I received an invitation to a sit-down media dinner at C Restaurant, to sample its Dine Out menu. I said yes without a blink. C Restaurant and I go way back. In fact, it all started with a DOV dinner back in 2004, when the menu was – hold your breath – only $25. That was before my photo-taking/food-blogging time, but I remember it was a very enjoyable dinner, especially for the value of it. Then, I went back for another DOV dinner in 2008, and the price already went up to $35, nonetheless a wonderful meal. In 2011, I visited C again for one of its tasting menus, courtesy of deal coupon discounts; it was a different experience because the dishes were smaller in portion and I could tell that the culinary direction had changed since my 2008 visit (sorry, was in hiatus mode so there wasn’t a post on this). This media invite has piqued my interest in trying the now more upscale C Restaurant, at an affordable $38 DOV price.
C Restaurant by False Creek
Food
Keep in mind that this is a media event so it may not necessarily reflect the true quality of food, but this should serve as a good indication of what you should expect from this restaurant. And I won’t be commenting on its service quality because it’s hard for me to judge when we were considered the “VIPs”.
I must start by saying that C’s DOV 2012 menu includes four courses. Actually, it’s amuse bouche + 4 courses, so by the sound of it, it’s already a better deal than other $38 restaurants. The only down side is that there’s no option for each course. Well, there is, but at extra cost. On the positive side, the menu is more focused since chefs and cooks are making same dishes, so they should have better control on quality assurance and consistency.
Shall we begin? The Amuse Bouche were presented beautifully on skewers. On the menu it lists smoked cannelloni as the only item, but I was watching other diners and they seemed to have received a variety of skewers like we did. It probably depends on the number of people at each table.
Amuse Bouche
Here is the list of items we got:
- Organic Ocean Spot Prawn
- Golden Beet & cheese
- Quail Egg
- Wild Pacific Smoked Salmon
- Albacore Tuna Tataki
Because there was not enough for everyone to try everything, I only tried three of the five items. They were simple, one-bite skewers that whet your appetite for the meal ahead.
The first course is Pickled Beet Panzanella Salad. Panzanella is a dressed salad of greens and stale bread. It’s basic, but in this case the beets and harissa dressing brought a lot of flavour to the dish. Beets were sweet, and a bit sour from the pickling, and the harissa dressing added a tiny kick and was probably the highlight of this dish for me.
Pickled Beet Panzanella Salad
Throughout the dinner we received bonus dishes, so we could have a better understanding of what the entire menu has to offer. At extra cost, $9 to be exact, you could substitute your salad with Sauteed Spot Prawns. (more…)
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