Summmmmmer is here!

grilled salmon with panko, parsely and parmesan

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brown rice

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roasted yams

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fresh salad with poppyseed dressing

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red wine

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dark chocolate for dessert

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perfection

oh my!

Tropical delights in kauai!

Papayas... pineapple... bananas.

Pineapple pancakes.

Grilled ahi sandwich with a mixed green salad.
Fruit, fruit and more fruit.
Yellow vegetable curry with jasmine rice.

Dine Out Volume III: Salt Tasting Room

My last dine out was at Salt Tasting Room with my boyfriend. Salt is a tasting room that allows you to sample different types of cheese, wine, meat and condiments from all over the world.

To start off, I ordered a half bottle of pinot noir wine from the Burgundy region of France...

The appetizer was a curried coconut and root vegetable soup, and a shaved fennel salad with comte cheese and lemon dressing. The soup was delicious, however the salad was almost inedible. The compte cheese was very tasty, but the shaved fennel was just not my cup of tea!

For the main, I chose the cheese mongers plate, which was three cheeses and three condiments chosen by the Salt kitchen. These were: strathdon blue cheese from Britain with silmilkameen honey, mahon cheese from Spain with basque olives, and gubbeen cheese from Ireland with marcona almonds.

For dessert, we both chose the vanilla bean cheesecake with rhubarb compote and shaved almonds!

Overall, Dine Out at Salt was interesting. However, I think I would have preferred going on a regular night, so that I could choose the types of cheese and condiments, and the different types of wine to pair with each of the different cheeses.

For more information on Salt, check out their website: http://www.salttastingroom.com/

Dine Out Volume II: Chambar Belgian Restaurant

Second up on the Dine Out schedule was Chambar Belgian Restaurant, this time with my charming and wonderful boyfriend. Chambar is known for its traditional Belgian food, trendy ambiance and authentic (and strong) beer.

For the starter, I had la salade de betrave: marinated beets, watercress, sunflower seeds, crumbled feta and orange blossom dressing.

For the main, I chose the moules-frites vin blanc: mussels cooked with butter, white wine, braised celery and leeks, and coarse black pepper, served with french fries. It was very traditional Belgian fare and very delicious!

Lastly, I chose a dark chocolate and pecan torte for dessert, which was served with bourbon cream and caramel sauce.

For more information about Chambar, check out their website: http://www.chambar.com/

Next up and last on the Dine Out schedule.... Salt Tasting Room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO!

For more pictures, check out the website here.

Dine Out Volume I: CinCin Ristorante + Bar

To continue our fine-dining adventures, my friend and I decided to challenge our food tasting experience at West with CinCin, an Italian restaurant renowned for its wood fire oven. Fortunately, it is one of my favourite times of year, Dine Out, where different restaurants in the Vancouver area offer three-course meals for affordable set prices. Like West, I had to take my sister's camera... so the quality of pictures are not the best.

To begin the night we ordered a bottle of an Amano 2006 Primitivo, one of Italy's oldest grapes. The wine menu at CinCin was daunting, at least 15 pages of new world and old world reds and whites, as while as an extensive list of sparkling wines and ports.

For my appetizer, I chose the baby romaine lettuce salad with grana padano cheese, gem tomatoes and a creamy roasted garlic vinaigrette; their version of an upscale caesar salad.

As an entree, I picked the wood oven roasted lingcod which was topped with a tomato basil crust and served with umbrian lentils and broccolini. The lentils were amazing; I never knew they could be saturated with so much flavour!

Lastly, for dessert I had a valhrona chocolate fondant with a honey anglaise and lemon sorbetto. The fondant was deliciously rich, however I found the pairing of the fondant and lemon sorbetto to be quite odd.

For more information about CinCin check out their website: http://www.cincin.net/

Up next on the Dine Out schedule... Chambar Belgian Restaurant!