I talk about food, you read it.
Restaurant Reviews
Nippon Sushi Langley
01 month ago
One of my friends and co-workers has been on maternity leave for a few months. So, what once was a daily dose of seeing each other has turned into a rare occasion. In Canada we get a full year of Maternity leave so it will be a long time before we ever get to work together again. We both love Trader Joes, eating and if you check our phones you’ll find daily texts to each other explaining what we made for dinner. There are a few recipes she’s given me, which are on my list of things to make.
We met up for lunch last week and when I suggested a new Sushi place in the area I knew she would be excited to give it shot. We met at Nippon Sushi located at 906-6339 200th st, Langley, BC. L arrived first and browsed the menu while she waited. Upon walking in I was welcomed immediately by the staff and noticed a bright modern sushi restaurant.
L ordered a California roll and unfortunately her gyoza obsessed daughter was in daycare, so she had to be the expert today. The gyozas were a fair size and you get 6 per plate. The meat stuffing tasted like pork and was seasoned very well. The wrappers were soft and chewy but not overly thick.
The California roll was pretty basic and I am sure tasted like a regular California roll.
I ordered a spicy tuna roll and a Philadelphia roll which came together on the same plate with a lovely plastic tree ornament. My tuna roll was minced and mixed with spicy sauce, as well as topped with spicy sauce. The spice level was perfect in my opinion. Just enough to make your nose slightly run but not so much that you need anything to assist in cooling your mouth off.
The Philadelphia roll was also perfect. Cream cheese is an obsession of mine but too much in a Philadelphia roll can ruin a good piece of sushi. Another important component is the smoked salmon, which they also used well. Some places have skimped on the salmon but not Nippon.
The menu is fairly large as well consisting of most of your typical Japanese sushi items, but I think they do offer slightly more than a competitor that is very close by. Miraku Sushi served most of the customers in the surrounding area but now that Nippon is near it will interesting to see what happens. I would definitely come back to Nippon again.
Five Guys Burgers
01 month ago
Living out in the Fraser valley we don’t often get a lot of choice for fresh homemade style burgers unless you want to venture into a pub and even then you still might not get a homemade tasting burger. Recently there has been a few new places open up outside of the city that claim to have fresh homemade style burgers, such as Vera’s and Fatburger. I wasn’t really a fan of Vera’s in Pit Meadows, although I hear the original location still serves up some pretty good burgers. I have yet to try fat burger and based on their name it might take me a while to make the plunge.
Chilliwack has recently acquired a Five Guys Burger joint located at 8249 Eagle Landing Parkway, Unit 714, Chilliwack, BC V2P 7K6 and J and I happened to be in the area so we tried our luck with Five Guys. The restaurant itself was extremely packed. Every single table was full as well as people standing in line and also waiting for their orders. In my visit the restaurant ran like a well oiled machine and as far as I could see all the staff were working extremely hard, I read one bad review on urbanspoon but my visit was great.
I ordered a little cheeseburger with a load of various toppings. A little burger only means that you get one patty and a regular burger is two patties, but the actual size is the same. The burgers look and taste almost like they would at home. I was really impressed with the freshness of all the toppings and the bun. The vegetables are a little on the cold side but that me trying too hard to find something wrong.
J ordered the regular cheeseburger, which comes with two patties and he was just as impressed as I was.
We decided to share a regular sized fries and a word to the wise…don’t order a large, ever. Not only do they fill your fry container but they also give you an additional giant scoop of fries in your bag. I am not sure why they do this but it is definitely a bonus. It’s almost like getting 2 servings of fries.
We went during an extremely busy lunch rush on the last Saturday before Christmas when everyone is out and about shopping so the place was completely overtaken with customers. This resulted in burgers taking about 10 minutes which for me is just fine. I have waited longer in McDonalds line ups. These burgers are by no means gourmet and their toppings aren’t anything special but I think this is the closest thing to home made as you’re going to get if you don’t have a lot of time. I would definitely come back if I was in the area.
Pho Hue Xua
02 months ago
Last weekend I woke up with my cranky pants on. I am not normally a morning person but some days are definitely worse than others. Usually J hides in his office while I lay on the couch watching the food network, drinking coffee until the caffeine boots my spirits, but last weekend I wasn’t having it. We got through breakfast and by lunch J couldn’t handle it anymore. He decided that he would take me out for lunch to cheer my up and I got to pick wherever I wanted to go, which seemed to be a very difficult task. The cranky pants were hindering my ability to make decisions. After browsing urbanspoon for about 20 minutes I finally decided on Pho Hue Xua. Pho would definitely do the trick.
Pho Hue Xua is located at 22334 Lougheed Highway, which is right downtown Maple Ridge. The location is really easy to get to and the restaurant itself is simple yet inviting. When we walked in there was several other tables with people which is always a promising sign and were greeted right away.
I ordered the rare beef Pho which came extremely fast, and before our other items, which didn’t bother me since I was starving. For 7.50 you get a giant bowl of pho packed with quite a bit of meat and noodles. The broth was delicious! I usually go for the hoison and rooster sauce, but not this time. This was amazingly satisfying and I would definitely come back for this again.
J ordered his usually noodle bowl with lemon grass pork and spring rolls. The meat was very flavourful and moist and his was also jam packed with yummy goodness. I kept reaching across the table to pick out bits off his plate as well as slurping down my soup.
We also got fresh spring rolls which were really good too.
During our visit the tables continued to fill up and for a place that hasn’t been open very long this was pretty impressive. I think by far this is the best Vietnamese place in Maple Ridge and I sure hope they’re here to stay.
**fyi-they also have free delivery!
Mon Ami Gabi
23 months ago
Our last night in Vegas came far too quickly. We still had so much to do and so much to see that we all wished we could have at least one more day. The one thing we all agreed was that we were all getting sick of pizza and burgers so we wanted to end our night eating together like adults where we couldn’t hear the dinging and chiming of the slot machines. While I definitely enjoyed eating pizza in Paris at 10pm after drinking too much it was definitely time to have a meal my body needed. I swear Vegas doesn’t offer much in respect to vegetables.
We cleaned ourselves up and headed down to the lobby where Mon Ami Gabi French bistro sits. The restaurant is supposed to resemble French style dining with a cozy atmosphere specializing in Steak Frites (no not vegetables). If it’s nice out they have a patio on the strip that has an amazing view of The Bellagio fountains. Since it was still very warm out we were lucky enough to be able to sit at one of the patio tables.
As soon as we sat down we were brought a loaf of bread with a small plate of slices beats and apple. I was very thankful to see my first vegetable that wasn’t stuffed in a burger. The bread seemed fresh and warm; they just don’t serve it with a knife so we tore our way through it instead. The beat relish (we’ll call it) was served cold and had a nice but not overpowering sweetness to it. The guys seem to think beats taste like dirt; I prefer to say they have an earthiness to them.
J also ordered a plate of Oysters. They were very fresh tasting and were the smaller/sweeter variety, although we weren’t told the exact type. This was also the first raw oyster one of our friends had as well. I was a little scared she wouldn’t like them, due to the texture but she also really enjoyed them. Sorry to her boyfriend who will now have a slightly more expensive bill when they go out dining.
For my main, I ordered the Steak Roquefort, which was a steak and blue cheese sauce served with frites. I asked to substitute my frites for the market vegetables which happed to be baby summer squash. The steak itself was pounded thin and there was a rather large portion of the blue cheese sauce on top. The steak was cooked well and the sauce was also tasty. I really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t any better than anything I could get at home. In fact I prefer our thicker steaks to this thin one. The baby squash were fried in a buttery style sauce and I really enjoyed those. One of our friends also ordered this meal and he was also thought the same.
J ordered Steak Bordelaise, which was the same style steak topped with caramelized onions and a red wine sauce. J was a little less than in impressed with his meal. The steak was fine but the onions on top seemed more like boiled onions. I am wondering if they boiled them in the wine sauce and then quickly sautéed them. The wine sauce was also very subtle; almost to the point the wine was unrecognizable. The frites are cut thinly into ribbons and are nice and crisp but still with a soft potato center. When J was done his meal, I scooped up a bunch of the frites and soaked them in my steak juice. Very yummy.
Another one our friends ordered the Roasted Chicken. She enjoyed the chicken but again said it wasn’t anything amazing or anything she couldn’t get back at home. She also had the same frites which she enjoyed but the ketchup she requested never arrived. Perhaps they don’t have ketchup in French bistros?
None of us had any room for dessert and with the casino calling our name we ended our dinner there. The meals weren’t overly amazing but they also weren’t costly either so in the end I was still happy. The best part was being outside and watching the fountains at Bellagio. I hear their breakfast is amazing.
Max Brenner
03 months ago
Flying to Vegas has got to be one of the best flights ever. It’s short and full of anticipation. You get to see the bright lights of the city and start the party right there on the plane. We flew during lunch but with such a short flight we didn’t bother ordering the plane food and instead ate pork jerky, snack mix and of course vodka. Its twelve o’clock somewhere right? That meant that when we checked in, got changed, and checked out the casino is was way past food time. We were all a little hazy and ready to eat but somehow we ended up wandering towards Caesars palace in the mall. The giant alcohol infused slushies caught our eyes but the boys intervened and directed us to the first restaurant they saw.
Max Brenner’s specializes in chocolate and the entire theme of the restaurant is of course chocolate. I probably could have used a chocolate fix, but since I hadn’t eating in a long time, I focused my attention on their food menu. We all ended up getting the Brenner Burger which comes with their waffle fries dusted with chilli and cocoa powder.
The burger itself is huge! I was impressed by just the sheer size of what was sitting in front of me that I didn’t notice right away that it was stuffed with a giant onion ring. That’s probably what gave it its impressive height. I squashed it down, cut in half to reveal a perfectly cooked medium rare burger patty. Now, a lot of people won’t eat medium rare ground beef due to health issues but I was in Vegas. So it was time to live a little. Having the meat slightly pink gave it much more flavour. It was a very delicious burger.
The fries were also incredible. The waffles are able to hold a lot more of the seasonings then a typical straight fry would and they had a nice hint of spice from the chilli. I didn’t taste much cocoa and it didn’t offer any sweetness either so I assume it was a dark chocolate powder. I would have liked to taste more of that but they were still delicious none the less.
Needless to say I couldn’t finish my burger but the entire group all agreed that the burgers were great and we would definitely eat there again….if there wasn’t so many other options. Can’t eat at the same place twice in Vegas!
Lava Dining Lounge and Restaurant
05 months ago
This past weekend I celebrated my birthday. I got to wake up rather early in freezing cold temperatures, pack up the camp site and drive home after not showering for 2 days. Sounds terrible but it really it was amazing! We went fishing, hiking and ate lots of junk food. I always am so exhausted by the time I get home so when J said we’d be going out for dinner I was really relieved.
We went to Lava Dining and lounge located at 22590 Dewdney Trunk Road in Maple Ridge. From the outside it’s smaller looking restaurant with an unsuspecting dark exterior. The interior is very quaint with a modern yet sophisticated atmosphere. It’s perfect for a party of 2 or 20 as it has different rooms with lots of different seating options. Our server was friendly and had a good sense of humour.
Once we ordered our meals we were surprised by a sampling of a roasted duck crostini topped with Camembert and diced tomato. You all know how I feel about unexpected free food. LOVE! The duck was cooked perfectly. The fat couldn’t have been rendered off the duck any better leaving the most flavourful moist meat. I loved the creamy Camembert against the acidic tomatoes and then the crunch of the crostini. I could have eaten so many more of these!
Then came a fresh baguette with olive oil and balsamic. J absolutely loves this and said that he could probably live off balsamic and oil if it was at all possible.
For our appetizer we ordered the scallops that included Bay shrimp crust, green pea puree and pickled mushrooms. These were also cooked perfectly with a caramelized exterior and a warm center. The subtleness of the briny scallops tasted exceptional with the earthiness of the mushrooms and sprouts that were on top. The pea puree was subtle but lightened up the dish with its fresh summer flavour. I again, could have eaten many more of these little things.
J ordered the Ahi tuna, which made me a little jealous because part of me also wanted to order this but he was standing firm on his decision and I couldn’t bear to order the same dish. I even tried to explain that it included black olives and asparagus, two things J really doesn’t prefer, but he still wasn’t budging. Don’t be surprised to hear me say this again, but it was cooked perfectly. I can’t stand it when restaurants over cook the tuna and this tuna was amazing. It was topped with a soft poached egg, crisp asparagus and potatoes. I asked J what he thought about the egg on top of the tuna and by the head nodding and mmmming I will take that as a good thing.
The menu has a lot of variety and everything is local, fresh and made seasonally. I was having a really hard time deciding on steak or trout (since tuna was out). I asked our server and he said hands down the trout. It’s being taken off the menu soon as they’re rolling out the fall menu and the fact that it’s still summer means I should enjoy it now. I followed his advice and boy am I glad I did. It was served with a lobster and truffle risotto that made me speechless. The trout was perfectly seasoned and resting on top of the seasonal vegetables that were caramelized beautifully.
