Curiously Carmen

Edaleen Dairy

September 12, 2019

Back in June, I accompanied Sangria to Blaine to pick up a parcel. It was a very brief trip, but we did make a stop to Edaleen Dairy which is quite popular in the area!

I’ve heard of Edaleen Dairy before, which is famous for their fresh, delicious and cheap local ice cream!

Along with ice cream, Edaleen Dairy also carried other dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter, and more! I did end up getting a jug of chocolate milk for the fiance since we came all the way here anyways and he loves chocolate milk.

He really enjoyed it and said the milk was really creamy and delicious.

Blackberry ice cream: The portion sizes are huge here! This was the small scoop for only $3 USD. That’s what America is all about, large portions and cheap prices.

The cone was so unexpectedly big that Sangria had trouble finishing it all. She did say it was delicious though.

Despite not being able to have dairy, I wouldn’t mind coming back here to pick up some high quality, local dairy products for others. Perhaps one day my digestive system can tolerate dairy again…. I will be driving straight here to get my ice cream fix if that day ever comes.

Bambu Desserts & Drinks

September 9, 2019

Bambu is a cafe that I have seen around social media for their swings. I haven’t really paid attention to Bambu, nor as it been on my radar until now!

During a barbeque with some friends, one of our friend’s mom brought a bunch of drinks from Bambu for us. The rest is history because I am now hooked!

I didn’t know that Bambu specialized in Vietnamese drinks. They have a variety of dessert drinks called che, which is typically a coconut water/coconut milk based drink with toppings such as grass jelly, tapioca, mung bean, pandan, beans, and more.

If that’s not your thing, they also have smoothies and Vietnamese coffee.

Bambu favourite: The Bambu favourite came with coconut milk, red tapioca, grass jelly, and pandan jelly.

The drink was generously filled to the top with all the toppings, which all provided a fun, textural contrast. The grass jelly was smooth while the red tapioca was crunchy. The pandan jelly was chewy. With the coconut milk, it had the perfect amount of sweetness as well.

Summer delight: The summer delight came with red tapioca, mung bean, jello, grass jelly, pandan jelly and coconut milk. I was not a fan of this drink due to the mung bean and jello. I do like mung bean in food, but not in this drink.

In particular, I really did not like the jello texture… it was stringy and a bit crunchy. But this is just a personal preference and nothing wrong with the drink itself.

Fruit addict: I liked this one a lot better than the summer delight.

The fruit addict came with coconut, lychee, longan, red tapioca, jackfruit, palm seed, jello, and pandan jelly. There was less jello in the fruit addict so it was more tolerable.

There was so much fruit in here! I was really surprised at how many lychee and longan there was…. at least 10+. The coconut meat was also sweet and delicious. The fruit addict is a better deal because you’re getting real, fresh fruit.

DIY Che: After trying a few flavours out, I decided to make my own drink. For the custom drinks, you can pick up to 5 toppings. I went with basil seeds, red tapioca, pandan jelly, lychee, and coconut meat. I tried it with coconut water instead of coconut milk and it was still very delicious!

The che drinks were filling enough to be a large snack or even a small meal. I would even recommend sharing one because they can get quite filling with all the ingredients packed inside the cup.

I’m really glad I was introduced to this, as it wouldn’t be something I would know to try out myself! I can foresee more visits to Bambu in the future!

Yay!

Brown Bites – Tsujiri

September 6, 2019

Brown Bites is a mini series on my blog featuring places the fiance has tried without me, so it wouldn’t be my own review. Why the name Brown, you ask? It is named after the Japanese LINE character, Brown. Brown is a cute, shy, emotionless cartoon bear but secretly full of love, and we adore him to pieces!

Tsujiri is a Japanese dessert cafe specializing in matcha desserts. Since they opened six months ago in February, there have been 1 hour+ waits to try their desserts. Reservations for their soba bar were also full weeks in advance.

The fiance and I aren’t the type of people to line up for food. In fact, we enjoy having dinner early to avoid rushes so we have yet to come here, until now!

After a mediocre dinner at Thai Son a couple of steps away, the fiance noticed that there wasn’t a long line at Tsujiri for once. So instead of Qoola, we came here!

Tsujiri is a matcha brand from Kyoto, Japan. All of the matcha here is high quality and sourced from Uji, which is a city near Kyoto. The interior of the cafe was warm and welcoming, with a traditional meets modern vibe.

The dessert shelf looked barren and a bit empty during our visit since we came in the evening.

Matcha houjicha swirl float: The fiance decided to try a mix of both tea flavours. The bottom was a matcha slush, then topped with a matcha/houjicha tea soft serve.

He really enjoyed the soft serve! The matcha had a really strong flavour and tasted authentic.

The slush was a bit disappointing and he wouldn’t get it again. The matcha flavour wasn’t as strong in the slush. The soft serve is definitely the way to go!

Yay!

Lucky Plus Restaurant

September 3, 2019

I’ve been writing so many dim sum posts lately! I went from writing 3 dim sum posts in the past 5 years of my blogging life…. to 5 dim sum posts in the past 5 months!

This time for dim sum, my mom suggested trying Lucky Plus. We’ve been here for dinner a few times with relatives, and enjoyed the dinner because the prices were reasonable and food was alright.

This was our first time trying their dim sum. I have mixed thoughts because it was pretty cheap and they don’t charge for tea, but the quality was not as good.

Rice roll with fish paste: There could have been more fish paste inside the roll. I only had fish paste every other bite, and it was spread pretty thinly.

Rice roll with prawn: There was more prawn in here, but the prawns weren’t fresh at all! The prawns did not have a fresh snap to it, so that was a bit disappointing.

Prawn dumpling: The prawn dumplings were a nice and plump size! The prawns in this dish were a lot more fresh than the rice flour roll ones. There was a nice snap to the prawns.

Sticky rice wrap: The sticky rice was delicious as well. The rice was fragrant from the leaves, and there was a good amount of meat inside.

Beef omasum: Sadly, the beef omasum here did not taste super fresh either. It was also really oily which made it more soggy.

Egg tarts: I didn’t have any because of the dairy, but my parents enjoyed the egg tarts. The crust was nice and flaky while the custard was flavourful and creamy.

The prices here are cheaper than other dim sum restaurants, but some dishes are a miss. Most places charge a tea fee, but Lucky Plus doesn’t.

If I wanted some cheap dim sum, I would come back. I wasn’t as disappointed because the prices were cheap. But keep in mind – you get what you pay for!

Sushi Mania

August 31, 2019

After going to a hot yoga class at Modo East Van, I was feeling refreshed and in the mood to try a new restaurant nearby.

I hopped into my car, and looked up restaurants on Yelp. Sushi Mania was only a 5 minute drive away and it had decent reviews, so off I went. However, I left pretty disappointed with my meal so Yelp failed me this time!

Sushi Mania is a pretty small restaurant and can be quite cramped during peak hours. It is located along Main Street, by King Edward.

Salmon and avocado rolls: One of my go-to rolls because salmon and avocado is such a great combination. The salmon was fresh and the avocado was ripe. However, the roll was on the small side and very loosely wrapped. The salmon and avocado kept falling out.

Chopped scallop roll: The chopped scallop was fresh, just like the salmon. But I also found the pieces to be quite tiny, and flimsy.

California roll: The California roll was alright too… but again, the pieces were quite small compared to what I was used to. There could have been more avocado as well, the roll was about 75% crab meat.

Overall, I left pretty disappointed. The rolls I ordered were small and also not wrapped tightly enough, so the ingredients kept falling out. They were also very stingy on the amount of wasabi. I don’t use that much wasabi but I had to ask for more because it was just a dab on the plate.

There are plenty of other sushi restaurants I rather go to. While the sushi tasted fresh, I wouldn’t go back due to the small portions and flimsy rolls.

Nay!