Foodsters and Novo Pizzeria-Awesomeness Delivered To Your Door

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Sean

So delivery is no new thing to Vancouver but getting whatever you want from ANY restaurant is a new and unique thing. Foodsters is a local business start-up that will bring you your favorite dishes from Vancouver restaurants for a low $10 delivery fee. They take credit cards on the order site for payment no cash changes hands between you and the driver so thing’s couldn’t be easier.

The other night I had a couple of deadlines to meet so going out wasn’t an option so I decided to give Foodster’s a try and order up some food from Novo Pizzeria and Wine Bar, as a bonus they give a 10% discount on take out and delivery orders.

Novo’s signature meat balls. Filled with pine nuts and currents these meatballs were something different. The sauce that Novo makes has a nice bright tomato flavor with a nice fresh basil flavor.

You can see the abundance of filling in the meatballs

The margherita pizza, one size only and it’s $13.

The pizza had great leoparding and the crust had great flavor and just the right amount of chew.

They use Fiore di Latte mozzarella and I loved the creaminess of it. Over all this was a great pizza and Novo has solidified their place in the Neapolitan Pizza market.

The panna cotta with the berry compote was totally delicious. The panna cotta semi sweet and rich without being heavy, the compote complimented the cool and creamy panna cotta.

Overall, I was very impressed with Novo and the Foodsters delivery service. If you’re a fan of Neapolitan style pizza and rustic Italian dishes, then you’re going to want to check out Novo Pizzeria & Wine Bar and if you can’t make it in get Foodsters to deliver some goodness right to your door. To learn more about their services, visit www.Foodsters.ca.

You can also reach Foodsters at:
Foodsters Restaurant Delivery
(604) 781-7883
info@foodsters.ca

Be The Lunch Time Office Hero

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Sean

The gang over at Food.ee have been busy adding more great restaurants to their effortless online restaurant ordering service and now have taken it to the next level with the ability to order from work and for the who office so if your that guy or gal who’s been tasked with feeding the office this service could just make you the office hero and you could win your office a iPod touch, lunch and a iPad 2 in the process!

Food.ee knows how difficult it can be to order food for everyone in the office. Tired of pizza? Want tastier, fresher options? Food.ee, the latest innovation from Invoke, ends the difficult and routine task of ordering food for groups at a time.

Food.ee allows you to effortlessly place a meal order for large groups. Submit the order, specify the time and location of delivery, and enjoy.

Some of the great restaurant partners include Rasoee, Bonchaz, and Notturno Paninoteca. An upcoming feature will allow users to send individual menus to employees to input their order and Food.ee will aggregate the information into a single order for the office.

There celebrating the launch of corporate ordering by giving away an iPod touch, lunch for your entire office courtesy of Rasoee, and an iPad 2. Each order made through Food.ee Corporate in March counts as an entry for the draw. The more you order, the more chances you have to win!

I’ve used the service before to get food delivered to my house and it was effortless and simply a matter of a few clicks of the touch pad and dinner was at my door so I totally recommend this service if you’re looking for a one stop shop with many different restaurant choices with no extra delivery charges.

Rasoee Indian Kitchen on Robson

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Sean

One of the new franchises to open this year has been Rasoee, serving up Indian food in a modern environment with a few twists on some of the classic Indian dishes is what sets them apart from what else is on the market.

I was lucky enough to have won a free regular size curry bowl and a free “small bite” or in other words~appetizer from there weekly twitter contest so I headed off to the location I’m near the most~Robson Street and chow on some curry!

I went with a bowl of beef curry on basmati rice it usually goes for $7.49 on the menu.

The curry bowl was a decent size and the chunks of beef were on the large size, the curry itself was OK, the flavor of it was kind of one note and the meat was lacking the flavor of being stewed and cooked in the curry like I’ve had at other Indian places and one thing that I didn’t like was the sounds of a microwave being set when my meal was being prepared evident by this

the meat was lukewarm in the middle and kind of tough~in a nuked kind of way. I think next time I’ll stick to chicken or totally vegetarian.

This is the small bite I chose, they call these Potato Tikkis, again they go for $2.99 for 2 pieces and they comes with a side of Rasoee Indian ketchup.

They are vegetarian and filled with ground chickpeas, spices and potato and the outside is light and crispy. I really enjoyed these on their own but I didn’t like the Indian ketchup~it had the taste of strawberry jam for some reason and it was too spicy for my tastes.

At the end of the day my meal was OK from Rasoee and I’ll still keep them on my list of quick eats when I’m in the area.

Urban Sushi Japanese Cuisine

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Sean

After hearing good things about this place from @DrJennyFever of There is Always Room and her review here I was eager to check this place out seeing I’m in the area a lot and don’t have a solid sushi joint in the neighborhood.

The space is bright and is shared with their sister restaurant the Urban Grill-a Mongolian grill type restaurant and you can sit on either side of the restaurant it seems for sushi service. The staff is attentive, friendly and efficient.

The menu here is pretty big with all the standard items you would expect to find in a sushi place but the presentation is stepped up here from what I’ve seen on the plates coming out. Food wise I went with a deluxe bento box for $10.50 and I must say it was one of the better bento boxes I’ve had in a while.

The salad is the standard salad you get in bento boxes and the dressing is light and refreshing.

Next up in the box is gyoza. This was OK but the wrapper was a bit thick and the sauce took away the crispy texture of the pan-fried side but the filling was good and seasoned properly.

The tempura here is really nice, the batter is light and not to greasy, you get 2 pieces is ebi, a piece of zucchini and a piece of sweet potato. All were enjoyable but I found the zucchini a bit grease logged~this is usually the case with all deep-fried zucchini.

I chose the chicken teriyaki but you also have the choice of beef. It was a nicely garnished with white and black sesame seeds. The chicken was cooked perfectly and had a nice crispy side with a teriyaki sauce that wasn’t too sweet.

Lastly for the roll in the bento box, because I chose the deluxe bento it came with a dynamite roll, this one also had tempura yam and sweet/tangy mayo that gave the roll a great creaminess. I really enjoyed this and would order it again for sure.

From this visit I would definitely come back to Urban Sushi and am looking forward to trying some of the other items and roll’s on the menu.

Incendio in Gastown

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Sean

Incendio has been a favorite of mine for good pizza and traditional Italian favorites before Gastown was blessed with having so many great choices for eating and then to see it destroyed by fire in the space above the restaurant in 2009 it wasn’t clear if the restaurant could rebuild in the great space they has before but I’m happy to say that there back with the same charm inside as before and the great food that made them famous.

I was with MaryInVancity and @billyforce having some drinks in Gastown at Chill Winston-you can see Mary’s post about out libations here, needless to say after drinking the whole cocktail menu we needed some good solid food and Incendio was just a block away and had a table open for us right away.

Drink wise I wanted some beer and they had Kronnenburg Blanc and I knew that would hit the spot

it’s a cloudy beer that is on the light side taste wise, it’s got a floral taste to it similar to Lavender.

When we were seated we were served a piece each of house made Focaccia, as I ate mine I noticed 2 things,1-it was cold and 2-it was really tough at the end. As we ate our other appy we asked for some more bread and were informed that it would be $1 per slice and guests are only provided with one piece each for a meal-no big deal at the end of the day.

Baked Meatballs in Tomato Sauce $7 for 3. Served piping hot from their brick oven this appy was pretty good, the sauce they make is nice and not on the sweet side and the cheese was piled on, one thing that was odd was the sauce to meatball ratio-there could have been a couple more meatballs and the balls were kinda tough-Nook and the Judas Goat have meatballs that will melt in your mouth.

The Margherita $14.99. The Incendio version of the margherita isn’t what I’m used to. This was more of a cheese pizza with some basil, there was a good amount of cheese and the crust was chewy but on the thick side, this was out least favorite pie of the night.

The Carnivore $14.99. Pepperoni, ham, prosciutto and chorizo sausage make up this bad boy, I like to think of it as the Italian version of the meat lovers pizza. All the toppings were great and the chorizo added a nice bite to the pizza.

The Capricciossa $14.99. Ham, pepperoni, artichoke and olives. This pizza was the clear winner of the night, the addition of the olives added that great salty touch to the other big flavors on the pizza.

At the end of the night we had a good meal and lots of left overs to take home, I know personally I like the thinner Neapolitan pizzas that are available a couple blocks away seeing there the same price as Incendio but the food here is still a solid choice and dining option in the busy Gastown dining scene. If your not looking to make the trip to Incendio on our cold rainy nights you can use the Food.ee online ordering and delivery service to have dinner on the table in under a hour, click the link above.

Introducing Food.ee-A New Way To Order Delivery and Take Out Food

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Sean

A couple of months ago I was approached by the folks at Invoke to beta test a new online food ordering service for delivery and pick up that is completely different from anything on the market right now and I’m happy to say that the site is live this evening and will be ready to take your dinner order!.

press release from Invoke~the people behind Food.ee:

“Food.ee is the easiest way to order take out and delivery food online.
We believe hungry people want a few suggestions that matter, not a list of a 1000 options. Food.ee is unique to each customer and makes predictive suggestions to suit customers “taste graph” based on preferences, order history, and popular items”~Jon Cartwright, Food.ee CEO.

“We knew we weren’t the only ones tired of using multiple services to find a new restaurant to go to,” said David Tedman, Co-CEO of Invoke, the digital agency that built Food.ee. “Reviews are great, but we wanted to improve suggestions by creating them based on a customer’s personal taste graph using patterns and similarities in the food they typically eat, and the types of restaurants they or their friends go to.”

Food.ee is the latest product from Invoke, an award-winning, full-service interactive agency, specializing in Web, mobile, and social app development for major brands and agencies. Invoke’s suite of award-winning products, include HootSuite, memelabs, Vidrollr and Hitt.it, have been used by leading brands such as Wells Fargo, ESPN, and HISTORY. Invoke has offices in Vancouver and New York.”

The site is innovative in the way it can suggest restaurants that suit your taste and what kind of food you have ordered in the past. You fill out a basic profile and answer some multiple choice questions and you’re on your way to getting great food.

When you’re choosing your restaurant you’re presented with the full menu that is plug and play enabled, there is a visual display on a google map of the delivery radius of the restaurant so you can easily tell if you’re in the delivery area

and you also get a running total of how much your order s going to be including taxes, when your done choosing your food you hit enter and now the interesting part begins, your presented with a three-step visual process of whats going on with your order from it being confirmed by the food.ee site, you then get a confirmation of the restaurant getting your order and then you get a text message from said restaurant telling you just how long your food is going to be

it’s just that simple and you don’t even need to pick up the phone and make a call. I tried out the site during the beta period and my food was delivered promptly and it was nice and hot still like it should be.

With so many delicious dining options at your fingertips get on www.food.ee and sign up and order yourself some great food quickly and easily. Credit for screen images and some pics above besides the food ordered go to Invoke.

For immediate access to the food.ee site scan the QR code below with your smartphone or camera equipped tablet:
qrcode

Ramen Sanpachi Robson Street

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Sean

In my ramen tours downtown Ramen Sanpachi just off Robson st on Bute is a place that I’ve walked past many times, it’s a place that always has customers in it or it pretty much full but I figured that it must just be “just another ramen joint”, I was wrong I think because I was introduced to something that I’ll eat for the rest of my life!.

They offer a few different types of ramen that I’ll be talking about in future posts but for now this is what I’ve had so far:

Pork Gyoza $3.75, standard gyoza with a well-balanced pork filling, if you like gyoza’s you’ll like these.

Miso Cha~Shu $8.95, I think they use MSG in the ramen because I was full before then end of my bowl of noodles, the broth was not salty yet not bland and the pork was nicely marbled as you can see, one thing I didn’t like to much was the fact my noodles were chewy, I thought they were just under cooked but I think it’s just the way they do noodles here~not a deal breaker but just a pet peeve.

Mini Cha~Shu Bowl $3.95, I really like this bowl, the mayo used has an added a great creaminess to the rice and pork, the meat was diced up and really tender, It’s actually a large bowl~there’s alot of rice and is great value for $, I cleaned my bowl.

Tan Tan Men $9.95, this was the stand out dish that I will try if I see it on other menu’s, the sauce is spicy peanut and sesame~like a thinned out satay sauce, ground fried pork, spinach and leeks with ramen noodles, it was freaking amazing!!, the sauce had that addictive “it’s damn hot and I should stop eating but I can’t” quality.

At the end of the day I’m coming back here for the Tan Tan Men and the Cha-Shu bowl and I’m going to have my miso ramen where I know there’s no MSG.

Sitar Indian-A Night Of Great Company And So So Service

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Sean

A couple of months ago I won $100 in gift certificates to Sitar Indian restaurant in Gastown from Food.ee~a great new upcoming service to order food from the great people at Invoke Media but more to come about that in a couple of weeks.

I was eager to try out the restaurant because it has been in Gastown for as long as I can remember and the ratings seemed pretty good on Urbanspoon.com. I got together with my good friend @maryinvancity and fellow Indian food lover and we hit up Sitar for some grub.

We went for some drinks before hand across the street at Chill Winston on the killer patio and headed over across the street to Sitar for dinner.

The interior is decorated with a mix of Indian paintings, instruments and plastic flowers~were not off to a good start lets just say. We were seated quickly~we were the only people there but another couple came in shortly after us but that was it for the night while we were there.

On to the food now:

Complementary Poppadums, there was chutney for these but we weren’t given any, the other table behind us was but that was OK because these weren’t fresh and were really stale~made last week old

Paneer Naan $4.95, this was fresh but not that crisp like other naan I’ve had before and I think there was cheddar cheese in it as well, I asked one of the 2 guys working the front of the house and he got immediately defensive and replied that they don’t have any “white” stuff in there kitchen~not even ketchup, I was kind of shocked at the remark and just replied with “yeah buddy”.

Pilau Rice, I didn’t attach a price to this because it is supposed to come with each curry dish that you order, it’s basmati rice with pea’s and fried onions on top, the rice was cooked well but one thing I will say is that we only for one small plate each for all of our 3 curry’s we ordered, it would have been easier to have one big plate of it so we didn’t have to ration it out and also so we could take some for each different curry.

Here are our selection of curry’s that we got, the dishes looked small but actually there was a good amount in each bowl.

Lamb Korma $16.95, lamb cooked in a creamy cashew nut sauce, korma is a favorite of mine and I usually have it with chicken so the lamb was a nice change, the sauce was flavorful and wasn’t to spicy, it has a creamy texture to it because of ground up cashews but theirs no dairy in it. The meat was nice and tender and the sauce was cooked into it so the flavor was meaty without being too strong for lamb. I’d order this again and Mary liked it as well.

Chicken Tikka Masala $14.95, the national curry of England and a personal favorite of mine, chicken cooked with bell peppers & onions in a rich & creamy tomato sauce, this was a nice standard tikka masala, the pieces of chicken were nice and big and the sauce was well-balanced.

Butter Chicken $16.95, marinated chicken served in a seasoned tomato cream sauce, me and Mary were looking forward to this but were both left disappointed, the sauce was sweet and kinda flat, the chicken was alright and tender but we’ve both had much better other places.

At the end of the day the price charged for what we got was not worth it, the service was really so so and I felt like I was in a tourist trap and we both had stomach aches for the rest of the night. The company was better than experience.

Volcano Sushi and Grill

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Sean

In the Hastings Sunrise area diverse types of great food and restaurants are everywhere and Volcano Sushi and Grill has become a favorite with the residents in the area who love great Japanese sushi classics and the chef’s special rolls that Vancouver has become famous for.

I’ve timed my visits well avoiding the lunch rush with all the businesses in the area it’s quite the popular place. They have a diverse menu with all the things you would expect from a sushi place and also grilled items like yakatori and short ribs. The prices are really good and you get a good-sized portion for you buck, I’ve had the lunch special for $6.50~for that you get to choose 2 different items and choice of soup~wonton or miso, I’ve also tried a couple other items from the menu.

Miso soup $1.25, the miso here is really good compared to others I’ve had and you get a good amount of tofu.

Wonton Soup $2.25, this is a side I got with one of my lunch specials, the price quoted if from the menu and I’d expect a bigger size. The broth here is nice and rich but not on the fishy side like with other wonton soup I’ve had, it almost had a meaty tone to it while being light. The wontons filling is nice and tender without being over cooked.

Chicken Yakitori $3.95 for 2 skewers, this is one of the daily specials I tried, the chicken was nice and juicy and in between the pieces of chicken were spring onions that added a nice flavor to the chicken, the skewers were glazed with a teriyaki type sauce I think. I’d definitely order these again when there on the daily specials board.

Pork Gyoza (also available with vegetable filling) $4.50 for 6 nice big dumplings, the gyoza wrapper was nice and tender and the browning was really nice.

There was a nice amount of meat to veg ratio with these gyoza and the filling had texture and a nice porky taste while the vegetable was still toothsome.

Dynamite Roll $3.95, again this is one of the sides I chose with my lunch combo, the shrimp tempura was nice and crunchy without the shrimp being like rubber. One thing I wasn’t sure of is if there was soy already on top or if it was another sauce but it made the roll unnecessarily wet.

Spicy Tuna Maki $3.75, really good spicy tuna here, the sauce on top added a nice bite and the filling wasn’t overly dressed so it ended up being nice and light. The rice on this roll was also nicely cooked and wasn’t wet because of the sauce on top.

Beef Teriyaki with Rice, standard beef teriyaki, the sauce is nice and not overly sweet, the veggies were nice and fresh.

Chicken Teriyaki with Rice, again another standard Japanese classic, the chicken was nice and crispy on top and juicy in the middle and not doused in overly sweet sauce.

I’m enjoying eating my way through the menu here and it’s nice treat when I’m in the area, I’ll update my blog with the other menu offerings I try from this solid sushi joint.

Original Cupcakes

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Sean

The Original Cupcakes Bakery opened in the early 2001 before cupcakes were cool and trendy. I can remember when the pink store opened on Denman street and it was a hit from day one. Since then the 2 hometown BC girls and friends have franchised out the cupcakes stores and star in a docu-soap that follows entrepreneurs and best friends Heather White and Lori Joyce in their hectic and often hilarious journey to build a cupcake empire that airs in the W Network here in Canada. Now I’m not gonna BS you~I loves me some cupcakes even tho I’m a dude, there one of the things that can put an instant smile on my face!.

The selection of available cupcakes is layed out before your eyes and how many your want is the real question~there all the same price each.

I usually go with 6 for $16 and get doubles of my favorite~red velvet

The Caramella~chocolate cupcake with caramel buttercream and filled with liquid caramel and also topped with a dollop of said caramel~it tastes like those square Kraft caramel’s that are in the bulk section~so good!

the Buttercup~peanut butter and chocolate marble cupcake with a peanut butter frosting, sometimes they are topped with little peanut butter cups but not on this visit, one thing that I really like about the cupcakes from here is the fact you can put tem in the fridge overnight and there fine the next day, all you have to do is let it sit at room temperature for a bit and its good to go and the cake is still super moist

the Sweet 16~vanilla cake with pink frosting and sprinkles, I normally don’t go for this one but it was chosen for a charity so $ from each one gets donated so I felt it offset the fact I was going to eat 6 cupcakes!.

the Red Velvet~its a chocolate cake with red food coloring, it can also be done naturally with coco powder,beets and buttermilk, I’m not sure what version there using here but its damn good and the cream cheese frosting on top is delish!.