I’ve been to Chambar once during Dine Out a couple years back as well as once during regular dinner time, and remember both being excellent experiences. This time was no exception, their reservations are always booked solid, so we had to settle for a 5pm reservation. Right off the bat, the venison carpaccio appetizer dish that I had ordered was much larger than I had imagined – there were at least 15 thin beef slices with soba to go with it. Tasted great. Next up I had the white wine based mussel dish (the other one was tomato sauce based). Their mussels were huge and plentiful as usual, with lots more hiding in the soup. I had a bit of the arctic char and braised shortrib as well, and they were nicely cooked. For dessert, I chose the “chocolate caramel bar,” which I thought was alright with salty sweet taste, but some people may not like it because of the caramel stickiness. The lemon meringue leaves a nice taste after the dinner.

Service was excellent – the waiter came by to wipe the tables after the entrees were taken away, and even folded my friend’s dinner napkin while he went away to the washroom.

Below is my selection:
Appetizer: Carpaccio de Chevreuil – Charred venison carpaccio, garlic chips, radishes, white soy & red wine reduction, soba noodle salad.
Entrée: Moules-Frites Coquotte & Congolaise – Mussels, white wine, cream, smoked bacon lardons, spring onions.
Dessert: Le Chocolat – Salted chocolate caramel bar, vanilla ice cream.

Everything was flawless except maybe if they had still offered the Belgian Waffle or a less sticky dessert. Overall I give it a 9.5!

I haven’t heard of this restaurant before – actually, I don’t think I’ve ever had a dine out in Richmond before, but my friend had booked it for his birthday, as it had quite a number of selections for its courses. For appetizer I had the crab cake with salsa & chipole sauce. It was rather delicious and the portion was quite big – nicely decorated was a plus! The soup of the day was Mushroom Soup, which I heard was quite good as well. We each tried a different entree, and this time my steak was cooked just right, medium-rare, leaving it quite juicy inside. The chicken dish was tender as well. I was already really full from dinner already, so I only had half the chocolate, and packed the other half to go. It was extra chocolaty and rich, with a tangy sour raspberry sauce to complement!

Most of the time a hotel’s not really known for its restaurant, but I was surprised by the dining experience that I would come back again.

Below is my selection:
Appetizer: Crab Cake – Local crab with corn-smoked tomato salsa & chipotle aioli
Entrée: Filet Mignon – Certified Angus beef topped with woodland mushroom sauce, creamy garlic Yukon gold mashed and asparagus
Dessert: Double Chocolate Cake – Dark chocolate cake with ganache icing served with raspberry sauce and seasonal berry

Overall I give it a 8.5!

Second dine out experience of this year goes to Sandbar on Granville Island. It’s part of the Sequoia Company which includes other restaurants like Teahouse in Stanley Park and Seasons in the Park. Apparently if you dine at all 4 of the participating Dine Out locations this year, you get a chance to win a prize pack (though I doubt if many people will do that…)

As for the food itself, I really liked the braised short ribs appetizer (in fact, I thought it was the best course of the night). Apparently the California Roll was pretty good – not sure how it compares to Japanese restaurants in town. As for the entree, I would say it was quite disappointing. I had asked for it to be cooked medium-rare as usual, but it was more like a medium well-done or even more, so the steak wasn’t that tender. The shrimps could’ve had more flavour or sauce to complement. As a whole, the dish didn’t stay hot for very long (I swear it wasn’t because I took photos in the beginning!) I had the apple strudel for dessert, which was quite typical, and I heard the pumpkin cake was just ok. If I ever come here next time, I would probably get a seafood main course.

It’s too bad that they have really good reviews online, but only a sub-par experience for Dine Out.

Below is my selection:
Appetizer: Lemongrass Braised Short Ribs; 5 spice crushed peanuts, chili scallion relish
Entrée: 4oz Chateau Rib Steak & Grilled Tiger Prawns; caramelized onion marmalade, creamed peppercorn demi-glace
Dessert: Apple Strudel; hint of star anise

Overall I give it a 6.

I’ve heard good things about Fleuri during dine out for its desserts, so we tried it out for my first DOV 2012 experience. It was a Monday evening so the place wasn’t too busy.

I had the tomato chowder to start, the clam flavour was pretty strong in the soup, although I had wished there were more actual clams. Tasted like a minestrone vegetable soup. As far as the entree goes, the braised beef texture was pretty tender, although it reminded me of beef brisket in Chinese cuisine. I also had a taste of the Buttermilk Chicken, it was kind of disappointing since the meat was on the dry side. For dessert, it was sort of a butterscotch flavoured crisp with gelato on the side – we said it reminded us of a snack in Taiwan, haha. The food was good but not quite up to expectations, and there was quite a long wait between the dishes coming out.

Below is my selection:
Appetizer: BC Clam and Tomato Chowder, vegetables, tarragon essence, crab fritter
Entrée: 24-Hour Braised Beef Flat Iron, root vegetables, tiroler bacon jus, onion horseradish
Dessert: Butterscotch, Vanilla Chamomile Gelato and Passion Fruit Coup

Overall I give it a 6.5.

Once I had a bite of their cakes, I knew why that place still had so many people late at night. The Chocolate Obsession was very very rich, and I don’t think I’ve had a quite a “hazelnuty-flavoured” cake (not even sure if that’s a word) with so much big chunks of the nut as the Chocolate Hazelnut Zuccotto. Quite a treat!

Suika is another Japanese izakaya restaurant (much like Guu) located on Broadway and Fir in Vancouver. ‘Suika’ actually means watermelon in Japanese – interesting. They replaced a Thai restaurant that was at that location. They’ve got a 88% rating on Urbanspoon and is one of the top Japanese restaurants in town. It was no surprise that they were still quite packed on a Wednesday night.

We ordered a variety of food from salads to fresh seafood to pressed sushi, an overall good mix. Their seafood is fresh, salad is well flavoured. The ma-po rice cake and Ebi-mayo could use a bit more work. Dish size wise they are about what you would expect from an izakaya place, and expect to spend roughly $20 per person to satisfy your stomach.

Their prices were pretty reasonable at about $10 for an appetizer (which can almost double as an entree), $25-$30 for an entree, and ~$8 for dessert. We started with some bread, which this one I found to be one of the better ones! (I’m picky about my bread, heh). I got some awesome BC mussels with chirozo and tomato (big, fat juicy mussels – delicious by the way) as appetizer, duck three-ways as main, and an apple and calvados parfait to finish off. Great food!

I chose the Dungeness Crab for appetizer, Pulled Pork Sandwich for entree, and the Soufflé of the Day for dessert. The food was great. We had to wait on a couple of occasions, but as Sonny says, it can only get better.

If you just want some dessert, definitely try the soufflé. The combo with the sorbet was excellent.