Slif

Part of the W 4th Ave new-boy triangle (Fuel, Gastropod, Bistrot Bistro), Fuel was the first of the three to open late last year. I’ve been 3 times in the last few months and I can honestly say, it’s my favourite table in the entire city. The food is excellent, pricing reasonable, and service is absolutely astounding.

I’ve had lunch twice there and the lamb shoulder sandwich is astounding. It’s flavourful, very tender, and for the size, is a steal at $14. They also have a soup/sandwich/dessert special at $25, and app/entree/dessert at $35.

Now for the main reason why I keep coming back, I gotta tell you about dinner.

There were four of us, and 2 of us ordered a 4 course tasting menu. Only 1 friend didn’t order an appetizer. When our starters arrived, the manager brought him an amuse bouche so he “wouldn’t feel left out.” Nice touch.

When our 2nd course arrived, we received a ramp leaf risotto – resulting in a very VERY green risotto, but when you bite into it, you get a smooth flavouring of cheese. It was unusual to say the least, but not at all bad. When our server came to check on us (which she did constantly, and would always offer welcome friendly banter) – she asked us how it was.

My friend could only respond with “weird” because it honestly didn’t taste the way it looked She took this as us being disagreeable with it, even though I was clearly tucking into my plateful.

Without asking, she brought us out an extra course of arugula greens salad, PLUS wine as a replacement (even though we finished off the risotto)

That’s just outstanding in my books.

The rest of the food was very good as well, but it’s truly the attention to detail and service that gets me to keep spending money at this little room on W 4th. Sorry Cru — your food was good, but your snootiness finally got to me.

One of my favourite tables… well really… anywhere! A boisterous atmosphere where I would stay forever if they didn’t close… and run out of food.

A dark and quiet room overlooking Water Street in Gastown, this little French restaurant has received much praise for their charcuterie off-shoot 2 doors down (ne The Butcher Shop), so I decided to give their main room a shot. It was a good friend’s birthday party and we were on the hunt for oysters. Now a place whose logo features an oyster would seem like an obvious choice (as opposed to a stuffed toy store that features a platypus in their logo, and yet offers no platypi to be purchased… but I digress…) so here we were.

The restaurant is split into 3 sections: the aforementioned Butcher Shop is a few doors down in the same mall; the oyster bar and lounge is downstairs – quiet and quaint, with but 1 TV to watch those wily Canucks slough through another game; and the main room upstairs – long and wide, with beautiful dark wood walls and floors that add to its charm.

It was a quiet and chilly Thursday eve as we made our way in. We were greeted warmly and taken to our table — a seat right at the front of the window for all to see… and consequently (it is Gastown after all) provider of entertainment far and wide – including the regular chimes of that God-forsaken steam clock down the street… seriously… how many pictures could Japanese tourists take of this thing?

Our drink orders were taken and delivered rather promptly. Our waiter was professional, yet stumbled a bit on elaborating on menu selections when asked. Fortunately he had notes and would recover easily. Most importantly – he was attentive, always refilling our water glasses, asking if we needed anything, and displayed the professional grace that only a French waiter could possibly have.

We started off with 2 dozen oysters (a selection of 5 species from both coasts) and a charcuterie platter. The oysters arrived with a selection of 3 sauces – a light amber one with shallots with the least amount of heat was dispersed with rather quickly. The other two were a hot sauce type, and what the waiter described as “blueberry molasses.” I could not comment as I generally steer away from raw mollusks… well raw anything to be fair — so I tucked into the familiar charcuterie platter. Pork rilette, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, pork with pistachios, oven roasted tomatoes, and a beef pate – all served with a bag of assorted crisps to top. All as good as I remember.

The staff was efficient in clearing out the decimated plates as soon as we finished and replated us. The mains arrived shortly after. I had a wonderful braised beef osso bucco that was as tender as the sauce was warming on this cold eve. Two of the folks had rib eyes that had been ordered medium rare – but arrived kinda half medium done, half medium rare… reportedly the beef was quite good though so there was no need to complain. A note — you could actually choose how large you wanted your steak — none of this prescribed 10 oz, 12 oz crap — the birthday boy wanted 16 oz and that is what he got. Another fellow had the Fraser Valley duck breast… and it was just completely overdone. Barely a hint of pink to be found. I wasn’t able to try it, but he seemed satisfied enough to tuck in — so be it. All the dishes came atop various sauteed/roasted vegetables that added a touch of colour and sweetness to the dishes.

