Pacific Northwest Archives

Dinner at Hyatt Regency Vancouver’s Mosaic Grille

February 25, 2018 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Mosaic Grille at the Hyatt Regency Hotel is a destination for modern casual dining in the heart of Downtown Vancouver. Their seasonally-inspired contemporary menu features locally sourced produce, sustainable seafood and fresh ingredients. I had the opportunity to try their winter season dinner features. Here’s a look at the delicious creations by the Mosaic Grill team.

Disclosure: All food and drinks in this review were complimentary. Opinions are my own.

Prime Location

Mosaic Grill’s spacious dining space is in a prime location which allows diners to enjoy views of Downtown Vancouver.

What I Tried

Dinner Rolls

To start, complimentary dinner rolls in a basket arrived at the table.

Appetizer: Delicata Squash Salad ($14)

One of the appetizers we tried was the squash salad featuring ash ripened goat cheese, pomegranate, baby kale, puffed grains, pumpkin seeds and honey vinaigrette. A very tasty winter salad with tanginess from the goat cheese, bursts of sweetness from the pomegranate and honey vinaigrette.

Appetizer: Roasted Parsnip Veloute ($12)

This dish spelled all sorts of wintry comfort with the creamy, smooth roasted parsnip veloute and the chestnuts, mushroom pate, sage on rye bread.

Entree: Farm Fed Game Hen ($30)

The farm fed game hen entree featured celeriac puree, wild mushrooms, foie gras potato croquette, roasted pear, and glazed cipollini onion jus. The chicken was wonderfully tender and the croquette was nicely golden on the inside with a tender, hot fois gras potato filling.

Entree: Bison Short Ribs ($31)

Another entree I tried was the bison short ribs with smoked carrot puree, salt baked turnips, spiced brown butter mash potato, preserved ramps, puffed beef crisp and merlot shallot jus. The dish was particularly interesting in terms of presentation with the puffed beef crisp.

Dessert: Pumpkin Pie Parfait ($11)

For dessert, a Pumpkin Pie Parfait – a sort of deconstructed dessert with Earl Gray short bread, candied walnuts, white chocolate and coconut lemon cream.

Spiced Pear Crumble ($12)

A rich and flavourful dessert, this spiced pear crumble featured a cardamom poached pear, bourbon gelato, fennel pollen anglaise and cinnamon tuile.

Overall Impression

The Mosaic Grille culinary team never ceases to impress me with their well-executed and creative dishes. Their winter menu is worth trying before the season ends. My ideal three-course menu would be the Roasted Parsnip Veloute, Bison Short Ribs and Spiced Pear Crumble.

Mosaic Grille & Bar
Address: 655 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6C 2R7
Website: https://vancouver.regency.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/MosaicGrille.html‎

Feast for $35 at Prestons Restaurant + Lounge

February 22, 2018 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

Prestons Restaurant + Lounge at the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel is a destination for modern casual dining in Coal Harbour. Led by Executive Chef Justin Paakkunainen, Prestons serves Pacific Northwest cuisine using local and seasonal ingredients with service for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and Happy Hour. I was recently invited for a media tasting of their Feast for $35 menu which is available until March 31st. Here’s look at what you can expect from the menu.

Disclosure: All food and drinks in this review were complimentary. Opinions are my own.

Modern Lounge

With dim lighting and spacious booth seating, Prestons boasts a modern and intimate ambiance. I like how the wall art light fixture radiated a reddish tone rendering a cozy atmosphere.

There is also another seating area closer the kitchen which is available for dining or private parties.

Feast for $35 Menu

The three-course Feast for $35 Menu features Westcoast-inspired dishes. Some of them even incorporate Japanese-elements which makes sense as Coast Hotels is a part of the APA Hotel Group, the largest hotel network in Japan.

Appetizer: Pink Scallop “Poke”

For the appetizer, I went with the pink scallop “poke” featuring pickled prawns, brunoise vegetables, sesame puree, soy sesame oil, rice chips, and pickled kelp. I really enjoyed the tangy flavours of the dish to stimulate the appetite. The rice chips had an amazing crunchy texture and were very delicious.

