Kid Friendly Archives - Page 13 of 14

In Cafe

Miura Waffle Milk Bar: Relocated to Main Street

January 9, 2014

It’s been a while since my last visit to Miura Waffle and Milk Bar. They were previously located on Davies and Howe, but have now moved to their new location on Main street close to Broadway. They serve made to order sweet and savoury waffle sandwiches.

During lunch, I came with my coworkers to indulge in some savoury sandwiches.

When you enter the restaurant, you have to go up to the counter to order first. The interior isn’t very large but it is still larger than its previous location. Most of the tables are in 2s and 4s, but if you have more people, just combine more tables.

Mango Passion Yoggy Milk was ordered by my coworker and it wasn’t very good. It did not have a substantial amount of texture to it and was runny and thin.

Strawberry Yoggy milk is like a strawberry milkshake but more tangy. This is probably the best out of all their flavours for yoggy milk. The texture was nice and thick like those YOP yogurt drinks.

Bulgogi Sando is their top flavour for savoury sandwiches apparently. It has beef, egg sauce, kimchi & bulgogi sauce in side the waffle. my coworker liked it but it was a tad messy to eat. You eat it like a normal sandwich with no forks or knives.

Hoisin Sando has hoisin pork sausage, cilantro, cucumber, pickled radish & carrot in the waffle. The pickled vegetables reminded Magz of a Bahn Mi sandwich. She liked it so much she came back a few days later.

Wasabi Salmon sando has salmon, lettuce, herbs & wasabi ranch. The wasabi was subtle and doesn’t really make you cry. It’s a nice balance between the salmon and wasabi mayo. It wasn’t too messy to eat and nothing fell out of the sandwich while eating.

One thing that I did notice is that the salmon was baked into the waffle. HOW COOL IS THAT? The reason why the salmon didn’t fall out was that it was there stuck in the waffle batter.

All of the sandwiches come with Deep-fried Nori chips on the side. They are crisp seaweed pieces. It tasted ok, but need a little something extra. I’m not exactly sure what, but it sure needs some improvement.

Overall, they have a really cute concept of waffle sandwiches. The food was alright, but there are a few kinks they need to work out.

We Rate Miura Waffle Milk Bar:

Address:
2521 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.miurawafflemilkbar.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2521+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=2521+Main+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5T&z=16″]

In Japanese

Hi Genki: Pork Katsu Curry and Bento Boxes

December 30, 2013

M and I came here a few years ago and loved their food, so we are back and ready to chow down on more food here.

Hi Genki is inside the Nikkei Home near Middlegate Mall on Kingsway. It’s an assisted living home for seniors. Of all places, I would not have expected a Japanese restaurant would be inside here. Hi Genki is owned by Fujiya and operated within the Nikkei Home. They sell traditional Japanese food to the public as well as their senior residences.

We arrived at 6:15pm right when they open and there was already a line up forming.

Soon after, this place was packed and there was a line up. There were tons of families here with their kids.

Deluxe Genki Box ($12.50) has 5 pieces of salmon sashimi, assorted tempura, chicken teriyaki, rice and miso soup. It had a little bit of everything on the menu. Thats why I chose this item. I ordered this last time too and it’s still quite decent. It is a good dinner size, so you will get full.

Pork Katsu Curry ($9.50) has a bed of rice, deep fried pork katsu topped with the delicious curry sauce. There is also egg and salad on the side. The curry had a lot of potatoes, onions and carrots in it. The portion was quite large too.

Overall the price was fair and the food was good. They give you large portions, so you don’t be disappointed.

We Rate Hi Genki:

Address:
6680 Southoaks Cres
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.fujiya.ca/aboutFujiya/hiGenkiRestaurant.asp

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=6680+Southoaks+Cres+Burnaby,+BC&t=m&hnear=6680+Southoaks+Crescent,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5E&z=16 “]

In American

Bennigan’s in South Korea

December 7, 2013

Doing some research on where to eat in Korea, M wanted to go to Bennigan’s. It’s an American chain restaurant that serves up Irish and American food. After doing a debate of dining choices, I reluctantly agreed to come here for lunch. They serve Monte Cristo sandwiches here and M has been searching far and wide for this sandwich.

The restaurant is located on the third floor. There is also a Bennigan’s Kids on an alternative level for just kids. Adults can watch them from a monitor on the third floor and have their privacy.

This is what we came for.

Complimentary Bread arrived.

Sweet Pickles came as the side dish.

World Famous Monte Cristo (10,000 won) has honey wheat bread layered with tender ham, roasted turkey, Swiss and American cheeses. Batter-dipped, gently fried and coated with powdered sugar. Served with red raspberry preserves for dipping. Fries came on the side.

This dish was huge and very filling. It was hard for M to finish the whole thing.

