Ina Garten's Famous Coconut Cupcakes

Item: Ina Garten's Famous Coconut Cupcakes - review

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Find recipe here: Ina Garten's Famous Coconut Cupcakes

• Coconut Cupcakes 5/6
  

• These cupcakes are pretty good. Fluffy, light, white, moist and a nice almond flavour. I would have appreciated an even stronger coconut flavour though. This recipe is worth a try and it's easy to follow. I baked them with my friend and we over baked ours a bit. Do not over bake them. If you over bake them it'll taste dry especially since there's dried coconut flakes in the batter...the texture will just be extra dry and you really want these to be fluffy. They will look really white and you might think they aren't baked all the way through yet...but if the tooth pick comes out clean take them out. They're done! Our second batch was much better!
• Cream cheese frosting - great match! Actually a great recipe to keep.

Budgie's Burritos

10'' Burrito

Restaurant: Budgie's Burritos
Cuisine: Vegetarian/Vegan/ Mexican
Last visited: August 14, 09

Area: Vancouver, BC
44 Kingsway
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 2
Additional comments:

• Hole in the wall serving large vegetarian burritos at a cheap price
• Also on the menu: tacos, tortilla soup, quesadilla, nachos
• Store bought guacamole/sauces...apparently I am wrong, it IS all made in house! For me it wasn't as obvious, but I'm glad to hear all of it is made in house.
  
• Burritos are pretty bland and kind of mushy - needs hot sauce/Tobasco
  
• Open Mon-Sun 12pm-10pm
• $6.50 for 10'' and $ 7.50 for 12'' burrito
• Taco - $3
  
• Vegan options at no extra charge
• Eat in/Take-out
• Hipster staff and clientele
  

**Recommendation: Johnny - O Burrito (I didn't try it, but it's the most popular choice). Everyone orders burritos here. I wouldn't re-order the things I tried because they weren't that good.

For what it is - a hole in the wall eatery on Kingsway, Budgie's is not bad, but not great either. I think it's popular becuase it's cheap and filling, but the food is actually not great. Really casual, get your own water, order and pay at cashier, seat yourself kind of eatery.

I was expecting more because it's quite busy and I always hear people raving about how big the burritos are. Yes they do put quite a bit of stuffing, but it's definitely not something you can't replicate at home. Open a can of beans, over cook your rice a bit, grate some cheese, buy some store bought guacamole etc...and that's pretty much Budgie's, nothing special - just a fat vegetarian burrito. Everything was actually lacking in flavour and too mushy - my wrap broke because the sauces and everything made the burrito too wet. Just by looking at the pictures you can tell how mushy it was. I couldn't pick it up cause the sauces would leak out the bottom. Sometimes this can actually be good, but because the sauces are bland - it wasn't.

I may go again, but out of convenience...hands down The Foundation (also vegetarian) just down the street is better.

The staff was pretty cool though - instead of writing our names with our orders they were drawing pictures of us...just for that day though.

On the table:

• Blair Stanley Burrito 3/6
  
• Tofu in a roasted chipotle and red pepper sauce, rice, beans, cheese, salsa, lettuce
• This sounds like it would be really flavourful and spicy or smoky - but it wasn't any of the above. I needed to add Tobasco (available at the table) before every bite to give it flavour. It was good that way, I barely ever use Tobasco sauce unless something really needs flavour too. The tofu was the firm kind which gave the burrito texture and heartiness...otherwise I would have felt like I was eating a lot of mush.
• Henry Burrito 1/6
  
• Tofurkey sausage, rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, salsa, lettuce
• Don't get this. It really isn't good. The tofurkey tasted like cardboard and I almost took it out. It kind of looks like cardboard too (see picture) - it tastes pretty bad. I've had good tofu sausage before, but this was a really poor quality one...not sure what brand they're using, but they should really opt for something else. Has a weird after taste...needed lots of Tobasco...partly to add flavour and partly to mask the tofurkey taste.
  

Ping's Cafe

Restaurant: Ping's Cafe
Cuisine: Japanese/Izakaya/Tapas/Fusion
Last visited: August 20, 09

Area: Vancouver, BC
2702 Main Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

• Westernized Japanese dishes, pretty funky
• Izakaya dishes - small plates meant to be shared
  
• Offers selection of larger plates too - $14-18
• Japanese chefs/cooks
• Homestyle/Homemade Japanese comfort food w/a twist
  
• Dainty rather than hearty or greasy
• Creative dishes, few ingredients, done well
  
• Definition of "don't judge a book by its cover" - looks ghetto on the outside, inside is nice
• Small restaurant, not much seating so go early
• Hip and trendy, but laid back
• Art and interior done by local artists
• Dinner service only

**Recommendation: Bang Bang Chicken Salad, Pork Gyoza, Tonkatsu Kushi Age, Tori Karaage

I've waited a long time to try this restaurant an I'm glad I finally did it. I've driven by it and was always hesitant because from the outside it looks like an old Chinese diner that serves all day breakfast for $2.99. However, the inside is completely different. It's actually really contemporary and relaxed with donated art pieces. Quite hipster actually.

The chefs and cooks are actually Japanese. Each dish is prepared upon order rather than mass produced. It's one of those places that feels so home made that a dish may taste a little different the next time. It's homemade Japanese comfort food with a slight twist. For a place that self quotes "Canadian Japanese food" I expected the kitchen to be run by students of all nationalities; but it's actually older Japanese people, maybe even family run. Nothing gourmet here - just creative ideas, made with few ingredients, done well.

