Truth be told: Where've you eaten lately? (Part 2)

[*Deborah*]

And so, the long-awaited parental return from their around-the-world tour!

After seven weeks of restaurant and hotel and airline food, they probably would have really preferred it if I had cooked them something wonderful at home, but my condo-in-the-sky is on the selling block, and being kept in a (most unusual) state of hypercleanliness which is not conducive to me cooking fabulous things. So we made the sacrifice and went out.

Sunday night, kurtisk's night off, alas, we visited Chef Jeff and crew at Aurora Bistro. Have I ever had a bad word to say about Aurora? I don't think so, and there's none forthcoming now either. We started out with sparkling mineral water and a bottle of Sandhill Small Lots Burrowing Owl Sangiovese, I believe an '03. We liked this wine, especially for the price ($44 IIRC? perhaps a bit more).

Chef so kindly sent out an amuse of the oysters on the half shell with mignonette. My dad being allergic, Chef sent him some bacon and eggs: a little fried quail's egg and some of the astonishingly good DUCK BACON! My dad is now a convert. That was so sweet I don't eat oysters raw either (I didn't want to say anything, and I seriously tried, but I just couldn't do it) so I don't remember what was in them. My mother was the happy beneficiary, though, and enjoyed them mightily.

For starters, she had the bleu cheese tart with I believe caramelized onions (the online menu is a little different from Sunday's), and was so gorged on oysters she managed only three-quarters of it My dad had the Hazelmere Farm Beet Salad with Okanagan Goat's Cheese and orange chive blossom vinaigrette, and he was doing a small chair dance. I had the soup of the day: organic chicken bouillon over shredded duck bacon () and kari squash, flavoured with star anise. The bowl was piping hot, with a little mountain of squash and bacon, and a star anise floating about, and into the bowl you poured the steaming hot bouillon from a teapot. Interesting presentation, and delicious soup, I liked how the anise flavour came into the picture as it soaked in.

For mains, both parents had the Pork Tenderloin - maple and mustard seed glaze, Okanagan goats cheese and apple crumble (all goat cheese, all the time, for my dad), and while she had a little trouble finishing hers due to all that bleu cheese, he cleaned his plate. I think I did too: I had the Potato Wrapped Smoked Sablefish with local mussel, autumn vegetable chowder. Oh my, this was some dish! the mussels were sweet and delicious, the sauce rich but not too rich, and the fish just wonderful, I really like sablefish. And I really like fish wrapped in a potato jacket, I think that's just really cool. The usual Aurora meal: attention to detail, each flavour great on its own and in conjunction with the others.

Since my mother sucked back the lion's share of the wine, I had a small glass of the Sumac Ridge Vintage Pipe with dessert. And what a dessert! WOW! we all three had to try it: Dark Chocolate and Rum Pâté served with Pastry Cream and a Cinnamon-Spiced Pear. Sounds fairly normal...until it comes to you and it's vertical: pear ring topped with a hote, panko-breaded deep-fried disc of pastry cream (GENIUS, just GENIUS), topped with some semi-solid superfabulous ganache which began to soften... *swoons*

Well, it's a good thing we each had our own dessert, it could have gotten ugly.

***

The next night, of course, we went to Parkside. We were, happily, joined by the Mouses.

I arrived with the Mouses and found my dad and mum happily talking to Chef Andrey Durbach, who had recommended a bottle of wine: a 2000 Domaine de la Grange des Pères, from Hérault, which is outside of the appellation districts (in Languedoc) and thus just a "Vin de Pays." Let me move to your pays, mon vin. Cabernet-based, so smooth I nearly missed it at first, and really really nice with the food.

But first, Parkside Negronis for Mummy and me, and a Frozen Pineapple Cosmopolitan for Moosh. Mr. Mouse had an Alhambra, Spanish beer, and my Dad got his sip on with the wine, which he enjoyed immensely.

Michel (f/k/a the Johnny Depp Waiter) nearly dropped his book in shock when I ordered the scallop special instead of the foie gras. He said, "I hear you saying scallop, but my pen is writing foie!" and so since nobody else ordered it either, Chef graced us all with an amuse-sized portion, complete with toasted brioche. Oh this parfait de foie gras, so smooth, that little touch of fleur de sel, even my dad, a sworn liver foe, and Mr Mouse, who also claims not to like liver, ate it all up.

New converts!

For starters, both Mouses had the Tagliatelle of smoked sockeye salmon, cucumber, pink peppercorne, chive crème fraîche. Moosh gave me a bite (that's how good friends we are) and this stuff was, oh so good. Rich, creamy, perfect texture of pasta, luscious. My mother had the Salad of poached prawns, endive, apples, spiced pecans, celery, light curry dressing, but she was too far away for me to snag a bite. She said it was very good, though. My dad had the Jerusalem artichoke soup with morel mushrooms, Parmesan and caramelized onion tarte fine, and remarked on the silky smoothness of the soup, and I had the special scallops, seared and served with new potatoes and green bean salad, and I know I'm missing details. I haven't seen the pictures yet, and I have no aide-mémoire. I know I loved it, crisp green beans, creamy potatoes, and small, sweet scallops.

Mains, again I veered. No duck! I don't know why, I love the duck, I just was feeling pretty fishy I guess. Moosh and I both had the Deep sea cod in a prawn crust, crispy brandade potato cake, shellfish bisque and garlic butter jus (fish in crust theme!). The fish was beautiful, cooked just right (of course) and the bisque was extremely rich. Very flavourful dish! I loved the potato cake, especially. On a side note, I think I am not a big fan of bisque in general, I probably shouldn't order it...it always sounds so soft and nice, but it usually has a very bold flavour, and I'm always startled by it.

Mr. Mouse had the Medallions of venison, purée of cèpes, port wine sauce, potato and fresh herb gnocchi, which was my second choice, and he thought it was great. My mum had the Roast Rack of Lamb, as usual, and loved it, as usual. She loves the way Chef does lamb. My dad had a special, oh, pan fried sole in a white wine and lemon sauce I think it was, and again, loved it.

Somewhere in here came the need for a second bottle of wine, and I had spied a Turley Tofanelli Zin in my earlier researches, and persuaded the parental unit to give it a try based on the incredible bottle of Dogtown Zin we had had some months ago, and my copious charm, of course. Michel described this wine as the lightest of the Turley Zinfandels, but we found it just really bold following the Grange des Pères. So next time, dude, Just Say No and get us another bottle the same.

For dessert, the men both ate the sorbet trio: black currant, mango, and mascarpone. There wasn't a bit left at the end. My mum had the sticky toffee pudding, I think? as did I, and then Moosh had the dark chocolate cannoli with sour cherries and crème Chantilly. My pudding was good, although I have to say that I personally prefer the one I've had at Brix...I'm a bit of a sticky toffee pudding whore, I eat it anywhere I can find it, and I think Brix edges out Parkside in that department. (Neil's GBP is another animal entirely and I do not bring it into this comparison.)

To drink with our desserts, we ladies had a glass of Pommeau (an apple-based liqueur) from somewhere in Normandy IIRC, and it was just lovely and smooth.

Moosh took pictures of many of these dishes, which will follow soon I hope.

What a couple of nights! great dinners! My dad has stated that although Parkside is still his Declared Favourite, Aurora is now officially On The List.

Thank you so much, Chefs, and wonderful and attentive staffs. We'll be back.

[Mooshmouse]

The next night, of course, we went to Parkside. We were, happily, joined by the Mouses...

Moosh took pictures of many of these dishes, which will follow soon I hope.

←

That I did, and here they are!

Amuse-bouche: Foie gras parfait, red wine poached pear, sultana raisin agrodolce, toasted brioche

Seared scallops with green-bean salad and new potatoes

Tagliatelle of smoked sockeye salmon, cucumber, pink peppercorne, chive crème fraîche

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than the foie gras. This dish was so good that it bordered on the obscene. Deborah hit the nail on the head: if she wasn't such a good friend, there would have been no sharing one iota of my tagliatelle with her.

Deep sea cod in a prawn crust, crispy brandade potato cake, shellfish bisque and garlic butter jus

Hot on the heels of two remarkably stellar starters, I found this dish somewhat anticlimactic. To my palate, at least, the seafood bisque had a rather overpowering flavour that shocked my tastebuds after two dishes with such subtle tastes.

Medallions of venison, purée of cèpes, port wine sauce, potato and fresh herb gnocchi

A tiny sample bite was enough to assure me that the venison was outstanding. Deep, rich, earthy flavours. Wonderfully tender meat. The perfect dish for banishing winter's chill.

Dark chocolate cannoli with sour cherries and chantilly cream

Though the combination of the dark chocolate and the brandy snap was a bit on the sweet side for me, it was nicely tempered by the chantilly cream... enough that I was able to polish off both cannolis, thanks.

Sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream

Trio of sorbets: mascarpone, blackberry and mango

A shame that the Smoked Salmon Tagliatelle is only served as an appetizer; I firmly believe that I could live quite happily on it and the Foie Gras Parfaittogether with a bottle of the Domaine de la Grange des Pères 2000 Vin de Pays de l’Herault. Oh, and a bit of the Mascarpone Sorbet for good measure.

All in all, a lovely meal.

[mamacat]

Great Pictures, Joie....here it is, only 5:30am and I'm salivating just looking at them!

I'm just back from several days of meetings in Victoria and Ottawa. In Victoria, I attended a formal dinner held at the Navy Officer's Mess (beautiful location - right on the water). I had always heard that Navy cooks were great, but not so the night I was there. The roast beef was tough, the yorkshire pudding both looked and tasted like a baseball, the potatoes and veggies were tired looking and the sole efforts at presentation were folding the slices of roast beef and serving the horseradish in a mushroom cup. The dessert saved the meal, though. A white chocolate cheesecake that was light and fluffy.

Better luck in Ottawa where I took my sister to Merlot, the revolving restaurant atop the Marriott hotel downtown. This is a very, very good hotel restaurant and they have just recently started serving a prix fixe menu with two choices each of appetizer, main course and dessert. The appetizer we chose was a maple brie in phyllo with a wild blueberry compote and a few artistic greens on the side...very nice indeed. The main course was sea scallops, beautifully seared and served with artfully arranged grilled veggies and polenta and dessert was apple crumble with port-laced ice cream. At $40, the meal was excellent value.

My work group had a casual meal one evening at Mangia in the market area. We each had different versions of pasta and all were both tasty and abundant.

From there the dining became more mundane...Swiss Chalet, Louis Steak House out in the east end, and room service. I'm glad to be home!

[snacky_cat]

Our recent move killed a number of brain cells so what follows are mere capsules of reviews. They're not impressions and not even sketches. They're more like poorly-rendered crayon drawings. Sorry

In no particular order:

Nick's. I wanted to go to Senhor Rooster but Mr Cat wanted Nick's, so Nick's he got. Nick's is like the Disneyland of food for me: a magical retro-fabulous otherworld (we never had wood panelling!) where everyone is happy. I ate veal and ravioli like I always do, and it was simple but yummy, like it always is. Everybody sang Happy Birthday to someone in the corner, and they decorated the sprinklers for Christmas with dangly ornaments.

The Hippie Vegan Place in the SFU Student Union Building. Everyone in our lab is a raging carnivore but we will occasionally make a visit to this place (probably because it's the closest food establishment to our building, as the crow flies) for soup. They have one soup - Mental Lentil - that is actually ridiculously good, full of curry and coconut milk. Don't touch the desserts, though. The day I find a tasty vegan baked good is the day when pigs fly.