We were so very full after all that food that we couldn’t possibly put another morsel of food in our bellies so we passed on dessert. Next time I will have to leave room because I have a feeling their desserts will also be amazing. This is one of the only restaurants in Maple Ridge that isn’t a pub or has some sort of pub like atmosphere and it just what Maple Ridge needs. I also think that even if you don’t live in the ridge it is really worth the drive. The pricing isn’t any more than somewhere like the Keg but the food is so much better. There aren’t a lot of places that use local fresh ingredients and are able to be creative this creative. My experience at Lava was excellent and I cannot wait to go back!
Hanako Japanese Restaurant
25 months ago
I know J and I haven’t been married long but we have decided to make an addition to our family. When we talked about planning on making our family of 2 (J and I) into 3 I was a little hesitant. It’s not the right time, we’re too busy, we can’t afford it but then something in my mind switched and I have finally agreed.
We’re getting a puppy. Yup, a little fur baby! We’re very excited and can’t wait to bring him home. He is a black lab puppy and we’ve named him Duke. Since he is still very young we can’t bring have him until September 10th but we’ve made several visits and have seen him grow from a small bundle of fur into a walking, whining, chewy little fatso.
winking!
Since his home (for now) is about 30-40 minutes away we have only gone on weekends and it’s also usually around noon as well. We get to cuddle and play with the little guy but are starving for lunch by the time we leave. This past visit we both had a craving for sushi and went to Hanako Sushi in Surrey, located at 15135 101 ave.
The restaurant itself is a cute little place that is on the corner of a strip mall. We ordered tea right away and started to browse the menu. This menu was the smallest menu I have ever seen in a sushi restaurant. This actually made it slightly difficult to decide what to order since I usually like to experiment with the special rolls. Hanako didn’t have many special rolls and everything was pretty basic. Don’t let that fool you into thinking it isn’t a good place though.
Since J and I are both slightly spastic when we’re hungry he gave up and decided on a lunch box. I also gave up and decided to add on a spicy tuna roll and gyoza so we could share everything. Nothing special I know, but at least the lunch box had sashimi in it and a “chefs special”.
The lunch box has a salad with a soy/sesame dressing that was nice and light. The sashimi was very light, fresh and decent sized. I am always impressed with fresh sashimi. In the box there was also 2 small pieces of what I originally thought was chicken katsu but turned out it was white fish. I don’t know the type of fish but it was very light, flakey and was cooked perfectly. The breading wasn’t greasy or overcooked and had the right amount of sauce. I could have eaten a lot more of this. I believe they also included 2 pieces of their Hanako roll, which has a lot of yummy ingredients tuna, avocado, prawn and more. It was soo good!
The spicy tuna roll was perfect. I have been getting used to bland and mildly spicy tuna rolls so this was a pleasant surprise. It was also a good size as well. I really enjoyed this one.
I didn’t take a picture of the gyoza but I have nothing bad to say in fact it’s one of the better gyoza’s that I have eaten. It was slightly crispy, chewy, fully of perfectly seasoned pork/vegetables, not greasy.
I have heard people say that this place is a little on the expensive side but I didn’t think so. We only paid 25.00 for our food and that is usually what J and I pay when we go out for sushi. I think with sushi the old expression “you get what you pay for” really applies so if you want fresh and authentic then you might pay a tad more. I would definitely come back again!
Billy Minor Pub
06 months ago
It used to take me 30 minutes to drive home from work. It still takes me 30 minutes to drive work but the best part of my commute now is that I don’t sit in traffic. I have noticed that on my way to and from work there is a pub called The Billy Minor pub and I have been waiting to try it since we’ve moved. We tried to go there for lunch once but left when I noticed their patio was in a shaded area. A few weeks later, when it wasn’t sunny, we finally give it a shot. We arrived around 7 starving. The pub was pretty busy but luckily there was a high table right in front of the window. Unluckily, there was a cold air vent blowing on us which explained the empty table. The pub itself is an older style pub with 2 rooms and a bar with a large variety of beer on tap.
Their menu basically consists of your typical pub appetizers and burgers. Burgers, burgers and more burgers. Don’t come here if you want anything else but a burger or sandwich. There a lot of burgers to chose from but they all consist of a patty (your choice of beef or chicken) and all the toppings listed. This confused J and when he ordered a pulled pork burger the waitress asked if he wanted chicken or beef he answered with pulled pork. He ordered fries with is burger and was pretty happy with his choice except that the fries were dreadfully undercooked. The pulled pork was really juicy with a nice tangy sauce. The waitress recommended the chicken burger and it tasted great with the pork.
