Lunch from Kulinarya Filipino Eatery

Happy Tuesday! I am too lazy to cook or even grab groceries yesterday. So today, we ordered a lot of food from Kulinarya Filipino Eatery for the whole week. The only downside of our neighbourhood is that there are no Filipino restaurants or a food source nearby. As such, I have to use DoorDash to get my favourite Filipino dishes delivered.

Feast from Kulinarya Filipino Eatery

If you know us by now, we have a consistent list of Filipino dishes we almost always order: Kare-Kare, Filipino-style pork BBQ, and lumpiang shanghai (Filipino spring rolls). Unfortunately, Kulinarya doesn't have pork BBQ.

The food arrived on time and was well packaged. For lunch, we ate a portion of the Beef Kare-Kare and Laing. Next, we finished the Spring Rolls and Turon. Finally, I placed the Canton Bihon Mix and Chicken Adobo on the fridge.

Beef Kare-Kare
Beef and vegetables in a thick savoury peanut-based sauce

I am so happy that Kulinarya can now deliver to our address. It means I can order Kare-Kare anytime I crave for some. It's a good Kare-Kare, and since the Facebook vendors where I used to get delicious Kare-Kare is no longer available, this has become the best Kare-Kare in Vancouver.

Laing
Dried taro leaves cooked in coconut milk, shrimp paste, and smoked fish.

I don't order Laing from restaurants because it's something I can cook at home. However, when I order it, it ends up being so good that I feel terrible for not cooking this well. It's spicy and perfect with rice.

Lumpiang Shanghai (Spring Rolls)

I have a pretty high standard for spring rolls, and the best one with a physical location is still from Little Ongpin in Richmond. From the taste of their lumpiang shanghai, it's obvious that it was frozen the night before because it has that weird after taste. Thankfully, it's fried to perfection and did travel well.

Turon
Caramelized fried plantain banana and purple taro jam spring rolls

I love turon in all shapes, forms, and sizes. But having turon so easily available is a luxury, so this discovery is making me happy. I guess you'll see more Kulinarya Filipino Eatery posts in the future.

Canton Bihon Mix
Stir-fry egg and rice noodles with chicken, shrimp, and vegetables

I will update this post once I have tried the Canton Bihon Mix.

Chicken Adobo
A twist on tradition. Chicken leg and thigh simmered in cane vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic. Then, deep-fried for an extra crunch.

Here's the thing. I didn't order adobo. I ordered Tamarind Chicken, but they don't have it available, and I was on the phone with a customer, so I couldn't answer their call to see what I want it replaced with. I would have said dinuguan, but by the time I was done on the phone, it's too late. It's all good, though, since the adobo did look good. I will update this post once I have tried it.

Overall, I will order from Kulinarya Filipino Eatery again.

Lunch from Triple O's

Happy Friday! Hubby's team is having team lunch today, and their team manager gave them each a $30 DoorDash gift card (Yay!). We decided to order from Triple O's.

When I was thinking about what to order, I looked at old blog posts to see what I have already tried. There's just a lot of blog posts, so I made a list to help me decide (refer to the end of the post).

Limited Time Pizza Burger

Holy smokes! We love ordering limited-time dishes from basically anywhere. Last year, we tried Triple O's Chicken and Waffle. This year, it's time to give their Pizza Burger a shot alongside their limited-time Chocolate Espresso Milkshake.

Triple O's Pizza Burger
Our NEW Pizza Burger is made with our delicious 100% fresh Canadian Beef, Genoa-style salami, mozzarella sticks, banana peppers, mayonnaise, and a zesty pizza sauce.

The Pizza Burger is spicy because of the salami and banana peppers. The mozzarella sticks provide crunch and cheese to tone down the spice from the peppers. It's a delicious burger, but the patty on this one was overcooked and dry - not the juicy beef patty we usually get from Triple O's.

Chocolate Espresso Shake
Made with hand-scooped, premium, rich, vanilla bean ice cream. Contains caffeine.

I was expecting more coffee taste in the espresso shake, but it just tasted like their chocolate shake.

