Flying Pig (Athlete's Village)

We had originally planned to go to Bao Down because we had heard good things. Called in the afternoon, were told reservations were full, but they save half their seats for walk in's so we should be fine. Got there at 7, there were empty tables, but were told they couldn't even give an estimate until 8. Would've just preferred if they'd said nothing was available when we'd called.

Luckily for us, The Flying Pig was right next door. I'd wanted to try the one in gastown for a while but haven't been able to get anyone to go with me. We walked in and got seated immediately. It looked busier than the empty tables at Bao Down. It's also way bigger.

Great service from the start. Generous portion of actually warm bread. Food and drinks came really quickly. They even split our dish for us at no extra charge.

We had the seafood pappardelle. I have a feeling they gave us extra pasta after they split the plate because the plate was so big I couldn't finish mine.

The pappardelle was cooked perfectly and the sauce was very well seasoned. I loved the subtle spice that was detectable but not overwhelming. Mussels and clams were cooked perfectly.

As a side we had the truffled cauliflower which was also cooked perfectly. Soft yet still crunchy at the same time. The truffle was there but not overwhelming.

Overall a great experience and the server even split the bill perfectly before we asked / told her to. It's a dangerous thing to live so close to it because we'll likely return many more times.

CinCin Restaurant & Bar

Went to CinCin with some friends for a birthday. I had been here previously for a work dinner. Interestingly enough there was another branch in Daejeon that I used to frequent. That branch in Daejeon was actually my first experience of CinCin. It was one of the rare places I went to for meals whilst in Korea because I really didn't have a lot of choices.

I had the Tuscan Style Braised Duck Breast, pappardelle, red wine, tomato, black pepper. It's not on their online menu - I can only assume they'd run out of short rib and replaced it with duck breast. I had the small portion and added 2g of black truffle. At first, I couldn't really taste the truffle. But then I mixed it in to the oil and grease at the bottom of the plate and then it was delicious.

The duck was seasoned well and very tender. Another friend of mine had the same dish without the truffles but says it was too salty. I tasted the meat by itself, while well seasoned, I didn't think it was overly salty. Once you add the pappardelle to the bite, then it's perfectly balanced.

For dessert the five of us shared the Tiramisu, the fall spice panna cotta, and the macarons.

The fall spice panna cotta was like a pumpkin spice latte in solid form. The spice in the ginger crumbs were so aromatic and warm. It was the taste of Thanksgiving. The Panna Cotta itself was creamy but not gooey. It had set very well.

The marcarons were kind of a disappointment. Although I personally enjoyed the green tea flavoured one. My friends did not enjoy the others. They said that all they tasted was cream and they all taste the same.

Lastly the Tiramisiu was quite different from what you'd normally get. The ladyfingers were soaked with so much espresso, it was a mush in the bottom of the shot glass. And the taste itself was so strong of espresso you hardly tasted anything else. We also found the mascarpone was diluted with too much whipping cream, making it a lot lighter in texture than normal. I don't blame them, as mascarpone is so much more expensive than whipping cream. But honestly, I expected something more authentic from an Italian restaurant that charges you $12.50 for this tiny shot glass. The biscotti were a pleasant surprise though. It had a great balance of coffee and chocolate flavour.

When I first came I enjoyed the food. I didn't have to pay for it so I was in a great mood. I wouldn't have returned if not at the request of the birthday girl. I thought there were many more Italian restaurants in the city that had more bang for the buck. For example, the now closed down Quatro. The food is good, the service is good. It's just so darn expensive. Especially with all the good Italian food in the city, I will not return. But I will recommend if someone is looking for a fancy place to take someone for a special occasion.

Burdock & Co

Went to Burdock & Co for dinner with some friends. On my way there, I had a happy hour pint at Cascade and was told that Burdock has some really good food. Expectations were high. Was not disappointed at all.

The decor was what I would call "Rustic Chic" (learned that from HGTV). The stools looked like they would be uncomfortable, but was surprisingly comfortable for the entirety of the dinner.

This is a tapas style place - which usually means small plates, and they recommend two plates per person. Luckily, all of us normally eat half a plate so we ordered four dishes to share. We started with the Char-Grilled Morel Mushrooms, Pickled Cherries, Goat Camembert Cheese. I personally loved the dish. The mushrooms were flavourful and moist, and the goat camembert cheese was not overpowering at all. My companions, not so much - they thought the mushrooms looked weird and didn't like the texture.