We ordered all izakaya dishes - but if you go for a large plate they recommend the Cod Miso-Teri or Sukiyaki Steak Frites. I hear about their "Ping Dog" and wanted to try it so I asked about it; but the server was really honest and said "it's a bratwurst"...so I passed.

On the table:

• **Bang Bang Chicken Salad 5/6
• Shredded chicken breast, daikon, carrot, cucumber and lettuce with spicy goma-miso dressing and crispy wonton skins.

• I really enjoyed this. It's one of their best sellers so it's a tad expensive at $8...but it was good. There was a nice mound of salad with a decent amount of chicken and everything is cut to a julienne so the composition is great. You taste some of everything in each bite because it's all cut to the same size. The ingredients literally fold around each other because they're cut so thin. The veggies are fresh and the dressing was a vinaigrette made the sesame gomaae (dressing you usually have with spinach gomaae) and Miso - it worked really well and was very flavourful.
• Goma-ae 2/6
• Cooked spinach with sesame sauce. Regular or spicy.

• This is a dish I almost always order at any Japanese restaurant so I have a selection to compare to. This one was recommeded, but it wasn't great. It lacked flavour and there was definitely not enough sesame sauce. It came on a plate not a bowl so there was nothing to hold the sauce and there wasn't even sauce drizzled on top. The spinach shouldn't be soggy or drenched in sesame sauce, but it should be nicely coated. Much of the time I felt like I was eating cooked spinach with a few sesame seeds sprinkled on it.
• Tuna Tataki 4/6
• Seared Albacore Tuna with greens, cucumber, daikon & shoyu vinaigrette

• We had it with half tuna belly and half the regular Albacore Tuna. I don't think they offer this option all the time though so you have to ask them. Pretty nice presentaion but it could have used one more ingrdient to give it that extra something. Whether it's garlic chips or freshly grated wasabi it needed an extra note. It came with no wasabi actually which is a no no because wasabi and seared tuna go hand in hand. This was still enjoyable, but it didn't make an impression because I've had better.
• **Pork Gyoza 5/6
• Panfried dumplings made of pork, cabbage, garlic and green onion.

• I would usually pass on the gyoza because it's so typical and usually tastes all the same. For me it's a 'try one try them all' thing...however this gyoza changed my mind. At a restaurant like this where there's so many different items I usually would have passed for sure. However our server said it was a favourite so I decided to give it a try...on the second round of ordering. I'm really glad I did too!
• The gyozas are homemade and you can tell. They're nice and plump with a generous amount of stuffing and the skin is not too thick and not paper thin either. You can see the green onion and cabbage and they're not used as a filler but more as a complement to the pork. They're better than the gyozas I've had at many other Japanese restaurants. At $1 they're totally worth it. These are gyozas done well...finally.
• **Tori Karaage - 5/6
• Shoyo, sake, garlic, ginger marinated chicked thigh deep fried and served on greens with ponzu and mayo.

• Another popular item. Chicken karaage like you've never had it - not the chicken karaage you get at Japanese all you can eat. This is the homemade kind! The marinade they use is great - it tenderizes the chicken so well. When you bite into it, you can taste the special marinade and the chicken is juicy. Yes, it's deep fried, but no it's not very greasy, just juicy. The batter is not thick so it's very crispy and you can tell it's made upon order. It almost tastes baked rather than deep fried.
• Ika Karaage - 4/6
• Lightly battered calamari with wasabi tzatziki.

• It wasn't the best thing I've had, but I would still order it again becuase it's a unique dish you can't find anywhere else.
• The calamari are the rings, not the little squid balls. You get and taste more squid than batter which is really nice. The squid was a bit chewy and tough (overcooked) rather than tender though. I think they need to experiment with the cooking temperature/method - if the squid was tender and they managed to keep the coating still crispy this would be recommended for sure.
• Wasabi tzatziki - what a brilliant idea! It tastes like yogurt mixed with wasabi, so an easy recipe, but it does the job just fine.
• Sake Drunken Chicken - 3/6
• Grilled chicken marinated in sake.
• This was worth it at around $2 a skewer. Sake really does the job in tenderizing meat. The sake wasn't over powering and you could still taste it lingering in the chicken. Nothing spectacular in terms of flavour - but just simply done well for what it is.
• Kabocha (Pumpkin) Korokee - 4/6
• Kabocha pumpkin, potato and sauteed onion croquette with yoshoku sauce.

• The presentation caught me off guard - it was quite cute and because of the atmosphere it was very suitable.
• The yoshoku sauce - tastes like a bold BBQ sauce - it has a kick to it, it's not really spicy though - it just has a kick...a cross of spicy and tangy - like mustard. I liked it though. The croquette is very nice, the filling was the texture of a mashed potato puree and it's homemade - you can really tell, you can see the minced onion. Part of me felt like I was eating gourmet McCain Smiley Fries - you know those fries stuffed with mashed potatoes with smiles on them? The ones that kids eat...yeah I felt like I was eating those, but upgraded and for adults. Maybe it was because it was served with a smiley face? Anyways the pumpkin tastes like squash so this croquette was on the sweeter side and it went well with the BBQ...or I mean yoshoku sauce.
• **Tonkatsu Kushi Age 5/6
  
• 4 skewered panko breaded pork cutlets with Japanese hot mustard Yoshoku sauce.

