Mashed Thoughts of dPotato http://dpotato.posterous.com My online journal of my amazingly boring life. Don't expect anything juicy. I write those in my real journal at home safe away from prying eyes. Except for maybe my sister. posterous.com Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:02:00 -0700 EAT Vancouver 2011 http://dpotato.posterous.com/eat-vancouver-2011 http://dpotato.posterous.com/eat-vancouver-2011

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On Sunday I went to EAT! Vancouver for the first time. EAT! Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival is an annual food convention where celebrity chefs, popular local restaurants, food and beverage manufacturers, wineries, retailers and many others from the culinary world gather for three days of food heaven! I went with an empty stomach and left at the end of the day stuffed full of delicious food and bag laden with samples. There were many displays and vendors giving away samples - Yoghurt, beef jerky, Clamato, McDonald's iced coffee, candied salmon, humus just to name a few.

Rob Feenie of Cactus Club Cafe was also there presenting on the main stage. I stayed to watch him for a little while but my hunger got the better of me and we purchased some tickets to trade in for food. There was so much to see and taste! EBO Restaurant and Milestones were there. I thought EBO's presentation of their food was the nicest! There was also a junior chef competition. USA won gold, Canada took silver and Chile placed third.

Just looking back at the pictures makes my mouth water! I can't wait go again next year!

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Sun, 29 May 2011 22:18:00 -0700 Dinner at the Cactus Club Cafe http://dpotato.posterous.com/dinner-at-the-cactus-club-cafe http://dpotato.posterous.com/dinner-at-the-cactus-club-cafe

Mmmmm I had a delicious dinner at the Cactus Club tonight. I really like the tuna tataki but K wanted calamri instead. Still good though. Next time it'll be the tuna! For the main I tried their Halibut entrée and K had the pesto chicken quesadilla. The Halibut looked so pretty and it tasted delicious! And of course we shared an apple galette for dessert. It's a must for a visit to cactus club!

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Sun, 03 Apr 2011 21:36:00 -0700 Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont http://dpotato.posterous.com/afternoon-tea-at-the-fairmont http://dpotato.posterous.com/afternoon-tea-at-the-fairmont

A Groupon-type site called Dealfind recently offered a deal for Afternoon Tea for 2 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for only $36. Deals at the Fairmont are often very popular and always sell out quickly. I'm more of a coffee drinker than a tea drinker but I do love the occasional tea. I enjoyed the smells of it mostly. So when a friend asked me to join her and some other friends, I quickly agreed. 

On Saturday, we met up at 2pm to have tea. Each of us received our own personal pot of tea and I tried one called Angel Falls Mist ("a wildly, exotic strawberry and lemon character...a pinch of sugar boosts the flavor profile...makes terrific herbal tea - hot or iced!"). It is mild and has a nice fruity taste that I liked and it smells really good. Tea comes with a double-deck tray of petit sandwiches, tasty pastries, house-made scones and fresh strawberries with Devonshire cream. I liked the savory treats more than the scones and the sweet tarts and cakes. We each get two scones and we all agreed it was too much! It was a very filling afternoon snack and I had a nice time chatting and catching up with my friends.

 

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Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:46:00 -0800 Dine Out Vancouver 2011 - Oru http://dpotato.posterous.com/dine-out-vancouver-2011-oru http://dpotato.posterous.com/dine-out-vancouver-2011-oru

Oru at the Fairmont Pacific Rim will be our last DineOut this year. I need to save some for next year! I took my family out yesterday night. My photo taking wasn't that great. It was very dark and I'm still fumbling around with the controls lol. Anyways, my mom loves seafood so when picking a restaurant, there always has to be scallops. And Oru had scallops AND lobster in its main! We ordered everything on the menu except for the Braised Yellow Lentils. I tried the Sake Kasu Sablefish for appitizer (recommended by our waiter) and oh it was so delicious! Pick the sablefish if you are going to go to Oru! Tender, moist and seasoned just right. Lovely appitizer. It seemed we waited for our main course for a while though. I guess they expect many patrons to drink and talk but we were all getting hungry and there was unfortunately no bread basket to snack on because it is a Pan-Asian restaurant. For the main course my dad tried the Tandoor Roasted Lamb Loin and the three of us had the Roasted Scallops & Lobster Dumpling. It was so yummy! My dad didn't like the squash risotto that came with the lamb but I liked it so I helped him finish it. I love risotto. It was slightly on the richer side though. I was going to try the Coconut Cheesecake but I opted to try something different and went for the Vietnamese Coffee Pannacotta. I really enjoyed it! It had a very strong coffee taste which I liked.

We parked in the underground parking lot. It is $6 if you have a meal there. Just visit the concierge in the lobby and pay there. Unfortunately there was something wrong with the machine in the lot and we couldn't get out! It was funny because we saw someone else have the same problem when we were heading inside so my dad was worrying about how we are going to get out. Luckily someone came down to rescue us. Hopefully it is fixed now.

Overall it was a lovely evening. I enjoyed dinner and I would consider revisiting if I was in the area again. 

Here is Oru's full menu:

Dine Out Vancouver 2011
  
 

Baby Cos Lettuce Salad
orange, spiced almonds, coconut vinaigrette

 or 

Crispy Squid & Spicy Sausage
garlic, chili, scallions, ponzu mayo

 or 

Sake Kasu Sablefish
gingered tomatoes, sweet miso sauce 

_____ 

Tandoor Roasted Lamb Loin
crispy lamb croquette, squash risotto, sultana raisins, roasted eggplant

 or 

Roasted Scallops & Lobster Dumpling
sweet potato and chili, caramelized pineapple, black garlic emulsion

 or 

 Braised Yellow Lentils
vegetable pakora, tomato chutney, swiss chard 

______ 

Dark Chocolate Pudding
passion fruit, sesame 

or 

Vietnamese Coffee Pannacotta
condensed milk, avocado 

or 

Coconut Cheesecake
lychee, mango

 

28

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Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800 Dine Out Vancouver 2011 - Ebo Restaurant http://dpotato.posterous.com/dine-out-vancouver-2011-ebo-restaurant http://dpotato.posterous.com/dine-out-vancouver-2011-ebo-restaurant

I went to Dine Out again yesterday night. This time we went to Ebo Restaurant which is in the Delta Hotel in Burnaby. I think hotel restaurants tend to have better menu and service and their Dine Out menu was only $28! The dinner was exceptionally good and our servers were very polite and knowledgeable. Each dish was explained to us when it was brought out (except for the dessert because it was a different person) and that made it much more interesting!

Dinner started off with a bread basket. I love bread and it always pleases me to have a complementary bread basket. Our party tried all the dishes except the Beetroot and Goat Cheese and Cream Spätzle with Butternut Squash. My favourite dish was the Roasted Baja Scallops. They were large and tasted amazing! The presentation of the dishes were very nice too. Each plate was like a work of art. I had the tuna for the main course and it was awesome and filling! It didn't look like much but trust me, everyone was very full by the end. I finished off with the Warm Apple Crumble. It contained a biscuit and cute little (and tasty) peach jelly cubes. We all agreed that we wanted more cubes in our desserts.

I highly recommend Ebo. I enjoyed the dinner very much!

Here is their full Dine Out menu:

Wild Mushroom Soup (V)
Purée of Wild Mushrooms, Feta Cheese, Seasonal Mushroom Sauté,
Truffle Oil


Beetroot and Goat Cheese (V)
Marinated Baby Beets, Molten Marcella Goat Cheese, Organic Lettuce,
Textures of Apples, Pine Nut Granola


Roasted Baja Scallops
Vanilla Scented Cauliflower Puree, Serrano Ham, Capers & Sultana Raisins


˜˜˜˜


Tuna
Rare Rice-Crusted Albacore Tuna Steak, Avocado Purée,
Asparagus with Serrano Ham, Chili Gastrique


