curiouslycarmen, Author at Curiously Carmen

Ebi Ten – Revisit

January 13, 2021

I have always been a big fan of Ebi-Ten, having gone there many times in the past decade. I wrote a previous review on it 1.5 years ago if you may remember. Usually, I don’t write re-visit posts if I’ve already written something in the past 2 years ish, but our delivery experience recently was disappointing that I wanted to share.

Ebi-Ten is a Japanese fast food restaurant in downtown. It is pretty small, and mostly for quick meals. There are a lot of these places in Japan but not many in Vancouver. From what I remember, they only serve hot meals such as rice bowls or noodle soup, and don’t have sashimi or rolls. Manpuku Bento opened up recently this year which has a similar style as Ebi-Ten, they are the only other restaurant I can think of that has Japanese style fast food.

Since we enjoy Ebi Ten so much in person, we thought we’d get delivery! However, it ended up being so disappointing that we wouldn’t get delivery again probably.

Chicken katsu curry combo: The fiance went with the chicken katsu. The curry was delicious and comforting. You really can’t go wrong with Japanese curry. Most Japanese curry is made from the instant packets so they taste the same. This means that it’s pretty easy to make at home but sometimes you just want curry quickly!

The size of the chicken katsu was disappointing though. Compared to Manpuku, the chicken pieces were pretty small. It was not worth the price although they were crunchy and flavourful.

In addition, Ebi Ten forgot the miso soup that came with the combo.

For size comparision, you can see how much more chicken we received at Manpuku. It’s hard not to compare the two places!

Tempura udon: Continuing on the disappointment, my tempura udon was pretty disappointing too. The size of the udon was small and not filling.

The tempura udon came with 2 pieces of shrimp tempura, and a vegetable patty that was a mix of chopped carrots and onions. I haven’t seen tempura served like this! Taste wise, the tempura was pretty good and still crunchy but again, it wasn’t filling. For the price, it was definitely not worth it and I was disappointed.

Overall, we were disappointed with Ebi-Ten’s delivery despite having many great meals in-person previously. The portions were small and not worth the price.

Sometimes, restaurants aren’t as good for take out/delivery and Ebi-Ten would be one of those. If we were craving Japanese rice bowls, we’d be better off having Manpuku for delivery instead. I would still go to Ebi-Ten in person though.

Raisu

January 10, 2021

The fiance and I had plans to go out and celebrate my birthday, but we decided to get takeout instead due to the pandemic.

Raisu is in the same restaurant group as Suika, Rajio, and Kingyo. Suika has been one of my favourite restaurants ever but I haven’t gone in awhile. I also tried Rajio a few years ago and it was pretty good. With those experiences in mind, I had high expectations for Raisu!

Located in Kitsilano, Raisu was a bit hidden and hard to find at first. I didn’t realize that they were located on the second floor, so you will see an awning with the restaurant name on it. The stairs were pretty steep walking down so I would recommend being careful when going down the stairs.

Bluefin tuna deluxe seafood bowl: This was the reason why we ordered from here!

This seafood bowl was amazing, and did not disappoint at all. It was definitely a splurge but worth it on a special occasion. The bluefin tuna was incredibly fresh and melted in my mouth.

In addition, I tried uni a few years ago but did not like it because it was bitter and way too fishy so I stayed away from it until now. However, the uni here was so good and now I’m wondering if I had bad uni that first time. The uni was sweet and creamy.

Deluxe seafood bowl: The deluxe seafood bowl was amazing as well. All of the sashimi was very fresh and tasty. This was also a splurge but worth it.

Tuna tataki: At first glance, the tuna tataki looked underwhelming compared to the deluxe chirashi dons. However, we were pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was!

The fiance is a huge fan of tuna tataki and really enjoyed it. Instead of using ponzu sauce, they use a ponzu jelly as you can see in the photo. I haven’t seen ponzu sauce prepared like this before and it was pretty good. Coupled with the fried garlic flakes, it was the perfect combination.

Omakase aburi sushi: Lastly, we decided to try their aburi sushi. Since it was omakase, I’m not sure what each piece was and I’m pretty sure it differs daily.

There were 4 types of aburi sushi, each with 2 pieces. All 4 types of aburi sushi were delicious. The only complaint would be that it would have been nice to have a variety of seafood – all 4 types featured tuna, just with a different topping. We would have liked to try some salmon or prawn aburi as well.

Overall, our dinner was delicious and I’m glad we finally tried Raisu! It was a meal that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon, especially that amazing blue fin tuna bowl.

Pho Toan Thang

January 7, 2021

Port Coquitlam is a city that I rarely venture out to! The fiance and I came here for an errand back in November. Since we drove all the way out here, we decided to try a restaurant around here for my blog before heading back.

Pho Toan Thang is located in a small strip mall in Port Coquitlam, across from the Costco.

With the new public health order that everyone must wear a mask in restaurants except when eating, plus the existing social distancing rules, we felt safe here. It wasn’t that busy and tables were very spread out as well.

Also, it’s important to support small local businesses during the pandemic. As long as you’re following the rules, being cautious and limiting your circle to who you go out to eat with, then you should be fine.

We kept our masks on and sanitized our hands before and after the visit.

Lemongrass chicken and spring roll vermicelli: Recently, vermicelli bowls have been the fiance’s go-to when having Vietnamese food. Not complaining though, because it allows for more variety on my blog since I usually order pho.

