Croque Madame for lunch at Marché Mon Pitou | How to celebrate your Oath of Citizenship Ceremony?

It's a special day. My husband is having his Oath of Citizenship Ceremony today as the final step in becoming a Canadian citizen. So to celebrate, we decided to have English food for breakfast, French cuisine for lunch, and Indigenous specialty for dinner in honour of the three groups that founded Canada: the aboriginal (First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people), the French, and the British. We also took the day off today, so a break from work.

For lunch today, we walked to nearby Marché Mon Pitou, a French café, bistro, and special grocer.

Lunch at Marché Mon Pitou

Hubby ordered the Croque Madame while I enjoyed Bouillabaisse Risotto. If you can only pick one from their brunch and lunch menu, I think the Croque Madame is delicious. However, if we didn't have eggs for breakfast, I would have chosen the Le Mon Pitou, so I opted for the Risotto on the lunch menu.

Bouillabaisse Risotto
Creamy Risotto cooked in a 24-hour bouillabaisse broth topped with fresh seafood, including spot prawns, clams, and squid.

Croque Madame
A French classic-warm ham and cheese sandwich topped with béchamel, gruyère, & a fried free-range egg. Served with toasted greens.

I chose the Cold Pressed Orange Juice for drinks while my hubby had the Noisette.

Cold Pressed Orange Juice

Noisette

If you're in the area and want delicious food, Marché Mon Pitou is an excellent option.

Dinner from The Mac Bar at BC Place | Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Real Salt Lake

The Whitecaps won 2-1 against Real Salt Lake! I think every time the 'Caps host Indigenous Peoples in their matches, they win (check the 3-0 win against San Jose Earthquakes last October 2, 2021).

As I continue eating from all the food vendors in BC Place, our early dinner tonight is from The Mac Bar. We tried the Mac & Cheese Bowl last April 8, 2022, and it was good. It doesn't taste like Mac & Cheese you get in a box from the grocery store. I didn't grow up eating Mac & Cheese, so I am not the best judge, but I thought it was good.

For today, we customized our Mac & Cheese. I added All Beef Sausage while hubby chose the Pulled Beef Short Rib.

Mac & Cheese with Pulled Beef Short Rib

Mac & Cheese with All Beef Sausage

Go for the Short Rib. No question. It's miles superior to the All Beef Sausage.

Tomorrow, we'll be back at BC Place for the Canada Men's National Team friendly VS Panama.

Lunch at Suika and Tiramisu Cheesecake at Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee

Walking is part of our routine. We walk to do errands; we walk just for the sake of it, so walking 5 kilometres is usually no big deal. However, I did a 5-kilometre brisk walking to a light jog for the first time ever, and it actually felt great yesterday. But my body didn't agree. My left shoulder felt painful most of Saturday until Sunday morning.

I went to get a full body massage to hopefully relieve the pain, and it did help, but now my hips felt sore. I know I just needed rest, so I took a nap as soon as we got home.

After the massage and before my Sunday afternoon nap, we had lunch at my absolute favourite restaurant Suika. Their Beef Curry with Tonkatsu is my ultimate comfort meal, and I know I needed it today even if I get paranoid that I might gain weight.

Signature Beef Curry topped with Tonkatsu.
Suika original stewed beef tendon curry topped with Pork Loin Cutlet

Miso-Cream Katsu Don
Deep-fried pork cutlet on the rice, covered with miso cream scrambled egg sauce.

I enjoyed my curry while hubby tried a dish from their "Today's Chef's Special" menu. It was delicious too. I am so glad that my husband is always trying new items because it allows me to eat them.

After our lunch, we walked to nearby Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee for dessert. We had a slice of their Tiramisu Cheesecake. I am uncertain what makes it "Tiramisu," but the cheesecake was a perfect consistency.

Tiramisu Cheesecake

My shoulders are feeling better than yesterday, so hopefully, with a good night's sleep, my hips recuperate too.

Movie Snacks from Outtakes in Cineplex Marine Gateway and VIP

For our movie night, we watched Bob's Burger Movie. Before the movie, we decided to enjoy some snacks from Outtakes in Cineplex Marine Gateway and VIP.

Food from Outtakes in Cineplex Marine Gateway and VIP

Classic Poutine
French fries, cheese curds, and gravy

Chicken Tenders

Boneless Chicken Bites with BBQ Sauce

Mac and Cheese Wedges

I still prefer the Pulled Pork Poutine but will have to try the other poutine. The Chicken Tenders were good but skip on the Boneless Chicken Bites.

Burger for dinner at A&W before Bob's Burger Movie

Happy Friday! My husband is a romantic and would insist that we watch a movie every Friday night. So we usually would watch movies on Netflix or DisneyPlus. But for tonight, we went to the Cineplex at Marine Gateway to watch the Bob's Burger Movie. We absolutely love the series (especially the Thanksgiving and Boyz 4 Now episodes).

