Mel's Diner

Welcome to one of the most irrelevant and uninteresting posts you will ever read on this blog.  Maybe I'm exaggerating, but really, unless you are passing by Beatty, Nevada, this post will never apply to you.  However, if you are indeed driving through Beatty and in need of some eats, then for the 1% of you, it isn't irrelevant after all.  So we belong to that 1% because it was on our way to Mammoth Lakes from Vegas.  Trust me, there is literally nothing along the freeway until you get to Beatty.

We made the stop for a late lunch and made the cutoff before they closed at 1:00pm.  That is correct, you won't even be able to eat here if you arrive later!  For myself, I chose the Fish & Chips that featured both potato salad and fries.  I thought the fish was fine considering it was frozen.  It was crispy while flaky and moist inside.  Fries were pretty basic, but were crispy.  Not a fan of the potato salad as the potatoes were rather crunchy.

For my son, he went for one of his favorites in the Bacon Double Cheeseburger.  This was a solid diner burger featuring 2 well-seared beef patties which were still somewhat moist.  The two slices of bacon were fairly lean and prepared crispy.  No brioche bun here as we got the classic sesame version.  It did the job though, holding in all of the ingredients without falling apart.  Overall, a decent burger and no complaints.

For Viv, she had the Patty Melt with cheese and onions.  As you can see in the picture, the beef patty was rather moist and not all that fatty.  Pretty impressive for a small little diner in the middle of nowhere.  Bread was seared until crispy and brown on the flattop.  Nice crunch that contrasted the soft meat.  The addition of onions added some sweet sharpness while the amount of melted cheese was perfect.

The best item we had was the Clubhouse with turkey, bacon and ham. This triple-decker was chock full of meats as well as 2 types of cheeses and fresh lettuce and tomato.  Nothing complex, but this was huge and well-constructed.  Even the toast was perfectly crispy.  So as you can see, the food here is typical diner food.  Yet, it was good diner food at a very reasonable price.  Considering there isn't much to choose from along the route we were traveling on, it was a pretty satisfying lunch.

The Good:
- Solid diner food
- Cheap
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Lots of flies
- The washrooms are not the best

 

The Spud Shack

So I've been back to the Spud Shack on many occasions but never felt the need to blog about it again, but this time, I finally thought why not?  I mean, this is one of my favourite spots for house-cut fries with a variety of dips as well as their poutines.  Other than La Belle Patate, this is the place to get your hands on poutine in the GVRD.  They do have other things on the menu too and I will cover that in this post.  For those who don't drive, this is also quite convenient since it is located in the New West skytrain station.

Now the thing here is to get the Fries and really why would they be called the Spud Shack otherwise?  This time around, the fries were solid as usual being fluffy and light inside while crispy on the outside.  The dips we had were Roasted Garlic Mayo, Smoked Onion Mayo and Pamesan Mayo.  For me, I enjoyed the smoked onion mayo the most as it was sweet, aromatic and lightly smoky.  The roasted garlic was solid as it had strong garlic notes.  However, the parm mayo was quite salty due to the plethora of cheese.  Good for those who love parm!

Now their other prominent menu item is Poutine and lots of them.  We got The Original as well as Le Montreal (smoked meat, pickles and mustard).  As you can see, they use legit cheese curds and they were still intact being squeaky.  The gravy was salty enough to make an impact while also having a nice viscosity.  I personally love the smoked meat poutine as they don't skimp on the meat and pickles.  Add in the mustard and the whole thing wasn't too heavy.

They also have some burgers on the menu including the Effin' Good Burger with prime rib patty, smoked onion mayo, BBQ sauce, bacon, tomato jam, lettuce, pickle and Monterey jack cheese.  I've had this burger many times and it ranges from being juicy to a touch dry.  However, it is always nicely charred and fulfilling.  The chopped bacon adds smoky saltiness while the tomato jam adds sweet tanginess.  Overall a solid burger.

The other burger is the J.W. Wimpy Burger with 2 hand pressed beef & pork patties, double aged white cheddar slices, grilled onions and special Tuesday burger sauce.  Yes, this had Popeye's vibe written all over it (not the fried chicken chain, the cartoon) and I would gladly pay you on a Tuesday for a burger today!  This was good where the patties were juicy due to the addition of pork.  That white cheddar really came through as it was substantial.  This was packed with flavour.

