Dockside Restaurant

The third Dine Out ’08 experience took place at Dockside Restaurant at Granville Island Hotel. I was going to try it in 2007, but ended up switching to a reservation at Chambar. This year I have returned to give this a try.

On Food

I think its food was great. The seasoning wasn’t over-powering and the flavour was good. I liked the lamb chops and the crème brule. The crème brule would be even better without the chocolate brownie at the bottom. The chocolate brownie was too strong. On the other hand, I was a little surprised that bread was not served. We actually had to order some bread. It was served with butter and chopped olives - it didn't taste good.

On Presentation

Presentation was good, too. There’s certainly room for improvement (such as the big slice of bell pepper and the huge chunk of mint jelly in the lamb chop dish), but it’s pretty good for what they are doing right now.

On Environment

We were seated next to a fireplace, so that was nice. Overall, the restaurant is really warm and cozy. And I like the fact that it is an open kitchen, so customers can see over the counter what the chefs are doing.

On View

Several lucky couples would get a good view every night, because they can only seat 2 at the tables that are by the windows. Part of the view is the False Creek, and part of it is looking at the Yacht dock. After all, the restaurant is called Dockside.

On Service

There wasn’t anything negative about the service. In fact, I like how every time they sent 2 people to serve our food so everyone at the table would get the food at the same time (there were 6 of us). One server was a little shaky when he’s collecting the dishes.

Dockside Restaurant

Food: 8
Presentation: 8
Environment: 8.5
View: 8
Service: 8.5
Overall: 8.2

Photos

Appetizer: Creamed Leek and Smoked Black Cod Veloute

Appetizer: ManZanilla Sherry Marinated Beet Salad

Bread that we needed to pay for.

Entree: Lavender Macadamia Nut Breaded Lamb Chops (The lamb chops were good, but found the risotto a bit too gluey. )

Entree: Malaysian Red Chilli and Yellow Coconut Chicken

Entree: Slow Roasted AAA Alberta Striploin

Dessert: Chocolate Brownie Creme Brule (Everyone gets the same dessert. I didn't like the brownie at the bottom of the ramekin.)

Cloud 9 Revolving Restaurant

The second Dine Out ’08 experience took place at Cloud 9 Revolving Restaurant at Empire Landmark Hotel. I’ve always wanted to go to this restaurant but its menu in the past few years weren’t as appealing, so I didn’t get to try it until this year.

On Food

Walking into the restaurant I didn’t have high expectation on the food. I was there more for the view than the food. Food was okay, but the dishes weren’t spectacular, just some ordinary dishes that one can get at a Northwestern restaurant.

On Presentation

Plating was mediocre. Also using white plates and minimal garnish, Cloud 9’s presentation does not add the elegance touch to the dishes like Five Sails does. Here their goal seems to be just getting the food out without extra hassle.

On Environment

The restaurants is actually part restaurant, part lounge. I saw a piano in the lounge area, which means that sometimes a pianist may play live to entertain customers. That’s not a bad idea. I’d enjoy my time there more so than without live music. There was no live music the day I was there, but overall the environment was quite nice combining the candle lights with a great view of Vancouver.

On View

The view didn’t disappoint me. 360 around Vancouver and the weather was excellent the day I was there – it is the best location to see the whole Vancouver. It took about 1.5 hours to go around once, which is reasonable as each seating is estimated for 1.5 hours. You get to go around at least once before your dining service is over. A great place to entertain visitors.

On Service

My reservation was at 7:30pm but I didn’t get seated until close to 8pm! Why? I think they were under-staffed. WAY under-staffed. The greeter was also the coat check, table setter and table cleaner. For a Sunday evening during the Dine Out period, I was really disappointed by their staff situation.

Cloud 9 Restaurant

Food: 7
Presentation: 6
Environment: 8.5
View: 10
Service: 7
Overall: 7.7 (The view definitely saved them from scoring low)

Photos

Appetizer: Tomato and Gin Soup

Appetizer: Classic Caesar Salad

Entree: Charbroiled Rib-eyed Steak (The sauce was a bit salty)

Entree: Classic Grilled Salmon with Popcorn Shrimp (The popcorn shrimp was more like deep-fried tempura batter, barely found the shrimps)

Dessert: Chef's Choice Dessert - Cheesecake with mango and raspberry sauce

Five Sails Restaurant

My first Dine Out ’08 experience took place at Five Sails Restaurant at Pan Pacific Hotel. Because it’s a 5-star restaurant, quite frankly I had high expectation. My reservation was at 8pm. The restaurant actually didn’t accept any Dine Out reservation from 7pm to 8pm so when we got there at 7:35pm, they were cleaning up and getting ready for the 8pm service. We ended up walking around the hotel till about 7:50pm before we were seated.

On Food

The food was good. Food portion was on the small side but the taste was good. I liked the scallop appetizer as well as the chocolate torte for dessert. Both can be ordered from the regular menu at $18 and $13, respectively. The entrées were ordinary.

On Presentation

The food presentation was really simple: white plates and simple garnish. They didn’t go crazy on sauces or extra things to add more colours to the dishes - which is not necessarily a bad thing - it focuses your attention to the food, to the main ingredients. Must compliment on the presentation of the chocolate torte; everyone loves it when they see the picture.

On Environment

For a 5-star restaurant, for a restaurant located at Pan Pacific Hotel, its décor was too uninspiring. It’s chic, no doubt, but it doesn’t have any class. You can find the same décor, if not better, at any Dine Out restaurant. Because the colour scheme is white, it doesn’t have the warm and cozy ambiance that some restaurants would have. I guess that’s there class.

On View

Combined with the view, I think $35 was a great deal dining at this restaurant. The view was great at the restaurant, looking over the waterfront. Looking out from the window, we saw that the new BC Ferry vessel, Coastal Renaissance, was in exhibition. Unfortunately from where I sat, my view was partially blocked by the new convention centre. If they will have a restaurant at the new convention centre, its view will be even better!

On Service

It wasn't very busy on that day, so they served the food in lightning speed. I finished the dinner within 1 hour. For a 5-star restaurant, I'm a little bit disappointed by the quality of the service. There were services, but they weren't superb. The servers were more like "doing their job" and I didn't feel very welcoming. It almost seemed to me that they didn’t care for people who were cheap enough to dine there for a $35 Dine Out menu. The servers had some attitudes.

Five Sails Restaurant

Food: 8.5
Presentation: 9
Environment: 7.5
View: 9
Service: 6.5

Overall: 8.1 (They would have a much higher score if services were better.)

Photos

Complimentary appetizer for everyone: Ahi tuna sashimi

Appetizer: Roasted butternut squash soup

Appetizer: Pan seared Weathervane scallop (small portion, but it was pretty good)

Entree: Tiger prawns wrapped in pancetta

Entree: Duo of Alberta beef

Dessert: Okanagan apple tarte tatin

Dessert: Flourless chocolate torte (YUMMMMMM)

Dine Out Vancouver 2008

It's what we've been waiting for! The Dine Out Vancouver 2008 has returned with more restaurants and more fabulous menus. Restaurants once again will prepare 3-course dinners at cost of $15, $25 or $35.

http://www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/dining/dineout.php

Restaurants that I'm interested in going include:

• Sanafir
• Rare
• La Gavroche
• Cloud 9
• Observatory

Decisions will be made upon the release of the menu.