Soup and pop combo (+ 4,000 won) can be added to your meal.

Chicken Quesadillas (10,000 won) has Garlic-marinated chicken with Colby and Monterrey Jack cheeses, flavorful spices and crispy fried onions folded in a flour tortilla.

It is served with salsa, guacamole, and a lime sour cream sauce. The quesadilla was decent.

Chicken Stir fry (10,000) is served on a hot skillet with rice, vegetables and chicken.

Sweet Potato Pan Cheese (10,000 won) is a very korean inspired dish since Koreans love sweet potato. You won’t find this in North America. You definitely want to share this because you’ll get sick of the taste quite quickly.

Overall, the food was ok, but the Monte Cristo is always the sinfully delicious item to get. The place was pretty busy during a Friday and with lots of families. The prices are comparable to the states. The menus here have english, so you won’t have any issues ordering.

If you want to explore Korean cuisine while you are traveling in Seoul, this is probably not the place you want to go. M and I went here because we don’t have one in Canada.

We Rate Bennigans:

Address:
3F, 94, Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Website:
http://www.bennigans.co.kr/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=3F,+94,+Nonhyeon-dong,+Gangnam-gu,+Seoul,+South+Korea&t=m&hnear=94+Nonhyeon-dong,+Gangnam-gu,+Seoul,+South+Korea+(334+Dosan-daero)&z=14″]

In Four Beakers

Curry House CoCo Ichibanya: Omurice in Seoul

December 1, 2013

M was on a mission for omurice, which is rice covered in an omelette. It’s very hard to find in Vancouver, so when we came to Seoul, it was on the top of our list. We didn’t know which place had the best omurice, so we enlisted the help of his cousin to find us a place for lunch.

As we approached Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, I had no idea what this place served except for curry.

This particular location is inside Y’ZPark just outside of Honkik University station. It opens at 11am till 10pm.

There’s lots of seats but as we came here a a few hours past noon, it wasn’t too busy. There’s also other restaurants located in the floor of the mall too.

Creamy Mushroom Omelette Curry (9,300 won)

Comes with the rice covered in yummy omelette and smothered with their curry sauce and creamy mushroom sauce. It was really good! One of the best omurices I’ve had. The sauces were amazing a smothered every inch of the rice.

I also have a secret love for mushrooms, so this was music to my tastebuds.

Pork Cutlet Omelette Curry (10,800 won) has a panko crusted pork cutlet that is just crunchy and so delicious. M said this was very good!

Beef Omelette Curry (9,300 won) has the same curry sauce as the others but with shreds of beef.

Tomato and Asparagus Omelette Curry (8,900 won) similar sauce with with vegetables.

You can also upgrade to a combo with a drink and a salad.

In Hongdae, the Curry House CoCo Ichibanya is located inside Y’ZPARK. There’s a few shops like Uniqlo inside as well as other restaurants.

Overall, the food was very good! There are a few locations around Seoul. If you happen to pass by one, definitely go have some omurice there!

We Rate Curry House CoCo Ichibanya:

Address:
166-15 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea ‎

Website:
http://www.cocoichibanya.co.kr/main.jsp

In Dessert

Adorabelle Tea Room: Afternoon Tea in Steveston

November 25, 2013

Adorabelle Tea Room is a little cozy tea room in Steveston that serves up Afternoon tea. I rarely come to Steveston, but had I know there was such a cute little restaurant here, I would make more trips down here. The tea room is in the location of an old courtroom in Steveston. Seems like a weird place, but it’s the perfect location for a girls night out.

Afternoon Tea service is from Wednesday through Sunday. There are designated seating times 11:00am, 12:30pm, 2:00pm and 3:30pm. Reservations are required before you come here as they need to plan in advance. It’s $25 per person, which is a good price considering other places are around $50 per person.

Once you go inside, it is small, but it is the perfect atmosphere to have afternoon tea here. There are only 5 tables here.

Good intimate atmosphere for a bunch of girls to come here, de-stress, and have a good catch up session.

Our reservation was from 12:30pm – 1:30pm. Each seating is an hour-long, but its a decent amount of time to eat the 3 tiers of treats. If not, you can take then home and enjoy further.

When you sit down, you have your cup ready and your napkin folded like a rose. It’s the small little touches that make dining here great.

You can choose when types of teas you want. It can be a bit of a struggle to figure out which tea you want to try out.

It’s good that they come around to help you choose the right tea. You can smell them all if you like too.

I went with the Cream Earl Grey and my friend chose Paris. Both very good types of black tea.

As your tea steeps, it has a cozy to keep the heat from escaping.

A few minutes pass by and we can enjoy our tea. There is milk and sugar on the side if you need.

Shortly after, our little treats arrive.

