MISS VANCOUVER PIGGY
Tom & Jerry's has been replaced by Moulin Rouge, which is a bit of an odd name considering the type of restaurant… but oh well. Looking for a late night dinner, we remembered that Moulin Rouge offers nothing over $10.00 and were curious to see if the restaurant is better compared to the former Tom & Jerry's. After taking a look at the menu, every item as well as the description along with the prices are exactly the same as Tom & Jerry's. Perhaps the new owners and management decided to keep everything the same?
Well, what is not the same is the interior. The restaurant has plenty of booth seating arrangements and even a stage. However, something that has not changed is the red carpet. For a restaurant to spend so much time renovating the whole place, why not change the carpet? The carpet is old as well as dirty compared to the rest of the interior. Why not go all the way?
Do we dress low key? Will I get mugged? No Louboutins right? Do I leave my purse in the car? These are some questions that crossed my mind when C'est la vie a Maggi suggested Save On Meats for our next food date. Jokes aside (sort of), I did not mind trying out the restaurant because honestly without her, I would never even think of going to Save On Meats. Plus, I was set on ordering a burger way in advance to prevent wasting twenty minutes of her time when we arrived, since she knows I am indecisive.
After spending the morning at a spa together and Maggi giving me numerous chances to choose another restaurant for lunch, we finally walked to the restaurant after parking in front of a, clinic.
Save On Meats is located in the Downtown Eastside and serves homestyle diner food. In addition, the restaurant has a diner atmosphere as well. There are bar seats as well as booth seating arrangements along the wall, and a few tables at the back of the restaurant. Furthermore, the restaurant was fairly clean. I really did not know what to expect when coming here but it was something along the lines of a run down restaurant, which was not the case.
After finishing a meeting in White Rock, I called up a friend to grab lunch at Five Guys. Five Guys? Of all places around White Rock? Do not be surprised that I stuck with something boring because having tried most of the restaurants in White Rock, there is nothing that really "wows" me. The next restaurant on my list in White Rock is probably Giraffe because of the cute name along with the interior, and complimentary chocolates (but is the food good?!).
Coming for a late lunch, the burger joint looked fairly empty and was well ventilated with no aroma of beef patties. Knowing that we would be going for dinner in a couple of hours, we settled on something light and went for the "little" burgers which consists of a single patty, along with an order of "little" fries which is more than enough for two to share in general.
I have only tried this location once and honestly, my experience was not that great. We received cold as well as soggy fries, and a cold burger! So, I was pretty hesitant on revisiting. Although fortunately this time around, the food was a lot better and served hot. The way it should be.
Continuing with C'est la vie Maggi and I's food date, we walked across the street from Finch's Tea and Coffee to grab some donuts. I have been wanting to try Cartems Donuterie for a while and was secretly quite happy when Maggi agreed. Cartems Donuterie seems to be the go to place for donuts and in my opinion, is a lot better than Forty Ninth Parallel, food and service wise. The donut shop has a high ceiling and an industrial look with bricked walls, polished wooden floors as well as tables, stools and wood stump seating.
Although the donut shop has less than ten seats, the interior is quite spacious and should not be too cramped if there is a long line up. As for the prices, the donuts are priced at $3.00/each, $15.00/half a dozen and $30.00/dozen. We tried picking out half a dozen but both agreed it was not worth the price since only three of the flavours stood out to us.
Uncle Willy's? Really? HEY! What is wrong with Uncle Willy's? I remember begging my parents to take me here since no one in my family ever liked the restaurant and I never knew why. I mean for kids, it is all about the luke warm fries, mashed potato, fried chicken and of course, the self serve soft ice cream! At least for me it was. As for my family, my parents never really liked anything. My father would go for the fried chicken as well as roast beef and my mother went for the veggies and dip since we never buy those, as well as the ham since like any fob wife, does not make it at home. As for my older sister, she always literally sat there with a miserable face, never ate anything and my mother would get annoyed. Me on the other hand of course being five to seven, was easily sold on the ice cream… and still am LOL. Asides from my family's lack of enthusiasm regarding the food, they have always considered the restaurant dirty. Honestly to date, I still do not see it, the restaurant does not look that dirty to me!
Anyways, fast forward to a bit less than fifteen years later, I asked BF to take me here because we had no restaurant in mind and I wanted some ice cream! Walking in, diners pay at the front and can grab any seat. When I started snapping some photos, a couple of the staff members mentioned that no photos are allowed. Usually when no photos are allowed, there have been previous problems regarding the food and the restaurant does not want to accidentally make a mistake which is captured on camera. So, not being allowed to take photos, I literally tried a tiny bit of everything despite not wanting to LOL… the motivation I have just to take photos. By the way, is it sad that out of every non-Asian buffet that I have been to, Uncle Willy's is the only one where I have tried everything? I guess I never realize how picky I am… but hey, lesson learned, I will try everything at Sunday buffets from now on! I mean, I should, they are not that cheap and I never get the money's worth.
The only reason I am here, to collect BIRTHDAY BURGERS! For those who sign up for Red Robin's subscription, you recieve a coupon for a free burger to use a week before or after your birthday. Obviously I signed up before my birthday, who would not (actually many people..)? Since I have the fortunate opportunity to dine out everyday, my original plan was to sign up for discounted or free meals at a few restaurants and to share the discounts. However, due to my laziness (plus I was sick on my birthday week), I never got the chance to claim anything except for Red Robin's burgers. The good news is, BF and I's birthday are close to each others and we claimed both our birthday burgers at the same time, bonus.
Red Robin is a family friendly chain restaurant known for their burgers and bottomless fries. The restaurant is very spacious and the clientele pretty much runs from seniors to adults, university to high school students, and families. After waiting fifteen minutes at the foyer, a hostess shows up but was occupied and the waitress following her said, "she has a system, I don't want to seat you guys and have her move you after." I was a bit surprised hearing that, has that happened? I never had or heard of any table having to move after being seated due to a hostess's preference (especially if the restaurant was empty).
Red Robin is the only family friendly restaurant (I know of) that provides individually wrapped crayons and I like that children can take them home after. The downside, if children do not take them home, it is pretty much garbage for the restaurant and not re-used which is a wasteful.
Denny's in Burquitlam newly renovated and I am not sure why, the restaurant never looked run down at all. Although it is a possibility since I only come here for late night dinners, I have never noticed the interior. I doubt it though, I think it was fine before. The walls and ceiling are newly painted and the booth seatings have completely changed. I guess the tables, carpet and whatnot has changed as well, but I do not remember what they looked like before. Anyways, I was looking forward to visiting Denny's after trying the egg bennies at White Spot, blech.
C'est la vie a Maggi asked if I wanted to dine with her and I thought it was pretty cool because it reassured me that people know my blog exists LOL. She basically let me choose where to go and I am indecisive when I am not craving for anything. So, I thought since I have been blogging about burgers, why not go to Five Guys? I have been to the South Surrey (not very good) as well as Park Royal (THE BEST) location and was not sure what to expect for the one Downtown.
The restaurant's interior is surprisingly very nice and the decor is probably my favourite out of Boston Pizza, Cactus Club, Joey's and Earl's. I had the idea in my head that if I took photos from the entrance, the restaurant would look much nicer. However, these photos do not do the justice and the seating as well as tables cannot be seen. Sammy J's interior is really nice, or is it the possibility I think that because the restaurant was empty and I have never been to this location before?
Most reviews mention that there can be up to a 30 minute wait for a table. My sister and I came around 5:00pm on a Monday and luckily there was no line up. When you enter there is a sign stating, "please wait to be seated." I find the sign kind of odd because quite a few people would be standing at the door for 15 minutes with no acknowledgement from the staff. The servers and bartender see customers waiting, and there are tables available but they simply do not acknowledge customers? No smile, no wave, no "hold on", basically nothing, you see them glancing at you... but nothing happens. After seeing most people wait 10-15 minutes, a server who previously saw you will finally come and speak with you. If it wasn't for my sister who told me to sit down, I have no idea how long I would've been standing there for. When our server came, she was very friendly.
Best burgers in town? Possibly, in new New West. Burger Heaven is a bit small and has a very slight stinky smell. I thought the restaurant would smell like burgers LOL and be bright with cheerful employees. I took these photos as we were leaving around 9:00pm tonight and when we came around 7:00pm, the restaurant was packed! The restaurant seemed under staffed with uncleared tables, a long line up and nothing but busyness. 
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.
