Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Caught up with a dear friend over Sunday brunch and Burdock and Co. was her pick. Busy busy busy but they take reservations! Table spacing is tight AND the tables are light and not bolted to the floor, so don't bulldoze your way around. Didn't get a non-alcoholic drink menu right away so ask about it. Coffee and tea available of course but also a small selection of Fentimans . Risotto ($17) biodynamic aged rice , sunchoke, walnut Looks deceptively simple and therefore can look initially disappointing. Even if you overlook the biodynamic aged rice portion of the item, it is actually surprisingly tasty thanks to the flavourful oil. Portion may seem small compared to whatever your dining companion is getting but it's not very watery so it works out to be a decently filling portion. Fentimans Dandelion & Burdock Not overly sweet, interesting flavour, and strangely very little aftertaste. My friend had the rather hearty-sized looking chickpea tagine tha...

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 ...

Bright clean place that looks suspiciously like a Freshii outlet. Decent-to-good food at a rather good price for mains. Price for portion is actually rather good and they aren't skimpy with ingredients like the chicken in my chicken curry. 46. Basil Garden Chicken Curry (with choice of Vermicelli or Rice; $12) This was a pretty big bowl for what you get. Obviously the curry soup is a part of what you get but they weren't skimpy with the chicken. Sweet potato made this a bit more interesting and gave the soup a slight sweetness. Not especially hot-spicy. Chicken pieces looked dry, unfortunately, but of course there's curry soup all around. Otherwise pretty decent bad and the price for portion is rather good. 1. Garlic Butter Chicken Wings ($12.50 - about $1.60 per wing) Came piping hot, juicy, crispy on the outside. But it was also the last item of our order to come, despite being an appetizer. Overall pretty decent. I think I would have liked the butter and/o...

If you've read my various reviews you'll know I'm foremost a food reviewer. And Personas is basically a sports bar. So many caveats with this one I really thought of just passing on reviewing, but at the same time I also felt a caution about the food would be useful for anyone walking in. So... on to the disclaimers! This was part of a Yelp Elite event . Nothing lavish, but nonetheless we did get basically free food and free stuff. You can see what we got in the pictures. Foodwise we got plates for each table of 4-6 persons to share. It's basically a sports bar. I don't watch sports and a bar doesn't make me want to watch sports either. There's a bar. We even got free wine and a fancy to-share drink as part of the event. But I don't drink. So this is me trying to first review the place for what I feel it primarily is: A sports bar. As a sports bar, if I had to be dragged to one, this would be the type I'd like to go to. It doesn't have...

My friend was all excited by the under-$10 weekend brunch and dragged me here. She was immediately disappointed by the rather small menu, but did manage to find something that she ended up liking (Avocado Benny). I, however, apparently picked the one thing you shouldn't get here. Fried Egg Sandwich ($13.75, or $9.75 during weekend brunch if you order before Noon; cheddar cheese costs extra) smoked bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, mayo, red relish, brioche bun, smashed potatoes Looks like a pretty tall burger till you look inside and realize it's fluffed up by lettuce. Worse, the mass of lettuce and other slippery ingredients can make this a mess to eat, squishing out juices everywhere. I recommend you try to flatten down the lettuce by flattening down the sandwich. Basically a rip off even at $9.75 for what you actually get. Think about it: An egg is something you add to a burger for +$1, at Red Robin for example. Order something else. Fever Tree Ginger Beer ($4) ...

Casual walk-in to Chancho Tortilleria tonight to catch up with a friend. If it looks like it's got a line-up, don't be daunted -- go in and see if there's actually a wait for seating or if it's just the lineup to place your order at the counter. This is diner-style: Place your order, find a table. There are napkins at the table but if you're sharing with friends you probably want to look for a plate and fork as well. Guacamole ($9) Appys are always more expensive than mains, so you can't expect that much for price for portion. This was okay-tasting. At $9 I'd pass if I went again. Vegetarian Tortillas ($18 for half pound) - Mixed Potatoes and Vegetables. All orders include condiments: Pickled red cabbage, whole pinto beans, salsas, freshly made Chancho tortillas, and limes. The best part here is price for portion, especially if you are in a group of 3-4 people and order one pound. 1/4 pound is recommended as being enough for one person. We go...

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...