eggs Archives - Curiously Carmen

The Truffle House & Cafe

April 12, 2015

Hi everyone!

I know this is a bit late… but I hope you all had a good long weekend! I sure did, I spent the weekend discovering new restaurants and playing tourist in my own city. There are so many little nooks and crannies in the Lower Mainland, you can’t possibly be bored here on a sunny day.

Urbanspoon told me that The Truffle House had really good ratings, and was a popular place for brunch so we decided to stop by here!

The restaurant is easy to miss, it is located in Dundarave Village on the main stretch of stores. The Truffle House was quite narrow and long too, and was full when we arrived. Luckily, they had their solarium open for overflow and we took the last spot there. The entire place was very clean and service was very friendly throughout our whole visit.
Are you surprised that when I saw smoked salmon on the menu, I ordered it right away? You shouldn’t be because I am the biggest salmon lover ever! West Coast benny – house smoked salmon, two poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and home fried potatoes.

There was a generous amount of smoked salmon, and it was delicious. I requested my eggs to be poached medium-hard and it was perfect to my liking. As well, the hollandaise sauce was buttery and flavourful. The home fried potatoes were quite good as well – crispy, and well seasoned with a lot of herbs! I was satisfied and full after eating this.

The boyfriend ordered the eggs benny – which was the same as mine but with smoked ham instead of smoked salmon. What looked good on paper unfortunately did not apply to what tasted good in his mouth – sadly, the ham was very bland and lacked flavour. I gave it a try and agreed that there was no flavour to the ham at all.

I’m glad that we got to try this place, as the service was very friendly and atmosphere was spot-on. My smoked salmon benny was delicious, but unfortunately the eggs benny could have done better with flavour. With that said, we wouldn’t mind coming back if we were in the area but the boyfriend would probably order something else instead.

Smoked salmon or smoked ham – which one do you prefer? =)

Have a good day and thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Forage – Foodie Brunch

March 13, 2015

Hi hi hi hi hi!

Last month, I met up with fellow food bloggers Naomi from Pink Marshmellows and David from Picky Diners Club. We went to Forage and for a weekend brunch in downtown, and it was quieter than we had expected inside!

Luckily, we had a reservation and only ended up waiting around 5 minutes before we were seated. Forage is located deep in downtown, near the end of Robson Street. It is around a 12 minute walk from Burrard skytrain.

I ordered the classic benny, which included back bacon, free range eggs covered in hollandaise served with a side of crispy potatoes.

The muffin was nice and soft, while the back bacon had a thick cut and smoky flavour to it. My eggs were poached perfectly to my liking and covered with a generous and delicious amount of creamy hollandaise sauce.

The potatoes were very crispy on the outside, and bursting with a savoury herb flavour. Half way through, it started to taste really salty but that didn’t stop me from devouring the whole plate. We made sure to have our water constantly filled.

Naomi ordered the special benny that day, the pork belly benny. It was the same as mine, but without the back bacon and pork belly instead. I had a bite and her benny was delicious as well, the pork belly was very tender and rich.

David ordered the corned bison hash which came with a sunny side up egg, toast, kale, house-made sauerkraut, and IPA mustard hollandaise. A plate with a German twist, which was delicious as well. All the flavours in this dish went perfectly with each other. I just wish the egg yolk wouldn’t have fallen or the picture would have looked nicer!

The toast also came with a side of homemade blueberry and strawberry jam. Since David couldn’t finish everything, we gladly helped him finish the toast. The toast was lightly buttered as well.

All in all, we had a great time at Forage. Our server was attentive and friendly, and had a sarcastic sense of humour. I really liked how the restaurant did not feel cramped and had a simple, modern wooden interior, nor was it too busy.

Have you been here before? How did you like it?

-Carmen

Cora Breakfast and Lunch

September 9, 2014

After a turn of unexpected events, my friends and I found ourselves hungry in Coquitlam one sunny afternoon. We never go to Coquitlam, and were at a lost for ideas. Minutes passed as we uncomfortably sat in my friend’s leather seat car while our thighs burned from the sun, looking up place to place on our phone (LOL). I suddenly had a eureka! moment and remembered a joint by the name of Cora.
Cora is located in a plaza by Coquitlam Center. Honestly, at first glance, it reminded me of a daycare center or a preschool. It definitely looks like a kid’s paradise. Little did we know what was in store for us…

Walking in, my eyes were greeted with a dramatic and exuberant display of fresh fruits and bright colours. I looked around the restaurant in awe, as I took in all the bright colours and the measures they took to make this place kid-friendly.

