It's good to be legal. My best friend Ryan and I went to Raglan's Bistro to grab some drinks and food after watching Sentinel Secondary School's Cabaret.

I ordered a Hurricane of Shipwrecked. I don't exactly remember what was in it, but it was great. It had a taste of carbonated raspberry, it was really girly, but delish!

Shipwrecked - Hurricane - $14.95

Finally... the food! We ordered the Pulled Pork Poutine. It was a basic poutine with aged cheddar and gravy, but the twist is the sweet and tender pulled pork. Delicious!

Pulled Pork Poutine - $12

The final thing we got was a Double Cheese N' Chicken Quesadillas. It was pretty basic. It wasn't anything special, in fact, I probably wouldn't order it again. For its price, I would've been better off with another poutine.

Double Cheese n' Chicken Quesadillas - $12

Overall, it was awesome! The drink was great and so was the poutine, but unfortunately, the quesadillas was only mediocre. Ryan and I definitely enjoyed ourselves and the atmosphere of the place at 12AM was awesome.

"If life gives you lemons, make margaritas"

-Anonymous

Having been away from my family for the last couple of weeks, I am forced to eat cafeteria food, take out, and the occasional noodle cup. And honestly, as much as I love living independent from my family, I truly miss my mother's cooking. For my first post about Mom's Cooking, I want to explain to you how we do thing at my house.

1. Everyone eats together

2. Every meal is a feast

3. If you don't eat fast, you don't eat at all

4. We're all carnivores

5. Eat vegetables (mom's rule)

This is usually how a dinner at my house would look like.

My mom started with a Kale Salad. Here's the eat vegetables rule. It's a mixed vegetables dish with a special, sweet Japanese dressing. We really like to use this Japanese dressing for a lot of our salads, especially our spring salads. Unfortunately, I don't exactly know what the name of dressing is, but I only know what the bottle looks like.

And for the main course, my mom made Sinigang Fried Chicken. 

Some of you, especially you non-filipino people, may be wondering what sinigang is? Basically, siningang is a filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savory flavor. This dish usually has pork and vegetables. It's a great dish for cold days.

So the twist with this dish is that it is fried chicken with the sour and savory flavor of sinigang. This is definitely the best homemade fried chicken I've ever had. One that is very unique too!

I mean, I could eat about 7 of these as if it was nothing! Yum yum yum!

"The best comfort food will always be greens, cornbread, and fried chicken."

-Maya Angelou

Spring Break is over and last night was my final night in Vancouver. Since I was so busy with packing and preparing for my trip back to New York City, I didn't have the time to blog about this event. We celebrated with a bang. Since Vancouver is known for it's amazing and fresh sushi, we went to Miku Restaurant in downtown Vancouver.

The restaurant is found right in front of the ocean, hence, waterfront.

As soon as you enter, you feel the modern and hip ambiance that the restaurant offers.

We were sat at the sushi bar, which surprisingly had a of space.

I didn't really know what to expect. Usually, sushi is sushi. It's either fresh or not. Nothing more and nothing less.

But what surprised me the most was the way they prepared their sushi. This is the first time I've seen Aburi Sushi. Aburi is inspired by the idea of sear-flaming sushi. It really added a new dynamic for the Japanese dish. Typically, they add the sauce then sear-flame it on top of the sushi. Miku Restaurant is famous for being one of the few spots that serve this style of sushi.

Here's a little demonstration:

Our waiter also said that Miku Restaurant sushis don't require any soy sauce for dipping. Each sushi has its own special sauces that is already added within the sushi itself.

Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi - $16

The first thing we ordered was the Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi. It had BC Wild Sockeye Salmon, jalapeño, and miku sauce. What is interesting about this is its unorthodox presentation. Rather than the common round sushi, the sushi is square shaped. This was probably one of the freshest sushis I've ever had. The special miku sauce complemented the sushi perfectly and the fact it was sear-flamed made it taste even better.

Miku Roll - $18

The next thing we ordered was the Miku Roll. This was AMAZING! it had salmon, crab, cucumber, sea urchin, and it is rolled in flying fish roe. Also, it has the same sear-flamed miku sauce.Very delicious! It almost melts in your mouth! I thought that having all these ingredients would be overwhelming and confusing, but everything seem to have created a dynamic flavored sushi that held the name of the restaurant.

