VanFoodies.com

On a sunny Saturday, several of us were on a private tour to visit three wineries in Langley, one of which was Domaine de Chaberton. Although not a part of the tour itinerary, we opted for the a la carte lunch at its Bacchus Bistro. This French bistro is a hidden gem tucked away in the Fraser Valley, recently won Bronze in Best Winery/Vineyard Dining by the Vancouver Magazine’s 2010 Restaurant Awards.

Food

At first glance, it’s not cheap to eat at the restaurant. A 3-course lunch would cost you somewhere around $35 if not more. However looking over to the second page of the menu, we found that it has a Table d’hote menu offering 3-course lunches ranging from $26.95 to $35.95. In 4 pairs, we each ordered a prix fixe menu plus an extra entree, with the appetizer and dessert to share. When the food arrived, that’s when I realized the food portion is quite generous there and the price point is no longer unreasonable.

Bread & butter (the butter has the word "butter" on it, in case we don't know what it is...)

So I was in charge of picking the combo for the prix fixe menu. First, we had the Shrimp Salad. There was a ridiculous amount of bay shrimps with a handful of greens. The dressing was basic salad dressing but the honey mustard garnish on the side added some acidity to it which was good. Entree was Mussels and Clams, which was an obvious choice for me since I’m a huge seafood fan. The cream sauce was quite different from the clear or tomato broth that I always get at other restaurants. It may not seem like a lot of mussels and clams, but the creamy sauce was quite rich and together it was quite filling. I can definitely take the star anise flavour of the Pernod and it turned out to be quite good. Some grounded black pepper would be nice.

Oh wait, Mr. didn’t go with the norm. He chose to order an extra appy AND entree:

I’m an all day eggs kinda guy, so their Three Egg Omelette with country style hash browns called out to me right off the menu. I later found out these omelettes have no meat in them, after mourning for that loss, I decided to order an appetizer as well— Rillette Maison et condiment.

The waitress described it as a shredded pork confit (otherwise known as rillette), for regular folks like me, pork confit is pork that has been slowly cooked and marinated in its own fat, making it unbelievably delicious. In this case, the meat is then shredded and made into a pâté. I would’ve preferred if the rillette is more spreadable, but I suppose this way it’s more meat like. The toast that comes with this dish is the best thing since sliced bread (har har I’m a comedian)—the perfect ratio of crispiness vs. chewiness, with a buttery scent. The condiments go well with the pork, but they aren’t anything special. With the omelette still left to conquer, I’m already half full.

The presentation of the omelette is very appetizing. It has a very hearty look to it. This was actually the first time I’ve ever had an omelette with cheese as the main filling. It’s not bad but it will take a little getting used to. The filling is a little too salty for me, but the eggs are nice and fluffy like pancakes. The potatoes are of the deep-fried variety, and they look and taste great.

Lastly for dessert we got Rhubarb Upside-down Cake. Rhubarb is not a common ingredient in my selection of desserts so I decided to be adventurous and went for it. It’s quite tart. The cake was warm and went well with the cold ice cream. I kinda wish it’s more moist.

On a side note, my friend ordered the Pork Rack and it was GIGANTIC. It’s two big slices of bone-in pork chops and it’s like 3 inches thick. Even with the bone, it was still a huge chunk meat to digest.

By the way, each meat dish comes with a side order of baked potatoes, 4 medium sized potatoes. All the men ordered a meat dish – that gave us 16 potatoes and that’s a lot of carbs! In the end, no one finished their potatoes.

Service

In my opinion the service was very good. Our questions were answered, food was served properly. We even got our bread refilled – in addition to the huge amount of potatoes we got on the table! I was so overwhelmed by the amount of food on the table I forgot to take a picture of it. There’s no space left for anything!

I especially appreciated the fact that the server helped us split the bills in a customized way. It was a 2-2-4 split and there was no mistakes made.

On the other hand, Mr.‘s mini-rant about service:

Yes I realize at a “nice” place like this it’s a bit of a taboo to ask for condiments, but no one knows my palate better than myself, so since I’m paying for my meal, shouldn’t I get to put on whatever I want? So if I want some hot sauce or god-forbid KETCHUP to go with my potatoes, please don’t look at me like I’m crazy. If you can make snails into a meal, I can damn well have hot sauce with my potatoes. Otherwise the service was fast and efficient, but they could use more servers considering how busy they are.

Ambiance

It’s a nice bistro with an air-conditioned room and a patio for seating. We were in the A/C room but the patio has a better view. It’s basically right by the vineyard so you’re looking at the field of grapes (if right time of the year) while enjoying your food and sipping local wines. Not something you can get at a downtown restaurant.

Final Thoughts

Langley is definitely out of the way, but its countryside atmosphere is something city restaurants can’t offer. If you’re celebrating a special occasion or simply wanting to get away from the city crowd, Bacchus Bistro would be a good option.

Bacchus Bistro at Domaine de Chaberton
1064 216 St, Langley
604-530-9694