delicious food Archives - Curiously Carmen

Rocket Sandwich Shop

February 25, 2015

Hello all!

I was walking around on my lunch break one day, and noticed a clean, pristine and modern looking sandwich shop that I’ve never heard of before. I then decided to search them up and found out that it was a healthy, alternative gourmet sandwich shop catered for those on the go. I think it’s also relatively new because their website still says “now open!”. A few weeks later, my coworkers and I went to try this place for lunch and here’s how that went!
I really liked the modern, clean, and simplistic design to Rocket- that’s what made me notice this place originally! As you can see, they have a white tile wall with a big rocket ship stamped on it, their company logo. They keep the colours simple and fresh, with a splash of colour- à la baby blue espresso machine. A small selection of pastries are offered behind a clean, streak/thumbprint free glass.

On the other side of the clean wooden counter was the fridge, where their sandwiches are stored. We went around 12:30 on a weekday, and the fridge was looking a bit scarce already. However, the worker told us that they were able to freshly make a sandwich that we wanted if we did not see it there!

The price of one sandwich was $8.50, and I didn’t feel like paying that much for a sandwich although they looked delicious. I opted for the hot egg breakfast sandwich instead, with your choice of one out of four options and was $4. I decided on the prosciutto and cheddar topping.

I fell in love with this at first bite. I loved how savoury, warm, and fresh everything tasted. The cheddar cheese was slightly melted on the prosciutto, while the English muffin was soft and lightly toasted. My favourite part was the EGG though, I’m still thinking about how delicious that egg was. For $4, this is a much better tasting breakfast sandwich with fresh, quality ingredients than getting a breakfast sandwich at a fast food joint for around the same price.

My coworker ordered the spicy shrimp sandwich. She enjoyed her sandwich as well, even though it was a bit on the pricey side for a single sandwich ($8.50 without tax and tip). Well to justify the amount spent on her sandwich, she said it’s not likely that she will craft up a sandwich with this much effort in it on a daily basis – preparing, seasoning, and cooking the shrimp and making the specialty sandwich sauce.

True that, if you were to make that at home it would probably take a long time. Usually, people prepare sandwiches because they’re quick and easy so I guess that the spicy shrimp sandwich at Rocket is worth the splurge.

-Carmen

Mio Sushi, Seattle

November 9, 2014

A lazy Sunday calls for staying at home in cozy blankets, PJs, and watching Netflix while eating a disgusting amount of corn nuts. Oh, and catching up on blogging too of course. Apart from Toulouse, we also stopped by and tried Mio sushi on a whim. Our result to Mio was a result of indecisiveness, hunger, and convenience.

It was quite sad that after arriving in Seattle for a mere 28 hours, I was already missing and craving Asian noodles. In particular, I was craving udon soup as well so we set out on what would be a thirty minute indecisiveness, constant scrolling on Urbanspoon until we found Mio. There were other places as well, but we didn’t want to drive and we also didn’t want to spend a lot of money in the downtown core.

We were pleasantly surprised at how fast of a walk Mio was from our hotel! I was a bit iffy on walking there because the streets were pretty dark and we had to pass a big dark, unlit park which has probably seen better days… but I was assured that it would be safe to walk, turns out it was a pretty nice day for a brief stroll.

This location of Mio was located right outside of the downtown core, in the South Lake Union neighbourhood. The area looked pretty new, nice, and trendy. Kind of reminded us a bit of Yaletown but more commercial. We were the only customers when we came in around 8:30 pm.
As mentioned, I knew what I was going to order before stepping in. They had a seafood and nabeyaki udon. I got the nabeyaki udon ($9 usd) since it was cheaper than the seafood udon, and all I really wanted was just udon. It came in a cute stone bowl with a handle, and I was warned the bowl was very hot. I would have liked the tempura on the side because it got really soggy, but it was good nonetheless.

There were also some pan fried string beans, but it got pretty soggy and didn’t taste super fresh. Apart from those two very minor hiccups, this bowl of udon was exactly what I wanted, and was delicious. The broth was very flavourful, and a tad salty. It came with perfectly cooked and a decent amount of udon noodles, and imitation crab meat. I liked how there was a lot of seafood as well, it was a good addition as well as the fresh green onion garnishes.
The boyfriend ordered the Gyu ramen. The ramen was really disappointing. It lacked flavour, depth, and was very plain. Perhaps we were just used to amazing ramen in Vancouver, but this bowl was not appetizing. He also mentioned that the ramen noodles tasted like instant noodles… yikes.

To split, we ordered the salmon and yellowtail roll. Yellowtail roll is the same as negitoro roll, it confused us at first. Both rolls were very fresh and flavourful, pretty decent. The price was a bit steeper than we were used to for a casual Japanese joint at $4.75 USD per roll, but we did enjoy the freshness of it so we didn’t mind.

The rolls and udon were satisfying and delicious, but I wish we could say the same about the ramen. Service was pretty attentive, fast, and nice (well then again, we were the only customers in the restaurant!). Mio looked very clean, new, and had hints of pink accents throughout the restaurant. This looked like a place that would be really busy during lunch hours on the weekdays, but it was very quiet that night and they closed early after we finished eating. It was a good and convenient place to grab a quite bite since we were in the neighbourhood.

Toulouse Petite Kitchen Lounge (Seattle)

November 6, 2014

I was also down in the States last weekend, and although I was hoping to have some quiet time to relax in my hotel room and blog, it didn’t quite happen. This time around, we decided that we wanted to try different restaurants that Seattle had to offer other than just the restaurant chains we were used to (I’m looking at you, Cheesecake Factory and PF Changs). Yes, they are delicious and reputable restaurants, but I wanted to try places that were only offered in Seattle.

One of the places that we wanted to try on our visit here last month was Toulouse, but we didn’t get the chance to. This time, we made sure that we would check this place out! We were also quite fortunate, as our hotel was a mere 10 minute walk away (if we didn’t get lost, that is.. but in my defense, we didn’t have a physical map or data on our cell phones to find it).

After walking around the Queen Anne neighbourhood for a bit, I knew that we had reached the restaurant when I saw tons of late brunchers waiting outside a dark/lime green-ish building. I braved the crowd and asked for a table of two. We were told that the wait was going to be 35-40 minutes. WHAT?! Since we were set on trying this place and we wanted a seemingly delicious lunch, we sucked it up and walked around Queen Anne a bit before coming back to wait in line.

After 35 minutes of waiting, we were seated at a big and high communal table, with 4-6 other brunchers sharing the space with us. The colouring and decor of the wall gave it a very rustic and homey feeling, despite the high ceilings. The liquor cabinet was definitely something to be marveled at though, look at how extensive their collection was!

But it was too early for alcohol and I had already bought a smoothie while waiting in line earlier. The boyfriend was very impressed with the intricate detailing of our tables, known as wood inlay. With his carpentry background, he knew and appreciated the about of labour and effort that went into what (to me, at least) looked like a seemingly basic painted wood design on the table. Needless to say, we were very impressed with the decor and ambiance.
Another thing to note about Toulouse is that it has won numerous awards and was featured a couple of times on The Food Network (!!!!!). We had absolutely no idea until we were reading the menu. That explains the long waits and high ratings!

Toulouse is rated one of the Top 5 Restaurants in America by Trip Advisor. That is crazy, I had noo idea and it just made our restaurant trip even better. At that point, the boyfriend decided to order two entrees because he couldn’t decide, and it wasn’t often that we ate in one of the “top” restaurants in USA LOL.
Snake River Farms Kurobota Ham Egg Benedict ($14). I thoroughly enjoyed the smoky flavour of the ham, which was a bit salty as well. The ham was very light and carved really thin. The yolk oozed perfectly onto the ham and english muffin. The hash was seasoned very well and very filling. I’m not a huge hollandaise fanatic, but I do appreciate a delicious hollandaise sauce, this one was no different. It went very well with the smoky and thin texture of the ham. This dish takes second place out of the three entrees.

This was the entree that I finally decided on, the Spicy Creole Andouille Hash ($14). First off, my eggs were perfect and ahhhhh-maaazing. It was cooked perfectly in the way that the yolk slowly oozed out, encompassing all of the hash, sausages, and veggies underneath. I was very impressed and happy at how perfect it went. As for the hash, tasso, housemade andouille sausage, peppers and tomato confit underneath, I enjoyed it as well but found the taste of the red pepper taste to be a bit overpowering. It was my first time trying andouille sausage, a Southern classic. I wouldn’t mind trying it again. There was a lot going on in this dish, but every ingredient complemented each other perfectly, bringing together a very dynamic Creole dish. The fresh green onions on top was the cherry on top of a great dish.

My favourite plate, hands down, of the day. We found ourselves constantly thinking about this dish even after we had finished it on our stroll back. Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash ($15), featured on The Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” TV show. Was it the best thing I ever ate? It certainly came close. The cured pork cheeks was SO GOOD, it was very tender and melted in your mouth, packed with flavour. Mixing in the ooey yolk, hash, arugula, and other vegetables, it was love at first bite.

I love my hearty Southern food because of how savoury and comforting it is. Would I wait 35 minutes again in line? Yes. From the friendly service, intricate decor, and delicious southern food, I am very glad we made the stop here on our trip.

Cristos Greek Taverna

October 11, 2014

Last month, the boyfriend and I decided to go for a Greek date night. We had been craving Greek food for a month probably, but never got the chance to go.

That was a pretty good week, as we also had a really good night at Cactus Club Cafe and he actually ended up writing a guest post on my blog about the evening!
North Burnaby’s main street is dominated by restaurants. Restaurants side by side, across from each other- it is pretty much impossible to go hungry when you’re in this neighbourhood and if you have your wallet.

I often wonder how so many restaurants can stay in business and compete with each other, but I guess us Vancouverites really love our restaurants.

Cristos Taverna has been around for quite awhile now. I came here for a birthday dinner back in Grade 9, and even then, I thought it was quite old. For good reasons too, we had quite the lovely experience at Cristos Taverna and after coming here, it has landed a spot on one of my favourite Greek restaurants.
Our server that day was very friendly. Right when we walked in, we were greeted with a smile and friendly conversation, and he told us that he would give us the best seat in the house that day.

He also pulled our chairs back for us when we sat down, and shortly came back afterwards to light up our candles for “more romance.”

The way that we were treated felt like we were at a very high class, fancy fine dining restaurant reserved for the most highest classes of society instead of a neighbourhood Greek restaurant.

So far, the service and atmosphere was great. I ordered the chicken souvlaki plate, which came with rice, potatoes, greek salad, tzatziki sauce, and pita bread. Everything on my plate was absolutely delicious, and I found myself savouring every bite.

The pita bread was lightly toasted, and very soft inside. I dipped this into the tzatziki sauce, which was very refreshing and cool.

The greek salad was very fresh, with crunchy veggies sprinkled with feta cheese and tossed in olive oil. The roasted potato was bursting with flavour and didn’t have that really starchy, dry texture to it.

The chicken was bursting with flavour, and grilled really well. Overall, everything was just cooked perfectly and my Greek craving was definitely satisfied.
The boyfriend ordered the calamari entree, and loved every bite of it was well. Normally, I would try a bit of his food but I was too busy eating and loving mine that I didn’t feel like trying it.

He loved how the calamari was seasoned, and said that it was crispy and light on the outside.

At the end of our meal, our server came back and talked to us for awhile. He told us that we should come back in the Fall (we went early September) since they were bringing back live music. He promised us that he would reserve the same table again for us if we called.

As if this wasn’t enough, he ended up giving us a business card and wrote his name down, along with the information for the live music nights. From the way that he connected with us, I thought he was the owner trying to make a good impression for his restaurant. Turns out, he was just one of the staff members and did not own the restaurant.

I hope that the rest of the servers are as welcoming and nice as he was!

-Carmen

PS. Two weeks afterwards, we decided to try another Greek restaurant four blocks down, Sfinaki. Disappointingly, it really did not compare to our experience here at all, food and service wise. Keep your eyes posted for what we liked and didn’t like about that place!

Santouka Ramen

August 15, 2014

I’ve been meaning to take the boyfriend to try the delicious ramen joints in this area for a long time, but we never got the chance to since we aren’t in this area often. He enjoyed Kintaro Ramen when we went back in May, but I wanted to take him to Santouka because they are both really good and authentic ramen joints. The last time I went to Santouka was probably at least four years ago, and I don’t really remember much from that visit except that they were famous for their specialty pork. It was kind of like a new experience for me as well!
After locking our bikes down the street (highly recommend spending your day off and biking around the seawall, btw!), we walked to Santouka. There was a bit of a lineup when we arrived around 1pm. There wasn’t anyone at the cash till or taking names, so we just joined the rest of the customers in line. After 5 minutes, one of the waitresses came and took names. We were promptly seated after that.

Santouka Ramen is a pretty small restaurant, so seating was a bit tight. It was a bit awkward for me to get to my seat at the booth because the tables were super close together, and I was holding my bike helmet and basket. I barely made it between the two tables.
Yummyyummyyummyyyummyy ramen! Compared to other ramen joints, I found their menu to be a bit bigger and had more pages. They had a page dedicated to their specialty dish, which will be mentioned below.
The boyfriend settled on getting a cha shu ramen with shio broth. He enjoyed the ramen, and had no complaints about it. The broth was creamy, and lightly seasoned with salt. It came with a hard red berry of some sort, we weren’t sure what it was so we didn’t eat it. After looking at their website for the sake of this review, turns out it’s a Japanese pickled plum. Oops, but that gives me more of an excuse to come back here! And I most definitely will after ordering the next item…..
I remembered from my last visit here a few years ago, that they had a specialty pork dish but I couldn’t remember the name of it. Turns out it was called toroniku, and is simmered pork cheek meat. Pork cheek meat is very rare, since only 200-300g can be taken from each pig. MY GOODNESS WAS IT DELICIOUS. The toroniku melted in my mouth, and was very tender and soft. It had a very rich flavour to it, but the meat itself was actually quite lean. It was seriously amazing.

I would come back again, and make the journey here, just for the toroniku ramen even though quantities are limited and it is not guaranteed in stock. I got the shio broth, which was made perfectly just like the toroniku. I am not sure why the pork and toppings are served separately, but I ended up soaking the toroniku in the creamy broth to make the flavour even richer than it already was. SO. DELICIOUS.

All the broth for the ramen at Santouka takes 20 hours to perfect, before serving to customers. The twenty hours allows the pork bones to fully simmer, giving it a full and amazing flavour. Santouka Ramen started in Japan, but now has locations throughout the world. I would highly recommend going to Santouka Ramen and trying their toroniku ramen! You will not regret it (I hope!)

Yay!