Two Beakers Archives - Page 9 of 12

In Italian

Anducci’s Cucina: Horrible Service and No Bread

July 3, 2011

AuditGirl was back in town and we usually get together with a few high school friends to catch up. Since pasta is always on Auditgirl’s mind, it seems fitting for her to come here.

I use to go to this Anducci’s back in high school, but back then it was very very dead, hardly anyone here for lunch. Now, its super packed especially dinner. Things have really turned around.

Auditgirl and I shared a pitcher of Sangria ($26). Honestly, it was not very good and for the price…I might as well travel a bit farther for the Sangria at Havana’s.

AuditGirl ordered the Laverne + Shirley Ziti Pasta ($12). It has slow roasted chicken, prawns, garlic, and caramelized onions in a light white wine cream sauce.

This version is different that the other branch of Anducci’s near Lougheed. Tasted really good and the ziti tubular pasta really captures a lot of the flavour inside as well.

ShyGirl had The Hulk ($12). It has whole-wheat pasta with mushrooms, avocado, roasted tomatoes and spinach quickly sautéed in garlic, olive oil and white wine. Finished with crumbled goat cheese + pumpkin seeds.

She really did not like the taste of whole-wheat pasta and the texture and taste of it ruined the dish for her. The Hulk pasta felt very very earthy.

SwimmerGirl has the Spicy Prawn, Scallop + Clam Linguini ($12). Fresh seafood simmered in white wine, tossed with linguini and tomato sauce.

She enjoyed it since it had lots of sauce and a little bit of a spicy kick.

I had the Prosciutto + Arugula Pizza ($10). It has roasted garlic olive oil rubbed pizza with sea salt, crushed chilies + mozzarella. Topped with thinly sliced prosciutto and arugula.

I found this pizza lacking any cheese to keep the prosciutto adhered to the bread. It felt like taking some flat crispy bread with a bit of seasoning and throwing the prosciutto and arugula on top. I really liked the prosciutto, but the pizza as a whole was messy and hard to eat.

It seems like they over baked the dough with the cheese on top and then threw on the prosciutto and arugula.

One thing that we were all waiting for was the usual bread that comes to the table, but it never came. We asked the waiter and he neglected to tell us that there is a new policy that they implemented. Since they were wasting so much bread before, they only give out bread on request. We found this funny when most of the tables around us had bread… we were not impressed by this new policy. There is no mention in the restaurant or menu about this. Plus, the bread really is the best part about Anducci’s.

The service was also not very good either, it would take us a while to get the waiters attention to give him our order and the food did not come out at the same time either.

Overall, the food was just decent, but I would rather go to the Lougheed branch.

Words of Wisdom:

Lacking service
New bread “policy”, must ask them for bread
Free parking in front or rear
Sangria is horrible
Some pasta dishes are a hit of miss

We Rate Anducci’s Cucina:

Address:

6011 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.anduccis.com/home.shtml

In Bubble Tea

Bubble World: Good to chill but BBT is mediocre

June 6, 2011

Bubble World is a great place to just chill with friends. TaxMan was back in town, so it just seemed right to catch up with him, M and Scarface.

We decided to go to the North Road Bubble Word location because it’s closer than all the other locations. They have lots of space to sit and talk. It’s best for groups of 4 -6 people. This location does not serve food nor does it serve the drinks in nice cups. It is mostly to go in the plastic cups.

I’ve never loved the bubble tea here for these reasons:

Most drinks made from powder
No healthy options like – real milk or fresh fruit

Granted that they do have a few fresh fruit options like Watermelon Slush but its doused in lots of sugary syrup. Bubble World is a chain, so I guess we can’t expect too much.

I usually stick with the hot Milk Tea or the Hot Milky Malt Tea. I find that they use less malt or whatever those crispy little bits in the drink. They use quite a bit of coffee mate in this drink.

M had the chocolate milky tea. He usually gets sick when he has the powdered coffee mate, so he had to talk to the owner for a bit to get real milk into his bubble tea.

The bubble tea here is decent, but it’s pretty standard. Very minimal service since you have to go up to the counter to order and pay.

Words of Wisdom:

Lots of seats, group of 4 – 6 is best
Most drinks made with powder
Can special request milk instead of powdered milk
under $10
Closest Skytrain: Lougheed Town Center

We Rate Bubble World:

Address:

555 North Road
Coquitlam, BC

In North Burnaby

The Ladle: Vegetarian + Vegan +Gluten-Free Options

June 3, 2011

One good thing about SFU is that they have a shop that offers vegan and healthy vegetarian cuisine at decent prices. They have soups, salads, wraps and other random things.

They are located in the Maggie Benson Center near Convocation Mall. Its a good place to go if you want a healthy alternative to the other items on campus.

Just so you know…I’m not a vegetarian…I just end up coming to these places by random chances.

All of us ordered the Mac & Cheese. This Mac & Cheese tasted worse than Kraft Dinner. It was crunchy at the top and mushy under neither. It lacked any taste and felt like a chore eating it. I could go on exaggerating, but plain and simple – it was just bad. The only way to have it somewhat edible was to mix in some salt and pepper. Perhaps they forgot to add salt to their batch of Mac & Cheese?