Lastly, we had the 1 piece Cod & Chips with a side of tartar sauce.  So yes, the colour of the batter was rather dark.  That really wasn't the issue as it was crunchy and tasted fine.  Yet, it was on the greasier side.  The fish was perfect though, flaky and moist.  They really didn't skimp on the fries and the tartar was not only good with the fish (I recommend that you dip your fries into it as well).   So yah, the food at The Spud Shack is pretty straightforward and I personally enjoy it.  I actually crave the fries and wish I made it out more often.  Great place to grab a quick bite before a movie at the Landmark Theatres.

The Good:
- Solid fries with dips
- Burgers are good too
- Many varieties of poutine

The Bad:
- Limited seating  

Blue Heron

So our original plan was to eat at Monkey Business just past Spinreel ATV where we had a blast navigating the sand dunes.  Well, the place is closed on Tuesdays, so scratch that.  Next up was Front Street Provisioners...  Not open until 3:00pm.  Fine, look up a few more places and nope, they are just not open on Mondays and Tuesdays!  So we did the unthinkable.  Eat at a nearby random restaurant in Coos Bay.  Right on the main thoroughfare, Blue Heron Bistro was just that place.  Sporting eclectic decor and German cuisine, it seemed like an interesting enough spot for lunch.

As such, we went for some of the more well-known German dishes including the one that is actually Austrian in origin - Wiener Schntizel.  With medium-thick breading, the schnitzel was crunchy while pork tenderloin was not overwhelmed.  Even though it wasn't exactly juicy, the pork was still tender and not dried out.  We felt the sour cream mushroom gravy was probably a bit too tart, yet at the same time, it was flavourful and had a nice viscosity.  Sporting the same gravy, the Sauerbraten worked much better with it due to the inherent tanginess of the marinade.  The beef tenderloin was soft and tender and was aided by the ample amount of gravy.  On the side, the large helping of garlic mash was robust, yet smooth at the same time (some nice chunks in there too).

For myself, I had the Bratwurst with potato pancake, sauerkraut and a trio of mustards.  This was not a complex dish, but probably the best of the German offerings we tried.  The pork and veal sausage was nicely textured being tender and smooth with a rebound.  I loved the crunchy potato pancake topped with apple sauce and sour cream.  Even the sauerkraut was tasty where it was tangy with some pork hock bits.  Viv had the only non-German dish (Fish & Chips) and it was a miss in her books.  The fish was not particularly hot in the middle (although it was cooked through) and the batter was a bit greasy.  She liked how it was crunchy though.

We added a Clam Chowder partly because we were on the coast and isn't that what people eat when they are near water?  Yah, makes no sense, especially in a German restaurant.  Whatever the case, it wasn't bad being creamy and rich.  Lots of bacon in it which meant there was a salty smokiness to the chowder as well as a fatty silkiness.  The clams were definitely there, but we could've used more brininess.  As a bonus, we got a slice of the Chocolate Cake for paying in cash.  This was really good where the cake was moist and definitely chocolatey.  It wasn't overly sweet but the frosting definitely made up for that.  So there you have it, for a random restaurant, this did the trick and it wasn't too expensive.  Some hits and misses, yet a whole lot better than grabbing fast food.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Nice people
- Interesting menu and decor

The Bad:
- Some hits and misses
- Restaurant could use some cleaning

Mom's Cafe

Sometimes simple food is all it takes to keep everyone happy.  Of course, that excludes fast food, not because of it being unhealthy, but rather, it isn't something new (especially on vacation).  So we didn't get too fancy nor too far away from our hotel for lunch as we made our way to nearby Mom's Cafe.  This place gets high ratings and is also recommended by the locals.  Furthermore, it really satisfied the "family-friendly" criteria (even though our kids are completely at home eating practically anywhere).

Despite not really wanting to eat a burger, my son took one for the team (not that much of a stretch) and got the Bacon 'n Cheddar Burger with fries.  Keeping in line with the theme of the place, the burger wasn't complex.  It was straight up with crispy bacon and melted cheese on top of a thick meaty patty.  It wasn't exactly juicy, but not dry either.  It was well charred though.  He was happy with it, but it wasn't as good as the one we had at Westcoast Grill.  For my daughter, she went simple and had the bowl of Salmon Corn Chowder with corn, tomato, carrot, celery, onion, cream, black pepper and paprika.  This was on the thicker floury side rather than being creamy.  It was definitely sweet with some fishiness.  This was acceptable, but could've been less thick and it could've used maybe a bit more tang/acidity to lighten the richness.

