Monthly Archives: January 2014

WE Coffee

I had always been attracted to their branding look, and was eager to try out the place. (though when I checked recently, I noticed that they had simplified their logo, like with many other business wanting to ‘modern’ with their identity. I’m kinda sad about this since I thought their original logo was unique and suited their cafe. The new one doesn’t seem to say anything and looks like any other logo out there. It has no character, and although I understand that easier logos makes them more versatile, this is stripping too much.)

The cafe is upscale, not like your typical comfy, sit by the fireplace, chill-out cafe. This is a higher end cafe, typically seen in Japan and Korea where young people, mostly girls go and chat for the afternoon. So it’s not surprisingly that most of the customers looks like they are either from Korea or Japan. I was also there with a Korean friends to catch up on our lives.

The interior is slick and modern with black chairs and shiny white tables. The painting on the wall reminds me of one of our teacher who painted like that. It added to the ‘urban’ feel of the cafe.

I ordered the Fruit Ballet (3 seasonal fresh fruit, blueberry sauce, whipped cream, vanilla bean ice cream with 2 waffles) $7.99 (if you want 4 waffles, then it’s $11.99) along with a tea $2.25. When you think about it, the ingredients aren’t that expensive. But you are paying for the experience, the atmosphere, and the service – which is most often pretty good. Unlike Starbucks, the servers will come by your table and take orders/bring food and drinks like a restaurant. Presentation is done with care and makes the food even more tasty.

The Tiramisu Cheesecake $5.75 was a bit too sweet for me, so my friend ended up having most of it.

I really like this cafe! I usually take my friends there, and they’re happy with the place too. I highly recommend!

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Sala Thai on Burrard – Dine Out 2013

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Dine Out Dinner Menu @ Sala Thai
Neighborhood: Downtown

Cuisine Type: Thai

Dinner Menu Price: $28 (appetizer, entree and dessert)

Appetizer:

Spicy marinated chicken salad with Thai herbs & tomatoes, Thai-style egg nest with pork & shrimp filling
or

Spicy Tom Yum seafood soup

Entree:
Roasted duck on sautéed bamboo & bell peppers in thick green curry sauce, duck fried rice
or

Stir-fried assorted seafood in Thai turmeric curry, onions, bell peppers, celery & cream

Dessert:

Deep-fried coconut ice cream, crispy crepe, pandan leaf and mango sauce
or

Baked squash & custard with Thai banana chips

There were two young hostesses that greeted us with smiles. We were seated by the window which my friend was happy about. It was my first dine out for Dine Out Vancouver Festival. It was $28 per person which included an appetizer, entree and dessert. We ordered everything opposite so that we could try out the entire dine out menu. The restaurant was very comfortable and spacious, the servers were very friendly and happy.

First, the appetizers. The spicy Tom Yum seafood soup was super sour, but in a good way. The soup was room temperature, so eating soup a bit cold was odd, and wondered if that was supposed to be like that. I should have asked for a knife since the large prawn was difficult to eat with fork and spoon. Still, I enjoyed the soup.

The chicken salad was very interesting and flavourful. The cilantro really added to the flavour. The salad was very refreshing, though as you got closer to the bottom with all the sauce, it too was quite sour, as if I was drinking juice straight from some lemons. However, out of the two, I would have to say I liked this salad over the soup. My friend agreed.

The roasted duck was cooked really nice. Super soft, with a sweet sauce. Went really well with the vegetables and rice. Delicious!

The seafood curry was impressive visually. At first it almost looked like it was a lobster, but it was a jumbo prawn. The turmeric sauce was excellent, and again, went well with the prawn, vegetables and jasmine rice. We tried eating all the meat from the prawn, even trying to get some out from the arms, but the outer shell was super prickly with thorns which made it a bit difficult to eat.

The deep fried ice cream was amazing. The combination of the crispy outer shell, the cold melting vanilla ice cream and coconut was so yummy!! Presentation was also superb.

Baked squash with custard was very interesting. I never thought I’d see squash as a dessert, but it went really well with the custard. The banana chips were crispy, and went well with the strawberry icing – which at first looked like strawberry ice cream.

The food was wonderful, service was top-notch, and the restaurant has a nice comfy atmosphere. I totally recommend it. Each time we finished our plates, we were given new plates, and was looked after very well. It was the second time for Thai for my friend, and he totally fell in love with it that he said he was going to come back for another dine out with his parents. 2 thumbs up!!

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Sushi Oyama

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Been here many times, and the food and service has been consistently very good. Located near Metrotown, the restaurant is an impressive heritage house that was converted to the restaurant it now is today. It has a stone exterior, with Japanese-like interior. The waiting area has a striking water fall that makes it look like water is running down the glass wall.

The interior is spacious with lots of semi-sectioned off areas that make it feel a bit more private. There are private rooms available upstairs if you reserve for a large group.

The prices are good and the staff are efficient and mostly friendly. Sheepie and I ordered the Dinner for Two $23.95 to share. It came with one large udon, a plate of assorted sushi, chicken karaage, decent salad bowl, and 4-piece tempura. All of the food was decent, especially for the price. I wouldn’t rate the quality as excellent, but I was happy to see that the karaage was hot, crsipy and juicy with a lot of meat, unlike those cheap chicken wings you get at cheap all you can eat places that are all bones and no meat but grease.

Salad – nice and pretty. Tasted good too.

Assorted sushi

Four pieces of tempura

Udon

5 piece chicken karaage

For Lunch

We happened to be in the area, so we went for a late lunch. I ordered negitoro roll $3.10 and vegetable yakisoba $9.30. The negitoro was good, though I did have one time where the fish seemed a bit fishy. I ended up not finishing it, and giving them to Sheepie instead. But other than that one instance, it’s been good every time. The yakisoba is piled high! Look at all those noodles and veggies~. It was very tasty, but left you very thirsty afterwards >_<

Sheepie ordered the Red Roll (bottom) $5.40 and Red Crab Dynamite Roll (top) $7.90. They were both good, though presentation wise, they could do a bit better in keeping the rolls from looking so bulky and not look like they’re about to fall apart. I do wish they had less sauce on the Dynamite roll, but that’s just my preference in not really liking too much sauce. I find rolls with too much sauce kills the natural flavours of the ingredients.

Dragon roll – crazy roll!

We’ve been both happy with the service here, and continue to come back. If you’re looking for a place for decent price and food, check this place out.

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