Sura Korean BBQ (Re-visit) - Student Discount on Friday and Saturdays

I recently re-visited the Sura Korean BBQ located on the first floor of Aberdeen. They serve up authentic Korean cuisine and samgyeopsal and there are always line ups at the front. My first visit here wasn't great at all so I was quite skeptical giving them a second chance. This was my first post on them.

Meta Knight and I wanted BBQ so we got the Royal Galbi ($28). When you order BBQ meat, they give you a LOT of banchans (Korean side dishes). We didn't think we'd be full off the two things we ordered, but we were actually really really satisfied!

In addition to the classic kimchi, you get sweet potatoes, some beans, a green onion salad, a full deep fried fish, Korean coleslaw, and fried eggplant. Honestly, the side dishes on its own make a meal!

The Royal Galbi ($28) are premium beef short ribs and it definitely didn't disappoint. It's a little pricey for the amount of meat you get, but the quality is top notch.

Meta Knight and I like to take our time cooking and grilling a little bit as we eat. So we didn't love how the staff came by and decided to cut and grill all of our meat in one go without asking us. It wasn't a huge deal and we didn't stop her, but we would've preferred not having all of our meat grilled at once because we can't get to it all before it starts getting cold.

For carbs, we got the Dukbokki ($15) and the sheer size of this plate really surprised us both. We chose the seafood version and they definitely didn't disappoint. There were plump shrimps, two large mussels with the shell on, and tons of mini scallops and shrimps.

I love eating my meat like this. Wrapping it in lettuce saves me from eating carbs AND I get to hit my daily veggie intake!

Even though my first visit to Sura Korean BBQ left a bad taste in my mouth, I'm really glad I gave them another try because it really was quite great. Meta Knight and I even took advantage of their great student discount that they offer on Fridays and Saturdays between 9pm-10pm! If you bring your student ID, you are eligible to have 50% taken off your entire bill.

I'm not sure how long the student discount will last or if every single person in the party has to be a current student, but please let me know if someone finds out!

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $$-$$$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


                       Korean BBQ smells be like...

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Le Faux Bourgeois - Need to Go Back for Their Steak and Frites!!

We celebrated Lil Sis' birthday by having dinner at Le Faux Bourgeois (anyone know the proper way to pronounce this?). This little French bistro has always been on my to-eat list and I was so happy to finally taste what all the fuss is about. 

I liked Le Faux Bourgeois instantly because their menu was affordable and the quantity of food was great. I find a lot of French restaurants overprice their dishes and I end up leaving hungry and unsatisifed.

We started off with some complimentary bread and butter.

Anything with buoyancy and chew is always up my alley so these French snails aka Escargots De Bourgogne ($10.00) were right up there. I do prefer them cooked in garlic and only a little bit of butter versus submerged in a cup full like the one above.

Three of us ended up getting the Steak Frites ($20) but with different sides and sauces. This one is with a salad instead of fries, and is served with a slab of herb butter. I guess the salad compensates for the butter?? Haha.

This Steak Frites is also served with a salad and a side of red wine shallot jus.  The wine simmered down to a perfect sauce and it goes oh so well with steak. The only thing was that Lil Sis found her steak cooked just a little over her requested medium rare.

I wanted to try Steak Frites as is so I got them with fries and a peppercorn sauce. Dear lord these fries were good. They were not overly crispy and most of them still had skin attached to it (I love potato skin!!). My steak, unlike my girlfriends, was perfectly cooked to a medium rare and tender to the touch. I could cut it with a butter knife. :)

Rae couldn't rave enough about the Canard Confit dish. It has a a crispy duck confit on top of a warm salad of Sarladaise potatoes, goat cheese, arugula and port jus. The skin was SOOO crispy she nearly died eating it. I will definitely try this dish next time I go!

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $$$-$$$$

Overall Rating: 4/5


                      Eat all the carbs and meat!!

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Tapenade Bistro - In the Heart of Steveston

Tapenade Bistro is located in the heart of Steveston and is a cute little French resto amongst the abundance of frozen yogurt and fish and chip establishments.

I personally have never been prior to this visit but I know a lot of friends who love coming here for brunch. It's a classy yet homey restaurant.

I came here with a bunch of my girlfriends and we took up the back of the restaurant. I noticed that the majority of people who brunched here were families, older couples, or groups of girls.

Their brunch menu!

Their Smoked Sablefish Bennedict ($15) sounded awesome. It had smoked black cod, pickled fennel, filone baguette, and a nice bearnaise sauce. Comes with potatos and a tiny salad on the side.

I didn't try the Beef Tartare ($15) but I it looked really delicious. It's made with Cache Creek Natural Beef, coffee scented celeriac, egg jam, and smoked allumettes.

The hearty Beef Bourguignon ($25) would be a good idea for bigger eaters because it consists of braised beef cheeks, smoked bone marrow pomme puree, glazed root vegetables.

