Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Urban Tea Merchant


A few weeks ago I had high tea for the first time at a place called The Urban Tea Merchant (UTM). The store is located in downtown Vancouver by West Georgia and Alberni St. and they feature imported tea from the Singaporean company TWG. 
On this visit I tried their seasonal Mid-Autumn festival service, and I must say it was pretty satisfying. Along with indulging on delicious food, I also drank their tea, hence the term high tea. More specifically I tried a tea called "Brother's Club" and it was really good black tea. According to their site, the tea contains a blend of nutty black tea, citrus fruits, and berries.  

Now for the food, I don't recall every specific item that was included but it did have the following:

  • miso-maple glazed sablefish in butter lettuce
  • “Lapsang Souchong Tea” chickensalad  cone
  • wasabi and smoked salmon with ponzu jelly 
  • pork dumplings
  • mooncake
  • assorted fruits infused in tea
I know you may be thinking that mooncake and pork dumplings sounds a bit odd for high tea, but it was definitely a nice twist. For one thing, I normally don't like mooncakes, nor do I eat them, but the one they made was definitely an exception. It did not taste like the ordinary mooncakes that so many are accustomed to. It was sweet, but in a different way, especially since it had been infused in tea. Furthermore, I don't remember the specific flavor of the mooncake, but it was one of the four they offered. Obviously the description above does not do justice on how well it tasted, so maybe the following pictures will help.
Mid-Autumn Festival Service




Close up of the smoked salmon

Close up of the dumplings

Close up of the mooncake from TWG
And lastly some pictures, showing the decor of the place. They had a unique water fountain that featured teacups and teapots. If you ever get a chance, I do recommend giving this place a try. It is true that I haven't been to another high tea store to compare it to, nevertheless I'm sure they won't disappoint.


Monday, September 3, 2012

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Fondue

Who doesn't like fondue right? So a few months ago I brought the groupon to Capstone, and I finally used it a few days ago. It wasn't my first time at Capstone, but I hadn't been there in a while, so it was a good opportunity to see if much has changed. The groupon itself was $25 and that included two personal cheese and chocolate fondues. Since the last time I've been there it doesn't seem much has changed, although the portions may have gotten smaller with the introduction of the personal sizes. Anyways here's a snapshot of the food and place.
The place

Cheese Fondue

Chocolate Fondue

Closer look






Sawasdee Thai Restaurant

A few days ago I went to a Thai Restaurant called Sawasdee. This was my second time visiting the place, and since I was in the area I decided to go there again. The restaurant is located on 4250 Main St.(near 27th) in Vancouver. Although the exterior and the interior does not showcase anything spectacular or special, the food speaks for itself. I would say it is one of the best authentic Thai places in the lower mainland.

I ordered three dishes:
1. Tod Mun Pla
 Deep fried shrimp cakes

2. Pad Ped Gai
Chicken in Thai sweet and sour sauce

3. Pad Thai
Stir fired noodles and prawns (Tamarind sauce) 

The pictures kind of suck, but I can reassure you that it looks much better and taste much better in real life.
Most items on the menu allow you to choose the intensity of heat, which ranges from mild, medium, hot, very hot. I went for the medium option. They also have their house made hot sauce, which is also really good.




So go give the place a try and let me know what you think. =) 

Monday, July 30, 2012

A place to play games


The other day I went to a bbt (bubble tea) restaurant called Joy-G. It was the first time I've been there and the place is unique in the sense that they offer boardgames for you to play. They have a large selection of games which varied from the basic checkers to the complex dungeon and dragons. Furthermore, they also have foreign Asian games that I've never heard of. Ideally this concept would be great, however they charge by the hour if you want to play with their boardgames. I forgot how much they charge, but I remember it being some what expensive. However they do offer a "all you can play and drink" price as well, where you can stay for as long as you want for a fixed price. This may be worthwhile if a bunch of your friends stay there for a long duration and play something that takes hours. ie Settlers of Catan or Monopoly, but it's going to cost $20+ each. On a side note, back when Twinkle (another bbt restaurant) was still opened they too offered customers boardgames, the only difference being that they didn't charge a price for it. Nevertheless, that could be the reason why they are no longer in business. (But you can still find them at the night market)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Amazing Spiderman

I Just watched it yesterday night. Go watch it, it's good lol.






Oh and stay after the end credits there's an extra scene that's worth watching. =)

Monday, July 16, 2012

Steveston

Alright, it's time for another update. A couple of days ago, while it was nice and sunny, I decided to venture out to Steveston Village in Richmond. For those of you that arn't familiar with Steveston, it is a historic fishing village that has many unique and interesting mini boutique stores and restaurants. The picture below shows one of the many historic museums that depict the history of the area.
Like I mentioned, the village has many unique shops and restaurants, one of my favorite places to visit is this mini donut shop named Outpost Mini Donut Co. They make mini donuts with many different and unique flavors. I like to buy the dozen assorted, where they just give you a bunch of random flavors. Oh btw, you can receive 10% off your total purchase by grabbing a coupon that's available in the village post office beforehand. A side warning the donuts can be addicting and eating too many of these mouth-watering donuts will certainly make you a bit chubby. 

Store Window Display
My mini-donuts!!!
I don't exactly recall what flavors I got, but there was powdered sugar, lemon, chocolate, and others lol. Another side note about Steveston is that they have these public water fountains that are attached to fire hydrants, I found this pretty unique. Check it out. 
Clean Water people
Another cool place to visit is Heringers, it's a meat shop that specializes in pre-maranated meat. I brought a couple of steaks and flanks that I later grilled up back home. It was definitely yummy. 
Finished Product
Anyways until next time =) KEEP IT FRESH

 

Saturday, July 14, 2012

My First Post

Yay my first post! Welcome, and thanks for stopping by, besides singing random songs in Cantonese, I also do other things, haha. This is where the blog comes in handy, here, you will be able to read about the awesome or boring things I see and stuff I do. This will most likely range from everyday explorations in the Canadian Forest to dining at various restaurants in Vancouver. Needless to say  check this page often =) Alright that's all for now! Heading back to KEEP IT FRESH