Deacon's Corner Review ON Sunday, July 7, 2013 AT 2:04 AM
The food is like the comfort food - breakfast diner style such as iHOPS. But the location in Gastown was in a way... sketchy (lol!). And it had metal bars on the windows, almost went past it thinking it was a convenience store. And its far from where we live (Richmond).
Anyways, we came here because my friend had a voucher for $24 for $50 worth of food.
I like these ten rules in the menu, especially the first one about ketchup. I'm a ketchup person and I use a lot and it just goes so well with so many food...
Southwest Style Steak 'N' Eggs ($12.50) - My eggs/toast/fried/baked beans were fine, but I was disappointed with my 4oz. sirloin steak. I didn't expect anything grand, but it seemed like just a flat piece of meat that didn't have any taste.
Carolina Pulled Pork and Pancakes ($13.5) - It included two buttermilk pancakes, two eggs, and the pork. The pancakes were huge and enough for my friend (haha). I would think they would put more of the pork but it was that small amount and it wasn't anything that special. Just like regular bbq pulled pork.
Pulled Pork Quesadilla (~$9) - My friend got this and I didn't taste it but she says she likes it better than the one at Cactus so it sounds pretty good to me!
Rating
Food: 3/5
Atmosphere: 3/5 Has that 'breakfast diner' feel
Service: 2.5/5 We would have had no problem with the service - there was one waiter and he was nice and stuff. However, we were waiting for our food and we noticed it sitting on the kitchen top and the cook already rang the bell for the waiter to come and get it but he just kept going to other tables (like 3 more tables but not rush hour) and sometimes it was more idle chit chat than ordering. And I'm pretty sure he knew the food was there, since the cook rang the bell several times (and its a loud bell, also he does not have a hearing problem since he was able to hear it all the other times) but he didn't do anything. Our food was sitting there for 15 min, becoming cold. All he had to do was just bring it to us and go back to ordering or whatever. We were thinking of getting the food ourselves but thought it be rude and he seemed 'busy' attending the different customers for us to raise a hand. After 15 min, I guess someone from inside the kitchen knew what was going on and brought the food to us. That person was nice, but we were all wondering 'really??'.
Price: 3/5 Again, we had that voucher but I think the price is decent and better than ihop.
Overall: I pick it over ihop for the price as overall breakfast food but I don't think I would come back because its too far. Anyways, I still think its a good place if you live locally there and like breakfast food.
Labels: breakfast, comfort food, deacon's corner, eggs, pancakes, pulled pork, quesadilla, toast
Posh (Richmond) Review ON AT 1:13 AM
It's been about 3 years since I last came to Posh. It looks like the list of food went down and the price for this ayce sukiyaki increased (~$18).
This was a Thursday afternoon and I remember it was a weird day because there were power outages in Garden City and there was a power outage here while we were eating. But we use hot pot burner and it was still light outside, so thats alright (but seriously Richmond, whats with all the power outages, wasn't even windy that day).
I make sukiyaki at home so its basically just soysauce/mirin/sake/water. And they split the soysauce and water in two different pots so you can make it more sweet or not.
Their meat got thinner too. We got a lot anyways, so I think its alright.
We also ordered some veggies (mushrooms, pumpkin, tomato, lettuce, watercress, shitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms), tofu, udon, etc. Everyone, always eat your veggies. I can't imagine not eating veggies at a hotpot.
Our hot pot under dim lighting. We kinda just put everything in there because we were really hungry.
Rating
Food: 3/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
Service: 3/5 There were a couple of tables, so it wasn't that bad. But the service was still kind of slow, although I think it is better compared to years ago when I went before.
Price: 2.5/5
Overall: It is AYCE and I was full by the end of it but I feel like the food choices cut down and price increase makes it not as attractive. However, I would still go again once in a while. Again, I make this at home, so it is a cheaper option to do it at home if I'm not lazy to gather the ingredients.
Labels: ayce, beef, hotpot, meat, posh, soysauce, sukiyaki, vegetables
Hanok Korean Restaurant Review #2 ON AT 12:50 AM
My friends and I now come pretty often for their lunch specials which is such a goooooood deal. Its 8.99 for one of their main dishes and you get to pick a side dish to come with it. And they also give you refillable banchan.
I was on the other side, so here's some wall art.
Some of the main dishes:
Bibimbap (dolsot) - This is the stone bibimbap with veggies, beef and rice. And a fried egg on top. I didn't try this yet, but it looks yummy!
