Giraffe Restaurant

Restaurant: Giraffe Restaurant

Cuisine: West Coast/American/Fusion
Last visited: January 7, 2010
Area: White Rock, BC
15053 Marine Dr
Price Range: $30-50

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

Food: n/a
Service: n/a

Ambiance: n/a

Overall: n/a

Additional comments:

• Executive chef David Chow (Dubrulle Culinary Institute)
• Fine dining
• Focus on West Coast/seafood
• Familiar to locals and tourists
• Globally inspired menu
• Creative/Fresh/gourmet homemade
• Really delicately executed, attention to detail
• Great view of waterfront
• Small/intimate dining area
• Beautiful intimate patio
• Weekly specials
• Lunch Thurs.-Sat. 11:30am
• Dinner M-Sun. 5:30pm
• Sunday brunch 11am

**Recommendation: Giraffes’ Eggs Benedict, Bacon wrapped Filet with Egg (I didn’t get to try their Belgian Waffles, but I really want to)

The reason why I had to rate everything as “n/a” is because the chef is my best friend’s brother. Therefore, under the circumstances I can’t rate this restaurant with a neutral perspective.

I’ve dined at Giraffe Restaurant for dinner more than a handful of times, but this was my first time for brunch. This brunch was also complimentary, but I would have no problems paying full price for it. It was definitely worth it. The brunch prices are actually really affordable, especially for fine dining...heck it's a bargain! I would be spending the same if I was having brunch at White Spot for half the quality and half the atmosphere (and I really like brunch at White Spot!)

As good as the Giraffe brunch is, I am definitely going to do a dinner review one day. I am lucky enough to have tried almost everything on the menu as well as some custom made appetizers. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything, although I do have my favourites. The menu is more fusion and contemporary, but the atmosphere is more traditional and formal and suitable for couples or small intimate groups.

On the table:

Complimentary Scones

• These are complimentary for everyone during brunch. I could have eaten 3 of them. They’re made in house and they’re so good!
• These aren't the traditional fluffy scones like the ones at Applewood Bakery, but these ones were more like cookies. They were crispy soft and chewy and reminded me of freshly baked oatmeal cookies. I loved them, it was a great way to start brunch! I feel like there was some rhubarb or apple, oatmeal and definitely some cinnamon in them. They were perfectly baked and so delicate. It also came with a really fresh raspberry jam. I do miss that devonshire cream, but these scones are complimentary so I think I'm pushing it. I would pay extra for it though.

**Giraffes’ Egg’s Benedict

• Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, red onion, spinach and a dill hollandaise served with fried nugget potatoes $12
• I was deciding between the Giraffes’ egg’s benedict and the frittata. I went with the benedict because my friend told me that her brother, also the chef, would more likely make the frittata at home than he would the benny. (The hollandaise sauce is very time consuming).
• I was very much into my benny. The ratio of ingredients was perfect and everything was cooked perfectly. Nothing was overpowering and the flavours were all there.
• The red onions were soft, but not to the point of caramelized. It still had a crunch, but wasn't spicy anymore, it added a shallot like flavour that was very delicate.
• My egg was beautifully poached with a very soft middle. It mixed into my hollandaise and was absolutely divine.
• The hollandaise sauce wasn’t really a tangy hollandaise as it was more buttery in flavour. Made with clarified butter it’s very rich and creamy here. The dill was apparent, but very mild and I liked it with the salmon. There was the perfect amount of hollandaise to finish my benny with some on every bite.
• I really liked the crispiness of my English muffin. It sounds like a small thing, but it was enough for me to notice because more often than not restaurants don't toast it enough or it gets too soggy.
• The fried nugget potatoes were great. It was cut nice and thin so they were very crispy. This is what I meant by "attention to detail, everything here is cut to the same size and there's consistency. Therefore the cooking time is perfect for everything. A sign of true professionalism.
  
• I think it was a simple seasoning of course salt and black pepper. (Maybe one additional dried herb, but I couldn't taste it)

**Bacon wrapped Filet with Egg

• Grilled bacon wrapped filet served with a poached egg, tomato, béarnaise and roasted potatoes $16
• Okay, I don’t know what happened, but this was the first time I didn’t try something on someone else’s plate. I think I was way too into my own egg’s benedict did I totally forget to try this dish.
• However, another reason is probably because I have tried a version of this already. See My Holiday Dinners and Feasts - Chef David Chow made something similar to this on Christmas morning. I was lucky to be invited! Yes, we had beef tenderloin for breakfast! The one on Christmas had pyster mushrooms 3 kinds of potatoes for the hash, and the eggs were scrambled.
  
• You don't have to worry about overcooked steaks here, hot you order it is how it arrives. Everything is made in small batches rather than in volume.
  
• The presentation on this is beautiful, and it’s only a 4 ounce steak so it’s not as heavy for brunch as you would think.

Stuffed French Toast

• Mango-apricot Cream Cheese and Strawberry stuffed French toast served with bacon, and warm maple syrup $10.50
• This was the “dessert” for brunch. Since we had it in the end, we passed on the bacon. I am very curious and interested to try it with the bacon though...even though I'm not a fan of bacon...I know, so taboo right?
• The bread is from a bakery up the street. I wasn’t a fan of the crust, beuase it was a bit dry, but I was a fan of how it was used.
• I loved the combination of ingredients, the savoury creamy cheese, the sweet mango-apricot, and the tart strawberries, but I just wish there was a bit more of it. (I’m treading on dangerous grounds here…so I’m a bit scared).
• I would have liked more mango apricot because I couldn’t really taste it. It would be nice to have a little more stuffing to match the thickness of the bread too. I know it looks balanced in the picture, but because the bread was a bit dry it felt like it need more stuffing. Or maybe if the bread was a little more soaked in egg batter that would work. I wouldn't have minded if the egg batter had a touch more vanilla and cinnamon too... =|
• I did love how the cream cheese was warm and melted. It made for a really decadent French toast and the strawberries released their natural sugars under the heat. I really don’t think there were any additional sugars because overall it wasn’t really sweet unless you used the warm maple syrup. Which I did…and it was great!
• This French toast was really good, but just minor things and it would have been over the top. Ohhh maybe even some toasted pecans to give it a crunch? Or even some basil leaves or some finely chopped mint in the middle? Yum!
• We all loved the side of fruit! It was beautifully presented, clean and fresh. Pears, apples, mango, strawberries, grapefruits and oranges. I loved the variety and you get what you’re paying for as you can tell there are no grapes, honey dew, or cantaloupe.

Special Appetizer

• This is not on the menu, but was made especially for us…I know…I’m lucky right?!
• It was a 7 vegetable chili served on roasted potatoes and topped with sour cream.
• I’m not going to comment on this because it was special made, complimentary, and not available on the menu anyways.

Cimona Cafe

Restaurant: Cimona Cafe

Cuisine: American/Breakfast/Brunch/Cafe
Last visited: January 2, 2010
Area: Richmond, BC (Steveston Village)
#210 – 3791 Bayview Street
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 2
Service: 3

Ambiance: 2

Overall: 2

Additional comments:

• Since 1999
• Popular to locals
• Owned by Mediterranean family
• Homestyle/Casual/low maintenance food
• Café/Catering
• Typical American/West Coast diner food
• Extensive menu
• Family diner style
• Old-fashioned
• Focus on catering
• Breakfast until 2:30pm
• Daily breakfast specials until 3pm
• Daily dinner specials
• Do not go by prices on their website, they’ve increased a bit
• Breakfast is café price, very inexpensvie lunch and dinner
• Outdoor patio available
• Mon-Sat 8am-9pm
• Sunday 8am-8pm

**Recommendation: Smoked salmon wrap

I’m not going to lie; it looks nicer from the outside. The inside is very causal, dated and I felt like it’s where a fisherman would go for a ‘fancy’ meal in the old days…

It’s very family diner style with small wooden chairs and tables. It definitely feels community supported and familiar with locals in the neighbouhood. I’m assuming there are regulars that have been coming here for years that order a morning coffee with the same food every Sunday morning.

