L'Abattoir

Though I find its name singularly off-putting, I nonetheless seized the opportunity to finally try L'Abattoir when my mom and sister were in town recently. A joined us so we were Slaughterhouse Four. (Sorry, couldn't resist). A recent issue of Vancouver magazine rightly lauded the "attentive but unobtrusive" nature of L'Abattoir's service, and of course it has topped many a list of bests.

The menu is carefully curated with rather limited options but everything we tried was, without fail, beautiful, creative, and delicious. Of the cold dishes to start, we sampled all but the vegetable salad. For mains, our table was split down the middle with two of us going for the superb halibut, and the others the delectable steak Diane. Dessert was a round of warm chocolate tarts with one insanely yummy apple and olive oil cake thrown in for good measure.

L'Abattoir is at a higher price point than neighbouring Cork & Fin, and thus will be added to my repertoire of special occasion restaurants rather than random dinner out places. If you have something to celebrate and/or some spare cash to burn, you could do a hell of a lot worse than L'Abattoir. Enjoy!

Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie

As one of the buzziest new restaurants opened in the past couple of years, Bao Bei has long been calling my name. My parents were in town recently and they are both very into all types of Asian cuisine, so I figured the time was right. Like a gift from the universe, the four of us (E joined us) were seated straightaway in a cozy round booth, arguably the best seats in the (gorgeously designed) house. It helped that we were there on a Tuesday evening, since Bao Bei is a reservation-free zone.

My previous pescetarianism was what held me back from visiting in the past, since even the tofu has ground pork sprinkled on top. There is not a lot on the menu for vegetarians or even picky pescetarians such as myself who don't like shellfish. Their website notes that they can easily adjust many menu items to be vegetarian/vegan, but I always hated to be that person.

For better or worse, the constraints on my eating have increasingly fallen away over the past year. The four of us shared one of practically everything on the menu. I sat out the beef tartare and prawn dumplings, and standouts for me included the steamed vegetable dumplings and Shao Bing. Everything was well-received with extra points for creativity and presentation.

E and I each enjoyed a craft cocktail, which we can only assume was what protected us from the stomach upset my parents both suffered the next day. My mom was unfortunately turned off from eating at Bao Bei again, but my dad, nonplussed as ever, said that he would go back because "it was really good." I'm going to give them a mulligan and side with my dad on this one!

I'm back!

I know you're all very disappointed that I didn't blog while I was away, right? The truth is, I had neither the time, the inclination, nor the internet access to do right by you, dear readers. I apologize.

I did, however, witness the launch of Discovery first hand from Cocoa Beach, which was a rare treat indeed. Other treats included fabulous meals at Narcoossee's, Joe's Crab Shack, Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty, and my family's perennial favourite, the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre. I hear secondhand from my parents that their dinner at Victoria & Albert's was nothing to sneeze at, either. While they were there, my sisters and I spent a rather eventful evening at the Wall Street Plaza, before heading to the rooftop bar at Vain. I have to say that my time spent enjoying cocktails outdoors the other day made the snow a little harder to take upon my return. But alas, here I am, ready once more to share with you the chilly wonders of East Van. It's good to be home.

A Belgian Brunch

For something a little different, we headed to Beatty Street for a breakfast straight outta Belgium. I had only been to Cafe Medina once before. Last winter, there was a short article in the Sun inviting people to bring warm clothing to a fundraiser at the Medina. In exchange for a jacket, donors would receive a free drink, which I had assumed would be a latte or something similar. Instead I stumbled headlong into a rather exuberant party with beautiful people standing around trays of beautiful canapes. Never one to pass up free food and drink, I happily accepted my cocktail and tried in vain for the next 45 minutes to get someone to talk to me. I always use this story as an example of how people in Vancouver are a bit more aloof and cliquey than folks on the prairies. I highly doubt that I would have had trouble sustaining a conversation with strangers if this party had taken place in Calgary, for example.

