RooStew

Sam, Sorry to hear your evening at Nyala was so forgettable. Everytime I have been there it has been a tasty experience, I loved the goat curry and have been wanting to return for it. It was a while ago I was there so maybe standards have dropped a little. Aaron.

Check this out. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/23/dining/23guid.html Is it now only a matter of time till your favourite euro rubber makes it to Vancouver to judge West restaurant? A.

True. But do you know if agar works? Little off topic but I was just wondering.

Last time I was home I picked up a leg of spring lamb (along with a bunch of other tasty treats) from queen vic markets and cooked it up for the family. I marinated it in heaps of red wine, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, lemon zest and mirepoix overnight. I then pulled it, dried it and sealed it in a roasting pan. Deglazed with the red wine, mirepoix etc, covered it and popped it in the oven at about 150' for 2.5 odd hours. It just fell off the bone. I can tast it now.mmmmmm. I miss home.

I find the flavour of jackfruit a bit of a cross between a banana and a pineapple. With that lobey, fiberous texture like a mangosteen or durian. Super delicious when fresh and ripe. I believe you can get canned and frozen pieces from T&T. Yet they don't even come near fresh.

today, A dish we served to a banquet tonight.... Toasted pearl barley risotto with toasted hazelnuts and monteed with whipped buerre noisette, served with truffled breast of guinea fowl and arugula jus

today - a filet of fresh mediterranean bream we were sent as a sample, cooked to perfection with salty, crispy skin. yesterday - a caramel, chocolate truffle a friend brought back from per se in ny.

I welcome the opinions of people like transfattyacid. What the hell is wrong with sharing your true feelings on an establishment?? Constructive critisism about an topic is always valid,egullet member or not. 'Sean is one of our own??!? Does he deserve different treatment to a non egullet member? This is getting ridiculous. Write what you want people, about the thing we have all gathered to celebrate, good food. Ever think, some of these establishments might choose to pick up there game after getting a bad review? It would be about time, I am getting sick and tired of being ripped off by shoddy chefs and owners taking us all for a ride.

I did not expect the same quality of west or other high end restaurants for my 15 bucks. But I did expect some decent food. Good pub food can be done on a budget. I understand the pressure being put on establishments during this time but this is a chance to showcase the talent of your chef. I know that after my experience at the heather I will not return for the food, 15, 25 or for 35 dollars. It was sub-standard for what should have been served in an establishment of that calibre and for that price. Did you have the heathers DOV culinary delights stephen??

Offal is sometimes a rare comodity in vancouver. I'm a big fan of lambs liver. Columbus meat on renfrew and first was a big help for those. Maybe you wanna try 'em for your calves kidney. A.

this is whats wrong with DOV,( not just le gavroche ) not late stayers , not the visa hijacking , not the water drinkers , but bad food , and this general feeling that is ok to do it like that because of the price . shouldn`t it just be good, irrespective of the price. ← True.

Last night we went to La Gavroche for our DOV experience. Having never been I was looking forward to it. When we entered the building their was a number of people waiting to be seated, they were helped with their coats and I guess we were overlooked by the hostess for about 5 minutes and then were led to our table. The room was quite full with a good atmosphere. The sevice came quite promptly. We chose the $35 DOV menu with wine upgrade = $60. For first I had the scallops with cofit tomato. Very good, scallops perfectly cooked with a very tasty tomato and a little grated truffle and oil. The Gris paired well although a little sweet for me. Miss RS had the boar terrine which I thought was great, VV tasty. If it had a little fois it would have topped chef hawksworth. Toast was a little stale, oh well. The pinot was good andwent well also. Next, came mains, quite swiftly too. I think during the whole dinner, from ordering to finish, we had 1 minute breaks tops. Maybe this was their way of dealing with the long term stayers? Would've been nice to have been given the chance to digest the food and enjoy the dining experience. Anyways, for main I had the boulliabase. I removed the dead mussel and dived in. Not to my liking at all. The base tasted as if it was made with old frozen bones. The rouille was like cold yellow mash potato on a piece of white bread. The charddy was pleasant although again a little sweet. The venison osso bucco was luke warm, and 'not' fall off the bone. It could've done with at least another 45 on the braise. The cab franc did go well with the dish and was very drinkable. Dessert was creme brulee and lemon tart. Miss RS commented that it looked as if they had employeed chef sara lees servics for the tart. Raw base and dissapointing fill. The brulle was very good though, cooked perfect, not too rich, not too sweet and not burnt. Stickys weren't too bad either. Overall things weren't too bad. Nice setting and the food was alright for the price. Appetizers were the highlight and V good idea to add a wine upgrade too. All the fod came on lovely china too which was quite a surprise with the restaurants age and feel. I don't think I would return to La Gavroche, but the experience was nice. Hmm, where to next....

Sounds like a good meal Daddy A, I'm off there tonight now. The VQA upgrade sounds like a great idea. More to come......

I went to the Heather on Monday for DOV. I had been hangin' to check it out, and was impressed by the decor and the atmosphere as soon as I walked in. We were a touch before 5, I asked if we could sit and begin early but unfortunately because of the pressure on the kitchen to be ready on time we sat in the beer garden for a pint before dinner. @ 5 we made our way upstairs for our resovation. We were greeted and treated very well by our Irish server. After we ordered we waited 30 minutes and was then told due to the kitchen being slammed by the pub our first course would arrive shortly. Fair enough and I continued to enjoy my 2nd Harp. I had the beet roulade with goat cheese, interesting idea all though it lacked seasoning and depth of flavour. I tried my mates ravioli and it was a better choice, simple and tasty. Next came my main course, the coq au vin. Again, an interesting idea stuffing the onions with the chook. But also lacking depth of flavour. My chicken tasted like it had been boiled in water and shredded from the bone, the mash was lumpy and starchy, sorry chef but it was a dissapointment. The ribs were tasty and well cooked, the polenta also. For dessert came a tart tatin. Not much of a tatin really, just a few slices of apple baked on puff. Maybe it was my 3rd pint playin tricks on me but it tasted heavyly of salt too. The ice cream was good though. The mousse was rich, thick and tasty. Overall the service was great, honest and tentative to our needs. I must say I didn't have great expectations of what I would recieve food wise at the heather. So I wasn't too dissapointed with what I had, but good pub food ain't that hard to do. Maybe chef coulda spent more time in the kitchen and less running food. I will return to the heather though, if only for a pint, or 2, or 3, or 4........

About $8-9CA. You?

Menu sounds great! Are many cooks in oz trying there hands at this nouveau cusine 'a la spain'?

Here's an interesting link I found on another thread.... http://www.saltworks.us/ I prefer Maldon. I have tried the grey salts but have always been turned off by there chuncky texture and have found them to be a little harsh in comparison to Maldon. I am live in Vancouver now and was blown away when up until recently Maldon started to show up in fine food stores when I had been using it for years back home.

Ditto on the BYOs and gastros Barolo. Gastro..... Pub food done with love! e.g. My interpretation of gastro 'Bangers and Mash' Pork and veal sausages made in house, with the perfect blend of seasoning and spices. Accompanied with premium potatoes that were simmered to perfection, passed through a tammy, monteed with butter, warm cream and seasoned to perfection. This dish would be then drowned in a beautiful veal jus that was made in house with the freshest of ingredients and the utmost respect for all that entailed in the rendition.

Artiggiano is good, minus the attitude. I did have an outstanding espresso last night at a joint on granville between pender and hastings. Totally trashed my nights sleep, but damn it was good.

In Australia Cobbs is known as 'Bakers Delight'. I had a baker friend whose was approached with the same aggressive tactics there. Looks as though BD has bought more than there tasteless breads to Canada.

I think the one your talking of is called Oyama Sausage Co. There products are great. I love the toulouse. There terrines and pates also rock. Haven't tried there black pudd yet. http://www.oyamasausage.com/index.htm

Rumour has it that due to the content of Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares and numerous consumer complaints, FNC has cut out certain episodes and will be finishing the series short. Say it ain't so. Is Gordon Ramsey to harsh for FN 'PC' C?

Did my mise en place. I'm taping this series. Wish I would of done done the same with Boiling Point.

[Ha! I worked for a French Chef that worked for Bruno and he had scallops with 'white pudding' and parsly garlic sauce on his menu. I've worked for chefs that command respect and teach in the same fashion as Ramsey, and at the the time I've thought 'what the hell am I doing here'. But now that I look back on it I treasure those moments as some of the best learning experiences and exciting times I've had in this industry. One thing I always found was that the Sous' and deParties were the real hardarses.