Lunch at RedBeef Noodle Kitchen

My parents went to Costco and purchased some things for us. As a thank-you, we had lunch at Redbeef Noodle Kitchen. I have been wanting to bring them here since I know my dad loves noodle soup like pho and ramen.

I ordered my usual and I think I will keep ordering it. I kinda wish I can order Taiwanese-style sausage on the side.

Chicken Cutlet Rice

Sliced Garlic Pork with Rice

Black Pepper Beef Brisket Stew Rice with Mushroom

Crispy Spicy Chicken

Pan-Fried Beef Wraps

Happy lunch! My mom loved the Pan-Fried Beef Wrap so much that she finished the whole thing.

Dinner at Royal Seoul House

Happy Saturday! This is such a productive day for me. I had a haircut after 15 months, grabbed groceries, and with parent's help picked up a new office desk just for me (I no longer have to work at our dining table).

As thank you to my parents, we had dinner at Royal Seoul House because my mom loves Japchae.

Ugeoji Galbi Tang (Beef Bone Soup with Cabbage)

Seafood Pancake (Pan-Fried Assorted Seafood with Veggies)

Japchae (Stir-Fried Potato Noodle with Assorted Veggies and Beef)

Deep-Fried Pork Dumplings

Banchan

Combo B (Marinated Short Ribs, Marinated Beef, Marinated Chicken, and Spicy Pork)

Grilling Our Combo B

I miss Korean BBQ, so this is such a happy meal, plus I get to spend it with my parents. Happy Saturday!

Lunch at Rayhan Mediterranean Restaurant

Yay for outside food. We're picking up a package nearby and decided to grab lunch from Rayhan Mediterranean Restaurant.

For our appetizer, we ordered a veggie samosa. It was bigger than we anticipated.

Crispy Samosa

Inside of the Samosa

For our lunch, I picked a Mixed Plate, and hubby chose Mixed Wrap. We both picked chicken and falafel. I was selfish when I didn't want to share my Mixed Plate, but of course, I did. The Mixed Plate is fantastic!

Falafel and Chicken Mixed Plate

Mixed Wrap with a side of fries

Mixed Wrap

We ordered large baklava for dessert, which looked small compared to the samosa but still a good portion for sharing.

We enjoyed our lunch for around 20 to 30 minutes, and I'm surprised at how many customers I've seen come and order take out from this place. This is our first time eating in this neighbourhood, and it's amusing. Happy Thursday!

Lunch at PICA's Blue Hat Bakery

We haven't been near the office in months. Today, I have some errands to run in the area and we thought of grabbing lunch from Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts Blue Hat Bakery. I miss their sandwiches and soup as well as the nice people who work there.

We ate our food in their patio. Thankfully, it has stopped raining by the time we got there.

Sandwiches

We ordered two sandwiches: ham and brie and chicken rustico. Both were delicious and perfectly toasted.

Ham and Brie Sandwich

Chicken Rustico sandwich

Soup

For soup, we shared a large bowl of chili.

A Bowl of Chili

Pastry

You don't go to Blue Hat and not be tempted with the danishes and cakes they have on display. We ordered a chocolate almond danish and apricot almond danish.

Chocolate Almond Danish and Apricot Almond Danish

If you're in the area, get coffee or grab some of their frozen food to take home and be sure to be nice to the wonderful people who work at PICA's Blue Hat Bakery.

Lunch at Olive Garden in Langley, BC

My sister called me early Friday morning asking if we want to go with them to Langley to have lunch at Olive Garden the following day. I said yes because I have been craving pasta all week. I have been thinking about getting carbonara from Domino's Pizza, which I enjoy.

After a 30-minute drive to Olive Garden, we had lunch. Of course, we have to enjoy ourselves together separately. Hubby and I enjoyed a private lunch together while my parents and three siblings sat it on another table on the other end of the restaurant.

Appetizer

To start our lunch date, we ordered A Sampler Italiano with Calamari, Fried Mozzarella, and Lasagna Fritta. A choice between soup and salad came with our main course, so we both ordered their creamy soup.

