the Kitchen - Korean Restaurant

Restaurant: the Kitchen

Cuisine: Korean
Last visited: November 3, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Kerrisdale)
2110 West 40th Ave
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

• Wife and husband operation
• Literally & figuratively mom & pop style
• Very homemade (from scratch)
  
• Literally made by Korean mom "mom's recipes"
• Very authentic
• Hole in the wall
• Seats 10
  
• Pre-made cold appetizers available for take-out
  
• Attracts locals/Koreans
  
• Eat-in/Take-out
• Mon-Sat: 11am-8:30pm
  
• Closed Sunday

**Recommendation: Korean Pancake

Want to try: Korean Sushi

Their tag line is "the kitchen" - "the original Korean House Wife Cuisine with the Best Ingredients." They sure mean it! I'm not sure about the "best ingredients" part, that's self-proclaimed, but the "Korean House Wife" part could not be more accurate!

We ordered take-out and she literally packs it like how your mom would pack your lunch when you were in elementary school. There's so much care in the cooking and packaging. I even felt bad ordering the pancake because it was going to take her 20 minutes to make it (since it's all from scratch) - she even sighed. It wasn't a rude sigh though, it was one of those sighs like how your mom would sigh if you asked her to make a meal for you that took a long time.

For me, this was the most authentic Korean food besides going to my Korean friends' houses and having their dinners.

On the table:

• **Korean Pancake 4.5/6
• Pancake with assorted seafood, green onion and vegetables $12.99
• It took 20 min. to make because she started from scratch and that's probably why it was $12.99. It is a bit expensive, but it's because of the labour it takes to make it.
• This pancake or Korean style omelette was loaded with ingredients. There was lots of long pieces of green onion and bell peppers and all the veggies were sauteed until soft and sweet. It's all held together with this potato-egg batter. It's served hot with a light soy sauce for dipping.
• The outside is fried until brown and the middle is moist, creamy and a litle gummy - yet there's no cream or sauce. It's pretty thick and exploding with ingredients. I think she overcooked it a little bit because the outside was a bit too brown, but the inside was still very moist and the seafood was tender so it didn't bother me. I also liked that it wasn't too oily, because these can be very oily.
• The only complain is that she skimped out on was the seafood. It had some bits of squid and some baby shrimp in it. The amount of shrimp was I guess decent but hardly any squid. You just know that if she made it for herself or for the family she would have put way more seafood in it.
• It's usually eaten as a snack, appetizer or side dish.
• 
• Bibimbap 3/6
• Rice mixed with beef and vegetables served with a fried egg $8.99
  
• This is basically a Korean-style fried rice. It's usually served in a hot stone bowl and the heat of the bowl helps to crisp up the rice. You leave it for a while before mixing all the ingredients together. Since we got take out we didn't have the benefit of letting the rice crisp up, nonetheless it was still a good bibimbap. Best eaten upon order for sure.
• The vegetables for bibimbap vary from restaurant to restaurant. Here they used sauteed carrots, spinach, zucchini and bean sprouts. Some other places may use mushrooms, cucumber, daikon and even pine nuts (although pine nuts is very rare...but so good when they're in there).
• The Kitchen serves it with ground beef (most common) and top it off with a fried egg, some shredded seaweed and sesame seeds. I wish they gave more ground beef though. It was so minced up and it had a good nutty/sesame taste, but just not enough actual meat.
• The texture of the dish is great. There's different levels of crunchiness and then it's all saucy and creamy from mixing in the egg yolk and meat sauce. the rice is almost like Japanese sushi rice, it's all sticky and delicious.
• It comes with this chili pepper paste or sauce (looks like ketchup) but very spicy and you mix it into the bibimbap with all the other ingredients.
• Kimchi
  
• I like the kimchi here, she uses a lot more daikon than cabbage though. It's homemade and very saucy. Use it as a condiment or side with everything you eat.
  