Buffalo Chicken Burger

Where has this burger been all of my life? It's like eating buffalo chicken wings in a burger! It's so delicious.

Triple O's Buffalo Chicken Burgter
Our spicy, seasoned, crispy breaded chicken breast drizzled in Franks RedHot™ sauce, topped with naturally smoked Canadian bacon, aged Canadian cheddar, crisp iceberg lettuce, fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, and ranch dressing.

Slicing the Buffalo Chicken Burger in half

Buffalo Chicken Burger - look at that hot sauce and ranch dressing on the juicy burger

I also discovered that Triple O's toast their bun. I never noticed them before, but I love how crunchy the edges of the bun.

Sides - Cajun Fries and Garlic Parmesan Fries

Garlic Parmesan Fries is still my favourite side. I didn't enjoy the Cajun Fries. They both use the creamy Caesar sauce, but the Garlic Parmesan Fries have that extra yum, which I could only attribute to the salty parmesan cheese.

Cajun Fries
Our signature Kennebec fries are tossed in a Cajun spice blend and drizzled with our Cajun Mayo and creamy Caesar. These savoury fries are bold in flavour and perfect for snacking.

Garlic Parmesan Fries
Our signature fries are made from fresh local Kennebec potatoes, topped with garlic seasoning, creamy Caesar dressing, and Parmesan cheese

Trying all Triple O's Burgers

I am going over my old post to find out which burgers I have tried from Triple. O's. I'll summarize it here.

Chicken

• B.C. Chicken
• Buffalo Chicken Burger
• Southern Buttermilk Chicken Club
• Spicy Ultimate Crunch Burger

Beef Burgers

• Bacon Cheddar Burger
• Chipotle BBQ Bacon Melt
• Monty Mushroom Burger
• Original Burger
• Original with Cheese Burger
• Double Double Burger - I don't think I'll try this 🤣

Lifestyle Combos

• Crispy Fish Burger
• Fish (3) and Chips
• Original Impossible™ Burger
• Veggie Burger

Limited Time Offer

• Chicken and Waffle
• Pizza Burger
• Chocolate Espresso Shake

Sides

• ✓ Garlic Parmesan Fries - my favourite!
• ✓ Sweet Potato Fries - the signature chipotle mayo is the bomb!
• Poutine - I can't remember the last time I ordered this to make a comment.
• ✓ Fries - I am actually not a fan of their fries. They're thick-cut, so it doesn't get crunchy, although the inside can be chewy.
• ✓ Onion Rings - It's good onion rings. Not as awesome as A&W, but you know it's onion rings.
• Pickle Chips - I haven't tried, and I don't know if I want to try.
• Cajun Fries - I think it's new since the last time I ordered from Triple O's (October 28, 2020).

Cinco de Mayo lunch from Salsa and Agave Mexican Grill

It's the fourth year in a row that we enjoyed Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo (May 5).

• 2018 - We had nachos, quesadilla, burrito, and churros from Sal y Limon
• 2019 - We had nachos, tacos, and churros from Tacofino Taco Bar in Gastown
• 2020 - We had nachos, quesadilla, burrito, and churros from Las Margaritas in Kitsilano delivered at our home.

This year we ordered the same dishes from Salsa and Agave Mexican grill. The best part of the celebration this year is I paid only with DoorDash credits.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Nachos

We ordered large beef nachos. I chose Salsa and Agave because they're part of Daily Hive Dished Vancouver's list of Best Nachos in Vancouver. True enough, the best dish from today is the nachos! The chips arrived still crispy, and the pico de gallo on top is delicious.

Large Nachos (with extra beef)
Chips, cheddar cheese, beans, jalapeño peppers, pico de gallo, fresh homemade sour cream, topped with feta cheese

Chicken Quesadilla

It's dry. Extremely dry and cold. I want to blame it on delivery, but who knows. We reheated it in the air fryer, and the tortilla got fried and was crunchy like chips while the cheese at the edge of the quesadilla became fried; it's much more tolerable.

Chicken Quesadillas
Flour tortilla with melted cheese and chicken

Burrito

I added beef to the burrito, but somehow it's still mostly rice. Don't get me wrong, the rice was good (the one from Las Margaritas last year is still better, though), but the rice to other ingredients ratio is way off.

