Wild wild... apple's?

Review Snippet
Overall: HIT
Food: Value for money!
Price: $30-$50 / person
Ambiance: Could use a litlte polishing


Wild Apple's
3762 Lakeshore Road
Kelowna, BC V1W 3L4

250-860-4488


Having found good reviews online, we decided to try wild apple's as it was by the waterfront of lake Okanagan, so that we could walk around the marina before having dinner. 

Yam Fries

It speaks for itself, it was amazing. Crispy, sweet , oh so good.

West coast seafood cioppino

This was a let down, it tasted relatively strange and the side of bread tasted like a hotdog bun. The seafood consisted of salmon, mussels and scallop ,but i don't think the salmon went well with the soup.

Chef bernards mountain berry T duck breast

 Service sure was " fast", our main courses only arrived at 9pm, but it was worth the wait. The tender duck breast with the apple risotto plus the deep fried sliced carrots was delicious! The duck breast was marinated with a crust of various spices and it was indeed flavorful.

Crispy Confit of yarrow farms duck leg and seared scallop

The star of the night! However my only one issue was with the salad quinoa, its just not my cup of tea, although it was much better than the quinoa at edge water restaurant. They were generous with scallops for this dish and it was cooked to perfection, absolutely divine. As seen from the picture, look at that crispy duck skin! It certainly was crunchy and it packed a punch!

Wild BC catch of the week

The halibut was the catch of the week, marinated with a crust as well. It came out firm and fresh. Typically this dish is also paired with quinoa, however we changed it to baked potatoes instead and it was definitely the right choice.

Manteo Chocolate Cheesecake Pops

This was truly a heavenly dessert. First of all, the idea of cube-shaped cheesecakes of dark chocolate, white chocolate and normal chocolate were simply wonderfully creative! Their outer coating of crushed nuts was a nice touch too. The inner cube was so thick and rich of creamy cheesecake goodness, it was certainly overwhelming, but in a really nice way. Fruits on the side helped to balance out those heavy pops!
-Isabel

A lack of colour

Review Snippet
Overall: Worth going to take a look at the lavender store 
Food: Meh, could be better
Price: $5 /person
Ambiance: Quaint; Home-y

Okanagan Lavender Herb Farm

4380 Takla Road 

Kelowna, BC V1W 3C4 

250-764-7795

After lunch at the old vines restuarant, we shot over to have dessert at Kelowna land and orchard company, hoping to have their frozen apple juice, but to our dismay, it had closed down.Since we were in the area, we 
decided to have a look at Okanagan's Lavender Herb Farm.

Lemon Lavender Ice Cream

A little too creamy for my liking, because i'm in my sorbet phase (craving) now. You can smell, taste subtle hints of lavender in the ice cream, the lemon flavour seemed rather non-existent, perhaps the vanilla overshadowed it.

Lavender Loaf

This was a little dry but nevertheless you could get the hints of lavender in it as well as in the butter spread.

View from the cafe, overlooking Lake Okanagan

Jethro's Is Why Breakfast Was Invented In The First Place

On Labour Day weekend, I finally had the opportunity to try Jethro's Fine Grub on Dunbar &18th. I had heard amazing things about this breakfast joint but because its slightly out of the way, poor-vehicle-less students like myself find it a bit of a chore to make the trek out there.


Fraser's parents were in town that weekend and my friends were all back after the summer break. Breakfast (BF) at Jethro's was definitely called for.


Review Snippet
Overall: In the list of my fav breakfast places in Van
Food: Delicious, creative and intimidating (pancakes mostly)
Price: Reasonable; $12 per person (incl. tax & tip)
Ambiance: Cosy; a little hipster
Service: BAD. The only downside of this eatery

So let's just get the bad stuff out of the way as I am a positive person. The only thing I disliked about Jethro's was the lengthy wait. Usually, couples or quads wait about 30 mins in line to get in...we were a party of 8. Imagine my horror. Enrico got up to some mischief along the way...

Finally menus! We were pondering over our choices during the interminable wait so the order was snappy.

Enrico's dish: Huevos Rancheros. I can't speak for it given that I didn't try this dish. Encompassing warm corn tortillas topped with tomato salsa, 2 basted eggs, black beans and rice, it didn't look very appealing to me. But this is probably because beans are a total turn off.

Riley's dish: South of Denver. Smokey pulled pork,sauteed onions, smoked gouda, peppers and jalapenos, served with hashbrowns and toast, I was very tempted. But I somehow never get omelets at BF places.

Miranda's heavenly Apple Cobbler French Toast. The alternative to my choice. BF is always a tough choice for me- I always want the sweet stuff ie. french toast/ pancakes/waffles but its always the time of day when I crave something savoury. This time, I had the traditional eggs benny (top of my BF favs) but I definitely want to get the french toast next time! This was not too sweet and the toast remained crispy from the cinnamon crunch batter. The french toast was also perfect  as an alternative to their crazy pancakes- still creative but in manageable portions.

Finally, I saved the best for last. I went for the classic eggs benedict because I feel that this is often the test of a good BF place and there's something enjoyable about the simplicity of english muffins, poached eggs, ham and hollandaise sauce. It sauce was rich thick and creamy, eggs were runny, ham was overflowing, hash browns were substantial yet crispy around the edges. This was pretty darn good.


Next time though, I definitely want to try their pancakes. Most go to Jethro's for their crazy pancake concoctions and I felt I missed a little piece of the action by not ordering it. I definitely would have if not for its monster of a size.... Riley said his leftovers weighed 1kg (2.2 lbs). -Sara

Going With The Flow Nagano

Review Snippet
Overall: Affordable, value for money japanese fare
Food: Generous portions; mediocre
Price:$10-$15
Ambiance: Dim; quaint zen setting

Nagano Japanese Restaurant

2918 Glen Dr
Coquitlam, BC V3B2P5
Tel: (604) 468-2133

This would be my first encounter with the nagano chain at coquitlam. I'd been wanting to try this place for quite sometime and finally an outing after the end of my first summer school in Canada.

Katsu Don

My friend had the katsu don, deep fried pork cutlet with vegetables and cooked egg on a bed of rice. The much loved teriyaki sauce glazed the pork. The portion for this was large and my friend almost couldn't finish it! She didn't particularly elaborate much on this, except said that it was "pretty good".

Sashimi Bento Box

Lately, i've been having some asian food cravings and... well raw fish was amongst one of them. After contemplation for quite sometime,i gave in to my cravings and  decided to treat myself to this bento box with its quantity of sashimi, consisting of yellowtail( hidden) , tuna, salmon and prawn as well as the variety of chicken karaage, tempura, agedashi tofu, miso soup and salad. The tuna was kind of disappointing, a little soft and mushy, salmon was chewy. Surprisingly the yellowtail was really chewy, kind of like a gummy, but not sugary sweet.. The chicken was hard, but then again given the variety, i guess i can't complain. The portion for this was huge and i had some leftovers for take-away.

Green Tea & White Raspberry Ice Cream

The price for the ice cream was a bit on the high side and tasted like ordinary out of the carton no name ice-cream, but well, what the stomach craves it shall be delivered, what can i say... i just had to have it.- Isabel

Quails Gate Vineyard

Review Snippet
Overall: A definite visit at least once for the enchanting view
Food: Northwest; International
Price: $30-$50
Ambiance: Woody; Cozy; Stunning View of Lake Okangan and Vineyard

Old Vines Restaurant


3303 Boucherie Rd
Kelowna, BC V1Z
(250) 769-2500


Setting off at 7 in the morning, the slow, interminable wait for food, had us all on the edge. Being our maiden voyage to kelowna, tension was arising as mum was getting a little antsy. Finally, after the gruelling 4 hour journey in the car, of endless trees and mountains, we were greeted with the glistening  Lake Okanagan amidst the azure blue sky, dotted with magnolia white clouds.Walking towards the restaurant, i skipped, at the thought of having some good food coming way very very soon, the view was incredible( postcard worthy). 

The entrance lobby

Pemberton Meadows Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio

Served with white truffle oil, regianno cheese, caper berries and arugula, this couldn't get any better. Having been, starving for the last four hours, we ravished this within minutes.It was sliced so thinly, it almost melts in your mouth.

Haida Gwaii Halibut Tempura

Nothing like finding solace with a chilled soup, on an extremely hot summer's day. The chilled pea soup had a very subtle flavour and did not sit too well with mum( more for me ). The halibut was tender and really crispy, you could literally hear the crunch sound between mouthfuls.

Heritage Angus Bavette Steak

Arguably the best dish overall, the beef done slightly less than medium well. The mushroom and potatoes were . I found the steak a little too chewy for my liking, with the braces and all. 

Papardelle Pasta

Oh the moment i saw pork cheeks, i was so tempted to order it, but alas opting for a " lighter" meal i had the tuna instead. The pork cheeks weren't exactly fall-of-the-bone kind of soft, but nevertheless still very tasty as it was braised in tomato and other herbs and spices. The noodle was also apparently not al-dente enough and it wasn't the typical linguine or penne. It was much thicker, but not the kind of to-die for pasta.

Organic Oceans Albacore Tuna

Most of the time, being the main carnivore of the household,  I decided to take a shot at the healthier option and sad to say i was disappointed. The tuna tasted rather bland, i suppose it was a more subtle flavour with the yuzu dressing, alongside the couscous. On the upside, the roasted almonds were a nice touch to the salad. 

The sights and scenery being the main reason of going to old vines restaurant definitely met the mark, but the food tasted rather lacklustre. Speaking for all of us, i think we left feeling a little empty.-Isabel