food recipe Archives - Curiously Carmen

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!

GUEST POST: Cactus Club Cafe (North Burnaby)

August 31, 2014

Intro: My boyfriend and I were at dinner last night, when I suddenly had the idea for him to do a guest post on my blog! We brought up the idea from time to time but never actually went with it. I thought it would be fun to give him the chance to write about our food adventures this time. That’s it from me (Carmen) now, here is the review of Cactus Club in the eyes and tastebuds of the boyfriend!
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Hi everybody! It’s pretty exciting to finally be writing the long talked-about guest post. I’m not a writer like Carmen is so my apologies ahead of time. It’s been a busy week for Carmen because of her new internship position, and that along with a bunch of other events happening during the week means that we haven’t had the chance to spend a night just to ourselves. So on a Saturday where neither of us had to work, we finally spent a day together. After a long day spent downtown, including a trip to the Aritzia warehouse sale (post on the haul coming soon!), I decided on going to the Cactus Club Cafe for dinner. Out of all the other similar restaurants (ie. Milestones, JOEY, etc.), Cactus Club Cafe was one of the ones that I still had yet to try. This location is nestled in a busy stretch along Lougheed Highway that also includes a White Spot, Boston Pizza, JOEY Burnaby, and a Browns Social House.

Walking inside, the first thing you notice is it looks really fancy. Carmen mentioned, “it looks way fancier than the exterior would suggest.” The interior consists of wood and glass for decor, which gives it a modern feel. They have a few big screen TVs for those looking to enjoy a game while they drink and dine. We were seated right away by the hostess and told the drink specials that night; $5 Cactus Blonde Ale or $1 off Signature Sangria. Carmen ended up ordering the Signature Sangria. It was made with fresh strawberries and raspberries, zinfandel wine, apricot brandy, sprite, and a splash of bellini. Carmen thought it was really good. The fresh strawberries and raspberries add a lot of fruity flavour that compliments the zinfandel well, and the bellini layered on top added a nice sweetness that went well with the apricot brandy.

We ordered the ceviche as our starter. It consisted of raw steelhead trout, prawns, minced red onions, mint, cilantro, thai basil, lime, and nuoc cham sauce served with tortilla chips. The last time we had ceviche was at Tap and Barrel, and I overdid the lime juice in the ceviche. This time, I was warned not to add too much. The sauce mixes well with the herbs, and the fish and shrimp, cut to the perfect size for dipping, created a dish that was fresh and very flavourful. It is definitely worth trying.

For our entrees, Carmen went with what she had the last time she went to the Cactus Club Cafe: the grilled tuna club. It consists of rare-seared albacore tuna, tarragon tartar sauce, bacon, cilantro, and pickled ginger on a ciabatta bun, served with a side of fries. While she found it good the last time she had it, she thought this time there was too much pickled ginger and tartar sauce that overpowered the taste of the tuna. The fries are your standard fries, but I liked how none of them were soggy. I tried a few bites and loved the grilled taste of the tuna, but I agree that the tartar sauce was a little too much. (See review of Cactus Club Coal Harbour here)

For my entree, I settled on the short rib sandwich. It consisted of beef short rib, caramelized onions, and emmental cheese on toasted sourdough bread with au jus dipping sauce, served with a side of yam fries. The short rib was cooked very tender, and the emmental cheese went well with the beef because of it’s milder flavour. The au jus sauce adds a lot of flavour to the sandwich and some extra moisture to the already tender short rib. The yam fries here were delicious, and crispy as well. No mushy ones to be found. I would definitely order the short rib sandwich again if I was back and looking for something familiar to order.

We were both stuffed by the end of our meal, so we have no dessert thoughts to share. Throughout the night we were looked after very well by our server, and both of us agreed that the service here is excellent. In terms of comparing it to the other similar type restaurants, I thought that the Cactus Club Cafe was definitely on par with the rest. I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the Cactus Club though as there was lots of booth seating, and the dim lighting made the quiet night to ourselves all the more private.

So that’s all to this post. I hope you all enjoyed reading my thoughts on the Cactus Club Cafe in Burnaby. As I mentioned above, stay tuned for Carmen’s post on her haul at the Aritzia warehouse sale!

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Hope everyone enjoyed the guest post! Perhaps he should write more guest posts in the future? 🙂

Shishinori

August 22, 2014

There’s a new mini Japanese eatery in town by the name of Shishinori, located along Cambie Street! I was walking along Cambie one day, when their unique menu design caught my eye. I ended up coming back here a week later to try out their dishes.

Unfortunately, Sangria didn’t have time to sit down and eat here so we opted for take out instead. Though our visit was short, it was quite pleasant and the worker that day was very friendly.

They serve Japanese style cooked lunches, so you will not be finding sushi or rolls or anything like that there. Nonetheless, the food was delicious and I would love to come back again!

