Happy Thursday! Today's team lunch theme is Korean food. For the first time, we tried H-Kitchen, located inside the nearby H-Mart. I couldn't resist ordering one of my favorite Korean dishes: ramen. On a chilly day, there's nothing better than savoring the rich broth and slurping down the chewy noodles.
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Korean Ramen Combo comes with kimbap |
The meal also came with kimbap, which made it an even more fantastic deal at $14.99 (plus tax).
Happy Saturday! For late lunch / early dinner, we went to Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ to celebrate mom's birthday. We ordered their Yakiniku Party for four (even though there's five of us). It was a lot of fun grilling and enjoying delicious food.
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| Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ |
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| Some of the BBQ Items that's part of the Yakiniku Party |
The Yakiniku Party includes prime kalbi short rib, filet mignon, umakara ribeye, bistro hanger steak, new york steak, yaki-shabu beef, chicken, umakara pork, kalbi chuck rib, and shrimps.
It also came with the following starts (see photos!) and napa kimchi (which I forgot to take a picture).
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| Gyu-Kaku Salad |
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| Miso Soup |
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| Chicken Garlic Noodles |
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Gyu-Sushi With premium roast beef, Japanese shoyu BBQ sauce, and kuki-wasabi on the side |
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| Edamame |
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Japanese Chicken Karaage Juicy Japanese fried chicken served with chili mayo sauce |
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Spicy Tuna Volcano Spicy tuna on crispy fried rice, drizzled with Japanese shoyu BBQ sauce |
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S'mores Classic campfire s'mores. Roasted marshmallows over the grill |
Worth it!
Happy Wednesday! It's my mom's birthday, and I was lucky enough to have lunch with her since she's also in Downtown Vancouver. We decided to try out White Spot.
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BC Chicken Burger from White Spot Chargrilled fresh BC chicken breast, cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and Triple "O" sauce |
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Brie & Mushroom Veggie Burger from White Spot Our crispy veggie patty with Brie, caramelized onions, roasted mushrooms, arugula, tomato and mayo |
My hubby went for the BC Chicken Burger. I, on the other hand, opted for the Brie & Mushroom Veggie Burger and swapped the buns for a lettuce wrap, which was surprisingly delicious. I loved the fresh, crunchy lettuce.
Here's a list of everything we've tried from White Spot so far:
It's a beautiful cloudy Saturday, and we made it to Swangard Stadium just in time for lunch. I haven't had Filipino food in what feels like forever, so I'm thrilled to be at Pinoy Festival for a delicious meal. We browsed the different food vendors and their menus before deciding on Cucina Balai.
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| Cucina Balai |
Their rice meal with pork barbecue and laing looked amazing, so we ordered that. Then, we added Bicol Express as a side. Everything we tried was absolutely delicious. If I wasn't trying to be health-conscious, I could easily finish the whole thing by myself!
Happy Saturday! This morning, I had my twice-yearly dentist appointment. Afterward, we decided to take a leisurely stroll to Kingsway to catch Bus 19 to Swangard Stadium. Before reaching Kingsway, we made a pit stop at Modus Coffee to refuel with a hearty breakfast.
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| Breakfast at modus coffee |
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Sausage Roll from modus coffee longanisa sausage, fennel, puff pastry, served with banana ketchup |
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Mushroom Bun from modus coffee herbs, bechamel, mushrooms, garlic confit on milk bread |
We indulged in two savory pastries: mushroom buns (I simply can't resist mushrooms!) and a sausage roll made with sweet and savory longanisa sausage. As for drinks, I stuck to my usual mocha, while my hubby opted for the Modus Americano.
I absolutely love slowing down at coffee shops and just watching the world go by. There's a certain level of peace and comfort in being able to do this.
TGIF! I finally got to take a well-deserved day off from work to just sleep in and relax. After a leisurely lunch at home, hubby and I strolled to our neighborhood Blenz Coffee so I could do some blogging.
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| Thai Iced Tea from Blenz Coffee |
Hubby ordered the limited edition Thai Iced Tea, which was surprisingly delicious.
Happy Thursday! For team lunch today, the chosen theme is Mexican, so we headed to our go-to spot, Patron Tacos & Cantina. When I was in Mexico City two weeks ago, I ordered Al Pastor Tacos from the five taquerias we visited. Now that I'm back in Vancouver, it's time to try and compare the Al Pastor.
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| Al Pastor Tacos from Patron Tacos & Cantina |
Unfortunately, Patron's version is not good enough. The meat was dry and not as flavorful, which I guess is to be expected since we're no longer in Mexico. The serving is huge and, of course, more expensive, which is also to be expected.
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| Jamaica from Patron Tacos & Cantina |
Overall, I'll try other taquerias in Vancouver to see if any of them can match up to the wonderful flavors I enjoyed in Mexico.
Happy Thursday! I'm back at work today, which means free lunch. The chosen theme for the week is Chinese cuisine, so we decided to give Yopo Sweet Mandarin a try. They don't have my usual food, so I went with the first item on the menu: Spice Box.
My Irish colleague told me that Spice Box is a lot of food and that it's big in Ireland.True enough, I received a big plate of rice, french fries, salt & pepper chicken nuggets, and my favorite part, curry sauce.
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| Spice Box from Yopo Sweet Mandarin |
I finished the chicken nuggets and most of the curry sauce but need to bring home the rice and fries. It's a satisfying and big meal, but not something I'll order again.
Buenos Dias from Mexico City, specifically the Benito Juárez International Airport! We arrived at the airport at 2:30 am for our 6:30 am flight.
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| Omelet de Jamon y Queso from El Fogoncito |
After checking in, we found a spot to crash and I slept like a baby. Then, at 5:00 am, we looked for a spot to have our last meal in Mexico City. We decided on El Fogoncito, but since it's early almost everything is unavailable. We finally decided on the Omelet de Jamon y Queso.
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| Omelet de Jamon y Queso from El Fogoncito |
It's a fluffy omelette filled with ham and cheese. Since I'm in Mexico, it's served with refried beans and corn tortillas. It's a fitting last meal. Food here is so delicious!
After a heavy breakfast at Sanborns Café, we strolled to the original branch of the popular Churrería El Moro. We ordered the best churros I've ever had. Unfortunately, the chocolate dip was unavailable, so we had to switch it to the only other thing with the word chocolate in it - hazelnut chocolate (it doesn't taste like Nutella). It was great!
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| Churros from Churrería El Moro |
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| Churros from Churrería El Moro |
I wish I could bring this to Vancouver, where there's a serious lack of top-notch churros (one of the better ones is from the Vancouver Christmas Market).
¡Feliz martes! For breakfast today, we visited Sanborns Café, a restaurant and junior department store chain recommended by my colleague.
Hubby ordered the huevos Sanborns because it has eggs and it includes the name of the restaurant. It's delicious, but we were uncertain about how to eat it. Should we dip the toast into the creamy bowl of egg or should we spread the refried beans on the toast and top it with egg and sauce? We tried both and the result is equally amazing. (Note to self: Ask colleague how to eat this dish the Mexican way.)
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Huevos Sanborns from Sanborns Café served with ranchera sauce, rajas poblanas, cream, gratin with cheese and refried beans |
I chose something not fit for breakfast - Tacos de Cochinita Pibil. Cochinita Pibil is on the book: Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eats: The World's Top 500 Food Experiences... Ranked. So when I saw it, I just had to try it. It was great. Although, super heavy and greasy for breakfast - the savoury and salty flavour is perfectly balanced by the earthy refried beans. The pork is tender and melt in your mouth.
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Tacos de cochinita pibil from Sanborns Café comes with pickled red onion, pibil sauce, refried beans, cheese and tortilla chips |
I absolutely enjoyed our breakfast in Sanborns Café!
After a long day at the Teotihuacan pyramids and lunch at Taqueria el Caifan, we went back to the hotel to rest. By the time we went out for dinner, it was raining heavily - torrential rain that I hadn't experienced in a long time! Our umbrellas could only do so much to keep us dry on our walk to Taqueria Arandas. In true foodie fashion, I ordered Tacos Al Pastor and Taco Suadero to compare them to the three taquerias we had tried earlier.
Taco Al Pastor was delicious but not as good as Taqueria Los Cocuyos, but it was close.
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| Tacos Al Pastor from Taqueria Arandas |
Meanwhile, the Taco Suadero was truly the best one we had tried. It was juicy, tender, and just flavorful overall. One blog post I read was correct - suadero (brisket) should be ordered in the evening after it has spent the whole day simmering and developing flavors.
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| Taco Suadero from Taqueria Arandas |
The heavy rain did not stop, and we were soaked on our walk back to the hotel.
