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This is one of the funniest Mcdonalds commercials I have ever seen. My roommate showed it to me when he was watching the New England Patriots play last week. This commercial had us laughing hysterically. I bet you this kid has free Mcdonalds for life. I would like to see him do another rap dance in 10 years, cause he’d probably be fat and overweight with all that Mcdonalds in his system!!

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Check this video clip out that I found in my inbox. It is an older one that has been out for awhile, but still pretty funny. Named the Japanese Global Practical Joke it will make you smile and laugh and give take your mind away from real work for a bit!

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North Garden Restaurant Review - Burnaby BC 

For the last week of so, my mom has been telling my brother and I about this new Chinese food restaurant that she really likes. She claims it is as good or better than my favourite place: Deer Garden. If you missed the Deer Garden review, please click here.

Anyhow my mom took myself, my brother and my sister-in-law to this new place AKA as North Garden Restaurant to see for ourselves if this place was any good. If you know where Lougheed Mall is in Burnaby, you will know where this place is. The restaurant is right on the corner of North Road and Cameron Street, literally right across the street from the Wal Mart in Lougheed Mall.

The address is #286-3355 North Road, Burnaby B.C. V3J 7T9, 604-421-8863. Click here for the Google Map.

I have lived in this area for a long time and this particular building where North Garden Restaurant is located, has been a number of other restaurants in the past. I think at one time the building was home to The LoneStar Restaurant, and then it turned into some Bubble Tea House, and now, the North Garden Restaurant.

When you first walk in the door, the feeling is very open. There are huge vaulted ceilings, and lots of natural light that enters from the big glass windows that on three sides of the building. You definitely do not feel cramped in this place. The lighting when the sun goes down, might be a bit dim though. I went a couple hours before the sun set so we had no lighting issues.

Enough about the layout. If the food is no good, it doesn’t matter how nice the layout is in any restaurant. Like most Chinese food restaurants, North Garden offers a Combo Menu where you can pick from a set number of items for a predetermined price, and the combos all come served with soup, steamed rice and dessert. See the picture below for the pricing and the selections.  We opted for the 3 item combo and ordered a Peking Duck as our 4th and 5th dish.

The first dish to hit our table was the soup of the day. Arrowroot with Pork bone soup. That might not sound too good, but this soup was served to us hot and not luke warm and it was really really good.

The second dish that followed the soup was the Beef with Snow Peas. As you can see from the picture, the Beef is actually chunks of chicken as we all opted to sub the beef for chicken. The snowpeas were crisp and the chicken tender and full of flavour. This dish again was hot, tasted fresh and was really a plentiful helping.

The next dish was one of my all time favourites; The Tofu Hot Pot. This Tofu Hot Pot was suppose to be Tofu and Meat, but really it was Tofu mixed with loads of seafood and some meat. The dish was again served to us hot, the gravy and everything in the Hot Pot was killer…especially the really flavourful Tofu.

The last dish of our 3 dish combo was the Prawns and Black Bean Sauce. This dish looked like a spicy dish when it came to the table, but on the contrary it was sweetish tasting with the heavenly taste of the black bean sauce….to die for. The green bell pepper and the onions were crisp and crunchy and complimented nicely with the plentiful and large prawns.

The 2 dishes of the Peking Duck followed the prawns. If you are not aware, a Peking Duck consists of 2 dishes. Usually the first dish that comes out is the BBQ crispy duck skin accompanied with these flat 4inch pancake looking things, with Hoi Sin Sauce and fresh crisp green onions. The second dish is the lettuce wrap portion of the Peking Duck with the meat being the duck meat usually mixed with some crispy sliced wonton crapper skin, mixed vegetables, Chinese shitake mushrooms and more tasty Hoi Sin sauce.

The Peking Duck dish is one of my favourite true Chinese food entrees. The Peking Duck at North Road Restaurant was outstanding and ranks up there in the top 5 Peking Duck dishes I have had. The flat pancake things were not starchy, didn’t stick together, or too thick. I would have to say they were just perfect. The BBQ Duck skin was cooked and sliced just right; Not too crisp, not soggy, full of flavour, not too oily, and a majority of the pieces had some duck meat under the skin. The only thing I didn’t like about this dish was the shrimp chips that the duck skin was resting on. These shrimp chips were a bit soggy and oily.

The lettuce wrap portion of the Peking Duck was also well done. If I was cooking for myself, I would have omitted the celery and shitake mushrooms as I really don’t like these two things, but that is just me. The plate was heaping with stuffing, lots and lots of fresh, tender, flavourful duck meat mixed with the vegetables, served on a bed of lightly deep fried sliced wonton wrap skin. The stuffing was served hot and the Iceberg lettuce for the lettuce wrap was crisp, cold and the perfect size. The layers of lettuce came off in nice round bowls perfect for making lettuce wrap.

To end the meal, we were served on of my favourite Chinese desserts, the red bean soup. Like anything else, not all red bean soups are created equal, and like the rest of our meal, this red bean soup was served hot and was really really good. It wasn’t chalky, didn’t have too much orange peel in it, wasn’t too watery or too thick; it was just right.

So in summary, the food at North Garden Restaurant is outstanding. I would highly recommend this place for the food quality and the value of the food is really good as well. There was four of us, we had the dinner for 3 combo and added the Peking Duck entrée and the bill came to $67.31 with tax and before tip (about $17 each before tip each). 

Notice I only mention about the food quality and the value of the food. I haven’t said anything about the service yet. The service at this place needs some serious work in both customer service etiquette and staffing levels.  Like most value oriented Chinese food restaurants, the service really just sucks. They never have enough people, and the servers they have on just forget stuff as they are sooo short staffed and busy. North Garden has this problem and has it in a big way. The service this evening was brutal. Our food came out and we usually you are suppose to get the Peking Duck first, instead we got the Peking Duck at the very end, after asking 5 times where our Peking Duck was. The answer we got 5 times over was the Peking Duck is coming. When the Peking Duck finally arrived to the table, the servers forgot the Hoi Sin sauce and the onions and it took another 3 times of us asking for the condiments to come to the table. We asked for rice about 4 times, there was no tea refills until the very end of the meal, and when we asked questions to the servers, the servers would sort of brush off the request and keep walking by the table. Seriously brutal service that needs to be fixed.