Entree: Icelandic Cod

The Icelandic Cod features a meld of West-Coast & Japanese-influences like the Maple-barley miso-glaze. There were also three scrumptious seafood rice croquettes with perfectly, golden brown and crispy exterior. The dish also came with pickled pearl red onions, sautéed kale, lobster veloute, puffed barley and preserved lemon gel.

Dessert: Japanese Cheesecake

For dessert, I enjoyed a light and fluffy Japanese cheesecake pieces with coconut citrus dust, praline pistachio, cremeux, and citrus crisp.

Overall Impression

What surprised me about the meal was the innovative Westcoast dishes incorporating Japanese elements. I appreciated the creativeness and value from the Feast for $35 menu. Check it out before it ends March 31.

Prestons Restaurant + Lounge
Address: 1177 W Pender St, Vancouver, BC
Website: ‎http://dev.prestonsrestaurant.ca/vancouver/

Weekday Lunch at Fairmont’s ARC Restaurant

May 31, 2016 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

The Fairmont brand is synonymous with elegance and luxury and my past dining experiences at the Fairmont have been overall enjoyable. I have tried several Fairmont Vancouver restaurants before (The Roof, Griffin’s (now closed), Oru, Globe@YVR) as well as Fairmont Whistler’s Wildflower. This time around, I decided to visit the ARC Restaurant located inside the Fairmont Waterfront for some Pacific Northwest cuisine.

Modern & Sleek

The ARC Restaurant underwent a huge renovation in 2014 and I was immediately impressed with how modern, sleek and inviting it looked. The ARC restaurant, like it’s name suggests, is curved like an arc and is wonderfully lit by the natural light through the floor to ceiling windows. The restaurant has a lounge, centralized bar, banquette seating, dining tables, an outdoor patio and private dining rooms. I quite liked the moody vibe created by the charcoal and grey colour scheme with bronze and gold accents. A mix of classic and contemporary but still comfortable.

From the restaurant, you can see the hustle and bustle around Canada Place. It’s a neat place for locals and tourists to enjoy drinks or food in an upscale environment.

What We Tried

My husband and I went for a weekday lunch. We applied the Buy One Entree Get One Free deal from the Entertainment Book.

We ordered the following:

Smoked Duck Prosciutto ($16)
Pan Roasted Salmon ($26)
Grilled Beef Striploin ($27)

We started out with a complimentary plate of rosemary and garlic bread rolls. The bread was warm, light, and fluffy. A good start.

Our appetizer was the smoked duck prosciutto with charred Romanesco broccoli, Agassiz hazelnut, dried cherries, arugula, and sourdough crouton. I enjoyed the salty, fatty, chewy texture of the prosciutto which was complimented by the sweetness of the cherries. Then, you get some crunchiness from the broccoli and sourdough croutons. Simple, elegant, and delicious.

The classic pan roasted salmon did not disappoint – moist and flaky with a crisp, crackly, crunchy skin on top. The salmon was complimented by spiced pumpkin, pumpkin seed purée, popcorn broth, and Tokyo turnips.

The grilled beef striploin was tender and came with a zesty chimichurri sauce. The bean stew and hickory sticks provided some fun textural contrast.

Service

Our server, a lady with a Portuguese-accent. was particularly fun and entertaining. She also made our dining experience enjoyable.

Overall Impression of the ARC Restaurant

All in all, our dining experience at the ARC was very good. Well-executed dishes in a contemporary yet comfortable setting. Rating: 4/5

Vancouver Island Eats: Delicados Courtenay

March 11, 2016 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

For my Flashback Friday post, I’ll be reviewing my experience at Delicados in Courtenay, BC. Back in 2012, my husband and I travelled around Vancouver Island during Canada Day long weekend. One of the towns we visited was Courtney. We passed by Delicados as we were checking out the area and decided to give them a try for lunch.

Cozy and Quaint

Like Errington Eatery which we had tried on the trip, Delicados was a cozy and quaint small town restaurant. The interior had a sort of beach theme which made the place feel relaxing.

Delicados Menu

Delicados serves Mexican-inspired food including roll-ups, burritos, enchiladas, tostadas, nachos, salads and soups. Most of the items seemed to be under $10.

What We Tried

Since it was Canada Day long weekend, Delicados had a Canada Day special. It was a West Coast Wrap ($8.25) with wild pacific salmon on whole wheat tortilla with south west rice, Mexi cheese, red onion, spinach and chipotle sauce.

The ingredients tasted fresh overall and the wrap had an overall “healthy” feel. However, we didn’t feel totally satisfied given the portions. Wild salmon is expensive so I think the price was still fair.

Overall Impression of Delicados

Delicados has quite a selection of Mexican-inspired eats. The wrap we tried felt light and healthy. However, we needed a large portion in order to feel really satisified. Rating: 3.5/5

Dinner at the Shaughnessy Restaurant

February 28, 2016 by foodgressing 1 Comment

Disclaimer: All food in this review were complimentary. Opinions are my own.

It is well-known that the Shaughnessy Restaurant is one of the more unique places for a dining experience in Vancouver. Located in the 55-acre Vandusen Botanical Garden, the Shaughnessy Restaurant offers an intimate and soothing environment for an elegant meal with stunning views of the garden. I recently joined BiteBC as a blogger contributor and attended a menu tasting at the Shaughnessy as they are a BiteBC participating restaurant.

West Coast Dining

The Shaughnessy offers Pacific Northwest cuisine with a focus on fresh and seasonal ingredients. An average dinner for two would be arounnd $80. However, with the Bite BC app subscription, you can receive a deal on your meal at the Shaughnessy. The current BiteBC deal is a free entree when you order two entrees and two appetizers.

What I Tried

The tasting consisted of selected appetizers, entrees and desserts:

Appetizers: Smoked Mediterranean Olives ($11), Salt and Pepper Squid ($15), Mussels ($19)
Entrees: Maple and Bourbon Glazed Steelhead ($28), Cioppino ($28), Duck Confit ($30)
Desserts: Lemon Shortbread Parfait ($9), Apple Crumble ($9), Flourless Chocolate Cake ($9)

To start, we had the smoked Mediterranean olives with spiced artichoke dip and herbed crisps. The bread was nice and crispy while the dip was tasty and mildly spicy.

The salt and pepper squid had a nice, light batter and was chewy but still tender. The chili-lime aioli was a tasty dip and went well with the squid.

The mussels were in a coconut curry sauce which gave it a slightly sweet taste. I was impressed with the plumpness of the mussels.

Moving on to entrees, we had the maple and bourbon glazed steelhead with caramelized cauliflower and crushed olive oil potatoes. I loved the crispy skin of the fish while the meat while still moist and tender. The dish was overall rather a sweeter and comforting dish.

Next was the cioppino with fish, scallops, prawns, mussels, clams, spiced tomato and fennel broth. This was a lovely ensemble of seafood items with bread to soak up the delicious broth.

The duck confit had a sizable piece of duck leg. It came with a grilled orange salad, hazelnuts, citrus jus, and a parsnip puree worth dying for. The duck meat was tasty and tender, but I found the parsnip puree to be the star of the show with its melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.

To finish off a lovely meal, we tried the lemon shortbread parfait with lemon curd, shortbread crumble, lemon ice cream, and torched meringue. I loved the play on textures with this dessert and the lemon flavour was strong and tasty.

The apple crumble had a nice citrus flavour. It was paired with French vanilla ice cream.

The flourless chocolate cake with pecan praline and vanilla ice cream was a definite favourite at our table. The cake was nicely dense and had a great chocolate flavour. It also had a great play on textures.

Overall Impression of Shaughnessy Restaurant

All in all, the dining experience at the Shaughnessy Restaurant was solid. My top picks of the meal were the salt and pepper squid, the duck confit and the flourless chocolate cake. The setting of the restaurant, of course, makes it a nice place for an intimate and romantic dinner.

