So dinner number two in Victoria, could it top Brasserie l'ecole? Let's see...Ulla on Fisgard was our second stop of the night, after trying the Buck a Shuck at Oysters. This was another highly recommended restaurant and we decided to give this place a shot. Featuring dishes that use mostly local organic ingredients, and a wide selection of cocktails, this place looked promising.
We were a bit late for our reservation and ended up having to wait at the bar while another table was cleared for us. We took a seat at the bar and sipped a cocktail while we waited. They were raising money for a cocktail creator, Murray Stenson, who was diagnosed with a heart condition recently. Without adequate medical coverage, the restaurant was donating a portion of the sale of every "Last Word" cocktail towards his surgery costs. Given that this was such a good cause, it was a no brainer for us. The gin based cocktail was tangy and was a great appetizer! I know, I know, you probably don't need to see another picture of bread and butter/olive oil. Indulge me, more worthy food porn is on the way... After having the 63 degree egg at Cotto Enoteca, I was excited to try the 64 Degree Egg here. It's served with some lomo and pickled cauliflower, and some smoked tomatoes. The crumble you see here is a brioche crumble, slightly sweet but with a great crunch. It is always exciting to slice an egg open, but this was a bit different. There wasn't any bread or pasta to absorb the yolk. The crumble did a good job, but I was thrilled with the way that the yolk spread throughout the dish. We made use of the bread though, using the yolk as a wonderful sauce with the lomo, making ourselves the most indulgent crostini. Lomo is a dry-cured pork tenderloin, and the vibrant colour is very appetizing. Slightly salty but very moist, this is different from other cured meats which tend to be drier and tougher. When I saw Quail on the menu, I knew I had to try it. After the delectable Duck Confit from Brasserie l'ecole last night, my expectations were high. Accompanying the crispy quail was a bit of green farro, some roasted hazelnuts and a bit of puffed grains. I've never had pickled grapes before, but it's amazingly good. The mixture of textures, from the crispiness of the quail to the crunch of the hazelnuts and grains, was really amazing. Listed under the appetizer menu, I think this could easily be an entree, but then again, I did just have the 64 degree egg.For our actual entree, we opted for the Short Rib Steak which was served with little potato towers as well as some pureed potatoes. Also on the plate were cipollini onions and chanterelle mushrooms. You're probably wondering what that is on top of the beef, well it's more beef, it's a floss made of flank beef! It was amazing, very dense meaty flavour and a great crispy texture. Who would have though of using beef to garnish beef!?
Take Note:
Dishes are meant to be shared, easier to try more items that way
Appies are reasonable (under $15) but mains are a bit pricey
Our dinner, 3 plates and 3 drinks came in at under $90 including tax
Another VANEATSca Package? Yes Please! This time, we were going to check out Bonchaz at Broadway and Main for their latest Dining Pass "SUPERBonchaz" for just $6.50. The deal gets you three items. Specifically, you get: Bonchaz of your choice:
"Original", butter & icing sugar
"Banana Walnut", fresh bananas & California walnuts
"The Vegan", tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, hummus, sprouts and roasted peppers on our homemade Italian-herbed baguette
"Beef Bulgogi", Korean-inspired sliced ribeye marinated in soy sesame oil, with red onion, garlic and a hint of honey in our homemade hoagie bread
Soup of the Day, vegan option available Because I was in a rush the day I went, I decided to get the whole shebang "To-Go". They were nice enough to accommodate so all the pictures are taken in my kitchen. First up, we have the Soup of the Day, and no, I didn't go with the vegan option. Heck no, in fact, the one I chose that day was the Corn Chowder with Spicy Italian Sausage, almost anti-vegan. The soup was uber thick, and I love the chunks of potato. The corn tasted super fresh and still had a light bite to it, not like your average creamed corn. The spicy sauce was plentiful and had just a bit of heat. It tastes very homemade and there was even a bay leaf in my serving!
