I talk about food, you read it.
Restaurant Reviews
Morgan’s Bistro
09 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
010 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!
Elements Tapas Parlour
010 months ago
Our mini honeymoon was coming to an end and we sadly had to check out of our hotel before heading out for breakfast. We could have had breakfast first but there was no way I was going to wake up that early. We’ve eaten some pretty good food up in Whistler and I assumed we’d just be grabbing something fast but I was able to squeeze out one last amazing meal before heading back home.
Elements Tapas Parlour is also attached to The Summit Hotel and the breakfast is extremely yummy. Located at 4359 Main street, it’s kind of tucked away so it’s best to walk around to find it if you’re searching. A little on the expensive side for breakfast but totally worth it in my opinion.
I ordered a traditional breakfast with poached eggs, marbled rye their signature potato tartlet and double smoked bacon. All breakfasts are also served with a shot glass of smoothie as well. This could be used to cleanse your pallet but J downed his immediately. The tartlet was basically shredded potato and onion baked in mini muffin tins served with a chive sour cream. I loved this and the entire breakfast was super yummy.
J opted for a savoury breakfast of stuffed French toast. The filling was a mound of ham and brie cheese. The serving size really could be for two but he did a great job hovering his way through this one. I tasted it and thought it was delicious. I could taste the brie and ham but the sweet maple syrup and sweet French toast really brought you back to breakfast land. I would definitely order this again or perhaps try making it at home!
Elements are under the same company as the Wild Wood Bistro so maybe that’s why they’re both so delicious. I didn’t realize this until we came home and I wouldn’t have minded trying another place but I am so happy with our food that it really doesn’t matter. Elements will be on my “go to” place next time I am Whistler.
Sushi Sachi Whistler
010 months ago
When you’ve spent most of your day eating or sitting on patios it’s really hard to motivate yourself to eat a proper dinner. Whistler did this to us. Bad Whistler. Okay, I love you Whistler but you’re making me eat everything in sight. When this happens I turn to sushi. It can be healthy (depending on what you order) and for me it isn’t something so heavy that I need to be taken out of an establishment by a wheelbarrow. Our hotel had a few books and magazines all about restaurants and there happened to be a Sushi place within walking distance that had great reviews. I am very thankful for these books since I didn’t have my laptop for food investigations.
Sachi Sushi is located at 4359 Main Street unit 106. Basically it’s under The Summit resort, where J and I stayed. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t have my lap top because they’ve gotten a few bad reviews on urbansoon and we might not have gone. I am very happy we did as our experience was much more positive then what was posted.
The place is small, with a kitchen in the back and 2 chefs rolling the sushi in the middle of the restaurant. Our server was a big tall lanky white y. We ordered the beef tataki to start as J hasn’t had this before and hasn’t had beef Carpaccio before either and loves beef. The ponzu sauce came on the side and was garnished with lots of green onion. The beef, to me, was slightly thicker then I am used to but oh so good. I also wish the ponzu sauce wasn’t on the side but It didn’t effect the taste.
We also got a plate of assorted sashimi, which you can see has a good variety. It was hard to share though, and I ended up cutting each piece in half so J and I could both try. All the fish was so fresh and so flavourful. I don’t even know when the last time was that I had fish of this quality. I was very impressed by this assortment as well.
We also ordered, what I thought was the Sachi roll, but now that I am looking at the photo and comparing it to the description I am not sure it was the right thing. A Sachi roll is shrimp tempura, avocado, salmon, scallop, spicy mayo with a soy bean sheet. What we have looks more like a scallop roll (it was spicy) topped with salmon and avocado. It was delicious and the same freshness as the assorted sashimi. I am really hit or miss with liking scallop rolls because I find most of the time they’re really “fishy” tasting but this time it wasn’t overly fishy and with the spicy mayo I fell in love.
Lastly was pork gyoza, which in my opinion was pretty average. Maybe I was so spoiled with our sushi and sashimi that I had the bar set really high. I don’t have any complaints but it was just gyoza to me.
Most of the complaints I saw were about the service or the manager. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary other than our server mumbling a bit. I was mostly the patrons that were being slightly rude. I really enjoyed my meal and would definitely come back to this place again.
Merlins Whistler
010 months ago
While J and I were in Whistler we really wanted to do some touristy things like horseback riding or checking out the Peak to Peak. We didn’t actually realize how exhausting a wedding can be so our plans of adventure were cut short with the desire to just relax. We did the usual walk around the village, took photos by the Olympic rings and then decided that the line up for the Peak to Peak was too long. It was also an extremely beautiful hot sunny day and I couldn’t avert my eyes from all the patios calling my name.
I have an obsession with patios. It doesn’t really matter where it is but if I can be outside with good company and the opportunity to eat and drink then I am a happy girl. I once told J about a place in Whistler called Dusty’s that puts beef jerky in their Caesar’s, so we went to the upper village to check it out. Well, I was wrong; Dusty’s is in Creekside Village and not the upper village. We went into a bike store just to be sure and the guy said it wasn’t open yet and to try Merlin’s next door. We walked over to an almost full patio and took some seats in the sun. The menu has a tex-mex feel but also is very much a typical pub as well. They also don’t play the cheesy Mexican fiesta music either.
Amazingly enough they served beef jerky in their Caesars as well. While the piece of beef wasn’t quite the size I remembered Dusty’s to have it was still great. They also put in lemon, lime and another favourite of ours, a spicy bean. I think that the garnish in the Caesar is the only thing that will set itself apart from other Caesars as they’re pretty hard to screw up.
Another drink that caught my eye was their Michelada. Basically you get to pick a bottled beer of your choice and they serve it with a salt rimmed glass filled halfway with a tomato based beverage, a blend of seasonings, lime, cilantro and I am also pretty sure a large whack of worcheshire sauce. The finished result was like mixing a beer with a Caesar and then adding more seasoning. It was savoury, but lighter once you added the beer. I think this would be the perfect hangover remedy!
Since we parked ourselves on this patio we also decided to order some food as well. Since J was still super full from our breakfast at The Wild Wood he just ordered chilli lime hot wings. These were a little disappointing. We both prefer the kind of wings that are slightly crispy and these were pretty soggy. The sauce was also bla. I am pretty sure it was just Frank’s red hot chilli lime hot sauce. Hot yes, sort of limish, not really much chilli. They did fill the food void but I probably wouldn’t order these again.
I was a little hungrier and ordered the Yucatan Beef Torta Crisp. This is a breaded sirloin steak on a sourdough roll with avocado, Mexican crema, pickled jalapenos, black beans, lettuce, tomato and crisp corn tortilla strips. I was much more pleased with my selection! The steak was thin and reminded me of a schnitzel but there was enough of it that you could still taste it. The black beans were slightly lost, but that’s okay. I loved the pickled jalapenos and the added tortilla chips added some delicious crunch.
The patio at Merlin’s was decent. We could watch people do the climbing wall and laughed at the snowboarders and skiers who were fully dressed in winter gear in 28 degree weather. The prices were average of a pub as well. There was another table that ordered nachos and the plate was HUGE, so if you someone who wants to dig through some gooey chips this could also be your place. J and I did go to Creekside the next day and learned that Dusty’s was actually open so we were a little disappointed that we didn’t get to go there but we still enjoyed the beef jerky in Merlin’s Caesar.
Jimmy Macs
010 months ago
Sometimes I think J and I trick ourselves into believing that we’re responsible. We go grocery shopping almost every other day and always on weekends with the intent on making all our meals at home. The only problem is that we both love eating out. Usually on weekends we will also run errands around noon. I don’t know if this is because deep down we want to go out for lunch or if we’re really that bad at scheduling ourselves. I might on occasion say that it’s best to eat out for “blogging” purposes.
A few weeks ago, when it was actually sunny, J and I decided on one of our weekend outings that we MUST have lunch on a patio if we were going to breakdown and eat out. We realized that Maple Ridge has a serious lack of Patios. We tried a few pubs with no luck. Don Cherry’s pub wasn’t even open and The Fox’s Reach was in the shade. How weird is that! Instead of supporting our community we went across the bridge to Jimmy Mac’s Pub where we were guaranteed a sunny spot on the large patio.
I ordered a Caesar right away since the sun was so warm. I needed something refreshing and delicious immediately. It was your usual Caesar but instead of the boring piece of celery they serve it with a cooked prawn.
All the prices seemed so inexpensive. Sometimes this worries me, because that could mean it’s all prepared food off the Sysco food truck. I am sure most of it is. I ended up ordering a Brie and Ham sandwich. It’s not on the online menu, which is odd, but it’s on the current menu. The ham was warmed up and topped with a sundried tomato pesto and some grilled peppers as well. The brie gets a little lost on the sandwich and the sundried tomato pesto is very greasy. There is a good amount of honey ham though and the sweetness comes through nicely. I liked the taste of the sandwich but the greasiness was a little disappointing and I wish I could taste the brie a bit more.
J ordered a seafood club that included shrimp and crab on his choice of bread. I believe he picked sourdough in this case. I couldn’t pick out anything wrong with the actual sandwich other then it being a bit boring. Yes, you could taste the shrimp and the crab but there wasn’t a WOW kind of sandwich. I’m thinking it just needed some zip. Perhaps a lemon mayo or seafood style sauce would have gone a long way.
I think I would come back to Jimmy Mac’s just based on the fact that your money can stretch a long way and they a big patio but it’s pretty standard pub fair at best. Based on the prices I guess the food is great but if you want something a little better then you might need to find another patio.
Wild Wood Bistro
010 months ago
Next time you’re in Whistler and you’re not really sure where to have breakfast then I highly suggest that you check out Wild Wood Bistro located at 4500 Northlands Boulevard. If you get confused, don’t worry, you’re not lost, it is in fact at the Whistler Racquet Club. You can find anything from pancakes, French toast, omelettes, eggs Benedict and healthier choices as well. Personally I find the prices to be reasonable as well, especially for Whistler.
I think I might have still been full from dinner the night before because I ordered a half order of the Benny of the day. This particular day it was an English muffin piled with prosciutto, bocconcini, a poached egg and basil infused hollandaise. On the side were some chunky hash browns lightly seasoned. You can’t really see the ingredients hidden under the poached egg but there definitely there and tasted delicious. I loved everything about this. The egg was also poached perfectly so a when I sliced into it a stream of yellow yolk graced it presence asking to be soaked up with some English muffin.
J ordered a full sized bacon Benny. More of a traditional Benny but as you can see they didn’t skimp on the bacon. The hollandaise was also a traditional variety as well and this was also served with the chunky style hash browns.
I, of course, liked mine better but I had no complaints about J’s breaky. I was stuffed, and ready to explore Whistler. Again, being in Whistler you have a million options for food but I find this place very casual, reasonably priced and I can see myself coming back again the next time I head up to Whistler.
Rim Rock Cafe
010 months ago
Did I mention that I am officially married!!Yes I know I did, but I tell you over and over until the novelty has worn off. Our wedding day was beautiful, the people were lovely and J and I said our vows outside in the warm sun. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. When we woke up the next morning we quickly got ready and headed over to my parents for a quick visit and drove up to whistler for a few days to relax. Our first meal as a married couple took place at the Rim Rock Café at 2117 Whistler Road. It almost killed me! Not in a bad way, but I almost died from eating one of the most amazing meals I have ever had. How could life be any better…..new hubby and yummy food, that sounds pretty perfect to me!
The Rim Rock isn’t in the village but just down the road a few minutes and looks like a quaint little house. They specialize in some of the finest fish and game, prepared beautifully and full of fresh flavour. We made reservations to be on the safe side, and I would recommend that you do this as it became fairly busy. Even though it was busy the atmosphere didn’t change and was still a great experience. I apologise for the photos as they just don’t do the food justice.
We started off with a half dozen fresh raw oysters with a side of fresh grated horseradish and a champagne vinaigrette. These tasted like they were just scooped out of the ocean and plopped on our table. Such great flavour! I preferred the fresh horseradish, but the champagne vinaigrette offered a sweeter yet still tangy alternative which went well with the subtle brininess of the oysters.
J and I both had a really hard time deciding on what to order. Thankfully we were given complimentary fresh bread and butter to tide us over while we browsed their amazing selection. You all know how I feel about complimentary food. I LOVE IT!
J ordered the Rim Rock Seafood Trio which included grilled prawns, rare ahi tuna and sablefish crusted with macadamia and pecan nuts. I was able to taste all 3 and thought they were executed really well. The prawns were cooked perfectly and had a nice texture. The tuna was also cooked perfectly as was the sablefish. The nuts on the sablefish were ground extremely small and provided a sweet crust on top of the light fish which worked really well together and was my favourite flavour of all three.
I ordered the Filet Mignon with a gorgonzola butter. This was probably the best steak I have ever had. At most places when you ask for medium rare it doesn’t always come that way but this one couldn’t have been any more perfect. It sliced like butter and had amazing melt in your mouth flavour. It was sitting on a lovely bed of mashed potato and a crouton of sorts. There was also some thinly cut homemade shoe string style potatoes that sucked up all the yummy juices and gorgonzola butter then melted its way onto the plate. Behind the steak was some sweet potato puree seasoned with what I believe was a hint of nutmeg and topped with seasonal vegetables, including a deliciously sweet little yellow beet.
