Jimoco: Unfresh seafood, delicious pasta, small portions

I remember coming here many years ago and the would be hour long lineups, but the place was near empty for Sunday lunch time. Odd. Maybe it's because it wasn't lunch time yet? (We were there at 12:30pm) anyways, no one greeted us at the front, and finally someone noticed as we walked in halfway to the counter and told us we'd be seated in a couple minutes.

Restaurant: Jimoco Café & Pasta (visit their website here)

Location: 1046 Austin Avenue, Suite A, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Italian, pasta, seafood
Price range: $20/person

Date of visit: December 10, 2017
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 1.5/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

Looking at the menu, prices have gone up by about $3-5 per dish, such was expected due to inflation and whatnot over the years. From the 2 for 1 menu we ordered 4 dishes for 5 people. First to arrive was the Risotto Al Frutti Di Mar ($21.95) with rose sauce (you can choose from tomato, rose, cream, wine, or curry). It was a pretty small portion if it weren't 2 for 1. The risotto was about 0.5 inches deep and although it tasted great, it definitely needed more cream to the rose. Tasted like plain tomato sauce. The mussels were hit or miss on freshness, some of them have definitely gone bad.

Next was the Linguine Al Frutti Di Mar ($20.95) in white wine sauce. Portions got smaller for this one, definitely not like the pictures on the menu. The was about a cups' worth of pasta on the plate. There were scallops, mussels, clams, and shrimp in this dish. The flavors were great and noodles cooked al dente. Again, the shellfish was not fresh, tasted fishy and smelled pungent.

Then the Fusilli Alla Lucana ($22.95) arrived a little on the burnt side. Interesting presentation since it's covered with pizza dough on top, which helped keep the dish warm while we finished the others first. At this point I didn't understand why they used such large plates if they were only going to fill them 1/3 or halfway because it just looks bad. Anyways, only dish that wasn't seafood, the sausage and pasta was decent. Pizza dough was very dense and although interesting in design, felt disconnected to the whole dish.

Last was the Linguine Soul Bianco ($21.95). Last time I came here I got the Linguine Soul which is the spicy tomato base, but I wanted to try something new, the Bianco is a white seafood sauce base. This was very delicious with fragrant herbs and succulent seafood sauce infused in the pasta as it bubbled in front of us. Unfortunately the mussels and clams weren't all fresh, more than half were inedible.

It's sad to see such a great restaurant come to this. The flavors and execution were amazing, but subpar staff, ingredients weren't fresh, and portions were tiny. I was disappointed and unsatisfied with my revisit. I guess good things don't last forever :(
 

Al Porto: Great early dinner special!

It was LadyH's birthday, and she opted for an early dinner-- because there was an early dinner special! We were seated in the middle of the restaurant where there was an interesting arc above us that clearly transmitted sound, so we could speak with others far down the table without having to yell! Super cool.

Restaurant: Al Porto Ristorante (visit their website here)

Location: 321 Water Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Italian, Seafood
Price range: $25+ per person




Date of visit: April 18, 2015
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 3.5/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

Adorables, ThickToast, and I decided to share a couple dishes to try more variety, so we got their Arancini Funghi ($8.95). Basically they were wild mushroom risotto croquettes stuffed with provolone served on a bed of basil tomato sauce. We were confused at first since they came in three balls (thought they were meatballs).

Anyways, cut it open to find delicious cheese that was melty and a creamy mushroom risotto shell which was crispy on the outside. The tomato sauce was nicely seasoned and made it quite appetizing. Great for dipping bread too!

ThickToast selected their House Cut Fries with Chili Mayo ($6.95). These were thin fries which were adequately crispy, with a tangy chili mayo sauce. The fries were nothing too spectacular, some were too tiny  so they ended up being overfried, but I really liked the chili mayo!

They also offer an early dinner special 4:30-6:30pm where any main course with soup or salad is $24 or any pasta with soup or salad is $18. We got a main course, Scallops and Prawns ($25.95 regularly). It came with 5 scallops, 7 tiger prawns (if I remember correctly), sweet pea and saffron risotto, beet, radish, and purple kale. The scallops were cooked perfectly, juicy and fresh! tiger prawns also cooked well, but not that big. The risotto was bland, radish took us a while to figure out what it was since it looked like sauerkraut but was just julienned radish. One of the highlights was the purple kale, it was seasoned well and cooked so that it was tender but still had some bite to it. I loved the flavor!

We chose a salad to go with our special, the Insalata Beet Carpaccio ($7.95). This was visually appealing with the arugula and frisee mix on thinly sliced beets. I think they also had candycane beet chunks on top. The Parmesan crisp was yummy. Salad was your basic salad with barely detectable honey blood orange dressing.

During early dinner there are also drink specials, but I just ordered a Grapefruit Juice ($4.00 I think), and Adorables had a small San Pellegrino ($5.50). Grapefruit juice wasn't a bright red color and tasted like fresh squeezed grapefruit juice! Very surprising to me! No bitter taste, I enjoyed this with my meal a lot.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience, service was pretty decent, the waiters and waitresses were attentive and accommodating. They have a very homey feel here =)

Pagliacci's: Adorkably punny dish names!

Day trip to Victoria, of course I'd have lunch on my little Elephant =D (thanks) Not sure where to go, I looked up somewhere relatively highly rated and we ended up here. Paid street parking, not bad.

Restaurant: Pagliacci's (visit their website here)

Location: 1011 Broad Street, Victoria
Cuisine: Italian, Breakfast
Price range: $15-20 per person




Date of visit:February 28, 2015
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 3/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

We were started with some complimentary bread as we worked through the menu.

I ordered the The Prawn Broker ($16.00) with Side Soup, such a cute name! It was a cashew curry based sauce with coconut milk, jumbo prawns, mango chutney, and cream on a spinach fettuccine. There is an option of half the pasta for $3 less. Greedy me got the full serving =P It was full of ingredients and the pasta was al dente. However, I not much curry flavor and the sauce was too sweet. I prefer savory pasta more.

Soup was tomato-based, fragrant and tangy. I liked it!

Elephant got The Big Easy ($17.00) with Caesar Salad. This had jumbo prawns, chicken, Italian sausage, bell peppers and mushrooms in a spicy Cajun marinara sauce over penne. So much meat in his, but delicious albeit a bit spicy for me.

Salad was fresh and your typical Caesar salad. We could've chosen a different sauce, but wanted to just get the full Caesar experience =P

It was also kind of early, Elephant ordered a Coffee ($3.00). They kept refilling it, and I guess it was ok. (Not a big fan of coffee). Overall the service was great and props to their creative names!

La Notte: Gelati is plural for Gelato?!

Finally have a chance to come here on another fine Tuesday for $8.99 pasta! =D Really close to UBC (aka far away for me) but cheap pasta, why not give it a try?

Restaurant: La Notte (visit their website here)

Location: 3307 Dunbar Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Italian
Price range: $10-$20





Date of visit: November 5, 2013
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 3.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

Started off with some focaccia bread, it was a bit cold by the time we got down to nom nom on it, since KW and LZ arrived earlier (I was a WEE late). Still quite good, a bit hard by the time I got to it =(

Moving on, KW ordered a Proscuitto E Melone ($9.00), which was interesting because I've usually had it paired with melon and not cantaloupe. The cantaloupe wasn't very fresh, had a wine-y taste to it but the proscuitto was decent. Together it wasn't a memorable dish. But YES. Those grape-looking things at the end were full olives! Very strong taste, but interesting.

The main attraction, pasta! Bonnishii and LZ both ordered Fettuccine Alla Veneziana ($8.99- Regularly $15.00). It was deliciously rich and creamy (I sneaked a bite), with a few decently sized prawns. Bonnishii said it was a bit much near the end because it was so rich, but otherwise delish!

KW wanted to try their basics and ordered a Spaghetti Bolognese ($8.99- Regular $14.00). Very tomatoey, and had nice chunks of ground beef. Pasta was al dente and overall I liked how the flavors worked out. But then again, it WAS just your typical spaghetti bolognese. They just didn't' mess it up xD

I've been on this clam-addiction lately, and just can't get enough! Ordered a Linguine Alle Vongole ($8.99- Regularly $15.00). There were indeed whole and baby clams, which weren't very flavorful at all. They were rather chewy and bland =/ Definitely a disappointment for me. Not much wine taste in the sauce either, although it was far less rich than Bonnishii and LZ's pasta. I managed to stuff it all in me, which says something about the portion size. Either way, pasta was great, clams not so much, and it wasn't overly oily (not too light either!).

To finish off the night, there's desserts of course! We were confused about the "Gelati" ($6.00 I believe... forgot the price), turns out it was PLURAL for Gelato!! (Learn something new every day!) Anyways, there were a few options, and we decided on the one with three flavors. Pistachio (tasted like medicine), Vanilla (Had dried fruits and nuts in it which diminished the experience), and Hazelnut (which was surprisingly not like Nutella, and was the best part of the Gelati). Oh! Our servers were very friendly and helpful, brownie points for them! ^-^

LZ went with tradition and ordered a piece of Tiramisu ($7.00). She felt the cake layer was overly soaked in coffee and negatively impacted her overall experience. Otherwise your typical Tiramisu.

Bonnishii's impression of me while I was nibbling on that focaccia bread xD

For this price I was ok with coming here, although for a bit more at La Trattoria, I feel I would pay the extra bit for better quality food. La Notte give a very homey feel and is more casual though. So depending on what environment you're looking for, its a decent pasta place. Me? I don't see myself returning. #notafoodsnob #Ijusthavehigherexpectations Toodles~ <3

Trattoria Italian Kitchen: Pasta craving satisfied-- deliciously!

Had a craving for pasta and Adorables suggested this! Bonus that it was their Tuesday pasta special, so all pastas were only $11! =D So. . . why not? ^-^

Restaurant: Trattoria Italian Kitchen (visit their website here)

Location: 1850 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver
Cuisine: Italian, Pasta
Price range: $15-25





Date of visit: October 15, 2013
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

Luckily for us, there was a table quickly available, it was super busy for a Tuesday night! (as compared to many other restaurants). Ordered some drinks to start the evening. Adorables ordered a Citrus tea ($3.50) for me to try, and it was decent. Came in a nice package, the tea itself was fragrant and tart-- none of the bitter tea taste, not bad to accompany our meal.

He ordered a Trattoria Lemonade Passionfruit flavor ($3.50) and I tried some-- it was amazing! So many flavors exploded in my mouth. First it was just tart and bubbly, then came the sweet and fragrant tastes of fruit (passionfruit, pear, and I couldn't figure out what else-- those are guesses too haha).

I was rather torn between a few pasta options, but finally decided on the Tagliatelle Nero Vongole ($11.00-- regularly $17.95). Basically it was a squid ink pasta with clams and tomatoes. The pasta itself was al dente and flavorful. But the highlight of the dish was the clams. They were so fresh and full of clam flavor-- it was amazing. I couldn't stop myself from picking them out and munching on all of them first (I refrained after a while). A bit on the oily side, but the dish itself was overall very satisfying.

Adorables decided on the Truffled Spaghetti and Signature Meatballs ($11.00-- regularly $22.95). Simple as this dish may seem (spaghetti and meatballs, pretty much), I loved the creaminess of the sauce after the cream and tomato sauces were mixed. I thought it would be too saucy and thick, but it wasn't overwhelming at all. It came with three pretty giant meatballs, which were not bad, there was some texture to the meat and the flavors weren't too overwhelming-- matched well with the whole dish.

Finally, to finish our wonderful meal, a Tiramisu ($7.95) was ordered. I felt the chocolate on top did little to enhance the flavors, rather it was too grainy and affected the texture negatively. Otherwise the display and taste was well executed. The quality just didn't justify the price charged. However, the biscotti on the side was beautifully delicious.

Friendly service, delicious food, pasta specials, amazing company-- a very memorable and awesome evening indeed. I shall be back on another Tuesday to try their other delectable pastas! Adorables also ordered a lasagna (only available on Tuesdays) to go, which he said was average-- it came with a side salad though! ^w^

Munchie Adventure: Professor Mugs (BCIT), Burnaby

Having a long lunch break today, decided to pop in here to try their lunch =) Also brought my shadow student, PK, along, hopefully she enjoyed the tour of BCIT =D

Restaurant: Professor Mugs Pub (visit their website here)
Location: 3700 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby (in the Grand Hall building of BCIT)
Cuisine: Pub food, burgers, salads, pasta
Price range: $15+

Date of visit: March 28, 2013
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 3/5
Buck worthy? 2/5

Not being a bread person, I veered away from the burgers and ordered a Mediterranean Linguini ($10.75). This is what PK ordered too ^^ The linguini itself was al dente, and the sauce was nicely seasoned, a good portion size to boot =) Too many olives for my liking, but they're good for me, so I finished them off. However, that chicken WAS SO DRY. I felt like I was eating cardboard, literally. Thankfully there was so much sauce I dipped the chicken to help moisten it a bit. Chicken was definitely disappointing, too charred as well =(
Garlic bread was very good, not too buttery/oily =D

AL got a half order of Caesar Salad ($4.50) with the dressing on the side, and it was big! Wonder what the size of the normal is =O Looked fresh and had the right ingredients, good choice to have the dressing on the side, so it's not overwhelming and to your personal taste!

She also ordered a 1/2 lbs of sweet chili wings ($5.00). These looked like a decent size, but sadly I was too full to stuff any in me to try =(

Overall my experience was good, but I'm not quite satisfied with their quality of food. Or perhaps its just not to my tastes. I'd come here for games of pool, but no more of that dry chicken please xD

Munchie Adventure: Jimoco Cafe & Pasta, Coquitlam

AH suggested this restaurant for us to try out for our little get-together, and it looked really good online in reviews! Everyone seemed to rave on and on about it, so we all were excited to try! I got there first, actually drove by first, and OH MY GOSH. There were like 15 people standing at the door, and the store looked TINY!! ><"

So I didn't know I had to put my name down with the waitress at the back of the store... so was set back by one table =( she told me 30-45 min wait... which ended up to be the sum of those. We were seated close to 8 (when I had arrived at 6:30). Better be worth the wait!

Sorry for the picture quality in advance, it was dimly lit in there, and my phone doesn't have the best camera =(

Restaurant: Jimoco Cafe & Pasta
Location: 1046A Austin Avenue, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Pasta, Italian, Pizza
Price range: <$15 per person




Date of visit: January 11, 2013
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 3/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

First we were started off with some garlic bread, we were so famished, even though it was cold and not very good, I still gobbled it down xD

We ordered off the 2 for 1 menu, since it seemed like the best deal =) AH and I ordered their Soul Linguine ($16.95), and it came in a cool hot bowl =D Taste and texture was good, would've liked it more if the squid were in slightly larger pieces, or in those fun rings-- the little bits just didn't work with me. There were 3 shrimps, 2 mussels, two clams, some scallops, and a bunch of squid bits. Lots of sauce, and we asked them for a "less spice" version, and it wasn't spicy at all.

CM ordered their Penne verde (16.95) in tomato sauce. She said it was very bland, and I tried some, and indeed, it was all just tomato flavor, no salt flavor almost. Maybe they forgot, but on the bright side, she isn't consuming as much salt, which is healthy? =) Looked like it was packed with veggies though!

CL ordered the Linguine alle vongole ($16.95), and she also reported it was quite bland. Looked like there were lots of clams though, so she just showered the whole pasta dish with lots of Parmesan cheese which was on the side of the table.

Overall, I'm not quite convinced it's worth the 75ish minute wait, and honestly, not as amazing as the reviews make it seem. I mean, it's quite a good deal seemingly, and half of our table felt the pasta was tasty, but they portions were average sized (everyone finished their dish except for me xD). They're always big for me, but I'm pretty sure, a guy wouldn't be full from this. Waitresses were very friendly and helpful though! Parking is not good, there's two spots in the back, and a few in the front shared with all the other shops. Free 4 hr parking behind Safeway, but SO COLD to walk back to our cars xD

Munchie Adventure: Olive Garden, Tulalip WA

Road Trip!!!! =D first time ever going with friends, and it was absolutely amazing. Not that going with my family isn't good, it's a different feel =)

It was around 3 when we got there, but it was packed! We had to wait for a table!! But look at the buzzer =O *easily amused* Annnyways, they have this deal where if you order an entree, you get unlimited soup refills or salad. AND breadsticks =) But judging from the prices, I'd say it's just included in the price =P







Restaurant: Olive Garden (visit their website here)
Location: 10326 Quil Ceda Blvd, Tulalip, WA
Cuisine: Italian, Pasta, Steak
Price range: $15-20




Date of visit: November 3, 2012
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 3.75/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

I asked for hot water, and was surprised with this! Very nice, and who would've thought that tiny pot could hold so much water? =O

We were first started off with soup! There were five kinds to try from, I chose the Chicken Florentine (which wasn't on the menu). It was a creamy tomato soup with potatoes, carrots, spinach, chicken, and something else I can't quite recall xD It was very good!!

SW and AL got the Zuppa Toscana, which was also very yummy! I loved the taste of it, it was a white soup but you could taste the rich meat flavor. There was also Kale in it, which I remember SW telling me all about the goodness of =)

Then came the adorably wrapped breadsticks =P they came fresh out of the oven! =)

Look at how nice they looked, the texture was very good, liked it a lot, but I thought it was a bit too oily on the outside.

When our waitress asked if we wanted appies, I actually told her we wanted "These tomatoes please", but I meant to say "These mushrooms please" xD Aiiiii Oh well, we got the Stuffed Mushrooms ($8.35), and they were really good! They used clams to stuff them, and it was so fresh!! The juices looked oily, but so delicious that we didn't mind =P

Then it was Round 2 of soup for SW and AL, cuz I was pretty full already after the breadsticks, "tomatoes" and first bowl of soup. SW tried their Pasta e Fagioli, which was an Italian Chili (or so the waitress explained). I didn't try this, but it looked packed full of goodies, although I think the previous soups were preferred.

Onto the main courses! AL ordered their Chicken Parmigiana ($16.25) and swapped the spaghetti to angel hair. It looked really good!

SW went for their Grilled Lemon-Herb Chicken ($14.75), they even grilled the lemon! =P Looked quite healthy, but I felt it was a bit too burnt. It came with pretty Farfalle pasta though =D Such cute bow-like pasta!!! <3

I couldn't decide what to get, so I went for their Tour of Italy ($18.50), which included Chicken Parmigiana, Homemade Lasagna, and Fettuccine Alfredo. I only tried a bit of each, since I was pretty full already, the chicken was very crispy and the tomato sauce was light and tangy. The lasagna was pretty good, although I think the pasta part was a bit soggy. The sauce was nice. Lastly, the fettuccine, wasn't as good. I thought the sauce was a bit "rough" and wasn't as creamy as I expected. Taste was well balanced, but texture definitely could use some improvement.

Ended our meal with some Andes mints, haven't had these in so long that it tasted better than I remember.

Overall, it was a good experience, something different from the buffets I end up going to when in the states! I think they're a bit pricey, but I think most Western meals are relatively more expensive than Chinese food =P The decorations inside gave me this homey feel, and the friendly waiter and waitress (they switched off during our meal) made it very enjoyable.