Cucumber Cup Gazpacho Shots

 

Cucumber cup gazpacho

 

Sorry, I have been terribly lazy of late! Seriously, what have I been doing? Nothing much. Besides work and watching anime and painting my Nausicaa model and eating a lot… nothing much at all. 

Perhaps it’s time for an end of summer post… I realize I have an affinity for cold foods. It’s not that I dislike hot food though, I just don’t shun cold things… I’m a warm (perhaps hot?) blooded human, after all. For some weird reason, things that should be eaten hot I often just eat at 4C. ie. from the fridge. Or even lower. I like salads, and cold, “liquid salads” are certainly great. OK, probably not to the point of the whole fadish veggie smoothies stuff, I’m talking about gazpachos! It is the end of summer, so there is not much chance left for this cold soup. 

I made this simple gazpacho from 1 tomato, 1/2 sweet Vadalia onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1t balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. I used 1 long English cucumber and threw in the scoopings that came out of the cucumber cups. Just mix everything to a consistency of your liking in a food processor, and serve. I had quite a fun time with the cucumber cups. But you can just serve in an old fashion bowl, of course!

La Boheme Crepes @ Kitsilano Farmer’s Market

 

La Forestiere

This is what I came for! Well, mostly, anyway, and the produce too. More about this later…

Summer weekends means farmer’s markets. I went to the one in Kits the past weekend. It was pretty small, compared to both Steveston and Ladner, but it had more produce in terms of quantity and variety… It could be just the particular vendors present, or the time of the season (even 2 weeks could mean the end of a certain produce). 

Kitsilano Farmer's Market

 
There were a lot of different types of fresh vegetables and a lot of apricots and many different kinds of cherries. Lineups were long for most of the veggie places, especially this one tomato stand. The only bread place for this bread fanatic was A Bread Apart, who, for 3 markets in a row, had out that fruity cranberry loaf. I found squash blossoms again, and I got some but they were a bit more expensive (50 cents each) than the farm that sold them at the Steveston market (6 for 50 cents). The ones with the zucchini attached were for a buck each. Yikes.
 

Apricots

 

Greens

 

Of course, the best, BEST thing about this Kits Farmer’s Market is La Boheme Creperie:
 

La Boheme

They make these awesome buckwheat crepes in their little purple van, in many many savoury and sweet varieties. The one I tried and pictured above was the Forestiere – a cheese, mushroom and spinach crepe. It was sooooo good, and the lineups get a little long here too. Basically everybody I saw at the market was having their giant crepes. I think they also visit the Trout Lake farmer’s market, anyway, definitely check them out, they are awesome.

Taverna Gorgona – A little Greek paradise

 

Taverna Gorgona

 

We came to Taverna Gorgona for lunch after strolling around the Ladner Farmer’s Market. It was Sunday noon, hot, and the patio looked pretty full from the outside. W had suggested we grab a quick sandwich and coffee and find somewhere to sit and eat outside, but I had my eye set on the Taverna. Luckily, right after arriving we were seated by the friendly owner Niko in the rear patio (the other one faces the main street). The rear patio is cozy, there are large umbrellas for shade and greenery surrounds, and there is even a little gazebo in the corner that can seat a small party. Like a little Mediterranean paradise!

 

Taverna Patio

 

 

The service is very friendly and fast here. There are a lot of servers running around. We were told that because I had made a little request for my meal (no cheese, sub rice for salad) that the food would arrive a little slower – but it was not slow at all. Actually, compared to many restaurants (save for Chinese noodle houses maybe  hahaha), the food came really fast. Every table gets a basket of pita bread, which is drizzled with what appears to be herbed butter. Their pita is not like typical pita … It’s thick and fluffly, rather like bread.  It was good.

 

Taverna Pita

 

Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve had lamb (lamb being my favorite in the red meat category even though I don’t really eat red meat.) I had already ate half of Fieldstone’s Cranberry and Currant loaf by this time, but I was still feeling incredibly indulgent :-D. Enough to consider getting one of their lamb gyro’s, but seeing how gigantic they are I was glad I didn’t. I decided on souvlaki, and since W ordered the chicken, I went for the lamb souvlaki. Gawd… was it ever delicious lamb! 

 

lamb souvlaki

 

 

This was W’s chicken souvlaki – chicken grilled to perfection! All their souvlaki’s come with rice, potato, tzatziki and Greek salad.

 

Chicken Souvlaki

 

Beer and Calamari:

Calamari

 

The inside is quite festively decorated, there is some skylight too so if you don’t end up out on the patio you could still get a bit of sun:

Inside the Taverna

 

This place is both casual and classy. It’s like you can totally get your fried squid, fried oysters, whatever, with your beer, and sit and relax, or you can come in at night, get a bottle of fancy wine, have a lamb rack. Cheers!

Beer!!

 

Taverna Gorgona

5047 48 Ave, Delta

604 946 9111

Steveston Series IV: Sockeye City Grill

view of the pier from Sockeye City

Sockeye City Grill is one of the most popular restaurants at the Steveston pier. Especially on sunny days, their patio will be packed, and there will be lineups. Their fish and chips platters are always giant and look pretty good, but I prefer the other seafood dishes. 

 

crabcake

 

For shellfish fanatics, both their Fisherman’s pot and seafood paella offer a variety of shellfish and other seafood, and I find both are quite substantial and can feed 2-3 (especially the paella- what they say serves two can probably serve 4):

Fisherman's Pot

 

As for the other seafood, their fish is pretty ok, and you often get a big slab of fish. The pesto that comes with this halibut is really nicely done (I had ordered on the side):

Halibut

 

 This is the wild salmon salad… Although I like their salmon, I find that the salad underneath is a bit plain:

 

Service is OK here, nothing out of the ordinary. They are happy to accommodate special requests on menu items. House bread comes with dinner, but it is just plain white bread. If you don’t mind sitting inside you don’t usually have to wait. But on a sunny day it’s worth waiting a bit to get a seat outside and watch the all goings on at the pier and out on the water. I’d say the seafood paella is one of the best dishes on the menu (just because I’m not at all a big fan of fish and chips). 

 

Sockeye City Grill

108-3800 Bayview Street, at the Steveston Pier

604-275-4347

Father’s Day Brunch @ the Fish House, Stanley Park

 So, June I had been uber lazy with blogging. Probably because I was too busy eating. Seriously, I think I gained nearly 10 pounds in the past month. Anyway, so this Father’s Day post is 3 weeks late, but what the heck. Anyway, I had wanted to make a reservation at the Sequoia Grill at Stanley Park for Father’s Day. Unfortunately, I was a little late and they were fully booked. I decided instead to try the other Stanley Park restaurant, the Fish House, which I have never been to before. 

Fish House

 

I came here with my parents and my aunt and uncle. It was a really nice beautiful sunny Sunday, and pretty much the entire city was out, rollerblading, biking, walking, suntanning at the beach. Yeah, downtown and Stanley Park were crazy busy. We got to the Fish House and since we had a reservation, were seated right away. There was a couple in front of us without a reservation and I think they were told to wait; the restaurant was pretty packed with families big and small (many were tourists). It’s pretty nice inside, high ceilings, spacious dining rooms with large doors and windows, beautifully lit with sunlight, nice patio. 

I liked their menu – their fresh sheet menu has a LOT of different fish (probably the most I have seen) that I would have liked to try except it was a lunch thing and I wasn’t too hungry, so I didn’t order from there.

Fish House menu

Everybody gets a complimentary pastry to start. Their pastries are made in house, and carried out in a giant basket and you get to pick from a muffin, croissant, or scone. I tried a bit of everything – the croissant was the best, flakey and warm and not too buttery. The blueberry scone was great too, especially with the blueberry preserves that was served with the pastries. The apple muffin was the least exciting.

croissant

 

muffin

scone

 

Hmmm…. Flakey fresh croissant:

 

Unfortunately there are only a few pics of the rest to post, as everybody had the warm salmon salad, which was garnished with some daikon, tomato and chives. It was a good salad although nothing too spectacular. You can upgrade to from pink to sockeye for a few bucks more.
 

salmon salad

 

Except for my dad who always picks burgers (doesn’t really matter where he goes, it’s always burgers. And fries. And occassionally, a boring Caesar salad. You guessed it, he was also the one who chose the boring muffin):
 

burger

 

Our server was a most proper and warm guy who was really pampering. The service is not speedy at all, but that is to be expected – you’re there to relax and enjoy your brunch. And they get everything right. We ordered a few coffees and I an Americano and Dad got some Merlot and all of that was pretty good. I was the one who paid (of course!) and the bill only came out to be about 20 bucks per person. 

Overall, quality and service and the atmosphere here is great. I would have loved to try some of their fresh fish, so maybe next time. If I had the choice though, and was in the neighborhood, I would definitely pick the Sequoia Grill over the Fish House, any day. Both places are excellent. The Fish House probably has a better, larger fish menu, and is more “fine-dining”, but personally I like sitting at the Sequoia Grill, and I find they put more effort into making and presenting their food. That’s just me.

 

The Fish House in Stanley Park

8901 Stanley Park Drive, Vancouver

Tel: 604-681-7275

Lunch @ the Cannery Seafood House

The Cannery Seafood House is really one of my favorite restaurants in the city. As you know, they made headlines a little while back because they will be moving from their current (hard to access) site at the Port of Vancouver in 2010. I really hope they will stay in town and end up somewhere … deserving. 

I’ve been backlogged for posts in May (busy busy times), but I really need to make this one before May is over. I took my Mom here for a belated Mother’s Day lunch 2 weeks ago, since she ended up sick on the actual day when I booked for the Cannery’s annual Mom’s Day brunch. It was the perfect day: blue skies, warm, just beautiful. Even sexy Dodge convertibles came out:

I don’t know where the Cannery Queen can bask outside like this elsewhere in the city after they move:

And little things like their own herb garden at the back- I just hope they find a nice, new, happy home after 2010:

And the view of the North Shore from inside…:

 

Mom wondered whether they could move the entire lodge when they relocate. Would be a shame to have to tear down this cozy little house:

Enough about views, because it’s making me sad that they will have to move. Let’s get to the food! Oooh, the famous lobster oil (and bread that just SOAKS it up like heaven!). This is truly great oil – so fragrant, with this sweet sea aroma…. I have never really had other oil quite like it:

 

Hmmm, bread … thick slices of bread…. thick slices of BREAD AND LOBSTER OIL!

Menu of the day:

Mom ordered the seafood salad, which has A LOT of seafood. More seafood than salad, speaks for itself:

I had the snapper, simply poached. It was really fresh, and sweet:

 

Of course, we didn’t leave empty handed. 20 bucks goes to a bottle of lobster oil (maybe I should have ordered a box?):

 

The Cannery Seafood House

2205 Commissioner Street
Vancouver, BC 

Tel : (604) 254-9606 

American Grille @ The Marriott Vancouver Airport

The American Grille is located at the Marriott in downtown Richmond. Went for a weekend brunch. Pretty typical hotel dining-fare: Nothing fancy, but not terrible. Their menu has decent choices and also quite a few healthy options (low cholesterol, low fat, low carb, vegetarian), which is nice.

Thai shrimp salad with mangos, good-sized shrimp, not actually spicy:

Mediterranean vegetable sandwich on ciabatta. I liked this- the bread was not bad, and the basil pesto was delicious:

Service was attentive, as expected at a hotel. There weren’t too too many people, but it wasn’t empty either. Partially open kitchen style – always interesting to see the chef (and sous chef) cooking it up. I may come back for dinner if I were in the neighbourhood, although I must admit that particular neighbourhood has too many yummy choices!

American Grille
Vancouver Airport Marriott Hotel
7571 Westminster Highway, Richmond
604 276 2112

The Naam

Went to The Naam for brunch. Actually I had wanted their lunch menu but because it was the weekend, noon was still too early for that. Too bad, their breakfast menu didn’t have what I was craving for (a big salad). Oh well.

There is a reason why The Naam is known as the best vegetarian restaurant in town is that it may never occur to non-vegetarians that they are actually eating at a vegetarian restaurant. There is a whole whack of interesting food here and you would never miss your meat. You might miss your bus, though, as the staff’s attitude is very laid back to say the least. You will have to accept the fact that you will be ignored at the door even if there are free tables, until somebody decides they are in the mood to serve you. Or that it can take quite a while for the kitchen to prepare something as simple as scrambled eggs and plain toast. Just accept it; at least they keep topping up your coffee. The coffee wasn’t awesome… I’d go for their nice looking shakes and smoothies. I like their toast though- nice, thick, and nutty. The food is creative but with a homey-style to it, portion sizes are good, and they’re also vegan friendly.

Farmer’s Omelet (with veggie sausage, veggies and cheese filling):

Scrambled Tofu:

The Naam is a great spot to spend a very lazy weekend morning. And no doubt, looking around you will see hippie Kitsilan-ites who have just rolled out of bed in their pajamas, enjoying their coffee and reading the paper. With all the wooden decor, servers in t shirts and sneakers, the little patio outside, the atmosphere here is fun, comfy, and kinda campy. They are also open 24/7. I still want my Gado salad.

–

The Naam – open 24 hrs, 7 days a week, live music every night

2742 West 4th Ave, Vancouver (in Kits, about a block east of MacDonald St)

Perfect Soup Day @ Burgoo

Burgoo makes the most comforting, big bowl soups in town. Every time I come here for soup I leave feeling warm and satisfied. W and I came for lunch on a cold, crispy fall day – in other words, perfect soup day. It was packed full but luckily we arrived just in time to get one of the high tables by the window.

I had the Straight Up Tomato soup with the Spinach salad that came with bacon, apple, and red onions. The soup was great, very rich, homey, and a very slight spiciness. I got an Americano as I needed the coffee, but their teas are actually nicer – served in colorful pots on slabs of thick wood.

W had the Butternut Squash (it was hearty and very herby), with the mixed greens dressed with beets, red onions, and goat’s cheese.

We both noted that the bread that comes with your meal is neither warm, nor toasted. I think it’s because toasted bread doesn’t soak up soup as well as untoasted. Nevertheless, both W and I would have preferred toasted. Though it was still pretty good soup-soaking bread.

 These soup+salad lunches are not a bad deal at 11 bucks each. You get a giant bowl of soup and overall a very comforting, filling meal. They also have soup + sandwich deals for a few bucks more. It gets very busy here and often you have to wait in line (because the W10th location does not take reservations of any size!), but you could always grab their take out. The service is pretty good, and the woodiness in the decor makes the atmosphere very cozy.

–

Burgoo

4434 West 10th Ave, Vancouver

Also @ 3 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver, and sells retail soups at Meinhardts and other places.

Brit Flavor: Tea, jam and cookies

We live in a time when we can – without ever changing out of our PJs – easily order some authentic food item from overseas and be eating it the very next day. But there is nothing like walking down the aisles of a store, seeing and touching things, especially if those things are imported and invoke some kind of nostalgia.

Growing up in Hong Kong when it was still a British colony, you are not exposed to a lot of traditional English cuisine per se, but you could buy the many imported packaged goods on the market. Especially things like biscuits, candies, chocolate, other confectioneries. For me it was Fruitips, Polo mints, and the original Lucozade in the glass bottles (otherwise I probably had more Asian junkfood). I think my mother would reminisce about things like McVities digestives.

Of course, McVities and Fruitips are not foreign to our supermarkets. But if you grew up on this continent you’d probably only have seen them in one light – North American packaging. A far cry from their original incarnations – which when encountered invoke much nostalgia for the non-indigenous folks. One place you can experience this kind of kid-in-a-yesteryear-candy-store-nostaglia is at the British Home Store in Steveston. It’s a little shop, but they have tons of British goodies – cookies, teas, spreads, chocolate, candy- all in their original packaging, and freshly made treats like pies and stuff. Bought some goodies, some of my mother’s favorites (I think):

 Essex apricot jam from Tiptree.

Fox’s Ginger Snaps.

Irish Breakfast tea from Taylors of Harrogate. (Irish Breakfast is not quite the same as English Breakfast, it has a slightly stronger flavor but is similarly comforting. It is not easy to find. They have them at The Secret Garden tea house, but as loose tea leaves and not bags. Twinnings sell boxes of IB tea bags, but no store I have been to have had them in stock.)

What is really a shame is that the city has decided to let developers tear down years of history on this block of Steveston Village full of its little speciality stores and heritage buildings, including the British Home Store, to build condominiums. That’s right, this very landmark Steveston block that has stood in Richmond since what seems like the beginning of time. Luckily the British Home Store will be relocating elsewhere in Steveston, but still, the whole thing angers me.

–

British Home Store

3986 Moncton Street (corner of Moncton and No. 1 Rd), Steveston Village, Richmond

Felicos – Redux and Greekier.

 

Felicos Restaurant closed for months this summer and went through a major renovation. They re-opened earlier this month. They’ve looked busy ever since their reopening, but waited a little while so they can get everything going before coming. Very posh and more Greek-looking than before. Pillars seem to be a theme. They now have a hip, bluish lounge/cocktail area to the left of the (grander) entrance, with a nice bar and couches. Off to the right are two dining rooms separated by a wall. The first room is small (I thought looked rather cramped); the second is larger, quite cozy, with a big fireplace.

Main dining room

 

We came for mom’s birthday. Luckily we made a reservation and were seated straight away, because it was a super busy Saturday night, and there was a consistent big line up (and no parking). I noticed a couple who did not have a reservation waited probably an hour before getting seated.

Although the decor has changed, the menu hasn’t. But I’ve always found their menu to have a pretty large selection anyway: lamb, steaks, fish and shellfish, souvlaki, Greek appy’s, combo’s and platters… your typical Greek fare. They had a dinner special of lamb shank and stuffing but I chose the lamb chops. They were delish, four good size chops, but not as gamey as I like for lamb. Mom likes it better like this. I like that gamey smell more. Nonetheless, they were well cooked, medium rare, tender, juicy.

The Trio: Steak, stuffed prawns, and a lobster tail for mom:

Stuffed prawns for dad:

House bread was whole wheat pita. (Used to be just plain bread before, nice that they noticed they might require something more Greek at a Greek restaurant.)

No complaints about the food, it was satisfying and authentically Greek the way Felicos has always been, but not super food-gasmic. The service is neither terrible nor super attentive, although there are enough servers running around for everyone. I did find it a bit rude that they were moving tables around right behind me and I had to move, but it seemed like I was expected to, as nobody ever said an ‘excuse me’ or a ‘thank you’. It was a busy night, and unfortunately their eagerness to kick you out showed through a little too well. Overall, it’s the same Felicos food, the same Felicos people, but with the renos it’s a whole new dining experience. Whereas before I found the old Felicos atmosphere to be more family-style, now it’s more elegant and cool but still comfortable. If it was definitely worth a try before, it’s now even more so.

–

Felico’s Restaurant

8140 Leslie Rd, Richmond 

(Make reservations. Go early. Parking is quite limited and traffic around there is hectic.)

Autumn @ Stanley Park | Sequoia Grill

Autumn and totems @ Stanley Park

Beautiful, dry, autumn weekends are rare in Vancouver. So when it arrived we went down to Stanley Park for a walk and lunch. I haven’t been in the park for a long time now. In December 2006, a giant storm leveled 45 hectares of the park and knocked out 2 km of the Seawall, and you can really see the damage – a lot of cut trees, closed paths. Still, the park remains ever so beautiful on this day of autumn colors.

Enjoyed lunch at the Sequoia Grill (ie. the Stanley Park Teahouse pre-2004) at Ferguson Point, which has a great view of English Bay on the west side of the park.

View from Sequoia Grill

Their warm house bread was very savoury, with a thick, chewy crust. I think it was a kalamata olive bread. More special than your plain baguette, I guess. Their little pieces of butter had “butter” printed on it. Good to know it’s butter.

House bread

Stuffed mushrooms appy. More crab than shrimp. Nothing complicated, but like most of their dishes, some attention to detail.

 
Mushrooms stuffed with crab, shrimp and mascarpone

I (and pretty much everybody around me) had the Catch of the Day, which was Cedar plank wild Sockeye salmon with a maple glaze. The glaze went very well with the salmon, not overly sweet ot thick. The salmon moist and flavorful, but didn’t taste all that different from any old grilled Sockeye. I just couldn’t taste a significant Cedar-ness or smokiness to it. Oh well.

Cedar Plank Wild Sockeye, Maple Glaze

The grilled steak is on their regular brunch menu. I thought the eggs were perfectly done (to me, anyway): Golden and soft yolks that are not runny.

Grilled Steak, red wine jus

The service here is prompt, pretty decent; the restaurant was over half full for weekend brunch. The nicest thing about Sequoia is not the food, but sitting in their conservatory-style sun room/patio enclosure, dining under the sun and looking out onto the water on a day like this. Two little irksome things: Footsteps are very loud and rumbly in the patio/observatory, and gets a little bothersome when all the servers are running around. And you’d figure at a restaurant like this they would use nice, presentable plates, not worn out ones that look like they came from a stack at a buffet place. Did the Sequoia group not bother with buying some new plates when they took over the Teahouse in 2004?

