Yellowtail 2005 Shiraz - Review

I was making some spaghetti last night and I decided to crack open a bottle. The Yellowtail 2005 Shiraz, was the bottle I choose. The only other choice was a homemade bottle of white that was given to me and I would most likely use for cooking in the future.

So I cracked this baby open. I did notice that it had a synthetic cork, something I'm not quite used to but it didn't seem to cause any change in the taste of the wine. The smell from both the glass and the cork was a slight bit fruity but overall quite pleasant. The initial taste was both smooth and not harsh which I like. It isn't a particularly dry wine and has a slight sweet flavour. This is something that can go either way for me. It went the way of good for me this time and seemed to complement the smoothness.

So all in all this is a good wine, and specially for the price. This bottle is usually in the sub twenty dollar range making it a good choice for the wine drinker with a low budget.

Overall I give this bottle a 7 out of 10.

Kirkland Take and Bake Pizza - Review

Well nothing says cheap like the Costco take and bake pizza from their in store brand Kirkland. It was of the Hawaiian/Deluxe variety (half and half). It was around 10 dollars and was in the larger size pizza variety (surprise, surprise from Costco).

After sticking it in the oven for the alloted time for cooking, I walked in as my girlfriend was cooking it, not sure of the exact time, it was crisp and ready to eat. A little well done on the bottom but all in all it was cooked quite well. Oh did I mention this was one of those square pizzas. Just thought I should in case you decide to purchase one yourself.

So after the cooking we cut it up into squares and chowed down. Of course I added a little ranch dressing to the mix, as that is the best way to eat a pizza I think. The Hawaiian side was sweet and tasty and the deluxe side was a bit more savory and I liked the fact that it did not have olives on it. They are good in a Martini but should stay off my pizza, just my opinion.

So I ate a good four pieces and they went down quite well with the Coke I was drinking. With my girlfriend and roommate, we ate most of it. Put the rest in the fridge for later.

So overall this was a pretty good tasting pizza for the price and I will give it a 7 out of 10.

Western Family Complete Pancake Mix - Review

Mmmmm.....pancakes. I do love pancakes and I also love not having to do to much work to get my pancakes. This is why I purchased some Western Family instant pancake mix of the buttermilk variety.

The directions are simple. Just add water. Thats it. This is a big plus for the lazy morning where the coffee is not quite ready and you don't want to think about what you are doing. All I added after that was a little cinnamon for aroma and flavor.

So throw this batter on a hot skillet and cook for a few minutes flipping once or twice. Throw it on a plate and add butter and syrup. Then you are done and ready to eat.

I give this product a 8 out of 10.

Labatt Genuine Beer - Review

Beer. What a tasty beverage. Well most of the time it is.

I was looking through the fridge this evening when I came across a can of Labatt Genuine beer. Well I thought Canadian Beer, that can't be to bad. Truthfully it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It is still large batch production beer that usually isn't the best. However it went down not to badly.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying this beer is good or spectacular but its drinkable. This is something I can't say about most American beers like Budweiser (which is a ripoff of the original Czech beer with the same name).

So how did it taste? Well it was clean and goes down smoothly. It has a little bit of that swampy taste I find with most mass production beer. As well the taste of yeast is not to strong but is still there, just a little bit.

Over all I give this beer a 5 out of 10.

The Gourmet Meat Shoppe - Chicken Nuggets - Review

Well here is something from the cheap side. I picked these up at the local super market for around 8 bucks or so. They are also in the shape of moons and stars. Yes we bought the kids version for the cheaper price.

They cook up in about 22 min in a 375 degree oven and recommend be flipped half way through the cooking process. I don't bother with that step and I found they taste just about the same.

Lets get to the taste. Well they are a little bland and don't offer to much on there own. However dipped in some plum sauce or honey mustard and they become eadable. Keeping in mind these are for the youngsters I am sure they would enjoy just a little more seasoning for some flavour out of the box.

I give these a score of 4 out of 10

Grey Monk 2004 Pinot Noir - Review

Wine, quite the concoction of grapes and yeast, aged to perfection. This is what we hope anyways. I cracked open a bottle of Grey Monk Pinot Noir this evening. The winery is located in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

This wine is in the moderate price range, in the sub twenty dollar amount. The taste is a little dry with a lightly tart aftertaste. The smell is slightly fruity but not all that strong. I prefer a wine a little on the dry side. I'm not to sure if I enjoy this dry of a wine but it was in the acceptable range.

Compared to the wine I have been subjected to in the past (home brews of all sorts) it was a welcome change from the really cheap quality of those particular wines.

Overall I would rate this wine a 6 out of 10 and would consider trying a different year or sampling another bottle to get a better judge of this particular wine. Maybe there will be a revisit in the future of this one.

Seasons Hill Top Bistro - Review

Well this probably doesn't fit into the budget dining but I did go here recently with my girlfriend and my mother (one paying).

This place is quite high end the prices match. We started with a round of appetizers which included stuffed mushroom caps (cheese and even more cheese), and crab cakes. Both dishes were delicious and quite rich. Quite worth it I think.

The main course was where it was at. I enjoyed red snapper with mussels. It was a little on the salty side but it was tasty. The portion was not what you would expect from your local burger joint but after the rich appetizers it was good to not be stuffed until you could no longer walk. Other dishes that were enjoyed included Ahi Tuna that was seared on both sides, leaving a juicy inside.

For the life of me I can't remember the wine we enjoyed. It was French and I was the one to select it. It was good (red, good bouquet, smooth with a little bit of a sharp finish) and if I return there anytime soon I will try and remember to look it up.

Desert, well we were all pretty happy with what we had just ate so I enjoyed a nice glass of Dow's Port and the others had plain old coffee.

This is my first review and I will in the future take notes on my experiences. I had to do this from memory and it was a little bit sketchy. I will also include a rating system of the standard out of 10 score.

I will give this experience a 9 out of 10.

Here we go

Lets start off with a little background about myself. My name is Stirling Noyes and in my twenties. I run my own small production company with my roommate Tony and hopefully soon it will take off. As well I am an amature photographer and have just recently set up my own darkroom in this ok sized two bedroom appartment. However the main reason I am writing this is to talk about food experience in Vancouver from the point of view of a college aged not to wealthy individual. I will cover my own cooking experiences and as well as standard resturant, cafe reviews. I will also like to cover local wines and locally produced food as well.

It might be a little all over the place for now but I will soon try and bring it together in a more organized manner. So here we go.