Part II - Celebrating 4 Years of Togetherness

The last night on the Coast, we chose to go to Chaster's Dining Room at the Bonnie Brook Lodge for some fine dining. This place is rated as the number one restaurant on Trip Advisor in the area, and it was also highly recommended by our inn keeper. . We were hoping to sit outside had the weather been nice as their patio looks out to the ocean, but the rain came when we arrived to dinner. I guess the next best thing is a window seat. The proprietor of the place sat us down then she introduced herself. Observing the surroundings, the restaurant area was quite small and there was a set of stairs that must have led to the rental suites of the bed and breakfast. We were told the martinis made with either basil or ginger are supposed to be fabulous and that is what we ordered. I had the Basil Bomb, it was a burst of basil with a spicy after taste. I didn't take a picture of it because the green drink didn't look as appetizing as it tasted. Will had the ginger margarita. Shortly after, our first course came!

Double baked crab souffle was my first course. For some reason, I pictured it would look like a lobster bisque soup with the pastry baked on top you can get at the HK Cafes. As you can see it turned out nothing like that. The souffle was very light and fluffy (as it should be). I appreciated the fresh crab meat, it was none of that fake stuff.. The souffle sat atop a tasty crab bisque. It was just enough liquid to add flavor to the souffle. I liked that it was swimming in it. The tastes and texture of the bisque and souffle complimented each other nicely.

Will had the crab cakes and side salad. We liked the fact that his salad was topped with an edible flower. My purchasing of them at the farmer's market must have been foreshadowing what was to come! The crab cakes tasted good, they were quite dense and firm. Can't really go wrong with crab cakes!

For my main, what did I get? Duck of course! You know I could never say no to duck! . I was pretty happy with the portion (some places give you very few pieces). It came with berry au jus (blackerries and blueberries), shaped scalloped potatoes and seasonal vegetables. My meal was really enjoyable, and this restaurant is definitely up there with some of my favorite duck places.

Will had the lamb rack. The pieces were french tipped making the presentation quite beautiful. The portion was quite large as well. Since he's not picky about his food, he would say that everything tastes good. I tried some as well, I'm not too much into lamb as I feel that the taste is too gamey. However, the meat on this rack was so extremely tender, and it tasted like butter melting in your mouth! As for the gamey taste? It was more than just bearable. It wasn't too gamey at all, and the herbs made it taste so good. I stole more than just one bite!

I didn't save space for dessert, but there is not such thing as no space for sweets when it is Will we are talking about. After browsing at the sweet offerings, he picked the Sticky Date Toffee Cake. It was topped with caramel sauce, pineapples and raspberries served with a side of vanilla ice cream. I thought it was going to be really sweet. I had a few bites and I was pretty content. The toffee cake was moist and it goes so well with that caramel sauce. We like toffee cake! With our bellies full, we drove up the dark windy road back to the Deer Fern B&B and fell into our food coma.

The sun decided to join us on our last morning before the departure. 9am on the dot, Kathi rolled in our breakfast. She told us that they had baked the fresh bread so we would have whole wheat toast to go with our egg fritata (spinach, cheese, mushroom).

It was a hearty breakfast. It filled us up. Just like all of other breakfasts we've had prior at this inn, it was good. Unfortunately, Will was hoping for another sweet type of breakfast over the savory type. Better luck next time! With breakfast finished, it was time to get packing for the ferries. Overall, the experience on the coast was a delicious and fun filled adventure. We look forward to coming back again next year!

Celebrating 4 Years of Togetherness - Sunshine Coast

We boarded the ferry at Horshoe Bay after work on Friday and was headed towards Gibsons for the weekend. We stayed at a fabulous little Bed & Breakfast last year and we decided that we would return to the Deer Fern B&B.

When we arrived, it was relatively late, and were asked to let ourselves in as per the email. Upon our arrival last year, they had a little sign that greeted at the door that showed us the entrance to our accommodations. As this was our second year, there was no signage, but we did find this note.

It was just a greeting to welcome us, and it told us that she will serving Will's most anticipated breakfast at 9am. So sweet of her! We retired to bed early as we knew the next day was going to be filled with excitment!

Day 2

Bright and early, the sun shone through and we were greeted by Kathi (the inn keeper), and her little cart full of breakfast for us. Breakfast was enjoyed with a wonderful view.

