The Fish Shack

THE FISH SHACK

1026 Granville Street,  Vancouver, BC

Located in an extremely busy section of Granville Street, the Fish Shack is another packed restaurant geared toward more of a young, hipster crowd. Proof? Drinks were served in mason jars and the staff uniform were black graphic ts. I actually really liked the old school vibe of the place and its refreshing to interact with staff that have personality. Overall, I wouldn't say that the food is incredible, its good, but not rave worthy, not rant worthy so this is going to be a pretty bland review. 

 dining chatter volume: high 

 food: 4/5  

 specialty: oysters

To start, the the Sicilian Steamer with mussels (photo above) had a sauce that just wasn't powerful enough. It was very thin, quite oily and had only a hint of flavor. When I dipped the baguette slices it came with, all I really got was soggy bread.

Next, the Seafood poutine that I had heard about and actually our reason for visiting, was underwhelming. It was mostly your regular poutine with cheese and gravy with some chunks of salmon and mussels. The seafood didn't add a whole lot of flavor to the poutine, so it was really just very standard. It was good (when does fries and cheese ever taste bad?) but not worth paying extra for. 

The Oysters are their claim to fame and are served with a platter of 4 sauces to choose from. Personally, mt friends and I found only one of them to be good (the transparent red one). They did taste fresh and were pretty good so I can see myself returning for these. Otherwise there was nothing we ordered that I'd pay to have again. The Fish Shack is a neat spot for its atmosphere but the food just isn't anything special.


 

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White Spot - Proof that anyone can cook

Just stay at home. You can make better food. 

And you can make and serve it faster than they can.

I remember White Spot being the funnest place to eat as a kid. I could get a meal in a pirate ship with a pirate hat and my mom would get a giant salad.The salads my mom used to get were absolutely massive. The first time she got it we was shocked at how big it really was and it had a generous portion of thick udon shaped noodles underneath it, enough to feed 3 people.

The new salads I've tried are definitely single portion and sound fancy but taste plain. Example: the first photo is of the Santorini Chicken Salad that is described to have a "house-made roast shallot dressing". It tasted like any regular vinaigrette. The chicken was room temperature when we received it. I could have chopped some veggies at home, tossed it in vinegar and olive oil and grilled a chicken. I wish I did. There are some amazing salads at Milestones and even random Japanese restaurants but this salad was about as good as a supermarket packaged lunch salad.

"The Spot’s Calamari" was also nothing special, actually quite sub par and their tzatziki sauce really just tasted like sour cream.

Although White Spot gained fame for their burgers, they now have a large selection of pastas and they're not very good. Sometimes the noodles come overcooked, soft and brittle. The sauce is thin and weak in flavor. In fact, I find that sometimes they have a bit of a funny taste that I also find in those cheap frozen microwave pasta meals. My guess is that they used packaged sauce. Additional toppings are sparse. As you can see, it was served with two tiny tomatoes sliced in half and only a pinch of herbs. The other day I made white sauce pasta from a tutorial on youtube and it tasted a million times better. Also, do you see that tiny piece of salmon on the side? That was a $6 add on and all we got was a thin, small serving. I definitely would not recommend their Fettuccine Alfredo. Luckily the garlic bread was ok.

So far I'd give White Spot 1/5. The food is really meh and the service is not all that much better. The servers  have way more customers to take care of than they can handle. It also seems like the kitchen isn't big or well staffed enough to handle the volume of customers they get. With every White Spot I've been to, you can expect a long wait time and see your waiter rushing back and and forth trying to handle their area.

One redeeming factor is their Spot Sampler dessert. For $9 you get to have 3 mini desserts and the hot fudge brownie with ice cream is just so good. Actually all of the 3 are pretty good. Personally, I find it the one thing worth ordering at White Spot and sometimes I go just get this and share with a friend. Catch up sessions over mini desserts!

All in all: White Spot has a lot of improvements to make, they need better recipes and more staff. I really don't recommend a visit until they make much needed changes.  

 

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Sushiful, Vancouver's hidden Sushi gem

SUSHIFUL

#7 - 3490 Kingsway  Vancouver, BC

(604) 451-5177

Sushiful is pretty much the underdog of Vancouver sushi. They're newly established, located in a quiet, low traffic plaza and owned by a pair of two young guys who are passionate about sushi. And what they make is amazing. A lot of reviews on urban spoon mention how their sushi is similar to Sushi Garden's (the super popular sushi spot on Kingsway across from Metrotown). This is probably because they used to work at Sushi Garden and learned the ins and outs of making quality sushi. I'd argue to say that Sushiful tops Sushi Garden, with both better food and better service. Everything is super fresh and they use high quality ingredients. Prices are lower than standard and the portions are quite generous. I was really impressed with their salmon sashimi! (Photos below) Before I thought the Sushi Garden sashimi was amazing, but Sushiful's was just as good, and they give you a bigger portion.

