Granville Island Archives

In Granville Island

Granville Island Delivery Co: Curated Gift Packs to Support Granville Island Small Businesses

November 1, 2020

Granville Island Delivery Co. has always been about supporting and giving back to the Granville Island community. This holiday, Granville Island Delivery Co. is sure to impress with lots of covid-safe options to support local businesses. Offerings include thoughtfully curated gift baskets & kits, gift cards, and stocking stuffers to wow everyone on your list, all while collecting online donations to benefit the hard-working merchants on Granville Island.

Gift Baskets

The beautiful gift packages include popular products from Granville Island merchants, including Lee’s Donuts, Granville Island Brewery, Benton Brothers Fine Cheese, Oyama Sausage, and more. Donations to benefit Granville Island Merchants can be made on the website, and gift packs sold directly support Granville Island artisans.

The gift packs range from $49.99 to $129.99 and contain a curated selection of items from top Granville Island artisans. Each gift basket supports several local businesses. In addition $5 from featured baskets will aid Granville Island merchants who have been affected by the pandemic. Customers can further support these merchants by making #GranvilleIslandLuv donation directly on the website.

Gift Guide

Granville Island Delivery Co. has put together a handy Gift Guide of their top gift packs including The Charcuterie, Cheese, & Wine Celebration; Beer o’Clock Kit; Chocola-Tea Basket; and the Donut Christmas Tree Kit.

Gift Cards

Gift Cards are also a popular and practical gift, and with so much on offer from the most popular vendors of Granville Island, the giftee is sure to find something they’ll love at Granville Island Delivery Co.

Corporate Gifts

Granville Island Delivery Co. has many options to make corporate gifting easy. Businesses looking to impress their clients, send holiday gift packages to their employees, or hold virtual holiday parties can contact Granville Island Delivery Co. about Clientele Gifts, Team Appreciation, and Virtual Events packages.

Delivery

The delivery service offers free shipping for orders $99 and over in Vancouver, or $10 discount on flat rate shipping in Greater Vancouver.

Website:
https://granvilleislanddelivery.co/

In Dineout

[Sneak Peek] Dine Out 2019 at The Vancouver Fish Company

January 11, 2019

The Vancouver Fish Company is back as one of the participating restaurants on the Dine Out Vancouver 2019 list. We got a special sneak peek to see what they are offering customers. You will be treated to their $45 dinner and lunch menus.

We were invited to get a sneak peek of the menu.

1st Course

Seafood Chowder has fresh seafood, clams, bacon, thyme and cream. It has a thick creamy consistency with hints of the bacon and thyme in the chowder. This dish uses OceanWise seafood and is also gluten-free.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Mission Hill Reserve Chardonnay

Maple Walnut Prawns are lightly fried tempura prawns with Yuzu mayo, walnuts, toasted sesame, and Togarashi. This dish uses OceanWise seafood and is also gluten-free.

Suggested Wine Pairing: 50th Parallel Riesling

Organic Beet Salad with Klipper’s Farm organic beets, toasted pistachios, baby arugula, avocado rosemary vinaigrette, and shaved parmesan. This dish is gluten-free and vegetarian.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Dirty Laundry Rose

2nd Course

Poached Atlantic Lobster uses a whole Nova Scotia lobster and served with Klipper’s Farm organic vegetables, garlic roasted potatoes, and drawn butter. This dish is gluten-free.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Perseus Select Lots Chardonnay

Seafood Hot Pot has Dungeness crab, pink scallops, prawns, mussels, clams, baby Yukon Gold potatoes, corn, saffron fennel nage, and garlic toast. The broth is more of a tomato base with lots of seafood on top. This dish uses OceanWise seafood.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris

Surf & Turf has an 6 oz Alberta Striploin, scallop & prawn skewer, confit garlic whipped potatoes, roasted acorn squash, Klipper’s Farm organic vegetable medley, celeriac puree, and red wine jus. This dish uses OceanWise seafood and is also gluten-free.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Adega Syrah

Desserts

New York Cheesecake has traditional cheesecake, strawberry compote, and chantilly cream. This is vegetarian.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port 10 Year

Apple Tarte Tatin has caramel Granny Smith apples and vanilla gelato.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Hester Creek Late Harvest Pinot Blanc

Final Thoughts

For $45 its a bit high compared to other restaurants also participating in DineOut Vancouver, but their menu does boast a lot of seafood options.

Address:
517 Anderson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.dineoutvancouver.com/listings/the-vancouver-fish-company-restaurant-%26-bar/39256/

In Dineout

[Sneak Peek] Dine Out 2019 at The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant

January 10, 2019

The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant is back as one of the participating restaurants on the Dine Out Vancouver 2019 list. We got a special sneak peek to see what they are offering customers. You will be treated to their $35 dinner menu or lunch menu.

Appetizers

Sablefish Croquette comes with 3 pieces and paired with their miso aioli. The taste of the sablefish in the croquette was more muted so it didn’t stand out. This dish is gluten-free.

