brownie Archives - Curiously Carmen

Purebread

February 7, 2015

The latest and most popular bakery has hit the streets of Vancouver by the name of Purebread, which also has locations in Whistler. I have been eyeing Purebread since their construction days, as I pass by that area when I go to work each morning.

I remember their clever “coming soon” sign back in the Fall- your breakfast is t o a s t , with each letter in toast printed on a fake piece of bread. I had a feeling it would be hit among Vancouverites, and I was correct!
We came around 2 pm, and there was no lineup but most of the seats were filled up. It took us a bit to absorb all of the seemingly delicious pastries in front of us… there was so much to pick from! I’m glad there was three of us so that we could share and get more, as opposed to just coming alone.
I wish that Purebred would put a brief description on what is included in each pastry item, as I’ll explain below. All the food is behind a tall clear glass and is covered.

I ordered the avalanche bar because it looked pretty good and it reminded me of a rice krispie bar, which I haven’t had for awhile! However, when I took a bite I was a very disappointed. It didn’t specify that it was a peanut butter bar! If I had known, I wouldn’t have ordered it. I do like peanut butter, but not in pastries.

I gave some to my coworkers and ended up packing it back home as the boyfriend is a serious peanut butter addict. He thought this was simply amazing and was on cloud 9 after gobbling the whole thing up (in 5 seconds).

My coworker had a tough time deciding as well, but ended up chosing the raspberry brownie. It was moist and chewy, and wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet. It came with a layer of tart raspberry and custard inside.

I liked this a lot more than my avalanche bar… sorry, I’m still sour over how they didn’t bother to mention it was a peanut butter pastry >=( But I guess lesson learned, I’m going to make sure I ask what’s inside anything if there’s no description offered.

The last thing we got was a whoopie pie, made with two very sweet oatmeal cookies that were hard instead of chewy. The filling and oatmeal cookie went really well together, but it was a bit messy to eat. As you bite down on the cookie, the filling on the opposite size will ooze out.

Purebread is a good place to try out, the quality of the pastries is noticeable and service is friendly as well, with reasonable prices. Just be sure to ask what is inside the pastry if you’re not sure what is inside to avoid disappointment like I did.

However, they’re still relatively new so I shouldn’t be too hard on them – the quality was there, and I probably would have LOVED the bar if I was an avid peanut butter fan.

-Carmen

Score on Davie Sports Bar, Denman

May 3, 2014

I was invited by my friend to go to Score on Davie, because our mutual friend saw an article on it and really wanted to try their
“checkmate” Caesar which is a Caesar topped with a whole chicken, burger, hot dog, brownie, and more! Although I love spice and tomato juice, I’ve never ordered Caesars because I prefer beer much more. After trying out Score on Davie, I think I will be ordering Caesars much more. The place was packed by 8pm on a lovely Vancouver evening, and they were at overcapacity.
One thing I really liked about Score was their music. They had such good hip hop beats going all night long! This was their menu. We decided on sharing a couple of food items, drinks, and of course, the checkmate.
These are some of their other specialty Caesars as well. We thought that these were pretty impressive, but we did not know what the checkmate had in store for us… I should also mention that the checkmate is not on the menu, probably because it would annoy the hell out of the workers to make it if everyone knew about it. We had to ask our server for it!
Some of my friends decided to share a pitcher of sangria ($25). You are given the option to chose between red or white wine, and it also comes with a big metal spoon to help with getting the frozen fruits easier. They really enjoyed the sangria.
I ordered the Mill St. Vanilla Porter ($4)! It was delicious. It was a dark and thick beer, with hints of chocolate but with the smoothness of vanilla. So good!
We decided on getting some nachos to share ($16 approx). These were pretty decent, and came with salsa, sour creme, and beans for dipping. I would have liked it if there was more cheese, I found a lot of the chips didn’t have any melted cheese on them. To compare it with my visit at St. Augustine’s pub, St Aug’s had more nachos but Score has more dipping sides and ingredients in their nachos.
We also decided on sharing some honey garlic chicken wings ($12 approx). The chicken was hot and juicy, with the perfect amount of honey garlic.
And finally, our checkmate Caesar came and as you can see, it is truly a mouth and eyeful! Ready to hear what it came with? An order of onion rings, buffalo chicken wings, a whole juicy burger, a mini slider burger, a hot dog with pulled pork, a brownie for dessert, and OH YEAH, A WHOLE CHICKEN UNDERNEATH. The drink came to $60, WHICH, before you complain and leave this page, was a good deal because you got full sized portions of all the food. If you ordered all that food individually, plus a large Caesar, you would be paying the same amount anyways. We also split the bill 6 ways so it only came to $10 each.