Usually I'd get the standard rolls for take out (spicy salmon roll, california roll etc.) and I always enjoyed those. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they've crafted some amazing speciality rolls as well. The first two photo in this post are of the Fiji Mountain roll. Avocado sushi filling topped with chopped scallop, tempura shavings and sauce. My new favorite! Just above is the Red Dragon roll, one of their most popular specialty rolls.

A must try is their house salad. I dont know what sauce they use or how they make it taste so good but this salad is SO GOOD! Crisp iceberg lettuce, thin shavings of radish and carrot, a touch of red cabbage and an amazing tasting sauce. Seriously. Try it.

All in all, an amazing sushi place. Great service by the owmers (one of them wears an antler hat with Sushiful written on it.). It's an East Van dining spot with personality and delicious food.


 

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Kishimoto - The Drive's high style sushi spot

 

KISHIMOTO Japanese Kitchen & Sushi Bar

One of the newer dining spots on Commercial Drive, Kishimoto quickly grew into one of the busiest sushi spots on this busy street. You can guarantee to find a line up outside and expect a 15-30 minute wait if you decide to come and visit. The restaurant's interior was well designed, with decorations such as giant white paper lanterns that giving it a trendy yet casual feel. It's good fit for such a hipsteresque neighbourhood.

wait time: 15-30min (for seats)
 dining chatter volume: high
 food: 4/5
 specialty: Oshisushi, Abrui

From my experience, I think a lot of the hype surrounding Kishimoto is more about their presentation than their food. The actual sushi comes in really small portions and, although are well made, aren't particularly rave worthy. They definitely have a large selection of specialty rolls and their Oshisushi (pressed sushi that comes in a square shape) is something else. The one dish that really wowed me was the Spicy Tuna Oshisushi, the tuna is nicely seasoned and cooked in a way that made it melt in my mouth. Now there's something special.

Otherwise, I found the atmosphere of the restaurant more memorable than the food. It's a bustling quant dining spot, filled with chatter and trendy guests. The perfect place to have a catch-up date that's nice but still casual. Because the portions are so modest, the food felt like more a side to the conversation, rather than a full meal. If you wanted too really leave full you have to order enough to make this a pretty expensive visit. We left paying $30 each and stomachs that were just satisfied, but not quite full. 

Overall, highly recommended as a date spot for the cutely decorated dishes or for a girl's night out, for the trendy feel of the place. 

 

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The Famous Warehouse

THE WAREHOUSE 

989 Granville Street, Vancouver BC, V6B2C9 

thefamouswarehouse.com 

 Known for their $4.95 absolutely everything menu, The Warehouse is one of downtown Vancouver's most popular hubs and bars. Among its copycat restaurants such as "The Dime" that also offer complete $5 menus, the Warehouse has the most selection and best value. Depending on what you order, you can get a full sized meal for your $5 whereas the other ones I've tried offer mini portions and bank on the guarantee that you'll have to order multiple dishes. If you're a fan of burgers they have a good variety of red and white meat ones that come with big patties and nicely seasoned medium cut fries. Every burger I've tried here has been great but food quality can vary, understandable based on how much more traffic they get during their peak hours.

 wait time: 30-45min (peak) 

 music/dining volume: high 

 food: 4/5 

 specialty: burgers 

Last summer there was one visit where we waited 45 minutes for our food to be prepared. This summer we were given nachos and salsa as appetizers to occupy us but we were charged for them and we weren't asked if we wanted them or not. I've also noticed that this summer the staff is slightly below par, last summer everyone who worked here looked like they came out of a MTV Laguna Beach reality T.V. show but this summer many of the servers look like they're straight out of high school.


top --> bottom food reviews
Chaing Mai Bowl   2/5
Although described as served in spicy soy chili sauce, it tastes more like a heavy sour and spicy sauce that is much too heavy for the amount of noodles in this dish. The sauce even feels greasy and overpowers anything else going on.

Mama T's Crunchy Mac and Cheese 3/5
Your standard mac and cheese, lightly topped with cornflakes. Its served on a shallow plate and you're only given a modest amount.

The Works Burger 5/5
Although the one in the photo is slightly burnt and was dry, the usual burger is juicy with a thick patty and all around just well done. Hit and miss depending on the kitchen staff of the day.

Smokey BBQ Burger 5/5
My personal favorite because I like the spicy kick. It has a great tasting spicy sauce and what seems like the same patty as the Works burger.

Union Street Noodle Salad 4/5
Chow mein noodles under chicken, dressed greens, avocado and almonds. The noodles were quiet heavily salted but otherwise this was a great cold salad.

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