Solly's

There are 3 Solly's Bagels, Bakery and Deli locations in Vancouver. On this particular trip we visited their location at 368 W 7th Avenue on the corner of Yukon close to Cambie Street. My boss actually always buys bagels from here and so we decided to try them.

Solly's bagelry is a Jewish family bakery and deli. From what we saw, they offered lots of Jewish pastries, soups, other traditional foods and of course their bagels! Their bagels are 'boiled and baked in the traditional way' which makes them dense and chewy.

As Bryan and I walked inside the store, we had a feeling of entering someone's home; the atmosphere was friendly and inviting. So many choices to make! We waited in line for about 5-8 minutes though, I was starting to get impatient and then they made me repeat our order like 3 times because the first guy at the till didn't write it down and then went to go make it on the other side of the store. ANYways, it was a bit of a mess at first, but I'm willing to let it go because the food was just too good!

I chose the 'staff pick' of the day: plain bagel with Herb and Sundried Tomato shmear (low fat cream cheese) topped with red onion and tomato. $2.85

Oh.my.goodness. That was one frikin delicious bagel!!! I'm drooling now just looking at it! The bagel was moist tender perfection and the shmear!!-it was sooo delicious! everything about it, i loved! 

Bryan ordered Smoked Salmon shmear on a parmesan something bagel (can't exactly remember the bagel). $3.35

This one looks plain, but it was oh so tasty! smoked salmon shmear! mouth-watering on top of the hot bagel.

For desserts, we also got a cinnamon bun $2.85

They're supposedly the best cinnamon buns in town. They look kinda blah in this photo, but it was a pretty good bun. You can add cream cheese icing for an extra charge. It's best when it's warmed up too. It was really sweet and cinnamony on its own without the icing. I don't know if it's the best thought, I guess it depends how you like your cinnamon bun.

 

And to take home we ordered a Chocolate Babka Bun $2.95

We couldn't resist! We actually liked this one better than their cinnamon bun. It was so soft, sweet, chocolatey, moist and oh so good! almost sinful! If you love chocolate like I do, you'll definitely love this! It was huge too! Definitely big enough to share between two people (same with the cinnamon bun).

If you haven't already, go grab a midday snack or lunch at Solly's. You really won't be disappointed! I think it's almost a bad thing that I work near one of their other locations, I'll be going all the time!! ....but maybe not such a bad thing.. =)

Solly's gets a solid 9 out of 10 rating.

Happy Eating, xoxo,

Dina & Bryan

Ogenki Sushi

Ogenki Sushi is located on 4342 Main Street in Vancouver. We came here for my sister Danelle's birthday on a Monday night. This place is great! Plenty of seating, good food, decent prices and good service.
It's a 2 part restaurant; one side is Ogenki Ramen, which is the side we sat in. The seats were rectangular wooden stools, which gave a modern feel. The 7 of us got seated right away and was given hot tea.
Here are some of the food we ordered:

Golden California Roll $5.95

This tasted soooo yummy! not too greasy, great portion size and the sauces drizzled on top made them taste even better :) 

Karaage Ramen $9.95

Deep fried boneless chicken, egg, bok choy, green onion, bean sprouts in a Shoyu base. This was a nice big bowl and Bryan seemed to enjoy it very much. It was nice that they served the karaage on the side instead of letting it get soggy in the soup. 

My dad had also ordered Ramen. Genki Ramen $10.95

Chashu, karaage, bean sprouts, black wood ear mushrooms, egg, corn, seasonal fresh vegetables, green onion, nori in a miso base.

He said it was very filling and quite delicious!

Salmon Teriyaki Bento Box was a 'special' that day. I think it was $8.95

The salmon teriyaki was really moist and tasty! It was a nice alternative to beef or chicken. Also included california roll, salad and tempura. A great meal!

 Here's Denise enjoying her Beef Teriyaki Bento Box - her fave!

And here's the bday girl, enjoying her edamame!!!

Bryan and I will definitely be back here again, many times I'm sure!!

no complaints! Ogenki gets 9 out 10 stars.

Happy Eating! xoxo,

Dina & Bryan

Kiso Island

Kiso Island on 2718 Main Street. We recommend not going here. We came a little after 4pm for an early dinner which is when they also have "happy hour" - 20% off eat in. The place is a nice size, actually quite large. No one was there when we came in though, and the whole time we were there, only 2 others came. The seating/decor was a little confusing, they had the traditional japanese looking booths which we sat in, but then they also had tables that looked like they belonged in a fancy chinese restaurant or something, it almost had a victorian feel to it. weird... Anyways, after looking through the menu, the prices were fair, but we were pretty happy with 20% off the menu price.

Bryan ordered the Unagi Don, which I believe was $7.95 before the 20% off.

He wasn't too thrilled about this one. Firstly, everything was kinda dry. And he was upset with the portion size as well, hardly any rice. He gives his meal a 4 out of 10.

 Bryan pretending to be happy with this experience lol

I ordered this Bento box, BUT since it was on a different menu, I didn't get 20% off :( deceiving...

 My bento box was 8.95 I think. It had a salad which was average. The veggie tempura had too thick of a batter; it wasn't light and crispy at all. California roll was probably the best part, because the beef yakisoba wasn't very pleasant. They tasted plain like there wasn't any sauce, and wow were they every greasy! so oily I couldn't finish it and didn't want to! yuck! my meal is a definite 3 out of 10, the 3 goes to the roll.

The tea served was pretty bland too. And to top it off, when we went up to pay, the lady forgot to give the 20% off for Bryan's meal. When we told her, she looks at the receipt and checks their menu. She's either new or thinks we're trying to rip them off.. Well in the end she applied the discount. 

Kiso Island gets a 3.5 out of 10 overall

save your money for elsewhere!

Happy eating! xoxo,

Dina & Bryan