Italian Kitchen: Late Night Menu

I have been wanting to come here for a while. My plan is to try all the Glowbal Restaurants within the next year. I haven't read any reviews on Italian Kitchen but I just LOVE pasta! So my 2 girlfriends and I came by for their late night menu. Honestly we didn't even realize they had a late night menu. Obviously, we would've preferred the regular menu (It looks huge on their website) but this one had to do for that night. 

Beets & Arugula Salad $12. A great start to the night. This thing had like 3 different kinds of beets, all delicious of course. I couldn't get enough of that cheese! If you've been reading this blog for a while you will very well know I am a fan of goat cheese. A very well made salad and very recommended.

Linguine with Jumbo Prawns $23. This one was mine. For some reason, it wasn't very photogenic but it tasted like heaven.. well not really, but very close! This entrée included 4 perfectly cooked jumbo prawns that actually look jumbo! The sauce looks a littler watery but as I can remember, it was the perfect consistency as well. The capers and olives added a nice and salty "zing" to this dish. I definitely got what I paid for.

Lobster Tagliatelle $25. Before arriving, we had looked up their menu online and were so hungry that we sort of picked out what we wanted already. This wasn't on the late night menu but B really wanted some lobster pasta! The chefs made an exception. This one looked the best out of the three but tasted the worst in our opinion. If you can't tell from the photo, the "pasta" in this dish was rice noodles. This basically ruins the whole dish. We obviously didn't realize what Tagliatelle meant. Anyway, aside from the rice noodles, everything else was awesome. This had so much lobster and the tomato mascarpone sauce was delish! I just might order this with a different pasta type the next time I visit. Probably linguine.

Spaghetti with Spicy Kobe Meatballs $25. This one was my favorite. Pretend all that parmesan isn't there. I forgot to take the picture pre-cheesed. I really liked how this one had a white truffle cream sauce for the spaghetti and a marinara for the meatballs. The 2 went very well together. I probably don't even need to tell you how good, soft, and moist those Kobe meatballs are! Ironically, Kobe was right across from Italian Kitchen! These meatballs were HUGE! She couldn't even finish them all. Oh yeah, and the whole thing was topped with a big chunk of goat cheese, which is hidden under the huge layer of parmesan.

Tiramisu $8. I really liked this one. The mascarpone mousse was awesome. I really like it when the lady fingers are still moist when served and whoever made this, nailed it! 

Overall, my experience here was very good. 9/10. The servers were very kind and welcoming till almost the end because they wanted to close. We were the last ones there so I really don't blame them. I will be returning soon. Hope you guys get to try this place!

Address:

1037 Alberni Street

Vancouver, BC 

Website:

www.glowbalgroup.com/italiankitchen

Moxies: Quick bite and dessert!

Mosaic Dip. "A base of fresh tomatoes, garlic and sweet red onions topped with a layer of creamy diced mushrooms and finished with a seasoned Quebec goat cheese, served with naan bread." MMM doesn't that sound good? Well it was! This dip really reminds me of Pâté. The naan had some hard and some soft pieces. I ate all the soft ones and left the hard ones for the bf. =)

Crab and Scallop Cakes. I was very iffy about ordering this cause they tend to come out too salty. Sadly, it was. I completely hated this one. Aside from the saltyness, there was too much "filling", meaning a lot of extra bread and not enough crab. Also, didn't taste ANY scallop.

Bite of Brownie. This is the mini version of the White Chocolate Brownie. In case you're wondering, its about a fourth of the bigger one. This is just perfect for me. Its the only reason why I come to Moxies. 

Callebaut Chocolate Cake. This one was WAY too chocolatey. We had to order extra ice cream. Its basically a lava cake with the "lava" around it, a HUGE chunk of dark chocolate, strawberry and ice cream. I wouldn't recommend this if you're not a big fan of chocolate. You'll be disappointed.




Address:
10608 151A St, Surrey, BC V3R
Website:
moxies.ca

Boston Pizza: Appies!

This is pretty much the place to go in Surrey where you can eat, drink, and is open till 2am everyday. I used to come here almost every week for late night snacks.

 Oven Roasted Chipotle BBQ Wings $11. Im getting hungry just posting up these pics! BP serves HUGE wings. Nothing compared to Wings. I think that is why they are basically a dollar a wing!

 Southwest Potato Skins $10. This is always a must. Im addicted to their creamy garlic dressing.

Goat Cheese Spinach Dip $10. MMMMM.. This was good. I prefer my spinach dip warm and this one came straight out of the oven. I love anything with goat cheese so this one gets a big thumbs up. The bread is basically their Pizza Bread with parmigiana instead of mozzarella cheese.

• Address: 
• 15125 100th Avenue
• Surrey, BC

• Sun - Sat: 11:00 AM - 2:00 AM
• Website:
• www.bostonpizza.com

The One: HUGE Slush BBT

 The last couple times I ate here, I didn’t order their famous slush but for the sake of my blog, I just had to get one to take a picture and show you guys!

This place is getting more and more popular and is always super busy. They have a very modern design just like any typical bubble tea place.

This is the Real Blueberry Slush. They have a powder version also. To be honest, it wasn’t very good. I liked their regular teas and milk teas better. To make it stay up like that, they had to add LOTS of ice which made it hard to eat without getting a brain freeze every 5 seconds.

Spicy Wontons. It was really spicy to me, after my “lick test” so I couldn’t eat a whole wonton. I know I’m a chicken. I think T likes the one from Bubble World better.

Jellyfish. I never really liked this so I didn’t try it myself but T said it was average.

Egg Roll with minced pork. It was really sweet. I don’t really have much to say other than it tastes like a Chinese crepe which is what it basically is. I like the crepe and egg part, the onion and pork were a thumbs down. I’m 50/50 on this one.

Overall, I don’t really like this place. I think it’s a good place to sit and have a drink but not for food. They’re service is pretty bad but that’s a typical bubble tea restaurant for you! It wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t have to wave them over like 5 times to get your order in. 

Address: 
5908 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC V5J1H2
Website:
theonerestaurant.ca

Soirette Macarons & Tea: The BEST ones I've had so far.

There isn't much of a story of how we ended up here. Everyone has been raving about this new place for about a month now and I didn't get around to trying it till now. So after I got off school, we headed downtown, just for tea and macarons..

The place looks very modern and appealing. If I didn't know about this place already, I would've walked in eventually to check it out!

Though we came in 45 minutes before closing, they still had a huge selection. They sell for 2 dollars per macaron, $11.50 for a box of 6 and $22 for a box of 12. If you buy more than 5 macarons, its tax free.

Beautiful interior. Seats are very limited but as you can see, we were the only guests there and were the only ones there till closing. I liked how it was small and vacant. Thierry was way too busy for me. This way you get a good variety of choice, even at the end of the day. The girl behind the counter was extremely friendly and helpful from the minute we walked in, till we left the store.

I'm not going to list the names so you'll have to wait till you get a chance to eat em! Anyway, THESE ARE AMAZING! I had to capitalize it cause they are so good. Yes, they are expensive and much smaller than Theirry's which everyone is used to BUT I don't care. I like how they're flavors are very subtle. It makes me feel like they are more authentic for some reason. Over flavored desserts are more of a North American thing to me. They are just as chewy as Thierry's which is my favorite element, except they have more of a light crispy shell whereas Theirry's is thick and soft.

Tiramisu for $5! This probably looks bigger than it really is. This thing was tiny and SO expensive but very worth it. It was more of a modernized Tiramisu with lots of tiny almond chunks in it. Very macaron-esque. Loved it.

Of course, we had to pair our macarons with some tea! I like mine straight up with no mix-ins. That way you can really enjoy the natural taste of the tea. We had the Crème Vanilla which is a creamy vanilla infused green tea. It smelled very sweet, almost like tea and sugar cookies in one! Obviously it wasn't sweet lol but it was one of the better teas I've had. They also have a very large selection of teas displayed behind the counter.

The moment we walked in, the girl asked us if we wanted a tea sample. It's smaller than it looks in the photo, about an ounce. This was a red earl grey. If you know me well, you would know earl grey is one of my favorite teas. I just love the smell. It's hard to find a good earl grey that has more of a sweet taste than bitter. This one was perfect. I forgot to ask if they sold tea leaves to take home. I'm almost certain they do so I'll be grabbing some next time. 

I thought Thierry had nice boxes..

I had 3 at the store, took 3 home, then bought another 3 (different flavors obviously) to bring home a full box! Yep, I loved them that much.

Overall, my experience here was exceptional. I have literally zero complaints. And YES, I have found my favorite macaron and tea cafe. 10/10

Address:

1433 West Pender Street

Vancouver, BC V6G

Website:

http://www.soirette.com/

Breakfast at White Spot

I seriously love the Eggs Benedict at White Spot. At one point, my boyfriend and I ate breakfast here like twice a week. And the best thing is, they serve it really late if not, all day. We've come as late as 4pm and ate breakfast here.

