steakhouse Archives - Curiously Carmen

Atlas Steak + Fish – Revisit

May 24, 2022

I usually don’t write reviews within 2 years of a post, but I will make an exception for Atlas because it is one of my favourite restaurants for a special occasion! I have been to Atlas a handful of times now, and have always enjoyed the visit. To make things better, the location is convenient and there is plenty of free parking in the casino. You can also read my first post on their happy hour here.

If coming to Atlas, you should always make a reservation! They are usually booked up.

This visit was back during Christmas, when we went with Sangria and Lager to try their tomahawk steak.

The tomahawk steak is best shared with four people. It takes about 1.5-2 hours to prepare the steak, and grill it in the oven. Knowing this, we called about 45 minutes before our reservation to confirm the tomahawk steak and requested to have it started for us!

Having the tomahawk steak at Atlas was an experience. The server will also come out with a cart, and prepare the steak sauce beside the table. It is a pretty simple sauce, with butter, peppercorn, and other ingredients I forgot, but the server will tell you as they are preparing it.

The best part of the table-side steak preparation is the giant flame, similar to teppanyaki places. I love fire shows!

The steak also came under a bed of roasted mini potatoes and salad with chimichurri sauce. The sides are dairy free (with the exception of the steak sauce prepared tableside by the server).

We also ordered a macaroni and cheese, roasted vegetables, and fries. It was a bit too much food for us, and we probably could have done without the fries. The roasted vegetables were very tasty. The macaroni and cheese used a sharper cheese, which some people may not like but we enjoyed it.

If you are looking for a nice place to go for a special occasion without heading downtown, I recommend Atlas! The food is delicious and is in a quieter area, with free parking.

The Victor

May 16, 2022

For my birthday last year, the husband and I went to The Victor! From what I remember, it was a pretty last minute decision. I think we had reservations for The Keg but then last minute, we both felt like trying somewhere we haven’t been yet, and The Victor was one of the remaining places left on OpenTable.

I remember that we were both a bit hesitant in trying it since we heard mediocre things, but we ended up enjoying our dinner!

Bread: We were given some bread to start. The bread was fluffy, soft, and warm. It tasted really fresh.

Drinks: We both enjoyed our drinks as well. The husband ordered a Caesar which was tasty, but he wished that it would have included more garnish. I don’t recall what drink I ordered, but it was a non-alcoholic one. I really enjoyed mine. This is why I should write posts while the visit is fresh in my head, and not five months later! Jeez…

Seafood tower: This was the seafood tower for two. It came with Kusshi oysters, scallop ceviche, jumbo prawns, king crab, and lobster. We were both impressed with the seafood tower.

All of the seafood was very fresh and Kusshi oysters are my favourite type of oyster, so I was happy to see it offered that night!

Filet mignon: Again, this visit was from five months ago so my memory is not the best! But I believe we split the filet mignon. There were a few different cuts of steak available.

Roasted mushrooms: We didn’t think too much of the roasted mushrooms initially, but they were actually really good!

Dessert: For my birthday, the Victor gave us a complimentary cake slice. It was a coconut custard cake and was tasty as well.

Overall, we enjoyed our visit to The Victor and were pleasantly surprised considering hearing the mixed reviews from others. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was perfect for date night, and the service was friendly.

Little Billy’s Steakhouse

June 24, 2019

During the holidays last year, my parents and relatives went to Little Billy’s Steakhouse on Hastings to celebrate. My mom said good things about it, so I suggested we go for Father’s Day dinner because I wanted to try it too! We’ve also been going to The Keg practically every special occasion so it was nice to change it up.

I made a reservation but unfortunately we still had to wait a bit. The restaurant seemed bigger on the outside, it was actually smaller than I expected due to the layout. We were surprised that the restaurant was completely full on a Tuesday night!

Four course set menu: My parents both decided to get the 4 course set menu for $22, which was a pretty good deal. The offer is only available Monday-Thursday.

Soup: The first course was a creamy chicken soup with risotto. They both noted that it was pretty salty. The soup ended with some sour lemon notes so they probably squeezed some lemon into the soup too.

Salad: The second course was a simple mixed green salad… Almost a bit too simple! It would have been nice to include some nuts or cranberries. The salad came mixed with some olive oil as the dressing.

Lobster and steak: The third course, and main entree! For $22, this was a really good deal. The lobster was fresh and delicious. The steak was good too, although my mom ordered a medium rare and was cooked more to a medium. My dad ordered a medium and his steak was cooked to a medium rare instead… So they ended up just switching their steaks.

Dessert: They finished off with a lacklustre dessert. On the menu, it was described as a “sundae” but it was more like a scoop of cheap, grocery store ice cream with some cheap syrup on top. But the rest of the food was good so they still left satisfied!

Paidaika ribs: The boyfriend was having a tough time deciding between the ribs and moussaka. It was quite funny how indecisive he was being. In the end, he went with the paidaika ribs and it was an excellent choice with no regrets!

The ribs were melt in your mouth tender. They had some sort of “Chef’s seasoning” which were delicious. All of the herbs went well together. To top it off, the fluffy rice pilaf was delicious too. The only thing he didn’t like was the broccoli because it had a strong vinegar taste.

Chicken souvlaki: I absolutely LOVE my chicken souvlaki. The two skewers were so delicious. The chicken breast was grilled perfectly and succulent. The herbs and slightly smoky flavour elevated the skewers. I savoured every bite!

My Greek potatoes were delicious too. I was overloaded on carbs that night! My only small complaint would be that the potato was not fully marinated, as the middle of the potato did not have any of the lemon juice flavour.

We were also given some pita bread, which was delicious. They came nice and hot. The outside was a bit crunchy while the inside was fluffy.

Needless to say, we all left very satisfied with our meal. At some points in the night our server seemed like she was just throwing the dishes down and running away… but I understand because she was also bartending that evening. She seemed very rushed that night but was friendly enough, and we were able to get her attention when needed so it did not sour our visit much.

Little Billy’s is a good option in the area, and has a nice neighborhood vibe to it. It isn’t as upscale as The Keg, more of a family owned-cozy vibe but still delicious! I can see us coming back in the future.

The Keg – North Burnaby Location – Revisit

May 22, 2019

The Keg in North Burnaby was one of my first ever blog posts, over five years ago! Since then, The Keg has been one of the go-to places with my parents for special occasions. We come here at least 2-3x a year, so I figured it was time for an update post!

This location is located next to the Costco in North Burnaby. There is a big, free parking lot but we still find it hard to find parking, depending on the time of the year or if it’s Mother’s/Father’s day.

Prime rib, medium rare, 8 oz: This is my parent’s go-to! Their prime rib is always amaaaazing. It is tender and cooked to a perfect medium rare. Just looking at the picture makes me salivate.

That night, they got the grilled vegetables, but the double baked potato or mashed potatoes are quite delicious too. The angle of my photo makes the steak look small, but it’s a filling portion.

Tuna steak: I usually get the prime rib too, but my digestive problems were at its peak that week so I wouldn’t have been able to handle a rich and juicy steak or that much red meat. How sad right? So, I decided to play it safe and order a tuna steak. This was my first time ordering a non-beef item at The Keg.

The tuna steak was very small and not that filling. I found it to be a bit dry too. For the portion and price, the steak was definitely the better value and I felt pretty ripped off by this. But what can I do? Hopefully next time, my stomach will be in better condition so I can have the prime rib.

Baseball top sirloin: The boyfriend went with the baseball top sirloin that night! It was also a 8 oz, but looked smaller because it was thick. I believe it’s called a ‘baseball’ sirloin because it’s thick and could easily fit in the palm of your hand like a baseball would.

He enjoyed the sirloin a lot and had no complaints. Since this is such a thick cut, they can only cook it to a medium rare.

