Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

I honestly don't think I've ever been to a Denny's , which seems odd because it's Canadian Owned and Operated since 1992. Maybe I just had the image it was a boring place for seniors (and they do have Thursday discounts for age 55+ seniors). First things first: ASK ABOUT THE SPECIALS. I honestly don't recall our servers mentioning the current burger offer (apparently ends late May) of buy-one-get-one-at-half-price, even when my friend ordered a burger. I only chanced to find out when the promotion screen at our table (which includes a smartphone charger) flipped to the offer. And it took a too-long time to show that offer. By then we had already put in our orders and it was too late to change. Really temped to outright fail them for this.    Dessert menu looked really overpriced and lame. Many of the menu items look great in photos but are pretty boring. That said, the items we got were mostly nicely prepared. Bourbon Bacon Burger ($19.59) My friend's order. ...

Back to Red Robin! Again! This time for my friend's birthday. She's got a soft spot for Red Robin even though her last burger on my birthday burger outing wasn't that great. In fact she said her cheeseburger this time was strangely very salty but because it was a free birthday burger, she didn't say anything about it at all. This time since I wasn't choosing a birthday burger, I decided to order Fish and Chips. Yeah, who goes to Red Robin for fish and chips right?  But that's why I ordered it. For science! Arctic Cod Fish & Chips ($15.99) Premium hand-battered cod fillets, fried to crispy perfection, with our Bottomless Steak Fries. Served with Dill'd & Pickl'd tartar sauce. Terrible. Do not order this. Price for fish portion is atrocious plus it's pretty basic. A bit overcooked so it came out on the dry side, sadly. Came piping hot and definitely nicely crunchy-crispy on the outside. There was some issue with their usual tempura batte...

Back to Red Robin for yet another free Birthday Burger! Easy peasy this time -- our waitress said any burger would qualify. She even steered us away from the Tavern Burgers because they were "cheap". For a change, instead of plain bottomless fries I went with the garlic fries upgrade. My friend who came out with me got a Madlove Burger on her own dime. The Southern Charm Burger ($16.99) brown sugar glaze, candied bacon, Whiskey River BBQ Sauce, cheddar, caramelized onions, shredded romaine and mayo on a toasted brioche bun Bun was good. Soft, slightly sweet. It compresses very easily, but there's no so much bread to get in the way of tasting the actual burger. The light toasting also added a little something to the overall flavour. Had to review my pictures to find the caramelized onion. Oh look! There's a small ring. Needless to say the flavour didn't come through at all. Candied bacon not very sweet and not very bacon salty either. As burgers go, thi...

Ended up at White Spot for a friend's birthday party. Been absolutely ages since I was at any outlet. Maybe I remember them a bit too fondly but for what I got, price felt outrageous. Even their french fries were so disappointing my mom said not to reheat them and just throw it out for the birds (no really -- she actually suggested that). Crispy Cauliflower Bites ($10.49) glazed in sweet chili sauce and served with mango herb salsa over cilantro sour cream; toasted almonds. Taste is quite decent although prone to being covered up by the various sauces and flavours on the plate. Not even remotely crispy. Avocado Beyond Burger™  ($17.49) Chargrilled 100% plant-based Beyond Meat® patty with fresh avocado, pickled onions, roasted corn, lettuce & tomato. Jalapeño ranch & edamame hummus. Comes with choice of Caesar Salad, The Spot's Salad, or Creamy Coleslay and Endless Signature Kennebec Fries. Mediocre tasting burger. Not even particularly big. At $17.49 it ...

It's been a long time since I went to Tenen  and surprisingly the pricing hasn't changed much. They have shown up frequently on Groupon , however, and with their clever pricing, the $20-towards-lunch adds up to either a cheap yet huge-portioned lunch for one person, or approximately a half-priced lunch for two persons. They do have nearly-$20 main dishes so going solo with the groupon is fine (and it's one groupon per table) but most items are $16.95. Overall the food is comfort homestyle food. Actually on the mediocre side except the portion per plate is probably good enough for up to two persons depending on what you get and your appetite. Tenen does feed you well and isn't skimpy on portions. Even though they have the usual fillers of bread and potatoes, they aren't stingy with the meat. Gourmet Burger ($16.95) 10 oz. patty with bacon and cheese mixed in Looks like the bread used is a pita sliced in half and pan fried in drippings from the burger. ...

Dropped in here for a function that happened in the back room with a stage for performances! Veggie Burger ($13.50 + $0.50 for soup of the day) Grilled tempeh patty, feta cheese, toasted kaiser bun, crisp spring mix, lush tomato & sweet onion. Vegan patty is available on request Average sized burger with no fancy construction. Bun seemed a bit over toasted but that's probably personal preference. Patty was some dark mash with visible whole black (?) beans. Strangely amazingly bland, which was terribly disappointing. I had to use the shakers of pink salt on it. Pass on this and try something else. Soup of the day was potato broccoli and amazingly thick, which means it helps make this a filling meal. So thick you could scoop it up with the crackers provided. Waitstaff friendly, laid-back, and not pushy about ordering at all.

For being a part of the Red Robin Royalty program, every year Red Robin gives me a free birthday burger! I usually go with a friend who likes Red Robin burgers, and this year she ate my burger while I got a non-burger menu item from Red Robin. Last year my friend got a veggie fajita at the Red Robin downtown location and was quite pleased with it, so I gave it a go. Veggie Fajitas ($14.99) Seasoned vegetables, black beans, mushrooms, cabbage and carrots. Served with Cheddar, salsa, sour cream and warm flour tortillas. Tortilla filling come literally steaming hot to your table in a hot dish to help keep it hot. You assemble your own tortillas and when you run out you can ask for more. The kitchen does them in batches so you can't really ask for, say, exactly two more tortillas. Did they forget the seasoning? Tasted horrible and with a bitter aftertaste, probably from the bell peppers. Fortunately made palatable by the salsa, sour cream, cabbage, and cheddar cheese. Shr...

A good friend of mine treated me to Bistro Wagon Rouge for my birthday this week. Lucky lucky! Lots of interesting neighbours nearby including The Pie Shoppe. Our waiter was really good at describing/selling the menu items, so you'll want to be careful actually not to get too carried away by ad copy. Complimentary Bread A nice retro touch you don't see much anymore. Warm, and butter softened for convenience. Really handy if you order moules frites (mussels and fries) to get at the tasty soup. House Burger ($18) Touted as the best in Vancouver so obviously I had to try it. Composition is nothing too adventurous. Sweet caramelized onions were a nice touch. Fries were great - hot and and fresh, very crispy on the outside. Could have used something more sour as a dip to balance the heaviness of the meal though. When they asked how I wanted my burger I went with medium rare and you can see from the pictures it did come out basically so though the center looks q...

Peaked Pies is basically two components: A hand-holdable pie + topping. The topping is the "Peaked" gimmick and I'd treat it as such for your money's worth. Peak-ing a pie (up to +$3.50) You basically get mashed potato, mushy green peas, and gravy if you go for the full "Peak" treatment, but you can also get these components separately. The peas are just green peas mashed. Nothing special, nothing seasoned. The mashed potato is also just mashed potato. Nothing special, nothing seasoned, and as a result also terribly bland. Plus what I got was slightly gummy, which is not a fresh-feeling mashed potato texture. Overall, I'd say this is not really worth it EXCEPT if you don't want to splurge fully for two pies and want a more filling meal portion, because potato and peas can do that for you. You do get a good scoop of peas, like one generous ice cream scoop. A bit more potato. And definitely not quite enough gravy even though it looks like a ...

My budget-conscious friend decided to try Chez Mémé Baguette Bistro  despite usually ending up at Red Robin for one of their two-for-one burger specials . Chez Mémé has an extraordinary near-perfect score on Zomato, which usually scores tougher than Yelp. Overall items were not very salty, so if you're used to that you might even think they are not salty enough. Baguettes / come with your choice of fries, salad, or daily soup. Daily soup can come warm or piping hot and no matter the weather I suggest you get it hot because as you work through your meal it's going to get cold. If you've read some reviews from several years ago, be aware that the prices have gone up. Their lamb sandwich used to be $10 around 2010, but is now $13.25. (Menu at the bottom of this post). Jarret ($13.25) lamb shanks, roasted garlic jam, grainy dijon; comes with choice of salad, fries, or daily soup As previously mentioned, this might come across a bit bland if you're expecting what...

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Romer's , showcasing their "drunken donuts" foremost but also with some brochures for "holiday gatherings" at their "Vault" location in Kitsilano . These donuts are soaked on the inside and not your typical spongy doughy interior so watch out for their richness and order to share. Sauce is served on the side in the restaurant.