***½~ (3.5/5)

After a failed attempt to visit Chill for some alcoholic bubble tea (because they are closed for renovations) we had no back up plan. So we looked across the street and saw White Spot. I didn’t really want to go because I just went a few days before for Pirate Pak day, but we couldn’t think of anything else, and my friend really wanted to try the Blue Berry “pie” that our other friend was raving about.

We got in, and noticed there were a lot of old people there. We seemed really cool going into White Spot at 930PM on a Friday night. Yup, we’re cool. Anyways, two of us had already eaten dinner at Glowbal Grill a few hours before, so we weren’t that hungry. That didn’t stop me from ordering a main though. It really took me a while to order because there wasn’t really anything I wanted. I went for something I’ve never had before – the Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese which was listed under their Spot Classics section. It turns out it wasn’t too bad. It came with the Spot’s Salad, a bowl of Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese, and rice. The spot salad was a mixed green salad with a vinaigrette and sunflower seeds. It was pretty good, the seeds added a nice salty, nutty crunch to the salad. The Chicken Brocolli Cheese rice was very saucy. The cheddar cheese was melted on top, and also mixed in with the sauce. The chicken was very very tender, and the broccoli was still crisp. There was a hint of curry in the sauce too which made it quite different, but good. The rice was also cooked well and had a bit of extra flavour.

One friend ordered a Smokey BBQ Chicken flatbread, and the other ordered the Blueberry pie that she was craving. The flatbread was really good as it came with a nice sweet bbq sauce and really good chicken. The crust was thin and crispy. To my friend, the blueberry lived up the expectations too. We also ordered a side of fries which were not very good this time.

So two visits to White Spot in 3 days, and both were pretty good (definitely better than the time I went in February). It may not be the hippest places to eat for us twenty-year-olds but the food is decent.

[View with PicLens]

White Spot
50 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

(604) 434-6668

http://www.whitespot.com

***½~ (3.5/5)

I stumbled upon the Avalon Dairy Deli Store while I was stuck in traffic on the way home a couple weeks ago. Avalon Dairy Deli is located in the heart of Burnaby’s business park on north Fraser way. Knowing that we were going to be stuck in traffic for at least another hour, and there was no point of returns, we were lucky that our cars stopped right in front of the store.

I actually never knew this place existed even though I drive by it almost everyday. The deli store’s sandwiches were all 5 dollars. There was about 5 or 6 sandwich selections. There was also soups, salads, and nachos. There were also ice creams.

I ordered a Club House Sandwich and my coworkers ordered the Egg Salad Sandwich, and a large Nachos.

All sandwiches were made to order. My Club House Sandwich has pepperoni, ham, turkey with my choices of sauce, vegetables, and bread. The sandwich turned out to be really good, which was a surprise to me. The my whole grain bread was really fresh and soft, the vegetables were super fresh. The meats had great flavors together. It was a fresh and delicious sandwich for a flat $5 dollars (tax included).

My coworker said her Egg Salad Sandwich was really good too, and the bread was also nice and soft. The Nachos were OK. The serving size was big, and it cost extra $2 dollars to add meat on. The meat they used was sliced turkey breast, which was a bit weird, because you would expect ground beef or other ground meats.

The folks that worked here were really nice. Their store hour says they’re closed at 5pm daily, but they stayed opened for all the people who were stuck in traffic. I think this is a great and much needed place for all those people who works at the business park. The sandwiches were sold a at reasonable price, the salads were made and tossed to order.  It’s a great alternative and convenient place to grab lunch than other fast food restaurants near the park.

[View with PicLens]

Avalon Dairy Deli Store
7985 N Fraser Way
Burnaby, BC V5J
(604) 677-9566

****~ (4/5)

I just had one of the most satisfying lunches ever at Simba’s Grill. I regret not visiting this restaurant sooner. I went to this restaurant out of pure interest in African food. I’ve had Ethiopian food once before, but other than that I’ve never had anything African.