Kathi's cooking is absolutely wonderful! She prepared fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee and tea along with a breakfast burrito (hash browns, sun-dried tomatoes and eggs) and a hot out of the oven apple crumble!

After devouring that much needed breakfast, we were off on our adventure. Our plan was to ride in to Gibson's landing, have lunch and explore what is an and around there. As soon as we left the steps of our house, we were met with grueling hills. For a newb rider like myself, I was not ready for it. I'm not going to lie, I have to admit I did have to walk up some of them. They seemed never ending!! However, the ride into the landing was rewarding as there were some nice views of the ocean.

 I'm not sure how long the ride was, but it seemed forever due to riding so much incline. The weather was quite hot out as well. I think it reached about 25 degrees. When we arrived to Gibson's Landing, it was time for a beer.

 

We had some bevies at Molly's Reach. This place is supposed to be famous. It was featured on the show "The Beachcombers." It must have been before our time because it didn't ring a bell for us at all.

Fish tacos and a side salad was shared. It was an alright meal. I didn't have much expectations for this place as I read that they're actually famous for their pies? Don't remember where I read it from, but I should have may be stuck to their "famous fish and chips." Refueled, it was time to continuing exploring. Not much exploring was actually done this day, I was defeated by yet another giant hill and could not wait to return to the inn. I had to take a break, I thought I was going to get sun stroke while conquering that giant hill by bike and feet. On the way home, there was a bike store called Spin Cycles. We stopped in there to ask about good routes to ride around. Unfortunately, there are more mountain bike trails then ones meant for road bikes.

Will still had it in him, so he continued to explore. When he came back, he convinced me to take a ride down to the beach with him. There were still hills, but the ride was much easier in comparison to what we had done earlier in the day.

 

The beach was quite nice and relaxing. We sat there for a bit, and enjoyed the slow paced life there before we rode home to prepare to go out for dinner.  

I have to make note that B&B we stayed at is really wonderful. It's kept immaculately clean. It's nestled in the forest with a view (as you can see from above). There are woodpeckers that live up in their trees. You know Woody, the Woodpecker? His type of species! We actually saw him, but Woody was too fast and we could not snap a pic. Overall, the place is just beautiful and very welcoming. When we came back from our adventures we had a quick chat with Kathi. We found out that she used to cycle as well, she did mountain biking. She was a plethora of information! What a surprise. It's so nice to chat with her, in fact, she is so warm and welcoming, it almost feels as if we were just staying over at friend's house!

For dinner, we wanted simple dining, we went to Gramma's Pub back in the landing. We ate here last year and we remember the view is nice and the food is priced well, so that's why we chose this place. Will can never say no to calamari when he sees that on the menu, consequently that was our chosen starter.

The starter was pretty mediocre, you can't really go wrong with frying them up and serving it with tzatziki. I was determined to have fish tacos, as the ones we had for lunch just didn't cut it for me. 

These fish tacos were great!! It was beer battered halibut, served on a soft shell tortilla with sweet chilli sauce, mangoes and crushed cashews. The mangoes really complimented the fish well and it was certainly different that the other types of fish tacos I've had. 

One word to describe this other than good would be "innovative." The side salad was alright, nothing out of the ordinary, but I have to give them props for their house made honey vinaigrette. It was a good flavor for those types of vegetables. 

Will had the special of the night. He is a quantity type of person, so this suited him perfectly. His dinner included steak and prawns, served with fries and salad. As you can see, there is so much fries, that you can't even see where the steak is hiding. No complaints from him.

Day 3

When we woke up this Sunday morning, the sun wasn't with us. The weather called for rain. It was cloudy outside, but we figured we'll have breakfast first then see where the day takes us. Once again at 9, Kathi came with the goodies.

She actually gave us some options the day before. We went with the french toast over the pear pancakes. Now this isn't just any french toast! It's topped with blueberry sauce, and there are fine sprinkles of chocolate underneath so it just melts into the sauce as you eat it! We had a quick chat with her when she came to take the cart away. She figured the rain may not come, taking her word we decided to head northwestwards on our bikes. We wanted to see what's in Robert's Creek. The ride took about an hour before we reached our destination. The ride along the highway was hilly again! I successfully made it there without walking my bike at all! There was one particular hill, which neither Will nor I thought I could make, but with a bit of motivation and telling myself that I could do it (literally, because I had to say it to myself out loud) I made it!! I think most of it is because disembarking my bike on the side of the highway would be a bit embarrassing. 

 

In Robert's Creek, we ate at the Gumboot Restaurant. Looking around us, everyone looked like they were outdoorsy people or hippies. You could definitely tell that we were not locals. Browsing through their menu, nothing really popped up at me. I don't know why I ordered the Portabello Mushroom Quesadilla.  For those who know me, I need my meat. In the end, I did not regret ordering this because it was so full of flavor and it is by far the best vegetarian dish I've ever had. They had pesto in there, I think pesto makes EVERYTHING good. This tasted so good that I'm going to attempt and try to make this at home. I think Will had a burger? I don't remember. 

There was a farmer's market when we were there. We saw some pretty interesting things. As I mentioned before, this place was filled with hippies, so the services and products that were being offered were quite interesting to say the least. There were people getting massages, people learning yoga, some whole foods place and of course a lot of fresh produce. I bought a bag of edible flowers for $2. Not usually something part of my diet, but when I went to eat at Fraiche, there was this tiny blue flower that tasted like oyster. I asked the seller if his blue flowers were similar to those. He flashed me a look of confusion. I guess he didn't know what I was talking about. His flowers though, were equally interesting. The giant red orange one, when you bite in to them, they taste like starfruit, then after your mouth is overcome by this peppery spiciness! It was so weird. The other little small blue and purple flowers had a slight tint of sweetness to them. The yellow petals tasted like nothing. 

We then saw a lady with a full table of little packets. I found the one in the picture above to be most intriguing. It's a protein shake made with all raw, vegan ingredients such as cacoa powder, hemp seeds, carob root and etc. Some of the things on the ingredients list had us scratching our head, but the most funny part is that if you read close enough, it says this small packet is "infused and resonating with the highest intention and frequencies of 7 quartz crystal singing bowls, medicine flutes and song for the nourishing and healing of all your chakra systems." This was pretty hilarious to us, all we could imagine was that while making this, they must have been dancing around like fairies who were singing and dancing to the mix of this. I will let you guys know if my chakra gets centered after consumption. In the picture, you see the Drosera complex? I got that at the health store, also bought from another fairy (lol), she told me that this homeopathic remedy can help me with my cough. I've had this annoying cough for over seven weeks, so I'm pretty open to trying anything. I got this little container of 80 white little pellets for $7.99... may be it will work.. may be it won't. We shall see. 

After visiting that interesting little town of Robert's Creek, we rode back towards the B&B before the rain came. We went to the Blackfish Pub for some craft beers then it was time to shower and get ready for dinner. I will write about the dinner experience in the next blog....

To be continued....

 

Bike Challenge Day 1 and the Blue Canoe

Yesterday,  after kickboxing, I was telling the boys at the gym about my new bike since I'm super excited about my new ride.  My buddy, Mike, he knows me pretty well and he thinks that this bike novelty will soon die down and the cold will soon impede me on my bike adventures. He's betting that it won't be long before I complain about the cold so he made me a bet. He said that if I can get TEN rides in before quiting for the season due to the cold, he will buy me dinner! I am determined to win! I spent quite a bit of time researching on the apparel that I will need. And today, after work, I could not wait to hope on my bike, go for an adventure and get day 1 of the challenge down!

We first rode to my work to see how long the ride would be. Maybe.. just maybe.. one of these days I will start riding to work. Afterwards, we swung by the gym to make an appearance then we were off to the dyke. The picture above is taken at a place where the locals call "Alien Landing." It's just off the dyke and it extends on to the water. Great spot in the summer time to watch the plans and just to enjoy a bit of nature. Will's friend joined us shortly after, and he showed us this trail named Crabapple. The trail goes through the side roads from the dike and in to Steveston. By the time we reached Steveston, it was dinner time. What better stop than the Blue Canoe?

 

We love Blue Canoe for the craft beers, their menu and most of all, their patio! their current seasonal brew for the summer is the Summer Weizen. If you haven't had it yet, go there and try it (or buy some from the liquor store). It's refreshing, made with love, and you can taste a hint of apricot. Definitely, the beer of choice for the summer season!

