Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe

*Restaurant is now closed*

The grand opening of Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe back in February created quite a splash, for all the wrong reasons. Originally Anthony Sedlak, celebrity chef on the Food Network, was touted as the Executive Chef. However, as construction delays persisted, he pulled out to pursue other TV endeavors. That left partners Steve Da Cruz and Andre McGillivray without a star chef; but that is where Chef de Cuisine, Jason Liezert comes in. Since then, there have been a wide range of differing opinions about the place. I'll be honest, I was in no rush to visit. However, I got an invitation to try it with an offer of a free entree. I mulled it over and decided that my one entree would not be very representative of the food. Furthermore, my schedule has been so nuts lately, I wasn't even sure I could make it out there. Thus, I sent them back an email with a better idea. Since I already eat out after Monday softball, I would bring my softball team out after our game. This way, I could kill 2 birds with one stone. Or in this case, we could cover much more of the menu. So, instead of me getting free anything, the arrangement would be 25% off the total bill. Hey, I need to somehow persuade my team in joining me! To respond to the complainers ahead of time, it is true they were expecting us. However, I truly believe a restaurant cannot improve or degrade +/- 10% just because they knew we were there. If the food ain't good, it won't improve overnight. Conversely, if the food is good, it ain't going to all suck in the same period of time.

Once again, we brought down the level of class with our attire. Milhouse really topped it off with his ripped T-Shirt. TS, who joined us for dinner for the heck of it was the only one nicely dressed. Prior to our visit, I was already aware of the bright blue coloured chairs; but wow, those things are loud. Distinctive? Yes. My style? Nope. Another thing that struck me right away was the extensive selection of booze adorning the whole East wall. Their drink menu is huge! Too bad, other than Miss Y, none of us were in the mood for cocktails. Maybe next time. We got some Gougeres as a amuse bouche and it was a bit too doughy and dense. Then, we got more carbs in the form of bread with corriander/pepper butter. Our table enjoyed the butter and kept eating the bread. For myself, I decided to get the Baby French Onion Soup to start. The server remarked that it was small and she wasn't kidding. If I had to describe the size, it would be equivalent to a small teacup. Despite its size, the soup packed quite a punch. Unlike many other versions I've had, this one wasn't too salty. Rather, there was ample natural sweetness from the caramelized onions. And as a side note, I'm not a huge fan of onions in general, so this was good.

For my main, I went for the Beef Tenderloin with veal bone marrow crust. As always, I was troublesome and asked for the steak to be done medium-rare, closer to rare. And from the picture, it is obvious that it was executed perfectly. Did they try extra hard since they knew we were here? Possibly; yet once again, if they are incapable of doing so, they wouldn't have succeeded. Sitting atop the tenderloin was the aforementioned marrow crust and blue cheese butter. I did like the rich taste of the crust; however, it was more crumbly than a crust per se. Although the blue cheese butter rocked. It added only a understated flavour (the blue cheese was not overwhelming at all) and smoothness to the well-seasoned meat (good thing too, tenderloin is not all that flavourful). The arugula and red onion salad provided a nice bitter/tart counterbalance to the heaviness of the steak and condiments. The side of Pomme Frites was good and bad. It started off being fantastic. The frites were very crispy and well-seasoned; but as I got closer to the bottom, the small little pieces were almost impossible to pick up and eat. As for dessert, I opted for the Vanilla Bean Crème Brulée, partly because Silent Bob picked the dessert I originally wanted. No duplicates! I liked the hard torched sugar topping and the strong vanilla taste of the custard. It was not too sweet and I found the portion size to be gigantic. However, the custard itself was too thin. It kept dripping on the table as I ate it.

Silent Bob and Milhouse both went for the 24/7 special which includes 2 courses for $24.07. Be sure to look out for the daily 24/7 tweet from @thecornersuite. If you retweet it, you get a free sorbet for dessert. The 24/7 special for tonight was a Cauliflower Soup with truffle oil followed by a Flat Iron Steak over black quinoa salsa & tagliatelle pasta. Milhouse thought that the soup had a nice consistency being not too creamy. It didn't taste like cauliflower with the flavours being subtle. (without the pungent aftertaste). As for the steak, he thought it was nicely cooked, tender and went well with the quinoa. It gave a nice firm feel and a texture that was a contrast with the softer steak. Lots of nice flavours. For dessert, Silent Bob selected the Lemon Meringue Pie with rhubarb sorbet. I liked the presentation as a small little tart instead of the more common slice of pie. However, Silent Bob said it was very, very sweet. He tried to figure out what was making it sweet, the crust or the meringue. Either way, he thought it was good; but very sweet.

Bear, as always, went for the Duck Confit with English pea purée, spaetzle, preserved lemon, jus. He felt it was a solid 'B'. Taste was good, but not quite an 'A' (I'm sure he was referring to the one at Cafeteria). The meat was just slightly on the dry side. The skin was a bit crispy, which was nice. The accompanying potato gratin was just okay - the presentation was better than the taste/texture. The brandied cherries were a nice touch, but he only ate one because he avoids wine/brandy (allergy). In terms of desserts, Bear is our expert and unfortunately, the Chocolate Tasting was inedibly sweet. The chocolate ice cream and pot-au-creme were brutally sweet - and that's an assessment from Bear, who's got a high tolerance for sugar! The flourless chocolate cake was okay, but he was not a big fan so it was also a bust. Overall, he thought it was the biggest dessert disappointments ever. I know this sounds harsh; but I would have to agree. I tried every piece and the sugar just overwhelmed everything, I could barely taste the chocolate.

Judes went for the Qualicum Bay Scallops with salted consommé, mushrooms, potato dumplings, radish salad. It's funny that she was even here with us being that it was her wedding anniversary! She thought the scallops were amazingly tender, a descent size and tasty. The presentation of the food was awesome, the veggies were cooked also to perfection and complimented the scallops. Amazingly enough even though she thought it was a small portion for the value, she was full. Maybe she was already filling up with bread & H2O? There was a mustard sauce, hoisin sauce and some seedy sauce. She tried all combinations of sauces with the scallops and came to the conclusion that she did not care for any of them. The salted consommé was a little too salty for her tastes. From the last time we had dinner at Cafeteria, Boss Woman was complaining there weren't any burgers on the menu. Although it really isn't a criteria for that type of restaurant, I guess it doesn't hurt to have one on the menu. And lo and behold, there it was, the Station 7 Burger on Corner Suite's menu. As described on the menu, it's a loaded burger with thick-cut bacon, aged cheddar, tomato, onion and BBQ sauce. She was quite disappointed in its size initially. However, it was juicy and the toppings more than made up for its small size. The frites were nice and crispy, not soggy. Very satisfying, especially since she was starving. Only disappointment was it took too long for the food to come out.

Miss Y ended up ordering 2 smaller plates for her meal. She started with the House-made Gnocchi with poached egg, bacon, English peas and mint. I had a try at this dish and I liked the soft gnocchi (soft, but not mushy, still had a nice bite). The flavours were subtle with a
understated smoke from the bacon and herby taste from the mint. Her second item was the Dungeness Crab Cake with crushed peas, bacon & quail egg salad and carrot purée.
She thought the crab cake was fairly standard; it was nice, and not too greasy. What made it stand out were the "fixings" ...a quail's egg and carrot puree. She loves pureed vegetables; but the carrot puree was fairly salty. It was probably meant more as a condiment anyways.

Now in the words of TS: Perusing the menu, I came upon their cheese menu. Wow. I don't think I'll ever come upon a point in my life when I would need that much selection of cheeses. Although the 24.07 menu sounded like a really great deal, I decided to order "light" since I had actually already eaten dinner before joining Sherman and his team. I decided to order "light".
I had the mini Croque Madame, endearingly called Croque Mademoiselle, from the petits bijoux (small jewels) section of the menu and the large entrée-sized Tuna Niçoise Salad (as opposed to the appetizer size). The Croque Mademoiselle was nicely done. There was enough of ham and cheese in each bite, and the whole sandwich was nice and golden-brown. It appeared that they dipped the sandwich in egg before frying. In keeping with the 'petit' theme, they used a quail egg for the fried egg component on top. How can one resist a quail egg? The sandwich was served with some cornichons, which helped counteract the richness of the croque mademoiselle.

The Tuna Niçoise was also well executed. The tuna was nicely-seared while each salad component was lightly (not overly) coated with a simple lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Boiled fingerling potatoes, roasted tomatoes (a nice touch to ensure they were nice and sweet), hard-boiled egg(s), olives, haricot verts: is there any wonder I love niçoise? There was also a good mess of dressed arugula, which was a pleasant surprise. Much better than your garden variety (pun? haha) mesclun. I tasted Sherman's frites and they were very good as well (TS! That doesn't sound right!). I wasn't expecting much from The Corner Suite, but I was proved wrong. (Now, I didn't get dessert, but I don't usually. So, if they have bad desserts, that's still fine by me.)

So I think we plowed through a good sample of the menu, except for the cheese and cocktails. The consensus among all of us was satisfaction. None of our appies or main dishes were amiss and in fact; some were very good. Did they put in extra effort this time around? Possibly. But case in point, the desserts were quite weak as a whole. Thus, the chef(s) are only capable based on their current abilities. Despite the discount, we still ended up paying a pretty penny for our meals, so the prices here aren't exactly cheap either. Mind you, for the more expensive entrees, the equivalent at Earl's or Cactus Club would cost nearly the same. The real litmus test is this: would we come back? At least for me (and TS too), yes. We'll just go somewhere else for dessert.

The Good:
- Entrees and appies were solid
- Extensive drink and cheese menu
- It's hip (despite the chairs... LOL)

The Bad:
- Desserts need work
- Kinda dark, hard to see the food (I know, it's for ambiance...)
- I dare you to find parking

Minoas

Once upon a time, there was a neat little Greek tavern that majestically stood out among the monotonous buildings along Kingsway across from Central Park. However, big bad Translink (well, it wasn't named that back then) came by and built an ugly-looking chunk of concrete in front. The subsequent Skytrain line helped obscure Minoas from passing motorists. Sure, you can still see it; however, it just ain't the same. It's been a very long time since I was last here. That was before marriage, kids and a mortgage. Back then, the Entertainment coupon brought me in. This time, it is a result of Elaine (Parker Pages) organizing a little blogger rendezvous. Joining us tonight was Chris (Mr. Elaine), Jessica & Mark and Kim. Oh, and we brought our Entertainment coupons as well. Finally, I'm getting use out of the book!

Since it was a Tuesday, the roast lamb was on special for $13.95. In order to use our coupons, we had to order it at regular price. With that, we saved an extra $1.00 compared to the special. Score! LOL... They allowed us to use 3 coupons for our party of 6. I mention this because some restaurants don't allow for this, even though they do not state it on the coupon itself. On a side note, I find this very deceptive and unethical. If you don't want to honour coupons that bear your restaurant's name, then DO NOT even bother offering them! This was the case with Red Fort. Viv had gone with some friends and the did not accept more than one coupon. Despite no stipulation on the coupon itself or any warning on the menu. So I give Minoas kudos for accepting them all. Now, if you ever talk to people who have been to Minoas or just merely read any online review, it is quite obvious people either like the place or don't like it. Not much in between. Apparently, the reason for this is inconsistency. Jessica and Mark confirmed this since their last meal here was not very good.

In addition to our individual meals, we shared an Appetizer Platter to start. There was Spanakopita, Dolmathes, Manitaria, Humus, Tzatziki, Calamari and Pita Bread. It was a decent portion; but as Mark stated, there should have been more for $28.99. For me, the dolmathes were very good. Filled with plenty of beef, it was very flavourful. I particularly liked how the filling wasn't too wet since there was a lemon sauce on top already. The calamari was quite tender; but the batter was not as crisp as I would've liked. The Spanakopita was crisp and the filling was tasty with a nice onion flavour. I only wish there was more filling. I really enjoyed the manitaria (mushrooms). Once again, well-seasoned and cooked perfectly. Both the humus and tzatziki were full of flavour, in particular lemon (which I really like). Mark and I both had the Kleftico (roast lamb) and was it ever a huge portion! The meat was very tender and moist. Moreover and most importantly, it was well-seasoned with hints of garlic and lemon. As for the sides on the plate, I wasn't exactly that enthused. The rice was both bland and overcooked. The lemon potato was overdone as well and quite greasy. It did taste quite good though. The veggies were alright still retaining some texture.

Since we are all food bloggers, we all decided to give each other samples. Kim opted for the Moussaka. I thought it was executed very well. The thick slices of eggplant did not disintegrate; hence, every layer was discernible. I also liked that the modest layer of bechamel. Sometimes, it's just too thick; thus overwhelming the dish. Elaine had the Biftekia (ground beef patties) and for once, they were not a charred and chewy. Surprisingly, they were very moist, juicy and flavourful. Jessica went for the Paidakia (lamb chops). I must've had a really good piece because it was super tender and juicy (again with good amount of seasoning). However, everyone else remarked that it was dry and overcooked. So except for the lamb chops, most of the food was quite well-executed and well-seasoned. From this visit alone, I would conclude that Minoas is a solid choice for Greek food; but keep in mind that others have not been so lucky.

The Good:
- Well-seasoned food
- Tender meats
- Quaint establishment

The Bad:
- Regular prices are on the higher side
- Service could've been more attentive
- According to many, food is inconsistent

Dim Sum @ Luxe Seafood Restaurant

It is a general belief that good Cantonese Dim Sum cannot be found anywhere outside of the immediate suburbs of Metro Vancouver. Naturally, there are places that "claim" to serve Dim Sum; yet what ultimately transpires is some spring rolls and unidentifiable dumplings. What is really hard to find is authentic Dim Sum that should look and taste like the stuff you get in Vancouver or Richmond. I'm sure some of you are now laughing at the mere mention of good Dim Sum out in the burbs. Now, to draw further ridicule, I was actually looking for good Dim Sum out in Langley. Langley??? You might think the chances of that are as good as not eating at a Chain restaurant out here. On that note, if you haven't noticed, there is almost every conceivable chain restaurant out here, including the only Olive Garden in British Columbia. Langley is mainly a family-orientated community and with that, chain restaurants thrive. With that being said, there are many good places to eat in Langley, if you look hard enough.

What brought me out to Langley this time around is Luxe Chinese Restaurant. Apparently, they have authentic and good Cantonese Dim Sum. Okay, if you aren't rolling on the floor laughing already (as in ROFL), please keep reading. Joining me were fine residents of Langley, Nikita and Bluebeard. They are our go-to friends for eats out here. We ended up to be a bit late due to some crappy luck. You see, while we were on the Trans-Canada, we were following a long stretch of cars in the carpool lane. I think we were doing 80km/h at the fastest. Finally, I got a chance to swing over and pass them all. Apparently, they were all following this Mini that was driving excruciatingly slow. Okay, I know it's the carpool lane and yes, they did have a carpool; but honestly, why hold up traffic when you can merely drive in the slow lane at the same speed? For the love of...

Oh and it gets better. Driving down 200th, there was this car driving under the speed limit in left lane. So I switch over to the right lane. Well, that didn't help. The minivan I ended up following impeded my progress by stopping at every light. If you live out in Langley, you'll know how long those lights are on 200th! So that is why I was late. I really should stop giving Richmond such a hard time since it appears no one knows how to drive in the GVRD regardless of location. When we finally got to the restaurant (which is directly across from Willowbrook Mall), I was surprised that they had push carts! Talk about the full-meal deal on authentic Dim Sum.

So, it wasn't long until we had food on the table starting with the Shrimp Dumplings. They were a fairly decent size filled with delicately-seasoned crunchy shrimp. It's too bad that the dumpling wrapper was both chewy and dry. Honestly, at this point I was just busy taking photos since we ordered so many items from the passing carts. I don't think I got to eat until the last picture was taken. The next item I got to was the Beef Meatballs. Despite the obvious inclusion of green onions in the meatballs, it didn't overwhelm the meat. In fact, Nikita's kid must've devoured 2 of them himself. So the taste was definitely mild enough. For me, I liked the slightly chewy texture. Then we had the Shrimp Balls on Silk Tofu. This was pretty good with a shrimp meatball that still had "bite" and a properly steamed slice of silk tofu (it didn't fall apart). The Beef Short Ribs were unexpectedly good. You see, most times there is more fat and chewy tendon than meat on these things. What we got were big tender pieces which were quite garlicky.

The Pork Spareribs were equally garlicky and meaty as well. As you can see in the picture, the ribs are meaty; rather than the chewy and fatty cartilage pieces. We got an order of the Shrimp Spring Rolls to satisfy my son. Unfortunately, that means only eating the crunchy wrapper and ignoring the shrimp. Well, at least I get the shrimp... The spring roll was good, fried perfectly without retaining too much oil. Sharing the same dry, doughy rice flour wrapper as the shrimp dumplings, were the Scallop and Shrimp Dumplings. Mind you, that was probably the only negative thing about them. Filled with plenty of crunchy shrimp and topped with a decent slice of scallop, these dumplings were good. From one dumpling to another was the Sui Mai. The ying to the shrimp dumpling's yang, these were pretty good as well. There was a good combination of slightly chewy pork with crunchy shrimp. There was a predominantly porky taste to it with a few bits of shiitake adding some flavour. I liked how they used some tobiko on top which added a nice colour (same for the scallop & shrimp dumpling as well). It is such a simple thing to do; but it really enhances the appearance.

We got one order each of the Beef Rice Noodle Roll and the BBQ Rice Noodle Roll. What we didn't get was the shrimp version. This is highly unusual. Unless you have a dislike or allergy to shrimp, it is a given that you order the shrimp one over the others (well, maybe not scallop). I remember, as a kid, being told that, for the same price, it is always worth it to get seafood first. Well, we didn't and honestly, I really prefer the BBQ pork version more. The one at Luxe is pretty good. There were plenty of lean pieces of BBQ pork, all wrapped up in soft sheets of rice noodle. I liked how the rice noodle was quite thin (as you can see in the picture).

The last item we had was the Pea Shoots and Shrimp Dumplings. I didn't get to try this one; but it was good since it had the same crunchy shrimp as the shrimp dumplings. However, it also had the slightly chewy dumpling wrapper too. Not a big deal though. I'd prefer chewier over mushy any day. Wow. I didn't see this one coming. Yes, I have heard good things about Luxe; yet to see for myself was an eye-opener. The Dim Sum is good enough to rival places in Vancouver. Of course I've had better; however, Luxe is not only good enough for Langley, it's good enough for anywhere in Vancouver.

The Good:
- Dim Sum is comparable to most places in Vancouver
- Friendly service
- Push carts, if you like 'em

The Bad:
- A little pricier than usual (acceptable given its location)
- Selection is a bit limited

Sunday Brunch @ Heron's (Waterfront Hotel)

*Now replaced by ARC*

$40.00 for brunch??? To some, that might sound like a raw deal. The venerable AYCE brunch is a hotel staple. The elaborate spread usually follows the formula of cold food, breakfast items, hot entrees, omelet station, meat carving station and desserts. Naturally, some items hold up better in this environment more than others. The question is: can we actually eat $40.00 worth of food? It is possible while it is probably not a good idea. At the Pan Pacific, the AYCE brunch tops out at $50.00 per person. Good food for a buffet, not necessarily worth it unless you take in account the location, level of service and ambiance. So far, we've been to the Hotel Vancouver, Metrotown Hilton and the aforementioned Pan Pacific. Today, we sample another Fairmont property - the Waterfront Hotel (specifically Heron's Restaurant).

One thing that we must take into account when dining anywhere in Downtown is the cost of parking. The metered parking, if you can find one, is a hefty $2.00 for 30 minutes. Thus, we decided to park at the Terminal City parkade a block away for $7.00 (for the whole day Sunday). I originally made a reservation via Opentable a few weeks back. We arrived a bit early and after checking into the front desk, we sat and waited to be seated. For some inexplicable reason, we were the last to be seated, even though we were the second party to arrive. I must've counted 5 other parties being seated before us. No big deal since there was plenty of food and plenty of tables. But why make a reservation when people who just walk up after we arrive, get seated first? We got no apology or explanation for this and I felt that this was quite unprofessional. Ultimately, we were left quite confused as to their seating system (when you are willing to pay $40.00pp for a meal, this should not happen, ever...).

Fortunately, once we were seated, our server was extremely personable and friendly. She responded to all of requests promptly and professionally. Moreover, she was observant enough to offer my parents a senior discount which brought their meals down to $33.00. I quickly rushed to get some pictures of the barely touched food. I say barely touched because the people who were seated before us started eating already. Yes, the real reason we arrived early was to be seated first so I could take pictures of the pristine food. Too bad really, we weren't seated first! Okay, I'll stop talking about it, I'm over it (well, maybe not...). After some mad picture-taking, I got down to business - eating! As usual, there are selection of Salads, Cold Cuts and Marinated Vegetables. To the left are the Breads, Pastries and Cheeses. To the right, is a variety of Fresh Cut Fruit and Veggies which include the usual cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, watermelon, grapes, strawberries, carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, peppers and celery. On the opposite side were the money items. A nice spread of Seafood lay waiting which included prawns, mussels & clams, scallop & shrimp ceviche, smoked salmon, gravlax, smoked herring and Indian candy. I really enjoyed the plump mussels, they were fresh tasting and sweet. The prawns were also very good with a nice snappy crunch.

There are are 2 Hot Food Stations with the first consisting of the all the regular breakfast items such as Eggs Benedict, Pancakes, French Toast, Bacon, Potatoes, Sausage and Tomato au Gratin. Although the Eggs Benedict were sitting under a heat lamp, the free-range eggs were poached perfectly with a nice runny yolk. I found the Hollandaise to be a bit bland though, a little more lemon would've helped. The other items were pretty much your decent standard breakfast fare. The adjacent station included Butter Chicken, Grilled Chicken Thighs with Peppers, Spring Salmon with Buerre Blanc, Leg of Lamb with Olives & Sundried Tomato, Truffled Mushroom Ravioli, Veggie Chow Mein, Shanghai Bak Choy with Shiitake Mushrooms and Carrot & Ginger Soup. I found that it was more like tomato chicken rather than butter chicken. It was quite tart and not creamy at all. Despite being cooked until well-done, I did like the lamb. I personally like the taste of lamb and it was evident while still taking on some of the flavourings.

Over at the Carving Station, there was roasted Ham and Beef Strip Loin. I was disappointed that there was no prime rib; but decided to give the strip loin a try. Nope, no good. The darn thing was cooked completely through (to satisfy the masses) and it was tough to eat. What a waste of a strip loin roast. Viv had the ham, which was tender; yet quite salty. The standard omelet bar was directly beside the meats and I didn't bother with it since there were no premium ingredients. For me, if I ate a whole omelet, that would be too filling. Besides, the Chinese in me drew me towards the seafood, again and again... To the right of the carving station was an area dedicated to the kiddies. There were items such as Pizza, Chicken Strips, Fries, Sandwiches, Cookies, Fruit Cups, Mini-Chocolate Bars and Veggies. And right next to that, there was a selection of Sushi and Chinese Dim Sum (Spring Rolls, Haw Gow, Sui Mai, Fried Dumplings). These items are mainly there to up the diversity quotient, not necessarily to be representative of the actual cuisine. One could easily get better quality Sushi and Dim Sum elsewhere.

Finally, there was a large Dessert Station right in the middle of the buffet. Curiously and to my mom's dismay, there was no creme caramel. But other than that, there was a wide variety of cakes, bars and tarts. As if we thought that would be the only dessert around, there was also a Chocolate Fountain near the front entrance. This was a big hit with the kiddies. However, my son only ate the marshmallows, he doesn't eat fruit, among other things. Too bad, since the selection here at the Heron's Sunday brunch is pretty extensive. Other than the Pan Pacific, this probably has the most selection of food for the $40.00 price range. Naturally, being a buffet, not all of it turned out to be good. However, there were enough good items to make the experience enjoyable. We particularly liked the ambiance and the service (other than the delay seating us), despite the tight seating arrangements. By virtue of being a Fairmont property like the Hotel Vancouver, the buffets are similar. But due to the excellent prime rib, I give the edge to Griffin's.

The Good:
- Nice ambiance with plenty of natural light
- Wide selection of items
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Iffy execution on the cooked items
- No prime rib
- Tight seating

Sweet Revenge

After our free meal at the Thirsty Penguin, Emilicious suggested we check out the Arc'Teryx factory sale nearby. Despite incredibly slashed prices, I was not really in the mood to spend hundreds of dollars on outerwear. At that moment, I devised a plan. I promised that I would accompany her to the sale if she went out for desserts afterwards. Milhouse, Boss Woman and Apu were all game for that idea as well. Yah, I'm resorting to gentle coercion for people to do my bidding! So as I pull up to the Arc'Teryx sale, there is this crazy ass long lineup that extended out to the street. We found out it was approximately a 2 hour wait. Uh... no thanks. There are very few things I'd lineup for. Clothing is not one of them. It's even a stretch for me to lineup for food! I do as well in a lineup as a undented car in the Aberdeen parking lot.

At that point, no one, including Emilicious wanted to endure that kind of torture. We proceeded to go for dessert even though we never actually went shopping. It was a win-win situation for me! It was also quite nice that everyone was willing to travel from North Van over to Sweet Revenge out on Main & King Edward. For once, we didn't have to put money in the meters because it was already 10:00pm by the time we arrived. I am so used to putting money in the meter that I almost paid for no reason. Fortunately, Milhouse stopped me and I saved some coin. We ended up waiting for a good half hour for our table since there are not many seats for 6. Well, the table we got was not really for 6; but we made it work.

Apu decided on the White Chocolate Cheesecake. He really liked the smooth richness of the cake itself. I had a taste and it was indeed quite good. It wasn't too sweet and there was a pronounced cream cheese flavour. It was nice that there was plenty of strawberry sauce on the plate as well. It's too bad the portion size was quite small. Gadget Girl had the Apple Pie and she didn't even finish it. It wasn't that it was too big; rather it was way too sweet. Not a good balance of flavours. For myself, I went for the "lightest" dessert they had in the Berry Trifle. It was indeed quite light with layers of strawberry, Grand Marnier-soaked cake and fresh whipped cream. Nothing amazing; yet enjoyable to eat nonetheless.

Emilicious and Milhouse decided to share both the Chocolate Gateau and the Chocolate Mousse Cake. Originally, they wanted the Chocolate Pudding Cake; but they ran out. Both of them really like chocolate, so they liked the cakes off the bat. The hazelnut cream with raspberry jam provided a nice deviation from the chocolate; but it was not enough to make up for the dry cake. The mousse cake turn out to be the better of the 2 with the same rich chocolate taste; but being moist. I also got to try this cake and it was pretty good. I found that the layers of mousse helped lighten the cake somewhat. I say somewhat because it was still fairly rich due to the copious amount of dark chocolate. I found that it was a little less sweet than the gateau, which had jam.

As desserts go, Sweet Revenge is alright. There were some good points mixed in with some not-so-good. It's just one of those places that people associate with dessert and will go there because of that. I'm not much of a dessert guy; so I'm not particularly that picky about my sweets. So Sweet Revenge would be a viable option when you want to do the late-night dessert thing.

The Good:
- If you pick the right one, desserts are pretty decent
- It's got a charm to it
- A decent selection

The Bad:
- Good, but not great
- Very small place, you'll be friends with the table beside you (or share a table)

The Thirsty Penguin

Once again, I am stuck in the position of deciding whether to blog about a meal or not. You see, the Thirsty Penguin is not your typical restaurant. It resides in the North Shore Ice Sports complex and if you weren't there already, it is unlikely you'd go there specifically for a meal. So the scenarios that might lead someone to eat there include: playing hockey, watching hockey, waiting for child to finish hockey, skating, figure skating lessons or your car broke down nearby. So what is the value of this blog post you might ask? Hey, I asked myself the same question too! However, as some of my teammates have reminded me, food is food. I blog about food and I guess this counts too (much like the time at Boomer's).

Normally, even if I have a hockey game at the rink, I would rather leave in search for good eats. After all, the single most used equipment in the kitchen would be the deep fryer. Although, fried tasty bites go best with beer on tap! The reason we all stayed for eats was all due to Gadget Girl. She had a large amount of money to spend at the Thirsty Penguin due to bonus from the league. Thus, we all got a portion of the money for food. Hey, it's free food! On that note, I'm sure we'll have the haters that will now point out that since my food was free, I have no right to criticize it. Yah whatever. I pose this question: if you get a free order of dumplings; but they are all raw, do you eat them and smile like everything is okay? Well, if you do, then have fun with the "runs"! Free or not, if it ain't good, I'll say it.

So my strategy was to not order anything fried since I've been eating terribly of late. That left only a few options, which included the salads and sandwiches. I decided on the Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich with a bowl of Thai Curry Soup. Although the meat itself was a bit chewy, I found the sandwich quite pleasant to eat. Essentially more of a Reuben than a smoked meat sandwich, there was sauerkraut and cheese. About the soup... It was interesting. It had elements of curry and coconut; but didn't taste like any Thai curry I've had before. To be fair, if I just looked at it as a regular soup, it wasn't too bad; but definitely bland for a curry. Holmes and Silent Bob had the Grilled Chicken Wrap. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary with this offering. They remarked that the veggies were fresh and crisp. Furthermore the chicken was decently moist.

Emilicious had the JD Burger, which should not be confused with the one at Cactus Club. The fries were pretty much your generic frozen type. The burger itself was pretty average. Emilicious didn't end up finishing it. Milhouse inexplicably had the Fish n' Chips. When he got it, he was regretting it already since the 2 pieces of fish were really small. He thought the fish were overcooked and rubbery while the batter was not very good. Serves him right though. This place is neither a seafood joint or British... Apu went for a pub classic which was the Beef Dip. It was your typical beef dip; but it appears to me that there is a severe lack of meat. I must give kudos for using real roast beef though. He indicated that the dip itself was not greasy. Mr. Blueberry went for the Mushroom & Swiss Burger. For some reason or another, this one turned out better than the JD burger. Look at it, lots of mushrooms and real Swiss. Nothing wrong with that. The patty was a little less charred as well. Once again, it was accompanied by those pesky generic fries.

Boss Woman went for the Meatlover's Pizza. It sure looked pretty good. I was surprised at the amount of toppings and cheese. She confirmed that it was indeed good with a decent crust. Well, despite my inherent preconceptions about these types of establishments, the Thirsty Penguin seems to have changed their menu to the point that some of the food is actually alright. Naturally there are much better places to eat. However, most people would eat here because they are stuck at the rink. With that being said, at the very least, the food is edible and not very expensive.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Generally decent portions
- You get to watch free rec hockey

The Bad:
- The food is decent; but honestly mediocre at best
- Not the greatest place to hang out unless you have to
- There is service if you want it; but it's spotty