+1

My wife orders from them weekly. Very well packaged. We get eggs, snacks, and chicken from them.

OEB in Brentwood

0/10

Tried once before to get in on a Sunday. Four hour wait. Tried again today. Three hour wait. Wanted to just get takeout and go eat with my family in the plaza above. Hour and a half, didn't even bother. Fuck that place. They should be rotating those tables faster knowing how busy they are but they just let parties sit and chat for an hour after they finish eating.

I expected some wait to get in, but three fucking hours for what is probably overhyped brunch? They can go fuck themselves.

They’re busy. What the fuck are they supposed to do? People are willing to wait, you aren’t. Get over it. I don’t like waiting either but I sure as shit can’t badmouth something I’ve never even tried.

Ya man, the food is great there.

Go on a weekday, you'll get a table without issue.

The weekend, forget about it.

Something as basic as a reservation system would be nice instead of doing a wait list on weekends. If it was 30-45 minutes to get take out I would have stuck it out and ate in the plaza above. I was in for a wait time that put us at 2pm. They close at 3pm. So I get a shitty experience where I have to rush and not enjoy it after skipping breakfast because the place is brunch? It sounds like a recipe to leave a bad impression anyways. I have patience to wait, but that isn’t worth blowing over half my day over. “Go earlier to avoid a line.” It’s food, not the release of the PS5. “Just go somewhere else.” Kinda hard to do when everyone hypes the place and you want to give it a shot, but after that, no thanks.

My brother lives just up the street from Jam Cafe and he says the wait isn’t like this on weekends by comparison. If it turns into another four hour waiting shut show, I’ll just leave my sit down breakfast benchmark at a hole in the wall place in Langley. I have respect for the success of the place but matching my expectations to their hype is not for me. I just wanted to spend the time with my family and we all got visibly stressed at the wait time as just a party of three.

My entire family works weekdays, not an option. Doesn’t make sense to lose a days pay for this.

Lots of people don’t show up for reservations and it means empty seats while you scramble around with the wait list to get the next person to come earlier. That means less money.
If they put your name on the list for 3 they aren’t gonna have you show up and lock the doors. If they did your anger would be warranted, but you’re just looking to get mad at something that didn’t even happen yet.
For the record I don’t think it’s worth the wait anyways, but they are just running a business for their customers. If you don’t want to be one, that’s not their fault.

Full disclosure I appreciate your perspective from an industry point of view.

Thanks man. I’m not trying to bust your balls. I’ve just been on the receiving end of a lot of internet opinions about how I’m a piece of shit and my staff are all pieces of shit and suck at our jobs, for things that are really out of our control. Very often our 1 star reviews on yelp/wherever the fuck are people that never walked through the door, which I think is truly unfair.
If somewhere genuinely treats a customer poorly, lies about the source of ingredients, serves you something that’s not safe for consumption, etc. they deserve to get dragged.
But when you think about us serving 4-500 people a day, and someone just doesn’t like it, or waits too long, etc. to have them really insult us (which happens often) is an unreasonable reaction.

Yah restaurants are in a tough spot, the ones that have survived are now trying to scale back up but are having a tough time hiring across the board, and not for the lack of trying. Ex restaurant workers have found other gigs, or have gotten accustomed to CERB and other wage subsidies to stretch their dollar before they have to work again.

Restaurants can't raise wages to attract back workers without raising prices, which would get even more complaints. This was also an issue even before COVID.

They can't keep wages as-is, coz they'll perpetually be short-staffed. Plus coming out of COVID, some people seem to have forgotten how to be civilized, which doesn't help things.

Yep. It was an industry problem long before covid. It’s hard to operate in Vancouver and make your margins, as there are plenty of real estate developers operating restaurants at a loss that
A) isn’t enough to matter for them
B) works nicely for tax purposes

Not exactly the same thing but I've been trying to reach out to caterers and a lot of them are having a hard time ramping up staff. It's been really tough for the industry. And with people starting to dine out again, people will take the time to enjoy the moment.

I truly get it, it's a pain in the ass for the restaurant industry right now. Where my anger was directed was trying to get on the wait list while seeing multiple tables cleared and the patrons just shooting the shit with no drinks in hand. We walked by half an hour later (let's face it, Brentwood is a dead mall right now so there really isn't anything better to do but walk around), to see the same patrons still there. My logic is you're done, get out, and continue your conversation where the nice plaza is above so someone else can try the food you just had. I would have been fine waiting for a long time for my order if I was able to get in. It's not McDonalds where you can sit all day after just buying a coffee.