Anyway, before the movie, we decided to enjoy burgers from A&W.

Teen Burger
A perfectly seasoned grass-fed beef patty topped with real cheddar cheese, mouth-watering bacon from pork raised without antibiotics, crisp lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles and Teen® sauce, served on a freshly toasted sesame seed bun.

Baby Burger
A perfectly seasoned 1.6 oz grass-fed beef patty topped with ketchup and served on a freshly toasted bun.

Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet potato fries, served with spicy chipotle mayo.

My husband enjoyed the Teen Burger, which has bacon (his main requirement for a burger). Meanwhile, I had the lowest-calorie burger, which is the Baby Burger. You can really taste the beef with that one. Finally, we shared the Sweet Potato Fries and enjoyed the chipotle mayo.

Croissant and Tiramisu at Foret Noire Patisserie

Joyeux Lundi! Happy Monday!

We're walking home from Commercial Drive and decided to stop by Foret Noire Patisserie. It's so clean and quite intimidating, but the viennoiserie they offer is familiar.

I ordered a Plain Croissant and Tiramisu while hubby picked the Chocolate Croissant. We also ordered to-go a box of their European Cookies.

Mouthwatering viennoiserie and cake from Foret Noire Patisserie

Plain Croissant
Flaky dough and freshly baked daily.

Plain Croissant

I am not a croissant expert by any means, but I have tried a few of them in Vancouver:

• Mon Pitou - May 22, 2021
• Beaucoup Bakery - May 23, 2021
• Thomas Haas Patisserie
• Blue Hat Bakery - Cafe 

Out of all of them, the flakiest is definitely from Foret. Check the photo above. It's like we murdered the croissant because they're just flying everywhere.

Chocolate Croissant
Our chocolate croissant will leave you coming back for more! Warm and fresh pastries are baked daily for you. Pass by and grab them to-go or dining in.

Chocolate Croissant

The Chocolate Croissant is not as flaky as the Plain Croissant, and it's great. However, I kinda wished I had brought it home so I could reheat it and melt the chocolate in the middle.

Tiramisu
Savoyard sponge, brandy coffee syrup, espresso, and mascarpone mousse.

A peek inside the Tiramisu.

It's definitely the best Tiramisu I had. The coffee flavour is mind-blowing.

I can't wait to open the European Cookie box and hopefully remember to update this post.

Perfect Gift: European Cookie Box

The European Cookie Box from Foret Noire is the perfect gift for special occasion or if you're unsure what gift to give, this is the right choice.

Beautiful Exterior Box

Professionally Packaged

Delicious Cookies and Almond Chocolates

My husband and I are already thinking that this will be good pasalubong (gifts) to friends in the Philippines whenever we go back for a vacation.

Lunch at Hon’s Wonton House

Happy Monday! It's a non-working holiday in British Columbia as we celebrate Victoria Day. 

We needed the exercise and decided to walk 5 kilometres to Commercial Drive from our home and another 5 kilometres going back. I made a list of restaurants, coffee shops, and dessert shops along West and East Broadway between Arbutus Street and Commercial Drive as part of our Boosting Broadway Businesses campaign.

At the end of our walk (when we reached Commercial Drive), we decided to grab late lunch at Hon's Wonton House.

Lunch at Hon's Wonton House

If we're not "dieting," I would have ordered 2-3 sides and/or dim sum, but a couple of noodle soups and one side are enough for now.

Popcorn Chicken

It's good Popcorn Chicken, but they have so many available Sides and Dim Sum that I will try something different next time we come to Hon's Wonton House.

Beef Brisket & Wonton Noodle Soup

BBQ Pork & Wonton Noodle Soup

I recommend getting just the Wonton Noodle Soup without the BBQ Pork and Beef Brisket. The wonton is delicious - the best one I've tried in Vancouver.

But if you have to choose between BBQ Pork and Beef Brisket, I recommend getting the BBQ Pork instead.

For next time, I might try their rice meals. I was tempted to get the Curry Beef Brisket on Rice, but hubby pointed out that we should get wonton because it's on their name. 

Lunch from Akbar's Own Indian Restaurant

Happy Sunday on a long weekend. We went to Mass, and afterwards, we had lunch at Akbar's Own Indian Restaurant.

Hubby and I started a Boosting Broadway Businesses project where we do our best to support restaurants and coffee shops along Broadway. This is why we chose to have lunch at Akbar's.

Lunch Feast from Akbar's Own Indian Restaurant

We ordered our usual orders at Indian restaurants. The serving is not huge, but enough.

