Big Ridge Brewing Co.

Restaurant: Big Ridge Brewery

Cuisine: American/Pub Food/International
Last visited: February 4, 2010
Area: Surrey, BC
15133 56 Ave
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5
Service: 5

Ambiance: 3.5

Overall: 3

Additional comments:

• Part of Mark James Group (DIX BBQ, Yaletown Brewery etc.)
• Lively neighborhood pub in Surrey
• Great for beer, samples available
• Busy/line-ups on weekends
• Classic pub food
• Affordable prices
• Lots of Chinese stir-fry dishes/bowls
• Felt like Hon’s – very Westernized Chinese food
• Casual, loud
• Restaurant and separate bar area
• Open kitchen
• All ages welcome
• Open late

**Recommendation: n/a

I actually wasn’t aware that Big Ridge Brewery was part of the Mark James Group. When I heard DIX Barbeque and Yaletown Brewery my expectations were set a bit high…too I high I think. Especially since the parking lot was completely full and there was a 30min. line up at 7pm with every single table full.

When I looked at the menu I was already not so gong-ho…I saw a lot of Chinese options and a pub making Chinese food? I had my hesitations. However the kitchen is a big open kitchen and half the chefs are Chinese so I thought “hey maybe it is authentic?”…but then just looking at the dishes going by and talking to some staff it’s pretty obvious it is very Westernized Chinese food. In which case I think I’ll stick to the traditional pub food. I’m not really one for pub food, but I can appreciate it – in this case I would much rather have pub food from the The Hub.

The portions are surprisingly not that big here and I think they really need to invest in some nicer dishes. I felt like I was at a really rough pub and for The Mark James Group I expect a little more “posh-ness”. The food was almost served cafeteria style like Ricky’s All Day Grill. I’m really surprised to see such a high rating for it on Urbanspoon – I thought it was very mediocre.

They are about to release their new menu which consists of a variety of Asian/Indian influenced dishes so if you want to sample those you should go now because they will be choosing the most popular dishes and including them on their new menu.

On the table:

Fish Tacos 2/6

• Beer battered halibut bites wrapped in a flour tortilla with a Sriracha aioli and cilantro-Asian slaw $11.99
• This is one of their special feature items. They’re supposed to include it on the official menu if there’s enough positive feedback and demand.
• It’s supposed to be a main, but for me it was more like an appetizer. The plating really needs some work…or maybe even just another plate.
• It reminded me of the Vietnamese sandwich “Banh Mi”, except those are way better. These tacos are loaded with shredded cucumbers, carrots, daikon and cilantro marinated in vinegar.
• The Sriracha aioli came off as chipotle mayo.
• It came with 3 pieces of halibut bites that tasted like battered chicken. It was a bit dry and overly battered as well. It was crunchy though. I could barely taste the halibut because the pieces were too small.
• Overall it was tangy, slightly spicy and basically something I could make at home.

Vegetarian Pizza 4/6

• The menu calls it “The Best Vegetarian Pizza Ever” – Japanese eggplant, broccoli, roasted corn, balsamic onion, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, Feta, and pesto $12.99
• If the menu didn’t say “The Best Vegetarian Pizza Ever” I would not have ordered a vegetarian dish at a pub. This is a bold statement and I just had to order it. It was more than I expect from a pub, but is it the best ever? No. It was very good though.
• The menu says “Our pies are bigger than the other guy’s” – they weren’t that big. I think they’re 14’’ inch pizzas? I mean it’s worth it, but all these are bold claims which lead me to have high expectations.
• This is a very tangy pizza. The tomato sauce is tangy and with the balsamic onions and sundried tomatoes it was even tangier. The onions were crunchy and needed to be cooked longer though. Or they should slice them rather than dice them and they would have cooked through.
• The tang was balanced very well with the salty Feta and pesto drizzle. They used a lot of both these ingredients and I could taste everything except for the eggplant. There was barely any and the few pieces it had were really dried out.
• The crust is nice and thin and it’s baked in a fire-wood oven, however they need to bake it longer because only the edges were crispy and the rest of the crust was very soft and chewy. However looking underneath it looks like it was baked enough...they need to adjust the heat.
• Overall the pizza is quite good, but they just need to work on the cooking temp/times and execution of ingredients. Not everything should be diced because each veggie has a different cooking time.

Quarter Chicken & Ribs 2.5/6

• ¼ beer can chicken and our famous pork ribs, served with oven roasted potatoes $19.99
• For 19.99 I could get better chicken and ribs elsewhere. It wasn’t bad, but it’s wasn’t that good either. The portion is also surprisingly not that big for a pub/bar restaurant. It was ¼ chicken and 5 ribs piled on top of mashed potatoes.
• They actually do a good job with the sauces and seasonings, but the quality of meat is the downfall. If they changed that it would actually be quite good!
• The chicken was served with chicken onion gravy and it almost tastes packaged. I felt like they used cornstarch to thicken it rather than letting it reduce.
• The chicken wasn’t that juicy and it was actually quite rough in texture – although not necessarily dry.
• I couldn’t tell they used beer but they did use some rosemary on the skin. The skin also wasn’t crispy and got soggy from the gravy.
• The ribs were falling off the bone, but not tender at all. The meat was very chewy which means the quality of ribs they’re using isn’t great. There wasn’t much meat on them in general.
• The ribs were served with a barbeque glaze or sauce. It was sweet and tangy, but didn’t have much of a kick and they needed more of it.
• It comes with roasted potatoes, but I changed it to roast garlic mash – no extra charge.

Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes 4/6

• This was a chunky mashed potato as opposed to a creamy smooth one. It’s made with Russet potatoes with the skins on so they’re nice and flavourful.
• There are bits of potato you can chew into. They were very garlic tasting and quite good! I enjoyed them more than I did the meat.

Cole Slaw 1/6

• I was not a fan of this cole slaw. They used a combo of mayo and horseradish for the dressing. It was very spicy and watery in texture and didn’t match the flavours of the chicken, ribs, or potatoes.

Dessert

• Just showing the menu...I decided to pass on dessert because I was not impressed with dinner…I actually just went across the street to McDonalds for ice cream instead. McDonald’s ice cream is so reliable.

Opus Bar & Restaurant

Restaurant: Opus Bar & Restaurant

Cuisine: Tapas/Global/Contemporary

Last visited: November 10, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Downtown/Yaletown)
350 Davie Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 1.5 (for the 2 things I tried)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 2
Additional comments:

• The Opus Hotel Bar/Lounge
• Offers gourmet bar food/tapas
• Savoury and Sweet small bites
• Trendy
• Very nice, but pretentious atmosphere
• Offers bigger tapas/smaller tapas
• Banks on the name to carry the food
• Go for drinks/atmosphere

**Recommendation: n/a

Opus Bar & Restaurant is more for drinks and atmosphere than food. I came here for one of their parties and we decided to order some small bites. The restaurant is kind of split into thirds - a section for the bar, a smaller and more private room for dining (the restaurant), and then half the space is for their the lounge. I find Opus more of a lounge than anything else though.

It definitely has that Yaletown feel and attracts the yuppies that live in the area. With its impressive interior and upscale decor you would expect the food to match to some degree...but it didn't and I was so disappointed. The food came across as "you don't really order food at Opus Lounge". Does that make sense? I felt like they used the Opus name to carry them and the food did not come up to standards of what they aim for.

On the table:

• Empanadas De Mole 1/6
• Corn tortilla stuffed with chicken, corn and mole served with guacamole and salsa $8
• It was pretty much a battered corn tortilla. They were so small! Maybe the size of a gyoza. Empandas can either be deep-fried or baked...depending on what kind of Empanada you are making. These ones were deep-fried and not authentic at all. They were "American" Empanadas - not Spanish, not Latin, not Chilean, Portuguese or anything.
• Even if Opus was going for a fusion thing rather than an authentic thing they did a poor job. There was barely any stuffing. No chicken, maybe only a couple shreds that were dry and no sauce inside. No mole, nothing. Maybe 2 corn kernels, and I couldn't even taste any sauteed onions, which is a must in any type of Empanada. I was shocked that they would serve these.
• The only good thing was the sauce underneath it. I guess it was their twist on guacamole. It tasted like a thick yogurt dip made with pureed green peas, jalapeno, and avocado. It was really interesting and I would have enjoyed that with a bowl of tortilla chips 100 times more than the Empanadas.
  

• "O" Pizza 2/6
• Daily creation $10
• The positive: thin crust and a decent size, I expected smaller.
• It was a thin crust pizza with housemade marinara sauce, salami, cheddar cheese an chopped fresh basil.
• This was one of the oiliest pizza's I've ever had. No joke. I don't know if the salami made it extra oily. It wasn't even necessarily greasy or heavy, but just oily. Literally oil everywhere. My whole plate was oily, my lips were slippery and that's hard to do with a thin crust pizza. They needed to let the oil absorb on something before plating it. It was really gross.
• They also need to adjust their oven temperature because the pizza crust was and tasted a bit burnt. The marinara was just pureed tomatoes. They didn't flavour it much, but they didn't really need to. At least I could taste the fresh tomatoes.

