The Keg Steakhouse & Bar : Coquitlam location

The Keg in Burnaby is a regular restaurant of mine, but I wanted to try something different. Plus, I was visiting a friend in Coquitlam and I did not mind trying the Keg there hehe. 

Cafe Pacifica at the Pan Pacific Hotel

MY REVIST [HERE]

ADULT $49.00 SENIOR $44.00 CHILDREN (6-12) $24.50

METER PARKING $2.00/24 minutes

I originally wanted to go to Herons (Fairmont Waterfront) for brunch, but at the last minute my boyfriend and I decided to walk past to Pan Pacific. It is our second time here and I noticed the selection of food was better than the first time, but the service was horrible. The first time we came our server was perfect, 5/5. Today, our server Tracy did not even say one word to us. I noticed another server (Habib) who was perfect, attending to all his customers and asking if they enjoyed themselves after every plate (like our server the first time). Our server neglected us and we were left with dirty plates and cups at our table. We had to look for her to get our bill and look for her again to get change. Habib was nice enough to clear our plates when he noticed they were in our way.

OUR FIRST PLATES

On the left, MY PLATE CONSISTING OF FRUIT, GRILLED EGGPLANT AND ZUCCHINI SLICES, ASPARAGUS, SMOKED SALMON, CAPERS, PRAWNS AND CHICKEN. The honeydew is ripe but the cantaloupe has some pieces that are overripe/went bad and the watermelon is very ripe and delicious. The grilled eggplant and zucchini has a light grilled taste and is not saucy. The asparagus is good as well. I also like the crab pieces because they are not salty. The only time I had ridiculously natural salty crab was at River Rock. The best crab pieces I ever had at brunch would be the Hilton for Mothers Day because they were naturally so sweet. The smoked salmon and capers are good (what can go wrong?). The prawns tastes very fresh and are a lot better than Top of Vancouvers'. The cold cut chicken breasts are moist and not dry at all. On the right, HIS PLATE.

OUR SECOND PLATES

MY PLATE CONSISTING OF COD, SALMON, LAMB AND PRIME RIB. The cod is not dry or chewy which I expected, but is not necessarily moist either. The salmon is a bit overcooked which is inevitable at brunches sometimes, I guess. For the lamb, it is very chewy and even with a strong flavourful sauce, it is still hard to eat. The prime rib surprisingly is pretty good, tender and melts in your mouth. I forgot to take a photo of his plate and he had more items than me.

OUR THIRD PLATES

MY THIRD PLATE CONSISTING OF SMOKED SALMON, CAPERS, PRAWN, COLD CUT CHICKEN BREAST, ASPARAGUS, WATERMELON, CRAB PIECES AND GRILLED EGGPLANTS, again. On the right, HIS PLATE.

FOR DESSERT

MY DESSERT IS THE CREME CARAMEL AND CHEESECAKE. The creme caramel is vey smooth, not to sweet and pretty damn good. My cheesecake fell apart but it still tastes good, like any other regular plain typical cheesecake. Pan Pacific has a lot of mousse cakes available, but I am not a fan of them. On the right, HIS DESSERT IS THE CHOCOLATE MOUUSE. He says it is very rich and chocolatey.

It is so weird because every time I am here, there is always dirty cutlery and it is pretty obvious too.

I think Pan Pacifics' brunch tastes more fresh than Top of Vancouver, but TOV always has impeccable service. The Hiltons' brunch is cheaper by $20.00, the food is not more fresh but the service is a lot better. The only downside to the Hilton is that their brunch lacks in selection which can be justified by the cheaper price, but for special occasions they have more/better options. Anyways, I do not think it is worth coming back just because I only eat fruit and smoked salmon, plus I much rather eat elsewhere and get if not perfect than good enough service for me (IE Griffins at the Fairmont has fresher food and almost perfect service).

Here is a photo frame from the first time I came. I forgot to mention Pan Pacific has a live pianist which is nice. I only ate 2 plates the first time because I felt like the selection was so limited and only kept eating fruit.

Food: 3/5

Service: 0/5 (we did not receive any today)

Kiso Island Sushi

BF and I decided to randomly come here tonight after the Night Market. He has been here a few times (6 years ago when it was on Broadway and Main called Kishu Island) and this is my first time. The first thing I noticed is that the owner is really nice, friendly and told us we can seat ourselves. We came around 10:15pm so there was only 1 other table since they close at 11:00pm. Kiso Island is a Vietnamese owned Japanese and pho restaurant with friendly staff (sushi chef and the only waitress there). The restaurant is very dark with orange lighting and there was no one around so I was able to us flash (I have this tendency of being embarrassed to take photos of food).

THE GRILLED EGGPLANT, TUNA AND SALMON SASIMI, TORO SASHIMI, MANGO ROLL, RAINBOW ROLL, SALMON NIGIRI, TUNA NIGIRI, EBI NIGIRI AMD HOKKIGAI NIGIRI.

To start, the MANGO ROLL and RAINBOW ROLL. The mango roll is a california roll topped with mango and masago. The mango is not sour which has happened at other restaurants, or even worse it has been raw. I love any roll that is pretty much a california roll with shredded imitation crab. For the rainbow roll, I was kind of upset because it says "rainbow roll (avocado)" on the menu, which gave me the impression that it would be an avocado roll topped with sashimi. But it ended up being a california roll (like how a rainbow roll is supposed to be) and I did not want two california rolls. I wish they change the way it is written on the menu and remove the avocado in brackets since it is kind of deceiving for people (like me) who will think it is just an avocado roll.

The second dish is the TORO SASHIMI. The temperature is off and a bit on the warm side. The stomach lining is not trimmed too (PHOTO ON THE RIGHT).

Plus, I found a fish bone because the toro was not filleted, skinned and deboned properly.

The third dish is the TUNA AND SALMON SASHIMI. What originally happened is that they gave us sockeye salmon which BF does not like. When we asked if there is atlantic salmon, the sushi chef told our waitress to let us know they ran out of atlantic salmon and we asked if we could get all tuna instead. I guess because tuna is more expensive than salmon, the sushi chef brought a new salmon filet out since the 4 pieces given to us are closer to the upper body part (they always filet from the upper body to the lower body). This shows good customer service (especially for a restaurant like this, yes I am judging them!) and they were closing soon too. They could have avoided the situation if they let us know in advance they only had sockeye salmon left, but in their defence, they probably thought no one would make a big deal since sockeye salmon costs more than atlantic. Anyways, the tuna sashimi is a bit at room temperature and more on the warm side, but the atlantic salmon is very tasty, fresh, creamy as well as fatty (since it is a new filet).

The fourth dish is the NIGIRI (SALMON, TUNA, EBI AND HOKKIGAI). The rice is squeezed too hard and tastes mushy. We also ordered UNI but it never came and we forgot to check if they charged us for -.-".

The last dish is the GRILLED EGGPLANT. I enjoy the eggplant because recently I have been obsessed with plain bland eggplant. The server says it comes with a sour sauce, but I asked to get it without the sauce.

MY THOUGHTS

Kiso Island is not the best, but passable and good for cheap sushi rolls if you are in the area. The restaurant is clean with no ripped seats, the price is cheap (20% off after 4pm) and the employees are friendly. I think I would pass on their sashimi, but the rolls are safe. There are a lot of really bad reviews which kind of surprises me since I am a picky eater and I did not think it was that bad. Maybe I am bias because I love any bland sauceless eggplant.

Food: 2/5

Service: 3.5/5

Yogen Fruz : Robson location

I love this place.
The froyo shop is open late (Sunday-Thursday to 11:00pm, Friday-Saturday to 12:00am).
The owner and her son are so nice.
Only this Yogenfruz has the "u serve" option.
They even give you free candy now too!
The only downside is I suck and make them ugly.

Food: 4/5 (some flavours could improve for the self serve)
Service: 5/5

Revisit photo : July 18th.

 

The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant

THIS IS MORE OF A STORY/VENT and is a post of course.

This is the story of Sandbar for BF and I. The night before, we went for dinner at Dockside in Granville Island, the food was not that great but the service was perfection. We had regret not coming to Sandbar because we thought Dockside would be better and since I had nothing better to do, I spent the next day looking through dishes from Sandbar on Instagram. All the dishes looked really good and the reviews were really high (except I am silly and did not actually read any). So... we came here the night after Dockside and it was the most horrible experience ever. Well, actually Bao Bei is still the worst experience ever, but this comes in second.

I was so annoyed and mad with Sandbar that I actually sent them an e-mail and wrote my first "post" on Urbanspoon, Trip Advisor, and some other random ones. I received an e-mail response asking to leave my phone number, so I left BFs. BF told me the general manager called, apologized and said he was speechless. Well.. anyone can be speechless if the food sucks or if the food is amazing. It was kind of like "huh?", since he did not answer my questions or respond to any of my comments. Meh, an apology whether it is sincere or not is better than nothing since he acknowledged my experience (unlike Bao Bei.)

So what happened was we went on a Thursday night and it was slow. There was probably hmm 6-8 empty booths seats? We asked to sit at a booth and they cramped us against this corner (at least there was a window) with a tiny table because apparently all the booths were "reserved." Okay, so why is it after an hour or so.. no one showed up? It turns out our server meant those tables are reserved for tables of four. I understand if this is a weekend or super busy of course, but this is on a Thursday night and really slow. What made me mad later was when I thought at the beginning before we were seated, the hostess told us a table would be free in 30 minutes, or we can go upstairs and warned us it was loud. What would have happened if you made us wait 30 minutes to sit at a tiny table when there were 6-8 booths available? I would have been furious.

Anyways, BF and I tend to order a lot, because we like to eat a lot. We can easily order the same or more than a table of 3 or 4 people. When our server finally came, we ordered two HOUSE MADE CLAM CHOWDER BOWLS, FISH TACOS, SPOT PRAWNS, HALIBUT and the 16oz "BONE IN" STEAK. Firstly, our server who was very rude, rolled her eyes at me when I asked her (honestly, I was very polite) to change my cutlery since it was dirty and the napkin had dirt on it. Secondly, when we ordered the CHOWDERS, FISH TACOS, and SPOT PRAWNS, she was leaving. BF had to literally say, "for our entrees..." for her to stay. Thirdly, she did not write anything down (which is fine if you are good at memorizing) and got our order wrong. She thought we wanted two chowder cups instead of bowls. Fourthly, we wanted to order more but felt restricted because she was already trying to rush off so I felt like we should hurry. Also, since it is our first time here, we were not sure if they brought their appetizers all at once or one by one (some places bring all the appetizers out at once and our table could only fit one). And lastly, at the end of dinner we had to get up to and give our bill to someone else standing by the kitchen because she disappeared numerous times talking to other employees. Honestly if this sounds unprofessional.. it is just how I feel, if an employee was done their job, made sure their customers were happy and did not need anything else, they should be able to talk to other co-workers as long as it is not too loud for customers to overhear. 

With that out of the way... on to the food. I deleted the individual photos because I made a photo frame and did not think I would be posting any photos.

HOUSE MADE CLAM CHOWDER ($8.00). The chowder tastes thin, bland and flavourless. It makes Campbell's Chunky Chowder soup taste like a luxury. I wish we did not correct our server and got the cup sizes instead of bowls. The chowder has no seafood taste but at least there is a good amount of corn niblets and diced carrots?

SPOT PRAWNS ($29.00). For the price you pay, it is not worth it. The dish comes with 2 "regular size" spot prawns and 2 "baby size" spot prawns. What happens if you have a table of 4? Who gets the smaller ones or larger ones? For the same price I could have had 1lb of "full size" spot prawns at a Chinese restaurant (fine, that is not fair to compare) or 4 "full size" spot prawns at another seafood restaurant. 

FISH TACOS ($12.00). The tacos are surprisingly not bad. The fish is not over deep fried or dry, but could have been battered a bit less. The fish tacos taste average and has been better than our other appetizers. I guess Sandbar is more of a restaurant to grab a small bite and watch the view?

MY HALIBUT FISH OFF THE FRESH SHEET ($26.00). The is halibut is cooked perfectly with no complaints.

HIS 16 oz "BONE IN" STEAK ($35.00). Well... there is no bone, therefore it is not a "bone in" steak. The steak tastes chewy, tough and flavourless but is medium rare. We packed it for the dogs (I have the photo on Instagram under MissVancouverPiggy, it is so cute).

In the end, the general manager did contact and acknowledge us which is nice and also gave us a $25.00 gift card. But to be honest even with the gift card, we will not be coming back. There are so many good restaurants and Sandbar is just a joke. It is a place to be "seen" or for the view. I rather walk Granville Island, eat somewhere else after, or go to Bridges or Dockside instead. I will take the blame for the steak just because it is a seafood restaurant right? I will justify that steaks can be below average. But what about the "bone in" that is written on the menu? That is kind of silly of them. Oh yeah, we never got any bread or butter and my friends have always gotten them (just saying).

What were my comments and questions I asked? I asked about the spot prawns regarding their uneven sizes (I saw other photos on IG that looked the same, so they intentionally give 2 small and 2 regular size ones), and if there is a bone in the "bone-in" steak. My comments were that I understand if employees are trained to memorize orders but it does not make them look bad if they are writing it down, which they should if they cannot be accurate. As well as some attitude adjustments if customers complain about something that has nothing to do with the servers themselves (my cutlery and napkin was dirty and no ones fault so why the eyeroll?), and their policy should be changed regarding the "booths are reserved for tables of 4 only," because I strongly believe there are people like me who will come and leave just because you try to give them a small table, especially when it is slow. 

Please do not think I am a horrible person, of course if it was a weekend or super busy I am totally understanding. I should also mention that the general manager did say he can gaurantee for our next visit, things will be different. How would that work? So there will be a bone in my steak as well as 4 regular sized spot prawns? No.. it should not work like that because going through many photos, the food presentation from my photos matches the photos of others. 

Note: To be honest, if the server did not roll her eyes at me, asked the manager if she could give us a larger table and did not rush off when we were in the middle of ordering, I do not think I would have been mad. I think it is everything that built up. Btw the table given was practically like a side table or a coffee table.

Food: 1/5 (fine 2/5 because the halibut is perfectly cooked.)

Service: .05/5

Chong's Restaurant 鍾記海鮮食館

REVISIT POST ON CHONG'S RESTAURANT [HERE]

When I try new restaurants, sometimes I do not feel like having expectations to prevent myself from being disappointed. Sometimes when I look for restaurants, I keep in mind that the food may not taste good, but passable, which was Chong's in this case. When I entered Chong's, it reminded me of a smaller and quieter restaurant than Congee Noodle King. Chong's menu has less options by 35% and the prices are cheaper by $1.00.

THE COMPLIMENTARY SLOW COOKED CHINESE PORK WITH VEGETABLES SOUP, CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB, ROAST PORK HOTPOT, STEAMED TILAPIA, CRISPY SKIN CHICKEN, YEUNG CHOW FRIED RICE AND WATER CHESTNUT AND CORN SOUP DESSERT.

Claypot Hot Pot and B.B.Q. 農場火鍋

ADULT  $18.95 + BBQ $21.95

CHILDREN 4-11 $14.95 + BBQ $17.95

Star Anise Restaurant 聚湘園酒樓

REVIST POST ON STAR ANISE FOR DINNER [HERE]

BF and I came here for dim sum in April. We have always wanted to try Star Anise ever since the restaurant replaced Samosa Garden. The interior of the restaurant is newly renovated and the menu looks pretty with big colored photographs.

LEAN PORK CONGEE WITH PRESERVED EGG, HERBAL SOUP, STEAMED SPARERIBS WITH SQUASH, STEAMED CHICKEN CLAWS WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE, STEAMED LYCHEE CHICKEN WITH LOTUS LEAF WRAP, BAKED SCALLOP AND MASHED TARO PASTRY. DEEP FRIED SESAME BALLS AND MANGO PUDDING.

SMALL $3.95 MEDIUM $4.20 LARGE $4.60 SPECIAL $6.95 KITCHEN $7.75

Pelican Seafood Restaurant 又一村海鮮酒家

REVIST POST ON PELICAN [HERE]

Pelican is one of BF and I's favourite Chinese restaurants, we like to come here after 9:00pm when the restaurant is less busy. A few years ago when I was obsessed with Pelican's peking duck, I was here two to three times a week for it. This year however has been about the seafood. I stopped taking photos because we literally order the same thing over and over. Below are a few photo frames from this month of what we usually order.

SPICY EGGPLANT WITH GARLIC HOTPOT, CRAB SOUP WITH PORK, SAUTEED BEEF AND BROCCOLI, CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB, 1LB SPOT PRAWNS AND MANGO PUDDING.

PUMPKIN AND CRAB MEAT SOUP, MANGO PUDDING, COCONUT TAPIOCA SOUP, WINTER MELON WITH DRIED SCALLOPS, CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB, YEUNG CHOW FRIED RICE AND STEAMED TILAPIA.

PUMPKIN AND CRAB MEAT SOUP, 1LB STEAMED SPOT PRAWNS, STEAMED TILAPIA, STEAMED BROCCOLI, CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB, COMPLIMENTARY MANGO PUDDING (USUALLY A KOI OR HELLO KITTY), AND A BEEF AND VEGETABLE DISH.

CRAB AND FISH MAW SOUP, YEUNG CHOW FRIED RICE, STEAMED BROCCOLI, MANGO PUDDING, 1LB STEAMED SPOT PRAWNS WITH GARLIC, 2LB STEAMED SPOT PRAWNS AND WINE CHICKEN. I remember this dinner and thinking that I can finish 3lbs of spot prawns since I can eat a 3lb crab to myself, but I was wrong haha.

CRAB SOUP WITH PORK, WINTER MELON WITH DRIED SCALLOPS, 2LB STEAMED SPOT PRAWNS, CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB AND STEAMED TILAPIA.

STEAMED TILAPA, PEKING DUCK, WINTER MELON WITH DRIED SCALLOPS, MANGO PUDDING AND COCONUT TAPIOCA WITH TARO SOUP.

Since I was getting sick of our usual dishes, I wanted to try the peking duck again because BF has never tried it before. Plus, I was obsessed over them a couple of years ago. I feel like my photos seem boring and to make them more interesting, I brought my Kinder Surprise Madagascar penguin toy to join. I was actually pissed because I opened 11 other Kinder Surprise Eggs which were supposed to be a part of the Madagascar train, but I only got this one.

Suika Snack Bar

Being new to Urbanspoon, one of the restaurants I have wanted to visit based on average reviews has been Suika. On a weeknight for dinner, the restaurant was fairy busy and loud. In general, I am not a fan of tapas since I do not enjoy the dishes or find anything special about them, and I always drag going to any Guu location. However, I looked at Suika's menu online before visiting and the dishes seemed more appealing than any Guu location. When we arrived, the hostess tried squeezing us at a tiny table for two, in the middle of two larger groups of 6-8 people. It was nice of the hostess finding us a seat when the restaurant was busy, but luckily I saw a seat outside and asked if we could be seated there instead. The table outside was larger and it was a lot quieter. I definitely recommend reservations if you plan on making a visit since there were quite a few tables with reserved signs.

SPOT PRAWNS, TUNA-AVOCADO, AAA BEEF FILLET, DELUXE SUIKA BOX, GRILLED DUCK, TOKYO OXTAIL RAMEN AND THE TOROTOR CHA-SHU (PORK ROASTED).

Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt : Metrotown location

I love this place because they make it so pretty for you! I always get the mango or green tea frozen yogurt. I usually get a large too.. but it is boring to get a large when my boyfriend only gets a small. I prefer the mango over their green tea just because their green tea is kind of bland and sour, Qoolas' green tea is better. If you are at Metrotown and want green tea, you should go to Qoola instead!

ON THE LEFT IS MY MANGO WITH BLUEBERRIES, YOGURT CHIPS, KIWIS AND CRUSHED ALMONDS. ON THE RIGHT IS HIS GREEN TEA WITH PINEAPPLES, WATERMELON, BLUEBERRIES AND BROWNIE PEICES.

PHOTOS FROM BEFORE

MANGO FROZEN YOGURT WITH KIWIS, PINEAPPLES, YOGURT CHIPS, BLACKBERRIES AND MANGO BALLS AND EXTRA TOPPINGS OF BLACKBERRIES, MOCHI, PINEAPPLE AND CRUSHED ALMONDS.

VANILLA YOGURT WITH KIWIS, BLUEBERRIES, PINEAPPLES, MOCHI AND CRUSHED ALMONDS, AS WELL AS MANGO YOGURT WITH MANGO BALLS, SHREDDED ALMONDS, PINEAPPLES, BLUEBERRIES, YOGURT CHIPS AND KIWIS, AND EXTRA TOPPINGS OF CRUSHED SKOR CHOCOLATE, MOCHI, CRUSHED ALMONDS AND SHREDDED ALMONDS.

PHOTO FRAME of my other pink berry experiences, as you can tell MANGO is my favourite.

Food: 4.5/5

Service: 5/5 (the Asian male employee is always very positive and cheerful every time, the rest.. not very friendly)