THE RISE EATERY

Ah, the middle of January to the beginning of February means it is time for Dine Out Vancouver once again. Also known as an opportunity for restaurants to gain business during the slower months of the year. Personally, I am not a fan of dine out because restaurants can get too crowded and the food along with service may not be a true representation due to the high volume. So when Wanda from The Rise Eatery invited me to try their Kick-the-Blue's 3 course prix fixe menu, it peaked my interest because they did not participate in Dine Out. Plus, the menu looked really good as well.

The Rise Eatery is a global fusion restaurant located in South Granville that focuses on shared plates. However, they specifically created an individual 3 course menu that was offered between January 15th to February 3rd at $30 per person. And since KTBs was an amazing hit, the restaurant decided to keep the concept of a 3 course menu that will be based on seasonal ingredients in addition to their shared plates! Prices are set to $42 per person and on Wednesdays, only $30 per person! Could you ask for a better hump day treat? 

TRATTORIA BURNABY

One of the three Trattoria restaurants under the Glowbal Restaurant Group is located in Burnaby on Kingsway street in the same building with Element Vancouver and GoodLife Fitness, across from Crystal Mall. Trattoria Burnaby is know for their in house pasta, pizza, and a more casual family friendly atmosphere compared to sister restaurant Italian Kitchen.

Walking in, you cannot miss the circular bar at the center of the restaurant. There are both tables and booth seats surrounding the bar, patio tables outside, and more seating arrangements on the second floor. Pro Tip: $13 Tuesday pastas and happy hour runs from 2:00pm to 5:00pm and 9:00pm to closing every day, including weekends! Happy hour menu consists of $5 feature drinks, antipasto for $9.95 and pizza at $12.95.

The Old Spaghetti Factory : New Westminster

SPAGHETTI FACTORY + SOURDOUGH BREAD pretty much sums up what the Old Spaghetti Factory is all about.

I cannot think of many above average restaurants in New Westminster off the top of my head and when trying to find a restaurant for dinner that is neither a pub or chain establishment around 8:00p.m., it is a pretty tough choice. So after circling around the city we decided to try the Old Spaghetti Factory on pure nostalgia. 

Milestones : Coquitlam location

Would you believe that I have never been to any Milestones restaurant before?! Cactus Club, Joey and The Keg have always been my preferred chain restaurants and for some reason Milestones has never really appealed to me. The same goes with Moxie's.

Like many chain establishments, Milestones can hold a large capacity of diners and there are are plenty of booth seating arrangements. The service for a chain restaurant was surprisingly disappointing though. The hostesses did not appear friendly and it was hard to find servers, especially during a slow dinner service. On two occasions.

BiBo Pizzeria : Richmond Location

BiBo Pizzeria is an Italian restaurant specializing in Neapolitan style pizza and focuses on using fresh and natural ingredients along with straight from Italy products. The first BiBo restaurant to open is on West 4th in Kitsilano and their second location is at McArthur Glen in Richmond, where Sherman and I were invited to visit along with Nick and Joyce. There are not many restaurants at McArthur Glen too, only BiBo and Neptune Noodle Restaurant. In addition, there are not many Italian restaurants in Richmond!

Walking in, the interior is bright, spacious and the high ceiling helps with the ventilation. There are a couple of long communal tables, a large bar, tables on the other side of the restaurant and of course a wood burning oven.

Shirakawa by Itoh Dining

RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED

It is pretty evident that I fell off the blogging world for a while and writing about older restaurant experiences do not always work out, especially in this case because Shirakawa closed their doors. Shirakawa was a Japanese restaurant located in Gastown, Downtown Vancouver that offered modern and traditional cuisine. And of course the authenticity of the restaurant appeared to be a wow factor as well.

Floor to ceiling glass windows, an open kitchen and the irezumi mural were my biggest eye catchers when I walked in to the restaurant. The atmosphere also makes Shirakawa one of those Japanese restaurants that are not on the top of my list to visit because I worry the quality is not there or the quality does not match the higher prices, but I decided to make a visit for lunch. You never know until you try right?

