1505 Robson Street, Vancouver (West End)
A popular Malaysian cafe franchise, PappaRoti opened its first North American store right here in Vancouver in the West End. Known for their famous coffee bun, this cute and spacious cafe is the perfect place for a sweet treat, whether with friends, with a date, or while studying on your own. I came here with Mateo and we both decided to go for their coffee buns, which are all $6.50 with the exception of "The Works" which is $8.50. I had the Maple Eh? bun with a Chai Latte and Mateo had the Strawberry Fields. Served on really cute wooden boards, the buns are technically perfect in every way, and they are remarkable: the light coffee fragance when you cut your fork through the soft pillowy texture and the presentation is really great. The Maple Eh? is the coffee bun topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce and maple syrup. I thought that iwas going to be a sugar heart attack but surprisingly, it was just the right aount of sweetness and not to sickly sweet. The coffee bun itself was amazing and I was really sad when it was finished! The Strawberry Fields is the coffee bun dusted with powdered sugar and served with strawberries and a massive pile of whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. The picture above shows off my Maple Eh? bun - delicious, but unfortunately melted really quick resulting in a bit of a mess. While these coffee buns were amazing, I didn't care too much for the Chai Latte. It was ultimately flavourless, but topped with an obscene amount of cinnamon - so much so that I felt like I was taking part in the cinnamon challenge from a few years ago. I'm not sure if this was intentional or to compensate for the fact that the latte was tasteless, but overall there was too much cinnamon to the point where I choked a vew times because some powder flew down my throat a little too quickly. Latte art was neither expected or necessary, but a really poor job was done probably because of the amount of cinnamon that was on the latte itself. If only PappaRoti wasn't so out of the way, I would go there everyday to study. They offer free WiFi and the place, despite its popularity, is very quiet. I know that I would probably gain a lot of weight going there all the time and having a coffee bun every time, so it's probably for the best. However, great coffee buns - but stay away from the Chai latte. Of course this is not reflective of their wide selection of drinks - I have no doubt that their other drinks are a little better. Finally, if you are stopping by and aren't feeling a coffee bun, PappaRoti has a few pre-packed savoury options for you to choose from, as well as other gluten free treats like brownies and Nanaimo bars. They also serve the famous Vancouver based The Lemon Square in house.
0 Comments
320 Robson Street, Vancouver (Downtown)
The ice cream scene in Vancouver keeps churning out new contenders and new, innovative ways to serve and eat ice cream. Lik N2 Ice Cream on Robson is a one of those unique places, calling itself as Vancouver's first liquid nitrogen ice cream store. Upon entry to the store we were stunned by the sunny yellow walls and white walls, as well as all of the silver appliances in the back and the telltale sight of nitrogen smoke. On the other side you can see all of the ice cream being mixed, nitrogen flying everywhere and a cute neon sign that reads "I got Lik'd in Vancity". The aesthetic of the ice cream comes from the syringe that is added to the ice cream, typically with the syrup or sauce that is added to the said flavour. Emma and I got the strawberry blueberry sunrise, which consists of blueberry sorbet, strawberry sauce in the syringe and topped with fresh mangos. It was definitely a fruity treat which evidently used fresh fruit. However, for $7.50, the portion size was a little underwhelming and the ice cream was pretty meh. Don't get me wrong - it was delicious and fruity and I appreciated the freshness, however, it seemed really steep for what it was and it didn't wow me be any means. In comparison, 720 Sweets is under $6 and way bigger and cooler. I can see where the hype is for this place, however, I wouldn't recommend waiting in line for a small cup of ice cream and a plastic syringe. 413 Industrial Avenue, Vancouver (Main Street) I was really excited to find out that that I was going to go to Beta 5 Chocolates and try out their famous cream puffs! However, warning: it's not an actual sit down place. The 'Industrial Avenue' should have been a giveaway to me, because it is literally a factory with no place to sit down. So, now that that's out of the way, let's talk about their awesome and unique cream puffs! The shells are lightly crispy and give way to incredible cream flavours - about three different flavours of cream in each. My friends and I had the Earl Grey Raspberry, Vietnamese Coffee and Spiced Mango, which is part of their "holiday in the sun" winter collection. These unique and handmade creations were so special and too pretty to eat! But we couldn't resist and the flavours were amazing! Aside from their cream puffs, they also specialize in chocolate making, creating really cool chocolate creations. As well, they have house-made ice cream and macaron ice cream sandwiches. Since they don't have any place to sit down, I would suggest going to the nearby Tim Horton's, buy a drink and enjoy it there! (Shout out to Eugenia and Marinelle [@justurbasicmatchagirlz on instagram] for accompanying on such a fantastic foodie adventure!) 32 Water Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
