Paul’s Place Omelettery

Restaurant: Paul’s Place Omelettery

Cuisine: Breakfast/Brunch
Last visited: March 14, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Fairview/South Granville)
2211 Granville Street
Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 4 (based on 3 items)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Breakfast all-day
• Breakfast/Lunch only
• Open daily 7am-3pm
• Looks nicer insider than outside
• Popular to locals
• Famous for omelettes
• + $.75 for egg whites
• Busy/line-ups for brunch
• Free refills on coffee
• Cocktails available
• Cappuccino/Mocha/Latte/Espresso
• Burgers/Sandwiches for lunch options
• Washrooms are not wheelchair accessible (upstairs)
• Meter parking

**Recommendation: Da Vinci Omelette (also haven’t tried enough)

I’ve heard so many hit and miss stories about Paul’s Place Omelettery that I finally made the effort to check it out myself. It’s undeniable that it’s a local favourite and that it’s packed and busy with line-ups out the door for Sunday brunch. I’d wait 15min, but not more than that…that’s how good it is. So good enough to wait a bit, but not that long…make sense?

Knowing what to expect will help make your decision and settle whatever differences people may have over it.

These are not your traditional fluffy and hearty omelettes – so if you like those you’re at the wrong place. These omelettes are almost gourmet style, They’re delicate and almost crepe like with lots of filling. It’s quite cheap especially for the area but the portions are also quite small. It also totally depends on what you order. The server was a vegetarian so it as hard to get a recommendation. I want to go back to make a bigger dent in the menu…so I would go back but it’s not urgent.

• Paul’s Place Omelettery is most famous for their omelettes which are made with 3 eggs, cheddar, edam and cream cheese unless specified otherwise. (You’re pretty much paying for the stuffing/cheese because the omelette is pretty small…they must use 3 mini eggs)

Added note: Apparently food and service was better with original owner Paul. I can’t add to that b/c I don’t know as this was my 1^st visit.

On the table:

Da Vinci Omelette 5/6

• Wild game chorizo sausage, mushroom, tomato, spinach & Feta only $9.95
• Includes buttered multi-grain toast, our signature jam and fruit. Add pan fries $1.50.
• It really bothers me that it was $1.50 for pan fries…I think it should come standard on any breakfast plate.
• Anyways…this is the most popular omelette.
• My friend got it with egg whites – yeah if you don’t have to…don’t.

• The omelettes are made with real eggs but they’re really thin and delicate almost like egg crepes without the flour. I think they add a lot of cream/milk to them so they’re really thin and pliable. The best part is that they’re perfectly cooked…barely any brown.

• It savoury, spicy and juicy with the sautéed veggies. It’s packed with a fair amount of ingredients and a decent amount of Feta that gave a creamy salty bite to the whole omelette.

• The wild game sausage isn’t gamey so I liked it. I’m very sensitive to this flavour too. It’s nice and spicy, but also store bought…but I still liked it.
• The jam I thought was a slightly better store-bought brand of jam…I honestly wouldn’t have been able to tell it was “signature” until re-reading it now…it didn’t taste homemade at all.

• They serve it with 2 different hot sauces.
• The one in the squirt bottle is similar to a pureed salsa. It’s not exactly chunky, but there are some finely pureed tomatoes. It’s very tangy and the kick is totally afterwards.
• The one in the vinegar is almost like a Frank’s hot sauce.

The Devon 3.5/6

• Smoked salmon, shrimp, asparagus, onion & Brie only. (The seafood is served cold) $10.50
• It was one of those it’s good until I have someone else’s…and then mine isn’t that good anymore.

• It was a bit sweet for me…especially after having the other omelette. Then I just couldn’t get over the sweetness. It might have been too many caramelized onions.

• It’s packed with ingredients and about 2 asparagus spears in here so they don’t cheap out on that part.

• The part that bothered me was that the brie didn’t melt. I just ate cube of brie. I think I had 4 pretty big pieces and I was surprised to get so much.

Pancake 2.5/6

• Single Pancake (Side) $1.95
• I ordered a single pancake because I like trying pancakes…although nothing will beat the biggest pancake ever I had in LA or the lemon ricotta blueberry pancakes in Kelowna.
• This was actually a pretty big pancake so I was happy. It was sitting for a while but they were really busy so I think it could have tasted better.
• The pancakes here are almost like cupcakes, but not as sweet. I think they use cake flour and they might even use some vanilla extract or a little bit of sugar because they have a cake flavour to them.