Luck's Gourmet

Restaurant: Luck's Gourmet

Cuisine: Chinese/Shanghai/Asian
Last visited: October 29, 09
Area: Richmond, BC
Unit 2088 - 8700 McKim Way (In the Admiralty Mall food court)
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Additional comments:

• Family owned and operated
• Specializes in Chinese/Shanghainese cuisine
• A few items not available on menu
  
• Fresh, made upon order
• Take-out
• Small selection of desserts
• Very cheap
• Cash only

** Recommendation: n/a

I haven't tried enough of their menu to make a fair judgment, but what I ordered was good and it will make me go back to try other items.

I actually wanted to try their steamed pork buns aka "xiao long bao" but they didn't have any. A lot of their English translations are off, so it's hard to know what to order or what they're trying to describe.

On the table:

• Sesame Seed Pastry 4.5/6
• It's under "sesame seed pastry" as a dessert on their menu board. It is not a dessert! I was lucky enough to have someone translate so I wasn't in for a surprise. It was only $3 and it was huge!
• This is actually an Asian style sesame seed pancake or crepe stuffed with ground pork and raw cucumbers. It's traditional Shanghainese. It's a meal in itself although it's considered a snack.
• The dough for the crepe is made in house and it's hot and fresh because you have to wait at least 15min. for it. The crepe is delicious and it's pretty thick. It would be more salty than sweet, it's almost like puff pastry. It has multiple layers and the outer layers are nice and flaky. It's soft and chewy on the inside and has a crispy filo-like exterior. It's a Shanghainese style roti with less layers than the Malaysian style roti. They pan fry it so that the sesame seeds taste all nutty. Surprisingly it wasn't that oily or greasy.
• The inside of this sesame seed pastry is filled with relatively lean ground pork with an Asian soy-based pork gravy and some raw cucumbers. It was so good! The cucumbers are crunchy although they do semi-cook from the steam of the meat and pastry.
• I only wish it was a bit saltier. It looks really saucy, but the sauce could have been saltier. It's probably not the best out there, but it's excellent for a hole in the wall place like this and you probably won't find a better deal! I'd order it again for sure.
  

• Tasty Twist Idea: It needed Hoisin sauce or something. I actually ordered something with Hoisin sauce at the stand next to it so I ended up dipping my pastry into the Hoisin sauce. That made it a 5/6! It made it taste like a Peking Duck wrap.
  

Pearl Castle

Restaurant: Pearl Castle

Cuisine: Taiwanese/Chinese/Bubble Tea
Last visited: Sept. 19, 09
Area: Richmond, BC
6551 No. 3 Road
Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 3.5
Service: 1
Ambiance: 3

Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Taiwanese dishes
• Specializes in bubble tea
• Wide variety of drinks
• Offers hot food/mini hot pot/snacks
  
• Service is never great at either location
  
• Busy/line-ups during peak hours
  
• More spacious than Continental Plaza location
• Affordable food/lunch specials
• Pricier drinks
• Quick sit down lunches
• Open late
• Set meals available for lunch or dinner

** Recommendation: Bubble tea, chicken nuggets, Pepper-salt Chicken knees

This is perhaps the most popular bubble tea place in Richmond. Everyone loves it. It's open late and attracts a younger crowd at night. It's brightly lit so older people go as well and there's always a line-up at peak hours.

The newest location (I think the 4th one now) is located inside Richmond Centre across from Carlton Cards and McDonald's. It's quite spacious compared to the original (on Sexsmith), but still busy.

I've been to the original one numerous time. However I must say I'm a bit nervous about it now ever since a friend of mine got sick from a milk-based bubble tea she had there. Apparently they didn't store their milk properly. Please comment on this post if you have had a similar experience. I have never gotten sick, so I hope it was a rare case that they learned from.

On the table:

• Japanese Green Tea Frappe with Milk and Pearls 4/6
• It's pretty expensive at $4.75 and that's not including pearls.
  
• It was a tad sweet but the pearls are great. Nice and chewy and they give you a lot.
  
• The slushes are called "frappes" here.
  
• They use a lot of Matcha powder in this as you can tell by the colour. It's very pungent in green tea flavour and you get that slight bitterness. A lot of places use green tea ice green or substitutes for real Matcha powder - but you get the real deal here.
• **Chicken Nuggets 4/6
  
• I didn't order it on this occasion, but their deep fried items are actually really good here. These chicken nuggets are surprisingly good! They're made in house with white meat and they have a really crispy and flavourful breading.
  
• **Pepper-salt chicken knees 4/6
• Again, I didn't order on this occasion.
• If you like salt and pepper chicken wings you'll like these. It tastes and looks like popcorn chicken. The breading is just really good and they're really fresh. They serve it with a plum sauce.
• House Special Beef Noodle Soup 3.5/6
• This was quite tasty. The beef broth was pretty thick and flavourful, but I can't help but to think they used some pre-made beef broth for assistance. The colour was just so deep it didn't look natural. It was a bit oily and they used chili oil in it so it was nice and spicy.
• The noodles were nice and chewy and had a firmer texture. (Not made in house and I don't expect them to be...for a place that specializes in bubble tea)
• They give you about 6 chunks of beef brisket which were relatively lean for beef brisket. They were really tender and really did fall apart.
  
• For what it is and this kind of place it's actually pretty expensive at $7.95.
• Taiwanese Egg Roll 2/6
  
• This is a fried egg rolled in a deep fried Asian style pancake or crepe.
  
• I had to wait like 15min for this, which is good because it means they're making it fresh...but 15min. was not worth the wait for what it was.
• The pancake was a thin deep fried crepe but it wasn't very good because it was soggy and kind of stale. It's not fluffy or crispy, just dough like. They either buy it frozen and deep fry it or the oil was not hot enough and they allowed it to soak in the oil rather than fry.
• I like the crispy fried egg on the inside though - the only thing that gave it texture. The break the yolk during the frying process so it's fully cooked. It's the same thickness as the pancake so you get really even layers in the roll. When eaten together it's good, but overall it still needed more texture. The pancake part just wasn't done well.
• It's served with a garlic Teriyaki-like sauce.
  
• The red sauce on top is a spicy red sauce that's really salty and pungent. It's definitely some kind of fermented sauce, but I'm not sure what.
  
• It was worth a try and it's an interesting appy, but it's also kind of plain.
• 
• The dessert they serve with all their set meals - a frozen Costco cream puff.

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.

Raffles Cafe

Restaurant: Raffles Cafe
Cuisine: American
Last visited: August 27, 09

Area: Las Vegas - Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino
3950 Las Vegas Blvd
Price Range: $10-20

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

Additional comments:

• Open 24 hours
• Menu shows signature items
• Casual dining
• A nice 24 hour restaurant (not fast food 24 hours)
• Offers breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner/late night
  
• Tropical (borderline tacky) decor
• Huge portions
  

**Recommendation: Banana and Pecan Stuffed French Toast, Raffles Signature Dessert Burger and Exotic Coconut Pancakes which I didn't order, but have heard rave reviews about.

I only tried 2 things on the menu so I don't think it's fair to give it a full review. Therefore I'm only going to focus on the things that I ordered - which were freakin delicious!! I need to give them their own review. I went at 4am and I didn't have my camera on me, which I totally regret because I can't seem to find a picture of these anywhere. The pictures would speak for themselves - you'd definitely want to book your tickets to Sin City if you saw the pics. I hope my description and review does these 2 items justice. For a 24 hour restaurant the chef is wide awake, because the food is fresh, unique, and there was even presentation - which I don't expect from a 24 hour diner.

On the table:

• **Banana and Pecan Stuffed French Toast 6/6
  
• This french toast was soooo soft and fluffy! It was almost like they used brioche bread. It was thick slices of brioche bread dipped in an egg batter and lightly fried. Then sandwiches between the slices of bread was the thick creamy custard! It was soo decadent and indulgent! Really rich and heavy so you can't eat it by yourself - such a treat! The bananas are cut up in slices, so not mashed and they're slightly cooked and warm and then placed on top of the french toast with toasted pecans. The whole thing is sprinkled with icing sugar.
  
