Cache Bistro - Dinner #2

1269 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC

W invited a badminton buddy of his to have dinner one weekend. They decided to make it a double-date so his friend, Griffin, brought his wife along while W brought me! Since Griffin and his wife rarely head out to have nice leisurely dinners due to child-rearing duties, W thought that bringing them to Cache would be a nice outing for them.

We arrived at 6 in the evening and it was pretty empty inside. I know it’s not exactly good for business but I liked how we could chat without a lot of noise disrupting us. It got a bit busier as the night went on though.

I saw that Cache hung a new chalkboard menu by their open kitchen which detailed the daily items available for their newly added charcuterie platter. I think I might want to try it one day. Cache seems like an unintimidating place to be introduced to the world of cheese and cured meats. Anyway! Back to the dinner!

Half Moon Ice Tea ($6) - green tea, fresh lemon, mint, soda

I started with a drink while perusing the menu. The ice tea was cold and refreshing! It wasn't very sweet, which would be nice for some, but I would have liked it more if a little more green tea syrup was added.

W had a hard time choosing what to eat so he went and asked Chef Alex for recommendations. Chef Alex said that the pork belly on their Menu 35 3-course dinner was really good so, putting all his trust in Alex, he went with the Menu 35 meal!

Boutique AAA Tenderloins - Black pepper crust, bacon wrapped AAA tenderloin, celeriac purée, port glazed pearl onions

For W’s choice of appetizer on Menu 35, he opted for the beef tenderloin - tiny bite-sized cubes of beef wrapped with bacon. The dish seemed small but it was really tasty. Despite the size, the meat was well cooked, not tough to chew at all, while the bacon provided a pleasing salty hit. The other appy option was the seafood crepe (lobster, mussels, squid, and salmon, veloute de poisson).

*Please note that I did not take any photos of Griffin and his wife’s food… I just met them and I didn’t want to scare them off by halting them of any eating and shoving my camera phone in front of their dishes ~_~

Pork Belly - Braised pork belly, pomme dauphine, baby carrot

This was the chef recommended pork belly! It was braised until the meat was fork-tender. The fat practically melted in my mouth! The pork belly was seasoned well but the flavour was kind of one-dimensional. The pomme dauphine were actually the fried round mashed potato balls! These potato balls reminded me of Japanese croquette because of the crispy exterior shell, the soft and creamy potato interior, and it also had a little bit of meaty demi-glace sauce in the middle.

When a server passed by our table holding the other entrée option for Menu 35, I thought that one looked quite delicious too! It was a wild sockeye salmon marinated with miso, accompanied with fennel, and had basa noodle.

Beet Salad ($11) - Roasted golden, candy & red beets, roasted carrot, crispy goat cheese

Upon reading the description for the Menu 35 meal, I wasn’t too interested with the choices so I decided to order from the a la carte menu. I went with the beet salad to start as I wanted something light to whet my appetite. I’m starting to like beets more and more, especially the roasted variety! They were so sweet and tender! The carrots were sweet and delicious too! The little crispy goat cheese nuggets were soft in the inside and had a golden coloured panko crust on the outside. Really good textural contrast to the soft beets!

Duck Breast ($24) - Seared Fraser Valley duck breast, roasted fingerling potato, honey carrot flan, blueberry demi

I was actually a little disappointed with my entrée. By all means, it was still tasty but somehow it didn’t really meet my expectations. The meat of the duck breast was moist yet a little chewy but I thought the fat under the duck skin was not rendered enough so I felt it was not as melty-soft as I liked it to be. With the description of “honey carrot flan”, I expected this orange-coloured soufflé to taste light and sweet. However, my palate detected a very savoury and cheesy tang from this circular side dish. Totally not what I expected it to be! The taste was interesting and the texture was light and fluffy (hence why I called it a soufflé) but…where were the honey carrots?! Also, colour-wise, the whole dish seemed too "earth-tone" (brown, yellow, orange...). A nice, bright pop of colour somewhere would have been more eye-pleasing. =P

I think the best duck breast I’ve eaten was actually at the now-closed Hong Kong style café called Seventh Heaven Cafe, which was located in Aberdeen Centre at Richmond. Same with Cache, it was seared with a crispy skin and paired with a blueberry sauce but I thought it was cooked to a doneness that was just right for the meat to be slightly chewy and the fat to be melty-soft. /end digression/

