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Archive for the ‘French’ Category

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

Posted in Bistro, Dinner, French, Joyce, Lunch, Restaurants, Vancouver, Wine Pairing, Yaletown, tagged , , , , , , , , , 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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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[Dine Out Vancouver 2020] PiDGiN: 6-course menu shared family style #DOVF

Posted in Asian, Beverage, By Invitations, Culinary Events, Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, French, Fusion, Gastown, Joyce, Restaurants, Vancouver, Vegetarian, Wine Pairing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 15, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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.

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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.

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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.

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Afternoon Tea at Origo Club, Richmond

Posted in Afternoon tea, Dessert, Fine dining, French, Joyce, Restaurants, Richmond, Special Occasion, Tea, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

For Mother’s Day, I took Mama Lam to afternoon tea at Origo Club. They offered a special menu for the weekend, but surprisingly, it was at its regular price of $45 per person. Good on them for not raising the price on this special day because many places do. The number of items was the same as usual but with a different line-up of desserts.

Afternoon Tea at Origo Club

Food

Here is what we had for savoury items (starting from the left):

Savoury Items, Afternoon Tea at Origo Club

Tarte aux Épinards – tart shell, spinach, coppa, gruyère, egg. One of my favourite items in the line-up. The tart shell was buttery and there was a lot of spinach in the filling. The filling was well-seasoned too.

Canard à l’Orange – seared duck breast, orange coulis & segments. Another fave of mine. The duck breast was tender, smokey. I wish there were more pieces of this.

Chou au Foie Gras et à la Truffe – choux pastry, duck foie gras & truffle mousse. (more…)

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Provence Marinaside – Taste of Yaletown 2016 Preview

Posted in Chocolate, Culinary Events, Dessert, Dinner, Fine dining, Food Bloggers, French, Joyce, Meat, Media Events, Restaurants, Seafood, Steak, Taste of Yaletown, Vancouver, Wine Pairing, Yaletown, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 17, 2016| 4 Comments »

Taste of Yaletown is back! For the 12th year, 31 restaurants in the Yaletown area are each offering a special menu at $25, $35 or $45. Running from Oct 13 to Oct 27, this event has a “Sharing and Pairing” theme this year. Some menus are created grazing, share-plate style, allowing diners to to share with each other while pairing the food with wine, beer or a cocktail; and with smaller portions it would allow diners to even plan a restaurant hopping experience around the neighbourhood.

As part of the media preview, a number of us were whisked away to one of the participating restaurants. I was lucky enough to sample the menu at Provence Marinaside. It’s been awhile since I last ate there, so I’m glad to go back for a re-visit.

Food

Provence’s Taste of Yaletown menu is $45. To start, you would receive a Provence Tasting Plate. It includes 1) Tomato and Bocconcini Salad; 2) Rustic Country Style Pate; and 3) House Smoked Ruby Red Trout. You can’t go wrong with the classic tomato and bocconcini combination, and the basil added a herbaceous note. The pate was rich and flavourful; the meat had a nice, chunky texture. My favourite, and it’s a close call, was the smoked trout. It was flaky, lightly smoked, and for me it wasn’t fishy at all. I may have a favourite, but honestly I would eat any of the three appies again. And the good news is, you get all three!

Provence Tasting Plate

For entree, you have three options. We were able to try all three – but the pictures below are not actual portion size so I’ll try to help you visualize the actual portion as best as I can.

The Dijon and Fresh Herb Crusted Lois Lake Steelhead had a nice crispy skin, and the meat was moist and flaky. I personally found the dijon mustard to be a bit overpowering. The beurre blanc was creamy, perfect pairing for the salmon; the warm potato salad was pleasant on the eyes, and on the palate. The actual portion should be about two pieces of salmon on our tasting plate.

Dijon and Fresh Herb Crusted Lois Lake Steelhead

The second option is the West Coast Bouillabaisse. (more…)

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