404 Coffee Lab

If you have been following any form of social media, you might remember the long lines at 404 Coffee when they initially opened.  Located in a small enclave within the recently shuttered Ramen One, 404 Coffee specializes in Asian-inspired coffee and desserts.  They have a walk-up take out window facing busy Broadway just across the street from the Canada Line station.  Now they are expanding into the space vacated by Ramen One and offering a small dine-in menu.  Jackie and I dropped by to check it out.

Of course the first order of business was to sample their Matcha Lovers Menu with the Dirty Matcha Cream Latte, Mango Matcha Latte, Strawberry Matcha Cream Latte and Yuzu Matcha Cream Latte.  I found all of them creamy and smooth with the slight bitterness of matcha.  With the addition of fruit, it lightened things up and added sweetness.  My favourite was the mango as it was tropical-tasting while balanced by the matcha.  However, the best of the bunch was the Dirty Matcha as it added rich coffee to the mix.  Hence it was full-bodied, aromatic, nutty and creamy.   On the end, this was the Einspanner Latte, which was also rich and creamy.  Lots of coffee impact, but not bitter.  Rather, it went down smooth with balancing sweetness.

On their food menu, they have a $6.00 Breakfast Special where you can choose from 6 different "snacks" and from 7 drinks.  For the one pictured, it was a Mentaiko Onigiri with an Iced Americano.   The onigiri had nicely textured rice and plenty of mentaiko mayo for flavour and moisture.  We also tried the Karaage Sando (for $2.00 more) and it was quite good.  There was more than enough juicy seasoned chicken within the soft hot dog bun while dressed with terimayo and nori.  For $1.00 more, you could have a latte or cappuccino rather than the basic coffee.

Sure, they have specialty coffees and some snacks, but interestingly, they also have bigger dishes as well.  These included Rustic Smoked Duck and Street-Style Takoyaki with tomato pasta.  These dishes were served in large portions and I especially enjoyed the duck.  There was an abundance of moist slices of smoked duck atop perfectly al dente pasta.  The tomato sauce was unique as it had some umaminess to go with the slight tang and sweetness.  However, there was something really savoury about it.  As for the Street-Style Takoyaki, it was the same pasta but with some fried squid dressed in unagi sauce and kewpie mayo.

Also available on the menu, we found a selection of Japanese curry.  We ended up choosing the Tempura Curry featuring 3 large ebi tempura.  All mains came with a side salad.  This was rather surprising as I wouldn't have expected such a solid curry at this spot.  It had a nice viscosity and was full of earthiness, sweetness and umaminess.  The rice was dry enough to accept the curry beautifully.  The 3 ebi tempura were crispy with a buttery piece of shrimp inside.

Of course we had some dessert too with Coffee Parfait, Once in a Blue Moon and Caramel Mocha Affogato.  At the core of each dessert was the creamy and rich soft-serve.  It was on the sweeter side, but the natural milk flavour did come through.  I particularly enjoyed the simplicity of the blueberry sundae where there was a ridiculous amount of soft-serve with crunchy blueberries and blueberry sauce.  The affogato was also awesome where their aromatic and strong coffee blended well with the milky soft-serve.  Loved that there was much more soft-serve than coffee, as it remained very much an ice cream with just coffee flavour, rather than turning into a melted mess.  The coffee parfait was on the sweeter side due to the layers of coffee jelly, espresso cake, chocolate sauce and cereal.  Definitely lots of rich coffee flavour while having the same creaminess of the soft-serve.  These desserts are something that I would definitely come back for, but the drinks are even better as they are rich and flavourful.  I wouldn't sleep on the food either as the plates were large and also appealing.  Nice use of the old Ramen One spot!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Drinks are seriously good

- Soft-serve is creamy and milky

- Food is decent too

The Bad:

- Due to the setup of Ramen One, the seating is a bit awkward for more than 2 people

Melo Melo Coconut Dessert

Strangely, I forgot to post about Melo Melo when I visited LA awhile back.  This is despite my almost fanatical love for it.  Maybe there was just so many things to write about that I just get to it?  No idea, but whatever, I'll post about it now.  For those who are unfamiliar, Melo Melo specializes in coconut desserts with a variety of complimentary ingredients and flavours.  They are served in glass jars that they encourage you to return (10 jars = 1 free dessert).  I got to try a variety of flavours and really wished they had a location in Vancouver (there is something similar in Richmond though).

So I actually visited 2 different locations and tried a variety of flavours.  The first visit, we had a selection that included Mango Puree, Triple Coconut and Triple Latte.   Each glass jar started off with the coconut jelly with coconut cream.  This part was light, fluffy and semi-sweet.  It was so aromatic and it was pure coconut heaven.  For me, I always have to get something with mango, hence, we had the Mango Purée.  Definitely natural tasting and balanced sweetness.  There was some real mango chunks within as well.  Went real well with the coconut cream. 

One of the more interesting flavors was the Triple Latte.  It consisted of coffee jelly on the bottom with coffee jelly and coconut jelly.  This had all of the elements of coffee but with the aromatics of coconut.  This was great for me as I'm not a huge straight-up coffee drinker.  For those who absolutely love coconut, the Triple Coconut is the one to get.  It has some refreshing coconut jelly at the bottom to go with the coconut pudding and cream on top.

2 fruity creations were the Peach Gum and the Strawberry Purée.  With peach gum on the bottom with some snow lotus seeds, the flavor profile was one of mild sweetness and some floral notes.  This was much more subtle-tasting dessert.  As for the Strawberry Purée, it was fresh strawberries blended into a fairly smooth (with a few chunks) natural-tasting puree.  It was sweet but had the balancing tang of strawberries.  Of course this went with with the coconut jelly.

So my favorite of the ones we tried was the Sunset Mango with sticky rice, mango purée and mango chunks.  This was exactly like the mango purée except with the addition of sticky rice.  That was key as it added texture and most importantly, gave out Thai mango sticky rice vibes.  That happens to be one of my favorite desserts and this had all of the same elements.  Overall, the desserts at Melo Melo are light, refreshing and mildly sweet.  Totally delicious and I kid you not, you can eat more than one very easily.  That I did and would do it again gladly!

The Good:
- Light dessert
- Mildly sweet
- Natural-tasting

The Bad:
- Is not cheap

Overflo Dessert Cafe

With me needing to head down to 24/7 Parcel in Blaine, it was convenient for us to drop by Overflo Dessert Cafe in White Rock afterwards.  Located right on the Marine Drive strip, it was a great place to hang out on a beautiful sunny day.  Upon walking into the place, we were greeted by small trinkets with plenty of Sanrio characters.  There was also a photo booth with all the accessories to capture moments with your friends.  But we went straight for the menu and tried a selection of their wares.

We began with their Fresh Ade with the Lemonade, Blue Lemonade and Passion Fruitade.  These were pretty to look at and would be great for a hot Summer day.  Well, it was Winter, so we had to pretend it was hot.  At least the day we were there looked like Summer.  These were sparkling and were super refreshing and lightly sweet.  My favourite was the passion fruit as it had the classic tropical taste.  Both the lemonade and blue lemonade were quite similar with a light sweetness and light tanginess.  I found the blue one to be more floral for some reason.

From light, we moved onto something with more body in the Special Jolly-Pong Shakes.  We opted to try the Original and the Cookies & Cream.  Piled high with Jolly Pong cereal, it needed the domed lid to keep everything from spilling out.  The sweet nuttiness of the Jolly Pong was enjoyable enough by itself, but there was a shake underneath.  I found the texture of the shake to be more like a Starbucks Frap with a milky iciness.  Now it was pleasant though as it was blended quite well.  Hence it was somewhere in between a Frosty and shaved ice.  Both drinks were lightly sweet with the cookies & cream being sweeter.

Trying something from their coffee menu, we had 2 iced coffees with the Dalgona Latte as well as the Oat Lavender Latte.  So far, I'm sure that you have noticed that their drinks are visually-appealing.  Well, it wasn't any different with the iced coffees.  For the Dalgona, it was topped with a considerable amount of Korean crunchy toffee candy.  Thankfully, we didn't have to lick it like in Squid Game!  Anyways, the coffee itself was aromatic and strong enough to stand up to the sweetness of the dalgona.   As for the Oat Lavender, it had a cute little ice bear on top.  It had a background floralness of the lavender.

We had their Soft Serve Ice Cream as well, still thinking it was Summer.  There were several flavours available including plain, but we went for the more interesting ones in the Earl Gray and the Thai Tea.  I found that base vanilla soft serve to be somewhere between creamy and icy.  So once again, it was more like a Frosty in texture but thicker.  It was lightly sweet with a definite milkiness.  For me, the Thai Tea was my favourite of the two with a strong tea flavour combined with the usual intense sweetness of condensed milk.  As for the Earl Grey, it was mild-tasting with its usual floral notes.

