seafood Archives - Curiously Carmen

Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar

August 3, 2018 Leave a Comment

Maki and Nigiri’s bridal party was meeting up for a venue tour, so we decided to meet up at Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar beforehand for lunch. I have never been here but Maki and Nigiri love this place, so I was quite excited to try it. It is located on the first floor of the Sutton Place Hotel which was very convenient for our group of eight.

This is definitely an upscale place, do not come here dressed in sweatpants or something. However, there was no pretentious vibe and we had good service throughout the lunch.

Corn bread, free: We were given a basket of corn bread to start! It was devoured quickly because corn bread is delicious. This one was nice and buttery too.

Fries, $7: The fries were pretty standard, nothing to complain about.

Smoked tomato pizza, $17: This was a simple pizza with mozzarella cheese, basil, olive oil, and sea salt. It tasted like a healthy pizza and there was a good amount of gooey cheese and fresh basil. You can’t really go wrong with a simple pizza.

Beef carpaccio, $19: I didn’t have any of this but there wasn’t any complaints on it.

House smoked salmon pate, $14: The salmon pate was definitely one of the table’s favourite! We kept passing this around because it was so good. What made it so delicious was the smoky and grilled flavour of the salmon. After running out of the crackers, we used some bread to eat the rest of the pate.

Albacore tuna tartare, $19: I believe this was the tuna tartare?! I don’t remember LOL. However, it was really good. There was a variety of unique elements which complemented each other perfectly.

Seafood tower for 2 people, $65: We ordered the seafood tower for 4 people, but they gave us the tower for 2 by accident which was fine for us. For the ten of us, each of us were able to get a few pieces. The tower came with wild sidestripe shrimp, albacore tuna tataki, read island mussels escabèche dungeness crab louie, snow crab legs, wild shrimp, local oysters. All of the seafood was SO fresh and delicious!

Raw oysters, market price: I can’t remember the price of each oyster. I’ve only had raw oyster once 6 years ago, which did not really sit well with my stomach so I never tried again. So this would have been my second time. Fortunately, it was prepared a LOT better here because it was delicious. We were all happily slurping away and ordered another plate because it was so delicious!

Yum! It was such a delicious lunch. It was nice to go out and try a fancier place. Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster has really great and fresh seafood. If you’re a seafood lover, I would highly recommend it! They also have a happy hour which is cheaper. I would like to try that out one day too!

Yay!

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!

The Poke Shop

December 1, 2016 Leave a Comment

Poke bowls are popping up everywhere in Vancouver now! When they first started to appear, I wasn’t sure what the hype was about. But now, I’ve grown an inkling to poke bowls because they are a healthy and filling alternative.

So far, I’ve only tried two poke places in the city. The second place I tried was The Poke Shop, which opened a few weeks ago. It is located in Gastown, just by the steam clock.

It is a basement suite and you have to walk down some stairs. Once you get in, the decor is very cheerful and artsy, with a big mural on one side of the wall!

The long wooden communal table is also custom made, one of a kind too. I really liked the interior and it was spacious and comfortable to sit and dine.

I haven’t been to enough poke shops to judge the prices, but I would say it’s fairly average? The only other place I’ve been to is The Poke Guy, and The Poke Guy is a bit more expensive because it is ocean-wise.

There are two sizes, large & super large. The large didn’t look filling enough for a meal, so most of us at the media tasting ordered the super large for dinner. But you’ll see soon enough that we were proven wrong!

Pictured above are the proteins! You can pick from ahi tuna, spicy albacore tuna, spicy Atlantic salmon, wild sockeye salmon, spicy baby scallop, unagi, grilled organic chicken, or roasted organic chicken.
After selecting your base (purple rice, white rice, zoodles, spinach, or pick half/half) and protein, it is on to the toppings! I’m not going to list them all here because there are too many! But you can see from the picture above.
Super large bowl w/ unlimited toppings, $15.95: For my two proteins, I got the albacore tuna and wild sockeye salmon. I chose purple rice as the base. Unlimited toppings were pomegranate, mango, watermelon, spinach, cucumber, corn and topped with shoyu dressing.

The proteins come pre-marinated, which seems to be the preferred option for most as it is the authentic method of making poke bowls. I found that there was only a slight marinated taste for the tuna and salmon, it tasted mostly like plain sashimi which is not necessarily a bad thing! Both proteins tasted really fresh.

As for the toppings, I liked the inclusion of both fruits (mango, pomegranate and watermelon) with veggies. It gave the bowl a burst of sweetness!

Even though it doesn’t look filling, there is a LARGE amount of purple rice at the bottom. After all, I did order the super large! I didn’t end up finishing the rice because there was such a big amount, and I wanted to eat the proteins & fruit/veggies first.
Here are other poke bowls that some of the food bloggers ordered!
Left to right: 3 berry & lemon soda, pineapple plantation iced tea, iced matcha green tea w/ honey, all $3 w/ poke bowl, or $4.50 solo.

I ordered the 3 berry & lemon soda, which was basically berry & lemon infused 7-up. My goodness, was it delicious! I was one of the only bloggers who ordered the soda, and received many comments about how good it looked.

