Burgers, Pizza, and Chicken Wings

I am a fisherman. I love to fish. And I like eating fish. I like going out in the boat, with some friends, and have some fun catching fish. Where I spend the summer in Saskatchewan, you can eat the fish you catch. There are limits, which is good, but there is nothing like eating fresh fish!

In Fernie, the fishing is great, world class, excellent! But you can’t catch a fish and eat it. It’s against the law.

So, there is Yamagoya! A Japanese cuisine restaurant. This place is great. The food is so delicious, I never thought I could enjoy something deep fried and battered as much as the Japanese-style Tempura dishes, and the Chicken Karaage is amazing! This is not just a ’sushi bar’ -though they do have one - and the rolls are great. There is plenty of selection in the restaurant for your friends who aren’t into raw fish too. I myself am not a big fan of the raw fish meat, and I have found no shortage of awesome tasting selections on the menu.

It is holding me over perfectly until the summer when I can eat some fresh fish, straight out of the lake. If you want some amazing Japanese food, I can highly recommend them!

Check out the Menu HereÂ

I am hungry right NOW.

I am also two doors down from Scapegoat Pizza. The only thing stopping me from getting a slice of their pizza is that everytime I walk in they have the same pizzas for slices in the window: Veggie, and Pepperoni and Red Onion.

I don’t like onions, but I like Scapegoat Pizza. As far as slices go they have nothing for me, but I really wish they did. Especially right NOW.

UPDATE: The moment I posted this I was informed that they’ve switched things up a bit over at Scapegoat Pizza. I went and checked it out and they had not just one but two ’slice pizzas’ waiting for me: Cheese, and Pepperoni & Beef. (They also had a Veggie pizza for you onion lovers.) I had one of each - they were tasty, and I am no longer hungry!

Thank you Scapegoat Pizza!!

So a couple weeks ago a friend of mine took me out for lunch (I have been away from the blogosphere for a while, I know. I’m still eating, just not writing about it so much). We went to the Corner Pocket in the Grand Central Hotel and it was nice. It wasn’t busy, thats part of the reason why I came to Fernie, from memories of a small town thats relaxed and a slower pace than the ‘city life’.

Of course I ordered a burger!

The burger comes looking nice and fresh with some sweet potato fries tossed in with the regular ones. Even fancy perhaps, with mixed greens rather than lettuce. I am getting the feeling this isn’t a burger joint, when I look at my friend’s Meat Loaf it is confirmed: there is definitely a chef in the house. His Meat Loaf is not exactly what I expected: when I think of Meat Loaf I picture a hunk of meat with some little chunks around it. This Meat Loaf is nicely sliced and very well presented, looks healthy even. There are cooks and there are chefs, and the Corner Pocket has the latter.

This is further confirmed when I try my soup. It is hard to continue this blog entry when looking for words to describe this soup! I had the ‘Spicy Vegetable Soup’ and I don’t know if I’ve ever tasted a soup this good. Not being a big veggie fan I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it, and I hope someday the recipe for this falls into my lap!

Back to the burger, it was good. In fact, it was great. I sure enjoyed eating it, and it felt good inside.

The Corner Pocket - it’s not a burger joint, but they sure make a nice burger.

And the soup is ‘to die for’ good.

If it is late and your options for food in Fernie are limited down to 7-Eleven and Boston Pizza, you might want to consider 7-eleven.

Last night I stopped in at Boston Pizza, I used to work at one so I’m familiar with the menu and I like the food… I never had a problem with them before, besides the fact that I know their food is overpriced, anyways I was desperately hungry after working late and needed to eat something before the drive back to Sparwood.

So my girlfriend and I walk in to the restaurant, everything seems normal, until I notice that even though servers are walking around in front of us it seems they really want us to hang out and wait by the “Please wait to be seated” sign. Just great, I’m starving. I pick up a take-out menu so I can decide early what I would like to order. An employee comes right in front of me and starts doing something on the computer there, then another employee comes and assists him in “placing this order”. I look around for a mirror to discover if I’ve turned into some kind of invisible mist. I can see my girlfriend and I can see my reflection in the window.

