chocomoo

I like Au Petit Cafe too! My favourite is their meatball sub, although I also used to like their tomato-based beef brisket that came with bread or rice (bread all the way! sops up the delicious, slightly sweet sauce nicely!) - not sure if that's still available. Haven't been in a while, as work prevents me from going during the weekdays, and during the weekends, the tiny place is packed! I agree with the g-man, the owner is super nice. I wonder if his son & daughter still work there?

I once tried the baked potato flavour of Kabaya pretz sticks & was really disappointed - the picture looked like the Pretz one (minus the cheese) & looked really good... Too bad I couldn't taste the potato...

Churrolicious website

I've found that the tako yaki at the Richmond night market isn't as good as the place across from library square - there are always lineups at the tako yaki stands at the night market, so not as much care goes into making the tako yaki (I've never had nice crispy tako yaki at the night market). However, I do like the fact that some stands sprinkle shredded nori & ginger on top of the tako yaki in Richmond. A food stall in Aberdeen Centre also sells tako yaki, but don't get it there - the batter inside was undercooked... My sister always always gets the fake shark's fin soup at night market - made with glass noodles (is that the name? I've also seen it called bean thread) instead of shark's fin. There are a few stalls that sell the soup, but some are much better than others in that they have lots of ingredients in the soup (cloud ear fungus, Chinese mushrooms, small pieces of pork, lots of glass noodles). I got jap chae at the Korean place last year, and it was really good! Izumi-ya has a stand there as well, & like Ling said, at the end of the night, you get tons of yummy gyoza. Haha, yeah, the puffy egg thing, that guy is Sam, who used to own Sam's dessert house (or whatever it was called) in Yaohan. I guess he's from Hong Kong, because he speaks Cantonese quite well! I love those puffy egg things! Parker Place has a stall that has really good ones.

Longan (still don't like the dried kind though) & dried oysters. I still don't love them, but I do like them now I don't know what it was about longan - I think they tasted somehow smoky to me. And dried oysters, well, they seemed really fishy, & it's not like they're ever smothered in any kind of sauce in Chinese cooking - they're usually steamed together with Chinese preserved meat & sausage.

Thursday lunch - some takeout sushi place across from Library Square Met with an ex-worker, and shared a california roll, salmon & avocado roll (it wasn't too bad, but not outstanding), & tako yaki (grilled octopus balls). The sushi is surprisingly cheap for a downtown place (california roll was $1.87), and the tako yaki was really good. You can't really get these everywhere, & I was quite surprised to find them on the menu here. For those of you who've never tried tako yaki before, they're ping-pong-sized balls of batter (mixed with chopped cabbage) that have a small square of octopus stuffed inside. The batter is then grilled in a tako yaki pan, then some kind of sauce (teriyaki?) & mayonnaise is drizzled onto the tako yaki. They're supposed to end up slightly crispy on the outside, & soft inside, which isn't always the case. You can get them at Guu sometimes, and also at the Richmond night market. Friday dinner - La Regalade Excellent as usual! Went with my parents & sister. We shared the steamed mussels in a white wine sauce (& of course soaked up all the yummy sauce with bread!) and some kind of salad (Provencal I think it was?) that had anchovies, green beans, sliced radishes, fennel, & olives in it. I don't remember what the dressing was - something herb-y. It's a new menu item, presumably for the summer. It was good, but didn't really impress me - good in a homemade kinda way. We shared 3 entrees: braised beef short ribs smothered in green peppercorn sauce (Delicious!! We had leftovers of this & added zucchinis the next night), roast duck (roasted with pears & apples - yummy!!) & prime rib (with roasted garlic & shallots). The prime rib was disappointing - in the past, it's been superb: slightly crispy on the outside, yet perfectly medium rare on the inside. This time, my mom had a hand in the ordering, and she has the worst luck ever when it comes to ordering her meats medium rare - even when everybody orders the same thing, she seems to get the only piece that's cooked medium. So this time, the prime rib was overcooked to medium (no surprise to my mom...). For dessert, we got 2 tarts: the new rhubarb mousse tart with strawberries & raspberries (perfect for summer!) & a nice zesty lemon tart. The crust was nice &...crusty Saturday lunch - The Rich Ocean Seafood Restaurant (on Broadway & Heather) Dim with family friends. I didn't eat much since we had a heavy dinner the night before & I was sick last week. I always try the "har gow" (aka shrimp dumplings) whenever I go to dim sum restaurants, because I figure that if they can't get a staple of dim sum right, they can't be too good. The outside clear part of the dumpling is supposed to be slightly chewy & not too thick or sticky. The shrimp stuffing inside sometimes contains bamboo shoots, & sometimes "snow fungus" to give it that extra crunch, and may or may not have sesame oil incorporated into it. The har gow at this place was pretty good, though the clear part was a bit too thick, IMO, & the shrimp filling didn't have enough sesame oil in it. Also had some fried rice with chicken & dried scallop (chicken was nicely browned). Dessert was coconut pudding, which was quite light (nice triple layer separation), & "double-layer" steamed milk custard, which was a bit watery for my liking.

Thank God my parents don't eat blood products - I've never tried any, nor will I ever. Apparently there are other things that are mixed in with pig's blood when they collect it. My boyfriend says that Filipino parents tell their kids that the brownish stuff on their rice is "chocolate sauce", & of course the kids gobble it all up. In Taiwan, where there are lots of street food stalls, I always saw kids eating some rectangular brownish-reddish things on sticks which looked like popsicles, & I finally asked my Taiwanese friends what they were eating. Guess what it was? Quite literally, "blood-on-a-stick". Blood popsicles, if you prefer.