If you do happen to get the Mac & Cheese, do gram a few packages of salt and pepper just in case the same thing happens for you.

I also had the Small Minestrone soup. I was expecting to be the other type of minestrone soup with herbs and more yellow. The soup still tasted fine, but I guess it has more of the dominant tomato taste.

Overall, it’s a good alternative but food isn’t that great. My 2 favorite items here are the shepherd’s pie, creamy mushroom soup and the grilled cheese. Everything else here is pretty meh. It’s safe to say the SFU really does not have great food. Natures Garden might be a good alternative if you want other vegetarian food.

Words of Wisdom:

Grilled Cheese, Creamy Mushroom Soup, or shepards pie are my Favs
Under $10
Vegetarian/Vegan/Gluten-Free Friendly

We Rate Ladle:

Address:

8888 University High St
Burnaby, BC

In Fast Food

Triple O’s: Missing Pickles

May 29, 2011

Up at SFU, there really isn’t too many to places to eat at. One of the more convenient and popular places is Triple O’s in the Academic Quadrangle.

Since it was Tuesday, They have a deal called “Triple O’s Tuesday”, where you get the original burger for $3.33. The burger is very sloppily put together with lettuce, tomatoes, Triple “O” Sauce, and the beef patty. There is also supposed to be pickles with it, but they did not give us any. By the time I figured this out, I was too lazy to go back for pickles.

The burger tasted ok, but it’s not the best burger. It’s something just to satisfy your craving. I added the combo to it since I knew just eating the burger wouldn’t be enough to fill me for lunch. You get thick cut fries and pop to it. I’m not a huge fan of the fries since they were not very crispy.

M was very very hungry, so we got the Double Double Combo (~$9). It is essentially the original burger, but with 2 patties and 2 slices of cheese. Yet again …no pickles. M did enjoy it since it had all he wanted – meat.

Overall, don’t expect perfection from the SFU’s Triple O’s. I only go when it’s convenient and I don’t want to walk far.

Words of Wisdom:

Triple O’s Tuesday Deal
Under $10

We Rate Triple O’s:

Address:

8888 University Dr
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
www.tripleos.com

In Bakery

BonChaz: Things Do Change…But Not For The Better

May 23, 2011

Did I ever tell you I love deals? As a student I love to save a bit here and there.

Since BonChaz had their ‘back to school’ promotions, they were giving away free coffee for the first 3 days of school. Plus, with a 15% off discount with a student card, I was sold. I am so Asian; I just love deals but I always spend more than expected.

Flo and I headed down for some lunch and coffee. It seemed like it was getting busy around lunchtime.

Flo got the Smoked Salmon Sandwich ($6.95). It has smoked salmon, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, salt and pepper. One thing that really lacked in this sandwich was the amount of smoked salmon.

I ordered the Roast Beef Sandwich with soup ($4.95 + $1.95). The Roast beef sandwich has lettuce, tomatoes, salt, pepper, cucumbers and 2 slices of Roast Beef. I too found the amount of meat lacking.

Apparently, you can get double the amount of meat for $2.

The soup was a chicken and herb soup and it was good! Had good amounts of chicken and vegetables.

Afterwards, we got our free coffee and ordered a BonChaz. I am not usually a black coffee type of person, but since it was free, I took the time to mix in the cream and sugar. I don’t really know if this was good coffee or bad coffee.

The one thing I noticed about the BonChaz was how small the filling as gotten from my previous visits. It did take a while to figure out where the filling was located.

Overall, we were both very disappointed this time around. Sandwiches could have used more filling and the BonChaz definitely needed more filling. When I visited them previously, it was good but now… not so much.

We rate BonChaz:

Address:

426 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:

http://www.bonchaz.ca/

In Coquitlam

Pho Hoa: All the Way to Coquitlam

May 17, 2011

Meeting up with Cubedtee and Fabo for dessert but, M, ScarFace, TanGuy and I didn’t eat dinner. Clearly, we were not very smart that day since usually dinner comes before dessert.

Since we were starving, we went across the street to Pho Hoa. Cheap, Fast and easy! As long as the food is edible, we were happy.

I ordered the #22 – Julienne Pork & Grilled Pork Chop.

You are first given soup and the sweet sauce for your rice. The soup was very hot… VERY HOT temperature-wise. I think almost everyone had to wait for a while for the soup to cool. The soup was pretty oily and just reminded me of the soup that goes into the pho. It was a bit salty as well.

When the dish came, we were presented with the pork chop, the julienne pork, rice, fried egg and vegetables. The pork chop was very oily and the meat was quite thin and had a few bones. The taste was average but the meat was tender. I did enjoy the julienne pork, but it never seems like pork since it’s all so thin.

Overall, the meal was pretty average. Nothing special, nothing too horrible. I found that Pho Hoa finally got a facelift. Their interior is newly painted and looks more modern. Even the website got a facelift.

Word of Wisdom:

Lots of parking in parking lot
Under $10

We Rate Pho Hoa:

Address:

750 – 3025 Lougheed Highway
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
www.phohoa.com

In Japanese

Togo Sushi: Fast Food Sushi

May 15, 2011

Hello Internet! RomanJ here! This time we went to Togo Sushi inside Guildford Mall located in Surrey. I usually avoid going to Togo Sushi because I always dismiss it as a fast food sushi place for mall employees. However this time, my sister and I had a deep craving for sushi and we didn’t want to drive all the way to Vancouver. Since we were already in the mall doing errands, we decided to try Togo Sushi.

