Marble Slab Creamery

After some Japanese food (again, I seem to eat a lot of that), I wondered if anyone wanted dessert. I was considering going down to Save On or Safeway to pick up some pie. But Nikita (that's what I'll call her from now on) suggested I go to Marble Slab which was nearby. Ah yes, I've been to Coquitlam Marble Slab since it's the closest location to my house. There are quite a few people who will argue that the copycat (I've learned recently), Coldstone Creamery, is better. Well, even if it is, we don't have Coldstone up here in Canada.

You may ask what exactly is Marble Slab. Well, it is essentially an ice cream parlour with freezing cold slabs of marble where they mix in goodies with your ice cream. Think of it as a Blizzard or McFlurry, but Marble Slab uses hard ice cream instead of soft serve. Moreover, you have a choice of several flavours of ice cream other than plain vanilla. The cold slabs of marble ensure that your ice cream doesn't melt into a gooey mess while the mixing takes place. To my surprise, the staff at this location of Marble Slab were not only inviting me to take pictures, they knew exactly what a blog was and asked about it! These employees are in the know!

I ordered a couple of items: a sundae, vanilla ice cream with apple pie pieces and a double dark chocolate ice cream with Skor Bar. The staff were very friendly and had my order completed before I even had a chance to finish taking all of my pictures. The staff made sure I had utensils for my order and lids as well. So how does it taste? Well, the ice cream at Marble Slab is pretty good, it's creamy and has plenty of flavour. However, if you start adding goodies to the ice cream, it can get rather sweet, but I guess you wouldn't be getting Marble Slab if you didn't want sweet anyways. One possible negative of Marble Slab is that it can get pricey. One order of ice cream with one mixin' (that's one item), is $4.95. You have a choice of it being served in a cup or a waffle cone. This is not incredibly expensive, but knowing that gourmet gelato at places like Vivo, Amato and La Casa cost less, it may not be worth it for ice cream "connoisseurs". However, I personally like it. It's a fun, tasty treat, as long as you don't do it too often.

The Good:
- It's fun
- It's sweet and sinful
- Your kids will love you for it

The Bad:
- A bit pricey
- It's sweet and sinful

Marble Slab Creamery
Various Locations
www.marbleslab.com

Simon Sushi

Nikita, who introduced me to Bombay Palki (now Sohi's) invited us over to her place in Langley for some sushi. There is this new Japanese restaurant that opened up next to their subdivision called Simon Sushi. My first thought was: Simon Sushi? Sounds like someone's name or "Simon Says". But I know that she and her hubby have good taste, so I trust their judgment. So, off we go to Langley! We head over to pickup our food at Simon Sushi and my first thoughts are: where are the other stores? Simon Sushi sits in a little mall all by itself with very few tenants around it. Upon entering the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised by the modern decor and the cleanliness of the place.

It was a bit comical to me that all the staff wore "Simon Sushi" apparel in bright colours, particularly the lime green caps. The staff there seem very friendly, they didn't even stare at me when I began snapping pictures. I guess they figured I was a Japanese tourist? Anyways, we headed back home with our food which consisted of: Salmon Sashimi, Crunch Avocado Roll, Alaska Roll, Spicy Salmon Roll, and Dragon Roll.

The generous slices of Salmon Sashimi were very fresh. The same could be said about all the other rolls as well. The Crunch (have no idea why it's not called Crunchy) Avocado Roll was good, it had tempura bits rolled on the outside. This gave a nice contrast in texture to the soft avocado. The Alaska Roll was tasty; however it was very odd. First, the salmon was on the outside and then it was topped with something that resembled miso/ginger dressing, which is usually found on Japanese green salad.

The Spicy Salmon Roll was quite spicy, if you don't like heat, don't eat this one. Lastly, we had a specialty roll, the Dragon Roll. The roll was pretty good; however, much like the other rolls, it was smaller than expected. The Dragon Roll costs $9.95 and I didn't think it looked like a $9.95 roll. Although it was quite tasty, I think the same roll at Tomoya is 1/2 larger for the same price. One of the reasons the rolls seem smaller is that Simon Sushi, unlike Samurai Sushi House, does not use a lot of rice on the outside of the rolls. But, I do think they could use a bit more rice just to give the rolls a bit more substance. With that being said, I still think Simon Sushi is a solid choice for Japanese food out in Langley.

