If you are looking for different ways to celebrate and ring in Lunar New Years, I am excited to share with you the Year of the Pig themed afternoon tea at H Tasting Lounge at The Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, Coal Harbour neighbourhood. The stylish lounge is offering a Chinese New Year inspired high tea with traditional Chinese dim sum cuisine such as BBQ Pork Puff, Braised Pork Belly Bao, Shrimp Dumpling, Seared Nian Gao, etc. delivered to you on a playful carousel display makes for a photo-worthy table situation.

The Year of the Pig Chinese New Year afternoon tea is available between February 2 to 24th at $55 per person.

H Tasting Lounge features a great tea selection from TEALEAVES. For this particular Lunar New Year, it features two green tea blends from their Fortune Collection: Floral Jasmine Green (fresh mellow overtones with a slightly astringent finish) and the Dragonwell Organic Green (3rd grade Dragonwell with mature tea leaves picked during later spring that is mild tasting with a beautiful pale celadon liquor).

Or option to add Year of the Pig Cocktail. The Year of the Pig cocktail ($16) will be available throughout the remainder of February. The aromatic blend includes Johnnie Walker Black Scotch whisky, golden apple and ginger-infused vodka, Buddha’s hand citron jelly, yellow chrysanthemum tea, and lemon juice.

If you prefer to share your mocktail drinks with your toddler like we did, I highly recommend their Free Spirited Beverages:

Tea & Tonic (red): Tealeaves Mountain Berry Tea, freshly squeeze lemon juice, raspberry syrup, Ms. Betters Bitters green strawberry bitters

Yuzu Spiritz (green): Yuzu syrup, freshly squeezed lemon juice, Ms. Betters Bitters cucumber.

Every afternoon tea set includes cotton candy and scones. It’s hard keeping your hands off it!

SAVOUR

• BBQ Pork Puff
• Braised Pork Belly Bao
• Shrimp Dumpling
• Pork Soup Dumpling
• Fried Pork Dumpling
• Ginger Chicken Bao
• Iron Guanyin Shortbread
• Charcoal Lava Bao
• Seared Nian Gao
• Water Chestnut Jelly

We recommend taking photos quickly otherwise dishes will get cold quickly (without a steam basket).

Here’s wishing everyone a great prosperous year of the Pig!!! #豬年好運，恭喜發財，身體健康！

I was invited by H Tasting Lounge for a menu tasting.

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More: TEALEAVES | TWG Tea Canada | Neverland Tea Salon | Notch 8 at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

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Chef Clement Chan and the Torafuku team celebrates Torafuku’s third birthday. Torafuku translates to lucky tiger in Japanese, and tiger is the Chinese zodiac symbol for the number three. We’ve been here for their grand opening and curated private events! Now Chef Chan continues to explore the borders of Pan-Asian food with classical French and Italian influences. In honour of this significant anniversary, Torafuku is launching a new menu with dishes that are playful in spirit and serious in execution. We were lucky enough to sample the new summer menu prepared by Chef Sandy Chen!

Starting the evening off right is an Instagram worthy beautiful drink named Emarosa: Strawberry infused godernador pisco, lime lemongrass jasmine tea and eggwhite.

For the non-alcoholic drinker we have a refreshing mocktail of Yuzu Lemon Soda: yuzu lemon juice, simple syrup and soda.

The Dirty Bird 16: chicken liver pate, mustard seeds, yuzu pickled Tokyo turnips, apricot puree, grilled fukikake sour dough. A beautiful depth of creamy fattiness with sweet tartness of summer fruits! I’d like a loaf of the bread to go please!

Dropping Mad Beets 18: Roasted golden beets, “Mizukan” pickled red beets, maitake and shiitake mushrooms, candied walnuts, garlic kale, torched burrata.

Poutine ??? 18: Duck leg ragout, polenta tempura fries, shaved parm, star anise gastrique, local greens yuzu vinaigrette. I bet you can’t have just one! These fries are seriously addictive! Not to mention the duck ragout is super tender and flavourful!

Uni Corn 29: Is this the purple unicorn of Asian inspired pasta dishes? Nero spaghetti, roasted corn, garlic buttered spot prawns, snow crab, herb crumble, uni bisque. Uni was not in season so clams were used as a substitute instead.

The Donald 28: Charcoal grilled duck breast (prepared medium rare), shaved foie gras, compressed beets, roasted cauliflower and puree, ginger nettle spatzle. Perfectly cooked tender with just the right about of fat:meat ratio.

Gone Fishin’ 30: I love fish, especially crispy whole fish. This crispy whole sea bream fish was soft, moist and fragrant with toasted shrimp, crispy shallots, soy beans crumble, sweet and sour sauce with coconut rice. The perfect “simple” dish with a kick of heat!

Humble Pie 10: Kalamansi custard, citrus tart, candied orange, vanilla mousse.

Magic Stick 10: Chocolate ganache, hazelnut feuilletine, matcha crumble, condensed milk ice cream.

Both desserts was the best Happy Ending you could ask for – offering both sweet and salty.

Torafuku also offers tasting menus if you just want to be taken care of! Leave it to the Chef! Reservations high encouraged and the best seat in the house for photos is by the window! Otherwise the bar is a great view at the Chefs in action.

more: FORTUNE TERRACE CHINESE CUISINE RICHMOND 福滿樓海鮮酒家 | MOTT 32 卅二公館 | Deluxe Chinese Restaurant 凯悦酒家 | Dazzling Cafe

I was invited by Torafuku for a menu tasting. All opinions are my own.

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Torafuku Vancouver 寅福
URL: http://torafuku.ca
Cuisine: Asian, Fusion, Izakaya

Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Sunday: 5:30 p.m – 11:00 p.m

958 Main Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 2W1
(778) 903-2006

Hello Fresh is a meal delivery service in Canada. They deliver to nine different markets: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Québec, Newfoundland, and the Maritimes. They deliver via courier Sunday-Thursday every week depending on your postal code. Usually deliveries will arrive between 8am-8pm. Although the window seems long, they often arrive before 5pm. You will receive an email with your tracking number or you can check your account settings for availability.

While the concept is nothing new, we like the selection of ready-to-cook meals with fresh local ingredients delivered right to the door. This flexible subscription food delivery service is tailored for busy people looking for a home cooked meal without going grocery shopping and doing the prep work. Your groceries will stay fresh for the duration of the week. Their recipes are created using ingredients that stay fresh long enough for you to enjoy them in the week you have received them. Of course, we’d suggest that you prepare your fish at the beginning of the week versus over, say, beef! Get your HelloFresh promo code below!

The packaging of Hello Fresh is nicely packaged in a cardboard box that is insulated with plenty of ice packs to keep you food fresh until you get home the night of delivery. The food is said to last up to 36 hours.

I like that their meats are raised without the use of antibiotics, added hormones or animal by-products!

Choosing you meals is easy. We like the user friendly smart phone app. Meals selections are available in formats of Pronto Box ($13.33/serving), Family Box ($10.83/ serving) or Veggie Box (412.33/serving). Depending on your chosen plan, boxes come with 3 or 4 recipes to make dinners for 2 or 4 people.

Recipes are printed in colour on a nice heavy weighted paper too!

To get started, claim this $40 Off promotion towards your first box of fresh ingredients and delicious recipes. Start your cooking adventure today, and use the following promo code: NANWU

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The Holy Crab recently launched a new lunch menu that offers delicious cajun seafood fare at a reasonable price – all under $18. Like their seafood boil, it uses a variety of premium and locally sustainable seafood choices, of which many are Ocean Wise. In addition, there is also a Kid’s menu with favourites like Shrimp Po Boy for $9.

The lunch menu is loaded with lots of variety and great comfort food items like fish & chips, creamy cajun seafood pasta, blackened catfish with etoufee on rice. But there is also a lighter option like their seafood & avocado salad stacker!

DIRTY RICE 13 | +2 Fried Egg: Clams, Mussels, Tiger Prawns, Calamari, Catfish, House-Made Garlic Pepper Sauce

GARLIC SHRIMP PASTA $15: Tiger Prawns, Shrimp, House-Made Garlic Pepper Sauce, 63-Degree Poached Egg, Parmesan, Linguine or Spaghetti. You can substitute Prawn and Shrimp with Chicken.

LOBSTER GRILLED CHEESE $18: Served with Seafood Chowder or Seafood Bisque. Fresh Lobster Meat, Melted Mozzarella, Dill & Cheddar Bechamel Sauce, Lobster Butter, Sweet Panini Bread

• Shrimp Grilled Cheese $14
• Plain Grilled Cheese $10

CREAMY CAJUN SEAFOOD PASTA $18: Clams, Mussels, Crawfish, Tiger Prawns, Creamy Tomato Cajun Sauce, Sauteed Onion & Mushroom, Linguine or Spaghetti. You choice of spice Level: Mild / Medium / Spicy

FISH & CHIPS 1PC $10 | 2PCS $14: One of the value menu items I’d say with giant pieces of Crispy Battered Catfish. Served with Tartar Sauce, Lemon Wedge and Cajun “Crack” Fries and Creamy Coleslaw.

SEAFOOD & AVOCADO SALAD $15: Crab, Shrimp, Avocado, Tomato, Corn Kernels, Arugula, Red Apple Dark Balsamic, Cranberry & Pear White Balsamic

CRISPY FISH SANDWICH $12: Badass Filet O Fish fans make a mad dash for this
Crispy Fried Catfish sammy. Served with Creamy Coleslaw, Arugula, Tartar Sauce, Soft Ciabatta and Cajun fries.

BLACKENED CATFISH WITH ETOUFFEE ON RICE $18: Pan-Seared Catfish Fillet, Shrimp Etouffee Sauce, Steamed Vegetables, Jasmine Rice. The catfish is delicious and flavoured. However I do wish that this came with wild rice instead of white jasmine rice.

What’s your favourite dish?

We were invited by The Holy Crab for a menu tasting.

more: COQUILLE FINE SEAFOOD | Boulevard Kitchen | Pier 7

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