Places that you'll never see me review

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.

Salathai on Burrard

My friend was feeling southeast Asian and suggested we go to Salathai. For Thai, I've only ever been to Thai House (gross) and Green Basil (good) so wasn't sure what to expect. We came here on a Saturday evening and as to be expected, it was busy but we had a reservation. One of my friend's boyfriend also happen to know the owner very well so obviously, expectations are a bit higher than usual. I think that's why we went here in the end.



This is the view facing the entrance although it totally doesn't even look like a restaurant (ok, the other side was filled with tables and the bar), but really, I think the decor is more to appease the people from out of town or who have never been to Thailand. Nonetheless, clean, tidy, no problems.


A free drink on the house courtesy of the owner. I believe it was some kind of Thai iced coffee but it was quite good and very refreshing. We ordered a variety of items to share and the first thing I noticed was that there were no items over $20. I thought to myself "wow, is this place one of those cheap, hidden gems that taste awesome that I'd never known about?" I was about to be unpleasantly surprised...

Salathai Satay ~ $8.25 - We had chicken but they also had beef and pork. With 4 skewers, a little over $2 for a piece of meat the size of your index figure. It was good (Personally, I think it's pretty hard to screw up skewers) but for the price, I didn't think it was worth it and was disappointed.

Tom Yum Soup with prawns ~ $9. Honestly, I was biased against this dish from the get-go cause I don't like hot and sour soup so I wasn't looking for seconds. Even though the bowl looks small, we were able to scoop out 6 standard rice bowls with a prawn for each person. Of course, I only took about half cause I didn't want to waste it.

Golden Angel Wings ~$9 - boneless chicken wings stuffed with meat, shrimp, veggies and vermicelli.. Apparently, this is one of their signature dishes and for what it's worth. It was pretty good. If I were to go back, I'd get this dish.

Pad Thai ~ $11 - Can you really go to a Thai restaurant and not order pad thai? It was alright but for the price you pay and the portion you receive, it is totally not worth it.

Gaeng Dang ~ $11 - chicken, bell peppers, bamboo shoots in red curry with coconut milk. Like most other places, you have to pay for rice separately (I forgot how much), there was enough to share for everyone but I found the curry to be too liquid for my liking.


Dessert platter on the house - we have coconut gelatinous cubes, vanilla ice cream with red bean paste and deep fried banana. Cubes = not very flavorful (then again, I think that's normal), ice cream = good, red bean = I don't like red bean and banana = good. I can't really say anything about its worth cause we received it for free.

While it was great that our buddy had a hookup with the owners and gave us free drinks and dessert, I was overall disappointed with the experience. I understand that it gets busy but the service was very lacking. It took a long time to get water or we'd have to re-request it. Also, I found it rude how when our waitress, in the middle of taking our orders, suddenly said she would be right back, left us to do whatever, and then came back 5 minutes later. I didn't think that was very professional but tips are included.

I also now realize that by making the menu items seem less expensive, it makes you feel like you can order more! Unfortunately, portion-wise, it's not worth it. For what it's worth, I did leave feeling full, but not satisfied. Most of the dishes are also designed for sharing so you can't really get your own things. There's a Salathai on Cambie but don't think I'll be coming back here or the other one anytime soon.

Due to popular (one anonymous person ^^ ), I will start rating places once again with a comment.

rating: 5/10 - Even though the golden angel wings were good, I'd come back only with that guy to get the free hook-ups but I wouldn't come myself. I'd also avoid busy times cause the service leaves much to be desired.


Salathai on Burrard
102-888 Burrard Street
Vancouver BC V6 1X9
Tel: 604-683-7999
www.Salathai.ca

Section 3

Ever since the construction of the Canada line near my workplace, I've found myself starting to explore venues in Yaletown that I would never have gone to normally, mainly because of the parking there). Decided to check this place out on a whim since they advertised $10 lunches online. It's conveniently located about a block away from the skytrain but if you plan to drive, then yes, parking may be challenging.

