Bento of the Day: Vegetarian Bento w Inari

I'm trying to eat a little healthier at home to counter balance my dining out. Since I've moved in with M I've taken on a lot of his bad eating habits, including eating meat at (nearly) every meal, serious snacking in front of the television, and generally eating richer foods. Before, I used to go through packages of whole wheat pasta fast, and ate more vegetables, being that my breakfasts and lunches were generally meat-free.

Here is my lunch for today - vegetarian, and my first time playing around with inari. I've never had them at home, only in combinations and takeout from the nearest sushi bar. A friend got me hooked on them. Initially, the sweet flavour really didn't resonate with me, but as time went on I actually craved it! The bonus? Paying $4-6 for 12-16 of them at T&T, versus paying per piece in restaurants for $1.50 to $2.50 or more.

Four pieces of inari, stuffed with brown rice mixed with seasoned rice vinegar. Left to right, one is topped with kinpura Belgium Endive, gomaae, watered down gochujang, and one simply sprinkled with togarashi. I completed the meal with a simple green salad and campari tomato (I had some sesame dressing at work).

As I only had white sushi rice at home, I used regular brown rice instead. Gross, I know. But it worked for me. I was surprised how the toppings worked - I think I'll be making more kinpura vegetables from now on. It is a simple method of frying the shredded vegetable, then seasoning with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and sake. As Belgian Endive is generally bitter, the sugar and sake, paired with the natural sweetness of the inari pocket was a good combo (for me anyways). The brown rice added some nuttiness, although the texture (as it was regular rice) was not favourable.

The gomaae also worked - as I was eating I remembered that I had neglected to add sugar to the cashew and sesame dressing, but again, the sweetness of the inari worked well. If I had added sugar to the dressing, it would have been too sweet. Two for two! How was the gochujang? It provided a much needed "savoury" flavour to the meal. Although the sauce was still slightly sweet, there were touches of spiciness from the Korean chili pepper. As for the final one, it was the only one which needed any soy sauce.

So, do you stuff your own inari at home? (Gosh that sounds dirty.) What do you use? I want some ideas!

Previous bentos:
Hainanese Chicken
Quichie-Quichie Bentos
Holy Meatballs!
Healthy Bento
His and Hers Bentos
Plushie Bentos (My favourite!)

Food Bloggers Lunch: Royal City Thai (New Westminster, BC)

There's a growing email list amongst Vancouver food bloggers, and it is well used. One such use was when Karl of The Friday Lunch suggested a "new" restaurant in New Westminster, Royal City Thai. Kim, Sherman, and myself were glad to accept. Reasons? Royal City Thai, formerly Royal City Cafe, was serving All You Can Eat Thai food on the weekends! Curious bloggers we are, we showed up not knowing what to expect.

My apologies to Kim, Sherman and Karl as we underestimated the amount of time to get from our place to Royal City Thai that afternoon and arrived a little late!


A glance at their AYCE menu is promising. A variety of dishes that we'd order ourselves, all for the price of $12.95!

When the waitress came to take our order, we simply said, "everything". And so it began - we were brought individual portions of hot and sour chicken soup. The coconut broth was flavourful, but the chicken meat was not plentiful. It was a nice opener to the meal. The vegetable salad also arrived shortly, and while being colourful, it was dressed lightly.

A variety of fried appetizers were also brought to the table. The calamari rings were fried crispy yet not overdone, but lacked flavour aside from the sweet and sour dipping sauce.

The same went for the veggie spring rolls. Crispy, but it would have been nice to have more flavour or interesting filling. The chicken wings would be my pick out of the appetizers to order again. It came with a slightly watery sweet chili sauce and were slightly seasoned. That being said, I also thought it would have been nice had these been stuffed with a mixture of prawn and vermicelli (of course on an AYCE menu the boys told me to dream on. Yes I know... ;p).





It became sort of a blur after that. Green curry, red curry, yellow curry - noodles, rice, spicy, not spicy...





Above is the yellow curry pork, beef stirfry, and the veggie fried rice. The pork curry, in my opinion (along with a subsequent chicken curry) was the most flavourful dishes on the menu. While we had ordered a medium spicy, we found all the dishes to be lacking any real heat.