• This sauce was the same sauce that was on the Kabocha Korokee aka croquettes. AND so it IS a hot mustard! That explains the bold/tangy/spicy flavour I was trying to describe. All makes sense now...so the sauce tastes like a combo of BBQ sauce and hot mustard...
• This dish tastes way better than it looks, and it doesn't even look bad. The pork cutlets are lean and thin, and really tender. You can actually bite a piece of pork cutlet off without having to use your teeth to pull and tear a piece off. The pork manages to stay together with the panko batter skin which is great. I hate when it separates so that you're left with a peice of pork and then the battered skin. This dish is crispy and delicious, simple and perfect.
  

Eight 1/2 Restaurant & Lounge

Restaurant: Eight 1/2 Restaurant & Lounge
Cuisine: Contemporary/Pacific Rim/West coast/Pacific Northwest
Last visited: August 19, 09

Area: Vancouver, BC (East Vancouver)
151 East 8th Ave
Price Range: $20-30 (average bill per person)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3
Service: 2
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Focus on local produce
• Hidden location in a 100 year old house
• No deep fryer, no microwave
• Called Eight 1/2 because of location
• Attracts late night crowd, quiet for dinner
• Familiar to people in the area
• Pub-like feel rather than lounge-like feel after 8pm
• Great for tapas and drinks more so than dinner
• Most menu items sound better than they taste
• Service a bit slow - feels like there is only one person in the kitchen
• Some seasonal features
• Patio available
  

**Recommendation: Four Cheese Macaroni, Goat Cheese Plate

I just happened to discover this place while I was looking for parking around the area. I checked out their menu and it seemed like it as worth a shot. It looks a bit shady because it's quite hidden and you wouldn't really know about it unless you live around the area, frequent Main Street, or was given a recommendation. They call it a lounge, but it felt more like a pub because they had a sports game playing on the TV and it got really loud. The decor may be more lounge like, but the atmosphere is not.

I do appreciate the fact that they emphasize on local ingredients and traditional ways of cooking though - no deep dryer or microwave. However everything was very up and down; the food was either really good or not so good and the service was the same. The kitchen is pretty slow and I feel like they have one guy cooking everything. They don't have much dinner business and the staff seems like they're still getting familiar with the dishes...because a couple times our dish would be missing something and unless I pointed it out they didn't even notice. I feel like this restaurant is still experimenting...I wish them the best of luck doing it, because this location requires word of mouth.

On the table:

• **Four Cheese Macaroni 6/6
• Made with Marscapone, Brie, Parmesan, Brocconcini

• Every time I see mac n' cheese on the menu I will order it. I'm curious to see how they can change up an old classic...everyone has their own version of this all time favourite American comfort food.
• I've tried a bunch of mac n' cheeses (some gourmet, some traditional) in Vancouver and this is one of the best ones I've had. I thought it wouldn't be cheesy enough, because the choice of cheeses they used aren't too strong - but it was actually enough. The Marscapone gave it this creaminess, the Brie gave it the richness, the Parmesan made the salty crust, and the Brocconcini gave it that stringiness. Home cooked gourmet taste - you can taste the quality in ingredients and when you take the first bite you just know that time went into making it.
• The put a nice Parmesan crust on top and baked it so its nice and gooey. Very very nicely done.
• Baked Brie 3/6
• Filo wrapped brie, local buckwheat honey, sweet chili, candied apple slices

• This sounds better than it tastes - mind you they forgot our candied apple slices so we were missing a component. Actually come to think of it, it was served with champagne grapes...? These grapes were delicious and great with the brie, but it tasted a little off with the sweet chili...I would have preferred the apples.
  
• The brie was served in one big wedge wrapped in filo (which was floury instead of flaky) and some crostini. I didn't even notice the buckwheat honey, and for all I know they could have forgotten that too. It tasted like a block of brie wrapped in filo and drizzled with a little sweet chili sauce - you know the classic sweet chili sauce you find everywhere? That's what it tasted like. This is a dish you could easily prepare at home, so it sounds more gourmet than it was.
• **Goat Cheese Plate 5/6
  
• Pistachio encrusted goat cheese with lobster infused olive oil and roasted garlic

• What made this dish was the lobster infused olive oil. You can really taste the lobster in it, a little goes a long way - this shouldn't be missed. It's not made in house though, they buy it - I want to find the supplier and buy some. The olive oil deserved a 6/6.
• They could have been more generous with the goat's cheese though. The goat's cheese wasn't too pungent either, which is good becuase than you could really taste the lobster olive oil - which is the star. They gave us one ball of goat's cheese - I think they should have give us 3 smaller balls and that way the proportion of cheese to pistachio crust would have been better as well. The pistachio didn't add texture or flavour because the proportion was off.
• The roasted garlic was good though, they give you a whole bulb so you really taste the freshness and quality.
  
• How to eat: Take a crostini spread with goat's cheese, spread a piece of garlic on top, and drizzle with the lobster olive oil.
• Tofino Tuna Tataki - 2/6
• Seared Oceanwise Albacore tuna and avocado wedges with soy and wasabi aioli

• They shouldn't serve this. I just think if you can't make it well don't bother keeping it on the menu. It was Save-On making sushi - ok not that bad...but basically they had the right ingredients but didn't know how to use them. It lacked a lot in flavour. You get nice pieces of tuna and avocado, but the flavour just wasn't there. They don't give you enough wasabi aioli either or soy for that matter.
• Steak bites - 1/6
  
• Sweet chili rub roasted to medium rare steak bites with Parmesan dip

• They were NOT medium rare - almost well done. So they were dry and not very tender. The portion was small and presentation was weak. Bad pub food.
  
• I bet the Parmesan dip (which they forgot and I had to ask for) is from a bottle too.
• Cedar Plank Halibut - 3/6
  
• Line caught halibut topped with fresh mango salsa with a side of spinach risotto

• This was just good. A nice piece of halibut, that wasn't overcooked. However there was not enough mango salsa at all. Halibut is such a sturdy fish it needs stronger flavours to stand up to it - whether it's a bold dry rub, or flavourful sauce/dressing/salsa - it needs something to support it.
• The risotto was ok - lacked in flavour. They skimped out on the Parmesan cheese though so it was missing that salty bite. It's not bad for a place that doesn't specialize in Italian food - I'm glad it was a side because I wouldn't have enjoyed a full order.

Dessert

• Banana Bread Pudding 3/6
• Pretty big portion, but it took forever to come out
  
• It was pieces of banana rather than banana throughout the batter. It wasn't exceptionally moist, but it wasn't dry either. They should have put a tad more liquid in the recipe though so that your fork would sink into it a bit more.

Drinks

• Watermelon Mojito
• Very light and refreshing...barely taste the alcohol though. I think this is seasonal.
  

About Follow Me Foodie - Vancouver Restaurant Guide

I originally started Follow Me Foodie as a blog to show off my food pictures that I've accumulated over the last couple years. However as time goes by I realize that most of my posts are restaurant reviews. Specifically - Vancouver restaurant reviews. Vancouver is my home and also where I was born and raised so trust me when I say I've tried A LOT of restaurants in Vancouver.

I hope that diners, readers, or followers of my blog will find Follow Me Foodie as a useful restaurant guide for finding or trying restaurants in Vancouver and the lower mainland. I love to cook and bake so occasionally I will post a recipe. Traveling is also on my list so if you plan to travel check my site to see if I have restaurant reviews or recommendations for that destination.

Vancouver is a major city for foodies. Downtown Vancouver is a hub for international cuisines. With so much diversity and multi-culturalism there's so many places to eat and different foods to try in Vancouver. Whether you live in Vancouver or plan to travel to Vancouver I hope that you find my Vancouver restaurant reviews useful. I rate the restaurant overall as well as each individual item so I'm able to make the best restaurant recommendations.

I'm always looking for the best restaurants in Vancouver, best foods, fantastic hole-in-the-walls, local gems and fine dining restaurants. Use Follow Me Foodie as an eating guide for the best Vancouver dining experience.

I am a Vancouver foodie, but also take it seriously as a restaurant reviewer and "critic". I write for the interest of my readers and not for the interests of the restaurant. So have faith that I am honest about the food I try and what I recommend. If I get something free or if I know the owner, be sure that I will mention it in my review. I try to remain as neutral as possible.

Besides Vancouver restaurant reviews I will write restaurant reviews while I'm traveling. So you will also find restaurant reviews from around the world. No matter where I am, I am always looking for the best food (cheap eats or fine dining), the best places to eat, the local hole-in-the-walls, neighbourhood gems and the new restaurants to try in that area. I envy Food Network's Rachael Ray because she does this for a living...I hope to do the same one day...I'm going to eat my way to this dream and I hope you will follow me on my adventure. I'm only excited to where it will lead me. All I know is that it's some place tasty.

My rating system

Just want to explain my rating system...again it's all to do with personal preference, so this is just my personal opinion according to my dining experience and taste buds.

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

1: Poor = poor, either the dish was inedible or quite disappointing
2: OK = it was ok, not bad just "meh"...probably wouldn't order it again. I'll eat it b/c I'm hungry.
3: Good = it was good, nothing really wrong with it, but nothing too spectacular. Standard. I'd go again out of convenience.
4: Very good = I was impressed and would come here/order it again.
5: Excellent = I would make plans to order/come again and recommend it.
6: Tres Excellent!! = I still talk about it weeks/months/years after and I still dream about it. I may try and make it myself or relive the experience through my photos.

RauDZ Regional Table

Restaurant: RauDZ Regional Table
Cuisine: Contemporary/West coast/Seafood
Last visited: August 14, 09

Area: Kelowna, BC
1560 Water Street
Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 5, mainly b/c of history and concept
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• To locals and tourists it's one of the best restaurant in Kelowna
• Reincarnation of a 4 diamond, award-winning fine dining restaurant - still same owner/chef
• All time favourites from Fresco are still on the menu
  
• Focus on organic, fresh, natural, all regional food
• Everything is from local bakeries/farms etc. in Kelowna
• Homemade sauces/condiments/dressings
• Very unique flavours and chef creations - but everything was missing a little salt and came across as a tad bland - yes, fresh ingredients, but when it all came together it was missing that punch
• Simple ingredients, but unique recipes and combination of flavours
  
• Excellent presentation with really decent portions - not huge, and not small
  
• Very reasonable prices for what you are getting - a gourmet bargain, however overall experience impressed me more than the food
• They offer a sample menu, but they don't advertise it and you need to ask your server
  
• They don't take reservations and open 5pm daily
• Drink specialties: Fresh fruit martinis
• Complimentary gourmet housemade lollipops when you get your bill eg: Tangerine & Thyme lollipop

**Recommendation: Crab Cappuccino, BLT, Arctic Char, Signature dessert, fresh fruit martinis

How I discovered this restaurant was completely by chance, luck was on my side...so I'm glad I fell upon it. If I were in Kelowna again I would go back to this restaurant to try other things are their menu.

I walked by the restaurant at around 5pm and stopped to take a look at their menu posted outside. There was a couple from Seattle waiting outside the restaurant for it to open and they strongly recommended us to try this restaurant. They said it was their favourite and that they dine here everytime they are in Kelowna. They said they come especially for their Crab Cappuccino which enticed my immediately. I took a quick look over their menu and saw the most creative dishes eg: hot dog with lavender mustard - right then and there I knew I had found my dinner spot for the night.

I went in to put my name down for a reservation but the hostess said it was so busy that reservations were not accepted...as if I wasn't convinced enough; now I knew I had to check out what the hype was all about. We basically ordered everything that was recommended on their menu, but I'll discuss the best out of those.

Overall, the experience was better than the food, although the food was by no means disappointing. It's comparable to great restaurants in Vancouver.

On the table:

• **Crab Cappuccino 4/6
• Dungeness crab, milk froth

• One of the most popular items on the menu. It actually originates from the old Fresco menu, the restaurant that came before RauDz...it's such a favourite it had to stay on.
• The presentation was lovely. It was good, but lacked a little bit of saltiness, it wasn't sweet either though...it was just a bit bland. The texture is not thick and creamy, it's the texture of a cappuccino made with whole milk, so it's not heavy or filling.
• It came with 2 larger pieces of dungeness crab which is a bit disappointing because I expected more. The dungeness crab flavour wasn't brewed into the cappuccino broth...it was more just 2 pieces of crab found in the broth. I found they should have chopped it up a bit more rather than just putting in 2 big chunks. I understand that they did this because it's called a "cappuccino" not a "soup"...but still.
• A nice subtle hint of cappuccino flavour and I think I tasted a little saffron which was great. It came with a nice frothy foam on top, and it's actually good as an appetizer or even order it for the end of your meal.
• It is a must try because it's unique and you can't find it anywhere, but I wouldn't need to order it again or anything. For $12 I found it on the expensive side, but because everyone orders it they can afford to keep it there.
• Calamari 4/6
• Another favourite item from the Fresco menu.
• Fresh calamari stuffed with sundried olive stuffing on a bed of roasted cauliflower salad.

• This calamari was very fresh and not the deep fried kind that you typically get served when you order a Calamari. You could really taste the freshness of these beautiful squids. Eat these little guys in one bite otherwise the stuffing oozes out and your ratio of calamari to stuffing is off. The stuffing is fabulous! Nice and salty, a great texture where you can taste the olives and the hint of sundried tomatoes. The squids don't taste salted, you get the saltiness from the olive stuffing. The olive stuffing was almost a spread - I would love to eat it with crostini or warm baguette.
• The cauliflower salad was very nice. Small pieces of roasted cauliflower, I think it could have used some capers in there because again it was a tad bland.
• ** BLT 5/6
• Grilled salmon, pancetta, fig anise toast, baked fries

• The fig anise toast made this sandwich! They order this fig & anise bread from the local bakery in Kelowna called The Bread Company - see my review on this bread and on this cafe because we tried it the next morning.
• Nice piece of fresh and moist salmon, you get a bit of saltiness from the pancetta and the sweetness of the figs. The taste is in the quality of ingredients.
• Fries - the fries they use made of Yukon Gold potatoes, and they aren't cut in house but they do bake them in house with their special infrared oven - these fries are really good and taste deep-fried...but they're not!
• I liked the little dish of salad it came with - that was actually not bland
  
• Fish & Chips 3/6
• Baked chickpea batter pacific rockfish, fennel spiced chips, cucumber tartar
• The picture for this was too blurry, so I didn't realize it at the time...so I apologize for having no picture.

• Nothing too spectacular, big pieces of fish and the fennel spiced chips are fries
  
• I'll repeat my fry message above - it's made of Yukon Gold potatoes and they're baked and are genuinely as good as deep fried ones.
• **Arctic Char 6/6
  
• Oat crusted, maple butter, potato, bacon & spinach sautee

• This was my favourite entree of the bunch. Another signature entree form the Fresco menu.
• For me the feature of your entree also known as the protein should be the stand out of your entree, for this dish - it was! The oat crust was amazing - I would order this again for sure.
• Halibut 4/6
• Raudz spice rub, grilled potato, and walla walla onion salad, blueberry and nectarine salsa

• Very good, but not excellent. What made this dish was the blueberry and nectarine salsa - I wish it was the halibut...but it wasn't. The Arctic char was better. The halibut was on the dry side for me and because it was such a thick piece and it was coated in this dry rub it became even more dry. I had to enjoy every bite with the salsa, and I think you should be able to enjoy your protein with or without condiments if it's done really well.
• Blueberry and nectarine salsa was excellent! Fresh local fruit, very well composed and great texture. You can see the quality and freshness. Could have used a squeeze of lime or maybe some lime zest to really bring out that fruity flavour. I'd ask for lime and do it myself next time. But I may not order this again, I would rather try something else.
• Best presentation out of all the entrees
• Lamb 5/6
• Bbq double chop and tenderloin, homemade gnocchi, oyster mushroom and arugula saute, tomato and molasses BBQ sauce

