Friday, July 20, 2012

Aki Japanese Restaurant

Wanted to try them again after they moved to their new West Pender location, decided to go for lunch by myself. Upon entering the restaurant, I was surprised at how different it looked compared to the old location which was underground. The old location looked very traditional Japanese, while this new location looked like a modern fusion of east and west with tall ceilings and red seating. I like the new restaurant setting better.


I decided to get the Sushi Special for lunch.
It was good, but not really good. I liked the California Roll as it tasted like there was some salad dressing on it which was unique. The one thing I didn't like was the rice in the sushi, it felt like they were "separated", I like it when the rice is more "sticky". The tuna sashimi was good, but I've had better in my opinion salmon sashimi at other places. It just didn't taste very fresh.

Even so, overall I enjoyed the food. I would come here again but it is a bit pricy, so once in a while.

Aki Japanese Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Cafe Moa

Came here on a hot, summer day to escape the heat. On a tour around UBC, we stumbled upon this little cafe run by UBC Food Services inside the Museum of Anthropology. I've never gotten food from here before, but this time, I was so hungry that I couldn't resist. My expectations were: high prices, average food.
They have this lunch combo which has a Salmon Chowder and a _____ (name of this slipped my mind at the moment). The Salmon Chowder was delicious! I enjoyed it so much that it convinced my two other friends to get one for themselves as well. It was thick and filled with veggies, potatoes and salmon.

The staff there heat this up for you when you order it. I thought it would be bad because it is already pre-made. But after heating it up, it tasted really fresh. The bread was crispy and that made eating this "sandwich" easy. The red peppers and the lettuce (I think?) complemented the meat well.

This UBC Food Service Cafe is better than the other ones.

Cafe Moa on Urbanspoon

Shanghai Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰豐

Saw this brand new restaurant as I was bussing by the other day, I was intrigued because it is rare to see such a big Chinese restaurant in this area. Decided that it was something I definitely needed to try!

Went with my friend for lunch today. Upon entering the restaurant, I felt like I was in a Richmond restaurant, which is cool because we are in Downtown! It was quite spacious and comfy, dishes were sparkling clean because everything was new!

Took us forever to order because the menu was hhhhuuuugggeee. After around 15 minutes (!), finally decided on some items. In my mind, I wondered if it was enough food...
The first was the famous Xiao Long Bao (XLB!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaolongbao. There were different types of XLB on the menu, some filled with crab meat, some with pork, etc. We decided to get the pork ones. The skin was strong enough that I could pick them up with my chop sticks without puncturing them, I proceeded to eat them by biting a little skin off the side, and then slurping the meat juice right out, mmm delicious! XLB's were fresh, I would recommend this one.
Next, we had the Shanghai Stir-Fried Noodles. I always get this dish when I'm at these sort of "northern" Chinese restaurants. This dish's signature is the amount of oil used to make it, it IS very oily, but I'm not eating this everyday. The noodles were smooth. The plate wasn't overly salty. Decent amount of thin pieces of pork. Would recommend this one also if you don't mind the oil.
Was gonna get the sticky rice roll at first, but they did not have it. So decided to get this Cold Duck dish. It is not ice cold, but a warm temperature. I liked this one. The duck wasn't fat, only a thin slice of fat between the skin and the meat. The meat was just the right level of hardness. The sauce is a little sweet if I remember correctly, interesting. This one is a little pricy at $10, but it tastes good.

The restaurant was quite busy in the lunch hour, interested to see how they will do in the future as right now, they basically own Downtown exclusively with this type and size of restaurant.

Shanghai Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 (Opening Soon) on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Joey Burrard

After seeing the Amazing Spider Man at Scotiabank Theatre next door, our group had a wonderful suggestion to go to Joey Burrard for a quick dinner! It was my first time to this Joey, previously only been to the one on Broadway. I noticed most people were sitting outside as the weather was so perfect, I thought the restaurant was nicely decorated both inside and outside.

We started off with some appetizers. Calimari Fritto and Blazing Wings.
The Calimari was really good! I loved how I didn't have to tear the squid apart and it just breaks easily after biting it. It was also pretty crispy.

The Blazing Wings were a little disappointing. They weren't really that spicy, and they were way too salty. If it was less salty, I would have liked them more. I've had better wings elsewhere.

For the Entree, I got the Lobster Ravioli. 
 I enjoyed this one, I liked the "mashed" lobster inside the ravioli, it sort of tasted like potato! The taste was just right, not too salty. I wish it was a little bit more "lobsterey" though, ie. lobster meat on the side, now THAT would be awesome. XD

Joey Burrard on Urbanspoon

Guu Garden

Decided to go out for a lunch break from work today, I was sort of craving a Japanese Bento Box, but after searching on Urbanspoon, I did not find anything I wanted, I decided to fall back to Guu Garden, I have always wanted to try it for lunch!
I actually took the elevator up the 18th floor of the adjacent building because I thought Guu was up there! It wasn't, but the elevator ride was thrilling and I have never been on such a fast elevator where I actually felt weightlessness!
Now, at the restaurant, the weather was so nice that I decided to sit on the patio. Service was quick and friendly. I got the Chopped Tuna "Yukke" on rice with half-boiled egg and ground sticky potato.
It comes with a miso soup with a bean curd inside, a few slices of egg plant, little grapes, and some garlic to mash. I really enjoyed the chopped tuna with half boiled egg and ground sticky potato even though I couldn't really taste the egg and potato, it definitely lead to an interesting taste of tuna that was very unique and something I've never had before. It was warm and the mixture was a mushy sort of thing, I liked it.

Guu Garden on Urbanspoon