Gold Penny 品味食館

Every time when I mention something is dirty at a Chinese restaurant such as the floor, chairs or tableware, BF anyways says, "Penny's Restaurant is still one of the worst." Honestly, I do not even remember Penny's being "that" dirty, probably because I was hungry or did not pay attention to the atmosphere. So, my man has been wanting to visit Gold Penny for quite some time because it is the new restaurant that took over the former Penny. And according to his mother, the one who only visits higher end Chinese restaurants and has very high standards, the food is not bad here.

When I heard the news, I was very sceptical and thinking he was joking. I mean, why the heck was she even in this area? She lives really far from here! Anyways, so fine, whatever, after weeks of him talking about Gold Penny, I caved. After we walked in, I could not stop laughing in my head. The interior looks the same and nothing has changed, except the owners.

BF tried saying the chairs have changed… but really? Hello, I have a blog. And yes, I actually pulled out my blog post and showed him the photo of the same chairs. Then he started defending himself by saying at least there is live seafood… but turns out there was none! So the joke is on him because he always has to order live seafood at a Chinese restaurant.

Sushi Giwa

Formerly know as Domenico's Italian along Hastings Street in North Burnaby, is now a newly renovated Korean operated Japanese restaurant. Does North Burnaby need another Japanese restaurant? Well, yes and no. Despite that there are plenty of Japanese restaurants (good, average and bad) in the area, how many are worth revisiting that is not based on convenience?

When we pulled up to the front, I loved the balloon arch along with the balloon flowers! This is definitely something different compared to the usual bouquets of flower that are left outside during restaurant grand openings. As for the interior, there are booth seating arrangements along the walls and the restaurant does not look cramped. In addition, there are a couple of faux trees. From what I remember, the Sushi Mori franchise restaurants were the first to have faux trees.

Hiro Sushi

You know how stubborn some people can be? Well, I can sometimes be one of them when it comes to food. When meeting a friend for a late lunch, neither of us had anywhere in mind because we thought the other person already chose a restaurant. So as half an hour passed driving along Hastings Street and both of us tight on a schedule, my friend practically forced Hiro Sushi on me (she really did). Sushi Hiro is a Chinese owned and operated Japanese cuisine restaurant that replaced the former No.1 Chinese Restaurant (which had one of the best cream and butter sauce live seafood, along with the friendliest owners!).

Hiro Sushi has completely renovated, but the owners decided to keep the mural paintings of Italy which were originally from an Italian restaurant before the Chinese cuisine one. As for the seating arrangements, there are booth seats along the wall, tables in the centre and seats by the sushi bar. After seating, my former negative thought of "this restaurant is not going to be good" disappeared as I noticed the restaurant offers a daily special! The special includes uni and red tuna, which I admit to being biased by assuming only "better" Japanese restaurants offer. Unfortunately the restaurant did not have any though.

King Mahal Restaurant

King Mahal has been around for twenty years and the restaurant was formerly located by UBC. Then a few years ago, the restaurant moved to North Burnaby and their $9.99 all you can eat lunch buffet is very popular. Also like many Indian restaurants, King Mahal is a family operated business and the father as well as son runs the front of the house.

Walking in, we noticed King Mahal is a very clean restaurant and perhaps even the cleanest Indian restaurant I have been to (the table glass tops are squeaky clean and shinny too!). The interior also looks traditional and there are Indian tapestries along the walls. Since we were the first to arrive, we had the option of choosing any seat and ours had glasses with red cloth napkins.

After seating, we ordered our drinks and of course I went for the hot water. As the owner was pouring hot water in the glass, I was thinking oh my god… what if it breaks? I am too used to restaurants serving hot water in a mug that I actually felt awkward having hot water in a glass! However, the restaurant uses quality glasses and the glass did not break. In addition, he even brought over a kettle! This is a dream come true because I honestly drink a lot of water, it is really ridiculous.

Le Petit Saigon

Being indecisive about where to have a late lunch, my friend and I settled for something quick, Vietnamese. Le Petit Saigon is located along Hastings street in Vancouver, and is one of the cleaner Vietnamese restaurants. There are no sticky tables and the chopsticks are individually covered in sleeves (although I still wipe them down with tea lol…). Furthermore, the restaurant is not cramped or too small, and the seating arrangements are spacious.

Pho Don

Pho Don is one of the newer Vietnamese restaurants to open along Hastings Street in Vancouver. The restaurant is very large and the interior looks modern. In addition, there are plenty of spacious seating arrangements and the restaurant is squeaky clean.

Sushi UOmo (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON SUSHI UOMO [HERE]

After my first visit to Sushi UOmo, I declared the restaurant as probably the best choice for Japanese on Hastings street! The food as well as the service was great and having said that, I have been wanting to revisit for quite a while and finally found time to. Plus, I was craving for red tuna and uni!

Walking in, the sushi chefs along with the front of the house staff were friendly and greeted us. The interior is clean as well as simple, and the seating arrangements are not cramped. In addition, there are also a couple of televisions.

Acme Cafe

Choosing to pass on dessert at Save On Meats, C’est la vie a Maggi and I were saving our bellies for Acme Cafe, specifically for their pies! When we walked in, our eyes were immediately drawn to the pastry bar and after taking a look at their selection, we were seated at a comfortable booth. As we were frantically looking for the dessert menu, a friendly waitress came by and mentioned Acme's desserts change daily and had the menu written on her notepad.

So, deciding to use our eyes rather than ears, we headed back to the pastry bar. Here was a selection of red velvet cake, pies (banana cream, orange creamsicle, raspberry rhubarb, blueberry, sailor cherry rum, and individual sized pecan pies), chocolate chunk croissant bread pudding, chocolate brownie with chopped walnut, croissant, loafs and plenty of cookies along with bars. Being the indecisive person that I am, I was deliberating between the strawberry rhubarb and the blueberry pie.

Why the indecisiveness? I worried the strawberry rhubarb would be too sour and the blueberry may not even be that good. However, to help with my indecisiveness, the friendly cashier scrapped a bit of filling off of both pies for me to sample, and I went with the blueberry. In addition, she also recommended the croissant bread pudding since it is a favourite of hers, and provided us a sample to try as well. We found the bread pudding to have a soft croissant texture along with a nice sweetness from the chocolate, it was neither mushy nor too sweet.

Save On Meats

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.

Laksa King

What was once Bo Laksa King's Bubble and Bits, is now under new management and ownership, and goes by just Laksa King. Some things have changed while others are still the same, such as the front door screen which for those who do not open properly, will result in a large startling *bang* and direct all attention that way. Something that has happened at the previous restaurant along with this one, whoops.

Asides from the front door screen which has not changed, is the strong aroma of spices when we walked in. To me, an aroma of spices is always a good sign. Furthermore, with the front door open and a good amount of ceiling fans, the restaurant tries to be well ventilated. However, laundry night is a must after a visit here.

As for the interior, the blue walls (except for a portion at the back of the counter) and black tables along with the squeaky matching chairs, are gone. Instead, Laksa King has a diner theme going on with neon lights, red vinyl booths and a portrait of a gas station diner painted on the wall. Furthermore, the seating arrangements are more comfortable and properly maximized compared to the previous restaurant.

Double One Chinese Restaurant 美味閣

Driving from Burnaby to Vancouver along Hastings street which is literally only ten minutes, there is a large variety of restaurants. Competition wise, it is very competitive as most restaurants step up their promotions or quality of food; whether it be a lunch special or promotional prices regarding live seafood. However, at some restaurants, the quality of food along with the service is a total fail (IPOH Asian House).

When I heard the sentence "lets go for Chinese on Hastings Street", I could not think of which restaurant BF was talking about. Pelican? Um… we only go for late night. James on Hasting? Isn't that another late night restaurant? Golden Lake? The food was not good enough for a revisit after trying them out twice. Tung Sing Chin? NO. What else is there? Double One? Where is that? By Burgers Etc? Huh?

After doing the usual when we pull up to a restaurant that I am not interested in trying but yet, have nowhere else in mind, "oh… is that what you really want? Are you sure? No… I do not care what we eat. Really? Chinese? You sure? How about sushi? No… really, whatever you want it is fine… Italian? Oh Chinese? So Chinese right? You sure?" LOL. We headed to Double One and decided to check out the menu first. After seeing scallops on the menu, yup, let's do it and we took our seat. Well, more like stood at the front for a while until a friendly owner (the husband) came up to seat us.

The interior is very simple and there is nothing fancy. Double One appears to be family operated with the husband along with the son, working at the front of the house.

Bao Chau Vietnamese

I used to frequently visit Bao Chau in high school and the restaurant is known for their spring rolls. As for myself, I have a fond memory of their pink pork hash and the rice platters which are pretty good, mostly because I love shredded pork.

Bao Chau looks like a generic Asian restaurant and there are plenty of seats available. As for the garnishes which are provided with an order of noodles, I appreciate the red chilli rather than jalapeño, and lime over lemon.

Glenburn Soda Fountain & Confectionery

A few months ago during a late lunch at Burgers Etc, I noticed an old school ice cream shop across the street and knew we had to make a visit. So, months later after revisiting Burgers Etc, we stopped by Glenburn Soda Fountain & Confectionery after dinner. The ice cream shop is located in North Burnaby along Hastings Street, and has a very homey old fashioned atmosphere. Walking in, we noticed the extensive chalkboard menus plastered on the wall with attractive as well as easy to read font, and the shop offers ice cream from Birchwood Dairy, floats, milkshakes as well as sundaes, and other goodies.

As for the seating arrangements, there are only a few seats by the counter which would be my first choice (however, some kiddies already took them!) and around three to four tables.

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.

Sushi UOmo

What are some decent Japanese restaurants on Hastings Street? Well, there is Hong Sushi which I do not mind because their soft shell crab is almost perfect; Sushi Town and Tentasu that serves large portions (if that is your thing); and... I think that is it? Of course there are probably around ten more but I think these restaurants are the only ones I can remember, for a reason. Since I am picky about Japanese cuisine (unless it is a restaurant that focuses on larger portions), I do take my time looking through photos of what a restaurant has to offer, and then decide if I want to spend my time and money at the restaurant. So, Sushi UOmo? 

Being a new restaurant on Hastings Street, it was a gamble for me to try Sushi UOmo since there were no photos for me to judge. However, I am glad we tried the restaurant. Walking in, the staff was warm as well as welcoming, and friendly. As for the interior, it follows a warm color scheme and has a simple clean layout. There are two televisions along with some Japanese paintings of a koi, geisha as well as fans, and the seating arrangements are comfortable.

IPOH Asian House

Driving down Hastings Street, BF noticed a new restaurant, IPOH Asian House. When he asked to try it out, I said no, thinking it would be a Hong Kong style cafe joint. However after taking a look at the menu outside, we went in because the restaurant serves Malaysian Cuisine and I am always looking for more Malay restaurants to be my regulars. 

IPOH Asian House is newly renovated, has spacious seating arrangements and the layout is setup with two sides, one for parties of more than five and the other, for less than four. The interior sticks to a lime green and neutral scheme with brown tables as well as taupe chairs. After self seating at a comfortable dining space due to the acknowledgement from a waitress, then having a look at the well presented Malaysian cuisine menu with a few unique items and a sheet of Chinese dishes, plus our friendly waiter, I was actually quite excited and could not wait to order. I had high hopes for the restaurant, possibly because of the alluring menu.

Tentatsu (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON TENTATSU [HERE]

Rice on sale?

I admit, other than being picky having a sensitive palette, I am big on service and when it comes to revisiting an average restaurant based on convenience, I do not mind. However, if the service was not so great then I am fussy when it comes to revisiting because, well, the food was just average. This was the case for Tentatsu.

The restaurant serves average eats as well as good portions and for the price, is more than reasonable. As for the service, I was not too pleased with the last visit because our waitress kept pushing us to combine almost every dish which did not make any sense since all plates were practically full. Also to reminisce a high school memory of mine, the "Awesome Roll" which I believe is Sushi Town's creation, was written correctly on the menu but made wrong. In a way it is like… for a restaurant to copy someone else's roll (which is fine), at least make it correctly right?

Asides from my personal reasons for not wanting to revisit, my friend has wanted to for a while and since none of the Japanese restaurants seemed appealing to us on Hastings Street, we revisited.

Tentatsu has a few booth seats along the wall, tables in the centre and room seating is available as well.

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.

Pelican Seafood Restaurant 又一村海鮮酒家 (3rd visit)

FIRST POST ON PELICAN [HERE] AND SECOND POST [HERE]

What a traitor… I used to come here weekly, even more than once a week before I started trying new restaurants. Pelican is one my favourite Chinese restaurants because of their attentive and friendly service (never during dim sum but hey, even the ultimate highest end Chinese restaurant will give you subpar service during dim sum), cleanliness and mango pudding. Yes, mango pudding... I am quite an easy person to please. By the way, no relation to the person in the photo above.

Pelican is a cleaner Chinese restaurant with average prices, spacious seating arrangements, and the managers wear suits while the others wear a white button up with a vest. The restaurant is also open late night and if categorized as only a late night Chinese restaurant, it is the most comfortable one to visit with pretty good tasting food.

Hong Sushi

Hong Sushi is a small Chinese owned, Japanese cuisine restaurant in North Burnaby on Hastings Street. I have passed the restaurant numerous times but never thought much of them. However, after reading a few posts on Urbanspoon, I decided to visit the restaurant for a late lunch. As we entered the restaurant, the staff was having lunch and one of them immediately got up to grab us tea. The restaurant has geisha photos on one side of the wall and photos of their dishes on the other. Since the restaurant is a small sushi joint, most people grabbed take out or had a quick five to ten minute meal. The restaurant only has six single chairs, two tables for four, and one table for two. 

The larger tables have plastic spoons, containers for wasabi and soy sauce, chopsticks and napkins. After waiting a while for the menu, I realized they are on the table! The most mentioned thing about the restaurant are the styrofoam plates. Am I fan? I consider them more sanitary but also a waste for the environment.. I do like them though.

COMBO A (CALIFORNIA ROLL, SALMON NIGIRI, TUNA NIGIRI, EBI NIGIRI, AND TAMAGO NIGIRI), TUNA AND SALMON SASHIMI, ASSORTED SASHIMI, CHEF ROLL, PASSION ROLL, AND SOFT SHELL CRAB TEMPURA.