AnnaLenna: Fourth Dineout is fancy!

I'd wanted to try Anna Lenna for a while and Adorables managed to book us a table for 9pm. This year for Dine Out, they offered a $40 3-course menu with optional starter add-ons and wine pairings for each course (various prices). We were seated promptly and the interior decor is so cute!

For my starter, I ordered the Fried Humboldt Squid with dill aioli, malt powder, and pickled cabbage. The plating was simple, cubed pieces of squid topped with blobs of dill aioli. The squid was tender, but rather bland. Not outstanding to me.

Adorables ordered the Ham Hock Terrine with horseradish, apple, celeriac, and thyme oil. This reminded me of spam. It was nice and satisfying though.

My main was Pan Seared Trout on a bed of roasted turnips, clams, caper butter sauce and pickled shallot. What a beautiful dish this was! The trout had crispy skin and perfectly cooked interior. The fish was flakey, moist, and delicious in the sauce. I counted four clams in my dish!

Most of my friends ordered Glazed Boneless Short Rib with mirepoix and buttermilk mash. The short rib was tender with a little bit of bite. I quite enjoyed the buttermilk mash as it was creamy and smooth.

Onto the desserts (which were presented to us on a separate menu by the way)!

I ordered the Chocolate Caramel Mousse with almond croquant and thyme anglais and was pleasantly surprised with the gold flakes on top! The "almond croquant" was more like a crunchy caramel piece which enhanced the overall texture of the dish. Thyme didn't do much for me, just decorated the dish atop the cream.

I kept eating the light, fluffy, and smooth mousse while wondering where the caramel was, then I found it! In the middle! What a beautifully crafted dessert!

Others ordered the Yogurt Vanilla Panna Cotta with granola, beet sorbet, and apple gel. Before I remembered it was a beet sorbet, my tastebuds were thoroughly confused by the earthy and sweet flavors of the sorbet. The panna cotta was smooth and jello-like, apple gel provided some tartness to the plate.

Some people ordered the Affogatto with house Irish ice cream and fernwood expresso ($8), they said the ice cream was very nice with the coffee-- quite strong! Almost overwhelming with the alcohol and caffeine combination for one person! All in all, it was an enjoyable evening with slow but friendly and patient service. They ended our night with some fudge when they brought the bill!

Edible Canada: Third dineout sealed!

Onto our third Dine Out this year, Adorables wasn't able to join us unfortunately, but I had the wonderful company of HungryPanda and friends! Edible Canada offered a $30 3-course menu with optional $8 amuse bouche and $18 BC wine pairing. Since we couldn't be seated right away at the time I had booked, we took a seat outside with warmers and blankets to look at the menu and possibly order some drinks.

After we were seated, I was delighted to hear that their controversial Seal Amuse Bouche ($8 extra, $2 donated to research on marine ecosystem health) was available for ordering this evening (it was out of stock when my friend visited two days earlier). It was a rare seared seal loin (2oz) with white bean puree and pickled sea asparagus. This gives you a chance to truly taste the flavors of the lean seal meat. All I could taste was salt. It was a super salty meat, very tender and melted in my mouth. The waitress asked us how it was and she had quite a good laugh when I told her it was salty, "It comes from the sea, of course it's salty" was her reply.

HungryPanda ordered the Pacific Cod & Pemberton Potato Pakoras with jalapeno apple chutney and fresh mint on a bed of arugula. This smelled so good and came on a pan. The pakoras were crispy and fluffy inside. This paired well with the fresh jalapeno apple chutney and fresh mint.

I ordered the Rangeland Bison Tartare with Japanese mustard, fir tip aioli paired with root vegetable chips (extra $5).

The root vegetable was taro, and it added a nice contrasting texture to the soft chewy bison meat. Lightly seasoned and mixing with the spicy mustard, it was a great start to the meal!

HungryPanda and I shared our dishes, we got the Newfoundland Seal Pappardelle with guanciale, tomato and oregano (extra $3). Most of everyone at the table ordered this plate as well, and the portion sizes of each dish varied (portions looked bigger at other tables too :c). I couldn't taste much of the seal in this plate, was like ground pork. I enjoyed the flavors and the pasta was al dente. A perfect amount of sauce for the pasta so that it was all nicely coated with flavor.

