Curiously Carmen - Page 2 of 120 -

The General Public

February 2, 2019 Leave a Comment

Instead of our usual hangouts, we traded in board games and bubble tea for rockclimbing and trying out a restaurant nearby after, The General Public. I have mixed feelings about this place and am not sure whether to give it a good review or not.

I usually don’t write such long intros… but the stories below, prior to our dinner, is why I wouldn’t come back.

The General Public is a funky, eccentric restaurant similar to their sister restaurant, The Eatery in Kitsilano. The restaurant was unlike any sushi restaurant I’ve been to in terms of atmosphere. It reminded us of a nightclub or a pub… definitely not a sushi restaurant.

We made reservations for 7:15, but ended up finishing our activity earlier than expected, so I asked if we could come in at 6:20/6:30ish instead. Usually, restaurants are a lot busier at 7pm than 6:30pm, so I thought it would be better for both us and the restaurant to start and finish early. The lady on the phone seemed annoyed when I called and asked, and said they were fully booked until our reservation. We found that a bit odd and also a lie considering her tone… I know that sounds a bit weird, but we just had a feeling she was lying.

So, we decided to go early anyways to see if we could just get a walk-in table. Sure enough, the restaurant was half empty. When we got in, it took a long time for the hostess to acknowledge us… and even then, they said they were full and ‘only the patio’ was available.

At this point, I was getting really snobby vibes from the restaurant and soured my taste of the restaurant before even sitting down. We contemplated going across the street to another Japanese restaurant but my friend preferred to go here, so we killed a hour before our reservation.

Again, it took about 5 minutes for the hostess to acknowledge us, and it was not that busy still.

While we were standing at the table, I saw the book of reservations… you know how earlier I said we had a feeling she was lying about not having an earlier seat? We were right. In the book, there were no reservations from 6:15pm-7:00pm. Wtf?

What was the point of lying about that?

We were seated in a tight cramped table but once the customers beside us have left, it was a lot more comfortable.

Cocoa’s stomach wasn’t feeling well, so she asked for hot water. The server just gave her a blank look and said, ‘uh… sure… oh wait.. the hot water machine is broken…’ again, her tone felt like she was lying about it and just didn’t want to make the effort. So she asked for water without ice… yeah, it never came.

While waiting for our food, there was a DJ which for the most part, was okay. But there was a 5 minute period in which she played this terrible, high pitched, screechy dubstep thing. It was a horrible noise….ugh.

Ugh. Finally on to the food.

Chicken curry: The boyfriend was missing his Japanese curry, so he ordered this. Unfortunately, it reminded him more of Indian style curry, which is spicier and more fragrant. Japanese style curry is more sweet with subdued spices. It was decent, but he was just craving Japanese curry more than Indian curry.

Tunacado: Both Cocoa and I ordered this, they had a section of only tuna so we thought it would be pretty good! It came with nice, fresh chunks of tuna, ripe mango, and avocado. I found that the sauce didn’t go really well with it, there were hints of paprika? or something but overall, it was decent.

Tuna don: Again, they had a lot of tuna dishes so Cheese decided to get this! There were large tuna chunks and it was fresh. It also came with some minced tuna belly and onions.

Chirashi don: My chirashi don was delicious! It made up (not really) for the sour taste in my mouth with the stuff that happened above. There was a generous portion of thick, fresh sashimi. I was quite impressed. A bed of fresh greens separated the sashimi and rice. The rice was drizzled with some sort of sweet teriyaki sauce which was delicious.

Tataki attack roll: This roll came with crab, scallop, avocado, mayo wrapped with seared tuna. It was decent, although probably best described as a California roll with tuna tataki on top.

Alaska roll: Cheese ended off our meal with an Alaska roll. He had no complaints about it!

As you can see, the food was delicious and we didn’t really have complaints about it. However, the servers gave off a pretentious, snobby vibe in the beginning (see above paragraphs) and service was quite slow throughout.

Perhaps we didn’t quite fit their hipster clientele, but I wouldn’t come back because of the snobby staff. It’s a shame because the food was good. But there are plenty of other Japanese restaurants in Vancouver where they would treat their customers better and not lie.

Hachi Hana Japanese Restaurant

January 30, 2019 Leave a Comment

It was time for dinner with Biscotti! We decided on going back to Hachi Hana Japanese Restaurant, after having some decent takeout from here last year.

Hachi Hana is located in North Vancouver on Lonsdale. I’m not too familiar with the Lonsdale area, but the street has a lot of shops and can get busy. Parking may be difficult depending on the time you come, but there is underground paid parking in the Whole Foods if you can’t find street parking.

Although they have bright signage, I got a bit confused this time and last time for pickup (which was 8 months ago so I forgot exactly where the restaurant was). It’s funny because next door is Rogers, which is also red and white! So when I’m driving by, my mind automatically just sees the Rogers sign and colours…. and I’m thinking, where is this place?? LOL!

Yam and shiitake roll: Biscotti had this roll before and enjoyed it. It comes with shiitake mushroom inside, while the top is yam tempura. She had no complaints about it.

Avocado aburi oshi sushi: Since we were seated at the bar, we were able to see the chefs make the food! Biscotti had never tried aburi sushi before, and it smelled wonderful so she gave it a try.

The avocado aburi sushi came with a basil pesto sauce, which smelled lovely. After it has been torched and melted, the sauce resembles cheese.

Agedashi tofu: Biscotti’s agedashi tofu looked delicious too!

Salmon avocado roll: For myself, I ordered the salmon avocado roll. It was delicious. There was a very generous amount of salmon sashimi inside – just look at that! Meanwhile, the avocado was perfectly ripe and creamy.

