Papa John's : Burquitlam location

If it was not for Papa John's being one of the few pizza restaurants in the Lougheed Mall area, I would not even know about them! Papa John's is a franchise and their slogan is, "Better Pizza. Better Ingredients". Furthermore, if comparing Papa John's to Domino's and Pizza Hut, I believe the last two are more popular.

My friend and I ordered from Papa John's twice and on both occasions, the delivery drivers were friendly and arrived within the time stated. On the second visit, the pizza actually arrived fifteen minutes before the estimated time of arrival. As for the delivery charge, it is $3.00 which we could have saved, had we walked literally across the street lol!

Curry King Cafe 咖哩皇餐廳

After finishing up with some groceries at T&T and needing dinner ASAP in the area, we settled on Curry King. Curry King seems to be one of those places where many people drive by and think the restaurant is probably "meh", or at least for me it was. The restaurant is located on Kingsway Street in Burnaby and is in the same strip along with Bubble World, Waves as well as Hot Luck.

When we walked in, the interior surprised me. The restaurant is bigger as well as cleaner than I thought, and does not look run down. In addition, there was a nice fried rice aroma and the restaurant has AC. Another thing that surprised me was the waitress. She looked miserable, pointed towards which seat we should take, and tossed the menus.

Curry King has a large menu which includes a variety of congee, soup, laksa, ramen, udon, build your own noodles, curry, and the typical HK style cafe selections such as baked dishes and hot plates.

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.

Carver's Steakhouse

Going to a steakhouse in Richmond may not be the first thing that comes to mind, considering the amount of Asian restaurants available in the city. As for the steakhouses in Richmond, there are only three which includes Carver's, Chop Steakhouse and the good ol' reliable Keg.

As for myself, I have made it a goal to try every steakhouse in BC and because there are not many, it can be easily done. Also, conveniently, Social Shopper was offering a voucher for $45.00 which includes a three course dinner; one appetizer, two entrees and a dessert to share. Who can pass on a great offer considering the visit was bound to happen anyway?!

After circling the parking lot for ten minutes looking for a spot, we called the restaurant and asked where else we could park. Turns out, the manager mentioned we could park anywhere and if we get a ticket, the restaurant would reimburse us! So we ended up parking in the staff section. 

Walking in, we waited at the front for a while and a friendly server came over to seat us. At the end of dinner, one of the staff mentioned there was a last minute large party so the service was a bit slow. However, we felt the service was great and everyone was friendly. As for the interior, there is a black and red scheme rather than the traditional white linen tablecloth, and every table has a floating candle along with a red napkin.

Tarts Bakery

There are plenty of popular bakeries that offer cake, tarts, pies, macarons etc. However, Tarts Bakery specializes in only tarts. The bakery is located on West Broadway in Vancouver and is founded by two sisters who share the passion of baking.

Walking in on a weekday afternoon, the store was empty and the owner sat by the counter. As I approached the display of tarts, she immediately stood up but did not say a word. So to break the silence, I mentioned I was browsing in case I was keeping her from something. However, my weak attempt to break the silence did not work because she did not say a word to me and I felt even more awkward. Perhaps I should have asked her about the tarts...

Tarts Bakery offers mini tartlets which is a great way to sample all the flavours and runs from $1.75 to $1.85, or 3 for $4.95. As for the regular sized tarts, the prices range from $4.98 to $5.95. In addition, soup, salad, cold drinks and hot drinks such as tea, coffee, along with hot chocolate are available.

I went for the raspberry macaroon as well as the lemon tart, which is when the owner broke the silence and asked if I wanted to select a third because one tart costs $1.75. At the time, I was not sure how much I was saving but decided why not? So rather than going for the chocolate mousse for a variety, I played it safe and chose something I would like, the butter pecan.

After selecting the tarts, she asked if I wanted a drink and without wanting to feel awkward that I rarely drink tea or coffee and my preferred choice of bottled water was not available, I ordered soup. As I noticed her grabbing the soup from a take out container and grabbing a box for the tarts, I mentioned the meal would be for here and proceeded to the counter.

This where my OCD kicks in. For a business to declare themselves as two sisters who share the passion of starting a business and creating a product because the quality or selection was not what either of them craved for, I expected an inviting atmosphere and a cute dainty interior (the shop is cute though). But instead, I walk into an unenthusiastic owner and the sink as well as the preparation area was filled with dirty plates. I even felt guilty for being the cause of her having to wash the dishes because I ordered my meal for here rather than to go.