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In American

Mr. Bartley’s Gourmet Burgers: Patties The Size of Baseballs in Boston, MA

June 12, 2012

Mr. Bartley’s began in 1960’s across the Harvard courtyard serving up delicious burgers. Since then it has become a Harvard Square institution attracting visitors from around the world. They have won several awards and have been featured in various publications. Some have gone as far to say that they serve the best burgers in the United States.

There is obviously lots of hype over this place, so, when CanuckGirl and I visited Harvard, we needed a taste of it. Around noon on a Monday, there was a line going all the way outside. An old man (who may or may not be Mr. Bartley) gave us menus as we waited in line and took our older. He really hustled everyone in line and we felt that it was quite rude as the menu is quite extensive. We also found it very weird how you had to put down your order before you even got a table. When we did get a table, the server asked us for what we wanted to order. CanuckGirl and I were so confused, so we said we gave our order outside. There seems to be a bit of a coordination issue right from the beginning.

The inside is indeed busy and all the walls have different posters, pictures, and other wacky items. Most of the people who were eating here are tourists (just like us).

Guy Fieri also featured them on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. He always leave his signature logo on the walls of restaurants he visits.

Mr. Bartley’s Famous Bottled Root Beer ($1.95) Can you believe they make their own root beer?

Fresh Lemonade ($2.99) is one of their specialties. It was sour and sweet. It comes in a very large cup, so it does take a bit of effort to drink it all. It’s probably because I am not a huge fan of lemonade.

The iPhone Burger ($12.45) has boursin cheese, grilled mushrooms & onions. It comes with a side of sweet potato fries. You are able to choose how you would like your burger done! CanuckGirl decided to have her burger medium rare. It was spot on! The sweet potato fries were delicious too.

The Guy Fieri Burger ($10.15) has Muenster cheese, tomato, lettuce, red onion, and russian dressing. It comes with french fries and a pickle. There’s nothing too amazing about it. I got my burger medium well done. The fries tasted alright. I did enjoy their patties!

Overall, their specialty burgers are what lures most tourists, but whats interesting is that their regular type of burgers are way cheaper. I would recommend you to stick with their regular menu. Their burgers are definitely good, but I would not say it’s the best .

Words of Wisdom:

Lines long at peak hours, but seats become available quite quickly
Service is quite mediocre
Around $10 – $15 for lunch

We Rate Mr. Bartley’s:

Address:
1246 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA
Website:
http://www.mrbartley.com/

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In American

Pourhouse Restaurant: Sandwich + Side + Beer = $14

March 10, 2012

Pourhouse Restaurant in Gastown has a good lunch deal for $14, where you get a sandwich, a beer and a side. Since it does come with beer, the price isn’t too bad.

Mandu, KoreanGirl and Jojocake came here for lunch on a weekday, but once we sat down, we really didn’t want beer since we will had some work to do in the afternoon. It would have been awkward smelling like beer in the office. Pourhouse gives you the option of having other drinks instead.

Cappuccino was just what Jojocake needed. She thought it was alright, but the temperature definitely could have been hotter.

Macchiato is what Mandu needed. Similar to Jojocake, her coffee was just lukewarm and not hot.

Tea is what KoreanGirl and I needed. The tea was a good temperature and the tea cups came warmed too.

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Cream of Cauliflower Soup. This is what everyone else at the table ordered. The pulled pork sandwich has pulled pork, BBQ sauce, aged cheddar and slaw. They thought it was bit small at first, but when they had everything, they were all full.

Portobello Sandwich with Cream of Cauliflower Soup. It has bits of portobello mushroom, garlic aioli, and asiago. It was #meatlessmonday, so I had to choose this option.

I thought the soup was a bit rich, but it did have a good strong flavour of the cauliflower.

Since I do love mushrooms, I did enjoy this sandwich a lot. The portobello mushroom had a great taste that went well with the other ingredients.

Overall, it was a good lunch deal since it came with beer, but the service was very slow. If you are short on time for lunch, best not to dine here since you will be late. It took us about 1.5 hrs to dine here. If you do have a bit more time, it’s a good option if you are craving some beer.

Words of Wisdom:

Slow service
Luke warm coffee isn’t good…ask for hotter
Good sandwiches
Good lunch deal

We Rate Pourhouse Restaurant:

Address:
162 Water St
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.pourhousevancouver.com/

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In American

The American CheeseSteak Co: Nom Nom Nom Meat

January 27, 2012

The American CheeseSteak Co. opened up around Davies and Granville a few months ago. They serve up some delicious CheeseSteaks at decent prices. Anthony Sedlak, the chef of The American CheeseSteak Co. was also the host of the Food Network show – The Main. He’s also lost a lot of weight since then.

If you’re looking a good filling meal with lots of delicious meat in a bun, this place is the place to go.

Dee from Gastrofork and I decided to check it out, so do check out her thoughts on the meal as well.

Bottled Coke ($3) I love old school bottled coke in the glass bottle. It brings me back to the days before I was born. I also caught a picture of Dee in the background just for fun.

Le Bifteck (Small-$10) has shaved prime rib, caramelized onion jam, double-cream brie, arugula, and dijon.

The ooey gooey brie cheese with the meat just made a very good combination. It was very messy to eat, so I got sauce all over my hands and face. I felt like a kid not being able to control how clean or messy I ate. You probably need 2 napkins or so. Even for a small size, I was completely full!

For some reason, all the ingredients inside the bun made the bottom side of the bread soggy, so it contributed to the messy factor.

The Coppola (Small- $10) has shaved prime rib, sautéed mushrooms, onions and green peppers, hot banana peppers, house-made roasted tomato sauce and provolone.

If you take a close look, that looks kinda spicy. Check out what Dee (Gastrofork) had to say about her Coppola CheeseSteak.

ACC Fries (Small-$4) is tossed with garlic, parsley and parmesan. We shared the fries and they were quite good, but we still were unable to finish them since the sandwich really filled us up. There are a lot of fries in the small size, so best to share with a friend.

Overall, we had a good time eating their huge meaty sandwiches. If you are a lover of sandwiches with lots of meat, you’ll probably love this place.

Words of Wisdom:

Small is quite filling
Eating the CheeseSteak can get quite messy
Around $10
Some seating, but it’s not too busy during dinner time

We Rate American CheeseSteak Co:

Address:
781 Davie St
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.americancheesesteak.com/

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In American

Ricky’s All Day Grill: Where the Utensils are Dirty

January 19, 2012

Ricky’s All Day Grill has a location in City Central Mall in Surrey. After class, a few of us got really hungry, so we came here to chow down.

They have a lot of items on their menu, so you might be able to find something that will fill your food cravings.

The first thing we noticed was that the utensils were really really dirty! So, we asked for new ones.

The second sets were also quite dirty! We didn’t bother asking for another set of utensils since if they can’t get it right the 2nd time, we didn’t have high hopes that it would be any cleaner. I think they just didn’t dry properly.

I’m sure this happens at most restaurants, but it’s still kinda gross. Best to grab a cup of water and start cleaning your utensils….Asian style.

Classic double egger has 2 eggs, shredded hash browns, toast with chorizo sausage. M liked the sausage, but other than that, everything else was decent.

Classic Benny with shaved ham has 2 poached eggs and ham on English muffins, topped with hollandaise. It also has shredded hash browns and fruit. InsecureGirl thought it was OK too, but not very good.

“R” Signature BLTC Salad comes with bacon, 3 cheeses, tomatoes, green onions and chicken strips with Dijon ranch dressing. It also comes with bread. I really didn’t like the salad. The chicken was dry and the salad didn’t seem very fresh.

Overall, the food was passable but nothing I would come back to. It’s still quite popular with students at the SFU campus.

Words of Wisdom:

Lots of Parking at the mall outside Ricky’s
Mediocre service
Dirty utensils
Prices slightly expensive for what you get

We Rate Ricky’s All Day Grill:
Address:
10153 King George Hwy
Surrey, BC
Website:
http://www.rickys-restaurants.com/

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In American

Jimmy’s Place Restaurant: Standard Breakfasts

January 3, 2012

Hidden in a small plaza on North Road lies Jimmy Place Restaurant. I’ve been in the plaza numerous times, but I’ve never seen this restaurant before. It’s easily missed when just passing by.

The interior seems a bit dated and has a diner feel to it. It’s cash only, but the food is quite cheap and affordable. It’s known as a neighbourhood favorite for their breakfast.

2 Pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 bacon with toast ($6.95) is a pretty standard breakfast.

Two eggs breakfast with 2 sausages, toast and hash browns ($5.95) They didn’t have hashbrowns left, so they give you fries instead.

Denver Omelet with cheese ($9.95). M thought it was alright, but its nothing amazing.

Everything Omelet ($10.95) has green peppers, tomatoes, onion, mushroom, green onions, ham, bacon and cheddar cheese.

I found this dish to be quite expensive for what you get. It tasted alright, but nothing too spectacular.

Overall, the food is ok, but it’s not the most amazing breakfast place to come dine at.

Words of Wisdom:

Cash only
Lots of parking
Lots to choose from in their menu
Cheap and affordable

We Rate Jimmys Place Restaurant:

Address:
435 North Road
Coquitlam, BC

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In American

Nestle Toll House Cafe: Open at Guildford Mall

December 25, 2011

Nestle Toll House Cafe has opened its newest cafe at the Guildford Mall in Surrey – the first location in Canada! Gmoney works in the mall, so she kept me updated on when they would open. The reason why Nestle Toll House intrigued me was because of an old episode of friends, where Phoebe’s Grandmothers cookie recipe originated from a relative named “Nestley Toulouse”… which turns out it was a lie and was just the recipe on the back of a Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag.

The serve up a lot of different items from cake cookies, brownies, cookies, cookie pizza, coffee, drinks…..etc.

There were lots of choices, which quite overwhelmed me as well.

I grabbed a few items to go. 2 cookies and a brownie came out to be around $9, which was really expensive. I don’t remember the exact prices, but I’m just guesstimating.

Button Brownie (~$3.49) has a mini chocolate chip cookie on top of a brownie. It tasted good and it was cute that there was the cookie on top. I found it was still a bit expensive considering it was just a brownie.

Walnut and Chocolate Chip (~$1.95) was really good. It was a bit hard to taste all the walnuts, but the texture was chocolaty and chewy.

Double Chocolate Chip (~$1.95) was also chewy and chocolaty.

Overall, the items are good, but there are still other places in town to get better cookies. I probably wouldn’t return since its a bit out of my way to go to Guildford Mall.

Words of Wisdom:

Can get Pricey
Large range of cookie flavours
A few seats
Located inside Guildford Mall

We Rate Nestle Toll House Cafe:

Address:

1237 – 2695 Guildford Town Centre

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In American

Milestones: Decent food but on the pricey side

April 13, 2011

After studying, ConsultingGirl and I were hungry, so we headed over to Milestones. ConsultingGirl wanted something healthy, M didn’t want sushi and I didn’t want to revisit any restaurants in the Brentwood area. Somehow a long conversation in the car led to a decision to go to Milestones.

ConsultingGirl stayed true to her healthy path and ordered the grilled chicken salad ($12.99). It contains chicken, tortilla chips, cilantro, mixed greens and drizzled with a type of honey lime peanut sauce.

ConsultingGirl was happy with the size of the salad and thought the sauce used in the sauce was killer. (Maybe not enough to kill someone). She had no complaints.

M ordered the KobeStyle Classic Meatloaf ($19.99). I don’t know if there was kobe beef in this, but I doubt it because kobe “style” doesn’t necessarily mean it is. On top of the meat loaf are fried onions and it sits on top of garlic mashed potatoes and mushrooms. There is also brocollini on the side.

The size of the meatloaf was quite small for the price. M kept saying I tricked him into ordering this but he still ate everything. The meat was moist and tender but the fried onions give an illusion that the dish is bigger than it really is.

I ordered the Portobello Mushroom chicken ($18.99). This has double breasts of chicken, portobello mushrooms and a cream sauce over capellini pasta. There was also brocollini on the side.

I did not like this dish too much. The chicken seemed a bit over done and the cream sauce was a bit too salty. On the menu it said double breast of chicken which is supposed to be a full breast of chicken. The chicken pieces were also small in my opinion and at first glance, it seems like the chicken breast is a pretty big size, but once you remove the mushrooms, the chicken is quite small. Either I got gipped or their chickens got small breasts. I still got full from my meal, but not too happy about the quality.

Overall, we had a decent time. With so many other restaurants that are somewhat similar in the area, I wouldn’t return unless there was a good special going on. Joeys, Cactus Club, and Browns Social House are all across the street.

Words of Wisdom:

Large parking lot
Items are a bit pricey

We Rate Milestones:

Address:

4420 Lougheed Hwy
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.milestonesrestaurants.com

In 24 hours

Dennys: Disappointed by Hash

April 2, 2011

On a Sunday morning, the best thing to do is to have brunch! Since M and I were craving brunch, we decided to head off to Dennys. It’s close by and I really wanted to figure out which 24 hour place was better – Knight & Day or Dennys.

We went to the location near Lougheed Mall, it was pretty packed but if you only have 2 people, you will probably get a table right away.

M started off with a lemonade and I just got hot water.

M got the Meat Lovers Trio. It has the Golden country-fried steak smothered in savory country gravy with two sausage links, two crispy bacon strips and two eggs prepared in any way you want.

We liked the fried steak since it is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It’s not like a real steak but it tasted more like meatloaf.

It is also served with their hashbrowns. Their hashbrowns were good but we have noticed that they skimped out on the amount of hashbrowns. Very minimal amount of hasbrowns. That was the only downside of his meal.

I ordered the GrandSlamwich. It has two scrambled eggs, sausage, crispy bacon, shaved ham, mayonnaise and cheese on potato bread grilled with a maple spice spread. Served with crispy hash browns.

The sandwich was way smaller than I had it when it first was introduced. The sandwich tasted good, but they really skimped out on the ingredients…and also on the hashbrowns.

That was our Sunday brunch! Food quality was decent but we were really disappointed in the amount of food presented. At the end of the meal, our verdict was decided that we prefer Knight and Day over Dennys.

We rate Dennys:

Address:

500 Austin Ave
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
www.dennys.com/en/

In American

Cactus Club Cafe: The Tale of Awkward Service

March 25, 2011

ConsultingGirl and I originally wanted to go to Joeys Burnaby, but they told us there would be a 30 min wait for a table for 2 people. We lingered around for a bit but then decided to head over to Cactus Club Cafe since we were starving to death.

There was a major revamp since the last time we were here. It is very roomy, has sexy decor and is on par with the other locations in Downtown. It’s also pretty dark, so it’s the perfect place to go it you have a breakout of pimples…your date won’t be able to see your imperfections. =D

Since ConsultingGirl and I love tea. We both got tea! She ordered the Earl Grey and asked for sugar and milk on the side. I am more asian, so I got green tea with a side of lemons.

ConsultingGirl ordered the Short Rib Sandwich. It contains caramelized onions, beef jus, emmental cheese on sourdough bread. She also got fries on the side.

I ordered the BBQ Duck Clubhouse. It was on a pecan fruit bread and contained BBQ duck, pan seared chicken and crisp prosciutto. I really loved the bread, it tasted really good except for the part where the sauces would seep through the bread and get onto your hands. In the end, I just ended up eating it with a fork and knife.

The sandwich did have a lot of meat, but the duck and the chicken were a bit on the dry side. The crisp prosciutto was amazing! I got a salad on the side instead of fries.

After this point, our server look a while to come back to take our order for dessert. We felt kinda abandoned since we were really wanted to order more. We pondered for a long time to figure out what to do….so ConsultingGirl and I had a lemon eating contest with the lemons that came with my tea. We ate all the lemon slices…so we both won.

After flaggin down the waitress, we got our dessert menus. We decided pretty quickly what we wanted….but where did our server go? We had to flag down another waitress to find our server. With much luck, she came back to take our order.

We had the Chocolate Lava Cake. It comes with vanilla ice cream and a bit of berry sauce. In inside of the cake just flowed out and it was super rich and delicious! If you love chocolate, you will love this dessert!

At the end of the dessert, usually comes the bill. Can you guess what happened next? Our waitress disappeared again! We did the whole… looking around thing to indicate to the waitress that we were looking for her. During our stalking periods, we noticed that she was tending to her other tables more. At this point, it was time to leave and we were not please at all. In the end, we just payed 12% tip and didn’t make a big deal about it and left.

Words of Wisdom:

Free Parking
Great food
Great looking decor

We Rate Cactus Club Cafe:

Address:

4219 Lougheed Hwy
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.cactusclubcafe.com

In American

Boston Pizza

March 20, 2011

Coming back from SFU, M is not always the best dressed when he finishes writing a long essay. I wanted to go to Cactus Club and he wanted to go to Boston Pizza. Again, I looked at him funny. He said he’s wearing sweats and doesn’t look the part to step into Cactus Club. I laughed at him and then we went to Boston Pizza.

Boston Pizza is a Canadian founded company from Alberta. It’s kinda funny since the name of the restaurant is Boston Pizza. You would think they would be American.

Boston Pizza has 2 areas to sit, in the dining area with booth style seating or in the bar area. The bar area is the best place to drink and watch the game.

Since it was Wednesday, they had a special on small pizzas for $10.99. There were lots of flavours to choose from and we chose the Pepperoni and mushroom pizza ($10.99).

The pizza was really good, crunchy crusts and ooey gooey toppings. M instantly became a fan. The crust is thin and not very doughy, so you won’t feel super bloated.

I was yet again trying to be healthy and ordered a greek salad ($10.99). It was a pretty bad greek salad, the leaves were cut way too large to fit into my mouth. There was too much feta cheese on top. The onion were also cut too big. When you bit into a piece of onion, all you could taste was the onion and the burning sensation.

I would never order this again.

M ordered the Boston Brute ($13.48). A deli style sandwich loaded with Genoa salami, pepperoni, smoked ham, pizza mozzarella, onion and pizza sauce. Baked on a French-style bun.

Instead of fries or a salad, he substituted with cactus cuts, which are thinly sliced potatoes that are deep fried and has a little bit of spicy kick to it.

Words of Wisdom:

Good pizza
Special deals everyday
free parking
Salads are horrible

We rate Boston Pizza:

Address:

4219 Lougheed Hwy
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.bostonpizza.com

In American

FatBurger

March 12, 2011

To fulfill M’s desire to go to FatBurger, we decided to go here to grab a quick dinner. Like usual, I gave the weird facial expression and decided to go with him.

The closest location to us was the Lougheed Hwy location near Brentwood Mall.

This is the only FatBurger I’ve ever been to, but I am pretty sure most of them look like this. You order up at the counter and pay. Then they give you a number and the meal is delivered to your table.

If you are just by yourself and dont want to feel too lonely there are counters where you can sit at. There are even little TVs to keep you entertained.

M ordered the FatBurger Meal with an extra egg and Chilli cheese fries ($13.27).

M liked the chilli cheese fries, it was a bit on the salty side, but he did like the cheese and the ooey gooeyness.

He didn’t really like the FatBurger, it wad hard to taste the meat, the egg was bland and this whole meal did not seem to be worth the price. He said he would rather go to Veras for burgers.

Since he did enjoy the chilli, he will be back to try their chilli dogs.

I ordered the Mushroom Swiss Burger Meal ($12.49). I enjoyed my burger, the mushrooms were looked perfectly, so it was not a weird slimy texture. I overall found all the ingredients worked well together and nothing was wrong.

I really don’t like their fries, very bland and boring. Not crispy either.

This was the damage on the bill. Comparing FatBurger with the other burger joints in Vancouver…I still think Veras has better burgers than FatBurger.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking in front
Customizable burgers
Unlimited refills

We Rate FatBurger:

Address:
4461 Lougheed Hwy
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.fatburger.com

In American

Swiss Chalet Home Delivery Service

February 28, 2011

It’s weird how M can find so many commercials of food when he doesn’t even have a TV. Sure enough, he saw this and wanted to order Swiss Chalet online. Since we were already going out to run errands, we decided to order online and go into the restaurant to pick it up.

We set our order to be picked up at 9pm. There were even special parking spots for people who were just picking up. They were spots closest to the door! Since we fought off the snow storm and ended up a few minutes early, we had to wait a little bit for our meal to be ready.

After talking to the waitress about her day, it seems like the online service is actually working! Their kitchen was so swamped getting out all the online orders. Perhaps it was a snowy day and people wanted take out.

Since our order was about 10 mins late, they have us complementary pop as we waited. Very nice touch! M commented it was perhaps the most “homey” type of restaurant he has ever seen in Canada. He liked the service, but I just looked at him funny because it’s just a chain restaurant….nothing too homey about it. I guess what he was trying to say was how the staff really supported each other and were super friendly.

After zooming past all the stuck cars on the hills, we were back home. Snow Tires and 4 wheel drive for the win! We came back in one piece and had food.

I ordered the Roasted chicken and shrimp dinner ($10.99). It came with a multigrain bun, mixed vegetables, roasted chicken thigh, 5 pieces of shrimp and a container of sauce.

The chicken was very tender and juicy when I cut in. Since it was just one thigh, I really wasn’t full from the chicken. The shrimp was pretty bad, it was drenched in oil in the container and it did not holdt a lot of flavour to it.

M ordered double leg meal ($9.99). It came with the multigrain bun, mashed potatoes + gravy and 2 chicken thighs.

Mashed potatoes were thick and tasted very good.The chicken legs were very juicy, tender and the skin was superb with the special sauce.

The sauce that came with the meal was really delicious! It was like a mixture of gravy and BBQ sauce. We gobbled up most of both our sauces with out chicken. Addictive sauce!

Words of Wisdom: