Market by Jean-Georges at Shangri-la hotel Vancouver - Great patio!!

It was supposed to be a girl's night out but... we had several guys joining us for the night :)

We wanted a nice patio for these hot summer nights, so I arranged us to meet at the Market by Jean Georges at Shangri-la hotel.

I had a great experience at the restaurant's patio, so I recommended the place and everyone agreed!

Off we went!

We had 7 people so it was a little hard arranging for us at the patio as the patio seats were first come, first served.  So we actually had to wait for quite a bit for our tables to be ready....

At least the complimentary rosemary dusted popcorn was quite tasty!

When we were seated, we were presented  with the full menu.

Judy went for the watermelon and goat cheese salad and the truffle, fontina cheese pizza.

Watermelon and goat cheese - $10 - 3/5

Truffle, fontina cheese pizza - $19 - 3.5/5

Judy enjoyed the watermelon, goat cheese appy quite a bit.  She thought it was creamy yet refreshing with the use of the watermelon.  I felt that the watermelon was too warm and not sweet enough - hence the entire dish became a little too sour and bland.  The goat cheese tho was really creamy with just the right amount of gaminess.  

Only if the watermelon was a tad colder (and sweeter!!)

Overall, it was a good balance between creaminess and refreshing, grassy taste of the watermelon.

The black truffle, fontina cheese pizza with a tad of fricassee and chives topped was a good pizza.  I got a tiny hit of truffle scent which was perfect because it wasn't too strong.  However, the truffle paste felt like the truffle paste I have once purchased from one of the "eat Vancouver" event - which is a bit disappointing.  I know how much I have paid for that entire jar of truffle paste........ 

Though, the pizza had a great, well balanced taste.  

don't you just hate it when the truffle oil really over powers?

Tuna tartare - $16 - avocado, spicy ginger relish dressing

Jenny and I shared a Tuna Tartare and a steamed shrimp salad ($18 - no picture...)

I had these two dishes last time I visited them and they were simply amazing!

I had to recommend them to my friends so... we got the two to share :)

The Tuna tartare was refreshing with the spicy la-yu oil providing a great kick and the ginger dressing cutting through the richness of the tuna.  I liked the tanginess from (perhaps ponzu?) some sort of citrusy dressing.  It really brightened things up a lot! The avocado beneath the tuna tartare provided another layer of creaminess to the already creamy tuna tartare that when you place the entire thing into your mouth, it is an explosion of flavours with a perfect  balance of creaminess, tartness, spice, and savoury.  

Loved it!!

The steamed shrimp salad with Champagne dressing was another stunning dish.  The dressing was a great balance between sweet. savoury, and tang.  I loved how they placed arugla together with shiso leaves and mint.  

Every bite was like a little surprise of flavour burst in your mouth because it wasn't your usual combination of the greens.

ahhh - so heavenly!!

cheesecake - N/A

Siny decided to order  a dessert instead of an appie or a meal.  She opted for a cheesecake.  

According to her, it was creamy and well balanced.

She enjoyed it!

Over all, our experience at Market was pretty good.  We loved the patio and courteous service.  Though the price was to the higher side, it was still well worth the trip if you were looking for a fun evening with courteous service.

Food - 3.5/5 - I really did not enjoy their main dishes last time, so make sure that you stick to the appies instead.

Service - 4.5/5 - impeccable! Always courteous just like their hotel service!

Ambiance - 5/5 - we LOVED the patio!! Though the inside is also really nice!

2005 Yiron Galilee from Israel - $$?

2005 Yiron Galilee from Israel - $$?

2005 Yiron Galilee from Israel - $$?

2005 Yiron Galilee from Israel - $$?

Gosh this was a tasty wine!!  I just randomly found it in Jordan's collection (he hates wine... :$ so I am doing him a favour.....)

Anyhow, I have no idea where this was from or why he has this and I just randomly picked it up and opened it.... The first glass tho wasn't so great because I didn't aerate it enough so the flavour was really harsh with really strong hints of barrel (oak?) flavour and it was actually quite unpleasant.  

The second day when I had my second glass... 

Oh My God, it was SO good.

Hints of cherry wood with a touch of oak barrel in the background; with predominantly the flavours of berries and some vanilla; it was unexpectedly fruity and surprisingly with minimal tannin (unlike many aged wines!!)  I love it........... and I feel terrible finishing the bottle all on my own!

Keep my fingers crossed that Jordan will not find out :$  

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro

I am so sorry for such a delayed posting on this one....

We dined here to celebrate mother's day with Jordan's mom.  The diners of the evening was Jordan's sister Jennifer, her husband Peter, his mother and myself.

I really didn't know what to expect when I first heard that we were going to dine at this place.  Perhaps it was because I had no idea what was uniquely Canadian other than poutine!  Anyhow, feeling a bit confused, off we went to the Canadian Bistro.

Their menu is really small - so if you are going with a larger group, you can pretty much order everything off their menu.

The decor of the restaurant is quite rustic, and it really emphasized on the use of "woods".  It definitely had an ambiance of native BC forest!

I started my meal with an imported beer as recommended by the server (because they didn't carry any honey lager!)

Kronenbourg 1664 - $6.50/bt (3.5/5)

It was one of those imported beer that you see pretty often on commercials.  Kronenbourg was indeed quite smooth and had a clean and sweet finish.  I liked it but didn't love it... where is my honey lager?

warm kale salad (4/5)

Both Peter and I started our meals with the warm kale salad (I can't seem to find it on their current menu now; so I am assuming it is seasonal?) - they were little morsels of heaven!  The kale was cooked perfectly being tender yet not mushy; loved the parmesan and lemon juice that helped cutting through some of its greasiness (it was really cooked in a lot of grease!)

The fried onion string on the top provided some textural difference which was absolutely lovely.  Over all, we really liked this dish! 

All Canadian Poutine - fries, curds, gravy, smoked brisket - 4/5

Yum!!

The fries were fried and seasoned perfectly and the abundance of smoked brisket made the carnivores at our table really happy!  Though it might be a bit heavy for an appetizer - we loved their generosity in mounting lots of smoked brisket and curds onto the fries.  Please order this if you decide to visit this restaurant - it is worth every penny!   

confit pork belly - apple slaw, maple mustard meringue, pork crackling - 3/5

This dish was quite heavy - if you were order this, you must finish it before it gets cold.  I had it later on during my meal and it got cold so the fat coagulated and made the dish very unpleasant.

Otherwise the flavour was great and even though it was cold, the crackling was still crispy.

garlic mussels - shaved fennel, grilled crostini - 3/5

The mussels were quite plump and sweet!  It wasn't a particularly memorable dish but I really have to give them credits for using fresh mussels.  I loved the shaved fennel on top and the crostini were great for soaking up the sauce on the bottom of the pot.  The sauce had a prominent garlic flavour and quite strongly, white wine (citrusy, clean - might have been a pinot blanc? but could also have been chardonnay.... too difficult to tell!! )

8oz sirloin - potato croquette, onion jam, red wine jus, dijon hollandaise - N/A

This dish had a really busy appearance - though every item on plate looked really appetizing!  This was Jordan's dish, so I didn't really try anything other than the squash.  I remember the squash being cooked nicely and it exhibited some sweetness; but other than that, I can't comment on the plate.  I remember asking Jordan about the meat and he only said that the steak tasted mediocre and that the meat at the Keg tasted better! (I actually don't doubt him because he actually knows his meats :$)

Over all, our experience at The Oakwood Canadian Bistro was pretty good.  The ambiance was hip, the decor was rustic, the food was good and the service was attentive but not overly so.  We will be back!

Food - 3/5 - good; but only slightly above average

Service - 3/5 - good

ambiance - 4/5 - really cute and intimate 

Lunch @ the sandbar - 2012 dine out

It was such a gorgeous day today!

I have planned this dine out lunch since two weeks ago, so glad that the weather turned out to be this nice.

Upon arrival, we were introduced to our seat on the patio. 

 

Nice little touch with the blanket :) it was indeed needed as it got quite cold after we settled down. 

 

Granville island honey lager $6/glass - one of my favourate beer: Smooth with a hint of honey, very pleasant after taste too

complementary bread - soft and warm.  I just don't understand why some restaurants serve their complementary breads cold; even at some finer establishments.  My best experience was at the bishop's.  Too bad I don't have any photos of it :S The baked in house breads at the bishop's were just so crusty and chewy and fluffy and oh so yummy. 

They were severely understaffed today.  

I guess they didn't expect their lunch to be this busy as the weather haven't been the greatest for the past few weeks.  (well, it is Vancouver, WINTER, after all) 

We waited for quite a while before our waiter arrived at our table asking for what we need; then waited for another while before our drinks and bread.  Then the wait between courses... It took us more than 1.5 hours to finish our lunch.

Tuscan flat bread $8 - it was somewhere between not bad to good, just a personal preference I guess.  Personally I think it was a "not bad" for me.  (fyi Jordan thought it was tasty)

Caramelized onion with goat feta cheese and some fresh parsley - it tasted exactly as how it should have except for a slightly lack of peppery flavour.  I guess I could have added more pepper myself.  

An interesting thing about this flat bread is that its dough is sweet!  I actually liked the sweet dough because it added some sweetness to the otherwise bland caramelized onion.  Their sister restaurant The Teahouse at Stanley park makes really good smoked salmon flat bread. (must try!!)  Anyway, at $8, this is a decently portioned tapas dish.

Dine out 2012 menu appetizer - lemongrass braised short ribs 

This was really good.  The short rib was braised fork tender, although there were some stringy parts but I really can't ask for more at the price of this dine out lunch ($18) and the portion size.  I could detect a lot of the lemongrass aroma and a little tartness + sweetness from possibly use of the port wine and molasses or golden sugar.  I thought the scallion relish was a nice touch as it helped to cut through the greasiness of the meat but the crushed 5 spiced peanuts, well, it was a bit stale and possibly got staler from sitting on a steaming piece of meat for too long.

But again, over all, this dish was really really good.  

 Hoshi's California roll - made with real dungeness crab meat

to be very honest with you, imitation crab meat does its job just as well as real crab meat here.  

Okay, that is not entirely true.  This one did taste smoother and sweeter, and the texture was a lot more delicate than imitation crab meat.  But seriously, after all the creamy mayo coating, avocado, cucumber, sushi rice and tobiko (+ soy sauce and wasabi) - the difference was just really minimal.

I'd be happy with my $3.50 California roll from sushi house :P

4 oz chateau rib steak and tiger prawn - it wasn't terrible - due to the freshness of the tiger prawn and creamed peppercorn marmalade.  But both of our steaks were over done.  Jordan asked for rare but instead he got a medium rare and of course, my medium rare was barely a medium.  

However, we both enjoyed our steaks because of the life saving creamed peppercorn marmalade (I added more freshly grounded pepper on mine so mine had a bit more kick)  The sauce was really flavourful and the cream really added another layer of smoothness and richness that butter could not have achieved.  I thought adding cream was a brilliant idea because it adds depth to the sauce yet it does not take away anything from the meat (unlike some sauces that use cheeses as part of their sauce - I have nothing against them, if the flavour of the meat comes through or if the flavour of the cheese isn't as strong)

Excuse my messy picture here as I already polished up my broccolini and tomato at this point of our meal - the food just came out too slowly and I was starving!! I had to take a picture of jordan's plate...

Dessert - Apple strudel

 

Dessert 2 - pumpkin cake

I only had a very tiny bite of the pumpkin cake so I am not exactly sure how it was and according to Jordan, it tasted very good.  I found the pumpkin cake to be slightly on the dryer side and it was quite hard (I am not sure if it was because of the cold weather?) it was difficult to eat with a spoon.  It tasted almost like a pumpkin pie with icing. 

