Pho Tai Hoa

Last time I had Vietnamese sub in Richmond was at Hue Cafe, which to me, was quite a disappointing experience. But don't get me wrong, I'm still open to try different Vietnamese restaurants in Richmond ;)

Someone recently decides to try all Viet subs in Richmond; well, since she has more time to try new restaurants now, I can't say that's impossible. Before I returned to my busy school life, I decided to end my weekend with an easy and simple dinner.

Takifugu Japanese Dining-Japanese Tapas?

It's almost the end of May; I've been living a hectic life over the past few weeks. Busy weeks, busy weeks and luckily, they are finally coming to an end. Since I still got work to do tonight, I decided to stay in Richmond for an easy saturday dinner.

Scroll down the wishlist on Urbanspoon, and ah, Takifugu looked pretty good to me.

Michi Waffle & Espresso Bar-A good ending to my long weekend :)

Actually right after we finished parking, EU recalled there's a waffle place on Robson Street that she has always wanted to try. Since we didn't order much in Banana Leaf, we decided to visit that waffle place.

Banana Leaf

After having lunch at Kerrisdale, EU and I headed to Metrotown to pick up some groceries and a cold fro-yo from Qoola. Then we decided to go to Kaide Sushi Bar in Yaletown for dinner.

We did not know that it was closed for today until we arrived. Since we're already in Downtown, EU suggested let's go to Banana Leaf on Denman Street instead. Hmmm...Malaysian cuisine sounds interesting to me and, I've read posts about it before, so yeah, why not.

Mandala Iki Asian Bistro-Jap meets Chinese

Yesterday when I was strolling around Kitsilano, I noticed there were several restaurants that I would like to have a try. Originally, we planned to have dinner at Yuji's Japanese Tapas; however, they didn't open today (we did not know that untiil we had parked the car, LOL!). Disappointed enough, EU remembered that was another restaurant that had caught our sight. And so we walked along the 4th Ave, until we saw...

The Eatery-Astro Boy?!

There are a few restaurants that appear in both EU and my wishlists. When it comes to sushi places, we are always looking for special rolls, and of course, sashimi! (Well, at least for me)

Last weekend when we were strolling around Kitslano, I saw The Eatery, and that reminded EU of their loooonggggg menu. Since it coincidentally appeared on our wishlists, we decided to give it a try this weekend.

Your Dessert-From heaven to...disappointment

Last Sunday while having a wonderful lunch (as always) from Maple Castella (Past visits: here, here and here), EU spotted Your Dessert in the foodcourt. I've heard of it before but had never got the chance to try it. Given the fact that I'm a huge egg waffles fan, I decided to give it a try.

Juno Vancouver Sushi Bistro-Everything fits!

After watching Robin Hood in Richmond, it's time for dinner. It's a sunny Saturday in Vancouver today! EU suggested to try a Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond, but given the wonderful weather today, I decided to go for something farther. Then Juno came to EU's mind because it was on our Wish Lists. Yaletown? A good place for an easy dinner. Japanese restaurant? Oh yeah. So Yaletown off we go!

Maple Castella Bakery #3-Finally a savoury bread!

Okay, I admit I have cravings sometimes. I mean I have cravings for other food apart from Japanese food. Last week, when I was checking the Bakery List in Richmond from Urbanspoon, the pictures of Maple Castella came to my sight. Ohhhh, I was craving for its Pumpkin Bread for the whole night!

For my last two visits to Maple Castella, please visit the following links:
Maple Castella #1
Maple Castella #2

After having lunch today at about 2:10pm, EU and I decided to visit Maple Castella. Also given the fact that it's about 2pm, which is the time for the fresh bread loaves to come out from the ovens, we could not give ourselves a reason for not giving them a visit!

We only had a light lunch, so EU suggested to give their Pork Floss Bread a try. Since we've already tried the other two sweet bread loaves, so yea, why not?

Maple Castella Bakery
#1068-8700 McKim Way, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 6
Price: 5
Service: 6
Ambiance: n/a (It's a bakery)
Overall: 6

• Mon-Sat 9:30am-7pm (Except Thursdays) Sun 9:30am-6pm
  Closed on Thursdays
• Chinese/Taiwanese bakery
• Baked fresh daily
• Popular to Chinese
• Hole-in-the-wall; location is pretty hard to find.
• Except the flavoured bread loaves, other plain white bread loaves avialable as well.
• Other Taiwanese buns available
• Parking available
• If you want to dig in right after you buy the bread, there's a food court upstairs ;)

Pork Floss Bread-5/6

• $8/loaf ($4/half loaf)
• Other flavours: Taro, Pumpkin
• According to EU, their flavoured bread loaves are a bit more expensive than other bakeries.

• The loaf above was the middle section of the bread. Before I tore the bread into pieces, it looked simple to me. I was thinking: where's the pork floss?
• After I gently tore a pieces of bread, I started to see some brown pork floss coming out.
• The pork floss here wasn't the one I have had before. The typical ones are dry, but this is kind of moist and crumbly.
• Judging by the photo above, some of you may think there's not much filling. However, the pork floss is layered between each piece of bread! Yes, I mean layers. You see some pork floss, then a thin layer of super-soft bread, and then pork floss again. I love how they put the ingredients like that :)

• The bread was topped with some cheese which gave the bread an extra savoury taste.
• The bread itself was as fluffy and as soft as usual.

Even though the Pork Floss Bread tasted well in general, EU and I still prefer the sweet ones, especially the Pumpkin Bread! We like the chunkier filling and the stronger taste in the Pumpkin Bread.

Seriously, I always see their bread as "unbeatable" bread; they are really good. Make sure you give them a visit when you visit Richmond. They will never disappoint you ;)
(FYI: If you're aiming for their bread loaves, make sure you arrive there at about 2pm or give them a call to reserve a loaf!)

Ganache Patisserie-Ohh boy...♥

Again, happy birthday to me (even though I still haven't reached the legal age in Vancouver, haha). Oh, so how's your birthday some of you may ask. The simplest way to describe my pre-birthday celebration is: surprise surprise everywhere! I was mooorrrrre than pleased to see so many surprises going on last weekend :) Once again, EU has given me another unforgettable birthday.

Since my birthday was a monday, EU and I decided to start celebrating in the weekend. So, we ended up visiting different restaurants for lunches and dinners. Of course, some of my favourite restaurants were on our To-go list ;) One thing I didn't expect much was the cake. Yea, I know that sounds silly (because it's a birthday duh?), but honestly, I am not a dessert person (except for Chinese Red Bean/Green Bean Soup!).

Last sunday, I got home after dinner and, tried to calm down and get ready for my busy school work. Just when I thought everything was coming to an end, something appeared that had brought me back to the state of shock. Held by EU, smiling and saying "Happy Birthday!", it was just an ordinary paper box. Wait, I've seen that paper box somewhere before....Oh yes, it's from the well-known Ganache Patisserie.

Ganache Patisserie
1262 Homer StVancouver, BC

• Sun-Mon 11am-5pm Tue-Fri 11am-6pm Sat 11am-7pm
• Modern French pastries, chocolates, sweets, and cakes available
• One of the most well-known pastry shops in Vancouver
• Run by a Chinese pastry chef, Peter Fong
• Everything is hand-made at their Yaletown location
• Wedding cake services available

Matcha-Exotique-5.5/6

• Green tea mousse, mango-passionfruit gelée, lychees, and black sesame biscuit joconde

• It was nicely decorated with milk and white chocolates. EU and I decided to finish them before digging into the cake.

• The two layers of green tea mousse and black sesame biscuit joconde were clearly seen. I got really excited when EU was describing the cake; she KNOWS what I like ;)
• Just by looking at the black sesame biscuit joconde with those black sesame dots, I couldn't wait to give that a bite!

• The orange layer is the mango-passionfruit gelée, and the lychees are under it.
• I was surprised by the lychees because I seldom find a cake with lychees in it.
• Oh my, I just love the green tea mousse! It was very greentea-ish! Maybe some of you may find it a little bitter, but it tastes fine to me ;)
• I was also surprised by the black sesame biscuit joconde. At first, I thought it would be those heavy-tasting cake base; however, it turned out to be very light! I could taste the black sesame bits as well! I love it.
• The mango-passionfruit gelée was a bit sour in general, maybe because the other components were not too sweet, so its flavour stood out more.
• Overall, it is not a heavy cake. Most ingredients do not have a strong flavour, but is still able to satisfy your sweet tooth. Believe it or not, EU and I finished the ENTIRE CAKE! (Don't forget that we just finished dinner, haha :)

Japanese Waffle House-Ordinary name but surprising waffles

EU and I have been going to Burnaby Metrotown so often recently. However, we ususally go to Crystal Mall for lunch because they also offer a large variety of food and sometimes, we can discover something interesting, like this restaurant.