Dessert sampler

Red velvet cake (cupcake), dark chocolate crème caramel, vodka and dark chocolate zabaglione

Menu 35 came with a dessert sampler to round out the meal. Cache’s dessert sampler changes daily so this night it included a red velvet cupcake, a dark chocolate crème caramel pudding, and a vodka and dark chocolate zabaglione. The red velvet cake was ok, nothing incredible about it. It was just like a normal cupcake but it was deep red in colour. The crème caramel was more interesting. Though the caramel sauce drenched over the pudding was quite sweet, the dark chocolate eggy pudding balanced the flavour out with its bitter cocoa notes. Pretty good!

The last of the trio of desserts was the zabaglione. I have never heard of this word before so I had to Google it up! Apparently, it is an Italian dessert, also known as Zabaione or sabayon. Typically, it is made with egg yolks, sugar and a sweet wine. In Cache’s case, it was made with vodka and chocolate. The consistency of this dessert was like a drinking chocolate. It was smooth and thick. You could eat it with a spoon but you could also sip it from the little cup! If I had to pick, though, I would say I liked the crème caramel the best.

Crepes Suzette ($9) – warm crepes, vanilla ice cream, orange marmalade sauce

Don’t expect the chef to come out and prepare this dessert tableside; though, I know it’s pretty hard to find a place that will serve this dessert with the traditional flair. Aside from that, the crepes were a pretty substantial dish! Easily shareable between 2 people! The crepes were warm with slightly crisp edges and stuffed with 2 huge scoops of vanilla ice cream!! The sauce that accompanied the crepes tasted like warm orange marmalade. Not that it wasn’t good; it just seemed like it belonged on a home-made dessert rather than on one found in this fine restaurant. I would love to try Crepes Suzette prepared tableside the traditional and fancy way though.

Overall, another good dinner at Cache Bistro. There were some hits and minor misses but the changing seasonal menus and friendly staff will keep bringing me back! :)

Yolk's Breakfast

Mobile Breakfast Solution
Yolks.ca

The month of February was the food truck festival at the Winter Farm Market at Nat Bailey Stadium. About a dozen or so local food trucks gathered at the market every Saturday from 10am to 2pm to serve fresh and tasty eats! I initially wasn’t going to check it out but my sister had to go the farm market to pick up some honey for her in-laws so I had an excuse to tag along!

I love going to farm markets when it’s sunny and bright outside. There’s just something about being outdoors with the fresh air and sun shining down and being surrounded by vendors sharing their fresh, local produce and goods that makes me feel invigorated. I feel like I’m doing something good by supporting local farmers and “makers” (cheese, sausage, bread etc.) but then I always spend more than what I budgeted for haha!

After making a round through the market and getting some dried fruit and fresh goat cheese, W and I set off to grab some lunch at one of the food trucks. We wanted to try the mac n’ cheese with pulled pork from one of the food trucks (forgot its name though) but they were all sold out! We were a bit dejected but no worries, there were still plenty of options! I heard that Yolk’s served a really excellent breakfast sandwich and the chicken and waffles were recommended too so we went and lined up at their cart. Ughhhh way to go for picking one of the popular food trucks, me! We waited in line for probably 30 minutes just to order and then we waited another 30 minutes or so for our food to be ready!!!

Poached free-range egg sandwich ($6.95) – double smoked bacon with fresh arugula, real hollandaise sauce, soft poached egg on English muffin

Truffle-Lemon Hashbrown Skewers ($2.75) – organic local potatoes, fresh lemon, truffle oil, sea salt and chives

There were a couple of ways to customize the breakfast sandwich. W picked the bacon as his meat with hollandaise sauce on an English muffin. I LOVE LOVE LOVED that Yolk’s made soft poached eggs by default!!! I LOVE SOFT POACHED EGGS! Sure, it made eating the sandwich difficult because of the exploding egg yolk but we ate it as an open face sandwich so actually it wasn’t too messy. The bacon was nicely fried where it wasn’t too crunchy but still crisp with a meaty chew. The hollandaise sauce (plus oozing egg yolk) melded everything together creating a delicious package!

We also added the hashbrown skewer as a side. Freshly fried and placed in the container with the sandwich, the food cart guy liberally doused the potatoes with lemon infused truffle oil in front of us! The hashbrown skewer smelled so earthy and aromatic that it kept wafting out of the box even when we closed the lid haha… Seriously, this was a well-made potato. The outside was crispy and savoury while the inside was soft. Paired with the sandwich, it definitely looked and tasted like a breakfast dish from a high-end restaurant (except it won’t be served in a bio-degradable take-out box!)

“Polderside Farms” Chicken & Waffles ($8.95) – Panko-crusted fried chicken nuggets, country gravy, maple syrup

Since I read about the Chicken & Waffles on a food blog, I decided to give it a try. The seasoned chicken was fried with a panko crust and the parts that weren’t sitting in the gravy were still crunchy. After being jostled around the box with gravy, the chicken was soon not crunchy anymore but it was still yummy. I thought the waffle was kind of tough, not very fluffy and soft. I liked the contrast between the sweet maple syrup on the waffle and the savoury flavours from the chicken and gravy though.

Hot Mulled Apple Cider 12oz ($3.25), 16oz ($3.75) - Lemon, cayenne and local honey

A cup of the large hot apple cider was shared between W and I (sorry, forgot to take a photo). Despite the sunny weather, it was a super windy and chilly day so the cup of hot cider became our hand-warmer while we waited for our food. It tasted good, like any regular apple cider. It reminded me of the instant apple cider powder that you can get at Costco though haha!

Since the food truck festival has ended, you can find Yolk’s cart in downtown, near the Stadium skytrain station. Check out their website for updated menus and locations! If you’re a soft-poached egg lover like me, you really gotta check out their breakfast sandwiches!!

Omega Cafe

1 - 2929 St. John's Street
Port Moody, BC

With the addition of a baby in my sister’s household, she and her husband have been pretty much confined to dining around their neighbourhood. She has been to Omega Café in Port Moody a few times for lunch and thought the food was pretty good so she recommended it to me and my parents. With good value and freshly made food, it was definitely a suitable alternative to Tim Hortons (which was once our family favourite)!

Just like Timmy’s, you order at the counter and they’ll make your food for you. They also serve coffee and home-made donuts too!

Eggs, sausage and toast - served with panfried potatoes

Chicken vegetable soup(?) - Soup of the day

My bro-in-law had one of their breakfast options and tacked on the soup of the day to round out his meal.

Salmon Burger - served with fries, pickled jalapeno pepper; topped with sprouts, cucumbers, tomatos, lettuce, onions

My sis went with the salmon burger which was on their ‘special of the day’ menu board. Seeing how it was difficult for my sis to lift the burger up and eat it without having the contents spilling out, I’d say it was a pretty big burger. The pan-fried salmon still looked moist too. Along with a huge a pile of fries, this was definitely a hefty lunch!

Clubhouse Sandwich - Turkey, bacon, tomatos, cucumbers, lettuce on ciabatta bun

The Clubhouse is always my mom’s go-to sandwich anywhere. At Omega, their version has turkey and bacon as the meat, with tomatoes, cucumber slices and lettuce filling up the rest of the layers.

It also came with pickled jalapeno peppers and a gherkin.

Ham and Cheese Omlette - served with toast and panfried potatoes

When W’s omelette arrived on the table, we didn’t expect it to look like a breakfast pizza! Haha! Rather than the typical egg crepe folded with fillings inside, it was round and pan-fried with ham and cheese on top of the egg. Despite the appearance, it was still a tasty breakfast. The Pan-fried potato hash was crispy and delicious too. We noticed that their toast was made with a Panini press haha!

Shepherd's Pie (featured special of the day) - served with side of gravy, small salad

As for me, I decided on the Shepherd’s Pie because I’m a meat-and-potatoes kinda gal! The cashier/owner(?) advised that it would take a while because it’s baked to order. When it came out it was piping hot with a nicely browned mashed potato topping. The shepherd’s pie came in a pie crust, which I thought was unusual because all the shepherd’s pie I’ve had before just consisted of the ground meat filling and the mashed potato topping. Nonetheless, it was still a very hearty pie! On the side was a small bowl of gravy. At first I wasn’t sure what it’s for because the pie was moist and flavourful by itself. However, as I was getting to the middle of the pie, the mashed potatoes were a little dense so the gravy helped moisten the topping making it easier to eat. The “salad” also provided a break from the rich meaty goodness.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and prices of the food at Omega Café! My only complaint was that the jam they provided for the toast was not “jammy” anymore =P It’s been sitting there for a long time so the jam inside the plastic containers turned gummy and dry…yech.

