*½~~~ (1.5/5)

I found another donair joint in Surrey after looking around at Evergreen Mall. If I’m around that area, I’d go just to go to Shoppers, or maybe buy some vegetables at Joe’s Market or some liquor at BC Liquor. I haven’t really walked inside the main mall area for maybe a decade. I finally did last week, and noticed a shawarma place. I went back this weekend and decided to try it with some pretty low expectations, but still hoping for a decent local place.

My friend and I each ordered a Chicken Shawarma Plate, slightly pricey at about $10 after tax. It came with rice, chicken, and tabbouleh in the platter, with some tzatziki and hot sauce on top. A pita was given, along with a Greek style lettuce salad. For $10, it was not that much food, as it was served in a half styrofoam container, and it didn’t come with any hummus! First of all, the chicken wasn’t very fresh. When we arrived there, there was only a single lamb skewer. I think our chicken and rice were prepared in the back, so we didn’t really see the freshness of our food. Sadly the chicken was way too tough, meaning it’s probably been sitting there for a long time, and perhaps reheated. I don’t think there was a single fresh piece of chicken, everything was very dry and tough. The flavours were decent in the platter, coming from the rice and tzatziki mostly, but the hot sauce really did overwhelm the plate. I guess I shouldn’t have asked for it or not as much, but it was definitely a lot spicier than the other hot sauces I’ve had with my shawarma plates and donairs. The tabbouleh didn’t really offer much flavour either. I think it was way under dressed.

The salad was lettuce, red onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, and black olives with a light vinaigrette. It tasted pretty fresh and was very crispy. With my pita I added some of my shawarma plate and added some of the salad to make my own donair. It helped tone down the spiciness.

They serve some other food and also some Pakistani dishes there, and have donair specials for about $5. Maybe it’s better when they have fresher meat, but what I had on this trip was really bad. I may give it another shot if I see some meat actually rotating and cooking, but if not, I think I’ll stay away. I’d definitely stay away from the shawarma plates though, it’s too pricey for the amount, and the quality. I may get a donair or some Pakistani fare which I’ve never tried if I want to give them another shot. The owner was really nice though.

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Sofi’s Shawarma & Donairs
8928 152 Street
Surrey, BC

(604) 957-2344

***~~ (3/5)

I visited the Washington Avenue Grill’s sister restaurant the Vault in Cloverdale back in June. I filled out one of their comment cards, and they mailed me a coupon for up to $25 off an entree for my birthday. I was able to use it Sunday-Thursday in August, but I managed to wait until the very last day to use it. I heard some pretty good things about the restaurant from a friend, but his last visit was many years ago. I was still quite excited though. The restaurant is an old yellow house, which was actually an old lumber mill. In the back of the dessert menu there’s a story about the Washington Avenue Ghost. I didn’t read it though, it was way too long, and way too dim. We arrived there at 7:45PM and it got dark really fast, really hard to take pictures in.

The place was kind of busy on a Monday afternoon. It has a nice view of the beach> it’s not in the heart of the White Rock strip, but still has a waterfront view. The building was really old, and is in a real need of restaurant make over. The seat cushions were ripped, some of the lanterns were ripped too, but the worst things were the loose wood floor boards. Our table would move every time someone walked by.

When I got there, I already knew what I wanted to order. I started with the Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio ($9.99). The thinly sliced beef was served with crostini and topped with a little bit of grated parmesan cheese, a garlic-mustard aioli, and some crispy fried capers. The toppings didn’t add that much flavour. I hoped the mustard aioli had a little bit more spice or stronger flavour to it. The capers, though added some nice contrast in texture, didn’t have that slightly sour caper flavour. Overall the beef was very tender and melted in your mouth, but the flavours were pretty bland.

For my main I got the Stuffed Chicken ($18.99) which was stuffed with prosciutto and goat cheese, served with a tarragon cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans. The chicken was moist and juicy and had a nice crisp skin. But the filling was only a little portion of the chicken, and I didn’t really notice it until the end, and it wasn’t very good. It had an odd clumpy texture. The sauce was also a bit too salty for my liking. The mashed potatoes were just standard.

