Bel Café || Eatz

This post is long overdue! I think this visit was all the way back in late March. Woops! My friend Mahal and I have wanted to meet up to catch up but with out busy work schedules, we never got the chance to do it until then. We are both foodies and love to try new things. Now, I’ve passed by Bel Café many many times while I am in Downtown but I never actually ventured in. I asked Mahal was she wanted to eat and she was game for anything, so I suggested this joint. Let me say this, Bel Café did not let our hopes down.

Bel Café is right next to David Hawksworth’s main restaurant Hawksworth; Bel Café is actually owned by David Hawksworth! This I did not know that until we saw the sign and I was super excited! Bel Café is small café tucked in the corner of the Rosewood Hotel Georgia; it serves as an eat-in restaurant but it also has a take out counter for the quick pickups. If you are looking for simple food, look no further because this is the place to be at. After much deliberation, Mahal and I decided to share two dishes – the ­­­­­spicy chicken salad and their seared albacore tuna sandwich – and both dishes were excellent!

Their chicken salad was right up my alley and I would have it everyday if I could. There was a lot of julienned daikon and carrots, vermicelli rice noodles, perfectly done chicken and topped off with black sesame seeds. It comes with a lemongrass ginger dressing and we asked for it on the side. And it’s a good thing that we did; a little bit of dress went a long ways and it was nice that we had the control of how much we wanted. A perfect lunch; proportion size was just right, not to heavy, has all the nutritional elements needed, and the presentation was simple.

I’ve had many albacore tuna sandwiches and it takes skill to make it perfect. It needs to have a nice sear on the outside but majority of the fish much be pink in the middle.  Bel Café’s version was decent; it was good but not the greatest. Good thing Mahal and I shared that salad and sandwich because this sandwich was tiny! But if I have to put that aside, the sandwich tasted very good. Their homemade bun was really soft and buttery; it just melted in my mouth! Inside the sandwich was simple the albacore tune, lettuce, tomato, red onions,, daikon and a few pickles. Some highlights they had on the menu for the sandwich was their bonito mayo and yuzu pickles. Unfortunately, I couldn’t taste a major difference and, honestly, was very pedestrian when it came to the taste of both elements. It comes with a small serving of spinach and radish and some sweet pickles to snack on. Overall, it’s not the worst dish I’ve had but I wouldn’t order it again.

Bel Café also does French pastries, macarons, and coffees but we were too full to ingest anything else (plus Mahal had given up sweets for lent and, I, coffee). If you are a workaholic working in downtown core and wanting a quick pick up or you want to sit down and savor some simple eats, drop into Bel Café for a bite to eat!

Bel Café and Bel Café to go

801 W Georgia St. Vancouver, BC

Price: $$

★★★✩✩

Good eatz everyone!

- V

Sally Hansen Salon Effect “Don't Be Koi" || Manicure Weekend

Good Morning Everyone!

Just landed in Tokyo, Japan last night! This city is amazing and it’s only my first day here. When I was packing for my trip, I realized I needed a fresh coat of polish before I left. Going through my polishes I stumbled upon a Sally Hansen Salon Effect box; I forgot I had bought it months ago. Took a look at it and knew that I needed to use it before I left for Japan. I’ll tell you why in just a second!

Nail polish strips are just one of the new products beauty companies are coming out with because it is easy and fast for those who are on the run or those who (like me) can get pretty messy while apply those coats. Sally Hansen came out with it’s own line just after Essie came out with theirs’; I have to say, I prefer Sally’s strips over the Essie ones. Here are some of the reasons why! Sally Hansen has a larger selection of designs from florals to animal prints to geometrics. When it comes down to actually applying the polish strips, the strips are easy to handle and it doesn’t curl onto itself. The only downfall is their packaging; the box is totally fine but it’s the individual packages that incases the strips are annoying to open. But that’s my only complaint!

Sally Hansen actually provides you with 16 assorted sizes of strips instead of 12 because we all have different shaped nails! I have narrower nails, so I used all the polish strips that are thinner so that it’ll fit. And depending on the pattern, you have the choice to which way the strip can face. With some patterns, it doesn’t matter which way it faces but in my case it does. Because the strips are extra long and I decided to trim my nails, some of the koi fish would have been cut off or not even reach my nails. But all I needed to do is turn the strip around and your all set! Before apply your strip, wash your hands and make sure your nails are clean. If you think you have any polish residue, simply wipe it off with some nail polish remover and pat them dry. Using the file provided, buff your nails with the white and then file down your preferred shape with the pink side.  Now it’s time for the fun part! Before applying our strips choose which ones you want to use and which way you want it to face. Take a polish strip and remove the clear plastic film and followed by the white film. Then take of the tab of the strip and gently place strip onto nail right up to your cuticle.  You will need to stretch the polish strip so that it lays nicely on your nail; don’t stretch it out too much though or you’ll warp your pattern. Once you think it’s secure, file of the remaining strip with the orange side of the file. Do this process with each individual nail. Don’t stick them all at once or you’ll end up with a big mess!

I love this pattern – it’s super funky and unique. The iconic red Japanese koi fish really stand out against the black and white fish scale motif; reminds me a lot of the traditional Japanese paintings. The instructions did not specifically say you need to apply a topcoat but I decided to be safe and applied a coat. I forgot that I had packed away my go-to topcoat in my luggage and all I had left was my matte topcoat. But what luck! It looks really good with a matte coat! There you have it! If you need that last minute party or date, run to the nearest drugstore and I guarantee this will be a life changer!

I will, hopefully, be posting daily blogs during my trip to Japan, so keep your eyes peeled!

Stay beautiful!

- V

Twisted Fork Bistro || Eatz

Brunch Time!

I am a huge fan of brunch; it has to be my favourite type of meal to eat. I love that it has all the breakfast components but it (a) comes with some lunchy options (b) slightly bigger portion. Mmmmm! Today, we are headed to a tiny bistro down Granville Street in DT Vancouver. When I say tiny, I'm not lying; my friend, Louise, and I, were chatting while heading down there and totally missed the the restaurant! But after a quick google map search and we were back on track.

This was my second visit to Twisted Fork and it hasn't changed a bit. The atmosphere is homey and warm and the smell in the restaurant just made my mouth water. It is a small restaurant; there's around 6 tables/booths, a bar top, and some window seats. We arrived at the restaurant just past 11:30 on a Wednesday so it wasn't busy at all. Now if you are wanting to come on a weekend, expect to line up for your meal. But as you wait, you might as well do some window shopping along Granville. Alright, now comes the fun stuff...the food!

Their menus is quite simplistic but still gives you a good amount of options. They've got classic breakfasts like scramble eggs, french toast, frittatas and eggs benedict. For brunch, all their meals are at a set price of $13.50. You might think it's a bit pricey at first but wait until you see the food. Louise and I took forever to decide on what to eat but we decided on the following: Gruyere Baked Eggs and Sausage and Poached Eggs.

First up for judgement is my meal...Spicy Italian Sausage and Poached Eggs served with Chipotle Ratatouille, Fresh Fruit, Sourdough Toast and House Made Jam (today's was raspberry). When it first came to the table my first thought was how I was possibly going to finish it; it was huge! Loved the simplistic presentation of the plate and it just made me want to dive in :) First thing I check were the eggs; poached eggs are not the easiest things the make and I've been to places where they've done it wrong. I wish I took a picture of the eggs -- the yolk was so yellow and it just waterfalled down my ratatouille. I was super excited to try their homemade bread and it was to die for! Came out lightly toasted and slathered in butter; it had a really good chew and it just soaked in all the butter. Now you can't have toast without the jam can you? Made in-house, their raspberry jam wasn't too sweet and all I could taste was the delicious red berries - brings so much joy to my tummy. Now this is what through me off -- the italian sausage and chipotle ratatouille. On the menu, it said it would be spicy so I was expecting some spice. The sausage was good; came out piping hot and had some meatiness to it but no spice. Like I could taste some herbs but it was definitely not spicy. And same goes for their ratatouille; love my vegetable and I was hoping for some well seasoned veggies. Unfortunately, it was kind of a let down; it was cooked down nicely and the texture was all there but no chipotle or, in general, the spice. Overall it was a good dish and it was tasty; I actually was able to conquer the plate sans the pineapples (I'm allergic to them).

Louise ordered their Well Done Gruyere Baked Eggs with Sourdough Toast, Bacon, Tomato, Rosti and Baked Beans. I didn't actually taste the food so I can't critque that aspect but I will give you guys just a quick tour of the dish. When it first came to the table, it definitely looked imtimidating; just like mine, it was a fairly large portion. it reminded me a lot of a typical english breakfast with the baked beans and tomatoes. When Louise cracked into her baked eggs, it was piping hot and you could just smell the gruyere cheese. She did say it was a little salty but that's probably because of the gruyere cheese. I was about to order the baked eggs but when I read that it was going to be well-done, I back down since I am not a huge fan of well done eggs. Everything else looked really good; roasted tomatoes, toasted sourdough, crispy rosti (glorified hashbrowns), and crispy bacon. Definitely a more hearty meal for brunch.

If you are one for brunches and want to venture down to DT Vancouver, I definitely recommend Twisted Fork. One of my favourite dishes from here is their stuffed french toast. Don't forget to walk off the food and stroll down Granville St. for some window shopping:)

Sorry for the quality of the pictures; I used my phone and it was quiet dark in the restaurant. Alright guys, until next time!

Twisted Fork Bistro

1147 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC
Price: $$

★★★✩✩

http://twistedforkbistro.ca/


Good Eatz Everybody!
- V