Caffe Barney

A couple of months ago, I was working out of a different office for a day, and the locals took me to Caffe Barny for breakfast. The place had a nice atmosphere, and pretty lively for the time of day (around 11am).

I had the Eggs Benny with Smoked Salmon, awesome combination and really hard to screw up. Caffe Barney did not screw it up. My breakfast was fantastic, the sauce was rich, just he way I like it and the cut potatoes were done right.

After reading some other reviews, I think this place is probably geared towards a younger crowd. Others have complained msotly about the loud music......I'd probably go back if I was in the area.

Romano's Pizza

Romano's Pizza has arguably the best bang for your buck by-the-slice pizza known to mankind. Quick and easy, ready in a minute, tasty as hell, and dirt cheap. Two slices for $3.57 and a can of pop, you really can't go wrong. I really have no idea how other fast-food (A la Rotten Ronnie's - who still have not brought back the ORANGE DRINK - DAMN YOU RONALD!) places can compete.
I have no idea what these two were, one of them had ground beef, seasoned to perfection...the meat was almost sweet. The other had some pesto, and I can't tell you the names of either of these flavours, but they were good. Note the sesame seeds on the crust....nice touch
Normally, I can't stand Hawaiian pizza, but I have to say that Roman's Hawaiian pizza really did it for me. I can't even describe in words why it it was so good, you'll just have to trust me on it. I didn't even bother taking a picture of it because I thought it would suck, so here's another picture of whatever I had myself......I'll defintely go back for more pictures.

Sushi King - the biggest sushi in town

Arguably the biggest sushi in town according to their brochures, and rightly so. I haven't seen sushi this big since my visit to Edoko Sushi in Narita. I know, I know, it's so "North American", or "it's not authentic". I've had these thoughts before, but you know, if you're hungry and you want a good bang for your buck, this is the place. The seafood is very, very fresh and for the size of the portions, very affordable.

Salmon


Left: Ikura, Right: chopped scallop
Amaebi
Toro

Saba
Ika


Sushi King House can be found on 8176 Granville Street in the Marpole area. If you're heading north on Granville, it's a bit before the Petro Canada.

Check out more restaraunt reviews this new website I discovered called Urban Spoon. Urban Spoon Rocks!

G-men Ramen

The search for the perfect bowl of ramen ourside of Japan continues, but I'd have to say that G-men ramen has it pretty good. The current popular choice for ramen still seems to be Kintaro Ramen, but for me, Kintaro is an epic fail when it comes to ramen. Sure, the atmosphere is spot on - small, noisy, and steamed up windows, but the ramen is crap. For me, the broth has always been too bland, and the chashu is way, way to lean. And on top of that, every jackass who needs to show the world how trendy they are by going to an "authentic Japanese ramen shop", is lined up out the door of this place, only to be served sub-par ramen.

When go for ramen, it has to be fat and salty. When Kintaro opened shop in Richmond, it just added to it's failure as a ramen shop. Amazingly, the broth was tasty, but the noodles were overcooked and tasted worse than instant noodles. Subsequently, they closed.

Aji-Sen Ramen opened a few years ago in Parker Place and to be honest, it wasn't too bad, but their standards started to slide and it felt more like a really bad rendition of Hon's meets Ramen.

Next, Benkei Ramen on Robson opened, and also had some pretty damn good ramen in the beginning, but they are quite inconsistent. It's hit and miss with Benkei Ramen - sometimes the chashu is glorious, other times, they're just chopped up little bits that belong more in pork 'n beans than a decent bowl of ramen. And despite the sometimes-good ramen, I can't get past the aweful made-in-China swords hanging all over the place....this is just tacky. I still have to do a review on Menya Ramen, which is pretty damn awesome, but I'll have to leave that for another post.....no pics yet!

Nice, steamed up windows - very authentic.
Other strange decorations - also adds to the atmosphere.

A TV placing really, really old-school early 80's Japanese TV shows. This place really has the right feel. It's hard to describe, but for those of you who come from Japan, or have lived there before, you'll know what I'm talking about. This place has got that quirky, almost eccentric Japanese flavor of interior decoration that's very typical for a small eatery.

Shoyu ramen....

Miso/Chashu Ramen - my favourite. This ramen will always have you screaming for water afterwards, and if you're lucky, give you a bad case of "geri" - and it's just the way I like it. Some people have complained that the noodles taste like Nissin frozen ramen, but is that really a bad thing? Because I swear by Nissin frozen ramen. It was arguably the best ramen noodle available outside of Japan - even better than Kintaro....can you tell I'm not a big fan of Kintaro?

The chashu here is nice and fat, just the way I like it.

The gyoza here is pretty much run of the mill gyoza, nothing spectacular, but worth ordering. My take on this place is it's a definte hit. I go there all the time and I strongly recommend it to anyone else.....that is if you have the patience to navigate through that God-forsaken parking lot.

Pork Belly Beer House

At least I think it's called Porkbelly Beer House. The last time I went, there were no English signs whatsoever so I can't say for sure this is what the place is really called, but at least that's the actual address in case you want to find the place.


The food here, is actually quite good, contrary to the shop's appearance. This place looks pretty run down, there's no overhead ventilation fans, and your clothes come out smelling like Korean BBQ after you're done (but quite frankly, if you go to any BBQ place, your clothes are gonna smell like your food), the bathroom looks downright scary, but throughout all of that, the food is great (and probably clean, but who cares, you grill it anyway), the service is run like your visiting your uncle's house, and the staff are pretty hard working. There are times when they forget your order, or don't get to you for a long time, but expect it because the place is pretty busy and they have to keep track of lots of orders. They try hard and they're not lazy, and for me, that counts for a lot.
The usual on the house side dishes typical of most Korean restaurants.
We went for the all-you-can-eat pork belly, which was nice and fresh, and did not appear to be frozen.
Pork belly, garlic and onions.....how can you go wrong?


I forgot the price, but I remember it being very affordable. At first, you can order individually, but if you find that if you need more and have caught up to the price of all-you-can-eat, the owner lets you change to that pricing. He's more like your uncle, rather than the owner/manager of a restaraunt....honestly, I have no idea how he makes money.

Haha, I remember this one time I went there and they had their liquor license revoked for a period of time. It made me laugh because the place was called Pork Belly Beer House. Anyway, if you can get by the appearances, you will have a really good meal at this place.

Eggrolls at Work

Sweet, heavenly eggrolls from the boss. For those of you who are familiar with Chinese New Year, you'll know all about the eggroll. These light pastries are usually found around this time of year.....well, whenever Chinese New Year is. They aren't very rich, heavy, or too sweet, but very, very tasty.

A warning for those who haven't tried them, do not try talking while eating these. Eggrolls are quite dry and if you try to have a conversation while eating one, you will spray eggroll bits all over the place. Just eating them without making a mess is a challenge in itself. I prefer to eat them when no one is looking. It's sort of like eating crab, it tastes so good, but it's messing eating.

Edokko Sushi - Part 1

Nothing compares. Two words that pretty much sums up Edokko Sushi. I seriously doubt there is any better sushi restaraunt on the planet and I make it a point to eat there whenever I go through Narita. Unfortunately, I do not have the contact details of the restaraunt except that it's located in Narita, about 5 minutes walk from the station. If I remember correctly, I leave the station and hang a right, walk towards pedestrian bridge/overpass and there it is on the right side. I'll update this info as soon a I can.

I was first introduced to this restaraunt by my friend Mariko, who works for Air Canada in Japan. We met before the takeover, during the good ol' days of Canadian Airlines. She took me and a few friends there sometime in 1999 I think and I've been hooked ever since.




Everything is large, and a little over the top - fresh, as if it just left Tsukiji market. If you sit at the bar, your meal is generally served right on the bar. To me, this is the best seat in the house, because the chef is right there, and they can tell exactly what you want to eat.
Ikura, one of my favourites.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but this ebi is just massive. It was the size of a small lobster.
Anago, similar to the mouth-watering goodness of unagi.
You don't want to know what this is.
My last meal on earth would have to include prime rib from the Keg, foie gras, and uni from Edokko Sushi. There must have been uni from an entire sea urchin in this peice.
Kani sushi, often replaced here in North America with some processed fish paste that's made to look like crab meat. This is the real deal people, and you'll never taste anything like it....also it was huge.