Service here can be a bit hit or miss here, depending on the day that you come. But the steaks are consistently delicious and it is a good place to come for a special occasion!

Rio Brazilian Steakhouse

October 10, 2018

Once in awhile, you come across a delicious restaurant and can’t stop thinking about it for days afterwards. This was Rio Brazilian Steakhouse for me! When Cheese randomly suggested this, we all wanted to check it out! I made reservations online for us the following week!

There are two locations – one in downtown on Denman, and one in Coquitlam. We went with the Coquitlam one because parking would be easier to find, and it was free! The restaurant was spacious and comfortable. They have live performances on Friday and Saturday nights, which you can see from my photo above!

Prior to the performances, the lighting in the restaurant was very dim – which led to a problem, as I’ll explain below.

Rio Brazilian Steakhouse is an all you can eat restaurant. Servers walk around with different cuts of meat and will keep serving you until you flip over your green card to a red card.
This is where all of their meats are prepared! After they are cooked, servers will walk around with one of those sticks and go to each table until all the meat is gone (which is pretty fast!)
They also have a self serve buffet bar. Your typical carb dishes, soup, rice, veggies, and some fruit.
Now the part we have all been waiting for: the MEAT! There are many servers walking around, and we didn’t have to wait any more than 5 minutes for someone to be walking around.

I can’t tell just by looking at the photos which type of beef it was. This was either the alcatra, which is a rump steak, or the fraldina, which is a skirt steak.

It was so incredibly juicy, rich, and served medium rare. Full of delicious seasonings too.
Another one of their delicious juicy steaks being served! Please note the boyfriend’s patient hands in the background, LOL.
Maminha: Although smaller than the rest, the tri tip was the favourite among the five of us. It was roasted, so the outside was a bit grilled and crispy.

Meanwhile, the inside was so juicy!
Calabresa: Perhaps the only meat that we weren’t a fan of that night. We found the pork sausage to be very dry.
Ribs: I don’t normally have ribs, but I’m starting to slowly eat more. After one bite, Cocoa told me I HAD to try it, so I had a bite. The ribs melted right off the bone, and was so tender.

I’m glad that the server was still cutting pieces for everyone else, because I ended up getting my own piece after too.
Deep fried platains and cheese balls: Halfway through the meal, our server dropped off some snacks! We didn’t really eat these as we wanted to have more of the meat.
Salad: After all that meat, I decided to go and get a plate of veggies to feel better. The veggies were really fresh and the lettuce was crunchy.

The basil and feta sprinkled on the watermelon was a nice addition, and brought out the sweetness of the watermelon. It isn’t something I normally would have tried myself, so I’m glad I had a chance to try it here.
Grilled pineapple with cinnamon: My apologies for the terrible quality of this photo. I forgot to take a photo of it, so this is a screenshot from an Instagram boomerang.

Sangria and Lager came earlier this year, and both said that we all had to try the pineapple with cinnamon! It took awhile (compared to the meats) for the servers to come around with this, as it was gone after one table.

The cinnamon went really well with the pineapple! It was so good that I asked for two slices. The cinnamon made the pineapple even sweeter. Next time I have pineapple, I wouldn’t mind dusting it with cinnamon before eating.

All in all, we were very satisfied and happy after our dinner at Rio. Some of the meats were pretty salty, so I would recommend having a side of veggies with it. It’s probably a place that you would want to come once a year, when you want to have something different.

The only negative thing I encountered was that the lighting was very dim, which led to one problem. The photos above were edited to make them a lot brighter… so you have an idea of how dark it was in there.

After ordering the chicken, it looked a bit pink and raw… so I used my phone’s flashlight to check. To my shock, the inner part of the drumstick was completely raw and bloody! I know that sometimes meat can be pink and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unsafe to eat (sous vide meat comes out pink), but this time the chicken was bloody.

I was very glad that I checked! So if you do come here, I would recommend checking that you aren’t eating raw chicken! Or maybe just stick with the beef steaks because they were SO DELICIOUS.
Yay!