[FOODIE: dine out vancouver 2010] WEST

What better way to make use of the Dine Out Vancouver event than to patronize restaurants that offer a level of pricing that's unheard of from their a la carte selection or even their "regular" prix fixe menu.

One such restaurant that participated this year is WEST. Not surprisingly, this restaurant was fully booked the moment they started accepting Dine Out Vancouver reservations.

WEST RESTAURANT

2881 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6H 3J4

Telephone: 604.738.8938
Hours: Lunch - Mon-Sat (11.30am-2.30pm); Dinner - Mon-Sun (5pm-11pm) 

SNAPSHOT: 

Food: 8/10

Service: 10/10

Ambiance: 9/10
Pricing: $$$$ (expect to spend a minimum of $100 per head)

Pros: Unpretentious and attentive service that you've come to expect from a restaurant of this calibre; Perfectly cooked ingredients; Good ambiance.

Cons: You can feel the age of the restaurant especially with the out-dated bathroom.


Overall Rating: 9/10

West Restaurant does not advertise their Dine Out Vancouver menu anywhere. You're going to have to take a gamble finding out that day which among their regular selection has been included. If you've come to love the taste and quality of West but knowing you'll be paying a lower price, then it's a no-brainer at this point.

Classic restaurants like these will provide bread service at your table. This will be hard to eliminate especially for old-school patrons. For one it does give an impression of an upscale restaurant. But there are pros and cons to this because it's not really free. It was simply factored into the cost of the menu items. Which equate to unnecessary padding.

In this case, we have a serving of french baguettes, olive oil and butter.

The soup they were offering was Sweet Onion soup with olive oil and fried shallots.

 Another starter of choice is the Smoked Salmon sushi in Tempura batter.

For the main course, we had the Hecate Straight Ling Cod which came with caramelized onion puree and mild Madras curry sauce.

Another main course was the braised lamb shank with red wine au jous. It was definitely tender and made me want the bone marrow portion.

How can you resist not ordering some Truffle french fries even if it's not part of their DOV menu. This is one of the few restaurants that know how to perfectly cook their fries - double fried. It came infused with truffle oil to start with.

And then arrived with a side of Truffle mayo and in-house made catsup. Yes, in-house. Yes, delicious. How can you come back to having Heinz catsup after tasting something this fresh?

 Ah...dessert. Chocolate mouse on a bed of creme anglaise and Chocolate Pot de Creme.

Or how about some Coconut Genoise (sponge cake) and a drizzle of caramel for some fancy plating.


West was an overall good experience. It was an even better experience with the DOV pricing.

[EVENT: Vancouver] DINE OUT VANCOUVER 2010

Don't forget that Dine Out Vancouver 2010 is still in effect and there are a lot of restaurants that have available reservations especially since people usually make multiple reservations and choose the best date that works for them or simply come back.

The event this year runs from April 26 -  May 06. Depending on the restaurant, the prix fixe menu can go for $18, $28 or $38. As always, tax, gratuity and liquor is not included. More details can be found on the official site: Tourism Vancouver. From there you will be able to see the participating restaurants and the menu offering.

The site even offers an interactive "Dine Out Map" that you can click to view different cuisine categories after which restaurants will be mapped out on Google and you can decide from there if it's worth your while.

Although you can pay any which way you want that the restaurant accepts, Visa is sponsoring the event. Pay with your Visa and the restaurant will provide a ballot for you to fill out for a chance to win a $3,900.00 gift certificate to dine at participating restaurants. The "Visa Dine Out for a Year" contest details can be found on the same site.