Meat and Bread

Michael had some errands to run around the Downtown area and got a little hungry. So he suggested we should go to Meat and Bread for a quick bite to eat. I was actually really surprised that Michael had come with that suggestion.

We had visited Meat and Bread a few years ago, and at the time we were quite disappointed with the sandwich joint, particularly Michael because we arrived to find out they'd run out of their signature dish. For myself I just got the grilled cheese, which was pretty mediocre. Ever since that day we had never been back until now..

Our sandwiches being made

It was such a hot day in Vancouver and it was brutal following Michael around in the heat. Since we were around the Gastown we were pretty close to one of the Meat and Bread locations at 370 Cambie Street in Vancouver. They have done pretty well over the years and have expanded to another location on Pender as well. Good thing there wasn't much people at the time, I was so hot I just wanted to sit down and enjoy a nice bottle of soda.

Inside the restaurant

Meat and Bread is laid out very simply. You order in the front and watch the sandwich team compose their works of art. We slide down to the end of the counter to pay after our order and our sandwich is at the end waiting for us. Just like a cafeteria. Up in the walls there are taxidermist-like animals hung up. Not my cup of tea but that's okay. Their theme is like modern day hip Brooklyn type of deli meets vintage butcher shop. There are pictures of cows lines drawn all over explaining the good cuts of the animal. Also not my cup of tea, but I try to go along with the theme.

Porchetta sandwich

Michael finally got his long awaited Porchetta sandwich ($8), first thing he said was when he took a bite was "delicious." There were bits of crispy pork skin and fat tucked into the buttery texture of the pork roast. It was literally one of the best sandwiches he's ever had. He thought each bite was super savoury, and even though it seemed like such a simple sandwich there was so much flavour. His enjoyment got me wondering how delicious it was and had to try it myself. I thought the meat was very soft and full of natural flavors that didn't take over one another.

Roasted chicken sandwich

For myself I got the roasted chicken ($9), it was such a pleasant sandwich. It was made out to be like a chicken ceasar sandwich but was much more tastefully done and had much more class. The chicken was roasted to perfection soft and tender. At first I thought there was a garlic taste somewhere in there, but it was actually capers.

It added a garlicy and salty taste to the sandwich. It was such a nice balance to the natural flavours and there was a light dressing to accompany the lettuce and the chicken as well. I liked that the dressing wasn't heavy and didn't have a overly strong taste that disrupted the garlic aroma of the capers. There were also croutons that came along in the sandwich to give it a more "ceasar" feel. I actually despise croutons because of the overly crunchiness, but the Meat and Bread version was soft and easy to chew but not in a stale kind of way. Fantastic.

Every sandwich that is served also comes a side of their mustard. Oh my gosh is it ever delicious! It doesn't matter what sandwich you order the mustard was absolutely yum together. It just adds an extra shot of tang in there.

I believe their menu does change day to day except for their porchetta. I am keen on returning to taste more of their sandwiches. Perhaps on a cold winter day, I can get myself a nice cup of tomato soup.


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Shurky Jurky

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Allison and I just received - and tried - our very first Shurky Jurky, thanks to Oregon-based creator Mike Shur who let us try a delicious selection of his gluten-free paleo snacks. My favourite was the pepper. Allison loved how it was gluten free, letting you enjoy meat guilt-free. No fats, just simple flavours and none of that trans fat nonsense.

Pepper

To start, the peppers scattered on the jerky was amazing, the flavours hitting the palate all at once, really gives it that great punch. I could eat a bowl of those just thinking about it. Our's was the beef but Shurky Jurky also makes their product in pork, turkey and bison. 

Gujaillo chili

Unfortunately, the package didn't come with instructions so we had to guess based on taste what flavour each piece was. But some were really easy to tell. My second favourite was definitely the chili, it tastes really mild when you first put it in the mouth but then the subtle chili flavours creep up in a pleasant surprise. This flavour was also noticeably more moist and tender than many of the others.

The next is Mike's traditional smokey flavour - this one really fought for second place. It has a nice savoury taste. It's nice and simple, no wonder it's their best-selling flavour.

Then there's the Asian sesame. It's a unique flavour that really incorporates the sesame oils right into the beef. It's a tiny bit salty though.

Spicy

And the last and definitely the most memorable - the spicy. It was SO spicy that I would recommend it only for those who really love the heat or want a challenge. Definitely lots of red chile pepper flakes in there.

Here's what the company has to say about their flavours:

Our proprietary marinade is our jerky's secret sauce. It is made from scratch using fresh pineapple, Bragg liquid aminos or coconut aminos, and our top-secret blend of spices. We couple this custom mixture with our house Worcestershire sauce. Our marinade contains no refined sugar and has 4-8x less sodium than other comparable products which rely heavily on salt-laden soy sauces.

And now Mike's expanding his pork and beef jerky selection to include chocolate covered jerky! He's raising money through crowdsupply.com to bring the first batch out, and depending on how that goes, possibly more orders to come. You can find out more about the fundraiser and chocolate-covered deliciousness at Crowd Supply, and order some of Mike's products at shurkyjurky.com.

Vancouver Food Truck Festival

I can safely say that Michael and I have a mutual love-hate relationship with Vancouver food .  One of Michael's friends told us about the food truck festival by the Olympic Village. We thought this was something we must take a look at. I don't know about Michael but I was feeling pretty mediocre about it, since Vancouver food carts have never given me anything worthy to be excited about.

A small sign directs visitors at the Olympic Village to the festival

For the long weekend Michael and I decided to explore this festival that many people raved and hyped about. The food cart festival was quite a challenge to find - It was like we were on a quest from Lord of the Rings.  The website says they are located at West 1st between Cambie bridge and Olympic Village, but it was quite a walk through the gravel trail before hitting the actual festival. When we arrived we very surprised that there was a $2 entry fee. I thought it was pretty ridiculous that we needed to pay for the privilege of buying food.

When we walked in there weren't as many trucks that we thought there would be. It felt like a less busy and less rowdy Richmond night market.  From what we saw there may have been about 15 trucks parked or so. It seemed like it didn't live up to its hype. Compared to the food stands that we have been to in Portland, this appears to be a weak attempt. But beggars can't be choosers.


A lot of them were just downtown Vancouver food trucks, but Michael and I wanted to try something different. We decided to share a lot of the stuff so that way  we would have more room to eat more food. But again it was no surprise that everything was way too expensive for what is. We passed a truck that served fresh squeezed juice, I was really looking forward to try them because I saw them on Eat St. But $7 for juice sounds a little crazy to me.  

Holy Perogy

Our first stop was at Holy Perogy, they offer gourmet perogies with fresh local ingredients. We ordered the Italian ($8)  five perogies served with a creamy pesto sauce with diced tomatoes.  For $8 we think we would have gotten a lot more perogies than just five in Portland. And I have had perogies before at a bar in downtown Vancouver. It only cost me $10 with a side plate of extra sour cream and a  ceasar salad. I also got to sit comfortably on a chair eating at a table. So you do the math.

Italian Perogy

For the pesto sauce I didn't feel there was a strong pesto feel to it, it just tasted pretty creamy to me.  I did like the diced tomatoes though because it had a garlicy flavour to it. Michael thought the tomatoes added flavour and tasted very fresh. It was Michael's first time eating a real perogy and he didn't know what was in it, but he thought the presentation looked simple with a lot of flavour backing it up.

Chou Chou breton crepes

Our next stop was at the ChouChou, which was a crepe truck operated by an adorable French lady and her mom. It was nice for Michael and I to compare this crepe to a franchised crepe that we always come across. For $6.50 it was rather comparable to the franchised price.

We ordered the classic chocolate hazelnut spread. We watched her make three crepes at a time which was just astonishing. Our crepe is sweet and simple, but the crepe itself that is the star. It determines how well the crepe is cooked and how much tender, love and care has been put in.

Chocolate hazelnut crepe

Michael and I thought the crepe was crispy on the outside, but inside had a still undercooked feel, making the dough soft blending in nicely with the chocolate. Although the chocolate was pretty splattered in there in a clumpy style. It didn't over power anything and overwhelm the crepe with just chocolate. There was a nice balance of chocolate and crepe. Another I thought was really neat was after completion of the crepe, she dabs of salted butter on the tip and the heart of the crepe. It added a slight salty component to the skin which melded to the sweet chocolate.

Michael and I really wanted to try more trucks but everything looked heavy and we just weren't up to pay a lot of money to street food. Even though we were disappointed by this so-called festival at least we can say we tried it. And we'll always have our love affair with Portland. 

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La Bocca

Here's another one for the little village of Whistler. Michael and I roamed around the village late morning after checking out from our hotel. We found many of the restaurants offered the familiar selections of west coast food, especially breakfast. Awhile back when Michael and I had gone to Whistler for a mini vacation, I remember Michael didn't eat a lot for breakfast when we went to a diner-esque type of a place. So I was surprised that Michael wanted to eat a traditional breakfast with me.

We came across La Bocca, I read about the place the previous night when we were debating where to go for dinner. They are also known for their gelato which is separated from the actual restaurant. There wasn't much a wait when we arrived but there was a line up that was starting to form after we finished. So it was a good thing that we went early!

When we sat down it took our waiter quite a while to come and greet us, take down our drinks, and whatnot. When he finally came to us, Michael and I felt he was a little awkward, maybe he was new to the restaurant industry? One example: when we first ordered our coffees and he came to our table to deliver our coffees he threw the sugar down on to the table, which left me a little stunned.

Meatless Benedict

For our breakfast I wasn't sure what I was feeling. Hmm salty or sweet?  I definitely wanted something easy on the stomach, I have had horrendous pancakes before so I thought I'd better not take a chance. I went with the meatless Benedict ($11). It was served with spinach with tomatoes, and a poached egg. The benedict overall was good and light enough for me to take on in the morning. Although I had hoped that there would be more hollandaise sauce because towards the end my English muffin went a little dry. Also I would have liked to dip my potato wedges in it. The spinach was sauteed pretty good it wasn't too soggy and it went well with the poached egg. I love having poached eggs and seeing the yolk ooze out it always just makes me happy.

BC Benedict

Michael had the BC Benedict ($13) a traditional eggs Benedict served with wild salmon. He never really eats Benedicts so it was nice to here that he really enjoyed it. He thought they would have been better off using whole slices of smoked salmon instead of using shredded salmon. But overall he really enjoyed his dish and would definitely go back.

Other than our weird waiter I really liked La Bocca, I am eager to try their lunch and dinner menu. Although it looks like all the other places in the Whistler village, their menu seems like they have a dash of sophistication but shouts fun at the same time. Of course I would love to try their gelato as well!


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