Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

The Buffet at Starlight Casino is normally somewhat pricey at $19 considering it's buffet-quality (mediocre-quality) food, just as much of it as you can handle to make it worth your while. $19 is a lot of mediocre food to make it worth your while, though just the Coca-Cola Freestyle -- the mix-your-own-drink-from-dozens-available -- is worth something to be honest. If you got one of their recent 2-for-1 coupons, then two can dine for basically $10 each and that makes it really decent compared to $19! Save that coupon and go early on a weekday if you have a good sized group and want to socialize more than eat. Great for socializing since you can while away your time drinking bottomless soda and tea and coffee. Kirin restaurant (also at Starlight Casino) has it own little Japanese-ish park that's nice as a before or after hangout as well (see pics at the bottom). The dinner fare on a Wednesday looked remarkably like lunch at The Buffet at the Grand Villa  but obviously ...

You may have gotten 2-for-1 buffet coupons in the mail from Gateway Casinos, good for either the Grand Villa in Burnaby or Starlight in New Westminster. The mailout I received had three coupons for three different periods between July and August. If you can eat a heaping plate (or skip breakfast and dinner), then the lunch buffet is for you. Two can dine for $13 ($13.65 after GST) -- that's less than $7 each. Buffet food is of course so-so, but here are some tips: Go easy on the portions, especially if one of the hot items are running out because they'll restock with freshly cooked ones soon. Desserts are usually lame and have sat around too long -- probably because people over-eat on mains. This said, if OK food for a great price appeals, then those two-for-one coupons are gold. And to be honest, fancier food at many places at a higher price isn't that much better. Considering you can eat three meals in one, $7 per person is a super deal (or if you need to sav...

Went with a friend to redeem my Red Robin Royalty free birthday burger (comes with the usual bottomless fries!). As I was feeling like I had had too much meat recently, I went for the Garden Burger which, sad to say, is just OK, and that's if you immediately take out the pickles so you don't just taste pickles. Do NOT come to Red Robin for their veggie burger even if you do a patty swap. For approximately the same price (sometimes LESS) you can get a way more interesting and tasty burger (but with a meat patty). However, my friend got the Veggie Fajita, and OMG it was totally not what we were expecting -- in a good way. Generous almost for-two portion for $14.99, and although they start you off with about 4 wraps, it is clearly not enough and you can get free refills. Veggies are cheap (it looked like mostly onions) and clearly they don't skimp on it maybe because they can. NON-alcoholic drinks are big-portioned and cheap! My Coconut Pineapple Smoothie was just $4....

Pleasant summer weather means you can dine outdoors out back at Ouisi Bistro , although a bee had a strange fascination with the fried chicken I ordered--until I gobbled up all the meat. The interior is dimly lit so if you like light and a bit of sun and especially if it happens to be crowded inside the restaurant main, see if you can get a seat outside. Following an old raving recommendation for the fried chicken, that's what I ordered. Luckily we didn't get any appetizer because all our near-$20 plates had pretty heaping portions! Our small party did manage one dessert to share afterwards though. Southern Fried Chicken ($17) Three pieces of Rossdown Farms buttermilk mainated chicken. Double crusted and served with Yukon Gold-roasted garlic mash potatoes and jicama slaw (and cornbread) By "double crusted" they first fry the chicken, then batter it and bake it. I got two thighs and a wing. The thighs were juicy but the wing was dry. Maybe they did all three...

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...

Poké Time serves up what looks like deconstructed sushi with marinated raw cubed fish. And if you get the Super Cruncheritto ($11.95), they call it a burrito but it's more like a massive sushi roll so packed with stuff that they can't roll it up without some of the fillings squeezing out the ends. Unlike sushi, you're not tasting the freshness of the fish so much as the marinade -- yeah, there's sauce. Still, the entire construction of the Cruncheritto tastes fresh and light despite being filling because of the rice. Compare how much you get for your money to a couple of sushi rolls at just about any sushi restaurant and Poké Time is a winner. The hole-in-the-wall is basically a take-out place that works like a Quiznos or Subway so there's no point scoring them on ambiance. But you can eat in, and if you do, tell them so they don't give you the plastic container for your non-burrito order but rather the reusable bowl that you return after. TIP: Eat in...