The Factory: Great quality for $4.95!

Planned to go somewhere for dinner before a movie, turned out they didn't have their specials anymore and The Factory was closer than The Famous Warehouse, so I walked in to grab seats!

Restaurant: The Factory

Location: 1017 Granville Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Pub food, international, tapas
Price range: $10-15





Date of visit: October 28, 2014
Atmosphere: 3/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

Not very busy for 5pm on a Tuesday night but the staff were attentive and helpful. I remember they used to have all food items for $5.95, guess they changed it? It's now $4.95! I sat alone eating three dishes (thinking others would arrive earlier), looked like a girl who just got dumped and was binge eating haha =P Anyhow! I got their Pesto Linguine ($4.95) which was quite large. I enjoyed the creamy pesto they chose to use topped with some fresh tomatoes, bacon, and Parmesan cheese. It was nice and herby but didn't feel oily. Pasta was al dente too!

Next on my table was their Poutine ($4.95). Basically a lot of fries topped with gravy, cheese, and bacon (bacon makes everything better). The fries were crispy and hot, moist on the inside. Cheese was softer than I like (not the squeaky eraser cheese in traditional poutines) and the bacon was just there. However the gravy was nice and light, complimented the dish well.

Finally, as I continued to eat alone with my table of food, their Factory Burger ($4.95) arrived. Waiter was totally understanding and actually informed me I could get them to reheat the food when others arrived and didn't discriminate that loner girl in the corner was binging on three dishes. The burger patty was all beef, thickness of a quarter-pounder at McDonald's. Typical burger with lettuce, cheese, bun, and tomato (plus sauce), it was quite wholesome. Came with a side of fries.




Overall I enjoyed my visit, I feel the food is at par or even better than The Famous Warehouse down the street, more variety and yummier fries =P So if you're looking for cheap eats, this is a good option!

Crackle Crème: Smooth, very smooth.

After a light dinner, Adorables and I wandered over to dessert, which was just down the street. This was in the less-sketchy-more-hipster part of Chinatown (the outskirts).










Restaurant: Crackle Crème (visit their website here)

Location: 245 Union Street
Cuisine: Dessert, Coffee
Price range: $5-10





Date of visit: October 22, 2014
Atmosphere: 3/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

Super stoked to finally get to try this place!! I didn't know what to order and we wanted to hit up a few more places after this, so we decided on their trio "Flight" ($7.50)-- I actually forgot what fancy name they came up with xD Flavors can't be swapped out because they're in smaller containers. The flavors of the day were Vanilla, Salted Caramel, and Earl Grey.

They were from the fridge and torched in front of our eyes! Such professionalism =) Took this as a learning experience hehe

First to meet my wooden spork was the vanilla. Crispy sugar on top, great evenness to the thickness. Now the creme itself was delicious! Creamy and rich, they used real vanilla bean in making this (noted by the black specks near the bottom). Not too sweet either, yum!!

Next we tried the Salted Caramel (top), which was interesting, the caramel flavor was very strong and this was sweeter than the vanilla. Love/Hate for this one. Then was the Earl Grey (left), the flavors sank in after swirling it in my mouth and it was like BANG! EARLY GREY! Beautifully infused flavor, fragrant but light and delicious.

Not too sure if I'd pay $5 each, but it's a good experience, they have the best crème brûlée I've tried so far!

Guu Garden: Mayo everywhere!

First off, Happy Birthday to SexyNapkins! She decided upon Guu Garden for her dinner party, and besides this being hard to find, the atmosphere was great, like the other Guu locations. I hoped that inconvenience would be the only downside to this location, and right I was!

Restaurant: Guu Garden (visit their website here)

Location: M101-888, Nelson Street
Cuisine: Japanese, Izakaya, Tapas
Price range: $15-25 per person





Date of visit: October 10, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

Since there were so many of us, we ordered separately. Adorables and I shared the food and were quite satisfied. We shared our food with others too, goodness we ordered too much for the two of us to eat haha!

First we got the Tako Uni Wasabi ($4.80). I was disappointed by how little uni there was, and how watery the piece was (maybe it was intended to be like that though haha). The uni complimented the tako wasabi, I quite enjoyed it. The wasabi was far too strong for me though. Nothing better than starting your night with some slimey, gooey, nose-clearing appie! ;)

Nothing new, but we ordered a small Ebi Mayo ($9.00). I was surprised at the size. There was a half dozen shrimp lined up nicely on a THICK bed of spicy mayo topped with some garnish and shrimp chip. Happy with the amount because my previous experiences with Guu has been.... expensive, pretty, but not filling. The shrimp were fresh and crunchy, nice size too. Flavors were your normal ebi mayo, but man, they sure did have a LOT of mayo on that plate.

Then arrived a Unagi Nuku-Sushi ($7.80). I'm a sucker for cute setups, and this just got me. Loved it! On the side there was some pickled veggies, they were sweet and a little tart, quite nice to cut the fatty feeling of unagi!

There was nice big piece of unagi on a bed of rice in a traditional steamer topped with some seaweed and underlined with a bamboo leaf. It was a bit difficult getting all the rice from the steamer because it wasn't lined fully and stuck to the steamer, but delicious nonetheless. The rice was steamed al dente and perfectly mixed with the fatty unagi. Yum!

I forgot what this was called, but it was something like Fish and Veggie Chips ($~9) from their special menu. It arrived on a bed of home-made tartar sauce (more mayo!). Although it looked like a lot, it was probably one piece of fried fish cut up into 5 pieces. The fish fell apart from the fried batter and became a mess. However, it was very crispy and light. The veggies included potatoes and lotus root. Some of the veggie chips were over-fried and burnt though :( The bed of tartar sauce was delicious, there was some egg white in it! :3

Finally, we also ordered large Green Bean Fries ($9.00). These were crispy, battered green beans. Quite interesting, but some of them fell apart as the batter didn't stick well to the beans. More mayo with this dish haha! I dipped some of mine into the ebi mayo's spicy mayo and it brought out more flavors ^-^

On the side, we nibbled some of HK's Saba Shima-Sushi, the rice was an odd brown color but overall tasted good! I normally don't like saba, but this one wasn't crazy sour like the other places. Good! It was topped with wasabi and a shisho leaf (I think).

Someone ordered a dish with deep fried bread-crumb crusted zuchinni and it was awesomeee. I loved the soft juicy zuchinni and the zesty tomato sauce with Parmesan cheese made it taste a bit italian, but still be able to taste the zuchinni. Also saw others order the Chicken Kaarage ($12.00 for large), and it was paired with mayo and looked really juicy and delicious!

Overall, enjoyed my meal. The staff were friendly but service was a bit slow. I like how they put in the effort to plate nicely with their delicious food. Portions were reasonable at this location, so I may be back to try more (their menu isn't very extensive though, not much selection). Either way, it was a great party for our wonderful foodie friend!!

Mega Sushi: Second dinner did not disappoint!

Still had some room in our tummies, and wanting to make the most of this trip to Steveston, we went to the other end of Steveston and got more food!

Restaurant: Mega Sushi (visit their website here)

Location: 100-3131 Chatham Street, Richmond
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi, Seafood
Price range: $15-$20





Date of visit: June 14, 2014
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

Ordered a Salmon Sashimi ($7.95) which was wild salmon. Quite happy with the quantity and quality. Salmon was fresh (I think I need a synonym, fresh is getting . . . old xD).

I liked the sprig of celery on top hehe

One order of the Prawn Tempura ($7.95) was rather satisfying. It came in a cute dim sum container, which kept the tempura crispy. They were nicely sized and the batter was light and crunchy.

Chicken Teriyaki ($10.50) came on an iron plate, but I don't recall it being too sizzly. Kinda disappointing. Otherwise, chicken portion was good with lots of bean sprouts under it and rice.

Got a couple nigiris: Salmon ($2.25 each), Tobiko ($2.25 each), Chopped Scallop ($2.25 each) and Tuna ($1.75 each). All were well-proportioned and fresh. I felt that there was too much mayo for the chopped scallop but the tobiko instead of masago was a nice touch ;)

Mango Roll ($8.95) had sweet mango on it with crispy prawn tempura. They added some mango sauce to it to make it more mango-y I guess ^^" Plating was pretty and the flavors went well together as the sweet/tart of the mango cut the oily feeling of tempura.

I ordered a Rainbow Roll ($11.95) before and it was just as pleasing this time. They top it with 5 kinds of fish I believe and didn't fall apart. Very happy. Fish was fresh and delicious.

Salmon Combo ($12.95) was a lot of salmon. I'd have to say there's nothing super special about this because it was just salmon sashimi, salmon sushi, and salmon maki. That's it. Simply for a salmon-lover.

We got a Beef Udon ($9.25) to finish off our meal. The udon was chewy and plentiful. Soup was rich and the beef was tender.

They even gave us little "tubs" to share with ^-^

Everyone was uber satisfied with our second dinner, and with our bellies full, we left Steveston with happy memories.

Fishermen Sushi: I'm back already!

Brought our Hong Kong visitors to Steveston for a feel of how fishermens' harbors were like and ended up for more food after our quick tour!

Restaurant: Fishermen Sushi (visit their website here)

Location: 130-12251 No. 1 Road, Richmond
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi, Seafood
Price range: $10-15





Date of visit: June 14, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

I lured them here with cheap, fresh Oysters aka kaki pon ($0.75 each). Ordered a first conservative round of two dozen and they were slurped up quickly. Fresh and flavorful, they smoothly made their way into my digestive tract.

Felt weird not ordering anything else, and my daddy dearest doesn't eat raw much, so we got an Agedashi Tofu ($4.75). It was very fresh and crispy.

As well, we got Takoyaki ($4.95). These were creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Lovely.

Got another round of oysters . . .

 . . . And quickly gobbled them up too!

The waiters were super efficient and nice even though we only ordered their special oysters mainly-- which was great. I hate places that treat you poorly because you're not "ordering enough". Props to them! =)

Neptune Seafood: Lobster for lunch? SURE

Bringing some relatives around to visit Richmond, they wanted to try some "Vancouver dim sum". Haven't been here before, but dinner was pretty good when I came here once, so why not?

Restaurant: Neptune Seafood Restaurant (visit their website here)

Location: 8171 Ackroyd Road, Richmond
Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum, Seafood
Price range: $15+



Date of visit: June 14, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

So as I walked in I smelled delicious durian and wanted to order the item containing it-- sadly... I saw them plate out a few but none ever reached our table until they told us when I asked again, "They're sold out." WHAT. WHY YOU NO TELL ME EARLIER. I'M SURE I ORDERED IT FIRST. Anyways. aside from that, first was a nicely sized Pork Shao Mai ($5.68). The pork was chopped and not pureed, which everyone enjoyed. Tasted legit and fresh.

Next Pig Liver Rice Rolls ($5.68) were very mediocre. Sure the liver was a nice crunchy consistency and flavored well, but the rice roll around it was a bit hard, rough, and not chewy enough.

Steamed Beef Tripe ($4.68) was nicely portioned and flavored well. The tripe was crunchy and good. Meets the standards.

Then the Shrimp Dumplings ($5.68) were disappointing. The filling was crunchy, springy, and fresh but the wrapping fell apart and was too soft.

I was surprised at how many BBQ Pork Buns ($4.68) were in one order! For the price, there were four big buns which were decent! Soft bread and the pork inside had a good consistency. Flavors were up to par.

I find their Lotus Leaf Sticky Rice ($5.68) quite ingenious because they wrap it on the outside with an extra layer of paper, keeping in all the lotus flavors-- creating rice that was infused with lotus. Delicious. The ingredients inside were not bad either, pork, egg, and a piece of Chinese sausage. Quite traditional.

I didn't try their Stuffed Eggplant ($5.68) as I'm allergic, but they looked big and fresh. Everyone seemed to enjoy them.

The Deep Fried Stuffed Dumplings ($5.68) had barely any filling. Freshly made but nothing special.

Now comes the lobster. I find it quite a good deal for a lobster with noodles at lunch. Their Fried Lobster Rice Noodles ($19.98) had a full lobster on top of a bed of clear rice noodles. Flavors were soy sauce based with some ginger and green onion. Lobster was fresh. Highlight of the meal for sure. Definitely impressed our visitors from Hong Kong ^u^

Onto dessert, we had Deep Fried Glutinous Balls ($4.68).

The filling is a sweet custard that everyone enjoyed because it flowed nicely out and was freshly made.

I think it was in season or something, and I was against it in the beginning, but we ordered a Red Bean Rice Cake ($4.68) aka red bean sticky rice. It was TINY. Texture was ok, it was chewy and not too soft nor was it hard. I found it mediocre compared to the ones we used to get from this nice old lady xD Anyhow, not worth ordering again. (didn't get a pic cuz it was THAT disappointing)

As you might notice, tea ($1.20/person) was rather expensive =( It was like having one and a half dim sum dishes :c Oh well. Service was not bad, very variable.