Cuisine Archives | Foodgressing

Pizzeria Farina: New Location, $8 Pizza Specials, New Flavours

August 16, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Pizzeria Farina is celebrating its eighth anniversary this August by featuring $8 pizza specials at its original location (915 Main Street) on Sunday, August 18 before launching a new Farina Pizza a Legna outpost in North Vancouver at 119 2nd Street East later in the month.

Pizzeria Farina: New Location, $8 Pizza Specials, New Flavours

Farina Pizza a Legna (North Vancouver)

Located in North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale district, Farina Pizza a Legna (Italian for ‘wood-fired pizza’) will offer a full-service pizzeria with seating for 50 in a bright and spacious dining room and another eight on an outdoor patio.

Long beloved for its take on authentic, Napoletana-style pizza, a Legna will migrate many of the Main Street favourites to the new location while also offering an expanded menu of antipasti, insalate, pastas and desserts for dine-in and take-out.

At the bar, a Legna will feature local craft beer and Prosecco on tap, an all-Italian wine list, selection of amaro and grappa, and house-made bottled cocktails.

8TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

In honour of its 8th anniversary on Sunday, August 18, Pizzeria Farina at 915 Main Street will be featuring its popular Napoletana style Marinara, Margherita, Funghi, Quattro Formaggi, Calabrese and Finocchiona varieties of pies for $8 (dine-in only) starting at 5 p.m. and ending when the dough runs out, with a limit of one pizza per customer.

New Pizza Flavours

Pizzeria Farina has also launched a few new pizzas: Ortolana, Crudo and Boscaiola.

Ortolana
Roasted tomatoes and peppers, zucchini, arugula and Piave cheese, red sauce

Crudo
Prosciutto crudo, red sauce, arugula, Parmesan

Boscaiola
Prosciutto cotto, mushrooms, peas, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella

For more information on Pizzeria Farina or to stay up to date on all the latest developments, go to pizzeriafarina.com, become a fan of /pizzeriafarina on Facebook and follow @pizzeriafarina on Instagram.

Taro Desserts and Bubble Tea at 3 Quarters Full Cafe in Vancouver

August 13, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

3 Quarters Full Cafe is one of my favourites places to eat in the West End as well as a place for delicious Asian desserts. As someone who loves Taro-everything, 3 Quarters Full Cafe has a nice selection of taro desserts which use real taro (not artificial taro such that the food appears bright purple).

Taro Desserts and Bubble Tea at 3 Quarters Full Cafe in Vancouver

Pictured above is the Taro Roll Cake, Taro Mille Crepe Cake, Taro Mochi and Taro Bubble Tea with Pearl.

The taro desserts all had a nice taro flavour. The Roll Cake is nicely light and fluffy. The Mille Crepe Cake has paper thin crepes alternating with layers of taro. The Taro Mochi does not use preservatives and had thin, chewy glutinous outer layer and a tasty taro filling.

You can also order from 3 Quarters Cafe via foodora (delivery or pickup) and Ritual (pickup only).

3 Quarters Full Cafe
789 Comox St, Vancouver, BC
www.instagram.com/3quartersfullcafe

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver Afternoon Tea in the Window

August 7, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

This week, I had the opportunity to take part in the most interesting afternoon tea experience yet – that is, in a retail window!

Two afternoon tea goers take their seats in the Hotel Vancouver window surrounded by custom art created by Mandy Lau, a Vancouver-based fashion illustrator.

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver Afternoon Tea in the Window

Lau, inspired by thoughts of afternoon tea and enjoying time with family and close friends, was pulled towards the idea of an exterior street scene inside an interior – a kind of fantasy world for passersby to stop and peer into.

Created both traditionally, using graphite and ink, and digitally, the street scene perspective was illustrated to provide a sense of depth, with focus always resting on the tea table and the diners at the center of it all.

Service begins with guests selecting their preferred choice of Fairmont’s LOT 35 Tea to sip on, with selections like Imperial Breakfast and the popular Creamy Earl Grey – a black tea with cornflower petals and delicious cream flavour.

We were then offered an amuse-bouche, the strawberry Eton mess.

Next, a three-tier savouries set was presented and included scones and tea sandwiches.

The house-baked English scones and golden sultana scones were served with clotted cream, strawberry preserves, and orange marmalade.

Tea sandwiches included dill fromage frais and tomato madrilene, smoked salmon, shrimp and lobster with Northern Divine Caviar, and coronation chicken salad with mango chutney.