Togo Sushi in Guildford Mall is surprisingly nice. It’s brightly lit with dark wooden seats and nice décor setting the atmosphere. To order you have to go up to the counter, place your order then wait at your table with the number. The sushi arrives all together on a plate.

We ordered, assorted sashimi, Alaska Roll and a Maki combo consisting of: a California roll, dynamite roll and a tuna roll.

The Assorted Sashimi ($11.95) has some pretty big pieces of sashimi. Salmon sashimi was surprisingly not bad, however the Tuna sashimi was a big disappointment. The tuna was very cold, making us speculate that it was pre-cut and refrigerated.

The Maki combo ($8.75) was probably the best deal on the menu. The California roll is nothing spectacular but standard, the dynamite roll was surprisingly good; the tempura in the roll was fresh, and the Tuna roll was decent.

The Alaska Roll ($3.95) was extremely good, beyond my expectation from Togo. I believe the salmon covering the roll added the extra flavor to the roll.

Togo Sushi is a decent sushi place, where people can go to get a quick fix of sushi. It does have some decent rolls, however I would not go here looking to try new exotic rolls. Togo Sushi does cater for the people who are on the go and it’s decently price.

Words of Wisdom:

Maki Combo ($8.75) probably the best value on the menu
Fast food Sushi

We Rate ToGo Sushi:

Address:

2320 Guildford Town Centre
Surrey, BC

Website:
www.togosushi.ca

In Cafe

Next Noodle Bar: Quick and Easy Lunch

May 15, 2011

Another lunch, another restaurant, but today I found it so difficult to choose where to go, so I strolled up and down Robson Street and saw this restaurant – Next Noodle Bar. I thought it sounded cool and the food items did not seem very expensive, so I took a seat inside.

The inside of the restaurant is quite large.

They have a large menu, but I decided to stick to the lunch specials because it was quick. If I had an unlimited lunch break, I would probably go elsewhere. Sadly, in reality, we do have to be limited to 1 hr…or less sometimes.

I chose the Egg Foo Young ($7.95). It has the egg omelet with shredded chicken, and sweet chili sauce. Inside the omelet, I really could not identify the vegetables in the omelet because it was so well cooked that it became crunchy near the sides.

This dish also comes with daily soup, almond pudding, bok choy and salty peanuts.

I did not really have a liking to this dish. The sweet chili sauce threw me off and it did not go well with the dish. I have never had egg foo young before, so I don’t have a benchmark of what it should taste like. All I know is that this dish was not for me.

For $8, it was not a bad price! The food did come quick and there seems to be a few good items on their menu.

In addition to the meal, I ordered the Fried Chicken Wings ($5). It comes with about 6 pieces of chicken wings. These were well prepared and it is the type of chicken wings I love! Simple and deep-fried! The size of the wings were quite large and had lots of meat. I’d come back just to have the chicken wings.

Overall, the food was cheap and don’t expect all-star quality at these prices but you will be somewhat satisfied.

Word of Wisdom:

Under $10 lunch special
Good for lunch if in a time crunch
Fried Chicken Wings
Some items are a hit and miss

We Rate Next Noodle Bar:

Address:

560 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

In Italian

Campagnolo: Slow Service + Disappointed Meal

May 9, 2011

Since it was Tuesday and Campagnolo is part of the Telus: Taste of Tuesday, we went to finally try out Campagnolo. They offer a pretty good deal where you get a free appetizer and dessert with purchase of an entrée.

A group of 6 of us decided to head down, since it was game night, we knew it would not be too busy. We parked in the back lane and wanted to go into the restaurant but it was blocked off by the dumpster and random items.

We walked around to the front and sure enough, we found our way in. Walking through the door was pretty cool! It felt like a tunnel and you just end up inside the restaurant.

As we sat down, the waitress didn’t inform us of the deal even though I knew about it, I didn’t want to say anything yet. When it got to the point where it did not seem likely that she would tell us about the deal, I spoke up and asked if there was the Taste of Tuesday deal. Sure enough, she said there was the deal. There really were no promotions about it in the restaurant at all. (Until at the end of the meal).

With the deal, we were limited to ordering the secondi for our entrée. Some of us wanted to try the pizza but there were no substitutions allowed even though it was the same price as some of the appetizers. We felt limited by our choices since we could only choose from 4 mains. There was no way around to get the pizza, we would have been happy to pay extra for that option.

We ordered all our items but service was very very slow. The restaurant was half empty, but we still had to wait 30 mins between each course. We felt the waitress was not being very attentive either. Perhaps this was because we were young looking and not super dressed up. Maybe it was just because the Canucks were playing? Whatever the excuse, we did not feel very welcomed. I don’t think I remember her smiling either.

M and CanuckGirl started off with the Beef Carpaccio ($13). It has several thin slices of raw beef topped with parmesan, salsa verde and herbs. You also get lemon to add more taste as well as focaccia to accompany the meat.

TaiwaneseGirl had the Peasant Chicken Soup ($9.50). The soup is made of chicken broth with black kale, lentils, parmesan and bread. She had a hard time choosing her appetizer since she did not like olives or beans. Since the description did not have all the ingredients, she was not aware of the beans. The soup was small and she just thought it was just ok.

FragileBoy ordered the Brushetta ($9). It has mushrooms and mozzarella on bruschetta drizzled with olive oil. The bread was nicely toasted and the toppings were yummy.

InsecureGirl and I both ordered the Seared Octopus ($13). It has nugget potatoes, olives, lardo (Cured back fat), and frisee lettuce. I actually liked this dish. I was surprised about the flavour profile of this dish. The seared octopus was tender and not too chewy. Having the olives and the cured back fat really accentuated the flavour! If you were blind folded, you might think this is just pork. I was pleasantly surprised.

As we dive into our main courses, M and FragileBoy both ordered the Red Wine Braised Beef ($24). The braised beef sat on top of soft polenta and topped with kale, marrow and gremolata (lemon zest +herbs). M said this dish was fairly salty. I tried a bit of it and it was indeed on the saltier side.

TaiwaneseGirl ordered the Fish of the day (~$25 ish) and it was trout. She did not know what was a trout, so the waitress had to explain to her it was similar to Salmon but not closely related. The trout is served on top of potatoes and kale. The salmon was nice and flakey.

InsecureGirl and CanuckGirl both ordered the Sloping Hill Pork ($21). It has the pork cut up into slices and served with ricotta gnocchi, fava beans and artichokes. One thing that everyone else noticed was how different the dishes were. CanuckGirl’s pork was well done and InsecureGirl’s dish was more of a medium rare. You can really tell the difference in the photos. Major inconsistencies here. When I think about it, I don’t know what InsecureGirl did not send it back. Since eating undercooked pork can give you worms. Perhaps I am wrong?

I ordered the Polderside Chicken ($21). It comes with the slices of chicken, black lentils, swiss chard, and artichoke. I found the chicken to be a little bit on the dry side, but when I dipped it into the sauce it was a bit better. The dish was ok, but it really did not amaze my taste buds.

As we moved into dessert, M, FragileBoy, CanuckGirl and TaiwaneseGirl ordered the Tiramisu ($8). They all thought it was a good tiramisu. Very nice strong coffee taste!

InsecureGirl ordered the Vanilla Panna Cotta ($8). This has pannacotta with fruits on top. She did enjoy this dessert!

I ordered the Terrina di Cioccolato ($8). This dessert needs to be explained by your server because I literally thought it was just fruit and nuts. As you can clearly tell from the image, it is a brownie! Very nice brownie indeed! It was very chocolaty and had dried fruits and nuts embedded into the brownies.

The dishes definitely had their pros and cons. At the end of the meal, the waitress kindly split our bills, but she would only do one credit card transaction at a time. She would take one person’s bill, go to the back to do the transaction through their computers in the back. Half of the table didn’t realize this and get super confused because we all had our cards ready, so it would make more sense for her to take all our cards at once rather than walking back and forth several times. Perhaps having those portable transaction machines would work better as well.

Overall, I had a very bad impression from the meal. I gathered feedback from my friends and they did not feel satisfied. One person in our group was a huge fan of Campagnolo from previous experiences, but he was VERY disappointed and just shook his head. We all came to a consensus that if we only ordered an entrée, we would be disappointed. Since we did get free appetizers and free dessert, it was ok for the price we paid. We all paid around $25, which is a good price. Even so, the food was disappointing overall.

With all the raving reviews, we wanted to like it, but they fell short of these expectations.

Words of Wisdom:

Be aware of special deal restrictions
All desserts are spot on!
Free parking at rear
Reservations only for 8+ parties

We Rate Campagnolo:

Address:

1020 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.campagnolorestaurant.ca

In Cafe

Meat & Bread: Tale of the Dry Bread

May 8, 2011

I was at a conference at SFU Harbour Centre and when it came to lunchtime, a group of us headed over to Meat & Bread. I chose it since it was close and I knew people would just love it.

During the peak of the lunch hour, we still found seats for our large group. Even though most tables were full and seat all taken, the turnover time is quite fast. Just have a little patience and seats will free up. Since the line up for ordering was long as usual, we had a fun time watching them prepare the porchetta.

Since I have not had the porchetta ($8) in a long time, I ordered that with a dandelion and burdock soda.

The porchetta sandwich was interesting this time. The meat was delicious as usual, but the crunchy pork skin parts were different. Before the crunchy bits use to be a bit bigger and very hard to chew. This time, they were chopped up thinner and had more of a airy crunchiness to it. My friend ordered the same sandwich as well and she was afraid she would not be able to chew at the skin bits. As she ate the sandwich, it was no problem for her.

Another thing I noticed with my sandwich and not anyone else’s was that my bread was very hard and wrinkly looking. The bread is supposed to be a bit soft, but as you can see clearly in the picture, it looks hard. It’s like a wrinkly old man.

Everyone else’s sandwich was fine, but I as unfortunate to be plagued with the bad bread. All the other bread they had looked fine, so I don’t know where this odd shaped one came from. I really wanted to like the whole meal, but sadly the dry bread really affected the sandwich. Thus, I had to give Meat & Bread a lower rating this time.

