Curiously Carmen

Fujiya

January 29, 2021

I can’t believe I haven’t written a review on Fujiya yet! Well, I guess it’s because Fujiya is a supermarket instead of a restaurant… But due to the pandemic, we haven’t gone out to eat as much. I am trying to keep this blog going regularly hence all the delivery/take out reviews.

I’m pretty sure most people know Fujiya, it’s been around for ages. I remember getting takeout from here when I was a kid! But incase you don’t know or are new to Vancouver, Fujiya is a Japanese supermarket. The main supermarket is on Clark and Venables close to Chinatown, but they also have some smaller shops in downtown and Richmond that serve takeout only.

The fiance and I came here to get some groceries, but decided to buy get some takeout for dinner and lunch the next day!

Salmon roll: I have been ordering this for many years and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. The price is really cheap for the portion, compared to restaurants. The salmon is always fresh and tasty, but I find the rice a bit salty. I think they add MSG in there or something. Nonetheless, I still enjoy it.

Negitoro roll: The negitoro roll was good too. The negitoro was fatty and soft.

BC Roll: I’m not a big fan of BC Roll because it’s usually just salmon skin and lettuce. However, there are a few restaurants that have a decent BC Roll that I wouldn’t mind having a bite of. The fiance is more adventurous when it comes to BC Roll and he decided to try it here.

It was a good decision because the BC Roll here was pretty good! Normally, the roll only has salmon skin but Fujiya’s had a lot of salmon meat.

Chicken katsu roll: We had this for lunch the next day since it was one of the cooked items. Since all of their rolls are prepackaged and we also waited until the next day, we knew it wouldn’t be crunchy anymore.

Despite not being crunchy, the chicken was very flavourful and well marinated. I imagine that it would taste even better when fresh!

Spicy chicken donburi: We also had this for lunch the next day. Unlike the chicken katsu roll, we were able to pop the chicken into the air fryer so it was hot and crunchy.

The chicken was also very flavourful and delicious. There was a generous amount for the price. If you had this at a restaurant, it would probably cost a lot more! My only complaint would be that the veggies were wilted and kinda gross. I think it’s cause they probably put the hot chicken on top right away. It would have been better to put it on the side of the bowl.

Overall, we were satisfied with our dinner and lunch from Fujiya! There is no doubt we will be back for takeout again. The prices are very reasonable and the food is delicious.

Baroness Bubble Tea – Two Visits

January 26, 2021

I have heard about Baroness Bubble Tea for awhile now when they first opened in late 2019. They are known for using oat milk, which is great for me because I can’t drink milk! Unfortunately, the store was far for me and I am rarely in that area.

When we went to pick up Raisu for my birthday, I noticed Baroness was nearby so we stopped here too. It ended up being one of our new favourite places and we went back here again a couple weeks later.

The cafe is quite small and parking is hard to find since they are located at a busy intersection, West Broadway and Macdonald. Due to COVID, they have closed off their seating area so it is take out only.

Purple yam with oat milk: The purple yam drink here was delicious and did not disappoint. The yam did not taste artificial and had a smooth, nutty flavour.

In addition, the oat milk was creamy and delicious. The pearls were very chewy and fresh. Everything about this drink was delicious and I ended up ordering it again on our second visit.

Brown sugar milk: The fiance ordered the standard brown sugar milk. His drink was also very enjoyable, with the perfect amount of sweetness and chewy, soft pearls.

Wintermelon oat milk: Wintermelon tea is delicious and caffeine free. I haven’t seen a wintermelon oat milk drink before, but this was also delicious.

I find that wintermelon has a very subtle and light taste, and is easily overpowered by other ingredients. However, the wintermelon taste was still evident with the creamy oat milk.

Chestnut oat milk smoothie: Another drink that I haven’t seen around in other bubble tea shops. I didn’t see them making this drink so I am not 100% sure if they use real chestnut, but it sure tasted like it. It didn’t taste artificial.

Baroness has quickly risen to the top of my bubble tea list, and I would highly recommend trying their drinks. One thing to note is that their hours are limited compared to other shops. They are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and open only from 2pm-7pm on the other days.

Although Baroness is out of the way for me, I would gladly make the drive there if I was free that day because their drinks are high quality and delicious. I am looking forward to my next visit.

Osaka Sushi – Revisit

January 22, 2021

A couple of years ago when delivery apps were just starting out, the fiance and I ordered Osaka Sushi often. It was our go-to sushi place for delivery and I also wrote a review on it.

Over the past year or more, we stopped ordering from them because they aren’t on UberEats or DoorDash, the 2 apps we use most. Skip sent us a coupon and we decided to order Osaka Sushi again for old times sake.

Salmon sashimi: The salmon sashimi was delicious and very fresh. I was craving sashimi that day and I was very satisfied afterwards.

Salmon roll: Just like the sashimi, the salmon in the maki roll was fresh and tasty. No complaints here!

Negitoro roll: The fiance loves his negitoro roll. As usual, the negitoro was fatty and melted in our mouth. There was a good amount of crunchy chopped green onions too.

Negihama roll: The negihama roll was good too. The tuna was fatty and fresh.

Chopped scallop roll: The chopped scallop roll had fresh scallops with a nice snap to it. No complaints here either.

Chicken teriyaki roll: We usually don’t order chicken teriyaki roll except for at Osaka Sushi. The chicken teriyaki inside was delicious. It still had some crunch to it despite being delivered. The chicken was marinated well and very flavourful.

Overall, we had a great meal and remembered why we like Osaka Sushi so much. It is pretty under the radar and not as popular as other places in The Heights (Tentatsu, Sushi Uomo, Kilala Sushi, and Hiro Sushi), but it has not disappointed us over the few years.

Pho Japolo

January 19, 2021

While running some errands in Richmond, the fiance and I decided to try Pho Japolo for lunch. There are 3 Pho Japolo locations around the Lower Mainland, and I remember hearing good things about the one on West Broadway.

The Richmond location is located in a small strip mall beside Cafe Loyal, which I’ve also heard good things about but have yet to try. There is some parking but I would imagine that it’s hard to find during peak lunch time hours.

We came right when they opened, so it was not that busy yet. The tables were distanced and it felt clean and safe in there.

Pho: I noticed that the prices here were slightly higher than I was used to. They also offer DIY pho so you can choose which meat toppings you’d like, but I just went with the house special to get a bit of everything. Funny thing, I used to never like tendon in my pho but I have started not to mind it lately!

My pho was alright. It was satisfying and had a decent portion of meat inside.

Lemongrass chicken and spring roll vermicelli: The fiance really enjoyed the vermicelli bowl. In particular, the spring rolls were really good. They were piping hot, crunchy, and fresh. It was one of the best spring rolls he’s had!

The lemongrass chicken was also enjoyable too. The chicken was marinated well and fragrant from the lemongrass.

Overall, we enjoyed Pho Japolo and would come back if we were in the area.

Kimbap Cheonguk

January 16, 2021

**Disclaimer: This visit happened in early November right before the new health order. We bumped into 2 friends outside randomly, and had lunch together. Right after, the new health order was announced. I wanted to wait until the health order was lifted to post this and not set a bad example.

However, 2 months have passed already and the order keeps getting extended so I am just going to post this now. Stay safe and be responsible.**

Kimbap Cheonguk has been on my to-try list for many years now but I never ended up going until now. I’ve read many good things on this place so my expectations were high.

Kimbap Cheonguk is located on the Burquitlam border, in Koreatown. It is in a plaza with plenty of parking and other restaurants too.

Funnily enough, while the fiance and I were in line, we bumped into Kimbap and Kimchi outside! They were also planning on having lunch here, so it was a good coincidence. We ended up having lunch together and since they come here regularly and speak Korean, they did the ordering for us.

Side note: Kimbap and Kimchi both lived in Korea before, and they told us that in Korea, “Kimbap Cheonguk” is also the name of a cheap Korean food chain known for their kimbap. “Cheonguk” is heaven in Korean, so the name of the restaurant translates to Kimbap Heaven.

Soup: At first glance, you may think this is tea. I certainly thought it was until Kimchi told us it was soup. The soup was savoury and tasty. They also kept a big teapot of it next to us so we could keep filling up on it.

Tuna kimbap: The reason why we came here, to try the kimbap! The tuna kimbap was delicious and I could see why this place is so popular. This may be odd but I enjoyed the seaweed wrapping a lot. The seaweed tasted like it was lightly brushed with sesame oil or something.

Cheese kimbap: We also ordered a cheese kimbap, which was tasty as well. I thought there would be more cheese in it, but turns out it was a thin piece of processed cheese as you can see in the top photo.

Ra bok ki: This was a sweet and spicy rice cake dish that also came with fish cakes, egg, cabbage, and instant noodle. It was our first time having this dish, but Kimchi and Kimbap order this regularly.

There was a good balance of sweet vs spicy. The dish was full of rice cakes, noodles, and fish cakes so it was really filling.

Ddock mandoo gook: Ever since trying Korean dumpling soup at Tongileo, I have been ordering more dumpling soup whenever I go for Korean. The dumpling soup here was delicious and very comforting. There was a very generous portion of dumplings, rice cakes, and egg. I couldn’t stop drinking the broth!

Al bob: The al bob was a stone bowl rice with tuna, cheese, tobiko, mozzarella cheese, seaweed, and vegetables. It sounded delicious, and it was! This was the fiance’s favourite dish. Everything mixed together nicely and the cheese was stringly and melty.

In addition, the tobiko added some nice crunchy texture. I haven’t seen this dish offered at other Korean restaurants but we would gladly order this again. There was a lot going on in this dish, with lots of different ingredients, but everything went well together. The best part was eating the crispy rice at the end! Make sure to spread the rice around the whole stone bowl so your rice will turn crispy!

Fish cake soup: The fish cake soup was a small appetizer size compared to the rest of the dishes. I found it alright with no complaints, but it was forgettable to me since the other dishes were so good.

All in all, we had a delicious lunch at Kimbap Cheonguk and I am looking forward to our next visit. A bonus was bumping into Kimchi and Kimbap (see disclaimer at top, this lunch happened before the most recent health order) at the restaurant, and trying some new Korean dishes with them. Next time I am craving kimbap, I know where to go. Their non-kimbap dishes were delicious too.