L'Abattoir: DineOut #3... Mini portions =(

Onto third and last Dine Out this year at L'Abattoir. Thanks for Adorables' connections were we able to get a table tonight! We sat at the back of the restaurant, which was quite cute but a bit chilly.











Restaurant: L'Abattoir (visit their website here)

Location: 217 Carrall Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: French, Canadian
Price range: $40/person (Dine Out)



Date of visit: January 31, 2016
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 3.5/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 3.5/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

They had an option of bread service of $3 per person, but as we looked around and felt our tummies growl.. we decided to just wait for our dishes to arrive. For her appie GirlNextDoor decided on their Grilled Squid Stuffed with Pork and Herbs. I believe it was paired with a mint and cucumber creme sauce and squid ink. The plating was a bit bare, but neat and tidy. Squid itself tasted good and pork had lots of flavor, I had a giant grain of salt in my bite which was disappointing. Did I mention there were only 3 pieces of squid about the size of half a wine cork?

I ordered the Cauliflower and Boudin Blanc appetizer which was plated with foie gras, parsley, and crispy chicken chips. I feel this dish was quite nicely plated with the selection in the middle. The pickled cauliflower contrasted well with the fatty foie gras but was unexpectedly tart. Foie gras was rich and smooth, but not much flavor to it. I liked the boudin blanc, but it lacked texture besides being mushy. Strong chicken flavor! The chicken chips were great with the foie gras and boudin blanc, added some crisp to the soft items.

Adorables ordered the Roast Pork Belly with Crackling that included turnips and salsa verde. This looked like a messy dish with just veggies slathered over it, but the pork itself was rich, a bit heavy, but so flaky and melted in my mouth. Crackling needs more more crackle to it, but it wasn't the worst I've had.

I tried their Braised Veal Shank Tagliatelle with squash, chimichurri, and crispy shallot. GirlNextDoor got the same dish but hers was plated much nicer. Mines looked like someone attacked it and attempted to place it back on the plate. Pasta was al dente and the veal was tender, moist, and flavorful.... to the point where I found the whole dish too salty. The portion was very small as well. I'm pretty sure if I counted, there were approximately 7-8 strands of tagliatelle. Chimichurri was wasted as it was only there to decorate the plate and barely detectable. Didn't quite notice any crispy shallots on my dish-- maybe they forgot it.

MaCherie had the Saffron Crusted Pacific Salmon paired with lobster sauce, fennel, and pepper condiment. This was one of the better dishes of the evening, the salmon was lightly seared on the outside, with the inside being semi-raw and felt like smoked salmon. Crunchy on top, the saffron added flavors to the fish, and the lobster sauce sealed the deal. Delish!

Onto desserts, GirlNextDoor ordered the Lemon Tart with Raspberry sorbet and lime meringue. This was so pretty! I loved the tart flavors, it was creamy and not too sweet. The meringue was crunchy and light, great with the tart raspberry puree.

Adorables and I had the White Chocolate Cheesecake with graham crumble, caramel, and nougatine. This was a beautiful display, they looked like tiny mounds of white on a backdrop of the caramel. The cheesecake was smooth and creamy, couldn't taste the cheese strongly. Nougatine and crumble added some nice extra texture to the cheesecake. Yummy!

MaCherie ordered their Dark Chocolate Mousse with mandarin and chocolate cake. Basically it looked like... loose poop (excuse my lack of a better description). On the side was a chocolate crumble, sponge toffee, and a "spongified" mandarin orange slice. The mousse was smooth and rich, not very fluffy like the typical mousse.

We enjoyed each others' company this evening, but some dishes were disappointing, not to mention all of us left unsatisfied from the small portions. GirlNextDoor mentioned that the regular menu had much better portion sizes and quality. Kinda stumped that we paid $40 for this =( I liked how they served us all at the same time though (had two servers carrying two dishes each to serve all four of us at the same time).

Cork & Fin: A fine DineOut #2

Onto Dine Out number 2! This time, we find ourselves in Gastown late at night (could only get a reservation at 9:30pm)! And here, introducing NotMooStachio, our newest member/mascot of the team!