I had the Baron of Beef Dip partially because Costanza had a really good one at Route 14 the night before.  Again, keeping with the theme, the version here was much more simple and straightforward with shaved roast beef on a French roll.  The beef was tender, albeit more lean and meatier than the sous-vide version from Route 14.  The side of garlic herb au jus was rather generic, but did the job softening up and flavouring the bread.  Costanza ended up with the 2 Piece Cod 'n Chips.  For a non-fish 'n chip joint, this was a solid effort.  The crunchy batter was light and not dense at all nor was it greasy either.  The fish itself was moist and flaky.  As for the fries, they were rather typical albeit fried properly.  I would've liked to see fresh cut double-fried Kennebec fries, but these were fine.  The accompanying tartar sauce was creamy with a bit of tang.  It could've used more white onion though.

Viv decided on the Turkey Cranberry Sandwich with house-roasted turkey breast, lettuce, tomato, mayo and cranberry sauce.  Although they state that it is house-roasted, the turkey seemed almost like deli-meat (to be fair, it could've been brined, then roasted).  Nothing particularly wrong with that other than we were expecting something less processed tasting and texture-wise.  The side of onion rings were crunchy for the flour-battered version.  We much prefer breaded, but these were fine.  Overall, Mom's did the job without much fanfare.  Was it better than anything we had so far in Sooke?  Well no.  But that isn't the point of the place.

The Good:
- Solid simple food for the family
- Okay pricing
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Chowder was far too thick
- Turkey didn't appear to be house-roasted or at the very least, it was brined too much so all natural meat texture was lost

Brownies Chicken & Seafood

Brownies Chicken - now there is a name that hasn't been talked about in some time.  There used to be several locations in the GVRD back in the day, but one-by-one they all closed down.  It kinda mirrored what happened to Lee's Chicken and to a much smaller degree Juicy Chicken.  Heck, we even lost our only Popeye's in Coquitlam too (new one in PoCo soon!).  So yes, we have been left with Church's and KFC as the dominant fried chicken spots in town.  Of course we have LA Chicken and the newish Hi-5, but there is actually a Brownies Chicken out in Maple Ridge!  Run by an original franchise owner, they have updated the recipe while incorporating Rossdown chicken, Cavendish fries and Oceanwise fish onto the menu.

Amy, Diana and I ventured out to the Ridge to see how Brownies stacks up to the rest of the fried chicken competition in the Lower Mainland.  It was a given we would get the 6 Pack consisting of mixed chicken, medium fries and choice of medium salad or gravy (we chose the gravy).  Although more pricey than the aforementioned places, there was more than enough food for the price.  Large in size, the pieces of chicken sported rendered skin and a crunchy well-seasoned exterior batter.  I found the breast meat dry, but the dark meat was tender and moist.  If I had to compare, the chicken was similar to Lee's which is a cross between KFC and Church's.  On the side, the medium Fries was massive being crispy and spiked with Cajun spice.  I found the gravy to be thick and mild in flavour.

Just for research purposes, we also got the 1-Piece Cod & Onion Rings (we subbed it because we already had fries with the chicken).  Compared to the chicken, this was rather pedestrian.  To be fair, the fish was actually quite good being firm and flaky, but it wasn't anything memorable.  That was definitely the case with the batter as it didn't differentiate itself from frozen fried fish.  As for the onion rings, they were pretty good with a crunchy batter and tender onion.  I personally enjoy the breaded type more, but this was still decent. Lastly, we got an order of the Cajun Popcorn Shrimp which was pretty typical featuring a seasoned crunchy batter.  The shrimp was buttery and had a cold-water snap.  Again, not bad, but not something I would order again.  If I had to sum up everything, I would use the White Spot analogy.  Their burgers aren't the best in town, but it is a childhood memory and is comforting.  Same could be said about Brownies. 

The Good:
- Large pieces of generally good fried chicken
- Crispy starch-coated Cavendish fries
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Rest of the menu is average

Coquille Fine Seafood

For a city that has access to some of the best seafood in the world, Vancouver doesn't boast many restaurants that specialize in it.  Sure, we see plenty of Chinese seafood restaurants and of course, the plethora of Japanese establishments.  However, the number of truly local seafood joints barely break 10.  I'm not going to include oyster bars and places that serve seafood as only part of their menu.  So when Coquille Fine Seafood set up shop in the thankfully gone Secret Location, it was on my hit list.  Since my mom absolutely loves seafood, we celebrated her birthday there.

There was no way we were going to dine there and not try their Seafood Platter.  We chose the medium version and it consisted of oysters, king crab, scallops, sea bream, hamachi, octopus, lobster with XO and side stripe shrimp cocktail.  Although the sticker shock of $110.00 might scare some, I thought it was reasonable given the contents and the overall quality.  The highlight for us was the lobster as the tail was stuffed full of bouncy nuggets that were sweet and fresh.  It was tossed with celery and XO sauce where there was a slightly spicy and briny flavour.  After that, the buttery hamachi ate as good as its beautiful hue while the sea bream was refreshing and tasted like the sea.  Scallops were buttery and only lightly seasoned, but the octopus could've been a bit firmer as it was didn't retain a chew.  It tasted really good though with a lightly spicy meatiness.

Onto another seemingly decadent and subsequently expensive item, we had the Crab & Spinach Dip served with grilled sourdough.  This was $48.00.  Why you might ask?  How about an entire dungeness crab nestled in the cheese and spinach?   Even though the picture doesn't do it justice, there was indeed a mess of fluffy crab in there.  As such, the whole thing ate like a crab toast rather than a dip.  We spread it onto the smoky and crunchy charred sourdough and ate it as such.  Very cheesy with the subtle sweetness of crab.  With that being said, there wasn't enough dip left for the last piece of bread though.  We also ventured into the happy hour menu and got the Fritto Misto which consisted mostly of fish with some jalapeno and fennel.  This was very good though as the batter was super crispy, yet thin and not greasy at all.  It was seasoned enough where the ailoi wasn't even needed.  The fish was flaky and almost juicy.

For the kiddies, my son decided to try the 2 Piece Fish & Chips with tartar sauce.  Although the batter looked rather thick, it was fine.  It was mostly crispy except for a few spots in the centre.  It was well-seasoned on its own, so that the fish tasted good without the tartar sauce.  The fish itself was supremely fresh where each flake was tender but still had a slight bite.  On the side, the tartar sauce was chunky with a balanced amount of tang and sharpness from the onions.  My daughter ended up with the Albacore Tuna Club with bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato.  This was also very good with rare tuna that was soft and buttery accented by thick-sliced bacon.  Although the toasted roll looked dense, it was actually very light and airy.  Hence, it held everything together and didn't overwhelm the delicate tuna.  On the side, the triple-blanched fries were outstanding.  Even though they were uniformly crispy and aromatic, there was still plenty of potatoness left.

To get a sense of the larger hot plates available on the menu, we chose the Poached Filet of Halibut with a oyster butter sauce as well as the Bucatini all'amatriciana with clams.  If the aforementioned dishes weren't proof enough that the fish at Coquille was fresh, the halibut was the proverbial cherry on top.  It was perfect.  No really, it was!  It was buttery and flaky where it was just barely cooked through.  Halibut that is not fresh (ie. frozen) can never attain this texture.  The oyster beurre blanc was silky and really briny which could've been dialed back a abit.  As for the bucatini, it was firmly al dente and bathed in a noted garlicky and onion tomato sauce.  The guanciale was prepared crispy and added both texture and depth.  The star of the place was the enormous and plump clams.

Another happy hour item we ordered was the Lamb Ribs with mint chermoula.  Although this was the one non-seafood item we ordered (and there aren't many of these on the menu), it was nicely executed.  Crusted with a herb rub, the outside was crispy and lightly spicy.  Underneath, the meat was fatty, juicy and melt-in-our-mouths tender.  Again, the ribs alone were flavourful enough on their own, but chermoula added an earthy garlicky tartness.   At this point, we were stuffed and couldn't down dessert.  Was a moot point anyways as there wasn't much of a selection.  Regardless of that, the seafood we had at Coquille was indeed fine and fresh.  It was prepared properly and although the pricing for some items are on the higher side, we thought it was well worth it.

The Good:
- Supremely fresh seafood
- Prepared expertly
- Not lacking in flavour

The Bad:
- Some items are rather pricey (but worth it!)
- Limited dessert menu (but we never tried it, it could've been good)

Dundas Eat + Drink

Awhile back, I was invited to participate in the Six O Pho Challenge at Dundas Eat + Drink.  Prior to that, I had noticed they had re-branded from a fish & chip joint (still available) to a mainly Vietnamese eatery with a few twists.  Even though I was busy trying to scoff down all the pho I could handle, I did notice it was quite good with quality meats and a clean broth.  Well, we were invited back to try some of their other offerings (in particular, their new vegan dishes), where we didn't have to do any eating challenges.

For this tasting, they wanted to introduce some of their vegan offerings.  Naturally, I was skeptical at first, but after trying the first few dishes, I was impressed.  The usual issue is that vegan or even vegetarian food can sometimes be bland, but they really developed some good flavours here.  The garlic, ginger and fried shallot dressing for the Kale Salad was very impactful and in fact, with the copious amount of raw garlic, was very sharp and spicy.  The fried tofu was nicely crispy and added a "meatiness" to the salad.   They were also successful in creating a great tasting Vegan Curry where the spice level was medium while the aromatic coconut milk gave the sauce body the depth.  Yes, there was no meat, but the chunky, not overdone, veggies were robust and filling.

The next 2 offerings were the Vegan Pho and Vegan Bao.  Of course, it is always a challenge to develop umaminess when using just veggies for a broth.  I would say it was definitely clean and naturally sweet.  I detected some depth possibly from mushrooms.  However, it was definitely lighter due to the lack of meat, bones and marrow.  Regardless, I can see someone who is vegetarian or vegan being happy with this.  Stuffed with veggies, red onions and a seasoned tofu crumble, the bao were not devoid of ingredients.  Hence, it was a messy to eat, but that was a positive (you want things overflowing!).  The bao itself was warm and soft even though it sat a bit while we took photos.  The veggies were still vibrant while the tofu crumble was flavourful.

Our last vegan dish was the Vegan Pad Thai and we transitioned to meat with the Deep Fried Wontons.  The Pad Thai was appealing in colour and subjected to enough wok heat for caramelization.  The noodles were chewy while the veggies were still crisp including the raw sprouts.  With a squeeze of lime, there was a nice tangy and sweet balance while the savouriness was there too.  I wished there was some ground peanuts, since something seemed to be missing (and it wasn't the meat either), but most store-bought peanuts have been processed and may not be considered vegan.  I enjoyed the wontons as the skins were fried up beautifully being lightly crispy moist and tender filling, which mean it was rather soft.  The side of dipping sauce was tangy and spicy.

Onto a soupy item, we had the Pho Sate featuring a spicy broth that was nicely balanced in terms of saltiness and sweetness.  I thought the spice level was somewhere between mild and medium, but I can handle spice, so interpret this accordingly.  The noodles were still chewy despite sitting in the broth for quite some time as we took pictures.  There was a decent amount of sliced beef within the broth where it was more natural in texture indicating that it had not been subjected to tenderizers.  Served on a sizzling cast iron plate, the Shaken Beef (Luc Lac Beef) was meaty in texture, yet ultimately tender.  It was nicely seared and mildly seasoned.  The accompanying veggies were caramelized and sweet.

One of my favourite items was the veritable Lemongrass Chicken on Rice.  This was a good portion consisting of chewy rice that was on the drier side, however, that was perfect since we drizzled the nuoc cham on top.  Thick and well-portioned, the deboned chicken thigh was nicely charred and caramelized.  It was properly marinated where the aromatic lemongrass and savoury components had penetrated the meat.  Furthermore, that resulted in a succulent and tender texture.  One of the more unique items was the Asia Burger served with fries and sriracha aioli.  Well, the burger ate very much like most other versions, but it was a very good one though.  The patty was super moist and thick with the benefit of onions inside.  The brioche bun was soft, but held up to the wet ingredients including the sunny side egg.

Onto our last 2 items, we had the Dundas Platter consisting of spring roll, salad roll, chicken and beef satay, cassava fries and sauces.  Taking nothing away from the rest of the items, my favourite part of the platter was the crispy cassava fries.  These were crispy while soft and dense.  Loved it with the sriracha mayo.  The salad roll was solid too being tightly wrapped with on point textures.  The satays were well-seasoned and grilled where there was a smokiness in addition to caramelization.  The most creative dish was the Dungeness Dundas Nachos featuring fried wonton skins topped with crab, creamy Japanese mayo, chives and onions.  Light and crispy, the wonton skins were loaded with enough ingredients for impact including a decent amount of crab.  

Of course we have to talk about the Pho right?  Well, I went back and tried a normal-sized bowl rather than the enormous challenge portion.  This way, I could enjoy it for its clean broth that was mild-tasting with a touch of meatiness.  The conservative amount of sodium and lack of MSG made the healthy-tasting.  I found the noodles to be chewy and not clumpy while the meats were tender and well-portioned.  In addition to repeating the same dishes as above, I got a new one in the Dundas Spiced Wings (garlic butter flavour).  These were crispy with rendered skin with a seasoned batter.  The meat was succulent and juicy while the flavours were fairly mild.  So from sampling almost all of the menu from several visits, I can confidently say that Dundas Eat + Drink produces some pretty solid eats at reasonable prices.  This will probably be added to my regular rotation.

*Most food was complimentary*

The Good:
- All around good eats
- Reasonable pricing
- Nice people

The Bad:
- If busy, seating is at a premium
- Parking lot rather narrow (for those who are parking challenged... LOL)