I guess that's a people in general problem, but there are a few out there who are not considerate enough to read the room.

Tried this place in Richmond after watching this video, it was surprisingly good!

Better call before getting there because it's a tiny restaurant.
We had their seafood tower and fish & chips plus a hand cut noodle to go with the sauce.
The tower had a dungeness crab, 4 really large skrewered prawns, mussels clams and conch.
Will visit again.

Speaking of Richmond and night market style foods

I went to Gong last night. They sell late night dim sum, beer and spiked Vita (Lemon, Mango, Malt Soy, and Lychee).

Late night dim sum is bomb as fuck. Especially bottles of Henny and beer. The spiked Vita, don't drink it too fast. I fucked up by drinking it too quick and I basically had 80% kraken, 20% Vita Lemon. Kraken is disgusting.

The har gao, BBQ pork buns, HK curry fish balls, and deep fried scallops were delicious. The cucumber is not the same cucumber you get at happy tree house btw. Happy tree cucumber cools you down. This one is SPICY (strong pain, short duration) The fish cakes are SPICY (strong pain, long duration) too.

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Giovane Bacaro @ Fairmont - This was only like my 3rd dine in experience since the pandemic started and I forgot how much I actually enjoyed dining in. Great food, some of the best I've had in a while which honestly I don't know what that means right now because I've been cooking or eating take out for a year and a half lol. Still I think even pre pandemic I would rate it high and not just be blinded by not dining out for so long.

The chef there is super talented and uses some of the best suppliers around. It would wow you regardless.

Ate at wallys burger for lunch today in this little strip mall on east 49th

Pretty good! It’s like a diner/5 guys type of burger but hard to beat the price, a real bacon cheese burger and too many fries to eat for $12

Running out of places for lunch, I can basically drive anywhere between Victoria in east Van and School house in Coquitlam for food. Gotta find some new spots

The stores on Alexandra street open and close so fast I can barely keep track. It seems every time I drive through there it's a bunch new restaurants I never saw before.

Supababa - https://vancouver.eatsuperbaba.com/
Basically have 4 things on the menu, same thing in a wrap or bowl format. Must try the tempura egg plant though! Give it an 8. Helluva place to park and pick up though cuz of the construction.


Looks kinda like this
https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bph...M4tch9Ww/o.jpg

Superbaba is DOPE. Chicken wrap, double extra hot sauce is my jam.

Went to Mian Tiao downtown at Shangri La.

It used to be George's /across from the Key.
1) Italian Chinese fusion
2) really really hot ladies (the customers), really blown away.
3) Food was really sub par to be honest.

The fushion really wasn't my cup of tea.
WORSE rip off I had was 4 mini slices of sub par focaccia bread
4 slices of salami, 4 slices of parma ham, 4 pieces of pepperoni
no EVOO, no pickles, nothing, just 2 plates and no decoration. $30.

They had some awesome dishes but I was not that impressed at all.
Will post pics but it was nothing to rave about really.

Never thought I'd see a fusion restaurant of Italian Chinese.

Growing up in East Van, we lived in a neighborhood of Italian immigrants. Over the years, they would adopt and infuse Chinese ingredients and food prep techniques into their staple meals. It was pretty weird but they seemed to like it haha

Kisso Tanto is Italian Japanese
Mak N Ming was French Japanese

Agreed about Superbaba. I always went to their location at the BC Ferries building when I was in Victoria, was so excited when they opened up on Main Street. Probably ate there 5 or 6 times since they opened. Their bowls are good, but the wraps are where it is at. Freshly baked pita :concentrate:

Finally tried Yasma on West 4th. Operating as a ghost kitchen out of Dark Table. I don't even know what to say, some of the best middle eastern food I have had. Not only is the presentation spot on for takeout, but the flavours and execution really wowed me. Lamb burger was cooked medium with just a hint of pink, probably one of the best burgers I have had in Vancouver as most places are over hyped and don't deliver. Also tried a few of their dips including the muhamarra which I had never had before, along with the fried kibbeh.

This place is seriously underrated and everyone should try it out. I would give it a solid 9/10.

Peppinos, 9/10

Peppinos is legit one of my favourite restys in east Van. They know exactly what they are and just focus on fantastic food and service. Have necer had a bad meal there whether it be take out or dine in. And imo they have some of the best Pizza in the city

https://i.imgur.com/VWHGW6t.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fUhmuio.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TnERet4.jpg