Uncle Lu 安可盧萬巒豬腳

March 20, 2015March 20, 20152 Comments

Uncle Lu opened up last year and is a sister store of Corner 23. They offer Taiwanese dishes, somewhat similar to Pearl Castle. The interior is actually decorated pretty nicely with lanterns and has a high ceiling. Service-wise, there isn’t much but it’s enough to get through dinner.

Stir Fried Satay Beef with Vegetables

We started off with Stir Fried Satay Beef with Vegetables. The beef was very tender and there was a lot of satay sauce on it. I found it slightly too oily though. Otherwise, a pretty good dish.

Salted Egg Yolk Fried Rice

We also got the Salted Egg Yolk Fried Rice to share. This was really delicious, with the rice being very flavourful due to the egg yolk.

Overall, based on the dishes we tried Uncle Lu seemed to be a decent spot for Taiwanese eats. There was quite a bit of traffic during dinner time on Friday, so I guess they must be doing something right. Prices are reasonable, and they have quite a large variety of food to choose from on their menu.

Pros:
– Decent eats
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Not much service

Price Range: $10-15

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 2.5
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3

Jitlada

March 18, 2015March 18, 2015Leave a comment

Jitlada is a go to spot for my co-workers since it’s a short walk away. I’ve been here a couple of times now, but finally took out my phone to do some picture snapping this time. It’s very busy at lunch, and the restaurant isn’t too big, so be sure to arrive early. The lunch menu is quite simple with all items for $10.95. Most items come with spring rolls, salad, and rice.

The Spring Rolls arrived, and they were plated nicely with a side of dipping sauce. They were piping hot and had a generous amount of cabbage and cellophane noodles as filling. The wrapper was light and crispy.

Pad Kee Mao

E got the Pad Kee Mao, which they describe as drunken noodles. You can choose your meat, and she went for the chicken. It’s essentially stir-fried rice noodles and it’s seasoned with Thai basil leaves, onions and bell peppers. She said it was pretty good.

Gaeng Daeng

For myself, I got the Gaeng Daeng, which is red curry, and I chose the chicken for my meat. The curry is seasoned with fresh basil, bamboo shoots, red chili paste and coconut milk. You get a huge scoop of rice, and a pretty good salad filled with fruits and a light dressing. The curry itself had a good spice to it, but I didn’t think it was too special. Just average. It could have been more flavourful.

Overall, the portions are great for lunch and fairly priced for the Broadway location. Service is a bit slow during the lunch hour, but they manage to get you out within the hour lunch.

Pros:
– Friendly service
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Curry was just average

Price Range: $10-15

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3

Gyoza King

March 9, 2015March 15, 2015Leave a comment

Gyoza King has been around for a long time and is famous for their gyozas and izakaya style food. The place was quite busy when we arrived, so be sure to make reservations ahead of time.

Ebi Mayo

We started off with the Ebi Mayo, which had a light but crispy batter. Not the largest prawns, but still very fresh and satisfying.

Pork and Chicken Gyozas

And of course we had to try their Gyozas. We decided to try an order each of Pork and Chicken. They showed up looking the same and the waitress quickly told us which was which. However, we weren’t paying attention, and by the time we started eating, we couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Honestly, they taste quite the same, so if you want variety, you should choose one with shrimp or veggies instead. Other than the fact that we couldn’t tell the difference between the two apart, the gyozas were some of the best I’ve had in restaurants. The skin was thin and crispy both top and bottom. There was a good amount of filling and the dipping sauce complemented well.

Overall, Gyoza King lives up to its expectations for good gyozas. They also have a wide variety of choices for izakaya food and seems like a fun place for drinks. Service is attentive and friendly. Seating can be a little crowded since the restaurant is quite small.

