Category: Okanagan

While each Menchies location is laid out differently, I generally find them to be quite spacious and easy to navigate whether you’re picking up something to go or enjoying a treat there.  We’ve been having a heat wave so we decided to beat the heat with a lunch of frozen yogurt.

Things of note at this location (2463 Hwy 97 N):

• This location is in a strip mall so it’s easy to find parking close to the door.
• There are no steps to deal with outside or inside.
• The washrooms are single-use rooms and are wheelchair accessible.
• Most of the chairs are plastic chairs without arms, but they have metal legs and are sturdy.
• There are a couple small padded bench seats.
• Tables and chairs can be moved as needed.
• The one thing that might be a challenge is reaching some of the frozen yogurt toppings if you are in a wheelchair, due to them being higher up and/or behind other items.
• Some of the frozen yogurt options are dairy-free (sorbet) for those who require or want that.

My favourite flavour is their plain, tart yogurt, and I like to top it with boba, sprinkles, and a few gummy bears. This time I added a few broken bits of waffle cone.

One of my companions had this chocolatey delight sprinkled with Skittles and topped with a square of brownie. He reports that the Skittles were a bit of an addition, especially since they became so frozen and a bit difficult to chew, which is something to consider if chewing is difficult for you or you’d like to keep your own teeth.

This location also provides colouring sheets, crayons, and tape so that you can leave your creations on the wall. I’ve seen some pretty funny things up on that wall, because adults like to have their fun, too! I’ll leave those details up to your imaginations. ;o)

 

 

 

I have to give a shout to to my mom who sent me a generous gift and asked me to use it to pay for dinner at a Korean restaurant of my choice (or any restaurant if I wasn’t keen on Korean food, because she’s cool like that)! Thanks, Mom! <3

I came across this place when searching for Korean restaurants in the Okanagan. While there are some more traditional restaurants in the area, this one got good reviews and sounded fun and hip, which was perfect since I was going to have teenagers joining me for this meal.  Yes, I’m acutely aware that using the term “hip” is probably not at all hip but here we are.

First things first:

• Parking is not easy to find as the restaurant is located right in the heart of downtown on Bernard and city parking is hard to find in that metered spots are so often taken. We were lucky enough to get a spot directly across the street and that meant walking half a block to cross the road and then back the other half to the restaurant.
• There are no stairs into or inside of this restaurant.
• I didn’t use the washrooms but there was a patron there in a mobility scooter who was ordering food to go, so clearly there are people with different levels of mobility who comfortably visit the place.
• There are tables and chairs that can be moved as needed, along with padded bench seats running the length of one wall. The chairs do not have arms but I can’t speak to their strength as I sat on the bench seat along the wall.
• The service was excellent. Very friendly and attentive but never hovering, and always making sure we had sufficient drinks.
• They think of the “little” things here, such as providing a bucket for chicken bones and wet wipes for sticky fingers.

Now for the food!  Many of their menu items are sharing platters but you can order a half size if you’re dining alone or looking for a smaller option. In general, portion sizes are big which I knew from online reviews, but we planned on having leftovers for lunch the following day and that worked out really nicely.

Between 4 of us we ordered a half order of Snow Cheese Fried Chicken, and order of Bulgogi Rice, Cheese BBQ, and Sweet Potato Rice Cake BBQ. Additionally, there were sides of corn in a sort of savoury cream, and slightly sweet pickled radishes.

Above photo: half order of Snow Cheese Fried Chicken.

Some of the online reviews raved about the “snow cheese”, which is a powder that they will dust over any number of items at your request. I have to say that I didn’t really love the snow cheese. In fact, one of the people who joined me for this meal aptly described it as tasting much like the cheese powder found in Kraft Dinner. That said, the chicken itself was really good. Hot, extremely crispy, and very moist. I didn’t waste any stomache real estate on the fries but the teenagers happily gobbled them up.

