Oishizo!

White Spot (somewhere in Kits)

2012-01-09T23:37:00.000-08:00

During the holidays, everything sort of slows down a bit, but I still wanted to go to class and practice (iaido). I went one Saturday morning, and my buddy Ron was there, standing outside in the freezing rain.....the SRC (Student Rec Centre, UBC) was closed. Frig. So we decided to leave and grab a bite to eat instead. We dediced on White Spot and the nearest one was in Kitsilano.

I decided to get something hearty and ordered whatever came with the most food. I think it was called Nat's Hearty Breakfast or something.

Ron ordered some sort of omlette.

Mine came with something I had never heard of - Smashed Potatoes. Basically, I think it was a par-boiled potato that's pan fried (or possiblly deep-fried, haha!). Anyway, it was slightly greasy, but that's what makes this sort of food taste good right? Anyway, it was pretty good, but I needed to season it a bit.

Eggs, pancakes and sausages were a few of the other items that came with my meal. I was quite satisfied by the end of my breakfast, and I was quite content. The service was friendly and I'd probably go back if I was in the area.

Guu Garden - Lunch again

2012-01-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

Guu Garden...yup, we came back here again, haha! I came here with a bunch of colleagues for lunch again and some of the more popular items from last time were ordered again, namely the Hamburg Steak, which I still haven't tried because my eye was drawn to something else....the Sarariman Bento.

More of the same stuff for the most part except this time, I had the Sarariman Bento (businessman's lunchbox), which main attraction was the gindara and a variety of pressed sushi and sashimi. God, every morsel was an amazing taste of heaven.

For about fifteen bucks, I thought it was a pretty good deal considering the quality of food you get. Guu Garden has never let me downn so far, and $15 is probably the most you'd pay for a lunch here, most of the other bento float around ten bucks. Gotta go back sometime to try that Hamburg!

MIyako Sushi - "We Are Proudly Japanese"...as opposed to Canadian?

2012-01-09T23:21:00.000-08:00

When I walked by this place and saw the sign, I couldn't quite place it, but I had a funny feeling in the back of my mind. For anyone who's ever been an English teacher living in Japan, you'll know what I'm talking about, but it reminded me of those vans with the loudspeakers, driving around town chanting right-wing nationalist slogans, haha!

For you purists out there who only believe in "authenticity", here you go. Personally, I could care less what ethnicity is making the food, as long as it tastes good. I've had Japanese food, prepared by Japanese, that tasted crap. The same goes for Chinese food. For a restaurant to feel the need to put up a sign like this just feels weird. If they were really good, word would get around and they wouldn't need to post a sign like this right?

Salmon House revisited

2012-01-09T23:06:00.000-08:00

My dad's birthday was a few months ago, and I was thinking of what to get him. What did he need? Frak, parents are really hard to shop for and I was racking my brain until I figured, how about an experience instead of something tangible? I decided to take my parents someplace nice. A place with an incredbily breathtaking view, and a pretty good meal to go with it. It was a clear, sunny day and I decided to take them to The Salmon House.

We got our bread with a dish of whipped butter and that other stuff that I still haven't quite figured out what it is. I asked our server, but I already forgot what it was.

I wanted my parents to try a variety of things they usually don't eat, so I started them off with the clam chowder. I'm glad they were impressed.

My dad is a big fan of all things smoked, and though the smoked oysters weren't on the lunch menu, they still servered them anyway. They were awesome, as usual, and again, my dad was happy with this dish.

My dad is trying to cut back on red meat, so I ordered the Alder-Grilled Hertiage Angus Steak. I asked for blue, and though it wasn't exactly cold in the middle, it still tasted amazing. Every bite was amazing.

My dad stuck with his thing about cutting back on red meat and ordered the Alder Grilled Seafood Trio which came with salmon, prawns and one other thing, but I forgot what it was. He said it was pretty good, but he kept on eyeing my steak and ended up trading lots of items with me. By the end of it, I think I only had two slices of my steak, haha!

They had a special of black cod and my mom ordered this. It was really tender, just the way we expected, although I'm not sure about the curry-based sauce on this fish.

My dad is sometimes hard to please, especially when it comes to food, but he was quite happy throughout the meal. Usually he will write these sorts of places off as over-rated, but he was quite happy with the experience all together. I could tell because he actually said the food tasted good. Usually he'll say, meh, it's okay. He was also quite chatty with my mom, which tells me that he was checking to see what she thought. Thankfully, they were both enjoying themselves. Happy Birthday Dad!

Gindara at Home

2012-01-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

After eating gindara at Guu, I found myself wanting more, so it was gindara for dinner!

A simple green salad with tomato wedges and kewpie mayo to balance the richness of the fish....yes, I think the workd rich can be applied to black cod/gindara.

What black cod meal would be complete without miso soup?

Miso-marinated gindara is available from most Japanese grocery stores...this batch was from another source :). It's so easy to prepare too. A little oil and a hot pan, few minutes later and you're done.

God, I'm getting hungry just looking posting this.

Guu Garden Revisited - for lunch specials!!!!

2012-01-02T11:41:00.000-08:00

I started working downtown a few months ago and found that my new workplace is smack in the middle of food central. I thought to myself I'm probably going to end up spending half my paycheque on eating out....damn...

One of the first places I went with my new coworkers was Guu Garden. I've been here a few times at night but haven't tried their lunch specials yet. To my surprise, the lunch specials were dirt cheap for what you get.

The Miso Pork Cutlet and Half-Boiled Egg on Rice for $10. It comes with some pickles, soup and side-dish of the week. I've been there probably three times now since this posting and I've had nasu (eggplant), daikon (white radish), and satoimo (a sort of potato). Anyway, some of these pictures are just a mish-mash of a few visits.

The pork cutlet was amazing. Deep fried crispy outer, nice and moist on the inside. Every single bite I was thinking to myself I can't believe it's only ten bucks for this meal.

The tsukemono (pickles) are always a nice palet cleanser. Recently, I found myself addicted to Japanese pickles. I sometimes save a few of these and make ochazuke (tea and rice) at the end of the meal.

I forgot what this was, but one of my colleagues had it. It looked really good and whatever it was, I want to try it next time.

Another bento I want to try next time was the Kobe Beef Hamburg Steak with BBQ Sauce for $10. For those of you not familiar with Japanese food, they will take a hamburger patty (with a few more ingredients than a standard hamburger patty) and serve it on rice and some sauce and call it hambagu. I was told this was awesome, but I'll have to try it for myself.

I got the Saikyo Miso Grilled Black Cod Combo for $12.50. It was as expected - awesome. I almost never have any problems with gindara in most izakaya (Haha, I have had some problems at Aji Taro though, haha!). Every bite was a taste of heaven....ever have fish melt in your mouth?

Grilled to perfection, I was happier than a pig in sugar. It would have been nice to have more fish, but that's just greed talking. By the end of the meal, I was surprisingly full....maybe it was because I was taking my time savouring my meal, instead of scarfing it down as usual.

Today's Guud Pasta for $10 was spaghetti. Add another item to my list of things to try at Guu Garden.

There were a bnuch of us so we decided to try a few desserts. Actually, I think we tried them all, haha!

They were all pretty good, but the sake ice cream (the last one) might not be for everyone. It had a fermented taste to it and I think it's a taste you have to acquire. I have to say, that I had mixed feelings about it. My first taste didn't work for me, but I found myself going back again and again, trying to decide if I liked it or not.

Guu Garden's lunch specials are a win. It's not even a question of if I would go back, it's just a matter of when.

New Camera - Olympus PEN E-PL2

2011-12-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

As most of you have seen in the last pile of posts, most of the pictures were taken by my HTC Desire cell phone cam. The reason for that is my Nikon P100 died on me after about a year of use.

A majority of the controls on the panel right of the display screen began to fail and eventually stopped working all together. Anyway, the camera had a two-year warrantee on it so I brought it in to the local Nikon Service Centre in Richmond, and got some brutal customer service from someone who obviously had no experience in customer service. The original esimates for repairs were a few weeks......a few weeks passed and I heard nothing. I called in and they told me that they were waiting for parts and it may be another week or so. I called a week later, and nobody answered, nobody returned my message. I called another week later and called again, and again, nobody replied my messages. Finally, I called Nikon Canada in Ontario and they got back to me. I was told that my camera was not to be repaired, and that my camera sufferend moisture damage. Snce the camera was no longer in production, parts were no longer available and the best they could do for me was sell me a Nikon P500 for $230. Personally, I don't think this was really fair, but what else could I do? I could take my broken P100 back and let it collect dust as a paperweight, or I could pay $230 (Retail at London Drugs - $299 CAD) and get a new camera. I think I paid $329 for the P100.

