One Beaker Archives - Page 2 of 2

In Dessert

Capstone Tea House: How a Menu Change Ruined a Good Night

July 9, 2011

I was hanging out with a bunch of people downtown and we were craving dessert. Since it was late at night, only a handful of places could seat tables of 10+. We called up a few places and Capstone Tea House said they had space for us.

I came here about a year or 2 ago and I remember it being decent and not bad at all.

When we arrived, they already set up the table for us. The water came quickly out for everyone as well. It was weird how water was served in bbt cups.

One thing we noticed was the change in menu. This was really different than the one before. They raised their prices and removed some of the items we wanted to order. The prices had a dramatic increase and a few people at our table did decide to go elsewhere. I don’t blame them at all since it is quite expensive even for drinks.

Once everyone opened up the menu, we all wanted to leave. Out of courtesy, some of us felt guilty for leaving since they set up the tables for us already. Some items didn’t look too bad and since it is a fondue place, it was a logical choice to get the fondue.

When the cheese fondue for 2 ($22.95) arrived, we were a bit confused because the menu stated, “comes with 2 personal sized fondue pots”. This was not what was depicted on the menu. When we asked the waitress, she said it is only available in Richmond and not at this location. She said she could not do anything.

At this point we were wondering why they did not tell us this before placing the order. It is not acceptable to mislead your customers.

We did order 3 sets of the ‘cheese fondue for 2’ and expected it to be enough for 6 people. The cheese ran out fairly quickly, so we had to ration the cheese so we could use up all the vegetables and items that came with it. We wanted to order more cheese but, it would have cost us an additional $8.99 for a refill of cheese.

The cheese fondue is made of Swiss cheese and comes with endless assorted French bread cubes, tomatoes, grapes, apples, carrots and these mini garlic crackers. It also came with the unlimited bread. However, no one came to refill the bread and there wasn’t enough cheese to keep on eating unlimited bread.

The taste was all right and we did have fun, but $22.95 per pot was not worth it.

The other group at our table ordered the Chocolate Fondue for 2 ($22.95). It came with 6 ice cream balls, grapes, strawberries, apples, pineapples, bananas, biscotti, and 2 nutty toppings.

They use to offer gummy bears and pretzels too, but they don’t include them anymore. Their experience was better, but still expensive!

We were all pretty mad since why would you have a new menu and items that your location does not carry. It was ridiculous and the waitress did not say anything at all. No personal sized fondue pots were seen here.

The prices were not worth it. The website menu is also not updated to reflect the new changes. They no longer offer the $7 sampler items and the all you can eat fondue option on the menu increased by $2.

Just for the sake of complaining, I had to sit beside their really weird vase filled with dirty water and weird particles inside. It looked gross.

When the bill came, we were very surprised! There was an automatic 20% gratuity for tables of 8 or more. 20% is a bit steep and we were not informed before hand. Looking back at the menu, their clause was on the last page in small font. I would gladly pay it only if they provided us with excellent service, but sadly, the service was quite below par. At least they help us split the bill, but looking at the gratuity per item, its quite a lot.

Even for other restaurants, they would charge 17% or 18% gratuity, but 20% is a bit too high in my opinion.

I am not a very confrontational person, so I would have just let it slide. PRgirl was really furious and told the manager about how upset she was over the whole experience. The manager kindly explained that their shipment of dishware and would not arrive till a few weeks later, thus there was only one larger fondue pot instead of 2 personal sized pots. He was not trying to rip us off and kindly removed the 20% gratuity and gave us a 10% discount. It was good of him to do what he did to amend the issues.

If you are ever unsatisfied at any restaurant, don’t be afraid to speak up. No restaurant ever wants to make their customers angry. So, tell them your thoughts and hopefully they can fix any issues. I am glad PRgirl said something because I would be way to shy to say anything.

Overall, we did have a bad impression of the restaurant. As a dessert, this place is great to take a date or a small group of friends.

Words of Wisdom:

20% gratuity for 8+ group
New menu with increased prices
Slow service
Expensive for what you get
Delicious cheese fondue
No individual cheese fondue
Nice interior decor

We Rate Capstone Tea House:

Address:

1429 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Address:
www.capstonetea.com

In Downtown

Junsei River Japanese Restaurant: Horrible Bento Boxes

June 6, 2011

I went to Junsei River Japanese Restaurant for lunch since it was on Robson St. and I was craving a good ol’ bento box.

The restaurant is a bit narrow but it still has enough room.

Junsei River Japanese restaurant sells the usual items you would find in any Japanese Restaurant. My eyes were immediately drawn to the menu! One full page of Bento box choices! It took me a while to decide what I wanted to get, but eventually I settled on Bento Box F.

As I waited, some tea and miso soup arrived.

The Bento Box F ($10.95) has unagi, salmon roll, tuna & salmon sashimi, green salad & fruit. At first glance, the bento box looked appetizing, but at a closer glance, I was very very disappointed!

The unagi pictured on the menu had a large chunk of unagi, but when it arrived, you get 4 small thin slices of eel, it was not even comparable to the picture. The taste was ok, but you know this was probably frozen and thawed.

The salmon roll, was poorly put together and still contained some tough connective tissue. As you can tell from the image, one roll was about to come undone.

The salad was very very watery and the citrus dressing had a strong ginger taste to it.

The fruit that is part of the bento was a slice of apple. It was cut very poorly and the core was still part of the apple. Doesn’t the seed just look so appetizing?

The tuna and salmon sashimi were decent but not great. The tuna was still a bit icy since it’s been thawing.

The bill came and I was actually glad I could leave. I put my money down and waited for the waitress to come grab it. I waited… then I waited some more…3 waitresses passed by and none of them even picked it up. I even tried raising my hand but no one acknowledged me. It just sat there looking very lonely.

During the time I was waiting, the table next to me was complaining to the waitress about how she got their order wrong. After they talked to 2 waitresses, the waitresses wanted them to pay extra for what they wanted. They were indeed mad and just ate their incorrect order.

I was pretty fed up by now, so I just went up to pay. I grabbed my changed, didn’t tip and went back to work. With so many great restaurants Downtown, this sushi joint really does not compare.

Words of Wisdom:

Do not get their bento boxes
Cheap and of low quality

We Rate Junsei River Japanese Restaurant :

Address:
570 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

In Chinese

Dim Sum Express Food Truck

April 22, 2011

All the way near Waterfront Station lies a street cart specializing in Dim Sum. No need to wait for a table and fight with others to get the last egg tart or buns. Have Dim Sum anytime, in your office, or on the street…..

Walking to the cart, I was approached by someone asking for change but I quickly dodged them and ran to the street cart.

Looking at the menu, there was really one clear choice! Dim Sum Combo ($6.99). Since it is a Dim Sum cart, it should be their specialty.

As I paid for the food, the same person approached me asking for change so I quickly shoved the money back into my pocket but I was so nervous that I dropped all the coins on the floor. FML. I wasn’t that pretty looking either…just Converse, a T-shirt and jeans. I had no sympathy for that man since he kept changing his story of why he needed money. Plus, I’m still a student and I spend all my pay checks eating out.

Once I got my order, I quickly walked away to find a seat somewhere to sit and enjoy this dim sum meal. I chose to use chopsticks but if you aren’t so good using them, you can get a fork instead.

This Dim Sum Combo ($6.99) has a pork bun, gai lan, 2 pan fried dumplings, 2 shrimp dumplings, and 2 sui mai.

Everything came out right away from the bamboo steamers except for the Gai Lan. It was made on the spot. The Gai Lan was sauteed with garlic and topped with sesame seeds. Very simple and probably the best part of this meal.

Everything else was pretty bland and nothing compared to the Chinese restaurants. It seems like everything was frozen and just steamed up. I think I can find better frozen Dim Sum from T&T. I think I just have high standards for Dim Sum because I’m Asian and thats what we do on Saturday mornings.

Even though, this lunch totally sucked, it was ok for $6.99 considering its a food truck in Downtown.

They also give you a fortune cookie with your combo! I was actually really excited because I was craving the sweet taste. I opened the packaging and was about the crack it open to reveal my fortune BUT the cookie was flexible and it wouldn’t crack open.

WORST FORTUNE COOKIE EVER. It was so flexible, you could bend it back into a flat circle. This is not Dim Sum Express’s fault, but they should be aware of the quality of fortune cookies they purchase.

My fortune said “Try a new system or a different approach“. Try a new system? Should I switch to Linux? Should I try an XBOX 360? I would say this advice would be more suitable for Dim Sum Express. Please order better fortune cookies and make better Dim Sum.

Word of Advice:

Very bland Dim Sum
Under $10
Many items to order
Close to Waterfront Skytrain
Fortune Cookie let down

We Rate Dim Sum Express:

Located:

200 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Fumiyoshi: Japanese Restaurant with Pho

April 10, 2011

Mandu and I met up during our lunch breaks. I had a “foodie block” and had no idea where to go for lunch. I really didn’t want to revisit a restaurant nor did I want to spend over $10. Eating is an expensive hobby, so I am trying to cut down my expensive. You should have seen my credit card bill last month.. WOW.

Since Mandu was craving pho, she suggested we go to The Best Pho House. At first I was thinking in my head, how on earth is there such a place that has “the best” pho. Quickly I realized that was just the name of the restaurant.

As we met up and walked to the restaurant, The Best Pho House did not look impressive at all.

We were scared out of our mind, so we decided to find the next closest pho place.

We stumbled upon Fumiyoshi. I have visited this place for the sushi and did not have the best experience. But, I was always curious how the pho would taste. Mandu didn’t really care too much as long as the place looked legit and was edible.

Looking through their extensive list of menu items, we just flipped to the back for pho. They do not have many choices and the only one that seemed somewhat decent was the House special pho ($7.50).

It comes with beef balls, beef brisket and some other type of beef. The pho came with the usual bean sprouts, jalapeno and lemon.

The pho does not live up to the usual pho restaurants in Vancouver. The noodles were clumped together, so when you pick up noodles, you pick up the entire bunch of noodles.The meat was decent, but it would take a while for some of the meat to cook fully since it was bunched up, you could tell it was frozen before hand. The broth had a lot of MSG and after the meal. I found myself chugging down a lot of water back in the office.

The size of the Pho was more like a medium if you compare it to the other pho places. Most larges at other places are $7ish, while Fumiyoshi costs a bit more.

After trying their Japanese dishes and Vietnamese dishes, I don’t think I will be returning. For decent pho, I think I will stick with going to the real Vietnamese Pho Restaurants.

If you know any killer pho places downtown, let me know! Mandu is always on the hunt for pho.

Words of Wisdom:

Large menu
Most items under $15
Mediocre Pho
Has Japanese and Vietnamese items on their menu

We rate Fumiyoshi Seafood & Sushi:

Address:

538 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

In North Burnaby

MegaBite Pizza (Production Skytrain): The Case of the Burnt Food

March 23, 2011

A new Megabite Pizza location opened up on at Production Skytrain. M and I felt like a pizza craving, so we went online to order what we wanted. We could of had them deliver to where we were, but it was cheaper just picking it up.

We ordered an extra large pizza and a side. The extra large box was HUGE! It took up the entire passenger side seat. It smelled so heavenly driving back home with the aroma of freshly baked pizza.

We got an XL pizza ($13.99). The 3 toppings that we added on top were peperoni, green peppers and onions. We also got to choose a dip and so we chose the honey garlic sauce.

This pizza did not compare to the one in Commercial Skytrain. It was pretty average and the quality was totally off from what they would usually make. The crust was not and addictive… and it was missing its trademark sesame seed crust.

We also ordered a side of Crazy spinach rolls ($4.49). We only ordered one and 4 pieces came in the box. At first glance, we noticed something wrong. All the spinach was burnt on the sides and the bottom was burnt.

M took a few bites but we gave up because it was like eating cancer. I braved through it all and the outside was just horrible, the only enjoyable part was in the center since it was gooey with cheese.

Overall, I we were really disappointed. Very disappointed! We both vowed we would never return to this location ever again!

We Rate Megabite Pizza (Production Skytrain):

Address:

160-3292 Production Way
Burnaby, BC

Website:
www.megabitepizza.com

In Downtown

Fumiyoshi Seafood & Sushi

March 5, 2011

On my way to lunch, I could feel the showers beginning again, it was that weird day were there were “140km” winds (It totally wasn’t…darn those weather people). There were random periods of heavy rains and then BAM it was sunny and then it turned rainy again.

I was originally going to eat somewhere else, but I just decided to go to Fumiyoshi since it was a block away.

There is lots of room inside if you want to come in with a bunch of people. Most of the seating are booths and 4 people tables.

Since I was craving Fried chicken, I decided to get an order of Chicken Karrage ($3). I have to admit, this is the most failed chicken karrage I have ever seen and tasted. It was not a chicken wing or drumette. These pieces were the joints of chicken bones, so you don’t get a large amount of meat since most of it is just cartilage.

For my main, I ordered their bento boxes. It was $10.99. There was chicken teriyaki, yam rolls, green salad and vermicelli rice wrap. Miso soup comes with it as well.

The miso soup tasted good and refreshing. The green salad was mostly iceberg lettuce and it did not seem very fresh at all. The yam roll was ok as well, the yam roll was more of a yam tempura roll. The vermicelli rice wrap was a bit soggy on the outside and affected the structure of the wrap. It started falling apart.

I really didn’t like Fumiyoshi even though it was at a decent price. There are tons of other sushi restaurants on the same block that I would rather go to.

Words of Wisdom:

Large menu
Most items under $15
Has Japanese and Vietnamese items on their menu

We rate Fumiyoshi Seafood & Sushi:

Address:

538 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

In One Beaker

Highland Pub (SFU)

September 18, 2010

Grabbing a bite with my good pal – ScienceNerd, we went to SFU Highland Pub because it’s close and it was the only decent food on campus, which is cheap.

Even though the Highland pub was under renovations, there were very minimal changes done to the pub. The menu was the same, the décor was the same, but the only thing different was the interior of the kitchen. It looked more organized and clean.

The menu is still the same offering pub-like food.

We ordered a coke and ginger ale, nothing fancy or alcoholic since it is during the afternoon. After looking at the menu, we both decided to have the Roasted pork bun. It also comes with your choice of salad or fries or both.If you wonder what is in this roasted pork bun, it has slow roasted pork loin shaved thin and piled on a potato scallion bun with BBQ mayo and applewood smoked cheddar. The sandwich was decent, but I was not very satisfied with it because the meat was cold and dry. My favorite part would be the applewood smoked cheddar and the BBQ mayo but that was it.

There service was strangely pretty good today but on a regular day, the waitress and waiters would be uber slow and the food would be really crappy.

After going to the highland pub for a few years, it has had some improvement in the quality of the food, but the items on the menu are really a hit or a miss.The items on the menu ranges from $7 – $11, so if you are a student that wants cheap decent food without going all the way to Cornerstone, then this is basically your only option. The only way to have good food at SFU is to go off campus.

We rate the Highland pub:

Visit their website: http://highlandpub.ca/

In One Beaker

Nando’s Flame Grill Chicken

August 28, 2010

Hey all, M here with my first review on foodology.ca! The restaurant DesignGirl went to this fateful day was Nando’s on Kingsway near Metrotown. Now I met Nando’s for the first time while living in London, England for a year and I can tell you my expectations were high. Nando’s in London were middle to high end type restaurants with great interior design and great quality food. I was surprised when I saw Nando’s present itself as a fast food place in Metropolis, Metrotown but I had hopes for the restaurant location.

First impressions of this Nando’s restaurant was pretty bad. Bad location, and poor outside and inside presentation. Terrible doors that are found in the worst of KFC’s and when we went inside, there was duct tape holding cushions together in one booth. There was no improvement in the cashier booth either. Seriously ordering counters from McDonalds looked better. There were no fountain soft drinks, only bottles! We ordered and waited patiently for our food in our booth with a wooden number stand.

DesignGirl got the standard Nando’s order of chicken breast and a side of coleslaw. I ordered Nando’s chicken sandwich with a side of spiced rice. The food came relatively quickly, but as you can see from the pictures , they did not look that appetizing on the plates. DesignGirl’s chicken breast was on the dry side but tasty. Her side of coleslaw was awful though. It just tasted like bad lettuce and nothing else.

My chicken sandwich was delicious but small in portion. The rice was dry and not that delicious. It was so bad that we spent a total of 10 minutes there and left. I guess the only positive way to look at this Nando’s experience was that the coke bottle was cold and refreshing.

Perhaps I am looking at Nando’s the wrong way. In London it’s an actual restaurant like Earl’s and Cactus Club here in Vancouver, but maybe the Nando’s in Canada just presents itself as a fast food slash restaurant hybrid. If so, who can explain the bill coming to $28.99 with mandatory tips? Tips??? There was no waiter or waitress, only a cashier and cook! You don’t see people tipping in KFC do you?

You can easily find better chicken sandwiches anywhere else and Church’s Chicken spiced rice tastes so much better with actual chicken bits in it too! The price was too high, you can eat great food at a real restaurant with that money.

Nando’s is great for their Peri-Peri sauce, and London Nando’s makes a great deal about it. However, the Nando’s here seemed to have stopped trying. Just buy their Peri-Peri sauce and make your own chicken at home!

If you are looking to pay a lot of money for a nice seat in chicken restaurant to eat… Buy an airplane ticket to London, England’s Nando’s Chicken! If not, do not go to Nando’s in Vancouver and head over to KFC or Church’s!

We rate Vancouver Nando’s Chicken: