Perogies in Vancouver Christmas Market

After my weekend suffering from stomach ache resulting in throwing up, I think the food gods want to reward me with a happy food day. The stews at Das Gulasch Haus were terrific, and the perogies inside the Vancouver Christmas Market are delicious too.

Potato & Cheddar Perogies
Served with crumbled farmer's sausage from Rempel Meats in Abbotsford, grilled onions, sour cream, and sauerkraut.

The Potato & Cheddar Perogies were perfectly cooked. One side is crispy, while the inside is soft and chewy. But the epic bite includes the crumbled sausage and grilled onion dipped in sour cream, followed by a fork full or sauerkraut. I wish I didn't have to share the perogies with my husband.

Below is a list of food vendors inside the Vancouver Christmas Market we have tried so far:

#40 Bratwurst Haus #42 Das Gulasch Haus #43 Kartouffel Haus

#44 Chimney Cake #45 Das Langos Haus #47 Perogies

#48 Das Smoked Haus #60 Das Apfel Haus #61 Those Pretzels

Beef Stew and Potato Stew at Vancouver Christmas Market

It's the last day of November, and I am slowly feeling much better. I had stomach pain over the weekend, which included throwing up and frequent visits to the bathroom. But I am feeling so much better today, and to celebrate, we visited the Vancouver Christmas Market.

Our first stop is Das Gulasch Haus. We ordered both Tender Beef Stew and Vegan Potato Stew in a bread bowl.

Tender Beef Stew in a bread bowl

The Tender Beef Stew is so much more flavourful than the Vegan Potato Stew, but both are miles away from what we had in 2019. I am happy. This is my most recommended meal in the Christmas Market. Definitely at the top of my must-try list.

Vegan Potato Stew in a bread bowl

Here is a brief background and history of Gulasch displayed around the hut.

Gulasch is a delicious warming stew found primarily in Austria and Hungary, where it had its origin as a shephards dish in the 9th century.

In 19th century Vienna, the centre of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a special type of Gulasch developed with more meat and fine Hungarian paprika.

Below is a list of food vendors inside the Vancouver Christmas Market we have tried so far:

#40 Bratwurst Haus #42 Das Gulasch Haus #43 Kartouffel Haus #44 Chimney Cake

#45 Das Langos Haus #48 Das Smoked Haus #60 Das Apfel Haus #61 Those Pretzels

Bulgogi Jeongol from Masa Japanese Restaurant

Happy Saturday dinner! I stayed home all day, but we went to Anticipated Sunday Mass at our local parish. Afterwards, we grabbed groceries, then dinner at Masa Japanese Restaurant.

We ordered the Bulgogi Jeongol. It is a Korean hot pot dish with beef and vegetables. I tried the soup base, and it's obviously beef broth. The banchan is a nice touch as a palate cleanser.

Bulgogi Jeongol
Korean hot pot dish consisting of deliciously marinated bulgogi, soup stock, and various vegetables.

We also ordered the Sake Bomb Roll because we are going through the Special Sushi list. It's spicy. Although, I realized I am not a fan of seared salmon on my roll.

Sake Bomb Roll
Spicy salmon roll with seared salmon and special spicy sauce.

Classic Hot Fudge Sundae at Earnest Ice Cream Quebec Street

After a fun and salty dinner at Brewhall, we crossed the street to enjoy ice cream from Earnest Ice Cream. I am surprised to see it full of life and busy on a Friday evening when it's 6°C outside.

I had Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae with Chocolate Topping from Costco last Saturday, and when I spotted the Classic Hot Fudge Sundae on the Earnest menu board, I just had to try it.

Classic Hot Fudge Sundae from Earnest Ice Cream on Quebec Street

The vanilla ice cream is good, but I wish the chocolate syrup was warm. I feel like that's essential for a sundae. However, I am willing to forgive that because they have crushed nuts, and I love the crunchy element of my creamy dessert.

I happily enjoyed my ice cream and can't wait to bring my husband here.

Chickpea Veg Burger for dinner at Brewhall

I am a dieting foodie. As someone who has been overweight all my life, losing weight is always a challenge. I used to be Obese Level II, but now I am down to Obese Level I, and of course, my goal is to be close to a healthy weight for my height and age.

With that all said, I love to eat. Good food makes me happy, and eating out is fun. I have learned to prepare delicious meals at home, so most of the week, I cook low-calorie meals for my hubby and me to help with my diet.

However, sometimes (on weekends), we eat out and end up pigging out. Like this evening, I am meeting with former colleagues turned friends for dinner at Brewhall. I have been looking at their menu all week, trying to decide what to get.

Chickpea Veg Burger

I ordered the Chickpea Veg Burger with a side of fries. The first bite was salty, but as I ate more of the burger, it became less salty, especially in the middle where most of the sauce is, then the last couple of bites was salty again. It's a good vegetarian burger, mainly because when every other restaurant would instead serve fake meat.

Chickpea Veg Burger
House-made veg patty, chipotle mayo, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

Shareables and Cocktails

Because I needed something unhealthy, we ordered Nachos for the table from the Shareable section of the Brewhall menu. It's worth whatever calories it has. Yum! I also ordered the Electric Blue Long Island from the Cocktails menu of Brewhall.

Electric Blue Long Island
A twist on a classic with blue curaçao

It was a fun evening with friends. It's our annual catchup to see how people's careers and work are doing. It's so fun to see everyone!

Wonton and Vegetable Soup for Dinner at Viet Flavour Restaurant

Viet Flavour Restaurant changed its menu! The dish names went from Vietnamese to English with Chinese translation. I don't if management since August 2021, but the food is still delicious.

Hubby ordered the House Special Combination Noodle Soup. It's a classic bowl of pho loaded with beef.

6. House Special Combination Beef

I went to the Special Noodle Soups section of the menu and got the Wonton and Vegetable Soup. It's perfect for this cold evening. It has a clean vegetable soup base loaded with wonton. I'm so happy. I added egg noodles, too, because that's what it usually comes with.

22. Wonton and Vegetable Soup

As with any Vietnamese restaurant, I always get the Vietnamese Spring Rolls.

1. Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae from Costco Food Court

We started today with breakfast at Tim Hortons. Then, we grabbed groceries from Shoppers Drug Mart to get PC Optimum points. We went home to drop off our items and to rest for a bit. It allowed me to type all my Tims' blog posts. 😅

Then, we headed to Costco for lunch and groceries. We're shocked to see that all fried food is sold out! The french fries, poutine, and chicken strips with fries are all sold out. 🤯 Their fryer might be broken. That's the only logical explanation for running out of fries.

The good thing is the sundae is available. I know it's below 5°C outside, but that won't stop my hubby from getting his ice cream.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Topping

We chose the vanilla ice cream sundae with chocolate topping from Costco. It's the classic combination. I have tried sundaes from McDonald's and Jollibee, with the latter having the better one.

Sundae from Costco

However, the Costco food court chocolate topping is surprisingly delicious. It's creamy and thick, perfect with the vanilla soft-serve ice cream.

We'll try the caramel topping next time.

July 25, 2023 Update: Caramel

It rained earlier today. Thankfully, it was cloudy when I got off work, and the sunshine was peeking through the thick clouds. Hubby picked me up from the office, and we walked to Costco.

Before grocery, we grabbed dinner from the food court: our usual hot dog and fries, plus I ordered a Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae topped with caramel. The vanilla ice cream is excellent on its own. The caramel was sticky, so I'll stick with chocolate.

Vanilla Ice Cream topped with Caramel

Filled Sugar Cookie from Tim Hortons

It said Filled Sugar Cookie, but I was still surprised to see it was filled nicely. The white filling is not concentrated on the middle or one side of the cookie but actually covers the whole thing.

Filled Sugar Cookie from Tim Hortons

Unfortunately, the filling did not add any flavour whatsoever to a buttery sugar cookie. The best addition is the white sugar on top because it provides sweetness and a bit of crunch.

Filled Sugar Cookie from Tim Hortons

I wish the filling had flavours that would elevate an already delicious cookie.