Hey all. You probably forgot who I am since it always seems to be take forever for me to update so I thought I'd change it up a bit. This isn't an actual review but more of a rundown of places that you'll never see me review because either:
1) I went to it during my pre-review days, and something about it sucked and I'll never go back,
2) A bad experience from someone else is enough for me to never give the place another chance, or
3) it's too expensive and not worth it.
Some say there's no such thing as bad publicity, so without further ado:
1) Grand Honour Hot Pot Restaurant on Granville. I've never been here myself but my mom recently went here and came back with a severe case of food poisoning. She's well on the way to recovery but ended up having to go to the hospital for meds and IV fluids. Her fellow patrons also fell ill but not to the extent that she did. I'm not a fan of hot pot to begin with (ironically, I will post about another hot pot place in the near future), so this doesn't do much to change my mind.
Rating: -10/10 cause I wouldn't come even if you drove me here and paid for me.
2) Lombardo's Ristorante and Pizzeria on Commercial
- It looks like an outdoor cafe but it's inside a mall with no shops. With all the outdoor cafes available on Commercial, go figure.
- bitch waitress that wouldn't let us order since 1/18 guests had not yet arrived. That one person said it was okay and we weren't rude to her.
- someone ordered wine, and their glass had water drips inside. Classy.
- once we got food, she disappeared (it is a small restaurant too!) and water re-fills didn't come
- pricey for mediocre food, and pizza had minimal toppings.
- automatic 18% gratuity despite lack of service
- she asked that before we left, if she could count the money in front of us. Seriously!?
Rating: 0/10 cause with all the other restaurants around, you have no excuse to come for this garbage. I MAY give it a second chance if you pay though. It might even be upgraded to "1".
3) Lux on Granville
It's been a while since I went here and it'll be another while before I come back...
+ people watching for clubbers waiting to go into Caprice
- just because you dine at their restaurant doesn't mean they'll let you in without waiting in line... lame.
- food took a long time to be served
- food was quite overcooked and salty, I remember it specifically for the halibut cheeks. Perhaps they used the sweat and fumes from the previous night's clubbers to steam their food?
Rating: 2/10 cause it's not at all luxurious at they claim it to be. You might as well go club first and then go to Denny's later a 2AM cause it'll taste the same once you're drunk. Actually, that's an insult. Denny's is much better eve when sober.
4) Cocolo on West 4th
- Went here twice for work lunches and I want to like it, but I can't.
- Miso soup is different from normal types you get. Lots of veggies. No, I don't like it.
- They have lunch box combos that are pricier than most although I don't think they are filling
- Their chicken teriyaki tastes like cold chicken with soy sauce
- Desserts are small for the price so don't think about sharing.
- $4 for their Cocolo sushi. You get 2 razor-thin fish "loonies" for this.
+ Umm... their service is quite good and attentive. They greeted and also thanked me when leaving.
+ Nice ambiance and really like the Japanese decor
+ free backlot parking in a tight concrete area
- If you care, operated by Chinese.
Rating: 4/10 cause I want to like it but until they improve their food and portion quality, it can't be helped. It was only for lunch but perhaps they are different during dinner.
5) Kakurenbou Japanese Dining on Jervis
+ this place looks very cool from the inside, like a temple
+ pretty good variety of izakaya and sake
+ good desserts
+ service was good
+ my boss paid for me to eat and be merry
- do not get their stone-grilled kobe beef unless you can cook 6 small slabs perfectly yourself cause that's what you do for $20.
- it's like double the price of Guu or Hapa Izakaya but you don't get as much food and their quality isn't any better.
- depending on your mood, it's not party-like or rambunctious like the above two places
- Guu and Hapa are nearby
- did i mention that it is extremely expensive, notwithstanding the fact that it's not really worth it even if money weren't an issue?
Rating: 6/10 cause I'd probably never go here again unless my boss pays for me cause I think it came out to about $75/person and I wasn't even full. It's not a bad place at all but that price is already a meal each at Guu and Hapa already.
I'm hesitant to put "West" on here cause I'd definitely like to go back although the one time I went (back in the high school days), the waiter was obnoxious, arrogant and definitely looked down at our party, probably because we came during dineout. I hope he was hauled off to work at Grand Honor or Lombardo's where he belongs.