The Good:
- Food tastes good
- Friendly staff
- Inviting dining room

The Bad:
- Prices are a tad high
- The rolls are a bit small

Simon Sushi
#5 - 20178 96th Avenue
Langely, B.C.
604-888-5055

Business Hours:
11:30am - 3:00pm, 4:00pm - 8:30pm (Mon - Sat)

Jane`s

Okay, let's get this out of the way first. Jane's is a dive. Upon entering the place, we were greeted with wood paneling, red vinyl booths and an array of mismatched chairs with duct tape on them. Ah yes, my youth, circa 1970's - 1980's. However, don't let the retro decor scare you, there is something more to this. Jane's is a Chinese-Canadian food restaurant. That designation alone would send most people running for the hills, since this type of restaurant (especially in the GVRD) is slowly becoming extinct.

Well, I'm not here to talk about the quasi-Chinese food at Jane's. In fact, Viv and I were not impressed with the fried noodles that the next table ordered. We came to Jane's to have their $3.50 breakfast. Similar to other cheap breakfast places such as Bon's Off Broadway and Joe's Grill, the breakfast is cheap, but never to be confused with other places such as White Spot, IHOP and Denny's. However, some people might even argue that the breakfasts at the aforementioned places are not very good.

Anyways, what does $3.50 get you at Janes? Well, you get 2 eggs, a choice of 3 bacon strips, 3 sausages or a ham steak, with home fried potatoes and toast. Honestly, that's a lot of food for $3.50. For the kiddies, we ordered the 2 pancakes with scrambled eggs and a ham steak ($5.95). Of course for $3.50, there will be some trade offs. First, although the pancakes were extremely large, they were rubbery. Second, the scrambled eggs were not really scrambled, they were more like fried scrambled eggs (a la Hong Kong cafe-style). But really... for $3.50, I ain't gonna care! The service is quite friendly and efficient. Looks like a family-run operation. To sum it up, despite the 1970's retro decor (it's probably the same decor from then) and the issues with some food items, in the words of Snake, "When you can pay for a meal with loose change, that's a plus."

The Good:
- Cheap breakfast
- Ample portions
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- It's a dive
- Not sure about the Chinese-Canadian food

Jane's
4217 Hastings Street
Burnaby, B.C.
604-293-1343

Business Hours:
9:00am - 9:30pm (7 days a week)

Anastasia

KDee had been bugging me for awhile to try out Anastasia Steak & Seafood out on 72nd near King George Hwy. One problem is that I live nowhere near there. However, I saw an opportunity tonight as I was going to attend my school's play in North Delta. So Viv and I trek out to Anastasia in Friday rush hour traffic. Upon entering Anastasia, we were greeted to a decor that was stuck in the 1980's, complete with big flower arrangements. By no means was it uninviting, we were just amused by it. Looking around the restaurant, we were surprised by the amount of seniors in the restaurant. I suddenly felt such much younger!

Since Anastasia is a steak and seafood restaurant, I choose to have Prime Rib and Viv chose the Chicken Souvlaki. First, we started off with the Calamari. It came hot, but curiously not crunchy. This could be attributed to the fact the rings of squid were quite large; thus making it harder to fry. Actually, I prefer larger rings of squid, so that didn't really bother me. My meal came with a choice of soup or salad, and I chose the clam chowder. It was cream-based and I liked it. However, it reminded me of the clam chowders I've had in Hong Kong-style cafes in the past. These type of clam chowders are exemplified by starchy milkiness rather than creaminess.