This is what the usual bread looks like….major difference right?!

Words of Wisdom:

Best to go early to ensure nothing is sold out
Porchetta is the most popular but the other sandwiches are also delicious
The sauces are a must try
Dandelion & Burdock Soda is good!

We rate Meat & Bread:

Check out their website: http://meatandbread.ca/

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Thailicious Cuisine: Delivery Service

May 7, 2011

It was another adventure looking up food on Yummy Web since M did not want to move or do anything. It was already getting pretty late and there were not many places open…nor did we want to drive. Eventually we thought about just getting some Thai food from Thailicious.

We ordered online, got a confirmation call and soon they arrived at the door. They accept both cash and cards. There is a $2 delivery charge.

We opened up the first box and lying inside were 4 Thai spring rolls ($6.50). Surprisingly for takeout, the skin was still crunchy. I find that with keeping fried items in a box, it just ends up steaming itself and going soggy. M was impressed by the spring rolls even though they were vegetarian. I don’t think he knew it was vegetarian hahaha. What is with men and their hate for vegetables? Anyways, The spring roll is filled with vermicelli and vegetables. It comes with 1 sweet/sour peanut sauce and 1 container of pickled vegetables.

M ordered the Sautéed Chicken Thick Red Curry ($11) with a side of Jasmine Rice ($1.50). The sauce is a thick red peanut curry sauce made with coconut milk, bell peppers and Thai sweet basil. Topped with sliced kaffir lime leaf. M liked it, it had great flavour and good sizable chicken pieces.

One thing we did notice was the curry was very soupy and not “thick” at all.

I ordered the Shrimp Pad Thai ($13). This has pan-fried rice noodles with their special sweet and sour sauce. It also has egg, tofu, bean sprouts, chives and topped with ground peanut.

This container was very hot and stayed hot for a while. This only had about 2 pieces of shrimp, so I was a bit disappointed. You need to dig around till you can actually find it. I ate the noodles and then discovered it was hiding under neither. When I tried squeezing the lime into the pad thai, nothing came out. It seems like the lime has been sitting out for a while.

The pad thai was bland and really was not very special. I probably would not order this again.

With all these items adding up, it was quite expensive and not the best. The next day, we got another phone call from Thailicious saying our order was ready. We were really confused since we got our order the day before. It seems like something weird going on with their ordering system.

Words of Wisdom:

Order online/phone
Delivery/ pickup
Expensive
Only good thing are spring rolls

We Rate Thailicious:

Address:

1428 Vernon Drive
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.thailicious-delivery.com

In Bubble Tea

Pearl Drops: Bubble Tea

May 2, 2011

Pearl Drops was my “high school hang out” many years ago. During our breaks or even after school, we would drive here, drink some Bubble Tea and just chill. Ever since I graduated, I seldom go here even though I live in the same area and SFU is pretty close by. I’m not exactly sure of the reason, but perhaps its because I’ve learned how to drive further distances, discovered more of Vancouver and found other Bubble Tea restaurants.

Pearl Drops is quite quiet and has changed much over the years. They use to strictly only have drinks, but now they offer sandwiches and dessert. The reason I find Pearl Drops different from the usual bubble tea places is that for certain teas they use real tea leaves and its not a premade batch of tea…unlike some bubble tea places. They have fresh fruit options as well.

For indecisive people, they have a top 5 list of their popular Bubble Teas. You know you can’t go wrong with them unless you are allergic to the flavours or they are your most hated fruit in the world.

KoreanGirl ordered the Mango Slush + Mango Stars ($4.05 +$1). It’s just a regular mango slush with mango stars, nothing too different than what you would get at other places.

M ordered the Strawberry Milkshake ($5). It essentially is made out of milk, ice cream, and strawberries. Just the regular and nothing too different. M said that it was a lot better than the fake syrup flavours found in most fast food joints, so if you’re itching for a strawberry milkshake, come here!

I ordered the Iced Honey Jasmine Tea with Mango Stars ($3.63 +$1). I found this drink to be a bit sweet due to the honey. You can really taste the honey! I am a type of person who does not really like sweet drinks. Perhaps next time I should ask for half sweet. I also think I chose to have mango stars in the wrong drink. It really doesn’t go well together. I just really really craved mango stars.

I find that this place is quite limited and some items still use powder. If you are new to this place, you might have trouble figuring out what’s fresh fruit or not.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking in adjacent mini lot
Under $10
Good for small group meetings since it’s quiet.
Very limited food

We Rate Pearl Drops:

Address:

422 Willingdon Ave
Burnaby, BC

Website:
pearldropstea.ca

In Coquitlam

Panago Pizza: Beef Taco

May 1, 2011

Before a meeting, M decided to order a pizza. I let him have free reign to order whatever pizza that he wanted. I am not sure why he chose Panago, but perhaps he likes it.

When the pizza arrived, it was covered in lettuce. A man ordering a pizza with lots of vegetables? Preposterous!

He decided to order the Beef Taco Pizza (large – 16.50). It has salsa, ground beef, red onions, mozzarella, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar cheese. This is a taco but laid out as a pizza.

It did for sure taste like a taco but the hardest part was eating it. The lettuce really got in the way of enjoying the pizza. It would either fall off or get in the way when you are taking a bite. It’s like you are being punished by the lettuce, so they must hit you in the face. The tomatoes would also fall off the pizza too. Perhaps the vegetables were repelled by the unhealthy pizza. Now we know vegetables and pizza don’t mix.

You really might as well order a pizza with just ground beef, sour cream. and cheese if you really want the meaty experience from eating your taco pizza.

Overall, I would have to say, I hated the vegetables on the pizza. I know…I should be a girl and just like the vegetables. Normally I would, but on a pizza… no.

We rate Panago Pizza:

Address:

534 Clarke Rd
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
www.panago.com

In Italian

Olive Garden: Nothing Else Around

April 29, 2011

This is my last food post about my Seattle eating adventures and I am quite sad. So much good food in 2 amazing days.

As we were making our way up Seattle, we wanted to stop by Red Lobster but our GPS took us to the middle of a residential area. We didn’t want to use our data or else it would charge us an arm and a leg, so we decided to head up north to the Seattle Premium Outlets to do more shopping. After walking around and buying some great items, the only restaurant in sight was either McDonalds or Olive Garden. We chose Olive Garden. I was not so keen on going since I did not like my past experience but I reluctantly went.

Since we were a party of 5, we were told that would wait would be about 45 mins. Not knowing what to do, the waitress suggested we could go to Walmart to do some shopping. We started driving towards Walmart… ended up in the wrong direction on a one way street… made crazy fast U-turns and ended up at the Casino’s Valet / Taxi line up….dangerously backed up into traffic and as soon as we knew it, we were at Walmart. It was an adventure indeed. As we got out of the car, our electronic beeper thing went off. =(

We really wanted to get some cheap random things from Walmart, but we just ended up driving *safely* back to Olive Garden. As we went back in the restaurant, they already gave away our table =( Lesson learned, never let the waitress tell you to go shopping in Walmart as you wait for a table. Their time estimations are always wrong.

After waiting a few minutes, we got our table and began ordering!

The menu items.

Since the Sampler Italiano ($11.25) looked very good in their menu, we decided to share it with 3 different choices. We chose from calamari, stuffed mushrooms, fried zucchini, chicken fingers, fried mozzarella or toasted beef and pork ravioli.

We chose the chicken fingers, toasted beef + pork ravioli and calamari. This dish also came with tomato sauce and ranch dip.

At first sight, you knew these were frozen and just fried/heated up. The dish was very average and not the most spectacular thing I have ever ate.

M and BusanGirl both ordered the side soup – Pasta e Fagioli. Soup comes complementary with all meals. The waitress described this more of a chili/stew type of soup. It has white and red beans, ground beef, tomatoes and pasta in a savory broth. M remarked that the consistency of the soup was not like chili, rather a watered down tomato soup. It was as Peter Griffin would say, “rather dull and pedantic.”

Fabo and TanGuy ordered the side soup – Zuppa Toscana. It has spicy sausage, russet potatoes and cavolo greens in a creamy broth.

Our server was quite interesting. She kept suggesting us to try other soups that were on the menu. She said if we didn’t like one soup, we can always try the other ones as well. At the other Olive Garden, we did not get the same offer. Most of us found it weird, so we didn’t get additional soup.

I was the only one to order the Garden-Fresh Salad as my side. I find salads cool! Their salad comes in a large bowl with huge scissor-like tongs. It has the usual lettuce, olives, peppers, croutons, cheese, and onion dressed with a light amount of italian dressing. Simple salad. The best part was the minimal amount of dressing. Thats what I like. I really hate over dressed salads.

The salad has unlimited refills but I couldn’t eat any more salads. The salad they brought for me had about 2 portions. I was tempted, but I had to save room.

M ordered the Lasagna Classico ($14.75). It has layers of pasta, meat sauce and mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan and romano cheese.

This is a classic lasagna, M loved it since he doesn’t get to have lasagna on a usual basis.

Fabo ordered the

Five Cheese Ziti al Forno ($13.50). It has ziti pasta in a five cheese marinara sauce, baked with a layer of melted Italian cheeses.

From looking at the name, you would have no idea what it is. She found this to be quite average and not too spectacular.

TanGuy ordered the Garlic-Herb Chicken con Broccoli ($15.25). It has Rosemary-seasoned chicken breasts sautéed with fresh broccoli in a garlic cream sauce over orecchiette pasta.

He found the dish to be quite bland and tasteless. For a second he thought his taste buds weren’t working.

BusanGirl ordered the Ravioli di Portobello ($13.75) It has portobello mushroom-filled ravioli in a creamy smoked cheese and sun-dried tomato sauce.

She was so funny, it took her a while to figure out her ravioli was stuffed with mushrooms. Perhaps she didn’t look at the description close enough. I don’t think she was too keen on the dish either since she didn’t finish it all.

I ordered the Chicken Parmigiana ($15.50) It has parmesan-breaded chicken breasts, fried and topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Served with spaghetti.

The amount of spaghetti was very small and pretty average. Nothing very special. It was a bit simple and seemed like something you could make at home quickly. The chicken breasts were a bit on the dry side, so it didn’t impress me much.

After you finish the meal, you are given mint chocolates! Safe to say this was the best part of the meal.

