dark and stormy Archives

Graze is a vegan restaurant in Vancouver that has an all plant-based menu, which includes their beverages as well. They make sure all their ingredients are organic and locally-sourced when possible.

Chef Karen McAthy is the culinary genius behind the food. The concept is for people of all eating preferences to be able to find something that they can fall in love with. From strict vegetarians to flexitarians, There’s bound to be something on the menu to tickle your taste buds.

I came here with VeggieGirl after work. I needed someone that loves vegetables to have a fair review since it would be very hard for me to give up steak and pork belly. I do appreciate vegetables and could eat carrots and tomatoes all day long.

The interior is quite beautiful. We came here at 5:30pm for an early dinner and it wasn’t very busy. It started picking up around 7pm.

Graze Organic Ginger Beer ($5) is non-alcoholic and comes with a wedge of lime. Good balance of flavour and it was very good.

Dark and Stormy ($9) has Flor de Cana Rum, ginger beer, lime and ginger. VeggieGirl did enjoy it and the alcohol wasn’t too potent, but she did find there was a bit too much lime for her liking.

Vegetable Menage a Trois ($10) comes with 3 featured veggies. When we were here, there were carrots, dragon tongue beans, and squash. It also came with a phenomenal pesto sauce. The veggies were lightly grilled to It makes for good finger food. That pesto sauce was frickin fantastic!

Portobello Filets ($9) is gluten free and the coating is made with pepita, spices and corn flour, then panned until crisp. It is paired with a pink peppercorn aioli. I love portobello mushrooms, so naturally I was addicted. The crust was delicious and crispy and went well with the aioli.

One of their featured small plates for the night was the fermented collard leaf wrapped ‘chorizo’ with turnip puree, patty pan tempura, chili oil, and tomatoes from their garden.

The dish definitely tried to emulate the texture of chorizo, but it has no meat at all. It had a spongey texture but still delicious.

Macaroni ($14) has brown rice pasta in a smoky coconut cheddar sauce, crispy eggplant & toasted nut crumble over a potato pavé, seasonal vegetables. You can add their house-smoked tofu & fresh tomato for $3.

Those seasonal veggies are mighty pretty.

Paella ($15) has spicy bomba rice, asparagus, red pepper, green garbanzo beans, kalamata olives, spring fava beans and saffron. It was a filling dish.

Cheesecake ($7) dessert is their Blueberry & lavender cultured cashew cheesecake. It is topped with edible flowers and fresh cherries. The top had more of a mousse texture and the crust was so yummy and nutty.

Overall, we had a great time at Graze. You definitely need to appreciate vegetables to love this place. If you want to try a bit of everything, I would suggest getting their Prix Fixe set for $30, which includes their featured small plate, entree and dessert. Also check out their weekly specials as there are some good deals. Thursdays is date night, so you can get the 2 of the Prix Fixe courses for $50. Awesome deal!

We Rate Graze:

Address:
3980 Fraser Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://grazerestaurant.ca/

Did you know Calabash Caribbean Bistro serves brunch? Every Saturday and Sunday, you can get a taste of their brunch menu from 10am – 3pm.

I was invited to a preview of their new brunch menu to see what they were offering up. Since I am still on the hunt for the best brunches in town, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

Calabash Bistro is well know in the community for their deep roots in the local music and art scene. They always have events in their downstairs area.

The main dining room is upstairs but all the events happen downstairs in their basement. It’s a pretty cool space.

Pistachio Lassi ($7) is a traditional Indian drink made with yogurt, fresh fruit & spices. I’ve never had pistachio lassi before since I usually get a mango lassi. It also contains mint, rosewater, honey, cardamom, and pistachio. It was really good and I would definitely get this again.

You can really taste the depth of flavours and it works really well together.

Coconut dumplings can be found in their menu and it’s really good. They remind me of donuts but not too sweet.

The exterior is crunchy and the inside is warm and soft.

Your choice of mango or guava butter is served with it. Both the butters were really good and tastes so much better than regular butter. hahaha.

Escovitch Fish ($14) is a traditional Caribbean breakfast with pan-seared fish, tangy Escovitch sauce, fried plantain, fresh cucumber and rice & peas. The fish was nicely cooked and the tangy sauce complimented nicely, unfortunately, the rice wasn’t very good.

Passion Fruit & Guava Mimosa ($7) has Pares Balta organic sparkling wine, passion fruit juice, and guava. It was paired with the Escovitch Fish dish. It was nice to have a different type of mimosa than the regular.

Oxtail Stew Brunch Bowl ($13) has two poached free-range eggs, rice and peas, fried plantains, and a coconut rundown hollandaise. The oxtail stew is full of flavour and it is a bit spicy. It doesn’t look spicy, but it is. The combination of the runny egg with the stew is yummy but I still didn’t like the rice in this dish.

Calabash Dark & Stormy ($10) is their most popular drink and a lot of people say this is their favourite drink. It has ginger-infused Goslings rum, house-made ginger beer, Angostura bitters, and ginger syrup.

Salara French Toast ($12) has fresh-baked salara, fresh-cut fruit, house-made banana cream & spiced mango maple syrup. It’s a sweet brunch item and is very different than the traditional french toast.

Coconut Jumby ($11) contains El Dorado 3 year old rum shaken with coconut water, agave syrup, muddled lemongrass, mint, and lime zest.

All their drinks were pretty strong and definitely worth the price. It was definitely a boozy brunch. Overall, the food was ok, but wasn’t for my tastebuds. It’s all a personal preference since I do find it weird having rice for breakfast.

We Rate Calabash Bistro: