La Belle Patate - Review 2

Restaurant: La Belle Patate - Review 2

Cuisine: Canadian/French/Fast Food
Last visited: February 19, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Downtown/West End)
1215 Davie Street
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 5
Service: n/a (Met the owner, so I’m biased – but he’s really nice to everyone)

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 5

Additional comments:

• Owner Pascal Cornier from Montreal, Quebec
• Specializes in poutine
• Very authentic
• Recently opened (couple months now)
• Original location in Victoria, BC
• Offers 30 different kinds of poutine
• Offers vegetarian poutine - Traditional poutine is vegetarian
• Poutine sauce imported from Montreal
• Fresh, made upon order
• Fast food
• Take out/Dine in
• Open daily 11am-late

**Recommendation: Traditional Poutine

This is where I started my quest for Vancouver’s Best Poutine on Davie Street. Since then I have re-visited La Belle Patate on a couple occasions to try their other items. In my opinion their poutine wins the most traditional and authentic poutine.

The cheese curds are definitely what makes these poutines stand out and memorable. They're real cheese curds - that squeak becuase they're so fresh!...and they don't melt, it's the real deal. However now that I've revisited on a couple occasions, my rating goes beyond them having excellent cheese curds.

On this visit to La Belle Patate’s it was to try their other items at my own expense. I’ve tried 4 of the poutines now, but of all of them I still think the traditional poutine is best. They're all still very good, but that’s the one I still recommend. I'll still keep trying others just in case...I want to be sure.

La Belle Patate - Review 1

On the table:

Smoked Meat Poutine 3/6

• Small $7.50 Medium $8.50 Large $9.50
• I got the small size – which is enough for one – they’re quite heavy and filling.
• Besides poutine, La belle Patate focuses on their authentic Montreal smoked meat as well.
• I thought this poutine was good, but the smoked meat was a little too salty for me. The flavour was really simple, not many spices (if any) – just salty.
• The smoked meat is almost like ham rather than a brisket and it has a charred-barbeque taste rather than a smoked taste.
  

• It’s not like deli ham, but like a ham you would have on Christmas. It’s a cross between that and a brisket - but it is beef. They’re pretty lean pieces and they give you quite a bit, but I wasn’t crazy about them.
• The gravy was the smoked meat gravy, but it still reminded me of the vegetarian poutine sauce they use on the traditional poutine. I actually couldn’t tell much of a difference.
• The fries are made of red potatoes and they’re a thicker hand cut fry.
• Again the best part was easily the cheese curds, however overall I still like the traditional poutine better.
• 

Breakfast Poutine 4/6

• Egg, bacon, onion Medium $10 Large $12
• The smallest size you can get is a medium for this one – which is what I ordered. It’s huge!
• I prefer the breakfast poutine at La Brasserie hands down. This one is still very good, but after the one at La Brasserie – I don’t think any breakfast poutine can beat that one. It was so delicious!

• The egg was a scrambled egg and I wanted more of it. It was a bit dry and overcooked (front piece that looks like a wrinkled cheese curd in the photo).
  
• I know a poached egg is too ‘gourmet’ for La Belle Patate, but I wanted the egg to have a runny yolk to mix in with my gravy. I would have even liked a fried egg – which isn’t ‘gourmet’.

• I loved the onions and how they were sautéed nice and soft, and sweet. They weren’t to the point of caramelized, but almost there. I could have used more of this as well.
• The bacon pieces were those standard bacon strips that are quite fatty. I think it's about 2 strips of crumbled bacon - it's cooked on the spot upon order but they're too salty, fatty and not crispy enough. I'm not a fan of bacon in general (yes, I can almost HEAR all the jaws drop...but bacon should always be crispy I think)
  
• Overall I enjoyed this poutine, but I wanted more eggs and onions. It was also quite expensive at $10, considering La Brasserie’s gourmet breakfast poutine is only $12…and just a couple blocks down the street.

