Tuesday, August 21st, 2007
After all the talk about White Spot a couple of weeks ago in Ho Yummy, Jenkins and I decided it was time to have some Triple-O sauce so as to give an appropriate follow-up report. 
We decided to go to the White Spot on Seymour & Georgia in downtown.
I almost always get the same thing each time at White Spot…the Monty Mushroom burger. The only thing that differs is if I get fries or salad on the side. This time, I decided to go all out and ordered fries and coleslaw. Other side options include mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, double coleslaw, and green salad.
I was feeling particularly indulgent so I even ordered extra Triple-O sauce for my fries. Yum!
Jenkins went with a healthier option…he had the BC Chicken burger with green salad and balsamic vinaegarette. Contrary to popular belief, the BC actually stands for bacon and cheese…not British Columbia. :p
This was another great meal at White Spot. They don’t have anything fancy but you always know what to expect. I suppose that makes sense when you order the same thing each time, like I do! It’s been a while since I’ve tried a non-burger item on their menu — with the exception of brunch. What are some of your favourite items to order when you go to White Spot?
Details:
580 West Georgia St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-662-3066
Summary:
Food: 
Service:
Price: $
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, August 6th, 2007
Tricia and I went to Metro restaurant the other day. This is a new restaurant that highlights the multicultural spread of foods available in Canada. It is located at 200 Burrard Street by the waterfront and has the same owners as Rare.
For our appetizers, we decided to share the tomato & mozzarella salad and the truffle parmesan pomme frites. We weren’t sure if the truffle taste would come out in the pomme frites but they turned out to be very tasty and you could really smell and taste the truffle oil. The pomme frites were a combination of potato and yam fries. It also came with a house made sundried tomato ketchup.
The salad was made with heirloom tomatos and pearl-sized mozzarella balls. It was dressed with some avocado dressing and balsamic molasses. Heirloom tomatoes are the original non-genetically modified tomatoes and are supposed to taste much better than the regular tomatoes you or I normally buy. To tell you the truth though, I couldn’t really taste a difference.
Main course entrees are metro are presented in an interesting way. You order your dish by the ounce. For example, I ordered the duck, which was $3.41/ounce and I ordered four ounces. Although we were not used to this, I think this is a great way to order food. We ordered slightly smaller servings (four ounces each) since we knew we would want to eat dessert.
The duck that I ordered came with an orange pomme mash and glazed walnuts. The hint of orange in the pomme mash was very tasty and different from what I had had before. My only issue with the duck was that there was a chewy tendon that ran through it.
Tricia had the sablefish served with a smoked oyster mushroom risotto, apple chips, and a brandy glaze. The sablefish was moist and went great with the brandy glaze, which had a hint of sweetness.
For dessert, we decided to share the sampler, which gave you a choice of three items from their dessert menu for $15. We settled on the Chocolate Canadian Maple ‘Moose’ torte, Pistachio Dacquoise, and baked cheesecake mousse.
The cheesecake mousse came with an apple puree and a walnut cookie. While most cheesecakes are rich and dense, this was very light and creamy. Definitely different from most cheesecakes I have eaten and very good.
Chocolate is always a favourite for me and the chocolate torte no exception. Similar to the cheesecake mousse, this was also quite light and creamy with a strong chocolate taste throughout. The tangy raspberry pate contrasted well with the chocolate.
The pistachio dacquoise came with a lemon curd and a dab of buttermilk ice cream. I didn’t know what a dacquoise was but I like pistachios, lemons, and ice cream so I figured it was a safe bet. I couldn’t really taste the buttermilk in the ice cream, but it was a nice combo with the dacquoise, which was crunchy and crumbly at the same time.
Details:
200 Burrard St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-662-3463
Summary:
Food: 
Service:
Price: $$$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007
I went with Lawson and Victoria to Fuel Restaurant the other day. Located in Kits, it is a funky space with an open kitchen concept so you can pretty much see everything that is going on in the kitchen. That makes it harder to hide stuff from the patrons, right?
We were first served some bread, which came on a slab of granite was served with butter and salt.
The three of us were served different amuse-bouches prior to eating the dishes we ordered. I had a cold fresh watercress soup. It tasted light and refreshing and was a nice start to my evening meal.
Lawson had some deep fried squid served on a bed of cucumber salad. There didn’t seem to be anything special about this.
Victoria had what was probably the best one of the three. She had lightly grilled halibut served with mango. Her dish was also light and refreshing.
On to the main courses. I had rainbow trout with dandelion greens, sidestripe shimp ravioli, hazelnuts, and creme fraiche. I found the trout skin to be too salty and the entire dish itself was too heavy and rich for my taste. I had never had dandelion greens before though and it had a slightly bitter taste to it. The texture was similar to the leaves in swiss chards.
Lawson had the poached pork loin, which was served with schnitzel, roasted artichokes, and caramelized mustard. The fried schnitzel actually appeared to be the main focal point in this dish and you could barely even notice the 3 small pieces of pork loin on top. Lawson also found his dish to be quite heavy and rich.
Victoria had the lamb leg with bulgar, mint, sumac, and caramelized yoghurt. Lucky Victoria also probably had the best main course of the evening. The lamb was nice and tender and the bulgar and mint went well with the dish. It was Victoria’s first time trying bulgar and she compared the taste and texture to cous cous.
Since both our main courses were rather heavy, Lawson and I tried to choose something lighter for dessert. I chose the chocolate mousse because I figured it would be light and airy. However, my chocolate mousse turned out to be heavy and rich…more like a torte. It also came with some dabs of peanut butter, which I felt didn’t go too much with the “mousse”.
Lawson settled on a cherry tart, which came with a kriek beer sorbet. It was generously layered with fresh cherries on top.
Victoria had a vanilla creme brulee with fresh berries. The serving was pretty large and came with a fresh berry paste on the side that you could dip the creme brulee in.
The service at Fuel was prompt and friendly. I’m not sure if the heavy and rich food was typical of what they normally served or if it was because it is still a fairly new restaurant. I also found the desserts, which were $10 each, a little overpriced for what was offered. I will probably wait a bit before coming back here again.
Details:
1944 W. 4th Ave, Vancouver
Tel: 604-288-7905
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | 2 Comments »
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