Above Photo: Bulgogi Rice

The Bulgogi meal can be ordered with rice or noodles and the people I was dining with asked for rice. I didn’t try any of this because, frankly, there was so much food and I was stuffed, but the other members in my party loved it and cleared every last morsel from the dish. They said it was very flavourful and fresh tasting.

Above photo: Cheese BBQ

As with all of their chicken platters, you can order the chicken cooked in the sauce of your choice (ranging from not at all spicy, to spicy, and in savoury or sweet options) but, being that it was our first visit, we stuck with the traditional Korean BBQ which was sweet and mildly spicy. This dish is exactly what it looks like; a giant platter of melted cheese, heaped with a pile of BBQ chicken and a few bits of green onion. Underneath, are some sliced onions for a bit of texture and flavour. Obviously, this place is not where you come for “health food” but this is where you come to enjoy every mouthful of indulgence! It was so creamy and rich and I would definitely order this again, though I might try it with a different chicken sauce but only because I like to try new flavours. It was sublime with the Korean BBQ sauce.

Above photos: Sweet Potato Rice Cake BBQ

This platter is HUGE and delicious! It includes loads of chicken in the sauce of your choosing (again, we went with Korean BBQ), deep fried slices of sweet potato, slices onion underneath that mound of food, and what they call rice cakes that, in this case, are like giant capsules made of rice flour and what I think was either taro (they were purple when bitten into) or some other variety of sweet potato. The consistency reminded me a lot of mochi. All I know is, they were little capsules of heaven. Everything that was supposed to be crispy was crispy and everything that was meant to be soft and flavourful was exactly that. Just like the cheese platter, this is something I would gladly order again.

Above photo: Sides (corn in a cream sauce, slightly sweet pickled radishes, and hand wipes)

The corn really just tasted liked canned corn with a bit of cream to me but I really enjoyed the radishes. Eating a couple between the other foods really cut the richness and acted as a palate cleanser, much the way pickled ginger does when eating sushi. Each of the two large platters came with these sides.

None of the people in my party wanted to try the octopus on the menu but I definitely want to go back and try that so I’ll be sure to update about that when I do! For health reasons, I’m not indulging in alcohol right now, but they did have some interesting looking Korean alcoholic beverages including beer and some milky drinks that intrigued me.

Parking aside, this place is comfortable, the service is excellent, and this is a place I will definitely visit again and again because it’s a great place for a casual date night or to bring loads of friends and share giant platters of food.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m going to tell you right off the bat that I’m on the fence about Burger 55 right now. It recently sold and is under new ownership, and I think they are still working out some kinks. It’s a fun concept, and certainly caters to those who have different dietary needs or preferences, but more about that in a moment. First, the important things of note:

• They have dedicated parking so it’s easy to find a spot near the entrance.
• There are no steps to deal with.
• The indoor seating is all long wooden tables with wooden benches that can be moved around. They are very sturdy.
• The outdoor seating is a few picnic tables. I haven’t sat on them but I wouldn’t be concerned about doing so.
• The bathroom is a single unisex room that is wheelchair accessible.
• While I was there I watched someone navigate around the restaurant to use the bathroom and it was a bit tight being that the place was so busy but she managed without difficulty.

One of the things I enjoy about Burger 55 is that everything is customized to your specifications. When you enter, there are clipboards with order forms on them and pencils in jars on the tables so that you can fill out your order form.  While it’s a burger and fries joint, the selection is extensive and you can have everything from the classic beef burger to bison, or ahi tuna, or chicken, or about half a dozen other kinds of burgers. Rather than go through all the options, feel free to take a look at their order form here:

http://burger55.com/our-menu/

I ordered a grilled chicken breast on a whole wheat bun with mayo, 55 BBQ sauce, shredded beets, 55 slaw, bacon, grilled peach, sprouts, and dill pickle. What I got was that, but they also put cucumber and tomato on it, which I didn’t ask for.

