Jimmy Mac’s Roadhouse
34902 Pacific Hwy South
225 SW 7th Street (Location visited)
Renton, WA
I have told people a couple of times that, when I am on a business trip, I have a meal budget (a topic which was briefly mentioned in Tuesday’s post of Shiro’s Sushi). While that is all good, truth is constant business travelling is not as glamorous as a lot of people believe it is – specially not in North American airports. Sure, some expenses are paid for; however, you still have to deal with a lot. For example, security check-in, customs checks, dealing with different time zones and then there is the travelling itself component (delayed flights, among a long list of things that can go wrong…). In my case, depending on the customer’s hours and the project itself, I can be out of their office as early as 4:00 p.m. (mainly because all the office start work early due to commute) and as late as 9:00 p.m. (needed things done). That is why, a lot of times, I do research of places I want to go ahead of time as well as backup plans. On one day, I had to stay in the office until late because, well, it was a case of things needed to be done and didn’t leave until it was close to 8:00 p.m. At the time of my visit to Seattle, it was technically spring but it was so close to the solstice (which was this past Monday), that, having still that sunlight gives you some desire to go outside and venture. However, rather than venturing to Seattle as previous nights, I decided to go to the areas near the hotel, namely, Renton. Alas, a couple of wacky turns lead me to nowhere and, when I finally found the place I wanted to go, it was sort of a disappointing looking fast food restaurant. It was a mixed blessing as that gave me an out but, at the same time, that meant looking for another place to eat. That’s how I spotted Jimmy Mac’s Roadhouse and just went in for something to eat…
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Tagged as:
Seafood,
Seattle,
Steaks
Shiro’s Sushi
2401 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA
If you were to go to a sushi restaurant, how much are you willing to spend? I am sure that most people won’t be willing to fork more than $30. At that price point, some say something on the lines of “I might as well go to an all-you-can-eat”. To those who plan to bash me for saying that, I will admit, I used to belong to that group. Used to is, of course, the key phrase. I have learned that food that you can’t prepare yourself and have some level of enticement will lead big $$. Of course, like most of you, I have a budget and going to a restaurant that will require me to go for a filet-o-fish afterwards isn’t something I would consider either.
But, going back to the sushi restaurant question. I have observed that, for most people, sushi equals to makizushi or rolls. For the most part, I won’t argue with you if you like it that way; however, it takes away the skill of the chef. After all, if you throw in a jagged/below average cut of fish in a roll, chances are you won’t notice it (unlike, say, sashimi or nigiri sushi). However, I will give them some points due to the fact it can be more “shareable” compared to nigiri sushi, which I usually end up getting, as I usually go out by myself.
That brings then the issue of economics. Between $3 to $10 a roll, most people will be satisfied to a certain extent. Satisfied their sushi craving and ready to move on. But, given the commonality of such dish in Vancouver (are there more Starbucks or sushi restaurants in Vancouver, anyway?), one way to entice customers is to lower their price at the expense of quality. But, when the majority of customers accept that compromise, at times, there is nothing preventing these restaurants to go even lower (usually by lowering quality) to satisfy the customer’s demands. At one point, if people see a piece of nigiri sushi for $4, they might say you will be nuts to pay for that single morsel…
Finally, summarizing all this, it brings me back to the sushi restaurants I have visited: for the most part, these are Chinese or Korean owned, which follows the consumer demand/quality trend mentioned above (some more towards one side than the other). Of course, I have been to Japanese owned and operated, as well (Shima-Ya). However, I also believe I should try something “better” (short of travelling to Japan, like ET and Christina of Doesn’t TaZte Like Chicken did). And, in a fortunate turn of events, I was in Seattle with a meal budget and decided to visit a Japanese owned and operated – Shiro’s Sushi.
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Tagged as:
Japanese,
Seafood,
Seattle,
Sushi
Prestons
1177 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC
Here is something I usually don’t like to mention because I do not believe is an issue: I get a lot of invites to events. The reason it is a non-issue is that I seldom, if ever, I go to one. I will admit I have been to them when it is a fellow blogger who ask me to go along or it is not necessarily a restaurant event. Furthermore, I make no promise I will blog about it. For example, just prior to the Olympics, I attended an event organized by Tourism Vancouver Island, which was blogged by fellow bloggers – I was only there to take pictures.
So, it was quite interesting that I received an invite from Kate of Urbanspoon for an opening, rather than the restaurant itself. This is because I am a (somewhat?) active member of Urbanspoon and, well, I thought there is a reason why I was sent that invite. I was borderline choosing not to but I sense a level of obligation to do so, that is, the “why me” factor. Furthermore, when I asked if Sherman or Mijune if they were going, there was a flip-flop going on and, in the end, my decision was sealed when I said “if one of you are going”. So, which restaurant is this opening for? Preston’s.
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Tagged as:
Burgers,
Downtown,
Seafood,
Vancouver
Happy Day Metro House
5021 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC
I am not afraid to say this: There are a lot of ethnic restaurants that, unless you are from that specific culture, they are not that inviting of “other” people. Take for Chinese, where service can suck royally (but something we are used to) but it is not that welcoming to non-Chinese (or even Chinese who can’t read/write). How so? Because part of the menu is not in the local lingua franca! At other instances, the exterior looks so un-inviting that, unless you know the cuisine very well, chances are you won’t visit it. To me, that is the case of Happy Day Metro House in Burnaby. If I look from outside, it looks like another corner restaurant. However, with tall booths, dark windows and not too bright exterior, I always wonder if there is some sort of gang activity going on! But, my sense of adventure for food beat that fear, which lead me one day to visit it…
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Tagged as:
Burnaby,
Korean,
Seafood
Ebisu on Broadway
601 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC
I have mentioned previously that a “perk” of blogging is that you get to meet people. In this instance, I got to meet DVP (sorry, won’t mention her name unless she chooses to; instead, I will use a placeholder name, OK?), whom have been a frequent reader in some of the local blogs. Of course, it wasn’t solely for the food; in DVP’s case, she also had some questions about me, not to mention about my other “hobby”, namely photography. But, you know what? At times, no excuses are need to check with me for a meal! 
Now, DVP had a particular request: a sushi restaurant. I found out the reason real behind afterwards but, in a way, I was up to the challenge. Unfortunately, it was the Victoria’s Day long weekend and, suddenly, all the places I had originally suggested were closed! In the end, while driving almost endlessly, I thought… Ebisu! So, in the end, to Ebisu we went.
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Tagged as:
Japanese,
Seafood,
Sushi,
Vancouver
The Crime Lab Restaurant
550 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC
Today’s post, I will have to admit it is quite interesting in its own ways. Why? Well, first of all, Happy Birthday to JF (despite my use of initials, she knows who she is! ^_^;;;). While she does not live anywhere Downtown Vancouver, once in a while she pops by around. Given it was close to her birthday, I asked if she would be up for dinner. And, yup, she was up for it! Now, here comes the biggest of the dilemmas… When you are a food blogger, everybody expects you to know the “good” restaurants. Truth is I know restaurants *I* like and I know my palette will not suit a lot of people. As a result, I usually leave the decision taking process to the other parties, specially considering I eat almost anything. But, in a way, I ended up being a bit selfish myself and suggested a restaurant near my workplace and, fortunately, close to where JF was by that time of the day. That restaurant ended up being The Crime Lab.
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Tagged as:
Seafood,
Vancouver,
West End
Swallow Tail Super Club – “Underground Restaurant”
Somewhere in Vancouver, BC
In the last year or so, a new type of “restaurants” have hit Vancouver silently. How secret? Well, how about it not necessarily registered as a “restaurant” at all? Yes, I am talking about underground restaurants, where cooks (sometime professionals, other times, regular John Doe who are skilled cooks) open their kitchen and, for a “donation”, they will cook a meal for you. It has been feature in local printed media like The Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail. While fellow food bloggers have visited and written about it, I have told them I wasn’t that interested in visiting them (more in a moment). However, in a “you can’t comment about it before you have done it” line of thought, I decided to tag along on an outing organized by Jonathan of Food and Tell. The chosen “underground” restaurant? Swallow Tail Super Club.
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Tagged as:
Seafood,
Vancouver
