Grub Ahoy!

Not your school cafeteria

2010-11-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

Cafeteria opened on main a while ago and one of my friends kept telling me about how she loves it so much. Deciding on dinner I headed down there on a Wednesday night with a few other people. On the corner on Main and 11th its on an unsuspecting corner just close to Cascade Room. We got a seat right away and there was probably only 10 tables at max. Their menu is cleverly posted on wall just like it used to be in high school with the little white letters that were switched daily for different meals. After asking the waitress I found out they change their menu up quite frequently to keep things fresh, usually about once a week or so but dishes come and go from their menu quite often.

I ended up getting a seared snapper with Gnocchi and vegetables with a red pepper sauce. It was light, sweet and well prepared. It was a nice dish but nothing spectacular. My friend got a risotto with a osso buco. Very tender. We also got a dessert, which ended up being a flourless torte with a pistachio cream. It was dense but not heavy and sweet.

A good overall experience but I'm not sure if the food outweighed the price on this one. Perhaps I'm not a huge fan, but it was still worth the experience and seeing what the town was talking about.

Cafeteria

2702 Main St. Vancouver

http://www.cafeteriavancouver.ca/

Sweet Things

2010-07-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

I'm definitely a sugar addict. My sweet tooth has constant cravings for desserts and anything sugary. Here's a few photos of some recent food pursuits.

Dessert at Sweet Revenge. Chocolate mousse cake (left); Pear pudding (right)
This awesome little place is a great place for specialty desserts and teas. Prices on desserts can range from $5-$20.

Sweet Revenge
4160 Main St. Vancouver

Making a cake for my friend's birthday. It's been a while since I've baked but with the help of a few friends we were able to make a couple of small cakes.

Making the glaze.

Heart shaped cake.

The finished product

In front of the awesome cake box we got from daiso.

Angel food cake with strawberry ice cream, whipped cream, blueberries and strawberries

Rhizome Cafe

2010-05-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

I grabbed a quick brunch at Rhizome Cafe today with a friend. Walking into the cafe I immediately felt like I was back in Victoria. It holds true to the hipster/alternative feel of the mount pleasant and main street area. It's nice and relaxed and large art pieces decorate the wall. Brunch was being served till 3pm so decided to get the pumpkin-seed pesto tofu scramble with salad and corn bread (as pictured). My friend got french toast. The food was good, the tofu scrambled resembled eggs a lot and the I loved the corn bread. I've never had corn with actual corn pieces in it before so it was a nice surprise. I still think the best corn bread I've had in Vancouver was at s'il vous plait downtown but alas that has closed down. The tofu scramble had a nice light flavouring that wasn't too strong and a great texture. The salad wasn't anything special. The french toast came with two pieces and was pretty run of the mill. I might say it was delightfully fluffy yet crisp at the same time. We were debating on how they get it that way. The portion sizes were decent but still enough to be filling. The prices definitely matched the amount I got. I ended up paying about $10.50 for the meal, which is really reasonable in comparison to a lot of other places in Vancouver. The only complaint I have is the service, as our food took quite a while to come and our waitress didn't do a whole lot for us. The place wasn't busy at all but our food took around 20+ minutes to arrive. The waitress took forever to take our order and bring us water or whatever else. It could've been an off day for her but who knows.

I definitely want to go back to Rhizome and try their regular menu. Plus they always have shows and other community events going on, which is super cool.

Rhizome Cafe (Vancouver)
317 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5T1W5
(604) 872-3166

Cafe Gloucester

2010-05-19T17:49:00.001-07:00

When I was in high school everyone always mentioned this place and apparently it was quite the popular place. The name even makes it seem all high and mighty but honestly I don't find it anything incredible. Located on Cambie St. just after King Ed it's probably one of the few chinese restaurants in the area (given its Vancouver it says a lot) Cambie has a wide variety of different foods and Gloucester adds to the mix. Went there again tonight for dinner, I think this was the second time I've been and I had another decent meal.

This is what we ordered:
BBQ Pork fried rice noodles - classic chinese dish, pretty good
Baked spaghetti with pork chop - tasty
beef and vegetables - way too salty and tried to add too much flavor
honey garlic pork chop - was pretty tasty in my opinion, large pieces of meat
fried rice - typical, nothing special

I always forget to take pictures now whenever I eat food. Hopefully this summer I'll try out some new places. I have to find a job first, so broke!

Food Finds

2010-02-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

1. I guess that companies are always trying to find new ways to get people to eat fruit and these stickers are no exception. I've seen quite a few poping up all over the place. I guess whatever makes fruit more fun! Apparently Chiquita Banana's has been doing it for a while.

According to Chiquita's website (chiquita.com):

"Our Chiquita sticker is recognized by people of all generations. Over the years, we’ve used the stickers to announce our sponsorship of the 1980 Olympics, celebrate Miss Chiquita’s 50th birthday, and simply put a smile on a child’s face."

Monkeyball from the nintendo wii

Kanye Banana

2. I couldn't resist this find at superstore. Perhaps chicken stock would've suited just as well.

There are a ton of places I want to do reviews on, if only I can find the time.

Heron Rock Bistro

2010-01-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a place to eat last weekend when I stumbled across Heron Rock Bistro. Its categorized under "affordable fine-dining" and I think that describes the place perfectly. If you're looking for a nicer place to eat without breaking the bank this is could be a good option. It was a satisfying meal but wasn't superb beyond belief.

The small bistro is located right in the heart of James Bay. They were very accommodating when we made reservations for a large group and added several more people last minute. The restaurant atmosphere was alright. They're aiming for that fine dining/romantic atmosphere with candles and low lighting. I can't stand low lighting in restaurants. Honestly, I would appreciate it if I could see my food thank you very much. I did like the works of art that featured local artists.

The menu isn't very extensive but each item sounds delicious.
I decided to go with the Fraser Valley Duck (as seen in the picture). The portion was just enough to satisfy me without making me feel overfull. The Gnocchi was soft but not as chewy as I'd have liked it to be. The apricots definitely added a special flavor to the overall meal. The duck was tender and juicy and was a lot like turkey. I liked the dish, I'm just not sure it was worth $22.

The pasta special was pretty good that night. You had a dish of pasta and a glass of wine for about $20. Maybe I should have gone with that instead.

Another friend has the quiche, which was accompanied by a salad. It was a bit small portion wise.

However I liked how the restaurant used a lot of local ingredients and the seafood was ocean wise. It's great to see places trying to be more sustainable in nature.
Overall it was a pleasant experience. I'm not sure I would go back again as I don't think it was worth the price of the meal.

2.5 food comas out of 5

Heron Rock Bistro
http://heronrockbistro.ca/web/index.htm

Bonqula (Richmond, BC)

2010-01-11T01:08:00.000-08:00

Firstly Happy New Year. Hopefully this year I'll be able to add more to this blog, considering I only have classes one day a week. Back to the reviews...

Hidden off of Alexandra road in Richmond B.C., Bonqula (pronounced Bon-ku-la) is a refreshing Japanese restaurant that should be tried. I went during the winter break after reading about it on dineout.ca

Prices are a little bit above average but well worth what is served. The restaurant isn't a typical Japanese one and very different from the typical asian

I actually got to the restaurant pretty late and it was very empty. This worried me cause empty places tell me that they aren't great. I think because of its location a lot of people don't see and know about it.

The waiter gave us a small appetizer of sliced bread that was made in store by the chef. Apparently she makes a batch everyday. It reminded me of pound cake and was quite savory.

I tried the chicken curry nabe noodle dish, which was served with rice. The portions didn't seem huge but ended up being quite filling. It was about $15 if i remember correctly. The curry flavor was very light and didn't overwhelm the other tastes and wasn't super spicy either. The chicken was not too bad as well. The dish was quite tasty, not anything super special but satisfying all the same.

I assume because it was the holidays they gave us a awesome complimentary dessert. Seriously who doesn't love free dessert? The small sundae dish was sweet and simple, consisted of vanilla ice cream, corn flakes, and green tea grass jelly. The interesting combination made for a great finish to the meal.

The severs were also really nice and friendly (I'm big on friendly severs) and you could tell they were actually authentic Japanese running a Japanese restaurant unlike most you see. I'd definitely go back again perhaps during lunch and give something else a try off their large menu.

3.5 food comas out of 5

Bonqula
http://s1.shard.jp/bonqula/
#165-8460 Alexandra Road Richmond,BC

Boston Suckage

2009-11-25T13:04:00.001-08:00

Does the Boston Pizza on Shelbourne suck or is it just me.
It's never really full and the service sucks. I had to wait forever just to get seated and the food took forever to arrive. I won't really go into much detail cause everyone knows what Boston Pizza is like. I guess I really shouldn't expect too much from chain restaurants should I? I'm just way too forgiving.

Haven't eaten out much lately. My friend did make the best chicken wings the other night though.

La Piola

2009-10-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

I always feel iffy about Italian restaurants because pasta doesn't always excite me a whole lot. Don't get me wrong, some pastas are amazing when done right but a lot restaurants just make plain, boring dishes. This past weekend I tried out La Piola, a place recommended by a friend when we drove by it. Now if I hadn't actually seen it, I would've never known it existed. Its quite a small little restaurant that doesn't sit a ton of people. I find that usually smaller, hidden joints always turn out to be hidden jems. This place fit the bill.

Apparently they're always quite busy. When I called to make reservations for Friday night, I nabbed the last table available. Now for the food. The menu didn't have a major selection and it mostly consisted of a few appetizers, pastas, pizza, and a few entrees like steak, chicken etc. They also had a daily special that was some kind of fish stuffed with dungeness crab, which sounded amazing. However it turned out to be $30, and being a student I couldn't really afford to blow that kind of money on one dish. Instead I went with a simple pasta that had a tomato sauce and pork. I really wish I could remember the names but a lot of them were italian names so fat chance. I usually don't order tomato based pasta cause I'm a fan of cream sauces but I decided to give this on a chance. Over all it was alright, there were cube of pork that were a bit salty and not much else in the pasta. However the noodles were very good, very el dente and enjoyable to eat.

A couple of friends both ordered the Gnocchi, which was simply amazing. They were very savory and melted in your mouth after a bite. The portions were just right in my opinion, just enough to leave you satisfied. Price wise it was a little more expensive, about $16 a dish. However the restaurant uses a lot of local ingredients from businesses around Victoria and adjusts their menu according to the foods currently in season, which I think is a great idea.

After dinner we saw some other tables ordering desserts and we couldn't resist. Let me tell you know it was the best part of the entire night. We decided to get one tiramisu, on creme brulee, and a chocolate torte. They may have been the absolute best desserts I've had in Victoria, no joke. We were all moaning in delight while devouring them. All the desserts were assembled in front of our eyes in the open kitchen and we watched hungrily as they made them. The tiramisu was so soft and spongy. It didn't have that overwhelming flavor of alcohol a lot of others do. The Chocolate torte had this wonderful caramel sauce and it wasn't overly sweet. My favourite has to be the creme brulee. I don't even know what to write because words can't describe how good it was. You just have to try it for yourself. I'll definitely be back for more. The desserts were $6 a piece but well worth it.

The service was really good and they were very attentive to our needs. The restaurant itself was alright in terms of ambiance. Local art decorated the yellow walls making it feel warm, however it wasn't super cozy as there is little division in the space.

Overall I thought it was an awesome experience that everyone should try. Its better than a lot of the other italian restaurants in the city. The price point may be a little above average but well worth it in terms of quality and for the desserts they have.

4 food comas out of 5
La Piola
3189 Quadra St.

Feastivities

2009-10-20T23:37:00.000-07:00

Ah I haven't updated for a bit and I've only just begun. The trials of running a blog. We I'm not going to say much about Thanksgiving since it was such a long time ago. However I will say that who doesn't love the holiday when you get to eat so many different yummy foods? I guess some people don't celebrate Thanksgiving because of their beliefs or cultures and that's too bad cause they're totally missing out.

Here's a few photos from Thanksgiving dinner at my place. Hopefully when Christmas rolls around it'll be the same crazy food fest with all the works.

Fresh Thinking, Fresh Cooking

2009-10-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday my friends and I were thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend that was headed our way and all the good food that comes with it. One of my friends mentioned that White Spot had a Thanksgiving meal the entire weekend so we headed over for lunch. We headed to the Quadra and Mackenzie location. Upon arrival and inspection of the menu we found no trace of a 'Thanksgiving meal' to our disappointment. So instead we had to make do with what was being served. White spot recently revealed some new burgers in their 'legendary lineup' and two of my friends got the same Roma Burger: "Our 6 oz. 100% fresh Canadian beef burger with crispy baked prosciutto, tomato basil salsa, provolone cheese and basil aioli". 11.99. One also decided to add the new garlic fries (house-made garlic topping and lemon-basil aioli on top of fries. 0.99) Another one went for a old favourite, the mushroom burger. I on the other hand did not feel like a burger, so after scanning the menu for quite some time i settled on the chicken quesadilla and Caesar salad.

I was satisfied with the food, as white spot is usually (but not always) consistent in that department. My dilla came with a sour cream and salsa dip and was very tasty. The 3 slices were very hot from first bite and there was quite a good amount of chicken as well. The side Caesar salad was your very typical lettuce, croutons, parma cheese and dressing. Nothing too spectacular about it in general. However my friends Roma burger was quite undercooked and he had to send it back to the kitchen. The waitress got him a new burger and his meal was no charge either. However by the time he got his second burger the rest of us had basically finished our meals. The garlic fries were not even worth single dollar he paid for the entire meal. They were basically their regular fries topped with loads of garlic. The one I tried tasted like I was eating pure garlic. Though the quality of the food at White Spot isn't too bad, I find there's always a problem whether its the service, the wait, or the food itself. It just depends from time to time.

When we first arrived around 11am it wasn't too busy, but it soon picked for the lunch hour and the restaurant was packed. Service was alright throughout our dining experience. The waitress seemed to be scrambling around to do things but she was around when we needed her.

Even though White Spot has been trying to rebrand themselves as a higher quality dining experience, I still think its only a few steps above fast food. Select items from their menu are always great, like their milkshakes and apparently their blueberry pie too (who doesn't freakin' love pie!?), however if I had a choice I'd most likely choose somewhere else to eat.

2.5 food comas out of 5

The next few posts will be about places in Vancouver since I went over for the weekend. I'll probably do that from time to time.

A new beginning, for the stomach.

2009-10-05T00:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Welcome to Grub Ahoy! I realized like a lot of other people, I eat out at a ton of places. So i figured why not start my own food blog to review restaurants and discuss the foods I enjoy. I love my food as much as the next person and I'm always on the look out for the newest joint to dine at. Hopefully by sharing my experiences with others they can find places to try as well and join in on the feastivities.

Today my friends and I went out for our semi-regular weekend brunch jaunt. A friend wanted to head to John's Place, which I have tried before. John's place has been in Victoria for quite some time. Over 20 years if I'm correct. It's one of those places that will always be packed and have lineups. We got there around 12:30-1ish and we waited a good 10-15 minutes. While waiting I scanned the numerous pictures of various customers and famous people who have dined at John's Place that cover all the walls.

I have to say I enjoyed my time and food at John's Place. It has such a lively atmosphere with servers running around and crowded tables enjoying a good conversation. I best know John's Place for their breakfast type foods even though they're open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've only eaten lunch there on one occasion, the other time's being breakfast. The breakfast menu had a good variety from benny's to waffles to customizable omelets. They also have daily species, which we all ordered from. My friend got the Strawberry and Banana Waffle for $7.95 which was a good size. It came with whipped cream and good amount of fruit topping.

Another got the British Banger Benny, which came with home fries. Their Bennys have the option of being on bagel, english muffin, or corn bread (as seen below). All for $10.95.

I was tempted and had to get the Cinnamon Bun French Toast. It was extremely sweet with the cream cheese syrup. I have a pretty major sweet tooth and even this dish was boarderline too sweet for me. It came with a Cinnamon Bun dipped in creamy vanilla egg batter and a slice of cinnamon toast. After the meal I felt like I had enough sugar for a month. $7.95

The prices are very reasonable for the portions and quality of food you get. The service was a tad bit slow but they were extremely busy and kept up very well in that aspect. Next time I'll have to try their pies that are in a case at the front of the restaurant. They look amazing!

Rating: 4 food comas out of 5
John's Place is a great family style restaurant for any time of the day. Just be ready to line up!

723 Pandora Avenue
Victoria, BC V8W 1N9
(250) 389-0711
http://www.johnsplace.ca/