Shabusen Yakiniku House (Burrard)

Downtown! Believe it or not, this is the first time I've gone since the Olympics started (excluding when we walked our friend off to work where we didn't actually do anything). Before checking out all the Olympic related events going on, we decided to grab some food. It was a pretty dreary day so the crowds were not large, which is great because then we didn't have to worry about ridiculous lines. Which then is good because we could take our time gorging ourselves on korean bbq and japanese food at Shabusen.

Thomas Haas: Cake Review

Imagine my surprise the other day when I came home to this:

If you can't quite read the side of that box, or if you don't recognize where the box comes from (Or if you didn't read the title of the post)...:

Kirin Restaurant (New Westminster)

I love Sundays. Sundays mean yummy lunches. Sundays mean grocery shopping which means ingredient buying which means more fail baking.

Love Sundays.

Beautiful weather warranted visiting a beautiful restaurant. Kirin Restaurant at the Starlight Casino in New West fit the bill.

Bakery 101 at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts

While I do not dislike my studies in Commerce currently, it's been evident to me for a while that if I have to spend another three years going through something that does not inspire me, I might explode.
Or something of that nature. : )

Granville Island Public Market

A beautiful day warranted a walk around Granville after our culinary tour. It was about lunch time after the tour, so we explored Granville looking for a place to eat. I've noticed that there aren't very many well renown restaurants in Granville Island (around Granville Island is a different story). Sammy J Peppers...? No thanks..We stopped by an oyster shop, and my friend wished he had brought his oyster shucker. Yes. Because we'd be shucker oyster right there and then. Right then.

Uncle Fatih's Pizza

One of our group had to head off to work, and by 4pm we were just tired. We decided to head back. On our way back, we had to transfer skytrains, and since my friend was hungry again at this point, we ended up in front of Uncle Fatih's Pizza.

Recipe: Brownie Mix Experiments

So I had this box of ghirardelli brownie mix in my pantry. It's been mocking me for months now. "Make meee, make mee". But I was being a brownie snob "Pfft. Premix? I'm better than that".

Chada Thai Fine Cuisine

My friend who is currently studying in China finally has gotten a break from school, and came back today to visit. This called for an impromptu get-together. We were all back in Coquitlam, so we decided to give the long-standing, yet unassuming Chada Thai Fine Cuisine a visit. I've been to Chada Thai once before for their lunch special. I did enjoy eating the lunch, although my lunch partners at the time wouldn't stop complaining about portion size and price point ($10). I didn't mind it.

Recipe: Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies

I do not profess to be an excellent chef, but I do love to cook and bake. So with a weekend to do what I want, I decided to give these cookies from here a try. I'm a silly individual, never following the recipe. I wanted larger cookies so I placed them down in larger scoops, but by doing so I felt that they needed longer to bake. Unfortunately, as I should know, the cookies at the bottom rack all ended up with black bottoms... These are the remnants of the burnt bottoms I scraped off with a knife into the sink..:

Cafe Medina

A new review on Cafe Medina's brunch can be found here

Cafe Medina has been on my list since I discovered Vancouver had good food. Since I was volunteering in the International Village for Chinese New Years celebrations, I finally got my chance a little before the volunteering started. It was 3:45, Cafe Medina was about to close, and I was already late for the volunteering, but I needed to give their famous waffles a try. When I looked into the window at first, I noticed there were no waffles on the rack. Gyuh! I hoped they would still be serving them.

Recipe: Vegetarian Paella

Due to the Olympics coming to town, UBC has a two week reading break. Thus, I finally get to go home and have some time to do some cooking! To 'celebrate', while watching the opening Olympics, I decided to dig up an old cookbook and cook the recipe on the first page I flipped to. -flipflipflip-, Paella! Alright, paella it was then. I took it out of this very old vegetarian cook book.. Not the best recipe to start off the blog, but hey, now you get to listen to my mishaps.

Recipe: Jiaozi Making

Since Chinese New Years is around the corner, the Bridges to China UBC club invited a number of member from the Education Bureau of the Chinese Consulate to make dumplings with us lowly students~ They brought over a couple of gifts to commemorate the occasion.

The Cannery

So, The Cannery has been quite overdone by the food bloggers of Vancouver. Perhaps we don’t need another review of the Cannery, but I really. really. Wanted to give it a try. So! Since my friend was going away on a big trip the next day, we decided to have a going away dinner.

We came with reservations, so we ended up with a beautiful spot right by the window overlooking the water. Gorgeous. I couldn’t get a good picture though, as the reflection of the window made it impossible. 

Cafe Gloucester

You know those days when everything is dreary and you just want some comfort food? Yea, this was one of those days. So me and my eating partner decided to hit up an old favourite, Cafe Gloucester.
It's always perplexed me as to why they named an HK late night comfort food joint after a location in the UK. But that's alright.

Vanier's

I apologize ahead of time for boring you all with this, but I think it’s a topic that really needs to get out there:

Vanier’s Cafeteria Food.

This topic will apply to a very small margin of you, and again I’m sorry. : ) I definitely will not be talking about the food all the time, save for when it’s especially bad (or on the off chance it’s actually good) Vanier's Cafeteria is found on the Vanier residence. A residential area in UBC for the first and second year students. There is another one like it on campus in the Totem residences.

'Kay, for the food. I do throw obscenities at it a tad too much. In truth the caf food is not horrible. The problem is it’s consistently mediocre. Undercooked, overcooked, always dry (yes, even when drenched in sauce. They pull it off). They just can’t seem to get it right.
Oh~ I should mention though that I love the sandwiches and wraps they serve. Customizable, grilled. If there is nothing else edible in the other sections, they’ll always be a sandwich.

The Point Grill

I’ve actually wanted to start a foodie blog for a while now. I’ve been to a number of restaurants that deserve some writing space, but the main problem has always been that I haven’t had a camera.
That changed today, as a good friend of mine surprised me with an early (although he demands it be called a late) birthday present!
Lucky me. So with camera in hand, and stuck on campus for the night, we decided to try out the new restaurant that has opened in UBC.


For those that don’t know, The Point Grill opened just a week ago. Serving 'American' fair (ie. burgers, pizzas, salads, pasta..) with some international influences (ie. Teriyaki rice bowls), it’s connected to the Marine Residences, and is quite easy to spot if you know where the Residence area is. (For those Vanier Residence individuals, just keep walking down towards Marine, you’ll see the restaurant eventually).
Exciting, because the only other restaurant we have on campus worth mentioning is Sage Bistro. So with new camera in hand, me and my friend headed off to sample the food.

Dear World

As a little first year foodie residing in UBC’s Vanier residence, there are times when I feel like a fish out of water, an individual stranded at sea with no water to drink.
No. Not because it’s university and I’m off on my own finding my way and whatever other cliché’s you’re thinking.
It’s because there is a distinct lack of good food.

I don’t have access to a kitchen. I’m required to have a meal plan.
And so, when I get the chance, this foodie likes to travel out into the great area that is Vancouver and indulge a little.
And when this foodie gets a chance to find a kitchen, cooking disasters experiments ensue!

Thus, I’m here to share my on noming with all of you. For the students who have to suffer through mediocre cafeteria food, for the individuals who wish to find great eats in Vancouver, for the lurkers on the internet who just want to look at pictures of food, I’m here for you, filling you in on:

1, 1. Restaurants in Vancouver + the GVRD

2. 2. Cafeteria food in the Vanier Residence and UBC campus food.

3. 3. Recipes I throw myself at.

Here I go : ). Tag along?