Victoria, BC

Recently we went on a trip to British Columbia and our first stop was Victoria off of the main land. This was the most successful vacation in terms of cuisine; we had some of the most wonderful meals.

There was one restaurant in Victoria we ate at twice in our mere 2 day stay it is called Rebar Modern Food. They have a menu of vegan, vegetarian, and fish dishes that all sound enticing. Our first meal consisted of a yam quesadilla (which was very good and had a homemade sour cream dipping sauce which was surprisingly nice), a salmon sandwich, and a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie (not as good as mine, but still delicious).

On our second visit Sierra took a chance and opted for their Reuben sandwich (made with tempeh, coarse mustard, shredded beets, relish, and swiss cheese on rye bread).

It was an incredible combination of flavors and the tempeh was cooked well (generally I do not enjoy tempeh dishes, but this one comes highly recommended).

Penny again had a salmon dish seasoned and sauteed to perfection, with brown rice, and steamed vegetables.

On our first morning we went to Lady Marmalade for breakfast. We ordered a sweet dish and a savory dish to share and they were both delicious.

The sweet dish was a rhubarb and custard crepe served with fresh whipped cream and a beautiful array of fresh fruit. The crepe was a balance of sweet from the custard and tart from the rhubarb with a hint of cinnamon.

The savory dish was a fresh tomato and pesto eggs benny with a fresh fruit sculpture and a surprising Asian inspired salad. The eggs were cooked to perfection, with a firm white outer and golden yolky inner. And the pesto sauce complemented the dish beautifully.

The second morning we went to Mo:Le another popular breakfast spot with a warm atmosphere.

Penny ordered a flavorful cranberry infused oatmeal (who knew oatmeal could be so good) with a fresh fruit sculpture (they really know how to present the fruit up here)

 

Sierra had the Mo:Le Benny (which had Avocado and Thyme Roasted Tomato on a Buttermilk Biscuit with Smoky Paprika Cream Sauce, Served with Pesto Hash Browns). The eggs were again poached well and the biscuit was beyond expectations, and the sauce complemented the dish very well.

Our trip to Victoria was a feast of unique flavors which we will remember and crave for years to come!

Food Trucks: Los Angeles

Today we stopped by the Food Truck Festival in Santa Anita, which featured many Los Angeles food trucks. Neither of us have encountered a food truck to eat from in LA so this was a first time for the both of us.

First we went to the back of a long line for the Grilled Cheese Truck since we had seen it on an episode of Eat Street on the Cooking Channel. The wait was over an hour so as we waited we ate a deep fried banana pastry which was delish, an iced coffee, and Chana Masala from an Indian Food Truck (Spicy but not flavorful).
The Lovely Line: 

From the Grilled Cheese Truck we ordered the Brie Melt (double cream brie, fig paste, and smokehouse almonds, on black peppercorn potato bread & we added sliced apples). It was pretty good; gooey cheese, balanced flavors, and toasty bread- maybe not over an hours wait good, but I didn't mind.

The most wonderful experience came after the Grilled Cheese. We went to get ice cream sandwiches from Coolhaus since we read an article about them in a magazine. They were the most incredibly delicious ice cream sandwiches either of us have ever encountered. And we don't even like ice cream very much, we are more gelato people. But their homemade ice cream and cookies cannot be beat!

On the left is a Snicker doodle cookie with Balsamic Fig and Mascarpone ice cream (it had a perfect balance between sweet and even a bit tangy, do not shy away from this strange sounding flavor!)
& on the right is a Chocolate cookie with Dirty Mint Chip Ice Cream ( a wonderful combo, the cookie was moist and the ice cream is refreshingly minty with actual bits of mint scattered throughout). 

Coolhaus also uses edible wrappers made out of potato, so there is no trash once you finish your delectable treat. And they put a heaping scoop of their ice cream between the cookies. We highly recommend tracking them down when you are in the LA area, they will also soon have a shop in Culver City! 
Attending the festival was worth it purely because of the ice cream sandwiches.