Salad | VanFoodies.com

Archive for the ‘Salad’ Category

Dine Railtown – Discover Restaurants and Celebrate Community this November #DineRailtown

Posted in Cafe, Casual, Coffee, Comfort Food, Culinary Events, Dinner, Joyce, Lunch, Pasta, Salad, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged #DineRailtown, Belgard Kitchen, Dine Railtown, LanaLou's Restaurant, Pallet Coffee, Railtown, Strathcona on November 4, 2019|

There’s a new food event in Vancouver that introduces us to some hidden (and not-so-hidden) gems in Railtown, while supporting a local charity. Running from November 1 to 30, Dine Railtown features nine restaurants in the Railtown neighbourhood, of which proceeds from the sale of their signature dish will be donated to support programming at the Powell Street Getaway, one of 42 sites operated by the Lookout Housing and Health Society across Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island.

The nine restaurants include Ask For Luigi (love their pasta!), The Belgard Kitchen, Cuchillo, LanaLou’s Restaurant, The Mackenzie Room (one of my all-time faves!), Pallet Coffee Roaster, Railtown Cafe, St. Lawrence (maple syrup chicharon, hello?) and The Uncommon Cafe. I was invited to a media tour to visit 3 of the participating restaurants.

First up, the brand new Pallet Coffee Roaster. Opening its doors on November 4, this location is the new HQ of Pallet.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

[Dine Out Vancouver 2017] Dockside Restaurant Menu Preview #DOVF

Posted in Culinary Events, Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Fine dining, Great Views, Hotel Dining, Joyce, Meat, Media Events, Patio, Restaurants, Salad, Seafood, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged Beef Wellington, Chocolate, crab cakes, Dine Out Vancouver, Dine Out Vancouver 2017, Dockside Restaurant, Duck Prosciutto, Granville Island, Granville Island Hotel, Linguini Alle Vongole, panna cotta on January 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Have you checked out the Dine Out Vancouver website yet? Are you doing any prix fixe dinner? I was invited to a tour on the Granville Island to visit some restaurants for their menu preview. First up, Dockside Restaurant at the Granville Island Hotel.

Dockside has been around for a long time. I remember going there for the first time for Dine Out back in 2008, then Christmas brunch with family in 2013, my bridal shower in 2015, then here we are again for Dine Out. Food quality was always solid and we always had a good time.

Food

There are three options for appetizer. First, the Winter Green Salad was so pleasing on the eyes. It’s colourful, with a good variety of vegetables. I like that it uses polenta as croutons; not only does it give a crispy texture, but also creamy, cheesy flavours.

My friend JX loves her crab cakes, and I think she’ll enjoy these Dockside Crab and Shrimp Cakes. Perfect two-bite size, crispy on the outside and meaty inside. Not much filler there. The sweetness of mango salsa and creamy aioli balanced it really nicely.

My favourite appetizer was the Duck Prosciutto Tart. (more…)

Read Full Post »

WildTale Coastal Grill – Three Times A Charm

Posted in Dinner, Joyce, Pasta, Restaurants, Salad, Seafood, Vancouver, West Coast, Yaletown, tagged Ahi Tuna, Banana Cream Pie, Cobb Salad, Cured Salmon, Pasta, Sablefish, Salmon Tartare, scallops, WildTale, WildTale Coastal Grill, Yaletown on March 8, 2016| 1 Comment »

WildTale is owned by the same company behind the three Flying Pig restaurants, which have solid reputation of consistent, quality food. Since its opening last year, I’ve been to WildTale three times. First, I took my bridesmaids there after the wedding last summer, as a thank-you for their help; then, my family and I went there for Dine Out just this past January (a table of 8!). And now, I was invited by the restaurant to try some of its menu items. It’s hard to believe it’s taken three visits before a blog post about this restaurant. They say three times a charm?!

Food

This modified Seared Togarashi-Crusted Ahi Tuna was a great start to the dinner. I actually had the regular version last summer with my bridesmaids. The major different between this and the regular version was the mango & herb puree and the sweet soy reduction drizzle. The puree added some herbaceous freshness to the dish, while the sweet soy reduction provided a nice sweetness (kind of like an elevated teriyaki sauce). This was the only plate that was a modified version of a regular menu item.

Ahi tuna tends to be on the milder side when it comes to flavour, so the togarashi spice crust gave it some heat, and it was balanced nicely with the sweet mango salsa. This was a very tropical plate.

As suggested by the name, the Salmon Trio included three preparations of salmon – cured, tartare, and smoked nugget.
(more…)

Read Full Post »

[Dine Out Vancouver 2016] Gastown Brunch Crawl #BrunchCrawlsYVR

Posted in Baked Goods, Brunch, Culinary Events, Dine Out Vancouver, Healthy Eating, Joyce, Pizza, Salad, Tea, Vancouver, Vegan, tagged #BrunchCrawlsYVR, #DOVF, Bao, Bao Down, Brunch Crawl, Dine Out Vancouver, Dine Out Vancouver 2016, Eggs Benedict, gastown, Gluten Free, Pizza, Prado Cafe, Rodney's Oyster House, Smallflower Cafe & Bakeshop, The Birds & The beets, The Capilano Tea House, Vancouver Foodster, Vegan, Zero Zero Pizzeria on January 20, 2016| 2 Comments »

This past weekend, we were invited to go to the Brunch Crawls as part of the Dine Out Vancouver festivities. Put on by Richard the Vancouver Foodster. The first of the brunch crawl series was in Gastown.

Gastown Brunch Crawl

In 4 hours, Mr. and I checked out 7 different spots in Gastown:

Prado Cafe
Zero Zero Pizzeria
The Capilano
The Birds & The Beets / Grain
Rodney’s Oyster House
Bao Down
Smallflower Cafe & Bakeshop

The crawl started with a cup of hand-crafted coffee at Prado Cafe. There were a few choices and we ordered an Americano and Flat White.

Almost right next door was Zero Zero Pizzeria. The portion was quite generous here. We had two options, including the pizzetta flatbread, but also a new topping combination that wasn’t even available on the regular menu yet!

A couple of streets over we got to the new Capilano Tea House. They will officially open their door on February 1, so we basically got a sneak preview.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Donnelly Group Dine Out Preview Tour #DOVF

Posted in By Invitations, Chocolate, Culinary Events, Dessert, Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Joyce, Pasta, Pub, Restaurants, Salad, Soup, Vancouver, Yaletown, tagged #DOVF, Bangers & Mash, BC Beer, BC wines, Clough Club, Dine Out Vancouver, Dine Out Vancouver 2016, Donnelly Group, Downtown Vancouver, gastown, ice cream, Mac & Cheese, pub, public house, S'more, The Blackbird Public House, The Lamplighter Public House, The New Oxford, Wine Pairing, Yaletown on January 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

We were invited to go on a tour to check out the various Donnelly Group properties and their Dine Out Vancouver menu. Executive Chef Alvin Pillay has recently returned to the company group, and he’s quite proud of the menus that he’s put together. Ten of the Donnelly Group properties are offering similar items. Specifically, there are 6 core items that can be found at all these locations, which we tried on this tour, along with their respective beverage pairing. Each Donnelly Group location also offers an additional entree option on their Dine Out menu.

Food

Our first stop was at The New Oxford, where we tried the two appetizers.

The Curried Parsnip Soup could definitely warm you up on a chilly winter day. The curry spices really came through; I could taste a lot of ginger. Soup was creamy, and the roasted apple offered some texture in contrast. Suggested wine pairing is the Volcanic Hills Pinot Gris. The apple note in the white wine was a great match with the soup.

The Winter Salad sounded and seemed simple, but there’s an interesting depth to it. The buttermilk sumac dressing brought tartness and spice, black sesame added some nutty flavours, and the Moroccan pita bread gave it some crunch. The 50th Parallel Riesling isn’t as sweet as a typical Riesling, which worked well with this light salad.