Filipino Bento Box from Plato Filipino | Pista ng Bayan 2023

Happy Saturday! After hubby's volunteering with Friends of VPL, we dropped by on day 1 of Pista ng Bayan at Robson Square.

Our first stop is Plato Filipino. They're offering a bento box Filipino version. It comes with rice (of course), lumpiang shanghai (Filipino spring roll), buko pandan, a choice of between Filipino-style spaghetti, pancit, or palabok, and a choice between Plato Express, beef kaldereta (tomato beef stew with liver spread), or barbecue.

We went for palabok and beef kaldereta, plus I ordered an extra Filipino-style pork barbecue.

Filipino-style Bento Box from Plato Filipino
Buko pandan, beef kaldereta, white rice, palabok, atchara, and lumpiang shanghai

The rice absorbed the sauce from the kaldereta. 🤤 The beef could be a bit more tender, while the lumpiang shanghai is no longer crispy. To be fair, they have been here the whole day.

The palabok was doused with too much calamansi. It's too sour, while the buko pandan was awesome.

We also ordered sago't gulaman, perfect for this hot summer day.

Muffins from VN Convenience inside VPL

Before heading to his volunteer with Friends of the VPL, we grabbed some muffins from VN Convenience inside the Vancouver Public Library Center branch.

This is what a muffin should be - chewy exterior, soft interior, and not overly sweet.

We got a Chocolate Muffin and a Banana Muffin. The banana doesn't have a strong banana flavour, so I recommend the chocolate muffin.

Chocolate Muffin and Banana Muffin fr.VN Convenience

What's amusing about VN Convenience is they offer all sorts of guilty pleasures like chips, so many chocolates, and coffee. 

There are only a few stores inside VPL. Many closed already, so please support the small businesses that are still doing their best to survive.

Original and Classic from Straight Brooklyn Pizza (Robson)

It's a beautiful sunny Saturday. My husband is doing volunteer work with Friends of the VPL at 1:00 p.m.

I woke up late, moved slowly, and forgot my Compass card for transit at home. We needed to find a place around the Vancouver Public Library for a quick first meal of the day and found Straight Brooklyn Pizza.

I am no pizza expert, but their pizza feels like a hybrid between New York-style and Naples-style. It's huge and foldable like the NY-style, but there's the nice char and thinnest expected of Neopolitan.

The Original slice is a Margherita pizza, which is recommended for Italian-style pizza. It's delicious with tarty tomato, melted mozzarella, and a pop of basil. I love it.

The Original slice from Straight Brooklyn Pizza
Margherita Pizza - tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil

However, it's hard to beat the Classic slice with pepperoni, a New York staple. The sliced circular meat provides savoury flavour and additional depth of flavour to the 15" slice of pizza.

The Classic slice from Straight Brooklyn Pizza
Pepperoni - a New York staple

The best NY-style pizza I've had in Vancouver is from AJ's Brooklyn Pizza Joint.

Drumsticks and Shack-Shack Fries from Nene Chicken

Happy Thursday! This week, our team's lunch theme is comfort food. When asked what familiar culinary flavours I seek for solace, I immediately responded 'fried chicken.' A follow-up question inquired whether I preferred the standard version or the Korean iteration, to which I replied, 'Either work - after all, both are forms of fried chicken.;

With our theme decided, I embarked on a quest (searched) to discover the finest options available for delivery in Vancouver. This culinary exploration (Google) led us to Nene Chicken, renowned for its delectable Korean fried chicken offerings. This marked my first foray into Vancouver's Korean fried chicken scene, adding to my excitement.

Original Drumstick from Nene Chicken

Working within a budget, I opted for a classic order: the Shack-Shack Fries and a 3-piece serving of original drumsticks. Meanwhile, my colleague indulged in a 5-piece drumstick, enhanced with the addition of the snowing chilli sauce. We exchanged portions, with her offering a piece of her drumstick while she received a share of my fries.

Snowing Chilli from Nene Chicken

The drumsticks showcased a light yet satisfyingly crispy batter, although some sections did exhibit a touch of sogginess, which is understandable given it was delivered. Beneath the delicate exterior, the chicken meat was remarkably juicy. With the addition of the snowing chilli sauce, its fiery spiciness certainly provided a vibrant wake-up call for my senses. In contrast, the cheese power of the Shack-Shack Fries introduced a balance of flavours.

Our Nene Chicken team lunch was gratifying, satiating my hunger for delectable fried chicken. This experience solidified Nene Chicken's reputation as a place of comfort food par excellence, leaving me looking forward to a future visit.

For my amusement, below is a list of our team lunch so far:

Week Number:

1. Brazilian: Boteco Brasil
2. Chicken: Nando's
3. Japanese: SUSHI UOmo Japanese Restaurant
4. Bagel: Rosemary Rocksalt
5. Thai: Thai Away Home
6. Bagel (but we went for sandwiches): Meat & Bread
7. Pies: Peaked Pies
8. Comfort Food: Nene Chicken

Filipino Fest at Museum of Surrey

The Museum of Surrey invites you to come and celebrate Filipino culture with performances, vendors, textile display, tinikling, and a Tagalog and English storytelling session.

Filipino Fest will be on September 23, 2023 (Saturday) from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at Museum of Surrey (17710 56A Avenue Surret, BC). The event is free, and accepts optional pay-what-you-may donations for admission.

Filipino Market Vendors and Food

Below is a list of Filipino food and non-food vendors that will be at the event.

Vendors Artsy Candle foliagefilipino Gigil Clothing PhilCAS of BC

Food Cake It Easy Desserts Ltd Chay's Delight Dale's Food Products Inc. Kape Philippine Coffee KayeBakes.ca Mr. Siopao de Langley Nanay Filipino Food

Mediterranean Crêpe from Kara's Crêpes | Kitsilano Farmers Market

Happy Sunday to you! After Mass today, I asked hubby if we can take a walk to Kitsilano Farmers Market and just explore. I've only been to Riley Park Farmers Market so I wanted to compare. At 12:00 NN, the Kits market is very much alive. There are more produced than Riley Park and everything smelled so good. Yum!

For lunch, we grabbed two crêpes from Kara's Crêpe. For our savoury lunch, I opted for Mediterranean. I absolutely love the flavour combination of hearty msuhrooms, sweet caramelized onions, and tangy sundried tomatoes. While the tender and delicate crêpe is a great contrast to slightly crunchy melted mozzarella cheese. I wish I didn't have to share.

Mediterranean Crêpe from Kara's Crêpe
Sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, and pesto

My terrible attempt to take a picture of the crepe after taking a few bites.

For our sweet crêpe, I chose the classic Nutella and Banana. The rich and creamy hazelnut spread is beautifully complemented by the natural sweetness of ripe bananas. It's so satisfying.

I didn't bring justice to the Nutella & Banana Crêpe from Kara's Crêpe

Yay for slow summer weekend when we're not rushing to events or places. Thank God!

Food Adventure at the PNE Summer Fair

As part of our annual summer tradition, hubby and I went to the PNE Fair. I aim to document and take pictures of the menu and food vendors inside, which I post here.

We arrived at Playland around 2:00 PM and walked around to take pictures of the food booths and food trucks.

Our first food is the ribs and brisket from Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ. Last year there were two competing barbecues selling the same meats. This year it's only Prairie BBQ. The brisket is incredible. The rib is good, too, but the real winner is the sweet sauce. The Filipino in me wants a cup of rice.

Rib & Brisket Combo from Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ

After an excellent first bite of food at the PNE Fair, we went for red velvet mini donuts. It doesn't taste like red velvet, but it's soft and sweet with the glaze.

Red Velvet Mini Donuts from The Mini Donuts

We walked around the Playland area and watched the rides, and listened to people glee in excitement. Then, we spotted Jamaican patties from Jamaican Mi Juicy. The beef filling is juicier and better than Morgan's Harbour, but it's not filled all the way.

Beef Jamaican Patty from Jamaican Mi Juicy

We walked around PNE and went inside Argodome & Plaza to watch the Knights of Valour. Then, we entered the food arena to check out the vendors. We also explored the Canoe Cultures on the way to Beyond Monet (The Immersive Experience). It made me dizzy.

I asked hubby what he wanted, and he said bacon-wrapped hotdog. I thought it'll be a standard-size hotdog sandwich. Apparently, it's a footlong! 😱 The hotdog was delicious. The bacon is well bacon.

Bacon Wrapped from Super Foot-Long Hot Dogs
Premium center-cut bacon generously wrapped around our famous classic footlong.

We tried the PNE staple for our next food: Jimmy's Lunch since 1929, and ordered their hamburger and fries. My favourite thing about the burger is the soft sweet bun. The beef was juicy, topped with sweet onion and mustard. The flavour works well together.

Hamburger from Jimmy's Lunch
Cheese, onion, mustard, and relish

We grabbed lemonade slushy from Slush Zone, which I did not enjoy.

Lemonade Slush from Slush Zone

Our last food for today is Cheetos Corn Dog. It's usual corndog covered in cheese dusted with crushed Cheetos. It was good. I love the cheese coating and the crunch provided by Cheetos, but if I can only get one corn dog from the PNE Fair, I'll go for the Korean Rice corndog.

Flamin' Cheetos Corndog from Chicky's Chicken

After enjoying the corndog, we walked around the fairgrounds and decided to call it a day and go home. Thank God for the beautiful cloudy day. It wasn't unbearably hot.