Okay, so this little place is not exactly what you'd think. Is it Japanese? Well, sort of. I mean it seems the proprietors and cooks seem to be. Does it serve Japanese food? Hmmm...

Some. There's a Japanese-style breakfast, just like you'd get in all sorts of mid-priced traveller's hotels over Japan. There's omelette rice, there's a tonkatsu sandwich. And that's about it. On the non-Japanese side, you get the usual assortment of soups, sandwiches and what not.

We sprang for the Japanese style breakfast and the tonkatsu sandwich. The breakfast, well, it's alright. Just as I remember I might get from the cheapy business hotels. The tokatsu sandwich? Came with good soup (was a chowder) and it was pretty tasty. It was not on the level of Bonqula good, but then again, it is also about half the price.

The place is spotless and well decorated, the staff was very friendly and efficient, though the cafe was hardly full when we came in.

I wouldn't say there is anything special that would make it worth a trip out here, but if you're in the neighbourhood and need a fast breakfast or light meal, they do a pretty good job. You'd do better here than hitting most places within a block or 2 of this thing. Recommended, but not a for a special trip.

Went here for lunch. It's in an industrial area, pretty much looking like it is one of the warehouses on the outside. I was expecting the "usual" cafeteria style.

Wow. I was so wrong. One step inside the door and I thought I've been transported to some little joint on the edge of Yaletown or some place more hip than a warehouse.
The decoration is very nice and modern, it looks like they spent quite some effort in it. Yes, you could take business clients here and not be embarrassed.

Waitress was very efficient and friendly. It didn't take too long for our food to arrive, but the place wasn't too full either.

The food? Hey, not bad! They do the usual burger and pasta type stuff, very much in the style of Earl's, Cactus or whatever. Quality is quite decent. Price is much better, many things for $10 and I don't think I saw anything over $12.
Okay, so I wouldn't make a trip out of it, but if I had a business lunch or needed a quick bite during work week, I would certainly return.

It's tiny. Really. I'm not sure if there is even 1 chair in there. This is strictly a take-out place, which fits in perfectly with the area.

There is no sushi to be had here, rather just some grilled items and oden. On the surface, this is a really promising concept. Basically there is grilled meat on a stick, so how can you possibly go wrong with that? It's hard. What is missing is the execution.

First, the good stuff. Yeah, it's tasty food and the quality is pretty good, much more than you expect from a place like this. Did I mention it is tasty? No complaints here. It's "fast" food, but it is also fresh. It's not instant, you do have to wait for them to cook as you order it.

What's not so hot:
The limited menu. If you've been to Japan, you know there's more to it than this and the menu seems dinky. One stop and you'll probably already try everything. Elect for the rice combo and you get a bit more food, but not necessarily more variety.
Then there is the pricing. I'm kind of on the fence about it. I mean, for the rice combo, it's a bit higher than "food-court" prices, and the volume is a bit lower. On the other hand, the quality is quite a bit higher. It's also pricier than a BK or McD's combo meal too, but then again, it is also much tastier, healthier, just overall so much better.

There's really nothing new to sample here if you're a foodie. It's a great place to stop by for a quick snack. Would I go back? Hmmm....well, I keep an eye on their menu, but after the 1st time, I've pretty much tried all they have, so what's the draw?

It's a tiny little joint and hardly anyone eats in here it seems. As we found out, that's because most people do take-out, it's not because the food is bad.

I don't know what it was like before, but they are certainly keeping a clean ship here. Everything is nice and new and clean, and they have some really nice pictures of the food up now.

There are 2, maybe 3 people working the restaurant. All we saw was the waitress and the sushi chef out front. Originally my hopes were not high for this place, but we stopped by on a bit of a recommendation. I'm so glad we did.

There are a few items on the menu that are mildly innovative, but otherwise, you won't find too much that looks unfamiliar. Good ol' standbys. BUT, the big BUT, is that they do it right. The presentation is very nice, not just slopped down on the plate. The ingredients very fresh, the fish at the right temperature, not frozen or too warm and a good balance between all the ingredients. You won't find giant slabs of fish hiding a tiny ball of rice, nor huge rolls that are chock full of rice to fill you up.
You can tell the chef cares about the food. I've certainly eaten at more fancy/expensive places that didn't do nearly as well.

Oh man, the neighbourhood is so lucky to have this place nearby. I would easily go back to eat more at this place. Highly recommended.

At first this looks like just another one of the "usual" Cantonese style restaurants that are all over town. I understand that they restaurant has received all new staff, including in the kitchen, so this might differ from previous experiences.

The inside is nicely done (I dunno if this has been renovated) and looks quite clean and new, including the washrooms.

Service is okay, but the they stumbled badly when the restaurant was really packed and busy, which I will chalk up to the inexperienced staff. They still put on a good face and tried, so I won't hold it against them ... yet.

Now the food ... we've been there a couple of times and every dish was different from the "usual" that we get at other places. Idea behind most of them was very good. Some of them didn't quite turn out as expected, especially they ones where they try to make individual "western" style plates. I fully applaud them for taking a chance and creating relatively innovative dishes. The quality level is standard for this type of restaurant.
I dare say that with a bit of practice, and IF they were willing to up the quality level as opposed to just churning out massive volumes, they could have something really going here.
Also both times we left without the "MSG thirst", so nice to see they either left it off or went light on it.

This is one to watch and I wouldn't hesitate to go back. I am hoping they will up their game and set a new standard for Chinese food in town. (Though to be honest, that is not a short way off).

Outside, it looks like a little hole. We've passed by many times and ignored it. But we finally decided we had to go see what their pho ga was all about.

Let's get this out of the way first. The place is clean. The washrooms are so clean, I could almost eat in it. Almost. Then I came out and looked at the rest of the place. Yup, dishes, clean, walls spotless. This is the cleanest Vietnamese place I've ever been in. Cleaner than any Chinese joint too. I feel safe about the food.

Reasonably decent service, but I'm gonna mark 'em up for being so clean :-)

Now, the food. Pho Ga (chicken pho). Is it the best I've ever head? Sorry, no. But the better place is a 16 hour drive across the border.
We had the special, it was good, clean chicken pho, and I'm pretty sure no MSG. We also had the "fried chicken" version, which was plain pho ga with a side of fried chicken. The fried chicken was the "standard" Chinese-style fried chicken, which is to say, damn good and leagues better than KFC.

In light of no better place in town (that we've found yet), I'd recommend a little trip here if you're a fan of pho ga.

Hmmm ... not sure if this qualifies as a restaurant. I mean, it's really a meat market (honestly, that's what it says). Most of the food needs to be cooked first (at home).

They guys in there really take pride in their food. Their own salami is very tasty but mild. They'll happily let you sample the version you want.
We also picked up a cotechino, which they have a semi pre-cooked version for you. Awesome. I dunno if cotechino is supposed to taste like this, but if it gets any better, I might die.
Oh, did I mention the bacon? This is tied for the most amazing bacon I have ever eaten. Anywhere. (Surprisingly, the other is Anton's bacon at the Fraser Park Restaurant). It's not too salty, very fragrant (honestly, hard to describe if you've never had a "fragrant" bacon before) and very surprisingly, not that fatty. The leftover grease amount was so much smaller than any other bacon we've tried, we could just go ahead and cook with it (hmmm.....bacon...)

Reasonable prices, great food and guys who take pride in their craft. I'll be back for sure.

The entrance is a bit iffy, but upstairs, all is well. Certainly looks clean enough.

It looked kind of empty when we went for dinner, but soon after we were seated, the crowds came. I guess people eat late here.
The waiters are on the friendly and helpful side, no problem with them whatsoever.

Food? Surprisingly good, especially for the price! It has a bunch of your usual BBQ combo's, but also other soups and hot pots and things. To finish it off, this is probably the only restaurant in recent memory that came out with the sweet fermented rice drink. That stuff is sooooo good, I dunno why the other restaurants stopped. (Okay, I can guess. This thing is really labour intensive to make).

Price came out to less than $15 per person with everything in, and we were full.

It may not be the best Korean restaurant I've ever been at, but it is pretty decent, good service, good prices and there's hardly anything else nearby. I wouldn't doubt a return is in the books for me.

At a golf course, yes, there is this restaurant. They even let us in wearing sloppy jeans and t-shirt.
Frankly, it looks like a typical casual fine dining restaurant in Vancouver. Say a nicer White Spot. It certainly doesn't hurt though that it has a rather nice view of a very good looking golf course. Not so much course out the window, but trees, ponds, grass... you could do worse.

Service is friendly and proficient, but nothing super amazing. No complaints.

The food? Surprisingly decent! They advertise only wild, sustainable salmon. And local produce from Richmond farms.
There is absolutely nothing fancy or innovative about their food. Burgers, pasta, sandwiches, soup, salads. But, they do a very good job of it. Maybe it's the ingredients.
Prices for lunch are pretty reasonable, I would say cheaper than Earl's, most things around $10-11.
Would I eat here again? Easily? Worth a trip? Maybe not. But hey, it sure beats most of the crappy HK tea restaurants around Richmond.

To be honest, I was not expecting much from this place. Not because of the recent poor reviews (I hadn't read that yet), but from experience several years ago and word of mouth.

Well, I gotta say, the place has held up well and it's a nice location. No complaints about that. Plus stuff seemed generally quite clean. (Sadly, that shouldn't even merit a mention, but when it comes to most Chinese restaurants...)

There was a wait (no surprise to me), but once we got seated, service did come promptly, and this was close to 1pm or later at this point. Nothing out of the ordinary for dim sum place, so I can't really complain, though I certainly wasn't bowled over. We did linger around a bit, even with a packed restaurant, but the waiters never made us feel rushed.
The table was full of crazies, so we asked for _three_ different kinds of teas plus hot water. 4 teapots in total, but the waiters didn't even hesitate.

We had a whacky guest who decided to basically order one of everything on the dim sum menu. Honestly, though there were too many deep friend items, most of it was quite well done. Nothing innovative though. Afterwards, we even ordered some regular menu items, special noodles & rice. No hesitations there and it was delivered in a timely manner.

Okay, here's the thing. It was solidly decent, both service & food. There wasn't necessarily anything outstanding. I'm not sure it is worth a special trip out here, but there aren't a lot of dim sum places of this caliber nearby, so I find myself (surprisingly) thinking that I wouldn't mind heading back if I ever had another craving and I happened to be in the area. Hmm...