Finally I am acknowledged with the question, “Are you guys coming in?” After nearly ten minutes of standing in front of the “Please wait to be seated” sign and this question I almost left, but I was so hungry I desperately just wanted the food, I know they can make food. Very simple overpriced food but some of it is still pretty tasty, so we respond, “yes” and are directed to our table. The drink order feels very cold and unfriendly, either this server has an esteem problem or just doesn’t do the whole eye-contact thing. I wonder how she got hired.

After perusing the menu I revert back to an old favorite from my days of cooking at Boston Pizza and decide to get the Boston Brute, its a meat n’ cheese toasted sandwich that optionally comes with a meatsauce. I ordered the meatsauce with my sandwich and requested ‘no onions’ on the sandwich.

Our food is ready in about 15 minutes. Not too bad. But - it has onions, LOTS of onions. I ask my server if she thought I had requested ‘extra onions?’ She replies that she ordered it without, shifting the blame from herself to the kitchen (she brought it to me with onions) and asking me if I want it returned. No way. I know how that works, they just take the sandwich to the kitchen and someone takes the onions out and heats it up a bit. I’m hungry, I can remove the damn onions myself.

The sandwich is tasty as are the garlic bread sticks and both are devoured in less time than it took the kitchen to make them. At this point I just want to leave but the question remains: What do I tip? My girlfriend responds, “I’m a server, and I wouldn’t tip her”. Point taken. I end up tipping ~$1.80 on a $33.20 bill.

Next time I’m desperate for late-night food I guess I’ll just get a snack from the 7-Eleven and head out, its quick and there are less onions involved.

So it looks like I’ve already been called on giving bad information: Just Pizza does indeed brag their pizza is “the best in town” - well, it isn’t. But what do I know?

As a child the only pizza we ate at home was home-made. If I wanted pizza it was a treat (for me at least) and I had to help. My ‘mum’ would work the dough while I got everything else ready, grating cheese and usually opening a can of pineapple and slicing up some meat. The only time I ate pizza’s made by a company was at some type of church, school, or hockey event. When I was 16 I began working… at Pizza Hut. They made me sign a non-disclosure agreement saying I wouldn’t tell anyone how they made their dough. This is when I discovered that pizza was big business. I also learned that Pizza Hut uses a shocking amount of oil to perfect that crust. Starting as a dishwasher I lucked out and got to clean the grease trap, weekly. Lucky for me I was quickly promoted and no longer had to do the dirty work, but unlucky for me I discovered that the only way to get a few minutes of rest during a shift I had to smoke. I started smoking. Ugh. Well I’m getting off track, lets get back to what I know about pizza…

After ditching Pizza Hut I took a job delivering pizza’s for a hilarious Polish man. He is probably still running around screaming his head off about something at Panorama Pizza in Saskatoon. Even though he was a bit domineering in his ways I learnt a lot there about the pizza making process and the marketing of that pizza. Not only did I drive, we took orders, we delivered flyers, we folded boxes, we pounded dough, we sliced ham, we grated cheese, we the drivers did everything including cooking the pizza. Great experience, I learned a lot from a very disciplined man who had started a successful business from the ground up.

Skipping forward about ten years (I quit smoking!) I had been in a completely different business, ‘new media’, for those years, and I decided to take some time away from that. I ended up going back to making pizza. “Pizza Pete’s” in Waskesiu, SK - summer of 2006 I was thrust back into a very fast paced yet relaxed restaurant. Everything made from scratch, I started out as the full-time doughmaker / pizza sauce maker / meat-slicer and quickly moving into and all around do-everything guy. Wherever there was a need for me I was there: dishwashing, folding cardboard boxes, taking deliveries, flipping burgers, you name it I was in there.

This pizza at Pete’s is the best pizza recipe in Canada. You can try it out in Alberta at Pizza Pete’s in Sylvan Lake or in Saskatchewan in Waskesiu Lake Village. The recipes are in my head, I could type it out right here or start mixing some sauce or dough right now given the ingredients. If you want to try what could very well be THE best pizza in Canada, I’ll be cooking them this summer. Never have I had such a fun time working in a restaurant making pizza’s and I’m ready to do it again.

So what do I know about pizza? A bit.

OK, this is the best burger I have had in Fernie so far. Strolling into “The Pub” I am reminded of all the good times I had in this place many years ago - a decade ago in fact. I met a girl in this bar and spent 5 years of my life with her and travelled around the world. That brings back some memories.

So onto the experience: As soon as I found a place to sit my drink order had been taken, Kokanee’s are on special for $3. Sweet! So next is the menu, I don’t seem to notice much on menus if the word “Burger” is not included - but my girlfriend manages to find and order a Quesadilla which is so thick it looks like a burger - so I had to try a bite, it was good I guess… but no burger. Anyways I pimped out my burger with cheddar, bacon, mushrooms, and jalapenos. And when it arrived ten minutes later I was overjoyed! This thing was monstrous and home made, I even got the option of brown bun, my preference.

Sadly, I was not able to complete the mission. My pimped out burger was made just the way I wanted and I sent a small corner of it back to the wastebin, it was just too much for me that night.

If you want a great burger in Fernie “The Pub” at Park Place Lodge on the Highway can hook you up real good. I am getting hungry just thinking about that burger, I think its time for a repeat performance, just hope I can finish the mission this time.

Well, I don’t even know if I should write about this deal, it is such a good deal. Last time I took advantage of this deal the temperature was around -25 C and the only seating left was right beside the door - so I accepted my fate and sat down. I’m torn over whether this was a mistake or not, because of how busy they were, I didn’t even get noticed by the waitress for 10 minutes… normally I would just leave but they were offering a pint of beer and a burger for $7.00! (this deal available Tuesday evenings) I can’t just walk away from something like that.

So now I am hesitant to share my burger experience, as I would hope for a place to sit that isn’t beside the door next time.

Once I got my food, my hands were almost too cold to grab the accompanying french fries, but I managed to commandeer my provided fork into the hot little potato sticks and steer them into my mouth… Once I grabbed ahold of the man-sized burger some blood was able to reach my fingertips and I was able to start consuming. How delicious! I was now at the peak of my enjoyment over this dinner, and I was hungry enough that there was no traces left on my plate as to what I had eaten. Thats a sign of a good burger, I would know!

The only downfall to the taste of this burger I may never know for sure, but whilst masticating in delight there was a few bursts of flavor I would become familiar with for the next few hours: I believe it was tarragon. Whatever this special flavoring additive was - stuck around for a while in the form of intensely flavoured belches that were not very enjoyable. Well I had a good laugh and soon forgot about it, but the great deal (pint & burger = $7) I have not forgotten.

They make a tasty burger at the Royal, despite the nasty afterburps, I will be back. Hoping for a better seat next time!

I have eaten Just Pizza’s product quite a few times over the ‘holidays’, we got some deals and kept ordering through them a few nights in a row actually. Late nights going delirious and working too much are not a good combination, but Just Pizza saved the day for us a few times and kept me fueled as I worked late into the night.

What I discovered is that their Pizza is exactly what they say it is: Just Pizza - they do not say “best in town” or anything like that, they are Just Pizza, straightforward and honest. For that I commend them. Where they should be making their money is in chicken wings! They make some really tasty chicken wings!!

So, if you have a craving for chicken wings, go to Just Pizza, they make really tasty ones. The pizza is not bad either, but not the best.

Hi! Welcome!

My name is Kevin, and I like Burgers, Pizza, Beer, and a few other things ;-). On this blog I am going to write about… well, if you can’t figure out what I’m going to write about I might as well just tell you: My restaurant experiences in the Elk Valley.

I live in Sparwood and work in Fernie so I do get around a little bit, there may be no difference between a Teen Burger at A&W in Sparwood or in Fernie, but why do I have to listen to them being advertised on Fernie radio “in Cranbrook and Kimberley”? Come on A&W lets show Fernie and Sparwood some love!

Well, if you’re wondering where the good food is at in the Elk Valley… I should have lots of information coming to you via this blog. Let me get this thing started!

Thanks for visiting!