Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Other than the food, there's lots I actually like about reLiSH on Commercial Drive : First, for a fast-food joint, service is actually really ace. The main person manning the till (the South Asian manager?) was really friendly, patient, and helpful. He brings your order to where you are sitting. He checks in on your meal each time something new is brought. Also I noticed he made sure to see all patrons off with a good-bye sendoff when they leave. This is sit-down restaurant level service that is better than some sit-down restaurants! The space is open and seating feels spacious and private. Unlike their neighbours Jamjar and Cabrito who are super busy but also pretty packed like sardines. One of the reasons we went to reLiSH tonight was because we wouldn't be squished and we could have a relaxed time and conversation over dinner. Vegan option. It's not a "real" vegan option in that you make it happen with substitutions. But at least it's possible. What ...

Been literally years since I went to Fortune House Seafood Restaurant . Last time was for Signature Dish 2011 , a Chinese-restaurants-of-the-lower-mainland event that I've never seen again since. The best and most surprising development is their partnership with Mealshare, a charity that gives a meal every time you buy a meal tagged with their logo on the menu. As you can see from the pictures below, Fortune House has many qualifying items -- lots more than most Mealshare restaurants, which typically mark maybe 2-3 items. The way Mealshare works is that the restaurant makes a contribution every time you buy a marked menu item.And because lots of people like to buy dessert (and all the desserts are Mealshare items), Fortune House is providing a lot of meals through Mealshare! This really says something about the restaurant's owner being so committed to the principles behind Mealshare that he is basically making a charitable donation with almost every patron that walks ...

After Dine Out Vancouver 2016 at The American Cheesesteak Company , I had to come back to use my vouchers. Somehow I ended up with three, so happily I managed to get a couple of friends to come with me before they expired at the end of this month. This time around, I decided to try their most basic and traditional Cheesesteak, and chose the Philly ($10, cheese + sauteed onions) with American Cheese. I wanted to know what the fuss was about that started this. Huge mistake. It was horribly boring. Also, "American Cheese" is white like mozza but kinda tastes like Kraft cheese singles. Ick. Sauce -- any kind of sauce -- would make it infinitely better, and I looked wistfully at my friends enjoying theirs that cost them just a couple of dollars more. They had the Koagie ($13) and Cowboy ($12 and their most popular one). Even without our $5 vouchers, price for portion is excellent. You're getting maybe more meat than two McDonalds burgers that weigh in at around ...

Been a long time since I had a Chewy at Chewy Junior . Because of their hours, I normally wouldn't have gone, except I had two offers to redeem: A free coffee and chewy, courtesy of a Zomato promotion. (Yup, I got it for free when it would otherwise have been $5.00 - $5.50). An offer of 12 free chewys from Chewy Junior via Yelp -- the business responded to the inconvenience to me during my most recent visit . A rare occurrence nowadays, to be honest, that businesses take customer complaints seriously. The lone person manning the store with less than one hour to close wasn't sure about the legitimacy of the Yelp offer as he didn't seem to recognize the Yelp handle as being official, so no big deal, I bought my Yelper friends a chewy each to try.  In April last year, price was $3.00 - $3.50 based on filling . Now it's $3.15 - $3.85 based on topping. Overall my feeling about the price for what you get hasn't really changed. You have to really like this pro...