I went to Yolks Breakfast on West Broadway the other day (546 W Broadway) with Jamie and he snapped this awesome photo of me - and it got featured by Yolks on their Instagram! So this is what fame feels like HAHA
Review of our brunchfast to come! Thanks for the feature, Yolks! Be sure to check their locations out (their other restaurant/commissary is located at Hastings and Clark, plus a cute little truck driving around!) as well as their Instagram (@yolksbreakfast)!
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Lucky's Donuts VS. Cartems Donuterie
In a first of what I hope to be many foodie showdowns, I am here today to weigh out which Vancouver based donut and coffee shop is the best. But here's the thing, I love them both equally because they both have so many great things to offer, and of course, who can say no to donuts? This showdown will see Lucky's Donuts, who has partnered up with Vancouver coffee roaster 49th Parallel for their storefronts in Mount Pleasant and Kitsilano duke it out with Cartems Donuterie, with locations in Mount Pleasant (down a few blocks from Lucky's), Gastown, and their newest location on West Broadway. LUCKY'S DONUTS Of the two, these were the first donuts that I have ever tried that were not Tim Horton's or Krispy Kreme - and it rocked my world. I have had the famed Peanut Butter and Jelly donut as well as the 2016 Fall seasonal Pumpkin Cheesecake Bismarck. All three times that I have been to 49th Parallel and Lucky's, I always have the $5 coffee and donut combo - an absolute steal to try both the incredible coffee and the donuts. THE PROS:
CARTEMS DONUTERIE It is safe to say that I frequent Cartem's on a more regular basis than Lucky's due to accessibility. The one I go to most often is the Gastown location, which is one street over from SFU Harbour Center. I have been to all three locations, and I give them props for being unique to the part of Vancouver they are in, and yet, unified with their wooden furniture and little plants that they have at every table or hanging from the wall. Because of how often I go, I have tried many of their donuts - London Fog, Earl Grey, Vanilla Bean, Dulce de Leche*, Whiskey Bacon, and Triple Chocolate. The donuts are definitely innovative - who would think to put bacon on a donut? But it works! (* = seasonal) THE PROS:
THE VERDICT? As much as I love the donuts at Lucky's, I think my outright winner is Cartems for the reasons of accessibility, innovativeness, and their overall level of community engagement. I find it super cool that Cartems opens their doors up to the community on an ongoing basis. The donuts are great and the drinks are great, and the vibe can't be beat. Cartems is the donut champ! Portland is such a cute city with so many cool places to eat! I was there with my family over the Easter break, and due to the short length of the trip I was only able to try two places that were both sweet in nature. I definitely will have to make multiple trips back to experience all the various places that Portland has to offer!
One of the places that is unique to Portland is Voodoo Doughnut, a place that definitely doesn't mess around when to comes to creating them. The eccentric decor really brings to life the incredibly unique donuts that they have for sale, and all over downtown Portland you will find people carrying the signature pink boxes stuffed to the brim with all kinds of donuts. We got a classic Chocolate Dip, as well as a lemon jelly donut, a Mango Tango (which was basically like a donut filled with mango jelly and topped with something reminiscent of a fuzzy peach, but mango flavour), and Cookies & Cream. It was amazing! The other place we visited was Stumptown Coffee Roasters, which is based in Portland with multiple locations found in the city along with Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York. Being a bit of coffee shop fanatic, it was so cool to go to a coffee shop that I had heard so much about. I had their mocha and it was amazing, and so was the feel of the shop. It was really hip and just added to the whole cool vibe that Portland exuded. As mentioned, trips to Portland are definitely scheduled in the near future! March 24, 2016 Cartems Donuterie is a place that is a high priority on my bucket list, and I hadn't set foot into Cartems yet until this event happened. I had become obsessed with "gourmet donuts" (as in, donuts that are not from Tim Horton's HAHA) ever since I went to 49th Parallel & Lucky's Donuts (foreshadow: my Portland trip and the amazing donuts from Voodoo!) But when we think of donuts, we usually think of it as a sweet affair. Topped with chocolate or dip, sprinkles or otherwise, powdered in sugar and filled with cream or jelly... donuts are always are always a post meal deal, perfect with coffee or on its own as an indulgent treat. But savoury donuts? No way! As an early birthday gift, my friend Elaine got us last minute tickets at Cartems Donut Tasting event at their Gastown location on West Pender. The night would feature a "four course donut tasting and wine pairings". When I first heard this, the first thing that came to my mind was sweet donuts and wine paired with each of the ones. I was thinking sweet and innovative, but what Chef Rags and the team at Cartems presented the 60 person guest list was way beyond that. After the entire experience of two appetizers, a main course, and a dessert with two wine pairings, my perception of donuts has changed drastically and I left full and incredibly blown away. Called "Farm to Table, Ready and Able", the event featured donuts transformed into gourmet dishes, using fresh and local ingredients and a big dose of creativity. First Course: Purple Potato Holes, Fava Bean and Spring Onion Purée, Watermelon Radish and Pea Shoots Shaped like ginormous Timbits, this