Late lunch at Hell's Kitchen

I have had this groupon from Hell's kitchen for too long.

So, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, we finally decided to drive out to Kits for this meal.

(more like the expiration date is approaching.....)

Hell's kitchen is not very highly regarded among the fellow Urbanspoon diners.

Guess it's time to find out on my own ;)

Upon arrival, we immediately realized that they were quite short staffed.  The poor hostess girl was both a server and a hostess; therefore we were quite neglected (10 minutes+ wait before she finally greeted us!)

Can't blame her tho, more like the management.

The A/C was obviously broken, so it was quite stuffy and hot inside of the restaurant.

So we decided to sat at the patio instead.

The groupon deal came with 2 appetizer sized salads (caesar or garden), 1 large pizza (up to $22), and 2 beers.

After we were seated, we were brought two menus.

When I opened mine....

surprise!

umm, bbq sauce finger prints... Kaaaaiinda not very appetizing..... :$

The hostess girl noticed it when she brought us the water so she offered to change it for me right away.  

Thank you! :)

coke & beer 

They were obviously understaffed today - our server seemed so busy and with 6 tables on the patio, he was serving all of us (plus who knows how many tables inside!)

We had to wait for quite a while before he came around to take our order.

The waiter was quick and efficient in taking our orders, other than the fact that we had to wait for quite a bit before we could actually catch him.

Jordan can't drink so he opted for coke, I had a lager.  The beer was a tad flat tho.

Hell's Salad - Organic mesclun greens, romaine hearts, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, house-made apple cider vinaigrette - $5 - 2/5

 The Garden salad, well, it was just a normal garden salad.  I had a doubt that the dressing was also store bought.  It was definitely not the apple cider vinaigrette as claimed in the menu.  It tasted somewhat like a honey mustard dressing (creamy, tangy, and sweet - didn't quite go with the delicate mesclun greens)

The reason I gave it a 2 instead of 2.5 is because I have found a little bit of rotten leaves in my salad... which I find it unforgivable because the only effort you need to put in, when you assemble a salad, is to see if there's any rotten or wilted leaves that are not suited for serving and the cook failed to do that.

:(

Caesar salad - Crisp romaine, toasted croutons, shaved asiago, house-made Caesar vinaigrette - $6 - 3/5

The Caesar tasted a lot better than my garden salad with the creamy and tangy dressing.  However I found the anchovy flavour is very weak in the dressing and the entire salad (as you may have noticed in this photo) is composed of the outer layer leaves of a roman lettuce (not the heart of lettuce)resulting in chewier texture of the leaves (instead of "crisp" as claimed by the menu)

Nevertheless there was generous amount of asiago and parmesan cheese and Jordan liked it.

The Soprano - Spicy capicolla, prosciutto ham, provolone cheese, basil, chorizo - $22 - 3/5

Let me explain...

This pizza was quite good with ample amount of toppings they have used and the thin and crispy dough.

It was a tad oily but it was understandable as basically every topping on this pizza would produce a lot of grease when cooked (other than basil........... hah)

The spicy capicolla, together with the chorizo provided just enough kick that excited our pallet yet it didn't send me to shower my tongue with ice water.

The baked prosciutto was nice and provolone provided enough creaminess to the pizza.

But the highlight had to be the BASIL!!

It provided herby-ness and slight bitterness to the pizza to cut through the otherwise somewhat heavy tasting pizza.

My only complain would be that they could have used a tad more basil.... maybe even fresh!

Maybe 1~2 fresh basil leaves on top of each slice... (or chopped up fresh basil leaves on the pizza!)

Then why only 3/5?

It was a nice pizza - but Jordan and I had a really difficult time justifying its price at $22 (reg price)... of course we are judging based on our entire experience here and from the slow service to the dingy interior with a broken A/C and dirty menu... And then the salads....

I can come up with many excuses for them because I am using a groupon and I feel like I am getting a deal so I shouldn't be complaining but, when I put my feet in a regular diner's shoe, I can only think of myself complaining about my dining experience.

The salads weren't that great and the pizza was a quite greasy... with a flat beer and slow service, it would have pushed me to the edge.

Over all, both Jordan and I felt indifferent towards our lunch experience (we did agree that the pizza was good, but not great enough for us to pay regular price with) and unless there's another groupon offering, we will not be back.

Food - 2.5/5 - average food, pizza of good quality - yet at $22/pizza we expected better! 

Service - 2/5 - really slow - but I will blame it on the management

Ambiance - 2/5 - broken A/C, VERY pub-ish looking place.  Not for romantic outing but a casual outing for sure.

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro

I am so sorry for such a delayed posting on this one....

We dined here to celebrate mother's day with Jordan's mom.  The diners of the evening was Jordan's sister Jennifer, her husband Peter, his mother and myself.

I really didn't know what to expect when I first heard that we were going to dine at this place.  Perhaps it was because I had no idea what was uniquely Canadian other than poutine!  Anyhow, feeling a bit confused, off we went to the Canadian Bistro.

Their menu is really small - so if you are going with a larger group, you can pretty much order everything off their menu.

The decor of the restaurant is quite rustic, and it really emphasized on the use of "woods".  It definitely had an ambiance of native BC forest!

I started my meal with an imported beer as recommended by the server (because they didn't carry any honey lager!)

Kronenbourg 1664 - $6.50/bt (3.5/5)

It was one of those imported beer that you see pretty often on commercials.  Kronenbourg was indeed quite smooth and had a clean and sweet finish.  I liked it but didn't love it... where is my honey lager?

warm kale salad (4/5)

Both Peter and I started our meals with the warm kale salad (I can't seem to find it on their current menu now; so I am assuming it is seasonal?) - they were little morsels of heaven!  The kale was cooked perfectly being tender yet not mushy; loved the parmesan and lemon juice that helped cutting through some of its greasiness (it was really cooked in a lot of grease!)

The fried onion string on the top provided some textural difference which was absolutely lovely.  Over all, we really liked this dish! 

All Canadian Poutine - fries, curds, gravy, smoked brisket - 4/5

Yum!!

The fries were fried and seasoned perfectly and the abundance of smoked brisket made the carnivores at our table really happy!  Though it might be a bit heavy for an appetizer - we loved their generosity in mounting lots of smoked brisket and curds onto the fries.  Please order this if you decide to visit this restaurant - it is worth every penny!   

confit pork belly - apple slaw, maple mustard meringue, pork crackling - 3/5

This dish was quite heavy - if you were order this, you must finish it before it gets cold.  I had it later on during my meal and it got cold so the fat coagulated and made the dish very unpleasant.

Otherwise the flavour was great and even though it was cold, the crackling was still crispy.

garlic mussels - shaved fennel, grilled crostini - 3/5

The mussels were quite plump and sweet!  It wasn't a particularly memorable dish but I really have to give them credits for using fresh mussels.  I loved the shaved fennel on top and the crostini were great for soaking up the sauce on the bottom of the pot.  The sauce had a prominent garlic flavour and quite strongly, white wine (citrusy, clean - might have been a pinot blanc? but could also have been chardonnay.... too difficult to tell!! )

8oz sirloin - potato croquette, onion jam, red wine jus, dijon hollandaise - N/A

This dish had a really busy appearance - though every item on plate looked really appetizing!  This was Jordan's dish, so I didn't really try anything other than the squash.  I remember the squash being cooked nicely and it exhibited some sweetness; but other than that, I can't comment on the plate.  I remember asking Jordan about the meat and he only said that the steak tasted mediocre and that the meat at the Keg tasted better! (I actually don't doubt him because he actually knows his meats :$)

Over all, our experience at The Oakwood Canadian Bistro was pretty good.  The ambiance was hip, the decor was rustic, the food was good and the service was attentive but not overly so.  We will be back!

Food - 3/5 - good; but only slightly above average

Service - 3/5 - good

ambiance - 4/5 - really cute and intimate 

Birthday dinner #2 - Joe Forte's, smoking dog bistro, and r.tl (regional tasting lounge)

So, there was a little funny story to this birthday of mine.

I got upset at Jordan for letting me plan everything myself.  I know, I know.... being a guy, he just thinks that it's the best if I plan everything myself so that I'd get everything I want.

But I don't want that!!

I just want a quiet  and relaxing birthday - I just don't want to plan!!! I'd be pleased with anything he plans, even if it were a free burger at Red Robin's! Anyhow.... so I got upset :(

Him, being the insensitive and man of the men and know that I simply can't resist seafood, surprised me with a seafood dinners weekend. LOL So now, after my crab dinner at The Keg, we are back to Joe Forte's (right across the street from the Keg) for more seafood!

Bread - with balsamic vinegar and lobster oil (3/5)

Seafood tower on Ice - 2 tiers - $60/person 3/5

The Bread - I loved the lobster oil.  But it was just, cooking lobster shells and heads in olive oil..... I don't understand how it can be sold for $22/bottle when it is easily replicated at home.. (with the waste parts too!) I'd recommend to make this at home if you love lobster - why wasting the shells and everything right? :)

The seafood tower - what a disappointment!  It was composed of (from top, clock wise) salmon fillet, oyster rock feller, steamed half lobster, dungeness crab, seared scallops and (middle) steamed mussels in white wine scarce.  The salmons were really really dry and tough; though the dill flavour really came through.  The mussels were the worst; they had a foul smell to them.  (This was the biggest turn off, as I didn't expect the mussels to smell funky... it didn't have to be fresh, but unsanitary was a whole different story!  Jordan had a mild allergic attack after consuming the food.... and I am suspecting the dirty mussels)

Our favs of the dish were the scallops and the oyster Rockefeller.

The scallops were really nicely seared and with a perfect doneness being plump.  It was bouncy and sweet; a great sign for it being fresh.  The Oyster Rockefeller, well, hands down for it to be their signature dish.  It was garlicky, sweet, savoury, crunchy and creamy... all the greatest flavour and texture combinations you can ask for!  A little splash of lemon cuts down the richness of the sauce a little and it was super heavenly!  

The ambiance tho was a bit too touristy - it almost seemed like everyone in the restaurant were a tourist.... our server wasn't very attentive either and we had to ask multiple times just for our water to be filled.  He only came around to take our orders and basically to give us our bill.  I didn't feel welcomed or well taken care of and really was a bit disappointed.

Food - 2.5/5 (fairly average for the quality....)

Service - 2.5/5 (not very attentive

Ambiance - 3.5/5 - great if you are a tourist!  but it looked a bit dated for me...

The smoking dog bistro - bouillabaisse - 3/5

I planned my girl's night out with the girls on the day of my birthday; so I picked the Smoking Dog Bistro in kits.  There were many more dishes ordered and other than the bouillabaisse I also tried the escargot as well as the baked brie.  The escargot was a tad too salty but it was plenty garlicky and buttery - but it was really salty....  The baked brie tho was creamy and paired well with the balsamic vinegar, cranberry, and (esp) the garlic!  

My bouillabaisse tho, was quite bland.  The saffron broth lacked any depth or flavour, the seafood was predominantly mussels and that piece of toasted bread was like a joke.... There were some spicy mayo at the bottom of the bread that not only made the bread soggy but also made no sense at all.  I didn't enjoy it very much.

However, what made the night was the company and also Jordan's second surprise.  

He phoned the restaurant and paid for all of our meals!

It was definitely a surprise and although a tad cheesy, it was definitely a plus point among all my girl friends :) A word of advice for all you boys out there: 

it is feasible - so try impress your girl's girls with this! 


Service for the night was great too; but that could have been because we were the only customers there.  We received all the attentions and even got a glass of wine on house!

Food - 2.5/5 - really average food...

Service - 4/5 - minus for server watching hockey during work

ambiance - 3.5/5 - not exactly romantic but definitely casual and comfortable

Bread chipotle butter - 2.5/5

Another day for my bday in yaletown with my faux sister - Sophi <3 we were roommate for 3 years in Toronto and she's just like my little sister; probably the closest person to me other than Jordan and my mother. :)  We headed to R.TL (Regional Tasting Lounge) in yale town for my bday gathering.

It really took me by surprise that a restaurant of this calibre is charging extra for the bread.  At $5, it does not live up to what it is at all.  The bread was cold and the chipotle butter was nothing special.  I wouldn't order this again; and I don't think you should either.  It's just not worth it!

We ordered the "La Formule for two" that was composed of :

Mussels - green curry - 3/5

(From left to right) Szechuan steak sliced flank, vegetables & spices 1.5/5 ; (choice) wild mushrooms 3/5;  mushroom  & truffle risotto, wild mushrooms, shaved parmesan 3/5

dessert - 

saffron gelato rose water, pistachio, crème congelé 

The mussels were really flavourful with a lot of lemon grass flavour.  However the steak was so tough that I could barely chew.  I liked the risotto as the truffle oil really came through and the rice was al dante.  (I love truffle oil so... it might be a bit overwhelming for some...)

The whole meal was $55 (+$5 bread) and Sophia and I ordered a bottle of wine to share.  It was definitely  not the best value but given the ambiance and the service (quite nice; but it was slow when we went in...) it was Okay.  

Food - 2.5/5 - mediocre at best - maybe we didn't order the right items?

Service - 3.5/5 - very good - but it was slow when we went in!

Ambiance - 3/5 - not the most romantic place; but definitely cute and chic

Dinner at the Mac shack 26 feb, 2012

From left to right - The Brooklyn (Ultimate), The Royale (Regular). and The Lobster (Regular)

The Mac Shack has been on my radar for as long as it's been opened.  But I never got around to it because 1) we rarely visit the area and 2) the rating of the place just kept on dropping that I just couldn't justify to drive all the way to kerrisdale for some... over-hyped Mac'n cheese! Come on, carb slathered with ooey-gooey cheesy goodness - you tell me how that can go wrong?

That's why when I first saw the $21 for dinner for 4 (value of $43)groupon deal for Mac Shack, I was reluctant in purchasing it because, well, I wanted to try the lobster Mac'n Cheese and the two of us won't be needing 4 cans of drinks... So when I found out that I could just apply the entire value of the groupon towards the Mac'n cheese of my choice (instead of a salad and 4 drinks) - I bought it right away!

Mac'n Cheese here I come <3 !!!

Pint of Granville island honey lager - my favourate beer atm!!!

When we arrived around 6, the place was quite busy with maybe 1 or 2 tables of families with younger children - mostly are the younger college students crowd and the ambiance was quite lively.

The line up went a little slow mainly because (I suspect) there were quite a number of groupon users hence there were many questions to be answered at the cashier, who, by the way, was very friendly.  As a first time visitor, I didn't mind because that gave me more time to make up my mind :)  "we" ( more like, "I"... haha anyway) chose 3 kinds of Mac and Cheese: The Brooklyn, The Royale, and The Lobster!

The Lobster Mac'n cheese - $15 for regular - Asiago & Canadian Cheddar, authentic Lobster meat, oyster mushrooms, lemon, dill and truffle oil in a cream sauce - 3.5/5

 My highly anticipated Lobster Mac'n Cheese arrived first together with The Royale!   It was a bit disappointing seeing that the oyster mushrooms were replaced by the button mushrooms but I was pleasantly surprised by the ample amount of lobster meat used in this dish!  I also really enjoyed the earthy, nutty, and almost creamy aroma from the truffle oil.  Although they didn't "over-dose" it with the truffle oil (you'd be surprised how many restaurants do that!!) - the delicate asiago cheese did not come through at all, as with the dill. However, I did pick up the more pungent chedder cheese and the tartness of the lemon really helped in cutting through all the richness provided by the cream sauce and truffle oil.

over all, I liked this dish but am not very sure if I will pay $15 for a regular size - it is a mac'n cheese after all - regardless if you "truffle-nise" or "foie-gras-nise" or "caviar-ise" it (yes I made up all the words)

The Royale - Regular $11 - Bacon, bell peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, chicken, chorizo and shrimp with Mozzarella and Gruyere cheese in a rose sauce- 2.5/5

The menu description surely looked promising with various ingredients however, the Royale was actually my least favourite of the 3 tonight.  Not only the rose sauce lacked any tomato flavour at all, I could barely detect any supposedly pungent Gruyere cheese either.  Now that I am reviewing my photo, I am thinking they might have mistakenly used cheddar in place of gruyere... Looking back at their menu description, I am just realizing that there wasn't supposed to be any cheddar cheese in this dish... hmmmm... :$

The Brooklyn - $17 Ultimate - Naramata Blue Cheese and AAA Sirloin Steak, caramelized onions, mushrooms in an aged balsamic reduction and rose sauce - 4/5

Last to arrive was my favourite dish of the night (only slightly more than the lobster mac and price was a major factor in it) - The Brooklyn!!

At $17, the ultimate size Brooklyn was massive!! At this price point, I didn't expect much with the steak so you can probably imagine my joy (little spark of tear...uhhh) when I found plenty of tender steak pieces in my order!  As with the sauce, I suspect the rose sauce is still mild and bland (just like it in the royale) but the balsamic reduction here added the tang that almost mimics the tomatoes and the caramelized onions really added another layer of sweetness to the sauce.  Everything then was hold together by the ooey "rose"/cream sauce.  However, I'd like to see the naramata blue cheese to be incorporated into the "rose" sauce rather than just sprinkled on top then melted.  Just like all blue cheeses (only a bit milder than gorgonzola but honestly, not too different) - namarata blue cheese is fairly pungent.  Because they are unevenly distributed on the top, when you hit a large area containing mostly naramata blue cheese it is as if you hit a bomb (kind of like hitting a cardamom in an indian curry dish or a Chinese peppercorn in a Szechuan dish... get it?) - all you can taste is the blue cheese.  But when you do get to the bottom or places where the blue cheese is scarce you then begin to miss that little kick.  Incorporating the blue cheese into the sauce will improve uniformity of the entire dish hence making it more enjoyable.

Over all, I enjoyed my meal at The Mac Shack.  Not sure if it is the groupon effect, but I wouldn't mind coming back here.  I would dine here if I were to be in the area - but perhaps take out next time :)

Over all verdict:

Food - 3/5

Service - 3/5

Ambiance - N/A - quite lively, but a fast food joint (kind of like fat burger) decor