Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

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...

For $2.25 you can get a straight stick of churro , and for a buck more you can get a scoop of ice cream to go with it. Sounds expensive, and when the portion comes it looks expensive too, but people will pay $5 for a single scoop of ice cream, so it's hard to discuss price when the dessert market is spendy. I got the "plain" churro, which is coated in sugar and somewhere in there is cinnamon. It tastes okay and as churros go, it's completely fine just like this. And seriously, what do you want? It's a dough of flour, water, and salt deep fried till crispy. You're paying for the novelty, plus a premium for being in a neighbourhood where it's hard to find and maybe a bit of a walk to the nearest churro competitor.

After discovering that Tacofino churros are not available for takeout and not wanting to line up for them, my companion and I wandered into  Secret Location  to check their dessert menu. The place was empty so we had the beautiful lit-stone bar all to ourselves. If you haven't been, it's worth even just a walk-through to check out the beautiful interior. They do dim the lights, but not so much as to obscure the room. Totally a date-night location, and not so busy as to be noisy/rowdy, but at the same time has the space to host quite a few people. Staff were friendly and accommodating. Ice Cream and Sorbet ($10) selection of 3 from We went with sour cream, one that tasted like haw flakes, and pumpkin. Nothing too special for me here. Smallish scoops, too, but price-wise not out of line with getting ice cream at a restaurant. And you get a little decorative something on each, like flowers or what not. Liquid Centre Chocolate Cube ($15) crisp feuilletine, o...

I'm a sucker for rotis of all kinds, so I was sort of weirdly disappointed that PappaRoti had buns and not flatbreads. But still, I went in... The space is an airy and bright cafe, including a big communal table. Quite busy with people camped out with laptops, probably taking advantage of the free WiFi (password "karaktea"). It's also quite big, and if you go deeper, there's shadier seating. Service was mixed. The counter girl manning the till was surly and maybe slightly hard of hearing. The European-looking gentleman was more professional -- and I really liked the fact that he intercepted my order of the Chocoliva topping to give me a sample first, saying that his own experience hadn't been what he expected at all. It definitely was a different flavour, so I really appreciated his concern and consideration. Karak Tea  ($3.80 small, $4.95 large)  Originating in South Asia, this specialty tea is brewed with aromatic Indian spices and herbs. Combine...

After so many lousy experiences at Cactus Club , why did I go to another one? Simple -- it was someone else's pick. This time, instead of gambling on a main, I decided to go with Rob Feenie menu items (marked "RF" on the menu), and to put together my late-night dinner with two appys and dessert. Kobe Style Meatball Trio ($12.25) roasted tomato sauce, freshly grated parmesan There is a similar item on the mains, but with pasta. Get this instead to skip the pasta. The meatballs were huge! Almost like tennis balls! If you finish this appetizer yourself, it probably counts as a light to medium main all on its own because of the sheer quantity of meat. The meatballs themselves were tender and OK tasting. Could use more spicing to jazz up the flavour, but I can see why they wouldn't waste doing that because of the sauce. The sauce kills this dish. It is crazy salty! I recommend you try it on its own, then scrape most of it off your meatballs. Ravioli + Prawn ...

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...

Shaved ice is an awesome deal at this Crystal Mall food court stall! Paradise Juice and Burger offers you the choice of EIGHT (8) toppings on a rather large bowl of shaved ice. And the $4.50 "small" is actually a pretty big, heaping bowl. You may be worried that eating up all the fruit on top will leave you with just boring ice at the bottom, but (depending on the toppings you choose) all the juices make their way down, so happily you get sweetened ice left over. Plentiful seating because it's in a food court. No ambiance, but portion and fresh fruit can't be beat -- especially compared to shaved ice at almost twice the price for more ice and less fruit (as well as less fruit variety). TIP: CASH ONLY. Almost the entire Crystal Mall food court is that way.

Total waste of time. Literally: Half hour commute to get there on a Saturday morning. Waited till 10:10 AM -- they are overdue for opening by 10 minutes. Had to knock on the door. The guy who answered said "Sorry, we're open at 11 today." He even acknowledged the sign was wrong. I wasn't going to waste another 50 minutes to decide if they're going to open on time at 11 AM so it was another half hour commute back. Total time wasted: 70+ minutes. Call ahead the afternoon before (because they are closed by 6pm on weekdays, 4.30pm or "when sold out" on Saturdays).

After dinner at Morak nearby, we wandered over to try Noble Cafe in search of bubble tea or good desserts. Strangely enough, the business cards said they were Kick S Good, which were basically in the same location. Could just be a cosmetic name change. Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Slush ($4.25) Yup, tastes like ground up Ferrero Rocher. Tasted a bit thin, but at just $4.25, that's sort of to be expected since Ferrero Rocher isn't exactly a cheap ingredient. Still, give this one a pass and try something else on the menu likely to have stronger and better chocolaty flavour.