seafood lover Archives - Curiously Carmen

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? 🙂

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House

July 24, 2014

I don’t come to Joe Fortes as often as I would like to, but I have been eyeing their appy hour menu for awhile and decided to go with Cola one sunny afternoon after work! Appy hour was from 4-6pm, we got there around 4:15 and were quickly seated.

The happy hour special is only applicable to the limited bar seating, so I was glad we got seats! We noticed that the bar was fully seated by 5, and there was a short lineup for their appy hour specials.

Started off with the shrimp cerviche ($7). I really liked the cerviche at Tap and Barrel, and wanted to see how theirs compared! This was probably my favourite dish out of all the ones that Cola and I ordered.

It was very refreshing, and the avocado and shrimp tasted really sweet and fresh. Shrimp and avocados mark the top of my food favourites, so it was great to be able to enjoy them together.
Up next was the calamari ($9). I thought the calamari was a bit bland, probably should have squeezed more lemon juice or used more of the sauce. The batter itself was crispy, and the red onions were a small but great inclusion, and gave it a rounder flavour.

Truffle parmesan frites ($5). I didn’t really enjoy the flavour of the cheese, grana padano, and found it to be a tad bit too much for my tastebuds. Apart from that, the fries were pretty standard. I don’t think this dish is worth the $5, especially once you take away the cheese, they taste like your regular fries.
Lastly, we ordered the raw oysters. Unfortunately, I got sick from my first raw oyster experience two years ago, and have not enjoyed eating raw oysters since then. Cola loves her raw oysters so she ordered five, since they were on special anyways. She loved them and had no complaints! Looking around the bar, most of the other customers had raw oysters as well so I’m sure they are delicious! Perhaps one day, I’ll try them again 🙂

-Carmen

The Fish Shack

February 3, 2014

Update: I posted this a few hours the same night after finishing our meal there. My friend told me this morning that they had severe food poisoning and had to see the doctor. He was the only one that had the fried oysters (which was an add-on option for the Dine Out menu), so that was probably what caused it. He didn’t eat anything after we went out, so chances are the culprit was the oysters! You have been warned.

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The Fish Shack is one of the restaurants owned by Glowbal Group Restaurants, which is pretty well known in Vancouver. Seeing that it was one of the places on the Dine Out 2014 menu, we decided to try it this weekend after making a reservation.

We went as a party of four – my friend and her boyfriend, my boyfriend, and myself. I have mixed feelings about this place, and I’m going to be as honest as I can with it here. It was definitely an interesting and unique experience atmosphere-wise, and the food was decent but my friend got horrible food poisoning afterwards from one of the dishes.

Food: Originally, we came here for the Dine Out menu but all of us, (except for one) ended up ordering off the regular menu instead. All together, we ordered the New England clam chowder in a bread bowl, fish and chips (2 pc snapper),another fish and chips (1 pc ling cod + kimchi style cole slaw), Fish Shack salad, Fish Shack mixed fry (calamari, shrimp, fish bites), penne jambalaya, and sticky toffee pudding.

We all agreed that although the food wasn’t bad, it also wasn’t delicious either. The clam chowder was pretty good, generous portion of seafood inside and the bread bowl was also very big and filling. My boyfriend thought the fish batter for the 2 pc snapper was soggy, although the fish was alright.

He also said the chips were really good, which I agree with once they’re sprinkled with vinegar! My friends enjoyed their other dishes but one of them didn’t like the jambalaya. The Fish Shack mixed appetizer was alright as well, I think I just personally did not like the type of fish that was used. It tasted a bit bland to me, but the portions of the fish were generous.

Some of the food we ordered!

Decor: I really liked the decor of the restaurant. When you first walk in, you see a black wall which is filled with different facts on various types of fish, illuminated under cute little red lamps.

The other wall was filled with wooden pallets which gave off a legitimate seafood restaurant feel to it. Tacked to select pallets were cute trivial facts, jokes, or puns on seafood. The decor and look was what I liked most about this place!

Service: Our server was really funny and we enjoyed his presence. He had a sarcastic sense of humor which we enjoyed, but I could see other customers that would not appreciate it.

While we were eating, we heard some shouting and dishes dropping in the back. One of us saw and heard a server yelling in the kitchen, “don’t f**king talk to me like that” and some other workers pulling him back. However, it did not cause much of a scene or ruin our experience.

The wait time for the food was decent as well, my boyfriend and I had to wait longer for ours since we didn’t order starters, but our server confirmed this with us first.

Ambience: The restaurant was moderately busy. Not busy enough so that it was cray cray but the bar seats were all filled. There are 4 screens in the front of the restaurant, but they aren’t that big so I wouldn’t recommend coming here to watch a sports game.

Overall, the decor of the restaurant was very refreshing, friendly, and welcoming. The food itself was nothing special but the service is good. I would say to give this place a try if you are a big seafood fan and check out the decor while you’re at it!