Bulgogi in an Earthenware Pot - I remember thinking 'earthenware' is a weird name until I saw this youtube vlog where they were in Korea, and they actually named it like that. Anyways, this is just like the galbitang where the soup is sweet (reminds me of mirin and soysauce). And they had a nice amount of beefs with the potatoe noodles.
Beef Spicy Hot Tofu Soup - I had this on another day, and maybe its just me but I didn't really like it. There weren't that many beef, but I like how there's a lot of tofu hence soondubu. But I don't know, the soup didn't taste that great to me, felt oily or maybe its my taste preference.
Here are some sides:
Korean Rolls/Gimbap - I think there was like 5 and I ate one in the photo below. I like it, I feel like you can't go wrong with gimbap! Easy to make at home too~.
Tempura - My friend got this, and it looks like a bunch of different tempura items to try. The last one (black) was mushroom I think.
Japchae - I tried this, it was sweet and the portion for a side dish was nice and good amount of ingredients in there.
This was one of their banchan on a different day that I came. I suppose they didn't have the seaweed so they replaced it with this which I really like! It had brocolli and apple with this fruity sweet sauce on top and I felt it was really refreshing and new to taste. I want more of it.
Rating
Food: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5 We were on the other side which has less people, but they still come back to check so its alright.
Price: 4.5/5 Yep, reallly like it *FOR LUNCH SPECIAL THOUGH*
Overall: I love coming here for their lunch specials, and even though the portions might seem small, its enough. With the refillable banchan and the side dish, its enough (lol). And I really like the brocolli side dish.
Labels: banchan, beef, bibimbap, earthenware, hanok, japchae, korean, lunch special, tempura, tofu
Pho An Nam Review ON AT 12:06 AM
This was during exam week at Pho An Nam that I never posted... until now...
We went to Pho An Nam before for its convenience along No.3 Road, close to the malls and our homes. LOL, we alternate between this place and Pho Lan since they're near each other.
Grilled Pork, Spring Roll with Vermicelli Shredded Pork ($8.50).This one's always yummy to eat and the grilled pork is nice and soft to eat.
Com Suon Ga Trung - grilled pork chop, lemon grass chicken, fried rice with egg ($10.50). The lemon grass chicken tasted fine but the grilled pork chop was burnt a little on the tips. I like to pour all of the nuoc mam pha on top of everything to get even more flavor. I think it was alright but I prefer the other dish (above) better which I tried before.
Food: 3/5
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Service: 3/5
Price: 3.5/5
Overall: I like to come here a lot and eat pho. We didn't show pho here, but thats good too. I definitely would come back since its so convenient and not bad.
Labels: egg, grilled pork chop, lemon grass chicken, nuts, pho an nam, shredded pork, spring rolls, vermicelli
The Boathouse (Robson Street/West End) Review ON AT 12:02 AM
On a Monday afternoon at around 1pm, I went to my friend's birthday lunch at The Boathouse (back in May ...). It was across from the Cactus Club there and the beach. There were only two other tables seated so it was quiet. We had about 8 people and again, there were only two other tables but we felt that the food came at a very slow rate. Looking at my the time I took photos, I say it took about 30 min for the food to arrive.
I got the Tuscan Seafood Flatbread ($15.99). I like the pieces of shrimp on top, and the seasoned onions and sliced peppers which made the taste for me. However, the last two pieces of flatbread were burnt on the back and I couldn't finish them so I just ate the toppings and left the bread.
These photos are what my friends got. I didn't bother asking them, because I don't think they would really want to answer anyways (lol).
Westcoast Seafood Chowder ($8.99)
Better than Classic Benny ($14.99)
Crab Cake Benny ($15.99)
Coconut Pacific Cod ($22.99)
Baja Crunchy Shrimp Tacos with Fries ($14.99). My friend says the shrimps were really fried, as in even the insides were fried, which she did not like.
Ahi Tuna (~$23) - My friend says she prefers this dish from the Boathouse in Richmond better.
Pacific Beer Battered Cod and Chips - 3 pieces ($19.99) - I thought this was a pretty big dish, if you can't tell from the photo.
3 Cheese Omelette ($12.99). My friend said her fruits were warm here. I tasted some, and yes they were. Maybe the potatoes on the side warmed them up or the fruits were outside for awhile (lol?).
This is my own rating of what I felt overall even though I don't know the taste for all of the dishes.
Rating:
Food: 3/5
Atmosphere: 4/5 I remember it was a reallllllly windy day, and there were windows nearby. You could see the beach and the waves, pretty nice.
Service: 2.5/5 Sorry, I feel like everything was kind of slow.
