Ming Dynasty Cuisine

*Restaurant is now closed*

To me, the block of Nanaimo between Broadway and 8th Ave has a sentimental significance. You see, when I was very young, my family lived nearby and we would either frequent the 4 restaurants on that block. 2 of which still exist: Tracadero and Bon's. The new Phoenix Garden used to be Golden Phoenix, which was East Ocean, which used to be Golden Phoenix. Yes, confusing isn't it? Now one of the other originals (Tsui Woo) has changed hands to become Ming Dynasty Cuisine. Whipping Girl had recently experienced their Dim Sum service and thought it was decent. Hence, I targeted it for after Sunday Hockey eats. JuJu's was hoping for AYCE, however, Dim Sum is essentially AYCE, except you don't know how much you are paying until you're done (if you eat a lot).

So what else to start off Dim Sum on a hot Summer day other than Sliced Beef & Conpoy Congee? As evidenced in the picture, the congee was full of beef. It was in large slices and tender. The good amount of conpoy (dried scallops) add lots of flavour in a salty-seafoody way. The congee base was thick and smooth. We got the Haw Gow (shrimp dumplings) next and they were quite large. At first, the dumpling skin appeared thick, but it was actually not. It had a good consistency where it wasn't too chewy nor too wet. The shrimp filling consisted of whole pieces and exhibited a good bounce texture. There were obvious hits of sesame oil which complimented the natural sweetness of the shrimp. However, we also thought they might've used too much salt or MSG.

For me, I can't have Haw Gow without Siu Mai (pork & shrimp dumplings). I don't know about you, but these were some of the ugliest Sui Mai I've ever seen. The whole thing was put together haphazardly with chunks of meat and shrimp protruding out from what would be a uniformly made dumpling. Despite the visuals, these large monstrosities had plenty of shrimp and lean pork. However, they were overcooked which meant the shrimp was not bouncy nor was the meat either. Furthermore, the darn things fell apart easily as they were packed loosely. They were predominantly sweet with a touch of shiitake. From a loose dumpling to some tightly packed balls, we had the Beef Meatballs. These were also large and barely fit on the sauce plate. The texture was soft with a good bounce A good amount of water chestnuts added a nice crunch. Furthermore, there was just enough green onion for flavour which didn't overwhelm the meat.

As a group we love Rice Noodle Rolls, so we got both the beef and the shrimp (only the beef is pictured). Although the layers of rice noodle were on the thicker side, the texture remained soft without being too wet. The shrimp filling was in little pieces mixed in with pasty mousse. We liked the addition of flowering chives as it added some texture. We preferred the beef rice noodle roll since it was the same bouncy beef from the meatballs. Once again, JuJu loves his Xiao Long Bao, no matter where we are. To repeat my disclaimer: we know Ming Dynasty is not a Shanghainese restaurant, hence, we should not expect good XLBs. With that out of the way, the XLBs were actually acceptable given all the considerations. The skin was thick, yet it was soft enough that we didn't mind it. The meat was gritty with some pieces of cartilage, yet it had a good meaty flavour. Surprisingly, there was some soup inside, which was on the fattier side. It didn't really taste like XLB broth (missing gingery notes), but not bad for a Cantonese restaurant.

It seems like Chinese restaurants are trying to get with the times in terms of plating when we begin to see Shrimp Spring Rolls cut on the diagonal. Maybe they do care about making the food look nice, rather than the ''cook-it-and-slap-it-on-the-plate-technique". These spring rolls were served hot and very crunchy. They were not greasy and were bursting with filling. Yet, the filling was more like a mousse, much like the shrimp rice noodle roll. The shrimp was slightly overcooked where it lost some of its bounce. The filling was aggressively seasoned which meant that dipping it into the Worcestershire sauce was unnecessary. Actually, I personally don't even like that sauce with shrimp spring rolls. It works much better with the pork or veggie version.

If we weren't already shrimped already, we got the Shrimp Mousse on Silken Tofu. The silken tofu was good as it was not overcooked. The familiar shrimp mousse was slightly rubbery, possibly a tad overcooked. It was very sweet though, probably a combination of natural flavours and aggressive seasoning. The ample amount of tobiko on top made for an aesthetically-pleasing dish. For the purposes of ensuring we were full (or that JuJu wouldn't order another 10 dishes), we got some filler items starting with the Sparerib Rice. The rice was somewhere in between being chewy and soft, which was acceptable. The meaty ribs were slightly chewy, yet still tender at the same time. There was a noticeable garlic hit with some hints of black bean and chili flakes. As you can clearly see in the picture, they were not shy about the loading up the pot with spareribs.

On the topic of filler, you can't get much more filling than Pan Fried Sticky Rice. The rice had a good bite while not being hard. Considering the amount of oil it takes to make this dish, it wasn't overly greasy. There was plenty of soy seasoning as well as Chinese sausage. Lastly, we had the Singapore Fried Vermicelli which featured the thinner type of rice noodle. This was a touch dry and fairly salty with not much in the way of curry flavour. The noodles had a good texture though and the shrimp were big and crunchy. Moreover, we didn't find it greasy either much like the sticky rice. After these 3 dishes, we were pretty stuffed and even JuJu agreed to not order anymore food. That was partly due to the large portion sizes as well. A real pleasant surprise was the attentive service. We noticed that the staff was younger and seemed more "in touch" with the customers. Overall, it was a good experience at Ming Dynasty even though the food wasn't exactly outstanding. Yet, it was decent enough and the good service didn't hurt either.

The Good:
- Great service
- Large portions

The Bad:
- Aggressive seasoning at times
- Shrimp mousse mixture could be improved

Shanghai Morning

Whenever we play at a field remotely close to Richmond, we end up there for food. And believe it or not, it is usually at my suggestion. Why oh why do I put up with the frustration of driving there? Well, the easy answer is because there is good Chinese food to be found. Duh. That is pretty darn obvious. To be more specific, the best Shanghainese food can generally be had in Richmond. Yah, there are some decent Shanghainese joints scattered throughout the GVRD, but Richmond has the most in one area. Therefore, after our softball game, I suggested we try out Shanghai House on #3 Road. Not everyone was convinced, so the alternate plan was to visit Amigo on Alexandra. We all hopped in our cars and braved the traffic vortex otherwise known as Richmond.

Once we arrived in the plaza where Amigo is located, our attention was captured by another Shanghainese restaurant. Change of plans. We were gonna do some Xiao Long Bao after all! On that note, we discovered that they only had 3 orders left for the night. Suffice to say, we snapped them all up. We actually wanted to get some Sang Jeen Bao as well, but they were sold out. With great anticipation, we waited for the XLBs to come out as we were still deciding on what other dishes to order. They arrived quickly and we immediately dug in. Not only were we hungry, it is best to eat XLBs right away. The skin on them was relatively thin except for the swirl at the top (which is pretty normal). No one had an epic fail and no soup was lost. Good thing too since there was a good amount of it. It did need more ginger though as it was mostly meat flavoured and sweet. The meat itself was moist
and smooth.

When the rest of our dishes began to show up, the eating, note-taking and picture-snapping became fast and furious. The first of these to arrive was the Marinated Gluten. These were chewy yet soft at the same time. They soaked up the sweet and salty sauce like a sponge. After that, we had the Hot and Sour Soup. I found the broth to be on the watery side as it lacked the silkiness normally found in a starch-thickened soup. There was a good balance of flavours though with equal amounts of sour, sweet, savoury and spicy. Furthermore, there was no shortage of shrimp, tofu, bamboo shoots and carrots.

Arriving next was the Beef Pancake Roll which was a little lacking. As you can clearly see for yourself, the roll had the smallest amount of sliced beef shank. Due to this, we hardly noticed it was in the pancake which meant there was a lack of flavor and texture. There was a predominant taste of hoisin and onion as a result. The pancake itself was chewy and doughy. This dish was a fail. A different pancake of sorts arrived next being the Onion Pancake. There are 2 ways of preparing it - pan fry or deep fry. As you can tell, this one was deep fried and very much so I might add. Hence, it was very crispy and also very greasy. It was over-salted and that was essentially all we could taste. Their Sesame Pancake was equally oily in a somewhat different way. Now to be fair, frying these types of pancakes will never be non-greasy. This pancake was soft and fluffy with a good amount of flavour. Good contrast to the crisp exterior.

