Smooch Food: Love Letters to Every Bite

La La Island, Thanksgiving Weekend Location: 2951 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6K 4N3 Featured Items: Matcha Latte with Oat Milk ($6 + $1.25 oat milk, 12 oz), Blueberry Scone ($3.95), Flat Croissant Chocolate ($5.95), Classic Winter Melon Tea ($4.10) Verdict: The blueberry scone is the surprise standout: moist, popping with berries, and nothing like the dry scones I expected. Happy Thanksgiving weekend! My sister loves putting together a proper Thanksgiving meal, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and this year a green bean casserole. My contribution is always the same: the annual Butter Pecan Pie from The Pie Hole. Unfortunately, we arrived before The Pie Hole opened at 11:00 AM, so we ducked into La La Island, right around the corner, to grab some treats while we waited. I got a matcha latte with oat milk ($6, plus $1.25 for the oat milk substitution) and a blueberry scone ($3.95). Honestly, I had pretty low expectations for the scone, but it turned out moist an...

Braziliant, Team Lunch Location: 552 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC V6B 3J5 Featured Item: Brazilian Hot Dog ($12) Verdict: Rich, creamy and seriously messy in the best way. Corn, peas, parmesan and crispy potato sticks piled impossibly high. Happy Thursday! For our company-paid team lunch, the theme was originally supposed to be Brazilian, but since our Melbourne office couldn't order it there, it got switched to Mexican at the last minute instead. Of course, our Vancouver team decided to stick with the original plan and went for Brazilian cuisine from Braziliant anyway. I ordered the hotdog ($12). If you've been following the blog, you might remember that back in June, we had a Brazilian colleague visiting from Australia who told me all about the Brazilian hot dog, piled high with peas, corn, and plenty of other toppings. What sparked that whole conversation? Japadog, of all things. This one lives up to the hype: a legendary Brazilian hot dog served on a ...

Paratha to Pasta, Office Treat Featured Item: Panipuri / Golgappe (25 pcs, $32) Verdict: A solid first try, but my Indian colleagues say there's better panipuri out there, and they're taking me to Surrey to prove it. A colleague in our Melbourne office brought panipuri for her team, and once HR caught wind of it, they suggested our Cork and Vancouver offices go buy some too. We happily obliged. This was my first time ever trying panipuri. We ordered a 25-piece box ($32) from Paratha to Pasta, listed on their menu as Golgappe (the same dish, just a different regional name for panipuri), and two of my Indian colleagues walked me through exactly how to eat it properly: crack open the crisp hollow puri, fill it with spiced potatoes and beans, then add a spoonful of the tangy pani water before popping the whole thing in your mouth. For a first-timer, I thought it was good. My colleagues, however, immediately disagreed. According to...

🍽️ City Square Food Court at a Glance Location: Lower Shops, City Square Shopping Centre, 555 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver (corner of Cambie Street and 12th Avenue) Featured Items: Xiao long bao at Dumpling King ($7.99), all-you-can-eat at Thai Away Home ($19.95, Monday to Thursday) Price: most meals about $8 to $20, with snacks and drinks from under $2 Verdict: Dumpling King is my top spot, and the Thai Away Home all-you-can-eat is hard to beat on Monday to Thursday. With so many booths and such good prices, this food court is easy to recommend. There are some places in Vancouver that feel like a small village tucked inside the big city, and City Square Shopping Centre is one of them. Sitting on the northwest corner of Cambie Street and West 12th Avenue (555 West 12th Avenue), right across from Vancouver City Hall, this cozy mall blends charming heritage buildings with modern spaces. It first opened in 1989, and it is a lovely example of old school buildi...