Lunch at Rayhan Mediterranean Restaurant

Yay for outside food. We're picking up a package nearby and decided to grab lunch from Rayhan Mediterranean Restaurant.

For our appetizer, we ordered a veggie samosa. It was bigger than we anticipated.

Crispy Samosa

Inside of the Samosa

For our lunch, I picked a Mixed Plate, and hubby chose Mixed Wrap. We both picked chicken and falafel. I was selfish when I didn't want to share my Mixed Plate, but of course, I did. The Mixed Plate is fantastic!

Falafel and Chicken Mixed Plate

Mixed Wrap with a side of fries

Mixed Wrap

We ordered large baklava for dessert, which looked small compared to the samosa but still a good portion for sharing.

We enjoyed our lunch for around 20 to 30 minutes, and I'm surprised at how many customers I've seen come and order take out from this place. This is our first time eating in this neighbourhood, and it's amusing. Happy Thursday!

Thanksgiving Long Weekend at Home

I haven't taken a lot of vacation days during the year because of COVID. However, I took last Friday off and tomorrow (Tuesday) off for a 5-day weekend. We spent 2 nights at my parent's place in Richmond where my sister cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for our family.

She cooked turkey. It's our second turkey Thanksgiving dinner ever since being in Canada. She also prepared mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy. It was great to celebrate and spend time with the family.

Delicious turkey!

Turkey top-view

Turkey side-view

Great Stuffing

Gravy

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Our Thanksgiving Dinner. My sister carved the turkey.

I'm so grateful for the many blessings I received from good health, my husband, my family, and my work. How did you celebrate Thanksgiving this year?

Dinner delivery from Panago Pizza

Coconut curry sauce in a pizza? You bet! I love Panago's Veggie Korma! I decided that we'll have it for dinner tonight and save any leftovers for the rest of the week.

Veggie Korma -  Medium Original Crust, Pineapple, Peppers-Green, Blend-Mozza + Cheddar, Baby Spinach, Spicy-Banana Peppers, Coconut Curry Sauce

Pesto Chicken -  Medium Original Crust, Tomatoes-Sun-dried, Onions-Caramelized, Parmesan, Chicken-Grilled, Peppers-Red, Mozzarella, Pesto Sauce

Garlic Cheezy Bread

Chicken Bites

Chocolate Chunk Pretzel Cookie

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a great weekend!

Dinner delivery from Ong Ba Vietnamese

We have leftover fried chicken and chicken popcorn from lunch and I need to pair it with rice and some sort of stew. I was thinking of either Thai Curry or Vietnamese Stew. Hubby voted for wanting pho, so I searched SkipTheDishes for its top Vietnamese restaurants and I ordered from Ongba Vietnamese.

Vietnamese Feast from Ongba Vietnamese

They gave us free coke with a "Thank you!" note from Ong Ba Team.

Beef Stew Rice

It's not the best one I have tried and I only have tried two other Vietnamese Beef Stew. The meat wasn't as tender as the other ones I've tried from Pho Express and Vina Vietnamese, but it was still soft. Also, the stew itself is more soup-like. The flavour is still good.

Beef Stew with Rice

Five-Spice Pork Belly Bahn Mi Sub

For someone who loves food, it will come as a surprise that this is the first time I have ordered Bahn Mi (actually, hubby picked it). It was a great first try. The pickled vegetables inside the sandwich cut through all that fried food I have been eating since lunch.

Five-Spice Pork Belly Bahn Mi Sub

Special Trio Beef Pho

Since fall has started the weather has started to become cooler and a bowl of Vietnamese Pho is just the warmth I need.

Special Trio Beef Pho

Meat Spring Roll

The surprise of the night is how delicious the spring rolls are. I thought the one from Lotus in Richmond is better, but it's still amazing.

Meat Spring Roll

Happy Saturday!

Lunch delivery from Hot Star and Big G

Last Wednesday, we ordered salt and pepper chicken popcorn from Redbeef Noodles and it was delicious. Today, I decided to order Taiwanese-style salt and pepper fried chicken and chicken popcorn from two places I have tried before: Hot Star and Big G.

They're both available in Uber Eats, so I placed my order.

Taste

I surprisingly prefer Hot Star's Salt and Pepper Original Large Fried Chicken. For some reason, Big G's Taiwanese Jumbo Chicken Steak is too sweet. What Big G has going for it are the sides like the curry rice (although, I could be biased since I love curry)

Order from Big G

Order from Hot Star

Since it was delivered, I don't expect a lot of crispy and crunch, but they both arrived hot crunchy and crispy.

The chicken on the left is from Big G while the one on the right is from Hot Star. The difference in colour is surprising.

Honestly, I would rather order Redbeef's chicken popcorn again. 

Size

Hot Star's chicken is also bigger which I didn't expect considering big is part of Big G's name. My "measurement" is based on the paper plate we got from Big G.

Overall Assessment

Based on this, I'd eat at Hot Star more, but it seems like there are other Taiwanese-style fried chicken sources I need to try like J&G. Next time! :)

Guest Post: Chef's Playground

 This post is written by my brother.

A friend and I decided to meet up for brunch just to catch up. We decided to meet at Steveston to change the usual areas where we go out. We ended up eating at Chef's Playground.

There were only three tables available, luckily we were able to grab the last one. The inside is small and you need to order as soon as you enter. 

My friend decided to get the Canadian Back Bacon Benny (Free range eggs, citrus hollandaise, honey thyme glazed back bacon, House-made focaccia bread, hand-cut hash-brown).

Canadian Back Bacon Benny

I decided to grab the classic, the CPE breakfast (Sunnyside up eggs, bacon, honey thyme sausage, toast, house-made jam, hand-cut hash-brown). It was my first time going to this restaurant, so I always order the safe option for my first time.

The CPE breakfast

My friend was really hungry that day so he asked me if I wanted to share a Garlic Parmesan Onion Rings and That Style Fried Chicken, and so we did.

Garlic Parmesan Onion Rings and That Style Fried Chicken

The food was really good. I can only talk about the CPE breakfast as that was my order. The bacon was crispy and not too salty. Their homemade jam spread on the bread fit really well with the entire meal. And the hashbrowns and sausage were a good combination that balances each other out. 

The ambiance of the place was perfect for brunch and fit right in with the overall aesthetic of Steveston as a neighbourhood. I would recommend this place for people who wants to have a chill hang out with a friend.

Dinner delivery from RedBeef Noodles Kitchen

 It's an amazing night because I get to eat (devour) salt and pepper (Taiwanese-style) popcorn chicken.

We also ordered noodles which we weren't able to finish. I recommend the popcorn chicken, but not the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup. Meanwhile, the Signature Beef Quartet Noodle Soup is great as always.

I love their Redbeef branded containers. :)

Ordered two serving of Salt and Pepper Popcorn Chicken, Signature Beef Quartet Noodle Soup, and Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

My only regret is not ordering more chicken. 

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup is really spicy.

Do you have any recommendations on where I can get Taiwanese-style fried chicken in Vancouver for delivery?

Lunch delivery from TAKO

TAKO is the Korean-Mexican food fusion I never thought I'd want for today. I have been craving for kimchi and burrito (I know such a weird craving and yet here we are). I would describe their food as Korean flavours in Mexican vehicles.

I am stress eating today, so I ordered a lot of food.

Lunch from TAKO

I love how each container is properly labelled.

Bulgogi Burrito

It was delicious and perfectly sliced in the middle for sharing. The bulgogi is amazing and goes perfectly with rice. Yum!

Korean bulgogi in a delicious wrapped burrito with flavourful kimchi and pickled daikon radish

BBQ Short Rib Poutine

When we opened the container, hubby asked if that's sisig (a Filipino dish out of pig's face) because it looked like one, but it's BBQ. The red onion made it spicy, but I didn't like the dressing it came with.

BBQ Short Rib Poutine
Diced tomatoes, red onions, green onions, and barbequed short rib

Kimchi Quesadilla

My kimchi craving wasn't satisfied by the quesadilla, BUT it was so cheesy I'm willing to forgive it.

Kimchi Quesadilla
Pan-fried kimchi, bulgogi, corn, red onions, and cheese.

Sides

I love Korean sides so we ordered two!

Mandu

I have a love affair with dumplings from different countries and Korean mandu is my favourite.

Mandu - Five pieces of deep-fried mixed pork and beef dumplings with salsa

Spicy Seoul Chicken

It's not that spicy, but it goes really well with the Bulgogi Burrito. The Filipina in me is happy with rice (from the burrito) and saucy chicken combination. Under all the yummy chicken are crunchy corn chips which I thoroughly enjoyed. I kinda wished I ordered it too.

Spicy Seoul Chicken

Have you tried TAKO before? What do you think of the food?

Lunch delivery from MeeT on Main

Saturday! I couldn't decide what I want for our takeout day. I asked my hubby what he wants and he said healthy food, so we ended up ordering from Meet on Main, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant.

Appetizer

Oyster Mushroom Kalamari

I thought the batter was too salty. Otherwise, it's crispy and crunchy. Perfect vegetarian calamari.

Oyster Mushroom Kalamari
Beer battered and spiced oyster mushrooms, topped with pickled onions, and served with our ridiculously-good cucumber dill tzatziki.

Organic Steamed Kale

The cheese sauce the steamed kale came with is delicious. Definitely, the best the thing we ordered today.

Organic Steamed Kale
Black and white sesame seeds, scallions and house-made cashew gravy.

Mains

K-Town Poutine

Hubby picked poutine. It was a bit salty, but the kimchi was good.

K-Town Poutine
Fries topped with cheezy gooey gravy goodness drizzled with a sweet soy ginger sauce - topped with kimchi, and shredded nori strips. 

The Meet Burger

The burger was good. Obviously, vegan. It's not the best vegetarian burger I had.

The Meet Burger
Our signature burger patty with sautéed ‘shrooms, chipotle mayo and crispy onion strings.

Side fries with my burger

Yay for good food.

Lunch at PICA's Blue Hat Bakery

We haven't been near the office in months. Today, I have some errands to run in the area and we thought of grabbing lunch from Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts Blue Hat Bakery. I miss their sandwiches and soup as well as the nice people who work there.

We ate our food in their patio. Thankfully, it has stopped raining by the time we got there.

Sandwiches

We ordered two sandwiches: ham and brie and chicken rustico. Both were delicious and perfectly toasted.

Ham and Brie Sandwich

Chicken Rustico sandwich

Soup

For soup, we shared a large bowl of chili.

A Bowl of Chili

Pastry

You don't go to Blue Hat and not be tempted with the danishes and cakes they have on display. We ordered a chocolate almond danish and apricot almond danish.

Chocolate Almond Danish and Apricot Almond Danish

If you're in the area, get coffee or grab some of their frozen food to take home and be sure to be nice to the wonderful people who work at PICA's Blue Hat Bakery.

Guest Post: Coffee at Liberty Bakery + Cafe

This post is written by my brother.

After our lunch at The Arbor, my friend and I decided to go to a cafe to continue our chat and we went to Liberty Bakery + Cafe. I got a hot mocha and she got a macchiato. We decided to get a Totoro cookie as well. I have not watched this anime yet but I thought the design was cute and suggested it.

                                                                 Totoro cookie and Mocha

Guest Post: Lunch at The Arbor

This post is written by my brother.

Decided to meet up with a friend that I haven't seen since the pandemic started. I suggested we go to the vegetarian restaurant, The Arbor. I suggested this place because my friend is vegetarian and she would always have limited options whenever we eat out.

I decided to go with the Kimchi burger with Togarashi fries because I thought it seemed interesting while my friend decided to get the Arburger. 

                                                                        Kimchi Burger

                                                                       Togarashi Fries

                                                                          Arburger

We cut our burgers in half and gave the other half to each other so that we can taste them both. My friend was really skeptical about the Kimchi burger but when she tried it, she really liked it. She especially complimented that the kimchi was well made, compared to other non Korean restaurants that made them. This is big praise coming from her as she is Korean. I would agree as well, the Kimchi burger was unique and tasteful. 

                                                                Kimchi burger (cut in half)

The Arburger tasted like a real good normal burger. Since this is a vegetarian restaurant, the patty isn't made of beef but you could have fooled me. The patty was delicious and well done. The Togarashi fries were good as well and a perfect compliment to our meal.