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Posts Tagged ‘Hidden Gem’

Cakes n Sweets Bakery – Hidden Gem for Afternoon Tea

Posted in Afternoon tea, Baked Goods, Bakery, Cafe, Coquitlam, Dessert, Joyce, Neighbourhood Gem, Restaurants, Tea, Tea House, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

A couple of weeks ago I managed to steal a couple hours of free time from CC, so we went for afternoon tea at Cakes n Sweets. It’s a small bakery tucked in the corner of a strip mall in Coquitlam. It’s my second time for afternoon tea there; first time, I took Mama Lam and we quite enjoyed it.

Cakes n Sweets

Food

For $19.95 each person receives a selection of sandwiches, sweets, scones and a pot of tea.

High Tea at Cakes n Sweets

The Buttermilk Scones were freshly baked. The scones were flaky, slightly crumbly. They were still hot to the touch, so the devonshire cream kind of melted as I spread it on. (more…)

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Tour de Feast – Hidden Gem in North Vancouver

Posted in Bistro, Cafe, Comfort Food, Contemporary, Dinner, French, Joyce, Meat, Neighbourhood Gem, North Vancouver, Restaurants, Seafood, tagged , , , , , on March 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

A spa date with CC took me to North Vancouver and she suggested to try this restaurant called Tour de Feast. It’s located in a business complex next to an industrial complex. It’s not easy to spot in the dark and the interior basically looked like a cafe.

Food

Taken a look at the menu and I was caught off guard by how fancy the menu was. Not a big menu, but with items that you would find at fine dining restaurants. The day’s special was a surf and turf with steak and sockeye salmon; I didn’t go for that because my mood didn’t call for it.

So for appetizer I ordered the Octopus 2 Ways. First, the tentacles were braised to absolute tenderness it could be considered borderline mushy. Haha the suction cups just fell right off as you took bites. The flavour was quite nice; it could be even better if using a bit of heat. Then, there was an octopus rillette. It’s similar to crab cake except it’s mostly dough with some pieces of octopus inside. It’s pretty good but quite filling. I think we were off to a good start.

Octopus 2 Ways

With entree, I chose one of my favourite dishes, Duck Confit Cassoulet. The duck leg looked HUGE!! (more…)

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Jeong Ga Nae – Good Spot for Korean Comfort Food in Coquitlam

Posted in Comfort Food, Coquitlam, Dinner, Joyce, Korean, Meat, Neighbourhood Gem, Restaurants, Soup, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

Recently my family and I discovered a new spot for Korean food near Coquitlam Centre – Jeong Ga Nae, located in the strip mall facing Glen Drive. We’ve been there a few times and tried a number of dishes. Here I’m highlighting what we’ve liked.

Food

I’m sucker for Korean tofu soup; it’s one of the few things I crave on a cold winter day, or simply my go-to dish at a Korean restaurant. At Jeong Ga Nae, you can order your Spicy Soft Tofu Soup with just kimchi (i.e. vegetarian), pork, beef or seafood. The broth was flavourful, and at the right spicy level, making me sweat and sniffle just a little bit without embarrassing myself and/or my dining companions. Without prompting, I usually ask for a medium, but I never knew if you could actually control the spicy level haha. I’ve had beef and seafood, and they were both very good. I do prefer the beef version, though, because the meat makes it richer and more satisfying. The seafood one was relatively lighter in flavour. This was the standard portion size, with a cracked egg and lots of veggies in the soup.

Spicy Soft Tofu Soup

Another one of my favourites there is the Potato and Pork Bone Soup. This dish sometimes serves two or more people, but this was an individual serving, and it arrived bubbling hot (as were other soups!).

Bubbling Potato & Pork Bone Spicy Soup

Despite the size, there was no shortage of pork bone pieces in this soup. (more…)

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Burnaby Riverway Clubhouse – Great Value! [Dine Out Vancouver 2014]

Posted in American, Burnaby, Chocolate, Culinary Events, Dessert, Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Great Views, Joyce, Neighbourhood Gem, Restaurants, Seafood, Steak, West Coast, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 29, 2014| 4 Comments »

My second DOV is at Burnaby Riverway Clubhouse. I’ve been there for a weekend brunch once but I never got to write about it. The last experience was pretty good, so based on its DOV menu, I decided to take Mama & Papa Lam there.

Food

Let me just start by saying this menu is of great value! How so? Read on.

For appetizer, the parents ordered the Vanilla Poached Canadian Lobster Tail. Yes, a whole lobster tail. Now it may not be a gigantic lobster tail but it’s still lobster. Sometimes lobsters may have their strange, unpleasant fishy taste that may not be appealing to some; poaching the lobster tail in vanilla helps tuck away that taste and makes it very enjoyable. I thought they did a good job in combining different sauces (fennel sauce, orange foam with a drop of lobster oil) and making them work together.

Vanilla Poached Canadian Lobster Tail

As for me the recently recovered sickie, I opted for the Trio Onion & Potato Soup. It’s thick yet creamy, but I found it to be slightly salty. By mixing in the creme fraiche and maple glazed pork belly bits (the flavour reminded me of the BBQ sauce that you glaze Chinese BBQ pork with), the saltiness was balanced out and it became extra creamy.

Trio Onion & Potato Soup

When I ordered the entree, I didn’t realize the Queen Charlotte Islands Halibut was done in two ways (more…)

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Vesta Grill – Hidden Gem in Coquitlam

Posted in Coquitlam, Dinner, Grill, Joyce, Korean, Meat, Noodles, Restaurants, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Even though I live in Coquitlam, quite honestly I don’t eat out in the area a lot. If I had to pick a restaurant, it will likely be somewhere in Vancouver. One, I’m more familiar with what’s in town; two, there aren’t many to choose from (or I’m just being picky). We heard that there’s a new Korean grill restaurant near Henderson Place in Coquitlam, so my parents and I decided to give it a try.

Food

The menu isn’t very big. A few items each in categories such as grill, appetizer, skewer and mini hotpot. It’s only until recently that I realized Korean restaurants make great fried chicken — I had to order some here. The Vesta Fried Chicken comes with 3 options: mild, Korean spicy sauce or soy sauce. And you can order 1/2 chicken or whole chicken. We ordered 1/2 chicken with the spicy sauce, but only medium spicy. It was some great fried chicken! The meat was moist (even the white meat), the skin was crispy while each piece was covered/well-tossed in the spicy, garlicky sauce. For me, the spice level at medium was just right. It had a good amount of heat without killing your taste buds or burning your lips.

Vesta Fried Chicken

Vesta Fried Chicken – with Korean style spicy sauce

The skewer section also caught our attention. There are 5 kinds of grilled skewers to choose from, along with hot oden skewers. (more…)

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