Curiously Carmen

Trilussa Pizza & Pane

March 1, 2014

While browsing on Urbanspoon, I came across Trilussa Pizza & Pane. I knew I had to visit this place due to it’s 97% rating and 271 (and counting!) votes! And boy, am I glad I discovered this place!

Their pizza dough is made fresh everyday with quality ingredients. Luckily enough, I made a reservation just in case it would be busy. To our shock, when we arrived, they were completelyout of pizza dough and actually saved us the last two pieces of dough! I’m pretty sure they only stayed open to serve us, or they could have just used their dough and close early, but nope, they actually waited for us!

Talk about great service. Although it was our first time here, the workers made us feel right at home and made conversation with us while we enjoyed their fresh, and authentic Roman pizza. I felt as if we were regulars here and had a really great experience.

The exterior of the restaurant doesn’t really stand out from the rest of the numerous restaurants along Main Street. Half my childhood was spent around the Little Riley/Main Street area and I was really shocked I’ve never noticed this place until I came in. Right away, we noticed a cute little handwritten sign that apologized to customers that there was no more dough. When we walked in, they knew my name right away and said, “Carmennnn! Hey!” like I was a old pal.

The interior of Trilussa is very cozy and warm. On one end they have the pizza bar, espresso machine, and till, and the other side consists of the booths. There were little coat hangers on each booth which was a nice and convenient detail to this place. Trilussa is pretty small, but very comfortable.
You can see the oven in the back that is used to cook each order individually, which adds to the freshness. Normally, the area with the glass pane would be lined up with pizza waiting to be cooked (if they had dough left!).

We patiently sat, with our tummies rumbling while the oven brought the anticipated pizza to life. Overall, it took about 8 minutes for our pizzas to be done cooking. They only have two ovens, so I wonder how they manage when it gets busy! I would imagine that there are really long wait times during peak.
Behold! Our pizza! It came on a pretty long wooden paddle, I wonder how many unfortunate people have had their pizzas knocked off the table by other customers. We ordered the Milano (prosciutto cotto & mozzarella) and Garbatella (sausage & mozzarella).

I fell in love at first bite. The crust was thin and very crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy inside. The mozzarella was very stringy and rich. The pizza had a bit of oil on it which didn’t really bother me, because I knew from their sign (scroll up) that it was extra virgin olive oil. This was enough for two people and we left extremely full and happy.
Here is the closeup of the Milano. You could have more toppings but we opted for mushrooms only. I wished that there was a bit more proscuitto, but the freshness and quality of their ingredients make up for it (quality over quantity!). I preferred this dish over the Garbetella because it had more meat on it.
Here is the Garbetella. Again, I wished that this had more sausage pieces on it. However, you can see the generous portion of stringy, melted cheese.

After doing some background research, I found out that the owner of Trilussa was born and raised in Rome, Italy which explains why the pizza tastes as lovely and authentic as it does. Normally, I would that really bloated and gross feeling after eating pizza, but due to the freshness of their ingredients, I felt great! I would love to come back to Trilussa, so glad I discovered this little gem.

-Carmen

Suika – Japanese izakaya & tapa bar

February 26, 2014

Hi everyone!

Hands down, Suika is my absolute favourite place to go in this city for Japanese tapas. I love that Suika is super authentic, has amazing quality & preparation, great service, and a lovely atmosphere. I have a positive dining experience every time I come here, and this time was no different.

Back in December, Suika was offering a 10 course (plus dessert, so eleven) set meal for $25 a person. When I saw this offer, I immediately jumped on it and asked three other friends to come with me, since they suggested a party of four.

Without the set course menu, we calculated that each person would have had to pay at least $50 each, so it was definitely an amazing opportunity to enjoy some authentic Japanese food without breaking the bank.

Each plate of food comes with inclusions that complement each other really well, I don’t know how they come up with these recipes but I am truly in awe with how everything is perfectly prepared here.
I love this sake bottle chandelier! It looms above the restaurant, making this restaurant so unique.Little details like this go noticed and appreciated.
3 kinds of appetizer – I believe it was taro, kimchi tofu, and vegetables. At first, we all thought the tomato was salmon which was disappointing, but oh well! Can’t really complain when you’re already getting a good deal. I enjoyed the taro root dish most, it was really flavourful and crunchy.
Beef tataki- super fresh, and well seasoned! The veggies on top, lemon, and horseradish really brought out the flavours and sauces of the dish.
Sashimi salad- This was SO GOOD. Everything was mixed perfectly and complemented each other so well. There were also some tobiko in it, to add some flair and crunch. We cleaned off every piece of green on this plate, that was how delicious it was.
Chicken karaage- This dish was too oily for me, so I avoided it. My friends thought that this dish was pretty oily too, so they used a napkin to dab some oil off. It came with a small bowl of dipping salt. (Pic taken by my friend)
This was some sort of salad, I can’t remember exactly the name of it. I just remember it was very delicious. (Pic taken by my friend)Ebi mayo- delicious! The mayo wasn’t too rich, from what I remember it was also a bit sweet. Lightly fried and well seasoned. We wished there was more because it was sooo good!
Salmon battera- Essentially their take on a regular salmon roll. From what I remember, the salmon was lightly flamed, giving it a smoky flavour. Salmon was also very juicy, the rice was soft, and the vegetables complemented the flavours perfectly.
Kimchi yaki udon – The noodles were cooked very well- very soft and chewy. Although I’m not a big fan of kimchi, I really enjoyed this dish due to the sauce they add on the noodles, plus the fresh onion they add on top.
Beef short rib- THIS WAS SO GOOD. It was marinated in some kind of BBQ sauce. Heaven in every bite. It was extremely soft, tender, and juicy. I’m pretty sure we had a hard time trying to share this dish as we all wanted it to ourselves
Kakuni bibimbap. We forgot to take a picture of this, so I got it off their website. We really enjoyed this rice dish cooked in a stone bowl, there was a lot of tender and juicy meat inside. There was a really rich and aromatic flavour to this.
Matcha creme brulee for dessert! Hands down, my favourite dessert ever. This even beats out cheesecake. It is a slice of matcha ice cream, but frozen enough so that you have to kind of cut into it with your spoon. The crunchy part is caramelized sugar, with a side of fresh whip and a slice of strawberry. (Pic taken by my friend)

Needless to say, we all left very full and satisfied, I was left with an extremely joyous feeling in my tummy. If you’re planning on coming to Suika on a weekend, you should make a reservation or you’re going to be waiting awhile. I’ve tried coming here without one, and they usually ask you to be done within a certain time because they need to prepare for a reservation.

Service here is really friendly and accommodating, servers are really knowledgeable about the dishes. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it! Suika, if you’re reading this, sponsor me!!! (Joking… maybe #whynot )

Thanks for reading!

Wang’s Taiwan Beef Noodle House

February 24, 2014

Hi everyone,

I used to frequent this restaurant at least once a week, but I’ve stopped coming here for awhile since I’m not in the neighbourhood anymore. Over the past three years, I’ve developed a love for Taiwanese food and Wang’s does not cease to curb my cravings.

Their Taiwanese beef noodles are well-perfected and authentic, perfect for those rainy Vancouver evenings. Although they offer more than just beef noodles, the noodles (thick type, you can choose from thick/thin/vermicelli/rice noodle) are undoubtedly the star of Wang’s.

The other dishes I have tried here do not match up to the deliciousness of their noodle soup. Also, their service is agreeably quite slow even when the restaurant isn’t busy. I would recommend getting a table right by the cash counter or you will be hard pressed to get any service, from what I’ve experienced. They have a small parking section in the back which fits two cars, but there is plenty of meter parking on Cambie street. Let’s start with the food now!
We started off with Taiwanese salty and peppery chicken nuggets ($4-$6). Taiwanese nuggets are different than nuggets you’d get elsewhere! They have a distinct flavour and seasoning that my friend and I tried duplicating (and kind of failed because we didn’t have an industry deep fryer) that consists of potato starch, Taiwanese 5 spice powder, rice wine, and other ingredients.