 

I ordered the crab and avocado salad. It came with a side of fries and salad. There were sundried tomatoes in the salad, I LOVE THOSE!

 The sandwich was nicely stacked. I can appreciate a well stacked sandwich. It's the worst when you bite in to your meal and the sandwich/burger falls apart or all the ingredients squeezes out. The slice of cucumber added a bit of freshness and I liked that there wasn't too much mayo or sauce! Served on sour dough, the sandwich came together very nicely!

 

Will had the Waterfront burger. He didn't ask me if I wanted to try it. But I'm sure it was big, juicy and delicious. You can always bet that a meal at the Blue Canoe will always be fabulous. It's our favorite spot in Richmond. Without a doubt, we go there a lot (that's probably an understatement)  

We watched the sun go down and hit the road. It certainly gets a bit chilly after sun down! I will need to invest in a pair of pants if I'm going to win this challenge, or I could just keep to riding during day time only. This after work adventure has tired me out... after a bit more online shopping.. it's time to hit the sack. I bid all you readers adieu and a have a good night!

Jethro's Fine Grub and Bike Hunting!

Will started getting in to cycling at the beginning of summer. It all first started out with a Canadian Tire bike. As time passed and after numerous commutes to work, he realized the mountain bike he had bought was not going to suffice. He started researching and looking in to something that would better suit his needs. He decided on something called Cyclocross. I had no idea what that was, and just let him do his own thing. This type of bike is good for the road and riding on trails. So our bike hunt begins. He first stopped at Different Bikes located on West Broadway. They had a range of bikes, but seeing that was our first stop, he wasn't ready to settle. We ended up at Cove Bikes in North Vancouver, and there he found his new ride - Jake the Snake.

 

Now that, Will's got his, we figured may be I should get a bike too. It would be a new activity we would do together. May be.. just may be.. If I liked it enough then I would commute to work too. We asked Chaz, the guy who helped us and no luck. We looked again at Different Bikes, but no luck there either. Bikes for small people are almost impossible to find. I was pretty upset and figured that I would never find something that fits so I should just live it. However, the second time we were back at Cove Bikes, we saw something that I fell in love with! 

Love, comes with a price! This was a 2011 Kona Dr. Fine. And what a fine bike it is! It's super light since it's made of all carbon fibre and the selling price was originally $3000!! It was on sale, but the new selling price was far from justifiable. So sadly.. we leave.. no bike for me. We take a look at at Bicycle Sport Pacific next door, they suggested a Cannondale, but even that was too big. Disheartened we go home.

With a bit of researching and a few phone calls around to several bike shops in the city, we saw light at the end of the tunnel. Hope was revived and we were going to dedicate this Sunday to bike hunting. With so many places we wanted to visit, what is better than an early start with a good breakfast? A friend of mine took me to Jethro's Fine Grub for breakfast a few months back, it's close to our first stop so that's where we decided to start off the day. This place was featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives. We expected it to be busy so we aimed to get there at 830. To our failure, we woke up late and got there half hour later than anticipated. The groups of people were already huddled in their groups outside, waiting to be called!

Not sure how long the wait was, but once we were seated, we were ready to eat. We took a gander at the menu while we waited. I thought Will was going to go with the chocolate banana stuffed french toast or something along those lines. To my surprise he was craving eggs benny. He ordered the one with salmon, it came with county hash. 

 

His salmon eggs benny was good, but definitely much smaller compared to the other items they offered on their menu. I ordered "The Cobb" it was filled with turkey, scallions, tomato, avocado and blue cheese. It was also served with a choice of of toast and country hash. I picked rye. 

 When my dish came, I was pleasantly surprised at the size of my meal. And without a doubt, I knew Will would be eye-ing my leftovers (he just finished the rest of it as I typed up this blog!). Fully satisfied we were off on bike hunt. I was determined to find a bike today!

 

First place we stopped at was Dunbar Bikes. I had called them earlier in the week and asked them about bikes suitable for my size. They told me they had a few in stock and they were right. Unfortunately, no road bikes were small enough to fit me there, but we did come across a commuter bike with an XXS frame and straight bar. 

