Triple O's

How did I end up at Triple O's today you might ask (or maybe not)? Well, I was in another grease mood today and intended to go to Mr. Pickwick's. Yes, the very same place I tried to visit last week and sadly ended up at Chicken World. It was closed again today! Argh... So I tried to visit another place I had in mind - Tony's Pizza & Pasta. It was empty when I arrived and no one came out to acknowledge I was there for 5 minutes. I gave up and tried to go to Fiji's Exotic Cuisine which was... you guessed it, closed (even though it should be open)! For goodness sake, how hard is it to find a place to eat! Now with very little time left, I settled for Triple O's. Honestly, it's not such a bad consolation to eat here. After all, I love White Spot burgers even though they are not very big, the meat isn't that juicy and there is enough mayo to make a batch of potato salad. For those who didn't grow up on White Spot, I can see indifference about the food. In fact, my friend who works at White Spot says that tourists who dine there are confused at the portion sizes and the food in general. Again, you need to know about it to get it. Just look at the hugely successful Triple O's location in Asia.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, I went for the Original Burger Combo with Cheese. While I was waiting for my food, I thought that these Triple O's locations in Chevron gas stations are quite interesting. I guess it's convenient and probably a good rental agreement. Whatever the case, much like Harvey's, the location is weird; but the food is good. Again, it's not the biggest or juiciest burger out there; but it's got this "je ne se quois" quality about them. I especially like the soft hamburger bun. It makes it easy to eat and the copious amount of mayo helps the whole thing slide down into your stomach. The fries themselves are quite average, not being all that crispy. However, get a side of Triple O as a dip and they rock. For those who are wondering what Triple O sauce is all about, it is merely red relish with a creamy mayo.

While I was eating my lunch, I was staring right at a poster advertising the Sunny Start. It happens to be the breakfast sandwich that is uniquely White Spot. The sandwich itself is not that unique. It's essentially a fried egg, bacon, processed cheese and Triple O sauce in between a hamburger bun. But this simple sandwich definitely hits the "spot". I remember when I was younger, I could down 3 of these easily. Now, I can barely eat one without feeling a bit bloated. Nothing like a lot of grease to start your day! Triple O's is not somewhere I usually visit; yet it really satisfied my White Spot cravings without needing to go to the restaurant itself. As an added bonus, I filled my car with gas at the same time.

The Good:
- You can get some White Spot favourites quick
- If you grew up on it, it's a treat
- You can fill up your car and eat at the same time

The Bad:
- It's not cheap
- Not the best, but you have to understand it

Hachi Hana

Despite enjoying a nice meal at Koko a few days prior, we needed more quality Japanese food to erase the nightmare of a meal at Kawawa. I think it'll take me awhile before I recover psychologically from that meal. I wonder if there is such thing as a food shrink? Being that we were already on the North Shore, we headed up to upper Lonsdale in search of Hachi Hana. Interestingly, I already knew what the front of the restaurant already looked like since I looked it up on Google Street View. I must say this is a handy tool; yet creepy at the same time. I looked up some friends' houses and boy, I felt almost stalkerish. We got there at 11:45am and the door was open, so we strolled in. Apparently they were not open even though it said they opened at 11:30am. It seems that they changed their opening hour to 12:00pm. So instead of waiting in the pouring rain, we waited in the car. This sushi better be worth the wait and trouble!!! I was so tempted to go next door to the new location of Tamarind Hill and the other Japanese restaurant - Kokoro.

When we finally made it in there, I was surprised how small the place was. There is a table at the front that seats 2 people; but barely. The table we were at wasn't anymore spacious. It was tough to get into my seat since the table next to us was less only a foot away. However, I needed to sit there, it was the only one near the window! Looking over the menu, I noticed that the prices were quite reasonable, especially the bento boxes. Viv decided on the most expensive box which included green salad, tempura, dynamite roll, 4pcs nigiri and 4 pcs sashimi. I went for a Unagi Cone, Spicy Prawn Cone and 1/2 of a Futomaki. We got the requisite Chicken Udon for the kiddies.

Viv's bento box arrived first and the sashimi looked and tasted quite fresh. No mushy fish here. I actually removed the Dynamite Roll from the box to take a picture of it. I tried to take it in the box, but all I could see was rice and sesame seeds. Unacceptable! The roll was pretty good, rice was the right consistency being soft with whole grains while not being mushy. Despite what you see in the picture, the tempura was not not over-battered. It was crispy, hot and perfectly fried. We liked the addition of a green bean since we don't often get this.

My 2 sushi cones arrived next and they were filled with plenty of ingredients. First of all, they looked nice and secondly they tasted quite good. I found that the Spicy Dynamite Cone was really not all that hot; rather, it was more sweet than anything. It didn't detract from the cone itself; but if you were looking for spicy, this is not it. The Unagi Cone was stuffed full of unagi, pickled ginger and crunchy cucumber. It was a nice contrast of textures and flavours, with the ginger giving a nice kick. I also got 1/2 of a Futomaki Roll and this one was rolled tightly and full of ingredients once again. I emphasize the "tightly" because if not done right, the thing falls apart since it's so large. As you can see in the picture, lots of imitation crab, tomago, oshinko, cucumbers and shiitake mushrooms. I liked that there was not too much rice in their rolls either.

The kiddies split a Chicken Udon and well, it was an udon. The soup base was quite flavourful; however, I found the udon a bit on the soft side. Actually the kids like it soft, so it all worked out. Another solid Japanese meal! How about that? My faith has now been restored! I think the
meals at Koko and Hachi Hana have exorcised the demons of Kawawa. The sun is shining again, the grass is green, birds are singing and people are driving safely in Richmond (okay, let's not get carried away here). Bottom line, the food was fresh and prepared properly. Prices were reasonable and the service was friendly. The place might be small and unassuming; but I'd eat here again.

The Good:
- Food is fresh and prepared properly
- Prices are reasonable
- Service is friendly

The Bad:
- Seating is a bit tight
- Not good for big groups

Beaver Tails

Fried dough, if you think about it, is not really all that interesting. However, it's what you put on that piece of dough that changes everything. Just look at the simple donut. Another is the fry bread or Bannock. Every time I visit the PNE, I go straight towards Whale Tails for this sinful treat. When I was younger, I remembered it at Elephant Ears. Whatever the name it goes by, it's darn good. Well, I didn't want to wait until next August for another fill. With my daughter and Viv at music class on the North Shore, I took my son over to Lonsdale Quay for some Beaver Tails.

As luck would have it, rain was absolutely pouring down on us as we walked over to the market. We were lucky to get a free spot right at the foot of Lonsdale; yet we were still drenched walking that short distance. Gotta love that North Shore weather! Once inside we headed over to Beaver Tails and I knew that the Garlic Butter & Cheese was the way to go. Not really because I wanted to eat that one, I knew that was the only one my son might eat. So the nice lady made a nice fresh fry bread and piled on a whole lot of cheese. She then placed it in the toaster over for it to melt.

So we made our way to a table and I started eating it. I gave a small piece to my son and he devoured it. Then he proceeded to tell me to stop eating it and to share it with him. Truth be told, he ended up eating over 2/3rds of it! Trust me, that is an accomplishment in itself for him. Only problem is that I can't really bring him for a Beaver Tails all the time. It was probably for the best anyways, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to eat too much of it all by myself. Now I gotta see if I can make some at home since I rarely see my son so enthused about any kind of food.

The Good:
- Man it's a tasty treat!
- They weren't shy about piling on the toppings
- They pat down the thing after frying (to make it slightly more healthy?)

The Bad:
- Heart attack food
- It's not a light snack

Koko Japanese

After a horrific "Japanese" meal (if I can even categorize it as Japanese) at Kawawa a couple of weeks ago, I was looking for some "real" Japanese food. It also happened to be my dad's birthday and honestly, I wasn't going to take him out for crappy Japanese food. Besides, he already told me specifically, "No all-you-can-eat!". It seems almost randomly, we decided on Koko. Actually, I spotted it from across the street while I was leaving On Lok on Thursday morning. Koko has been around for a really long time. In fact, it was one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in town. With seemingly an endless supply of Japanese restaurants, I never think of going here. I know my mom has been here a long time ago; but I'm not too certain I've even eaten there myself.