Francesco's Ristorante Italia

A friend from Seattle was spending a week in Vancouver for his birthday and since he was staying at the Sutton Place, it made sense to have lunch at Francesco's Ristorante Italia. Francesco's is one of Vancouver's oldest restaurants, focusing on Sicilian cuisine with West Coast influences. The restaurant is located on Burrard Street and their patio is always full during the summer.

The atmosphere is bright and inviting with plenty of natural lighting, but the restaurant is dim and romantic during dinner services. The restaurant is a fairly good size too and there are plenty of tables which are nicely spaced out and not cramped one bit. Moreover, there are a couple of dining areas that can accommodate larger groups and special celebrations.

Since we arrived for lunch, the service is pretty casual. None of the staff ask how the food is, we arrange the dishes on the table ourselves and wave down a server to remove a finished plate, when the restaurant had less than three tables… For those who are regulars however, are welcomed like royalty and provided with impeccable service. Did I care? Na, it was not my birthday LOL and we were here for lunch instead of dinner. Plus, it saves me gratuities since we left only a 15% tip.

La Terrazza

La Terrazza is one of the true "fine dining" experiences I have had in Vancouver. From the atmosphere to the service, I truly believed I was dining at a fine dining establishment. The Italian restaurant is located in Yaletown and is known for their very extensive wine menu, which is thicker than a magazine! BF has been here a few times before, but never with me. Honest to truth, I always thought the restaurant was similar to the Glowbal Group restaurants; a "fine dining" restaurant with a loud atmosphere, but boy was I wrong.

La Terrazza has such a romantic atmosphere and is definitely one restaurant where I would want to dress up for and take photos. When we walked, the friendly bartender/host led us to our table which happened to be right in front of a cozy fireplace. We also had a whole view of the restaurant and I like that the interior is different than many restaurants in Vancouver.

BF thought it was suspicious that I suggested to go to La Terrazza because he has been asking to take me for years, and the reason I chose the restaurant is because there was a Travelzoo voucher! The voucher costed $79.00 for one appetizer, two entrees and a dessert.

Carmelo's

Having already celebrated my birthday over the weekend, I did not want to go out for dinner on the actual date because it landed on a weeknight. Another reason is because I have learned my lesson to only dine out at certain non-Asian restaurants on the weekends, when the head chefs are there! At the last minute however, I was really craving for The Keg. The birthday gods were clearly not on my side though because The Keg in North Vancouver has been closed for a while and we did not want to travel far, so decided on Carmelo's.

Carmelo's is located in West Vancouver, offering classic and traditional Italian cuisine along with a mix of West Coast. The restaurant has been on my wish list for a few months now and way before Amici, but we chose to visit the latter first because I knew that restaurant would be good (and it is!). Since Carmelo's is fairly small, reservations are recommended regardless of the day of week. We happened to visit on a Monday and discovered the restaurant offers a $10.00 promotion on certain pastas, so this was definitely a bonus for us.

Carmelo's is a casual white tablecloth restaurant with dim lighting and there is a candle on certain tables. There are two sides of seating arrangements in the restaurant and a few window seats for those who like to people watch. When we walked in, I was surprised to see an actual "reserved sign" on a window seat table only to discover it was not ours lol!

Amici

A new neighbourhood and more restaurants to try based on convenience equals one happy lady. Asides from being a selective diner, I like everything to be perfect most of the time. I am well organized, have the creepiest best time management skills right down to the second and am freakishly detail oriented (except when it comes to writing…). Having said that, I needed my first meal as a new resident in the neighbourhood to be perfect... PERFECT.

Sounds hard? Like a whole day of researching restaurants to try? Nope. I stumbled upon Amici, checked some comments on Urbanspoon as well as Yelp and even went to their website. There are a couple of comments that majority of the clientele are in their 70s and to me that is a good sign because some seniors know good food! Then I decided to check their website and found, "you've just stepped back in time, to an era when the world moved more slowly, family was the focus and every meal was a time to celebrate" and knew this would be THE restaurant where I would love everything.

"Every meal was a time to celebrate" just shouts out good food to me! I mean, there are times when I have felt like "hmm the photos look good so perhaps the restaurant is not bad", but never like "this restaurant WILL be good". There are not even many photos of the food online and it was like I had a sixth sense thing regarding the restaurant. When we walked in, the owner welcomed us and mentioned to take a seat in the corner. I took that literally because there was a corner and the only table for two. However, he mentioned we could seat at a four person table because it would be more comfortable (plus, we do need the table space considering the amount of food we order too).

I took photos of the interior as we were leaving which explains the empty looking restaurant. The interior looks like a rustic Italian dining room and the restaurant is dimly lit but not too dark. Every table has a white linen tablecloth, a candle as well as gray cloth napkins, and the chairs are very fairly comfortable. The restaurant does not look as "yellow" as the photos too.

Le Crocodile : Lunch

Dinner post on Le Crocodile [HERE]

After failing for two weeks trying to meet a friend who recently got engaged, we finally agreed to jungle some meetings around and set up a date for lunch on a Friday. She let me choose the restaurant after I rejected more than ten from her… and my choice was Franchesco's. But at the last minute, I really craved for Le Crocodile's pear tart! Plus, both of us have been here for dinner on separate occasions and agreed the food along with the service was great.

Walking in, we were asked if we had reservations despite the not very busy restaurant. Two of the staff spoke amongst each other "no reservations" and we were seated by the corner after a few minutes, but not turned down. In general, I never understand why some restaurants try to appear more busier than they are. Guests are spending a good amount of time and can clearly see how busy the restaurant will be. However, Le Crocodile is busier during dinner and I do recommend reservations for then.

Le Crocodile is a simple, classic, white linen tablecloth restaurant and the atmosphere is casual as well as relaxing. There are plenty of tables and the dining room is spacious, no tight seating arrangements here. I never realized how big the restaurant was until this visit too.

Hollywood Steak House 荷李活餐廳

Another Hong Kong style cafe restaurant? Well, we went to Richmond for hot pot at Chubby Lamb because we really needed "real hot pot", as in having a flavourful broth (Chinese chicken herbal in our case). But, the restaurant is temporarily closed! Since neither of us felt like having seafood for dinner and there are no restaurants in Richmond we were craving for, we decided to try out Hollywood Steak House.

Although despite the name of the restaurant, they do not even offer steak! I was expecting something along the lines of La Amigo or Kingspark Steak House's steak offerings, but instead Hollywood Steak House offers generic HK style cafe food. The menu includes curry, baked rice dishes, noodle in soup, spaghetti, hot plates combos, rice dishes and sandwiches. In addition, there is nothing over $11.95! Perhaps  it is a HK style cafe version of Moulin Rouge?

As for the Hollywood in the restaurant's name, it must refer to the interior. There are black and white photos of Audrey Hepburn, Bruce Lee, Marilyn Monroe, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and even some cut outs. Asides from the Hollywood theme, the restaurant has comfortable seating arrangements and is not cramped. 

Q4 Ristorante by Quattro

RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED

Four days of consistent bad luck: Day Three.

Every time I am in Kitsilano, I always stress about where to eat. I mean, whether it be called cheap or greedy, I just do not want to set myself up for a good meal and receive everything but. Odd? Yes, I know. That is why most of the time I play it safe and head to a mediocre restaurant which makes my day when the food is better than expected! Of course, unless there is already a restaurant I have in mind. So, scooping out a few places on Urbanspoon, Q4 seemed like an okay Italian restaurant.

Walking up to the front door, I loved it. Mirrored doors? LOVE. I wanted to take a selfie but chose to do so after dinner, which unfortunately did not work out since the doors were left open. Plus, I did not want to get any awkward stares. As for the interior, the seating area is very open and I personally like it. Although on a full house, the restaurant may get loud. The interior looks simple as well as clean and has wooden floors as well as chairs, and tables with white tablecloths. As for the seating arrangements, it is not cramped and outdoor seating is available.

After walking in, our server led us to our requested window seat which was not overlooked on OpenTable (Black + Blue...). Our server was friendly, had a positive vibe and left us to browse the menus. As she later creeped back to see if we were ready to order, she overheard us talking amongst each other that none of the appetizers caught our attention. Fortunately, she came to the rescue and mentioned some daily specials, which we were interested in.

Via Tevere Pizzeria Napoletana

All our pizzas are hand stretched and baked for approximately 90 seconds in our 900 degree wood-fired oven creating a pizza that has a light and fluffy crust with a crispy edge and charred spots. True to the Neapolitan way, our pizzas arrive at the table uncut to preserve the soft thin centre and toppings. Neapolitan pizza is traditionally enjoyed either with a fork and knife or ripped and folded and eat by hand.

That awkward late lunch or early dinner when you have not ate anything all day. Yup, happened to me and it was 5:00pm. Although fortunately being in the area and that Vie Tevere opens at 5:00pm, it actually worked out! Vie Tevere is known for their neapolitan pizzas (although I was told otherwise on Instagram) and apparently the restaurant gets busy, as in there are always long line ups! Luckily arriving right at opening, there was no line up. The neapolitan pizza joint has a relaxing atmosphere and is not that big, with less than thirty seats.

Jimoco Cafe & Pasta

Jimoco Cafe & Pasta, a most talked about restaurant from a friend of mine. He claims that the restaurant serves tasty pasta, is a must visit and the price is a steal! So meh, why not? I did not have any other restaurants in mind anyways. Plus, I expected the restaurant to be a bit slower on a raining evening since occasionally there is a long wait. Walking in, there was a pleasant aroma of pasta sauce which is a good sign for me. The restaurant has less than six booth seats and a few tables for four which can be arranged to accommodate larger parties.

AAA SIRLOIN STEAK WITH HERB BUTTER AND  TOMATO SAUCE FUSILLI WITH HAM, MUSHROOM AND GREEN PEA, AAA BEEF TENDERLOIN IN ONION CREAM SAUCE AND CREAM SAUCE FUSILLI, BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP, GARLIC TOASTS AND SEAFOOD STEW IN SPICY TOMATO SAUCE.

Anton's Pasta Bar

My first Anton's experience! Anton's is known for having long line ups as well as decently priced large portions of pasta. On a weeknight, my friend and I met up hoping there would be no line up and fortunately, there was none. The restaurant has a casual relaxing atmosphere and a few tables of two, many for four and quite a few for six or more.

GAMBERI (PRAWNS) IN A WHITE WINE GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE, COZZE (MUSSELS) IN A TANGY TOMATO SAUCE, COMPLIMENTARY PORTUGUESE ROLLS AND SAPUTO WHIPPED BUTTER, LINGUINE FRUTTI DI MARE, MIXED SEAFOOD AND MUSHROOMS IN A CREAM SAUCE, FRUSILLI DI MARE BIANCO, MIXED SEAFOOD WITH FRESH TOMATO IN A WHITE WINE SAUCE, AND COMPLIMENTARY CANDY.

Sammy J's Bar & Grill : Coquitlam location

Sammy J's has never been a chain restaurant that I cared for. I always assume there is a reason why most people prefer Cactus Club or Boston Pizza, including myself. 

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?

SALT N' PEPPER AND SAMMY'S HOT SAUCE WINGS, CROWDED SEAFOOD CHOWDER, J'S MUSSELS, A POUND OF MUSSELS IN WHITE WINE HERB BUTTER, SEAFOOD LINGUINE, BRAISED SHORT RIB AND THE ULTIMATE CAESAR.

Poor Italian Ristorante

My friend has always wanted to come here and their parking lot is always full! I decided fine, I can use my OpenTable account and have dinner here. Every time I use my OpenTable account, I ask for the window seat or the most quiet place because I hate having dinner right in the middle of everyone (spotlight effect). If my request cannot happen, I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS GET A PHONE CALL SAYING THEY CANNOT MAKE IT HAPPEN. Anyways, I read reviews on Urbanspoon and thought this restaurant would be good so I ignored all the people who did not like the restaurant, reading only the good reviews. One of the things that caught my attention is that a blogger says something like your pasta will ALWAYS be al dente, which is good for me to know.

When we went in, I thought it was kind of nice with the door there, I guess I was kind of expecting a sort of run down restaurant. My reservations were for 8:15 and we waited 15 minutes for them to get a table ready for us (it was just not ready... not because they were waiting for someone to leave, it was not set up, weird). Well, we were placed RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RESTAURANT. What? Every restaurant has always called me if a certain seat was not available and I would just change my reservation time. So I was pretty pissed this place did not call.

We were then moved to the 2nd crappiest seat, which had no light and was along the side of a pillar like thing. The owner said "there is no private seat, it is impossible" (WHY DID NO ONE CALL? By the way, I did not want a private seat, I just wanted the privatEST which is anything but right in the middle). At the end, he said there is a table leaving and we can have their table, well we waited... and we did not end up getting that table and we got stuck at the stupid seat beside a huge pillar like thing. What made it worse was that my friend said a table by the window was leaving and we could have went there. If I knew I would have asked, so was kind of mad at her for not saying anything. She did mention the owner probably did not offer that table since she was wearing flip flops. Everyone was pretty much dressed up here or for a special occasion? Thursday night? Dressed better than Coast? Gotham? This restaurant must be good then I thought.

Onto the food.. I used a photo brightening app since we had no light at our table, meh added HD to make it nicer too cause you could not see anything with original photos. Fine, I only did it because Pangcouver suggested it.

The complimentary bread, linguine al pesto (changed to penne), steamed local mussels, braised beef shoulder, and veal limone. I wanted to order 2 more dishes but my mood was already off.

The complimentary bread, focaccia, baguette and a couple of breadsticks. I was so glad they had this, because it is all I literally ate. So to me, a pretty expensive dinner for just the bread. I enjoyed the focaccia, the baguette is a bit way too hard and kind of stale, bread sticks are what it is, and the butter is pretty good. It is whipped butter but a bit more solid than usual whipped butter.

The appetizer is the steamed local mussels with shallots, garlic, aromatic tomato and white wine broth with fresh herbs off the Seafood fest menu ($16.00). The mussels did not taste fresh and the sauce is light but nothing special (nice to try tomato and white wine, never really see the combination like that). I only had three mussels since I did not enjoy them at all. If there are no mussels touching the sauce, they taste small and dry.

My entree is the veal limone, milk fed prepared with a flavourful lemon ($34.00). Trust me, the photo looks better than it is and more "saucy." I was very looking forward to this because I overheard the table behind me say that their veal is amazing (there are 3 different kinds). So clearly I ordered the wrong one, my luck.  My veal is very dry, chewy and the texture is off. The veal has a boiled meat texture. This is the most driest thing I have ever ate at a restaurant, including chicken which can easily get overcooked. For sour fans, you will enjoy the sauce because it is very lemony and sour, which can sometimes be nice since it is never usually sour when a dish says "with lemon" or "lemon sauce". This dish is not even worth $18.00, I hate Hong Kong Cafes and I am pretty sure I would enjoy veal more at HK Cafes.  Price is not an issue as long as it is worth it, I would much rather spend $44.00 on this dish and have it be amazing.

Her entree is the brasto di manzo, braised beef shoulder prepared with roasted garlic and cherry tomatoes, gorgonzolia risotto, seasonal vegetables ($25.00). The photo editing app really makes the food look so good. The beef is tender, shreds apart, but is very chewy. The beef is not braised, tastes like it is high boiled to cook and that is why it is chewy. The sauce is okay and the risotto is average.

The pasta is the linguine al pesto ($15.00) which has been changed to penne. The penne is undercooked by a minute, which is a very long time if you are talking about pasta. How can an Italian restaurant have undercooked pasta? I can understand overcooked.. but not undercooked. The penne is hard, chewy and we cannot eat it (I usually make pasta on the bit "harder" side and I still find this to be too undercooked). If our entrees did not taste bad, I would have told them it is undercooked. But what is the point? I wanted to get out of here and go eat.

Overall this dinner was horrible. The only thing I ate was the bread. What a waste of food, seriously. I hate wasting food. The veal is the worst dish you can order (I hope) and I do not recommend it. For the same price, I could have went to Forage or Coast. I was a bit disappointed because on Urbanspoon it showed mostly diners who did not enjoy their meals, and bloggers who enjoyed it (which makes it more reliable for me).

Service wise, our servers are pretty attentive so we did leave 17%. I can understand if this is just my bad experience, but I was pretty disappointed. 

We ended up getting frozen yogurt at Yogen Fruz and went to Cactus Club for dinner after.

Food: 1/5

Service: 4/5