dessert Archives - Curiously Carmen

Mink Chocolate Cafe

August 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

I remember seeing Mink Cafe a lot during the hot chocolate festival. I believe they had some kind of special grasshopper drink that people were posting online! How interesting. I tried crickets once and it was interesting… they were dried so they were very crispy. Anyways, I’m going off topic.

While venturing out to South Surrey, Latte looked up a place where we could hang out after having lunch at Pho Sunrise and suggested Mink.

I haven’t been before but heard good things, and their chocolate seemed like great quality so why not give it a try?

This Mink location is located inside Morgan Crossing. It was pretty spacious inside, with half of their tables gone for social distancing. They had hand sanitizer by the door and I felt clean and comfortable in there.

I wish they would have asked for our contact information for tracing though.

Hot chocolate, 70% cacao dairy free: I was happy to see that they had a dairy free version with their dark hot chocolate. I chose oat milk as my dairy substitute.

The hot chocolate was delicious! It was creamy, rich, and decadent. The dark chocolate was very smooth and easy to drink. The sweetness level was perfect, not too sweet but not too bitter either.

They also gave me a free chocolate on the side (weird that Latte didn’t get one with hers though….) I gave it to the fiance when I got home and he enjoyed it.

White chocolate waffle: The waffle was not good. Although they had heated it up, the waffle was still hard and tasteless. I wouldn’t order it again.

All in all, Mink has really high quality chocolate as evident in their drinks. You can also buy a bunch of chocolate as gifts. In addition, they also have fondue which sounded delicious, but I was already feeling full from lunch.

I’m glad we came here and I would go back to Mink for a solid cup of high quality hot chocolate.

Lee’s Donuts

July 25, 2020 Leave a Comment

The fiance and I decided to go to Granville Island for some takeout by the dock (we decided on Kaisereck Deli, you can read my review here) earlier this month, and enjoy some donuts afterwards! I have heard great things about Lee’s Donuts for awhile, so it was about time we try it out.

Lee’s Donuts is located inside Granville Island Market. They are known for their quality donuts, made from scratch each day. While in line, you can actually see them making the donuts.

As expected, there was a lineup. However, it went by very fast – I would say we waited less than 5 minutes!

Honey glazed: I went with their classic honey glazed. This was delicious and I could see why this place is so popular. The donut was soft and fluffy.

Mango madness: I haven’t tried a mango donut before, so decided to give it a try. The donut was also delicious and very fresh. The mango filling inside was still a bit warm!

Dutch crumb: The dutch crumb came with a cake crumb topping and cinnamon sugar. The cake crumb added a slightly crunchy texture to the soft donut. The cinnamon sugar was a tasty addition as well!

Bavarian: The bavarian came with a dark chocolate custard filling. Like the rest of the donuts, this one was amazing too.

All in all, we enjoyed our visit to Lee’s Donuts and glad that we finally tried it after hearing so many great things about it.

We ate them outside the market, and had to keep an eye on a pigeon who was eyeing us the whole time… it was not his or her lucky day though because they did not get a donut from us! 😉

Blackball Dessert – Kingsway Location

June 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: In light of COVID-19, I just wanted to say that I am doing my part by social distancing and only going out when necessary. This is a review based on contact-less delivery.

We are now in phase 2 which means restrictions are slowly lifting. It is crucial that we still limit our social circle, and wear masks when out. Yes, you may feel fine but you could be passing on the virus to someone who is immunocompromised or elderly that may not survive this virus. I know it’s summer and we want to go out and enjoy the sun, but let’s all remember to be safe and protect those most vulnerable.

Blackball Dessert is a Taiwanese dessert chain that made its way to BC last August, in Richmond. I wrote a review on their Richmond location and have been there multiple times since writing about it!

I noticed that another Blackball had opened up closer to us in Vancouver, so we placed a delivery order. I’m not sure if it was because we ordered delivery or not, but it was disappointing and not the same as our previous visits to the Richmond location.

One thing I really liked about Blackball was that you could customize their dessert bowls. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that on Doordash. The price was also steeper than I remembered, at almost $9 for a small dessert bowl.

Taro balls grass jelly: Since I wasn’t able to customize, I picked an item that seemed closest to what I’d normally order in person at their Richmond location.

When the dessert bowl arrived, I was surprised at how small it was for the price! I found it disappointing and not worth the price. As mentioned above, I don’t remember how much I paid before, but I don’t recall it being almost $9. I definitely wouldn’t have gone to the Richmond location multiple times for that price point and small size, so I think they’ve increased the price since. I was curious to see the price in Richmond, but unfortunately I couldn’t find a recent menu pic with prices online.

Anyways, the dessert itself was not bad, just small portion for the price. The pearls were chewy with a nice sweetness. The taro and yam balls were tasty as well. Blackball has won awards for their grass jelly in Taiwan, and it was good as well. I’m not a fan of Asian bean desserts (gasp!!!!) so the fiance happily ate that part.

Brown sugar pearl with fresh milk: Again, this drink did not seem to be worth the price. It was quite small as you can see in the photo.

Taste wise, the fiance enjoyed it but thought it was very small for the price. There are so many other places that we could have gone to for bigger size for the same price or even cheaper.

I really did enjoy Blackball’s Richmond location when they first opened last summer so I had high hopes for this location. However, after trying their Kingsway location, it seems like the prices have gone up and do not reflect the value anymore.

By the way, I pride myself on my honest reviews. There are a lot of food influencers out there who only focus on the good… to the point where I have never seen a negative review on a restaurant before and I don’t trust their reviews. So rather than seeing me as picky or complaining, I hope you can see that I’m keepin’ it 100% 😉

Mello

May 25, 2020 Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: In light of COVID-19, I just wanted to say that I am doing my part by social distancing and only going out when necessary. This is a review based on contact-less delivery.

When I heard about Mello donuts earlier in the year on social media, I knew I had to check them out (well via delivery because we are living in strange times)! Mello is a Korean-owned donut shop in Chinatown that recently opened in December. You may remember UYU, a soft serve shop in Gastown that closed down a few years ago. The owner of UYU is the same as Mello!

Mello specializes in brioche donuts! Brioche donuts are similar to your usual donuts, except they contain more butter, eggs and less water.

The fiance and I picked a few flavours to share on our anniversary. Our stomachs were very happy that day, as we also had Ask For Luigi! I had to do a big workout the next day for all the unhealthy (but delicious) food consumed but it was a day for celebration (at home due to the pandemic).

Vanilla brioche donut: I wanted to try a regular vanilla donut to compare with their other fun flavours. Yes, the brioche donuts stand up by themselves LOL! The donut itself was absolutely amazing and I fell in love at first bite. It was light, fluffy but with a rich and sweet flavour.

The filling was akin to a custard. The custard flavour was very Asian-style: light, a bit sweet and not too dense. It balanced out the brioche donut perfectly.

Cookies and cream: The fiance is a big fan of cookies and cream, so he had to order this donut! The cookies and cream is not a brioche donut, but under their ‘dipped donut’ category.

The cookies and cream donut was incredibly soft, springy, and fluffy. The crushed oreo glaze on top elevated the taste even further. If you’re a big fan of cookies and cream flavour, this is a definite must try!

Nutella brioche donut: This donut was delicious as well. Stuffed with a light but creamy Nutella filling inside, the brioche donut was as soft and fluffy as the others. The sugar coating gave it a sweeter taste although it was a bit messier to eat.

Chocolate dipped donut: The chocolate dipped donut was comforting because it reminded me of long john donuts that I used to get in elementary school. Although simple, it was still tasty and enjoyable!

Tiramisu brioche donut: Last but not least, the tiramisu brioche donut! This was an excellent pick from the fiance. The tiramisu filling had a strong coffee taste but the texture was light, like whipped cream.

The outside of the donut is dusted with a cocoa powder, which was the cherry on top of a delicious donut.

Cereal cookie: I read a few reviews saying that the cereal cookie was also a must try, so why not? This was the first time that I’ve seen cereal put on top of a cookie and it is actually a pretty genius idea.

The cookie itself was buttery and chewy. Meanwhile, the corn flakes cereal gave the cookie a fun crunch to it!

The cereal didn’t elevate the taste of the cookie, but gave it more of a fun, textural twist. It was good, but if you were to pick between their donuts or cookie, I’d pick the donuts any day.

Overall, Mello was delicious. You can really taste the quality of their donuts. They were delicately light and fluffy, with a slight chew to it and the perfect amount of sweetness.

Vancouver does not have many donut shops but I’m glad Mello has opened up. I will definitely be back!

Comebuy Bubble Tea

May 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: In light of COVID-19, I just wanted to say that I am doing my part and social distancing. This is a review based on contact-less delivery.

I know that you may want to go out and have fun, but it is crucial that we distance ourselves to slow the spread of the virus and flatten the curve before it gets worse. Yes, you may feel fine but you could be passing on the virus to someone who is immunocompromised or elderly that may not survive this virus.

After not having bubble tea for two months, we are on a roll with trying other bubble tea places lately! You can read my reviews on Dive In Dessert Bar and Good Day Good Time. Comebuy was the latest addition to our bubble tea adventures, but we found it to be meh.

There are two Comebuy locations currently. We ordered delivery from the Burnaby location inside Crystal Mall, there is also a location in downtown!

One minor complaint I have is that their drink stickers were not labelled in Chinese, and not English. Especially if you have a large group order with many drinks or ordering delivery, not being able to read the label is confusing. I understand that their staff can read Chinese so it’s easier for them, but it would be better to have both languages on customer-facing products so they can tell which drink is which.

We ordered four drinks to reach the free delivery minimum, and saved two for the next day!

Sweet rose drink with basil seeds: I was happy to see that there were more than 2 drink options that didn’t have caffeine or dairy! This drink sounded delicious, so I gave it a try. I also added pearls to it.

The drink was alright. Nothing special or extraordinary. The pearls were cooked well and chewy and I liked that there was a decent amount of basil seeds.

Lychee delight: The fiance loves his lychee, so he had to get this when he saw it on the menu. His drink was also alright, nothing special about it.

The lychee jelly that they used here was a bit different than most as you can tell from the photo but he didn’t mind.

Neptune milk tea: The milk tea was pretty disappointing. I could already tell looking at the colour that it probably wasn’t going to be that good.

The tea flavour was very light. In addition, the drink also wasn’t milky enough. It wasn’t as disappointing as Good Day Good Time‘s milk tea, but we still weren’t impressed with this drink.

Grapefruit lemonade: The last drink we tried was the grapefruit lemonade. Again, it was alright. Nothing particularly good or bad about it.

All in all, the drinks that we ordered were alright (except for the milk tea). It was a forgettable experience and not a place where I would be craving their drinks anytime soon.

With so many bubble tea options in the Lower Mainland these days, Comebuy does not sit high on my list but I wouldn’t mind getting it again if someone wanted to go!