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).

Al Porto: Great early dinner special!

It was LadyH's birthday, and she opted for an early dinner-- because there was an early dinner special! We were seated in the middle of the restaurant where there was an interesting arc above us that clearly transmitted sound, so we could speak with others far down the table without having to yell! Super cool.

Restaurant: Al Porto Ristorante (visit their website here)

Location: 321 Water Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Italian, Seafood
Price range: $25+ per person




Date of visit: April 18, 2015
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 3.5/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

Adorables, ThickToast, and I decided to share a couple dishes to try more variety, so we got their Arancini Funghi ($8.95). Basically they were wild mushroom risotto croquettes stuffed with provolone served on a bed of basil tomato sauce. We were confused at first since they came in three balls (thought they were meatballs).

Anyways, cut it open to find delicious cheese that was melty and a creamy mushroom risotto shell which was crispy on the outside. The tomato sauce was nicely seasoned and made it quite appetizing. Great for dipping bread too!

ThickToast selected their House Cut Fries with Chili Mayo ($6.95). These were thin fries which were adequately crispy, with a tangy chili mayo sauce. The fries were nothing too spectacular, some were too tiny  so they ended up being overfried, but I really liked the chili mayo!

They also offer an early dinner special 4:30-6:30pm where any main course with soup or salad is $24 or any pasta with soup or salad is $18. We got a main course, Scallops and Prawns ($25.95 regularly). It came with 5 scallops, 7 tiger prawns (if I remember correctly), sweet pea and saffron risotto, beet, radish, and purple kale. The scallops were cooked perfectly, juicy and fresh! tiger prawns also cooked well, but not that big. The risotto was bland, radish took us a while to figure out what it was since it looked like sauerkraut but was just julienned radish. One of the highlights was the purple kale, it was seasoned well and cooked so that it was tender but still had some bite to it. I loved the flavor!

We chose a salad to go with our special, the Insalata Beet Carpaccio ($7.95). This was visually appealing with the arugula and frisee mix on thinly sliced beets. I think they also had candycane beet chunks on top. The Parmesan crisp was yummy. Salad was your basic salad with barely detectable honey blood orange dressing.

During early dinner there are also drink specials, but I just ordered a Grapefruit Juice ($4.00 I think), and Adorables had a small San Pellegrino ($5.50). Grapefruit juice wasn't a bright red color and tasted like fresh squeezed grapefruit juice! Very surprising to me! No bitter taste, I enjoyed this with my meal a lot.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience, service was pretty decent, the waiters and waitresses were attentive and accommodating. They have a very homey feel here =)

Shirakawa: Do I look like I'm 12?!

For CH's birthday, we chose this quaint restaurant nestled in the heart of Gastown. It was a bit difficult to find since it was tucked away in a little alley and their sign outside was dark and small ^^". Anyhow, the exterior looks classy and modern.

Restaurant: Shirakawa by Itoh Dining (visit their website here)

Location: 115-12 Water Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Japanese, Drinks, Tapas
Price range: $25-$30+ per person





Date of visit: January 10, 2015
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

I did a little research before coming and was ecstatic to try their uni pasta. Sadly, I was informed they had no uni, and had to substitute with kani =( So I didn't get it. SexyNapkins had asked how big the portions were, and the waitress told her that usually 3-4 people share the dishes. I guess we misunderstood what she meant. Either way, BeautyQueen and BigGuns ordered before I could make up my mind.

One of the dishes they ordered was a salada (it was quite large), and this Salmon Nanban ($16.00). The presentation was beautiful, with the skin removed from the fish and fried. It sat on a bed of Shirakawa tartar sauce and aonori roasted potatoes.

LadyH ordered a Gindara ($15.00) which was saikyo miso marinated black cod on a bed of sauteed mushrooms and sundried tomato. There were a two sweet peas in there too. First thing, we were all surprised by how TINY the portion was. Sure, it's known for high quality ingredients, but I didn't hear about how stingy they were with it. It was oily but tasty, the fish was cooked well. LadyH wished there were more on her plate.

Adorables suggested their wagyu beef options, so I chose the Wagyu Tataki ($20.00). It was snake river wagyu beef with garlic soy and walla walla onions. There were some tomatoes too. Sadly, after ordering this (I was indecisive and took longer than everyone else), the waitress snatched the menu out of my hands, stating "It's made of paper and you'll get it dirty". DO I LOOK LIKE I'M TWELVE YEARS OLD?! I still wanted to order one more thing for Adorables (he was late), but she wouldn't give it back until I asserted my need for said menu and I would take GOOD CARE of her paper =.= So rude of her.