For each person, it comes with:

five tea sandwiches
two fresh baked scones with sweetened cream & strawberry preserves
five house-made petite sweets

Smoked Salmon pinwheel, bacon and chive cupcake, egg pinwheel, cucumber cream cheese open-faced sandwich, chicken and waffles sandwich, and lastly the savoury shortbread with asiago and fennel.

This was by far my favourite section of the meal. Every single item tasted fantastic! The two items that really stood out for me were the bacon chive cupcakes and the savoury shortbread. YUM!

Level two is scone central.

There is the regular scone with raison and topped with icing sugar. The next is the orange scone with a nice glaze on top.
I’m not a huge fan of scones, but these were pretty good. Very filling as well.

Sweetened cream and strawberry preserves to go with the scones. You must add these or else the scone will not taste as delicious. So good.

The last tier is dessert time.

Strawberry with cream cheese, chocolate minty cake enrobbed with ganche, ginger molasses cookies and fruit pastilles.
Delicious and was a sweet overload. A good way to end the meal!

Overall, KoreanGirl and I really enjoyed ourselves here. It’s a quaint little place and we will definitely be back. Afterwards, we walked around Steveston and checked out Garry Point Park.

We Rate Adorabelle Tea Room:

Address:
12051 Third Avenue
Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.adorabelletearoom.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=12051+Third+Avenue+Richmond,+BC&t=m&hnear=12051+Third+Ave,+Richmond,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V7E&z=16 “]

In Gastown

Pizzeria Ludica: Pizza and Board Games

September 15, 2013

On the outside, it still looks like the late Verace Pizzeria. It recently changed ownership and is now Pizzeria Ludica. They opened last week but did not publicly announce it to test the waters. M and I work close by and pass by all the time. When I saw Verace Pizzeria was closed, I was a bit sad, but on the door it said Pizzeria Ludica is opening in its place.

Don’t let the exterior fool you, they just haven’t gotten their new signs yet.

The interior looks similar too.

What makes them different than the other pizzerias is that they have over 500 board games. It’s all on the back wall. They have the usual board games to more unique games that places like Walmart or Target won’t have. Their collection is quite impressive.

M regularly plays board games so he found it cool that there were so many he hasn’t heard of. There’s no extra change to play games.

They are also happy to teach people new games to play. Very insightful staff!

They even have simple games for kids too. Definitely a great place to take your family.

M and I played Smash Up while we waited for our order. Lets just say, I kick ass in board games and I beat M. It’s quite a fun game.

While we were playing the game, the food all arrived. I must say, it was a challenge eating pizza, drinking, and playing games.

The menu items are similar to Verace.

Limonata Al Mosmario has freshly squeezed lemons, rosemary and soda.

Menabrea Beer ($5.50) was pretty good and had a bit of citrus notes in the beer.

Proscuitto Cotto e Funghi ($12.99) comes with mozzarella, ham and mushrooms. It was good, but need some more of a mushroom punch.

Margherita ($10.99) was one of the specials of the day. It is served with plum tomato sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, finished with grana padano, fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil.

The pizza was a good size, good for individual or sharing at about 12 inches. The quality was alright, but there could be more improvements. The basil was sparse and didn’t seem very fresh as it could be.

There are 3 types of oils you can dip with your pizza – chili oil, rosemary oil and garlic oil. My favourite was the garlic.

Overall, great concept with good quality board games. The pizza could use a bit of improvement since the pizza was a bit soggy in the centre and would flop over when eating. It’s quite hard eating it by hand, perhaps a knife and fork would be better. But, I’ve heard thats the style of Neapolitan pizza. I just prefer my pizza to be a bit more crunchy.

We Rate Pizzeria Ludica:

Address:
189 Keefer Pl
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.ludica.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=189+Keefer+Pl,+Vancouver,+BC+V6B+0J1&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=189+Keefer+Pl,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+0J1&z=16 “]

In American

Reel Mac and Cheese: Comfort Food On Wheels

May 22, 2013

The list of new food trucks was revealed a few weeks ago and I just had my eyes on the Reel Mac and Cheese Truck. When I saw them open, my coworkers and I just had to go. It was a nice sunny day, so why not. I’ve always had a soft spot for childhood comfort food. Growing up with Kraft dinner…you know you either loved it or hated it. I loved it as a kid, but as I grew older, it just didn’t satisfy anymore.

The Reel Mac and Cheese Food Truck has movie inspired menu items. The mac and cheese is all made by scratch. The menu has 7 items can be customized with some additional add ons.

The Main Event ($7) is a blend of 5 cheeses, with butter, whole milk, spices and of course the elbow macaroni. It is then topped with crispy onions. The portion size was a good size, but my coworker was underwhelmed by the mac and cheese. It didn’t taste anything special but she did love the crispy onions for the added texture.

The Main Event ($7) with Kevin Bacon’s Bacon (+$2). I can’t say no to bacon, so I had to add it on. It also had the fried onions on top. Once you add the bacon on top, it does get quite expensive and there isn’t too much of it either.

Run Fatboy Run ($6) is deep-fried Mac and Cheese balls. It comes with 3 pieces. They are quite big, so its best splitting with a few others.

Once you open it up, its nice and gooey inside with the crispy exterior. We actually liked this item more than the mac and cheese dishes.

Overall, it was an OK food truck. It has a nice concept that brings people back to their childhood, but the mac and cheese could be more rich and cheesy.

We Rate Reel Mac & Cheese:

Location (can vary):
600 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.reelmacandcheese.com

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=600+Hamilton+Street+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=600+Hamilton+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+2R4&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Kid Friendly

Chen’s Shanghai Restaurant: XLB and Salty Soy Milk

May 12, 2013

I don’t go to Richmond that often, so we decided to make Kirsty (Eating with Kirby) take us to the good places in town. She was pretty confident that this place had some good xiao long bao. I am still a big fan of Dinesty, so she really wanted to show me this hole in the wall with amazing XLB. She even wrote a blog post about Dinesty vs Chen’s a few months ago.

This place is cash only and has won several awards too. It doesn’t have a nice interior but they are best known for their food.

Salted Soy Milk ($2.95) sounds like a weird dish, but it was surprisingly good. It’s also only $2.50! SO cheap! Somehow all the ingredients blended together very nicely to make a savory soup.

Mixed Meat Wo Ba was a cool dish to eat. You take some soup and then you throw in a chunk of crispy rice into it. Its a good combination of crispy rice and the smooth saltiness of the soup.

Noodle Soup with pickled cabbage and shredded pork ($6.50) was ok. Nothing special.

Xiao Long Bao comes in 6 pieces per order ($4.95) whats unique about these is that there is a lot of soup packed into these. Half of the table broke their XLB as they were transporting the dumpling from the bamboo steamer to their spoons.

Shanghai Spicy Green Beans ($7.95) was good as usual. A little bit oily, but not as bad as other restaurants.

Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns ($4.95) were oily and a bit burn on the pan-fried side.

Deep fried buns with condensed milk is a must! The deep fried buns come in 6 pieces and great for sharing. Crispy on the outside and steaming hot and fluffy on the inside.

The food was good and the prices were great. Some dishes can be a hit and a miss.

Words of Wisdom:

Must order the Xiao Long Bao, Salted Soy Milk, Deep Fried Man Tou
Cash Only
Free parking in the parking lot
Horrible Service
Hole in the Wall Decor

We Rate Chen’s Shanghai Restaurant:

Address:
8095 Park Rd
Richmond, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=8095+Park+Rd+Richmond,+BC&hnear=8095+Park+Rd,+Richmond,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6Y+2Y8&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Brunch

EBO Restaurant and Lounge: Sunday Brunch Buffet

March 13, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited to taste their Brunch Buffet, but I tried to keep the review as unbiased as I could. The review does not guarantee 100% similar service you might normally get from this restaurant.

EBO Restaurant is located in the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre.The restaurant is led by internationally trained and award-winning Chef Daniel Craig who brings his love of local ingredients and simple, yet elegant food. They have won several awards in the Province and within Canada.

Every Sunday, EBO offers up an amazing brunch buffet for $30.95. It includes over 70 items and their signature mimosa! The items listed in this post may change a bit, but the quality is still there.

You can start off with tea, coffee, juice, water and whatever thirst quencher you need.

Breakfast Basket

Chef’s selection of Baked Breads and Rolls with Butter
Assorted Danishes, Croissants, Breakfast Loaves, Fruit and Fiber Muffins, Scones

This section has different pastries, bread, fruit, muffin and scones.

Out of this section, I just ate the fruit since I didn’t want to fill my belly with unnecessary carbs. I do love carbs, but when it comes to buffets…I have to think strategically what I want to eat most. I had my eye on …lots of prime ribs and meat!

Breakfast Classics

Grilled Farmer Sausages and Smoked Bacon
Eggs Benedict
Designer Omelet Bar
Cinnamon and Orange French Toast

Designer Omelet Bar is available and you can create your own omelette with the choice of smoked ham, shrimp, mushrooms, spring onions, or tomatoes. Once you choose these ingredients, they will make your omelette for you with free run eggs and aged cheddar.

Fresh Hand-made Roti with Curry sauce was amazing to watch them make it. The roti was fresh and delicious!

The omelette comes out really amazing and tastes just as good! I threw in mostly mushrooms, shrimp and green onions. Even though it was a bit watery, the taste of the egg was really good and it had such a nice color.

