North Burnaby Archives - Page 4 of 7

In Italian

Anton’s Pasta: Stuffed Pasta

March 26, 2013

Another late night meal at Anton’s Pasta. There’s not too many late night places in this area. M and I like to come here for the amount food. Rawr we’re monsters. We have never finished a whole plate nor would be ever try. We usually eat part of it and then save leftovers for breakfast and lunch….and sometimes dinner.

It’s usually busy, but we come pretty late around 9pm. There’s still lots of people inside but at least there are no line ups out the door.

Complementary Bread arrives at the table as you wait for your dish. When you’re super hungry, you’ll probably eat a fair amount of bread, but it definitely fills you up before your pasta arrives. I usually just nibble on the bread and just wait till the pasta arrives.

Spinach Tortellini Napoletana ($16.95) contains spinach tortellini stuffed with ricotta cheese in a fresh basil tomato sauce. It was the first time I ordered stuffed pasta and it was alright. The sauce isn’t as addictive as their specialty pastas. There was a lot of tortellini, but I kinda prefer their other pastas.

Tondi Don Vincenzo ($16.95) has romano cheese & garlic stuffed pasta in a cream garlic parsley sauce with diced onions. The creamy garlic sauce was good!

Overall, the stuffed pasta is definitely different that their speciality pastas. Yet again, it’s not the best pasta, but its alright. People come here for the large quantities.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking near TD Bank
Long line ups during peak hours
Large variety of pastas
No debit, they only accept credit and cash

We Rate Anton’s Past Bar:

Address:

4260 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.antonspastabar.com

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4260+Hastings+St+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=4260+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5C+2J7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Chinese

No 1 Chinese Restaurant: Deep Fried Tofu is Addictive

February 10, 2013

Foodology Disclaimer: No 1 Chinese Restaurant invited me to try their dishes. I brought along 5 of my friends to keep the review as unbiased as I could. All dishes you see reflect what you would receive on a regular dining experience.

No 1 Chinese Restaurant is located on Hastings and Willingdon and they serve Chinese food. The Chef is John Mok and he has spent 30 years as a chef in Hong Kong, USA, China, and Vancouver. I’ve always passed by the restaurant on my way home from Downtown, but never really thought too much about it. It’s a family run restaurant and they put their heart and soul into their food.

When they approached me to try out their restaurant, I told me trusted buddies – M, Scarface, KoreanGirl, Cruzpresso, and RunningMan to join me.

The interior is a bit confusing as it still has the murals from the previous restaurant that occupied the space. Nonetheless, it’s really all about the food and they do have good food here.

Hot and Sour Soup (Small $5.50 | Large $9.95) was pretty good! It’s my favorite soup to order when I’m at a Chinese Restaurant. We gobbled it all up!

Deep Fried Tofu with Golden Garlic ($8.50) holy crap, the most amazing thing I’ve eaten in a long time! The outside is crunchy and the inside is soft tofu. It’s SO good. It looks very simple, but is so addictive. Go order this and you will know what I’m talking about. Everyone at the table thought this was the best item we ordered.

Sweet and Sour Boneless Pork ($10) was decent, still better than some other places in town. The batter wasn’t too thick, so you get a good amount of meat.

Beef Brisket with Curry Sauce ($11.95) had lots of tender beef, potatoes, onions and green peppers. This is one of their popular dishes. I would definitely order this again!

You can order rice to go with your curry. It comes in this cute little container. It reminded me of an elementary school lunch box.

House Special Chow Mein ($9.50) was loaded with a bit of everything. There was so much stuff packed on top, I lost count of what was on it.

BBQ Duck came with a good amount of pieces and was good as well.

Overall, some of the dishes were amazing. Definitely order the Beef Brisket Curry and the deep fried tofu. Since I grew up on Chinese food, generally not a lot of dishes stand out to me, but those 2 dishes are SO GOOD. They also have some pretty cheap lunch specials.

