604: Kozak Ukrainian Eatery

After reading some highly praised reviews, I was convinced to stop by this little shop to grab some baked goods. While I was there, their hot food also sparked my curiosity and ended up getting a bit of everything. Oops.

The baked goods were quite disappointing as they were pretty dry. The baklava was extra dry and the apple strudel was cold and requires more juicy filling. The $1 Bogalyky was pretty good and the Napoleon was alright. Though the desserts were quite disappointing, the hot food was quite impressive! I ordered the hungry tato's lunch combo, which has a bit of everything. You get the Borsch, Holubtsi (Cabbage rolls), 2pc of Varenyky (Pierogi) and 1 pc of Nalysnyky (Rolled Crepe). My favourite was the Nalysnyky with the pork and mushroom filling! The outer layer was crispy and the inside has a soft and juicy filling. It's very comforting. The cabbage rolls was also very good. I'm not entirely sure what that was but it reminded me of a skinless meat dumpling with a ketchup sauce on top.

Growing up, I've always had/made perogies for special occasions, so it's not something new to me. I ordered their best seller potato dill filling perogies from my first visit, but I think they could've added a lot more dill (and possibly cheese) in it. On my second visit, I tried the sour cherry and pork and onion perogies. The sour cherry filling was mildly fruity, and has the perfect sweetness in it (it wasn't actually sour). The pork and onion is probably my favourite of the three. I also liked the perogie dough as it was nicely pinched (you can tell it's made in house) and it was springy and had a good chewy texture.

Overall, their hot food is comforting and the taste is homey and makes you wonder what's their culture and traditions are like. I also wonder if there's any stories behind any of this.

📍 Location: New Westminster || Vancouver

Menu: Here

💵 Price: $15 - $20 pp (for a meal)

🤤Taste: 4.8 / 5

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.7 / 5

Retention Rate: 100%

🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY:

Pros:

- Excellent hot food.

- It's comforting, it's homey and it's delicious

- My favourite was the savoury crepe with the pork and mushroom filling

- I liked the sour cherry Perogies, but my favourite has to be the pork and onion

- Perogie dough has a great texture - chewy and slightly springy

- Perogie skin was nicely pinched - you can tell it's made in house

- The Napoleon was pretty good.

- The Bogalyky was pretty good

Cons:

- The babka was extra dry

- The poppyseed roll was dry

- The Apple strudel was cold and needs more filling

- Potato dill perogie lacks flavor. It needs more dill or possibly more cheese?

604: Mak n Ming

My friend and I came here for the Vancouver Dine out and to feed the hype. This would not have been my pick from the Vancouver 2021 Dine out since it's not that much cheaper than ordering from the regular menu, but my friend wanted to give it a try and was able to reserve a table, so I decided to give it a try.

This restaurant is located in Kitsilano and parking was a pain. The restaurant is small with only four or five tables, but it has a warm and cozy atmosphere and offers outstanding customer service. They are known for their innovative, contemporary fusion dishes. We basically tried everything on the Dine Out menu and all I can say is that it's good but it's not mind blowing. It looks exquisite but doesn't taste extra fancy. The food tasted alright? Nothing was impressive enough to make me want to return.

For the same price point, I'd much prefer Pidgins or Kissa Tanto for a fusion dinner.

Oh well, at least I've participated in the #hype and could check this off from my list.

📍 Location: Kitsilano, Vancouver

Menu: Here

💵 Price:

$70 pp (Vancouver Dine Out Pricing ) - $100 pp

🤤Taste: 3 / 5

📈 Price Performance ratio: 2 / 5

Retention Rate: 0%

🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️

2021 Vancouver Dine Out Menu

604: Vij's

The first time I had Indian food was at @tastyindian with my friend. He ordered all the renowned traditional Indian food to ensure I get a full on experience and made sure that I understood fully that “butter chicken” isn’t part of the national dish (he at least said it 3 times and compared it with the Chinese orange chicken from Panda Express lol). It was really good but unfortunately, I wasn’t used to the herbs and all my internal organs were like on fire. So I haven’t had Indian food since 🥺🥺 But my friend assured me that Vij’s is a more toned down version with a fusion twist. We ordered the “Thali” at Vij’s which we get to choose four dishes from the entire menu. My friend and I strategically ordered two Thali trays and had 7 different dishes to sample with. Other than the goat, everything was really impressive. My favourite was the lamb in cumin coconut curry (which we made sure to order one from each tray - wise decision) and the beef in Bengali style creamy curry. They also offer chai tea as a complimentary to everyone at the table. My friend decided to be adventurous and ordered the “nice guy chai” cocktail which he praised highly of.

Overall, it was a very fun experience. Thank you @eatdrinkvijs for the wonderful meal with the lovely fusion twist, and making it possible for me to enjoy it fully without any agony 🤣

If you had never tried Indian food, start with Vij's. It's the best place as an introductory for beginners.

Location: Here

Menu: Here

What we ordered (Rating out of 5):

1. Rainbow trout in coconut and fenugreek seed masala and sour cream curry (Rate 4.2)

2. Goat in Punjabi style curry with spiced vegetables (Rate: 2.8)

3. Braised grass-fed PEI beef in Bengali style creamy curry with naan and rice (Rate 4.6)

4. Lamb in cumin-coconut curry with tomato sauteed vegetables (Rate 4.8)

5. Kale, jackfruit, cauliflower in coconut curry with spiced pumpkin seeds (Rate 4.2)

6. Sauteed eggplant and bell peppers on fenugreek potatoes and cream curry (Rate 4.3)

7. Local Kalonji chicken curry with green onion/tomato green lentils (Rate 3)
   

Price: $45 pp

Overall Taste: 4.2 / 5

Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Price Performance ratio: 3 / 5