Saboten (Aberdeen Center) Grand Opening/Media Tasting Event

Last Sunday, Janice (goodeat) kindly invited Steph (Krispy Bites) and I to the Saboten grand opening/media tasting event. We were joined by Gary and Taya from (Eating in Vancouver) as well. Feel free to click on their links to check out their reviews of Saboten!

Saboten originated from Shinjuku, Japan and they specialize in tonkatsu which is a style of deep fried pork cutlet. This is their first North American location so there was much anticipation about their grand opening.

While we were waiting, we were given a take out menu. Have a look and see what you think. Each meal is around $8-9 except for the Tenderloin Katsu Sandwich.

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Dine Out 2012: R.TL (Regional Tasting Lounge)- Delicious Appys and Entrees!

Every year during Dine Out Vancouver, I like to take advantage of the opportunity to try out different restaurants that I normally would not go to. I have a few planned for this year so I’m definitely very excited. I already went to Regional Tasting Lounge in Yaletown with Meta Knight a few days ago so here’s the scoop!

R.TL looks very fancy from the outside with its sliding doors and blazing fire at the entrance. They serve a $28 menu for three courses.

The restaurant is quite small and probably seats around 30ish people.

Meta Knight and I were not given bread to start and apparently you have to add an additional $6 for it. We obviously did not get it because we didn’t want to fill up on bread. So I chose the Tomato and Fresh Italian Burrata D.O.P salad as my appetizer. I absolutely love Burrata cheese so I wanted to give it a try here. It was not as good as the one from Coast (post here) but it was still pretty darn delicious. The cheese was very fresh, soft, and moist.

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Phnom Penh- Chicken Wings, Butter Beef, MSG Overload

Phnom Penh has been on my food radar since FOREVER and I have tried numerous times to go but it just never ends up happening. Luckily, Janice (goodeat) and Steph (krispybites) also have not tried this ever-so-famous restaurant yet so all three of us decided to go on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

Phnom Penh is located in a kind of sketchy part of Chinatown so you may want to bus instead of drive. Or if you are going to drive, don’t park too close to this area.

We purposely tried to go early to avoid long line-ups, but we still ended up waiting 10-15 minutes for a table.

Right when we sat down, we were given a huge textbook-like menu. They have some interesting items like frog legs but since we already knew what we wanted, I’ll keep it in mind for next time. First came a side of bean sprouts and dipping sauces.

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Sophie's Cosmic Cafe- Mmm.... Eggs Benny

I met up with my friend, Unger recently for a little weekend brunch. We were torn between Jethro’s Fine Grub and Sophie’s Cosmic Cafe, but we ended up choosing the latter.

Sophie’s Cosmic Cafe is located in Kitsilano and looks super quirky from the outside.

The inside looks quirky too with its old dinner style red booths and nostalgic randoms on the wall.

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Random Thought- Only Go To SFU's Triple O's When There Are No Other Choices

Up at SFU, there aren’t many good places to eat. Everything (except Tim Horton’s) is overpriced, mediocre, and boring. With that said, I still occasionally buy food at SFU because sometimes I don’t have time to pack lunch.

This semester, I happen to have class on Tuesday, which is when Triple O’s have their “Triple O’s Tuesdays” special. Their original burger becomes $3.33 and $6.53 (including tax) when you upgrade to a combo. I substituted my pop for “Red Rose” tea. It was really bad... I wanted to substitute water for pop instead but it was an “upgrade” with extra charge. I hate how pop is cheaper than water... =.=

The burger was, as expected, mediocre and poorly assembled. It became messy to eat because of the blobs of sauces everywhere. The bread was slightly warm but very thick and chewy.

As always, I like to show people what the product is advertised to look like. I always love to poke fun at advertisements where the ad product looks nothing like the real thing. :P It's a little disheartening sometimes but it IS the reality.

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Ebisu on Robson- BBQ Cuttlefish and Cajun Tuna Tacos!

Ebisu is normally not my go-to Japanese restaurant for tapas and drinks. I always found it a bit on the expensive side and sub-par compared to other establishments such as Guu, Hapa Izakaya, Nan Chuu, or Gyo-o.

On this occasion, my friend chose Ebisu on Robson to celebrate her birthday.

When flipping through the menu, I noticed the “Crème Brulee Cheesecake”. This instantly caught my eye because I absolutely adore crème brulee. I did not order it this time around but maybe on my next visit I will.

Before our table ordered, Trixie asked for tea instead of water. The waitress came back with a cup and teapot, and that was when we knew it was not complimentary. We all found it weird because we thought tea would be complimentary, just like how it is with the majority of other Japanese restaurants in Vancouver. Also, the waitress never told her there would be a charge for the tea.

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HML Seafood Restaurant- Inexpensive Dim Sum and No Tea Charge

HML Seafood Restaurant is located on No.3 Road and Westminster in Richmond. It is on the second floor and the main entrance is through a parking lot.

It’s a fairly large and spacious restaurant so I have never had to wait more than 30 seconds for a table. If you don’t like line-ups when it comes to dim sum restaurants, this place is for you.

My family enjoys this restaurant because it’s pretty cheap and the dim sum is good. You get 20% off all dim sum items as well as free tea (other dim sum places normally charge you $1 per person for tea) everyday.

We were seated near the window and this is the view from our table. Not very pretty, but hey it gave me great sunlight to take pictures with. :P

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Sushi Garden (Kingsway)- Not Worth The 30-40 Minute Wait!

I never understood why Sushi Garden (Kingsway location) is always packed with people. I have been there once before but I didn’t find the sushi that great. I assume it’s the convenient location and relatively cheap prices that always draw customers back.

When Meta Knight and I arrived at 6pm, there was already a huge line-up to the door! We ended up waiting almost 40 minutes before getting a table.

I was craving some nigiri so I ordered the Assorted Sushi ($11.95). It comes with salmon and tuna maki rolls and eight pieces of assorted nigiri (ebi, tobiko, hokkigai, tako, tuna, amaebi, ika).

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Dunn's Famous- Tons of Meaty Goodness

Dunn’s Famous is located in downtown Vancouver and they are known for their authentic Montreal smoked meat sandwiches.

I met up one night with Diana (foodology), Gloria (i’m busyeating), Amy (foodqueen), Jenny (eatwithjenny), and Janice (goodeat) to give this place a try. Definitely check out their posts as well as we all have different tastes and opinions.

I was never too into smoked meat but I insisted on ordering it because I felt like it was a prime opportunity to try the most ‘authentic’ Montreal smoked meat in Vancouver. I ordered The Famous Dunn’s Reuben ($13.00) and I loved it! You get to choose the fattiness of the meat which is kind of cool. Our entire table chose medium and I think that is what you should stick to in order to get the perfect balance of fat and meat.

I liked how their coleslaw was not drowned in dressing like some other chain restaurants.

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Accord Food House- Soft Mushy Noodles

After closing for a month during the holidays, Accord Food House finally opened today so Meta Knight and I instantly jumped at the chance to give this place a try. 

I’ve heard only good things about this hole-in-the-wall restaurant so we both had high expectations going in. Perhaps it was our high expectations that ruined us, but our visit was very disappointing.

Accord Food House is next to a XXX shop across from Metrotown. You really have to search hard for this place or you will miss it. The interior is quaint and seats probably 20 people max.

Their whole menu (aside from drinks) is on the blackboard. They serve primarily Taiwanese noodles, dessert, and drinks.

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