Kingsway Sushi

Well, we got snubbed for the Will and Kate wedding invitation so we decided to dine out at Kingsway Sushi and drown our sorrows in all-you-can-eat Japanese food.  For some reason, Japanese food lends itself very friendly to AYCE (probably since a lot of the items can be made into bite-sized portions).  But more importantly, you can also eat more since there is a good variety of dishes (unlike East Indian AYCE places like New India Buffet).

Kinemi’s Kitchen

Kinemi’s Kitchen is located in the Crescent of Champlain  Heights.  There is a serious lack of restaurants in the immediate area with the closest take-out usually either at Champlain Mall, Kingsway, or the Metrotown area.  Unfortunately, a lot of the restaurants either don’t stay very long or move to other locations.

Previously, this particular location was the site of a number of different pizza restaurants.  While walking past the area last week, I noticed that a new restaurant had just opened up.  As a matter of fact, their grand opening isn’t until tomorrow.

Burgoo (Main Street)

Mac n’ Cheese!

Mac n’ Cheese!

Mac n’ Cheese!

Okay, now that I’ve got your attention… I must have passed by Burgoo hundreds of times in the past and not given it a second look.  I always thought it was just a burger shop (turns out “burgoo” means stew).  Then I heard that they served mac n’ cheese.

Excelsior Restaurant – The King Crab and I

In the immortal words of Stan Lee, “Excelsior!”  Note: for all of you non-nerds, Stan Lee is an icon in Marvel comics and uses the word “Excelsior” as his catchphrase.

It may be the end of April, but you can still find Alaskan King Crab in Vancouver (although the prices are a wee bit higher).  Someone had recommended Excelsior as THE place to get king crab.  Since we didn’t get it last week at Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant we decided to try it out for lunch.

New Town Bakery (Richmond)

Lots of great bakery items here (ie. crispy prawn turnovers, huge walnut cookies, buns galore, …) but the thing that everyone comes for are the flaky apple tarts.

I remember back in the 80`s there was a place that sold these delicious apple tarts in Chinatown (Hong Kong Cafe) but they eventually closed down and the apple tarts were no more.  Some others tried to copy it but it was never the same.  Then one day, New Town Bakery started serving them and all was good in the world again.

New India Buffet

When am I going to learn to stop going to Indian Buffets?

We were walking along West Broadway and (as usual) we couldn’t decide on where to have lunch.  That’s when we noticed the smell of curry wafting through the air.  We looked up and saw the big sign for New India Buffet toting how they had a 40 item buffet. 

Happy Valley Seafood Restaurant

We’ve driven by Happy Valley many times before and it always seemed really busy (no matter what time of the day it was).  So when we were finished with some early morning errands and noticed that it wasn’t too busy yet, we decided to give it a try.  It was just past 10am and we managed to luck out and find the last space in the parking lot.

The first thing we noticed was that they were still serving king crab (just under $16 per pound) but it was too early in the morning for that so we decided to go with dim sum instead.

Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant

It’s getting towards the end of Alaskan King Crab season and we’ve been having a hankering for more king crab.  I’ve been wanting to try Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant for a while but it always seems so busy on the weekends.  Even during the weekdays, whenever we drive by, it seems to have people waiting to get in.

Cactus Club (Byrne Road) Bar Time

Normally, we prefer to eat in the dining room… there’s more room and it’s not as noisy.  Tonight, it was pretty busy and we didn’t feel like waiting 30 minutes for a table so we decided to eat at the bar.  We usually only go to the Cactus Club on Byrne Road for lunch (see our previous entry here) so we decided we should try some of their dinner entrees tonight.

Thai Express (Richmond Centre)

There are just so many things right about Thai Express… First off, Thai food = yummy!  Second, it’s all cooked right in front of you.  I’m surprised at how quickly they can stir-fry the dishes but I’ve seen the huge blast furnace that they use (it’s like they’re cooking off a jet engine’s afterburner).  Third, if you order it to-go, it comes in those neat little chinese take-out containers that you always see on tv.

GoodAh Grill (Richmond Centre)

It’s may be spring, but the weather seems like it’s still winter.  So when you walk by the Richmond Centre food court and smell the aromas of summer (ie. freshly grilled meat on skewers), how can you pass that up?

McDonald’s (Boundary and Lougheed) – The Super Terrific Happy Big Breakfast McMuffin

Is it “fast food” or “good food, quickly”?  While I’m leaning towards “fast food”, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Sometimes you just have the urge for a Big Mac or fries.  Today, I had an urge for a Big Breakfast so I stopped by the McDonalds on Boundary and Lougheed.