Pizza Garden

*Location is closed*

Polka King has been playing late night Wednesday night hockey at Brit for over 15 years. The fact that it starts at 11:30pm was never that attractive to me. If you think about it, there is no time for sleep until you need to go to work the next day! I have played it a few times over the years and it is indeed fun, if you feel like being unproductive the next morning. However, I am also not one to turn down a chance at some exercise. Besides, all this eating needs to be tempered with calorie burning. Therefore, I dragged my lazy behind to play some really late night hockey tonight.

Let me just say this, after the hockey was over, I now know how Carey Price felt in the lost to Vancouver 7-1. There were 8 breakaways, 4 2 on 1's and a 3 on none! I'm lucky I didn't pull a groin. Whatever the case, I didn't really care because there was some eats I was looking forward to. Eats? At 1:30am in the morning on a Thursday??? Yup, Pizza Garden happens to be nearby to Brit and that's where I headed after hockey. It's open until 2:00am. I dragged Polka King with me since I drove him. Viv has told me about Pizza Garden before since she works nearby. Furthermore, Kevin blogged about it and I wanted to compare it with Uncle Fatih's (which is also nearby and open until 2:00am as well).

2 slices and a canned pop can be had for $5.00 including tax. I got one slice of Pepperoni and one slice of Sausage and Onion with Garlic Sauce. I drizzled more sauce on it for good measure. Polka King got a slice of Hawaiian and a slice of Pesto. He ate the pesto before he realized that I didn't take a picture of it yet. He was so apologetic, almost scared, that I'd do something to him. I wonder if I really do scare my friends when I warn them not to eat before I take a picture? Anyways, the pizza crust itself was not oily and I liked the addition of sesame seeds. However, it was a bit oily on the top. The pizza was pretty decent; but I definitely prefer Uncle Fatih's more. The crust there is crispier and lighter, and it's cheaper ($4.00). Mind you, at 1:30am, if you're spending only $5.00 on 2 slices of pizza and choice of canned pop, there is really not much to complain about.

The Good:
- It's cheap
- Open late
- Pizza ain't bad

The Bad:
- A bit greasy on the top
- Crust is a bit dry
- Store is a bit dirty

Da Mario

*Restaurant is closed*

I have to confess that I never have eaten at Da Mario up until now because the front facade scared me. From the time I used to live in Coquitlam (10 years ago) until now, every time I passed by, I assumed it was closed. Frankly, I don't understand why they don't try to spruce it up with a new coat of paint or a new awning. However, I was told that the inside is much nicer than the outside. Tonight, we met up with Wolvie and Italian Stallion for an early dinner. The interior of Da Mario was indeed a lot more inviting than the outside. We brought the kiddies as well and prepared to suffer the consequences of doing so. The place was actually quite nice and thoughts of my kids hitting the wine glasses with their cutlery made me cringe. Serves us right for teaching them to do so at the countless weddings we've been to! I guess we'll see how they did... As if it was meant to be, we got one of the few window seats. I'm not sure if Wolvie mentioned so in making the reservation; but it worked out for me!

My first thought when I opened the menu was that it was everything was relatively inexpensive, especially the pastas. Taking into consideration that Da Mario is in the Entertainment book, a meal here can ultimately be quite cheap. I decided to get the Linguine alla Vongole or linguine with clams. I gotta say, when it arrived, I was surprised at the portion size. It was much bigger than I envisioned it to be. I keep thinking that pastas from authentic Italian restaurants would be small. In this case, think of a portion in between Marcello and Anducci's. For $14.00, it was a decent value considering the Entertainment coupon. As for the pasta itself... that's another story... The linguine was bordering on overcooked and the sauce was quite watery. Furthermore, it was very salty. It completely masked the fresh tomato and clams.

Viv tried one of their many types of Veal Cutlets. I believe she had the Parmigiana. By virtue of using essentially the same tomato sauce, it was salty. Also, the breading was mushy and loose. This was not a textural winner in any sense of the word. Normally, a pan fried cutlet should be crispy no matter what sauce you put on top. To prove this point, the Schnitzel at the Old Bavaria Haus were very crispy despite the sauce on top of them. Italian Stallion went with a Baked Sausage Penne. As you can see in the picture, there is more liquid at the bottom of the penne than an overflowing toilet. It looked more like penne in tomato broth than baked penne. He liked the flavour of the sauce despite being watery. Wolvie had the Veal Prosciutto and it was quite flavourful due to the prosciutto. The veal was tender; however, it was quite thin. She really didn't care for the vegetables, they were overcooked.

The kids shared a Penne Alfredo and the kitchen intelligently split the order into 2 plates. Again, the pasta was a bit overcooked; but in this case it worked for the kiddies. There was quite a bit of Alfredo sauce on the plate, although it did taste quite good. Italian Stallion thought that they didn't reduce the sauce enough, consequently it was not very thick. My daughter ate lots while my son didn't eat a lot as usual since there was pepper in it (the infamous "things" in the food). On a side note, they did pretty well here, looks like I can take them to nicer restaurants after all!

It's interesting that the meal was a bit disappointing. Maybe I went in with unrealistic expectations. After all, another Italian friend of mine recommended the place. However, to preface this, he has only had the gnocchi and lasagna there - 2 dishes I did not order. Mind you, Italian Stallion wasn't all that impressed either and as his nickname suggests, he's Italian too. His philosophy on Italian food, particularly pasta, is best eaten at home cooked by mom. The pasta sauces are cooked slowly over a long period of time with love. No restaurant has the time or financial commitment to cook a sauce for 8 hours (unless if it is a fine dining place that charges $50.00 for pasta!). So, mom's cooking is better! How can anyone argue with that?

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Good portions
- Authentic
- Pretty nice dining room

The Bad:
- Food was generally salty
- Pastas were watery and overcooked
- The outside needs some work

Amelia

I'm always on the look out for inexpensive breakfasts. After all, 2 eggs, choice of meat, hash browns and toast should never really exceed $10.00 (unless it's fine dining). Look at the raw materials, nothing really jumps out as expensive. When it comes to cheap breakfasts, Bon's off Broadway takes the cake. For $2.95, you get a complete meal and it's available all day! Jane's in Burnaby is only a tad more expensive at $3.50. I heard of another place that serves up decent breakfasts for $3.50 as well in New West. The place is Amelia on 12th. Much like Jane's, it's a Chinese Canadian restaurant. Of course, if you're only paying $3.50 for a complete meal, there are compromises to be made. Amelia has got this 80's pastel theme going on. Think Miami Vice. Imagine the paint adorning the walls and the furniture that you rest your behind on looking like Don Johnson's wardrobe. Art hangs on the walls in almost randomness among the menu specials. Leave your plastic at home because they only take cash. I foolishly did not bring cash with me and had to walk up the block to get some.

As mentioned, their breakfast special at $3.50 is the draw here. It includes 2 eggs, choice of meat, hash browns and toast. For the price, you'd expect 2 sausages or bacon strips; but you actually get 3. Unlike Bon's, where the food looks like it's slapped on the plate, the food here is made with much more care and is presented nicely. The eggs are not overcooked, the hash browns are evenly crispy and the meats are done right. The sausages had a nice colour on them, while not being dry. As you can see in the picture, the strips of bacon with the French Toast are perfectly crispy without being burnt or shriveled up. The French toast itself was soft and pan fried perfectly.

I wanted something a bit different for myself and ordered the Bavarian Breakfast which is essentially the same as the special with the meat being a Bavarian sausage. I'm not sure if it was worth the extra $1.50 though. Next time I'd just have the regular breakfast. Don't get me wrong, the sausage was pretty good though. As you can see in the picture, the sunny side eggs were cooked perfectly. Waffle Guywent a completely different direction and had the Perogy Breakfast. It consisted of the same items in the regular breakfast while adding 6 perogies. He wanted his bacon cooked soft and it arrived as he had requested. This is pretty impressive since the cook was making quite a few orders at the same time. Everything was great on the plate except the onions. They could've used a bit more cooking.

For 6 people with beverages, our bill came out to a little over $37.00 excluding tips. That is an outstanding value considering that the breakfasts were pretty large and the food was made with care. As with most family-run restaurants, the service was personable and efficient. If you are in the New West area, go get a great breakfast with the loose change you have in your pocket.

The Good:
- It's cheap
- Food is made with care
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- When you're paying so little, don't expect nice decor or ambiance
- Cash only

*Now Max Noodle*

It's hockey pool season again and a whole bunch of us were off to Chill M's house for some drafting action. It is here where we can all be Brian Burkes and make asses of ourselves. Being environmentally more conscious, I picked up DB Hypno, Vandelay, Costanza and Rock Guy along the way. I also brought my son with me and I swear that all he ate for lunch were 5 chocolate chip cookies. I'm sure Viv would not be impressed, I hope she's not reading this blog post! Although there were many goodies to snack on while we were there, Costanza wondered if we were going to grab some eats after the draft. Being one to never say no to food, I convinced everyone to go. Well, they really had no choice, I drove them all! My sinister plan to "force" people to eat with me!

Since we were in Tsawwassen, it was only logical to eat at a place along the way home. And guess where that "place" might be??? Yes, Richmond once again. I never seem to be able to avoid it - eating in Richmond! We were actually looking for Mak's Noodle House; but we got a bit confused when it read "McNoodle House". After a relatively long wait at 2:30pm, we got a table. You know there is good food to be found when there is a lineup in the middle of an afternoon. Upon settling into our seats, I noticed that the menu and the chopstick wrappers all read "Mak's". So I guess they changed their official name; but didn't change the other things yet? It appears they still have the same Chinese name.
With a name like "McNoodle", I can smell a lawsuit from McDonald's already.

