Cacao 70 Dip Shop Review

Dessert before dinner, so me. I wanted to try this place in Richmond but saw it in Gastown so why not. It's not very big in there, just 2 tables. It was empty and then more and more people came in.

I got their camp-out waffle combo ($9.75), friends got praline frapp ($5.95) and matcha dipped ice cream ($4.75).

I thought the camp out was ok for the size. It was very filling, especially when I have to stuff myself as fast as I can (rush to dinner). There were torched marshmallow which were very sweet! There were like 3 brownies, which felt very filling to me. The waffle wasn't crispy, it was soft. The cone was not bad, the ice cream was melting pretty bad but the chocolate coating was good. I didn't like how the ice cream was dripping really bad. The cone was crispy.

                                    

My friend said the frapp was really sweet, I tried a bit, yea, it was.

                                    

My friend was also having trouble with the ice cream, it just kept dripping.

                                    

I tried what I wanted to try so no I won't come back again.

There was only one person working and there was a bunch of people waiting...

Pokey Okey Review

I saw this place for awhile and wanted to try it  My friend and I decided to go. It's very very small in there. There were only like 4 seats by the side and a little bench for people to sit on when they are waiting.

When we were there, there were 2 girls blogging about their meal I think and 2 guys that were done ordering but just standing there. Then it got more crowded and packed... I thought that place would be bigger. We decided to get take out and eat at the mall instead.

I got the medium bowl ($12.50) with brown rice, spicy salmon, scallop salad, pineapple salsa, imitation crab, seaweed salad and pickled ginger. I asked if I can get every sauce that they have and she said yes so I did except the wasabi mayo. I got the bacon bites, tempura bites and seaweed flakes as dry toppings. Friend got the yellow taco ($5). Thanks for the treat!

I thought the poke was ok big for the price, I was getting ok full half way. The taste was not bad, pretty similar to other poke places. I don't know why but maybe because the rice was hot and I got it as take out so it kind of cooked the salmon a bite. Maybe that's why I feel like it didn't seem very fresh?

I thought the taco was quite expensive for the size. Friend said it was very crispy.

Overall, I think it's not a bad place, I believe that is the first poke in Richmond but I'm not too too sure.

When I was ordering I'm used to other places where they put labels on top of each container what the toppings are. This place had it written in white on the glass. I like how the girl didn't tell us there are writing on the glass and I was like what are they? I'm so used to looking up on the actual sign too.

They definitely need more seats, unless if they don't plan on having more traffic and expecting everyone to take out.

Yea, I think I will come back again. I still think my first poke place was the best. I guess that is because I didn't have any expectations?

AAA Restaurant Review

When I had no clue what to cook for dinner... that's when we get take out. My brother knows the bosses and people there so we got 10%. Did we get more food, um...nope. If it was Lido, maybe? They are "sibling company" if you didn't know.

We got the cart noodle, fried chicken wings and 2 milk tea. No clue how much, I didn't pay.

My brother told me that people say they put a lot of MSG in it but he said he doesn't taste anything. To me, it wasn't crazy salty or anything. It just had enough flavour and the noodle has taste. To me, they can put a little bit more toppings in but I think most places are like that so it's ok. My brother thought the pig skin was pretty huge. The size was ok, not too big not too small.

Their chicken wings were not bad, crispy and had enough flavour.

Their milk tea, the taste vary, this time was good. I always drink their milk tea, we get it for free from time to time, we paid for it this time. Sometimes it taste good, sometimes it taste funny.

Will I go back again? Yes, when I don't feel like cooking, who doesn't like discount.

D-House Review

I heard of this place from my brother but totally forgot about it then a friend suggested to come so we did. Not too too big in there but ok size. It got busier after a bit.

Service was ok, nothing too special.

This place is similar to other noodle places, like the one at Parker Place and the mall by Price Smart.

Anyways, I ordered the small tomatoe soup base with pork noodle ($11 something). There is a large size for $2 more. Friends got noodle and drink, drinks looks nice but it was $6 something.

This location, you don't put the ingredients in yourself, it's all in already. Honestly, I don't think there were a lot of ingredients, maybe like 3 slices of pork, a bunch of bean curd noodle like things, quail egg, some meatballs and don't remember. It comes with one bowl of noodle and you can refill on noodle. The taste was a bit bland to me but ok.

                                     

Don't think I would come again, nothing too special to me.

L'otus Cake Botique Review

I always pass by this place but never been here before. I also know their cakes are ok expensive. Someone suggested this place so why not. It's not that big in there but tons of people. It was all packed after a bit and people were waiting for seats. Near the end I felt like we were taking up the spot.

We ordered the rose and earl grey crepe cake and a rose latte (I think? $9, $8.50, don't know).

The rose crepe cake does have a light rose taste to it. The cake was very soft and not too sweet. I tried a bit of the earl grey, I couldn't really taste the earl grey or maybe I just didn't try enough? Someone said it has a bit of earl grey taste.

I would come back again if they have other flavours, I wanted to try the chestnut one but I don't see it.

Thanks for the treat.

Tsujiri Review

Finally they are opened! I have been waiting and I was gonna try in Japan but forgot about it.

I ordered the sakura parfait ($14) and the yuzu o matcha ($6.50). Friend order these 3 mochi ($1 something and $3 something).

The parfait, white mochi no taste but chewy. The chestnut was sweet, yummy. The green tea ice cream was very green tea, that green tea bitter.

Sakura sakura mochi has a light sweet taste on the outside. The pink paste inside is salty which was interesting. The sakura on top was salty with a bitter taste at the end.

Sakura mochi, leaf was salty. The filling was red bean I believe, not really sweet, has a salty taste to it as well. 

Clear pink jelly doesn't have much taste. This green matcha powdered cube was pretty good, it's really soft melting mochi like. Light sweet taste. I believe it's a matcha warabi. There were 2 of them.

There were a bunch of corn flakes, I kinda wish they could replace that with something else that is crunchy. The cream made the matcha ice cream a bit sweeter which was nice.

                                              

The yuzu matcha, the ice filled half the drink... I took a sip at first and I could taste the yuzu syrup. After mixing it, it had a lighter yuzu taste with matcha tea. The matcha taste wasn't as strong though.

The service was ok, they were nice. The manager(?) asked me to move for these couples but there were 2 seats beside me... At the end I moved back because I had a friend with me and I was sitting by myself...

I had to put a cap on my drink and it was super hard because the cup was so easy to bend, they should get harder cups.

Yes, I will come back. I still have a few things I want to try but I'll come when I have to wait for my friends for dinner. I suggest not to go when it's newly open, not really worth the wait. You can make a reservation but it's pretty full already...

Innocent Ice Cream Review

This has been on my list for a while but never got a chance to come. It's not very big in there and we were the only ones in there after someone bought ice cream and left. 2 other people came in when we were about to leave.

The lady was nice, she gave us a little walk over of their menu. I like how they let us sample 2 flavours at a time. One on each end of the wooden spoon.

I got the blackberry sorbet and it was so good ($5.25). It had a tangy berry taste. I wanted a cone but she scooped it in a cup, oh well. I also got their "butter cup" ice cream sandwich ($2.95) which was peanut butter cookies with chocolate ice cream. My friend got the blackberry sorbet and the "kong", double chocolate cookie with banana ice cream.

I think I will come back again. I hope they will have different flavours. I really like that blackberry.

I heard that they close in January and February.

Fish Counter Review

I heard about this place before and a friend wanted to try so we did. It was a tiny place and not a lot of seats. I thought it was a restaurant style but it wasn't. There was only 2 tall seats there and a tiny table at the corner where you can sit down.

More and more people started coming in and there were no where to sit...

Anyways, I thought the people were quite nice there. It was more of a serve yourself kind of place.

We both ordered the pacific cod fish and chips ($11.49 or something). They don't charge tips if I remembered correctly. It comes with a tar tar sauce or you can pick other ones, my friend got the chipotle mayo or something.

The size was ok big, I had to take part of it home. The fish was long and super crispy. Their fries were skinny. If there were no sauce, it would have no taste. I guess it's better to eat seafood on it's own with no seasoning?

Overall, it's not bad but next time I don't think I would get fish and chips. I wanted to try their crab and shrimp sandwich, next time.

Yes, I think I would come back again. My friend said yes, only if they have more seats haha. Totally agree.

Cincin Ristorante and Bar Review

I finally get to try "my" restaurant. I've always wanted to try but their dine out menu never seem to attract me. It didn't really attract me this year either but I decided to go try before they increase the price again next year.

The service was good, they opened the door for us when we were going in. There were a few different people that served us, I think 3, but the gal was the main one. They would always come and fill our water which was nice.

They served bread with an olive spread. I haven't seen much dine out places serve bread now so it was nice of them. I'm not really an olive person but that spread was not bad on the bread. I like that cheese one more (yes, I don't eat cheese but cheese bread are ok) than the normal harder one. The cheese one already has a salty taste so you don't have to add much olive spread. It reminds me of the cheese stick but bread version.

                                  

I ordered jamon croquetas, arctic char, and chocolate cremeux ($45). Friend got the parsnip soup and orecchiette al ragu and same dessert.

The jamon croquetas was not bad, had a slight crispy texture and a creamy filling. I'm not too sure what was inside. I feel like there must be cheese but I ate it all. I wish they had more dressing for the arugula, it was pretty "dry".

                                  

I tried a bit of the parsnip soup, not really my thing, it reminds me of mushroom soup or something and it was very creamy.

                                  

The char, it was very soft, not overcooked. The skin wasn't as crispy as I wanted. The chickpea fritter had this "old" taste to it but it was good when you dip it completely in the sauce then eat it. It was very soft, almost like a mashed potatoe. The chickpeas had no taste but don't expect much from those. The chard veggie was just veggie, nothing particular about it.

                                  

I tried a bit of the al ragu, definitely al dente okay lol. I've never really had pasta that al dente before. But I rather have al dente than really soft pasta. When it's too soft, it seems mushy and hard to eat. Didn't really try much of the beef but it looks almost like ground beef.

                                   

The dessert, friend said it's the best part of the menu. Dessert from most places are the best part of the meal. It's a sad truth. You can't really go wrong with chocolate dessert. This mousse was very different from most. The white part was very foamy and I'm not sure if there were any booze in it but it had a slight booze taste to me, maybe it was just that syrup. The little black balls had a crispy texture, I had something like that with other desserts before. There were some tiny black cookie crumb like things inside which my friend really like. I really like the chocolate mousse at the bottom, that normal firm mousse, so good. They should have more of that mousse but I like how they had more of the foam, less filling.

                                     

Overall, I really like this dine out, it was better than I expected but I just wish they had more main options. I realize this year it's either beef or char, or goat. What happened to the chicken or pork? I will come back again.

49 Parallel Roasters and Lucky's Donut Review

I haven't done chocolate festival for a long time and decided to try this since it was close to our restaurant. Service was ok, there were quite a few people at the café.

I wanted to order their "chocolate power plant" but she tells me they don't have anymore vegan donuts... My friends ordered the dark chocolate lover but they didn't have anymore old fashion donuts so she got the chocolate glazed one.

I guess they didn't have anymore because they were closing soon but still... I was a bit disappointed.

I decided to get a pistachio donut ($3.25) and a hazelnut milk hot chocolate ($6 something).

The hot chocolate was good but I wanted it a tiny bit sweeter, it tasted a bit more like dark chocolate to me.

The pistachio donut was good, well I like pistachio so pretty much anything with it is good. The size was ok big but I still find it a bit pricey for a donut. I wish they had more pistachio on it.

I may come back again, not sure. Hopefully they will have what I want next time. A girl actually left because she found out they ran out of what she wanted.

Notch 8 Review

I wanted to try this place since last year or year before. Finally get to try it for dine out this year.

Not a lot of good choices to pick but oh well. When we were seated, we waited for a bit then someone came to help us. I asked for hot water and the cup there gave me was dirty...>< I didn't expect that from a hotel restaurant.

Anyways, we both got the same thing, scallop, char, and roast chestnut dark chocolate mousse ($45).

The scallop looked pretty nice but I honestly thought it was lacking some taste. Maybe I eat too salty but as a foody...if no taste, it mean no good. The sable fish was ok on it's own but I put the nori bread crumbs on (under the shell). The scallop was not as soft as I thought it would be but it's not bad.

                                   

The char, when we saw the other table's dish I thought it looked really pretty. When ours's came, I thought it wasn't as pretty. The fish was nice, not overcooked, just right. I really like the skin but a bit too salty but not bad when you eat it with the char. The mussels taste a bit bitter ish to me, I guess not fresh? The little scallops were ok. The sand like stuff on the side had a light garlic taste to me, not bad when mixed with the sauce. The veggie on the side had no taste at all. I didn't like them at all. To be honest, the whole dish didn't have much taste at all.

                                    

The dessert, can't really go wrong with chocolate dessert. It for sure has the dark chocolate taste to it. There were these matcha strong cake piece which had a nice matcha taste. The ice cream, I've never tried this flavour before. It was sweet at first and that sweetness just disappears after.

                                     

Overall, I was disappointed. Maybe I had high expectations because I thought it was a hotel restaurant, can't go bad. I also thought the plates were the same. My friend had certain ingredients, I didn't. I don't know. I don't think I'll come back again. And that dirty cup...really?

Denny's Review

I've actually never been to Denny's before. Decided to come try after finding out they have "free" meal on your actual birthday. It's not really free because you have to pay tax and tips... Thanks!

Service was ok? We were seated but waited a bit for someone to actually take our order. The guy was nice though.

I ordered the build your own slam, bacon, pancakes, egg white and hash brown (I think it was priced $11 something). Friend got the spicy siracha burger (no clue about the price).

The size was actually quite big. I really like the hash brown, so crispy and no strong butter taste like Ihop. The egg white was not bad, very soft. I wish I didn't get bacon, I think sausages would be better but it's ok. The pancakes were super filling.

I was really full from it and had to rush because I was on lunch from work.

It's a pretty good deal, yes, I would come again next year.