But I digress. My mom opted for a hot chocolate, which was exactly as she hoped it would be: frothy and not too sweet, made with real chocolate. I had boring loose leaf tea, as I was nursing the slightest of hangovers. The paella pleased with very flavourful orzo, andouille sausage, avocado, and unidentified but tasty green objects as a garnish. I wanted an omelette (no surprise there!), but in the name of interesting food blogging, I went for the waffles. I ordered two waffles (about $3 each) with three toppings ($1 each). The waffles were just as good as ones I had years ago in Belgium itself, and the toppings were a revelation: good old mixed berry compote, milk chocolate lavender, and white chocolate pistachio rosewater. Yum. For an average female appetite, I bet two waffles would do it, but I don't have one of those, unfortunately. Luckily, I did not get my insatiable appetite from my mother, so she generously let me polish off the last of her paella. I'm more into the old school diner type of place for breakfast, but Cafe Medina offers something different, which is definitely welcome.

Cork & Fin

My mom and I decided to check out the Cork & Fin for their $28 Dine Out Vancouver menu. The Cork & Fin usually has a $30 three course prix fixe menu (+$15 for wine pairings), so while it was only slightly cheaper than usual, it’s still a good deal either way. My mom recently had knee surgery so I had asked (through Open Table) to be seated on the main floor. They led us upstairs and my mom decided she could handle the stairs, so we didn’t kick up a fuss. A few minutes after seating us our server rushed over and apologized because he had just seen our original seating request. Since we were already upstairs and loving the view and warmth, we opted to stay put.

We both started with the pomegranate and goat cheese salad and my mom added prawns to hers. The salad was flavourful and we both really enjoyed the unusual touch of pomegranate seeds. The second course of tuna negitoro was just as delicious as it was on my previous visit. Last on the docket was lingcod with tomato ragu for me, and steak for my mom. She enjoyed the flavour of the steak but remarked that it was a bit tough for her liking. My lingcod was wonderfully crisp on the outside, delicately flaked on the inside, and the ragu was a perfect complement to the flavour.

The portions are on the small side (as always with fine dining), but with one basket of crispy bread, we definitely left satisfied (and a bit intoxicated on my part, since I added the VQA wine flight for an extra $14!).

More adventurous seafood lovers than me will also find much to enjoy with the scads of fresh crab, lobster, and oysters on offer. If you’re looking for exquisite West Coast fare at a reasonable price point in a warm atmosphere, this is the place. It would also be a great choice for a romantic dinner for two, though I haven’t had that experience here…yet!

DTES Delight

This past weekend my mom was visiting from Calgary, and we embarked on an eating out bonanza, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in my life since the last time my parents visited in August. First stop: Acme Café for a cozy dinner on a chilly evening. My mom is one of those out-of-towners (and they are legion) who hear East Vancouver and think Downtown Eastside. In my time living here, I’ve been able to show her that there’s more to East Van than just the DTES, and it was finally time to demonstrate that this particular area has its own charms.

A short walk from our parking spot took us to the Acme Cafe. Much virtual ink has been spilled debating the wisdom and sensitivity of opening a café at this pricepoint in this particular location, but I don’t see any harm in a warm, welcoming and thriving business of any kind. Plus, I don’t think $12 dinner entrees homemade from quality ingredients are stratospherically expensive. Every time I’ve eaten at the Acme, I’ve been among people from all walks of life, which is part of what make East Van (including the DTES) so appealing. I guess it’s outside of some people’s comfort zones, but cookie cutter suburbs are waaaay out of my comfort zone, so there you go.

On this particular night, I overheard one of our fellow diners ask “Cocoa what?” when the server told him the daily crock pot special, which was coq au vin. I’m fairly certain another patron was a local character actor who I keep running across (at the Cultch’s Burlesque New Year’s Eve party, and then again at Canada Screen Casino Jack). It’s a small world, after all. A would-be customer tried to pass a counterfeit twenty, and he too was treated with respect.

But on to the food! I always have a cookie as an appetizer when I come here, simply because they’re so nicely on display and I can’t help myself. This time it was an incredible peanut butter sandwich cookie with chocolate chips.

For the main course, I went out on a limb and tried the High Falutin’ Grilled Cheese with the chicken noodle soup. The sandwich was good, but I think I would have enjoyed the classic grilled cheese more. I kept expecting non-existent turkey, since the High Falutin’ version comes includes some kind of cranberry spread. I usually order the chicken pot pie with salad, which is consistently perfect. My mom loved her shrimp guacamole sandwich with potato chips and broccoli slaw. The real stars of the show here are the desserts. I’ve tried the lemon meringue pie and countless varieties of cookies, but this time we split a slice of key lime pie. It was absolutely delicious: not too sweet, with a golden brown graham crust. Heaven.