Walls were painted with cute drawings of fruit in cute fonts. Cereal boxes which doubled as home-y decor. Friendly servers in brightly coloured uniforms. Cora is truly a fruit-lover’s heaven.
Cora does not skimp out at all with the fresh fruit. I have a feeling that parents must love taking their kids here, because it is such a fun atmosphere for kids to eat their fruits. This plate here was the eggs benedict with smoked salmon, served with roasted potatoes and fresh fruit. He fell in love with the eggs benedict at first bite. The Hollandaise sauce was delicious, and the English muffin tasted soft. Together, the eggs, Hollandaise sauce, smoked salmon, and English muffin went really well together. The fruit was extremely fresh as well. Yum!
Unfortunately, I forgot the name of what I ordered and I couldn’t find it on their website 🙁 I’m pretty sure it was just the standard breakfast plate. It came with bacon, sausage, roasted potatoes, eggs, and of course, fresh fruit. My meal was pretty average, just the standard breakfast plate that you would normally find. Nothing too special about it and was a bit bland, I wished that I had chose the eggs benedict instead because it tasted a lot better!
My friend got Cora’s special, which came with the standard breakfast sides, toast, and crepe. He enjoyed his plate, and we ended up all sharing the bread but we couldn’t finish it all.
My boyfriend ordered the mango banana yogurt smoothie. It was so good that I ended up ordering one for myself as well! It was very creamy and thick due to the yogurt, and was refreshing as well. You could definitely taste both the mango and banana in the smoothie. As a bonus, it came with a fresh strawberry and a slice of cantaloupe!

All in all, we enjoyed our visit to Cora. My plate wasn’t too special, but I really liked how much fruit they included. The one thing that sticks out about Cora for me is the abundance of fresh fruit and the friendly atmosphere they have. The standard breakfast plates are nothing special, but they go one step higher with the amount of fresh fruit that is served with each plate.

-Carmen

Roundel Cafe, East Van

May 15, 2014

I have driven by Roundel Cafe many times, but haven’t really noticed it among all the other merchants by Hastings and Nanaimo. This area has a lot of restaurants- from Sushi Nanaimo, East Cafe, The Red Wagon, Basho, Platform 7, and many, many more!

My friend and I planned to go here during the Easter weekend, but there was a really long wait so we decided to go to Basho. I came back here two weeks after, because I was really interested and wanted to see if they had good brunch.

The Red Wagon is pretty much across the street from them, so they do have lots of competition because that place is really famous for their brunch. I wanted to see if they held up as a good brunch diner.
It was a lot quieter when we went this time around, only about three other tables were seated. Service was very friendly, informative and efficient. We both had questions to ask about the menu, and our server happily answered them.
I finally decided on ordering their corned beef hash, served with eggs and salad. I thought the beef was very flavourful and cooked well. It was also mixed with onions and peppers which gave it a sweeter flavour.

Underneath the beef was the roasted potatoes. They served the usual white potatoes, but there was also a mix of sweet orange potatoes. I appreciated the mix, as the sweet potatoes were less starchy and dry. Some of the potatoes were really burnt though.

The salad and eggs were average, I think the star of this dish was the corned beef.
My friend ordered the free range eggs any style combo, which came with salad, roasted potatoes, and a choice of either ham/bacon/farmers sausage.

She thought that her dish was really delicious, especially the farmers sausage which was very juicy and had a hint of smokiness to it. Her roasted potatoes were a bit burnt as well.

For both our dishes, you can request for toast if you’d like. Their jam is house made, and we both found it to be very tart and not sweet. It had a very strong rhubarb taste. We would have preferred a sweeter strawberry jam!

It was a lovely afternoon, and we decided to indulge in a strawberry ice cream milkshake! It was smooth, rich, creamy, and thick. We also asked for soy milk since I didn’t want that much dairy, and she also did not charge us for that which was nice!
To end the meal, we recieved a fortune cookie. This fortune cookie was not true for me. I was about to start school the following week and was nervous for one of my courses! Haha 🙂

Overall, we had a satisfying and enjoyable visit to Roundel Cafe. Nothing really stands out to me, but it’s not bad either. I would come back if I was in the neighbourhood and it was convenient, but wouldn’t specifically plan another visit here.

I’ve read some other reviews on Urbanspoon where people mentioned their pancakes weren’t that good, so if you are craving pancakes, I would suggest crossing the street to The Red Wagon.