 The DeVinci Wellington is a hybrid road bike. The one that fits wasn't set up yet. They asked us to come back in an hour or two and it would be built. I took it out for a spin. It's been awhile since riding a bike, it felt pretty quick. Much faster than the mountain bike I had at home. The gear switching takes some getting used to. I don't like to settle, so we were off to look at more bike stores. We stopped at this particular place in the west end. They must cater to ballers. Everything in that store seemed quite pricey and first off, the sales associate tried to sell me one of their pricier bikes. Hahah for a newb, I really don't need something that's all carbon fibre.. and most of all I don't need a bike that doesn't fit. Considering that I have been looking at bike frames that are 44cm or smaller, this guy told me that the 50cm bike fits "perfectly." I don't know that much about bikes, but I'm pretty sure not being about to touch the ground is NOT a safe or fitted to my needs. So it was off to the next stop we go. 

 Dizzy Cycles was the last stop. They told me when I called earlier in the week that they had several bikes available in my size. It sounded very promising and I just had a feeling this is where we will find success. My feeling was right!! I went home with my new bike!! It fits perfectly! It's a road bike, and I can touch the ground. I know most of you must be wondering why I'm so excited. This excitement stems from weeks of unsuccessful hunting. It seemed so hopeless that I thought the only thing that would fit was a custom bike! Finding this new toy made me ecstatic! I must thank Bob Clapp at the store for being so helpful. I am now a proud owner of a Specialized Dolce Elite!! He truly made our day. I'm sure he gave Will some tips too about winter riding. We are prepared for more adventures!!

Freshly geared up, we rode in to Steveston to hit up our favorite spot, The Blue Canoe. For those who know us, we're always here when the sun is shining. What better way to end the day and quench your thirst with a craftbeer on the patio?! I would have taken pictures of our favorite sesame soy drummettes and the fish and chips we had, but after the ride and the long day, we were starving so picture taking totally did not cross my mind.

Well, that's our day! Another adventure awaits tomorrow! I'm sure we'll be out on riding around and enjoying the last bit of summer before the sun leave us.

Funny bell ringer I saw

FIRST Blog! Review of Kiriri

With all of our gastronomic experiences and adventures, I figured I should start blogging again so we could share all the places we have been and to remember what we have done. A blog would be more appropriate then just simply uploading all our pictures on Facebook. So here goes the first post.

KIRIRI - Aug 31, 2012.

Earlier in the week, I made reservations to do Omakase at Kiriri. I've heard numerous reviews about this little Japanese restaurant. Despite the fact that place is 1.6km away from home, we have never been. It's tucked away in the corner of Garden City and Blundell in Richmond. For those who are wondering what "Omakase" is, it means "I'll leave it to you." In other words, its chef's choice as to what he is going to serve you. You must go in with an open mind and you literally have no idea what you are going to eat until it comes to your table. The menu starts at $50 per person upwards. The price you pay will determine the amount of dishes you get to try, the quality of the sashimi, the creativity of the dishes and how many things will be served to you that is not listed on the menu. We are adventurous and I'm picky about my fish, so we picked something that is about mid range, $75 each. If you do choose to do the Omakase as well, make sure you call ahead of time before the date you intend to go, that way, it allows the chef enough time to get inspired before determining what he is going to prepare for your dinner.

Appetizer Tray

Knowing that we were going to stuff ourselves with more than 8 different items at the very least, we decided to be healthy and walk there. Upon arrival, we noticed this authentic Japanese restaurant was very small. We were greeted and seated at a table near the sushi bar. I would have preferred to be seated at the bar so we could interact with the sushi chefs and see what they are doing. Looking around, the decor was simple, in fact. I don't really remember anything on their yellow-orange walls. We ordered a large Asahi to quench our thirst. For those who know us well, alcohol always enhances the experience! We were told our appetizers will be on their way shortly. From my previous omakase experience, I expected them to bring out one dish at a time. But to my surprise, the first SEVEN things came out all at once on our wooden tray. The display of each item, visually was quite simple yet neat. Our variety of appies included: egg and cucumber salad, watercress in a cold soup broth, uni, pressed sushi, monk fish liver, sea cucumber, some type of sashimi (I forgot the name of the fish, but it comes from the fatty belly part of the fish), and tamago wrapped unagi.

I dove right in, I was hungry and ready to eat. I tried the egg and cucumber salad first. Just like regular egg salad, nothing out of the ordinary, however, the cucumber was quite crisp adding some texture to the dish.

