Qoola Frozen Yogurt at Denman St

We got a Groupon for Qoola and finally decided to pay a visit to see what the big fuss was all about! There's a branch in Metrotown but we forgot our Groupon when we went shopping, so we decided to go to the one on Denman Street, the one close to where we had the Mediterranean Grill. Ironically, we had dessert before dinner!



A tiny little shop with about five tables, most of the shop space is taken up by the counter. The frozen yogurt machines are at the back and the colourful variety of toppings are displayed beneath a glass panel.



There was only one girl serving all the customers and there was quite a lineup. There was one other guy behind the counter but somehow he was not helping her and she had to make pancakes and serve the frozen yogurt all by herself.



There are lots of toppings to add some zest to your frozen yogurt -- crunchy, chewy, fruity, chocolaty, they have it all! There were Cap'n Crunch cereal, colourful Rice Krispies, Graham Bear crackers, white chocolate yogurt chips, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, mochi bits (chewy little rice balls), rainbow and chocolate sprinkles, as well as orange, strawberry, kiwi, pineapple!!! (Phew, that was a long list!)



The prices were ranged from $1.99 to $4.99 (I could be wrong, I don't really remember the prices) for different sizes of frozen yogurt. There were four flavours of frozen yogurt -- peach/mango, acai berry, regular and green tea.



We chose the peach/mango one and added toppings for $1.49. We picked coconut flakes, white chocolate yogurt chips, regular chocolate flakes and rainbow sprinkles.



The frozen yogurt was nothing impressive. It tasted nothing like mango nor peach; it was just a sour citrus taste. The toppings made the texture differ slightly but it was not that exciting either.



We also picked a Q-Pocket, a tiny pancake with our toppings of choice -- mandarin orange and rainbow mochi bits with an extra side of acai berry frozen yogurt.

By then, another young man had joined the lady at the counter and he was making the pancake. We were disappointed by the unprofessional way he made the pancake; it was barely cooked and not golden brown all over. And why do you even call it a "pocket" if it doesn't close! I was not impressed with the pancake at all..

The acai berry frozen yogurt was berry-like, almost to the extent of tasting like cough syrup. I did not particular love it either.

So now that we've tried what the big fuss Qoola was about, I can safely say it's just another frozen yogurt joint with unhealthily sweet toppings. The whole mix-your-own-combo is catching on a little too much, with many of such dessert places. I would be kicking up a fuss for my money back if I had spent that much without a Groupon.

Qoola is located at 1116 Denman Street, Vancouver, B.C. (as well as some other locations in the Lower Mainland).

♥ Nikki

Mediterranean Grill at Denman St

On April 30, it was a Vancouver Canucks game day and we were walking around downtown and decided to eat dinner early. We decided to have Mediterranean Grill! We tried that last summer and it wasn't too bad!



It is just a tiny little cafe with a counter and the ready-made food on display, kind of like those stalls in a food court. The menu items are on the signboards, along with pictures.



This is about all there is to the food area, and there are a handful of tables and that's about it. Just a friendly little cafe and not a classy high-end restaurant.



Looks like a popular place for take-out too.



The food is premade and sitting in warmers like a cafeteria line. I was a little concerned by the number of microwave ovens they have there. While we were waiting for our food, I watched intently and all they did was pile the food on a plate and stick them in the microwave for several minutes. Not the best place to go for fresh food, even though there was someone grilling the meat on a flame grill.



Let's move on to the food!



JS ordered the BBQ kabob plate, where the kabobs are long pieces of little nubs of beef with a hollow centre. I cannot imagine how they skewered them in the first place, grilled them and successfully remove the skewers without tearing apart the meat!

The meat was a little bland but tasted good with the tzatiki sauce that came with it. There was a generous portion of long grain rice which had a little saffron in it which made it yellow. There was also a Greek salad of tomatoes, red onions, olives and cucumbers, as well as a piece of pita bread.



I ordered the chicken shawarma wrap. It may look small but it was enough to fill me up! Shawarma is just a wrap filled with small slices of meat shaved from a bigger chunk of grilled meat. It was quite a lot of chicken and Greek salad, all rolled up neatly in a big pita.



It looks flavourful but it was not as tangy as I expected. The meat was again a little bland but tasted great when I added some hot sauce onto it. Over all, I enjoyed it very much.

The BBQ kabob plate was $9.50 and the chicken shawarma wrap was $6, so we paid less than $18 including taxes. The cafe also had a station for ice water and cutlery.



This is a nice place to go if you want something inexpensive and quick to go. I have a new-found liking for Mediterranean food in the past year, even though the names sound so intimidating at first! This is one of the most reasonably priced places I have seen in Vancouver.

Mediterranean Grill is located at 1152 Denman Street in Vancouver, B.C.