Chambar Restaurant - Dessert Review

Restaurant: Chambar Restaurant - Dessert Review

Cuisine: Belgian/French
Last visited: February 12, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Gastown/Downtown)
562 Beatty Street
Price Range: $30-50 (Closer to $50)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: 5.5

Ambiance: 4.5

Overall: 6

Additional comments:

• Specializes in Belgium/French food - fusion
• Innovative/exotic/creative menu
  
• Going on 6th year
  
• Casual fine dining
• Lively atmosphere
• Busy on weekends/late nights
• Husband and wife owners
• Chef Nico Schuermans and his wife Karri
• Parent to Cafe Medina next door
• Just opened Dirty Apron Cooking school (couple stores down)
• Fixed menu available
• Event nights
  
• Extensive wine list
• Great for drinks/cocktails/appetizers
  
• 18% gratuity for groups of 8+
• Ocean Wise
• Open 5-12am daily
• Reservations recommended
  

**Recommendation: Mushroom Soup, Mussels & Frites, Le Canard aux Epices, if you can order Stilton croquettes as a side - do it! Vanilla Pear Cake for dessert.

Chambar has always been one of my favourite restaurants...and it still is one of my favourites. I rarely ever say I have a “favourite restaurant” but this one has yet to disappointment me. I usually have certain dishes I like and that’s what I will recommend rather than the restaurant itself…however everything here is more or less amazing.

It is a Belgian restaurant, but the food is more contemporary with slight French and West Coast influences. It is more or less a fusion restaurant.

A bit steep in terms of price, but in the category of casual fine dining. The portions are reasonable although they look smaller until you start eating them.

They really let the ingredients speak for themselves here and they don’t go overboard by trying to enhance every single item with seasonings and spices. It’s simple, but tastes so complex. That’s the magic of Chambar.

To see my dinner review for Chambar Restaurant.

On the table:

Dessert Sampler - La degustation des desserts 4/6

• Dessert Sampler: Chef's selection tasting platter $20
  
• Vanilla Bean Pot de Cream 5/6
• This was the best of the sampler. It was pretty much a vanilla panna cotta. The vanilla was very strong and the texture was very rich and creamy.
• The bottom layer of this is almost pure vanilla bean seed puree. It was delicious, but I wish they had used it for the top or maybe throughout the panna cotta. I just felt like it was such a waste of vanilla bean seeds to leave them at the bottom. The bowl was square so it was hard to scrape up too.

• Espresso and Kaluah Ice Cream 3.5/6
• This was a very icy ice cream so it was almost lighter than regular ice cream. It was very refreshing and not too strong in flavour. It wasn’t too sweet and it was quite simple, but still good. No surprises here…except for it being icy in texture.
  

• Sour Cherry Phyllo Purse 2/6
• I’m not sure if that was the exact name, but that’s how I remember it. It's the triangle between the chocolate mousse and the panna cotta.
• There was too much phyllo and too little cherry. I was very crispy and flakey with a sweetness and tang, but the phyllo was distracting.
• It was topped with a whipped marscapone cheese I think...or goat's cheese? (I don't quite remember) It was very mild in flavour and added a creaminess that offset the tang of the cherry...I just wish they had given more cherry.
  

• Chocolate Mousse 4/6
• This looks A LOT sweeter than it really is. It’s not that sweet at all actually…and that’s because they’re using a dark and good quality chocolaote. The texture is actually quite rich yet still frothy but the sweetness is very natural so it doesn’t tastes too heavy.
• The decor they used was a thin chocolate brittle that tastes like there wasa quite a bit of espresso in it. I liked it!
  

• Truffles 3/6
• These aren’t truffles…these are chocolates. They’re good, but just not truffles.
• Dark chocolate truffle 4.5/6
• Amazing. I love dark chocolate. This was like a homemade Ferraro Rocher. There were nice big pieces of hazelnuts on the outside and then the inside wasa chocolate ganache. It wasn’t that creamy and was actually quite thick.
• White chocolate truffle 1.5/6
• No. I don’t like white chocolate so this was much too sweet. Even if I did like white chocolate I still think it was too sweet. Not for me.

Plateau de trois fromages - Plate of 3 Cheeses 5/6

• Trio cheese platter with spiced blueberry compote, fruit & nut bread. $18
  

• Brie, Aged White Cheddar and Stilton or Blue Cheese?
• The bread is fantastic! It’s house made hazelnut and rasin bread and they give you a lot! There’s huge pieces of hazelnuts and lots of them!
• They toast them up so it’s nice and nutty.
• They serve it with a spiced blueberry jam/compote with real whole blueberries in it. It’s actually noticeably spicy and I think it's from ginger and maybe some cinnamon.
• The cheese are generous servings and this is definitely worth it. I like the added pear and apple slices as well. It went great with the compote.

Le Gateau Poire - Vanilla Pear Cake 6/6

• Vanilla cake baked on top of pear compote served with raspberry creme anglaise & lemongrass ice cream. $11

• I had to save the best for last. Well the best out of what we ordered.
• Delish! They changed the raspberry cream anglaise to a coffee espresso cream anglaise. I think the raspeberry cream would have been even better although this was still good. You pour the coffee espresso (centre glass) in the middle of this soufflé and eat it together.
• It’s soft, warm, sweet, slightly bitter from the espresso, not too sweet and just the perfect flavour of everything. I was suprised the espresso didn't overpower the pears.
• The pear is so ripe and yet not overcooked so you can still taste the pieces and bite into them. I loved this!

• They serve it with ice cream and a little brown sugar decor...and drool I want it right now! I don't recall it being lemongrass though...so they either changed the recipe for that or the lemongrass flavour wasn't as distinct and overpowered by the espresso and pears. Now I want to go back and try it again...:D

To see my dinner review for Chambar.

Chambar Restaurant

Restaurant: Chambar Restaurant

Cuisine: Belgian/French
Last visited: February 12, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Gastown/Downtown)
562 Beatty Street
Price Range: $30-50 (Closer to $50)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: 5.5

Ambiance: 4.5

Overall: 6

Additional comments:

• Specializes in Belgium/French food - fusion
• Innovative/exotic/creative menu
  
• Going on 6th year
  
• Casual fine dining
• Lively atmosphere
• Busy on weekends/late nights
• Husband and wife owners
• Chef Nico Schuermans and his wife Karri
• Parent to Cafe Medina next door
• Just opened Dirty Apron Cooking school (couple stores down)
• Fixed menu available
• Event nights
  
• Extensive wine list
• Great for drinks/cocktails/appetizers
  
• 18% gratuity for groups of 8+
• Ocean Wise
• Open 5-12am daily
• Reservations recommended
  

**Recommendation: Mushroom Soup, Mussels & Frites, Le Canard aux Epices, if you can order Stilton croquettes as a side - do it! Vanilla Pear Cake

Chambar has always been one of my favourite restaurants...and it still is one of my favourites. I rarely ever say I have a “favourite restaurant” but this one has yet to disappointment me. I usually have certain dishes I like and that’s what I will recommend rather than the restaurant itself…however everything here is more or less amazing.

It is a Belgian restaurant, but the food is more contemporary with slight French and West Coast influences. It is more or less a fusion restaurant.

A bit steep in terms of price, but in the category of casual fine dining. The portions are reasonable although they look smaller until you start eating them.

They really let the ingredients speak for themselves here and they don’t go overboard by trying to enhance every single item with seasonings and spices. It’s simple, but tastes so complex. That’s the magic of Chambar.

My dessert review for Chambar Restaurant.

On the table:

Mushroom Soup

• It's not on the online menu but it was called "mushroom soup". It was basically 3 kinds of mushrooms showcased in 3 different way with 3 different cooking methods. There was a mushroom soup, sauteed oyster mushrooms, and deep fried trumpet mushrooms. $17
  
• Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms 6/6
• These are wonderful! The stems were meaty, juicy, big, and plump. It was sautéed in lots of butter and some garlic and it was almost the texture of meat. That is all I tried from this plate, however there were no complaints coming from the person who did order it. (That's why I can't rate the entire appetizer)
• I did love the concept of this appetizer overall – however the soup portion of it was looking a little small. Even the sautéed oyster mushrooms were a bigger portion. If “soup” is in the title of the dish then it should be showcased the most and it wasn’t. Nonetheless I would still order this again just based on the sauteed oyster mushrooms I tried.
  

Le Carpaccio de Thon Grillee - (Ahi Tuna) 4.5/6

• Charred yellowfin tuna carpaccio, celery, daikon & citrus brunoix. Pomegranate molasses, red shiso $17
  

• The slices were actually really nice and big and also cut quite thin and I’m surprised. I will usually only order sashimi items at Japanese restaurants…purely for the fact that it’s usually done better.
• I did miss the citrus note to this dish ever though there was still a tang to it from the pomegranate. The tang is just milder than the tang you usually get from Japanese tuna carpaccio. I also missed a little bit of heat – but maybe I’m too used to tuna carpaccio’s with wasabi. This one has mustard seeds though which was nice, but a bit masked even though there were a lot of them.
  

• This carpaccio carried a fruity flavour and the fish was very fresh. The diced ingredients were very subtle in all aspects and the combination of flavours were quite soft.
• There was some grapefruit which gave it a slight citrus tang, a little bitterness as well as some sweetness. It was a very fresh dish, but also a bit mellow in flavour although still delicious.

Dual Bison 5/6

• They don't have this on their online menu but it was basically bison done two ways. The first was a bison Prosciutto and the second was a bison shepherd's pie. $18 (I think?)
  

• Bison Prosciutto
  
• The bison prosciutto was very similar to regular prosciutto but much more rich. It was more like duck prosciutto, but more lean and less buttery and creamy.
• The slices are a bit thicker and the taste is almost a bit sweeter and it’s definitely not as salty as typical prosciutto.
  

• Shepherd’s Pie
• The bottom meat layer of the pie was braised bison which came off as almost like “pulled pork”. It was very shredded and actually quite dry. The flavour was very simple, but it was dry because it was a lean meat not because they overcooked/baked it.
• The pulled bison was best with the gravy they served along side. It was an intense, thick and syrupy sauce. It tasted like barbeque sauce with lots of Worcestershire sauce. There was quite a kick!
• The potato topping was a very simple but good mashed potato with lots of butter. It was nothing fancy, but just simple and good.
  

Mussels & Frites - Vin Blanc 3.5/6

• White wine butter cooked mussels, braised celery and leeks. Coarse black pepper. Served with frites. $22
  

• I could definitely taste the white wine. It wasn’t cooked out as much as I thought it would be. The wine is actually really obvious and I found it a tad distracting. It was my least favourite of the 3 although still tasty.
• It’s definitely a nice qhite wine they’re using and it’s something that I could easily drink, but it was a just a bit overpowering.
  

Mussels & Frites - Congolaise 6/6

• Mussels cooked with a tomato coconut cream. Smoked chili and lime. Fresh cilantro. Served with frites. $22
  

• If you like a more exotic mussel then this is for you. This was very Indian inspired with a very aromatic broth.
• The broth was stewed with fresh tomato chunks. Big coarsely ground black peppercorns, fresh basil leaves, cardamom, cumin and coriander.
• The broth didn't taste or look creamy, although there was coconut milk in it. I found it quite light and tangy with more of tomato based soup then a coconut cream based one.
• I wouldn’t say it was spicy, but there was a little heat.
• I could have drank the broth as a soup on its own.
  

Mussels & Frites - Coquotte 5.5/6

• Mussels cooked in a white wine cream. Smoked bacon lardons, spring onions. Served with frites. $22

• If you just want a simple, good, and more traditional mussel then this is for you.
• This was just good. It’s nothing adventurous and it’s one of those gourmet dishes that appeals to the masses.
• There’s bacon…and what more do I need to say? People love bacon!
• There’s also shallots and some green onions and onions.
• If you like bacon, butter, cream and onions – then you’ll like this. It’s not that creamy, but it is still very rich – it was almost like a bacon chowder broth.
  

Frites 4/6

• Served with a house made garlic aioli.
• The frites were very fried – they weren’t dark brown but they were fried until they were almost dry. I think they triple fry these. They're very crispy and reminded my of a thicker version of the skinny fries I had at The Irish Heather.
• They are cut into 1 inch sticks which allows more surface area for them to fry up very crisp. They weren’t fluffy and not too salty too.
• The garlic aioli is wonderful! It’s very thick – almost the texture of full fat yogurt.

There's a piece of ahi tuna carpaccio on the top right hand corner - that's not how it's served though...that's just my bite :)

It would normally look like this.

Chevreuil aux Raisins 5/6

• Cassis & juniper venison loin, stilton croquettes, braised belgium endive, coronation grape & aged sherry sauce. $30

• Venison tastes like a very tender and lean steak. The meat is a bit sweeter and it’s not as rough. It came with 5 pieces of venison and it was a bit overcooked for me. I could have had it a bit rarer although venison is still very tender even when cooked to medium.
• It was seared with simple salt and pepper and it was very little.
• All the little details were quite random and I didn’t think they complimented each other although they were good individually.
• The sauce could have been a bit more reduced. It wasn’t thick and sticky and it came off as a gravy thickened with corn starch.
  

• The Belgium endive leave was braised with maple syrup. The bitterness it naturally has was almost completely gone so I didn’t feel like it was endive. I didn’t find that it complimented the venison – I actually thought it took it over. Not that it tasted better, but the flavour was so strong I was distracted. There was a very strong clove taste and there was a bit of cardamom in it – however I though the combo of these spices was cinnamon.
• The brussel sprouts were dressed in tangy vinaigrette made with good quality olive oil you can taste.
  

• The stilton croquettes were amazing! They looked just like the croquettes in Spain. They were very fresh and the Stilton was used perfectly. A little goes a long way and they used the perfect amount. Stilton is very similar to Blue Cheese so it can be quite overpowering – this one was evident but not overpowering one bit.
  

• It was nice and crispy with a light breading and very creamy and soft inside.
• It was served on a bed of “dip” which tasted like sour cream mixed with chives. I could have eaten 4 of these as an appetizer. Yes….not a plate – but 4. Although they were good you don’t want to overdo these because they still are very rich.
  

Le Canard aux Epices 6/6

• Spice rubbed duck breast, butternut squash puree, red delicious caramelized apples, whipped goats cheese & tamarind gastrique. $29

• The duck skin was very crispy and almost came off as bacon! It was nicely seasoned and there was actually very little fat yet it was still moist.
  

• The pieces were a bit small and I found this entrée to be the “stingiest”.
  

• The goat’s cheese was good, but again a bit overpowering with the duck. I think I would have liked it if they mixed the goat’s cheese with a ricotta to make it a bit lighter in flavour. I wanted to showcase the natural sweetness of the duck a bit more.
  
• The tamarind sauce was tangy and that suited the cheese well becuase it was almost like balsamic vinegar with goat's cheese which is a great combination.
  

• I didn't like how they used a Red Delciious Apply. It was too powdery in texture especially after it was cooked. It was almost like an old apple texture.
  

• The apples were “glued” onto the plate with a nice caramel sauce. It was a very cooked caramel so the flavour was very intense and rich and it hardens – more like a candied hard caramel than nougat caramel .
• The butternut squash puree was one of my favourites of the nite! DELISH! Seriously. I had to pass compliments to the chef because it was so good.
• It was very thick and creamy and hard to swallow and had the texture of butternut squash whipped with marscarpone cheese…although there was no marscarpone cheese or any cheese for that matter.
• The texture is beautiful and it was slightly sweet with lots of butter and subtle seasonings. The flavour was pure butternut squash, but it was so smooth and creamy you think there is a whole complex production to it – but there isn’t.

Don't miss out on the Chambar Restaurant dessert post tomorrow - there was a lot :)

Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant

Restaurant: Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant

Cuisine: Chinese
Last visited: January 15, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Waterfront/Downtown)
355 Burrard Street
Price Range: $30-50

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2
Service: 4

Ambiance: 3

Overall: 2.5

Additional comments:

• Fine dining Chinese cuisine
• Popular for larger groups
• Popular for dim sum
• Popular to people working downtown/white people
• Known for seafood, I think Kirin is better
• Expensive feels more like "tourist trap" to me
  
• Spacious, 2 floors
  
• Dim Sum/Lunch/Dinner
• Dim sum 11am-2:30pm daily
• Seats 300, 2 floors, Private rooms available
• Set menus available (variety of price ranges)
• Open everyday for lunch-dinner
• Cash/Visa/Mastercard

**Recommendation: I wouldn't really recommend anything...the food is edible, but for what they're charging...nope. There's better.

Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant has the reputation for Chinese fine dining – it competes at the level of Kirin, but doesn’t come close to delivering. For me it’s expensive Chinese cuisine for white people or business people in the area. There are Asian people that eat here, but it’s likely due to convenience…or maybe they get a discount? I don’t know, but the food is very mediocre. If I’m going to be paying top dollars for Chinese food I would resort to Kirin over Imperial Seafood without hesitation.

I came here for a very casual banquet style dinner so the food wasn’t top of the line, although it was fancier than what you would order on a regular night. We were a table of about 15 so everything was pre-orderd and portioned out for us to make things easier. The dishes we had are representable of a lower-end banquet

food, so I can’t speak for their gourmet dishes. I think most of the food we had shouldn’t even be on the menu.

Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant offers around 5 versions of chow mien and 5 versions of fried rice from low to high price points. I think they should just make 1-2 versions of each, and stick to the gourmet versions. If they aim for a fine dining audience than people will pay for it…but the quality has to be there. What’s the point of serving food your restaurant doesn’t represent? It’s very misleading.

I will only briefly comment on everything because if I wrote with my usual details you’ll be here until tomorrow.

On the table:

Roasted Peking Duck with Crepe 1.5/6

• The skin was crispy, but also very fatty and oily. This version had a little bit of duck meat to it too. I like the one at Kirin much better.
• The crepes tasted too floury.
  
• I didn't get to try the shrimp crackers because they didn't serve them to us...I don't know why...
  

• 

Stir-fried Broccoli with Mushrooms and Dried Scallop 3/6

• The broccoli was tender and there was lots of dried scallop which was great – that’s what gave it an extra 1/2 point – otherwise 2.5/6.
• It's a pretty saucy and flavorful dish - common at many Chinese restaurants.
  
• I don’t like how they used canned straw mushrooms and I think it really cheapened the dish. Serve it with Black Chinese Mushrooms or Oyster Mushrooms and just charge more.

• It’s a simple sauce that’s not too salty, but it’s made out of stock and corn starch.

Sautéed Sliced Chicken, Snap Peas & Squid 2.5/6

• Everything was tender, but it was lacking some veggies other restaurants would include like celery, carrots (there were a few decorative ones). This is a bit on the oily side too.
  
• 

Shark’s Fin Soup with Shredded Chicken

• I don’t eat shark’s fin, so I didn’t try the soup. I used to love it, but then I went to Shanghai and visited the aquarium there, I got all anti-shark’s fin. I won’t preach on here.
  

• I could see quite a bit of Shark's fin in the soup though.

  

• Tasty Twist Idea: Add half a shot of Crown Royal to a bowl of shark’s fin soup and it really enhances the flavour of everything. I did try a sip of the broth with it and it was really good! (It was a friend’s idea and I thought he was crazy at first)

Sautéed Crab with Ginger and Green Onion 3/6

• There wasn’t enough sauce. Parts of it were juicy and maybe it was the way they portioned it out, but it was lacking flavour.
• I did try just the ginger and green onion sauce from the “head” part of the crab and it was quite buttery and tasty. I wanted more.

Duck Lettuce Wraps 2/6

• This was a very bitty lettuce wrap filling. It was too minced up and I couldn’t tell what I was eating. I like the one at Kirin much better.
• There wasn’t much duck, and the duck there was wasn’t very tender.
• It had a very smoky flavour overall, it really stood out and I wasn’t expecting it.
• The Hoisin sauce they used almost enhanced the smoky flavour. I don’t think they use a good brand of Hoisin sauce. The standard is Lee Kum Kee Hoisin sauce.

Soy Sauce Chicken 2.5/6

• The meat was really tender and slippery; however it was a tad on the salty side. I didn’t find that the soy sauce absorbed into the meat, it was just kind of on the outside of the skin.

Steamed Cod with Green Onions 2.5/6

• The fish didn’t taste fishy and it was pretty good, but there was a lot of MSG in the dish. It was skinless and boneless so it was very easy to eat.

  

Shrimp & Scrambled Egg Fried Rice 1.5/6

• The shrimps were frozen, and I think the execution was pretty poor.
• The eggs were over cooked, but at least it wasn't oily.

Soy Sauce Chow Mien 1.5/6

• Talk about laziness…mind you it was getting late, but still! Just because we’re not seeing it at the table doesn’t mean you should bring it out like this. I don’t care if you’re plating it at a separate table in the back – I felt like I was at a cheap Chinese food buffet.
• The noodles were like food court noodles. Barely any bean sprout or green onions. I don’t even think Imperial should put it on their menu. It doesn’t represent the image they try to aim for and they don’t even do a good job with the dish.

XO Chili Sauce 4/6

• I love XO chili sauce. The one here is good, but a bit on the salty side. There’s lots of dried scallop with is great.

Dessert

Mango Pudding 4/6

• This was actually the best part of the dinner. It wasn’t even THAT good, but it’s because everything else was so blah that this stood out.
• It’s served with some evaporated milk and it gives the pudding a slight creaminess and sweetness.
• They use real mango in it because I literally had the stingy mango parts to mine. Not necessarily a great characteristic, but at least I know it’s real.
• It was very pureed so I had no mango chunks, although I do like mango chunks in my pudding.
• It wasn’t too sweet and I would have rather eaten 3 bowls of this and gotten full off that rather than some of the other very average to poor dishes.