Chef Tony 頤東大酒樓

There are a couple of things that I am not embarrassed of to admit such as having an appetite of a man, and occasionally being cheap. You see, I used to go for dim sum frequently but am not really a "huge" fan. So when the bill comes to $80.00 for two people because BF always decides to order too much food, it eventually got me. Why are we spending so much on dim sum when neither of us find it special? And as a result, we agreed to only go for dim sum with our families or spend no more than $60.00 together.

The plan kind of backfired however because our schedules never matched with our families' and neither of us have had dim sum for literally a whole year! So eventually we started craving for dim sum which is rare, because usually one of us wants only a specific dish rather than an actual whole dim sum meal. Anyhow, Chef Tony was my choice of restaurant for dim sum.

From what I have heard, Chef Tony offers a fusion twist on dim sum and the prices are not cheap. I honestly did not have any expectations and expected average food. As for the interior, it can be considered a modern Chinese style. There are lighted pillars, plenty of chandeliers and a large screen which showcases the menu. Furthermore, there is a row of VIP rooms which looks very Asian. In Asia, most of the VIP rooms are laid out in a row but in Canada the layout might resemble a karaoke joint.

Also judging by the prices, Chef Tony may be considered one of the higher end Chinese restaurants. However, the atmosphere is not quite there. The seating arrangements are cramped and the dining room is very crowded, not fancy at all. Diners should feel comfortable. In addition, the decor does not look "high end".

SMALL $4.00 || MEDIUM $4.80 || LARGE $5.75 || SPECIAL $6.95.

TEA $2.00

The Fish Counter

Located on Main Street in Vancouver is a business that focuses on sustainable seafood, The Fish Counter. The shop has a fish market along with a kitchen that offers fresh and made to order food, and C'est la vie a Maggi and I came for the food. When we walked up to the front doors, we did not know which door to go through and chose the one that leads to the restaurant side. As we entered, there were open cupboards blocking the entrance and a cashier staring at us without saying a word, so I felt guilty because I thought we walked through the wrong door.

Fortunately, Maggi confirmed if we could enter and the cashier responded with a "yes" before walking to close the cupboards, so I did not feel bad. After looking around, we noticed the menu posted on the wall and proceeded to the cashier.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward and not inviting because the cashier was not friendly, but we did not mind since The Fish Counter can be considered a fast food joint. As for the interior, it looks fairly nice and the shop is well ventilated. The fish market side of the shop does not have an overwhelming smell too.

The menu is posted on the unfinished wooden walls and looks very playful. There are cute ocean creatures and an easy to read but playful font. As for the selection of food, The Fish Counter offers fish n' chips, sandwiches, tacos, soup and one kind of salad. We arrived during a slow period so the seating arrangements were not an issue, but the seats are quite limited. There is only one table and a bar, along with a couple of benches.

Lucky Star Chinese Restaurant 辣子紅南北私房菜

Lucky Star is located in North Burnaby and the restaurant serves Cantonese style Chinese cuisine as well as Szechuan. The interior of the restaurant looks better than the exterior and there are comfortable seating arrangements. In addition, there are a few chandeliers, a large television screen, and all the furnishings appear to be custom made and imported from China. The seats are fairly comfortable too because of the padding.

As for the food, the restaurant offers a variety of dishes and the menu is not limited at all. There are choices from dim sum, soup, congee, prawns, chicken, duck, beef, lamb, scallops, pork, sizzling hot pots, chow mein, handmade noodles and rice. But the thing is, there are more than only a few choices under each category! For example, the restaurant has five kinds of scallop dishes. Lucky Star also has a few frog dishes, but we passed because I am way too picky when it comes to that.

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.

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.