• This was better than the halibut, but not as good as the arctic char. Really decent sized portion and the lamb was very tender.
• The stand out of this dish was the homemade gnocchi, you could really taste the potato in it - best part of the dish, and one of the best gnocchi I've tried. It's easy to get the oyster mushrooms confused with the gnocchi though because they look the same and are same in size. The BBQ sauce was more tomato based, and it did have a unique homemade flavour - can really tell they put care into their sauces and the texture was perfect! - Not too runny and not too thick and bold enough to stand up to lamb, but subtle enough to not overpower the main ingredient.

Dessert

• **Signature 6/6
  
• Double chocolate mashed potato brioche, raspberry sorbet, warm chocolate sauce

• Holy crap...this was soooo good! We literally consumed it in under 45 seconds. This is a dessert I would dream about and what to go back for. This is SO their signature dessert and SHOULD NOT BE MISSED.
  
• It was $10 and I'd pay more for it.
  
• This potato brioche is amazing, it's so moist and decadent. The raspberry sorbet is made in house and was the perfect accompaniment to this dish.
• Blueberry Tart 4/6
  
• Apricot salad and sour cream ice cream

• This was good, but not the best tart I've had. The apricot salad was 2 apricots cut in half and I think they should have really chopped it up into smaller pieces. It would have been better and the apricots would have been more tender. The blueberries and apricots were all from local farmers and were fresh - so I think they wanted to let them stand out on their own...but they didn't. If I order it as a dessert I would prefer them to be used more creatively and then have them fresh as a garnish.
• Sour cream ice cream - homemade...and a great choice to match with this tart. This was my favourite part, you could tell that it was sour cream ice cream but it wasn't too sour or too pungent. Quality ice cream that was a perfect match for fruit.
• Hands down the Signature dessert was better

Drinks

• Must try their fresh fruit martinis - they have an extensive drink/wine menu, but their specials are their fresh fruit martinis.
  
• We tried their Blackberry martini made with a fresh blackberry puree and aloe - great texture and you can taste the aloe - brilliant ingredient to use with fresh fruit I have now discovered

The Bread Company - Bread review

Fig & Anise Bread - Loaf
Cranberry & Pumpkin Seed - Mini bun

Restaurant: The Bread Company - Bread review
Cuisine: Bakery/Breads
Last visited: August 15, 09

Area: Kelowna, BC
363 Bernard Ave
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Additional comments:

• All breads made on site daily
  
• No refined sugars added
  
• Vegetable/Olive oil only
• Made with filtered water
  
• Breads are aged 16-24 hours before baking
• Hearth baking
• Organic bread available
  
• Each day features a new bread
• Weekly/Daily menu for breads found on website
• Sturdy/chewy breads - not the fluffy buttery type
  

**Recommendation: Fig and Anise Bread, Multigrain, all breads are better toasted

I have dedicated a separate blog just to talk about the different types of breads I tried.

On the table:

• **Fig & Anise Bread 6/6
  
• Flour, rye, whole wheat flour, water, sea salt, toasted walnuts, raisins, figs, anise

• My favourite! You MUST try it! I discovered it at Raudz, one of the best restaurants in Kelowna. They used this bread for their BLT and let me tell you it set the tone for the whole sandwich. I didn't know the bread was from The Bread Company until I went here for lunch the next day...then of course I had to take a loaf home.
• This bread has generous amounts of figs throughout the bread. A lot of figs! Every bite has some figs or some raisins. It was more figs than raisins and figs are more expensive. I didn't taste or see any walnuts though....I don't think they were in there. I couldn't really taste the anise either...but it doesn't matter, this is a great bread! Keep in mind it is bread though - not pastry bread, so don't let the figs fool you into thinking this is a sweeter pastry bread.
• It's best eaten toasted - no need for butter, but you can if you want. The figs just plump up wihen you toast it and the flavour is so much better.
• A bit expensive for almost $5, but the ingredients are high in quality so it works.

• Tasty Twist Ideas:
• Toast it and spread a layer of maple walnut ice cream on top...to die for! Makes a nice dessert.
• Toast it and drizzle with balsamic glaze. Delicious!..if you like goat's cheese, melt a thin slice on the bread before the balsamic glaze.
  
• **Multi Grain Bread 5/6
  
• My next favourite after the Fig & Anise bread

• Flour, whole wheat flour, rye, water, sea salt, flax seed, sunflower seed, oats
• Organic
  
• Great toasted with butter.
  
• Very nice crust and you can bite into and see all the seeds, oats and flax - great texture! You can really taste the ingredients and the quality of this bread.
• Better than Good Hearth
  
• Walnut Raisin - mini bun 2/6
  
• Flour, whole wheat flour, rye flour, water, salt, levain, walnuts, raisins

• I had this in a mini bun form and it was better toasted.
  
• It was actually more salty than sweet in flavour which is unexpected. A nice amount of raisins, but not enough walnuts. Not my favourite, and not spectacular, but still good.
  
• Cranberry Pumpkin Seed - mini bun 1/6
  
• Flour, whole wheat flour, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, water, salt, yeast

• I had this in mini bun form and I was really dissappointed. I wouldn't order it again. I expected it to be bursting with cranberries like the figs, but it wasn't. It hardly had any cranberries or pumpkin seeds - just look at the picture.
• I thought this would be more tart, but it was actually sweeter than the walnut raisin. I think they could have purposely added less cranberries to make it not as tart. But I think if you're ordering this, you like the tartness cranberries add and thus they should have been liberal with them. It's still not a sweet bread, but it was sweeter than expected.
• I also tried Good Hearth (Multi Grain is better) and the Sourdough, but it was nothing really special or different than what I could find at other bakeries.

• All their breads are chewy with a tougher crust, all taste the best toasted...brings out the flavour of the ingredients.
  

The Bread Company

Restaurant: The Bread Company
Cuisine: Bakery/Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch/American
Last visited: August 15, 09

Area: Kelowna, BC
363 Bernard Ave
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• Serves breakfast and light lunches
• Order and pay at cashier, food brought to your table
  
• Cafe and catering
• Casual cafe, but more gourmet than The Bohemian Bagel across the street
  
• Focus on freshly baked breads and pastries
• Artisan breads
• No refined sugars in breads
• Only vegetable/olive oil used in breads
• Loaves to go
• Familiar to locals, line-ups, busy
  
• Toonie Tuesday Lattes

**Recommendation: Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Fig & Anise Loaf, stuffed French toast is popular too, but I didn't try it.

So I tried this restaurant for brunch the next day. It's across the street from The Bohemian Bagel, and it's casual but not as laid back. The baked breads are definitely more artisan breads and better than the homemade bread baked at The Bohemian Bagel. You don't get as much of that "home cooked" feel as you do at The Bohemian Bagel, but I thought overall their food was a bit better. The Bohemian Bagel offers food lighter than pub food, but heartier than The Bread Company. The breads at The Bread Company look amazing and they taste great! I wish you could sample them before buying them though. All baked goods are in the display cases so you can seen everything and order/pay at the cashier. For hot food, they give you a number after you pay and serve you at your table.

On the table:

• **Lemon Ricotta Pancakes 6/6
  
• One of their signature items! Signature pancakes made with lemon and ricotta cheese, served with fresh blueberry compote and maple syrup.

• These were so good! I enjoyed them a bit more than the oatmeal blueberry pancakes I had at The Bohemian Bagel. They were the same style pancakes though, 3 mini pancakes that are nice and moist - not the thick traditional kind. The ricotta cheese is very light in the pancake batter and it adds more in terms of texture than it does in flavour.
  
• Adding ricotta to pancakes makes them really tender and delicious! This pancake has a nice weight and is not heavy - the lemon and lemon zest added a great dimension of flavour and lightened up the whole dish. You can really taste the subtle hint of lemon zest, it brightened everything up. The blueberry compote was also great! Naturally sweet and thick - a good amount was served on top of the pancakes. Not too much, and not too little - just enough to not make your pancakes soggy and just enough to balance out all the flavours so that nothing was overpowering.
• Banana Walnut Pancakes 2/6
  
• Signature pancakes made with banana and walnuts served with banana compote (more like mashed bananas) and maple syrup.

• The ricotta lemon pancakes were better. The banana compote served on top was a little like baby food to me. It was mushed up bananas served on top, which means it turned brown in colour and ruined the presentation. You could tell it was fresh and nothing was added, but it just didn't look that appetizing. The bananas were really ripe too, so the whole dish was a bit sweet. The pancakes have a really subtle banana flavour - not like banana bread or anything - good pieces of walnuts in them too, which it really needed otherwise everything just tasted too mushy and you get sick of it quickly.
• *Honey-Cured Ham & Havarti Frittata 4/6
  
• eggs, ham, Havarti, sauteed apples, sage and leeks, served with hashbrowns or "home fries" and buttered toast

• This was good but they should call it an omelette rather than a frittata. It tasted like an omelette. It was heavy on the honey ham and Havarti. The Harvarti was just slices melted all over the top instead of incorporated in - so yes it was good becuase you can see how much you're getting, but I think it would have been better if it was incorporated into the eggs, as well as a little on top for presentation sake.
  
• I couldn't taste the apples at all. I wish I did though because it would have added a sweet note that would really make this "fritatta" a stand out! The leeks were really nice and I actually even bit into some zucchini (found in their Feta & roasted vegetable frittata), which is weird because zucchini isn't meant to be an ingredient for this frittata. I still liked it though. If I went in knowing it would be an omelette and if I could have tasted the apples which would have enhanced the leek and sage flavour more this would make it as one of my recommendations...too bad it didn't...so I gave it one star.
• The "home fries" were just fried up diced potatoes - so a fancy hashbrown.
• We had this with multi-grain toast - their multi-grain is great! You can really taste the grains and it has this amazing crust. Nice and chewy with great texture! Can eat this on its own - doesn't need anything else on it.
• Pumpkin & Pecan soup 5/6
  
• A gourmet soup that is delicious! Nice pieces of pecans in it, I'm surprised they didn't sink to the bottom - small enough to float and big enough to see. Great flavour and homemade...WAY better than the soups offered at The Bohemian Bagel.
  
• **Fig & Anise Bread 6/6
  
• I won't say much about it here because it's so good I'm giving it its own review. I even bought a loaf home at around $5. But it is worth it because you can taste the quality.