Side note: we went for a second visit around Chinese New Year and the owner gave us a plate of complimentary donuts to celebrate the holiday! The home-made donuts were pretty big and they were not too dense and not too sweet. Pretty good donuts!! The owner (I’m guessing he’s the owner since he had the power to give away donuts!) is a really nice man and I am glad to support these local “mom ‘n pop” shops.

Moncton Cafe

120 - 3651 Moncton Street
Richmond, BC

On a late Saturday afternoon, W and I were just chillin’ inside a Starbucks in Richmond when a friend of W texted him asking if he could join us for dinner. Well sure, why not? They threw out some ideas like sushi, Korean food, or hot pot but they were all vetoed (by me LOL). Finally, I suggested trying Moncton Café out at Steveston because I read a food blog about it and the Houji ice-cream they served really intrigued me. W and his friend were game so off we went to the quiet seaside town!

Moncton Café actually serves Yoshoku cuisine, which is a Japanese take on Western/European cuisine. Some typical items include curry (which is milder and sweeter than Indian curry), tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet, similar to schnitzel), and pasta.

There were a few tables occupied inside the café when we arrived but generally it was pretty quiet. Good for a nice quiet dinner and chit-chat with friends! We sat down and started perusing the menu. We wanted to have some tea but they charged money for a pot (I’m so used to getting free cups of tea) so we just had water…

Seafood Carpaccio ($10.25) - thin sliced assorted sashimi with olive oil garlic dressing

The 3 of us decided to start with an appetizer so we chose the Seafood Carpaccio. It consisted of 3 slices each of salmon, tuna, and scallop atop some salad greens and thinly sliced radishes. Haha, the portion turned out just right because we all had equal amounts of sashimi. The sashimi was fresh but I thought the overall flavour was average. Nothing to shout out about.

House Hamburg ($14.95) - hamburger steak with demi-glace sauce

For my main, I ordered their House hamburg. On the iron hot plate, there was a substantial beef patty pan-fried to a nice brown caramelized colour and a juicy flavourful inside! It was laid atop grilled onions and smothered with a rich demi-glace sauce. Yum!! Corn niblets, veggies and fries rounded out the plate. I actually would have liked to have rice as the starch component instead of fries but they were still pretty good when they soaked up the sauce.

Prawn Curry ($14.50) - breaded shrimp with curry sauce over steamed rice

W was trying to decide between having the katsu curry or the prawn curry. Finally, he went with the prawn. When the dish came, I thought it was quite small. There were only 5 pieces of the panko-crusted prawns on top of the rice. And it didn’t seem like there was enough curry to go with the rice either. I tried a bit of it and I found the curry to be a little spicier than usual. I think they used the medium heat level of Japanese curry. On the side was a small pile of pickled radishes which helped to break up the constant bite of curry after curry. I think I would opt for the katsu curry for a more filling meal.

Mentaiko Pasta ($14.00) - spaghetti with mentaiko (spicy cod roe) cream sauce

W’s friend, Mr. E, declared that he was very hungry so he went for the pasta dish on the menu. Well! When it arrived, we were all taken aback by the size of the dish! It was small!  Even when Mr. E loosened the noodles with his fork, there was not a lot of spaghetti. Despite the small portion, he said the mentaiko sauce was quite tasty.

Chicken Sukiyaki Udon ($10.50) - chicken, vegetables, tofu and udon in sukiyaki soup

Since Mr. E was not filled up after the pasta, he ordered the Sukiyaki udon as his second main dish haha… It came bubbling hot in a shallow sukiyaki pot filled with chicken pieces, tofu, various veggies and udon in a deep-coloured sukiyaki broth. With a dash of Shichimi spice powder, Mr. E gobbled up the hearty noodle soup, so I think it’s safe to say that he found the udon good.