In their display case, there is a selection of cakes and macarons.  We went for the Basque Cheesecake and it was great.  To get things out of the way first, the actual cheesecake was more like a NY-style, which is not exactly typical, but I felt it was exactly what I wanted.  This had the usual burnt and sunken appearance on the outside while having the rich cream cheese texture of the classic NY version.  It was purposefully sweet and was super creamy and firm.  As for the Macarons, they were not bad with a crispy shell and chewy interior.

We moved onto their small selection of savoury items with the Rose Noodle Tteokbokki consisting of udon, fish cake ribbons and rice cakes.  I thought this was quite good with a thick rose sauce that was creamy with only a touch of spice.  The udon was still al dente while the fish cake ribbons had a nice bounce to them.  Rice cakes were chewy but not tough.  The other available noodle was the Instant Nong Shin selection right next to the cool noodle soup heating station.  For some reason or another, eating instant noodles in an establishment is so much more satisfying than in your own home (for much more money).  Go figure.  In general, Overflo is a great place to grab a beverage on a nice day along the Drive in White Rock.  There are some trinkets for sale and a photo booth for those "friends" moments.  However, as much as I loved the Nong Shin ramen, not sure if I'd pay for it beyond my own home.  I'd stick with the Tteokbokki instead.  But if you want a drink, check Overflo out if you are in the area.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post* 

The Good:
- Large selection of various drinks
- Cool spot to hang out with friends
- Photo booth for those who want to capture the moment

The Bad:
- Loved the instant ramen and the cooking machine, but it is expensive

Our Place Dessert Cafe

So after a delicious and filling AYCE at Bellwether BBQ, we certainly didn't need anymore food right?  Wrong.  We were scheduled to head up to Our Place Dessert Cafe in Edmonds for some sweets.  Upon arriving to the place, we were greeted with a cute and somewhat eclectic space with definitely IGable elements (if you are into that kind of thing...).  We ordered a bunch of goodies and made our way to one of the many tables available (the space is relatively big).  During our visit, we noticed it was constantly busy though, so most of the tables were occupied.

First up, we tried their Sesame Bingsu with a healthy dose of red bean on the top.  Beyond the black sesame found on top of the mound of snow, there were streaks of it throughout.  Therefore, the nuttiness of the black sesame really came through.  I did find this on the sweeter side, but being a dessert, it was expected.  As for the ice, it was light and almost creamy in spots.  I'm not sure if the red bean was necessary in my opinion, but I'm sure some people would enjoy it.

In a beautiful shade of violet, the Ube Croffle was quite good.  Once again, things were pretty sweet, but then again, we could regulate that by the amount of ice cream and sauce we used with each bite.  The croffle itself stood up to these other components quite well.  It was crispy while still flaky and buttery inside.  There was a nutty caramelization on the outside.  I thought the ube cream was light in flavor but plenty sweet (as mentioned).

We got a trio of beverages next including the Black Sesame Einspänner, Pink Matcha with house-made dragon fruit base and a Strawberry Smoothie.  I enjoyed the contrast between cold black sesame cream and the hot espresso in the einspänner .  It was aromatic on both fronts.  The pink matcha was very sweet in my opinion.  I think it was the dragon fruit portion.  After I mixed it with the matcha, it seemed to be much more balanced.  The matcha was predictably more impactful than the dragonfruit with a slight bitterness.  As for the smoothie, it was creamy and easily drinkable.  I found it sweet as well, but also fruity too.

Our last 2 items were of the cake variety including the Pistachio Cake.  I thought the pistachio cake was nicely layered and appealing in appearance.  The sponge was light while the pistachio mousse was aromatic, sweet and nutty.  I felt the textures in this was on point and the overall flavor profile was balanced. The pistachio flavor wasn't overly strong, but then again, I don't think that was the intention.  This was one of the least sweet items we had.

After a relatively long wait, we were presented with the Chocolate Cake with strawberries and cream.  This was apparently made fresh where the cream was light and the strawberries were ripe and sweet.  The cake itself was a little on the denser side with a mild chocolate flavor.  This was also not as sweet like the pistachio cake.  Overall, the desserts and drinks at Our Place were colorful with real thought put into their creation.  I personally found most things rather sweet, but I have a bias with that.  I'm sure those who have a sweet tooth would disagree with me.  The place is really cute and if you like to IG things, then this is your place!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Very cute spot
- Thought was put into their items
- Things are colorful

The Bad:
- I thought things were rather sweet, but it is a dessert spot
- They get busy, so the staff are stretched

 

Breizh Cafe

After spending the morning heading to the Eiffel Tower, heading up the tower (all the way to the top!) and then descending down, we were pretty hungry.  Seeing how we hadn't had a legit crêpe yet (we had one from a food truck on the first day), we headed over to the closest location of Breizh Cafe.  Often known as one of the best places to grab crêpes in Paris, it is also one of the most expensive.  But whatever, we were on vacation where calories and prices do not count...

We snagged one of the last unreserved tables and it took quite a long time before we had a chance to put our order in.  Our server was friendly, but seemed to be overworked.  Viv ended up with the Cured Ham with egg and comté.  You can actually see it in the picture where the thin crêpe was nicely browned and crispy.  I found it to be appealingly thin and aromatic.  Inside, there was plenty of the aforementioned components which made it fulfilling and flavourful.

For myself, I decided to get something meaty in the Beef Pastrami with comté, cabbage, caramelized onions and yuzu-kosho cream.  With a consistent crêpe like the previous one, it housed a good amount of pastrami, hence making it a fairly hearty creation.  I thought the caramelized onions were a good match for the salty pastrami adding a balancing sweetness.  The cabbage provided a fresh crunch while the yuzu-kosho added both acidity and spice.

My son loves smoked salmon.  So much so, when I get the entire fillet from Costco, he devours it within a few days.  Hence, it was no surprise he went for the Organic Smoke Salmon with goat cheese, chive cream and green salad.  Naturally, the combination of buttery smoked salmon and whipped cream cheese was a match made in heaven.  That reminded him of having that atop a bagel, but instead in a light crispy crepe.

For my daughter, it was all about the duck in the Smoked Duck Fillet with pan-fried mushrooms, comté, organic scrambled eggs, fresh cream and espelette pepper.  If the components elicit thoughts of a rich and robust crêpe, you would be correct.  Lots of cheese and eggs meant this would be filling.  Add in the tender smoky duck and the aromatic and buttery mushrooms, there was a lot to like about this creation.

To end things off, we had a dessert crêpe with the Churned Butter with brown sugar.  There were 3 choices for the butter, but we went for the classic slightly salted butter.  Unlike the savoury versions, this crepe was soft, fluffy and a bit chewy.  It was aromatic and of course slightly sweet from the caramelized brown sugar.  Adding a velvety hug, the butter brought it all together.  So from this experience, I would agree that Breizh Cafe is definitely a good spot for crêpes in Paris (and apparently in other places in the world).  A little pricey, but worth it in my opinion.

The Good:

- Excellent crêpes

- Lots of choice

- Multiple locations

The Bad:

- Pricey

- Service is really slow

Tayybeh

In Vancouver, we are blessed with so many different types of food, I truly think we are spoiled.  However, one cuisine that is not represented is Syrian.  To the best of my knowledge, there are no dedicated Syrian restaurants, until now.  Tayybeh, that was born from a catering business, has now opened up their first ever B&M restaurant.  The owners initially set out to help other Syrian immigrants transition into Canada by offering employment and also an opportunity to learn the language.  Well, they have become much more than that now with Tayybeh on 4th Ave where Linh Cafe used to be.

Loved what they did to the place, adding so much colour!  Well onto the food, we started with some dips including the Hummus, Mhammara and Mutabbal.  Loved all 3 of them where the hummus was smooth and almost creamy with some nuttiness and tang.  The mutabbal was also smooth with tender little nuggets of eggplant.  There was some noted background smoke and it was so flavourful.   Exhibiting a deep red colour, the Mhammara was thick and sweet.  Loved picking this up with the absolutely awesome house-made pita chips.  So much crunch and nutty aroma.

Next up, we had the Tabbouleh Salad and the Crispy Cauliflower.  Served in a fairly large portion, the salad was bright and a bit peppery.  With the ample amount of diced tomatoes, the salad was somewhat "juicy" but not wet.  Salad was mildly seasoned where I could get the usual tanginess and pepperiness.  Absolutely loved the fried cauliflower as each large floret was cooked through, but still firm in texture.  There was a touch of crispiness and some smokiness.  We really didn't mind that there was more of the hummus on the side!

Continuing on with the smaller plates, we also had the Musakhan and Kibbeh.  Consisting of shredded chicken and sumac, the musakhan was essentially a spring roll.  It was crunchy and exhibited all of the great flavours of sumac including tanginess and a bit of background floral.  Chicken was a bit dry though.  As for the kibbeh, it was a deep fried beef and bulgar shell that was lightly crispy with a slightly dense texture.  Inside the ground beef was moist and tender.  It was mixed with nuts and had the classic fall flavours of Middle Eastern spice.

Onto some larger dishes, they all came with a side of hummus, olives, rice and salad.  I tried the Chicken Shawarma first.  Similarly like the Musakhan, the chicken was a touch on the drier side.  However, it was decently moist inside and nicely seasoned.  Also, the rice itself was delicious despite looking like plain white rice.  Good texture on it too.  My favourite large dish was the Kofta Kebabs in tomato sauce.  These meatballs were large and meaty in texture.  Moist inside and naturally sweet from the onions.  The tomato sauce was mildly tangy and went well with the rice.

So the last 2 main dishes were the Sujuk Wrap and the Falafel.  The wrap was filled with Syrian-style grilled beef sausage.  I thought the wrap was intensely savoury and meaty.  I guess the fat really helped add both flavour and moisture.  As for the falafels, they were crunchy on the outside and medium-dense on the inside.  Thought they were nicely spiced being earthy.  Again, the accompaniments such as the hummus and rice were delicious on their own.

Onto the sweets, we had an assortment including Baklava, Lady's Bracelet, Date & Walnut Cake and Barazek.  As expected, the baklava was pretty sweet, but honestly, it was not as much as some other versions.  Loved the crunch from the phyllo.  The lady's bracelet was essentially a baklava round filled with pistachios.  With the phyllo tightly wound, the crunch was more intense while the sweetness seemed more muted.  I enjoyed the date & walnut cake.  The pastry was light and flaky while the filling was sticky and sweet.  Kind of like a lighter fig newton.  Lastly, the pistachio cookies were crunchy and nutty.  Could eat a tonne of those like chips.  Overall, the food at Tayybeh was good.  Sure, it has influences and elements of other Middle Eastern Cuisine, so it isn't exactly something we've never seen before.  But a restaurant dedicated to Syrian cuisine is a rarity in Vancouver, so if you want something different, this is the place to find it.

*All Food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Something different
- Love those pita chips and dips!
- Kofta kebabs and cauliflower were delicious

The Bad:
- I found the chicken just a touch dry

Davie Village Bakery

Last time I visited Davie Village Bakery, I was there to try their Giant Croissants.  Okay, before you roll your eyes thinking that these were solely a novelty, they were actually really good!  The croissant itself was exactly what I want from one.  It shattered, had good lamination and was buttery.  Sure, they were as large as my arm, but I found them reasonably-priced.  This time around, Jackie and I were there to try their Giant Donuts as well as other goodies.

So let's get right to those Giant Donuts!  So these were not technically donuts even though they were shaped as such.  In reality, they were large eclairs featuring choux pastry with a cream filling inside and a glaze on the outside.  We had to let them warm up a bit first since they were in the fridge.  Eating them like an eclair, they were legit with all the right textures and not being incredibly sweet.  We put a regular donut next to the "Simpsons" donut for size comparison.

We had some baked goods in the form of a regular Butter Croissant, Hazelnut Croissant, Pistachio Chocolate Croissant and Double-Baked Crookie.  Since I've already had their giant croissants, I already knew their butter croissant would be solid.  That it was with good lamination and shattering beautifully when I bit into it.  The other 2 variations had similar qualities except with chocolate hazelnut and pistachio chocolate respectively.  The crookie was interesting that was, you guessed it, a cross between a croissant and a cookie.  It was not as firm as a cookie but not flaky like a croissant.  It was semi-sweet and I thought it was not bad.

Then we moved onto some creative Desserts featuring Lemon, Peach and a Raspberry Macaron.  Love the whimsical presentation where once cut into, the lemon revealed a lemon cream filling and a lemony custard centre.  Really refreshing and natural-tasting.  The peach was very similar except for the difference in flavour.  It wasn't too sweet and had a nice floral fruit taste.  As for the macaron, the texture was on point with a crispy delicate shell with a soft but slightly chewy texture inside.  Raspberries and the cream in the middle were fruity and light.

For even more variety, they also have made-to-order crêpes as well as gelato/sorbetto.  Naturally, being freshly-made, the Crêpes were soft, warm and fluffy.  Loved the nutty and aromatic pistachio.  Of course the Nutella was a bit sweet, but at least it was a pleasant sweetness.  We then moved onto the Gelato and it was also quite good.  I liked how it was creamy and light (where it was melting, which is a good thing because no stabilizers used).  The flavours were chose were Cherry Cheesecake, Pistachio and another flavour that I honestly forgot.  But what I can say is that it was purposefully sweet and surprisingly good for a non-gelato spot.  In fact, everything I've ever tried here has been very good.  You can't go wrong with the things here and the pricing is reasonable.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Solid all-around

- Their novelty items (giant croissant and giant donuts) are actually good and well-priced

- Large selection of items

The Bad:

- Crêpes were good texturally, but maybe a bit too much sweet sauces