Tonkotsu Ramen ($9.80) was surprisingly delicious. It was a rich and fatty broth, but boy was it flavourful.

My favourite dessert item was their Green Tea Soy Milk Pudding ($4.80). It had the consistency of very very soft pudding.

I didn't enjoy the Rice Cake wrapped in Red Bean ($4.80) because the rice cake was a little wet and melty. It didn't hold together as well as I would've liked.

The Matcha Ice-Cream ($4.00) was really authentic and had great amounts of matcha flavour!

All in all, VanVan Izakaya serves up some good izakaya dishes. It's a little pricey because it's on Robson, but it's worth it just to try the Russian Roulette Takoyaki!

Service Rating: N/A

Food Rating: 3/5

Price: $$-$$$

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!

          when your friend gets the wasabi takoyaki...

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