What makes it worse, is toward the end of our meal, when the restaurant wasn’t so full, one of the servers came by with the more rice that we asked for ½ hour ago, and then people started to show some attention and went as far as to start apologizing for the brutal service earlier in the evening. Go figure? These people know they are giving brutal service, but they really don’t care? People across from us asked for their bill about 4 times and must have waited about 10-15mintues before they got pissed off and walked up to the front to pay.

If you go to North Garden, enjoy your meal, as I highly recommend the food here , but be prepared for some poor service if the restaurant is even mildly busy. If the place is super busy, you might as well go to the kitchen and cook the stuff yourself.

Ranking (out of 5 Stars)

Food – 4.50
Service – 1.00
Washroom Cleanliness – 3.50
Restaurant Ambiance – 3.00
Plate/Cutlery Cleanliness – 3.75
Value – 3.75

Overall rating: 3.25

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Atlantic Fish Restaurant Review Boston Massachusetts

When I was in Boston just recently, I met up with a friend of mine for some dinner one evening. Of course I suggested the Royal Bengal (click here for the article), but she wanted nothing to do with Indian Food as she was slated to run the Boston Marathon in a couple days, and she didn’t want to risk the Indian food having adverse affects on her system prior to the race. I can appreciate that, because sometimes Indian food affects everyone differently if you know what I mean!

She told me about this trendy popular place called Atlantic Fish; a fine seafood restaurant. She had dined here a number of times in the past and vouched for the quality of this place.  I was up for some seafood as I hadn’t had any yet this trip and numerous people told me to get some good seafood while in Boston. Being right on the East Coast of the United States, the chances are pretty good that the seafood would be good. After all Boston is famous for the Boston Clam Chowder right?

Atlantic Fish is located right downtown in Boston at 761 Boylston Street, Boston Massachusetts - 617-267-4000. Click here for the Atlantic Fish website . Click here for the Google Map.

You can definitely tell the restaurant is a bit more upscale from the fancy decor on the outside of the restaurant and being right downtown on a main street, I am sure the rent is not cheap.

 

When you walk in the restaurant, the smell of the food is the first thing that catches your senses. This is one of those places that is busy all the time. When we entered this one evening, the restaurant was packed with lots of people seemingly having a good time. There was lots of laughter and smiles from all the patrons everywhere. The atmosphere was definitely contagious.

My friend and I choose to sit in the “lounge/bar” area as we really didn’t want to wait 1/2 hour for a normal table. The bar table was pretty much like a normal table as we were seated at an elevated rectangular table that would easily fit 4 people utilizing the bar height chairs. I took a look around the restaurant and the finishing in the restaurant was impeccable. The classic timeless decor of rich colored hardwood throughout accented by the soft dim yellow glow of the lights above definitely gave this restaurant a very friendly, warm and inviting atmosphere. The bar area was pretty impressive and the restaurant seemed to be able to hold from 100-200 people would be my best guess. The best way to describe this interior of this restaurant is it resembles a dining room of that of a cruise ship. If you have been on a cruise in the past you know what I am talking about, if you haven’t then go on a cruise some time…you won’t regret it!

We decided to get a number of appetizers and salads for our meal as we were both not very hungry.  We ended up each getting a Toasted Goat Cheese Salad, I got a Butternut Squash Soup, and we shared a Calamari and an Ahi Tuna appetizer plate, plus some dessert.  

The Bread
You know it is a good omen, when the bread they bring you before your meal is so good that you need to ask for another basket. The bread was awesome! Freshly baked, nice and soft, full of flavor along with the sesame thin wafers were a great prequel to dinner.

Butternut Squash Soup
Made fresh in house, this butternut squash soup has to be one of the best squash soups I have ever had. The soup was very smooth, with all the flavors and spices blending together perfectly to give you that hearty full flavored experience. The soup was also served to me hot which is always a bonus. I have been to many restaurants where they serve the soup luke warm or cold and that totally takes away from the true essence of the soup. Restaurants that serve hot food hot and cold food cold are definitely taking a step in the right direction.

Calamari Milano
It is interesting how restaurants around the world do their calamari. I have had many different versions of Calamari and some are good and some aren’t. Described on the menu as: “Tossed with olive oil, hot peppers, parmesan and garlic served grilled or fried with a warm pomodoro sauce” the description definitely sounds good.

The calamari milano here at the Atlantic fish looked and tasted like a tender small California bay calamari in a light crisp batter. The dish was definitely good, but would I call it some of the best I have ever had? well no, but don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad either.  I would order it again, I’m just saying it wasn’t unique and memorable enough for me to rant and rave about it and tell someone to go out of their way to head to Atlantic Fish and order the dish.  Maybe it was the pomodoro cocktail sauce that made it just OK.

I just think that if you are going to do a memorable calamari dish, you need to do it and serve it with some other signature sauce than just a standard issue red pomodoro cocktail sauce. Either ways this calamari is a good consistent product for those people that like lightly breaded calamari. Squeeze the lemon on it and you are good to go. 

 

Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna Appetizer
I figure when I am at a restaurant that specializes in seafood, I have to try their Ahi Tuna if they have it and see how it compares to some other Ahi Tuna dishes I have had around the world.

Right now the restaurant that holds the #1 spot in my books for an Ahi Tuna dish is a place called the Market Street Grill in Salt Lake City, Utah. Trust me, if you like Ahi Tuna and find yourself in Salt Lake City, go out of your way and visit the Market Street Grill. Anyhow, back to the Ahi Tuna at Atlantic Fish.

The Ahi at Atlantic Fish was plated cleanly with 3 fair sized pieces, topped with some freshly chopped ginger and zig zag of thick soya sauce on the plate. I figured that for near $10, 3 pieces of Ahi was a bit cheapo. I would say at least put 4 of 5 pieces on the dish. The red Ahi tuna was fresh, cold, cut easily with a fork and melted in the mouth. This stuff was good. The quick sesame searing on the outside with the ginger a dash of wasabi was a great tasting combination. Was it enough to knock off The Market Street Grill off of my #1 spot? Nope; Market Street still reigns supreme. The Ahi Tuna appetizer here is good and if you have the Ahi Tuna urge, the Ahi at Atlantic Fish will definitely make you happy. 

Toasted Goat Cheese Salad
I have no idea why I ordered this dish. I think it was my friend ranting and raving about how good this Toasted Goat Cheese Salad dish was. So when our waitress was taking our order, my friend ordered her Goat Cheese Salad, and being caught up in the moment, I also ordered one.

Not a big deal you say? Well, I’m the type of person that doesn’t even like cheese on things except for pizzas and even then I would rather have “easy” cheese. I’m the type of guy that scrapes the cheese off things! I like the salad part, but for me to order a Toasted Goat Cheese Salad was way way way out of the norm.

The salad came to the table with the hunk of toasted goat cheese on the top with roasted golden beets, spiced pecans and fresh organic greens tossed in the light red wine vinaigrette. This salad I have to admit was actually really tasty. I ate up everything except for half the toasted goat cheese. For a non cheese lover, the goat cheese was actually full of flavor and complemented the other ingredients in the salad well. If you like goat cheese you will love this salad.

Apple Crisp
I always like to ask the server to describe and recommend me their favorite dessert. You can usually tell if someone is lying to if they don’t say too much about their favorite dessert. If they go off the rocker, and a twinkle lights up in their eye when they tell you all about their favorite dessert, you know you can’t really go wrong with their suggestion.

Our server this entire evening was awesome.  She was sooo funny, had such a great personality, recommended great dishes, gave us top notch service and when it came to dessert time, she told me that one of her favorite desserts was the apple crisp. Some of her others were pie’s.  I don’t like pies, but I really really like a good home baked apple crisp. I asked her if the crisp on the apple crisp was “crisp and crunchy” and not soggy like some places. She told me to order it and guaranteed me that if I didn’t like the dish, I could send it back. I was in a no lose situation.

When the apple crisp hit the table, the crisp was still steaming hot, it was crunchy and crisp and I could smell the apples. As for the ice cream on the top…my goodness… to die for. My friend and I polished this Apple Crisp off in record time. The apple slices on the inside of the crisp were baked to perfection. This dish was close to perfection. One of the top 5 apple crisps I have ever had. My server came back when we had about 3 spoonfuls left… I asked if I could send it back as I wasn’t too thrilled..she told me to get lost….

I am glad I went with my friend and had a great dining experience at the Atlantic Fish. I can honestly say if you are in Boston and don’t mind spending the money, but you want a popular and solid seafood restaurant with a great atmosphere, Atlantic Fish would be a great choice.

 

I would make some reservations before hand as this place was packed with a line up at the door the entire time I was here and still when I left the restaurant. I can vouch for the Butternut Squash Soup, the Goat Cheese Salad, and most definitely the Apple Crisp. Yes, get the Apple Crisp. Maybe start your meal with the Apple Crisp, you won’t be disappointed.

Ranking (out of 5 Stars)

Food – 4.00
Service – 4.75
Washroom Cleanliness – 4.25
Restaurant Ambiance – 4.00
Plate/Cutlery Cleanliness – 4.25
Value – 3.75

Overall rating: 4.17

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Royal Bengal Restaurant Review - Boston Massachusetts 

A couple weeks ago, I found myself in Boston Massachusetts with the regular day job. I know this post is a bit late, but I have been stupid busy with the day job as I just got back from Boston and then took off again for Nashville Tennesse. I am home now, and trying to catch up on some Blog posts!

 I had never been to Boston before and anytime you land in a new city, you have no idea where the good food is. here before and the description of the city will be saved for another blog. More importantly what I want to talk about first is of course the food! Last night after a long cold walk, I wanted to eat something hearty and warming. I really didn’t want to sit in a restaurant and decided for some take out. Never being to Boston before, I had no idea what restaurants were good and which ones were not. I had no one to make recommendations on anything. I was flying solo on this run.

I was walking back to the hotel the first night I was in Boston when I passed by this sort of hole in the wall place called The Royal Bengal. I like little local hole in the wall places, but being in a new town, you never know if they are going to be any good or not. The Royal Bengal is located on 313 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA Ph # 617-491-1988 Click here for the Royal Bengal website. Click here for the Google Map

The weather in Boston was very crisp and windy like a cool winter day, and I was sort of in the mood for some good Indian food as usually after eating Indian cuisine I feel pretty satisfied. What made me walk off the street and into the restaurant was the fact that the small quaint restaurant about 30 seats was packed with people of all nationalities. That was a good enough sign for me as packed restaurants usually mean good food.  I walked in through the front door and was immediately greeted with the outstanding aromas of Indian cooking, and a very warm and friendly smile and greeting from one of the waitresses asking me, “For one sir?”

I mentioned to the lady that I only wanted to do take out and she led me to the back counter to place my order. I picked up an extensive menu and saw that they had my favorite Indian dish in the vegetarian section: Chana Masala. I love the Chana Masala, which is a tasty blend of cooked chickpeas, onions, herbs and tomatoes. A little Chana Masala with fresh Naan bread always hits the spot. Go to the Royal Bengal website for a full menu. I couldn’t get good pictures of the menu.

While I waited for my take out order, I noticed that the restaurant was about 90% full and everyone seemed like they were really enjoying their meals. Smiles all around and lots of “hey this is good!” comments. The aroma in this restaurant was making me hungrier by the second. All the dishes that were coming out of the kitchen looked and smelled delicious. To take my attention away from my growing stomach, I reviewed the menu looking at the other dishes offered.  I was sort of confused as to why there were 2 different menus offered. At first I was only offered the yellow take out menu, but on the table there was a narrow rectangular yellow take out menu and a square white menu.

I quickly found out from the lady that took my order that the Royal Bengal serves 2 types of cuisines. They serve an authentic North Indian cuisine (the yellow menu) and then an authentic Bengali cuisine! The lady goes onto tell me that the Royal Bengal was Boston’s FIRST Bengali Restaurant and through further conversation, I find out that she and her husband own this establishment. Mrs. Geeta Mazumdar was her name and her husband’s name was Sadhan Mazumdar. She runs the outside of the restaurant, while her husband does the cooking. While she is telling me this information, a package comes out from the kitchen into her hand. It is my much anticipated take out order.

The other side of the Bengali menu has a great write up on the Royal Bengali from a reporter from the Boston Globe November 29, 2001. Instead of paraphrasing the article, I hope you can make out the text in this picture. It describes the Royal Bengal perfectly.

I comment to Mrs. Mazumdar that I would be back another night to try some of their other dishes. It turns out that over the course of the week I ended up dining at the Royal Bengal on about 3 different occasions. Please see below for pictures of my absolutely outstanding meals each time I visited the Royal Bengal.

Visit # 1
Chana Masala
Naan Bread

I love Chana Masala, and usually I order this dish along with a Naan Bread as my first dining experience at any particular Indian restaurant. Chana Masala for those that don’t know is cooked Chick Peas, cooked onions, flavorful herbs and fresh ripe tomatoes all cooked together. The Chana Masala dish at the Royal Bengal also comes with a dish of Basmati Rice. As you can see from the take out trays, I received a very generous portion of Chana Masala and at least two servings of Basmati rice and a massive, fresh fluffy Naan Bread. All three items, the Chana, Rice and Naan bread were outstanding. The Chickpeas were cooked to perfection and the Masala sauce was full of flavor. The rice was light, fresh and fluffy, and the Naan Bread?…to die for.

All for a whopping $11.45 USD plus tip. 

Visit # 2
Bengun Pora
Naan Bread

The Bengun Pora is one of the signature Royal Bengal dishes. This dish is flame roasted eggplant, mashed with mustard oil, onions, green chilis, and cilantro. I have to be honest, I wouldn’t have picked this dish to start if some other lady that was doing take in the Royal Bengal didn’t rant and rave about it the first night I picked up my Chana Masala. For one, I am not a big fan of eggplant or cilantro and I’m not really into the mustard oil. I am really really really glad I picked this dish on this particular night. When I took it back to the hotel room, and opened the bag up to check out the dish, it was completely different that what I had imagined. The Begun Pora actually looked and smelled outstanding. As for the taste…I have to thank the unknown lady in the Royal Bengal that evening for raving about this dish. The flame roasted eggplant, mashed with mustard oil, onions, green chilis, and cilantro was down right awesome. Such a different dish with a smooth blended taste of all the ingredients. It wasn’t spicy, just a nice texture that was complemented perfectly with the Naan bread. All I have to say is, if you hit Boston, go to the Royal Bengal and order this dish first…even if you don’t like eggplant, you will like it after eating the Bengun Pora.

Visit # 3
Aloo Posto
Aloo Gobhi
Naan Bread

My third and final visit was due to another lady telling me to try another dish when I picked up the Bengun Pora. This dish was the Aloo Posto which is diced potatoes in a poppy seed paste. I was sort of hungry and need some vegetables, so I also ordered the Aloo Gohbi, which is a classic Indian dish of Cauliflower and potatoes cooked with tomatoes, onions, herbs and spices and of course I couldn’t have a meal with out the award winning Naan bread. I have had Aloo Gohbi in the past and I would have to say the Aloo Gohbi at the Royal Bengal was one of the best I have ever had. The cauliflower was cooked just right and the potatoes nice and moist and not dry and clumpy. The sauce had a nice heat and was tasty on the naan and the included basmati rice.

For the Aloo Posto, I have never tasted anything like it. Like the Begun Pora, this dish was outstanding. The potatoes were cooked to perfection. Not dry, not clumpy, just image your ideal non starchy, non pasty potatoes and this Aloo Posto is it. The poppy seed paste that is coating the perfect potatoes carries a nice creamy, smooth sweeter taste and is complemented with the potatoes and of course the Naan Bread. I am so glad I ordered this dish and I would order it again in a heartbeat.

I am glad I walked in off the cold street my first night here in Boston. I would have never of found the Royal Bengal otherwise. The food they serve here is outstanding. If you like Indian, I can pretty much guarantee that you will love this restaurant. If you only have one day in Boston, I would suggest you order the Bengun Pora and the Aloo Posto. These are 2 very unique dishes that I have not seen at any other Indian restaurant. I hope you get the chance to go, or if you have friends going to Boston, send them my link and send them to the Royal Bengal; they will thank you for it!

Ranking (out of 5 Stars)

Food – 5.00
Service – 4.00
Washroom Cleanliness – 3.50
Restaurant Ambiance – 3.00
Plate/Cutlery Cleanliness – did take out
Value – 4.25

Overall rating: 4.17

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Chada Thai Fine Cuisine Restaurant Review Coquitlam B.C.

Earlier this week I went for dinner with my mom to a fairly new restaurant name Chada Thai Fine Cuisine in the forever growing city of Coquitlam, British Columbia. Both of us had never dined here in the past, and wanted to try something a bit different.

My mom loves to go out to eat, but trying to get her to try new cuisines like Indian or Thai is sometimes difficult, as she doesn’t like things that she doesn’t know and she definitely doesn’t like anything spicy!

If you live anywhere in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Port Moody, you will know exactly where this place is, when I tell you it is right beside the Save-On-Foods on Lougheed Highway in the same complex as Chapters, Van City, Starbucks and right across the street from Coquitlam Center. The location is a good one and right in the center of all the shops and services in Coquitlam.

Chada Thai Fine Cuisine is located @ 107-2991 Lougheed Hwy, Coquitlam BC V3B 6J6, 604-464-5300. Click here for the Google map.

Like most small restaurants in the suburbs, weeknights are usually pretty slow; Chada Thai Fine Cuisine was no different on this Wednesday evening. My mom and I entered around 8:15pm and there was only one other guy in there eating.

The first thing you notice about Chada Thai are the windows. From the outside, you notice that all the windows that face the street are all covered from top to bottom with black drape. The only way you know this place is open is from the neon “Open” sign in the window. I thought this was sort of strange to have the windows all blacked out, but I realized right away when I walked through the door. The black drapes create a nice cozy intimate feeling and offers some privacy to people sitting near the window from all the pedestrian and motor traffic that is constantly passing by outside.

 

When you walk through the door the second thing you notice is the amazing smell of the aroma of the restaurant. Visually when you enter, you are stepping into a very tastefully decorated Thai themed restaurant. There are many authentic Thai decorations such as masks, traditional Thai head dresses, fancy looking mirrors, Buddha statues, candles, wood carvings, and jade statues all over the restaurant.

Chada Thai is owned by a 30 something Brian Machesi formerly from the Four Seasons hotel in Vancouver and blends his passion for Thai cooking with his extensive knowledge of fine European cuisine.

The pricing on the menu items at Chada Thai is definitely on the higher end. Entrees range from $16-$20 and appetizers from $6-$9. I tried to get a take out menu from Chada Thai, but I found out that owner Brian Marchesi doesn’t believe and offer the take out option; sort of an interesting concept.

His reasoning behind the “no take out policy” is his belief for using the finest quality of ingredients in all his menu options. He doesn’t believe that cooking fine Thai sauces for 6-8 hours just to toss them in a styrofoam box to have someone reheat them hours later is justified for the quality of ingredients he uses.

The menu items looked awesome and I really wanted to try a little bit of everything, but I have been guilty of having my eyes much larger than my stomach on many occasions. Whenever I visit a new Thai restaurant, my baseline for judging the quality of the food is of course the Pad Thai and some sort of Thai curry dish.

As my mom doesn’t like spicy, we ordered a Mild Pad Thai and a Mild Yellow Curry. At $15 for the Pad Thai and $17 for the curry, I was expecting something really good!

 Some restaurants give you complementary bread to tie you over while your meals are being prepared, Chada Thai serves you these really fancy looking shrimp chips with shaved carrots, cabbage, and lettuce, drizzled in the most amazing tasting sauce and a heavy expensive looking white rectangular plate.  I have no idea what the sauce is called, but whatever it was, it was awesome. Nice and sweet, and complemented the shrimp chips and vegetables perfectly.

The Pad Thai was the next dish to arrive at the table. I would have to say the presentation of this Pad Thai was the best I have ever experienced. The oval shaped bowl that the Pad Thai was served in was really nice. The Pad Thai in the bowl was even more impressive. The peanuts were sprinkled on the top and the shaved cabbage on the side, with the sprouts evenly mixed through out.

My first bite into the Pad Thai was heavenly. I could definitely taste the freshness of the ingredients and individual tastes of all the ingredients. The prawns were really large and cooked to perfection and most importantly, the Pad Thai sauce and noodles were perfect. The sauce wasn’t too saucy or over bearing but just enough to cover the noodles. The noodles were cooked in such away where they didn’t clump together or taste dry; literally perfect.

The Vegetarian Yellow Curry was our second entrée. The presentation of this entrée was even more impressive that the Pad Thai. The curry came served in a simple yet elegant square white bowl, on a bulged rectangular shaped plate garnished with Thai rice, mixed salad with that same tasty sauce on the on the shrimp chip and a fancy decorative swirl.

I personally like my curry on the hotter side, but as mentioned above my mom is no fan of spicy foods. Our mild yellow curry I have to admit was really good.  The favors of the curry sauce were extremely tasty and had a great infusion of different curry spices.  Although we ordered the “mild” curry, the aftertaste of the curry in your mouth was delicious and it did give just a right amount of spice. This curry goes in your mouth with no type of curry heat, but as you chew on the rice or the other pieces of food that is cooked in the curry sauce, the flavors of the fresh curry spices are released. This gives your mouth an entirely different sensation and taste as you chew and swallow what is in your mouth.  My mom even commented on the aftertaste and the complementing, yet tasty small bit of heat left in your mouth.  If you like Thai Yellow Curry, this one would be a winner in any curry lover’s book.

The only food that I wasn’t really “wowed” with this evening was the rice. Everything else was amazingly delicious. This is a totally personal preference and the rice at Chada Thai is 110% editable and really really good like all the other food I had this evening. Thai rice is usually a bit more clumped together, moist and stickier, whereas I typically like my rice a bit drier and more individually granular.

Our bill came to $37.08 before gratuities. The service this evening was really good as we were the only table in the restaurant at the time. The question would be is the value of the food worth nearly $40 for two people eating Thai food in Coquitlam? That is for you to decide for yourself when you go there to eat.

If you consider, $40 for two people eating at a casual dining restaurant like Milestones, Earls, Cactus Club, The Keg etc, $40 is nothing. Places such as these charge similar prices for their entrees and appetizers.

The business card for Chada Thai is a tent-looking card printed on all 4 sides. Check out the pictures below.

Chada Thai is not like Khai Thai to Go in Kitsilano that I wrote about last month. Click here for the article.  Khai Thai to Go in Kitsilano is half the price, yet I think just as good or better than Chada Thai.

With this said, I would definitely go back to Chada Thai and I would recommend people go to Chada Thai if they wanted to experience some excellent some high quality authentic Thai food in the Coquitlam area served at a near fine dining level with a great atmosphere. You know you are going to get a good meal for your dollar as owner/chef Brian Marchesi is adamant about quality of ingredients and creating dishes that appeal to all your senses.  The food here is really good, and if you feel like treating yourself and your partner to a nice meal and evening out, check out Chada Thai..

Ranking  (out of 5 stars)

Food – 4.50
Service – 4.25
Washroom Cleanliness – 4.00
Restaurant Ambiance – 4.25
Plate/Cutlery Cleanliness – 4.75
Value – 3.25

Overall rating: 4.17

3 Comments »

This month has been a great month for good food finds around the Vancouver area. I wrote about my favorite Thai restaurant, Khai Thai To Go, cheap but really good sushi at Kishu Star Japanese Bistro, and one of the best Chinese food places ever, Deer Garden. I just really like food and I like to share it with whoever will listen!

My girlfriend doesn’t really like to cook, so when I visit her, we usually go out to eat, and when she comes to my house, I usually cook. That is why a majority of these restaurants reviews are in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver. I visited my girlfriend last night and we both decided that we wanted some Indian food on this particular evening.

We both really love Indian food, and I have yet to find an Indian restaurant here in Vancouver area that I would call my favorite.  There are lots of good ones, but none I can call my favorite quite yet. One of my favorite Indian restaurants is in Old Montreal and I hope to share that with you all later this summer when I get back to beautiful Montreal.

