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Posts Tagged ‘World’s Weirdest Restaurants’

World’s Weirdest Restaurant Season 2 Preview with Bob Blumer

Posted in By Invitations, Dessert, Dinner, Joyce, Meat, Media Events, Pop-up, Restaurants, TV, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , on June 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Bob Blumer’s World’s Weirdest Restaurants is returning for another season and he’s hosting a dinner to preview some of the new episodes. Remembering how much fun it was the last time, I accepted the invitation and went to the dinner with JN.

Season 2 of World's Weirdest Restaurants

Season 2 of World’s Weirdest Restaurants

It was held at the Electric Owl on Main Street, and greeting us at the table was a headlamp. Ahh we know we’re in for some fun!

Headlamp waiting at the table

Headlamp waiting at the table

Bob Blumer came on stage and gave us a brief introduction. Once again we would have a 4-course dinner that was inspired by some of the restaurants Bob visited. Before each dish was served, we got to view the segment of the featured restaurant. (more…)

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Favourite Food TV Shows ft. Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag Season Premiere

Posted in By Invitations, Food Bloggers, Joyce, News, Product Reviews, Random, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Having a full-time job during the day and blogging in the evenings and on the weekends take up a lot of my time, but surprisingly I manage to find time to watch some TV as my stress relief. And to no surprise, most of the TV shows I watch are food related, including:

  • Master Chef (currently on, and Team Christine right here!)
  • Top Chef Canada (was rooting for Dale MacKay and Trevor Bird)
  • Top Chef (the amateur version, Top Chef Masters doesn’t really appeal to me)
  • The Next Iron Chef (the Super Chefs edition was awesome – Chef Geoffrey Zakarian was great!)
  • The Next Food Network Star (although the winner tends to start with a crappy spot like late morning/mid-afternoon on a weekday)
  • Chopped (didn’t like the Grill Masters edition)
  • You Gotta Eat Here and Eat St. (to see the BC coverage)
  • Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (love Guy Fieri!)
  • World’s Weirdest Restaurants (chances are I won’t eat at those places myself, so it’s fun to watch about them!)

In addition, Mr. has introduced me to Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag. It used to be on the W Network, but now it’s on OWN Canada. I was actually surprised that not many people have heard of the show, because I thought it’s quite a unique idea: two amateur chefs (and they’re locally from BC!) testing cookbooks and kitchen products so we as audience know what to get/use for our own home cooking. I have watched numerous episodes from its past 3 seasons and was excited to learn that they are back for its 4th season.

Anna & Kristina

Anna & Kristina

And to make it even better, I was invited to the premiere screening of the 4th season of A&K’s Grocery Bag this past Tuesday. (more…)

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[VanFoodies eat Portland] Voodoo Doughnut

Posted in Breakfast, Casual, Chocolate, Dessert, Joyce, Restaurants, Travel, U.S., tagged , , , , , , on June 18, 2012| 1 Comment »

After we confirmed our trip to Oregon, the first thing I did was to ask fellow bloggers for dining recommendations in Oregon. A number of you guys got back to me, each offering a different list of restaurants. However, one particular place showed up on every list – Voodoo Doughnut.

Voodoo Doughnut, Portland

Voodoo Doughnut, Portland

As soon as I started writing this post I knew I’m going to have some problem typing “doughnut” instead of “donut”. The funny thing is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, “donut” is American spelling. Be prepared to see “doughnut” and “donut” being used interchangeably here.

Line up!

Line up!

So it was 10:30pm on a Friday, and when this is usually the time for most part of Vancouver (except for the Granville district, or Gastown) to turn into a ghost town, Portland Old Town was bustling. Bars were busy, food trucks were still taking orders, lots of people on the street. In fact, there was a 30-people line up outside of this Voodoo Doughnut location. We chatted with a couple of locals, and they said this was nothing, that usually the line up would be way longer. And apparently we missed an exciting mayoral donut-eating contest. Did I mention that Voodoo Doughnut opens 24-7? I suppose there is a super huge demand for donuts, in particular Voodoo Doughnut, in Portland.

Long lineup for donuts!

Long lineup for donuts!

