Hugo's Churros Review

 I was walking around the outlet and saw them opened again so decided to go try. They renovated the place and looks somewhat Mexican. Not sure what it was like before, first time in here. The people were very nice there. The girl was wiping the table that I stood by and apologized a few times. 

I ordered 2 churros because 1 was $4 so might as well get 2 for $6. Turns out they have a buy 1 get 1 promo now between 4-6pm. I actually asked the guy, just making sure he heard that I wanted 2 and not 1.

The wait wasn't that long, few minutes, they give you a number sign and they will bring it out to you which I thought was kind of good.

The churros were pretty long. It was warm to hot when he handed it to me but not burning where you can't hold it. Great for winter time. I walked back to my car to eat it. It was still crispy.

To me, the taste was soso. A little bit plain. There was the sugar and cinnamon taste, that's pretty much it. There was also a strong baking soda taste to it, I guess from the batter? I think it would be better with ice cream but I didn't want to spend $8.50 on it. The sugar keeps falling off so it may make a mess.

Tried it with ice cream at home and it tasted so much better. Dad liked it alone.

Overall, it was ok, don't think I would try again. It's considered on the pricey side but great time to try right now with the buy 1 get 1 deal.

American Cheese Steak Co Review

Most people probably come here for their cheese steak dogs, poutine and other items but we came here for their ice cream. Boyfriends tried their cheese steak hot dog or sub before and said it was good but more on pricey side. They have this 50% off ice cream since beginning of covid, boyfriend said.

We got the birthday cake and white chocolate blueberry ($3, regular $6 for 2 scoops), thanks.

The size was normal, at least cheaper than normal ice cream shops. We both like the birthday cake more. Boyfriend said it had more different flavour to it. It's almost like melted sprinkles.

The blueberry would be good if it didn't have a weird texture in the mouth. Maybe because the blueberries are blended up and gives that feeling? Otherwise the flavour was really good, very blueberry. I didn't like the white chocolate, I'm not a white chocolate person. There was some kind of filling inside the white chocolate, not sure what it was, it was like a syrup.

Overall, not bad for that price. I guess they are trying to get rid of stock and maybe not many people buying from that so they reduced the price. We come back again but not too many unique flavours to choose from and hardly go to Metrotown.

J Squared Review

Saw this online and I like tea so decided to try. It's not that big in there. It's so empty, like no furniture or anything so you sound super loud even if you are very quiet. There were people after us and they were laughing so loud, almost went deaf in there.

They don't have a lot of flavours but some are unique. We got the thai milk tea and cinnamon toast crunch ($5 something for 1 scoop, $7 something for 2 scoops). They charge for cones.

The thai milk tea very very brown or copper colour. It had some tiny tea leaf like things on it. It does have a tea taste but I thought the milk taste was stronger. I prefer stronger tea taste since it's a tea ice cream.

The cinnamon toast crunch had an ok cinnamon taste but boyfriend thought it wasn't strong enough. There were these little soggy chewy bites in it. I guess the cereal but I thought it was more like oatmeal. We thought they just use regular milk ice cream for that.

Overall, it's ok but probably won't come back again unless if they have some interesting flavour that I want to try. I kind of thought it was just soso, nothing over the top for me. It's normal ice cream price although it is quite pricey. I don't like how you have to pay more for a cone when they are an ice cream shop. 

Hoke Poke Review

Saw this online and wanted to try since I haven't. Did an online order and paid online because I perfer that than choosing different toppings in person. I like how it listed how many items you can choose and which one need to add extra money. The processing was fast. It said it takes about 20 minutes to prepare the food. The place isn't that big and you can eat inside if you like.

We created our own with 2 scoops of fish and it was $13.95. 

I got the salmon and scallop with mixed green and brown rice. Had sweet shoyu, sweet heat and yuzu ponzu as sauce, you can choose up to 3 sauces. Added every topping except jalapeno, red chili flakes, cilantro and extra cost items.

Boyfriend got the spicy tuna and shrimps with mixed green and white rice. Not to sure what sauces he got. Had every topping as well except jalapeno, red chili flakes and extra cost items.

The bowls were ok packed to the top and tasted quite good. I liked mine a bit more. There were quite a good amount of seafood on it and they tasted fresh. The sauces tasted good together but I wish they had a bit more sauce on the rice side because it was dry. The bowl was really hard to mix because it was so filled up. You could only stir the stuff when you finish the veggie. The brown rice was very chewy. All the topping were normal, nothing practically special. We both thought there weren't crispy online like we asked for. We ordered sweet onion, at first I thought it's those caramelized type but it's raw but have a sweet taste to it. Yea, my mouth had that onion taste for so long, I wished it was cooked onions.

The spicy tuna for boyfriend's bowl was a mashed up version. I thought it would be the chunk kind just like the salmon, so strange. It was quite spicy.

Overall, not bad for the price. It does fill you up, at least it did for us. I would come again but as usual I like to try new things.

Breka Review

Brother and his girlfriend got a few cakes from Breka, thanks. Not sure what the price are but I heard around $5ish almost $6 each. The cakes looked really nice and normal size for fancy cakes.

The best one would be the mango coconut mousse. To me, it had more of a mango taste than coconut. The bottom was like a coconut cake. I didn't like the cake part as much because it was more on the salty side. I guess it was ok when you eat it with the mango mousse so it balances out.

