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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Taste of Yaletown (Preview) - Available October 15 - 29th

For those who love the concept of Dine Out Vancouver but can't wait till next January to try your favourite restaurants and get your prix fixe menu, you've gotta try "Taste of Yaletown"! It's very similar in that it's a two-week dining event showcasing dishes from 27 restaurants in the Yaletown neighbourhood. The menu combinations are offered at set prices of $25, $35, $45.


Annette O'Shea, Executive Director of the Yaletown BIA says "Yaletown is home to some of the city's best chefs, many of whom view Taste of Yaletown as a time to showcase their creativity. We're excited by some of the new restaurants in the area this year and are looking forward to seeing what the chefs are going to serve up this year for their exclusive Tatse of Yaletown menus."


I attended their media event and previewed Taste of Yaletown menus from two of the 27 participating restaurants. First up was The Parlour. The Parlour is an interesting place to be because you see business people coming here for a business lunch as well as cool hipsters drinking beers near the lounge area in the back.


They offer the $45 menu in which you can choose any two appetizers (excluding the cheese and meat board) and one pizza. These Ahi Lettuce Wraps ($15) had tuna, avocado, citrus ginger soy, mint, spicy ponzu aioli, and crispy shallots. These are also gluten free! :D


The Classic Bruschetta ($10) on thick white toast. Pretty standard.


Apparently this is their signature appetizer. I really enjoyed this Salmon Tartare ($15), but I mean, who wouldn't? It has perfect combination of steelhead salmon, seaweed, bonito, sesame seeds, ponzu, macadamia nuts, and micro cilantro. Anything that resembles poke is a tick in my book.


Stacked Short Ribs ($15)


These Meatball Minis ($11) were the bomb! It had Brioche, reggiano, tomato sauce, sambal, caramelized onion, and roasted garlic aioli. The head chef Matthew said they don't have a freezer or fryer so everything is as fresh as it gets. It was apparent with this ridiculously fresh and tasty meatball slider.


The signature Yaletown ($20) resembles the typical west coast palate. Albacore tuna, red onion, avocado, green onion, cilantro, and spicy aioli. I never thought about putting raw tuna on pizza so this was actually pretty eye opening for me.


I was the odd duckling in the group because I really loved their Standard ($20) Gluten Free pizza. The texture of the crust was nowhere as crispy as the regular wheat variety, but it was chewy, hearty, and totally up my alley.


This is a play on a pear, walnut, blue cheese salad. It's called Hamilton Street ($20).


The next tasting was next door at the Hamilton Street Grill. For T of Y, they are offering a $35 menu.


I believe this was the Chef's Creation Vegetarian Soup consisting of carrot and ginger. Everyone at the table thought this was unbelievable. Give me a big bowl of this with some (gluten free) bread and that can be my dinner.


The Red Onion and Blue Cheese Salad was refreshing but definitely not a huge standout.


As an appetizer, I love the fact that they have a Butternut Squash Risotto on the menu. It's a fabulous opportunity for people to try it out without choosing it as a main. I don't know about you but I always tend to gravitate towards the meatier protein mains versus vegetarian mains when eating a prix fixe menu.


Now this was a showstopper. It's the Icelandic Cod Saltimboca which is a pan seared and proscuitto wrapped black cod. Similar to a filet mignon, the proscuitto added a really nice smokiness to the fish.


The Angus Beef New York Steak was served with their Brandy peppercream sauce, and MY GOD it was delicious. They left the full peppercorns on the steak and it was just friggin amazing. Must get dish in my opinion.


This is a half portion of the Flourless Chocolate Cake with raspberry coulis.

Personally, this Taste of Yaletown event is great for someone like me because there are a lot of fantastic restaurants in Yaletown that I've never tried before. My hope is that I find a gem during these prix fixe menus and end up loving a restaurant I otherwise would've never known about. Time to check out their menus!

Happy Eating!


                                   I'm so excited!!

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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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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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