Food

Menu board - lots to choose from

Menu board – lots to choose from

There are just way too many donuts to choose from. They need to use not one, but two display cases to show them all. And a gigantic blackboard to list them out. All donuts are hand-made, thus each donut would have its unique icing/glaze/decorations.

One of the display cases

One of the display cases

Because we had another 2-hour drive south to Lincoln City, we ordered our donuts to-go.

Voodoo Doughnut to go

Voodoo Doughnut to go

Here is what we ordered: (more…)

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World’s Weirdest Pop-Up Restaurant with Bob Blumer

Posted in Culinary Events, Dinner, Joyce, Restaurants, Seafood, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , on April 2, 2012| 3 Comments »

In just two days, Bob Blumer’s new show World’s Weirdest Restaurants will premier on Food Network Canada. Three weeks ago, I had the opportunity to Skype with him and learn more about the show. Last week, I also received the invitation to check out its pop-up restaurant at the Waldorf Hotel.

The World's Weirdest Pop-Up Restaurant at Waldorf Hotel's Tiki Bar

The World's Weirdest Pop-Up Restaurant at Waldorf Hotel's Tiki Bar

For one evening and two seatings only, Waldorf Hotel’s Tiki Bar became Bob’s World’s Weirdest Pop-up Restaurant.

The World's Weirdest Pop-Up Restaurant by Bob Blumer and Waldorf Hotel

The World's Weirdest Pop-Up Restaurant by Bob Blumer and Waldorf Hotel

I was quite excited heading into this dinner since I didn’t know what to expect. And I was even more excited, while confused, when I saw the centre piece at the table. The menu also didn’t help since it’s using cryptic names for each course.

Interesting centre piece

Interesting centre piece - you know it's going to be a fun night

Finally, Bob appeared to kick off the dinner! And the fun began! Before each course was served, we got a preview of the segment that was related to the course.

Bob Blumer to kick off the dinner

Bob Blumer to kick off the dinner

The first course, named Monkey See, Monkey Do, was inspired by a Japanese izakaya where a monkey is on staff to bring out the beer to customers, as well as to provide the evening’s entertainment. After we watched the segment, Bob emerged in a monkey suit and brought us some beer to go with the first course, which was Chicken Karaage that was based on the recipe from the same izakaya he visited.

Bob serves us beer in a monkey suit

Bob serves us beer in a monkey suit

The chicken karaage was very good. (more…)

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World’s Weirdest Restaurants: An Interview with Host Bob Blumer

Posted in Culinary Events, Dinner, Food Bloggers, Interviews, Joyce, Travel, tagged , , , , , on March 15, 2012| 4 Comments »

In case you didn’t know, I’m a huge Food Network fan. So when I heard that there’s a new show called “World’s Weirdest Restaurants” starting on April 4, I was pretty excited about it. And when I learned that I could interview with the host Bob Blumer, who is the host of “Surreal Gourmet” and “Glutton for Punishment”, there was no reason to turn it down.

Bob and I actually had a brief encounter two years ago, when Bob visited Vancouver to host a Tourism Vancouver Island event during the Olympics. Not only that, I also took a picture with him at the event, so it’s even more exciting for me to reconnect with him (so to speak).

Bob Blumer and Joyce, Feb 2010

Bob Blumer and Joyce, Feb 2010

Bob is no ordinary chef. Watching him on TV, the way he turns ingredients into interesting, whimsical dishes, and his passion to continue to challenge himself is just inspiring, and that has become his culinary trademark. So I wasn’t surprised that he was the host of “World’s Weirdest Restaurant”. Bob is not one of the show’s creators, but, according to the show’s production company Paperny Entertainment, “Bob has been absolutely instrumental in every stage of the production.” The premise of the show is simple: Bob travels around the world to check out some of the weirdest eateries. There are 13 episodes in the first season, featuring a total of 52 weird restaurants in the world. Via Skype, let’s hear from Bob more about the show.

Bob says Hi!

Bob says Hi!

An Interview with Bob Blumer

Joyce: How long did it take you to shoot the first season?

Bob: Every episode has 4 segments. Each segment was shot in a 6-hour period in the restaurant. We would travel and shoot for about 3 weeks, then take a 2-week break before doing it again. In total, we travelled for about 5 months. (more…)

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