Milestones- Four Bellinis, Four Appetizers, Forty Dollars

Milestones is home to the famous Monday Girls Night Out consisting of four signature bellinis, four appys, for just forty bucks. 

I came with three of my girlfriends for some drinks and much needed girl talk.

 I like my girly drinks so I find Milestones' bellinis to be one of the best ones out there. With its "frozen blend of premium white rum, peach liqueur, sparkling white wine, and Boone's Sangria", it's the perfect frozen cocktail to enjoy without being overly boozy. Plus, their little plastic animals are just the cutest. :D


 The Milestone's California Spring Salad consists of goat cheese strawberries, red onions, spicy glazed pecans, and a honey mustard vinaigrette. Great salad for summertime.

Their Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip never fails me. I also really enjoy their homemade tortilla chips.

Their Mango Chili Shrimp, though smaller in size than all of the other appys, packs quite a punch in flavour. If you are into seafood (and like to eat crispy shrimp tails like me), then this would be a good dish to get!

 Last but not least is the Yam Frites served with chipotle aioli. Your good ol' simple sweet potato fries.

For an affordable girls night out, I'd highly recommend Milestone's for their special on Monday nights. The food won't fill you up but if you have a small appetite (or not looking to leave with a food coma), it's a good option. Or, I saw a few tables order an extra entree or dessert so you can go that route as well. :)

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!

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X-Site Grill and Bistro - Crazy Cheap $5.95 Specials

X-Site Grill and Bistro is located in North Burnaby (there's also another location in East Van) near SFU and is often referred to the restaurant that has the $5.95 daily specials. I'm a lover of all things cheap so I highly suggest you coming on one of the days you want to try these items out.

[$5.95 Daily Special] (with purchase of a drink)

Monday- Steak | Tuesday- Burger | Wednesday- Souvlaki | Thursday- Salmon

I came on a Monday so 3 out of the 4 people in our party ordered the Steak Special ($5.95). It comes with a plain salad, toast, steak, potatoes and sour cream, and rice pilaf. To be honest, the steak was really good. It's by no means a "Keg" steak but for $5.95 I'd come back just for this every week. It was even better than the one I had at Joe's Grill and I had to pay $14 for it.

The beef Tacos ($8.95) are off their Mexican menu and it was considerably smaller than our steak special and at almost double the price.

 My coworker like it and gobbled them up in seconds. They didn't blow his mind though so I think they were just average.

X-Site is a great place for lunch and dinner if you're looking to save a bit of money without sacrificing taste. Apparently they have lunch specials like Fettuccine Alfredo and Chicken Souvlaki for only $4.95 everyday (11am-4pm M-S).

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 3/5
Price: $

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!

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Miura Waffle Milk Bar- Korean Fusion Sandos

Miura Waffle + Milk Bar used to be in Yaletown but it's now in a new location on Main Street!

 

They were on You Gotta Eat Here! (Food Network Show) which is a pretty big accomplishment. I came here with Meta Knight and we were both surprised to see no one else in the restaurant at 5pm.

The interior is clean and spacious. You pay at the counter first so there are no waitresses to serve you. It's a great place for snacks or quick lunches.

They seem to have raised their prices since my last visit. For just a waffle sandwich and yoggy milk, it came to around $14 per person which is pretty pricey for a quick sandwich joint.

I really enjoy the flavoured yoggy milk because it tastes like a fruity yogurt smoothie.

Meta Knight had the Bulgogi ($8.99) which is a waffle sandwich filled with kimchi, bulgogi beef, egg sauce, and bulgogi sauce. The waffle was a little soft for my liking but otherwise a very solid sandwich!

I had the Hoisin ($7.99) which consisted of hoisin pork sausage, cilantro, cucumber, pickled radish, and carrot. Mine didn't have as much meat as Meta Knights but I loved the flavour combination as it's similar to a banh mi.

The meat is cooked right inside the waffle!

Service Rating: N/A

Food Rating: 3/5

Price: $$

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!

 

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Strawberry Banana Chia Seed Pudding Recipe

I had an amazing vacation at Dominican Republic filled with all you can eat food, room service, bar, drinks, and naturally I ate EVERYTHING. I didn't hold anything back when I was on vacation!

Now that I'm back, I have to revert back to my healthier lifestyle and eating habits (and surprisingly I really missed it while I was stuffing myself with steak and alcohol everyday). I tried this chia seed pudding recipe for the first time and it was absolutely delicious! It's super simple, quick, and acts as a great filling and clean breakfast.

 All you need is: 5 strawberries, 1/2 a banana, 1/2 cup of almond milk, 2 tbsp of Daily Cleanse from North Coast Naturals, and 3 tbsp of chia seeds.

 Blend all of the ingredients besides the chia seeds (leave one strawberry to cut up in chunks if you like a getting chunks of fruit in your pudding).

Once blended, stir in the chia seeds and fresh strawberry chunks. Leave overnight in the fridge to let the chia seeds expand to its fullest (that's what makes this pudding so filling for breakfast).

I made this on two different occasions and it was delicious! Next time, I'm going to try it with mango and matcha to make a Mango Match Chia Seed Pudding so let me know in the comments if you want to see the recipe for that too!

Happy Eating!!

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Momo Sushi - Generous Portions

There are a couple of Momo Sushi locations in downtown Vancouver but I never thought they stood out as a Japanese restaurant I'd visit when craving sushi.

My friend really likes Momo so I tagged along hoping they reach my expectations.

We weren't that hungry so the four of us got a Love Boat ($35) meant for two people. The amount of food we got completely threw us off and really impressed us. The 'appies' include miso soup (not pictured) and green salad. The salad actually came with little pieces of raw salmon.

The chicken teriyaki that came with was huge!! This picture really doesn't do it justice because the amount of meat sizzling on that pan was truly enough for three stomachs.

Here's the sushi platter consisting of assorted sashimi, salmon nigri, tuna nigri, amaebi nigri, negitoro maki, and two california rolls. The fish tasted fresh and none of us got sick afterwards (multiple bloggers said they threw up after).

I can't possibly imagine how two people can finish the entire 'love boat' because the portions are ginormous. Four people can easily be satisfied with this amount which is perfect because it will come up to just $10 per person after tax. Cheap dinner for the win!

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 2.5/5
Price: $-$$

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!

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Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen & Sushi Bar - My Miku Alternative

I know, I know... almost every Vancouverite has been to Kishimoto at least once except for me. Misu recently recommended this restaurant saying it is one of her favourite sushi joints so it was the perfect time to go!

Kishimoto is known for their flame torched sushi made famous by another popular Vancouver restaurant called Miku. It's an incredibly decadent piece of box pressed sushi with charcoal infused mayo on top as flavouring. 

Instead of paying $15 at Miku, you can get the same roll at Kishimoto for $11.75!

Mochi Agedashi ($9.75) is essentially glutinous rice balls tossed in the fryer with tempura batter. The texture was super interesting, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, but that didn't totally justify the price. 

I've never heard of Fiddlehead Tempura ($9.95) before so I convinced our table to give it a try. Fiddleheads are young ferns and is often cooked as a vegetable side. This tempura was paired with matcha sea salt which gave it a nice earthy salt kick. Other than that, there wasn't much taste and was also quite expensive for ten bucks. What you see in this photo is all we got.

From left top and clockwise: Hamachili Roll ($8.95), Salmon Oshisushi ($11.75), Seafood Roll ($6.95), and Ebi Oshisushi ($11.75)

The Salmon Oshisushi was absolutely mouthwatering and tasted pretty much exactly like the one at Miku. The buttery smokey mayo is out of this world when combined with spicy jalapeno and raw salmon. This is a must try item at Kishimoto!

I enjoyed the Hamachili Roll as well but it definitely does not compare to the flame torched variety.

The Sashimi Salad ($10.95) comes in a big bowl so it's a nice item to share. There are pieces of octopus, chopped scallop, tuna, and salmon.

 The Chicken Karaage ($6.75) was nicely fried and came in five medium sized pieces. It was pretty good but nothing outstanding.

Overall, Kishimoto is an excellent alternative to the fine dining restaurants like Miku or Minami. You can get the same type of aburi sushi for a cheaper price and a more homey ambiance. Just be prepared to wait because they don't take resos and the restaurant is VERY small!

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $$$

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!

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Peaked Pies - Mother of Pies

Recently there has been an abundance of speciality pie shops in Vancouver (ie. Aussie Pie Guy, The Pie Hole,  The Pie Shoppe) and now Whistler has followed suit.

I did a quick search on Urbanspoon for places to eat in Whistler and found an interestingly high rating for a new place called Peaked Pies. They are located right by Elements and Splitz Grill.

Peaked Pies was created by Kerri & Alex who wanted to bring the traditional Aussie Meat Pie to Whistler patrons all year long. They use only the freshest ingredients and bake their pies in-house daily.

They have a wide variety of pies including Vegetable Medley, Beef Curry, Thai Chicken Satay, Steak Bacon & Cheese...etc. You can also choose to "peak" your pie (approx $3 more) to get a scoop of mash potatoes, mash peas, and a scoop of gravy on top.

Their pies looked lovely on display and the "Chunky Pepper Steak" totally called my name.

And of course, I peaked my pie!! Hehe.  The Chunky Pepper Steak Pie ($9.75) was filled with diced AA Canadian steak, onions, brown gravy, and a crap load of pepper!! Seriously if you are a pepper lover like me, you will NOT be disappointed.

It was my first time trying mushy green peas and boy was it delicious. The hearty combination of gravy, peas, mash potato, and steak brought back nostalgic memories and feelings of home.

I highly recommend Peaked Pies for lunch or a quick snack next time you travel to Whistler because their meat pies will blow your mind! Also make sure to get yours 'peaked' or else you won't get the full experience!

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 5/5
Price: $-$$

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Eating!

 

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Joe's Grill - All American Breakfast

Joe's Grill is a classic breakfast joint on West 4th and I've read many a post on their toasts, eggs, bacon..etc. I didn't understand what makes them stand out from all the rest so I decided to go with my coworkers Bing and Robot to find out.

To our surprise, there was a GIGANTIC line up in front of the restaurant. They told us it would be about 20 minutes or so but it turned out to be 45 minutes. Needless to say, we were hangry (hungry + angry) by the time we sat down.

They have their usual egg items, pancakes, bennys, and wraps.

Bing ordered one of the Omelettes ($9.35) and it consisted of three eggs, panfried potatoes, and toast. He thought it was pretty good.

Robot got the Mimosa and The Basic ($6.85) which had two eggs, bacon, panfried potatoes, and toast. She said it was pretty good and satisfied her bacon craving.

I felt like a big ol' steak for breakfast that day so I went all out and got the New York Steak ($13.95). It looks pretty good in the picture but the 6oz grade 'A' steak was actually very thin and slightly tough. I absolutely did not think it was worth the $16 (including tax and tips) because I can easily find something similar at a HK Style Cafe for $8.

After this visit, I still don't understand why Joe's Grill has endless line ups. Their breakfasts tasted okay with above average prices.

Service Rating: 2.5/5
Food Rating: 2/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 2/5

Happy Eating!

 

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