Once we cleared that, the next phase began. The birthday boy had his birthday cognac – the chalice came atop a cup of hot water — a VERY nice touch. I tucked into what the waiter described as an Earl Grey/chocolate creme brulee. I am not a brulee fan by any mean — but I am always curious and up for anything that manages to include tea in new and different ways.

Once I got past the shell – the scent of Earl Grey wafted up and greeted my senses and I had at it. The brulee was well flavoured – not exceedingly sweet, but smooth. Both flavours complemented each other nicely and had their chance to shine – neither overshadowing the other. As far as brulees go — I was very satisfied.

In the end, it’s a lovely room, with fair prices, and quite good service (with some rough spots) – but their inability to handle something as simple as steak and duck gives me reason to pause, especially when it wasn’t busy at all. I was satisfied enough with my meal to warrant a recommend, and I certainly hope it was just the chef having an off-night.

Note that this review covers the Bacchus Piano Lounge.

I begrudging give it 3 stars due to Eating not allowing 1/2 stars, but my true rating stands at 2 1/2.

We came to Bacchus Piano Lounge to unwind after a hearty dinner in Gastown. The room wasn’t terribly busy tonight as it was a weekday, raining, and a Canucks game was on. Though the bar offers a TV, this isn’t the type of place to attract a particularly interconnecting market. Good for us.

We found a nice table right by the fire and window, and began perusing the menu. It’s quite the satisfying selection for a lounge – plenty for everyone. Sadly I was in the mood for some cake and there was none to be found. Sure they had a lava cake and a cheesecake, but I was aiming for some more traditional French patisserie classics considering the lounge was attached to one of the best French restaurants in the city. Ca cie.

Since I’d already had a creme brulee during dinner – I decided to finally try out this lovely little strategy I’d been dying to try for years — have an appetizer for dessert. They had a fairly godo selection of appetizers and entrees which came as a shock to me considering I’d hear they only served afternoon tea. I ordered a baked goat cheese so the table could share in something, plus a pear green tea.

The pear green tea came in a coffee press, and the leaves were from “T.” The scent and flavour of pear was quite strong, essentially drowning out any essence of green tea – this was more like a fruity herbal tea than anything else. Not my favourite (yes I’m resisting the urge to pun… and it hurts…), but it served its purpose to contrast the goat cheese.

The goat cheese came wrapped with proscuitto, a side of red onion marmalade, a drizzle of vibrant green basil pesto and warmed baguette slices. The proscuitto was absolutely forgettable. Stringy and tough… and just seemingly unnecessary as it just added more salt to the proceedings. The goat cheese was fairly strong, but nicely flavoured. A wee too salty for my tastes. The onions were tasteless… or just completely overpowered by the goat cheese. The entire platter was just okay… a disappointment, but not a failure. Certainly more fairly priced at $14 than their desserts ($11!!!).

Now the atmosphere and seats were very comfortable and we had a nice rolling conversation going between the four of us. Then the “piano” portion of the Piano Lounge started.

With Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet.

No. Seriously. Margaritaville.

Then it just got weirder.

Selections ranged from showtunes, to Tom Jones, to Elton John… just bizarre. I was expecting some classical stuff, maybe even just rhythmic playing… but crass showtunes?

So we just started talking and laughing louder.

It worked rather nicely.

Now I know they’ve had other musical selections playing so I will most likely return as I do really like the room, but if it was based all on this one visit… well like I originally mentioned — 2 1/2 stars.

The third comer of the W 4th trifecta (Fuel, Gastropod, Bistrot) is a comfy little room represented by the green and white colours of their bizarrely pedestrian street sign. Inside is a world of difference – a room softly lit by tea lights, it’s packed house of diners quietly enjoying their warming French countryside fare. We were a fairly large party of 18 folk and that they managed to fit us in, and impeccably serve us was not a feat to be discounted by any means.

Dinner was started with a freshly baked and toasty warm baguette served on a long wooden plank, with a small ramekin of olive tapenade. The tapenade was too lightly flavoured and finely textured to be memorable, but the baguette exuded hints of creamy butter with each delightful bite amidst the mesmerizing crunch of the crust. It was magnificent, and I purposely hoarded so I had some to use for the rest of the meal. It’s telling that we had 2 insanely long baguettes (maybe 2 1/2 feet in length each?) between 9 people and it was gone before the entrees came to play.

The meals were served family style in cast-iron skillets which was both efficiently brilliant, and just added to the atmosphere of the entire meal. First plate was an appetizer of various forcemeats – a pork rilette, a foie pate, a pork/chicken pate whose name escapes me (tastes VERY similar to Filipino empotido/meatloaf), some proscuitto, and a small thing of grainy mustard. I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest fan of forcemeat so I will take a pass on this review. I ate it though, and ironically really enjoyed the immemorable one ha ha. Next were moules frites – the fries were nicely seasoned and shoestring style – very nice. The mussels I took a pass on – sorry, not a shellfish fan. A baked brie with phyllo topped with bacon, and mesclun greens with a balsamic topping came next. Sadly this one was just forgettable. Very little flavour to it

Now the mains started to arrive. A chicken breast on the bone with a creamy mushroom sauce; a steak in butter sauce; and a halibut with watercress emulsion sauce. The chicken was nicely tender – smart move doing it on the bone, and just lightly and perfectly flavoured. The steak was generally forgettable – it was what it was. The halibut was very nice – the watercress sauce added a nice creamy bitterness to the firmness of the fish – a very complete dish.

Desserts came and it was a lemon tart with blueberries and fresh whipped cream, and what I could only describe as a big bowlful of chocolate mousse goodness. Seriously. The waitress came by holding a gimongous white bowl just filled with chocolate mousse. She asked me if I wanted some and all I could mutter was “I love you chocolate goddess.” And yeah. It delivered on expectations. Very creamy — almost gooey and pudding-ey in the middle to a certain extent.

I’m not a fan of lemon tart, but all the flavours on the plate worked perfectly. The fresh whipped cream balanced out the tartness of the lemon, and the blueberries were a nice hint of sweetness. Very nice.

All in all, I was very impressed with how the waitstaff handled the absolutely packed room, as well as our little wall of rowdiness. I had enough of a taste of their food to know that I would most certainly be back (if I can pull myself away from Fuel that is ;-D) – and I encourage you to give them a try as well. Perhaps on my next, more calm visit, I can raise that rating to 4 stars.

I do love this place. Something about unlimited meat and fish, plus sushi to boot pleases the inner glutton (is it really inner?) in me. I’ve also always liked this room more than the Granville branch – it’s amusing that I’d find parking easier in the middle of downtown than off-downtown, but there it be.

In a city where great restaurants are a-plenty, and sexy new CFD joints pop up all the time and are in disturbing proliferation, where do I go when I want a guaranteed satisfying meal?

White Spot.

The classic.

Not over-reaching and upscale-wannabe Earls.
Not crap-on-a-plate-for-$25 Milestone’s.
Not we’re-a-club-no-we’re-a-resto-with-hookers-for-waitresses Joey’s.
Not forever-teetering-on-mediocrity-Sammy J Pepper’s.
Cactus Club is on a turnaround so I have no issues with them anymore – but I digress.

I don’t remember ever having a single bad meal, nor even a mediocre meal at White Spot. From back in the days of my pirate packs (and their stubborn refusal to give them to me now…), to my favourite plate of fluffy buttermilk pancakes, and to their seasonal specials – I’ve a special place in my tummy for Mssr Chuck & Co.’s culinary delights.

A simple dish of pasta deceivingly hides a plateful of flavours. Pizza topped with ingredients far-flung, plated on an amazingly crispy thin crust. Sandwiches stacked masterfully, and filled to fill. And best of all, service with a smile that matches the quality of the food.

Now if they’d only let me order a pirate pak for myself. I mean COME ON.

