Poco Ocean Restaurant 海富小館

Having tried Kam Ding in Coquitlam which was mediocre, we decided to try another Chinese restaurant in the area; Poco Ocean. When we walked in, the two of us stood by the entrance for a good ten minutes and the owner's wife as well as a waitress stared at us, but never spoke a word or acknowledged us. After feeling a bit awkward just standing there, I decided to wait outside because the restaurant was fairly hot and the waiting area is quite small. As another ten minutes passed, BF came out and I asked him how long the wait would be. Surprisingly his answer was, "I said 'excuse me' twice to the owner's wife but she ignored me." LOL at the time it was a bit hard to believe, so I decided to walk in myself and ask.

When I walked up to the waitress at the front counter, I asked how the long wait would be for two people and she walked away. Usually at this point or honestly even standing there earlier for ten minutes without even being acknowledged, any normal person would leave. However, I was curious to see how a family operated business could treat their customers like this. Is the food really that good or something? When the waitress came back and I was still standing by the counter, she looked at me like why are you standing here? So, I asked in Chinese how long the wait would be for two and after she kept waving "no" while cleaning up a table, her response was "I don't know." Okay… after telling her we will wait outside, she walked away without saying anything.

Shortly after five minutes of waiting, we went back to the car and was thinking it is not normal to put up with service like this. But at the same time, we really wanted to find out how good a restaurant must be to treat their customers so rudely. On the way back to the car and about to leave, we noticed some people leaving the restaurant and decided to walk back in.

After settling down, we waited around ten minutes for tea which is not a big deal since neither of us drink tea and only use it to clean the table setting if needed. Poco Ocean has an outdated Chinese menu written on a whiteboard at the back of the restaurant and an English menu is available if requested. If comparing the two, every item on the Chinese menu is offered in the English version, except the prices have not been updated. 

While we were waiting for the food, a couple came in and asked how long the wait would be. Usually I would be surprised at this response but considering our experience so far, it seemed normal. The waitress said, "it's very busy today, maybe thirty minutes but even if you wait, we might have to close the restaurant." Wow, imagine waiting thirty minutes and having to leave because the restaurant is closing. This is certainly a first, it is basically like saying there is enough business for the day and the restaurant is busy enough.

Ginza Sushi

Since I was meeting a friend around West Plateau in Coquitlam, we decided to venture out to Port Coquitlam for Japanese. Neither of us had high expectations considering the area, but some of the photos (whole slices of uni are served rather than loose pieces) from Sushi Bar Shyun did not look bad. Actually, I meant the photos from Asahi Japanese but somehow kept thinking of Sushi Bar Shyun. When arriving at Sushi Bar Shuyn, we did not know the restaurant is closed on Mondays and the both of us agreed to try out a random, Ginza Sushi.

Ginza Sushi is located in a small plaza between a Chinese restaurant Rainbow Butterfly and Dominos Pizza, along with a Starbucks drive thru. Walking in, there is a hallway to the dining room where we waited for a bit until a friendly as well as polite waiter seated us. 

The restaurant appears to be a small Korean operated family business and the staff is very friendly as well as welcoming (why is it never the same for Korean cuisine restaurants?!). There are a few booth seating arrangements, tables in the centre, and even a private section at the back of the restaurant for large parties. After ordering, we asked if we could move to a larger table because the amount of food was a bit too much for a two person table, and the waiter was more than happy to.

Wilbur & Sabastian's Smokehouse & Bistro

All our smoked meats are marinated and lightly seasoned with our own spice-rub before being slowly smoked in Maple and Alder. 

When someone mentions Coquitlam, I think of Coquitlam Town Centre and never Port Coquitlam or Port Moody. I mean, when I go to Port Moody I just think of it as Coquitlam and as for Port Coquitlam, all I know is that you pass a small bridge which is a few minutes away from Coquitlam Centre. So, having to make an errand, I went all the way out to Port Coquitlam and realized hey, this is pretty far! Fortunately, Wilbur & Sabastian's Smokehouse is also located in Port Coquitlam which is a restaurant that I have been wanting to visit for about half a year. 

After visiting Memphis Blues, I made it a goal to try every barbecue joint in B.C which is fairly easy, since there are not too many. The restaurant is very clean and the seating arrangements are comfortable as well as comfortable (no cramped tables here)! However, there are not many tables which my be an issue during peak hours, for those who hate line ups. 

Walking in, we were greeted by a friendly waiter and he gave us the option of sitting anywhere.