You’re probably wondering if it was worth it. The answer is YES!!! Even though all the food was piled on top of the mighty Caesar, it was all quality food. The buns for the burger and hot dog were toasted, making it super soft on the inside. The pulled pork was so tender and juicy like the one I had at Burgers Etc BBQ House. The onion rings were perfectly crispy and tasted really fresh, as well as the crispy buffalo chicken wings. The brownie was super soft, decadent, and rich and even came with whipped cream, which melted pretty fast since the brownie was warm. The whole chicken was very meaty, and seasoned really well too! Of course, the Caesar was made well too!

In conclusion, their atmosphere and service is really welcoming and attentive. Their checkmate Caesar is one of those drinks that you just have to try, put it on your summer bucket list if you have one. Their food tastes a lot better than the average pub, the quality, tenderness, and juiciness of all their meat dishes really show. I predict that this place will get a lot busier once people hear about the checkmate, so I’m glad I already got the chance to try it!

-Carmen

The Keg Steakhouse & Bar – Burnaby location

February 13, 2014

Hi readers!

Going to The Keg is a pleasure and treat for my family and I. It’s a treat that we all enjoy, and we usually have a great experience seeing that all three of us are steak lovers. This time, I surprised the boyfriend and he joined our family as well (he had no idea where we were going until we arrived at the parking lot! my surprise was a success!)

It was also his first time ever at The Keg, which was pretty surprising for me, but I’m glad he finally tried it and was able to share that experience with my family. My parents and I noticed that the dishes this time around were not as great as they were before, it seemed as if The Keg had cut down on their quality and quantity of food. That said, it wasn’t bad, just not as good as we had before.

The location we went to was in Burnaby, right beside the Costco. They have an ample parking lot, and also lots of street parking. We had a reservation at 7:30 and arrived on time, but we had to wait around 15 minutes to actually get seated.

We were seated at a booth at the far end corner of the restaurant. It was a good seat as it was quieter in that area than the rest of the restaurant. Our server was prompt to greet us. Right off the bat, he informed us that they were running low on prime rib that night, and to tell him if we were planning to order that so he could reserve it for us. After about 10 minutes, he returned and told us that he reserved some for us and took our order. Here’s our dinner!
This was the complimentary sourdough bread that came with our order. We were disappointed because last time we came here, there was a variety of bread in a bigger basket. The Keg really cut down on their bread, which is a disappointment.I really liked the quality of their strawberry margarita. I thought it was blended perfectly, and the strawberries tasted really fresh. I enjoyed the texture and the taste of this drink a lot. It was a pretty big glass too!
Granville Island Winter Ale.
Mom’s 12oz prime rib medium rare with twice baked potato & onion rings. It was too big of a portion for her, she regretted ordering a 12oz because she felt too full. Ended up packing the twice baked potato. She thoroughly enjoyed her prime rib though. It was very tender and soft.
Dad’s 12 oz prime rib with stir fried vegetables, medium well. I don’t think he enjoyed this as much as before. Said it wasn’t juicy enough and felt dry. I think he was a bit disappointed, he would have probably liked it done medium or medium rare instead!

The boyfriend’s New York Striploin with Keg Fries. His striploin was noticeably more juicier than our prime ribs. You can tell by the second picture how juicy it was! It wasn’t as tender as our prime rib, making it have a tight texture and a bit of chew, but that’s to be expected since it’s a striploin.

He thoroughly enjoyed his dish, except for the fries. The fries were extremely, extremely, salty to the point where I could’t even handle it. It was coated with so much salt that we couldn’t eat it! That was a bit disappointing but overall, the NY striploin itself was great!

My 10 oz prime rib with garlic mashed potatoes. I thought this was pretty delicious. The meat was really tender which is a sign of great preparation and cooking. It was seasoned perfectly as well!

I remember last time we came here, the prime rib came with four different sauces so I was disappointed it only came with two this time. Overall, it was good and I liked that it was soft and tender. The garlic mashed potatoes were done perfectly and delicious!
For dessert, we ordered the mini fudge brownie with a side of vanilla ice cream. I can’t even begin to tell you how delicious this was! For starters, we were really surprised when this came because it looked pretty big. We thought the server accidentally brought us the full size.

The chocolate brownie was delicious. On the top was melted dark chocolate, and the brownie itself was really warm and decadent. What made the vanilla ice cream stand out was the caramel on the top. It brought out all the flavours of the dessert perfectly, and balanced the taste of the brownie. Details like this is what I really appreciate and look for when I write my food reviews. We mixed each bite with the brownie and ice cream, and it was like heaven on earth. It was really the cherry on top of a great meal.

-Carmen