Above is chicken vegetable dish (black bean I'm told), but there was a lack of flavour as well. In the middle is a Green Curry Beef, followed by the Pad See Iw. If you click on the pad see iw photo and take a look, you may be able to see that the flat rice noodles used in the dish are a touch undercooked raw. I'm talking crunchy raw - the noodles could have been soaked a bit longer, or could have been stored properly instead of being left to dry in between cooking steps.




After the initial order of "everything", we decided to order some repeats in the "spicy" option. These were more pleasing and interesting to the palate than the previously ordered dishes. As a bonus, the noodles were cooked though in the Pad See Iw this time! :)

There is something M and I refer to with Asian cooking, especially spicy Asian cuisine (Malay, Singaporean, Indonesian, Thai, Szechuan, etc) - it is that "addictive" factor. Meaning - if we order a number of dishes amongst the two of us, can we stop eating it before we eat what we meant to pack away for lunch the next day? Sadly, the food at Royal City Thai did not have that "addictive" factor. It was decent, but not quite what we would be looking for when a Thai food craving hits



In all, for $12.95, an AYCE Thai meal of this caliber is decent for New Westminster. It is not a "destination" eat, although if you were in the area and hankering for some Thai curry, I might suggest it. The plus was that although our meal was AYCE, each dish was still prepared fresh (we could hear them!). The seating was comfortable and spacious, and there were some beautiful carved panels and dividers throughout the restaurant. Parking is generally metered on Columbia as well as the surrounding side streets.

Thank you to Karl for organizing the lunch - we would not have known that Royal City Thai existed.

Click through to see what Karl, Sherman, and Kim had to say!

Royal City Thai
634 Columbia Street
New Westminster BC
P: 604-522-1289

Chez Meme Baguette Bistro (The Heights, Burnaby, BC)

I am a huge fan of The Heights neighbourhood in Burnaby. I love the small businesses, I love the community, I love the murals, and I love the history behind the Heights. Their annual Hats Off Day (taking place this year on June 5) highlights this sense of community while celebrating the history. It was the Hats Off Day of last year that I wrote about Heavenly Bites, an Indian restaurant that served tiffin boxes / set meal that came to under $10.

Unfortunately, due to a medical situation, Heavenly Bites closed up suddenly. Almost as suddenly, a couple months ago, Chez Meme Baguette Bistro opened up in its place. M spoke about it a couple times, as he passed it on his commute.

He mentioned it enough that the name and location stuck. However, when we tried to visit them, they were always closed. Reason? Their limited hours - as the restaurant is run by a couple with younger children, Chez Meme is only open during 8am-3pm, Monday through Friday. As of writing, they have plans to open one Saturday a month, but will have to work out the scheduling and babysitting. :)

So how did I manage to visit Chez Meme Baguette Bistro? Well, the bossman gave me a whole day off this year for my birthday. ...And, well I literally had a doctors appointment that ran into lunch!

The first time I visited Chez Meme was with FMace, cousin Nate, and Chez Henri. "Chez Henri", you say? Well its suitable that I introduce Chez Henri in this particular post. He lived in France for a period of time before he came to Canada. One of the first times he went into MacDonalds in Canada (for breakfast, no less) he was under the impression that everyone spoke French. So Chez Henri (who didn't speak an ounce of English at this point) walks up to the counter at MacDonalds and orders a "Jus D'orange". The stunned girl (I think this was in interior BC or something) hesitated, then continued with the order.

Chez Meme concept is simple - French bistro food in the form of omelettes, baguette sandwiches, and other offerings like a duck confit and brioche french toast. A fresh batch of soup / potager is prepared regularly, and it shows!

The first time, I ordered a Bourguignon baguette. All the sandwiches come with your choice of salad, soup, or fries. The soup of the day was the spinach, fennel and apple. While the portions may look small, I was pretty stuffed. Upon viewing the photos at home later that day, M got some "lunch envy". He was a little upset that I'd gone there without him! For good reason though - the baguette was crisp with a slightly chewy interior, and the pulled beef short rib was complemented well by sharp horseradish and slightly sweet carmelized onions. The soup was a light accompaniment to the meal. I was surprised that the soup was so fresh. It was pureed, but the quality showed through.


