Category Archives: All You Can Eat

Bistro 101

Bistro 101 on UrbanspoonI had read so many good things about Bistro 101, so I wanted to try it out. Since they’re only open during weekdays and Friday seemed to be very popular, I had to book a month in advanced to get a reservation through Open Table. Monday-Thursdays are 3 course meals where lunch is $20 and dinner is $26. You can’t get fine dining for a better price anywhere else! Fridays are West Coast buffets at $22 for lunch and $33 for dinner.

I was aware that the prices are cheaper than other fine dining restaurants because this is where the future chefs learned, studied and experimented their cooking. The hostess wasn’t as friendly as you would expect from fine restaurants, but I had read that they are students and aren’t all that ‘trained’ yet up to par.

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So how it works is that the appetizers and desserts are buffet, going up and getting whatever you liked, how much you’d liked. There were some good appetizers, but I thought the clam chowder soup was the best.

The main dish was seafood and this, you had to tell the server when you wanted. This isn’t all you can eat – it’s only a one time thing for that dinner per person. There were 2 large scallops, and a variety of fish and 2 asparagus. This plate would have already cost more than $50 at a fine restaurant, so it was a really good deal. The scallops were delicious! The asparagus was on the rawer side – which I didn’t mind, but Sheepie wasn’t too happy. But knowing how Germans served their Spagel (white asparagus), I guess it wasn’t something he’d like. The 2 slices of tuna tataki was soft and melted in my mouth. The potatoes were a nice complimentary side dish.

idearabbit-bistro101-6 idearabbit-bistro101-5 idearabbit-bistro101-Really good clam chowder soup!

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The main dish (dish is not all-you-can-eat)

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Chef Christine was energetic despite working at a different location from 6am. She was telling the other customers at the table next to ours. Seems like the chef changes every 6 months at Bistro 101. It was really nice for her to be serving the customer and interacting so well.

idea-rabbit_mascot-joyI was really happy with pretty much everything. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere, not too sophisticated as some fine restaurants, but goes well with the Granville Island feel where it’s located. The place is clean and the selections for the buffet is plenty. Be sure to eat only a bit of appetizer at first since the main dish is quite filling. Then you have unlimited dessert! The price is fair. I’d love to come back and try their 3 course meals!

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e.b.o. Restaurant & Lounge

e.b.o Restaurant & Lounge on UrbanspoonMy boss took all of us to the lunch buffet $29 per person in Burnaby. We sat an already set table right by the window, there weren’t much of a scenery to look at. One of the coffee cup was dirty…ewww. But other than that, it was a nice setting. The young 20 something server didn’t seem to put in any effort in being cheerful or friendly in any way. She seemed like she hated her job and never smiled. Service overall with other staff was on the slow side, or just not available at times.

It was freezing so I hoped I wouldn’t catch a cold!

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The salmon was super soft! Mmm got seconds. The dumpling with shrimp was really good! Creme brulee was delicious! Some of us went for seconds!! Yah! Smoked salmon was also very fresh and yummy. (yes, can you tell what my favourite fish is?) Some of the staff had wine (extra $) – Burrowing Owl. They all kept complimenting it and two of them took down the name of the wine for future reference. Overall, the food variety and taste was pleasing. It’s always nice once in a while to go to a buffet, eat whatever you want, and how much you want.

At the end, we all ordered cappuccino, except one who wanted decaf. We were all disappointed when the server brought us Starbucks drinks! Our boss was annoyed and questioned why. The server told us that it would take too long for them to make it. No offense to Starbucks, but we were all surprised and not happy with getting Starbucks at a place like this!

Despite the negatives, I did enjoy the food. I would be willing to go back again. I don’t know a lot of mixed cuisine (they had Western, Chinese, Japanese, etc) buffets like this one (there are tons of all you can eat sushi places!), so it’s nice to know that they exist.

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Kaneda – All You Can Eat – CLOSED

Kaneda Japanese Restaurant 金田 on Urbanspoon

So, there were about 12 of us that went to try out the All You Can Eat at Kaneda. We went for Sunday lunch which was $13.95+tax+tip. (other days Mon-Thurs is $12.95/lunch) Like many of the sushi all you can eat places around town, you get a slip of paper with all the items. Indicate which ones you want and how many. Give the slip to the server and wait. Don’t get too caught up on what you ordered and who’s is what, especially with a large group. They will usually put all the rolls on one plate, making it difficult to figure out who ordered what. The beauty of all you can eat is you get to try foods that you might not normally order. And best of all, you can keep ordering as much as you want within the 90 minutes you get for the all you can eat.

The rolls were alright, and the nigiris were surprisingly good for an all you can eat. The sashimi, like most non-Japanese chef run places were super thick like blocks so I declined to take any of them. Other dishes like spring rolls, salmon teriyaki, grilled salmon, gyoza, agedashi tofu, etc were greasy and very heavy. The taste wasn’t anything great…just filling. The salmon and beef had a lot of fat, so they’re using low quality cheap food.

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One of them complained that the tea tasted like dishsoap, and the wasabi wasn’t that good. Well, you can always tell a good Japanese restaurant by it’s green tea. If it’s like faded yellow and has no taste, you can tell that the rest of the food is going to fall in the same quality. It’s not really a Japanese restaurant…it’s a fusion…Chinese spring rolls, and croquette that seemed more Korean than Japanese.

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The spicy tuna cone was actually good. Most of the sushi were ok, so maybe stick to them only…

The restaurant itself is fairly large and spacious. The tatami rooms, with separate walls are nice for privacy. If you want to fill up or have a variety of foods, this may be the place to go, but don’t count on quality. Good price for quantity but lacks quality. The servers aren’t what you’d call ‘friendly’ but they are fast and efficient. However, I will likely not be returning again.

CLOSED

A group of 5 of us went for lunch during the weekday. We phoned to make a reservation, but the staff just said ‘Yes, just come in.” without taking our names or number. I figure it was because they’re a fairly large restaurant and perhaps they don’t get too busy.

We ordered tons, from Shoyu Ramen, Yaki Udon, Tuna Tataki, Pork Gyoza, Shrimp Gyoza, Agedashi Tofu, 3 Gomae, Negitoro roll and a whole bunch of tuna and salmon sashimi. We were surprised with the complimentary miso soup, salad and mango pudding for dessert.

Food was ok, but the Tuna Tataki $10.95 was the worst one I’d ever had. It was super dry and hard, and one guy thought it was chicken! It was seared too much and seemed old. It was also a lot more expensive than other places with delicious tataki. The lettuce was yellow and cheap, the avocado was not fresh. Definitely would never order this dish again, but would not really return for the quality in the first place.

My stomach was not well that evening and the next morning…

Not surprisingly, after about 2 weeks after our lunch, the restaurant had closed down.

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