THE ELLIS

Alongside many of the restaurants in the West End and within a walking distance from Kitsilano beach sits one of the newer gastropubs, The Ellis. What lead us to The Ellis was Vanfoodster's Burger Challenge and we figured why not go for a whole meal? This was a big deal for me because if it was not for the burger challenge, I most likely would not have given this restaurant a try since I am neither the type to head to a bar or gastropub for snacks or a meal.

When we walked in, I was impressed by the interior and atmosphere. The restaurant looked chic, bougie and literally what you would find if you Googled gastropub.

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.

Browns Socialhouse : New Westminster location

Having no sense of food direction in Coquitlam, Burnaby and New Westminster and coming up blank for a restaurant to try, Browns Socialhouse did not seem like a bad option. When Browns Socialhouse first came to Vancouver, my thoughts were very meh. Cactus Club and Joey are still on the top of my list for preferred chains and Browns, Milestones and Moxies are the ones I told myself that I am not in a rush to try. So finally after a few years, why not Browns?

Located at the Brewery District in New Westminster with floor to ceiling wall windows and two patios with a fire, I am already interested in atmosphere. Most of the time the atmosphere is not really all that important to me, but it was really nice having the whole patio to ourselves and sitting right in front of the fire where it kept us warm. We had the best seat at the restaurant and lots of privacy! Or I guess I mean lots of peace because diners have a really clear view of the patio from the inside.

La Casita : Gastown Location

After rescheduling a few many times with FoodinYVR and asking her for restaurant suggestions only to decline them all… I settled on La Casita. La Casita is located in Gastown on the corner of Abott and Cardova, and appears to be a very busy restaurant. I say very busy because on a Thursday late afternoon, we were the first to arrive at the empty restaurant but within thirty minutes, La Casita was packed! The restaurant had a full house by 5:00pm.

La Casita is a Mexican cuisine restaurant that offers a very extensive menu, from ceviche to tostadas, taquitos, fajitas, enchiladas, flautas, tacos, quesadillas, chimichangas and burritos. But how is the quality of food? With regards to the interior, La Casita is a very large restaurant and the seating arrangements are not too cramped. There are also plenty of staff and our server was friendly.

Dunn's Famous

BF, let's be open minded - with smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat. Our favourite and go to place for Montreal smoked meat sandwiches is Estrella's in Langley. And that is it. We have no back up plan in case Estrella's closes or a runner up if we are too lazy to go to Langley, and that scares me. So we decided to try Dunn's Famous. When I saw some photos online, the smoked meat did not look good and I gave the restaurant the benefit of doubt, thinking perhaps some people ordered the lean meat which make the sandwiches look dry.

We decided to have a quick snack on a game night and the restaurant was not busy. There are comfortable booth seating arrangements, comfortably spaced out tables and bar seats, along with large televisions. I do not do the bar or pub scene but this is what one would look like to me, a more luxurious one I guess.

Boston Pizza : West Broadway location

Boston Pizza is one of my favourite chain restaurants and I only come here for the cactus cut potatoes, wings, and pizza. I love BPs twice baked wings because most of the time they are juicy and flavourful! Honestly, BP is my favourite place for wings.

Like every BP location, the restaurant is large and spacious. There is a bar/lounge area along with the dining room and plenty of large television screens. We arrived after midnight so the restaurant was not busy, but our waitress was friendly and attentive. At most BP locations, the service is non existent whenever the restaurant is slow.

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.

Poco Ocean Restaurant 海富小館

Having tried Kam Ding in Coquitlam which was mediocre, we decided to try another Chinese restaurant in the area; Poco Ocean. When we walked in, the two of us stood by the entrance for a good ten minutes and the owner's wife as well as a waitress stared at us, but never spoke a word or acknowledged us. After feeling a bit awkward just standing there, I decided to wait outside because the restaurant was fairly hot and the waiting area is quite small. As another ten minutes passed, BF came out and I asked him how long the wait would be. Surprisingly his answer was, "I said 'excuse me' twice to the owner's wife but she ignored me." LOL at the time it was a bit hard to believe, so I decided to walk in myself and ask.

When I walked up to the waitress at the front counter, I asked how the long wait would be for two people and she walked away. Usually at this point or honestly even standing there earlier for ten minutes without even being acknowledged, any normal person would leave. However, I was curious to see how a family operated business could treat their customers like this. Is the food really that good or something? When the waitress came back and I was still standing by the counter, she looked at me like why are you standing here? So, I asked in Chinese how long the wait would be for two and after she kept waving "no" while cleaning up a table, her response was "I don't know." Okay… after telling her we will wait outside, she walked away without saying anything.

Shortly after five minutes of waiting, we went back to the car and was thinking it is not normal to put up with service like this. But at the same time, we really wanted to find out how good a restaurant must be to treat their customers so rudely. On the way back to the car and about to leave, we noticed some people leaving the restaurant and decided to walk back in.

After settling down, we waited around ten minutes for tea which is not a big deal since neither of us drink tea and only use it to clean the table setting if needed. Poco Ocean has an outdated Chinese menu written on a whiteboard at the back of the restaurant and an English menu is available if requested. If comparing the two, every item on the Chinese menu is offered in the English version, except the prices have not been updated. 

While we were waiting for the food, a couple came in and asked how long the wait would be. Usually I would be surprised at this response but considering our experience so far, it seemed normal. The waitress said, "it's very busy today, maybe thirty minutes but even if you wait, we might have to close the restaurant." Wow, imagine waiting thirty minutes and having to leave because the restaurant is closing. This is certainly a first, it is basically like saying there is enough business for the day and the restaurant is busy enough.

Moulin Rouge

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?

Kingspark Steak House 京士柏餐廳

Only up to a year ago, it was impossible for anyone to make me sit at a Hong Kong style cafe restaurant; I just simply hated them and would rather go to McDonalds. The reason is, HK style cafes never suited me before and I do not like their menus (IE one item with rice, spaghetti or some other form of carb, or a baked rice/spaghetti dish). So, I would be starving but at the same time torturing myself since when I am picky, I will not touch anything I do not want. However, fast forward to a year later, I do not mind going to HK style cafes when I am not hungry. Or to be entirely honest, occasionally visit HK style cafes when I am feeling scrubby and do not want to be seen by anyone important lol.

Walking in, there were a few waiters on the floor and every one of them was friendly as well as professional. We were provided with a few different menus and as usual, I was overwhelmed. When browsing the menus, I usually start by eliminating any beef with vegetable (beef with gai lan, beef with bittermelon…) as well as pork dishes (honey garlic spare ribs, sweet n’ sour…), and go straight to the steaks or hot plates. By the way, I do not even use the hot plates properly and will never pour sauce over the food because I like the natural flavours LOL. Unless the sauce is really good...

Pho Capital

Pho Capital is one of the newest Vietnamese restaurants to pop up in Burquitlam and has been around for almost a year. Having visited before during the grand opening, the food was nothing special and I never wanted to revisit. However, my friend claims it is not bad for the area and since we were looking for a light late night dinner, I caved.

The restaurant is fairly clean and has booth seating along the wall, and the tables in the centre. When we walked in, the owners were friendly and throughout dinner, the husband tried making small talk. He told my friend to replace his phone because the screen was cracked and asked who his service provider was. In addition, he mentioned Rogers is practically next door and said my friend should get a new phone as soon as possible LOL. As for myself, he asked if I found the rice platter pretty because he noticed I was taking photos of it. If only he knew I thought the opposite…

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.

Fatburger : Burnaby location

I have been to Fatburger around only five times and from what I remember, the burgers are nothing special and can get pricey with an additional purchase of a drink as well as a side. So why the revisit? Asides from convenience, the Burnaby location offers "Buffalo's World Famous Wings" and I have always wanted to try them. It also kind of sucks because Fatburger was offering a Groupon or SocialShopper voucher that I could have gotten a few days before! And I was even thinking pshh, I would not be going there LOL.

Walking in, the burger joint is well ventilated and the staff is extremely friendly, especially the manager (gotta love a friendly staff!). Basically customers order at the front, receive a number, pay and take a seat. Then a cashier brings the food out to the table.

Fatburger offers breakfast burgers as well as specials, shakes, beers as well as alcoholic beverages, baby to double king burgers as well as speciality ones, and turkey as well as chicken to vegetarian patties. A pretty extensive menu for a burger joint. In addition, the Burnaby location offers wings, chips, curly fries and dessert!

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.

Jambo Grill & Good Morning Paan

Jambo Grill is another one of those "hey look at the reviews on Urbanspoon, let's try the restaurant" for me. The restaurant offers daily specials which greatly influenced the night I chose to visit. My options were between Tuesday's jungle ribs or Thursday's Thali buffet (the menu may have changed a week ago because the Thursday special is pili pili wings now).

After waiting ten minutes at the door, the waiter was kind and mentioned we can sit anywhere, except by or across from the door because a cold draft constantly comes in whenever the door opens. The cold draft was true because we sat far from the door and it was definitely chilly, which can easily be prevented by placing a panel by the door.  Jambo Grill has a relaxing atmosphere and the restaurant properly maximizes their seating arrangements, emphasize on properly. The seating arrangements are comfortable and not cramped one bit.

Red Robin : Burnaby location

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.

SAUTEED 'SHROOM MURGER, R'Rs BUZZARD WINGS, ULTIMATE CAESAR, AND BONZAI BURGER.

Denny's : Burquitlam location

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.

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.

Burger Heaven

I have been craving for burgers lately and Big River Restaurant's did not help at all. 

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. 

HOT CHICKEN WINGS 1LB, HULK BURGER AND INSANITY BURGER.

Big River Restaurant

Have you ever ate somewhere and checked the reviews on the restaurant after? One sentence. BF says, "don't take Joey's, Cactus Club or Boston Pizza for granted, I asked if you wanted to go there."

I am not really the type to eat pub food and Big River Restaurant is probably the closest place to a pub I have been to all year. I was surprised the restaurant is well lit, spacious and empty (which I totally prefer!). The tables are greasy and kind of dirty but I assume it is a given for a pub.