Concerts, cows and Dosas! Yes, they do have something in common and that's me!

This Sunday was supposed to be awesome weather. I had made plans with my coworkers to walk the seawall and check out the Jazz Fest. It was the last day and the headliner was a band I discovered this year called The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer. They are a two man band but they play loud and are super fun to watch. I saw them earlier this year at a Current Swell show at the Commodore and a couple of months later at their own show at the Biltmore. If you ever get a chance to see them I highly recommend you checking them out. They are local from Vancouver.

Sunday, before meeting up with coworkers, I had lunch with a friend. We went to Burgoo on Main. I haven't been to this place for so long. I wanted the fondue which I remember enjoying but I saw someone ordering a grilled cheese sandwich and we decided to get that and share it.







I wanted the grilled cheese because it had some extra crusty cheese over the bread and not just in the bread. The crazy thing about this meal was that it came with 2 grilled cheese sandwiches. It was super crusty and gooey with loads of cheese. I don't know how someone can order this for themselves.  It was way too much and greasy! It was good for the first couple of bites and then you start feeling sick.  I love grilled cheese sandwiches and this one did taste good but as far as comfort food goes, you don't feel so comfortable after eating it.

We also ordered the hummus which was also coated in oil. I think Burgoo just isn't my kind of restaurant. The place is all about comfort food but maybe they can make it less rich? What is the definition of comfort food? I thought it was just food from your childhood memories. To me, Burgoo is like comfort food with a couple of tablespoons of oil poured on top. I find it extremely greasy. It is super busy most of the time. There is definitely a market for it.

As the day went on, the weather started to get worse. Friends seemed to not want to go to the show as much anymore and some weren't feeling well. We cancelled the seawall and concert. I was a bit disappointed but I thought "no big deal". However, as the day went on, I got more and more restless. I wanted to do something and some of my friends were going to the Greek Festival. Instead of going with them I decided to check out the Jazz fest on my own. I have never gone to a concert by myself before but it wasn't so bad! I had such a good time! The band was great as usual and they had a guest and some musicians in the background playing instruments. Wonderful show! It was raining a little bit but it was in a nice and refreshing way. I am so glad I went.



This photo was from the show at the Biltmore in April.


This was from the Jazz Fest.

After the show I decided to drive through Stanley Park. If I could go to the Jazz Fest on my own, I thought I'd complete the whole day on my own and finish it off with all I had planned to do.  Here are some shots of the light house and the sulfur pile.





It was nice even though it was sprinkling a little. Sometimes you just gotta do what is in your heart.

Monday rolls along and I go back to West Dyke Trail.  There is a section there with cows and I really wanted to take a photo of the cows. They were extremely close to the boardwalk so I was able to inch up closely to them and take a photo. I learned that cows are nervous animals. They watch you carefully as you come up close to them and when you get too close they run. The whole herd will go along. They galloped through the wet grass and splashed through the ditches. I've never seen cows gallop before. They move very much like horses.







I love cows... those cows were weird... they have a white band in the middle. I have never seen cows like that before.

It was $5.99 dosa day again at House of Dosas and my friends had made plans to eat there for dinner. We got there at 6 and it didn't take too long to get a table. I guess right before 6pm is a good time to get a table before dinner because after that the place was PACKED!

We ordered an appetizer this time to go along with our super cheap meal. The picture below is of veggie pakoras. I don't remember where it was that I had the best pakoras of my life but ever since that time all other pakoras just don't taste good. These ones were okay. They seemed like they had too much chickpea batter. I prefer more veggies. They were also slightly spicy. The chutney had a slight licorice taste to them.



This time around I didn't get the usual dosa (which is the tube shaped one). I ordered a rava dosa. I noticed a difference between the two dosas aside from the shape. First of all, the batter is different. The usual dosa batter is slighty sour and tastes similar to McDonald's french fries. The rava dosa is more bland. I did not notice a sour taste at all. I really liked the sour taste of the tube shaped dosa. The texture is different as well. The usual dosa is smooth and flat. This one is bumpy, has holes, thicker and rough. I thought the rava was crispier but it was also greasier. Some parts were fried throughout especially the edges. I will order the tube shaped one next time but I'm glad I tried the rava.

To get some perspective it doesn't look as big as the tube shaped dosa but it is still very filling. I finished probably less than 1/3 of this.


Rainy Monday adventures... I am going to stay in tomorrow and clean the house!

House of Dosas!!! Woah baby!!!!

Today was a crazyyyy day! I was running from place to place and was exhausted. Let me just give you a run down. After work, I went to my second job. After my second job I had to go to run to the grocery store to get groceries for my lunch! After that I had to run to my uncles house to run an errand. After my errand I met up with a friend for dinner. When I came home I started making my lunch. Then I took my shower and did some trip planning with my friend. The conclusion is that I am going to Chicago in a month! Woot! I can't wait. Soon this blog will have a review on deep dish pizza because I HAVE TO TRY THAT! Now it's 9:00 pm and I can finally relax. I like busy days! Being busy is good.

Tonight, I went to dinner with an old friend that I haven't seen for several months. We went to House of Dosas on Kingsway and Knight. It is at 1391 Kingsway to be exact. I've been to this place before but never on a Monday! Some highlights of this place are that the staff are super friendly, the place is open 24 hours and dosas are pretty cool things. On Mondays dosas are even better because they are only $5.99. That's right! $5.99!!! I paid for my dinner with the change in my purse. Woot!

What is a dosa? It is a basically a chickpea flour based super thin crepe that is rolled up with some curry inside. They give you three dipping sauces. The red one is spicy, the white one is made with coconut and the one in the middle is perplexing. I'm not sure if it's a sauce or a soup, but it's super spicy.

The most obvious thing about a dosa is that it's GIGANTIC!!! Mine looks bigger than my friends but that's only because she started eating hers first. I ordered a dosa called paper masala with veggies.  It has an assortment of vegetables including potatoes, cauliflower, peas and a yellow colored curry. It's very good and spicy. The wrap itself is very crispy. It's thinner than a crepe but in some parts it has the same thickness of a crepe and when you eat those parts it tastes a little tangy. I love it! I dipped the crepe in the sauces they gave us and it tasted sooooo good. By the time I got to the middle where the curry was I was full. I did eat a couple of teaspoons of it though. I will have dosa for lunch tomorrow. Yay!!!



It was such a huge dosa I had to take a picture with it. I dare you not to take a picture with such a monstrosity! It looks like I'm eating the worlds largest spring roll.


I recommend you go try a dosa even if it's just for the opportunity to post your very own photo on facebook and totally freak out your friends. When I posted mine today I had 8 comments in 5 minutes and two friends made a date to eat there next Monday. The power of the DOSA!

On a side note...

Here is what I made for lunch for the week. Black Beans!! It's my own recipe which basically means I threw a bunch of veggies (onions, garlic, red and orange peppers, carrots and celery) and water and black beans in a pot and simmered it until I remembered I was cooking something. I also added some paprika, cumin, pepper and cayenne pepper. I also accidentally added some cinnamon (a lot actually). When I did a taste test it didn't have any flavour so I added more garlic, some onion powder and some mole paste. Now it taste savoury and spicy. I am happy with it. Mole Black Beans???

So on a crazy day like this (and my days are often like this), I must remember always... go at your own pace. That's why I love this photo. Some days must be slow, some days MUST be fast. Just accept every moment. Bounce Bounce Bounce!

Weekend update!

Another weekend has come and gone and I have more goods to introduce to ya'll.

First of all, I'd like to say it was a nice weekend. It started off with a bang down at Holland Park in Surrey for the Mumford and Sons concert! It was my first time going to a concert there. I took the skytrain out to Surrey for it. It's strange that they would escort 20,000 fans into the city of Surrey for a show. It was so cramped in the park no blankets were allowed. I was worried they were going to confiscate my blanket but somehow they had let me through with it even though there were hundreds of blankets left outside the gates.







Unfortunately I didn't get very many good pictures out there. I hope you enjoy these though. Maybe it will give you a bit of my experience.

Before the concert we hit dinner in Vancouver on Main Street at East is East. It's a beautiful restuarant. The walls are made of pink Himilayan rock salt and the decor is romantic. Great place for a date. The food at East is East is very healthy and hearty tasting. It's not greasy. When you leave you get a feel good feeling. That's a plus for this restuarant.




This blue area is for performances such as belly dancing. See what I mean about romantic? All the tables were reserved for 7:30. We were there quite a bit earlier than that. 




See the rock salt walls. I love them. They also have beautiful table decor.




I loved our table setting.




For dinner a friend and I shared a roti roll platter. One roll has lamb and the other has beef. The platter comes with three dipping sauces, soup and salad.This is definately enough for two people if you are both light eaters. The portion size was comfortable.

We also ordered an appetizer. This is the hemp seed pâté. We got it with their house bread.







The pate is the essence of healthiness. If you are use to the moist taste of meat pate this version will not be what you are expecting. It's still good though if you want to try something a little different. 



After the concert, we met up with another friend for El Caminos! This is one of my favourite restuarants!!!! It's Latin food however, it seems more Latin fusion. Not the most authentic dishes here but they have their own twist that is appreciated.
If you show up for the dinner menu, they give you some free popcorn. This popcorn is dressed with lime and some chili powder. I like this and I'm glad it's free!


My friend ordered the Gambas Arepa which is a shrimp stuffed arepa. An arepa is a corn based bread that is cooked on a grill or pan. It can be eaten alone or made into a sandwich. This is a delicious version of an arepa. The shrimp is complemented with arugula and a garlicky and savoury dressing. I highly recommend this dish!



I always hope that when I come to this restuarant I am restrained enough to not order this drink. However, I am never successful. In fact, if I order this drink the likelihood is that I will order again at least one more time. This is a Pisco Sour. Yum Yum!


This is an appetizer at El Camino's we always order. It's the called Chick Pea Fries. It comes with a chipotle aoili. If you have had chickpea fries before and did not enjoy them you will probably still like these ones. At least that seems to be the general consensus when my friends are forced to try one. Like Pringles, once you pop you can't stop.


The next morning we went down to Aberdeen Center to have lunch at the food court. Why??? Well they have such a huge variety of venders at Aberdeen that it's fun to eat there. You can get Vera's burgers, Malaysian food, Korean, Japanese... and more.  I ordered from Teppan Kitchen because I noticed a lot of other people were too. The dish I ordered was a hot plate dish that had rice and pork in a lemon sauce. I think they put that paper around the dish so the sauce doesn't go flying every where as it was sizzling like crazy. My take on this dish was it was DELICIOUS! The only thing I would change about it would be the amount of salt they put in it. Maybe a little less salt and it would be perfect. I would definately order it again though. It was tart and creamy. The rice mixed in really well with the sauce. They used pork cheeks so the meat was extra tender. And once in a while you will get the sweetness from a corn kernal just to balance off the sour. Try it!





These chicken wings are famous at this mall. They are from a vendor called Wo Fung Dessserts. The chicken wings are the first ones on the picture menu. In chinese they sorta sound like this: "Gum Sa Giy Yik". We ordered 12 of these. Went a bit overboard...



After that, I went with my sister and my nieces out to West Van. It started to rain and I took a couple of pictures of some rain droplets on some leaves. Pretty!!!





Hope you all had a lovely weekend!!!

A weekend of food

When my sister comes home for the weekend she wants to eat out for every meal. We always go with her because Vancouver has awesome food and we feel bad for her.
This Victoria Day long weekend we went to a number of different restuarants. I have highlighted my favourite dishes from these tasty places.


Red Star Seafood Restuarant.
We came here for dim sum. If you ever have a chance to come here take a chance on these dishes. I love them.




Prawn spring rolls: super crispy on the outside and juicy shrimp on the inside. A must try!




Roasted BBQ duck: this duck is exceptional. I don't know why but it just tastes better than the other BBQ ducks at Chinese restuarants. There is a very deep rich flavour.




