My family always has trouble deciding where to eat but this time, my friend had recently recommended Van Tea Cafe so that’s what I suggested. Van Tea Cafe is a HK style cafe located on the corner of 41st and Main. It doesn’t look like much on the outside but the inside has been renovated with a clean and spacious look.
When I lived in Sydney last year, they had quite a few places that served cheese tarts (Uncle Tetsu, Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tarts, Pablos) and of course I tried them since we didn’t have them in Vancouver before. Castella Cheesecake opened up last year and I finally remembered to pay them a visit. They’re located on Robson and Bute next to Happy Lemon.
There’s just something about a gooey warm cinnamon bun with frosting that makes me melt inside. I was aware of Grounds for Coffee from my time attending UBC but I had just never been and there was no social media hype back then. Ever since Grounds for Coffee invited some influencers to try their cinnamon buns, it put them on my radar again. Social media marketing works (on me at least)!
I love ice cream so when I heard about this new ice cream spot with amazing Asian flavours like HK Milk Tea I knew I had to check it out. Elephant Garden Creamery is located on Commercial and 4th which is a little bit out of the way for me but trust me, it was worth it.
Continue reading →My friend and I were going to watch Captain Marvel in the afternoon but first we had to have brunch! We decided on Mamie Taylor’s because I saw on Instagram they had a new brunch menu. They are located in Chinatown across from Phnom Penh on Georgia Street. I know it’s not where you think a brunch spot would be, especially not in the middle of a block of Chinese grocery stores and Chinese herbal medicine shops. The signage isn’t exactly obvious so it’s easy to miss if you’re not looking for it.
Sweet Jesus hails from Toronto and their Metrotown location is their first in BC. There was a lot of hype when they first opened in Toronto and they have since expanded across Ontario and into Alberta and now BC. Their Metrotown store is located near Superstore. Sweet Jesus is known for their soft serve cones that are smothered in a variety of toppings. With names like Rocky Road Rage and Hella Nutella, there will be something for your sweet tooth here. I came last month when they were doing a buy one get one 50% off deal.
Minami is the sister restaurant of Miku, which is well known for their aburi sushi and ocean views due to their location next to Canada Place. Minami is located in Yaletown and although there’s no view, the menu is similar. I was here as part of a Bachelorette party and super excited for some aburi sushi!
The Hot Chocolate Festival has been on for a few weeks now and will be ending in 4 days on Feb. 14th but I’m still going to blog about it. When I first saw the hot chocolate from Soirette, I did think it looked gimmicky but since I worked nearby anyway, I decided to pay them a visit with my coworker. Soirette is located near Coal Harbour and it is a bit out of the way to get to but the 19 Pender bus does pass by their store. They mainly specialize in macarons but for the hot chocolate festival, they’ve come up with 2 special drinks.
We came for the Dazzling Mermaid to see what all the fuss was about. This pretty drink was a wild blueberry cheesecake and butterfly pea white hot chocolate and it comes with a cute little seashell macaron! I really enjoyed the whipped cream with the addition of sprinkles and candy bits. The mermaid tail is a piece of chocolate as well but I let my coworker have it so I didn’t try it. The drink itself tastes like liquid cheesecake and the butterfly pea makes the drink blue.
What I enjoyed more was actually the Mining for Vibranium drink. This was a coconut ash and black sesame dark hot chocolate. I like dark chocolate more and I love black sesame so I thought this was the best of both worlds. The hot chocolate was not too sweet and tasted more like a hot chocolate than the Dazzling Mermaid. I loved the chocolate and black sesame rim as well. The Vibranium inspired truffle was equally delicious and smooth with the same black sesame and dark chocolate flavours as the drink. I would get this again if I could!
I haven’t been to Soirette in a few years and noticed that they changed the layout of their store. They no longer have any seating inside and they seem to have expanded their baking area in the back. There is a small bench outside if you want to have your drinks there.
I didn’t really peg Water St. Cafe as a brunch destination but turns out I was wrong. We were having brunch here to start off a Bachelorette party and they let us have their private room upstairs for “free” since no one else had booked it. Usually they would have to enforce a set menu on us if we wanted to book the room.
Yomie’s Rice x Yogurt opened up a few months ago but I haven’t gotten around to writing about it. They had insanely long line ups and I wasn’t about to join them but luckily my boyfriend and his friends went and he brought one back for me to try.
As their name states, this is literally a purple rice and yogurt drink. It tasted exactly as described. The purple rice was nice and chewy and you will feel quite full after. The yogurt consistency wasn’t thick and it wasn’t too sweet or tart. I’m not really a fan of this type of yogurt though so I wasn’t that impressed and I don’t understand why so many people were lining up for it! It wasn’t bad, just not for me.
Line ups have since died down at Yomie’s and they’re probably the only place that sells a rice and yogurt drink in Sydney so it’s worth a try if you’re curious.