New to Vancouver’s food truck scene is Winnipeg’s Kyu Grill, known for their HEROSHIMA signature sandwiches.

The HEROSHIMA consists of an original grilled-skewer sandwich served on a soft sweet bun, ginger soy slow, housemade signature Japanese fusion toppings and sauces.

Popular menu items include the “Noriyaki” (pork skewer, teriyaki sauce, roasted seaweed and mayo) and the “Spicy Mayo” (chicken skewer, tempura crumbs, spicy mayo, sriracha sauce).  Other flavourites include the Mango Chicken and Pork Belly. 

They also offer Frites with fusion flavours (including Nori, Okonomi, and Spicy).

I tried the Noriyaki Heroshima and the Japanese Okonomi Frites which had both bold flavours!

The “Noriyaki” features a pork skewer, teriyaki sauce, roasted seaweed and mayo.

The Okonomi Japanese Frites featured okonomiyaki sauce and bonita flakes.

The off-the-menu dessert Shoyu Cinnamon Crisps also had some nice sweet and savoury flavours as well as crispy texture.

In Winnipeg, Kyu Grill has a chain of food carts as well as brick-and-mortar locations.  They were also named Winners of Food Truck Wars: People’s Choice Award four years in a row (2015, 2016, 2017, & 2018). They have also won the award for Best Presentation three times (2016, 2018 and 2019).

Kyu Grill is on the Street Food app so check out when they are open there.  You can find them at Emily Carr at Great Northern Way; Safeway Kitsilano on 4^th and Broadway Tech Centre.

Kyu Grill
www.instagram.com/kyugrill.yvr

A new neighbourhood hangout serving West Coast-inspired fare with local craft beer, wine, and original cocktails has just opened up in the Beach District.

Beach Avenue Bar and Grill located at 1012 Beach Avenue opened up a week ago. Over the years, the location was home to other pubs including the Burrard Bridge Marine Bar and Grill and TAPShack.

Located just under the Burrard Bridge, patrons can take in waterfront views of False Creek and Granville Island from the outdoor patio.

The team behind Beach Avenue Bar and Grill is formerly of Tap & Barrel so you can expect the same type of fare. Here are a few photos of the menu that I took.

Starters include poutine, wings, prawn tacos, beef tacos, roasted vegetable hummus, crab fondue, lettuce wraps, mussels and seafood chowder.

Handhelds include Beach Burger, Hickory BBQ Burger, Fried Chicken Sandwich, Seafood Club, Beyond Beach Burger and so forth.

For some lighter fare, salad options include Kale Quinoa Salad, Beach House Salad, and Rad Caesar.

There are a few flatbreads (Surf ‘N Turf and ‘Shrooms ‘N Spinach) as well as main courses (Beach Bowl, Cod and Chips, and Market Bouillabaisse).

As for sweet treats, there are Ice Cream Brownies and Salted Caramel Cheesecakes.

The beverage program includes local craft beer, wine, and original cocktails.

Beach Avenue Bar and Grill is currently open from 12 pm – 10 pm 7 days a week.

Beach Avenue Bar and Grill
1012 Beach Ave #1
www.facebook.com/beachavebar

A new gourmet sandwich cafe has just opened up in Downtown Vancouver.

Rising celebrity chef Chef Felix Zhou, formerly a partner at Heritage Asian Eatery and the Executive Chef at The Parker Restaurant and Beach Bay Café, has opened Bread x Butter Cafe inside Cathedral Place at the corner of Hornby and West Georgia.

The seasonal menu of locally sourced ingredients focuses on gourmet sandwiches created with freshly baked artisanal bread and the highest quality butter.

The cafe offers breakfast staples like avocado toast; egg salad sandwich; breakfast sandwich and more.

Some salad options include Roast Cauliflower Salad; Prawn Salad; Chicken Salad; and so forth.

Gourmet sandwiches include Roasted Chicken Baguette; Bocconcini Sourdough; Turkey Cranberry Sourdough; Salmon Nicoise Multigrain; Prawn Salad Multigrain and more.

For baked goods, there are plain croissants, chocolate croissants, banana loaves, muffins, cookies and more.

The coffee program is by JJ Beans Coffee with espresso-based drinks such as mochas, espressos, lattes, matcha lattes, and so forth.

The cafe had plans to be an upscale boutique venue for special events on evenings and weekends outside using the courtyard space. Chef Zhou mentions that there might be potential for popups and small scale events in the future.

You can order ahead online for pickup via Ritual. The cafe is currently open for takeout with 3-4 dine-in seats and outdoor seating in the courtyard.

Edit: September 20, 2020. David (@pickydiner) and I decided to try out their Egg Toast options this past week and they were very good!  We tried the following:

Hawaiian Luau featuring Spam, scramble eggs, cheddar, crispy seaweed, kewpie mayo

Prawn Star featuring Poached prawns, scramble eggs, cheddar, lemon caper aioli

Nice, light and fluffy scrambled eggs and soft toast.  I liked that the sandwiches were not too heavy.  The prawns were pretty bouncy.

The cafe is currently is open 8 am – 3 pm Monday to Friday.

Bread and Butter
925 West Georgia Street
www.breadxbuttercafe.com

Newly open in East Vancouver is Blind Rabbit, a tequila and gin bar.

The bar has posted a few creations that customers can look forward to.

Blind Rabbit’s hours of operation are 3 pm – 1 am Sunday – Thursday and 3 pm – 2 am Friday – Saturday.

Blind Rabbit
2531 East Hastings St, Vancouver, BC
blindrabbit.ca

All all-day dim sum restaurant has opened in the heart of the Granville Street Entertainment District in Downtown Vancouver. Cold Tea Restaurant opened at 1193 Granville Street and aims to be a modern, laid-back dim sum spot as well as feature Chinese-Vietnamese cuisine with North American service.

Cold Tea Menu

Cold Tea’s menu is meant to be inviting and playful but still encompass the bold spices of Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine.

The restaurant had planned to open in March 2020 and their concept was to bring back the legendary dim sum cart style lunch including a variety of steamed dumplings such as Xiao Long Bao (Cold Tea’s version will be the Pho Long Bao), wontons and more.

Other dishes on the menu would include bahn mi baos, lettuce wraps, veg and meat spring rolls, 5-spice carbonara with Lai Fun rice noodle, lemongrass rice bowls and pho.

Along with the dim sum carts, originally they also had drink carts for the evening service, where bartenders will be making tableside cocktails.

Focused Takeout/Delivery options

While dine-in at Cold Tea is temporarily on hold, the restaurant is offering a small focused takeout menu. They are unable to offer most of their dim sum menu as these do not carry well.

The takeout menu includes share plates (like coconut noodles with shredded pork and braised pork belly), banh mi & bao (like Aunty Six’s Famous Chicken Sub & Saigon Special Sub), wraps & rolls, wok-created dishes (like crispy chow mein with char siu and wok beef), salads (like smashed cucumber salad), bowls (like BBQ duck on white rice and roast pork belly on 3 grain rice), soups (like chicken pho and congee with duck), and grill-created dishes (like chicken skewers and betel beef).

Delivery is available via Uber Eats and Doordash and takeout via Tock for the time being. Delivery days and hours will be Tuesday to Sunday 12pm to 9pm.

Behind the Name “Cold Tea”

The restaurant’s name is paying homage to the history of the building they have leased, as their predecessor, Tsui Hang, was notoriously known for serving late night tea pots full of beer, which you could order as “cold tea” after legal serving hours.

While Cold Tea will not be serving alcohol after hours, they will have an enticing beverage lineup and dim-sum carts that turn into drink carts as the evenings age. 

The Team

Owners, Ron Cheng (Former General Manager, Hapa Izakaya, The Parlour, Tap and Barrel) and Paul Rivas (Owner, The Parlour & Bodega on Main) combine their Chinese and Spanish eating traditions to create a new-wave dim sum space that is accessible through a tapas sharing approach.

The Chef, Thien Vuong (Former Head Chef, The Parlour, Bodega on Main, Frankie G’s) who was born in Vietnam, with over 15 years of experience, will be adding his Vietnemese spin to the menu.

Partner, Joe Cheng (Former bartender Minami), plays a large part in the cocktail curation and spearheads the bar menu.

Cold Tea Delivery

The 130 person seated restaurant (160 standing) is designed to be unpretentious, inviting, modern, earthy, with classic chinese elements.

There is a large abacus (Chinese calculator) at the entrance and Asian artwork and murals around the space.

A larger than life mural in the main dining room was designed by Vancouver’s legendary Sace Forand.

The partners decided to keep the massive chandelier and original vases from Tsui Hang on display for some nostalgia. 

For more information, visit www.coldtearestaurant.com

Cold Tea Restaurant
1193 Granville Street, Vancouver
www.coldtearestaurant.com