Lolita's

One of the biggest problems with my move to Vancouver has been the lack of high quality Mexican food. There are plenty of Mexican fusion places and a few chain burrito shops, but traditional Mexican food is difficult to find. When I first moved here I was told that Lolita’s has the best Mexican food in the city. For months I postponed visiting, primarily because of the high cost, but finally I caved in to the allure of margaritas and good food. 

First I should say that Lolita’s is not really a traditional Mexican restaurant. Although they have several traditional dishes, most menu items involve Pacific Northwest ingredients such as albacore tuna, B.C. salmon, and ling cod. Since I was on a mission to find true Mexican food, I stuck with traditional items such as carne asada and achiote chicken tacos, guacamole, and chips. The food was excellent and the portions were large. The chips were made fresh and I could not stop eating them. The guacamole had good flavor and was clearly made fresh, and the bean dip was a pleasant surprise. Both of the tacos had excellent flavor, but were unfortunately drowning in red cabbage coleslaw, which was delicious on its own, but did not belong on tacos.

In the end I can say that Lolita’s deserves a positive review, but has some key kinks to work out. Mexican food is meant to be an inexpensive treat, but at Lolita’s the prices are higher than I would like to pay. My search is for traditional Mexican food with flair and a reasonable price tag. At Lolita’s the food is delicious, but I strongly believe that there is better Mexican food to be found in Vancouver at a much lower price.

 

Guu is Guu'd

 

Rarely is a meal so spectacular that you are still in awe of it a week later. Luckily there are still some amazing meals where every aspect is perfect. Excellent service, tasty drinks, sublime food, and an exciting ambiance can come together to make an unforgettable meal. This was my experience at Guu. Behind the extremely bland exterior of an awning on a rather unremarkable street lies one of the best restaurants in Vancouver.

Because celebrating my Mom’s birthday motivated my visit to Guu, we started out the evening with some nice cocktails. I definitely recommend the sake mojitos and since all cocktails are under $9, I will be enjoying more in the future. Most of Guu’s menu items are authentic Japanese tapas. And I know that Japanese tapas sound like a bit of a contradiction, but trust me that they are delicious! The atmosphere is almost controlled chaos with an open kitchen, bar, and limited space. Despite this, the high energy only made our meal better.

Between my Mom and I, we had six dishes including dessert. We started with the Aigamo Salad, which was a roasted duck salad with a wasabi dressing. Truly one of the best salad dressings I have ever tried, but this was my least favorite of the dishes. Up next was the Ebi Mayo, which was a deep-fried prawn with chili mayo. I cannot think of tasting a better prawn dish in my life. Sadly my photos of the prawns don’t really reflect how delicious they were!

Next was a daily special of mussels in a garlic butter sake broth. The mussels were tender and the broth was light and refreshing. Fourth came Hotate Butter, a delectable garlicky scallop dish served on some of the best bread I have ever tasted! Our last savory dish was Tuna Tataki in a ponzu sauce. I am a self-confessed tuna addict and Guu did not fail me here! The meal was completed with green tea ice cream that left me wanting more. 

In the end I have to say that I wish I could visit Guu every day. Or work there, learn their secrets, and gorge on tuna tataki and prawns for the rest of my life. Mmmm. 

 

Simple Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Some days are just painful. Migraines, knee injuries, and rain combine with a huge need to clean and do laundry before family arrives for a visit. At the end of the day it can be difficult to even think about cooking, let alone make a healthy meal. Luckily I have a simple recipe to cure even the worst bad-day blues. The salad dressing lasts for up to two weeks, it can be made in advance. Usually I always have a supply in my fridge for all kinds of salads.

Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 shallot finely chopped

1 t Dijon mustard

2 T balsamic vinegar

½ cup olive oil

•  Combine shallot, mustard, and vinegar in a bowl

• Slowly whisk in olive oil-note that the amount of oil specified is for my personal preference and can be adjusted

Beet Salad

3-4 whole beets (any variety will do, I used golden in the photos)

1 batch simple balsamic dressing

goat cheese

• Steam beets for 45 minutes

• Peel and slice into thin cylinders

• Drizzle salad dressing on top of beets and top with crumbled goat cheese

Enjoy!

Whole Foods Grocery Store Review

Years ago when I was first starting ballet lessons my long-suffering mother was stuck driving me over an hour to ballet class, feeding me, and driving another hour home at least three times per week. In these dark days of parental self-sacrifice, there was a single glowing beacon: Whole Foods. The Santa Fe Whole Foods was paradise in the form of a grocery store and I ate many delicious meals from their deli, not to mention the amazing ciabatta bread loaves! Needless to say, Whole Foods already had a dear place in my heart that was not disappointed by my recent visit to a Vancouver Whole Foods.