Given that it was around 2pm, the place was pretty deserted and we could sit wherever. Once you step in, you'd notice the lighted nerd sign lighting the bar and once you got seated, you'd probably notice the poster of the topless woman behind the entrance. Their drink menus are always decorated with vintage b&w pictures of topless women. Not too sure what their goal is here.
The inside decor is pretty funky and eclectic. Note the iron Christmas tree looking object in the nerd picture. It's hard to tell with the lighting but I think most of the furniture in here is pink. Apparently, they have two sets of washrooms here. You've got a pair near the back of the restaurant and then there is another past the back doors which looks more like a public washroom for the complex. It's pretty obvious which one they keep more clean.

It's on their website but for the lazy people, I've posted a link of their menu, of which all items are $10. Most of their food is standard and nothing really sticks out. They have daily specials but you're paying $9 instead of $10. However, who am I to complain about a 10% drop in price. I asked the guy what he recommended and he kept saying how the turkey sandwich was "sooooo gooooood!". I decided to get something else =p

Bacon cheeseburger with wild sauteed mushrooms and fries. It's your standard fare with a healthy bit of beef and mushrooms so no complaints. The fries came with a spicy mayo which was good too.

Shepherd's pie with giant garlic toast. My friend had this since it was their daily special. To be honest, I don't really even know what Shepherd's pie is but then I learned it's like mashing your potatoes and meat together. It was alright. My friend said it was ok and garlic toast is... well, just garlic toast so nothing special.

Smoked salmon fettuccine with spinach and capers. It was... ok. Perhaps I expected more but then again, I was comparing it to Favorito ("yo, check it out in the December month).

The other pasta of the day was the smoked chicken penne with mushrooms, green peas and sundried tomatoes. I liked this one more than the smoked salmon cause it had more flavor. When I asked both girls, they said they'd probably pick a different item next time.

Thin crust pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and bell peppers. We had this to share and it was very good. It wasn't too greasy and they were generous with toppings. This was our favorite dish of the day and had we known, we probably would've just gotten a bunch of pizzas.

The service overall was good but then there were only like 3 tables inside. I remember coming here once around 1am and it was packed. They also had a DJ playing in the corner. We ordered yam fries but I thought they were overdone and too salty. And as can be expected, service is pretty slow and forgetful so that was my last impression before coming here for a second go-around. It's not my first choice for dinner or a late night hangout, but I wouldn't mind coming back for lunch given their $10 menus.



Section 3
1039 Mainland Street
Vancouver BC V6B 5P9
Tel; 604-684-2777
http://www.sectionthree.com/

Vita Bella

Came here on a Sunday night for a nice dinner with Cheerios. The restaurant is located near the intersection of Hastings and Willingdon so lots of parking along the streets. The restaurant is actually kind of hard to miss cause the outside is pretty hard and the iron-bar appearance from the outside doen't help.

The decor inside is really simple yet elegant. They have paintings decorated throughout and the pale green color is easy on the eyes. The lighting set the mood perfectly - not too biright nor too dark. We had a cozy table beside the wall.

Ahi tuna with blueberry fennel slaw and peppers ~ $30. The fennel and the tuna complimented each other very well and the tuna was excellent. Needless to say, Cheerios liked her dish a lot.

Linguine fumate: house-smoked duck breast, sun-dried tomatoes with assorted mushrooms in Grand Marnier demiglaze cream sauce, drizzled with truffle oil ~ $18. The duck had a crispy outside with a soft inside and was full of flavor. It may be because I like my pasta to be extremely saucy but I thought the noodles could have used a bit more sauce.

Chef Leonardo's chocolate pave ~ $7. The presentation was really nice but we were a little disappointed by the dessert after so much hype from our waiter. It's basically like eating a mousse cake or a ganache. Nonetheless, it still tasted great but didn't seem up to par with the entrees.

The only negative part of the night was that our entrees seemed to take much longer than the other patrons like 40 mins we ordered. You get bread with olive oil but it only lasts for so long. I recall one couple sitting near us who arrived about the same time but they were gone moments after we received our entree. And then a group of 4 came, ordered, and got to eating within 10 minutes so I was a little peeved about that.

However, to end on a positive note, during our dinner, a old, short, bespectacled man came to our table and asked how our meal was and if everything was okay. I thought he was a random customer who just happened to be interested in what we were eating but Cheerios later pointed out that he was likely the head chef and owner since he was wearing an apron and was going around to other tables. I thought this was a really nice touch by the owner and he was also very humble and grateful for our presence. I'm pretty much ready to patronage to chef Leo again.


Vita Bella Ristorante
4544 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC V5C2K4

Tel: (604) 298-4464
Fax: (604) 298-4485
http://www.vitabellaristorante.ca

Favorito Pasta Trattoria

Located near the busy intersection of Cambie and Broadway (and across from Sportmart as you can probably tell) is this quaint little pasta place that I was first introduced to by my boss. It didn't look spectacular on the outside nor the inside, but the food itself is pretty good!

Inside is kind of dark and I don't really like sitting beside the windows since they are so many passerbys. I think this is a mom and pop joint since the only server/host is a sullen, Italian (I'm pretty sure) man who I've seen every time I've come. Bearing that in mind, service isn't expected to be the greatest but since it's never overly busy, the wait times are bearable.

I've only been for lunch so I'm not sure about their dinner menu but at least 95% of their pastas are $12 or less and they do have a wide selection of pasta. I also must say that the past dishes are quite large but not Anton's large but the quality is much better. (For the record, I think Anton's is only about portions and nothing more)

Once you've ordered, you're treated to a basket of fresh, crispy bread with some butter. The butter comes in a relatively big ceramic cup which leads me to believe that it's probably been re-used and the bottom portion is nasty. However, I can't complain about free, hot bread.

Scallops ~ $10.95 - mushrooms and scallions in a cream sauce. This is probably my second favorite dish here. My friend really liked it and since she's a tiny girl, she was only able to finish about half of it.

Salmone affumicato ~ $10.95 - pink smoked BC salmon sauce. I had this and it's my most favorite dish here. There's a lot of salmon and overall just tastes great. It's unfortunate that I tried this one first because once I find a dish that I like, I tend to stick with it. I like the penne style of pasta but you can pick whatever type you prefer.

Bolognese ~ $10.95 - tomato sauce with lean beef and fresh herbs. My friend had this and said it was only okay relative to the other dishes she's had here. Other than the two listed above, others that I like include the favorito chicken and the cajun chicken. I've attached a picture of one half of the pasta menu for your reference. The other side has a few more pastas like carbonara and also includes the liked of stuffed pastas and lasagna.

I think this is a great place to grab lunch and go for a casual dinner with friends and family. It's comfortable, quiet and cozy but probably not a special, romantic kind of place but good for the first date =p



Favorito Pasta Trattoria

552 West Broadway St.
Vancouver, BC V5Z1E9

Tel: (604) 876-3534

Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant

I usually stop here in here once every 2 or 3 months for their AYCE lunch which I think is a great value at $11. Add about $4 for the unlimited sashimi (yes, there is no limit) and you'll have your fill of unlimited sushi for about $18 after tax and tip.

Tomokazu is one of my favorite places for AYCE cause I think the pricing is of great value (although I've only been there for lunch and late night) and the quality is decent too. The place is really close to the giant Toys R Us sign so it's hard to miss. Parking is all over the streets on Broadway but they have their own little underground parking lot which I think you still have to pay for anyway. This place also goes by the name of Ninkazu... I don't know why the owner doesn't update their business cards but probably cause no one bothers to take one.

I really like the openness and the decor of this place. At the end, they have their Japanese style booths and their own little rock garden. However, I don't like their washrooms or at least the way to get there. Plus, you've gotta get through two doors to leave so you have to save that paper towel and since they don't have waste cans nearby, you leave it by their gas tanks on the way back to your table.
They have a pretty good selection of food and the sashimi has always been fresh for me. I'm normally a fan of salmon only but I think the tuna here is even better than the salmon. Granted, like any other AYCE joint, they won't bring you everything that you list down, but they do get the majority of it. The food comes at a relatively quick pace with enough spacing in between for us the finish our previous plates. Concerning food, my only big complaint is the lack of dessert since it's just hard jello but I do like the fresh oranges they also have available (listed as fresh fruit). Overall, food is pretty solid but not out of this world.

