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Ouest / West In Vancouver


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Being of more limited means but still wanting to visit West, I was wondering if anyone has tried the Early Prix Fixe menu?

Edited by CanadianBakin' (log)

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since moving to a new neighborhood in January, we are now within in walking distance of West (Well, technically speaking we "could" walk. Technically, we could also skateboard to Meinhardt's), so I thought we should revisit a place we haven't been to in well over a year. Given the recent press West has received, Friday night reservations were tricky - but there was an opening at 5:30 and another one at 9:30. We chose the former. (My friends joke about my early dining habits, predicting it will only be a matter of time before I start taking advantage of the various "blue bird specials" around town. I don't know. Blame it on my upbringing. Growing up, 6:00 p.m. was always dinner time as opposed to the 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. window preferred by many a Vancouverite.)

We were seated and, as we perused the menu's, were informed of that evening's specials. One entree stood out in particular: Kobe Beef. Ever since we visited Tokyo three years ago where we tried Kobe Beef for the first time, I've been unable to enjoy steak in North America. Once you've had that perfectly marbled piece of meat melt in your mouth, its almost impossible to go back (if you're really jonesing and looking to score a couple of kilos of American-raised wagyu, might I suggest Nikuya Meats on Hastings). Needless to say, I didn't even look at the written entrees.

My wife started with a delightful crisp barbecued duck (almost candied) salad with a ginger and sesame dressing. I went the foie gras route, "twice cooked" (I believe its a torchon) with saffron and pear chutney, accompanied by warm, toasted fruit bread. An equally delightful starter.

My wife and I both went for the Kobe beef: a well-marbled rib eye with macerated shallots in a red wine reduction, accompanied by braised short ribs in tiny cabbage pockets, roasted galette, and some mystery root vegetable that may have been a turnip. Sublime.

For dessert, my wife chose the vanilla cheesecake with brown sugar oat crumble. She Loved it (yes, with a capital "L"). I couldn't decide between the Chocolate Tasting and the pumpkin tart with maplesour cream mousse, so I had both. The tart was tiny, but tasty. The sweet yam ice cream that came with the tart (it was a little bigger than a marble) was terrific. The Chocolate Tasting was comprised of: a milk chocolate passionfruit parfait that my wife enjoyed (don't get me started on mixing fruit and chocolate), a dark chocolate truffle terrine (fine), and a chocolate gingersnap ice cream sandwich (ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!).

All in all, a wonderful evening.

www.josephmallozzi.wordpress.com

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^ Sounds like you had a wonderful evening LB, thanks for the report.

A couple of questions:

1) As you dined at 5:30 p.m., did you have the early prix fixe or items from their regular menu? I'm curious as to whether their regular menu is available earlier in the evening.

2) Did you have wine(s) with your meal and if so, do you recall what it/they was/were?

Inquiring minds want to know :biggrin:

Ta!

sarah

Always take a good look at what you're about to eat. It's not so important to know what it is, but it's critical to know what it was. --Unknown

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1) As you dined at 5:30 p.m., did you have the early prix fixe or items from their regular menu?  I'm curious as to whether their regular menu is available earlier in the evening.

2) Did you have wine(s) with your meal and if so, do you recall what it/they was/were?

1) I didn't have the early prix fixe items although it did look tempting (served before 6:00 p.m. I believe).

2) No wine. I'll have to admit that I'm a novice when it comes to wine and will have only the occasional glass on the odd special occasion. However, we did share a wonderful bottle of Acqua Panna 2005.

www.josephmallozzi.wordpress.com

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  • 9 months later...

July 25, 2006.

A friend and I went to the early dinner prix-fixe at West.

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Asparagus soup with truffle and fresh brioche croutons. Too much dairy, could've used more pepper.

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Crispy duck confit salad with beetroot, candied walnuts and honey essensia syrup. Really dark, mahogany coloured meat and perfectly crisped skin.

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Filet of wild spring salmon with ratatouille, tomato and extra virgin olive oil. Stunning presentation using bell peppers and squash.

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Lamb sirloin with a warm salad of artichokes and fava beans.

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Fresh summer berries with buckwheat honey ice cream, coconut wafers and cantaloupe coulis. Buckwheat ice cream was delicious.

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Apricot oat crumble with cherry pit ice cream, amaretto sauteed rainier cherries and tapioca custard. I can't resist tapioca.

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Petit fours.

Food was OK, pretty good value at the price. Desserts were the real standouts.

The cocktail menu was too fruity, too sweet and weak, ABV-wise. I had three cocktails and didn't feel a thing.

