Disclaimer: In light of COVID-19, I just wanted to say that I am doing my part as a responsible person and social distancing. Luckily, I have some drafts saved up before this whole craziness began so please don’t attack me for posting.

I know that you may want to go out and have fun, but it is crucial that we distance ourselves to slow the spread of the virus and flatten the curve before it gets worse. Yes, you may feel fine but you could be passing on the virus to someone who is immunocompromised or elderly that may not survive this virus.

I have not gone out to a restaurant/done non-essential activities outside, since public health officials have urged social distancing. I am taking COVID-19/coronavirus very seriously as should you.

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Back in January, some of my coworkers and I found ourselves at Ricky’s at Brentwood SOLO. Many years have passed since I’ve been to Ricky’s. If we are talking about chain breakfast diners, I much prefer IHOP but Ricky’s was more convenient for us.

This Ricky’s location was relatively new, and clean. I remember the Ricky’s I went to a long time ago was quite dark, dingy and in need of a face lift but was relieved to see this was not the case.

I actually found out through writing this post that there are three restaurant’s owned by The Ricky’s Group: Ricky’s All Day Grill, Ricky’s Country Restaurant, Ricky’s Cafe.

Strawberry lemonade: The strawberry lemonade was delicious. You were allowed to get one extra refill. I like my lemonade quite sweet, so this hit the spot perfectly.

The Works Omelette: After being very indecisive, I picked The Works omelette which came with ham, mushroom, cheese, peppers, and onions. The omelette was ginormous and very filling.

Taste wise, it was meh… nothing special. I appreciated that it was stuffed full with ingredients though.The pancakes were a bit bland but was quickly saved by syrup.

Chicken and avocado omelette: My coworker went with an omelette as well, but the chicken and avocado one. Instead of pancakes, he went with toast and stuffed hashbrowns. The hashbrowns was stuffed with sour cream, cheese, and bacon. Very hearty and filling!

Mediterranean omelette: Seems like omelettes were quite popular that morning! My other coworker ordered the Mediterranean omelette, which came with feta cheese, spinach, and tomato.

Overall, I found Ricky’s to be meh. Definitely not a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice… if we are talking chain breakfast restaurants, I would pick IHOP, DeDutch, White Spot before Ricky’s.

Another day, another IHOP location! After not having IHOP for 5+ years, the fiance and I went twice in a month. In case you missed it, I wrote a review recently on IHOP Broadway. This time, we went to the IHOP in Richmond since we were running some errands there.

Sadly with most IHOPs, they are quite old. No one wants to build a new or renovate an IHOP these days which is sad to me. The age was quite evident with the Richmond location. This location was quite dingy, small and run down. It had high, pointy ceilings but somehow still managed to feel cramped in here.

We were not expecting the restaurant to be so packed. From the outside, it looks tired, old and quiet… but it was actually bustling inside.

The waiting area was awkward because it directly faced the kitchen (which was tiny and probably the size of my own kitchen). Because there were so many people in line, waiting customers blocked the way of waitresses trying to get food to the tables.

After waiting about 20 minutes, we sat down and ordered. Since we saw how tiny the kitchen was compared to how busy it was, I braced myself for a long wait but was pleasantly surprised when it came at a reasonable time.

Chicken strips and waffles: Folks, I really wanted to try something new for the sake of my blog. No one wants to read chicken strips reviews all the time. But I really love their chicken strips so y’all will just have to read about them again!

The chicken strips here were smaller and skinnier, which was a bit disappointing. You can also see the last chicken strip at the bottom was smaller than the rest. In addition, the outside was a bit over fried, as you can tell with the darker color.

Despite all this, I was relieved that the inside was piping hot and juicy. I definitely preferred the Broadway location chicken strips more since they were bigger and not over fried.

The waffles were delicious and I have no complaints about them!

Colorado omlette: I’m glad that the fiance ordered something different from our previous visit so I have something new to write about!

The Colorado omlette would be perfect for meat lovers. Bursting with ingredients, this omlette came with bacon, sausage, beef, and ham. It was a very filling, calorie dense and hearty omlette.