The watercress was next. I wasn't really expecting much, actually for some reason I anticipated it to tasted like spinach swirling in soup, like runny gomae. After tasting it, it was completely the opposite! It was so fresh and refreshing, it's the perfect appetizer for a hot summer night. The cold broth that it swirled in had a very delicate flavor, just light enough to compliment the watercress. 

The pickled sea cucumber was next. When I first looked at it, I felt a bit apprehensive because it looked like Takowasabi (octopus in wasabi), Will LOVES that stuff, but unfortunately, I don't share the same feeling. The sea cucumber had a firm, chewy texture. It tasted a lot more better than I had anticipated, it was quite enjoyable indeed. At this point, we were both pretty happy with our meal.

Up next was the sashimi in vinaigrette like sauce. It was very light, it reminded me of negitoro, it must have been the green onions it was topped with. The freshness of the fish was amazing, and it's a very important quality to me. Uni was also served on this appetizer tray, this is another one of Will's favorite and one that I'm not so sure about. The last time I tried it, I didn't really enjoy it but ate it anyway (to be polite), I figured I should give it another chance. The uni sat on this foamy flavored substance inside a clam shell. Will said to slurp it one and its a texture thing. I did as he said and to my surprise, it was really good, but it still felt a bit on the slimey side. I tried not to think too much about it, or I might not like the idea of it anymore. 

Next up was the tamago wrapped uni. I rarely ever order tamago, but how this was served was really good. We wondered why restaurants don't do this more often!! 

Once the appetizers were done, the sashimi came out! Again, it was served all at once and as you can see there was about seven varieties again. There was an assortment of salmon, tuna, amaebi, tai, aji, geoduck, and hamachi. As I mentioned before, freshness is important and they certainly met that requirement! The presentation was done very well. Everything tasted wonderful, but geoduck made us laugh. As we are used to eating that thinly sliced, we were not prepared for the claw! As visually not appealing as it was, it still tasted good. I think we still prefer the thinly sliced version. We had a good laugh over this before we finally bit in to it.

 

The next thing served was mushroom soup. This is the most creatively served soup we've ever had! It came in a little tea pot. You are supposed to pour the soup out into the little cup and sip, then eat the contents inside.

At this point, we were starting to get full, and we started to wonder when the food was going to stop coming. But just as thought came, so did the next course. This was one of the dishes Will enjoyed the most. It's simply fried Japanese pumpkin tempura with carrot, mushroom and Chinese broccoli (which looked like gai lan to me). It wasn't in regular tempura sauce, it sat in some type of ponzu. I think the pumpkin was baked before it was fried, which made the colour and texture really good!

 

The food continues to come. On the table next was sake marinated black cod with shimenji mushrooms. I'm pretty picky about my cooked fish and there are only a few that I truly enjoy. With that being said, I can definitely add black cod to my list of fish I'd eat. It has this buttery taste to it, and I think that is what makes it so enjoyable!

 

Seeing that we could barely hold in anymore food, our server walks over and advises that there are only two courses left. A bit sad that dinner is coming to an end but a bit relieved as we had no more space. Cold Japanese udon was served. This wasn't the regular thick noodle you'd normally see, but this was thin and flat, it reminded me of rice or pho noodles. 

I think the noodles were cooked in green tea. It's definitely different and a change from the regular zaru soba.

Finally, the last course was desert. We were asked what flavor ice cream we wanted. At first, there was a thought of disappointment thinking "What? A plain scoop of ice cream is all I'm getting after this spectacular dinner?" I went for the green tea, and Will had sesame. Luckily, what was served was not what I had thought. Dinner did end spectacularly with the ice cream amitsu (not sure how to spell it right).

 

The ice cream was served in this tea cup. It sat on top of some fresh fruits, some red bean paste and some type of gelatinous material. It reminded me of the Chinese three bean dessert with the red beans and jack fruit and etc.  It was absolutely delicious. This is another thing Will said he would come back for. Lucky for him, this is on their regular menu.

Having eaten 18 different things for dinner, I can say that we were truly satisfied. The service was very friendly and the food was absolutely amazing. In comparison to Will's last omakase experience at Miku, he actually enjoyed this one much more. Will we come back again? Definitely! Next time, we will take a gander and their regular menu. I have faith that it will be as good as chef's choice!