Emmm... to answer the question - not really, especially since we were in Vancouver for the 18th time (okay, maybe slightly exaggeration here), and let's get it started with this food tour!
Breakfast/Brunch
Breka has soooo much to offer - ranging from delicate-looking cakes, to fresh baked pastries, to hot sandwiches, let alone coffee and smoothies. We were in Vancouver for 48 hours and we went to this place twice!
We ordered cinnamon roll and chocolate + raspberry scone. Cinnamon roll was topped with real cream cheese, not those pure sugary frosting. And chocolate + raspberry scone was refreshing! I know chocolate is tricky with fruit, but they did their best and it's worth trying. :)
To be honest, I think brunch originated from south part of greater China (Guangdong province, and Hongkong). Every weekend, families usually get together and head out to dim sum place, where people are sitting around big dining table, and dim sum carts are roaming for you to see the goodies before taking them onto the table and putting them into your belly!
Right now, I'd guess in major cities around the world, there are dim sum places. So if you haven't had dim sum experience, go gather a group of friends this weekend, and you know where to go. :)
There were plenty of choices in Vancouver due to an increasing Asian/Chinese population, the one we went to is called Dinesty Dumpling House. And when I saw the menu with 100% Chinese, I knew that we were in a legit place!!
Sichuan chicken with chili oil (cold appetizer), fried tofu, chinese dounut, and Chinese noodle with peanut sauce and chili oil were all very authentic. Looking at the picture made me drooling again.
Shrimp potstickers were on the grease side, but the steamed mushroom buns were so delicious - bun was super soft and airy and the filling was soooo juicy!
One of the national dishes in China - braised pork belly. I haven't quite tried it yet, due to some funny stories of my childhood and pork belly (for another time). Mr. Travels liked the thick sweet sauce, and the leaner part of the pork belly. Oh, the dish also came with steamed buns for you to stuff with pork belly and bok choy.
** Lunch/Dinner**
We had lunch in Saj&Co in downtown, a bit pricey - $30+ for 2, but it was worth it for such a unique and delicious vegetarian option. I didn't take any photos but you should check it out if you are around downtown area.
Whenever we are in Canada, we need to have poutine. We've tried multiple places, and this time we were back to Smoke's Poutinerie, not the best, but we liked the options - poutine with chicken ranch bacon? poutine with philly cheesesteak and charred onion? And many more!
** Dessert/Snacks **
One important reason that I like about Asia dessert is that you always have the appetite to eat even if you are full, because majority of our dessert are soupy, fruity, and light. Like the grass jelly with sweet potato and taro balls. Oh wait, we had this before our dinner, hahaha!
Last year when we went to Japan for a month, I took home so many different flavors of kitkats - green tea (of course), chopped almond + dark chocolate + cranberry, sake, sweet potato, you name it. Who would knew Canada is specialized in kitkat as well?
Nestle store was not impressive, especially we went there at the end of our 48 hours trip, after trying all the delicious cuisines... the $3.99 mini build-your-own ice-cream sandwich, we picked chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice-cream. Everything about it was okay, but nothing special..... :|
Okay guys, we still went to Stanley Park.... to walk off the feast.
** Fun Fact**
** Bacon**
As American, we felt odd to see Canadian bacon, because it's not bacon, it's ham... (in our standards) But the rest of the world is probably calling Canadian bacon "bacon", and calling our bacon "American bacon", because a couple of years ago when we went to London and got their famous English breakfast, that bacon on the plate was Canadian bacon!!
** Muffin**
The same with muffin. Our American muffin is sweet baked pastry, normally with berries, chocolate or nuts, but muffin for the rest of the world? It's like a fluffy and airy bread that you put stuff in between. One of the most famous and common brunch dishes in US is egg benedict, which is usually built on this kind of muffin, also known as English muffin. So.... I am guessing the rest of the world call our muffin "American muffin"?
Left-Turn Lane
In most of the American cities that we've been to, in big intersections there's always a lane dedicated to vehicles making left turns, controlled by a specific left-turn traffic light. This is nice because you don't need to wait for this car in front of you waiting for the window to make left turn while you just want to go straight....
It's not the case in Vancouver.
We were on a busy street, and there wasn't dedicated left-turn lane. So what do people do? Well, being planful so if you are not making a left turn right away, stay in the middle lane. That's why there's no car behind this truck. Again, being planful when you drive. I like it.
That's it! Let us know what you think! We are thinking about Seattle (our hometown!) for next blog post, because a buddy of mine will be visiting in town in 2 weeks!