Alta Bistro

We went to the Alta Bistro for dinner tonight. We just arrived in Whistler and decided we didn't feel like cooking. After looking on urbanspoon, we found Alta had fairly good ratings at the price between casual and fine dining. I always like a place that offers online reservations. We called because their first reservation online was at 9pm. They said someone "just cancelled" and they had a spot at the bar available at 8:15pm. I told them we will go somewhere else and "conveniently" enough they had another table top available in half an hour. We decided to accept, but it makes me wonder why they didn't offer that first and made the restaurant sound busier than it actually is.

When we got there at 5:30pm, the place was empty. There were two servers standing at the POS machine, and we waited what we thought were too long to get noticed. I think they need a hostess.

We didn't get to see the whole restaurant but the decor seems nice. Our server was friendly, but I think it may be his first night. After we ordered, we couldn't get his attention at all. There was another server / bartender who was more helpful than he was.

As appetizer, we ordered:

Alberta Elk Tartar & Duck Liver Parfait ($15)

This was a solid dish. It wasn't too bland like most tartar dishes would taste, nor was it fatty, given the duck liver. Unfortunately, it was a very small dish and it didn't come with anything. Usually when you order something like this, the restaurant would provide baguette slices or chips for the tartar. If they don't, the server should let you know.

We had to wait so long to get someone's attention just to add a half order of bread ($3).

It came with some oil and white bean paste, which kind of tasted like guacamole. If that was why they charge for bread I think they're better off just giving us oil and balsamic vinegar.

Our main dish was the Roasted Venison and Braised Beef Shin ($35).

The venison was perfectly cooked and so tender. If it actually had fat in it, it would probably melt in your mouth, how soft it was.

I don't recall seeing or tasting any beef shin.

The mushrooms were so well marinated and flavorful. The sunflower seeds were also a good addition.

As a wine pairing, I ordered the Tannat/Merlot Brumont from Gascogne, France. My partner ordered the G.S.M., Romain Duvernay from Costieres de Nimes. The GSM was fuller bodied than the merlot and much easier to drink. The merlot was a little acidic for my taste.

Overall, the food was solid but the service did not make up for the price.

Asian Pork Stir Fry

Tonight's dinner was inspired by the 20 minute recipe from Better Homes and Garden (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pork/jamaican-pork-stir-fry/). The original recipe called for Jamaican all spice, but I don't like the taste so I substituted it with my own spice.

Ingredients:

- 2 tbsp oil

- 16 oz frozen vegetables

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1 tsp onion powder

- 1 tsp ginger powder

- 12 oz stir fry pork

- 1/3 cup hoi sin sauce

- half pack rice noodle

Steps:

1) Start boiling enough water to cover rice noodles. Once it boils, add the rice noodles and cook approximately 2 minutes.

2) Heat the oil in a wok on medium high. Once heated, add the vegetables.

2) The vegetables will need to cook about 5 minutes until crisp-tender. While it is cooking, toss the pork in ginger, garlic, and onion powder.

3) Once the vegetables are cooked, remove and place aside. Cook the pork for 2-3 minutes or until the pink is gone.

4) Once the pork is cooked, add the hoisin sauce. Toss and make sure everything is coated.

5) Mix in te vegetables. Turn off heat and add mix in the rice noodles (Note: I cut the noodles with scissors before adding it so it would be easier to serve).

6) Once everything is mixed well, serve.

7) Srirachi is optional.

Mustard Chicken

Today's recipe was from Better Homes and Garden (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/chicken-dijonnaise/) - with minor revisions of course.

Ingredients:

- 4 chicken thighs (they were cheaper)

- 1/4 all purpose flour

- 1/4 tsp ground pepper

- 1 small leek (they don't sell single green onions at the market)

- 2 tbsp margarine

- 1/3 cup whipping cream

- 3 tbsp Jalepeno honey mustard (from Leavenworth)

- 3 tbsp white wine

We also made rice on the side and mixed in some frozen vegetables approximately 8 minutes before removing the rice from heat.

Instructions:

1) Mix the flour and pepper.

2) Coat the chicken with the flour mixture.

3) Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat.

4) Place the chicken skin down in the skillet and cook, without moving, for 15 minutes until it is golden brown. If it starts to burn, turn the heat down a bit.

5) While waiting for the chicken, dice and wash te leek.

6) Also while the chicken is cooking, mix the whipping cream, mustard, and wine.

7) When the chicken is brown, flip an cook for another 20-30 minutes.

8) When the chicken is cooked, set aside, keeping the drippings in the skillet.

9) Add the leek to the drippings.

10) Cook until limp, approximately 2 minutes.

11) Add the mustard mixture in.

12) Cook 2-3 minutes until thick.

13) Serve sauce on chicken and rice - didn't even need srirachi since the mustard had a Jalepeno kick to it.

Benjarong

Went to Benjarong today.

Although it's sad that Transylvania had to close, we really enjoyed what we had today:

The Drunken Stir Fry Chicken;

The server was kind enough to ask if we wanted mild, medium, or spicy. I can take only a little bit of spice, and the medium was perfect. Spicy enough to heat your lips and tongue, but not so spicy you can't eat it.

And the Roasted Duck Red Curry.

The curry came with some rice, but it wasn't enough for the amount of sauce in the curry. We ended up ordering another one. It was supposed to be medium spiced, but it wasn't spicy at all. The curry was sweet, I could have drunk it as soup.

At the end, we didn't have to order dessert as they gave us complimentary taro and tapioca with coconut milk. Delicious! It was salty and sweet at the same time so that it wasn't overwhelming at all.

Overall, well worth a visit!

Provence Marinaside

I went to the Provence Marinaside in Yaletown for dinner last night. My friend chose it based on whether they had enough space for five on Sunday night and also served seafood. When she chose it, I was a bit outraged at the prices.

I ordered the Chef Specialty, Rack of Lamb:

As you can see, the rack of lamb were cooked quite perfectly at medium rare. There were potato slices on the side topped with cheese, carrots, and spinach - all cooked perfectly as well.

For dessert, I ordered the double chocolate kahlua cake. I didn't really taste the kahlua, but it was very chocolate-y.

My friend thought it was too rich, but if you took a bit of the cream in each bite, the lightness from the cream nicely balances the denseness of the cake.

Overall, it was a pretty good dinner - I only ate half the rack of lamb, so it was enough for two meals. It's up to you to decide whether or not it will be worth the money spent.

I personally thought it was worth it because the server was so friendly and attentive. Usually, as an Asian, I get the feeling servers don't like to serve us because there's a stereotype we don't tip well. I also used to be a server and hated it when diners ordered hot water. However, our server was very accommodating. Two of my friends arrived earlier and one ordered iced water while the other ordered hot water. When I arrived, the server asked if I wanted hot or cold water. He was a quick learner. I ordered a room temperature water just to test him out and he was professional and took it like it was just another glass of water. I later ordered a glass of red wine from France - I forget the name though. He kept up his game all night, even when the five of us shared two desserts.