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skiiipi · 05-02-2010, 10:35 PM

I've done 4 Dine outs so far and here is a brief review of each one.

The Salmon House
I've been to this particular resturant numerous times and has always been a favorite between myself and the gf.

Appetizers
I had the tuna, and the girl friend had scallop and tomato tart.
The tune was average at best, it was nicely done however was nothing special, however the tart was very good, the scallop along with the crispy garish went along really well texture and taste wise.

overall 8/10

Main Course
For this one, we both ordered the Salmon. during our previous visits, we always get their Salmon and they usually do a very good job cooking it, I personally like my Salmon on the rare side. I asked the server to make sure the Salomon was cooked a bit more on the rare side, however both our salmon came out more of a medium as opposed to the medium rare that we both requested. None the less, the flavor of the fish was quite delightful.

overall 7/10

Dessert

We both ordered the Raspberry Cake/Espresso Cup/White Chocolate Strawberry ,very well done, not too sweet.

overall 8/10

Service/Ambiance
Our server was very attentive, and avaliable when needed. The ambiance was good, the resturant was not too busy when we went, and we got seated near the window, and despite the rain, we had a great view of DT vancouver.

overall 9/10.

Total rating 8/10

Market By Jean Georges
This is my first time at the resturant. Upon reviewing the menu, I realized that there wasnt a significant differance between the non dine-out menu and the dine out menu, and the regular menu offered more choices so both the gf and I got swayed from the dine out menu to the main menu.

Appetizers
I had the Seard Scallops-$12 while the gf had the Roasted Beats/ Goat Cheese-$10
The Scallops along with the sauce tasted amazing, however the portions was rather small, only 3 medium sized scallops, so at $4 per scallop, i'm not sure if the taste can justify the price.
The Roasted beats/goat cheese was very well presented, however Goat cheese is an acquired taste, and definately not something that I would choose to eat myself, so I cannot give a fair review of this particular dish, the GF seem to enjoy the dish though.

Overall 7/10

Main Course
I had the Soy Glazed Shortribs-$24 while the gf had the slow cooked arctic char-$26.
The Shortribs was cooked very well, very tender and flavorful, the serving size was reasonable for a higher end resturant, roughly around 6-7oz. The flavor is a bit on the heavier side which suits me very well, if you do not have a heavier pallet, this dish may be a bit on the salty side for you.
The Arctic char was cooked just the way I like it, between rare and medium rare, flavor was there but the fish was extremely tender. The size of the fillet was fairly standard and was reasonable for the price paid.

Overall 9/10

Dessert
I had the Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp-$8 while the GF had the Grand Marnier Souffle-$12.
The Souffle was delicious, very fluffy and not too sweet. The hint of orange from the Grand Marnier added a sophisticated touch.
The Strawberry Crisp was a bit to sour for my taste, however I made the mistake of having the sweeter Souffle before eating my own dessert, so the taste might be a bit tainted.

Overall 8/10

Service/Ambiance
This was my first time at the restuant, and I was quite impressed with the overall decore/atmophere. Would be nicer if it as on a higher floor with a better view. Our server was very professional and attentive.

On a side note, the valet parking at the hotel was also one of the better experiance I had with valet parking, the valet was very courteous (unlike the experiance I had with Fairmount Valet....see below).

Overall 9/10

Total Rating 8.5/10

Coast Resturant/Lounge
This was my first time at this establishment, and once again I got side tracked from the dine out menu and ended up ordering from the regular menu.

Appetizier
GF and I both ordered the seafood platter, at $29 per person it was definatly not cheap, however we felt like we easily got our money's worth. The platter came very well presented with 6 GIANT prawns (these thing were huge, I've had lobster tails smaller than these), sushi/sashimi, 1/2 Dungeness Crab, 1/2 Lobster and raw oysters. The crab meat was very sweet, the sushi was suprisingly very delicious (spicy tuna roll) and fresh. I personally did not like the oyster, I was not sure which one it was, but it was a smaller oyster, similar to the size of Kusshi, but a much stronger taste with a hint of copper after taste.
Overall the seafood platter definately satisfied our seafood craving.

Overall 8/10

Main Course
GF and I decided to order the 28oz Bone In Ribeye for 2-$49. The steak was carved into strips, which made sharing much easier.
The steak was by far one of the best rib eye's I've ever had. I'm a frequent steak eater, and have eaten at many different steak houses, and this one was definaly one of the best. Meat was very well marbled, and full of flavor and extemely tender.
The only down side to this meal was that for $49.99 it was pretty much steak only with no sides...it came with some deep fried brussel sprouts, but those were hardly ediable (too salty and dry), for $49.99 at least they could have thrown in some steamed vegitables.

Overall 9/10 (10/10 if you dont factor the sides)

Dessert
For dessert, we ordered the Pastry Chef's Dessert platter-$14, I dont quite remember exactly what was on it, but the portion was very generous, 4 differant kind of dessert including the cheesecake lollipop on the dine out menu.
Everything was delicious, nothing was too sweet (often times with Caucasian resturants, the dessert is way to sweet for my taste).

Overall 9/10.

Service/Ambiance
This resturant felt more like a lounge than a resturant, the overall noise level was a notch higher than the rest of the establishments that I've visited during this year's dine out. The interior decore was very modern. Our server was very friendly and attentive. He was easy going and checked up on us often to make sure everything was okay.

Overall 8/10 (I personally would prefer a quiter setting)

Total Rating 9/10

Griffins
This was my first time visiting this establishment and will probably be my last. The resturant was only serving the dine out menu, so I didnt end up swaying away from that.

Appetiziers
Both the gf and I decided to spend an extra $10 a person to go for the appetizier bar.....maybe our expectations was set too high due to our experaince the previous night at Coast, but the appetizer bar was far from appeling. The cocktail shrimp were a decent size, however they are not fully deshelled, which made eating them a pain. The smoked salmon was mediocore at best. The soups were bland to say the least, I could not finish my lobster bisque as it didnt taste appealing at all.
The appetizier bar felt like something you would find at a cheap hotel/casino buffet.....definatly not a fine dining resturant.

Overall 3/10

Main Course
I opted to go for the Prime Rib (extra $10), and the GF opted to go for the Salmon.
The Salmon was medicore, nothing special, certainly no where as good as the arctic char from Market, nor the Salmon from Salmon House.
The prime rib was a dissapointment. I've had better prime rib at Milestones. The meat was over cooked (I asked for medium rare, the cut given to me was more like medium well), the au jus was too sweet and was "unique" in not a very good way. The size was generous (about 10oz), however due to the bland flavor, I couldnt even finish.

Overall 4/10

Dessert
This was the part that we were both looking forward to, the dessert bar. Lots of options, the cheese cake was okay, a couple of the other cakes were too sweet for my liking. Again this dessert bar is like something you would find at a buffet.

Overall 6/10

Service/Ambiance
I think this portion is greatly affected by the fact that the resturant was only serving the dine out menu. The crowd was very family oriented, a lot of young kids, and the resturant was heavily under staffed for how busy it was. On numerous occassions I felt like I had to wave down my server because she was no where in sight when we needed her. Besides bring us our main course and refilling our water, she didnt do much at all.
For a total $130 with tip (we both had an over priced drink at $12 each), this was an extreme dissapointment, we spent $160 at Coast the night before, and I would MUCH rather spend the extra $30 for our complete experiance at Coast.

On a side note, the Valet parking at the Fairmount was also dissapointing. When I gave the valet attendent my valet slip at the end of my dinner, he simply gave me my keys and pointed to my car and asked myself and my gf to walk to my car myself. for $12 + tip I would expect him to drive my car up to me and open the door for at least my passenger. The valet attedent was not very professional, he did not thank me nor did he wish my a godo night, very small things but further dissapoint me in terms of overall dining experiance.

Overall 3/10.

Total Rating 4/10

I have one more dine out left on Monday, and I will write a review after. I apologize if there are any typos/gramatical error, too lazy to proof read.