Pan Seared Scallops - $18

We also ordered the Pan Seared Scallops. It is market fresh orange, watercress, frisée, crème fraîche, and yuzu puttanesca. I don't even know what more than half of these ingredients are, but the scallops were perfectly cooked. It wasn't too chewy or too soft and it was seasoned well. The orange also added a nice tangy flavor that aided the taste of the scallops.

Premium Aburi - $26

Finally, we ordered the Premium Aburi. It is the chef's selection feature seafood, lightly flame seared aburi style, and each paired with a unique house made sauce. It is really difficult to explain all of these, but each one of these sushis had a very unique taste. All of these were also sear-flamed. The only problem was that for its price, I would've wanted more!

Overall, everything I ate was amazing. If it wasn't for its expensive price, I would go here everyday! This place is definitely a place I would go to to celebrate special events!

"Don't dunk your nigiri in the soy sauce. Don't mix your wasabi in the soy sauce. If the rice is good, complement your sushi chef on the rice."

-Anthony Bourdain

It's funny how you can find great places to eat when you actually get out of your house and walk around your neighborhood. Buddha-Full was one of those unique places that I just so happened to have stumbled upon.

This vegan-friendly place was the definition of hipster. First of all, the name itself was really creative and made me interested to see what it was.

106 1st St W #101, North Vancouver, BC

When you enter the store, you'll notice that everything had a raw feeling to it. The benches and shelves looked as if it were built by a local young carpenter.

Their menu was amazing. I really liked the chalk art and their menu was colorful and eye catching. It was the focal point of the store.

They also sold vegan and raw products. They even have gluten-free desserts and sandwiches! (AND COOL, 100% VEGAN LIP BALMS!)

This place makes you feel healthy as a whole.

The Lobo - $8.40

There were so many choices in their menu, but I ended up choosing The Lobo (Lonsdale Bohemian). It had hemp protein, dates, peanut butter, banana, and almond milk. This smoothie was so filling and smooth! The peanut butter was not too overwhelming but allowing the other flavors to be noticeable as well!

Overall, this place is great. It's a bit expensive because of its organic ingredients, but it was well worth my money. The store has a tranquil mood and its a great place to meet with friends (your yoga hippie friends, jkjk). It's actually quite funny because a few hours later, one of my gluten-free friends, Yannick, recommended me to check this place out. That just made me realize this place's popularity within the organic-lovers community.

"Let your food be your medicine, let your medicine be your food"

-Hippocrates

On February 11, 2014, I turned 19 years old. Unfortunately, I turned 19 (legal in Vancouver) when I was in New York, which the legal age is 21. So it was really difficult to truly celebrate my birthday drink.

ANYWAYS!

Today was my first day back to Vancouver for Spring Break! Woohoo! I spent it with my lovely girlfriend (Sydney) and my family. It was a a beautiful day out today so I spent most of it outside the house and in Lonsdale Quay area.

Straight to dinner: Sydney and I went to a local Tiki-Style bistro called Raglan's Bistro. And for the first time in my life, I ORDERED MY VERY FIRST ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE IN A PUBLIC RESTAURANT.

15 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver, BC

The whole place is really creatively designed. With tiki decorations all over the place, a little straw hut as a bar, and surfboards as tables, this place was definitely unique. Our server was really helpful and friendly too. The staff was very kind and showed great customer service.

I ordered a margarita to start. To be specific, a Strawberry Kamikaze. Mmm... girly drinks...

Kamikaze - $7.25

This wasn't our first time here, so we went straight to what I know Raglan's for: their poutine. For those who don't know, poutine is a Canadian dish from Québec that is made of french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. From the selection of poutines such as the classic poutine, cheeseburger poutine, and pulled pork poutine, my girlfriend wanted to try the Ancho Chicken Poutine.

Ancho Chicken Poutine - $13, Meaty Nachos - $18

Ancho Chicken Poutine was made of french fries, gravy, cheese curds, grilled chicken, bacon, mozzarella, crispy onions, and chipotle sour cream.

Two words: Absolutely Delicious!

We also order their Meaty Nachos, which had everything nachos had, but with grilled chicken, chorizo, and bacon.

This was good as well.

Overall, this place is a great place to go especially for the Summer time. They have burgers, sandwiches, margaritas, tacos, nachos, poutine, and many other foods that are perfect for those bright and sunny days. I wish we had been seated outside at their patio seating so we could've enjoyed the sun. But if you go to Raglan's Bistro, be sure to order ANY of the poutines. You won't regret it!

"If bacon ate, bacon would eat poutine"

-Chris Jones (Esquire Editor)