lunch Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Curiously Carmen

Vij’s Railway Express

January 31, 2015

Hi all!

While I was walking around on my lunch break two weeks ago, I noticed that the Vancouver Art Gallery had been overtaken by food trucks- Dine Out Vancouver: Street Food City! The next day, I brought my coworker here and we explored all the food trucks. I wasn’t too hungry that day, but we decided to all come back a few days later and have lunch together here.

Well, our luck couldn’t be worse when Friday afternoon rolled around, and it was pouring buckets and buckets of rain. Remember that Friday two weeks ago? Yep. We spent the morning peeking out the office, hoping the rain would have stopped but nope, it had no mercy on a group of hungry office workers.

After making three ~~very indecisive~~ rounds, I decided to try Vij’s Railway Express. I helped out at Follow Me Foodie’s 6 Course Discourse last year, and had the chance to work with Vikram himself (Well, I only helped him set up and change presentation slides, but that was still pretty cool). He was a truly humble, funny, down to earth and kind man- so why not try his food truck?!

When my eyes saw this on the menu, I knew my decision had been made. Seared Pacific cod in a mango-sour cream curry, $12.

For $12 in 2015 and not that big of a portion (this picture may fool you otherwise), we are not talking cheap eats here unless you are a high roller with no lunch budget. But this was worth the mini splurge and I had no regrets.

I guess $12 at a restaurant is average or even cheap, there is a common misconception that food trucks are cheaper but it’s not!

The cod was flaked off perfectly, and was very fresh. It was drowned in the mango-sour cream curry sauce, which was creamy and had a mild spice to it. I definitely tasted the hints of mango, but not the sour cream. It also came with a soft and thin piece of naan bread and a cumin-basmati rice.

Everything extremely aromatic and cooked with quality, the Pacific cod was just perfection. I felt like it this dish belonged on a fancy bone china plate in a upscale restaurant, in contrast to a take out box in the food court. If I was rich, I would order this weekly but sadly, I am not.

Sometimes, it’s worth the mini splurge and to try something you haven’t had before. I’m definitely glad I made that decision and left with a happy tummy.

To end this post on a fun note, here is a throwback picture to January 2014 with Vikram Vij and John Bishop! I met Mijune of FollowMeFoodie back when I used to interview and write articles on university alumni, she then asked me to help out at her Six Course Discourse event.

-Carmen

PS. I made all those sponsorship and chef bio slides! =) So rewarding to see your hard work blown up on three big huge screens, haha!

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.

Urban Fare Deli (Yaletown Location)

October 30, 2014

It was a lovely, sunny afternoon in Vancouver back in July (yes, late post I know.. sorry) and I spent it studying with a friend from school. She lived in Yaletown, so suggested that we meet up there to study. But how do two hungry girls study without proper food and nourishment? We don’t.

So we decided to make a quick stop for lunch at Urban Fare before diving into our pop music history notes. I’ve only ate at Urban Fare one other time, and had a panini which I vaguely remember was pretty tasty. I was going to order another one based on that memory, but as I went up to order it, the calzone caught my eye.
After much speculation, I decided to get the calzone instead because a) It was cheaper b) Being the curious girl I am, I wanted to try it and c) the sandwiches didn’t sound super delicious that day. Ordering here is a bit different here. You tell the staff what you would like, then they print out a receipt for you.

Then, you go to the cashier and pay, where they initial your receipt and you go back to the deli counter and they hand you your food at the pickup window. Since that visit in July, I’ve been to Urban Fare a handful of times and I have yet to master their seemingly confusing system. Oops.
I ordered the four cheese pepperoni calzone ($5). It came with sausage, pepperoni, red onions, tomatoes, basil, parsley, monterey jack and Parmesan cheese, and warmed up. I immediately fell in love with the softness of bread, and how doughy it was. The warmness of the dish just emphasized the softness even more. As for the inside, there was a decent amount of sausage and pepperoni. For a dish that has the word “cheese” in the title, it wasn’t that cheesy, which I didn’t really mind. I ended up ordering another one for an afternoon snack later on.
My friend ordered their breakfast omelette platter, which came with an omelette (duh), sourdough bread, and potatoes. I only tried the sourdough bread, which tasted pretty standard and normal.