• It looks good and tasted good but the texture wasn’t soft and fluffy. It was slightly rubbery and that’s because it was overcooked. they have the potential to be really good, but they just need to be fresh and eaten right away.
  
• I had to saw through it…mind you it was a butter knife…but pancakes shouldn’t require steak knives…or even any knife.

• They serve it with pancake syrup and not maple syrup...that’s extra.

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!

Marimba! - South American Restaurant

Restaurant: Marimba! - Restaurant Review

Cuisine: South American/Caribbean
Last visited: November 21, 09
Area: Everett, Washington (Waterfront)
1405 Hewitt Ave
Price Range: $10-20 USD (closer to $20)

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

Food: 3.5
Service: 4
Ambiance: 4 (the huge dance floor + music, you want to dance!)
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Owners/chefs/cooks from South America (Ecuador)
• Specializes in a variety of authentic South American dishes
• Homemade/authentic menu choices
  
• Popular to locals
• Spacious
• Extensive menu
• Great for appetizers and drinks
• Great for large groups
• Weekly Salsa dancing (Fri/weekends)
• M-F lunch and dinner
• Saturday and Sunday dinner service - 4pm
• Happy hour 4-6pm ($3 selected appies)
• Catering/private party hosting available

**Recommendation: Papas Huancainas, Lechon, Mofongo

I was in Everette for a concert and wanted to find a restaurant nearby. I did my research and I wanted to find something that’s harder to find in Vancouver...at least hard to find well. I decided to go the South American route and discovered this restaurant – Marimba!

I heard good things about and the menu looks really different and authentic. I’m not too familiar with South American dishes, but I have a good idea about Spanish dishes. Most of what we ordered was Westernized versions of authentic South American dishes…but it everything tasted pretty decent still. I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t blown away either. The dishes were interesting and the owners/chefs/cooks are from South America so the menu selection is authentic, but the recipes…I’m not so sure. If it’s still good, I won’t let the idea of “authenticity” bother me too much…but the food was overall a 3.5/6.

On the table:

• Papas Huancainas 4/6
• Cooled layered potatoes dressed in a yellow aji pepper sauce and topped with queso fresco and mint $4.99
• This was really good! I thought it tasted like a Latin version of American potato salad.
• The yellow aji pepper sauce is homemade and really flavourful. It’s spicy and made with probably a blend of those roasted yellow peppers (the kind from a jar in olive oil), egg yolks and mayo. There’s probably some jalapeño in it too. It’s very pureed so you can’t really pick out the ingredients. It’s served chilled on top of boiled sliced potatoes.They had some black olives on top and they could have included a few more of those.
• Causa de Yuca 2.5/6
• Our house version of this popular Peruvian dish--mashed yuca served in a yellow aji sauce with avocado and baby shrimp $5.49
• So I thought the Papas Huancainas was the Latin version of American potato salad...I take it back…THIS is the Latin version of American potato salad. This one really reminded me of potato salad…or even an egg salad.
• This one had lime juice in it because it was tangier.
• It was potato on the bottom layer tossed in a mayo dressing and then on top of it was what tasted like mashed up potato salad, but in this case it was yucca (which tastes like potato),
• They mash the yucca with that yellow pepper sauce again. It’s very creamy.
• Tortilla de Papa 1/6
• A thick slice of omelet prepared in the classic Spanish-style with potato, pepper, tomato, and onion $5.49
• This wasn’t good. For what it’s supposed to be it was a 1, but because I could still eat it it was a 1.5.
• I’ve had numerous tortilla de papa or tortilla de patatas because I lived in Europe with Spanish girls who always made it. I’ve had homemade and restaurant style versions. I was lucky enough to even try their mom’s tortilla in Spain so I know what it’s supposed to be like. Mind you I was in Spain and not South America – so their versions are probably different…but I have a pretty good idea.
• It’s supposed to be really tender and almost runny in the middle. This one was overcooked and tough. It’s almost fishy tasting or had the texture of overcooked salmon. You can tell it was overcooked by the picture. It was a very rushed version of tortilla de Papa.
• Tequenos 1.5/6
• Wedges of soft cheese rolled in pastry dough, lightly fried, and served with a special cream sauce $4.99
• This was basically mozzarella sticks. I don’t know if they’re made in house, but it tasted like how frozen ones would taste. Our server basically hinted to us that we didn’t need to try them, we should have listened.
• They were fried well and the cheese was ooey gooey, but they were just mozzarella sticks. The dip it came with tasted like tzatziki sauce but with more herbs like parsley blended right into it. Maybe even some cilantro. The dip was good, but the sticks were whatever.
• Lechon 4/6
• Pork slow roasted in a mix of herbs and seasonings until tender and topped off with sauteed onion. Served with red beans ,rice with pigeon peas, and tostones $12.99
• The pork was quite tender, but it was probably pre-cooked meat tossed with sauce and reheated. The pork was still good though and it cut with ease.
• It had some fat around it so it was nice and moist. But the fat or skin wasn’t crispy at all.

