The Dine Out Vancouver event ran from Jan 15 to 31 in 2016. Emily, Marian, Lorna and I met up at CAVU Kitchen Bar before two of the ladies travel back to their home country to celebrate Chinese New Year.
We arrived around 5:30PM and the restaurant was not busy yet. If you dine here, register your license plate number at the front desk to avoid a parking ticket.
Since, there were four of us, we had the chance to order everything from the dine out menu. By the way, the dine out menu price is $30.
The first appetizer was Tandoori Spiced Calamari served with a pappadom, cabbage, tomato chutney and cucumber raita. We thought the calamari was over breaded.
We had two servings of the second appetizer which was Poached Beet with Goat Cheese. Celery. Walnut Granola and Grainy Mustard. The only item which stood up here was the sweetish Walnut Granola.
The third appetizer was Arrancini Pork Belly served with Apple Gel, Arrabiata Sauce and Grana Padano. The slightly spicy Arrabiata sauce was a nice complement. There were also some rice croquettes (we thought so because of its texture) that came with it. The pork belly piece was really small. We could barely cut it into 4 pieces to share.
For entree, the above was Seared Halibut with Cannelini Bean Ragu, Current, Basil, Chili and Smoked Olive Oil. It was a decent size entree.
The next entree was Braised Beef Shin on a bed of Carrots Puree with Peas, Mushroom, Port Wine, Horseradish and Pommes Dauphine. The beef shin was tender and this was the biggest size entree among three.
We made a mistake of ordering a double of the above entree. We thought of getting something healthier as it was a vegetarian entree. The entree was Green Peas & Mint Fritters with Carrot Hummus, Zucchini Carpaccio, Turnip, Crest and Yogurt.
It was indeed a very green entree but only came in 1 piece. It was a very small entree.
Our choice of dessert include the above Caramel Pot Du Creme with Pink Salt and Candied Nuts. The salt added extra crunch and contrast of taste to the sweet caramel. I love this dessert.
The second dessert offered in the dine out menu was dessert jar from their regular menu. We had one of each of the three dessert jar available. The above was Tiramisu with lady fingers and cocoa nibs. It was a creamy dessert.
The second dessert jar was Black Forest Cake made of chocolate sponge cake, real cream, cherries and chocolate. I felt that the chocolate sponge cake was on the dry side.
The last dessert jar was Apple Crumble Pie. It was quite cinammony and tangy.
The bill came to $36 per person including tax and tips.
Emily and Marian, we wish both of you a good trip and have a happy Chinese New Year reunion with family and friends.