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Curiously Carmen

The Keg – North Burnaby Location – Revisit

May 22, 2019 1 Comment

The Keg in North Burnaby was one of my first ever blog posts, over five years ago! Since then, The Keg has been one of the go-to places with my parents for special occasions. We come here at least 2-3x a year, so I figured it was time for an update post!

This location is located next to the Costco in North Burnaby. There is a big, free parking lot but we still find it hard to find parking, depending on the time of the year or if it’s Mother’s/Father’s day.

Prime rib, medium rare, 8 oz: This is my parent’s go-to! Their prime rib is always amaaaazing. It is tender and cooked to a perfect medium rare. Just looking at the picture makes me salivate.

That night, they got the grilled vegetables, but the double baked potato or mashed potatoes are quite delicious too. The angle of my photo makes the steak look small, but it’s a filling portion.

Tuna steak: I usually get the prime rib too, but my digestive problems were at its peak that week so I wouldn’t have been able to handle a rich and juicy steak or that much red meat. How sad right? So, I decided to play it safe and order a tuna steak. This was my first time ordering a non-beef item at The Keg.

The tuna steak was very small and not that filling. I found it to be a bit dry too. For the portion and price, the steak was definitely the better value and I felt pretty ripped off by this. But what can I do? Hopefully next time, my stomach will be in better condition so I can have the prime rib.

Baseball top sirloin: The boyfriend went with the baseball top sirloin that night! It was also a 8 oz, but looked smaller because it was thick. I believe it’s called a ‘baseball’ sirloin because it’s thick and could easily fit in the palm of your hand like a baseball would.

He enjoyed the sirloin a lot and had no complaints. Since this is such a thick cut, they can only cook it to a medium rare.

Service here can be a bit hit or miss here, depending on the day that you come. But the steaks are consistently delicious and it is a good place to come for a special occasion!

The Keg Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Filed Under: food & drink, romantic, steakhouse, western

Carmelo’s Ristorante Italiano

September 11, 2018 Leave a Comment

Following an eventful and happy day of Sangria and Lager’s proposal (congrats to them!!! YAY!), we had a celebratory dinner at Carmelo’s in West Vancouver because it was near Whytecliff Park, where Lager popped the question.

It was a top secret mission and Lager entrusted me to finding a nice but reasonably priced place to eat afterwards. I relied on the likes of Yelp and Google Reviews which has not failed yet!

Since we were unsure of how long we would be at Whytecliff, Lager suggested that we make a late reservation to give us time if necessary.  At first, the restaurant told us they didn’t have any earlier times but ended up calling back to offer us a spot 1 hour earlier than our reservation time which was perfect for us.

Complimentary bread: We were given two baskets of bread among the 7 of us. There were two types: your regular baguette style bread, and another type which had different types of herbs. I enjoyed the latter because I could taste some rosemary, along with others.

It came with an unique whipped butter, which one of us guessed was infused with red pepper? We aren’t really sure but it was tasty and we cleaned it all up!
Ricotta cheese on toast: As an appetizer, Steak and Sushi both shared the ricotta cheese on toast. They said it was simple and easy to recreate at home, but they enjoyed it nonetheless. Look at how much ricotta cheese is on each piece!
Canadese pizza: One thing that the boyfriend and I disagree on is whether or not pineapples belong on pizza. I’m going to risk losing some readers by saying that I believe pineapples belong on pizza!

Anyways, since we were sharing, I suggested we get the Canadese pizza because he would like it more than a pizza with pineapples. Relationships are about compromise :). 

Anyways, the pizza was tasty. You can see their oven freshly baking the pizza to perfection. It was cheesy, and had a satisfyingly amount of toppings.
Lobster and crab ravioli: This was the daily special which Lager could not pass up! It sounded delicious and a few of us considered ordering this, but in the end, only Lager did.

He had no complaints about it. The sauce was rich and creamy, making it pretty filling.
Linguini Alle Vongole: Sangria’s linguini came with clams, garlic, white wine, and cream. It looked very delicious, and she said it was really good!