Braised Beef Rib “galbijim”,
Crushed Potatoes, Braised Carrots


Cream Spätzle with Butternut Squash (V)
Slow Roasted Hazelnut Crumble, Caramelized Brussel Sprouts,
Chevre Noir


˜˜˜˜


Warm Apple Crumble
Granny Smith Apples, Raisins Coconut Streusel and Vanilla Ice Cream


Baked Marble Cheesecake
Berry Compote

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Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:07:00 -0800 Dine Out Vancouver 2011 - Gramercy Grill http://dpotato.posterous.com/dine-out-vancouver-2011-gramercy-grill http://dpotato.posterous.com/dine-out-vancouver-2011-gramercy-grill

Dine Out Vancouver is here again! This is an annual event that happens for two weeks of the year where participating restaurants in Vancouver offer customers a special 3-course menu at set prices ($18, $28, or $38). If you wanted to try a restaurant, now would the time to do so.

I also have a new camera so I apologize for the blurry photos while I'm still learning how to use it.

This year I went to Gramercy Grill with a bunch of friends. Their Dine Out menu was $28 and they had a fair selection dishes and also add-ons if wanted. I thought the food was faily good. I really enjoyed the Seared Ahi Tuna as the appitizer. My friends said they enjoyed the other appitizers as well. We were a table of five and we each ordered different things to try. The Cream of Cauliflower soup looked very good and so did the Triple A Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio which was the other one I wanted to try out. The main course was Braised Australian Lamb Shank. It was very succulent and the meat just slid right off the bone. I tried a little of my friend's Wild Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto and it was delicious! For dessert I tried the Crème Brule. It was cold and the sugar was melted and only crispy in the middle but it did taste very good cold.

The food at Gramercy Grill was good but the portions may be a little small for some people. Customer service was another matter. We had to wait a LONG LONG time between courses. I don't know if it was just us because another table came about when we were just finished the main course and waiting for dessert and they finished around the SAME TIME as us! We had to wait about 15 minutes just to get cold desserts! Yes ALL of the desserts were cold or room temperature! It shouldn't have to had taken that long to bring out. Then after when were paying the bill, we told them what to charge on the individual credit card and they them took away only to return 10 minutes later to ask us the amounts again! Was it because we didn't order any extras or wine or coffee? It shouldn't matter. All patrons should be treated equally!

I don't know if I will be returning. Good food, if not paired with good customer service leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Here was their Dine Out menu if you want to ever try them out:

Appetizer Choices:

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

Hearts of Romaine Salad
pancetta lardons, crispy capers, grana padano cheese, roasted shallot & garlic vinaigrette

Triple A Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio
truffle aioli, crispy capers & grana padano

Seared Ahi Tuna
sesame seeds, seaweed flakes & pea shoots orange ginger vinaigrette

Entrée Choices:

Oven Roasted Sablefish Filet
miso, ginger & tamari cream roasted baby carrots & asparagus, vegetable spring roll

Wild Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto
grana padano & mascarpone cheese

Cherry Creek Free Range Chicken Breast green onion mashed potatoes,roasted baby carrots & asparagus, truffle tapenade

Braised Australian Lamb Shank
merlot jus, butternut squash puree, roasted baby carrots & asparagus, pickled celery & carrot

Butternut Squash Agnolotti
sautéed spinach & tomato sauce, topped with grana padano cheese

Angus Triple A Beef Tenderloin
additional $5
garlic mashed potatoes, roasted baby carrots & asparagus, shiitake mushroom merlot jus

Baby Back Ribs & Blue Cheese Macaroni additional $5
house made whiskey barbeque sauce

Dessert Choices:

Lemon Tart
local berry coulis & whipped cream

Pecan Pie
cardamom caramel sauce & whipped cream

Warm Flourless Chocolate Torte
caramel sauce & whipped cream

Duo of Cheeses additional $4

Crème Brule

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