trufflesKitsilano, VancouverSince September 3, 20076 Reviews
(3)- Food
(3.2) - Service (3.2)
- Value (3)
- Ambiance (3.2)
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(3) (3.2) (3.2) (3) (3.2)I went here on Friday evening with a friend, had noticed the restaurant in the 'hood and wanted to check it out. When we got there, we saw that they had posters on the windows advertising what appeared to be great deals for the bibimbap ($5.95) and the spicy beef stew (($6.95) which both came with 2 sides each (non-refillable though). We went in and it being a BBQ place, smelled the cooking coming from the other diners' tables. We were seated immediately and given menus to peruse.
Prices on the menu seemed reasonable, but we decided to give the poster specials a try. We had to wait quite a while for anyone to come and take our order, and only after we waved the waitress down. I also ordered the steamed pork dumplings (6 pieces for $6.95) and a Korean roasted rice tea ($2.45). After we gave our orders, we then proceeded to sit and wait for another long period of time. They brought the tea out first, which came in a fancy glass tea pot with a glass tealight warmer. My dumplings arrived next in a bamboo steamer. Then they finally brought my friend's bibimbap. Then finally came my spice beef stew. Not huge portions by any means but enough. We weren't expecting too much portion-wise anyway considering the price.
Sadly, the quality of the food was...meh. My friend reported the bibimbap toppings to be quite flavourless, and my spicy beef stew had about only three slices of thin beef in it with a few sparse veggies and glass noodles. Sure, for the prices we were paying, I wouldn't have expected gourmet, but if you're wanting to draw in customers with your specials, you'd better make sure the specials are at least tasty so people come back again to try other things next time. Not so here. Even the two sides were just so-so--a dish of potato that was overly sweet, and a dish of kimchi that tasted a bit strange. I'm a kimchi addict and have eaten all variety of the stuff, and this definitely didn't rise about mediocre. The dumplings were pretty good, but you could get the same quality level elsewhere, and for less cost.
The waiters and waitress all seemed friendly, but also a bit harried--our waitress served our food forgetting to give us chopsticks to eat with, and my stew was served without a spoon. The power went out in the restaurant twice for about a minute each time, perhaps a reason for why they seemed a bit stressed. Hoping to give the restaurant a chance to redeem itself, we asked for a dessert menu and were told they don't serve dessert.
Maybe the other things on the menu are better (they have an all-you-can-eat BBQ option) but I probably won't come back here any time soon.
I have some Japanese friends in town and they felt like going to an izakaya for dinner tonight, so we thought we'd try Kingyo on Denman, but as we were walking along we came across Wanoma which is right next door. We stopped to look at the menu and a guy who was also standing there told us that it was one of his favourite restaurants and that he went there all the time. With that endorsement, we decided to skip Kingyo and give Wanoma a try instead.
Despite being a Saturday night at prime dinner hour, we were seated right away (there were 4 of us) and given menus. The menu isn't that big but there were options for appetizers, salads, small plates, oden, etc. We ended up ordering the tofu appy ($8), the wanoma salad ($8), chicken karaage ($9), a black cod dish ($10), and the mixed sashimi plate ($19). We also ordered a round of beer ($5, bottles only, no draft).
The wanoma salad came first which consisted of a handful of greens and a very small portion of beef with a chilli miso dressing. It was quite tasty, but we were all quite surprised at how tiny the dish was. That was kind of the theme of the night--competently made food, but all very small portions (except for the chicken karaage, which was what I would call regular size). By the time we'd finished off our food, two of my friends were still hungry and ordered a big bowl of rice and a small plate of assorted pickles to eat along with it.
My friends (who are born and live in Japan) remarked some of the food was "oishi" (delicious) like the tofu and black cod, but I didn't get the impression that they were exactly overwhelmed by anything in particular. The service was attentive though, and one nice touch was they gave us little bowls (really, tiny, like a 2 tbsp serving) of some kind of pumpkin custard for free at the end of our meal.
All in all, competent food, good service, but weak on the value side. I'd like to give Kingyo a try next time, or maybe Guu or Hapa Izakaya which are all very close by.
For $12.95 per person for Late Night all-you-can-eat sushi, there are so many other places that are better than this one. The quality of the food is mediocre at best, and they try to fill you up with cheap stuff like giant servings of zaru soba (cold noodles) and lots of rice in the maki rolls. The rice had a strange texture to it too. Miso soup totally watered down, and things aren't served hot -- tea, gyoza, motoyako -- all feel like they've been sitting around for too long before they serve it to you. I ordered Korean BBQ pork and it wasn't even cooked all the way through -- when I pointed it out to the waiter, he tried to brush it off as saying "sometimes it's like that" instead of bringing me another one.
The only thing this place has going for it is its atmosphere -- large windows and cozy lighting. Otherwise, take your money and use it somewhere with better food.
My family and I decided to check this place out after having heard good things from a couple of friends. We were not disappointed! We decided to order from the table d'hote--my foie gras appy came with two sizable pieces, my halibut entree was perfectly cooked with a subtle but flavorful carrot sauce, and dessert was a frozen nougat with port-soaked fruit. My dad ordered the pork rack as a main, and it was huge! But big doesn't matter if the taste is mediocre; fortunately, that was not the case here--crispy pork skin on the outer layer, and tender meat underneath. For a top notch 3-course meal with more than generous servings, $30 is an amazing deal. We also added the suggested wine pairings--2 glasses of wine for $12. With delicious food and a wonderful atmosphere on the patio where you have a view of the vineyard, it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. We'll definitely be going back again.
I live in the neighbourhood but have never tried this place before until last weekend. I'd noticed the renovations and curiosity got the better of me. Went for lunch on a Saturday and it wasn't too busy so we were seated right away in one of their spacious booths. I'm not sure what the prices were like before the renos, but I was pleasantly surprised at the affordability -- lunch box specials starting at $6.95 and you get a lot of food. It's not the best sushi I've eaten, but for the price, it's more than decent, and the service was attentive but not annoyingly so. The atmosphere's clean and relaxed and they play soft music too. If you're in the mood for affordable sushi in a nice place, check this place out.
A friend & I went here tonight. At the beginning, it didn't bode well--we were seated within 5 min but they were understaffed & not prepared for the numbers of people that kept coming in. We ordered the chicken saag, lamb vindalloo, & the bhindi do praza along with rice & naan. After waiting 25 min the food arrived--once we tasted it, both of us agreed it was totally worth the wait & lacklustre service. The saag had large tender pieces of marinated chicken breast, the bhindi do praza was well-spiced & not overdone, the lamb vindalloo was one of the best I've ever eaten--packed with flavour, perfectly cooked. Amazing. With all three dishes, you could taste the freshly ground spices; it made such a difference.
We also had lassis which were tasty and took the edge off the heat. By the end we were stuffed with no room for dessert, & had leftovers. Between the two of us, we spent about $60, well worth it since portions are generous & flavours incredible.
Apparently this is a 2nd location, the original one’s in Surrey, so maybe the slow disorganized service is part of the growing pains of expansion. I've been told the lunch deals are good, but regardless I'll definitely go back.
