Eggs ‘n Things – Honolulu Special

We were strolling down the Waikiki strip looking for a late dinner and decided to pop into Eggs’n Things.  We passed by this restaurant daily and it seemed to have a line up all the time.

It turns out the line up at the door is because they require that you order outside before they take you in.  The line up is just because people are reading the menu deciding what to get.  This was an unusual arrangement.  After you place your order with the staff at the door, you are brought into a 2nd counter behind the door where you pay.  After that they will assign a table for you.

We got a nice window seat:

The restaurant has plenty of seating available when we arrived in the evening:

It had a strange line of seats facing the wall too.

We ordered Kalbi and Eggs:

This is basically a Hawaiian style steak and eggs meal which comes with a stack of pancakes.  The steak was tender and the eggs were cooked to order (over hard).

The pancakes were very fluffy and fresh.  We would say their pancakes taste a lot better than IHOP’s.

Next we ordered their plantation pork chops:

It’s like a ham steak with pineapple and an egg cooked to order with some pan fried potatoes.  I was not expecting the pork chop to look like this.  It’s pinked colored like ham, so perhaps it is Hawaiian style.

The pork chop was too salty for our liking.  Nothing spectacular about the egg.  The fried potatoes were way too dry. They were overcooked and did not have any fluffy potato texture left.

Eggs ‘n Things queuing system is a bit strange and inconvenient since customers have to order outside.  At least, if you are at fast food joints like McDonalds, you can order inside the restaurant.  We had high expectations for their eggs seeing that “eggs” are part of their name, but as you can see, they are just normal looking eggs which doesn’t really distinguish them from other greasy spoons. The best part of our visit was the pancakes.

SFDD gives 3 out of 5 Delights.

Joe’s Grill - Vancouver Main Street

We are still a bit behind with our blog updates over the last few months.  Hope we can catch up before the year ends.

Joe’s Grill has a few locations in Vancouver.  This one is conveniently located along Main Street and 14th Ave.  Joe’s Grill is a casual diner type of restaurant that is cozy with friendly service serving the typical greasy spoon breakfast and lunch type foods.

We got there late Saturday morning for breakfast and saw a small line up out the door.  Luckily the turnover was quick and we ended up only having to wait 10 minutes.  Inside was not too fancy, but a very casual atmosphere.

One thing we noticed was that the prices were quite reasonable.  For under $10 you can get a full sized meat and egg breakfast if that is what you were going for.

This is what we mean.  For $8, you can order the Basic with sausage, 2 eggs, hash browns and toast.

The sausages were very juicy and tasty.  We were surprised to see  4 links.  Seems like other places only serve 2 or maybe 3 links so this felt like a bonus.  The pan fried potatoes were done just right and not overly crisp.  Scrambled eggs were just slightly overcooked but no big deal, it was not too dry at all.

This one is the Joe’s Special Omelette. It’s a veggie omelette with tomato, onion, mushrooms and according to the menu, lots of cheese.

It did not disappoint as there was certainly a big load of cheese in there stringing out from each bite, kind of like eating a pizza.  It also came with pan fried potatoes.

We would have preferred shredded hash browns if given a choice, but having pan fried is a nice change to try.

The food came out quickly.  The servers were very friendly and cheery as well.  Parking in the neighborhood is not that great since this part of the street is mostly paid street parking along Main street.  You might have to venture deeper into the side streets to find free parking along the residential areas if you don’t mind the walk.

SFDD gives 4 out of 5 Delights.

Maui, Hawaii Special - Teddy’s Bigger Burgers (Lahaina)

After an early morning snorkeling expedition at a location north of Lahaina, we were quite hungry since we didn’t have time for breakfast.  It was already just past noon just in time for lunch.  We were not familiar with the area so we opened up Zomato and found this Hawaiian burger joint close by called  Teddy’s Bigger Burgers.  It had good reviews so we felt safe dropping in for a bite to eat.



Being in Hawaii,the weather was hot that afternoon, around high 20’s close to 30 Celsius so we were looking forward for an ice cold fountain drink to cool us off too. 




The restaurant had a 50’s type of diner design to it. It was very clean and well kept with lots of tables available for seating.  We didn’t expect a fast food place to be so tidy, but then we realized later it’s not fast food quality at all.

They have quite a selection of burgers to choose from. You can build your own, or order one of their signature big burgers that have preset toppings already. Even though we were hungry, we didn’t think we could chomp down their specials since they looked so big in the pics. Thus,  we ordered 2 of the most basic burgers, one of which was a combo so that we can share the fries and drink. 

Both burgers had a 5oz patty cooked medium well. It came with the standard lettuce, tomatoes and a secret Teddy burger sauce.  The on in the pic below has an optional pineapple added in, being in Hawaii and all we thought we’d try this.




The one below is the combo with fries covering most of the burger, but it looks just about the same as the one above, less the pineapple.



