Sushimoto - Burnaby, BC

I've wanted to try the sushi places in Burnaby because I've heard good things about it. My best friend and I decided to go this weekend. I looked up a few places in Burnaby and decided to give this place a try. 

They are located right beside a skytrain station so it's easy to get to. We were able to find free parking at the end of the road. We went at around 1:30pm on a Saturday. We were surprised to see the restaurant was so empty; there were only two other tables in the restaurant. 

There were lots to choose from on the menu. They had lots of different rolls, sushi and other hot food as well. It took us a while to decide what to get. 

We ordered 2 pieces of seared scallops sushi for $2.5 each (Aburi Hotate). Because it's between raw and cooked, the scallop was very sweet and melted in my mouth. It was a good balance between the rice and sushi. I really don't like it when they give too much rice with sushi and all you can taste is rice. The sauce was also sweet, kind of like terriyaki sauce but it was not as sweet as that and not as strong that it overpowered the scallop. 

We then ordered 5 pieces of seared salmon and 5 pieces of seared saba aburi. I definitely preferred the salmon over the saba. Because it was seared, the salmon was really soft and tender. It had the texture of sashimi but the taste of cooked salmon. I found the saba to be a bit too fishy even though they had some citrus or ginger there to balance it off. 

Lastly, we ordered the saint daniel roll. It had seared beef on top with cucumber, avocado and spicy mayo sauce. I was worried about the sauce being too spicy but I was glad it wasn't too bad. I really enjoyed the roll. However, as we were picking the sushi up, it was falling apart which meant the sushi chef didn't roll it good enough.

I would want to come back again to try their other sushi since I haven't tried a place in Richmond that has good seared and aburi sushi.  I would say their prices aren't that expensive. It came down to be $18 per person including tips.

Ess-A-Bagel - New York City

I have to say this is the best bagel I've ever had. My boyfriend and I was looking for local eats when we were in NYC and we came upon this shop when looking at reviews online. When we looked from the outside, we were wondering if it was open. When we went inside, there was already a huge line up. They had a lot of staff and the menu looked complicated. We were trying to digest the menu and was glad that the line up was long so there was enough time for us to see how to order. 

Here's how to order: 

1. Pick the type of bagel ( and they have lots to choose from. They make their own bagels in house too. )

2. Pick the cream cheese you want. I chose the regular

3. Pick the meats. 

4. Pick Add - ons ( such a pickles, olives, peppers, eggs) 

If you don't like to make your own, you can also order combo sandwiches. 

Their cream cheese is to die for. I really wanted to buy the cream cheese and bring it back home. They have so many different kinds of cream cheese too. Boyfriend normally doesn't like cream cheese but he really liked theirs too. You can see they are very generous with the cream cheese. The table of 4 beside us, ordered a container of cream cheese and each got a slice of bagel and just ate it like that. Even though my bagel so was simple, it was so delicious. The bagel was toasted, so when I took a bite, you can hear the crunch. Because the bagel was freshly made, the bread was super fluffy. I really wanted to go back the next day, but boyfriend insisted that we should try something new since we are on a trip. If I could, I would come everyday to buy their bagels.

One thing I have to say is that I felt like I was so rushed when I was ordering because they were so efficient with the order and there was no way I could go back and change my order. I also would say they have ok service. You can't really compare the service to high-end restaurants, but they get their job done, which is what I care about at the end of the day.

I would say their prices are reasonable considering it New York and for breakfast. If I go back to New York in the future, I will try out their other cream cheese and find a way to bring some back with me.

Nero Waffles - Vancouver, BC

I used to come here a lot before it gotten very popular. The most recent time I went, there was a huge line up. I remember when I went before, it was super easy to get a table. Nonetheless, it's definitely still worth talking about because I do think they have one of the best waffles in town. 

They have waffles combo on menu as well as create your own waffles. There are two types of waffles, Liege or Brussels. Liege is soft and chewy where Brussels is crispier. I prefer Brussels better and as you can see with the pictures below they were all on a Brussels waffle. 

This is the most common Strawberries and cream. 

This is mocha infused cream with ice cream and chocolate sauce. 

This is my favourite, Bresilienne, homemade cream, ice cream, with caramel and nuts. yummm! My mouth is watering from looking at the picture right now. It's just such a nice combination. The waffles are made to order. The warmth of the waffle with the ice cream just makes you can't stop eating it. 

Because the place only has around 4-5 tables, it is hard to get a table unless you come during or before dinner time. How I wish this place is not popular so I don't have to wait for a table but I am very happy that they have become so successful.

Sushi Hachi - Richmond, BC

This is my favourite sushi place in Vancouver so far. I have yet to go to those sushi restaurants that everybody's been raving about. There are several reasons why I like this place.

1. Their sashimi and seaweed are super fresh. The freshness of the seaweed definitely brings out the sushi flavour.

2. The fact that it's operated by a family gives it an added touch. However, with that said, because the husband only runs the sushi bar, the wife has to do everything else. So don't come here if you are in a hurry because you have to be patient to wait for the food and service.

3. The place is quiet and small. It is located in a mall with little traffic, so finding parking is never a problem. Because the place is small and quiet, it truly allows you to enjoy the food in serenity.

4. Reservations only. They are only open from Tuesday - Saturday from 6-9 pm. So if you walk in without reservation, it's very unlikely that you will be able to get a table. I've seen them turned down many customers simply because they don't have the capacity. What's good for those who have reservations is that you wouldn't have to wait. The table is usually ready for you.


I usually come with my boyfriend and we usually order the same thing. The chef's choice sushi along with a few other sushi by piece. The chef's choice sushi is $25 for 10 pieces and 1 roll. We always order that because it allows us to try sashimi that we have never had before. They don't usually tell you what you are eating unless you ask them. Even if we ask them, we usually don't remember what they've told us so we just give up.


This is an example of a chef's choice sushi.

This is another example of chef's choice sushi at another night.

This is the chef's choice sashimi. 

I do have to mention that their other food items are not outstanding compared to the sushi and sashimi. That's why we usually never order other things other than sashimi and sushi. 

Raw Canvas - Vancouver, BC

It was one of my girlfriends' birthday dinner and she wanted to come to Raw Canvas in Yaletown. I wasn't too fond of the idea at the beginning because one, I am not an artistic person and two, I didn't want to have wine and cheese for dinner.

Let me first explain how Raw Canvas works. You start with the tasting plate which is $17. You can pick 3 types of cheese or meats and 3 types of accompaniments which doesn't sound like a lot. Then, after you are finished eating, you go over to the painting area with you wine if you like and start painting. The painting prices depends on the canvas sizes and you can use all the paintbrushes and paint there. 

I picked 2 cheese and a quail & pear terrine (bottom centre). For accompaniments, I picked fig (top centre),  apple thyme confiture( top left) and fire roasted tomatoes (top right). When I started eating it, I changed my mind about coming here. This pretty much got me hooked on wine and cheese. The accompaniments were so good. I especially liked the fig and the confiture. They all came with a basket of mini sliced baguette. You can ask for refills for the sliced baguettes. I first thought I wasn't going to be full from this but as we were eating and chatting, I realized I was getting quite full. 

After we were finished eating, we went to the painting area. Normally, everyone would get their own canvas, but we decided to get a big one to share because I am not artistic and because having your own canvas is quite pricey. I believe the size that we got was $55 and they were nice enough to split the price equally between all of us. 

Overall, I really do enjoy the experience and this will be even more enjoyable for those who enjoy painting. I really enjoy the food they provided and I wish I can go there only for the food. I am not sure if they allow you to but it seems like everyone who ate there did go painting afterwards. 

L'abattoir - Vancouver, BC (Dine Out 2013)

We've been to L'abattoir twice, both times during Dine Out Vancouver. We've committed that we will go every year during Dine Out Vancouver. L'abattoir is one of the restaurants which provides high quality food during Dine Out Vancouver. They are super packed during Dine Out Vancouver season, so if you do not make a reservation, there is no way you would be able to dine here.

The ambient is very relaxed and soothing. The waiters and waitresses there are quite casual.

We love their appetizer bread. It's very different than other restaurants. What I mean is that they put effort it. They provided us with four different kinds of breads and they were all very delicious. Normally, we would not finish the bread provided by the restaurant but with L'abattoir, we always finished. 

I ordered confit of Albacore Tuna, with Lettuce and crispy bits for appetizer. This was a very interesting dish. The white square looked like marshmallow and when we tasted it we had no idea what it was. We had to ask the waiter and it turned out to be egg white. The crispy bits were pretty much like bacon but very delicious. I was so intrigued by the other ingredients on the plate that I didn't pay too much attention to the tuna. The dressing was very refreshing and went well with the dish. It was a very tasty and interesting appetizer. 

Boyfriend ordered Steak Tartare with egg yolk and biscuit for appetizer. He said he liked my salad better. The tartare was done well but he didn't find it to be that different other other steak tartare he had. The biscuit definitely added some crunch and texture to it and made the dish better. 

For my main, I ordered the homemade cavatelli pasta with poached egg, pumpkin, brown butter with sage. The dish is making me salivate as I am typing this. This dish was very yummy. The runny yolk mixed with the pasta that's al-dente. The pumpkin added some sweetness to it and the brown butter just added some extra flavour. At first, I was wondering how this dish would turn out because I don't usually order dishes that are vegetarian on the menu but the description attracted me to try and I am so glad I did. I couldn't finish the dish though because I was full from eating the bread and the appetizer. 

Boyfriend ordered pork schnitzel, cabbage, swiss cheese with mushroom gravy. He was excited about this dish when it came but was disappointed when he started eating it. The sauce itself was good and the flavour was good but it just reminded him so much like a Japanese style pork cutlet. This was not as thick and juicy as the Japanese style pork cutlet that we usually have. 

We were so excited when this dessert came. We saw others beside us ordered it. This was frizzy raspberry lemonade with raspberry frozen yogurt, meyer lemon and basil granita. This was so good and refreshing. We loved the flavours of raspberry, meyer lemon and basil. They all complimented each other very well. Also, the fact that the basil was in a granita form added texture to the dessert and brought it to a whole new level. Did I say this dessert was sooo goood?

Boyfriend ordered the banana poundcake with passionfruit and caramelized white chocolate. Banana poundcake was something we had not tried before. Since we make a lot of banana bread, it was interesting to see how banana pound cake would taste. We liked that it wasn't too sweet and the passionfruit balanced the white chocolate out. This dessert was still really good and there were many components to it but the dessert earlier just set the bar high that made it hard to get excited about this dessert. 

We are definitely coming back again during Dine Out Vancouver Next year or maybe having one of our birthday dinners here. I will keep you guys updated.


 

Kiriri Japanese Cuisine & Sushi Bar - Richmond, BC

We have never gone to this place until one of our friends recommended us. The location is quite hidden. They are located across from the mall of Garden City and Blundell. They are at the corner of the complex that includes a grocery store, Master hung restaurant and a pizza place.

The lighting of the restaurant is quite dimmed, that's why it's quite easy to miss the restaurant when you are driving by. The restaurant itself is not very big. I would say probably around 8-10 tables plus the sushi bar. Sometimes they are quite packed, so reservations is recommended but you can catch them at odd times where you can just walk in without reservations.

We first noticed that the sushi chef is Japanese which is a good sign that this is an authentic Japanese restaurant. They do have daily specials that's usually different. After looking at the menu, we ordered a few things.

We decided to order the daily special which is hamachi carpaccio with ponzu sauce (dish on the right). We really enjoyed the dish because it's different than the normal carpaccio you would have. Hamachi itself is quite sweet and not fishy at all, adding the ponzu sauce made the dish very refreshing and light. It is definitely a good dish to start the meal and definitely different than just having hamachi sashimi. 

We also ordered miso Saba from the appetizer menu. The fish was seasoned well and the miso wasn't too strong that would overpower the taste of the fish. The fish was grilled nicely and the fish was very flaky and soft as you break into the fish. 

Of course, we had to order some sushi given this is a sushi bar. I had to order my favourite kinds of sushi which are salmon, chopped scallop and tamago. I always find that tamago and chopped scallop really allows you to see the quality and skills of the chef. The reason why I say that is because some sushi places would buy pre-made tamago while authentic sushi places would make their own. I can't guarantee 100% that their tamago is not pre-made, but it did taste quite fresh and wasn't too sweet. Chopped scallop is really about the balance between the sauce/mayo and the scallop. Some places would put way too much mayo to cover the fact that the scallop is not fresh. Kiriri's chopped scallop didn't have a lot of mayo so you were able to taste the scallop along with the fresh seaweed. 

The salmon sushi had nice colour and it was a nice big piece. Lastly to note is the west coast sushi roll wrapped in soy paper. The fact that it was wrapped in soy paper made the sushi taste not as heavy and we were able to focus more on the taste of the ingredients inside of the roll which included salmon. 

Lastly, we ordered a blacks sesame creme brûlée. We were quite surprised when we first saw the bowl. We thought the creme brûlée was actually the size of the bowl. That would have been a really good deal for $4.5. You can get an idea of the bowl size compared to the bowls beside it. 

After we opened the lid, we were confused for a few seconds since all we saw was just a bowl of fruits.  Then we saw the other side of the lid and noticed the creme brûlée. It was quite creative to present the creme brûlée this way. The fruits actually helped balanced the sweetness of the creme brûlée. The creme brûlée definitely had very strong black sesame flavour. Although I am not a big fan of black sesame, I did really enjoy this dessert, maybe because of the fruits that came with it. 

The service at Kiriri was also very good. All the waitresses had a smile on their faces and they would assist you immediately after you asked for something. After we finished our main course, they changed our existing tea to new hot tea which was very thoughtful. 

