At lunchtime yesterday, I managed to make it out with a couple of friends to the newly opened Corner Suite restaurant in downtown Vancouver (at Thurlow and Smithe).  While they just opened last Friday (February 5th), they started a lunch service earlier this week.

When walking up to the building, we noticed some baby blue chairs through the windows, contrasting to the black leather-looking bench seats closer to the bar.  The tables had a dark marble look to them, and when we walked in, the seats almost reminded one of the girls with me (let’s call her M) of a large-sized version of a Barbie playhouse.

I thought that the chairs were really unique though, and liked how they likely spray-painted them with a textured lacquer to give them a bit of a different feel.  It did throw me off a little though in that when I touched it, I wasn’t expecting it to feel the way it did (and I’m a very tactile person – if I am drawn to something, I will touch it – it gets me in trouble sometimes!), and my girlfriend almost felt like the paint was going to rub off on her clothing (although of course it wouldn’t).

The room is separated between a dining area and a bar along the back wall – this place seems like it could be fun during the evening, for dinner and drinks on the weekend.  Apparently, they play rock music and the atmosphere becomes totally different – much louder and livelier.

While we were trying to decide on what to have, a French server brought over an amuse bouche to enjoy, made up of gruyere, and a few other things – I missed a lot of what she was saying since she had a great thick accent, no matter what it was would’ve sounded good!  As a result, I’m not sure what these were called, but they had a light cheesy flavour and were tantalizing to our tastebuds.  I could’ve had a few more of those easily…

Amuse Bouche

Finally, after hemming and hawing and being completely indecisive, I decided to go with a virgin drink that was a Peach Puree and Tonic mixture.  The drink menu is quite large, and in addition to several cocktails, wines and other spirits, we were told to enjoy the artwork within its pages as it was all original and done by the owners. The drink wasn’t too sweet, but the peach tasted absolutely delicious, and if it were any other time than a Wednesday afternoon I would’ve just added some gin (or maybe vodka?) in it and be good to go!

Peach Puree and Tonic

My indecisiveness continued – my girlfriends both had made their choices, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go with a couple of the Petits Plats instead of one of the larger choices, so we continued to eat the Bread with Olive and Paprika Butter in the meanwhile.  Although I liked the idea of the spread, it didn’t have enough punch to it to really even decipher that there was anything much added to it – I actually had to ask again if it was olive or something else.  So it’s a good idea, but maybe needs more in terms of execution – it just tasted pretty much like plain butter to me.

Bread and Paprika and Olive Butter

After a good amount of time had passed, I decided to order both a Petits Plats (which we all decided to share), in addition to an entree – if you can’t choose, why not have it all!  So we started off with the Crispy Pigs Ear, served with sweet breads, onion soubise, and shallot and parsley sauce and kale.  I really enjoyed all of the components of this when eaten together as a whole, but would not recommend each item on its own (which is probably how it’s meant to be eaten anyway).  The ear was coated in a very crispy batter which I loved, although it kind of hid the ear and I barely noticed when I was crunching down on it.  Overall, it was very rich and felt like a decadent beginning to our meal.

Crispy Pigs Ear

My girlfriend had the Skate Wing with gnocchi, green beans, almonds, and lemon hollandaise – while I’ve never had this type of fish before, I will definitely order it again whenever I have the choice.  This was definitely my favourite dish of the day, and sometimes I kick myself for trying not to order something just because someone else is having it.  But at least I know what I’ll get next time I go!  The green beans were young and crisp, and the gnochhi was cooked so there was a slight browning on the outer edges.  The skate was tender and moist and I was told that she thought her choice was “Delightful!”  Luckily, she let me try some of it. Also, it was very colourful and a great-looking dish to welcome spring (a little early, but it sure feels like it already).

Skate Wing

M and myself both went with the Duck Confit, with lentils, pearl onions, kale and a sour cherry sauce (okay, so I know I just ended up ordering the same thing as someone else and should’ve just stuck with my gut and had the skate).  Again, the fowl meat was very tender and moist, and the skin was excellent and crispy.  I loved the pieces of cherry on the plate, and the lentils were also done really well – those little things have sure been growing on my lately!  Did you know that lentils have the second-most protein per gram of any food on the market (next to hemp seed)?

Duck Confit

Once we were done our meals, we still had some room to squeeze in dessert, and since we couldn’t decide, we took one of each – it worked out well that there were three items available so we all could share.  The Paper Bag Beignets were probably my least favourite of the bunch, although one of the girls with me liked them the most.  I found the large paper bag that the tiny little doughnuts came in to be so overwhelming in comparison to what we found inside.  The cinnamon sugar coating was great, however, I was hoping that the doughnuts would be softer than they were – they seemed a bit dense to me.

Paper Bag Doughnuts

What I found to be the best dessert of the afternoon was the Sticky Toffee Pudding, topped with vanilla bean ice cream.  While the cake itself is a little heavy, it was still delicious, especially when dipped into all of the gorgeous toffee lining the bowl.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

The Chocolate Pot de Creme wasn’t really all that special to me – while I liked the presentation in the coffee cup, served with a crispy, flaky biscuit, the chocolate itself was quite bitter (something that I’ve never been a fan of).  Dark chocolate fans, this is one that would probably better be suited to you!

Chocolate Pot de Creme

There is also a 24/7 menu daily special for $24.07 all day, every day.  It comes with an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert.  This would be good to try at dinner sometime.

All in all, I liked this place.  It’s somewhere I will come back to again during an evening next time to check out the vibe with dinner and drinks.  While some thought that the blue chairs and design seemed a bit ‘little-girl’ like, I thought it was different and unique.

Corner Suite Bistro de Luxe
850 Thurlow St.
Vancouver, BC, V6E 1W2
604.569.3415
View Map

Overall:
Food:
Service:
Atmosphere:
Price: $$$

The Olympics are over . The Canadian team did a fantastic job and romped home with a bucketful of gold medals…

I am proud to say I am Canadian and sour grapes to my whinging pom cousins.

Now from March 1, 2010, you can once again redeem your certificates at your favourite restaurants.

Eat and enjoy.. the restaurants have missed you.

You can still purchase certificates and use them from next Monday, March 1st onwards.

Enjoy the Olympics.. we certainly are!

The Food Network, has asked Letsgofordinner to help them find new
restaurants and new restauranteurs for their show The Opener.

Check out The Opener Trailer

Are you about to open your first restaurant or know someone who is?
Are you or they Overwhelmed? Overworked? Overdrawn? If so, the Food
Network wants to hear from you.

In this new documentary series Iron Chef and star of Restaurant
Makeover, Chef David Adjey helps first-time restaurateurs open their
dream restaurant – often with their life’s savings on the line. Dave is
a rock star in the restaurant world – untamed, smart and North America’s
most sought-after consultant. He’s both an artist and a bottom-line guy
and knows that food must be delicious and profitable.

Whether you’re planning to serve Global Fusion Cuisine or gluten-free
burgers, nouvelle pub grub or corn-themed desserts, he’ll help clarify
your vision and identify problems. With the clock ticking towards
opening night it won’t be easy, but for Dave, that’s the fun of it.

We’re looking for variety and creativity-in each episode our resto
rookies are utterly different from one another, and so are their dreams.
David commits himself to doing whatever it takes to get the doors open,
and the business spun for success…..

If you’re a first-time restaurateur opening your place between now and
December 2010, please contact us at feedback@letsgofordinner.com.
Please provide us with the name of your restaurant, the concept and
your contact details and we will pass these on to the show’s
producers.

Good luck.

We invited popular Vancouver Blogger, Sherman from Sherman’s Food Adventures to guest post his dining experience at L’altro Buca. Read on to see how he enjoyed this hidden Westend gem. – Admin

Of course, when dining in the Downtown core, parking is always an issue unless you do valet. We were extra concerned about tonight since the West End is known for it’s limited amount of parking. Imagine our surprise when we not only found parking, we parked right across the street from L’altro Buca. Apparently, there are around 6 free spaces across the street on Haro. Too bad for Constanza, he parked in the first metered spot he found on Denman. I made sure to razz him about that! We were dining particularly early tonight since I knew it would be less busy. The reason? So my flash would not bother the rest of the diners. As it turns out, we were the only ones there for most of our meal.

