Dark Table: Let me feed you *JAB*

Sadly, there aren't any pictures associated with this post regarding the food because well, it was pitch black in there. However, I'll describe my experience here =)

Restaurant: Dark Table (visit their website here)

Location: 2611 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver
Cuisine: European, Fusion
Price range: $40+ per person





Date of visit: June 1, 2014
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 1.5/5
Food quality: 3.5/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

I got a SocialShopper coupon for a 3-course meal for 2 people ($56.00), which was a pretty good deal, considering their normal 3 choice is $39.00. Super excited, Adorables and I were seated outside in a waiting area for our waiter as we decided on which of the main courses we wanted. The starter and dessert were surprises =)

After making our choices, we were led into the restaurant by our waiter, Albert and he quickly talked us through what to expect and what we were going to do. He described what we would experience inside and how to get him if we needed anything. However, the calling out to the waiter really loudly trick didn't really work out in the end haha =P

Regardless, we were led inside and it was PITCH BLACK. My eyes hurt after a while of trying to seek out any light (which there wasn't any except for the one line of light from the door that Adorables saw occasionally). Seated, we were given some time to chat and adjust. Our drinks arrived first, Adorables ordered a Ginger Ale ($3.25) and I got a Grapefruit Juice ($3.25). I couldn't quite believe that water was for $3.00 on the menu! Anyways, my grapefruit juice was tart and too bitter for my liking =(

Albert brought us bread, and believe me, trying to butter your bread in the dark is DIFFICULT! I got an end piece and it was rather hard, but crispy. I ended up dipping my finger into the butter by accident haha

Then came the fun starter. It was a salad of some sort, it had quinoa and then other leafy veggies. The flavors were interesting, I had some salty bits then some tangy vinaigrette parts. I don't know what greens were in there but some were also bitter and tasted like... methane. Yes. Overall it was fun poking and trying to find if I was done my salad or not!

The mains came, Adorables ordered a Surprise Dish which consisted of Yam Fries, Chicken with Cranberry Sauce, and some veggies. The fries were nice and hot! Chicken was a bit dry (or so the bit I tried). Adorables said he had his face inches from his food all meal just to feel around-- use of fingers was definitely helpful.

I ordered the Garlic Prawns with Citrus Risotto and veggies. Basically what I did was spear at my dish with my fork until I snagged something. I had a bunch of misses where I just placed the fork to my mouth and it was empty. Man, I hope no one saw that! The risotto was delicious-- creamy and moist, the flavors just jumped out at me. I couldn't stop eating-- if only I found where my risotto was on the plate! I had a few mouthfuls of grainy salt on my veggies which were a turn-off though =( There were 6 prawns on my plate, and of course, I'd try to feed Adorables who was busy trying to figure out his dish-- so JAB. Fork+prawn, meet face. They were pretty big prawns but could use better seasoning. (I packed away what I couldn't finish because I wanted dessert)

Finally, dessert was a chocolate cake of some sort. This time, Adorables got me back-- I got cake on my face. Anyways, chocolate cake was moist and sweet, quite delicious but nothing special.

We were led to a small room to pay and got to ask what we ate =)

During our dinner we got spritzed by water on the side and felt around to see where our neighbors were (the tables were empty around us after a short while so we got the chance to freely feel around). I'd say this was a really amazing experience and definitely worth coming to! Besides supporting the blind, I had lots of fun, great laughter, and a very unique experience!

PiDGiN: Valentines Surprise =D

Truly a day for suckers, I was one of them who went out for dinner on this overly advertised and marketed day-- Valentines Day. As Adorables and I wandered around deciding for a place, we somehow ended up in front of PiDGiN. I had wanted to come here for dineout, but never had the chance to, so I was uber excited to be here-- a wonderful surprise since someone had booked a table for two under his name earlier <3

Restaurant: PiDGiN (visit their website here)

Location: 350 Carrall Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Asian, European, Seafood
Price range: $50+ per person





Date of visit: February 14, 2014
Atmosphere: 5/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

I took one look at the Valentines day "special menu" and thought, better to use that money elsewhere (it was a crazy $75 per person). Plus, neither of us were big eaters, so it'd be too much food anyways (or so naive me though at that time). However, not having been here, got suckered into the prix fixe option ($55). We were started off with an interesting Oyster Shot with green apple and horseradish mixed into an icy concoction. I found it difficult to eat because it was too thick and the horseradish was overwhelming. Oyster was really fresh though!

I felt a bit gypped with the Daily Pickles (yes it counted as a dish)-- they weren't to my liking. Pickling was way too sour-- I didn't know what was going on there.

Their Raw Scallops was one of my favorite items of the night. Just plain raw oysters topped with pomegranate red curry oil, raw daikon and green apple. There was also some kind of nut on top, but I can't recall what it was. I felt the daikon and green apple took away from the fresh taste of scallop, so I just ate them separately. Adorables found the scallops to be too limp and mushy though =P

It was starting to feel like a seafood meal when the Grilled Octopus showed up. It was garnished and surrounded by romesco and a fennel biscotti. The octopus was deliciously chewy and the romesco complemented the octopus well. I just nibbled on the biscotti because the texture didn't go well with the other stuff on the plate ^-^ This was a semi-warm dish btw, the first non-cold dish we were served ;)

Is it just me or does this look like a face? xD Either way, I feel this Mushroom Dish with sugar snap peas, egg, and soy yuzu brown butter was very Asian-inspired. A bit on the oily side but I loved the flavors and the sweet pea puree was a very novel idea, I enjoyed it. The egg was cooked perfectly although I worried about salmonella xD I almost burned my tongue on this dish because it was so hot!

Next was the amazing Half Duck made 3 ways (I believe it was leg, breast, and confit). It was accompanied by a carrot cake puree, carrots, some crunchy stuff (garlic?!), and a tangy sauce. The duck breast was amazing. Perfect tenderness so there was still a bit of chew to it-- tasted a bit like Chinese BBQ duck!! Well rounded dish, no wonder the server highly recommended it and kept going on and on about it =D

Final main was a Beef dish (don't recall which part). I can't really eat beef, but had a bit and it was pretty good! The burnt sides weren't something I enjoyed because it was a bit hard to swallow. It reminded me of a thick beef tataki =P It was plated with potatoes made three ways: baked, mashed, and chips. Flavors were great for this dish, sadly, Adorables and I were both fairly full by this time and couldn't stuff more in!

Onwards to dessert! I remember it was a matcha based cake topped with their house-made cherries (which were so high in alcohol content they HURT to eat). Too much alcohol for these two peeps ^-^" Either way, the cake itself was nice and light, minus the cream part (the lightest color area) where it was too hard and had an odd after-feel in the mouth. Of course the presentation was beautiful once again.





Overall I really enjoyed myself, especially with such amazing company ♡ May be back when I'm more financially able, since this meal cost us (well Adorables, since he was being such a gentleman and loving boyfriend and paid) around $130 ><" Being spoiled once in a while is such an exemplary feeling though!