The Victor

39 Smithe Street
Vancouver, BC

Once upon a time, the Dine Out Vancouver event was a much anticipated foodie festival for cash-strapped diners after the winter holiday season. However, from a price point of $15, $25, and $35 for a 3-course meal, it has now become $20, $30 and $40.

A couple years ago, before the prices became what they are now, I visited 3 or 4 different restaurants during the festival! Now, I've reduced to one restaurant. If it wasn't due to the inclusion of some hot new restaurants, I don't think I would have attended any DOV restaurants this year!

The lone DOV restaurant that I visited for 2018 was The Victor. Located on Parq's 6th floor roof top terrace, this new kid on the block features a contemporary menu inspired by West Coast seasonal ingredients like fresh seafood and specialty steaks.

Complimentary bread with creamed butter

Armed with my dining partners, W and K-chan, we ordered off the DOV menu with the intention to share. We were first presented with a complimentary platter of freshly baked bread with creamy butter.

 Belgian and Red Endive - apples, medjool dates, marcona almonds, goat cheese, sherry-tarragon vinaigrette

Even though I'm allergic to apples, I wanted to try the salad as one of our starters. Aside from the sliced apples, which I did not eat, everything else was really good! I especially liked the medjool dates because they were sweet and sticky, contrasting well with the crisp and slightly bitter endive greens.

 Lobster and Crab Bisque - crab salad, gruyere toast

W and K-chan both opted for the soup for the first course. It was presented to our table with a bit of flair and also a bit of disappointment. Why? Well, the 2 soup bowls were placed on the table empty, save for a few pieces of lobster and crab meat. The server then came by with 1 small glass pitcher filled with the hot bisque (think the size of a small 8 oz. wine carafe). We thought that 1 tiny pitcher would be for 1 bowl....turns out, that 1 pitcher was split between the 2 bowls!!! I think our mouths kind of gaped open when the server finished pouring LOL... Don't get me wrong, the bisque was silky smooth and rich, one of the best seafood bisques I've sipped on. We would have loved the serving size to be a tad more substantial?

Saffron Risotto - arborio rice, foraged mushrooms, truffle oil, parmesan reggiano, pickled vegetables

The saffron risotto was one of the three entrees we ordered. Thick, creamy, savoury, fragrant, al dente...these were the words that popped into my head as I spooned the rice into my mouth. Once in a while, the pieces of pickled carrots would brighten my palate and refresh my taste buds, readying my mouth for another spoonful of the delectable rice!! So so good!

West Coast Salmon - jamon iberico crust, roasted cipollini onions, kale, peruvian aji amarillo chili sauce

 

Our second entree was the salmon crusted with iberico ham "crumbs". Salmon can be pretty difficult to cook well since the meatier side of the fillet can be cooked just right while the thinner side is over cooked. This was the case here but the salty and crispy crust made up for its shortcomings.

Sirloin Cap - mashed potatoes, peppercorn sauce

Last entree of the night - the sirloin cap steak. I think this was my least favourite dish as I thought the meat was not as tender as I thought it would be. However, overall, the pungent peppercorn sauce, the creamy mashed potatoes and the sweet roasted root veggies rounded out the plate nicely.

 Eton Mess - raspberry, banana, vanilla, custard, sponge cake, cream & meringue

 

Taking one for the team, I ordered the Eton (written as "Eaten" on their menu) Mess for some variety on the dessert front. Both W and K-chan were not interested in this option. Since it's named "mess", it really was a jumble of ingredients in the bowl. The "mess" came across as a bit dry (perhaps not enough custard for my liking) and light in flavour so I wasn't very fond of this dessert.

 Chocolate Mousse - dark chocolate cake crumble

The chocolate mousse, on the other hand, was rich, thick and creamy. While K-chan thought the mousse was great, I found the chocolatey-ness of the mousse kind of monotonous. The bottom of the cup had some dark chocolate brownie-like cake to provide some textural respite from the abundant mousse. However, it was just the same flavour profile again. There needed to be something to contrast all that chocolate!

For $40, the quality of food and service at The Victor was pretty worth it. Even though prices have gone up over the years, I still like taking the opportunity to try restaurants that I normally would not consider. At this location, we even got to take in the views from the awesome roof top terrace and experience the new Parq casino! A good end to the night!

Rockcreek Seafood & Spirits, Seattle

4300 Fremont Avenue North
Seattle, WA

Ever since our dinner at Rockcreek more than a year ago in Seattle, I had been longing to go back! When I found out that they served brunch, I told W that we must try it on our next visit to the city!

Another lovely day in Seattle! We arrived late morning and got a table in their quieter, mezzanine area.

Since W and I already had our morning coffee at the hotel, our beverage of choice was orange juice. 

Bacon and Oyster Benedict ($17) - brioche, poached eggs, lemon-dijon hollandaise

I have a habit of looking at the menu online (if restaurants have theirs posted online) prior to visiting the restaurant. So, when we sat down I immediately knew what I was going to order XD

Their bacon and oyster eggs benedict sounded like an interesting combo on the menu. When it arrived, it looked amazing and indulgent! There were 3 pieces crispy fried oysters, 2 soft poached eggs, 2 long strips of smoked bacon, all on top of 2 thick pieces of brioche toast!! Of course, can't forget about the hollandaise sauce! The star of the plate were the oysters. The batter was perfectly crunchy while the oyster itself was cooked just so (*kisses finger tips Italian-style*) in that the flesh remained soft and creamy. This was yummy to the last bite!!

The Tar Pit ($16) - buttermilk biscuits, ham, poached eggs, lemon-dijon hollandaise, country gravy

W perused the menu for a bit before deciding on The Tar Pit. It also had 2 soft poached eggs on top of ham and biscuits before being slathered with country gravy and hollandaise sauce. I thought this was equally indulgent and filling. Definitely not for the faint of heart and the health nuts!

Here's another look at my Bacon and Oyster Benedict XD This was truly indulgent and coma-inducing but I wouldn't swap it for anything else!

Cacao 70 Sweet House

143 Chadwick Court
North Vancouver, BC

With the prominence of social media and "viral posts", it is no wonder that my picks in eateries would be influenced by the online world! After seeing amazing, drool-worthy photos of waffles from Cacao 70, I convinced W that we needed to try it out!

From Cacao 70's website, I saw that the North Vancouver location served brunch as well, so W and I went there early afternoon for a savoury and sweet meal. Located on the grounds of Lonsdale Quay, the eatery was situated near the water and had a nice view of the Burrard Inlet. The inside had a quaint 1940's diner decor but it seems that due to lack of staff, the inside was kind of messy with un-bussed tables and chairs strewn about.

Hangover Omelette ($13.75) - An omelette with bacon, roasted red peppers, green onions, mild white cheddar cheese and basil pesto. Served with toast, salad, and a fruit plate with a small chocolate fondue

The savoury brunch item we chose was the Hangover Omelette. It was not bad but it didn't look as amazing as I expected. Definitely felt like something that we could make at home. The menu stated that it would be served with potato wedges but toast was given instead. I was kind of disappointed about that.

The omelette also came with a fruit plate served with dipping chocolate. It is best to eat this first because when the chocolate became cooler, it hardened up like ganache so it was not suitable for dipping. I liked that it was dark chocolate which went nicely with the sweet fruit though.

 The Coffee High ($12.95) - Cacao 70 waffle and mini scoop of soft-serve vanilla ice cream, dipped with coffee chocolate, whipped cream, banana, java cake, caramel sauce and coffee beans

For the sweet half of our brunch, we went for The Coffee High waffle. Now THIS certainly looked impressive and decadent! There were a lot of things going on but I thought that was what caused its downfall. All of those things were sweet and combined together, it became immensely sugary and overbearing. We thought the ice cream was the best part of this combo. If we came back again, I think I would just order one of their dipped ice cream cones.

Welp, their waffles were indeed very photogenic, but otherwise I was, unfortunately, quite underwhelmed by the experience :(