And here is the Bulgogi Beef Sandwich, all made fresh to order. The beef smelled heavenly in the car on the way home. I couldn't wait to give this a try. The marinated beef was cooked with some red peppers and some onions. The fresh bun is very good and thick enough to hold all the juiciness of the filling. The thinly sliced beef really absorbed the sweet/salty marinade, and the sandwich was very easy to eat. It was squishable, unlike a banh mi. I realize that they are completely different but it's hard not to compare two Asian-style sandwiches. Although the only reason I'm comparing is because of the filling I chose. I ended up squirting a bit of sriracha sauce onto my sandwich for a bit of heat, but if your tastes run on the milder side, you'll probably love the flavours as is. I found the sandwich to be quite filling too. And for dessert, I got the Chocolate Truffle Bonchaz. The cookie like exterior hides a soft and fluffy interior, as well as a huge dollop of chocolate truffle inside. I've never had one of these before and really enjoyed the mixture of the two textures. I found the chocolate to be just enough, it isn't a chocolate bun, it's more like a bun with hits of chocolate. I really enjoyed this and would definitely prefer this over a donut. See the VANEATSca offer and video:
Other things you should know:
Dates: November 8, 2012 - March 4, 2013
Purchase Limit: 1 pass per person, plus 1 additional as gift
Redeem limit: 1 pass per person
Not valid for cash back (unless required by law)
Must use in one visit, dine-in only at Bonchaz at 189 East Broadway, Vancouver
Does not cover gratuity
Cannot be combined with other offers
**VANEATs gave me a complimentary pass for the offer.**
While in Victoria last week, I was tasked to find some lunch ideas within the downtown area. The place I chose on this particular night was Ferris' Oyster Bar. I was hoping that it would be better than my choice from yesterday, Pig BBQ Joint. We were there for two things, the Oyster Po'Boy was one of them. We opted for the Caesar Salad instead of r fries, you'll find out why later. Three deep fried oysters sitting on top of a grill bun, topped with some mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion and a pickle, served open face. This was more filling that you would expect. The oysters were super juicy still, something about battering something and deep frying it, it just serves to keep the interior delicately cooked. I liked that they grilled the bun, otherwise, this could have been a soggy mess. We substituted the fries for the Caesar salad because we had our eyes on a bigger prize, the Pulled Pork Poutine. After the failure to order this at Pig yesterday, we were determined not to make the same mistake twice! Therefore, we ordered this and was amazed. It was as pig as the po'boy! Lots of fries, although a little soggy from the gravy, but loaded with chunks of pulled pork and squeaky cheese curds, this turned me from a poutine non-believer to a poutine-lover. The curds melted under the heat of the gravy and blended into the pulled pork, creating a ooey gooey meaty cheesy bite. I will have have to start a search in Vancouver for more of this poutine goodness!
Take Note:
Upstairs is only open in the afternoon
Their soup of the day (vegetarian friendly) is bottomless, so is their pop
Eight different types of baked oysters - try them all for $25
Last week, I had a chance to visit Victoria for a few days and decided to make it a foodie vacation. After getting tips from Twitter, we decided to check out Brasserie l'Ecole, which was on everyone's "must-try" list. We started off with some cocktails, the first was the French 75, made with Sparkling Wine, Gin, Cointreau & Lemon Juice. I had a version of this drink recently at Chambar. This one was better, with a stronger hint of the cointreau. The other drink is a Vieux Mot, a Gin, St. Germain Liqueur, Lime Juice cocktail. This had quite a kick! Although their menu changes daily, some things tend to stick around. For example, the French Onion Soup (Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée) is usually on the menu. It was amazing, and enhanced by the addition of bacon into the smoky caramelized onion broth. Piping hot when it arrived, the soup stayed hot as we took sips from the very interesting Lion Head Soup Bowl. I think the shape of the vessel actually kept the soup hotter. I liked the bread being cut up into chunks with the Gruyère coating them; I actually prefer that over the large piece of bread that you have to hack inside the bowl. The bacon isn't your average bacon bits, but it reminded me of the Mahony and Sons. I liked the meatiness and the depth of flavour in this soup. It seemed almost bottomless! Another staple on the menu is their Steak Frites, usually with a choice of a 8 oz Angus Sirloin, 12 oz Angus Sirloin or a
10 oz Angus New York Striploin. Always served seared with a pat of Roquefort butter, the red wine & shallot sauce is barely necessary, all you need is just salt and pepper. Even the butter was a bit too much for me. The steak was done to a perfect medium rare and I really enjoyed the flavour of the grill, the fat rendered so nicely with a nice smokey flavour. Considering a serving of protein should only be 5oz, this is big enough for two! We upgraded the Frites to Fancy Frites for an additional $3...and this got us fries with some garlic, parmesan and a sprinkle of truffle oil. You could smell the truffle oil wafting up as it arrived at the table. The thinly sliced fries could have been a bit crispier but I did enjoy the crunch of the littler bits. And for something that isn't always on the menu (but you should get it if it is) is their Duck Leg Confit. The potatoes, chanterelles and carrots still had a slight crunch to them, but I found them a bit salty. The duck was impeccable though, with tender meat that almost fell off the bones, the piece de resistance was the crispy skin. Our waitress was not kidding when she said that the skin was "crispy crispy". It was amazing and reminded me of my Whet revisit. So here was our entire meal, and it was as amazing as my friends promised. And the price tag wasn't too pricey, for the food that we had, three cocktails (I had a Goose martini as well), the price was under $93 before taxes and tip. Well worth it in my books.
Take Note:
Menu changes daily but check their website for the night's offerings
Bartender is friendly and makes great cocktails, some with absinthe, & a wide selection of Belgium beers
The mussels seem to be quite popular with the regulars
Earlier this week, I attended an Iron Chef style competition at the Dirty Apron for the BC launch a new line of Asian sauces by Blue Dragon. Already available in Quebec and Ontario, these sauces make it easy for home chefs to create Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Vietnamese dishes. There are Curry Pastes, Sauces, as well as cans of Coconut Milk and a variety of bottled Dipping Sauces, such as chili or a nuoc cham (fish sauce). There are sauces for stir fries as well. All these sauces make it easy to inject maximum flavours in minimum time. In addition to these sauces, they also have Spring Roll Wrappers and Dried Rice Noodles too. Essential to many curry recipes is Coconut Milk because it helps to reduce the heat. These are available from Blue Dragon as well, in both regular and a light version too. Competing in this cooking contest were a handful of popular bloggers. Here we have Karm and Crystal from Vancitybuzz. We also have Catherine Roscoe Barr of The Life Delicious Blog as well as Cassandra Anderton of Good Life Van. Can you tell who these two lovey ladies are? None other than Dawn Chubai of BT Vancouver and Mary Sheridan of Vancouver Bits and Bites Blog. We also have Ben Garfinkel and Mark Busse of Industrial Brand and Foodists, who ended up winning the competition, scoring $1000 each for their respective charities.. And also cooking up a storm is Rick Green of B.C. Beer Blog. I didn't get a chance to grab the name of his cooking partner, but it looks like she was doing more of the work. All done! Check out the Stir-fry Noodles with Prawn Skewers from the VancityBuzz team, they came in third overall! These are two of the judges, Nathan Fong and Stephanie Yuen. The event was well attended and really served to showcase the vast variety of Asian dishes that can be made from the many sauces in the Blue Dragon line. Be sure to give them a try next time you're stuck for dinner ideas. You can find them in your grocery aisle as well as online.
Earlier this month, I was watching an episode of You Gotta Eat Here on Food Network and caught their segment on Tomahawk in North Vancouver. Turns out, my parents were huge fans and we decided to go this past week. However, they had only had breakfast there before, but I was going to check out the burgers! The entrance is an indication to the outstanding collection of Indian artifacts found within the restaurant itself. Many of the items were collected by founder and owner Chick Chamberlain.As I mentioned, my parents usually come here for breakfast and the two of them would share this, the Yukon-Style Bacon and Eggs. They might add a side of yam fries, but that's about it. The breakfast comes with five slices of Yukon-style bacon, two Free Range Eggs served however you like, as well as two slices of toast, your choice of white or multigrain, and a huge serving of golden-griddled hash brown potatoes underneath it all. I convinced my mom that she should just order that for herself, and said that we would help her finish it. I lied. She ended up eating two pieces of the lean bacon, both of the over-easy eggs and maybe one slice of the toast. We tried the hash brown potatoes and they had a good crunch to them. The bacon is very lean and salty, and very tasty. Oh, and if you like peanut butter, ask for it with your toast, I think it's made locally.So after convincing my mom that she could tackle the big breakfast, I then had to convince my stepdad to try one of the two burgers that I wanted to try. All their burgers are from The Blue Goose Cattle Company, and are organic. So he decided "all on his own" to get the Chief Simon Baker Burger. In addition to the patty, there is some Yukon-style bacon, sautéed fresh mushrooms and slices of aged cheddar cheese. The mushrooms were very plentiful and gave the burger a very earthy taste. The buns aren't toasted but it's not a big issue here, because their burgers aren't overly soggy. The way they layer the burger is really good, bacon on the bottom, then the mushrooms, and then the cheese melts from being next to the burger. No tomatoes, no lettuce, just meat, mushrooms and cheese. We upgraded the side to yam fries so my mom could indulge, and these were fried to a nice golden crunch. And this is my whole reason for this visit, the Skookum burger, and yes, another upgrade, this time it was the onion rings for the side. And it was well worth the money, the rings were crunchy, light and crispy. I loved them! Here is a close up of the burger, aka the star of the show. There is a huge pile of lettuce and some slices of tomatoes, so it almost looks healthier than the mushroom burger! Until you see that gigantic slab of bacon and the two sausages sticking out... From the bottom, we have the bun, with a smear of Tomahawk sauce, then about half a head of shredded lettuce, some of the Yukon-style bacon, cheese, the patty, then more bacon, a fried egg, some sausage, and then more cheese and tomatoes, then topped with the bun and a pickle. This was actually not as filling as you might think, I didn't eat the whole thing, but I polished off half fairly quickly. Part of the reason is that once you pick this baby up, you can't put it down. You just want one more piece of bacon, or that sausage is taunting you, or the egg is oozing out. Whatever the cause, you'll find a reason to keep eating, I know I did.
Take Note:
They are not licensed
They only use free-range eggs and organic beef
Service is terribly slow though, flag'em down if you need refills
After being up since 5:30 to catch the 7am ferry and a nice long nap after we arrived in Victoria, we started our hunt for food. The first place we hit up was Pig, a BBQ spot recommended by friends from Vancouver. The decor is cute and the service is fairly self serve, a very casual spot. Maybe they should have called this place The Flying Pig, oh, wait, someone in Yaletown already did that.As I am currently on holidays, I decided to start my lunch with a nice cocktail, a Caesar. The flavours were average in the drink itself, but the rim with their barbecue season was amazing. I really liked that rim. They don't decorate their ceasars here, just a pickle is all you get. Since it was our first time here, we got a few things to try. From the top, we have a piece of Fried Chicken, then to the right of that, we have the Bacon Explosion. Beneath that are the Hot Wings and finished off with a half slab of BBQ Ribs. First up, the Fried Chicken. This was a moist piece of bird, but I didn't really care for the creamy bechamel-likesauce that they drizzled on it. What's the point of having crispy skin if you are just going to make it soggy? The parts that escaped the drenching was crunchy, with a nice light flavour and the chicken inside was still juicy. At $3.25, this was a similar to Church's Chicken in pricing, but the taste was better, I just wish they didn't pour the sauce on it. And we also tried the Bacon Explosion, which was appropriately named, as it was a bomb. For those of you who like your bacon crispy (and that's how most people like it), this is not the sandwich for you. This explosion is essentially a lattice weave of bacon, then filled with sausage meat and then wrapped and baked. This does not make for crispy bacon. The fat from the sausage oozes out during cooking and makes the bacon soggy and even fattier than before. What they should consider doing is frying these bacon wrapped sausages before assembling the burger. As it was, this was just a sausage with limp bacon wrapped around it. It's the first time I met a bacon I didn't like. We then tried the Half Rack of Ribs. This had a nice smoky flavour and the meat had a great char on it. You would think that a place like this would know the basic of grilling and remember to remove the membrane on the underside, but no. We actually had to remove it ourselves. Once we did it, the ribs were falling off the bones but they weren't tender. In fact, it was dry. We needed a few of their sauces to just finish up the ribs. The last thing we tried were the Spicy Chicken Wings and this was the best of the bunch. Very spicy, but made better by the bottled sauces again. The wings weren't too crispy, but they were good enough. The meat was still moist and tender. The portion was quite good and we actually ended up taking some of this home. I guess we could have tried their Pulled Pork or Beef Brisket instead and might have had a different experience, but given only two of the four items we tried were good, I don't know if I'd take the risk and try this place again.
Take Note:
Good fried chicken, just tell them to skip the sauce
Lots of Bourbon cocktails
Not the best BBQ I've had but might be the best in Victoria?
