Category: Food Review

Food Review: 131 Water Kitchen and Bar in Vancouver, Canada…best deal of the entire trip!

Drew (husband) and I went on a three week trip that included driving from Vancouver, Canada to all over Washington, then Oregon, then down Highway 1 to San Fancisco, California. We learned the hard way that everything (food, motels, gas, etc) is SO expensive out there! By far, the best food/drink deal we found was this place, and it was delicious!

Environment
I am 29 years old and I am pretty sure we were the oldest people in this restaurant. It was full of college-aged students, I suppose because it was so cheap? Anyway, the restaurant is nice and clean and had tons of table games you could play while waiting on your food. There were two levels. There was also outdoor seating in the front and back. All of the outdoor seats were taken, so we sat on the second floor with all of the children. (21-22 year olds)

Food and Drinks/ Happy Hour

The happy hour here runs from 3-6 p.m. and then from 9-close. We got there at 9 p.m. and the place was packed. I understood why as soon as I read the happy hour menu. When I actually ate the food, I never wanted to leave.

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We started off with Peller Estates House Beer. The pint was only $3 in Canadian cash…which is about $2.35 in U.S. bucks. Yes! It was a very mild beer, nothing a beer snob would enjoy. However, I love a watery beer, so this was perfect.

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Then we ordered an appetizer on the happy hour menu: Spicy Tofu. This was fried, cubed tofu, drizzled with sweet thai chili sauce and cilantro….for $3.50!  Again, less than $3 U.S. dollars. This was absolutely delicious. The sauce was just spicy enough without making me regret eating it. The fry was perfect: crisp yet non-greasy. I even enjoyed the greens they put everything on top of. Home run, crazy cheap appetizer.

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Then we got our entrees….again, on the happy hour menu. We got two fish tacos for only $4.50 (Canadian) and these were the best fish tacos I got our entire trip. There was enough mango salsa, pickled carrots, lettuce, and a cilantro crema that they were perfect. The fish was large and delicious as well. Best deal ever? Probably.

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We also got an entree of chicken strips and fries. I almost didn’t order this, because ordering chicken strips and fries is a child’s game, though I still love them. However, the waitress said they were a best seller and delicious. Guess what? They were! The fries were absolutely perfect: so crispy and seasoned well with salt and parsley. The chicken was also very flavorful. The chicken was not greasy, though the fries were a little bit. However, there is nothing better than some greasy fries if you ask me. These came with a honey mustard that was more mustard-y than honey-sweet. I really wasn’t a fan, but everything tasted so good, I didn’t need a sauce. Plus, those Canadians don’t have ranch up there. Smh.  We couldn’t even finish all of the fries, there were so many and we were stuffed. How much did this plate run us? Another Canadian $4.50. Really, we should have bought a ton of to-go-orders to eat for the rest of our trip, because nothing even tried to compete with these deals. And these were some of the most delicious foods we had. This place, do it. I love it.

Food Review: Baodown in Vancouver, Canada

The hubs and I went to Vancouver, Canada for the first time. We spent three days there and this is the first food purchase we made. Baodown is a very small restaurant in the Gastown district. Gastown is a very hip part of downtown that is is being revamped. We were walking through the district, trying to decide on where to eat for dinner. There were too many great options, so we decided to get an appetizer at Baodown and entrees at somewhere else.

Environment

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This restaurant is extremely tiny. There are only a handful of seats. However, there are a couple picnic tables outside. You order at a counter and they deliver your food to you. They also have free cucumber water, which I love.

Food

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We ordered two different bao items. While poke bowls and other options sounded delicious, the waitress told us that the bao options were the best. Plus, the place is named after them, so we had to try them.
We got the “Bao Chicka Bao Bao” ($6 Canadian, or $4.70 U.S.) which is lemongrass fried chicken, daikon, carrots, cilantro, lettuce, fish sauce, garlic mayo, and crispy garlic. We also got “The Big Bang” ($6 Canadian) which is crispy pork belly, sweet and sour sauce, pickled carrots and daikon and scallions. Honestly, the names of these dishes are the best part. To be fair, these names are awesome. I’m a sucker for a pun. The “Bao Chicka Bao Bao” was a little disappointing. The description sounded heavently, so my expectations were high. However, the chicken was very dry. There was not enough sauce to make up for the dryness, so it was somewhat difficult to eat. I did not detect any garlic, which I definitely missed. I love garlic! The flavors overall were lacking. I would not get this dish again.
“The Big Bang” was better than the chicken option. The pork belly was tender, yet had crispy edges. The sweet and sour sauce was more sweet, but worked very well with all of the other ingredients. I would get this dish again.

Overall
I would not visit this restaurant again. I have had better bao dishes from food trucks here in Little Rock (way to go, Little Rock!). Also, these baos were so tiny that you could get about three bites out of them. So, paying $2 Canadian (or $1.57 U.S. dollars) per bite was not worth it.