• This is definitely a dessert! It's one of their signature items and it rightfully earns a spot because it's so amazing. We ordered it with chocolate and vanilla ice cream - it's good with or without ice cream - it's just amazing. The custard is thick enough to not ooze out on it's own, but it oozes out when you poke your fork into it. I'm drooling...
• **Raffles Signature Dessert Burger 6/6
  
• (I don't think it's the official name, but I can't find the full menu)
  
• This is another signature item! Thank god I remember the description because I can't find it anywhere. This was such a creative dessert and it really deserves attention. Great concept! Kudos to the chef for creating it. Very well executed.
• The dessert came in a mini burger - the size of a slider. It totally looked like a beef slider. The "bun" was made of a homemade sesame pound cake. The "cheese" was a thin slice of apple flavoured jello (at least that's what it tasted like). The "burger patty" was some sort of frozen chocolate mousse. I think there was also a hint of raspberry coulis for ketchup.
  
• Wow! This was really really good. It held together really well and didn't crumbly apart or anything. It was nice and sturdy like an actually burger. It wasn't even messy to eat. The apple cheese thing was soo unique - I've never had anything like this. Teh combination of flavours worked really well and the pound cake was delicious! I'm glad the portion was a bit smaller because it was just enough to satisfy. So impressed with this dessert coming from a 24 hour restaurant.
• It also came with "fries" - which were deep fried pastries that looked exactly like fries. They were dusted with icing sugar and it came with "ketchup" or raspberry coulis for dipping. These "fries" were not good though - they tasted like nothing. They help in the presentation and complete the concept and that's about it.
• Exotic Coconut Pancakes
• I didn't order these but I hear really good things about them. I'm ordering them for sure next time.
  

The Bread Company

Restaurant: The Bread Company
Cuisine: Bakery/Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch/American
Last visited: August 15, 09

Area: Kelowna, BC
363 Bernard Ave
Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• Serves breakfast and light lunches
• Order and pay at cashier, food brought to your table
  
• Cafe and catering
• Casual cafe, but more gourmet than The Bohemian Bagel across the street
  
• Focus on freshly baked breads and pastries
• Artisan breads
• No refined sugars in breads
• Only vegetable/olive oil used in breads
• Loaves to go
• Familiar to locals, line-ups, busy
  
• Toonie Tuesday Lattes

**Recommendation: Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Fig & Anise Loaf, stuffed French toast is popular too, but I didn't try it.

So I tried this restaurant for brunch the next day. It's across the street from The Bohemian Bagel, and it's casual but not as laid back. The baked breads are definitely more artisan breads and better than the homemade bread baked at The Bohemian Bagel. You don't get as much of that "home cooked" feel as you do at The Bohemian Bagel, but I thought overall their food was a bit better. The Bohemian Bagel offers food lighter than pub food, but heartier than The Bread Company. The breads at The Bread Company look amazing and they taste great! I wish you could sample them before buying them though. All baked goods are in the display cases so you can seen everything and order/pay at the cashier. For hot food, they give you a number after you pay and serve you at your table.

On the table:

• **Lemon Ricotta Pancakes 6/6
  
• One of their signature items! Signature pancakes made with lemon and ricotta cheese, served with fresh blueberry compote and maple syrup.

• These were so good! I enjoyed them a bit more than the oatmeal blueberry pancakes I had at The Bohemian Bagel. They were the same style pancakes though, 3 mini pancakes that are nice and moist - not the thick traditional kind. The ricotta cheese is very light in the pancake batter and it adds more in terms of texture than it does in flavour.
  
• Adding ricotta to pancakes makes them really tender and delicious! This pancake has a nice weight and is not heavy - the lemon and lemon zest added a great dimension of flavour and lightened up the whole dish. You can really taste the subtle hint of lemon zest, it brightened everything up. The blueberry compote was also great! Naturally sweet and thick - a good amount was served on top of the pancakes. Not too much, and not too little - just enough to not make your pancakes soggy and just enough to balance out all the flavours so that nothing was overpowering.
• Banana Walnut Pancakes 2/6
  
• Signature pancakes made with banana and walnuts served with banana compote (more like mashed bananas) and maple syrup.

