seafood Archives - Curiously Carmen

The Boathouse – White Rock

August 22, 2019 1 Comment

It’s been a few years since I have been to White Rock! My parents wanted to go, so the fiance and I took them there for an afternoon. On that particular day, it was cloudy so it was quite dead. Adding to it, the boardwalk has been closed all year since it was destroyed in the storm.

I had a restaurant in mind but like most restaurants that day, it was closed. Probably only half the restaurants were open along the main stretch which was disappointing.

Picking a restaurant and having it fall through is hard for someone like me who has digestive problems and needs to look up the menu and plan what to eat beforehand. The Boathouse seemed suitable enough and we were hungry so we came here despite the horrible reviews on Yelp.

The Boathouse is probably one of the most popular restaurants along the main beach stretch, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that day because the whole area was so dead. The restaurant spans an impressive three floors, with the top floor being a patio that has amazing water views. The third floor patio was closed so we got a seat outside on the first floor.

Tuna poke: I found my poke to be overpriced, but I really didn’t have any other option on the menu with my digestive problems. The tuna was cut in tiny cubes and tasted really fresh, so that was a relief considering the price and how dead it was in here!

It also came with some fresh avocado, mango salsa, wonton crisps, rice, and salad. I personally would have liked more rice than salad but it wasn’t a big deal. Overall it was good, but not worth $25.

Wild salmon BBQ burger: My parents split the salmon burger and said it was delicious. The wild salmon had a healthy, nice red colour to it and flaked off nicely.

Clam chowder and salad: The chowder was a bit smaller than we were expecting, but my parents didn’t have any complaints about the taste. For $7, you could upgrade to a Caesar salad which they did.

Smoked salmon hash: The fiance’s dish smelled amazing when it came to the table! The hash came with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, potatoes, and cooked smoked salmon. We both thought it would be the cold smoked salmon but he enjoyed this version of it as well.

He was pleasantly surprised with this dish and would get it again. It was super filling to the point where he decided to not get gelato afterwards!

Overall, we came with low expectations due to the bad online reviews. But the food ended up being pretty decent. I did read a few saying that the fish and chips were bad so I’m glad none of us ordered those. This would be a restaurant that you come more for the patio views and people watching.

My only complaint would be that service was slow, especially considering there were only 3 other tables that afternoon.

Yay!

Blue Water Cafe

August 4, 2019 Leave a Comment

This review is a long time coming, because I have wanted to try Blue Water Cafe for a really long time. Each year for my birthday or anniversary, I suggest Blue Water but we always end up going somewhere else!

Well, I finally got the chance to try Blue Water and it did not disappoint! Maki and Nigiri wanted to take us to a nice restaurant for a special occasion, little did I know it was actually the night the fiance would propose to me after our dinner.

Blue Water Cafe is located in Yaletown. As the name suggests, they specialize in seafood. I found out that night they are part of the Toptable group restaurants, which include Elisa Steakhouse (across the street), Theirry’s, CinCin, West, Araxi, and more!

The inside of the restaurant had a classy and fancy vibe to it, yet was still welcoming and not pretentious.

Our server for the entire night was amazing, I wish I grabbed her name. She was so knowledgeable about all the dishes and paid attention to the little details.

Bread: We started off with some complimentary bread! It was served warm and tasted fresh. The bread came with a seaweed infused butter, which was well liked by everyone. The seaweed gave the butter some umami taste.

The other spread was a vegan lentil garlic mix, which Maki and I enjoyed but the fiance and Nigiri didn’t.

Forgot to take a photo of the tower only, so you can have my face staring admirably at it as well 🙂

Blue Water seafood tower: The star of the show! We upgraded to the Blue Water seafood tower which came with extra items. All of the seafood was really fresh as expected!

Top layer: The first layer came with chilled Dungeness crab, tuna tataki, and jellyfish. The crab was super fresh and meaty. The tuna tataki was spicy and had some crunch to it. The jellyfish was well marinated and included some imitation shark fin.

Second layer: The second layer had jumbo shrimp, clams, oysters, mussels, real crab California roll, and salmon tartare.

