Best dish you've had this year

[Ling]

This year was an excellent year for me, food-wise. I had the pleasure of enjoying a great many excellent dishes, many due to Egullet events (like the Waiterblog dinners), or based on recommendations here.

I don't think I could possibly narrow it down to one dish--it would be a struggle to narrow it down to a Top 3. But I'll think about it tonight, and post tomorrow. Interested in hearing your favourites this year.

[Anchoress]

Mmmmmm awesome question.

Sorry to open up old wounds, but my fave dish this year was at the - now defunct - Da Francesco's restaurant where I used to work (and you guys used to dine). It was a pasta dish Francesco made mostly for staff that had a name whose translation was 'of the forest', can't remember the Italian, and it was rose sauce with olives, capers and red peppers.

I am actually salivating while typing.

On a related note, my personal culinary triumph of the year was perfectly replicating Chef's rose sauce from numerous instances of observing his technique.

[wattacetti]

In Vancouver, it would be the grilled shiitake mushroom at Tojo's. A very focused and deceptively simple dish.

[winegeek]

Great topic Lorna, although definately a difficult choice. I would have to go with a braised suckling pig risotto with foie gras that I had in Montreal at Le Club Chasse et Peche. It was the best item of food I have ever had in my life!!

[Ling]

^Foie gras AND braised suckling pig in the same dish? You know how to live! But to keep it regional, what was the best dish you had in western Canada this year?

[Country Cook]

My first tastes of Procuitto de Parma and buffala mozzaralla, of the top of my head and of course GBP at HSG.

[James Kendal]

Extra fluffy and melt in your mouth Gnocchi with Truffles at Blue Hour Restaurant in Portland.

Best wine of the year 2003 Amon Ra Shiraz from Ben Glaetzer (I consider wine to be food so I threw this in as well).

[BCinBC]

Why must everyone always talk about "the best"?? I feel like Rob in High Fidelity, trying to put together even a top 5 would be impossible. As such, I must add this disclaimer: This list is not all encompasing.

Standout sandwich 2005 - meatball bahn mi at Tiem Bahn Dong - the bread totally makes the sandwich, though the tiny amount of dough it will cost you helps out quite a bit. There are many really good bahn mis out there, but the bread at TBD plain and simply rules (okay so that bread is "the best").

Standout appetizer / small plate 2005 - smoked tuna carpaccio at Cru paired with the Chianti it was paired with

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Mooshmouse's photo from the Cru special events thread

Honorable mention: truffled scrambled eggs at Fiction.

Non-local honorable mention: salade Lyonnaise at Cafe du Soleil, Lyon for the confit gizzards alone. (See photo, beside fork.)

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Oh that reminds me, the butter lettuce salad at Cru was also pretty great (want an example of perfect vinaigrette?).

Standout main 2005 - more thought required, I'll get back to ya. Maybe the crab with squash at Sea Harbour? Hmm...

Standout dessert 2005 - (non-local but best overall) triple chocolate mousse on a hazlenut cracker at Les Santons, Grimaud:

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Truly righteous chocolate mousse-age, with not-too-shabby vanilla ice cream and pretty f-n-A creme Anglais too

(Local) currently a tie of chocolate souffles, Cru and Diner. Still awaiting the opportunity to do a head-to-head. How many hints can a man drop and still not get any offers? Don't answer that.

Honorable mention the GBP at HSG. How can a steakhouse be best known for their dessert (and truthfully, I think more people go for the GBP than the hanger)? If it is that good.

Standout coffee 2005 - large Salt Spring from Tsawassen Quay, recently served to me by a super cute barista very early in the morning.

Okay so I haven't been to the Elysian Room yet this year (and maybe 3WC and Hopkin are cute too), so take this vote with whatever you want.

Another disclaimer: I also haven't been to Aurora yet (duck proscuitto), nor C (and that scallop I keep hearing about), etc...

[mkjr]

Toss up between the "Ginger Scented Fillet of "Ayu"" at Per Se consisting of "Haricots Verts", Yellow Wax Beans, Glazed Heirloom Radishes and Radish Sprouts with Barrel Aged Tamari Glaze - although all 20 courses were legendary -and the French Macaroon Ice Cream Sandwiches at Restaurant Gary Danko in SFO.

Edited November 23, 2005 by mkjr (log)

[Zucchini Mama]

My favorite food memories of the year in no particular order:

Serious Meat:

Lamb palak dosa at Nooru Mahal.

Decadant LWL hamburger at Griffin's with proper iced tea.

eGullet meet and greet at HSG-lamb burgers and tuna

my own "first time" lamb shanks

Special Occasions:

Mother's day Brunch at Aurora

my friend Yoni's potluck pasta made with tahini

my own tomato salad at a friend's birthday party

Best of Summer:

crab tasting in the cabin in Sooke this summer

Lentil Flour Crusted Oysters at Aurora

Mixed salad plate from the downtown Eastside community kitchen at UBC farm.

Creamy polenta on the deck at Ocean Six 17

Veggie burger and salad at Sophie's Cosmic Café after a swim in Kits pool

Sweets:

chocolate goat fudge at the organic farmer's market on Saltspring

Rice pudding at the Saltspring Yoga Centre.

green tea madeleines in the Natobi Gardens

Chocolate Bouchon from Coco et Olive

mocha marshmallow from Anona's

Rise Bakery's Grape bread

Aphrodite Café's Triple Beet Chocolate Cake with copious amounts of whipped cream

Cream of the Crop:

Duck Bacon wrapped Honsumishi mushrooms at Aurora

Provence on W10th's Fennel Panna Cotta sweetened with blackberry flower honey with a bit of rhubarb compote, garnished with flower petals and the biggest, plumpest blackerries I've ever seen.

Sustainablity Lunch at C. All of it.

Best Drink Memories:

The mead tasting at Aurora. Ginger green tea mead from Hornby Island

Hibiscus Cocktail at C

Cedar Creek 2001 Pinot Noir at Thanksgiving

Moscow Mule at Subeez

my own ginger beer, sweetened with maple syrup

Mead from Tugwell Creek

Sauterne at Thanksgiving

Barsac at the November birthdays with Pacific Culinary Institute's Hazelnut torte

Worst of the Year:

tako yaki: I decided I really am not a fan.

BBQ squid on a stick: tough, rubbery, fishy. I had a bad experience. Felt like a seagull on a bad day.

microwaved mushroom crepes: just say no.

green tea adzuki bean scone: sickly sweet artificial vanilla smell. (I'd like to try to make a less sweet version with chocolate chips.)

sticky sweet crunchy Thai noodle salad: no, I can't have another bite.

Zuke

Edited November 23, 2005 by Zucchini Mama (log)

[kurtisk]

Top 3:

~ I really love the (as I've said before) Fried Oyster, Beer Valve-palooza at Nu.

~ The CROQUE - MONSIEUR EGGS BENEDICT (black forest ham, gruyère and sundried tomato butter on foccacia) at Provence Marinaside.

~ Fuck it! I LOVE the House Made BC Venison and Fennel Sausage - braised with sunchokes and cabbage in Merridale cider at Aurora Bistro.

Mmmmmm-boy!

k.

[Ling]

Best appetizers:

-maple seared scallops with black trumpet vinaigrette and grilled tuna with

smoked aubergine at Chambar

-English pea soup with BC spot prawns, pickled ramps at C Restaurant

-foie gras terrine with brioche at The Pear Tree

Best "small plates" and sides:

-Honey mussels with curry-saffron sauce at Mistral

-the crispy polenta that accompanied the veal breast at West

-the sweetbread stuffing in my quail at Le Crocodile

Best mains:

-seared Kagan Bay scallop with a slow-cooked, shredded, then

pan-fried pork shoulder and morels at C Restaurant

-Mission trout with lemon and cauliflower puree, wild rice,

browned butter, raisins and capers at Feenie's

-the Cowichan duck confit with roasted peach at Aurora Bistro

Best protein:

-the ribeye at Morton's

-the hangar steak at HSG

-the venison with chantrelle hash at Aurora Bistro

Best desserts:

-Valrhona chocolate tart at Parkside

-Concord grape tart with pinenut filling and browned butter

ice-cream at Feenie's

-lemon tart with Italian meringue at Dahlia's (in Seattle)

Best dishes made by an Egulleter:

-Daddy-A's pulled pork

-Deborah's Chocolate Oblivion cake

-lemoncurd's Faubourg Pave (and the gelee!)

(I will be making the Pierre Herme's Tarte Grenobloise for you all in two weeks!)

Edited November 23, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

~ Fuck it!  I LOVE the House Made BC Venison and Fennel Sausage - braised with sunchokes and cabbage in Merridale cider at Aurora Bistro.

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ME TOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

[mamacat]

My favourite dish of the year was the first course of my birthday dinner prepared by none other than my precious Snacky-cat. It was slices of pear, lightly sauteed in butter and then topped with blue cheese and deep fried sage leaves. Marvellous!

Second choice would be Chef Wyles' saffron risotto topped with a perfectly seared scallop (one of his Taste of Yaletown creations).

The last of the top three would be a wonderful cold beet salad topped with goat cheese and raspberry vinaigrette from one of John Bishop's books.

Edited November 24, 2005 by mamacat (log)

[vanderb]

Good topic, tough to keep local (Calgary)... a trip to Sicily and Campania earlier in June had most of my stunning dishes of the year, but here goes.

Soup:

Roasted chestnut and creme frais soup at Muse

Starter:

Parsnip skordalia at Piato, with the Urban Baker's sesame bread

Main:

the family roast organic free range chicken stuffed with garlic and lemon. Until this year I haven't had an oven that worked well enough to do this safely and now that I can it's my favourtie dish.

Desert:

Cheese board and white port at Il Sogno. I'm not a desert person but I do love cheese and the cheeses on the board perfectly accompanied the white port.

I may have to revise this after my NYE dinner at Truffle Pigs Bistro, high up in the Rockie mountains in Field, BC. Haven't been able to get there this year and it's normally my 5 star pick of the year.

[waylman]

My fav main this year was at Le Regelade. It was roast lamb in a really killer wine sauce...hope it's on the board next time!

[Mallet]

My first taste of foie gras

[Edible Vancouver]

So many meals, so many choices...

It is impossible to name just one but here are some of my more memorable dishes of 2005. I think that the one thing that inspires me is simple food made with great ingredients!

Foie Gras - whether it is David's with peaches at West or this one below with baby chantrelles and petit pois at the Bearfoot Bistro, it is always the first thing I order.

Another amazing dish I had was also at the Bearfoot during the same meal. It was a trio of tuna, but it incorporated unusal ingredients such as tapenade coupled with a poached local heirloom tomato, and some other amazing things which I don't remember.

I reserve the right to continue to add to this post as I go through my notes and photos of 2005.

Edited November 25, 2005 by Edible Vancouver (log)

[Ling]

^Wow, those pictures are incredible! Are those dishes from the same dinner? A set menu, or a la carte? I had dinner at The Bearfoot Bistro back in 2003 (I don't go up to Whistler often). I remember having a Saltspring Island goat cheese tart, a venison dish, and an incredibly simple dessert of wild, hand-picked mixed berries (some of the berries were so tiny you could spear them with 1 fork tine!) with a custard sauce and a tuile basket. When I told our server that I liked the tuile very much, she gave me a box of them to take home (which meant I ate them in the car on the way back to the hotel. )

[JasmineL]

The things that stand out in my mind right now are all items I have eaten on my very brief lunch break:

Green Bean salad from Brioche on Cordova. I don't love green beans, but this salad is the bomb-diggity. I might have to have some for lunch today!

Shrimp Bisque, also from Brioche. I can barely eat the full sized serving because it is so

rich...but every bite is a joyful struggle.

*note...I eat at Brioche about 3 times a week and I have never had a bad dish.

Deep Fried Cauliflower from Nuba on Hastings. They catered my best friend's wedding and the Deep Fried Cauliflower had the guests stealing from eachother's plates! It's a simple thing really, just cauliflower with lemon and salt...but somehow the results are magic!

I have some important dinners scheduled soon...so I'm sure I will have more to add.

[Edible Vancouver]

^Wow, those pictures are incredible! Are those dishes from the same dinner? A set menu, or a la carte?  I had dinner at The Bearfoot Bistro back in 2003 (I don't go up to Whistler often). I remember having a Saltspring Island goat cheese tart, a venison dish, and an incredibly simple dessert of wild, hand-picked mixed berries (some of the berries were so tiny you could spear them with 1 fork tine!) with a custard sauce and a tuile basket. When I told our server that I liked the tuile very much, she gave me a box of them to take home (which meant I ate them in the car on the way back to the hotel.  )

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Hi Lorna, they were both from the same dinner which was a tasting menu. That night we also had an amazing scallop and miso dish, a rack of cariboo as well as a cherry dessert (it was that time of year) that was again, so simple but the flavors just exploded in your mouth. The dessert was a cherry caflouti, a port and cherry shot and a cherry sorbet all using okanagan cherries.

That same weekend I also had an amazing dish at Araxi - a simple salmon tartar but it was served with the most intense basil oil I have ever had!

[achiu]

I just had my favorite dish of the year for dinner tonight. Our original intention was to go to West for the Early Prix Fixe until the server described one of the specials for the evening and I knew I had to try it. It was Snake River Kobe Beef Hanger Steak served with Chanterelle Mushrooms, Chanterelle puree, Artichoke Puree, Carmelized Onions and Wilted Spinach. The steak was cooked perfect rare and was very flavorful

Other standout dishes I've had this year in no particular order:

Roast Duck at La Regalade

Scalop and Carmelized Onion Tart at La Regalade

Pan Seared Queen Charlotte Halibit at C - my favorite cooked fish dish

Otoro Sashimi at Ajisai - my favorite raw fish dish

Marinated Grilled Quail with Sherry and Espresso Sauce at Senova

Pinched Ravioli of Veal and Spinach with Sage-Garlic Sauce at Cioppino's Enoteca

Alex

[Chef Metcalf]

Deep Fried Foie at C Restaurant, Vancouver

Foie Gras Torchon at Le Gourmandin, Beaune

Beef Short Ribs with Green Peppercorn Sauce, La Regalade, West Van

Grilled tenderloin with Camembert Cheese and Chilpotle Chili Sauce (absolutely amazing...the sauce...not the steak) Cafe de Artistes, Puerto Vallarta

Edited November 27, 2005 by Chef Metcalf (log)

[Vancouver Lee]

Tough choice.

Most Memorable Dish: Horse Tenderloin at Bis Moreno.

Best Dish: Kagan Bay Scallop at C

Honourable Mentions:

Black Cod, Mushrooms and Soy Beans in a Bok Choy broth with a Dungeness Crab Dumpling at Bearfoot Bistro

Turbo Burger at Cactus Club