coffee and tea Archives - Curiously Carmen

Jia Plus Fusion Cafe

September 9, 2016 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I rarely venture out to Pitt Meadows. There hasn’t ever really been a reason to hang out in Pitt Meadows, until now! One of my friends opened up a cute little cafe in Pitt Meadows last year, in Osprey Village.

We were pretty surprised at how fast the drive was to Pitt Meadows! It was a bit under 30 minutes from Burnaby. Without traffic, the drive is really smooth and easy.
Osprey Village is a new development in Pitt Meadows right by the river. It reminded me of a quaint little seaside village, similar to Steveston but a lot more quieter, community focused, and no salt water smell.

There is one central street, which is lined with little boutique stores. There is also plenty of parking, and also a big parking lot for visitors!
If you didn’t already guess by the name, Jia Plus serves Asian style beverage and snacks. All the syrups are made daily by Vicky, and the teas are brewed fresh! The price is really reasonable as well.

The cafe has five tables inside and does not feel cramped at all. There are also a couple of patio seats, which are perfect for the summer! The high ceilings and warm lights makes it feel very comfortable.

The artwork inside the cafe is actually a partnership with a local art gallery down the block, and customers are able to purchase the original pieces.
Passion fruit green tea w/ pearls: It had all the qualities that I looked for in a bubble tea, and more. The jasmine green tea and a really fragrant and floral flavour, which is my absolute favourite when it comes to green tea. I am very picky about my jasmine green tea and this one tasted absolutely perfect. In addition, the pearls had the perfect chewy consistency and tasted fresh.

Unfortunately, I don’t recall exactly what my friends ordered. However, they all also really enjoyed their drinks!
Ramen: Apart from the drinks, Jia Plus also has some food items as well! The majority of us ordered the ramen. Vicky cooks the broth from scratch, and you can really taste the quality in it. The ramen also comes with a slice of tender pork, egg, and bamboo shoots. It was very comforting and filling, perfect for the cloudy day when we visited.
BBQ Chicken Rice Bowl: I know, it doesn’t look like a rice bowl right? The rice was actually underneath the greens! Sadly, I didn’t get to try this because the dressing had dairy in it. However, my friends are also all foodies and I trust their opinion when they said it was really good!
Jia Plus also offers cute little macaroons!

All in all, Jia Plus is a fantastic little cafe with one of the best green teas in the Vancouver area. Everything is made with quality, and you can definitely taste it.

Yay!

Cafe Joie

May 3, 2016 1 Comment

Cafe Joie is a little cafe across from Metrotown. I’ve always seen many cute pictures online, so I didn’t pass the opportunity to check it out myself when my friend invited me to come along!

However, I must say that a cafe is probably one of the worst places, food wise, that I can go to. I can’t have caffeine, can’t have dairy, and I don’t have a sweet tooth. That is like 80% of menus at all cafes, but I still go once in awhile to check them out =P

Although it looks pretty small on the outside, it is pretty spacious inside. It got pretty busy throughout our visit, and the line never stopped and tables were mostly full.

Luckily, we scored the only big, round,wooden table at the side of the cafe! It was probably the most comfortable seating in the cafe, as the other tables were pretty cramped together.
They also have cute, bear shape macarons with little ears on them in their display! As well, they have cake slices.
The four of us also got a drink each! Starting from top right, going clockwise:

Green tea latte w/ almond milk: Cinnamon wanted skim milk, but unfortunately they were sold out that day and replaced it with almond milk with no charge. She found it to be really sweet and asked them to make it again without sweetener.

Fancy rooibos tea: Since I can’t have dairy nor caffeine, herbal teas or juices are pretty much my only drink options at a cafe. The rooibos tea had a strong flavour, and had a fragrant rose smell to it.

London fog: Cocoa had no complaints about her latte!

Nutella latte: This is as good as it sounds. Espresso + velvety milk + nutella! If I could have dairy and caffeine, I would have definitely ordered this as well! Lollipop loved it and described it as drinking warm nutella. Yum!
Green tea waffle, $10.99: Cocoa and Lollipop shared this delicious waffle, topped with green tea ice cream, moci, whipped cream, almonds, kiwi, and strawberry. They both LOVED this waffle and said it was absolutely scrumptious.

I tried a bit of the waffle that didn’t touch the caffeinated green tea or dairy. It was very sweet, soft, and fluffy!

Overall, I would recommend Cafe Joie as a place to study or just hang out with friends. The waffles are definitely worth trying and great for sharing!

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Cat + Cafe = A visit to the Catfe

April 3, 2016 3 Comments

I got invited to the Catfe and seeing how popular it has been since opening two months ago in December, I decided to go and check it out!

