#beyond coffee

Location:  928 P. Paredes Street,Sampaloc, Manila Business Hours: 1pm to 10 pm Contact No.: 02 7332636

Price range: ₱ 65-155

View New Post: http://myvancity.ca/2015/09/24/restaurant-hopping-tasting-plates-downtown-south/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=My+Vancity+Tumblr&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BMy+VanCity

Restaurant Hopping at Tasting Plates Downtown South

Have you ever attended a Tasting Plates event by Vancouver Foodster?  If not, it is a great way to try small samples of food from different restaurants.  This past week Vancouver Foodster, chose the region of “Downtown South” to show off their cuisine.  I was looking forward to this event as the list of restaurants looked very interesting, as well as their menus.  Below are the restaurants, menus, my pictures and comments.  If something I show piques your interest, go and try it!

The Restaurants and Their Menus

Prime Modern Italian Steak House

Our Tasting Plate:

CAB striploin fiorentina

Mini twice baked potato

Parmesan shavings

This was my first stop and the striploin was done medium.  The meat was tender and very flavourful.  I enjoyed it alot, but you need to check with your other dinner guests if they like medium beef.  The mini twice baked potato provided a bit of creaminess and texture to the striploin.

Prime Modern Italian Steak House CAB striploin fiorentina potato and parmesan cheese

Beyond Coffee

Our Tasting Cup:

Affogato with Illy espresso, vanilla gelato

Excellent vanilla gelato that has Illy espresso coffee poured over it.  Hot and cold, sweet and bitter.  I should try this at home.

Saj & Co

Our Tasting Plate:

Tabboule

Hummus

Kale mottabal

Anton the great

The green Balila

This was a real ethnic experience, with authentic Lebanese food, great music, chatty chefs, and general chaos.  The food was served in 2 courses.  First was the tabboule, (a salad made from couscous, parsley, tomatoes and more ingreds), hummus (chickpea puree with garlic) and kale mottabal, which I was told was hummus with ground kale.  All had nice bright flavours.  Healthy food.  The second course, which took a while to get was Anton the great and the green Balila.  One a chickpea dish with parsley and tahini, and the other a type of vegetarian Lebanese flatbread sandwich.  A very ambitous effort from the restaurant, but this extra was not needed.  I did like the chickpea dish, but the flatbread needed a bit more sauce in it for me.

Saj & Co Tabboule, Kale mottabal, and Hummus

Saj & Co vegetarian Lebanese flatbread sandwich cooking

Truffles Fine Foods Cafe

Our Tasting Plate:

Chicken Rillette with plum brulee and nutmeg foam

Moroccan Style Lamb Pop with mint cucumber raita bell puri garnish

Seared Tuna Tataki with citrus kombucha, orange segment and taro root crumb

The food from Truffles took a bit of time to reach our table, but it was presently nicely once it had arrived.  I do like Moroccan spices and was hoping for a nice flavourful crust on the lamb pop, but it was quite mild.  I think adding more spices would make this dish even better.  The lamb was very soft, and I would have loved to have a glass of Gamay of Pinot Noir to drink with it.  I also am a sushi fan and enjoyed to Seared Tuna Tataki.  Again nice mixture of texture and citrus.

Truffles Fine Foods Cafe Moroccan Style Lamb Pop, Seared Tuna Tataki, and Chicken Rillette

Bella Gelateria Yaletown

Our Tasting Plate:

Genoa pizza – Pesto base, Onion, Prosciutto Crudo, Cherry tomatoes, Fior Di Latte

Beet Risotto – Arborio rice, beet juice, butter, vegetable stock, garnished with roasted beets

Caprese – Vine-ripened tomatoes, fior di latte, balsamic reduction, basil, pine nuts

“G” Sundae – Whiskey fudge, strawberry pocheé, fior di latte

When you hear “Gelateria” you probably think of gelato only, but Bella Gelateria serves Italian dishes as well as their gelato.  The Tasting Plate was served quickly and the presentation was quite nice.  My favourite item was the Genoa pizza.  I really liked the salt and crunch of the prosciutto on this pizza.  The Beet Risotto had a nice earthy flavour from the beets, but was a little too al dente for me.  The G Sundae was also quite nice.  Strawberry, vanilla and whiskey fudge together are a nice way to end a meal.

Bella Gelateria Yaletown Caprese salad, Beet Risotto, Genoa pizza, and G Sundae

Ganache Patisserie

Our Tasting Plate:

the Cacao et Earl Grey – cocoa nib butter cake, earl grey ganache, earl grey mousseline, sour cherries and earl grey buttercream

Cassis et Matcha – cassis mascarpone cream, cassis gelee, milk chocolate mousse, blackberries, matcha sponge

Raspberry Chocolate Canalle

Chocolate Cookies

Everything on this plate was delicious, particularly the 2 slices of cake.  Just go there and buy!

Ganache Patisserie the Cacao et Earl Grey, Cassis et Matcha, Raspberry Chocolate Canalle and Chocolate Cookies

Los Amigos Taqueria

Our Tasting Plate:

Churros – Filled with Nutella and Dulce de Leche, and topped with chocolate ganache.

Our Tasting Cup:

Hot Drink Atole, beverage thickened with masa and flavoured with cinnamon.

Lining up to this tiny restaurant, we were treated to a Mexican sweet treat, Churros, along with a corn-based sweet beverage.  I did like the churros as a snack, but I think the restaurant could have offered their open faced tacos which made everyone in the lineup drool over.

Tasting Plates Downtown South – recap

Last night,  a gaggle of hungry food fans gathered at C Prime Modern Italian Steak House to kick off Vancouver Foodster’s Tasting Plates Downtown South.

As with all Tasting Plates, guests were in store for an evening of great plates from a selection of eateries along the Davie St corridor. The establishments ran the gamut from grand glam to compact cool.

Starting at C Prime Modern Italian Steak…

Tasting Plates Downtown South on Sept 16 - Get Your Tickets #TastingPlatesYVR @cprimesteak @bellagelateria

The latest Tasting Plates is coming up September 16; This one featuring restaurants in the Downtown South area of Vancouver.  I am quite excited with the list of restaurants, especially C Prime Modern Italian Steakhouse & Wine Bar, as they participated in the Calamari Challenge in June and made a FANTASTIC tasting dish with cheese stuffed calamari, bathed in a wonderful tomato sauce.  I can…

View New Post: http://myvancity.ca/2015/09/01/vancouver-foodster-sundae-challenge-award-winners/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=My+Vancity+Tumblr&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BMy+VanCity

Vancouver Foodster Sundae Challenge Award Winners   

The Vancouver Foodster Sundae Challenge was a huge success featuring 4 sundae creations from restaurants around Vancouver. Each restaurant featured their sundae creation from August 5-29, 2015. Our media judging panel determined the ultimate winners of the challenge, and this was quite the task as each judge who tasted each creation with a rigorous process based on taste, originality/uniqueness and presentation/appearance. Our Media judges for this challenge were: Zahra Alani, Drex and Sean Neild.

The Winners are:

1st Place:

Beyond Coffee

Red Velvet Volcano Sundae

Created by: Andrea Fletcher Pastry Chef

Description: All the best parts of a red velvet cupcake with a  warm ganache center and house made cream cheese gelato.

Offered: Monday – Sunday 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Beyond Coffee

1015 Burrard Street, Vancouver

Tel: 604-687-0575

Web: http://www.century-plaza.com/beyond-coffee/

Twitter @dine_at_beyond

  2nd Place:

Bella Gelateria

Strawberry Delight

Description: Strawberry Gelato, fior de latte soft serve, granola, strawberry lime sorbet with house-made strawberry pochée (sauce), and a shot of Italian Prosecco

Created by: Gelaterie Maestro James Coleridge

Offered: All day, everyday

Bella Gelateria

1001 W Cordova St, Vancouver

Tel: 604-569-1010

Web: http://www.bellagelateria.com/

Twitter: @bellagelateria

  3rd Place (tie):

Styo Dessert

Twisted Pop

Created by: Dorothy Tam

Desctiption: composed of popcorn, strawberry, blueberry, cereal, wafer stick over the green tea & original twisted frozen yogurt.

Offered: All day, everyday

Styo Dessert

907 Denman Street

Tel: 778-737-7896

Web: http://styodessert.com/

Twitter: @StyoDessert

  3rd Place (tie):

Bella Gelateria Yaletown

Lemon Meringue Delight

Description:  lemon sorbetto, toasted marshmallow, graham wafer with burnt caramel sauce

Created by: Gelaterie Maestro James Coleridge

Offered:  All day, everyday

Bella Gelateria Yaletown

1089 Marinaside Crescent, Vancouver

Tel: 778-737-7890

Web: http://bellagelateria.com/yaletown/

Twitter @BellaYaletown

  In the People’s Choice Awards category, the public who tried the Sundae creations were the ones who had the opportunity to cast their vote throughout the challenge.

The Winners are:

1st Place People’s Choice:

Styo Dessert

Twisted Pop

Created by: Dorothy Tam

Desctiption: composed of popcorn, strawberry, blueberry, cereal, wafer stick over the green tea & original twisted frozen yogurt.

Offered: All day, everyday

Styo Dessert

907 Denman Street

Tel: 778-737-7896

Web: http://styodessert.com/

Twitter: @StyoDessert

  2nd Place People’s Choice:

Beyond Coffee

Red Velvet Volcano Sundae

Created by: Andrea Fletcher Pastry Chef

Description: All the best parts of a red velvet cupcake with a  warm ganache center and house made cream cheese gelato.

Offered: Monday – Sunday 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Beyond Coffee

1015 Burrard Street, Vancouver

Tel: 604-687-0575

Web: http://www.century-plaza.com/beyond-coffee/

Twitter @dine_at_beyond

  3rd Place People’s Choice: 

Bella Gelateria

Strawberry Delight

  Description: Strawberry Gelato, fior de latte soft serve, granola, strawberry lime sorbet with house-made strawberry pochée (sauce), and a shot of Italian Prosecco

Created by: Gelaterie Maestro James Coleridge

Offered: All day, everyday

Bella Gelateria

1001 W Cordova St, Vancouver

Tel: 604-569-1010

Web: http://www.bellagelateria.com/

Twitter: @bellagelateria The full list of participating restaurants can be found here http://vancouverfoodster.com/2015/08/05/vancouver-foodster-sundae-challenge/

About Vancouver Foodster Founded in 2009 by Richard Wolak, Vancouver Foodster is Vancouver’s premier online “Essential Food & Drink Intelligence” guide. The site offers expert advice on the hottest restaurants, parties, and openings this city has to offer. Vancouver Foodster also runs a series of food and drink challenges with restaurants, chefs and bartenders throughout the year! As well, for the past few years we have been presenting a series of tasting tours in neighbourhoods throughout the city.

Reference: Richard Wolak, [email protected] Vancouver Foodster http://vancouverfoodster.com/ Mobile: 604-218-2153 (text or call) Twitter/Instagram: @VanFoodster