I know AYCE isn't for everyone and expectations usually aren't high but this is one of the few I really like (the other is E-Bei on Granville but I haven't been there for years.). For what it's worth, I can tell you that I think Fish on Rice and Kawawa sushi are not very good AYCE joints.

My fondest memory of this place has to be when I came with a group of friends after late night studying at SFU and one guy had a little too much to eat too quickly. He said he needed to #2 and then stood up. After 5 seconds, he said "oh, it went away" and then sat down and continued eating. Maybe there's something alluring about Tomokazu's food that makes you just want to keep on eating... or maybe it's because their washrooms are gross and that you'd rather go home to do your business.


Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant
201 - 1128 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6H1G5
Tel: (604) 677-0434

The Fish House in Stanley Park

Meal time: Saturday 7:00pm

I came here for a friend's birthday on a dark and rainy night. I had the address ready in hand but still found the restaurant a little hard to find especially since it's shrouded somewhere in the forest. There is a parking lot but I believe that it is free parking after 6 pm.

It looked really nice and festive inside but on a rainy night, it's probably expected that it'd be empty. Actually, it just happened that out table was on the more open side while the other side was more dim and quiet. I suppose they figured we'd be a rambunctious bunch and placed us so.

Salmon frites ~ $8.75 - These tasted alright and weren't oily. It did come with aioli although it was already flavorful on its own. I didn't think it was worth the price though. I think potato fries are still better.

Steamed Mussels ~ $12.95 - I didn't eat this since I don't like shellfish but my friends that did noted that it was a fair share and that it was good.

Sticky Chili Sablefish ~ $29.95 - 6 oz. piece of fish and it came with a tasty risotto cake and it was quite good. The other option for those comparing is the simply prepared 8 0z. sablefish for a $1 less and it comes with mashed potatoes instead of the risotto cake. It also came with snow peas and either spinach or some kinda Chinese vegetable... I would've preferred vegetables other than these offerings.

Some kinda salmon special with veggies and a skewer of prawns ~ $35 - My friend said this was ok and was debating between this and the salmon bake which came with a $25 price tag. Once he saw the salmon bake my other friend ordered, he immediately regretted his decision. He said it was good but not great.
Seafood Bowl ~ $27.50 - I did not have the privilege of eating this but my friend said it was good. Take it for what it's worth shellfish lovers.

Overall, good but not memorable. Although our side was just us, the service was relatively slow. Our waiter, who also happened to be a young Chinese guy, seemed more interested in being buddy-buddy rather than serving us. When we got our bills, I put mine together with a guy friend since we split an appetizer and our entrees were almost the same price and he made a gay remark. When a guy combined bills with two other girls, he said "wow, menage-a-trois!". Seemed the waiter's mind was in the gutter and I was left thinking "damn, I should have combined with those girls instead." Unfortunately, automatic 18% gratuity.

Some of us ordered dessert and there were two birthdays. The guy brought out two desserts n a candle and we all started singing. We thought it was complimentary. After about 10 minutes, a girl (the gf of the birthday boy) mentioned that her dessert hadn't come. Turns out that the dessert with the candle given to the birthday boy was actually hers.

One other thing, Fish House allows you to combine different types of fish instead of getting one 8 oz. of the same one. If you look at the prices, if you're splitting with a friend, you're both better off getting an 80z of the same fish twice and splitting it amongst yourselves. Gee, this place is just full of surprises!

This has nothing to do with food or the Fish House but it was taken that night near the edge of the parking lot near Steamworks while it was raining and I thought it was nice, that's all.


The Fish House in Stanley Park
8901 Stanley Park Drive, Vancouver BC
Tel: (604) 681-7275
The Fish House