Second one would be the tuxedo cake. This is normally my favourite cake but I don't think they made it that great. It didn't seem as chocolatey as I like it to be. The white chocolate part somehow tasted like there was cream cheese or something in it. It's still good just not the best tuxedo I've had.

Third is the pistachio ganache cake. The chocolate part was not bad but I thought the pistachio part had a fake pistachio taste to it. It reminds me of the instant pistachio pudding that you can buy from grocery stores. It doesn't taste like pistachio, almost like an almond taste with green colouring. The pistachio on top was real though.

Last would be the green tea cream puff. At first I was worried the cream was cream cheese or something because it tasted interesting to me. There wasn't much of the shell, more of green tea cream. The green tea flavour wasn't super strong so it was good. It had a layer of green tea chocolate on top so it had a hard texture to it.

Overall, it was ok but not the best I've had. 

Katsu San Review

Saw this place online for awhile but didn't go try because of covid. Decided to go before the numbers start shooting up again. On their site, it said reservation is required but when I called, the person said Sunday is first come first serve... Maybe they should but that on there too? When we got there, it was 9 minutes after they opened and it was already full and people were waiting outside. Good thing there weren't that many people. We waited about 35-45 minutes so went to the mall for a bit.

When we got inside the tables were ok spaced out. Only one group per table (4 seater). They also put these plastic in between each table. The service was good. One of the guy asked us how it was and then another guy asked again when he was cleaning our table.

We ordered the nagasaki champon ramen ($12.50) and the cold ramen with tonkatsu ($9+$4).

The nagasaki was more of a normal ramen to us. It had enough flavour to it and the ramen soaked the flavour quite well. The size was ok for the price. There were a few pieces of pork belly, not like normal chasui. They were more on the fatty side if you are concerned about it. I love fat meat so it was good. It had a bit of the melt in your mouth feeling but not quite. Maybe they can cook it a bit more soft then it would be very good. It had like 3 clams and a mussel. The clams all fell out of the shell and I thought they could have made the presentation a little bit better. like put all the clams on top and maybe meat on one side. Maybe not add that much soup?

The cold ramen was good and unique. The soup flavour tasted like all dressed chips so it was tangy and salty, very refreshing. The noodle was very chewy which I like. There weren't much topping on it, just some veggie. That's why we ordered a side tonkatsu. The tonkatsu was kind of soaked into the soup but parts of it was still crispy. The meat texture was very condensed(?). I've never had tonkatsu before so not sure how to describe it. The meat felt like it was mashed up and put together again into the thick rectangular shape and deep fried. It actually has enough flavour without dipping anything. I know their tonkatsu set comes with sauces. I guess it's more for the rice so it's not so dry? I thought the ramen size was ok but thought the tonkatsu was pricey. But how can we not try their tonkatsu when that's their famous item.

It also came with some pickled veggie. The red and green ones weren't very good, tasted funny. The yellow pickles are the normal ones so it tasted good, tangy.

Overall, not bad, considered okay price for ramen. I guess we'll come back again but as usual we like to try new places.

Go Go Sushi Review

We decided to try this sushi place. The area was super quiet and dead. It was kind of like that when we came last time but even worse, maybe because of the virus. The place was small and they only do take out now. I didn't see any tables and chairs but I'm sure they can fit one or 2 small tables in there. The guy that took our order seems lost or something. Boyfriend said bento box instead of lunch box and he was like bento, you mean lunch box, he need to make sure that's what we meant. When my boyfriend already had his card in hand, he was still asking if it's separate...

Anyways, we ordered the lunch box combo 3 ($10.50) and the dynamite combo ($11.50), thanks. Found prices online, not sure if still the same, don't remember price.

The portion was ok big for the size. The dynamite combo looked somewhat plain. The tuna roll was very different in colour, it was super light compared to normal ones. The taste was a bit different to us too, not sure if it's not fresh or what. The dynamite roll was crispy, not that big but it was still good. Can't really go wrong with California roll, best sushi roll. Not sure why they couldn't give us more soya sauce, they only gave us 2 packets for so many sushi.

The lunch box was surprisingly good. The chicken teriyaki was very soft and had enough flavour. They gave quite a bit of teriyaki sauce which we could cover every single piece of rice on the bottom. They had a few bean sprouts under the chicken, good thing there wasn't any raw taste to it. The chicken may have cooked it. California roll was the same as the other ones.

The salad was normal. We thought it wouldn't come with an orange because we picked the box without it but they added one in. The other boxes say orange as one item, normally people give you a tiny slice so thought it was a rip off and didn't pick those. Their orange was quite big compared to other place, it also looked juicy, boyfriend said it was not bad. The tempura were tiny bit crispy but not really, maybe we didn't eat it till the end but then normally it should still be crispy. They had a tempur brocolli, I've never seen that before. It had the brocolli taste and it was on the mushy side. I didn't really like that.

Overall, we thought it was not bad for the price, we'll come back again.

Chicko Chicken Review

I wanted to try this chicken place but boyfriend wanted donair. I thought we weren't gonna eat this but we got it because he knows I wanted to try, thanks.

This place opened not long ago, quite small in there. Everyone was getting take out, no space to eat. It takes about 15-20 minutes. A little long but at least you know it's fresh.

We got the yangyeom, sweet and spicy ($12.50), comes with a small portion of radish.

