Old Spaghetti Factory

I have to give it to them for the generous portion sizes and copious amounts of cheese in their dishes. And their service was excellent.

Alas, the food was less than satisfying.

We were first served bread with garlic butter which was alright. 

Next came my Vegetarian Lasagna (pictured below).

I never thought I would say this but there actually is such a thing as too much cheese! Worse was that the texture of both the pasta and the cheese had a plastic feel and flavour. 

The Spumoni ice cream at the end of was pretty, good. The pistachio flavour was a nice kick.

Meet on Main

This introductory tour through Meet on Main's menu has peaked my interest. 

Ordered the Not-Cho' Average Nacho Fries, Corn Fritters and Sweet Chilli Cauliflower to share with a friend. 

While waiting we enjoyed observing the artwork and deco -a laid-back yet inviting setting.

The Nacho Fries arrived promptly and were an interesting mix of veggies and cheese, but could have used a tad more cheese.

The Corn Fritters were delish! The dish actually comes with 6 Fritters (3 of them went into our mouths before I could take a pic).

The Sweet Chilli Cauliflower was too sour for my liking but my friend really enjoyed it. 

(photo credits to dinehere.ca)

We had the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls for dessert which turned out to be quite a disappointment, but I still have hope for the other desserts here (I need to remember to stop eating my food before I take the pictures)!!! 

The Globe @ YVR at the Fairmont Airport Hotel

So I came for some afternoon tea at the Fairmont with my friends on a Saturday afternoon. We were greeted and guided to our table with no delay. We ordered our teas which were served to us promptly followed by our goodies (pictured below). I chose the "Fairmont Vancouver Airport Jetsetter” tea which was alright. One of my friend's teas, the "Safari Masala Express," was exceptionally good. The "Fairmont Express`and the "Berry Berry" were alright. What I liked about the teas, was that they were served in a glass jar that allowed us to steep the tea for as long as we like and kept the drinks warm throughout.

The Food

We requested that all our food be vegetarian. The sandwiches were boring and a bit dry. The bagel sandwich was too chewy. The only good thing on this tier was the Curried Egg Salad croissant. 

The Orange and Cranberry Scones were pretty good. They were fresh, flaky, not too sweet and tasted great with the butter and jam.

The sweet stuff were all a bit boring, except for the Opera Slice chocolate cake in the middle. The green tea slice of cake was actually quite bad with a bitter flavour that was very off-putting. 

Overall, the food was not great except for the scones and one of the cakes which were really good and the tea was alright. The service was good, and the place looked nice and high end. However, it isn't really the place I would go for high tea. I would prefer a more homely ambiance. My friends and I decided that we probably won't return just because of the food not being so great. If the food were better, we most likely would have returned.

El Camino's

Average review 

For 

Average food 

But 

Good, prompt service and great ambiance.

But

Won't be returning.

Food is of utmost importance

And El Camino's did not impress. 

The Good: Innovative Food Creations

Just did not pass the Yum test.

The Pao de Queijo

Was filling, but too much filling and nothing special.

The Queso

Was a bit like an egg and cheese sandwich. 

All interesting on paper but average in taste. 

As my friend suggested, perhaps it would all taste better 

With a couple of drinks. 

It's more of a tapas restaurant. 

Not my thing, 

Has potential to be liked by others. 

El Caracol Cafe

My Cheesy Little Secret...Shhh

I was considering whether or not I should reveal this recently found treasure to you all because it's quaint and interesting, and I want it all to myself! 

But now that I have gone twice in 3 days, it will be too selfish of me not to share this El Salvadorean Jewel in the dust.

So let's just get to the food stuff:

Tamales de Elote

This was the first thing I had. The vegetarian version is just made with corn, so there was no filling or anything. Kind of like a steamed cornbread. Not my favourite, but my friend had the Chicken Tamale de Elote which was apparently good.

2/5

Tortilla Con Queso

The Best! So cheesy and the cheese was so flavourful, there was some kick of spice in the cheese. And the tortilla itself was not some flimsy sheet of dough, but crispy, yet thick. My friend, on the other hand, could not handle the cheese overload.

5/5

Baleada

Pretty much a bean burrito :). So simple yet yummy and filling, especially when I scoop some of the cheese from my Tortilla con Queso onto my Baleada. You gotta try it!!! A good improvement would be to fill it with some cheese.