I completely failed in taking pictures of everyone else’s food! We were all too busy having fun and it was only until I sat down to write this post, that I noticed there wasn’t a picture of the spaghetti and meatballs that we shared. =(

Carmelo’s is a very cozy, intimate and romantic restaurant (without the pretentiousness that could sometimes come along with these types of restaurants). I would like to highlight the impeccable service that night. Our server and bussers kept coming around every 5-10 minutes, filling our water, clearing plates, making sure everything was okay.

They were all super friendly and made a happy occasion even better. I was very impressed! Carmelo’s would be a great place for date night. You could also take a stroll at Ambleside Beach which is a block down afterwards.

Yay!

Carmelo's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Filed Under: food & drink, italian, romantic

Trattoria Burnaby – Revisit

August 31, 2018 Leave a Comment

Last year, I went to Trattoria for my birthday and it was a good experience (see first visit here). Fast forward eight months later, Sangria suggested that we come here for their Tuesday special!

I’m glad that she made a reso because it is very busy on Trattoria Tuesdays, where all of their pastas are on sale for $13.00. We came early around 5:30, and there was already a line forming. If you’re coming on a Tuesday, making a reservation is a really good idea or you’ll have to wait.

Cheesy bread $7.50 ($5.00 happy hour): I remember that this was delicious during my first visit, so we ordered this as a starter to share. It did not disappoint as well. It was incredibly cheesy and garlicky, and served warm.

Crab & Lobster ravioli $24.95 ($13.00 on Trattoria Tuesdays): I was disappointed that they don’t have the smoked salmon & dill pasta anymore, that was so good! Since that was the original plan, I chose the crab and lobster ravioli instead. It was served in a creamy and cheesy pesto sauce.

The ravioli was not stuffed and a bit flat, but the crab and lobster was delicious nonetheless. I liked how cheesy it was and there was a good amount of herbs in there to keep the dish exciting.

Truffled spaghetti and signature meatballs, $24.95 ($13.00 on Trattoria Tuesdays): The guys both decided on ordering this dish. I had a bite of the spaghetti and it did was so good! It came with a truffle cream which made the spaghetti very aromatic.

Sometimes the food only has the truffle smell, and not the case which is disappointing. But I’m happy to say this was not the taste, you could definitely taste the truffle oil in it. I didn’t try the signature meatballs, but both of them did not have any complaints about their dish.

Short rib pappardelle $20.95 ($13.00 on Trattoria Tuesdays): Sangria has ordered this dish before and enjoyed it, so she got it again. This came with braised short rib, pine nuts, and wild mushrooms. She offered me a bite but I was quite full from my own creamy and rich ravioli so I declined. She had no complaints about it.

Tiramisu $8.95: Sangria and Lager split this the tiramisu cake for dessert! They enjoyed it a lot.

All in all, Trattoria Tuesdays is a very great value. The pasta is delicious and made with quality, so $13.00 is an absolute steal! Service wise, it was a bit hard to waive our server down but he did come by a couple times to check in on us. Make sure to book a reservation because it gets very busy on Tuesdays.

Yay!

Trattoria Italian Kitchen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Filed Under: food & drink, italian, romantic

Hart House

July 15, 2018 Leave a Comment

It was a special occasion and the boyfriend and I decided to celebrate by going out for a nice dinner. After doing some research, we both wanted to go somewhere quiet and intimate. It seems that we are both drawn towards nice restaurants in parks such as Seasons in the Park, and the Fish House which is sadly closed down now.

Hart House is located in a historic mansion that was slightly changed to meet the needs of a restaurant. On the evening that we went, it was a beautiful day and the ambiance was what we were looking for. Since it was a weekday evening, it wasn’t too busy (but the food still took forever).

Bread: Some complimentary bread to start. It was warm and toasted, and kept our starving stomachs somewhat full until our food came.

Mussels and clams, $21: Finally, our appetizer arrived! We got mussels and clams in a garlic, roasted pepper and tomato cream sauce. Everything about this dish was amazing. There was a decent amount of mussels and clams which tasted fresh. The sauce was so delicious and we used some for the leftover bread.

A bonus was the smoked ham hock which was tender and full of savoury flavour. I liked that the ham hock was the lean portion instead of fatty.

Soup, free: After we were done the appetizer, the waitress came by and gave us some complimentary soup. Although it was in a small cup, the flavours were not small at all! There was the same tender ham hock inside, just like the mussels and clams. We noticed outside that there was a wedding rehearsal, so we were thinking perhaps they had some leftovers.

Seafood pasta, $19: I just can’t stay away from seafood, can I? Haha! My pasta came in a garlicky sauce with crab, mussels, and clams. The flavour was a bit flat but after adding some pepper and salt into it, it tasted a lot better! Again, the seafood was very fresh, nothing to complain about here.

Hart house burger, $21: When looking up the menu online, the boyfriend knew that he was ordering this after seeing ‘truffle aioli’ as the sauce. He was not disappointed with his burger at all. Just look at how towering it is! It came with AAA beef AND pork belly. This dish doesn’t seem like something that a fancy restaurant would serve, but it was quite delicious.

My only complaint about the Hart House is that the service and food was soo0o0o0 sloooo00w. We were there for almost 3 hours because it took so long for the appetizer to come, and then the entrees to come. Other than that, the food itself was really delicious and we left satisfied.

Yay!

 

Hart House Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Filed Under: food & drink, romantic, seafood

Seasons in the Park

June 8, 2017 Leave a Comment

The boyfriend and I usually don’t go to fancy restaurants, but it was a special occasion so we decided to try out Seasons in the Park! We go to QE Park occasionally in the summer, and I’ve always wondered how the restaurant up there was.

We had plans to go to another nice restaurant but that didn’t go through, so it was a pretty spontaneous decision to come here (we decided to come here half a hour before). I was Yelping and this placed seemed like the perfect atmosphere that we were looking for.

After calling to see if a reservation was possible (HAH!) since we both hate waiting, we weren’t too surprised when they were all booked for the night. But, they did leave some space for walk ins and the patio was completely walk in.

 I didn’t really want to sit on the patio because it seemed cold outside, but we were ensured that the patio was heated. We were seated next to a roaring fireplace which kept us warm and cozy the entire evening! Not all the seats have the fireplace, and the views are slightly better without the fireplace blocking.

Throughout our visit, the patio was full and offered pretty views of downtown and the park. We still had the buzzing, city atmosphere but with the seclusion and intimate vibe being among the trees in the park.
Bread, free: Standard complimentary bread. The bread was nice and chewy instead, and served slightly warm with a side of butter.
Calamari, $13.50: We normally don’t get appetizers to save money and our appetite, but it was a special occasion. We were glad we ordered this because it was really good. It came with a very generous portion of calamari, with crisp and fresh batter. The calamari was seasoned with a variety of herbs which made it really good.
Alderwood grilled BC salmon, $29.50: The salmon was DELICIOUS. It flaked off nicely, and had a slightly grilled taste to it. So good. I just wanted to eat the whole thing.
New York Striploin, $42: My entree was the striploin, cooked medium rare! It was very juicy, tender, and flavourful. If I recall correctly, it usually comes with some sort of sauce or butter, but I asked for only salt and pepper with it. I’m a big believer in eating steak with good ol’ salt and pepper because I find it tastes so much better when made simply! Am I the only one who prefers steak this way?

Oh right, my veggies and potatoes. The steak was so good that I forgot to talk about the rest! The string beans and carrots were fresh and crunchy. The tomato was baked and slightly dusted with cheese. The roast potatoes were too filling and starchy for me after having the bread, calamari and steak, so the boyfriend finished it instead. However, they were really flavourful as well.
Close up of my medium rare steak! WordPress needs to have an emoji keyboard so I can insert the drooling and heart eye ones here!
Mac and cheese, $7.00: Wow, I didn’t realize how much food we ordered until writing this post. For $7, this was a really good value and good size. The mac and cheese was baked with four types of cheese. The boyfriend said it was really comforting, with very stringy and delicious looking cheese.

All in all, we had a lovely experience at Seasons in the Park and we would gladly come back. The atmosphere and food were perfect. I’m so glad we picked this place out despite it being last minute! I would highly recommend coming here for a special occasion, or taking out of town visitors. The view is beautiful on a sunny day, and you can also walk around QE Park before and after dinner!

Yay!

Seasons in the Park Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Filed Under: food & drink, romantic, steakhouse

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Hello!

Hi and welcome to Curiously Carmen! I am Carmen, the girl behind the blog. You can read more about me here!

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