Where have you booked for Dine Out this year? If you are still deciding, I’m going to start sharing my experiences, whether it’s an invited dinner or out of my own pocket. I was invited as a media to preview the menu at PiDGiN. Their food is a fusion of Asian and French cuisines, and they decorate the interior by rotating artworks by local artists.
They have designed their $45 DOVF menu to be as close to their regular prix fixe menu as possible, which is a 6-course menu shared family style for a minimum of 2 people. You have the option of an omnivore menu, or a vegetarian one. You can also order drink pairing for an additional $40-50 per person. The Dine Out website didn’t include the vegetarian menu, so I suggest you to visit PiDGiN’s website for the menus, and I’m posting them here as well. Note that the following plates are all meant to be shared by 2 people – they will adjust the portion based on party size.
Food
In addition to the 6-course menu, you can also order snacks a la carte. The Beef Tendon Chicharron was addictive. It’s crispy, and it wasn’t greasy. There was just enough seasoning, and the gochugaru citrus spice reminded me of sour plum flavour, with the tiniest hint of heat.
They use different vegetables to make their Daily Pickles. On this day, it was cucumber, ume-infused daikon and shitake mushrooms. They were just slightly pickled, so they weren’t overly briny or vinegary.
Before we started with the first course, we also cheered each other with an Oyster Shot. I liked the addition of celery lime granité, which not only brought flavours, but also a refreshing note. This was a cleaner, lighter version than the typical tomato-based oyster shot.
Moving into the six courses. First, I could smell the delicious scent of Brussel Sprouts as soon as I stepped foot into the restaurant. You can never miss the smell of fried brussel sprouts. I was worried that the miso would be too strong and salty, but it was just right. The pickled turnips, to my surprise, was more sweet than sour. Having a little bit of everything to form the “perfect bite”, it was a good balance of sweet and savoury.
This was paired with the Masseria Li Veli, Fiano 2018. It’s quite aromatic, citrusy and easy drinking. It helps cut through the grease in the brussel sprouts.
The next course is different between omnivore and vegetarian. The Tuna Tartare was my favourite of the two. It’s more complex in flavour and texture, with the additional pickled napa cabbage that wasn’t on the beet tartare. There seemed to be more going on in the tuna tartare than the beet one.
I’m a big fan of beets, so I was quite looking forward to the Beet Tartare. By looks, it was on point. It looked like a beef tartare. However I thought it’s a bit one note in flavour and texture. The marinade of the beet was a bit too strong for my liking, so it’s taking away the delicate flavour of the beet. Both tartares were served with crispy lotus chips, and they were so good. Great complement to the tartare.
The tartare course is paired with one of PiDGiN’s pre-batched cocktails, Park Meadows. It has gin, juniper syrup, yuzu and sage. It’s fruity yet herbaceous, with lots of citrusy note. I’m usually not a fan of gin but I would order this again. It comes in a little bottle and a key as bottle opener. Each bottle’s label showcases a different artwork by artists whom have been featured inside the restaurant. This little bottle serves two.
Next, the Cultivated Mushrooms use baby king oyster mushrooms and oyster mushrooms. The highlight for me was the ramen egg – the yolk was in just the right consistency, and the marinade was a perfect sweet-soy combination. While the baby king oyster mushrooms were tasty, the oyster mushrooms were too salty. The truffle celeriac puree was creamy and fragrant, exactly what you would expect from a truffle puree.
PiDGiN is known for its extensive list of sake on the menu. For the mushroom course, they pair it with the Tengumai Yamahai. Interestingly, it has an earthy, mushroomy note on the nose. At first sip, there’s actually a savoury flavour to it. It’s not my favourite sake, but it certainly went well with the dish.
The fourth course also serves up different dishes for omnivore and vegetarian. For omnivore, it’s the Seafood Dashi with sablefish (the website says halibut but it’s sablefish) and side stripe prawns. The sablefish was so good; silky, buttery, flavourful. We had to share the plate among 4 people and I don’t think I had enough. The side stripe prawns were also cooked well – you can still taste the sweetness in the prawns. Another positive in this dish was the mashed potato. It was rich and creamy; and it thickened the broth just a little.
The Vegetable Oden was also very good. There was an abundance of tofu, cabbage, squash, enoki, wakame, potato and daikon. It’s a hearty bowl of vegetables and felt very much like comfort food. The shoyu-based (soy sauce) dashi broth in both dishes were very good. Given we just had our first snow, it’s perfect for this weather.
This course was also paired with a sake. The Taiheizan Kimoto. It’s more floral, smoother and sweeter on the palate. I don’t know much about sake, but personally I prefer this one.
The last savoury course also brought two different dishes. I was quite excited about the Magret Duck Breast. It was tender and cooked perfectly — well seared on the outside and still pink inside. The use of five spice and hoisin glaze added asian flare, so did the Chinese radish cake on the side. My mom makes some great Chinese radish cake for Chinese New Year, with lots of Chinese sausage and daikon prominently in every bite, so I do have pretty high standard for radish cakes. Unfortunately, our piece here was just a bit too salty.
Being red meat, the duck breast is paired with the Origine small-batch Cab Sauv/Merlot/Cab Franc 2017. It’s fruity, well rounded, full body, but doesn’t have a lot of tannin. I quite enjoyed this wine with the duck.
The Carnaroli Risotto demonstrated the precision in the PiDGiN’s kitchen. How they’re going to manage a perfect risotto on every plate would be the ultimate test for them. The rice was cooked well, it was creamy. It’s nice to see sunchokes prepared two ways here. My mother-in-law grows a lot of sunchokes in her garden, so I really enjoyed its earthy flavour, and it paired well with the risotto. The sunchoke chips also added crunchy texture. I especially liked the spruce tip oil, which added some freshness and herbaceous note to the otherwise heavy dish.
On the contrary, and thankfully, this isn’t paired with the same red wine as the duck breast. This goes with the Nk’mip Chardonnay 2017.
Lastly, the dessert course. The Yuzu Crème Brulee was a great ending to our meal. Lots of citrusy flavour from the yuzu and just the right amount of sweetness. I loved the creamy texture, and the brulee gave the perfect crack on the spoon. Castelvetrano olive is Mr.’s favourite olive, but I’m not sure about its place in desserts. While I like the idea of sweet and savoury together, the candied olive pieces were a bit too briny for my taste.
With the dessert course, the Toffee Coffee should be a dessert on its own. It is a miso salted caramel espresso martini. It’s delicious, creamy and rich, and the salt level was just right. A good night cap.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I think PiDGiN’s menu is solid and of great value for $45 per person. Some are hit and miss, but they are minor things that can be adjusted easily. Given that the menu stays true to their regular offering, Dine Out does serve as a good opportunity for you to experience what PiDGiN has to offer. Being a meat eater, I can see myself enjoy the vegetarian menu just as much.
PiDGiN
350 Carrall Street, Vancouver
604-620-9400
pidginyvr.com
VanFoodies.com 
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