Bistro Verde (Nordstrom) - Salads, Salads, Salads!

Since Nordstrom's opening a few weeks ago, their in-house restaurant, Bistro Verde has been packed with one to two hour waits during lunch hours (unless you make a reservation).  It may seem like a long time to wait, but if you have the entire Nordstrom to roam around, it's not actually that bad. :P

Bistro Verde is perched on the third floor of the giant fashion retailer and has a very rustic, wooden yet modern and contemporary design.

Their menu selection includes sandwiches, pastas, tapas, fish, and tons of delicious salad choices. You don't see too many restaurants with a huge selection of entree salads so it was awesome to see some really delicious looking options here. One thing I did notice was that every dish on the menu also came with calorie details. I personally love the knowledge, but I feel like a lot of people might not want to know how many calories are in their chocolate cake. :P

The interior is very spacious and open due to the floor to ceiling windows.

I can't remember what this soup was called but it was the Soup Du Jour (Soup of the Day). It looked like a tomato based minestrone.

The appy that really blew me away was the Ahi Tuna Poke ($14.95/ 280 cal)! It's definitely on the pricier side, but it's well worth it. The tuna was well marinated and exploded with the undeniable umami flavour.

Though I didn't expect much from the Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos ($10.95/ 620 cal) - I mean - when have you ever been BLOWN AWAY by tacos? I still found it really really tasty.

I don't know why but the Sauteed Chicken and Angel Hair Pasta ($19.95/ 960 cal) called my name. It consists of baby spinach, oyster mushrooms, super tender chicken breast, and roasted garlic tomato sauce with rosemary beurre blanc. The pasta was on the soft side but I didn't mind too much. My favourite part was the ridiculously tender chicken breast. Honestly if I could make it that well at home, I'd never have to eat out again.

Now this was a showstopper. Meta Knight ordered this and I couldn't stop eyeing it the entire time. And I mean.. the ENTIRE TIME. This Ginger Crusted Ahi Tuna Salad ($19.95/ 490 cal) with its blistered green beans, red pepper, seasoned wontons, candied ginger, soy glaze. and spicy thai basil vinaigrette is definitely a must get salad here at Bistro Verde.

Continuing on the salad trend, here is the Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad ($19.25/ 570 cal) with wild shrimp, petite tomatoes, grilled corn, pepitas, jack cheese, tortilla crisps, and cilantro lime vinaigrette.

You can see there is a trend of entree salads here. :P I didn't get to try this Herb Roasted Salmon Nicoise ($19.95/ 800 cal) but I will absolutely get this next time. I had a little taste of the 'smashed potato' and it was friggin delicious.

Last but not least is the Roasted Chicken and Avocado Salad ($16.25/ 1040 cal). It has rustic croutons, petite tomatoes, pickled french beans, radish, and roasted tomato dressing.

All in all, Bistro Verde is a solid choice for lunch and exceeded all my expectations. I went one week in and the place was bustling with hip Vancouverites, cocktails being served at noon, and automated blinds coming down the windows when it detects direct sunlight. This IS the place to feel like a million bucks so if I want to treat myself in the future, I'll buy myself something small at Nordstrom and complete it with some dranks and tapas at Bistro Verde.

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $$$-$$$$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


                        growing up to me means

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Blue Bottle Coffee and Bowl'd Acai (San Francisco) - Ah-sigh-EE Bowls and New Orleans Iced Coffee

It's hard to get your veggies in while on vacation, which was why Rae and I were so happy to stumble upon a vegan, gluten free smoothie food truck while in SOMA.

 They serve acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) bowls, smoothies, juices, and power up 'shots'.

By the way, I absolutely love how they serve gluten free granola. As a person with a recent wheat allergy, it's good knowing there are still healthy eat out options for me even though I can't eat flour/wheat.

Rae and I split a These Nuts Acai Bowl (reg $9.60 US) composed of a smoothie on the bottom that is blended with acai, strawberry, banana, and almond milk. The toppings include one planet gluten free granola, banana, hemp seed, bee pollen, honey, sliced almond, and peanut butter.

Oh my god it was sooooo good! It was totally a refreshing and healthy way to start our day. It was so delicious, we tried experimenting with our own version of acai bowls at home after our vacay.

Next to the Bowl'd Acai food truck was a Blue Bottle Coffee stand. The area was quite industrial and just a little side street but there was already a lineup forming in front of the stand. Most people got the New Orleans Iced Coffee ($4 US) which was what we got too. The coffee was drip so it took a little while, but it was definitely worth the wait. It was so smooth, so creamy. I want one now just thinking about it.

Blue Bottle Coffee also serves freshly made waffles. Rae and I got one to share and thought it was only okay. The batter was too cake-like and dense for the morning. Also it was a little greasy so it didn't stay well in our stomachs.

Blue Bottle Coffee: 
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $
Overall Rating: 4/5

Bowl'd Acai:
Food Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $-$$
Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Eating!

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Boba Guys (San Francisco) - Horchata Boba and Thai Milk Tea

One of the districts Rae and I wanted to visit while in San Fran was the Mission District. It's an area decorated with murals and street art, delicious authentic Mexican taquerias, and hipster apothecary and taxidermy shops.

On our way I noticed a lot of people passing us were drinking bubble tea. They all seemed to have bought it from the same place, so I searched up the bubble tea place closest to where we were walking. Turns out, the ridiculously famous bubble tea shop called Boba Guys was right around the corner!

Unlike a lot of bubble tea places where you can choose from 50 different flavours and customize everything and anything, they have a set menu in place with only a few topping/milk/sweetness options. The Horchata Boba and Thai Tea TOTALLY caught my eye. 