Sushi Sky

Restaurant: Sushi Sky

Cuisine: Japanese/Sushi/Fusion
Last visited: November 1, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC - Downtown/West end
1661 Bute Street (Just off Davie Street)
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5
Service: started at 3, ended at 1
Ambiance: 1
Overall: 2
Additional comments:

• Hole in the wall sushi place
• Japanese owned and operated
• Extensive menu
• Lots of creative rolls + pictures
• Creative rolls around $9
  
• Fusion items
  
• Homemade sauces
• Brown rice available
  
• Over-priced, more expensive than average
  
• Very cheap wasabi, not spicy at all
• Eat-in/take-out

**Recommendation:

This review may be super biased. I waited a while to post this review so I could cool off and write the review as fair as possible without letting the unfortunate experience get in the way of the food. My service started at good, but it went sour very quickly as soon as I took out my camera to take my usual photos of the food. There was no sign that said "no photos". If there had been or if they had told me that photos were not allowed I would have respected that and put my camera away. The meal ended off with the owner ripping the menu right out of my friend's hand...she didn't even give us a chance to explain. It was horrible!

Focusing on strictly the food now...

I was very surprised to see such an extensive menu and so many creative/fusion rolls at this hidden hold in the wall sushi place that seats no more than 10. However, the creative rolls are about $10 each making it very overpriced. Between 2 we ended up spending almost $25 each. At a hole in the wall restaurant that is not cool. I could have had better rolls at a nicer place for the same price. If the rolls were $2 less I would consider coming back to try more things, but after the way we treated...I will never go back again...and their wasabi sucks. I was basically eating paste at the end because it wasn't spicy at all.

On the table:

• Japanese Sushi Pizza 2/6
• Deep fried sushi rice patty topped with your choice of tuna or salmon, avocado, mayo and masasgo $11.95

• Sounds and looks better than in tastes. They serve this at Goldfish Pacific Kitchen and it's better there.
  
• The "pizza crust" was a deep fried sushi rice patty, it was really oily, mushy and bland. They needed to flavour the sushi rice more.
• They put chopped spicy salmon on top and it got warm from the hot sushi rice. That was very unsettling trying to eat it.
• It's just too mushy, they need cucumber or radish on it to give it some texture and to break up the flavours. You need to eat this with a lot of soy sauce and wasabi.
• Overall the dish is really rich and hearty, I wouldn't order it again and I definitely wouldn't want the whole thing to myself. It's a creative idea, something different, and nice to try.
• For $8 sure, not for $12.
• Bute Roll 3/6
• A deep fried roll with deep fried scallop, salmon, crabmeat (no rice). It's drizzled with mayo and a Teriyaki-like sauce. $11.50 for 5 pcs.
• This was a substantial roll. It's quite fishy tasting though. I would get sick of eating the whole roll. It's too hearty even though there's no rice, and it's too seafood tasting even though I love seafood. There's too much deep-fried stuff in it - the salmon, the scallop and then the whole roll.
• The deep fried scallop really stands out and I was surprised by how much they used in the roll, but for almost $12 they should. I could taste all the ingredients and there was a good balance. However I feel like there was another fish in the roll, but I can't pin point what it is.
• Black Eel Roll 2.5/6
  
• Unagi tempura, mango, avocado, cucumber $9.95

• The size of the roll was pretty good. The unagi was on the smaller side and they used a green mango instead of the more expensive yellow ones. It's harder in texture, almost like an unripe mango except it's not tart. I prefer the sweeter Philippine mangoes that you usually get in your mango-sushi rolls.
• They drizzle the roll with this homemade sauce - which was actually a banana sauce. I would have much rather preferred a mango sauce. The banana sauce tasted like fake bananas, a really artificial flavour. They also drizzled a Teriyaki-like sauce on it. I did like the sauces on the roll, but just not the banana one.
• House Roll 2/6
  
• Tuna, salmon, tomago, crab meat, avocado $5.95 (the only decent price)

• The house roll was ok. I wasn't a fan of having romaine lettuce in it, the lettuce wasn't very fresh either. They used brown rice and they didn't use the rice to make the roll big which is good. I would have preferred more sashimi though, they skimped on that.

Romano's Macaroni Grill

Restaurant: Romano's Macaroni Grill
Cuisine: American/Italian
Last visited: October 12, 09

Area: Multiple locations - Denver, Colorado
4627 S Timberline Road, Fort Collins, CO
Price Range: $10-20USD

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 2.5
Additional comments:

• American Chain restaurant
• American-Italian food
• Huge portions
• Freshly baked pizza crusts and breads
• Some housemade pastas
• Attracts families
• Kid-friendly - can draw on paper tablecloth
• Large selections of wines
• Casual and lively atmosphere
• Line-up/crowded at peak hours
• Complimentary freshly baked bread to start

**Recommendation: Roasted Veggies, Pesto Chicken Pizza

Alright - so most of us have been there. If you're looking for authentic Italian, you're at the wrong place...and I'm sure you know. This is a chain restaurant that serves American-Italian food. Everything is loaded with thick, rich and hearty sauces and the only thing authentic is the big portions they serve. Oh and the thin pizza crusts is pretty authentic too. With that being said, as an American chain serving American food it's not bad, but as REAL Italian it's negative.

I found a lot of the sauces taste similar or are just repeated throughout the menu with a different pasta. A good tip is to stick to the things with simple ingredients because they do those well. Since the recipe is so simple everything is really fresh. The sauces are really just mediocre standard recipes that they teach you in cooking 101 so nothing to rave about there.

On the table:

• Complimentary Tuscan Bread 3.5/6
• This bread or Focaccia bread is good and baked daily in the kitchen. Some dried herbs and some sea salt on the crust. Simple enough for all your sauces.
  
• They serve it with just the olive oil on the table though. No balsamic.
  
• The olive oil is imported from Italy, but the grade is just ok. The colour and flavour isn't deep enough and the bread needs something more bold.
• 
• **Roasted Veggies 6/6
• Fresh zucchini, yellow and red peppers, eggplant and red onions slowly roasted with extra virgin olive oil and fresh rosemary.

• I know it sounds simple. That's why it's good.
• Fresh veggies and you get a ton! They cut them in big chunks and they're roasted until they're nice and juicy, tender and firm, and naturally sweet. They're a little charred too so there's a nutty flavour.
• They use dried oregano and rosemary so the flavour is really intense and sharp.
• 
• **Pesto Chicken Pizza 4/6
• Grilled chicken, pine nut pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan cheeses baked with garlic-olive oil.

• The is quite a salty and rich pizza because of the ingredients used, but it's really good. A little oily because of the pesto and sun dried tomatoes.
• They skimped on the chicken but give you a lot of everything else. I really likes the spoonfuls of ricotta they put on each slice. I spread mine on the slice before i ate it
• The pesto sauce is not bad, but they flavoured it with salt more than they do with pine-nuts. I don't even know if they make it in house (I doubt it), and it's not just basil but they mix it with spinach too. It's a pretty thick pesto that they kind of dollop around the pizza. There's also a lack of Parmesan in it.
• Sun-dried tomatoes aren't really sundried tomatoes, taste like preserved tomatoes in olive oil.
• The crust is one of the highlights. It's made in house and it's nice and thin. It's very crispy and yet flavourful and sturdy enough to hold the heavy toppings.
• Penne Rustica 2.5/6
  
• Shrimp, chicken and smoked prosciutto tossed with Parmesan cream sauce and imported penne pasta, then baked.

• It's good, but really rich, creamy, heavy and greasy.
  
• It's comfort food. They skimp on the shrimp and prosciutto though, which is kind of what would make this a bit special...without it it's just chicken penne with cream sauce. The sauce is just your standard cream sauce with some melted Parm cheese.
  
• This is something you could easily whip up at home. Nothing special, just a chicken alfredo.
• Lobster Ravioli 2/6
  
• Lobster-filled tarragon pasta topped with sauteed shrimp, asparagus, tomatoes and lemon butter sauce.

• I was pretty disappointed. The description sounds amazing but it was poorly executed and they jeopardized so many ingredients in order to meet the cost...and the cost of wasn't cheap at $15.99US. I could still eat it but it was not nearly as good as it should have and could have been. Even for a family style chain they could have done better and I expected more.
• The ravioli stuffing was a rough chop of ingredients and was really inconsistent. Some had lobster, some had crab, some had little stuffing. I don't even know what I was eating - it tastes like crab meat mixed with some other mushy filler ingredients. Once in a while you would hit a random ravioli with a random piece of lobster in it.
• The tarragon pasta tasted like regular pasta.
• Sauteed shrimps were frozen baby shrimps.
  
• The sauce tastes like melted butter thickened with cream. The recipe is probably that basic too.

Steveston Pizza Co.

