Whet Your Appetite

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Whet Your Appetite

***I revisited Whet at Chef Peter Gray's invitation and I have an updated review of the Crispy Duck Confit as well as some other items here.***

Here we go again, another VANEATSca Package! This time, we were going to check out Whet in Granville Island for their latest Dining Pass "WhetUrAppetite" for $30. The deal is three courses as well as two sleeves of beer. Specifically, you get:

Prawn, Shrimp, & Wild Mushrooms Salad, pan seared prawns and wild local mushrooms, hand peeled shrimp, arugula, grapefruit, taro root crisps, lemon-hazelnut vinaigrette
Coconut Scallop Ceviche, hand peeled shrimp, citrus, ginger, jalapeño, corn chips, tobiko & ikura
Choice of the following:

Crispy Duck Leg, Confit of Fraser Valley duck leg, sweet chill ginger sauce, yam & plantain chips, sesame seeds, grilled plums
Red Honey-Curry Coho, wild BC Coho, saffron yoghurt, hot pickled lime puree, candied almonds, cinnamon market vegetable

2 Sleeves of Angry Scotch Ale, Russell Brewing Company's strong, dark ale with dominant malt accent that originated in Edinburgh. Made with Scottish specialty malts including Peated Malt imparting a slight smoky character to the beer.

They started us off with bread, but we only got to try one of the two. The one we decided on was the Pumpkin Seed bun, and it was amazing. Served warm with a giant scoop of butter, this is a good start.

Although I am not a beer drinker, we decided to get one to try but we switched the other beer out for a glass of red wine for me. The staff were happy to accomodate, which was appreciated because I really didn't want to waste a beer.

First up, the Coconut Scallop Ceviche. The coconut broth was flavoured nicely, fairly mild with bursts of grapefruit and a gingery top note. The plantains and corn chips were both crunchy and paired well with the ceviche.

There were lots of white water shrimp and two pieces of scallop as well. Grapefruit segments and some ikura and tobiko finished off the dish.

I found that there was far too much liquid in the dish for me. I would have preferred the glass to be half full of the broth. It just seemed that the balance was off. And in looking at Sean's picture of his ceviche (where it was only two-thirds full), I think this was an error made by the kitchen that night.

Our next appetizer was the Prawn, Shrimp and Wild Mushroom Salad. This was spot on, no complaints whatsoever. A bed of slightly bitter arugula was wilted just a bit by the warm mushroom medley and gave this dish a very earthy feel. The shrimp were the ones from the ceviche, but the Prawns were grilled and fairly large as well. A sprinkling of taro chips for crunch, a few segments of grapefruit and a gooseberry for citrus rounded out the dish. The salad was lightly dressed, simply with a Honey and Hazelnut oil dressing.

And this is the Crispy Duck Leg, a confit of duck. I was hoping that the duck would have a crispy skin, but the soy glaze removed the possibility of that. Although the glaze was tasty, I would have much preferred the crispy skin, if given a choice. The plantain from the ceviche came back again along with some yam chips. The plum was very tart and could have probably been grilled longer or with some add sugar for caramelization. The other entree available as part of the package is the Coho, but I wanted something else. I needed carbs!

Carbs it is then, with a double dose of it via their Jambalaya and a side of Corn Bread. The corn bread is amazing and is nothing like the cornbread from Memphis Blues. I love that it's a mini loaf! And the flavours are excellent due to the addition of a bit of cheddar and jalapenos to the top. It's available on its own as a side order and I highly recommend this.

Now, onto the Jambalaya. Large Salt Spring Island mussels on one side, large slices of Oyama chorizo sausage on the other and a load of grilled shrimp in the middle. The flavours were complex, the wild rice was perfectly cooked, still fluffy and not too moist. The drizzle of creme fraiche gave the dish a nice richness too.

See the VANEATSca video of this offer here: