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In BBQ

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ: $7.95 Lunch Combo and Happy Hour

March 11, 2012

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ is a new Japanese restaurant that opened up Downtown. It’s located beside Relish Gastopub and below Guu Garden.

They have a lot of good lunch combos and even a Happy Hour special. They sell Japanese BBQ grill dishes, noodles, rice and other dishes. You can have a good lunch for under $10 after tax.

The interior is really quite nice and there’s lots of space. Perfect for games too since they have a projector.

Fried Chicken Karrage (Reg. $5.50 | Happy Hr. $3.50) this was really delicious! I’ve had a lot of chicken karrage in the past and this is my favorite Karrage at the moment. The chicken meat is very moist and the fried exterior is crispy and perfectly flavoured. There is also mayo and lemon if you need extra taste.

Spicy Tuna Volcano (Reg. $6.95 | Happy hr. $3.95) comes with 4 pieces. The rice is deep fried with tuna and a wasabi sauce on top.

The rice inside was actually moist looking normal rice. The tuna was tender and had a good texture. The thing that some of us didn’t like was the wasabi sauce. If you aren’t a wasabi person, ask for the sauce to be removed.

BiBimBap (Reg. $7.95 | Happy Hr. $5.95) was not very good. Unlike typical Korean BiBimBap, there wasn’t much oil in the stone bowl, so a lot of the items just burned. MeatLover really didn’t like this dish.

If you order some lunch combos, you will get an additional salad or miso soup.

The salad was good and refreshing with egg, cucumbers, greens, pepper, radish and a mild sauce.

The miso soup was quite standard. Nothing too special

Chicken Karaage Bowl Combo ($7.95) comes with miso soup and salad. The chicken karaage is similar to the appetizer but with seaweed, mayo and green onions over rice.

Kuppa ($7.95) comes with salad. Don’t get this confused with Koopa from Mario. It has a rich broth soup with rice, beef, egg, and some other items. I liked it because I have this weird fascination for soup and rice.

Overall, price-wise was good and affordable for lunch. The Happy Hour deals were a bit confusing since it says you need a minimum of $15 spent per person. For all of our appetizers, we expected to pay the regular price, but to our surprise the happy hour price was applied even though we did not spend $15 per person.

Words of Wisdom:

$9.99 pitchers of beer of Canucks game day
Some items are a hit and miss
Under $10 lunch specials
Happy Hour Lunch deals

We Rate Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ:

Address:

888 Nelson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:

http://www.gyu-kaku.com/

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In BBQ

Raging Bull Mesquite Grill Food Truck: Open for Breakfast and Lunch

January 3, 2012

A new food truck has popped up on Granville St & Dunsmuir St called Raging Bull Mesquite Grill.

They only use prime cut sirloin and organic chicken. Its smoked with mesquite wood. They are open quite early at 8am and sell breakfast!

Here is a look at their menu. They only have a few items available, but caters to vegetarians too. This is a first time I’ve seen a food cart offering breakfast.

Chicken Fajita Wrap ($7.50) has salsa, spanish rice, beans, corn, cheese, chipotle sauce rolled up in a soft tortilla shell.

The wrap was pretty large and had very unique flavours inside. I loved the grilled chicken, it had lots of mesquite flavour and it really was the star. Certain ingredients in the wrap were warm and then some other were really cold. The cold salsa annoyed me and made the wrap get colder faster.

Overall the wrap was alright with some good unique flavours!

Words of Wisdom:

Offers Breakfast
Under $10
Delicious mesquite smoked meats

We Rate Raging Bull Mesquite Grill:

Location:

Granville St & Dunsmuir St (Outside Shoppers Drug Mart)

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In BBQ

The Red Wagon: Amazing BBQ, But Why The Asian Plates?

December 30, 2011

The Red Wagon on Hastings is a neighbourhood joint that serves up delicious diner food. The interior is very retro, but their food packs some amazing flavour.

Flo and I were on Trinity Street checking out some Christmas lights and got quite hungry. I chose to take her here because it’s a bit of a dive, but it does have some pretty interesting food.

Recently, Guy Fieri of Diners Drive-ins and Dives came to film a segment on his show for the Food Network. According to the show, he ate the Pulled Pork Pancakes.

If you missed it, it should air again on Dec 31st at 4pm! I check out this blog (http://dinersdrive-insanddives.blogspot.com/search/label/British%20Columbia) to check when shows are airing.

Pulled Pork Sandwich ($10.25) is served on a portuguese bun served with coleslaw and fries…but Flo just substituted it with their soup of the day.

Soup of the Day

Flo really enjoyed the taste of the Pulled pork and it’s taste can even rival Reup BBQ’s pulled pork. Since she didn’t like coleslaw, she ordered it on the side and made me eat it. hehehe. The coleslow was good and lightly dressed.

Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich ($10.50) has pickled vegetables, jalapeno, cilantro, mayo on a baguette with a side of chips.

This sandwich was good, but it was SO OILY. The pork belly contains quite a bit of fat, so when you are eating this, it drips all over your hands and plate. To counteract this, the pickled vegetables and cilantro try to balance it out. I used about 7 napkins to soak up the excess fat. The jalapeno was quite strong too, but it made me grab a glass of water to quell the burning.

This isn’t a sandwich for everyone, the overall taste is good, but depends if you can handle the fattiness and sting of jalapenos.

The chips on the side were pretty good, but I was all oiled out when eating the pork belly sandwich. Tastes super good with vinegar!

Did you notice something in each of the photos? ASIAN PLATES!

Overall, good place for a brunch or a late night meal. I still think the best item is the Pulled Pork Burger. It’s not on the menu, but sometimes it’s a special item. You can also ask the chef to make it.

Words of Wisdom:

Good food
Anything pulled pork is amazing
A tad expensive depending on what you get
Free parking on adjacent streets

We Rate The Red Wagon:

Address:

2296 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.redwagoncafe.com

Twitter: @redwagoncafe

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/redwagoncafe

In BBQ

The Red Wagon: Pulled Pork and More Pulled Pork

July 18, 2011

M and I were craving some pulled pork, but going all the way downtown to ReUp was out of the question since we were in Burnaby. M looked around everywhere to find somewhere close by, but no luck for him. I started digging around and I looked at my “To Eat” list and discovered The Red Wagon doesn’t just sell breakfast, they sell dinner too! AND they sell pulled pork!

The inside is very rustic and looked outdated, but I guess thats the look they were going for. It was very simple and quite relaxing on a hot day.

They have a few strange things to look at! I think I was blind because I couldn’t find the red wagon anywhere.

Since Pulled Pork was on our minds, M ordered the Pulled Pork Pancakes ($12.50). It is layered with 3 buttermilk pancakes and pulled pork, topped with Jack Daniels maple syrup. Ya, you heard it right! JACK DANIELS MAPLE SYRUP, something Epic Meal Time would be proud of.

M thought the pancakes were amazingly fluffy, perhaps even the best he’s ever had. The pulled pork was very tender and matched beautifully with the pancakes. The syrup did not taste super potent at all. The only negative thing he had to say was that it was a tad expensive for pancakes.

There was a special deal going on – Pulled Pork Burger with a PBR Beer ( $14.00). I really wanted a beer on a lovely Friday, so I got the special.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer arrived with it and I did not like the beer at all. It was a bit too bitter for my liking. I am really used to Japanese Beer.

When the Pulled Pork Burger arrived, I was drooling. I had to take 2 pictures of it so you would really see how delicious this burger looked. When I ordered it, I thought it would just be a pulled pork sandwich, but no, it was a burger!

This had mayo, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pulled pork and a beef patty. It came with a side of fries too. The patty had a very nice taste and the pulled pork was also tender and juicy like the ones on the pancakes. YUM!

The fries were quite extraordinary too! They were very crunchy! I love crunchy fries!

The bill arrived and that was the damage for dinner. It was definitely a pulled pork day. You also get this peach candy with the bill. Take that mints….peach candy > mints.

Words of Wisdom:

Good food
Anything pulled pork is amazing
A tad expensive
Free parking on adjacent streets

We Rate The Red Wagon:

Address:

2296 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.redwagoncafe.com

Twitter: @redwagoncafe

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/redwagoncafe

In BBQ

M’s Food Court Corner: Gourmet Barbeque

June 10, 2011

Hello to another Mark’s Food Court Corner! Today I will be reviewing Gourmet Barbeque in Lougheed Mall Food Court. Guess which mall I live close to? No not Lougheed, but I do find myself there quite a lot.

Gourmet Barbeque isn’t a chain as far as I know, it has a similar looking food court restaurant right next to it, so I figure its owned by the same person. Gourmet Barbeque when I first saw it looked sketch; I think the sign and menus threw me off a bit. Don’t let the appearance fool you, this place is awesome!

Gourmet Barbeque serves everything from Greek to Chinese food. I sometimes get their Lamb Pita, because their lamb has a nice unique smoky taste. However, today I decided to get, what I always get, the Chicken Curry on Rice ($5.49). Awesome value for a plate of rice with generous serving of chicken curry. The curry itself is unique. It’s not straight up Chinese curry but close to it. Chicken is boneless, which is a bonus, and it also has carrot and potatoes. Not spicy at all, but pretty flavourful. $5.50 for a big plate of rice and curry from a food court? Definitely a must get!

To switch things up, I got their Spring Rolls ($2.99). Nothing special here, but has a nice chewy/crunchy texture. Eating both dishes I was stuffed out my mind!

So if you are at Lougheed Mall, don’t go straight to a chain food court restaurant try out the Gourmet Barbeque!

M’s Words of Food Court Wisdom:

Curry Chicken a must!
Great value, good food.
Get a medium Coke from the fountain with the Curry, matches perfectly!

M’s Food Court Corner Rating: (Not to be compared with Design Girl’s “real” restaurant rating.)

Gourmet Barbeque Locations:

Lougheed Mall

In BBQ

Hog Shack: Burnt Ends Adventure

May 22, 2011

One day, I was in class and I get a message on Twitter from @Kathygko about an EatUp at Hogshack. She heard they had the burnt ends available, so she grouped a bunch of people together to chowdown on the tasty treat.

I’ve always wanted to go to Hogshack but the drive down to Steveston is always so daunting. It’s 1 hour away from where I live, so it’s always unappealing. Since I knew I would be in great company for the famous burnt ends, I really couldn’t say no to the opportunity. Plus, it was a very nice sunny day! I took M with me after class at SFU and we headed all the way down there. Since I am foreign with Richmond Highways and roads…we did indeed get lost twice. There was even one point where we started heading back to New Westminster. (In my defense, highways are tricky).

Eventually we made our way to Steveston, wow! Honestly, I never knew this place existed since last year. I am a horrible Vancouver-ite. Hogshack is located in Steveston with lots of other amazing restaurants around it as well.

We had the Burnt Ends with 2 sides ($15.95). Burnt ends do not sound very appealing at all, but are ok tasting. Burnt ends are the fatty meat parts of rib ends. They have a nice smokey taste to the burnt ends. A few sides you can have with the dish are coleslaw, mashed potatoes, yam fries, baked beans, Spanish rice pilaf, vegetables, potato wedges, fries and corn bread. I was in a healthy-ish mood, so I got the Spanish Rice Pilaf and the vegetables. M on the other hand got yam fries and the rice pilaf. I didn’t particularly like the sides, they were quite bland and could have used a bit more salt.

The first few bites of the Burnt Ends were really good! Nice tender and fatty! Mmmm! After a while, I noticed some pieces were not as tender as others and the BBQ sauce was a bit overwhelming. I don’t think I am a BBQ person. Heck, I don’t even like BBQ chips. The whole sweet and salty tastes don’t work well with me. That’s just my personal taste, so don’t disregard this as a bad dish at all. After a bit of discussion, some of use actually prefer the BBQ at Memphis Blues over Hog Shack.

Evie and Jen were the latecomers, so they ordered something different since they were not too hungry. They had the Pulled pork sandwich ($12), which has pulled pork, coleslaw, BBQ sauce in a nice bun. On the side, they had the poutine. It has hand cut fries, gravy and curds. They both said theses were really good.

(L to R): @jamtjr , @makukiko, @foodologyca, @kathygko, @VVLao and @jen_chu7 .

With all this food, we were indeed in good company! We had lots of laughs and crazy discussions. Thanks Kathy for organizing!

Overall, I found that the burnt ends were ok, but not super amazing or anything. One thing I want to do is try their Flatliner Challenge. Perhaps next time I will try this out. If anyone else wants to do the challenge too, please let me know and we can be gross together!

