Sunday, April 4, 2021

Lunch from Suika

Finally! I haven't had my favourite Japanese curry from Suika since December of last year. I can't believe I survived the first quarter of 2021 without having a taste of that delicious dish.

We went to Suika today to order our usual dishes to-go since dine-in services are closed.

Signature Beef Curry with Tonkatsu

I can't believe how much I missed this dish. It's as good as I remember. I also ordered extra curry sauce on the side.

Double Tonkatsu Set (2 pieces of fried pork loin cutlet served with ground roasted sesame tonkatsu sauce, white rice, cabbage salad, and miso soup)

The Double Tonkatsu has become hubby's standard order, and he enjoyed that the tonkatsu sauce came mixed already. Yum!

Crispy Chicken Karaage (Deep fried chicken thigh served with Japanese salt and pepper)

Our usual side is their chicken. We didn't order desserts today and decided to grab a cake from Meinhardt during our weekly grocery run.

If you can, please support your local restaurants and small businesses. Stay safe, be kind, and be calm.

Monday, March 29, 2021

My IKEA Food Subscription Experience: Swedish Meatballs Bundle

IKEA is doing a trial run of their food subscription service here in Vancouver. Our zip code qualifies, so I thought, why not try and see how things work out.

How to join?

Ordering is easy. You just go to the IKEA Food Subscription page and check if your postal code is included in its service area. They have two boxes, a "Swedish Meatballs Meal Bundle" for $50.49 (including tax) and a "Swedish Treats Bundle" for $33.46 (including tax). I got both.

The Experience

Payment Issues

I know it's a trial, and I expect that there will be challenges along the way. IKEA sent me an email confirming my order, and I am excited. After 12 hours, they sent me another email confirming my order with a different order number. It seems like they processed my subscription twice and charged my credit card twice for $83.95.

I am unhappy. I called them as soon as I saw the second charge. I want to know if I made a mistake when placing the order or what's going on. The folks handling customer support have zero access to the food subscription orders since it's in the trial, so I was on the phone with them for an hour (mostly on hold) as they try to find information.

By the end of it, they couldn't find any information, but they opened up a ticket on my behalf to communicate with IKEA Richmond to cancel what looks like a second-order and refund the second charge.

It's all good since I have been refunded.

Delivery Email Issues

Again, I understand that it's on trial, but I received A LOT of emails from the delivery company they used locally.
  • Four emails (with different tracking numbers and order numbers) that my order is "on its way."
  • Six emails (again, with four different tracking numbers and order numbers) that my order "has been assigned to a driver."
  • Two emails (thank God it's the same order number and tracking number) that my order is "on its way."
E24 Metro Supply Chain Group needs to improve their tech systems to provide better service and not look spam.

I also got an SMS that my order is next to be delivered, which would have been great, but it arrived 10 minutes after receiving my delivery. The driver was kind enough to call my number.

Delivery Issues

I got my package today! I am so excited! I ordered both the Swedish Meatballs Bundle and Swedish Treats Bundle. However, I only received the Swedish Meatballs Bundle. I am uncertain if they shipped both or only one. As expected, calling them means getting clueless customer support. I tried calling the IKEA Richmond number as well, but it just kept ringing.

Box of Swedish Meatballs Meal

I sent them an email, and hopefully, I hear back whether I should have received both bundles together or if the Swedish Treats Bundle is coming from a separate package.

March 30, 2021 Update: IKEA responded to my email that the Swedish Treats Bundle is arriving on a separate package. It would have helped if that was clarified in the communications. 

Swedish Meatballs Bundle

My Swedish Meatballs Bundle arrived, and I am excited to open the box and paper bag. Inside the paper bag are four pouches of sauce mix (gravy) and a lingonberry jam bottle. Meanwhile, the box contains 2 bags of frozen meatballs and 2 bags of mashed potatoes.

My Swedish Meatballs Meal Bundle

Excited to try it!

KӦTTBULLAR Meatballs

ALLEMANSRÄTTEN Mashed potatoes

SYLT LINGON Lingonberry jam and ALLEMANSRÄTTEN Sauce mix

IMPORTANT: The gravy needs full fat cream.

IKEA Dinner at Home!

We are going to have meatballs and mashed potatoes for dinner tonight, and I can't wait! Hopefully, I remember to update this blog post afterwards.

We've had meatballs and mashed potatoes for dinner.

TIPS:
  1. I cooked 300 grams of the ALLEMANSRÄTTEN Mashed potatoes and used 3 tbsp of water.
  2. Eat the meatballs right away. Freshly cooked meatballs are surprisingly delicious.
  3. The gravy (sauce mix) is still lumpy. It's probably because we can only buy half and half milk. I also added an additional tbsp of water to what the instructions recommend. 
Our dinner from IKEA is enjoyed at home.

It was delicious!

Is it worth it?

I think it's worth - $50.49 for 2 kgs of meatballs and 1.2 kgs of mashed potatoes. If I have a bigger fridge, I actually don't mind having it there for days when I feel like eating meatballs and mashed potatoes.

I am still unsure if I will subscribe IF they decide to make it permanent. We'll see. For now, I'll enjoy IKEA meatballs in the comfort of my home.

Monday, March 22, 2021

Birthday Dinner from Chop Steakhouse

It's my sister's birthday, so we decided to celebrate at my parent's place. My sister has already been vaccinated, and we're so happy since she's a frontline worker.