The spiciness flavour was a bit different compared to other Korean fried chicken place. I think it was more on the spicy side than sweet. The sauce was quite sticky. Each piece were ok size, still had the crunch with the sauce. It was soft and juicy inside.

Overall, it was really good but I think for that price they could give a bit more than that. We will come back again.

Mr.Greek Donair Review

Boyfriend wanted to try this place but he knows I may not like it because of the sauce and stuff. I didn't mind trying since I've never had a donair before. When we got there, there was a couple eating in the corner and a few people getting take out. We got take out as well. People were ok but they don't look happy.

We got the lamb donair ($9 something). When we were watching the guy put everything into the wrap like pocket we thought he wasn't putting in a lot of toppings. Then we realized he went to stuff a bunch of lamb into it. Then they grill it for a bit. The size was actually ok big.

I don't eat lamb but this was actually ok. My first bite, I could taste the cumin flavour that I like. The lamb wasn't really lamb texture. I feel like they grounded the lamb up, put it together and slice it. The sauce and stuff were actually ok. I read online that they add this green sauce that has parsley and stuff in it, I thought I won't like but it was actually ok. The whole thing wasn't dry and at the end the sauce wet the bottom of the donair.

Overall, it was not bad for the price. It was flavourful. We will go back again.

Cactus Club Review

I don't know when we the last time I had cactus club. We got it because brother's girlfriend was healthcare worker and there were dishes for $12.75 each, thanks.

Boyfriend and I got cheddar burger and the tuna poke bowl. I got the poke bowl because it was the most expensive on the menu normally. I guess because it had raw tuna in it?

I thought the poke bowl was pretty good. The avocado made it very creamy and the sauce (ginger sesame) was pretty good, it was just right, not overly spicy from the ginger, enough saltiness to it. The mango was a bit sour to me but it was ok with everything else. The tuna seems fresh, boyfriend thought they had quite a bit of tuna on it. The radish were soso to me. There were also cucumbers in it. Not as much variety compared to actual poke place but it was quite good for a normal restaurant. The bowl didn't look a lot but it was quite filling, I was getting full half way of it.

The cheddar burger, boyfriend said it was juicy. I just thought it had a strong beef taste. The fries were really good, better than what we had at pajo's. If you are more of a big eater I think the burgers would be better because they were quite big, everyone was very full from the meal.

Overall, not bad for the price. Usually you would think that take out is not as good as eating in but this was not bad. I guess because most of the food we ordered is ok to eat with it's not smoking hot. Will come back again but will start trying other stuff again soon.

Pajos Review

Haven't had this for awhile. Decided to get it since boyfriend likes fish and chips. They have a buy one get one free coupon for birthday. The place had plexi glass but none of the workers inside was wearing any masks or face shield.

We got 2 2 piece cod and chips ($14.75). Which was a good deal.

The fries were soso and kind of burnt tasting. Very dry and no taste if you don't put ketchup and salt on.

The fish was not bad. The batter made it very crispy.

It was very filling, we didn't finish all the fries, took it home.

Overall, a bit soso but not bad for the price. A bit pricey without the birthday coupon. Will come again for birthday.

Romilano Pizza

Decided to order pizza takeout. I've been looking at this place for awhile because boyfriend likes those fire type of oven pizza. If you order online, you get 10% off. You pay when you get there.

The place wasn't very big. There were a few seats facing the window. The woman was nice. When we got in, she asked if it was take out. She didn't ask for name or anything so I guess we were the only one taking out? Or maybe because I added a time on it so she knows?

The pizza was already made and sitting in a warmer inside a box. We ordered the half and half and you can only order XL for it. We got the meat lover and capicola mushroom ($27 something with tax). The size was good but we wished they would cut them up smaller. Each piece was very big, if cut smaller than everyone can try everything.

The capicola mushroom, at first I didn't want to try because it has mushroom and I think 2 types of cheese on it. I poured ketchup on top so I don't taste too much of the cheese. Dig mushroom off but there was still some under the meat so I ate it. I actually like the pizza. The capicola was spicy so it gave it a medium kick. My family and I thought the crust was super chewy, hard to chew on. Other than that it was not bad.

I didn't eat the meat lover and I choose that one. I just picked this sausage and meat off of boyfriend's to try. He said it was good, parents thought it was salty. I'm guessing it's the preserved meat? There was a type of sausage on it that had a lot of spices in it, maybe that was salty.

It came with this white sauce and it was actually pretty good. It goes well with the pizza. I don't know how to describe the taste but it's like those salad dressing but not as tangy as those.

Overall, not bad except the crust. Maybe because we didn't eat until 2 hours later so it made it so chewy? We also heated it in the microwave so maybe it soften it? Will buy again and see if it's still that chewy.

Pho Khang Review

Someone decided to take me here for our rare weekday dinner. We were the only ones there for awhile. A few people came in after. Most of them were skip the dishes people. The service was ok, nothing special. The woman that works there was so loud, almost sounds like yelling. The blender that they use was also really loud.

We ordered the house special pho ($9.75) and the house special vermicelli ($9.75), thanks.

They came ok fast and size was not bad. Normally pho comes with raw bean sprouts. What I like about this place is they cooked the bean sprouts a bit so it’s not raw but not fully cooked. I think all places should do that. There were 2 types of beef in it, beef balls, tripes and tendon. Not a lot of each but enough. I thought the flavour was pretty good without adding anything in it. The noodle had enough flavour which was good. I thought the noodle was cooked a bit too long, breaks easily.

The vermicelli bowl, tried the spring roll and it was crispy, the filling was ok but had enough flavour to it. The chicken was not bad too, tasted almost like a lemongrass chicken. It was yellow coloured so not sure if normal flavoured chicken or what kind of chicken. One thing I didn’t like was the raw bean sprouts in it.

Overall, it’s considered one of the cheaper pho these days. The size was not bad for the price and service was fast if you are in a rush. We would come back again and it’s close to home.

Umai Savoury Review

I wanted to try this place but then one hot dog is like $8 so never went. Saw a Groupon so decided to go try. It was empty when we went but a few people came in to eat after. They bring the food to your table. There isn’t any service, you clean up after yourself.

We ordered the Honolulu bang bang combo, Houston honcho combo ($8.49+$4 each) and the house fries ($6.49). Groupon was $17 worth of $30 food. Had to pay $3.05 extra.

The Honolulu bang bang, I guess it was polish sausage, the girl didn’t ask me to pick turkey or polish. The toppings were bacon bites, pineapple and onions. I didn’t like the onions because they were too and raw. Quite like the pineapple in it. The bacon were a bit on the harder side. We thought it was difficult to eat the sausage and the topping together because it was quite big in 1 bite. The buns were normal buns to me although I’ve read some people thought the bread was really good. I mean it is soft but seems normal to me. There was a hoisin sauce which was quite nice in it but I think they can add a bit more sauce to it.

Houston honcho was like a chili cheese dog, really. It was not bad, it had that nice chili flavour (I think my homemade chili tastes better). The sausage was beef sausage which tasted like a normal beef sausage.

I thought their hot dogs would be small but the size is actually ok, it was as big as my hand spread out.

The fries that came with the combo was small but not bad. Their fries were actually quite good. Definitely well seasoned with pepper and salt. It wasn’t really crispy but nice fries texture. You can pretty much eat it without dipping ketchup or any sauce.

The house fries were not bad too. Pretty much regular fries but added special sauce on top. I’m guessing they used some kind of spicy mayo and some other sauce on it. It had a nice kick to it which was really good. The bottom layer had drizzles of dark brown sauce, not sure what it was. The size was ok but could have given us more for the price.

Overall, not bad, I would come back again. I would come back for their fries but not their hot dogs though. Their hot dogs were just soso. Definitely not worth the regular price, get Groupon. They also give out stamp cards and there is a promo, buy one get one free. Might use that for their fries next time. Those fries were good.

Uno Beef Noodle Review

Decided to come here for a friend’s birthday. It was quiet when we got in but got more and more people after. The service wasn’t that great. I think only one waitress was nice and said thank you and enjoy. The rest of the crew don’t talk and thought they had bad customer service skills. The place looks exactly the same as the previous restaurant.

We ordered the pork hock ramen noodle ($12.50), spicy chicken nuggets rice ($12.50) and the beef slices in Chinese pancake ($8.35).

The pork hock noodle was just soso to me. I thought the ramen noodle was over cooked and the soup didn’t taste good at all. It wasn’t normal beef noodle soup taste, I’m not sure how to describe it. The pork hock were not bad, well flavoured. I’m not sure what they marinated it in but it was all black. It had a slight tangy taste and had a really smelly breath after eating it. The pork hocks were ok soft, not that hard to chew. The size was not bad.

I tried a few of the spicy chicken nuggets and I thought they were not bad, specially when it first came to the table. It had a crispy flavoured outside and a soft juicy texture inside. It was comparable to the food court on in Aberdeen. Food court is still cheaper though. It wasn’t spicy to me though.

Not sure what the pancake one taste like but I guess it was good if my friend didn’t complain about it.

Overall, it was ok but don’t think I would come again. Maybe bring boyfriend to try their chicken nuggets?

Wang Ji Asian Cuisine Review

Saw this place online and boyfriend usually likes hot pot so decided to go try it. There were a few tables of people when we got there and people coming in and out during the whole time we were there. I thought it would be dead because of the virus. Service was ok, that woman was quite nice but she forgot to give us the drinks that came with our meals, she did apologize.

We ordered the special beef brisket noodle with thick noodle ($12.95) and the Laksa seafood hotpot ($17.50). Both meal came with peach green tea or something green tea.

I had to pick the beef noodle because it was either beef or wonton. They should have more meat options for their noodle. The bowl was huge but there weren’t that much stuff in it. There were like 5 piece of beef brisket. The beef was a bit chewy to us. I thought it would be soft and the melt in your mouth feeling. The flavour was not bad, it was like normal beef noodle soup taste but on the lighter side. The noodle actually had some flavour, I thought it would be hard for thick noodle to soak up flavour. Some of the noodle was stuck together but it’s normal.

The hot pot actually had quite a few things in it. Most hot pot places but mostly cooked or half cooked food in it but this one, the seafood was still raw. I guess they don’t want them to be over cooked? There were lots of different types of fish balls stuff and tons of veggie. Not that much seafood, 2 mussels, 3 shrimps and some clams. Boyfriend said they should have removed the head of the shrimps because the water in it squeezed out onto him. They should have a choice of rice or noodle that comes with the hot pot. It only comes with rice so you will have to order the noodle with extra cost.

