Mooncake - Pooh edition

My uncle bought them at Maxim's in HK. Isn't that cute?

Fine - it's a bit childish and they probably taste just like any other mooncakes - at least it got this metal case which I can now use as my lunch box. hahaha j/k.



In the box, there're 4 Pooh-shaped mooncakes. Unfortunately it only comes with the Pooh head, there's no sign of Tigger, Eeyore or Piglet (except on the metal box). Wouldn't it be even cuter if the 4 mooncakes are made of the four characters?

They also had two Mickey-Minnie themed mooncakes as well.

Rosso Bruno the black tomatoes

Has anyone seen this black tomatoes at grocery stores?

It's one of the many varities that BC greenhouse growers produce. It's called Rosso Bruno and to my knowledge, they're available at Safeway. Perhaps other chains too.

The colour of my picture didn't turn out so well. Let's take a closer look at what they really look like:

The nutritional values of this black tomato is pretty much the same as other tomatoes. I've personally tried it and I found it a bit sweeter than regular tomatoes, and I couldn't taste the sourness that tomatoes usually have. I certainly find it unique and different from regular red tomatoes.

Aqua Riva

Returning to Aqua Riva for the Best of BC event. It's similar to Dine Out Vancouver but featured local products. With the passion for local production (thanks to my job), I was there to give it a try.

Some dishes I tried:

Roasted Wild B.C. Salmon with shrimp & spinach risotto, local summer berry salsa and lime butter sauce (I especially liked the berry salsa)

Wood Grilled Salt Spring Island Lamb Sirloin with grilled new red potato & arugula salad summer vegetables, Salt Spring Island blue cheese & walnut jus

The only thing missing was a window seat.

Aqua Riva
Food: 8
Presentation: 8.5
Environment: 8.5
View: 7 (the window seat was missing this time)
Service: 7.5
Overall: 7.9

More about peppers

Did you know...

...that green peppers are actually unriped coloured peppers?

For the green peppers you see in grocery stores, they're picked before they ripe. If you leave them on the plant, they will eventually turn into colours. It can be red, yellow, orange, purple, lilac, brown, etc. Sometimes even the picked ones may ripe and turn into a spotted pepper of green and another colour.

There're no riped peppers in green. However, there is a purple variety that actually starts purple, then turn green, then turn into a dark purple as its final form.

And because green peppers are unriped peppers, it's lacking the sweetness of coloured peppers.

Just some facts about your peppers. =)

Chocolate & Coffee

Well, most people have drunk coffee at one point, but have you ever eaten coffee beans?

Recently I have tried the imported chocolate from Brazil. To be exact, it's coffee beans coated with chocolate.

How was it? errmmm...bitter.

Yeah, it says "Chocolate & Coffee" on the box. Literally, chocolate and coffee (beans).

Aqua Riva

Just tried Aqua Riva at Waterfront, part of the Dine Out Vancouver experience. Maybe my previous experience at Joe Fortes wasn't so good , this time around I was really happy with its food and service. To start off, we were given a window seat, and you know, dine while looking at Canada Place and the waterfront is pretty good. It only got sorta depressing when it started to rain, but it's all good. Then the waitress Sonia (yeah, this time I looked up her name) was really friendly and always said "thanks". Food wasn't bad either, for the price of $25 - a regular main course costs at least $27. I actually think its food was better than Joe Fortes' (which cost $35 per head). This time, we also ordered fresh oysters and drinks on the side.

See, Joe Fortes, we are willing to pay more but you just didn't deserve it. Sucker!







window seat - pretty good view



Aqua Riva
Food: 8.5
Presentation: 8.5
Environment: 8
View: 9 (the window seat was great)
Service: 7.5
Overall: 8.3

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House

Went to Joe Fortes for Dineout Vancouver. The food was okay, but the service wasn't impressive at all. To me, it seemed like as soon as the waitress heard that we're there for Dineout Vancouver, she decided not to do it right because we weren't paying much $$. There was bascially NO service. She didn't even spend 5 seconds trying to pair some wine for you. On the other hand, there were a couple of tables that just ordered from regular menu, she didn't even want to leave them alone. She was so enthusiastic and suggesting this and that. You know, we could've ordered a regular seafood platter on the side but we chose not to pay extra $$ at that restaurant. Too bad I didn't remember her name or else she'd be famous by now.

It was a $35 menu - but with the food and services we received, I'm sorry it's not worth this price.


Joe Fortes
Food: 6
Presentation: 7.5
Environment: 8
View: 6
Service: 4
Overall: 6.3

Taste-testing is for amateurs

I have always heard about a taste-test on differentiating Pepsi and Coca Cola. I personally know some people who can't tell the difference; they said it was difficult. So I wonder, as a fan of Coca Cola, would I be able to do it?

Finally, I was given the chance to prove myself. Two tests were conducted:
a) 2 glasses: 1 Pepsi + 1 Coca Cola
b) 3 glasses: any combination of the two cokes. can be 1 Pepsi + 2 Coca Cola , 2 Pepsi + 1 Coca Cola , 3 Pepsi or 3 Coca Cola

Result:
It is not at all hard to distinguish the two. The smell and taste of Pepsi is actually quite distinctive that I knew right away it was a Pepsi. I mostly relied on my taste buds during the taste test. I probably have drunk too much Coca Cola to not know how it tastes/smells like.

After thoughts:
It was fun, but was much easier than expected. It'd probably be more interesting if other brands of cola were included, such as PC and Safeway.