Toronto ramen chain Touhenboku Ramen opened up in late August 2016 with 50% off and lineups down the block. Now that they’ve settled down somewhat, how are they? Not that good. Save your time and money.
Monthly Archives: September 2016
Dim Sum Quickie: Chef Tony in Richmond
We met up with a small group of foodies for dim sum at Chef Tony in Richmond. In attendance was Calgary blogger/Instagrammer Miss Foodie (who helped me out a lot last time I was in Calgary) who was in town for the past week or so, positively eating up a storm. It was mine and Wicca’s first time at the award-winning Chef Tony. This is higher-end dim sum, which puts it in the same bracket as Kirin, Grand Dynasty, etc. But with almost 200 items on the menu, our visit showed that it’s hard to get everything consistently good, not even factoring in individual tastes. Same as with my review of Double Double (which is located in the same plaza, Empire Centre), restaurants usually aren’t entirely good or entirely bad. It’s a bit of a quest to find the right dishes for you, accolades or awards be damned. 😉
First Look: Britannia Brewing in Steveston
Britannia Brewing Company has been open a bit more than a month as of this writing. Aside from Hog Shack and Gudrun, there aren’t many other serious craft beer places in historic, slightly touristy Steveston. Britannia fills a niche that I think will work for them.
Lunch Quickie: Slight Sadness at Sal y Limón
Something’s not right here…Sal y Limón in “Fraserhood” has been around since 2012 and has perpetual lineups, but reviews of them are all over the place. Some gushing praise, some bitter disappointment. I guess it’s expected with a place so freaking popular, that every Tom’s Harry Dick is gonna get on Z*mato or Welp and wax lyrical about those big-ass burritos. Here’s my take on this place after eating seven tacos.
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Chicken Fight IV: Bourbon BBQ Wing Competition at The Bimini Pub in Kitsilano
I was invited by epicmedia (Donnelly Group‘s PR company) to judge their 4th Annual Chicken Fight bourbon bbq wing competition:
It was my first time doing anything like this. All the judges got free wings and beer, so why not?
Kitsilano area restaurants were invited to participate, and each team got 20 lbs of wings and a bottle of Jim Beam Apple Bourbon to use in their recipe. This year’s teams:
- The Kitchen Table
- Pat’s Place (actually just Pat the bartender at The Bimini)
- Charqui
- The Bimini
- Romer’s Burger Bar
- Bimini Beer Club (a social beer club at The Bimini)
Unfortunately, lots of other restaurants backed out this year, including Au Comptoir and Fable 🙁 booooooo!
Continue reading Chicken Fight IV: Bourbon BBQ Wing Competition at The Bimini Pub in Kitsilano
The Jukes of Hazzard: Juke Fried Chicken
Juke in Chinatown has been open about 5 weeks. There’s this thing about food blogging/food reviewing that you shouldn’t review a place the first x it’s been open — that “x” could be a week, a month, whatever…that value changes depending on who you talk to. I break that rule all the time. One part of me understands that restaurants always need time to work out the kinks, to smooth out their processes and staffing, settle into their “vision”, what have you. The other part of me feels that I don’t want to be a guinea pig, spend hard-earned cash money, waste my time, or waste a dining opportunity with so much out there to try. So I waited more than a month to try Juke. I think I have a pretty good idea about their food and can judge accordingly. You may like it. You may love it. I didn’t.
Lunch Quickie: Chicken Shawarma at Green Leaf Salad Bar
There’s a popular salad bar near my work that I’ve ignored for years. But then people in the office said they liked it, so I tried it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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