drink Archives - Curiously Carmen

45 Degree Bubble Tea House

October 2, 2018 Leave a Comment

While hanging out with Cola and the monkeys downtown, Cola suggested we grab some bubble tea here. 45 Degree Bubble Tea House is a small little cafe off West Pender, close to Stanley Park and the seawall. It was pretty quiet when we came on a weekend afternoon.

I was planning on getting bubble tea that evening with friends, so I didn’t order anything here but the rest of them did.

Milk tea with pearls: The boyfriend got his usual, a regular milk tea with pearls. It was fragrant and one of the better milk teas he has had. He said that the pearls were fresh and chewy as well.

Lavender milk tea: Cola ordered a lavender milk tea, which she had no complaints about.

Strawberry slush with pearls: Monkey 1 had the strawberry slush, which she enjoyed.

Mango slush with coconut jelly: Monkey 2 had the mango slush, which she enjoyed too.

Since we were in the area, 45 Degree was convenient and we would probably go back should we crave some bubble tea!

Yay!

Earl’s – Happy Hour Revisit

September 29, 2018 1 Comment

Over the weekend, we met up with Macaroni and Cheese for happy hour at Earl’s. We have been here a couple times before, but I didn’t write about it since we ordered the same things as the first post I wrote last year.

Drinks: The happy hour specials at Earl’s are definitely a great value. We each ordered a drink, which I forgot to take a photo of. I had the rose sangria which was sweet and sugary, reminiscent of a pink lemonade. However, I would recommend ordering it with light ice because half the wine glass was ice!

Earl’s Chorizo Nachos: At first, we weren’t sure whether or not the nachos would be enough for 4 people because it seemed pretty cheap ($10 compared to most places, where nachos are $15+). Luckily, it was a good portion for snacking and we all enjoyed it.

The nachos reminded us of chili, like if you put chili over some nacho chips. There was a lot of chorizo sausage and a decent amount of ripe avocado, but it could have used more cheese. It was a good choice and I wouldn’t mind sharing it again.

Margherita pizza: Last time when Cocoa ordered this, it was disappointing but Macaroni was craving some pizza that day, so we all shared it too. It looked sad and small, but taste wise, it wasn’t bad.

The price increased from $3.50 to $4.00 since last year which is not surprising as the cost of materials and living continue to rise. However, if the price keeps on slowly creeping up, it definitely would not be worth it based on the size.

Yam fries: Surprisingly, I’m not a huge fan of yam fries so I didn’t have any. However, the rest of them did not have any complaints about it.

Garlic fries: I forgot to take a photo of the garlic fries! Last time, I remember that the garlic fries were disappointing and not garlicky at all. Well, this time, it was a lot better because there was a huge amount of crushed garlic! We ended up ordering another bowl of these to share, and all wounded up with garlic breath afterwards! LOL!

As in my last post, I mentioned that the happy hour items are a bit hit and miss… in this visit, we enjoyed all of the dishes, which is making me think that they are inconsistent. For example, the garlic fries last time barely had any garlic, but this time, there was a huge amount. I would say don’t come with extremely high expectations because you won’t know if they’re having an off day or not.

I find service here spotty too, it is either really good, or really slow.

But if you just want a place for cheap drinks, then Earl’s is the place to go!

Yay!

Boba Monster

September 14, 2018 Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago, I was meeting up with my cousins and they suggested on going to Boba Monster. It is one of their go-to bubble tea places. I’m glad that I tried it because it was delicious!

Strawberry mango slush with pearls: I can’t remember what my cousins ordered, so I’ll just describe my own. The slush had a nice consistency and was the perfect sweetness for me.

There was a good balance of fresh mango and strawberry. In addition, the pearls were sweet and chewy.
Mango sago: The mango sago was one of their specialty drinks. It was a fresh mango slush with mango chunks, mango stars, and sago. Maki opted to get it without whipped cream. She didn’t have any complaints about it, and I thought that the mango stars looked really pretty inside the drink!

Matcha red bean: Nigiri ordered the matcha red bean, another one of their specialty drinks! The boyfriend has been ordering this the past couple of times now too. It came with matcha slush and red bean, topped with mochi, whipped cream, and more red bean.

I would recommend this if you’re a fan of red bean! Red bean is just average to me so I wouldn’t order it myself. But I enjoyed the matcha portion of it.
After a couple visits, we discovered that Skip The Dishes offers free delivery over $20!!! How convenient (and bad) is that! We took advantage of this deal while babysitting my cousins, because it’s only worth it if you have 4+ people. Otherwise, you would have to pay $4.75 delivery fee plus tips.

Boba Monster has not yet disappointed and I can see us coming here more often for our bubble tea fix. Especially during board games night, we can take advantage and order it with friends. Service is friendly and quick too!

Yay!

Food: Cha Time

April 10, 2018 1 Comment

Cha Time is a popular Taiwanese chain that gained popularity in Vancouver a couple of years ago. There are now many different locations around Vancouver. The thing I like about Cha Time is that you can customize your sweetness and ice level, and they actually pay attention to it!
The location I mainly go to is the East Hastings location, which opened up a few months ago. It’s usually lined up but most people take their drinks to go. This location has free parking in the lot or also on the street.

Malt milk tea: This is the boyfriend’s go to, ever since he discovered it the first visit. It is the same as a regular milk tea, but they add malt powder to it. The malt makes it taste even better and if you’re a fan of malty things such as Maltesers or Ovaltine, you should definitely try this!

Mango slush: I usually alternate between some sort of fruit slush with 50% less sugar. The pearls here are consistently tasty and chewy.

Edit: Why are the reviews on Zomato so bad….? It’s not even that terrible here!

Yay!

Food: Earl’s – Happy Hour

November 17, 2017 4 Comments

Mmmm, happy hour. Is it weird that I go to happy hour mainly for the cheap food instead of alcohol?

Cocoa suggested that we check out Earl’s for happy hour after work a couple of months ago. They have a pretty good menu for happy hour, and one of the perks about Earl’s is that they offer happy hour specials on Friday & Saturday nights too!

The last time I went to Earl’s was over a year ago and it was for dinner, so it was my first time trying their happy hour. Here’s how it went!
Virgin passion fruit limeade, $4.50: This came with passion fruit, mint, and fresh lime juice. It was a bit sour for my liking and I wish that there was more passion fruit flavour. Nonetheless, it was alright and a good non-alcoholic drink.

I should also mention that if you like highballs, they are only $3 during happy hour! Yes, I am aware that my virgin drink cost more than alcohol… when does that ever happen???
Maui Ahi Poke, $9.50: I can’t sing enough praises about the ahi tuna poke… it was so delicious! In fact, I came back here a week later and ordered the same thing because I enjoyed it that much.

The poke came with some cilantro, mango, smashed avocado, and a side of chips. It was seasoned with sesame oil which is why I loved it so much. Whenever I make my own tuna poke at home, I use sesame oil as my main marinate so the poke at Earl’s was exactly how I liked it!

I would recommend scooping the poke on the chips. A bit unconventional but the chips are really bland on its own. Think of it was a Western twist on poke?
Garlic fries, $3.50: Cocoa and her friend decided to share this, but it was quite disappointing for garlic fries. There wasn’t really any garlic taste at all. It tasted just like normal fries.
Chicken tacos, $7.50: We each ordered two chicken tacos for $7.50, which was a pretty decent price.

We all enjoyed the tacos. The ingredients were fresh and did a good job in filling us up.
Margherita pizza w/salami add on, $5~: Without the salami, the margherita pizza was only$3.50 which is so cheap! However, do be warned that it is definitely a snack size and is quite small. Cocoa had no complaints about the pizza.

Avocado toast, $7.50: Cocoa’s friend was curious about the avocado toast, so she decided to try it. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious either but I never order it from restaurants as I can easily make it at home. I feel like avocado toast has also become so amusing ever since that businessman said in the news that avocado toast is the reason young people can’t afford a house these days.

Anyways, the avocado toast was disappointing. There wasn’t much flavour to it and it was really plain… definitely not worth $7.50.
A shot of all our food! Overall, some food items were a hit or miss but I would definitely come back now that I know what to order and what to avoid. The prices are great and it is a good place to go to hang out over food. And now that you’ve read my review, you can learn from our mistakes and not spend your money on the items that weren’t worth it 😉

Service was spotty and a bit slow at times, they also forgot Cocoa’s poke and we had to ask them about it. On my second visit here the following week, we were seated and waited 15 minutes for a server. Finally, one of the servers there noticed that we had been sitting there for awhile with no one so he ended up helping us for the rest of the night.

Yay!