We Rate No 1 Chinese Restaurant:

Address:
02A-3701 Hastings
Burnaby, BC

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

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=3701+Hastings+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=3701+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5C+2H6&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Bakery

Bagel Street Cafe: Mayo, Mustard, Salt & Pepper

January 29, 2013

A time before I started blogging, there would be one place I would go all the time. There was a small little cafe in the Kensington Plaza called Bagel Street Cafe. It is the place to get breakfast bagels in Burnaby. It is owned by a husband and wife and they have operated this cafe for way over ten years.

Every time you order a bagel, they always ask “mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper”. I giggle a little bit every time I hear them say this because its like an automated response. The owners can sometimes be grouchy, but are generally nice.

I ordered the egg florentine bagel on the everything bagel ($4.95). It’s a very simple bagel sandwich but they make it really good! You have the egg with the spinach, tomatoes, and spread.

Overall, the bagel sandwiches are great and not expensive at Bagel Street Cafe. They have a lot of different bagels too.

We Rate Bagel Street Cafe:

Address:
6552 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=6552+Hastings+St++Burnaby,+BC&hl=en&hnear=6552+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Dineout

EBO Restaurant: Dine Out 2013

January 19, 2013

EBO or otherwise known as ‘East of Boundary’ is located inside Grandvilla Casino in Burnaby. I’m not a gambler, but I come here for some good food. I decided to come here for Dine Out with M since I’ve heard their menu is amazing and only $28.

The interior is very beautiful and can seat lots of people. Our server Michael was very nice and helped us make some decisions.

Complementary Bread arrived at the table and there were 3 different varieties, which was great.

Wild Mushroom Soup has Mushroom Terrine, Truffled Brioche Coal, and Feta. I know the picture isn’t appetizing, but this soup is SO AMAZING. It was a good portion and if I could die in a pool full of this soup, I would be so happy. Definitely recommended!!!

Tuna is encrusted in a crisp rice crust, with Dungeness Crab, Avocado Puree, Compressed Watermelon on the plate. The portion was definitely way smaller than the soup. M thought this dish was ok, but preferred the wild mushroom soup instead.

Roasted Duck Confit is has curried butternut squash puree, white bean stew, and maple gel. It was very tender and had a crisp skin, but the duck was salty. If you want something less salty, maybe stick with the steelhead option.

Grilled Lamb Chops Barley (Additional $7) has braised neck, Sunchokes, and Salsa Verde. We were so excited to see the lamb chops on the menu that we didn’t see the addition $7 charge for this dish. It makes sense since this dish is originally $33 on the menu. M got the lamb medium and was cooked perfectly.

Chocolate Pot de Crème, Momon, Crispy Chocolate Bits

Looking at the menu, you probably have no idea what will arrive at your table. M imagined a chocolate cake, but it was more like a small chocolate mousse, cake and bits. It still tasted good.

Poached Pineapple, Spiced Filo, Almond Cake

This dessert was pretty good and I enjoyed it. A good end to the meal.

At the end we even got white chocolates with a passionfruit filling.

Overall, the $28 menu at EBO was pretty good. You just need to choose which item appeals to your palate . I totally wish I chose the steelhead instead of the duck. Just looking at their regular menu, you are definitely saving when getting the Dine Out menu.

We Rate EBO Restaurant :

Address:
4331 Dominion St
Burnaby, BC

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

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4331+Dominion+St+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=4331+Dominion+St,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5G+1B2&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In American

Joeys Burnaby: Ahi Tuna Deliciousness

January 17, 2013

I got a lovely email from Joeys with a $50 gift card for the holidays. A nice surprise, so I decided to have dinner with ShyGirl. Joeys has come a long way and I remember a time when they only had one location in Coquitlam. Super addictive place! That was probably 5 or 6 years ago.

I always wanted to try having dinner here and see how the menu has evolved. Joeys Burnaby location is in the old location of Shark Club near Brentwood Mall.

The location is quite nice and their menu has slowly evolved over the years. It’s definitely funny to see sushi on the menu.

Sapporo ($6) is a beer that I must have and it’s on tap too! It’s light and crisp.