At this point we were both extremely stuffed and in total awe of what we just tasted that we chose to skip dessert. If I had room, I would have definitely gone for something to top off an amazing meal. If you happen to be in whistler and are in the mood to splurge on the some of the best food you’ve tasted then go. Go now, go fast, and go with an empty stomach! You will not regret it!
Ocean Village Chinese Food
011 months ago
This past week I have been a boat load of nerves. I have been anxiously waiting for my stagette and wasn’t sure if I should be excited or terrified. I have been to many stagettes in the past so I know how much of a gong show they can end up being. I also sometimes think I can still party like I am 20, so this could have been a recipe for disaster. The entire day was a surprise so I didn’t know what to expect either but heard “it’s a doozy” and my outfit was hilarious. It turns out that I didn’t need to be scared or nervous at all because from start to finish I had a blast. I did still however party like I was 20.
Needless to say I wasn’t in any sort of mood to cook at all. J nursed me back to health with some Gatorade and McDonalds but even still I couldn’t really think about cooking food. I might have been able to handle a grilled cheese sandwich but instead we decided to order Chinese takeout. J and I haven’t ordered Chinese in Maple Ridge yet so I turned to Urbanspoon for some assistance. I sort of wanted to try Chinese Palace but they don’t have a website or menu online so instead we tried Ocean Village instead, located at 20830 Lougheed Hwy.
I have to say that I was a little nervous about this, since I picked one of the only places without a review on urbanspoon. It was their menu, specifically the dinner for 2, that I liked the best. Most dinner for 2 will include sweet and sour pork, chop suey and chow mein but this place also includes 6 small deep friend prawns, and pork fried rice as well for 21.95.
The sweet and sour pork wasn’t quite as crisp as some other places I have had but overall it has a nice flavour and there wasn’t too much coating which was nice.
The beef chop suey also had a good flavour and had lots of crisp vegetables and beef. They didn’t use cabbage as filler either which impressed me.
The chicken chow mein had a lot of small bite sized pieces of chicken in it. The texture of the noodles was also perfect, not soggy!
The pork fried rice had good texture as well with a slight smoky flavour to it. Seasoned well.
The prawns were as expected. Thick battered prawns. Since the bar was set low here I couldn’t really complain. You could still taste the prawn so that was good.
Overall for your typical North American basic Chinese food this was pretty good.
Sushi Umibe
011 months ago
I need a holiday from my holiday.
No, I just need food in the fridge.
Coming back from the cabin meant that there was about 800 loads of laundry to do, mowing t he lawn, washing the car, cleaning the house and most important getting more groceries. It was amazing how much of the food in the fridge we brought over; I haven’t seen the fridge this bare since we moved in. On the way to the store I didn’t realize how hungry I was until J mentioned lunch. Everyone knows grocery shopping when your hungry is a recipe for disaster so we stopped at Sushi Umibe at 11955 207 st, in Maple Ridge.
I have to say that from the outside I thought it was going to be a little sketchy. The area is run down and dirty looking but J convinced me that it would be fine and we should try it out. I was so hungry at this point I agreed and I am pretty glad I did.
They had your usual lunch box combos ranging from 8.95 to 12.95 for a big one. We decided to just order a couple things and share instead. We got complimentary miso soup to start, nothing extraordinary but good none the less.
The first item that came was our spicy tuna sashimi. A decent amount of tuna, chopped up into bite sized pieces. I didn’t think it was overly spicy but that’s personal preference. The tuna was itself was soft and both us liked this dish.
Next up was the Philadelphia roll. A fairly large roll with cucumber, avocado, crabmeat, salmon, cream cheese and topped with smoked salmon. This is one of my favourites. Not too adventurous but really yummy. I do have an obsession with cream cheese though. The combination of the smoked salmon with cream cheese is always a winner and tastes great up against the avocado and crunch of the cucumber. Needless to say we both really enjoyed this one.
The last item to arrive was the Gyoza. Six pan fried dumplings. These were a little on the doughy side for me but still had decent flavour. The filling was a vegetable pork with a good balance of seasonings. You almost didn’t need the dipping sauce, although that sauce can be addicting. Savory and sweet!
Despite the rundown neighbourhood this sushi place was really good, especially for the price. Our lunch came to around 24.00 dollars and we both left comfortably full. With a long list of specialty rolls I will surely have to come back and try some more out.
