Elysian Coffee

VANCOUVERRR! This is one of the long-lost posts that are "supposed" to be posted this summer. This summer I got to go to a lot of different cafes that I've always to try, or actually I should say I will like to try any cafes that have wifi. Why? Because one of my summer vacay habits was to bring my laptop wherever I go. Aha, good memories, good memories ;)

So here it is, Elysian Coffee. It will definitely be one of my favourite cafes so far.

Hong Kong-Loshan Snow Garden Restaurant

As I've mentioned in the last post, we actually finished celebrating my mom's dinner before heading off to Macau. There is always a "Restaurant List for Celebration" in our family, Snow Garden is one of them; we will have dinner here at least once every year for birthdays, festivals, etc. So, here's my last post on my Hong Kong trip this summer. Enjoy! :)

(photo taken by my sister)

Hong Kong-Yung Kee Restaurant

August is a "big month" in my family, probably because it's the last month of my summer holiday so I need to play hard, but the main reason is because there are a lot of celebrations this month. For example, my sister and mom's birthdays; my sister's is on the 20th and my mom is on the 21st. How nice isn't it?
Okay, so here comes the downside. I need time to digest all the stuff I had in my sister birthday dinner before having another feast for my mom's birthday!

For my sister's birthday, we went to a well-known restaurant in Central (near Lan Kwai Fong)...ready to have another feast in August.

(photo taken by my sister, with her new camera)

Japan trip-Cha-Cafe

My dad was constantly thirsty because he kept sweating and sweating and sweating like crazy (yea he sweat A LOT). Also because he did not feel too well in the beginning of the trip, so when we knew he really need to rest, we stopped and would find a place to get a drink, took a rest and recovered a little bit...

The same case happened when we were in Shibuya (Omotesando to be precise) one day. A cafe caught out sight immediately when we looked up a random building :D

Miura Waffle Milk Bar Revisited-Free sample tasting!

I was twittering yesterday and saw a tweet from Miura Waffle Milk Bar, saying: "Free Samples Tomorrow (Sat) between 6-8pm! We will be sampling: HEC, Hoisin, Bulgogi, Wasabi Salmon & 2 new Sweet Waffle Sandos!"

"Free waffle samples". Of course, I knew I have to go and try some waffles that I didn't have the chance to try last time.

Red Bean Bun Battle Cont'd #5

It's gettin' there, it's gettin' there. I think this Red Bean Bun Battle is going to an end soon. I want to try as many bakeries as possible before I (officially) start my summer vacation: a trip to Hong Kong.

These are the previous reviews of all the Red Bean Bun I have tried:
Maxim's at Richmond Centre-Red Bean Bun Battle #1
Red Bean Bun Battle #2 (La Patisserie, Michele Cake Shop, Wheat Garden Bakery, Langley Farm Market Bakery)
Red Bean Bun Battle #3 (Castle Cake Shop, Kam Do Restaurant & Bakery, Pine House Bakery at Parket Place, Regent Bakery)
Red Bean Bun Battle #4 (De Fresh Bakery at Empire Supermarket, Saint Germain Bakery at Aberdeen Centre)

So, here we go again! :) The first stop is the well-known Yaohan Centre.

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!)

Maple Castella Bakery #2- The King of Bakery!

I always see there's a special connection between Maple Castella and me, maybe because my last visit was the beginning of my blog. And for some reason, EU was craving their bread recently because she always reminded me of their awesome Pumpkin Bread we had last time.

Originally, I planned to visit Kolachy Co. at downtown (because EU kept on praising how good their bun was). Unfortunately, right before we left home, EU found out that they don't open on Sundays. Disappointed enough, we decided to go to Maple Castella. We decided to call them to order half loaf of Taro Bread. It was 10:50am when we called, and they said all bread loaves would not be ready untill 2pm! AHA! Since EU was too desperate to try their bread again, we decided to have our lunch at 2pm today.

I was not really excited about Maple Castella's bread loaf, mainly because I've forgotten the goodness of their bread. But when I entered the store with that fresh bakery smell......"OH MY GOODNESS" again. We ordered half loaf of Taro Bread but decided to change it into Pumpkin Bread; however, we were told that the Pumpkin Bread would not be ready until 2:30pm. So since we have never tried their Taro Bread, let's give it a try!

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
Services: 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

Taro Bread-5.5/6

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

• Unlike the Pumpkin Bread we had last time, this Taro Bread did not have much filling.

• The taro was not too sweet, but I didn't pay much attention to the filling (especially I didn't find out whether there were any taro chunks in it!) because I was TOO overwhelmed by the texture of the bread!

• Looking at the photos above, can you see how fluffy the bread is? It was super fluffy and soft!!
• Special texture, unlike the typical Chinese/Asian/Japanese/European/Western bread.
• A bread that doesn't taste like a bread, it's waaayyy fluffier than a bread.
• I think they are only available at about 2pm, so remember to make reservation.

• You can easily tear them apart, like a marshmellow!
• It was so soft that it couldn't even stand when I tore the bread in pieces.

• Despite the less filling, the bread was baked in layers (as shown in the picture above).

After finishing half loaf of Taro Bread, we were too desperate to want more! When I returned, it was already fully packed with people. I told the nice and always-smiling old man that I would like to order half loaf of Pumpkin Bread. Though the other young lady said it was not readied yet, he repeated my order and told the kitchen to have it ready...NOW.

Pumpkin Bread-6/6

• $8/loaf ($4/half loaf)
• With some pumpkin seeds on top.

• Can you see the steam? It was piping hot when they gave me!
• LOADED with pumpkin chunks! I am very sure that their pumpkin is fresh instead of the ready-made/canned ones.

