Posts Tagged ‘Canada’
The best day of vacation I had this spring break was when I went sight seeing and saw how beautiful Vancouver, B.C. really is. Not only did I get to go sight seeing, but I also had the best meal that day. My best friend’s cousin is a fellow foodie. He once worked at a corporate restaurant in Vancouver, B.C. called Joey’s and really understands good food. It’s super awesome to know fellow foodies when traveling because he knew exactly the best restaurants to take us to.
It was a beautiful day in Vancouver, B.C.
We went to Phnom Penh (244 E Georgia St. V6A) for some Vietnamese/Cambodian food – Overall Restaurant Rating: 5/5 – The locals were telling me that Phnom Penh’s chicken wings were voted the best wings in town. WINGS! I love wings and I was about to have the best wings in all of Vancouver! You can imagine my excitement at the table.
What my table ordered:
Phnom Penh Spicy Garlic Calamari
Spicy Garlic Calamari – Rating: 4.5/5 – Deep fried squid seasoned with salt, pepper and fried garlic. It wasn’t really spicy though, just flavorful and crispy. Squid when cooked incorrectly can be too chewy, but the squid from Phnom Penh was cooked to perfection.
Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup
Vietnamese Hot & Sour Soup – Rating: 5/5 – Vietnamese hot and sour soup can sometimes be too sweet, too spicy or too sour. Phnom Penh’s hot and sour soup was great because it was just right: sweet, sour and spicy. Not too much of anything. The perfect mix of flavors made it exotic and delicious.
Phnom Penh Marinated Buttered Beef
Marinated Buttered Beef – Rating: 5/5 – I’ve never had anything like this, but wow, it was so good! I wanted to eat the whole plate by myself. I thought of the perfect word to describe it: savory, or to Canadians, savoury! One thing I should point out is that the beef is thinly sliced rib eye that is barely cooked. It’s not chewy like you would expect raw meat to be, but moist and flavorful.
Trieu Chow Fried Rice
“Trieu Chow” Fried Rice (Friend Rice special) – Rating: 4.5/5 – Great fried rice is not easy to find, but I found it here at Phnom Penh. The fried rice was moist and flavorful, made with bomb Vietnamese sausage.
Beef Salad
Beef Salad – Rating: 4/5 – Cooked beef on lettuce, the beef was a bit sweet, but it tasted great with rice.
Phnom Penh Deep Friend Chicken Wings
Phnom Penh Deep Fried Chicken Wings – Rating: 5/5 – Phnom Penh’s wings were voted the best wings in Vancouver B.C. and I couldn’t agree more. We had two orders of these wings because they were eaten so quickly. The wings were lightly battered, but extra crispy. They were meaty and well seasoned with salt, pepper and fried garlic. The dish was served with a lime sauce that goes perfect with the wings.
From the outside, the restaurant just looks like another Asian restaurant in the midst of Vancouver’s Chinatown, but Phnom Penh is better than most of those restaurants because it has quality, delicious food. If you ever have the chance to stop by, make sure to order their famous chicken wings, the spicy garlic calamari and if you can handle some raw meat, the marinated buttered beef. Go for it! I already have plans to go back to Vancouver in May and can’t wait to try more delicious food there. Now that I’m back in Eugene, no food here can seem to compare to the food I had in Vancouver!
Phnom Penh’s menu and other reviews are available on UrbanSpoon:
Happy eating and traveling my fellow foodies!
I’m back! I finally have a chance to post since coming back from spring break. For the first few days of spring break, I was at home in Portland, Oregon. I didn’t end up going to the Great Wolf Lodge as planned, but I went out to eat a few times with my family and friends in Portland. It was a chill time. The best part of break was when I visited beautiful Vancouver, B.C. at the end of break. I ate so much amazing food there and had such a great time! I wish I could just move there. My best friend has cousins and friends in Vancouver around our age, who are all super cool. We’re so lucky to have them to show us around town. Another awesome thing about Canada is that I am of legal age there so I can order drinks with my dinner!
Martini's Restaurant
The first night in Vancouver, our Canadian friends took us to a little restaurant called Martini’s Restaurant (151 West Broadway V5Y 1P4). Overall Restaurant Rating – 3/5 – I liked the vibes and the coziness of the restaurant, but the food needed a little work. The drinks were decent priced if you come in on the right night! The first thing I did when I walked into the restaurant was walk up to the bar and ask the bartender to give me the two most popular martinis. She gave me a sour apple and a grape martini. After two martinis, I, being extremely lightweight, was already warm and giggly at the table.
What my table ordered:
Appetizers:
Honey Garlic Wings
Honey Garlic Wings – Rating: 4.5/5 – Who knew honey and garlic went so well together? I really like how crispy and sweet the wings were, but they were also very sticky. Although, that is inevitable when it comes to honey. I couldn’t figure out what the dip was though, but it tasted like sweetened mayonnaise and went well with the wings. The wings weren’t on the regular menu, but were on the March Specials menu.
Side Salad
Salad – Rating: 4.5/5 – The entrees were all served with salads. I really like the fresh vegetables and the subtly spicy dressing on the salad.
Entrees:
Seafood Jambalaya
Seafood Jambalaya – Rating: 3/5 – The jambalaya tasted like mashed up tomatoes with rice. It wasn’t spicy like how I like my jambalaya, but more tart. I think the dish would’ve been better as a pasta dish than a rice dish. I did like the seafood in it though.
Spanish Tortellini
Spanish Tortellini – Rating: 2/5 – The flavors, or lack of flavors in the dish just didn’t go too well together. The description of the sauce on the menu was supposed to be a spicy cream tomato sauce, but the sauce wasn’t very spicy or flavorful at all. I’m not sure if the cheese inside the tortellini went well with the rest of the dish either.
Chicken Penne
Chicken penne – Rating: 2/5 – So I’m not sure what this dish is called because it was on the March Specials menu and since it’s April now, the March menu is not available online. Overall, every pasta dish I tried there was really bland. This dish had a tomato cream sauce with penne pasta, chicken and spinach. The sauce needed more flavor (or to Canadians, flavour!).
Calamari Dinner
Calamari Dinner – Rating: 4.5/5 – I tried a bunch of people’s dishes at the table and I’m sure the Calamari Dinner is the best item on the menu. Who knew tzatziki dip would go so well with calamari!
Overall, Martini’s is a good place for late night food when nothing else is open. We got into Vancouver, B.C. at 10pm on Thursday and Martini’s was open until 1am. So if you ever are in Vancouver late night on a weekday, here’s a place to check out.
Check out their menus and specials on the website: http://www.martinis.ca/
Here are UrbanSpoons’ reviews:
Happy traveling and eating my fellow foodies!
Sorry about the squeakity-squeak noise! I don’t know how to make it go away. I tried adding music to make it less noticeable, but it didn’t really work! It’s kind of choppy, but I’m still working on my video editing skills. I hope to post again within two to three weeks!
What's good here? 