I of course had to get their Short Rib Pastrami Hash ($15). Anything with short rib just calls my name. It had house smoked pastrami with triple cooked potato, onion soubise, roast squash, and chestnut. The eggs were perfectly poached too and the yolk became my sauce. Yummmm...

All in all,  Tapenade Bistro is a nice place to go with your family or friends for brunch. It's not cheap by any means but you are next to the water and can take a really nice stroll in Steveston after your meal. :)

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $$$

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!


               This is me when I get to go to brunch ;)

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Pepper Lunch Canada - Go With Da Beef.

Pepper Lunch Canada is officially open in Richmond!! Theres been a lot of buzz, hype, and talk in the foodie community about this place because it's the first Pepper Lunch franchise in Canada.

Pepper Lunch is apparently quite popular in Asia with over 350 locations and it seems to be a Japanese fusion type of cuisine.

Even though this is a sit down restaurant, you order and pay up front first before being guided to your seat. I wanted to get their Kobe Style Burger with Egg but it was already sold out. :(

The Salmon Steak ($10.95) came with a side of beansprouts, carrots, and peas. As you can tell from the picture, the portion of sashimi grade salmon was more on the small side, though it was enough for my mom. The have the skin side down which made it crispy and delicious.

My dad went with the Chicken Steak ($9.95) and it came with the same side dishes along with a bowl of rice. It was all white breast meat and when I tried it, it was surprisingly tender!!

After finding out that my #1 and #2 choice was sold out, I decided on the Beef Pepper Rice ($8.95). Obviously I got it with extra beef (+$2) and a side of egg (+$1.50).

Getting the extra beef was a good move. And the egg. It made the dish more substantial which is necessary for a big eater like me to be full. I also got a big hit of pepper which I absolutely LOVE but could be overwhelming for people who don't crack pepper over everything they eat.

Once you give it a good mix, it'll look like this! Be warned, whatever you wear into this restaurant will smell like your dinner until you wash it. So don't wear your nice clothes!

Last but not least, they have some table side sauces for you to douse your rice with. I personally like the Honey Brown one more but the Garlic was also nice too.

Service Rating: 4.5/5
Food Rating: 3/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!


       after eating Pepper Lunch and smelling like teppanyaki

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American Grille - Picture of Asians Taking Pictures of Food

I love eating out with foodies. There's a kind of synergy that's hard to describe when you bring together a group of people that are passionate about the same thing. We always talk about food, then eat the food (not before taking pictures first), and then we talk more about food. It's great. 

Mel and Grace from Foodporn Uncut kindly invited me along with Vaneats and Gourmetcetera to come and dine with them at the American Grille in Richmond. They won a gift card and were gracious enough to share the reward. :) Being a Richmondite, I've always driven pass this restaurant but never found a reason to go in. I guess there's a first time for everything!

The Roasted Beet Salad ($13) came with arugula, heirloom tomatoes, olive tapenade, goat cheese, and pomegranate vinaigrette. It wasn't exactly what I imagined but it was a huge portion at least? Needless to say I wasn't super impressed.

I didn't get to try the Seafood Crab Cakes ($14) but it looked alright. It was served with a roasted red pepper and lime aioli.

I should've gotten the Honey Garlic Beef Tips ($15) because it looked soooo yummy. It came with thick cut fries and chimichurri.

 That Duck Breast ($34) looked soooo yummy laying on that bed of avocado and veggies.

Blackened Halibut Pasta ($24)

I ordered the Pan Seared Scallops & Prawns which sounded amazing because it comes with pancetta, squash risotto, honey glazed root vegetables, and pomegranate reductions. However, the pancetta was dry, the risotto was undercooked, and the pomegranate reduction was sweet which kind of made the dish off balance.

Their Oven Roasted Rack of Lamb ($32) is their most popular dish. It's visually impressive and they give you a full rack of lamb! They definitely don't skimp on the meat with this entree.

Danish Baby Back Ribs ($28)

The Seafood Feast Bowl ($26)

You know how some menu names don't accurately depict what actually gets served to you? This was it. It's called Xango Cheesecake ($8) and we actually thought it would be a slice of 'exotic' cheesecake. Instead, it was cheesecake wrapped in a tortilla and deep fried. It was pretty good but just overly creamy.

Now THIS was good. It's called White Chocolate Brownie ($8) and it tasted pretty similar to the Moxie's one.

At the end of the day, American Grille isn't a bad choice for dinner if you are around the area. Their food is tasty but to me (and this is my personal opinion), it was just average at best. Many of their dishes need refinement and for the price of some of them, you might be better off going to the Keg or Moxies.

Service Rating: 3.5/5
Food Rating: 2/5
Price: $$$-$$$$

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!


              Meh..

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