Enoch "SpeedyE" L.'s Profile

I've been my share of sushi buffets and Blue Fin's selection is mediocre at best.  They only have about 4 different rolls and 5 different sushi at any given time.  When they ran out of Salmon sushi they took their time in refilling it.  I would know because I was sitting right in front of the sushi portion of the buffet.  The service was also pretty spotty.  Our waiter disappeared for a good 15 minutes while I was trying to find someone to refill my Coke.  I asked another waitress and she said sure but promptly forgot. Finally someone from the front desk offered to refill it.  Blue Fin was also incredibly busy and crowded.  Took us about 25 minutes to get a table for 2.  Not worth the wait in my opinion.

Wanted to try this place out because I love a good bowl of noodles.  I ordered the mushroom stroganoff and a side of the thai basil soup.  My coworkers ordered a few of the other menu items and we were all left wanting more.  All the dishes seemed to be made for speed and ease of cooking rather than quality food.  The meat was a bit suspicious looking, both the chicken and the beef.  Overall you're left wondering how a good concept got lost in the execution of the restaurant.

Vert's is kinda like a Chipotle for Kebap's.  They have Chicken or Lamb/Beef, they have your choice of veggies and sauces.  The outcome is pretty decent and tasty.  For around $6.99 they stuff your Kebap with a decent amount of everything you ask for.  I didn't even need chips to feel full.  Another plus is they give you 10% off if you have a GoLocal card.

Stopped by here to pick up some sandwiches and they were delicious!  It has a neighborhood grocery/deli feel to the place which is quite endearing.  We got the Procuitto sandwich and also the meatball sandwich.  It took a bit to make but you could tell each sandwich was made with care and attention.  If you're in the area, definitely give this place a try!

Been here twice and both times were solid.  The first time I had the mushroom rice and was blown away.  The rice was cooked perfectly with the fragrance of the mushroom there as well.  2nd time around they had run out and I was disappointed but it let me try the pork belly and rice which was equally as good.  Only complaint I have is the price.  If it were $1-$2 less I think it'd be more on par with other food trailers.  Still worth a trip.

I've been looking for a good sushi place that's a bit cheaper than uchi/uchiko but still good quality and service.  After one visit to Komé, I can say my search has ended!  Started off with some sushi and you could tell the quality and freshness was there from the first bite of fatty salmon.  We ordered two rolls and enjoyed those as well.  The yakatori sampler was very good but I've had better.  The magic for me came in the form of the sweet shrimp.  They took out the body of the prawn and served it over rice, the rest of the head and body was deep fried.  So delicious.  My fiancé is also a big cheese lover so we tried the deep fried camembert with honey and it did not disappoint.  It's pretty amazing that they had only been open for 2 days and we didn't have one dish below standard.  I'm looking forward to making many more trips to Komé in the future.

Tried this place on a whim when we decided we didn't want to cook dinner.  Talk about serendipity!  Who knew a place called Vino Vino had so much good food.  I sure didn't.  We ordered a few of the happy hour dishes which included a Romaine and chickpea salad, cheese plate, little neck clams with fennel sausage, and the Mussels and Fries.  Everything was solid but the Mussels and Fries just put it over the top.  The fries were cooked perfectly with a little aioli on top and the broth the mussels were cooked in was amazing!  The waitress read our minds when she saw we had left over broth and asked if we wanted more bread.  Now that is service!  We also ordered the $5 waygu beef slider which was equally as good but not part of the Happy Hour prices.  We will definitely be back to try more dishes at Vino Vino.

I came here on a living social deal that gave me a night's stay at the hotel and spa credit at SpaTerre. I made a reservation for the Swedish deep tissue massage and it was fantastic. The masseuse did a full body massage which was probably one of the better massages I've ever had. Without the Spa credit, an hour massage cost $110 and they charge an automatic 20% gratuity on top of that. This would've been a bit pricey without the credit so keep that in mind.

The Spa itself is newer than the buildings around it which translates to nicer facilities. After the massage I took a shower in the Men's locker room which has full body shower heads with 8 nozzles pointing at you. It took me a while to tinker with the settings to get it just right but after that, it was amazing!

They also serve you complimentary wine, champagne or water during your stay which was a nice touch. Comfortable couches and wall mounted HDTV's are also nice after a long massage.

I'm really happy there's a legit shaved ice place in Austin now.  Coco's has shaved ice but not with fresh fruit and ice-cream like Yaya's does.  They're also really generous with the condensed milk which makes the shaved iced that much better.  

I also tried the Pho from Yaya's which was ok.  It's better than Pho on the Drag but not as good as Pho Danh up north.  My girlfriend had the wonton noodle soup with bbq pork.  This is a very cantonese soup noodle that I grew up eating. This one from Yaya's didn't really have the traditional taste of a regular wonton noodle soup but it was still good. The noodles were cooked really well but the broth was a bit too sweet. The egg rolls we had were really good and pipping hot.

Definitely try out YaYa's shaved ice on a hot summer day, it'll hit the spot.

Oh Hilton Vancouver, where do I start?  I reserved a 3 night stay here on http://Hotels.com which recharged my credit card right after I made the reservation.  Fast forward to 2 months later when I check-in at around 11pm.  I could immediately tell the front desk receptionist was nervous when I started talking to him.  He notified me that they had overbooked their rooms for the night and that they had put me up in another Hotel called the Heathman lodge.  Huh?  I had just gotten off the plane from a 6 hour trip and all I wanted to do was shower and crash.  Now they wanted me to drive an additional 15 minutes to the Heathman because they overbooked the hotel?  

I asked for the manager and when he came out he was very calm but not very friendly or helpful.  He said that 3rd party booking sites will sometimes overbook their hotel at which point they have to offload people to other hotels.  They said they would pay for the night at the Heathman and then gladly take my money for the next 2 nights at the Hilton.  After some more discussion and arguing I had them give me another free night at the Hilton and upgrade me to a suite for the next two nights.

My beef is not with the outcome of it all.  I'm quite happy with what I ended up getting and my eventual stay at the Hilton.  I'm more annoyed that I had to argue my way into getting it instead of feeling like they wanted to remedy the situation and take care of me as a guest. Show owner comment »