Steak and Rice (Lunch combo)

 Hainanese Chicken Rice - Rice was plain but different with the crispy topping (dried almonds? garlic?). Chicken pieces were large, meaty and tender. Overall good, but no distinct Hainan flavor even with the sauces.
*07/25/2012 Today's Hainan Chicken Rice was much tastier than usual! Both the chicken and rice were oilier and more flavorful*

Baked Pork Chop Rice - I like that the sauce has a subtle tomato flavor without being too red, thick or heavy, and it included peas, carrots, corn and fresh tomatoes. The cheese was perfectly melted and pork was tender and pre-cut. Probably one of my favorite baked pork chop rice... although the texture of the rice was a bit 'chewy' and the pork is not as juicy as the restaurant next door.

With a wide menu selection of the standard cafe dishes along with Malaysian, Taiwanese and Japanese influences, Blue Ocean is a promising hk style cafe. The white/grey/black interior with blue accent wall gives it a bright and clean 'blue ocean' feel. Good taste and value for money. Dinner combos start from $7.99 and come with soup and drink.

*Update: Five months later, this cafe has become my weekly dinner spot. I wonder if they recognize me by now; they should give me VIP discount or free drink/soup. New items I tried: Japanese style Fried Chicken Rice with Egg (Donburi style) and Pork Bone Soup Taiwanese Squid Ball Noodle - both taste good but don't come in a combo. *


Japanese Style Fried Chicken Rice w. Egg - better than I expected! The chicken was hot, crispy outside,tender inside (was worried it would be hard and dry with little meat) Rice was good with the sauce and onions. The only thing is that it could use more egg - I could only see and taste remnants of fried egg when it should be more scrambled egg to mix in with the rice. $7.99, no combo.

Sweet potato fries are my favorite appetizer and they really ruined it - flat, thin, poorly fried, burnt. Very disappointed - the regular thick-cut fries looked much better. The quesadilla was quite bland.



Beautiful weather throughout Victoria Day weekend - perfect start to BBQ and patio season. Jake's was full so we opted for Unionville Arms. Had to wait at least half an hour for the food which overall wasn't too good, but I guess it's more of a place for socializing over beer.

I just found out from 18boot's blog that 百家小廚 has closed down :( I actually drove by the other day and noticed the sign was gone. I've only been there twice for their inexpensive and large lobster (波子龍蝦) and soup and wanted to go again soon, only to find out they are no longer in business.


Out of 金沙，油泡, maggi, and rice wine, my favorite was the 金沙 - just the right amount of coating without being overly salty and taking away from the sweetness of the lobster. I also really liked the coconut chicken soup. Now where can I find large marble sized pieces of lobster & tasty homemade MSG-free soup?

Green Onion, Chili and Pepper Chicken (椒鹽) (popcorn chicken again!) and Satay Beef (~$10.99?). The chicken was pretty good - large, tender pieces, spicier than I expected (black pepper). The beef was on the oily side, but sauce pretty tasty. Served with white rice.

Friends' first impressions: very purple & green. feels like a jewelry store. comfortable chairs. A few other people were there enjoying the free wifi.

Food: I never really eat at bubble tea places 'cause it's expected that the food isn't great, but that day I wanted to try popcorn chicken. I expected it to be all batter and no meat, but it wasn't. The pieces were quite big,  tender on the inside, slightly crispy outside and the portion was quite large (~12 pieces). The rice had a bit of meat on top, but I wish they put more 'cause eating the rice with no sauce was a bit bland. The rice combos also come with a side of corn and cucumbers. For $2 extra, I added a Malt Milk Tea - my usual go-to drink. It was good with soft bits of [oat flakes?] mixed in and not artificial tasting. So overall for ~$10 it's a quick meal of "average" quality expected from a bubble tea cafe, though other dishes that my friends had (rice + fish and noodles) were not good.