I was hoping that this restaurant we were about to try this even would make it onto my favorite list. It was recommended to us by a number of friends, because they claimed the food was really good, the price was cheap and the restaurant had some character. Sounded good to me, the name of the restaurant was Jolly’s Indian Bistro – 2778 West 4th Ave, Vancouver BC V6K 1R1 . ph – 604-730-6929. The restaurant is right on the corner of West 4th and Macdonald on the South side of the street right next to the bus stop. Click here for the Google Map.

 

I really like the small boutique restaurants with some great character and charisma and Jolly’s is definitely one of these. They have their menu outside in a nice wooden frame and when you walk though the weathered door, you immediately feel like you are stepping in what seems like a restaurant in India. The fine smell of freshly cooked India curry and spices fills the restaurant and the old worn hardwood floors feel like they have been there for a long long time. On the ceiling there are different colored tapestries looped on the ceiling, candles on each table and rich dark brown colored high bar top with a row of burning tea light candles contrast nicely with the mustard colors table cloths and dark brown chairs scatted through out the restaurant. This restaurant has about 14 tables and can seat about 43 including the bar top.

 

 

My girlfriend and I rolled in about 6pm and there were only about 3 other tables taken when we arrived. The setting is intimate, and surprisingly quiet. The menu is one laminated page, double sided; Food on one side and drinks on the other. It was nice to see that the cutlery and water glasses on the table we sat at were clean with no water spots or other dish washer marks. 

We ordered the Somosa’s to start as an appetizer and for entrees, my girlfriend had the Kolkota Kofta – Potato dumplings in lentils and fried onions, and I ordered the Veggie Thali – Pakoras (Vegetable fritter appetizer with mint and tamarind chutney), Mango Lassi (Indian yogurt drink) and a combination of 3 vegetarian curries and a papadum (thin baked Indian bread). All entrees come with a homemade naan bread, basmati rice, and fresh salad.

Somosa- As you can see from the picture, the Somosa comes on a plate with a bunch of chick peas and sweet mango chutney. The stuffing inside the Somosa was outstanding and the sweet mango chutney and the chick peas were to die for!

 

Kolkota Kofta – Potato dumplings in lentils and fried onions . My girlfriend’s entrée was outstanding. The 3 potato dumplings had such a smooth rich flavor they just melted away in your mouth when you ate them. I’m not sure what kind of curry sauce they were sitting in, but whatever it was it was damn tasty. Surprisingly the mix of potatoes, lentils and onions was not dry, just the opposite, it was pretty moist. Full of flavor and tasty Indian spice, my girl friend and I both agreed we would order that dish again. On top of the 3 potato dumplings, you have a monster baked naan bread, basmati rice and some salad. I would note that the naan bread they serve at Jolly’s much different than the naan bread I have had at other Indian restaurants. Typically naan bread is soft with large bread bubbles in it. The naan here at Jolly’s is sort of baked and slightly more on the crunchy side than the soft maluable side like that of other Indian restaurants. Either way, just a bit different but still very good.

 

Veggi Thali – My entrée was massive. I got the big platter with 3 different vegetarian curries:

a-Punjabi Palak Paneer – Spinach Curry with fresh Indian cottage cheese
b-Chick Pea Masala – Chick peas boiled in black tea with Jolly’s special blend of spices
c-East Indian Gobhi – Cauliflower in mustard seeds and turmeric

along with the naan bread, papadum, basmati rice, salad, Pakoras appetizer and a Mango Lassi.

I didn’t think this thing was going to be so packed full!  The waitress suggested this dish was a good way to sample a bunch of different curries all at the same time and that sounded good to me at the time. My camera ran out of batteries and the only picture I couldn’t get was the picture of my Pakoras appetizer.

There was certainly a lot of food on my dish and I would have to say out of the 3 curries on my plate, I would order 2 of them again. I really like chick peas, so the Chick Pea Masala was an instant hit;  Nice mild flavors, with smooth, perfectly cooked chick peas is a winner anytime with me. The other one I really like the flavors and textures of was the East Indian Gobhi. I don’t like Cauliflower on its own, but with the curried sauce containing the mustard seeds and turmeric gave the cauliflower a really addicting taste. The one I wouldn’t order again would be the Punjabi Palak Paneer. If you like Spinach and cottage cheese, you will love this dish. I am just not a fan of mashed spinach and cottage cheese. I found this dish a bit runny and when I eat spinach I don’t eat a lot of it and I rarely eat cottage cheese so both of these put together was not a hit for me. The cottage cheese was very good though. Nice buttery texture with a mild flavor.

Mango Lassi – Is an Indian yogurt based drink. Unlike other Indian restaurants I have been to, this Mango Lassi was no sweet and not thick. Other Indian restaurants tend to make their Lassi’s too sweet or too thick like a smoothie. The Lassi here was pretty good, it tasted just right and went down really easy.

As mentioned above my girlfriend and I rolled into Jolly’s about 6pm. When we left at 7:15pm the restaurant was getting busy and full. If you go and don’t want to wait for a table, definitely go by around 5:30 or 6pm.

Surprisingly the service this evening was just OK. There were only two waitresses on shift, and when we got there it wasn’t busy at all. It just seemed like we waited a long time for our entrees to come to the table and at times it seemed like the waitresses were disorganized and confused. When we were there, only about 8 other people were in the restaurant. Maybe there was only one cook on this evening? It happens. People make mistakes, no big deal. At least the waitresses were really friendly.  

You have all seen the pictures of the quantity of food. The food is good and surprisingly the cost is super cheap for the quality and amount of food you get! Our bill came to a whopping $17.98 with tax. Granted we did have a $9.00 off Entertainment Book coupon. If we didn’t have the coupon our bill would have been $26.98 CDN with tax. So with a 15% - 20% tip your looking at about $32 for two. That is really reasonable and cheap for such a hefty hearty meal!

Regardless of the slow service this evening, I would for sure recommend this place to anyone that likes Indian food. I would definitely go back and try their other dishes as they all sound really appetizing to me.

Ranking  (out of 5 stars)

Food – 4.50
Service – 3.50
Washroom Cleanliness – 3.50
Restaurant Ambiance – 4.00
Plate/Cutlery Cleanliness – 4.00
Value – 4.00

Overall rating: 3.91

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I have been to many many good and bad Asian restaurants in Vancouver, its suburbs and elsewhere in the world. If you want a recommendation for a good authentic Chinese restaurant in a suburb outside of Vancouver pay attention and read on. I share with you a hidden gem is suburbia.

