Neighbour's Restaurant

We've got another food adventure inspired by John Catucci from You Gotta Eat Here on the Food Network. Michael and I went to Neighbour's Restaurant Pizza and Pasta House with my fabulous aunt, located on 6493 Victoria Drive in Vancouver.

The inside is dimly lit and blooms a cozy feel

I have a childhood friend who lives really close to the restaurant, so if she is reading this I wanted to say hello. When Michael and I walked in to the restaurant it seemed really cozy, like a family style restaurant. I liked that there were pictures of John Catucci around the establishment and on their menu.

The menu at Neighbours is really big, there is so much to choose, from pasta, pizza, a combination, or Greek food. It was such a big menu that the three of us, Michael, my aunt and myself, couldn't decided what we wanted and took a good 15 to 20 minutes to decide what we wanted.

Their most popular dish - baked lasagna

I initially thought I was going to order the pizza because that's what John got, but everything changed when I saw the menu. After a long time deciding our linner (a combination of lunch and dinner), I got the baked lasagna ($14.95) since the menu claimed it's their most popular dish. It tasted a lot more cheesier then an average lasagna, that was a major plus, and the meat sauce with the lasagna wasn't overwhelming, so everything went really well with the combination. I would describe the food as smooth and very flavorful from the gooey cheese and the light taste of the meat.

Chicken Mediterranean Dish

Michael got the Chicken Mediterranean Dish ($15.95), and thought the chicken was nice but it was a little over seasoned and a little salty for his liking. But there were lots of the chicken so that was nice. He said the mushrooms in the chicken was a nice combination as well and that the rice pilaf on the side was very enjoyable - good flavour and mixing well with the chicken. The salad was nice and light, with sprinklings of cheese giving a little creamy taste.

Canadian bacon and pepperoni pizza

My aunt got the Canadian bacon and pepperoni ($19.95) pizza, and was ever so nice to let me try. I thought the pizza was really good, meaty and cheesy, and the pizza overall was light so it didn't feel too overwhelming after finishing. I usually leave the crust behind when I finish a slice, but the Neighbour's crust was light and it was far from being dry.

Overall, Michael and I really liked Neighbour's and we wouldn't mind going back to try some more different selections on the menu. For the price that we paid, the amount of food we were served is outrageous. We left the restaurant really full and we can't wait to go back for more food.

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Society

I never gave much thought about Society. Maybe because I always get the same thing when I go, but it was a friend's birthday and I was out to celebrate with her, and of course Michael came with me as well to back me up.

Welcome to Society restaurant - at 1257 Hamilton St in the the trendy part of Vancouver's Yaletown. I always get the poutine and tomato soup when I go and never thought their menu was special, but then I wasn't exactly making a lot of choices on their menu. The inside of the restaurant is actually very chic, dark with pink chandeliers. The theme of the restaurant is sort of "finding your inner kid" with an adult twist. So some of their alcoholic drinks have spiked milkshakes and cotton candy with their martinis.

I originally thought I would get a small salad and perhaps share an appetizer with Michael, but I ended up getting really hungry and ended with more then just a salad. Michael on the other hand wasn't that hungry because he had a late lunch. So I was a little sad that he wouldn't be munching crazy.

We ended up sharing the appetizer platter

I have always seen their Signature Appetizer Platter but never tried it. So tonight was the night and Michael is the lucky one who gets to share this platter with me. The appetizer platter ($15 per person) consists of two little dishes of poutine (my favourite), mini cheese pizza, chicken wings, mac and cheese balls, and kobe beef taquitos. It came in such a big platter and everything was served in a shareable manner. The poutine was delicious and the french fries crispy. The cheese curds were squishy and the gravy was delightful, thick and very flavourful.

The pizza was nice and cheesy and soft, I liked that I didn't have to deal with any crust, so that was nice. The chicken wings was crispy and very moist. I think that was Michael's favourite part of the platter. I really liked the hot sauce that came with the wings, enough heat for the chicken wings. Both Michael and I thought the mac and cheese balls were fun to eat, it was something different and fun to the classic mac and cheese. The pasta was fried in to little balls, you would think their meatballs, but bits of macaroni would ooze out, As for the taquitos, I originally thought it was going to be dry, maybe from all the terrible memories of school cafeteria taquitos. But the society version was really good, the beef was very moist and the tortilla was wrapped very nicely. The sour cream on top gave it a nice creamy texture and flavour to everything.

Tomato soup

Now moving away from the appetizer platter, I had to get my tomato soup ($8.95), it tasted more creamy then the soup from Burgoo, so I assume it's not as vegan friendly. The soup arrived with two little grilled cheese sandwiches which I shared with Michael, Michael and I really liked that the sandwiches were small and it was convenient to dunk into the bowl.

Fried calamari

Lastly, we got fried calamari with smoked red pepper aioli ($11.95). Michael thought it wasn't worth the price for the portion that served to us. But we both thought the calamari was very tasty,  it wasn't fried to the extreme that the squid loses it's texture and taste. The aioli was also nice and creamy. To wash everything down I got a Peach Fuzz which is a little carbonated martini with peach liqueur and Michael got a beer, he didn't like his beer that much because he thought the cup was small.

I can honestly say that I was so hungry that I didn't take notice from what I was eating, I was eating everything in sight. But my thoughts on Society hasn't changed. It's a nice place to go for casual drinks with friends but it's not somewhere I would go with Michael.

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Torarenbo

There are so many sushi places in Richmond so it's really hard to say which one is our favourite. Michael and I were on a bit of a time crunch over the weekend and wanted to grab a bite before a comedy show.    

We randomly picked Torarenbo, located at 8191 Park Rd, I've been here before with my parents but Michael wanted to go to try out their barbecued fish.

Spicy tuna roll

We shared everything that we ordered, except for my spicy tuna roll ($4.25). Michael doesn't like raw spicy anything. Whenever I'm at a casual sushi restaurant I always need to get spicy tuna roll, I don't know why, it's just a routine of mine. If my best friend is reading this, I think she would understand and give me a hand hug to that. I thought the spicy tuna roll was pretty mediocre just like any other spicy tuna roll I have had in Richmond. But the tuna tasted fresh and I loved the spicy kick it gives.

Gyoza

 
Michael and I shared gyozas ($4.50), yum, one of my favourite. Usually when I am at casual Japanese restaurant, the gyozas are pretty simple. But surprisingly the gyozas from Torarenbo were really good, once you bite in to it there are juices from the pork that comes out. It was really flavourful and the vinegar on the side made everything else more perfect.

Angry Bird roll

I love sushi rolls that restaurants create on their own, I think it's original and the restaurant adds some fun in to the sushi concept. Michael and I ordered one of the Torarenbo signature rolls, The Angry Bird roll ($6.85).  This caught my eye from the menu was because none other then it's one of Michael's favourite game on his phone. It contains chicken, we can see why the bird is angry, served with spicy mayo, seaweed, and tempura flakes. I thought the roll was good but the spicy mayo did nothing, it tasted like regular mayonnaise. I was hoping to have a little more heat. But the crunch from the seaweed and flakes were nice.

Zaru Soba

Michael ordered Zaru Soba ($5.95) one of his favourites, it was presented in a much nicer way then we have seen from other  casual sushi restaurants, it had the garnishes such as onions, sesame seed, and a quail egg on the side to mix it all in with the soy sauce to dip with the noodles.  I thought even with such elaborate garnish on the side, the noodles and the soy sauce together was very bland, the soy sauce and everything else did nothing. But I did think that the buckwheat noodles were cooked nicely and didn't taste chewy.

Barbequed Saba

Finally the barbecue "Saba" mackerel ($8.25) that Michael has been hearing about. He thought it tasted fabulous and that the meat was very easy to chew, smooth, and juicy. Myself on the other hand, thought it tasted okay. I wouldn't say it tasted as smooth as Michael have thought. I think I have had better barbecue fishes else where.

Overall my opinion on Torarenbo has not changed from the first time I was there. Since today Michael and I were on such a rush, I didn't really mind where we ate. Torarenbo to me is just a casual sushi restaurant in Richmond that serves mediocre Japanese food, a good place to make a pit stop if you have a sushi crave kicking in. If I wanted really good sushi this isn't place for me.

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