Nat's New York Pizzaria (Denman)

Pretty good pizza pie, definitely has home-made feel and taste to it.  Crust was a bit stiff, but it was good overall because it wasn't drenched oil.

I'm not a vegetarian and usually look at anyone that doesn't eat meat as a heretic, but this cheese pizza was pretty damn good.  This place was actually our second choice because Romano's refused to answer their phone.....would I eat from here again?  Maybe, if Romano's didn't answer next time :)

*Pictures taken with my HTC Desire.....still waiting on warrantee work from Nikon.

The American Cheese Steak Co.

I don't know what a Philly Cheesesteak or American Cheese Steak is supposed to taste like, so here's my first impression.....meh.

I ordered a large New Yorkder for $12 (tax and tip $15 and change) so portion was good, I suppose.  The ingredients were fresh, and the quality of the beef was good, nice mix fat and lean, cooked perfectly.  So what could possibly make me say my first experience was "meh"?  Well, the thing was totally lacking in the flavour department....is it supposed to be bland?  I added chili sauce, and it improved slightly.  I added salt, and it improved tremendously.  The beef on it's own had very little flavour and the whole thing relied on the garlic sauce a little too much.

The service from the cashier was less than stellar.  She had no compassion for someone's first visit and treated me as if I were from a leper colony or something when I asked her what her recommendation was.

Now about the atmosphere - tries to pass itself off as a trendy place with lots of stainless steel and brick, but it still didn't make the food taste better.  And if you're looking to have a conversation with your meal partner, go elsewhere because they really pounded the music on the day I went. 

Needless to say, I will probably not return.

*Pictures were taken with my HTC Desire....at the time of this review, my Nikon P100 was still on the fritz.

Bing Sheng Restaurant

It's kind of interesting all the places your parents can introduce you to.  Makes me wonder if they should be blogging instead of me, haha!  A while ago, my parents introduced me to this place - Bing Sheng Restaurant.

There were 6 of us and we were pretty hungry when we were seated. I notcied a few things.  The mustard and chili weren't a day old like at Kirin (downtown), and they actually labeled the tea, (although the label looked like it was about 100 years old).  We also got X.O. Sauce, which seemed to be the standard at Kirin, but I think it would be the norm that most dim sum places would not have this as an optional sauce?

Anyway, our first order came pretty quickly - steamed rice noodles. This came with an assortment of sauces, and was pretty run-of-the-mill. Nothing spectacular to write home about.

Next was the stir fried rice noodles with beef (and onions, green onions and been sprouts....etc...). This dish was just okay, the green onions were cut rather small, and the noodles looked a little pale (could have used a bit more color) but the beef turned out good. At least it wasn't swimming in a pool of oil.

The hagow were pretty big, as were the siumai. There was no way you could eat one in a single bite. They were large and looked pretty, and the siumai had some pretty fresh tobiko on top because they still popped, as opposed to some soggy, over-steamed examples I've had.

Lomaigai was a winner. The sticky rice was steamed perfectly, and the meat ingredients inside were plenty. They even managed to squeeze in a bit of Chinese sausage.

The steamed spare ribs were a bit of a fail for me. Lots of bones and cartilage, not much flavour. It looked colorful and had squash for filler, but in the end, I wasn't happy with them. Plus they were slightly on the lean side.

The beef short ribs were out of this world on the other hand. Loads of sauce, pepper and seasoning, and tons of flavour. The fat to lean ration was perfect as well. This dish was probably my favourite of the morning.

The Siu Mai were tasty, pretty run of the mill, but still tasty. 

My dad ordered a bao that was supposed to be a desert bun, but the filling was made with salty duck eggs, something you'd normally find in a moon cake or something.  I haven't any other places that serves it this way, and it turned out different but tasty.  The salty-sweet filling was savoury, and it was kind of a nice way to top off an overall decent meal.  My dad said the filling looked like baby poo though and he joked that it was made from left-over moon cake duck eggs.

The food here overall was pretty good and the prices were reasonable.  The service wasn't terrible either.  They managed to keep our teapots full of hot water, which was amazing and unexpected.  6 of us got full with abiyt $75 and we had tons of leftovers.  I'd say that's not too bad. 

bubble Tea Express Gelato & Ice Cream

After mowing down that moussaka from George's, I felt like something sweet.  How convenient there was an ice cream shop just around the corner.  Not sure what the shop was called though....Bubble Tea Express or Gelato and Ice Crream?  Anyway, it seemed like there were two signs, but they shop space was the same. 

They had a decent variety, but we stuck with the usuals:  Chocolate and straberry.  The chocolate was great, and really hit the spot on this hot day.  There's nothing particular to tell about Bubble Tea Express though, except we didn't have bubble tea.  The ice cream was good, as about as any other place, the prices are what you'd expect in a touristy place like this....would I go back?  Maybe.

George's Souvlaki

Hey all, sorry the posts are coming few and far between....not that anyone is reading this anyway, but I've been pretty busy lately, working m-f and now most weeknds because I'm on course.  Apologies once again for the crap-quality pictures, but my Nikon P100 died on me a few back in September and it's in for warrantee.  I will keep you posted about that as well.  I acquired another camera that I will go in detail about later, but for now, just bear with me and the crappy pics in the few reviews I'm posting.  Once the Christmas holidays rolls around, I'm sure i'll find some time to pay a bit more attention to the blog.

Some time in the middle of September, when it was still warm as if it was summer, I found myself in North Vancouver.  Cruising around the food court, this place caught my eye.  Normally, I would have gone over to Screaming Mimi's for some baked oyster or their chowder, but I was really hungry this day, and needed something filling.  This Greek place looked quite polular (can't tell from the photo) and it looked like they had quite a variety.

I had the moussaka, and though I'm no expert on greek cuisine, I really, really liked this dish. To show my ignorance, the best way for me to describe it was a very rich, creamy shephard's pie. I know, moussaka is typically made from eggplant, but to tell the truth, I would never have guessed. 

It came with a wad of tzatziki sauce and Greek salad, and at first, I wasn't impressed with the portion.  It also took quite some time to get because the slab of moussaka was so thick, it took quite some time to reheat.  Grumbling and waiting for my food, it finally came.  It was worth the wait.  I had a bite of my friend's moussaka from Kissamo's and I remember it tasting really, really good, but I never ordered it myself because it looked like there was so little of it.  I will make a conscious effort to order it the next time I'm there.  Anyway, we're talking about George's here, and let me tell you, I will definitely order this the next time I'm here.  It was so rich and creamy, it's hard to believe that it's not made of mashed potato with a ton of cream, butter and cheese.  And as I said, it didn't look like much, but by the time I was done, I was quite satisfied and full. 

Would I go back?  Definetly the next time I'm in North Van.