Hot Chocolate Festival: Bel Cafe

Along with the Dine Out Festival, Hot Chocolate Festival has returned to Vancouver. They will be in town from Jan 17th to Feb 14th - perfect timing for some chocolaty sweetness! These events are always a delight to explore since I get a chance to experience fun and creative dishes made by Vancouver's very loved cafes and restaurants.

Below is the list of the participants: 

• 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters + Lucky’s Doughnuts
• Bel Cafe
• Bella Gelateria + To Die For Banana Bread
• Butter Baked Goods 
• Chez Christophe 
• Chocolate Arts
• Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France
• Diva at the Met 
• East Van Roasters
• French Made Baking
• Gem Chocolates
• Glenburn Soda Fountain & Cafe 
• Koko Monk Chocolates
• Last Crumb Cafe
• Mink Chocolates & Cafe
• Schokolade Artisan Chocolate
• Soirette Macarons & Tea
• Terra Breads 
• Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe
• Thomas Haas 
• Uva Wine Bar + Bittered Sling

This year, I have chosen Bel Cafe since it is the place that pops up in my head first when I have sweet tooth. I also wondered how the awards winning chef  David Hawksworth's hot chocolate would look and taste like.

Vancity Foodie: Marutama Ramen

A few years back, I never knew that downtown Vancouver would be the place to go for Japanese ra-men craving. 

Now, it seems like Robson street has become the hub of ra-men ya's.

Marutama Ramen is just around the corner of Bidwell and Robson St. Because of its slightly hidden location it isn't as busy as the ones on Robson/Denman. I got to know this place on a day when I was very hungry and grumpy; Santouka(1690 Robson St.) had especially long lineup that particular day and I wasn't in the mood for 30 minute wait. 😡

As I started to head back to our car, there it was just off Robson Street, Marutama Ra-men, oh, and no lineup!

At first I was hesitant to step in thinking there might be a reason why there aren't as busy as Santouka but again, I was very hungry. Ever since then, I became a regular customer of Marutama's. 

All of their ra-men are chicken broth based which is very rich in taste. Most of the places I know serve tonkotsu(pork bone broth) based ramen so Marutama's is quite different.

Miracle Belgian Waffle

It seems like the old fashioned waffle is back on its game or has it never been out of the game? Lately I have been noticing many waffle cafes opening in Vancouver and Ryan and I tried out one of the newest near Coquitlam Centre.

Miracle Belgian Waffle is a small cafe which opened in October. They open from 10am till 11pm so I think it is a great place to have a coffee break or a late night snack with friends.