• The Rice: the rice was actually really good! It was cooked well, flavourful, and not clumpy.

• 
• Mofongo 4/6
• This Puerto Rican dish features your choice of pork, chicken, beef, or prawns, served over mofongo: smashed green plantains fried with chicharron and garlic. Served with rice with pigeon peas and black beans $14.99. Vegetarian $12.99
• This is the dish I came for. I took our servers recommendation and had it with pork and asked for it to be medium for spiciness. My pork was quite tender, almost like pulled pork, but overall the dish was a bit dry.
• The yucca and green plantain mash was dry and I just wanted more sauce. The mash was like the South American version of turkey stuffing. It went well with the pork because it was the complementary starch.
• This is a really hearty and filling dish. It’s good, but I think everything is more or less pre-cooked and they throw it altogether and bake it off before serving.
• Pabellon 2.5/6
• The national dish of Venezuela! Seasoned and shredded beef served with black beans, rice, and tostones $12.99
• This was very bland and my friend ordered it mild – no spice. It really needed spice though. It was basically shredded beef in a tomato based sauce with onions and dried and fresh herbs.
• It was almost like a South American shredded beef stew. The beef was either a brisket or chuck.
• The pork was more tender and better than the beef dishes.
• Bandeja Paisa 2/6
• A traditional Colombian dish featuring chicharron and a fried egg with your choice of seasoned ground beef or skirt steak. Served with red beans, rice, and tostones $13.49
• This is a popular South American fusion dish. It’s actually a combination of American/UK and South American flavours.
• I was a bit disappointed by this dish because it was so simple. It should have had way more sides than it had. It was definitely a Westernized version. We ordered it with skirt steak.
• Traditionally the dish includes 13 things: red beans with pork, white rice, a fried egg, avocado, Arepa (pita), ground meat or steak, chorizo, pork rind, plantain patacones (plantain patties), Hogao sauce (tomato & onion sauce) and black pudding (sausages of patties made of pork blood).
• The ones in bold is what came with Marimba’s version of Bandeja Paisa.
• Plantain Patacones: This was pretty good, fried nice and fresh. Served with a dollop of the same sauce they had with the Tequenos. Tastes like tzatziki sauce with blended herbs.
• Red beans: pretty good, definitely better than my black beans. It supposed to be served on the plate not in a separate dish. All the ingredients are supposed to blend into each other.
• Fried egg: was overcooked, the yolk wasn’t runny
• Arepa: it’s a pita made out of cornmeal, but I could really tell. It tasted like a Greek style pita. Nice and soft.
• Overall the dish wasn’t saucy enough and it was dry. The steak looks well done, but it was actually quite tender and good.
• It reminded my of the American steak & eggs with some Latin sides and a couple British sides. Or even the Hawaiian Loco Moco (ground meat & a fried egg over rice)
• Even if they didn’t include everything they should have included Hogao sauce…it needed sauce. It could have used more avocado slices too.
• Rice Pudding 1/6
• Rice cooked with raisin, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and topped with cinnamon. When available, served with either mazamorra (purple corn compote) or lucuma mousse (Peruvian fruit similar to an avocado) $4.29
• This wasn’t good. It came in a little bowl and I felt ripped off. The rice was really clumpy and there’s were chunks of rice in it. It was sweet, but not really too sweet or anything either. Rally one dimensional, I like Indian rice puddings better. The didn’t serve it with mazmorra or lucuma mousse either…and that was most disappointing because that was the whole point of trying the dish!

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.