applepieBurnabySince June 24, 2007120 Reviews
(2.8)- Food
(2.9) - Service
(2.6) - Value (2.9)
- Ambiance (2.5)
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(2.8) (2.9) (2.6) (2.9) (2.5)This place is called "Vietnam Garden" but their menu offered a very limited selection of Vietnamese food. On the wall, however, there are at least four "award certificates" for "best Vietnamese menu in Victoria". I was confused, and did not have a good feeling about this place, but was too tired to go elsewhere. So I decided to order the safest item - beef noodle soup. I figured a place named "Vietnam Garden" can probably make a decent bowl of beef noodle soup. How wrong I was! The broth was lukewarm and the noodles under-cooked. I told the server the soup was not hot at all and he took it away. When he brought it back a few minutes later, the beef was overdone and tough and the bean sprouts soft and limp. Instead of replacing the lukewarm broth, they just microwaved the whole thing for too long. In a nutshell, this place is a joke. At the very least, they should stop calling themselves "Vietnam Garden".
I have eaten here a couple of times. The price is sllightly higher than other similar places. The noodle soup is not bad, hot and flavourful, and there does not seem to be a lot of MSG in it. Both times it took a while (15-20 minutes) for the food to come out. For a fast food place, it is pretty slow. But my major complaint is not the waiting. The service is REALLY bad, even by food court standard. The incredibly rude cashier orders you to return the clay bowl to her after your meal, no "please", no "thank you", no smiles. Not only that, when the customer does her the favour of bringing the tray with the bowl back, she would take her bowl and yells at the customer to remove the dirty tray. The first time I thought and hoped she was just having a bad day. But after the second time and observing her dealing with other customers, it seems that this is just the way she treats customers. Even though the food is not bad, it is totally not worth it. As long as she's at the counter, I will not eat there again.
Green Lemongrass offers more than just the regular Vietnamese beef noodle soup. There is a section in the menu on regional specialties. I enjoyed the braised duck noodle soup very much. The large pieces of duck thigh and drumstick were tender and full of good flavours. Service was good; the female server we had was very friendly and helpful in answering questions about some of the ingredients. We had an enjoyable lunch and will definitely recommend this place.
I haven't been to Chong's for a few years and the last time I visited, the setting looked different from before. They have put in more small tables, so we didn't have to share a table with strangers. The food was the same great taste I remember from a few years back, with large portions and low prices. I especially enjoyed the congee yesterday. The stuffed eggplant and fried rice were pretty good, too, though the steamed rice rolls were somewhat lacking. They also offered a few choices for the complimentary tea. Service was prompt and efficient. I will likely come back one of these days.
They had a fairly decent selection of veggies and sauces, but the meats were kind of limited. And the way they cooked everything in the same sauce meant everything tasted more or less the same, which wasn't bad on the day I visited. Service was friendly and efficient and the value was pretty good. I will likely come back another time.
The title says it: the BC roll was lukewarm - yuck. The Osaka roll has half-cooked salmon slices on top. The tempura had heavy batter, probably because it was made some time ago and just reheated before serving. I had heard some good things about this restaurant prior to visiting, so I was genuinely surprised when I walked into an empty place. For the whole duriation of our meal, ours was the only occupied table in the restaurant. And we did not go there at some odd hours. It was about 12:40 when we arrived. The restaurant itself is very clean and spacious, and has a lot of potential. Hopefully, it's just an off day for them, but for me, I don't think I will be returning anytime soon.
I looked from the outside and saw mostly Korean patrons, so I decided to try this restaurant. The place is spacious and looked decently clean, that is, until you go to the washroom. I ordered a beef ribs soup with rice and side dishes. All were pretty tasteless, and I suspect the (cold) side dishes were not clean as I experienced some discomfort later in the evening. Service was no good either. There were only two servers in the whole restaurant. Everything took a long time -- ordering, tea refilling, getting the bill. And it's hard to get the attention of the servers since they were both so busy. Needless to say, I will not be returning.
It's a very small restaurant on the ground level of Crystal Mall, with a street entrance. It's looks fairly new and reasonably clean. But the food is just not up to standard. I ordered a very simple dish, beef sautee with onions, and it came with steamed rice, soup and a small side dish of cold vegetables. The cold vegetables - cucumber and carrot - seem a bit out of place, but I wouldn't complain if it tasted good. It did not. It tasted like everything had been dipped in salty water. The beef was not of good quality and lacking in flavour. I have a feeling that this place will not last as I don't see them being able to compete with the foodcourt upstairs, even though their prices are on the low side.