Cat + cafe = catfe =^_^= There are many cat cafes in Asia, but Catfe is the first of its kind in Vancouver. In addition, all the cats at the Catfe are from the SPCA and are open for adoption. It’s a great way for potential pet owners to get a sense of what the cat’s personality is like, before adopting.
Of course, I forgot to bring my allergy pills! Yes, unfortunately I’ve been allergic to cats ever since I was a child. But cats are so cute! Luckily, my allergies only get really bad after two hours, so I just dealt with a itchy nose for the time being. My bad…

Catfe is located on the second level of Tinseltown. As you can tell from the picture, there is one main entrance (the full, clear glass door). The actual cafe where they serve food and where the cats are, are separated due to Vancouver’s health rules.

They have a LOT of cute cat themed merchandise for the cat lover in you! These would also make great gifts for those people in your life that have a huge affinity for cats. *insert heart eyes cat emoji here*
Vegan & gluten-free brownie, around $5: Many of their pastries are healthy and suitable for those with alternative diets. I ordered a brownie with peanut butter icing. The brownie was a bit on the dry side and lacked a chocolate flavour, but the peanut butter on top was delicious.

Let’s be honest here, you don’t come to Catfe for their food and drink. You come here to see the cute cats, so let’s enter the cat headquarters! I actually got pretty distracted by the cats and forgot about my brownie.

After washing my hands (a requirement before entering) and having a staff member go over all the rules with me (basically don’t be a jerk to the cats), I saw a big, brown sleepy cat on the counter, pictured on the top left. I am in awe at how he managed to snooze so deeply when there is so much going on around him. I wish I could do that too.

Many of the cats were sleeping when I went. Some were sleeping on the chairs, or in little shelves and boxes.

There was around seven cats when I visited Catfe. The number of cats vary each day, depending on if they have been adopted or not yet.
Here are some of the places for the cats to play. One of their entire wall is a wooden shelf for cats to crawl around in, or sleep in the holes.
They also have cat themed board games and children’s story books as well! It truly is a cat lover’s paradise here.
Hehe, a selfie with one of the sleepy cats. The chairs are cat themed too!
All in all, I think the Catfe is a great place for cat lovers. I wouldn’t recommend coming if you aren’t a fan of cats, because you are essentially paying $5 (with purchase from cafe) or $8 (no cafe purchase, just to see the cats) to see them.

Think of the Catfe as a cat shelter, but with average drinks/pastries, really cute interior design and better living conditions for the cats while they wait to be adopted.

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Complementary media pass provided, I paid for the food. All opinions are own.

Commodity Juicery

February 5, 2016 Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but I loooveee green juice! That might be hard for you to believe as I’m not completely into the whole healthy living lifestyle. I love my burgers, fries, and root beer, but sometimes I like to trade that in for some feel-good green goodness.

Commodity Juicery is a new juicery that opened up on Fraser Street in Vancouver, right across from Earnest Ice Cream. Since this area isn’t that busy or commercial, it is pretty easy to find parking. It is also easily accessible by bus (#8 Fraser or #25 UBC).

I was invited to a taste-testing and sampled a few of their juices and food offered on their menu. Here is what I thought!
Upon walking in, Commodity Juicery is pretty small but seating is comfortable. They have a service counter that doubles up as a table, which seats four people comfortable. There are also two lounge chairs by the window.

I loved how white, clean, and new everything was! They also have an open kitchen, which you can completely see the staff juicing on their ginormous industrial juicer or make the food. Half way through our taste testing, we got to see and talk to one of the staff members, who was creating more nut mylk and juices!
Top left, going clockwise

All greens #2: We started off with the least sweetest juice. This was made with kale, cucumber, romaine, celery, parsley, lime, and ginger. It was very light, and tasted like cucumber water with a hint of lime and celery. I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t like this, but it wasn’t that bad! You would like this if you’re a fan of green juice like I am.

Mighty greens #3: Cucumber, green apple, mint, romaine, celery, kale, lime. This one tasted similar to all greens, except that it was sweeter due to the green apple.

Purple puppy #6: Beet, cucumber, cilantro, orange, apple. Compared to the previous two, this one was a LOT sweeter due to the orange and apple. My cousins both said there was a strong beet taste to this.

If you’re not a fan of the green juice taste but want the healthy benefits, I would recommend this one. It tasted like a regular, sweetened juice (even though there was no added sugar!).

Bright greens #4: Romaine, cucumber, kale, parsley, green apple, lemon. This one tasted pretty similar to the other two green juices. I enjoyed all three!

Top to bottom

Morning love #7: Carrot, yam, orange, lemon, cinnamon. This reminded me of the fall due to the cinnamon and carrot. It tasted like you were drinking a pie, if that makes any sense! It was very warming and smoothing.

Matcha mylk#12: Cashews, almonds, matcha, maple syrup, vanilla bean. Moving away from the green juices, we sampled one of their ‘mylks’ – all of their milk is dairy free and made with nuts.

