Robson Street/West End Archives

3 Quarters Full Cafe: Takeout and Delivery during Social Distancing

March 27, 2020 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

3 Quarters Full Cafe been my go-to place for Taiwanese-style snacks and desserts and I’ve been visiting them since they opened in 2016.

They are still open for take-out and delivery and yesterday I got their Black Sesame and Thai Tea cake. So good!

Talking to the owners, it was sad to hear that their landlord will not give them a break at all and they need to continue to pay FULL rent. We all know that small businesses are suffering and they need support now more than ever.

Check out their menu of Taiwanese baos, bowls, street-style snacks, bubble tea and pastries. Their food is made fresh in-house daily and without preservatives and additives.

Below is a complication of some of the items I have tried over the years.

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).

Tom Sushi in Vancouver: Uni Ikura Don (Off the Menu Item)

February 26, 2020 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

What an uni-ful world!

I visited the popular Tom S u shi during off-peak dining hours to try their off-the-menu specialty item, Uni Ikura Don. Priced at$28.95.

Tom Sushi in Vancouver: Uni Ikura Don (Off the Menu Item)

It was a homey rice bowl studded with plump beads of salmon roe and rich and buttery fresh uni. Topped with gold flakes and shiso flowers.

The bowl comes with seaweed so you can make a wrap with the rice, uni and ikura if you wish. You can ask for more seaweed as well.

I enjoyed the bowl very much and polished it off on my own.

Aside from the delicious don, I really enjoyed the warm, attentive and friendly service (especially from a casual sushi joint). The space was modern and clean.

Tom Sushi opened about a year ago in Davie Village in Downtown Vancouver. They are a Korean-run operated sushi restaurant that has garnered quite a following.

They were most recently named #2 on Yelp’s Top 100 Restaurants place to eat in 2020.

During peak dining times, I have seen the restaurant to be nearly full. Furthermore, they are known for serving very fresh seafood. I read that they close up shop early when they run out.

I’d be interested to return in the future to try more of their offerings.

Check out my Instagram post for more video content.

View this post on Instagram

WHAT AN UNI-FUL WORLD! I visited the popular @tomsushi_davie during off-peak dining hours to try their off-the-menu specialty item, Uni Ikura Don. Priced at$28.95. – It was a homey rice bowl studded with plump beads of salmon roe and rich and buttery fresh uni. Topped with gold flakes and shiso flowers. – The bowl comes with seaweed so you can make a wrap with the rice, uni and ikura if you wish. You can ask for more seaweed as well. Aside from the delicious don, I really enjoyed the warm, attentive and friendly service (especially from a casual sushi joint). The space was modern and clean. #NotSponsored – #thehappynow #finditliveit #planetdiscovery #vancouverfoodie #seekthesimplicity #lifeandthyme #uni #ikura #ricebowl #sushi #theglobewanderer #tastemade #foodandwine #buzzfeedtasty #eattheworld #forkyeah #f52grams #foodbeast #buzzfeast #feedfeed #yahoofood #eeeeeats #vancouver #vancityhype #mustbevancouver #vancouverisawesome

A post shared by Areta Wong (@foodgressing) on Feb 25, 2020 at 7:49pm PST

Tom Sushi
1175 Davie St, Vancouver, BC
tomsushi.ca

Colourful Handmade Dumplings at Nine Dumplings inside Robson Public Market

January 22, 2020 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

A new food stall specializing in Northern Chinese-style handmade dumplings has opened in the West End. Meet Nine Dumplings, which set up shop just about a month ago inside the food court of the Robson Public Market.

Nine Dumplings inside Robson Public Market: Colourful Handmade Dumplings Vancouver

All contents of this post are copyright secured by Digiprove with verifiable time-stamped evidence of the content.

Family-Owned and Operated

This family-owned and operated business is no stranger to the dining scene in Metro Vancouver. They used to run Nine Dishes – an award-winning restaurant in Richmond (behind Costco) which focused on Sichuan cuisine. The restaurant closed after their landlord sold the property for redevelopment.

Nine Dumplings Menu

Nine Dumplings features a lot of the dishes from Nine Dishes but new to the menu (and the focus of their offerings) are the handmade dumplings.

The handmade dumplings feature 9 different types of fillings including pork & cabbage; pork & chives; pork & cilantro; pork & kimchi; pork & green pepper; vegetarian; squid pork chives; lamb & zucchini; and scallop & fish.

The dumplings are $4.99 for 6 pieces of the regular fillings and $5.99 for 6 pieces of the more specialty fillings.

Or if you can’t make up your mind, get the 10 piece sampler featuring 1 dumpling of each of the flavours offered for $9.99.