Overall, we thought it was ok but probably never again. The taste and size were ok but not a lot of choices, especially the noodle, all beef… What if people don’t eat beef but wants to eat noodle, doesn’t make sense. We thought the hot pot were on pricey side but most hot pot places are around that price nowadays.

Kaneko Hannosuke Review

This place is still new so decided to come try. Before trying I’ve seen not so good reviews and my brother did tell me that people said it’s not good. I still want to try since everyone’s taste is different. And I understand why people think it’s not good, keep reading, you will find out. The place wasn’t very big, it was packed when we got there, good thing they had a table so we didn’t have to wait. When we finished, we noticed there were people waiting at the door and outside, kind of crazy. I also didn’t know they had a bar area at the back until later. Their washroom, looked like a normal wall which was interesting, you have to push open. Service was ok.

Anyways, we ordered the special tempura bowl ($15.95) and the premium ($18.95).

The bowl wasn’t that big but ok, it looked fancy. I decided to take the tempura off the bowl and put them on the plate. When I touched it with the chopsticks, I already knew why people thought it wasn’t that great. It was NOT CRISPY! It’s a tempura restaurant but your tempura are not crispy. How is that even possible? I think it’s because they added the sauce onto it so the crispiness is gone? Some part still had a crisp but most didn’t. The 2 best things that I liked were the fish and prawns, the flavour was quite good on those. The scallop one was ok too. I thought the egg, 2 green beans and seaweed was a waste of our money.

The rice was normal but quite good with the sauce. There was only a bite of sauce at the bottom which I thought was not enough. It was quite dry near the end. They should have sauce or something else to dip in on the side like the ones in Japan. The sauce taste was not bad.

There were instruction on how to eat the whole bowl. You eat some tempura than some rice and leave the egg until the end. We didn’t follow, I stirred the egg in the beginning. I think I understand why they said leave the egg till the end. The rice were quite dry at the end, the egg is soft boiled so still very yolky, it will coat the rice and make it moist.

They gave radish and ginger as sides and it’s refillable. I was thinking if it is, why don’t you give us more in the first place. The ginger were those sushi ginger and the radish was sour.

They had that 7 spice pepper and we were trying to figure out how to open it and the man from next table told us to pull this circle stick part out. It was one weird design. I don’t think I would have figured it out on my own since I’ve never experienced one before.

Overall, don’t waste your money, I wouldn’t come back again and they gave out stamp cards. Save your money to try one in Japan. I’ve tried something similar in Japan but only the tempura, not with rice. I felt like I paid a lot of money just for a bowl of rice. With that price, they should have put more tempura, how much does it cost them?

Poke 88 Review

Boyfriend wanted to eat at the food court so we were looking around and saw this place. They have this anniversary sale, 25% off and it looked ok price so decided to try. The stale looked so simple and I guess the gals there were ok but she didn’t say thank you. There were forms that we can fill to build our own. I kind of like that more than the normal poke places where you pick on the spot. When you pick on the spot, you feel very somewhat pressured. You don’t want to take too long to hold up the line or something so the paper way was good.

We build our own ($11.95+25% or something), thanks. A base, 2 proteins, 8 toppings, 2 garnish and 2 sauces. All pokes comes with miso soup.

They made the poke look quite nice, very colourful. They gave only a tiny spoonful of each topping but somehow looked a lot already. The taste was not bad but I wish they had a little bit more sauce. It was enough but more sauce is always better. It had a little kick to it which we liked. The size was ok and we just shared one as lunch. The brown rice was had a texture to it so more chewing.

The miso soup, the miso flavour was strong but light in taste. It was good, not bad.

Overall, we both liked it. I would go back again. Probably the cheaper poke I’ve ever ordered so far. Most poke places are quite pricey. They had ok choices of toppings to pick from, pretty much the same as other poke place.

Tiny One Review

I always pass by this place but never went to try. Decided to try their lunch since it’s a much better deal than their regular menu, way cheaper. It was empty when we got there. I guess because of the coronavirus so people are staying away from these Asian malls? I think we ate for a good hour or so and people started coming in. I guess people were done church or something and decided to come eat? The service was ok. I find it weird how the waiter stood near us the whole time, it was so weird. He stood there when we were looking at the menu and when we were eating. Like the place was dead already, could he maybe stand somewhere where we can’t see him? Give us some space.

Anyways, we ordered the spicy chicken and the tomatoe beef ($11.95-12.95?). Their lunch special was a better deal, reasonable price and it comes with a drink too.

The spicy chicken looked so spicy when he brought it over. I spent most of the time picking red pepper and black pepper out of the bowl. It wasn’t that spicy but it made my nose run bad. The spicy smell made me sneeze a few times. I wonder if people thought I have the virus? There were a few pieces of chicken in it and the taste was not bad, enough flavour. There were a lot of potatoes and they were very flavoured and soft, I liked them. A few random food that I wasn’t sure what it was but they had the felt in your mouth texture and also very flavoured. The noodle were the normal round noodle which I like. I thought the portion was quite good for the price. I didn’t feel full but it was enough. They put the hot bowl in this black plastic thing and we thought it looked like a toilet. I know they did that so we don’t burn ourselves.

The tomatoe one had a strong tomatoe taste to it. Boyfriend said it was like a tomatoe soup. He gave me a piece of beef to try but it was full of fat, didn’t like it.

Overall, I thought it was not bad for the price and tasted quite good. I would come again but only for lunch. Regular price is too expensive.

Micha Review

Heard about this place from a friend. It’s still own by the old restaurant which is Strike I believe. They just did a renovation and renamed the place. The place looks much better but I find their big tables a waste of space. They could have used smaller tables and move them according to the number of people. It was ok busy with the coronavirus going on. Service was ok but we had to ask for the bill.

Anyways, we ordered the chicken nugget noodle and the house special pork noodle or something ($11.95 each or something?), thanks.

The chicken nuggets were soso to me. It was crispy but a bit light in taste, not as salty. I’ve had better chicken nuggets elsewhere. The noodle was very plain, tasted plain. There were lots of bean sprouts. They didn’t even put any veggie in it like other places do. The size was ok, I thought they could have given us more chicken nuggets.

The pork noodle was not bad to me. The taste was quite good, enough flavour and has a little kick to it. The soup looked thick when they served it but slowly turned watery. I thought they had quite a bit of toppings in it. They didn’t chop up the pork though, a big piece all together.

Overall, I thought it was just soso, I’ve had better elsewhere. No, don’t think I would go again.

Tang Vietnamese Review

They changed name so I thought it was a new restaurant, decided to go try. It wasn’t really new, they still use old menu but changed the name on it and the interior was renovated to look a bit more modern and nice. I remember they used to look like a typical Chinese yum cha restaurant.

Service was ok to me but my friend thought the guy was not very good. They reserved these tables for a big group and friend asked if we can sit there, guy said no unless if we eat really fast. Then a manager or someone came out and asked how many and he pointed and asked if the window seats were ok.

Anyways, I ordered the house special ($10.50) and friend got take out, thanks.

I thought my noodle was kind of small but whatever. The taste was pretty normal, I’ve had better than that. There were few slices of beef, 2 tripes and some beef balls. The noodle breaks so easily, I feel like they over cooked it.

Overall, it’s ok but I won’t come back again.

C Prime Review

Decided to try this place since their menu this year was ok. The place was quite nice, good for a romantic date. We were seated on these half circle life couches. It was ok big in there. The service was good but the whole night I thought the old man waiter didn't like me. He didn't even look at me once, felt like he is against Chinese or something, maybe because it's the coronavirus time?

Anyways, we both got the dine out ($35). I had the soup, pasta and chocolate dessert. Friend got the pumpkin farrotto, flounder fish and chocolate.

I thought my soup was not bad. Light tangy tomatoe soup, didn't feel heavy or filling like most Western soup (blended type). Tortellini were alright. I've never tried them before, it tasted like a thick floured pasta with a bit of filling. Not sure what the fillings were, hope not cheese.

I thought the farrotto looked like a risotto. Forgot what she said about the flavour.

The pasta was octopus ink, yes, it made my lips black again. It tasted quite nice though. They used some kind of lobster sauce and I thought tasted quite nice with the pasta. It was creamy but not sure how to describe the taste. There were quite a few tiny shrimps and scallops.

I tried a bit of the flounder, it tasted quite fishy to me but friend liked it.

The chocolate dessert was so good, very chocolatey. It was like a mousse cake with a salted caramel centre and some on the side. It was very smooth and didn't feel filling. There were these crumbs, the taste reminded me of something but don't recall. The bourbon gelato was pretty good. Didn't taste like alcohol, almost like a vanilla ice cream with some flavouring.

Overall, I thought it was worth the price. The taste was quite good. I may come back again.

Blue Sky Japanese Bistro Review

Decided to try this place, somewhere close to the museums. It was dead in there when we got in. Then people started coming in to eat. Service was ok but the woman didn’t thank me when I paid.

We ordered the dynamite roll combo ($11ish) and the box A ($11ish, no menu online and forgot price).

The size looked ok for both. The dynamite roll said 20 pieces but there were 24 pieces. Boyfriend said it just depends on how many cuts they make, which is true. To me, their sushi were just soso, I’ve had better. If I had to pick the best, I would pick the spicy salmon because the spicy sauce gave it flavour. The yam and dynamite roll didn’t really have much taste to it. I’ve tried places where their yam and dynamite roll were very crispy from the tempura batter. This was not crispy at all. Their batter was very different, on the thicker side. Dynamite roll, they overcooked the shrimp or something. The texture was almost like chewing on meat. Normally the tempura shrimps have a crispy outer and a super soft texture inside.

Box A was alright. The teriyaki chicken was still tender and was good with the sauce. The cali roll was good. The tempura batter was the same as what I said above. Same with the shrimp texture.

Miso soup was like normal miso soup, not overly salty.

Overall, it was ok but I won’t come again. We choose this place because it was close to where we wanted to go, not because we thought it was good to try.

LA Chicken Review

Boyfriend wanted to get my family something for lunch. He said this place is quite good and always a line up. I've never tried it so sure. It's not very big in there, most people get take out. I understand why there is always a line up, there is only one person working pretty much. There was another guy but he fries the chicken at the back. The front guy runs in and out, takes orders and packs the chicken.

We got the family combo with 12 pieces of chicken, family size fries and a medium gravy ($31), thanks. We wanted spicy but they ran out.

They actually gave us more than 12 pieces of chicken, 16 of them. The chicken wasn't as crispy as church's and it was smaller. Batter was very thin. The skin was very flavoured but the meat wasn't as flavoured. Had to dip in the gravy. Their gravy was very different compared to church's. It was much thicker and tasted different, not sure how to describe. It's not bad though.

The fries were skinny fries. Texture was just right, nice soft centre. Not super crispy and I thought it had a oily taste to it.

Overall, not bad but I think I still like church's more. No line up, big and cheaper.

Timber Review

Decided to come here for dine out. We joked about the restaurant name, changed it to tinder. The place was ok full when we got there, most of the people were there to drink. The service was ok, our server was a bit slow, maybe just busy?

We both had the soup of the day, miso squash. The main, shepherd's pie and bison stew. Dessert, pudding and chocolate peanut butter mousse cup. We didn't know the dessert had to add $4 each, didn't see anything about that on the menu but that's ok. I rather have something better than ice cream. ($15 each +$4 each).

The soup was actually not bad but not super good. It had a stronger miso taste to it than squash. the soup was thick but smooth.

The shepherd's pie looked like it had a marshmallow top but it's mashed potatoe. There were different veggie underneath. The taste was a bit lighter but not bad. I liked this more than the stew.

Boyfriend liked the stew more because it had a meatier taste to it. I think I didn't like that bison taste, almost like a beef. The veggie were very soft from the stew. The bison tasted like normal beef to me. It came with a bread that looks like a battered fish or chicken. It does taste like fried fish. I guess they used the same batter.

The dessert, our favourite. The peanut butter one was like a reese cup. Didn't have as much of a peanut butter taste as I wanted. It was more on the chocolate side. It was a mousse with a hard layer of chocolate on the outside. There were some peanut butter pieces and little crunchy balls on top but wasn't crunchy. The chocolate ice cream had a nice chocolate taste.

The pudding was almost like a pancake, very soft. It's almost like a cake that's really wet. Had a nice sweet taste to it. The walnut ice cream was very good too. Goes well with the warm pudding cup, hot and cold.

Overall, not bad, we both liked it and thought it was worth $19. Will think about coming back again. It was very filling, haven't had a filling dine out for awhile now.

Viet Sub Review

The place we wanted to go to was full and have to wait for an hour so we decided to try thurs place instead. Seriously, which place makes you wait for an hour? This place isn't that big and it was empty ish when we got there. Then more and more people came in and it was full. The service was good. But we waited so long till they brought over the bill. We had to ask them for it.

We ordered the special pork noodle($12), bbq sub ($6ish?) and a lemongrass chicken salad roll ($4?), thanks.

The noodle was quite good, enough flavor but not sure if they add msg because I was ok thirsty after. The noodle was just right and it soaked enough of the soup flavour. There were a few toppings, 3 shrimp, 2 squid roll like thing, 3 imitation crab and 3 special pork. The pork was like cha sui, not much flavor. I wish there were more fat to it because the texture wasn't that soft. The bean sprouts cooked ok well in the soup and also soaked up the flavour.

The sub, I tried a bit, it didn't have much flavour to me, I guess I ate the part with no sauce. I like how they use marinated veggie, those are always good. To me, it was a little dry but ok.

I didn't try the salad roll because there were raw bean sprouts in it. I think I've only been to one restaurant where they don't put bean sprouts at all.

Overall, not bad, the noodle was good with nice flavour. Would maybe come back again but tons of pho out there to try.

Afuri Review

There were posts about this place opening for super long and they finally opened. I read quite a few reviews and it sounded so bad. To me, it’s not that bad. At first I thought the whole group has to be there then we get to be seated because people were saying how they had to wait outside. Not true, my friend got there a bit early and got seats for us. They just seated us weirdly (one line and not facing each other) because there weren’t any spots left.

What’s true, self serve. There were 2 or 3 machines in there, near the door and inside the restaurant somewhere. You order what you want on the machine and pay for it there. Just think of it like a McDonald’s kiosk ordering. You get your own cold/hot water. At least they had hot water, some places just serve tap water. You get your own utensils if needed.

Another true, service was good. One girl was very nice when we asked if we could switch spots. Although we didn’t get to switch, she was still very nice and she tried. The waitresses were having trouble finding table numbers because we had to take a table number after we order and put it on the table or somewhere visible for them. I heard one waitress asked her coworkers, did you find it?

Anyways, we ordered 4 different ramens, not sure exactly what they were ($16-$17 each) and gyoza ($10), thanks girls!

My yuzu tsuyu tsukemen was not bad. I was expecting it to be a small bowl from reviews. It wasn’t too small or too big but would be better to have a bigger size for that price. At first I thought that wasn’t a lot of sauce on the side to dip but it was ok. I dumped it in instead of sipping one by one, make it easier. The sauce had a slight yuzu taste to it, I think they may have used the yuzu oil or something. It was not overly salty which was nice, somewhat refreshing taste. I think they bowl would be good for summer. The bamboo wasn’t marinated to me, had a bamboo taste. The egg was nicely done, not raw or over cooked. The pork belly meat looked hard to chew at first but it was ok texture. It would be better if they were softer and melts in my mouth. The noodle did soak up the flavour and they used the thicker type of ramen for this bowl. The texture of the noodle was just right to me, not too soft.

I tried a bit of the spicy ramen, it was ok, not too spicy and had a tang to it. They used thin noodle for the ramen in soup. I wanted to get that one but I wasn’t feeling well. I like my choice though.