Eggs Benedict has ham, egg and hollandaise sauce.

I was very impressed by the eggs benedict because the yolk was still quite gooey! Even though it was in the warmer, the quality of the eggs benny was so good.

French Toast looked quite too and it was in small bite size pieces, but I avoided it since I wanted to eat more bacon and sausages.

Grilled Farmer Sausages and Smoked Bacon were awesome. Anything with sausages and bacon can’t be denied…unless you are a vegetarian.

Salad

Medley of Baby Salad Leaves, Seasonal Fresh Vegetables, and Assorted Vinaigrettes
Traditional Caesar Salad
Traditional Greek Style Salad
Roma Tomato Salad
Marinated Potato Salad

They have lots of salads to choose from. Maybe a bit too much hahaha…I’m just teasing. They do have a great selection if you don’t want the usual salad.

Baby Salad Leaves, fresh vegetables with a bunch of optional vinaigrettes.
Caesar Salad has Grana Padano and Brioche Croutons

Greek Style Salad has kalamata olives, feta, red wine and oregano dressing.

Roma Tomato Salad was my favorite. It also has a basil pesto, marinated boconccini, and artichokes . I just love anything with artichokes.

Marinated Potato Salad has lemon, tarragon, and roasted red pepper.

Platter

Charcuterie, Pates, Smoked and Cured Meats
Domestic and International Cheeses with Crackers
Assorted Sushi and Maki Rolls
Poached Prawns

Assorted Sushi and Maki Rolls was alright. I thought it was a bit strange they would have this here, but the quality of the rolls were pretty average.

Liver Pate with brioche bun I wasn’t a fan of that item, but at least you can be cool and tell people you are eating liver.

Smoked and Cured Meats is always yummy. Too bad they didn’t have prosciutto.

Domestic and International Cheeses with Crackers! I wasn’t a fan of all the cheeses, but they did have some delicious brie.

Smoked Salmon was good and yummy.

Poached Prawns are only good with the cocktail sauce. I was fixated on getting prawns, I totally forgot about the sauce.

Entree

Carved Slow Roast Beef
Penne Pasta
Assorted Dim Sum, Har Gau, Su Mai, Springrolls
BC Seafood Stew with Crispy Puff Pastry
Roast Baby Potatoes
Local Vegetables

On the cutting board was prime rib and roasted pork! There was also deep-fried shrimp wontons, and chicken skewers.

Prime Rib was perfect at medium rare with some gravy! It was so good, I could have sat there all day eating this if I had an unlimited stomach!!!

Roasted Pork reminded me of Chinese BBQ Pork, which I guess are the same thing. Nonetheless, it was good, but I felt like I needed a bowl of rice to go along with this. hahaha.

Chicken Skewers were also pretty awesome. SO tender and flavourful!

Assorted Dim Sum – Har Gau, Sui Mai, and some meatball looking things.

I thought the dim sum was a bit random for this buffet, but some people like their brunch with dim sum. I wasn’t feeling in the whole asian mood, so the taste to me was just ok.

Steelhead Salmon with lobster sauce was so good! If you see this, go eat it! The salmon was perfectly cooked with an incredible flavour from the sauce. Yum!!

There was also rice, but I didn’t have any since .. I needed to save room for all that prime rib.

Roasted Baby Potatoes and an assortment of vegetables. These looked good too, but I skipped this since there was too much to try at the buffet.

Dessert

Assorted Cakes, Pies and Mousses
Custard (Vegan, Dairy, Gluten Free)

Desserts galore! Theres really a lot of different items to choose from. I had a hard time paying attention at this table. The desserts were literally everywhere.

They also had a good amount of eclairs to choose from.

More nom nom nom yumminess.

If you are not a chocolate lover, there are other items that may appeal to you.

This dessert has almond pudding in a really cute little glass.

They even had mini macarons! I wasn’t particularly crazy about the cream puff, but I did enjoy the chocolate desserts.

The buffet is perfect for kids since they have a good selection of cereal, desserts, donuts and jello. It’s meant to be fun and they do pull that off.

The hand-made donuts were really good! It wasn’t too dense, but had a good texture!

I really couldn’t resist and I had to grab a jello just for fun.

Overall, I think this brunch buffet is worth the $30.95. It’s probably one of the better priced buffets. I’ll definitely be coming back.

All the items were well executed and I was not disappointed. They don’t put too much food out at once to keep the quality and freshness in their items. The servers are really prompt on refilling items that run out.

Words of Wisdom:

Make Reservations
Tons of items to choose from
Kid Friendly
Lots of Parking in parkade

We Rate EBO Restaurant and Lounge:

Address:
4331 Dominion St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.eborestaurant.com/

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Vancouver

In Fast Food

Chipotle Mexican Grill: Delicious Food Beyond the Border

February 14, 2012

Chipotle is a chain fast food restaurant in the United States, they have a few on the eastern side of Canada too. Since TaiwaneseGirl was raving about how she wanted it SO badly, we went to grab some lunch. We arrived 30 minutes too early, so we sat in the car and waited for them to open. Surprisingly, we were not the only ones waiting for their delicious Mexican food. There was already about 5 people in front of us as we went inside.

The inside was nice and large. You line up, build your item, pay and eat!

Lots of space and even though it is empty in this picture…it got full fast! People really love Chipotles for some reason.

You first choose from a burrito, bowl, taco or a salad. Then, you can choose what you want to put inside. They have so many options! Oh hey look… calories!

Steak Bowl + Guac ($6.35 +$1.80) may look plain but its amazing inside. It’s like a burrito but without the flour tortilla. TaiwaneseGirl put everything in here and asked for extras, thus her bowl became quite tall. She really liked it. Guac is extra, but its worth it!

Steak Bowl + Guac ($6.35 +$1.80) CanuckGirl got the same thing, but didn’t get as much toppings compared to TaiwaneseGirl.

Caritas Burrito + Guac ($6.35 +$1.80) was stuffed with so much filling, it was so hard for the lady to wrap up. It was a bit messy, but there’s a bowl for you in case it all falls apart. In the end, I just ripped it apart and ate it like a bowl. Delicious and I love the tenderness of the carnitas. Yum!

You can also get free water too. Just ask and you’ll get a cup.

Overall, we quite enjoyed this experience and later in the day…we bought a few takeout orders back to Canada. In a way, it was comparable to Red Burrito in Vancouver. Its best to get the bowl a takeout if you aren’t intending to eat it on the same day. Everything still tastes good.

Words of Wisdom:

Under $10
Delicious steak and caritas
Lots of free parking
Lots of seating
Children friendly with kids menu

We Rate Chipotle Mexican Grill:
Address:
4120 196th St SW
Lynnwood, WA 98036
Website:
http://www.chipotle.com

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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 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

Scoop!: Frozen Yogurt with Lots of Fun

January 23, 2012

Scoop! is a Frozen Yogurt place on West 4th. They have frozen yogurt with some amazing toppings.

After an event Downtown, a bunch of us headed here since Wongers insisted we go! It’s probably because its good and I’ve never been here. She raves about this place and now I know why.

The interior is quite homey with a few seats at the front and some more in the back.

Their most popular items are the frozen yogurts, but they also have smoothies and juices.

Their frozen yogurt machine pumps out their original flavour, so if you want green tea, mango, raspberry or chocolate hazelnut, they manually blend that together. You can choose 2 flavours and combine them together.

After choosing your size and flavour of the yogurt, you can then begin adding toppings. Its an additional $0.93 per 50g.

The best topping that they have are the Mochi! It’s made in-house and out of all the frozen yogurt places I have been to, it’s is really the best. I do also love all the fruits!

You can also add different syrups on top such as white chocolate, chocolate sauce, hot fudge, condensed milk, dulce de leche, and many more.

Small Original ($3.29+additional topping cost) goes best with fruit. It’s the best way to enjoy your froyo!

Small Original and green tea ($3.49 +additional topping cost). The green tea was mushed up at the bottom and the original was put on top. It was good and I liked the toppings!

If you do order the blended flavour, it looks more flat and melts faster than just the original.

The fun doesn’t end there! They have a lot of board games to play! They have a few classics such as Monopoly, Battleship, Jenga…etc. It’s really a great place to just hang out with a few friends. They also have this puzzle game called “Vortex”, I dare you to play it! I spent the whole time trying to solve it…but we couldn’t. If you figure out the secret, do let me know!!

They also have a Fooseball table! How cool is that? This little frozen yogurt place is cooler than some peoples houses.

Words of Wisdom:

Lots of games to play
Original flavour is best
Blended favours melt faster and not as pretty looking
Decent prices
Pay street parking

We Rate Scoop!:

Address:
2050 W 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC
Website:
scoopyogurt.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 Brunch

Cora Breakfast and Lunch: Fruit, Fruit and More Fruit

January 10, 2012

Cora opened on the West Coast last year. Its been established on the East Coast, but finally the chain is here! Cora is located in Coquitlam near Coquitlam Center. It’s quite a far drive but if you want a taste of their gigantic breakfasts and lunch, you may want to travel far.

Since I don’t live not too far from here, KoreanGirl, Gmoney, Jewels, and SuzySticks took a short drive here.

Coffee ($2.50)

1990’s Harvest with sunny side up egg ($11.95) has a large cinnamon-raisin brioche dipped in french toast batter with an egg and bacon strips on one side and a mountain of fresh fruit on the other.

