The Hunger Dames | Food Blog

2012-04-12 0 notes

Did you get your daily ‘Dose’ yet?

I’ve only been to Dose Espresso Bar twice, but it’s already captured my heart. Seems like this blog has more coffee posts than food posts, but I can’t help it, I love coffee. :)

The Famous Nutella Mocha

Honey Cocoa Latte

The Verdict: Dose is a very cute little coffeeshop on broadway with amazing coffee! They know how to make a good expresso. :) Definitely try their famous Nutella Mocha if you get the chance, so yummy! Their inside is small but has character, and they feature some sweet art pieces on their walls. Oh, and the owner is super friendly too.

Happy Drinking! -J

#coffee

2012-04-08 0 notes

More Coffee & Tea!

As you know, I drink alot of coffee and tea, but I tend do alot of café-hopping since I don’t like to stick to one place. This was at 49th Parallel, I’ve only been here a few times but I’m going to have to add it to one of my favourites. :)

Soy Latte and a Very Delicious Pain au Chocolat

Gyokuro Green Tea (玉露)

The Verdict: Really nice indie coffee shop in vancouver. Very friendly, educated and skilled staff. Coffee is without a doubt delicious, and their Pain au Chocolate is absolutely scrumptious. I was surprised how they actually knew how to brew Gyokuro correctly (since it wasn’t a tea shop afterall)!

Happy Drinking! -J

#coffee #tea

2012-04-04 0 notes

Ramen at Benkei Ramen

I’ve never been to any of the Benkei Ramen restaurants before, but this was conveniently located across from Elysian, so my friend and I decided to try them out. We weren’t that hungry after filling up on coffee and amarettis, so ramen was the perfect choice for a light meal.

Shoyu Ramen

Pork Gyoza

The Verdict: Not the best ramen I’ve had, but very decent quality compared to what I had in Japan. I quite like their shoyu soup base and how light it actually was. The noodles were a good consistency. The gyozas were decent too, but I still prefer the ones at Santouka better. Would I come again? Of course! The interior reminds me of the cute little ramen shops in Japan and there are no super long line ups.

Happy Eating! -J

#ramen #japan

2012-04-03 1 note

Coffee or Tea?

I’ve only been to Elysian a few times, but if it was located closer to my neighbourhood or my daily route, I would come here everyday.

Soy Latte and Amaretti

Tea Steeped in a French Press
I love it when coffee houses serve tea with the same care they put into coffee. If you like London Fogs, try their Earl Grey Tea Misto (ask for vanilla if you like it sweet like I do). They serve you steamed milk (or Misto) on the side, so your tea can steep in the press separately (which enhances the flavour of the tea). Once it’s finished steeping you can then pour the milk and tea together. It’s pretty fun!

The Verdict: The coffee here is beyond delicious and you really can taste the care they put into each cup of coffee they make. I definitely recommend trying their Amaretti, it’s yummy, but I wish it was bigger because I can’t just have one. It’s also a great place to meet up with friends and/or people watching at the window. :P

Happy Drinking! -J

#coffee #tea #latteart

2012-04-02 2 notes

Brunch at Café Medina

One of the places that I’ve been dying to brunch at is definitely Café Medina, but I never have the patience to wait in line. This time I sucked it up and waited.. a total of one hour. Luckily, it was well worth it.

My favourite quote, and how I choose to live my life. :)

Belgium Waffle with White Chocolate Pistachio Rosewater Sauce

Lavender Latte

Canard Confit
Pulled duck confit, fried egg, roasted yam, shitake mushrooms, spinach, sautéed onion, goat cheese, tomato and tamarind chutney

Paella
Fried egg, curried orzo, spicy chorizo, zucchini, red pepper, roasted corn, grano padano. Watercress, avocado, tomato salad.

The verdict: Brunch is definitely worth waiting in line for. They don’t take reservations, so be ready to wait. Their food is not the run-of-the mill (north american) “brunch food”, it’s gourmet and it’s Belgian. Probably one of the best brunch places I’ve had in Vancouver. It’s great place to brunch with friends, and I adore the atmosphere here. I will for sure be back again for brunch (especially for more of their delicious waffles)!

Happy Eating! -J

#brunch #belgium waffles #coffee

2012-03-27 0 notes

Coffeebar

Every time I pass by Coffeebar, I can’t resist myself from going inside and getting a spanish latte. This time it was no different, except for the tiramisu I spotted in their baked goods window. :)

Spanish Latte and Tiramisu

The Verdict: Great cafe with nice modern decor and delicious coffee (49th parallel). I would recommend their spanish latte. It’s a nice place to sit and chat with friends and business clients. I don’t get why some people complain about their lattes, maybe they had a bad barista experience? So far, it’s been good for me.

Happy Eating (and drinking)! -J

#coffee

2012-03-26 0 notes

Lunch at Suika

I’ve had dinner at Suika before, but this is the first time trying out them for lunch. At first I didn’t know they did lunch, so I was pretty excited when I found out. So I kind of decided to change up the format of my blog posts, and cutting the reviews short and using it mostly like a (food) photo journal.

Black Ramen
Oxtail, Chicken & Pork all mixed broth with soy based sauce & pepper)

Lightly Smoked Tuna Tataki

The Verdict: Suika does lunch, and they do it beautifully. I highly recommend trying their Black Ramen, the soup base is so delicious (I licked the bowl dry), the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender and the consistency of the noodles is perfect. The tuna tataki? Simply scrumptious.

Happy Eating! -J

#lunch #japanese #ramen

2012-03-03 0 notes

Forever Addicted: The Spanish Latte

I remember a time when I hated coffee. Wait.. what? Yes, I used to hate coffee. But how was that so? The problem wasn’t really that coffee tasted bad to me. It was that I had nothing but bad coffee most of the time. I didn’t know better. Until about 5 years ago, my coworker, who was a self proclaimed coffee snob introduced me to real coffee. It changed my life. I eventually became a coffee snob.

One of my favourite places for coffee is Caffè Artigiano, and I always order their spanish latte. It’s so delicious. But what is a spanish latte? To keep it short, it’s like the usual latte (so espresso with steamed milk) but with the addition of condensed milk. However, there mustn’t be too much condensed milk that it becomes too sweet and overpowers the taste of the coffee. Caffè Artigiano uses the perfect amount, where it truly complements and enhances the natural sweetness of the coffee beans. Mmm…

The Final Verdict: Their coffee is delicious and always consistent. The people there know the art of coffee making. If you like condensed milk, try their spanish latte, it’s my favourite.

Happy Drinking! -J

#coffee #latte #latte art

2012-03-02 0 notes

Soup Noodles at Duotian

I go to the T&T Supermarket on First Avenue quite often, and in that building complex resides a few different asian restaurants, which I never been or go to. One of them is Duotian Fish Soup Noodles, and I decided to try it out for the first time with the family since we were hungry and it was close by. When I look at their menu for the soup noodles, ~~it reminded me of~~ it was a direct copy of Deer Garden/Cattle Cafe, where you can build your own soup noodles. So, you choose a soup base, type of noodles, 2 toppings, hot/cold drink and choice of side orders (additional $1.50).

Rice Noodles in Sichuan Spicy Soup with sliced beef brisket and beef balls
This soup just can’t compare to the soup base I had at Deer Garden. It lacked the complexity of Szechuan’s spicy-ness (麻辣), the kind that will kind of make your mouth numb, yet still carries the flavours of the spices and peppers. The beef brisket was thickly sliced and weren’t even cut properly. It was cut with the grain (instead of against the grain) making it really chewy—but the flavour wasn’t bad. The flavouring of the beef balls were pretty good, most likely not handmade though. The noodles also came with a drink, so I chose HK style coffee, and it was not good. Sorry I’m a coffee snob, and the coffee was weak. I’ve drank tons of coffee in HK, this was not HK style coffee.

Side orders: Pan-fried Pork Chop in Maggi Sauce and Garlic Spicy Chicken Wing
So I think “Maggi” is just derived from the chinese name “美極”, not really sure if they just made it up or there’s something special about it. Either way, there was nothing special with the pork chop. Neither was there anything special with the chicken wings.

The Final Verdict: Copy-cat of Deer Garden/Cattle Cafe, but not as good. Food is not too bad, but if you’re paying the same prices as Deer Garden/Cattle Cafe, then might as well go there instead.

Happy Eating! -J

#noodles #chinese

2012-02-29 1 note

Ramen at Santouka

After spending a week in Japan in 2010, one of my favourite things to eat became Ramen. I think I pretty much had it everyday and didn’t even get sick of it. It does help that every ramen shop was different and there was pretty much a ramen shop on every street corner. On sunday after the macarons at Soirette, B and I went to Santouka because we were both craving Ramen. :)

Pan-fried Pork Gyozas
We always start with gyozas here and they are always so delicious and succulent. The saltiness of the pork is perfect, and if you like spicy (like me) then dip it in some of the chili oil they supply. B likes to have it with the vinegar. Either way, it’s so good. My mouth is watering as I think back about it.

Kara Miso Ramen with Green Onion Bonito Don and a side of Kimchi
This was my bowl, it was so yummy like always. I love miso and I love spicy, so this was a perfect pairing of flavours for me. For now, I have yet to find a place other than Santouka in Vancouver that can compare to the quality of ramen I had in Japan. Maybe since the Santouka here is actually part of the original Santouka chain in Hokkaido, Japan. Oh, the green onion bonito rice was also a nice complement with the ramen.

Miso Ramen with Ikura Gohan
This was B’s bowl. Ever since she got introduced to salmon roe by her bf, she developed a love for it. I’m not much of a fan, but judging by how fast she finished her food, it was probably really good.

The Final Verdict: Santouka is my favourite place for ramen outside of Japan. The place is always busy and there’s always lineups, so I’m sure it’s many others’ favourite too. They also have super friendly service that reminds me of being in Japan. A must try!

Just for fun, check out this cool infographic about ramen.
Happy Eating! -J

#japan #ramen