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Posts Tagged ‘Spring Rolls’

Chicha Restaurant – Peruvian-Inspired Comfort Food [Dine Out Vancouver 2015]

Posted in Comfort Food, Culinary Events, Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Group Dinner, Joyce, Latin American, Meat, Restaurants, Tapas, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2015| 6 Comments »

For a triple-date night, we went for Dine Out at Chicha, a Peruvian-inspired eatery in the Mount Pleasant area. There were lots of options on the $28 menu, with some interesting combination of ingredients. I was intrigued.

Food

Because of its “tapa-style” menu, instead of 3 courses, you actually get 4 plates at Chicha. Definitely a bonus, I’d say. To start, I ordered myself a Chilcano (left), a ginger-beer based cocktail. It had some nice acidity to it, with a bit of heat from the ginger root. Mr. ordered the Inka Cola, a Peruvian soda which we were told “taste like cream soda.” And it did taste just like cream soda, not much fizz, and a bit sweeter than the actual cream soda we’re used to.

ChilcanoInka Kola

And then the feast began! First, my Aji Amarillo Local Seafood Chowder was pretty good. I was expecting a bit of heat with the aji amarillo chili pepper, but rather on the mild side for me. In addition to fish pieces, there were squid in the chowder, tender and not like chewing bubble gum, which I thought was different from most other ones.

Aji Amarillo Local Seafood Chowder

Mr. had the Palitos de Yuca, which was basically cassava root fries. They were a lot starchier than potato fries, and had a harder exterior too. The Peruvian Huancaina sauce was spicy, creamy, reminded me of a curry mayo. This was quite filling as an appy. While it’s good, I think we prefer regular potato fries.

Palitas de Yuca

Each of us received two entrees, i.e. 4 for us! Each of the Pan Con Chicharron Sliders had a hearty slice of pork belly, and the fatty part just melts in your mouth!
(more…)

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Brunch Crawl Kitsilano [Dine Out Vancouver 2015]

Posted in Asian, Brunch, Cafe, Coffee, Culinary Events, Dine Out Vancouver, Italian, Joyce, Juice Bar, Neighbourhood Gem, Pizza, Pub, Vancouver, Vietnamese, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

During Dine Out time, there are a number of culinary events happening in the same two-week period, including the Brunch Crawl series put on by Vancouver Foodster. It’s similar to his series of Tasting Plates, except it happens on a weekend morning, perfect timing for brunch.

We were invited to check out the Kitsilano edition this past weekend. In 4 hours, we visited 6 restaurants in the neighbourhood:

  • Darby’s Public House
  • Krokodile Pear
  • Linh Cafe
  • Momento Coffee
  • Novo Pizzeria
  • Rain or Shine Ice Cream

Food

The event started at Novo Pizzeria where we were served a trio including Arugula and Blood Orange Salad, Novo Breakfast Pizza & a Sicilian Canoli. Pizzas at Novo have always been great – this one was no exception, especially with the use of a sous vide quail egg on each slice. The canoli was light and flaky, with nutty flavour from the pistachios and citrus fragrant note from the orange blossom water and citrus essence.

Novo Breakfast Pizza, Arugula & Blood Orange Salad and Canoli

Next, we beat the football fans and made our way to Darby’s Public House, a popular pub in the neighbourhood. They served a generous portion of their brunch items: Half an Eggs Benedict, Hangover Hash and Mini Huevos Rancheros. The poached eggs were perfectly cooked, with runny yolks bringing everything together. Although I’m not particularly interested in Mexican food, I found myself enjoying the Huevos Rancheros with the subtle heat in the jalapeno ginger sauce. A fried egg would have worked well but poached egg was just fine.

Eggs Benedict, Hangover Hash & Huevos Rancheros

Then, a coffee stop at Momento Coffee. (more…)

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[Food Truck] Fliptop Filipino Fusion

Posted in Asian, Burger, Food Truck Series, Food Trucks, Joyce, Meat, New Westminster, Restaurants, Sandwiches, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , on August 29, 2014| 4 Comments »

Last weekend we checked out the Columbia StrEAT in New Westminster, featuring more than 50 food trucks from the Lower Mainland. We tried a few trucks, including Fliptop Filipino Fusion. This food truck is usually in the Fairview area during the week, not in my ‘hood, so I was quite excited about the opportunity to try them.

Fliptop Filipino Fusion

Food

Suggested by the truck name, their menu is a fusion of North American favourites with Filipino flavours. You would find pulled pork sandwich, philly cheesesteak, sliders and tacos with a Filipino twist. Two things caught my eyes.

First, Lumpiang Shanghai is the meat version of Lumpia, which are deep fried spring rolls in rice roll wrappers. These mini spring rolls were perfect for sharing, and they tasted awesome! I would’ve preferred just a bit more soy or seasoning in the meat, but I liked that there was a lot of meat in the filling, no fillers! Spring rolls were crispy, and we really enjoyed the sprinkle of nori (seaweed) and fried leeks on top. The dipping sauce reminded me of Thai chili sauce, but thinner and more acidic. $7 for 6 of these springs rolls was a pretty good deal.

Lumpiang Shanghai

Next was the Pacman Pandesal Sliders. Pandesal is Filipino bread roll; they were firmer, denser with a cake-like texture. (more…)

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