This year’s Donnelly Group Dine Out Vancouver menus blend new food program highlights with a number of fresh dishes created by the culinary team. With hearty entrees, satisfying vegetarian options, and tempting desserts-all made-from-scratch-Donnelly Group is proud to offer delicious, value-packed $20 Dine Out menus. Donnelly Group’s culinary team Alvin Pillay, Sarah Stewart, and Chris Stewart have put their stamp on menus which are built around a core group of 14 dishes, mixed and matched to create unique offerings with multiple options at each location.
I went to dine at BlackBird Pub House near Burrard and Dunsmuir with my husband with the added wine pairings too.
This special menu goes on from January 19th till February 4th 2018.
Interior
The space is large and super packed during happy hour, but if you come after 6:30pm, it’s not as crazy.
Kale Caesar
The kale caesar has green apple, garlic croutons, and pumpkin seeds. A good portion for the first course and the dressing is light which I enjoyed a lot. It is paired with Summerhill ‘alive’ organic white from the Okanagan. It was delicious and I liked how the green apple played off notes from the wine.
The BC VQA wine suggestions are from Bar & Beverage Director Trevor Kallies, and this year, each selection is available singly and in different sized pours for sipping, sampling, and sharing.
Cauliflower & Brie Soup
The soup had a hearty depth of flavour with a base of charred lemon yogurt. This was paired with the Gehringer Cabernet Merlot.
Brisket Cavatappi
There is tomato, oregano, olives and grana padano. It’s a pretty big portion with a big chunk of tender shredded brisket. Very comforting and not overly complicated. The only ingredient that threw me off a little bit were the olives.
This dish is paired with Tinhorn Creek Merlot which goes well with the sauce.
Spicy Lamb Shepherd’s Pie
On top is the sweet potato mash with bourbon bbq gravy and on the bottom is the spicy lamb. It was interesting to see it some in a pot since it’s not really a shepherd’s pie.
This was paired with Adega Malbec.
Chocolate Praline Bar
It has peanut butter in the centre and topped with sweet cream and bits of peanuts.
It is pair with the Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve, which pairs really well with the dessert. My husband loved it as it has a palate of citrus, baking spices and toffee framed by notes of vanilla and oak.
Coconut Panna Cotta
The coconut panna cotta is topped with peach compote and candied ginger. Along with 2 ginger cookies. This portion was larger than the chocolate praline bar and there’s quite a bit to it.
I had it with the Monkey Shoulder, a blend of three Speyside Single Malts aged in ex-bourbon casks which impart a smooth and mellow vanilla flavour into the whisky with hints of zesty orange, honey and spiced oak.
Final Thoughts
For a $20 3-course set meal, this was pretty good and affordable. If you get the pairings, it will definitely be a lot more than you imagined, but you don’t have to pair with every single dish. All the dishes were good except, the Spicy Lamb Shepherd’s Pie. The best dish of the night was the coconut panna cotta.
We rate BlackBird: 
Address:
905 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver
