Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

The Happy Baker

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

The Happy Baker is looking busy, with a basketful of breads, cupcakes, and other delightful goodies!


The cakes on display, look delicious.


Cream-filled croissant, drizzled with chocolate sauce and dusted with icing sugar.


A closer look at the croissant.


Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart.


Smiley face cookie, with raspberry jelly sandwiched in between.


The Raspberry Surprise Tart.


Hot cross bun and lemon tarts.


Aromatic coffee beans on sale too. A complimentary “Happy Baker” bag on a minimum purchase of $20.


When it comes to food catering, cakes for parties and weddings etc., The Happy Baker is certainly one of the best in town. Although it can be a bit pricey, the pastries are super delicious and certainly a nice treat to the taste buds! Try it, and you’ll love it!

Tim Hortons – Part IV

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Tim Hortons, the all-time favourite “kopitiam (coffee shop)” in Canada. I don’t visit Tim Hortons very often, but I make an effort to take some pictures when I’m there. Here are some of the pictures from Tim Hortons for the past six months or so.

The fall treats from Tim Hortons. Pumpkin spiced muffin and doughnut. There was even pumpkin spiced tea offered, around the Halloween season.


Cinnamon raisin, blueberry, whole grain, plain…. lots of options available for just a bagel. Can’t make up your mind? Try this “everything bagel.” Toasted “Everything bagel” with cream cheese (choice of plain, strawberry, or garlic & herb).


Hot breakfast sandwich, with a seasoned egg patty, a slice of processed cheese, and choice of sausage or bacon, on freshly baked tea biscuits.


Yummy breakfast sandwich!


Hot breakfast sandwich for the bagel lovers!


Candy Cane Doughnut; chocolate doughnut with chocolate glaze, and candy cane sprinkles. Needless to say, it was for the Christmas season!


Pastry filled with cream cheese and topped with raspberry jam.


Caramel Apple Fritter, made of chunks of apple and spiced of cinnamon.


Canadian doughnut, in conjunction with the Winter Olympics Games 2010 held in Vancouver, British Columbia on Feb. 12th to 28th.

Carribean Flavas

Monday, March 8th, 2010

It was just a business project created for his MBA entrepreneurship class, but 6 years ago, Naz made his business plan a reality by opening up the Caribbean Flavas Restaurant. An award-winning restaurant nestled in the heart of downtown Fredericton, this casual fine dining restaurant offers cuisine that is influenced by different cultures; African, Asian, European, as well as Indian.

The tropical decor reminded me a lot about tropical countries such as Malaysia. Miles and I went to this restaurant during lunch hour and enjoyed their lunch entree. It was a pleasant experience. We had the choice of mild or spicy for our food. Needless to say, we opted for spicy! Miles who used to take Canadian spicy has improved on his tolerance for spicy food dramatically by getting used to savouring the authentic hot & spicy Asian food ;)

Miles ordered this “Trini-Curry-Wrap up Roti (Indian flat bread).” A choice of chicken or tofu in cashew curry sauce with chickpeas and vegetables, wrapped in roti and served with garden salad tossed with in-house mango vinaigrette.


I had the “Twist of Jamaica.” Crusty Pastry filled with seasoned ground beef and Tandoori onion rings, drizzled in sweet chili sauce.

Mei’s Restaurant

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Craving for some Chinese food? How about savouring some authentic Chinese food? Mei’s Restaurant is one of the places to visit! Located in the heart of downtown Fredericton, the restaurant has received lots of good reviews after it has been changed under the new management. *Thumbs up*

Out of all the dishes we ordered, dessert was the only one exempted from the hot & spicy category. A warm, hot, and spicy lunch on a cold, windy winter day :)

 

 Fish in soup with numbing spice. The more you eat, the tastier it is! And of course, the more intense burning sensation is on tongue!

 

 Thick and yummy beef soup with eggs.

 

 

 Fatty pork with mixed veggie. Does this remind you of bacon?

 

 Ma Po Tofu. Tofu and pork cooked with hot spices.

 

Crispy Milk for dessert. The crispy texture resembles the Chinese doughnut, filled with soft and sweet glutinous rice. It tasted great on its own, even without dipping in condensed milk served on the side.

Toblerone Chocolate

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

What’s your favourite chocolate? Smarties? M&M’s? Kit Kat? Lindor truffles? My favourite chocolate is Ferrero Rocher, the milk chocolates and dark chocolates are delicious! By the way, any Toblerone fan out there?

Toblerone chocolates come in white, milk, or dark chocolates. Take your pick!

Too small of a piece? How about turning this chocolate bar 45 times larger?

A Toblerone chocolate bar that weighs 4.5 kg! It’s 45 times heavier than the regular 100g chocolate bar. It’s humongous!

Good news to the Toblerone chocolate fans out there. Your chocolate supply for the year! :P

Christmas

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

How did you celebrate Christmas? To me, Christmas a great time for traveling and and having a get-together with friends. Other than that, there is not much to look forward to, since I’ve no family here in Canada. To cheer up my Christmas spirit, I might give myself a gift or two for Christmas. I know, it sounds pretty pathetic…

Last year, however, I celebrated Christmas with Miles and his family. A truly Canadian Christmas celebration; Christmas tree, treats, gifts, food etc.

I couldn’t remember the last time I was excited about Christmas and anticipated for the Christmas morning to come. Even though I never truly believed in Santa as a young kid, I was always looking forward to receiving my stuffed Christmas stocking on Christmas morning.

It brought back my childhood memory when I received a stuffed Christmas stocking in the morning! I’ve never had that many Christmas gifts in the past. Unwrapping each gift brought great excitement. That was one of the greatest fun celebrating Christmas!

Christmas decoration on the dining table.


 

Turkey and ham, with homemade beets and pickles for on Christmas day.


Homemade minced meat pie.


Plum Pudding. A must-have Christmas dessert in Miles’ family. It has a similar taste to fruit cake.


Hard Sauce, goes with the plum pudding. It is made of butter and icing sugar, and tasted like cake batter.


Christmas tree with gifts from Santa!


Cracking the nuts can be fun; walnuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, and almonds.


East Side Mario’s II

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

There was a group of us who attended a friend’s farewell party at the East Side Mario’s Restaurant. John, who was part of the “gang,” has decided to move to Toronto for a more stable job. John, we shall miss you always :)

Despite the sadness of John leaving us, we had a great meal together. Of course, I had fun snapping pictures too ;)

The interior of the East Side Mario’s.


The signature crispy garlic bread. Freshly baked. Yummm…


Caesar Salad.


Bruschetta. Fresh Roma tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil and balsamic glaze served on herbed flatbread.


 Cheese Cappelletti for cheese lovers! Pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese filling, topped with even more ricotta, baked with our Besciamella-Tomato sauce and our blend of Mozzarella, Provolone, Gouda and Parmesan cheeses.


Firecracker Shrimp Farfalle. Large black tiger shrimps sautéed in extra virgin olive oil with fresh green chilies, snow peas, Roma tomatoes and basil. Served with bowtie-shaped paste tossed with herbed garlic olive oil.


Zesty Sicilian Pizza. Italian sausages, Capicolla ham, black olives, pizza sauce, and four cheeses.


 Sizzling Calamary Al Diavolo. It’s the signature appetizer. Lightly seasoned calamari sautéed with garlic, onions, red, green and hot cherry peppers and served sizzling in a herbed tomato broth with lemon.


 The New Yorker pizza. Pepperoni, red and green peppers, mushrooms, pizza sauce and blend of cheeses.


Cannoli.

Cannoli (meaning “little tube” in the Sicilian language), one the most famous Sicilian desserts that can be found in almost all Italian pasticceria. The Cannoli shell is made of flour, sugar, salt, eggs, water, vinegar, and vanilla. It’s traditionally filled with rich and sweet ricotta cheese.

Chocolate Mousse cake.

Halloween

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Halloween is celebrated on October 31st each year. It’s a secular celebration that involves trick-or-treating for young kids, costume parties, pumpkin carving, ghost tours, watching horror movies etc.

My halloween experience from last year can be found here. This is my first year giving out treats to the young children at the door. Most kids came between 6 and 8 p.m., with their halloween outfit.

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Halloween treats.

Trick-or-treating:

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This cute “monkey” was my favourite!

Pumpkins were hard to find this year, especially the good ones, due to the wet weather. Nonetheless, we managed to find some small pumpkins for carving.

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The black cat.


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The haunted house.


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The owl.


This big pumpkin was carved a week before Halloween, but it lasted only for a few days before the pumpkin was rotten so badly that we had to throw it out.

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Diplomat Restaurant

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

The Diplomat Restaurant in Fredericton opens 24/7 all year round, except for Christmas Day. The wide selection of Canadian and Chinese cuisines cater to various taste buds. A previous post about Diplomat can be found here.

The restaurant is extremely busy during lunch and supper hours. Be sure to make a reservation before hand. Otherwise, be prepared to wait in line for 30 to 45 minutes, if not more. The Diplomat Restaurant is one of my favourite restaurants in the city of Fredericton. Here, breakfast is served all day long! Besides that, lunch and supper buffet is offered during weekdays; brunch and supper buffet on the weekends.

Looking for a nice restaurant in Fredericton? You can never go wrong with the Diplomat Restaurant.

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The Diplomat Restaurant.


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Diplomat’s Special Fried Rice, my all-time favourite. It contained chicken, scallops, shrimps, and crab meat.

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Fried rice garnished with green onions, was served with the chicken curry dish.

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The medium hot curried chicken with onions, broccoli, green and red peppers, snow peas, and Chinese cabbage.

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The yummy hot sauce compliments the dishes perfectly. It’s a must-have!

Address:
253 Woodstock Rd, Fredericton NB E3B2H8

Tel: 506-454-2400

Isaac’s Way Restaurant

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

The Issac’s Way Restaurant in Fredericton offers a cozy dining ambiance. It features a bar section that serves a variety of alcoholic beverages.

There are lots to choose from the food menu. Miles and I had a hard time making up our mind for what we’re going to have.

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Finally, I made my decision and settled for the Smoked Salmon Salad. The “hot” smoked salmon was served on a  bed of greens with sliced cucumbers and onions, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, toasted walnuts, with their very own citrus vinaigrette. This went along with a freshly baked bread stick on the side. The meal turned out great and it was very filling.


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The Smoked Salmon Salad.

Miles ordered the Big Isaac Burger. It was piled high with onion rings, grilled mushrooms, mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, and pesto mayo on a Kaiser bun. 

The Big Isaac beef burger is piled high with onion rings, grilled mushrooms, mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, and pesto mayo on a Kaiser bun. It was served with a generous serving of home fries and pickle. It was a challenge to take a bite off the burger. Miles really had to open his mouth big and wide. No kidding!


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The BIG Isaac Burger.

Dessert time… Miles had a Triple Chocolate Cake and I had a Brownie Cheesecake. Yumm…

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The Triple Chocolate Cake with delicious chocolate icing.


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The Brownie Cheesecake drizzled with chocolate sauce.



Address:

73 Carleton Street
Fredericton,
New Brunswick E3B 3T2

Tel: (506) 472-7937

Tim Hortons Blueberry Treats

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

The blueberry season is here! Brand new blueberry treats on Tim Hortons‘ menu, namely Whole Grain Blueberry Muffin, Blueberry Bloom Donut, and Blueberry Glazed Donut.

Fresh blueberries taste good, and blueberries in baked goods give a unique flavour to them. They are yummy! I was excited to try out the new blueberry treats at the Tim Hortons. They are offered for limited time only.

These blueberry treats tasted great! Looking forward to trying them again, for a treat someday…

 

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Blueberry treats with Iced Coffee on a hot summer day.

 

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The Blueberry Bloom Donut, with blueberry jam at the centre and candy sprinkles around it.

