Budget-Friendly Bites: White Spot, Four Points Sheraton (Southside)

My family and I went to the new White Spot location on the south side. The old location was where the new IHOP on Calgary Trail is. White Spot seems to have changed its image and standards quite a bit. I hadn't been to White Spot for a long time even before it closed due to a slightly tarnished experience. Nothing to do with the food or service there though.

They currently have this limited time offer where you can get a 3-course meal for either $15 or $18. The difference in price is just referent to the choices of your entree.

I've been giving myself a few extra cheat days to make up for the ones I missed during the past few months ;P

I went with their "Spot Salad" which is their house salad - mixed greens, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, diced red onion, and cherry tomatoes with a honey vinaigrette dressing. Not too bad. I don't like cherry tomatoes so I gave them to my brother. I just don't think tomatoes should be miniature. They gross me out. Other than the Spot Salad, you could get a Caesar salad or a cup of soup.

For the entree, I picked the Bacon Cheddar Chicken Burger. No, I didn't pick the chicken burger because of the beef scare going on. I just don't really like beef. Like I've mentioned before, I really have to be in the mood for it. I just like chicken burgers. Fish burgers moreso, but unfortunately, there was no such option :( It's only slightly out of character for me to order something with bacon in it, but I decided to go with it. It was a decent-sized plate. Half filled with their "signature fries" which are apparently "endless". I guess the idea parallels that of Red Robin's but despite the attempt, Red Robin's bottomless steak fries win. Normally, I don't like coleslaw, but theirs was actually not bad. I found it weird that they sprinkled sunflower seeds in it, but I guess it just took some getting used to. The cabbage was fresh, and the dressing was very light, so it was all tolerable. I only ate half of the burger. It was quite large (for me). It had a grilled chicken breast, tomato, onion, lettuce, ketchup, some sort of mayo-ish sauce, cheddar cheese, and a couple strips of bacon. The fries weren't that special. Not particularly crisp, not too salty, but I'm not complaining. I basically have an unconditional love for potatoes, and I'm not the biggest salt fanatic, so it gets an OK from me.

You had the choice of a personal-sized apple pie with a scoop of icecream on top, or a personal-sized "seasonal" pie. Upon ordering, our server said that aside from the apple pie, they had strawberry, blueberry, and pumpkin. I was sold at blueberry. Unfortunately, by the time dessert came around, they didn't have strawberry or blueberry, so I switched it to pumpkin. My mom likes pumpkin, so it was okay  I left my family to eat the pie, as I was stuffed. The crust looked kind of like a molded graham cracker crust, so it was more of a tart. The pumpkin puree looked pretty good on the inside, and there was a layer of crushed pecans on top. The apple pie looked like an apple crumble with a scoop of vanilla icecream on top, all inside a personal-sized tart crust. I was full, so I couldn't judge on the sweets.

For $15, I have to say that the dinner was pretty decent. At Boston Pizza, for example, your main course alone would cost about $15 or more. Take advantage of this deal while it lasts!

-M