Sweets from the hotel’s pastry shop, presented on a mini-suitcase, include a treacle tart, Linzer torte with apricot, Battenberg cake with marzipan, a crème brûlée macaron, raspberry trifle, and Earl Grey éclair.

The window allowed people watching at it’s finest but who is watching whom? We had so many passersby take pictures of us while we dined in the window. Of course, we happily posed for them!

Afternoon Tea in The Window is currently sold out but a waitlist is maintained. It is available through September 2, 2019, Monday to Friday, with one reservation per day available at 12:00 p.m. Priced at $59 per person (maximum two diners per booking).

It’s always a pleasure to enjoy afternoon tea at the Fairmont and I certainly enjoyed this novelty experience.

For a more traditional afternoon tea experience, Notch8 Restaurant offers a Hotel Vancouver 80th Anniversary Afternoon Tea daily, on now through September 1, 2019 at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm. Priced at $59 per person and $29.50 for children 12 and under daily, reservations can be made at 604-662-1900 or www.notch8-dining.com/afternoon-tea.

Down Low Fried Chicken Collab x Mister Ice Cream Sandwich Collab

August 6, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

I had the opportunity to try the coolest summer mashup treat in Vancouver at Brewery and the Beast last week: the Jalapeño Honey Ice Cream Fried Chicken Skin Sando.

Down Low Fried Chicken Collab x Mister Ice Cream Sandwich Collab 2019 Jalapeño Honey Ice Cream Fried Chicken Skin Sando

The treat is a collaboration between Commercial Drive’s Downlow Chicken Shack (specializing in Nashville Hot Chicken) and Yaletown’s Mister Artisan Ice Cream (liquid nitrogen ice cream.

The fried chicken skin substitutes a traditional cookie/water for the ice cream sandwich. The ice cream is a Jalapeño Honey flavour which is inspired by the DL Chicken sauce.

Altogether, I found the combination to be a delicious salty, sweet, and spicy treat with an indulging textural contrast from the super crispy fried chicken skin.

Kitsilano Thai Restaurant: Unchai Restaurant [Review]

August 1, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

I must admit that Thai cuisine is not usually something I would go for as many restaurants that I have tried locally tend to make the dishes too sweet for my liking. So when I had heard excellent reviews about a newish Thai restaurant in Kitsilano, Unchai, where the food is not so much on the sweeter side, I became very interested to try their food.

Vancouver Kitsilano Thai Restaurant: Unchai Restaurant

We went to Unchai Restaurant for a pre-fireworks dinner last week. I had heard that the restaurant is small, seating about 16 people only so I made it a point to arrive there right when they opened for dinner service at 5 pm.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t checked their social pages before going as Unchai announced that they were to open at 5:30 pm that day. I decided to put my name on their waitlist outside the door. Since they don’t seat your group unless all parties are there, we decided to just sit tight and patiently wait until they would open.

It turns out that they had a large catering order and I could see from outside that the staff were working very hard to fulfill it. Their space is small and they even needed to use some of the dining tables as work space to put that order together.

At 5:30 pm, an SUV pulled up to the side of the restaurant and the staff promptly loaded all food into the SUV. All the while, a small group of eager customers awaited patiently outside for the restaurant to start dinner service.

What I Tried

After they were done with the catering order, they started calling out names on the waitlist. We were first on the list and got seated promptly after. The restaurant soon became full for the first round of dinner service.

Fried Chicken Wings

The fried chicken wings were outstanding. The batter on the outside was a bit thicker but nonetheless deliciously crispy while the inside was superbly moist and tender. These are a must-try.

Roti with Curry Sauce

The roti was also excellent being thin and crispy. I enjoyed the fact that they were not very greasy unlike those served at other restaurants. The green curry dip was a nice touch.

Fried Rice with Chicken

This was Thai-style fried rice with chicken, cherry tomato, gai lan, green onion, fried shallots, fried garlic, and egg. It was tasty, not very greasy, loaded and exhibited wok hei.

Boat Noodles Soup

One of their signature dishes made with pork meat, pork balls, pork blood, coriander, green onion, bean sprout, and celery. I was impressed with the number of ingredients in the soup and the flavourful soup.

I went with the rice sheet noodles which had a nice smooth and silky texture.

Unchai Curry Chicken

Another winner in my books. It was a flavourful Red Thai curry based that was loaded with ingredients: gai lan, long beans, Thai eggplant, baby corn, bell pepper, and Thai basil. It was really nice to see that it had so much substance rather than being mostly curry.