3.5/5

Atole de Elote

This is a corn-based milk dessert. It tasted a bit like a healthy drink that I should be having to get better from a flu, but my friend sure liked it. Will be trying a non-liquid dessert the next time.

1/5

Pupusa

(Photo Credit-didn't take a pic of pupusas, so had to grab one from google images)
What I love about the pupusas here is that there is plenty of cheese to satisfy. However the vegetarian cheese pupusas were lacking in flavour. It would be great if they add some beans or maybe even potatoes along with the cheese in the filling. Maybe I'll request that next time :o, wish me luck! And yes there will be a next time very soon.
2.5/5

The ambiance is nothing special. Interesting to look at, low key, yet homely. Have to grab your own water from the water station, which I don't mind at all. I get my water refilled whenever I need it. Service is good, nothing to complain. The washroom is at the back in the kitchen.

Regardless of how the place looks, the food is definitely worth a visit, so don't miss out!

It's my South American dream come true!!!!

Update:

So I returned once again and had the Veggie Enchiladas and it's my new favourite on their menu :).

Burgoo Bistro

This Gooey Cheese Griller is the BEST GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH in the city! I mean it, this is a MUST if you have any ounce of love for cheese.

The bread itself is soft and tenderly chewy. It must be soaked in some secret magical ingredient, because I have never tasted that kind of goodness elsewhere.

And even their Spinach Salad, which came as a side, deserves a mention. (This is coming from someone who has no interest in salads whatsoever). The salad is topped with enough dressing and crumbled feta cheese to satisfy my need for flavour. And the added touch of the sweet apple crunch in the fresh veggies and cheese makes this salad extraordinary. 

Havana Restaurant & Gallery

Havana Restaurant & Gallery

Update (March 2014)

I was looking for a good brunch place with my buddy on commercial when I remembered that Havanna supposedly has good Brunch. So I finally decided to get over the bad service and food experience from the last time I visited, and give it another shot. We almost missed the cut off time for brunch (2:00 PM is the end of brunch-time) but they were kind enough to let us do brunch.

I ordered the French Toast which is described below, just because it sounded so rich and decadent.

 And boy, it did not disappoint. So scrumptiously full of goodness (not the healthy kind), I was truly satisfied. But remind me not to have so much sugar during the day again, leaves me craving more for the rest of the day.

The service was not rude like last time, it was just average. However, I have to give them points for allowing us to do brunch even though we were hitting it close to the end of brunch.

Havana Restaurant & Gallery

Update (March 2014)

I was looking for a good brunch place with my buddy on commercial when I remembered that Havanna supposedly has good Brunch. So I finally decided to get over the bad service and food experience from the last time I visited, and give it another shot. We almost missed the cut off time for brunch (2:00 PM is the end of brunch-time) but they were kind enough to let us do brunch.

I ordered the French Toast which is described below, just because it sounded so rich and decadent.

 And boy, it did not disappoint. So scrumptiously full of goodness (not the healthy kind), I was truly satisfied. But remind me not to have so much sugar during the day again, leaves me craving more for the rest of the day.

The service was not rude like last time, it was just average. However, I have to give them points for allowing us to do brunch even though we were hitting it close to the end of brunch.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Visited this restaurant with a couple of friends as we needed a change from our regular Jamaican place - The Reef which has become a regular for us all. 

I ordered the following as I have had a good experience with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches from other eateries, (especially from Burgoo Bistro).

Beer Battered Grilled Cheese			$13.95
	French bread stuffed with cheddar, provolone and caramelized onions in a crispy amber ale batter with housemade Yukon gold potato salad

Unfortunately, I found this sandwich to be a huge disappointment. I was tempted to replace it, but the waiter already had a poor attitude, so I didn't want to deal with him.  

The bread and the coating was a bit too tough and had too strong of a beer taste which just didn't work this sandwich. There was no recognizable cheeziness in the filling which was too sweet when accompanied by the beer-battered bread. The filling by itself was good, but in this so-called grilled cheese sandwich, it just didn't fit. I think they should change the name of this dish, because it fools you into expecting something completely different. 

Presentation was acceptable and I really like the ambience of this restaurant-unique and interesting. If it weren't for the waiter with the bad-attitude, I would've given this place another try, because I have heard good things about their breakfast. For now, I'm probably not going to return, but who knows. 

Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria

Food and service had some good hits and minor misses.

I'll start off with the highlight of our dinner:

(had asked for prosciutto to be left out)

This is something I've never seen or tried anywhere else, so didn't know what to expect, but it sure did look good on paper. It did not fail to exceed my expectations. Crispy on the outside, and full of cheese and goodness on the inside in a pool of a wonderfully flavourful tomato sauce that went really well with the gnocchi. This is definitely not your ordinary gnocchi. If you are looking for something new and different that still gives you a taste of Italian, this is the dish!
Gnocchi Fritto = 4.5/5


Next I will talk about the dish that was a 'miss' in my opinion.

This dish was pretty bad, there was a pretty strong bitter taste in the filling that just totally ruined it for me. It was not at all good.
Cannelloni Spinaci = 0/5

The Pizza Carne was good. Better than pizzas from some of the other traditional pizzerias out there.

It had a nice soft crust and it was nice and cheesy with an egg in the middle. Thing is the traditional style of pizza just doesn't do it for me personally, I need my good old thicker, cheese-filled crust with at least a little tomato sauce in the topping. My friend really liked the pizza, so I let him finish it off, while I dug into the Gnocchi Fritto.

Pizza Carne = 3/5

Great food except for the Cannellonni with its bitter filling. Good service by the waitress serving us, however it would have been nice to have our water refilled. The hostess had a bit of an attitude (no smile/no friendliness) and the bartender made a rude comment at the end of the day when we ordered dessert at 10:40 PM (the restaurant closed at 10:30). The waitress is the one who asked us if we would like anything for dessert. Not only that, but another table was still working on their meal.. The bartender asked the waitress after she took our dessert order, "Why are you still taking orders?" To which she replied that it was just dessert. He didn't even care that he was asking in front of us where we could hear him. I think the if the service staff act just a tad friendlier, it will be great for business.
Service = 3/5

The Foundation

My friend and I came here for the first time and as a Vegetarian, seeing so many appetizing options on one menu, I felt like a kid in a candy store. So I suggested that we order two dishes and split them half and half. I chose the 'mango forte,' which is a pasta made with mango, broccoli, zucchini and jalapenos in coco sauce and comes with a side salad. I was glad that I was only having half of this dish, because it was just mediocre for me, because I like lots of flavor which I thought this pasta was lacking in, and also it was too sweet for me to enjoy as a main dish. It was still satisfying, given that the pasta was cooked just right, and it had plenty of veggies which made me feel good about myself :).

The highlight of the dinner was what my friend chose the - 'persistent pnut burger,' which has a patty made with quinoa, chick peas, roast onion, and spicy peanut, on a bun, comes with a salad and with a small dish strawberries topped with granola. This sandwich is now one of my TOP TWO Veggie Burgers ever!!!! (The other is the Mo-Ca Burger from The Reef made with Tofu). This burger was just so damn good and it is definitely not your typical burger.

This 'persistent pnut burger' is rich, with a lovely chewy texture with slight hints of crunchy, and had the perfect touch of peanut flavor that wasn't over-powering nor lacking. Ooo! I'm so glad I gave this place a try. My only regret is that I only got to eat half a burger. I will definitely be back to order the whole meal for myself. I also would love to try the salad and strawberry dessert that comes with the peanut burger which my friend said was nice.

The ambience/atmosphere: Grungy, although this was fitting to the theme of the joint, but from what I can see everything seemed clean. It was a bit dark in three-quarters of the restaurant, with miss-matched chairs and table, and a bit too cold for my liking. The feel of the restaurant could do with some improvements perhaps by making the chairs and tables more comfortable. I really liked the quotes on the walls, it was nice to read them while waiting for our food. The service was nothing special, the waitress seemed too busy to be into the job, and she didn't refill my water until at the end when I asked for more water. But these things are in no way going to keep me from coming back. As long as the food is great, "I Will Be Back."






(Photo creds go to: http://www.dineouthere.com/restaurants/the-foundation-main-street and http://omnomics.blogspot.ca/2010/08/foundation.html)

Dinner at The Naam

How shall I describe adventure at this hippie joint. This a vegetarian's dream come true. So many yummy-looking dishes, it was a bit hard for me to choose. The menu had different kinds of burritos and enchiladas from Mexico, pasta and pizza from Italy, chappati from India, noodles and stir fries from Thailand, Hawaiian and Indonesian-themed burgers.  It's like they picked dishes from around the world, mixed them up and added their own touch to give you the best of all the good stuff. Just from looking at the menu, I knew I would be coming back for more very soon.


So I was ready to order a Chili Burrito but I don't know what I was thinking and accidentally ordered a Veggie Burrito. (It was a long day at work...sigh). Anyways the large burrito came alongside the Naam Salad - which was pretty good. It had cucumbers, sprouts, beets, carrots, and sunflower seeds put together beautifully with the Naam dressing.

I wasn't quite satisfied with my dish because I really wanted the Chili flavour in my burrito and the Veggie filling just wasn't my thing. However the melted cheese sitting atop my burrito did add some goodness.

My friend ordered the Chilaquiles Enchiladas, and it did not only look yum, but tasted splendid. And no this is not a case of "the grass is always greener on the other side." Perhaps it's because the Chilaquiles had the filling that I had wanted - chilli filling, but I was envious and had to steal some of my friend's filling to satisfy my appetite. Oh, and them Miso-Sesame Fries were pretty good too.

So I will definitely be back to have a full plate of the Chilaquiles Enchiladas, and then back again to try the Maui-Maui Burger and perhaps the Crying Tiger Thai Stir-Fry (just for the name).

As for dessert, that was the first thing I noticed since they had them displayed by the service desk, and we were hoping to try the Shakti Cake, after dinner.

The desserts sounded so wholesome and interesting but we were bursting at our seams by the end so decided to rest our curiosity until next time.

The ambiance has room for improvement because the chairs were not comfy, the tables were small and it was a bit cold. I felt like this place would be more inviting if it was made to look and feel more cozy. Service was friendly, but my water was not refilled, but I can understand as this was a busy night. However, food is what matters most to me, so that alone will bring me back here for more.

Pepitas Restaurant

Cold Rainy Day. Hungry. Craving Mexican.

We arrived to an empty place, but perhaps it was because we were having a late dinner. The waitress was friendly and served us some fresh corn chips with salsa while we decided what to order. I ordered the Fajita Roll with vegetarian filling, which was a large flour tortilla filled with green pepper, mushrooms, potatoes and onions. It was served alongside some tomato rice, refried beans and a side salad made of lettuce, tomatoes and plenty of dressing all in generous portions. I found that the fajitas were bland, so I added hot sauce to spice things up. The vegetables just tasted like salted baked vegetables without any flavouring. I have made much better fajitas at home, and was expecting better here.

Fajita Roll

Enchiladas

 

 

My friend ordered the Enchiladas (above), one with chicken filling and the other with chicken filling. He really enjoyed it, so although I wasn't completely satisfied with my dinner, I might come back just to try out the Enchiladas which looked quite YUM!

(images from google)

Return to The Reef

So I went back to The Reef to finally give the Mo-Ca Burger with Jerk Tofu a shot, and boy was it worth it. I was a little hesitant to try a tofu burger because although I'm a vegetarian, I have never tried a satisfying tofu dish. The Reef's Jerk Tofu Mo-Ca Burger was an exceptional burger and I can't believe it was made of tofu.

 

The tofu itself was marinated in jerk seasoning and topped with cheddar cheese, a grilled pineapple, jerk mayo and salsa and a side of plaintain chips.

The Burger: The cheese and pineapple takes the tofu burger to a tantalizing new level. It was sweet, cheezy and had a light spice. I myself preferred this burger with a little bit of their special hot sauce that you can ask for.

The Plaintain Chips: These are no ordinary chips, they are thick jerk-spiced chips. I wouldn't call them wonderful, because I thought they were softer and not as crispy as they were the last time I came, but they were a compatible pairing to my Mo-Ca Burger. They got this combo just right, with the not-too filling and flavourful chips.

And of course the Johnny Cakes which they serve right before every meal. This time I went they were way better than the last time. Gosh, I just can't get enough of them Johnny Cakes!!!

The Reef really has the Caribbean-Western fusion down right. And it's so exciting to come here because every one of their dishes is an exciting new experience.

The next time I go, I'd like to try their appetizer called "Doubles" which is basically a chana sandwich...interesting! Hoping for the best!

Stats:

Rating:

Food = 4.5/5

Service = 3/5

Value = 4.5/5

Ambiance = 3.5/5

Overall: 4/5

Cost of my meal: $14 + TAX

4172 Main Street,
Vancouver, BC, V5V 3P7

Contact:

Tel: 604-874-JERK (5375)

Price: $$ ($15 - $30)

Hours: Mon - Fri: 11AM - 1AM, Sat - Sun: 10AM - 1AM