Archive for August, 2007
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
Jenkins and I went to one of our favourite places for cheap eats last week…Ebi Ten at 388 Robson St. Ebi Ten is a fast food Japanese place with a small but delicious menu. They have about 10 different main dishes, including terikyaki chicken with rice and tempura udon as well as a selection of prepared sushi.
Jenkins and I both decided to have the teriyaki chicken rice bowls for dinner. The teriyaki chicken is served on rice with a bed of lettuce and a little bit of mayo on top. Pretty different from what teriyaki chicken looks like at most places!
For $5.95, you also get a free pop or miso soup with your combo…which is great. If you opt out, your combo is $0.75 cheaper. Normally, the chicken teriyaki rice bowl is more than enough for dinner but we were a bit hungry that night so we added a couple of extra items.
I selected a small dish of wakame (seaweed). It was marinated in a vinegar dressing and tossed with some sesame seeds. There was also a hint of spiciness, which was nice.
Jenkins opted for some California rolls. In terms of taste, the California rolls here really aren’t that great…but are acceptable, especially if you are hungry. Both the wakame and the California rolls were $1.89 each.
Jenkins and I have been going to Ebi Ten for a few years now and it’s always a great place to grab a quick bite to eat. Most menu items are familiar to most people but some dishes (like the teriyaki chicken) have an interesting twist to them. I have never been here for lunch before but Jenkins tells me that the line-ups can get pretty crazy.
Details:
388 Robson St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-689-9938
Summary:
Food: 
for the teriyaki chicken and 
for the sides 
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
I went to Milestone’s on Lougheed in Buranby last week with Derek, Miguel, Tab, Terence, and Dustin for dinner. Normally, I don’t go to Milestone’s to eat. Not that there is anything terribly wrong with it, but I just find that there are places with better food for better value. In any case, I hadn’t been to Milestone’s for almost a year so it was time to see what had changed.
We decided to share the spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer. This is one of Milestone’s signature dishes and is normally a popular choice. Although it was good, the size of the dish was quite a bit smaller than I had remembered. At $9.99, I’m not sure if this was a good deal…even though they refilled our chips for free.
The guys mostly just ordered burgers and I didn’t get a chance to take pics of their dishes before they dug in. Tab and Dustin added some watercress dip to go with their fries. Personally, I couldn’t taste the watercress at all…but the mayo-based dip was good to dip the fries in.
I tried to be healthy and went for the grilled chicken salad. I had tried this years ago and remembered it to be pretty good. The salad was surprisingly filling but I suspect this was due to the generous sprinkling of tortilla chips. This probably wasn’t as healthy as I had hoped with all those chips, but it did add a nice crunch. The dressing itself was a peanut-y cilantro dressing which went great with the thinly sliced chicken and veggies.
In all, the food and ambiance at Milestone’s was pretty good. I still find the food to be a bit overpriced for what you get but at least you always know what to expect. Be careful if you are sitting outside on the patio at the Lougheed Milestone’s though. We got attacked by a couple of hungry bees a few times.
Details:
4420 Lougheed Hwy, Burnaby
Tel: 604-291-7393
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, August 27th, 2007
John and I went for coffee at the Starbucks near our work the other day. By “coffee”, we just mean drinks…seeing that neither of us are big coffee drinkers.
All summer, I’ve been drinking the summer special drink of blueberry white tea lemonade. I normally get my iced drinks at Starbucks with half syrup and easy/light ice. I find that the full syrup drinks are a bit too sweet with me. The lemonade and blueberry syrup make for a nice and refreshing summer drink.
John decided to have the green tea latte. If you can get over the green colour, it actually tastes quite good! It comes with a shot of melon syrup which is hard to pick out at first but adds an interesting twist to the drink.
The thing I like the most about Starbucks is their seasonal drinks. Although they tend to be on the pricey side for a coffee or tea, it is a nice indulgence on a summer day.
Details:
Starbucks is located basically on every other block in the Lower Mainland. You shouldn’t have trouble finding one but the one I went to was at the corner of Kingsway and Boundary in Vancouver.
Summary:
Food:
Service: n/a
Price: $
Posted in Drinks, Reviews | 3 Comments »
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
Connie introduced me to a new brand of instant noodles today. How new it is exactly, I’m not sure…but I’ve never heard of this until a few days ago. On the package, it looks like a regular package of instant noodles in a bowl…but if you read the label carefully, you see that it has real beef in it! Real beef…I was curious as to how this was pulled off.
For some reason, I thought the beef would be freeze dried so I was a bit doubtful as to its taste. However, upon opening the package, I found that the beef was actually in a foil package.
The instructions on the package recommend you to put all the condiments, except for the beef, in the bowl and then fill with boiling water. Then you cover the bowl for 3 minutes and while the noodles are being cooked, you put the foil packet with the beef on top so that it gets heated by the water.
I didn’t read the instructions carefully so I just opened the packet with the beef and poured everything in. In the end, I think this is better because the beef may not be completely heated if you just throw it on top of the bowl and wait for the steam to heat everything up.
The noodles tasted the great…as did the chunks of beef! As most instant noodles usually are, it was a bit on the salty side, but it was ok. The beef chunks also tasted fine although I wish there was more.
I ate this for lunch today but in the future, I would probably bring an egg and veggies to throw in with the noodles to make the meal more substantial. Connie bought this from the Candyland store in Yaohan Centre in Richmond. I’ll have to check it out the next time I’m there. It’s a great staple for my cupboard at work for those days when I don’t have lunch.
Posted in Asian, Chinese, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007
Jenkins and I went to a festival in Chinatown a couple of weeks ago. I should have written it up sooner so that it was more timely, but I’ve been having internet connection problems. Hopefully, this will give you a good idea of what was there so you can check it out next year.
The booths and stalls that were there were similar to the Chinatown and Richmond Night Markets…except it was during the day. Even the canopy signs said “Chinatown Night Market”! We got there at around 11 in the morning and it was already filled with people.
Jenkins and I went to the festival on empty stomachs and were ready to try the snacks that were there. Most items were around $2.50 so it was easy to try several different things.
We started with some pan-fried soy sauce rice rolls. These were freshly made when you ordered them. There was a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds, which I liked. This cost $2.75.
We decided to check out the stall next door, which looked extremely busy. Things looked promising.
Everything looked so good at this stall that we wanted to try everything! But we settled on some siu mai (pork dumplings) and deep-fried stinky tofu.
I found the siu mai to be a bit mushy and flavourless. At $2.50, this wasn’t really worth it, especially since we only got four pieces.
On the other hand, the stinky tofu was fabulous. For $2.50, we got a heaping plate of stinky tofu, sprinkled with some special sauce. It also came with a side of pickled cabbage and carrots. Yum! For those of you who are apprehensive about stinky tofu, it is at its smelliest before it gets cooked or fried. After that, the smell is barely even noticeable.
The festival itself took up a relatively small area on the streets near the Sun Yat Sen gardens. There were some clothing stands and other stalls that sold electornics and gadgets. But we were there mainly for the food so did not investigate the other stalls too much. The festival wasn’t enough to make up a full-day event, but was a fun stop if you were in the neighborhood.
Posted in Chinese, Reviews | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 21st, 2007
After all the talk about White Spot a couple of weeks ago in Ho Yummy, Jenkins and I decided it was time to have some Triple-O sauce so as to give an appropriate follow-up report. We decided to go to the White Spot on Seymour & Georgia in downtown.
I almost always get the same thing each time at White Spot…the Monty Mushroom burger. The only thing that differs is if I get fries or salad on the side. This time, I decided to go all out and ordered fries and coleslaw. Other side options include mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, double coleslaw, and green salad.
I was feeling particularly indulgent so I even ordered extra Triple-O sauce for my fries. Yum!
Jenkins went with a healthier option…he had the BC Chicken burger with green salad and balsamic vinaegarette. Contrary to popular belief, the BC actually stands for bacon and cheese…not British Columbia. :p
This was another great meal at White Spot. They don’t have anything fancy but you always know what to expect. I suppose that makes sense when you order the same thing each time, like I do! It’s been a while since I’ve tried a non-burger item on their menu — with the exception of brunch. What are some of your favourite items to order when you go to White Spot?
Details:
580 West Georgia St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-662-3066
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | No Comments »
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