After spending the whole morning walking around and climbing one of the pyramids in Teotihuacan, we exited the tour bus near Torre Caballito. We walked slowly to our hotel and on the way we spotted Taqueria el Caifan and decided to just stop by. It’s not on any of our lists, so we’re taking a big risk here.
As soon as we sat down, they offered a bowl of guacamole topped with tortilla chips. I cannot resist that because I love chips and it’s my first guacamole in Mexico City.
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| Guacamole from Taqueria el Caifan |
We ordered one Tacos Al Pastor and one Taco de Bistec. Both were quite plain. The bistec (beef steaks) is lightly seasoned (if any at all), which I understand because adding salsa to it makes sense.
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| Taco de Bistec from Taqueria el Caifan |
However, the Tacos Al Pastor is not as flavorful as the one we tried from Taqueria Los Cocuyos, and it did not offer any unique texture like the one from Taqueria El Patriarca.
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| Tacos Al Pastor from Taqueria el Caifan |
The only redeeming factor is that it’s our third taqueria, and we have a fair idea of what we like and how good Tacos Al Pastor can be.
¡Hola! Good morning from Mexico City! It's a beautiful Monday morning, and today's itinerary includes a visit to the Teotihuacan Pyramids. I'm excited to see these iconic structures for the first time.
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| Echiladas de Huevo from Historico Central Hotel |
Before heading out, we took advantage of the free breakfast at our hotel. We tried two traditional Mexican dishes: Enchiladas de Huevo con salsa Verde and enfrijoladas de huevo. Both dishes are stuffed with eggs (because it's breakfast!), but they differ in their sauces and toppings.
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| Enfrijoladas from Historico Central Hotel |
I particularly enjoyed the bean sauce in the enfrijoladas, while the subtle sourness of the green sauce added a nice touch of flavor. The breakfast was hearty and comforting, giving us plenty of energy for our day of exploring.
After a truly terrible time at Estadio Olímpico Universitario, we finally managed to find an Uber and head back to our hotel, absolutely exhausted. We had planned to walk around the historic center to look for tacos, but it's already after 10:00 PM. Thankfully, our hotel offers free food from Café Central. I got the last serving of my favorite Tortilla Soup, and we paired it with a healthy Veggie Panini.
The tortilla soup has a thicker consistency than what I'm used to getting in Vancouver (see: Patron Taco and Cantina), but it's absolutely delicious. It's creamy, with avocado slices and tortilla chips, and it's just so comforting.
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| Tortilla Soup from Café Central inside Historico Central Hotel |
Meanwhile, the veggie panini is delicious too. I absolutely love the cilantro pesto and fresh vegetables between crusty bread.
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| Veggie Panini from Café Central inside Historico Central Hotel |
I'm sure I'll sleep soundly tonight after this last meal of the day.
¡Buenos días from Mexico City! For breakfast, we walked to the popular and highly recommended La Casa de Toño en Madero. Unfortunately, a miscommunication (and language barrier) resulted in us ordering two Chilaquiles with Egg dishes — one with red sauce and the other with green sauce. I had hoped to get one Chilaquiles dish with both sauces. We also ordered some cochinita molettes for sharing.
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| Chilaquiles with Egg from La Casa de Toño en Madero |
The Chilaquiles were delicious. The green sauce was tartier than the slightly sweeter red sauce, but I'm a sucker for tortilla chips, so Chilaquiles is my jam. This version is also so much better than the one we had in Austin, Texas.
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| Chilaquiles with Egg from La Casa de Toño en Madero |
On the other hand, the Cochinita Molettes were too salty.
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| Molettes Cochinita from La Casa de Toño en Madero |
Honestly, the experience at La Casa de Toño en Madero was the worst one during this trip, but it is what it is.
After our first taco for lunch today, I was craving more Al Pastor for dinner, so I checked the list my colleague gave me and we walked to Taqueria El Patriarca.
We spent the afternoon doing a free walking tour around the historic center of CDMX when it started raining heavily in the middle. After resting and drying off a bit in our hotel, we walked to Taqueria El Patriarca for dinner. We ordered Tacos Al Pastor and Quesadilla de Pastor, and paired it with horchata and jamaica.
The Tacos Al Pastor wasn't as flavorful as the one earlier, but it had crispy edges that gave it a bacon-like texture. Unfortunately, this also made it dryer.
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| Tacos Al Pastor from Taqueria El Patriarca |
Meanwhile, the quesadilla (our first in Mexico!) was piping hot and covered in melted cheese, but it was a tad too greasy and heavy.
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| Quesadilla de Pastor from Taqueria El Patriarca |
Both the horchata and jamaica were also too sweet for my liking.
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| Jamaica from Taqueria El Patriarca |
Overall, it was a good decision to visit Taqueria El Patriarca, because it made me realize that the tacos from Taqueria Los Cocuyos are still my favorite.
After a hearty breakfast at Café de Tacuba and three hours in Templo Mayor, we strolled through the bustling streets of Ciudad de México (CDMX), taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Our destination: Taqueria Los Cocuyos, where we were about to embark on our first taco in Mexico.
Naturally, we had to try the Al Pastor Taco, a local specialty.
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Pastor Taco from Taqueria Los Cocuyos Marinated Pork |
But we also decided to give the Suadero Taco a try, as it's mentioned in the MICHELIN Guide.
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Suadero Taco from Taqueria Los Cocuyos Brisket |
To cool down from the temperature and humidity, we also ordered some horchata and tamarindo. Personally, I preferred the tamarindo, as it had a nice tartness to it.
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| Horchata and Tamarindo from Taqueria Los Cocuyos |
The Suadero Taco was good, but the Al Pastor Taco was truly exceptional. So much so that I'm eager to try other taquerias to see if it's just a case of "first-time" bias, or if my colleague really did recommend the best taco place in Mexico City. (Spoiler alert: this was the best taco I've had during this trip!)
Buenos Días from Mexico City! It's a beautiful sunny Saturday morning and our first stop is Café de Tacuba for breakfast.
Hubby got to order café de olla while I enjoyed the smooth Chocolate Tacuba. It reminded me of tablea hot chocolate when I was in Cebu, Philippines.
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| Chocolate Tacuba from Café de Tacuba |
For food, we shared dos tamales de pollo con salsa verde and rancheros con frijoles refritos o divorciados. Both items were recommended from my go-to travel book: Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eats: The World's Top 500 Food Experiences... Ranked.
MEXICO // There's nothing better to unwrap than freshly cooked tamales, a dish that embraced the slow cooking movement before the phrase was coined. Prior to assembling the package, the outer wrapping of corn husk must be soaked overnight to make it pliable. In the morning the husksare stuffed with tamale dough and meat, and the ends tied together with strips of husks before being steamed. Unwrapping the tamale reveals delicious soft pork or chicken.1
EAT IT! A staple of Mexican restaurants thrroughout North America, it's also a snack sold by vendors in Central America.
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Dos tamales de pollo con salsa Verde from Café de Tacuba Two tamales with chicken in green peppers sauce |
MEXICO // Eggs are as much a part of Mexico as Mayan wonders like Chichén Itzá, and one of the best egg dishes in the country is the acrimoniously names huevos divorciados, or divorced eggs. Two fried eggs are separated on the plate by two sauces - green apple salsa and spicy red tomato. Far from the flavours beging irreconcilable, they're very compatible - so there's hope of a reunion, though not if your dish comes with a dividing line of refried beans.1
EAT IT! The grand Café de Tacuba will unite you with this troubled breakfast. Calle de Tacuba 28, Centro Histórico, Mexico City
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Rancheros con frijoles refritos o divorciados from Café de
Tacuba Divorced eggs with refried beans |
1 Lonely Planet Food. (2018). Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eats: The World's Top 500 Food Experiences... Ranked. Lonely Planet.
¡Hola! I'm writing to you from Mexico City. Our flight from Vancouver was delayed for an hour, so we didn't get to our hotel until after 1:00 a.m.
Air Canada gave us pretzels and liquids (juice), but we hadn't had dinner yet. We were starving! Luckily, our fantastic hotel (Historico Central Hotel) has a 24-hour café that offers complimentary food to guests. They only had a few food items available, so we decided on molettes and torta.
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| CAFE Central |
Molettes is a beloved Mexican open-faced sandwich with toasted bolillo (a crusty white bread roll) as its base generously covered in refried beans, melted cheese, and ham.
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Molettes from Café Central Toasted bread, fried beans spread, melted cheese, bacon, and ham |
Meanwhile, torta is a classic Mexican sandwich. Between the same bolillo bread are creamy cheese, turkey ham, and sun-dried tomatoes.
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Torta from Café Central Bolillo bread, ham, pickles, menonita cheese, chorizo-onion mayonnaise |
The food was so comforting, especially at 2:00 a.m.! I can't wait to share more about our food adventures in Mexico City.
