dinesty: disappointing food and service

i'm a pretty big believer in the ratings that are on urbanspoon and this prompted me to try dinesty. honestly, this is the restaurant that has disappointed me the most in terms of its like-ness on urbanspoon and i didnt even go in with very high expectations.

my mom and I visited for lunch and it was crazy busy. not only did we have to wait for a spot, but the when we were ready to order, the waitress was hardly paying attention to us. the restaurant is also quite cramped and all the tables small and are very close together. 

xiao long bao ($6.95): soup filled steamed pork buns - I LOVE XIAO LONG BAO. they are one of my favourite things in the entire world and at dinesty, they were not bad for the price! these were not as soupy as i prefer but the skin was nice and thin. 

4/5

marinated beef with soy sauce in pancake roll: ($5.95) - not only was this expensive and prepared sloppily, it was not good. the pancake was hard and greasy, and there was hardly any beef on the inside. flat, oily and unappealing.

2/5

wok fried spare ribs with salt and pepper ($11.95): these were the worst thing that made it to our table. when i bit into one of these, it was EXTREMELY HARD and tasted burnt. this did not seem normal to us so for the first time in my life, we asked to have the dish sent back. this only got worse when one of the waitresses came back and told us that this is how the dish is supposed to be and asked whether we wanted it or not. i had never had such  bad experience with customer service as her attitude made me feel like I didnt know what i was eating.

therefore, we cancelled the spareribs and ordered the cold wined chicken. 

0/5

cold wined chicken ($7.50) - this was to be our meat dish and was quite good. the chicken was moist and the flavour of wine was prominent. also not a bad portion for the price either.

4/5

unfortunately, although there was SOME good food from dinesty, the bad attitude of the servers and the mainly disappointing food made this a place we would not want to return to. 

gelateria dolce amore: meal sized gelato

before the entertainment book expires, my family always attempts to use up as many as we can. lucky for us, that means family trips to eateries that we would not try otherwise and one sunny day, we visited gelateria dolce amore.

 

wanting to get the bang for out buck, we ordered a 500ml take home size which was $10.00 but we got 50% off so it came to $5.00 + tax

mango sorbet and hazelnut gelato 500ml (regular $10.00)  - the gelato and sorbet were both DELICIOUS. since it was a tinier shop that is not too popular, we weren't expecting much but the flavours were bold and the texture was smooth and creamy. 

the hazelnut was my favourite because it tasted exactly like ferrero rocher. deliciously nutty but with hints of sweetness.

4.5/5

the mango was great too being light and fruity to compliment the richer hazelnut flavour

3.95/5

overall, the ice cream scooper was also very kind about sampling and was extremely helpful in the coupon usage. i definitely recommend this gelato shop anytime you're on the drive and much cheaper than the big names but just as delicious.

cho sun: not bad but not great korean fare

i have a newfound LOVE for korean food. i recently learned to eat spicier foods and korean meshes my two favourite things (usually) being spicy and healthy(ier)

going back to the summer time, i asked my friend what her favourite korean place was as a starting point and she suggested cho sun so with a group of my friends, we decided to try it,

one of my best friends hates the smell of korean barbecue so we opted for food that did not require any grilling and i ended up ordering bibimbap to share with my friend and a seafood pancake to share with 2 friends. 

bibimbap (~$9.99): rice, eggs, veggies and minced beef on a bed of rice served in a stone bowl - this was okay. a bit tasteless without the spicy sauce (which my friend could not handle) and therefore was bland for her. i actually love bibimbap because of all the veggies and generally healthy meal.

3.75/5 

seafood pancake (~$15.99): pancake made with assorted seafood and vegetables - this was very oily and was lacking in seafood. the portion size was okay for the price but still leaning towards the expensive side.

3/5

overall food was not bad but it was not amazing. this was one of my first experiences with korean so i had nothing to compare it to but it quite bland, oily and overpriced here at cho sun. maybe we just didnt know what to order but this is not somewhere i would choose as a korean food regular. 

sushi gallery: best sushi near UBC

 i always crave sushi as it is my favourite food, but i find the stuff at UBC and the village not appetizing at all especially for the expensive prices. 

therefore, since UBC is on the west side, it is not short on cheap and delicious food that come with a short bus ride (especially the quick 99). so i decided to travel a bit to sushi gallery after reading good reviews online for the good food and cheap prices.

their menu is very extensive with many rolls, combos and boxes and it actually took me FOREVER to decide what to eat. 

i ended up getting both the spicy dynamite roll and spicy salmon roll both with brown rice (although i only asked for one roll since the price was charged per roll, they gave it to me for both and did not charge me more). 

spicy dynamite roll ($3.95) - although not on the menu of rolls, i saw it as a part of the combos and the restaurant was extremely nice about basically customizing anything. this was SUPER spicy but very delicious. filled with prawn tempura and crabmeat, it was huge. 

4/5

spicy salmon roll ($3.50 + 50c for brown rice) - again not on the menu but they had no problem creating it for me. same spicy sauces and again a huge portion for a super cheap price. the only thing was that the brown rice made it a little bit mushy and a bit TOO spicy so it was a bit one noted. 

4/5

nonetheless, i would return again and again because i only paid $8 for 2 meals worth of food. i would like to try some of the special rolls one day and the staff there are extremely accommodating! they offer miso soup and green tea if you eat in and even to have while waiting for your food. 

if you want sushi near UBC, GONOW!

kawa sushi: cheap sushi makes for bland sushi?

a couple months ago, i got a takeout menu in the mail for a new sushi place near my house called kawa sushi. the menu was full of special rolls that were reasonably priced and seemed pretty good. finally, i got around to getting take out from the little restaurant and although it wasnt bad, i was disappointed. 

power roll ($6.95): prawn tempura, cucumber and avocado topped with salmon and tuna - honestly, there was nothing really wrong with the roll, the prawn was crispy and the slices of fish were nice and thick. the only thing was that the whole thing didnt have very much taste. there were no sauces which i knew when i ordered it but for some reason, i though it would just have more flavour. 

3/5

at first i thought $6.95, thats not bad but after eating the roll, i realized that other special rolls elsewhere that are tastier are around the same price. i would return to try different rolls but for now, even though $6.95 sounds good on paper, it did not reach my expectations. 

pike place chowder: seattle staple

during the summer, my family went to seattle and decided to visit pike place market. its almost like a permanent farmers market in seattle that is a tourist essential. even though we'd been there multiple times, it was our first time trying the very popular pike place chowder. 

the chowders were delicious especially their original clam chowder and their rolls were pretty good too! the only thing is that the prices are quite high just because of the name and place. also there is almost always a line but definitely worth checking out with in the seattle area! 

smoked salmon chowder, new england clam chowder, dungeness crab roll, oregon bay shrimp roll, curried chicken roll 

curried chicken roll ($8.95) - chicken breast with a curry dressing, tossed with raisins, celery and almonds: this was good but there wasn't that much chicken and was quite a small roll. i loved the addition of raisins for a nice sweet contrast. 

4/5

dungeness crab roll ($12.95) - didn't try this but my parents enjoyed it! 

new england clam chowder (medium - $6.25): this is voted as one of the best in the nation and I AGREE. it was delicious and creamy, filled with lots of clams. compared to the smoked salmon chowder (same price) this was the clear winner. the smoked salmon chowder was not in anyway bad, but it tasted very ordinary. 

4.75/5