A Sampler Italiano

For the appetizer sampler, we picked calamari, fried mozzarella, and lasagna Fritta. My favourite of the tree was calamari. The mozzarella was not the best one I've tried, and it wasn't hot when it arrived at our table. The lasagna Fritta, I just didn't know what to expect.

A Sampler Italiano

Lasagna Fritta and Mozzarella Sticks

Calamari - lightly breaded and fried squid served with marinara and spicy ranch.

Soup

Chicken and Gnocchi

For soup, I picked the Chicken & Gnocchi, which was still as delicious as I remembered.

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is a creamy soup made with roasted chicken, Italian dumplings, and spinach.

Zuppa Toscana

Meanwhile, hubby ordered the Zuppa Toscana, and I liked it better than the Chicken and Gnocchi. I'm making a mental note to get that next time.

Zuppa Tuscana includes spicy Italian sausage, kale, and potatoes in a creamy broth.

Main Course

I have been craving pasta all week. I just didn't know it's carbonara I am thinking about until I thought about Domino's Pizza.

Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara

By the time my carbonara arrived, I was nearly full, and the first bite was delicious. The chicken was a bit sweet, while the shrimp was cooked perfectly. However, the sauce itself felt heavy, and there was nothing to cut through all the cream and oil. I kinda wished the chicken was grilled instead of fried.

Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara is spaghetti tossed in a creamy sauce with bacon and roasted peppers.

Steak Alfredo

Hubby ordered from the "Amazing Alfredos" section of the menu. I just took a small bite of the steak and the pasta, and both were good. We took some home, so I'll enjoy it tomorrow.

Steak Alfredo includes grilled 6 oz sirloin topped with garlic herb butter and fettuccine alfredo.

Dessert

Olive Garden has some really great dessert options.

Chocolate Brownie Lasagna

We settled with Chocolate Brownie Lasagna. It was sweet and decadent. Surprisingly, we didn't finish it even with the hot tea, so yay for having dessert tomorrow.

Chocolate Brownie Lasagna

Chocolate Brownie Lasagna is eight layers of rich, fudgy brownie and sweet vanilla cream cheese frosting with chocolate drizzle. Yum!

Drinks

For drinks, I had an unlimited iced tea while hubby enjoyed the Blackberry-Pineapple Iced Tea. After the meal, while enjoying dessert, I ordered a hot tea because I felt too full to finish dessert.

I can't wait to go back here and try their other kinds of pasta dishes.

Lunch at Lin Chinese Cuisine

My parents dropped off groceries from Costco at our place and we decided to have lunch at Lin's Chinese Cuisine.

Xiao Long Bao (Shanghai juicy pork dumplings)

Tan Tan noodle soup with minced meat

Beef with green bean in black bean sauce

Shanghai-style Chow Mein

Yay for Chinese food. Best Xiao Long Bao in Vancouver!

Dinner at Suika

After Mass, we decided to have dinner at our favourite restaurant in all of Vancouver, Suika. As you know, I'm getting my usual Katsu Curry, while hubby is willing to try new items from the menu.

Wagyu Beef Tataki Capraccio
(Perfectly seared Wagyu beef with Yuzu Kochujan dressing)

The Wagyu Beef is tender and melts in your mouth. I kinda wish there's more of it.

Kanimiso (Crab Butter) Fries
French fries with homemade Kanimiso (crab butter) dipping sauce

French fries are amazing. It's such a great appetizer while planning the future with hubby.

Signature Beef Curry (Suika's original stewed beef tendon curry) topped with Tonkatsu (pork loin cutlet)

The curry is not on the menu, but I asked if it's available, and they made it for me. I'm so happy!

Velvety Almond Tofu
Super smooth almond tofu with fruit sauce

The first bite was sour, but after that, it became smooth and sweet.

Breakfast at Eggspectation

We had a business meeting today at Eggspectation.

Drinks

Any good breakfast/brunch meal starts with a cup coffee, but for non-coffee drinkers like me, I tried their Green Light, while hubby had the hot chocolate.

Green Light
Spinach, apple, fresh ginger and mint. Go ahead, its green and you are sure to run with this!