It was beautiful plating and beef was nicely marbled. I rolled everything up together and the taste was amazing! The portion definitely was not meant to be shared. There were five pieces of thinly sliced beef on top of about a cup of onions. Too much soy sauce at the end it overwhelmed the beef.

It was too busy of a night so they couldn't make us Buta Don, so we settled with Kakuni ($15.00). It was braised pork belly, sweet slow cooked gala apple, crisp onions, soy reduction with karashi mustard. Honestly, the pork itself was delicious. It melted in my mouth with the layers of fat and tender meat.

The apple tasted more like pear, the wasabi was very strong, and the onions were out of place. There were six pieces of 1" x 1" x 1.5" pork cubes. Needless to say, this was a tiny portion size.

Everyone left hungry, because as poor starving students, we couldn't afford any more. I guess it's just not our kind of place to hang. The ambiance and environment was nice though. Service could use some upgrading. I can see the effort and care put into each of their dishes though, the flavors just made me want more... or was it the portion size? xD 

Salt Tasting Room: Getting classy and cheesy!

To celebrate EM and DC's joint birthday party, we arrived at a classy hipster joint in scary scary Blood Alley.

Restaurant: Salt Tasting Room (visit their website here)

Location: 45 Blood Alley, Vancouver
Cuisine: Wine bar, tapas, dessert
Price range: $20+ per person





Date of visit: November 28, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 2/5

Indecisive on what to order, Adorables and I shared their Three Course Menu ($29 per set) which included salad, meat/cheese/BC plate, and dessert. We ordered the Seasonal salad which was spinach with goat cheese and nuts. It was fresh-- basically spinach in a dish topped with goat cheese.

For our meats and cheeses we got Bresaola with Cipollini Onions, Salchichon Iberico with Mostarda, and Ossau-Iraty with Fig & Nut Bread. The Ossau-Iraty was a medium cheese which was creamy and I quite liked the texture and aroma. Went well with the fig and nut bread which was a bit more dry, sweet, and some grit. Salchichon Iberico was a little fatty, but balanced out with the mostarda (sweet, honey-like) nicely. Finally, the Bresaola was chewy and meaty. I didn't like the cipollini onions much because they tasted like plastic to me.

Finally, dessert was a Hazelnut Mousse. It was airy, rich, and smooth. Simple but delicious.

I don't know how I got full on this, but I did. Maybe it was the bread they gave us to go with our meats and cheese? Who knows =P Either way, this isn't quite my fancy since I'm not a wine drinker, others got wine flights to pair with their dishes, which seemed more interesting!

Vancouver Foodster Presents: Tasting Plates Gastown Edition (April 23, 2014)

I am super stoked to be blogging about this, partly because it was an AMAZING event, and partly because I have been super busy and haven't had the chance to blog in a while =( Anyhow! The event was under $28 per person for the ticket, and there were 8 locations involved. Some comments about the event:






Pros:
- Lots of variety
- Get to try food from different restaurants throughout the evening
- Some walking to burn off the calories while eating
- Overall great experience

Cons:
- Registration took a long time
- Not enough time to wait for a table (huge crowd due to the event) and get around to all the places-- very strapped for time (6:00-9:30pm but lining up for registration took us until 7:30pm)
- This particular location was a bit sketch when it got darker =/

Alright, lets move onto the food! Since registration was at Catch 122, Adorables and I decided to stay and eat there first! They were offering a Pressed Confit Pork Shoulder, Smoked Potato, Pork Crackling. The confit was slightly crispy but so moist and tender in the middle and flavorful. It went so well with the creamy potato thing on top of it (looked more mashed than smoked hehe)-- it in itself was delicious! The pork crackling on the other hand, was confusing to me. It was hard and not very crispy =/ Looked pretty though!

The House-made Tortellini with Quebec Cheese Curd, House-smoked Bacon, in Soubise Sauce was a bit underwhelming. The pasta was al dente, filling didn't stand out (wheres the bacon?!), and the sauce didn't seem to belong with the "dish". Presentation-wise though, it was nice to the eyes =)

Finally! Dessert was "krehm broo LAY" (Cointreau custard, sugar biscuit, lavender meringue, mint). The both of us wondered for the longest time what the white crumbly bits on top with no flavor were-- then reading this again, had an "ah-ha!" moment =P Custard portion was a bit soft and grainy for my liking, but the sugar biscuit idea was ingenious. Don't think there was mint because of the giant sugared orange slice on top ;)

I tried to be methodical and choose a good route for our self-guided tour, Hives for Humanity (collaborating with Martin's Marvelous Naturals) was down the street, so we ended there first! They offered a DTES Raw Honey served on the Comb with Martin's Marvelous Rosemary Lavender and Chocolate Mole Crisps.

