Moxies on Robson- Good Food. Pricey Food.

I've always been indifferent towards the food at Moxies because I see it as typical bar food and bar food is never exciting nor mindblowing delicious. So far, I have not been proven otherwise and this time was no different. I came here with a couple girl friends for lunch because we had a vegetarian with us and there weren't many any other options around the area.

Our friend who was the vegetarian ordered the Nachos (~$20.00) as her entree. It was really pricey but I guess it's because it was meant to be shared. The nachos came with guacomole and salsa in a tortilla bowl which was a nice touch. Overall the nachos were good but it was really expensive.

I opted for the Beef Dip with side salad and it comes with shaved prime rib, mushrooms, cheese, and au jus to dip.

The prime rib was tender and juicy while the melted cheese coated everything with creamy goodness. It was a messy comforting sandwich that I'd order again.

The Asian Chopped Salad was described to be 'grilled breast of chicken and and crunchy vegetables tossed in sesame dressing and wonton crisps + toasted sesame seeds'. This was not what she imagined when she read the description and frankly she was a bit disappointed.

The Spinach Salad with Champagne Strawberries was slightly better as it had ruby red grapefruit vinaigrette, almonds, and fresh orange segments on warm goat cheese flatbread.

All in all, I wouldn't purposely come to Moxies but it is a decent choice if you are in the area or want their uber delicious white chocolate brownie. Personally, the prices are a little hard to justify considering their quality is just so so.

Service Rating: 3/5

Food Rating: 2.5/5

Price: $$-$$$

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!

Read More

Dinesty and Chen's Shanghai Restaurant- Battle of The Xiao Long Baos

In a span of a week I went to two different Shanghai restaurants in Richmond for XLB (Xiao Long Baos aka Shanghai Buns) so I decided to make a post on it and make it a battle! 

First up is the XLB from Chen's Shanghai Restaurant. They come 6 in a basket and the dumplings are consistently filled to the brim with soup. I love how I can pick up these dumplings with my chopsticks without puncturing the skin or it leaking. 

As apparent by my first ever post on 'Eating with Kirby', their Salty Soy Milk is what I live for. It's savoury, spicy, and full of ingredients like seaweed, shrimp and tofu puffs. It doesn't get much better than this. 

I always tend to get noodles at Shanghainese restaurants and I opted for the Fried Pork Chop with Noodles here. 

The broth was nice and clean to balance out the greasiness of the fried pork chop. Noodles were plentiful so you can definitely share this with many people.

The pork chop was nice and crispy but a little oily on the outside. You get a decent amount of meat considering how little you pay for this noodle soup + meat combo (roughly $5 CAD).

I have no idea what this is called in English but it is another type of noodle dish we ordered consisting of spinach, bean curd wrapped around meat, tofu puffs, and vermicelli. This is pretty good but not amazing.

They make really good Gyozas here. They look pretty average on the outside but when you bite into it, it is incredibly juicy and flavourful. 

For dessert, we had Rice Balls with Sesame Filling Coated in Crushed Peanuts. The peanuts were freshly crushed and the sesame filling was flowing like lava the instant I bit into it. Two thumbs up if you like black sesame.

Now onto our opponent, Dinesty in Richmond. You may remember from my previous post that I was disappointed and unsatisfied after trying this place out for lunch. Nevertheless, I came here once again to give them a second chance and they didn't disappoint. What you see here is Crispy Rice with Seafood and Veggies. 

These are crisped rice that was purposely made to give a crunchy airy texture. You are suppose to eat this with the soup so it kind of crackles and pops when the liquid touches the rice.

This is what it looked like after I spooned both the rice and the soup together. It is an interesting concept and  tasted pretty cool texturally on the palate.

These Xiao Long Baos come in a basket of 8 and are slightly more expensive than the ones in Chen's Shanghai Kitchen. The skin was just as thin and durable but the thing that was lacking was the abundance of soup within each dumpling. You can even tell from this picture that some dumplings are 'sunken' looking from the lack of soup filling.

I always enjoy Cold Noodles with Taiwanese Meat Sauce ($6.50).

You mix everything up and it'll look something like this. The fermented black beans always makes this dish delish!

We took a risk and ordered the Stewed Pork with Brown Sauce and Steamed Buns ($7.95). We didn't know what the heck 'brown sauce' was suppose to mean in terms of culinary terms but we trust that it would be at least edible and hopefully tasty.

They made these steamed buns fresh so it took 30 minutes for it to arrive. I love how these buns look like scallops! So cute!!

Once you combine the fatty pork, veggie, and bun together, you've pretty much just made yourself an Asian sandwich. This is worth a try if you are looking for something new to get.

 The Verdict: Chen's Shanghai Kitchen WINS against Dinesty with their delicious soupy Xiao Long Baos. 

Chen's Shanghai Kitchen have remained undefeated for two years now so please comment or tweet me if you think there are even better XLBs in Vancouver/ Richmond that I should try!

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://seeyanwaitingforever.blogspot.ca/2012/10/love-xiao-long-bao.html

Read More

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro (Dine Out Vancouver 2013)- Proud To Be Canadian

On the last day of Dine Out, Meta Knight and I scored a reservation at The Oakwood Canadian Bistro on West 4th. I've heard much about their poutine and Montreal smoked meat so we were excited to give it a try. After all, we are both Canadians and everyone knows Canadians can't get enough of poutine. :D

Their 'All Canadian Poutine' was not part of the dine out menu but we added it on for an extra 9 dollars. It has fries, fresh curds, gravy, and of course, the smoked meat. Meta Knight and I inhaled this thing and finished it in no time. Needless to say, two thumbs up.

I read from preview reviews on their dine out menu that the pork ravioli was not that great. Thus, I was going to go with the Smoked Cheddar and Cauliflower soup. That was until...the waitress told us they were all out of pork ravioli and they substituted it with pork belly instead!!! 

Any kind of determination to eat healthier went out the door when I saw this thing. Sitting in front of me were two large pieces of crispy, ever-so-fatty Pork Belly w/ apple wasabi butter, rind and radish sprout. I didn't need teeth to eat this because it was THAT tender.

Meta Knight went with the Albacore Tuna w/ white bean puree and charred crostini and really enjoyed it.

Only when the entrees came did I realize we ordered two courses each of meat. Appy and entree. =.= This Lamb Shank was prepare sous vide which is a method that is used to cook meat evenly while retaining as much natural juice as they can inside. 

To be honest, I felt really full and satisfied (probably from all the hunks of fat) after the pork belly so I actually wish I could have packed this and the dessert to go. But anyways, the Sablefish was perfectly charred on the outside creating a nice crispy layer of crunch while the meat on the inside was tender as can be. It was my first time trying patty pans (a unique type of squash) and it was really interesting!

The Nanaimo bar custard layered with vanilla custard and coconut walnut ganache was like a creme brulee but without the crispy top. I loved the custard and the large coconut shreds in the ganache. It was one heavenly dessert.

We also shared the Apple Crumble made with Gala and Granny Smith apples, crumble, and vanilla bavarian cream. The bavarian cream was frozen and added a cool gastronomy component to the warm apple crumble.

Overall, both Meta Knight and I agree that this was one of the best Dine Out Vancouver experiences we've had and we will definitely be back in the future to try out the items on their regular menu. 

Service Rating : 4.5/5

Food Rating: 5/5

Price: $$$-$$$$

Overall Rating: 5/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/canada-day.shtml

Read More

Bubble Waffle Cafe (Aberdeen)- Little Things That Make a Big Difference

You might be wondering why the title sounds so random. Little things that make a big difference? What does that have to do with noodles in fish soup? Well, take the case of Bubble Waffle Cafe. You might remember my post from a while ago when they used to be located next to Alleluia. They weren't doing particularly well and many reviewers and bloggers thought the quality of their food (especially their bubble waffle) was below par.

