Duffin's Donuts

"Oh really? That place?" is what Polka King remarked when I revealed my intentions for grub after our Wednesday night hockey. "Isn't it like on Main & 33rd?" Nope, Duffin's has been at it's current location for awhile now and it has always intrigued me. Sure, I've been to their old location eons ago and I have barely even a vague recollection of the food. I mention food because in addition to donuts, there is an eclectic mix of everything under the sun. Where else can you get donuts, Chinese food, noodle soup, bubble tea, ice cream, coffee, fried chicken, breakfast and Mexican torta subs? That's right folks, what you have here is a food fair, all under one roof. Best of all, this can all be had 24 hours a day! To be honest, I drive by it all the time and I don't even give it a second look. But once again, at 2:00am in the morning on a Thursday, there is little choice.

To us, it felt like we were going on a field trip, much like when we were younger. You know, to a place that is a bit mysterious and intriguing. Well, when we entered the place, it sure looked like something we had seen in our field trips in our youth. Whereas newer hip places have updated decor with organized displays and lighting, Duffin's kicks it ol' school with fixed cushionless booth seating. Wait, there's more! How about a long counter of displays that have nothing to do with each other and "warming" lamps from Ikea? Oh, you gotta be impressed with the 24 flavours of soft-serve or the several varieties of torta subs. The plethora of choice confused Polka King and he spent a good deal of time deciding. While he was figuring it all out, I went for a few pieces of fried chicken, a Buttermilk Lemon Donut and a Grilled Beef Torta Sub.

I walked on over to a seat in the corner to take my pictures. Hey, at this hour and the clientele at the place, they truly might've wondered WTH I was doing. I've heard that the fried chicken here is good; but to me, it was barely passable. I blame it on the fact it was probably sitting there for awhile because the chicken was not all that juicy or tender. Flavour wise, it wasn't bad, particularly the spicy one. Again, people have raved about the tortas here and I didn't feel quite the same. It wasn't terrible; but there was very little meat and the whole thing was just underwhelming. Gimme one from Las Tortas over this anytime. I didn't mind the donut, it was cakey, sweet and yummy. I was practically finished before Polka King received his breakfast which consisted of 2 eggs, sausages and toast. To me at least it didn't look all that appetizing. Could it be the foam plate? Or maybe the sausages looked oilier than a pan pizza at Pizza Hut? Not sure; but Polka King ate it all. He didn't hate it; yet didn't like it either. You're probably thinking I dislike Duffin's. On the contrary, I don't. Hey, I'm not gonna do any weekly runs to the place; but it serves a purpose. It's 24 hours of mediocre food in a mediocre environment. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Good:
- It's cheap
- Open 24 hours
- Diverse selection of food

The Bad:
- Food is mediocre at best
- You don't want to hang out here too long

On On Wonton House

How desperate was I tonight? Well, when looking for somewhere to eat after my son's ice skating and floor hockey sessions, we wanted something fast and cheap. How about going to On On Wonton House? What's wrong with that you may ask? Let's just say that I've never been here before despite it existing at it's location on Kingsway since I can remember. It looks the same on the outside and inside from the 70's. We walk in and... hmm... only a handful of Chinese customers in a sea of non-Chinese customers. Not a good sign. Alright, I guess sometimes we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.

Whenever I visit a supposed "wonton house", I'm always a bit more picky. If they dare to put a food item in their restaurant name, it'd better be darn good. It's akin to calling themselves a steakhouse and having utility grade meat. Of course many of the "wonton houses" in the GVRD were leftovers from a different era. Now, wontons without shrimp or being completely comprised of pork are essentially seen as inferior wontons. Chalk this up to the influx of updated Cantonese cuisine from Hong Kong. Therefore, the wontons here at On On can be classified as mediocre. Comprised mainly of pork, these could pass for 1980's wontons. At least the soup wasn't half bad. Naturally, I ordered a congee. This time, I had the Liver and Kidney Congee. It was offal. LOL... Sorry, a poor attempt at humour. Honestly, it was pretty awful. First, it was a bit watery. Second, it was more bland than plain congee. Third, the liver and kidney were so horribly overcooked, it was like eating shoe leather. I guess for some people, that might be a good alternative to offal anyways.

The BBQ Pork & Shrimp Fried Rice was actually pretty good despite being bland as well. Lots of cold water shrimp and non-fatty pieces of BBQ pork were nestled in the firm rice. At this point I was wondering if they were conserving salt or assuming that the customers were going to douse their food with soy sauce. The blandness continued with the Beef & Vegetable with Flat Rice Noodles. There is colour in the sauce; but it was sorely lacking any type of flavour whatsoever. Furthermore, the beef was quite chewy, probably due to a lack of baking soda. The dish wasn't bad per se, it was just meh...

At least the very last dish was decent. The Tofu & Fish Hot Pot arrived sizzling hot. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the bubbling sauce. With no filler on the bottom (such as bak choy), there was plenty of crunchy; yet tender pieces of fish and soft tofu. Still not exactly salty, it had some resemblance of taste. I'm sure you have already guessed that I wasn't exactly thrilled with the food here. However, they still have their customers, which is probably due to their low prices. For me at least, I'm willing to pay more for better tasting food.

The Good:
- It's extremely cheap
- Portion sizes are good
- Staff was pretty friendly

The Bad:
- They don't like to use salt
- Decor is in a time-warp (if you care that is)
- Food is generally below average

Five Corners Cafe

What a great idea. Let's drive all the way out to White Rock on one of the wettest days of the year for some breakfast! While driving on the freeway and all you see is a wall of water; it's pretty much a bad idea to be driving in the first place. Moreover, if stepping out of the car meant being soaked from head to toe; it's another indication that staying inside would've been more prudent. But it's eating and that is the most important thing here. Not many things can stop me from eating. Even the stomach flu didn't faze me. I was defiant and ate McDonald's, Viva Sue Pizza and Beard Papa's despite my attachment to the ceramic god. Rain! Pfft... Bring it on!

So why White Rock? Well, I've heard of this little diner called the Five Corners Cafe. It's been there for awhile; but it's under new ownership. I thought that I needed to give it a try. Besides, there is a severe lack of real diners in the GVRD. Escaping the monsoon, otherwise known as Vancouver fall weather, we were greeted by pictures of Clark Gable, Katherine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. This is definitely a quaint little diner out in White Rock. The staff are indeed friendly and made us feel quite comfortable.

Despite the clock showing a few ticks after 10:00am, I decided to go for one of their "famous" burgers. Naturally, I would choose the biggest, most expensive one being the Roger Burger. Stacked high on a toasted bun, there were Jalapenos, mushrooms, bacon, cheese, a fried egg that essentially dwarfed the homemade patty. Look at the picture, that's not even with the top part of the bun (which includes lettuce, tomato and onion). I found that the patty was not that juicy; but overall the burger was tasty. For $10.00, this was a very good value. Think of the Royal Red at Red Robin on steroids. As for the fries, they were crispy; but were a bit generic.

Sexi Mexi had the Farmers Hash and it was massive. Underneath the perfectly fried sunny side eggs were sausage, tomato, mushroom, green onion, peppers and pan fries served with a side of toast. As you can see in the picture, nothing is overcooked. No mushiness here. Ma had the Classic Breakfast which is essentially 2 eggs, choice of meat, pan fries, toast and coffee. It was fantastic. How so? Well, for one the eggs was cooked perfectly, the bacon was crispy,
potatoes evenly cooked and the toast, crunchy. Trust me, there are places that can't get this right. We were pretty happy with our meals at Five Corners. It's not often you find a place that not only embraces the diner concept, it actually lives it. It's not the best food we've ever eaten and it's certainly not the best burger I've ever had; but the venue, price and portion size help make this a great place to grab some diner food while in White Rock.

The Good:
- Good portions
- Inexpensive
- Great service

The Bad:
- It's quite small, not good for big groups

Banana Leaf (Broadway)

My bro-in-law (Guy Smiley) wanted to meet up with us for dinner and wondered where we'd like to go. Honestly, that's like asking a child what they want for Christmas. With my kid's culinary needs in consideration, I suggested we head to Burgoo on Main Street. After all, they have their 2 favourite dishes - grilled cheese and mac 'n cheese. Well, that plan epically failed since there was a 1 hour wait for a table at 5:30pm on a Sunday. Undeterred, I pulled out my back up plan and suggested we head to Temaki Sushi. Arghhhhh!!! It's closed on Sunday! At that point, out of pure desperation, I asked Viv to check out the prices at BC Sushi a couple of stores down. $25.00 for AYCE... Meh... We decided to skip that idea, especially since it would cost us $17.00 for my son. Yah, whatever, I'm not paying $17.00 for a bowl of udon (which is all he'd have anyways). Alright, last ditch effort, Banana Leaf on Broadway. I know there are some noodles they'd eat there. Besides, Banana Leaf used to be one our 'ol standbys when we used to live in Downtown. I guess it was about time we visited them again.