Restaurant: Cork and Fin (visit their website here)

Location: 221 Carrall Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Seafood, Asian, French, Latin
Price range: $30/person (Dine Out)



Date of visit: January 22, 2016
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 5/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 3/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

Their $30 menu caught my eye because it consists of a six course savoury menu with options for oysters ($29.00/dozen) and dessert on top. We were seated promptly and our waitress was very friendly. Also was the option of drink pairings with the meal. MaidKendra opted for the Mocktail Pairings ($12.00/3 pours). First one was a bit bland, but came in a cute cup! Second cup (tall cup) was too bitter, as reported by MaidKendra. Last cup (not pictured) was too sweet.

This was our Burdock Salad consisting of fried tofu, organic greens, and seven spice. The burdock was seasoned and acted like the meat of the dish, quite nice flavors there. Unfortunately all clumped together. Greens were fresh but the major disappointment was the tofu. Coming from a Chinese background, I grew up with deep fried tofu. This was by far the worst I've had, cold, bland, hard, and not even crispy. Those poor soybeans being tarnished.

Their Hamachi Carpaccio in apple-ginger vinaigrette topped with tobiko, on the other hand, was amazing. The hamachi was light and flavorful with the vinaigrette drawing out the fresh fish flavors. I wish there was more!

I mean, look at that beauty!

Crab Croquette arrived next with bechamel, potato on tomato ragout. This was crispy on the outside, fluffy and moist inside. Couldn't quite taste the crab, and we all felt that the tomato ragout was very herby. I didn't mind it, but can see how it can overwhelm the flavors of the dish. The size of the balls was quite uneven, look at NotMooStachio joining the rounds :P

Another favorite of the night was the Seared Scallop on a bed of kabocha puree and braised fennel. These were cooked perfectly, loaded with delicious scallop flavor. MaidKendra's had sand in it, which almost chipped his teeth and he said it was too fishy. Adorables said he didn't taste the kabocha in the puree.

I was lucky, mines was quite delicious, but gotta agree that the puree was lackluster.

We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the Seafood Gratin consisting of prawns, salmon, garganelli, and parmesan crema. First impression was the overwhelming buttery flavor. It was quite rich, but after a few more bites, got to love this creamy rich dish. MaidKendra found the prawns (sliced in half) to be just a wee overcooked, but acceptable. Forgot to mention he's our picky seafood connoisseur of the night xD

The other large dish was the Braised Short Rib with red wine, herb potato, and hot mustard vinaigrette. This was like a mountain of steaming meat drizzled with hot mustard.

I tore the tender mass apart for good portions to feed all three of us. Maybe it got cold when I finally ate it, but it was quite dry. It was a bit underseasoned, but I could taste the flavors in the fat. Potatoes were flattened and soaked up more flavor of the meat juices.

Couldn't stop there, had to have some sweet to end the night, so we ordered a Chocolate Cheesecake Mousse with Blueberry Compote ($8.00). This was very very very decadent, rich, and dense. It was smooth and chocolaty though!

Blueberry compote was too sweet to contrast the mousse. Adorables and MaidKendra ended up eating a couple spoonfuls and left the rest for me. It did get a bit much near the end-- came in such a cute Mason jar that I couldn't stop gushing about it. Too dense to be called a mousse, and couldn't really taste any "cheese". Love/hate relationship with this one =P

We enjoyed our experience here though, the service was great and they never pushed us to leave even though I knew they were closing/closed while we were trying to finish dessert.

La Cigale: "The flavors of the animal are in the fat"

After my first experience here, I'm back with Adorables and a Groupon to try more! (killing the wallet less, but still a big blow) We were also a bit late, but the server was super friendly and led us promptly to our table.

Restaurant: La Cigale French Bistro (visit their website here)

Location: 1961 W. 4th Avenue, Vancouver
Cuisine: French
Price range: $40+ per person




Date of visit: March 26, 2015
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 5/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

I stared at the menu for a good few minutes before deciding on their Millefeuille Betterave ($11.50), an item a friend tried last time. It looked so beautiful! Plating was nicely done, I was very impressed. 

Cutting into the beet, I could feel it was perfectly cooked and assembled well. I could easily cut it and it stayed together.

The flavor of the goat cheese was scrumptious, as it went well with the mild sweetness of the beet and was enhanced by the balsamic glaze.

Next, we ordered a French Onion Soup ($8.75) on top of our Groupon. It was the same delicious mess I had last time, but there was more cheese on top than the side. I enjoyed the crispy cheese on the side, and it was so full of soup that it overflowed when we poked it! Hot and fresh, quite the traditional french onion soup here =)

Then came our mains. Adorables got the 2 Legs Duck Confit ($32.00), where we had to pay a $5.00 difference for. It was well worth it. The duck was so tender and moist, but still retained some chewiness to its texture. There was a sweet glaze on the skin that mixed with the meat wonderfully. The potatoes were also to die for. They were, well, chewy as well. I love chewy potatoes, seriously =D This is where my comment of "the flavors of the animal are in the fat" because Adorables fed me a piece of duck fat, and I could definitely taste the duck flavors without the influence of seasoning. Yummy!

I ordered their Rabbit with Polenta ($27.00)-- I actually don't remember the actual name, but I'm pretty sure it's not their previous rabbit dish of lapin moutarde. The polenta had olives in it, the dish had olives in it, very olive-themed. It went well with the sauce which was a carrot-filled concoction. I found the sauce overwhelmingly salty, and the olive flavor was soaked into the rabbit meat. I couldn't really taste the rabbit, nor could I finish the dish because it was far too salty =( I let Adorables taste the rabbit fat, and on such lean meat, it was rare but not impossible-- he could taste the rabbit in the fat! =D

Finally, onto dessert! So many delicious-sounding desserts, but following our waiter's recommendation, we got their Citron Tart ($8.00). It was a layer of lemon, then lime, topped with orange on a shortbread crust. Strawberry puree was used to decorate the dish. I was impressed with the plating, elegant but so pleasing to the eye. I dug in and was amazed. This was so deliciously creamy, smooth, light, and tarty. I loved it!!

After the initial foodgasm, we picked apart the layers to taste everything. Lemon was the most tart with orange being sweet and lime somewhere in between, but flavors were distinct. The shortbread crust was also flakey and melted in my mouth. Really helped that it was tart and light, since both of us were pretty stuffed already!

Greatly enjoyed our dining experience, lovely service-- the waiters and their French accents are so adorable. Aside from the little blooper that was my main, I would say this was an excellent dinner. I ended up topping the Groupon with $25, which wasn't bad at all. Bon appétit!

41 West: Perfectly mouthwatering!

Having been here with MH for lunch and loving it (also doing that late post here haha), Adorables surprised me with dinner here for our one year anniversary <3

Restaurant: 41 West (visit their website here)

Location: 2279 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver
Cuisine: French, Seafood
Price range: $20-35ish per person





Date of visit: August 15, 2014 and Oct 1, 2014
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 4.5/5

Let's go by chronological order here and do the lunch experience first~

With the brunch/lunch Social Shopper Coupon, it was $19 for brunch/lunch for two which included two drinks, two mains, and a dessert to share. Not a bad deal if you ask me. There was a choice of coffee or juice, of which I chose the orange juice and MH got coffee (which had free refills btw). I spotted it to be SunnyD. Dunno what to say about that.

Anyhow, we chose from their lunch menu (cuz its a far better deal that way hehe). I got their Chef's Daily Seafood Creation, which was sockeye salmon (and seems to be the same every day). It was beautifully plated with salmon layered on top of a bed of potatoes and veggies, topped with a mango avocado salad. It was ringed with a balsamic glaze which enhanced the flavors of the salmon. The salmon was fresh and perfect. Moist and smooth, this was cooked wonderfully-- it just melted in my mouth. The mango avocado on top was great too, added to the creaminess of the salmon while presenting a bit of sweet and tart to cut the fat. Potatoes and veggies (asparagus and carrots) cooked to perfection. Just cooked enough to have some bite but not over/undercooked, Kudos to the chef!

MH ordered their Pan-Roasted Ruby Trout with balsamic glaze, green olive and artichoke tapenade, potatoes and daily veggies. I tried a bit of the trout and it too, was amazing. The fish was fresh and the skin was crispy. I had just learned that trout wasn't supposed to be pink, so I took this lighter color to mean less food coloring was added to the fish food. MH enjoyed it a lot too =)

Now dessert, I wasn't sure what to get, so we tried their Crème Caramel. It was truly a smooth and creamy custard as advertised on the menu, but I didn't find anything super "wow" about it. Sadface =( This was quite average.

