THE ELLIS

Alongside many of the restaurants in the West End and within a walking distance from Kitsilano beach sits one of the newer gastropubs, The Ellis. What lead us to The Ellis was Vanfoodster's Burger Challenge and we figured why not go for a whole meal? This was a big deal for me because if it was not for the burger challenge, I most likely would not have given this restaurant a try since I am neither the type to head to a bar or gastropub for snacks or a meal.

When we walked in, I was impressed by the interior and atmosphere. The restaurant looked chic, bougie and literally what you would find if you Googled gastropub.

Burgers Etc. BBQ House (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON BURGERS ETC [HERE]

Ever had that feeling when EVERYTHING on the table tastes extremely good, so good that you take a bite of one item, move onto the next and continue the rotation like a greedy cartoon character? Well, it happened to me on my previous visit at Burgers Etc. In addition from my previous visit, I concluded that everything was a must order except for the brisket (which was not bad). Meaning, go for the ribs, wings and housemade brisket soup! Although unfortunately, the restaurant was sold out of the brisket soup and not going to lie, we were pretty upset because it tastes so good! 

Coming on a Saturday evening, Burgers Etc was packed! Also, the atmosphere was a lot different than our previous visit, it was loud, filled with energy, and the owners actually checked up on almost every table.

Re-Up BBQ

Restaurant or food stall?

I have been wanting to try Re-Up for quite some time, pretty much ever since the hype from their food trucks and of course, I love barbecue meats. But, the thing is I never knew where the food trucks were! LOL. So when I heard Re-Up opened up their own restaurant at New Westminster Quay, I was pretty excited and complained every week of how I wanted to come down here, for months. And finally made the visit.

With a colourful, organized and easy to read chalkboard menu, Re-up's menu is pretty much like any other barbecue joint. Platters are available with one type of meat along with two sides, or a larger platter with all the fixins to sample every type of meat. The restaurant offers breakfast, chilli, chicken wings and of course, barbecue meats and sandwiches. In addition, apparently the fried chicken is supposed to be pretty good here! Customers pay at the front and when the food is ready, head to the pick up area when the number written on the receipt is called out.

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.

Burgers Etc. BBQ House

REVISIT POST ON BURGERS ETC [HERE]

Burgers Etc was a constant fail since I could never find the restaurant, despite having the correct address and saying "it should be here" numerous times. Well, "RIGHT HERE OMMG WHERE IS IT?!" was what I really said. After many frustrating failed attempts, an early evening trip around 5:00pm was much needed, hoping some daylight would help locate the restaurant. Side note, by "could never find", I was going 30km and still missed it! Walking in, the friendly waiter was welcoming, mentioned the daily soup and provided the option of seating anywhere. The restaurant's interior is squeaky clean and has less than ten tables.

PORK RIBS, BEEF BRISKET, SPICY CHICKEN WINGS, PULLED PORK SANDWICH, HOMEMADE BEEF BRISKET SOUP AND BOYLAN CANE COLA.

Montana's Cookhouse : Coquitlam location

A delayed post for a while has been Montana's because the visit was not so great and in fact, it was the worst visit I ever had here. I was actually quite upset because I like Montana's and was looking forward to this visit. I feel like I jinxed myself because I was telling my friend that the Langley location is always consistent and their ribs taste pretty good. However, the Coquitlam location can range from the worst or decent, to the best. Every Wednesday, Montana's has all you can eat ribs for an extra $1.00 charge. Montana's ribs are parboiled then grilled to make the meat "fall off the bone." Many people hate parboiled ribs because it is a waste of flavour and only suitable for those who like heavy sauce slathered on their ribs. Personally I do not mind parboiled ribs as long as they taste good, and usually they do at Montana's.

The interior of Montana's resembles a cabin with cosmetic decor such as skis, snow shoes, a snow mobile, canoe and antler chandeliers. The restaurant has a high black ceiling and faux wooden booth seats, chairs, doors and pillars. Montana's is a very family friendly restaurant and many tables were here to celebrate a birthday. The highlight of the birthday dinner is when attention is drawn from a cow bell, following the staff members singing a jingle and delivering the dessert. The birthday person also gets to wear a moose hat.

Our rib story. Our fall off the bone ribs are slow smoked for hours and hours over hickory wood chips. Our secret spices give them the smokey, finger lickin' can't get enough of it taste that Montana's Cookhouse is famous for!

Hog Shack Cook House

Hog Shack Cook House is located at Stevetson in Richmond, and seems to be my-go to barbecue house. On my prior visits, I always order the Johnny's Jurassic Platter which comes with side ribs, beef ribs, chicken quarters and pulled pork. The platter is more than enough for two and there will be leftovers! By the way, this is coming from a girl who would attempt to finish it all alone too. But to be fair to myself, the only reason I cannot finish the platter is because the barbecue sauce tastes the same and my tastebuds get bored of the meats.

Walking in for a late lunch around 3:00pm on a weekday, the restaurant was dead and our waitress was friendly. The only reason for revisiting Hog Shack for the third time is because Memphis Blues was horrible. Although I do not remember Hog Shack serving amazing food and the always seemed more average to me. I mean, there has to be a reason why we wanted to try Memphis Blues right? Anyways, instead of ordering the usual platter, we chose our favourite meats and passed on the chicken and pulled pork.

Memphis Blues Barbeque House : Commerical Drive location

My photos have been looking pretty blurry lately so I decided to start using my digital camera (do people even say digital camera?). The camera looks really cute, I might upload a photo later of it later. I think I got the camera in December 2009 (since the first photo taken was from then) and it is a touch screen as well as hot pink. The price for the camera was ridiculous since it was a touch screen and I got it mainly for that reason, plus, it is hot pink. After using the camera for a couple of weeks, I dropped it once and thought what was the point of using a camera when I have my phone? However, now that I have dropped my phone many times and the lenses are scratched, I appreciate the camera now! Plus, the camera looks very cute and despite dropping it once, still looks brand new and feels like I just bought it LOL.

I have been wanting to try Memphis for a while but could never find the restaurant! The restaurant's exterior is not well lit and after trying to find the restaurant ten times, I was finally successful. Memphis is a self serve restaurant - order at the counter, pay and grab your drinks. We did not know this until the waitress told us to grab any seat and said, "when you're ready to order, come up to cash". The restaurant has a casual old school Southern atmosphere and comfortable booth seating arrangements. 

Tom & Jerry's Restaurant

RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED

Tom & Jerry's is a restaurant I have always wanted to go to! I like that kids eat free, the dishes are under $10.99 and the fact that it is called Tom & Jerry's, I have to go. The only problem has been finding someone to come with me. BF finally caved and confirmed ten times if my choice was final. YES. The restaurant has comfortable booth seating arrangements and I am always a sucker for them.

Joey Coquitlam

Some people hate restaurant chains, but I am not one of them. The reason why I enjoy them is because I like consistency, whether good or bad. I also like to have a certain amount or lack of expectations to prevent any annoyances or surprises during my dining experience. For example, some chains are considered to constantly provide underwhelming service; so when I visit, I can expect mediocre service without getting frustrated. Moreover, I usually go to a couple of restaurant chains for specific dishes. Take Joey for example, I enjoy their ahi tuna salad and apple pie.

Joey has a similar atmosphere to Cactus Club, where the restaurant is dimly lit, loud music plays in the background, and the female servers are usually attractive and wear short black dresses/skirts.

Boston Pizza : New Westminister location

This is my favourite Boston Pizza location. My boyfriend is sick and I made him drive me here last night because I knew it would be worth it. My favourite location used to be the one in Coquitlam by Coquitlam Centre until they pissed me off too many times and I felt like eating there once to twice a week was not worth it, and we changed our location to the Coquitlam one by Ikea and they kept disappointing me and pissing me off too so we tried the one in New West because my boyfriend suggested it. I originally thought New West would be the worst location since it is in New West, well now it is my favourite location!

The first time I came here the chicken wings were burnt black, and the pizza was soggy and very very undercooked. Obviously I was pissed so went home and e-mailed them. The manager was so nice and we went back, ever since then (a year?) we are their regulars and have never been disappointed! There is this one server Chelsea and ohmygosh she is what someone would say a "perfect" server. I saw her remove the booths and clean every spec, who does that nowadays? It is so hard to come by!

Anyways, since Me n Eds' really pissed me off, it made me crave for PROPER chicken wings and pizza.

When it is late night they put a sign up asking you to join them in the lounge, so it is a lot better than other locations when the hostess does not stay at the front and you end up waiting 10-15 minutes (Coquitlam locations).

The lounge has booths all around and high chairs in the middle.