Since Olive Garden is a chain, you can see why its quite average. The service was good at least. Our server was very chipper and quite entertaining at times.

Words of Wisdom:

Close proximity to Seattle Premium Outlets
Nothing impressive, Italian words thrown around with no authentic Italian taste.
Rather Expensive

Address:

10326 Quil Ceda Blvd

Tulalip, WA

Website:

http://www.olivegarden.com/

In Coquitlam

Wang Ga Ma: Pork Belly and Soups!

April 16, 2011

It was another Wednesday night and a bunch of us have “Korean Night” where we eating through all the Korean Restaurants on North Road one week at a time. This makes my life easier going with Koreans because Fabo, BusanGirl and M do all the ordering for me. All I do is eat!

Wang Ga Ma is located right across from H Mart, the Korean grocery store on the East Side of North Road. ConsultingGirl got lost and ended up at the other Korean Grocery store – Han Nam. Before you venture out here, make sure you know where you are going.

On the inside there are large booths situated all over the restaurant. With the tall walls, you get a private feeling when you are eating. Sometimes this is an issue because the servers can’t see you.

You get utensils – chopsticks and spoons. What I love about Korean restaurants is how they have the paper covering on the spoons. It prevents contamination. You also get tea, but do be warned, the waitresses aren’t always the best at refilling your tea. You probably want to wave them down or ask for a pot instead.

The menu at Wang Ga Ma is quite simple – Noodles, Pancakes, soups, mains, Hot pots and a few special dishes. It is all on a letter sized piece of paper, so it’s quite simple. For me it was quite difficult because I really did not know what was good … or what they looked like, so the Koreans did all the deciding for me!

As you wait for your order,the usual complementary side dishes arrive – Kimchi, Kimchi Radish, and another version of kimchi with thinly sliced radishes. Lots of kimchi! If you are not keen on spicy things, try a little piece and then figure out for yourself if you can handle the heat. I usually find the larger radish Kimchi is not as hot.

You do get scissors to cut up the kimchi because as you can tell, it would be hard to eat the kimchi and radish whole.

Since we all craved Pork Belly (Bossom), we ordered their special dish – Steamed pork with kimchi ($15.95 Large size) This is another one of those put it together wraps. You are given steamed pork belly, lettuce, and thinly sliced radish kimchi.

You are also given this salty shrimp mixture to dip your pork belly to add more taste, as well as jalapeno and soybean paste.

You first take the letture leaf, then add the pork belly, and the other toppings! Voila! Fold it up and stick it in your mouth and munch!

I love being involved with my food! It’s exciting putting it all together and the devouring it! Even though it was exciting, the quality of the meat was not very good. It was below average as the meat was a bit tasteless. Also, for the price you are paying, it is not worth it. It would be way cheaper making it at home.

BusanGirl ordered the BibimBap ($8.95). This is rice, mixed vegetables, egg and beef served in a hot stone bowl. To eat this, you mix up all the ingredients together. If you like a spicy taste, you can ask for some hot sauce to add to this.

M and I ordered the Beef Rib Soup ($8.95). You get a super hot pot of rice (VERY HOT!) and the beef rib soup. Inside the soup are beef ribs, green onions, radish, egg and a bit of noodles. Fabo suggested this dish for people who are new to all the different types of soups. Apparently it’s Wang Ga Ma’s specialty.

The broth was very nicely flavoured, but when you begin eating the beef, it was rather bland and tough.

TaxMan, Fabo and ConsultingGirl ordered the beef broth soup with beef ($8.95).

You have to add your own amount of salt into the dish, which makes this super confusing. If you are new to the dish, you really don’t know if you have added too little or too much salt. TaxMan and ConsultingGirl were very disappointed by what they got and did not finish their meals.Fabo finished all of hers with no problem.

M, BusanGirl, TaxMan and Fabo all agreed this is the type of place people in Korea would go to eat after drinking. You would think this is more of a dinner type of restaurant, but thats how it is in Korea.

Overall, we were not impressed with the quality of their food and will probably not be returning. With so many other Korean restaurants around serving similar items, there is bound to be better.

Words of Wisdom:

Tons of Parking
Under $10
Unlimited kimchi and kimchi radish
Poor service
Limited Menu
Bibimbap is good to order

We Rate Wang Ga Ma:

Address:

329 North Rd
Coquitlam, BC

In BBQ

Peckinpah: BBQ House in Gastown

April 15, 2011

Mandu and I wanted to grab some lunch, so I gave her a list of random restaurants and she chose Peckinpah because it was close to the office and wouldn’t break our wallets. Peckinpah is a BBQ house located in the heart of Gastown. They specialize in Carolina style BBQ and offer a wide selection of beer and alcoholic drinks.

The service was quite slow during their lunch hour and less than half the restaurant was full. We probably spent 30 minutes waiting when our lunch break isn’t really that long. 15 mins to order + 30 min waiting – 1 hr lunch = 15 mins of eating. We ate fast! Mandu ate so fast that she got stomach pains after.

Mandu ordered the Jalapeno Pork Sausage Sandwich ($ 8.50). It is a Pork sausage with roast peppers and onions in a french style bun.

