chicken Archives - Page 2 of 4

Beefy Beef Noodle House

December 2, 2014

Asian restaurants have the most creatively absurd restaurant names, don’t you think? I’ve always had a good chuckle reading the sign whenever we drove by. I came here back in high school but don’t really recall much, I just remembered it was pretty average. My friends and I decided to come here late one night, as we didn’t want to stay in Richmond anymore and wanted to be back in Vancouver. I had a decent experience, but my friends? Not so much. Read on to find out why.

Walking in around 11pm with six of us (soon to be eight, other two were running a bit late), the restaurant looked about 75% full and was mostly preoccupied with groups around the same size. We asked them for a table of eight, the servers looked very confused and told us it would be a bit of a wait. Guess we should have seen that as a warning sign. Which was weird, because right in front of us were two tables that fit 4 people each. We asked them if they could just move the two tables together and they looked very puzzled… so we kind of motioned with our hands what we meant and they understood. Even when they were moving the tables, they looked very confused, which confused us because moving two tables together shouldn’t be that hard?

I had a hard time deciding on what to order, but decided to get the noodles in soup with Taiwanese chicken nuggets to share with the boyfriend. The noodles were cooked al dente and had a perfect bounce to it, they were delicious. The broth was very flavourful and clear, we’re still debating if it was canned stock or not but either way, it was very satisfying on a cold night. The veggies in the soup were also washed clean, and were fresh and crunchy. The Taiwanese chicken nuggets had a nice crispiness and the usual seasonings, nothing new there but they do cook it well and it tasted authentic. My food also came at least 15 minutes before all the other orders, by the time that I finished my food, some of my friends had just received theirs while our other friend was still waiting for her food.

We all ordered drinks, and disappointingly, they were out of pearls. I ordered the passion fruit calpis juice, but received a peach calpis juice instead (pictured here). My friend ordered a peach calpis slush, so we weren’t sure whose drink they messed up on LOL. Turns out we were right, they had messed up and gave me peach, which I didn’t really mind. The peach calpis was very syrupy and overwhelmingly sweet, I felt that if I drank this in one sitting my chances of getting diabetes would increase dramatically. So I tried to ration myself (even though it was so delicious!) and brought it home for the next day. Just like the food, my drink came first (even though they messed up) and my friends ended up waiting at least 15 minutes after mine for their drinks. We weren’t sure why the drinks weren’t coming out all at once, since we all ordered at the same time. At this point, my friends were not impressed with the wait time, seeing that the restaurant had died down a bit.

So, after waiting around fifteen minutes between my bowl of noodles AND the other main courses (which were just like mine and stir fry dishes), we ended up waiting another fifteen minutes for the buttery condensed milk toast. My friends had asked the servers if they had forgot it, but they apologized and just said it was “on the way”. When it finally came, everyone dug in and man, was the toast heavenly. The bread was extremely soft, fresh, and sweet, covered in a rich layer of thick condensed milk.

Even though our food (when it actually came) was delicious, Beefy Beef was very disorganized and I’m not sure how they operate their restaurant in that manner. We received our food and drinks in long, staggered periods even though we all ordered at the same time. My soup noodles and drinks came first, then a couple dishes and drinks came out after fifteen minutes, followed by the next and so on. Why couldn’t we just receive all our food at the same time when we all ordered together? I felt bad for my friend, who waited almost a hour for her food. She ended up packing her meal to go, since all seven of us were done eating by the time her food came. That was also when she had checked on her food, if she didn’t check, who knows how long the wait would have been.

If their food was average, I probably would not have come back due to how disorganized the restaurant seemed. But since I enjoyed their noodles a lot and it is a convenient location to go to if I crave Taiwanese food, I wouldn’t mind coming back- my hopes would be that they have some kind of standard concept of organization going on.

Pacifico Pizzeria Ristorante

October 14, 2014

After a failed attempt and bad beginning at Kamei Baru, Cinnamon, Sangria and I all agreed that we didn’t want to stay, and decided to see what else was around the neighbourhood. As we took our first steps out the restaurant and recovered from the awkwardness of telling the waitress there, an Italian place by the name of Pacifico Pizzeria Ristorante right next door caught our eyes.