My friends ordered the Seared Scallops ($12.99) which came with 5 scallops in a soy based sauce with some spinach. Unfortunately the scallops were slightly overcooked, and the sauce was way too salty. The spinach was very salty too. They also ordered the Seafood Penne ($18.99) which was loaded with prawns, fish, and mussels. They said it was decent and it was loaded with seafood.

The food was a bit sub-par, and the furniture and structure was a bit bad. The atmosphere and service were good though. The place was lively, and they have live music on certain days too (just like the Vault). When I got home, I read some reviews on Urbanspoon, and noticed that the reviews have said the restaurant has gone down hill in the past year or so.

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Washington Avenue Grill
15782 Marine Dr
White Rock, BC

(604) 541-4244

http://www.washingtonavenuegrill.com

***~~ (3/5)

Last week I got to visit Tawara. It’s a family owned restaurant in the Panorama Ridge area near 152nd St and Hwy 10 in Surrey. Looking at the menu it wasn’t one of the cheaper sushi joints in town.

Surprisingly, I ordered a bunch of stuff other than sushi, and for the hell of it, I ordered a Tamago nigiri. I ordered the Agedashi Tofu, Ramen, and Spicy Chicken. I could tell all of the dishes were made with care, but I wasn’t too impressed with most of the flavours. The agadeshi tofu was probably the best one. It was 5 pieces of battered and fried tofu completely separate from the sauce. I guess it’s good that it’s separate so it won’t get soggy after sitting in the sauce too long, but I did notice that it did lack flavour. The tofu was fried perfectly though, nice crunch outside, and the inside still was kinda firm, not soggy, just wish it was seasoned more. The sauce added a bit of saltiness, but not enough. I think it was missing daikon and green onions for more contrast and flavour.

I don’t know why I did it, but I ordered the Ramen too. I think Ramen is only good at Ramen restaurants, and the best part of a bowl of ramen is the fatty pork. The ramen here like most sushi places didn’t have the fatty pork, and either used the wrong noodles, or cooked it too long. The soup came with a bunch of vegetables – enoki mushrooms, bok choy, green onions – and noodles. The broth was decent, but the noodles were pretty soggy, didn’t have a bite to it anymore.

The chicken was also a bit weird. It came in bite sized pieces, but  something about the batter was strange. It kind of had a grainy texture to it. And the chicken wasn’t very tender anymore. The sauce was OK, at least it wasn’t just that sweet thai chili sauce that’s used in a lot of places.

Finally, the tamago was really bright yellow. I’m not exactly sure what it was, but it wasn’t that good. The texture in either the egg or the rice wasn’t right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. That said, my friend actually liked his tamago that came in his chirashi don. So maybe I’m weird.

My friend ordered the Chirashi Don, and a spicy salmon roll. He liked his food a lot more than I liked mine. We were also given a few pieces of ika kara-age on the house. By the time we got to it, it was already cooled down, so we couldn’t really tell if it was good or not. I only took a tiny bite, because I’m still allergic to seafood.

The service was really good, and the decor was really nice. I think I’d go back to try their rolls. I’d stay away from the Ramen and the chicken dish. It is a little bit pricier too though.

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Tawara Japanese
103-15153 Hwy 10
Surrey, BC

(604) 574-5353

****~ (4/5)

After UFC a few weekends ago, we got really hungry so we decided to bring out friends to our favourite pho joint because I’ve gone their after UFC before. We got there, and it was closed . Donair Affair was closed too. And the late night Surrey pho hunt began, late night being past 10PM. Kim Hoang was closed too, Pho Tam was closed too, and Pho Vinh was closed. OK, we’re pretty much out of options because I refuse to go to Pho Hoa. Since we were in Guildford, I noticed that a Korean restaurant that I’ve gone to before (but never had a clue what the name was) was open!

