I brought my local Vancouver project team for a little celebration for meeting a critical phase of project deadline. Those guys and gals had been working lots of overtime and weekends and had a major delivery completed on schedule. They all truly deserved a break, a time to sit back and celebrate a job well done.

So, to celebrate we went to the Chambar Restaurant. Chambar is a popular Belgian restaurant located on Beatty St in Vancouver. Unless you already know Chambar, a lot of people don’t even know it exists. From the outside you would easily miss this place because the restaurant does not stand out at all.

We ordered from their Dine Out Vancouver menu. It is $25 … and is a much more better deal food wise than some of the $35 ones I tried earlier. Some had the “La Salade” … the La Salade de Cresson – Watercress & endive salad, red wine poached pear, candied pecans, shallot crisps, gorgonzola dressing.

For me, I had the “la prawns” … Crevettes de safran – Saffron marinated prawns, peashoot & soba noodle salad. Spiced raita. Nice large prawns.

I ordered an extra sides of what they call Belgian Poutine. I had always thought that poutine is very Canadian, very Quebecy. The difference between this was that they used BLUE CHEESE on it. I know, I know … I hate blue cheese but I thought I give it one more try. Did I like it better this time? Unfortunately … no.

I almost always order the same thingy at Chambar — the “la mussels”. That is my easy way out of trying to pronounce “Moules Frites – Congolaise – Mussels cooked with fresh tomato, smoked chilli & cilantro with a touch of coconut cream and lime”. You MUST try this. Served in a “la pot” with an overly-high lid for the “la mussel shells”.

There is only one way to open up the lid. Place your nose next to it and just let the waft of delicious soup spread. It’s a lot of mussels in the pot.

Not only that there is lots of mussels, they also so fleshy and yummy. The soup is not to be wasted. The soup by itself is like another course. I also go some bread to dunk it in the soup. I took my time to finish this off. The others who ordered the trout or beef finished way before me. I enjoyed this … very much.

Most ordered the “la beef” … “Boeuf braise a la biere – Chambar ale braised beef short ribs. Rosemary pomme puree, cranberry jam”. The beef is so tiny … seems like it barely touched 4 oz. It was stacked very prettily though.

For dessert, everyone had the “la waffle” … or in other words, the “Gaufre Liegoise – Belgian waffle with house-made vanilla ice-cream, chocolate sauce & Belgian chocolate tuile”. This was super delicious although the waffle is so tiny. Yummy!

We all had a great time … a really, really great time. A few drinks too loosen up everyone. I always find that this sort of celebrations does wonder for building team dynamics. I am so glad for the privilege to work with such a talented, committed and respectful team. Another phase done … and more to come!!

Total bill came up to almost $500 for eleven of us. That included drinks, sides, tax and an automatic 18% service charge (What?!? 18%?). I’ll worry about putting this through my expense account next week.

If you have not visited Chambar before I highly recommend that you do. It is inexpensive, the service is great, and most importantly, the food is superb. Oh … don’t forget to order the “la mussels”.

That’s it … this is the last in the series of Dine Out Vancouver 2007. I hope you enjoyed reading this series as much as I had enjoyed blogging about it. Back to regular programming tomorrow …