05-02-2010, 10:35 PM	#74
skiiipi My homepage has been set to RS Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 2,327 Thanked 1,645 Times in 446 Posts Failed 19 Times in 10 Posts	I've done 4 Dine outs so far and here is a brief review of each one. The Salmon House I've been to this particular resturant numerous times and has always been a favorite between myself and the gf. Appetizers I had the tuna, and the girl friend had scallop and tomato tart. The tune was average at best, it was nicely done however was nothing special, however the tart was very good, the scallop along with the crispy garish went along really well texture and taste wise. overall 8/10 Main Course For this one, we both ordered the Salmon. during our previous visits, we always get their Salmon and they usually do a very good job cooking it, I personally like my Salmon on the rare side. I asked the server to make sure the Salomon was cooked a bit more on the rare side, however both our salmon came out more of a medium as opposed to the medium rare that we both requested. None the less, the flavor of the fish was quite delightful. overall 7/10 Dessert We both ordered the Raspberry Cake/Espresso Cup/White Chocolate Strawberry ,very well done, not too sweet. overall 8/10 Service/Ambiance Our server was very attentive, and avaliable when needed. The ambiance was good, the resturant was not too busy when we went, and we got seated near the window, and despite the rain, we had a great view of DT vancouver. overall 9/10. Total rating 8/10 Market By Jean Georges This is my first time at the resturant. Upon reviewing the menu, I realized that there wasnt a significant differance between the non dine-out menu and the dine out menu, and the regular menu offered more choices so both the gf and I got swayed from the dine out menu to the main menu. Appetizers I had the Seard Scallops-$12 while the gf had the Roasted Beats/ Goat Cheese-$10 The Scallops along with the sauce tasted amazing, however the portions was rather small, only 3 medium sized scallops, so at $4 per scallop, i'm not sure if the taste can justify the price. The Roasted beats/goat cheese was very well presented, however Goat cheese is an acquired taste, and definately not something that I would choose to eat myself, so I cannot give a fair review of this particular dish, the GF seem to enjoy the dish though. Overall 7/10 Main Course I had the Soy Glazed Shortribs-$24 while the gf had the slow cooked arctic char-$26. The Shortribs was cooked very well, very tender and flavorful, the serving size was reasonable for a higher end resturant, roughly around 6-7oz. The flavor is a bit on the heavier side which suits me very well, if you do not have a heavier pallet, this dish may be a bit on the salty side for you. The Arctic char was cooked just the way I like it, between rare and medium rare, flavor was there but the fish was extremely tender. The size of the fillet was fairly standard and was reasonable for the price paid. Overall 9/10 Dessert I had the Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp-$8 while the GF had the Grand Marnier Souffle-$12. The Souffle was delicious, very fluffy and not too sweet. The hint of orange from the Grand Marnier added a sophisticated touch. The Strawberry Crisp was a bit to sour for my taste, however I made the mistake of having the sweeter Souffle before eating my own dessert, so the taste might be a bit tainted. Overall 8/10 Service/Ambiance This was my first time at the restuant, and I was quite impressed with the overall decore/atmophere. Would be nicer if it as on a higher floor with a better view. Our server was very professional and attentive. On a side note, the valet parking at the hotel was also one of the better experiance I had with valet parking, the valet was very courteous (unlike the experiance I had with Fairmount Valet....see below). Overall 9/10 Total Rating 8.5/10 Coast Resturant/Lounge This was my first time at this establishment, and once again I got side tracked from the dine out menu and ended up ordering from the regular menu. Appetizier GF and I both ordered the seafood platter, at $29 per person it was definatly not cheap, however we felt like we easily got our money's worth. The platter came very well presented with 6 GIANT prawns (these thing were huge, I've had lobster tails smaller than these), sushi/sashimi, 1/2 Dungeness Crab, 1/2 Lobster and raw oysters. The crab meat was very sweet, the sushi was suprisingly very delicious (spicy tuna roll) and fresh. I personally did not like the oyster, I was not sure which one it was, but it was a smaller oyster, similar to the size of Kusshi, but a much stronger taste with