Aquarius Cafe & Bakery

*Update* This restaurant is now closed.

While picking up Toolman for lunch yesterday, I noticed a small Filipino restaurant across the street. I'll be honest, it didn't look all that attractive, since it was in a dumpy strip mall. However, something kept me thinking about it. So today I convinced myself to actually try it. The restaurant itself is not very big; it looks much more like a take out place. I asked the lady what was good to eat and she suggested I try the Tocilog. Since I have absolutely no clue what Filipino food is about, I trusted her and ordered it. Well, Tocilog is actually a Filipino breakfast that consists of a fried egg, rice and sweet pork. At first glance, the dish didn't look so promising; but it was really good. Getting a spoonful (yes, they don't use knives, it's a spoon and a fork) of each item, it was really tasty. The pork is definitely sweet and since it was pan-fried, the caramelizing of the sugar gave it a smoky flavour. I also had a side of Pusit, which is essentially squid that has been simmered in a sauce. I definitely got hints of garlic and vinegar. What was interesting is that it was whole squid, nothing was removed. I ate the innards, tentacles and eyes - all of it! I actually didn't mind it because it tasted like squid. However, for my personal tastes, I was not fond of the texture because it was fully cooked, I like my squid just barely cooked. But then again, I don't know much about Filipino food.

As I was paying, the most bizarre thing happened. If you've been reading my last few posts, I've been having really bad luck with places not wanting pictures taken. Well, today it went to a whole new level. I was just about to leave, when a man identified himself as a cop. He began asking me why I was taking photos and what was my purpose being there. Well... I explained the whole blog thing and after that he got really friendly. He even began explaining some of the food items in the store. Well, I'm not going to speculate on this strange encounter; I'll let you fill in the blanks.

Despite the twilight-zone event, I was still satisfied with my meal and although it looks like a hole-in-the-wall, Aquarius Cafe & Bakery has some good eats. Although I'm not familiar with Filipino food, I can tell that it's authentic. Oh, did I mention it was cheap too? Most items are well under $10, actually closer to $5. So it's practically a no-risk food adventure. Unless you take pictures that is....

The Good:
- Food is authentic (from what I can gather)
- It's different
- Cheap

The Bad:
- Small restaurant, mostly good for takeout
- Can get arrested for taking pictures???

Aquarius Cafe & Bakery
12043 88th Avenue
Surrey, B.C.
778-565-0068

Business Hours:
11:00am - 8:30pm (Tue - Thu)
7:00am - 7:00pm (Fri - Sun)

Sandar`s Thai Garden

Met up with Toolman again for lunch. We decided to avoid Indian food this time, since it seems like that's all we eat when we meet. However, as I have said before, there is a good selection of Indian restaurants out here in North Delta/Surrey. I'm slowly picking off every restaurant that exists on Scott Road (120th). Up next on my radar was Sandar's Thai Garden. I've read quite a few positive comments regarding this place and I was eager to try it. As I was pulling up the restaurant, which is in the same complex as Futureshop, I saw a choice parking spot. I signaled and was just about to pull in when out of nowhere another SUV stole it! Wait a minute, I'm not in Richmond am I? Instead of wasting my energy on rude people like that, I just parked in another space and went my merry way.

Sandar's is not a very big restaurant, there are no more than 8 tables in total. However, they are not packed that tightly together; thus we were quite comfortable. There was a lady that served us and she was wearing what looked like a shower cap. I'm not joking, it looked like a shower cap. The only thing I can surmise is that she was preparing food in the kitchen and she really wasn't suppose to be at the front-of-the-house. Well, at least we felt good that we wouldn't have any hair in our food.

The lunch menu is pretty simple, it consists of 13 choices which included either a Tom Yum soup or green salad with one spring roll for $8.99. I chose to have the old standby, Pad Thai with shrimp. Toolman chose the Pad Ped, which is chicken, beef or pork in chili sauce with bamboo shoots and basil with rice. The tom yum was essentially broth with diced mushrooms on top. I really liked the soup, it was a good balance of lime, lemongrass and fish sauce. No one flavour overpowered the other. The spring roll was hot and crispy. Despite being a fried, it was light tasting and the filling was mild.

When the Pad Thai arrived, I was surprised by the decent portion size. Moreover, I knew right away that it was going to be good since the colour was not an unnatural red. Rather, it was coloured a pale reddish-brown which is an indication that there isn't an overuse of ketchup. There were lots of tofu, egg and shrimp in the rice noodles (done a nice al dente) which was topped with carrots, bean sprouts and peanuts. Mixed together, this Pad Thai really worked with good contrast in textures. In addition, the cold-water shrimp had good crunch and were not overcooked. The pad ped was also very good. The sauce was a good mix of sweet, salty and a bit of spice. All the items were cooked perfectly, with the vegetables still crisp and the chicken being tender. Again, there was more than enough food on the plate for one person. Since we ate before noon, we were the only table there and the service was very good. I guess it'd better be! We thought that the food was both decent and a good value. If you are in the area, Sandar's Thai Garden is a good option.

The Good:
- Food tastes how it should taste
- Personable service (showercap withstanding)
- Clean

The Bad:
- Small restaurant, not good for groups larger than 4

Sandar's Thai Garden
#105 - 7500 120th Street
Surrey, B.C.
604-599-5612

Business Hours:
11:30am - 2:30pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm (Tue - Sat)
5:00pm - 9:00pm (Sun)

Cumpari`s Gelato & Caffe

What a nice day it was today. When it's sunny and warm in Vancouver, there is really nowhere better. Well, I did like Hawaii and Miami though... Anyways, when I got home today after work, I promised my son we'd go for some ice cream after dinner. However, there is not much to choose from if you're not near downtown. However, there is this one place on North Road that I have yet to try - Cumpari's. Despite the fact I was quite full and tired after dinner, I needed to fulfill that promise of ice cream (or gelato in this case).

It really wasn't that busy and that gave us time to look over the limited selection of gelato and sorbetto. I asked if I could take a picture of the display case and I was again denied! This is the 2nd time in 2 days. I got denied yesterday at Anna's Cake House, which is coincidentally within walking distance of Cumpari. Is there a Bermuda Triangle of anti-foodtography here in Burquitlam? Fortunately, I was allowed to take pictures of everything else. We ended up getting 2 medium cups @ $5.00 each. Viv had a scoop of Chocolate (mostly for my son) and a scoop of Strawberry. I choose to have the Berry Cheesecake and the Lemon Sorbetto. I barely got to eat my cheesecake gelato because my daughter kept spooning it all into her mouth, or at least she tried. What a bloody mess, especially on a glass table!

One thing I noticed right away was that the gelato was quite flavourful. The cheesecake gelato was full of cream cheese flavour and the lemon sorbetto was bursting with lemon tartness. I tried the chocolate gelato and it had an intense chocolate flavour without being too sweet. The strawberry gelato had a natural taste; as opposed to a jam like flavour. Texture-wise, the gelato was quite creamy (even though there is no cream in it). I must say that the gelato here is pretty good. It rivals the best in the GVRD.

The Good
- Bold flavour in the gelato/sorbetto
- Creamy texture
- No shortage of comfortable seating

The Bad:
- Small selection

Cumpari's Gelato & Caffe
535 North Road
Coquitlam, B.C.
604-936-8089

Mr Mikes

For some people, the mere mention of "Mr Mikes" brings back memories of mediocre food and a crappy salad bar. Yes, Mr Mikes was the laughing stock of chain restaurants in the GVRD. How times have changed. First, all the old locations of Mr Mikes are practically gone. Second, there are now 4 new locations of Mr Mikes in the lower mainland. This may be a shock to many people since Mr Mikes was essentially left for dead as it was squeezed out by newer and better options to eat. Much like Moxie's and Joey's, Mr Mikes has revamped their image, decor and menu. On the recommendation of JH and ES, I pay Mr Mikes a visit for the first time in over 20 years (gasp)!