Restaurant: Steveston Pizza Co.
Cuisine: Pizza (Gourmet)
Last visited: July 30, 09

Area: Richmond (Steveston Village)
100 – 3400 Moncton Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 1
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Specializes in gourmet pizzas in an unpretentious setting
• Fresh, gourmet & quality ingredients
• Toppings to the edges
• A bit pricier, but you're getting what you paid for
• Owner is Italian and a chef
• Unique pizzas, chef-created
• Take-out, a small bar to eat-in
• Opens at 5pm

**Recommendation: Flame Pizza, Japanese Pizza

It's easy to miss this local pizza joint. Located on the corner of Moncton and 3rd Ave, you wouldn't even notice it unless someone pointed it out. Enough to seat 4 people this pizza place caters to a take-out crowd. Familiar to locals, Steveston Pizza opens at 5pm and draws in a steady evening crowd. I've been here a couple times, and the first time we spent $75 on pizzas between 4 people. You're definitely paying more than usually for pizza, but its quite worth it for the quality of ingredients you're getting. They don't serve single slices and one pizza is a lot for one person, so it's best to go with a group of 4+ so you can order a variety and share them all.

On the table:

• Buffalo Mozzarella Salad 6/6
  
• Fresh ingredients - so you can't go wrong. Nice big chunks of fresh buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes. I had it with a simple balsamic dressing - technically it doesn't even need dressing becuase the quality is there. This is a pretty big salad though, meant to be shared.
• Water 4/6
  
• Shrimp, snow crab & basil pesto.
• A nice amount of baby shrimp on top, they don't skimp! Every bite you get shrimp. The crab is found underneath the cheese though, and it's all flaked. I tasted the texture of it more than the flavour. I wished the pesto drizzle was actually a pesto drizzle though - they mixed it with a mayo type filler which was a bit disappointing.
  
• Earth 3/6
  
• Brie, gouda, camembert, oven-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and enoki mushrooms.
• This is definitely heavy on the cheese, the flavours all meshed together and the tomatoes were a bit on the watery side for me. The tomatoes brought out a tartness rather than a sweetness in the pizza. I think if you're using brie and camembert though you should really match it with something sweet rather than tart. The ingredients are still all really fresh - but the flavours just weren't very complementing. It sounded better than it tasted. The texture was all gooey so I could only eat 2 slices in a row before I needed a switch up - it was easy to get sick of. A bit oily too, becuase of the types of cheeses used - but that's a bit expected.
• **Flame 6/6
• BBQ chicken breast, pineapple, onion, green pepper and jalapenos.
  
• This pizza is less adventurous, and you could probably find any of these ingredients at any pizza chain. But the combination of these toppings is fantastic! The flavour of this pizza stands out amongst the others because its so bold. Savoury and sweet BBQ sauce, with a bit of tartness and another level of sweetness from the pineapple, and a hint of spiciness from the jalapenos - this hits all your taste buds, and in the right way too!
• **Japanese 6/6
  
• Wasabi-scented teriyaki chicken breast, enoki mushrooms, hokkaido camembert and sesame seaweed julienne (no tomato sauce)
• This is a truly creative pizza! Made for pizza eaters looking for a change and something out of the ordinary. Unlike the "Flame" toppings, you can't find these topping at any pizza chain. Definitely distinct in flavour; this is a must try if you're into trying new things.
  
• What would make it more perfect is if they went heavier on the enoki mushrooms and added a wasabi mayo drizzle on top! Enoki mushrooms need to be used liberally - otherwise you can't taste them becuase when they're cooked they just get soft and get overpowered by everything else. That's why they're served in bundles when you get them with noodles and soup. If you break them up from they're bundles and use them in a pizza - they are bound to get overcooked and lost in everything else...and unfortunately that's what happened. If they added more enoki to this pizza and went heavier on the wasabi it would be perfect. I still recommend it though!
  
• Black 4/6
  
• Honey glazed chicken breast, fig, gorgonzola and mascarpone mousse, walnuts and arugula julienne - $21 (Only available in a medium)
• I really enjoyed this pizza. This was close to getting a recommendation, except I felt as though the gorgonzola overpowered the other flavours a bit. I couldn't really taste the marcarpone mousse - which is a waste. The figs were nice and plump and it went well with the crunch of the walnuts. The honey was a great touch. Definitely enjoyable! I would order it again.
  
• Brown 2/6
  
• I tried this pizza the first time I went to Steveston Pizza - several months ago. They don't have it on the menu right now though. I think they might bring it back when the summer is over. Its definitely a hearty pizza, fit for colder months. The main ingredient is duck. The duck is poached in a red wine reduction and there's also tomatoes, caramelized onions and gorgonzola on it I think. A few other toppings of which I don't remember anymore. The duck pieces were a bit of on the fatty side for me - yes that could mean adding more flavour - but it just felt a bit heavy for my liking. Duck is usually fatty, but I could have done with leaner pieces.
• Again this one only comes in medium for $21 - and you should definitely share one becuase after 2 slices you need a switch up. It's filling!