 I usually order a half order of eggs benny with regular hashbrowns but this time they have this new thing called “Smashbrowns”. Basically a smashed potato, deep fried. It sounded and looked pretty good and I’m always up for something new. They came out looking like 2 pieces of you-know-what and were not very good. I didn’t like how the skin was so thick and dark and a little bitter. It wasn’t even crispy on the outside! Nothing bad to say about the eggs benny. I always order it poached soft. This time they made it perfectly. Runny, but not too runny.

I stole his hasbrowns in the end and made him eat my second smashbrown. He liked them though, so you  might too, who knows. I like how they're regular hashbrowns are not too greasy or crispy. Next time you're at White Spot, this is what you should order! I would eat this at dinner time too. HEHE. Hope everyone is having a good Monday! 

Reb Robin: Their Mac and Cheese is to DIE for!

I was still full from Nando's but the boy was hungry so we headed out to Red Robin for dinner! I been here probably 30 times and 10/30 times, I've ordered the Mac and Cheese.

 But not this time! T loves this too! I think they up'd the prices cause this used to be $10.99 and its $12.50 now. Well, it doesn't matter cause I would still pay up to $20 for this shhh. Its cause it reminds me of my childhood fav, Michellina's Mac and Cheese. This is obviously better with the cheese on top and stuff.. I don't care what anyone says, I will keep ordering this even when I can get Michellina's for $2!

This is new on the menu, Chicken and Mushroom Linguine $14. This came out HUGE. I thought it would be the size of the mac and cheese. It obviously isn't. I was already still full so I only ate half. It was a little bland and sort of tasted like mushroom soup and pasta, something I could make at home in 10 minutes but its all goood, comfort food is always the way to go.

Lava cake $7 is probably one of the best things every invented. Partially because I don't gotta order my ice cream on the side when I get this. I liked how they had the strawberry stuff at the bottom and the perfect amount of ice cream.

The Mudd Pie $7. It tasted like DQ's icecream cake, end of story.

Marble Slabbin!

Grabbed one of these on the way home from Kamloops. Cheesecake Ice cream with walnuts, graham crackers and strawberries on top! Their fruits are always so fresh..

Nandos Chicken!

Our comfort food. This stuff is SO filling. I wasn't able to finish half my dinner that night. Nando's keeps you full for hours.

 Half Chicken, hot. So good. I don't eat it cause its hot, but when I order it myself, it is GOOOOD. AND for 12 bucks, everything tastes better.

 My favorite part, the Peri Rice. MMM MM GOOD. We ordered a large on the side.

I usually always get this. The double kebab with one sideline $10. I usually get the peri fries though.

Dessert at Milestones

Since the cheesecake we ate here was so good, we came back for the Dessert Shots which are also new on the menu for $11.

This DID NOT look like it did in the picture. One of them isn't even full! 3 of them were basically ice cream and oreo and it seemed like our server left it sitting before bringing it over cause everything was melted half way. I did finish every single one though.... hehe

Brownstone

Apparently, this is one of the best fine dining restaurants in Kamloops. We wanted to try the best here since we weren't going to be there for long.

This place used to be a bank back in the day. They kept the bank feel to it on the outside but on the inside, it  looks like this. The red really sets the mooood.

Dungeonous Crab Cakes $12. The best thing of the night. This was amazing. All crab, no extra fillers. The sauce was also amazing. It had a citrus taste to it and the spinach and shallots weren't a bad addition either!

Duck 2 Ways $27. Braised and Confit. The braised was really good and the confit was kinda salty. I wouldn't order this again. It came with these flour balls which were so addicting! If I come back, I'd probably order I side of that stuff.

Venison $32. Not worth the money but still good! Loved the tomato risotto. I'm gonna try making this at home! The sauce was good, but the venison was a little tough. Nothing special.

White Chocolate Panna Cotta with a Cranberry Gelee. The panna cotta part was nice and creamy. I had never had anything like this before and the texture was quite interesting. To me, it tastes like a yogurt flan without the caramel aftertaste. The gelee however had a funny, sanded texture which I didn't like.

Goat's Cheesecake with Lemon Sabayon and Hazelnut Paraline. The best dessert ever! You can really taste the difference between goat cheese and regular cheesecake. The lemon is VERY tart but compliments the cheesecake if you eat it in small portions. The hazel paraline adds a very nice crunch and nuttyness to the dish. I liked the nice and simple plating.

I ordered a couple scoops of Ice Cream on the side and it costed me a whooping $6! What the HECK.. It was delicious though. I'm guessing the reason for the price was that it was made in-house. It better be for $6!

I would probably not come back here just because I really don't think it is worth the money. It was a nice place to eat and the service was great but my dollar is worth more elsewhere.