Lunch time was pretty quiet at this place, but there was always a couple tables occupied. It was good for us because that means we get seats right away. The lunch menu was short and simple, consisted mostly barbecue meat, with saffron rice or fries. The lunch special was any lunch plate with a choice of soft drink for $10.99 dollars, except for the daily special.

I got a Mishkaki lunch plate with saffron rice. My friends got the Lamb Kabob with Rice, and their daily special Basa Fish with Coconut Curry Sauce and Saffron Rice ($12.99).

The Mishkaki had 3 beef kabobs, saffron rice, and salad. It was a big plate, it was hard cutting the beef without pushing the rice over my plate at first. The beef had really great charcoal flavor, however, it was a bit over cooked for me. They were a little hard to cut and a little chewy.

On the table, the waitress gave us a plate of 3 different kinds of sauces. One of them was their barbecue sauce, it was really good. It was sweet, and it was great with my beef. I poured quite a bit of it on my beef after the first try because the beef tasted dry and boring without it. The red sauce was their spicy sauce. The white stuff, I had to do a double take. I had no idea of what it was, so I ate it with the beef first, but I still couldn’t taste it. So, I ate some of it alone after, and by the time I realized what it was, my mind almost exploded. Oh my god, it’s coconut! It’s coconut chutney, with a hint of cilantro in it. 2 of my favorite things, together! It didn’t add much to my beef, but it was soo good with my saffron rice. I loved it, a lot.

The Basa Fish with curry sauce was also really good. The curry was rich and very flavorful, but that also covered up the taste of the fish. Be careful when you ask for the curry to be spicy, because it does get spicy. The Lamb kabob was a little weird, aesthetic wise. It looked more like lamb sausages than kabobs. The sausages had good flavors, they had all kinds of spices in them, and they weren’t dry. My friend enjoyed it too.

The overall quality of the meal was good. I found some the rice was a bit clumpy, and without the sauces, the whole meal could be really dry if you didn’t get the curry. I think it was mostly the coconut chutney and the barbecue sauce, I truly enjoyed my lunch here, and I was very satisfied.

Note: Street Parking

[View with PicLens]

Simba’s Grill
7413 Edmonds St
Burnaby, BC V3N
(604) 525-8904
www.simbasgrill.com

***½~ (3.5/5)

Sushi Garden is located on Kingsway near Metrotown, on a block that is embedded with probably 5 other sushi restaurants. For a Japanese restaurant with 5 other competitors competing right beside it, this restaurant was doing pretty well on its own.

I went there for lunch last week, and this restaurant was busy! I arrived just a little bit past noon, and all the tables were filled, and there was a big line up. What a popular place it seemed. I didn’t have enough lunch time to wait for a table, so my friends and I settled for take out instead.

The  menu had standard Japanese items, but the ones that stood out the most were their sushi rolls. They had very interesting names, and different ingredients than other regular sushi rolls. It kind of reminded me a little of The Eatery.  Ordering food there was not easy for me, because I wanted to try a lot of things. In the end, we ordered a Spicy Salmon Sashimi, a Island Roll, a Crab <3 Papaya Roll,  a House roll, a Tropical Dynamite Roll, and a Tako Yaki for appetizer.

The best dish I ordered out of the bunch was the Spicy Salmon Sashimi. It came with a mountain of salmon that was doused in their spicy sauce. I’ll give you a warning, the spicy sauce, was hot! It’s got a really nice after heat to it and it was so good. There were also chunks of diced cucumber and a bed of daikon at the bottom, they added a nice texture to the dish.

The Island Roll was cooked tuna with Kiwi Sauce. I was a little hesitant about the cooked tuna, but got sold on the Kiwi sauce. The roll overall was what I expected, very average. I didn’t really liked the cooked tuna, it felt it it was just canned tuna, and the Kiwi sauce on top was pretty mild. I probably won’t get it again.

My favorite roll of the meal was the Crab <3 Papaya roll. It had a nice big chuck of deep fried crab, and rolled with a big chuck of papaya (I love papaya). The crab meat and the sweetness papaya went really well together. It was very nice on its own, not much soy sauce needed.

The rest of the meal were pretty average. The Tropical Dynamite Roll had 2 prawn tempura, cucumber and cream cheese, rolled in rice and a very thin sheet of egg. I wasn’t too sure what was so tropical about it, the cream cheese certainly did not remind me of the tropical.

The House roll was pretty standard, on the menu it said it has ‘lots of stuff’ in it, but it was just salmon, imitated crab meat and eggs. Nothing really special.

I liked this restaurant in general. I had some pretty good food. I wish I didn’t have to order to take out, because I’m sure the food would taste even better when they’re freshly made. It was a Korean-owned Japanese restaurant, it was nice to see they put their own spin on their dishes like the Spicy Salmon Sashimi, I’ve never had it like that anywhere else.

Note: Parking on the street. Avoid lunch rush, arrive early or a little late for lunch.

[View with PicLens]

Sushi Garden
4635 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H
(604) 436-0104

****~ (4/5)

I never ever noticed Sushi Oyama, or even the building, even though it’s right by NCIX (for us geeks) on Kingsway. Well, I was kind of shocked seeing that it was a Japanese restaurant in a stone house. Their Grand Opening Sign is still up, but my friends had already been there 6 months ago. At the front was a nice water-fall wall thing (I had a picture but I underexposed). The restaurant had two separate rooms with two separate sushi bars. They also had an upstairs, but I wasn’t sure what was up there.

We looked at the menu which was,decent selection. First thing that hit me was wow, this place wasn’t that expesnive, and wow Sushi Tengoku is uber expensive! I found that they had some rolls here that I could eat too. They also had a Chicken Katsu roll, but for only $3.99! I had to order this to compare. I also just ordered a tamago maki. I ordered just a little bit because we were supposed to go running in the pouring rain shortly after. The chicken roll was crispy too, but it was better at Tengoku. They also kind of cut the roll a bit to thin, and the chicken would sometimes fall out, as I picked it up. It was decent, and cheaper, but I think it had a bit less meat. I don’t normally get the Tamago Maki, but I noticed that the seaweed was a bit tough to chew. The egg was better than what was at Sushi Tengoku. I guess I should have ordered the nigiri.

Wheel was on a protein only diet, so he just ordered some sashimi. My other friends totally underestimated the amount of food they were getting. They ordered 4 different rolls, and sashimi. The rolls were huge and really pretty. They ordered the Smoked Salmon and Cream cheese roll – which was basically smoked salmon on top of a cream cheese and crab roll. (I tried this and I’m also allergic to this kind of smoked salmon.. DAMN!).  They also had the Red Roll which had scallops and tobiko in a roll and topped with tuna, this one was kind of spicy. For their third roll they had  the Mango Dice Roll, which is basically a cali roll with mango inside, and a piece of shrimp on top. They also had the Oyama Roll which was salmon and avocado inside and topped with  black sesame or green roe (alternating), and some larger roe on top. These rolls are all very pretty and surprisingly not too expensive. These rolls were about $7 for most of them. I think all of the rolls were under $10, and the sashimi was $7 something.

My friends’ favourite roll was definitely the Oyama Roll (soooo good), then the Red Roll, then the Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Roll. The Mango Roll was not so good. They really liked this place because they had a nice variety of special rolls, and the price wasn’t too high. Very good value here. They couldn’t finish their food, and it was their first meal of the day.

The service was very friendly, and they refilled our tea many times.

You may end up driving past it, and not notice it, but you should definitely give it a try if you happen be close by. It’s just a minute or so from Metrotown (on the way totowards New Westminster).

[View with PicLens]

Sushi Oyama
5152 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

(604) 568-1012

****~ (4/5)

My friend brought me to Lao Shan Dong (aka LSD) last night. It was my first actual Taiwanese Beef Noodle experience, and I’d say I was pleasantly surprised. I’d normally be a pho guy, and have realized that I’m not much of a ramen lover. Anyways, we got there and there was some covered parking, though it was packed at 7PM when we got there. It’s quite tight in that parking lot.