I really like the idea of choosing your own combination and sampling different food in the bento box. I wish more sushi restuarant would do that. Everything I picked turned out to be good and tasty and the California roll deserves an "honourable mention", in my opinion. Portion size was so generous I had difficulty finishing the whole thing. So I will definitely be back another time.
Their lunch specials posted on the walls are very good value - great taste, generous portions and very reasonably priced. But they really need to do something about their service. As soon as we sat down and were given menus, a server came to ask what we'd like to order. Well, we hadn't even open the menus yet, so I said, "Please give us a couple minutes." He said "sure" and then promptly removed our menus. I don't know how we were supposed to order without menus. We ended up ordering the specials posted on the wall. Food came out fairly quickly, but no one ever came by to refill our tea cups. So if you're ready for good food with minimal service, this is the place to go.
This looks like a fairly new restaurant. It's not very big, and decor is very modern and tasteful. They have a good size menu with some less common items. I ordered a ramen with lobster and abalone. The soup base had no MSG and it tasted fresh and full of flavours, but the portion was on the small side. Service also very friendly and polite, and they checked on you a couple of times to make sure things were OK. All in all, it was a pleasant dining experience.
I ordered a seafood hotpot. It had one shrimp, one little oyster, one egg and the rest of the bowl was filled with tofu. I do like tofu, and their tofu tasted great, but some variety and some more seafood would have been nice. Our other order seemed fine, though. So if I ever come back, I will stay away from tofu. Service was quite prompt. We were seated quickly, order taken and food came out reasonably fast, but everything was done without a word, without a smile, and without eye contact. There wasn't even an acknowledgement when we said "thank you". The whole dining experience was way too quiet and impersonal. Please work harder in the service department.
This is a tiny fast food place, mostly for take out. There are a few small tables as well, if you prefer eat in. The food is prepared to order, fresh and hot, and in good portion sizes. The souvlaki, and everything else is very flavourful. Value is great and is a must-try for fans of Greek food.
I used to enjoy Curry King, and that were quite a few years ago. The last couple of visits left me disappointed. It seems like neither the cooks nor the servers care any more. Two Sundays ago, we ordered a few baked dishes for lunch. All tasted the same and all were really tiny. The servers were inattentive, and seemed to have a hard time knowing who ordered what, and which table they were supposed to bring the food to. It's not likely I will be giving them a third chance anytime soon.
The seafood rice noodle soup I ordered was almost tasteless. The chef must have forgotten to put salt into it. Not only did he forget his salt, apparently he also forgot to take the seafood out of the pot when it was done. Everything was way overcooked. The only thing I liked about the soup was the bean sprouts :(:( Obviously pay $7-$8 for a small plate of bean sprouts isn't exactly what I call good value. It's not likely I will be back.
I ordered a Penne del Pescatore and I love their tomato sauce. The calamari and prawns were done just right. Another minute and it would have been overcooked. The dessert menu, however, was kind of limited. Service was just OK; both the hostess and server were friendly enough, but service was very slow. They probably need to get another server and kitchen helper on a weekend evening. Ambiance wasn't the best; it was quite noisy with a lot of tables crammed into a rather small space, and the decor is kind of dated as well.
After my latest visit, I feel I need to revise my previous review. The food and service have definitely gone downhill from my visits a year ago. The servers seemed bored and unmotivated, perhaps because business has gone downhill as well? There was nobody else when we went there, yet food took a long time to come out. And it was mediocre at best. I couldn't help but wonder if they were trying to cut corners. The restaurant has really nice decor, and I hope they will improve. Please don't cut corners - it's no way to improve your business.
The name says Thai Garden, but the food doesn't taste very "Thai" to me. So if you're looking for authentic Thai food, this may not be the best place for you. But for me, who just wanted a tasty meal at a reasonable price, this place served the purpose last Friday. The servers, while not too chatty, were always nearby and easy to find if you needed anything. This is a place I will probably go back to if I am in the area again.
I was there for a late lunch on a weekday, so did not experience any line-up. Their beef noodles looked very appetizing and tasted great. The texture was tender and the vegetables fresh. The prices are a little more than your average Taiwanese noodle restaurant, but the decor is much, much better, and I like the fact that they have an open kitchen so you can see what goes on there. Also, HST is already included in the price. If you take that into consideration, then they are not that much more expensive than other similar restaurants. It is definitely worth a second, third ... visit.
I have tried a few other Pantry Restaurants, and have had very similar experiences. Food is good, though not exceptional. They have a rather limited menu, but what they have there, they do well. I don't mind ordering the same items as long as they are reliably good. Service is also friendly and prompt. This particular Pantry is quite spacious, and I had a good time enjoying a nice and quiet dinner with my husband. Will visit again if we are in this part of town.