I ordered the special of the night: seared duck breast with balsamic glaze. The duck was seared to a perfect medium. The flavour was subtle, but the balsamic glaze was strong. All in all, a solid dish.

My friend ordered the Spicy Tomato Glazed Bison Ribs - which I had wanted to order at first, before I heard the special. The meat fell off the bones, but was still a little tough - maybe that's just Bison meat for you. The flavours were great though.

My other friend ordered the Caramelized Pork and Fennel Ragu with Pappardelle Pasta. I think Pappardelle is my favourite kind of pasta. This was cooked perfectly al dente and was perfectly soaked in all the glorious grease of the pork . The pork was very flavourful, and very liberally added to the dish.

Service was great, we were told we only had a two hour seating period, but was never rushed. Constantly had our water pitcher refilled. Was well attended. I think I will recommend and maybe return.

Ask For Luigi

We went to Ask For Luigi because it was in the dine out list but we never ended up going.

We'd called earlier for a table at 6pm, but were told reservations were full and if we arrived at 6pm, we'd probably just need to wait 15-30 minutes. We arrived when they opened at 5:30pm, and pretty much got seated right away. Not really anyone waiting at all the entire time we were there and wasn't actually full.

The restaurant was HOT! Apparently, new windows are getting installed next week (week of July 20, 2014), so visit after then.

We had the marrow escargot as appetizer. They were okay, didn't really have as much flavour or as good of a mouth feel as the ones from The Keg - which is odd since it was cooked on marrow.

Then we had the pappardelle duck ragu as main course. The pasta was perfectly cooked to an al dente, the sauce was a balanced tartness, and the duck was well distributed. All in all a good dish, and big enough to share.

Unfortunately, one of our friends found a strand of hair in her dish - though I suspect it could be hers since everyone in the kitchen had their hair tied up and you can see their kitchen is very clean. Nonetheless, the host (owner?) took the dish off the bill - which was very nice of him since my friend had pretty much finished her plate by then.

We didn't stay for dessert because it was just too hot.

All in all, it was a pleasant experience - the service was professional and quick and the food was well prepared. I'm not sure if I will return as the dishes were a little overpriced for what it is - i.e. Compared to Quattro, and there's not a lot of choices for your main dish aside from pasta. We also didn't like the location. There's nothing there! And the streets smelled of urine the whole time we were walking towards the building. Would probably recommend other italian restaurants before Luigi, and would probably visit something else if I were in the area. Take from that what you will.

Yaletown L'Antipasto

The last dine out of 2014 and with a great crowd.

A few of us got off work early so we met up at the restaurant first. It was so hard to find, we all walked right past it. I had to look for the address to find it and my friends only found it when I waved at them.

Since we arrived an hour early, they decided to completely ignore us until 6:30pm - though, they did pour water for us and bring us the menu. They also brought the drink menu but didn't ask if we wanted to order drinks. I wanted to order a scotch to keep me warm while we waited for the rest of the party to show up.

Our fourth member showed up right on time and I was able to tell our server we can order while we wait for the last member. Our last member was running behind and by the time the beef tenderloin carpaccio showed up, she was still on her way. Our server was professional enough to realize the heat lamp will warm the carpaccio and offered to put her dish in the fridge while we wait.

The beef carpaccio was a little oily. Luckily we had bread that wasn't served when we were seated to absorb the oil. Maybe that was the purpose of the bread and that's why they didn't serve us bread when we sat down. We were served olives instead, which is a bold choice since not many people like olives.

As main course I ordered the pappardelle rosse. It was pretty tasty. The pasta was al dente and the ribs, chicken and sausage added really good and complex flavour to it. The only downside was that it too was very greasy / oily. Luckily, I eat from picking food off the top. I packed half of the pasta home and was able to avoid the oil collected on the bottom of the dish.

As dessert I ordered the vanilla panna cotta. Solid dessert. Not too sweet and very creamy. Maybe too creamy because the mouth feel was more like a creme brûlée than a gelatin. It should be in the middle.

Overall an alright experience. Plus side, we got tonnes of chocolate with our bill - which was thrown at us, but hey, the restaurant was crowded.