Pros:
– Gyozas are pan fried to crispy
– Large variety of izakaya choices

Cons:
– Seating is pretty cramped

Price Range: $15-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3.5

Guu Garlic (revisit)

February 23, 2015Leave a comment

Okonomiyaki

Went for a revisit at Guu Garlic on Robson Street again, and the izakaya spot is always a full house. Luckily, we got a seat at the bar. We started off with the Okomiyaki, which is a deep fried squid and cabbage pancake. It came with a tonkatsu sauce and mustard mayo and was topped with bonito flakes. The pancake gets quite messy and it falls apart easily, but has a good amount of ingredients. Very flavourful, but I found it to be a little salty.

Karaage

Next was the Karaage, or deep fried chicken, which came with a garlic mayo on side. Large pieces of chicken, but I also found that it had too much batter on it. The seasoning was just right though.

Kabocha Croquette

We also got the Kabocha Croquette, which is a croquette of mashed pumpkin squash with a boiled egg in the center. I always love getting this. Crispy on the outside with the mash being slightly sweet. It comes with a mayo sauce for dipping.

Yaki Udon

Lastly was my all time favourite – Yaki-Udon. The pan fried udon comes with beef, mushroom, green onion, soy sauce, and butter. Something about their sauce makes it my favourite yaki-udon of all times. However, the beef was slightly over done this time and I found it very tough. Otherwise, flavour was on point again.

Overall, Guu Garlic consistently executes good izakaya food. It’s also very noisy in there, but that’s the ambiance they are going for. Service is friendly and attentive. Great place for izakaya snacks and drinks.

Pros:
– Consistently good izakaya food
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Seating may not be the most comfortable
– Can get quite loud

Price Range: $15-30

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3.5

Burgr – Las Vegas

February 21, 2015February 21, 2015Leave a comment

Our last meal in Vegas was in Planet Hollywood at the talked about Burgr by Gordon Ramsay.

Upon entering, his restaurant has the flames all set up on the glass window. Reminded me of Hell’s Kitchen.

He has a touch screen menu outside which you can scroll through while you wait in line. And yes, there is a line up, but it’s not very long. The funny thing is the restaurant isn’t even filled up when you enter. I guess they want to make it appear like there’s always long waits…

The interior is actually super casual. It’s almost like a sports bar. Burgr is probably one of the most casual and lower end restaurants of Gordon Ramsey’s. Burgers are all mostly under $20, which is pretty good in Vegas. Works for us since we already splurged the days before!

Just noticed that the G and R are in different colours to point out Gordon Ramsey. I guess he threw out the E in burger for a reason. How witty.

Opening up the menu, you get to see Gordon Ramsey’s face!

The server brings you an iPad, which has all the drinks on it.

Angry Orchard Hard Cider

We all went for the Angry Orchard Hard Cider. Light and crisp. Always love apple ciders!

Soba Noodle Chicken Salad

We decided to share a salad to start since we were starving. The Soba Noodle Chicken Salad features siracha chicken skewers, edamame, carrots, cucumber, avocado, sesame seeds, and a cilantro honey peanut dressing. Quite a big portion and could easily be an entree. The skewers brought some heat to the salad and was very delicious.

Fish & Crisp Sandwich

Then our burgers came. SK got the Fish & Crisp Sandwich, which had an awesome presentation. The ale battered cold was literally shaped like a fish and sat in a hot dog type bun. It came with salt & vinegar crisps, which were thinly cut and fresh dill tartar sauce. The fish was moist and delicious.

Hell’s Kitchen Burger

SP and I both got the Hell’s Kitchen Burger. All burgers are grilled over apple & alder wood and you can decide how well you want the meat cooked. The burger came with jalapeno cheese, roasted jalapeno peppers, avocado, and oven roasted tomato.

I chose medium rare for my burger and it was definitely cooked so. Reddish pink meat, although I would have now probably wanted medium for my burger next time. Felt like it was a little raw for a burger. The burger was slightly spicy because of the jalapeno, but I loved the oven roasted tomatoes inside.

Sweet Potato Fries

The burgers don’t come with any sides, so we ordered the Sweet Potato Fries to share. It ended up being such a large portion that we barely made a dent in it. It came with vanilla powdered sugar and a honey jalapeno mayo. I thought the powdered sugar was a little weird, but the fries were still crispy.

