Waffle House

Not too long ago, I was addicted to Showtime's Dead Like Me. It was a show about a girl named Georgia Lass who was mortally wounded by a falling toilet seat from the orbiting Mir spacecraft. I know, what a way to bite the bullet. So Georgia goes around as a grim reaper taking souls just before they died. Sadly the show only lasted 2 seasons. I do have it on DVD, so I guess I can keep watching it. They did have a reunion show of sorts a few years ago; but it just wasn't the same. There were 4 grim reapers who regularly met at Der Waffle Haus with Rube, who was the leader of sorts. For that very reason, I have always looked at the Waffle House in New West with fond memories of Dead Like Me. Of course, the place has no resemblance to the restaurant in the show other than name only. But hey, just let me do the nostalgia thing...

I brought along some people to see if the place lived up to its name today and no, there were no reapers among us. But there were eaters! So with a place like the Waffle House, you think everyone would have waffles right? Wrong! There's no diversity with that. So we gave the other "syrup is your best friend" items as well starting with the French Toast with bacon. Well, the French toast was not bad. It had a decent amount of egg and was soft. It came with 2 strips of crispy bacon that was probably fried a bit too long. For myself, I had the Pancake Breakfast which included 2 meats, hashbrowns, and 2 eggs. The pancakes were alright. Not exactly fluffy; but not hard or chewy either. Definitely acceptable. I asked for the eggs to be over-easy and they were perfectly prepared. The sausages were sausages, at least they were cooked properly. I wasn't a huge fan of the cubed hashbrowns. They were a bit hard and not that crispy.

For some inexplicable reason, Shorty went for the Chicken Strips and Fries. It was served with garlic toast and coleslaw. Well, these were properly prepared Sysco products. The coleslaw was actually not bad being crunchy and dressed with just enough tangy mayo. Finally, we have a Waffle! It was a relatively thin waffle that was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Not a bad waffle, just nothing really special about it. Thus, I will talk about the Berry Waffle instead since it was more interesting. With an obscene amount of whipped cream, this only made the waffle mushy. The use of frozen strawberries did not help the cause. The moisture penetrated the waffle all the way through and essentially made it inedible. Decent waffle, poor execution of toppings. The food in general was pretty average at best. However, it wasn't terrible. In fact, it does do the job if one was looking for breakfast and wanted to avoid the chain restaurants. So if your expectations are not too high...

The Good:
- Friendly staff
- Okay pricing I suppose
- The waffles ain't bad, the toppings could be better

The Bad:
- The place is stuck in a time warp from the 80's
- Waffles are okay; but for a place that is named as such...

Hime Sushi (Broadway)

Finally. The day has come. No, the bike lanes are not being removed. And no, we still have the HST. Rather, something more important has happened. We got to play a league game that ends before most restaurants close! That calls for a celebration. For awhile there, we were being punished with one crappy late-night restaurant after another. Our bodies can only take so much mediocre, greasy Chinese food. Hey, don't get me wrong, I like Chinese food; but the continual ingestion of oil was beginning to take its toll. As it is commonly known, as easy as the grease goes down, it comes out equally so. TMI... So with the game ending at 7:45pm, the world was our oyster (in terms of restaurants that is). Now with all that choice, you'd think it would be easy. Nope, that is never the case. Yet we knew one thing - no Chinese food!

Whenever we think "healthier", it only means one cuisine. And we're not talking about the meatless variety either. It's Japanese. Yah I know, there are some unhealthy options in Japanese food too. Just give us this one. At least it feels like we're eating healthier... So with a wide selection of Japanese restaurants, we were able to find one that met the locational needs of most people. The Broadway location of Hime Sushi ended up to be our eating destination. For those who care, the place is Korean-owned with a Japanese sushi chef. Sweet Tooth, who is Japanese, acted as our authenticity police for the night. Before we even got down to ordering (which Emilicious did quite nicely), a small complimentary plate of Edamame was served. Although it was essentially a small plate of beans, it was not lost upon us that this was a nice gesture. In the picture, there was a cute little container of shichimi (spicy salt typically used to season udon).