Anyway, this was a less-than-stellar result that I expected from Nikon, but what else could I do? I took it, hook, line and sinker and brought home a Nikon P500 that's still sitting in the box it came in, barely touched. I guess I'll pull it out one of these days and play with it, but for now, I got this awesome Olympus E-PL2! Sorry Nikon!

Actually, I can't take any credit for going out to buy this awesome camera myself, since I know absolutely nothing about cameras, let alone good ones, but after using this Olympus for a while, I really, really like it, and I have my friend Eric, AKA Fatman to thank for it. A few months ago, just around the time my P100 died, Eric's buddy and fellow foodie Mark was visiting Canada from the Philippines. Eric told me that he wanted me to meet up with his friend and show him some of the local eateries. Also, Mark was carrying an early birthday present for me from Eric. Holy crap. Anyway, here are some shots of my new camera....I took these pictures with my P500, but for the next few posts, the pictures were mostly shot with my new Olympus E-PL2 :)

This is a Japanese commercial for this camera. I really liked the case seen in this promotional video, however, this exact case is not sold by Olympus. This was a custom one-off made for the commercials. I contacted Olypus Japan about it and they referred me to the company that made this case, and it turns out they can reproduce it for me for a mere 60,000 yen for the case, and another 20,000 yen for the strap....total of about 80,000, which works out to about $1,047 and change. Er.....I'll pass.

Anyway, the camera is a Micro Four Thirds, whatever that means, and it's possible to swap out the lenses, but I am not into that realm of expertise when it comes to photography.....at least not yet. I'll wait till I see my pal Eric and maybe he can show me how to take better pictures with my camera. He's got one too and swears by it. And so far, so do I. Thanks again Eric for the incredible birthday present!!

Ramen Jinya

2011-12-25T01:59:00.000-08:00

I think this might be the last of my posts using my HTC Desire phone cam. After this, I started shooting with a new toy I might just do a post about. Anyway, I heard about this place through the grape vine while talking about ramen with someone. They mentioned this place called Jinya opened up and I had to try it. I assured them that Nan Chu Izakaya had the best ramen in town, however they suggested I try this because I'd be in for a surprise.

I orderd my usual - miso chashu ramen, and to my surprise, it was actually really, really good.

Just look at that chashu....amazing how much fat there is! I wonder if the owner or chef of this place was listening to me moan about how healthy, but boring ramen was in Vancouver (with the exception of Minoru-san's ramen, haha!).

Gyoza was really good too....loaded with garlic.

Anyway, back to the ramen. It came in a huge bowl, surpisingly, there wasn't all that much broth. It was very, very rich, so thick you could walk across it. It was also nice and salty, just the way I like it. And the staff can read your mind because they've got a nice cold glass of water waiting for you. By the time I finished, I was screaming for the water, haha! The chashu had to have been the fattest I've ever seen so far. I mean, just look at the picture, and most of the chashu is white! It gets nice and melty after it sits in the broth for a bit.

Despite some serious health concerns, this place makes a mean bowl of ramen. The service was quick and friendly, the food comes quick, and I've never had to wait in line to get in. It's also inexpensive. In my opinion, this place is light-years ahead of the likes of Kintaro or that other trendy place downtown....Santouka? Anyway, when they said this place could give Minoru-san's ramen a run for his money, they weren't kidding. I would not say it's better or worse, but either way, it's a damn close call. Would I go back? Haha, that goes without saying.

One thing weird about this place though....I saw someone get ramen for take-out. WTF? I have never in my life seen anyone get ramen for takeout before, but apparently some weird people out there like to come to a ramen shop, and have it to go. To each their own I guess, but ramen is not something I'd go buy at a restaurant just to take it home or back to work to eat. I'd just slurp it down in the shop, or make it myself at home....oh well.

The One Cafe - yes, another "The One"

2011-12-25T01:28:00.000-08:00

Food court quality in a restaurant wrapper. I heard the owners of this place used to operate a shop in the food court of Parker Place, but I'm not 100% sure on that. This place is called The One Cafe, not to be confused with another restaurant with an equally stupid name called The One Chinese Restaurant. Sadly, neither of these restaurants are the one for me.

The milk tea was a little bland and watered down when I went. I guess I've been spoiled on the milk tea from places like Alleluia.

My mom loves this one - salty fish fried rice. The salty fish was in abundance, but the lack of quality control really shines with this dish, along with the rice.

A chunk of the the lettuce core. was found on the side. It was the first time I'd seen a chunk this big....figured any chef that cared about plating would have probably not left this in the prep. Maybe he thinks he's still working in the food court. Other than the lettuce chunk, the fried rice was alright.

Lots of meat, but not much flavour here. And barely any green onions to speak of.

I tried their baked seafood on rice, and it wasn't too bad, but on a comparison scale, even Happy Date can do this dish better.

The service was about on par with any shop you can see at Parker Place food court, and the prices are slightly inflated over the food court, but that's to be expected. Besides the collosally stupid name, the place was okay, passable at best. Would I go back? Mmmm...probably not, especially when Alleluia is only a few minutes away.

Cilantro & Jalapeno

2011-12-23T18:47:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot I had this review to comeplete, that's how memorable this place was. When I tried George's moussaka, we also grabbed a taco salad from Cilantro and Jalepeno and I have to say there was nothing there that really stands out in my mind that makes me want to go back and get another.

I'd say the taco salad here was okay, probably not better than La Tortilleria on Granville Island. I'd give this place a pass the next time and save my money for George's

Deer Garden Signatures 鹿園魚湯米線

2011-12-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

I was at my other job a month or so ago and for some reason, lunch was not provided so we all went out to graba bite to eat. Some of my colleagues suggested this place....cheap and tasty, and it was just that. The service was a bit slow, but probably because the place was packed and there was a small line up just to get in to the place.

I've only had laksa a few times and I wasn't really a big fan of it, until I came to Deer Garden. It's a noodle soup with a sort of curry base to it. It tasted almost creamy, and maybe that can be attributed to the coconut milk used in the curry maybe?

Anyway, I really liked this dish and I've always wanted to go back. The laksa is a good reason for me to go back, the only bit of trouble I had was that it didn't taste all that spicy going in....coming out was another story.

*pics taken with my phone cam

Ikea Restaurant & Cafe (Richmond)

2011-12-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

When I did Fresh Slice, I thought I had sunk to an all-time low for food-blogging, but here it is, proof that you can degenerate your standards if you just put in the effort.

Surprisingly good meatballs, really good bang for your buck dollars. Mine came with mashed potatos which were nice and fluffy, and some veg that I couldn't easily identify....are those yellow things carrots? Anyway, Swedish meatballs....you can't go wrong, especially for the price!

*Obviously these pics were taken with my phone cam - HTC Desire

Lin Chinese Cuisine 林餐館

2011-12-23T10:36:00.000-08:00

On Broadway near Granville there's this place called Lin Chinese Cuisine and Tea House. I never thought to ever go in there because parking is kind of a pain, but lately, I've been using a lot of public transit and the bus happened to take me by this place. I found the place full of local office types, and commuters like myself.

The XLB were tiny, bite-size flavour bombs full of the juicy fat soup. They were small, but good. Pricewise is something you'd expect in comnination with the location as well as the quality, in other words fair.

The shredded pork was very, very greasy - after wiping your mouth with a napkin, you could probably transfer the residual oil to a wall and make it transparent (just like in Simpsons). It was good though, haha, but you really need a huge bowl of white rice to go with it.

The green onion pancake was crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, cooked well, but a bit bland.

The Shen Jian Bao had rispy bottoms, and were pretty juicy inside. Almost bite-size, you could stuff one of these in your mouth, but I wouldn't recommend that if you're with someone.

The service here was quick and friendly enough, and the restaurant wasn't too bad for cleanliness. Would I go back? I already have, haha!

*Pictures taken with my HTC Desire

Nat's New York Pizzaria (Denman)

2011-12-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

Pretty good pizza pie, definitely has home-made feel and taste to it. Crust was a bit stiff, but it was good overall because it wasn't drenched oil.

I'm not a vegetarian and usually look at anyone that doesn't eat meat as a heretic, but this cheese pizza was pretty damn good. This place was actually our second choice because Romano's refused to answer their phone.....would I eat from here again? Maybe, if Romano's didn't answer next time :)

*Pictures taken with my HTC Desire.....still waiting on warrantee work from Nikon.

The American Cheese Steak Co.

2011-12-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

I don't know what a Philly Cheesesteak or American Cheese Steak is supposed to taste like, so here's my first impression.....meh.

I ordered a large New Yorkder for $12 (tax and tip $15 and change) so portion was good, I suppose. The ingredients were fresh, and the quality of the beef was good, nice mix fat and lean, cooked perfectly. So what could possibly make me say my first experience was "meh"? Well, the thing was totally lacking in the flavour department....is it supposed to be bland? I added chili sauce, and it improved slightly. I added salt, and it improved tremendously. The beef on it's own had very little flavour and the whole thing relied on the garlic sauce a little too much.

The service from the cashier was less than stellar. She had no compassion for someone's first visit and treated me as if I were from a leper colony or something when I asked her what her recommendation was.

Now about the atmosphere - tries to pass itself off as a trendy place with lots of stainless steel and brick, but it still didn't make the food taste better. And if you're looking to have a conversation with your meal partner, go elsewhere because they really pounded the music on the day I went.

Needless to say, I will probably not return.

*Pictures were taken with my HTC Desire....at the time of this review, my Nikon P100 was still on the fritz.

Bing Sheng Restaurant

2011-12-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

It's kind of interesting all the places your parents can introduce you to. Makes me wonder if they should be blogging instead of me, haha! A while ago, my parents introduced me to this place - Bing Sheng Restaurant.

There were 6 of us and we were pretty hungry when we were seated. I notcied a few things. The mustard and chili weren't a day old like at Kirin (downtown), and they actually labeled the tea, (although the label looked like it was about 100 years old). We also got X.O. Sauce, which seemed to be the standard at Kirin, but I think it would be the norm that most dim sum places would not have this as an optional sauce?

Anyway, our first order came pretty quickly - steamed rice noodles. This came with an assortment of sauces, and was pretty run-of-the-mill. Nothing spectacular to write home about.

Next was the stir fried rice noodles with beef (and onions, green onions and been sprouts....etc...). This dish was just okay, the green onions were cut rather small, and the noodles looked a little pale (could have used a bit more color) but the beef turned out good. At least it wasn't swimming in a pool of oil.

The hagow were pretty big, as were the siumai. There was no way you could eat one in a single bite. They were large and looked pretty, and the siumai had some pretty fresh tobiko on top because they still popped, as opposed to some soggy, over-steamed examples I've had.

Lomaigai was a winner. The sticky rice was steamed perfectly, and the meat ingredients inside were plenty. They even managed to squeeze in a bit of Chinese sausage.

The steamed spare ribs were a bit of a fail for me. Lots of bones and cartilage, not much flavour. It looked colorful and had squash for filler, but in the end, I wasn't happy with them. Plus they were slightly on the lean side.

The beef short ribs were out of this world on the other hand. Loads of sauce, pepper and seasoning, and tons of flavour. The fat to lean ration was perfect as well. This dish was probably my favourite of the morning.

The Siu Mai were tasty, pretty run of the mill, but still tasty.

My dad ordered a bao that was supposed to be a desert bun, but the filling was made with salty duck eggs, something you'd normally find in a moon cake or something. I haven't any other places that serves it this way, and it turned out different but tasty. The salty-sweet filling was savoury, and it was kind of a nice way to top off an overall decent meal. My dad said the filling looked like baby poo though and he joked that it was made from left-over moon cake duck eggs.

The food here overall was pretty good and the prices were reasonable. The service wasn't terrible either. They managed to keep our teapots full of hot water, which was amazing and unexpected. 6 of us got full with abiyt $75 and we had tons of leftovers. I'd say that's not too bad.

bubble Tea Express Gelato & Ice Cream

2011-11-27T18:45:00.000-08:00

After mowing down that moussaka from George's, I felt like something sweet. How convenient there was an ice cream shop just around the corner. Not sure what the shop was called though....Bubble Tea Express or Gelato and Ice Crream? Anyway, it seemed like there were two signs, but they shop space was the same.

They had a decent variety, but we stuck with the usuals: Chocolate and straberry. The chocolate was great, and really hit the spot on this hot day. There's nothing particular to tell about Bubble Tea Express though, except we didn't have bubble tea. The ice cream was good, as about as any other place, the prices are what you'd expect in a touristy place like this....would I go back? Maybe.

George's Souvlaki

2011-11-27T18:33:00.000-08:00

Hey all, sorry the posts are coming few and far between....not that anyone is reading this anyway, but I've been pretty busy lately, working m-f and now most weeknds because I'm on course. Apologies once again for the crap-quality pictures, but my Nikon P100 died on me a few back in September and it's in for warrantee. I will keep you posted about that as well. I acquired another camera that I will go in detail about later, but for now, just bear with me and the crappy pics in the few reviews I'm posting. Once the Christmas holidays rolls around, I'm sure i'll find some time to pay a bit more attention to the blog.

Some time in the middle of September, when it was still warm as if it was summer, I found myself in North Vancouver. Cruising around the food court, this place caught my eye. Normally, I would have gone over to Screaming Mimi's for some baked oyster or their chowder, but I was really hungry this day, and needed something filling. This Greek place looked quite polular (can't tell from the photo) and it looked like they had quite a variety.

I had the moussaka, and though I'm no expert on greek cuisine, I really, really liked this dish. To show my ignorance, the best way for me to describe it was a very rich, creamy shephard's pie. I know, moussaka is typically made from eggplant, but to tell the truth, I would never have guessed.

It came with a wad of tzatziki sauce and Greek salad, and at first, I wasn't impressed with the portion. It also took quite some time to get because the slab of moussaka was so thick, it took quite some time to reheat. Grumbling and waiting for my food, it finally came. It was worth the wait. I had a bite of my friend's moussaka from Kissamo's and I remember it tasting really, really good, but I never ordered it myself because it looked like there was so little of it. I will make a conscious effort to order it the next time I'm there. Anyway, we're talking about George's here, and let me tell you, I will definitely order this the next time I'm here. It was so rich and creamy, it's hard to believe that it's not made of mashed potato with a ton of cream, butter and cheese. And as I said, it didn't look like much, but by the time I was done, I was quite satisfied and full.

Would I go back? Definetly the next time I'm in North Van.

Fresh Slice - UBC

2011-11-14T13:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm blogging about Fresh Slice....again, haha! I've sunk to an all-time low, but hey, food is food right? After my iaido class, I went with a couple of classmates to Fresh Slice. This one felt a bit different than the ones I'd been to before....it had a mediteranean feel about it. Not sure if it had something to do with the staff or the music blasting away in the background, but it was a bit different.

It definitely wan't as greasy as the ones I had before, and they were pumping out pies with different toppings every few minutes. It was cheap, and quick. The only gripe I ahve is there's almost no place to sit. It really is just a take-out place.

Flying wedge Cambie

2011-10-20T00:47:00.000-07:00

I went to see "Harakiri" at the Vancouver International Film Festival a few weeks ago and I was starving so I went across the street and popped into Flying Wedge. I haven't been into a Flying Wedge since my days of working at the airport. In my opinion, they're a bit overpriced, but then again, you get a huge slab of pizza.

Being the cheapskate that I am, I dumped on the parmesan cheese, and basically lost all of the original flavour...not to mention the ranch sauce I dipped every bite into.

The regular pricing is a bit high for my tastes, but I heard they got this all you can eat thing going on for Sundays. I don't know if I'd ever try that, but who knows. This particular location? Aren't they pretty much all the same?

Joey on Burrard

2011-10-20T00:39:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I was downtown for training and during our lunch on the last day, some of us decided to eat downstairs at Joey's on Burrard. I've been to the Joey's on Broadway before and even though they overcooked my steak, it still tasted good, and the service there was good. I figured I'd give this one a try. Actually, I'd been here before, but just for drinks.

I posted this picture because of the steak and sushi.....what is this world coming to??? Enough with the ridonkulous fusion....

God, will the madness ever end. Tell me why in the world would I ever order sushi at Joey? I gotta say, it blows my mind to see things like this......wonton noodles at Cactus Club, haha! Seriously though, it's true, it really is on their menu.

Anyway, enough poking fun at silly menu items. My colleage ordered some sort of pasta and it came with a towering slab of garlic bread. The dish looked tasty and my colleage assured me it was....but I didn't get a sample :(

Kobe Beef spaghetti and meatballs. Personally, I haven't found a better example of this dish outside of Italian Kitchen, but then again, I didn't sample the one from Joey. I'm sure it tasted good though.

Some sort of grilled cheese sandwich.

Not sure what kind of hamburger this was....

....but I was in no mood for burgers. I'd been looking at pictures of prime rib and steak all week so I ended up ordering the 9oz Cab Top Sirloin for $24.49. I asked for fat and bloody and I got fat and bloody. I was blown away because after the server walked away and went to place the order, he actually came back and confirmed if I wanted my steak done blue rare. I said yes, thinking that they'll probably bring it to me medium to medium rare, but I got mine blue!!!

Just look at this thing. Presentation was top-notch and everything tasted as good as it looked.

That spring-roll looking thing was crispy mashed potato. Essentially it was mashed potato encased in a spring roll skin, and I was pleasantly surprised. It actaully tasted quite good and it was interesting to have a crispy texture with mashed potato.

Now onto the star of the dish, my precious blue rare top sirloin. For a 9 oz, it sure looked massive in real life. To see such carnage in the middle of a sunny Friday afternoon would probably put some people off, but my steak gave me the thrill I was waiting for all week. The spice rub went really well with the steak and didn't overwhelm the flavour at all. And although I asked for fat and bloody, it was definetly a good cut have it that way. It was easy to cut and melted in my mouth.

Would I go back? In a heartbeat, as long as they can prepare it every single time like this. Consistancy is the issue with a lot of places, so I may take a chance and go back, hoping they can replicate my experience.

Cafe Gloucester

2011-10-20T00:19:00.000-07:00

Gloucester Cafe, been around for ages and I've even been there on numerous occasions, but I never had a camera present. I remember one of my earliest experiences with Baked Seafood on Rice was at this place. I had a cousin from out of town, and another cousin I probably hadn't seen in 5 or 6 years and we decided to get together at Gloucester's.

One thing that I don't think many places have is the option to supersize your drink. I don't even remember seeing this on the menu, but my cousin orderd an extra large ice lemon tea. It was a monster.

I of course had to relive the glory days and had the baked seafood on rice. It was rich and creamy, just as I remember. I've had better, but I'd probably order this again the next time I go back here.

I heard there are other menu items that are good, but I've only evern eaten the baked seafood and baked pork chop. The prices here are a bit more than say Alleluia, but not out of this world. The nearest competion is Copa Cafe just up the road.

The service here is friendly, and I've always been treated good. Street side parking is available, don't bother trying the back as they only have a handful of spots.

Richmond Sushi

2011-10-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, I haven't touched my blog in nearly a month and what's the first thing I come back with? AYCE sushi, haha! Apologies for the long absence. I've been in the middle of changing jobs from one department to another so I haven't had much time to work on this...also, my Nikon P100 died on me a few weeks ago so I had to send it in for (hopefully) warantee. Several of the controls stopped working and my PC stopped detecting the camera, and started charging it, even though I had set it to no-charge. Anwyay, I loved the camera, so I hope it comes back in one peice. Anyway, back to the blog, the pictures for the next few entries were either taken my my dad's Nikon L24 or my HTC Desire.

So, I was at my other job and we were called in on a Saturday with lunch paid and what did the group decide to do with their $13 meal allowance? They got us to go for AYCE sushi at Richmond Sushi. I haven't stepped into this place for more than 6 years. The parking is crap here, maybe that's why I don't come here often.

It was a Saturday afternoon and the place wasn't very full. I was surprised because I remember this place used to get pretty packed.

Haha, it's been so long, I don't remember what this was...I think it might have been some some sort of....no, nevermind, I'm not going to guesss.

The gyoza presentation wasn't as bad as Aji Taro, and I do remeber these not tasting too bad.

Of course, there's always someone who can't handle the raw fish so we got them some California Rolls...as you can tell, the rice to filler ratio isn't all that bad.

The ebi sunomono was pathetic. It was by far the worst sunomono I have ever had. The one single shrimp sat on a bed of crunchy, yes, crunchy noodles. These were not al dente, they were raw. Unbievable, even worse than Aji Taro. Mazui desu.

I dunno what's going on with AYCE sushi nowadays, but I find they always have to drown the deep fried stuff in the Thai chili sauce...you know, that sweet and spicy sauce? Yuck. Anyway, the ika karaage came with that stuff on it and I didn't like it.

Shrimp bombs! With more Thai Chili sauce. This was a hit with some of the non-raw-fish eaters.

Teriyaki beef was dried out, but rehydrated with sauce.

Chicken karaage?

Assorted carrot tempura. Actually the nasu (eggplant) wasn't too bad and kind of a surprise to find in this place.

The obligatory salmon, tuna and saba nigiri sushi, ordered en masse until we were sick of them.

I had to do it, I had to order the kaki motoyaki in the egg tart trays. First, because I like oysters, and second, because I love egg tarts. Haha, but after a few of these, I felt not so hot.

All in all, Richmond Sushi was more or less the way I remember. I didn't go by choice, but it was more of a social thing so I went along with the group. Would I go back again? Not willingly.

Pacific Buffet - BC Ferry

2011-09-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon, I came back from Victoria to Tsawwassen and for the first time, tried out their Pacific Buffet. I heard about this buffet, but never saw it for myself. Admittedly, I don't travel on the ferry very much, but as soon as I came up from the parking deck, it was smack in front of me, begging me to try it out, haha! It was meant to be.

The pricing is a up there - $22, but I think it was worth it.....I think. Sure, the ferry has a White Spot with burgers and other cafeteria stuff, but that's not exactly cheap either.

Like Janice over at Good Eat said, I'm a sucker for mashed potatos as well, haha! I picked up some mashed potatos, some deep fried chicken wings, some pasta, some butter chicken, some sweet and sour pork, and the roast beef for round one. Haha, butter chicken and sweet and sour pork, hilarious. I was talking about sterotyical food items with my boss from my dayjob and we had a laugh about it because we had a pot-luck lunch one day, and he brought butter chicken because he's East Indian, and I brought sweet-and-sour pork since I'm Chinese. He said that he NEVER eats butter chicken at home, and my dad used to laughs at me for being such a banana whenever I used to ask for sweet and sour pork.

Anyway, butter chicken was a little off from what I was used to (Curry Express, haha!), but still very edible......

......the sweet and sour pork was about as good as Foody-Goody ever was - which was crap. The pasta had a bit too much vegetation in it so I ddin't get that on my second round, and the prawns were good and so was the salmon surprisingly, but there wasn't a whole lot left so I stuffed myself with the roast beef, haha!

I know, this doesn't look very appetizing, but they didn refill it, I just never bothered to go back to take pictures because I was too busy stuffing my face.

The server at the roast beef was very accomodating for this greedy customer, haha! I asked for fat, bloody hunks of meat and he found it for me. Round one was awesome, and I was debating if I should wait a bit longer for items to be replenished, or go back and start on round two before my stomach realized it was already full. Needless to say, I went back for a secound plate of roast beef, shrimp and salmon. There were no mashed potatos when I went back and it was replaced with oven roasted potatos, which I passed on.

The desert section was huge, and had a counter all of it's own (well, so did the salad section, but I skipped that area entirely) and I loaded up on chocolate cakes of all sorts of varieties. I have no idea what they were all called individually, but everything asted surprisingly good for a buffet.

Overall, I was purdy satisfied with my experience. It was better than the buffet at River Rock Casino, and definitely better than Uncle Willy's, but you're also paying $10 more than Uncle Willy's. Would I go back? Absolutely. I don't ride the ferry very often, but if I were ever on that boat again, and didn't have dinner, I would definetly get in on that action. The view is spectacular (front of the boat), the service was great (all the servers were friendly and very professional (probably of the same calibre as a reputable hotel buffet), and the food was pretty fine.

1-888-BC FERRY (1-888-223-3779)
http://www.bcferries.com/onboard-experiences/amenities/pacificbuffet.html

Ali Baba

2011-09-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

More phone cam pics. I went over to the island for work a couple of weekends ago and a bunch of us were waiting in the ferry terminal for our boat. I wasn't particularly starving, none of us were, but you do start looking at food when you're bored out of your mind.

I was at my wit's end when I started to eye the pizza by the slice that had just come out of the oven. The name of the shop struck me as a weird place one might find pizza, but they had a hot and fresh pie that had just come out of the oven and I was tempted. Sucker born every minute because the last time I was in a ferry terminal and got pizza by the slice, I was severly disappointed.

This time, I'm not sure if it was because the pizza was literally seconds out of the oven, or if I was so bored, anything would have tasted good, but my slice of cheeze pizza (Yes, I had a slice of pizza with absolutely no meat in it whatsoever) actually wasn't bad, and definitely light-years ahead of Casa

Italia Pizza and Pasta.

So, the pizza tasted good - fresh. I seriously doubt it would be any good if it had sat under a heat lamp for more than 10 minutes, but as I had it, it wasn't bad. One thing that I really didn't like was the price. It came out to $5.25 for a single slice. Heavily inflated pricing for what you get. Next time, I think I will chose boredom.