The lemongrass chicken here was more of a satay chicken. The chicken was juicy, tender, and well marinated. Although there was only a hint of lemongrass taste, the satay marinade was tasty and the fiance enjoyed it.

He also really enjoyed the spring rolls here. They were piping hot and crunchy. Instead of the rough spring roll skin, Pho Toan Thang makes their spring rolls with the smooth skin, similar to Chinese style.

House special pho: I used to not like eating tendon, but I have started to enjoy it now! My taste buds have evolved over the years. Since I like tendon now, I decided to go with the house special which came with all the different types of beef – rare beef, beef balls, tendon, tripe, and flank.

The broth was very flavourful and had depth to it. For a Vietnamese restaurant out in the suburbs, it was on par with the Vietnamese restaurants or even better than some I’ve tried in Vancouver! If I lived in this area, I would come here for a satisfying bowl of pho.

Overall, we both enjoyed our lunch at Pho Toan Thang. The service was efficient and attentive as well. It’s good to see a decent pho option out in this area. If we found ourselves in Port Coquitlam again, we would definitely come back.

Maru Korean Bistro- Revisit

January 5, 2021

Almost 3 years ago, the fiance and I went to Maru Korean Bistro for dinner which I wrote a review on. At the time, Maru had just newly opened in the area and it wasn’t as popular yet. We enjoyed our dinner there but since there are a bunch of other Korean restaurants that are more convenient, we haven’t come back until now when we found ourselves in the area.

Since we were doing an errand in the area, it was the perfect time to come back and see if Maru was as good as we remembered it!

Walking in, the restaurant was split into two sections. The front section was closed off and only the back section was opened.

The back section was a lot bigger and really spacious so it made sense. The tables were more spaced apart than the health protocols needed, but we aren’t complaining because it felt really safe and clean.

Korean fried chicken: The fried chicken at Maru stood out than other Korean restaurants I have been to. The reason is because they also included deep fried rice cakes with the fried chicken! I’m not a huge fan of fried chicken except for chicken strips (GASP! The audacity!) so I happily had the rice cakes instead. The rice cakes were delightfully chewy on the inside, but crunchy on the outside.

You can pick from the soy garlic, spicy gochujang, or miso sauce. The fiance picked the soy garlic sauce which was delicious with a nice sweetness to it. The fried chicken itself was piping hot, crispy, and not oily at all. The perfect Korean fried chicken with a nice addition of rice cakes and pumpkin seeds.

Banchan: The banchan was pretty average, nothing particularly good or bad to note about it.

Beef rib soup: I normally order beef bone soup whenever I go to Korean restaurants, and this time was no different. The price was more expensive than I was used to, at $18 a bowl in 2020 (who knows, if this blog is still around in a few years, this may be considered a reasonable price cause inflation). With that said, I was a bit wary that it would be disappointing and not worth the higher price point.

However, the beef bone soup turned out to be delicious! The beef bone was huge and came with tender beef that easily fell off the bone. There was also some tender sliced beef in the soup. The soup broth itself was very flavourful and comforting, with lots of depth. I could see why it cost a bit more than other places. I would gladly order this again.

There were also some dates and nuts inside the soup, which I hadn’t seen before. This made the soup feel more herbal and healthy.

Tofu soup and meat combo: The fiance went with one of their lunch combos, which was a pretty good value for what you get. It came with a full portion of meat (your choice of beef bulgolgi, spicy chicken thigh, spicy pork shoulder, or grilled soy pork shoulder).

The fiance went with the beef bulgolgi and it did not disappoint either. The beef bulgolgi was marinated well and very juicy. The portion was really big, and the cost of just the meat plate alone would have been worth it.

The combo came with a smaller side of tofu soup, my bowl was bigger. The tofu soup packed a spicy kick and there was lots of tofu inside.

Overall, we left very full with some leftovers for dinner as well. Although the prices were a bit higher than most Korean restaurants, the quality and taste of the food was delicious and worth it. Service was also friendly and attentive too. Maru is a gem in North Vancouver and I highly recommend it. We will be back again!

Sharetea – Renfrew

January 3, 2021

Earlier last year, I was happy to see a Sharetea open up so closeby to me! I wrote this review back in May or June, but wanted to add a few more visits before publishing. Well, it didn’t happen because we usually get Jenjudan now if the bubble tea craving hits. I forgot about this post until now.

The newest Sharetea to open is on Renfrew and First Ave, in the new low-rise condo across from First Ave Marketplace. I’ve also written reviews on the Kingsway location and Kerrisdale location.

A couple of doors down, another bubble tea shop has been slated to open for many months now but still hasn’t, probably due to the pandemic.

But when they do open, there will be 3 bubble tea shops within a 2 block radius… Ding Tea, Sharetea, and whatever the new place beside Sharetea is called. Will they all last?

Passion fruit green tea: The passion fruit green tea was delicious, fragrant and strong. There were a few passion fruit seeds which I don’t like having in my drink, but fortunately there wasn’t enough to distract the drink from me.

Hokkaido milk tea: The fiance really enjoys his Hokkaido milk tea. Hokkaido milk tea is known to be richer and creamier than your standard milk tea. Ding Tea makes a really good Hokkaido milk tea but the fiance wanted to see how Sharetea’s was. It was still delicious and would get it again, but he prefers the Ding Tea one more.

Sharetea is a great addition to the neighborhood. I remember a couple of years ago when there weren’t any bubble tea places around here but I’m glad to see more are popping up.