Now, they closed the old shop down, moved their home base to Aberdeen food court instead, and are now drowning in so much business that its hard for them to keep up. You can't even purchase your noodles now without having to wait in line! What did they do? They only made small changes to their business plan, but their increase in sales prove to be huge.

Aside from moving to a new food court location rather than a stand alone restaurant, they retained their signature noodles in fish soup concept but decreased their price to $4.95 per bowl (down from $7.50). BIG decrease. As well, they got rid if their average tasting Teppanyaki rice which was a great idea as it didn't jive with their branding anyways. Lastly, I feel like they improved their bubble waffle recipe enough to finally warrant their name.

For $4.95, you get two toppings with your fish soup noodles. You have the option of choosing your own soup base, toppings, and noodle. If you want more toppings, you just pay a little bit more.

I chose the Parsley and Century Egg Fish Soup with Squid balls and Fish Tofu. As for my noodles, I opted for an interesting blend of half oil noodles and half vermicelli. The quality was very similar to the ones you get from Deer Garden or Cattle Cafe but just in smaller portion. 

This is the same thing but with beef brisket and pig intestines (insert your 'ewwww's! here) instead of my squid balls and fish tofu. 

What I particularly enjoy is their promotion for bubble waffle. When you purchase a fish noodle soup, you can get a bubble waffle for just $1 more. What a deal! As I mentioned above, I think they improved their recipe so it is definitely worth it now to get one.

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

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://memegenerator.net/Do-You-Like-Bubbles

Read More

Horizons Restaurant (Dine Out Vancouver 2013) - Where The Wild Mushrooms Are

Have you ever watched 'Where The Wild Things Are'? It's a 1963 children's book about a boy and his monster/beast friend that was later adapted into a full feature film in 2009. I don't know why I randomly thought of this title... but I was eating wild mushrooms during the three course meal, so maybe that's why I thought of 'wild things'. :P

Anyways, back on topic. My second dine out restaurant of 2013 took the form of Horizons Restaurant on top of SFU mountain. They offer a $28 menu which is great for people who don't want to burn a hole through their wallet nor look 'cheap' when they take their crush on a date. 

My toughest decision by far was the appetizer as I love all three options. Warming cream of wild mushroom soup, refreshing baby spinach & frisee, mouthwatering albacore tuna tataki.... how does one choose?

Everyone at the table noticed how fast the service was during our entire meal. Our glasses refilled magically, and the stream of food came at a rate that gave us exactly enough time to digest, talk, and rest before devouring the next course. The complimentary bread was served warm but other than that, it was pretty standard.

Meta Knight chose the Albacore Tuna Tataki with togarshi rub, avocado, tomato, ginger, soy, and lime. He loved it and wish there was more. I had a taste and the togarshi rub they used on the tuna gave quite a heated kick which was unexpected.

Judging by the title, you can probably guess which appetizer I went with. You guessed it! The Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup with baby green pea shoots and sourdough croutons. I absolutely loved how the soup was not overly creamy or buttery because that was my biggest concern. The wild mushrooms really gave the soup a nice earthiness to it.

For my entree, I chose the New York Steak, 8 oz char grilled with red wine demi glaze, pepperberry butter, and nugget potatoes. The reason why you don't see potatoes on here is because I substituted them with extra veggies. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was so large that I had to give the last quarter to Meta Knight to finish.

The BC Sockeye Salmon grilled on alderwood BBQ, tomato basil risotto, charred asparagus, and spiced lemon emulsion. I didn't try this but I heard it was wonderful.

I didn't know what to expect when I picked the Cinnamon Poached Pear with warm pecan brioche pudding and butterscotch rum sauce. I think this dessert would have been much better if the pear was poached longer because it was still too firm when it got to our table. Otherwise, the bread pudding was awesome.

All the guys at our table chose the Chocolate Hazelnut Creme Brulee with homemade biscotti. I suppose this is the manlier dessert of the two. I'm glad I didn't choose this because even though it was sinfully delicious, my thighs would kill me for it. Just having two...three...four... bites is enough. :D

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $$$$$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://www.eatyourcity.ca/2012/03/food-blogging-101-our-own-meme.html

Read More