Mar y Tierra
Diced steak, grilled shrimps, rice and cheese

Churros con cajeta

Churros with caramel sauce are delicious! The outside was crunchy, and the inside is still so chewy. I wished we reheated it as well. I guess that's really the downside of delivery - the food is not enjoyed directly from the kitchen.

Churros con Cajeta
Fried-dough pastry dusted with sugar and cinnamon.

Overall, I am happy to have food from a restaurant again. It's been more than a week since we last ordered because of a new food rule hubby and I created.

Lunch from KFC delivered by DoorDash

Happy Thursday!

It's unusual for us to order food during weekdays, but today is an exception. Hubby's employer gave him a $30 DoorDash gift card because he's part of the team that completed an important feature in their app. Today for lunch they had a townhall of a sort where the CEO said thank-you and congratulations to everyone involved.

2x KFC Famous Chicken Sandwich Ultimate Box Meal

As for me, it's yay for free food. We decided that since we're forced to use a delivery app (DoorDash), we should only order from big chains that can most likely afford the exorbitant fees.

I love KFC from the Philippines and Malaysia, even China, but I've always said that the KFC here is subpar. I would have no idea if they changed their recipe in the last 12 months, but my last two KFC orders were unexpectedly delicious.

We both ordered KFC Famous Chicken Chicken Sandwich Ultimate Box Meal. I got the spicy version of the chicken sandwich while hubby got the regular one. I loved it! The buns are soft, the sauce was spicy, the chicken has a bit of crunch on the outside and juicy on the inside, and there are pickles to cut through the fat.

KFC Famous Chicken sandwich fillet drizzled with buttery garlic oil, three sweet pickles and double mayo.

I think there are more than three sweet pickle slices in my sandwich.

I chose poutine as a side while hubby had French fries. I also got the seasoned corn while he got macaroni salad. We both ordered Brisk Iced Tea, but got 7-Up instead, which is disappointing since we don't drink carbonated beverage.

Update: I got DoorDash Credits.

I ordered Brisk Iced Tea and received 7-Up. I sent a message to DoorDash informing them of the mistake. I wasn't expecting a lot of credits, at most, like $5.00 or something. However, I got $38.01 DoorDash credit in my account. I sent a chat to their customer support to make sure it's not a computation mistake. Below is the transcript.

Tarun r (4/15/2021, 3:20:23 PM): Hi! My name is Tarun. Give me a few seconds to pull up your account info
Me (4/15/2021, 3:20:28 PM): Thank you.
Tarun r (4/15/2021, 3:20:37 PM): Hi, thank you for contacting us! Glad that you chatted. I'll be more than happy to assist with your concern today, and apologies for any inconvenience!
Me (4/15/2021, 3:20:51 PM): I just got an email from DoorDash issuing a credit for $38.01
Me (4/15/2021, 3:21:18 PM): I don't mind getting the credit, but it seems too big
Me (4/15/2021, 3:21:39 PM): Our only "complain" was we got 7-Up instead of Iced Tea and we don't drink carbonated beverage
Me (4/15/2021, 3:21:50 PM): But I didn't expect to get such a big credit
Me (4/15/2021, 3:22:05 PM): Could you please check that the amount is correct?
Tarun r (4/15/2021, 3:22:44 PM): Yes, I can see here we have issued credits to your account in the amount of $38.01 for the inconvenience. These credits are available immediately and will automatically be applied towards your next order.
Me (4/15/2021, 3:23:04 PM): Yes, I see that and thank you. However, why is the amount so big?
Tarun r (4/15/2021, 3:24:30 PM): Our system decide that.
Tarun r (4/15/2021, 3:24:45 PM): If there's anything else I can help you with, please let me know.
Me (4/15/2021, 3:25:09 PM): No. I just want to make sure you, the Dasher, and the Merchant didn't get screwed over by a computation mistake
Tarun r (4/15/2021, 3:25:53 PM): Don't worry, Doordash will take care of it.
Me (4/15/2021, 3:26:43 PM): Okay. Sounds good. Thanks, Tarun!

KFC Poutine

For future me, this is what the KFC Famous Chicken Sandwich Ultimate Box Meal contains:

• 1x Famous Chicken Sandwich Fillet drizzled with buttery garlic oil, three sweet pickles, and double mayo. (Regular or Spicy)
• 1x Original Recipe Chicken Tender
• 1x Individual Chicken Popcorn
• 1x Individual Fries (you can upgrade to Mega Individual Siz Fries or Poutine)
• 1x Individual Side (Choices are coleslaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, and seasoned corn)
• 1x Regular Drink
• 1x Chocolate Chip Cookie
• 1x dip (Choices are buttermilk ranch dip, sweet n smokey BBQ dip, Carolina honey mustard dip, and southern plum dip)

Overall, it's a happy and extremely filling Thursday lunch. We're going for a walk after working hours to burn calories. Can't wait!

Hubby's Birthday Lunch delivery from AJ's Brooklyn Pizza Joint

Happy birthday to my dearest husband! I asked him what he'd like for his birthday and he said ice cream cake because he hasn't had it. He also wanted pizza and he's very specific that it needs to be from a small, local business and not a pizza chain. I have no idea where to order from, so I made a search for the best pizza in Vancouver and found AJ's Brooklyn Pizza Joint.

Spicy Four Cheese
Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Ricotta, Fresh Parmesan, Topped with Mike's Hot Honey

The Spicy Four Cheese is sweet because of the honey and salty from the different cheeses. It was perfect.

The Supreme New Yorker
Calabrese, spicy sausage, pepperoni topped with tomato sauce and ricotta cheese.

The Supreme New Yorker is flavourful and spicy because of the meat. Somehow, I prefer the Spicy Four Cheese.

I can't believe it took me this long to order New York-style pizza that you need to fold to eat. It was delicious! It's nothing compared to the pizza I get from pizza chains.

Meatball Trio
Beef, Pork, Veal Marinara, finished with parm.

I ordered the Meatball Trio just as a fun side and it was delicious. I love the tomato sauce! 

I look forward to trying pizza from other local restaurants.

Lunar New Year Lunch delivery from Grand Chinese Restaurant (Yaletown)

Happy Lunar New Year! We ordered our favourite Chinese dishes for lunch today from a new restaurant - Grand Chinese Restaurant in Yaletown.

Beef Rolls

We love beef rolls! The best one is still from Peaceful Restaurant, but this comes a close second. What's the difference? This one has a thicker wrap, but the beef and sauce are as delicious.

Xiao Long Bao

It's hard to judge the Xiao Long Bao when it's delivered and not fresh from a restaurant kitchen, but it's still good.

Pan-Fried Pork Buns

Inside of the Pan-Fried Pork Buns

I discovered that I prefer pan-fried pork buns over steamed ones. However, this one has more dough than filling. 

Shanghai-style Chow Mein

This is my favourite dish from Grand Chinese Restaurant and I give this the "award" of becoming my favourite Shanghai-style chow men. It's slightly sweet but has that great flavour. I don't think I have tried a Shanghai-style chow mein which I will crave and would want to eat again.

Dan Dan Noodles

My favourite dan dan (tan tan) noodles is from Szechuan Chili because the sauce obviously has peanut butter which adds another depth of flavour I haven't encountered before. This one though has a lot of crushed peanut, but not as delicious as the one from Szechuan Chili.

Lunch delivery from RedBeef Noodle Kitchen

Happy Saturday! I was craving fried chicken, and one of my favourite sources for juicy, boneless fried chicken is Redbeef Noodle Kitchen along 4th Avenue.

This is our order from Redbeef Noodle Kitchen

Chicken Cutlet Rice

Pan-fried Beef Wraps

My mom loved their beef wrap the last time we went there. We ordered it today and thought that the one from Peaceful Restaurant is still the best.

Salt and Pepper Popcorn Chicken

I love the Salt and Pepper Popcorn Chicken so much. I am so happy to ordered two servings of this and there's more pieces this time than when we ordered it previously. 