Thai Ice Tea

I am usually afraid of Thai Ice Tea because other places simply have made it too sweet but Unchai’s version was on point. Refreshing and with a reasonable amount of sweetness.

Unchai Mango Sticky Rice

Mango ice cream, fresh mango, butterfly pea sticky rice, peanut, and coconut crumble and coconut milk. The butterfly sticky rice was warm. I enjoyed the different textures; it was a nice finish to the meal.

Service

Service was excellent, efficient and friendly. The food came in a timely manner and I found the servers to be knowledgeable.

Overall Impression

I really enjoyed the dishes we tried at Unchai which were bold, flavourful and well-executed. The fried chicken wings are bomb! and I would definitely recommend them. I’d be interested in trying more of their dishes. Rating: 4/5

New Soy Dessert Shop: SoyTalk at Parker Place in Richmond [Review]

July 24, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

This past weekend, I decided to check out the newly opened SoyTalk at Parker Place in Richmond. As their name suggests, SoyTalk’s offerings are soy-based and include soy milk, soy pudding, soy milk bread, and soy ice cream.

SoyTalk Parker Place Richmond Ice Cream Pudding Bread Dessert

I was most excited to try out their soy ice cream as I love ice cream and typically enjoy vegan and non-dairy varieties due to my lactose-intolerance.

Canadian organic, non-GMO Soybeans

SoyTalk takes pride in using Canadian organic-certified soybeans in their products. Their soy milk is prepared using Japanese technology and does not include additives, anti-foaming agents, artificial flavours, emulsifiers, preservatives, and so forth. They also reverse osmosis water in their offerings.

SoyTalk’s soy milk comes in Signature or Lightly Sweetened ($5.99) as well as flavoured options like Black Sesame, Oreo, Rose, Matcha and more ($6.99). The soy milk beverages come in recyclable glass bottles.

They also offer soy milk bread ($5.95) and panini versions ($6.95 – $7.95) like Tofu Pudding Panini, Nutella Boba Panini, Strawberry Boba Cheese Panini and Tuna Cheese Panini.

For soy puddings, they offer Signature or Brown Sugar Varieties ($9.50) with options for toppings ($1 – $1.50) like taro, green bean, red bean, pearl barley and peanuts.

Perfect for the summer, SoyTalk offers soy ice cream ($5.50) in different flavours: original, black sesame, matcha, chocolate, and mango.

What I Tried

I went with two flavours of the soy ice cream that were available that day: Original and Matcha. I opted to have the ice cream to go and they came in really cute containers with lids.

The soy ice creams were lightly sweet and had an icy texture rather than smooth and silky. Both flavours were on point with the soy flavour being nice and prominent. I did think the Matcha ice cream could have used more sweeteners to offset some of the bitterness, but it was OK.

The ice creams come with a vegetarian “meat floss” which is a mix of seaweed and roasted soybeans as well as hot red bean tapioca pearls.

I liked the textural contrast of the vegetarian “meat floss” which also lended to a sweet and salty taste with the ice cream. The red bean tapioca pearls definitely were soft, chewy and tasted most definitely of red bean.

The ice creams are swirled into the cup so don’t be surprised that there is a hole.

The staff gave me the red bean tapioca pearls on the side as these were hot and would melt the ice cream too quickly for an ideal photo. So, they gave them to me in a cup separately. “Soy” nice!

Furthermore, I found that the soy ice creams (without the pearls) did not melt quickly at all. Therefore, it is certainly possible to get them to go and transport them home to your own freezer for later consumption.

I also got two flavoured soy milks: Rose and Black Sesame. The Rose had a nice, light floral flavour and was a bit frothy. The Black Sesame one was quite thick but had a reasonable Black Sesame taste.

According to the staff, their soy milks last five days refrigerated but only an hour at room temperature.

Interior

Soy Talk faces No. 3 Road at Parker Place. It’s a small shop but they have a good number of dining tables for customers.

Overall Impression of SoyTalk

I’d definitely go back and have their soy ice creams again as I really liked the taste as well as both the vegetarian meat floss and red bean pearls toppings. The soy milks didn’t impress me much as the flavours and texture didn’t really standout tome. Furthermore, I regularly make soy milk at home so buying soy milk isn’t that appealing to me in general. Rating: 3.5/5

SoyTalk
1410-4380 No 3 Rd, Richmond, BC
www.instagram.com/soytalk/

MilkSha Best Drinks | Recommended Drinks 迷客夏

July 18, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Milksha is a popular Taiwanese bubble tea brand with over 200 locations in Taiwan and has expanded to China, Hong Kong and soon to Canada. The brand is known as “Milkshop” in Taiwan and “Milksha” outside of Taiwan.

MilkSha Best Drinks Recommended Drinks 迷客夏

Voted No. 1 Bubble Tea by Students

Milksha has been voted No. 1 bubble tea by Taiwan university students (who are known to be hardcore bubble tea consumers).

Uses Fresh Milk

The company was founded in 2004 by a dairy farmer, Kevin Lim, who decided to set up his beverage brand, using milk as the main ingredient rather than creamer. Their drinks and pearls are made without preservatives or artificial colouring.

Honey Boba Pearls

Milksha is also known for their honey boba pearls in which cooked pearls are soaked with honey so that they can absorb the flavour. Because the pearls have no artificial ingredients, they have are clear in colour rather than brown.

Milksha Best Drinks to Order

Want to know what to order at MilkSha? Here are MilkSha’s recommended drinks.

Azuki Matcha Milk
Fresh Taro Milk
Refreshing Orange Green Tea
Earl Grey Latte with Honey Pearl
Valrhona 100% Cocoa Milk

The matcha they use is imported from Izumo Tousuien ( 桃翠園), a century-old matcha specialty brand from Japan.

Milksha also uses taro from Dajia (大甲) in Taichung, Taiwan which is a region known for producing high-quality taro.

Milksha uses premium Valrhona cocoa from France for the Valrhona 100% Cocoa Milk.

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Best Selling Gong Cha Drinks

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Best Selling Happy Lemon Drinks 2018 | Top 10 Happy Lemon Drinks

Milksha Vancouver 迷客夏 Bubble Tea on Robson Street

July 15, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Another famous Taiwanese bubble tea brand is making its way to Vancouver. Milksha (迷客夏) has announced that they will be opening up Milksha Vancouver at 1258 Robson Street sometime this fall.

Milksha Vancouver 迷客夏 Bubble Tea on Robson Street

The brand is known as “Milkshop” in Taiwan and “Milksha” outside of Taiwan. The company currently has over 230 locations in Taiwan, as well as 20 in China and 2 in Hong Kong.

Voted No. 1 Bubble Tea by Students

Milksha has been voted No. 1 bubble tea by Taiwan university students (who are known to be hardcore bubble tea consumers).

Uses Fresh Milk

Honey Boba Pearls

Milksha Best Drinks

Milksha’s five signature beverages are: Azuki Matcha Milk, Fresh Taro Milk, Refreshing Orange Green Tea, Earl Grey Latte with Honey Pearl and Valrhona 100% Cocoa Milk.

The matcha they use is imported from Izumo Tousuien ( 桃翠園), a century-old matcha specialty brand from Japan.

Milksha also uses taro from Dajia (大甲) in Taichung, Taiwan which is a region known for producing high quality taro.

They use premium Valrhona cocoa from France for the Valrhona 100% Cocoa Milk.

Robson Street is quickly becoming a hub for bubble tea with other brands (Chatime, Prime’s Thai Tea, Jenjudan) within distance.

Milksha Vancouver Menu

Stay tuned to what the Vancouver location will be offering.

Milksha Vancouver 迷客夏
1258 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC
www.instagram.com/milksha_van/

Little Pig Mochis with Peanut and Black Sesame Powder on Shaved Ice

July 13, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

LITTLE PIG MOCHIS WITH PEANUT AND BLACK SESAME POWDER ON SHAVED ICE!

This new menu item at 3 Quarters Full in the West End neighbourhood of Vancouver just launched two days ago and will have you squealing for joy!

Piping hot little pig mochis are served with peanut and black sesame powder on a bed of shaved ice. Priced at $9.50.

The mochis are handmade and the peanut and black sesame powders are all roasted in-house. Check out more behind the scene photos from my media tasting.

3 Quarters Full Cafe
1789 Comox St, Vancouver, BC
www.instagram.com/3quartersfullcafe/

Prime’s Thai Tea Vancouver 素匠泰茶 on Robson Street

July 12, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Newly open on Robson Street is Prime’s Thai Tea, a Chinese brand which specializes in Thai-style milk teas. The brand was founded in 2015 and originated from Jianmen, Guangdong. Prime’s Thai Tea is one of the largest beverage brands in China with over 500 stores.

Prime's Thai Tea Vancouver 素匠泰茶 Robson Street

Prime’s Thai Tea opened up a location in White Rock last year and this new outpost at 1194 Robson Street is their second.

Prime’s Thai Tea Vancouver Menu

Prime’s Thai Tea Vancouver menu is divided into:

Cheese and Tea (like Cheese Green Tea and Cheese Jade Matcha)
Thai Tea Special Drink (like Mango Milk Foam and Black Sugar Cocoa Pearls)
ZhiZhi Fruit Tea (like ZhiZhi Berry and ZhiZhi Kiwi)
Prime’s Thai Tea (like Peach Gum Tremella Coconut Milk and Red Bean Pudding Milk Tea)
Fresh Fruit Tea (like Strawberry Meets Guava and Queen Passion Fruit Tea)
Fresh Fruit Bubble (like Peach Oolong Bubble and Lemon Butterfly Star)

The drinks are priced around $5- $7.

They also have a few snacks like Original or Chocolate Bubble Waffle (~$5) and Snowflake Crisps.

To see a larger photo of the menu, click here or download below.

Prime’s Thai Tea Vancouver Menu Download

Topping choices include Pearl, Red Bean, Red Glutinous Rice, Sago, Milk Cover, and Konjac.

One thing I found was that the menu was not as descriptive as I would like. Some drinks already contain toppings but it’s hard to tell which ones based on the names of the drinks.

Interior

The Vancouver location is small with a few dining tables along the window and some on the outside.

The plaza just outside Prime’s Thai Tea is car-free and has a few picnic tables for the public to enjoy.

What I Tried

I ordered three of their recommended drinks: Signature Thai Cake Milk Tea ($6.80), Signature Thai Coconut Milk Foam ($6.80) and Zhizhi Dragon Fruit ($7).

The Signature Thai Coconut Milk had delicious blend of mango puree, milk foam and konjac. This drink could not be customized for sweetness and ice levels.

The Zhizhi Dragonfruit had dragonfruit juice, dragonfruit puree, sago and a salted cheesecap. The dragonfruit flavour was on point and the sago were very good being soft and chewy. I liked the complex flavour profile of the drink being salty, sweet, cream and also fruity.

The Thai Cake Milk Tea definitely resembled a cake with a layer of whipped cream on top with an Oreo crumb base. It was a very pretty drink from the swirls of Thai tea and whipped cream.

I enjoyed the black tea flavour with the added creaminess from the whipped cream. The cookie bits went well with the drink combination. I ordered the drink without any sugar and ice and it was just right for me.

All the drinks came in a plastic drink jar with a lid that had an open slot for a straw. The store only offers plastic straws, but you can always bring your own reusable straw. I liked that they sealed the top with some plastic.

Customers might be paying a bit of premium for a sturdy drink container. I don’t mind as I have unfortunately dropped bubble teas before and had the container break and contents spilled out. Such flimsy plastic!

Here’s my receipt for reference.

Service

The staff was noticeably in training mode as some of them donned “training” tags on their uniforms. Because the menu was not as descriptive as I would like, I asked the staff a few questions to which they seemed unclear on how to respond. If you have dietary restrictions (like to dairy), it might be an issue.

Overall Impression of Prime’s Thai Tea Vancouver

The drinks I tried from Prime’s Thai Tea were really good and we drank unitil the last drop (nothing wasted). They seemed to have a lot of interesting options so I’d love to go back and try more. Hopefully, the staff becomes more capable in describing the menu as the menu itself doesn’t do a really good job to detail what’s in it. Rating: 4/5

Prime’s Thai Tea Vancouver
1194 Robson St, Vancouver, BC
www.instagram.com/primethaitea/

Farina Pizza a Legna (North Vancouver)

8TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

New Pizza Flavours

What I Tried

Fried Chicken Wings

Roti with Curry Sauce

Fried Rice with Chicken

Boat Noodles Soup

Unchai Curry Chicken

Thai Ice Tea

Unchai Mango Sticky Rice

Service

Overall Impression

Canadian organic, non-GMO Soybeans

What I Tried

Interior

Overall Impression of SoyTalk

Voted No. 1 Bubble Tea by Students

Uses Fresh Milk

Honey Boba Pearls

Milksha Best Drinks to Order

Voted No. 1 Bubble Tea by Students

Uses Fresh Milk

Honey Boba Pearls

Milksha Best Drinks

Milksha Vancouver Menu

Prime’s Thai Tea Vancouver Menu

Interior

What I Tried

Service

Overall Impression of Prime’s Thai Tea Vancouver

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