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Archive for the ‘Lunch’ Category

Launched on March 15, 2023, Yaletown’s Provence Marinaside now has a Quelle Surprise menu everyday until April 15. Quelle Surprise translates into “What a Surprise,” and literally, you will come to the restaurant and be surprised! Each morning Chef Jean-Francis Quaglia and his chef team will make a limited number of dishes from a rotating assortment of bistro favourites, and these dishes will be featured in a two-course menu for only $49. This feature will be available during lunch and dinner service.

“Some days we’ll make a dozen orders of a particular appy and main, and other days, depending on the availability of ingredients and what inspires us, we might make two dozen, or only ten,” says Chef Jean-Francis. “I won’t know until that day what we’ll make or how many.”

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It was Papa Lam’s birthday earlier this month, and I took Mama and Papa Lam out for a day of, surprise, eating and drinking. The first stop was brunch at The Hard Bean Brunch Co. in Port Moody. It was only a Friday, but they have an everyday brunch menu plus other casual eats like burgers, finger appies, and bowls, and oh, an attractive sweets menu.

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Dine Out Vancouver is back for its 21st season! Running from January 20-February 5, 2023, 366 restaurants are offering prix fixe menus between $20 and $65 (side note: this was up from $20-$59 last year). Now that we’re settling into our new “normal”, I think more people would want to do this again this year. However, with the increasing food costs that we have been experiencing, I have my doubts about the value and attractiveness of these menus.

As per previous years, I took the time to review the menus and here are what caught my eyes, based on past experiences (Dine Out or otherwise), Google review (if it’s a restaurant that I’ve never been), as well as menu attractiveness (e.g. value for the money, choice of ingredients, creativity in the menu, enough options for two people, etc.). Also keep in mind that I curated the list based on my preference (as you know, I’m a meat lover and I’m biased against chicken and salmon) and my way of thinking, so it may not necessarily suit your taste. But hopefully this gives you a place to start.

Because of the arbitrary prices, I have organized my list into Brunch/Lunch and Dinner. You will find a link to the menu, as well as listed price, to help you make decisions. Remember, my recommendations are for that specific menu and specific location(s) only, even though the restaurant may have other locations and menu options. If you have been to any of them, let me know what you think!

Brunch/Lunch

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Over a five-day winecation in the Okanagan (yes, we have an “official” name for our wine vacation) with our friends B&K, we visited a number of wineries, eateries and attractions in the area. One of which was TIME Winery & Kitchen in Penticton. Back in 2018, we had a tour of the winery prior to its opening, having the opportunity to speak with the late Harry McWatters and his vision for the urban winery. Fast forward to 2022, TIME has changed hands to Ron and Shelley Mayert, with the McWatters sisters continuing to manage the operation. B&K are wine club members there, and there are perks such as a discount on food and complimentary wine tasting. We ended up spending 3 hours at TIME, starting with a lunch.

Food & Wine

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My family and I love steamed whole chicken and our go-to is always Loong Kong Chicken 龍崗雞, part of the specialty Asian chickens raised right here in British Columbia. We just find Asian chickens more suitable for our style of cooking, when we tend to cook more Asian-inspired dishes. If you remember, last year I shared a recipe of Steamed Chicken with Spicy Green Onion Broth and it’s one of my favourite ways of how Mama Lam steams a whole chicken. The chicken is tender and flavourful, and it’s even better overnight as leftovers.

Did you know?

All BC chickens raised for their meat are allowed to roam in the barns and are considered “free run.” Also, no hormones or steroids are fed to BC chickens.

Recently, we have discovered steaming chicken in an Instant Pot or any pressure cooker. The meat is juicier and more moist, and it frees up a spot on the stove top. This would be especially beneficial come this summer if we experience yet another heat wave; it will take the heat off cooking on a stove top while still enjoying some delicious steamed chicken.

One of the chicken dishes I sometimes miss is Salt Baked Chicken 鹽焗雞. I have always loved the complex flavours on the chicken despite its deceivingly plain appearance. It’s also not something you often find at restaurants these days. So Mama Lam has come up with an easy recipe to create something similar using Instant Pot. It only takes 8 minutes inside the pressure cooker, 30 minutes if you include the building up and releasing of pressure. And the best of all, there are only 5 ingredients in this recipe and they are all pantry staples!

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