The Urban Tea Merchant in Vancouver for Afternoon Tea

Still about last year. Collin and I usually go to his dad’s house for Christmas dinner on the Christmas Eve, so the Christmas Day is a quiet day. We talked about next day what we were going to, as there would be so many people outside because of the Boxing Day. I looked at the site and found out we could have afternoon tea as a lunch special price, since it was a weekday. Yep, I made a reservation.

The Urban Tea Merchant is located in downtown Vancouver. You can access from either Georgia Street or Alberni Street. It is a tea store, but they serve lunch or dessert, in addition to afternoon tea. The lunch special includes a pot of tea.

Sample Tea

French Earl Grey Tea

I chose this, and Collin chose Weekend in Shanghai tea.

Afternoon Tea

This is Petite Afternoon Tea, so it’s a mini size. It was served per person. Some fruits on top, scone in the middle, and some deli at the bottom.

Afternoon Tea Bottom Tier

There were three kinds of sandwiches and one cone. Cucumber & watercress tea sandwich, Indian Night curried egg salad sandwich, Lapsang Souching Tea chicken cone, and glazed ham with peppered piperade. I liked all, but we both really liked this chicken cone.

Afternoon Tea Middle Tier

On the middle tier, a scone was served with creme & tea-infused jelly. The scone was warm and good. I don’t remember if I did smell tea infusion from the jelly.

Afternoon Tea Top Tier

At the top tier, Red Christmas Tea fruit pate, chevron strawberry, and seasonal fruit. As seasonal fruit, raspberry, blackberry, starfruit, and pineapple. The fruit pate was quite chewy.

Although it was mini, it was a enough potion to fill our stomach in the morning on a lazy day. We definitely want to try another option, including just regular lunch or dessert.

The Urban Tea Merchant

Address: 1070 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C. (map)
(Between Burrard and Thurlow street)
TEL: 604-692-0071
Facebook: page
Twitter: @urban_tea
Urbanspoon: page
Opentable: reservation?

Breakfast/Lunch/Brunch/Dessert/Afternoon Tea
[Sun – Wed] 10:00 – 19:00
[Thu – Sat] 10:00 – 20:00

Petite Afternoon Tea Menu

Price Note
– Lunch Special (Petite Afternoon Tea) $20.00 per person

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The Oakwood Canadian Bistro in Vancouver for Dinner

My friend told me to choose a restaurant for my birthday dinner in December. It is a traditional event with our close friends to get together and have dinner for each of birthday now. I didn’t have any particular restaurants in my mind, so I started to search for an interesting place. One of us can’t eat seafood that sometimes makes me difficult to select a place. I chose a few and asked her to choose one.

We chose The Oakwood Canadian Bistro. It is in Kitsilano, close to Macdonald and 4th Avenue. They serve Canadian comfort food. I didn’t realize until we arrived there and saw the menu that their menu was meant for sharing. Oh, no!

Anyways, we discussed and managed what to order.

A glass of White Wine, Blue Mountain Chardonnay

A glass of White Wine, Kettle Valley Pinot Gris

Tea

The boys ordered one meal each, as one can’t eat seafood and it was difficult to share, and Collin was sick a bit so that he refused to share.

House Tagliatelle
(Zucchini, Spinach, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Parmigiano)

Burger
(Smoked Cheddar, Relish, Buttermilk Onions, Alfalfa Sprouts)

The girls shared these four dishes. The boys had some bites after all. 🙂

Warm Kale Salad
(Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts, Buttermilk Onions)

Oh, we loved this salad. I would repeat this. The plate was bigger than I thought.

Fried Octopus
(Bacon Aioli, Pickled Shallots, Komatsuna)

This was good, too. The octopus was tender. Komatsuna is a Japanese mustard spinach.

Frying Porks
(Maple Mustard)

This was meatballs on the skewer. We liked them, especially boys wanted to order one more.

Halibut Cheeks
(Bacon Lardon, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Lentils, Kale, Crackling)

Personally, I liked this dish. Well, halibut cheeks are a precious part of the fish to eat, and it always tasted good. It was a perfect balance with all ingredients.

Overall, the food was pretty good. The server had no smile at all, until he served my birthday cake. For my birthday, my friend made it for me! It was so nice of her. This is one of my favorite, raw cheesecake (non-baked). She secretly asked Collin what kind of cheesecake I liked, and he requested the raw. 🙂

And, this is the exterior of the restaurant.

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro

Address: 2741 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. (map)
(east from Macdonald street)
TEL: 604-558-1965
Facebook: page (Login required to access)
Twitter: @theoakwoodkits
Urbanspoon: page
Opentable: reservation?

Breakfast/Brunch/Dinner
[Tue – Fri] 17:00 – 1:00
[Sat – Sun] 10:00 – 14:45, 17:00 – 1:00
*Closed: Mondays

Menu

Price Note
– A glass of White Wine, Blue Mountain Chardonnay 2011 $11.00
– A glass of White Wine, Kettle Valley Pinot Gris 2011 $9.00
– Tea Unknown
– House Tagliatelle $18.00
– Burger $15.00
– Warm Kale Salad $14.00
– Fried Octopus $10.00
– Frying Porks $7.00
– Halibut Cheeks $22.00

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ZAC-ZAC Japanese Curry House in Vancouver for Dinner

I wasn’t feeling well on and off for quite a while in November, and I was tired of eating light meal. Suddenly, I had a craving for curry, so I decided to get some. Well, I could have made at home, but I was just being lazy. 🙂

I went to ZAC-ZAC Japanese Curry House. They are located in the food court at H-Mart in downtown Vancouver. They are specializing in Japanese curry, but they also have Donburi and Bento box menu.

I ordered from their curry menu to go for me and Collin.

Katsu (Pork Cutlet) Curry

Chicken Katsu (Cutlet) Curry

Haha, both looked same! Compared to last time, their to-go container has been changed. For the taste? No change, that’s good. The cutlet was crispy even after I took home.

Like last time when I ordered, they asked the spiciness level, mild or regular, and I didn’t remember which level I had chosen before. Mild seems like little sweeter.

It was a weekday evening, and I had a Vancoupon booklet, so I got 5% off. You can get it at locations in the list here.

Want to see more pictures for this restaurant? click here.

ZAC-ZAC Japanese Curry House

Address: 2F 590 Robson Street, Vancouver, B.C. (map)
(On the second floor at H-Mart on Seymour street)
TEL: 604-608-2887
Facebook: page
Twitter: @ZAC_ZAC_Curry
Urbanspoon: page

Lunch/Dinner
[Mon – Fri] 11:00 – 20:30
[Sat – Sun] 11:30 – 20:30

(Delivery menu here)

Price Note
– Katsu (Pork Cutlet) Curry $7.98
– Chicken Katsu (Cutlet) Curry $8.48

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