KaBoom Box and Crave

Friday rolled around and after a long week of dealing with floods in the kitchen, toilets not working, and catching up on life, cooking seemed a bit too much to ask from any person so close to the edge ... so it became the day to try out some new restaurants that have been lingering overly long on my list of my places to try!

My coworkers and I popped out over lunch to try Kaboom Box, one of the more highly raved about food carts in our burgeoning food cart scene, known for its mushroom gravy poutine and smoked salmon burger. I was excited to try it based on its ocean wise seafood commitment, organic veggies, and biodegradable and compostable packaging.

http://www.thekaboombox.ca/menu.html

We all got the smoked salmon burger and a regular order of poutine to share. I LOVED the poutine - would go back again in a flash for the mushroomy creamy goodness and cheese curds and crunchy fries all rolled into the most delicious heart attack in a box :)  I was sadly hoping for more out of the smoked salmon sandwich than the reality I encountered. First, I couldn't really tell that the salmon was smoked, at least compared to the wonderful smoked salmon I've had from VCC's Aboriginal Culinary Arts students. This may be a plus for those out there who don't enjoy the smokey taste overly much. Secondly, the salmon was a bit dry. When combined with the large toasted bun and the not nearly enough spicy mayo, this led to overall dryness in the mouth. Unpleasant. The maple syrup mustard slaw almost redeemed the sandwich - absolutely delicious, but unmanageably messy to eat piled on top of the salmon; it spilled out with every bite! I vote for a nice pile of slaw alongside the sandwich with enough of some type of delectable sauce inside the sandwich (or an open faced sandwich with one less bun) to improve this dish for the future. Overall though, a cart worth visiting! Especially because I still haven't tried the fish and chips.

At the end of the day, wife and I headed out to Crave for supper. While I had read reviews about it before, and was excited to take advantage of my first groupon purchase ever (for Crave), it somehow was not at all what I was expecting (in a good way). I was envisioning a diner style restaurant with comfort food (perhaps a misconception based on the menu), but the restaurant is very modern and cozy. You can't help but see what your neighbors are eating and enjoy the murmur of conversation around you, which usually I enjoy, unless there happens to be an extremely loud New Zealander talking about "dags" during your meal (see definition 4).

Regardless of the neighborly ambience, we started off with the popcorn shrimp. Tiny shrimps battered with herbs and sprinkled with sea salt arrived in a paper cone and were paired with a sweet chili mayonnaise. OMG. Wife and I were in a bit of an argument when the shrimp arrived, but were struck dumb upon each taking a bite of the shrimp. The argument came abruptly to a halt and was quickly forgotten as we came together in glorious agreement to rave about their mind-blowing perfection. I also loved that they were served with chopsticks which added a fun spin on the dish!

http://www.craveonmain.com/gallery.php

The main meals continued to elicit our glowing praises. I opted for the pan roasted halibut served with lemon ricotta gnocchi, asparagus and corn. I confess I was slightly hesitant, doubtful that the fish would come out well since I have become a Chambar fish snob, but it was perfectly cooked - moist, falling off in beautiful tender flakes. And the asparagus and CORN! Slightly charred kernels of corn that burst in your mouth with sweetness, complimenting the butteryness of the fish and the crunch of the asparagus. And who could forget the lemon ricotto gnocci, which were rich, zesty, and worked so well with the corn and asparagus. Wife had the pulled pork burger and even I (mostly pescatarian, but occasionally flexitarian) was suitably impressed by the tenderness and seasoning of the pork. MMM.

The only disappointing part of the meal was our dessert. I ordered the sticky toffee pudding, but should have known better. Wife is Australian and makes the most AMAZING homemade sticky toffee pudding, whose success is largely due to the sauce - oh the glorious caramel toffee butter sauce that I could eat spoonful after spoonful of...  Anyways the pudding arrived and the pudding itself was pretty good. But most of the sauce was chilled underneath the pudding in a congealed cold caramel state that was entirely unappetizing and ruined the nice hot state of the pudding itself. There was also a few bites of crystallized caramel on top that did nothing for the dish. Thankfully, they made excellent decaf americanos to wash it all down with.

My conclusion: go now, go to Crave and treat yourself! Though you'll probably have to wait for it (since they don't take reservations), it's worth it!