Doesn’t it feel like all of the macaron places are downtown Vancouver? As much as I love downtown Vancouver for its upbeat, ever-changing and up and coming atmosphere, I loathe the traffic and commute. L’Opera Patisserie is a cute little cafe in Richmond with cute macarons and pastries. Although my favourite macarons are still from Thierry, I liked L’Opera’s flavours. It helps that the macarons are smaller than most, because it lets you try more flavours without eating as much!
One of my favourite Banh Mi’s in this city. The #1 House Meatball Sandwich never lets me down! Not my favourite place for pho noodle soup, but it’s still good!
Incomparable, Tacofino is my favourite place for nachos and tacos. They may not be authentic Mexican flavours, but the tacos are each perfectly and thoughtfully seasoned, ingredient-paired and undeniably delicious. This place is within my top 5 restaurants in Vancouver!
More pictures coming!
Chips & SalsaPork Jowl Taco, Ahi Tuna Taco.Everything was so, so good!
I’ve passed by this cafe tons of times, but to be honest, the outside never looked appealing to me, and I never googled the place! (Bad foodie/blogger move!) I’ve learned the lesson, “don’t judge a book by its cover” thousands of times, but because food (and restaurant) aesthetic is important to me, I kept procrastinating googling Trafiq. Lesson learned. Again. After hearing great reviews of their cake from some of my foodie friends, I decided to give it a try. Now I’m kicking myself for the years of amazing cake I missed out on!
A couple things you should know:
Two of my most favourite flavours in the world are early grey and lavender.
I’m super picky about cake. Dry cake or cupcakes are a pet peeve of mine. I think cakes should be moist and easy to swallow! So when I tried Trafiq’s super moist, super flavourful and what I think is the perfect cake:icing ratio, I was so excited I went back to Trafiq three weeks in a row! I wanted to share this cake with everyone I knew!
Lemon Lavender cake, shortbread cookie and an eclair.Lemon Lavender cake.Homage to Earl Grey cake.Croissant sandwich, Pecan cake, and Homage to Earl Grey cake.Coffee and Cake pair perfectly together!
My usual greek food go-to is Stepho’s because I always know I’m going to enjoy my meal. I live in East Van though, so sometimes getting to Stepho’s feels like a bit of a trek- having to fight the downtown traffic, pedestrians and finding parking often deters me from going. Steveston is probably further in distance for me to travel, but I’ll keep this place in mind if I’m craving Greek food and if I’m going to be in Richmond.
I ordered the Lamb Souvlaki, but had a piece of my friend’s Kalamari. It was surprisingly tender and tasty!
It took me a while to get around to eating here, as it’s kind of in an awkward location and I always see a lineup when I pass by. My boyfriend loves pizza, so as part of my present to him for our second anniversary, I decided to take him here for dinner after the Raptors v Kings NBA preseason game at Rogers Arena. It was only a 5 minute walk away, and it have us time to let the post-game traffic calm down. The timing worked out perfectly, so ifyou’re ever watching a game or going to a concert at Rogers Arena, keep Pizzeria Farina in mind!
Onto the food: we ordered the Margherita and the Funghi pizzas. Both were simple yet packed with flavour. The funghi had a lot of roasted garlic and arugula on it, two of my many favourite things. The crust, although a little soft in the centre of the pizza, had a crunchy edge with darkened crust air pockets (don’t know the proper name for those things but I love them)!
I would definitely go back again!
The Menu.Water choicesCrust bottomDipping or drizzling oil!Funghi and MargheritaI love when the crust looks like this!Margherita close up
Food truck, parked outside 33 Acres Brewing Company 15 W 8th Ave, Vancouver, BC
Food Rating: 9.5/10
Filipino BBQ Pork with a fried egg on rice. I love their vinegar dipping sauce! Unfortunately they ran out of garlic rice, so I had brown rice. The pork was super tender and tasted like sweet BBQ… so good! I like how you can take the food into 33 Acres and they let you eat inside.
Gastown location 105-375 Water Street, Vancouver, BC
Food rating: 10/10
My favourite Guu location! Always friendly staff and consistently good food- although not pictured, hands down my favourite thing to order is the Mushroom Cheese Bibimbap! That being said, I love everything I’ve ever had and it’s one of my favourite places to go for food (in all of Vancouver!) followed by drinks (namely sake shots)!
Guu Tataki (beef tataki)Today’s Sashimi SaladEbimayoGuu Tataki and Chicken Karaage
If there is only one thing you can afford to try at this restaurant, get the Salmon Oshi Sushi. And then, if you can afford one more thing, get the Saba Oshi Sushi. As a starving (ha!) student, I was fortunate enough to go to Minami for a work party. This explains the large amount of Oshi Sushi ordered, and the fact that I ordered appetizers, a drink, an entree and dessert. Everything was very good, my favourite being the Salmon Oshi Sushi. I think it’s one of the yummiest things I’ve ever eaten, being a japanese food lover/sashimi lover/rice lover extremist.
Welcome matSpicy pork gyozaEbi frittersCocktail of some sortCalamariTobiko (flying fish roe) and Unagi (freshwater BBQ eel) nigiri.Ebi (shrimp) Oshi Sushi, Salmon Oshi Sushi, Saba (house cured mackerel) Oshi Sushi, Salmon Oshi Sushi.
One of my all-time favourite restaurants to have a good meal and drinks with friends. My favourite item is not on the menu, it’s usually written on their chalkboard of daily specials, but it’s been there every time: the Burrata and Prosciutto antipasto board. Their pizza is really good too, especially with their dipping/drizzling oil! Their chili flakes are super spicy, so use sparingly!
Dinner Menu
Burrata and prosciutto antipasto board. A must-try!
So good with wine!Italian Sausage and Margherita pizza, Rigatoni Boscaiola pasta. I like the pizza a lot more than the pasta, so next time I would order another pizza instead of pasta!Across the street from Nook, there was a gelato shop (I forget the name, but it’s directly across the street, you can’t miss it!) so my friends and I got some cones and walked along Kits beach. Mine is the middle cone and I had passion fruit- tangy and sweet!