After our dishes were cleared away, we studied the café’s dessert menu. Right from the beginning I knew I wanted to try their Houji ice-cream. The full name of Houji is actually Houjicha or Houji tea, which is a roasted Japanese green tea. I love regular green tea ice cream (usually made from matcha tea) that is common in a lot of ice-cream parlours and restaurants so I wanted to see how different the flavour of Houji ice-cream is.

Houji Ice-cream ($4.00) - Japanese houji tea ice cream

I found it quite pricey for such a small scoop of ice-cream but I’m guessing the restaurant decided that the uniqueness of the flavour warranted this price tag. The Houji flavour was apparent in the first few spoons. I loved the taste of roasted tea in the ice-cream! However, maybe because my palate got used to the subtle tea flavour, it slowly faded away with each bite. The ice-cream was also more on the icy side rather than the creamy side. The dessert was garnished with a sweet and crisp waffle cookie which made the bowl look less bare.

Melon Cream ($5.50) - Espuma melon soda with ice cream

Mr. E was intrigued by the photo of the Melon Cream dessert. Even though it was described as ice cream with melon soda, we were wondering where the (liquid) soda was! The photo just showed a scoop of ice-cream with some light green cream piped around it!

When he took the first bite, his eyebrows raised and had a pleasantly surprised look on his face. Curious, I took a scoop of the light green cream to try. My reaction? I also raised my eyebrows and went “Ohhh!!” I was hit by a fragrant (although artificial) melon taste with the fizzy carbonated soda feeling on my tongue! The green cream was actually melon cream soda in solid (creamy jelly) form!!! We had unknown expectations for this dessert so in the end, we were captivated and pleased by it.

Places that serve Yoshoku cuisine are hard to come by around Metro Vancouver. Even though Steveston is quite out of the way, I would gladly pay another visit for their hamburg meals and desserts! Except, beware of attack chef!! LOL Oh Engrish....

Jean Philippe Patisserie [Las Vegas, NV]

Aria Resort & Casino

Las Vegas, NV

 

On our last day in Vegas, we were too depressed to eat. LOL just kidding. It was the opposite of that. We went to Bellagio for a buffet lunch and walked around with bulging tummies throughout the day! I didn't write a post about the Bellagio buffet because it wasn't anything spectacular. I found the buffet at Wynn way more worthwhile.

 

Anyway, since we were stuffed from lunch, we just went the simple route for dinner and ordered a sandwich to-go from Jean Philippe Patisserie inside Aria. I was paranoid that we were going to miss our flight so I convinced W to take the sandwich to the airport and eat dinner there.  



 

Jean Philippe Patisserie offered a lot of variety in their shop. There were cakes and pastries, chocolates and cookies, and in a section of their chilled glass case, there were different sandwiches and savoury goods. We ordered one of their sandwiches to go and they kindly re-heated it and packed it up for us!

Roasted Chicken and Basil sandwich - roasted chicken, basil leaves, carmelized onion jam, cheese

Since the sandwich sat in the plastic box while we went through security, it got a little soggy from the condensation. Nonetheless, the bread still held up and the chicken was quite tasty. The basil did not play a big role flavour-wise but it was still detectable when my bite included a leaf. Rather, the onion jam provided a nice sweet and savoury hit to the sandwich, and it also made the sandwich less dry. If we ate it while it was hot, I bet the cheese would have made the sandwich gooey and more delicious too.

As a quick pre-flight meal, this take-away sandwich certainly did the job. I think it would have tasted much better if we had eaten it right after it was heated up. Oh well. Maybe next time! Though, with so many cafes and restaurants in Vegas, I'm not sure if I would be able to make a re-visit! Hmm...we'll see! 'Till next time, Las Vegas!

Jean Georges Steakhouse [Las Vegas, NV]

Aria Resort & Casino
Las Vegas, NV

By staying at Aria for our trip, we received a $100 dining credit that is good for any restaurant inside the hotel! Sweet! Since W and I had to go see a Cirque Du Soleil show later that evening, we had to have an early dinner nearby. Thus, we decided pay Jean Georges Steakhouse inside Aria a visit for a quick fine-dining excursion.

