Review #66 - Sunnyside Too

Sunnyside Too
Variety: Diner
Address: 1552 Bedford Highway
Date Visited: Monday, August 10, 2015
Orders: Monster Burger, Rise & Shine

Taste: 7 + 8 = 15/20
Portion Size: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Presentation: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Value: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Service: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Bonus: -
Minus: 1
Final Grade: 78% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: The Sunnyside (and Sunnyside Too) is one of those places we've driven past dozens if not hundreds of times over the years but have never visited. For whatever reason, we kind of assumed it was pretty much the same as Smitty's. We decided to give it a shot, and guess what: It looks like a Smitty's, feels like a Smitty's, the menu is just like Smitty's, the clientele looks like what you'd find at Smitty's (largely older folks with a smattering of people with young children), and the food tasted pretty much like a Smitty's.

We were confused as to why there was a Sunnyside and Sunnyside Too beside each other with the Sunnyside being closed and the Too being open, but the server explained the other one has pretty much the same menu cooked in the same kitchen. Ok, I guess?

As you walk in, you can't help but notice the pie fridge on the wall. You know instantly that you'd better save room for dessert, which we totally did. J was hungry, though, so he went for the Monster Burger (see below) - the menu accurately stated "Designed for the monstrous appetite! Two beef patties topped with bacon and cheddar." That, plus lettuce, tomato, pickles and red onion (even though he asked for no onion). It was virtually impossible to eat that thing without a knife and fork. The only issue was that the (huge) patties, obviously made from scratch were dry and didn't have a lot of seasoning, making the whole thing kinda bland, even with all of those toppings. Seriously, look at the photo below and you can almost tell how dry those things were.

T's Rise N' Shine breakfast plate was perfectly adequate. A couple of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, homefries and a glass of OJ. It's kinda hard to screw that up, and they didn't. Nothing wrong, but nothing special, hence her 8s across the board.

The much-anticipated pies, on the other hand...the lemon meringue was tasty, but the crust was mushy and not at all flaky as one would have hoped. The coconut cream pie, on the other hand, was bland as could be. No flavour at all. One minus point for tempting us with wonderful pie and falling flat on delivery.

Final Verdict: It's basically Smitty's.

Review #65 - BOOMburger

BOOMburger
Variety: Gourmet Burger
Address: 64 Dellridge Lane
Date Visited: Monday, August 3, 2015
Orders: Little Boom Bacon Cheeseburger, Little Boom Cheeseburger

Taste: 7 + 5* = 12/20
Portion Size: 9 + 8 = 17/20
Presentation: 5 + 5 = 10/20
Value: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Service: 7 + 7 = 14/20
Bonus: 1
Minus: -
Final Grade: 70% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: We tried BOOMburger the first day it opened back in the spring of 2014 and were more than a little disappointment by their lack of action to our disappointed tweet commenting on their omission of the bacon on our Little Boom Bacon Cheeseburger. (They "favourited" the tweet but didn't actually do anything about it. Bizarre!) So, although this joint is in our neighbourhood, we decided to give it a miss for a good long while. Truth be told, it might be a while longer before we go back, especially with Relish having just opened up down the street.

On the plus side, the place is spotless. It feels hospital grade clean. You could probably eat off the floor and walk out of there healthier than if you chowed down on some pristine fare from some other local establishments. It's so clean that while we were there, an employee actually scrubbed down the already-clean picnic benches outside. Bonus point for cleanliness.

Ordering was a little weird. In short: there's no combo option, you have to buy your burger, your drink and your fries all separate, and they're not particularly cheap. Yes, refills of the slightly watered down fountain pop were free, but when you grab yourself a burger, if you're anything like us, you want to feel you're getting a deal.

Although the place wasn't particularly busy, it took almost 10 minutes to get our food, which is a little long given their assembly line formation. J ordered the Little Boom Bacon Cheeseburger (hooray, it came with bacon this time!) and T had the Little Boom Cheeseburger. (Little Boom = one patty, Big Boom = a double dose of beef). The burgers were very tasty, and the Cows cheese (this is a PEI establishment, after all!) was a winner.

The fries, on the other hand...T put it best when she said "There is a way to make tasty hand-cut fries, they just haven't found it yet." The fries were very greasy, overly crispy and borderline burned. Some of them actually tasted bitter. We wonder if perhaps the bitter taste came from the bag - although we ordered "eat in", our order came in a paper bag and although there was a very generous portion of fries, they were quite literally just dumped into the bag (see photo below). As such, the "presentation" category took a massive hit, and although T would have given the burger an 8, the fries were a 3, giving it a paltry 5/10 score for her (hence the asterisk above).

For a place that's been open almost 16 months, they still have a lot of work to do.

Final Verdict: Go for the burger, but definitely skip the fries.

Review #64 - The Arms Public House

The Arms Public House
Variety: Pub
Address: 1515 South Park Street
Date Visited: Friday, July 24, 2015
Orders: Shepherd's Pie, Nachos

Taste: 8 + 6 = 14/20
Portion Size: 9 + 10 = 19/20
Presentation: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Value: 9 + 8 = 17/20
Service: 8 + 9 = 17/20
Bonus: 1
Minus: 2
Final Grade: 82% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: The former Victory Arms Pub, located inside the Lord Nelson Hotel, recently received a significant renovation, both to its facilities and its menu. The menu before was "ok," but nothing to write home about. Now, it's filled with "comfort food" and other items you might expect to see on pub menus (and some...not so much).

Although it was a decently warm day in the middle of what passes for summer in Halifax, J opted for the Shepherd's Pie. It was hearty, meaty and filling, but perhaps not the best choice for a summer's night. Still, it was a solid meal. It was served with some strange pickled vegetables - onion, carrot, and some kind of Japanese turnip. An odd choice, but ok. For what it was, the price was reasonable, too.

T started off with the beer sampler - four small glasses of four craft beers for an exceptionally reasonable price (hence the bonus point). Off to a good start! She'd had the nachos before and was in the mood for some cheese and chips, covered with some vegetables to help her pretend she was eating something kinda healthy. Well, a cavernous mountain of cheese and chips arrived, but it seems they forgot about the vegetables. Without exaggeration, there were perhaps 20 small slivers of tomato, even fewer of the pickled banana peppers the menu had boasted, and that was about it. Further, after she broke through the peak of Mount Chipsncheez (tm), there was nothing but a pile of dry chips (see photo below). Again, the vegetables on top of the nachos are supposed to help take the guilt out of why you're really there, but she was utterly robbed of this feature, and had to dock the joint a couple of points for this failure. Again, she'd had the nachos before and would have rated them higher based on the previous presentation - it must have been an off night.

(As an aside, it was a good thing J and T didn't invite their good friend S to review his meal - his pathetically small lobster roll served on a crappy store-bought hot dog bun did not look at all impressive).

The server was fairly attentive and pleasant, though we did find it a little curious that J, the only one at the table who didn't also order the beer sample, was given a tiny glass of water while the others were offered pint glasses. She even commented on that, but didn't rectify the situation when the glass mysteriously ended up empty every 10 minutes or so.

Final Verdict: Shepherd's Pie a hit, Nachos a surprising miss, but worth revisiting another time.