Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

This restaurant has been around for a very long time and still has a decent number of customers -- which is generally a good sign that it's got something going for it. Overall, price for portion is really good and it's not just filler. Even the smaller "Mini-Set Meal" available from 12pm-6pm and 9pm-1am are of a decent, filling portion though at a couple dollars less than the regular menu. That's what we ordered from for lunch. Taste is around slightly better than mediocre but on the salty side. For a Chinese restaurant where the servers weren't good at English, service was really decent. Not brusque like it can be in Chinese restaurants. CASH ONLY. CASH ONLY. 25. Curry Chicken or Beef Brisket with Rice ($10.75) My friend went with the Curry Chicken. Chicken not at all overdone so I suspect it might have been freshly boiled and then added to the soup. Same with the vegetables, which were still on the crisp side instead of having sat in cur...

Aside from a small selection of pastries, Bao Bakery also prominently features a lot of bao . They look like the chinese bao (similar to what you can get at the more dedicated Bao Place ) except the fillings sound decidedly Filipino. A bit strange for me since I was raised on the Chinese tradition but if you don't know bao well to begin with, think nothing of it and consider only whether it's tasty. I tried the one that sounded the most interesting and alien to me, which was "Chicken Deluxe (Bola Bola)", with filling containing chicken, pork, ham, and salted duck egg yolk (how many animal parts can you eat in one bite?). Taste is mediocre. The filling is OK but nothing to write home about. What Bao Bakery does offer however is a really decent amount of filling per bun--although from bun to bun you might get a bit more or less. In the pictures below I dissected two different buns from the same package. Two buns will trump a burger in the quantity of meat you...

I was recommended KIMU Japanese Cuisine by friends showing me interesting pictures of sushi. Naturally when I went I didn't get any "rolls" but whatever sounded way more interesting. It's too bad the menu doesn't have pictures but you can check out pics online at Zomato and Yelp to see just how pretty and interesting their creations are and at decent portions for very reasonable prices! TIP: Get a spoon. Unlike "normal" sushi restaurant offerings, the variant construction can mean some pieces falling off the arrangement, so chopsticks will be sort of lousy here. Ask for a spoon right away if you're getting their special stuff, such as what we ordered. Volcano Eggplant Seafood Yaki ($8.95) deep fried eggplant, pan fried seafood with onion, melted mozzarella, cheddar cheese, with special spicy mix sauce and bonito on top We ate this with chopsticks. Don't eat this with just chopsticks. Slabs of eggplant were rather big. No way you'...

Jambo Grill is a fairly large restaurant with quite a bit of Africa-inspired decor. Try to somehow go during a quieter time for a better experience and to enjoy the decor more: We went on a Saturday night and it was busy till 9pm, line-up at the door till at least 8pm, and what appeared to be a line-up near the kitchen for takeout. They take reservations, however. We were a large party in a full restaurant, so I expected our food to come out slowly--but still not take over 1 hour and with some persons getting theirs very, very late. Pretty much all the food came cold. Wait staff were friendly and always smiled whenever they came to a table, so they were doing their best under the circumstances. TIP: Do your Yelp check-in BEFORE ordering. The server refused to accept it and had to call over a manager to OK the free Chai at the end of the meal. ALSO, for parties of 6+, you must present your check-in at the start of ordering in order to get the free appetizer. TIP: Masala Chai ...

Looks like a hole in the wall. No ambiance, really. Some seating and a TV, but the dingy, dilapidated feel makes this a take-out place. What Milk & Sugar Cafe has going for it is cheap drinks, like $1.75 for a Two Leaves and a Bud peppermint tea, sized like a Starbucks grande. Menu is also really extensive for such a small place. It even spills over to the tiled wall under the TV. Supposedly has free wifi, but I couldn't connect. Looks like the modem was off (?).

After our hot chocolate crawl on Saturday, I was hoping to do an early walk-in at Chicha , but it turned out that they were fully booked and were expecting to be swarmed by their Dine Out Vancouver reservations by around 5.30pm, so they couldn't squeeze us in. I honestly didn't expect that so after some flustered fumbling around we ended up at a non-DOV venue, Nirvana . We dined pretty early so it was empty inside except for a couple of small tables. Interesting decor, including a painting of Buddha sort of out-of-place with the other Indian artwork. Anyway, very Indian feeling. Menu had reasonable prices and it would turn out the portions were very good. Some prices are slightly higher than on the online menu. Papadum (free after you have place your order) Like papadum everywhere - salty, slightly bitter. Gluten Free Chilla ($2.95, a type of Indian pancake) Chilla uses chickpea flour, so it is gluten free. Topped with assorted veggies. I found this dense and d...

CASH only. Went there for late night (9.30pm+) snack. There were 9 of us. Staff can speak English -- and not struggle-to-understand-each-other-using-hand-gestures ESL, either. Other than overly crispy chinese donuts  (and at 9.30pm you can hardly expect everything to be totally fresh, especially bread items), menu item were fine. Basically $7.50 snacks on their late night menu. Portion size is OK, considering you are not paying for any fillers like noodles or rice with each "appetizer" portion. If you go with a few people and order a few things you can get a light dinner inclusive of one or two orders of congee or noodles for $10 including tax and tip. If you go alone, you will probably spend closer to $15 and have a more boring experience of just one or two items. If you go alone and get ONLY snacks with no filler like plain congee (rice porridge) then two plates of their snacks might not see you full at all after $15-$20. Definitely a go-with-friends place.