Moving along, we had the Dan Dan Noodles which was, of course, more of a Shanghainese version of the dish. The Szechuan version is spicier and has less peanut/sesame paste. As expected, the "sauce" was very nutty and only mildly spicy (despite the appearance of being spicier). There was a good balance of all the flavours (which weren't as strong as we would've liked) while the noodles retained some bite. And typical of the Shanghainese version, it was very soupy. The Smoked Duck with Chinese Tea caught Bear's attention, so we got a half order. Do bears eat duck??? Anyways, the duck was obviously deep-fried which yielded a crispy exterior which was in turn greasy. We really didn't get any tea flavour, but it was slightly smoky. Regardless of that, the meat was really moist and tender.

Onto another noodle dish, we had the Szechuan Beef Noodle. Yes, I know, this is a Shanghainese restaurant... However, there are some items that appear in the menu that we just have to try for some reason or another. The soup looked a little pale in colour, yet it did have flavour and was spicy. With that being said, it was thin and didn't exhibit much depth. The noodles were al dented while the beef was sufficiently tender, but quite fatty. By now, the food was arriving at a brisk rate with the Potstickers next. These were pretty darn greasy, but then again, it is restaurant food... Despite the abundance of grease and the appearance of a good pan fry on the bottom of the dumpling, they were not crispy. Furthermore, the texture of the meat was a little off. It was chewy and salty.

We one each of the Rice Cake with Preserved Vegetable and Shanghai-style Rice Cake for variety's sake. The rice cake was prepared properly where it was soft yet still exhibited a good resistance. There was a good amount of ingredients in each dish which in turn provided enough flavour for the generally plain tasting rice cake. As for the Shanghai version, it was very strange. Usually, there is a minimal amount of sauce which is soy-based. It generally provides enough seasoning for the dish and shouldn't be that apparent. For this one, it was goopy where there was far too much starch used to thicken it up. Hence, it stuck to the slices of rice cake like "hair gel" on Ben Stiller... er... It didn't taste bad per se, it was just not aesthetically-pleasing.

Okay, moving away for that, we had the Spicy Wontons which appeared to be bathed in plenty of hot chili oil. Well, it didn't turn out to be as spicy as it appeared. It was actually quite mild. Now that didn't mean the dish wasn't flavourful though. The wontons were the typical pork-filled variety which had a nice bounce texture (and wasn't gritty). Lastly, we got some really large balls. No joke! The Shanghainese Pork Meatballs (aka Lion's Head) were pretty darn massive. The Shanghai bak choy was nicely cooked being vibrant and crunchy while the rich brown starch-thicken sauce was flavourful in a non-salty way. However, the most important part of the dish was merely passable. The meatballs had a "breakfast sausage" quality to it and while that wasn't offensive, the meat lacked texture because of it. And much like breakfast sausage, there was a good amount of fat in it. At the very least, the meat was extremely tender. The meatballs pretty much summed up the food here. There were good elements while at the same time, there were not-so-good elements in the same dish. Bottom line is that the food isn't bad, there is just better. Therefore, it is okay to eat at Shanghai Morning, but I'd rather eat the balls at Suhang (wait, that sounds disgusting...).

The Good:
- Service we got was pleasant
- Decent XLBs
- Clean

The Bad:
- Food is hit and miss (and even in the same dish)
- It appears they are affiliated with Chen's, if so, Chen's is better

Pear Tree

Roughly 13 years ago, someone had alerted me about the Pear Tree out in North Burnaby that served up Downtown quality fine dining eats. Back then, I was not all that interested in North Burnaby because I was living in Yaletown. How the tables have turned... Now that I am in the burbs, I have taken an appreciation for good eats outside of the Vancouver proper. Even with my relocation, I did not actually go eat at the Pear Tree. In fact, my parents had gone there twice and raved about it and I still hadn't gone. There really was no rhyme or reason to this since it was on my "to do" list for a long time. So 13 years after the fact, Viv and I were going to finally dine at the place. I guess the fact we had a Groupon helped as well. We were able to get 2 Signature Tasting dinners for the price of one. For such a highly regarded establishment with Chef Scott Jaeger at the helm (he represented Canada at the Bocuse d'or in 2007), it was a definite bonus.

We started off our meal with a beautiful slice of their house made Brioche. It was light, moist and sweet. The salted egg wash on top added a wonderful flavour which complimented the buttery/nuttiness of the bread. Add in the smooth house made butter and we were already content at this point. The first course was the Warm Potato & Leek Foam which has to go down as one of the most impactful foams I've ever had. It had body and depth of flavour. There was a creamy, Earthy thing going on with soft bits of potato hidden underneath. Next up was something that I had tried before, even though this was my first official time dining at the Pear Tree - Orange Caramelized Scallops with
double-smoked bacon risotto. A few years ago, they were serving these as part of Hats-Off Day along Hastings. So I already knew these would be superb. And yes, the scallops were perfectly seared and caramelized. The aggressive addition of salt really helped amp the flavours of the scallops, in particular, the crisp crust (which accented the sweetness beautifully). The risotto exhibited smokiness from the bacon, yet it was not as creamy as I would've liked. It did have a good texture though.

Continuing on with seafood, we had the Fresh "Miracle Springs" Rainbow Trout with butternut squash. The trout had a beautiful sear which was crisp and once again, flavourful (the chives provided an herby accent). Underneath, there was white asparagus, wilted spinach and pomme Dauphine. The veggies were cooked perfectly while the pomme Dauphine was nicely pan-fried, nutty and smooth. The combination of all the flavours created a balance. Before we began the meal, I had taken a look at the regular menu and the Crisp Pork Cheek with Ham Hock Ravioli caught my eye. So we added it to our meal. It was a good move since it was probably our favourite dish of the meal. The pieces of pork cheek were super tender and smoky (from the sear). The caramelization of the meat combined with proper seasoning made for a delicious little bite. The pickled onions added a little perk up which brightened the rich flavour. Intermingled with the pork cheek was asparagus and eggplant with an eggplant puree. The puree was both subtle and profound. Yes profound. It had that je ne sais quoi quality about it. The ham hock ravioli was perfectly al dente with a burst of salt (in a good way) from the filling.

Back to the usual programming or otherwise known as the tasting menu, we had the 24-Hour Braised Natural Fed BC Short Ribs with mushroom ravioli. The slow cooking process with the short ribs made it melt-in-my-mouth tender where the fat and meat were gelatinous. There was a considerable amount of depth-of-flavour thanks to the cooking process. It was a tad on the saltier side but it was partially offset by putting all the components of the plate into one bite (which is probably the chef's intent for the dish). These other components consisted of a celeriac and barley puree with root vegetables and green beans. On the side were two wonderful mushroom raviolis which were perfectly al dente. The filling was typical mushroom Earthy, yet salty at the same time.

All this "saltiness" was soothed by the side of Pea Shoots & Pear Salad with maple dressing. The dressing was very mild, hence, all we got were the natural flavours of the ingredients. Not sure if I would like it on its own, but it worked well with the short ribs. This was the last of our dishes before dessert which was Valrhona Chocolate
Ganache with a salted caramel streak and orange chocolate sorbet. For us, the portion size of the dessert was perfect. It was plated simply, yet elegantly with fruit adorning the ganache. The ganache was smooth, thick and bitter sweet with plenty of chocolate and chocolate taste. The smooth texture was contrasted by the crunchy base. Mixed in with some of the salted caramel and the flavours wre further amped. We liked the addition of the chocolate sorbet because it was light which was needed since the ganache was not. We loved the bitter sweetness mixed with the orange zest.

And one final item presented by the chef himself (was it my camera?) was one quesnelle each of Raspberry and Fennel Sorbet with alpine strawberries and sugar crumble. The raspberry sorbet was tart and smack me in the face with flavour while the fennel sorbet was subtle and only semi-sweet. The alpine strawberries were aromatic and the sugar crumble added some texture. Presented with our bill were 2 small Macarons which was a nice end to our meal. After it was all said and done, we really wondered why it took us this long to finally eat at the Pear Tree. The food was carefully constructed and the service was top-notch. I can safely say that it won't be very long until we return for another meal.