The gyoza weren’t that good to me and they say they have good gyoza. I wouldn’t waste money to try it. When it came I thought it looked tiny for $10 and there were only 8. It wasn’t as crispy as I expected from the look, it seemed soggy. I don’t think it was pan fried enough. The wrapper was sticky not hard and crispy like well cooked gyoza. The filling was normal to me, nothing that wow me at all.

Overall, taste of my ramen was not bad but I think their food items were a bit overpriced. It’s just ramen, you don’t have to charge more than minimum wage for one bowl. Definitely don’t get the gyoza, waste of money.

The washroom was quite nice, don’t know if they did any reno to it after Dazzling but I feel they didn’t.

Fortune Terrace Review

I hardly go yum cha and if I do I normally go to cheap ones. This was one of the pricey restaurant but also fancy. Service was alright.

We ordered the bbq pork bun ($8.80), turnip cake in japanese style ($6.80), truffle lobster crispy rice roll ($9.80), Q pig egg young bun ($8.80), steamed shrimp scallops dumpling ($9.80) and steamed truffle shui mai ($8.90). All names are based on their menu.

The best ones to me were the pig buns because I always love those kind of buns. The filling isn't the best over had before. We usually buy these frozen packaged ones from superstore and they taste very good. This one was not bad but the filling wasn't as strong as what I normally eat. The bun was very soft. Be very careful when you eat it because it will burn your mouth.

The next one would probably be the turnip cake. I always have those at home as well so I normally won't order it. They put a lot of powder into it because it was stiff. It was flavoured enough. I also like how its deep fried. It came with a wasabi mayo, no wonder it's called japanese style.

Then the lobster rice roll. It was very different compared to normal rice rolls. I couldn't really taste the rice roll "skin" itself. I believe it has no flavour but they used something for the colour. It had this green crispy layer. It's like the same one they used as a bowl for the turnip cakes. The filling was almost like a sui mai or shrimp dumpling. It had a dip, like a light taste soy sauce.

Their sui mai weren't that great to me but they just added the black truffle on it. I've had better and bigger sui mai than that.

The shrimp dumpling was a bit different to me. Like the filling is the same but they put in this leaf thing. Not sure what kind of herb it is but I didn't like it. I think I like the normal traditional shrimp dumpling more. There was an odd one with scallop. I'm nots sure why they had to do that. It's the same as the shrimp dumplings but the wrapper was shaped like a flower and there was a scallop on top.

The bbq pork bun was super normal. I think we should have gotten another fancy bun for that price. But it was not bad. The filling taste just like normal bbq pork buns, enough flavour.

Overall, not bad and some were unique. Probably won't come back again because it is ok pricey. If you go as a group, I guess the price is ok? Definitely not that filling. That's why I hardly go yum cha. Expensive and not filling. Worth a try and IG worthy.

Gyu King Teppanyaki Review

Someone decided to take me to this place. When we got there it was empty since they just opened. Then it got more and more crowded. Service was ok but near the end I felt like they were trying to kick us out asap... They asked if we were ready for ice cream when I was still working on my rice. They brought the bill over before we were done. We waited for someone to bring us a card machine but no one came.

Our chef wore a mask and I was wondering why. I didn't know they announced this morning that a 40 year old man got coronavirus. Other asian chefs has masks on too.

Anyways, it was a 11 course menu they stated but it was more like 11 item menu. If you are a big eater this might not be enough for you. I didn't get that super full feeling from it.

First they served salad and a crab miso soup or something. The salad was not bad, had a tangy taste from the mayo and saltiness from the soy sauce. The crab miso soup was like normal miso soup and the crab was just for show, nothing to eat. They should at least put some crab meat in the soup or something, not shell.

Then the chef cooked a lobster. If was alright but that is a tiny lobster. Not a lot of flavour but there were 3 sauces you can dip, lemon, sesame and ketchup. The lemon one doesn't have much flavour to it. We both loked the sesame one, probably the best of all. I think they add ginger to it and soy sauce. The ketchup one was not like normal ketchup, had a stronger tang to it.

Then he cooked up some shrimps, scallops and fish. They were all cooked well. I'm not a shrimp person but I thought the shrimps were cooked quite nice. It was still bouncy and didn't have that shrimp taste I don't like. The scallop was nicely cooked with that caramelized look. The fish was not bad, wasn't overly cooked so the meat was still very soft.

He asked how cooked for the beef, someone said medium rare. The beef was still very soft and taste ok, didn't have that super beefy taste. The beef rolls were unique. He pan fried one side and put fried garlic and onion in the middle of the beef slices. Then he rolled it up. I thought that was interesting and maybe I can try making that too. Doesn't look hard. The beef rolls didn't have a super strong garlic and onion taste although he put in quite a bit. I did have the onion after taste for awhile though.

The veggie dish, I thought they could have made it into something else. I feel like that veggie dish isn't worth the price. It tasted ok. I thought it would be ok hard since he didn't really cook it for long. It's hard but not super hard to chew. I had to add the lemon sauce on it as a dressing.

The fried rice was not bad, it had enough flavour but I added some sesame sauce on it. Just felt like a normal fried rice.

Last but not least, ice cream. We got a mango and matcha. Definitely from the tubs. The mango taste fake. I thought the matcha was not bad.

Overall, it's alright. I thought the whole thing went by so fast. To be honest, I think it's ok pricey for the amount of food you get. Maybe the lobster is expensive but not sure. We got the Groupon as a gift so I guess it was ok.

Someone was not happy when he read "someone". So, thank you boyfriend!