My prime rib was done perfectly (medium rare) and it came with the bone. This is one of the few times I have received the rib still attached to the meat. For me this was a bonus, since I really enjoy the meat around the rib itself. The baked potato that came with the prime rib was also done very well; however the vegetables were definitely a miss. They were spongy, a clear indication that they were frozen vegetables. For $21, I think one would expect fresh vegetables. Another miss was the garlic bread, it looked like a leftover pontoon from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It was totally soaked in butter.

Viv had issues with the Souvlaki. The chicken itself was tender (except for the end pieces), but it was quite salty. The bed of rice was a bit cold and hard. However, the most disappointing part of the dish was the Greek Salad. For reasons unknown, there was basalmic vinegar in it. There shouldn't be balasmic vinegar in Greek salad (although there are versions with it), it stains the vegetables and cheese. In addition it overpowers the flavours. The acid should be only lemon juice. Also, the feta cheese (if it was feta cheese) consisted of small shavings on top of the salad. The feta cheese should have been in cubes or crumbled on top of the salad. Now, I'm not even sure how they were able to shave the cheese. Then, on top of the whole mess was dried oregano. It was not mixed into the salad, it was just dumped on top. I could say that this was the worst and the least authentic Greek salad we've ever seen.

So it's really hard to say how the food is at Anastasia from only trying 2 dishes and an appetizer. We saw the table beside us have the Seafood Dinner for 2 and it looked fabulous, with a bounty of seafood on a big platter. I'm sure there are some good dishes mixed with some bad dishes as Anastasia. This is where I have a concern. The prices at Anastasia are a bit pricey. I have no problem with that; however, the food quality as a whole must reflect those prices. For the 3 items we ordered, the food quality as a whole did not justify the price. I am not saying the food was terrible. In fact, my prime rib was excellent, but, for the price I paid, I could've eaten at the Keg and would have gotten fresh vegetables. As for the service, I would say that was the highlight of the evening. It was efficient, friendly and professional. It's just too bad the food has too many issues.

The Good:
- Service was excellent
- Dining room was comfortable, despite being in a time warp
- Prime rib was excellent

The Bad:
- Food quality is not in line with the prices
- Worst Greek Salad we've ever had
- Frozen vegetables

Anastasia Steak & Seafood
13486 72nd Avenue
Surrey, B.C.
604-594-2322

Business Hours:
4:00pm - 10:00pm (Tue - Thu)
4:00pm - 11:00pm (Fri - Sat)
4:00pm - 9:30pm (Sun)

Maguro Sushi

Still experiencing the lingering effects from the underwhelming meal at Nordel Sushi, I decided to go Japanese again today. There was an afternoon meeting scheduled in Ladner and L-Pete had suggested I try Maguro Sushi. He used to work in Ladner and said that it is the best Japanese restaurant out there. If I can recall, there are only a handful of Japanese restaurants in Ladner... I guess there isn't much competition! However, lack of competition does not mean you can serve crap and get away with it, the people of GVRD are too savvy for that.

So I get to Maguro Sushi as it opened and apparently that was a good decision. In a matter of minutes, the place filled up and there was a huge lineup at the door. I overheard a discussion at the table beside me raving about it. It appears Maguro has a strong following. In order to get a true sense of the food here, I ordered the Sushi and Sashimi Box. It includes miso soup, rice, gyozas, tempura, chicken teriyaki, sashimi and nigiri sushi. I'm not sure if there was a backlog of takeout orders or not, but my food took 1/2 hour to arrive. I'll assume this was an exception to the rule.

However, once I got my order, it was a sight to behold. The sushi and sashimi looked fabulous, it was fresh and the pieces were large. I was pleasantly surprised to see wild sockeye salmon rather than the standard farmed Atlantic salmon! There were 2 generous pieces each of tuna, wild sockeye salmon, seared toro and hamachi (yellowtail). In addition, there were 1 piece each of salmon, tuna, tai (red snapper), and ebi (shrimp) nigiri sushi. The fish was very fresh and tasty, it was sweet and not fishy at all. I liked the firm texture as well. This was helping me forget the stuff I had at Nordel Sushi.

The chicken teriyaki was tender and I liked it; but it was different in the sense that they used chicken breast rather than dark meat. Well, the material costs are much higher using white meat as opposed to dark meat. However, somehow it just seems better using fattier chicken meat for teriyaki. The tempura was pretty standard, one piece each of yam, carrot, snow pea and shrimp. The 2 gyozas, yes, TWO gyozas were quite good, but came stone cold. I mention 2, because other Japanese restaurants (Minori & Akari) I've been to in Delta only give you one lonely gyoza. The service at Maguro is adequate and friendly; but it gets a bit sparse when it's busy. The dining room consists of booths and it's pretty comfortable; however, the cushions are a bit thin, so don't consider sitting there for too long. One more thing to note is that the table tops are made of uneven tile; thus, if you shift your teacup, it might tip over. Ultimately, I'm pleasantly surprised at this local gem. Not many people out of the Ladner area know about Maguro and I think they should. It can rival most Japanese restaurants in the GVRD (except for places like Octopus Garden & Ajisai) and it's in Ladner! It's nice to know that the there are more than chain restaurants and fast food outlets here.

The Good:
- Fresh sushi and sashimi
- Good value
- Lots of parking

The Bad:
- Really busy, get there early
- Need more servers

Maguro Sushi
5241 Ladner Trunk Road
Delta, B.C.
604-940-2267

Business Hours:
11:30am - 9:30pm (Mon - Sat)

Nordel Sushi

Overhearing a discussion between Tash and KDee today regarding all-you-can-eat sushi in North Delta, I was intrigued. The closest AYCE Japanese restaurant is Top Gun Sushi in New Westminster, 15 minutes away. Tash decided to warn me that she's gotten sick a few times before and told me to eat at my own risk. Well, since it's Sherman's Food ADVENTURES, I was ready for the challenge. As I walked into the restaurant, I was greeted by a nice lady who asked if I was going to do regular or all-you-can-eat menu. I decided for all-you-can-eat and I would learn to regret that decision.

For $16, yes FOR $16, you can get lunch AYCE. Now, for $16, you would imagine a very diverse menu with no limits or anything. WRONG! The selection was so small, they had to print in extremely large font on the menu to fill the page! The choices for AYCE are as listed on the scanned image and the sashimi was only limited to 2 orders of 3 pcs each. Not only that, the sashimi was cut into little bits no bigger than a cheese nip. Seriously, look at the picture, the lemon slice dwarfs the 3 pcs of Salmon Sashimi (remember you're paying $16 here)! Not only is that incredibly small, that is not the way you slice sashimi! The sushi chef must be seriously talented since one might cut their finger trying to make pieces that small!

Moreover, there was another limit on the Hokkigai Nigiri. Mind you, the sashimi and sushi were quite fresh and I enjoyed eating it. The Dynamite Roll was pretty good, with crunchy prawn tempura in the middle and with not too much rice on the outside. The Sunomono salad was a complete bust since they used the incorrect vermicelli noodles. Rather than using the thicker glass vermicelli, they used the thin Chinese type which are meant for stir fried noodles. Also, the shrimp in the Sunomono was neither de-veined or fresh tasting! Ugh!

The beef and chicken teriyaki were passable, but both were a bit overcooked. One item that was pretty good were the fried gyoza. They were a bit oily, but tasted good. But, what the @)#$* are they charging $16 for this stuff??? A 15 minute drive will land you at Top Gun Sushi and you can eat all you want for $11. Moreover, the selection at Top Gun is 3 times the amount at Nordel Sushi and I don't even particularly like Top Gun that much either! This might change my mind! I do understand this is a small family-run operation and their material costs are probably higher than Top Gun; but seriously, how can you get away with charging $16 for essentially a few items.

Get this, for dinner it's $24 and the selection doesn't get much better... If you are going to rob me, then at least wear a mask! My goodness, do they think people in North Delta/Surrey are that clueless??? Well, I guess there are some that can be fooled, but eventually they will clue in. This reminds me of when I visited Edmonton, there are no good AYCE Japanese places there. But we are in the GVRD, where Japanese restaurants and AYCE grow on trees. If you want to compete, this is not the way to go. I do realize a lot of places do not have Sashimi during lunch AYCE, but it's only a $2 - $3 surcharge and you get as much as you want. Places like Fish on Rice and Shabusen actually include it in their lunch AYCE and although they have a limit too, their portion sizes are 3 times as large.

Now, to be completely fair, their regular menu seems more in line with the prices with other Japanese restaurants in the area. In addition, the service was very good and friendly at Nordel Sushi. Also, the lunch specials seem reasonable for the price. Thus, if you avoid the AYCE, Nordel Sushi isn't the worst choice for Japanese Food. However, I think the food at Akari and Minori are better.

The Good:
- Friendly and attentive staff
- Sashimi and Sushi was decent
- Wasabi was not watered down

The Bad:
- @!&*$# AYCE for $16 (lunch) and $24 (dinner)
- Can you cut pieces of fish any smaller????
- When you actually have wasabi as an item on the AYCE menu, you know you don't have enough selection

Nordel Sushi
#125 - 12080 Nordel Way
Surrey, B.C.
604-597-7220

Business Hours:
11:00am - 9:00pm (Mon - Sat)
12:00pm - 7:00pm (Sun)

Vera`s Burger Shack

I was in the downtown Vancouver area today and decided to pay Vera's Burger Shack a visit. Although there are plenty of locations in the GVRD, there is not one near where I live. When I used to live in downtown, I would frequent the Kitsilano location on Cornwall. I guess my loyalty to this location has not subsided, since I subconsciously drove right to it. This particular location has doubled in size from the original one-unit restaurant. In my opinion, I think Vera's serves up some of the best burgers in town. However, it is not THE best burger, I would save that distinction for Moderne Burger (well, at least in my opinion).

Vera's burgers are good since they only use fresh ingredients. The patties are never frozen and are made fresh daily. Frozen patties are often dried out since the moisture in them have formed ice crystals. When they melt, all the juice is lost in defrosting and cooking. Unfortunately, a good burger comes at a cost. The basic Vera burger is $5.99, which is reasonable. However, the specialty burgers are all around $8 -$10, and that does not include fries. This brings up the debate whether a burger on its own is worth $10. I think this is solely based on personal preference. If you love burgers (which I do), then it is well worth it. If you are indifferent towards burgers, then you probably think it's crazy. Either way, Vera's continues to do well; therefore, they must be doing something right.

So, after looking over the menu several times (I have a habit of second-guessing myself), I choose the Pawer Burger, which comes with cheese, a fried egg and onions. I added roasted garlic for 69 cents. My burger was excellent, the beef was just cooked, so it was still moist and flavourful. Every bite was juicy; the melted cheddar cheese and runny egg yolk just oozed all over the patty. This is what a burger should be like! My friend (let's call him 007), went with the G-Money, which is a monster 2 - patty burger with double cheese, and double fried mushrooms. It was messy, with cheese and mushrooms oozing all over his hands. 007 proclaimed that the messiness helped enhance the burger experience. He seemed a bit distressed after finishing the burger since it was so big...

We also ordered a side of fries and they were fresh and crispy. They were what fries should be like; crispy on the outside, tender potato-ness on the inside. The total bill for our burgers, fries and drinks was not cheap, we could have eaten at Whitespot, Milestone's or Cactus Club for that price (assuming we ordered burgers there too). However, the burgers at the aforementioned restaurants are not as good (in my opinion), as Vera's. In conclusion, if you love burgers, Vera's is worth it, if you don't, then probably not.

The Good:
- Burgers are excellent
- Lots of options, in terms of toppings and menu items
- Many locations

The Bad:
- A bit pricey for this type of restaurant
- Parking is scarce (for this location at least)

Vera's Burger Shack
1935 Cornwall Ave
Vancouver, B.C.
604-228-8372
www.verasburgershack.com

Business Hours:
11:00am - 11:00pm (7 days a week)