One side of the cinnamon bun was dry and the other one was moist. Certain fruits weren’t as fresh as others, but there was definitely a lot of fruit.

1990’s Harvest with scrambled egg ($11.95) I think Koreangirl was missing a bacon here if you compare it to the image above. She found the same issues with the partially dry cinnamon bun and certain fruits not fresh.

Eggs Benedict ($12.25) has two poached eggs on an English muffin covered with Hollandaise sauce, served with roasted potatoes and fresh fruit.

Seventh of July ($11.25) has 2 crepes and french toast covered with a mountain of fresh fruit. It was OK, but it has a lot of carbs. Its a bit difficult to eat since Jewels didn’t know if she was supposed to eat the crepes with the fruit or eat them separately.

Buckwheat Blessing ($12.95) has 3 sausages and cheese wrapped in buckwheat crepes with a large amount of fruit. I thought the sausages wrapped in the crepes were really good! Yummm meat! There was plenty of fruit, but the watermelon was not fresh at all. It looked super pale. It’s a good touch that they have a few unique fruits like starfruit and persimmons.

Overall, you gets tons of fruit with each dish, but you should come in the summer when fruit is the freshest. Since you never know what fruit will end up on your plate, if you have an allergy, it’s best to let them know ahead of time.

Words of Wisdom:

Best to come when fruit is in season
Busy on weekends
Can be seen as a bit expensive
Lots of booth seating
Kid Friendly
Lots of parking

We Rate Cora:

Address:

3025 Lougheed Hwy
Coquitlam, BC

Website:

http://www.chezcora.com/coquitlam-en

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In Coquitlam

IKEA Restaurant: All About The Meatballs and Nothing More

January 2, 2012

There is more to IKEA than just Swedish furniture. They have a restaurant to chill at since the whole store is so large that their patrons might get hungry. They are most famous for their Swidish Meatballs and other cheap affordable dishes. It’s very kid friendly too.

Since we were watching a movie across the street, we thought it would be a good idea to stop by IKEA for some uber cheap eats. The holidays have left us all quite broke, so this is how we compensate.

They also serve alcohol, which is super awesome, but I didn’t feel like drinking in such a public place with other peoples children. They have Stella, Sleeman and white wine.
I guess this section is for the parents that need to relax a bit.

They also have these weird Swedish juice flavours – Dryck Flader and Dryck Lingon. I haven’t tried it yet, looked a bit creepy.

They also have some desserts, but trust me, do not get them!

Self Serve Pop can be added to your combo for I think $1… but I could be wrong. The lingonberry drink wasn’t that good and tasted like on odd version of cranberry.

10 meatballs ($2.99) comes with lingonberry sauce and your choice of mashed potatoes or fries. Its also topped off with gravy. For a $3 meal, I quite liked it! It filled me up and I was happy.

15 Meatballs ($3.99) looks so much more appealing than the 10 piece. just look how it fills up the plate. It’s a good choice if you want to eat lot and lots of meatballs.

Apple Pie was really horrible! Not even close to what a decent apple pie should taste like.

Overall, I think the best item are the meatballs. I think the staff don’t really cook anything except reheat food and serve it out. Thats why you can’t go wrong with the meatballs.

Words of Wisdom:

$1 Breakfast before 11am everyday
Really cheap meals under $5
Only get the meatballs to avoid disappointment
Bad service

We Rate IKEA:

Address:
1000 Lougheed Hwy
Coquitlam, BC V3K
Website:
http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/IKEA_Food/restaurant.html

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In Brunch

De Dutch Pannekoek House: Sweet vs Savory

December 15, 2011

Foodology Disclaimer: I was provided with a $50 gift card to De Dutch to try out their sweet and savory dishes to promote their upcoming contest on Facebook. I brought along 3 picky eaters to really keep this review as unbiased as possible! This review does not guarantee 100% similar service you might normally get from this restaurant.

De Dutch Pannekoek House in North Burnaby isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing location since it’s located in a back alley, but it’s known in the community and serves lots of hungry customers with their famous Pannekoeken, which is a Dutch Pancake. I came here with KoreanGirl, M and my little sister.

We wanted to duke it out between sweet and savory breakfast lovers…plus everyone loves breakfast!

The interior is quite narrow and not very pretty. They even have fake windows. I’ve actually never been to any other De Dutch location, so I dont know how it compares.

Coffee ($2.60) is needed in all mornings. It was normal, nothing special about it.

Dutcha Mocha ($4.25) was pretty awesome. There was a lot of whipped cream! In fact, 1/4th of the cup was rich thick cream! The coffee part was strangely lukewarm. Nonetheless, it had a rich chocolate accent and was a delight to drink all the way down to the bottom. M was clearly indulging.

