samantha

Kimbab Cheonguk – Another restaurant I haven’t visited since covid19. This restaurant/snack shop is a popular and go to for tasty Kimbab. So what is kimbab? It’s Korean sushi roll. Where they would have some sort of pickled veggie and mixture of protein wrapped inside. Kimbab is a popular snack or lunch on the go where you can easily find in many vendors in Korea. Here in Vancouver, it’s something you can find in many Korean supermarkets or restaurants. However, Kimbab Cheonguk specialize in making Kimbab. This shop does it exceptionally fresh and well done. The size of the rolls are also bigger as well. Comparing these to HMarts – it’s like black and white difference. The ones in the supermarket are done early and not made on the spot which results the rice and the seaweed being less al dente and crisp. Being a snack shop – it’s Korean comfort food at it’s best. If you haven’t tried Korean food before, this would be a good first step on entering that world by trying it out. If you like sushi roll, it wouldn’t be to far off from having a teriyaki roll. 

Gary’s Patisserie – I recently discovered this amazing cake place from my cousin in early in 2020 for my grandma’s birthday. They made this beautiful fresh mango slice toppings and fresh durian filling inside. It’s the best combination for tropical fruit lover such as myself and the hubs. These two fruits are the top fave in our books. The first bite of the cake we just feel head over heels over it. The sponge cake itself was light and fluffy which is very even and not dense at all. The light vanilla sweetness combined with the fresh durian cream was a perfect pairing. It did not overpower at all. Along with the mango slices on top it provided the slight tart that was needed to bring the flavours to the top of the surface. The cream itself was not heavy at all. It was just as light like the cake but had the distinguish durian flavour. Nothing was overpower the other. They were definitely generous in the amount of mango slices being placed on it since it weigh quite a bit when I went to picked it up.

What’s unique about this place was that it was located in a centralized kitchen with no actual store front. So most of the time, you’re just ordering things online and based on word of mouth. In most cases, if you haven’t tried their cakes before, it would be best to buy their cake in a jar to get a taste yourself prior to buying a full size cake since that’s all they really provide. 

So far – I have ordered the Mango Durian Cake and the Chestnut one. They’re both very well done. However, I still leaning towards the Fresh Mango Durian Cake as my all time fave with this patisserie. Give the cake jar a try. You won’t be disappointed.  

Busan Daeji Gukbap – I have done a review of this restaurant before. It’s under a large umbrella restaurant group – Daiji. However, I haven’t been back since the COVID19 outbreak. I have noticed due to the impact, the customer service is better and more prominent compared to precovid time. I was craving for a bibimbap – the nutritious rice stone bowl dish. One of my favourite dishes since you get majority of your food groups and it’s very aesthetically appealing.  Taste wise? It came out fresh and very generous in portion size. The flavour in the meat wasn’t overly too saucy – it was a nice balance when you mix it with the vegetables. One of the negatives I find for some restaurants when they make bibimbap the meat tends to be too sweet or salty so overpowers everything. So something to be aware! Another thing you know if a good bibimbap is good – is the rice! If the rice is nice and fluffy – then you know that the quality and taste there. I also enjoy their fresh side dishes as well. I had thoroughly enjoyed their kimchi which had a nice fresh crunch and kick which is rare to find in some restaurants. 

Gram Cafe & Pancakes –  I’ve had soufflé pancakes twice. I had a friend recommend one place that was solely desserts and they’re signature dish was the soufflé, however I was sadly disappointed. It tasted more eggie than a sweet dessert. So I was on a hunt to find something better. One of my friends suggested Gram since it was a Japanese franchise that slowly made it’s way over to the West Coast. I was thinking, since it’s a franchise there is some merits of consistency of quality and demand for it. If there wasn’t, it wouldn’t be able to expand worldwide. At the moment, there is only one location opened in the lower mainland which is Richmond, Aberdeen. Whereas the remaining locations are still pending. Since I was there, I decided to try out their non souffle pancakes to see if it’s any different from the other pancake places I’ve been. I had ordered the Tiramisu and Coconut Custard. Both of them are more of the heavy cream side along with the souffle. The souffle requires more time to make so that came last. As I got to work on trying out the two. I quickly noticed the batter isn’t as sweet or as light and fluffy as I liked compared to some of the other breakfast place I’ve been do. The batter leaves more slight salty aftertaste lingering in the mouth. The toppings that were it didn’t really meld together to help balance it out.  Th mascarpone cream for the Tiramisu wasn’t very runny so it didn’t absorb in the pancake well so it felt like you were taste two different things and didn’t combine as well. The same goes for the coconut custard. The coconut cream wasn’t enough that you had more of pancake which you just eat with nothing along with it. The aromatics of coconut was not even noticeable. So personally, I would skip out on wanting to try their normal pancakes. Since these pancakes aren’t as airy it’s more dense, I got full pretty quickly. When the souffle arrived. That was a different story. I’m glad that it came last. It was very easy to cut through and it was nice and airy as I had expected to. Having the syrup on the side to add more and the light butter on top paired it very well. It was definitely a different experienced compared to their normal pancakes. There wasn’t a noticeable egg taste compared to others that I have tried.  I personally think if you were to come, just come for the souffle and nothing else. The other pancake selections just don’t cut it. If you know a better place to try – please let me know!