The decor of the place is interesting. The light fixtures and gigantic chrome sculpture hanging from the ceiling are not tacky in an in your face kind of way... yet. Like Charlie Sheen's apartment in Wall Street and Ray Liotta's house in GoodFellas, that kind of style may have looked cool back but two decades later -- bam! -- everybody is like, "What the hell were they thinking?!" This might happen to West a decade or so down the line.

This will be my last post from my two week trip to Seattle and Vancouver. I had a great time in the Pacific Northwest.

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The decor of the place is interesting. The light fixtures and gigantic chrome sculpture hanging from the ceiling are not tacky in an in your face kind of way... yet.  Like Charlie Sheen's apartment in Wall Street and Ray Liotta's house in GoodFellas, that kind of style may have looked cool back but two decades later -- bam! -- everybody is like, "What the hell were they thinking?!" This might happen to West a decade or so down the line.

Some of the decor elements are pretty weird to my eye - I call the silver/chrome thing "the hot wheels track". And I too love West desserts best of all.

Thanks for the write up.

Cheers,

Anne

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  • 2 weeks later...

Through a very fortunate set of circumstances I ended up eating at West twice in a row this week. Wednesday I went with a friend for our monthly dinner out, he had never been to West and we felt like splurging. The West tasting menu was sublime, light and refreshing, perfect for a late summer evening.

Then the next day a last minute business dinner was arranged at West, I felt very lucky indeed, walking through that door again. Everyone had the tasting menu, since I had it the night before I was going to ask for something a la carte however the waitress informed me I could get a different tasting menu, courtesy of the chef. I ended up getting 7 completely different dishes, improvised by the kitchen. Needless to say I was blown away, the food was superb and the dishes imaginative and meticulous.

Still my absolute favorite!

Stefan Posthuma

Beer - Chocolate - Cheese

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That gazpacho dish reminded me of the one I had when West first opened......I was blown away then too.

West has remained my favourite restaurant since it's opening. I don't find it's serving size to be small tho (maybe I have a small stomach? :raz: ) And I still remember the raspberry souffle I had during my first dinner there. The first souffle had colapsed in the kitchen when it got out of the oven as I was told by my waiter. But when the successful one came out, and the waiter smacked the souffle with a spoon to pour in the raspberry syrup.......just the smell could make me melt.

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  • 3 months later...

As a Christmas treat to ourselves, we decided to head over to West for dinner on Friday night. I had been there once before but it was a first for my significant other. He had been hearing me rave about their food for the past year and was eager to see what the fuss was all about.

My boyfriend decided to opt for the early prix fixe menu while I went a la carte. “D” started with the smoked ham and prosciutto terrine. He had never had terrine before (in fact, I was surprised he ordered it) and found it delicious. I started with their salad of wild mushrooms, goats cheese, sun dried organic cherries and 12 year old sherry vinegar. Fantastic contrasts of flavours and textures.

“D”’s main was the loin of lamb with handmade gnocchi. I also had the gnocchi (with more wild mushrooms…love those chantrelles!) as my main. Now, as a vegetarian, I’ve sampled quite a few gnocchi and these were the best I’ve ever tasted. They were so light and delicate. Many I’ve tried around town have turned out to be very doughy and dense.

We finished with a chocolate cappuccino cake with mocha espuma for me and a banana chocolate cake with pommegranite granite for him. I must admit I much preferred the caramel pot de crème that I had last year at West. I keep eyeing the menu hoping it will make a return appearance. I’m a sugar fanatic, so I remember those desserts that truly knock my socks off like: HSG Gingerbread pudding, Parkside’s coupe glacee, Thomas Haas’ Chocolate Bar at Diva, etc. I can’t say that I was wowed by my cappuccino cake however, I was a little distracted during dessert…

The best course of the evening came between our main and dessert. Kate, our lovely server, dropped off a dome-covered plate in front of me and said something like “this is one of our specialities”. She lifted the lid and there laid a Tiffany & Co. engagement ring! The evening was a bit of a blur after that but I must say that West’s service was superb and they made our special night unforgettable. A table adjacent to us sent over a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Complete strangers to us being so generous…it was all really quite heartwarming.

Before we left that night, Kate said we should come back next year to celebrate. Now that West holds such a special place in our hearts, I’m sure we’ll be back many, many, many times before then.

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...The best course of the evening came between our main and dessert.  Kate, our lovely server, dropped off a dome-covered plate in front of me and said something like “this is one of our specialities”.  She lifted the lid and there laid a Tiffany & Co. engagement ring!  The evening was a bit of a blur after that....

No kidding. Congrats. West will be even more "special" now.

Classy move by the folks at the neighboring table.

Edited by merlin (log)
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