We quickly scanned the menu outside, which looked appetizing enough so we decided to try this place on a whim. Walking in, it was very quiet and only one other customer at 2pm.
The sole hostess/server was very friendly, and also gave us the option to sit upstairs. We were going to take the offer, but Cinnamon pointed out that it would be harder for us to get service. Instead, we sat at a booth on the main level. Judging from the way Pacifico was set up, seemed like they specialize in romantic date nights (Although from what Meaghan aka ElephantHeartBlog wrote, her date night failed because the food was horrendous sad face). Tables for two, wine glasses set up, candles on the tables…yup, the hopeless romantic in me approves. But how about the food?

Right after we sat down, we were disappointed and considered leaving. Again. I swear this never happens, I’m not a picky eater, we were just having bad luck that afternoon.

But after much hushed conversation and awkwardly glancing up to see if the waitress had overheard us, we decided to just suck it up and eat here because we were in a bit of a rush.

Turns out they don’t have the lunch time menu on weekends. So why put that outside if it’s false? We all wanted their paninis and sandwiches, and none of us were in the mood for heavy pasta.
But since we didn’t want to get up and leave another restaurant AGAIN, Sangria and I decided to split the pollo rustica pizza. We figured that this would curb our hunger for the next hour or so. It also helped that the pizza was $3 cheaper, I think it was the lunch special.

I’m not saying that the pizza was expensive, because it was decently priced for the atmosphere and location, but we just weren’t really in the mood for pizza and didn’t want to pay for something we didn’t really want.

Turned out, the pizza itself was fairly decent. There was a good amount of chicken breast, which was juicy and flavourful. There was a great amount of gouda and mozzarella cheese as well, which became very stringy as I bit into it. I wasn’t a fan of the artichokes so my friend happily had all of it. The freshly chopped onions added more flavour to what would otherwise have been a very bland dish. The crust and pizza dough itself wasn’t as thin as I thought it would be, and I actually enjoyed the texture of it very much.

Cinnamon ordered the appetizer size of the pizzetta margherita ($8). Unfortunately, she did not enjoy hers as much as we did. She wasn’t expecting that much cheese on her dish, and wanted to see if they could remake it.

It took quite awhile for her to finally wave somebody down, I remember I had already finished 3 slices by the time someone came. The lady that came didn’t look like she was a server, someone who worked in the back from the way she was dressed.

Anyways, Cinnamon explained to her that she didn’t expect this much cheese and I thought she was kind of rude about it. That or maybe she was very confused. She came back with a second one with lighter cheese. She ended up only eating half of it and wished that there was more basil or that it came shredded all over the pizza.

All in all, our visit was pretty brief and it was an average experience. Our server was nice in the beginning but she disappeared near the end, and it was hard for us to find service. If I was going to be very picky, it would also have been nice for them to bring us some pepper and chili flakes with our pizza, instead of us having to wave them down to ask for it. Pepper and chili flakes are pretty standard with pizza, no?

Unless this place is too fancy for that. Even though my friend didn’t enjoy her pizza, I thought mine wasn’t bad but I’m not dying to come here again, nor would I make my way downtown just for this restaurant.

-Carmen

Cristos Greek Taverna

October 11, 2014

Last month, the boyfriend and I decided to go for a Greek date night. We had been craving Greek food for a month probably, but never got the chance to go.

That was a pretty good week, as we also had a really good night at Cactus Club Cafe and he actually ended up writing a guest post on my blog about the evening!
North Burnaby’s main street is dominated by restaurants. Restaurants side by side, across from each other- it is pretty much impossible to go hungry when you’re in this neighbourhood and if you have your wallet.

I often wonder how so many restaurants can stay in business and compete with each other, but I guess us Vancouverites really love our restaurants.

Cristos Taverna has been around for quite awhile now. I came here for a birthday dinner back in Grade 9, and even then, I thought it was quite old. For good reasons too, we had quite the lovely experience at Cristos Taverna and after coming here, it has landed a spot on one of my favourite Greek restaurants.
Our server that day was very friendly. Right when we walked in, we were greeted with a smile and friendly conversation, and he told us that he would give us the best seat in the house that day.

He also pulled our chairs back for us when we sat down, and shortly came back afterwards to light up our candles for “more romance.”

The way that we were treated felt like we were at a very high class, fancy fine dining restaurant reserved for the most highest classes of society instead of a neighbourhood Greek restaurant.

So far, the service and atmosphere was great. I ordered the chicken souvlaki plate, which came with rice, potatoes, greek salad, tzatziki sauce, and pita bread. Everything on my plate was absolutely delicious, and I found myself savouring every bite.

The pita bread was lightly toasted, and very soft inside. I dipped this into the tzatziki sauce, which was very refreshing and cool.

The greek salad was very fresh, with crunchy veggies sprinkled with feta cheese and tossed in olive oil. The roasted potato was bursting with flavour and didn’t have that really starchy, dry texture to it.

The chicken was bursting with flavour, and grilled really well. Overall, everything was just cooked perfectly and my Greek craving was definitely satisfied.
The boyfriend ordered the calamari entree, and loved every bite of it was well. Normally, I would try a bit of his food but I was too busy eating and loving mine that I didn’t feel like trying it.

He loved how the calamari was seasoned, and said that it was crispy and light on the outside.

At the end of our meal, our server came back and talked to us for awhile. He told us that we should come back in the Fall (we went early September) since they were bringing back live music. He promised us that he would reserve the same table again for us if we called.

As if this wasn’t enough, he ended up giving us a business card and wrote his name down, along with the information for the live music nights. From the way that he connected with us, I thought he was the owner trying to make a good impression for his restaurant. Turns out, he was just one of the staff members and did not own the restaurant.

I hope that the rest of the servers are as welcoming and nice as he was!

-Carmen

PS. Two weeks afterwards, we decided to try another Greek restaurant four blocks down, Sfinaki. Disappointingly, it really did not compare to our experience here at all, food and service wise. Keep your eyes posted for what we liked and didn’t like about that place!

PF Chang’s, Seattle

September 26, 2014

Four starving Canadians in downtown Seattle, roaming the streets for somewhere to eat. Compared to downtown Vancouver, I noticed that the food options in downtown Seattle were more limited. As our street count rose higher and higher, and the grumbling in our stomach got louder and louder, I noticed this “PF Chang’s” restaurant sign while we were looking for a place to eat.

I casually suggested it, as the building it was in looked nice and decent, and I was so hungry I didn’t even care if PF Chang’s was authentic Chinese food, let alone Chinese food at all. To my surprise, Maki and Nigiri had been to PF Chang’s before, absolutely loved it, and agreed to go. Okay, that’s all my starving stomach had to know.
The decor of this PF Chang’s location was very warming, clean, and had both Asian elements (the Terracotta warrior as seen above), Chinese artwork, and Chinese music contrasted against an open concept kitchen, stone tiled walls, and table set ups seen with Western restaurants.

At this point, I was pretty impressed with the fusion and friendly service. I decided to completely strip away my expectation of authentic Chinese food, and try this place as a new Asian-Western cuisine experience. Here is how that went.
For starters, I decided to order their cucumber strawberry limade ($3.95 US). I am a HUGE fan of adding fruits into my drink, those who have dined with me are used to it and I get made fun of all the time. Even though this came first, I decided to wait for my lunch entree before trying this as I wanted the full flavours of cucumber and strawberry to come out (yes, I have fruit water nailed down to a science..I love my fruit water).

I was in love at first sip. The tartness of the limeade went really well with the strawberry sweetness, while the cucumber gave it a really refreshing and crisp end. I also loved how the strawberries were fresh, and weren’t the syrupy ones.

The downside to this drink was that it’s not bottomless, as many of their drinks are. But that goes to show you how much fresh strawberry and cucumber is put into this delicious drink!
After taking a long time to decide on what I wanted, I chose their lunch special which comes with a choice of brown or white rice, a choice of soup (veggie or sweet and sour), and the entree.

I decided on getting the hot and sour soup. I didn’t really enjoy this dish as much because I felt that it had a strong soya sauce and teriyaki taste to it. I would have liked it more if there was beef, chicken, or prawn.

There was a good amount of spicy and sourness to it though.
To this day, I still miss and can’t stop thinking about their chicken-orange rice dish. I have been trying to find a way to copy the recipe so I can still eat it at home, it was that delicious. This was the main lunch entree, orange peel lunch ($9.95 USA) which came with fresh oranges, Hunan chili sauce, and garnished with sprouts.

This was absolutely delicious and I found myself conserving every last bite. The oranges were sweet, fresh, and juicy which mixed well with the spicy chili sauce.

The brown rice was cooked perfectly to my liking, and the chicken breast was lean and juicy. I also liked how my dish was filling, but I did not feel bloated or greasy afterwards!
Maki ordered the lunch bowl as well, she chose Chang’s Kung Pao lunch with choice of scallops ($11.95). I had a bite of this and liked how crunchy the cashews were. She also had no complaints about her food!

Instead of getting the soup for her side, she chose the salad which I really enjoyed. It came with a light, sweet and tangy taste and a variety of different dark greens, my favourite type of salad! Not to mention, the size of her salad was enourmous!
Another entree we got was the pad thai ($12.95). I didn’t try this, but Nigiri enjoyed this dish.
Da boyfriend ordered dan dan noodles ($10.95), which came with a spicy red pepper and garlic sauce, minced chicken and scallions, cucumbers and bean sprouts. He was not expecting his dish to look like this, but ended up enjoying his dish. I had a bite and I liked how the egg noodles had a bounce to them. We both agreed that although the sauce was very flavourful, but was very salty.

All in all, we made a good decision coming here and I left with a good, new opinion of Western-Asian fusion dishes. I’ve never really been a fan of Western-Asian fusion dishes, but PF Chang’s had delicious dishes and lovely ambiance. We had many questions about the menu and our server did a really great job in explaining everything patiently and informatively. He even gave us a sample of the black iced tea!

I wish that PF Chang’s will open in Vancouver one day, as my waiter told me every other Canadian customer has told him. #PFChangstoVancouver anybody?

-Carmen

Cactus Club Cafe (Coal Harbour)

July 8, 2014

I had a catch up day with one of my friends a few weekends ago, and decided to meet at Cactus Club Coal Harbour for a late lunch. Unfortunately, it was pouring buckets that day, which was a teeny bit disappointing because I really wanted to enjoy lunch with a beautiful view of Stanley Park and the seawall!

There was also some kind of fundraising, “Amazing Race” style race going on in downtown that day so we saw quite a few sprinting, panting, and exhausted runners outside. Felt bad for them since it was raining so hard. It ended up clearing up once we were finished eating though. Despite the gloomy weather, we had a good lunch and our server was extremely friendly!
We were both super hungry by the time we met up, and decided to order a starter dish to share. We ordered the goat cheese flatbread ($12.75) which came with caramelized onions, grape tomatoes, basil pesto spread, wild argula, and balsamic glaze.

The argula and grape tomatoes tasted extremely fresh, and went well with the basil pesto spread and balsamic glaze. The flatbread itself was warm and soft. I have been really loving my flatbreads lately! The one I had at Milestones was delicious as well.
My friend ordered the pesto chicken quesadilla ($11.50) with a side of yam fries for an extra $4.25. I didn’t try it, but my friend enjoyed it very much and had no complaints!
Since I already ordered a burger a few days ago at Milestones, I felt bad indulging in one again. So I decided to get the grilled tuna club because it seemed like a healthier choice. I was pleasantly surprised at the size of my rare-seared tuna, as I was imagining a thin slice. It was a bit messy to eat since it was pretty big, and I was trying not to spill the tuna juice everywhere. Since it was seared, it had a nice smoky taste to it but the tuna was also very thick and juicy. The greens that came with the burger were also very fresh.

Overall, I had a great experience at Cactus Club. I loved their menu items and the food was delicious as well. Restaurants like these really focus on customer satisfaction and service, which I really appreciate!

-Carmen