Joey Burnaby

HOURS: 

Sun to Wed 11am to midnight

Thu 11am to 1am

Fri & Sat 11am to 2am

Ambiance: Clean and modern with a choice between two seating areas.

The Bar:  TV’s, alcoholic beverages, more lively, lots of shouting.

Dining Area:  More relaxed, conversational, and comfortable.

Deciding which area to sit in, depends on your mood and if there is a game or fight going on.  

Seating/Wait time: Plenty of seats

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal: 

Lunch Rotisserie Chicken

Fries and Coleslaw

$19.00

Personal Remarks:  

My default meal at Joey’s is always the Ahi Tuna Burger.  My friend said I was predictable and boring, always eating the Ahi Tuna Burger.  So, to prove to him that I am capable of trying different items I ordered the Rotisserie Chicken.

I don’t normally order chicken at restaurants because they cook the chickens dry.   I hate dry chicken and it usually ends with me hating my meal. 

My favourite part to eat of the chicken is the skin.  It is not healthy but it is so tasty. 

Despite having a great workout in the morning, the temptation was just too great.  My mind was made up on the chicken, and the chicken was what I was going to eat.

When the chicken came out it looked better than I imaged and it was a full dish.  My initial thought was if this is the lunch portion, then dinner portion must be huge!

The sides were tasty; the fries lost its crunch quickly but the coleslaw was good.  I would recommend you substitute the fries for a salad instead.   

Chicken was juicy and not dry.  It wasn't overcooked either and the skin was amazing.  This is an awesome guy dish and a great protein lunch.

Taste and overall experience was great.  However, the price tag of $19 is a little bit much for lunch.  It’s a great “I got a raise today” or “I think I deserve it” meal.

Maybe pack your lunch for 4 days then come here on the Friday to try the chicken!

Value: 2/5 Overall: 4/5

The Reef (Commercial)

Hours
Monday to Friday          11:00 a.m. ~ til late
Saturday & Sunday       10:00 a.m. ~ til late

Awesome Halloween Decorations!

Ambiance: Very cool, they decorated like a Caribbean shack.  Really gets you in the mood as you walk right through the doors.  

Seating/Wait time: Reservations recommended.

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody
Meal: 

Complementary Scones

Plantain Chips

$6.00

 Ackee and Saltfish

$17.00

Personal Remarks:  

Plantain Chips are so good! I recommended this as a share plate.  The best part was the mayo sauce.  The mayo is a tangy and spicy.  It is a wonderful complement to the crunchy plantain chips.  We had six people at the table and one order was great to share between everyone.

I was so excited to try the fish.  When it came out, the presentation could have been better.  It looked pretty messy. 

The fish was cooked well plus it was boneless.  But that doesn't mean you should not watch out for it. 

My favorite part of the dish was not the fish.  It was actually the coleslaw.  My friends and I were all complementing the coleslaw because it was a side that a lot of us had.

The rice was okay.  But after adding a bit of their house made sauce in that red jar.  The rice went from blah to amazing.  Their house made sauce is really spicy, so a little goes a long way.

There are so many items on the menu that I want to try.  I am already looking forward to my next visit.  The next time I definitely intend to try the Jerk Chicken.

Value: 5/5 Overall: 4/5

Kalvin's Szechuan Restaurant 松林居

Hours: 

Mon - Tue: 11AM - 2:30PM & 5PM - 9:30PM 
Wed: Closed 
Thu - Sun: 11AM - 2:30PM & 5PM - 9:30PM

Ambiance: Like a western restaurant diner, old large tables and chairs.  Not pretty.

Seating/Wait time: Not that many seats, could get busy at times.

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal: 

Beef Noodle Soup

Personal Remarks:  

Didn't enjoy the slow service, but I did enjoy the food.

Not the place to go when you have a 1 hour lunch break.

This is one of the more expensive restaurants in the neighborhood of the Victoria Drive area.    From the exterior it doesn't look like a place that could cost you more than $5.00 for a decent meal.  However, this is a $10-$15 per entree place.

This place could use some updates and renovations.  The decor is not welcoming at all and is not a place to bring someone for a first date.  This is a place to go with your friends when you want to fill your stomach.

If you don't judge the food based on the appearance of the restaurant and decor.  This restaurant is very tasty.  The broth is very flavourful and there was plenty of noodles.  The meal was very filling.

Beef - It was flavourful and did not break apart too easily.  It was a little too hard in terms of texture but it wasn't so hard that you would have trouble grinding the meat with your teeth.

Noodles - thick noodles, very tasty.

Brooth - Very flavourful, not oily. 

We had a table of three people and we had a 1 hour lunch break.  It took a while for the server to take our order.   Also, the food took a long time to come out.  None of us could finish our food in time.  We all had half of our meal left that we had to pack to go.  At the time there were only 3 other tables in the restaurant with no more than 3 people at each table.  

Evaluating this restaurant based on taste and value it definitely rates well in my books.  The promptness does need to improve.  Very hard to get back to work on time if the food takes so long to come out.  Or, I would recommend you come when you are not restricted by time.  

Value: 4/5 Overall: 4/5

Urban Fare

Ambiance: It's just the front area of the super market

Seating/Wait time: Surprisingly quite a bit of seating.

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal: 

Prosciutto Melon

Personal Remarks:  

Tip! - Ask for your sandwich to be toasted.  It will taste better.

I was in Downtown alone.  Making a bank deposit across the street.  I Did not have lunch yet and I did not want to eat at a sit down restaurant alone.  I looked across the street and saw Urban Fare.  So, I decided on the spot that I would try what they had to offer.

For those that don't know, Urban Fare is a really posh/expensive grocery store.  They also serve hot food and ready to eat food.  

I was able to buy the sandwich and a drink for under $10.00.  For a quick meal in the area and you are in a hurry to get back to work.  This is the place to go.

The sandwich tasted as good as it looked!

The container they use, it is not recommended that you bring this back to the office to eat.  It will get soggy.  You should eat this at the seating area they have.  Otherwise, you will not have an enjoyable sandwich experience.

Value: 4/5 Overall: 3/5

Enoteca Cotto Pizzeria

Hours of Operation

Monday – Thursday 11:30am – 9:30pm
Friday 11:30am – 10:30pm
Saturday 11:00am – 10:30pm
Sunday 11:00am – 9:30pm

Ambiance: Casual/Family

Seating/Wait time: Plenty of seating, not very busy

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal:

Complimentary Bread Dip

Calimari Fritto

Crispy fried squid, marinated roma tomato, salsa verde

$11.00

Pizza Salmone

Cold smoked steelhead salmon, fonduta, crispy capers, 63° egg, chives, hollandaise sauce

$16.00

Pizza Polpetti

Crushed Cotto meatballs, ricotta cheese, grana padano, spinach, tomato sauce, basil

$15.00

Personal Remarks:

This is my second time here.  Last time we ordered the "Pizza Prociutto e Uova".  It was forgetful, so this time it was time to try something different.  We had 3 people and we came here for brunch.  Their brunch menu is quite ingenious, the toppings for the pizzas were ingredients that you would normally eat during brunch.

Their complimentary bread dip was very tasty and we kept trying to guess what it was made of.  We were not able to figure out what it was made of because we finished it so fast.

Ordering 2 pizza's to share between one guy and two girls was too much.  We ordered too much food.  If you have three, an appetizer plus one pizza is enough for brunch.

The dough and crust is the thin crust style.  They try to keep things authentic here.  The taste of the crust is great at first but as the meal went on the dough became difficult to eat.  It became chewy and you had to give it a few extra bites and pull.  We do not eat slow either, it just seemed like the food got cold very quick.  Other than that the taste of the pizza toppings was decent.  The distribution of the toppings could have been more generous. 

While we were pulling the salmon pizza apart, there were a couple of occasions that we noticed not every slice got salmon.  So, some slices were just the sauce underneath and dough.

The Calamari was not spectacular for $11.00.  You could do without it. 

The Polpetti was not great or memorable.  I would tell you to order something else.  The salmon was good an unique that it is worth a recommendation.

Value: 4/5 Overall: 3/5

I Am Back

Blogging about food does not pay the bills.  

I apologize for taking such a long vacation.  Thanks for all the emails and support asking me to start writing again.

Just to let you know, while I was away I did not stop taking pictures and writing.  I've made a lot of notes and am happy to start writing again.  I have scheduled a writing block and picture editing block to make sure that I will be consistently posting again.  

Looking forward to giving some more guy style, guy eats, and some nutrition tips in the upcoming articles.  

Thanks again for your support!

P.S. We were unable to form a dodgeball team.  Despite my efforts, we just did not have enough people that were committed to forming a team.

Dine Out Vancouver 2012 $28 Menu Recommendations

Crispy Ling Cod from Maenam Dine Out 2012

With only 5 days left of Dine Out Vancouver 2012. I want to let you know my top $28 menu recommendations. My selection is based on the menu's presented by the restaurant itself relative to the next best choice.

Other blogger's reviews into consideration and the opinions and my friends' experience.

When people see the pamphlet no one considers the chain restaurants and immediately crosses out the Boathouse Restaurant and The Keg. 

Dine out is an opportunity for restaurants to put their best foot forward to entice you to come back and eat at their restaurant on non-dine out days. There is no point enjoying a dine out menu at a fancy restaurant when they serve you their "low end" food just to get you in the door.

I wouldn't waste my money and time at those places and I don't think you should either.

As there are 120 restaurants in the $28.00 menu my top recommendations in no particular order are the following:

1. Hapa Izakaya - Kitsilano/Robson/Yaletown
Menu: here
Location: 1516 Yew Street / 1479 Robson St / 1193 Hamilton Street
Phone Number: (604) 738-4272 / (604) 689-4272 / (604) 681-4272
Urban Spoon Rating: 85%/82%/82%

Everything looks beautiful and a creative dine out menu, even though they have multiple restaurants, it's a great place to go to.

2. Baru Latino
Menu: here
Location: 2535 Alma St
Phone Number: (604) 222-9171
Urban Spoon Rating: 88%

There's a good variety on their entree's, halibut, slow braised beef short ribs (usually lots of bones), and seafood mix

3. Maenam
Menu: here
Location: 1938 4th Ave West
Phone Number: (604) 730-5579
Urban Spoon Rating: 84%

Pro: Menu is really unique.
Con: Group of 2 only get to choose 1 dish from each category. Disappointing because you want to try other stuff too.

4. Edible Canada at the Market
Menu: here
Location: 1596 Johnston St
Phone Number: (604) 662-3606
Urban Spoon Rating: 87%

Pro: Rabbit Terrine and Elk! What a great chance to try something different.
Warning: Elk is a really tough meat for those that haven't tried it.

5. Xi Shi Lounge
Menu: here
Location: 1128 W. Georgia St
Phone Number: (604) 689-1120
Urban Spoon Rating: 100%

Pro: Dine out at a posh hotel, high standard of quality
Con: No variety on the menu.

The One Restaurant 美味關係

Ambiance: Just like every other "newer" dine in bubble tea restaurant

Seating/Wait time: Pretty busy at night. Expect to wait. Bad service experience story below (experienced by someone else).

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal:

If you have seen pictures of bubble tea oversized slush's on Facebook or Twitter and wondered where to get them, this is the place that serves them.

Strawberry Slush

$5.50

Disappointing that there was only 1/4 of a strawberry. The way they stack it up, I wonder if it is equal in cc to a takeout cup. They make it look like they're serving you two cups for the price of one.

Lychee Slush + Pearls

$5.50 + $0.50

Pearls were just the same as anywhere else.

Shaved Ice

Mango, Red Bean, Condensed Milk, and Purple Plum (not actual plum, only sauce)

$6.95 + $0.50

The portion size is great. Much more generous than other restaurants I know in the area.

Personal Remarks:

Bad Service Story: While we were waiting to be seated, a group of 3 people was also waiting for a table. I was in a group of 6 and they immediately had a table for us. 10 minutes later, a group of 4 people arrived. So, the group of 3 and group of 4 are obviously waiting for the same table. Another 10 minutes later, the server approached the group of 4 and said their table was ready. Then group of 3 had the expression, WTF! They were very upset about the situation and the server didn't do anything to rectify the situation.

I have no idea how long those 3 were waiting because they arrived before us, but I felt very bad for them.

I felt the manager should have offered them some free drinks or just told the group of 4 to give up their table because the other group was obviously there before them. The manager and servers did nothing about the situation and just let them sit and wait.

They waited another 5 minutes, then group of 3 just got angry and decided to leave.

I know if that happened to me, I would be very upset. But it didn't. I wanted to mention that story because I don't know if their story will be told. I think it's fair for the public to know that this restaurants service can be inconsistent.

The great thing about this place is the portion size. Also, there is good variety on their menu.

The service is quite slow for food, from order time to actually being served.

Value: 4/5 Overall: 3/5

Dine Out Vancouver 2012 $18 Menu Recommendations

With so many choices for Dine Out 2012, it's a bit overwhelming to know which restaurant to go to. There's no "shuffle" button to let you randomly choose a restaurant if you don't know or simply don't want to go back and forth bantering, "you decide", "I don't care, I'm okay with anything", "okay then you just pick one". 

Meanwhile deep in our minds, our opportunity cost is another better restaurant. If you're having trouble deciding, let me give you my top 3 picks in each price range category (Dinner Only).

$18 (52 restaurants available)

1. Dunn's Famous Montreal Smoked Meat Restaurant
Menu: here
Location: 827 Seymour Street
Phone Number: (604) 682-8938
UrbanSpoon Rating: 91%

2. Suika Snackbar
Menu: here
Location: 1626 West Broadway
Phone Number: (604) 730-1678
UrbanSpoon Rating: 88%

3. Bistro 101
Menu: here
Location: 1505 2nd Ave West
Phone Number: (604) 734-0101
UrbanSpoon Rating: 96%

Bonus
For $18 Menu's you can't go wrong with an extra restaurant

Urban Thai Bistro
Menu: here
Location: 1119 Hamilton St
Phone Number: (604) 408-7788
UrbanSpoon Rating: 82%

Remember Dine Out Vancouver Ends February 5, 2012!

True Confections (Broadway)

Ambiance: Romantic-ish, seats too close together for any intimate conversation.

Seating/Wait time: Not that big, available seating varies depending on the time of day you come. When people get a seat they don't leave immediately, there is a long waiting when people settle down because they just sit and chat.

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal:

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

$8.75

This was actually more sweet than I can handle, I can handle a lot of sweet. I take like 2 splenda's in my coffee and eat a lot of candy, I'm the only Asian that doesn't ask for "less sweet" in my drinks when eating out. Every time my mom see's me she asks if diabetes found me yet. This was so sweet that we couldn't even finish it.

Strawberry Cheesecake

$6.75

The strawberry cheesecake was a lot better. I don't like the fact that it doesn't have a breadcrumb crust. The strawberry tasted more like jelly (made from concentrate) than jam (made from real strawberry's). Texture wise, it could have been mixed longer. It wasn't clumpy and it wasn't as smooth as it should be for a cheesecake.

Size wise and quality wise, this is more like a $4.00 cheesecake and I think store bought ones do a better job.

Coffee

$2.45

Compare with Starbucks Tall House Coffee - $1.75.

Personal Remarks:

Granted the size Height x Width is as big as the plates themselves, but the lack of Depth was disappointing. The great thing about True Confections is the display of cakes, everything in there looks so delicious.

I wish it was gelato restaurant style and they gave you a spoon to sample the cakes before choosing one.

This is one of the most expensive desert shops I've been to and they just under delivered in terms of quality. If they increased the volume then this would be a great place to go. Then this place would actually give value even thought their quality is sub-par. However, just because this restaurant is on the west side of Vancouver it doesn't mean their quality is good.

This would not be a good place to bring a date for an after dinner chat. This place does not impress anyone. Their coffee is bad and you're way better off finding a Starbucks.

Value: 2/5 Overall: 3/5