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Quelle Surprise at Provence Marinaside – $49 Two-Course Menu

Posted in Bistro, Dinner, French, Joyce, Lunch, Restaurants, Vancouver, Wine Pairing, Yaletown, tagged beef tartare, Bone Marrow, creme caramel, Daily Feature, Duck Confit, Fresh Sheet, Prix Fixe, Provence Marinaside, Quelle Surprise, Tuna Nicoise on March 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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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[Roundup] My 10 Favourite Bites/Sips in 2022

Posted in Asian, Beer, Bistro, Brewery, Burger, Canadian, Casual, Chinese, Dessert, Dinner, Favourites, French, Fried, Fusion, Hotpot, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Joyce, Lower Mainland, Meat, Michelin Guide, Neighbourhood Gem, No Reservation, Pasta, Portland, Restaurants, Roundup, Surrey, Sushi, U.S., Vancouver, Vancouver Island, West Coast, tagged 2022 Recap, 2022 Review, Bar Susu, Bluefin Tuna, burger, Butter Chicken, Cascade Brewing, Clove - The Art of Dining, Commercial Drive, craft beer, Durian, Extreme Eatery, Fresh Pasta, Frog Legs, Hei Hei Rice Roll, Hotpot, Linh Cafe, New Mandarin Seafood Restaurant, Oca Pastificio, Parksville, Portland, Rice Rolls, Roundup, surrey, Sushi Hil, tandoori chicken, Tortelli, Yushang Hotpot on January 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Hello 2023!! 2022 is a wrap and there’s so much to be grateful for and to celebrate. With things returning to a new normal, I had the pleasure of discovering a lot of new places last year. Many are worthy a repeat visit and of them all, here are my 10 favourite bites/sips. Now keep in mind this list is about the specific item listed, because one can’t possibly like everything at every single place. These dishes just really stood out for me. Interestingly, only a couple of these places were hosted tastings. The rest were paid out of our own pockets. Also remember, restaurants rotate their menu on a regular basis so what I had listed here may not be available anymore (and I will try my best to specify below), but I’m sure you would find something you like if you decide to visit these restaurants sometime soon.

And without further ado, in no particular order, here are the 10 items:

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[Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival 2020] 1931 Gallery Bistro

Posted in Beverage, Bistro, Chocolate, Dessert, Drinks, Hot Chocolate Festival, Joyce, Restaurants, Vancouver, tagged 1931 Gallery Bistro, hot chocolate, Hot Chocolate Festival, Hot Cocoa, Ruby Chocolate, Vancouver Art Gallery on January 30, 2020|

While Dine Out Vancouver is happening, did you know there’s also Hot Chocolate Festival? In fact, this is the 10th annual Hot Chocolate Festival. 44 different locations offering more than 110 flavours over a 4-week period, up until Valentine’s Day. Of course, I take this opportunity every year to discover local chocolatiers and find whimsical, creative hot chocolates.

First stop this year is the new 1931 Gallery Bistro at the Vancouver Art Gallery. They have recently renovated the bistro space upstairs from the art gallery and renamed it. They are also part of Dine Out Vancouver but I thought its $45 menu wasn’t quite worth it and they didn’t make it on my list.

Anyway, onto the hot chocolates. I was very intrigued because all their creations were inspired by art. Unfortunately, they were having technical difficulty so at the time of my visit they could only offer 2 of the 4 creations listed on the official website. As per my usual, I ordered one of each.

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The Acorn Restaurant – Where the Carnivore meets Vegetarian

Posted in Bistro, Brunch, Group Lunch, Joyce, Restaurants, Vancouver, Vegetarian, tagged Brunch, Fried Poached Egg, hipster, Main Street, Marshmallow, Poached Egg, S'mores, Skillet, The Acorn, vegetarian on June 5, 2017| 1 Comment »

As you all can figure from my posts, I love meat. Even my coworkers are fully aware of it (and sometimes make fun of me for that). So when our beloved, vegetarian friends JG and BD visited Vancouver from Toronto, it pained me a little that DV and DH chose a vegetarian restaurant — The Acorn — for our brunch together, instead of a regular restaurant with good vegetarian options. But hey, how else would I get to try The Acorn?! I’m game!

Food

The brunch menu at The Acorn isn’t big, but there are some interesting items that even a carnivore like me was intrigued. For beverage, I ordered a non-alcoholic Citrus + Spiced Iced Tea. It has grapefruit, Vermouth reduction sherbet, and mandarin spiced tea. It’s refreshing, herbaceous yet borderline medicinal. It’s quite light in the spiced flavours, but it would make a good summer drink.

As for my main, I opted for the Fried Egg. What caught my eye? The fried poached egg. Yes, a poached egg battered with cornmeal then fried. You would think that the egg would be over-cooked. Impressively, my egg was cooked perfectly — I cut it open and the yolk just oozed out. The smoked chanterelles were in the place of meat; they were earthy, hearty, and they tasted so good. I wished there were more! Overall the plate was well composed. The soft polenta and parsnip puree were creamy, and the fried poached egg and roasted parsnip added some texture. Everything tasted very good, but it wasn’t very filling for me.

Mr., DV and BD all ordered the Skillet, and this was a hearty dish! (more…)

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[Travel] 36 Hours of Focus in Whistler

Posted in Beer, Bistro, Brunch, Casual, Hang-Out with Friends, Joyce, Lunch, Product Reviews, Pub, Restaurants, Sandwiches, Special Occasion, Travel, Whistler, tagged Breakfast Poutine, Car review, ExploreBC, Ford, Ford Canada, Ford Focus, Honey Lager, Nita Lake, Reuben Sandwich, Scandinave Spa, Scenic, Stonesedge Kitchen, Test Drive, Travel, Whistler, Whistler Brewing, Woodsman's Bowl on May 10, 2017| 2 Comments »

[Editor’s Note: Sorry we took a writing break, but it’s good to be back!]

When I was contacted by our friends at Ford Canada that I’d have a Ford Focus for a week, the hopeful boy racer in Mr. asked, “is it an ST? Is it a hatchback?”

As it turns out, it was neither. It was a fully loaded (Titanium) sedan with a pretty blue paint job.

It also happened to be the same week as we threw a surprise birthday weekend in Whistler for CL, one of Mr.‘s close friends. So we gave the Focus a thorough test on a 36-hour trip.

36 Hours in Whistler

We kicked off the weekend at Stonesedge Kitchen, where we surprised CL with a birthday brunch.

There were 6 of us – and there were 5 orders of Breakfast Poutine. Except for me, the adventurous one. I ordered the Woodsman’s Bowl, with pulled venison and roasted butternut squash. Let me just say, I was happy with my choice. There was a good combination of flavours and texture. The slightly gamey venison made the dish more interesting than the maple sausage in the Breakfast Poutine.