We were seated immediately and placed our order. We ordered some pickled cucumbers to start, which were brought out immediately. It’s pre-prepared, and just placed on a plate. It’s actually a good appetizer as it made me ready for my upcoming meal. It seemed to make my mouth water and salivate a bit more. It was lightly vinegary, and a bit garlicky. The cucumbers itself are pretty ugly and look kind of mushy, but it was good, and not as mushy as it looks. I’d say the vinegar is kind of like sunomono dressing (I could be wrong as I don’t eat this much).

I also ordered the spicy beef flank noodle soup Large. My friend ordered the dumpling soup, normal, large with 15 dumplings so that I could try it too. My soup came out first. It was a pretty big bowl, but I wasn’t expecting how much food that was actually in it. There were TONS of noodles, and a good amount of beef. The broth, although pretty red, wasn’t spicy at all. It had a little bit more flavour than the regular broth, but really wasn’t spicy. Don’t be scared to order it. The noodles were different than any other soup noodle that I’ve tried, but that’s a good thing. The noodles are a bit thicker, and rounder too, not too hard, and not mushy, just the right texture. I definitely like this more than ramen. Now, one thing that I didn’t really like was the inconsistent meat. Some of it was so tender and soft and good, but other pieces were harder and dryer. I wish it was all the tender soft beef flank.

Overall, it was a bit pricier than a bowl of Pho. I think my large soup was $8.75, but it filled me up more than a bowl of Pho. I wasn’t able to finish my bowl, but I was also eating my friends dumplings. Still, I’d probably be OK just ordering a small bowl for $6.95.

The dumplings that came with my friends soup were really good too. They were just steamed or boiled, and not fried. I think they were pork dumplings. The skin wasn’t too thin or thick, just right for soup, and it was soft. The meat mixture inside had a really good flavour too.

[View with PicLens]

Law Shan Dong
4887 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

(604) 439-9588

http://www.laoshandong.com

****~ (4/5)

After I wrote a review on Yogen Früz I got a lot of responses saying Qoola Frozen Yogurt + Fruit is a better place to go for frozen yogurts. So, on a very unproductive shopping day, I went to Qoola to comfort myself with some frozen dessert.

Having never been to Qoola, I was a bit confused of how it works, and after seeing a couple people paying, I realized that it’s a self served dessert place where you make your own combination and you pay by the weight of your yogurt. It was like getting candies at Sweet Factory.

I was completely up for the idea of making your own frozen dessert. There were 6 different types of frozen yogurts: original, wild berry, mango, strawberry, etc. I got a mix of wild berry and original. The toppings included a lot of cereals, and candies, but I skipped all of them and went to the fruits. The fruits were cut up in little cubes. My first Qoola frozen yogurt was: Wild berry + Original Frozen yogurt with strawberries, mangoes, raspberry sauce, topped with coconut shavings.

Was it better than Yogen Früz? OH YEAH. The frozen yogurt had a better flavor in general. It was more tangy, tasted closer to.. regular yogurts. I really liked the wild berry flavor, it added a lot of sweetness to my overall dessert because the original yogurt was more subtle tasting. The raspberry sauce and the fruits were also really yummy. I am craving for it a little just writing about it now. Fantastic dessert place.

Note: I heard that if you go there on a rainy day and say: I hate the rain, and you can get a free topping. It could be a rumor.

[View with PicLens]

Qoola Frozen Yogurt + Fruit (Metrotown)
2250 4700 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H
(604) 569-1838

***~~ (3/5)

This place has been around since they first opened Cornerstone at Simon Fraser Univesity (at least I think it is). I used to get donairs here every few weeks while I was a student.

I finally came back to this place, and ordered the shawarma plate. Something was a bit strange this time, they were all Asian people in there. Asians serving and cooking Middle Eastern cuisine has me a bit worried. It comes with regular white rice (boo!), chicken, hummus, and your choice of salad. I chose the Tabbouleh because it was so good last time. I could have asked for Greek salad or I think a regular green salad too. This was only $7.50.

