Mike P.'s Profile

Shopping at Canadian tire is becoming an increasingly more painful experience.  It seems like they always try to get by on the absolute minimum in staff.  Now they've done away with most of the cashiers and mist kiosks are self service.  I guess this is how they're able to offer such low prices.

Everytime I visit there seems to always be a huge line at the returns counter (so I won't buy anything unless I'm absolutely sure).

Canadian tire seems to go through bad and good times (have personally had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it over the years)...right now seems like a bit of a bad one (maybe because of the recession).  I'm sure they'll bounce back at some point and their stores will once again be more enjoyable for me to shop in :).

Was a bit skeptical based on the name.  Stop calling bars public houses!!!  Just my opinion.

Sat at the bar and had really cheap beers on a Friday evening.  The place was full, the staff was friendly (super friendly bartender).  The decor is really modern.

Will definitely come back here and try out the food, hopefully that's reasonably priced as well :).

My wife tells me this place has been here for many many years and I can see why.  The food quality is excellent and the prices are very reasonable.

Interestingly the place seems to have somewhat of a non-Korean following (given the demographic in the restaurant when we were there) which I guess is pretty important in north van.  Unfortunately my many years living in North Van pre-dates my discovery and love of Korean cuisine, so I never tried this place out.

I had the spicy beef stew (of course at spicy house!).  It definitely hit the spot.  Like with most Korean restaurants the portion was gigantic.

If you're interested in some Korean beer with your dinner they do have Hite (am not a big fan of Korean beer myself).

The best hotel I've ever stayed in.  I love the fact that since they have so many rooms you can actually look out for specials and stay there for a very reasonable price!

All suites means that even if you're staying in the worst room in the place it's still huge and luxurious.

Stay at the Palazzo...you won't regret it!

Much more expensive than the coquitlam location and the downtown t&t.  Still am happy that they have this location.  Used to visit regularly when i lived downtown, but now there are much more reasonably priced options closer to me.

Be prepared to pay much much more for such non-asian foods like cheese, yoghurt, cereal...the veggies and meats are reasonably priced it seems :)

Definitely happy I checked out this Canadian version of the gimmicky US burger chain.  With something as simple as burger and fries you need to take certain steps to stand out from the crowd.

Decided to go for the smaller "one patty" burger, the patties were pretty thin so if you're looking for meat, best to go for the double burger (that seemed to be what most people were getting).

I got "the works"...which actually isn't the works but it's all of the common toppings.  It seemed to be a good starting point for me, and I added some jalapenos which made my burger pretty much close to perfect (a "Mike" burger if i was at Harveys...which i also like....).

While you wait you can grab some free peanuts.  The large fries were enough to feed me, my wife, and probably another person....

I think my favourite part of the meal were the abundance of toppings.  I also like the free pop re-fills.  It was nice to not be nickel and dimed for a few extras, just building it in to the upfront price was a refreshing change for a fast food place.

The fries were good, but not the best I've had.  I had high expectations with the bags of potatos stacked all around these restaurant (I figured if they were showing off the potato, they must make THE BEST fries....)

Anyways i will return to Five Guys if I'm on the North Shore and am in the mood for a burger.

The last two apartments I've lived in have had a White Spot within walking distance.  The previous one at Georgia/Nicola I didn't really visit that often.  Not exactly sure why, maybe just a few too many experiences with slow service?  I dunno.

Anyways this locaiton is now my local White Spot and thank goodness because they have the best staff of any in the chain I've experienced.  I find myself here once every two months I would say, usually for breakfast or dinner, but sometimes for lunch.  It's a quick meal where I know what I'm getting (the safe option).

Like any such chain restaurant they struggle somewhat with the consistency of the service and food.  You end up getting a wide variety of reviews from 1 star to 5 stars, however many of the staff here are experienced, give good service and probably stick around because of the good tips they get as a result of their good service (lucky us).

My favourites at White Spot:
- grill & greens - zoo sticks, fries, burger (ask them to add lettuce, tomato, onion for free), and caesar salad.  Tons of food for a good price, get another small salad and could be shared between two people

- salad - i like their mediteranean and taco salads.  Sometimes they can really dump on the dressing so might be a good idea to ask for the dressing on the side.

- zoo sticks - deep fried zuchini...i'm usually thinking of these when i'm wanting to come to white spot.  Love the sticks an the ranch sauce they serve it with.

Pretty much exactly what I expected.  Good food (not spectacular), big portions, good service at reasonable prices.

I ordered the lamb, my wife ordered a pizza.  I tasted both and would say they were good solid 3's.  I must have been hungry because the plate was piled high with pita, potato, greek salad and rice.  You could barely even see the lamb, but it was buried in there, and there was a healthy portion of it; but i finished it all!

The service was wonderful.  The waitress (maybe the owner?) was super nice.  There was a delay with the pizza but she was super apologetic about it.  She came by every few minutes to give us updates and even offered something "on the house" while we waited.  Apparently whole wheat pizza takes longer to cook.  I'm always impressed when something goes wrong and the restaurant handles the problem perfectly.

The decor is super dated and we were sitting next to a couple who was constantly fighting and bickering throughout their meal which took away from the enjoyment somewhat.

As they're in the neighbourhood this will increase the likelihood that we wil return, however if i lived far away i probably wouldn't make a special trip to visit.

Not really how I remember it.  I used to frequent kfc a lot more when I was younger.

It seems like all the other fast food places are a step ahead, mcdonalds seems to be constantly renovating, looking at ways to reinvent themselves and stay on top as tastes change.

Kfc is stuck in yesteryear, nothing really new since the invention of 'extra crispy'.  The restaurants themselves seem to get built and then are left untouched until the end; never a new colour scheme or coat of paint, just the smell of a room that has been cooking with grease constantly for the last X years.

Anyways today's meal made my stomach hurt.  Sure it tasted good, if you apply enough grease to anything I will like it.  It just hardly seemed like chicken I was eating.  My wife and I split a 4 piece meal (over $10, but reasonable since it was feeding 2).

I was wondering why most of the bones in the chicken were broken, my wife asked me what something funny looking was in her piece (I had no idea, and found it odd that after eating so many chickens in my lifetime I would now be seeing something new).

The macaroni salad, which I used as the standard to judge all other macaroni salads when I was young, had either changed a lot or my tastes had changed completely.  It was utterly tasteless.

Anyways, I love fried chicken.  Hopefully someday I will be able to have good fried chicken in Vancouver again....but likely not at kfc...

This farmers market puts the ones in Vancouver to shame.  So many different types of things and not that many repeat booths where people are selling the same thing.

It's very popular, especially on long weekends.  Good idea to come on an empty stomach because there are plenty of good food options.