The bar.

Double order of chicken wings oven roasted in honey garlic and salt and pepper ($19.95). We always get our wings oven roasted because it is double baked plus not fried so it is healthier. The wings are always juicy never dry, and done perfect. I swear Boston Pizza makes the best wings. We have tried their boneless all meat wings, but they are more dry and not really good. 

Small Tropical Chicken pizza, creamy alfredo, pizza mozzerella, cheddar, smoky bacon, spicy chicken breast and pineapple ($17.55). I thought it was a bit small last night! I swear we said medium because we always get medium. Now I think it is a small. My first bite was so good, and it made me pissed thinking about how horrible Me n Eds' was. The crust was perfect, toppings were good, pizza was crisp and not soggy.

Slow roasted pork back ribs with Jack Daniel's BBQ, vegetables, mash potatoes and garlic toast. ($16.75/half rack). My boyfriend ordered this to try their ribs, I usually stay away from dishes that I think will disappoint me. I was surprised the ribs are really tender and the meat fell off the bone. It could have been more tender and flavourful, but it is pretty good for Boston Pizza. The sauce was mild which I like and the mashed potatoes are real potatoes which is good. 

Overall this is my favourite location and the food here has always been good and consistent for us (except our very first experience), and service wise it is pretty good (keep in mind we come here late at night though). Our server refilled our drinks when they did not need to be, and knew we are the type to eat and leave fast so she asked if we needed things to be packed whenever she thought we were done (a bit too fast, but better than us waiting around).

Since I am trying to eat "healthier," we only order pizza, wings and whatever my boyfriend wants. But my usual appetizers which never disappoint me are the cactus cut potatoes ($10.25) and goat cheese spinach dip ($10.75). For their chicken wing flavours, I have never had a problem with any of them. The only thing if anything would be that their hot sauce is never really spicy.

Some of the things I do not recommend...

• Nachos: I usually get mine with chicken, and every Boston Pizza does not know how to make nachos. What you get is a plate of empty nachos, and chicken (if you add it) on top and cheese on top. That is it. So when you eat the first layer, the chips are empty on the bottom! I even tried adding extra cheese, so what you get is a thicker layer of cheese on top and empty nachos on the bottom. Why can they not make it perfect? It should be, nachos, chicken/cheese, nachos, chicken/cheese, nachos, chicken/cheese. So easy gosh.
• Calamari: Nothing special, sometimes it can be soggy too ugh.
• Thai Chicken Bites: Maybe one of the worst things on the menu, I prefer chicken nuggets.
• Southwest Potato Skins: If you never had Cactus Club's, then order it. These are average. But if you had Cactus Club's, these are not comparable and not good.
• Bacon wrapped steak skewers: One of my 2 favourite things, but they are not good together here. The mini steak is so chewy all the time.
• Sticky Ribs: They are usually always pretty chewy.
• Pasta: No one I know ever enjoys them and they are just meh, even the jambalaya which is supposed to be the best is just whatever.

Here are some photos from other times at different locations,

New West

Calimari ($11.00)

Double order of oven baked wings salt and pepper and mediterranean ($19.75)

Large tropical chicken pizza ($25.99)

Seafood fettucini changed to linguini pasta ($18.75) .. so wasteful because they forgot my boyfriend asked for penne and they gave us linguini because our server thought he wanted linguini, and it pissed me off he was such a brat and could not eat it. I hope someone in the kitchen ate it :(

Coquitlam across from Ikea

Double order of oven baked wings honey garlic and teriyaki ($19.75)

Nachos with chicken and extra cheese ($11.75 +$4.00 +$3.00) .. there is a lot of cheese, but the bottom of the huge stack of chips are empty.

Apple crisp ($7.00) .. I used to get it all the time when it was good, but after 6-7 times they started making it different, and the "crisp" is soggy like wet cookies.

Russian borsch soup ($?) .. my boyfriend drinks this when it is late night and there is no more daily soup, it is meh

Individual size meteor pizza ($12.00) .. never order an individual size! Even a small is much better, individual size does not have many toppings and looks ghetto

Double order of oven roasted wings honey garlic and whisky bbq ($19.75)

Double order of oven roasted wings mediterranean and salt and pepper ($19.75)

Bacon wrapped steak skewers ($13.00) .. these are the driest things ever, I do not recommend

Food: 4/5

Service: 4/5