White Spot (Panorama, Surrey BC)

Restaurant: White Spot
Cuisine: American/Canadian/Burgers/Breakfast/Brunch
Last visited: January 14, 2010
Location: Surrey, BC
Address: #116 – 15157 #10 Hwy
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3
Service: 4
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Since 1928
• Canadian franchise
• Famous for burgers
• Famous for milkshakes
• Popular for cheesecake
• Some seasonal specials
• Fit for families
• Kid friendly, pirate packs!
• Affordable
• Great for brunch
• Daily drink specials
• Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch/Dinner

**Recommendations: Brunch: BC Sunny Start, Breakfast Wrap, Nat’s Hearty Breakfast, Nat’s Fabulous French Breakfast Lunch: Burgers, Chipotle Chicken Wrap, Milkshakes, Cheesecake Dinner: Burgers, I used to like the Roast Turkey Dinner and Chicken Pot Pie, but it’s been a while since I’ve had it. Desserts: Milkshakes, Cheesecake

What? Mijune, c’mon, are you really blogging about White Spot? Yes, I am. Hey if I’ve blogged about McDonald’s Southwest Chicken Salad and McDonald’s S’mores Pie, then why not White Spot? As long as it’s edible, I’ll blog about it. Heck I didn’t even know bee cocoons were edible and I still ate and blogged about those too! (See here)

So I decided to check out the new White Spot location which opened May 2009 in the Panaroma Ridge area of Surrey, BC. I haven’t been to White Spot in ages, but I really liked it growing up as a kid. I mean what kind of kid could resist those classic Pirate Packs? It’s a great family restaurant with affordable prices and simple classics that would suit most American tastes.

Well things have changed and I’ve grown up and I can’t say that White Spot is my choice for lunch or dinner, that is if I’m going to be picking a chain or franchise. I’m just not the market and I’m not really the age group. However, I thoroughly enjoy their breakfast and brunch. It’s simple, good, and offers great value. I will be “rating” the food based on it being “White Spot”, not Cactus Club or even Earl’s standards, it’s more family and casual than those.

On this occasion I decided to keep things new and fresh. So along with checking out the new location I also decided to try their new menu item. I had to try the new “Chuck Currie’s Favourite Burger” since Chef Currie is the Executive Chef of White Spot. I also had to try John Bishop’s creation, since he is a fine dining chef and I was curious on how he would interpret casual dining like this. So although I am writing on a chain restaurant it’s still very much with “Follow Me Foodie” tastes.

Added note: I have to raise my glass to White Spot for being so incredibly active in giving back to the community. I’ve helped them promote their annual Pirate Pack Day charity event see my post here, as well as their KidSport charity campaign see my post here, and hope they continue their well set initiatives.

On the table:

NEW Chuck Currie’s Favourite Burger – 4/6

• Our 6 oz. beef burger with balsamic Portobello mushrooms and Bleubrie cheese, lettuce and tomato with our famous Triple “O” sauce $12.49
• All of our award-winning beef burgers are made with 100% fresh Canadian beef and come with creamy coleslaw and ‘endless’ fries.
• Cole Slaw – 4.5/6
  • It’s one of the few places where non cole slaw eaters will eat cole slaw. I really like it, but I also don’t mind cole slaw. The one here has sunflower seeds in it, which is a major highlight.
  • The cabbage is also very fresh, sweet and crunchy and as much as it’s heavy on the mayo dressing, it’s not too creamy so it still tastes light.
• Fries – 2.5/6
  • They’re well seasoned, but they’re starchy Russet potato fries and they’re not particularly crispy at all.
  • It’s the kind of thick cut old style fish ‘n chip fries that taste best with vinegar and ketchup.

• Burger – 4/6
  • The burgers are famous at White Spot. It’s supposed to be one of the most beloved burgers on the West Coast and it’s popularly known as “Canadian food”.
  • This is embarrassing, but to be honest, this was my first time ordering a White Spot burger. I mean I’ve tried them before, but I never personally order one for myself.
  • If you’re ordering this because you’re expecting the description, don’t set your expectations too high.

• • What’s Burberry cheese? Haute couture cheese? Oh no it’s “Bleubrie” cheese!! It’s a combination of bleu cheese and brie and I have a feeling they mix mayo in it because it looked like an ultra creamy thick mayo… well disguised “bleubrie”.
  • To be honest I could barely taste blue cheese, and that is a STRONG cheese, I could taste the creaminess of the brie, but there wasn’t that much of either cheese.
  • Also, as you can see, those mushrooms were straight up button mushrooms and not Portobellos.

• The ratio of ingredients were great and I liked the soft bun which isn’t too thick and doesn’t overpower the meat or ingredients.
• The beef patty was pretty good with a nice smoky charred flavour, but it was a bit dry and crumbly.
• The burger was very saucy and creamy and I could get the tang of the Triple O sauce which tastes like relish, mayo and ketchup mixed together. They put this on the bottom half of the bun.
• The mushrooms were sweet and juicy, but I tasted no balsamic tang and the bleubrie was so faint that it all just tastes like lots of mayo with an ultra rich texture.
• Overall the burger is very good, but just because the burgers are pretty good here.
• Did it match the description? Not really. It tasted like a saucy, tangy, mayo, relish burger with sweet juicy mushrooms.
• I can’t say for sure, but I think your best bet is to stick to the Monty Mushroom Burger ($11.99) and it has more flavour.

Bishop’s Curry – 2/6

• Inspired by John Bishop, owner of award-winning Bishop’s restaurant in Vancouver.  Fresh BC chicken breast simmered with sweet bell peppers and mushrooms in a delicately spiced orange, apple and organic tomato coconut milk curry sauce over Jasmine rice.  Served with naan bread, mango chutney and cilantro. $13.99
• Okay Chef Bishop, let’s see how you approach casual family fare!
• It sounded a lot more complicated and intricate than it tasted, but it was a big portion with lots of ingredients so the value was there in that sense.
• It was a sweeter curry, but barely a curry. It was obviously watered down in spices and flavour to suit the White Spot clientele, but I expected that.
• It wasn’t even a creamy curry and I did miss the richness and I couldn’t taste this “spices orange, apple and organic tomato…” aspect of the description.
• The chicken was tender, but needed to be seasoned and the vegetables were plentiful, tender and sweet.
• The mango chutney tastes like a sweet and tangy plum sauce and it was really the only thing giving the dish flavour. However it was dolloped right in the centre and I wanted chicken strips to dip into it.
• The naan bread was flatbread.
• From what I can recall, the Creamy Chicken Curry also offered on the White Spot menu was better. So if I was going to order curry, I’d order that one instead.

Desserts

Everyone’s favourite is the cheesecake. I’m not a particular fan of cheesecake, so I don’t really order it. The milkshakes are awesome here and come with an extra glass… get that! They also offer mini desserts for $2.99 each and a Spot Sampler which includes 3 mini desserts.

Sticky Toffee Pudding – 2.5/6

• A traditional bread and custard pudding infused with caramelized apples. Served warm and topped with ice cream and toffee sauce $4.99
• I love ice cream, so naturally any dessert that has it will get some love. I also have a soft spot for bread pudding and any desserts with the warm and cold combination.
• Did they change the recipe? I used to really love the White Spot bread pudding, but maybe it has been a really long time, because I really didn’t enjoy it as much as I used to.
• Even if I think “White Spot” standards… it’s extremely basic, but I guess still a comforting dessert.

• It’s almost an apple pie meets cake meets bread pudding.
• It was warm, but not baked long enough and the apples were crunchy and not tender. There were a lot of sliced apple wedges though and they don’t skimp out on that.
• It was moist with roughly chopped cubes of bread, but there was no real cinnamon or vanilla flavours.
• It’s not too sweet and the toffee sauce had a granular sugary texture so I’m pretty sure it’s made in house, although not particularly well.

As much of a family place it is, they do offer a selection of standard and affordable beer, cocktails and wine. It’s nothing fancy, but it is offered.

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