The Good:
- Exquisitely prepared food
- Simple elegance
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Small intimate room means diners are tightly packed
- Expensive (but worth it IMO)

Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria

There was a time back in University that Anducci's would be on our regular rotation of eats. Think of it, a bunch of hungry students who may or may not really care about quality - mostly an eye for quantity for a reasonable price. Now, that's not to say Anducci's wasn't any good. In fact, for a time there, it was. But for some reason or another, they changed the formula a few times for the worse. The portions got smaller, food quality went downhill and prices went up. This was a recipe for disaster. In the not-too-distant-past, Anducci's closed their Cameron location and a fire finished off their Hastings one (they also previously had locations in Guildford and in the Admiral Pub). Now, emerging from the ashes and in partnership with Alex Tung, Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria is riding the wave of the Neapolitan-style pizza trend into Burnaby. Personally, Neapolitan-style pizza is my favourite form of the pizza. The thin crust, leoparding, flavourful tomato sauce (usually, but not exclusively San Marzano tomatoes), mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella, but again, not exclusively) and fresh basil are the simple, yet tasty ingredients on the classic Margherita. The pizza should have a crispy outside edge that is a little burnt with the pizza getting progressively softer into the centre. It should be chewy, not soggy though.

I took the opportunity to visit Cotto with Marshmallow (who was back for her yearly visit from Taiwan), Elaine (without Costanza, who was choked to miss this meal) and Viv (with the kiddies). This way, we could order lots and see what the menu was about. We started with an order of Calamari which was a modest portion, yet for $11.00, it was okay for this class of restaurant. The pieces were very crisp and not greasy. Furthermore, the squid was tender without being mushy. We found the batter to be slightly salty, but it was nicely offset by the tart marinated tomatoes. Next came a flurry of pizzas with the classic Pizza Margherita arriving first. The crust had great colour in the form of leoparding (the random burnt spots), hence, there was a nuttiness which combined well with the properly seasoned dough. The centre of the pizza was a bit softer than we would've liked, yet it wasn't soggy. The tomato sauce had great flavour in the form of tartness and enough salt.

Now with all that flavour from the basic Neapolitan-style pizza, it was only natural that the Pizza Carne (consisting of cured meats) would be on the saltier side. This pizza was actually less soft in the centre, which we enjoyed. It was indeed salty, but I didn't mind it since I love eating meat. On the topic of meat, we also got the Pizza Polpetti and it was topped with a considerable amount of ingredients. Thus, the pizza was more moist and definitely could not be picked up by hand. On that note, people have to realize that the more toppings means the pizza will be more "wet". We found the meatballs to be moist and not greasy at all. They were flavourful and went well with the tangy tomato sauce. Lastly, we had the Pizza Prosciutto with Arugula which was a pretty standard combination of ingredients. With that in mind, the pizza was still quite good since there was a good balance of meat, sauce, cheese and greens.

To get some variety, we also got 2 full orders of pasta which were roughly $20.00 each. Half-sizes are around $11.00. I really liked the Carbonara with a 63 degree egg. When mixed into the pasta, there was just enough "sauce" for both texture and flavour. The pasta was perfectly al dente, it was chewy with a nice resistance and remained that way until the last bite. There was plenty of pork cheek bacon which was cut into thick bits. They were meaty and helped add both aromatics and savouriness. For our second pasta, we had the Tagliatelle Bolognese. It a slightly smaller portion than the carbonara, probably due to the less wide pasta and the inclusion of more meat. In fact, the bolognese was very meaty indeed with a rich cheesy tomato sauce. At first, we were a bit taken aback at the portion size considering the pastas were $20.00+. However, when you compare the prices to places such as Earl's and Cactus Club, you will quickly see that they are pretty much on par. At the same time, the prices aren't exactly cheap either.

So how does Vancouver's (technically Burnaby) new entry into the Neapolitan pizza craze stack up against the competition? I would say Cotto is above average. I thought the pizza crust was seasoned properly with good leoparding. The middle could've been a touch less soft, yet the ingredients were pretty good. The pastas were not bad, however, I can see some people not liking the portion-to-price ratio. For me, it seems pretty standard for this type of restaurant. The place is definitely an upgrade from the old Anducci's though.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Nice dining space
- Good service

The Bad:
- Not cheap, but then again, in line with chain restaurant pricing
- The centre of the pizza could be a touch less soft

Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House

A long time ago, in an AYCE not so far away, there was Japanese food, Korean BBQ and at one point hot pot. Wow, all that in one place? Yes, the place was called Shabusen (no, not the one in Downtown). Located on the top floor on the corner of Granville and 14th Ave, it served to offer a lot of food for a reasonable price. Was the food any good? Well, that depended on one's expectations. If one was expecting high quality food, then they best move along. However, if one only wanted quantity with some decent items here and there, then this was your place. I have to admit that I paid my fair share of visits in the day to the old Shabusen. Sure, I don't do buffets as much as I used to due to many factors. One of which is I just can't stuff myself silly for no apparent reason. So when it closed earlier this year, I was a bit surprised since it did pretty good business. Not to fear because an almost carbon-copy of a restaurant has risen from the ashes of Shabusen.

JuJu had been mentioning AYCE Korean for quite awhile now as an eating destination after Sunday morning hockey. Milhouse and I figured that heading to Kyo would help satisfy JuJu's cravings. However, we were a bit nervous as JuJu is Korean... Well, he was one ticked off Korean when we met up with him at the restaurant. He had arrived first and was completely ignored for a good 10 minutes. Awesome, just like most other Korean restaurants! LOL... So we stood there waiting and waiting. Finally someone acknowledged his existence and we eventually got a table. We got down to ordering and before we knew it, food was coming at us fast and furious. We decided to try all 3 meats available for the Korean BBQ including Beef, Spicy Pork and Chicken. Considering Kyo is not an authentic Korean restaurant, the meats were fine. It was a treat to have "a real Korean" (as JuJu stated) cooking our food for us. You know what? There was a difference. The meat was cooked perfectly and there was barely anything stuck to the grate as he masterfully did his thing.

A bunch of little items showed up next including the Spinach Gomae. This was a typical version found at these types of restaurants being sweet and saucy. However, there wasn't too much dressing and the spinach was blanched nicely. The Sunomono was okay with chewy noodles and a slightly too sweet dressing. The Spicy Agedashi Tofu was fried crispy while the sauce didn't have much kick, it was rather sweet. Lastly, the Bean Sprouts had a nice crunch with lots of sesame oil. Up next was our order of Sashmi (Spicy Salmon, Salmon and Tuna) which was limited to 8 pieces each person. That was totally understandable since many AYCE joints don't even offer sashimi for lunch. These poorly and thinly cut slices of fish were sub par. I found the tuna fishy and not texturally appealing. It didn't help that the tuna was still slightly frozen too. The salmon was tasteless while the "spicy salmon" was truly laughable because the sauce tasted more like peppery plum sauce. It truly didn't go with the fish nor was it spicy either. We also got a bunch of Nigiri as well consisting (from front to back): Seared Salmon, Ebi, Inari, Chopped Scallop and Salmon. The seared salmon was okay being buttery and soft. The sushi rice was acceptable with some chewiness. It was a touch dry and only had a hint of vinegar.

The Maki Sushi was okay for an AYCE. Not pretty to look at and pretty blah to eat, at the very least, it didn't offend. Now the same couldn't be said about the Sushi Cones. Yes, they were a little loosely wrapped, but the filling was plentiful. The problem? The sushi rice was warm. And I don't mean luke warm. It was "like just cooked rice" warm. Not really that appealing and a bit concerning when you combine raw fish with warm rice. Moving along with the gluttony, we got the Beef and Chicken Teriyaki. As expected, the syrupy sweet Teriyaki sauce adorned both plates. The beef was thin and tender while the chicken was cooked just right being moist and tender. The Gyozas were not bad being fried up crisp and with good colour on the bottom. The dumpling skin was thin which held a filling that was a good mix of moist pork and cabbage. We had 2 rounds of the Chicken Wings with the 2nd order being juicier than the first. Both times the exterior was crispy and the meat well-seasoned.

The Tonkatsu was fried perfectly with crunchy breading that was not greasy. The pork was moist and tender while there was just enough sauce on top. Lastly, the Tempura consisting of yam and veggies were oil-soaked and only crispy on one side (the side that was facing up). The batter was actually quite thin, but it became soggy due to the grease. Now, if you can imagine, there were a lot of things to pick on with the food at Kyo. After all, it is an AYCE Japanese and Korean restaurant. Many purists would just cringe. However, it is what it is. Considering the price, expectations need to be reasonable. Generally, the food was acceptable except for the some items. Is it something I would frequent? Of course not. Ultimately, if there is a big group of people, who are not picky, and need to have fixed food costs, then Kyo does the job.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing considering location, variety and edibility of the food
- Decent selection of items
- Fairly comfortable dining room

The Bad:
- Food is predictably so-so (yet okay for AYCE)
- Service is not really a priority there