Vancouver Food Mania!

This past weekend I went to Vancouver for the weekend with Cord, my boyfriend, and a number of other friends.  I never realized how easy it would be to go up for a night.  We took the Bolt Bus, which if you haven't heard of, you must!  It is an incredible new way to travel to Portland or Vancouver from Seattle.  Depending on how early you buy the tickets, you could pay as little as $1 each way.  We ended up spending $15 a person each way, which saved us a lot of time and effort.  They buses are new, clean, have wifi, a bathroom and you don't have to wait in line at the border.

Anyhow, we decided to go up for a night, do some of our favorite things and try some new stuff.  Knowing me, the highlights we based around food!  First up, the Richmond Night Market.  I mean this very seriously...get yourself to this market immediately if you love Asian street food and are adventurous.   There is almost nothing in life that I love more than Asian street food and a night market.  That has been the highlight of my trips to SE Asia and I was thrilled to find out we have one so close to home.  It was nothing short of incredible.  Here are a couple photos of the market:

On to my food....I will first tell you the game plan.  Cord and I like to try as many possible things as we can.  We are both adventurous eaters, so we have a great time sharing new experiences and introducing each other to our favorite foods.  We decided, as we usually do, to get one of many different things to share, so we could try the maximum items.  We started off with Japanese yakitori or skewered food.  We chose the bacon wrapped quail eggs which were simply out of this world.  I could have eaten many of them, but they ran out!

Next up, the Rice Burger Shop!  It is a Japanese fast food concept in which burger buns are made with rice cakes instead of bread.  Sounds strange, but it is delicious.  We ordered a pork burger than came with a delicious sauce and nori.  I would definitely order this again:

Our next choice was Mayalsian Roti Canai.  Roti is a type of Indian influenced flat bread found mostly in Malaysia.  The dough is made with ghee (clarified butter) and coconut milk and has a flaky decadent texture.  I'm in love with it.  Ours was served stuffed with a coconut chicken curry.  Unbelievable.

Next up was a Taiwanese pork belly bun with pickled vegetables and chillies.  This photo is the same dish from a different restaurant, but just to give you an idea:   Sounds bizarre, but it's divine.

                                 (You can get this at Facing East in Bellevue - it is mind blowing)

We tried to find Taiwanese stinky tofu, but unfortunately they had sold out!  My last exciting bite was a dessert called Cendol, which I discovered in Saigon, Vietnam.  It is a Malaysian treat which has become popular throughout SE Asia. The desserts basic ingredients are coconut milk, a worm-like jelly made from rice flour and pandan lead, shaved ice, palm sugar, red beans, grass jelly and creamed. Sounds bizarre, but it's divine.

(Me enjoying my treat!)

(Close up example of Cendol)

I hope that everyone reading this will go to visit the night market.  It is an experience of a lifetime, especially if you have yet to go to SE Asia.  I will be going back to try all of the things I missed this time - stinky tofu, dim sum, soba noodles, cream puffs, more yakitori, oyster soup....the list goes on!