• The ricotta lemon pancakes were better. The banana compote served on top was a little like baby food to me. It was mushed up bananas served on top, which means it turned brown in colour and ruined the presentation. You could tell it was fresh and nothing was added, but it just didn't look that appetizing. The bananas were really ripe too, so the whole dish was a bit sweet. The pancakes have a really subtle banana flavour - not like banana bread or anything - good pieces of walnuts in them too, which it really needed otherwise everything just tasted too mushy and you get sick of it quickly.
• *Honey-Cured Ham & Havarti Frittata 4/6
  
• eggs, ham, Havarti, sauteed apples, sage and leeks, served with hashbrowns or "home fries" and buttered toast

• This was good but they should call it an omelette rather than a frittata. It tasted like an omelette. It was heavy on the honey ham and Havarti. The Harvarti was just slices melted all over the top instead of incorporated in - so yes it was good becuase you can see how much you're getting, but I think it would have been better if it was incorporated into the eggs, as well as a little on top for presentation sake.
  
• I couldn't taste the apples at all. I wish I did though because it would have added a sweet note that would really make this "fritatta" a stand out! The leeks were really nice and I actually even bit into some zucchini (found in their Feta & roasted vegetable frittata), which is weird because zucchini isn't meant to be an ingredient for this frittata. I still liked it though. If I went in knowing it would be an omelette and if I could have tasted the apples which would have enhanced the leek and sage flavour more this would make it as one of my recommendations...too bad it didn't...so I gave it one star.
• The "home fries" were just fried up diced potatoes - so a fancy hashbrown.
• We had this with multi-grain toast - their multi-grain is great! You can really taste the grains and it has this amazing crust. Nice and chewy with great texture! Can eat this on its own - doesn't need anything else on it.
• Pumpkin & Pecan soup 5/6
  
• A gourmet soup that is delicious! Nice pieces of pecans in it, I'm surprised they didn't sink to the bottom - small enough to float and big enough to see. Great flavour and homemade...WAY better than the soups offered at The Bohemian Bagel.
  
• **Fig & Anise Bread 6/6
  
• I won't say much about it here because it's so good I'm giving it its own review. I even bought a loaf home at around $5. But it is worth it because you can taste the quality.

The Bohemian Bagel

Restaurant: The Bohemian Bagel - Brunch review
Cuisine: Eclectic/American/Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch
Last visited: August 14, 09

Area: Kelowna, BC
524 Bernard Ave
Price Range: $10-20

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

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

• Open Wednesday - Sunday
• Serves breakfast and lunches
• Lighter than pub food, not gourmet, but home cooked style
  
• Cafe and catering
• Focus on homemade sausage, bacon, dressings, soups
• Freshly baked goods
• Each table has this homemade fruit jam, a great added touch!
  
• Healthy & tasty options
• Homestyle, casual/laid back feel
• Attracts all ages/families
• Popular to locals, quite busy
  
• Daily specials
  

**Recommendation: Blueberry oatmeal pancakes, homemade sausage/bacon, apparently the Huevos Rancheros is good (although I didn't try this)

So we got this recommendation from the front desk at the hotel. He's a self-acclaimed foodie and seemed trustworthy. It was a great recommendation, although he did warn us that the hollandaise sauce was not homemade...which I beleive, otherwise they would advertise it like they do with everything else that is homemade. The bread was baked in house, but I prefer the bread from across the street at The Bread Company. It was a young staff, with laid-back service. We had 4 servers for brunch so it was a bit disorganized, but not hectic - just sllooww.

On the table:

• **Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes 5/6
• One of their most popular items! Topped with icing sugar, lots of warm blueberries and served with maple syrup.