The Horchata Boba (left) was a tad sweet for Rae's liking. I'd suggest getting it with 50% sweetness if you want the drink to be more refreshing than rich. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the Thai Tea (right). It was my first time trying authentic Thai Milk Tea and I am now a fan.

I hear it's really hard to make Thai tea because it includes ingredients like Ceylon tea, star anise, condensed milk, tamarind seed, and orange blossom water. It's something I'll never attempt to try at home so I wish Boba Guys would make its way to Vancouver because I promise I'll keep coming back for more!

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price:$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


                  Thai Tea made me like...

 

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Chatime (Richmond) - Roasted Milk Tea is Da Bomb

Recently, my Instagram has been blowing up with people going to this new bubble tea spot called "Chatime". Apparently, they opened up two new locations (one in Richmond, one in Downtown Vancouver) three days ago and people have been going cray cray for their grand opening BOGO deal. 

From now until April 17th, they are offering a Buy-One-Get-One-Free deal where you choose the bubble tea of your choice, then get to decide whether you want a Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea or Pearl Milk Tea as the free drink. Between April 18th - 24th(?), you can upsize the bubble tea for free.

Since I live in Richmond, I went with Rae to the Chatime in Richmond. It's located on Garden City and Blundell near Shoppers Drug Mart.

They open till midnight (yay!) and when we went at 9:30pm, it was still quite busy. This wall showcases their most popular drinks.

I never knew this before but apparently they have thousands of locations worldwide. They're in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Britain, USA, and Australia...to name a few. So this is no little franchise.

I ordered the Matcha Mousse (Reg size/~$5) which is essentially a Matcha tea with a salty foam milk cap. You're suppose to drink the salty (yes, salty) foam that's on top first, followed by the drink on the bottom, in one sip. What you get is a really interesting contrast between the savoury and sweet notes. I liked the Matcha Mousse... but the Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea was even BETTER. Somehow, and I don't know how, you can actually taste that it is a 'roasted' milk tea, and not just a regular milk tea. I can't explain it... it's just better than regular milk tea.

Their drinks are really tasty but they are a bit expensive because the regular size is smaller than the normal bubble tea cup size. They are delicious nevertheless so I would recommend you trying this place out, at least once.

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

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!


    when I heard about the BOGO deal 

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Beard Papa's (No.3 and Westminster) - Relax.. Enjoy... Cream Puffs...

Beard Papa's recently opened up their third location in Richmond! It's very different from the usual ones at either the food court or the mall. It's not a stall, it's an actual "Beard Papa's Cafe". 

Every time I pass by the cafe, I see a lot of people dining there but I couldn't wrap my head around how it could be a cafe. It seemed like such a grab-n-go place.

Meta Knight and I were guided to our seats and given a menu. It's different from the menu on the board which makes it a little confusing. Also they have a display case full of additional cakes and desserts you can choose from. But that is also not on the menu so you just have to go up to the case and look.

   

One thing that stood out to me were there "Floral Mochi Waffles". I've been seeing these on instagram for weeks now and really wanted to try it! Unfortunately we weren't hungry enough so we'll save it for next time. I'm assuming the waffles are made with some glutinous rice flour instead of wheat flour which makes them taste like mochi. :D 

Perfect afternoon snack for two. :)

The Cheesecake Stick (~$2.50) was really light and fluffy. Definitely a very authentic Japanese cheesecake which should not be mistaken for the heavier, dense, cream cheesey ones we're used to ex. the ones from Trees Organic.

We had absolutely no expectations for the Caramel Latte ($3.95) but it blew our mind! First off, how pretty are the three layers?? Everything tastes better when it's visually pleasing. 

It wasn't too sweet at all which was my biggest worry. I highly recommend this.

Of course, we couldn't leave without sharing a Cream Puff (~$2). We chose the Green Tea flavour and it didn't disappoint.

The matcha flavour was strong and as you can see, they stuffed that baby up to the brim.

We surprisingly had a really good time at Beard Papa's and will definitely be returning for their waffles. If I ever have to find a place to chill for a couple hours or have a light afternoon tea with a girlfriend, I'll choose this place.

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


                   I love tea... and coffee..

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Lucky's Doughnuts - Great Place to Chat Over Latte and Donuts

In my opinion, Lucky's Doughnuts (at either location) offer the most delicious variety of donuts in the Lower Mainland. From Maple Bacon Fritters to Creme Brulee donuts, they have some cray cray options to choose from!

I came with Meta Knight one day because I was cravingggg those creme brulee donuts I had last time (post here). Their flavours are always changing so I didn't have high hopes. Luckily for me, they did have it! Just a pumpkin flavoured one.

That display case gets me every time. From wanting one donut to four, that's always the case when I wait in line right in front of it!

It seems to me that this place is always packed and line ups are the norm. They don't have many tables inside but they do have a nice heated patio.

I got a regular latte and it was really good. Love their 'Tiffany' turquoise blue cups. Hehe :)

Thomas got the Matcha Bismark and it didn't look super matcha-y on the outside. Little did we know, it was packed full of matcha on the inside. Yum..

Yeah this is the money shot right here- look at all that matcha goodness. Needless to say, we both were VERY happy with this choice.

They didn't have their regular Creme Brulee Donut so I settled for the Pumpkin Brulee Donut which is essentially the same thing except it has pumpkin flavouring. I personally like the regular one more because the pumpkin tasted a bit artificial.

Lucky's is the only place I know that torches donuts with sugar like a creme brulee. It's ridiculous, it'll give you a sugar high, and it'll leave you wanting more next time. Can't recommend the original creme brulee donut enough.

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!


Oh yeah... glaze that donut...

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