As if that wasn’t enough to fill you up, the omlette came with a side of pancakes as well! Were we in the states? Because the omlette sure felt like American portions.

Although we left full and satisfied, we wouldn’t come back to this location due to the atmosphere. It was dingy and cramped. Service was also hard to waive down. They didn’t have assigned waiters/waitresses for each section so it was just a free for all. One of them forgot to refill our water too.

I do want to give a shout out to the one hostess/waitress who was really nice though! Her hardwork did not go unnoticed.

Konnichiwa from Kyoto, Japan! The fiance and I are back in Japan! I have a backlog of food posts though in my absence. Stay tuned for Japan posts next month!

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De Dutch has been around for quite awhile! I remember going to the De Dutch a few times in North Burnaby as a kid. They seem to fly under the radar because I don’t see or hear about it often. But it’s time I give them much deserved attention on the blog!

We came here because they had a birthday promotion. If you signed up for their emailing list, they give you a free pannekoek (Dutch pancake) up to a value of $14.50! Since we didn’t get a chance to go during the holidays, we came in the new year because the coupon is valid for approximately 3 months.

The fiance and I went to the De Dutch in Olympic Village, which we didn’t even know existed until looking on their website even though we are in this area a lot! They are located on West 2nd which is a busy street. This just shows how under the radar De Dutch is haha.

The last time we went to a De Dutch location was when we started dating many years ago, when I took him to the North Burnaby location.

The restaurant was about half full when we came on a Saturday morning around 10am. The atmosphere inside was calm and slow, which I appreciated. I’m not a fan of chaotic and noisy environments! The restaurant was clean, tidy, with comfortable seating.

Freshly squeezed orange juice: Marketing worked on me that morning when I saw the OJ being advertised. Their OJ is freshly squeezed and it sounded delicious, so I ordered a glass. And delicious, it was!

The orange juice was pulpy, very fresh tasting and definitely not Minute Maid (although I do love my Minute Maid so no shade being thrown here).

Debakon and eggs breakfast platter: The fiance went with their Dutchmen Platters, and chose the debakon and eggs one. This was a massive, hearty and filling platter!

Debakon is the Dutch twist on bacon. Rather than being in strips, they came in large slices. The slices reminded me of a ham and bacon mix. The potatoes were crispy and delicious. If you look carefully under the debakon, you can also see the two over-easy eggs which were nice and runny, perfect for dipping the potatoes into.

The only complaint on the platter were the fresh fruit. The canteloupe was very bland and flavourless. The apple skin had a strange bitter taste too.

Eggs Amsterdam: It’s unusual that I order the eggs benny, usually it is the fiance who does! After debating between the smoked salmon benny or this one, I decided to go with the Eggs Amsterdam which had ham and Dutch cheese.

The poached eggs were perfect, with a nice runny yolk! In addition, the Hollandaise sauce was deliciously rich and buttery. The fiance who is a huge Hollandaise sauce fan, gave it his seal of approval.

The difference with the eggs benny at De Dutch is that they come on a Dutch rusk, which is a twice baked biscuit. I didn’t like it at first because it was hard and crunchy, but after a few bites and with the delicious Hollandaise, I didn’t mind.

I also found that the fruit was not good. The cantaloupe was tasteless and the apple skin had a bitter taste to it.

Chocolate, strawberry and whip pannekoeken: The reason why we came here! The chocolate and strawberry was the perfect combination for us!

The pannekoeken is quite large. I remembered the pannekoeken being paper thin, almost crepe like, which is why we ordered two breakfist dishes. My memory from years ago proved to be wrong because it was actually thicker. I would say it was in between a crepe and pancake.

You could pick between Nutella, or chocolate sprinkles. We went with the Nutella and it was an excellent choice. They gave us a lot of Nutella, strawberry syrup, and whipped cream.

There isn’t much taste to the pannekoeken, so it relies on the toppings and the powdered sugar sprinkled on top. It also had a slightly chewy texture to it. The combination of Nutella and strawberry was delicious!

All in all, we enjoyed our breakfast and free birthday pannekoeken at De Dutch. It has been many years since we came, but we will be back again in a few months when it is the fiance’s birthday, for another free pannekoeken!