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Tuesday 31 March 2015

東方自助餐

In a very faraway land, where the mountains stop and the valley looms ahead, time stood still. I have stumbled among this time warp once or twice a year over the past decade and a half; about time I tried it.


The buffet is huge that it took me four plates to try everything (and I am not sure I did end up trying everything). Here is how the first plate looked like followed by where it was filled from.


Yes, Chinese and Japanese made a peace treaty and joined forces on this buffet.

So by now, many of you are salivating over all this food for less than $15.

Don't get too excited, every item on the platter above, despite looking like a distinct piece of food, had the same taste (yes, including the sushi).

Well, let's go back for platter two - the selection looks more interesting on this part of the buffet island.


I was very excited about the smelts - I love fried smelts.

But those did not crunch as fried smelts do, they stretched like rubber does.

Time for the more western food on the spread.



The homogenous taste experience continued with plate three.

The only item I did not add to the plate were the french fries and gravy; now I feel that may have been a mistake.

Time for dessert.

I thought these are mango and coconut pudding cut into edible chunks.

Nothing - no flavour, no taste. 

Same with the cake - just looks. In fact, the only thing with taste was the cookie.


Oriental Buffet
15140-101 Avenue
Surrey, BC

Oriental Buffet 東方自助餐 on Urbanspoon
 

Monday 30 March 2015

Edible Shopping

Two years ago to the day, I discovered Edible Canada, a restaurant serving local foods (Read A Restaurant & A Café).

At the back of the restaurant, there is a tiny store that is packed with locally (provincially) made goodies. It probably packs the widest selection of local made goodies across over a dozen categories.

Since I get overwhelmed fast, I focused on specific ones, mainly those that the packaging attracted me to.

These included chocolates, salts, peanut butter, jams and jellies. These are the products featured. What else they sell will have to wait till the next visit.




My favourite purchase, though, was this blueberry with lavender jam.

I have already tried it over rice pudding, with peanut butter, on toast and a full spoonful out of the jar.

Definitely a place worth visiting on your next Granville Island trip.

Edible Canada
1596 Johnston St.
Vancouver, BC
www.ediblecanada.com


Edible Canada at the Market on Urbanspoon

Sunday 29 March 2015

The somerville kitchen dinnerpartyyvr year 2

Thank you Social Bites for having somerville kitchen be part of your dinnerpartyyvr event one more time.


dinnerpartyyvr is where hobby chefs open their homes to guests who pay for the dinner and the money goes to charities. 42 of us cooked and had fun, met new people and did something good - as a group, we raised a total of $15,065 for charities.


As per last year, my charity of choice was The World in a Garden with the only difference of having this lovely organization's creator and leader, Tricia Sedgwick, join my guests for dinner this year.

 
Thank you BlueShore Financial for donating for each tweeted picture from the event, raising $1000 to add to the mix.


 Social Bites, a lovely idea, please keep it going, and thank you.



 

Saturday 28 March 2015

Beach Time in Vancouver


Vancouverites are out on the beach while the rest of the country remains dressed in white. To dazzle a visitor from the white parts, a lunch on the beach was in order.

Kits Beach Boathouse delivered well -  exceptional grilled fish, specially the haddock served with no sauce, no butter but simple lemon juice.


The Boathouse On Kits Beach
1305 Arbutus Street
Vancouver, BC
 
Boathouse on Urbanspoon


Friday 27 March 2015

Smash

Preparing a spaghetti with tuna and artichoke hearts salad, reaching for the oil, that hit the coriander jar that fell and hit the salad bowl and smash!


This is when dominos.ca comes in very handy.

Thursday 26 March 2015

12 Wacky Cup Cakes

Cake Lady strikes again with these 12 cup wacky cupcakes.


What's wacky about them? Well, first it's Wacky Thursday. Next, check out those wacky cupcake containers.



And last but not least, they are wackyly delicious that you cannot stop at one.


 Thank you thank you thank you!

Wednesday 25 March 2015

No One Does Easter Better

Any regular reader would have read enough of my raving about Chocolate Arts. I go there for lunch, afternoon hot chocolate, family gifts, clients gifts, place to take tourists, chocolate making classes. But nothing beats how lovely Chocolate Arts looks at Easter.


Easter at Chocolate Arts goes beyond eggs and bunnies. It includes adorable birds and sheep.



But if you insist on a bunny, then try their pop bunny - let it sit and melt on your tongue and feel the ecstatic vibrating chocolate sensation.


So don't waste your time searching for Easter Chocolates, just head over to Chocolate Arts and enjoy.



Chocolate Arts Café
1620 West 3rd Avenue
Vancouver, BC
Chocolate Arts Café  on Urbanspoon 


Tuesday 24 March 2015

Miku Second Time Around

Miku, the cousin of Minami, may not have the same appeal to me as its cousin; mainly because it is bigger with too much lighting reflecting off its white walls.

But Miku offers the same delicious eating experience as its cousin.

What I seem to always have at Miku (Read Miku) is their Miku Zen - a selection of four seasonal platters by their chef as well as five pieces of their most interesting sushi.







Miku Restaurant
70 - 200 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Miku Restaurant on Urbanspoon

 

Monday 23 March 2015

Simple Heavy Dinner

On my weekend trip to Whole Foods (Read Whole Foods), I picked up two items that were not reported on. The first is hand made potato gnocchi. 


The other item is a yellow cheese, that I cannot recall its name, that the store had a big sign on it saying it goes very well with potatoes.


A match made in heaven for a simple, quick dinner of potato gnocchi with melted cheese. Yum.