Fat Mao: Lucky Cat serving Asian noodles (not ramen!)

This is my second time at Fat Mao. The first time I went to Fat Mao, I thought it was a ramen restaurant, only to find out that they serve various types of Asian noodles. They had Beef noodle on the menu last time but it was all out by the time we got there so Zach and I settled for the braised duck noodles. I remember the food being good but nothing spectacular. The duck was cooked well as it fell right off of its bones. I really wanted a beef noodle soup though so left the restaurant half satisfied.

This time around, we really didn't want to make dinner so we opted to go to Fat Mao. We checked out Phnom Phenh first but of course it was packed with people.

Fat Mao wasn't too crowded and we were guided to our seats right away. I liked their manga menus and how they've decorated the restaurant with physical copies of mangas. Apparently Fat mao means lucky cat in Cantonese which I didn't know. This explains why there were cats everywhere in the restaurant, including on the menu.

The water was served is mason jars (so hipster) 

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!

Harambe Ethiopian Restaurant: finger lickin' good

The first time I had Ethiopian food was in Montreal and it was at a restaurant called Nil Bleu (Blue Nile). I left the restaurant with such a positive impression of Ethiopian cuisine because it was finger lickin' good. If you order a platter, it will come with a huge dish with variety of different options. I always opted for the meat option but I generally found the veggies to be extremely tasty as well. The 2nd time I had Ethiopian food was in Kenya and of course it was as good as I remembered it to be. 

Recently,I was meeting up with some of the girls I went to Kenya with and we really wanted to go to an East African restaurant. We weren't aware of any Kenyan restaurants in Vancouver so we decided to try Harambe Ethiopian restaurant on Commercial Drive. 

I was the first one to arrive and when I opened the door, I was welcomed by a friendly waitress. The place was quite empty and it was a lot smaller than I had anticipated. The tables and the setup was slightly tacky but I didn't want to judge the place without trying the food first. 

One thing I did really appreciate was the art work that was all around the restaurant. It was colourful and very pleasing to the eye!

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.