What else would I not eat ? Bugs Dog Cat Seagull Crow Weasel Rat Squirrel any sort of primate - monkey, gorilla etc. spider dolphin eagle mustard That is all I can think of right now. I am sure this wil spark a few questions and sub topics. Neil ←

Yes they were! Hmm, perhaps I'll pick up a box this weekend...

I came across some Tohato green bean puffs the other day at the supermarket. They're shaped like crispy Cheetos but are more puffy - I've had them before, but the particular kind I saw had shitake mushroom flavouring as well! They were really good, & I could really taste the mushroom flavour - I would have finished the whole bag if my mom hadn't stopped me...

I saw a new KitKat at one of the Chinese markets here yesterday - I couldn't tell what the flavour was because I can't read Japanese, but it looked like it had a powdery dusting of cocoa inside, which reminded me of Winter Pocky. I almost got it, but I had already bought earl grey flavoured chocolates (I don't remember the brand). I haven't tried them yet, but the box said the chocolate had bits of orange peel inside it.

Yes it is!

You're right, they do have a green tea cheesecake there. I had it a few years ago so I don't really remember it, just that it was good but I thought it would be better for some reason. I really like the green tea cheesecake at Shiru Bay/Chopstick Cafe down the street though. No cake in it (which is what I like), hard bottom, and not too rich. They use gelatin in it, which is a bit unusual (in a good way) It just melts in your mouth. You can really taste the green tea in the cheesecake, and they drizzle matcha syrup around the plate, and garnish the cheesecake with a senbei (rice cracker). On another topic, I love their ebi chili mayo. And continuing on the topic of desserts, I had wonderful creme brulee at Bistro Sakana last year - there were 3 kinds, each in a different sake (or maybe tea?) cup. Matcha (green tea), roasted tea, and some other kind of tea. I think they were warm. Is creme brulee supposed to be served warm or cool, by the way? ...That bathroom at Don't Show the Elephant - you really can't see through that glass once you lock the door! When you're inside, you can kind of make out people moving around outside, but no-one can see what's inside.

How come no-one has mentioned that the Bread Garden on Granville & 14th has closed? Has it closed forever or is it going to reopen?

What about Seto, on Alexandra Road? It used to be at a different location on Alexandra Road, but they took over some other sushi place's location. The people there actually speak Japanese I was there on Monday, and had really good sushi. We had the spider roll & the house roll (which is giant, & has crispy tempura inside. We also got this dish called "bandaku" or something, which was a bean-curd pocket that was deep-fried with a raw egg inside, in a sorta soya sauce. One other thing - when you order the salmon sashimi, you can choose either wild salmon or farmed salmon (our waiter didn't tell us, but my friend told me AFTER I ordered...). I don't think I've ever had a bad meal at Seto.

Does anybody else think Mum's Gelati has good gelato? Actually, I normally just get their coffee gelato, or their sorbet (mmm, pear...).

Maybe you can try getting them shipped from Vancouver (Canada) - our Chinese supermarkets carry most of the flavours, I think. I even saw a limited edition "Samurai Peach" flavour!

I think I saw this, and didn't think it was that special, but now that you've tried it & like it, I think I'll go buy it this weekend

prasantrin, where are you located? im in the u.s. and i havent seen any at my local markets. i heard that there was also a japanese strawberry kitkat! i have never seen that one either!.. ← I am really hoping they will be shipping to Vancouver, Canada!! I looooove matcha-flavoured things! They sell strawberry Kitkat already here - it's quite common, actually - I think I've even seen it at 7-Eleven. There was a lemon cheesecake Kitkat too, that was also limited edition. It was quite good - kinda like creamy lemon flavour, without that citrusy tartness to it.

I love Pearl Castle - I hadn't been since they remodeled it some months ago and discovered that their food is REALLY good! It's actually a bubble tea place that also serves food (a lot of bubble tea places are starting to serve food now and therefore open earlier). The fried rice is especially good - especially the Taiwanese sausage one (Taiwanese sausage is sweeter than normal Chinese sausage). They use Taiwanese rice, which is similar to (if not the same as) Japanese rice, and they're really generous with the amount of sausage they put in. Plus it's a big bowl, for only $6.95. You're right, they do have a place on Cambie, but their original location is at the food court inside Parker Place (I think it's still called Elephant Castle there). You should try their drinks sometime - if you like bubble tea. I find that they don't make their drinks from that powdered stuff (unlike many other bubble tea places), which is of course good. The reason why their music isn't too bad is probably because they play mostly Taiwanese music, which is, in my opinion, generally easier on the ears than Cantopop. Hardly any new singers in Hong Kong can actually sing...

I actually like them a lot too! Are they a relatively new product in Japan? Because I remember that, four years ago, my friend moved to Japan from Canada & she was shocked that she couldn't find any choco gummies!

And now they've come out with strawberry Pocky G!! Tastes pretty good - exactly like how it sounds. I bought on Tuesday, along with royal milk tea Mousse Pocky. There used to be a royal milk tea normal Pocky that came in a light blue box, but I guess they discontinued it. I liked the normal royal milk tea Pocky better - the mousse one is good before and after you eat it. My tastebuds got used to the milk tea flavour too quickly so I couldn't taste the royal milk tea after a couple bites, but the aftertaste is nice!

Reverse pocky - we just got these in Vancouver a couple months ago & I just tried them. They're like reverse Pocky G!! Mmmmm....

But really, does anyone know what Japanese candy makers put in Japanese chocolate that makes it so different from North American or British chocolate?

What is it about Japanese chocolate that makes it so different? I mean, I can taste the difference, but what do they add to it that makes it so smooth & yummy? I've actually never tried Meltykiss, but I think I'll get some this weekend Which one's the best one? I like dark chocolate & white chocolate. Should I get the white chocolate that looks like it's coated with cocoa powder?