February 2012

In Four Beakers

Motomachi Shokudo: Another Great Ramen Shop

February 12, 2012

Motomachi Shokudo is another ramen restaurant on Denman Street. It’s related to Kintaro, but they do offer a different style of ramen….plus the wait is much much shorter. I love how the restaurant sign has french “Nouilles du ramen japonaises”. I am sure you can tell what that means. Japanese Ramen Noodles! M and I came with PikachuGirl since it was one of her favorite ramen places.

Even with a bit of a wait, we got seated in about 10 minutes.

The interior is very rustic with lots of wood and concrete textures. It’s quite small, but the turnover rate of each table is quite fast. The food comes out quite fast too and the staff seemed very efficient! I was impressed.

Green Tea ($1). It was not free unlike most Japanese Restaurants and it was just a tea bag. I would have expected something nicer, but it didn’t bother me too much since I just wanted green tea to accompany the meal. You know me, I need tea!

Butchigiri Gyoza ($3.75) was longer than usual gyozas, but it was packed with pork and chives. Delicious!

Petit BBQ Pork Rice Bowl ($2.95) it was small, but it was very good. It was a good size before the ramen comes. It doesn’t get you full but if you are in a super hungry mood, it’ll keep you occupied before the ramen comes.

Shio Ramen ($8.95) comes with an egg, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, green onions, and large slice of pork. What is great about their ramen is that you get all those toppings without paying extra.

Extra BBQ Pork Ramen with Extra noodles ($10.95 + $1) has bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, egg, greens, seaweed and lots of pork! M really liked it because there really was a lot of meat and so much food. He was so full he couldn’t finish all the noodles. Perhaps the extra serving of noodles wasn’t necessary.

If you look at the pork, it was bit fatty, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Its up to personal preference.

Bamboo Charcoal Dark Miso Ramen ($9.75) is one of their specialties and it was an interesting experience since I’ve never had such dark broth before. The broth has a nice flavour to it, but was a tad salty and rich. The slice of pork was very tender and not super fatty, which I liked. I wish they had one more extra slice of pork. The noodles have a good texture too.

It was a good experience, but try not to eat too messy because the bamboo charcoal may ruin your clothes.

If you want to tweak the taste of your ramen, there are a few spices you can put in.

Overall, the prices are decent and you get lots to eat without paying extra. We all got super full and walked out happy.

Words of Wisdom:

Good broth and noodles
No much parking around
Under $10

We Rate Motomachi Shokudo:

Address:
740 Denman St
Vancouver, BC

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Vancouver

In Cafe

Bel Cafe: Hot Chocolates and Macarons

February 11, 2012

Bel Cafe is beside Hawksworth in the Georgia Hotel. They serve up sandwiches, pastries, coffee and other delicious goodies.

Rose and Raspberry Hot Chocolate (~$7) with Valrhona Ivoire White Chocolate, rose oil, vanilla, and freeze-dried raspberry.
It comes with Vanilla shortbread.

The hot chocolate was really pretty, but I found this to be too sweet for my liking. The sweetness overpowered the taste, but that might just be me.

Vanilla shortbread was ok, but I thought it was also sweet since it was coated in sugar. It came with the hot chocolate. I think it would go well with tea or a coffee.

Macarons ($2) are one of their specialties, so I was excited to chomp down on these! Yummm.

Black Sesame Macaron ($2) was a really unique flavour and I just had to try it. I really liked the black sesame flavour.

Pistachio Macaron ($2) looks electric green, kinda radioactive in a way. Besides the color, the macaron had a good texture and tasted really good.

I honestly didn’t like the hot chocolate, but the cookies and macarons were delicious! Perhaps you will find this experience a bit different from I did.

Words of Wisdom:

Hot Chocolates are not that great
Macarons are good
Gets pretty busy around lunch

We Rate Bel Cafe:

Location:
801 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.belcafe.com/

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In Dineout

Edible Canada at The Market: Dine Out

February 10, 2012

The one place I really wanted to try out was Edible Canada on Granville Island for Dine Out Vancouver. It’s $28, so its quite affordable compared to the $38 restaurant options. They only use the best sustainable ingredients and take pride in that. They opened up in the Summer of 2011 and since then, they have changed their menu more than 6 times. They really do like to keep everything seasonal and fresh!

PLUS, they have extended their Dine Out menu so you can still have this deal till Febuary 11th, 2012!

The place was packed and the service was good except it did seem like they were trying to push more items onto us to make us order additional items. It’s totally understandable, but usually water and bread is complementary right? Tap water is free!

Bread ($5) we actually thought it was complementary part of the meal but apparently it wasn’t. We didn’t mind too much since all of us split the cost. The bread was good and comes in a few varieties with and oil and balsamic dip.

Canyon Rabbit Terrine has quince mustard, pickled pemberton vegetables, and warm potato bread.

I’ve never eaten a rabbit before and it tasted really good as a terrine! Kinda flakey in texture like tuna. Everything went really well together.Half of the table ordered this and the only comments were about how they didn’t like brussel sprouts…so I ate all their brussel sprouts

Hazelmere Farm potato & Leek Soup has agassiz hazelnut & horseradish foam, and purple potato chips.

The other half of the table had this and they really liked it. Some didn’t like the horseradish foam, but if you just stir it around to incorporate it into your soup, it tastes a bit better.

Wild Mushroom Crusted Wild Albacore Tuna Salad has warm finger ling potatoes, kale & autumn squash, and wild mushrooms.

This is just so delicious looking! The salt on top was a nice touch to bring out the flavour of the tuna and the vegetables were yummy too. They only thing we noticed was that some of us got 7 pieces, others got 8 and someone else got 9. I was clearly jealous of CanuckGirl because she had 9 pieces.

Slow Cooked Alberta Grangeland Elk Stew has fraser valley sunchokes, brussel sprouts, carrots, and rosemary. Notfauna and TaiwaneseGirl liked their dish! It would be good if they had something starchy to dip into that sauce.

Chefs Selection of Petit Fours has Okanagan pear gelée, vanilla salted thomas haas chocolate brownie, and maple bourbon toffee pudding.

Okanagan pear gelée was loved by half the table and the other half really didn’t like it. I personally liked it because it had a really good taste to it despite the coating of sugar.

Maple bourbon toffee pudding was alright but tasted a bit dry. The caramel sauce was delicious.

Vanilla salted thomas haas chocolate brownie was also a bit on the dry side, but the chocolate on top was so good.

At the end of the meal, we were all give Bacon Sea Salt! It was a really nice touch. They said it goes well in salads and eggs.

Doesn’t that just look so good? I haven’t tried it yet, but I think I will soon.

Overall, the dinner was really good and worth the $28. They use some very unique ingredients, which you wouldn’t find at other restaurants. All of my friends were happy with our dishes. The only thing bad about the night was some tomato soup spillage that got on a few of our jackets but the management took care of it. I would probably come back again.

Words of Wisdom:

Great dishes with unique type of protein
Some free and some paid parking in the area

We Rate Edible Canada:

Address:
1596 Johnston St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.ediblecanada.com/bistro.php

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Vancouver

In Coquitlam

Garden Fresh Express: Salad Bar in Coquitlam Center

February 9, 2012

I clearly had a week where I totally thought I needed to eat healthier, so I kept going to salad bars. M and I went to Coquitlam Center Mall just to go to the food court for lunch. We were trying to be somewhat cheap too. Students like us are cheap and poor. As M had Arbys, I decided to head to Garden Fresh Express to make myself a salad. It was $1.60ish per 100g.

Its a good alternative if you wanted something decently healthy.

Looking at this, I probably fail at making salads. I definitely needed more greens, but all the other stuff there was so tempting. Everything at the bar looked fresh, so I wasn’t afraid to consume anything.

Words of Wisdom:

Lots of parking
Ok price if you don’t get heavy items

Address:
2702 – 2929 Barnet Hwy
Coquitlam, BC V3B

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In Downtown

Rasoee Indian Kitchen: Not Your Traditional Indian Restaurant

February 8, 2012

Rasoee Indian Kitchen serves up modern Indian cuisine. In a way, you can say this is Indian fast food. This location is on Robson, but they do have a few other locations in Vancouver.

The interior has a few tables, but the turnover rate is quite high during lunch since its quick.

Butter Chicken Combo ($8.49 + $2.49) has tender tandoori-baked boneless chicken in a mildly spiced creamy tomato curry sauce with basmati rice. With the combo I got a coke and naan bread.

The naan bread wasn’t good, I chose the original naan as recommended by the cashier. It didn’t feel very fresh and not very authentic. I wish there was a little cup of curry sauce to dunk the bread into since there isn’t enough sauce on top of the rice. The combo isn’t really worth it.