The menu is pretty big and I assume they do a lot of casual catering. They serve the typical salads, wraps, soups, sandwiches, pastas and meat and potato entrees. They’re quite popular for breakfast and the prices are pretty cheap. Breakfast is Denny’s pricing, but a little more “gourmet” with bigger portions. I haven’t tried their lunch and dinner, but they are about $1 LESS than Denny’s with their lunches at about $7 and dinner at around $10-12.

The food was very mediocre and they claim to focus on healthy, however I don’t know if it’s “healthy” as it is just fresh and made upon order. The food wasn’t greasy or anything, but it also wasn’t that good or very impressive.

On the table:

Seafood Benedict 1.5/6

• Wild salmon, baby shrimp, served on a crisp English muffin, topped with hollandaise sauce served with hash browns $9.99
• This was their daily special served until 3pm. Having brunch in Steveston Village I almost feel like it would be taboo not to order seafood.
• Ok this wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I would much rather have smoked salmon eggs benedict. It was loaded with wild salmon and baby shrimp, but the wild salmon was fully cooked flaked wild salmon. It was overcooked and almost dry.
• It was a very fishy tasting eggs benedict and I wasn’t a fan of this canned salmon taste…I don’t know if it was in fact canned, but from colour to presentation to flavour the seafood benedict just didn’t work for me.
• The hollandaise sauce was really bland and almost flavorless. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was from a package. It was a very pale yellow and not very creamy or rich at all.
• The poached egg was pretty good though. They didn’t ask how cooked we wanted it and I forgot to put in a request but they served in medium. I prefer mine soft so that when I cut into the yolk it will be runny and creates its own sauce. Then I dip my hash browns, toast and everything else in it! Yum!...but that didn’t happen here. I can’t ding them if the request was never made though.
• The description says “crisp English muffin,” but mine was not crisp. It was actually very soggy and I questioned if it was toasted at all.

Hash browns 3/6

• So the menu says “health conscious,” but I’m not so sure because their hash browns were deep fried. The hash browns were those potato nuggets and they taste like frozen McCain fries in nugget form. I mean they’re pretty tasty with some dried herbs on them.

Western Omelette 2.5/6

• Red onion, green pepper & black forest ham. Served with hash browns and toast. $7.49
• Option: Substitute free range eggs for $1.50 Substitute egg whites for $1.00
• The omelette is their popular breakfast item. I can’t help to think maybe a little bit has to do with the portion size. It’s quite big.
• They do make it a bit differently too though. It’s almost a layered omelette pie rather than a fluffy omelette. Each layer has ingredients and each layer is kind of stacked so it’s a dense and thick omelette.
• The omelette was a bit overcooked and dry for me, but there were lots of ingredients and for being overcooked it actually didn’t taste bad. I don’t think they put any salt and pepper in it, but there were so many ingredients and there was lots of ham which made it salty enough.
• The red onions were roughly chopped and almost raw though. They were really crunchy and they needed to cook those for longer before adding the eggs.

Smoked Salmon Wrap 4/6

• Eggs, red onion, smoked salmon, and cheddar cheese. Served with hash browns. $8.99
• Ok so they really need to work on their plating. I mean even adding a simple fruit garnish would have made the plate look more appetizing or even just full. They almost just spread the hash browns around to take up more room on the plate.
• The wrap itself was good though, it was my favourite thing we ordered. It was really big, and nicely stuffed and very fresh. It more like a breakfast burrito than a wrap to me. It was quite hearty with lots of ingredients.
• The eggs are scrambled and not overcooked this time and they give you a lot. It almost made 1/2 of the wrap. I don’t think they season the eggs with any salt, and it didn’t need it. The ratio of the other ingredients gave it enough flavour.
• The smoked salmon got a little bit cooked with the heat of the eggs, but that’s bound to happen. They gave at least 2 layers of this as well. I really liked how the salmon was spread out in the wrap and not only in one section of it. It was on both sides of the wrap so they gave you quite a bit. It was put together really well.
• The cheddar cheese isn’t overwhelming either. They didn’t use too much, but it was more or less a nice thin and even layer that is fully melted to hold the wrap together. They used just enough so that it wasn’t greasy and it actually tasted like a hearty and relatively healthy breakfast. It’s also on a whole wheat wrap. It’s very simple with no additional sauces or anything fancy, but I liked it!

Nice Cafe

Spinach & Feta Omelette with hash browns and toast


Restaurant: Nice Cafe
Cuisine: Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch/Diner

Last visited: August 30, 09

Area: Vancouver, BC

154 East 8th Ave

Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 2

Service: 2

Ambiance: 1

Overall: 2

Additional comments:

• Focus on breakfast/brunch items - lunch available
  
• Attracts locals/regulars/hipsters
• Whole menu under $10 - really cheap breakfast
• Go back because it's cheap, not because it's good
  
• Line-ups/crowded
• Very casual
• No fuss, simple breakfast
• Fresh hash browns grated in house, homemade jam
• Overcooked pancakes & eggs
• Most of it was overcooked
  
• Chocolate milk is powdered chocolate milk
  

**Recommendation: I guess the hash browns, because they're fresh not frozen. They also do a good job soft poaching eggs (upon request).

I would come back to Nice Cafe because it was cheap, but not really because the food was good. I wasn't expecting gourmet food, but I was expecting a bit more because it's always busy. It's a standard breakfast you would expect to get at any small diner breakfast joint. It's the non-chain version of any other breakfast chain...if that makes sense? It's crowded and busy and you can tell it's frequently visited by locals that live nearby. For a foodie - this place is a no-go, but if you're not picky about your breakfast and just want something cheap and filling then come here. I would rather pay a couple bucks more for something better...breakfast is relatively cheap anyways.

On the table:

• Traditional Sausage & Egg Breakfast 1.5/6
• 2 eggs, 2 sausages, hash browns, 2 slices of toast
• Eggs a bit overcooked for my liking, too rubbery
  
• Sausages - the breakfast sausages you buy in a package from Superstore
• Hash browns - the best part for me, fresh not frozen - shredded in house, and you can tell because sometimes you'll come across a chunk of potato (the chunk is actually the end piece of the potato that is too small to grate)
• Traditional Ham & Egg Breakfast 1.5/6
• 2 eggs, ham, hash browns, 2 slices of toast
• Again eggs are overcooked. You can tell by the picture they're overcooked.
  
• Ham is standard. Hash browns were the best part.
• Pancakes 1/6
  
• 3 pancakes for around $4.95
• They taste better at McDonald's. If you want rubber tires for breakfast you should order these. They were so tough and I had to saw through them with my knife. They're tasteless and really flat. Need to eat it with a lot of syrup and butter. Overcooked and not fluffy at all. Don't order these - so horrible. they should have been free.

  

• Alberni Benny 3/6
  
• Smoked salmon benny served with hash browns.
• For this type of restaurant, this was a good attempt - not that they really tried to make it extra good or anything. It was one of the better things we ordered. The hollandaise sauce is from a powder and it's really runny and watery in texture. What made up for it was the poached eggs. We requested them to be cooked soft and they did a great job in ensuring this. They were quite perfect, the knife sliced into them perfectly - probably the only thing they didn't overcook.
• Spinach & Feta Omelette 1.5/6
  
• The spinach they use isn't even baby spinach...AND they included the stems. You should always use baby spinach and never include the stems when you're using it in an omelette. I felt like I was eating a lot of plain spinach that was blanched in hot water with an egg wrapped around it. More spinach than it is an omelette.
• The Feta was a shredded Feta and it was the only thing giving this omelette flavour - hint of saltiness. They call all their omelettes "fluffy" omelettes, but they aren't as you can tell. You can tell by the picture that they overcooked our omelette, just like they did with our pancakes and scrambled eggs too. Even by overcooking our omelette they still didn't manage to melt the Feta cheese...I could have made a better one at home.