Laksa from Hawker's Delight Deli

It's Thursday, which means company-paid team lunch and Malaysian cuisine is the choice of the week.

My only colleague in the office is feeling under the weather, so I recommended Laksa. I am so happy she enjoyed the perfect bowl of Laksa from Hakwer's Delight Deli.

First, the price point is impressive. We received a generous bowl of Laksa for less than $15.00! Then, it arrived still warm and packed well - no spills!

Laksa
Rice noodles served in mild curry, rich in coconut milk and shrimp, garnished with tofu, puff, fish, cake, egg, shredded chicken, prawns, and sprouts.

Lastly, it was excellent, with the rice noodles soaking up the rich and creamy coconut milk-based broth. It also came with succulent chunks of chicken, plump shrimp, and tofu cubes.

For amusement, below is a list of our team lunches so far.

Week Number:

Brazilian: Boteco Brasil Chicken: Nando's Japanese: SUSHI UOmo Japanese Restaurant Bagel: Rosemary Rocksalt Thai: Thai Away Home Bagel (but we went for sandwiches): Meat & Bread Pies: Peaked Pies

Comfort Food: Nene Chicken Burger: Five Guys Burgers & Fries Italian: The Old Spaghetti Factory Vietnamese: Pholicious Japanese: Tokyo in April Korean: bb.q Chicken Malaysian: Hawker's Delight Deli

BC Culture Days: Flavours of Fall at Pacific Arts Market, Vancouver

Happy Sunday! After Mass, hubby and I walked around to wait for 1:00 PM when BC Culture of Days: Flavours of Fall is happening at Pacific Arts Market. Of course, I'm here for the food. We also attended BC Culture Days: Latin America and Vancouver Night Market happening in the area.

Pumpkin Spice and Maple Pecan from Miss Scone

Our first stop is Miss Scone. From the name, they offer different flavours of delightful baked goods. I do not have the best impression of scones because most of the ones available at coffee shops are dry and stale. However, this one is a revelation. Who knew scones could be this good?

Pumpkin Spice Scone from Miss Scone

The pumpkin spice was sweet because of the glazed and had a good strong pumpkin spice flavour, while the maple pecan is perfect in every way with the caramel-like taste from maple and nuttiness from the pecan. I love it! The texture is also different. It's softer and not as crumbly as traditional scones.

Maple Pecan Scone from Miss Scone

Skewers from Boteco Brasil food truck

After a lengthy discussion with my husband on what to order, we finally decided to get one of each skewer variant from the Brazilian food truck Boteco Brasil. I have ordered from them in the past with the first team lunch. We got beef, chicken with bacon, chicken, sausage, and cheese. The grilled bolinha cheese is the best, especially with the pico de Gallo and toasted cassava flour.

Assorted Skewers from Boteco Brasil food truck

The beef and chicken skewer were juicy and tender, while the chicken with bacon got another crispy texture. Lastly, the sausage was fatty and savoury. They're all delicious. I regret not ordering it with rice.

Pistachio Saffron Cake from Elaichi Patisserie

Imagine French technique and pastries getting an infusion of Indian flavours - that's what you will get with the baked goods from Elaichi Patisserie. We ordered Pistachio Saffron Cake to take a break from the savoury stuff, and it reminded me of the flavours of my favourite Indian dessert: Kaju Kishmish Kheer.

Pistachio Saffron Cake from Elaichi Patisserie

The cake is soft and moist, while the flavour is packed with a nutty taste from the pistachio and aromatic essence from saffron.

I was also happy to learn that Elaichi Patisserie is part of Flavours of Hope.

Hotdog Sandwiches and Sugar Cane Lemonade from Salsa Dog

After Elaichi Patisserie, we went inside the Pacific Arts Market to window shop. I'm definitely getting the coffee-scented candle for my sister. Then, we spotted Salsa Dog and ordered their Venezuelan-style hotdogs and sugar cane lemonade.

Salsa Dog

It's a hotdog in between the soft, fresh bun, garnished with shredded cabbage, carrots, diced onions, potato sticks, and showered in parmesan cheese. Then, you can choose from available sauces (salsas). I went for cheese because I wanted to play it safe.

It was messy to eat but quite an experience. The sugar cane lemonade was slightly sweet and tarty. It's the perfect palate cleanser for the heavy hotdog.

Assorted Cookies from Nawel's French Patisserie

We had the cookies for dinner at home with chamomile tea. They're crumbly, not overly sweet, and it's the perfect treat.

Nawel's French Patisserie

Authentic Vietnamese Spring Rolls

I love spring rolls. How can you go wrong? Their crispy exterior and flavour-packed interior are just unique. My favourite? The veggie! It's so savoury yet slightly sweet and delicious.

Authentic Vietnamese Spring Rolls

We finished our spring roll at our apartment. It's a blessing that Pacific Arts Market is only a few blocks from our home. We're stopping by their BC Culture Days: Japan next week.

Mighty McGriddles, new muffin and Li'l donut from McDonald's Canada

Happy, blessed, sunny Sunday to you! We were attending the 11 AM Mass, and before that, we grabbed breakfast at McDonald's. We tried four new items: The Mighty McGriddles, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Triple Chocolate Li'l Donut, and Maple & Brown Sugar Muffin.

Breakfast from McDonald's Canada

The Mighty McGriddles is a variant of the Mighty McMuffin. I prefer the McGriddles because they provide a sweeter base to salty bacon, savoury sausage, and tender eggs, creating a more balanced sandwich.

Mighty McGriddles from McDonald's Canada

It's also our second Pumpkin Spice Latte for the season, and McDonald's version has a more pronounced pumpkin spice flavour. It's also a bit more bitter than the one from Blenz.

The Triple Chocolate Li'l Donut is soft and sweet but has little flavour. Not even chocolate.

Triple Chocolate Li'l Donut from McCafé

Lastly is the Maple & Brown Sugar Muffin. Has the McDonald's muffins been this good? The top was slightly crunchy and chewy, while the rest of the muffin was soft. I absolutely love it.

Maple & Brown Sugar Muffin from McCafé

Savouring Umami Bliss at Menya Juémon

Vancouver's culinary scene continues to evolve, and ramen enthusiasts have something exciting to slurp about. Nestled in the heart of the city, Menya Juémon has taken over the old spot of Benkei Ramen. My husband and I were lucky to walk by a few days after their soft opening.

Dinner at Menya Juémon

Our food adventure starts with pork gyoza, and it's perfectly fried with crispy skin, and the filling is flavourful pork. I highly recommend their gyoza if you love the Japanese dumpling.

Pork Gyoza from Menya Juémon
Crispy & juicy pork dumplings

Now, let's discuss the star of the show: ramen. My husband opted for the Umami Shoyu Premium, and what arrived was slightly thicker broth filled with deep dark soy; you can also taste the seaweed flavour seeping through the soup. The thick, chewy noodles soaked up the essence of the broth while the tender cha-shu (sliced pork), crunchy bean sprouts, fresh Chinese greens, earthy wood ear mushrooms, and soft soft-boiled egg completed the dish.

Umami Shoyu Premium from Menya Juémon
Dark soy flavoured four elements umami broth with thick cha-shu, bean sprout, Chinese greens, wood ear mushroom, soft boiled egg, and seaweed served with thick noodles

While hubby's ramen hits every flavour profile and is definitely an umami bomb, I chose the Cha Cha Cha-shu Men. As you could have guessed, it has six pieces of tender and fatty cha-shu. It also boasts a more familiar and traditional shoyu (soy sauce) broth. It also includes crunchy bean sprouts, colourful green onion, and, for subtle sweetness, corn. It comes with perfectly cooked medium-thickness noodles.

Cha Cha Cha-shu Men from Menya Juémon
Rich shoyu flavoured four elements umami broth with thick cha-shu, bean sprout, green onion, corn, served with medium thick noodles

The ambiance of the place is cozy, perfect for casual lunches and intimate dinners. They kept the J-shaped bar in the middle from Benkei Ramen, which I love. I hope they offer chicken karaage because I love fried chicken, but their ramen game is on point.

Cake and more from purebread

purebread in Gastown closes at 4:00 PM, so I couldn't find the perfect time to bring my husband here.

Chocolate Espresso from purebread

This is only my second time at purebread because I get too overwhelmed with all the options, from cakes to bread to bars. It's intimidating.

Salted Caramel bar from purebread

I chose the chocolate espresso loaf, while hubby opted for the salted caramel bar. It is impossible to go wrong with any of their products, and when you need a pick-me-up, this place is a safe haven.

Omurice from Tokyo in April restaurant

Since I decided to work in the office on a Friday, I asked my husband if he wanted us to have lunch together. I asked him what he preferred lunch, and his choices were a sandwich, pho, or Japanese food, and he picked Japanese.

Omurice from Tokyo in April restaurant

We went to Tokyo in April, and I got what I really wanted to try: omurice with chicken karaage as the topping. My husband ordered the customizable bento box with miso soup, spring mix salad, beef teriyaki, salmon sashimi, and tonkatsu.

Customisable Bento Box from Tokyo in April

The omurice is beautiful with a tender, almost custard-like, softly-cooked, silky omelette that gently covers savoury tomato-flavoured creamy fried rice and traditional Japanese curry sauce (chicken-based) on the side. It's perfect.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Smooch Food 🇨🇦 (@smoochfood)

I haven't had a weekday lunch date with my husband in a while, so this is good.

Butter Croissant from Bean Around The World

Thank God it's Friday! We usually work from home on Fridays, but I decided to work in the office today because I'm too lazy to bring my laptop home. For some reason, I was not in the best mood this morning. It's supposed to be a relaxing week in the office because we're not busy, but I don't think I know how to relax. I think I prefer busy work days when I don't notice the time.

Anyway, my frown turned into a bit of a smile when I went downstairs to grab breakfast from Bean Around The World. I got a butter croissant and a sausage roll - both could be better. Okay, that's me being nice; they're both not good.

Butter Croissant from Bean Around The World

However, the barista was friendly and provided enough social interaction for the day to give me a bit of an energy boost to write this blog.

I look forward to the rest of the day and the long weekend. I do not have any plans whatsoever, and I am excited to do nothing days.

I'm writing this on my phone, and it will be published as is. Will edit it when I get home.

Golden Original Wings and Red Chak-Chak Fries from bb.q Chicken

It's Thursday, which means company-paid team lunch and the chosen cuisine for this week is Korean. My colleague and I went for Korean fried chicken from bb.q Chicken, a restaurant brand from South Korea.

I ordered the Golden Original Wings, and we got Red Chak Chak Fries for sharing.

Golden Original Wings from bb.q Chicken
Korean fried chicken at its best. Juicy and tender inside, light and crispy outside

It's difficult to screw up Korean fried chicken, and the Golden Original Wings delivers. It has enough crisp on the outside and juicy inside. Of course, I fell in love with the Chak Chak Fries. It's flavourful and spicy. As I grew older, I stopped craving spicy food just for the sake of the heat with little to no flavour. The Chak Chak Fries is perfectly seasoned with just the right amount of heat.

For amusement, below is a list of our team lunches so far.

Week Number:

Brazilian: Boteco Brasil Chicken: Nando's Japanese: SUSHI UOmo Japanese Restaurant Bagel: Rosemary Rocksalt Thai: Thai Away Home Bagel (but we went for sandwiches): Meat & Bread Pies: Peaked Pies

Comfort Food: Nene Chicken Burger: Five Guys Burgers & Fries Italian: The Old Spaghetti Factory Vietnamese: Pholicious Japanese: Tokyo in April Korean: bb.q Chicken