This place is definitely worth coming again but not a place that we would go often because the price is not that cheap. However, I do believe the prices do reflect the quality of the food and the services they provide. 

Le Crocodile - Vancouver, BC

Le Crocodile has been on the list of the restaurants we want to try for a while. We have never gone there mostly because of the price. Boyfriend heard from his classmates that we should go during lunch time because the price is more reasonable. So on the day before we went on vacation, we decided to go there for lunch. Keep in mind that lunch is only available on weekdays.


Boyfriend ordered the Menu Express which was what his classmate recommended. It is a daily Main Course with wild mushroom soup with truffle oil or butter lettuce salad. The Menu Express was $20.

We also ordered the escargot with garlic butter as appetizer. As for me, I ordered the Crab Ravioli. 

Before the appetizer arrived, there was amuse bouche which was a mushroom quiche tart (bottom left of first picture). Although it is complimentary, a lot of work has been put into it. The tart pastry was soft and flaky and the filling was seasoned perfectly, it went really well with the pastry. Although we visited Le Crocodile during summer time, the warmth from the tart definitely started the meal right.

After that, our escargot came. We didn't really the menu in detail when we first ordered and we didn't know that it came with an edible pastry shell. When we first saw the dish, we thought the escargot was actually in its shell. Boyfriend liked it without the shell but I preferred eating it with the shell just because it is less salty. The garlic butter sauce was a bit salty but the escargot was cooked perfectly. 

I have to say this is the best ravioli I have ever had. The sauce was super creamy. There were smoked salmon bits and cheese in the sauce. The ravioli was baked at the top and melted the cheese. I mean who doesn't love the baked cheese. The ravioli filling was also very delicious. The crab meat wasn't overwhelming and you can tell the ingredients of the filling was very balanced. For $16.50, I would say this dish is definitely worth the money. Normally when you order ravioli at a higher end restaurant, you would probably get 4-6 pieces of ravioli. Look at how much pieces of ravioli there were. Of course I wasn't able to finish it because it was very filling. I would definitely recommend trying this ravioli when you go there. 

Each table gets a plate of skinny potato chips with their main course which is very thoughtful. I do enjoy eating those as well. I am not sure if those chips are bottomless as we didn't even finish our plate. 

Boyfriend had the daily main course which was grilled wild salmon. The salmon was cooked perfectly, melting in your mouth.  All the vegetables were also seasoned and cooked well too. Of course I still enjoyed my crab ravioli better. 

After the meal, they gave us a sorbet as a palate cleanser along with their famous Le Crocodile chocolate (Top left of first photo). 

Overall, I really enjoyed the lunch menu Le Crocodile provided. We will probably go there for dinner one day, but not anytime soon. 

The Sweet Spot - Richmond, BC

We love going to the Steveston Village during the weekend because the area is so calm and relaxing, makes it feel like you are on a vacation. There are a few places that we usually go to. Recently, we have discovered a hidden gem, the Sweet Spot bakery. It has been voted the Best Bakery in 2013 by Richmond Review Readers.

Their location is easy to miss. They are in the complex that is a few buildings down from the Coast Capital in Steveston Village.

 (Photo from thesweetspotbakery.ca)

The store isn't very big; there are only a few chairs for customers to sit down to enjoy their pastries. As soon as you walk in, your attention would immediately be drawn to the beautifully displayed pastries there.

(Photo from thesweetspotbakery.ca)

They have both savory and sweet pastry. I only like getting sweet pastry though. We got the passionfruit & raspberry mousse, and chocolate & coffee mousse.

My boyfriend and I definitely like the passionfruit and raspberry one better because the flavours are very unique. The two fruits go very well together. The sweetness and the sourness makes the cake not too sweet. The white chocolate that surrounds the cake adds some extra sweetness. The way the cake is layered allow you to taste all the flavours, which gives you balanced flavours every bite.  I would definitely recommend trying this cake because I am sure you will fall in love with it too.

I really enjoyed the chocolate and coffee as well. The flavours are not as unique as the raspberry and passionfruit but I do like that it's not too sweet as well. The two flavours do compliment each other quite well and the presentation of that cake is very nice. The tiny chocolate balls on the top adds crunch and texture to the cake.

This is the second time I've been to the Sweet Spot. They have a slightly different selection of cakes than the first time I went.  The first time I went, we left the dessert in the car and went home to enjoy them after running some errands but the desserts have melted a bit. They still tasted great but I wasn't able to take pictures of them.

One last thought to note is the details they put in when they put your desserts in the box. They put tape at the bottom of the each cake so the desserts would not move around in the box. I will definitely be going back again to try out more of their cakes and pastries.