After watching Iron Man 3 with my friends (it was awesome!), we headed over to Capstone Tea and Fondue on Robson. They open at 3 on weekdays and I made a reservation for 3pm. I needed to use my Groupon even though it expired. I had purchased it for their chocolate and cheese high tea fondue set but I never got around to using it. =( Also I had a hard time getting a reservation since before they had an email for you to email but it wasn’t very efficient. They also had no phone number listed anywhere due to a high volume of phone calls apparently. Finally they came up with an online reservation system and they have a separate link for people with Groupons. Anyway we finally made it here!
Between the three of us, we shared the chocolate fondue for two ($24.95) and right away I noticed that the pots of fondue they gave us were a lot smaller than they used to be! Maybe half the size? The rest of the set was essentially the same. We were offered a choice of two fondue “dips” and we chose honey graham crackers and roasted peanuts but ended up with coconut flakes instead. We didn’t bother returning it though. The 6 ice cream balls also seemed to be smaller than they used to be. The fruits were all very fresh and everything tasted good with chocolate! Except maybe the pineapples and grapes…The cookies were really hard to pick up and dip though. The bananas were the best (after the ice cream balls)! =) Also to be fair, we did have enough chocolate for everything seen here. Perhaps we used it strategically though since we knew there wasn’t thaaat much?
We also got a drink to share since I still had another $3 left to use from my Groupon. Capstone offers a variety of hot and cold tea drinks. Or “teaspresso” drinks. I chose the Matcha Banana slush which was ($5.95). I thought the drink was pricey but it tasted pretty good. It was just sweet enough and there was a prominent banana flavour with hints of matcha. There is also an option to use soy milk or skim milk for an extra 50 cents.
Capstone was a nice place to hang out for some dessert. They are open till 11pm or 12am and they also have another location in Richmond. The server we had was super nice and checked on us several times too so I was pleasantly surprised. They also run Groupon deals very frequently so check back often but remember to use it!
Happy long weekend everyone!
My BFF <3 from Toronto came back so we met up for lunch at Anton’s! Thankfully there was no line up at 1pm and the restaurant was only half full. My first visit to Anton’s was over two years ago now so I can’t quite remember what the food tasted like. The only thing I remembered was the giganormous portions and that’s what they’re famous for. Anton’s is in North Burnaby and it took me an hour to bus there! The decor inside had a homey feel to it but it was nothing fancy.
Excuse my horrible yellow photos, apparently my camera was on some kind of weird setting I didn’t know about. Oops! ><
We were given some free bread to start off with but neither of us touched it since we knew we were going to be really full from the pasta. We had intended to eat it after but we had room so I can’t comment on the bread. There is also a minimum charge of $8 per person so we decided to share a pasta and a dessert to fulfill that requirement.
All pastas are $12.75 for lunch unless otherwise specified. The pastas are divided by the type of sauce used in it such as red sauce, white sauce, clear sauce etc. They also have a selection of stuffed pastas and vegetarian pastas We chose the Penne Mezza Luna with Italian sausage & pancetta in an olive tomato sauce. I’ve always preferred red sauces and who doesn’t love anything with Italian sausage right? Our server asked if we wanted any pepper on our pasta and we said yes. She kept going for longer than we expected before we realized we had to ask her to stop. First of all I thought that the penne was really thick and a bit chunky. It was also on the soft side and not quite al dente either. Otherwise it was alright and the sausage gave the pasta a bit of a kick or it could have been the black pepper we had sprinkled on top. The pasta was rather mediocre due to the noodles they used so I think this is somewhere you would go for quantity over quality.
Then we had our Tiramisu which turned out to be huge too! It also came with copious amounts of whipped cream. I was so glad we were sharing this. The cake was moist and spongey but the bottom layer was soaked in waaay too much espresso. It was pretty much soggy. =S I’m not too picky with cakes but this was probably the worse tiramisu I’ve ever had. They probably didn’t make the cake in house though and they’re not known for desserts anyway so I shouldn’t complain too much…
Anton’s is somewhere you go for quantity over quality. It’s definitely a good spot for a cheap lunch or dinner but you can get better quality pasta elsewhere. Also I don’t think it’s worth the hype and lineups at night either. If you want to try it, go during lunch times and skip dessert!
Vancouver is turning into a food truck hot spot and Mom’s Grilled Cheese is a pretty popular option. Located by the Art Gallery on the corner of Howe and Robson, you can usually find Mom’s Grilled Cheese and its long line-up 7 days a week. Long line-ups must mean good food right? I was about to find out! I had always secretly wanted to try it out but the timing was never right and they seemed pricey for something so simple. I mean I can make my own grilled cheese sandwiches at home!
Basically you get to choose your bread, your cheese and any add-ons that you want such as sliced red onions or tomatoes and of course there are deluxe add-ons like bacon! =D There are also daily specials but I went on a Friday and they don’t seem to have a Friday special anymore. I got sourdough bread with pepperjack cheese and bacon ($1.50).
Ok I will take this time to admit that my concept of cheese has been limited by Kraft Singles…
Mmm look at all that ooey-gooey cheese on that glorious sandwich! All sandwiches are served in a paper cone with a slice of pickle and Hardbite chips (they were on Dragon’s Den!).
Close up with the bacon! The sourdough bread was well buttered and crispy while the bacon made the sandwich salty. They did not skimp on the cheese at all and it was well melted throughout the sandwich. In fact, I almost felt like I overdosed on cheese after and I was super full afterwards. I don’t think I could really taste the pepper in the pepperjack but what do I know about cheese anyway? These grilled cheese sandwiches are a lot fancier than what I can make at home and they really hit the spot if you’re looking for some gourmet comfort food! I can see why this food truck is so popular! I didn’t take a picture of the chips but they reminded me of Ms. Vickie’s chips but in the original flavour because they had a similar texture.
‘Mom’ Cindy is super friendly and they seem to have a lot of regulars too. You can also ask for a box instead if you plan on eating your sandwich later or even extra pickles. If you’re willing to brave the line-ups for a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich, be sure to visit Mom’s Grilled Cheese!
A&W started a promotion for their sweet potato fries last month and the coupon can be found here. For $2, you can get a serving of fries with sweet chipotle mayo. Regular price is about $3.99 I think. I think the best part about the coupon is that you can just show it to them on your phone in case you forget to print it out and carry it around with you. Yay for mobile coupons! I love sweet potato fries so I was pretty excited about these and who doesn’t like discounts right?
Okay I was a bit bored and decided to play with the Line Camera app. Don’t think I used any filters though! I thought these fries were a lot better than I expected. They were definitely better than the ones I had from Vera’s a few weeks ago. In retrospect, they seem below average now. The fries from A&W were crispy and more firm than the ones from Vera’s which were sorta limp looking. The serving seemed to be a medium size. The spicy chipotle mayo wasn’t that spicy but it was alright. All in all, it was pretty decent from a fast food joint and for $2 too. I will probably try and use the coupon again!
I previously tried to make a mug cake but it didn’t turn out so well since the recipe did not call for enough sugar so it was rather tasteless. =( Then I looked for a better recipe and I decided to use one from babble.com after a quick google search. It seemed like it would work and it had enough sugar in it so I gave it a try.
Tada! Okay obviously this is what their picture looks like.
Here is my less appealing version… yes it ain’t pretty and I didn’t have a smaller microwaveable bowl. See presentation really matters right? There should be a meme for this… Anyway, it tasted pretty good and the recipe said to microwave for around 30 seconds first and when I did it still looked a bit too moist and gooey but after another 10 seconds it wasn’t as great so I should have stuck with 30 seconds. Oh well at least I can say it was a success this time! Also it was sweet and chocolatey enough this time!
Have a great weekend everyone! Enjoy the sunshine! =D
Meat and Bread has been on my list of places to try for a while now but I just never happen to be in that part of town. Finally my friend and I decided to make a special visit there for their famous porchetta sandwich. The concept of Meat and Bread is quite simple. It’s meat and bread. No frills and very straightforward for a casual lunch. Even their dining area is simply laid out with a few tables by the window some bar-style seating and a big long table with enough seating for at least 20 people so prepare to get cozy!
Sandwiches are freshly made to order and there was a short line up when we got there around 1pm. Yay skipped the lunch rush! When you walk in you will be faced with their giant menu board on the wall. They only offer four sandwiches: the porchetta, a meatball sandwich, a grilled cheese and a daily special. You can check their website before going to see what the daily special is. We both ordered the porchetta because we’ve heard so much about it.
We decided to get our order to go but if you dine in, sandwiches are served on a wooden board with a side of mustard or hot sauce I think.
Okay this picture probably doesn’t do it justice but you get the idea. MEAT!
The porchetta is pork with the crispy crackling skin sprinkled on top with some salsa verde. It reminded me of eating Chinese siu yook with pesto sauce. Okay that sounds like a weird combo now that I’ve said it but it was good! The sandwich was very flavourful due to the fat in the meat and the oil from the salsa verde sank into the bread and softened it up a bit. The texture of the ciabatta bread was seemed kind of hard at first but it was also firm enough to hold everything together without things getting too messy. I was very careful to not drop any of that juicy tender pork! The size of the sandwich was substantial for a quick lunch meal too. I did feel a bit greasy after eating it though so this wouldn’t be something I’d indulge in regularly. Maybe I’d feel less guilty if there was some sort of veggie in it… but then it wouldn’t be meat and bread! Don’t worry I’m not complaining. These sandwiches are chalk full of delicious meat and if you’re looking for a savoury sandwich, you should put this one on your list!
Okay I have to admit that the cheap Asian in my perks up at the sound of FREE. In this case, Soho Tea Room offers a special from 2-5pm daily where if you buy a bubble tea drink of $4+, then you receive complimentary free toast! Sounds good already and toast is valued at around $4 too. I finally decided on getting their Sesame milk tea with pearls and the Condensed Milk with Butter Thick Toast.
I enjoyed this version of sesame bubble tea because the texture wasn’t too gritty and you can taste and see the ground up toasted sesame seeds too. On the other hand, I found the pearls to be too hard so they may have been previously frozen or something. =(
MMM okay I have to say this was really good. How can you not like toast with condensed milk and butter?! The edges were nicely toasted and crispy while the middle was super soft and delicious! You first taste the sweetness of the condensed milk and then the saltiness from the butter afterwards and it was just warm and heavenly. Oh and did I mention FREE yet? 
Meanwhile my friend had the Satay beef with rice noodle soup. I really liked this too although it wasn’t very spicy at all. Also the rice noodles ended up soaking up all the soup and they expanded so this is something you should eat right away!
You can also read about their honey toast boxes in my post here.
PS. I’m not being paid to visit them. I just realized I sound like their brand ambassador already. =_________=