• Have you ever seen the pumpkin filling in a bread has its skin on? No I have not. It may look weird or gross in the beginning, but it was very good (The one we had last time did not have its skin on, so we were shocked when we saw these.)
• The mashed pumpkin was naturally sweet. EU and I (especially EU) love it! It smelt sooo good when they gave us.
• Again, it was super fluffy and soft!

• The crust was soft and crunchy, but not the crunchiness you find in crackers.

After trying both flavours, EU and I prefer the Pumpkin Bread more than the Taro Bread. We love it so much and will surely come back for more! Hmm...I wish they have red bean flavor as well...

Bubble Queen #2

After visiting Bubble Queen on Monday, I have been craving for their Matcha Red Beans Egg Waffle lately! So...I decided to satisfy my craving tonight, with my foodie buddy, EU, again.

Bubble Queen
1200-8888 Odlin Crescent, Richmond BC

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

Food: 6 (only based on their egg waffles; but I know everyone has a different taste on egg waffles)
Price: 5.5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 6

• Mon-Thur 2pm-9pm Fri 2pm-midnight Sat 12pm-midnight Sun 12pm-6pm
• Cozy place; suitable for teenagers
• Super friendly and patient owner (Vivian)
• Large variety of drinks available
• Flexible choices
• Egg waffles (aka Bubble waffles), snacks, thick sliced toasts, casual meals and seasonal desserts available
• Many egg waffle flavours available (Is Bubble Queen the only restaurant to offer different flavours of egg waffles?)
• Magazines available (English, Chinese and Japanese)
• Free Wi-fi
• TV on the wall
• Dine in/Take out
• Popular to locals (esp. teenagers)
• Take-out menus are not 100% accurate; the menu they have is more detailed and has more choices!
  (For more detailed menus, please visit a little sweet treat for Eu)
• Limited seatings
• *Remember to check the pictures here and the white/glass board next to their counter! All the new flavours of both drinks and egg waffles are on the board!

We arrived about 5:40pm and we were the only customers at that time. The owner, Vivian, was not there, but there's another young lady busy preparing some batter. About 6pm, more and more people arrived and had almost filled up the whole store!

Blueberry Slush with Aloe Vera Cubes-5.5/6

• $4 ($3 for drink, +$1 for Aloe Vera Cubes)
• Made from frozen blueberries
• I don't think they blend in any ice. It's thick but not icy. I like it.
• I ordered "No Sugar Added", and they really did a good job on that :) It's 100% unsweetened (Well, I know some bubble tea places normally ignore this request).

• Loaded with Aloe Vera CHUNKS!

Matcha Red Beans Egg Waffle-6/6

• $3.50
• One of their new flavours
• Like last time, I asked for a thicker batter for this waffle. And the result...it was served warm, very chewy and very soft! It was very soft and chewy that I could gently tear them apart (see below photo)! I like the texture very much!

• LOADED with red beans!!!
• The red beans were not overly-sweetened.
• BOTH green tea and red bean flavour were there!
• With +$0.50 more than the regular ones, I think this is totally worth it.

(Image from a little sweet treat for Eu)

Oreo Cookie Egg Waffle-4/6

• $3.50
• One of their new flavours
• You can compare this egg waffle with the one I had. Apparently, this is harder than the Matcha one. I think it's a bit too hard and crispy for my liking, but EU likes it a lot.

• Same as the one I had, this was LOADED with oreo cookies!

*EU also ordered a Raspberry Slush with Aloe Vera Cubes, you can visit her blog for more info on that :)

Maple Castella Bakery #1-(One of) The BEST bread in my life!

Welcome welcome welcome :) I have been struggling whether to start a blog recently. Thanks to my sister, she has given me the motivation to start one.

This blog is going to include ALL the stuff I see in my daily life, including foods, fashion, interesting experiences etc etc etc. (Well, Vancouver food posts are normally posted on weekends)

So here we go! The FIRST food post on SHiRLEY SEES :)

After having lunch, EU and I spent some time in Richmond because she wanted to find a "recommended bakery" for their pumpkin bread. We spent about an hour searching for this bakery. To be honest, I didn't expect much from the bakery's outlook, the customers inside, and most importantly, the weird-looking shopkeepers. However, I was wrong, so wrong.

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
Services: 5
Ambiance: n/a [it's a bakery]
Overall: 6

This is my 1st time there so I've only tried their PUMPKIN BREAD-6/6

• super fluffy and soft bread
• can easily tear apart
• special texture; unlike the typical Chinese/Asian/European/American bread
• "a bread that doesn't taste like a bread", it's waaayyy fluffier than a bread
• baked fresh daily, or even hourly
• popular to Chinese/locals
• $8/loaf ($4/half loaf)
• according to EU, it's a bit more expensive to normal bread but it's definitely worth it!
• other flavours: red bean, taro, pork floss
• Taiwanese bakery
• Hole-in-the-wall; location is pretty hard to find
• pumpkin filling: decent amount, not too sweet, fresh (not the canned ones), mashed rather than puree, include chunks

I've never had such fluffy AND soft bread in my life! It is even better than the ones I had in Hong Kong! When I was in the bakery, the bread's outlook did not look really good. And the way the lady served the bread is a bit weird. But after she said, "Be careful, it's still warm." I could not wait to give this little monster a bite!

After spending some time figuring out how Maple Castella made their awesome bread, EU and I are wondering whether they have used the (Chinese) steaming method to make the bread. If there are any PROs out there know more information about Steaming, I don't mind you leave me a comment :) I really really want to know more about it.

EU and I bought a half loaf pumpkin bread and finished it right away! Hehe..But surprisingly, we did not feel super full (like we want to vomit), maybe because of their not-too-sweet filling.

Dinner post will be posted sooon! ;)