Nook is a place that I’ve had the pleasure of dining at more than a couple of times and is a favorite of mine if I’m looking for a solid authentic pizza or if I’m in need of great Italian comfort food and don’t want to travel out of my neighborhood to get it.
I’ve had the dueling burrata platter here~it’s how I was introduced to burrata at Nook, I don’t have a picture of it but it’s a piece of Californian burrata on a nice prosciutto topped crustini and drizzled with nice fruity evoo, there is a nice heirloom tomato salad in the middle of the plate that is lightly dressed with balsamic and more of that awesome evoo and then you get a piece of Italian burrata with the same toppings as the other crustini so it really is all about the cheese with this plate. At $18 it’s a plate built for 2 to share but f you’re a burrata lover like myself I usually order it for my appy when I feel like indulging.
Nook is known for their thin crust Neapolitan style pizza and were making it before the craze hit Vancouver, The crust is thin and has that nice chew to it that you expect with great Italian pizza.
The classic Margherita pizza here is a solid choice and for $13 it’s a great value. The tangy tomato sauce and creamy cheese is a pizza lovers dream and the fresh basil is one of my favorite toppings here~I really love how they put a good amount basil and having it cut like this adds to the perfect basil dispersion~it’s a pet peeve of mine when I get a Margherita pizza and there are only 2 or 3 whole leaves on my pie.
Nook’s version of the prosciutto pizza has the arugula on the bottom and the freshly sliced prosciutto is placed on right before service so for $15 it’s another good value. This pizza definitely is a rich tasting pizza and will fill you up, they have some good chili oil that is great drizzle to help break the richness of the pizza. On both pizza the bottom is charred nicely but still has some bend to it.
I’m happy that Nook has been able to cement its place in the neighborhood offering something that you can’t get anyplace in the West End and is a place I am happy to recommend to my friends and anyone in search of a great meal.
Nook doesn’t take reservations so its first come first served, they are also Zagat Rated and you can check out there page on the Zagat website by clicking here.
Cosca is one of the newest restaurants to open in the busy west end dining scene. Located on Denman street right by English Bay it’s right in the middle of some fantastic dining options.
I visited once right after they opened this summer and it was an OK dining experience. Myself and @MaryInVancity decided to come and check out there January 2012 Dine Out menu~3 courses for $15.95, with a number of options if main course it looked like a great variety options that all sounded pretty good.
You get your choice of Cesar salad, soup or mista salad for your 1st course:
I went with the mista salad
Mary went with the soup which happened to be tomato basil. The thing that you can’t tell from the pictures is the size of my salad~it was tiny and Marys bowl of soup was a full size bowl, the thing that both of ours had in common was the very coarse fresh ground pepper~we both had our mouth blown off with heat after getting huge chunks of pepper.
For my main I went with the Meat Lovers Lasagna
Mary went with the Fettuccine Pollo Lemone which consisted of fresh egg pasta, grilled chicken breast, artichokes and a lemon cream sauce. This was a really good pasta dish and the artichokes helped cut some of the richness of the sauce, the chicken was nice and juicy but the one draw back was the sauce could have been a bit thicker. My meat lasagna had beef, veal, Italian sausage and pork in it, the portion was huge but the filling was really salty and it took away from the dish and out of the 2 mains we had Marys came out on top and is something we would both order again.
For the third course you get your choice of three desserts~ tiramisu, tartufo or chocolate cherry tart.
We chose the tartufo and the tiramisu, Cosca has made some big claims on their social media that they have the best tiramisu in the city and everyone that has tried it seems to really like it, that being said it was pretty good!, it was rich without being heavy and the espresso flavor was really nice.
The Tartufo consisted of delish chocolate gelato with a hazelnut mousse inside~this was kick ass and really, really good!. We both enjoyed our desserts and thought they were the best part of the meal.
One thing that glared out to us was one thing and it might be small but it stuck out to us~every table but us was served complementary bread~I don’t know if it was because we were trying the dine out menu and that’s why we didn’t get any or they just forgot but I think diners should have the same experience of all other diners regardless of what menu they are eating off of if it was because we were eating the price fixe menu.
Tavola is the bigger brother to Nook you could say, serving up really great pastas and antipastos it replaces the restaurant Tapas Tree but the owners still remain the same. It’s a great alternative if you get to Nook and the line is too long or you’re in the mood for a bigger main course.
I stopped in over the weekend with a friend to have some good food and it was a pleasure that’s for sure. The restaurant was packed by 7:30 when we got there with a couple big holiday party groups so we grabbed a seat at the bar, the service is great here and it’s always nice when one of the owners is in the restaurant and working just as hard as the servers and cooks to make sure there guests have an enjoyable time.
We started out with a bottle of Pinot Grigio, it was nice and crisp with a clean finish~just like I like in my beer. It was Grillo Canapi from Sicily and priced at $34 a bottle.
For an appy we shared some fresh burrata with La Quercia prosciutto, for $16 we got a great amount to make 4 nice sized crustini. The burrata was delish as usual, the prosciutto had a nice meaty flavor to it and was melt in your mouth tender.
For my main I went with one of the nightly specials~a Sicilian Pork Ragu for $18. The pasta for this was really interesting and something that I have never seen before~it was like little ribbed sheets of pasta and each one was rolled up which resulted in quite a meal despite looking kind of small. The pork ragu was rich and meaty and was topped with a nest of Parmesan cheese.
My buddy went with one of the big plates on the menu, the Brick Chicken for $22~chicken cooked and pressed with a brick to make it nice and flat. This was juicy and tender but the skin was kind of soft because of the sauce on the plate, on thing that my buddy commented on was the fact it was a lot of chicken and the plate could have used some vegetable of some sort, other than that it was a good plate.
For dessert I went with a lemon pudding type dessert (I can’t remember the name), it was made with Meyer Lemons so it was more sweet that sour, the consistency of the dessert was like a soft pudding was a totally delight to eat. It was also topped with a garnish of candied Meyer Lemon peel.
We had a great meal at the end of the night and the wine went down pretty well!, if you’re in the mood for some great Italian cuisine check out Tavola or their sister restaurant Nook which is located just around the corner on Denman Street.
I was lucky enough to recently to have won a prize package from the Georgian Court Hotel to the 2011 Grey Cup that included a stay at the hotel as well as dinner at the in-house restaurant Frankie’s Italian Kitchen. Frankie’s is a new addition to the hotel replacing the William Tell restaurant that served Vancouver for many years.
By the time I got in for dinner it was quite late so the room was pretty dark, as you can see it’s a pretty big room with a private dining room in the back and a big bar out front, the seating is really comfortable where I was seated with nice large comfortable arm chairs and large round tables.
I started out with a beer, they have a nice selection if drinks and I went with a Grolsch and cruised over the menu, they have all the standard items a good Italian place should have.
I started with the Caprese salad, on the menu it was described like this-bocconcini mozzarella, heirloom vine ripened tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano and extra virgin olive oil. I’m a real fan of caprese salad and this one sounded great on the menu but this one was a bit off for me for 2 reasons, the tomatoes were not heirloom and the addition of the dried oregano really over powered the dish, other than that the balsamic was great and the cheese was nice.
For my main I went with the classic spaghetti and meatballs, at $14 it was a good bowl of pasta. The meatballs are made from a combination of meats including pork and beef tenderloin trimmings from when their butcher portions out the steaks and other cuts of meat, the meatballs were flavorful and you could definitely taste they were not made with just ground beef. The addition of the aged ricotta was nice but it was one of those cheeses that didn’t melt. The sauce was OK for the pasta but could have used some more garlic and onion and also the pasta was cooked perfectly. At the end of the day it was a solid bowl of pasta and I would order it again.
For dessert they have a nice selection of stuff and if you “Like” them of their Facebook page you can get yourself a free dessert~just show your server the redeemable coupon on the Facebook page on your smart phone. I went with the classic Tiramisu and it totally didn’t disappoint!, it was light yet really creamy with the addition of the mascarpone cheese and whipped cream blend and the espresso dipped lady fingers were perfect and not too soggy.
