Jessie "Roaming Homemaker" J.'s Profile

Full disclosure - Since early 2010 the Roxton has been owned by a dear childhood friend of mine and her husband. That said, I am a total foodie (must have been something in the water on our street growing up), and would neither have gone back more than once, nor bothered to write a Yelp review if this place wasn't fantastic.

I live in Vancouver, but I spent the summer of 2011 in Toronto, and the Roxton quickly became my go-to dinner out destination. In fact, it's fair to say I may have missed out on some of the other culinary delights of TO because I always opted to eat at the Roxton if I could. Everyone I brought to the place agreed - the food was scrumptious, the patio delightful, and the prices not to be beat.

The menu changes frequently, so many of my fave items aren't currently available, but I'll recommend anyway, in case they come back. The parsnip and chocolate soup was divine. I enjoyed every one of the house-made gnocchi concoctions I tried. Two different friends ordered and enjoyed the beet and arugula salad, which was light and flavourful. My absolute favourite, though, were the mussels with leeks, cream and pernod. I had them a few times, and was never disappointed. There's a veggie lasagna that's been on the menu since the fall, and I hope it's still there when I next come for a visit!

I'm torn between 3 and four stars on this one. I'm going with 3 for now, but if experience justifies it, I'll upgrade this review.

The Three Speed is a block from my summer Toronto digs, so it earns points for convenience. Met some girlfriends there for brunch last weekend, and was impressed with some things, not with others.

Impressive: The food was delicious. All of us really really enjoyed what we ordered, which included 2 different Eggs Bennies (mine with smoked trout!), a french toast, and a special sandwich.

I also really liked how they kept the menu brief but interesting. I hate being overwhelmed by choice, and would far rather fewer choices with a higher likelihood of everything being good. This menu had everything it needed, nothing more.

The one negative thing I can say about the food was that the toast under my poached eggs was a bit too soggy, like some of the water from the pan had made its way to my toast. I expect this to happen when I make a benny at home, but ideally it's not part of an eating out experience. That said, this did not impact my ability or desire to wipe my plate entirely clean.

I also thought the patio out back was just charming, which certainly went a long way to make up for the following (or at least make it more bearable).

Not Impressive: The service and the wait. Our server seemed like a nice enough person, she certainly wasn't rude or impatient. But she was forgetful, and seemed run off her feet. Our food took forEVer. She entirely forgot one of my friends' juice. She brought coffees, but took another 20 minutes to bring out cream and sugar.

Now, I don't blame our poor server for any of this. She kept apologizing and saying they were really busy. Well, ok, but it's not that big a place, and it's Sunday brunch. Presumably they're busy every week? Why not hire an extra cook and an extra server for Sunday brunch, so that people can get their food in a reasonable amount of time, and the existing server isn't run ragged?

Now, maybe they just happened to be shorthanded - only a return visit or two can prove that. But if they were, I wish they'd just said something. If you can't give your usual level of service for some reason, far better to say "one of our staff is sick" and earn my sympathy, than tell me it's busy like that's some kind of rare occurrence. A good restaurant, or bar, or business of any kind, ought to be able to handle busy.

The best pizza in Vancouver can be had here. Now, let me be clear, I am not saying that all Lombardo's pizza is better than all other pizza in Vancouver, it's not. Nor am I saying that on any given night you will have better pizza here than anywhere else. What I am saying, is that when their best pizza is good, it is very very good indeed.

So, what is their best pizza? Brace yourself, especially if you're a carbophobe (but really, why are you reading about pizza anyway, in that case?). It's their potato pizza, La Giulia.

As a general rule, I am inclined to agree with folks who think potatoes on pizzas are redundant. But in the case of La Giulia, they're just succulent and scrumptious. Add to that the consistently best pizza crust in town and a lovely pesto sauce, and you have a really heavenly pie.

I have to confess, I'm so enamoured of La Giulia, I've only ever had one other pizza from Lombardo's, their Caprese. To it I can only give mixed reviews. The crust is of course fab, but a Caprese is only as good as its tomatoes, and I find they are inconsistent. I'm not sure how you could find out if they had good toms in on any given day, short of eating in and looking around to see if anyone else was eating a Caprese, and if it had deep red tomato slices on it. That sounds like a lot of work. It's never BAD, I just can't guarantee you that it will be great.

Even La Giulia can be a little uneven - I think their Sunday chef is maybe not the same guy who makes it on Thursdays, our house's most common pizza night. I don't know. It was still good when I got it on a Sunday, just not quite as mind-blowing as usual.

It's taken me a while to review this place, primarily because my first experience was actually not that great. Everyone was raving, though, so I wanted to try it again to be sure. Experience number two was excellent. And I've been back a few times since, so I now feel comfortable giving them 4 stars. (With the knowledge that if I ever have another experience like my first, I'll have to drop a star or two. But that doesn't seem likely.)

I don't eat meat, so I can't comment on the carnivorous tacos, but I'm glad they have them (see my review of Bandidas for my objection to the idea of a meatless Taqueria). I'm equally glad that they have four different vegetarian options, and as a veg-aquarian, am particularly delighted by fish option. When it's good, it's really really good.

I often plan to mix it up when I go here, but always end up with the same order: 4 tacos - one fish, one bean, one mushroom, one rajas con crema. The rajas (chiles and cream) is my favourite on average, but on a good fish day, pescado wins. I've never tried the tofu. I suppose I will if they're ever out of fish or rajas...

I also always get the horchata, which I think is the best in town. Today's was maybe a little more cinnamony than I would prefer, but still scrumptious. And not a drop of milk in sight (again, see my Bandidas whine).

My guess is that the first time I went there was outside of the lunch time rush, when everything is by necessity fresh fresh fresh. It could also have been just a bad day. And it's not like I got sick or treated badly, the food just didn't blow me away. For now, I'm going to assume that was the exception to the delicious rule. If you have a less than stellar experience eating there mid-afternoon, though, let us know. It might be a trend...

I have now tried the baklava. Is is superb. It comes in pistachio, walnut and almond varieties. All were good, I found the pistachio particularly divine. I also tried the walnut kadayif, which I didn't like nearly as much. The string pastry struck me as soggy, compared to the lovely crispy baklava. That said, it was neat to get to try it. But I probably won't do a kadayif repeat, whereas I'll be hard-pressed not to get a piece of baklava every time I pass!

A dear friend with whom I have been sharing food almost since birth (our moms met at the age of 4 - they fed us sticky rice as one of our first solid foods together, we still regularly meet for dim sum) thinks Zipang has the best sushi in town. Given our often similar tastes, I made sure I'd given it a fair chance before reaching any conclusions.

Do I think this is the best sushi in town? No. But I do think it does some things very well. (I'm actually feeling quite ambivalent about my star rating. I wish I could give it a 3.5.)

What's good - The sockeye salmon sashimi is quite simply the best I've ever had. That could in part be due to the record sockeye run this year, but it's still better than any I've had elsewhere this summer. So definitely a must-order.

Their maki are also nicely priced for the most part, with only a few uber-fancy rolls getting into the $6-10 range. My beloved negitoro was $2.50 I think, and there are lots of interesting rolls for $3-5 dollars.

Finally, on the plus side, they have a roll with mackerel (saba). Saba is SO underused in Vancouver sushi, it makes me cry. So, for me at least, the saba-bien roll is definitely another must-order.

What's not so good: Both times I've eaten here I've found that the rice was underseasoned. This is something I'm pretty picky about, so it's definitely a point against. That, and I find their rolls quite hastily assembled. While of course it's nice to get your sushi promptly, I'd rather wait an extra minute or two for a roll that is round rather than squashed, with evenly distributed rice rather than a few randomly distributed grains.

Conclusion - I would certainly never veto Zipang as a sushi option if someone suggested it, and if I needed sushi on Main I would head there for sure, but unless I had a mad sockeye sashimi craving (not that likely - I'm a tuna girl), I doubt I would ever seek it out intentionally.

I just don't get the hype about this place. I mean, if I need a slice of pizza at Broadway and Commercial I pick Uncle Fatih's over Megabite or Fresh Slice, but that's really the only competition it wins in my book. I don't love the crust or the sauce. I've had cold slices served to me in the past. And while their slices are certainly well priced, their delivery prices are just nothing to brag about. Overall, a definite Meh.

A solid entry in the Drive pizza scene. Pluses - Quality fresh ingredients (I can't say enough about the delight of REAL black olives on pizza vs. the typical canned flavourless alternative). Decent crust (I like the thinness, but wish it didn't verge on crackery crispiness around the edge. Ideally pizza crust should be both thin AND a little doughy). Very friendly prices. Some original options (curried potato!).

Minuses - I don't love their sauce, I find it a bit sour; better than too salty or sweet, though. I also wish they wouldn't pile their pizzas quite so high with toppings. I realize I may be in the minority in this, but too many toppings tend to be covering up for inferior basics (crust, sauce, cheese) in my opinion, not to mention making a pie soggy-prone.

Still, overall, a pretty good bet for take out/delivery/by-the-slice in East Van.

Probably my favourite non-downtown pizza joint in Vancouver. It is not GREAT pizza, but it is really GOOD pizza, and that is a rare commodity in this here town. Good crust, non-cloying sauce, neither too much nor too little cheese, quality toppings.

My faves are the Griled Veggie and the Spanako. Note about the Grilled Veggie, if you're ordering it, double check that they heard you right. I've twice ordered it and had the classic veggie arrive instead. It's nowhere near as good. And while it was nice getting credits for 2 free pizzas, I'd rather have received the right one to begin with.

Oh, if you have ordered there before and have a menu around your house, make sure you check the website before you order. If you scroll down to the bottom of the menu on the site, you'll find the pizza of the month. It changes (gasp, monthly!) and they often have some really fantastic flavours.

Accidentally bought a slice of pizza here today. I say accidentally because if I'd seen the prices, I wouldn't have. I have memories of getting slices here for a twonie when I was a teen, and while I figured the prices would have gone up, I didn't think they'd go this high.

MY SLICE WAS $4.75! I was hungry enough that I handed over the dough, but I'll never make that mistake again.

Not much to say about the 'zza itself. Soggy crust. Stick with perogies.