was my very first taste of savoury donuts and it was revolutionary. The donut had the same consistency of a sweet donut, and it was paired beautifully with the smooth purée. The watermelon radish was fresh and the presentation of the dish was spot on! Second Course: : Traditional Capresian Marinara sauce, Black Garlic Sunchoke fritter, Perigord Black truffle and Italian Flat Leaf Parsley This was my favourite dish of the night, donuts put into the form of spaghetti and meatballs! The spices in the massive looking Timbit really made it taste like a meatball, and since I love pasta, there was really nothing to dislike in this course. The marinara sauce was tangy, and the fritter was amazing. What a unique way to eat donuts! Third Course: Curried Squash Mousse, Curry Duck Confit, Deep Vegetable Demi, Lemon Pickled Fiddle Heads, Petite Sorel Green Apple Micro-greens. Think of your favourite stuffed donut, like a delicious jelly donut or Boston cream. Now imagine the sweet filling taken out and replaced with curry. That was this dish! By the time this course rolled around I was already blown away and just a tad full. There was a huge duck leg which was really salty, but I really liked the donut. Elaine had a vegetarian version of the dish that substituted the duck with a generous portion of mushrooms. Fourth Course: Meyer Lemon and Persian Lime Sorbet Ice Cream, Cointreau drizzle, Edible flowers The dessert course was extremely refreshing, thanks to the lemon-lime sorbet. A fresh take on an ice cream sandwich, the donut was remiscient of a Tim Horton's Long John cut in half, filled with four scoops of the sorbet with a sweet syrup drizzled on top. Note to self: edible flowers aren't really that edible. In all, the experience was a delicious one and definitely was an unconventional use of donuts! I will definitely have to return to Cartems in the future to try their donuts! And if you want to be blown away by interesting ways to eat donuts, keep an eye out for future donut tasting events hosted by Cartems! This past winter break, I had the privilege to travel with my family to Japan, a place that none of us had ever gone to explore. Japan certainly is an interesting place: it has many traditional aspects to it, but you can see how globalization has introduced many North American aspects to their culture. We could still get Starbucks or McDonald's if we really wanted to. But when in Japan, eat what the locals do! Being so used to the "Japanese" food that we have in Vancouver, I was interested (and admittedly, a little apprehensive) of seeing and trying the actual Japanese conception of sushi or ramen. People that had gone to Japan before us had told me that the sushi is really traditional, so that would be interesting to compare to our sensationalized sushi! So here's the lowdown on the different delicacies that we had in Japan and some cool places to visit in Tokyo: 1. Sashimi Don These are basically pieces of sashimi (raw fish) atop a bowl of don (rice). There really isn't very much leeway to how you can alter this, so I would say that the Vancouver Japanese restaurants got it pretty close to the traditional Sashimi Don bowls. We visited the Tsukiji Itadori Fish Market on our first full day - think Pike's Place Public Market in Seattle, but way more packed. There are restaurant stalls selling different foods to patrons, and there are blocks and blocks of these stalls. For lunch we ducked into one of the stalls and had their Sashimi Don bowls. Probably the freshest sashimi I have ever had! 2. Ramen One of my new found loves. I am a latecomer to the ramen scene in Vancouver, so I really have nothing to compare it to. But trying ramen in Japan (and different versions of it too!) was something really cool. Ramen is one of Japan's comfort foods, and you can literally find it anywhere. Whether you are ordering it off a menu or from a vending machine, Japanese ramen is super delicious. 3. Sushi!!! This is where I was the most apprehensive. I am so used to the crazy rolls we have here in Vancouver, with crunchy topping, seared fish, sriracha mayo, cheese slices and ice cream! I was picturing lots of pickled vegetables and maybe some fish. But while both of those things were found inside the (gigantic) rolls, like with the sashimi don bowls the sashimi was super fresh. There were also some pieces of sushi that I was quite unfamiliar with, so I stayed away from those. But for the most part, it looks like the Western influence is starting to show in authentic Japanese sushi! 4. Matcha. Matcha everywhere! All I really wanted was matcha soft serve, and my wish was granted when we went to the Ueno street market. Japan is matcha heaven, so if you're into matcha, I highly recommend going! 5. Japanese style Italian food Italian food is one of my favourite cuisines, but it seems like Japan likes it too. In fact, there is a restaurant in Vancouver's downtown core called Spaghetei, which serves Japanese style spaghetti. We went to two different Japanese style Italian restaurants that served some pretty authentic pasta and even risotto! There are also some Japanese twists to the dishes, like adding nori (seaweed) on top. 5. Sweet treats Aside from matcha everything, Japanese people also excel at making killer desserts! We're talking every kind of cake imaginable, crepes, dessert pancakes, and Japanese treats like fish-shape cakes filled with Nutella or red bean. Delish!! 6. Kit Kat Let's just say that we bought a lot of Kit Kat. And not just your typical milk chocolate Kit Kat, we're talking orange flavour, matcha flavour, wasabi flavour, hojicha flavour, rum and raisin.... For more cool snippets of our trip (and more than just food.. ahaha), check out this awesome video that my sister made!
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