Fiction Five in North Van. Cute place (kinda Yaletown goes North Shore) with a good -looking menu for cheap. A nearby table ordered a bunch of appetizers, all of which looked good. Our table went, en masse, for the maple truffle chicken. It was okay - it was a bit smaller than I was expecting (I was hungry afterwards. When all 105lbs of me is still hungry after a meal, you know it was freakin' small), and the chicken came with the skin on. Barf. Unless it's roasted and golden brown, I don't do chicken skin. The maple glaze was good, but I couldn't taste the truffle. Came with a sweet potatoe puree (yum!), carrots and asparagus. Mr Cat's sides were cold but mine were hot and tasty.

Kaide Sushi in the 1300 block of Richards. FINALLY I live within spitting distance of a decent sushi takeout joint. Nothing special on the menu here, just a bunch of good rolls, but their fish is very fresh and the rice is perfectly cooked and nicely seasoned. We've picked up takeout from there a bunch of times and it's been great.

Sha Lin Noodle House for noodles of various types and dumplings. Skip the non-noodle dishes here and just order noodles, noodles and more noodles. Their gently firm consistency is awesome - no mushy carbs here. We also tried the pan fried dumplings which have a great presentation - they put 12 dumplings in a pan smushed next to each other and fry 'em up somehow so that when they turn them out onto the serving platter, you see them all interconnected with this golden brown bird's nest sort of thing. Like soup dumplings, these are best eaten by nipping off the top with you teeth and letting them cool for awhile, a lesson consistently lost on my Uncle.

HSG Oh Hammie, I love you so.

I think that's about it - all this moving has scrambled my brains.

[chocomoo]

I haven't posted in this thread in a while! Let's see...

La Régalade

Birthday dinner with my family.

Starters

We shared the mussels in a white wine & onion broth. As always, it was delicious - the broth has so much wine in it, it's so tasty we always have to get more bread to sop up the excess. This time the mussels were really plump & juicy, & there were less of the orange kind (which I find tend to be fishier). We also got the scallop ceviche tart (it's kind of an Alsatian tart, with thinly sliced scallop layered on top of a soft bed of caramelized onions) & the halibut mousse which came in a mushroom & something sauce.

Mains

Beef short ribs in a green peppercorn sauce (this is my mom's favourite dish - the sauce is really rich, & the meat is so soft it literally falls off the bone), grilled prime rib with with shallots, cloves of garlic, & potatoes (crispy on the outside, perfectly red & juicy in the middle), ruby trout with lemon butter (this was only the 2nd time I'd seen this dish, but you HAVE to order this if you see it on the specials board - the trout is DEBONED (a huge plus in my books), cooked perfectly, & the flavours are so clean & light, just, wow... one of the best fish dishes I've ever had), roasted 1/2 duck with roasted fruits (this was the only downer of the evening - I could smell the rancid oil as soon as our server set the pan down, but it wasn't extremely rancid - nobody else seemed bothered by it. The duck was a bit dry & not as tasty as it usually is. Umm, the roast fruits were good though!) & coq au vin (apparently pretty good, this was the only dish I didn't try as I was too stuffed.

Desserts

Apparently not stuffed enough for dessert! We got a pear & almond tart (nice & light) & a milk chocolate tart (soooo good, the chocolate was very rich & creamy, & the tart crust was SHORTBREAD ).

Aurora

Birthday dinner with friends

Unfortunately, I was kinda sick with a cold that day, so I wasn't really in the mood to eat. And I already hadn't eaten for 30 hours prior to that. Anyways, that didn't stop me from ordering an appetizer, main & dessert!

To start with, I got the smoked salmon crème fraiche cheesecake. It was pretty yummy & came with some apple & fennel salad on top. I think I would've liked the cheesecake to have a bit more texture though, instead of the smoked salmon sort of all blended together. One friend got the bison carpaccio, which was really good (man I'm such a carnivore! It was so meltingly soft. Was it supposed to come with a truffle aioli? I couldn't taste it, probably because of my cold ).

As promised in the best value steak thread , I got the grilled flat iron steak. I was torn between that and the rootbeer braised bison shortribs (game meat always catches my eye these days) but I wanted to go for the steak. I was disappointed that it came with a sunchoke confit instead of the crab pomme dauphin as promised on their site, but as I thought I hadn't tried sunchoke before, that was ok. As soon as I bit into my first piece of the sunchoke, I thought it tasted familiar. While my friends chatted with me & I pretended to listen, I tried to figure out where I had tasted sunchoke before, & then it hit me - my auntie grows it in her garden! She often puts it in Chinese soups that she makes my grandma (I live with my grandma). Lately I've been wondering what sunchoke tasted like as it seems to have gained popularity these days, & I've finally realized that the Chinese name is "fook sun". Unfortunately, I don't really like the taste of it, so I was even more disappointed it replaced the crab pomme dauphin. Oh well! I liked how the steak came in an earl grey demi-glace. I tried hard to taste the earl grey, & I think I did a little bit in the beginning, but because of my stuffy nose I couldn't really taste it in the end. The presentation of the shortribs was really interesting - my friends were a bit puzzled because it looked like a deep-fried cake, but once they dug into it they were pleasantly surprised. I didn't ask to taste it but they enjoyed it. 2 of my friends got the pine mushroom risotto - not bad, but I prefer the mushroom risotto at Bin 942 (cheesier). I scored a little bite of my friends - my other friend thought the cheese overpowered the flavour of the dish (wha? I thought it could've been cheesier) & couldn't even taste the mushrooms. I could, I thought it was pretty good & quite light. My friends finished theirs in like, 5 minutes

For dessert, we wanted to share the crème fraiche cheesecake & the dark chocolate and rum pâté, but they had run out of the pâté So we got the vanilla bean pannacotta, & we weren't disappointed. There was some kind of green sauce drizzled on it (I couldn't figure out what it was). I really liked the walnut crust on the cheesecake - I don't remember there being frozen grapes though, & the sorrel sauce tasted like cranberries to me, although I've never had sorrel before.

All in all, the food was good, but not spectacular. Again, I was sick that day, so that's not really fair to Chef Jeff. The other 3/4 of the downer was the service - there was a large party there (Christmas get-together?) so I guess much of the focus was on them. We felt a bit ignored - I think our server filled our waters once? We had to flag her down for everything... I also found it a bit strange that she didn't ask me how I wanted my steak done - is that normal?

Koji on Hornby & Burrard

Birthday lunch with my friend

We tried to go to the Art Gallery as the food's pretty decent, but there was no room to sit & we both don't like sitting out in the sun.

So, we ended up at Koji, which has been there forever (I think the last time I was there was more than 10 years ago). We both got the lunch special, which was ok - I should've gotten sushi or sashimi. It was a pretty good deal though - for $8.99 we got 3 siu mai's (which is really weird to eat in a Japanese restaurant), teriyaki chicken on rice (I had a little bite of a piece - not really that good - little teriyaki flavour & the skin was kinda fatty, gross), some salad, a bowl of soba, & 2 pieces of cooked salmon maki (I think this was the best thing in the set).

Edited December 16, 2005 by chocomoo (log)

[kurtisk]

Aurora

Birthday dinner with friends

Unfortunately, I was kinda sick with a cold that day, so I wasn't really in the mood to eat.  And I already hadn't eaten for 30 hours prior to that.  Anyways, that didn't stop me from ordering an appetizer, main & dessert!

To start with, I got the smoked salmon crème fraiche cheesecake.  It was pretty yummy & came with some apple & fennel salad on top.  I think I would've liked the cheesecake to have a bit more texture though, instead of the smoked salmon sort of all blended together.  One friend got the bison carpaccio, which was really good (man I'm such a carnivore!  It was so meltingly soft.  Was it supposed to come with a truffle aioli?  I couldn't taste it, probably because of my cold    ). 

As promised in the best value steak thread , I got the grilled flat iron steak.  I was torn between that and the rootbeer braised bison shortribs (game meat always catches my eye these days) but I wanted to go for the steak.  I was disappointed that it came with a sunchoke confit instead of the crab pomme dauphin as promised on their site, but as I thought I hadn't tried sunchoke before, that was ok.  As soon as I bit into my first piece of the sunchoke, I thought it tasted familiar.  While my friends chatted with me & I pretended to listen, I tried to figure out where I had tasted sunchoke before, & then it hit me - my auntie grows it in her garden!  She often puts it in Chinese soups that she makes my grandma (I live with my grandma).  Lately I've been wondering what sunchoke tasted like as it seems to have gained popularity these days, & I've finally realized that the Chinese name is "fook sun".  Unfortunately, I don't really like the taste of it, so I was even more disappointed it replaced the crab pomme dauphin.  Oh well!  I liked how the steak came in an earl grey demi-glace.  I tried hard to taste the earl grey, & I think I did a little bit in the beginning, but because of my stuffy nose I couldn't really taste it in the end.  The presentation of the shortribs was really interesting - my friends were a bit puzzled because it looked like a deep-fried cake, but once they dug into it they were pleasantly surprised.  I didn't ask to taste it but they enjoyed it.  2 of my friends got the pine mushroom risotto - not bad, but I prefer the mushroom risotto at Bin 942 (cheesier).  I scored a little bite of my friends - my other friend thought the cheese overpowered the flavour of the dish (wha? I thought it could've been cheesier) & couldn't even taste the mushrooms.  I could, I thought it was pretty good & quite light.  My friends finished theirs in like, 5 minutes 

For dessert, we wanted to share the crème fraiche cheesecake & the dark chocolate and rum pâté, but they had run out of the pâté    So we got the vanilla bean pannacotta, & we weren't disappointed.  There was some kind of green sauce drizzled on it (I couldn't figure out what it was).  I really liked the walnut crust on the cheesecake - I don't remember there being frozen grapes though, & the sorrel sauce tasted like cranberries to me, although I've never had sorrel before.

All in all, the food was good, but not spectacular.  Again, I was sick that day, so that's not really fair to Chef Jeff.  The other 3/4 of the downer was the service - there was a large party there (Christmas get-together?) so I guess much of the focus was on them.  We felt a bit ignored - I think our server filled our waters once?  We had to flag her down for everything...    I also found it a bit strange that she didn't ask me how I wanted my steak done - is that normal?

Hello!

I just wanted to respond to a few of your notes, plus applaud you for recognizing that your cold may have affected your taste buds that night, up to and including the risotto "too cheesey/not cheesey enough" debate.

A few of your points mention discrepancies between the menu and the menu on our website. While we hope our website gives people a decent impression of Aurora, it is updated (generally) on a bi-weekly basis. Our organic farmers, fish suppliers, etc. are not on as much of a regemented schedule. If there's no crab, there's no crab. Our farm finished up their sorrel supply suddenly, and that's why our cheesecake was switched to a cranberry & ginger compote (which was also reflected on our freshly-printed menus that day). Maybe we need to look at a disclaimer on the website (and we will), but those are the reasons why it differed from the menu, which obviously takes precedence.

We don't ask for a meat temperature on the flat iron steak because we feel it shows best at medium rare. Like any other ingredient or component at the restaurant, we like to show it at its full capacity. We feel that if someone cannot eat a steak unless it's completely well done, then they will mention that off the bat. Otherwise, we feel that offering an option means we would feel confident serving that dish at medium well or well done, which we do not.

The night you were in, yes there was a large Christmas party. Here's the deal;

They booked for 18 and then 28 showed up. Keep in mind that we only sit 36 people. This makes a big difference to the flow of our evening. We would never take anything larger, mid-service, than an 18 as we understand how difficult it is to control every aspect of what we do while a larger behemoth of a party makes its prescence thoroughly known. I had to have another server that night (yours) take on some of the bulk, I simply had no options. It kills me to hear that you had to flag down your server for everything. I simply don't know how that happened. I mean, I'm here almost every night and have a decent scope on the room, even on crazy nights like when you were in. Sometimes, the timing simply won't jive. There were times that evening though, where I needed your server to hop to the big table here and there or else everything would've spun out of control (like when Chef Jeff had 28 plates up for each course). I'm terribly sorry about your service that night, I do everything in my power to prevent such things from happening. Some things are simply out of my control (ie-the bonus 10 people), and I do my best to fix any problems and prevent them from happening in the future.

Please PM me and I'll ensure you're fully taken care of.

Kurtis

[chef jeff]

Chocomoo, why would you post a review of our restaurant if you were sick and not in the mood to dine. How can you comment on the food if you can't even taste it?

Jeff

[chocomoo]

As I said in my PM to Kurtis, I honestly didn't mean to rag on the service. I do understand that it was an off night. And ok, maybe I was exaggerating when I said when had to flag our server down for EVERYTHING. Sometimes I exaggerate. The service wasn't HORRIBLE, so I didn't feel a need to complain. I did mention a lot that I was sick and couldn't taste things properly. I never said the food tasted bad at all. The sunchoke confit wasn't bad, I just don't like sunchoke. And my cold wasn't so bad that I couldn't taste anything. To make everyone happy, I would've edited my review, but eGullet won't let me anymore, so here it is.

Please disregard my review of Aurora.

[Andrew Morrison]

A moratorium it is.

I've been busy setting up a new venture and I've been doing all my meetings in restaurants. Brown's in Yaletown saw many pints, excellent orange peel chicken (little boneless poppers with a concentrated citrus glaze and sticky sambal plate smear), and some passable wok-fried calamari. It's one of the more imaginative rooms in Yaletown as far as decor is concerned. The service is almost too casual, but then again I'm not really a glutton for the Earl's/Cactus stylings of teenage lovelies. The same night, we went to Nu, where I once again indulged in Clark's French Onion soup and liquid cheddar crackers. Leonard was absent (kids Christmas party, I believe - us pops have our responsibilities ), but Keith and Jay were there handling a room chock-a-block with Christmas parties (those tables and chairs are tough to seat 10 and 12 tops!). To round out the evening we went to Chambar, but I've already written about that elsewhere. Last week, yup, it was Aurora Bistro for a review. Turns out, they are professional!

Since then, Elixir, Diva, and Bacchus for short visits, but all were lively and decked out with Xmas cheer. Restaurants on my radar right now are Saltlik, Lolita's, Baru Latino (never heard a peep about them since the 16th annual VMRA) and Cru. I'll be on the island staying at the Point No Point Resort for the four days between Boxing Day and New Years Eve, but I hope to dip down to Victoria for the Rosemeade/Brasserie/Mo:Le trifecta.

Opening sooners I'm following: Rare One, Century, Sansafir.

Edited December 17, 2005 by Andrew Morrison (log)

[gerald]

anyhow, back on point

circolo,

had the porterhouse for 2 (and I even shared), outstanding, came with a bed of arugula and shaved padano.

wingnuts,

with my partner noah, hammered down 60 wings, spicy thai peanut sauce, very good, jerk sauce, okay, smokey bbq, a little sweet for my taste, seriously hot, very good. Had a couple of deep fried candy bars as noah says, how do you take a candy bar and make it even worse for you, dunk it in the deep fryer.

flying wedge,

had the vegetarian on flax crust, know what, the flax crust is excellent

[surfer_dream]

Just arrived back to this wonderful city - travelling the last 4 months on business and always return to Pino's!!  We had a business luncheon this past week - I guess you can say the Marketing Teams got together from all over and had some Festive Cheer - 7 of us in all and the food is always fantastic.  I must say that though Pino is in a league of his own - he does it well.  An absolutely amazing Wine List where Pino himself makes the recommendations.  Ate at Aureole in Las Vegas last week before arriving here and truly one of the best meals I have ever had - kudos to Charlie Palmer!!

Only here till the 27th and then off again so I have lots of catching up to do.  Anybody recommend some great eats currently in the city?

sd

I  haven't contributed to this thread in a while but here goes:

I went to Culinaria for lunch on Wednesday.  I've been meaning to go for quite some time.  I thought that the meal was lovely and very reasonably priced.  I had the salmon with hollandaise sauce and sauteed vegetables.  My friends had the lamb tenderloin with apple and squash gnocchi, and the lobster clubhouse with fries and lobster bisque.  Our server was pleasant although exceedingly nervous.  All in all, a good place for lunch.

Friday night I went to Cioppino's since I had been craving good pasta as winter has made itself increasingly more apparent.  I started with the scallops with risotto, followed by the agnolotti of beef short ribs, finished with the milk chocolate mousse with raspberry cream centre, sour cherries, and mango coulis.   My friend also raved about her garganelli witih lobster and crab in tomato-cream sauce.  I am never disappointed when I go to Cioppino's.  The service is impeccable, the ambiance cozy, and the food divine.

Lastly, I had brunch at Cafe Campagne in Seattle yesterday.  I had their "Oeufs en meurette" which consisted of poached eggs with onions, bacon, mushrooms in a red wine and foie gras sauce.  The eggs were served atop garlic croutons.  There were also pomme frites on the side with garlic lemon aoili.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

←

[Matt R.]

Since I eat at a restaurant at least five nights a week, I don't get out as much as I'd like.

My last three meals were grilled chicken salad with a great shallot/sundried tomato vinaigrette, hot black forest ham and provolone on grilled cheese bun with tomato, onion and lolla rosa lettuce (yum!) and tonight I actually ate something off the menu! We ran a feature starter tonight of marsala braised veal cheeks, with a frisee, apple and hazlenut salad dressed with apple cider vinaigrette. This was my second experience with these soft little nuggets of beefy gelatin, leaving my lips sticky like i'd just eaten oxtail. I enjoyed the dish quite a bit, and would order them off a menu someplace else. The local apples we have right now are simply outstanding, and a real treat on their own (with some orange caramel sauce from the station next to mine ....)

I finished tonght by splitting a double chocolate/kahlua tart with the GM cook. They look pretty easy to make. Chocolate cookie crumb base, with egg/booze enriched chocolate ganache.

All of the above was invariably paired with Coke, water, or whatever I can trade with the bartender. I should also note that this was consumed from the best staff table in Victoria. A bench on the deck outside, overlooking the Oak Bay Marina and Mt. Baker. Maybe next week I will bring my camera.

-- Matt.

[Brenda]

I'm a little confused. Where exactly were you eating these meals, Matt?

The Oak Bay Marina Restaurant?

[teamboom]

Hi! I'm brand-spankin new here (but you all probably knew that already).

I absolutely love this forum, mainly because I love food and eating and cooking.

But anyway...

Last night my boyfriend and I had some take-out from Stepho's (cheap, fast, filling...and take out because who wants to stand in a line up when you live two blocks away?)

On my Saturday shift at work, my co-worker and I decided to get some delivery from Papaya Hut at night. Cashew chicken, rice, pad thai!! yumm....the only downer? They didn't give us any cutlery, so we had to scrounge the office for some chopsticks.

And Friday I was at my parent's house because I had to dogsit. Had some good ol' mom's homecooking (which I love). Rice, steamed chicken wings, duck wings (my favourite!!), and baby bokchoy.

[kissmekate]

Lucky me! I work with some of the finest restaurants in the city and because of my job as a publicist dine at the restaurants with media, for events and at various corporate dinner meetings. I have certainly had some of the best meals of my life here in Vancouver at these clients' restaurants, but to mention them would be shilling wouldn't it! I do so many events and dine out so often (yes I know, no sympathy from this group) that consequently I don't get the opportunity to dine out at places that are not my clients very often.

I will however mention a couple of dining experiences I have had in the last few months at establishments that are not my clients, friends, or client of a friend…

Gramercy Grill - I hadn’t been back there since last year even though the meal I had at that time was excellent. I had a roast chicken last time I was in, and chose chicken again this time. They are running a $35 3-course menu right now with some excellent choices and even though we didn't go in to have that it offered such a good selection that we did. Not only was the meal excellent, but the price incredibly good value. I had a mushroom and cheese phyllo appetizer, a superb spinach stuffed chicken and crème brulée. Our waiter suggested a Chilean Pinot Noir that we were a bit unsure about trying but it too turned out to be both excellent and at about $40 a bottle, great value as well. They had a stack of "Alive" Magazines at the counter, which had an article featuring the restaurant. Quite a good magazine, and a very good article by Jason McRobbie. Trevor the bartender who often gets mentioned in various top service awards is now a partner in the restaurant along with Susan and they are doing a great job. The place was packed!

We have been into the new Earls at the Paramount Cinema building a couple of times now, the food and service always consistently good and a great looking room to be sure. It makes for a nice evening or afternoon combined with a film next door at the cinema.

We have dined at Habit twice now and really enjoyed the food both times. First time I tried the buffalo with black beans. Very nicely prepared, perfectly seasoned and an excellent portion for the price. I was with a big group so got to see a lot of dishes and they all looked very good. The room is a bit Ikea/ 70's diner, not exactly beautiful but attractive and functional as well as comfortable (chair and booth backs you can lean against!) a nice background for the food and service rather then the main attraction. No problem ordering a little cheese plate, something not on the menu though you never would have known by both the ease in getting the request and the beautiful presentation. The service was very good despite being very busy (a Saturday night) and the food didn't seem to suffer a bit for being open just a couple of weeks. We dropped in quite late the following week following a meeting with the City of Vancouver's Food Policy Task Force. Had the chicken wings and a fabulous tofu dish.

I finally got into Chopsticks on Hamilton, the food was very good although a bit "goopy" for me but I am truly spoiled as I have dined at Tojo's a numbers of times now and all other Japanese food really does pale by comparison.

Was in Hon's on Robson this week for a quick meeting with a client and ordered their excellent Congee with sliced beef. I asked for some fresh ginger, which I love, to be added and took home some of their excellent frozen dim sum items for the freezer. You have to be in the mood for the noise level at Hon's but for a good noodle or congee fix, it's a great choice.

Went to the "official" opening of Quince last week (3rd and Burrard - former site of Lesley Stowe who has moved up 2 blocks, and east 1 block to 5th Avenue) and I think this is going to be a very successful operation for Andrea Jefferson, the Chef/owner. She is offering catering, some dine in options, take away items that include ready to go, heat and serve and Sous Vide as well as some fabulous hard to find fresh food items like frangipane dough, sweet dough, sauces and piping bags full of chocolate mousse all ready to go. Andrea is also a culinary instructor and her classes are reputed to be excellent. She also has classes for children that are taught by a former elementary school teacher turned professional chef.

Dined at Diva at the Met last week for our "staff" lunch, a group of us who often work together, consult and are self employed. None of us actually qualify as staff, nor do we really have staff, but it was a great group of food photographers, food stylists, contract assistants and food promotions folks. The meal was preordered and set. Karen Su, Exec Chef Ray Henry's right hand gal personally prepared our lunch and it was really outstanding. I haven't been in for some time and although we really didn't try a lot from the regular menu it was very enjoyable. I couldn’t read the nametag of our server, she was a young blond women and I want to say that she was a really excellent waiter.

We were up at Whistler a few weeks ago for Cornucopia and dined in the restaurant at the new Four Seasons. Prices were not bad for a hotel but the Chef up there, Wow! Exec Chef Jason McLeod is an absolute culinary star, his cuisine if superb.

Took in a very late meal at Lolita's, very much felt like one of the bin's, enjoyed the food - I think! (I was dog tired after doing an event for 9 hours without sitting down, eating or drinking a thing and my taste buds were in refueling mode at best) I will try it again when I can give it the attention it deserves.

Dropped in for a quick bite at Lily Kate in Yaletown. Granted I was heading for Diner, which was full, but I don't know why LK seems to get such a bad rap because it's not deserved. The food was very, very good, service warm and friendly and I liked the room. The owner says she is very slow Sunday - Wednesday but busy the other 3 nights. A struggle to be sure but she seems very dedicated to making it work.

That's it for me, I did have a few other dining experiences that I won't mention because as my Mother says, "if you can't find anything nice to say, don't say anything at all", a bit of a mantra among PR people, and all other meals were at clients so off limits due to shilling regulations.

Places I have been hearing good things about from people in the "industry" and want to check out soon are the Rosemead in Victoria, Aurora on Main Street, Diner in Yaletown and Mistral.

I am going to see if I can post a bit of a calendar of up-coming food events at my clients if Arni will let me but in the mean time here is a little gift of a list of some of my favourite sites, Merry Christmas to all, and happy holidays to the rest of you!

www.epicurious.com

www.ldei.org

www.slowfood.com,

www.slowfoodvancouver.com

www.stainedapron.com

www.bookstocooks.com

www.bcliquorstores.com

www.gourmetwarehouse.ca

www.farmfolkcityfolk.ca

www.eatlocal.org

www.webtender.com

www.nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html

www.pacificpalate.com

www.thestoreforcooks.com

www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/commsvcs/ socialplanning/initiatives/foodpolicy/

[fud]

Friday Night

--------------

Dinner at a friend's house

- Carrot potato mash

- Beef Tenderloin in a apple cider/pomegranate reduction

- Roasted Aparugi with nothing but butter (and salt)

Saturday Night

-----------------

Dinner at another friend's (who I might add has a dream kitchen)

- Guyere French Onion Soup (inspired by Nu)

- Pork Tenderloin with rosemary,s&p rub and a generous portion of olive oil

- Toasted almond salad

- Carmelized Yams

- Thinly sliced skirt steak marinated in red wine/port/cassis/balsamic and rolled around enoki mushrooms

- Hand made angel hair pasta with grilled chicken in mushroom sauce

- Sub zero BBQ grilled bell peppers, eggplant and zuccini

- Home made green tea ice cream in freshly made waffle cones

Sunday night to Last Night

-----------

- Leftovers!

- I made some <drool> bacon wrapped water chestnuts in teriyaki sauce and in BBQ sauce. My god these things are evil.

- Baked brie with a plum jam inside

oh. meat overload. Too.much.meat.but.must.eat.more.bacon.mmmm

[Chocoholic]

I am more or less abusing this thread to make a quick post after a long absence. A major promotion at work means I have no time left for idle browsing and posting, I barely have time to lurk. The new job however means a lot more eating out for work . Memorable meals in the last little while include offerings from Cru, Shiru Bay and Savoury Coast.

I am now on Christmas break and am about to put the turkey in a brine for tomorrow...have a good one!

PS I went to Granville Island this morning at 9am sharp...what a madhouse!

[ElizR]

The Tomahawk Cafe in North Vancouver - finally. I have intended to try this place for ages, particularly as it is so close to work. Had a quick lunch of the Simon Baker burger (burger with bacon, cheese and mushrooms) with salad. Super tasty, and the quality of the meat was one of the best I have had in a burger. The only gripe would be that they do not do half salad/half fries with the burger. I also chickened out of the Mixed Grill but will have it one of these days.

Polish Deli on 500 block of Kingsway. A simple lunch of soup and bread, but one of the most satisfying lunches all year: the soup was cabbage and sausage and has to be one of the best soups I have ever had!! Only $3.50 for a huge bowl, too!!

Mistral. I have wanted to go since it opened and was not disappointed. I had the Pissaladiere to start, and the flavours were very well balanced. I also like the fact it came with a salad. Main course was the special - beef tenderloin with carrots, peas and fries. Fabulous!! I like my beef rare and find that it is quite unusual for restaurants to get it right, but this was perfect. Finished with the apple tart which was also very competently executed. Bf had the goat's cheese salad to start and reported it was delicious; the cassoulet for the main- exceeded expectations there, too; and the belle Helene to finish. We swapped deserts half way, and we both agreed that the pear dessert was a bit insubstantial, but maybe that's just the way it's meant to be.

We only had a glass of wine each, but did think that the list was a little short.

Overall a most pleasant evening, and we will be back.

[Ling]

Wednesday dinner

take-out from Parker Place

Soy sauce chicken, roast pork, rice. Meat and starch...that's all I need.

Wednesday night

Kelsey's

Split the four cheese spinach dip and a bottle of Cedar Creek pinot noir with this guy I'm seeing after we did some Christmas shopping. The dip came with triangles of fried bread instead of tortilla chips. Food was...well, what you'd expect from Kelsey's.

Friday night

Villa del Lupo

Villa del Lupo is situated in a heritage house on Hamilton Street. The interior of the restaurant has much the same gentle charm—muted green on the walls, a small, twinkling Christmas tree on the second floor, soft candlelight. We had an early reservation (7:30pm) last night, but the restaurant was already quite full upon our arrival. Our server, Mark, was attentive and quiet, which seemed to match the hushed and intimate mood in the restaurant. The meal was wonderful; we drank a bottle of Burgundy with the dishes.

Appetizers

Housemade foccacia (topped with a bit of pesto and slices of tomato)

Jumbo scallop, lobster agnolotti, saffron and vanilla infusion, sweet onion ragout

and

Veal sweetbreads, shoestring potatoes, braised greens and foie gras reduction

Both appetizers were delicious, but I would have preferred a bit more crust on the scallop. The agnolotti was cooked al dente and plump with fresh lobster. We both gave the edge to the sweetbreads, though—I’ve only had sweetbreads a few times before, but enjoyed this preparation the best. Slight crust, soft and creamy interior. Heavenly with the rich sauce. Even the chard was good!

Mains

Rack of lamb, wild mushrooms and veal stock, potato and herb pave

I thought the plating on this dish was beautiful—I cropped the picture, but the bones were so long and curved dramatically in opposite directions. My date ordered it medium, which is more “done” than what I’m used to, but it was still tender. Beautiful pave in the corner—I really appreciate it when the kitchen plays as much attention to the accompaniments as they do to the main dish.

Milk fed veal Friulana, Marsala and Parma ham, braised leek and potato tart

I ordered the veal and it was fine, but a bit tough, and a bit difficult to cut with the knife I was given. It was cooked all the way through, and there was a layer of cheese beneath the prosciutto. The tart was pretty—delicate, butter pastry encasing the soft mash.

Desserts

They were out of my first choice, the lemon tart, so I got the…

Valrhona mousse bomb with candied hazelnuts

Normally, the Valrhona dessert would have been my first choice, but it was my second selection last night because I had been eating my Valrhona Guanaja ganache all day at home, before dinner. The mousse was good, but I prefer very dark chocolate desserts and this was a bit sweet for me (sweetness level was between milk chocolate and semisweet). Beautiful presentation. The Valrhona was rounded out with the cream in the mousse, so I suspect that even people who are a bit turned off by the fruit flavours inherent in this chocolate would enjoy it very much.

Tiramisu, vanilla tuile

I know my date’s a keeper when he willingly pushes his dessert in front of me to finish after tasting it. Villa del Lupo’s interpretation of the classic dessert is great—chocolate cake instead of ladyfingers, a bit of espresso, and barely sweetened marscapone. I enjoyed this dessert more than the mousse.

Edited December 25, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Vancitygirl]

Lorna,

Thanks a ton for the Villa post. I hadn't been since the new owners took over and it is now on the top of my list to try when a lamb craving hits me (usually daily).

[Ling]

Glad I could help!

[eugene]

A two for one: venting spiel and a review. First the spiel.

So I called Wild Rice to make reservations for my birthday (late/mid November). First the lady on the phone says they don’t take reservations. Fine, I can live with that.

“Wait a second, maybe we do, let me have my manager call you.”

Alrighty. Next day (!!!), phone call from the manager.

“Hi, we usually don’t take reservations unless it’s for a party.”

Is 12 people enough for ya? It’s for Saturday.

“Well you see Saturdays are very busy for us and we usually don’t take reservations…” and blah blah blah “ok fine. But require a deposit.”

Excuse me?

“We need your credit card just case you don’t show up.”

And if I don’t? Do you just steal money from my VISA?

“We will deduct $400.”

WTF????? Excuse me?? This is the biggest load of BS I have ever experienced in my dining ventures. EVER! If you are SO friggin busy that you don’t take reservations, then fine, just say that. No big deal.

BUT if you are SO BUSY THAT YOU DON’T TAKE RESERVATIONS, then you shouldn’t have a problem giving my table away in case I don’t show up, instead of fleecing me of $400. I am not making a reservation for a date here. It’s for a BIRTHDAY party for 12 freaking people. Why would I make reservations if I don’t intended to show up??? Where am I going to feed them? Take my best 12 friends for a birthday party at the local Burger King?

Suffice to say it will be a really, really cold day in hell before I go to Wild Rice, with or without reservations.

Thank you for listening.

So I called Hamilton Street Grill for the birthday party and received the outmost gracious service. And hey, they DO take reservations. Here is the review.

My memory is slightly skewed due to the amount of wine and liquor I consumed I had the beef capriccio, which was good, and the hanger steak, which was even better (MMM MMM orgasm). The sweet potato fries ROCK (even though they are a tad on the limp side). I believe some of the other dishes around the table were mussels, pasta, salmon, salad, and New-York steak. All of which were excellent. The wine/liquor list is very reasonably priced. Most importantly, the portions are a GOOD size and nobody remained hungry at the end of the dinner.

I only have two tiny peeves (really small).

I think a restaurant gets extra points when it recognizes a client’s special event. After all, the client chose them for his/her special event and it would be excellent PR for the restaurant to acknowledge this. Perhaps a dessert on the house for a wedding anniversary dinner, or a drink on the house for the birthday boy. Hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge…

The second peeve is more serious though. While I really appreciate attentive service, there’s a fine line that crosses into servers riding my ass like we’re dating. Being asked if I decided what to drink/eat every 2 seconds is not my idea of attentive service. On the flip side however, the gentleman was prompt at bringing us our dishes/drinks.

I cannot wait to go back to the Yummy Hamy!!!

Edited December 30, 2005 by eugene (log)

[quattroporte]

I completely agree with you on the Wild Rice thing: sadly (for WR) there are too many fabulous restaurants out there that don't require your Visa number, and would be THRILLED to have a party of 12 come to their restaurant.

What were they thinking?

[teamboom]

My friend had her birthday party at Wild Rice, and whoever it was made her put a $200 cash deposit down. And she actually did it.

I would never do that...

[Brenda]

I can certainly understand the Mastercard/Visa thing if they actually took reservations as a matter of course.

I would say, though, that $200 is way out of line ($400 - unbelievable).

That's too bad. I really like the food and vibe at Wild Rice.