This is almost a week late in posting...
Well, its been another wonderful weekend. Its been a tradition since we moved back to Vancouver to try a different restaurant every week. Lately, we've been taking this to an extreme. Last weekend we ate out on Friday night with Jeff and Kristy at Arian, a Persian restaurant on 4th Ave. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting. The food was presented cafeteria style - you chose the dish you wanted, paid, and your meal was then served to you. I had a veggie dish called Ghormeh, made with kidney beans and dried limes. It was served with a mound of green rice and a salad. Drew had an eggplant stew with Barberry rice and we split a traditional drink called Doog. The doog was a bit overwhelming, it was a mix of yogurt and club soda. Overall the meal was pretty good. I must say that the veggie stew tasted better the next day. The sour undertones in each dish were refreshing, much different then anything I've ever tried.
Saturday night we ate at Bin 942. I was expecting small tapas size dishes as this is there specialty but the portions were surprising large and perfect for sharing. We started with mussels and foccaccia bread and I honestly think they were the best mussels I've ever had. The sauce was wonderful and we ended up ordering more bread just so the sauce wouldn't go to waste. I had a grilled albacore tuna salad, prepared with noodles and a wonderful sauce. Drew had the best duck breast either of us have ever had. It was perfectly prepared and served with a red wine jus, risotto and a smoked apple and bacon salad. We wanted desert but couldn't handle any more food. We can't wait to go back for the chocolate fondue - it sounds amazing.
Now to this weekend. Last night (St. Patrick's Day) we attempted to get into the Irish Heather, by far the best pub in the city. We arrived as soon as we could after work and the place was already packed. The owner Sean said that he was starting to kick people out as the place was booked solid with reservations all night. He recommended Limerick Junction, his new pub just up the street. I'd been craving a Guinness all week so decided to brave the line and give the new place a try. We only had to wait 20 minutes to get in and the place was packed. We waited another 10 minutes to get our Guinness which we paid only $5 for because they'd run out of change. Not quite as good as the stuff at the Heather but it satisfied the craving. Our friend Sean arrived shortly after and we ordered another round, had a hot dog from Fetch and enjoyed the traditional bagpipes and Irish music. It was a bit loud though so we decided to hit another brew pub in Yaletown so we could actually sit down and hold a conversation. The beer was decent but the menu was a bit too meaty for me. I split a bowl of chicken gumbo with Drew and ate a bucket of free peanuts. Not the best food night but a solid night for beer.
Tonight we splurged and had dinner at Chambar, a new Belgian restaurant in Yaletown. Its quite a pricey place but the selection of Belgian beer makes it more then worth the price. I tried the Binchoise Brune and the Tripel Karmeliet - the former was a strong dark and the later a fruity wheat type beer. Drew tried the Orval and the
Duchess de Bourgogne. Neither of us liked the Orval very much, it smelled quite fruity but had an almost soapy finish. The Duchesse de Bourgogne was by far my favorite of the night. It was quite sweet and had an almost vinegary finish. It was almost more of a wine then a beer and paired perfectly with Drew's Lamb tagine with couscous - probably one of the best lamb dishes we've had in a while. I had moule frite - a weird choice for someone who doesn't really like fries. The mussels were very nice and the serving was huge. The fries were also quite good although Drew ended up eating most of them. The mayo really made the fries!
We'd decided before dinner that we'd pass on desert and head to our favorite new chocolate shop on Mainland St. I'm not sure what we we're thinking after eating such a rich meal, it sounded like a good idea at the time. We've gotten to know the owners quite well since the place opened a month ago. We've really learned a lot about chocolate and are slowly making our way through all of the specialty hot chocolates and truffles on the menu. Tonight I let Thomas make me a drink called denzo, a traditional Spanish hot chocolate made with half cream and half chocolate. I told him I wanted something dark so he chose a Cuban chocolate. I'd asked him also to add some spice and he chose mace and nutmeg. It was probably the richest drink I've ever had, I needed a spoon to finish it. Drew tried a dark chocolate from Peru - very yummy. Thomas has started to introduce pastries and cookies to the menu and today he had some traditional Greek treats in the display case. We tried an almond cookie soaked in honey which was quite rich and decadent and tried to eat two truffles but just couldn't do it. Thomas gave us another cookie on the house but we had to bring it home. I must say we were both feeling a little ill on the way home and I'm just starting to feel better now, two hours after dinner. It was wonderful but I really need to learn to pace myself. I think I had more calories for dinner then the average person needs to consume in a week. Good thing I'm active!!
