I was invited to check out the new dining pass from VANEATS.ca and Verace Pizzeria along with @MaryInVancity and I gotta say it’s one of the best $15 you could spend!

Our first course was a Salati Assortiti~a daily selection of cured meats and cheese, vegetables, and marinated olives. Accompanied by warm rosemary pizza bread.  This course was a great way to start off a meal, the selection on cured meats and vegetables was really nice and the warm olives were a great nibble with the cheese’s.  The meats we got were sopressata, salami and the classic~prosciutto.

Next is one of my personal favorites at Verace, the imported Burrata, its burrata cheese finished with balsamic reduction and lemon oil and served with warm rosemary pizza bread.  This is a winner hands down, the creamy burrata with the lemon infused olive oil and the balsamic reduction is a cheese lovers delight and Mary really loved this dish so much she had to order the full-sized version from the menu.  The cheese is flown in weekly from Italy and we were lucky enough to get some from the fresh shipment that came in on Friday.  Just a note~the above courses were bumped up in size because there were 2 of us dining so if your dining alone your portion might be a bit smaller.

The main course of the meal is this bad boy~a 8-inch Brick Oven Baked Pizza made from 100% handmade and  naturally leavened dough.

The pizza that they’ve worked out for this package is what I like to call a half and half~Prosciutto e Rucola~plum tomato sauce, fior di latte mozzarella topped with prosciutto, fresh arugula, grana padano and evoo along with the Funghi~mushroom cream sauce, cipollini balsamic onions, mixed crimini, portabella and oyster mushrooms. Topped with fresh oregano, grana padano and evoo.  If you like mushrooms you’ll love the funghi~the mushroom cream sauce is full of earthy flavor and the cipollini onion adds that great sweet/savory note.  The prosciutto side of the pizza is meaty and the fresh arugula salad on top helps cut the richness of the meat, also the sauce here has a nice tang to it which adds a great flavor note to both pizza’s.

For dessert and our 4th course we shared the Lemoncello Layer Cake~tangy lemoncello infused lady fingers layered with lemon curd and mascarpone cream topped with raspberry’s and berry coulis garnish.  I really love lemon desserts~pies,tarts and everything in between so all I can do is sing the praises of this dessert, it was tangy from the lemoncello with the creamy balance of the mascarpone lemon cream~a much enjoyed dessert by the both of us.

This is another killer dining pass from the guy’s at VANEATS.ca and should not be missed if you haven’t had the chance to check out Verace before.  It’s designed for 1.5 people but I think it’s a great full lunch or dinner for 1 person or a good shared item between 2 people if you’re ordering something else from the menu~they also have a great assortment of pasta’s as well as some delish salads on the menu.

The Verace Amore dining passes will go on sale starting at 7AM on February 22,2012 and will be available till April 22,2012 if they don’t sell out before that, there are only going to be 150 dining passes available for sale and the price again is $15.

**A bit of disclosure, VANEATS.ca provided us with this dining pass for free, our experience and our options are completely our own and based on our visit and service.**

Mijune Pak has taken here Recipe To Riches worthy recipe and put a great twist on it and with February being Apple Month~an initiative to support local Okanagan farmers and growers during a slower time of year, the Apple Pie In-A-Jar was born!

At the event that was also supported by Natures Path and they had bags of their “Love Crunch” Apple Crumble available for sale at a steal of a price of $3 each with 100% of the proceeds going to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and also BC Tree Fruits provided free apples to everyone who came out.

Mijune’s creation is a step up from traditional apple pie, it all starts with an almond crust, Mexican vanilla and cardamom spiced apples, a later of salted butter crunch and topped off with a maple cinnamon creme brulee~the apple pie that mom couldn’t make!

All the ingredients are great on their own but when you combine them like this you get one kick ass apple dessert, the maple cinnamon creme brulee topping was like a rich vanilla sauce and was reminiscent of  the melted ice cream in apple pie à la mode and the salted butter crunch helped from keeping this dessert from being too sweet.  I really enjoyed this nice treat and the serving size was just perfect~not too much but definitely not to little and the price of $8 in the jar was good seeing all the labor and steps involved in making this wonderful creation.

Things are coming along nicely with one of my favorite food carts in the city~Mangal Kiss MidEast BBQ.  I was blown away with my first shishlik I had and since then they’ve introduced a lot of Vancouver gourmet Middle Eastern BBQ and have now brought a couple new items to the menu~delish soup and lamb!

The house made toppings are like a kaleidoscope of color~traditional items like hummus, tahini, tabbouleh along with the more exotic toppings beets, pickled turnips and slices of Moroccan spiced carrots are all available along with sauces with different ranges of heat level.