The name of this place is Deer Garden. They have 2 locations, both about 30 minutes in opposite directions from downtown Vancouver. One of the locations is in Port Coquitlam the other Richmond. I have only been to the Port Coquitlam location, so everything I say here is in regards to the Port Coquitlam location.

Unless you are at a “fine” dining Chinese restaurant, most Chinese restaurants are not known for there cleanliness, or service, but more importantly their food quality and quantity and value. You know you are at a great Chinese restaurant when it is packed all the time with Chinese people.

I went there this past weekend with eight members of my immediate and extended family to celebrate a late Chinese New Year dinner. Usually we order off this killer dinner combo menu that offers combo meals for 2, 4, 6, or 8 people.

If you order the combo for 2, you get to choose a selection of 2 dishes from a list of 100. The dinner combo’s all include Rice, Soup of the Day, Tea and Dessert.  The prices for combo meals for 2, 4, 6, and 8 people are $22.80 (2 people), $45.80 (4 people), $68.80 (6 people), and $88.80 (8 people) respectively.

We ordered the Combo dinner for 6, and because it was Chinese New Year we ordered an Alaskan King Crab. I haven’t had Alaskan King Crab in a long time, but I have to say Alaskan King Crab is my favorite type of crab next to the ever so tasty West Coast Dungeness Crab.

Our first dish was the complementary soup of the day. Wintermelon soup with pork bone soup base I believe. Whatever it was, it was warm, soothing and full of flavor. 

The Alaskan King Crab at Deer Garden did not disappoint, and it seemed like every other large table around us was having it as well. When we arrived to the restaurant around 7pm the crab tank was full, and when we left, the tank was half empty.

The Alaskan King Crab that was plucked from the tank for our table was about 11.5 pounds and it was served to as 4 different plates.

The first plate was a bunch of crab meat chunks quickly deep fried with some spicy jalapeño peppers and other spices.

The second crab dish was a large platter that had the crab legs sliced in half, steamed and served with some sweet soya sauce and shredded green onion.

The third crab dish was similar to the second one, but instead of the sweet soya souce and sliced green onion on top of the crab meat, there was soya sauce and minced garlic on top with fresh green onion cut in rings on top of the crab.

The fourth dish, was a crab fried rice. Get this, the crab fried rice was served to the table in the head of the crab shell! This fried rice was excellent!

The Alaskan Crab was the first 4 dishes, and the next dishes were the Dinner Combo for 6 that we selected from the 100 different dishes. We ordered:

1-Stir Fried Pork Cheek with String Beans. This is dish is one of my favorites. The beans are cooked to absolute perfection. Every time I have these beans, they have the same great taste and are just the right crunchiness. The cooks must have the temperature and timing just dialed as I can’t get my beans at home tasting like this.

2-Sweet and Sour Pork . I’m usually not a big fan of Sweet and Sour Pork, as usually the sauce is too think or too runny or the taste is off or the pork is too dry and cold, but here at Deer Garden the sauce is bang on and the pork is hot, tender and moist. The fresh pineapples had a great sweet flavor and the bell pepper and white onion had the optimal crunch.

3-Curry Boneless Chicken – What can I say about this dish? This dish is just awesome. One of my top 5 dishes here at Deer Garden. If you like curry, you will love this dish. The bowl is massive and overflowing with tender, juicy, marinated boneless chicken. I have no idea how they get such the flavors, but this dish here at Deer Garden goes down as one of the best curry dishes I have ever had; both homemade and from a restaurant. The curry sauce is just KILLER on the rice!

4-Assorted Seafood Hot Pot – If you like an assortment of Seafood cooked in a hotpot style, you will like this dish. The pot came to the table still steaming from the heat. I’m not a big fan of mixed seafood dishes, so I picked for the fish, tofu and other recognizable pieces of food from this dish. The gravy is something to note and very good on rice.  Everyone else at the table really liked this dish.

5-Steamed Cod with Tofu in Black Bean Sauce – Hands down this is one of the best dishes at this restaurant. I love steamed cod, and I love tofu. The combination of these two with soya sauce and fresh black bean sauce topped with crisp circular cut green onion is to die for. One scoop of this dish onto your rice and you will be sold forever. If you go here, get this dish. The fish and tofu are cooked just right and if you don’t like tofu, don’t worry about it, because the tofu doesn’t even taste like tofu it is cooked so well.

6-Chinese Gai Lan with Mushroom, Carrot and Chicken – Yet another perfectly cooked vegetable dish. The Gai Lan had just the right crunch, the dish wasn’t greasy and the other accompaniments were just savory.

 

Dessert- So after the soup, 10 dishes, and some rice we had some dessert. The dessert that is included in the meal is a Hot Red Bean style soup, but it really wasn’t Red Bean Soup. I can’t remember the name in English of Chinese, but all I know is this is one of my favorite after dinner dessert dishes. Served to you piping hot, this mixture of red bean, coconut milk barley and black rice is a perfect cap after a big dinner. I love this dessert! I just wish they had it every time I ate here as they change up their desserts every night.

As mentioned above, Deer Garden is a great place to go if you want authentic Chinese food that is consistent, tastes outstanding and an awesome value. This place is always packed full of Asians which is a really good sign that the food is great. Lots of Asians don’t eat at a place if it isn’t good!

Don’t expect the waitresses to wait on you hand and foot as at times, the service is non existent because this place is so packed and busy.  On this particular night the service was pretty good, but I have been here on some nights where getting service isn’t very good and you are always waiting around for someone to come by.

This is one of those places where if you want something, you had better wave your hands in the air and flag someone down or go up to the counter and ask.  Although the service is at times slow, once you have your order in with someone, the food is amazingly quick to come to your table. I have never waited more that 5-8 minutes for the first dish to hit the table after I have ordered. After the first dish, the rest just keep coming at the right times.

If you are a big “ambiance” type person, don’t come here expecting the most romantic or trendiest place on the planet. The interior is pretty boring and the high pot lights and the single yellow lights over the booths, with the hand written florescent poster boards  don’t help at all.  There is no fancy entrance, swank bar or back ground music.