The Bohemian Bagel

Restaurant: The Bohemian Bagel - Brunch review
Cuisine: Eclectic/American/Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch
Last visited: August 14, 09

Area: Kelowna, BC
524 Bernard Ave
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Open Wednesday - Sunday
• Serves breakfast and lunches
• Lighter than pub food, not gourmet, but home cooked style
  
• Cafe and catering
• Focus on homemade sausage, bacon, dressings, soups
• Freshly baked goods
• Each table has this homemade fruit jam, a great added touch!
  
• Healthy & tasty options
• Homestyle, casual/laid back feel
• Attracts all ages/families
• Popular to locals, quite busy
  
• Daily specials
  

**Recommendation: Blueberry oatmeal pancakes, homemade sausage/bacon, apparently the Huevos Rancheros is good (although I didn't try this)

So we got this recommendation from the front desk at the hotel. He's a self-acclaimed foodie and seemed trustworthy. It was a great recommendation, although he did warn us that the hollandaise sauce was not homemade...which I beleive, otherwise they would advertise it like they do with everything else that is homemade. The bread was baked in house, but I prefer the bread from across the street at The Bread Company. It was a young staff, with laid-back service. We had 4 servers for brunch so it was a bit disorganized, but not hectic - just sllooww.

On the table:

• **Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes 5/6
• One of their most popular items! Topped with icing sugar, lots of warm blueberries and served with maple syrup.

• I really enjoyed these! They were delicious. It's served in 4 mini pancakes - the oatmeal is ground into the pancake batter so it's a smooth texture and not gritty or anything. Nice and moist, not really fluffy though. They're not your thick and hearty style pancakes though. They're thinner and quite moist becuase of that; completely different than the giant pancake I had from The Grizzly Manor in LA - I like both styles of pancakes though. The blueberries are fresh and added a natural sweetness to the pancakes. Nice, simple, and very enjoyable. $11.50, so a bit more expensive than usual, but worth it for the quality.
• **BOH Combo (Select 4 favs) 5/6
  
• 2 eggs, hashbrowns, homemade sausage, homemade back bacon

• Must try the homemade sausage and bacon - the back bacon and bacon strip are all made in house in the back. It's very fresh and not the cured bacon most people serve. This is gourmet bacon. The sausage and bacon were were both quite lean and not oily, both were very flavourful and juicy. Quality meat, so there's no need to add anything to enjoy them.
• Classic Eggs Benedict 2/6
  
• With the homemade back bacon and English muffin (don't think the English muffin is made in house though)

• This was good, but also just a standard eggs benedict. I came in biased to this item because I knew that the hollandaise sauce was from a powder and not homemade. Therefore it tastes like a benny you've probably had before. This is actually one of their popular items, but that doesn't surprise me because most people are used to that packaged hollandaise sauce rather than the real deal. You can even order the hollandaise as a side people like it so much - I wonder what brand they're using...
• Spinach and Fresh Cherry Salad 4/6
  
• Quite creative. Spinach, fresh Okanagan (local) cherries, Goat's feta, tomato, and carrots with you choice of dressing. We had the mustard-soy dressing which is made in house and tastes great! Really nice dressing, more like a vinaigrette, it would go well with any salad.
  
• This salad was on their specials board, so it's seasonal due to the fact that there's fresh cherries in it.
• Pineapple Peach Cornmeal Muffin $2.50 3/6
  
• Another creative item on their specials board! I love how they take advantage of the seasonal fruit that is so abundant throughout the Okanagan. Fresh local peaches and pineapple (not sure if the pineapple was fresh though) go into this cornmeal muffin. I tasted more cornmeal in the muffin than the fruits though - I think the cornmeal overpowered the fruit flavour. You can actually bite into and see the pieces of fruit, but I found the flavours lost in the cornmeal. I could taste the fruit in the first couple bites and then I couldn't taste it after that.
  
• Remember to ask them to warm up the muffins - it tastes better. Also try their muffins or homemade breads with the homemade fruit preserves served at every table. Really bold and fruity in flavour.
• Mandarin-Apple Streusel Muffin $2.50 4/6
• This was a slightly better muffin, but it tasted like a coffee cake with the nutty brown sugar topping. It's hard to compete with a muffin that has a crunchy streusel topping. It sounds like a really creative and unique muffin, but again you couldn't really taste the mandarin or apple. If anything the apple flavour came out more than the mandarin flavour.
• Nice and moist on the inside, this is a good muffin - it's just that it doesn't taste like what it was supposed to be. Again remember to ask them to warm up the muffins - it tastes better.
• Soups 1/6
  
• All the soups are made in house and change daily.
  
• We tried the gazpacho and the corn chowder.
• Just because it's made in house doesn't always mean it's good. Yes, it's fresh and homemade, but that doesn't mean the recipe is good. The recipes for the soup were unfortunately not good. We happened to try both becuase the original order the gazpacho was so disappointing. It tasted like canned tomato sauce that was watered down with veggies in it. So the waitress traded it and gave us the corn chowder - which was also disappointing. It was better than the gazpacho, but still had that watered down taste and texture. The corn was definitely from the cob, but it didn't matter becuase the soup base itself just wasn't good. Rarely do I ever ask the server to take something back, but in this case it was necessary because it really was that bad.
• Homemade preserves available at each table - full of real fruit flavour