Everything is still grilled to order in front of you~there’s nothing like the smell of grilling meat and it does a great job of drawing you to the cart!

Phyllis has added a fresh homemade daily soup to the cart for these cold wet days we get in Vancouver, on this visit they were featuring a roasted peach and squash soup with a hint of cumin~it was totally delicious and I licked the bowl clean, the peach and squash were a great combo.

This is one of the new daily specials and features a lamb kebab as the protein, the toppings are a bit different from with the other offerings they usually have but there just as good and unique flavor wise.

The addition of the homemade Harissa Aioli really gave this bad boy a great tang in the flavor department, it usually comes on a whole wheat pita but I’m in love with the traditional Iranian taftoon flat bread so I chose to have it on that.

This is how the shishlik starts if you order it with everything on it veggie wise.

Then your meat gets added

It’s quite a thing of beauty I think and is a feast for the eyes just as much as the taste buds!

This flavor torpedo hits your taste buds hard when you take that first bite, the different textures and unique flavors of each of the toppings is like nothing I’ve had anywhere in Vancouver and shouldn’t be missed if you’re in the Downtown core by the Vancouver Art Gallery and also if you’re visiting Vancouver and a food lover be sure to pop by and try some of The Mangal Kiss MidEast BBQ’s great treats.

They are open right now Monday to Friday and info can be found on the Street Food App and also the Eat St App also follow them on Twitter @MangalKiss .

One of the most requested restaurants to be brought back by diners to the VANEATS.ca dining package line up is Suika Japanese Snack Bar on West Broadway and the guy’s were more than happy to partner up again so they bring us Suika To Me.

I missed the first dining package for Suika so I was more than pleased to get the opportunity to come in for dinner and sample the new Suika to Me dining package and enjoy some great food and drink with @MaryInVancity.

It’s a great sampling of dishes, the dining package is meant for 1.5 people but it’s more practical to say it’s a good dinner or lunch for 1 person I think plus a couple of the dishes aren’t that practical to share.

We started off with some drinks that aren’t included in the package but totally compliment the dishes.  I started with the Asahi Black and Mary had a pint of Sapporo, both of the beers are light in flavor and didn’t affect the flavor of our dishes which is a nice touch.

Salmon Carpaccio, served in a bed of homemade sesame dressing, wasabi mayo topped with scallions and yuzu zest.

The Salmon Carpaccio was totally delicious, under all the great toppings lay meaty strips of awesome Atlatic salmon, the yuzu zest added that perfect tang and the caviar was like having bursts of the ocean complementing the Atlantic salmon.

AAA Beef Filet Steak, served on a hot stone plate with fresh garlic, soy onion sauce and a side of potato wedges sprinkled with shichimi spices.

Next was a feast for the senses~there is nothing like feeling the heat coming off a sizzling hot plate in front of you at your table cooking your steak and flooding your nose with garlic, soy and onion~savory and delicious, to complement the beef it’s served with potato wedges seasoned with shichimi spice~not spicy but a definite step up from salt and pepper, the garlic chips also added a really nice complement when eating the strips of steak.

Tokyo Oxtail Ramen, slowly braised oxtail & noodles in soy broth topped with dried fish powder & scallions.

Tokyo Oxtail Ramen was next up and the soy broth is a nice change from the usual ramen that I have~I’m more of a miso kinda guy, the oxtail packed a beefy flavor and melted in my mouth and the noodles still had a bit of a bite or chew to them.

Pumpkin Creme Brulee, topped with whipped cream and strawberries.

For dessert we had a nice twist on creme brulee~a pumpkin brulee garnished with strawberry’s and whipped cream.  This was a great twist on the traditional creme brulee because the pumpkin added a sweetness that was very refreshing and was a great way to end the meal.  Some people might shy away from a pumpkin creme brulee because they usually have that pumpkin pie spice mix in some form but this one was more about the actual sweet pumpkin and didn’t have this mix used at all.

If you want to get you hands on one of these Suika To Me dining passes they go on sale starting February 15th 2012 till March 12th 2012 and are available till there sold out so act fast~this package will be going quick based on past dining package sales, please click here for the VANEATS.ca page.

**Disclosure~VANEATS.ca gave Mary and myself this dining package and our experience or review wasn’t influenced by this and is completely our own.**

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Karma Exchange (www.karmaexchange.com), a social enterprise that partners local businesses with education and water projects in Northern Ghana, is proud to announce its partnership with The American Cheesesteak Company and Food Network Chef Anthony Sedlak.

As part of this partnership, The American Cheesesteak Company, located in the heart of the downtown entertainment district at 781 Davie Street (at Howe), has pledged 10 per cent (10%) of all sales on Valentine’s Day to Karma Exchange’s Savelugu Girls’ Education Project, which helps thousands of girls in remote parts of Northern Ghana pay for their school fees and related expenses.

