Basil Pasta Bar

Time of Visit: Lunch
Price: $7.95
Location: 636 Davie St, Vancouver BC
Website: www.basilpastabar.com

Dorothy’s POV

I first encountered this place through a picture I saw on instagram. After doing some look-around, I found out that basil served all-you-can-pick-toppings and pasta for only $7.95… Which isn’t thaaat pricey compared to if you were to order a pasta dish at a restaurant. Who doesn’t like (basically) free toppings?

Basil is a restaurant that really blends in with its neighbourhood. With a painted wall and a huge glass window, this is what I call a restaurant with a personality. However, the restaurant is quite small and doesn’t offer many seats – although most people choose takeout anyways.

I’m not as adventurous as Calvin and I’m faithful to penne, although I have tried out two sauces to date. I really enjoy the Alfredo sauce as well as the rose cream sauce. For toppings, I usually choose salmon, bacon, most of the vegetables, as well as Parmesan. Having the freedom of choosing your flavors really appeals to me, and the possibility of choosing new combinations is what drives me back for more. Another motivator is their punch card; buy eight pastas and you’ll receive one side dish free of charge!

Rose sauce

Alfredo penne

Gami Sushi

Time of Visit: Lunch, Dinner
Price: $10ish
Location: 10111 Number 3 Rd Richmond, BC

It’s been quite a while since my last post but we’re back at it again for the new year! Let’s start off to my new go-to place for sushi (mainly because it’s quite affordable and accessible).

Gami Sushi is a small sushi restaurant ran by Koreans located in the Broadmoor mall, conveniently near Steveston London Secondary. There’s about five booth tables and six open tables so the restaurant isn’t really that big. However, I really like the interior design as it has an organic look.

The prices of the nigiri is a lot less than most of the other sushi places I have been to. The salmon nigiri is only $1.45, compared to around $2 at most other places. My favorite chopped scallop nigiri is only $1.85 as well, compared to Torarenbo’s $2.50. Most importantly, the quality is not compromised for the price.

I made the mistake of ordering the sunomono. Yes, the portion is quite big, but it is too sour. If you want good sunomono, you’ll find it at Kyo Sushi.

The service is a bit slow when it comes to ordering and seating. There are usually two waitresses for the whole restaurant during lunchtime and although the restaurant isn’t that big, it seems that the two could use more help. At lunch and dinner rush hours, there aren’t enough seats to accommodate the demand so it would be wise to call ahead and ask if they’re willing to take reservations. If there’s no seats, you could always order sushi to-go as you get 10% off.

I recommend giving Gami a try for an inexpensive but decent meal.

Tokyo Joe’s Sushi Factory

Time of visit: Dinner, Saturday
Cost: $10ish
Location: 8211 Ackroyd Rd Richmond, BC V6X3J9
Website: www.tokyojoesushifactory.com/renewal/main.html

Dorothy’s POV

Situated between Richmond Centre and Lansdowne, Tokyo Joe isn’t really a place I’d normally stop by. It is a small little sushi restaurant right across from the Price Smart Foods, not a place you’d go to for fancy sushi. However, it is certainly a place where you can get cheap food for a relatively cheap price (if you pick the right things to order though).

For my first visit, I went  for dinner. We were relatively early for a dinner run so the restaurant was empty when we first sat down. We sat at a two person table which I did not really enjoy my time at. The table was too small for what it was holding – napkin dispenser, soy sauce, chopstick holder. By the time our food arrived, there was barely enough room for us to put our dish of soy sauce. Here is a close visual representation:

The food was quite a surprise though. I ordered the avocado & salmon roll and mango California roll. I really enjoyed both of them HOWEVER I believe the California roll could have been better. It was quite obvious that they used frozen mango because it was soggyish and made the roll soggy too. Tip: Don’t order the mango California roll unless it’s summer (I’m not sure if they use fresh mangoes in the summer tho). In terms of sushi, avocado and salmon are my two favorite ingredients so the avocado & salmon roll is perfect for me. The roll consisted of very generous portions of salmon and some avocado wrapped in seaweed and rice.

Another point that draws me in: Tokyo Joe’s Sushi Factory (NOT the one in the same mall as price smart, only the one across from it) offers all you can drink miso soup. On a cold day (which our visit sort of was), this is a great addition. All in all, I managed to spend exactly $10 including tips and tax for my meal.

Now for my second visit.

I brought my friends here for a late lunch and the place was packed. We ended up being seated on the side bar(?) tables. It was an awkward place to sit because my jacket (which I always put behind my chair) would hit the person sitting behind me, on a lower table. It was also a difficult place to get in and out of, especially when I’m holding two hot bowls of miso soup. However, we managed to get through our meal without severely burning/hurting anyone.

I ordered the avocado & salmon roll again but I had the Alaska roll instead of the mango roll. Unfortunately, the mango roll is not something I’d have again here. This time, there was a bigger amount of avocado than salmon – which isn’t bad per se for the price I’m paying. As for the Alaska roll: I’d have to say this is one of the best Alaska rolls I’ve had (which isn’t hard because it’s basically smoked salmon on a California roll). It is absolutely something I will order again for my next visit.

For this meal, I believe I spent around $12 including tax and tips – slightly more expensive than I expected for a lunch.

Overall, this is a great restaurant to visit if you’re looking for something inexpensive with a relatively good quality. 10/10 will visit again.

Alaska and avocado & salmon roll

Mango California Roll and Salmon Avocado Roll

Closeup of mango California roll

Closeup of salmon & avocado roll

The Famous Warehouse

Visited: lunchtime, Monday March 24
Price: $4.95 all menu items (minus drinks), $6.95 for all you can eat days
Location: 989 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2C9
Website: thefamouswarehouse.com

Dorothy’s POV

This time, I decided to give their burgers a try and “The Works” caught my eye. It’s a meaty burger consisting of onion rings (yes, inside the burger), lettuce, tomato, cheese, “premium Alberta beef”, and bacon. I don’t know man, I think it’s a pretty good steal of a deal. For $5, you can get a much better burger here than what you can get from McDonald’s and it’s quite filling. I also substituted my fries for yam fries which cost an additional $1.95 and the chipotle mayo was an extra $0.99, making my total around $8. The yam fries were thick cut and absolutely delicious. The mayo was also really good as it wasn’t too spicy.

HOWEVER, the Warehouse isn’t located in the most appealing of places. It’s located in the sketchier part of downtown – which is understandable because of their low prices. The restaurant has a unique garage atmosphere which I really like and I would’ve taken more pictures if not for the lack of light in the restaurant. My previous visit was more pleasant than this one mostly because their music wasn’t as loud. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike it but it just makes having conversations difficult.

As this is a smallish restaurant, bringing large groups here for lunch/dinner is probably not a good idea. Maybe. But they charge a whooping 18% gratuity for groups of 5 or more so watch out for that.

Good eats, 10/10 will visit again.

Warehouse interior

“The works” burger

Update:

Time of visit: Saturday lunch

I visited the warehouse for a third time except this time, it was with a rather large group. We were a party of 6 and found ourselves a seat at the back of the restaurant. Mind you, it was lunch time so the waitress was quite busy.

This was not the most pleasant visit here. It took a long time for our food to arrive and more importantly, it took 20 minutes for the waitress to collect our money and give us our change. Usually it’s not a big deal if we have to wait a bit but 20 minutes is too long.

I would not recommend bringing a large group here, especially not during lunch time.

HOWEVER, I really like the braised beef spaghetti. The beef was plentiful and the dish came out piping hot (literally, the plate was hot too). The portion was also right on mark as it was perfect for my appetite. My only complaint is that it took longer for the food to come out than my previous visits.

Braised beef spaghetti