olympic fever

What: Headed downtown to take pictures of the Olympic festivities.
Where: Tropika
When: Around lunch-time
Why: Was frozen solid, so needed something to warm my innards.
Verdict: I didn't realize how spicy the beef broth was going to be, but it was still delicious! Good for warming up after standing in line in the freezing cold to take pictures of the Olympic flame.

 Hainanese chicken rice with ginger and chili sauce.

My Singaporen beef noodle soup. The broth is thick, almost the same consistency as a sauce but more runny and just a tad spicy. Served with several slices of tender beef and bean sprouts.

Noodles to joyfully slurp.

I chose rambutan with vanilla ice-cream for dessert. It's very similar to lychee in taste, but smaller in size and the texture is slightly more "crunchy" in a way.

qoola is cooler than sushi

What: Craving something to eat after watching the Avatar (didn't realize the movie was over 2 hours long!). We were making our way over to a sushi restaurant, when this place caught our eye. Of course, we had to try it out.
Where: At the mall
When: Late afternoon, well past lunch-time
Why: Instead of sushi, we thought this would be much cooler.
Verdict: Great place for a cool snack and you have so many choices when it comes to toppings. It's like being a kid in a candy store. But beware, you pay by the weight, so it does add up.

As you can see, I went a little crazy with the toppings. Half chocolatey and the other half is fruity. Hopefully, it'll cancel out the calories (I know, I know, wishful thinking). I prefer the fruity toppings, as I find the chocolate toppings tend to crumble and get stuck in the back of my molars.

A better picture showing the layers of frozen yogurt: I tried green tea, mango, berry, cappuccino and vanilla. I like the vanilla, mango and berry flavours the best.

olympic treats

What: Checking out the Olympic activity
Where: Beard Papa's and Kolachy
When: After work
Why: Because taking part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience really stirs up an appetite of Olympic proportions.
Verdict: There's lots of grab-and-go places downtown that I have yet to explore. Beard Papa's is like the king of cream puffs. Their puffs are huge and I love the cream filling machine they use. Kolachy is a place that my friend introduced to me, and they make these little whole wheat artisan buns that are jam-packed with filling. Great place if you just want a hot snack. They also serve salads, soup and chili.

 

Beard Papa's has finally opened a store downtown. Right next to it is the future home of Japadog. Awesomeness.

  

Ordered half a dozen cream puffs to bring home with me: 3 green tea and 3 chocolate.

  

Mushroom pesto kolachy: mushroom, no nut pesto, cream cheese, mozza cheese, onions and garlic.

  

Look at how much filling they pack into the bun! Definitely coming back to try more fillings.

 

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Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

burgers can be healthy

What: Trying to eat healthy... by ignoring the fact that whatever nutritional value that could have been derived from the potatoes and onions on my plate have been washed away by the oils used to fry them to death.
Where: The Frog (I refuse to call it by it's real name, "The Firkin," cause it sounds offensive whenever I hear/say it out loud. It's just wrong).
When: Lunch
Why: Old co-worker came downtown to bug, visit me.
Verdict: Damn good veggie burger. The patty wasn't mushy or falling apart after the first bite. It didn't taste like cardboard and the texture was kinda "meaty" in a way. Strange I know, but if for whatever reason, I develop a  medical condition that permits me from eating meat for fear of a slow and painful death, I will still be content. Or at least until they find a cure.

I wish there was more onion rings. They're so good!

 

  

Sauteed mushrooms were a nice flavourful  touch.

with glowing hearts!

 

Updates will be sporadic as the Winter Olympics have arrived and the city has turned into a sea of red and white. Go Canada GO!

carb overload never felt so good

What: A craving to visit Rome, Italy. This was the most affordable choice... for now.
Where: The Italian Kitchen
When: Lunch
Why: My dining buddy had a pasta craving and we had a coupon, so off we went!
Verdict: Large helping of pasta goes a long way. Pants were feeling a little tight, but still had some room in my lower left rib-cage for dessert. And it was damn good dessert. I would come back and just order dessert, that's how good it was.

 

A VIP teaser: deep fried fritters sprinkled with icing sugar. We had a coupon, so why not? Too bad there was only two small fritters, they were pretty good.

  

My dining buddy ordered the Linguine Carbonara: pancetta, with a heavy dose of scallions, free range egg (I have no idea where the egg was... in the sauce?) and topped with parmesan.

  

I had the Penne Arrabbiata: crispy pancetta, peperoncino, basil, tomatoes and burrata cheese. It had a little kick to it, which I liked, but damn, was it ever filling.

 

The piece de resistance, the Torta Di Ciccolato: flourless chocolate cake, in a pool of carmello sauce, topped with espresso gelato and sprinkled with pecan crocante and berries. You can still see steam floating from the cake as you sliced through it with your fork and it just melted in your mouth. SO GOOD!

cruising the drive

What: Spent the whole day shopping, browsing, poking, perusing and coveting things.
Where: The Drive.
When: Saturday
Why: Cause what better way to spend a sunny Saturday than with a good friend and good food?
Verdict: Great value for breakfast. Will have to go back and try that poutine pizza we saw.

 

Cubed fries, instead of hash-browns. A nice change.

  

  

Fruits galore. All organic, I believe.

  

  

Uh... yum?

  

  

Intriguing...

  

Chicken and pesto pizza for me, and my friend got pepperoni (in the background).

  

I love pesto.

guud for you

 

I'd like to come for dinner at 0:00 or 0:30 sometime...

What: Japanese izakaya

Where: Guu

When: Dinner

Why: My friend has never been to Guu, which I find a little shocking since she lives so much closer to the downtown location than I do.

Verdict: Guu is so guud. 

  

My friend had the sake cocktail with soda and I ordered the Cherry Blossom, strawberry, peach schapps and soda (below).

  

Started our meal with a small appy: Deep fried sweet potato with honey sauce.

 

Puffed eggs with shrimp in chili sauce.

  

Pan-fried udon noodles with sliced beef, green onions and mushrooms.

 

For dessert, we had deep fried brie with mango sauce. So good!

  

  Frozen grapes accompany our bill.

Snapped as we were doing some window-shopping along Robson: