Friday Lunch with Parents at Bridges Restaurant

It was an emotional week in the office, and I'm tired. My dad is flying out of Canada tomorrow to take care of business back in the Philippines. I asked if they have time to have lunch with me today near work, and we ate in the beautiful Bridges Restaurant in Granville Island.

My dad enjoyed his Spicy Tuna Burger while my mom surprisingly finished her fish and chips. Hubby had West Coast Chowder, and I had Seafood Penne.

Seafood Penne

Fish & Chips

West Coast Chowder

It was a nice break from routine to have lunch with people I love and care about.

After lunch, we walked to Blue Hat Bakery, where I decided to buy them baked goodies. My dad had a cup of coffee, and they shared a mango danish.

Fresh Mango Danish

I felt so loved during the 1.5 hours I spent with my parents and being able to treat them today is a reminder of why I work hard (even if my job could be stressful). I need money to spoil them like this every now and then. Hearing my mom say Ang sarap! (delicious) every bite of the danish and Ang ganda naman dito parang walang problema (it's so beautiful here, and it feels like I don't have any problems) while staring at the water and mountain background while we're in The Bridges felt great.

Thank God it's Friday!

Dinner at Wendy's

We haven't had Wendy's in a long time. Since we're in the area (buying lightbulbs at Home Depot), we decided to grab dinner here.

Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Bacon Cheese Potato

I also tried their chicken nuggets today and thought it's so much better than McDonald's.

Family Day dinner at Royal Seoul House Korean Restaurant

Cooking for the family and eating Korean food that we all love is the best way to spend Family Day today.

Thank God for family, hubby, and long weekend for much-needed love and rest.

We ordered two servings of BBQ Combo B, two meals of the Goon Mandu (deep-fried beef dumplings), one large Japchae, and one large Haemul Pajeon (seafood pancake). I did most of the grilling and wasn't able to eat as much as I usually do. It's probably for the best too since we've been doing a lot of eating out lately, and I have started to gain a couple pounds again.

Grilling is so much fun (although, don't eat here if you have an appointment afterwards since you'll smell like BBQ)

BBQ Combo B

BBQ Combo B

Japchae

I need to stay positive since it's back to work tomorrow. Good night!

Lunch at RedBeef Noodle Kitchen

I'm craving for fried chicken. Unfortunately, there's no restaurant near our place that is dedicated to fried chicken, so we end up eating at Redbeef Noodle Kitchen after Mass since they have delicious Taiwanese-style chicken popcorn. Craving satisfied!

Salt & Pepper Popcorn Chicken

Chicken Cutlet Rice

Signature Beef Quartet Noodle Soup

Tea Infused Creme Brulee

I'll probably order a rice meal next time we come back. Hubby has been teasing me that I ate a quarter of his lunch because it's delicious.

Birthday lunch celebration at Pinpin Restaurant

It's hubby's birthday today! I asked him if there's anything he'd like to eat. He said, Jollibee. Unfortunately, the closest Jollibee is a 4-hour drive in Washington, DC, USA. Yes, we need to cross the border and go to another country just to eat Jollibee.

Anyway, I asked him again what he'd like to eat. He said ube Ube ice cream, to be specific. Last night, I searched for the best Filipino restaurant in Vancouver, and Pin Pin Restaurant is highly recommended.

Pinpin Restaurant

We arrived at 2 in the afternoon, and the place is still packed. In the 1 hour, we spent there, I don't think there was an empty table. This place is popular.

They have an extensive menu of Filipino favourites. We ordered things I don't usually cook at home (yes, I cook Filipino dishes).

Pork BBQ

I ordered the Pork BBQ value meal. I haven't found an excellent Filipino-style BBQ here in Vancouver, and I'm happy to share that Pin Pin delivered. This is the best Filipino-style BBQ I've had in a long time.

Pork BBQ value meal

Lechon Kawali

Hubby had Lechon Kawali, and it's different from what we're used to seeing. It was good, as well.

Lechon Kawali value meal (with lots of rice below this meaty goodness)

Bangus Belly Sinigang

Hubby loves sinigang, and I don't cook it as often as I should be, so we ordered it as well. I love the level of sourness, and it's perfect for the cold weather.

Bangus Belly Sinigang

Pork Sisig

This smelled so good when it arrived at our table. I didn't enjoy it as much as I should, given we had so much food on the table.

Pork Sisig

Ube Halo-Halo

The best ending to any Filipino meal, halo-halo. We love the big scoop of ube ice cream too.

Ube Halo-Halo

Will I be back?

Yes! I'll come back for the Filipino BBQ! I'll order dozens. I'm kidding. I wanted to try their pancit too, but it seems unwise to order more food since it's just the two of us. Surprisingly the sisig is so much better when I reheated it at home for dinner.

Valentine's dinner date at Bin 4 Burger Lounge

Burger! I picked the place for lunch, but hubby really has no preference on where we'll have dinner tonight. It just so happen that we're picking up a package in Canada Post inside Shoppers Drug Mart at Granville and 13th Avenue, so we decided to have dinner at Bin 4 Burger Lounge a block away.

As expected, it was a busy Friday night. It seems like someone cancelled their reservation which is how we got a spot right away. Perusing the menu, there are so many burger options. We decided to start at the top. This is what we do on every new restaurant that we try, order the first and second item from the list. In this case, it's bin # 4 and bin #11.

Bin 4 The Heritage

Hubby picked Bin 4 "The Heritage" with house cut Kennebec French Fries. The beef they used it delicious, however, it's a bit dry. Bin 4 is your classic burger with a patty, tomato, lettuce, and onion in between a bun. It's good, but I prefer more things in my burger.

For every burger with fries, you get to choose one dip, we picked the curry aioli and it was delicious. We dipped our fries in it. I'm not sure if we should have dipped our burger in it too?

Bin 4 - "The Heritage"
63 Acres Premium BC Beef, bacon aioli, butter lettuce, tomato, red onion

Bin 11 - Wild Mushroom

I picked the Wild Mushroom with Almond Praline & Blue Cheese Salad and it's so much better than The Heritage. After my first two bites, I knew it could compete with Romer's burger (but still not better). Will I order this again? With so much to choose from, probably not. I'll try a different burger next time.

Drinks & Dessert

I had a Shirley Temple while for dessert we had the decadent Flourless Chocolate Torte.

Shirley Temple

Flourless Chocolate Torte
Almond Praline, caramel, fresh whipped cream

Thoughts

We'll definitely come back because there are so many other burger types to try. The service is top-notch though we have to wait 20 minutes before our burger arrived. Though, the wait is understandable since it was a busy Valentine's Friday night.

Valentine's lunch date at Granville Island

Hubby is on a 1-week vacation, and he went near my workplace, so we decided to have lunch at Tony's Fish and Oyster Cafe. I had my usual 2-pc salmon fish and chips (fries), while hubby had 2-pc halibut and onion rings. We also had calamari for sharing.

Calamari

2-pc Salmon and Chips (Fries)

2-pc Halibut and Onion Rings

After a delicious and happy lunch, we walked to Blue Hat Bakery in PICA. I tripped and fell flat on the concrete. I scrapped my knees (and I'm wearing jeans) and got my hands wounded as well. I think I'll be okay. 

We had cake from the Blue Hat Bakery.

Dinner at Sushivan

It has been a stressful week at work. Monday felt like two workdays already, and we're only on Wednesday. We decided to have dinner out just for a break.

Alaska Roll
Cucumber, avocado, mayo, masago, real crab meat, and smoked salmon

Chicken Korean Style Ramen

Chicken Katsu

I hope to just take a break for the rest of the week and not even go to work, but it's not yet possible.

First time to eat Hot Pot at Happy Lamb Hot Pot

Hubby and I love watching Strictly Dumplings on YouTube, and every so often, he would do a video in a hotpot restaurant. We've never had hotpot ever.

