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.

iCafe at Heather St

Finally, I am going over to get over this blogging slump! One month of delicious food coming right up!

Somewhere near the end of April (gee, it's already the end of May!), on April 26 to be specific, we went on a crafts shopping trip at Michaels. That place is a heaven for anything artsy! We (okay, I did) went a little crazy with four balls of yarn and three different-sized knitting needles! Yes, I'm teaching my man to knit (!).

After our shopping trip, I spotted iCafe and remembered vaguely dining there once before. It's ANOTHER Hong Kong restaurant (third one featured in this blog, perhaps the last, unless we venture into Richmond or something). It was on the second floor of a building at the corner of Heather and West Broadway.



A small, trendy little restaurant-cafe, iCafe serves traditional Hong Kong cafe dishes. They have full menus but we picked the "afternoon tea/late night" specials. They should be relatively smaller portions but we found the size satisfactory.



The menu for the specials. There are more on the other side but they are more snack-ish foods like sandwiches and finger foods. I picked the mini beef brisket in curry sauce on rice and JS picked sauteed beef with seasonal vegetables on rice. Each meal also comes with a hot drink.

The waiter was not very responsive and we had to wave our hands in the air for several minutes before he came to take our order. We were there before 5 p.m. for an early dinner and the place was nowhere near packed.



The drinks came first. JS got Ovaltine (on the left) and I got Horlicks (on the right). Way too diluted and tasteless -- you gotta add your own sugar. Both of them are powdered drinks sold in the supermarkets of Asia, so there really isn't much to say on them.



The food came pretty quick. This is JS's beef with Shanghai bok choy and rice. Nothing too exciting. It seemed like they put too much meat tenderizer until the meat taste was more or less gone -- it tasted kind of bland and plastic-like. The vegetables were quite fresh.



We have noticed a trend that every time I go to a Hong Kong restaurant, I order some kind of curry. Deep down inside, I am secretly addicted to curry, especially the non-spicy and creamy kind. This beef brisket fits the bill perfectly and it had a little kick to it. The rice came on a separate plate. The beef was tender and meaty, much better than JS's beef dish. There were also some chunks of amazing fried potatoes and translucent onions scattered in there.

There was so much food I had to pack up half of it to go -- hooray for lunch the next day! And believe it or not, each of our meals with the drink is only $6.95 plus tax! So the whole meal was pretty much less than $20 even with tips. We probably paid around $18 or something for both; I don't remember now.

This is a good place for tasty and inexpensive food, but the service was rather poor. Over all, great food but mediocre service -- almost the norm for Hong Kong restaurants. I don't think I'll be eating at another Hong Kong cafe any time soon! So much more cuisines out there to try!

iCafe is located at 2525 Heather Street, Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Will be back.. SOON!!!

I have eaten so much good food in the last month I cannot wait to share the pictures with you! I will finally have a little more time on my hands now that I've been "promoted" at work! I will try to get this blog going again, as soon as tomorrow! But I still got to keep up with my books... WAIT FOR ME!

Food trip to IKEA Richmond!

Last weekend, J.S. and I went to IKEA in Richmond! Not particularly for furniture shopping, but I want to eat their famous meatballs! Much like my friends in Singapore who go to IKEA just for the meatballs!



Look at these pretty tulips blooming in spring! This was on our way to the bus loop to catch a bus to the far-away IKEA!



We are here! Do you say it "Eye-kia" or "Ee-kia"?



After browsing around a little, we headed for the IKEA restaurant, which is really a food court layout. You pick up your food and pay for it and find your own table to enjoy your food.

I can't remember why I didn't take pictures of the place where they served the food; maybe we were too busy deciding what to get! You can serve your own soup and salad, and pick up pre-plated food. The hot food is served by staff behind the counter and then at the end of the line you pay for your food! Cashiers were a little impatient but I guess they have a lot of people to get through!



We got a broccoli and cheese soup, which was really quite creamy! So thick and creamy I can eat it with plain rice! I really liked it!



Quarter chicken with barbecued ribs, served with crispy hot fries. I dipped the fries in the soup, which was quite a tasty combo! The chicken looked quite dry and was really quite dry, but I guess we should not expect too much from a fast-food place!



As juicy as the ribs look, It was a little tough and not as tender as I imagined it to be. However, the sweet barbecue sauce may just make up for it -- it was smoky and flavourful, just how a good barbecue sauce should be.



And here's a picture of the much-anticipated meatballs! They may look plain but they are very juicy and goes well with the gravy! The mashed potatoes are also heavenly, but were salty enough by themselves without the gravy. The gravy was a little too salty for my liking but over all everything is good! Meatball trip success!

 

And here's (unnecessary) pictures of us enjoying our food...



And then we went browsing round the random furniture rooms with me fantasizing about my dream home furnishings while looking at all the display rooms. There was also me daydreaming about how wonderful it would be to have a full lovely IKEA kitchen someday... *snaps back to reality*



To end the IKEA trip, what's better than a frozen yogurt treat? After paying for your purchases, IKEA knows you are tired and hungry so it very intelligently sets up a bistro/exit cafe (as IKEA call it on its website) for you to recharge before trooping home with your purchases!

I frankly think the "frozen yogurt" is just a vanilla soft-serve ice cream cone similar to those at Dairy Queen or McDonalds, but a lot less expensive (only $1!). Nevertheless, ice cream makes me happy!

That concludes our food trip to IKEA! I think we will make this an annual trip just for fun!

♥ Nikki

Pondok at West Broadway & Oak/Laurel St

Pondok is an Indonesian restaurant located on the second floor of a building in between Oak St. and Laurel St. I don't remember the exact reason why we were there, it might have been because another place we planned to go was closed on that day.