We head out to the Surrey location of Mr Mikes, which used to be the old location of Canadian Tire (insert joke here). Upon entering the restaurant, I quickly knew we weren't in Kansas anymore (Wizard of Oz reference). Mr Mikes has grown up (or gotten younger)! The staff is definitely more hip and younger than before. Moreover, the decor is modern, along the lines of the Moxie's, Joeys, Catcus Club et al. We were seated promptly in the lounge/bar area since the actual restaurant-side is only open for dinner.

Since Mr Mikes called itself a steakhouse, I went ahead and ordered the Mikes Classic Combo which included a 7 oz Sirloin Steak with Mushrooms, Baked Potato and a bowl of Clam Chowder to start. I have to say this is the biggest bowl of clam chowder I've ever had in a restaurant. It was the size of a wonton noodle bowl and it was nearly FULL! This is easily 3 times larger than anywhere else. Of course quantity isn't the most important thing, if it tastes bad, I don't care how much they give me. Well, the chowder was actually not bad. It had plenty of clam flavour and there were an ample amount of clams, potatoes and celery. The clam chowder was also very creamy; however, it was a tad salty and had no other distinguishing flavour (herbs).

I asked for the steak to be medium-rare; but more on the rare side. To my surprise, it was cooked perfectly (I'm still haunted by the old Mr Mikes). It was topped by a generous amount of mushrooms. The amount of mushrooms here would be enough for 3 Earl's dishes. A decent sized baked potato and 2 large onion rings completed the dish. Although the steak tasted great, it was not really all that tender. I'm not sure what grade of beef they use, I couldn't find that information from the menu or website. The baked potato was really good though. It was fluffy inside and topped with sour cream and real bacon bits. The onion rings are the breaded variety and were very good (according to JH).

Looking at the Mikeburger, it looked almost the same it was 20+ years ago! The large beef patty nestled in a garlic French loaf. It was smothered in Mike's Sauce (insert your own joke here), which is essentially a variation of Thousand Islands dressing. According to the 2 people who had the burger, the French loaf was soft and the beef patty was moist and juicy. The fries were pretty good; yet it was not any better than other fries I've had at chain restaurants. JH had the Grilled Chicken and Red Pepper Quesadilla. It looked very good, with plenty of big chunks of chicken in a crispy quesadilla. JH said it was very good and I believe her. The other dishes at our table included Chicken Tenders, Roast Beef Dip and Hot Wings. They all looked a bit generic, where you would not be able to differentiate them from any other chain restaurant.

So how does the newly made over Mr Mikes do in this re-visit? Well, Mr Mikes looks a whole lot better, with a nicer decor and trendier demeanor. However, most of the food is not distinctive. There are some highlights; but it doesn't set itself apart from anyone else. Moreover, with the steak that I tried, it won't send any fear into places like The Keg. Yet, the prices and portions at Mr Mikes are better than it's competitors. This is probably what will set Mr Mikes apart from places like The Keg, Cactus Club and Joey's. It's possible that Mr Mikes does not intend to compete directly with these places. Rather, it could fill the gap in between Red Robin and Earl's. I'm curious to see what will be the ultimate result of this relaunch of an old name.

The Good:
- Decent prices, decent portions
- Decor is pleasant
- Service is good

The Bad:
- It's a steakhouse, but steak is tough?
- Food is quite generic

Mr Mikes
8140 120th Street
Surrey, B.C.
778-565-7857
mrmikes.ca

Business Hours:
11:00am - 11:00pm (Sun - Wed)
11:00am - 12:00am (Thu - Sat)

Anna`s Cake House

I really wasn't planning on getting anymore Chinese Bakery items today. But since I was out shopping at Coscto, I figured, "why not?" I quickly made it over to Anna's Cake House on North Road because I was missing the Canucks game (the horror!). This is my 4th stop in my quest to find the best Chinese bakery in the GVRD. I've been to Anna's many times before and their cakes are definitely some of the best. I've never minded their bakery items and today was my chance to compare it with Maxim's, New Town and Pine House. Of course there are smaller independent bakeries that can be surprising; but I'll leave that to after I finish up with the bigger stores first (St Germain and T&T).

Nearing the end of the day, the parking lot in front of Anna's was quite empty. Normally, this parking lot is a mess because there are too many businesses and too few spaces. I quickly snapped a picture of the storefront and made my way in. Just as I was snapping a picture of the display case, I heard the 2 staff members mumbling in Chinese about me taking the photo. They then warned me not to take any photos (in English). Unbeknownst to them, I understood them when they were mumbling. I replied that I wrote an internet blog and it is essentially free advertising for them, especially since I like Anna's products. They both were unimpressed and probably thought I was a wacko. I know it's private property and it's their right to stop me from taking photos, but really, what am I going to do with a picture of Char Sui Baos??? When they did decide to speak with me, they tried to push the egg tarts at a discount. I guess they needed to get rid of them.

From their limited selection, we got some Egg Tarts, Coconut Tarts, BBQ Pork Buns, Wiener Buns (yes, hot dog wieners), Ham & Egg Buns and Loh Por Beng. The last one, if translated, means "old wife cake". I know, it's not a flattering name; but it was very good. It was flaky and the filling was sweet, but not too sweet. If you look at the picture of the tarts and if you are an egg tart aficionado, you'll notice that the tart shell is not flaky. Well, it wasn't and that ruins the egg tart, even if the filling was good. Mind you, that hard "pie-shell" was actually quite good with the coconut tart.

The BBQ Pork was both good and bad. From the picture, you can see that they really need to put more filling into the bun. However, the bun itself was very good, it was both soft and a bit chewy. I know this is personal preference, but I don't prefer onions in my BBQ pork bun. I believe it kills the taste of the pork. Moreover, the filling was a bit too sweet for my tastes. The one positive is that the quality of the bun itself bodes well for the other bakery items since the dough is used universally. Overall, if you take the cakes into consideration, Anna's is a solid choice for Chinese buns and pastries. Anna's products are certainly more delicate than the others; however, New Town still takes the "cake" in overall execution.

The Good:
- Products are made with care
- Outstanding cakes (especially wedding cakes)
- Pastry and doughs are very well done (except for the egg tart)

The Bad:
- More expensive than other bakeries
- Lack of filling
- Snooty staff (according to JA, it's common at all locations)

Anna's Cake House
4333 North Road
Burnaby, B.C.
604-444-3332
www.annascake.com

Business Hours:
10:00am - 6:30pm (7 days a week)

Leela Thai

Okay, I know what you're thinking, Thai food in White Rock? Yes, Viv and I made the journey out to White Rock to meet Nikita and Bluebeard. They have have frequented quite a few Thai restaurants and rave about this place. They've been right about many restaurants in the past, so I was game for this adventure. Leela Thai, unlike many of the Thai restaurants in the GVRD, is run by actual Thai people. This might be one of the reasons why it is so popular out in the White Rock/Surrey area. Nikita made a reservation for the buffet, since it is apparently quite popular. Every year, Leela Thai celebrates Songkran, which is the traditional Thai new year, by offering a buffet for 5 days (normally they do not have a buffet). This year, it is from April 14 - 19th.

Upon arriving at Leela Thai, I noticed the buffet on the back wall, there seemed to be a good selection of items. We spotted Nikita and Bluebeard and quickly settled in. While the others began to get their food, I started snapping photos. I don't think I got to eat until everyone had almost finished their first plate. I'm so dedicated! Actually, one of the servers starting chatting me up as to what is better - Nikon or Canon. Well, I really didn't have an answer for that since I'm such an amateur with my DSLR right now.

When I finally got some food to eat, I started with the Me-ung Sod, which is essentially a lettuce wrap. The filling consisted of ground beef, chili paste, garlic, basil, onion and bell peppers. It was quite spicy and Viv made the mistake of adding more chili peppers. Suffice to say, it was fiery experience for her. I liked the dish, it was flavourful and spicy, it's just too bad it was a bit cold. I also tried the Spring Rolls and they were quite crispy and not oily at all. Combined with the sweet dipping sauce, it was quite pleasant to eat. Up next, I got some Tom Yum Gai, which is a popular Thai soup (this one had chicken, thus the "gai"). Unfortunately, the soup was lukewarm, I think the heating apparatus was insufficient. Overall, the soup was quite flavourful with lots of lemongrass and lime hits. However, I think they were a bit heavy with the Nahm Plah (fish sauce) since the soup was a bit salty.

The Pad Thai was a stripped down version of the regular version. It only had tofu, salted radish and eggs, while the shrimp, bean sprouts, green onions and peanuts were missing. I guess the carrots took the place of the bean sprouts. Despite being the bare-bones version of Pad Thai, it was still quite good. The noodles were soft, yet still firm and the taste of fish sauce were present. It could've used some tamarind though for more zing. I also tried a piece of the Thai Gai Yang, which is essentially Thai BBQ chicken. The chicken had really good colour and was super tender. The marinade completely penetrated the entire piece of chicken and every bite was flavourful.

There was an interesting dish called Ruam-mit Seafood, that I've never tried before. It consisted of mussels, prawns and squid sauteed in a chili sauce with peppers, garlic, onions and basil. I quite enjoyed this dish. It was very flavourful and a bit spicy; yet it didn't take away from the delicate flavours of the seafood. One dish that really didn't work was the Pad Ped Moo, which is fried pork spareribs sauteed in a roasted chili sauce with bell peppers, garlic, onions and basil. The flavours were really good; but the pork was severely overcooked. Fortunately the Pla Laht Prig was cooked perfectly. It's filets of Tilapia which are deep-fried and sauteed with a sweet & sour-type sauce.

Last on the buffet line were 3 types of Thai curry, there was a tofu red curry; a chicken yellow curry and a pork green curry. Being quite full, I only tried the yellow and green curry. Both were quite good. Lastly, I tried the Tub Tim Grob, which is a dessert soup consisting of sweetened coconut milk. What's in the soup is quite interesting. There were bits of pear that had been coated with tapioca flour and red/green food colouring (apparently, the traditional method uses water chestnuts). In addition, there were slices of jack fruit, young coconut and lychee. I really enjoyed this dessert and if I wasn't so full, I would have had a few more bowls of it.

Eating a buffet is both a blessing and a curse, especially for a restaurant that usually doesn't do buffets. The blessing is that you can try so many more items than a regular meal. The curse is that most the food is not exactly how it is supposed to be. The food may not be at the right temperature since it's been sitting there and the flavours could be a bit off since the food is being cooked in big batches. Moreover, meats and vegetables may overcook as it sits in the warming tray. Thus, I gave Leela Thai the benefit of the doubt for the issues with some of the dishes. But, the flavours were generally quite good and nothing was terrible. I saw a table having the regular menu and the portions seemed very decent compared to the pathetic-sized portions from Sala Thai. Combined this with personable service, I can see why Leela Thai is so popular in this area.

The Good:
- Food is decent
- Portion size is adequate
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Some of the items were salty
- Probably due to the buffet, some items were not representative

Leela Thai
1310 Johnston Road
White Rock, B.C.
604-541-9631
www.leelathairestaurant.com

Business Hours:
12:00pm - 2:30pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon - Fri)
5:00pm - 10:00pm (Sat & Sun)

Fuel

*Fuel is now Refuel*

Quick... When you think of fried chicken in Vancouver, what comes to mind? KFC? Church's? Popeye's? Lee's? LA Chicken? Depending on your preference, you most certainly can get decent fried chicken at these places (well, maybe not KFC). Now I bet not many people would associate Fuel with fried chicken. After all, there is no drive-thru! However, you can get some pretty good fried chicken at Fuel from 12:00pm - 2:00pm every Friday until the end of summer. Mind you, at $19.50 (including beer), it'd better be good! Of course, the fried chicken at Fuel is not something you'd find at the aforementioned restaurants. The organic chicken are sous-vide in buttermilk before they are dusted with seasoned flour and deep-fried (you can watch the video of this here).

I have to give credit to Vandelay for our visit to Fuel. He has definitely been a great resource when it comes restaurants. Rich Guy and Donna Chang joined us for this meal as well. Vandelay and I both ordered the fried chicken, Donna ordered the Pork Schnitzel Sandwich and I bribed Rich Guy into ordering the Confit Albacore Tuna Melt. I promised him a drumstick for his troubles. I really didn't want 3 orders of the fried chicken, I'd have nothing to talk about! Before we got our entrees, we started off with complimentary bread with butter and sea salt. I usually don't talk about complimentary bread; however, the butter was so creamy and tasty. I just had to mention that.

The fried chicken consisted of 3 pieces, one side, a buttermilk biscuit and gravy. The side and biscuit change every week. This week, it was a red onion biscuit and a kale/black-eyed peas mix. The chicken was pretty good. It was very tender and juicy due to the sous-vide process. This involves placing the meat in vacuum sealed bags which are dipped into a temperature-controlled water bath. The chicken at Fuel is cooked for 2 hours in the water bath before they are fried.

One bite into the chicken and I immediately knew this was no ordinary fried chicken. It was so tender and juicy. It was as if the chicken was roasted, rather than being fried. I personally thought that the chicken was delicately flavoured, despite the fact some have considered it salty (have you not tried KFC, that's salty!). One complaint is that the chicken could have been a little more crispy. The biscuit was soft and fluffy with just a hint of red onion. Vandelay and I both dipped it into the gravy and it was very tasty. I didn't like the kale and black-eyed peas very much. It was cooked with shallots and the flavour was light; but I didn't enjoy the texture of the peas. They were done al dente and personally I prefer them a bit softer. However, I'm sure someone else will have a different opinion about them.

The schnitzel sandwich was good, but nothing special. The pork was well-seasoned and it was fried-up perfectly. However, it tasted like any other schnitzel that I've had. The tuna melt was a bit disappointing. The fish was good, but it was overcooked. I'm not sure if it was meant to be this way; but overcooked tuna has the texture of chicken breast meat. If the tuna was undercooked a bit, the melt would've been better. However, the homemade chips that came with the melt were quite good.

We decided to share 2 desserts and that ended up to be quite the gong show. We ordered the Tahitian Vanilla Doughnuts with pumpkin ice cream and house made root beer. Also, we got the Kentucky Bourbon Creme Brulee with spearmint ice cream and cocoa nib biscuit. If you can imagine, sharing the donuts was no problem; but the root beer and the brulee were another matter. Let's just say it was a bit messy in the end. We really liked the donuts, they were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. There's nothing better than warm donuts! The pumpkin ice cream was dropped into the root beer so it became a float. We thought the root beer was very good, it had lots of root beer taste without too much sugar. The carbonated jelly on the bottom was a treat! The brulee was pretty ordinary; yet the top was caramelized perfectly. We like crunchy, caramelized sugar!

Of course, by virtue of having only one lunch at Fuel does not provide a true representation of the restaurant. However, I did enjoy my visit. I liked the open-kitchen, the decor and the ambiance. Moreover, the service was solid. Our server was knowledgeable, attentive and pleasant. Everything came expeditiously and I noticed the little details such as all of our meals arriving at the same time (with help from other staff of course). Although I wasn't fond of all the food, the combination of service and ambiance made it a good experience.

The Good:
- Impeccable service
- Modern decor and ambiance
- Good fried chicken (only limited time though)

The Bad:
- Some of the other dishes were average
- Parking could be an issue

Fuel
1944 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C.
604-288-7905
fuelrestaurant.ca

Business Hours:
12:00pm - 2:30pm, 5:30pm - close (Mon - Fri)
5:30pm - close (Sat & Sun)