Naturally, I decided to get the Wonton Noodle Soup, which is their signature dish. I gotta say that this is one of the best bowls of wonton noodle soup I've ever had. The noodles are perfectly al dente, which is no easy feat. It's a perfect combination of elasticity and softness. The broth itself is flavourful not in a salty way; rather it has depth. The shrimp wontons are a bit small which actually makes them easy to eat. They are full of crunchy, well-seasoned shrimp. However, the bowl is quite small, so you'll need to order something else. That something else was the Salted Pork & Century Egg Congee. Arriving in another small bowl, the steaming hot bowl of congee was not as thick as I would have liked. It became quite watery after a few spoonfuls. There was a good amount of egg and adequately salted pork. I still prefer the congee from Congee Noodle King or Congee Noodle House instead.

Vandelay decided to get something different so I could blog about it. Honestly, he really does take one for the team when I eat with him. He got the Brisket Rice Noodle Soup. As expected, the noodles were cooked perfectly while the brisket was meaty and tender. He thought the soup was not all that flavourful; but the brisket helped make up for that. Just like me, he wished that the bowl of noodles was bigger. Costanza also went for something different and settled for the Dry Noodles with Sui Gow. The sui gow were packed tightly and were good according to Costanza. However, he thought the noodles were a bit too dry, it could've used a bit more sesame oil. Again, the noodles were perfectly al dente. The 3 of us ended up sharing an appetizer platter consisting of sliced beef shank and marinated jellyfish. This was good with tender slices of meat and jellyfish that exhibited the "snap" texture when bitten into.

When I first mentioned that we were going to a wonton noodle house, I sold the idea to Rock Guy and DB Hypno that there would be non-shrimp options. Little did I know that there weren't many. You see, they don't like shrimp (in fact DB Hypno is allergic to it). Therefore, they were stuck with either getting brisket or gai lan noodles. Rock Guy went vegetarian. He also got the spring rolls on the side. They looked quite crispy and not too oily. Next time I take Rock Guy to a wonton noodle house, I'll make sure it's a crappy one, cuz they won't have any shrimp in it. LOL...

I'm not sure if I'd want to lineup for wonton noodles again since I hate lineups. The service was quite basic while still being friendly. The small portions here were almost perfect for us since we didn't want anything that heavy since dinner was only 3 hours away. However, I can see how this may not look like a good value to some. It's definitely quality over quantity here. Not everything was excellent; but the wonton noodles were indeed very good. Just make sure that you order 2 bowls if you're hungry.

The Good:
- Perfectly executed noodles
- Delicately flavoured food
- Excellent wontons (albeit small)

The Bad:
- Portions only fit for a snack
- Small restaurant and tightly packed
- Lineup

The Patty Shop

So this is a complete random food adventure. You see, I was at West Side Bakery looking for some of their fabulous butter cheese buns and there was this interesting store beside it. On the outside, it wasn't much to look at. In fact, it had the same generic awning as West Side Bakery. Rather, the name of the store really piqued my interest - The Patty Shop. Before you jump to conclusions, it's not a hamburger joint or have anything to do with cow patties. Instead, it was a Jamaican patty shop. Jamaican patties? Score! I love Jamaican patties. To me, this is the most odd location for this shop. You'd expect to find
something like this on the Drive (Commerical). Whatever the case, Viv and I were quite anxious to try these patties!

Despite just finishing up Dim Sum at Golden Star not too long ago, we got one patty each @ $1.90. We got one mild and one hot. The first thing that I noticed was how flaky the pasty was. Some patties I've had in the past are too much like a pizza pop. Not this one, it was flaky and light (lotsa butter or lard!). One bite into it and #$)#$&*)#&$#!!! The darn thing was steaming hot!!! We both burnt the roofs of our mouths! I realize that they make 'em fresh all day and keep them warm; but I didn't know it would be this hot! I had to go to the grocery next door for some cold drinks. I think we almost visited every store on this block in one try! Anyways, once we let our mouths recover, we settled into enjoying our patties. We really liked the texture of the meat. It was smooth without loosing its "meatiness". There was a background spiciness to the hot patty which was very good. The mild one had a bit of spice; but we liked the spicy one more.

TS (eating_club Vancouver) bought a whole bag of frozen patties from here before and thought they were not bad. I trust her judgment. However, her sister wasn't as impressed. I guess the jury is out on the frozen patties. Although, I can assure you that the fresh ones are flaky, flavourful and HOT!

The Good:
- Really flaky and light pastry
- Lots of smooth beef filling
- Inexpensive

The Bad:
- It's strictly takeout (not sure if that's bad, but it is worth mentioning)

West Side Bakery

*Bakery is permanently closed*

A long time ago, when I was first going for my driver's license, my instructor had introduced me to some very delicious butter cheese buns. As odd as that just sounded, it is a true story. He was taking me through dry runs of my road test around the Kitsilano Driver's Services on McDonald Street and brought me to West Side Bakery (I'm not sure if it was that name that back then). He was ranting and raving about these cheese buns. For me, I was thinking that he was a bit strange for: (a) bringing me to a bakery and (b) seeming so enthusiastic about these "buns". Whatever the case, I'm game for anything and I tried some of those cheese buns. I gotta say, those were some pretty tasty cheese buns. They don't look like much; but there is a good amount of cheese within buttery "croissant-like" bun. Healthy eating? Nah, take that Krispy Kreme!

Honestly, these cheese buns are best when you either get them fresh outta the oven or nuke 'em for a bit. What you get is nice soft pastry with melted cheddar cheese. Now, if you're wondering why I can't just go to Safeway and buy some of their cheese buns, it's just not the same. The ones at supermarkets seem a bit hard and not all that cheesy. Today, I was only able to get 2 of them since that's all they had left! I was a bit disappointed at only getting 2; but it was better than none I suppose. Trying to avoid the dreaded tax, I ended up getting 4 cookies to bring my total to a half dozen. I got 2 each of the butter chocolate marble and butter sprinkle cookies. I didn't actually try them since my kids wanted it all to themselves. They looked good and the kids liked them. While I was there, a few people came in to get fresh bread. That also looked good. Maybe next time I'll visit the bakery earlier so I don't miss out on the cheese buns. Looks like my ol' driving instructor must've introduced quite a few people to his favourite buns...

The Good:
- Great cheese buns
- Other items seem quite good

The Bad:
- It's a small place, not much selection

Noodle Box

*Restaurant is closed*

It almost seems like that places such as the Wok Box and Noodle Box are a bit polarizing. What I mean by that is people either like it or they don't. I'm sure there are people that fall into the indifferent category; but most people I've talked to have a well-defined opinion. When I visited the Wok Box, I came away satisfied, although feeling quite guilty. Having grown up in an Asian family and realizing what good, authentic Asian food tastes like, it's almost shameful to like supposedly unauthentic food. At the same time, I been known to eat "Westernized" Asian food and be perfectly happy about it. I guess it comes down to expectations. If you expect authentic and you don't get it, then feelings of disappointment are common. But if your expectations are in harmony with the food you are about to eat, it may actually be surprising.

Hearing such great things from other bloggers: Jenny, Kevin and Darren, I ventured into Kitsilano in search from some noodles. Of course parking is at a premium in this neighbourhood; yet I managed to get one a block away across from Fuel and Maenam (which I really need to try). At first, I was intending to get takeout exclusively; however, I changed my mind and got some of it for eat-in. The reason? For a picture of course! It just doesn't look as good in a box. However, I won't go as far as bringing my own plate like Ben when he went to Tenku Bakudanyaki . I ended up getting the Spicy Peanut Noodle with Prawns for myself. It consisted of ribbon noodles, fresh vegetables, herbs, crushed peanuts and a choice of meats or tofu. It is freshly wok fried with garlic, ginger and a creamy peanut sauce. You can choose your level of heat and I went for medium-hot.

At first, if you look at the price, you'd might be wondering to yourself, "why so expensive for a bowl of noodles???" Well, for $13.00, it ain't cheap, although once you see your bowl of food, it's quite large. Green onions, cilantro, fried onions, ground peanuts, sprouts and lime blanketed a plethora of slightly soft noodles bathed in creamy peanut sauce. I thought that they were quite generous with the amount of crunchy prawns as well. When they say medium-hot, it's quite spicy. I happen to like spicy; but for those who don't eat spicy, I definitely recommend going very mild. Compared to the Wok Box, the flavours here are much bolder. There is no mistaking what sauce I was eating - it was creamy and loaded with peanut. I only wish that they would put a little less sauce into the stir fry because everything gets a bit slimy.

I got 2 orders to go, one for Viv and one for my parents. For my parents, I got them the Teriyaki Udon with Prawns. You might think that's not enough food for 2 people; but they really cram a whole lot of food in those boxes. I tried the sauce and it was more sweet than salty and there was a background ginger taste to it. Pretty good; yet again there was a bit too much sauce. Viv had the Thai Green Curry and it had plenty of flavour. The noodles and chicken were a bit overdone; however, we suspect that it "cooks" a bit in the box. It's best to eat it ASAP. Similar to Wok Box, I don't mind eating at the Noodle Box. Will I drive specifically to eat there? Probably not. Would I eat it if I was in the area? Yes I would.

The Good:
- Really large portions
- It's freshly made
- Good variety

The Bad:
- A bit too saucy
- May not satisfy the "authentic" crowd