La Brasserie
1091 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been trying to meet other food bloggers. While I have met Darina of Gratinée previously, it was just for coffee. So, when she suggested us to meet in a restaurant (and, of course, with other food bloggers), there was no way I won’t go. After throwing suggestions, the place ended up being La Brasserie.

Since it has opened, I have meant to visit it; however, it is one of those restaurants I prefer not to go by myself. Not that I have any shame; it is just that it is “better” if you go if somebody else. Furthermore, its cuisine type – French/German – is a combination of two types I should visit more often. It further made me look forward to visit this place. And, who else was on this trip? Sherman… Yes, we are two different people and not clones!

For Sherman’s post on this visit, check here!
For Darina’s post on this visit, check here!

After seated, let’s just say we weren’t that interested in the food but chatting to each other. However, being in a restaurant, eventually we had to order food. After we made our order, we received some complimentary bread. Yes, there were two types. Fortunately for Sherman, it wasn’t hard as rock; however, I won’t say it was that good either. It wasn’t warm at all and it was a bit bland. Not even the butter helped much; however, the second spread, which was similar to paté was quite good. It provided some meaty taste but, in the end, the bread was disappointing…

For starters, Sherman ordered poutine. Wait, made that truffle poutine. I won’t be ashamed to say this but so far anything with truffle in its name has been partially disappointing to me. While I am sure that what is being served will have traces of that fungus but, at the end of the day, they do not really make justice to the truffle name. Yes, it is reflected partially in that serving of poutine, as seen above. The fries were mushy, not sure if due to the gravy. The cheese was slightly squeaky at first but that went away soon and started to melt like mozzarella. So what that has to do with the truffle? How about almost no notice truffle taste? Hmmmm… But even if I put the truffle issue aside, as a poutine, I thought it was disappointing in the end, though not sure if the fact I have been to La Belle Patate has something to do.

I ordered the steak tartare as a starter which came with some bread – almost a toast. Plating-wise it was OK but I do not eat plates! As for the dish itself, it was OK, not necessarily spectacular. The beef was average at best. In fact, not much of a beef taste. Missing some seasoning? Instead, it was masked by the horseradish – which, oddly wasn’t that strong either. Some chives and what seems to be onions rounded the dish by giving some texture. I won’t say I was terribly exhited about this.

I know this picture looks really “bad” compared to the previous ones. It was Darina’s order, mussel & frites (specifically, their saffron, white wine and garlic version). The reason for the subpar picture was that Sherman and I were “forced” to use our external flashes (this is despite we were seated next to the “window”) and it was starting to bother other customers. It was a deja vu case for me. The picture above is a best effort without using the Speedlight.

But, back to the dish. Oh, sorry I did not take a picture of the frites. I could have said it was exactly the same as the ones from the poutine. But, no, I was surprised it wasn’t! Instead, they were crispy and pipping hot. That worked well with the side mayo and, the broth of the mussels, which was quite garlic-y light. However, I thought there was something MIA. Something like the saffron, which I couldn’t taste at all. As for the mussels itself, they were quite plum. But, then again, if you can’t make this dish, you shouldn’t put it in the menu…

Sherman ordered the suckling pig which was served with sauerkraut and schupfnudel – the later being something akin to an oversized gnocchi. It was OK but not something I would be excited to order. Sauerkraut could have been somewhat more tangy; otherwise, it was somewhat generic. Either that or I should have more sauerkraut more often … The schupfnudel felt doughy than most gnocchi I have had. Not necessary “easy” to eat, as it felt like eating a savoury dense marshmallow.  The suckling pig was good in its own ways – hey, it is pork, what do you expect? But, of course, there were parts it could have been better. Sure, the crackling was crunchy as expected; however, there was something falling short in the pork itself. Not sure how to explain it better but there was something missing. If I had to compare it to the one I had in The Irish Heather, I prefer the one I had at the Long Table Series.

