Every so often you end up eating meat for so many days on end that you actually crave something lighter and vegetarian. Here is a recipe that takes advantage of the nice weather we've been having with grilled vegetables combined with a hearty black olive and sun dried tomato tapenade. This is a healthy vegetarian recipe that can be enjoyed alone or as a side dish. Feel free to experiment with whatever vegetables or herbs look good at the market that day including eggplant, corn, basil or even sage.
I have not met a person who likes his pho (Vietnamese beef soup noodles) more than my brother. He once almost missed his train out of Paris while travelling through Europe for a month, for a bowl of pho.  In Paris, the city of cheese, wine, pastries, steak frites, foie gras, escargot etc.....   Anyway, the point is, this man loves his pho.  Besides the pho, he is an avid mixed martial arts enthusiast and I'm pretty certain he is in way better shape than 99% of us. Friends usually don't believe me when I tell them that he used to work out for 6 hours straight in between graduating university and his current job.  (Six hours of personal gym time and MMA classes combined)  He also has a blog, Spartan Training, based on fitness, training and diet.  Check it out!

Here I'm featuring his "Baked Lemon Herb Chicken" post, which I hear is a great post-workout meal and delicious as that!   





Overall:  7.5/10
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Food: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: 7/10
River Cafe on Urbanspoon
Steelhead trout
We knew it was only a matter of time before we would decide to make bone marrow at home. Since having it a few years ago for the first time in Lyon, France at Brasserie Georges, we fell in love.  Beef bone marrow roasted and simply garnished tastes remarkably similar to an intensely beef flavoured butter- if such thing were to exist.  It's creamy smooth texture happens to be perfect for spreading on slices of a baguette or any toasty bread for that matter.  Cheap and easy to make at home, why would you go to a restaurant and order one serving for upwards of $12?  All you carnivores out there this is for you!



This cake is a variation of the basic sponge seen previously in the Strawberry Sponge Cake post.  Inspired by our recent trip to Hawaii, I decided to try a coconut and banana filling with shredded coconut in the sponge itself.  I experimented with orange zest this time around, it was delicious, but the flavour reminded me too much of carrot cake, so no orange zest next time.  Maybe lemon zest might be alright?  Let me know if you decide to try this out!






I think flank steak is an under appreciated cut of beef. Often you see it in the beef section labeled as either flank steak or marinating steak. As long as you cook it to medium rare and slice it thinly against the grain its more flavourful and tender than other more expensive cuts. Served with this tarragon tomato relish you have an great dish for those hot summer days. The tomato relish actually taken from Gordon Ramsay's 'Healthy Appetite' and goes well with any cut of beef. The only difference is that I add a touch of honey to balance all the acidic ingredients.


Overall - 9/10
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Food -  9.5/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance- 9/10



Merriman's Poipu on Urbanspoon

Overall - 9/10
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Food -  9/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance- 8/10


The Eastside on Urbanspoon



Overall - 8/10
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Food -  9/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance- 6/10


Fish Express on Urbanspoon