For my starter, I selected one of their daily features which happen to be 2 things I love: Pork Belly & Scallops. Beautifully presented, 3 perfectly seared Hokkaido scallops rested atop a crispy piece of pork belly. Salsa verde, lentils and frisee rounded out the dish. The salsa verde did its job providing aromatics and flavour. Believe this or not, I would’ve preferred a more fatty piece of pork belly. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious; but it was quite meaty. The whole beauty of pork belly is the fat! The lentils were cooked perfectly maintaining a slightly chewy texture and there was a nice tomato element that provided subtle flavour.

As Viv predicted, Elaine went for the Gamberi, which is lemon, chili and garlic prawns. If this keeps up (at Bishop’s), we can just order each others’ dishes since it seems like we can guess correctly almost every time! To me, this was probably the most successful appetizer we sampled. 5 large prawns draped with a sauce consisting of butter, garlic, chili, lemon, plum tomatoes and scallions rested atop a very crunchy slice of grilled baguette. The prawns were perfectly cooked with a fresh “snap” texture. I felt that the sauce was predominantly garlic with chili and lemon in the background. Surprisingly, after all the prawns were all consumed, the crunchy bread held up to the sauce.

Viv and Constanza both had the Scallop Carpaccio with duck prosciutto with citrus and radish, arugula, frisee and fennel salad with truffle vinaigrette. Although the scallops were fresh and sweet, the star of the dish was the house-made duck prosciutto. It provided the necessary savoriness to the dish without being overly salty. Curiously, the salad was deconstructed with the orange segments acting more as a garnish. Although we could taste the citrus in the vinaigrette, it hid any evidence of truffle.

For my main, I also went for the daily feature – the Veal Chop with sage and marsala reduction. Surrounded by extremely soft gnocchi, the large chop was quite tender. Completing the plate was spinach and zucchini which were laced with tomato, garlic and some spiciness. Predictably, the reduction was a tad bitter and tart. Being neither salty or sweet, it needed an extra dimension to flavour the meaty chop.

Constanza ordered the Tagliatelle Boscaiola which consisted of mushrooms, bacon, tomato, cream, brandy. I felt that the sauce was a tad on the salty side probably due to the bacon. However, it was quite light despite the inclusion of cream and brandy. The juicy mushrooms provided a nice woody aroma to the dish. Although the noodles were al dente and pretty much executed perfectly, I thought it was a bit doughy. Constanza didn’t think so; thus it could just be me.

For her meal, Elaine chose the Osso Buco. It consisted of a good portion of veal shank cooked in a tomato red wine sauce (with gremolata) resting on saffron risotto. Ever-so-tender, the red wine sauce penetrated the meat subtlety. Although the risotto held up well to the abundance of sauce on the place, it was not risotto-like at all; rather, it was too much like plain cooked “rice”.

I left Viv’s meal to the end since something interesting happened. Her dish, the Manzo which is a duo of grilled beef tenderloin and braised short rib was actually quite ordinary compared to the rest of the mains. The short rib was a bit stringy and not all that moist. However, the tenderloin was pretty good, it was quite “meaty”. Despite appearing to be overly sauced (garlic & chili), most of it was soaked up by the items on the plate including the polenta. It was creamy, garlicky and plasticky. Plasticky??? Yes, there was a nice piece of plastic wrap awaiting inside as a surprise. We decided not to say anything about it since to us, it really wasn’t a big deal. Hey, we’re Chinese. We’ve had worse things in our food before. However, that’s not what our server thought. He noticed it and had this expression of concern and horror on his face. He profusely apologized on the kitchen and restaurants’ behalf.

Honestly, we weren’t that upset (I’m sure other people would be and with good reason). But they felt so bad, they took Viv’s meal off the bill and brought us all a really big plate of soft, warm Zeppoles for us to share. Plated on top of a bed of dulce de leche, the decadence quotient was elevated by the chocolate dip served on the side. Similar to the 1528 found at Dulcinea, this was smooth, silky, chocolaty and only semi-sweet. This was a very nice way to end an enjoyable meal. Pretty much everything was good and the service was excellent. They were able to turn a potentially bad situation into a positive which is a testament to their professionalism.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing for the quality of food and location
- Decent portions for this type of restaurant
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Some minor issues with the food
- Dining space feels a bit “old”

Post written and photographed by Sherman. Thank you for your contribution!

Guest posts do not reflect Let’s Go For Dinner’s opinion.