Quick take out lunch in P.G. today after church. I’m a little unsure about Mexican in Prince George. But I’ll try anything once.

Tyler had the Barbacoa bowl, which he reported as good.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say it wasn’t made in the traditional manner. Regardless, he seemed to really like it.

Breanna had the Chicken Quesadilla.

Pretty hard to go wrong with this, but apparently an average quesadilla.

My fish tacos.

Overall pretty tasty while being skimpy on the fish, IMO. Great salsa and everything was fresh.

So Mexican in PG? The taco shops in Puerto Vallarta would scoff at the idea. But honestly not too bad.

6/10

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I’m in Prince George again this weekend visiting family and of course I’m going to be trying a local pizza joint.

My son tells me he heard good things about Red Tomato Pies so that is our destination today.

We will get our pie to go today, the shop does have a couple eat in tables but it’s not an atmosphere I would want to spend a lot of time in.

They have gelato at this location. But I think I’m going to wait til Italy next year for that.

So to the pizza!

We are going with a large Pepperoni with extra Pepperoni.

This pizza reminds me a lot of Pizza Hut pizza when Pizza Hut pizza was good. (It’s not very good anymore)

It’s greasy, but just that right amount of greasy. The cheese is just the right amount of gooey. The Pepperoni tastes great. I just wish there was more of it. Can you have too much? I say no!

This is a solid Saturday night, it’s football playoff season and I’m not cooking pizza.

One bite you know the rules…

7.6

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There isn’t much notable about the backwater that is Vanderhoof, BC.

It is the geographical centre of BC. Whoop-dee-doo.

There is 4346 people living here according to the 2021 census. But that’s down 88 from 2016. From what I hear the city council is actively anti growth. And doing a great job at it.

I mean if you’re an outdoorsy kind of person I guess there’s stuff to do here. Only problem is it’s winter 9 months of the year.

There’s just not a lot going on here.

But what if I told you there was a fantastic Belgian bakery here?

Go figure. In the middle of absolutely nowhere there’s an excellent bakery.

We ended up being here for about 3 hours so I had lots of time to peruse and sample the offerings.

From what I can buy looking at everything in the case I would say most things are made in house.

There does seem to be some strudel that looks like it’s a commercial product but I also see some strudel that might very well may be made here.

And I highly doubt that they make their own macarons. They look just a little too perfect and I know how difficult they are to make. But you never know they may have a perfectionist in the house.

But I do see a lot of good looking and quality product here.

So let’s get to it.

Long John donut.

Of course the most important thing about donuts is freshness. And this was very fresh. Not the prettiest donut I’ve seen, still very yummy.

8/10

Napoleon

Thin layers of puff pastry, vanilla custard, whipped cream and all ripped off with fondant icing

Do you like them fresh like me, with the layer still crispy? Or a day old one the moisture from the custard and cream soak into the pastry and make the whole thing custardy?

Mine was fresh, perfectly crispy, with great flavour. One of my favorite pastries. Often mediocrely done. This one was great.

9/10

Cinnamon Knot

This is essentially a bite sized cinnamon bun, with a cinnamon sugar glaze. Not something I’ve seen a lot in the last couple of decades. It would be nice to see it make a comeback.

They also had Florentines. No picture, they got a little broken in my pocket. Nice though. A crispy and chewy candied almond and fruit cookie with chocolate. Very nice.

8/10

Fresh Fruit danish

I love a good danish. Put some custard and some fresh fruit it gets even better.

At first I thought they might be brought in. But no they make them in house. Buttery, flakey layers with a delicious custard and fresh berries. Perfect combination.

10/10

So in the end there’s one good thing about Vanderhoof.

This bakery is great.

Actually I guess there is one more good thing about Vanderhoof.

You do get to leave.

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While I was in Prince George visiting my son and his family last week we had the opportunity to get out for dinner, just the two of us.

I asked him “Of all the restaurants in PG that you’ve wanted to try but haven’t yet which did you want to try tonight?”

He came up with Mr Sushi, about 15 minutes north of PG on the Hart Hwy.

I’m always down for sushi. Even in Prince George.

We are trying a few staples off the menu and one roll I haven’t seen before.

Pork Gyoza

Pretty standard fare in Sushi restaurant here, and pretty standard quality. Tastes good, but it’s no different than any other Gyoza I’ve had. I wonder if they all come from the same place?

Toro Nigiri

Not the best Toro. The flavour was ok, but it came in 3 different temperatures. Still frozen, cool and room temp. I do prefer it room temp as that allows the flavours to shine, frozen isn’t great. The fish wasn’t the best quality though. The fish had a lot of sinew, creating an unenjoyable eating experience. Add the poor quality to the varying temperatures and you seldon get the best Nigiri.

Mexican Roll

Tuna and avocado with tempura crunch with two spicy sauces.

Good flavour combinations with the tuna and sauces,there was just too much of the sauce. The roll is drowning on that plate

The miso soup was as good as any miso soup I’ve had a gazillion times before.

