Monthly Archives: July 2013

Gutenberg’s Cafe

Gutenberg's Cafe on Urbanspoon I know this place has had some poor reviews, but many of those reviews are prior to the renovations that took place near the end of 2012.

We were regular customers before it went under some renovation. Then, with our time schedule, we hadn’t returned until recently. We went back to check out the cafe and to host a group meeting. The owners Edward and Cherry greeted us. They are always very friendly and happy!

The place had certainly changed. Previously, they had reddish-orange walls, with simple chairs and tables. Now their walls were earthly toned brown with green accents, modern stools and dark brown lounge chairs and booths. It was certainly an upgrade.

As usual, the fairly spacious cafe was empty. I’m not sure how they are able to run the place with very little customers…unless they are busy during certain times of the day. But so far, whenever we pass by or go to it, it’s been pretty bare. The air conditioning in the summer time, like many other places are way too cold for me and can’t stay for a long time.

The drinks are pretty good. They serve in to go cups even if you stay there, which is a bit of disappointment. Not only does it create more garbage, it takes away from the authenticity or making the drink taste better if it were in a real mug/glass. My favourite is the BLT Breakfast sandwich with cheese, ham and egg in between a bagel. Otherwise, I feel the other dishes are overpriced.

They sometimes do have Germans working there as staff. However, the owners are Chinese. I haven’t tried the bratwurst to see how authentic it is…maybe next time.

They use to be closed on Sundays, but are are now open. The only downside is that their hours are very short!idearabbit-gutenburgcafe20

idearabbit-gutenburgcafe21The man at the till is Edward!idearabbit-gutenburgcafe23

idearabbit-gutenberg3idearabbit-gutenburgcafe24idearabbit-gutenburgcafe22idearabbit-gutenbergcafe26This day, the cafe was nearly full as I brought a group close to 30 people to the cafe.

Last Few Times

Gutenberg cafe hasn’t been the greatest, but after the reno, the place did look better. Their food and drinks however, hasn’t.

idearabbit-gutenberg20 idearabbit-gutenberg21They have terrible coffee and Sheepie always feel terrible afterwards. He only was able to finish half.
My friend hated his drink so bad, he dumped most of it and went around to Blenz instead.
My tea latte was also hard to get through. One friend said her dessert tasted burnt, like it was cooked in a burnt pan. It was freezing in there as usual. Service is friendly, but now, we will never return.

 Taste: carrot    Price for Value: carrot

Atmosphere:  carrotcarrotcarrot   Service:  carrotcarrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrotcarrot

Romer’s Burger

Romer's Burger Bar on Urbanspoon

We were walking around the Kits area, trying to find a good place to eat. We were looking for a cheaper dining place, but ended up at Romer’s Burger since the friendly hostess actually came out of the restaurant to greet us while we were looking at the menu outside.

We decided to share a dish, and ordered the special chicken burger of the month. For $12 we thought it would come with some side dishes, but to our surprise, the server said the price was only for the burger itself. Woah! Super pricey – should at least come with fries! So we ordered a side order of sea salt fries $4. They were a bit greasy, nothing wow per say. The food took a bit of time, but the burger was pretty good.

The server was friendly and the place had a good ambiance. Nice interior with the washrooms (which are located downstairs) had individual rooms with toilet and sink each. Alright food, but overpriced.

idearabbit-romersburger

idearabbit-romersburger2

idearabbit-romersburger3

$12 burger (only burger!)

idearabbit-romersburger4

$4 fries

Food Taste:      Price for Value:

Atmosphere:      Service:
Location:

Richmond Night Market

Richmond Night Market on Urbanspoon

It’s summer time and that means festivals and eating out! Of course that means you have to go the Richmond Night Market for some Asian foods and gadgets!

Getting to the location by car is a bit challenging, especially to find parking. If you follow everyone else, it’ll take you forever just to get to a parking lot. I’m not sure how my friend found one so quickly, for free and right by the market. But then again, he’s good at that kind of stuff…lol

Admission is $2! You’d think that this would deter everyone in going to the other market (Summer Night Market – yes, there are 2! Don’t get them confused) but no! It’s probably much more lively and crowded than the other one. It’s FREE admission for children 10 & under and for Seniors over 60.

idearabbit-richmondnightmarket2

2013 theme is the yellow duckling!

idearabbit-richmondnightmarket
This year, the theme is yellow ducks. There are 2 huge inflatable ducks, along with little ones scattered throughout the market dressed up in different traditional uniforms/clothing, great photo opportunities.

I was surprised to see the huge increase in prices. Meat skewers used to be 3 for $5. Now it was  $7+. Everything seemed to have gone up…but that didn’t stop the crowd from buying all the food!

It definitely seemed like more booths than the other market. My company wanted to buy a car camera and laser but no luck. It felt like there was a huge supply of phone covers and less real gadget products. I didn’t see those electric LED tshirts that I use to see.

Around 11:20-30 or so, the booths will start having the ‘closing sale’ deals. Usually, this means that most dishes will be priced down to $2. If you go around 10 minutes to midnight, you might be able to get even better deals, but you have to bargain with them. I got 2 noodles for $3 instead of $2 each. My friend got some deals on the mini-donuts.

The last couple times I’ve gone, the stage has been empty with no performance.

Hours of operation are Friday and Saturday 7pm-12 midnight and Sunday and holidays 6pm-11pm. It’s open from May 17 to Oct 14 – plenty of time to go several times! Go check it out!