AnnaLena

August 24, 2016August 23, 2016Leave a comment

For my birthday, I gave a list of restaurants I wanted to try to S and told him to surprise me with something. He ended up choosing AnnaLena which I was super excited about! Located in the Kits area just before the Burrard Bridge, the kitchen is run by the talented executive chef, Michael Robbins.

The interior is whimsical but cool with modern art and lego toys. The restaurant is quite small, so I’ve heard that people have had to make reservations well in advance. I’m guessing S did just that to secure us a spot.

Because S had mentioned it was my birthday when he made reservations, I guess they noted it down and surprised us both with a complimentary cocktail. That was a really nice touch and the cocktail was delicious!

Chicken

As I had just came from happy hour, I really wasn’t that hungry so we ended up just trying out a few dishes. First was the Chicken, which was buttermilk fried, with a sesame dashi mayo, and accompanied with charred shishito peppers. These were so light and crispy! And the Asian style mayo was a nice twist and complemented the chicken so well.

Scallop

The second dish we tried was the Scallop which were seared, and came with smoked pork jowl, roast turnips, pickled apples, and cauliflower puree. The scallops were cooked to perfection without them being rubbery and the pork jowl was tender with a nice rebound texture.

Chocolate

For dessert, we had the Chocolate, which featured white chocolate mousse, sesame toasted mango, and passion fruit sorbet. Perhaps I took too long to take pictures, but the sorbet began to melt quite quickly. Still, I loved the different textures in this dessert and the strong passion fruit flavour in the sorbet.

Overall, just based on the few items we tried, I already enjoyed AnnaLena a lot and am looking forward to return and try the rest of the items. The portions are quite small for the price, but the quality and execution of the dishes are spot on. A great place if you want to celebrate a special occasion.

Pros:
– Quality and well executed dishes
– Professional service

Cons:
– Portions are on the smaller side for the price
– You’ll need to make reservations way in advance!

Price Range: $30-60

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 5 Service: 4.5 Ambiance: 3.5 Parking: 4 Overall: 4.5

Supermarine – Dine Out Vancouver 2016

February 7, 2016Leave a comment

My second Dine Out Vancouver Festival restaurant was at Supermarine, a relatively new restaurant tucked away in Kitsilano in an area I was not even aware of. Located on Yew St and W 1st Ave, the restaurant is quite the hidden gem.

The interior is very small, fitting around 35 diners, with a rustic charm.

Their Dine Out Vancouver Festival menu was $30 so very reasonable, considering we were beyond full by the end of our meal.

Smoked Whitefish

For appetizers, we ended up trying all three choices on the menu. I got the Smoked Whitefish, which was presented a little funky looking with their bottles of homemade hot sauce and creme fraîche served on the plate. On the side were buttered saltines to place your smoked whitefish on. We all really enjoyed this and it reminded me of Fable’s canned tuna.

Crispy Brussels Sprout Salad

SP got the Crispy Brussels Sprout Salad with soy, honey vinaigrette and yogurt. I had a bite and the brussel sprouts were cooked to tender with nice crispy edges. I don’t usually like brussel sprouts, but these were delicious!

Littleneck Clam & Ham Hock Chowder

SK got the Littleneck Clam & Ham Hock Chowder. It comes with oyster crackers and is topped with a green garlic pistou sauce, which is similar to a pesto.

Octopus Chips

We also added on a side of Octopus Chips for around $9. Served in a jar, these were sliced octopus and fingerling potatoes battered and deep fried. A slightly spicy tomato aioli was served alongside for dipping and this made a great snack. The octopus was very tender and potatoes were nice and crispy. Too bad we found that there were way more potatoes than octopus.

Salt Spring Island Mussels

SP and SK both got the Salt Spring Island Mussels for their entree. The mussels came with chorizo, fennel and were cooked in a smoky tomato broth. The mussels were plump and fresh. No empty shells in the bowl! A generous serving alongside with a huge bowl of fries and tartar sauce. The girls could barely make a dent in the fries after finishing the mussels!

Grilled Flat Iron Steak

I sort of wanted the mussels as well, but being a foodie, I had to order something different, so I went for the Grilled Flat Iron Steak. The already sliced steak came on top of a nori potato puree with smoked fingerling potatoes and covered with watercress. The steak was cooked to a beautiful pink medium rare and was very tender. At first I thought the plate looked small, but there were actually a lot of meat and potatoes. Was definitely stuffed by the entree!

Chocolate Semifreddo

For dessert, the girls got the Chocolate Semifreddo. I stole a bite and really enjoyed it! A nice firm chocolate cake with toasted marshmallow, graham crumbs and smoked salt.

Calamansi Lime Curd

For myself, I chose something different again and went for the Calamansi Lime Curd. When I saw it, I was pretty confused at what I had, but it turned out to be a lime curd with whipped ricotta, shortbread crumb, candied citrus and topped with cilantro. The flavours worked very well together with that herb taste coming through from the cilantro. The lime curd was quite sour but when mixed with the sweet ricotta, there was a nice balance. Not bad!

Overall, we were quite impressed with the flavours of the dishes at Supermarine. Prices are also very reasonable and if you enjoy cocktails, they have a great list. Only downside was that our service started out pretty good, but at the end, apparently they had a huge 10 people reservation right after us, so they kept pushing all the diners along one side of the dining table to leave. Felt like the service lacked because of wanting to maximize capacity from Dine Out, so will need to come back on a regular day.

Pros:
– Great portions and reasonable prices
– Flavours in dishes are unique

Cons:
– Service during Dine Out wasn’t very good
– Seating was a bit tight (not sure if it’s like this during regular service)

Price Range: $30/person (DOVF menu)

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3.5 Parking: 3 Overall: 4

Hawksworth Restaurant

December 30, 2015January 4, 20161 Comment

Hawksworth has been on my list of must-try restaurants for quite a long time now. Since opening in 2011, the restaurant has won many awards including second place for Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants. But with all those awards means an expensive meal. So when S surprised me for our anniversary and Christmas Eve dinner at Hawksworth, I was one happy girl!

The restaurant is located under the Rosewood Hotel Georgia and the ambiance is truly beautiful. Dimly lit with beautiful chandeliers and a massive wine cabinet, this place makes you feel chic. Service was extremely friendly and didn’t give you that snobby feel that many upscale restaurants can have. On Christmas Eve, this place was bumping!

Pan Roasted Scallops

We started off sharing an appetizer of the Pan Roasted Scallops which was presented beautifully. The dish came with some smoked mangalitsa lardo, which reminded me of bacon, sunchoke purée, chestnuts, and were topped with crispy celeriac. The scallops were cooked to perfection and I loved dipping it into the sunchoke purée. All the components just worked so well together.

Charred Wagyu Flank

For my main, I chose the Charred Wagyu Flank, which was accompanied with chickpea beef neck panisse, charmoula, sunchoke, and yogurt. Again, this was visually appealing and all components went well together. However, I was slightly disappointed with the Wagyu flank since it was a bit tough to chew even though it was cooked medium rare. I know that flank steak is usually chewier, but I found that mine had quite a lot of connective tissues that made it difficult to chew. Still, the meat was very flavourful and had a nice char. It paired very nicely with the charmoula sauce. An interesting component of the dish were the chickpea beef neck panisse which I absolutely loved. I later learned that panisse is fried chickpeas and this one was extremely crispy on the outside. A great alternative to your typical fries with steak.

Yarrow Meadows Duck Breast

S got the Yarrow Meadows Duck Breast, which featured leg confit croquette, pumpkin purée, gai lan, and lingonberry duck jus. I was hesitant of his choice at first since I usually find duck breast to be easily cooked to dry, but this was honestly the best duck breast I’ve had! They suggest to have it medium rare and the meat was so tender! A must order!

Dark Chocolate

For dessert, our server recommended the Dark Chocolate, which featured a mousse like cake, a peppermint sorbet, and cocoa nibs. Since S had ordered in advance on Open Table and made a note that it was our anniversary, they surprised us by adding a chocolate card which was a nice touch. This was a great dessert especially for the holidays, with the rich dark chocolate balanced by the minty sorbet.

Dinner ended with complimentary peppermint shortbread cookies and raspberry jellies. Both of which were quite good.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with Hawksworth. You can tell the chef prepares each dish with care and thought. The portions were actually larger than I had imagined, but entrees still ranged from around $40 and up. Our bill ended up around $130 before tips with no beverages for the two and I was pleasantly full. Looking forward to return to try other dishes, but it will definitely be left for a special occasion!

Pros:
– Carefully prepared dishes
– Excellent service and ambiance

Cons:
– Very pricey

Price Range: $60-80/ person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4.5 Service: 4.5 Ambiance: 5 Parking: 3 Overall: 4.5

Joe Fortes (30th Anniversary)

December 3, 2015November 29, 2015Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House celebrated their 30th anniversary with select items during lunch at their 1985 prices. S and I decided to head over on Friday at around 11:30am to join the crowds. Of course, there were tons of people waiting and we left our name and number with the hostess who said they would text us when a table was ready. She told us it would be probably a two and a half hour wait, but we stuck with it anyways.

More than two hours later, we still didn’t hear back so I suggested we go back and check. Turns out there were no patrons waiting anymore and that apparently she had texted us about the seat. I was pretty choked since we were starving and the hostess had clearly entered the wrong phone number into the system. To make things worse, the $12 steak that we were excited about was sold out by now… We had waited so long already, so we settled with it and were led to their upper floor where the patio was. The patio was very nice and was heated so we didn’t need to bare the cold. They also had a beautiful bar on the patio.

After placing our orders, we were served complimentary bread with lobster oil and balsamic vinegar. This is always a plus at Joe Fortes since the lobster oil is delicious!

Shrimp Cocktail

Of course we got some items from their anniversary week menu, so we chose the Shrimp Cocktail which was discounted to $5.95. I had imagined them to be big plump shrimps, but they turned out to be baby shrimps already premixed in the cocktail sauce and topped with fresh horseradish. Slightly disappointed, but the shrimp was still very fresh and you got a good amount.

West Coast Fish Cakes

I didn’t know that Joe has Blue Plate Specials every weekday during lunch, where a dish is on special each day of the week. On Friday, it was the West Coast Fish Cakes for $9.95 so we got that to share as well. These were delicious! Lightly battered with well seasoned fish.

Blackened Rock Fish

And since we couldn’t get the extremely good $12 deal of New York Steak, we opted for the Blackened Rock Fish which was also offered only for $11.95. The rock fish was actually very moist and the blackened crust had a peppery taste to it. It came along with roasted potatoes and market vegetables. A good deal for sure.

Overall, the food at Joe Fortes didn’t disappoint. However, we were slightly disappointed with the service that day given that I’ve had really good service in my previous visits. Our waitress completely forgot our order and had to come back to ask and she also didn’t appear very friendly until near the end of our meal. Perhaps she was flustered with the busy lunch hours with the anniversary week…

Pros:
– Dishes are well executed
– Nice ambiance

Cons:
– Service we got that day was quite poor

Price Range: $20-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 1.5 Ambiance: 4 Parking: 2 Overall: 3.5

Gramercy Grill

May 19, 2013Leave a comment

For K’s birthday, I took her to Gramercy Grill for dinner. Unlike these few days, the week before was full of sunshine and it was still sunny in the evening! We were asked to choose to dine indoors or outdoors, and we opted indoors since we were afraid it would get chilly later in the evening.

Each day, they have different specials. We went on a Tuesday, and there was an oyster deal. We aren’t huge fans of oysters though, so we didn’t end up ordering any. Their menu also seems to be a little different from the one on their website and some prices have been changed as well. I wish I knew that they had a happy hour deal as well! We were only 3o minutes late for that!

The interior is quite classic with carpet flooring and wooden furniture. The crowd is a bit older, and it seems like there are some regulars. They also have a bar where many people came to watch the hockey game. Service was alright, but they essentially only have three people working the floor. There was one man, who was extremely friendly.

Calamari

Since not many of the main entrees really appealed to us, we ended up ordering three appetizers to share and an entree of mussels. We started with the Calamari, which we had imagined to be fried. Perhaps I didn’t read the description clearly, because it ended up being calamari served in a saucy broth. It ended up to be decent, but not what I was craving for. The calamari were cooked to tender and the sun-ripe tomatoes and olives gave the broth some flavour. I guess this was much more healthy!

Beef Carpaccio – truffle puree aioli, fried capers, shaved parmesan & crostini

Next up, I wanted the Beef Carpaccio. The beef was sliced extremely thing and topped with lots of parmesan, truffle puree aioli and fried capers. In the center, there were a few slices of crostini to accompany the carpaccio. I thought that there was a little too much parmesan, and wished they gave me a few more crostinis because the pairing worked so well together. The capers brought some flavour, but overall, I thought it was just okay. I’ve had better beef carpaccio elsewhere.

Gramercy Meatballs – Italian parsley, grana padano & house made tomato sauce

K had been to Gramercy Grill before, and she told me the Gramercy Meatballs were one of her favourites. Three large meatballs came sitting in a dish of tomato sauce. These were indeed quite delicious! The seasoning was just perfect and I started to crave some spaghetti to accompany these meatballs…

Local Mussels & Pommes Frites

Lastly, I wanted the Local Mussels & Pommes Frites. Unfortunately, we didn’t come on a Wednesday, because on Wednesdays, they have a deal for $10! Anyways, the portion was decent and each shell was filled with a plump mussel. The sauce reminded me of some curry/ indian inspired flavour actually. I don’t quite remeber what our server told us the sauce was comprised of, but on their website it says tomato sauce and merguez sausage. I didn’t find any sausages inside, however. So perhaps, it was a different broth. I only remember it having frozen corn in it. The fries on the other hand, were extremely crispy. I believe they are hand cut, as they taste homemade. They were extremely good!

Chocolate Torte

To end off our dinner, we decided to share the Chocolate Torte. They don’t have a dessert menu on their website, but they do have a selection of desserts to choose from. This had to be the best part of the meal. At first, I saw the melting ice cream and thought that this was presented so unpleasantly, but you will understand why once you bite into that torte. It’s almost like a brownie/ lava cake and the chocolate is so warm that it just melts in your mouth. Along with the ice cream that brings a hint of coolness, it is just amazing! There’s two pieces of the chocolate torte, and comes with a scoop of ice cream and whip cream, so it’s plenty to share between two. It takes some time to get served though, probably because they need to heat it up. A must try though.

Dinner at Gramercy Grill was alright. I didn’t find it to be spectacular, but it’s a nice place to spend your evening. The restaurant definitely caters to the older crowd as most of the items are quite classic. Prices are also on the higher range for the portions you get. However, that chocolate torte makes me want to come back!