Tag Archives: restaurants

Mr. Zhang Karoake & Restaurant 川東飯莊

I have been to this restaurant numerous times since it seems to be my friend’s favourite Chinese restaurant. He says it’s the closest cuisine to his home town. I am not sure if I’d get treated differently if I were to come with non-Chinese friends, but since my Chinese friend is always there when I go, and he usually orders in Mandarin for us, I don’t really know what the interaction would be like.

However, it goes well. No happy, cheerful, ‘how are we doing today’ attitude from the waitress like you usually get with Western-style restaurants. It’s more like ‘Ok, what do you want, ok, ok, ok.’ and your food arrives later – quite fast for a busy restaurant actually. They never come to ask how everything is, but I guess most Chinese places are like that. I guess for this place there’s no need, as it’s always really good. I haven’t had one dish that I didn’t like. So I’m really surprised by the poor rating on Urbanspoon.Rolled Bean Curd Skin (small) $3.50
Lightly salted, a bit odd texture, but I really liked it. Good!

Beef with Sichuan Spicy Sauce $13.98 (no pic)
Quite spicy – but goes really well with steamed white rice (a bucket is $3)

Dry Fried Green Bean $11.98
I think I like the regular green bean mix better instead of the dried. The dried part makes it a little bit harder, but the sauce is delicious. Again, tastes really good with rice.

Sliced Lamb with Cumin Spicy Sauce $13.98
Sauce is really rich. I’m not a huge fan of lamb since it leaves that odd after taste, but I didn’t mind for this dish.

Cold Noodles in Soup $7.50
Yes, so the soup and noodles are cold. I know Korea has cold noodles, and of course Japan has them too, though the noodles, soup and taste varies. This is the one reason that my Chinese friend loves this place so much. He loves the cold noodles. I wouldn’t say I’m craving or in love with it, but I really like it. It’s refreshing, especially on hot summer days.

If you want authentic Chinese food, not the usual cheap types you can get at the fast food places, try this place out!

They don’t take credit cards, so make sure you have debit or cash!

Taste: Price for Value:

Atmosphere: Service:
Location:

Milestones on Cambie

Leave a reply

So after going to eat at Sake Maki on Broadway, we went for dessert at Milestone. We originally went to the Cheesecake etc. but it was full house with people waiting in a line up. We both don’t like crowded and noisy places so there was no hesitation to turn around and look elsewhere.

I drive by this Milestone everyday from work, and had been attracted to the cool lights…hehe…like moths to a light bulb…lol.

The restaurant is split into a lounge/bar and table/booths. It’s really roomy and very modern. High-end, slick and targeted for the young, urban professional. The lights are very moody, but the right ambience. Not too dark nor bright. They even had a private room as well. This location is on the second floor, but it has an elevator, so it’s wheelchair accessible.

The hostess greeted us and asked us if we were there for dinner or dessert. We replied ‘for dessert.’ Then asked us whether we wanted to sit in the lounge or booths. We chose booths. Most of the cake slices were around $7. There was a Milestone’s Dessert Shots set for $10.99 that really looked good (in the photo), but unfortunately, it seemed that most of them contained nuts (damn…hate having this nut allergy!)…so instead, I was told that the Decadent Duo $10.99 was the safest bet with the 2 cheesecake.

I wouldn’t recommend this dessert if you have a really severe nut allergy. The 2 cheesecake comes on one single plate. The chocolate cheesecake is full of nuts. I had the white creamy one. All I can say is “it’s way too damn sweet” and that’s not in a good way sweet. I felt I was just scraping off from a lump of sugar…argh… The only thing I liked were the strawberries and whip cream… I couldn’t even eat 1/3 of it. Not my cup of tea…

I’ll defintely be returning to Milestone again, but one thing I’ve learned about most western desserts is that they are often way too sugary for my liking…and for anyone who wants to avoid becoming diabetic!

Food Taste: Price for Value:

Atmosphere:
Service:
Location:

Il Giardino

Leave a reply

It’s not the first place that comes to mind when dining, simply because of the price range (all dishes from $20-50), but it was a special occasion, so we tried out the restaurant.

Some people were in ‘normal’ attire, but most for dressed up formally for the high-end Italian restaurant. It wasn’t until my company mentioned that I was the only Asian there, and realized how true it was. Being in downtown, it was almost unheard of, going into a restaurant that had no Asians. However, that didn’t bother me, so on with the restaurant review.

We had a reservation, and the host took our coats and gave us a number so we can pick it up later when we’re done. We were escorted to our table. The place was dimly lit, but not super dark like some restaurants. Just the perfect ambient lighting. Candles on the table is always a nice touch. Wasn’t too impressed with the presentation of the menus. Yes, as a graphic designer, I expect to see some thought and effort into the menu, especially coming from a high-end expensive restaurant. 2 pages of printed out material was a bit of disappointment.

Our server had a heavy accent which made it hard for me to understand at times…but it was ok. He wasn’t very patient though…every time my company would start to say something, he was already gone which left my company annoyed.

For appetizer, I ordered the Antipasto Il Giardino-variety of classic Tuscan tastes, cured meats, grilled vegetables, mini caprese, bean salad and olives. I was quite pleased with this dish. The variety and light taste of everything was very delicious. I felt that I was eating at a fancy restaurant. Some of the flavour and texture were new to me, so it was surprisingly enjoyable. I’d like to try the dish the next time I go back.

For the main entree, I ordered the Cannelloni stuffed with Dungeness crab and spinach topped with a bechamel sauce. It was pretty good, though I think I was more impressed with the Antipasto.

The service was good, the table next to us was a bit drunk…too much wine? But other than that, I was very happy with the experience and food. The table we were sitting at had uneven legs, so it kept rocking every time we’d put our arms on the table. We asked the server to fix it, and it was quickly done. I’d like to go back to try other dishes one day. Again, the price is out of my range, so not a place I can go to every weekend!

idearabbit-ilgiardino
Out in the courtyard

Food Taste:
Price for Value:

Atmosphere:
Service:
Location: