Hello foodies! Oh, how I’ve missed you all. Thank you for hanging in there while all of this craziness settles. I hope you’re all having a fabulous week, & that you’re just as excited for Victoria Vegan Fest as I am! See you there? I’ll be the one selling Char Stars 

{btw, check out the story CTV did about our big day!}

Though this whole month has been busy, it has been amazing. It’s been so long since I’ve worked this much, had this much on my plate, and I’m finding that reaching all of my goals and defeating each challenge is making me feel stronger & happier. Truthfully, I think I needed this “stress”! Without stress, learning cannot happen. And I am learning a lot!

Anyhoo, I thought I’d re-cap a day that actually happened a few weeks ago. Dallas was home for only a week before leaving on June 17th, and he’ll be gone until roughly August 31st. Sad face. During the short week he was home, I was still working three jobs, making Char Stars like a mad woman, & studying like crazy for biology. When I actually had an unexpected day off, we spontaneously decided to drive to Victoria. And by spontaneous I mean, I was making Char Stars, dropped what I was doing, and we left. Though my irrational mind wanted to freak out about the things I felt I should be doing, I knew I needed to enjoy the last full day I would get with my man this summer. So enjoy it I did!

First, Dallas took me to a bubble tea place he discovered only a few weeks before {cannot remember the name! Damn.}. I had never had bubble tea before, but oh my! It did not disappoint. The tapioca balls are definitely the best part! Dallas ordered the Strawberry Banana:

And I ordered Passionfruit:

Nom nom

We checked out some outdoors-y stores for a few hours, looking at clothing for hiking {post on that later}, and of course stopping at Sarah’s Place for some more Go Max Go bars. HAD TO. 

For dinner, we decided to finally try Rebar. {To check out the menu, click here.} I’ve heard so many good things about it, and definitely needed to find out for myself. Dallas was obviously game for good food.

When we arrived, the restaurant was packed {on a Tuesday night!}. That’s the first sign of a great restaurant for sure. And though they were busy, we were seated within 10 mins.

After being seated, we were delivered a complimentary basket of their fresh rosemary garlic foccacia bread. Mmmmmm! I do love me some garlic bread. It was buttery, soft, garlicky, & warm. Exactly what you’d expect out of your garlic bread. So good.

For a starter, we ordered the tofu & shiitake potstickers. To be honest, these were not our favourite. Not awful, just not spectacular. I love regular veggie potstickers, but was not a fan of these. At a cost of $8 for 5 little guys, I don’t think these are something we would order again.

Onto the mains! Dallas and I decided we would share two entrees, since we both wanted to try the Monk’s Curry and the Mount Fuji Stirfry. First up? The stirfry.

At first I thought it looked a little dry, but upon first bite, we both agreed it was just perfect. The vegetables were cooked to that desired crisp-tender texture, & the sauce complimented it well. Underneath it all was the jasmine rice we ordered to go with it. Even more impressive was the variety of vegetables. From eggplant, to mushrooms, to bok choy, this dish had it all! Lovely.

The Monk’s Curry, however, we agreed was our favourite. Creamy, spicy, & packed with just as many vegetables as the stirfry, this dish stole the show. The roasted peanuts & lime were a nice touch, and our forks kept competing for those little peanut halves. This is definitely a dinner we’d order again.

Of course, we had to have dessert. Obviously. Vegan brownie with walnuts it was! {Side note: You know you love someone when you’re willing to share your chocolate dessert with them.}

The brownie itself was cake-y, and we usually prefer fudgy {everyone has a different opinion on the perfect brownie}, but the icing is what really got to us. It was rich, definitely made with coconut oil, & was like a thin layer of a soft chocolate bar sitting atop a brownie. OMG. I could seriously eat a whole pan of just the icing. And the more I think about it, a cake-y brownie was probably a better match for such a rich icing. LOVED this dessert, & I highly recommend it!

Overall, we were satisfied with Rebar, but it would be awesome to see more vegan options on the menu. I get really bored of seeing another OMGYAYSTIRFRY on every restaurant menu. Many of us vegans are tired of eating stirfries  It would also be great to see a vegan cheese option, so that it can be swapped for the dairy in other regular menu items. Because seriously, I would have been all over the enchiladas at Rebar. Gimme Mexican fooood!!

Anyhoo, I’m out! See you guys on Canada Day? Our first annual Victoria Vegan Fest is going to be awesome!! So excited!

peace, love, food <3

Char, xo