Archive for the 'West Coast' Category
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
My family celebrated Mother’s Day a little early this year and we decided to go to Trafalgar’s Bistro. I actually tried to book this dinner through OpenTable.com but it showed the restaurant as full. For some reason, this has happened to me each time I try to make reservations at Trafalgar’s so I always end up calling in. The only thing that really bugs me about this is that I’m unable to collect points for my reservation. 
There was a set menu available that day, which had three courses, including dessert from Sweet Obsessions bakery next door. For each course, you can choose from a small menu of 2-3 options so it does provide a bit of variety. At $39 for the set menu, it is quite a good deal.
I went for the set menu and started with steamed mussels in rosemary, ginger, and white wine. The accompanying crispy crackers provided a nice crunch. The mussels were a bit small but tasted very fresh. The rosemary and ginger went very well together and the ginger really gave the mussels a slightly spicy taste.
For my main course, I had a wild mushroom fettuccine with asparagus and a grilled duck breast. The pasta was a bit oily towards the end but I really liked the abundance of wild mushrooms in this dish. The duck was pan-fried nicely and cooked to a nice medium. This dish was extremely tasty and very filling. The asparagus also provided a nice crunch.
For dessert, I was in a chocolaty mood so I chose the triple chocolate mousse. It had layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate. Sometimes, mousse can be a bit rich but this triple chocolate mousse was light yet flavourful. The three chocolates go very well together and it didn’t take me very long to polish off my plate.
Yet another enjoyable meal at Trafalgar’s. It’s a great place to go with your family and also with friends. They do tend to book up quite quickly though so if you are going with a larger group (more than 4), be sure to make reservations early.
Details:
2603 W.16th Ave., Vancouver
Tel: 604-739-0555
Summary:
Food: 
Service: 
Price: $$$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
It was Dine Out season again in Vancouver so it was time to hit the restaurant circuit again. To be honest, I am not a big fan of Dine Out the past couple of years, just because I feel that you don’t get a true indication of what the restaurant is really like and you also have to deal with the crowds and rushed service that inevitably comes with Dine Out. Nonetheless, I go because it is a reason to go for dinner with friends and catch up on what’s going on in our busy lives.
Jason and I met up at Unwine’d restaurant downtown during a weeknight. It is located right next to the Holiday Inn on Howe St. The reason I picked Unwine’d was because I heard rave reviews about its Dine Out menu last year, which was also only $15 for a three-course meal. This year, it was raised to $25 but it still looked interesting enough that I wanted to give it a try. When I was making the reservations, I was given several restrictions so I thought the restaurant would be quite busy. However, when we got there, it was only about 1/3 full.
In Dine Out, you are generally asked to pick all three course selections right at the beginning. I chose the crab cake to start my meal. It came on a bed of mixed greens and was topped with some flavoured mayo and pears poached in red wine. The crab cake was crispy outside and packed with crabby goodness inside. The poached pears were still a bit crunchy, which is just what I like and also complemented the crab cake nicely.
For my main course, I had the Beef Wellington. I was actually debating between this and the Ahi Tuna but Jason said that since I have never had Beef Wellington before, I had to give it a try. I also bumped into some people from work when I first got to the restaurant and they told me that I should specify to the server how I like my beef since they don’t really ask. With this in mind, I asked my server to make sure my Beef Wellington was medium rare. When my dish came, the puff pastry outside was nice and fluffy but the beef inside was medium or medium well throughout! 
I was a bit disappointed with this as I really don’t like my beef to be overcooked. To be fair, I suppose it is hard to judge the wellness of the beef when it is encased in a puff pastry but my co-workers later told me that their Wellingtons were rare! I suppose quality control issues still need to be worked out here. My side of rosemary yams was also a bit cold although the potatoes were pretty good.
Last, I chose the key lime cheese cake…mostly because I have a weakness for citrus desserts. Jenkins always likes to say that my citrus dessert choices only have a 50% success rate and unfortunately, this turned out to be one of my duds. I could hardly taste the lime flavour and the cheesecake was drizzled with some multi-coloured fruit coolies coulis which did not go with the cheesecake at all. Even more odd, there were some chunks of cheese on the side of my plate that I thought were actually mango chunks. Biting into the saltiness of the cheese really shocked my palate, which was expecting something sweet.
I have to say that I was disappointed by Unwine’d. With the exception of my crab cake appetizer, my meal really didn’t meet my expectations. However, the regular menu did look interesting and I did hear rave reviews from my friends who attended Dine Out here last year so I would still be willing to give this place another try someday. In the regular menu, most items seem to be under $20, which seems to be fairly reasonable.
Details:
1180 Howe St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-682-5225
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$ (both our menus were $25 for 3 courses)
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
Jenkins and I went to Rare Restaurant yesterday for a nice dinner. I had heard nothing but rave reviews about Rare for quite a while now and I was eager to see what they had to offer. It is located at 1355 Hornby St in downtown.
I had made my reservations for Rare through OpenTable.com. Because of this, they already knew my name when I walked into the restaurant. Why do I even bring this up? Well, it’s because when I opened my menu, I found that it was personalized with a welcome message just for me! I know it’s a small thing, but it made me pretty excited to eat there.
Rare has quite a few tasting menus that are available and these seem to be the specialty of the restaurant. Jenkins went for the $45 November tasting menu while I chose the $65 Chef’s Choice tasting menu. Because between the two of us, there were so many dishes, I only took pictures of mine for reviewing purposes.
Shortly after we were seated, our server told us that they would be bringing us an amuse-bouche prior to showing us the menus. It was a layered crepe galette with house-prepared chorizo sausage with a dab of olive tapenade. I did not find the tapenade to be too overpowering and although the crepe galette was very dense, it was not too heavy.
My first “official” course in the tasting menu was a light broth with mussels, oyster, and a spot prawn. The mussels were very fresh and cooked just right. The oyster was smaller than what I was used to but it was very tasty and a little crunchy.
Next came a seared scallop with cornbread, grilled peppers, and chorizo. This was one of my favourite dishes of the evening. My scallop was crispy and seared on the outside and the inside was raw but not slimy. It had a nice “bounce” to it and went very well with the chorizo and the sweet peppers.
By this point, I was really getting into my tasting menu. Next came sauteed pine mushrooms with yam gnocchi. This was some of the best gnocchi I had ever tasted. It was chewy and yummy with a crispy exterior. The sauce was quite rich and I found the mushrooms to be a bit on the salty side though. However, the gnocchi helped to offset some of the saltiness and was terrific with the sauce.
I am a big fan of duck and was looking forward to this next dish. The duck came on a bed of Israeli cous cous and a dab of blackberry jam. I found the duck skin to be a little salty at times but the medium rare meat was cooked perfectly. My favourite part of this dish though was the cous cous. I am not sure if it is the nature of Israeli cous cous or if it was the way it was prepared, but it was very creamy but not too heavy or rich. If this dish came only with the cous cous, I still would have been very pleased!
By this time, I was well into my tasting menu and enjoying the dishes very much. My server gave me a break from all the dishes presented to me by giving me a vanilla rooibos seltzer to cleanse my palette. It came in a shot glass and my only complaint was that it was too small! It was very light and refreshing and I enjoyed it…although Jenkins found it to be too sweet for him and not enough rooibos flavour.
My last “main” course was a striploin steak on a dash of pureed beet served with small fingerling potatoes stuffed with a lemony goat cheese. The steak was perfectly medium rare and very tasty. The beet puree also helped to mellow out the strong flavour of the steak. On its own, I wasn’t too crazy about the potatoes with goat cheese although once I paired a bite of it with the steak, the flavours of both really came out and created a nice medley in my mouth.
This concluded the savory portion of the meal and we were off to dessert! First off, the server brought us a pre-dessert. I had never heard of this before but I think other restaurants should seriously think about incorporating this into their menus as well. The pre-dessert this evening was an almond macaroon with a quince filling on a dab of creme fraiche. I found my macaroon to be too chewy though and like it when the cookie is lighter in texture.
My dessert was a medley of different chocolate treats…just my cup of tea. First, I tried the white hot chocolate with a home-made marshmallow. The marshmallow was too sweet for me but I could have drank a full cup of the hot chocolate. I could taste a little nutmeg in it and that really made the hot chocolate stand out in my mind. I enjoyed the chocolate truffle, which had a peanut centre, although nothing stood out. The chocolate ganache tart was very creamy and the sweetness was offset by the shortbread crust. Next came the chcolate sparkle cookie. I am not sure if this was made in-house of by the Thomas Haas bakery but it is one of my favourite cookies and this did not disappoint. Last came the chocolate brownie. Like the truffle, there was nothing special about this but it was still very good.
Jenkins’ tasting menu came with a sweet potato mille-feuille. Because the main ingredient was sweet potato, it was not as sweet as your typical dessert. Jenkins also found his sweet potato ice cream to be a bit on the grainy side. I found the taste interesting…although I enjoyed my dessert better.
All in all, Jenkins and I enjoyed our dinner very much. We were both pretty hungry when we first entered the restaurant, but by the time we left, we were very full. Maybe because we went on a weeknight, it was a little quiet and empty inside the restaurant. The service here was great and our servers were friendly. I would definitely recommend this restaurant and am looking forward to our next visit!
Details:
1355 Hornby St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-669-1256
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007
Jenkins and I headed over to the White Spot in Kerrisdale one weekend for some brunch. This White Spot is one of my favourites because the service is usually quite prompt and the food seems to taste better…although I don’t know why.
I decided to go for something new this time and tried the Original Sunny Start. As I have blogged before, I am a huge fan of Triple-O sauce but for whatever reason, I never tried the breakfast version of the White Spot burger. I decided that it was about time I gave it a try. This one came with cheese, bacon, a fried egg, and of course, Triple O sauce. :) Although I enjoyed the taste of the Sunny Start, the Triple O sauce was a bit too rich for my morning taste buds.
Jenkins chose Nat’s Hearty Brunch, which came with two each of eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, and some hashbrowns. If the picture below looked like a lot of food, it was. :) The food was pretty standard but quite tasty although Jenkins noted that the hashbrowns were a little on the greasy side. I liked the sausages because they were nice and crispy on the outside.
It was another satisfying brunch at White Spot. I like how the prices are fairly reasonable and the portions are always generous. The brunch items are pretty standard but always quite tasty.
Details:
5367 West Boulevard, Vancouver
Tel: 604-266-1288
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
Samantha and I met up at Crave for dinner the other day. It is a semi-newish restaurant at 3941 Main Street in Vancouver. I had heard a lot of good things about this place but hadn’t had a chance to try it out until now.
For appies, I knew I had to try the crab cakes because Samantha had been raving about how great they are. I was very impressed by the serving size. Along with the crab cake, my dish came with two tasty side salads. One was julienned apple with parmesan cheese. I would have never thought this combination would work, but it was quite good! The other salad was mixed greens with a balsamic vinegarette. The crab cake itself was filled with crabby goodness and I wish I could have eaten two.
Samantha had the popcorn chicken, which came with a chilli mayo dip. The bowl of shrimp in this dish was huge and I liked how the shrimp did not have too much batter. Yum.
I originally wanted to order mussels but was told that they did not have any that night. Instead, I went for the chipotle bbq lacquered baby back ribs. This was served with the same mixed green salad that came with the crab cakes. My ribs were ok, but I found them to be on the dry side. The chipotle bbq sauce was good but I found that the flavour did not extend through all the pork ribs.
Samantha went for the beef burger and fries. She commented that her burger was pretty good but like my ribs, was also on the dry side. The portion size for this dish was huge though and quite a good deal at $9.50.
By this time, we were both quite full…but was unable to refuse a peek at the dessert menu. We decided to go with the lemon tart from the Thomas Haas bakery. As usual,Thomas Haas does not disappoint! The lemon flavour was light and tangy and the richness of the tart crust contrasted perfectly with the lemon.
The next time I go back to Crave, I will probably stick with the appetizers or smaller plates as this definitely seems to be their strong point. The main courses were not bad…but I was either too hyped up by other people or they just fell short of my expectations in general. Be sure to go on an empty stomach though because all the dishes have huge serving sizes.
Details:
3941 Main St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-872-3663
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
I went to Milestone’s on Lougheed in Buranby last week with Derek, Miguel, Tab, Terence, and Dustin for dinner. Normally, I don’t go to Milestone’s to eat. Not that there is anything terribly wrong with it, but I just find that there are places with better food for better value. In any case, I hadn’t been to Milestone’s for almost a year so it was time to see what had changed.
We decided to share the spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer. This is one of Milestone’s signature dishes and is normally a popular choice. Although it was good, the size of the dish was quite a bit smaller than I had remembered. At $9.99, I’m not sure if this was a good deal…even though they refilled our chips for free.
The guys mostly just ordered burgers and I didn’t get a chance to take pics of their dishes before they dug in. Tab and Dustin added some watercress dip to go with their fries. Personally, I couldn’t taste the watercress at all…but the mayo-based dip was good to dip the fries in.
I tried to be healthy and went for the grilled chicken salad. I had tried this years ago and remembered it to be pretty good. The salad was surprisingly filling but I suspect this was due to the generous sprinkling of tortilla chips. This probably wasn’t as healthy as I had hoped with all those chips, but it did add a nice crunch. The dressing itself was a peanut-y cilantro dressing which went great with the thinly sliced chicken and veggies.
In all, the food and ambiance at Milestone’s was pretty good. I still find the food to be a bit overpriced for what you get but at least you always know what to expect. Be careful if you are sitting outside on the patio at the Lougheed Milestone’s though. We got attacked by a couple of hungry bees a few times.
Details:
4420 Lougheed Hwy, Burnaby
Tel: 604-291-7393
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | No Comments »
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