Globe@YVR – Fairmont Vancouver Airport Review

April 15, 2015 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

For date night, we headed to the Globe@YVR for a more unique dining experience compared to our usual places. Located at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, it mostly caters to travelers. I had been there a few years back for their afternoon tea, but I had never tried their dinner. We were very interested in their Pacific Northwest cuisine and I made a reservation via Opentable.

The View

With floor-to-ceiling windows, the Globe@YVR offers lovely panoramic views of the terminal.

I started off with the raspberry lemonade which was refreshing. It was relaxing to sip on the drink and watch the airplanes coming and leaving the terminal.

Globe@YVR Food

Next, we had the seafood platter for 2. This platter had quite a selection of goodies including marinated atlantic lobster tail, smoked wild BC salmon, lime marinated seared scallops, poached prawn cocktail, crispy fingerling potatoes, baby greens, chili puree, pineapple apricot relish, and a burnt lemon. All the seafood tasted deliciously fresh.

Cue the Music

The Jetside bar is the lounge next to the Globe@YVR, and on Friday nights they have live music. Clyde Harvey was the performer that night, and his soulful voice provided a great background during the meal. Here is a video that I took:

Aside from the delicious food, what made the dining experience memorable was our server. She was friendly and had a good sense of humor. It had been a while since I met a server that I could small chat with. The bill before taxes was about $200 for us, but we ordered one side too many. We were definitely satisfied with the quality of the food, portions and atmosphere of the Globe@YVR.

Overall Impression

We enjoyed our fine dining experience at the Globe@YVR. Since the Globe@YVR is a hotel restaurant at the airport, we kind of felt like tourists in a way. It was a nice mini getaway within our city.

Website: www.fairmont.com/vancouver-airport-richmond/dining/globeyvr/

Chill Winston Review

March 18, 2015 by foodgressing 1 Comment

During Dine Out Vancouver 2015, I participated in the Food-tography Tour to learn ways to improve my food photography. We got to visit three Gastown dining establishments on the tour, one of which was Chill Winston. The organizers held a best photo contest afterwards for tour participants and I won the contest. The prize was a gift certificate to Chill Winston so I had the chance to revisit this notable Gastown restaurant.

Chillin’ at Chill Winston

On a dry and warm Vancouver afternoon, I took my husband to Chill Winston. Their patio is quite large and is great for people watching.

As we sat at our table, we got to see quite a fun mix of characters including tourists, locals and people with ice cream from Soft Peaks.

Yes, I’m Hangry

My husband indulged in a poutine ($13). It consisted of harvest cut fries, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, gravy, and cheese curds.

He enjoyed the portions of cheese and gravy. He found it to be satisfying comfort food.

I wanted to order the suckling pig platter but it turned out that it was not available. I have never had duck meat in a taco before so I ordered the duck taco ($17). The taco was confit duck leg, cabbage, pico de gallo, bean cassoulet, pickled onions and spicy crèma sauce on top. It was definitely flavorful with a mild spiciness to it.

I enjoyed the fresh guacamole that came with the dish.

Overall Impression

Chill Winston satisfied our hunger and we were quite happy with the overall experience. Our server was friendly and people watching from the patio was fun. The prices are a bit high for the portions in my opinion, but this is Gastown afterall. As I had mentioned earlier, there were quite a few people walking past the patio with their Soft Peaks ice cream. We decided to head over after our meal to try out this new Vancouver ice cream hot spot.

Website: http://www.chillwinston.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChillWinstonVan

Cactus Club Cafe – Coal Harbour Review

March 13, 2015 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

When I think of Cactus Club Cafe at Coal Harbour, the word that comes to mind is *spectacular*. The food is delicious but what I mean are the scenic views! It is wonderful it is to be able to dine at a restaurant where you can admire the food and the beauty of the city at the same time. This post reflects two visits to Cactus Club Cafe at Coal Harbour.

Olympic Location

This Cactus Club is located in the Jack Poole Plaza across from the Vancouver Convention Centre and the Olympic Cauldron. The space is magnificent with open-air dining and private dining rooms.

I found a time-lapse video showing a view from above the restaurant:

Sea planes might be landing in the water as you are dining…

Cozy lounge dining with sofas and a fire pits are available.

Cactus Club Dishes

One of our regular cactus club favorites is the szechuan chicken lettuce wraps ($14.50). It is a signature dish and includes local chicken, sweet and spicy szechuan glaze, peanuts, wontons, korean chili sauce, and spicy yogurt. The chicken is nice and crunchy, and has a wonderful sweet and spicy flavor.

We also ordered the pesto chicken quesadilla ($10.75). It had blended cheeses, basial pesto, sundried cranberries, and honey lime dip. The quesadilla was crispy and good, but this dish could maybe improve upon the presentation. It seemed a bit boring and I guess I expected something fancier coming from Cactus Club.

The soy-dijon salmon ($24.50) is another Rob Feenie signature dish. It consists of whole grain barley, snap peaks, shiitake mushrooms, and soy butter sauce. The sauce is on the sour side, but I enjoyed the mix of textures.

I really loved the Thai red curry pacific lingcod ($23.50). It had a thai red curry sauce, coconut almond rice, crispy wontons and micro cilantro. The dish is on the sweeter side, which is great because I do prefer sweeter dishes. The crispy wontons added a fun texture to the dish and the lingcod was very melt-in-your-mouth. The two seafood dishes that I tried from Cactus Club felt like healthier menu options.

Overall Impression

Cactus Club Cafe delivers consistently tasty food at all their locations. The panoramic views from the dining areas are what set the Coal Harbour location apart. It offers a bit of an escape from the busy city life and brings a certain serenity to the dining experience.

Website: http://www.cactusclubcafe.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cactusclubcafe.coalharbour

Milestones Crossroads Grill and Bar

February 15, 2015 by foodgressing Leave a Comment

It has been over a year since I last dined at Milestones Restaurants, so I was happy to take advantage one of their coupons that I got through the mail. The offer was $10 off $30 lunch of weekend brunch and I headed out to Milestones Crossroads on Cambie and Broadway to use this offer. I made a reservation via Opentable.

We decided to sit in their lounge which has a cozy atmosphere with high ceilings and modern light fixtures.

There are high top tables as well as booths in the lounge area. The patio is currently closed, but there is a bit of a view of the mountains and Downtown Vancouver.

One of the dishes we ordered was the cajun seafood fettucini with prawns, mussels, salmon, calamari, and Cajun cream sauce ($19). The sauce was nice and the dish was overall tasty.

Next was the breakfast tostadas topped with two poached eggs, chorizo sausage, fresh cut tomato hash and chipotle hollandaise ($12.50). This is one of Milestone’s signature dishes and it was pretty good.

The service was good from the hostess at the front greeting us promptly to our server being attentive to our table. The overall dining experience was solid, with prices and portions within the expectation of a restaurant chain like Milestones.

Prime Location

What I Tried

Dinner Rolls

Appetizer: Delicata Squash Salad ($14)

Appetizer: Roasted Parsnip Veloute ($12)

Entree: Farm Fed Game Hen ($30)

Entree: Bison Short Ribs ($31)

Dessert: Pumpkin Pie Parfait ($11)

Spiced Pear Crumble ($12)

Overall Impression

Modern Lounge

Feast for $35 Menu

Appetizer: Pink Scallop “Poke”

Entree: Icelandic Cod

Dessert: Japanese Cheesecake

Overall Impression

Modern & Sleek

What We Tried

Service

Overall Impression of the ARC Restaurant

Cozy and Quaint

Delicados Menu

What We Tried

Overall Impression of Delicados

West Coast Dining

What I Tried

Overall Impression of Shaughnessy Restaurant

The View

Globe@YVR Food

Cue the Music

Overall Impression

Chillin’ at Chill Winston

Yes, I’m Hangry

Overall Impression

Olympic Location

Cactus Club Dishes

Overall Impression

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