In addition, The American Cheesesteak Company will generously donate $1.00 from the sale of each large “Cowboy” sandwich sold between Feb. 14 and May 31, 2012 to the Savelugu Girls’ Education Project.

“Through the restaurant and my work with Food Network Canada, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to reach people and inspire positive change in and out of my kitchen,” says celebrity chef, TV show host, and cook book author Anthony Sedlak. “Valentine’s Day is all about love, and at The American Cheesesteak Co., we try to pay our blessings forward and think of those who are less fortunate. I’m thrilled to be working with Karma Exchange, a social enterprise that shares my views on a global level, and in such a dignified way.”

It is so exciting to be working with a business like The American Cheesesteak Company,” says Karma Exchange founder Shannen O’Brian. “They’ve been so generous from the get-go. People in Ghana not only have the support of a great company, but Anthony Sedlak as well! Vancouver customers have the chance to make difference through a delicious sandwich. What a concept!”

About The American Cheesesteak Company
Already a local favourite since its launch last fall, The American Cheesesteak Company offers traditional Philly cheesesteaks made from tender prime rib shaved fresh daily, savoury cheeses and proprietary seasonings, and served piping-hot on freshly baked bread. Guests will also be tempted by decadent specialty, vegetarian and chicken versions with ingredients like wagyu beef, forest mushrooms, truffle aioli and fontina cheese.

About Karma Exchange
Karma Exchange is a local social enterprise, founded by Vancouver’s Shannen O’Brian, that partners local businesses with education and water projects in remote areas of Northern Ghana. Since 2004, the organization and parent charity, Create Change Foundation (www.createchangenow.ca) has helped thousands of Ghanaian girls finish high school and given over 24,000 people access to clean drinking water.
For more information, visit www.karmaexchange.com 

Each team is represented by four of the family’s most enthusiastic and skilled cooks, any combination of siblings, parents, cousins, grandparents, young kids or in-laws. All participants – from the oldest competitor at age 67 to exuberant nine-year-old twins – are eager to whip up their favourite dishes, and come together as a family in hopes of winning the coveted Golden Frying Pan and $1,000 worth of groceries.

Hosted by Entertainment Tonight Canada’s Kim D’Eon, each episode of Family Cook Off features two Canadian families going head-to-head in an over-the-top, outdoor home cooking extravaganza. Their challenge is to prepare their favourite family fare in two rounds: Main Entreés and Desserts. The teams are given a mandatory ingredient they must incorporate into their recipes to create tasty dishes and impress the judges. With only 20 minutes per round to prep, cook and plate a complete dish and accompaniments, they must be organized and work fast to avoid chaos.

Food Network Canada celebrity chefs and cookbook authors Anthony Sedlak (The Main) and Trish Magwood (Party Dish) bring years of culinary experience to their roles as Family Cook Off judges. They evaluate each family’s creations, awarding points for taste, presentation and style. A total of 24 families demonstrate their talents in Family Cook Off, from the lively Boyes family who already has their own annual family cook-off, to the enormous Silver family whose family meals often comprise of up to 200 people.

Produced by Force Four Entertainment Inc. in association with Food Network Canada, Family Cook Off was shot in front of a live audience, outside in the picturesque False Creek neighbourhood of Vancouver. The series is Canada’s version of the popular Australian series Coles Great Aussie Cook Off. The Cook Off format is attracting audiences around the world, with the Singapore and UK versions proving to be instant viewer favourites.

The first season of Family Cook Off will premiere Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 9pm ET/PT exclusively on Food Network Canada, with two back-to-back episodes airing each week.

The lovely lady who brought us To Die For Banana Bread~Erin Ireland has come up with a new addition to the banana bread line up and it’s available exclusively at the Save On Meats Butcher Shop and as a dessert item at the Save On Meats Diner next door.  You can pick up whole loaves at the butcher shop, there priced as follows-$10 for a medium and $15 for a large (the one I purchased was a medium size) and the desert size~2 slices for $5 in the diner

It’s that perfect mix of sweet and salty that is addictive as all heck and is a definite must try. It’s got candied double smoked Save On Meats bacon added to the wonderful banana bread recipe that Erin Ireland’s become so famous for, the Callebaut Chocolate runs through out this beast and adds a great color and flavor to the loaf, Erin also uses organic bananas in her recipe. You can pick up whole loaves at the Save On Meats Butcher shop, there priced as follows-$10 for a medium and $15 for a large (the one I purchased was a medium size).

The bread sells out quick in the butcher shop, it’s restocked daily but I’d advise getting there early if you would like to purchase some and you could also try giving them a call to see what quantity’s are like.

The Dirty Apron is one of the more unique places to grab lunch in the downtown area. Nico and Karri Schuermans~the owners of Chambar and Cafe Medina have combined a deli of fine meats and cheese’s, ready to eat freshly made sandwiches and salads, a hot carvery and a gourmet grocery store all in one but to cap it off the also have a great cooking school with a variety of classes all in one cleverly designed space.

Great meats

Killer sandwiches

Tempting baked goods

The seating is communal at long tables and the have their house made chili sambal oil for you to jazz up your food if you like to.

I went with one of the baguette sandwiches~roasted chicken, arugula and sun-dried tomatoes with grana padano Parmesan and pesto mayo.  They make their bread fresh all through out the day in small batches so whenever you get your sandwich have no worry~you bread is usually no more than an hour old.  There was two halves to this sandwich and it was wrapped up nicely in paper, the chicken was moist and tender and all the ingredients worked well together.

I also got some of their fresh salads, they sell them on a /100 gram rate that’s around $3.50 (ish).  I went split it up choice wise seeing everything was the same price so the hardest thing was choosing what to get out of the 6 different choices.

This is a Brussel sprout salad with prosciutto and broccoli.  It was a nice fresh salad and the sprouts were cooked nicely but still crisp but without that cabbage taste, one thing I wish there was more of was the prosciutto.

The Mediterranean couscous was the other salad I got, it was a brightly flavored salad with the roasted red pepper and roasted onion being a balance to the vinaigrette.

With my sandwich and salad~I bought 100 grams of each my bill was around $17 with tax, seeing it’s really fresh great quality food the price is justified and I’ll totally be back.

I’ve had some good meals at Vera’s Burger Shack and the one by my place in the West End has put a smile on my face in the past. Recently I was craving a burger and not wanting to hit the other burger place up the street when I have been to a few times recently I thought I would mix things up and grab BBQ Burger combo at Vera’s and watch the game for a bit~I usually just grab and go eat at home but I dined in on this visit.

I got the BBQ Burger and made it a combo, the burger on its own costs $8.99, the combo comes with the fries pictured above and a fountain drink that is equal to the medium size at any fast food restaurant and is bottomless and all this came to $17 with a $2 tip included.

It was a decent sized burger and I got all the usual toppings on it but it wasn’t so BBQ’y tasting~it tasted more like a greasy grill and I say this because I’ve had this burger a ton of times in the past and it’s one of my favorites so it was a huge disappointment when it lacked so much in the flavor department and what really gets me is the price for this combo, for the same $$ I paid I could have spent $2 more and got a burger from Hawksworth Restaurant at the Hotel Georgia~a burger really worth $20 so I think it’s really time for Vera’s burger Shack to rethink their because the prices now don’t equal value for money.

Vera your meat has been beat by every burger joint in town that specializes in burgers as well as some other places that don’t. My fries were the best part of my meal~something I shouldn’t have to be saying from a place that specializes in burgers.

A place that I have been wanting to hit up for a while is Suika on West Broadway and knowing that Mary has been here before and loves it we set off to have a Wednesday night adventure.

The space is great and there were a couple large groups when we were having dinner~the space is set up great for a mix of different party sizes and I really liked the Sake bottle light fixture. It is a izakaya so the volume of the place is quite loud with the Japanese welcomes as diners come into the restaurant and adds to the atmosphere that’s for sure.

The drink selection here is great, I love my beer and always order a Asahi Black if it’s on the menu and Mary went with a pint of Sapporo. Despite the Asahi being really dark it’s actually a smooth light beer and should be tried if you’ve never had it before.

My Ebi Mayo, cilantro battered prawns served with house made chili mayo for $7.80 you get 6 large prawns.  This was some of the best ebi mayo I have ever had, the prawns were nice and plump and the batter wasn’t too thick or too greasy.

After reading great things about it I had to get an order of Suika’s Sweet Corn Kakiage, this lightly battered sweet corn was like  a corn fritter and was enjoyed by the both of us, the individual corn kernels would pop in your mouth when eating them because of the frying.  I’d totally order this dish again.

Miso Marinated Grilled Sable Fish was the last item we ordered off the menu, for $9 it was a decent piece of sable fish for 1 person but not to share~the end that I go had a ton of bones in it~I found 10 and stopped counting.  The skin of the fish was nice and crisp from the grilling so if you like crispy fish skin this dish is worth ordering despite my problem with my dish.

We had a great time at Suika and will definitely be back, we got to try some other dishes on this visit that will be part of another post coming up so please stay tuned for my upcoming flavor town adventure next this time next week.

Wikipedia: An izakaya is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. →