I didn’t try the other two, but heard the pineapple plantation iced tea was okay. The iced matcha green tea was a bit disappointing, as we were expecting matcha. It tasted more like a sencha, or regular iced green tea.
Overall, The Poke Shop was good and I would recommend giving it a try! The portions are generous, while the restaurant is spacious with great interior design (a dining experience also includes the ambiance).

I would recommend getting the large bowl, as most of us who ordered the super large bowl couldn’t finish. As well, you are getting the same two scoops of protein in both sizes.

Yay!

Tentatsu- Burnaby Location

October 13, 2016 Leave a Comment

You may be familiar with the original Tentatsu restaurant in East Van, by Hastings and Nanaimo. Tentatsu recently just opened their second location in Burnaby, about a 8 minute drive from the original!

The boyfriend and I decided to try it on a whim one evening. We wanted to go to our usual and favourite sushi restaurant, Uomo, which is next door but as usual they were jam packed. We have agreed that we won’t be able to go to Uomo as often now that it’s always busy, even though be both LOVE it there.

In addition, Tentatsu was having a 10% grand opening discount! Perfect time to try it out and see if it matched the original.

The restaurant itself is really big and spacious. It reminds me of a dance hall and is good for large groups.

Compared to the original location, I liked the service here a LOT better. Thinking about the service at the original makes me so angry because of how atrocious it was.

The staff weren’t friendly, but quick and efficient enough. Or maybe because I have such low standards from the original Tentatsu that I thought their service was decent (actually, this is definitely the case).

We were also impressed with how they served quality genmaicha tea (Japanese match green tea w/ brown rice) for free! I was happy when our food came quite quickly, unlike the original location where my mom and I waited almost 30 minutes when it wasn’t that busy.

California roll: The California roll was decent, and tasted fresh. It has a good about of ripe avocado inside and topped with crunchy sesame seeds.

Salmon roll: The rice in the salmon roll was still warm, but it was good nonetheless.

Tuna roll: The tuna roll was decent as well, no complaints about it!

Salmon nigiri: I only wanted one to try their sashimi, but the boyfriend insisted I order 3. You will soon see why it was not a good idea!

The sashimi had a slight fishy taste to it and was fresh. Lately, I’ve been tasting ‘sashimi’ that has the texture of sashimi, but no taste. So, it was a relief when there was a slight salmon taste!

Negitoro roll: We were dissappointed with this roll because it barely came with any tuna. However, the tuna was fresh and tasted good! There was only a few measly pieces of green onion inside.

Negihamachi roll: I didn’t try this because I was too busy trying to finish the other dishes. The boyfriend thought it was okay, but could have used more flavour. Again, the rice was slightly warm.

House roll: The house roll was pretty decent! As with all the rolls, it tasted fresh. It is basically a large California roll with tamago and masago.

BC roll: Nope, not as good as Uomo next door. The salmon was a bit dry and bland and way too fishy.

Here is a picture of the negitoro roll. You can see the small amount of tuna compared to rice, and how little onion there was.

With a seemingly negative review, would I come back? Yes! Although it’s not the BEST, the prices are amazing for what you get. Service is quick and efficient too.

We ordered all this food, with so much leftovers for $25 including tip and tax! Granted, there was a 10% opening discount but $27-29 for all this food is really cheap. It’s a good option for a quick bite in the neighbourhood!

Yay!

Kilala Sushi

October 2, 2016 4 Comments

Earlier in the summer, myself, the boyfriend, and Sangria decided to venture out from our usual sushi joints and try a longstanding but hidden restaurant, Kilala Sushi. They’ve been around for awhile now, and I hear their name getting tossed around from time to time.

Kilala Sushi is an authentic Japanese restaurant, run solely by a husband and wife team. They also specialize in distributing tamago for various restaurants in Vancouver, so this place is half restaurant/half tamago-making factory? I say that because the sitting area itself is quite small but you can see that the back is a bit factory like, with a very big stainless steel kitchen.
Appetizer sashimi, $5.95: The appetizer sashimi comes with three pieces of tuna, and two pieces of salmon. The salmon was average, but the tuna was really good. It was very soft and buttery, and melted in your mouth.
Tamago roll, $2.25: As I mentioned above, they specialize in tamago, so it was only natural to try it! The tamago was sweet, fluffy, and tasted fresh. I really liked how it had a fluffy texture, as a lot of places I’ve been to have a harder texture with dried edges (which means it’s not fresh and has fried out).

Negitoro roll, $3.00: The boyfriend and I ALWAYS order negitoro roll, so we had to try Kilala’s version of it! It was pretty good, and above average. Just like the tuna sashimi, the tuna in here was also soft and buttery. It was filled with lots of green onion too. They definitely did not skimp out on the tuna and the onion.
Hmmm, I don’t recall what these two rolls were called and I can’t find anything similar on the online menu! Sorry.

Even though I don’t remember what they were called, I remember how they tasted! Both tasted very fresh, and were filling. Just look at how big that salmon sashimi is inside the roll!

All in all, Kilala serves quality and authentic sushi, and the three of us enjoyed our meal. Everything was fresh, and even though there was only one server (the wife, husband was the chef), service was quick and friendly.

The only downside of this place is that it is quite hidden behind a bush and the seating is also a cramped.

Yay!