Hot Chocolate

Breakfast

For food, I ordered a benny while hubby had an omelette.

Smoked Salmon Benny
Two perfectly poached eggs on multigrain toast, with smoked wild sockeye salmon and Philadelphia™ cream cheese, topped with our famous hollandaise sauce, and a sprinkle of red onions and capers. Served with our Lyonnaise-style potatoes

Eggspectation Omelette
Where it all began! Three free run eggs mixed with mushrooms, onions, green and red peppers, bacon, sausage, smoked ham, cheddar cheese and our Lyonnaise-style potatoes.

The benny is not perfectly poached, which is unfortunate from a place that specializes in breakfast.

Dinner at Bridges Restaurant

We're celebrating our first Catholic wedding anniversary on Monday. Today, we decided to attend Mass then we made a reservation for dinner at Bridges Restaurant.

Beautiful Weather for Patio by the Water

I prayed last night to have a beautiful, sunny weather today which would make seating outside the Bridges by the water more enjoyable. I'm so glad God answered my prayer.

Our view during dinner

What to get from the Bridges Restaurant?

Being near the water, we decided to order seafood items from the menu.

For the appetizer, we had calamari. For our main course, I had the seafood penne while hubby had the grilled salmon. To end the lovely meal, we had chocolate cake.

We stayed there for 1.5 hours.

Calamari (lemon pepper, fresh dill, tzatziki)

Seafood Penne with prawns, salmon, and halibut in lemon basil cream sauce

Grilled Wild Sockeye Salmon with saffron cream, citrus-tahini charred broccolini, and mashed potatoes

Chocolate Cake

What I like about the Bridges Restaurant?

I like love the view. It's really the best reason to come and eat here. Enjoy the view, breathe the fresh air, and melt all your worries away (at least for 2 hours). I like the service. The waitress and hostess are super friendly and they don't hurry you into leaving which gives you enough time to enjoy your meal and relax. The food is good, not the best in Granville Island by any means, but it's the best one by the water.

Dinner at Suika (dine in during COVID-19)

Phase 2 in BC has started mid-May, and since then, restaurants have slowly been opening up for dining service with limited seating. We decided to wait until today before risking going out to enjoy a delicious meal at Suika.

Read my post on things I'd do first when things get better in BC. Check out what's second on the list.

First Time to Dine In

How's the experience? I want to say the same, but not really. Suika is a popular Japanese restaurant along West Broadway near Fir Street. They're usually jam-packed with people for both their lunch and dinner service.

Today, only a maximum of 40 people is allowed in the restaurant. The layout can be divided into three sections, and based on my observation, only 2-3 tables per section has a customer. Specifically, in the location we're in where there are four tables, only two are being used. 

There's sanitizer by the entrance which we used, and we maintained a reasonable distance to the host who walked us to our table. He gave us the menu that is printed on paper, which he didn't take back after we placed our order.

The only time someone came in less than 6 feet is when a server wearing a mask would place our food in the table.

The Food

Suika has the best katsu curry in Metro Vancouver. If you love Japanese curry, please give the one at Suika a try.

Signature Beef Curry (Suika's original stewed beef tendon curry) topped with Tonkatsu (pork loin cutlet)

The food is still fantastic. I thought it's even better than I remember, but it could just be the anticipation and excitement of eating here again after a long time. We had it delivered in April, but it's just not the same as eating here fresh from the kitchen.

Hubby had his usual double tonkatsu. We also had an appetizer for sharing and desserts.

Yuzu Tuna Tataki (lightly seared albacore tuna seasoned with Yuzu, topped with ponzu jelly and crispy garlic chips)

I think this is the first dish from Suika that I didn't enjoy. 

Double Tonkatsu Set (2 pieces of fried pork loin cutlet using special fresh panko served with two kinds of dipping sauce, rice, and miso soup)

Frozen Matcha Brulee (Frozen matcha creme brulee served with whipped cream and red bean sauce)

Is it worth it?

Yes. Everyone is observing physical distancing, which helped put my mind at ease. More importantly, I get to eat the great food Suika serves again and then can continue to provide employment.