Qoola Frozen Yogurt + Fruit
1116 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

Red Robin
Multiple locations in the US and Canada
4640 Kingsway (Location visited)
Burnaby, BC

I consider myself a really reasonable person. In any arguments, if somebody can provide reasonable evidence against what I say, I will certainly consider it. Likewise, so far, I have not deleted any comments, as everybody is entitled to his/her opinion. I mention this because there has been times where I wrote I did not like/was disappointed but, not long after, readers comment I should have tried something else or, based on the comments, it sounds like it was an off day. If the argument is convincing enough, I am willing to give those places a second chance and revisit them. Two of these places are the subject of today’s post: Qoola Yogurt + Fruit and Red Robin. (For the previous blog posts, check here for Qoola’s and here for Red Robin’s).

Subject #1, Qoola. Here is an interesting case where:

• Somebody writes a counter-review of my original Urbanspoon’s review.
• It keeps on climbing on Urbanspoon’s restaurant ranks.
• Almost all other bloggers seem to love this place.
• Even one of the owners contact me about my experience.

That convinced me to give it another try. Now, for this second time, rather than just go by myself, I recruited a friend. The arrangement was this: I would pay for an item of her choice and, if she did not order the frozen yoghurt, I would order it. I must mentioned my friend has noticed I take a lot of pictures whenever we go out for a meal, though I don’t think she checks this blog – This is important as I want an impartial opinion. Anyway, we arrived and ordered these items:

Sorry about the first picture. My friend nibble out before I got the chance to take the picture “as served”. Anyway, it was the small frozen yoghurt with two toppings, in this case, mango and pistachio. The second item (and this is the item my friend ordered) was the waffle, again with two toppings, here, Nutella and strawberries. It comes with a drink – she chose tea. Qoola has an on-going promotion right now, where these items are $5 each (until 7:00 p.m., that is) – so the total bill was $10.

I will jump directly to the food part, as you can refer to other details in my previous post. My friend seem to like the frozen yoghurt and, in a scale of 1 to 10, an eight was given. The only comment was that it was a bit soft for her liking (though I must mention it was slightly “stiffer” than my previous visits). As for the waffle, she called it “OK”, a five in the 1 to 10 scale. As for me, texture of the frozen yoghurt did improve; however, it still does not have “enough” for me to visit just for frozen yoghurt. As for the waffle, I found it quite interesting. Definitely better than the waffle I had in the Waffle House (just looking at it ought to be enough). But, the suggested topping (Nutella) was a miss. I think it would have been better with maple syrup. That is me, though.

The aftermath…

As for subject #2, Red Robin, it seems it was one of those instances of a place where everybody has an opinion or have been there since young (which does not apply to me, as I was not raised here in Canada). Almost everybody suggested I try something else, again, who am I to argue with my readers… So, I went again, this time for the Guacamole Bacon Burger…

Was it that different this time? Unfortunately, it was not. I will agree with Jessica when she mentioned service was good, specially when there are kids (I was seated near a large table with around 8 kids and they were well taken care of). However, I was there only for the food. In this case, the beef patty was not that different from last time, i.e., a bit dry. At least, they were consistent… The guacamole, unfortunately, did not do as well as the mushroom to help things out. And, while the bacon added a different layer of flavour, in the end, it did not salvage things.

I think the reason why I don’t have a high opinion of Red Robin is that there are better burger shops at the same price. However, this might be comparing apple to oranges. Red Robin, just like White Spot, is not all about food. There is that familiarity/old custom part, something that it can’t be measured… Still, since I dine out usually on my own, that is not a factor for me and, as a result, I would rather go somewhere else.