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Fable Diner – Revisit

January 2, 2020

Happy new year everyone!

It’s been a few years since our first visit to Fable Diner. We came here with a group back in 2016 when they had just opened, you can read that review here. Fast forward to present day, we were looking for a place to have dinner one evening that wasn’t one of our usual places!

After some browsing, we decided to come here because the fiance loves the tomato cheddar soup and I would finally be able to try it! I’m happy to say that my digestive issues have temporarily subsided so I need to take advantage of being able to eat dairy.

Peanut butter and Nutella milkshake: This was one of the items that was ordered in our first visit, but I wasn’t able to have dairy back then so I didn’t try it. I was able to try it this time and it was very delicious!

The milkshake was very creamy, rich, and chocolatey. There was also a good balance of peanut butter as well.

Cheddar tomato soup: The star of the show! This soup has been raved about by multiple friends and the fiance. It did not disappoint as well!

The soup had a nice, smooth pureed texture. It was very tomato-y and you could taste the cheddar that was pureed in as well. To elevate the soup even more, it came with some deliciously cheesy garlic bread on the side.

Poutine with BBQ duck: The poutine was delicious with lots of cheese curds and gravy. The BBQ duck was very moist and tender. It reminded me of Chinese style BBQ duck.

Both were good separately, but I did not find that the combination went well together.

Mac and cheese: The mac and cheese was my favourite dish of the night. It was so incredibly cheesy. The sprinkled goat cheese on top gave it more excitement.

Chicken and grits: We both never had grits before, so decided to give it a try. I was not a fan of the texture at all. It appears that each restaurant makes it differently. I found it to be undercooked and as if I were eating plastic.

The fried chicken was juicy, fresh, and crispy! We got two pieces with this plate.

We ordered a lot of food and had enough leftovers for the next day. It was nice to be back at Fable Diner and I would recommend going. Service was very attentive and friendly throughout our dinner too.

Shake Shack – Las Vegas

November 24, 2019

Shake Shack was another place on our to try list because it was recommended by many friends. We finally found some time, and room in our stomachs, to visit during our last day!

Shake Shack is located by the New York New York hotel. This location was modern, nice and pretty spacious inside.

We took the free train from Bellagio to Aria (across the street from New York New York) to save ourselves from some walking, since we would be doing a lot of it that day.

Once you order at the front tills, they give you a restaurant pager that’ll let you know when your order is ready.

Chicken hot dog: I haven’t had a chicken hot dog before (I think? Or at least it’s been awhile) so I ordered this. I was pretty turned off though, when I bit into the hot dog and it was cold?!

I brought it back and they gave me a new one so it wasn’t a big deal. The bonus was that while waiting again, I heard some other customers ask for Shake Shack sauce. I didn’t know that was a thing, so I ended up getting some for us too!

Anyways, the chicken hot dog was meh. Nothing too memorable about it. The menu said that the chicken sausage included apple and sage, but I couldn’t taste any. It looks a bit sad in this picture, but I did end up adding some condiments to it.

SmokeShack: The fiance ordered the SmokeShack, which came with a beef patty, smoked bacon, cherry peppers, and ShackSauce. The burger was juicy and delicious! He also added another patty because #treatyoself on vacation.

Crinkle cut fries: The crinkle cut fries were delicious. I was debating if I should order another one because it was that good, but decided against it. They were very crispy and fresh. Crinkle cut fries are such a fun treat to have, just like waffle fries!

All in all, I found Shake Shack to be alright. Not the best I’ve had, but not the worst. I’m still glad I tried it though. It would be a place I wouldn’t mind going to, but not somewhere I’d purposely go to.

Earl of Sandwich – Las Vegas

November 1, 2019

I made a good choice before our trip to Las Vegas by asking a bunch of people for their food recommendations. Cola suggested Earl of Sandwich and it ended up being our favourite find of the trip!

We loved it so much that we ended up going 3 times that trip and bought some on the flight back for dinner! Earl of Sandwich was affordable, delicious, filling, but still contained good quality ingredients.

According to Google Maps, there are 3 Earl of Sandwich locations along the Strip. We only went to the one inside Planet Hollywood by the casino. It is not that big in there with only a few seats, but most people get takeout.

Tuna melt: I wasn’t feeling like beef or chicken that night, so I went with the tuna melt. It was an excellent choice on my end because it was delicious. There was a lot of tuna, mayo, and cheese. The sandwich was served hot which made it even more delicious.

I am not too sure about the type of bread they use, but it tasted very fresh and was toasted. When I looked on the website, it just said ‘artisan bread’. A similar comparison would be ciabatta bread, but thicker and softer.

French dip: The fiance went with the french dip, and he loved it as well. There was a very generous amount of roast beef. In addition, the hot sandwich came with caramelized onions and Swiss cheese.

The Full Montagu: On our second visit, the fiance tried the Full Montagu. This sandwich came with roasted beef, turkey, Swiss cheese, cheddar, lettuce, Roma tomatoes, and mustard sauce.

I ordered the tuna melt again and enjoyed it as much as the first time!

Italian: Luckily we both have big appetites so we ordered a third sandwich to split, giving me an opportunity to expand my Earl of Sandwich tastebuds. The Italian sandwich was a meat lover’s paradise, containing salami, capicola, ham, mortadella, Swiss cheese, Italian seasoning, and Italian dressing.

There was a very generous portion of meat as with the other sandwiches. The variety of meat kept the sandwich exciting and the Italian seasoning/herbs were a nice touch.

Chipotle chicken avocado: I ordered the chipotle chicken avocado as the last meal in Vegas. It did not disappoint either. The grilled chicken was juicy with a delicious grilled flavour to it. Meanwhile, the avocado was chunks were nice and ripe.

The chipotle sauce added a very slight spicy kick to the sandwich. Also, are you wondering why there is only half a sandwich? That is because the fiance was too hungry and forgot that I needed a picture for le blog before he dug in.

Out of all the sandwiches I tried (including the fiance’s), my order of preference would be: 1) Tuna melt, 2) Chipotle chicken avocado, 3) French dip, 4) The Full Montagu, and 5) Italian. That being said, I loved them all and wouldn’t mind having any of the 5 sandwiches again.

Earl of Sandwich was definitely worth trying. As mentioned above, it was cheap, filling, delicious, and made with quality ingredients. It is an extremely better version of Subway but at similar prices!

The Boathouse – White Rock

August 22, 2019

It’s been a few years since I have been to White Rock! My parents wanted to go, so the fiance and I took them there for an afternoon. On that particular day, it was cloudy so it was quite dead. Adding to it, the boardwalk has been closed all year since it was destroyed in the storm.

I had a restaurant in mind but like most restaurants that day, it was closed. Probably only half the restaurants were open along the main stretch which was disappointing.

Picking a restaurant and having it fall through is hard for someone like me who has digestive problems and needs to look up the menu and plan what to eat beforehand. The Boathouse seemed suitable enough and we were hungry so we came here despite the horrible reviews on Yelp.

The Boathouse is probably one of the most popular restaurants along the main beach stretch, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that day because the whole area was so dead. The restaurant spans an impressive three floors, with the top floor being a patio that has amazing water views. The third floor patio was closed so we got a seat outside on the first floor.

Tuna poke: I found my poke to be overpriced, but I really didn’t have any other option on the menu with my digestive problems. The tuna was cut in tiny cubes and tasted really fresh, so that was a relief considering the price and how dead it was in here!

It also came with some fresh avocado, mango salsa, wonton crisps, rice, and salad. I personally would have liked more rice than salad but it wasn’t a big deal. Overall it was good, but not worth $25.

Wild salmon BBQ burger: My parents split the salmon burger and said it was delicious. The wild salmon had a healthy, nice red colour to it and flaked off nicely.

Clam chowder and salad: The chowder was a bit smaller than we were expecting, but my parents didn’t have any complaints about the taste. For $7, you could upgrade to a Caesar salad which they did.

Smoked salmon hash: The fiance’s dish smelled amazing when it came to the table! The hash came with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, potatoes, and cooked smoked salmon. We both thought it would be the cold smoked salmon but he enjoyed this version of it as well.

He was pleasantly surprised with this dish and would get it again. It was super filling to the point where he decided to not get gelato afterwards!

Overall, we came with low expectations due to the bad online reviews. But the food ended up being pretty decent. I did read a few saying that the fish and chips were bad so I’m glad none of us ordered those. This would be a restaurant that you come more for the patio views and people watching.

My only complaint would be that service was slow, especially considering there were only 3 other tables that afternoon.

Yay!

Red Robin – Downtown

July 5, 2019

I have not been to the downtown Red Robin location for years! I used to come here all the time many years ago. It felt like a blast to the past being back here, nothing has changed! Anyway, the boyfriend and I weren’t sure what to have for dinner so he suggested the downtown location so that we could walk around the seawall after.

It was no surprise that the restaurant was full on a Friday night! We got the last spot at the bar so we did not have to wait. I found the seating to be a bit uncomfortable because we were staring at a pole, which also took up space. But at least we didn’t have to wait!

Strawberry lemonade: A must when going to Red Robin’s! Their strawberry lemonade is a sugary delight.

Simply grilled chicken burger: Compared to the Lougheed location, I found the chicken breast to be on the dry side. It wasn’t juicy which was disappointing. There was still a nice grilled flavour to it though.

Popcorn shrimp and chicken strip basket: This was not something that we’ve seen on the menu when we used to go to Red Robins frequently 4-5 years ago. It is a combination of two of my favourite foods ever, too bad my digestive issues are so bad right now that I can’t eat it without feeling sick. But c’est la vie, need to focus on the positives in my life.

Anyways, the chicken strips were juicy and piping hot. We were surprised it only came with 2 chicken strips, thought there would be at least 3. The popcorn shrimp was fresh and crunchy as well.

Overall, I wouldn’t mind coming back to this location. Service was friendly although it was hard to get our waitress because it was so busy.

Yes, there are plenty of other restaurants in downtown which are fancier and bougie, but we love a classic Red Robin meal!