Guu Garden-A sashimi-base dinner!

EU and I were planning to have a nice, decent meal on Saturday night as a pre-Birthday dinner for me. Of course, it's to celebrate MY birthday, so no doubt I would choose Japanese cuisine ;) I was struggling which Jap restaurant I should go to. Downtown? Yeeaaa, it's Saturday, so I would probably choose a restaurant at downtown. Oh wait...isn't there a restaurant that EU and I had non-stop praising after trying it once? Oooh yeah, so there we went!

*(Ok, so this time it was ME who had forgotten to bring my camera! So all photos were from EU. Thanks loads!)

Matsuyama #2-Another good place for BIG sashimi

I am constantly craving for Japanese food, especially sashimi, no matter what the time is (yes, even in the middle of the night). So EU brought me to Banzai Sushi House few months ago because I can get LARGE portions with a relatively low price. Of course, you can't expect much from such restaurant, but it can surely satisfy my craving!

Still, I wanted to find a similar restaurant like Banzai...with a "higher level". I discovered Matsuyama long time ago and have made regular visits when I want to grab some Japanese food.

This Sunday, while I had no idea where to go for dinner, EU suggested Matsuyama. Japanese food? Sushi? Sashimi? Ok I am here.

Matsuyama Japanese Restaurant
110-8500 Alexandra Rd, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5.5
Price: 4.5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5.5

• For lunch: Sun-Mon 11am-2:30pm
  For dinner: Sun-Thurs: 5pm-12am Fri-Sat: 5pm-1am
• Run by Chinese
• Have 2-3 Japanese chefs in the sushi bar
• Dine in/Take out (Free delivery with $25 minimum)
• Parking available
• Popular to locals/Chinese
• Lunch combos, bento boxes, and combos available
• Late night menu after 9pm
• Special rolls available
• Large variety in menu
• Gets busy at night

Wakame Salad-4/6

• $4.25
• Slightly over-priced. With a comparatively higher price, they did not serve a bigger portion of Wakame Salad compare to other Japanese restaurants.
• Nothing to shout about as this was pre-made.

Canuck Roll-4.5/6

• $4.95
• They offer quite a lot of specialty rolls, ranging from $4.25-10.95.

• Crab salad and asparagus topped with smoked salmon
• The smoked salmon smelt really good, and it certainly tasted good as well.
• The asparagus was a bit tough.
• Overall, this roll was well-executed; all ingredients were wrapped tightly and the sushi rice had its proper vinegary flavour.

Saba & Tuna Sashimi-6/6 for Saba, 5.5/6 for Tuna

• $10.95/9pcs
• Notice: They don't have 1/2 serving; you have to order 9pcs each time!
• Yes, the sashimi here is a bit pricier, but with its generous portion, I find it is quite worthy.

• EU and I both love the sourness in the saba! Does anyone know why saba sashimi always comes with a hint of sourness? For preservation?

• Oh, how I miss tuna sashimi! The last two times I had tuna was in Gyoza King and Sushi Oyama, but the tuna from both restaurants tasted mushy and bland; I was wondering whether it's not the season for good tuna sashimi :/ Ok, back to the tuna! The ones here were far from mushy; instead, they were fishy and chewy. I did have a good time enjoying these ;)

From its outlook, Matsuyama does look like a creepy restaurant as you cannot see through the windows from the outside. However, do give it a try! Maybe you will leave with something unexpected :)

Sushi Oyama-Haunted mansion?

Another sunny day in Vancouver :) Despite I had loads of work to do, I decided to spend some time outdoor and enjoy the sunlight before the rain returned. Of course, I brought EU with me again because she has finished all her final exams and is enjoying her holiday now. Since we did not have the chance to visit Viet Sub last week, we decided to return for today's lunch! I ordered the Chicken Sub this time, and it was good as usual ;)

We then took the skytrain from Granville to Metrotown for another small-scale shopping spree. Haha. It's Saturday and I must have Japanese food AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. EU suggested Sushi Oyama. On my wishlist? Check. Sushi & sashimi? Check. Is it far from Metrotown? Not really. Okay, let's go to Sushi Oyama then!