Waitress was super friendly and helpful, I felt really welcomed and not-neglected at all here!















On our anniversary night (Oct 1) . . .

Turns out the menu for dinner is very similar to lunch-- with prices being the main difference. I believe it was $39 for a three course dinner for two. It included an appie to share, two mains, and a dessert to share.

We were debating between the escargot and mussels, Adorables gave in to the mussels as I love mussles. =) We'll try those snails next time ;). The Mussels Marinière were great, a tad undercooked but this made the mussels softer and richer in taste. The white wine and cream sauce paired nicely with the seafood and the mussels were very fresh.

I had a hard time deciding between the delicious salmon I had last time or trying scallops (I was worried I'd only get 3 and be hungry haha), but I succumbed to my loves-- Pan Seared Sea Scallops with vermouth cream sauce. These little guys (5 of them hehe) were decent in size, cooked nicely, and the sauce complimented it well. They were tender and soft on the inside (a bit undercooked for my style, but then again, I eat scallops raw anyways), and crispy on the outside. Every bite was fresh and full of scallop taste. On the other hand, the quinoa and veggies were a bit overcooked and too soft. Flavors were great though!

Adorables ordered their special steak for the night, I forgot what cut it was but when it showed up, reminded me of something you'd get from a Hong-Kong style cafe. However, what we put in our mouths was absolutely different. This was a tender piece of meat with some bite. It was crispy on the outside and then just melted in my mouth. Not the kind of meat that's been over-tenderized with tenderizer at all. Just. AWESOME. He got potatoes under his steak and veggies. Again, the chef has totally mastered making potatoes because these were chewy and perfect.

Finally dessert. Our waiter recommended us their cheesecake of the night, which was a Japanese cheesecake with blueberry compote and berries. It was light and had the consistency of chiffon cake with a bit of cheesy taste. Overall well-rounded, it paired nicely with the sweet blueberry compote.

I feel so blessed to be with such a wonderfully thoughtful man! Also feeling spoiled with the pampering and food <3 Our evening was heightened by our witty waiter who was attentive and brought us laughter. Such yummy, much love, so spoiled, wow ;)

La Cigale: Disappointing appies, great mains and delectable desserts!

MX is leaving for a year, and wanted to go somewhere fancy before he left, so here we are! Heard great things about La Cigale, so I'm super stoked he decided on this restaurant for this going-away party =D

Restaurant: La Cigale French Bistro (visit their website here)

Location: 1961 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver
Cuisine: French
Price range: $25+





Date of visit: July 27, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 5/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 2/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

I was the first to arrive and the server seated me promptly, he was very friendly and funny. I couldn't decide what to get because I didn't have someone to share my food with, and wanted to try more variety, so I opted to try some French staple appies instead of one main. Ordered a French Onion Soup ($8.75). Interesting presentation but the soup was nothing special. I felt it lacked flavor. There was bread, onion and cheese in it and after a few mouthfuls of cheese, I was sick of the soup. Couldn't quite taste the onion in the soup and it was quite bland... maybe a bit more salt would've done it more justice.

Onwards, I ordered an Escargot ($9.00). This was more disappointing than the soup. The escargot was muddy and had bits of shell left on it. Flavors and texture were mediocre-- I've had way better elsewhere. At least these flavors weren't favorable for me. Too oily and gritty, escargot didn't taste fresh. *sadface*

Highlight of the meal was thedessert, their

Crème Brûlée ($8.00) was smooth, creamy, and a perfect sweetness. The sugar on top was crunchy and mildly warm where the creme portion was cool (not cold!) and melted in my mouth. I was surprised by the size and glad I could share it with someone!

YD, who sat beside me ordered their Millefeuilles de Betteraves, which was a beautiful layered beat salad with creamy cheese and herb layers. She said it was quite good, flavorful but she didn't like the cheese too much (not a fan overall).

Overall I think those who ordered mains were quite satisfied with the flavor, albeit they were disappointed with the portion sizes.