Galvaude 3/6

• Chicken and peas Small $7.80 Medium $9.90 Large $12
• They have a BBQ Galvaude version which has a meat based poutine sauce. The original galvaude is served with a vegetarian poutine sauce.
• This one had lots of peas, a decent amount of sliced grilled chicken breast and cheese curds.
• Needless to say – but the cheese curds were best as always.

• The peas are not the frozen Green Giant peas, but they're those dark green canned mushy ones. They're not as sweet or crunchy and I prefer frozen ones. But I think it might be more authentic with the canned ones.
• Authentically I’m pretty sure Galvaude Poutine is supposed to be served with shredded chicken and not grilled sliced chicken. I would have preferred shredded chicken for a poutine, but the grilled was still good.
• It’s a very basic and simple recipe.

Traditional Poutine

BONUS - Vancouver's Best Poutine on Davie

The Topic: Quest for Vancouver's BEST Poutine on Davie Street

The Contestants: La Belle Patate, La Brasserie, Fritz European Fry House

4 Poutines later, the results are in!

The poutine at La Brasserie is in a different league, so I almost feel it is unfair to put it in the same category with La Belle Patate and Fritz European Fry House. If I do put it in the competition, their breakfast poutine takes the lead hands down. For a gourmet poutine on Davie Street, La Brasserie seems untouchable (unless another restaurant wants to challenge them…?)

1^st place Most Authentic French-Canadian Poutine - La Belle Patate.

1^st place Best Tasting Poutine - La Brasserie’s Breakfast Poutine

BONUS VIDEO - Breakfast Poutine

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 1 of 4

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 2 of 4

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 3 of 4

BONUS VIDEO - Breakfast Poutine

Please subscribe, rate & comment at my Follow Me Foodie youtube channel. Thanks!

La Brasserie offer 2 different poutines: A truffle poutine that is offered as a hot appetizer for dinner (or as a side), and a breakfast poutine that is offered for their Saturday and Sunday brunch. I was lucky enough to try both!

The breakfast poutine will keep you full until dinner and maybe even a bit sleepy…but it’s totally worth it!

On the table:

La Brasserie Breakfast Poutine 6/6

• Poached egg, bacon, truffle oil, Hollandaise sauce, cheese curds, pork gravy $12
• I’m really mad I didn’t get a picture of this for my blog entry, I totally forgot. You can see it in my “Best Poutine on Davie” video though.
• Poutine for breakfast? Really? Yes, really…and don’t complain. But again, why would you? You won’t for this one at least.
• Oh my gosh...could I have died and went to heaven? Figuratively and literally? Yes, quite possibly. But would I have at least died happy? Yes, because this breakfast poutine is freaking tasty.
• Ok first off, put an egg on anything and I’m there. Poach it like the way their chef did it…I’m so there! It was a perfectly soft poached egg and when you poked the yolk it ran all over the fries and mixed in with the Hollandaise and gravy. I’m drooling all over again.
• This was a very well prepared poutine. Many things stood out, but the first flavour I got was surprisingly not savoury, but actually tangy! The tang was from one of the best parts of this poutine: the Hollandaise sauce. It’s made in house and from scratch. It’s buttery, creamy, thick, rich and intensely flavourful with a strong lemon taste. There’s also Worcestershire sauce to add to the tang and give it a kick, it’s one of the best Hollandaise I’ve had.
• The bacon was fresh pieces of bacon. Not those thin bacon strips, but actual pieces of bacon meat. They were lightly pan fried, and not that crispy ( I kind of wish they were though), but they almost had a dry chewy quality to them. It was salty, but not too salty. This is a Franco-German Bistro so they know their pork…thus the pork gravy is great too. The same pork gravy in the truffle poutine they serve at dinner.
• I could definitely smell the truffle oil even though they used less than they did on the truffle poutine. However the truffle oil became secondary to the Hollandaise and to everything else going on. To be honest, it didn’t even need to truffle oil because it was that well prepared.
• With everything combined it really is something can’t be missed. It's surprisingly only $12 too, totally worth it! It’s super hearty, filling, and rich, but really who cares when there’s so much to enjoy? I highly recommend this…but park further away so at least you’re walking back to your car…

