Cafe Cogo

Cafe Cogo is a newly opened casual Chinese restaurant/HK-style cafe located in the Costco plaza. Similar to Kenny's Noodles, it offers a wide selection of baked rice/spaghetti, noodles, congee, fried rice, meat/vegetable dishes, snacks (deep fried chicken wings & fries), sandwiches and even dim sum! The place is huge! 

Shared a Cuttlefish & Seaweed Noodle and Shrimp Congee with my sister. She thought both were okay, but I thought the shrimp was too hard and not 'springy/bouncy' (爽). The noodles were alright but so disappointed that there were only a couple thin shreds of seaweed (where can I find noodles with actual sheets of seaweed?) The cuttlefish balls were dense and not 'springy/bouncy' (彈牙).

Dad's staple dish - Baked Pork Chop Rice. (I think $8.99, add $2 for soup and drink)
The rice was good and I like the onion strips but the sauce was too sour. [I think the best is Blue Ocean]

Overall not too bad but pricier than other places eg. $8-9 for just the rice vs. the same price at other places includes a drink and/or soup.

Pixel 8

After many years, revisited Pixel 8 for a quick and cheap ramen lunch ($4.99 + $0.75 cold drink) 

HK milk tea -  not bad. I like the cup - so cute and quite large portion too. 

 Deep Fried Pork Cutlet - crispy

Deep fried pork cutlet ramen - The ramen had raw mushrooms and corn on top with a salty clear soup base (rather than butter). As a meal, it was decent but it just didn't look or taste like ramen to me (maybe a different type?) It was thicker, starchier and not 'egg-y'.

Marcello's Pizzeria

Caprese Salad - tried a bit and I don't really like bocconcini cheese, not much flavour. 

 Pizza #5 with proscuitto, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes
- Crust is super thin
- Quite oily and I felt the cheese overpowered the other ingredients; couldn't taste the mushrooms (actually I prefer Dr. Oetker mushroom pizza...)
- Didn't like the big sundried tomatoes - chewy and salty on its own and the flavor didn't seep into the pizza. I like the thin, small slice ones more and thought that's what would be on the pizza.

 Penne A La Vodka with Pancetta and Leeks in Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce
- first time trying and I like that it was served piping hot
- However, couldn't taste the vodka in the sauce and after a while it was too salty for my taste (maybe from the pancetta)

 
Tiramisu
- Decent, I liked the cream
- sponge could've been soaked in more liquor for overall stronger flavor

The menu on the website seemed it had a lot of variety and we'd expected something along the lines of Alice Fazooli's, but it was located in a strip plaza across from Vaughan Mills, much more casual with regular tables (no booths) and really loud - louder than a Chinese restaurant. We had to wait just over an hour for a table - I think it's quite popular amongst the local Italian community. Although the bread was served cold, I did enjoy it with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Total bill came to $110 for 4 pastas, 1 pizza, 1 app, 1 tiramisu and 1 wine - relatively inexpensive for 5 people for Italian food, but I guess that's where the premium would come in for better taste and environment.

Nothing has really wowed me in a long time or maybe I just prefer Asian cuisine at local restaurants...

Blue Ocean Cafe 藍海茶餐廳

Malaysian curry beef brisket - One of my favorite curries in the area. Flavorful, good texture with peanuts and coconut milk, not too spicy. However, bigger pieces of beef were a bit tough and half of the pieces were fatty/tendon. 

 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 my favorite baked pork chop rice.

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. 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 Chicken Cutlet 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.

Unionville Arms Pub & Grille

 Chicken Quesadilla (with peppers, onion, cheese) ($12.99) with Sweet Potato Fries (+$2)

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.

Pasta of the Day - Fusilli with chicken, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes in white wine cream sauce 

($14.99). 

Had a bite of the al dente pasta and it was surprisingly not bad, or maybe because I love sundried tomato and everything tastes good with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

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.