Mamalee Malaysian Delight

What and where to eat is always the most monumental question everytime Totoro, Mamallama and I go out together. Convenience is always a deciding factor. Seeing as how Totoro had some business to attend to in Kitsilano that day, we decided on lunch at Mamalee’s.

Mamalee is a popular Malaysian joint in Kits, they don’t have very many tables, service and ambiance is minimal, but the pricing is fair and the food is pretty good as well. I also like that we put in our orders via dry erase menus.

We started off with the roti canai ($5.95). This was one of the better roti canais I’ve had. The pastry was crisp on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. It was flaky and wasn’t greasy at all. They also got the consistency and the flavours of the dip right. It wasn’t too thin, and it was creamy and flavourful, with just the right level of sweetness for my taste.

Of course, we had to order Mamalee’s most famous Hainanese chicken rice (reg $9.95). This plate comes with a small bowl of simple but tasty clear bone soup. The best thing about this Hainanese chicken was that it’s boneless. Not only did it require minimal effort to devour, every bite of it was juicy and tender. The seasoned oil rice was fragrant as well, I love eating it with the ginger green onion sauce so I wish I had more of that in comparison to the sweet and sour chili sauce, which I don’t care so much for.

We also ordered a curry beef brisket with rice ($11.95). The beef brisket and potatoes were soft and tender, but the curry was thin and watery. The flavour was decent, but it could’ve been thicker and creamier. I was reluctant about this dish as I questioned whether that shiny orange-y stuff was oil. Maybe I don’t want to know.

We ended our meal with sesame glutinous balls (5pc $ 5.99) for dessert. These were nice and chewy and had a good ratio of black sesame filling to skin. I love how they have a coating of crispy flakes for extra textural contrast. Yum.

MAMALEE MALAYSIAN DELIGHT
+1 604 733 8882
Kitsilano
3144 West Broadway, Vancouver

Thomas Haas

Thomas Haas has been on my list of dessert places to visit ever since  I’ve tasted the crispy chocolate raspberry cake at a wedding, I instantly fell in love. Mamallama, Baby-Paca and I were supposed to go on my birthday 2 years ago, but to my dismay, due to their short hours of operation and far off location, we never ended up going. After all this time, I finally gave them a visit, except it wasn’t to celebrate my birthday, but Baby-Paca’s instead.

My eyes practically gleamed at the sight of the beautiful cakes glistening in the display. Mamallama and I arrived about an hour before closing, so there weren’t very many whole cakes left for us to choose from. Nevertheless, I still had a tough time deciding on a cake for Baby-Paca.

I ended up picking out the 10-12 serving almond mascarpone ($44). Needless to say, Baby-Paca loved it. The cake was topped with an entire thin sheet of high quality dark chocolate. The cake consisted of layers of light mascarpone cream, soft almond cake with amaretto and espresso. The almond flavour was very prominent, but it did not mask the flavours of the amaretto or expresso. The flavours were well balanced, with just a touch of sweetness. My only issue is that there seems to be finely grinded up pieces of nuts mixed into the cake, which makes for a slightly gritty texture. I would’ve preferred it smooth.

Besides the almond mascarpone, we also bought 4 cakes by the slice. I mean, how can I possibly pass up on this opportunity?! The individual cakes are $5.90 each.

Hazelnut praline: The hazelnut mousseline comprised of layers of vanilla cake, crispy wafers, hazelnut dacquoise, thin dark chocolate ganache and a hint of rum. The coating on top has a nice gooey texture, like caramel. The mousse was smooth and moist, the wafer provided a fun crunch, and the vanilla cake was firm and dry, but not in an unpleasant way. In fact, all the textural components and flavours came together to create the masterpiece that it is.

Crispy chocolate raspberry: This cake encompasses dark Manjari chocolate-raspberry mousse, light vanilla Bavarian, chocolate sacher cake and crispy hazelnut wafer. The flavours of raspberry and chocolate were a perfect marriage. Neither outshined the other. The fresh tartness of the raspberry complimented the bittersweetness of the dark chocolate. I just wish that the individual cake was coated in ganache like their whole cake instead of dusted in cocoa powder. It really makes difference.

Exotic cheesecake: This light cheesecake combines flavours of fresh passion fruit, mango and orange zest. The cheesecake was super smooth and creamy and had a classic graham base. The invigorating taste of passion fruit and juicy tropical taste of mango really compliments this piece of art. However, I didn’t like the coconut finishing. It does add a more exotic touch to the cake, but I’m just not big on dried coconut flakes.

Passion fruit milk chocolate: Light milk chocolate mousse, refreshing passion fruit cream, crispy hazelnut wafer & soft almond cake. This cake looks more modest than the others, but it definitely delivers in flavour. The components of this cake is similar to crispy chocolate raspberry, except this one is slightly sweeter. And again, the crispy wafer just provides a nice contrast to the smooth textures of the mousse. The passion fruit was delectable, neither overpowering or artificial. Flavour wise, I think I actually prefer the passion fruit over raspberry, but I may just be biased because I love passion fruit flavour desserts.

All the cakes I’ve tried from Thomas Haas were delicious. They’re balanced, delicate, and intricately crafted. Nothing is heavy nor too sweet. This may actually be a problem for me because it’s so easy to over indulge on these fine, scrumptious treats. They’re just that good.

THOMAS HAAS
+1 604 736 1848
Kitsilano
2539 West Broadway, Vancouver

720 Sweets

720 Sweets is a new ice cream shop that just recently joined the dessert scene on West Broadway. They haven’t been in business for very long, but they have garnered quite a bit of publicity already due to their eye-catching, insta-worthy soft serves. The wow factor in their little cups of delight are really the novel use of liquid nitrogen/dry ice that creates a theatrical smoky effect. But when I say novel, I just mean in terms of Vancouver because smoky soft serves have been really popular in certain parts of Asia. It’s about time Vancouver got on the hype.

I had some business around the area and thought I’d give them a try during their first few days of opening. The store is small and has limited table top bar style seating. It was clean and bright and had an upbeat vibe to it. One of the walls had “My head says go to the gym but my heart says ice cream” painted on. I thought that was pretty accurate. Hahah.
I got the Milky Way ($5.95), but I think it’s been renamed the Milk’ee. Essentially, it’s a milk tea soft serve topped with crushed walnuts, light caramel drizzle, espresso grass jelly and a big piece of crunchy almond cookie/biscotti. The milk tea soft serve was creamy, smooth and had a delicious milk tea flavour with just the right amount of sweetness. The almond cookie/biscotti provided a nice textural contrast and the flavour paired well with the milk tea. However, I did not taste any espresso flavour in the espresso grass jelly. It just tasted like regular grass jelly when I had it. Maybe they changed it. But honestly, I didn’t care very much for it, it didn’t really go with the ice cream or the other toppings. It would’ve been a lot better if they were switched with boba pearls instead.

The final verdict? I’d come back again if I’m in the area, but most of my initial excitement is now gone since I have a video and picture of the cool smoky soft serve to post on my blog and Instagram. Nevertheless, the ice cream was pretty tasty.

720 SWEETS
+1 778 229 9278
Kitsilano
3278 West Broadway, Vancouver

Bon Macaron Patisserie

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Bon Macaron Patisserie is a booming macaron shop in Victoria. Luckily for us, they have expanded their territory and have opened up shop in Kitsilano,  gracing us Vancouverites with their lovely bite sized delights. This place just opened a month or so ago, I even had troubles finding a geotag for it on Instagram. The staff are friendly and helpful. They had even given us flavoured marshmallows and a whole macaron to sample.

This patisserie is strictly a macaron shop, and they mean serious business. There were about forty or fifty some creative and unique flavours to choose from, they even have savoury ones. They’re only $1.50 a pop, so it’s easy to get carried away with all the enticing flavours. I exerted self control and only bought a box of 6 (tax free if you buy 6 or more) since it was my first visit and I had already splurged at Trillussa, 8th and Main and Beta 5 earlier that day. Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling very bold, so I got the “safer” choices just to try if they were good first, before I get all adventurous.

Top left down: blueberry taro, chocolate pear, earl grey, yuzu, white chocolate passion fruit, tiramisu

The macarons all had crisp outer shells, with a chewy center. They were all true to their flavours. The only flavour that wasn’t quite as distinguishable was the blueberry taro. I didn’t really taste blueberry, and the taro was a little faint, it was mostly just sweet. I assume they used taro powder. Nonetheless, the marbled design on the macaron was beautiful. The chocolate pear was a wonderful combo, the pear was very fragrant, I could almost taste the juiciness of the pear, it went wonderfully with the decadence of chocolate. Earl grey is one of my all time favourite flavours for macarons, and this one was top notch. The flavour of the tea was spot on, strong and with a hint of citrus. The Japanese yuzu was super refreshing and had the perfect balance of tartness to sweetness. A lot of times I find passion fruit flavoured macarons to be too intense, they’re usually too sour or too sweet for my taste buds, but this passion fruit white chocolate was done right. It had a prominent and invigorating aroma without being overwhelming. The tiramisu was yummy as well, it had a bold coffee flavour with a creaminess to it.

These macarons are best eaten fresh, but they will keep for about 3 days in the fridge. However, I did notice that the quality begins to decline. The exterior becomes more easily cracked and it loses a bit of its chewiness. But I don’t think that’ll be a problem because they’re so delicious you’ll probably want to gobble them up right away anyway.

I also have to mention that Bon Macaron Patisserie gives out loyalty stamp cards where you get 1 free six pack after buying 10 six packs. Bon Macaron has won my loyalty.

BON MACARON PATISSERIE
+1 778 379 6055

Kitsilano
2823 West Broadway, Vancouver