Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Yelp's making me work really hard this month, with yet another Yelp Elite Event . This time at ATLAS Steak + Fish at the Grand Villa Casino for a weekday lunch. Atlas is open for lunch now and they're introducing it to us obviously to get the word out. Restaurants in hotels often have a rough go and you see renos and a new name in the same spot every few years. However Atlas has apparently already made a name for themselves, and some of our members attested to having had excellent company functions and catered events through them. DISCLAIMER: We got free stuff. Not just a sample of their lunch but a gift pack of two steak knives and a 30%-off-lunch coupon. That said, if we come back to use the coupon (maximum party size of six) I'm sure they'll have made back their investment easily. And the steak knives look like the same ones diners use, so they are probably replacement stock they have on hand anyway. Décor is not super-wow but for lunch it was bright, airy...

Squeezed into this tiny space for a get-together with friends. They did accept a reservation, but get really anxious if your party does arrive on time and they clearly have people waiting to dine-in. It's a really small space so every customer is precious. TIP: Don't be late! And expect to be asked if it'll be okay if they take away seats if not enough of your party shows up on time. Rather interesting that they've dropped baby corn as an ingredient. Roti with curry sauces ($4.99) It's a Thai restaurant offering a Malaysian/Singaporean staple. That's ominous to begin with but I'm a sucker for roti so of course I had to order it. The roti looks like it got fried into a crunchy crisp here and cut too large (plus it's now too stiff) to properly fit into the little cup of coconut flavoured curry. You're ordering roti in a Thai restaurant, so be prepared for something different. If you need your roti to be close to the Malaysian or Singapor...

Dropped in after a post-dinner walk from Unchai to have a snack and dessert. We whiled away a half hour savouring a dessert before trying the calamari at the Happy Hour price. As usual the server wasn't exactly thrilled especially as we didn't order any alcohol (none of us being drinkers). But the place wasn't exactly packed either. Calamari ($14 or $10 during Happy Hour) We were informed the $10 happy hour portion is the same as the $14 regular menu portion. Not recommended even at $10. Seemed flat somehow. Lacked seasoning? And price for portion at $10. If you do get it, try to pair each piece with the fried jalapeño slices to get some bite to each bite. Billy Miner Pie ($7) mocha ice cream on a chocolate crust with hot fudge, caramel, and almonds Simple idea that's tasty. Ice cream is soft and easy to spoon through but doesn't start melting into a puddle right away. Still, if you're going to try more than one dessert I wouldn't ask for th...

Riz Sushi hosted a Yelp Elite event and I was lucky to be selected -- it's a small space and not a lot of room to jam a lot of people in. So obviously I should start with a disclaimer: We got free stuff. A wide sampling of their current menu, as well as their crunchy fried chicken breast burger which should launch very soon. If you've been to the place years past and hated it, Riz Sushi is definitely worth another visit. They've been under new management for the last three years or so. It wasn't an immediate turnaround with this new management, either. They quickly decided to focus on catering and chopped down their restaurant menu to Poke bowls. But now they have a strong menu and are basically re-launching their restaurant -- and fighting an uphill battle against the baggage of low reviews that the restaurant is carrying from its earlier days. Our food samples did NOT have a single sushi roll in sight! If you're looking for a sushi-ingredient-themed re...