I was at Moxie's Grill and Bar with a party of 20 and their restaurant accommodated us very well. Our water was refilled regularly and dishes were taken away promptly.

I ordered a Chicken Quesadilla which came with some tortilla chips and a choice of soup, salad or fries. I opted for the daily soup which was Chicken Chowder that day. If you've read other posts on my blog you have probably come across quesadillas because whenever I see this or fish tacos on the menu I have a tendency to order it. 

This quesadilla had a good amount of cheese without it falling out of the tortilla and the chicken was quite tender. I enjoyed the generous amount of salsa and sour cream provided and the tortilla chips were still hot when the food arrived. 

The chowder was only mediocre with bits of chicken, corn, and bell pepper in it. It was definitely filling but not especially flavourful or unique.

Chicken quesadilla

The nachos dish was large and came with the usual tortilla chips, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, and cheese. It came very hot and satisfied our hunger quickly. Tortilla was fried in the shape of small cups to hold the sour cream and salsa which were unique accents.

Nachos

Overall, this Moxie's location is good for hosting large parties. There is a room in the back that is linked to the hotel that can seat probably up to 50 people. The food came hot and quickly and there was no problem with the service.

Let's start this post off right with the food. I'll talk more about the service afterwards since there is a few points I want to address.

We went to Mega Sushi for lunch on a weekday afternoon and it was filled but no line up at the door. We made a reservation beforehand anyways since we knew the place was small. There were a few lunch bento options to choose from and we tried three of them. Each bento box came with one bowl of miso soup.

Sushi and sashimi bento

• Sashimi: 2 pieces salmon, 2 pieces tuna, 2 pieces Arctic clam, 2 pieces octopus
• California roll
• Chicken karaage
• Agedashi tofu
• Sunomono

The bento boxes were a good size. Sashimi was fresh and there was a full size shrimp in the sunomono instead of those usual small baby shrimps. Both the agedashi tofu and chicken karaage were fried to crispiness and was still hot when it arrived. Just a note that the bento boxes from their website are different than the menu in the restaurant. Perhaps they haven't gotten around to updating it.

Sushi and sashimi bento

Chicken teriyaki bento

• Chicken teriyaki and rice
• Sunomono
• California roll
• Edamame 

I enjoyed the tender chicken meat in the teriyaki sauce that was flavourful but not overly salty. Edamame beans were boiled and slightly salted which I liked! Some pieces of the California roll were like the typical ones with synthetic crab, other pieces had prawn tempura added.

Chicken teriyaki bento

Mackerel fish bento

• Grilled mackerel fish and rice
• 4 pieces of takoyaki
• Salad
• Edamame

I thoroughly enjoyed this bento box with the oily (in a good way) mackerel and takoyaki. The fish skin was crispy and retained natural fish oils which made each bite tender and smooth. The takoyaki was well made and were hot without burning your tongue.

Mackerel fish bento

Spider roll
The fried soft shell crab was complemented with imitation crab and cucumber to create a delicious roll! There was crab meat from the soft shell crab in this roll unlike other spider rolls I've tried where they only added the fried crab legs.

Spider roll

Mega roll

The Mega Roll was surprisingly good. The roll was made of seaweed wrapped around salmon, green onion and avocado, then the entire roll was lathered in tempura batter and deep-fried. The salmon was on the verge of being cooked but still retained a raw centre. The fried roll was topped with imitation crab and tobiko with a spicy chipotle-type sauce drizzled over it. Overall a unique roll that I would recommend.

Mega roll

Service

Now onto the service part of this review. I've been to Mega Sushi twice but only ate here once. That is because the first time I came here, it was dinner time on the weekend and we had made a reservation a few days beforehand. When we arrived, the restaurant was packed and the lady owner told us that we were not on the reservations list. We calmly explained that we had called before and talked to one of their employees. Instead of apologizing, in a rude manner she told us that she cannot accommodate us and if we cannot wait for at least 45 minutes we should leave. Of course, we left and it was especially unpleasant since we were celebrating a birthday. We ended up having a nice meal at Moncton Cafe.

After a long time, I decided to give Mega Sushi another try. Arriving at the restaurant with a reservation booked, the lady owner did not even look up when I stood at the door for a good few minutes. Instead the employees behind the sushi bar made a cheerful welcome in Japanese and another employee took me to my seat. Upon seating for ten minutes, I was not given any menus or tea until I requested to have menus so I could (obviously) choose what to eat. 

During the meal, I noticed that the owner was much friendlier to some customers over others. Probably because they were frequent visitors which is normal. I am not sure if this had to do with racism (I hope not) but I noticed that the table next to us were immediately seated with menus, tea, and moist towelletes and they were Caucasians. Other tables were offered the same but not our table. I didn't ask the owner who served them so I cannot be certain why our treatment was different but needless to say it gave me an uneasy feeling.

Interior of Mega Sushi

In general, the food at Mega Sushi is good and that is why they have such a high rating on Urbanspoon but the two times I've been here the service was sub-par, hence this restaurant doesn't have the overall package of good food and fair service.

I have a pretty big sweet tooth, especially for pastries and cakes so I was excited to finally try L'Opera after reading so many food blog posts about it!

The ambiance here is quiet and sophisticated. I had my order to go so I didn't spend a lot of time looking at the decor but it gave a good first impression. My phone immediately synced to the WiFi there so L'Opera can be an alternative option to coffee shops.

L'Opera from back door of parking area

The packaging was so cute and reminded me of a cross between La Duree and Thierry logo and colour scheme. This is great for gifting this holiday season!

This pretty lavendar macaron is cassis flavoured. The shell wasn't very crunchy and the inside was chewy with a fragrant filling. I would say that macarons here are between the textures of Faubourg and Thierry in terms of chewiness. I liked it.

Cassis macaron, $2

The cake I chose was named Paris and was delicious! There was a strong rum scent and smooth layers of chocolate and cream.

Paris cake, $5.8

Sorry this photo isn't very pretty but I wanted to show you the inside of the cake. The very bottom layer is chocolate sponge cake with a white cream layer on top and then a chocolate mousse layer. The outside is coated in almond flakes. Each bite was creamy, thick and satisfying without clogging your throat. Definitely enjoyed it but for a small piece of cake it sure is filling.

All in all, can't wait to try more of L'Opera goodies. Perhaps a croissant next time?