Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Dessert House (Southside)

The Dessert House just recently opened and many people have presented things to us that we should try it since we really hang out at bubble tea shops...

Lkung's Thoughts
So... how should I start this but personally maybe because they had just opened recently they have some things to improve... They had a lengthy menu but all the food items are like taped out (like crossed out but with tape over it that says out). We asked the server if she had all the foods on the menu and lets be realistic that they did not... They said they don't have a deep fryer yet so hence anything on the menu that was deep fried was like good luck. I appreciate the efforts they tried but I don't think they really know what they are doing about the food.

Lets start with the bubble tea because I'm sure that is one of the features on the menu. They are quite creative with how you can almost select what you want in your bubble tea. They let you mix flavors and make it your own. I personally had a green apple red tea with pineapple jelly and well it tasted much syrup and water, no tea flavoring at all...

I also ordered fish tofu with satay, fried stuffed tofu with curry, fruit juice with fresh fruit - mango fruit juice with grass jelly and fresh fruit (they call it something else but I don't remember).

Food and bbt wise I don't think it met any standards I had... I mean personally I'm not too picky with bbt and like snack foods like that... According to Josie my tofu was stuffed and let me tell you it tasted like tofu to me... And the part about fried... very misleading... tasted like an ounce of oil drowned in tofu and second, there is like no point of ordering satay or curry, you might as well have bought the sauce from the can and just put it on my tofu... no difference... like such a lack of heart in cooking the food.

Service wise I really think the servers tried, they occasionally checked on us but it was a pretty quiet place I think and they had some kind of Chinese tv show they were watching behind the counter.

Overall the bill came out to be about 45 dollars-ish with a minor tip i believe...
Hopefully they get better and perhaps I will get the chance to go back and try when everything is in place...
Many people do like it and it is a very unique idea though so kudos to them. =)

My rating's

Cleanliness... 5
Food/Bubble tea - 2
Service - 2 (wasn't much interaction and well english wasn't a first language, not a bias just that hinders the interaction even so simple as ordering and asking about product availability)
Pricing - 3 (Its the normal price of a bubble tea but food wise I think the pricing can be better since seriously the food we tasted wasn't all that great and didn't have that much effort in it)


JosieNg's Thoughts
I don't even know where to start with the dessert house. I was actually excited to try what they had to offer until I actually went to try their food and they really didnt have much to offer. It was pretty disappointing to open up their menu and see that mostly everything on their menu was taped with an X and had 'out' written all over it. So I asked ther server about the food items that were canceled out and the waitress told me that their kitchen still doesnt have a deep fryer so all food items that had to be deep fried (which was most of the food items) had to be crossed out. They told us that they should be getting a deep fryer some time in December. But of course we were already there and there were still some foods and drinks to try so we decided to stay and try out what they did have on their menu.

Okay so I ordered the lychee slush with lychee boba to drink. The boba in the drink was pretty interesting. The boba was good but the drink itself wasnt very good. It didnt have the lychee flavor in the drink that there  usually is in a lychee drink. It just tasted like sugar water with lychee pop boba pieces.

Next is the food. I ordered the fried stuff tofu with satay on top. And let me tell you this right now. I am from Brunei. I know what satay tastes like. I have eaten lots and lots of satay in these 20 years of my life. What they put on their tofu did not taste like satay at all. It was grainy and tasted like it was from a can. The tofu was supposedly 'deep fried'.  It did not taste deep fried to me at all. It was not crispy or anything. The tofu was soft and tasted like they boiled it in oil...BOILED not FRIED. So when you bite into this tofu a bunch of oil would squirt out of this tofu and all you would taste is oil. Overall this was gross and the food was bland. And yes like LKung stated above the meat did not taste like meat at all. The meat had the texture of a tofu so you wouldn't even know that there was meat inside it.

I also ordered a dessert. I had the baked banana dish with vanilla ice cream. At first, just from looking at it, it looked like a really good dish. The banana's were wrapped in some pastry sheets and baked. Then they put some vanila ice cream on top of that. When I took my first bite of this dessert there was no taste of banana anywhere. And the texture of banana wasn't there either. The banana tasted like the pastry sheets that were wrapped around them. The bananas they used were not fresh but frozen so the taste and texture of the banana kind of disappeared.

They certainly have a very creative menu but it definitely needs alot more work put into it.

I dont think I would go back even when they have a deep fryer. I dont think having a deep fryer would make a difference in the love that they put into their food.

And my rating's are...

Cleanliness - 5
Food/Bubble tea - 0.5
Service - 1 ( Didn't really see the waitress very often. She was at the back watching some Chinese television show)
Pricing - 2 (In my opinion the pricing was kinda high especially for a place that has not so good food and drinks.)




The Dessert House on Urbanspoon

Sugarbowl (Southside)

Lkung's thoughts...
I think we went there because it was very interesting... Like apparently the sugarbowl has been around the garneau area as many various business forms such as a pub and other stuff before but yea it seemed like a hip place to have some quick lunch... Also I believe they also serve breakfast all day...
For my starter, I had the yam fries and I felt they were good... A little dry and could use some more sauce on the side. They were thinly sliced which is probably why it was a little dry when fried.
I personally had the breakfast special with sausage, eggs, toast, and some potatoes. Their potatoes were very unique tasting but I felt it was a little salty... the sausage was sausage and the rest was normal... didn't particular stand out to me but I don't think I ordered what they are famous for so therefore I don't know how valid this rating is...
Oh and I also had their yam fries. They weren't as good as I thought they were going to be...pretty meh to be honest.
But I must admit that the atmosphere was quite hip and chill! Quite the place to have a chat and just look around...

And my ratings are...
Cleaniness... 4 (they were busy and had some tables dirty and its an older place so little touch ups required maybe but it makes the place unique too)
Food - 3 
Service - 3.5 (it was chill)
Pricing - 5 (for what I had I think it was priced quite well) 


JosieNg's Thoughts
I have heard lots of reviews from this place and thought that we should try it out since some of my friends thought this restaurant was a hit.
So we got to the Sugar Bowl and sat ourselves. The servers were really nice and the restaurant was very comforting.
Lkung and I went to this restaurant in the morning so we decided to order some breakfast food since we havent had breakfast yet. I ordered a breakfast burrito and it was HUGE. The wrap had eggs, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. And i got some salsa and guacamole on the side. The wrap wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. It was on the bland side. Maybe they forgot to add salt or something but it was pretty bland. As I was eating nearer to the end of the wrap it was kinda soggy from the veggies inside the wrap.
Oh and I almost forgot. I also ordered a poutine. The fries inside the poutine were great. The fries actually stayed crispy even with the gravy on it. However, the gravy was really salty. But i did enjoy the fries themselves.
To be honest I would not go back for their breakfast but I  heard that the dinner menu burgers tasted pretty good. And I think that the burgers and cinnamon buns are what they are known for so I would definitely go back to give those a try.

My portion of the bill came out to be about $14. The burrito was $6 and the poutine was $8.

And my ratings...

Cleanliness - 2 (The cups that were used for water were really dirty)
Food - 3.5
Service - 4
Pricing - 4

Sugarbowl on Urbanspoon

Friday, November 4, 2011

Kabuki Sushi and Grill (Southside)

lkung's response

This Kabuki place is by the University, some state its by the Garneau area and well its been open for a while and me and JosieNg decided to go try it out just recently... And let me tell you it was interesting... People in my classes have been praising this place for a while and of course... high expectations were expected.

Let's start with what I ordered... We went in for lunch with a friend.. and I ordered Bento box B which included sushi, beef teriyaki, salad, rice, miso soup, one piece of fried pork (i'm sure there is a name for it but idk) and tempura. I further ordered a fresh oyster and the avocado roll.

Bento box B - like all bentos they start with a soup... the miso soup... and well I didn't like it... not that it didn't have a taste to it but it was like overall just salty... maybe because I was ike half sick but seriously I really didn't taste much to it... had some onions and tofu i believe.... Yea... it just didn't go so well with me...
Next arrived the bento... the beef teriyaki was pretty good actually and quite saucy (if thats a word) it was soft and tender and it was a good blend of flavour, the sushi was decent lets say... heres is the problem I had with it... I personally think they tried to make the rice soft and sticky but it just wasn't too sticky... fell apart in the chopsticks and I didn't really know what else to say... The blending of the rice and fish was decent but to say it was fantastic... a little far... Although the fish slice was quite generous and it was fresh fish although not totally like woot off the boat... (thats not what I expect, haha I do realize I live in the middle of no where and no where around the ocean at all! Actually QUITE far from it). The salad although I find quite intersting, they did their own blend of sauce and it was unique to them! I would have to say it was quite good of a salad! Omg... some critical work to the tempura.. It was like 50/50 to me... they had a slice of squash, two shrimp, a slice of yam and a green bean. The sauce they had for the tempura didn't jump out at me... on the salty side actually so please make your own judgement. Lets start with the slice of squash, its like ugh... like lets be realistic it was like half a pound of oil mixed with a squash slice, it was like wow... shrimp i think was good, the yam was decently cooked, and well the green bean threw me off for sure.

The raw oyster... was a beauty in itself... tasted kind of like a frozen oyster thawed out and then landed on my plate... with some salty suace and wow... It was just gross... There was a giant grain of like sand but whole and hard in the little oyster and portioning when I say little, mine was little... The grain covered like half the oyster and definitely ruined my taste buds.

The avocado roll was good, nice and fresh... hehe good aspect.

Pricing wise I would have to say it was decently priced. For lunch it was $13.50 for my bento, $2.50 for my oyster and then about $5.50 for my roll so i would have to say pricing was good, but keep in mind it was lunch!

Time for Ratings
Cleanliness - 4 (unique, dark designed restaurant, small in size so you can see everything and it was CLEAN!)
Service - 3.5 (only one lady was the server so it took a little longer for her to refill teas and stuff like that)
Food - 3.5
Drinks - 3 (I had green tea, and it was good)
Pricing - 4 (I also looked at the dinner menu and it was higher so I wouldn't say this is the best priced sushi there is)

JosieNg's thoughts
SUSHI TIME!!! Again....LOL anyways you guys all know that i am a sushi lover. This was one of the Japanese restaurans that I have been wanting to try for a while now. Me and lkung decided to go try it two days ago cause we wee in the Southside already anyway. And here we go...

So this is what I ordered. I had the bento box A, which included miso soup, chicken teriyaki, salad, tempura, one piece of fried pork which like Lkung said probably has a name but I wouldn't know what it would be called and a california roll. I also ordered the avocado maki and a caliornia cone ( which i always order at japanese restaurants...its like a trend haha)

Okay let's start off with the bento box. So they give you a Miso soup with the bento. The miso soup to me did taste like a miso soup should taste like although it was a bit on the salty side and the soup was actually grainy. So no I didn't like this soup...don't think anyone would like grainy soup. Then came the bento box and it looked really appetizing. Couldn't wait to dig into the food. The chicken teriyaki wasn't very good. Usually the chicken teriyaki is crisp on the outside and tender/moist on the inside. This one was not even close to that. I bit into the chicken and it was like hard. It wouldnt even be defined as crisp at this point...like it was over fried and was hard. Tasted actually like chicken jerky or something. Then moving onto the salad portion of the bento. I have no idea what they put into this sauce but i didnt like it at all. It was an oil based dressing but then again different people have different tastes so that is my thoughts on the salad. The tempura was interesting and the tempura sauce was like dipping your tempura into a bowl of salt. I gave each vegetable a try and for each one that i bit into it was like drenched in oil. You can like see the grease on the tempura. Then I had the shrimp tempura and never in my life have i ever taken the batter off of anything...The shrimp tempura was soggy. It was so drenched in oil that i had to take the batter off the shrimp. Anyways, lastly I had the california roll from the bento. The first few peices were alright then I had my fourth one and i bit into a grain of something that actually cracked my tooth. I have no idea what could have been in a california roll that was that hard but it was kinda gross.

The acovado maki was fresh but the rice could have been stickier cause it was falling apart. But aside from the rice it was actually pretty good and I really enjoyed it.

The california cone that I ordered was not eaten so I cant really say anything about it. But by looking at it, it had the same rice issue...was falling apart. Yeah...I didn't eat the california cone cause of the issue I had with the california roll in the bento. It really grossed me out...and my tooth was in like pain. So yes, I lost my appetite unfortunately.

So here is the pricing. $12.50 for the bento box, $3.50 for the maki, and $4.50 for the cone.

Overall I was disappointed in this sushi restaurant.

And my ratings...
Cleanliness - 3.5
Service - 3.5
Food - 2.5
Drinks - 5 (I only had water to drink)
Pricing - 4.5
Bento B

Miso Soup

Fresh Oyster

Avocado Roll (Bottom) & Avocado Maki (Top)

Bento A

California Cone
Kabuki Sushi & Grill on Urbanspoon