This is a Beet & Arugula Salad with goat cheese, and a fig balsamic vinaigrette. This dish is vegetarian and gluten-free.

Their Clam Chowder is housemade and it has clams and hearty potatoes inside. We enjoyed this.

Entrees

Cioppino has prawns, mussels, clams, cod, and snow crab.

6 oz Prime New York Striploin alderwood grilled with market vegetables and roasted potatoes. A good steak best done medium rare with all the veggies that make a good pairing. Also, this dish is gluten-free.

Sapa Rau Bowl has coconut jasmine rice, lemongrass yogurt, pickled papaya, mushrooms, yams, fresh vegetables, cashews, and a Singapore sauce. This is the vegetarian option.

Enhancements

You can swap out dishes for either of these for a set menu of $45 rather than $35.

Crab Crusted BC Lingcod forno baked with market vegetables, coconut jasmine rice, and beurre blanc sauce. The lingcod is Oceanwise too.

Sesame Crusted Albacore Tuna seared rare with soy mustard, wasabi, and cucumber salsa. The tuna is Oceanwise and the whole dish is gluten-free.

Desserts

Chocolate Truffle Cake is decadent and satisfied those dessert cravings.

Buttermilk Pannacotta with a berry compote and citrus crumble on top.

Final Thoughts

Overall, decent dish options here with flexibility to swap for enhanced dishes. I like how they are committed to using Oceanwise seafood where possible.

Address:
1535 Johnston St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar/

In Dineout

[Sneak Peek] Dine Out 2019 at Dockside Restaurant

January 10, 2019

Dockside Restaurant is back as one of the participating restaurants on the Dine Out Vancouver 2019 list. We got a special sneak peek to see what they are offering customers. You will be treated to their $35 menu which has 3 courses per person.

They are located on Granville Island specializing in West Coast Cuisine. Popular in the Summer for their fresh seafood and patio views.

Dine Out 2019 Menu

You choose 1 dish from the 3 categories and you have the option of wine pairings for $12 extra.

Appetizers

Cucumber Caprese comes with 3 pieces on a plate and it has cucumber, bocconcini, strawberry, and a pomegranate reduction. This is gluten-free and vegetarian. A good fresh and crisp way to start the meal.

Wine pairing: Fitzpatrick Pinot Blanc

Korean Spiced Arancini is paired with their chili lime aioli. This is a vegetarian dish as well and it comes in 2 pieces per order. It was delicious and not spicy at all. A good use of Korean spices to go with this traditional Italian snack.

Wine Pairing: Perseus Pinot Grigio

Beef Empanada comes with 2 pieces and it has avocado crema, and a charred tomato bell pepper relish. The exterior was really crisp, but the empanada isn’t fully closed, so if you eat it with your hands, some filling might fall out.

Wine Pairing: Skaha Cabernet Franc

Main

Singapore Seafood curry is a gluten-free dish and it has seafood in it and topped with pieces of coconut rice cake. It has a rich coconut flavour but not too heavy.

Wine Pairing: Road 13 Viognier

Crispy Braised Chicken uses chicken thighs, flageolet bean cassoulet, and pan jus. A hearty dish and the chicken thighs were juicy. This is also a gluten-free dish too.

Wine Pairing: Sperling Pinot Noir

Grilled Lamb Rack comes with 3 pieces a top lemon herb gnocchi, veggies and chimichurri sauce. The lamb was delicious and cooked perfectly, but the gnocchi wasn’t as soft and fluffy as I thought it would have been.

Wine Pairing: Ravens Wood Cabernet Sauvignon

Mushroom Goat Cheese Risotto is their vegetarian dish for the entrees. It has forged wild mushrooms, and goat cheese. The dish smelled vibrant of truffles, but when we ate into it, it was a tad bland like it needed a bit more salt.

Wine Pairing: Dessert Hills Chardonnay

Dessert

Chocolate Crème Brûlée is topped with berries and served with a house made biscotti on the side. It was ok.

Apple Pie “lollipop” a la mode is served with vanilla gelato. I preferred this dish over the chocolate crème brûlée, but that’s just my personal preference.

Final Thoughts

Overall, some hits and misses on the menu, but there is variety that not just all seafood. It’s good they have gluten-free and vegetarian options on the menu so everyone can enjoy.

Address:
1253 Johnston St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.dineoutvancouver.com/listings/dockside-restaurant/18449/

In Granville Island

Dockside Restaurant: Fall Menu Sneak Peek

October 28, 2017

The Dockside Restaurant on Granville Island is a place locals and tourist love to come to for the views and the fresh seafood options on the menu. They like to keep their menu seasonal, so they have recently launched a few items on their menu to reflect the Fall season and use the freshest produce possible.

Interior

The main dining area is very nice with lots of windows, comfortable seating, and views of False Creek.

Super Food Buddha Bowl

This has organic quinoa, farro, wehani rice, house-pickled vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, romaine hearts, and a citrus vinaigrette. A good items to have to taste the fresh produce of the Fall. The hearty grains are delicious too.

Warm Fall Harvest Kale Salad

This has a medley of roasted root vegetables, Okanagan honey crisp apples, buttermilk dressing, and grana padano. We have delicious local apples, so this plate highlight more of the farms close by. The texture of the crisp root vegetables contrasts well with the kale.

Two Rivers Meats Grilled Beef Tenderloin (6oz)

This dish has AAA beef, potato yam pavé, butternut squash purée, red wine thyme jus, seasonal organic vegetables, and preserved cherry-basil compound butter. Having the beef medium rare is the best way to have this served.

Braised Lamb Shank

The tender lamb shank sits on top of Israeli cous cous, butternut squash, Okanagan plum jus, dukkah, and seasonal organic vegetables.

Forno Roasted Salmon

This has lemongrass-soy marinated Oceanwise salmon, pistachio mash, bell pepper aioli, and seasonal organic vegetables. The salmon was cooked nicely and the marination of the lemongrass-soy flavour.

Grilled Haida Gwaii Halibut

The halibut sits on lemon-herb spaetzle, dungeness crab bisque, house pickled and roasted organic vegetables. I enjoyed the combination of the spaetzle and halibut. A good combination as an entree.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

The sticky toffee pudding has spiced caramel sauce, rum and vanilla gelato on top. Such a lovely treat to end the meal.

Coconut Milk Cheesecake

This dessert has passion fruit chia seed glaze, honey toasted nuts and candied coconut chips. It is gluten-free, which is a good option for those with dietary restrictions.

Final Thoughts

Dockside Restaurant is a solid place to go to in Vancouver. The location is right on Granville Island and they do have lots to do in the area. My favourite dishes was the Grilled Haida Gwaii Halibut.

We Rate Dockside Restaurant:

Address:
253 Johnston St, Vancouver

Website:
http://docksidevancouver.com/

In Brewery

Granville Island Brewing Small Batch Series

August 29, 2017

Granville Island Brewing is a popular brewery in the heart of the city to enjoy a beer and some bites. We were invited to sample a few of their current Small Batch creations – Japanese Biere de Garde, So-Cal Style IPA, BC Bitter and Gose with Peach. I love our local craft beer scene and admire the dedication to push the boundaries of beer creativity.

Gose with Peach

This sour brew has an equal balance of fruit and tart. They take the traditional German Gose and infuse ripe fruit notes from peaches that round out a subtle tartness. So light and crisp, which is perfect for the Summer.

BC Bitter

To put a twist to a traditional English Bitter, they incorporated local BC ingredients to add a BC flair. Nugget and Chinook hops from Lillooet balance with Pilsner malt from Armstrong for a slightly hoppy, bready summer beer.

This was paired with their salmon pot pie made with delicious Canadian cheddar and cured ham. It was so good and I wish this was on their regular menu. A good pairing and I really liked the BC Bitter beer.

So-Cal Style IPA

I’m usually not a fan of IPAs, but the big bold hops is balanced with citrus and grapefruit notes. An interesting brew that combines the dose of West Coast hops with a California brightness.

A deep-fried chicken donut bite with cilantro aioli, pickled cabbage, and topped with a maple syrup drizzle. Holy, the donut bite was freaking amazing and I could have eaten a whole box of them.

Japanese Biere de Garde

At 9.5%, this did pack a punch compared to the other two. It is a farmhouse ale where East meets West. Rice, Japanese Sorachi Ace, hops and Belgian saison yeasts create a heady mix of pickle, pepper and clove notes atop a strong, light ale body.

This was paired with the avocado beef tartare with a poached quail egg on top. Poached eggs are always my weakness but I’ve never seen a poached quail egg.

Final Thoughts

It was great to try a few beers from their Small Batch Series. If you’re ever in the area or see these beers at the liquor store, give them a try.

Website: http://www.gib.ca/

Address:
1441 Cartwright St, Vancouver

In Dineout

Dockside Seafood Restaurant: Dineout Vancouver

January 9, 2017

Dockside Restaurant is participating again in Dine Out Vancouver from January 20 to February 5, 2017. They are offering guests with their 3 course meal on Granville Island for West Coast Cuisine for $40. Reservations should be made in advance.

I came here for a preview of the menu prior to Dine Out Vancouver with a few other media people to see how their menu is like.

Dine Out 2017 Menu at Dockside

Appetizer

Dockside Crab & Shrimp Cakes
Duck Prosciutto Tart
Winter Green Salad

Entree

Linguini Vongole
Roasted Zucchini
Beef Wellington

Dessert

Panna Cotta
Chocolate and Apricot Mousse

Appetizer

Winter Green Salad has Manchego polenta croutons, French beans and a herb vinaigrette. A good start of the meal as its light and refreshing. The polenta croutons add a bit of crunch and texture to the salad.

Dockside Crab & Shrimp Cakes has charred lemon aioli, and mango salsa on top. 3 pieces to each plate.

Duck Prosciutto Tart has housemade duck prosciutto, onion jam, arugula and balsamic reduction. The delicious fatty duck prosciutto pairs balances with the arugula. The tart gives it a crunchy texture.

Entree

Beef Wellington Truffle has mash potatoes, market vegetables and red wine jus. I felt that the meat was cooked more to a well doneness.

Linguini Vongole has Manila clams, white wine cream sauce, and reggiano cheese. The pasta was creamy and there was a good amount of clams. Since the clams were cooked separately, it didn’t integrate too well with the pasta.

Roasted Zucchini is the vegetarian option. It has eggplant puree, cucumber and fennel salad and topped with toasted pine nuts.

Dessert

Chocolate and Apricot Mousse Layer Cake is lined with apricot puree and fresh berries.

Panna Cotta has lemon grass, lime leaf, passion fruit puree and mint. A refreshing end to the evening meal.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the menu is pretty balanced to cater to those with different tastebuds. The portions are a good size too.

We Rate Dockside Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
1253 Johnston Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://docksidevancouver.com/

In Dineout

Vancouver Fish Company: Dine Out Vancouver

January 9, 2017

The Vancouver Fish Company is participating in Dine Out Vancouver from January 20 to February 5, 2017. They are offering guests with their 3 course meal on Granville Island for West Coast Cuisine for $40 or $29 for lunch. Reservations should be made in advance.

Dine Out 2017 Menu at The Vancouver Fish Company

Appetizers

VFC seafood chowder
Lentil soup
Humboldt squid salad
Maple walnut prawns

Entree

Lobster mac’n’cheese
Thai chicken curry
Crab-stuffed sole wellington
Steak oscar

Dessert

Apple bread pudding
Mango sorbet

As I came during a preview night, the items pictured might not be 100% how it looks when it arrives at your table.

Appetizers

Lentil soup has organic red lentils, and garam masala cream sauce. It is Vegetarian and gluten-free friendly.

Maple walnut prawns has lightly fried prawns, seaweed salad, maple, spiced walnuts, and sesame. It comes with 3 pieces to an order.

VFC seafood chowder has fresh seafood, fresh clams, thyme cream, and bacon.

Entree

Lobster mac’n’cheese has baked lobster casserole, creamy cheddar, and bread crumbs.

Thai chicken curry has braised chicken, scented basmati rice, coconut curry sauce, julienne vegetables, roasted peanuts, and cilantro. It has a nice kick of spice to this dish.

Crab-stuffed sole wellington with fresh sole, crab meat, cream cheese, puff pastry, braised kale, and lobster bisque. I found with this dish, the cream cheese and puff pastry masked the sole and the crab meat.

Steak oscar has seared skirt steak, crab meat, baby shrimp, hannah brook farm vegetables, garlic confit mashed potatoes, bernaise, and peppercorn jus.

Dessert

Mango sorbet has mango, coconut cream, and lime dust. I enjoyed this one as it felt like a palate cleanser.

Apple bread pudding has warm bread pudding, caramel sauce, and spiced walnuts. I felt it was a bit on the sweet side.

Overall, I felt the menu had a good amount of choices but the tastes were just ok. I felt the menu was lacking dishes that highlighted fresh piece of fish. For a $40 dinner option, it is a bit pricey for what you get.

We Rate The Vancouver Fish Company:

Address:
1517 Anderson Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.vanfish.com/

In Canadian

Edible Canada: Dine Out Vancouver

January 9, 2017

Edible Canada is participating again in Dine Out Vancouver from January 20 to February 5, 2017. They are offering guests with their 3 course meal on Granville Island for Canadian Cuisine for $30. Reservations should be made in advance.

I came here for a sneak peek of the full Dine Out menu to show potential guests what the menu would look and taste like. You’ll notice on their menus, there are a few menu items that you need to add extra money to the meal.

Dine Out 2017 Menu at Edible Canada

Appetizer

Hazelmere Roasted Carrot Soup
Pacific Cod and Pemberton Potato Pakoras
Hazelmere Kale Salad
Crispy West Coast Humbolt Squid + $3
Grilled Alberta Lamb Heart + $4
Range Land Bison Tartar + $5

Entree

Honey Butter Basted Fried Chicken
Prairie Farro Risotto
Haida Gwaii Rockfish & Mussel Stew
Newfoundland Seal Pappardelle + $3
Quebec Rabbit Orecchiette + $4
Char Grilled Alberta Hanger Steak + $6

Dessert

Chocolate Pot du Crème
Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding

Appetizers

Pacific Cod and Pemberton Potato Pakoras has jalapeño apple chutney, fresh mint and pickles. It is served on a mini skillet pan. Very good start to the meal. The pakoras were crisp and went very well with the chutney.

Crispy West Coast Humbolt Squid has chermoula vinaigrette, white bean hummus, and dried olives. This is a dish where you need to add $3 on top of the Dine Out Vancouver menu. Squid was tender and was like a glamorous calamari.

Grilled Alberta Lamb Heart has Gaujillo adobo, cilantro, and hominy corn grits. You need to add $4 to get this dish. Man, those lamb hearts were tender. I love how Edible Canada uses all different parts of each animal.

Entree

Haida Gwaii Rockfish & Mussel Stew has a Moroccan tomato broth, heirloom carrots, chickpeas, and cilantro. A good portion of seafood in this stew. Beautiful flavours too.

Quebec Rabbit Orecchiette has mushrooms, confit onions, shaved brussels sprouts, and parmesan. You need to add $4 extra to get this dish. The rabbit a nice unique protein to have with this meal as it brings you out of your comfort zone. Pasta was cooked perfectly and the sauce just covered nicely.

Dessert

Chocolate Pot du Crème has cassis, and crystallized ginger. This dessert was ok, but I felt the berries on top was a bit sour.

Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding has maple bourbon custard, and candied walnuts. This dessert was my favourite as it wasn’t too sweet and it just warms you up for the end of the meal.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Edible Canada has always been a good pick for Dine Out Vancouver. The use of their proteins are adventurous. They have more options on the menu, but some items you do have to pay extra for it. I’ve been here in the past before for Dine Out and it’s very good.

We Rate Edible Canada:

Address:
1596 Johnston Street, Vancouver

Website:
https://ediblecanada.com/

In Granville Island

The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant: Dining on Granville Island

September 27, 2015

The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant is located on Granville Island right by the public market. They are best known for their selection of fresh Oceanwise seafood, which is sustainable and ethically caught.

They can seat up to 300 people in their space and you can see the Granville Street Bridge and False Creek.

Zomato hosted an intimate meetup in their private room for a few of their foodies and bloggers that use their site. It was a good chance to meet new foodies and of course enjoy some delicious eats.

Everyone else had a nice looking cocktail but I was a rebel and asked for a beer. I quite enjoyed the beer with the different arrays of seafood and fried items.

Raw Oysters were the first to arrive. It came with a vinaigrette sauce, horseradish, hot sauce and lemons. The oysters were shucked well so there were so bits of debris in it. They also do testing on their oysters to make sure they are free from any illness.

Ahi Poke has scallions, sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy, and a garlic chili sauce. This dish was quite heavy on the sesame oil and was quite salty from the soy sauce.

Seafood Croquette comes with a chili lime aoili sauce. There’s a lot of seafood packed inside and it was cooked well so the outside is super crunchy.

Wok Squid has garlic, chilis, onions, cilantro and ginger. It was ok, but could have used a but more chili.

California Roll and Special Scallop Roll both had very fresh ingredients but taste ok as well. It was odd how it was served with ginger and wasabi but no soy sauce. Maybe they forgot to bring it.

Sandbar Tower has jumbo prawns, oysters, clams, mussels, crab, lobster, with housemade cocktail sauce. It’s a delicious tower with plenty of seafood. A real west coast feast.

Dragonboat Platter has bbq ribs, fried oysters, spicy green beans, and wok squid.

Chocolate truffle cake, white chocolate cheesecake, lemon pie, Belgian chocolate pudding, and creme brulee.

It was all pretty darn awesome! We loved every bite of the dessert platter. My favourites were the Chocolate truffle cake and the Belgian Chocolate Pudding.

Assorted Cheese Plate 4 different types of cheese to end the meal.

Overall, the food was delicious and fresh. For the dishes that had more asian influences, those dishes fell a bit flat and needed some more refinement to them. My favourite part was the seafood tower and the Belgian chocolate pudding.

We Rate Sandbar Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
1535 Johnston St, Creekhouse #102
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar

In Brunch

Edible Canada: Brunch Time

September 7, 2014

Edible Canada has brunch and TaiwaneseGirl, CanuckGirl wanted to check it out and see how are their eggs bennys. We made reservations online at OpenTable just in case there was a rush of people during the weekend brunch hour.

As the space is big and does have a patio, there were plenty of seats available. Once we got seated, it was hard to get our server to take our order. We weren’t sure why it took so long, but we finally just flagged down anyone to put in our order.

Cyoni Apple Juice ($3.75)

Fish Cake Benny ($17) has poached free range eggs, halibut, salmon, true cod, hollandaise and a side of mixed greens. The eggs were not poached to medium. One was spot on and the other was just hard. The rest of the dish was enjoyable according to CanuckGirl.

Wild Mushroom Benny ($15) has buttermilk biscuit, poached free-range eggs, roasted garlic, spinach, hollandaise and a side of mixed greens. We had a similar issue with the eggs but this one was very runny and the other was hard.

They must have mixed up the eggs or something. It’s too bad they couldn’t make the perfect egg. A true test when going to brunch.

EC Breakfast ($12) has scrambled free ranges eggs, cripsy bacon, Sloping Hills Pork and apple sausage, and your choice of hash or butter potato biscuit. Instead of getting a benny like my friends, I got the breakfast because a simple breakfast is a sure way to assess their skills. Everything was good, simple and full of flavour.

