Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival: Thomas Haas

February 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival

I love hot chocolate. So when I saw Tourism Vancouver’s Last Call for the 2012 Hot Chocolate Festival blog post, I must admit, it got me out of bed pretty quickly.

There are 13 chocolateries participating this year, with a tantalizing line up of hot chocolate concoctions.

I called my friend and we settled on Thomas Haas in Kitsilano.

They had 3 flavors to choose from: Classic Hot Chocolate with Soft Caramel and Fleur De Sel, Extra Dark Chocolate with Fresh Vanilla and Hazelnut with Hazelnut wafers.

I ordered the classic hot chocolate and I loved every last drop of it. The chocolate was rich and frothy and you could feel the bubbles in your mouth. It almost had the same texture as Spanish hot chocolate, but obviously not as thick. If you’re wondering what “fleur de sel” means, it is actually the French word for sea salt. You could say the inspiration for this drink is the exquisitely sweet yet salty salted caramel. Bonus: Thomas Haas served this with their dense and chewy sparkle cookie.

Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival

My friend decided on the hazelnut hot chocolate (pictured above). I am not a fan of hazelnut infused chocolate. No not even Nutella, and yes I know I am alone in this. But if you do like hazelnut then you will like this drink.

The Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival ends this week. Be sure to make your way to Thomas Haas and try the drinks for yourself.

 

 

Filed Under: Events, Food, Vancouver Tagged With: ,

Dine Out Preview: Charm Modern Thai

January 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I was lucky enough to be included in Charm Modern Thai’s Dine Out 2011 menu preview last Tuesday.

The culinary adventure began with appetizer: Tiger prawn satay on spicy bread, garlic and pepper prawns, and Charm’s famous duck sticks.

For our entrée let’s just say I might have found a perfect marriage between my love for noodles and curry. The salmon linguine in green curry was sooo good. It had just the right balance of sweet and spicy.

Salmon Linguine

An hour later we polished off Thai tea ice cream, vanilla bean tapioca, and chili chocolate torte for dessert. I can’t make up my mind as to which one I like best. It’s a toss-up between the refreshing Thai tea ice cream (palate cleanser!) and warm vanilla bean tapioca. My advice? Get an extra order of both!

Dine Out Vancouver 2011
Photo Credit: Flickr/YBIA

Dine Out Vancouver 2011 will take place on January 24 – February 6. Click here for the complete Charm Dine Modern Thai menu.

Filed Under: Events, Food, Vancouver, Yaletown Tagged With: ,

r.tl Yaletown

October 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’ve attempted to go to r.tl in Yaletown twice for dinner but always found myself too late. Either the kitchen’s already closed or all the tables are taken. I took this as a good sign and before I failed in my 3rd attempt we made reservations beforehand.

r.tl was offering a $25 and $35 set menu for Taste of Yaletown, I went with the $25 menu. Both set menu gives you  2 or 3 dishes to choose from for your appetizer, entrée and dessert.

To start, I chose the organic quinoa salad mixed with avocados and corn. And for my entrée I decided on the braised beef. The beef was just okay, what did it for me was the potato cod mash on the side. The hint of saltiness from the cod was great.

For dessert I had the tart tartin which is an upside down apple pie with crème on the side. The tart tartin was really good as it had the right amount of sweetness. I could have certainly eaten another slice.

r.tl also has a nice wine selection for those looking to have a few drinks. I had the Carpano Punt e Mes vermouth on the rocks as an apéritif and finished the meal with Muscat wine.

Food was good over-all. Definitely keep r.tl in mind the next time you’re looking for a place to have dinner.

r.tl yaletown

Filed Under: Food, Vancouver, Yaletown Tagged With: ,

Bartending Competition and a Taste of Yaletown

October 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I had a preview of what Taste of Yaletown has to offer this year and it did not disappoint.

Taste of Yaletown
Photo Credit: Yaletown Facebook Page

The night started off with appetizer served at Section (3). When the last piece of Baked Brie was gone we headed to 100 Days, Yaletown’s newest pop-up restaurant. We sampled their Halibut and Smoked Salmon Hash and BBQ Duck Tacos for our entrée. I did not think I had room for more but Hurricane Grill’s Pumpkin Mousse with Ginger Bread Cookie was too good to resist. Hurricane Grill’s menu was a nice surprise and I must say I will definitely be coming back to this restaurant.

After dinner everyone congregated at Mini Yaletown to watch the bartending competition. Glowbal Grill, Brix, Capones, and r.TL’s crafty masters prepared drinks using Bombay Sapphire and tied it in to a movie which featured a Mini Cooper. At the end of the night Nicola Roland from r.TL was declared the winner with her Bombay Sapphire fruit purée mix topped with flambéd beet.

The night also held a big announcement from the Yaletown BIA – they are offering $10,000 worth of taxi vouchers to Taste of Yaletown diners. With the tightening of drinking and driving laws in Vancouver, it will give diners who want to enjoy themselves during Taste of Yaletown one less thing to worry about.

Taste of Yaletown begins today, October 13 and will run until October 31, 2010. For a list of participating restaurants and their menus visit the YBIA website.

Personally, I would love to check out Brix and r.TL because I’ve never eaten there… and Hapa Izakaya just because I love their food. Note: both the $25 and $35 menu sound delicious!

Filed Under: Events, Food, Vancouver, Yaletown Tagged With: ,

La Casa Gelato on a Hot Day

August 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I was flabbergasted upon entering La Casa Gelato. 218 flavors of gelato in one location? It was the perfect cure to a hot summer day!

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Inside La Casa Gelato there are about 4 gelato freezers on each side of the wall and a big space in the center. There is no seating available inside the gelateria but you can bring your gelato outside and enjoy it at the park just right across.

I am told it gets very busy at night. It’s presumably the reason for all the signs on the counter-tops asking for people’s patience when waiting for samples. La Casa Gelato has also put a prepaid system in place. Once you have paid, you are given a poker chip in a color that corresponds to your scoop choice. Then, you hand the poker chip to your server upon ordering.

There was so much to choose from I didn’t know where to begin! La Casa Gelato has exotic flavors such as curry, durian, and chili chocolate. So my advice is: sample, sample, and sample!

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I ended up getting the pineapple coconut macadamia (to die for!) and black sesame gelato. The next time I go I will most likely order one of their sorbet. I found the watermelon sorbet quite nice when I tried it. Now if only it wasn’t so far from where I stay…

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Filed Under: Food, Vancouver Tagged With: , , ,
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