Vina Vietnamese (Metrotown)

Ambiance: Food Court

Seating/Wait time: Food Court

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal: 

Buen Rieu
S2
Small $5.75

Personal Remarks:  With so many choices at the Metrotown food court, it's hard to decide on what to eat.  You rely a lot on pictures, or eat what you're usually accustomed to eating.  But a food court is actually a great place to try new things.


Food court food is expensive because of convenience, but compared to eating in a restaurant it's actually cheaper.  On this day, I wanted to get away from the normal A&W and NY Fries, eventually it was either a beef ball noodle soup and this the Buen Rieu.  I noticed the owner did not have a picture of the beef ball noodle soup and reasoned that if the owner felt this dish is worthy enough to advertise, then it must be worth trying.


This dish looks spicy because it's red, but it's actually not.  If you read some of my previous ventures at Vietnamese restaurants, I do tend to try the tomato based broth more than the normal chicken stock broth noodles.  So, I thought I give this one a try and see how it compares to the other restaurants.  


This broth is not as rich as the ones you would enjoy in a restaurant, it does taste a bit watered down.  The portion I ordered was a small and there is substantially a lot less noodles compared to the "small's" you'd get in a restaurant.


The noodles were normal rice noodles.  The protein that you see is either pork or beef, to be honest I didn't give it much thought.  I just ate it.  Sometimes, it's best not to know.  The only veggies was bean sprout, cilantro, chives, and tomato.   They don't give a lot of meat and most of this is just noodle.  So, if you're really hungry you might have to order the large.

In terms of just having something to fill you up for a decent price, based on food court standards, this is will do.  It's simply average.  It wasn't great for it's value, but it isn't bad either.  So, if you're just wanting something different, this is a "something different" dish to order.

Value: 3/5 Overall: 3/5

Uncle Fatih's Pizza (East Broadway) and (Abbott)

Ambiance: Clean-ish

Seating/Wait time: A few seats, but more of a take out place 

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal: 

XL Pizza
1/2 Beef and Blue Cheese
1/2 Hawaiian
Pick Up $17.95

Personal Remarks:  I have their number on my speed dial! When you order an XL Pizza you get to choose 2 different toppings! Not only that, it's going to be warm and fresh when you eat it because it's made especially for you!

There are 12 slices in an XL, so it breaks down to $1.50/slice.  People usually order the 2 slices and a pop which is $4.50, so relative to that, the XL is a way better deal.  You can always hit up the Safeway to get your soft drink fix.

This place is indeed yummy, it's more expensive than Fresh Slice, but they have better taste and variety. Uncle Faiths is the better choice.  If you're in Vancouver, this is definitely the place to visit to try what Vancouver's pizza tastes like.

The area is kind of sketchy if you're a tourist, you might get harassed by some homeless people asking you for change (they don't want change for pizza).  If you're a local, you'll probably still be harassed.  But that should not deter you from visiting this place.  

If you're a girl, planning to visit this place alone, please bring someone with you! 

Value: 5/5 Overall: 4/5

Green Lemongrass

Ambiance: Clean-ish, like a lot of other Vietnamese restaurants 

Seating/Wait time: Plenty of seats

Dress Code: Casual

Crowd: Everybody

Meal: 

"T23" Hu Tieu Do Bien Chua Cay

Seafood, tomato and pineapple in a spicy tamarind soup
(non-spicy)

Large $8.00

"G1" Vietnamese Drip coffee
$3.50

Personal Remarks:  I've been looking all over town for "Bien Chua" because my mom only makes this when her sister visits Vancouver.  So, when my aunt isn't in town, and I want to eat this, I can't.  


It wasn't until a few months ago that I finally ate at Green Lemongrass.  My friends come here after badminton, but the one time they came, I couldn't go.  A couple of weeks later, I decided to come here myself and found Bien Chua on the menu and I was so excited.  Sadly, I had no one to share my excitement with.

So far I've only found Joyeaux Cafe and here to serve Bien Chua.  


This dish is so full of goodies, it's really hard for me to try other dishes on the menu because I can't think of another dish that I want to try.  The broth is drinkable and flavourful.  There's an abundance of seafood and noodles.  This is more expensive than Joyeaux, but the portion is bigger here.


The Vietnamese coffee drip coffee is just the same as it is anywhere else.  After ordering it, I wish I had actually saved my $3.50 because I could have went to Starbucks for a $2.00 coffee instead.  I didn't expect the soup to be so tasty,  I actually didn't need to order the coffee here.

Value: 4/5 Overall: 4/5