Fmace had the Sarladaise - an omelette with duck confit, potatoes and onions.This is a French omelette: moist, tender, and no colour on the omelette. The filling was rich - shredded duck meat and onions. The bite that I sampled did not have potato... As the restaurant name implies, the omelette was served not only with potatoes, but with crusty baguette as well. The baguette was fresh and crisp, but the potatoes could have been crispier and seasoned better.

Cousin Nate settled on the Brioche French Toast, banana and maple syrup option. Honestly, if Nate wasn't there that day, I would have ordered the French Toast. The slices of brioche were light and fluffy. When I asked Nate whether he liked his (Chez Meme) french toast or his moms' French toast better, he thoughtfully sighed out a long, "moms...." with a long sideways look at his mom.

Chez Henri ordered a Jambon-Brie baguette, also followed by their daily soup. Although you cannot see it in the photo, the baguette was full of oozing, melty cheese.

Chez Meme Baguette Bistro is a fairly small operation with about twenty seats. It was packed at lunch hour, for good reason. There was even a couple people  waiting for seats when we left!

On a subsequent visit, M and I had a chance to savour more of Chez Memes' baguettes. M ordered a Cordon Bleu sandwich, while I (on my meat ban) ordered a From'ton.


The Cordon Bleu was a ham, chicken, and emmenthal sandwich with dijon mustard on the side. M thoroughly enjoyed this, and would order it again. My From'ton was a sandwich of brie, pear, and walnuts. When it came, I was excited that they didn't go cheap with the cheese; however, upon finishing my meal I was ready to take a nap. :p While I enjoyed the combination of melted, creamy brie, sweet pear, and crunchy walnuts, I would have liked to have more pear (it was canned, I believe), and for the walnuts to be roasted / toasted. It said toasted on the menu, but the walnuts looked like they were out of the bag when I got my sandwich. Even so, I got a euphoric foodie high when I had the odd bite that included brie, walnut, pear and baguette!

We both went with the soup of the day, a fresh tomato, fennel, and Italian parsley soup. Once again, it was a nice medley of flavours. I think Chez Meme has convinced both of us to start using more fennel in our cooking.

Overall, we liked Chez Meme. It is unassuming, delicious and food is prepared fresh. I only wished their children would grow up faster so that they'd be open on weekends. ;p Chez Meme Baguette Bistro is a nice addition to The Heights community.

Chez Meme Baguette Bistro
4016 Hastings Street
Burnaby BC
P: 604-299-1141

Isaac & Agatha (Bridgeport, Richmond, BC)

Isaac & Agatha recently reopened on Bridgeport under new management / partnership (if I remember correctly, it was Isaac & someone else prior). The eateries in this area cater to the "grab and go" crowd in this industrial area of Richmond, and Isaac & Agatha are no exception. They have a spacious seating area and are only open for breakfast and lunch.

That being said, they only offer a limited selection of breakfasts. Their lunch options are more varied, from pastas, sandwiches, Filipino fare, to souvlaki, burgers and grilled items. On this occasion, I stopped in for a quick breakfast as it was my "day off from the gym".

As I have been trying to avoid meat in a (desparate?) bid to eat healthier, I have been looking for veggie / lighter options in my eatings. Alas, aside from their lunch menu, there are no vegetarian-friendly substitutes in their breakfast, and every breakfast option includes meat and eggs. I settled on the bacon mushroom omelette. It was prepared fresh and delivered to my table with a free, fresh coffee (not sure if the owner / attendant thought I was a food blogger - she hadn't seen my camera yet, or that she just thought I needed one. :p).

I did have to run back up to the counter to grab some utensils, condiments, and napkins, but I'm sure seasoned patrons to the establishment are aware of this. Another note was that the creamers brought to the table with my meal were ice cold - something my "inner health inspector" appreciated. (Personally, the small amount of creamer within each tiny package, along with the method of packaging - pasteurized aseptic leaves little health safety concern, but on a "potential hazard" level, many health officials *love* to scold restaurant operators on keeping the creamers on ice or at refrigerator temperatures. Don't get me started.)

My bacon mushroom omelette came with two slices of brown toast and fresh fruit. Again, I appreciated the fresh fruit (many other "truck stop" joints around this area do not include this), and also the unbuttered toast. This made for a slightly healthier meal - quite often I leave toast on my plate as the cook has put too much butter on it; the way Isaac & Agatha presented it allows the customer to regulate the amount of butter. While I enjoyed my meal the loneliness of Isaac & Agatha resonated with me. The place was deserted for the entire duration of my stay - perhaps people only show for lunch?




The reason could be that Isaac & Agatha lack an identity. A glance at the rest of their menu is greatly varied. There are sandwiches and burgers, but also pastas, chicken, calamari, souvlaki, and seafood. In addition to this, there is a small separate menu advertising Filipino lunch at the counter. Is this an instance of "Jack of All Trades" gone wrong? Time will tell.

Service was prompt and indifferent, but little really appeals to me about Isaac and Agatha to make a return visit, unless I was in the area and looking for a quick bite that *wasn't* fast food.


Isaac & Agatha#101 - 11911 Bridgeport Road
Richmond BC
P: 604-276-0201

Kim Ga Nae (Richmond, BC)

We first read about Kim Ga Nae when My Secret Eden recommended it in a post back in September. Upon referencing it on Urbanspoon and seeing Sherman's post on it, I had made a mental note of it to try if we were in the area.

The turn in temperature made me wish for some bi bim bap, and subsequently, brought us to Kim Ga Nae.



Kim Ga Nae offers Korean all you can eat as well as a la carte options - we opted for all you can eat, as two people eating a la carte could get quite pricey.

It took us a while to be seated as only one waitress was working the lunch shift. As with other BBQ Korean restaurants, the dining area was quite literally ice cold when we started - these places depend on the heat of the barbeque units to generate heat, I guess. :)



The banchan came first - a selection of five dishes which were just okay.



We ordered a rice cake to sample, japchae, and beef bone soup. The rice cake was not something we would order again - it tasted good, but was just too heavy for our liking. As always japchae (even cold japchae, as Kim Ga Naes' was served) was devoured quickly, but the beef bone soup - as My Secret Eden found of the soft tofu soup, was bland.

The meats! I neglected to take photos of the meat, but we would definitely come back for all the meat. For all you can eat, the chicken, pork and beef were of decent quality, and marinated long enough to be tenderized before a quick grill.

As for my bi bim bap?



Well lets say this. I *love* bi bim bap, and the bi bim bap at Kim Ga Nae was no exception. I like that it came in a smaller, cuter portion, but still had all the toppings of a regular bi bim bap / stone bowl rice. If I were running a 10k or half marathon tomorrow, I'd go to Kim Ga Nae to fill up on carbs... haha!

We also ordered a seafood pancake and a gyoza, and we'd order them again. Actually, we were split on the seafood pancake - apparently M got the the pieces with huge chunks of squid and shrimp, whereas I got the more "pancake-y" pieces. Oh well, it is hard to proportion a "big portion" dish to smaller "tapas" style portions, I suppose. At only $12.95 for a lunch-time all you can eat, I am not complaining!

Upon exiting Kim Ga Nae, we saw that their a la carte menu was quite reasonable as well. Perhaps we'll try them with friends or family soon.

Kim Ga Nae

4260 No. 3 Road
Richmond BC
P: 604-273-4747

Chada Thai Fine Cuisine (Coquitlam, BC)

Thai food again. What can I say though - when we get a hankering for any type of food, we tend to indulge until we get a little bit of food coma. In the case of Thai food, any time is good for Thai food!

We were near Coquitlam Town Center one weekend and happened upon Chada Thai. The restaurant is in the same shopping plaza as Save on Foods, A&W and Taco Time. The last time we were in the area, the Chada Thai was not open yet, so when we saw the number of people walking briskly into the restaurant, we thought we'd try them out.

