Sunday, February 26, 2012

Restaurants I go to for...

Legend
$ = Cheap Eats
$$ = Moderate Pricing
$$$ = Expensive but worth it

Eating out in Vancouver is so expensive because of the HST...I still do go out occasionally but usually I visit specific places.  Restaurants I go to for....

Korean Food

1. Norboo - Inexpensive Korean food, very authentic...not really a place you go to for BBQ-ing meat though.  They do have a BBQ option but it's either chicken or pork..not beef.
Cost: $
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181277/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/Nor-Boo-Korean-Vancouver

2. Insadong - A tad on the expensive side, excellent for BBQ-ing meat!  I use to go here only to eat the kalbi and bulgogi..very YUM.
Cost: $$$
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/763177/restaurant/Vancouver/Insadong-Korean-BBQ-and-Seafood-Restaurant-Coquitlam

3. Ddoo Gau Bee - Inexpensive Korean food, again authentic.  They offer sushi but I don't recommend it unless your craving Korean food and Japanese sushi.  The Jjajang myeon is good too...cheap, might come FREE with some combo order. 
Cost: $
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1451500/restaurant/Vancouver/Burnaby-Cariboo-Lougheed/Ddoo-Gau-Bee-Burnaby

Japanese Food- Regular and AYCE

1. Sushi Nanaimo OR Sushi Town - Inexpensive and good sized.  It's fresh too!
I am pretty sure Sushi Garden, Sushi Town and Sushi Nanaimo is all owned by the same people.
The menu and price is identical and they all seem to be owned by the same bunch of people.
Cost: $
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1619940/restaurant/Hastings-Sunrise/Sushi-Nanaimo-Vancouver

2. Aki Japanese Restaurant - Very authentic Japanese food actually owned and ran by Japanese people.  There are a lot of Japanese restaurants ran by Chinese people who don't seem to do it right.  Aki is awesome!  Currently Aki is moving...they used to be located on ThurlowStreet but they have relocated somewhere else in downtown.  I will update as soon as I find out where.  Only eat lunch here because lunch is more worth it..I tried dinner and lunch and realized there is a better deal during lunch.
Cost: $$
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/762765/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/Aki-Japanese-Restaurant-Vancouver
Aki House Roll
Aki Chirashi Don
3. All you can eat- Tomokazu OR Ninkazu (owned by same person) - I usually eat here for dinner.  I forgot the price BUT  I remember the pricing is similar to other all you can eat Japanese places.  I like this place because the selection is wide AND they have kaki pon!!!  mmMmmm..raw oysters....mmmMMmm...deep fried shrimp tempura....*Droolz*
Cost: $$
Link to site: http://www3.telus.net/ninkazu/

Vietnamese Food

1. Song Huong - Inexpensive Vietnamese food..place I go to for Pho.  I haven't found a place that beats the price and size, although they have increased there price slightly recently...
Cost: $
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181679/restaurant/Hastings-Sunrise/Song-Huong-Vancouver-Vancouver

2. Phnom Penh 金邊小館 - Relatively inexpensive Vietnamese/ Cambodian food.  LOVE their chicken wings..love their beef on rice..they are currently closed for renovations.  I believe they are re-opening early/mid March 2012.
Cost: $$
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181389/restaurant/Chinatown/Phnom-Penh-Vancouver

Deep Fried Chicken

1. Phnom Penh 金邊小館- Chicken wings here are so delicious~!  Seriously...if you have not tried their deep fried chicken wings, you have got to come here just to try them!

2. Zabu Chicken - This is a Korean deep fried chicken place.  The chicken here is just as YUM as Phnom Penh!  The service here is not so good, mainly because they seem to employing inexperience foreign exchange students.  I don't really notice bad service anymore mainly because the Chinese places I have been going to all my life give bad service..ha!  The deep fried chicken here doesn't seem to be greasy and it is so flavourful.
Cost: $$
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1565172/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/Zabu-Chicken-Vancouver
Zabu Chicken inside
Dessert

1. Thierry - A new dessert/pastry cafe located on Alberni Street.  They have pretty awesome desserts but is a tad on the pricey side.
Cost: $$
Link to site: http://www.thierrychocolates.com/
Thierry Latte
Macaroons!

2. True Confections - They have good cheesecake.  I tried cheesecake etc. and other cheesecake places locally but I seem to like true confections the most.  I also love their chocolate cakes...mmmMmmm Hazelnut mousse...
Cost: $$
Link to site: http://www.trueconfections.ca/
Vanilla Bean Honey Black Tea
Caramel Cheesecake
White chocolate Raspberry cheesecake
3. The Coffee Bun - A small Korean bakery..well not really bakery as they only sell buns!  The buns here are fresh, soft and warm.  Great to have with coffee or tea!
Cost: $
Link to site: http://www.thecoffeebun.com/
Front door of Coffee Bun

4. Beaver Tails/Whale Tails -  Carnival food!! You can get Beaver tails in Whistler, PNE, Playland(seasonal) but if want them just whenever...you can find them at Londsdale Quay at the food court!
Cost: $
Beaver Tail
Menu of Beaver tail at Londsdale Quay
4. Mazazu Crepe -  A Japanese Crepe place where you can purchase sweet and savoury crepes!  It is located in Richmond Aberdeen Mall.
Cost: $
Link to site: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1495926/restaurant/Vancouver/Richmond-Central/Mazazu-Crepe-Richmond

Strawberry ice cream cheese cake crepe
  
Ramen

1. Benkei Ramen (several locations)- I choose Benkei to my favourite go to ramen place because I have tried the popular one's in Vancouver...this is the places I tried and I remember:
-Hokkaido Ramen Santouka 山頭火
-Kintaro
-Motomachi Shokudo 元町食堂
-Benkei

Out of the 4 locations I feel that they all have good ramen...no one really stood out to me as a MUST eat.  So based on that, I chose the one that is the least expensive...Benkei!  I think Benkei is just a wee bit cheaper...LOL...plus they also have a stamp card..I believe if you eat 10 bowls you get one free...I usually eat Shio at all locations because I tried Miso, Shio and Shoyu and found that my fave is Shio...
Cost: $ + half
Site link: http://www.benkeiramen.com/home.html
Benkei table top
Extra side of Char siu 叉燒
Shio Ramen!

 2. Motomachi Shokudo 元町食堂 is number 2 for me if I want to eat their charcoal ramen.....yea...charcoal.
 Cost:$$
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/451873/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/Motomachi-Shokudo-Vancouver
Menu from Motomachi Shokudo
Charcoal Ramen

 3. Hokkaido Ramen Santouka 山頭火 - Its good but I think its the pricier one out of the 3 places I like. Shio rules!
Cost: $$$
Urbanspoon link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1510560/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/Hokkaido-Ramen-Santouka-Vancouver


SHIO RULES...mmmMm


-Carm

My hair- BLEACHED x 2 and re-dyed x2

As I blogged before..I dyed my hair and it messed up..

After a lot of consideration and reading online what to do I decided to bleach my hair and redye it altogether.  I bought the Loreal Perfect Blondissima as I have read good reviews on it from makeupalley
http://www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemId=105277/Blondissima/LOreal/Hair_Color

After bleaching I would need to dye a colour over top to cover the orange/brassy colour.  I chose Palty the foam one.

I dyed my hair again last Thursday, February 23, 2012 with the assistant of my friend(s).
Loreal Perfect Blondissima and Palty Caramel Beige

Swatches of Loreal Blondissima
Palty Foam Caramel Beige

We bleached it twice...because certain sections were darker, she had to be strategic in doing it.  It took from 7:00pm to 11:00pm...and I turned out.....weird...LOL...

Here are some pictures of our night!

Me staining my friends shirt she lent me
After first bleach session..everything looked evened out!
Second bleach session- we did my whole head..look! T&T bag!
She un-bagged my head because the bleach was working faster on my roots
The Palty dye taken out of box- apparently its a almost like whip cream with the spatula and cup

The tube of dye is in the cup..looks like noodles
My other friend is whipping up the Palty foam
After math of bleach jobs
The Palty Foam is ready!
My 2 friends are helping me distribute the Palty in my hair
The dye is in my hair...looks alright for now
Sorry for my expression- Superstore bags now!
This is what happened after I dried my hair after Palty! GAH!!!
My hair before I redyed it brown- I went to work like this.. :/
I couldn't survive with this hair...it reminded me of a fire Pokemon...LOL..I went to work with a hood on and immediately after work I went home and redyed it with brown.  I used Palty(normal version, not foam) natural brown and everything is alright.  Even though it is not an even dye job, it is still much better than walking around looking like a fire Pokemon!

Pictures!
I'm a nerd!!  Brown hair YAY..no more Pokemon hair!
Learning to smile...I guess its a fail..haha
 -Carm

Saturday, February 25, 2012

짜장면- Jjajang Myeon!!

Book Kyung Ban Jeom
NOTE: My previous post of the Jajjang Myeon(짜장면) got deleted...by me...while fiddling on my itouch..ha!  So I shall just write up something similar and simple.

Had lunch with Co-workers at Book Kyung Ban Jeom in dwntown Vancouver.  I go there when I really want to eat good Jjajang Myeon and I usually just have the Jjajang Myeon as the portion size is pretty big.  They have very good Jjajang Myeon but is a tad on the pricey side.  We ordered spicy fried chicken to share and we each ordered the seafood/squid Jjajang Myeon(짜장면).  The chicken was sized small and was $17.00CAD and the Jjajang Myeon 짜장면 was $10.00CAD.  The Jjajang Myeon(짜장면) ranges from $7.00-$12.00CAD here..if you want to eat this noodle for cheaper, you can find it in Coquitlam at Ddoo Gau Bee.  It is not as awesome..but is definitely much cheaper.

Urbanspoon link to Book Kyung Ban Jeom: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/180205/restaurant/Robson-Street-West-End/Book-Kyung-Ban-Jeom-Vancouver
Our 면

Our 짜장

The spicy fried chicken..it was fairly YUM..I have had better tho

mixing the 짜장면

mixed and ready to eat!
Urbanspoon Link to Ddoo Gau Bee: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1451500/restaurant/Vancouver/Burnaby-Cariboo-Lougheed/Ddoo-Gau-Bee-Burnaby

So the other location to get Jjajang Myeon for cheaper is Ddoo Gau Bee.  It is a good inexpensive Korean restaurant.  They actually also serve sushi.. I am talking about sushi and not Kimbap(김밥)...if you decide to order sushi there, don't order the fancy rolls! 

DIY Jajjang Myeon(짜장면
I made some Jjajang Myeon and it was pretty successful..well it was a semi instant noodle. The package did not contain any meat so I added my own.  I added some pork and onions to it and it was YUM and very filling.  You can buy this at any Hmart, I think it was on sale for $6.99CAD, it is found in the refrigeration department.
The package of Jjajang Myeon(짜장면)

The fresh noodles!
The 짜장
My successful YUM 짜장면
-Carm