Our group of 6 was kind of hungry but not super hungry. Their menu was really small. But it seemed pretty popular as many people came in and out while we ate. The menu has English and Korean, but they also had a bunch of dishes and combos all over the wall, written in only Korean. Hmm.. well we found a combo that seemed like it would be good for us. We figured it out by matching symbols in the menu with what was on the wall. Smart eh? We couldn’t really ask our waitress because it seemed like she didn’t know any English either! We ordered the combo, but she recommended something slightly different, and we let her give us what she wanted. A lot of pointing was done. Guess what, we got an awesome meal for just $49.95 for 6 people. We were really satisfied after.

Our combo came with a small pot of Gamjatang (Pork Bone Soup), Seafood Pancakes, Bibimbap, Short Ribs, 3 bowls of rice, and the 3 side dishes, kim chi, spicy daikon, and bean sprouts. Our small Gamjatang was actually pretty big. Each of us got two big chunks of pork bone. It had just the right amount of spiciness. Not too spicy, but just enough. The stock was rich and goes really well with the rice. There was plenty of meat around the pork bones, and some of us lucky ones (me) didn’t even have to work hard for some of the meat. The meat was very tender, and was easy to scrape and pick off the bone. It came with some pieces of potato too. I haven’t had gamjatang since I had it in Toronto 2-3 years ago, so I was really happy to have it again. By the end it was a bit spicy, and I was sweating a bit, but not enough to make my nose run or make me want lots of water.

I’ve had the Bibimbap here before and it was the same. It’s meatless, with a mix of sprouts, mushrooms, seaweed, cucumber, carrots, and egg. It came in a sizzling hot stone bowl so that the rice could get crispy. It also came with some hot sauce which we added as we mixed our rice and toppings together. The bibimbap was decent, but definitely missing some meat in my opinion.

The short ribs were OK too. A bit too chewy, and a bit hard to take off the bone. The flavour from the sauce was delicious though, as it was sweet and a bit salty. I didn’t eat much of it because I was really full from the bibimbap, sides, and gamjatang. I was tempted to try the seafood pancake. It didn’t seem like it was loaded with seafood, but it was. I thought it was just shrimp, but as I peaked into the pancake it had squid in it too…everywhere. My friends enjoyed it too though.

In the end, our combo only came out to $10-11 per person. A really good deal, considering Korean restaurants are usually pretty pricey. We were all pretty full by the end of our meal. Separately, the small gamjatang was $25 (large is $40), the bibimbap is about $9, the seafood pancakes $13, and the short ribs another $10-ish. We saved about $10 and it was definitely worth it. I’m really happy with this place, our waitress was really nice, but the communication just wasn’t there.  I wish they could speak English or use more English in the restaurant. Oh, and I finally found out what the restaurant was called by looking at my receipt. One other funny thing I remembered was that it seemed like the restaurant only had one menu. A couple came in, but we were hogging the menu, so they had to wait.

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Note: Thanks to @ericvchan for taking pics and bringing his dSLR along.

Bukchigo Jangguchico
128 – 15280 101st Avenue
Surrey, BC

(604) 589-7401

***½~ (3.5/5)

August 18th was Pirate Pak day at all White Spots. On that special day, adults could order their own Pirate Paks, something normally reserved for children 10 and under. Adults had their choice of a Legendary Burger, Chicken Burger, or Veggie Burger. It came with endless fries, coleslaw, and a scoop of ice cream. You could add yam fries and a blueberry for a little bit more money. $2 from each Pirate Pak sold went to the Zajac Ranch for Children.

I was given a $25 gift certificate to White Spot, so I decided to bring Beipas and three of our buddies to White Spot. Funny thing is, is that I’ve actually never had a Pirate Pak. It’s vaguely familiar, but I can’t remember ever ordering one myself. Two of my friends got to relive their childhoods at least, and they were really excited to have it again. They really wanted the gold coin. We arrived a bit late (sorry guys), and were seated after about 10 minutes. It was pretty busy with lots of people waiting for tables.