It is a small restaurant, and at lunch it always seems quite busy. To make things simple, there is a limited lunch menu where everything is $10, and includes a small salad, soup, and crispy wraps. All lunch items come with rice as well, save for the pad thai.



Service was very attentive and hospitable, and the soup was offered at the beginning of the meal. I settled on the green chicken curry, while M ordered a pad thai.



Chada Thai does not "dumb down" their flavours! We both ordered the meals with "medium" spiciness, and the waitress cautioned that their dishes were a little spicier than other restaurants. We still chose medium spicy. When the food came, it was still palatable and delicious, but next time we'd order a less spicy entree. The pad thai was very flavourful - less tamarind than Lhy Thai, and a generous garnish of sprouts and roasted peanuts. M finished his entire dish!



I *love* green chicken curry. While my entree seemed small, it was actually very rich and had lots of vegetables and chicken in it. I was a little embarassed to ask for a doggy bag, but I *really* wanted to use every drop of the sauce!

We thought the meal was great, and would certainly come back for lunch! I did have a glance at the larger dinner menu online, but since we rarely venture into Coquitlam for dinner, we may not get to try their appetizers and other dishes.

Chada Thai Fine Cuisine

107-2991 Lougheed Highway [map]

Coquitlam BC

P: (604) 464-5300

Review: Falafel King (West End, Vancouver, BC)

After an afternoon of biking around the Stanley Park sea wall a couple weekends ago, our grumbling tummies begged us to stop for food before we returned home.

We'd always wanted to try Falafel King previous times as it always looked busy and had been around for a good long while. It was either Falafel King or take out fish and chips from across the street (closer to English Bay) but since I had wanted to try out Qoola, M opted for Falafel King, which was right next door.



While I made my purchase in Qoola, M pondered over the limited selection in Falafel King. There were falafels, falafel platters, vegetarian platters, and the shawarma - beef or chicken. Since there were two full skewers of chicken shawarma heated and ready to go, M ordered a chicken shawarma plate. It came with tabbouleh salad, garlicky hummus, pita, and rice.

I'll have you know that I did a project on shawarma and donair in my last semester of public health training at BCIT. What makes for a good (and foodsafe) donair / shawarma? The risk itself comes from the way the food is made - donair is a mixture of ground seasoned meat that is formed onto a metal rod for cooking, while shawarma is typically chicken breasts that are seasoned, stacked, and skewered. As the cone of meat rotates past a heating element, the outside layer is cooked and sliced off to serving.

Since both shawarma and donair meats are formed raw, there is potential for the food to sit too long at optimal temperatures for pathogen growth, or for the meat to remain raw if there is insufficient time for the meat to cook.

However, it was found that as long as the 1) heating element is turned on, and the 2) cone of meat is set to rotate, the meat didn't remain within the "danger zone" (4-60ºC) for long. Since the rod that the meat sits on is metal, it also helps conduct heat from the center of the cone; combined with a careful thermometer-armed cook and a steady lineup of customers, the risk for pathogenic growth or survival is quite small.



About Falafel King? We've *never* had better, fresher chicken shawarma. The meat was tender and juicy, and done just right! It was, by far, the best value item on their menu. As I noted before, I had to pay more for dessert at Qoola!

The tabbouleh was more parsley and mint than we have ever had, but it just showed how fresh the ingredients were. The humous was a rich, creamy, flavourful condiment to the meal, and the pitas are made locally by none other than the Pita Bread Factory in Burnaby. As for the rice? I don't know if they used a plumper, short-grained rice to appeal to the downtown (i.e. Asian) crowd, but it was a noted (and delicious!) difference to what I'd had before (long grain, dry).

We loved the shawarma so much that we ordered another two (with spicy sauce! - it isn't actually that spicy at all.) to take home for dinner through the week. Just yesterday, me and M contemplated that if a Falafel King were to open up in the vacant commercial units in our apartment complex, we'd probably gorge ourselves on it until we couldn't walk.

Oh Falafel King, we are so happy to have found you. May you quelch many of our after-seawall hunger pangs and offer us many a third beach "picnic" this summer!

Falafel King

1110 Denman Street [map]

Vancouver BC

Phone: 604-669-7278