My friend’s order also had tomatoes on it and she didn’t ask for them, and they left off the cucumbers that she asked for on her wrap. Also, I had checked the “Go” box but they initially put out my order as a “Stay” item so I asked for a bag and was gladly offered one. The place was quite busy when we arrived so it did take over 30 minutes for our order to be ready. That said, I don’t mind waiting for food when it’s good and, mix-ups aside, my burger was very satisfying. Being that we had to wait we sat at a 2-person table and I have to say that the tables and benches were really sticky with grease. I get that it’s a place with an open kitchen and there are burgers and fries cooking all day, but the tables and benches definitely need a good cleaning.

So, my review is mixed. Maybe I’ll go back later in the Fall and see if they’ve worked out some of the kinks that come with taking over a restaurant and I’ll let everyone know how things are going then. It’s definitely accessible to people with a variety of needs, but cleanliness and getting the orders right also matter to the overall enjoyment, obviously.

 

 

 

Fiesta Del Sol is located in Landmark Building 1 in Kelowna. It’s a place that you don’t even really know is there unless you know it’s there because it’s not visible from the road. It’s worth looking for, though!

Things of note:

• Parking near the building’s entrance was easy to find as each Landmark Building has its own dedicated visitor parking.
• The Landmark buildings are accessible to people with a variety of needs. Fiesta Del Sol is located on the ground level so stairs or the elevator are not necessary to visit it.
• The washrooms are not located in Fiesta Del Sol itself but patrons are able to use the public wheelchair accessible washrooms in the Landmark Building.
• A customer in a wheelchair came in for lunch while we were there and he was able to easily navigate around the tables and chairs. It also made me notice that the drinks and the counter at the till are slightly lower than what is average, and I can see how that was a convenience or this person.
• The tables and chairs are large, heavy, strudy wooden furniture without arms and it can be moved as required.
• There is an outside seating area with metal chairs in the summer months but I haven’t sat out there yet (notice the “yet”–yeah, I’m definitely going back here for the tacos).

I wanted lunch so I ordered a chicken tamale and a pork taco.

The tamale was…just a tamale. I admit I’m not a giant fan of them but I wanted to try theirs. There was nothing wrong with it, it’s just that I don’t find tamales particularly flavourful, in general. On the other hand, that taco…mmmmm.

I want more of these tacos. I want all of these tacos. They were the perfect combination of textures and flavours–the crunchy onion, the almost-sweet roasted pork, the soft corn tortilla, and the vinegary sauce! Next time, I’m going to order tacos and only tacos and I’m definitely going to try their fish taco.

This place gets a lot of mixed reviews on the usual sites, but the majority of the complaints seem to be about the fried food items offered here. I can’t speak to those because I haven’t tried them (though, the friend who joined me had a salad roll and a deep fried spring roll and she really loved the spring roll), but I’m going to focus on accessibility and the food I have eaten here.

Things of note:

• Vietnam Village is in a strip mall with ample dedicated parking so it’s always easy to park fairly close.
• There are no stairs to deal with.
• The chairs are sturdy metal with padding and they don’t have arms. There are also padded booth-style seats along one wall. The tables and chairs can be moved as required.
• There are two single-room bathrooms and one of them is designated as wheelchair accessible.
• The staff is really friendly here.

From the outside the place is really unassuming but it’s bright and cheery inside.

Previously, I’ve ordered bahn mi from this place and took it to go. For those of you who live where really excellent banh mi is readily available (Vancouver, for example) will probably not be thrilled by the bahn mi here. It’s good, but it’s certainly not the best I’ve had. Kelowna is very limited in its bahn mi offerings.

That said, on this visit I ordered a pot of tea and their chicken coleslaw salad. It was absolutely bang-on! I will definitely be going back for this again and again. It’s shredded cabbage, carrots, and chicken with basil, mint, cilantro, fried onion, and peanuts in a sweet rice wine vinegar dressing. It was really crisp and fresh and the flavours were a wonderful combination. If you don’t like cilantro, or you have an allergy to peanuts, or you want them to leave any other ingredient out then they are happy to do so.

They also offer a number of vegetarian items and seem eager to do their best to cater to the needs of their customers. This salad, though, is going to keep me coming back!