Nooch Snack & Chill

Restaurant: Nooch Snack & Chill
Cuisine: Sandwiches/Salad/Soup/Breakfast
Last Visited: April 1, 2012
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: 6900 #3 Rd
Transit: EB Anderson Rd FS No. 3 Rd
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 3.5–4 (based on what I tried)
Service: 2.5 (friendly, but slow)
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Daily specials
• Breakfast/lunch menu
• West Coast/Pacific Northwest
• Salads/Soup/Sandwiches
• House made/made upon order
• Fresh ingredients
• Healthy options
• Vegetarian friendly
• Affordable
• Family friendly
• Coffee/Tea
• Eat in/take-out
• Catering available
• 6:30am – 7:00pm Monday to Friday
• 7:00am – 7:00pm Saturdays, Sundays & holidays

**Recommendations: Mommas Meatloaf Panini, Quinoa Salad

I was surprised at how hard it was to find a restaurant open on a Sunday in Richmond, BC. I was craving for something non-Chinese which is a challenge in Richmond and everything open was basically Chinese (generally speaking, the culture is hard-working and believes that opening for business is more important than a day off). Anyway, when you’re not craving Chinese, soup noodles or sushi, you’re left to a handful of choices outside of chain restaurants, fast food, food courts and Steveston Village. Well thankfully, there is Nooch Snack & Chill, which is none of the above.

It’s a bit of a hidden gem and it’s located almost right beside Pho Lan at the tail end of the busiest part of No 3 Road. It’s one of those places that suit being in Steveston Village, but it is nice to have outside of Steveston.

Nooch Snack & Chill offers a selection of made upon order sandwiches and paninis and the ingredients are fresh with almost everything made in house. It’s approachable food with a few creative twists and it’s very West Coast in style. It’s not a diner or comfort food, or a bubble tea place serving sandwiches, and the menu has effort with globally inspired items. It’s a legit sandwich cafe with pretty good quality food to boot.

There’s plenty of excellent eats in Richmond, but not really for this type of cuisine even though it’s a dime a dozen in Metro Vancouver or even just downtown. It might not blow you away, but in the context of Richmond, I think it’s a great addition to the overwhelming amount of Asian cuisine available. It’s affordable, clean, comfortable, straight forward, casual and everything is made in house besides the bread. It’s a great every day kind of place and if I worked in the area I would probably be there a lot more since it’s a solid place for a relatively healthy (depends what you order) and satisfying breakfast or lunch.

On the table:

Passion Fruit Iced Tea – 3/6 (Good)

• $3
• It tasted like a passion fruit bubble tea and it was the same passion fruit syrup, but without the option for tapioca pearls.
• It was too sweet for me, but you can ask them to half it or ease up on the syrup.
• I couldn’t taste the tea aspect so I kind of missed that, but it was still refreshing and good.

**Quinoa Salad – 4/6 (Very good)

• Baby spinach, quinoa, seasonal fruits, toasted almonds and goat cheese tossed in a balsamic dressing $9
• I don’t think you can find a salad this big with that many almonds for $9 in a restaurant in downtown.
• It was enough as a main (personally I might need some salmon, chicken or avocado in it as a main), but the size and ingredients was worth it alone.
• It was straight forward, but the amount of toasted whole almonds was very impressive!
• It was well textured and definitely the most nuts I’ve ever had served on a salad since it’s a pricey ingredient – I loved that!
• They didn’t skimp on the goat cheese either and it was soft and creamy, salty and not too pungent or gamey. I’m not a fan of super gamey goat’s cheese.
• The salad was a bit wet for my liking and I was hoping for 1-2 more ingredients and it was also missing the listed seasonal fruit, so that could have made a difference.
• Warming up to Spring I would have settled for either dried figs, dates, raisins, pears or apples… if it was summer any berries, fresh figs or even mango would be fantastic!
• The balsamic dressing was creamy and emulsified and made in house and it was quite acidic and tangy, but not sour.
• There was nothing surprising about the flavours of this salad, but the ratio and quality of ingredients would make me order it again.

Nooch Chef Salad – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

Veggie Lovers Premium Sandwich – 3/6 (Good)

• Half an avocado, hummus, cheddar, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, red peppers, and balsamic dressing. All sandwiches served on a ciabatta bun with a side salad and chips. $8
• A whole sandwich and 2 sides for $8 is very reasonable.
• The salad was a pre-mix of romaine, purple cabbage, shredded carrots and broccoli and it was lightly dressed with a dressing that tasted like Thousand Island.
• I think the potato chips are made in house and they were very crunchy like Ms. Vickie’s chips, but less greasy and very lightly salted.
• The chips didn’t really go with their healthy theme, but it didn’t really bother me although something like roasted yams would be a nice alternative.

• The sandwich was made upon order so it wasn’t soggy and the ingredients were fresh.
• The hummus was made in house which was a driving factor for me to order it.
• Although it didn’t start off soggy, the sandwich eventually got quite wet as it was dripping balsamic dressing, but it tasted fine.
• It was quite a tangy and saucy sandwich with the lemon in the hummus and the extra acid from the balsamic, so maybe something other than balsamic would work. It was the same creamy balsamic used in the Quinoa Salad.
• I could taste all the ingredients except for the cheddar and there was a good crunch, but the hummus was very thin and adding to the drippy factor.
• The hummus was I think a red pepper hummus and it had a bit of heat, but it wasn’t spicy.
• The avocado was creamy and ripe, but since the wedges were cut thin, it would have given more flavour with a thinner bread.
• The only thing I really wasn’t keen on was the chewy Ciabatta bread which I found too thick for all the delicate ingredients. It was very lightly toasted, but I could barely tell.
• I would have preferred a sprouted grain or any of the Silver Hills Bakery bread, or I would just request it on their regular multi-grain bread.
• Thinner bread, more hummus, less balsamic dressing or another dressing and I would order it again.

**Mommas Meatloaf Panini – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• Savoury slices of meatloaf with sauteed onion and peppers, mozzarella cheese, onion aioli and ketchup. Your choice of country white, whole wheat or multi-grain. Served with a side salad and chips. $8
• Again, a whole sandwich and 2 sides for $8 is very reasonable.
• The salad was a pre-mix of romaine, purple cabbage, shredded carrots and broccoli and it was lightly dressed with a dressing that tasted like Thousand Island.
• I think the potato chips are made in house and they were very crunchy like Ms. Vickie’s chips, but less greasy and very lightly salted.
• The chips didn’t really go with their healthy theme, but it didn’t really bother me although something like roasted yams would be a nice alternative.

• A meatloaf sandwich sounded a bit too diner/comfort food for the menu, but when I see the words “Mama”, “Momma” or “family recipe” I tend to order that item.
• I don’t think the meatloaf was the highlight as much as the sandwich was just good.
• The bread was well pressed in an actual panini grill and the bread was nice and thin and evenly toasted with a great crunch.
• It was actually bursting with sautéed onions and sweet bell peppers and they were still a bit crunchy and not yet caramelized, but not raw.

• I think the meatloaf was a combination of beef and pork and it was quite plain, but not bland and it was more like a patty than a loose loaf.
• Although made in house, it seemed like it was from a pre-prepared state so I bet it would be even better fresh. In a panini it’s not a big deal though.
• It was seasoned with quite a bit of black pepper that I could actually taste in the first bite, but it wasn’t overwhelming.
• It was tender and moist, but not particularly juicy and it was really simply seasoned with what seemed like basic salt and pepper, but it was good.
• I could barely taste the ketchup, but there was a good amount of melted cheese, a nice layer of meat and lots of veggies. I would order this again for sure.
• I wouldn’t say this was particularly “healthy”, but for a meatloaf sandwich which is traditionally considered hearty greasy diner food, this was a healthier version of it.

Waffle – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• Vanilla waffle with your choice of blueberry sauce or seasonal fruits topped with whipped cream $5
• All this for $5 I would consider a deal, and there’s no extra charge for anything you see.
• The fruit was fresh (although the strawberry was non-seasonal), and it even came with syrup without even having to ask.

• I would say this exceeded my expectations because I expected a regular waffle and not a Belgian style sugar waffle (Liege Waffle). It was a bonus.
• The waffle was supposed to be vanilla, but I couldn’t taste any vanilla and it seemed original flavoured.
• It was on the sweeter side and very dessert like since it was a Belgian Sugar Waffle so it didn’t need the syrup.
• I have the feeling it’s from Damien’s Belgian Waffles (same place that sources Cafe Medina in downtown Vancouver) or Patisserie Lebeaux.
• A Liege Waffle is one with Belgian pearl sugars in it and the waffle should be crispy on the outside with crunchy round pearls of sugar throughout the waffle.
• The waffle was fluffy yet still dense, but not really crispy and the sugars didn’t caramelize yet.
• I found it a bit chewy and I was hoping for it to be tender.
• The waffle is fairly small and for being out-sourced (I assume) it was good and presented well.
• Surprisingly outside of Belgium the best ones I’ve had thus far have been in Korea – see Didi’s Gaufres (the owner is actually from Vancouver).

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