Wondering what that TravelZoo deal for $65 gets you at Fleuri in the Sutton Hotel? Wonder no more, I'm here to tell all. If you purchased the Flerui: Luxe Steak and Lobster Dinner for 2 back in September, then you should read this and find out and see if you should keep it for yourself and give it away over the holidays. Starting with bread and butter, this was standard, slightly warmed bread with cute triangles of butter. The heat of the bread helped to melt the butter, and the large nooks and crannies in the bread were great for holding in all the melting butter. Our Amuse Bouche was a Panna Cotta with cauliflower. On the left of this was a bit of stilton, a strong British blue cheese. On the other side was a port jelly, a little salty and sweet combination. Served on a spoon, the best way to eat this is to just eat the whole spoonful at once.Our first seafood course was called a Lobster Beignet, but I thought of it more of a tempura. With a potato succotash and some red pepper ketchup. There was some spring greens with a bit of a roasted garlic ranch dressing. The batter is a bit thick, slightly chewy, but a perfect coating for the juicy lobster within. And the serving was large, much bigger than I would have expected for an appetizer.Our third course was a Lobster Bisque, which comes deconstructed, with a bowl of Israeili coucous, lobster, prawn, shitaake all topped with a vanilla foam. I had to take a picture of this before they poured the bisque on, so you can see all that is actually inside.And here it is with the soup...gently poured into the bowl. The warmth of the soup seeps through into all the ingredients and makes a nice cohesive soup. The coucous pearls spreads throughout the bisque with a nice al dente texture. And the lobster and prawn were poached perfectly and stayed plump and bouncy in the soup. The sweetness in the seafood is further enhanced by the vanilla foam, a great compliment.For our fourth course, we had more lobster, in the form of a Lobster Risotto, which served as the base for the Beef Tenderloin. Sitting atop of the tenderloin is a squash and onion puree. I loved the lobster risotto, it was creamy, smooth and just a touch more cooked than the Israeli coucous. The lobster was plentiful and gave the risotta a unique richness. The tenderloin played almost a supporting role here, that's how good the risotto was. But to be fair, the tenderloin was thick, juicy, well-seasoned and excellent in its own right. I really liked this version of Surf and Turf! As you probably know, I have a "meat" tooth as opposed to people who have a "sweet" tooth. But with an National Geographic accolade of being the Top Place for Chocolate, I had to try their Chocoholic Buffet! And well, here you go... a chocoholic's dream comes true! Chocolate cakes, squares and more. I stole the decoration off one of the displays. It was too tempting. It looks like it would be crunchy, but it was actually quite soft and surprisingly pliable. And I added some fresh fruit to lighten up the dish. It's part of the chocolate fountain, but I didn't dip it into the fountain because really, that was just too much chocolate. This is the other amazing thing as part of the Chocoholic Buffet is the freshly made Brittany Crepes. We weren't planning on indulging in this but the crepe maker was so friendly, we decided we had to. I know it's not really chocolate, but hey, you can pour chocolate on it! The crepes were light and had a rich caramel flavour. We topped it with some Grand Marnier liqueur, sliced nuts, chocolate bits and sprinkles. We couldn't fit the fruit couldn't fit on top so we just had it on the side...I definitely had a sugar high after this.
Take Note:
This is a great deal for $65 for two people
The buffet is only available Thursday, Friday and Saturday
After having the 63 degree egg at Cotto Enoteca, I was excited to try the 64 Degree Egg here. It's served with some lomo and pickled cauliflower, and some smoked tomatoes. The crumble you see here is a brioche crumble, slightly sweet but with a great crunch. 
It is always exciting to slice an egg open, but this was a bit different. There wasn't any bread or pasta to absorb the yolk. The crumble did a good job, but I was thrilled with the way that the yolk spread throughout the dish. We made use of the bread though, using the yolk as a wonderful sauce with the lomo, making ourselves the most indulgent crostini. Lomo is a dry-cured pork tenderloin, and the vibrant colour is very appetizing. Slightly salty but very moist, this is different from other cured meats which tend to be drier and tougher. 
When I saw Quail on the menu, I knew I had to try it. After the delectable Duck Confit from Brasserie l'ecole last night, my expectations were high. Accompanying the crispy quail was a bit of green farro, some roasted hazelnuts and a bit of puffed grains. I've never had pickled grapes before, but it's amazingly good. The mixture of textures, from the crispiness of the quail to the crunch of the hazelnuts and grains, was really amazing. Listed under the appetizer menu, I think this could easily be an entree, but then again, I did just have the 64 degree egg.
For our actual entree, we opted for the Short Rib Steak which was served with little potato towers as well as some pureed potatoes. Also on the plate were cipollini onions and chanterelle mushrooms. You're probably wondering what that is on top of the beef, well it's more beef, it's a floss made of flank beef! It was amazing, very dense meaty flavour and a great crispy texture. Who would have though of using beef to garnish beef!?
