Sherman's Food Adventures: White Spot (Gilmore)

White Spot (Gilmore)

White Spot eh? You might be wondering why I'm here again... Well, the main reason is that my son really likes White Spot. There was one time we drove by a White Spot and ended up going to a different restaurant and he started crying. I'm really glad he doesn't like ABC! Today, we actually went to the Lougheed and Gilmore location instead of our usual North Road location. The other reason for visiting White Spot was to test the theory that not all locations are created equal. That's right, even with Chain restaurants, they have good and bad locations. Kim (I'm Only Here for the Food!) went to the Burnaby
Kingsway location recently and received indifferent service. Well, I've been to the Gilmore location before and it has never been my favourite White Spot. Why? First, it's small (I guess they can't do much about that). Second, the food and service is a bit slow. We'll see today if that is still true.

For starters, we were greeted at the entrance right away and seated. This is a very good start because in the past, we'd have to wait until someone noticed us. Once we were seated, our server came over and took our drink order. This is more like it! For the purposes of this blog, we decided to order a few different items from last time. We started with their very popular Zoo Sticks. With just the right amount of perfectly fried breading, the firm (but cooked) zucchini sticks were money. Hey, I'm not going to White Spot without having one of their burgers. As mentioned before, the burgers here are not really all that large (including the Bigger Better Burger) and contain enough mayo to make Hollandaise sauce look healthy. But for some reason, they rock! I went for a classic - the Monty Mushroom. A modest amount of sauteed mushrooms adorned the "bigger better" patty which was bathed in copious amounts of Triple-O Sauce (red relish and mayo). It's messy, but good!

Feeling a bit ol' school, Viv also ordered a classic - the CBC. No, not the TV station, but the Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese. Not quite a curry, not quite pot pie filling, the CBC is a White Spot original. It's got tender pieces of chicken with broccoli florets sitting in a creamy sauce with a hint of curry. Served separately was a colourful and fresh garden salad. The salad used to be on the same plate; but it appears that they have merely added more rice to the dish. Good thing because there was never enough rice with this dish before. I personally am indifferent towards the CBC; but my mom absolutely loves it. Viv thought it was alright; but she's not into creamy sauces anyways. As usual, my son got the pirate pack and he couldn't wait to get to the chocolate gold coin. Curiously he wasn't into the ice cream. He's such a picky eater.

Well, another predictable meal at White Spot, nothing more, nothing less. Maybe we'll visit another location next time and eat some other classic dishes. Unlike previous visits, this one at the Gilmore location was pretty good. We were greeted promptly, service was attentive and the food didn't take forever to come out (however, it was still a bit slow).

The Good:
- Predictable food
- Affordable eats
- Kid-friendly

The Bad:
- Try to stay away from the featured menus, something gets lost in translation
- This location has been a bit slow in the past for me
- Seating here is a bit tight

White Spot on Urbanspoon

7 comments:

holly said...

My favourite location is the one on Kingsway near Royal Oak. It's been nicely redone and is much more spacious than the others.

Food is always ok. I always order the burgers anyways, as I find that most of their new items are overpriced and not always done right. I used to love their pies, but now I find that they are usually too sweet and the portions have shrunk.

Anyways, it's more of a trip back to yesterday than it is about the food. I remember my parents taking me to the drive in location on Kingsway and we would have our food brought to the car on their funny yellow dishes (somehow, a few ended up in our home).

Chris said...

Hey Sherman. Popped over from I'mOnlyHerefortheFood (raidar), and wanted to say I've been enjoying the blog.

The comment today about ABC restaurant was so funny, I spilled my soup. Haha. Thanks for the great blog!

Sherman Chan said...

Hi Holly, yes I totally agree it is a trip back to memory lane when it comes to White Spot. Doubly agree with your comment about the new items. I wouldn't touch them.

Hi Chris! Thanks for reading! LOL... Yah ABC is not one of my favourites... as can tell!

KimHo said...

Holly, the one you mentioned is the one I went and had below par services. Not sure if it is a good or bad thing I did not grow up going to White Spot...

As for the new items, I think it is their attempt to attract customers who are more used to places like Moxie's, Cactus, et al, while still offering the dishes everybody is familiar with. However, of course, a lot of times ends up being more on the lines of fail...

kojiho said...

i went to the same location tonight, as usual, service was pretty good. their mayo rocks, it's got to be the best around, very rich. we always get the calamari, salmon burger and the double double. only problem today was the oil must have been really worked hard or was dirtied earlier because the calamari and fries ended up really dark, but not overcooked or with a bad taste. I used to work in a white spot subsidiary in my teens and they have a rock solid quality control system. overall, it was good though

Sherman Chan said...

Hi kojiho, yes White Spot is pretty consistent and if you order the right items, it's gonna be a solid experience.

LindsayDianne said...

The food is so slow because I no longer work there.

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