After months of curiosity and walking past it many times, I finally got to experience the mystery that is Mosquito with Elaine. A dessert and champagne bar that is open from Wednesday to Sunday, this upscale and minimalist alcove is the epitome of romance and luxury. Since it was February, it seemed like most of the parties there that night were either on a date or on a "I have Valentine's day" protest with their girlfriends. The drink menu was pricey for a broke student, but since I was in a once in a blue moon 'treat yo-self' mood, I decided to go for a champagne cocktail and paired that with their Matcha Green Tea and Guava Opera - a fancy name for a very minimalist, Masterchef presentation-esque dessert plate. If you're looking to really woo your special somebody, look no further than Mosquito. Just make sure you don't go on a Monday or Tuesday and that you have an extra padded wallet. Sorry for the poor quality photos :( super romantic places tend to be incredibly dark and candlelit! 3278 W Broadway, Vancouver (Kitsilano)
Soft serve is taking over the ice cream scene, and here is yet another new place coming onto the scene and just taking it by storm. 720 Sweets, which just opened about a month ago, is reinventing the look of soft serve ice cream with their eclectic mixes and toppings. But the even cooler part is the showy nitrogen smoke that comes with it. According to my sister, who watched the ice cream being made, the nitrogen cubes go into the main cup while the ice cream goes in a separate cup. Then hot water goes into the cubes to create a cloudy smoke that surrounds the ice cream once the second cup goes on top. The results last for about 3-5 minutes and it is quite mesmerizing. I have never seen anything quite like it. The homemade soft serve is not too milky or icy. I personally prefer this soft serve over the soft serve offered at Soft Peaks, flavour wise. The toppings that went on our ice creams - Milky Way for Eleanor and S'mores for me - added to the aesthetic appeal and the taste of the ice cream. The Milky Way had a milk tea soft serve base with caramel drizzle, espresso jelly, crushed walnuts and salted caramel Biscotti. The S'mores had a chocolate soft serve base with dark chocolate drizzle, with a toasted marshmallow on a Pocky like chocolate almond stick. Both were delicious. 720 Sweets is off to an incredible start, with people lining up before it's opening at 3 every day. Again, it is a small place with minimalistic decor. The wait is a little long, depending on when you go. But it's super delicious. As the wall decal says, "my mind says to go to the gym, but my heart says ice cream". I agree! 907 Denman Street, Vancouver (West End)
Styo [stahy-oh] - "frozen yogurt in style" This petite ice cream shop on Denman Street is part of a growing trend of ice cream places cropping up all over the city. Specializing in soft serve, the homemade original flavour and green tea flavour are used as bases for what is now known as "parfaits". Similar in idea to your typical parfait, these parfaits start with the soft serve and alternates with fruit or cornflakes, topped with syrups, more fruit, more cornflakes, and many other things. Styo offers a wide variety of parfait combinations such as "Chocolate Devil" (Original froyo+chocolate pearls+brownie+wafer stick+banana), "Green Tea Harmony" (green tea froyo+red bean+cereal+coffee jelly+cream puff) and "Fruity Rainbow" (original froyo+pineapple+mango+blueberry), just to name a few. Aside from the parfaits, they also offer various sweet waffles and smoothies. Eugenia and I tried their special, Twisted Pop (original and green tea froyo twist+strawberries+blueberries+cereal, topped with caramel corn and a wafer stick). Despite the fact that I got a small size, there was still a lot of frozen yogurt and despite the seemingly strange combination of toppings, it tasted really good! The larger size is a dollar more, so if you are really into frozen yogurt and weird toppings, I say go for it! The "make your own" combination, I was told, is not worth it, so go for something that is already set up. Overall the place is really cute and the novelty of the parfait was nice, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. |
All
|
Delicious Destinations