Gold Train Express II (火車頭牛肉粉): Fast and Satisfying

I often refer to restaurants by their location rather than their names. Sometimes it's because I can't read the Chinese name, difficult to pronounce, or simply just difficult to remember. Gold Train Express II is one of them. Actually, the front of the restaurant looks like this... (picture below) so their name is hard to identify from the noise if you're just walking pass. 

In fact, they abbreviated it to "GT Express II". But why would you not just refer to this place as "the beef noodle soup place" at the Sasamat stop of the B-line? It's super convenient as the B-line stops right infront of it (if you're coming from UBC. I've been here a few times for a quick and satisfying dinner as a studying break too. And you guessed it, it won't hurt your wallet either. What more can a student ask for?! 

Weird, I never noticed these TVs with different channels on them before. I seem to be noticing more things about a restaurant since I've started this blog and when I'm taking more pictures. 

Interior of Gold Train Express II

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One More Sushi

I had a work dinner at One More Sushi, located at the village of UBC's campus. I wouldn't say the restaurant is small, but my workplace had the entire restaurant booked so there wasn't anybody there who wasn't with us. 

Here, I got the bento box. Bento boxes are one of my favourite items to order because you get a bit of everything. 

Bento Box B with teriyaki beef, tempura, California roll, salad and oranges

Tempura from Bento Box B

Teriyaki beef

Salad

Rice is a huge part in the Japanese culture, even in their alcoholic beverages. Fermented rice is what's used to make sake. The sake was served warm. It was nice to try the sake, but not a fan of it.

Sake

While the California rolls and teriyaki beef with rice in the bento box was delicious, it was typical and mediocre. However, the green tea ice-cream amazed me. Usually I hesitate to get green tea ice-cream because I find that it's not like vanilla or chocolate ice-cream where it tastes good regardless of where it's from. With green tea ice-cream, I've had ones where I did not want more than a spoonful. I figured that since I was in a Japanese restaurant, I'd give the green tea ice-cream a try. This one was absolutely delicious and I wanted seconds.

Green tea ice-cream

Though there are a handful of places for sushi on campus, One More Sushi is a convenient and affordable restaurant for students who are looking to dine-out on campus.

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The Eatery: Funky Sushi

The Eatery is pretty well advertised in the UBC community as their ads appear in our AMS Insiders (free agenda for students). As well, if you show them your student card, you get 10% off. It is also located fairly close to UBC and can get there by just the 99 B-line. 

The Eatery is definitely funky and not your typical Japanese restaurant. Here's a page of their menu, "The Eatery Store" and whether they actually sell these "sushi makes miso horny" t-shirts, I'm not too sure. 

The Eatery Store

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McDonald's Cinnamon Melts

Yes, a post on the restaurant that's known worldwide - McDonald's. I love how McDonald's comes up with different items on their menu every now and then. When I was a kid, I would be ecstatic when we take a trip to McDonald's, nevermind the happy meals. I also vaguely remember having a birthday party at McDonald's in the red boxcar, or am I just imagining that because I don't see the red boxcar at McDonald's anymore. What I do remember really well is playing at Burger King's ball pit and playgrond.. my goodness, that was so much fun.

McDonald's Cinnamon Melts

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Jethro's Fine Grub

One of the first things I've heard about Jethro's, is their large and fluffy pancakes. As a fan of pancakes, I had to go and try them. We went there for brunch on probably the most popular brunch day - Sunday. The place is pretty small and it was packed as we were leaving and there was even a line up. I've heard that people wait over an hour for seats, so it's best to arrive there earlier as they don't take reservations. I guess we were quite early (10am) because thankfully, we were lucky as we were seated after only a few minutes. Jethro's is located on the corner of 16th and Dunbar Street.

The Rooster (buttermilk pancakes with a shot of
espresso and dark chocolate chips)

We ordered The Rooster (~$10) - buttermilk pancakes with a shot of espresso and dark chocolate chips, topped off with whipped cream. You have the option of getting chocolate gravy for an additional $1.50 but we decided not to after talking to the waitress and she told us that it's already quite chocolate-y with the chocolate chips. The dish came with only two pancakes, but they were huge. I have to say, they were very fluffy and filling - we couldn't even finish it. The whipped cream melted on top of the pancakes and I think that made it yummier.

Crab cake benedict (with hashbrown and toast)

We also got the house made crab cake benedict ($~11). Those were some yummy crab cakes! The rest of the food on the plate was pretty normal - poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, potatoes, and toast. The description on the menu says hash brown, but it's basically just potatoes. I thought they were a little plain, but other than that, I did enjoy this dish.

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In the Cup

In the Cup serves Korean food and they opened last month in the basement of the Student Union Building (SUB) of UBC, replacing the Mediterranean place. I've seen long line-ups at this place already and seems like they are doing pretty well. That isn't surprising as the SUB has a range of Japanese, Chinese, Italian (pasta), and Western food, but Korean. Before In the Cup opened, the only place on campus for Korean food would be at the village, which is not as convenient or fast to go to. 

Tteokbokki (in the cup) $3

Tteokbokki 떡볶이 (or dotpoki as I'd like to say) is basically rice cakes in special sauce that is hot and spicy. I fell in love with tteokbokki the first time I tried it. I think I really like chewy things. In the Cup sells tteokbokki for $3 in a cup or $5 in a bowl. I got cup-sized and I realized how convenient it was to travel (and eat) with it. The rice cakes were absolutely one of the bests I've ever had. They were warm, tender, and chewy - just the way I like it.

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"Man in the SUB" has left UBC

RIP Travers

Last week, the UBC community lost a familiar stranger. If you go to UBC, you would have noticed Travers/Trevor, who sat in the Student Union Building (SUB) almost all the time. I've even heard some refer to him as "Chairbo" or the "man in the SUB" but nobody really knew his story as only a handful spoke to him. He would be always sitting in the same chair and reading the newspaper, everyday. At one time, I wondered why a homeless man would be allowed to stay in the SUB basically all day. Then I wondered, why not? He wasn't disturbing anybody, he wasn't asking for money or food. It's probably because of his quietness that most students did not approach him.

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The Point Grill

I was staying at UBC pretty late so I decided to try The Point Grill on campus. The Point Grill is considered a one of the higher end restaurants on campus and it is located at the Marine Drive residence.  

Turkey wrap with soup ($13)
Salmon burger with fries ($13)  

From this meal, what stood out to me the most was the salmon burger - it was very good! The salmon was flavourful, yet still had the pure salmon taste and it was not dry at all. The turkey wrap was not exceptionally good, but still tasty. However, I did not enjoy the soup very much

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