Overall, we were quite satisfied with Burgr. Reasonable prices for these gourmet burgers. Service is also friendly and attentive. Cool casual ambiance.

Pros:
– Great portions and reasonable prices
– You can decide on how well the meat is cooked

Cons:
– They make you wait in line even though there are seats
– Food comes out slightly slow

Price Range: $20-30

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: N/A
Overall: 3.5

Happy Date

February 15, 2015February 15, 2015Leave a comment

Happy Date has been around for a long time, and they are famous for their pineapple buns and HK style food. Not the best looking on the outside and inside, but they are known for great food. My mom told me that they now serve Chinese dishes for dinner time, rather than just the HK style food during lunch, so we decided to go give it a try. The restaurant is packed inside and surprisingly, it has been renovated and is decent looking. Nothing special, but it was clean.

They have a few set menus for dinner, including lobster or pigeons. We went for the Pigeon Special Set Menu, which came with two crispy pigeons and your choice of 3 dinner dishes served with soup, rice and dessert for $69.88. First up was the soup, which had meat and vegetables. Your typical home-made soup which had been boiled for many hours.

Crispy Pigeons

Then came the feature of the set menu. You can choose more or less pigeons depending on how large your group of diners are. The choice of dishes increase when you add more pigeons as well. We went for two pigeons, which was more than enough. Everyone had around 2 pieces to eat. We found that the skin could have been more crispy though. Flavourwise, I liked how it wasn’t overly salty.

Pork Chop with Honey and Peach Glaze

With our set menu, you can then choose three dishes from a long list of choices. We chose the Pork Chop with Honey and Peach Glaze, which ended up being a huge dish! It was definitely glazed with lots of sugar, since the honey was very apparent. The pork chop was deep fried, but we all found it to be just average. The batter was sort of too thick and I found it to be too sweet.

Vegetable and Bean Curd with Lettuce

The second dish was the Vegetable and Bean Curd with Lettuce. This came in a fish broth, which I found to be too milky for my liking. The veggies were fresh, but other than that, nothing too special. Your typical veggie dish.

Deep Fried Chicken with Fish Sauce

Lastly, was the Deep Fried Chicken with Fish Sauce. The skin was crispy, but didn’t seem to attach to the chicken itself. The chicken was moist and seasoned well, and I liked the fish sauce that came with it. Not bad.

Dessert was red bean soup, but I guess it’s whatever they decide to make that night. Not a fan of red bean soup, so I didn’t have any to comment on.

Overall, Happy Date was pretty average to me. Good prices and large portions, but I wouldn’t say the food is too memorable or above average. Service was also very friendly, and it’s honestly pretty clean although you shouldn’t expect much ambiance here. It’s super basic and simple, but somehow still attracts all these diners!

Pros:
– Reasonable prices
– Large portions

Cons:
– Average eats
– Ambiance isn’t the best

Price Range: $15-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 4
Ambiance: 2
Parking:2
Overall: 3

Legend House

February 6, 2015Leave a comment

Just across Coquitlam Centre is Legend House, a restaurant that specializes in Northern China and Szechuan cuisine.

Walking in, you can see the chefs preparing handmade noodles and dumplings.

Chicken with Spicy Sauce

We started off with the Chicken with Spicy Sauce. The free range chicken was tossed in a spicy Szechuan peppercorn dressing & garlic. I found the sauce to be very spicy, but I’ve had a spicier one. I’m sure Szechuan diners would think that this is not spicy enough. The chicken itself was also difficult to eat, since the chicken was chopped up in a way were there were bits of bones everywhere. Not a lot of actual meat to be honest.

Dan Dan Noodles

Next were the Dan Dan Noodles, which came in a huge bowl for a cheap price of $6.95. Eating this on your own would definitely fill you up very well. The noodles were handmade, but I found that they stuck together a lot. The texture itself is pretty good though, with a nice chew. The sauce was a spicy, tangy peanut sauce, and included minced pork & spinach. Of course, there were crushed peanuts as well. Slightly spicy, but I could still handle it.

Shanghai “Xiao Long Bao” Soup Dumplings

Next up were the Shanghai “Xiao Long Bao” Soup Dumplings, which were filled with minced pork and ginger. The soup inside was sizzling and creamy. The skin was also a good thickness. Pretty good and comparable to some of the ones in Richmond.

Legend Beef Rolls

We also got the Legend Beef Rolls, which were ginormous! The five spiced beef were rolled in a crispy green onion flat bread and filled with sweet hoisin sauce. We thought the outside was pretty burnt, but the roll itself was pretty good, with a good amount of filling. I found it difficult to eat since it was such a big roll though.

Szechuan Hot Chili Dumplings

Last but not least, we got the Szechuan Hot Chili Dumplings, which were filled with pork filling and tossed in chilli oil, garlic, vinegar & spinach. These were actually not very spicy, and we found it too oily. It was literally just dumplings in chili oil.

Overall, Legend House was decent, but not memorable. Service is actually pretty good here and the ambiance is much nicer than many Chinese restaurants. Very reasonable prices and there’s free underground parking. I guess this would be a good choice for Shanghai/ Szechuan food in Coquitlam.

Pros:
– Ambiance and service is pretty good for a Chinese restaurant
– Reasonable prices for decent eats

Cons:
– Some hits and misses for dishes, but overall not very memorable

Price Range: $15-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 4
Overall: 3

Zipang Provisions

February 4, 2015February 4, 2015Leave a comment

After work on a Friday night, I was looking forward to try Toshi Sushi to see what the hype was all about. Arriving at around 6pm, the place was already packed, with a long list of diners waiting and the restaurant itself was pretty small. So instead, we did some searching, and I suggested we try Zipang Provisions, which is also on Main St.

The restaurant looked almost like a bar from the outside, and didn’t seem like a Japanese restaurant. Inside, the interior was filled with wooden tables and benches and ropes. A very modern and hipster decor. The restaurant was also filled with mostly Caucasians, but I guess the clientele in this area is mostly non-Asian. One interesting thing we noticed was that almost all of the diners were families with young children. I guess they really cater to families and children here. Anyways, the sushi chefs and waitresses all looked Japanese and were very friendly.

Even their glasses of water were super hipster and came in Mason jars.

Chicken Yakiudon

We started off with the Chicken Yakiudon. Flavour-wise, I found it quite different from your typical Japanese restaurants. It came with assorted vegetables, and we chose Chicken as our protein. The noodles were glistening in the sauce and was quite flavourful.

Love Shuffle and Zipang Roll

We also chose two of their sushi rolls. First was the Love Shuffle, which was filled with 2 pieces of prawn tempura, cucumber and mayo. They were topped with alternating ingredients of salmon, avocado and mango. Each was topped with a masago roe. Not bad. Sort of like your typical rainbow roll. The second roll we got was the Zipang Roll, which was wrapped with soy sheet and filled with scallop, salmon, cucumber, and radish sprouts. I liked the change from seaweed to soy sheet. Their sushis aren’t large, but they are all made with care. A good rice to filling ratio with quality ingredients.

Overall, Zipang Provisions is a tad pricier than some sushi joints, but you get quality over quantity here. Plus, service was really friendly. I’d like to point out that we actually found a piece of hair on one of our rolls, but the server acted very professionally, apologized, and got the chef to prepare us a new roll.

Pros:
– Service is really friendly
– Ambiance is cool and hip, but still great for families

Cons:
– Service was just average
– Restaurant can get a little loud with all the children

Price Range: $15-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 4
Parking: 3
Overall: 4

Every Day is a Food Day

Category: $$

Uncle Lu 安可盧萬巒豬腳

Jitlada

Gyoza King

Guu Garlic (revisit)

Burgr – Las Vegas

Happy Date

Legend House

Zipang Provisions