restaurant blog Archives - Curiously Carmen

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.
After 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.
The 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?
The 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?
I 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.

Another 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.

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