Chocolate Milk ($3.25) was incredibly disgusting. M said it tasted watered down. So watered down, it’s mind blowing that something simple as chocolate milk failed to satisfy. My little sister had this too and even though she drank it all, it really wasn’t good.

Boer’s Farmer’s Pannekoken ($16) was the best of the lot. There was a plain pannekoken in the bottom of a pile of hashbrowns, two eggs, two ham, two bacon like ham, and a delicious bratwurst. To top it all off was their Hollandaise sauce. M’s not a fan of Hollandaise as he says that the sauce isn’t flavorful. The eggs were medium as ordered, and the overall meal tasted fresh. The hashbrowns are unique in that they feel light and have great texture. All in all, the best pannekoken in De Dutch…but expensive.

Mixed Fresh Fruit and Whip Pannekoken ($12.50) has the pannekoken on the botton with powdered sugar with a lots of whipped cream and some fruit. It really didn’t seem impressive for the price you pay. It tasted alright.

Meat Lovers Pannekoken ($13.50) has DeBakon, ham sausage, turkey bacon integrated into the pannekoken. It is then topped with 4 slices of edam cheese and tomatoes.

It’s kinda like the Boers Farmers Pannekoken but with all the meat part of the pannekoken. My little sister thought it was good, but she wasn’t a fan of the tomatoes.

‘Abby’ Perogie Pannekoken ($13.50) has Hash Browns, DeBakon and Onion inside with Cheddar and Sour Cream on top. This was surprisingly good! It really did remind me of a perogie.

We all got pretty full from our pannekoken at the end.

I’ve always had a firm stance on being on #teamsavory and could never stand sweet pancakes.

If you want some sweet discounts from De Dutch, like their Facebook Fan Page and retrieve your 25% off January Pass to get 25% off your meal. Also, if you participate in their savory vs. sweet poll, you are entered to win a $500 De Dutch gift card. Contest ends of Dec 24, 2011.

Do you like your breakfast sweet or savory?

Words of Wisdom:

Entrance in the back
Free parking in the back
Overpriced for what you get
Pannekoek should probably be ordered

We rate De Dutch Pannekoek House:

Website: http://www.dedutch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dedutch

Address:

6651 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

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In Japanese

Hi Genki: Dining In An Old Folks Home

July 30, 2011

Located inside the Nikkei Home near Middlegate Mall on Kingsway is an assisted living home for seniors. Of all places, I would not have expected a Japanese restaurant would be inside here. Hi Genki is owned by Fujiya and operated within the Nikkei Home. They sell traditional Japanese food to the public as well as their senior residences.

M took ConsultingGirl and I here since he heard the food was really good.

Trying to figure out how to park your car is a bit confusing at first. Just drive into their underground parking lot, which has complementary parking. Follow the signs in the parkade and walk up the stairs till you see the front of the Nikkei Home. Then walk through the main entrance beside the receptionist to get to Hi Genki. It’s not too complicated, so you won’t get lost.

Their hours are a bit strange, so they are not always open all the time. Not exactly sure if “Sun-Sat” means the whole week or just Sunday and Saturday for lunch, so just call them to make sure.

They have a few special dishes that are layed out at the entrance. Don’t forget to grab a peak at all the dishes just in case something catches your eye. Plus, you will know what you are ordering before hand!

Their regular menu is in a booklet and their specials are on a hand written menu.

The Salmon Sashimi ($4.95) are the normal ones you would find at any sushi joint but was really nicely sliced. It’s not very large, but it is something light and refreshing.

Tonkatsu Donburi ($6.95) is deep fried breaded pork cutlet with egg. This was pretty large and had a lot of rice, you will get full. M really liked it.

Satsuma Curry ($8.95). has fish cake with curry sauce. The fish cake looked super cool and is embedded with carrots and other thin vegetables.

Deluxe Genki Box ($12.50) has salmon sashimi, assorted tempura, chicken teriyaki, rice and miso soup.

The salmon sashimi is the same as the one above. I really like sashimi because its very clean tasting compared to cooked salmon. The assorted tempura had the usual vegetables, but it was not the crispiest we have had. We found the chicken teriyaki to be a bit sweet for our liking. Plus, the size of the teriyaki was quite small and not as tender and moist as other places. Looked a bit burnt too.

The bento box was just ok, but nothing amazing.

Green Tea Ice Cream ($2.95) was yummy and it had a subtle green tea taste. This is probably the usual green tea ice cream of any other restaurant, I doubt they make it themselves.

The Mango Ice Cream ($2.95) was good as well, but it was more sweet than the green tea. I had a bit of both of the ice creams and after eating the mango, the green tea was over powered but the mango. The green tea was hard to taste.