Our tea came to the table cold. But they were quick to replace it.

Considering where we are, Mr. Sushi is pretty good, well exceeding my expectations. But you can do better in Vancouver.

7/10

The post Mr Sushi appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

In my search to find the restaurants that I wanted to try In PG during my short stay I was rather surprised to find a shop that claims to have quality donuts.

Of course I am not talking about the hockey pucks Tim Hortons serves up. God awful shite that they are.

No I’m talking about Daydream Donuts.

So first coffee at Ritual, then off to get me some good old fried dough deliciousness.

When we walked in it certainly appeared like they have a good variety.

Later I found out it’s a bit of a sham.

I ordered a dozen donuts with 7 different flavours

Mango, espresso, lemon, blue shark bite, root beer , Pina Colada, and a fruity thing, for pride I would imagine.

My general take away is that while they were all decent in one way or another they were all pretty much the same thing.

A glazed donut with a variety of flavored fondants.

I didn’t see any fritters or long johns or bismarcks on the day I was there. But I have seen them in pictures from other sources.

As for the flavours, some were definitely better than other.

Heres a quick comment on each:

The espresso had great essence of coffee

The mango not too sweet.

The lemon had a nice zing to it.

The Root Beer flavour was quite soda like.

The Pina Colada did have coconut. Unfortunately I’m not a huge fan of the stuff.

The Blue Shark Bite was just too sweet, sickly sweet. That one’s not for me.

So while Daydream Doughnuts are tasty and the quality is definitely there,they just don’t offer a big enough variety. They were all the same glazed doughnuts with slightly modified fondants.

Finding a donut of this quality, in Prince George no less, was a nice surprise

Conclusion: Get a couple of your favorite flavours and enjoy.

8/10

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Today’s question, is there a good latté in Prince George?

I was at the Starbucks on Central last night and it was good. Well, as good as any Starbucks is anywhere in the world.

Perfectly average.

But can we do better here?

A little birdie in town says yes. Try Ritual Coffeeworks.

Like most architecture in this city it doesn’t look like much on the outside.

But what counts is on the inside.

Not just the bright, inviting atmosphere, but the excellent coffee.

That is a good a latté as any I’ve had anywhere.

Rich espresso, great foam and a perfect balance of vanilla.

My son had a Strawberry Matcha.

Not something I would ever drink, but he said it was very good.

I’m very glad I checked out Ritual Coffeeworks this morning.

Will be making a visit here a ritual every time I’m in town.

10/10

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When doing my research about best places to eat in Prince George there appeared to be, to me at least, a surprising amount of decent restaurants to choose from.

Who knew there would be that many options to choose from in this backwater little town?

But when a proper Italian pizza place, Betulla Burning came up on the list, that choice became very easy. My son recommending it only added to my conviction.

First let’s clear up the name. What the hell is a Betulla?

As it turns out, Betulla is Italian birch. Of which there appears to be plenty in and around the restaurant. Is it safe to assume this the fuel for the beautiful pizza oven they have?

That sure is a beauty.

Speaking of beauties, we are here in PG to visit the new addition to our family, my beautiful granddaughter Cecilia.

What a cutie!

But as cute as my granddaughter is we are all getting hungry, which baby watching does nothing for.

What will fix it is some good pizza.

Of which we are picking three.

Pizza #1: The Margherita:

Tomato sauce, Fior Di Latté, grana pafano, fresh basil and EVOO.

The classic. Very good flavours, needs a protein though.

Pizza #2: The Carne Amore:

Tomato sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage, smoked bacon, bocconcini, chili flakes and fresh basil.

Bring on the meat! So awesome. The bocconcini gives a mild tangy flavour while the chili flakes add a mild heat.

Pizza #3: The Big Kahuna:

Tomato sauce, smoked pork shoulder, pineapple, smoked cheddar, shisito peppers, arugula and ranch dressing.

Nice flavours going on with this one. An occasional little kick from the peppers with a pleasant smokiness from the pork. The arugula gives it a mild peppery bite but that cools off with the ranch. Maybe just a bit too much ranch for me but still very good.

All three pizza’s had a beautiful crust, that characteristic crisp with a slight chew, slightly charred from that beautiful pizza oven.

Best of the three for me was the Carne Amore, but all three were very good. I don’t have a large baseline here in Prince George, but I’m gonna guess this is the best in town.

They have a nice looking cocktail menu tempting us.

Merilynn tried the Gin and Pimms.

Gin on gin, not too sweet, with a hint of ginger. Quite pleasant.

I had the Blood Orange Paloma

Tequila, Triple Sec, grapefruit and lemon juices and Blood Orange Pellegrino.

Very citrusy and refreshing. The rosemary imparted a nice aroma on the nose as I sipped.

With, great food, nice drinks, awesome service and a beautiful location you will certainly enjoy a meal at Betulla Burning.

One bite review, you know the rules:

#1 7.9

#2 8.5

#3 8.2

If you are in Prince George you will find them Downtown.

Check out their webpage here

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