Le Petit Saigon - Alright but Not Amazing

After our throwback party at PNE with BoyzIIMen, my friends and I went to Le Petit Saigon for some hot comforting pho. Who doesn't love pho on a chilly cold night? :)

We've heard of Le Petit Saigon before so we had some pretty high standards Walking in, the atmosphere was homey though service was lacking throughout the entire meal.

They had some pretty cool smoothie varieties including Durian, Sour Sop (what's that?!), and Avocado. I was SO tempted to get the Durian Smoothie but decided to spare my friends the car ride with me and my durian-breathe. :P

Number 22: Tai Sach ($7.75 Sml) consisted of only rare steak and tripe. For rare steak, I was surprised by the chewiness of it as it should be quite tender having just cooked in the boiling broth.

Though the broth had an intense umami flavour to it and was without a doubt delicious, we all thought it had a lot of MSG and slowly felt its effects thirty minutes after our meal. All in all, for eleven bucks and two toppings, I didn't think this was worth it.

Rae ordered the same thing as me except she had meatballs and Fon ordered the No.1 Special. Both were average and none of them were wowed at all by the pho.

I'm surprised by the 93% rating on Urbanspoon because I didn't think it was impressive at all. Their prices are on the higher range compared to my favourite pho spot Thai Son, and they use way too much MSG in their broth.

Service Rating: 2/5
Food Rating: 2.5/5
Price: $-$$

Overall Rating: 2/5

Happy Eating!

Read More

CRAFT Beer Market (Yaletown) - Big Kid Lemonade, Barrel of Nachos and Gluten Free Mac and Cheese!

CRAFT Beer Market is a casual restaurant located a few minutes away from Olympic Village and they specialize in all things beer. 

They have over 100 beer on tap and they offer the most extensive list of beer in Vancouver!

What I loved about this "Salt Building" are their high ceilings and lush furniture. We had a booth and god was it comfortable. Truly this restaurant could probably seat four hundred people- it was huge in size!

A lot of their entrees are made with some type of beer like their Craft House Beer, Beer Braised Brisket, Philips Beer Can Chicken, and more. If you're a beer lover, you gotta come here!

 

I had the Big Kid Lemonade (essentially tasted like Red Robin's Strawberry Lemonade but spiked) and a gluten free beer. Both were delicious and I was pleasantly surprised by the deliciousness of the gluten free beer!

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($13) came with carrot and celery sticks.

I wanted to try the Fast Food Sushi but unfortunately they sold out. :( Instead we got the Thai Lettuce Wraps ($12) which came with crispy noodles, tiny portion of veggies, rice, and a trio of sauces. T

The fact that this dish is vegetarian made it quite boring. The only substance were the crispy noodles which I don't particularly enjoy.

Their Nacho Barrel ($18) was no joke! Served in a legit barrel (weighing at least 10 pounds), the mountain of nachos, cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, peppers were perfect to share amongst our large table.

I chose the Craft Mac and Cheese + Gluten Free Pasta ($16+$2) and it was made with a blend of cheddar, gouda, mozzarella, and fontina cheese. 

The cheese wasn't overly creamy or saucy but it did caress each pasta enough for me to enjoy it very much. I don't know if the pasta was made with quinoa or corn or brown rice, but it held its own and tasted exactly like regular wheat pasta! Two thumbs up.

Grilled West Coast Salmon ($24) served with quiona, almonds, and green beans were delicious.

This is my boss' favourite burger at CRAFT Beer Market. The Bacon and Blue Cheeseburger ($16) is stuffed with blue cheese and topped with bacon, caramelized onions, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

The Farm Fresh Chicken & Kale Salad ($17) is tossed with cranberries, goat cheese, pine nuts, shaved brussel sprouts, and tossed in a spicy orange and cilantro dressing.

This was my second choice but I didn't end up getting it. It's the House Made Bolognese ($16) and what caught my eye was that it's fresh pasta made in-house!

The Craft Signature Sticky Ribs ($24) is tossed in a black garlic and miso BBQ sauce, served with brussel sprouts and potatoes.

My friend really enjoyed the Dark Beer Braised Beef Brisket ($25). It's braised for 10 hours and dredged in their housemade sauce.

I'll definitely be coming back to try more of their dishes and maybe catch the Canucks game with some beer and wings.

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

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!

 

Read More

The Keg (Yaletown) - New Menu, New Offerings

The Keg location in Yaletown has got to be one of the swankiest Keg locations in Vancouver. With its triple level interior and beautiful patio, it made me feel a bit more 'sophisticated' just dining there.

A couple days ago, they revealed a new test menu that just rolled out in the Yaletown and Dunsmuir location. They are looking to permanently add/remove certain items on the menu so it's not just a seasonal or promotional menu. Go give them a try and provide feedback before it's actually locked and running in all locations across North America!

 I started with a Frozen Mango Margarita and it was indeed as fruity and tasty as I expected. I ordered it as a recommendation from my friend and I believe this is an off-menu drink.

The Cucumber Collins (Keg Size) is another delicious and refreshing drink for people like me who don't love to taste a lot of alcohol in their concoctions. Gin, cucumbers, and rosemary are the primary ingredients for this drink.

 Some of their new appetizers include: Beef Carpaccio, Tuna Tartare, Crispy Shrimp, and Tuna Tacos. I tried the Tuna Tartare ($14) and not only was this visually stunning when it arrived, it also lived up to my expectations. The tuna was fresh and lightly seasoned with sesame oil and soy sauce. The wonton crisps were perfectly fried (not oily to the touch) and held the avocado tuna mixture nicely.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Beef Carpaccio ($14) only because I felt like it was missing some acid. The salad did a nice job of balancing it out a bit, but some lemon or other acidic liquid would've been better.

