J & T Restaurant - Bella Bella

Not a bad choice for dinner. Probably the Chinese food in town.

Lots of negative reviews but I don't know why big portions and really good taste. My wife and I really enjoyed it

This restaurant has a bit of a history on Haida Gwaii. In its early years, it started off as "Marg's," a place famous just as much for their breakfasts as for the boisterous personality that ran the place. In the early 2000s, Marg's became "Lam's Cafe" -- an offshoot from John's Cafe and it remained that until late 2009 when the place was sold and became the current incarnation, J & T. But before I go further, a bit of context is perhaps necessary.When this restaurant became Lam's Cafe in the early 2000s, it seemed to develop something of a cult following amongst the locals. The food was never great, but it was at least consistent. My personal favourite at the time was the pan-fried prawns and chow mein combo. And what was even better -- you could order practically the whole menu and it would still be "10 minutes" for pick-up. Unfortunately, the consistency in food service and quality died a slow and painful death with the sale of this restaurant in late 2009. But while Lam's Cafe may have closed, the new owners of what became J&T still nonetheless tried to ride off of Lam's coattails: Along with keeping the "Lam's Cafe" signage up (until just a few years ago), they attempted to learn "how to cook" like the previous owner, even going so far as to have him come in and teach them some of their trademark recipes (namely, the boneless spareribs). While the effort was there, they just could not duplicate the taste. As a result, this "copy-cat" project was abandoned and they cooked according to their own style. It seemed to work for a while, but after a few years, they moved away (last I heard the original owners of J&T were working at Hon's in Vancouver). And thus began the current conundrum: VERY inconsistent food and service. Nowadays, it seems like the cooks work in a revolving door. This is something I've witnessed, having visited this establishment countless times since the early 2000s (though a lot less frequently now). Nearly every time I visit, there are different people in the building: different staff; different cooks. And this isn't necessarily good because it usually means that the food presentation/style is going to different. You never know what you're going to get. One day the food may be really good, and on another visit -- with different cooks -- it might very well be the worst thing you've put in your mouth. To highlight my point: I visited J&T in December 2016 and again at the end of February of this year. Unsurprisingly, there were different people working in the restaurant. I suspect it has something to do with Visas.One other point that irks me: Like Oceana, despite different cooks/owners, this place maintains its name (J&T) and the same menu. Isn't keeping "the old" kind of bad practice, especially when it wasn't that good to begin with? But I suppose with a revolving door of cooks it doesn't really matter.Oh! And one other point: One review referred to this place as having "Authentic Thai Chinese Cuisine." I can tell you there isn't anything "Authentic Thai" about this place; in fact, there isn't a single "Thai" dish on the menu. What you get here -- as others have pointed out -- is your typical Westernized cuisine. Nothing more, nothing less.So why the low rating? Because this place, due to constant changes in the kitchen, is just too inconsistent. Sometimes the food is good; other times it is mediocre; and at still other times it is outright gross. Some of the attached pictures will highlight this fact: sometimes there will be very different looks to what are supposed to be the same dishes (some quite nasty). Sure, the staff generally treat you well, but if you don't know what you're going to get from one visit to the next, what real incentive is there to return? I guess it's a good thing for this place that people are creatures of habit. . .?FOOD: 2/5SERVICE: 3/5VALUE: 2/5 (expensive for what you get)RECOMMENDATION: I'm neutral on this one. Either you like it or you don't!

If you were in a mall in America this is the chinese food they would serve. It's bulky, carb and sauce heavy, and thrust at you in overcompensatingly large portions. It also provides free MSG headaches for those of you so inclined. That's not to say that the food is bad, it's just "chinese" food in a small town. I'd assumed this place would be slightly cheaper than the other Chinese restaurant but I was wrong.

I went in and ordered a honey garlic pork and chow mein along with a spring roll. All pretty good. The spring roll was cooked just right with a nice crispness and not greasy. The pork done well. The chow mein somewhat flavorless so needed to add soya sauce to it. It could use some help with onions etc. The menu also has a wide variety of western dishes and burgers for those who don't want Chinese. Service good.