The butter chicken curry was alright, the sauce was a bit on the thin side and not a lot of chicken.

Lamb Curry ($8.49) is on basmati rice as well. MeatGirl thought it was also alright, but good for a quick lunch.

Overall, I feel this is what Indian Fast Food taste like. The curries were light, but nothing too special. It seems like the taste of the curry was just adapted towards Western culture and lost it’s authentic taste. I guess they are trying to target the general population.

However, they are always continually trying to improve their store, so perhaps it will get better. Their service is really good though! The food came really fast!

Words of Wisdom:

Gluten-Free Options
Very Fast Service
Under $10
Take Out and Delivery Options

We Rate Rasoee Indian Kitchen:

Address:
320 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6B
Website:
http://www.rasoee.ca/

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In Japanese

Ebisu Flair Dining Package Review

February 7, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: VANEATS.ca approached me to try out their “Ebisu flair” dining package and write a review about it. I got a complementary dining package for myself and I brought along Flo (she’s a picky eater) to keep the review as unbiased as I could. This review does not guarantee 100% similar service you might normally get from this restaurant.

I’ve been to Ebisu several times and I see it more as a place for large birthday parties since I only come here for that. For Flo, she sees it more as a place to drink and have appetizers. Essentially its a restaurant lounge.

With the VANEATS Ebisu Flair Dining package, it can either make 1 person really full or for 2 people. The package doesn’t say how many it can feed. Flo and I just shared a package and then ordered an item off the menu. It worked out pretty well.

The Ebisu Flair Dining Package comes with 5 items:

Aigamo Duck Salad
Salmon Carpaccio
Tiger Mayo
Crunch & Munch Roll
Mars Attack

The interior is a good size, but some seating is a bit tight if you’re not sitting in a booth. The package doesn’t seem like its meant for a large group type of setting, but more for a date type of thing.

Tiger Mayo has deep fried Black Tiger prawns with a sweet chilli mayonnaise sauce.

The tiger mayo did not have very much flavour on it’s own. The batter and chilli mayo adds a little bit of a kick since there are bit of spice in it. The batter is coated quite thin, so you can tell the tiger prawns are a nice plump size.

Salmon Carpaccio has Atlantic salmon marinated in olive oil topped with citrus white wine mayo & garlic chips

This dish was good, but I felt that with the mayo and the bundle of sprouts covered up the salmon carpaccio. You kinda have to dig to find the salmon. It’s just a personal preference of mine.

Aigamo Duck Salad is made of roasted duck and sauteed button mushrooms served on greens and peppers in a citrus infused ginger dressing.

The salad was quite good and the duck was nice and tender. I thought the orange slices added a dash of color to the dish. The dressing went well with the salad.

Crunch & Munch Roll is made of prawn tempura, cucumber, tobiko wrapped with unagi & avocado. Its served with unagi & wasabi cream sauce on top.

It’s good to eat this when it arrives before the tempura gets a bit soggy. You wouldn’t want the crunch to disappear. This roll was alright, but it wasn’t too amazing or anything.

Mars Attack is made with a deep fried Mars Bar served with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream on corn flakes.

When this arrived at the table, the atmosphere got way too romantic between Flo and I hahaha. This dessert is perfect for dates since its a fun kind of dessert. I really liked the deep fried mars bar since the chocolate and caramel is a bit melted. The ice cream does cut a bit of the fried taste.

Stamina Beef Don ($10.50) has slices of medium rare beef on rice with yakiniku sauce. Flo and I didn’t like this dish at all. The meat was cut quite large and it was very tough to eat. It was very hard to eat.

Overall, we found the the dining package was worth the $20, if you split it between 2 people all you need to do is add an extra dish to get full. The service can be a hit or a miss. In the past I’ve had good and bad service here. The only thing that I really didn’t like was how they charge $3 for tea when most places don’t charge, plus the waitress never said anything.

You can purchase the Ebisu flair Dining Package at VANEATS.ca for $20 beginning on February 9th. Its a good way to see their variety of dishes that they offer without breaking your wallet.

All the items are on their regular menu too! Seeing the Crunch & Munch roll on its own is already about $11, you definitely are getting a good deal.

Words of Wisdom:

$3 charge on tea 🙁
Some dishes are a hit or a miss
Pay parking in the rear
Reservations highly recommended!

We Rate Ebisu:

Address:

827 Bute St.
Vancouver, BC

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In Seafood

Pearl Urban Bistro: A Restaurant By The Sea

February 7, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by the owners to try out their restaurant. I brought along 3 friends to really keep this review as unbiased as possible! This review does not guarantee 100% similar service you might normally get from this restaurant.

Pearl Urban Bistro is a restaurant located in White Rock. They specialize in seafood dishes and are located right by the ocean. It probably has a good view during sunset. Their dishes are around $20 and its a good place to check out if you are a seafood fan.

RomanJ, Abbytizer, M and I headed down here and had a double date kind of thing. I’ve never dined in White Rock before, so it was good to see what was down there. There’s so many restaurants!!

The dining area is very hip and trendy. It’s quite comfortable and cozy.

They have a bar with a good selection of wine!

Long Island Green Iced Tea ($6.95) has mint infused rum, green tea infused gin, fresh lime juice, and cola. Abbytizer thought the drink was sweet and pretty refreshing, but the cola flavor slightly overpowered the mint and green tea flavors.

Orange Drop ($6.95) has Smirnoff Orange, Triple Sec, orange juice, and orange simple syrup with the rim of sugar. RomanJ thought the drink was sweet and refreshing. He mentions this drink is more suitable for a hot a summer day on a patio.

Signature Pearl Punch ($6.95) has Captain Morgan’s spiced rum and pink lemonade. Abbytizer thought that this drink was a little tart, but would suggest it to anyone who enjoys sour flavors in their cocktail.

Signature Onyx 30 Minute Caesar ($6.95) has Smirnoff vodka, fresh horseradish, Worcestershire, lime juice, and Clamato. This was the first time I had a Caesar and it was pretty good. The waitress explained that they make their caesars a bit more mild compared to other restaurants, so its great for first time drinkers of caesars. It has a lot of different flavours going on and you probably have to choose wisely what you eat with this.

Amuse Bouche of Roasted Carrot & Brie Soup has Agassiz Farmhouse brie and herb oil. The soup came in a very very cute little cup and a tiny spoon. It tasted really good. They also have a larger version for a starter dish.

Fresh Shucked Oysters ($2.95 each) comes with lemon jelly, red wine mignonette, and horseradish as toppings. The type we had are medium-sized, but that was the selection they had for this day. It can always change depending on what comes in. Best to ask the server what type they are.

The toppings were good, but my personal favorite topping is just tabasco sauce! You can probably ask them for some.

Baked Brie ($13.45) is wrapped in a pastry with spicy apple & pear compote on top. It is also served with other berries and cranberry toasted bread. When you cut into the baked brie, the ooey gooey cheese just melts out and its so yummy on the toasted bread. If you are a brie and fruit fan, you should get this.

1LB Steamed Mussel Pot ($14.95) has West Coast mussels with lamb chorizo and a fresh herb shallot butter sauce. The chorizo looked more like grounded meat, so there was no sausage looking pieces in the pot. Still, the mussels tasted delicious with the subtle taste of the lamb and butter sauce. The best part about it is dunking the pieces of bread into the liquid and it just soaks up all the delicious flavours.

Canadian Rock Crab Cakes ($24.90) comes with Yukon Gold potato nest, celeriac purée, and spinach cream. It was a pretty good crab cake with lots of crab meat inside. It is mixed with a bit of celery on the inside, so it added a nice additional texture inside. This whole plate probably won’t fill you up, so it’s always good to order additional items with it. I found some of the fries in the potato nest were not of the same consistency, some were crispy and some were very limp. This is a bit odd since the fries are so thin.

Seafood Pappardelle Pasta ($17.95) has Pacific Coast mussels, prawns, and spinach garlic cream sauce. Abbytizer found this pasta dish very disappointing. The pasta sauce was lacking in flavor and a pinch or two of salt would have helped it out. Also, four mussels and two prawns placed on the plate does not make it a “seafood” pasta. For the price and quality, Abbytizer would not order this dish again.

Pemberton Striploin with Mushroom Risotto was the feature of the day. M thought the risotto was very delicious and creamy. He was a bit disappointed by the steak since I think he expected a whole steak. He said it still tasted good, but he just was feeling like a meat kinda of day.