The burger bun was very soft and fresh. It was lightly toasted on the grill so it had a light crisp on the inside of the bun.  The beef patty was still quite juicy even though we opted for medium well.  The veggies were also very fresh. 

The secret sauce which tasted a bit like thousand island dressing had just the right amount without drowning the burger.  Although the burger was big, it was not messy to eat.  At some places, your burger will have juices and sauces dripping out from the other end while biting in, but these burgers did not have that problem.

The service at this location was good and the people working here were friendly, cheerful and very welcoming.  You have to wait for your food but that’s because the burgers are made to order.  They give you a little buzzer which lights up and vibrates when your food is ready to pick up.

SFDD gives 4 out of 5 Delights.

White Spot – Burnaby/Gilmore

Whenever bringing out our niece & nephew, they always choose White Spot because of their excitement for the Pirate Pack. We went to the one on the corner of Lougheed Highway and Gilmore.  This location has the drive-In feature where you can eat in your car like they did way back when.  I didn’t see too many people doing that this afternoon.

It was a Monday afternoon during the holiday break so the restaurant was quite busy when we got there at 2:30pm.  We had to wait about 10 minutes for our table.  The first thing we noticed while walking to our table was the stuffiness and warmth of the restaurant.  It was not very confortable at all.  I was not sure if their HVAC was broken or if it was because they didn’t bother putting down the blinds to block out the sun. So far, so not good.

The place must be understaffed because we had to wait a while just to order some water.  At other locations we’ve been to, it’s usually the person taking you to the table who also immediately takes your drink orders at the same time.  Perhaps it’s only the Richmond Centre location that goes this extra mile?  We were seated in a corner booth right next to some windows so it was very hot and stuffy.  We closed the blinds ourselves and it helped a bit.

We ordered a strawberry milkshake first.

Now, again we can compare with other locations.  This was a frugal milkshake because we usually get an extra 2/3 in the the milkshake jug.  This place had the nerve to bring us the jug with just 1/4 of extra milkshake inside!  Furthermore, there were hardly any strawberry flavour. So far, so not good.

We ordered the chipotle chicken wrap with Cesar salad.  The good news is that White Spot no longer charges extra if you want to substitute the fries with another side.

I usually ask for extra chipotle sauce on the side whenever eating this wrap at other White Spot locations.  This was a very difficult request at this location.  The server suggested I had to pay extra if I want Chipotle on the side.  I was not very happy to hear that.  She asked if I want the Triple O sauce instead as there was no charge.  We reminded the waitress that my wrap already comes with chipotle sauce so it was reasonable to ask for extra.  She gave it some thought, hesitated and then agreed to reluctantly bring me a “little bit” as if she was doing us a big favour.  The bacon inside was way to crispy. So far so not good. 

Here comes the Pirate Packs.  Kids love these because they are kept busy filling out the puzzles on the order sheet.  The kids choose what they want by circling their preferences.  The kids at our table chose the chicken nuggets, pop, fries and plum dipping sauce.

The drinks are served in a plastic take out cups to minimize the kid mishaps.

The Pirate Packs come in a cardboard pirate ship and a piece of coin chocolate.  If you haven’t noticed, the plum dipping sauce is missing.  We ordered 2 of these and both did not have the plum dipping sauce so we had to wave down the waitress to get it. As mentioned, they were understaffed so it took a bit of waiting before we were able to flag her down.  So far, so not good.  Was she going to say that it cost $0.50 for the plum sauce too!!!  Gladly she admitted the error and brought the plum sauce.

Next up is the BC Chicken burger with spot salad.

The burger was consistent with just the right amount of Triple O sauce.  The bacon was not overly crispy and the chicken retained nice moisture.  The salad was fresh and their special dressing was nicely prepared.  We always wondered what kind of dressing is used for their spot salad.  It is like a green, creamy balsamic type of vinaigrette.  Just make sure it comes creamy.  At some locations, they may give you a cup of what looks to be like clear oil. When that happens, you need to remind your server to mix it a bit or ask them to scoop up from the bottom of their dressing can to avoid just scooping you oil.

At last, the ice cream for the Pirate Packs:

Well they got the ice cream right.

There needs to be some changes made in this location, first to cool down the temperature inside the restaurant. It was hotter than summer time!  Service was sub par with the long waits for water, overly crispy bacon, missing dipping sauce, and the threat of extra charges for chipotle sauce for my chipotle chicken wrap…

We chose this location just for convenience as it was close to the kids.  We certainly won’t be coming back to this particular location due to the poor management of facilities, floor service, and kitchen food output.  We thought franchisees need to follow the same formula.  Something is missing here.

SFDD gives 1.75 out of 4 Delights.

Cockney Kings Fish & Chips – New Westminster

CKFC has two locations in the lower mainland. One in North Burnaby and the other here in New Westminster.  It seems we’ve been back at this strip mall regularly during the past couple of months as our prior visits to Subway and Burger King

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We visited on a Saturday afternoon.  Only 2 tables were taken up at the time of arrival.  We chose a window seat hoping to get better lighting for pictures.  This place is also known for its all you can eat Pollock & chips which is available Mondays to Wednesdays

I opted for Haddock and Chips.  This was the first time I’ve had this fish as other places usually just have cod or halibut.

The fish as you can see is quite large.  It had a thing crunchy batter cooked to perfection.  The fish was also very juicy.  The coleslaw was unusual because green onions used that overpowered the flavour.  Next time I will ask if I can get it without the green onion.  Fries were good according to the menu they are home made.

We’d definitely like to come back on a weekday to try out the all you can eat special.

SFDD Gives 4.5 out of 5 Delights.

De Dutch Pannekoek House–Richmond

We were feeling a bit lazy Saturday morning and decided to go out for breakfast instead of prepping it ourselves.  We decided on a Dutch style breakfast here.

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We’ve tried two other locations previously in New West and East Van.  This location is a a very tiny strip mall, next to that hobby store.  We got there around 10am and it was not very busy.  The parking lot was small but we managed to find a couple of free spots.  It was the first time visiting this location. 

This is the “Eggs Amsterdam” Dutch Benedict.  It comes with 2 eggs over toasted bread with hash, edam cheese and a small serving of fruit.

The ham and the bread was kind of cold.  Egg and hollandaise sauce was OK.  The hash was simply hash like the frozen Mcain ones I get from Safeway.  Would have been nicer if it was a bit more crispier.  This was $13.

Next is the classic Pannekoek with customized toppings.  We chose cheese and Debakon. The Debakon is kind of like Canadian bacon, cooked inside the Pannekoek. 

As you can see the Pannekoek covers the plate completely.  We were unsure if it is supposed to be rolled up or not.  Looked pretty, but because it was thin it was not very filling.  This was $12.

This next one is categorized under Savoury Pannekoeken and is called the “Canadian”.  It comes with free run eggs, maple syrup and DeBakon.

The eggs looked like that because we asked for over hard so it was cooked to order.  We didn't expect them to pop the egg yolk though.  It came with a serving of maple syrup.  This was $15.50.

De Dutch is a bit pricey for the type of food that you get for breakfast.  Perhaps the premium is fully attributable for the crepe as it’s not something you can find at other places except for De Dutch. 

That morning was not very busy at all but we were handed the bill rather prematurely.  At some places, that is usually a sign that they want you to leave as they want to turnover the table to waiting customers. Except there was no one waiting. 

Then a few short minutes later without even looking at the bill yet, another sign they wanted us to leave was asking if we needed the credit card machine.  We were having a nice family chat and did not give any signals that we were ready to leave.  We thought it would be ok to stick around seeing that the place was not busy at all.  Maybe the server was just not experienced.

De Dutch is good place if you want to try something a little different for breakfast.  Certainly it’s not a place we would go back regularly due to pricing.

SFDD gives 3 out of 5 Delights.

Jane’s for Breakfast

Jane’s is small diner serving Canadian and Chinese food.  It is located in North Burnaby on 4217 Hastings St. 

 

This place is popular for it’s $3.95 breakfast.  You get the choice of meats, 2 eggs, potatoes and toast.  There aren’t a lot of these local diners anymore in the lower mainland.  Entering this diner is like going back in time to the 70’s or 80’s as there appears to be no updates done to the place.  In fact, my family used to run a similar diner back when I was a kid so as soon as I entered the place, the smell, colors and food immediately brought back memories.

We got there late on Saturday morning expecting it to be packed with people waiting for tables.  Luckily there were a few tables available.  I think most of the people just eat and run so the table turnover is quick.  Even our party of seven managed to get a big table to fit all of us.  Each of us ordered a a $3.95 breakfast.

I ordered ham, scrambled eggs and brown toast which looked like this:

My sister ordered sausage, sunny side up and brown toast which looked like this:

As you may agree from the pictures, for $4 this was a great deal.  It was certainly a decent sized breakfast to fill a hungry stomach in the morning.  It comes with home cut pan fried potatoes which can fill you up more than regular hash browns.  If you ordered a coffee, it comes with one free refill too. 

Even though the decor was outdated, things were very clean and service was quick and efficient.  It looks to be a family run business.  The menu had Chinese food as well. 

Aside from the $4 breakfast, everything else seemed to be standard priced.  For example, the fish and chips was $7.75 which I thought was a bit pricey for this type of diner.  We ordered the fish and chips just to try but I was a bit disappointed as it didn’t taste that great as the batter was thick and overcooked. I wasn’t able to get a picture in time as the hungry kiddy hands took the pieces of fish and fries off the plate as soon as it arrived.  It did come with a small bowl of Jane’s soup of the day which was beef barley.

The big advantage seems to be that Jane’s is not as busy as Bon’s off Broadway so you get quicker service. We’ll certainly be coming back again just for the delicious breakfast (nothing else).

SFDD gives 4 out of 5 Delights (mostly for good value on the breakfast)