Tag Archives: buffet

All India Sweets & Restaurant

Click to add a blog post for All India Sweets & Restaurant on ZomatoThe restaurant was fairly large and the tables nicely spaced apart. The booth benches were torn on some, and the lighting was poor, making it look like you didn’t really want to dine there. As you enter, you saw a huge counter with hundreds of sweets. I dunno if they were kept cool, but I wondered about the food safety just sitting out there in the hot summer heat, especially since I didn’t really feel much of the AC on.

idearabbit-allindia1 idearabbit-allindia2Our friend had wanted to try out this place, so we decided to go for the All-you-can-eat. It’s $10.95 for the vegetarian selection. More $ on top if you want some meat, but we were happy in just trying out the veggie menu featuring 6 dishes, naan, rice, papadum, 4 desserts, and salads. The buffet was small, but since it was AYCE, there weren’t any shortages of food to eat.

idearabbit-allindia3 idearabbit-allindia4idearabbit-allindia5The plates were metal trays with 3 small sections and 1 large main. I have not been to prison, but it reminded me of what prisoners eat from in jail (from movies that is), or when you eat from tins when you go camping. This was the second time eating out of these trays, but I guess I’m still not quite used to them. Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels this, as some other reviewers have commented on feeling like eating out of ‘prison trays’.

The rice seemed a bit overcooked, and the curries were kind of bland. It didn’t have the rich flavours that higher end Indian restaurants served. The curry were almost watery in that near the end of the dish, the rice would be soggy and sitting in watered down curry.

Service was satisfactory, though it was really hard to understand their accent.

After everyone had 2 rounds, we were really stuffed. We didn’t even try any of the sweets, not that I was particularly interested in them (yes, I’m not into sweets…)

All in all, I would not return. For about the same price, you can enjoy a better meal and setting at India Bistro on Davie (for lunch only though).

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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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