Boxing Day Breakfast at A&W

We're up early for some shopping. We only shop for clothes once a year, and that's on Boxing Day. We're starting the day with breakfast meals from A&W near the SkyTrain as we head to the factory outlet mall in Richmond.

Bacon & Egger with Hashbrowns and Apple Juice

Sausage & Egger

Noche Buena in Canada

My sister cooked a wonderful Christmas evening dinner for our family. I was assigned to buy and bring a cake which I did. It was all delicious. She did a fantastic job preparing the meal while mom set the table to make it picture worthy and more importantly, we had a great time gathered around the table.

Ratatouille, Classic French Gratin Dauphinois, Bouillabaisse, and Chicken Cordon Bleu

Hazelnut Yule Log Cake

Youngest sister prepared hot chocolates from scratch - it's perfect for dipping croissants!

I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas dinner with your family.

Christmas Cakes from Blue Hat Bakery

For our family's potluck Christmas dinner, I'm tasked to bring cake. Of course, I go to my fave bakery, Blue Hat Bakery by the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (PICA).

Hazelnut Yule Log

Cakes from the bakery

We arrived home with the center of our amazing cake melted.

Lunch at Burger King

We arrived in Richmond and was in search of an air mattress. We end up grabbing one from Walmart in Richmond and decided to have late lunch at Burger King.

Spicy Chicken Parmesan Sandwich was delicious! I can't believe how great this sandwich was. 

Dinner Date at Tony's Fish and Oyster Cafe

It's been almost a year since I have been to Tony's! Yes, the last time I was here was last year on December 24. I'm so glad the waitress (she's a delight!) still remembers me to give a 10% VIP discount.

Hubby and I had our usual order: a bowl of clam chowder, 2-pcs salmon fish and chips (yam fries) for me and 2-pc halibut and chips (onion rings) for hubby.

2-pc Salmon with Yam Fries and coleslaw

Clam Chowder

Clam Chowder with crackers for the crunch factor

2-pc Halibut with onion rings and coleslaw

It was delicious! Tony is the best fish and chips place in the Granville Island area during the winter; you can stay indoors, warm, and have alcohol (if that's your fancy).

Lunch at Peaceful Restaurant

As you can see from my posts, I'm a creature of habit and delicious food. We ate at Peaceful Restaurant less than two weeks ago and I had a craving for the Dan Dan noodles. After shopping and finding amazing deals at Canadian Tire, we had lunch at Peaceful and ordered the same things.

Dan Dan Noodle

Dan Dan Noodle after mixing up the ingredients

Xiao Long Bao (because you can rarely go wrong with getting these)

Beef Roll is a must-try at Peaceful Restaurant

Cheers to more food!

Chocolate Swiss Roll from Tim Hortons

Every month it seems like Tim Hortons has a new or limited donut, pastry, or whatever. From the glass display, the Chocolate Swiss Roll looked delicious, so I thought of grabbing one today with our usual Sunday breakfast.

Tim Hortons Chocolate Swiss Roll

Chocolate Swiss Roll from Tim Hortons

Verdict: The outside is dry from sitting in the glass case for who knows how long. The inner part is a bit moister. However, in general, it was just a very dense too sweet of a "cake."

Domino's Pizza Delivery

Before I got married and moved out of my parent's place, my youngest sister and I used to have Domino's pizza delivered every Friday. We call it pizza Friday to celebrate thriving through the week and to kick off the weekend. We usually eat while watching a movie or Food Network (i.e a marathon of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives).

I moved out and I can't remember the last time I had Domino's at home. It could be the new year of 2018. Anyway, last December 16, I received an email from them about getting enough points to redeem for a free pizza. Yay for free pizza. We used it tonight for dinner.

And because I missed Domino's food so much, I got the free pizza, Chicken Carbonara, 8-pc Boneless Chicken with Ranch Sauce, and 8-pc Domino's Pizza Cheesy Bread with Marinara Sauce.

Free Pizza

Chicken Carbonara ( Alfredo Sauce, Bacon, Chicken, Mushrooms, Onions)

Boneless Chicken and Pizza Cheesy Bread

I can't wait for my next pizza from Domino's!

Dinner at Hot Star

We did Christmas shopping and decided to eat at Hor Star again. Yes, this is how much we loved the food here. Or we could just be missing Asia terribly.

Tonight we had Hot Cheese Fried Chicken and Korean Large Fried Chicken. They are both insanely delicious. We also got fries, vegetarian spring rolls, and green apple yogurt.