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking on streets, or pay near the parking lot
Flatliner Challenge, eat in under 5min and its free
Burnt Ends

We Rate Hog Shack :

Address:

160-3900 Bayview Street
Richmond, BC

Website:
www.hogshack.ca

In BBQ

Peckinpah: BBQ House in Gastown

April 15, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Words of Wisdom:

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

We Rate Peckinpah:

Address:

2 Water Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.peckinpahbbq.com

In North Burnaby

Burgers Etc. BBQ House

September 26, 2010

M here, and one fateful evening DesignGirl and I went to try what CTV calls the best burger in Burnaby at Burgers Etc. One great first impression of Burgers Etc. is that they have back parking which is awesome! The front of the restaurant looks quaint and the interior is well decorated with Jazz!

The menu in my opinion is pretty lacking in variety. I went for the Best Burger and DesignGirl ordered the pulled pork sandwich. One thing very impressive is all the stuff you can add to the burger including egg, jalapenos, and others. However, each addition is a dollar more, which could rack up the bill if you wanted the works.

I did want the works, but decided to add egg and cheese. I love eggs in burgers!! Both DesignGirl and I got sides that wasn’t the default fries. I got my burger with the side of potato salad and it was pretty bland. More like a store bought Ziggy’s one. DesignGirl’s coleslaw was also terrible.

I ordered a milkshake to spoil myself for this visit, and the chocolate milkshake was sweet and refreshing. Similar to all the milkshakes sold by Red Robins or Denny’s.

The burger however was delicious. The egg and the burger patty made the whole eating ordeal messy, but pleasurable. It definitely is the best burger I have eaten in Burnaby. Note there are no Vera’s in burger. The burger patty was well cooked and juicy, but it just doesn’t match Vera’s burgers…

Nonetheless, DesignGirls pulled pork sandwich was the best pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever tasted in my life. Now I thought sloppy joe’s and pulled pork sandwich are the same things, but you won’t find this pulled pork sandwich in the school cafeteria! The pulled pork just melts in your mouth with such a good sauce that is not overly sweet or salty.

In the end the 2 meals came to about 26 dollars, so an average price for a great pulled pork sandwich and burger.

Definitely go to Burger’s Etc. for their Pulled Pork Sandwich! If you have extra money around why not go there to add everything on top of Burnaby’s Best Burger? You won’t be disappointed. Just don’t expect too much from the sides!

Rate:

In Downtown

Re-Up BBQ Foodcart

September 25, 2010

Re-Up BBQ Foodcart is one of the new foodcart vendors in Vancouver. After hearing all the buzz about this foodcart on Twitter and Urbanspoon, it was time to see what the hype was all about.

One day after work, I headed over to visit the small place. Even though it was a rainy and cold afternoon, people were still lining up for their BBQ sandwiches.

At first I was skeptical about the size and taste of the sandwich but my view would soon be changed. As I was lining up, I realized I had no cash…apparently it is cash only, so I went across the street to HSBC to grab some cash.

I rushed back into the line before more people lined up. Looking at the small menu, they had pulled pork sandwich and 3 different drinks. Small necessarily does not mean bad, it just means they specialize in that one product.

I obviously ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich ($6). They first take a hoagie type of bread and cut it in half, add the pulled pork, add sauce, and put in a layer of flavored coleslaw. They make it in front of you, so you know it’s fresh and what are the items the put inside.

This sandwich was FAT! If you are hungry for lunch, this will fill you up! Look at the pictures! It’s huge. It was pretty messy eating it because of the sauce and coleslaw. Perhaps I was eating it incorrectly and trying to take pictures at the same time.

I also chose the Southern Sweet tea ($2) to go with the sandwich. It was hard to make that choice, so I asked the guy what he recommended. It tasted good! Better than Nestea or Brisk. I enjoyed it and I would get it again.

After HST, this drink and sandwich came to $9. I guess it’s an ok price since it fills you up.

Words of Wisdom:

Bring cash
Contents of this sandwich may fall on your clothes

If you are near the Vancouver Art Gallery, stop by this little place at the corner of Hornby and Georgia Street. For under $10, the Pulled Pork Sandwich will stuff you!

We rate Re-up BBQ Foodcart: