MARKET By Jean-Georges

MARKET By Jean-Georges
1128 W Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC

I have mentioned a couple of times that I am not particularly fond of fine dining, with price being the least of the issues (just don’t go there too often). My particular issues are instead the food being too elaborate, too complicated, over attentive service, formality, et al. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is what a lot of people expect when they fork their hard-earned cash. But, in my case, what is being delivered on the plate is what matters – and that plate does not have to be fine china, it can be any plate, even a plastic plate. As long as it is something where you can put the food (and holds), I am good. On that same line of thought is the ambiance and service. For purposes of this blog, I will go almost anywhere, from the most run-down dive, to the mom-and-pop or hole-in-the-wall restaurant, to your chains and, well, fine dining, which brings the subject of today’s post: my visit to MARKET by Jean-Gorges.

My original attempt to visit MARKET By Jean-Georges (or simply “Market” from now on) was marred by twist and turns. My previous attempt resulted me and PO (who I went with in this lunch) going to Joe Fortes instead (which was blogged here). This time, we both made sure we booked in advance and made sure we did not have any meetings. Hey, I have to make sure job is done, otherwise, there is no way for me to fund my visit to these restaurants and, as a result, not that much food blogging!

As soon as you walked in… Wait, before you walked in, you get the service you usually expect from fine dining restaurants: Opening the doors to you, a maitre’d checking reservations, ask if I need my coat hanged and so on. After checking our reservations, we were guided to our tables. Now, I am not sure if it was due to the fact they saw my camera bag but we were given a table with access to natural sunlight (and, the bonus was the fact it was a cloudy day). Could it be they are trained to identify people like me who might be interested in taking pictures? I can’t help but wonder…

Did I say well lit?

I will admit I did not check the menu ahead of time, as I was extremely busy that week. So, to a certain extent, I was expecting some surprises along the way. I have heard previously of their prix fixe but wasn’t sure of what was in it. It turns out you had the option of one appetizer, one entree and a dessert for CDN $29. Other sides are extra CDN $5 and drinks (in the form of sodas) were also CDN $5. And, after we made our orders…

In the case you were wondering what was on that small wooden plate with a spoon on the previous picture. And butter for…

The complimentary bread.

One detail that some of us wish restaurant did is listen to what customers have to say, be it on a comment sheet (if given) or in mediums like blogs. I will have to admit Market indeed heard from some of us. How so? In two separate blog posts, one from Wilson (La Petite Vancouver, Market’s post here) and Kevin (604 Foodtography, Market’s post here), it was mentioned the bread was hard as rock. While in this case it was still hard, it wasn’t as hard as they described. However, the butter was a bit of a disappointment. Heck, Joe Fortes was better! However, I won’t put too much emphasis on bread and butter…

For drinks, we both order soda. PO ordered fresh ginger ale (to the right), while I ordered the herbal root soda (to the left). One thing I would expect in a fine dining restaurant is that they would tell me if something does not match very well. In this case, the root soda had a taste not that different from medicine. Of course, some purists will say “hey, that is what you would expect from root beer!”. I won’t debate that fact. On its own, it was a good drink (though, not something I would necessarily order after this experience), just that it did not work at all with any of the dishes I ended up having! Anyway, to the food!

Before I keep on going, I will admit PO, albeit sarcastic, is quite knowledgeable in his own ways about food. So, if he says he does not like something, chances are I know where he is coming from. Having said that, PO started off with “Oysters on the Half Shell; Mignonette”. From the looks, it seem he enjoyed it so I won’t comment anything else from that aspect.

As for myself, I had “Seared Scallops; Caramelized Cauliflower; Caper – Raisin Emulsion”. There were two scallops, as seen in the picture above. While seared perfectly, the end result was not as warm as I thought it could be. I have the odd feeling they were ready and awaiting for us on the hot plate before delivering to the table. The caramelized cauliflower were good – soft and a touch of sweetness from the cauliflower. The sauce… Well, I am not sure if caper and raisin would be the best description. Capers, probably; raisin, not sure. The end product had a taste similar to mustard without any sweetness I would expect from raisins.

For entrée, PO ordered “Seared British Columbia Hanger Steak; Gingered Mushrooms; Soy – Caramel Sauce”. Yes, it was ordered rare. While looking at the plate, I was rolling my eyes on one small detail. Foam… Really???? Feel free to call me ignorant but, to this day, I still don’t get the idea behind this… Anyway, for the most part, PO mentioned it was good except for one detail – the same issue that happened to my dish, as well, so I will refer to that later.

My entrée was “Soy Glazed Short Ribs; Apple – Jalapeno Puree; Rosemary Crumbs”. When I made the order, I was told there were no side dishes along. At this point, some people might thing they were trying to upsell but, in perspective, after given my dish, I thought it was actually necessary. So, for this purpose, I got the “Truffle; Mashed Potatoes”. The mashed potatoes were smooth but did not feel starchy. I might blame the root soda on this one (i.e., it “scrambled” my taste buds) but I thought I tasted really light garlic taste. The disappointment was the truffle. Now, I know truffles are not cheap so I was expecting some form of truffle oil at most. When I saw the ramekin with the mashed potatoes and a lot of dark specs in it, I thought they did not hold back and added real truffles instead! Of course, I kept myself in check, specially considering it is only $5. While it did had some earthy hint, had they told me it was just regular mashed potato, I won’t have thought much about it either.

Now, back to my entrée, the soy glazed ribs. The puree on the side was, well, I did not start sweating, hint it was spicy hot. I mean, if you read Jalapeño, I would expect something on those lines, right? But, to the key element, the ribs… While we were eating out entrees, PO and I thought the exact same thing: these guys do not know their soy sauce. While the meat of the ribs were really tender, both dishes were too salty. Our hypothesis was that of soy sauce and they not knowing how to balance it (not to mention they might as well used any soy sauce). Probably I am being extremely critical here but, keep in mind I am Chinese, and I grew up using soy sauce almost the same way kids in North America use catsup. We both thought they were using light soy sauce (which is saltier) rather than the more balanced dark soy sauce. But, even then (which is not necessarily a sin by itself), they did not balanced it by adding a sweetener (i.e., sugar or molasses) plus other spices to provide contrasting flavours. In other words: Chinese braising. Now, of course, it is also possible they were not trying to imitate this Chinese cooking style but, regardless of the cooking style, one basic taste should not overpower the rest.

Once our plates were cleared, it was dessert time. PO had the “Green Apple Crisp; Cinnamon Ice Cream”. Again, it seemed good. As for myself, I had the “Chocolate Pudding; Softly Whipped Cream; Crystallized Violets”. Again, it is possible something was lost in translation. White -> whipped cream, check. Purple -> crystallized violet, check. Chocolate -> chocolate pudding… Well, depends on what you call a pudding. In my case, a pudding is something softer than a mousse, yet maintaining its consistency. Or probably something similar to a custard by thickened by a starch, which, as a result, maintains certain consistency. Here, however, chocolate pudding was soft, to the point if I scoop a bit using a spoon and turn 90 degrees, it might start to drip from the spoon. But, then, there was a piece of brownie/cake in the middle. Could it be I am not understanding their concept of pudding?

During dessert, PO and I were discussing the merits and what not of Market. It provides the service, it provides the ambiance, it provides good (but not necessarily spectacular as I thought it could have been) food. And, despite its flaws but taking the price into consideration, in the end, one can’t deny it is a good deal, specially compared to similar high end restaurants outside of Vancouver. So, based solely on this experience, I might come back (after a long hiatus, of course) with the caveat I must NOT order anything that contains an Asian element….

Tagged under: Downtown • Fine Dining • Lunch • Vancouver