Tag Archives: voucher

Kiku Sushi

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Kiku Sushi on UrbanspoonI had a Social Shopper for $29 (value $60), so I had to make reservations for four people on a Friday at 7:30pm. Phone courtesy wasn’t all that friendly, but was able to make the reservations without any problems.

 

idearabbit-kiku1 idearabbit-kiku2 idearabbit-kiku3We ordered lots!

idearabbit-kiku65 piece Gyoza $4.95 – it was pretty good and with everyone being hungry, we gobbled it up really fast!

idearabbit-kiku115 piece Tako Yaki $5.55 – fairly large balls that were really crisp on the outside and hot and soft inside. I don’t recall seeing much ‘tako’ (octopus) in it, but it was pretty good. Everyone liked it.

idearabbit-kiku8Beef Tataki $6.95 – this was a bit of disappointment, especially to my friend who wanted the dish. The pieces of the beef was small and not that great. It looked like there were a lot of beef but they were just sitting on a mountain of shredded lettuce underneath.

idearabbit-kiku7Tuna Tataki (small) $7.95 – I really liked this dish. The portion was very big, the fish were tasty and fresh. The added daikon (white radish), green onions and 2 pieces of shiso was really nice and went really well when eaten together with the tuna. My friend who was disappointed in the beef tataki was impressed with this one.

idearabbit-kiku10Negitoro $3.50 – a bit on the dryer side, but still satisfactory

idearabbit-kiku9Dragon Roll $8.95 – very nicely presented. Tasty and fresh

idearabbit-kiku52 Tuna Nigiri $1.25 – Sheepie had both. 2 Salmon Nigiri $1.25 – the salmon was a bit stringy and the rice was dry. Not the best, but I guess you get what you pay for.

idearabbit-kiku12Saba Shioyaki $7.95 – good decent size of fish. It was juicy and hot, but too salty for us girls so most of it went to my friend who ordered it.

idearabbit-kiku4Toro Sashimi $8.95 – I didn’t have any as I’m not a fan of toro and there were so many other food to eat. But it looked good and I didn’t hear any complaints.

idearabbit-kiku13After we ordered to our limit on the voucher, we were still hungry, so we ordered an additional Alaska Roll $3.75 and Chicken Teriyaki Roll $3.95. I was hoping for the Alaska roll that usually have the salmon or avocado on top of the roll with less rice, but this was a futomaki (big roll) version! But it did help fill us up!

Overall, it was a good dining experience. The food was pretty decent and the service was pretty good and servers came by to top off our tea cups from time to time. There are ample parking spaces and the restaurant is kept fairly clean. Nothing fancy, but satisfactory.

 Taste: carrotcarrotcarrot    Price for Value: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrot

Atmosphere:  carrotcarrotcarrot   Service:  carrotcarrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrotcarrot

Mobil 1 Lube Express in Richmond

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idearabbit-mobilexpress

So a friend of mine gave me a voucher – $19 for premium oil change and 25 point inspection (a $78 value). It’s a long No.3 road in Richmond, right across from Landsdowne Station. With a very small entrance, it’s easy to miss. I’m glad that I had familiarized myself with Google street view to see what was around it so I knew what the area would look like. Also, there was a guy waving a sign to the oncoming traffic. Wah…must be hot with the summer sun blazing down onto him…

The guy who greeted me was friendly, he told me to park behind a vehicle that was being serviced and said that it would be about a 15 minute wait. I was already happy to come to Mobil instead of Autobot – another voucher for oil change that I had bought. The one guy was friendly, and no appointment was necessary. Last year with Autobot, I needed to drop it off and take the skytrain home, and do the same to come pick up. This year, when I called in to make an appointment, they said that since I was only able to come in on Saturday, my appointment would be 4 weeks away! With Mobil 1 Lube Express, it was serviced right away, and could drive off with a repaired car. How convenient!

The guy doing my service was really hard to understand. He had a higher voice, and talked fast – perhaps unclear. I was also nervous because when it came to cars, I didn’t know much. I know how to check my oil level, fill it up, add coolants and fill gas, but that was about it. I stumbled whenever a question was asked about the car.

As he inspected, the bill grew bigger and bigger. I needed to replace my transmission, flush out my oil, this and that, coming to a total of $210. Because I don’t know much about cars, I can’t say if I’m being scammed or something. But the staff did show me the parts and explained why it needed changing or renewing. But most auto repair places have been good. And when 2 places tell you the same thing (not like you need to change your oil, or something generic), but the same specific problems, then you know you have a problem that needs fixing.

I drive my car to work and back 5 days a week, so I figured $210 was reasonable, and it’s just good to know that the car is in good working condition, especially since the car was already 16 years old, and for the first decade, it was never routinely checked or serviced.

Perhaps the guy could sense my unwillingness to pay $210…he suggested that I keep the receipt with all the details on what was done to the car, so that if I do bring the car back, or take it elsewhere and they say that I need another transmission change, I can prove to them that it was already done recently.

Because I had a bit more replacing and cleaning to do, it took longer than other people, but still around 30-40 minutes. Not bad. I rather wait for that amount of time than be without the use of a car.

Unfortunately, I can’t return the Autobot voucher…but it will be the last time, since now that I know about Mobil, I’m certainly going back again to Mobil :)