Lucky's Doughnuts - Living in Sugar Heaven.

Lucky's Doughnuts have been on my 'to-visit' list for a really long time now but I never found an occasion to purposely drive 30 minutes for donuts. Luckily, my friends Rae and FW also wanted to give it a try so we came here bright and early for breakfast. Nothing like a sugar high at 10 in the morning.

Lucky's Doughnuts is located inside 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters on the corner of Main and 13th.

The interior has a cool rustic feel with cool wooden finishes. We sat at this large communal table. Communal tables have been the trend lately, hasn't it?

Even if you come with no intention of ordering a donut, it'll be hard to resist this display case full of delicious goodies. Especially since you have to walk pass it to pay at the cashier. They have a Coffee and Donut special in which you get a regular coffee and a regular plain donut for 4 bucks.

Rae opted for the PB & J Donut ($3.75) which is essentially a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but in donut form. It is filled with strawberry jam in all four corners and dipped in a peanut butter glaze. 

They make all of their donuts from scratch including the filling and it is pretty apparent when you taste it because everything just tastes so...fresh. However, by the end of it, Rae was suffering from a sugar coma.

I ordered the Macchiato ($3) and it was definitely not what I expected. Either I got the wrong drink (the barista did call out 'Espresso Macchiato' instead of just 'Macchiato') or I am just oblivious to the world of coffee. Anyways, the espresso macchiato was strong but very drinkable. Highly recommended for an energy boost.

Once I saw this, I could not NOT have it. Introducing... the Creme Brulee Donut ($3.75). 

It is a yeast based donut jam packed (and I'm not kidding) with creamy vanilla bean custard. They crust the top of the donut with sugar and then torch it to achieve a creme brulee effect. If you like creme brulee, you HAVE to get this donut. Trust me. Eating the caramelized sugar top made me so incredibly happy that I didn't even care about the sugar induced food coma it put me in.

FW ordered yet another dessert inspired donut, Tiramisu ($3.75). It is filled with a coffee cream and topped with what I believe to be mascarpone cheese glaze and cocoa powder. It tasted pretty much like a Tiramisu but with no detectable hint of liquor.

Based on these reasons:

• these donuts are truly gourmet. Can't compare to Timmy Ho's donuts
• pretty price for what they are
• great place to chill or have coffee with friends

Service Rating: 3.5/5

Food Rating: 4/5

Price: $

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://www.funnymemes.com/funny-memes-mayonnaise-donuts/

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Zucchini Pasta (With Tomato Meat Sauce) - Oh Yes.

Have you ever been on a low carb diet? Or tried to avoid eating any type of pasta, rice, or bread for dinner?  Me too. Here is a recipe that might make your 'healthy eating' a little easier. I stumbled upon this tip while surfing the net and I couldn't wait to try it with Meta Knight! This recipe is essentially Tomato Meat Sauce with Pasta. Except you sub the pasta for zucchini.

It sounds odd right? How can zucchini replace pasta? It doesn't even remotely taste the same. However, it surprisingly did the trick and acted like refreshing fettuccine. 

This is what the final product looks like. We forgot to squeeze the excess water from our zucchini pasta so our sauce was a little runny. 

1. First off, brown your meat in a skillet. We chose lean turkey but you can substitute it with any type of ground meat.

2. When it is 90% done, transfer the meat to a bowl and drain the oil. 

3. Cut your zucchini lengthwise in half. Using a sharp vegetable peeler, peel it into thin strips. 

4. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and throw the zucchini in there to cook for roughly 2-3 minutes. All you are doing is blanching it to make it soft. Check/taste the zucchini pasta often to avoid overcooking it. Once you have drained the zucchini pasta, squeeze it lightly to remove any excess water. 

5. Pour a jar of low sodium tomato sauce (Ragu is a pretty good option) into the skillet. Toss in fresh tomato chunks, excess zucchini (cut in chunks), and ground meat from earlier into the skillet.

6. Once the sauce is thoroughly heated and bubbles begin to surface, turn off the heat and serve over cooked zucchini pasta!

That's it! This recipe is super easy, healthy, delicious, and best of all, there is no wheat, gluten, or rice! So eat away!

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Ingredients:
1 package of ground turkey or any meat you want
2-3 medium sized zucchini
1 1/2 cups of fresh tomato (cut in chunks)
1 jar of Low Sodium Tomato Sauce
a pinch of salt (for the pot of water)

1. First off, brown your meat. in a skillet. We chose lean turkey but you can substitute it with any type of ground meat.
2. When it is 90% done, transfer the meat to a bowl and drain the oil.
3. Cut your zucchini lengthwise in half. Using a sharp vegetable peeler, peel it into thin strips. 
4. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and throw the zucchini in there to cook for roughly 2-3 minutes. All you are doing is blanching it to make it soft. Check/taste the zucchini pasta often to avoid overcooking it. Once you have drained the zucchini pasta, squeeze it lightly to remove any excess water. 
5. Pour a jar of low sodium tomato sauce (Ragu is a pretty good option) into the skillet. Toss in fresh tomato chunks, excess zucchini (cut in chunks), and ground meat from earlier into the skillet.
6. Once the sauce is thoroughly heated and bubbles begin to surface, turn off the heat and serve over cooked zucchini pasta!

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://9gag.com/gag/4810693

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Hanok Korean Restaurant- Come for their Lunch Specials!

With so many choices for Korean food in Vancouver, it is hard to choose which restaurant to go to. If you happen to be in Richmond and for some reason craving Korean food, I would highly suggest Hanok Korean Restaurant.

They are located in the middle of the Richmond food district (aka Alexandra Road) and are offering some pretty great deals for lunch.

They took over Mongolian Grill and renovated the entire interior.

I've been here for lunch and dinner and I would defintiely recommend coming here for lunch over dinner because their lunch specials are really affordable. For $8.99, you can choose from ten entrees and a side of either japchae, dukkboki, kimbap, or korean pancake.

They have a lot of classic authentic Korean dishes like bibimbap, sundubujiggae (soft tofu soup), bulgolgi soup, pork bone soup...etc.

They provide classic banchans (complimentary side dishes) like seaweed, kimchi, and sweet potatoes but the difference between them and other restaurants is that they do not skimp on the serving. As well, when our potatoes were looking empty, the waitress went to get us more without us even having to ask!

I got the Bulgolgi in an Earthenware Pot w/ Dukkboki ($8.99) as my side. At first when I read this I thought it said in an 'earthworm bowl'. Scared the bejeezes out of me. :P

Anyways, the broth is a actually more sweet than savoury which is the authentic way of preparing bulgolgi soup. It tastes vastly similar to the ones I had in Korea so I deem this to be authentic in my non-expert opinion. It had TONS of beef and a good amount of glass noodles and veggies. It also comes with a bowl of rice.

Dukkboki is essentially stir fried rice cakes in a spicy red pepper Korean sauce (gochujang). The portion was generous considering it is 'free' and a normal entree portion of dukkboki here is over $10. It's also quite spicy anyways so having it in small amounts is good enough for me.

The Soft Tofu Soup (Choice of Beef/Seafood/Kimchi) ($8.99) was very delicious as well and is similar to the tofu soup from "House of Tofu Soup" down the road.

It may look like a small portion but it actually fills you up quite well if you eat it with a bowl of rice.

Also, you can't forget about the sides. The quality of the Japchae completely surprised me as there was an abundance of onions, beef, black fungi, red peppers, green peppers, and glass noodles! A lot of restaurants do a mediocre job of this dish but you could tell they put a lot of effort into making these sides here. Two thumbs up!

Based on these reasons:

• authentic Korean food
• lunch specials are super affordable and leaves you satiated
• allocated parking lot in front
• consistent quality every time I've visited

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3pg7w4/

 

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Heirloom Vegetarian - Upscale Veggie Food.

I've had my eye on Heirloom for a few months now. Yesterday, NatureGal and I finally made it happen and dined there on an early summer evening.

Heirloom is a vegetarian restaurant that also serves up vegan and gluten free items.