California roll: Such a basic roll, but I love my California rolls. Again, no complaints about it. My favourite part was the creamy avocado.

Salmon nigiri: Again, sitting at the bar is dangerous because you just want to order everything that comes out! I wanted the salmon sashimi, but it was quite expensive so I settled for the nigiri.

Look at that freshness! After having this, I can see why the sashimi is expensive. The quality was great, and the salmon was very fresh.

Tamago roll: Last but not least, tamago roll! The tamago roll here was delicious. It was a bit on the sweeter side but I did not mind one bit. Additionally, the tamago was light and fluffy.

All in all, we enjoyed all the food at Hachi Hana. The service was attentive, friendly and efficient too! The prices are a bit higher than your typical ‘fast food sushi’ joints (eg. Sushi Garden, Sushi Town, Sushi California) but it’s good here. I would definitely come here often if I lived in the neighbourhood.

Berry Good Cafe – Two visits

January 27, 2019 Leave a Comment

I haven’t been out to eat as much lately, but I do miss food blogging! I came across some old pictures of 2 visits to Berry Good Cafe in Richmond, about 1.5 years ago. It’s probably about time they see the light of day!

To be honest, I don’t recall exactly how the boyfriend and I came across Berry Good Cafe. My guess is that we were craving dessert one night and found it on Yelp.

I also came back with Maki for high tea a month after, so this post will include two visits!

Berry Good Cafe is located in a plaza in Richmond, across from Bubble Queen. There is a parking lot but a lot of spots are reserved for other businesses, so I remember it was a bit difficult to find parking for both visits.

Mango cheesecake: My go-to dessert flavours are usually mango or strawberry! The mango cheesecake was your typical, light Asian style cheesecake. Asian cheesecakes aren’t as dense and aren’t as sweet, which is perfect for me because I don’t have much of a sweet tooth!

There was also a few fresh mango chunks inside the cheesecake. It would have been nice if there were a couple more pieces, but no big deal.

Tiramisu cake: The boyfriend had no complaints about his tiramisu cake either. It was light and fluffy.

Hot chocolate and matcha latte: We also ordered two drinks, which we enjoyed! They were comforting and foamy.

The second visit took place during the day with Maki! For their high tea, you have to call in and reserve a few days in advance.

It was 1.5 years ago so I don’t remember the price, but it was pretty reasonable. There was an assortment of sweet and savoury pastries. We enjoyed some pastries more than others, as some were a bit dry.

Their high tea atmosphere is simple and lacks the girly and fancy atmosphere compared to other places such as Neverland Tea Salon or Secret Garden. If you’re wanting high tea for a girly atmosphere and Instagram-worthy (because that seems like a winning factor these days) place, Berry Good would not be the place to go.

All in all, Berry Good is a decent and simple cafe in Richmond. I wouldn’t mind going back for a quick bite, but would probably go somewhere else for high tea if I want something fancier.

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!

Naruto Sushi

January 18, 2019 Leave a Comment

When our usual sushi delivery restaurant was closed for the holidays, the boyfriend and I came across Naruto Sushi and decided to give it a try. They offered free delivery over $20, which is always a plus.

The dishes we ordered were pretty decent, so for our next catchup, I suggested this place to Avocado because it was a convenient meeting location for the both of us.

Naruto Sushi is a pretty small restaurant along Commercial Drive. They were quite popular for takeout. During our dinner, we saw a constant, steady flow of customers picking up orders.

Parking is pretty hard on this side of Commercial and I’m not really sure where you would find parking!

Free miso soup: Our roll combo came with a miso soup. Despite telling the waitress that we were sharing, she didn’t give us an extra bowl or spoon… but when we asked, she came back with another free miso soup so that was nice!

No complaints about the miso soup. It was pretty standard, with a bit more tofu and seaweed on the bottom than I would expect from a free soup.

Roll combo: We shared a roll combo which came with california roll, Tokyo roll, and sunshine roll.

California roll: The California roll was pretty decent, no complaints about it. Avocado was nice and ripe!

Tokyo roll: The ‘Tokyo’ roll was basically just a salmon avocado roll. It was decent with a generous filling of sashimi, but we thought it would be a bit more special, I guess?

Sunshine roll: The sunshine roll came with shrimp tempura, mango, avocado wrapped in soy paper. It sounded more delicious on the menu. Basically a dynamite roll with soy paper because there was only a teeny bit of mango in it that you couldn’t really taste.

On the menu, it said that it came with prawn and did not mention it was actually tempura. If I had known it was tempura, I wouldn’t have ordered it because my stomach reacts badly to fried foods so I was a bit disappointed. Because of that, I only had one piece.

Sashimi salad: This was my favourite dish of the night. The veggies were all fresh and crunchy. I really liked the sauce they used, which was like a ginger-garlic-miso sauce?

In addition, there were a few pieces of ripe avocado. Underneath the greens, there were also a bit more sashimi pieces.

Chopped scallop roll: The chopped scallop roll was pretty decent too, no complaints about it. There was a decent amount of scallop inside.

Overall, our dinner at Naruto was not bad. The rolls were decent and had a good amount of filling, although I wish they would have been more specific in their menu for those with dietary restrictions.

Here is a photo of delivery that the boyfriend and I got a couple weeks before my restaurant visit! He was really impressed that the BC Roll actually came with salmon meat, as opposed to just salmon skin.

Mmmm, that wild salsmon sashimi. Look at that glisten! This was delicious.

I would probably only order delivery again, because we found the service here to be quite slow and borderline rude despite it not being super busy. I enjoyed delivery more than the dine-in experience.