Carl's Jr - Washington State

On our way to Seattle Premium outlet mall, we dropped by at Carl's Jr to have lunch. We ordered two orders of burgers and shared a packet of onion rings. What can I say? The burgers were BIG and a tad too dry for my liking.

We had Western Bacon Cheeseburger - it came with onion rings inside. The bacon was kinda nice.

The bacon kinda made everything taste so much better!

I wanted to order the original six dollar burger but due to a miscommunication, we ordered the super star burger (no cheese). It came with 2 beef patties. I did not really like this burger - kinda dry. 

Two beef patties with tons of lettuce

As you can tell, I like the pix of my meat. Don't understand why the bun looks so white!

A burger that potentially is bigger than my palm - gosh my hands are so dry :(

We shared an order of onion rings - yummy!!

What lies beneath the rings of fried bliss?

 And finally, we had a diet coke to end our meal -with refills, you can potentially share a cup of pop.

I love the tagline - An even better way to wash down a burger is with another burger :)

Overall, the food was kinda so-so. But hey - we had the big portions, the nice bacon and rings and everything that was standard sized seemed upsize to me. What I liked about Carl's Jr was that we had a wide range of sauce to choose - bbq, honey mustard etc. Think there were 4 or 5 options. I would like to explore other burger joints in the States next time.

Southside Diner, Whistler

It was a relatively cold day when we took a drive down to Whistler and stumbled into Southside Diner for lunch. It was a nice cosy place and a great place to chill out.

The Reuben sandwich was really quite satisfying and there was a generous serving of the smoked meat. I ordered my sandwich with a salad - the salad dressing was pretty ordinary. But the meat was oh, so good.

Check out the juicy smoked meat!

I admit that I am more enamoured with the meat than by the actual sandwich!

Side view of the sandwich

Fresh serving of salad

The housemade beef burger was pretty ordinary - the portions for the fries were pretty generous as well.

Housemade beef patties

Beef patties from the top view

A bed of fries

The deco in the place was simple but it had this cabin feel to it. Gator totally approves!

The menu was pretty hilarious - check out the section on the Rules of the House- including the cartoon God Knows When You Don't Tip.

Play by their rules - or else eat outside :)

Little retro signage

Overall Experience:

Deco: 3.5/5 - nice and cosy
Quality of food: 3/5 - generous serving but the food was average
Value for $$: $$/5 - I find 12 bucks for a sandwich and 12 bucks for a burger (without tax) pricey. Guess that's because we are at Whistler.
Overall Experience: 3/5 - food was average but the service was warm and friendly.

I know I have been so late with updates. More soon...

Thai Son Vietnamese Restaurant

Here is another backdated food post of Thai Son. I was kinda swarmed by some sort of fruit fries entering and departing the restuarant which was not a totally pleasant experience for Gator - it was late spring then. Overall, the food was so-so.

I was looking forward to having some Bun Bo Hue noodles. But it was not a totally good experience for me. It was not what I expected. The broth was really very greasy. I had to pour away like 1/4 bowl of this oily mixture before I cook commence eating.

I know this doesn't look greasy - but it really is. It had this huge pork knuckle inside.

I was not too enamoured with the pork knuckle - it was kinda big and made eating difficult. But I did like the meat balls and also the slices of meat.

The broth came with a healthy serving of onions

Bun Bo Hue came accompanied with a healthy serving of meat leaves and bean sprouts

 I added quite a bit of mint leaves and bean sprouts to hopefully absorb the grease from the broth. But it did not really work. A thumbs down from Gator for this dish.

We also ordered a grilled pork chop with a side order of meat loaf. The portions were pretty generous. I like the meat loaf - thought it was better than Pho Hoa Hong actually.

I really like the grilled pork chop - done quite nicely.

My favourite part of the dish was the burnt bits from the pork chop and the meat loaf.

Overall Experience:

Deco: 2/5 - you basically want to eat fast and leave. A no fuss place.
Quality of food: 3/5 - I liked the grilled pork chops but the bun bo huy was a disappointment for me
Value for $$: $$$/5 - its reasonable and portions are generous. But overall, I had better food elsewhere.
Overall Experience: 3/5 - it was so-so for Gator. I want to try their Pho next time.

Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodles, Aberdeen Centre

I have a backlog of food posts and so will be gradually write about them over the next few weeks.I have been to Chef Hung's twice and have a generally happy and positive experience.

One of the main highlights of this restaurant is their display of a moving bowl of noodles accompanied by chopsticks. It never fails to amuse Gator. I was told that when their restaurant first opened, there will be massive lineup outside their premise. But I had no difficulties at all during both occasions to get a table.

Chef Hung has won several beef noodle competitions in Taiwan.

The picture of presumably Chef Hung was displayed in all their paper place mats.

And this is their accolade - award wining beef noodles.

This time, ordered their Champion braised beef with noodle in tomato soup. Chef Hung claimed not to have MSG in their food and I believe that its true. I was not dehydrated hours after enjoying my bowl of noodles. Requested beef shank for one of the bowl of noodles. I was happy with the portions - I love the beef tendons in my noodles.

This pix is a bit blurry because of the steam from the noodles: beef shank

This one had no beef shank - spot the juicy tomatoes

Finally, I cannot resist ordering their chicken nuggets - I have to admit that their chicken nuggets were not as good as corner 23. It was fried but there was not much taste to their seasoning.

Crispy chicken nuggets - need more spice and taste to this dish

Overall Experience:
Deco: 4/5 - comfortable and private seating. I love their display of moving noodles - a centrepiece attraction. I also like sitting at the corner near the window.
Quality of food: 4/5 - I really like their noodles but felt that they should improve on their side  dishes are alright.
Value for $$: $$/5 - Its definitely more expensive than Cattle Cafe.
Overall Experience:  4/5 - I know a lot of people felt that their noodles are overrated but I had 2 positive experiences so far and I really enjoyed it. Service was polite, prompt and efficient.

Cattle Cafe - Richmond

I have been to Cattle Cafe on two separate occasions and on both occasions, I forgot to bring my trusted camera. So this time, its all photos from my mobile phone. I still prefer to use my camera because I love taking macro shots of food.

I went to Cattle during one of those occasions when I was too busy writing and reading and lost track of time to have an early dinner. I must say that I did not enjoy my first visit to Cattle. I ordered a fish soup noodle combo and did not really like it. Guess I did not choose my soup combination well enough. What Cattle Cafe offers is a variety of soup base - and you choose the ingredients that go with the broth. It was a mini disaster and I did not finish my food.

Ths time, we had fish noodles and beef. This is not from their combination set but I would say that this dish is quite something. The noodles are made from actual fish and there are generous slices of beef. What I really like was the broth - it was thick and flavorful. I wonder how Cattle made their fish noodles. I came across this blog in Taiwan about how the fish noodles are literally made from hand with just fish flour, dough and a wine bottle. Amazing. http://taiwanxifu.com/2011/03/30/tainan-fish-noodles/http://taiwanxifu.com/2011/03/30/tainan-fish-noodles/

I love the broth of my fish noodles - forgot to take a pix of just the noodles

I find this soup so comforting on a cold and rainy day.

The next dish was Cajun Boneless Chicken with steamed rice in honey and tomato sauce. I love this dish - the chicken was seasoned so well. But the sauce was extremely rich. You literally can get full just by drizzling the sauce with the steamed rice. I much prefer it if they serve it by the side though. This dish comes with a hot drink - you can pay a bit more for a cold drink or one of their speciality drinks.

The portions are enormous - the table beside me was asking me what dish I ordered because this looks so good.

I chose Horlicks as my hot drink - was a reminder of my childhood.

Finally, I can never say no to my mango slush. It is my litmus test to any bubble tea place.It was alright I would say - pretty average. Nothing to rave about. Can't beat the bubble tea at my favourite bubble tea joint.

I can't resist mango slush, even though its cold outside :)

Overall Experience:

Deco: this is just one of the typical cafes where you eat and basically hang out. Its not actually the best place if you want to have a private conversation.
Quality of food: 3.5/5. I had a bad experience in my first visit so I am a little cautious about choosing my noodle combination.
Value for $$: $$$/5. I think its pretty reasonable if you stay away from ordering their speciality drinks and side dishes. Some of the side dishes cost almost the same price as their meal.
Overall Experience: 3/5. I am pretty netural with this place. I know some people really love the noodle combos. But I much prefer the rice dishes. I also tend to refrain from ordering laska or tom sum soup base because I tend to make them at home and want something different when I venture out to eat.

Bubble Queen - Pacific Plaza

One of my list of favourite things is bubble tea. I thought this was a most fantastic invention - whoever thought of blending milk tea with fruits, chocolate etc and then add it with sago/tapioca balls? Apparently, bubble tea originated in Taiwan. I came across this article at CNN International which was quite informative. http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/drink/inventor-bubble-tea-885732 
Chun Shui Tang Teahouse in Taichung makes their bubble tea shaken and not blended. Sounds very Janes Bond - Shaken not stirred :) I suppose this requires a lot of hand power.

In any case, I heard a lot of positive reviews about Bubble Queen and decided to check out the place. I must say that the shop has an excellent selection of drinks - all kinds of flavours. They even store boxes of chocolates in their store - Hershey's, Kit-Kat, Oreo etc. Decided to get Hershey's Chocolate and their infamous mango slush with no pearls.

I was actually disappointed - the drinks were really too sweet for my taste. I much prefer my bubble tea at my favourite hangout which is a post for another day. Ascetically, its really nice that they add real mango pieces and even a small piece of  Hershey's chocolate onto their drinks. But I found it really hard to eat them (especially the mango pieces) with a straw. It bothered me a little. I rather drink the bubble tea and be done with it. On hindsight, I should have ask for less sugar and/or syrup in my drink.

It was an adventure just going down to Richmond Centre but I don't think I will make a trip specially there just for the bubble tea.

Mango slush with mango pieces -it really fills you up. 

Whipped cream with a piece of Hershey's chocolate - this is way sweeter than the mango slush!

I was so thirsty, I started drinking my mango slush before taking another pix.

Overall Experience:

Deco: not many seats for you to hang around and chat. Its quite a sight to see their display of mangoes and the variety of chocolates.
Quality: 3/5 (for the drinks). Was too full to order their waffles.
Value for $$: $$$/5
Overall Experience: 3/5. This place is just too out of the way and I still prefer my favourite bubble tea joint.

Pho Hoa Hong - 135 Street Surrey

Its been raining the past 2 days and it is times like this when I start dreaming of a bowl of warm pho - comfort food at its best :).

Went to Pho Hoa Hong some 2 weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised by the food. The infamous Pho Tham was located at the exact same street but somehow, I decided to venture into a place which is somewhat less popular.

The beef pho came in two sizes - small and large. Small is pretty filling for me. I liked the fact that my pho had some nice ligaments - a source of calcium for me.. I actually thought the best part of the beef pho was the ligaments.

The beef looks so inviting.

The broth was lightly seasoned - am kind of used to a much heavier broth.

One thing I learn is not to put a lot of beansprouts into your pho - I know this sounds so bad and so carnivorous but believe me, it seriously dilutes the subtle taste of the rich broth. It sounded so out of the world to me the first time someone gave me this advice. Then I recalled my granny's words when I was in elementary school .She said that bean sprouts are considered a "water vegetable" and so one has to be "light fingered" when one adds them into soup. Also she warned me about not adding too much water when frying bean sprouts with salted fish.  A couple of month ago, I came across this review about prawn mee soup in Singapore (http://ieatishootipost.sg/2010/01/beach-road-prawn-mee-order-your-prawn.html) The owner of the prawn mee stall categorically also told the writer of the blog not to add bean sprouts into the soup because it will affect the taste of the soup.


I love my appetizers in Pho Hoa Hong. It was some shrimps BBQ with bacon. Somehow, the fat in the bacon melted over the shrimps and made it so juicy. The entire shrimps was highly seasoned with tamarind sauce. The Vietnamese meat loaf was also pretty impressive - moist and lightly seasoned. 

The shrimps were slightly charred but it tasted to good with the tamarind sauce and the melted fat from the bacon.

I know the center of my attraction is the shrimp and bacon in skewers. The meat loaf seems so grey in color but  it is really worth a try.

Overall Experience:

Deco: 3/5. Service was quick and efficient. It is a no-fuss joint with Chinese paintings adorn on the walls. I was pretty relieved that the washroom was pretty clean.
Quality of food: 4/5. I was very happy with my pho and my shrimps. Also, I did not experience any extreme thirst after drinking basically nearly all the broth in my soup.
Value for $$: $$$$$/5. Price is reasonable and would not break your bank. Portions are also generous.
Overall Experience: 4/5. Its not the best beef pho that I had but I was happy with it. And I really like my shrimps and bacon.