a hint of copper after taste. Overall the seafood platter definately satisfied our seafood craving. Overall 8/10 Main Course GF and I decided to order the 28oz Bone In Ribeye for 2-$49. The steak was carved into strips, which made sharing much easier. The steak was by far one of the best rib eye's I've ever had. I'm a frequent steak eater, and have eaten at many different steak houses, and this one was definaly one of the best. Meat was very well marbled, and full of flavor and extemely tender. The only down side to this meal was that for $49.99 it was pretty much steak only with no sides...it came with some deep fried brussel sprouts, but those were hardly ediable (too salty and dry), for $49.99 at least they could have thrown in some steamed vegitables. Overall 9/10 (10/10 if you dont factor the sides) Dessert For dessert, we ordered the Pastry Chef's Dessert platter-$14, I dont quite remember exactly what was on it, but the portion was very generous, 4 differant kind of dessert including the cheesecake lollipop on the dine out menu. Everything was delicious, nothing was too sweet (often times with Caucasian resturants, the dessert is way to sweet for my taste). Overall 9/10. Service/Ambiance This resturant felt more like a lounge than a resturant, the overall noise level was a notch higher than the rest of the establishments that I've visited during this year's dine out. The interior decore was very modern. Our server was very friendly and attentive. He was easy going and checked up on us often to make sure everything was okay. Overall 8/10 (I personally would prefer a quiter setting) Total Rating 9/10 Griffins This was my first time visiting this establishment and will probably be my last. The resturant was only serving the dine out menu, so I didnt end up swaying away from that. Appetiziers Both the gf and I decided to spend an extra $10 a person to go for the appetizier bar.....maybe our expectations was set too high due to our experaince the previous night at Coast, but the appetizer bar was far from appeling. The cocktail shrimp were a decent size, however they are not fully deshelled, which made eating them a pain. The smoked salmon was mediocore at best. The soups were bland to say the least, I could not finish my lobster bisque as it didnt taste appealing at all. The appetizier bar felt like something you would find at a cheap hotel/casino buffet.....definatly not a fine dining resturant. Overall 3/10 Main Course I opted to go for the Prime Rib (extra $10), and the GF opted to go for the Salmon. The Salmon was medicore, nothing special, certainly no where as good as the arctic char from Market, nor the Salmon from Salmon House. The prime rib was a dissapointment. I've had better prime rib at Milestones. The meat was over cooked (I asked for medium rare, the cut given to me was more like medium well), the au jus was too sweet and was "unique" in not a very good way. The size was generous (about 10oz), however due to the bland flavor, I couldnt even finish. Overall 4/10 Dessert This was the part that we were both looking forward to, the dessert bar. Lots of options, the cheese cake was okay, a couple of the other cakes were too sweet for my liking. Again this dessert bar is like something you would find at a buffet. Overall 6/10 Service/Ambiance I think this portion is greatly affected by the fact that the resturant was only serving the dine out menu. The crowd was very family oriented, a lot of young kids, and the resturant was heavily under staffed for how busy it was. On numerous occassions I felt like I had to wave down my server because she was no where in sight when we needed her. Besides bring us our main course and refilling our water, she didnt do much at all. For a total $130 with tip (we both had an over priced drink at $12 each), this was an extreme dissapointment, we spent $160 at Coast the night before, and I would MUCH rather spend the extra $30 for our complete experiance at Coast. On a side note, the Valet parking at the Fairmount was also dissapointing. When I gave the valet attendent my valet slip at the end of my dinner, he simply gave me my keys and pointed to my car and asked myself and my gf to walk to my car myself. for $12 + tip I would expect him to drive my car up to me and open the door for at least my passenger. The valet attedent was not very professional, he did not thank me nor did he wish my a godo night, very small things but further dissapoint me in terms of overall dining experiance. Overall 3/10. Total Rating 4/10 I have one more dine out left on Monday, and I will write a review after. I apologize if there are any typos/gramatical error, too lazy to proof read.