curiouslycarmen, Author at Curiously Carmen

Peaked Pies – Burnaby Location

March 8, 2021

I’ve heard of Peaked Pies for awhile now but never put it on my list to try. Since I was nearby one day, I asked the fiance if he wanted to try it for takeout.

There are currently two Peaked Pies locations in the Lower Mainland, Burnaby and Vancouver. There is also a location in Whistler. I went to the one in North Burnaby in The Heights. This building used to be a Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy!

Peaked Pies specializes in Australian meat pies, which has gained traction in Vancouver over the years! The pies here are baked fresh in the store.

I’ve tried the food truck, Aussie Pie Guy many years ago and it was delicious so I had high expectations for Peaked Pies. In fact, I keep accidentally calling this place Aussie Pie Guy! Oops.

You order at the counter and can either eat in person or bring it home. There were a few socially distance spots, plus a patio outside. The kitchen also looked really big behind the counter.

Mentil lentil: Yes, mental is spelled wrong on purpose! I actually didn’t want this pie and was disappointed when I got home and realized they gave me the wrong one. I had asked for the vegan pie (vegetable medley) and in retrospect, the worker did seem a bit confused.

I didn’t feel like calling or driving back, so I gave it a try. The mentil lentil came with lentils, zucchini, carrot and celery in a chili basil tomato sauce and ricotta cheese. It was not bad, it reminded me of the lentil tomato soup I make and then put into a pie. The ricotta cheese went well with the lentil and tomato.

Traditional with peak add on: The fiance went with the traditional, which came with ground beef, onions, and gravy. This was simple but delicious and warming.

Both of our pie crusts were delicious and flaky! They tasted fresh and was good quality.

I also added a peak on the fiance’s but it was disappointing. The mushy green peas were very bland and did not taste good at all. It reminded us of awful elementary cafeteria or jail food. The mashed potatoes were also very bland and not creamy. It tasted like someone boiled potatoes and then just smashed it without putting any seasoning or dairy. Good thing I didn’t add this on mine (I was wanting the vegan one and assumed the potatoes had dairy) because we wouldn’t add the addition again.

Overall, we enjoyed our pies despite the mistake with mine. Peaked Pies is a decent place to get Australian meat pies and we wouldn’t mind coming back in the future.

Dami Sushi and Korean

March 5, 2021

We were driving past this area one day when I noticed a new Korean and Japanese restaurant, Dami! I haven’t seen many places that offer both Japanese and Korean food, so we went to go give it a try a couple of weeks later.

Dami is located in the same apartment complex as Lucky Plus. There is an underground parking lot and also plenty of street parking around the area.

One of the main reasons we tried this place was that the fiance could get his Korean fried chicken, while I had a plethora of Korean and Japanese dishes to choose from that were suitable for my sensitive stomach. I noticed that Korean restaurants with fried chicken don’t have as many noodle soup dishes, which are my preference.

However, Dami offered both (and sushi!), making it a happy medium for the both of us. The menu was huge and seemingly endless! There is surely something for everyone here.

Original Korean fried chicken: The fried chicken was served piping hot and very crispy. The fiance enjoyed it a lot.

Negitoro and negihama roll: I had every intention of ordering a Korean beef bone soup, but decided last minute to switch to sushi. The negihama and negitoro rolls were so good. The tuna was super fresh, and the negihama was nice and fatty. The green onion was fresh and crunchy too. The negihama was my favourite of this meal.

Chopped scallop roll: The chopped scallop roll was meh, I found that the scallop didn’t have that much of a snap to it.

BC roll: I didn’t have any of this, but this was one of the better BC rolls that the fiance has had. The salmon skin was fresh and crispy. It probably helps that they add the teriyaki sauce on top so that the skin remains crispy. Overall he was very impressed with it.

Salmon sashimi: The salmon sashimi pieces were big and fresh. Look at that nice glean!

Overall, we were satisfied with Dami and it is a great addition to the area. The menu is expansive so there is something for everyone. I love that I could get a Korean and Japanese dish at the same place. Service was friendly as well. We will definitely be coming back for dine in or takeout again.

Update May 30 2021

We came back and I tried the beef bone soup! The broth was clear, yet flavourful and delicious. My only complaint would be that it could have used more beef slices, they were pretty stingy with it. There were only a few strands of shredded beef.

Sooda

March 2, 2021

Sooda has been on my list forever. I have heard many good things about Sooda but didn’t go due to my inability to have dairy for many years.

The fiance and I were in the area and he suggested that we finally try it (my dairy intolerance comes and goes, yes I also know it’s odd and it’s not something I made up mentally in my head contrary to what people feel like they need to tell me *eye roll*).

Sooda is inconspicuously located across from Brentwood Skytrain Station. The sign isn’t that noticeable but they are usually quite busy. We went on a weekday and there was still a line up.

Beef bulgolgi: Sooda is known for their giant hot plates with cheese and meat, so naturally we had to try this. I don’t know someone would come to Sooda and not order this!

The giant hot plate was, well, giant. Everything is separated neatly when the hot plate arrives on the table, and then you stir it around to melt the cheese and mix everything. After about 10 minutes, the server will come and turn off the hot plate so the food won’t overcook.

The beef bulgolgi was flavourful and not overcooked, even with the extra cooking time on the hot plate. The dish was also very cheesy and rich. This is an unpopular opinion, but I found it to be underwhelming for the price.

For the price of $40 in 2021 (I include the year because maybe a few years later this would be considered a reasonable price with inflation), it was not worth it and felt more like a fad. You could probably get a beef bulgolgi with cheese and rice at another restaurant for $25 max.

I forgot to take a photo after we mixed everything, so this is was the rest we packed for leftovers.

Also, the plate was very rich so if you have a sensitive stomach like me, there isn’t much you can eat here. They do have other food but it’s also very rich or deep fried. I didn’t end up eating much because of how rich it was and ended up picking up some Sushi Garden down the block after.

Overall, I’m glad we finally tried it so I can cross it off the list, but I don’t think the hot plates are worth the price. It’s nice to try it once, but not a place to go regularly.

Personally, I prefer the Korean restaurants that have comforting noodle soups. The service was also very slow and inattentive, focusing on pick up orders more than dine in, which was frustrating.

Eastern Pearl Seafood Restaurant

February 25, 2021

The fiance and I found ourselves in Port Coquitlam for another errand again. We don’t eat around here much, so we decided to try a restaurant in this area before heading back. Last time, we tried Pho Toan Thang in this area and it was pretty good.

I messaged my coworker for some suggestions, and she suggested Eastern Pearl. It’s been awhile since we had dim sum, so off we went!

Eastern Pearl is one of the only authentic Chinese restaurants in this area. It is located inside Shaugnessy Plaza, so there is plenty of parking available.

As usual, we ordered way too much food (always happens at dim sum) but dim sum leftovers are delicious!

Sticky rice wrap: The sticky rice wrap here was wrapped in a wax paper as well. This was something I haven’t seen before at other dim sum places, but now I’m wondering if it has to do with COVID safety procedures?

Anyways, the sticky rice wrap was delicious. The leaf was fragrant which made the rice flavourful. There was a generous amount of ingredients inside and the pork was delicious.

Prawn dumplings: The prawn dumplings were very good as well. The size of the prawn dumplings were big, with juicy, fresh snappy prawns. No complaints!

BBQ pork bun: The best dim sum place we’ve had BBQ pork buns at is Wah Lun (or Ryan’s as it is now called). Wah Lun has a house special BBQ pork bun which is heavenly!

I was wary of trying the BBQ pork buns here since Wah Lun is pretty hard to beat. Well, colour me surprised because the BBQ pork buns here were just as amazing! The bun was fresh and hot, with a delicious egg/sugar coating on top like Wah Lun. The inside was stuffed with BBQ pork. I am so glad that we ordered this.

Enoki and shrimp bean curd: This was the only “disappointing” dish, but it wasn’t even really that disappointing. The fiance loves his bean curd wrap but we couldn’t find it here, so this was the closest thing. He was expecting it to be more like the bean curd wraps with meat or veggies.

The taste was quite simple but I enjoyed it. The prawn was also snappy and fresh. I haven’t seen this item at other restaurants but I would get it again.

Prawn spring roll: Prawn shrimp rolls are my guilty pleasure at dim sum. I keep using the word delicious in this post, but there is no better way to describe it?!

The prawn shrimp rolls were piping hot with a satisfying crunch. The vinegar dipping sauce complemented it very well (IMO at least, the fiance hates vinegar haha). I had to stop myself from eating so many or I would have suffered with my stomach problems later on.

All in all, we had a very satisfying lunch at Eastern Pearl. This is an excellent choice out this way, when you don’t want to drive to Vancouver/Richmond/Burnaby etc for good dim sum. It is even better than some dim sum restaurants in said areas. Eastern Pearl is a gem for dim sum and I will definitely come back if I’m in this area again.

Thai Basil

February 21, 2021

Thai Basil is a small chain restaurant, with 4 locations in Vancouver. While looking for a place to get takeout, I came across Thai Basil and thought the lunch special prices were very reasonable. I decided to stop by here and get some takeout for the fiance and I.

There are currently 4 locations- Commercial Drive, Downtown, Cornwall and West Broadway. I went to the one on West Broadway and Blenheim.

The West Broadway location was pretty small, with only 3 tables for dine in. They seemed to be doing a lot of takeout based on the amount of packed food I saw.

BBQ chicken with rice and salad: Hard to believe that this lunch special was only $9! I haven’t had a Thai style BBQ chicken before. The chicken was very juicy with a nice char. There was a satay taste with a hint of lemongrass.

The lettuce was fresh and crunchy, with a good amount of rice too. This was a filling, cheap, and delicious!

Green curry: The fiance asked for a green curry, which is always a good choice. The curry was very flavourful and creamy. There was a good amount of beef inside (you can pick from beef, chicken or tofu).

The lunch combo also came with rice and salad. Again, you can’t beat the price of $10 in 2021! Most curry dishes are probably around $13+ so this was a great deal.

Overall, Thai Basil was a great find with reasonable prices, good portions and delicious food. My only small complaint is that they didn’t have coconut rice (at this location at least), but not a big deal. I haven’t heard of this place being talked about much but it is a gem.