We went there around 6 p.m. and to our surprise, it was not very packed. In fact, it was very empty as the restaurant was the size of a large Chinese banquet restaurant hall, complete with a stage, gigantic flat-screen TV and a karaoke system. I imagine they have large functions with entertainment here.

Everything on the menu looked intimidating in terms of price, so we decided to go for one of the "Rice Tables" which were two-person combos that come with rice and a few dishes. We chose Combo #3 which came with spring rolls, vegetable stirfry, prawns and chicken for $29.



This was not what I was anticipating. I had imagined two servings of rice and a separate dish for each of the sides of the combo. Instead, this huge platter came to us and we were shell-shocked for a few seconds.

I mean, what kind of two-person combo comes with a single mound of rice? Pardon me if I am not respecting the dining culture of Indonesians, but I would think that we would at least each get a bowl of rice for the price that we are paying here.



We ended up getting another side of rice which cost an extra 2 bucks, because we are both bottomless pits when it comes to rice. *big grin*

After recovering from the shock that we were not going to get little plates separating each dish, we moved on to tasting each one. First up was the vegetable stirfry dish.



The menu calls it "a traditional dish of shredded cabbage and carrots stir fried with eggs and herbs." I found it no different from the food I usually cook at home. Cabbage, carrots and eggs all jumbled with some simple condiments was all this dish had to offer. The portion was quite generous, but this was not a dish I expect to taste at a restaurant.



Next up is the chicken curry with some potatoes and sauce. The curry tasted alright and not too spicy for my tastebuds. I would say they could have been a little more sparing with the chicken, as you can hardly see any in this picture.



The bright colour of the sauce the prawns came in scared me at first, but a quick taste told me the colour was more sweet than spicy. The menu said they were tiger prawns simmered in a tomato and chilli base sauce. The prawns did not fail -- they were juicy and fresh and went really well with the sweet red sauce. There was no hint of spiciness at all and there were about 6 to 8 prawns there, pretty generous of them.



And finally, the spring rolls! Indonesian-style spring rolls stuffed with minced chicken, shrimp, bamboo shoots and tofu served with a peanut dipping sauce. Again, very generous as there were four (as pictured) large rolls of deep-fried goodness.



They were good enough for me to take a picture of the inside! As you can see, there are lots of skinny tofu bits peppered with pork here and there. Dip it in the thick, creamy peanut sauce and it's a nice crunchy burst in your mouth! Definitely the best dish out of the entire meal!

So I was a little disappointed by the presentation and portion size of the meal, and the taste of everything was everything but extraordinary, so I doubt I would come to Pondok again. It might be good if you have a large party, since they have an abundance of tables in their spacious restaurant.

Pondok is located at 950 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Cafe Gloucester at Cambie St

About a week and a half ago (yes, it has been that long eh?), we went to try out Cafe Gloucester on Cambie Street, a couple blocks away from Copa Cafe.





It is also a Hong Kong-style restaurant, and the menu was more or less the same, except they had more choices. We wanted to give it a go and compare it with the horrendous service we got at Copa.



We were immediately greeted as we entered. A waitress said we could sit anywhere as it was only 5pm and the restaurant was no where near packed. We picked a booth and settled into our seats.



The restaurant had a very open layout, with wide paths for walking and a central counter where orders are taken. The layout really resembles Tang's Noodle House (which is another story for another day), and the soft lighting makes it very cosy. The choice of music was instrumental pop hits, very gentle and romantic.



I was pleasantly surprised that we had fork and spoons as utensils given it was a Chinese restaurant. Usually we prefer forks and spoons (being from Southeast Asia) over traditional chopsticks.

The waitresses were VERY attentive. They asked us three times before we could decide on what to get. They were also patient in answering our questions about the level of spiciness. Once we asked how spicy a dish was, she said "Would you like it more spicy or less spicy? We can make it either way you like it." Very thoughtful and intelligent on her part.

J.S. decided on a Szechuan seafood platter and the portion size was very healthy! We requested for less spicy and it was just right, the way my taste buds can handle!



There were squid, cod fish, large scallops and shrimp. Quite a generous portion of seafood for a dish that was $14.99. The complementing vegetables were snow peas, celery, Chinese mushrooms and black fungus. Everything was very well cooked and succulent. I especially enjoyed the scallops as they were juicy and had the slightest sweet taste just enough to balance the flavour.

I ordered Portuguese chicken rice AGAIN! Just for comparison to the other one at Copa. It was slightly more expensive at $10.99, but the portion size was equally huge and the exterior looked pretty much the same.



The potatoes looked very appealing, golden brown and encrusted with coconut shavings. I could hardly wait to dig into it!



The rice was moist with some egg fried into it (simple egg fried rice). The sauce reached the rice nicely, so the rice was not dry and tasteless. The chicken was in very large pieces and there was a lot of skin (which I discarded). Most importantly, the taste of the chicken was sour -- definitely not something you would expect in a savoury dish like this.



I can't imagine what would make the chicken taste sour. It was kind of like citrus-sour, not rotting-sour. At least it was edible, but the sour taste became more prominent after each bite. Again, we got half of it packed up. The bill came to $26.68 including taxes, which was a little on the expensive side.

Over all, service was excellent and the food was so-so, almost disappointing. What a totally opposite experience compared with Copa. Copa had AMAZING food but super unfriendly service. Gloucester has top-notch service but mediocre food.

Where should you go? It's a tough decision. Go try them for yourselves and let me know!

Cafe Gloucester is located at 3338 Cambie Street, Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki