Vancouver Trip Report

[halland]

One of the main reasons why I love EG is that the restaurant recommendations often take one off the beaten path and away from the regular tourist destinations. This last weekend, while visiting Vancouver with my wife and in-laws, we made the rounds for a few bites, some old standbys, some recommendations by fellow 'Gulleteers, and maybe even a few new contributions.

Piccolo Mondo

The first night took us to Piccolo Mondo, a place we've been before, but that we found dissapointing this time around. If you've ever been to PM you know that it is very formal in a traditional sort of way. The atmosphere is nice -- dim lighting, well set tables, and lots and lots of wine decorations.

Generally after giving the menu a quick glance I'll immediately dive into the wine list and think about how to put together my meal (app, entree, beverage). In my opinion PM's list is too heavily weighted on the expensive side -- I felt like I was handed the reserve list at first glance. The majority of the wine list fell into the over $100/bottle price range, with only a small handful of bottles under $50, and quite a few wines in the $300+ range. They do offer a few wines by the glass and also by the 1/2 L. but a good wine list really should offer a broader range of values.

The 4 of us all ordered a salad or appetizer and an entree. I didn't take copious notes on this menu but among the items ordered was foie gras with melon, a tomato and mozzarella salad, a pasta dish with shrimps, osso bucco with saffron risotto, and a risotto with frog legs.

Of all these dishes none was executed better than barely acceptable and a few elements were downright bad. The foie gras had not been cleaned of all the membrane which made cutting it a bit of a challenge, the tomatoes in the salad were not very flavorful and borderline underripe, the shrimp in the pasta tasted of iodine/chlorine, and the saffron risotto was undersalted and had entirely too much saffron to the point of making the risotto inedible, and the rice in the frog risotto was undercooked for my taste with a still slightly crunchy center.

Had any one of the above element arose in an otherwise perfect meal I would have chalked it up to an overstressed kitchen or just an accident, but together they just don't inspire confidence in the kitchen. I should mention that the restaurant was all but dead and for some reason I find that food quality sometimes suffers in a slow kitchen.

For dessert we had a pistachio cake with poached pears, a marsala sabayon, and chantilly cream. This was the best element of the meal. My only complaint would be that there was just too much going on and the flavors, while all complimentary to each other, were lost in the mix.

Additionally, to echo another post here, I found the inter-course service to be sloppy with silverware dropped rather than set onto the table.

All in all, not a great meal.

Cafe Artigiano

I learned about Cafe Artigiano on CoffeeGeek.com and was excited to get to try it on this trip. Their setup is impressive, and the place was packed. Cafe Artigiano's claim-to-fame is their artistic latte foam, but really the things to impress are what goes on behind the scenes. These comments apply to the Hornby St. location.

First off, the machine is a 5-group La Marzocco. This is a BIG machine, one of only 4 in the world and the only one in North America. There was a small sign taped to the back of the machine listing some of the improvements they are making. These included: PID regulation of water temperatures, adding mineral content to harden Vancouver's soft water and restriction of water flow at the grouphead (there were two other elements I don't remember).

One of the things I noticed that Artigiano does differently is that they have 2 barista teams working to build drinks. One person pulls shots, one person makes foam. This ensures that the shots are still hot when the foam gets added and also ensures that the foam is perfectly done. The shot puller adds the prepared foam/milk to the drink.

I should also mention that Artigiano pulls ristretto shots which are lower volume, higher concentration shots, and this results in a very strong brew, that I thought was fantastic and other in my group though were a little too strong.

Szechuan Chongqing Seafood Restaurant

We wound up here on Saturday morning looking for an early lunch. We pulled over because we saw the banner proclaiming them the #1 Szechuan restaurant in Vancouver and we were all starving. Its up on the second floor at #205-1668 W. Broadway. We came into pandemonium, the place was packed, the foyer was packed, and everyone was crowded up to the front clamoring for a table. It seemed like they'd never fit us all but we were seated quickly and then realized that they were only offering Dim Sum service. Unfortunately I'm not a Dim Sum expert. I can recognize the dishes by sight but I don't know the names of all the dishes. I can tell you that everything we ate was great! Of note were the taro balls, soft tofu rolls, sticky rice, short ribs, and salt and pepper spot prawns. My in-laws had never had dim sum before and my father-in-law is not a huge fan of chinese cuisine, but we ate everything in sight and they loved it all. At the end of the meal I looked up and saw a sign informing me that from 9-3 all Dim Sum items are $2! Get there, this place is great!!!

Parkside on Haro St.

I'd heard about Parkside here on EG and then when I casually mentioned that we were going to a friend in the biz she told me that they had their best meal ever in Vancouver at Parkside. Parkside is located on a quiet side street off Robson that feels like its in a completely different world. Its located in the (daylight) basement of a small hotel, and I knew as soon as I entered that this would be a memorable meal. The room is very chic, with soft lighting, dark wood furniture, and windows opened out onto lush green garden.

For starters we had a jerusalem artichoke, cauliflower, and celery root soup. It did not say on the menu, but this was served with a splash of truffle oil. Outside of a veloute I had in Paris once, this was the best soup I've ever tasted. Watching diners around the room, you could see when they took their first taste of the soup: their eyes would close, lips purse, and a long contented exhale could be seen.

Salad of organic beets and their greens, orange and spiced almonds. This was simply exectued with first rate ingredients. Imagine perfect beets and you're approaching this dish.

Prosciutto with melon, fresh mint, and olive oil. I did not try this but the person who did was at first suspicious because 1) the melon was diced and set upon a circle of prosciutto and 2) the melon was honeydew which is usually not good. Every last bit was eaten, and the melon, I hear, was perfect.

Duck rillettes on toasted country bread, baby frisee salad, bacon vinagrette. I had this as the start of a duck-centric meal. It was generous with three quenelle-sized portions of a very well done rillette. The softness of the duck was well balanced by the smoky bacon and peppery frisee.

Pumpkin and mascarpone tortelline with cashews and sage.

Baked Boston bluefish, braised greens, warm chorizo, artichoke and rock shrimp vinagrette. This was served in a large black earthenware casserole and looked very good.

Wild sockeye salmon, crushed purple potatoes, stuffed zucchini blossom, lemon & herb beurre blanc.

Slow roast duck breast, sour cherry sauce, savoy cabbabe roll, fondant potato, sweet onion puree. I had this and was amazed at the generosity of this and all the other portions. The sour cherry sauce pulled the entire plate together with a very meaty but still fruity sauce.

For dessert we had the tiramisu, which I know seems kind of boring, but by this point we were all quite stuffed.

Everything done at Parkside has an eye to the aesthetic. The service managed to be professional and friendly at the same time. Dishes were placed on the table so that the plate would be properly oriented. When we asked for 4 forks for the dessert, they were brought laid out on a napkin on a black rectangular ceramic plate.

I don't know why this place isn't getting more coverage, its every bit on par with the caliber of Harvest Vine or Lark in Seattle, albeit a slightly different style of service. If I lived in Vancouver, this would be a regular stop, especially given the outrageously low prices.

Hal

[merlin]

Thanks for the review Hal.

Too bad PM disappointed...sounded like a fairly dreary meal all in all.

I know where I am going for a good espresso...thanks for reinforcing what other EGulleteers have already said.

Our last visit to Vancouver it was a "coin flip" between Cru and Parkside. We had a terrific evening at Cru but it sounds like Parkside should be on the bill for our next trip to the coast.

[Coop]

halland I'm glad you had a great time at Parkside. All of my experiences there have been like yours. Btw Cru compares very favourably with Parkside. If I had to choose I would favour the food at Cru for the spring and summer and Parkside in the fall and winter. As for The Harvest Vine I hope to get in there on Friday night. I think we will probably arrive around 5:00 so we have a good chance. Probably will skip Lark though and go back to Union on SaturdaY.

[Daddy-A]

I know where I am going for a good espresso...thanks for reinforcing what other EGulleteers have already said.

My wife's office is around the corner from the Artigiano on Thurlow. I always treat if we're there early enough to get free street parking and beat the 8:45 line-ups.

Our last visit to Vancouver it was a "coin flip" between Cru and Parkside.

What an amazing city we live in when you have to flip a coin to choose between two such restaurants!

Thanks for the review Hal.

[jamiemaw]

I found the inter-course service to be sloppy

Whew, thanks for sharing halland. As demure Canadians we tend to keep these thoughts to ourselves. I had no idea that Piccolo Mondo was offering this new service--anything to drum up a little more business I suppose.

Sorry to hear about the less than stellar evening at PM though, where over the years we've enjoyed some very good cooking from Stephane Meyer and the colour commentary from owner Michele Geris. I still rate their fish soup amongst the best in town. The wine list pricing problem is ironic, as Michele and her husband are the importers of an inexpensive Italian wine that retails for $7.95 and is one of the biggest sellers in the province. No excuse for your experience though.

We were a little taken aback by your statement that Parkside hasn't gotten much play--it's been quite widely reviewed and in mainly laudatory form; Andrey's a great guy and cook. We've reviewed the restaurant twice in the last six months or so.

Artigiano barrista and partner Sammy Piccolo just won second place at the World Barrista Championships in Italy. And yes, like you we enjoy it strong.

Coop --you are doing yourself a disservice if you skip Lark. Jonathan Sundstrom is one of the cleanest cooking chefs in the PNW. He was a real credit when he was at Earth + Ocean at the W Hotel, although it was sad to often see the bar full and the restaurant empty. Go.

Cheers,

Jamie

[halland]

Its certainly possible that Parkside has gotten good press, and I'm glad to hear this is the case. I don't always do as good a job of keeping on top of what's hot outside Seattle as I should.

Hal

[jamiemaw]

Hi halland

These Parkside reviews might fuel your memories:

here

and

encore!

Cheers,

Jamie