Price: 2.5/5
Overall: I don't think I would go back, it was alright, but nothing spectacular to draw me back in. The only impact it made on me was how long the food took to come.
Labels: ahi tuna, benny, boathouse, chowder, cod, flatbread, meh, omlette, robson, seafood
Mega Sushi (Richmond) Review ON Saturday, July 6, 2013 AT 11:44 PM
Oh man, we haven't been updating since May. Really sorry about that, I suppose both of us didn't have the time with summer school and work back then. But I, sushicat will probably start blogging again. I already have taken a lot of photos and went to a lot of places. Some are also in draft-mode so I should edit and publish some!
Let me posts some food places I went to in June and July (in seperate posts).
We went to Mega Sushi in Steveston on a Tuesday at around 1 pm.
I liked how they donate 10% to Wigs for Kid from the sale of the Crazy Boy Rolls.
Heres me trying to take a picture of the decor. Its pretty modern and styling in here, EAT on the wall.
I also like how they have their chopsticks in this nice little pouch and I love their plates.
These cups were cool since it provides extra insulation and prevents us from touching the heat from the tea but we drink tea a lot so we have to constantly pour tea in there. And we both agree that the teapot is really darn heavy and the tea didn't have much flavor.
Monkey Brain (~$9) - I wonder if this is what monkey brains really look like. It was crispy/deep fried on the outside but soft with avocado and tuna and crab meat on the inside. I don't really like avocado, but this was enjoyable to eat. I really like the spicy mayo sauce thats drizzled everywhere and tried to take it all.
Tuna Tataki (~$9.95). Mmmm, I love tataki stuffs so this was yummy. And for these types of rolls, they (and a lot of other places) choose to use california rolls and then have something interesting on top. I don't really care about california rolls, so I suppose having these toppings make it better.
Nigiri sushi (~$2.5 each): tobiko, toro and hamachi sushi. The tobiko was plentiful (overflowing weee~) but didn't taste particularly flavorful. The toro and hamchi were also not that great in that it is fresh but the taste wasn't there for both of them or the right texture. Anyways, we'd stick with the rolls or specialty rolls.
Mega roll ($8.95). This was really visually nice, you can see they add fried lotus roots on top with some tobiko. It has salmon and green onion on the inside and then the whole thing is fried, so I don't think the salmon would be that fresh (in my theory). And they put a lot of crab meat on top and spicy mayo. I enjoyed this roll.
Rating:
Food: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Service: 4.5/5
Price: 3/5 A bit pricey for my liking in terms of the other sushi/bento/don. The specialty rolls are cool but seems like just extra fancy california rolls (although still yummy!) and I think there are cheaper options.
Overall: We both still really enjoyed this restaurant, I would come back to try more stuff.
Labels: avocado, california roll, crab, deep fried, green tea, hamachi, mega roll, mega sushi, monkey brain, salmon, tobiko, toro, tuna tataki
Mochi Bubble Tea Cafe Review ON Thursday, May 2, 2013 AT 10:30 PM
Its sushicat~. Today I went singing at karaoke with a friend for 5 hours! We felt hungry afterwards and decided to go to Mochi Bubble Tea Cafe. We arrived at around 7pm (thurs), and it was relatively quiet with a few tables of people around and tv screens showing basketball and hockey games.
I ordered the Ginseng Herbal Hot Pot ($8.99). They have a lot of chicken which I appreciated and the soup was alright. The soup tasted lighter compared to the ones at other bubble tea cafes like Pearl Castle or True'stea (less ginseng?). They also don't provide small appetizers like the other bubble tea cafes.
My friend ordered the Schezuan Spicy Hot Pot ($8.99). It contained a few beef slices, fish tofu, other fish balls, tofu and cabbage. The soup wasn't super spicy but it was decently spicy. It was more spicy near the end, so you should stir well for the spice to be incorporated everywhere.
Rating
Food: 3/5
Atmosphere: 4/5 Also has free wifi.
Service: 3.5/5 The staff were nice and polite. It wasn't a busy evening, but nonetheless I appreciate decent service.
Price: 3/5
Overall: I think Mochi Cafe is like the other bubble tea cafes because of similar food items so it might be hard for them to compete with due to their location as well as the special-ness of their food since its common or can be done better (with the small appetizers) in other places. (I do like how they have special deals everyday but I didn't look at it). It is a decent eat place and I like the quietness on this non busy evening. Next time if I come, I want to try their creme brule/tiramisu. The shooters and mochi sodas also look interesting to try.
Labels: beef, chicken, fish balls, ginseng, hot pot, mochi bubble tea cafe, rice, spicy, szechuan, tofu