It is located on Granville and 12th. There are a lot of parking spaces around (I found some free parking spots on 11th) so its pretty easy to get there.

They recently changed their menu so some of the items that we wanted to get were no longer on the menu. As well, on the day we went, their deep fryer was out so we couldn't order the Avocado Frites or Pakoras... BOTH of which we were planning to get!! :'(

I wanted to get the Blue Lemonade but they were out of blue algae crystals so they changed it to a Hibiscus Rooibos Lemonade ($5) instead. The drink was made with organic maple syrup, lemon juice, hibiscus rooibos tea, and sparkling water. I found the taste to be a bit bland but it was indeed refreshing.

One thing I really did not like about Heirloom was that their appetizers were essentially the same price as their entrees. This appetizer called Heirloom Dip was $14.75, which in retrospect was way too expensive. For 15 bucks I could get a lot more in quantity without sacrificing quality at places like Foundation or Nuba.

Nevertheless, we ordered it and it came with black bean hummus, sundried tomtato and olive tapenade, sliced apples, carrot sticks, and sangak chips. I wasn't a fan of the tapenade but the hummus was pretty nice.

Next up was the Mushrooms ($12.50) .This was by far the best dish of the night! The combination of coconut cream, fennel, garlic, dry cider, and shiso really showcased the earthy flavours of the wild mushrooms. The walnut onion baguette was also nice and toasty which made for a terrific fungi scooper.

Although it looks mighty colourful and visually appealing, the Spring Rolls ($11.75) were surprisingly disappointing. The vermicelli took up most of the spring roll and it was way undercooked. Also, the sweetness of the yellow peppers threw me off a bit and didn't work quite well with the peanut sauce.

Last but not least is the Chili ($16.50) and it came with basmati rice, tortilla chips, and a side salad. This was quite enjoyable but it was not stellar enough to warrant the price.

Based on these reasons:

• nice place to take a date to
• vegetarian, gluten free, and vegan options
• easy to find and tons of parking spots around
• way too expensive for what it is

Service Rating: 3/5

Food Rating: 3/5

Price: $$-$$$$ ($20-40)

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/vegan%20meme

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The Red Wagon - Jack Daniel's Maple Syrup...Enough Said.

I feel like I am probably the last food blogger in Vancouver to try the ever-so-famous "Pulled Pork Pancakes with JD Maple Syrup" from Red Wagon after having seen it on Triple D's (I'll tell you what it is later).

It sounds like a crazy and odd combination, but people have been raving about these heart attack inducing pancakes for a long time now so the claim has to be somewhat true.

Meta Knight and I got to The Red Wagon Cafe at 1:30pm hoping to catch the end of the lunch rush. Little did we know, the line up NEVER stops.

I liked how there was a red wagon drawing on the side of the restaurant. Very cute.

So, Triple D's stands for "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" which is a TV show on the Food Network that features Guy Fieri and his food adventure across North America to find the coolest diners and restaurants around. He did a segment on the Red Wagon and his logo/imprint is now sprayed on the wall for all to witness.

You can check out the Red Wagon clip on Triple D's here. After watching how they make their pork belly, I don't think I will ever attempt to consume it.

This was the Avocado, Tomato and Goat Cheese Benny ($10.25) and to be honest, this was not what we expected. I expected large thick slices of tomato and avocado on top of the english muffin instead of mashed avocado and tomato paste so that threw me off a bit. As well, we both thought the strong tomato paste overpowered the entire dish.

This is the dish we both have been waiting for... the Pulled Pork Pancakes with JD Maple Syrup ($13).

These pancakes were honestly the bomb. The minute we got this we could instantly smell the JD but the taste was strong without being overbearing. The ultra thick and fluffy pancakes were perfect syrup soakers because by the end of it, all of the maple goodness was infused into the pancakes.

The meal was not cheap because it did come up to $14 per person. But it is not any more expensive than a brunch at White Spot or Boston Pizza. The bill comes with two little candies.

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

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAGNET-Humor-Fridge-Funny-Pig-PULLED-PORK-/251109666233

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