Frontier Restaurant

I was in Albuquerque a while ago and my friends insist to go to this famous breakfast place -- Frontier Restaurant.  It is definitely a place to check out what local New Mexican food looks like.  It is of course nothing to fancy but I enjoy knowing what the locals have for an everyday breakfast.  The conclusion is, they like really spicy food!

Burrito
Tortilla was soft with lots of beef inside.
Watch out if you are not used to spicy food.  My tongue was burning
and I can feel hot steam coming out of my ears.

Burrito with sauce
If you do like hot and spicy, ask for some sauce on it.
Definitely will spice up your life!

Frontier Sweet Roll
Fresh out of the oven.  Lots of sweet and starch.

The Elephant Bar

I was at Albuquerque, NM for a few days but there was only one day that I get to go out to try out something interesting.  The restaurant is really cool.  Anyway, I do not quite remember the name of the dish but it's a couscous salad.  The couscous was amazing but the sides were a little dry to my liking.

Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar

I have been to Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar one other time before this and I absolutely love their main entrees.  So,  I am going to attempt to summarize my two visits with as many pictures as I can and as few words as I can

Starting us off some bread and some spread.  I think it's butter with herb and some red pepper beans?

Gulf Island Swimming Scallops
I love the crunch crunch crunch of it! And the scallops was very juicy!

Lobster Roll

Dungeness Crab + White Asparagus Panna Cotta
I did not know what I was expecting. I can have a few servings of this for lunch!
The green apple really lighten up the dish a lot.

Artic Char
The skin was nice. Love the sides!

Ling Cod
Wonder why there are sausages? It adds flavour to the whole dish.
But the sausages are a little too salty to my liking.

Ahi Tuna
It was nicely grilled.  I would like it more if the inside is a little more juicy.

Brownie with Chocolate Ganache
A little too dry for my liking

A Collection of Bento for Someone

I couldn't buy you a birthday cake so I decided to collect some special lunch boxes for you :)  Happy birthday, Mishy-chan!

Food Market

First, I have to apologize for the blur and crappy picture because I couldn't wait to dig in!   Second, I think it's called the Food Market.  Anyway, it's a cafeteria opposite The Bay downtown Vancouver at the ground level near the Skytrain.

Fruits Tart! Fresh fruits! The crust wasn't crunchy enough to my liking though :(

Mango Cheesecake -- I think I bought it too late.  I would like it more if it's fresher and tasted more like mango

Lastly! I am so sorry for not posting for so long... Real life can really get in the way!

Minami Restaurant

Minami Restaurant is a sister restaurant to the famous Miku Restaurant that I like a lot too.  My friend was very nice to pick this restaurant for her birthday dinner since I wanted to try this restaurant for the longest time.  My personal preference is Minami for a girls' night out while Miku for a date night ;)

Deep fried goodness!
Ebi Fritter -- I love the mayo! And of course, the cruncy shrimp!

Love the freshness and the charcoal
Aburi Sashimi - Three types of sashimi: Tuna, Salmon and Hamachi.

More charcoal!
Aburi Saba Oshi Sushi -- Balanced portion of rice and fish. Rice are gently pressed too.

Crunchy Scallop Roll -- It's scallop roll sprinkled with tempura bits.
I felt a little tricked by the name but now I know!

A different kind of roll.
Yasai Maki Chicken -- Roasted chicken breast with vegetables rolled underneath it. 
I like to think of it as stuffed chicken!

Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish and Shrimp Crab Dumpling -- The miso took away the attention to the softness of the fish.
It's still good but I prefer the one from Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar across the street :D

Happy Birthday Suli!
Coconut Blueberry Cream -- The coconut taste was not strong.
I don't usually like coconut so yes, I enjoyed it. 

Sweetness <3
Passion Fruit Verrine -- I have to love that almond pudding!
The passion fruit ice cream was a little sour to my liking though

A Journey to Iran

This is from a while ago when there was a coupon deal that brought us to Darchin Restaurant -- an Iranian restaurant near downtown Vancouver.  My friend, who happens to be an Iranian, thought the food was very authentic and she went back there two weeks later!

In general, if you like flavourful dishes, give Iranian food a try! It's very different from Indian food.  The food is on the sweeter side.

PS: The restaurant is a little dark and to avoid annoying other customers with camera flashes, the pictures are not as clear as they should be :(

Lunch at Guu

Lunch special at Guu!  I was at Guu with Garlic  Yes this is just about the lunch special for now.  I know a lot of crazy Guu fans out there.  Thoughts about the regular menu will come when I have time later on.  (I have tried all the Guu in Vancouver so it's taking a while for me to compile everything.) They just started the lunch menu so it might not be as well thought of in comparison to the dinner menu.  My recommendation is: If you do not mind the wait, go to Guu for dinner.

Sushi Elephants

I have always been tempted to walk in there because of the attractive signboard but when most reviews talk about how good the rolls are, I was afraid that I will never be able to finish all the rolls I want to try.  So, when we needed a reasonable restaurant for a farewell dinner, off we go to Sushi Elephants!  Overall, the rolls are unconventional but tasty; ingredients are not unique but certainly fresh.  One of the sushi restaurants that I will go back to!

Falling for Korean Deep Fried Chicken

I was skeptical with Dasarang when the focus of the advertisement was deep fried chicken but when someone wanted to go there, I went.  Of course, half of the menu is about deep fried chicken, such as spicy deep fried chicken, non-spicy deep fried chicken, spicy boneless deep fried chicken, non-spicy boneless deep fried chicken etc etc etc..... And the result was, I made my friend bring her sister there last December and I went there again last week!  The service was a little slow but it was worth the wait. 

Hapa Izakaya

Hapa Izakaya -- another Japanese tapa style restaurant, but unique!  I was there almost a year ago for my housemate's farewell dinner and all of us had a good time.  Strongly recommended for those who like fusion food!

Rainforest Cafe

It was 5 minutes from the hotel.  It was packed with people.  It sounded famous.  We ended up in there sitting next to the gorillas at the Rainforest Cafe near Niagara Falls.  We were told that the gorillas and elephants move every 15 minutes while there will be thunderstorm every 30 minutes.  It was fun at the beginning but it gets annoying when we could not hear each other every 15 minutes!  Anyway, we didn't order much food because we were not very hungry. 

Oliver and Bonacini Cafe Grill

This is the second time I have been to the same Oliver and Bonacini chain restaurant. We went the day their Summer Fixe menu was introduced.  It was too tempting to try this three course menu that I gave up on ordering the calamari that was amazingly good when I tried it last Christmas.

For the love of chocolate

Chocolate is the answer... whatever the question.

Xoxolat an excellent chocolate store if you are looking for gift for anyone who has any opinion about chocolates.  They carry high quality chocolates that makes chocolate not just a dessert but food that people need to take time to enjoy it.

I attended the chocolate tasting class offered by Xoxolat a year back and the experience makes me enjoy chocolate more.  So, as I am about to visit some friends who have different preferences for chocolates, I took a 1.5 hour bus ride there and picked up everything I needed.

Le 100% -- 100% dark. Organic!
Theo Spicy Chile -- 70% dark. Organic fair trade!
By Xoxolat:
Sea salt & Nibs -- 75% dark. Lavendar -- 75% dark.
Westcoast Breakfast -- Bacon, espresso in deep rich milk chocolate!

My list of favourite stuff in the store goes like this (roughly):
1) Lavendar chocolate bar (shown in the picture)
2) Spicy hot chocolate -- must have for the winter!
3) Chocolate nibs -- They have plenty of selections for this. 
4) TBA after i go back there a few more times!

The first time the chocolate shoes caught my eyes in the mall, I thought they were too fancy as chocolate.  But now, I am planning to get them as presents for some of the ladies ;)
 

Miko Sushi Restaurant

Everytime I passed by Miko Sushi Restaurant, I have an excuse to go to the restaurant down the street for something non-sushi.  This time, I couldn't come up with any good ideas as of why I shouldn't go in.  After a long day at Stanley Park, we were too tired to walk any further for whatever food is there.  So, we went in!  There were a lot of pictures and signatures of ice hockey players on the wall.  The atmosphere is friendly and warm.  It gets crowded as time goes by and we were glad that we made it there before the huge crowd.  All the typical rolls, nigiri, sashimi and cones are on the menu.