It comes in a styrofoam container with the 3 compartments. They put the plain white rice in the main compartment and the chicken over the top. They put a white sauce, a red sauce, and another sauce on top of the chicken. The hummus they used seemed very creamy and a lot more fluid than other places, and they didn’t give very much of it. The Tabbouleh was kind of made on the spot. They put the parsley, and onions, and maybe other stuff in the small compartment, then added what I’m assuming is the olive oil and some sort of acidic ingredient after. I guess this keeps it from wilting too much, and kept it nice and fresh.

The food was decent. For $7.50 it was quite a bit of food, and I was definitely full by the last bite. They offered plenty of chicken, which was very flavourful and juicy with the addition of the three sauces. It was amazing. One improvement would definitely be the rice. It was the same steamed rice you would get at a Chinese restaurant, or something that you would just make at home. Nothing special about it at all. Which they added some Middle Eastern flavours to it. And the hummus was way to liquidy also. They also gave you a pita which they kept warm and soft in a plastic container. This isn’t as good as my first shawarma plate from Falafel Maison, but it was decent enough for University food and for $1 less.

Donair Town
8917 Cornerstone Mews
Burnaby, BC

(604) 298-8188

****~ (4/5)

Chill Restaurant and Lounge is a fairly new Taiwanese restaurant in Burnaby. I went there for lunch last week, it was an pretty awesome restaurant.

Chill has mostly tapas on their menu, and I wanted to try a lot of them. I ended up with the Chill Roll, Beef Roll, and Golden Sand Shrimp.

The Golden Sand Shrimp came first. It was deep fried shrimp with garlic and spicy seasoning on top. It was really good, flavorful and very appetizing. It was the type of dish that you could eat alone with a couple bowl of steamed rice.

The Chill Roll was really refreshing. It was cucumbers wrapped in thinly sliced pork and drizzled with garlic soy sauce.  The pork was fatty, but it didn’t taste greasy. This would be a really good dish to get in the summer.

As I have stated in my review for Beefy Beef, I love beef rolls. So, surprise, I got the beef roll here. The beef roll was very different from Beefy Beef’s, but it was one of the better ones I’ve had. The pastry was really thin and crispy. There was a lot of green onions in it, the roll was served cold. They were good but I was having a hard time breaking the green onions with one bite. Not bad.

The waitress was really nice and helpful with selecting dishes. She also tried to sell me alcoholic bubble tea for lunch, it’s too bad I had to go back to work, otherwise I totally would’ve tried it.

I found the food here to be a bit pricey. The 3 tapas I got were around 5 dollars each, along with a drink, I had a $20 dollar lunch. Yikes! Sharing is a good concept to follow when you come here.

This place was really modern, clean, and the chairs were really comfortable. And the bathroom was really nice. I liked this place a lot, and I need to return to try their other dishes, such as the alcoholic bubble tea. They also have live bands performing at nights, very interesting for a Chinese restaurant, and great concept!

[View with PicLens]

Chill Restaurant and Lounge
5507 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H
(604) 436-3088
www.mychill.ca

****~ (4/5)

Nao Sushi is one of my frequent restaurants to visit for lunch. I’ve tried most of the items on their menu, and never had a disappointment.

Today I ordered a Chirashi Don ($12). This was a big lunch. The don came in 2 stacked bowls, one with all the sashimi and one with the rice. There was a lot of sashimi, there was salmon, tuna, shrimp, octopus, surf clam, eggs and scallop. The sashimi were in very big pieces too, but it was good for me because I was craving sashimi.

What makes this chirashi don different than others was that it had sweet shitaki mushrooms and dried shrimp seasoning on top of the sushi rice. They were really good together with the rice, and they opened up my appetite a lot.

I had another good lunch here, the only thing I was a little peeved was that my tuna sashimi were still a little bit frozen.

The waitresses were always really nice, and the atmosphere was modern and clean. There’s always a lunch rush here, it actually gets really busy during lunch, so make sure you make reservations or arrive before 12pm.

[View with PicLens]

Nao Sushi
7060 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5E
(604) 521-3131