With parking spots secured right in front, we got a table right away, tucked into a corner. I was a bit hungry by then and started munching on the complimentary nuts. They are addictive. Sweet and a bit salty, these crunchy peanuts would be a great snack while watching hockey. We started with the Roti Canai, which to me, is a must order when at any Malaysian restaurant (assuming it doesn't suck). With the right combination of pan fried crispiness and sweet, soft fluffiness, these flaky gems were delicious. Even more tasty with the curry dipping sauce. We got 2 orders and it was massive, we hardly could finish it.

Next up were the Steamed Clams in Soy Bean Sauce with Chili & Ginger. The sauce was definitely flavourful with strong hints of the aforementioned ingredients. However, I couldn't stop thinking of how little food was actually on the plate. If you discarded all the shells, you'd probably be left with a pile of clam meat that wouldn't even fill a small ramekin. I guess that is the cost of eating clams, mussels and the sort. One peculiar dish that we ordered was the Singapore-Style Sweet and Sour Pork Chops. To me at least, they are very similar to Chinese Peking-Style Pork Chops. The only difference that I could see was the absence of Worcestershire sauce which gives Peking Pork Chops their unique depth of flavour. These pork chops were fried up just perfectly being juicy while crispy on the outside.

My choice of dish was the Rendeng Beef. Unlike the version I had at Taste of Singapore, this one had a good amount of grease on the top. Not necessarily a bad thing since oil does contain a lot of the flavour. For me at least, I could've done with a little less; although I've had much worse at Tropika. The meat was both tender and plentiful. The coconut and chili based sauce was quite spicy. Not mind-blowing spicy; but there was indeed a kick. Went well with the coconut rice though. On that note, the Sambal Beans were also a good accompaniment as well. These were spicy and flavourful as well. The beans were ever-so-slightly over fried when they oil blanched it. However, that wasn't a big deal.

Not exactly a dish I would normally order at a Malay restaurant was the Ipoh Char Hor Fun. Mainly for the kiddies, this dish is not spicy at all and quite saucy, especially for a noodle dish. I'm not a big fan of this since it's essentially swimming in an oyster & egg sauce. I'm sure someone likes it, but I find it both bland and soggy. I've also had this dish at Tamarind Hill and it's the same. Chalk this up to personal preference. Well, another solid meal at Banana Leaf. I've heard some rumblings about how the food has been watered down to meet the tastes of Vancouverites. Well, I can somewhat see this; but honestly, if the food tastes good, it really shouldn't matter.

The Good:
- Reasonably priced
- Most dishes are well-seasoned
- Good service

The Bad:
- Portion sizes vary, with some dishes being large and some small

Nuba (Seymour)

Taking advantage of the fact that Viv was picking up some things at the Downtown Sears, I dropped her off and went in search of food. The mission - to eat something a bit different and also get something for takeout. Hey, Viv needs to eat too! Heck, I'm not going to try something right in the downtown core, parking would be a nightmare. So looking for something a bit more on the fringe, I targeted Nuba on Seymour. Just as I thought! Plenty of parking available around Seymour and Drake.

Looking over the menu board, I was debating what to order. I hate choices. I can never decide what to eat! I can have one thing in mind and when it's time to take my order, I change it at the last minute. That would be probably the explanation for me standing there for at least 5 minutes with a confused look on my face. I finally settled on the Chicken Tawook Platter for myself and the Crispy Cauliflower Pita for Viv. I originally got one of the very few tables near the inside of the restaurant. However, I was scoping out this dude who was just finishing up right at the window. Before a blink of an eye, I swooped over to snap up that window seat when he left. Anything for better lighting!

I got my order shortly after and despite what others have complained about, I found that the portion size to be acceptable. After all, it wasn't that expensive, what do you expect? Resting on a bed of brown rice was a grilled flavourful chicken breast. A salad and pita bread with humus completed the combo. I gotta say that was one delicious humus. Smooth with a touch of lemon and olive oil, I couldn't get enough of it on each slice of pita. The chicken was a bit on the dry side; but it certainly wasn't tough. I really liked the slightly spicy sauce with cool yogurt. The salad filled space on the plate being quite ordinary except for the pickled cabbage.

The signature dish here is the crispy cauliflower and I got it in a pita for Viv. We didn't know how cauliflower could be so good. Just barely cooked retaining a nice crunch, these little morsels had a nice lemon flavour. Gonna have these bad boys without the wrap next time! I gotta say it was pretty good food at Nuba, especially the cauliflower. I'd probably skip the chicken next time to try something else though.

The Good:
- Something a little bit different
- Who would have thought cauliflower can be so good?
- Unique flavours

The Bad:
- Portion size could stand to be a bit bigger
- Not really a lot of seats at this location

ABC Country Restaurant

*This location is now closed*

ABC??? Has hell frozen over? Has Kawawa suddenly transformed into the second coming of Tojo's? Is it now safe to drive in Richmond??? Hang on, this is not a misprint, typo or cruel practical joke. I did indeed eat at ABC Country Restaurant today. My opinions about the place are pretty much biased. From the countless times I've been to ABC in the past, it has failed to impress me one bit. Could it be that I'm not that enamored with food that can be generally replicated at home? Could it be that most people can do better? I'm not implying that I expect gourmet food here, I just want food that doesn't like look like somebody's leftovers.

I really wasn't intending on dining at ABC; but I said something to Pomegranate that made me feel guilty. I basically said that ABC sucked *ss. Well, he went on to say that his late father loved the place, especially the dinner menu. *Sigh* What was I supposed to do? Go for breakfast at ABC I guess... At least I didn't have to suffer though lunch nor dinner. You'll find that I seem to order Eggs Benny quite often for breakfast. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of it; rather, I find that it is a dish that can demonstrate kitchen execution. This time around, the eggs were perfectly cooked despite the obvious mold they were made in. The Hollandaise was a good consistency; yet I didn't seem to taste anything. For some reason, it wasn't buttery or lemony. I was disappointed that they used smoked ham in place of Canadian back bacon.

Blondie had the French Toast with eggs & bacon. A pretty standard version where the eggs were nicely over-easy. Bacon was crisp and toast soft, not much to complain about here. Ma had the Bacon and Eggs. The eggs were a perfect sunny side up and the bacon crisp once again. The country potatoes were alright. I'd prefer if they were a bit more on the crispy side, much like the ones at Denny's.

Yah, I'll admit it. The breakfast here at ABC was decent and inexpensive. However, I must say that I've been to ABC countless times in the past and their lunch/dinner items lean more towards home cooking. And when I mean home cooking, it's home cooking from the 80's. I know there is a market for this type of restaurant, especially with families and older customers; yet, it's not something I would frequent when there are so many other choices around.

The Good:
- Service is friendly
- It's reasonably priced
- Breakfast is decent

The Bad:
- Lunch/Dinner meals were good... in the 80's
- Not much in the way of creativity when it comes to the food

X-Site Grill & Bistro

What's up with X-Site Grill & Bistro? Everytime I drive by the place, I see their specials proudly advertised with a large banner across the front. So what's the big deal you might ask? How about daily specials that are around $6.00? WTH? Yeah, that's what I was thinking. That's pretty darn cheap. You know when a deal seems too good to be true... Tonight, Viv and I decided to finally try this place and figure out if they were for real. One things for sure, for a Thursday night, they're pretty busy. Inside, there was definitely the strangest mix of patrons you'll ever see. Young University students mixed in with older Asian folk, all in one restaurant.

Looking over the menu, I was a bit taken aback by the prices. Either everything was missing a "1" in front of it or they really were serious about charging what is essentially McDonald's prices for a real sit-down restaurant. Again, can this be too good to be true? To find out, we first started with a Calamari to share. At $6.00, this was a formidable portion of large squid rings. They were tender and the batter was crisp while not being oily. Only criticism is that since they were so large, it's a bit hard to eat. By virtue ofordering a beverage, Viv was able to order the daily special which happen to be the Grilled Salmon for $6.00 (it's Sirloin Steak on Mondays!). Not the most aesthetically pleasing piece of salmon, it was still cooked right being moist and tender. To fill out the plate, there was a massive salad, rice, garlic toast and boiled potatoes with sour cream. Nothing to write home about; but this was a complete meal for the price of a Japadog!

For me, I went for the Mushroom Burger. Also for $6.00, I got a homemade patty topped with mushrooms with salad and boiled potatoes on the side. Nothing extraordinary with the burger; yet again, it was solid. I particularly liked the soft bun, it makes the whole thing easy to eat. I found that the use of boiled potatoes with sour cream an interesting departure from the usual French fries. I actually liked them. So including Viv's drink, our meal came out to $20.00 plus tip and tax. Okay, the food wasn't outstanding; yet for the price, what do you expect?

The Good:
- Incredibly cheap
- Food is decent, if not boring
- Service is friendly, when you can get their attention

The Bad:
- It's pub food, don't expect any more, any less
- The open seating plan is a bit strange
- Service is slightly sparse