Hot Cheese Fried Chicken - yum!

Hot Cheese Fried Chicken waiting to be opened

Ready take my nth bite of the Hot CHeese Fried Chicken

Korean Large Fried Chicken is essentially sesame sauce

Spring Rolls - you don't need to get it. LOL

I can't wait for our third visit to try the rest of the chicken.

Reunion Dinner at The Wicklow

It was a long day at work, but thank God we had planned a reunion with current and former colleagues. It's really great to see everybody again and catch up. Tonight, I had my favourite Yorkshire Pudding Bowl, two glasses of "Pick Me Up" (such a perfect drink for the kind of day I'm having), and Sesame Crusted Tuna Saku.

Sesame Crusted Tuna Saku

Yorkshire Pudding Bowl

Big Fried Chicken from Hot Star

It's finally open in Downtown Vancouver! Last September, we had Taiwanese fried chicken from Big G, and today we had lunch at Hot Star.

Hubby got the Original Large Fried Chicken (salt & pepper), which was the best! The outside is crispy, and the inside was juicy. I kinda regret not getting this.

Original Large Fried Chicken (salt & pepper)

Inside the Original Large Fried Chicken (salt & pepper)

I had Crispy Large Fried Chicken (spicy medium). The chicken inside is delicious; however, the spicy flavour kinda ruined it for me. I should have picked original (no spice); apparently, it's an option.

Crispy Large Fried Chicken (medium spicy)

Juicy inside! How is this possible?

After a giant chicken, I'm still hungry, so I decided to buy Chicken Popcorn (original salt & pepper) with drink and fries. I love the Green Apple Yogurt drink!

Chicken Popcorn (original salt & pepper) with fries and Green Apple Yogurt

I love Hot Star. I wish there's a source of fried chicken close to home (like walking distance close).

Freybe Brat Haus inside the Vancouver Christmas Market

Bratwurst! Sausage! How can you go wrong? Answer: you can't. Personally, I love the sauerkrat!

Das Brat: THE Brat is seasoned with marjoram and caraway and served on an artisan bun with warm sauerkrat.

Das Gulasch Haus inside the Vancouver Christmas Market

We really weren't planning on ordering here, but it's chilly, and the person selling was really trying hard, so we end up enjoying a tender beef in a bread bowl gulasch.

Tender beef stew inside a bowl of bread

Das Gulasch House

On their menu, they have a short description, which I will quote below.

Gulasch is a delicious warming stew found primarily in Austria and Hungary, where it had its origin as shepherds dish in the 9th century. In the 19th century Vienna, the center of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a special type of Gulasch developed with more meat and fine Hungarian paprika."

Das Karoffel Haus inside the Vancouver Christmas Market

Kartoffelpuffer is basically German potato pancakes. Based on the description, it's like hashbrown or potato patties (depending on how you call it) but in a circular shape.

Kartoffelpuffer served with apple sauce and sour cream.

Kartoffelpuffer

I'll transcribe below what's in the signboard included in the second picture.

"A quintessential German treat beloved across every region of Germany, Kartoffelpuffer are not only a favorite dish to serve at home but are also a popular street food found at local events like the Christmas market.

Kartoffelpuffer are made from potatoes that are grated raw and grated finely. The shredded potatoes, finely grated onion and salt are then fried to light golden. The end result is a crispy exterior and soft interior.

Kartoffelpuffer can be served sweet or savory. Most commonly, they're served with applesauce, sugar, and sour cream. Sometimes they are served with salmon and/or brie as a part of a meal.

In a word, they're simply DELICIOUS!"

Mr. Pretzels inside the Vancouver Christmas Market

This is the best pretzels I have tried EVER! Where can I get these all year round?

Salted Pretzels

They have a Fun Fact poster that you can read while waiting in line. It says, "The first pretzels were baked as a soft squshy bread, like the soft pretzels of today. Pretzels may have been originall called bracellae, the Latin term for little arms, which later turned into the German bretzel. Pretzels were used in some cultures' wedding ceremonies, which may be where the term tying the knot originates from. Despite the ancient origins of the pretzel, the Mr. Pretzels you are about to consume was probably baked less than 15 minutes ago."

Staying Dry in Starbucks

Today, hubby and I decided to go to the Vancouver Christmas Market. Unfortunately, it started raining. We decided to hang out at the Starbucks across the street to wait for the rain to pass.

Bagel and Salted Caramel Mocha