Flamingo Chinese Restaurant

 I went to Flamingo Chinese Restaurant last Wednesday and it was closed!:(!!! Apprently they are closed every Wednesdays.. so my friends and I went again on Sunday ..and it was packed with people but we didn't have to wait long for our table. WOOT!  I think Flamingo is a great place to dine out as a big group or with your family.

mmm chinese tea!

We ordered Peking duck which was a two course meal.  The first meal came with crispy skin, wraps,  green onions and this amazing peking sauce!! This sauce was AMAZING! We finished 2 bowls of this and asked for more.

Peking duck (two courses)whole $35.80

Peking duck skin with shrimp chips underneath

Cafe Medina

Cafe Medina is located in Crosstown and it's owned by Executive Chef Nico Schuermans and his wife/business partner Karri Schuermans. Cafe Medina is right beside Chambar on Beatty Street very close to the Stadium/Chinatown station and it's both ventured by the Schuermans.  If you ever dine at Chambar, I recommend you their mussels!   It's succulent and ABSOLUTELY delicious!!  The Schuermans and former Chambar Sous-Chef David Robertson also co-owns Dirty Apron Cooking School.

Cafe Medina has delicious unique food and they serve breakfast, brunch, lunch, many choices of coffee and tea and pastries as well.  It is named after the 2nd holiest city after Mecca, meaning enlightened city.

Les Boulettes $15

2 poached eggs, spicy Moroccan meatballs, cilantro, hummus, raita, Grilled Foccacia

My boyfriend ordered les boulettes. I tried this dish last time and I really enjoyed it.   I think it's partly because I was starving before I had the meal.  Also, the meatballs were seasoned really nicely (almost salty) but it went really well with poached eggs.  When I poked the egg open, the yolk oozed out and it tasted great with the sauce/meatballs.

The Moroccan meat ball dish came with raita & hummus and foccacia.

Nicli Antica Pizzeria

 

 The owner Bill McCraig opened this pizzeria in Gastown in February 2011 and it's already a popular location for many pizza lovers.  My friends and I got to the pizzeria around 5: 50 and it was already packed and we had to wait about 20 minutes to get our seats. 

This picture was taken from the waiting area.  The brick oven was near the back of the restaurant and there was a bar near the front of the restaurant.  The bar doesn't have seats, so people who were waiting to get seated were just chilling around the bar area. 

 The Wood fired brick oven.

The pizza is cooked in 900ºF wood-fired oven for roughly 90 seconds. This creates a light and fluffy crust, flame blackened blisters and soft thin centre.  You have to eat it when it's warm because it will start to lose its distinct traits when it cools down.

The menu was very simple with only pizzas and insalate.

East is East

 East is East is a restaurant portraying the dhabba(eateries) that existed along the ancient silk road from Mongolia through Tibet, India, Persia and Istanbul.

I absolutely enjoyed the atmosphere and the smell of the spices that permeated the restaurant!!

chai latte in a cute little cup:)

Trattoria Italian Kitchen

My friend decided to have her 21st birthday party at Trattoria Italian Kitchen on 4th and Burrard. Trattoria is part of The Global Collection Group and there are 2 locations in Vancouver.  Check out their website for more information.

the menu had a variety of choices(pasta, pizza, salumi, insalata, meat and seafood) and also platters for minimum 2 people in case you want to try different kinds of pasta.

Gnocchi Aglio e Olio garlic, peperoncino, olive oil   $13.95

Overall, good.  But it was less fluffy compared to the one I had in Chambar and the garlic flavour was stronger than what I prefer.

Sweet Obsession

 jams, biscotti etcetra

beautiful display of cakes

 

 

 

Fruit Tart

Chocolate brushed pastry, filled with chocolate mousse, custard cream and topped with fresh fruits.

 

the tart looks amazing but it's not as good as it looks from what I remember

Korean style sandwich (?)

Continuing with the Kimchi theme..

 I tried making a Korean style sandwich.(?)

I used

• 1/4 onion
• 2 mushrooms
• 1 green onion
• kimchi
• 2 chicken thighs
• garlic 
• salad mix
• sesame seed salad dressing
• 2 pieces of whole grain bread
• korean pepper paste
• sesame oil

 saute mushroom+onion

mix korean pepper paste(Go chu jang), sugar, sesame oil and add water (Approx. 2 tea spoon)

season with salt and pepper and marinate it in the korean pepper paste mixture

slice kimchi

Random photos

Takoyaki from Ebi-ten on Robson

Greentea gelato

Soy Original ($19.95) from Zabu Chicken on Robson- it tasted very similar to honey garlic

Fried Chicken is one of the most popular dishes in Korea and you can get it delivered to your house any time of the day with no extra charges!  There is a delivery system in Vancouver called  5delivery, and they deliver food from 17 different restaurants (Korean, Japanese, Cream puffs, Persian, Thai, Indian etc.) Unfortunately, there is a $5 extra charge and they only deliver to the downtown area.