Seared Sablefish ($27.40) comes from the BC Coast with pork belly, arancini, and squash puree. RomanJ thought this dish was delicious even the though the portion of Sablefish was small. Regardless, the fish was juicy and well seasoned. The pork belly was crunchy and savory, which was perfectly complimented with the smoothness of the squash puree.

Chocolate Pate ($9) has Creme fraiche ‘pearl’, macerated cherries, and hazelnut praline. We all agreed this was the best, yet the smallest dessert. Don’t let these little cubes fool you! Since the cubes are like a ganache, it is very rich. It comes with 4 pieces, so its good for sharing.

Marble Chocolate Cheesecake comes with berry compote. It quite large, so definitely sharable! I personally enjoyed this dish.

Warm Apple Galette ($9) comes with vanilla bean ice cream and maple candied bacon. Abbytizer enjoyed this dessert a lot. It offered different textures, from crisp and crunchy to soft and smooth. The caramel sauce was delicious as well.

Vanilla Creme Brulee ($9) was good. It was nice and creamy on the bottom with the hard shell of sugar on top. Our favorite part was just cracking the sugar layer with our spoons.

For the desserts, we were all quit torn on which one was our favorite since each person had a different answer. It comes down to a matter of personal preference.

Overall, the dishes are good and they have a decent selection of food. One thing we thought that could have been improved was the speed of service and a bit of tweaking on a few dishes. We thought the appetizers and entrees took a while to arrive at the table. Maybe it was just a busy night.

Words of Wisdom:

Delicious desserts and drinks!
Free parking after 8pm
Can be seen as a tad expensive
A few minutes from the border
Good for dates

We Rate Pearl Urban Bistro:

Address:
14955 Marine Dr
White Rock, BC V4B

Website:
http://www.pearlurbanbistro.ca/

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In Cafe

Soirette Macarons & Tea: New Specialty Macaron Store

February 6, 2012

Soirette Macarons & Tea is a new little cafe that opened up near Pender and Broughton St. Flo bought me here since she really wanted to try out their macarons. She heard about them from an article in the Vancouver Sun and then bought a few Social Shopper deals.

We came too early to use the deal, but since we were there anyways, we decided to grab some macarons without the coupons. Since we heard good things from this place, we kinda knew we would be back in the near future.

The interior is very cute and cozy with mostly white and clear interior decor with a blue wall at the back. It’s definitely a place for the girls to just kick back and relax with the macarons.

There is very limited seating, so most people we saw just did take out. Definitely not a place for large groups.

They also have a large selection of specialty teas and drinks. I didn’t get a chance to get one, but tea does sounds like a good pairing with tea.

We came an hour before closing, so they were running out of macarons. We didn’t mind since there were still some great flavours.
Don’t let this picture discourage you from going since Flo and I just came late after work.

Macarons ($2 each, 6 for $11.50 or 12 for $22). Flo and I just got 6 macarons to snack on. We got the raspberry, cappuccino, matcha, Salted Caramel, Chocolate and pistachio.

All of them were equality as good as the next one. They are well made and had great texture and flavours.

Overall, one of the better macaron places in town! It seems to be the new fad, which everyone loves.

Words of Wisdom:

Great as gifts!
Priced similar to other places with macarons
Beautiful decor

We rate Soirette Macarons & Tea:

Address:
1433 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6G
Website:
http://www.soirette.com/

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In Burnaby Cariboo-Lougheed

Red Robins: It’s Burger Time

February 5, 2012

I finally let M choose a place to eat and he takes me to Red Robins. Very original isn’t it? Can you hear my sarcasm? Red Robins is a chain restaurant that specializes in burgers.

We walk inside and find the hostess area empty and it takes them a while for them to come and lead us to a table. The host really didn’t seem like he enjoyed his job or wanted to be there. The server at our table was much happier and cheerier to serve us.

The interior has lots of space!

Freckled Lemonade ($4.29) has lemonade and sweet strawberries. It’s bottomless, so you can switch between different flavours if you decide you don’t like a certain one.

Very Berry Raspberry Limeade ($4.29) is also bottomless. It wasn’t as good as the freckled lemonade, so M switched back to the Freckled Lemonade. He didn’t need to pay anything extra.

One Great Ham-Bacon-Cheese n’ Chicken Burger ($11.69) has grilled chicken breast, black forest ham, bacon, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, pickles, and mayo.

I thought it was alright, it filled me up, but it wasn’t super amazing or anything.

5 Alarm Burger ($11.29) has pepper jack cheese, jalapenos salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, chipotle mayo sauce and of course the beef patty. M thought it was an OK burger, but it did have a nice kick of heat.

Bottomless fries comes with every burger unless you substitute them for something else. They are ok fries. Its good if you put the Red Robins Seasoning on it.

Overall, I would say its good for getting burgers here. They aren’t the fanciest burgers, but they do the trick to get you full.

Words of Wisdom:

Large amount of seating, good for b-day parties ( reservation is recommended)
Burgers are best
Lots of parking
Free dessert for Birthday and they sing you songs!

We Rate Red Robin:

Address:

9628 Cameron St
Burnaby, BC

Website: www.canadarobin.com

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In Cafe

Mink Chocolates: A Chocolate Cafe

February 4, 2012

Mink Chocolates in Downtown specializes in all things chocolate. They are dubbed the chocolate cafe since everything they serve has chocolate. They have fondue, waffles, parfaits, drinks, and specialty chocolates!!

Since it was Friday, the girls in the office wanted to fill our hot chocolate cravings. We decided to go to Mink Chocolates for their special hot chocolate for the Hot Chocolate Festival.

It’s a very cute cafe with a lot of natural light and its quite comfortable.

The Sheba Hot Chocolate comes with your choice of milk or dark chocolate ganache hot chocolate with pistachio. It also comes with 72% chocolate wafer.

The hot chocolate was quite smooth and milky with the subtle pistachio flavour. Its wasn’t over powering and they went well together.

The Mermaids Choice Hot Chocolate comes with either milk or dark chocolate ganache hot chocolate, salted caramel and hint of rosemary. It is also served with the chocolate wafer.

Everyone else from the office got this. They really liked the subtle taste of rosemary! They also have a specialty chocolate called The Mermaids Choice with a similar taste. It’s in bar form rather than in the hot chocolate.

The wafer that comes with it is a perfect complement! More chocolatey goodness!

As we were here, we couldn’t resist their amazing looking chocolates. They have so many unique flavours! When do you ever see chocolates named – “Love Potion”, “Open In Case of Emergency”, “The Girls Favorite”, or “No Grumpy”.

It’s quite unique in my opinion and would make amazing gifts. I’ll probably be back grabbing a few packs of chocolates for friends.

Words of Wisdom:

Good Hot Chocolate
Lots of amazing chocolate bars
Closest Skytrain: Burrard or Waterfront

We Rate Minks Chocolate:

Address:
863 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.minkchocolates.com/

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In South Burnaby

Accord Food House: Declining Quality or Just Bad Luck?

February 3, 2012

Last time I had a great experience at Accord Noodle House, so I decided to come again with InsecureGirl and Gloria (ImBusyEating).

Since it’s close to where we all live, we thought we should meet up and chow down on some Taiwanese noodles. It still looks really ugly on the outside and is located beside a very special “toy” store. Just sayin…looks very sketchy but don’t worry about it!

The service this time was quite bad since it was very hard for me to communicate with the server for my order since they spoke minimal English. Good thing Gloria and InsecureGirl know Mandarin or else it would have been super awkward.

Totally different from the outside right?

Tomato Beef Noodle ($8.95) has tender beef, veggies, tomatoes and a yummy broth. InsecureGirl has this and she thought it was alright.

My Grandpa Chinese Pasta ($7.95) has fresh vegetables, tomatoes with a yummy meat sauce. Gloria thought the food was OK and it seemed like something she could make at home. Check out ImBusyEating’s blog to hear what she thought about the whole experience.

Stewed Chicken in Noodle Soup ($7.95) sounded good, but when it arrived, I knew this would be really hard to eat. I didn’t want to use my hands because I didn’t want to get physical with my food. The chicken was a bit on the dry side, thus making it harder to eat. The noodles and the soup base were alright, but it wasn’t amazing or anything.

Overall, the food is alright. I found it quite disappointing since I did have a good experience last time. They did go on vacation in December, so maybe the quality of the food suffered a bit? May be they will improve over time.

Words of Wisdom:

Homey type of food
Super ugly exterior, but don’t be afraid to go inside
Italian Soda, Parfait, Tomato Beef Noodle are highly recommended
Best to come in 4′s
Pay parking on street

We Rate Accord Food House:

Address:

4611 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H

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In Coquitlam

Jimoco Cafe & Pasta: Pasta, Pasta, Pasta, and Pasta

February 3, 2012

Jimoco Cafe & Pasta is located on Austin Road in Coquitlam. They are most famous for the 2-for-1 pasta. The food is cheap and will fill you up, so it’s quite popular for people living in Coquitlam and Burnaby. They have been in the neighbourhood for a while and have won several awards.

As M and I were waiting for a table, we saw a few people we knew. We usually don’t see people we know but it just shows how popular it is for University students in the area.

Lines can always be seen here especially at dinner time. It’s wise to make reservations if you can. Waits during dinner time can range from 5 – 30 mins. The restaurant isn’t large since its quite narrow.

They do have other items on their menu besides pasta, but the 2 for 1 pasta deal is too good to give up.

Complementary Garlic Bread comes to the table, one for each person. It tastes alright, but there isn’t anything amazing about it. There would be a little bit more butter are garlic flavour on the bread.

Spagehetti alla Carbonara has bacon, eggs, parmesan cheese with a cream sauce. M thought the size was a bit small, but not worth regular price. He liked the smokiness of the bacon with the cream sauce.

Pasta Parma with chicken, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and capers in a cream sauce. You can alternatively get this with tomato sauce and different pasta noodles too. I thought it was alright and good for the 2 for 1 deal.

Overall, it’s a good place to go if you are getting the 2-for-1 pasta deal. Very cheap and fills you up.

Words of Wisdom:

2 for 1 pasta
Come in even numbers
Decent pasta
Free parking in the front and rear
Under $10
Should make reservations

We Rate Jimoco Cafe & Pasta:

Address:
1046 Austin Ave
Coquitlam, BC

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In Downtown

Insalata: Salad Bar in Pacific Center

February 2, 2012

I am notorious for not bringing my lunch to work since I always like to sleep for an extra few minutes. Since I feel like I’ve eaten like a slob lately, I thought I should go get something somewhat healthy. Insalata at Pacific Center seemed like a decent quick option.

It’s a self-serve salad bar where you pay for the weight of you food. I think it is around $1.60 for 100g. They actually have a good amount of items to choose from. Theres veggies, pasta, meat and fruits.

I always manage to get around $10 worth of food. I know, I know, I could probably make this for way way cheaper at home. Very true, but I am lazy. For those people who are busy and on-the-go, it’s a good alternative to get some fruits and veggies into your diet.

The fruits and veggies look quite fresh. Seeing that there are tons of people who come here everyday for lunch, you know the food isn’t sitting there for days before being consumed.

Words of Wisdom:

Easy access from Granville Skytrain
Quick and fast for lunch
Fresh Fruits and veggies
Around $10

We Rate Insalata:

Address:
609 Granville St
Vancouver, BC V6C

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In Coquitlam

I Love Sushi: No Love Was Found Here

February 1, 2012

I Love Sushi is located on Schoolhouse near the Coquitlam Silvercity Theatre. This restaurant has a really cute name and thats why I initially wanted to go here. The first time we went, we arrived 30 minutes before they closed, but they would not serve us since they were only doing take-out orders. Understandable, but we were still not happy. M and I came back weeks later since I’m running out of places to try in Coquitlam.

I Love Sushi sells the usual items you would find in a Japanese restaurant.

The menu is here!

Edamame Beans (Complementary) everyone gets these at their table. They were alright, but its on the small side.

Philadelphia Roll B ($7.88) has fresh salmon, cream cheese, avocado, and cucumber. It was pretty good. I always love the creamy texture with the avocado and salmon. Yum.

Caterpillar Roll ($7.88) has unagi, cucumber, and topped with whole avocado. The avocado seemed a bit unripe and stiff, so it would fall off the roll when you pick it up. It still tasted alright, but it was missing something.

Soft Shell Crab Karaage ($6.95) is deep fried soft shell crab. It also tasted a bit average since the fried batter was not as crisp as it could be. It also tasted a bit bland, but thats why the sauce works well with this dish.

Overall, the sushi rolls were alright, but nothing amazing. M was quite disappointed as well by the price and quality of the food. I probably would not return since there are a few other sushi places that opened up in the area. Nonetheless, it is still a neighbourhood favorite for people who live in the area. You may have had a different experience than me.

Words of Wisdom: