Re-Up BBQ: Fried chicken? No. Best biscuits EVER

My friends and I went on a fried chicken crawl, looking for the best fried chicken in Vancity. I've been to LA chicken before and it was delicious but it was unfortunately too far for us to travel by transit. We looked up a couple of other places and many recommended Re-up in New Westminster so we decided to make a trip out there to try out their fried chicken.

I am not very familiar with restaurants in Richmond but I've been seeing more photos of New West restaurant food on social media (i.e. Longtail etc.). I think the city has developed a lot over the last couple of years and numerous delicious places are starting to pop up where rent is more affordable.

Re-up is inside the River Market inside the New West Quay and it is nested in a cafeteria like environment. I was pleasantly surprised to see Longtail right beside Re-up. From the IG photos I've seen of Longtail, I assumed that it was a restaurant.

We ended up ordering the chicken bucket which turned out to be more like a chicken platter. It came with a whole chicken and also four biscuits which was perfect for the four of us.

Hawker's delight: A Hidden Gem on Main Street

So I am taking 3 week off in May to travel to South East Asia! I am embarrassed to say this but I am extremely unfamiliar with South East Asian cuisine.  I think I only started eating it maybe a year ago and I tried laksa for the FIRST time this year #foodiefail.. but as we say.. better late than never! To enhance my South East Asian cuisine experience, my travel buddies decided to meet at Hawker's delight to discuss our travel plans. 

I've never heard of this place until Aldi suggested it. It is apparently a Singaporean style restaurant but for some reason when he said a Singaporean restaurant on Main St. I imagined a large scale restaurant similar to a dim sum place. My boyfriend and I took the public transit and we almost missed the place because it was very small. It is not a fancy looking restaurant in any way but it does have a nice, cozy feel to it. It reminded me of local, unknown but delicious restaurants that are hidden inside the streets of Seoul.

Bodega On Main: My first go at Spanish Tapas

I've passed by Bodega many times but I didn't know what type of restaurant it was until recently. I am not familiar with Spanish tapas but I love the concept of sharing small dishes with others (i.e. Japanese izakaya). Similar to Korean cuisine, the smaller dishes are shared with everyone and this way, you not only get to try various dishes but also share a moment with those at the table.

The restaurant was nicely designed with unique posters on one wall, a beautiful bar on one side and rest were kept quite minimalistic.

Afghan Horseman Restaurant: the first Afghan restaurant in Vancity

This was my first time trying Afghan food and I assumed it was similar to other middle eastern cuisine I've tried before (i.e. Lebanese, etc.). I was surprised to find out that it was middle eastern cuisine with a Greek twist to it. I believe this restaurant is the first Afghani restaurant that opened in Vancouver and it's been open for 41 years now. If they've been open for that long, they must be doing something right!

Torafuku : Worth the hype?

 This was my second time at Torafuku and I was excited that my friends wanted to come here for Dineout 2016. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for the first two weeks of January so my friend had to make the reservation through e-mail. Those without reservation were turned away. Apparently no one picks up when you call even when they are open. So if you're still wanting to go.. e-mail them.

Another interesting thing was their water! They put a cinnamon stick in it so it had a hint of cinnamon flavour which I actually enjoyed.

Jethro's Fine Grub (Fraser): Cake for breakfast

I've only been to Jethros on Dunbar so this was my first time visiting the one on Fraser. I was surprised to see that there was no lineup and we got seats right away. The menu was exactly the same but I was surprised when I walked in because this location wasn't as nice as the one on Dunbar. It felt a little dingy, like an old diner that badly needed a renovation.. 

The menu and everything else was the same.  

We decided to come to Jethro's because of their pancakes. Zach was craving pancakes and I've never tried their massive pancakes before. I've been to Jethro's plenty of times during undergrad but I've always been scared to order the pancakes due to its size. When I saw people getting takeouts in a pizza box, I was like.. "Oh hell no". I didn't want to eat a whole cake for breakfast.

Kenyan food talk

I was extremely sick on August 1^st for the 1^st time in my life.  I vomited everything in my stomach, and had a severe diarrhea at the same time.  It is a horrible feeling when you can feel it coming from both ends.   I felt so cold I had to take my down jacket out.  I vomited till 4 am and managed to keep some fluids in after drinking a Stoney’s (Stoney’s is a strong ginger soda). 

Tanzania's Stoney Tangawizi.  The ones in Kenya normally come in 500mL.  The Tanzania Stoney has some sort of weird spices in it.  I prefer the Kenyan one. 

When you’re sick, it really makes you want to go home.  Forget everything that’s happening here but just wish to be in your comfortable bed with loved ones around you.  Sadly, or stubbornly, I couldn’t get myself to contact anyone back at home… I tear up a little in my bed thinking how sad it is to not have anyone to contact, not because I don’t have friends, but because I didn’t want to worry them.  I think I am just too stubborn for my own good.

Today is the second last day in the community.  I honestly don’t know how to feel. It feels numb and confusing.  Am I really going home? I am going to be in Vancouver in 9 days.  When I am back, the whole trip is going to seem like a dream… I am hoping to keep in touch with the people on the ground and hopefully, I can make it back to Kenya soon enough. 

Now I am going to talk about Kenyan food.  It may seem like a weird transition from vomiting and diarrhea but welcome to a health science student’s world.  When I first arrived, we only ate beans (oganda), or green grams, cabbage or kale (skumaweeki) and rice or chapati.  Very limited.  When my other 2 team members Lily and Esha arrived, we started buying more spices such as cumin, etc.  Mama Siprose who cooks for us, knows how to cook but she’s been cooking the same thing due to lack of ingredients we’ve been purchasing.  When she started cooking with spices, food tasted a lot better. We also bought a whole chicken from the Nakumat and… seriously, she will make you the best chicken dish you’ve ever had with a ton of flavours.  We’ve been avoiding meat as much as we could because we heard from previous teams that it made them sick.  But damn, we’ve been missing out. Kenyan meat dishes are always the best other than the fact that they overcook the meat all the time but the stew that it comes in taste heavenly.  Dip some chapati or ugali in it and it is om nom nom.  We haven’t tried the fish even though we live right by Lake Victoria. The lake is contaminated with schistosomiasis and we were told not to eat fish if we can help it.  I would like to try a tilapia though.  They deep fry it to the point it is crisp so I am certain that it will kill all the parasites but we haven’t been adventurous enough. 

NYC Food Photos

I thought I took more photos but I guess this is it.  It seems like most of my diet consist of desserts.

Anyway, here we go...

 

Snow & Donuts

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 I try to make the best out of my weekends to explore the city so every weekend I've been visiting museums, finding famous dining locations and going to festivals.  I mean.. might as well right?  I am only here for 3 months. 


This weekend, my friend and I decided to find this popular donut shop near St. Henri station.  When we got off at the station, the area seemed really sketch and deserted.  I think the snow kind of made the experience though.  With the old buildings and trees everywhere, it looked like a scene from a movie. 

 
I did bring a scarf with me but it got too warm so I took it off.  It looks super cold but surprisingly, it wasn't too cold on this day.   I am so glad I got this jacket before I came to Montreal.  It's from TNA but I found it at a consignment store on Main St. for half price off.   I got my snowboots on my first day here in Montreal because my toes were dying from the -40 weather. I seriously thought I lost them. I miss wearing my suede heels and flats... but I have a feeling that it's going to be snowing till the end of March.

After about 10 minutes of walk from the station and playing in the snow, we found the donut place called Léché Desserts.