Malay Sponge Cake

I highly recommend this sponge cake. It's fluffy and soft. I wanted more. I can't wait to eat in the restaurant again to enjoy all this from the kitchen.

Hubby ordered Tonic Beef Noodle Soup and it's the delicious. I actually prefer it than the Premium Beef Noodle Soup, but it could just be me.

Enjoy your weekend!

Lunch delivery from MeeT on Main

Saturday! I couldn't decide what I want for our takeout day. I asked my hubby what he wants and he said healthy food, so we ended up ordering from Meet on Main, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant.

Appetizer

Oyster Mushroom Kalamari

I thought the batter was too salty. Otherwise, it's crispy and crunchy. Perfect vegetarian calamari.

Oyster Mushroom Kalamari
Beer battered and spiced oyster mushrooms, topped with pickled onions, and served with our ridiculously-good cucumber dill tzatziki.

Organic Steamed Kale

The cheese sauce the steamed kale came with is delicious. Definitely, the best the thing we ordered today.

Organic Steamed Kale
Black and white sesame seeds, scallions and house-made cashew gravy.

Mains

K-Town Poutine

Hubby picked poutine. It was a bit salty, but the kimchi was good.

K-Town Poutine
Fries topped with cheezy gooey gravy goodness drizzled with a sweet soy ginger sauce - topped with kimchi, and shredded nori strips. 

The Meet Burger

The burger was good. Obviously, vegan. It's not the best vegetarian burger I had.

The Meet Burger
Our signature burger patty with sautéed ‘shrooms, chipotle mayo and crispy onion strings.

Side fries with my burger

Yay for good food.

Lunch Delivery from Ramen Gojiro

We haven't had ramen in such a long time, and one of our favourite spots to get the delicious Japanese cuisine favourite is Ramen Gojiro. We love their spicy soup and crispy chicken karaage. I think they have one of the best (if not the best) chicken karaage in Vancouver (if you know of a better place, please let me know so we could try it).

Best Chicken Karaage in Vancouver

I ordered Original Chicken Karaage and Spicy Ramen with Chicken Karaage as the topping. I couldn't get enough of the crunchy and juicy boneless fried chicken.

Original Karaage (house-made crispy deep-fried chicken)

Spicy Ramen

Below is my spicy, creamy, ramen (without the soup yet) topped with karaage. I added extra Ajitama (medium-boiled marinated egg).

Spicy, rich, spicy ramen (without the soup) topped with karaage.

This is the photo with the spicy, rich broth added in.

Spicy Ramen topped with karaage, spicy, and with rich broth.
Ramen Gojiro's signature broth with the perfect balance of pork and chicken. The spicy sauce with a hint of sweetness.

I enjoyed the ramen very much. The heat was perfect, while the noodles were chewy. The perfect crunch was provided by the fried chicken.

Enjoying my Spicy Ramen

Delicious Gatsuri-Style Ramen

Hubby ordered the Yokohama Iekei Ramen. The broth was delicious, but since I like my ramen with a bit of heat, I prefer my Spicy Ramen. I tried a portion of the pork from his ramen, and it was tender.

Yokohama Iekei Ramen
"Homestyle" pork and chicken broth with shoyu flavour based from Yokohama. Thick noodles with very flavourful broth with depth and complexity.

Gyoza on the Side

My ramen lunch won't be complete without our favourite side gyoza. It's not the best gyoza, but really, I order and eat at Ramen Gojiro for the fried chicken.

Gyoza

It's a happy Saturday!

Lunch supporting Suika

Suika is my favourite restaurant. We eat here at least once a month for lunch because that's the only time they serve my favourite Katsu Curry (they have the best Japanese curry sauce).

Because of COVID-19, Suika decided to close and have only opened recently for pick-up and delivery. Today, we decided to have Suika.

I did my best with presentation, but it's hard. The curry is as good, how I regret not ordering extra curry sauce like I usually do when I dine in.

I can't wait for Suika to open for dine-in.

Stewed Beef Tendon Curry with Tonkotsu (Pork Loin Cutlet)

Double Tonkatsu Set

Chicken Karaage