We also got Quebec Rabbit Orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta) with mushrooms, confit onions, shaved Brussels sprouts and parmesan (extra $4). The rabbit was a little gamey, tender, and was a generous amount in the dish. This was delicious, definitely a highlight of the meal for me! The pasta was al dente and each little piece was packed with umami! It was a light cream base but definitely well-rounded for flavors.

Onto dessert! We ordered Chocolate Pot Du Creme with cassis and crystalized ginger. This was a bit too sweet but very chocolately and contrasted well with the tart cassis and ginger. Smooth rich chocolate was enjoyed.

My friends highly recommended their Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding with maple bourbon custard and candied walnuts. This was moist and sweet-- reminded me of autumn and pumpkin spice lattes. The candied walnuts added extra texture to the dish but it felt disconnected with the dish.

Overall it was a great experience to try seal and the company I had with me tonight. Servers were friendly but service was definitely very slow (took almost half an hour to get the bill). 

Burnaby Mountain Clubhouse: Dineout #2!

Dineout season is just getting into full swing! Our stop this evening was Burnaby Mountain Clubhouse, which offered a $20 3-course menu and an optional $20 wine pairing.

I opted for their Bacon and Potato Soup, which had applewood smoked bacon, yukon gold potato, spiced crouton topped with a chive creme fraiche.

It was creamy and rich, bacon was fragrant and prominent in the soup. For an appie this was rather large and filling! I didn't like the croutons as they were a bit harder than I liked.

Adorables got the Braised Lamb Burger Slider which was a red wine braised lamb, gruyere, coleslaw, carrot, tomato, arugula, crispy onion, dijon mustard with a side of truffle scented fries topped with parmesan.

Surprisingly complex amount of ingredients for an appetizer slider, the plating was quite appealing. Lamb was seasoned well and moist, crispy onion added more texture to the whole slider. The fries were my favorite, loaded with flavor, crispy, and slightly cheesy-- yum!

For my entree, I got the Portobello Mushroom which was stuffed with sundried tomato crusted cream cheese and artichoke on a bed of house-made linguine, hand-picked seasonal vegetables, walnut, and black truffle oil. I forgot I'm mildly allergic to mushrooms before ordering this because the stuffing sounded so good! Either way, the mushroom was a decent size and the cream cheese was delicious and light! I was disappointed with the linguine, it was rather bland and just super oily. Originally not a fan of truffle oil, this was not the best choice I've made for an entree.

Adorables ordered the New York Steak with roasted garlic, yukon gold mashed potato, hand-picked seasonal vegetables, and red wine jus. They make it medium-rare by default, and it came just right. Waifuu also ordered this but wanted it medium, but it came rather well-done and was quite tough and dry! Mashed potato was smooth and yummy.

PokeMaster was the only one who ordered the Poached Steelhead and boy was it a huge portion of fish! Placed on top a bed of clam and tomato infused rice pilaf, hand-picked seasonal vegetables and pernod sabayon. The steelhead was well-cooked and the rice pilaf was full of flavor.

For dessert, they had three options (one which was not posted on the DOV website). I got the Black and White consisting of callebaut dark and white chocolate mousse, ginger cookie, caramelized banana, toasted almond, and strawberry coulis. The mousse was light, chocolately, and smooth. It paired well with the ginger cookie and tart strawberry coulis. The banana looked pretty and the texture was great with the crunchy caramelized sugar coating!

Adorables had the Apple Confection: apple compote, raisin, honey and almond granola, honeycomb candy, and vanilla gelato. Three people got this and the presentation was different for them, Adorables' didn't have honeycomb candy on top (we took photos of our friends' cuz it was prettier haha).

This ended up being rather filling, since the oats in the granola combined with the moist apple compote and became oatmeal. Not enough vanilla gelato to last the whole dessert!

Waifuu ordered the Belgian Waffle with french vanilla ice cream and strawberry compote. This was crunchy, creamy, tart, hot and cold at the same time in your mouth! Quite the taste adventure!

Service was great, albeit a bit slow, but friendly waitresses who were very patient with us. They were fully booked and were able to accommodate an extra person for our table! Ambiance was comforting and delightful, I had a wonderful evening. The decor outside reminded me of old Victorian times, so romantic! Not to mention they had ample free parking outside. Aside from it being hard to find the entrance to the location at night, it was pretty straight forward.

C | Prime: First Dine Out of 2017!