Fish rice roll? This is my favourite dish here. It's a rice roll with fish paste wrapped with deep fried bean curd sheets on the inside. So many different flavours and textures all in one bite!


Hoi Tong in Richmond is an award winning establishment. I don't know the exact type of Asian cuisine it reflects but it's good. There is an air of bad service though and it's also a very small restuarant so it can feel quite cramped.
These are my favourite dishes from Hoi Tong.




Fish Maw soup: it's a bit orange because I like to add red vinegar to mine. It has a lot of fish maw which is why I like it.




Deep fried and stir fried sole: two different ways of cooking one fish. You get the soft delicate texture of carefully stir fried sole and also the awesome crispness of deep fried sole. The deep fried portion is so fried it tastes like you are eating sole chips.




Bitter melon omlette: this is an award winning dish. I never like bitter melon but when I ate this I changed my mind. There was so much bitter melon in each bite of the fluffy omlette but none of it was distasteful. Maybe it was because the melon was sliced so thinly or it was just seasoned well. It tastes so simple but addictive. It's a must try! Don't try to recreate it at home either. It won't be the same.



Double Happiness is another restuarant we went to. It's a Chinese style fast food restuarant. Everything here is usually good but that's because it's loaded with msg. If you feel like eating msg do come here.
These are the things you should try.




Yes, we do order a lot. Their ground beef congee is excellent. Chinese calamari and deep fried wontons are awesome. Don't be afraid to try something a little different and go for the deep fried daikon cake too. Yum yum!!!

On Victoria Day I went downtown with some friends to walk the seawall. But since everyone was aching from rock climbing or myself aching from wiping out on my bike we ended up eating and shopping. Maybe next week we will do the sea wall rather than flaking out.

I love heading downtown. One of the reasons is because of Mom's Grilled Cheese. The sandwiches are always grilled so perfectly.

Here is the cart.



Here is the grilled cheese four of is shared.



It's a pepper jack with tomato and half bacon sandwich. Half bacon because we were with a vegetarian but I actually prefer it without bacon.

We also went to the art gallery for coffee. It's the first time being there but it's such a nice place to sit and get a drink. I ordered a peach and cherry flan.


It was too sweet but I don't like desserts so they are always too sweet for me. It just looked really good. I wouldn't recommend it. But if you have a major sweet tooth it might just be the thing for you!

Magda I'm back!!!

So there is this Venezuelan restuarant in my neighborhood. It's called Magda's.


This is the 4th time I've been there and it's Definately one of my favourite places to go for Latin food in Vancouver. I always order the same thing but next time I go I'll try something different. I went with some coworkers after work. It's nice to spend time with each other on a personal level. We were at the restuarant about 2 hours. We talked and laughed. It was a really good time. We also went shopping and each one of us got something. It was a good start to the long weekend.

Here are some photos of the food at Magda's.



Cafe con Leche. Super creamy and rich. I liked it but it was hard for me to finish the whole thing. Personally I prefer a less creamy coffee but I did drink half of it.



Empanadas Columbiania??? Anyway this is a empanada filled with beef, potato and cilantro. I love love love this empanada. I've only had empanadas at a few different places but Magda's is the best in my opinion. It's made with corn flour so the skin is crunchy and crispy on the outside and super delicate and soft inside. Yum yum.


I also ordered some pupusas. This is one of my favourite Latin snacks. I ordered three different ones. 1) Chiccaron ( pork) and cheese. 2) Spinach and cheese. 3) Zucchini and cheese. They are all good and made to order. Fresh fresh fresh!




They give you three dipping sauces to go with your food too. They are a garlic cream, avocado and extra spicy sauce. I captured only two of them as the other one was in use. Make sure you try the sauces!! They are very good.



A good moment:
Though it was a fun day in general and we had many great moments today we also had a special event. It was our Gallery Show. Today students and staff in our school could come and check out the art work our students have been working on all year. We had such a big turn out and the kids were so excited to showcase their work. Parents came to check the show out too. I love seeing our kids faces light up. People were really impressed. I'll have to take a picture of some of the pieces to post. Happy long weekend Canada!