Tag Archives: good times

Food, Reviews

Ramen meets Casual Fine Dining: The New JINYA Ramen Bar on Robson

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The new JINYA at TELUS* Garden is like the old JINYA, except given a slick, glitzy, hi-tech makeover. (Review of the old JINYA here, for comparison. Old JINYA location now occupied by the new second location of Marutama Ramen.) This new location shows what’s possible when you have big ramen chain money behind it. The results are positive, and the crowds immense. For now.

* Fun fact: The TELUS style guide requires all instances of the word “Telus” to be spelled in ALLCAPS. So it’s “TELUS”, not “Telus”. This is also like how I’ve seen “JINYA” written in their menu and on their website. Just a note for all your writers and journalists out there… HAH!

WARNING: I use the word “whores” (in a gender-neutral way) in this post. If you’re easily offended, click here to go to Disney.com now.

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Food, Reviews

Lunch Quickie: Face-Melting Szechuan Cuisine at Szechuan Cuisine in Burnaby

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I’m exaggerating about how spicy the food was. If you avoid eating the actual chilies, the food is about medium spicy. If you DO choose to eat the chilies…well…that’s all on you. For me, the more painful part was my allergy to capsaicin (the compound in chilies that make them spicy). Whenever I eat even traces of capsaicin, I start sweating like this:

Because of this affliction, I’ve avoided a lot of the Hunan and Sichuan/Szechuan restaurants around town. But recent visits to Nine Dishes and Joojak has reignited (literally) my interest in this spicy cuisine. I really do enjoy the flavours and the experience — I just need to bring a headband and a towel next time.

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Food, Reviews

Brunch Quickie: 6 Course Brunch Pop-up by Juno Kim at Field & Social

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Man, I was really missing Juno Kim’s pop-up events. He used to do a Monday night dinner series at 33 Acres (which I wrote about here and here) but he stopped doing them in early 2016, so it’s been more than a year since I last had any of his food! So, between his stints catering food styling for iZombie, he’s started a monthly brunch pop-up at Field & Social downtown, so now’s your chance to once again eat his food. Tickets for this brunch series have been selling out pretty fast, so follow Juno on Instagram to learn about upcoming events.

I went to the second monthly brunch with Wicca and hungrySLIF. The word “brunch” doesn’t quite describe the food though. Eggs appear only once. (Actually there’s egg in two dishes.) There’s no bacon (not the typical kind, anyways), no hollandaise, no waffles, no stereotypical brunch elements. It’s really just a 6-course share plates meal with none of the overwrought greasy excesses of your typical brunch. When was the last time you got an amuse-bouche with your brunch?

Transparency Report: As I’ve said before, I always pay my own way. However, we were comped the beer and two cocktails. (Very much appreciated!) Tickets were $49 each, which includes tax and tip but excludes drinks and Eventbrite fee. We all paid full-price.

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Food, Reviews

#EatTheWall: Hungry 4 Change Syrian Refugee Fundraiser at UBC

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This is the second in my series of #eatthewall posts, dealing with cuisines from countries that the current American president hates.

AMS Refugee Relief at UBC and Afya Club at UBC put on a fundraising gala this past Saturday, April 1, 2017, to raise funds to help 4 Syrian refugees come to Canada. You can read more background information on the Facebook event page and crowdfunding page. The event was catered by Tayybeh, a group based in Vancouver, whose members are recent Syrian immigrants. They do catering and EXTREMELY popular pop-ups. This is my quick personal recap of the event, which was held at the AMS Student Nest at UBC.

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Food, Reviews

Lunch Quickie: Xian Food at Joojak

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The Kingsway and Joyce area has been a hotbed for Chinese food, with a few notable Northern Chinese restaurants (including some blow-your-head-off spicy Hunan food at Luckynoodle). I don’t have a lot of experience with Northern Chinese food, but I’m growing to like it, even tolerating the oiliness of some of the dishes. We had a really good first experience at Joojak and would definitely come again, and perhaps explore other Xian restaurants to see how they compare. We’re kinda spoiled for regional Chinese food in Vancouver/Richmond/etc and I’ve taken it for granted.

Side note about this area: There’s a new Peaceful Restaurant going in across the street from Joojak, right beside Goldtrain. Also, the new location of Hida Takayama Ramen (the ghetto superstar of Robson Public Market) is where Vanya used to be beside Royal Bank. Plus, I like the xiao long bao (soup dumplings) at Wang’s beside London Drugs. It’s a very foodie-worthy area.

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Food, Reviews

Dinner Quickie: Nine Dishes is back in Richmond BC

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The cult favourite Nine Dishes is back! Their former location on Kingsway in Vancouver closed down in February 2015 (I think) and was a favourite among those with an adventurous attitude towards dining. I went to the new location with a group of longtime Chowhound members to see if the magic was still there. Will it be a case of “Nein Dishes” at Nine Dishes? Will it hit the mark or will it be chabuduo (close enough)?

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Food, Reviews

A Flower and A Horse Walk Into A Bar: Yunnan Noodles at Flower & Horse in Spring

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The place with the poetic name, Flower & Horse in Spring, opened up in the old Spaghetèi space in November 2016. (Before Spaghetèi, this space was the original Benkei Ramen.) With less than six months under its belt, Flower & Horse in Spring has already won a Chinese Restaurant Awards award — one of five “Social Media Choice Awards” given out in 2017. Read the judge’s own thoughts on why he chose this place here.

A couple food-obsessed types and I went to check it out.

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Beer, Food, Reviews

East Van Mini-Crawl: Andina Brewing, The Pie Shoppe, and Luppolo Brewing Company

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We killed three birds with one stone on a sunny but cold Saturday. Wicca and I checked out the brand-new South American-themed Andina Brewing (opened March 1, 2017), the new larger location of The Pie Shoppe (opened August 2016), and the Italian-inspired Luppolo Brewing Co. (which opened in late October 2016). Just as with the foodie-worthy Fraserhood area (Fraser & Kingsway), the same “cluster effect” is happening in “Yeast Van” and is delivering some exciting eating and drinking opportunities. No soulless, corporate chains in this area (yet)! Andina and Luppolo, in particular, are bringing a much-needed cultural influence that’ll help make them stand out in this extremely crowded craft beer market.

NOTE: I must apologize for mispelling “Colombian” as “Columbian” throughout this post. It is now corrected. Thanks to grayelf for pointing this out to me 🙂

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Food, Reviews

Sunday Cider’s Cider Sabbath at The American + Schnitzel and Spätzle at Bestie in Chinatown

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The folks behind Chinatown-based currywurst purveyors Bestie have a side business called Sunday Cider. It makes me really happy to think that local BC apples are being pressed and fermented right within city limits (their production facility is near Clark Drive within walking distance of Strange Fellows). They held a one-off cider event on December 11, 2016 (on a Sunday of course) called “Cider Sabbath”:

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