This place was opened by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, another famous chef, cook book writer, and restauranteur with many restaurants opened in Boston, New York, Arizona, and Las Vegas. W and I had previously eaten at his first restaurant in Canada, Market by Jean-Georges, and we had a good impression of it.

We arrived at 5:30pm and we were quickly greeted. We had to wait a few minutes for a table to be ready though. The interior of the steakhouse had a dark, sleek and contemporary design. There was a partially enclosed private dining area with walls lined with bottles of wine which created a unique focal point to the floor.

When we were seated at our table, our server handed out menus and an iPad to us!! The iPad was actually their drinks menu and it was opened to their own application that showed their extensive wine list, cocktails, and other libations. I was in the mood for a cocktail and after perusing their list, I narrowed my choice down to 2. I had a hard time deciding and asked my server for a recommendation. He said his favourite was the Orange Elderflower Cosmo so I took his advice!

Orange Elderflower Cosmo (feature cocktail) $16

Our server's recommendation was good! The Cosmo was soooooo delicious!! One of the best cocktails I've had! There was a fragrant aroma of elderflower with a bit of floral aftertaste while the blood orange was sweet and a little tangy. I forgot what type of liquor was in it but it went down very easy (it definitely gave me an Asian glow though).

Warm salted pretzel, cherry pecan bread, French baguette, some sort of spiced crisps, butter

After making our order, we were presented with a complimentary bread basket to start. I loved how they included a variety of baked items! The flat, thin crisps were dusted with some spices (I didn't catch what they were when the server described it); crispy and savoury, the chips-like cracker were quite addictive.

The pretzel looked like a large sausage. It was dense but the bread was still soft and easy to eat. It's the type that you can easily get full from so we refrained ourselves from eating too much of it. My favourite was the cherry pecan bread. It was soft but still held up when I spread butter on it and I liked the pops of sweetness from the fruit embedded inside.

Grilled Wagyu Filet Mignon $65 - roasted broccoli, soy-miso butter, grilled to medium

Our server told us that they were featuring an excellent 5A Wagyu steak that night for $30 an ounce. $30 an ounce!!!! And the minimum size was 6oz!! That would be $180 for a steak!!!! Omigoodness....ummm no thanks!

We opted for the more "affordable" $65 Wagyu filet mignon in the regular menu. Hey, we still wanted to try Wagyu beef but baby steps, people, baby steps... No need to go for the very best for our first time.

When we took our first bites of this steak, we knew we fell hard. Badly. It was just SO RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS!!! The beef was melt-in-your-mouth tender because of the marbled fat all throughout the meat, but it still had a little chew to it. The soy-miso butter sauce was freakin' fantastic and full of umami flavours!! It was sooooo good but it didn't overpower the beefy taste of the Wagyu steak either. The roasted broccoli was a good agent to soak up the remaining sauce. YUM-O!!!

JG Cheeseburger $26 - Truffle mayonnaise, brie cheese, yuzu pickles and truffle fries, patty grilled to medium

When I saw this on the menu, I really wanted to try it because the description sounded like a genuinly gourmet burger without a hefty price-tag. If we didn't order the Wagyu beef, I would have thought that the JG burger was awesome but unfortunately the Wagyu filet mignon stole the show and the burger had to play second fiddle to our foodgasm foodie gushings LOL...

I opted to have the patty grilled to a medium-rare and it was done perfectly with a light pink hue in the middle. The beef was really juicy and delicious. I loved the yuzu pickles because they were made from fresh cucumbers so it still had that fresh crisp crunch. The brie cheese was a bit too mild so it was lost amidst the flavours of the other ingredients. Same with the truffled mayonnaise; I couldn't detect much of it in the burger either.

The fries, on the other hand, were filled with the earthy aroma of truffles and they were topped with shaved black truffles too! I'm new to the world of truffles so I thought this was absolutely decadent.

After finishing up our food, we wanted to linger longer but we had a show to catch. I was afraid we were going to be late because our server was too busy to come over. Since we were at a fine dining establishment, we didn't really feel like flagging him down like we were at a HK-style cafe but we just wanted to pay and leave! Despite that little hiccup, this was the best dinner I've had in Vegas! (And I can't go back to regular beef now! My standard for steak has risen to a new level now! Doh!)