After a false start where we missed last call by a half hour 2 months ago, I had a chance to go back for a group dinner last week and I must say, we had loads of fun. The room is eclectic, vibrant, yet still dark and relaxed. It’s bizarre but it all works. There’s a lot of colour, and string lights everywhere – there are coloured pillows planted on the ceiling and an interesting vibe of Indian, West Indian and… heck I don’t even know anymore — but I liked it! Also — best. washroom. EVER. I cannot describe it. I will not describe it. It must be seen to be believed.

The 8 of us were all seated in the back along a long bench and the place was packed – it was a Friday night in Belltown after all. The room is a decent size, but it seemed like the kitchen was too small – and served to be their undoing. It took almost 5 minutes before we even got menus, even longer to get drink orders, even more longer for them to arrive… long story short – we arrived at 8PM and our entrees didn’t arrive until almost 930. That is horribly unreasonably long – by any standards – and even more damning – the food didn’t seem to benefit from that time. It was just a simple logistical issue. The kitchen staff just seemed like they were completely in over their heads. The floor staff seemed like they were short-staffed though because once the crowd started thinning out – we got much much more attentive service. Fortunately good friends can make any wait bearable – almost.

Now as for the aforementioned food – it was good. Nothing spectacularly, but there were some glimpses of brilliance. We had some starters to stat, which of course took an insane amount of time to arrive: chicken tikka masala with naan; mussels; edamame; plantain chips. I didn’t go for the mussels or edamame — nothing wrong with them, just not my thing. Of the two I did try, the plantain chips were my highlight. They were thin, nicely seasoned and a very pleasant crunch. The tikka masala was ok – nothing particuarly spectacular – I think I’ve actually had better tikka masala from a can…

My entree was the famed pork chop – it was reviewed well by eGulleters, and the waiter said the grits were to die for. Well at least 1 person was correct. The grits were some of the best I’ve ever had – closer to polenta really, but just soupy enough to be more grits-like. Also. Bacon. Inside. Awesomeness. The pork chop taste-wise wasn’t anything memorable… and it was dry. So sadly I was not impressed. Here’s the thing. For the amount of time I waited for this food – though the pork chop was dry – the grits were just barely warm – and chop itself wasn’t particularly large so sadly I was severely underwhelmed and disappointed.

Now the third course. The caramel brioche pudding was described as practically legendary so I went with them and when they eventually arrived — it was good, yes. Soft, tender – all the goodness of brioche. But IMHO my friend makes a superior bread pudding at home and the time it took the bread pudding to arrive at our table took the same amount of time he would have taken to make it practically from scratch at home.

So tremendously disappointed in the food, but an awesome place to hang out with friends for drinks and atmosphere.

It’s true – it really is incredibly difficult to find this place, but with a GPS and a Treo – we found it – and I can honestly say, the search was worth it. This lovely room is located down a ramp in a small lower courtyard with only a small sandwich board advertising it from the street. The room is white, clean and modern – and just all around lovely. There’s no other word I could use to describe it.

We got there at 12:30PM on Friday and it was packed, but since it was a lunch place, the turnover was quick and we got a seat at the bar after 10 minutes. It took a wee too long to get the menus and service though, but it was a packed room so I’ll let that go.

The lunch menu is quite varied and there’s a good selection of sandwiches, appies and entrees for every appetite. I was choosing between a pesto trout entree and a pork loin sandwich and since it was a really warm day, I went with the sandwich as well as a side of tomato soup (which worried me too b/c of the temperature). My friend ordered the curried tuna sandwich which in-description, was just perplexing.

The food arrived and all my worries melted away, literally and figuratively. The tomato soup was more broth-like, and had lots of tomatoes to keep it fresh, light and a wee tart so very refreshing. The pork was browned nicely and carved about 1/4 inch thick – thin enough to be bite-able, but still thick enough to get the flavour. There were touches of rosemary and herbs that elevated it. My friend enjoyed the flavours of the curried tuna – it was shredded and mixed with the seasoning, but packed enough that it wasn’t wet and falling apart. We were pleased with the entire experience and I’m glad I finally had the chance to give this place a try – and I shall return.

I will forego my usual meaningless yeandering by saying 1 simple thing: their brioche loaf is f*cking legendary. I try to buy a loaf everytime I’m in town and it fills my car with the sweet wonderness of butter on the drive down.

Also, I had my first try at quiche on my last visit… and it was world-changing.