• Mixed Platter (Samosa, vegetable pakora, and chicken pakora)
• Garlic & Basil Naan
• Tandoori Chicken
• Palak Paneer
• Chicken Vindaloo
• Lamb Biryani
• Kheer

Mixed Platter
Serves 2. Samosa, vegetable pakora, and chicken pakora

When we come back, I'll order the chicken pakora again. It's the best item from the Mixed Platter.

Garlic & Basil Naan
White unleavened bread baked in tandoor oven flavoured with garlic and basil.

I think this is the best Garlic Naan I've had so far.

Tandoori Chicken
Half chicken marinated with authentic Indian spices & grilled in tandoor to perfection.

The chicken was still juicy inside, and you could taste the char from the grilling. Overall, a great Tandoori Chicken.

Palak Paneer
Homemade cheese cooked with spinach, onions, and Indian spices.

I wished the Palak Paneer had more flavour. It's pretty disappointing.

Chicken Vindaloo
Boneless chicken & potatoes cooked in a zesty, tangy curry sauce.

I like vindaloo because its flavour profile is different from your usual curry or butter chicken. It's spicy, and there's some sourness to it. 

Lamb Biryani
Basmati rice cooked with lamb and Indian spices.

The biryani was flavourful, and the lamb was so tender.

Kheer
Rice flour cooked in milk. Served cold, a delightful dessert of our old traditional days

My favourite is the Lamb Biryani and the dessert. 🤤 I can't believe this is the first time I'm trying Kheer. It's delicious.

Inside Akbar's Own Indian Restaurant

We were there at 12:02 PM, and when we ended our meal more than an hour later, there were no other customers. So if you're able to, please support your local businesses.

Dinner at Legendary Noodle

Happy Friday! I had a stressful afternoon which is never an excuse to stress eating, but here we are at Legendary Noodle along West Broadway for dinner.

Spicy Thin Noodle Special Beef Broth with Sliced Marinated Beef, Spinach, and Hard-Boiled Egg

Curry Beef Stir-Fried Cut Noodles
Finely sliced noodles from a flour dough, stir-fried greens, red pepper, celery, bean sprouts, and dark bean soy sauce

Both noodle dishes are excellent. This is the best beef noodle soup dish I've had in Vancouver. Although, to be fair, when I go to restaurants specializing in noodle soup, I usually get their rice dish, so maybe I'm not the best judge of this. 

Salt and Pepper Chicken

Xiao Long Bao
Steamed Juicy Pork Dumpling

The Salt and Pepper Chicken and Matcha Ice Cream are all as expected. Unfortunately, the Xiao Long Bao is subpar.

After dinner, we walked along West Broadway from Laurel Street to Maple Street and back to our home. We were discussing possible project names for our plan to support Broadway businesses (specifically restaurants and coffee shops) affected by the train line's construction.

Matcha Ice Cream

Dinner at Masa Japanese Restaurant

The Vancouver Whitecaps FC have only two draws so far in the season, and they're both at home. So for both games, it felt like a loss. A win makes me happy (of course) while a loss is expected, so I'm upset, but not enough to stress-eat. A draw is painful because it means they had a chance to win but didn't.

Like in the last draw, we end up at Masa Japanese Restaurant to eat after the game. I didn't order my usual Assorted Curry but chose two rolls and a takoyaki.

Romeo Roll
Seared prawn, crabmeat, avo, cucumber, mozzarella, and balsamic

Juliet Roll
Seared jalapeno, crabmeat, avo, cucumber, mozzarella, and balsamic

Takoyaki
Deep-fried mixed tako ball with sauce

I hope the Whitecaps FC wins on Wednesday, but I expect them to lose because I do not want to be disappointed.

Snacks from Commercial Drive Pizza at BC Place | Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs San Jose Earthquakes

Happy Saturday! We're back at BC Place to watch the Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs San Jose Earthquakes match, resulting in a 3-3 draw.

As I continued trying the different stalls and food in BC Place, we grabbed a couple pizza slices from Commercial Drive Pizza.

Fiesta Pizza (previously called Taco Pizza)
Seasoned Ground Beef, Mozzarella, Cheddar, Green Onions, and Diced Jalapeno Peppers

If you want the more flavourful pizza of the two variants, we tried. Unfortunately, the Carnivore Pizza doesn't have as many chorizo or bacon, so it feels like we got Pepperoni Pizza.

Carnivore Pizza (previously called Italian Job Pizza)
Pepperoni, Chorizo, and Bacon

The Poutinerie

After the pizza, I ordered French Fries and Funnel Cake Fries.

French Fries and a cup of Pepsi

Funnel Cake Fries
Signature fried topped with icing sugar.

Unless you like fried dough with icing sugar on top, I don't recommend the Funnel Cake Fries.