-Carmen

Pacifico Pizzeria Ristorante

October 14, 2014

After a failed attempt and bad beginning at Kamei Baru, Cinnamon, Sangria and I all agreed that we didn’t want to stay, and decided to see what else was around the neighbourhood. As we took our first steps out the restaurant and recovered from the awkwardness of telling the waitress there, an Italian place by the name of Pacifico Pizzeria Ristorante right next door caught our eyes.

We quickly scanned the menu outside, which looked appetizing enough so we decided to try this place on a whim. Walking in, it was very quiet and only one other customer at 2pm.
The sole hostess/server was very friendly, and also gave us the option to sit upstairs. We were going to take the offer, but Cinnamon pointed out that it would be harder for us to get service. Instead, we sat at a booth on the main level. Judging from the way Pacifico was set up, seemed like they specialize in romantic date nights (Although from what Meaghan aka ElephantHeartBlog wrote, her date night failed because the food was horrendous sad face). Tables for two, wine glasses set up, candles on the tables…yup, the hopeless romantic in me approves. But how about the food?

Right after we sat down, we were disappointed and considered leaving. Again. I swear this never happens, I’m not a picky eater, we were just having bad luck that afternoon.

But after much hushed conversation and awkwardly glancing up to see if the waitress had overheard us, we decided to just suck it up and eat here because we were in a bit of a rush.

Turns out they don’t have the lunch time menu on weekends. So why put that outside if it’s false? We all wanted their paninis and sandwiches, and none of us were in the mood for heavy pasta.
But since we didn’t want to get up and leave another restaurant AGAIN, Sangria and I decided to split the pollo rustica pizza. We figured that this would curb our hunger for the next hour or so. It also helped that the pizza was $3 cheaper, I think it was the lunch special.

I’m not saying that the pizza was expensive, because it was decently priced for the atmosphere and location, but we just weren’t really in the mood for pizza and didn’t want to pay for something we didn’t really want.

Turned out, the pizza itself was fairly decent. There was a good amount of chicken breast, which was juicy and flavourful. There was a great amount of gouda and mozzarella cheese as well, which became very stringy as I bit into it. I wasn’t a fan of the artichokes so my friend happily had all of it. The freshly chopped onions added more flavour to what would otherwise have been a very bland dish. The crust and pizza dough itself wasn’t as thin as I thought it would be, and I actually enjoyed the texture of it very much.

Cinnamon ordered the appetizer size of the pizzetta margherita ($8). Unfortunately, she did not enjoy hers as much as we did. She wasn’t expecting that much cheese on her dish, and wanted to see if they could remake it.

It took quite awhile for her to finally wave somebody down, I remember I had already finished 3 slices by the time someone came. The lady that came didn’t look like she was a server, someone who worked in the back from the way she was dressed.

Anyways, Cinnamon explained to her that she didn’t expect this much cheese and I thought she was kind of rude about it. That or maybe she was very confused. She came back with a second one with lighter cheese. She ended up only eating half of it and wished that there was more basil or that it came shredded all over the pizza.

All in all, our visit was pretty brief and it was an average experience. Our server was nice in the beginning but she disappeared near the end, and it was hard for us to find service. If I was going to be very picky, it would also have been nice for them to bring us some pepper and chili flakes with our pizza, instead of us having to wave them down to ask for it. Pepper and chili flakes are pretty standard with pizza, no?

Unless this place is too fancy for that. Even though my friend didn’t enjoy her pizza, I thought mine wasn’t bad but I’m not dying to come here again, nor would I make my way downtown just for this restaurant.

-Carmen

Kirin Seafood Restaurant

October 12, 2014

I’m not a fancy dim sum diner. Most of the places I go with friends or family are pretty casual, your typical semi-sketchy Chinese restaurant with questionable English descriptions, mysteriously stained carpets, and disgusting washrooms that haven’t been cleaned in eons as a restaurant attempt to save money. I’m joking…. maybe (not).

But hey, I’m Chinese myself and I was brought up in a family of said Chinese restaurant businesses and if you’re Chinese, you know it’s true. Don’t even deny it 😉 Nonetheless, the food served at these sub-par Chinese restaurants are always authentic and satisfy my dim sum craving. My family doesn’t believe in spending more money at a fancy Chinese restaurant, when you can spend less and have more food at a regular Chinese restaurant.

So it was quite a surprise as I found myself in such a fine dining Chinese restaurant one afternoon. This is what fancy dim sum looks like! Kirin has a few locations in Vancouver, we went to the one in downtown. The outside is deceiving since the restaurant looks smaller than it actually is.
First up, was the taro root puff. Basically, there is seasoned pork or other type of meat, depending on the restaurant, enveloped by taro. It is then slightly deep fried, so that only the outside layer is crunchy. I fell in love with the taro root puff at first bite. It was delicately crunchy, and tasted very fresh. The taro was a bit sweet and went well with the saltiness of the meat inside. I normally don’t order this dish at dim sum, but I think I’ll be trying it again at other places!

Up next, was the shui mai. Since there were only four pieces and six of us, I decided not to eat it so that the others could have it. It was one of my friend’s first time having dim sum, and she really enjoyed the shui mai.

The pan fried rice noodles came next. I am a big fan of rice noodles, and this plate was a lot better than most I’ve tried at other restaurants (what a difference fine Chinese dining makes, eh). I liked that some of the noodles were slightly crispy, which added some dimension to the dish. I’m paying more for this dish than at other restaurants, so I’m glad that it was made very well.

Afterwards, the deep fried tofu arrived! Just like the deep fried taro root, the deep fried tofu was very crispy but not overly fried or oily. The batter was quite thin, but just enough to be crispy. It was seasoned with garlic and salt, which went with the delicately soft tofu perfectly.

Up next, was our steamed shrimp dumplings! I wanted to dive in right away because I love my shrimp, but decided to wait until it cooled down =( Nothing special or bad in particular about this dish, it tasted average. The pan fried radish cake followed, I find that these are hit and miss at dim sum. At Kirins, it was a definite hit!

The radish cake was very moist and had a nice consistency, while the outside was lightly fried. There was some little dried shrimp pieces and pork (I believe, can’t really recall) as well.
Our last two dishes of the day! I really love my prawn and shrimp, and requested that we ordered the prawn spring roll. Give me anything with prawns or shrimp at dim sum, and I will be very happy. I’ve never seen prawn spring roll presented like this before, I thought that the batter looked a bit unusual. Turned out that it was actually wrapped in deep fried bean curd, cool! The bean curd was very flaky and crispy, which I loved. Since the batter wasn’t as thick, there was more prawn and garlic inside. For dessert, we ordered egg tarts. They were so delicious that we ended up ordering another plate, and I considered ordering one to go LOL. It was very warm, with a flaky crust and was a bit sweet. Overall, what a perfect egg tart should taste like.

Service wise, we were greatly taken care of and there were many staff walking around. However, I do think that the manager got mad at our table when we asked him to separate the bill. It’s not that common in Chinese places to ask for separate bills. It was definitely awkward. I’m not sure why he was so upset, it’s not like we weren’t paying and the restaurant wasn’t that busy when we paid. People do it all the time, he should get used to it even if it takes a bit longer to pay.

All the dishes at Kirin were executed very well, and demonstrated what delicious and ideal dim sum should taste like. My favourites were the deep fried bean curd spring roll and the deep fried tofu. For the price we paid, it was definitely worth it as the quality and preparation in each dish really showed.

-Carmen