Lupo Restaurant & Vinoteca

FOIE GRAS PARFAIT
madeira gelee, assorted crostini

WAGYU BEEF CARPACCIO
reggiano, mustard, baby artichoke

PAPPARDELLE
braised rabbit, olives, capers, saffron

BLACK TAGLIATELLE
prawns, pancetta, jalapeno, herb bread crumbs

VEAL PARM DAILY SPECIAL

The Truffle House & Cafe

TRUFFLE MUSHROOM BENNY
truffle mushroom ragout, two soft poached eggs, shaved black truffle

Hakata Ramen

FRIED CHICKEN

HAKATA TONKOTSU

Solo Sushi Ya

OMAKASE

Buddy V's Ristorante

MY DAD'S BUCATINI CARBONARA
pancetta, cracked black pepper, egg

MEATBALL SPAGHETTI

Eggslut

GAUCHO
seared wagyu tri-tip steak, cage-free over medium egg, chimichurri, red onions and dressed arugula in a warm brioche bun

SLUT
cage-free coddled egg on top of a smooth potato puree, poached in a glass jar, topped with gray salt and chives, served with slices of baguette

Au Comptoir

Birthday brunch!!!

BRANDADE DE SAUMON SUR BRIOCHE
salmon and corn brandade, poached eggs, brioche, dill hollandaise

CONFIT DE CANARD EN SALADE
duck confit, frisee, potatoes, spring vegetables, mustard vinaigrette, poached eggs

Jam Cafe

JJ BEAN RAILTOWN DRIP COFFEE

THE CHARLIE BOWL
crumbled biscuit, hash browns, ham, bacon, corn salsa, peas, green onions, cheddar cheese and sausage gravy with two sunny eggs

BUTTERMILK BISCUIT SANDWICH
buttermilk biscuit made in house served with sunny eggs, cheddar, tomato jam and hashbrowns

SUGAR-CURED BACON

Mid-Blog Crisis

Well, I have to say ... it's been a HOT minute since I've made a post. After some introspection, I think I've determined that the best way for me to keep this blog alive is for me to change the style of the blog into a photo diary (of sorts). Otherwise, I really can't keep up with all the food that I eat. My thinking: even if I won't be able to fully document all of my food adventures in writing, the least I can do is still document them in photos. Plus, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Warning: There will now be a slew of food photos (possibly even dating back to 2016). 

Let's be real - sharing is caring ... and better late than never, right?  Here goes!

Midam Cafe & Bistro

Of course I would end a three-month blogging hiatus by posting two days in a row.

Just a disclaimer -- this blog post will consist mostly of pictures. This is one of those occasions where I feel like the pictures just speak for itself. No need to ruin the visual with too many words.

I think I would describe Midam Cafe & Bistro as a Korean/French fusion cafe. The original location is on North Road in Burnaby (almost Coquitlam). I tried their relatively new Richmond location on Garden City Road. The inside of the restaurant was not what I expected, but I dig it. Imagine a trendy Korean bubble tea shop that has been decorated by an ultra NBA fan.

And this is what we ordered (to share, of course!):

Budae Hot Pot 

Stir-Fried Kimchee and Bacon Udon 

Spicy Chicken with Cheese

And for dessert .......

Rice Cake Toast with Green Tea Ice Cream

Strawberry Tiramisu Shaved Ice

We (basically) finished everything. OM NOM NOM. I am definitely coming back here. Perhaps this will become one of my go-to, late night comfort food spots.

Yolks

Yolks has two locations in Vancouver -- East Hastings & Clark and West Broadway & Cambie. This doesn't include their popular blue food truck that is usually parked downtown by Burrard and West Pender. We went to the one on Broadway (which coincidentally is right next to a new Ramen Santouka location - read my last blog post!).

I think I've said this before, but I will say it again -- I am not a fan of "classic" breakfast food. I don't see the appeal of going out and paying to eat sunny-side up eggs and bacon strips (unless they are sugar-cured bacon strips from Jam Cafe ... which I should probably blog about) when I can easily replicate it at home. In my opinion, good brunch food's gotta have that je ne sais quoi.  And yes, I would have to say that Yolks has that je ne sais quoi.