When I first moved here, I was overjoyed that there was a Whole Foods a mere seven blocks from my new home. Sadly I didn’t realize that five of those blocks were an uphill battle while walking home and laziness and convenience won out. Now this Whole Foods is much smaller than what I am used to, but still manages to have an excellent produce section. I hadn’t planned on buying many vegetables, but was too tempted by the reasonably priced artichokes and delicious looking golden beets. I should also mention that Whole Foods is one of the few places you can find crucial popcorn ingredients such as nutritional yeast and paper bags. In fact the only disappointment about this Whole Foods was the butcher’s counter. Not only did they have limited meat options, but also the staff had no real knowledge of the products. Despite this, I was very impressed with the organization, selection, and price of the Robson St. Whole Foods. It may not be as good as Santa Fe, but it is still an excellent choice.

Leg of Lamb Sold Out
Panko $3.99/227 g
Star Anise $5.99/20 g
Artichokes 2/$3 (current special sale, regularly $2.49/each)

SuperValu Review
MarketPlace IGA Review

Urban Fare Review

Whole Foods Robson St.

Taco Tastings

The first thing a visitor to Vancouver discovers is the plethora of food carts in the downtown area. From Smithe St. to Canada Place and Thurlow St. to Richards St. a visitor to Vancouver can find Dim Sum, Indian food, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tacos galore! It is extremely easy to completely empty your wallet on naan and rice balls. For those of us on a bit of a tighter budget, it can be extremely rough to balance the tasty goodness of street food against the necessary money saving efforts of cooking at home. 

Thanks to google and a little imagination I found it possible to make my own food cart-style Korean tacos. I chose to make Dwaegi (spicy pork) Bulgogi tacos with chili-lime rice and jack cheese.  I started marinating the pork 24 hours before making the tacos in a spicy soy sauce sesame mixture. In the end they were some of the best tacos I have ever made and the only thing I will do different next time is make a fruit salsa to go with them. Possibly guacamole as well because avocados can improve anything!

Korean Dwaegi Bulgogi Tacos

 Pork

• 1 pound pork shoulder or loin thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce 
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 1 tablespoon sugar 
• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil 
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons rice wine

Combine all ingredients and marinate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Cook meat on a grill or in a skillet, then chop for tacos. 

Chili-Lime Rice

•  1/2 cup rice
• Water
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 teaspoons chili powder

Make rice according to individual preference. Mix in lime juice and chili powder.

Assemble meat and rice on small flour tortillas and top with shredded jack cheese and Sriracha chili sauce. Enjoy!

SuperValu Grocery Store Review

  

Sometimes the simplest grocery store can surprise you. SuperValu is the Canadian equivalent of a Kroger store in the US. It is a great one stop shopping location for anything from a mop to frozen scallops.  Aisles are clearly laid out and it is rare that you need help finding things, which is lucky since the store is minimally staffed. SuperValu has a large number of surprising products. In the summer they sell local fruit and vegetables in a special produce section. They also have a good selection of frozen products including delicious seafood, a large ice cream section, and frozen fruit. 

Overall I definitely recommend visiting the SuperValu for any general grocery shopping. The one surprising disappointment was a lack of artichokes, but upon inquiring, I was told that they had artichokes just last week, but have stopped ordering them because it is the end of the season. Despite the lack of a large organic presence and the low staff numbers, it is easy to find almost anything here. I was most impressed with the large spice collection that had not only one brand of star anise, but also a second that was amazingly inexpensive.

Leg of Lamb Not sold
Panko $3.29/227 g
Star Anise $2.99/12 g
Artichokes Unavailable

MarketPlace IGA Review

Urban Fare Review

SuperValu Davie St.

MarketPlace IGA Grocery Store Review

It can be rather shaming to objectively review a place that you go to regularly and realize that it is not as great as you might think. Unfortunately, this is what happened to me when I went to review the MarketPlace IGA. I do most of my grocery shopping at this store simply because it is 1.5 blocks from my apartment (as the jaywalker runs) and has some organic produce available. I will admit that the first few times I went shopping there, it was extremely difficult to find what I needed. So difficult, in fact, that it took me over fifteen minutes to find the frozen food on my first trip. Somehow I put this behind me and continued to shop there.

Fast-forward eight months and I still go to this same grocery store on a weekly basis. Any time that I need to find a new ingredient results in frustration. This store truly has potential to be great. They have high quality produce, a good frozen section (once you find it), and the cashiers are some of the friendliest people in Vancouver. It is also conveniently located next to the movie theater, near my apartment, and on my way home from ballet class. However, MarketPlace needs to hire someone to do a full reorganization of every product they sell before I resume my regular shopping there. Until then, I will be taking my business to Urban Fare where the prices might be higher, but at least I can always find what I want. Hopefully someday when laziness wins and I go to the MarketPlace IGA, the system will have been fixed and I won’t be forced to wander through chaotic aisles in search of anything from panko to honey.

Leg of Lamb Not sold (can be special ordered-price unavailable)
Panko $2.19/150 g
Star Anise Not Sold.
Artichokes $2.99/ea.

Urban Fare Review

MarketPlace IGA Burrard