For my main, of course I had to order something new! The Shrimp and Lobster Salad ($21) is one of two 'Dinner Salads' on their new menu. This salad had artisan greens, black beans, corn, cremini mushrooms, tomatoes fresh avocado, pine nuts, and a mango sesame dressing.

You'll also notice that The Keg added a lot more non-beef items on their menu, specifically expanding on their fish and chicken selections, and even adding on ribs! This is the Pistachio Crusted Salmon ($30) served on garlic mash potatoes, bacon brussel sprouts, and maple butter. Meta Knight really enjoyed the flavor combination of salmon and maple butter, and even said he will definitely be getting this again. The bacon sauteed brussel sprouts were quite limp and can definitely be improved.

I've been LOVING this new dessert lately. It's their Sorbet ($6) which comes with a scoop of Chocolate and Raspberry. This fruity dark chocolate combination is like a party in my mouth. Honestly. You've got to try this if you like raspberry chocolate.

Their Brownie Sundae ($7) always satisfies the sweet tooth with its warm brownie, vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and caramel.

All in all, I can see that The Keg is improving it's menu with more modern flavour combinations (like bacon brussel sprouts) and trendy ingredients (quinoa salad). Their must order item in my opinion is their TunaTartare and Chocolate Raspberry Sorbet!

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $$$-$$$$$

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!

Read More

Yeti Yogurt (SFU) - Froyo Yolo

Vancouver already has an abundance of frozen yogurt establishments like Menchies, Qoola, Pinkberry, Scoop!, Timothy's, and Yogen Fruz, so its no surprise for another one to hit the market!

This new froyo place is called Yeti Yogurt. There are two locations in Vancouver, one on the North Shore (North Van) and one on SFU Burnaby campus (Cornerstone area).

Look, it's the abominable snowman! Their interior design is super cute and there's even a big Yeti mascot figure eating froyo near the door.

For all you lactose intolerant folks (like my friend Piggley), there are some options here that you might enjoy. Not only do they have lactose free options like sorbet, they also have lactose free yogurt Forget the icy fruit 'slush'-like ice cream... there's actual creamy 'ice-cream'!

They have 16 different flavours to choose from including french toast, nutella, sweet coconut, euro tart, pink pomegranate, yogi yeti 'green tea', and salted caramel.

We also noticed that they have a lot more toppings to choose from including four different kinds of popping pearls (near the back), two types of mochi, cookie dough chunks, and cheesecake chunks.

Normally I only see one type of gummy offered but here they have 6! They also have chocolate covered espresso beans, chocolate rocks, kit kat bars, yogurt covered pretzels... cool stuff.

Doesn't this look like a breakfast cereal station?

Meta Knight and I went with two tart flavours: Euro Tart and Pink Grapefruit ($5.60). These two flavours actually complimented each other very well and tasted oh so delicious with sweet fruit, chocolate chips, gummies, lychees, chocoalte rocks, and popping fruit pearls.

Their Pink Pomegranate tasted really fresh and like it was made with pure pomegranate juice. The lactose free yogurt was indeed creamy and not like a sorbet at all.

I found their frozen yogurts to be creamy, light, and very true to its flavours which I appreciate. It also wasn't saturated in colouring (which shows they don't use food colouring) nor had any weird after-taste like "watermelon flavoured froyo" I've had in the past.

In my opinion, Yeti Yogurt is a big contender for the froyo market in Vancouver even though they only have two suburban locations right now. For all you SFU goers and North Burnaby residents, don't miss out on this 'cool' little place. :D

They open till 10:00pm on Sundays, 10:30pm from Mon-Thurs, and 11pm on Fri and Sat.

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

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Eating!

Read More

Boiling Point (Burnaby) - Yummy Dipping Sauces

The Boiling Point in Burnaby is one of twelve locations all over Seattle, Southern California, and Canada region. They specialize in individual Taiwanese hot pots, stinky tofu, and drinks.

Their main menu consists of 10 different hot pots, all with a different main protein has the star. For example, they have lamb, beef, curry fishball, Japanese miso, tomato veggie...etc. You usually order them as a 'set menu' which gets you a bowl of rice and a drink as well for $10.99.

What I really enjoy about Boiling Point are their dipping sauces. I don't know exactly what they are but they taste AMAZING with meat and rice.

Both the Black Tea and Green Tea were super aromatic and more concentrated than expected. It was quite good but I actually would have preferred something lighter to wash down the rich flavours of hot pot.

 I don't know what it is about me but I keep on making the same mistakes. Last time I got the Lamb ($10.99), didn't enjoy it, vowed to not get this next time, and guess what I ordered this time? Gah! Anyways, I just didn't like this hot pot mainly because the copious amounts of sour mustard turned my broth all sour.

The Beef Hot Pot ($10.99) contained nappa cabbage, vermicelli, beef, enoki mushroom, tomato, tofu, tempura, corn, meatball, kamaboko, imitation crab, and tofu skin. Having the broth simmered on low heat with all those ingredients made it incredibly rich and complex.

All in all, Boiling Point is pretty average and an okay place to go if you are craving something hot on a chilly cold day. However, my favourite place for individual hot pots is still Gokudo Shabu Shabu in Richmond.

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

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!

  

Read More