• I really enjoyed these! They were delicious. It's served in 4 mini pancakes - the oatmeal is ground into the pancake batter so it's a smooth texture and not gritty or anything. Nice and moist, not really fluffy though. They're not your thick and hearty style pancakes though. They're thinner and quite moist becuase of that; completely different than the giant pancake I had from The Grizzly Manor in LA - I like both styles of pancakes though. The blueberries are fresh and added a natural sweetness to the pancakes. Nice, simple, and very enjoyable. $11.50, so a bit more expensive than usual, but worth it for the quality.
• **BOH Combo (Select 4 favs) 5/6
  
• 2 eggs, hashbrowns, homemade sausage, homemade back bacon

• Must try the homemade sausage and bacon - the back bacon and bacon strip are all made in house in the back. It's very fresh and not the cured bacon most people serve. This is gourmet bacon. The sausage and bacon were were both quite lean and not oily, both were very flavourful and juicy. Quality meat, so there's no need to add anything to enjoy them.
• Classic Eggs Benedict 2/6
  
• With the homemade back bacon and English muffin (don't think the English muffin is made in house though)

• This was good, but also just a standard eggs benedict. I came in biased to this item because I knew that the hollandaise sauce was from a powder and not homemade. Therefore it tastes like a benny you've probably had before. This is actually one of their popular items, but that doesn't surprise me because most people are used to that packaged hollandaise sauce rather than the real deal. You can even order the hollandaise as a side people like it so much - I wonder what brand they're using...
• Spinach and Fresh Cherry Salad 4/6
  
• Quite creative. Spinach, fresh Okanagan (local) cherries, Goat's feta, tomato, and carrots with you choice of dressing. We had the mustard-soy dressing which is made in house and tastes great! Really nice dressing, more like a vinaigrette, it would go well with any salad.
  
• This salad was on their specials board, so it's seasonal due to the fact that there's fresh cherries in it.
• Pineapple Peach Cornmeal Muffin $2.50 3/6
  
• Another creative item on their specials board! I love how they take advantage of the seasonal fruit that is so abundant throughout the Okanagan. Fresh local peaches and pineapple (not sure if the pineapple was fresh though) go into this cornmeal muffin. I tasted more cornmeal in the muffin than the fruits though - I think the cornmeal overpowered the fruit flavour. You can actually bite into and see the pieces of fruit, but I found the flavours lost in the cornmeal. I could taste the fruit in the first couple bites and then I couldn't taste it after that.
  
• Remember to ask them to warm up the muffins - it tastes better. Also try their muffins or homemade breads with the homemade fruit preserves served at every table. Really bold and fruity in flavour.
• Mandarin-Apple Streusel Muffin $2.50 4/6
• This was a slightly better muffin, but it tasted like a coffee cake with the nutty brown sugar topping. It's hard to compete with a muffin that has a crunchy streusel topping. It sounds like a really creative and unique muffin, but again you couldn't really taste the mandarin or apple. If anything the apple flavour came out more than the mandarin flavour.
• Nice and moist on the inside, this is a good muffin - it's just that it doesn't taste like what it was supposed to be. Again remember to ask them to warm up the muffins - it tastes better.
• Soups 1/6
  
• All the soups are made in house and change daily.
  
• We tried the gazpacho and the corn chowder.
• Just because it's made in house doesn't always mean it's good. Yes, it's fresh and homemade, but that doesn't mean the recipe is good. The recipes for the soup were unfortunately not good. We happened to try both becuase the original order the gazpacho was so disappointing. It tasted like canned tomato sauce that was watered down with veggies in it. So the waitress traded it and gave us the corn chowder - which was also disappointing. It was better than the gazpacho, but still had that watered down taste and texture. The corn was definitely from the cob, but it didn't matter becuase the soup base itself just wasn't good. Rarely do I ever ask the server to take something back, but in this case it was necessary because it really was that bad.
• Homemade preserves available at each table - full of real fruit flavour

Grizzly Manor Cafe

The famous "Grizzly Manor Cafe" located in Big Bear Lake, California
Literally. There are no hours. If it's closed - it's closed. You better hope it's open!

The amazing chef - cooking up my delicious pancakes!


Restaurant: Grizzly Manor Cafe - Restaurant Review
Cuisine: Breakfast/Brunch/American/Diner
Last visited: August 6, 09

Area: Big Bear Lake, California
41268 Big Bear Blvd
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 5, but 6 for pancakes!
Service: 6, funny and extremely sarcastic!
Ambiance: 5, sarcastic bumper stickers cover the walls
Overall: 6
Additional comments:

• Located in Big Bear Lake, California (the mountains)
• Famous for big portion pancakes and breakfasts - HUGE portions!
• Biggest, best, and fluffiest pancakes I've ever had in my life
• Hole in the wall - local and tourist favourite
• Cheesiest grilled cheese sandwich
• Ambiance and service with attitude - extremely sarcastic!
• Business hours are random - open and closes depending on owners mood
• Lunch served after 11am if cook is in the mood, no lunch on weekends
• Line-ups
• Plate fee of $1.00 for if you share.
• Warning: Will suffer from food coma, and meals may clog arteries - but it's so damn good!
  

**Recommendation: Pancakes, waffles, only if you dare - The Polar Bear!! (The Biggest of them all!)

If you are ever in California - head to Big Bear Lake, just to visit the Grizzly Manor Cafe. THE BEST, BIGGEST, AND FLUFFIEST pancakes I've ever had in my life. I still dream about them. Its near impossible to finish one. The service, atmosphere, decor, and menu are extremely sarcastic and casual. Get your own coffee. Write your own name. As the menu says "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason...so if you're hungry, be nice!"...be nice! This place is great!! If you come, you better be prepared!

On the table:

• **One Blueberry Cake (Pancake) 6/6
• Made upon order - this is the best pancake I've ever had. It was the size of a vinyl record and it was sooo fluffy! It's nice and thick, your traditional old fashioned style pancake. THE perfect pancake! Loaded with blueberries, this pancake is enough for 2 people. You can't even see the plate it comes on because it's so big. I still dream about this...you can't stop eating it...but you're so full...and at only $4.00 - a bargain
• They offer buttermilk, chocolate chip, and buckwheat cakes as well - you don't come to Grizzly Manor and order a buckwheat - that would piss off the owner.
  
• Short Stack Blueberry Cakes 6/6
• This is a bigger version of one blueberry cake - it comes with 2 pancakes - and you definitely can't finish this on your own. $6.50
• ** Waffle 6/6
• This was equally as good as the pancake. Its normal size to because its the size of a waffle maker. Again really fluffy - the perfect waffle! $5.99
  
• Two eggs with ham, corned beef hash, hash browns, toast 3/6
  
• Exactly what it is. I wasn't too crazy about the corned beef hash though.
• Sissy Boy - Love the name! 4/6
• 1 pancake, 2 eggs, 2 strips of bacon - again, it is what it is.
  
• Farmer's Delight 4/6
• Pork chops, two eggs, hash browns, and toast $11.25
• It comes with 2 pieces of pork chops, and they're not small either
• Kathy Melt 5/6
  
• Hamburger, Swiss cheese and grilled onion on sourdough $8.25
• This was a great burger! They grill the whole burger and the sourdough is all buttered and crispy! Really nice ground beef - 1.25 inch patty and its moist and not dry. The definition of a true American diner burger. It's greasy and good - it has to be to own the name.
• Boring Phil 4/6
  
• You haven't had a grilled cheese sandwich until you've tried this. There is more cheese than there is bread. Double the cheese. Extremely oily - this is what you expect when you order a grilled cheese at an American diner. Delicious if you're a fan of eating melted cheddar cheese on heavily buttered bread. It's a 2-1 cheese to bread ratio. The cheesiest grilled cheese ever.
• ** The Polar Bear
• I did not order this. But more or less tried it with everything on the table. I have to write about it because it's "the biggest of them all". Bacon, 2 eggs, hash browns, and 2 pancakes.
• This is a portion that's big enough to feed a family of 4-6. At only $10.25 this is a major bargain.
• Note: There is an extra plate fee of $1.00 if you want to share