This is the menu from the outside; I haven’t seen many menus displayed like this before! Definitely a great way for the restaurant to grab attention, as it would be fairly unnoticeable without.

Since we ordered takeout, I’m not too sure if it is the same concept as Basho, where you pay for your dish first and then they deliver it to you at the table.

Shishinori’s interior has a lot of wooden design elements. The tables were wooden, and some of the utensils were as well. The place looked very clean and cute, they had a small tray by the door where customers were able to fill up their own water.

They also had a screen projector that played Anime shows, as you can kind of tell from the picture above. We arrived there around 11am, and we were the only customers so far.

There was a small mix-up with our takeout order, we orderded three dishes but she thought we only had two. But the worker was very nice about it and had our third dish ready to go in less than 5 minutes. My friend and I took that time to snap some cute pictures of the place 🙂

Curry chicken bowl with brown rice and spinach salad ($8? $9? Somewhere around that price). Brown rice is their standard, a plus for all the health conscious peeps out there! The curry was really delicious and flavourful, with a generous amount of chicken in it and the meat was also lean.

The salad was amazing. I’m normally not a fan of salad, but I ate every last leaf. I’m not sure what sauce they used, but it was really good and the fresh peppercorn really enhanced the flavours of the sauce.

The veggies themselves were really crunchy too. Initially, when I looked at the box, I wondered if it would be filling enough since I was pretty hungry that day. I didn’t think it would be, but I was actually really full from it. So yummy!
Sangria’s salmon carpaccio. It came with smoked salmon, the same salad as mine on top of a bed of rice. She didn’t have any complaints about it and thought it was good too. I didn’t get to try hers, but judging from the amount of fresh peppercorn on the salmon, it looks really good!

However, she was really thirsty after her meal and ended up drinking two large ice waters immediately after.

Cinnamon’s wild salmon paradise bowl ($12). She really enjoyed her bowl and noted that there were three different types of seaweed inside her salad. Again, her salad was the same and she found the peppercorn to be pretty spicy, but very delicious.

All in all, I really enjoyed my curry chicken bowl at Shishinori. It was very filling and the flavours were really strong. Everything tasted super fresh in my dish, from the peppercorn to the veggies in the salad.

Apart from their lunch bowls and sets, they also have different flavours of iced tea, which looked good.

They also have matcha yogurt parfaits, which are perfect for a late afternoon treat! They don’t have matcha lattes anymore though, the worker told me that it took too long to make so they opted for the parfaits instead.

Shishinori is very promising and has the potential to be as popular as the other Japanese pastry cafe, Basho except for healthy, full meal sets. I will be back! 🙂

-Carmen

Bella Gelataria Handcrafted Gelato

June 26, 2014

Back when I did not have a blog, I came here with my friend who was stopping in town from Japan for a few days. Prior to him landing in Vancouver, he told me that he had to try this place before leaving, because apparently this place is very well known in Japan. Well damn, if people across the ocean raved about this place, it must be one good gelato place!

We ended up loving our gelato, but to be honest, I don’t remember much of the gelato itself as I was too happy that I was able to reunite with my friend living halfway across the world after a year.

So, half a year and one beautiful sunny afternoon later, I decided to stop by again and enjoy some delicious gelato after a delicious meal at Kintaro Ramen!

Bella Gelatria is located on the main floor of the luxurious Fairmont Pacific Rim, right by the water. There was a line up out the door, and almost around the corner the day we went. In total, we waited about fifteen minutes in line.

The staff working there are very experienced in heavy volume traffic, so they had a pretty efficient system going. There are also awards and framed newspaper articles lined up from top to bottom, so you definitely will not get bored in line.
Of course, if you do not want to read their framed articles, you can take the time to decide what flavour you want to try. I was craving strawberry that day, but unfortunately, the worker told me they didn’t have it. She was then interrupted (in a friendly manner) by the owner and master gelatier, James Coleridge as he informed me that they only make strawberry when in season.
After much debate, I settled with the chocolate belgian brownie. I was in love at first bite. The chocolate was extremely rich, smooth, decadent, and soft. I fell in love with how well-rounded the chocolate flavour was, and how creamy it was.

I have never had gelato, or ice cream, as creamy and rich like this before. You could really tell the difference in quality. Typing this post is making me so hungry now.
Next up (no, I did not order three all to myself, incase you’re wondering) is the Thai coconut milk gelato. Just like my chocolate one, this one was extremely creamy as well. There was a strong and delicious coconut taste. It came with little slices of fresh coconut as well, which added to the freshness of the gelato.
This was the mint chocolate gelato, but I didn’t get a chance to try it. Delicious is actually just an understatement for Bella Gelataria.

Honestly. I’m not the only one that thinks so, either considering that Bella Gelataria has won numerous awards in Italy for their gelato and their rating on Urbanspoon.

-Carmen
PS. Here is a picture of the outside, with their big sign. This picture was taken at my first visit in chilly November (read first paragraph above), hence the jackets.