Our bill for 8 people that were all very hungry was  $282.16 CDN plus tip. $195 of this was the crab dish. We were all super full at the end of the night and even had a full bag of left overs to take home.  Like I mentioned above the crab was a bit of a treat due to the special Chinese New Year celebration. $282.16 averages out to about $35.27 per person. Not too bad considering we just had a 12 course meal including soup and dessert. Usually we would have ordered the Dinner Combo for 8  and that would have averaged to about $11.05 CDN per person before tax and tip.

If you are looking for a no frills, authentic Chinese food restaurant in the Coquitlam suburb of Vancouver this place is it. I have taken many of my non asian friends to this place and they all love it.  This place focuses on good, plentiful, excellent value food and will keep you coming back time after time after time.

Ranking  (out of 5 stars)
Food – 5.00
Service – 2.75
Washroom Cleanliness – 2.50
Restaurant Ambiance – 2.00
Plate/Cutlery Cleanliness – 3.50
Value – 5.00
Overall rating: 3.46

5 Comments »

I find myself in Kitsilano regularly as my girl friend lives out that way and if you like Thai food, I guarantee you will like this recommendation.  Khai Thai is the real deal, owned by Thai people they cook the goods. It is just like eatting Thai food from Thailand. This restaurant is one of my favorite restaurants on the Kitsilano side of Vancouver. The prices are relatively cheap, the service is good, and the portions large and the people very friendly. The name of this restaurant is Khai-Thai to Go-located on 2184 Cornwall Ave. Kits Beach Vancouver BC, V6K 1B4. Tel 604-677-6767. Click here for the Google map.

Khai-Thai to Go- does Eat In - Take Out - and Delivery in the area. Their prices are super reasonable (actually really cheap for the quality) and ordering is stupid easy as their menu is right on the wall behind the cash register posted as a bunch of really well taken photos. If you don’t know what the Thai name is for the dish or don’t know what to order, don’t worry about it as the pictures on the wall make everything look appetizing.

 

Last night I did take out for myself and my girlfriend, but I have eaten In here in the past and the service has been awesome and of course the food outstanding.  The restaurant has a handful of tables where you can choose to eat in. In the summer, the big sliding door is open and you watch all the beautiful people make their way to the ever so popular Kitsilano beach.

 

Their take out business must be very successful, as every time I do take out, it is literally ready in 5-10 minutes. The service is so fast, it is unbelievable. Last night I ordered a Shrimp Pad Thai, Tofu/Vegetable Red Curry and rice for two. My bill came to under $21.00! Look at how much food I got for $21.00! Both my girlfriend and I were super hungry, but we still had some Pad Thai left over’s!

The food is plentiful, but more importantly the food is quality! Take my word for it, the food here is an awesome value and the flavors of what they serve here are authentic Thai. I have traveled to Thailand numerous times and outside of Thailand, this is the next best thing if you are looking for authentic Thai food. 

When I was waiting for my order, I chatted with the lady I have seen here before. I asked her if she was the owner and she replied yes. Her name was Mrs. Autchara Khaikaew.  She is the one behind the cash register.

 

Along with her husband, Mr.Chaiyan Khaikaew, they opened this great establishment in August 2005. She told me that her and her husband are both Thai and from Bangkok. I motioned to the man just behind the counter cooking my dinner and asked if that was her husband. She told me no, but the guy back there cooking was Mr. Kumsorn Saengngam. Mrs. Khaikaew, told me that Mr. Saengngam was an executive chef from Bangkok. Executive chef I asked? She went onto tell me that Mr. Saengngam was the executive chef at the Marriot in Bangkok. Wow!… no wonder the food is outstanding here!

Mrs. Khaikaew also told me that she just opened a new location downtown on 809 Seymour St. The phone number there is 604-682-7000 and they have 2 chefs from Bangkok as well. Ms Sudkanya Nganyanwai and Ms Vanichaya Pienpijit.

Take my word for it, if you want good authentic Thai cuisine at a great value, go and visit Mrs. Khaikaew at Khai Thai to Go on Cornwall street in Kitsilano and say hello, or try the new location on Seymour street;  you won’t be disappointed.

Ranking  (out of 5 stars)

Food – 5.00
Service – 5.00
Washroom Cleanliness – didn’t go in this time
Restaurant Ambiance – 3.75
Plate/Cutlery Cleanliness – did Take Out this time
Value – 4.00

Overall rating:  4.4375

3 Comments »

If you ever find yourself in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia Canada after 7pm and are feeling the need for that cheap, tasty sushi fix, I would highly suggest the Kishu Star Restaurant located on 1935 West 4th Ave. after 7pm.

Why after 7pm you ask? Well each night after 7pm they have a 40% off happy hour menu that will fill your stomach, but will be easy on the pocket book.

 

I was there last night with my girlfriend, and we ordered a plate of Yakisoba, one Negitoro Roll, one California Roll, one House Roll and one Cucumber Roll and our bill came to $13.32 including tax after the discount. That is pretty cheap for 2 people to eat. We were full and content and didn’t feel the need to order more. All the rolls were a decent size and tasted really fresh.

 

Our friends ordered some other dishes. Check out the salmon sashimi and the tempura.

  

The actual Kishu Star Restaurant looked very tidy around the restaurant, smelled nice (not fishy like some sushi restaurants) and the men’s washroom when I used it was clean.

It was also nice to see that the plates and the cups we received before our meal came to the table clean and free from grungy dishwasher water spots. Trust me, you will go to nice restaurants and the cutlery, glasses, and plates they give you have grubby water spots on them.

The service this evening was great, we got everything we wanted and never really had to ask for anything. The Japanese tea though was a bit on the cold side though.

If you like sushi, and want to eat cheap, check out Kishu Star sometime if you find yourself in Kitsilano.

Kishu Star Sushi Restaurant
1935 West 4th Ave
Vancouver BC

The closest major intersection is Burrard St and West 4th.  Click here for the Google Map.

Ranking  (out of 5 stars)

Food – 3.75
Service – 3.50
Washroom Cleanliness – 3.50
Restaurant Ambiance – 3.00
Plate/Cutlery Cleanliness – 3.25
Value – 4.00

Overall rating: 3.5

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