Banh Mi Bar - New Westminster

Banh Mi Bar opened sometime during the Summer 2016 and we had a few chances to try it out. It is about a block away from Douglas College.

Banh Mi Bar is run by a young and very friendly couple.  It has a simple menu with about 6 or 7 different varieties of the typical banh mi flavours you can find elsewhere.  This is a small shop with just a few counter seats available if you want to stay and eat.  Most people I’ve seen usually get take out.

I ordered the chicken banh mi.  Like others, it’s made to order and has the usual toppings like cilantro, cucumber, pickled carrots and radish.   They will ask if you want jalapeno too.

The banh mi is presented reasonably nice in a plastic basket  The bread is very fresh while crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  I also like the sauce that was used.  It is kind of like mustard sauce which I don’t recall having tried before at other banh mi places. Perhaps this is their special secret sauce.

Overall, the prices here are quite reasonable and the sandwiches are quite fresh.  They have a stamp program where you get a free sub after X number of purchases. It’s good to have something different in this neighborhood.

SFDD gives 4 out of 5 Delights.

Boston Pizza - New West Queensborough

We visited Boston Pizza (BP) to try out their $10 lunch specials being promoted since Fall 2016.  I think this is our first time visiting BP.  We arrived just before noon and the restaurant was still quiet.  We were seated promptly.

There was quite a variety to choose from in their $10 half time lunch specials.

The first lunch plate we chose was the roasted Veggie and Pesto flatbread.

This was presented beautifully with a generous amount of fresh toppings.  It was cooked perfectly.  The flat bread was very fluffy as well.  The size is probably equivalent to a small pizza.

The second plate we chose was the Thai chicken wrap paired with a side salad. 

This was not part of the $10 lunch menu but the price was just a couple of dollars more.

There was lots of chicken breast strips inside the wrap.  The lettuce and onions were also quite fresh.  The Thai part of this wrap was the fried crunchy noodles and Thai chili sauce.  This tasted quite good.  The side salad was also quite fresh.

Unfortunately, we found something wrong with the 2nd half of the wrap (hair).  However, they corrected this issue for us right away when we brought this to the attention of the server.

Service was quick and friendly and the food was quite good (except for the hair).  I’m sure this was just an isolated incident.  We still would like to visit BP again to try their other $10 half time choices for lunch.  Probably we would visit another location.

SFDD gives 3 out of 5 Delights.

Boudin Bakery & Cafe –San Francisco Airport

On our way to Maui, we had a 2 hour stopover at SFO.  Food was not going to be served on our flight, so we picked up a bite to eat at the airport.  There were plenty to choose from, but we went with Boudin after some good experience several years ago when we visited another Boudin location at the Fisherman’s Wharf area.

 

This is the place known for their sourdough breads.  It’s also popular for getting a clam chowder in a bread bowl.  One thing that stood out at our visit was that the order taker seemed to be in a very bad mood so we felt she was very rude.  Not a good place to be rude when you are working at the airport with so many visitors and tourists passing through!

We didn’t want to spend that much for a late lunch so we got their combo special where you can choose your own selection from the special menu.

The first combo was the turkey provolone with clam chowder.

The sandwich was served on a half sourdough bun and it was very fresh.  It had a generous serving of turkey as well.  The clam chowder was a small bowl but was just the right size for a late lunch. 

The soup was hot and creamy.  It could have used more clams though. 

For the second combo, we got the turkey avocado and spring salad.

This one was served on sourdough bread which was also fresh like the bun in our other sandwich.  The spring salad had walnuts, apples, cranberry raisins, and crumbled goat cheese. It was tossed in a berry vinaigrette dressing. 

The berry dressing seemed to have gone quite well with the cheese and the nuts.  We felt extra healthy seeing this delicious salad.

The bread and the other ingredients in our food were quite fresh and prepared as expected.  The only hiccup was the unfriendly attitude we experienced from the order taker at this location.  Having a nice smile and warm welcome should be moved to the front of this location's training manual.

SFDD gives 3 out of 5 Delights.

White Spot - Burnaby Kensington

After a few bad experiences at the Gilmore White Spot, we decided to venture a bit farther to North Burnaby to try another White Spot location.  This one is located right in the Kensington Strip mall across from the Burnaby North high school. 

We got there early Saturday afternoon and the mall was busy.  We didn’t have to wait too long for a table as the restaurant was not too full.  We were seated near the bar and was surrounded by 6 big TV’s.  It was a cozy and bright area.

We first ordered a spot club house with multigrain bread.  They were quite generous with the turkey meat.  From experience, WS seems to over sauce the sandwiches and burgers so that’s why we opted for the sauces to be on the side.

They also have their own house made dressing which is now more creamier than oily.

What I was surprised with was that the updated the menu and scrapped the Chipotle chicken wrap.  They now only have the Chicken Caesar wrap so that’s what we ordered here. The tortilla was fresh and soft.  The Caesar sauce used was creamy and garlicky like it should be and it had a fair amount of white chicken meat. The endless fries were also great because you can tell they fried it in fresh oil as it was golden in colour. 

We had a young guest with us who got the famous Pirate Pack.  This location served it with both plum and honey mustard dip instead of asking for your choice.  Both dips went well with the large pieces of chicken strips.

The service was quite friendly and we did not have to wait too long for our food.  We also asked for refills for the pop and extra fries without any issues.  We will certainly visit this location again next time we are looking for a White Spot in Burnaby.

SFDD gives 4 out of 5 Delights.

Subway - Riverport Richmond

Wow another Subway post??  Yes this time we needed a quick dinner before catching a movie at Silvercity Riverport as we didn’t want our stomach growling loud inside the theatre.

This Subway is just to the North of the theatre.  You probably won’t see it unless you venture out towards the direction of the Watermania Swimming pool.  It looks nice and tidy inside. In fact it looks more upscale than the usual subways with the yellow plastic booths. 

This location also includes a Subway Cafe, which is the first time we’ve seen such a setup.  It has a section that serves premium coffee drinks like espressos, lattes and cappuccinos.

Although it appears they are made from those push button machines.  These coffee drinks are not cheap either, the prices are comparable to chains like Waves and Starbucks, so we passed on the drink and when for the Subs.

We shared a foot long turkey sub with most of the toppings. 

The artist here was also generous with the veggies much like the artist at the New West Subway.  She also didn’t mind that we wanted slightly different ingredients on both halves.  One of us likes olives and pepper so she accommodated our request to keep these on one side.

The artist was quick at making the sub and offered us to add a few dollars to make it a meal but seeing the size of the sub, we kindly declined and just had the Sub by itself.

SFDD gives 3.5 out of 5 Delights.

Subway - New Westminster

Dropped into this Subway just across from Douglas College for a quick bite to eat.  Noticed that their menu prices changed to even number prices without the cents, which gave it a perception of being good value.

This one is a 6 inch turkey sub on honey oat.  It was $5.  Didn’t seem like a good deal as I remember just a few years ago Subway had $5 foot long specials year round.  I no longer see that anymore.  Maybe in the States but definitely not locally.

The sandwich artist here that served me was very friendly and efficient at putting together the sub.  She was also generous with the filling so I did not have to ask for extra this and that like at some other places.

We seldom have issues at Subway, most of the shops are quite consistent with the subs.  The veggies used here was quite fresh.  It would be good Subway introduces a bigger value menu for us to choose from.

SFDD gives 3.5 out of 5 Delights.