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!

Ember Review

Someone wanted to try this place last time but I forgot why we didn't. They have a dine out menu so decided to go try. I thought it was in Steveston but it's like almost 30 minutes walk from Steveston. It's located in a somewhat quiet area to me. They should open right in Steveston. When I entered the place, I thought it was nicely decorated. There were a few tables with people but not filled.

We ordered the chicken curry and lamb burger ($15 each), thanks.

The chicken curry was ok size to me. It came with salad, rice and naan. There naan looked different to me, maybe other places makes them a bit more burnt looking. I liked this one though since I don't like the burnt taste. Some parts were crispy but most were soft. The rice was normal basmati rice. The salad was a bit dry, I ate a bit and told someone to eat it all. There was this orange oil on it but we couldn't figure out what it was. It had a sweet taste to it. They need to put more dressing on it. I guess people eat it with the curry.

The curry was quite good, enough flavour and not overly spicy. We got to chose how spicy, at first the guy said spicy or very spicy then he said mild or regular. I thought that guy had some humor. The chicken, I believe breast, texture was soso but it wasn't over cooked or hard to eat. It was ok soft. Maybe they can use other parts of the chicken?

The lamb burger, after we ordered the girl said it's sold out and someone was disappointed. Then the guy comes out and say we actually just ran out of buns. If you like we can use naan instead. Someone was fine with that so they made us a lamb naan burger which was quite unique. Someone thought it's not super grilled where you see grill marks on the patty. Someone prefers it that way and the patty was still juicy. I tried a bit, it was ok, I didn't like the lamb taste but it was alright. The fries were crispy and had a soft centre. Someone thinks the fries were from actual potatoes and not premade ones.

It also came with a dessert, the girl said it's rice pudding. Someone thought it doesn't seem like a dessert. I said it is to them. I was soso with the rice pudding, it had a light sweet taste to it and the rice was very soft, almost like a congee. They added some kind of herb or spice to it. It's interesting, I've had something similar before at this festival.

Overall, not bad for the price. Yes, would come back again.

Black Ball Review

We were looking for a place to eat for dessert and I've never tried this place so decided to go. BAD CHOICE! it's like a self serve place and it's super pricey for such a small thing. There is a better place that sells the same type of desseet in the same mall. Don't waste your money here. Plus, it was very quiet in there.

We ordered the blackball anni tofu ($8.95), Logan, red date ($9ish and purple rice drink ($6.25), thanks.

When we got the stuff we all thought it was super small for the price. Like SUPER small. Okay, fine. I took the first bite of the taro square like thing, ew, so powdery. It doesn't even taste like traditional taro balls. Same with the yam one (yellow rectangle, square one). The "sweet soup" was just plain tea, no sweetness to it. I was expecting an actually sweet soup but no. The red beans and pearl were probably the best thing in that bowl. The tofu pudding had no sweetness to it. It tasted like plain tofu. The whole thing was horrible together. It was almost like a bubble tea in a bowl.

The logan red date one was a bit better but I thought it had such a strong red date taste to it, a bit weird. It was ok sweet. There were quite a few logan in it and 2 red dates. There were these clear jelly in it, not sure if it was aiyu jelly or what. Doesn't have taste to it. Then there were these brown pearls, they tasted more like red date jelly to me. Friends thought that was the best thing in this bowl.

The drink, friends described it as meat taste. To me it still has that purple rice taste to it but I'm not sure what the taste is really like. One said it was powdery. Friend ended up chucking it away.

Overall, not good, not what I expected. I would never come back again. Totally not worth the price.

Lollipot Review

I heard about this place from a friend and decided to go try. I looked online and saw that they have a better deal for lunch so went instead of dinner. The service was ok. Few tables were filled with people and then after a bit the whole place was filled. It’s not that big in there but ok. It used to be this bubble tea place. I guess they partnered up or just added the hot pot line.

We ordered the Thai green curry ($15.95) and the cumin lamb ($15.55), comes with rice/crystal noodle (free) and another for extra charge. Lunch special -$1 for each pot, 1 drink each (back/green/winter melon). Thanks.

The Thai curry had a strong coconut smell when they brought it over but I couldn’t really taste it. The soup base was actually spicy, maybe that’s why I couldn’t taste anything else? The soup had enough flavour but not enough for the toppings (just spicy). Had to dip in soya sauce. I think the soya sauce had a garlic smell to it but couldn’t taste it. I thought the soya sauce was mild flavoured so dipping it and not dipping it was almost the same. There was also a spicy sauce but mine was already spicy so no thanks.

The topping amount was ok. The pork was a bit over cooked so a bit hard to eat. When they brought the pot out it was already cooked and they heat up the pot for a bit too so it became over cooked. I guess eat the pork/meat first. There were a few different types of fish balls which were good. The only one I didn’t like too much was the sui mai looking one, it was very flour texture, very fake. There were some tofu puffs which were good because it soaks up the soup. There was a quail egg at the bottom which I found at the end. I added in the crystal noodle when I was half done, the noodle couldn’t soak up the soup flavour so it only had a slight flavour to it.

Moving on, cumin lamb, very cumin which I like but I thought the soup base was a bit light. The lamb didn’t have that super strong lamb taste to me which was good. It had a lot of the same toppings as mine. There was a fish ball which filling, it was fish roe which taste quite good.

Overall, lunch deal was not bad. Don’t think I would come again. I think boiling point is better, at least the flavour and the sauces.

Gyoza Bar Review

The place we wanted to try only opens on weekday which is a bit weird but ok. So we decided to try this place. It has been on my list for awhile. The place was dark but not super dark like pubs. It was ok size in there. Service was alright.

I didn’t know they had a dine out lunch. I think I saw their name on the list but never clicked into it.

We ordered the spicy chicken miso ($14.50) and the dine out lunch ($15).

The spicy chicken miso was not bad. The colour looked yummy. The soup had a nice miso taste with a little kick to it, not overly spicy like those Korean noodle. I thought the chicken would be like slices but it was grounded up. There were some corn at the bottom which were sweet. The ramen were the thin type and the texture was good. The egg, I thought it would be like the normal jelly centre ones like normal places but no. The centre was still raw, which I don’t like. Now I realized there weren’t a lot of toppings compared to other ramen places.

The dine out lunch had a rice bowl, almost like a poke. There were tuna in it, almost like can tuna with mayo. There were veggies on it. There was also a salad on the side. The salad tasted green as usual. They put these grounded tofu on top, I asked someone if it was tofu or cheese. Someone said felt like he has 2 salads. There was a poached egg, I told someone to add it in his rice, might be better than just eating it like that. It also comes with a miso soup which had a nice miso taste, not overly salty kind of taste.

Overall, I thought my ramen was a bit pricey with like almost no toppings but the taste was not bad. The dine out lunch, I thought it was ok price for everything. That one bowl of rice probably cost around $15 on its own. May come back for their gyoza but don’t know.

Potelicious Review

Someone saw this place and wanted to try. We went before and they close on Mondays and Tuesdays. Quite a few people were buying from that stall.

We ordered the fried chicken with rice ($10.49) and the beef noodle ($11.99), thanks.

The fried chicken rice looked ok size for the price. The chicken were quite good. Thin batter and slightly crispy, nicely flavoured and not overly salty. Every piece were ok big. The Taiwanese sausage was surprising good. We both liked it. It had a sweetness to it which was interesting. I wish they gave more of it and not just one for that price. The egg was marinated but very light in the marinated taste. There were 2 broccolis and some veggies on the bottom. I wish they put more of the preserved veggie because those are good with rice.

The beef noodle was soso to me and looks small for the price. I thought the taste was very different compared to other places. I don’t really need how to describe it but someone said it was more tangy. It had a tiny kick to the soup. The noodle was ok texture but I didn’t like the soup flavour that it soaked. The beef wasn’t really marinated like other places but super soft. It goes really well with this spicy sauce on their counter.

Overall, not bad. I would recommend the chicken rice. I wish they had a chicken noodle because I’m not a rice person. I would come back for the chicken again.

Oz Chicken Review

There were a few restaurants I wanted to try near this area and someone picked this one from my list. Heads up, park at the mall and walk over, pay parking near restaurant. The restaurant isn’t very big and there are tons of people waiting to be seated. I forgot how long we waited but didn’t feel that bad.

The staff were nice. At first we were seated near the door and for some reason the girl asked if we wanted to sit inside so we were like sure. We got a 4 seater table instead of that 2 seater.