The guys got the Chicken Burgers, and the girls got the Legendary Burgers. My chicken burger was really good. All of our food, besides the scoop of ice cream came in a pirate ship, which my friends said looked different than before. They thought it was a lot meaner looking before, then again, now that we’re adults, maybe we aren’t scared of these animal pirates. So our ships came, and we made a 5-boat fleet and took pictures. Each boat had the coleslaw in one container, the burger, placed on top of the fries in the middle, a coin, and a mast that you can stick up.

The chicken burger came with cheddar cheese and bacon. This was a grilled chicken breast, not breaded and fried. It was very moist and juicy and well seasoned. The burger was very messy though and was dripping a lot, but it was really good. Sadly, it dripped all into my yam fries, which I don’t think were worth the extra money, at least these ones weren’t. I’m sure normally they are better, but they weren’t too crispy. The chipotle aioli was actually hidden under the coleslaw! Didn’t even notice it until my friend said, “Hey, aren’t we supposed to get some aioli with the yam fries?” This aioli was really thick and quite flavourful. I’m not sure how the Legendary burgers were, they looked quite plain, but didn’t hear any complaints.

We all got the Blueberry pie, and I forced my friend to get one too. These weren’t what I was expecting, as I’d consider them more of a tart. Then again, they call it a “fresh” pie so maybe they can get away with it. So in a tart shell, they put a bunch of fresh blueberries, and some whip cream. Yup the berries were very fresh, tasty, and not soft and mushy, but I was honestly way too full at this point (I ate a bit of dinner before going to White Spot). Although I didn’t really like it at the time, a lot of my other friends say they like it a lot.

To be more like a kid that day, one of my friends ordered a bubble gum milkshake which had gummy bears on top. That was a mistake, as it was like drinking straight up sugar. I think overall though, we had fun acting like pirates! We saw some late teens/20 year-olds dressed up as pirates too!

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White Spot
10181 152 St
Surrey, BC

(604) 585-2223

http://www.whitespot.com

***~~ (3/5)

I’ve stayed away from Marble Slab Creamery because I’ve thought it was pretty much the same as Cold Stone Creamery (which is now opening a bunch of locations here). From what I remember (from about 7 years ago), the ice cream I ordered at Cold Stone was way too sweet for me, and there isn’t much that is too sweet for me, so that’s saying  a lot. My first time at Cold Stone, 3 people could barely finish a single cup of ice cream. It may be just the flavour we had, but it was way too much for us. I also thought it was way too expensive.

One of my friends gets ice cream at Marble Slab Creamery fairly frequently when he wants to indulge on some yummy ice cream. So I decided to finally try something and make use of our Entertainment Book coupons. I ordered a Strawberry Shortcake which was $1 off with the coupon. I was expecting a mixed vanilla ice cream with chunks of crunchy short bread, and strawberries. I didn’t get any of that. It was actually a bowl with a fluffy cake on the bottom, a bit of ice cream and strawberries on top and an equal amount of whip cream and strawberry syrup on top of that. Was it good? Yup! It was. I didn’t even realize there was cake on the bottom until Beipas scooped deeper in. The cake was light and fluffy and wasn’t too sweet, and a good contrast. The ice cream was thick and really good with the strawberries and not overly sweet like I thought it would be. My only complaint was that there wasn’t nearly enough ice cream, but there was way too much whip cream on top. A bit too expensive I think because there was so much whip cream and not enough of the good stuff. I’ll probably go back to try out a mixed ice cream to see if it’s still to sweet for me. I also can’t believe people would put all those weird candies (i.e. gummies and stuff) with their ice cream. I don’t think I’d ever do that.

The other coupons in the Entertainment Book are for buy 1 get 1 free, and $3 off a cake. I still think Marble Slab Creamy is quite pricey for ice cream.

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Marble Slab Creamery
#142 – 12101 72nd Avenue
Surrey, BC

(778) 565-7456

http://www.marbleslab.ca

***~~ (3/5)

Jack’s Pub took over the old Kelly O’Bryan’s location on 152nd and Fraser Hwy in Surrey. It’s been a while since Kelly O’Bryan’s moved to Kelowna, and I haven’t been to Jack’s Pub since they moved in. I went with mom and dad after work last week. We walked in and were waiting to be seated, after a few seconds someone at the front, possibly the owner, said sit anywhere. That was kinda weird… then again it is a Pub.

I ordered the Mushroom Burger with Onion Rings, while my mom ordered a Beef Dip, and my dad ordered Yam Fries and Hot Wings. I wasn’t sure really what to expect here, but the food was pretty decent. It was your typical pub food, and isn’t really anything too special. My mushroom burger was big and juicy, and came with a huge amount of sauteed mushrooms. Nothing to complain about here, it definitely filled me up and hit the spot. The onion rings were crispy. They were thin strips of onions, and didn’t have a huge amount of batter. They were similar to the size you can get in a frozen bag at M&M Meat Shops. Were these fresh? I don’t know, but they were good at the moment. Crispy and not too oily. 

The wings were OK. Not too spicy, with a similar taste to Frank’s Red Hot sauce. The wings weren’t crispy at all after being tossed around in the hot sauce, and the look wasn’t too appetizing either. Not sure about the quality of these wings, but they weren’t dry or overcooked or anything. The yam fries came with a chipotle aioli. I think the fries were cooked for a bit too long. The chipotle aioli added a nice flavour to the fries but it was very mild. The beef dip jus was a bit too salty from what I remember. The sandwich overall was good though, just make sure you don’t soak it in the dip for too long.

On another note, they do have daily specials, and they also have 1/2 prices appetizers everyday from 3-6PM. With a bunch of other pubs around, I’m not sure how likely I’d come back here in the near future. The food is pretty standard and the pacho’s are long gone! They do play UFC Pay-per-views here though!

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Jack’s Pub
B – 9082 152nd Street
Surrey, BC

(604) 580-6477

http://www.jackspubsurrey.com

****~ (4/5)

Veneto’s Cake & Pastries was one of those places where I always want to visit, but every time I’m around the area, they’re always closed. Why do bakeries always close so early?

Last week I finally make a point to go there to grab some lunch. Little did I know, business at this bakery was quite good! There were always people coming in and out getting sandwiches or sweets. My plan was to get some sandwiches, and take some pastries for home. I shared a European Veggie Panini and a Tuna Salad Sandwich with my cousin.

The sandwiches were pretty good. They were smaller than I expected, but with good quality of bread. The European Veggie Panini ($5.60) had roasted eggplants, pepper, tomato, onions and cheese. The bread was nice and crispy. The vegetables had great roasted flavors. It was a solid sandwich.

For regular sandwiches, i.e. not paninis, you get to choose your own toppings and bread on a little ordering slip. We checked off Tuna salad with cucumber, sprouts, cumbers, cheese and mustard on white bread. This sandwich was also pretty good. It was very light and refreshing. The tuna salad was delicious.

I brought about a dozen pastries home after my lunch there. There were so many choices. There were also cakes and cookies. They were all freshly made, and all really yummy. Nothing was overly sweet. They don’t look as fancy as the pastries you’d find in some of the bakeries in downtown, but they did have a homey sense to them.

The staff were friendly, the prices were reasonable. It’s a great lunch spot for locals. I’d definitely return to get sweets there.

Note: Lunch Served until 4pm.

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Veneto’s Cake & Pastries
#506 – 7380 King George Highway
Surrey, BC V3W
(604) 597-9886
www.venetoscakes.com

***½~ (3.5/5)

We went to Asian Spice for our dinner before our Portland Surfing Trip. It was in the Entertainment Book, which we really want to make use of. Asian Spice is on Scott Rd (120th St) and 94 Ave right beside Mahek. We were excited to try some Indian style Chinese & Szechuan food.

We started off with the Paneer Pakora. It was really good. We loved the green sauce that it came with. It was fried to a nice golden brown, and the paneer inside was still a bit stiff. By itself, the paneer was pretty bland, but it was really good with the sauce. I ordered the Ma Po Tofu because our friend said it was her favourite dish. I haven’t had it in a while, so I gave it a try here. Sadly, although there were two peppers by it on the menu, it wasn’t as spicy at all, the sauce didn’t have much flavour. They also didn’t have a version with pork. I think the tofu should be a bit softer too, and definitely a lot more flavourful and spicy. The Chicken Hot Garlic Noodles was probably my favourite of the bunch. It wasn’t too spicy (although it has 2 chili symbols by it on the menu), but it was spicier than the ma po tofu. The noodles weren’t your normal chow mein noodles, and it had plenty of chicken and garlic mixed in. Manchurian Eggplant was an eggplant dish in a brown spicy sauce. All we can remember is that it had a ton of sauce for the amount of eggplant in there. Beef Hotpot was good too. It had plenty of tender meat and lots of vegetables like celery, carrots and different bell peppers.

Hmm.. the hottest things on the menu had two chili symbols, and we tried a couple but nothing was too spicy. They did have some hot chili oil, and other hot pepper condiments which you can add, but I didn’t. Our waitress noticed that we ordered a lot of saucy dishes, so she gave us some white rice. They also applied the coupon to two dishes on our bill totalling $13, rather than just our most expensive dish ($8). Normally the coupon just works for one entree up to $13. I’d come back here.

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Asian Spice
9436 120th Street
Surrey, BC

(604) 582-8388

*½~~~ (1.5/5)

I was really craving Greek food last week, and I went to John’s Greek Taverna in the Surrey-Newton area. Actually on this day, I had already eaten dinner, and was no longer craving Greek food, but we went anyway. We searched through the Entertainment Book and decided on a local Greek place that wasn’t even in the Book.

We arrived at John’s Greek Taverna and it wasn’t very busy with just one other table was filled. The parking lot was a bit packed, because it seemed like every other spot was reserved for the RCMP because there’s a police station in the same complex.  We were quite amazed at the menu as it had a lot of non-Greek food there. They actually have teriyaki dishes on their menu.

I ordered the Roast Lamb ($15.99), because that was what I was really craving. Beipas ordered the Greek style chicken ($13.99) and our other friend ordered the Veal Louie ($15.99).

The Roast Lamb was pretty big and came with two pieces, but didn’t look like the roast lamb I’m used to. It wasn’t a thick piece of Lamb with bone in, it was much thinner and came with two pieces. It was also served with some rice, Greek salad, potato and some tzatziki sauce. The lamb was really bad. It was fairly stringy and chewy. There was some fatty bits in there, but it was just tough to chew. It didn’t taste that good either, something was missing. But, the worst thing about it was the texture and the chewiness of it, and it wasn’t because it was overcooked.  One of the worst roast lambs I’ve ever had. Sherman had the same experience over a year ago. The rice was good however, and so was the Greek salad, nice and fresh. The tzatziki was had a nice garlic flavour to it too, which helped with the dish. The potatoes were OK, but I wish it had been broiled for a bit and had a bit crispy on the top.

The Greek style chicken was a half rotisserie chicken. It didn’t really have much Greek flavouring in there, but it was cooked well. Not dry. Beipas says her potatoes seemed old.

The Veal Louie came with a creamy shrimp sauce and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. With cream and mozzarella topping, you just knew that it’s not good for you. Another bad thing was that for some reason the meat was very watery! My friend didn’t even finish half of the entree. It also came with a pretty standard green salad with house dressing which was decent.

They also gave us a basket of pita bread, and garlic bread. But we hardly touched it.

It seems like people usually get take out from this place more than eating in. Would I come back here again? Probably not. There are so many other Greek restaurants that I would rather go to first. Roast Lamb is the dish I crave when I want Greek food, and this one was really bad.

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John’s Greek Taverna
7244 King George Hwy
Surrey, BC

(604) 591-8471