Flo Tea Room on Granville, Vancouver

Updated: 21st Dec 2014; This restaurant is closed according to Urbanspoon.com.

With the boys away on sleep over, Suanne and I took it easy for dinner. We had a very late dinner and thought that we go check out a Bubble Tea place because we had never really been to one other than Go Go Tea Cafe. Actually that Go Go Tea trip does not really count because it was over lunch time.

We went to the Flo Tea Room located at the south end of Granville Street in Vancouver. We did not know what to expect. We were quite apprehensive that this place will be teeming with Asian youngters hanging out for the night … i.e. it would be loud and noisy.

We found it kind of odd that the Flo Tea Room is located on a row of three bubble tea houses, including a Bubble World Tea House outlet. Since this visit, we are beginning to notice that the Bubble World Tea House has lots of locations around Metro Vancouver.

But it was not at all like what we expected. Why, it was exactly like any Chinese Cafes. Although we did not see any kids around (after all it was 9PM when we were there), there were a lot of people our age or even older. So, we’re OK.

Flo has quite a large menu for their drinks. See pix above … Suanne was perusing the drinks menu which came in in the form of a plastic folder. We were not very familiar with the drinks menu and was stumped by the range of drinks called Calpis. What is that anyway?

I got one of their new drinks. It’s simply called Flo Flurry which is a mix of chocolate slush with grass jelly and topped with Oreo crumbs. $4.95. As I drank this I was wondering how many calories there are here.

Open Teahouse Cocktail Night (by Pearl Drops Teahouse)

Updated: 22nd Dec 2014; This restaurant is closed according to Urbanspoon.com.

Hey All,

OK … not exactly “All” All but rather All in the Greater Vancouver Area.

What are you doing on Saturday night, February 7th? Specifically from 7PM to 10PM?

I just had an invite out of the blue to attend an Open Teahouse Cocktail Night hosted by Pearl Drops Teahouse. The beauty is that they are extending the invite to all readers of Chowtimes. Touted as “Afternoon Tea Meets Cocktail Hour”, the event will include free (virgin) cocktail samplings and in-house hor’ dourves. It is free, no admission. That’s right … Free with a capital F. As a bonus there will also door prizes to be won.

We had never been to Pearl Drops Teahouse before (neither do we know the owners). From what info we received and from their website, they describe themselves as a one-of-a-kind Asian teahouse by providing modern twists on ancient beverages. Like this one below:

The “Red Lychee” is one of their several signature Tea Cocktails. The range includes names like Golden Sunset and Solar Flare which really makes me want to check them out. These beverages are made with freshly steeped high quality tea, hand squeezed lemon-lime and a garnish of exotic fruits such as kiwi, guava and kumquats … all virgin too.

Suanne and I will be going for sure. If you’re planning on attending, you may RSVP to melody@pearldropstea.ca to let them know to expect the number of people attending. It would be great if you let us know too just so we can say hi to you. Our email is ben@chowtimes.com or suanne@chowtimes.com.

Here are the details again:

Pearl Drops Teahouse
422 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby
Saturday, February 7th
7PM to 10PM
RSVP to melody@pearldropstea.ca

PS: This is not a paid posting. Just thought we share the fun!

Qoola on Denman, Vancouver

Updated: 22nd Dec 2014; This restaurant is closed according to Urbanspoon.com.

This post is written based on a complementary meal from Qoola.

A week ago, Suanne and I received an invitation to checkout a new frozen yogurt place called Qoola. Since we were going to be in downtown anyway for the Taste BC event on the same night, we decided to pop over. I know it is kind of weird … we were going for yogurt, waffle and crepes immediately after wine and cheese, sushi, burger … all on the same night.

So, Suanne, Angie and I took a short drive to the western end of Denman to where Qoola is. Qoola is actually located at the old location of Cupcakes (1116 Denman).

We were met up front by Warrick who is the man behind the entire idea of Qoola. Warrick came across to us as a bright, energetic young man with great passion in what he does.

Qoola had been opened for just one month so everything is spanking clean. We love the bright greenish interior. Qoola is green … more greener than what we expected and we soon realized how seriously green they are.

We had a crash course, to say the least … much of which went swosh over my head. Too much data and too technical for me after all the wine from Taste BC.

Not really a person who knows what is what, we left the choice to Warrick and his partners. The only thing we asked is that they surprise us. First came their Green Tea Yogurt with blueberry and marionberry sauce. It was good and we like it.

I don’t care much for frozen yogurt. The only time I had frozen yogurt of note is Red Mango which we had in Bellevue,WA. I was told that many frozen yogurt places uses powdered yogurt which contains only about 1 million bacteria. However, Qoola uses only fresh yogurt despite its limited shelf life of a couple of weeks only. Fresh yogurt has 400 times more bacteria than powdered yogurt.

The next surprise is the Original yogurt with apples, cinnamon flakes and caramel sauce. We love this more than the earlier one. I like especially the fresh looking and crunchy apple chunks.

Taste BC 2009

You know, one of the things we enjoy a lot with food blogging is when we get invited to events. Suanne and I was invited as “media” to cover the Taste BC event which held on Thursday last week. Ooooo … “media”, fancy huh? LOL!

Angie (Sea Salt with Food) who is a wine enthusiast joined us. We like that because we are such babes when it came to wine and we wanted to learn from the event. I thought that we would only spend like 30-45 minutes but ended staying for almost 3 hours. We had a great time at the event.

Taste BC is more of a wine than fine food event. The event is presented by the Liberty Merchant Company in the effort to bring together the best of BC wines. All proceeds from the event went to the Oak Tree Clinic of the BC Children’s Hospital. I am afraid we did not take many photos of the wine although I did try quite a lot that night.

Our favourite was simply the Ice Lady ice wine from the Forbidden Fruit Winery. Surprisingly, almost all the food blogs that covered the event also picked this as a favourite. I want to say that no one pushed this to us to blog but for some reason it just stands out. It is made of Pink Lady Apple and is very sweet and fruity. It does not reek of alcohol at all. Suanne who does not drink loves this.

I also like the Victoria Gin. They first gave me a shot of Victoria Gin which was awful, like drinking jet fuel. Then they added Tonic Water which made it like a million times better. Nice.

We also had sake and learned a lot of flexibility of this brew … that how this is about the only liquor that can be served both hot or cold and its ability to be paired with any type of cuisines.

The Garibaldi Honey Pale Ale (from the Howe Sound Brewing Company) was another one I like … it was smooth and light with a hint of honey.

In all, there are over 60 wine and drink participants with an average of 5 types of wine showcased. It was impossible to try every one of them for sure … for us at least. On to food …

The Wild Sockeye Salmon on Artisan Bread was presented by a “baby” restaurant in Gastown. It is interestingly called “2 Chefs and a Table” which had just opened for 7 months.

We like the sushi from Miku Restaurant a lot. As a matter of fact, we went back for seconds … and thirds … and fourths.

Support BC Children’s Hospital Oak Tree Clinic — 2009 Taste BC Event

Hi All in the Metro Vancouver area:

Suanne and I will be attending the 2009 Taste BC event and was wondering if anyone of you would like to join us. The event will be held on January 22nd which is a Thursday at the Hyatt Regency and it goes to supporting the Oak Tree Clinic of the BC Children’s Hospital.

Suanne and I are not attending this event just because this is a food and wine event but because it goes to supporting a worthy cause. We know first hand the important work of the BC Children’s Hospital because we were beneficiaries ourselves when one of our boys required medical attention some years back. We know the hospital very well and had great respect for the work of the doctors and the professionalism of the workers there. The 2009 Taste BC event this year goes specifically to the Oak Tree Clinic.

On the food side, this event will bring together some of the finest in the food and beverage industry. It would be great if you could come and join Suanne and I and indulge in tastings from some of the finest restaurants, wineries, breweries and cheese purveyors in BC. Along with great food and drink, there will also be live music, door prizes and a silent auction too.

Tickets are $49.99 and can be purchased at Liberty Locations. Just send Suanne or I an email if you are interested in going. It’ll be fun.

Ben

Strawberry Juice with Bee Pollen

Polly shared with me a summer drink of her kids’ favourite. It’s strawberry juice sweetened with honey. It is a very refreshing drink for a hot day.

Polly also added some Bee Pollen into the juice. Her kids would not take the Bee Pollen by itself. By adding the Bee Pollen into the juice, the kids can enjoy the benefit of Bee Pollen with their favourite drink.

Bee Pollen is the pollen brushed from honeybee’s back leg. Plant pollen contains the male reproductive material of higher plants. It’s a source of protein which is fed to developing larvae by the bees.

Bee Pollen is a nutritional powerhouse!. It contains nearly all the nutrients required by the human body; including enzymes and all the necessary amino acids. It is especially rich in vitamin B5, B3 and B2. It also contains B-complex, vitamin C, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium and manganese and most importantly, photo-chemicals.

Bee Pollen is a detoxifier and it alleviates hay fever allergies, fatigue, high cholesterol, infertility, impotence, and varicose veins. Its healing properties promote recovery from sickness/surgery. Consuming enzyme-rich foods assist the body in preventing disease such as cancer and auto-immune disorders such as arthritis.

Caution: people who are allergic to pollen should NOT take Bee Pollen.

Click on the link below for the instructions.

Chinese New Year Series: Caesar (a.k.a. Bloody Caesar)

If you are not Canadian, you probably have never heard of Caesar. Caesar, sometimes also known as Bloody Caesar, is a very Canadian cocktail. It is based off the popular Bloody Mary with a slight difference. Caesar is invented in Alberta. I have never known why this is called Caesar … anyone knows?

The primary ingredients of the cocktail is Vodka and Clamato.

During the Chinese New Year gathering, I offered to be in charge of making the cocktail. It was an easy choice to decide on Caesar. Firstly, it is all Canadian and secondly the redness of the cocktail is just perfect for the occasion.

The color of the cocktail is Clamato, which is a blend of clam broth and tomato juice. It’s sounds like a weird combination but really, you taste more of the tomato juice than clam. Ironically, the biggest manufacturer of Clamato is Mott’s which is an American company. Another thingy you need is some Celery Salt Rimmer.

The other ingredients are some Worcestershire Sauce and some Tabasco.