It's that time of year again, Dine Out season! For those of you unfamiliar with what this is, it's an event that typically runs for two weeks near the end of January into February (before Valentines). Participating restaurants from around the metro Vancouver area offer a special 3-course menu for set prices of $20, $30, or $40. Some may have variations of the 3-course and additional options you can have with your meal, such as wine pairings. Popular restaurants get booked super quick, so best to book ahead of time! You can view the offerings on their website, but dishes may change when you arrive at the restaurant.

For our first Dine Out adventure this year, I picked C | Prime, which is an Italian restaurant located inside Century Plaza Hotel in downtown Vancouver. They offered a $30 3-course menu with an optional $20 (for 9oz) wine pairing.

We were started with some Foccacia bread with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and olives. The bread was fluffy, light and moist, quite enjoyable to begin with as we waited for our food.

I was super excited about their baked clams appetizer, but due to the recent news regarding multiple people experiencing food poisoning-like conditions with oysters, they decided to pull that option from the menu for safety measures and offered a Grilled Calimari Steak on Arugula Salad instead. Adorables ordered this and it was clear that this was a last-minute change to the menu, since the squid was not seasoned all the way through. Texture was chewy and overall an enjoyable dish.

I opted for the Mediterranean Octopus with Heirloom Tomatoes and Fingerling Potatoes. This was another surprise, since originally it was octopus with eggplant and roasted pepper puree, I didn't mind the change though.

The octopus was soft and tender, nicely marinated with flavors deep into the meat. Tomatoes burst in my mouth and the potatoes were cooked well.

To try everything on the menu, MaCherie ordered the Twice Baked Asiago Cheese with Hazelnut Salad. Aesthetically this was the most pleasing of the trio of appetizer options. It looked like a little cookie on the salad!

The texture of the cheese reminded me of quiche, and paired nicely with the salad. A little on the heavier side for appetizers though.

Onto the mains, Adorables got Lamb Loin with Parmesan Risotto, Wild Mushrooms, and Rosemary Jus. The lamb portion felt a little small, but the flavors were deliciously marinated into the meat. The risotto was creamy and rice melted in my mouth nicely. Mushrooms added a nice touch to the flavors dancing in my mouth.

ChezWil, being a chef himself opted for a medium rare variation of the dish, and it looked beautiful. He explained that this allowed him to taste the gaminess of the lamb better.

I got the Arctic Char with Chickpea and Chorizo. The char was almost white in color, which suggests to me that it might be farmed, since the color of the meat depends on the feed that is given to the fish and can be controlled to suit the purchasers' needs. Nonetheless, this was perfectly cooked, the fish was moist and the skin was crispy. I felt a disconnection between the chickpea, chorizo and fish though. It felt like they just happened on the same dish and had little interaction as a dish. It was underwhelming.

Being the trooper, MaCherie opted for the vegetarian option of Gnocchi with Wild BC Mushrooms in a Porcini Truffle Cream Sauce. This was surprisingly my favorite dish out of the three mains. The gnocchi was light, fluffy, and full of flavor. The cream sauce was rich and I could taste the mushroom which complimented the gnocchi well. This was a bit much to eat for one person, since it was so rich and creamy, but we shared it and I couldn't just stop at one piece!

Onto our favorite part of the meal: desserts! Adorables got the Paniforte Siena with Almonds, Hazelnuts, and Candied Fruits, which was a baked cake consisting of the nuts and fruits. It was plated with chocolate creme and I think a salted caramel sauce (with some sort of alcohol I couldn't figure out). The cake wasn't too dry, had some crispy bits and when combined with the bitter chocolate creme and sauce-- made for a deadly combination! I loved it!

I ordered the Lemon Tart with Lemon Curd and Italian Meringue, which was the highlight of dessert. The lemon curd was deliciously tangy, with bits of lemon in it and the consistency was perfect. The smooth and tart lemon curd contrasted well with the sweet crispy tart.

The dish was adorned with meringue pieces and marshmallow, quite pleasing to the eye and palate!

It just happened so that MaCherie ordered the heaviest of the options all meal! The Warm Spiced Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Gelato although delicious, was quite filling. The bread pudding was dense but melted in my mouth. Reminded me of autumn (probably because of the pumpkin), I could taste the pumpkin strongly. Salted caramel gelato helped a little with cutting the heaviness of the bread pudding and was a great end to our meal.

The staff were friendly and helpful, but don't expect fast service here. Our meal lasted three hours as we waited to order, then our food, and the bill!