Curiously Carmen

Forage – Foodie Brunch

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!

unnamed (11)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.
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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.

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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.

forageDavid 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

Forage on Urbanspoon

The Flying Pig (Olympic Village)

Happy to announce that this will be a guest post by le boyfriend. We tried The Flying Pig for the first time but we left disappointed, read on to find out why. Thanks for reading! – Carmen

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Hi everybody! Welcome to another guest post. Carmen really wanted another post from me, but I was hesitant at first. I originally intended to write my post on Fable Kitchen as part of the Dine at Fable event, but that went nowhere as evidence by the lack of a post. So here is a review for The Flying Pig, at their newest location in Olympic Village. Carmen had really wanted to try The Flying Pig for a long time, and one night we decided to visit the aforementioned location.
unnamed (12)This location does not have big signs or bright lights on the outside of the building, and it was quite difficult to locate in the dark. Once inside, we were greeted and seated promptly. The restaurant was about 75% full when we arrived, but I found that the table we were seated at was pretty cramped. Our server was very friendly, and rang off the specials of the day for us.
unnamed (13) For an appetizer, we ordered the Bone Marrow Cheezy Bread. Carmen heard from a friend that the bread was a “must try” item, and it did not disappoint. It was warm, fluffy, and loaded with cheese.
unnamed (15)For her entrée, Carmen ordered the Veal Piccata. It consisted of a parmesan risotto in a lemon caper butter sauce, served with veal slices. The risotto was creamy and cooked perfectly, but that’s about as good as it gets.

The veal, while tender, was underwhelming and bland. The lemon capers gave it an overly lemony taste, which required a lot of salt and pepper to mask. It also had a slimy texture that was very off-putting.

Overall, Carmen did not enjoy it very much, and I switched dishes with her only because I could tolerate it a bit more. We both agreed, it’s not worth recommending.
unnamed (14)Next up is the entrée I selected: The Flying Pig Signature Pork Rack. It really sounded good on paper but was sadly another uninspiring dish. The pork rack consisted of one piece of pork chop attached to the bone, served with a side of pulled pork poutine, with an apple cider reduction sauce and seasonal vegetables.

The pork was cooked very well, being very tender and juicy, but just like the veal, it was bland and poorly seasoned. Carmen tried a piece and was not impressed either. Sadly for this dish, the best part was the side of pulled pork poutine, which you can add as a side to other dishes as well. There was a generous amount of pulled pork layered on top, and the pulled pork was absolutely delicious.

Considering how poorly seasoned the rest of the meats we had that night were, this was an absolute delight. There is also a generous topping of cheese curds and gravy.

Our first experience at The Flying Pig was, overall, not a very positive one. Most of our food ended up being very disappointing, and for what we paid, we felt like it was definitely not worth the price. We also agreed that it would be worth revisiting another time.

Carmen did in fact go back to The Flying Pig (albeit their Gastown location) and had a much better experience during their happy hour. You can expect that review to be up pretty soon after this one. Until next time, thanks for reading!

The Flying Pig on Urbanspoon

Soft Peaks Ice Cream

Hi hi!

What type of food blogger would I be if I didn’t talk about the latest ice cream shop that has been taking Vancouver’s social media by storm? Can you guess which place I’m talking about? Yep, Soft Peaks Ice Cream! Soft Peaks is located in the cobblestone streets of Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood.
IMG_1656.JPGAfter hearing many stories of people waiting upwards of one hour for a cup of organic ice cream, I did not want to partake in that so we decided to not go on a weekend, which is probably when it’ll be the most busy. Finally, the boyfriend and I found time to go one weekday evening. There wasn’t much parking available and it’s probably easier to commute there, we paid for parking three blocks away.

Soft Peaks has very high walls, which gives it a spacious appearance. There is also a small alcove on the second floor where customers can enjoy their ice cream. Overall, I would say seating is pretty limited if the place was packed but it doesn’t feel cramped.
IMG_1657.JPGThe girl at the counter was very friendly and had great service. We waited approximately 7-10 minutes for our soft serve, but it seemed a lot longer than that because I was really anticipating my order.

I was a bit surprised when I saw the size, I thought that for $7 it would be a bit bigger. But, quality over quantity?
IMG_1658.JPGThe boyfriend ordered the rocky mountain with his choice of chocolate syrup. I was secretly hoping he would order the caramel syrup so that I could try it =P

Being the milk lover he is, he really, really, REALLY loved his soft serve. He emphasized how creamy and smooth it was, and how delicious the Avalon milk was. He would be back again in a heart beat. But what about those who don’t have a “soft” spot for dairy?
IMG_1659.JPGI ordered the mudslide, which came with crushed tim tam flakes. Unlike the boyfriend, I was not in love at first bite. I didn’t think it was amazing, but it wasn’t bad either as what seems to be the general consensus around this place.

Since the soft serve is made with organic Avalon milk instead of cream, the good thing meaning that it is lower in fat, but the negative thing might be that people aren’t used to this taste. When eating soft serve, people are accustomed to super sweet soft serve like at Dairy Queen or McDonalds.

Without the chocolate syrup and tim tam flakes, I would have found this very plain. I’m really glad that I had the chocolate and flakes which gave more excitement to an otherwise plain soft serve.

IMG_1663.JPGAnother thing I noticed while reading reviews were that people were angry and felt ripped off because the soft serve had a giant hole in the middle! If I was paying $7 for a small sized soft serve, I would be angry too. I think they have since corrected the problem since my soft serve only had a slight hole and the boyfriend’s didn’t.

Soft Peaks had a great idea by re-inventing the soft serve with organic and high quality Avalon milk. The quality of the soft serve is definitely there, and it is very smooth but it is not the sweet soft serve that people are accustomed to.

-Carmen

PS.  If you haven’t bought a bottle of Avalon milk before, you must try it on its own – the quality and smoothness of it is undeniable.

*Media sample provided by Soft Peaks. Opinions and thoughts are my own, and are not altered by the requests of the company. 

Soft Peaks Ice Cream on Urbanspoon

Earnest Ice Cream – Two visits

Hi everyone,

FINALLY! I am so happy to be able to write a post on Earnest… because that means I finally tried it! The reason why I waited so long to try it is because of my pet peeve in lining up at eating establishments. If you’ve been reading my blog already, you know that I hate waiting in line for food.
Ernest outside I actually sucked it up and attempted to go to Earnest twice in the summer. Both times, we drove around the store and surrounding blocks looking for parking,  for a good ten minutes before giving up.

Needless to say, Earnest seemed like a faraway, dreamy and distant land that I’ll never be able to go to =( Until now! Their new location  had opened up this month right on the outskirts of Olympic Village.
Ernest cashierAlthough I haven’t been to the original location, I’ve driven past it many times and know how small it is. This location is a major upgrade in terms of size, featuring high ceilings and almost floor to ceiling windows. It feels very roomy and spacious due to the high ceilings.
Ernest whiskey

For our first visit, the boyfriend ordered a scoop of the whiskey hazelnut. It was very rich, creamy, and smooth…the epitome of what great ice cream should taste like. There were small chunks of hazelnut in his ice cream as well. The only regret he had was to order the waffle cone instead, he thought that it costed extra!
Ernest salted caramelThis was my heavenly scoop of salted caramel. Again, it was very rich and creamy… the caramel taste was perfect. I enjoyed every bite of this and the waffle cone tasted fresh and was crunchy.
Ernest cookies and creamI was craving Earnest so much after our first visit that we went back the next day…. whatever! #hatersgonnahate. I ordered the same salted caramel ice cream with a waffle cone, so I won’t talk about how delicious it was again!

The boyfriend ordered the cookies and cream, with a waffle cone this time! Again, it did not disappoint.

Earnest was seriously amazing, and definitely lived up to the hype. At least, I think so, but I would love to hear about those who didn’t like the ice cream here. Friendly, fast service combined with quality, rich, and smooth ice cream… I’m not sure what more you could ask for.

-Carmen

PS. Since both stores are the same and carry the same flavours, here are spoon backs to both locations:

Earnest Ice Cream on Urbanspoon

Earnest Ice Cream on Urbanspoon

Rain or Shine Ice Cream

Hi everyone,

(Disclaimer- I actually wrote this draft last April LOL, I was meaning to publish it once the weather became hotter but I completely forgot!)

I predict that Rain or Shine Ice Cream is going to be the next big ice cream parlour in Vancouver and for outstanding reasons. I mean, come on, ICE CREAM WAFFLE CONE TACOS and ice cream paddles? They take ice cream, which is already a wonderful invention, and find ways to make it more spectacular.

I somehow came across this place while I was reading other food blogs. What caught my eye was that one review said that offer “ice cream flights”. I love beer flights/paddles (Biercraft, St Augs anybody?), so needless to say, I was ecstatic when I heard about this and knew I had to come here. People also said that it was like Earnest ice cream without the line up and popularity.
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Upon entering, I noticed that it was a pretty small place. Probably seats around 12 people at most. They had a big cows head statue which reminded me of Marsha the Moose from Big Brother Canada.

The workers let us sample so many different flavours, gave us some history behind the store, and were so patient. Even though they had other customers to serve, they treated everyone equally and had time for everyone’s questions and sampling requests!
IMG_3687We finally decided on our flight flavours. We shared the chocolate, peanut butter, blueberry balsamic, and brown butter snickerdoodle. Ahhhh! All of the flavours were so creamy and rich. The workers told us that they make all their ice cream in the back kitchen with local ingredients as much as possible. The freshness of their ice cream really shines through, and it completely melts in your mouth with every spoonful. It cost $9 which I think was worth it, since it was so fresh and delicious. The following 4 pictures will be a review on each flavour, because I’m that obsessed…
IMG_3689Peanut butter- The boyfriend eats, breathes, and lives peanut butter so it was only natural we got this flavour. Unfortunately for me, I am not a big fan of peanut butter but I still liked the creamy and smooth texture of this. There were also small peanut chunks in the ice cream, which made the ice cream crunchier.
IMG_3692Chocolate- As you can tell, we devoured part of this before I remembered to take a picture. The chocolate was very smooth, and it wasn’t overwhelming sweet.
IMG_3691Brown butter snickerdoodle- This one was my second favourite. As with the chocolate one, this one wasn’t overly sweet other but it had lovely hints of cinnamon spices. IT WAS SO GOOD. On top of the smooth, creamy, cinnamon goodness, there were also generous chunks of cookies inside the ice cream too, which tasted so, so, so, amazing.
IMG_3690Blueberry balsamic- I saved my favourite for last!!! Again, this flavour was very very creamy and delightful. There was a strong blueberry taste to it. There was also generous chunks of blueberries inside which I thoroughly enjoyed. I would definitely recommend trying this flavour!

All in all, we loved our experience at Rain or Shine. It’s definitely worth trying, and if you’re not sure of which flavours to get, try the ice cream flight like we did! Perfect for the indecisive individuals like ourselves. I can predict many Summer nights coming to this place, I better come here more before it gets super popular and impossible to grab a seat or cone (like Earnest)!

-Carmen

Rain or Shine Ice Cream on Urbanspoon