Once our meal was done, one of the servers took away our salt, pepper and hot sauce to give to another table. I guess they ran out of extra sets for other tables or something. It would have been ok, but he left our empty plates on the table too. Seemed like he was in a rush to impress the other table.

We Rate Edible Canada:

Address:
1596 Johnston St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.ediblecanada.com/

In Canadian

Dine Out Vancouver: Bistro 101

January 26, 2014

My second dine out of the year was at Bistro 101 at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. I tried making reservations last year, but I lucked out as the reservations fill up very quickly! I woke up and put in my reservation on Open Table before going to work on the day they started accepting reservations . It’s one of the best $18 3 course menu option and you won’t be disappointed.

Their 3 course meals are usually $24, which is still a great deal. At $18 for Dine Out Vancouver, its pretty good.

Bistro 101 was created to provide a real-world training experience for the school’s professional Culinary and Baking & Pastry Arts students. I think it’s a great idea to give student a well-rounded experience with dealing with the back of the house and front of the house.

From inside the dining room, you can see them hard at work. It’s really cool to see all the work that goes into your meal.

Complimentary bread arrives at the table. It’s unlimited, so you can always ask for more. I find that they give you a lot initially, so you don’t really need a refill unless you really load up on the bread early. There’s a lot of varieties.

Peroni beer ($6) comes from Italy and is a popular beer there. I liked its light and sweet flavour profile.

An amuse bouche arrived before the appetizers. A nice little treat to start off the meal. I think it was cheese, bell peppers, pesto on little crispy bread.

White Onion Velouté topped with crisp cauliflower and lime yoghurt. It is a soup and M said it was really good. The crispy vegetables on the side added great texture.

Winter Squash Tortellini comes with 3 pieces in a smoked tomato broth. A different concept of a pasta dish.

Dungeness Crab Salad has shaved fennel & lemon foam. The lemon foam compliments the creamy crab.

Organic Ocean Wise Roasted Halibut sits on top of spinach risotto and lemongrass emulsion. The halibut was cooked perfectly. It was moist and really full of flavour.

Lamb Navarin has grilled polenta, braised Shallots and dates. There is also grilled peppers and asparagus.

Fraser Pork is like a pork sampler. It has roast loin, crisp belly, shoulder sausage and chive pomme puree. M really liked it and was music to his palate. Men love their meat.

Cheesecake Mousse has a raspberry sauce and pineapple sorbet. Cheesecake was simple and not overly complicated. Good as well.

Hazelnut Tart has blood orange, chocolate and sorbet on the plate. This was my favourite because I am very fond of hazelnuts.

Overall, I was very impressed by their menu and their affordable price. There is a trade off and the students are still learning how to serve, so the service may be less smooth than what you would normally receive. It was a fun experience for us and we will definitely be back. I love the concept of Bistro 101 and they did a great job when we dined here.

We Rate Bistro 101:

Address:
1505 W 2nd Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.bistro101.com/

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In Bakery

Lee’s Donuts: A Treat on Granville Island

December 14, 2012

KoreanGirl raved about how her parents love Lee’s Donuts on Granville Island. Lee’s Donuts is located inside the Granville Island Public Market and has stayed a family business for a very very long time.

The place is very busy during the weekends and donuts tend to sellout very fast! We came on a weekday night during closing time, so there were a few donuts left. Most of the flavours were sold out, but whats what happens when we come minutes before they close.

There are donuts behind the counter and in the glas counter.

Coconut Donut

Chocolate Crunch

German Chocolate

The donuts are pretty good and many people stand by their amazing texture and taste. I personally don’t like donuts, so I relied on my sister to give me her opinion. It’s unlike Krispy Kreme and Tim Hortons since it is slightly denser and more cake-like. It wasn’t too sweet and goes well with a cup of tea or coffee.

We Rate Lee’s Donuts:

Address:
1689 Johnston St
Vancouver, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1689+Johnston+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1689+Johnston+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6H+3R9&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Granville Island

Whet: ‘Whet Your Appetite’ Dining Package Review

October 27, 2012

Whet is located at the entrance of Granville Island right across from the Children’s Toy Store. They serve up West Coast Cuisine and are dedicated in using sustainable and local products in their dishes.

Vaneats is offering a dining package right now that gives you 2 beers, 2 appetizers, and a main dish for $30. The items included are:

2 Sleeves of Angry Scotch Ale
Coconut Scallop Ceviche
Prawn, Shrimp, & Wild Mushrooms Salad
Choice of the following:
- Crispy Duck Leg
- Red Honey-Curry Coho

The interior is nicely spaced out and has a predominant wood texture. There is patio seating available too. When we went on a Monday night, it was pretty empty and the service felt very awkward. It’s probably best to go on busier night like Friday and Saturday.

2 Sleeves of Angry Scotch Ale are from Russell Brewing Company. It’s a dark ale with dominant malt accent that originated in Edinburgh. Made with Scottish specialty malts including Peated Malt imparting a slight smoky character to the beer.

I found that the beer best paired with the entrees more so than the appetizers. I am not a dark beer drinker, but I found it to be not too strong for the casual beer drinker.

Coconut Scallop Ceviche has hand peeled shrimp, citrus juices, ginger, jalapeño, corn chips, tobiko, & ikura.

It’s easy to share since each person has their own pile of chips! No more fighting over who’s chip is who’s. The ceviche was ok, but needed more acidity since the coconut neutralizes it.

One this I really didn’t like about the dish was how watery the ceviche was. I would be very hard to eat it without it dripping all over the table or on your clothes. We couldn’t figure out the best way to eat this.

Prawn, Shrimp, & Wild Mushrooms Salad has pan seared prawns and wild local mushrooms, hand peeled shrimp, arugula, grapefruit, taro root crisps, and a lemon-hazelnut vinaigrette.

When this arrived, we noticed they had the same grapefruit slices and the hand peeled shrimp in the previous dish. The mushrooms were my favorite part of the dish.

Red Honey-Curry Coho has wild BC Coho, saffron yoghurt, hot pickled lime puree, candied almonds, and cinnamon market vegetable. The interior was very moist and the outside had a great amount of unique flavours.

It’s very hard to share between two people, so you may want to order an additional entree. KoreanGirl and I found we were not too hungry after this meal.

Crispy Duck Leg, has confit of Fraser Valley duck leg, sweet chill ginger sauce, yam & plantain chips, sesame seeds, and grilled plums. This is the other option if you didn’t choose the Coho. You can check out Alvin’s review to see what he thought about this dish.

Overall, the dishes were just OK, KoreanGirl and I didn’t particularly enjoy this dining package. The service was really awkward, but maybe because it was just a Monday night. It was good that we were able to try the offerings from this restaurant and seeing the array of styles they put into their dishes. You probably need to order a few dishes to get the full Whet experience.

We Rate Whet:

Address:
1517 Anderson Road
Vancouver, BC V6H

Website:
www.whet.ca

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In Granville Island

Sandbar Seafood Restaurant: $12 Mussel Mania

September 11, 2012

The Sandbar Restaurant has a happy hour special for mussels called “mussel mania” in their Teredo Lounge. It includes mussels, fries, and a pint of Granville Island Beer for $12. It used to be $10, but prices have risen. You can get this on the weekday from 3-6pm. It’s a good deal considering Sandbar is a bit expensive for dinner.

KoreanGirl, CanuckGirl and I came here to grab a quick bite.

It wasn’t very busy inside, nor was the Teredo Lounge very busy either.

Complementary Bread arrived at the table, but they didn’t give us utensils to spread the butter onto our bread. We had to ask them to give us side plates and cutlery.

Service was very poor from the start of the meal and didn’t improve. We found this was very interesting because the restaurant had lots of staff, but most of them were standing around.

Granville Island Pale Ale is my favorite beer since it’s light and sweet.

The mussels come in 3 sauces of your choice – Thai Curry, Vindaloo, and Tomato Provencal. When the mussels arrive, you think you are getting a bucket of mussels, but the bucket is just for the shells.

Vindaloo Mussels was ordered by me and I did enjoy the sauce. It wasn’t too spicy and coated each mussel nicely. The size of the mussels were fair and there were no complaints.

Tomato Provencal had pieces of chorizo inside. CanuckGirl enjoyed them because of the meat and the mussels.

Thai Curry Mussels was enjoyed by KoreanGirl. She was kinda disappointed by the size once she realized the bucket didn’t contain as my mussels. Looks can be deceiving.

Overall, it was a good-sized snack before dinner. We girls did have a good meal despite the lack in service.

Words of Wisdom:

Poor service
Weekdays 3-6pm Mussel Mania for $12

We Rate Sandbar Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
1535 Johnston St, Creekhouse #102
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar

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In Dineout

Edible Canada at The Market: Dine Out

February 10, 2012

The one place I really wanted to try out was Edible Canada on Granville Island for Dine Out Vancouver. It’s $28, so its quite affordable compared to the $38 restaurant options. They only use the best sustainable ingredients and take pride in that. They opened up in the Summer of 2011 and since then, they have changed their menu more than 6 times. They really do like to keep everything seasonal and fresh!

PLUS, they have extended their Dine Out menu so you can still have this deal till Febuary 11th, 2012!

The place was packed and the service was good except it did seem like they were trying to push more items onto us to make us order additional items. It’s totally understandable, but usually water and bread is complementary right? Tap water is free!

Bread ($5) we actually thought it was complementary part of the meal but apparently it wasn’t. We didn’t mind too much since all of us split the cost. The bread was good and comes in a few varieties with and oil and balsamic dip.

Canyon Rabbit Terrine has quince mustard, pickled pemberton vegetables, and warm potato bread.

I’ve never eaten a rabbit before and it tasted really good as a terrine! Kinda flakey in texture like tuna. Everything went really well together.Half of the table ordered this and the only comments were about how they didn’t like brussel sprouts…so I ate all their brussel sprouts

Hazelmere Farm potato & Leek Soup has agassiz hazelnut & horseradish foam, and purple potato chips.

The other half of the table had this and they really liked it. Some didn’t like the horseradish foam, but if you just stir it around to incorporate it into your soup, it tastes a bit better.

Wild Mushroom Crusted Wild Albacore Tuna Salad has warm finger ling potatoes, kale & autumn squash, and wild mushrooms.

This is just so delicious looking! The salt on top was a nice touch to bring out the flavour of the tuna and the vegetables were yummy too. They only thing we noticed was that some of us got 7 pieces, others got 8 and someone else got 9. I was clearly jealous of CanuckGirl because she had 9 pieces.

Slow Cooked Alberta Grangeland Elk Stew has fraser valley sunchokes, brussel sprouts, carrots, and rosemary. Notfauna and TaiwaneseGirl liked their dish! It would be good if they had something starchy to dip into that sauce.

Chefs Selection of Petit Fours has Okanagan pear gelée, vanilla salted thomas haas chocolate brownie, and maple bourbon toffee pudding.

Okanagan pear gelée was loved by half the table and the other half really didn’t like it. I personally liked it because it had a really good taste to it despite the coating of sugar.

Maple bourbon toffee pudding was alright but tasted a bit dry. The caramel sauce was delicious.

Vanilla salted thomas haas chocolate brownie was also a bit on the dry side, but the chocolate on top was so good.

At the end of the meal, we were all give Bacon Sea Salt! It was a really nice touch. They said it goes well in salads and eggs.

Doesn’t that just look so good? I haven’t tried it yet, but I think I will soon.

Overall, the dinner was really good and worth the $28. They use some very unique ingredients, which you wouldn’t find at other restaurants. All of my friends were happy with our dishes. The only thing bad about the night was some tomato soup spillage that got on a few of our jackets but the management took care of it. I would probably come back again.

Words of Wisdom:

Great dishes with unique type of protein
Some free and some paid parking in the area

We Rate Edible Canada:

Address:
1596 Johnston St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.ediblecanada.com/bistro.php

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Vancouver

In Granville Island

Celine’s Fish and Chips: Worst Fish & Chips On Granville Island

August 27, 2011

I’ve been on a Fish & Chips hunt this Summer whenever I happen to pass by a place. While I was on Granville Island, I decided to try out Celine’s Fish & Chips. Its been here for a long long time and I thought it really couldn’t be that bad. I had it many years ago, but I totally forgot what it tasted like.

When I approached this place to order, I was a bit shocked at the way they communicated with customers. They didn’t seem very happy and the only thing they said was “$16 dolla”. The wait for my dish was quite long too, which was funny since there wasn’t a lot of people lining up. A few other people ordered after me and the serve was also cold to them as well.

Sample Platter ($16) was quite expensive. It has a few onion rings, fries, calamari, one small fried oyster, one small fried prawn, and a small piece of cod. I was very disappointed in this platter. The majority of this plate was onion rings and fries. All the seafood items were quite small.

The onion rings were heavily breaded with batter and it felt like you were eating more of the batter than the onion. The fries were also soggy and pretty bland. The cod was pretty good, but it was a small piece and also heavily coated with batter. I had to remove the batter to get a good taste of the cod. The prawn and the oyster were both mediocre and did not seem very fresh. Quite ironic because they are located on Granville Island. The only item that saved this patter was the fried calamari. It had a nicely seasoned light batter that surrounded it, so you can really taste the squid.

Overall, major disappointment. If they can’t get a platter right..I wouldn’t imagine the fish & chips to be good either. The food is quite greasy as well. I will never order from here again.

Words of Wisdom:

Self Serve napkins and condiments
Overpriced
Greasier than normal
Horrible onion rings and fries
Bad service

We Rate Celine’s Fish & Chips:

Address:
109 – 1689 Johnston Street
Vancouver, BC

In Granville Island

Market Grill: An Awesome Burger Find!

August 27, 2011

The Market Grill on Granville Island is in the marketplace. They are best known for their amazing burgers! My sisters and I were in the marketplace looking for seafood to bring back home, but then we felt kind hungry, so we decided to grab a bite here.

The Market Special Burger with Caesar Salad ($8.75) is one of their most popular items. It has Swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions, tomato and a thick beef patty on a toasted bun. The patty has a nice char on the outside, but when you bite into it, the flavours are just amazing. With the combination of the savory mushrooms and gooey cheese, it really just makes your day better.

The caesar salad is quite basic. It has romain lettuce, parmesan and dressing. Nothing too fancy.

Overall, great burger and we will definitely come here again. The burger was really good and I wouldn’t see why the other burgers wouldn’t be as awesome as well.

Words of Wisdom:

Good Prices
Market Special Burger!
Lots of seating, but usually full

We Rate Market Grill:
Address:
104 – 1689 Johnston Street
Vancouver, BC