Terra Breads

Terra Breads is gem hidden in the vicinity of the Olympic Village. I always think that this area isn’t very consumer-geared. By that I mean it’s all offices on one side and homes on another. There isn’t a lot of retail stores around. But I guess this works for them because the people who work in this area appreciate having a haven like Terra Breads.

Located on West 5th by Ontario Street, Terra Breads serves soups, sandwiches, salads, coffees, and pastries for a higher price than your average soup and sandwich stop. But for good reason; their stuff is actually pretty good.

Only one type of soup is available each day; some of which include white bean prosciutto, green pea and mint, black bean and more. I guess this helps people in the decision-making process; if you like the soup, you get it. If you don’t, come back another day.

The savory focaccia works the same way. You only get a selection on certain days. But they do have the cheese and herb focaccia which you can get everyday.

They’re also a bakery; check out the loaves of bread at the background.

Pretty good selection of desserts and pastries.

I should have been a lot more diverse with my selection, but I found that I gravitate towards the paninis and the desserts. From the selection, I’ve tried the Roast Lamb Panini, the Pulled Pork Panini, the Roasted Wild Salmon Panini, and the White Bean with Prosciutto Soup. Even though it doesn’t win on my wallet, it wins on my taste buds.

These paninis start with the spiced bread, then the protein, the choice of vegetable to include in there, and the sauce/dressing. It’s a complex layering of flavors and textures that I truly appreciate. It’s quite the gourmet offering for an area that isn’t surrounded by many gourmet restaurants/shops.

The pastries aren’t anything special, but it was still pretty good.

This area totally needs something like Terra Breads, because I’m sure a lot of people like to grab their coffee and pastry before running to work.

But it’s not just the morning people I see here. I also see quite a bit of people who have business lunches here. It’s really a good spot for anybody who wants to either sit and eat in silence (as they play with their Macs) or talk business with their clients.

Although I don’t come here very often, I like knowing that fresh and delicious gourmet sandwiches is just around the corner. I just have to mentally prep myself to spend $12 for a sandwich and a cookie!

Glowbal Group

Last week my friends Nicole, Cynthia, and I decided to go out for brunch because we haven’t seen each other in a while. Taste of Yaletown was happening at the same time and I told them I’d like to go out and try it, since 1. I love Yaletown and 2. I love dining at Yaletown. It was a great chance to catch up while trying something new.

They had asked me where I wanted to dine so I looked at the list of restaurants that participated and ended up selecting Brix Restaurant. However, upon arrival we found out that they only served dinner. So at the last minute, we decided to go to Glowbal Group.

Seeing that this was such a posh and modern restaurant, I thought that the servers and the people were going to be snooty and stuck up. I could not have been more wrong. From the initial greeting, to being seated, to our server and all the way to when we were exiting, everyone was so pleasant and courteous. I was really pleased with the level of service we received.

As soon as we were seated, we were served complimentary bite sized donuts. To be honest, virtually anything that’s free tastes good 🙂

I seriously wasn’t expecting this. Maybe this only occurs during Sunday brunch? Maybe they serve this at any time of the day? I don’t know. But these powdered goodies were light with a crispy outside and a soft puffy inside.

I was quite happy with one round of complimentary delights. What I wasn’t expecting was to get something else for free: Strawberry Vanilla Milkshakes.

Served in a shot glass, this strawberry vanilla milkshake had chunks of strawberry with a mild vanilla taste. It wasn’t too thick and it was a nice small portion. I definitely think this is great idea because sampling is the best kind of marketing.

After trying to read the menu several times (it was so difficult because we were so busy catching up and there were so many dishes to choose from), we finally decided to get Glowbal Mimosas, Mushroom and Short Rib Satays, the Lobster Benny, the Chorizo Benny (that day’s special), the Crème brûlée trio and the Frosted Beignets + Apple Fritters.

Orange juice with sparkling wine, finished with cassis.

This might have been the right kind of mix for mimosas. I had one in Vegas before and that was much stronger than what Glowbal serves. Mind you, it is Vegas, they probably expect people to want stronger liquor concentrations in their drinks. Anyway, I found this refreshing. It wasn’t too strong and it had a good amount of fizz.

This dish had several components:

• Mushroom Satay, tempura battered and finished with sea salt
• Short Rib Satay, paired with truffle aioli
• Thai Slaw, with daikon and mint. Probs a palate cleanser.

I feel like the Satays are a little on the pricier side; it would have been nice to get another short rib or another mushroom with it. But having said that, the taste and texture does deliver. It makes up for the price factor. The mushroom was hearty and the short rib was very tender. And that aioli… Hot damn that aioli. Made the short rib much more rich and decadent. It was a nice touch.

Although I got two dipping sauces (Ginger White Soya and a Hot Chinese Mustard), I only dipped into the soya sauce. I did try a taste of the mustard so I could taste it get a feel of the taste. The heat got the better of me.

The Thai Slaw is a nice palate cleanser; the sweetness, tartness crunchiness of the apple, mint, daikon and the lemon/lime vinaigrette is a nice compliment to the soft and chewy texture of the short rib and the mushroom.

Lobster Benedict with Atlantic Lobster chunks, Poached Eggs,  Lobster Hollandaise, Crispy Pancetta and Cheddar Biscuit.

I wasn’t blown away by the entire dish, but I still thought it was deelish! The lobster.. oh man.. the lobster. I’m the type of person who always wants more of the specialty dish. If it’s a lobster dish, I want it to be swimming in lobster chunks. But alas, we only got a few chunks. The lobster was moist and tender. It had a flakiness and chewy factor that just melts in mah mouth. Those eggs were nicely poached, and the hollandaise was drizzled all over. It wasn’t an overpowering hollandaise, not too acidic but not too creamy with just the right consistency. I absolutely loved the pancetta; it was the crisp to the chewy textures of the dish. The biscuit seemed a little grainy, but it wasn’t a huge deal. Overall, I loved this dish.

image courtesy of Nicole Kan

This Chorizo Benny was that day’s special. It had Toasted Hash, Fried Chorizo, Poached Eggs covered in Hollandaise.

Again, I don’t think there’s anything special with this dish. But I still think it was good. There was a good amount of both chorizo and hash, and they were in huge filling portions. The runniness of the egg works well with the crunch of the toast, but I wish there was more hollandaise.

We were so full after these but I convinced them to have desserts. I knew they wanted to anyway!

Crème brûlée trio with Vanilla, Hazelnut, and White Chocolate (from L to R) topped with fruit.

The 2 out of 3 crème brûlées I tried were silky and light, not heavy at all. Although, I could barely taste the vanilla and the hazelnut in each. The biscotti was a great addition to the hazelnut brûlée. I absolutely love the combination of the fruit, crispy torched sugar and velvety brûlée.

Frosted Beignets and Apple Fritters

I personally loved this dish because these two desserts had just the right amount of sweetness. The apple fritters were fluffy and I adore the small apple chunks inside. That was a nice surprise! The beignets weren’t to die for, but again just had the right amount of sweetness which I liked. The fruits add an interesting layer of flavor to it too; I highly recommend this dessert.

Overall, my dining experience was lovely. Great service, great food and great atmosphere. Would I come back? Definitely. I know I had said I wanted to try Taste of Yaletown, but we ended up with a more elaborate menu so we ended up with more than just a taste 🙂

Thanks again to my fabulous friends who joined me that day!

Cynthia and Nicole, all smiles on a sunny Sunday

Prestons Fall Menu Launch

Last week, I was invited by the lovely Gastrofork (@gastrofork on Twitter) to the fall launch menu of Prestons, a restaurant serving cuisine infused with Mediterranean and Asian influence. I was very excited as it was my first media event and it was a chance to meet food bloggers and local media personalities.

These guys really wanted to make an impression. So what do they start with? Red carpet treatment. I missed taking a picture of it because I wanted to chat with Dee (gastrofork) who I haven’t seen in ages. Right after our little chat, I was ready for some food, Prestons style.

First sight: rows and rows of gift bags for everyone, a huge screen with the twitter feed and booze. Tell me you have those 3 things at your next shindig and I won’t need a lot of convincing to go. What better way to start the evening.

Venetian Spritzer - Aperol Herb liqueur and brut. Didn't get a very good quality pic with this one

This one looks better, somewhat

Goodie bags!

Twitter feed

Yes, you read that correctly – Open Bar. Two of my favorite words in the world. Unfortunately it was a Monday evening in Vancouver. If it had been a Monday evening in Vegas, that would be a different story. But I digress.

More Venetian Spritzers

Walking among the crowd, I recognized some bloggers and foodies. In today’s social media world, it’s so weird tweeting to someone or mentioning them in a blog post or whatnot, but not actually formally meeting them yet. Fortunately, I got to schmooze and meet some people whose tweets/blog posts I read often. Now it’s not so weird 🙂

The first dish that tried was the Mini Thai Red Thai Curry

Mini Red Thai Curry

I loved the presentation.

Mini Red Thai Curry

Spicy Coconut Curry, Chicken, Eggplant, Peppers, Steamed Jasmine Rice.

A little tidbit about me: I’m not a big fan of spicy food. In an earlier post, I mentioned that my taste buds are very sensitive to it. Even a mild dose of spice will trigger the “Can I have some sour cream/milk please?” question.

Anyway, I was told this was mildly spicy. A red flag immediately went up in my head. We all have different definitions of what ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘nice’ or ‘mild’ means. I had a feeling it would be too spicy for me but I tried it anyway. The chicken was very moist, and in small bite sized pieces. There were red onions in there too; that and the peppers gave it a nice crunch. I thought it was good, but again this is not something I would order unless I have 2 glasses of milk with me.

While waiting for the next platter to arrive, I explored the venue a little bit more

Peeps enjoying their Spritzers and schmoozing

Very modern design

Bowl decor on the wall

These bowls were attached to the wall. What a way to save money on decor. Wonder if they found these from Daiso and decided to use it. It’s a lot more cost effective than buying 2 or 3 $300 paintings or murals.

Busy but fun evening

As soon as I finished snapping pictures, more food arrived. Next dish: Mini Poutine with Pulled Pork

Comfort food... aww yea

Crispy French Fries, Quebec Cheese Curds, Rickard’s Red Gravy

This item is a must-try. The french fries are cut nice and big, lightly deep-fried so it isn’t very oily at all. The cheese is gooey and it held on to the gravy well. It’s not like an average poutine where the fries are swimming in gravy and just tossed in cheese. There is just enough gravy, which is really nice as it’s not very pleasant eating poutine that is swimming in gravy. What really separates this poutine from the average pountine? The pulled pork. Small chunks of yummy goodness; I had two servings of this as it was quite delish.

A serving station was placed in the second section of the house, together with a wine table and a beer table (GIB to be exact)

Ribs!

Sweet Hoisin and Ginger Glazed Pork Ribs

I love the combination of ginger, garlic and honey. Very Asian and very good. Drizzled on moist pork ribs? What’s not to like? I’ll tell you what’s not to like.. this small portion! I kid 🙂 Honey garlic ribs are certainly messy, but what a better way to help you eat through this mess than these

I thought these were mints when I saw them the first time

I'm so fascinated by this lol

They’re really just compressed towelettes, with the air sucked out of them. It’s like hydrating beans or sun-dried tomatoes.

Gyoza station

Seared Shrimp, Vegetable Dumpling, Miso Vinaigrette

I wasn’t a big fan of these Gyozas; there was nothing special about them at all. The seared shrimp was cooked nicely and the  gyoza was a nice portion, but even the miso vinaigrette did nothing to make this dish stand out. I feel as though I could get this at any Chinese restaurant in Vancouver.

Right after ribs and gyozas, I spotted sliders (which turned out to be my favorite dish of the evening)

Every time I look at this, I can almost taste it again.. So good

Stewed Red Peppers, Basil Pesto, Feta Cheese

These Eggplant Parmesan Sliders were definitely my favorite that evening. The combination of the crunchy breaded eggplant and the stewed red peppers makes this a solid A. The soft red peppers with the basil pesto gave it an interesting flavor; almost creamy and filling, and very tasty. Combined with the sturdiness of the bun, this was an excellent dish for me.

After some bites and nibbles here and there, I saw a friend of mine who I haven’t seen in ages. I told her about the things I tried and after that we decided it was time for a drink. We headed to the bar and ordered the French Martini

French Martini

Vodka, Chambord, Pineapple Juice

The sweetness of the Pineapple Juice combined with the sting of Vodka (yup, I said sting of vodka) makes for an interesting cocktail. It’s a very girly drink, but hey, I’m here to try everything and it’s all free so I’m not complaining. I actually liked this drink because it’s almost like a dessert cocktail. If you want something sweet after your meal but don’t want to eat anything, have this.

Speaking of desserts, the lone dessert item on the menu arrived in front of us as we were ordering drinks

Had 3 servings of this!

Sweet, light and silky, this Mini Matcha Creme Brulee is not rich at all (which I quite enjoyed). I couldn’t really taste the matcha, but I do find it interesting that they used green tea with this. I also like the torched sugar on top. A nice crisp to a smooth interior. Delicious.

As I thought I was done for the evening, another round of food passed by us. This round had sliders again, so I told the server I already had sliders earlier (not realizing they were serving two types that evening). This one is the Braised BBQ Pork Sliders

Pork Sliders and Ribs

Slow Cooked Pork, Homemade BBQ Sauce, Gorgonzola Coleslaw

Another hit with this dish! The coleslaw is nice and creamy, and it isn’t heavy at all. The pork was tender, and the BBQ sauce had a very home-y taste to it. All the elements worked well together and I was happy to have more, if not for my appetite that was about to burst.

Just when I thought I tried everything, I missed another one. Tomato & Bocconcini Crostini

So full, but tried one last dish

Artichoke and Basil Pesto Puree, Grape Tomatoes, Marinated Mozarella

Unlike several of the dishes tonight, this one was a miss for me. I found the crostini a little soggy, which I don’t quite understand why (possibly from the puree?). The combination of all the elements didn’t do much for the texture, and I wasn’t a fan of the presentation as well.

Overall, I thought the entire night was a success. The samples were really tasty (with the exception of a few), the atmosphere was inviting and the crowd was enthusiastic. The servers were very patient and knew all their stuff. I would definitely come back as I only got a taste of their appetizer menu.

I’d like to say thanks to @gastrofork once again for inviting me! I had so much fun.

Goofing off at the photobooth!

The inside of my gift bag

131 Water Kitchen & Bar

The Vancouver Home and Design Show was in town last week; thanks to my employers, I was able to score 2 tickets to the huge trade show. I brought along a dear friend of mine for a day date and after walking around for over an hour, we were famished. Mind you, we weaved through the exhibit so could see all the exhibitors. It was also our excuse to get hungry so we could dine right after.

A lavish table setting

Close up of the table setting

Once we were finished feeding our creativity, it was time to chow down. At first, we couldn’t decide where we should eat. I remembered this tasting room in Steveston Village called Gudrun which I spotted it while walking to La Tandoor Restaurant last week. It’s a good thing we decided against it because I remembered that it wouldn’t exactly be what we wanted; we were famished and we wanted bigger sized dishes. So we walked down to Gastown and found a *quaint* looking resto-bar, 131 Water Kitchen & Bar.

131 Water Kitchen & Bar signage

Patio area outside

Looks were definitely deceiving as my friend and I discovered that it was actually pretty big once we saw the rooms separating the bar area from the restaurant. We were seated by the bar area and began to look over their dinner menu.

But before we ordered, my friend decided to get a Raspberry Mojito.

Raspberry Mojito

Light, refreshing with a little hint of sweetness from the raspberry. I like the fact that the mint was crushed well, unlike some mojitos I’ve had where the mint was still in huge chunks. Quite a delicious drink to start our meal.

Closer look

After deliberating for a while (we’re both really indecisive), we finally decided to share everything and get multiple dishes. We started off with the Bruschetta.

2-bite Bruschetta portions

For me, what really stood out was the sharpness of the balsamic vinegar. It was a strong taste that almost, if not actually, overpowered the dish. The baguette was quite soggy; I almost feel like it was because of the balsamic vinegar. I really did like the taste of the vinegar though, but I wish there wasn’t as much. I also would’ve like my baguette a little more crunchy. Again, this probably because of the balsamic.

The tomatoes added a nice texture and the cheese helped balance the balsamic a little bit.

We went after the Artichoke Quesadillas right after.

Artichoke Quesadillas

A mini slice

I love quesadillas, so I always have high expectations when it comes to it. Although I wasn’t blown away, I thought it was still pretty good. The dish comes with shredded lettuce and tomato salsa, which again, I found spicy (sensitive to spice here). The quesadilla contains cheddar, artichokes and green onions. I like artichokes in larger quantities when it’s sliced thin like this as it gives it a more meaty and filling. It doesn’t stand out in terms of taste, but it’s not horrible either. I like to alternate between having no salsa and lettuce with my quesadilla to having salsa and lettuce with my quesadilla. I find the switching gives me a chance to taste and balance the cheese and artichoke flavor with the spice of the salsa.

A look inside my quesadilla

Right after the quesadilla, we moved on to the French Onion Soup.

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup is one of my guilty pleasures. I’m quite particular about it, specially since it’s a classic. What I liked about this soup are the big crouton chunks. It soaked up the broth pretty well, and I like tasting semi-soaked/semi-dry croutons as I eat my soup. I also quite like the cheese as it gave the soup thickness; it wasn’t very liquidy at all. The broth was quite rich, which was nice and hearty.

Spoonful of croutons and soup!

What I didn’t find appetizing about this soup was the fact that there was too much oil floating on top of the soup. Really any soup for that matter, because it means the cook/s used too much oil in the dish. Otherwise, it was an okay dish.

For our final dish, we selected the 131 Fish Tacos.

Lovely presentation

Beer battered haddock, shred iceberg, house made salsa in flour tortillas. With a side salad in balsamic dressing.

I adore the presentation of this dish. Don’t you think it’s pretty? I was expecting dinky, 3-bite tacos when I was reading the menu but boy was I wrong. It was a nice size portion, and two tacos were perfect for me and my friend.

The fish was nicely deep fried cooked, it wasn’t dry, and it was fairly huge. I’ve mentioned that I’m sensitive to spice, but the salsa was not overpowering at all.

The inside of my taco. Battered haddock

The side salad was nice and refreshing. It’s a good balance to the carb heavy tacos. I must say I really like pumpkin seeds and the addition of that to the salad was a very nice touch. I also took just used a little bit of the balsamic, remembering the overpowering one from the Bruschetta.

Overall, I found that 131 Water Kitchen & Bar is quite decent. It isn’t the very best out there, but it’s actually not bad at all. I would definitely come back and try their other offerings. The staff was very friendly and accommodating and I really liked that. I’ll be sure to mention this to my buddies when we’re on the look out for a pub/restobar/restaurant place in Gastown.