Dine Out Vancouver 2007 – Chambar Restaurant

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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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”.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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 …

Chambar on Urbanspoon

This Post Has 0 Comments

  1. tigerfish

    Desserts look divine.
    I love mussels in a pot – make me miss mussels in brussels 😀

  2. Chubbypanda

    Hey Ben,

    I checked out your project blog. The team looks like a fun bunch!

  3. iportion

    The wafel looks real good

    If I was cooking, I would have picked another cheese for the fries blue cheese is a bit overdone at fancy restaurants

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