This was really delicious! The cashews and almonds made it creamy, due to the higher fat content that nuts have. The vanilla bean taste at the end was the cherry on top of a delicious mylk.

Zucchini & kale chips: The zucchini chips were seasoned with sour kream (aka. cashew milk with seasoning), and tasted delicious! The kale chips were nice and thick, and flavoured with chili lime. Both chips were delicious and we couldn’t stop munching in between juice samples.

Vegan quinoa salad: I was surprised at how creamy the quinoa was, even without dairy! Again, it was made with cashew milk. There was a nice garlic flavour, with hints of fresh and sweet apple.
Vegan minestrone soup: This recipe was carried on from one of the owners grandma! How sweet. Even though it did not have any meat, I found this to be really delicious and something I could have daily. It was the perfect embodiment of a heart warming soup.

Vegan Caesar salad: Hands down, my favourite dish that day. I couldn’t stop thinking about this salad and telling my friends how amazing this was! This salad was so incredibly fresh, crunch, and creamy.

Did you know that the base of Caesar dressing is anchovies? I didn’t know that! In replacement of anchovies, they used dulce flakes which has a similar taste to anchovies.
Vegan coconut almond date bites: These cute little bites were delicious as well! They were very sweet due to the dates, while the coconut flakes gave it a nice crunch. These are perfect for a healthy dessert alternative and sure to satisfy those who have a sweet tooth.

In conclusion, Commodity Juicery opened my mind up about vegan eating, and how delicious and easy it can be. The juices were delicious as well and there is something for everyone, even if you’re not crazy about green juices.
Juices range from $10-12 a bottle, with food items ranging anywhere from $2-$10. If I could afford a $10 juice, I would come back here pretty often but until then, I’ll be continuously thinking of their delicious juices.

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Complimentary tasting in exchange for a review. Opinions are own.

Neverland Tea Salon

November 27, 2015 2 Comments

I can’t believe that I forgot to talk about Neverland Tea Salon! I was in the middle of switching phones in the summer, and the photos were taken on my old phone and I completely forgot about them after I got my new phone. Nonetheless, a late review is better than no review – especially if it is a place as magical as Neverland Tea Salon!

I first stumbled upon this place after a meager dinner experience at Ramen Sanpachi, over a year ago. We were walking around the street after dinner, and although the lights were off and the place was closed, I knew I had to come back to Neverland Tea Salon one day. I kept this place at the back of my head until Bubble suggested to go to high tea!

We also had Entertainment Book coupons for high tea so decided to go before things got busy in the Fall (Hah, it’s practically Winter now).

Neverland is very cutesy and girly. You step into a fairy tale setting and everything about this place is just so princess-y, classy, and cute. Luckily, we got the best seats in the restaurant that day, which was a big pink sofa spot at the front.

There were four of us, and we ordered two separate sets of high tea. We ordered the high tea ($30 each) and the demi high tea ($18 each), but it was slightly cheaper from the coupon. With the high tea, you get bottomless tea (!!!!) but with the demi high tea, you are only able to select two teas per person.

I’m not going to go to detail over all the teas that we ordered, but trust me when I say their tea was pretty good! All of the teas that we ordered were full of flavour, and can be sweetened with honey or sugar cubes on your table.
Demi tea ($18/person): This is the smaller and cheaper selection of high tea. The pastries and sandwiches offered with the demi tea are the same as high tea, but it does not include some items. Since Rainbow, and Stitch had already been here many times and weren’t that hungry, they split the demi tea.

Fun fact: The owner of the tea salon actually made all the high tea trays herself! She bought all these vintage plates, and glued them together into beautiful stands.

High tea ($30/person): Bubble and I split the high tea, which ended up being cheaper since we had a buy one get one from the Entertainment Book! As you can see, there are more items offered from the high tea.

Although I’m not a big fan of scones, I was told that I had to try the scones here because they were really good. And yes, they were delicious. They were soft, warm, and buttery. So good!

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile now, you know that I prefer savoury food over sweet food. In fact, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth at all so naturally I gravitated towards the bottom plate with the savoury selections!

Since their sandwich and pastry selection changes often and this visit was over three months ago, I don’t think it’s much use to describe each of the food items in detail. Although the sandwiches look very simple, they were actually really delicious and the quality was definitely there.

Here is a picture of both the demi and high tea! Since you are drinking A LOT of tea, you definitely get full really fast. We ended up packing most of the pastries home because we were so full from the sandwiches and amount of tea we were drinking.

I would recommend trying out Neverland Tea Salon if you like girly and cute themed places. The service is very friendly and knowledgeable, although a bit slow. Maki came here last month too and mentioned that it took so long for her to ask for the bill, that she ended up with a parking ticket when she left because the meter expired. She asked for the bill 15 minutes before the meter expired so that really sucks! 🙁

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen