tea Archives - Curiously Carmen

Duotian Fish Soup Noodles Restaurant – Stingy restaurant =\

July 14, 2015

Hi everyone!!

Cheese and I decided to have lunch here one day because we were craving Hong Kong style iced lemon tea, and it was the closest place. I didn’t really have a good experience here last month, but I wanted to come back and give it another try.

I’m not sure I’l be back or not, their food isn’t that great because the restaurant is so incredibly cheap and stingy. There are definitely a lot better places, this place falls on the bottom for the make-your-own-noodle -soup combo category.

As I mentioned earlier, Cheese and I came here instead of our original plan at Sushi Uomo because we were craving HK style iced lemon tea. When our drinks came, the lemon slices were incredibly paper thin. The pictures don’t do it justice because you see the front of the lemon slice and not the side.

Because the lemon was so thin, our drinks did not taste authentic and tasted like plain sweet tea from McDonalds. It was pretty disappointing, and we ended up crushing our lemons completely to a pulp in order for it taste a tiny bit like HK lemon iced tea. Overall, it was pretty disappointing.

Continuing along to prove my point of how cheap they are, look at this french toast that my friend ordered. There was barely ANY custard in it, he felt like he was just eating two slices of bread.

There was also barely any syrup on the side, normally they provide a full small tin of syrup for you.

If there was an adequate amount of custard filling, the french toast would have been decent.
Cheese ordered the pumpkin and tomato fish soup with rice noodles, beef balls, and sliced beef.
I ordered my usual century egg and parsley soup with vermicelli, beef balls, and fish balls. I wanted cuttlefish but they were out. =(

The broth was lighter and more watery than I was used to, but the flavour was still good.

Overall, Duotian is pretty meh and I wouldn’t come back unless I was stuck in the area and REALLY, REALLY craving noodle soup. Cattle Cafe and Deer Garden are much better, and they are less cheap with their ingredients.

Have you been here? What did you think of it?

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

The Last Crumb Bakery

March 16, 2015

Hi everyone,

Valentines Day for the boyfriend and I was mostly spent eating out and trying new places, we tried a total of 3 new restaurants in one day. In the afternoon, we went for brunch and dessert followed by a lovely dinner at The Fish House in Stanley Park.

I had my eyes set on taking him to The Last Crumb, since I thought he would enjoy the peanut butter pie! I called The Last Crumb to confirm that it was not a daily rotation special. They confirmed that it was baked year round, but could not guarantee it would be on the shelf since it is very popular.

We drive past this area quite often and Main Street is one of our favourite neighbourhoods in Vancouver to eat in, but I’ve never really noticed this place. I think because their sign is small and hanging on the top, so if you’re in a vehicle and looking out the window, it’s not at eye level? I always thought it was some kind of furniture or interior design store… not a bakery with yummy goodies!
The cafe is very spacious and simply decorated. I really liked how roomy it was in there, yet it didn’t feel too big. There is also a small alcove upstairs with more tables, and even a little play station for toddlers!
I’m happy to say that they still had the peanut butter pie! Obviously, it was a big hit with the boyfriend and he thought it was amazing. Peanut butter lovers, this one is for you. Very rich in peanut butter flavour and creamy, although the texture itself was a bit soft like whipped cream if that makes any sense.

I normally do not like peanut butter desserts, but I gave it a try anyways. I was pleasantly surprised to find it okay! I think it was due to the caramel drizzle and Reese peanut butter chunks inside that sealed the deal for me. I wouldn’t order this for myself, but wouldn’t mind having a few bites to share.

The crust was a layer of cookie crumbs. I want to say Oreo, but it was not sweet at all so it’s probably some other type of crust filling. It balanced the sweetness of the rest of the cake.
I wanted something for myself too, and ordered a herbal fruity tea called “Hanna’s picnic tea”. It was slightly sweet even though I didn’t add any sugar. It was also pretty concentrated in flavour.

I can’t believe I didn’t see this when we were going up the stairs, but look how interesting this is – real tea cups and saucers glued on to an otherwise plain wall!

This would be a nice place to get dessert after dinner, but sadly they are only open mornings until late afternoon.

Are you a peanut butter lover? Would you give the pie a try?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Trees Organic Coffee House

April 8, 2014

While walking through Gastown one sunny afternoon after class, my classmates and I noticed this cute little coffee shop in one of the heritage, brick Gastown buildings.

We decided to pop in to talk about our class project. Originally, I wasn’t planning on getting any pastries, but I was sold after seeing their pastry case. We ended up sitting at a table near the window, where the window shelves were made into a seat, filled with pillows!

Here is the till, there was also self serve lemon water on the side. The workers were also really friendly and attentive, gladly answering questions that I had about their pastries.
The selection of sugary, fattening, and indulgent goodness. From what I saw in the case, I would assume that their specialty is the cheesecake.

They also had some small paninis and lunch items on the top two shelves. Curious to see which pastry I got?! Well, after debating for a bit.. I decided on getting…
The vegan banana oat power bar $3! Okay, to some of you, that might sound really gross since it’s so healthy. But I was really curious to try it because I didn’t feel like indulging in a cheesecake or brownie that day, and I love bananas!

I asked for them to warm it up, which they put in the microwave. This bar was decent- there were a LOT of seeds in it. The worker told me that this bar was made out of banana puree, seeds, nuts, and oats. At one point, I started feeling like a bird because it was so seedy. Apart from the seedie-ness, I enjoyed the taste of the bar. It was very filling and guilt-free.
Apart from the bird-seed loaf (Haha, just kidding it was actually pretty good), I ordered an americano. I forgot the price but it was around $3? The espresso was smooth, and not that bitter.

All in all, I enjoyed my quick visit to Trees. The only negative thing would be the sketchy washroom which was located in the basement. You had to walk through this sketchy hallway to the elevator, and once you arrived, it was very quiet and dingy. The washroom was shared by other merchants in that building. There was a funky smell to it as well. Apart from the washrooms, I would definitely come here again if I was studying in this area (but who wants to study in Gastown when there are so many local clothing stores?!).

-Carmen

Moii Cafe

March 25, 2014

Moii Cafe is a cute little cafe off of Cambie. However, they also have a crepe section, which is a good addition if you’re craving something sweet to indulge in.

There are so many cute little quirks about this cafe, which makes it stand out from the hundreds of cafes in Vancouver!
The first thing I see when I step into the cafe. I love antique furniture.

I love this section of Moii. The chalkboard menu is brilliant, it was very informative even though it didn’t fill up the whole wall. I love the different colours on the menu.

The small shelf of vintage Archie comics and nutella wall are a cute plus too!
This is part of the seating area. There are mini tables, but also a long one in the middle (it’s a bit cut out here) for conversation with a bigger group. There’s also a small room in the corner, which isn’t really a room? More like a wall frame but it gives you a sense of privacy. There were vintage albums on those walls as well.
I ordered an americano. Originally, I wanted to get tea but I thought it was a bit pricy. Tea was $4.25 while coffee was cheaper, so I settled on this. It tasted like a regular americano, nothing too special about it.

However, I gave some to the boyfriend after I left and he said it tasted watery, it tasted fine to me. I would love to come back here to try their crepes though.
This thing right here is what made me fall in love with Moii. As I was sipping my americano and waiting for my interviewee, I noticed this small wooden box and the picture above it.

For a person like me who loves and appreciates the art of writing, especially on actual paper, I was really happy to see this. It was also really refreshing to see, because these days we are used to everything being online.

In conclusion, I enjoyed my visit here due to the ambiance and atmosphere. I read on another blog that this place is owned by an Emily Carr graduate, which totally makes sense because of all the artistic elements Moii has. The ambiance is what stood out to me the most, and what sets it apart from other coffee shops.

Pekoe Tea Lounge

March 17, 2014

I am so excited to share this review with you! I stumbled upon this place completely by accident, the boyfriend and I were at the hospital visiting someone and after we left, we noticed there was still quite a bit of time on the meter.

We decided to check out Pekoe Tea Lounge which was right across from the hospital. Finding cute and quaint cafes make me so happy, I’m glad we stumbled upon this hidden gem.

They have a broad tea selection (Probably more than David’s Tea just to give you an idea), and the sitting area is absolutely lovely. It’s a perfect place for conversation over a delicious cup of steaming, hot tea.

Upon entering, the first thing I noticed was the shelves on shelves and shelves of tea. There was a lovely table featuring mini tins of their tea selection for customers to see and smell before ordering. I probably spent about 5 minutes going around the table smelling each tea that caught my eye.

I love how they have this feature as opposed to places like David’s Tea or Teavana, where you have to ask the worker to smell the different teas. You can also buy tea tins in different sizes.

I finally settled on ordering the Hawaiian Cocktail, a herbal fruit tea that consisted of candied pineapples, papayas, mangoes, and lemon peel.

My favourite teas at the moment are fruity teas, and although they had a huge selection of fruity teas, I picked this one because it smelled really fruity and sweet. The mangoes in it smelled so good! I enjoyed the fruity aroma and taste of this tea.
The boyfriend got the Jasmine Dragon Pearls, which smelled really good as well. Also, not sure if you notice on the cup, but the sleeve was an advertisement for a Japanese airline. All the workers spoke Japanese as well so I’m assuming this place is Japanese-run!
Here are the fancy and detailed glass cups you can get if you choose to drink your tea in store. We came 15 minutes before closing so there wasn’t a point of ordering it for here, it also cost a bit more.

I was reading reviews afterwards, and a food blogger mentioned that this seemed unsanitary since the top cups are just lying face up in the open.
All in all, we really enjoyed our fast but enjoyable visit to Pekoe Tea Lounge. I’m really glad we discovered this place, we will definitely be back again! I wish this place was open later because it would be perfect to go after a dinner date 😉

-Carmen