Truffle Poutine 5/6

• Fries, cheese curds, pork gravy, truffle oil $9

Added note: This review is a little different because it was for my video blog. Therefore the food at La Brasserie was complimentary, (although I did offer to pay) but my opinions are still honest and as non-biased as I can be. The opinions and views expressed in "The Quest for Vancouver's Best Poutine on Davie Street" review and video are those of Follow Me Foodie/Mijune only. There is no paid advertising and as always I write for the benefit of the customers and not for the restaurants.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics - Holland House: Dutch food

Restaurant: Holland House – Dutch food

Cuisine: European/Dutch

Last visited: February 27, 2010
Area: Richmond, BC (Minoru Park)

7191 Granville Avenue
Range: $10 or less

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

I really wish I could have put this post up earlier, but I didn’t make my visit to the Holland House until the last Saturday of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics! GO CANADA GO!

I heard lots about the Holland House and the exclusiveness of it. Every time The Netherlands won a gold medal they would only let in people with Dutch passports. Throughout the day anyone with a Dutch passport could get in automatically with no line-up, but for everyone else it was 30min on a good day and sometimes up to a 3 hour wait! The exclusiveness made it extra alluring and I also heard they were serving traditional Dutch food so I was determined to check it out. Authentic Dutch foods…actually Dutch food in general…and even Dutch people are hard to find!

So what’s up with my Dutch obsession? Well I was lucky to live in The Netherlands for a while so it has a place close to my heart…and stomach for that matter. So what was my game plan to get in? Well I grabbed my Utrecht Universiteit hoodie and my expired Dutch student ID that clearly states: 2007-2008. And with that I was able to get in! WOOT WOOT! The loser is the one who doesn’t try right?! Seriously…lucky me!

Needless to say I am familiar with traditional Dutch food – well as familiar as I could get. Living there I would ask people all the time what traditional Dutch food was? And more often then not my Dutch friends were lost for words. However after a while I was able to get an idea of Dutch food and the menu offered at Holland House was in pretty close to the real deal! It definitely brought back memories!

Added note: Almost all Dutch food tastes better than it sounds and looks. The stuff at the Holland House was no exception…it was cafeteria style Dutch food, but it was good! It's partly rated so high just becuase I miss it. :(

On the table:

Stamppot Boerenkool met Worse en Spek

• Potato-kale hotchpotch with sausage $7.50
• The one served at the Holland House is pretty much the “fast food version”…which is interesting because the original is already quite “fast food-like” as is.
• Now I didn’t order this one because I tried a home made version in the The Netherlands already. Also the guy working there said his favourite was the Hutspot met Worst en Spek (the one I actually ordered).
• Below is the Stamppot Boerenkool I made with my Dutch friend in The Netherlands. It’s traditionally served with pickled pearl onions and pickles.

• Stamppot Boerekool is the most traditional and popular ‘stamppot’ or hotchpotch. It’s not necessarily the favourite, but there’s many ways to make it and many combinations, however this potato-kale one is most common.
• Stamppot is a traditional dish that people make at home, but it’s not really served at restaurants. It’s pretty much traditional Dutch comfort food that mom’s make.

Hutspot met Worst en Spek 4.5/6

• Potato carrot hotchpotch with sausage $7.50
• Okay so this isn’t how it’s supposed to be served, but under the circumstances of a standing room only/drinking tent atmosphere it was the most practical method serving it in a cone.
• It’s basically mashed potatoes with milk and butter, mixed with coarsely mashed up carrots and onions and topped with a sausage and bacon bits.
  

• The sausage was a crappy sausage – it was those cheap hot dog wieners…usually it’s a thicker sausage, like those ‘U’ shaped ones (like the image in my home made verison)
• Other than that the mashed potato carrot part was delicious even though it was sitting under heat lamps for the whole day. It was really creamy and really soft and fluffy. I loved it!
• The bacon was new. I’ve never seen it served with bacon, but I liked it. It was almost like a baked potato and I think that’s what they’re going for. They were pretty fresh bacon bits too – not those hard crunchy dried ones.

Broodje Kipkerriesalade 4/6

• Sandwich chicken curry salad $5.00
• I was pleasantly surprised to see this on the menu. It flew under my radar and I almost forgot how popular of a sandwich it is there.
• There’s a heavy Indonesian influence in The Netherlands so it’s very common to see “satay” or “curry” on their menus.
• This sandwich is very close to what they would serve at quick eateries or small cafes in The Netherlands.
• 
• It’s pretty much diced chicken mixed with a curried mayo. They also include some diced apple and maybe some diced onions in it.
• The bread was crappy and tough and it was overpriced, but whatever…that was expected.
• The chicken curry salad was really good though. It’s creamy and sweet from the apples. Usually they would serve it with some lettuce and maybe some tomatoes. At really good places I could get them with bean sprouts! I love it with bean sprouts.
• The curry is not spicy at all, but just really creamy and rich.

Giraffe Restaurant

Restaurant: Giraffe Restaurant

Cuisine: West Coast/American/Fusion
Last visited: January 7, 2010
Area: White Rock, BC
15053 Marine Dr
Price Range: $30-50

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

Food: n/a
Service: n/a

Ambiance: n/a

Overall: n/a

Additional comments:

• Executive chef David Chow (Dubrulle Culinary Institute)
• Fine dining
• Focus on West Coast/seafood
• Familiar to locals and tourists
• Globally inspired menu
• Creative/Fresh/gourmet homemade
• Really delicately executed, attention to detail
• Great view of waterfront
• Small/intimate dining area
• Beautiful intimate patio
• Weekly specials
• Lunch Thurs.-Sat. 11:30am
• Dinner M-Sun. 5:30pm
• Sunday brunch 11am

**Recommendation: Giraffes’ Eggs Benedict, Bacon wrapped Filet with Egg (I didn’t get to try their Belgian Waffles, but I really want to)

The reason why I had to rate everything as “n/a” is because the chef is my best friend’s brother. Therefore, under the circumstances I can’t rate this restaurant with a neutral perspective.

I’ve dined at Giraffe Restaurant for dinner more than a handful of times, but this was my first time for brunch. This brunch was also complimentary, but I would have no problems paying full price for it. It was definitely worth it. The brunch prices are actually really affordable, especially for fine dining...heck it's a bargain! I would be spending the same if I was having brunch at White Spot for half the quality and half the atmosphere (and I really like brunch at White Spot!)

As good as the Giraffe brunch is, I am definitely going to do a dinner review one day. I am lucky enough to have tried almost everything on the menu as well as some custom made appetizers. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything, although I do have my favourites. The menu is more fusion and contemporary, but the atmosphere is more traditional and formal and suitable for couples or small intimate groups.

On the table:

Complimentary Scones

• These are complimentary for everyone during brunch. I could have eaten 3 of them. They’re made in house and they’re so good!
• These aren't the traditional fluffy scones like the ones at Applewood Bakery, but these ones were more like cookies. They were crispy soft and chewy and reminded me of freshly baked oatmeal cookies. I loved them, it was a great way to start brunch! I feel like there was some rhubarb or apple, oatmeal and definitely some cinnamon in them. They were perfectly baked and so delicate. It also came with a really fresh raspberry jam. I do miss that devonshire cream, but these scones are complimentary so I think I'm pushing it. I would pay extra for it though.

**Giraffes’ Egg’s Benedict

• Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, red onion, spinach and a dill hollandaise served with fried nugget potatoes $12
• I was deciding between the Giraffes’ egg’s benedict and the frittata. I went with the benedict because my friend told me that her brother, also the chef, would more likely make the frittata at home than he would the benny. (The hollandaise sauce is very time consuming).
• I was very much into my benny. The ratio of ingredients was perfect and everything was cooked perfectly. Nothing was overpowering and the flavours were all there.
• The red onions were soft, but not to the point of caramelized. It still had a crunch, but wasn't spicy anymore, it added a shallot like flavour that was very delicate.
• My egg was beautifully poached with a very soft middle. It mixed into my hollandaise and was absolutely divine.
• The hollandaise sauce wasn’t really a tangy hollandaise as it was more buttery in flavour. Made with clarified butter it’s very rich and creamy here. The dill was apparent, but very mild and I liked it with the salmon. There was the perfect amount of hollandaise to finish my benny with some on every bite.
• I really liked the crispiness of my English muffin. It sounds like a small thing, but it was enough for me to notice because more often than not restaurants don't toast it enough or it gets too soggy.
• The fried nugget potatoes were great. It was cut nice and thin so they were very crispy. This is what I meant by "attention to detail, everything here is cut to the same size and there's consistency. Therefore the cooking time is perfect for everything. A sign of true professionalism.
  
• I think it was a simple seasoning of course salt and black pepper. (Maybe one additional dried herb, but I couldn't taste it)

**Bacon wrapped Filet with Egg

• Grilled bacon wrapped filet served with a poached egg, tomato, béarnaise and roasted potatoes $16
• Okay, I don’t know what happened, but this was the first time I didn’t try something on someone else’s plate. I think I was way too into my own egg’s benedict did I totally forget to try this dish.
• However, another reason is probably because I have tried a version of this already. See My Holiday Dinners and Feasts - Chef David Chow made something similar to this on Christmas morning. I was lucky to be invited! Yes, we had beef tenderloin for breakfast! The one on Christmas had pyster mushrooms 3 kinds of potatoes for the hash, and the eggs were scrambled.
  
• You don't have to worry about overcooked steaks here, hot you order it is how it arrives. Everything is made in small batches rather than in volume.
  
• The presentation on this is beautiful, and it’s only a 4 ounce steak so it’s not as heavy for brunch as you would think.

Stuffed French Toast

• Mango-apricot Cream Cheese and Strawberry stuffed French toast served with bacon, and warm maple syrup $10.50
• This was the “dessert” for brunch. Since we had it in the end, we passed on the bacon. I am very curious and interested to try it with the bacon though...even though I'm not a fan of bacon...I know, so taboo right?
• The bread is from a bakery up the street. I wasn’t a fan of the crust, beuase it was a bit dry, but I was a fan of how it was used.
• I loved the combination of ingredients, the savoury creamy cheese, the sweet mango-apricot, and the tart strawberries, but I just wish there was a bit more of it. (I’m treading on dangerous grounds here…so I’m a bit scared).
• I would have liked more mango apricot because I couldn’t really taste it. It would be nice to have a little more stuffing to match the thickness of the bread too. I know it looks balanced in the picture, but because the bread was a bit dry it felt like it need more stuffing. Or maybe if the bread was a little more soaked in egg batter that would work. I wouldn't have minded if the egg batter had a touch more vanilla and cinnamon too... =|
• I did love how the cream cheese was warm and melted. It made for a really decadent French toast and the strawberries released their natural sugars under the heat. I really don’t think there were any additional sugars because overall it wasn’t really sweet unless you used the warm maple syrup. Which I did…and it was great!
• This French toast was really good, but just minor things and it would have been over the top. Ohhh maybe even some toasted pecans to give it a crunch? Or even some basil leaves or some finely chopped mint in the middle? Yum!
• We all loved the side of fruit! It was beautifully presented, clean and fresh. Pears, apples, mango, strawberries, grapefruits and oranges. I loved the variety and you get what you’re paying for as you can tell there are no grapes, honey dew, or cantaloupe.

Special Appetizer

• This is not on the menu, but was made especially for us…I know…I’m lucky right?!
• It was a 7 vegetable chili served on roasted potatoes and topped with sour cream.
• I’m not going to comment on this because it was special made, complimentary, and not available on the menu anyways.