Although the sushi chef is Japanese, the rest of the staff are Chinese, since I overhead them speaking Cantonese. The importance of a good sushi chef is never more apparent if you have ever had crappy Japanese food before. You will know the difference between authentic vs. impostor. It's having properly cooked and mixed sushi rice, correctly rolled sushi (which won't fall apart) and perfectly cut sashimi. None of which I experienced at Kawawa (yes, I still have flashbacks). We started off with a green salad and it was spring mix with a nice light dressing. Nothing much to talk about other than we got some greens in the meal? I got a Gomae assuming it would be good and yes it was! Unlike some "Japanese" restaurants, the gomae here was not bathed in with a ridiculous amount of overly salty or sweet sesame dressing. Rather, it was lightly dressed while still being extremely flavourful. We could taste the aromatic flavours of sesame which is much better than plain saltiness. We followed that up with a small order of Ebi Tempura. As the picture shows, the tempura batter was quite crispy and not oily. It may not be apparent in the picture; but it was light as well. Something as simple as frying up tempura is not easily executed like you would think.

So that we could sample a nice selection of sashimi, we got the Assorted Platter. Beautifully present, the sashimi was both fresh and cut perfectly. The highlights of this dish were the wild salmon and geoduck. Although the portion size on this was not big; the quality made up for it in spades. I ask you, would you rather have quality or a large quantity of mushy, poorly cut fish? At least for me, I choose the former. My mom loves dynamite roll, so we naturally had to get an order of it. According to her, this was the best dynamite roll she's ever had. The ebi was so meaty, it had "lobster-like" qualities. It was rolled up nice and tightly. While we were enjoying it, we regretted not getting the larger version so we could eat more of it.

I'm not a huge fan of Fried Gyoza; but Viv seems to like it and that was one of the dishes she chose. I normally do not like it because it's not served that hot and crispy (especially at AYCE joints). Well, this one was not only hot and crispy, there was lots of them. A total of 10 were on the plate. I must've had 5 to myself and I don't even really like the stuff! I liked how they were not that greasy and the filling was not too dense. As always, I got a couple of pieces of Nigiri - 2pcs Tamago, 2pcs Tai, 2 pcs Unagi, 1pc Tako and 2 pcs Inari. Again, the sushi rice was the perfect texture between being fully cooked while still a bit firm. Everything was fresh tasting and presented beautifully. Except, I found the tamago a bit "rough" looking and a tad overcooked.

Something that we don't see a whole lot on Japanese menus (especially non-authentic joints) is Pressed Sushi. It is essentially sushi which is pressed into a block-shape mold and comes out as a long rectangular piece. We got the Ebi Pressed Sushi which had pickles in the middle. Since it has been pressed, the sushi itself is a bit denser than regular rolled-sushi. This was probably the least favourite of all the dishes we ordered. It was nothing against the pressed sushi per se; rather it was a bit plain. I gotta say that it's very nice to have a decent Japanese meal. One that is authentically prepared and presented. It's really sad that so many "Japanese" restaurants in the GVRD butcher the food so badly. Thank goodness these places still exist. Although the food wasn't outstanding, it was pretty good. In terms of value, I think that you'll find that it's a bit more expensive than most places and the portion sizes are a tad smaller. I'm not about to come here every week; but I will return when I experience the next "Japanese" food horror show.

The Good:
- Food that looks and taste like Japanese food
- Qualified sushi chef
- It's not Kawawa

The Bad:
- A tad pricey
- Portions are not very big

Charlie's Chocolate Factory

With a name like Charlie's Chocolate Factory, you'd expect to see Johnny Depp at the front entrance with those funky glasses, right? Nope, try some old dude on a sign. Apparently, that is Charlie. Whatever the case, this place has been here forever. I seemingly drive by here all the time without stopping. Today was a bit different, I drove by and my son took notice. I guess with "CHOCOLATES" in big font on the awning, it's not hard to miss. I promised that we'd take a look on our way back. Inside, there is not only a large selection of all things chocolate, there is a candy section as well. I must say this is a kid's paradise. This brings up an important point. With the increasing market for "gourmet" chocolates, places like Charlie's do not compare. Thomas Haas, it's not. As we all know, the best chocolates do not need a lot of sugar since all it does is mask the rich taste. The chocolate here at Charlie's isn't exactly mind-blowingly sweet such as Allan's which is pure crap. But it is still sweet. When you bite into gourmet chocolate, you will generally taste more cocoa than sugar. It should also melt evenly and be buttery smooth. But for kids, Charlie's is heaven. C'mon, when you got chocolate in the form of power tools and a pool table, you know who the target market is.

My son was having a real good time looking at all the different types of chocolates, especially the novelty ones. He was completely mesmerized by the chocolate river at the back of the store. He even insisted I take a picture of him in front of it. After all that, he only ended up picking up one chocolate coin. We ended up with more treats than him. The staff there were quite friendly and gave us some samples while we were shopping. There is a wide range of products which also include blocks of imported chocolate and molds. Moreover, they have items for wedding favours, parties and other specialty events. As you can see, they are not some trendy chocolate shop; far from it. It's merely a fun place to visit with the kiddies and to pick up some chocolates just for the heck of it. Personally, I don't mind it, it's a great chocolate for the family, especially for the novelty.

The Good:
- Really great for kids
- Large selection of novelty treats
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- It is what it is, it's not best, but not the worst
- Chocolate is on the sweeter side

On Lok

It was a cool fall evening and while most people were just getting ready for bed, I was heading out to play hockey. That's right, late night (11:30pm) hockey on a Wednesday. I'm not sure what has possessed me to commit to such lunacy since I do value my sleep. Hey, 4 hours of sleep is enough! Well, Polka King has been doing this Wednesday night hockey for over a decade and he seems to do okay. I must say, at the very least, I'm getting some form of exercise to make up for the food I eat. Of course, I'm not sure if it helps the situation that I intended on eating something afterwards. Delaying my need for sleep, I convinced Polka King to go out for some grub after hockey ended. I did drive him to the game; thus he really had no choice...

We ended up going to On Lok, a typical greasy spoon Chinese restaurant. I remember coming here when I was a kid. This place is definitely ol' school and apparently they have the vintage furnishings from the early 80's. But honestly, at 1:15am on a Thursday morning, there is very little choice in terms of food. There is Wonton Noodles and Penny that are also open nearby; but they essentially serve the same food. I guess it's habit that we headed over to On Lok. Let's get this out of the way first. Don't expect great Chinese food here. However, you will find acceptable food in a less-than-appealing environment. With these prices, you will need to make compromises.

Polka King only had $7.00 in his pocket and that was more than enough for his Sui Gow Noodles. For $4.65, he got a fairly large bowl of decent noodles and soup. Noodles were still chewy, soup had depth without being salty with 4 large sui gow on top. Obviously there is better; but for this price at this hour, it hits the spot. The same could be said about my Wonton Noodles. It's true that the wontons are not all shrimp; but they were still large and quite good. Both the shrimp and pork were firm in texture (which is way better than mushy). For good measure, I got a bowl of steaming hot Pork Liver, Kidney and Stomach Congee. Yes, it was "offal"! The congee was thick, all the way to the last spoonful. It's not the same as Congee Noodle King or Congee Noodle House; but it held its own.

Now over a year later, our Friday night hockey team decided to pay a visit to On Lok. Actually, we weren't planning to; but our original destination, Bo Laksa's Bubbles and Bits, was closed an hour earlier than its original operating hours. Thus, we had to go somewhere else. That somewhere else ended up to be On Lok. Since we had a fairly large group, we tried almost everything except for the stuff I had on my last visit. How convenient! No duplicates! So Gordo, Sweet Tooth, Boss Woman and I ended up sharing several dishes starting with the BBQ Pork & Shrimp Fried Rice. All the individual components were good including the chewy rice and cold water shrimp. However, the darn thing was super salty and oily. If you average it out, it was fine; but could've been better. We also shared the House Special Fried Noodles. This is essentially everything-you-can-put-on-top-of-it noodles. A combination of seafood, leftover BBQ meats and veggies, this was pretty standard stuff. As opposed to the rice, this was a little bit bland. Yet, it was just as oily as the rice.

Continuing on the oily theme, the Gai Lan with Beef was glistening from the plethora of oil. Not particularly unusual since it is wok fried. Other than the greasiness, the dish itself was pretty good. The gai lan was perfectly cooked with plenty of crunch and colour while the beef was tender. Now our last dish was a mitigated disaster. Looking more like spatzle, the Shrimp & Scrambled Eggs was highly unappealing. Normally, the eggs are wok fried until barely cooked. It would have a silky quality which is contrasted by the crunchy shrimp. In this case, the eggs were so horribly overcooked, it ended up as little pieces which were rubbery and hard. Furthermore, it was a tad too salty. Probably the result of overcooking and lack of moisture. At the very least, the shrimp were pretty good. Gadget Girl decided on something which we didn't hold out much hope for. She went for the Szechuan Beef Noodles. The fact that On Lok is a Cantonese restaurant specializing in wonton noodles and late night fare did not seem like the typical place to order this. Well, believe it or not, it was not only half-decent, it bordered on being good. The noodles were broad and thick. Not exactly al dente; yet not overcooked either. The soup had a decent amount of spice and was quite flavourful. The beef was decent as well being tender. Very strange. This could get this right; but couldn't execute the usual fare. That was also the case with the Sweet & Sour Pork on Rice. When it arrived, Milhouse looked at with some hesitation. Hey, the guy eats anything. For him to hesitate, that is a big deal. You see, the colour was radioactive-like. Normally, we'd find this colour at Manchu Wok. Fine, let's taste it first. Maybe it'll taste better than it looks. Nope. It was predominantly sweet with no little tartness. Since the rice depends heavily on the sauce for flavour, this was also another fail.

Lionel Hutz and Truditini ended up sharing 3 dishes which also drew some "mehs". Typically, Beef Fried Rice Noodles are quite greasy otherwise it would stick to the wok. Yet, in this case, it was very greasy and salty as well. Not terrible, just not good. The Honey Garlic Spareribs were pretty good. Sweet and garlicky, this was pretty much what we'd expect. Same with the Fried Tofu. It was fried and then wok-tossed with chilis, garlic and salt. Okay, we knew that On Lok is not known for great food. Rather, it is a place that is open late and serves decent enough eats to do the job at a very reasonable price. With that being said, this visit was not very impressive. Universally, items were greasy and generally salty. Yah, the place is a greasy spoon with the ambiance of a 80's joint. But when the food starts to head towards disgusting (such as the scrambled eggs), it defeats the purpose of eating out. For us, we agreed that On Lok would be one of those "desperation eats" where if there is nothing else open, then we'd return. Otherwise, there are way better options.

The Good:
- It's cheap
- Open late
- Good portions

The Bad:
- It's a dive
- Food is average at best
- You will never confuse it with Congee Noodle King/House

Chicken World

Deep fried foods, so crispy and delicious; yet so sinful at the same time. I had the deep fried cravings today, particularly fish 'n chips. Having already visited the 2 nearest joints already (Ocean Ave & Dock House), I had my sights set on Mr. Pickwick's. I headed over to the little known Surrey location out on 96th and 128th. I pulled into the parking lot and WTF? It was randomly closed today! I hate restaurants that do that! My fish 'n chip quest came to a screeching halt. What about the fried food??? Does that mean I have to go get a salad instead? Wait, what's that place across the parking lot? Chicken World?!?!? What is that??? Honestly, it didn't look too inviting from the outside, with it's Church's-type special plastered on the door. Well, it is fried and I do like chicken. WTH, let's do it. Let's try this random fried chicken joint even though it resembled a fast food restaurant from a teen flick.

Okay, the place ain't too big; but there's like one person manning the front counter, the kitchen and the drive-thru window! Talk about multitasking. Reminds me of the Quickie Mart. Interestingly on the menu, they were serving "desert". I guess I should've left right there. But I apprehensively got some chicken and wings to go. I went for half spicy and half regular for the chicken and hot for the wings. I sat down and waited, waited and waited some more. I guess that's what you get when one person does the job of 3. They must be saving a lot on labour costs or on the laughable signage of a rooster happily grasping a globe. I finally got my order and went off on my merry way.

Alas, I arrive back at my desk and excitingly open up the box to reveal... some pretty sad looking chicken wings. Have you ever looked at food and knew you weren't going to like it without eating it? Well, these mushy, over-floured chicken appendages were making me crave KFC, which is not a good thing. I'm not sure how they were fried because I could boil wings that are crispier than these ones. The best part of them was the bottled hot sauce they must've used to flavour them. Moving along, I opened the big box and the fried chicken pieces looked edible. I lifted the greasy drumstick and put my teeth into it. Hmm... quite tender, but what was I eating? Did they not season the chicken? It was devoid of flavour. Even the spicy pieces were bland. Alright, let me get the ketchup. This is sad, I've got ketchup flavoured greasy chicken for lunch. Serves me right for going to a random fried chicken joint. Alright, get me some LA Chicken!

The Good:
- Chicken was juicy
- I got to write a blog about it
- Someone else ate the hot wings for me

The Bad:
- Water has more flavour than the chicken
- Peking Duck is less greasy than this