 

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The Blueberry Bloom Donut is made of Timbits (bite-size donut). What a neat idea!

 

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The Blueberry Glazed Donut, with lots of berries in it.

 

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The Whole Grain Blueberry Muffin filled with blueberry goodness.

 

Saint John – Part I

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

I’ve always been wanting to try some Thai dishes at the Suwanna Restaurant. The opportunity arises during my weekend trip to Grand Bay/Saint John, along with Miles and friends.

This is my second visit to a Thai restaurant in Saint John. The first Thai restaurant I went was the Lemongrass Restaurant.

Suwanna Restaurant is a well-known Thai restaurant here. It opens five days a week (Tuesday to Saturday) for supper only. Reservations are highly recommended. The chances are, tables will all be booked up if a reservation is not made at least two weeks in advance.

So I did. A reservation was made three weeks in advance, to make sure that there’s a table available for seven. The meal turned out to be fantastic! The nice dining ambiance, friendly waiter, enticing menu, spicy dishes, and last but not least, wonderful desserts!

Venue: Suwanna Restaurant & Inn
Address: 325 Lancaster Avenue, Saint John, N.B.

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The entrance of Suwanna Restaurant & Inn.

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Sour & spicy Tom Yum Soup.

 

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Hot bamboo shoots with shrimps and green onions.

 

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Suwanna Chicken, with red pepper and green chili pepper.

 

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Dragon egg plant with beef.

 

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Ginger Chicken.

 

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Massaman Curry, garnished with roasted peanuts.

 

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From top to bottom: Hot bamboo shoots with shrimps, Suwanna Chicken, Dragon egg plants with beef, Ginger Chicken, Massaman Curry, and Broccoli & Beef.

 

Those dishes were mouth-watering. Massaman Curry has a mild curry taste to it, best served to individuals with variable tolerance for spice. The desserts were a hit!

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Eugine Cake. A moist and tasty cake with generous serving of homemade whipped cream.

 

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Chocolate Cheesecake. Very chocolaty!

 

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Sundae with fresh raspberries, homemade raspberry sauce and whipped cream.

Snooty Fox II

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Snooty Fox, a British pub & restaurant established since 1994, is located in the heart of downtown Fredericton. It’s my favourite pub.

My favourite food item on the menu? Poutine! More stories about poutine can be found on my previous posts, ”Poutine…“ and “Poutine II“.

 

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Poutine. Fresh cut fries with cheese curds and hot gravy.

 

We ordered Quesadilla Trio off the lunch menu. It turned out to be a delicious dish. The quesadilla contains all ingredients of the clubhouse sandwich; grilled chicken breast, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. These ingredients were stuffed in the mini quesadilla with melted cheese, and served with Caesar salad and soup of the day on the side.

The Caesar salad was delicious, with fresh romaine tossed in the Fox’s tangy dressing, parmesan, croutons, and crispy bacon.

 

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Quesadilla Trio, with Caesar salad and soup of the day.  

 

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The Snooty Fox on Canada Day.

 

Interested in visiting the Snooty Fox some day? Check out their menu here.

Boston Pizza II

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Boston Pizza is one of the best pizza places in town. I’ve previously posted two blog entries about this restaurant. The first one can be found here and the second one here.

Their gourmet pizza is a big selling point; ranging from the Classics, International, BP Originals, to Veggie. None of them is to your liking? Try “Add it On or Create Your Own.” Customize a pizza that suits your personal taste.

Miles and I tried the Boston Royal, one of Boston Pizza’s signature pizzas. It’s topped with the Signature pizza sauce, pizza mozzarella, smoked ham, pepperoni, shrimp, olives, green pepper, and onion.

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The Boston Royal.


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Pizza sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and dried crushed chili.

Danista Cafe

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Nothing beats a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a home baked muffin early in the morning. Start off your day at the Danista Cafe in downtown Fredericton. It opens on weekdays, from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m.

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A simple cafe setting.


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Blueberry Crumble muffins fresh from the oven.