When we got to the restaurant that day, we were not surprised to learn that there was over an hour wait. There isn't a lot of seating inside and it was Sunday morning after all. Luckily, we were able to put down our number so that they could text us when seats became available. Yolks uses an online wait list system where you can monitor your place in line. Thumbs up for the convenience! 

Tip: There is free parking around the back of the restaurant that not a lot of people know about (us included). If we had known about this beforehand, we would have saved a lot of time from not having to circle around the block 5 times to find street parking.

Since Yolks is known for their "perfectly poached eggs", we obviously had to try the eggs. You can either go with one egg for $7.50 or two eggs for $10.95 (pretty reasonable for a popular brunch restaurant in fancy Vancouver!). We both opted for the two egg option. You then get to customize your egg order with your choice of toppings and sides.

Me --> Portobello mushroom with aioli, fresh arugula and aged white cheddar on truffle-lemon hashbrowns (+$2.95, BUT SO WORTH IT)

Sameer --> Smoked wild BC sockeye salmon (+$2.00) with fresh arugula, crispy capers, real hollandaise on truffle-lemon hashbrowns

Hands down, my order was the better of the two (this was determined by mutual agreement). The smoked salmon was good and perhaps even worth the $2.00 extra, but definitely not on the same level as the portobello mushroom and aged white cheddar combination. Just thinking about it makes me want to drive over to Yolks right now. The truffle-lemon hasbrowns were also awesome. I may be a little biased because I love everything truffle-related, but I have to say that those were probably the best flavoured hashbrowns I've ever had at a brunch place.

One last comment -- the eggs were perfectly poached.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

If you're a local Vancouverite, then this probably won't come as news to you. It turns out that the West End (by Robson St and Denman St) of the city is ramen central! There are about 4 to 5 different ramen joints within a very short walking distance (some even directly across the street from each other).

For those of you who are not familiar with Santouka -- the restaurant first originated in Hokkaido, Japan, and has since expanded to various locations around the world. The momentum behind its quick expansion was largely a result of the popularity of their Shio Ramen (which was actually the only item on their menu) when they first opened for business. I've been to the Santouka in Toronto (one of my favourite ramen places), but I wanted to try this one out to test their consistency in quality. For me, consistency in quality plays a big role in how I rate a chain restaurant.

When we first got there, it seemed like there was going to be quite a bit of a wait. Lucky for us, they have a very efficient system going on. The waiters take your order before you are even seated! I can see how this might rub some people the wrong way. But, for me - I don't go to eat ramen for the ambiance, so this was A-OK with me. Two thumbs up for efficiency! The restaurant isn't too spacious and most of the tables are meant for shared seating. I don't mind getting cozy. 

I ordered their specialty; white tonkotsu soup ramen - the Shio Ramen. Sameer decided to go with the Spicy Miso Ramen

Shio Ramen

Spicy Miso Ramen

We each ordered a Hanjuku tamago (seasoned soft-boiled egg) to have with our ramen. (Almost) everything tastes better with an egg. 

So, let me start off by saying that this Santouka was just as good as the one I've tried in Toronto. Everything from the soup base, to the meat, to the noodles ... and even the egg tasted great! The soup (especially the Shio one) was very creamy, flavourful, and aromatic ... but, not too salty. I loved the texture of the ramen noodles - they were chewy, without being too tough or hard. The pork slices were soft, with a relatively thin lining of fat. I don't like it when there is too much fat or if there is no fat at all. I would've liked it if the slices were a little bit thicker and if there was a bit more meat in the bowl. THE EGG! On their website, they describe the texture of the egg to be "viscous". I would say that they were pretty accurate in their word choice. I find that the best way to enjoy the egg is to first immerse it into the soup. Since the egg yolk isn't too runny, the yolk is able to stay in place while soaking up the soup. 

Cynthia Approved Ramen Rating (CARR*)

*Percentage weight of each factor in calculating the total CARR: Toppings - 10%; Meat - 15%; Broth - 20%; Noodles - 20%; Presentation - 5%; and Overall Taste - 30%. 

Toppings - 4/5

Meat - 3.5/5 
Broth - 5/5
Noodles - 5/5 
Presentation - 3.5/5 
Overall taste - 4.5/5

X(perience) Factor** - 2/2

**Click for explanation (scroll to the bottom of post)

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka gets a CARR of 91.0%