She didn’t expect it to be basically a hot dog. Having the combination of the bun and the sausage posed problems for Mandu. She suggested that this would be better if they sliced up the sausage and then put it onto the bun. She did enjoy the taste of the sausage, very meaty and had a good kick of heat from the jalapeno.

We did also get a choice of a side and she chose the hush puppies. These are not shoes but rather deep fried cornbread balls. Embedded inside the ball were also bits of corn. We both liked the hush puppies and it seemed like it was a very popular dish since everyone else close to us ordered it too.

I ordered the Oyster Po’boy ($11.50). It is a sandwich with deep-fried oysters on french bread with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I remember my first time having an Oyster Po’boy at The Kaboom Box (AKA Fresh Local Wild) Food Cart and I enjoyed it!

I did not love this version of oyster Po’boy at Peckinpah, the bun was difficult to eat, so the filling would fall out, so I used my knife and fork. I really wanted to go down and dirty with the sandwich but it was way too messy. The oysters were a bit on the small side so it was hard to enjoy their full flavour and the texture of the oyster.

For my side I ordered creamed corn. Pretty average and nothing special.

Overall, I would not go back to pay those prices since there are better alternatives in the neighbourhood. The french style bread did not work very well with the sandwiches and made the eating process very difficult.

I would come back if I was in the area late at night. They have really good deals from 12am to 2am on Fri and Sat. This either means you gotta be living close by or partying it up in a nearby club/ bar (Fabric, Post Modern, Lamplights, Blarney….etc)

Words of Wisdom:

Overpriced for what you order
Lots of alcohol choices
Slow service
Interesting Southern Decor
Amazing late night deals (12am – 2am) on Fri and Sat
Online ordering service

We Rate Peckinpah:

Address:

2 Water Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.peckinpahbbq.com

In Cafe

Prado Cafe: Silent Service

April 11, 2011

Arriving here after work around 4:30pm on a hot sunny day, Prado Cafe was packed! Every single seat occupied…and most people are either studying or surfing away on their laptop.

Since I saw a few people about to leave, I thought it would be a good idea to get a drink first. Looking at the menu, theres a lot of the usual coffee choices, but for someone who has lent coffee, I really could not break my promise to a friend (ConsultingGirl lent coffee and I decided to join her for support).

The menu is not a good indication of what they can make. After talking to the barista, they can indeed make most tea lattes. I decided to go with the London Fog (~$3).

I grabbed the first seat available and set up my laptop before meeting the professor. I connected to the internet that was unprotected. I am not a big fan of unprotected wifi because of that whole firesheep plug-in for Firefox. Since I did have it installed (curiosity), I wanted to see if it would work. Sure enough, I was able to capture a few peoples Facebook. I was super scared so I closed Firefox and did not tamper with their Facebook. Do keep in mind, people who are more evil that I am, could hack your computer.

Back to the story, as I was waiting for my drink to be ready…I was wondering for the longest time if my drink was done. Apparently it was done a while ago, but the barista does not call out any drinks. She just makes it and leaves it there. Very poor service. I did enjoy their london fog, nice and frothy with a subtle hint of vanilla syrup.

People who usually come here just grab a drink and start surfing on the internet. The staff do not seem very happy or excited by customers ( or at least to me).

Words of Wisdom:

Free Wireless
Lots of natural light
Poor Service
Hipster

We rate Prado Cafe:

Address:

1938 Commercial Dr
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.pradocafe.com

In North Burnaby

Mr. Sub: When I only have Credit Cards

April 11, 2011

I went to class and realized I did not have my wallet. All I had on me was a credit card. I called my mom to find my wallet but it wasn’t at home. When I pack to go to school, I usually do it all blindly. I have no idea whats in my bag except my laptop, paper and pens. I vaguely remember holding my wallet, but it was not with me. Since I had to be at school for over 6 hours, I really needed some form of currency to get food to eat. I went into my car and successfully found my wallet! BUT I left all my cards and cash in another jacket! Oh I was so sad!!

There are very limited places to get food at SFU with a credit card. Most places take debt and cash. I also did not want to walk all the way to Cornerstone for food, so I just went to the Maggie Benson Centre for Mr. Sub.

I got the small Cheddar Club on Multigrain bread with a combo. I chose a coke and Jalapeno & Cheddar chips.

It is no Subway, but it’s decent enough.

Obviously, the sub is not very pretty looking. When they were making it, it didn’t seem this ugly. But looking at this photo, it’s quite ugly. Since you can’t see what is inside, there is roast beef, bacon, ham, turkey, lettuce, tomato,tzatziki sauce, ranch sauce, olives, onions, cucumber, mushrooms, peppers, pineapples, salt & pepper.

I’m not a picky person, so I just asked for all the ingredients to be on it. Even though it had everything on it, it still seemed a bit small. The people who work there are students, so they don’t really care to too much about the quality. The sandwich was decent, it wasn’t toasted long enough, so there really isn’t too much purpose to grilling it if its not going be crisp on the outside. This meal did fill me up, but it wasn’t the best.

If you ask me if I prefer Subway or Mr. Sub, I am indifferent about both. There are really pro and cons of each.

What do you prefer? Mr. Sub or Subway?

We Rate Mr. Sub:

Address:
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.mrsub.ca