To guild the lily a bit I went and had another dessert, this time it was the jasmine tea scented panna cotta served with an orange confit. I really loved this as well, the panna cotta was lightly floral from the tea but creamy and smooth at the same time, the orange confit on top was a great touch and the confit process made the orange peel soft and a pleasure to eat with the panna cotta. The dessert also came with a couple of pieces of what reminded me of German Stollen, they were also perfectly made and added a great texture in between bites of the panna cotta. This was the dessert I chose for free from the coupon on their Facebook page. Also both of these desserts are priced at $8 each on the menu.
I had a great meal here and the desserts made up for the disappointments of the starer I had. As a part of my prize I received a $50 to pay for this meal with as part of my stay st the hotel and the contest I won and I wasn’t not expected or influenced to write a post of my experience.
The guy’s over at VANEATS.ca really are making it a Delish December and it’s not going to be one to forget. The 3rd dining experience offered up by VANEATS.ca is at the La Rocca Italian Restaurant on Commercial Drive in East Vancouver and it’s appropriately named “Viva La Rocca!”
“La Rocca, located in the heart of multi-ethnic Commercial Drive, has been providing authentic Italian Cuisine since 1986.
Discover homemade fresh taste with La Rocca’s timeless food creations. The aesthetic atmosphere is serene, with an artistic architectural design and Italian decor.”
It is with great pleasure to congratulate La Rocca on their Silver Anniversary! After 25 years in the making since 1986, La Rocca is nothing short of a classic, well prepared Italian dining experience that encourages one to “mangia mangia”! La Rocca is known as a hidden gem in the Commercial Drive area. You can expect a cozy atmosphere to share with your family or a romantic nook for an intimate date. To compliment the European decor and architectural design, a variety of live music from latin guitar to jazz is often played on weekends under candle light dinner.
This time around VANEATS.ca have put together a 4 course dining pass for 2 that includes some new menu offerings and some of La Rocca’s best classic dishes off the menu for $28, the dining pass goes on sale December 8th,2011 to January 8th,2012 and package’s are limited and sell out really fast~it’s a great price and would make a great gift with the holidays coming up.
The guy’s at VANEATS.ca hooked me up with a complementary dining pass and I was happy to get to try out this dining package before it hit the streets, I took @MaryInVancity along with me to check out this experience.
We were served complementary homemade focaccia bread with balsamic and olive oil for dipping, it was soft and flavorful and was the perfect vessel for the next course and the 1st up in the Viva La Rocca package:
We began with a delicious appetizer, Prosciutto Marinato e Arancia, Italian ham marinated in herbs, with orange and thinly sliced garlic, delicately drizzled with olive oil. What is there not to love about a thinly sliced melt in your mouth pork product!, now pair it with the citrus from the orange and delish olive oil and you have killer app- appetizer that is!, this is where the bread came in handy to deliver this to our salivating mouths. This is one of the new dishes added by Chef Guzman to the menu.
Next up on the menu is the pasta course, Fettuccine con Gamberi, tiger prawns in a light cream sauce. This was a good pasta, the shrimp were cooked nicely and the fettuccine was al dente. The sauce was creamy but not cheesy so it went with the prawns really well.
The meat course is next up, Pollo Ripieno al Marsala, chicken breast stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and basil, in the famous sweet Marsala wine sauce and sided with a nice wedge of grilled Radicchio Rosso. This was my favorite item of the night, the chicken was moist and the sauce and filling totally complimented each other, the savouriness of the sauce balanced out sweetness of the sun-dried tomato filling. The radicchio was grilled but still maintained some of the bitterness is known for and it was drizzled with a balsamic reduction that added a sweet touch.
Lastly we ended our meal with their Homemade Tiramisu, espresso drenched cake layers with a mouth-watering Mascarpone cheese mousse, topped with a dusting of cocoa. This was a solid tiramisu and was a generous portion for two, the creamy filling and soft cake were great yet very light. The plate was decorated with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and chocolate covered espresso beans garnished the plate.
We had a great time checking out La Rocca and the “Viva La Rocca” dining pass from VANEATS.ca, check out the details below if you would like to win yourself a Viva La Rocca Dining Pass:
They want to hear from you! As food enthusiasts, we are always eager to hear from fellow foodies! For the VIVA LA ROCCA contest, you enter by telling them which dish appeals to you most.
How to Enter
Entering the contest is easy. Complete one of the following two options and you’re entered to win 1 of 4 VIVA LA ROCCA dining passes! Complete both options and you’re entered in the draw twice!
Option 1
1) “Like” them on Facebook – (facebook.com/VANEATS)
2) Visit the VIVA LA ROCCA Facebook Album.
3) Tag yourself in the photo with the dish (or dishes) that appealed to you the most and comment to tell them why.
Option 2
1)Follow them on Twitter (twitter.com/VANEATSca)
2)Retweet the following: Win 1 of 4 dining passes for #VIVALAROCCA! http://ow.ly/7DFIo from @VANEATSca and La Rocca #DELISHDECEMBER
That’s it! Come back every Friday and Monday between November 18 and November 28 to the VANEATS.ca blog find out if you’re a winner!, the link can be found by clicking here .
Contest draw dates: November 25, November 28, December 2nd and December 5th, 2011.
VIVA LA ROCCA dining passes are redeemable only between December 8 – January 8, 2011.
If you’re looking for a treat meal one place to definitely keep in mind is YEW restaurant and bar in the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Vancouver.
The room is huge and beautifully decorated, the huge fireplace is a great divider between the open dining room and the bar/lounge area. The service here is top-notch and your every need is taken care of effortlessly, the staff are very knowledgeable on the menu and take the time to answer any questions you could have.
Canadian chef Ned Bell came on board as the Executive Chef for YEW in August 2011 and the menu was completely reworked to what we have now, he brings his own food philosophy ‘Globally Inspired and Locally Created,’ – a process that begins with premium ingredients, sourcing the best of what is available locally and seasonally, and then focusing on flavor to the YEW space and to the menu and it totally shows.
I started with a Kronenbourg Blanc for $8 and glass, this is a favorite beer of mine. It’s light and has a lavender floral note sightly, it was perfect to cut through the richness of my main and also works with a variety of different foods~if your new to drinking beer give this one a try.
This was my main and man did it hit the spot!, delicious lobster mac and cheese with corn and an amazing creamy sauce tied it all together nicely.
At $22 a bowl its on the high-end but it’s worth it if you’re looking for a treat, there was lobster chunks through out and the lobster was cooked perfectly, the tender buttery pieces of lobster melts in your mouth and its bathed in a rich buttery sauce that isn’t cheesy. The sprinkling of bread crumbs on top were the perfect garnish.
For dessert I went with their dessert trio. It features all three of their dessert tapas and for $8 it’s a great deal. They also have fresh berry pies and fresh fruit crumble on the menu if that’s more of what you’re looking for and also they offer a cheese selection.
Duck egg custard tart was first up, it was a rich and creamy custard with hints of vanilla, the pastry for the tart was the perfect vessel for this yummy dessert. The one thing i was concerned with when ordering this was the duck egg flavor and if it would be to intense but I didn’t taste any kind of eggy flavor in the dish.
This is a Australian Candied Sugar Cherry Ravioli in a young coconut pineapple consomme. It’s molecular gastronomy and was a blast to eat, you take it like a shooter and when you squish the cherry ravioli it explodes in your mouth and you taste a flood of sweet cherry juice. I could throw back 5 or 6 of these!
Finally we have the Espresso Banana Milk Chocolate Lollipop. The espresso is in the homemade marshmallow that encapsulates the lollipop, inside the milk chocolate is semi soft and melts in your mouth, all of the flavors combined with a definite treat.
If your interested in checking out YEW feel free to visit there website here and if you’re looking for a great hotel check out the Vancouver Four Seasons website here and follow them on Twitter @FSVancouver .
Dunn’s Famous has opened up shop in Downtown Vancouver and it’s being embraced with open arms by tourist’s and locals.
Myer Dunn founded Dunn’s Famous Restaurant in 1927. Due to Myer Dunn’s unique recipes and high quality standards, Dunn’s Famous quickly became a local institution for Montrealers and visitors alike.
I made my visit on their 3rd day after opening and the place was packed but because it was just me dining I was able to get a table right away. The space is big and split into 2 rooms~one bigger open space with the bar in front with nice high ceilings and a smaller space up some stairs in the back that’s more intimate but one complaint~they have the tables packed pretty tight so getting up and moving between the table next to you and going to the bathroom or leaving if you’re sitting along the wall on the wall banquettes is very, very tight space wise, other than that the seating is really comfortable.
Food wise seeing this was my first visit and real experience with Dunn’s~I had a sandwich once at the Costco lunch counter and it wasn’t good~the meat was really dry and I was thoroughly disappointed but this place is a world of difference. I ordered a 6oz Super Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich for $10.99 with a Poutine Québécois upgrade for $3.50, the sandwich plate also comes with coleslaw and a dill pickle. You also gave a couple other options for side dishes for your sandwich like Caesar salad for a bit cheaper than the poutine option.
The poutine Québécois was not was I was expecting, the cheese curds were not squeaky like a true Quebec cheese curds should be, other than that the poutine sauce was flavorful and the cheese curds did taste good despite not being the texture they should have been. I’d order there poutine again as a meal on its own because some of the options they have look really good and they offer a smoked meat poutine that I’d like to try.
This is the standard side that comes with every sandwich plate, the coleslaw here is a vinaigrette based slaw with the cabbage finely shredded and there is also some carrots in the mix. For me this slaw was kind of bland, the vinaigrette didn’t come through and I’ve realized that I like creamy dressed slaw~I’m also hoping that there still working there kinks out in the kitchen and things will improve with the sides. The pickle on the other hand was delicious and made up for the slaw let down.
This was the real star of the plate and meal. This is a small sandwich that is a 6 ouncer on light rye with mustard and it’s not toasted unless you ask.
You have the option of light, medium and fatty for your meat~you didn’t have this choice at Costco and it made a great difference, I went with medium and the meat was melt in your mouth tender and was stacked super high as you can see!
Over all my first experience at Dunn’s was pretty good and I left with a full belly, I saw some huge plates of food going out and I’m looking forward to going back and trying some of their other signature sandwiches~the double decker Ruben looked pretty amazing and the couple sitting next to me from Montreal did give the thumbs up for authenticity of food so I’d say that Dunn’s is going to settle in quite nicely in the Vancouver dining scene . You can check out the Dunn’s BC website here and there also on Facebook.
I can still remember being 10 years old and going to The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown for the first time with my parents. There known for serving up tons of pasta for a great price with the addition of your own personal loaf of bread accompanied by whipped garlic butter, your choice of soup or green salad, coffee or tea and a bowl of spumoni ice cream-that’s the thing I remembered most from being a kid and coming here.
Now the old spaghetti factory has turned more tourist destination than local joint but can that be a bad thing-let’s find out shall we. I used to think the restaurant was unique till I was down south in Atlanta and walked past one on the way to eat some killer Mexican food at Rosa Mexicano, it was filled with whimsical antiques and decorative items like velvet armchairs, vintage-looking fringed lamps and booths made from iron bedsteads filled the dining room.
Coming back here was like walking back in time-it’s just the same as when I was here as a kid, I was greeted and seated really quickly and the restaurant was packed with family’s finishing lunch so my server took a bit to get over to me and take my order-no big deal because it gave me some time to check out the newspaper style menu
Complementary bread and whipped garlic butter & regular butter. This is a staple of the Old Spaghetti factory, the bread here isn’t as good as the bread basket at other places-the bread here is really dense but the whipped butter is really good. I wonder how much bread is thrown away on weekly basis seeing the volume they do?
Garden Salad with Creamy Italian Dressing. The choice of minestrone soup or salad is given with every meal and I think I should have gone with the soup, you can also upgrade your salad to a Cesar or a french onion soup for a couple bucks more. The salad was right out of the fridge cold and the iceberg lettuce was kinda lame, the dressing was nice and tart.
The Managers Favorite-choice of 2 sauces in one plate for $10.95. I went with the classic meat sauce and something I have never heard of-Mizithra Cheese from Greece, it was supposed to be a sauce of browned butter and the cheese but it was more like regular buttered noodles with yummy cheese which is all good in the end. The meat sauce on the other hand was just of-they rinse the pasta here which makes it impossible for the sauce to stick to so I was left with sauce on top of noodles that ended up being sopped up with that bread.
Spumoni Ice Cream. The classic Old Spaghetti Factory spumoni ice cream, this was a nice treat at the end of the meal and was pretty good.
Your meal also comes with coffee or tea but I passed, at the end of the day all this was $12.25 after taxes and I was a full foodie so you do get value for dollar here, I’ll be back to have a plate of the Greek cheese pasta again soon. They also offer a gluten free menu.
Milestones at English Bay is a longtime standard summertime hangout for me because of the killer patio overlooking English Bay and the tasty drinks they offer. With the renovations done to the chain the interior is like the Robson street location which makes for great daytime dining and intimate dimly lit evening dinners.
I live right around the corner from this location so it’s really convenient and a solid stand by when I have a late night at work and want dinner later in the evening without going to a loud bar.
Heineken Draft $7.99. I started out with a big beer and from what they had on tap this was the most appealing choice for me. The size of the glass surprised me-it’s one big beer so I got my moneys worth.
Crispy Asian Chicken Bites $9.99-tossed in a Thai chili sauce with cucumber and toasted sesame seeds. I really liked these boneless chicken bites, the sauce was more heat than sweet and the bites were all crispy and juicy. I’d defiantly order this again.
Milestones Beef Burger with the American topping add-on $12.99+$1.50. All the burgers come with the usual lettuce, onion, tomato and pickle, you also get your choice of fries or salad-I added the extra .99 for yam frites.
The burger is juicy and the double smoked bacon was nice and fried perfectly. The yam frites were so so-they reminded me of cremated yam strings!, the plate comes with a southern aioli that is really heavy on the cumin.
Milestones continues to be a go to choice for a sold meal and the menu is big enough without reading like a novel so you’re sure to find something that will satisfy your hunger.
Cento Notti is the new restaurant in the Opus Hotel in Yaletown, it replaces the vivid and bold 100 Nights space and the decor is equally eye catching and appropriate for the modern Italian menu.
Executive Chef Paul Marshall is really making magic in the kitchen, pretty much everything is made in house including the burrata cheese in my salad I had and sourcing form local farms your getting the freshest ingredients turned into spectacular dishes.
I stopped in at lunch time and what caught my eye outside was the $35 three course dinner menu, I asked the server if I could possible get that menu for lunch and it wasn’t a problem at all.
San Pellegrino $7.95
Burrata Salad-vine-ripened tomato, basil, olive oil. I’m a sucker for burrata and when I see it on a menu I have to try it, usually burrata comes from Italy and it’s highly perishable so freshness is key, at Cento Notti they make theirs from scratch everyday and one of the few to do so in Vancouver. The cheese was creamy and sweet combined with the balsamic and tomatoes it was a match made in heaven.
Porcini Risoto-fresh thyme,Grana Padano Parmesian and a balsamic port reduction. Who can so no to risotto with porcini!, it’s traditional Italian with a modern twist with the reduction. My bowl of risotto was rich and creamy like a great risotto should be, the mushroom flavor was earthy and meaty and the cheese melted into my dish.
Chocolate Panna Cotta-Roasted strawberry’s and a kalamata olive infused fig jam. I was curious about how roasted strawberry’s would taste but what blew me away was the olive jam~olives with the chocolate was totally weird and at first I thought it was balsamic in the jam~I never would have thought olive, it was totally delicious, the panna cotta was rich and creamy and the strawberry’s were still firm~I thought they would turn to mush from the roasting.
I’m already looking forward to my next meal at Cento Notti and with the Taste Of Yaletown coming up I think it’s going to be on my list.