The first actual dish to arrive was the Miso Tofu. Baked and sitting on a sweet miso sauce topped with bonito flakes, this was a mild tasting dish. However, if you pick up the right piece of tofu with plenty of sauce, there was a wallop of flavour consisting of both sweet and savoury. I wouldn't go as far as categorizing the tofu as silky; but it was soft nonetheless. According to Sweet Tooth, there wasn't much amiss with the Deluxe Assorted Sashimi. Everything had a nice sheen while there was no complaints about the freshness. We liked the tuna and salmon since they had the desired texture being soft; yet not mushy. I thought the tako was sliced slightly too thick which in turn made it chewier than normal. Other than that, the sashimi was rock solid.

As if one tofu dish was enough, we got a second. Hey, where's the meat? I take back the earlier vegetarian comment. Anyways, we had the Anakake Tofu which was deep-fried and topped with a mixture of veggies and a silky sauce. We really liked this dish despite the lack of meat. Yes, we are not afraid to admit that we are meatatarians! The tofu was crisp while silky in the middle. The julienned veggies on top retained a slight crunch. Combined with the balanced sauce consisting of soy and mirin, this had some "Chinese" taste to it. Okay, we got off the healthy bandwagon with the fried tofu. We really fell off the wagon with the Deluxe Assorted Tempura. Hey, we did get some more veggies, albeit battered and fried... We found the tempura to be made with care. The batter was light and crisp, especially with the fish skewers. Since the fish was not totally covered with batter, we could get the true texture and flavour. Unfortunately, the last few pieces of sweet potato tempura at the bottom were completely oil-logged.

We agreed on a few specialty rolls and the first one to arrive was probably the most impactful. The Ocean Red consisted of spicy tuna and green onion on the inside with wild sockeye salmon on the outside. The entire roll rested on a chili hot sauce. About that hot sauce... Normally, most sushi joints claim something is spicy and it ends up to be mostly sweet. Not here. The sauce was indeed spicy in a sriracha kind-of-way. Sure, it slightly overwhelmed the rest of the roll; but we liked it anyways. Our second specialty roll was somewhat of a yawner. The Red Dragon seemed to a rehash of any other fancy "Dynamite Roll" found at most Japanese restaurants. Consisting of prawn tempura, cucumber and tempura bits on the inside with salmon and avocado on the outside, there was nothing inherently wrong with the roll itself. It was just not that interesting. In fact, even with the sauce on the outside, it still was kinda bland. At the very least, the prawn tempura was still crisp.

Our last roll was the Sakura Spider consisting of fried soft shell crab and avocado on the inside with tuna on the outside. The entire thing is topped with wakame salad, tobiko and house sauce. Despite the plethora of yummy ingredients, I found this roll to be only okay. The flavours were quite nice due to the wakame; but the whole thing was too soft. Even the rice wasn't able to provide much chew. The rice overall in each roll was acceptable; if not a bit better than average. Now, the Okonomiyaki didn't actually arrive last; but we I wanted to save the best for last. This was a relatively small portion; yet it probably benefited from being not too thick nor large. The pancake was full of seafood and was not doughy. It was slightly crisp on the bottom (without being oily) while there was just enough sauce, mayo and bonito flakes for flavour. The textures and flavours were well-balanced. Sweet Tooth gave her seal of approval. In fact, all of us were very content with our meal at Hime. Of course it wasn't outstanding Japanese food; however, it was better than average across the board. Considering the many average Japanese restaurants out there, it is actually an achievement to find a good one that is not that well-known.

The Good:
- Solid across the board
- Friendly staff
- Food is made with care

The Bad:
- Not expensive; but not inexpensive either
- It's small in there

Neighbour's

I remember back in my University days, we'd go bowling every now and then to pass the time. Really, what else was there to do? Lemme see... Movie? Check. Clubbing? Check. Sports? Check. Castle Fun Park in Abbotsford? Check. Eating? Duh... So when all these options were exhausted, bowling it was. I can't say I'm necessarily that great at bowling; but I will always hang on to my high score of 204. You see, Chill is a pretty good athlete. He rules at softball, golf, bowling and hockey (non-ice that is). So when my top score of 204 is better than his career best of 201, he is seething deep-down inside. It is no surprise he decided to organize a random bowling night in the middle of the week to once again try to top my score. And to make it more interesting, the alley of choice happened to be the scene of the crime. Yes, the 204 I scored, which I continually remind him about... Well, there were no records broken tonight, in fact, after not playing for awhile, the best I could muster up was a 127. Pretty pathetic. Yah whatever, I wasn't there for the bowling anyways. It was the eats to follow!

We decided to head close by up to Neighbours Restaurant on Victoria at 49th. In the same mold as Tracadero's, the former Little Johnny's, Spargo's and Gigi's, the food here is a combination of Italian, Greek and American. Home-style cooking with home-style portions. Oh and they're friendly too. Another reason we picked this place had to do with the Canucks game. They have a large TV there and yes, they were showing the game. A nice 4-2 comeback against the lowly Av's. So Costanza and I started off with the Calamari, which was very good. Lightly battered and crisp, the squid was super tender. What really made this dish was the outstanding tzatziki. Costanza remarked there was a substantial bite as a result of the plethora of garlic. Add plenty of lemon juice and this tzatziki sang. For my main, there was not doubt in my mind - it had to be the Roast Lamb. A healthy portion of roast lamb shoulder surrounded by lots of Greek salad, rice and 2 lemon potato wedges was set down before me. I wondered how I could finish this big plate of food, especially since there was a side of pita bread as well. Most of the roast lamb was tender and moist. Some of the exterior portions were slightly dry; but that is to be expected. I definitely got good hits of rosemary and lemon from the lamb. It was further amped by the aforementioned tzatziki. I really liked the lemon potato - nicely roasted and full of lemon zing while exhibiting a pleasing soft texture. Normally, the rice is a letdown since it can be mushy and bland. Not here. It had plenty of texture and bite while being properly seasoned. The Greek salad was fresh and crisp. However, rather than using lemon juice, I believe they used red wine vinegar, which results in an unpleasing appearance.

To my complete horror, 3 people ordered the 6 oz. Steak Special. Costanza had a nice chuckled about that. Bastard! Anyways, they were tender and cooked nicely medium-rare (well, more like somewhere between rare and medium-rare). The accompanying spaghetti with meat sauce was typical North American home-style and served its purpose. Of course the meal wouldn't be complete here without trying the pizza would it? I was so delighted when a Pepperoni Pizza was ordered. Made up for the 3 steaks! Much like Gigi's, the pizza crust was crisp on the outside while bread-like soft on the inside. A good amount of cheese and toppings made for a filling product. The last dish was the Mediterranean Beef which was tender and full of flavour, particularly lemon. This was also a very nice portion as well. It came with the same sides as my lamb, which meant great rice and potatoes. What a satisfying meal! Sure, it ain't "gourmet" food; but it is real food, home-style. Coupled with great service, reasonable prices and generous portions, I can see myself returning in the near future.

The Good:
- Solid food
- Reasonable prices with large portions
- Down home service

The Bad:
- Not really a bad per se, but for those food snobs, the food may not be special enough

Wah Wing

Alright, here goes another Dim Sum adventure out in the Tri-Cities area. Wait. This maybe one of the last "new" adventures since there aren't many Dim Sum joints around here. As I have mentioned on numerous occasions, there is a severe lack of Dim Sum options especially given the large Asian population. It really boggles the mind. Take Henderson Centre for instance. This ghost town of a mall looked good in theory; but for some reason or another, it is a fail on epic proportions. Where do all the Asians go to shop? Richmond??? Kinda far... and kinda bad for your car's safety too. So for the most recent Coquitlam Dim Sum foray, we found ourselves at Wah Wing. Now, this place is hardly new. In fact, it was here when I lived in Coquitlam a long time ago. However, we never ate at the place. Oh yeah, I know why. We would go to Richmond... Yikes. What am I sayin'? Now I have lost all credibility.

Okay, back to Wah Wing. The reason we came out here was to meet up with Rich Guy. Due to our busy schedules, I haven't been able to eat with him as much as I would've liked. Hey, he's only here for a little while, I need to take advantage of his eating companionship. In fact, he brought out his mom this time, so more people meant more food! To get things straight before we get to the food - Wah Wing is a Szechuan restaurant. Hence, Cantonese Dim Sum should not be their specialty. So I'll cut them a bit of slack. However, we did start with the Xiao Long Bao, which is a Shanghainese speciality. So I guess they are trying to be all things to everyone. That is usually a recipe for disaster. We'll just have to see right? Since this is not a Shanghainese restaurant, we weren't holding out much hope with the them. Even with our tempered expectations, they still turned out to be pretty sub par. With a dumpling skin that was too thick and doughy, these were not the excellent XLB's one would find in Richmond. I will give it to them that the filling was decently seasoned and there was soup. Too bad the soup was more oily than broth.

Now for some Cantonese items starting with the Haw Gow (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings). These were "okay". The shrimp filling was a mixture of whole shrimp and shrimp mousse. The flavour was pretty one-dimensional while the filling itself was the proper texture. We felt the dumpling skin could've been a bit less thick though. When the Sui Mai (Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumpling) arrived, it sure looked promising. Yet, very much like Lindsay Lohan, it looked much better than it turned out to be. I give them kudos for using whole cold-water shrimp on top of the actual sui mai. However, it was not seasoned enough being bland. That would be the same for the rest of the dumpling as well. I found the pork to be a little soft. I much prefer a "bouncier" texture. Something that confused me a little was the Beef Meatballs. Normally we see it comprised of some or all of ground beef, green onions, cilantro and water chestnuts. But, there was white onion in these. I've never seen that before. And the reason why there is no white onion is due to its potency. The flavour of the onion was too much for the beef and I found it to be detracting. If we didn't focus on the white onion, the beef meatballs were pretty decent. The texture had the desired bounce and the meat itself was well-seasoned.

For our first bowls of noodles, we got the Tan Tan Noodles. It turned out to be pretty good. The noodles were al dente; but curiously the wrong type of noodles? The texture was a bit weird being slimy. What made these noodles was the excellent spicy peanut broth. It was very flavourful and balance. Nice consistency too. As for the Potstickers, they were fried up nicely with a pleasing colour. The filling was not bad. The meat was not gritty and did taste pretty good. It's really too bad that the dumpling skin was far too thick. So much so, it was a bit difficult to bite all the way through. On the other hand, the Black Bean Spareribs turned out to be quite good. Consisting of mostly edible meat rather than cartilage or fat, it was slightly more on the chewier side. We didn't mind that. It's a whole lot better than being over-tenderized. As you can see, there was plenty of garlic and enough black beans for flavour. As expected, I ended up eating the Honeycomb Tripe a la Eric Carmen - all by myself. Seems like there is no "love" for the stomach lining of a cow. No matter, I got "hungry eyes" and enjoyed every strip of tender; yet slightly chewy tripe. I particularly liked the generous use of minced garlic. It added a lot of flavour without being salty.

One of the more confounding dishes was the Szechuan Beef Noodles. For a restaurant that specializes in Szechuan cuisine, this was the least authentic version I've seen for some time. Now, the noodles themselves were fine being al dente. The beef was passable as well since it was tender and not too fatty. However, it is the starch-thickened sauce that was all wrong. Usually, the beef is braised in a spicy broth that is thin and is mixed into the soup base to create the signature Szechuan beef noodles. But what we had here was a clear soup base with a goupy sauce floating on top. WTH? Ultimately, it wasn't terrible; but really... We also added an order of the Four Seasons Beans which included rice and Hot and Sour Soup. The soup had a aesthetically-pleasing dark colour and there was certainly enough ingredients. Furthermore, the soup had a nice silky consistency buoyed by the proper amount of starch used to thicken it up. However, the predominant flavour was that of tartness. Not much depth in terms of meat flavour nor was there enough spice in the form of chili oil. I guess we could've asked for more chili oil, so that is not such a big deal. As for the Four Seasons Beans, they were prepared the restaurant way, which is being oil blanched before stir-frying. In terms of the cooking of the dish, the execution was fine. The beans were still slightly crunchy while being cooked all the way through and there was no absence of flavouring ingredients, except for one. The one ingredient that was lacking would be salt. The beans had a good initial flavour; yet as we chewed, it was bland.

For us, this was a good indication of one thing - the food is alright; but there is definitely better nearby. It was actually disappointing considering that Wah Wing does have its faithful clientele. Maybe we were expecting more? Of course to be fair, it is a Szechuan restaurant. So the Cantonese Dim Sum and Shanghainese dishes would not be their specialty. However, the Szechuan Beef Noodle was sub-par. Seeing how this dish is pretty much a standard for Szechuan cuisine, it is quite disturbing that they would prepare it the way they did. It's really too bad. The restaurant decor is nice and the staff are super-friendly and efficient. I just hope the food somehow catches up someday.

The Good:
- Excellent service
- Place is modern and clean
- Prices are okay

The Bad:
- Overall, the food is not up to standard

Roundel Cafe

A few months ago, our hockey team tried to eat at Bo Laksa's Bubbles and Bits to no avail. They had decided to close early and we were left with a dark restaurant and locked door. Undeterred, we tried again and well, another epic fail. Okay, lemme do this the right way: Tried to eat @BoLaksaKing #epicfail. You see, the place is small and trying to find a table for 6 on a Friday night was not in the cards. Fine. Maybe the next time we'll be 3rd time lucky? Probably not. Anyways, we left in search for other eats. Originally, we were going to stroll down one block to Tentatsu when suddenly, we spotted Roundel Cafe across the street. Hey, let's go there instead! We could do Japanese any other time; but a diner? Heck ya! In fact, an ol' skool counter with stationary stools and booth seating welcomed us as we walked in. This is a diner alright.

So what does one order in a diner? Milkshakes of course! From the bottom clockwise, we have English Toffee, Choco-Mint and Strawberry. I gave Milhouse's Choco-Mint a try and it was pretty good. I didn't get much in the way of mint but the shake was creamy and not overly sweet. Since it was served straight out of the metal mixing cup, there was a lot of it. I liked that there was a large selection of flavours too. In order to maximize my food options, Sweet Tooth and I decided to share 2 items staring with the Chicken Burrito. The darn thing was really substantial in size and stuffed with tender chicken, black beans, brown rice, red cabbage and cheese in a whole wheat tortilla topped with more cheese and salsa. Now, I'm not a huge fan of burritos and this one didn't necessarily change my mind; yet it was solid. Lots of good quality ingredients and it was filling. Personally, I would've liked more flavour and spice; but that's just me.

The second dish was the Mango Brie Quesadilla. As the name suggests, it is mango and brie within a corn tortilla topped with red and green onions. Yogurt dip was served on the side. I wanted to like this dish; yet in the end, it didn't really deliver. First, the tortilla was too dry and chewy. Second, there was just not enough flavour. The mango was quite mild and I really didn't get a lot of brie flavour. If this was a dessert, it might've worked better. And on the topic of dessert, Gadget Girl's daughter had the homemade Apple Strawberry Pie. For a little girl, it was quite a substantial pie for her to eat, so I helped myself to some... It was tart and thick (?), not sure if that was the right adjective. Hence, the entire thing was a bit dense including the crust. There was a lack of strawberry taste; but we could all see it. With that in mind, the pie was still pretty decent and we appreciated that they made it in-house. It probably could've been better a la mode.

As for Gadget Girl herself, she inexplicably ordered the Tofu Burger. Never being the vegetarian, that was quite odd. Well, I guess it was never going to be a good fit because she was quite "meh" about the burger. The patty was a bit crumbly and dry; but hey, we are biased. The good thing about it was the price, it was only $6.00 being the daily special. Now Polka King finally joined us for a meal after a long absence. Maybe Polka Dot actually allowed him to get out of the house for once. Being such, he ordered a Beef Burger. Yah, he's a man, at least for tonight. I can hear Polka Dot crack that whip already... Much like the tofu burger, it came with a whole wheat bun (which is a good thing) and all the accompaniments were fresh and vibrant. The burger patty was a tad dry; yet not oily. Polka King remarked it was a typical burger. He did like the price though (which is a trend with all the items on the menu).

Milhouse didn't have a salad this time and it was truly surprising. After all, he's been trying to look after his girlish figure. Deviating from his diet, he had the Slow Cooked Chili Chicken Burger. In reality, it was more of a pulled chicken sandwich than a burger. The spicy chili tomato sauce was quite flavourful while the chicken was surprisingly moist. A good amount of thick-cut crunchy coleslaw added a nice textural contrast. Before ordering the burrito, I had my eye on the Ham Hock Mac 'n Cheese; but since Emilicious decided on the Vegetarian Mac 'n Cheese, I decided not to do a duplicate. Now it wasn't exactly mac 'n cheese in the literal sense. Rather it was fusili and cheese. No matter, unless they are using rigatoni, any other pasta should work. As you can see, it was very cheesy. Indeed it was cheesy; yet curiously not creamy. The noodles were cooked nicely though. Not a bad attempt, I'm sure the ham hock version would be much more flavourful.

So there was pretty much a consensus regarding Roundel Cafe - "okay" food at a great price. Nothing will necessarily blow your socks off; but you won't go away feeling hungry, ripped-off or sad. The place is quaint with honest food and service. In fact, they try to use as much organic locally-sourced ingredients as possible. Word is, breakfast is the real draw here, so that probably means I'll be back to see what that is all about. I just won't be doing any tofu hash...

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Honest food
- Honest people

The Bad:
- Food is pretty average

Au Wing Kee (Burnaby)

It's been more than a year since I last visited Au Wing Kee. To make things confusing, there are 2 locations of Au Wing Kee, both on Kingsway. We went to the Burnaby location because it was on the way home for Gordo. Oh and yah, it's open until 1:00am, which is a good thing since we had just finished up our Friday night hockey game at 11:00pm. Yes, late night options are dwindling. Now, Au Wing Kee has been in the news the last year for all the wrong reasons. You see, in CTV's report of the dirtiest restaurants in Vancouver, Au Wing Kee made the list. I'm sure most people are wondering why more Chinese restaurants don't make the list. After all, it is almost a given that we'll find the nastiest, dirtiest and oiliest washrooms in a Chinese establishment. Oiliest??? Yes, haven't you even walked into a washroom and the tiles are just plain slippery? Do they mop their floors with leftover grease? I mean, as I stand there doing my business, I find my legs spreading wider and wider apart as I struggle to keep my aim. C'mon, some of you must've experienced this before! And yes, the washrooms here fits the aforementioned criteria. So off we went, in hopes that they have cleaned their act up. Well, whatever the case, I think we've developed strong enough immunity by eating often at these places.

Au Wing Kee is also up for the "narrowest parking lot for people who may not necessarily be able to park in them" award. I really didn't want to park at the rear lot; but the precious few spots in the front were all taken. I gingerly backed into the furthest spot and met up with Gordo and Milhouse inside. We ended up sharing 3 dishes; however, I got an order of Wonton Noodles and congee for "research purposes". Believe it or not, for all the times I've eaten here, I don't recall having the wonton noodles. These were decent. Flavourful broth, chewy thin noodles and predominantly shrimp wontons (a bit small though) made for a satisfying eat. The Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee was also pretty good. Slightly thin, the congee had a nice tangerine peel taste. Plenty of duck egg and shredded salted pork as well.

Now to the sharing dishes... The Beef Fried Flat Rice Noodles were not too oily and properly seasoned. Lots of tender beef while the noodles retained their shape. When there is Milhouse, there is Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice. This version was good, if not needing a bit more saltiness. Rice was firm except for a few clumps. Lastly, we shared the Curry Beef Brisket on Rice. For $6.95, this was a huge portion of tender (not too fatty) brisket bathed in a mild curry with a hint of coconut. Hey, we weren't really sure if the place was all that much cleaner; but the food was good, prices were low and portions huge. Perfect for late night eats.

The Good:
- Decent food
- Inexpensive
- Good portions

The Bad:
- Cleanliness is next to Fordliness - Not
- Sparse service