The honey was great, it was light and sweet (but not too sweet), along with the crisps, it was a nice snack! I preferred the Rosemary Lavender Crisp because the floral hints enhanced the honey rather than overwhelm and conceal the honey flavor (like the choco one).

Down the street was Bitter Tasting Room. The wait was quite long since our group moved to the small establishment almost all at once! Many thanks to a fellow foodster who put my name on the waitlist (I was too scared to write my name on there without making sure we were allowed or not), Adorables and I were seated after a 10 minute wait. Here, they offered a (soft) Taco with Barbecue Pulled Pork, Fresh Cut Slaw, and Pepperoncini Aioli. It didn't look too amazing on the plate, but the flavors were all there.

The pulled pork was tender, moist, and perfect tanginess. Slaw cut out the fatty feeling of the Aioli (which wasn't too strong but made the taco nice and moist). Worth the wait! Waitresses were friendly and attentive too! =)

Next was Burgundy Restaurant. They have an open "artsy" feel to it. Too bad neither of us drink, since they had a free complimentary wine tasting =( Their Goat Cheese Fondue was a very smart design, since they had a little holder to prevent fondue from dripping down! I liked the fruit and bread pairing with it, refreshing and made the goat cheese lighter.

There was a small Beef Bourguignon (something like a nice beef stew minus the sauce). I had one tiny piece of beef, which was tender and a bit dry, but the veggies were yummy as the flavors were infused nicely.

This place also offered dessert! Luckily there were two of us, so we got to try both desserts!

Adorables got the Chocolate Mousse, which was nice and creamy-- a bit hard to put in my mouth because of the design =P Also had to photobomb and shift the focus of the camera for this pic heh heh >:]

I got the Orange Galliano Sorbet, tangy and cold. Nicely orangey! Traded Adorables for it since he's not one for sweets whereas I have a huge sweet tooth ^-^

Due to parking circumstances, we took a detour to Trees Organic first (who wouldn't want dessert in the middle of their meal anyways? =D) Greeted by a super fun cashier, we were directed to some coffee and had some more dessert =)

The New York Cheesecake was too soft, felt like it was melting! Flavors were there, I just wish the crust were not so crumbly. And then there was their monthly special, a Almond Marzipan Cheesecake. This was REALLY SWEET but the graham cracker crust was nicer. Plating was pretty, except for Adorables'... his NY cheesecake was oozy =P

Moving on, we noticed how strapped for time we were, so we rushed over to Salt Tasting Room-- through a scary Blood Alley x.x I seriously thought I would get jumped and killed there.

Anyhow, got there, and went DOWNSTAIRS to a cellar! Super interesting!

Here, they offered Salt's Classic Tasting Plate (Small Size): 2 meats, one cheese, 3 condiments, crackers-- tonight, we got 2 pieces of prosciutto, aged cheddar, three pieces of house-made baguette, mustard, and cherry jam. The prosciutto was delicious and I loved the cheddar-- creamy and cheesy! The mustard was a bit strong for me, the cherry jam was interesting (tangy and sweet, couldn't' quite taste the cherry). I found the baguette too dry and chewy =(

Our last stop for the night was The Irish Heather (almost missed it on our way, kinda hard to find!). They were super nice and let us in, we were the last customers!! I noticed it was already 9:28pm, and realized we probably wouldn't be able to make it to the last location =( (Made Adorables wander over to Milano Coffee to get the items, but they were closed already)

Either way! Here, they had a Steak & Ale Stew on Colcannon (Irish Mashed Potatoes). Or so the menu said. What I saw was pie and fries. Not that I minded. Adorables noted that the pie tasted like a beef version of the chicken pot pie from Costco, and I can't disagree. It was rich and meaty, well-balanced flavors. Crust was flaky and the fries were crispy on the outside, moist and fluffy on the inside. I couldn't finish it though-- ended up packing most of it home haha!

Overall, this was a great experience because I got to have so much variety in one evening! I also was pretty stuffed (I started off being concerned whether it would be enough food, since the portions were tiny) at the end of the night, and couldn't be happier stuffed ^-^ Highly recommended! Great for date nights, I may try the other locations! =) Many thanks to Adorables for the photos! And lovely company! <3 Until next time peeps!