La Notte is an easy bus ride from UBC on Dunbar Street and offers pasta Tuesday special! All pasta on the menu is $8.99 each on Tuesdays.

The ambiance of La Notte is nice as it is dimly lit and there is a grand piano in the corner. While waiting for our food, we were given a basket of complimentary focaccia bread with vinegar and olive oil. The bread was so tasty because it was crunchy and tasted great with the olive and vinegar. Or maybe I was just really hungry.

Complimentary bread

Linguine alla Crema: Scallops and baby shrimp in a white wine cream sauce

I ordered this pasta because I was craving for white wine cream sauce. There was probably 1.5 scallops in my pasta and plenty of baby shrimp. The sauce was buttery and in good proportion with the pasta leaving my craving completely satisfied. I only wish that the baby shrimp was replaced with prawns instead because they weren't fresh and were mushy.

Linguine alla Crema

Overall, La Notte is a great place to come, especially on Tuesdays!

Kirin is an award winning Chinese restaurant in Vancouver so everyone has to make reservations when eating here or else you don't get a seat! On a weekend morning, we arrived at Kirin Richmond right when it opened and there was already a crowd waiting at the reception area. The past few times we ate here, the hostess' was not that great but once seated, the staff are quite friendly.

We ate more things than I photographed below but I will just post some of the more noteworthy things.

Shrimp dumplings: Shrimp dumplings are one of those dim sum dishes that are at every Chinese restaurant so you can really compare the good from the bad. The shrimp in the dumplings were large and had the fresh bouncy texture. They were some of the best shrimp dumplings I've had in Vancouver.

Shrimp Dumplings

Steamed Pork Ribs: The steamed pork ribs were actually just normal and what one would expect from any dim sum restaurant.

Pan Fried Radish Cake: The radish cake was yummy with its soft texture in the middle and crunchiness on the outside from being pan fried. There was a small dish of XO sauce which was great paired with the radish cake.

L: Radish Cake; R: Pork Ribs

Durian Mochis: Durians are definitely not everyone's fruit but if you eat it then you will definitely enjoy this dish a lot. Durian or not, this is one of the best desserts I've had at a dim sum place! These delicate mochis have a very thin skin that encompasses a large dollop of durian and whipped cream. Each bite is so soft, fragrant and creamy. Winner.

Durian Mochis

Kirin's Awards

Overall, just remember to make reservations before eating at Kirin! The service (by the hostess) might disappoint but the food certainly won't.

If you're shopping at Metrotown, take the extra 5 minute walk and eat at the Crystal Mall food court instead! There is a good variety of food that is better value than the Metrotown food court.

Wang's Shanghai Cuisine: The past few times I ate at the Crystal Mall food court, I ordered the xiao long baos (steamed soup dumplings) from Wang's Shanghai Cuisine. You can see the ladies making these dumplings from scratch to ensure freshness. There is a lot of juice inside the dumplings and the skin is thin which is why I like them so much. For the food court price, these xiao long baos are great value and comparable to ones sold at restaurants.

Xiao long bao

Cherry Fruit Juicy and Ice Bar: The dessert on the left is the Mango and Strawberry shaved ice topped with vanilla ice cream and the dessert on the right is red bean with tang yuan (glutenous rice balls). The shaved ice dessert was pretty good with its fresh fruit and ice cream. The dessert on the right was good too but personally I prefer more thoroughly cooked red bean. I've also had their bubble tea before which I like!

L: Mango & Strawberry Shaved Ice; R: Red Bean & Tang Yuan

Overall, I don't ever go to Crystal Mall to shop but to eat then YES!

Soho Tea Room was all filled up even on a weekday evening, so we had to wait around 15 minutes before we were seated.

Sweet & Sour Fish Meal: I ordered the sweet & sour fish meal which came with a bowl of white rice and two side dishes. The fish dish was pretty flavourful but a little bit too sour for my liking.

Sweet & Sour Fish Meal

Honey Toast Box with Condensed Milk: This toast box tasted better than What8ver. Each piece of bread inside the box was coated with honey and bread mixed with ice cream was delicious. The dessert wasn't too sweet and there was lots of it to share!

Honey Toast Box

Chocolate Lava Cake: This lava cake was baked too thoroughly, causing the middle to be only mushy and not melted chocolate lava. Despite the lost lava texture, the cake came hot and tasted strongly of ooey-gooey chocolate served nicely with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Lava Cake

Overall Soho Tea Room serves pretty good food, especially the desserts!

I think I ate one of my favourite pizzas in Vancouver at Bellaggio Cafe, the Vancouver Convention Centre location. I say think because I don't eat a lot of gourmet pizza.

The restaurant is a nice location and has a nice view looking out on Coal Harbour. They accommodated our large group very well and were attentive.

Baggio pizza: olives, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, parmesan, garlic, fresh basil

The pizza was 12 inches and sold as an individual portion but could easily fill two nicely. The crust was fresh and nicely bubbled from the oven providing crunch and some chewiness. I loved the small piles of goat cheese (white spots in photo) distributed over the pizza which added a punch of flavour and made the pizza even more delicious. YUM!

Baggio Pizza

Overall, the ambiance and food of Bellaggio Cafe would bring me back which is why I'm surprised the ratings on Urbanspoon is so low.

On a weekday evening, Las Margaritas was pretty crowded with diners but we were seated quickly by the hostess.

While waiting for our food, we were given a basket of complimentary tortilla chips with salsa. I liked these chips a lot because they seemed to be freshly fried and the salsa was a good consistency.

Salsa and chips

Cantina Platter: mini chimis, flour chicken flauta, chicken wings, cheese quesadilla, jalapeno peppers, chilima sauce, chipotle dip

This was a shared appetizer platter for two and filled us up well. All the items came hot but started to taste similar after awhile because there was a lot of fried tortilla. I didn't prefer the cheese quesadilla much because it was very plain without dip and the chicken wings were a bit overfried.

Cantina Platter

Fish Tacos: Each taco had two pieces of tortilla holding a piece of fried fish with beans and salad on the side. I really like fish tacos and have ordered them at many restaurants before. This one tasted good but definitely not the best I've had. There wasn't much flavour to the fish.

Fish Tacos

Overall, it was a solid meal at Las Margaritas albeit not very memorable food.

I don't think I have ever left the Granville Island Market Place without trying some type of dessert! This time I went to Stuart's originally intending to try their blueberry cheesecake but saw this French Opera Cake which I've never had before.

Stuart's cake box

The cake was too sweet for my taste and had layers chocolate, almond sponge cake and coffee buttercream. However, I can see this as a favourite for chocolate lovers.

French Opera Cake

Next time I'd probably try Stuart's cheesecakes, tarts or macarons instead!