Goodbye, Tak Heng Hot Pot Restaurant 德興火鍋酒家

This is a rant.

The nicer looking photos are from previous posts.

My parents wanted me to have dinner with them at Kirin and I agreed, with a different choice of restaurant in mind. I suggested Richmond Sushi because the restaurant is constantly busy, so the sashimi is always fresh. Of course my parents hesitated at first and insisted on going to Octopus Garden if I wanted sushi, but I pretty much forced them to go to Richmond Sushi. On the way there however, I had a bad feeling in my stomach like perhaps Richmond Sushi is closed on Tuesdays. And evidently when we arrived, the restaurant was indeed closed.

So since I had a long day, my second choice was something fast, like Tak Heng, a reliable AYCE hot pot restaurant. My parents only like Landmark, but I insisted that Tak Heng's chicken wings and goji jello are really good. Tak Heng is also a regular restaurant of mine and I have been visiting almost biweekly ever since my last visit. Although I have noticed as more visits progressed, the owners are less friendly and have become inattentive, but I could care less about the service as long as the food tastes good. Or so I thought…

We arrived around 6:00pm and like my usual visits, the restaurant was not busy. Throughout the duration of our stay, there were only six seated tables. Starting with the positives, for the first time out of more than fifteen visits, the owner mentioned their "special sauce" comes at a $5.00 charge. There was always a charge for the sauce, but it was never mentioned until now and this is appreciated.

41 West Restaurant

West 41 is a small and quaint neighbourhood restaurant in Kerrisdale, serving West Coast cuisine with a bit of French influences. There are only around ten tables in the restaurant, but the seating arrangements are not too tight. The atmosphere is also fairly cozy, relaxing and non-rushed.

I purchased a Social Shopper voucher for 41 West and forgot about it until the last minute, as in a night before the expiry date. Fortunately though, I was lucky enough to score last minute reservations for the weekend by calling just the evening before. When I called to make the reservations however, the host was very rushed and impatient, despite that there was no background noise.

We arrived on a Friday evening and there was only one seated table, but the restaurant reached a half full occupancy throughout the duration of our stay. With regards to the service, there was only one server handling the front of the house. He was courteous and polite, but not quite attentive. Our appetizer plates sat at the table for longer than usual and my bread knife was never removed throughout all three courses, which I find odd.

Lalibela Ethiopian

Vancouver may have a decent amount of African restaurants, but primarily Ethiopian and East African cuisine. I guess we do have South African restaurants if Nando's counts. Furthermore, there are even noticeably more Ethiopian than East African restaurants too, which I find surprising because I believe the former would be more popular to the locals. The reason is because Ethiopian cuisine is definitely an acquired taste in my opinion and it is not because of the stews, but due to the injera.

Lalibela is a family operated restaurant, where the owners are very humble and inviting. The restaurant is located in New Westminster right beside Hon's Wun Tun House and the interior is fairly spacious. Despite that there are only around ten tables however, I appreciate how the restaurant passed on squeezing in more seats. The atmosphere is very homey too and it truly feels as if you are stepping into someone's home. Even the restroom was squeaky clean! Cleaner than some of my friends' washrooms too.

Poncho's Mexican Restaurant

Poncho's Mexican Restaurant is located in Downtown Vancouver, on Denman and Robson Street. The restaurant is Mexican owned as well as operated, and offers a variety of authentically prepared Latin American cuisine. There are the usual quesadillas, fajitas, enchiladas and burritos, along with meat entrees on the menu. However, we are here for the paella. I do not know of many good restaurants that serve paella anymore, but there is something about Poncho's that lured us in when we walked by.

We arrived on a weekend for dinner and were originally offered a table for two, but we requested for a larger table which was fine with the staff. There was no BS that larger tables are reserved for three people and we did not have to restrict the amount of food we ordered to prevent juggling dishes around, like next door at Simba's Grill.

As for the interior, Poncho's is a squeaky clean restaurant, one where I could not find dust anywhere even if I tried to. The seating arrangements are also comfortably spaced out and not cramped one bit. There are also plates, sombreros and paintings on the wall which add to the homey atmosphere.

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015

Hello to All!

I want to thank everyone for reading my blog along with those who take their time to e-mail me. My main goal regarding blogging for the new year is to hopefully publish at least twenty eight posts a month, so this way I will not fall behind. I am always open to recommendations along with corrections as well. With regards to my negative followers, I always speak the truth about my dining experiences. Do I deliberately go out seeking mediocre restaurants? Of course not! I wish every restaurant I visit is great because trust me, I rather purchase a Birkin than deliberately seek below average restaurants.

Since 2014 is over, I wanted to make a list of my most positive and negative memorable dining experiences. The listed restaurants below are not necessarily the best or worst unless stated, it is just the most memorable ones to me.