Joe Fortes Thai BBQ Chicken Blue Plate Special

I heard about the Joe Fortes lunch menu "Blue Plate Special" on a Yelp Review of the Day and invited a few friends to try it at 11 AM -- basically right when the restaurant opens.

Maybe because there was no dress code clearly / prominently indicated on the website, our party came dressed in a variety of casual outfits, including one person in just a T-shirt with a UFO logo and additional handwriting in ink (which he later explained to us as being from his orientation at the University of Waterloo). There was a case for his being under-dressed, but he was not intercepted at the door. (I am assuming here that he had not intentionally come under-dressed).
A latecomer to our table just had shorts and a tank top for the summer heat, and he was detained by the hostess at the front door and not allowed to enter the dining area because of their "dress code". It had been explained to him the bare arms had been the problem, though this may have been a judgement call by the restaurant instead of a hard and fast rule.
Why the other person in our party had not been detained was not clear as his level of dress was perhaps lower (what with the handwriting on the T-shirt). In any case, it was fortunate the restaurant had a contingency plan in place: They gave my tank-topped friend a black Joe Fortes T-shirt to wear while he was in the restaurant.

We had come to try the $9.95 Blue Plate Special, so in addition to some appetizers everyone ordered the Thai BBQ Chicken, which is the special on Tuesdays. It arrived with about a cupful of mixed seasonal greens diced into small cubes; and a small bowl's worth of plain white rice, which sat in the sweet sauce from the Thai Chicken and was thereby flavoured. The chicken portion was two pieces of thigh, bone-in, and each slightly smaller than a deck of playing cards; everyone got the same cut of chicken. The green rub was very clearly evident. The grilling was perfect, with the dark meat still tender and very juicy. Price for portion was actually not bad especially considering the venue, but I felt the plating made the chicken portion look small and disappointing.

I also asked for an order of Crab and Corn Fritters to share, and it was probably no an accident that there was exactly one fritter per person in the basket -- something I had not explicitly asked for, but which was certainly a welcome convenience for sharing. This point of attentive initiative, plus a courteous and pleasant waitress, in addition to prompt bussing and water being diligently topped up (even after we had all paid and were just lingering to chat a while) all added up to excellent service.

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 3

A picture from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. I can't remember why I had this couple in the picture, but I do vaguely remember this to be in London, on the first official day of the tour group getting together. Their insistence on my helping them take a picture caused the three of us to be late getting back to the bus. The local tour guide had a "rule" about lateness, that we had to buy chocolate to share with everyone. As it turned out, later in the trip, on at least two occasions, we were stuck on the highway on either a long commute or a traffic jam, and I had chocolate and chocolate-covered marzipan to share. About the chocolate-covered marzipan -- Apparently we were in Austria just as they were celebrating Mozart's birthday with special marzipans wrapped in foil with the famous composer's picture. I'm pretty sure it was Mirabell Mozartkugeln . Anyway, there were enough to go around the en

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 10

The last of my pictures (at least the ones that survived the cheesy disposable cameras) from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. Below is the obligatory group photo. Not sure everyone's in it, actually. I'm pretty sure this one was taken by the tour director, Mike Scrimshire as I'm in the back row, on the right side.

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 9

More assorted couples on my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. An American couple who joked about being from "the land of the giants" -- and with good reason, because both of them were really tall! A cute Jewish mother-daughter pair who ducked out part-way to divert to Israel. I vaguely remember the issue of the daughter being an orthodox Jew was highlighted in France when, to make things easy, she just declared herself vegetarian for the wait staff. I also remember there was some logistics error in France because our party size was way underestimated or simply relayed incorrectly, and there was a shortage of food at dinner. Dessert came as an unopened can of yogurt. It did not seem like they tried to make it up to us later, either. Plus there was smoking every which way in France, and I had a helluva time with that. We were also in a hotel that seemed tucked away in the burbs, and not walking distance from anythin

Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

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