BCinBC

Okay if a movie with a food "scene" qualifies, you have to give nods to Titus and Hannibal. Neither is a particularly good movie, but each has a scene involving "food" that is really really memorable.

Parkside for us last night. I had a late meeting on Bowen (what a ride the 5:05 ferry was) so had to meet up with N downtown, and we ended up getting to the resto at 6:45 for a 7:00 seating. But we used the opportunity to sit at the bar and do a final decision on the menu - and order a bottle of wine (Fifteen Grenache 2001 - I'd link to Mr Gismond's review but it won't let me, so go here and search for it if you really want to; just one note: unfiltered, so TANNINS! Nicer after breathing a bit). When our table opened up, we were efficiently transferred and treated to some poppy-seed crusted bread (beautiful crust, soft innards). Rattled off our selections to our server Chris (who was courteous, efficient and non-intrusive) and off we went. N started with the mushroom soup which has been raved over, and rightly so - the only thing I could add is that if a bowl has just been set down anywhere within 25 feet of you, you will smell the truffle oil. Just the fragrance is outstanding, but the soup as a whole with the beautiful colouring (matching the walls!) and the occasional slice of mushroom and the creme... fungal nirvana. I had the terrine to start, also rightly raved over - although, unlike Snacky, I did not have any bones in mine. Instead it was a very smooth terrine mainly of chicken, but also rabbit, foie, egg yolk? and other bits and pieces, sprinkled with fleur de sel and served with onion marmalade, ?? paste (lima bean? I totally missed it when I asked for a repeat on the type of marmalade, oops), celeriac salad, cornichon and toasted country bread (which was outstanding too - anyone know if Andre bakes the bread in-house?). We both went for the duck confit with Toulouse sausage, cassoulet white beans and blood orange reduction. Beautiful job with the duck, lots of succulent meat with some crispy bits near the end of the leg. Sausage good, did I detect fennel? Beans (with occasional bacon bits!) cooked perfectly and sauce only very slightly acidic (on a whole as you may expect super rich). By the end, you could see the sauce separating into roughly 50% fat. Somehow perfect for the night's weather, but there's no way I could see eating this sauce outside of winter. Desserts were "dolce latte" Gorgonzola with walnuts, poached apples and digestives (the cookie) for N and toffee pudding for me. The cheese - wow, dolce latte confirmed, and super ripe blue-ness which was excellent if you're into that sort of thing. And we were. The pudding - good, but still not as good as HSG or even Lumiere TB. The toffee sauce was very good, sweet but just enough so, but it was all gooey and soft, no textural counter. It was our first time at Parkside, and we both liked the decor - my impression was somewhere around a very classical French inn, maybe starred or maybe not, with classic being the key word. And the feel matched the food we had. Timing again was very good; yes we got in early and ordered quickly, but still there was never a rushed feel in the room and everyone seemed to be quite relaxed in conversation. We could have been out in 1.5 hours but lingered for our full alotted amount (1.75 at Parkside) to enjoy the wine and the warmth - or to avoid the storm outside, more likely. All in all I would definitely return here, they definitely seem to have the French classics in control. So once again DOV succeeded.

Peter - I agree with Kirin in Richmond. Had dim sum there last month and it was very good, but a particular standout was the nor mai fan (sticky or glutenous rice, not to be confused with nor mai gai which is the sticky rice wrapped in the leaves and steamed). A dish that I love, and order somewhat regularly, this one was the best I've had in recent memory. Generous portion to boot. Link to post here.

From the HSG DOV 06 thread: Well that's interesting. So is this the only way to get in touch with them? Cause it says don't reply to the email address they send from, and I can't locate any other mention of how to contact them. My problem is, I was sent a confirmation for Feenie's DOV and at the bottom it said be sure to ask the maitre d' to confirm your points. And when I asked the host/ess (one of each), they had no Fing clue what I was talking about or even what OpenTable was. So to the lurkers from OpenTable, please pm or email me.

Okay I just re-read the thread in Special Occasions (link) and apparently people from Pittsburgh eat something called "chipped ham", and one of the local specialties when it comes to sandwiches is to stuff them with fries (which I thought was a Jersey thing). So chipped ham and chips sandwiches it is. ??

Hey Daniel, Instead of hamburgers and lamb-burgers, how about themed sandwiches- so for Seattle do a smoked salmon, red onion panini and for Pittsburgh, ?? Sorry I came up short, would have suggested a variation on Philly cheesesteak but that is probably sacreligeous (sorry people of Pittsburgh). How about the Pittsburger then? I'm sure I read about such a thing somewhere. Oh wait that was a Rothles-burger with Heinz (Ward) ketchup.

Imperial is impressive with its view and it's service level, but (I've said it before and I'll say it again) for dim sum downtown my first choice is Shanghai Bistro on Alberni.

Congrats TFA.

N and I hit up Sun Sui Wah on Saturday for a CNY celebratory dim sum. I do like it, but I also agree that part of it is because of the nostalgia factor WRT the carts. A la carte ordering results in much better quality dim sum; otherwise, the carts are a real hit or miss thing for the most part. Dough tends to get mushy in the steamers over time, and similarly fried items get too oily. Having said that, SSW has a pretty high turnover so it is one of the better cart options IMO. And they do the good fried squid and mango darned tarts. That and proximity lead to it being one of our go-to places for dim sum. (Other is Red Star on the real South Granville, ie Granville @ 63rd.) I've never been to Pink Pearl for dim sum so I can't put it into context.

I apologise once again for the wine, but you must admit that it made for some lively discussion. I only wish we could have found someone to read what we were drinking less than or equal to 4 grams per litre of... Oh, and I don't know how I got sucked into a DDR dance-off with Mr Talent. I'm a little nervous about it. I mean, we're talking about a man who bumps his own children from the Playstation to practice, before going out to challenge the local tweeners. Perhaps my only hope is to find another performance-enhancing bottle of the '03 Dai Chuang biological project.

^ Thanks for the heads up!

So I checked the Best Of thread, and there are no Whistler links. However searching for Whistler lead me to this thread: LINK. And another: LINK 2. I know Daddy-A's a busy man but maybe one day he might tape all these together into a large Whistler clump.

Maybe Oyster Guy will chime in, but last time I was at Bearfoot back in October, the steak (AAA IIRC) and fries was $20 at the bar, mussels and fries $15. There are a bunch of good local recommendations in another thread, check out the Best Of thread for links or search the forum for Whistler.

A colourful update on something that has been cited in several ancient cultures.

Rice served with rice? Genius!!! A. ← Dr Atkins is rolling in his fat-lined grave.

I love Dutch Bakery too, and like you Matt probably mostly for nostalgic reasons. But the meat pies... And the cherry tarts... Spinnakers - good place to find a low-yield bottle, or at least that's my impression. Last year they were one of the only places where I could find La Frenz montage and if you check out their website (link to Spinnakers Spirit Merchants), it gives quite a comprehensive list of bottles in stock. BTW the La Frenz montage is also available at Canoe, where N and I met Daddy-A and "J" last Xmas to share a bottle and commiserate over growing up / being in Victoria. (JK.) Link here. Cheers Zuke, have fun. And PS please post any cool neon sign photos in your report. If applicable.

Okay here are the photos I took from our Feenie's dinner. Apologies for the shitty quality, but I haven't been able to bring myself to use the flash. But how about this: Imagine you are outside in the blustery winter rain, and that you peek inside to see what the It Crowd is eating... How's that working? Well then bear with me. White bean ravioli with bacon and beurre blanc Mussels with spicy tomato onion broth Braised lamb shank with risotto and roasted garlic and onions Chick pea fritters with vegetable ragout and mushroom froth Trio of sorbets: pineapple, blood orange & mango; biscotti Chocolate cherry bread pudding with chantilly cream ETA: Ironic how the best dishes also have the worst photo quality.

That's the recurring sentiment from most posters since it opened 3 months ago: Good comfort food, great (rave-worthy) desserts, service issues. Personally I'm curious to hear what ashley_k thinks.

You know Seattle isn't "just" coffee! Throw in some salmon, smoked or otherwise. Some nice Wash State wines, too. Or better yet, Red Hook ESB. Oh yeah, and go Hawks!

My mistake, sorry bout that. To recap, the Lumiere TB DOV deal is not extraordinary. Feenie's during DOV is only an okay deal. Both are extraordinary deals outside of DOV.

Hey Ling, Yes DOV at both Lumiere TB and Feenie's is $25. IMO neither are a particularly good "deal" - simply because both already offer extremely good deals year-round. (As previously hashed and rehashed, Lumiere TB at $14 per plate and $7 or so for dessert, Feenie's at $35 or 36 per 3-course. Same diff.) What I mean of course is that yes you save $10 per head, but that is merely a glass of wine at these places. Again I'm not disparaging Feenie's or Lumiere TB, I'm just saying that DOV doesn't do much above and beyond regular menu pricing. I suppose the positive spin is that the deal you get is a free glass of wine during DOV - but you are limited to 90 minutes no lingering. Get drunker faster! On the other hand, a place like Parkside where the regular prix fixe is $45 - well DOV at $25 pp is a much better deal - relatively. So, again using wine as currency, a dinner for two at Parkside during DOV means a free bottle of VQA wine! Cheers!

Thanks for the write-up Wes, but something caught my eye and I must ask... Did I just read that you turned down shaved truffles?!? PS: Congrats to Dan the Man! A stage at C, nicely done.

Last night N and I plunged into DOV at Feenie's. While others made the (totally valid) point that the DOV "deal" isn't much of one considering the regular prix fixe is $36, I did find the menu very enticing and so I booked it. Showed up at 6 - early reso I know, but I did have to catch 24 at 9! - on my first booking through OpenTable. So there you go, it works. Besides OT confirming twice via email, Feenie's also confirmed once by phone, so you do get some human interaction if you really want it. We were seated in the back "private" room which was opened up and outfitted with three 4-tops and a deuce (us). The food: Starters N had the mussels which were, as Pissaladiere reported, very pump. In fact they were the plumpest mussels I've seen for a long time, about the size say of your thumb. The spicy tomato onion broth was excellent as well, and reminded me that it's time to revisit Chambar to see whose mussel broth cuisine reigns supreme. I had the white bean ravioli, which was served with bacon squares on top and a whole lotta beurre blanc. I was really jonesing for the mussels, but the reason I went for the ravioli is because of Feenie's ravioli track record. And frankly I was a bit disappointed - at Lumiere, whatever the filling may be, you know the flavours are going to be right on. But in this case I thought the white bean filling left a little to be desired. I never thought I would ever encounter a Rob Feenie dish that needed more salt! But this one did. If he was going for a theme, IMO he should have topped the ravioili with a bit of shredded duck confit instead of the bacon. Oh well. Aside from taste, the ravioli was pretty much technically perfect - for pasta texture and thickness, filling consistency, and saucing. So maybe just a personal flavour and/or seasoning issue. Mains For her main, N chose the chick pea fritters with the veg ragout and mushroom foam. And she loved it! Had no qualms about not ordering the trout at all. I tried it and I must admit, the fritters had a great flavour and texture combo, and the mushrooms were very flavourful as well (good herbs rock) - but to me fritters are a side. However, I think as with many chefs, RF takes vegetarianism on as a special challenge, and he definitely hit a solid triple with this one. I chose the lamb shank which turned out like Alex's - beautiful braise (even N liked it, she of the say-no-to-red-meat faction), rich sauce as you would expect, and coupled with the super rich risotto and the roasted garlic and onions it was a great winter dish. Even a West Coast winter. I ate every last edible bite, including the marrow. Desserts To finish, N had the chocolate cherry bread pudding. Nice flavours, but very stiff and dry and not what I imagine bread pudding to be (tho maybe I haven't had proper bread pudding??). When I say dry I don't mean inedible, I just mean it was not a wet dessert (not even like a moist cake, if you get my drift). So a custard or creme Anglaise would have been my preference in lieu of the bit of whipped cream. N said it was a bit like having black forest cake but in a drier form, and she was right. I had the sorbet trio - pineapple, blood orange and mango - served with the biscotti and gooseberry (the secret to making anything look 1000 times more upscale). Pineapple was my favourite, I thought it had coconut milk elements in there too; N prefered the blood orange though, which I also really enjoyed. The mango was the consensus third choice - it was not bad, but the aftertaste was very bitter which to me does not say "dessert". I thought it would work well as a palate cleanser. The biscotti were IMO not as good as Chef Tony's (NWCAV), but of course were much better than those door stops you get at Starbucks etc. We had a bottle of Blue Mountain Gamay 2004 which was very nice, I am going to search out a few bottles to open in about 3 years when I think it will be awesome. Right now it is very upfront fruity (cherry and/or plums? No notes) both on the nose and when tasting, but without a lot of oak which I am really enjoying lately. Our magazine covergirl (!) slash server Alison was very good - she really illustrates the philosophy of Feenie's I think. She was attentive enough without being overtly so (one quality check at starters, one at mains), very efficient, warm but slightly casual - yet she did the little things that you would expect from Lumiere staff, like refilling your wine when you were closing in on empty - before you lifted a finger to do so yourself. All in all it was a great meal and a really fun night out - I think they did DOV proud. Of course Feenie's is used to high volume, and they sure don't staff any rubes. We were in and out in 90 minutes but the pace was anything but frenetic. The food was good to great (if I had gotten the mussels I would have had the ideal menu), the venue jumping, the service also right on... Well done Feenie's. PS: I will edit this post to add pix if they are any good (I don't use a flash).

These should now and for evermore be refered to as "Freedom Bits". About the price, don't worry as Tim Hortons will be jumping on the bandwagon soon enough and you will be able to get them 20 for $5. I thought it was older giving to younger, and so I was waiting for a lycee from you. I'll take the free dinner tho. (JK) How did you make out at River Rock / the Drake afterwards, BTW? Thanks Canucklehead and Mooshmouse for organizing, it was great fun - perhaps only comparable to a marathon session of Dance Dance Revolution. Highlights for me: Jellyfish - what else is new? Crunchy sesame oiled deliciousness, way moreso than the goose feet. Geoduck - like a lot of longer-cooked seafood, if you get past the texture you're in for a treat. And even then, the texture is a bit of an acquired thing. Crab - home run (again). This time I thought the crab itself was super sweet and the hunk I got out of the pincer was excellent. The sauce is perfect. Chayote and pork - I love this, it is a variation on a traditional Cantonese dish (I am used to hairy melon in lieu of chayote) and it reminds me very much of my youth. Steamed fish - usually this is my favourite dish, but in this case I thought it was a bit overcooked. However, it was the first time I've eaten the eye - which really was not that tasty, it was basically just eating goo. But the highlight was actually doing it. Almond soup - I really liked the flower syrop "business" that was served with the milk, but all in all it was way too subtle. Certainly not going to get KT to rescind past comments on Chinese desserts. But the hightlight was that it was not red bean. Lowlight was the unfortunate bottle of wine I brought. In my defence, it was the most expensive bottle at Beijing Airport (at $9 CDN).

Yeah I'm in the advanced too. Looking forward Dave et al.