My apple strudel was not bad; although I did find the apple filling to be a bit bland.  It wasn't overly sweet but I find it lacking tartness too.  I ate my strudel using the ice cream as a sauce and it was perfect for me.  

Over all, the meal was really satisfying and I believe it is a great value at $18 per person.  Both Jordan and I agreed that it was a better meal than our dinner at Coast

Food - 3.5/5

Service - 3/5 (may not be accurate as it was probably during an understaffed dine-out day)

ambiance - 4/5

Winterlicious 2011 - Lunch at Jump

I Love and Hate winterlicious!  Love it because there's more excuses for dining out (esp. the finer dining places) and Hate it because..Ugh my diet plan is always ruined :(

I think I gained another pound or so since I came back from the holidays (on TOP of all the holiday weight I've gained over the holidays)

I think it's time for some damage control....

Treadmill here I come!!!!

So Jump is a sub restaurant that belongs to the O&B group (same owners as the famous Canoe restaurant).  But unfortunately, Canoe is EXTREMELY difficult to book for their any (season)-licious type of events so I opted for Jump because I thought the restaurant owned by the same group of people should execute their food the similar way.  (or at least, not too much worse)

Nice blinds! right?

Well, Yea.  

Am I foreshadowing too much?  :P I think by now most of you can probably tell where I am going with this but... you might have a different opinion than mine so...

I really pushed our lunch this time because it was an extremely difficult one to arrange.  Mostly because they open only on weekdays (maybe also sunday?) for lunch and, although the restaurant itself is located within the financial district of DT Toronto (wellington and Yonge) - if you don't work around that area, it's really hard to finish the entire lunch within one hour and get back to work.

Anyhow, I managed to lure Janice and Grant into having this lunch with me, mainly because their lunch menu looked just fabulous! (Actually dinner was not so, and more costly)

The restaurant itself was very energetic and lively; with a very modern decor and a high ceiling (esp. loved the blinds they were using)  But as we were having lunch, I noticed that it was a bit too loud for anything.  We had to yell over the lunch table in order to hear what each other was saying.

Now on to the food.

Janice and I both started with the Canadian Rock Crab Cake.

It came with roasted red pepper sauce and celeriac & carrot slaw.  The crab cake was nicely done.  Not too much binding, lots of crab meat, and very little fishy taste.  However, the sauce and the slaw were both quite bland.  

Grant had a Wild Mushroom soup (I forgot to take a picture) - but it was claimed that they did not use any cream or butter, just the mushrooms.  Grant noted that it was flavourless (he had to add more salt to compensate)

Pulled BBQ beef short rib sandwich - :) no comment; but it surely looked delish!!

 

ta-dah-!! Janice and I both opted for Pan-Seared nova scotia scallop (this is also the reason why I chose this restaurant for lunch - despite all the difficulty in finding people joining me!!!)

But... :( this was a major MAJOR disappointment!!  To be fair, the scallops were fresh - it was sweet and had a bit of that resistance when you bite into it. But the crostini was a disaster (yes, there was a crostini and no I didn't eat it) - it was in the broth.  

:S

I really didn't get it.  And it pretty much ruined the dish because it was soggy, and mushy and.. well yea everything but tasty.  The artichoke ad mushroom minestra was also very very bland.

Maybe they were some how running low on their salt supply that day.  Or I guess health conscious people eat less salt these days.  But if the food is less salty, you have to use more herb to compensate!! less salty does not mean the food has to be flavourless....

I felt bad for those little scallops :(

Flour-less chocolate torte <3

need I say more?

but this one was just alright.  Tasted more like a brownie (a little dry.. i wonder if they just left it there for too long? )

Over all, I enjoyed my company at Jump.  We sure had a relaxing lunch (I was worried that the ambiance might be too serious but it was very bright and vibrant, which was great) but the food.. I really can't say that I enjoyed them that much.

From all the other feed backs that I have gotten from other friends of mine, I probably will not go back to try their food.

Price $$$

Food 2.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

ambiance: 4/5 or 2/5 depends on if you are looking for the subtle type or the vibrant type!