Ahi Tuna Tacos ($12) has seared tuna, toasted sesame ginger coleslaw & wasabi aioli. It’s not spicy at all. It tasted great and the sesame and tuna is a perfect match. I’d definitely recommend this item, but it can be a tad expensive.

Sashimi Tuna Salad ($17.50) has seared rare ahi, mixed greens, mango, peanuts, avocado & cilantro mint lime dressing. I had no idea what to expect from the salad but when it arrived at the table, it was SO pretty. I really didn’t want to eat it since it looked like art.

After staring at it for a long time, I dug in and the flavours were really good. But for $17.50, it was an expensive salad!

Rotisserie Chicken ($22) comes with its natural juices, dirty rice & seasonal vegetables.

Overall, the food was delicious and presented nicely on the plate, but it sure is quite expensive. You still get a great meal and the service is great as well. There is free valet parking in the parkade too.

We Rate Joeys Burnaby:

Address:
1899 Rosser Ave S
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.joeyrestaurants.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1899+Rosser+Ave+S+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=1899+Rosser+Ave,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5C+6R5&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Chinese

Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant: Signature Dishes

December 22, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to try Grand Dynasty’s signature dishes with a few other bloggers. The service is not representative of their usual service since they knew we were coming.

Grand Dynasty is located at the Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby. It is a popular location for Dim Sum, but a great place for dinners too. The prices are generally a tad higher than other Chinese restaurants in the area but pretty good place to dine.

The interior is clean and there are lots of round tables available.

Pan Fried Jumbo Prawn with Egg Yolk Sauce was my favorite since the sauce didn’t overpower the sweetness of the prawn.

Pan Fried Jumbo Prawn with a house Spicy Sauce was a good sauce, but not my favorite prawn sauce. It wasn’t very spicy either.

Boiled Live Lobster in Superior Broth comes with the lobster all cut up on a plate with bean sprout.

They take the meat and then prepare it at your table till it’s all cooked.

The broth was very had a great taste and a good addition to the meal.

Baked Chicken stuffed with Sea Cucumber looks like a regular chicken on the outside, but all the sea cucumber is hidden.

Once you cut through the skin, the sea cucumber is revealed. I’ve never had sea cucumber, so I was very intrigued to see how it would taste. The duck fat really marinated the sea cucumber to give it a great taste.

Live Jumbo Ling Cod Fish Hot Pot was a good dish, but I didn’t particularly love it since I don’t really like the flavour combination of sweet and salty together.

Sautéed Green Vegetable & Wild Mushroom with an arrangement of pumpkin and winter melon. I loved the mushrooms!

Deep Fried Crispy Chicken with Sticky Rice

It was a very interesting dish with layers of sticky rice and crispy chicken. I thought it was alright, but was a unique dish.

Live Lobster & Seafood with Crispy Rice in Soup was probably one of my favorite dishes.

The crispy rice that is added to the soup makes a *snap* *crackle* *pop* sound as it is added in. It had a great aroma of lobster!

Shredded Coconut Creamy Tart came at the end of the meal.

Black Sesame & Coconut Layer Cake came at the end too. I loved this jello.

Overall, I’ve had pretty good experiences in the past at Grand Dynasty. The service and food is still pretty good. Whether its dim sum or just a dinner, you can’t go wrong here.

Words of Wisdom:

Good food!
A bit on the pricy side, but still decent
Weekday afternoon you usually get good service since it’s not packed.
After food adventure to the ….CASINO
Free parking

We Rate Grand Dynasty:

Address:
4331 Dominion Street
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4331+Dominion+Street+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=4331+Dominion+St,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5G+1B2&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In North Burnaby

Broken Rice: New Vietnamese Restaurant in North Burnaby

December 20, 2012

One day I was passing by Hastings and I saw Broken Rice. It’s great that a good amount of new restaurants are popping up in the area, it makes me really excited because this area his my “hood”. Not in a gangster way or anything, but I love new restaurants when I see them.

Their dishes range from traditional items to more modern Vietnamese dishes featuring French influences.

The interior gives a bit of a semi-fancy vibe, which is reflected in their menu as well. It’s not as cheap as your usual Pho restaurants. You probably don’t want to come here and order the usual Vietnamese items.

Tea comes in a cool looking teapot and cups. I don’t know what tea it is, but it was good stuff!

Fresh Coconut ($5) is what M ordered. He loves fresh coconut and no bottle coconut water can even compare. It’s a really refreshing drink and they give you a spoon so you can eat the coconut meat inside.

Duck Sliders ($5) has duck confit, cilantro, onions, and pickled vegetables inside a steamed bun. The sliders were very average and the flavour of the duck didn’t stand out.

Lemongrass Chicken has lemongrass grilled chicken breast served with a salad of fresh watercress tossed in a house vinaigrette. Also, there is broken rice on the side with fish sauce. M thought the dish was a bit expensive for what you get since you can get something equivalent at Bao Chao for way less. Nonetheless, M did like the taste of the lemongrass chicken.

Vietnamese Crepe is a savory crepe with mushroom, jicama, sprouts, and tofu. It is also served with mixed herbs. The crepe was unlike the usual crepe texture, it was very crispy. There was so much herbs on the side, there was a lot! Every herb you can think of was probably on this dish. It was like eating a garden.

The way I was instructed to eat this dish was take a large lettuce leaf and put some herbs and pieces of the crepe, wrap it up and dunk it into the fish sauce. I did enjoy the herbs since they tasted good!

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream ($5) came with a pistachio macaron and then an edible flower. The ice cream is made in-house and tasted great.

Overall, the experience was good. We tried different traditional and modern Vietnamese dishes and it wasn’t like another Pho restaurant. It was a bit nicer, but then again, you are paying higher prices for your meal.

We Rate Broken Rice:

Address:
4088 Hastings St.
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4088++Hastings+St.+Burnaby,+BC&hl=en&ll=49.280922,-123.014753&spn=0.007209,0.016651&sll=49.28112,-123.023351&sspn=0.007209,0.016651&gl=ca&hnear=4088+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5C+2J3&t=m&z=16 “]

In Izakaya

Sushimoto: Mouthwatering Aburi Sushi in Burnaby

December 8, 2012

Sushimoto is a Japanese restaurant located at Holdom Station in Burnaby. It is just steps away and is a hit in the neighbourhood. They have the usual good stuff you can find at a Japanese restaurant – sushi, sashimi, and rice bowls.

The interior isn’t too large, so it’s hard to fit large groups if it’s a busy night. There are bar seats and booth seating.

Complementary tea comes in cute cups.

Complementary Spring Rolls are a nice treat before the meal.

Mad For Garlic Gyoza was very disappointing, it sounded more exciting than it tasted. It just reminded me of the ones you would find at grocery stores…also they fell apart very easily.

Baked Salmon Kama was OK, but there were bones, so not great for little kids.

Korroke comes with 2 pieces of different varieties. One is filed with plain potato and corn, the other was like curry.

Ika Geso Karrage comes with a side of sweet chili dipping sauce. The squid was lightly coated and good.

Sockeye Salmon Sashimi comes with 9 pieces and was very vibrant and red. Fresh and delicious.

Tuna Tataki is awesome as usual! The tuna is lightly seasoned and seared. It is topped with garnish and ponzu sauce.

Prawn Tempura was crunchy on the outside and delicious. Don’t leave it too long or else it will go limp.

Toro Aburi and the Unagi Aburi was very very delicious! The toro just melts in your mouth. Both items are torched and topped with teriyaki sauce.

Negitoro Roll comes in 6 pieces. Delicious too.

Kapa Roll and Mango Roll.

Amusement Roll has cream cheese, cucumber, salmon, egg, crab meat, ikura, Mayo and unagi sauce. The roll was pretty average and the addition of the cream cheese made this interesting. Other restaurants usually have it in the Philadelphia roll. The cream cheese worked well!

Words of Wisdom:

Street Parking
Large variety in menu
Sashimi, Aburi Sushi = good!
Make reservations to avoid waits.

We rate Sushimoto:

Address:

2221 Holdom Ave S
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=2221+Holdom+Ave+S+Burnaby,+BC&hl=en&hnear=2221+Holdom+Ave,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5B+2Z9&t=m&z=16″]

In Bakery

Caffe Divano: New Cafe in North Burnaby

October 31, 2012

Caffe Divano opened another cafe in the Lower Mainland and this location is on Hastings in North Burnaby. I pass by it quite often when I go to Downtown, so I was curious what it offered. KoreanGirl also saw it every time she hops onto the 135 bus, so we made it a mission to have some coffee and chat about what girls normally talk about.

There are lots of tables to sit at and would make a great place to study! We came around 5pm, so there wasn’t a lot of people here.

They have freshly baked goods and when they come right out of the oven, the store smells pretty delicious.

They also have sandwiches, wraps and desserts.

Homemade Oreo Cookie is made of 2 soft chocolate cookies sandwiching vanilla frosting. KoreanGirl and I did enjoy it because the texture of the cookie was great!

Latte was really good! They used 49th Parallel Coffee for this drink and it sure kept me awake all night.

Spanish Latte is a bit different as it contains espresso, steamed milk and condensed milk.

Overall, KoreanGirl and I loved chatting here and having a coffee. The prices are comparable to other cafes nearby. If you are looking for a place thats different than Starbucks, give Caffe Divano a try.

We Rate Caffe Divano:

Address:
4568 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.caffedivano.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”Enter google map URL “]

In Italian

Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria: Italian Restaurant in North Burnaby

October 1, 2012

Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria is a new restaurant located in North Burnaby. Anducci’s used to be in the same location. They serve italian cuisine with authentic Neapolitan pizza and classic Italian dishes. It’s a nice change to have more restaurant like these in the area. There is available parking in front and around the adjacent streets.

I came with Lensflaaare and Flo to chill after a long day.

I ordered a beer as it was a nice day out on the patio. What better way to de-stress with some beer.

Limoncello was very tiny like a shot. We thought it would be more like a cocktail type of drink since it was a bit expensive. Lensflaaare really tried to savour this drink.

Calamari Fritto ($11) is crispy fried squid with roasted roma tomato and salsa verde. It was crispy on the outside with alight batter. The squid was tender and delicious.

Gnocchi Patata (Small -$12) has fried potato gnocchi, Sloping Hill pancetta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, arugula, and herb oil. I really liked this dish because it was a different way the gnocchi was prepared. I’ve never had fried gnocchi before.

Papardelle Carbonara (Small-$12) has Two Rivers guanciale, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, roast garlic, and a 63 degree egg in the center. The egg really pulled the dish together nicely. The crunchy guanciale is really yummy!

Pizza Carne ($16) has guanciale, pancetta, sopressata, coppa, Grana Padano, and San Marzano tomato. I love meat, especially cured meats. The dough had bits where it was burnt and the center could have been more crunchy.

It didn’t come with olive oil or chilli oil, so we had to ask them to bring some over.

Overall, the food was good, but a bit pricey. My favorite items were definitely the pasta. It’s a great new addition to the neighbourhood!

We Rate Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria:

Address:
6011 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.cotto.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=6011+Hastings+St+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=6011+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V5B+4A1&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Japanese

Sushi Garden: Craving Japanese Food For Lunch

August 22, 2012

KimboCake and I had a really failed ritual of waking up at 8am to be productive at Starbucks. We only successfully met twice. On one of the successful days, we went to Sushi Garden on Lougheed Hwy near Brentwood Town Center to chow down on some sushi.

Miso Soup was really good! It had green onions and bits of puff tofu in it. Pretty awesome compared to the other miso soups out there.

Agedashi Tofu was crispy on the outside and had a bunch of sauce on the bottom. If you wait too long, the crispness will go away. It tasted good!

Half order of Spicy Salmon Sashimi is a must! It is slathered with Korean hot sauce. It’s not too hot, but eating too much at one time can make someone tear up at a little. If you can handle a moderate amount of spice, you’ll definitely enjoy the flavours and texture.

Alaska Roll has a lot of avocados in the center and topped with salmon sashimi and a citrus sauce. It’s one of the very popular items here. Yummy!

Smoked salmon cream cheese roll is not for everyone. Some might think the cream cheese gives it a weird texture. For myself, I do enjoy the cream cheese and smoked salmon!

Tobiko with Quail egg is very yummy, but yet again not for everyone. It has a slimy texture from the quail egg and the little tobiko will pop in your mouth once you bite down. It’s a cool item to order if you want to experience different food textures.

Overall, the sushi was pretty good and satisfied KimboCake and I. During lunch time, this places isn’t too busy so it’s a good time to go if you hate crowds.

Words of Wisdom:

Free Parking in the front
Busy during peak hours
Large variety of items

We Rate Sushi Garden:

Address:

4269 Lougheed Highway
Burnaby, BC

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In Four Beakers

The Peartree: Fine Dining in Burnaby, BC

July 9, 2012

The Peartree is owned by Scott and Stephanie Jaeger since 1997. They bring together world class cuisine with a downtown feel in the suburbs of Burnaby. The menu changes seasonally to incorporate the freshest ingredients. They have won several awards and have been recognized for their amazing food.

I bought a Groupon a while ago for The Peartree, where you would get 2 five-course signature menu dinner for $75. Seeing that it was a great deal, I had to get it. I brought along MedicalGiraffe since she really wanted to try this place.

The dining area isn’t too large, but most people make reservations since it is a nicer type of restaurant.

I got a cocktail, but I don’t remember what it was called. It wasn’t too alcoholic and had a nice fruity taste to it.

Brioche bread is served before your meal. It was very delicious, probably has lots of butter, but I could eat this all day.

Warm Potato and Leek Foam was very delicious. Good consistency and very yummy. It was a surprise to find little cubes of potato on the bottom.

Orange Caramelized Scallops With double smoked Bacon Risotto was very creamy and done perfectly. For MedicalGiraffe, she felt it was a tad salty. For myself, I didn’t notice it too much.

Fresh ‘Miracle Springs’ Rainbow Trout With Butternut Squash was well put together! The fish was tender and the butternut squash puree was a good accompaniment. This was my favorite dish!

24 hour Brasied Natural fed BC Short Ribs with Mushroom Ravioli was delicious as well. The best part of the dish was the mushroom ravioli! I could eat it all day! The short ribs was good, but it was a tad salty.

Fresh Pea Shoots comes with the meal too. It was lightly salted, so it was a good addition.

Valrhona Chocolate Ganache With Salted Caramel and Orange/Chocolate Sorbet was SO GOOD! It was MedicalGiraffes favorite item.

Hazelnut Macarons come when the bill arrives. They are smaller than the normal macarons you would see, but they taste awesome.

Overall, the meal was fantastic! You could probably tell by me over using the words “nice”, “perfect”, and “good”. I thought it was worth every penny. If you pay regular price for the set meal for 2, it’ll cost you $150 plus drinks, tax and gratuity. You really need a good excuse like a date or some special occasion to spend that much on a meal. Nonetheless, it is really great food.

Words of Wisdom

Amazing food, great for special occasions
12% HST + 15% gratuity
Good service
Make Reservations

We Rate Peartree:

Address:
4120 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.peartreerestaurant.net/

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In Indian

King Mahal Restaurant: Looks Ugly but Tastes Great

April 25, 2012

King Mahal Restaurant is an Indian restaurant on Hastings Street in North Burnaby serving authentic Northern Indian cuisine.

The Heights Merchant Association is holding this 3-day event (April 24 – April 26, 2012) called “Crave” to showcase some of the restaurants in North Burnaby. Since I live in North Burnaby, I thought I would check out some places I would not normally go dine at. I have to admit, a few of these restaurants do not look very pretty on the outside, but $15 for a 3 course meal is a good price. Never judge a book by its cover!

The interior isn’t pretty at all. Fake flowers are quite tacky.

M and I got one of each appetizer. We were quite surprised that so much came.

Vegetable Pakora has fresh vegetables, potatoes, cauliflower, onions and spinach mixed with spices and graham flour, then deep-fried. I loved the pakora! It was crispy on the outside and had a fragrant taste on the inside.

Vegetable Samosa are crisp patties stuffed with potatoes, peas and dash of Indian spices, then its deep fried. I wasn’t very impressed by it since it was a bit flat and not as plump as some other places in town.

Butter Chicken has boneless chicken marinated in ginger, garlic, yogurt, vinegar and spices, made with fresh tomato sauce,
butter and cream. They give you the option of amount of spice – mild, medium or hot. M decided to get hot since he loves the extra kick in flavour and heat. It was little too spicy for my taste, but he loved it so much that it’s his new favorite butter chicken.

Rogan Josh Lamb is a specialty of Kesh, chunks of meat cooked in traditional spices with saffron. We got this very spicy as well. The flavours were good, but I still prefer the butter chicken.

With each entree, you get the choice between rice or naan. We just got both since we had 2 entrees.

Naan was a little bit thick, but still remained quite crispy, which I liked.

Rice Pudding (Kheer) is made with special rice and milk. It was good especially after eating the curry, it neutralizes the strong tastes.

Gulab Jamun is made with dry milk and cottage cheese balls, deep fried and dipped in sugar syrup. It was a bit too sweet for me since the sugar syrup did seep all the way into the ball.

At the end of the meal, you receive some Candied Fennel Seeds and toothpicks. In a way, you can say the fennel seeds are like mints that taste like licorice.

Overall, the food is pretty good, but the decor and exterior of the restaurant are just horrendous. If you love good affordable food and not care much about aesthetics, you should go here. In total, everything can out to be $35 after tax for M and I. We still packed half our meal to go too.

Words of Wisdom:

Very Affordable
Ability to choose level of spice
Daily Groupon Now deals ($19 and you get an appetizer and 2 entrees.)
Delivery/Pick Up Services

We Rate King Mahal Restaurant:

Address:
4051 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC
Website:
www.kingmahalrestaurant.ca

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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 Japanese

Gaya Sushi: New Japanese Restaurant in North Burnaby

January 1, 2012

To ring in the New Year, how about doing a review on a newly opened restaurant? Gaya Sushi just opened up on Christmas Eve on Lougheed and Brainbridge. I live super close to this place, so I’ve been stalking to see when they open. I’m always a sucker for Japanese food, so I really wanted to see if it was any good.

Walking inside, I was surprised! It looked nice! Way better than any of the other restaurants in the area.

Spicy Tuna ($8.50) was on par with other restaurants that serve this. The tuna chunks were nice and thick with the typical korean hot sauce. It also has cucumbers.

Chilly Ebi ($5.95) has deep fried prawns with chilli sauce. This was alright, but wasn’t the best I’ve had. I think they could of had better batter.

Soft Shelled Crab ($6.95) is lightly breaded deep fried soft shelled crab with tonkatsu sauce on top. This was really good and tasted much better than the Chilly Ebi. I would definitely order this again.

Tako Salad came to our table as a mistake. It has a lot of pieces of octopus slices up on top of ponzu sauce and greens. They just gave it to us complementary and it tasted alright. If you like octopus, you’d probably like it.

Fire Cracker Roll ($4.99) has scallops, avocados, smoked salmon and spicy tuna on top. It was alright, but it wasn’t the best specialty roll I’ve had.

Philadelphia Roll ($4.50) has cream cheese, asparagus, avocado, cucumber and smoked salmon on top. The roll was also alright, but the texture of the asparagus didn’t blend too well with the roll.

Osaka Combo ($7.95) has dynamite roll, 1 pieces of salmon nigiri, 1 tuna nigiri and ebi nigiri. BusanGirl liked it and thought it was a good deal since it did some with a large roll and nigiri.

Tuna Tataki Salad came from the chef since I assume he was trying to experiment with new dishes.

The bottom has a tartar of chopped up tuna thats scorched on the exterior and topped with greens and daikon. On the bottom is a sweet type of ponzu sauce. It was also alright, but I didn’t take a liking to the sweet ponzu sauce. On the other hand, BusanGirl quite liked it.

Overall, the dishes are all quite affordable and have lots of choices. Their sushi needs a little bit of work, but should get a better overtime. It’s a good addition to the neighbourhood.

Words of Wisdom:

Good prices
A few unique dishes
Cheaps Combos
Free parking in front
Close to Sperling Skytrain

We Rate Gaya Sushi:

Address:

#105-2900 Bainbridge Ave
Burnaby BC

Website:

http://gayasushi.com/

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In Izakaya

Sushimoto: Hidden Sushi Place in North Burnaby

December 28, 2011

Sushimoto is a hidden Japanese restaurant in Burnaby near Holdom Skytrain. It’s a nice hidden find since nothing else is really around that area.

They are quite busy during peak hours and are growing to be quite popular since they are known to give away complementary dishes! M, Jojocake, NotFauna, and KoreanGirl decided to head over for some sushi since it’s very close to where we all live.

Ya, as usual I need my tea!

Complementary Salad comes with the meal. I was surprised and super confused because they never use to do this. It had a bit of everything in the salad – vegetables, cranberries, almonds, croutons…etc. It tasted alright. You need to mix it up in order to have the dressing cover all the ingredients.

Awesome cream cheese roll ($11) has avocado, crabmeat, cream cheese, baked salom, nnegi, masago, bonito spicy mayo and unagi sauce. M really liked it, but it can be a bit expensive for just a roll. It’s one of their specialty rolls, so thats why its more expensive.

Red hot chili roll ($8) has chopped scallop with spicy tuna on top and green onion, spicy mayo and spicy sauce.

Spicy Tuna Roll ($3.90) tasted alright. The usual stuff and it wasn’t spicy at all.

Spicy Chopped Scallop Roll ($3.90) has the spicy sauce on top of the chopped scallop roll. It was also alright, nothing too special about it.

Takoyaki ($4.50) comes with 6 pieces. It’s an octopus ball with bonito, mayo and dontatsu sauce.

Tako Wasabi ($3.5) is octopus marinated with wasabi. It also comes with a few sheets of seaweed to eat it with. It doesn’t have a strong taste of wasabi, which is disappointing because I wanted it to sting me. Kinda weird, but I found the ones at Guu and Kingyo much better.

Ika Wasabi comes complementary too. It’s squid marinated with wasabi sauce. It also didn’t have a strong wasabi taste.

Overall, the food was good and the decor was great. Certain items can be a bit over priced, but the addition of the complementary dishes made up for that. It’s a nice little place to go to if you are sick of places like Sushi Garden or Sushi Town.

Words of Wisdom:

Street Parking
Large variety in menu
Sashimi = good!
Make reservations to avoid waits.

We rate Sushimoto:

They are located at:

2221 Holdom Ave S
Burnaby, BC

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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 lunch

Club Ilia: I Go Gaga Over Tuna

October 24, 2011

I met up with fellow SFU Food Blogger – The Food Queen! We were chatting on Twitter and decided to just meet up since it’s fun to eat with others. Since she was on her hunt to try out all the food places at SFU, I thought Club Ilia would be a great place to meet up. It’s not the best place for a quick lunch for one since it’s best with 2 since they have tables. It’s a good place for meetings or more formal-ish lunches.

Club Ilia is an eatery/ lounge that opened up at SFU a few years ago to add to the dining scene. They have a good selection of items.

Sesame crusted tuna sandwich ($13) was something I had to get when I saw it on their daily special menu! I have a weird obsession to find the best ahi tuna burger since Havana’s no longer has their ahi tuna burger. 🙁

It took them a while to get the sandwich ready since they had to defrost the tuna before serving. It’s a funny thing because it was on their daily special, they probably should have been more prepared ahead of time.

It’s got mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, onions and the sesame encrusted seared tuna. I thought it was alright, I thought the cut of tuna could have been a bit thicker since the bun was quite thick compared to the ingredients.

You can also choose your side of salad! I got the salad and it wasn’t bad at all! The greens were fresh and had HUGE cuts of tomatoes. Since they didn’t have balsamic vinegar, I got a raspberry vinaigrette.