Curiously Carmen

CRAFT Beer Market

January 2, 2015

Hi guys!

Wow, so I decided to read the reviews for CRAFT Beer Market before I wrote this post… All I can say is that I’m glad we came here spontaneously without checking the reviews (and if you’re a food blogger, that almost never happens!) or we would have missed out on a good time!

After visiting Bright Nights during the holidays, the boyfriend and I didn’t feel like going back home… so he sheepishly asked if I wanted some beer. Uhhhh… yes?! I asked him why he sounded hesitant to ask me. He said it was because we usually only grab beer or go to pubs with friends, and wasn’t sure if couples go get beer as a date. LOL, I’m not sure if couples normally get beer alone together, but I don’t really care because I’ll get beer any day! On a whim, we thought of CRAFT because we’ve always wanted to try it, but somehow always end up at Tap and Barrel across the street.

All this rambling and I haven’t even gotten to the food yet, wow. We arrived around 9pm on a busy Saturday night, and were quickly seated at a corner booth with really cozy, plush leather seats. We had a great view of the big and noisy restaurant, but were also seated in an area quiet and cozy enough to have conversation.

One thing I have to agree on with the other Urbanspoon reviews is that service here is slow, so don’t come here if you are in a rush. It took us 10 minutes before our server came. Throughout the night, I could tell that she was busy but she did make an effort to be friendly, ask how we were doing, etc.

CRAFT has an extensive and impressive amount of craft beer. The beer menu is almost endless and overwhelming! I wanted something citrus-y, and decided to try the Blanche de Chambly, a type of Belgian pale ale. It did not disappoint, and hit the spot perfectly. It was refreshing, citrusy, and light topped off with a great, velvety layer of foam. The boyfriend ordered a darker beer, the Ayinger Celebrator which was very malty and hoppy.

The boyfriend ordered the poutine, which was served hot on a pan (we were warned not to touch the pan or we would get burnt). I also read reviews that some guests received cold poutine, but ours was steaming hot and came with an abundance of melted cheese, gravy, and salt. I didn’t have many because I wasn’t feeling like fried food that night, but the boyfriend enjoyed the poutine a lot. The hotness of the fresh fries melted the cheese to a great consistency, topped off with peppers and herbs, making it a very satisfying munch.

Fun fact about me: I am not a veggie person, but the only exceptions are kale and arugula. I loooove arugula in my salads, pizzas, and flatbreads. I ordered the prosciutto argula flatbread with Grana Padano cheese. The flatbread was very doughy, and not too thin which I liked. It was topped off with a generous amount of fresh and crunchy arugula, as well as grated Grana Padano. I didn’t really taste much of the proscuitto due to the overwhelming flavours of the arugula and cheese, but I did see it there.

Overall, our visit to CRAFT was wonderful, even though service was slow. Our server was really friendly and was making an effort to check on us when she could, but it’s wasn’t really her fault. I loved the atmosphere, the long communal dining tables, the beautiful city view, and the empty keg display they had as well.

Are you a fan of craft beer, and which ones are your favourite? Have you been here before? Let me know in the comments!

On another note, I’m also currently giving away a free Cetaphil skincare set (suitable for both females and males!) until February 2nd! Read my post here to enter and full details =)

-Carmen

Montagne Jeunesse Blemish Mud Mask (Part 2/3)

January 1, 2015

Hi everyone, Happy New Year! I hope you all had a blast celebrating New Years Eve last night!

A few days ago, I had written about how Obsessed Canada had sent me a few samples of the Montagne Jeunesse facial product that they carry online. If you didn’t read that post, Obsessed Canada and Nail Polish Canada are sister companies that cater to the Canadian beauty addict!

They offer a $3 flat rate shipping, and also free shipping over $25 Canadian. Both are also Canadian owned and operated, which means that shipping times will be a lot faster. My interaction with Obsessed Canada has also been positive- they have been very responsive and informative!

I had reviewed the mud pac (far right), today, I will be talking about the blemish mud pack! The blemish mud pac is composed of a blend of aloe vera, willow, rosemary, and witch hazel. All of these ingredients are amazing at combating and targeting acne. The most toughest acne battling warrior products out there are composed of those ingredients! I was quite surprised that tea tree oil was not listed though.
When I first opened the package, I noticed that there was an unpleasant earthy smell to this. The bad part is that it doesn’t smell great, but the good part is that you know that this product contains natural ingredients. Let’s face it, natural ingredients normally do not smell good compared to fragrances or perfumes made in laboratories =P I have a Lush product that doesn’t smell great either, but it does an amazing job at clearing your skin =).

Compared to the mud pac, I found this mask to dry extremely fast. I was only done covering half my face when I noticed it started drying, to the point where it hardened and I couldn’t move my face. After I was done applying, the mask was starting to really tighten up because it was dry. Compared to other face masks I used, this one felt the toughest on my skin and dried the fastest.

After 15 minutes, I rinsed it off but it took a good, thorough wash. I took this time to carefully wash away the mask and moved my fingers in circles around problem areas. When everything was finally off, my skin felt really refreshed and it was nice to be able to move my face again! My skin also felt softer. I noticed that it seemed a bit dry though.

Comparing this mask to the mud pac, I prefer the mud pac one more because I found that this one dried out my skin and hardened really fast. I also felt that the mud pac was more moisturizing and gentle on my skin. Is it a good thing to have a mask that dries really fast and gets really hard?

Have you tried this mask before? If yes, what did you think of it?

Here is the full catalogue of Montagne Jeunesse products that Obsessed Canada offers! I will be trying the honey mask soon so keep your eyes posted on that one =)

-Carmen

Press product featured, all opinions are my own.

Montagne Jeunesse Mud Pac Mask (Part 1/3)

December 29, 2014

For all my Canadian readers, I am very excited to introduce Nail Polish Canada and Obsessed Canada to you all! As Canadians, we know how much harder it is to get beauty products we want due to shipping restrictions, or high shipping fees.

I can’t even count how many times I’ve gotten so excited over a product, only to find out that they don’t ship to Canada (AHEM Urban Decay Black Friday sale… that was my biggest US shipping heartbreak to date) or the shipping fees cost more than the actual product.

With sister companies Nail Polish Canada and Obsessed Canada, they offer free Canadian shipping on orders over only $25 or a $3 flat rate, which are both pretty great deals. Nail Polish Canada has brands such as China Glaze, Deborahh Lippmann, Essie, OPI, Sally Hansen, and much more! They have offices located in both Toronto and Vancouver so you can expect fast shipping as well, regardless if you’re on the East or West coast!

When Obsessed Canada asked me to write some reviews of the Montagne Jeunesse products they carried, I gladly took their offer up! I’ve never heard of Montagne Jeunesse before, so after some brief research, I found out that they are an UK based company.

Out of all the Montagne Jeunesse products that Obsessed Canada carried, I picked the top three I wanted to try: Manuka Honey, Blemish Mud, and Mud Pac based on their product descriptions. Unfortunately, I have been quite busy so I haven’t been able to try all of them yet. This post will be on the mud pac only!

The blemish mud pac is best used weekly for deep cleansing. It is suitable for acne prone skin and has a blend of Dead Sea mud, lavender, and seaweed.

I was quite surprised at how much product there was in the package (20 grams), considering that it is a one time use product. In fact, there was so much leftover that I talked my boyfriend into doing the mask with me because I didn’t want to waste the product. Well, I could have sealed it up I guess, but I preferred to use all of it right away, while it was still freshly opened. Even after applying it on his face, we still a tad bit left over so we applied a tiny bit more on our faces and washed away the leftover.

Texture and consistency- taken from ACosmeticAffair.Blogpost.Com — Texture and consistency- taken from ACosmeticAffair.Blogspot.Com

The mask was very cooling, and the texture of the mask made it very easy to work with. The mask was very smooth and thick, and had a minty green colour to it as well as slight mint scent.

After leaving the mask on for 15 minutes, we removed our masks with warm water and dried with a towel. Immediately, I noticed that both of our skin were really soft and looked really refreshed. It worked really well for me and I felt that it did a great job with deep cleaning!

Stay tuned for part two of Montagne Jeunesse masks! In the meantime, check out Obsessed Canada and Nail Polish Canada, or read some of my other posts! You can also buy this at Obsessed Canada for $2 Canadian, with free shipping over $25!

-Carmen

Press product featured, all opinions are my own.

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas from my blog to you, my fellow reader! I hope your day will be/has been filled with fun, family, and great food!
I have been trying to keep busy with all the Christmas festivities thus far … Christmas movie marathon, baking Christmas treats, and going to see the beautiful city lights in my amazing city, Vancouver, in Canada. This picture above was taken in downtown by the water. I still have a few locations that I want to check out before everything is taken down!

Andddd here is another picture of me bundled up, I call this my black marshmellow outfit because I look very puffy but it keeps me nice and warm. My toque also makes me look like a pom pom. This was taken at one of Vancouver’s big city gardens, where they have an elaborate light show every year. Probably my favourite Christmas event to go to!

Have a wonderful day and talk soon! Merry Christmas again to you all!
-Carmen

Taishoken Ramen 大勝軒

December 24, 2014

Taishoken Ramen has been on my must eats list for a good few months now. The sad thing is that I’ve tried to come here twice, which have both failed. Third time is the charm I guess, as the boyfriend and I finally found ourselves here one early evening.We had just finished walking around the Christmas market and Taishoken had just opened, which was perfect timing because I didn’t want to wait in line in the cold. He dropped me off first, and there were still a few minutes before the doors actually opened.

Around 4:58, there were three other parties starting to line up too. The size of Taishoken was pretty standard for a ramen shop, warm and cozy. I chose a table furthest from the door because I was quite cold that day, and didn’t want to feel the breeze of the door.
Of course, I ordered the shio tonkotsu ramen. Shio is my absolutely favourite ramen broth, anyone else? 🙂 Since I’ve been wanting to come here for so long, I had an idea of what it would taste like because I’ve read so many reviews. The shio tonkotsu ramen was very creamy, thick, and rich… perfect! The noodles were cooked al dente and had a nice bounce to it, I also loved how there were so much green onions! As for the pork shoulder, I found it slightly on the dry side, but that’d me trying to nitpick at something.

Can we also take a moment to appreciate the egg? It was cooked perfectly to my liking, with a bit of yolk oozing out. The egg was also marinated in some type of salty soya sauce broth, which made it taste even better.

I ordered a side of extra noodles, which was not a good idea because I was way too full afterwards! The bowl of extra noodles came in the side, which I divided up with the boyfriend. I knew there was no way that I would finish it myself.
The boyfriend ordered the shoyu tonkotsu ramen. Like myself, he found the broth to be very flavourful and rich and his noodles were bouncy as well. However, he was disappointed with the pork belly meat because it was very rubbery and chewy. For something so fatty like pork belly meat, you would expect a softer, melt in your mouth texture. I’ve read on previous reviews that people had the same opinion as him too.

For both our ramen and the side of extra noodles, our total came to $21 without tax and tip, which is reasonable for dinner. Since we came when it had just opened, there was only one server who was doing her best to attend to every table and was very friendly. But the shop filled up every fast, so service was a bit slow but that’s okay because she was trying to do everything herself. The chefs actually ended up bringing our food because the server was very busy.

Would I come back? Since it is in a somewhat convenient area and I won’t have to drive through the downtown core to get a good bowl of ramen, yes. I don’t see myself wanting to come back right away, but if I’m ever hungry at the office, Taishoken is a mere 7-10 minute walk away! I would also only come at obscure times because I don’t want to wait in line for this.

-Carmen

PS. Merry Christmas eve to those celebrating Christmas! 🙂