My brother and youngest sister are almost always home except for walking to a nearby Shoppers. It's my mom who goes to the groceries once a week. Hubby and I are the same. Hopefully, our small bubble stays safe and healthy.

Anyway, for my sister's birthday, she wants food from Chop Steakhouse.

11 oz medium Centre Cut New York with fresh seasonal vegetables (green beans and beets) and Yukon Gold mashed potatoes

Honestly, for steak delivered, it's one of the best steaks we've had. Even better than The Keg. The steak is perfectly seasoned and delicious.

Miso Glazed Salmon with loaded baked potatoes and fresh seasonal vegetables

The salmon is good. I still prefer the one from The Keg. We also failed in understanding how the loaded baked potatoes work. The order arrived with little containers that include bacon bits, chopped green onions, and sour cream. I failed to recognize that those are for baked potatoes. I was halfway to eating the baked potato before making it "loaded."

Steak Chop Salad Entree for brother

Flourless Chocolate Torte

I actually don't recommend the dessert we ordered.

I also got to try the Oven Roasted Chicken, and it was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. It's perfectly seasoned too. Yum!

Happy birthday, sister!

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Dinner from Save-on-Foods

Not ordering from restaurants has been challenging because I want food cooked by someone else. LOL. Thankfully most groceries offer hot meals that you can microwave. Below are some dishes we got from Save-on-Foods.

Red Dragon Roll from Bento Express

Red Dragon Roll

Chicken Alfredo Pasta

Macaroni and Cheese

I thought the Mac and Cheese were better than the Chicken Alfredo Pasta.

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Celebrating Pi Day with Pies from the grocery

Pi Day this year is a little different for hubby and me. We decided to not order from restaurants for 40 days starting Ash Wednesday as part of our fasting. The only loophole will be eating with people outside our household, which essentially means with the family in Richmond.

That said, we couldn't order pies. Thankfully, there are frozen pies in our local grocery, so we decided to buy three different savoury pies.

Aussie Pie Guy

We got two different flavours of pies from the Aussie Pie Guy brand.

Aussie in its packaging

Aussie baked in an air fryer because I don't have an oven.

Salmon Pie

Salmon Pie from Aussie

Chef Fenrick

Frozen Chicken Pot Pie from Chef Fenrick

Baked Chicken Pot Pie from Chef Fenrick

Of all the three pies, I enjoyed the Chicken Pot Pie the most. I kinda wished I grabbed more Chef Fenrick pies. There's always Pi Day next year!


Saturday, February 27, 2021

Lunch at RedBeef Noodle Kitchen

I have been eating Redbeef every month this year (given - it's only February). We went to Costco today and I asked my parents where they want to eat and my dad LOVES Redbeef Noodle Kitchen. I treat my parents to restaurants I love in Vancouver and Redbeef is the only one that my dad loves (others are so-so for him).

Of course, I am more than happy to treat them to delicious food and spend quality time.

Chicken Cutlet Rice

One thing you should know about me by now is I am consistent with the food I order from my favourite restaurants. As expected, I ordered my favourite Chicken Cutlet Rice and a side of salt & pepper popcorn chicken.

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

My brother ordered the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup. The meat looks tender and the noodles has a nice bite and texture, but the soup doesn't penetrate the noodles as much.

Pan-fried Beef Wraps

The Pan-Fried Beef Wrap is my mom's favourite so I got two orders to make sure we'll be able to eat some. Last time she finished the whole thing! That's how much she loves it.

Salt and Pepper Popcorn Chicken

Be kind. Be calm. Be patient. Stay safe and when you can, support local businesses.

Monday, February 15, 2021

Hubby's birthday cake from Yum Sweet Shop

Happy birthday to my dearest husband! I asked him what he'd like for his birthday and he said ice cream cake because he hasn't had it. I was planning to order from Marble Slab Creamery, but they were close yesterday. I was scrambling to find another ice cream cake vendor. I need a small one since if we get the big ones from Dairy Queen, it will be too big for our fridge.

I found Yum Sweet Shop! Hubby is happy with his ice cream cake and I enjoyed my red velvet cake as well. The best part is we could finish it without having leftovers!

I love the Ice Creamery Yum & Sweet Shop paper bag

Ice Cream Cake Slice
Salted caramel and vanilla ice cream layered with chocolate and marshmallow cake

Happy Monday!

Hubby's Birthday Lunch delivery from AJ's Brooklyn Pizza Joint

Happy birthday to my dearest husband! I asked him what he'd like for his birthday and he said ice cream cake because he hasn't had it. He also wanted pizza and he's very specific that it needs to be from a small, local business and not a pizza chain. I have no idea where to order from, so I made a search for the best pizza in Vancouver and found AJ's Brooklyn Pizza Joint.

Spicy Four Cheese
Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Ricotta, Fresh Parmesan, Topped with Mike's Hot Honey

The Spicy Four Cheese is sweet because of the honey and salty from the different cheeses. It was perfect.

The Supreme New Yorker
Calabrese, spicy sausage, pepperoni topped with tomato sauce and ricotta cheese.

The Supreme New Yorker is flavourful and spicy because of the meat. Somehow, I prefer the Spicy Four Cheese.

I can't believe it took me this long to order New York-style pizza that you need to fold to eat. It was delicious! It's nothing compared to the pizza I get from pizza chains.

Meatball Trio
Beef, Pork, Veal Marinara, finished with parm.

I ordered the Meatball Trio just as a fun side and it was delicious. I love the tomato sauce! 

I look forward to trying pizza from other local restaurants.


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