The shrimp were fresh with a nice snap. I love my shrimp and had most of them that night! Everyone else enjoyed the clams, mussels, and creamy oysters. The real crab California roll was delicious too. The salmon tartare came in a marinated sauce with fresh, fragrant dill.

Bottom layer: The final layer of our seafood tower feast came with spicy tuna roll, more clams, mussels, oysters, jumbo shrimp, and scallop ceviche.

The spicy tuna roll was delicious and had a spicy kick to it. The scallop ceviche was very fresh too!

Wagyu beef meatballs: This was a special feature that day! Since it had cheese, I didn’t have any but the others really loved it. They all said it was the most tender meatballs they’ve ever had!

Lobster bisque: The fiance ordered a lobster bisque as well, which was heavenly. It arrived at the table in an unique way, with the solid ingredients first.

The soup was then poured into solid ingredients which melted the dairy block (sorry, unsure of the exact name). This was a creamy, delicious amazing choice.

Truffle risotto: This was another feature, but unfortunately disappointing and least favourite. The truffle taste was barely there.

Overall, Blue Water Cafe surpassed my expectations and I really wish I came here sooner. I am a huge seafood lover and all the seafood dishes were executed with quality and care.

The service was amazing and although it was a fine dining restaurant, there was no pretentiousness here. I will definitely be back for the seafood tower!

TonTon Sushi (Two visits)

May 19, 2019 1 Comment

I conveniently found TonTon Sushi while scrolling on Instagram one day. Why conveniently? Because I was meeting Cola the following week in the Cambie area and was looking for a place to have lunch! TonTon Sushi opened about 3 months ago, and replaced Sushi Aria.

I enjoyed it and brought the boyfriend here a week later since we were in the area! It was either here or Sushi Hub, which is also a great choice.

TonTon Sushi wasn’t super busy when we went, I guess it is still a bit under the radar. We were quickly seated and service was friendly throughout the meal although it was hard to get the bill at the end.

Hamachi oshi: Oshisushi is something I haven’t had for awhile, because I find that restaurants often out a lot of sauce (eg. pesto) on it that could possibly contain dairy. Cola was too full to finish, so after checking with the waitress to make sure it was dairy free, I had a piece!

The oshisushi was sooo good. It was lightly torched so there was a delicious grilled and smoky flavour to it. There was a miso sauce on top that added some subtle flavour. Inside the sushi rice, there was a small piece of tamago! I’m so glad I tried a piece.

Ikura inari: This was something unique as well! Cola decided to try this because she hasn’t seen it at other restaurants. It was essentially a big inari nigiri topped/filled with ikura.

She quite enjoyed this dish as well. Normally, she doesn’t order inari by itself because it is too sweet. But she said that the salty ikura helped balance it out and the two flavours complemented each other well.

Negitoro roll: One of my go to rolls! The negitoro was fatty and fresh. They were very generous with the portion filling.

Salmon avocado roll: There was a mix-up and they brought me a yam tempura and avocado roll. I would have just ate it but I can’t really eat deep fried foods these days and wasn’t trying to ruin the rest of our afternoon, so I told them about the mistake.

Look at that excess sashimi in the roll!

Just like the negitoro, the salmon and avocado was bursting with ingredients! There was so much fresh salmon sashimi inside that it was overflowing. Just look at this picture from the last two pieces! In addition, the avocado was ripe and creamy.

Tuna and salmon sashimi: We also split a sashimi. The plate was a bit watery from defrosting, but the fish itself tasted fresh and delicious.

California roll: This is sad…. I ordered the California roll, but ended up being pretty full from the other 2 rolls, sashimi, and the oshisushi. So, I packed up the entire California roll…. and realized I forgot it at the restaurant a few hours later. BOO!

On the second visit with my boyfriend, we ordered most of the same things (hamachi oshi, ikura inari, salmon avocado roll, and negitoro roll) so I won’t review them again, because the taste and quality was the same.

Ocean Pacific Roll: Since we love tuna, the boyfriend wanted to try this roll which is a tuna lover’s paradise. It was fresh, however, for the price of $10, it was not worth it.

TonTon Sushi was delicious and everything was really fresh. It would be a good option if you were craving sushi in the area.

