The Coquitlam Grill

My family has a few default restaurants in the tri-cities because there are only so many acceptable restaurants. When discussing where to go for a meal, we usually pick a cuisine like Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or Western, and then go from there. Coquitlam Grill is our to-go Western restaurant. It's family friendly and has solid food choices for reasonable prices. 

Although this restaurant has been around for a number of years already, we only started going two years ago. When the building was Knight & Day, apparently my family used to visit very often. I have absolutely no memory of that. Anywho, I don't have photos of everything we've tried but hopefully this will give you an idea of what to expect. 

Note: Very recently, they updated their menu. There are a few new items (or altered items) and most of the prices have gone up $1 or so.

Let's start this long post with breakfast, the most important meal of the day. And my personal favourite~

Breakfast: Fruit Pancakes, Veggie Omelet

Coquitlam Grill opens very early every morning, at 6 or 7am I believe. They have an extensive breakfast menu until 11am with just about every American-style breakfast-y item you can imagine. Pancakes, waffles, toast and eggs, benedicts, omelets, oatmeal, fruit bowls, yogurt...and so on. A few of the 'basic' breakfast plates are available all day so if your in the mood for some eggs and toast at dinnertime, you can curb that craving here. Both the fruit pancakes and omelet are on the all-day breakfast menu, found on the back cover of the regular menu. The fluffy pancakes here are very large, the size of a plate! The fruit sauces are a bit too sweet for me so I prefer them plain or sauce on the side. My favourite egg dish is their three egg veggie omelet that is filled with melted Swiss cheese. It's extremely filling! There are two types of hashbrowns to choose from, shredded (as seen above) or cubed. Also, I have swapped out the sausage/bacon with hasbrowns before for no additional cost. There are quite a few types of toast to choose from as well. The price of a breakfast plate costs approximately $10, with fancier dishes being around $13. I wish my family went out for breakfast more so I can try more of their breakfast menu. 

Burger and a side of fries

The dinner and lunch menu are the same. There is a ton of items to choose from, have fun reading the menu! Almost all orders come with fries or a salad. There is Caesar salad or garden salad with your choice of dressing. I believe fries can be switched out for a soup for no additional cost. It is only adding a soup on top of the fries that costs like $2. My brother usually orders a burger and every time they are huuuge. There are so many combinations of burgers too! The one that appeals to me most is the Maui one with a grilled pineapple~
 

Fish & Chips

My family has ordered the fish and chips many times. It's become one of my parents' default dish. There are two massive (really massive) pieces of beer battered fish, still hot, crispy, and moist on the inside when served. It is very very filling and we usually never finish the fries and garlic bread. Not the healthiest, I know, but it's a surprisingly good place to get fish and chips! This one comes with coleslaw with the meal instead of a side salad that can be served before or with the entree. 

Pesto Chicken Alfredo Linguine, Salmon & Shrimp Penne

Above are two of the pastas I've tried at Coquitlam Grill. The alfredo linguine was a treat to myself but at the cost of like three days worth of exercise. I rarely let myself eat a cream sauce, but I was craving it and it was screaming my name. My poor self control let in and I ordered the linguine dish. The chicken was pan fried before being added in, adding a slight crispy exterior, very nice~ However, I'm disappointed at the extreme lack of pesto flavour in the sauce. It just tasted like a normal creamy sauce to me. And a bit too much sauce for my liking. Not quite swimming, but too wet for me. The salmon and shrimp penne comes with a supposedly slightly spicy tomato sauce. Not very spicy for me, maybe because I like eating a lot of spicy foods. The salmon is overcooked and a bit too dry. Such an oily fish should be eaten juuuuust cooked, when it's moist and juicy. There are a few larger shrimp and many baby shrimp tossed throughout the pasta. The pasta has some chopped veggies in it too, which is a nice addition as there seems to be a lack of vegetables in many restaurant entrees. The cost is about $14 for a pasta dish, slightly pricey but at least it is a large portion that could potentially feed two people. The pasta dishes are solid, not amazing but still good to eat. At least they don't overcook their pasta.

Butter Chicken Lasagna

One of the new additions to their menu is this butter chicken lasagna. After my brother saw a version on President's Choice Recipe to Riches show on Food Network Canada, he's been talking about it all the time. Saying stuff like "we should make it at home" or "can we buy the product from Superstore?" or "I wish I could eat it". Well there you have it, your dreams came true. The lasagne at Coquitlam Grill isn't the traditional large sheets of pasta. Instead its like mini strips of lasagna noodles, or giant fettuccine. It's easier to eat but critics may complain it's not authentic enough. I expected the sauce to punch me in the face with flavour. But....it didn't. Isn't Indian cuisine full of spices and rich flavours? I didn't get any of that here. The sauce was really red and oily from the cheese, but I didn't taste any butter chicken or even spices. I recommend getting the vegetarian lasagna instead. They have a lunch size (that can be ordered during dinner!) for vegetarian or meat sauce lasagnes that are about $2 cheaper.  

 

Chicken & Half Rack Ribs

For those looking for more dinner-y entrees, there are steaks and rib combos too. For a family that doesn't eat much meat, this entree feeds at least two people. My parents stuff a bit to everyone at the table and still complain about how full they are after eating what was left. The chicken in the photo above looks very pitiful to me. I mean for an entree that is $15 or more, don't you think store bought chicken tenders is a bit too low-class? There is a pasta and ribs combo that seems to be a better deal.

Warm Gingerbread Cake

Usually after a meal at Coquitlam Grill, no one has room for dessert. But for birthdays, the birthday boy/girl gets a free dessert of their choice. There is a dessert menu sitting on every table with about fifteen-ish choices. Ranging from cheesecakes to pie. My brother chose to try the gingerbread cake on his birthday. It definitely came warm enough. Too bad it wasn't served with ice cream, because a warm dessert plus ice cream is the best dessert combination on the planet Earth. For the sake of this post, I took a bite of the gingerbread cake. (I just ate the entire plate of alfredo linguine! How can one not be 200% full at that point?!) To get to the point, the cake was way. too. sweet. Even for a dessertatarian like me. Their desserts never really appeal to me, as they just look too sweet. I would much rather make my own healthy dessert at home. Prices are about $5 for one dessert. 

There are daily specials, lunch specials, and a senior menu that have some pretty good value meals. Overall, I think Coquitlam Grill is a good restaurant to visit for some Western food. There is a steady line of customers pretty much at all times every day, some of which are loyal customers. Be prepared to wait around 15 minutes on weekends during peak times. The service here is good, sometimes a little slower but for a family that eats their food like there’s no tomorrow, it’s good to have food served slowly. I've seen people tell their waitress they do not enjoy their dish and the waitress will kindly take it off the bill. Coquitlam Grill is a pretty large restaurant with many tables. It’s a good place to have a large gathering or birthday celebration. I’ve seen people bring their own cake too. When Tim Horton’s across the parking lot charges $10 for a soup and sandwich combo, you might as well venture over to Coquitlam Grill for the same food at the same price, but with more comfortable sit down service and free refills.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