The dumplings can be steamed, boiled, cooked in a soup or made spicy with Szechuan oil and chilis.

If you want to know what colour the dumplings are, just look at the menu as the item name is colour coded based on the colour of the dumpling skin.

The owner, Yves, tells me that the colours are natural. Turmeric for yellow; squid ink for black; butterfly pea for blue; spinach for green; beet root for red; and purple cabbage for purple.

There are also a few Sichuan-style dishes including Spicy Drooling Chicken, Spicy Boiling Fish, Spicy Fried Chicken and more.

What We Tried

The owner presented us with some complimentary dishes to start. I loved the sweet, warm, glutinous rice and red bean dessert soup.

We also had the spicy clear noodles which was slightly spicy and stimulated the appetite.

I ordered 6 different types of dumplings:

Pork & cabbage (half Green/half Plain)
Pork & cilantro (blue)
Pork & kimchi (green)
Pork & green pepper (red)
Vegetarian (purple)
Lamb & zucchini (yellow)

The dumpling skins were sturdy, a bit chewy and not overly thick. The fillings were delicious, flavourful and tasted fresh.

All the dumplings tasted true to their flavour and very excellent. My favourite was the pork & cilantro and second to that would the pork & kimchi. There are quite a few options so there’s something for everyone.

I didn’t get the sampler as I like to try the dumplings a few more times rather (even just to judge) rather than just one piece. However, the sampler would be a good intro to the type of fillings offered.

I talked to the owner Yves afterwards and he seems very humble. His wife and daughter are helping out with the business. He brought out a tray of his dumplings for a quick photo op!

Overall Impression

All in all, Nine Dumplings is a hidden gem in the West End and definitely worth checking out. Time and money well-spent and stomach space happily occupied. I’d be interested to try the other fillings that I missed this time (pork & chives; squid pork chives; and scallop & fish) as well as other Beijing dishes (like the green onion pancake). Rating: 5/5

Nine Dishes @ Robson Public Market
204-1610 Robson Street Vancouver, BC

Jingle Bao Vancouver: Rainbow Soup Dumplings [Review]

November 25, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Newly opened on Denman is Jingle Bao, a dumpling house offering soup dumplings, noodle soups and snacks.

jingle bao vancouver rainbow soup dumplings

The restaurant takes over the space at 774 Denman St formerly occupied by Rad on Denman (a hot pot place) and Ritual (a restaurant once famous for being the first certified living wage restaurant in Vancouver).

Since my family and I love soup dumplings, we decided to give Jingle Bao a try as it is also conveniently located in our neighbourhood.

Jingle Bao Menu

The signature item at Jingle Bao is their Rainbow Soup Dumplings (spinach, mushroom, shrimp, spicy Szechuan flavour, and original pork).

Other dumpling offerings include traditional xiao long bao (pork soup dumpling), Crispy Snowflake Pork Dumplings, Crystal Shrimp Dumplings, and Vegetable Dumplings.

They also offer dim sum staples like Pork Sui Mai and Shrimp Ha Gow as well as snacks like Chilled Garlic Green Beans, Salt and Pepper Chicken and Crispy Fish Fillets.

FYI, their current offering is smaller than what they have posted on their website.

House-Made Dumplings

The dumplings are made in-house and guests can observe the process through the open window to the counter.

Here is a bit of footage that I took when I was there:

View this post on Instagram

I checked out the newly opened #JingleBao @westendbia – a dumpling house serving soup dumplings, noodles and snacks. – They serve rainbow soup dumplings with different fillings (spinach, mushroom, shrimp, spicy Szechuan flavour, and original). – You can observe the dumpling making process right at the front counter. It was fun to see the different coloured dumpling wraps. #NotSponsored – #igvideo #video #vancouver #yvr #instagramvideo #videograms #vid #vancouverisawesome #vancity #weamaze #dumpling #videooftheday #dessert #dimsum #instavideo #asianfood #foodgressing #xiaolongbao#vancouverfoodie #yvreats #xlb#bestvideooftheday #foodbeast #feedyoursoull #eater #eeeeeats #buzzfeast #f52grams

A post shared by Areta | Food & Travel Blogger (@foodgressing) on Nov 23, 2019 at 4:32pm PST

What We Tried

We ordered the following from Jingle Bao:

Traditional Pork Soup Dumplings (5 for $5.95)
Rainbow Soup Dumplings (5 for $6.95)
Shrimp Ha Gow (4 for $7.95)
Crispy Snowflake Pork Dumplings (6 for $8.95)
Crystal Shrimp Dumplings (4 for $7.95)

The Pork Soup Dumplings (original xiao long bao) didn’t disappoint being nicely aromatic with a hot, rich broth and thin wrappers.

The Rainbow Soup Dumplings with different fillings (spinach, mushroom, shrimp, spicy Szechuan flavour, and original) were also good in general. The mushroom filling had the strongest flavor while the shrimp filling had the weakest.

The Crystal Shrimp Dumplings were also tasty and not just a dish pretty in pink for the novelty factor.

We also really enjoyed the Crispy Snowflake Pork Dumplings which had a tasty pork filling and was nicely crispy on the edges but not overly greasy.

The Rainbow Soup Dumplings did take a bit of time to be made while all the other dishes were delivered to us much more quickly. I initially ordered three rounds of Rainbow Soup Dumplings but they only delivered one to us after a half hour.

It was slow to receive those dumplings considering we were the first customers in the restaurant for the day. I had to cancel the two other orders as we needed to head out.

The ha gow were OK with nicely, thin, translucent wrappers and bouncy, shrimp fillings. However, they were on the expensive being $2 per piece and I can’t say it was worth it.

The original Pork Soup Dumplings ($1.20 each) and Rainbow Soup Dumplings ($1.40) were more worth it in terms of taste and value.

Service/Operations

Service felt a bit scattered as there was only one server. At one point, one of the staff in the kitchen decided to help the front of the house.

My table was also pretty wobbly so I decided to fix it myself by putting some tissue underneath.

Hours of Operation

The hours of operation posted on Google and on their website aren’t quite accurate. They currently open at 11:30 am and close somewhere around 9 pm according to staff.

Overall Impression of Jingle Bao

All in all, I’d be interested to return. The food and prices were reasonable but the food was slow to come out. I saw a lot of tables which seemed to be idling due to the long wait. They will need to have a faster table turnover if they want to make it on Denman. Rating: 4/5

Jingle Bao
774 Denman St, Vancouver, BC
jinglebao.com

Tempura Tendon Hannosuke Tokyo Set to Open in Vancouver

November 18, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Signage has gone up on the 1700 block of Robson Street for the upcoming opening of the iconic Tempura Tendon Hannosuke Tokyo.

Known as Kaneko Hannosuke in Japan, the brand specializes in tendon – not a fibrous connective tissue but rather a meal of tempura served over a bowl of hot rice.

Kaneko has been known to draw long lineups for their delicious tempura at reasonable prices.

While the original location is in Chuo Ward, Tokyo and there are other branches in Japan, Kaneko has also expanded overseas to the US (California, New Jersey, Chicago, Hawaii) and Taiwan. This location on Robson Street in the West End will be there first Canadian outpost.

THE HISTORY OF KANEKO-HANNOSUKE

Hannosuke Kaneko was a renowned Japanese chef, serving as the second chairman of “Isshin-kai,” – a Japanese chef’s association. He had a passion for Japanese cuisine and personally kept a recipe book named “Enma-Cho.”

His grandson, Kaneko Shinya, inherited the recipes and discovered the secret to the “Edomae” sauce for a rice bowl dish. With the secret sauce recipe and numerous times of trial and error of what ingredients would best go with it, he came up with tendon – a rice bowl with tempuras on it.

Tempura Tendon Hannosuke Tokyo Menu

There is no specific menu information for the Vancouver outpost yet but other overseas locations have the following items. You can expect something similar for the Vancouver location.

Shrimp Tendon
Edomae Tendon
Chicken Tendon
Tempura & Zaru Soba
Tempura Box
Tendon & Zaru Soba Set
Kakiage Tendon
Original Tendon
Tempura Plate

Stay tuned to more information on Tempura Tendon Hannosuke Tokyo Vancouver.

Halloween Mochi Ghost at 3 Quarters Full Cafe

October 27, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood. Who you gonna call? ??

I’ve always enjoyed 3 Quarter Full Cafe’s mochi and this time they are offering mochi ghosts with taro or red bean/strawberry filling now until Halloween. What Halloween treats are you enjoying this year?

Disclosure: I was invited for a media tasting.

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

Lumière Vancouver 2019: 25 Interactive Art Installations

October 18, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

The annual, family-friendly Lumière Vancouver event returns to Vancouver’s Downtown and West End neighbourhoods Nov 1 – 3 from 5 pm – 10 pm.

Lumière Vancouver 2019: Nov 1 - 3 — Credit: Lumière Vancouver

Inspired by light and artistic expression, Lumière Vancouver includes more than 25 interactive art installations that add dazzle and wonder to four beloved sites:

English Bay
Jim Deva Plaza
Lot 19
šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square (formerly known as the North Plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery).

Each site’s interactive art installations honour a different theme:

• Nature (English Bay)
• Pride (Jim Deva Plaza)
• Local (Lot 19)
• Interactive (šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square)

Free Vancouver Trolley shuttles will be available to transport viewers between each site.

Public Disco will be hosting a free outdoor dance party each night of Lumière Vancouver at Jim Deva Plaza in the Davie Village.

Dance and light-inspired performances will further mesmerize audiences at all four sites.

Lumière Vancouver 2019 runs November 1 – 3, from 5 pm – 10 pm nightly.

(Select installations will remain up for the remainder of the fall season for spectators to enjoy nightly.) For more information, visit lumiereyvr.com

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

NaMì Vermicelli Bowls Food Cart at Burrard and Davie

July 23, 2019 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Vietnamese food cart, NaMì, has just launched a second food cart but this time specializing in vermicelli bowls.

NaMì Vermicelli Bowls Food Cart at Burrard and Davie Vancouver

NaMì 2.0 can be found at the corner of Burrard and Davie Streets in the West End neighbourhood. The original NaMì is operating at the corner of West Georgia and Granville Streets and serves báhn mì sandwiches.

Grand Opening Special

As part of the grand opening, the cart is featuring a $7 vermicelli-bowl special throughout the first week of service until July 24.

NaMì 2.0 Menu

NaMì 2.0’s menu offers visitors and locals alike a taste of authentic Vietnamese home-cooking fused with modern techniques and fresh ingredients in a variety of bowls including:

Classic Bowl: vermicelli topped with pork or vegan spring roll, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber and mixed herbs with a choice of protein and dressing
Banana Blossom Salad Bowl: banana blossom, kale and spinach topped with cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber, mung bean and mixed herbs with a choice of protein and dressing
Garlic Beef Vermicelli Bowl: vermicelli topped with sautéed garlic beef in a garlic, lemongrass and onion sauce with shredded cabbage, cucumber, mixed herbs and spicy chili lime dressing.

The NaMì 2.0 cart also features an array of sides:

Grilled Skewers: lemongrass chicken, beef, beef in betel leaf, prawns, tofu, eggplant or okra
Deep-Fried Spring Rolls: pork, shrimp, carrots, taro, mung bean vermicelli, mushroom
Salad Rolls: shrimp/lemongrass tofu, lettuce, bean sprouts, carrots, vermicelli, cucumbers, peanut dip
Vietnamese coffee made with condensed milk or sweetened coconut milk

The cart also has a number of monthly rotating features and vegan-friendly fare.

What I Tried

I enjoyed a media tasting at Nami 2.0 and had the following:

Banana Blossom Salad Bowl was loaded with veggies, grilled prawns (your choice of protein) and an absolutely delicious deep-fried spring rolls (with carrots, taro, mung bean vermicelli, mushrooms).

The grilled skewers (chicken, beef and prawns) had wonderful smoky, charred flavours.

To wash it all down, I had a delicious Vietnamese Coffee with coconut milk.

NaMì was founded by foodie and entrepreneur Kevin Thach, who got his first-hand knowledge of the industry at his parents’ award-winning Pho Thai Hoa 1 Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver.

I’d definitely revisit NaMì for their freshly prepared and tasty vermicelli bowls and would recommend others to give them a try.

For more information, go to namivietnamese.com, become a fan of /namivietnamese on Facebook and follow @namivietnamese on Instagram and Twitter.

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

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

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/

3 Quarters Full Cafe: Takeout and Delivery during Social Distancing

Tom Sushi in Vancouver: Uni Ikura Don (Off the Menu Item)

Colourful Handmade Dumplings at Nine Dumplings inside Robson Public Market

Family-Owned and Operated

Nine Dumplings Menu

What We Tried

Overall Impression

Jingle Bao Vancouver: Rainbow Soup Dumplings [Review]

Jingle Bao Menu

House-Made Dumplings

What We Tried

Service/Operations

Hours of Operation

Overall Impression of Jingle Bao

Tempura Tendon Hannosuke Tokyo Set to Open in Vancouver

THE HISTORY OF KANEKO-HANNOSUKE

Tempura Tendon Hannosuke Tokyo Menu

Halloween Mochi Ghost at 3 Quarters Full Cafe

Lumière Vancouver 2019: 25 Interactive Art Installations

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

NaMì Vermicelli Bowls Food Cart at Burrard and Davie

Grand Opening Special

NaMì 2.0 Menu

What I Tried

Milksha Vancouver 迷客夏 Bubble Tea on Robson Street

Voted No. 1 Bubble Tea by Students

Uses Fresh Milk

Honey Boba Pearls

Milksha Best Drinks

Milksha Vancouver Menu

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