Om Nom

This is a two for one review of Fatburger and Five Guys Burgers & Fries.

The reason,  these two chains have started to make their way into the Vancouver area and have a good following down in the States. Typically I stay away from fast food restaurants however after having an awesome time at the Fat Burger in Las Vegas I decided to try these two out.

First up, Fatburger.

The Fatburger in Vegas had an awesome vibe, great staff with amazing personality and real good burgers. Five stars all the way.

Unfortunately the one in Burnaby is a different story. Sure the burgers are good and taste the same as the Vegas version but the atmosphere was different.  It felt like an empty shell, the decor seemed too perfectly planned out and the staff did the whole song and dance of yelling out the order but sounded dead inside. Overall, disappointing and over priced.

After that experience I was hesitant to try Five Guys Burgers & Fries. How ever after hearing a lot of good things about the chain from Americans. I decided to hunt down one in Vancouver. With doubt in my mind and the expectation for this Canadian copy to fail to wow me I ventured off to the West Vancouver location.

Let’s just say, Five Guys won me over. The food was exactly as expected, a good sized greasy burger served up with amazing fries and free peanuts. The wait was a little long but worth it.

So, overall, a lesson learned and if In-N-Out ever comes up here I’ll gladly give them a try.

Locations visited:

Fatburger  - 4461 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby, BC‎

Five Guys Burgers & Fries – 2002 Park Royal, West Vancouver, BC

Every once in a while I crave breakfast it’s a rarity but how can I say no to the urge? So my search began for a good restaurant that offers a great value for what you get. Typically restaurants seem to overcharge for something as simple as pancakes and my search lead me to Jane’s Restaurant a small place located in the Burnaby Heights area.

Jane's restaurant

This place has style that has been unchanged since probably the first days of it’s existence. Red vinyl booths, wood paneled walls and black velvet paintings welcome you and for me brings back childhood memories of friend’s parent’s basements.

Jane’s is one of those hole in a wall type restaurants that seem to be popular with the local university crowd. Weekends fill the restaurant with people looking for a good meal that’s good quality cheap food and Jane’s deliver. For $3.95 ($1 more for another pancake) you can get two large, and I do mean really large, pancakes and for an additional $2 you can add either bacon or homemade potato chunks. The pancakes were surprisingly on par with IHOP so this makes for a filling meal that’s cheap and leaves you satisfied. They also offer a breakfast special that offers a typical meal of 2 eggs, homemade potatoes, toast and a choice of 3 sausages, 3 strips of bacon or a slice of ham for $3.50.

Jane’s is one of those family run places that also offers Chinese food which splits the menu into those two styles. Typical North American diner food takes care of the first half of the menu and Chinese food makes up the second half. If their breakfast is any indication of the rest of the menu this place is a clear winner (won ton soup was pretty good). I’ll definitely will be going back soon.

Jane’s Restaurant
4217 Hastings St Burnaby
(604) 293-1343

For those who don’t know Japadog personally let me introduce you. Started in 2005 by a mad scientist (or one smart businessman) Japadog took the streets of Vancouver by storm and quickly became the phenomenon it is today. The opening of it’s second cart on Burrard and Pender brings me personally one step closer to this yummy hot dog variation as it’s now dangerously close to work. To be more blunt, it’s a Japanese take on hot dogs and it’s stupidly yummy.

Now were do I start, the fact that you could spend 30 minutes in line during lunch for a hot dog? or the fact that if you so chose, you can have fish in a tube covered in wesabe mayo? and why should you spend six plus dollars on a hot dog?

The selection varies depending on what cart you venture to, and in this case I’ll be reviewing the Burrard and Pender location since I’ve had most of their hot dogs. Personally my favorite hot dog is the Korokke dog ($6.00). Served on top of the all beef sausage is mash potatoes, cabbage, Japanese mayo and Korokke sauce. Other than the traditional all beef sausage other menu items include different types of dogs.

Korokke Dog

The Okonomi dog ($6.25) is a Kurobuta pork sausage smothered in cabbage, Bonito flakes, Japanese mayo and Okonomi sauce. When I had this it was pretty good but they seemed to have been in a rush and the Kurobuta pork was kinda slimy in an non-cooked kind of way.

The Terimayo is their supposed top seller that breaks it down to the basics. Meat, bun, shredded seaweed with teriyaki and Japanese mayo.

The Sakana ($6.25) is a fish sausage (Gyoniku) topped with tuna, Japanese mayo, soy sauce, and mixed orangic leaves. Overall this was pretty tasty but for me it’s a try once kind of dog.

So that’s Japadog, friendly service, mile long lineups during lunch and a tasty alternative to Vancouver’s street meat scene. If you live in Vancouver and haven’t had a Japadog I’d highly suggest you try it right away. If you’re visiting the city put this on you’re must do list. That way when you watch a travel show featuring Vancouver you can then point at the TV and yell “I’ve been there!” in turn making your friends jealous and you will be the master of the universe and everything in it.

The Good:
Imaginative menu
Unique style
Friendly staff

The bad
Kind of pricey
The lineups at lunch

Japadog
Burrard and Pender Vancouver BC
www.japadog.com

The Gilmore Restaurant in Burnaby is one of those places that has been around for a very long time and probably has seen it’s share of better days in the past.

Mushroom Burger at The Gilmore Restaurant

Run and staffed by the owners it’s the type of restaurant that you can go to for a quick cheap meal and walk away satisfied.

So how could I resist when I walked by and saw that one of the lunch specials was a mushroom burger with fries and soup or salad for $5.25?

The soup, Clam Chowder, was not much to talk about but I wasn’t expecting so. The hamburger however was surprising. Made by hand the patty was quite large, the mushrooms were a nice thick cut and the bun was nicely grilled w/ some butter to make it crunchy.

Other than the specials the menu is littered with additions that have made the cut as time goes one. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, Chinese food and random other goodies make up the menu.

Overall, you can’t go wrong, this place has been around forever so you know they’re doing something right.

The Good:
Cheap prices
Good quality food.

The Bad:
The restaurant is showing it’s age

Gilmore Restaurant
4015 Hastings Street Burnaby BC
(604) 294-1044