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The Observatory [Dine Out Vancouver 2014]

Posted in Bread, Chocolate, Culinary Events, Dessert, Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Fine dining, Great Views, Joyce, North Vancouver, Restaurants, Seafood, Special Occasion, Sustainable, West Coast, tagged apple tart, Beef Short Rib, beet salad, Brandade, Chinese New Year, Chocolate Ganache, Dine Out Vancouver 2014, Duck Confit, gnocchi, Grouse Mountain, Pain d'Epi, The Observatory, trout on February 5, 2014| 3 Comments »

For every Dine Out, in addition to the new restaurants that pop up throughout the year, my family and I also have a wishlist of restaurants that we would look for. It has been a few years since we wanted to go to The Observatory on Grouse Mountain, but every time the menu just wasn’t very interesting to us. Finally this year’s menu seemed to have something for everyone so we booked it as part of our Chinese New Year celebration.

Food

I should give a caveat that The Observatory isn’t a typical Westcoast restaurant. There are elements of molecular gastronomy that you will see below. But before I even talk about the actual menu, I must compliment on the Epi French Bread (Pain d’Epi) that they offer each table. First of all, it’s free; secondly, it’s of generous amount; and thirdly, it’s hot and tastes good. It came with a compound butter with some smokey and apricot flavours topped with some sea salt. It was some really good-tasting bread, crunchy but not jaw-breaking, and we finished it rather quickly.

Because there were 3 of us, we got all three appetizers. The Duck Confit wasn’t a whole duck leg; it was shredded duck meat in a ring mold along with some micro green salad. The grapefruit gel was basically the dressing, adding a bit of sweetness, bitterness and tartness to the salad.

The Roasted Heirloom Beets was just too pretty to eat. The two preparations (crispy and soft roasted) really showcased the beets and its natural sweetness was very pronounced. The ricotta cheese cake replaced the usual goat cheese but still brought in some creaminess to the salad.

The Black Cod Brandade was quite good (what is brandade?). (more…)

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Portland Craft – Beer Me

Posted in Beer, Burger, Casual, Dinner, Lisa, Pub, Restaurants, Vancouver, tagged American Brewing Co., beer, chicken and waffle, doughnuts, Fish and Chips, Main Street, non-hipster, Oatmeal Stout, portland craft, put a bird on it, rose whipped cream, trout on June 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

It has become increasingly difficult for me to find a regular pub/bar, that has both good food and drinks (or at least moderately priced beer), with music that doesn’t drown out conversation, and is casual enough to wear t-shirts and jeans but not look out of place if I came after work. Do you guys have a pub/bar that you frequent? I could really use some suggestions.

Entrance to Portland Craft

Portland Craft is a runner up for me. The space feels big, with incredibly high ceilings and resembles very much of a loft – the blue-grey walls probably add to it. There’s a mezzanine for larger groups and the kitchen, which kind of sucks for the servers having to balance plates and bowls and teeter down the stairs. They have multiple burlap bags hanging from the ceiling, I don’t know what’s inside of them. Their big chalkboard of beers is mounted on what looks like re-purposed wood flooring in a variety of stains.