Today, we decided to have lunch in Happy Lamb Hot Pot (W Broadway at Burrard). They're an all you can eat restaurant. Below are some things to be aware of:

• Dine-in only (obviously)
• 1.5-hour time limit
• You'll be required to pay for any food remained in the pot if it exceeds 250g (we finished our meal)
• Consuming raw or uncooked meat, seafood, and eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness (meaning cook your food thoroughly!)
• If you have a food allergy, please notify your server, and we will try to accommodate you.
• Any sold out item in the menu will not be informed & regular price is required to pay

What did we eat?

We had half original and half spicy House Special Broth Flavour. Here's the thing - go for original. I love hot food, but I love the Original broth.

House Special Broth: Half Spicy / Half Original

Here's a list of things we ordered:

• Szechuan Style Kimchi
• Lamb Shoulder Slices
• Black Iberico Pork
• Mutton Dumpling
• Pork & Shrimp Dumpling
• Veggie & Pork Dumpling
• Shrimp Ball
• Beef Ball
• Cod Fillet
• Spinach
• Napa Cabbage
• Potato Slices
• Sweet Potato Slices
• Fried Taro Root Slices
• Fresh Tofu
• U-Don
• Rice Vermicelli
• Supreme New Zealand Lamb Slices
• AAA Fatty Beef Slices
• Fried Fish Skin
• Fried Bean Curl Roll
• Homemade Chives Dumplings
• Lychee Jello Pudding

Everything is fantastic, and I think it's worth it. We'll definitely come back for more.

Korean BBQ for dinner at Royal Seoul House Korean Restaurant

Last week, we went to Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House. Today, we decided to have Korean BBQ from Royal Seoul House along West Broadway.

If you prefer quality, delicious meat definitely go to the Royal Seoul House. If you're after quantity, good beef, Kyo is the better option.

BBQ Combo B (Bul Galbi, So Bulgogi, Dak Bulgogi, and Maeun Doeji)

My Korean BBQ craving was really satisfied. We're watching  The Last Empress this weekend. It's the most intense, non-romantic-comedy Korean series we've watched.

Dulce de Leche Dream Donut from Tim Hortons

It was not as sweet as I thought it'll be. The donut was dry (as expected), but the dulce de leche itself is pretty acceptable.

Dulce de Leche

Frozen Lemonade

Dinner at Tim Hortons

It was freezing cold outside, and we just finished doing grocery shopping, so instead of walking straight home, we decided to have dinner at Tim Hortons.

We had Tuna Melt, Chicken Ceasar Wrap, Potato Wedges, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Frozen Lemonade.

Tuna Melt

Chicken Ceasar Wrap

Potato Wedge and Chicken Noodle Soup

Lunch at Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House

We spent Saturday watching and finishing off Graceful Family (a Korean series), and one of the main character's dad owns a BBQ restaurant with a grill and lots of meat.

Every time there's a scene in the restaurant, I'd tell hubby, "I want Korean BBQ!", so here we are! Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House is an all you can eat Korean / Japanese place in South Granville. I grilled beef, pork, and chicken. I even got a second serving of the beef since it's so good. We got rolls, sashimi, and other things as well.

Honestly, I could eat some more, but hubby already tapped out. It's probably a good thing too since we've been on a losing weight trajectory.

Round 1:

Yakisoba, Chicken, Spicy Pork, and Beef

Pork Gyoza, Salmon and Tuna Sahimi, BC and Yam Tempura Roll, and Tamago Sushi

White Rice and Kimchi

Squash, Zucchini, and Yam Tempura, Chicken Wings, Deep Fried Gyoza

Round 2 

Salmon and Tuna Sushi

Alaska Roll, Dynamite, Kappa Maki, and Avocado Roll

Beef BBQ, Deep Fried Gyoza, Agedashi Tofu, and Deep Fried Mochi

Now, I want more Korean BBQ. Any suggestions on where to eat the best Korean BBQ in Vancouver?