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Archive for the ‘Culinary Events’ Category

[Dine Out Vancouver 2019] Juke Fried Chicken #DOVF

Posted in American, Baked Goods, Casual, Chinatown, Culinary Events, Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Fried, Joyce, Meat, Restaurants, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »

For the second year, Juke Fried Chicken in Chinatown is participating in Dine Out Vancouver. I was invited to a tasting of its $25 menu.

Food

The appetizer includes two options. The Country Biscuits are to die for! They were warm, had a nice crispy crust on the outside, and soft, buttery inside. Combining with the herbed schmaltz (think butter), mmm it’s one of the best biscuits I’ve had in town. There was leftover from the tasting, so I brought some home. Even with reheating, my family was still marvelled by how delicious these biscuits were.

Juke Fried Chicken - Country Biscuits

The other option is Fried Zucchini Pickles. Since it’s home made, it’s not pungent and acidic like the typical pickles. There’s a bit of sweetness in them. The corn flour-cornmeal crust was thin, making the exterior perfectly crunchy. The honey dill dressing goes well with it, and I tasted a hint of heat too. I didn’t think much of it when I saw this option on the menu, but it’s actually some good munchies before the highlight of the meal.

Juke Fried Chicken - Fried Zucchini Pickles

Suggested by the restaurant name, obviously fried chicken needs to be on the menu.

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[Dine Out Vancouver 2019] Sandbar Seafood Restaurant Menu Preview #DOVF

Posted in Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Great Views, Joyce, Meat, Media Events, Restaurants, Seafood, Steak, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Last week, prix fixe menus of Dine Out Vancouver 2019 were revealed. With that, I was invited to a menu preview at a few restaurants on Granville Island. One of which was The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant.

Sandbar offers a $35 Dine Out menu, with a couple of entree options that you can upgrade with $10 extra. For the menu preview tasting, we were shown a full-size portion for photos, and then canape-size for tasting. Therefore, what you see below is what you will get, but what I tasted may not be the best representation of the dish as I only had a small portion of it.

Food

There are three appetizers to choose from:
Sablefish Croquette – The croquette was mostly potato with some flakes of sablefish. The miso ailoi had a hint of lemon. The pickled fennel on top brought a good amount of acidity.

Sandbar DOVF 2019 Sablefish Croquette
Beet & Arugula Salad – A classic combination of beet, arugula and goat cheese, with a fig balsamic vinaigrette. You can’t go wrong with that.

Sandbar DOVF 2019 Beet & Arugula Salad
Clam Chowder – My favourite appetizer here. It was creamy, it was rich, and it was hearty.

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[Dine Out Vancouver 2019] Menus are out: What looks good? #DOVF

Posted in Burnaby, Chinatown, Coquitlam, Culinary Events, Dine Out Vancouver, Gastown, Joyce, Langley, New Westminster, News, North Vancouver, Port Moody, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, West Vancouver, Yaletown, tagged , , , , , , on January 10, 2019| 1 Comment »

Dine Out Vancouver is back! Did you know I’ve been doing Dine Out Vancouver since, like, forever? My first year was when Rob Feenie still had his restaurants and I was there for DOVF.

Running from January 18 to February 3, the prix fixe portion of this year’s program has changed to 4 price points – $15, $25, $35 and $45. There are also more lunch and brunch options, usually at a cheaper price than dinner. This would give an opportunity to try the pricier restaurants with less.

The menus are now live and reservations are open. Actually, Aeroplan members already had access since Monday, so I had the opportunity to go through all the menus. Here are some suggestions, based on past experience (Dine Out or not) as well as menu attractiveness (e.g. value for the money, choice of ingredients, creativity in the menu, enough options for two people, etc.). Now keep in mind I curated the list based on my preference (as you know, I’m a meat lover), my way of thinking, so it may not all suit your taste. But hopefully this gives you a place to start.

I’ve included links to the menu to make it easier for you.

$15 Suggestions

  • Brewhall
  • Chutney Villa (Last year was $20 so I’m guessing portion size would be smaller this year, or it’s super deal for $5 less!)
  • Popina
Chutney Villa Dine Out Vancouver 2018

Chutney Villa Dine Out Vancouver 2018

$25 Suggestions

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[Craft Beer] 2018 BC Beer Awards Event Recap and Winners List

Posted in Beer, Craft Beer Series, Culinary Events, Drinks, Joyce, News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 25, 2018| Leave a Comment »

On October 20, 2018, winners of this year’s BC Beer Awards were named. The ceremony was held in conjunction of a tasting event with 60 breweries setting up shop at the Croatian Cultural Centre.

2018 BC Beer Awards

BC Beer Awards received 1,085 entries from 109 breweries. The judging took place over 3 days and was performed by a panel of BJPC (Beer Judge Certification Program), Cicerones and Pro Brewers from all over North America.

Like last year, there was also a Brewers Challenge. Participating breweries were challenged this year to brew something with fresh hop. It can be any beer style. The judging took place as we were given a tour of the space.

2018 BC Beer Awards

And I must say, it’s pretty awesome to see Lien Yeung at CBC as the emcee, especially with her on the step stool. I can totally relate!

2018 BC Beer Awards

BC Beer Awards Winners

A shout out to all the big award winners: (more…)

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[News] Taste of Yaletown 2018 Returns – Restaurant List

Posted in Culinary Events, Dinner, Joyce, News, Taste of Yaletown, Vancouver, Yaletown, tagged , , , , , on October 4, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Taste of Yaletown is back! Running from October 18-28, 2018, restaurants in the Yaletown neighbourhood will offer innovative pairings and special menus at set prices of $25, $35, and $45.

The Yaletown Business Improvement Association, the event organizer, just released the list of participating restaurants. They are:

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[Wine] All About the Porto

Posted in Culinary Events, Drinks, Joyce, Vancouver, Vancouver International Wine Festival, Wine, Wine Series, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

This year, Vancouver International Wine Festival celebrated its 50th anniversary with feature countries Spain and Portugal. Just like previous years, I drank my way through the big tasting room. But this year my focus was on the Ports.

2018 Vancouver International Wine Festival

What is Port Wine?

Port Wine (“Vinho do Porto” in Portuguese) is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in Portugal. It is a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine. Although you may find fortified wines outside Portugal (e.g. Vista D’oro makes an awesome walnut port-style wine), only the product from Portugal may be labelled as Port or Porto.

Through the tasting and in talking with the wine reps, I’ve learned about the different styles of port:

Ruby Port is the most extensively produced type. It’s usually stored in stainless steel tanks to prevent oxidation and preserve its bright red colour and full-bodied fruitiness.

Tawny Ports are aged in wooden barrels, exposing them to gradual oxidation and evaporation. They turn into a golden-brown colour and the oxidation gives the wine nutty, caramel, and/or prune, raisin notes. If there isn’t any indication of age, it’s just a generalization that the wine has spent time in wooden barrels.

Late Bottled Vintage (often referred to simply as LBV) is typically bottled between four and six years after the vintage, with similar quality like a Vintage Port. If the LBV is filtered, it’s not meant to be aged.

Vintage Port is made entirely from grapes of the same vintage year. They may be aged in barrels for 2-3 years before bottling. You can drink it right away but it’s meant to be cellared for decades as it improves with age.

Here is what I tried:

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Science of Cocktails 2018 – Recap

Posted in Beverage, Cocktails, Culinary Events, Drinks, Food Bloggers, Joyce, Meat, News, Vancouver, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Earlier this month, as media, I was invited to attend the 3rd annual Science of Cocktails event at the Science World. It was the perfect venue as the Science World was transformed into a giant lab where drinks were changing from blue to pink, bananas being sous vide in honey, popcorn was frozen with liquid nitrogen, a “toothpaste” palate cleanser, smoking herbs, vaporized gin & tonic, fermentation, a sniffing station, foodies pulling themselves up a lift… the list goes on!

Science of Cocktails 2018

Science of Cocktails 2018Science of Cocktails 2018

Science of Cocktails 2018

Science of Cocktails 2018Science of Cocktails 2018

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