Urban Burger

I had a great burger today at Urban Burger. They happened to have a $5.99 + tax combo, which came with fries, a 16 oz fountain drink, and a basic burger with tomatoes, lettuce and red onion. The place was empty and I hadn't heard about this place before, so I wasn't sure what I was going to get. I did notice that the dining area and kitchen were very clean and organized, which is much appreciated.

Urban Burger
1067 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 1M5
(604) 568-3133

Their menu is very small to say the least. Customers have the option of the $5.99 combo, a chicken burger or combo and a veggie burger or combo. Add ons (cheddar, mushrooms, bacon, etc) were $1.00 + tax each. Their milkshake seemed reasonably priced.

The burger bun was excellent, lightly toasted on the outside soft on the inside. The patty was on the thinner side of the spectrum, but at $5.99 + tax for a combo, this should be expected. The patty was beautifully browned without being too greasy or dry.



I'm not sure what the sauce was (some fancy mayo), but it was tasty. The lettuce, tomatoes and red onions were noticeably fresh. I added bacon which turned out great, not too crispy and not too soft. Best of all, the burger didn't fall apart on me, which seems like a rarity these days.



The fries are fresh cut, which definitely came through in the flavour and texture. The downside to this is that some pieces end up being pretty small. My fries were very lightly salted, which I personally don't mind. It's easy enough to add or ask for more salt if you want it.



Overall, I found this to be a fantastic deal for the quality of the food. I'm not sure if the burger combo deal is temporary or permanent, but if it's permanent, I'd definitely come here over Vera's.

hidden (Dine Out Vancouver 2010)

Number 3, $18 price tier. This was a late dinner, so it was pretty dark and my hands aren't the steadiest. They had a paper fortune teller at each table that turned out to be pretty lame. It wanted to tell me what to get.

hidden (@ the Weston Grand, near the main library)
433 Robson St.
Vancouver, BC V6B 6L9
(604) 647-2521



Pacific poutine with halibut cheeks, qualicum cheese curds, crispy Yukon golds and lemon hollandaise. Halibuts were a bit salty, but great dish overall. We had a side order of fries that happened to be rather soggy, but the fries in the poutine were fine.

Monk McQueens (Dine Out Vancouver 2010)

This is my first dine out of the year and it's one of the $28 options. I did not initially want to come here since I noticed that they do have a 2 for -1 entree entertainment book coupon. However, a friend wanted to come here and the menu looked decent enough. Street parking was difficult to find in the area, but there is pay parking somewhere along Moberly Road ($1/hour).

Monk McQueens
601 Stamps Lndg
Vancouver, BC V5Z 3Z1
604-877-1351

The first thing I noticed was that the restaurant smelled a bit funky. If you get seated in the middle of the dining room, ask to be moved because you'll get a way better view by the windows. The second thing I noticed is that they added a third option to their Dine Out Menu, some of the options may have been vegetarian. We stuck with what was on the website, though.

The bread was good, but the butter was too hard and difficult to spread.



The Bloody Mary Spirited Mussels (Sky vodka, tomato broth,dill, garlic & shallots) looked great and tasted great. The broth was a tad salty though, perhaps from the mussels themselves, which impaired the other flavours from really acknowledging their presence.

Benkei Ramen on Robson

We were still hungry after Guu and stopped by Kintaro, which was really busy. So we walked to Benkei nearby, which turned out to be cheaper.

Benkei Ramen
1741 Robson St.
Vancouver, BC V6G 1E1

It was kind of late and while we ordered their more special ramens, we had to settle for something a little more basic since they were out. I believe we got the Miso and the Shoyu. The decor and service gave off a much friendlier vibe than at Kintaro. Since the restaurant wasn't busy, it was also more relaxed.





I don't remember having the choice between fatty or lean meat, but I did add an egg which was well cooked and creamy. The ramen was decent but portion might be smaller than at Kintaro. Quality wise, I don't remember Kintaro enough to make a valid comparison. Truth be told, I don't like ramen enough to have it often. In any case, I am looking forward to trying something beyond the basic shoyu, miso, and shio soup bases next time.

Guu on Thurlow

Guu on Thurlow
838 Thurlow St
Vancouver, BC V6E 1W2
(604) 685-8817

The seared beef was tasty and nicely presented. I don't remember anything else about it.



For the tofu dish, again, I liked the presentation but I found the texture of the tofu too hard. It would have been nicer with a softer tofu. The high ratio of tofu to everything else made the dish seem rather bland. In other words, I don't think the tofu paired well with everything else. I'd like to point out that this wouldn't have been an issue if the sauce was good, instead of insanely salty. Then again, maybe the bland tofu was to provide relief from the sodium overload, which it did.



This was the seared pork belly. It was a bit salty, but acceptable. Would have been better if the meat was more tender and in bigger pieces.



The meal was okay and I enjoyed my glass of plum wine. However, I have to say that I was a little disappointed this time. Service was also very slow. I think I'll stick with their deep fried fare and udon. Regardless, I find that Guu never satisfies my satiety no matter how much I order. I usually end up going somewhere else afterwards.

Bon Crepe

This little place is located inside Konbiniya, aka: the store on Robson with the giant Pocky box.

Bon Crepe
1238 Robson St.
Vancouver, BC V6E 1C1
604-682-3634



#26: Green Tea Ice Cream, Red Bean and Whip topping. Good texture to the thin style crepe, toppings were good but rather messy to eat, though I guess that's part of the enjoyment.