Anyway, So this was a nice change and it'd be interesting to hear about other peoples' places to avoid. Till then, I'll keep scrounging up bad memories of food and wait to compile a list then.
1) I went to it during my pre-review days, and something about it sucked and I'll never go back,
2) A bad experience from someone else is enough for me to never give the place another chance, or
3) it's too expensive and not worth it.
Some say there's no such thing as bad publicity, so without further ado:
1) Grand Honour Hot Pot Restaurant on Granville. I've never been here myself but my mom recently went here and came back with a severe case of food poisoning. She's well on the way to recovery but ended up having to go to the hospital for meds and IV fluids. Her fellow patrons also fell ill but not to the extent that she did. I'm not a fan of hot pot to begin with (ironically, I will post about another hot pot place in the near future), so this doesn't do much to change my mind.
Rating: -10/10 cause I wouldn't come even if you drove me here and paid for me.
2) Lombardo's Ristorante and Pizzeria on Commercial
- It looks like an outdoor cafe but it's inside a mall with no shops. With all the outdoor cafes available on Commercial, go figure.
- bitch waitress that wouldn't let us order since 1/18 guests had not yet arrived. That one person said it was okay and we weren't rude to her.
- someone ordered wine, and their glass had water drips inside. Classy.
- once we got food, she disappeared (it is a small restaurant too!) and water re-fills didn't come
- pricey for mediocre food, and pizza had minimal toppings.
- automatic 18% gratuity despite lack of service
- she asked that before we left, if she could count the money in front of us. Seriously!?
Rating: 0/10 cause with all the other restaurants around, you have no excuse to come for this garbage. I MAY give it a second chance if you pay though. It might even be upgraded to "1".
3) Lux on Granville
It's been a while since I went here and it'll be another while before I come back...
+ people watching for clubbers waiting to go into Caprice
- just because you dine at their restaurant doesn't mean they'll let you in without waiting in line... lame.
- food took a long time to be served
- food was quite overcooked and salty, I remember it specifically for the halibut cheeks. Perhaps they used the sweat and fumes from the previous night's clubbers to steam their food?
Rating: 2/10 cause it's not at all luxurious at they claim it to be. You might as well go club first and then go to Denny's later a 2AM cause it'll taste the same once you're drunk. Actually, that's an insult. Denny's is much better eve when sober.
4) Cocolo on West 4th
- Went here twice for work lunches and I want to like it, but I can't.
- Miso soup is different from normal types you get. Lots of veggies. No, I don't like it.
- They have lunch box combos that are pricier than most although I don't think they are filling
- Their chicken teriyaki tastes like cold chicken with soy sauce
- Desserts are small for the price so don't think about sharing.
- $4 for their Cocolo sushi. You get 2 razor-thin fish "loonies" for this.
+ Umm... their service is quite good and attentive. They greeted and also thanked me when leaving.
+ Nice ambiance and really like the Japanese decor
+ free backlot parking in a tight concrete area
- If you care, operated by Chinese.
Rating: 4/10 cause I want to like it but until they improve their food and portion quality, it can't be helped. It was only for lunch but perhaps they are different during dinner.
5) Kakurenbou Japanese Dining on Jervis
+ this place looks very cool from the inside, like a temple
+ pretty good variety of izakaya and sake
+ good desserts
+ service was good
+ my boss paid for me to eat and be merry
- do not get their stone-grilled kobe beef unless you can cook 6 small slabs perfectly yourself cause that's what you do for $20.
- it's like double the price of Guu or Hapa Izakaya but you don't get as much food and their quality isn't any better.
- depending on your mood, it's not party-like or rambunctious like the above two places
- Guu and Hapa are nearby
- did i mention that it is extremely expensive, notwithstanding the fact that it's not really worth it even if money weren't an issue?
Rating: 6/10 cause I'd probably never go here again unless my boss pays for me cause I think it came out to about $75/person and I wasn't even full. It's not a bad place at all but that price is already a meal each at Guu and Hapa already.
I'm hesitant to put "West" on here cause I'd definitely like to go back although the one time I went (back in the high school days), the waiter was obnoxious, arrogant and definitely looked down at our party, probably because we came during dineout. I hope he was hauled off to work at Grand Honor or Lombardo's where he belongs.
Anyway, So this was a nice change and it'd be interesting to hear about other peoples' places to avoid. Till then, I'll keep scrounging up bad memories of food and wait to compile a list then.