Sushi Umi

May 16, 2019 Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with Biscotti for dinner! Last time, we had an enjoyable meal at Hachi Hana in North Vancouver. This time, I came across Sushi Umi which was a few blocks up from Hachi Hana!

There is free parking in this area, but it may be hard to find depending on the day. One thing great about this area is that parallel parking has marked lines so it’s easier to park!

Walking in, I was glad that I made a reservation because it was pretty busy! I was acknowledged and seated pretty quickly, which set the service tone for the rest of our meal – quick and attentive.

I quite enjoyed the modern, woodsy theme in here. It gave the restaurant a relaxed, warm vibe and the hanging light bulbs were a nice touch too.

Miso soup: Biscotti started off with a small miso soup. It came with a good portion of tofu and green onions inside.

Agedashi tofu: The agedashi tofu looked delicious, I wish my stomach was able to tolerate oily foods! Biscotti had no complaints. The tofu batter was crunchy and fresh, and I noticed some steam coming from the dipping sauce too.

Chirashi don: It isn’t something I normally order, but was feeling like it that night. The don was a bit smaller than I expected, but it packed a lot of freshness and flavour!

All of the sashimi tasted fresh and delicious. There was more rice than it appeared at first. It also came with a side salad and an onion sauce.

The onion sauce was surprisingly really good! It was made with creamy mayo and some sort of onion mix? I enjoyed it a lot and would not mind getting a jar of this for home if it existed. I love mayo because it doesn’t contain any dairy, so it’s safe for me to eat.

Assorted sashimi: We split an assorted sashimi, and it’s safe to say I met my sashimi quota for the week.

Just like my chirashi don, all of the sashimi was very fresh and flavourful! My favourite was the fatty salmon in the back. It was rich and very flavourful, it’s hard to find salmon this flavourful in Vancouver!

Blue fin tuna: I noticed they also had some specialty tuna nigiri! The blue fin tuna tasted very fresh and had a soft, melt in your mouth texture. So good!

Funky veggie roll: Biscotti enjoyed this role as well! It came with 4 different types of vegetable tempura, avocado, flakes on top, balsamic sauce and onion sauce. She didn’t notice that much of the onion sauce though.

All in all, we left very satisfied with Sushi Umi and I have no complaints about this place. The sushi was fresh and service was attentive and friendly! This place used to be a Fatburger and another sushi restaurant, I hope that Sushi Umi can stay because it was great!

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House

January 24, 2019 Leave a Comment

Joe Fortes been around for awhile now! Thirty years to be exact. The last time I came here was about five years ago, when I used to work downtown so it was convenient to go to their happy hour.

This time, we were doing some shopping with Maki and Nigiri so we stopped here for some food!

We went during the holiday season, hence the pretty Christmas lights in the restaurant! It felt very cozy and warm in here.

Lobster and shrimp roll: Nigiri ordered the lobster and shrimp roll. It looked delicious and he had no complaints about it. The roll also came with a nice healthy bed of fresh salad.

Clam chowder: There was a bit of confusion with the clam chowder. Originally, the boyfriend had ordered this for $13. Then, we realized that Maki got her Blue Plate special (pictured below) AND a clam chowder for $20… which didn’t seem that worth it for my boyfriend to get the chowder onlyfor $13. For only $7 more, he could have added a pretty big portion of fish!

Anyways, we flagged down our waiter (which took multiple times) to ask if the change could be made for him. They were accommodating and it made his lunch feel more worth the price.

Panko crusted haddock: From Monday-Friday, Joe Fortes has a Blue Plate special which is a $13 food item. If you come during a weekday, I would highly recommend getting the special because it’s such a good deal.

Maki and the boyfriend had no complaints about it. The haddock was served with some tomatoes, asparagus and some sort of dairy sauce on the bottom.

Onion rings: Prior to upgrading his meal (see story above), the boyfriend ordered onion rings too. The onion rings were disappointing and he wouldn’t get them again.

The batter was very thick and doughy, and not that crispy. He felt very gross after eating a couple, and did not finish it despite Maki and Nigiri helping too.

Our waiter mentioned that Boxing Day was one of the busiest days of the year, which we had no idea! Because of that, service was really lacking and hard to waive him down. I’d come back on a less busy day, and probably on a weekday if possible to order the Blue Plate special!