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Posts Tagged ‘Talk Shop Media’

Taste of Yaletown 2017 – La Pentola $45 Menu

Posted in Culinary Events, Dinner, Italian, Joyce, Pasta, Restaurants, Taste of Yaletown, Vancouver, Yaletown, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 25, 2017| 3 Comments »

The other restaurant that I visited during the Taste of Yaletown media event was La Pentola at the Opus Hotel. La Pentola also offers a 4-course menu for $45.

Food

It’s a big menu, with two salad options for first course:

Beets, Frisee, Pickled Onion, Hazelnuts, Whipped Ricotta

Beet Salad

Duck and Radicchio, Frisee, Grapes, Pecans, Balsamic, Parmesan

Duck Salad

Both salads were tasty. Frankly I was so focused on the hot dishes I only had a small bite of each salad. They looked good, with just the right amount of dressing. I probably would’ve chosen the beet salad because I like beets, but the duck salad sounded more interesting.

Second course is pasta. The Linguine Vongole was quite good. Pasta was al dente, clams tasted fresh. (more…)

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Taste of Yaletown 2017 – House Special $45 Menu

Posted in Culinary Events, Dinner, Food Bloggers, Joyce, Meat, Media Events, Restaurants, Steak, Taste of Yaletown, Vancouver, Vietnamese, Yaletown, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 20, 2017| 3 Comments »

I was invited to the menu preview of the 2017 Taste of Yaletown. Organized by the Yaletown BIA and similar to Dine Out Vancouver, participating restaurants in Yaletown are offering a $25, $35, or $45 menu until Oct 27. At the preview event, I got to sample the menus at two restaurants, one of which was House Special, serving Modern Vietnamese cuisine.

Food

House Special offers a 4-course menu for $45. The first course was Mekong Wonton. Shrimp and monkfish mousse wontons were sitting in a sweet, sour and spicy tamarind seafood broth, which was inspired by a traditional Vietnamese dish Canh Chua Ca. It’s different from other types of Asian sweet and sour, or hot and sour soup. I could taste the sweet and sour combo from the tamarind but I was definitely caught by surprise when the pineapple flavour hit my palate. Being so familiar with the Chinese style wonton soup, this Vietnamese version was almost refreshing to me.

Mekong Wonton

The second course was Caramelized Pork Jowl Banh Hoi, which is their take on a lettuce wrap but with endives. (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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