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Curiously Carmen

Food: Original Joe’s (Cambie & Broadway)

April 11, 2018

I first discovered Original Joe’s a couple of years ago, when some friends invited me to Wings Wednesday at their downtown location. We ended up going a few more times over the past two years. Since then, I’ve gone to Original Joe’s on Broadway and Cambie here and there after work. It’s about time that I write a review on it!

Wings special, 50% 0ff – approx. $6/plate: I took Latte here for Wings Wednesday. We shared the dill pickle wings and barbeque wings. Dill pickle wings sound kind of weird, but they are actually really good. The flavour oddly works and it is one of the most popular flavours when my friends and I came.

The barbeque wings are pretty standard. You can always rely on the wings to be juicy and meaty. It’s a pretty good deal on Wednesdays!

Hummus and veggie platter, $10.75: To counteract the wings, we ordered some healthy hummus and veggie platter. I was quite surprised at how much veggies and naan bread it came with, and would probably order it again. The veggies were fresh and crunchy and the hummus was good as well!

Garlic cheese toast, $7.00: What dreams are made of! Garlic bread smothered with a variety of different cheeses. It was so extremely cheesy and totally worth the $7. They do not play around with their garlic cheese toast.

Yay!

Original Joe's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, pub

Romer’s Burger Bar (Two visits)

October 13, 2017

The boyfriend and I were leaving Richmond, and were in the mood for happy hour. The weather was warm, sun was shining, it was a weekend, and we had just finished our errands = all perfect reasons to have happy hour!

I remembered an app named Brewhound which shows you daily specials for restaurants in the Lower Mainland. I highly recommend you download the app, as it will come in handy if you’re not sure on where to eat. Btw, not sponsored… they don’t even know I exist haha.

One of the closest options was Romer’s and we wanted to check out the developing River District, so off we went! I remember seeing this place on Dine Out, but that was the furthest of my knowledge about this place.

This post is a combination of two visits!

Parking in River District was free, and was not a problem at all. Romer’s was easy to spot as everything else was just apartments and townhouses.

We wanted a patio seat but was told they were all reserved. It was a bit stuffy in the restaurant. Seeing how hot that day was, there could have been more AC.

I would describe the atmosphere in Romers as casual.

Truffle fries, $6.95: The scent of the truffle oil slowly wafting to our table was amazing. Mmmm… truffle oil…. The fries were delicious, crunchy and fresh. We would definitely order this again!
Cheesy spinach kale dip, $9.95: The boyfriend was in the mood for some spinach kale dip so this was the second dish. Probably the best way to eat vegetables.

I couldn’t eat it but the dip looked really good, and he really enjoyed it. It was full of blended spinach, kale, and was SUPER cheesy. The chips were also pretty good and tasted better than your average chips. They were thicker than usual, which might be why?

Our second visit was in mid-September!  The weather happened to be warm enough for the patio still! We saw some cute dogs trotting along the trail, hehe 🙂

On this visit, the boyfriend ordered the same spinach dip so I won’t talk about it again.
Root beer: I thought this was worth mentioning as they only sell craft root beer here. It is lighter in colour, but I didn’t like the taste (I normally love fountain root beer).

It reminded me of cough syrup but perhaps it’s an acquired taste. The boyfriend on the other hand loved it.
Burger bowl: I felt like something lighter that day and decided to give this a try. For an extra $2, you can go bunless and turn your burger into a bowl that includes avocado, hard boiled egg, iceberg lettuce, and corn/bean salad.

I did not regret it because it was delicious and fresh! The avocado is hidden behind the patty. I would definitely consider getting the burger bowl again. The only con was that the patty was on the dry side, although the flavour was there.

Overall, our two visits to Romer’s were brief but pleasant. Romer’s is a good place to go if you want to escape the city, but still remain in the city if that makes any sense? The River District feels a lot different than most other neighbourhoods in Vancouver.

We would definitely come back a third time if we were in the area!

Yay!

Romer's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, pub

The Canadian Brewhouse (Two visits)

October 7, 2017

The Canadian Brewhouse is a pub that opened in Richmond a few months ago, in the new Central at Garden City plaza. The boyfriend heard about this place on the radio, and wanted to try it out. This post is a combination of two visits!

The restaurant is clean, welcoming, and has many TV screens for sports games. They also have a shuttle to BC Place on football game days.

Despite the poor air quality, we decided to sit on the patio for our first visit. We were quickly greeted by our server, who was friendly and prompt our whole visit.

One thing we found cool was that each table had a button where you could press to call your server. There were three buttons: call your server, get a bill, or another round of drinks. Our server then showed us the smart watch that they each wear, which alert them to the table.

I imagine that it could get pretty hectic for them during peak hours, and if there was a kid pressing it for the sake of pressing it. Or impatient customers.

Montreal Smoked Poutine: I really liked the Canadian pride here, and thought the Canadian flag inside the poutine was very cute! They have a great selection of poutine, and it was hard for the boyfriend to pick just one. The Montreal smoked poutine came with Montreal smoked meat and dill pickle!

He really enjoyed the poutine. There was a generous amount of gravy, cheese, and meat. Nothing to complain about!

Chicken strips w/ side Caesar salad: Y’all know me and my love for chicken strips, it was only right I tried them here as well! Right when they came to the table, I was so happy because I knew they would be perfect. Idk, I can tell if chicken strips will be good just by looking and I’ve never been wrong yet! These were tender, flavourful, and had a crispy exterior. So delicious!

Since Caesar salad has dairy, I asked for it without sauce (I know, I’m weird but I don’t eat salad with sauce). They forgot so the picture above is the original salad that got sent back. Anyways, nothing to complain about with the salad either.

Now, for our second visit!

Slow roasted beef dip: You can never go wrong with beef dip, and this was no exception. I really liked how soft the bun was, and it was also slightly sweet. There was a generous portion of beef too. I was quite stuffed after having this!
Canadair donair: No, that is not a typo — it is called Canadair! The boyfriend really enjoyed the donair. Like my beef dip, it came with a generous portion of meat and lots of gooey, melty cheese.

He decided to get the rice so that we could sample more of their food items. The rice was really good because it was seasoned with herbs. It’s a good alternative to fries if you don’t want something deep fried.

Service on our second visit was not good compared to our first visit. The second time, service was really slow. It took a long time for our waitress to come, for us to flag her down to order, and to pay for our bill. Definitely wasn’t impressed considering how impressive service was the first time.

Yay!

The Canadian Brewhouse & Grill Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, pub

Ebisu on Broadway

July 25, 2016

The boyfriend and I were planning on grabbing dinner but ended up eating too many snacks at home while watching TV that we weren’t hungry for a full meal anymore. Oops =P

So, we decided to get some light snacks in Richmond, but we couldn’t find parking. We ended up going back to Vancouver to Ebisu on Broadway Street as the boyfriend has been wanting to try this Vancouver chain out. Yes, there is an Ebisu in Richmond but we wanted to be back in Vancouver.
EbisuI’ve been here a few times already with my family years ago (along with the location in downtown), but this was the first time the boyfriend has tried Ebisu.

This location is on the second floor of a plaza, just off Broadway on one of the quieter inside streets. Luckily, we arrived just after 10pm so meter parking was free already!

The outside doesn’t look that nice, but the inside is a lot better. The seating is comfortable and spacious, while the service was really warm and fast.

We didn’t know that they had happy hour from 8:30pm-close, so that was a nice surprise! Unfortunately, none of the happy hour items really stood out to us so we ended up only ordering one item from their happy hour menu.
Ebisu2

Sashimi salad $9.50 small | $15.95 regular: I’ve been on a sashimi salad kick lately, so naturally, I had to order Ebisu’s sashimi salad! You can choose from either creamy, house ginger, or spicy dressing. I chose the house ginger.

The veggies were pretty fresh, and the house ginger sauce was really tasty! It tasted more like a garlicky, miso sauce but we both really liked it.

The amount of sashimi was a bit disappointing, I would have wished there was more. Albiet a small portion, the sashimi tasted pretty fresh and came with octopus, tuna, wild salmon, and salmon sashimi.
Ebisu3Takoyaki, $5.95 happy hour | regular hours $6.50: The takoyaki was plump and flavourful. The boyfriend enjoyed the takoyaki here more than Manzo because they have less lemon juice sprinkled on top, making it less sour. I found the takoyaki pretty delicious and would order it again here.
Ebisu5Dynamite roll $3.95 happy hour | $5.50 regular: We decided to try out the dynamite roll because it was pretty cheap during happy hour! Unfortunately, the cheap price justified the cheap taste. The rice was bland and mushy.

While it looks appetizing here, it collapsed once we picked it up. The tempura was very soggy and did not taste fresh at all.

We wouldn’t order this again and I hope the regular dynamite roll tastes better than the happy hour version!
Ebisu4Truffle fries $4.95 | regular $5.95: Oops, I forgot to take a photo of the truffle fries but you can see it in this picture!

The truffle fries were AMAZING. They truffle oil really enhanced the flavour of the fresh, crispy, piping hot fries. It was dusted with some sort of herbs as well. I would come back to Ebisu just for these truffle fries!

——

All in all, we had a lovely experience at Ebisu and I would definitely come back for snacks(esp. the truffle fries!). The prices are a bit higher than what I’m used to, but I don’t mind coming here once in awhile. It’s a nice change of scenery from the regular Japanese restaurants I visit.

I wish they opened later than 11 pm for happy hour, but it is located in a quiet area so I understand. The Ebisu in downtown is open until 1 am though!

I’ve only been to the Ebisu in downtown and Broadway. I would say they are both pretty similar in terms of quality and service. I actually went to the downtown Ebisu in the summer but never got around to writing a review.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Ebisu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, happy hour, pub Tagged: food, food blogger, foodie, happy hour, japan, japanese, late night

Flying Beaver Bar & Grill – Dine Out Vancouver Festival

January 24, 2016

Another Dine Out review! Luckily, the Dine Out menu here features the same dishes as the regular menu, so you can still read this review even if you’re not planning on doing Dine Out! I found this restaurant through social media, with many people saying that it was a really good deal.

After finding out that they have a waterfront view with seaplanes, we were sold. We love nice views and airplanes!
Flying Beaver Bar & Grill Prior to visiting this restaurant, we had never been in this area before and missed the turn from Vancouver to Sea Island. It is in a pretty quiet area, with nothing else here except for the smaller airport terminal for flights within the province.

The restaurant is also connected to a seaplane terminal, which was being advertised for leisurely private flights around Vancouver and Victoria. Maybe one day, I’ll afford to ride in one of those for fun!
Flying Beaver Bar & Grill This place is in such a random and quiet area that they offer a shuttle bus service! I thought that was pretty awesome. I’m not too sure on how often the shuttle service works and where they pick up customers from, though.

They offered a 3 course meal for Dine Out, and was $20 per person. Here is what we ordered:
Flying Beaver Bar & Grill Baja fish tacos: The boyfriend chose this as his starter. It was a pretty good taco, with a generous piece of fried cod inside. The veggies here were crunchy and fresh as well!
Flying Beaver Bar & Grill Steak bites: I wanted the clam chowder, but since it contains dairy, I chose to order the steak bites instead. I definitely did not regret my decision because this was delicious! The steak bites were cooked medium, and was slightly pink in the middle. It had a nice smoky and grilled taste, and was bursting with flavour. It was also really peppery, which I loved.

The dipping sauce was a chiptole aioli, which didn’t really complement or enhanced the savoury steak flavour. In fact, they didn’t mix well at all and was really random.
Flying Beaver Bar & Grill BBQ Pork Ribs w/ scalloped potatoes & cole slaw: The boyfriend loves his ribs, so this was an easy choice for him. The pork ribs were very tender and fell off the bone perfectly. There was a generous amount of BBQ sauce, giving the pork a lot of extra flavour too.

It came with scalloped potatoes, which the boyfriend was crazy about. He gave me a bite and I automatically regretted it (and simultaneously loved it) because I tasted a LOT of cream and cheese. It’s strange because now that I can’t have dairy, I am able to taste or smell the flavour of cream/cheese/milk more than before. It’s like my body is warning me even more now that I can’t eat it.

Anyways, that one small bite I had was really good and reminded me of what a sweet life I used to have – being able to have rich, dairy goodness without reacting badly and getting sick.
Flying Beaver Bar & Grill Seafood grill w/ veggies & jasmine rice: I love my seafood, so this was an easy decision for me! The skewer came with sockeye salmon, prawn, and Atlantic halibut. The skewer was pretty big and all the seafood was cooked well. The fish flaked perfectly off, while the prawns were nice and snappy.

It didn’t come with much seasoning (maybe just a bit of salt?) and had a nice grilled taste, just like the steak bites.

It also came with a ginger soy sauce, which I wasn’t a fan of. The ginger taste was too strong. It reminded me of a very strong honey ginger tea.

Adding the sesame string beans, I felt like I was eating a Chinese meal instead of Western =P The rice was slightly aromatic and came with some freshly ground pepper. There was a pretty generous amount of veggies and rice, as you can see!
Flying Beaver Bar & Grill Tiramisu w/ belgian chocolate: I wish I could have tried this, because the boyfriend kept saying how amazing this was with every bite that he had.

He said that it was very balanced, meaning that it wasn’t overly sweet but had just the right amount of chocolate and coffee.
Flying Beaver Bar & Grill Chocolate brownie w/ vanilla ice cream: The brownie was served nice and warm. I didn’t find that there was much chocolate taste though – it was just VERY sweet.

I had four bites before it was too much. Sweet tooth people, this one is for you! I gave the ice cream and rest of the brownie to the boyfriend. Comparing the brownie to the tiramisu, he said the brownie was definitely a LOT sweeter.

—

For $20 each, this was a really good deal and I’m glad that we drove all the way out to this restaurant. Although it was pretty busy, service was friendly and attentive. I wouldn’t come back just for the food because I could probably get similar food a lot closer to where I live, but rather, come here for the nice view instead.

It’s a breath of fresh air to be away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. I would love to come back when the weather gets warmer and enjoy some drinks and snacks on the patio.

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Flying Beaver Bar & Grill Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: dessert, food & drink, pub, seafood, steakhouse, western

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Hello!

Hi and welcome to Curiously Carmen! I am Carmen, the girl behind the blog. You can read more about me here!

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