The batter of Taiwanese nuggets is pretty light compared to regular nuggets, but it’s also really crunchy when cooked well. The batter at Wang’s is cooked and seasoned perfectly. I enjoyed these nuggets but I found that roughly 1/4 of the nuggets were not meat. Normally, I only eat actual meat as opposed to the fatty parts, tendons, and skin so that set me off. Some places also include basil so that would have been nice, but nothing too big of a deal! =)
This was the minced pork sauce with noodle (small – $6 large – $7). We didn’t know that it came with such a hefty amount of vegetables since the menu didn’t specify! It also did not come with any soup which we expected, only the remaining meat sauce juice that sunk to the bottom of the noodles.

The meat sauce was well flavoured, not too salty, which made up for the lack of soup. As for the thin noodles, it was well cooked. Overall, my friend enjoyed this dish although they wished it came with less canned vegetables and soup.
The star of the show! My mouth is watering from reading this post …. #foodblogger problems #foodieproblems :(. This is the beef brisket noodle with thick noodle. There were four of us, and three of us ordered this dish! I am a really big fan of their noodles. It’s soft and chewy, which is very comforting and satisfying.

Since the texture of the noodle itself isn’t that smooth, soup seeps into the curves of the noodles so you really get a taste of the soup with every bite you take. I really like the texture of the noodle, it’s comparable to the in-store, hand-made ones at Chef Hung’s in Richmond (My other favourite Taiwanese joint).

The brisket is also very, very tender and soft, although some pieces are pretty fatty. The cherry on top of this delicious bowl are the fresh parsley and onion. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, it makes the dish taste a lot more fresh. The soup itself is a bit flavourful, my cousin said that there was a hint of spiciness to it which I didn’t taste.

We asked what the difference was between the rice noodle and vermicelli, but our server couldn’t tell us because she didn’t speak much English. If you’re a picky customer and want perfect and customized service, good luck! They also serve your water/tea in very small cups, and since the soup is salty, you’ll run out pretty fast which is unfortunate since their service is slow.

Thanks for reading!
-Carmen

TRADER JOES MINI HAUL – PART ONE!

February 21, 2014

Hi everyone!

Trader Joes is like a little country that welcomes you with open arms and smiling faces. The reason why I say this is because everything in store is produced and manufactured by themselves. Their staff are really friendly, and their interior design gives me a modern day cottage with a laid back feel to it.

Apart from that, most of TJ’s products are super healthy – organic, no preservatives, low fat, gluten free, no artificial flavours, but you get my point! I love that most ingredients that you read on the package are actually recognizable, meaning that they are all natural and do not contain artificial preservatives or things ending in -oxide -xide -acid, etc.

The best part though, is that even though all their products are super great quality and healthy, it’s extremely affordable. Usually, the trade off when buying healthy products is the cost that’s attached.

I took the liberty of taking a few pictures of the store shelves, just to give you guys an idea. The shelves are jam packed with yummy products, and as I mentioned before, their signage is really cute. I also love the packaging of their products. Kudos to the design team!

On their website, the coconut cranberry granola sounded really delicious, as did the triple berry o’s I laid my eyes upon on their shelves. However, these two did not live up to my expectations, especially the triple berry o’s. At first taste, they tasted no different than honey nut cheerios, which was disappointing to me.. Secondly, the dried berries inside the cereal looked really unappetizing, and tasted really unappetizing since they were super, super dry.

The blueberries were the worst part. To me, it tasted like cardboard and they were also really shriveled up even after I waited for it to absorb the milk.

On the other hand, the coconut cranberry granola was not bad, I just didn’t really like the taste of it that much. I felt that it tasted like regular granola that you can get at Walmart, and there weren’t that many cranberries inside. I also didn’t really taste much of the coconut flakes, although I could see a generous amount.
These caught my attention because of the nutritious and healthy ingredients in it. It’s also a good source of omega 3 and fiber among other nutrients, not to mention that it’s not fattening. I’ve also tried their other quinoa chips, so I decided to give this one a shot too.

I was glad I did because I liked these ones better. These chips had a fair amount of seasoning to it, bringing it away from the bland flavour tortilla chips usually have. I also liked how there were different chip varieties in there – carrot tomato, spinach garlic, and red beet onion. My favourite was spinach and garlic, although the other ones weren’t bad also. The variety in the chips kept it somewhat exciting. They were also pretty crunchy and had a thick texture to it too!
Saved the best for last! I was randomly walking by the frozen dessert section, not really aiming to buy anything but this caught my eye. Chocolate non-dairy frozen dessert made with coconut milk. I was really intrigued by this, so I decided to give it a shot. Am I ever glad I did!

There is a rich and creamy chocolate taste, but also a hint of coconut too. I honestly can’t tell the difference between this and real dairy cream, which is a great thing since this is much healthier for you. Eating this gave me less guilt as it is lower in fat and calories than regular ice cream.

The ingredients in this are also more familiar than ones in ice cream, which is always a plus! I will most definitely be buying this tub of goodness again.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this! I have several more products I bought that weekend, so expect another haul sometime. Happy grocery shopping and remember to be aware of what you’re putting in your body!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Want more of me? Why I Hate Disneyland , Restaurant reviews , Makeup reviews !

Island Girl Hawaii Lip Gloss Review

February 20, 2014

Hello readers!

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a makeup review. These days, I haven’t really been wearing much makeup except for eyeliner, and I kinda wanted to take a picture of the product I’m reviewing.

The product I am reviewing today is the Island Girl Hawaii Lip Gloss, which is infused with real flowers. Hands down, this is my favourite lip gloss of all time! It just sucks because I’m pretty sure you can only purchase it in Hawaii. My cousins went back this Summer and bought me the whole set, which made me so happy!

Non sticky: Most lip glosses are often really sticky, which bugs me to no end. My hair is also pretty long, so whenever my lip gloss sticks, my hair clings onto it, and smudges it off or ends up on my hair strands (Ugh, so annoying). This lip gloss, even though it’s super glossy, does not stick at all! I think it’s because the ingredients are water-based, but I’m not too sure, it just really works.

Long lasting: This lip gloss is also really long lasting. I love that I don’t have to constantly apply this over and over again. You also apply the lip gloss via a roller ball. The roller ball also prevents you from over applying so that your lips don’t look oily, and also for the scent to be stronger. I usually dab the lip gloss in three spots on my bottom lip, then purse my lips. I find that this way makes the gloss last longer, as opposed to you putting it all over your lips.

Gloss: As I mentioned before, this lip gloss is really glossy which I love. I usually put this on top of my lipstick if I feel like I want a shine to my lips. It’s also deeply hydrating and moisturizing. Usually, I apply lip balm before my lipstick, but when I’m wearing this product, lip balm isn’t necessary.

Scent/taste: Scent usually isn’t that important to me, but this is just the cherry on top of the perfect lip gloss. Their scents are amazing. My favourite one is the raspberry. The set also comes with pineapple, cherry, coconut, and tropical fruit which smell really nice as well. They also have real flowers infused inside, which adds to the wonderful scent too. Apart from the wonderful scent, it has a wonderful taste as well, though I don’t recommend eating this straight from the tube (although it’s tempting). My favourite scent as I mentioned above was their raspberry one. The others also have a good taste as well. Most lip glosses I use have this really artificial or bitter taste to it, so I appreciate that this one tastes and smells good.

Packaging: The quality of the packaging is great as well. The tubes itself are made out of glass, while the lid is plastic. Since the glass is clear, you can see the real flowers inside which is aesthetically pleasing. On top of the lid, there is a sticker which contains the scent and taste. Each flavour also has it’s own flower colour- for example, the pineapple flavour comes with green, yellow, and white flowers. The coconut flavour comes with magenta, purple, and white flowers. So pretty!

Weaknesses: Over time, I found that the flowers start to wilt inside and not look as fresh as they did before (which shows that they’re fresh I guess?). Also, when it’s about to run out, it takes a bit of time for the product to reach the rollerball. Since I always apply lipstick before I wear this, the rollerball also became stained with my red lipstick but that’s just my own fault.

Next time you’re in Hawaii, give these products a try! The box set I have was around $15 USD. They are sold at the ABC store. Don’t be alarmed though, the quality of this product is really good even if they’re sold at the convenience store! I can’t wait until I go to Hawaii to buy more of these as gifts. They’re definitely a must buy, since I’m pretty sure you can’t buy them elsewhere.