We ordered the small sweet chili fried chicken ($12.50) and the beef bulgogi soup ($12).

We wanted to get the half and half but wasn’t sure if that would be enough. Plus, it’s stupid how they don’t let you pick flavour for half and half, only normal or sweet chili. And even more stupid how the other flavours don’t have small, you can only pick full size.

The fried chicken was pretty good. Still kind of crispy with the sweet chili sauce. The sauce was ok spicy with sweetness and a tang. Definitely good with rice. The size was not bad too. I regret not getting the half and half and order a bowl of rice, it would be enough for us. Oh well, next time.

The beef soup was a bit small to me. I’ve had bigger bowls elsewhere. There were lots of stuff in there, beef, glass noodle and veggie. The taste was not bad, the normal bulgogi flavour, that sweet sauce taste. Normally I drink the spicy soup so I thought the taste was a little light. Some beef were clumped together.

They had side dishes like salad, sour radish and kimchi. The radish helps if the food are too spicy.

Overall, not bad, especially the chicken. We would go back again. I would only order the chicken though.

Granville Warehouse Review

I forgot if it's my second or third time here after a long long time. It's still the same in there. Small and dark. It was super crowded when we were in there. I guess people were here for happy hour. Most of the people look ok young. I guess because the price is cheap there and young people don't have to spend much money. Service was kind of slow there. Especially when we were waiting for someone to give us the bill and pay...

Anyways, we ordered the warehouse poutine ($5.95) and the works burger ($5.95) sub onion rings ($2), thanks.

The size for the poutine was not bad. There were ton of gravy, not like some place where they charge more for gravy (eye roll). The fries that didn't touch the gravy still had a tiny crisp to it. There weren't a lot of bacon on it but tasted it with the fries. The gravy was good but tasted a little salty after a bit. It was ok filling.

The works burger taste like normal burger, very beefy. The onion rings were definitely onion rings. They used real onion rings. It was still really juicy when you bite into it. Very different compared to the onion rings from Burger King.

Overall, not bad for the price. Will come back. It's a bit dark and loud but it's ok. The best got really busy and people had to wait in line outside. Be sure to come before dinner time.

Book Kyung Ban Jeoum Review

I passed by this place and thought their lunch menu was ok. When we were seated we realized their lunch special was not on during the holidays which was ridiculous. I'll decide weather to come back for their lunch deal after this meal, youbwill know the answer at the end. The place was oddly made. The waitress we had was interesting. She couldn't remember the numbers we ordered. She bought my bowl and side dishes over. She dumped one side dish on the table. We were like... Not sure if the side dish she dumped was ours or not but she never brought a new one back.

Anyways, we ordered this seafood noodle ($10.90?) and giss myeon ($12.50?), thanks.

The seafood noodle was as good as my favourite one in richmond. The soup was not bad but quite spicy. It would be nice if they tone it down a bit. They claim to have seafood and veggie in it. Um, what seafood? I only see squid, that's the only seafood I see. You can't add more seafood for that price? The veggie were just cucumber and carrot slices and a lot of onion. Some onion were bitter. The noodle was not bad though. My favourite place has tons of seafood and a good size bowl for the price. You should know my answer by now.

Tried a bit of the giss myeon, the soup had an ok strong chicken taste to it. I think same broth as mine but mine is spicy version. The meat were not bad in it, some taste. The bowl looks like Chinese soup with some egg swirl. I thought that bowl was not bad but someone liked it with some chili powder.

Overall, ok but will not come back again. They disappointed me.

Woodshed Pizza Review

Someone likes pizza so decided to find a place with his favourite firewood pizza. This was pretty much the only place that showed up when I searched it so decided to go before we head back home. It was very dark in there and when we walked in our glasses were fogged up. The place was ok size and servers were alright. The place was ok filled up and it was only around 4pm.

We ordered the Spartacus ($16.25).

It wasn't very big but alright. It was thin crust. The toppings were not bad but they could have added more toppings for that price. Someone couldn't taste the chorizo. The tomatoe taste was quite strong compared to anything. I couldn't taste any basil. There were a few red peppers.

Someone thought the stuff didn't stick on the pizza that well.

Overall, it was alright. Someone liked Pizza Garden more. I liked this other place we have been to before more than this one. Don't think we will come back to this one.

Spoons Diner Review

Saw this online and people say they have big portions. The place was very unique, very diner feel. They had all these comic and old movie pictures all around the place. You need a code to their washroom and it's located outside of their restaurant. The toilet door was huge and you have to stand in a corner to open and close it.

The servers were nice. I just thought it was weird how one of the lady took our ketchup bottle to refill when we had fries. The thing was she gave the table infront of us a new bottle before she took the old one. She didn't do that to us. Someone had to ask for ketchup back.

Anyways, we ordered the Bangkok benny and sub it with soup ($15+$2) and fries ($4).

When the benny came I thought the size wasn't that big compared to what we had else where. Maybe because we sub with soup instead of potatoes, maybe it would look like there were more stuff. The benny was definitely different compared to normal benny. There were peanut butter in it. It didn't taste like normal peanut butter, it reminds me of the Chinese ones. It had that strong plain peanut taste to it whereas English peanut butter have a sweetness and saltiness to it. The egg was normal benny style. There were curry chicken on the benny but I didn't taste much curry to it. There were also green and red peppers on it. The English muffin was very crispy, most place aren't that crispy or it's soggy from the hollandaise or yolk. Benny was not bad and very unique.

The soup was mushroom soup and I don't like mushroom soup so someone had to drink it all. I tried a bit because someone told me to. It had a strong mushroom taste to it. Someone said there should be cheese in it and maybe it does because it was so thick. They also gave us a cracker, normal places don't give those crackers anymore when you have soup.

The fries were normal fries. We ordered it just incase one benny was not enough to eat.

Overall, not bad. Not too sure if I would try this place again but I would if people want to try it. Nothing much on the menu I want to try anymore.

Cera Review

I looked around online and this place seems to have good reviews so went to try. We got a table ok quickly. It was dark in there like a pub. There were quite a bite of Asians in there compared to any other restaurants that we have been in so far. There was a lot of people and it was pack at one time.

Only thing we didn't like was the super long wait for our food. I was getting hungry and it felt like they were wasting our time. Most places in Downtown is pay parking so if people did pay parking, you could have wasted a good amount of parking money. Good thing we parked somewhere for free.

We ordered the yukgaejang ($15) and the makguksu ($16), thanks.

Yukgaejang is a spicy shredded beef soup. It was super spicy compared to any Korean restaurants I have been to. I didn't expect it to be so spicy and I was hungry too. I knew it would burn my tummy. I had to eat it with the rice which was a bit better with the spiciness but still pretty bad. I had to add water to it 2 times. I didn't really like the food in the soup. There was a weird twig like brown stuff in it which had a funny smell and taste to it as well. There was this onion stuff that taste a bit bitter to me. The beef were hard to eat, almost chocked on one.

                                  

There had 3 side dishes and 2 of them were spicy, one kimchi and one spicy green veggie thing, not sure what it was. The best side dish was the sour seaweed. It was sweet and sour and it balanced out the spiciness from my soup but not enough.

The makguksu was a cold soup noodle. It was a way better choice than what I had. The soup was tangy. I tried some of the noodle but doesn't really have taste to it. I liked the sour radishes in it, so good. The meat in it was hard to me. It came with BBQ pork but we both thought it was so not BBQ pork. It had like no taste to it.

Overall, the cold noodle was good but don't get their soup if you can't handle spiciness. Their meat was no good to me, I would not recommend ordering any of their meat dishes. No, don't think I will come again but someone thought it wasn't bad.

Chocolats Favoris Review

Looked online to see what are some good ice cream places and I found this one. It's ok nice in there. Ok big with some people. I thought their chocolates were ok expensive so didn't buy any.

We got the brownie bites and cotton candy (both small, $5.19+1.39). One small is $5.19 but the fancy one costs $1.39 more.

The size was pretty good for a small. We both thought we could have gotten a smaller size since we were quite full from breakfast. We thought their chocolate coating was quite thick compared to normal ice cream dip places. The vanilla ice cream was normal. The brownie bites felt a bit filling. There were little round cookie like texture on the coating. The waffle cone felt a bit soft at the end.

The cotton candy was quite good but a bit too sweet. It did taste like cotton candy.

Overall, not bad for the price. Yes, I would come back again or maybe try the ice cream place across from it next time.