–

Sequoia Grill

Ferguson Point, Stanley Park, Vancouver.

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving … Hen!

In the midst of some long-weekend gaming (slowly making my way through Metroid), I made Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving is an adopted holiday for us (I guess the Chinese equivalent of a harvest festival would be Mid-Autumn Festival), and since it would take us forever to finish a turkey (we’d still be eating the same one for Christmas), we stray a little from tradition: We usually have chicken. (It’s still poultry!) So tonight, instead of stuffed turkey and pumpkin, it’s stuffed Cornish hens and sweet potatos. Two flavors of hens: a cumin-paprika dry rub, and a sweet orange-soy marinade. Not bad, but I probably should have taken a break from all that gaming earlier to marinate the chickens overnight!

Stonegrill

New York steak, Stonegrill

Few days ago we went to the Stonegrill for lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect as they have a 180° view of False Creek and Granville Island:

 

They had really good, piping hot sourdough rolls. (But it is not always sourdough. Sometimes you just get a French roll.) There wasn’t much in the basket, but maybe that was a good thing as I can easily eat several baskets of warm, sourdough bread.

For the set lunches, you can either pick the mixed green salad with the Balsamic vinaigrette (which is presented thoughtfully but tastes just like a salad would):

… or the soup of the day – in this case cream of mushroom (which was described as “more herby than mushroomy”):

 

The bread and appies came quickly, but it takes them a long time to prepare and roll out your raw food on the hot slabs of stone, even though the restaurant is quite empty. Since they have all the stones already preheated and kept hot in an oven, maybe it just takes their chef a long time to chop and cook the veggies and potatos that came with the food. Or maybe they just want you to really soak in the view considering the food is overpriced. (A glass of red wine also costs a few bucks more than the same thing elsewhere.)

Anyway, so they finally rolled out the food on a trolley: two little cubes of meat – the New York steak and the Ahi tuna, and a giant Portabello mushroom (this is actually on their appy menu). After receiving them at our table, all three had to be promptly removed from the hot slabs of stone at the risk of overcooking… even if the tuna was sitting on two slices of lemon. That tuna was really good, cooked rare and seared just slightly on the outside… by ourselves, of course. The Portabello was nice, although it is not something I cannot reproduce in my own kitchen with a hot skillet, as they literally just give you raw food on a stone, not prepared with any flavoring, sauces, or spices. Only a bit of salt. The dishes come with their own dipping sauce. (Soy-based for most, creamy ones if you order the shell fish or salmon.) If I were them I would do something hot pot style and put out an array of sauces so people can cook as well as flavor their own dishes. But maybe that will bump up the price even more. Well, at least it is a healthy, personalized, and interesting way to enjoy food… if you don’t own any kitchen utensils.

 

Ahi tuna

 

Portabello

 

The Stonegrill

1661 Granville Street, Vancouver.

A sunny day down at the Wharf

Had lunch with Mom today, it was sunny out and we drove down to Steveston, walked around, and had lunch at the Charthouse.

Whether you like their food or not, no other restaurant has a better view of Steveston’s little Fisherman’s Wharf than the Charthouse, especially on a beautiful September day like this:

 There are plenty of window seats, so don’t let them seat you elsewhere. The food was pretty good, and the service was excellent – our waitress was a lady with golden blond hair who was genuinely attentive and very smiley. She is probably the epitome of the perfect waitress. Anyway, Mother really enjoyed the chicken salad croissant sandwich from their special lunch menu. The croissant was pretty big; I don’t think she finished the whole thing:

I had the crab louis (which mom also really liked):

A refreshing salad, with a lot of fresh – not canned – crab. A variety of veggies and half an egg.  (Why half? I don’t know.) I love asparagus and I only wish there was more – asparagus has been expensive lately so I haven’t been buying any, and I’ve been really craving it.

The bill came out to be under 40bucks (including a generous tip) which isn’t bad. One thing to note is, unlike most restaurants, pop at the Charthouse is not bottomless. I don’t know if this is important to a lot of people, but even if I don’t typically down several glasses of pop, bottomless is something I’ve come to expect when eating out, considering most places charge so much for a glass of pop.