My burger was topped with beer onions, goat cheese and arugula. I can’t remember the name of it but I am sure “ale” was in the title. The burger itself was pretty good, the bun a little dry but the patty was juicy enough that it made up for the dry bun. My salad was overflowing and most ended up on the table. I liked the addition of beats on the salad.
I would like to say good things about this place. From what I understand its been around for a long time and is pretty well known to people who live in the area. The only problem was that it took well over an hour for our food. They didn’t have a lot of staff on but I don’t think there is any reason for food to take this long when you’re eating at a pub. Most people in the pub were drinking and not really eating either. After about 45 min the server said that our food was slow because the rush was just finishing. Then 15 min later she said they were just plating the food, then another 15 minutes past before the food came. I was literally getting ready to stand up and walk out. She was nice enough to take a round of drinks off our bill for the delay but by the time we ate I was so famished I didn’t really care. I probably won’t come back again unless I am really craving a burger and I have lots of time to wait!
Morgan’s Bistro
06 months ago
J and I didn’t make any official plans over BC day long weekend. He had a foot injury the week before so we both assumed that it would have put a kink in our plans. Turns out that his foot was healed and we were left wondering what to do. Waking up with the sun shining also made us both scramble for some outdoor activity ideas. When J suggested Harrison, I immediate agreed. I love walking around the quaint little town and the scenery is beautiful.
We arrived right before lunch so naturally I suggested we walk down the beach and find a place to eat first. Morgan’s caught my eye because it was one of the only patios that actually had sun. The sun happened to be on the wrong side of the buildings which is no fault of the restaurants but Morgan’s was smart enough to raise their patio up so it would grab some of the warmth. This also meant that the patio was packed as well.
The menu itself wasn’t very long and offered items such as steamed mussels, tomato tarts and salmon which ranged from 13-18.00. I was hoping for some sort of sandwich and luckily there was a burger on the menu. J and I both ordered that with side salads. As we sat and enjoyed the sun waiting for our food, we watched other people food arrived and it all looked delicious.
The burger was topped with caramelized onions, cheddar, bacon, tomato, lettuce, pickle and a chipotle mayo. The burger was fabulous. The meat was cooked perfectly and was extremely juicy. The bun was also toasted and added a subtle crunch. The salad was your typical mesclun greens topped with feta oil and balsamic. This was the perfect patio meal for J and I. Morgan’s will also be great for those looking for something a little fancier as well.
Rodney’s Oyster House
07 months ago
After a nice relaxing mini honeymoon we unfortunately had to leave Whistler and head back to reality. I don’t like reality. It means a day job, laundry, traffic, yard work and all the things that go a long with daily life. Okay okay, life isn’t that bad, but living in la la land is much better! Instead of going directly home we decided to go through Vancouver, stop by English bay and catch some rays.
When J and I first met he told me about Rodney’s Oyster House and promised that one day he would take me, since I love raw oysters. After he went a few times with some friends I was beginning to wonder if he would ever take me or if he was just keeping it a secret. Maybe it was the Oysters we had at The Rim Rock that put the idea in J’s mind, but to my surprise he suggested that we swing by for their Low Tide specials.
We got a couple of beers first and ate some of the complimentary bread which was delicious! It was a rustic style loaf that wasn’t too grainy and went great with out beer and oysters!
Nobody explained any of the sauces to us, which would have been nice. Luckily I can read. When tasting them one by one, I unfortunately didn’t find any of the sauces to be amazing. The witch sauce was probably my favourite but I preferred just plain old lemon and the freshly grated horseradish.
We ordered 20 oysters, 10 being the low tide special, and the other 10 the waiters pick. He gave a good variety and explained each type to us when he delivered the platter. The oysters themselves are amazingly fresh and so tasty. Unfortunately I can’t remember the names of all the varieties he put on our platter but there were some he definitely hit out of the park.
After reading past reviews regarding Rodney’s I really didn’t know what to expect, but once I walked in and noticed how casual it was I knew I would love it. The staff really knew their stuff and had a fun playful way of servicing their customers. Some of the reviews were complaints of the unprofessional staff but that’s part of the fun. It’s not fine dining, and if you want pretentious then go to somewhere else but expect to pay a lot more. If you want a fun place to hang out that might get a little crazy then you’re in the right place! I would definitely come back again!