My dish – Braised lamb cheeks with celery root puree, caramelized vegetables, rosemary jus. Hmmmmm… So… What is on top of the dish? I must say I wasn’t sure; if I had to guess, it would be some fried (?) egg noodles or something on those lines. Had some mixed feelings about it. It was odd and reminded me somehow of some Chinese fried noodles. The vegetables (some pieces of potatoes/parsnip and carrot) were well prepared but that is something I would expect. The root puree…. OK, to tell you the truth , I am not sure where it was. I did not ask because I forgot completely about it. If it wasn’t because I made reference to their menu on-line, I won’t have remembered it was supposed to be there. But, to the main part, the lamb cheeks. I will admit it was quite good – tender and soft and full of lamb flavour. However, that one last part could also be a distraction, i.e., if you don’t like gamey meats or that lamb taste, it won’t be something you will like. Furthermore, it had a slimy texture on top of it – something a lot of people would rather shy away if possible. But, in my case, it is not something I am bothered about.

After the meal, we were chatting for a while before we call it a day. And what we talked about? About the dishes we ordered, of course! I personally thought they were OK; however, not necessarily a place I would come back anytime soon. Don’t get me wrong, some of the options offered there would work for other people. It is just that they were a bit too basic. In fact, for some of the dishes, I could have been able to buy a similar dish for cheaper (though, in some cases, stretching the concept of the dish). Of course, it has its share of clientele;  not necessary me.

Deutsches Haus
4875 Victoria Dr
Vancouver, BC

A month or so ago, shokutsu of Eat.Sleep.Dream…Food in a post about Insandong, wrote about population statistics in Metro Vancouver. There, I wrote this comment:

“It was quite interesting you posted those numbers. In fact, I had the odd feeling you listed them to also say the cuisine is not directly proportional to the ethnicity. For example, you listed Filipino, which is higher than Korean, yet, as far as I know, there are only a couple of them (Rekados and Goldilocks are the first ones that comes to my mind). Likewise, Japanese population seems to be smaller than Korean, yet the amount of Japanese (themed) restaurants are a lot larger than Koreans (and other ethnicities). But, then again, as you have mentioned before, probably that’s because it has become more mainstream.”

Now, for some straight figures, Statistics Canada has some numbers here.

If you look at the table in the link above, you will see a discrepancy between restaurants of certain ethnicities and the actual population. Let’s take, for example, Germans. While their figures are higher than Filipino and Korean, you only have a handful of German restaurants in Metro Vancouver. So, with that in mind, I had to ask myself: how good (or bad) are they? And, are there representative of the German cuisine? With that in mind, I went to Deutsches Haus, located in the Vancouver Alpen Club.

Aside from cliché dishes (some sausages, sauerkraut, et al), my knowledge of German food is nil. That’s why for this trip, I asked two of my friends to join me, GX and YS – both of whom have been in Germany for some period of time (in a way or another). We agreed to go there on a Friday night and called for reservations, just in case. I later found out that was a really good idea for weekends.

Again, as per my personal policies, I try not to take pictures of other guests and the picture above was the best I could do. Don’t be fooled by the space dedicated for the restaurant; there was another area which was “closed” when we arrived but opened later that night. As for the ambiance, GX mentioned it lacked gemütlichkeit. During dinner, GX tried the best trying to describe it to me but to no avail, until I was sent the link above. Of course, I don’t have a yardstick to measure against so I will take GX’s words for it…

Also, something about the tables: We were a party of three (info given during reservations) and we were given a table for… 6! We asked if they could give us a smaller table but, nope, that’s the best they could provide us. Oh, well… As for the table, since we are in December already, I guess there was a reason for the Christmas related centerpiece. Oh, the glass there was my drink, a glass of Diet Coke (warning, no free re-fills!). Yes, shame on me – Since I was not driving, I should have ordered beer instead.

Now, the food. All our mains include a salad or soup.

Before I continue, I will apologize for the out-of-focus pictures, despite (or because) I was using the 50mm f1.8 lens. Shame on me… Anyway, back to the food: GX ordered salad while YS and I had the soup – onion soup. And, of course, some bread. The soup was good, though not even close to the best onion soup I ever had. Also, rather than a small slice of baguette, I wished it was served with a full piece of bread. Could I have used the side bread instead? Sure, however, it won’t be crispy then. As for the mains…

GX ordered Rheinischer Sauerbraten – beef marinated in vinegar, some spices and a sweetening agent. It was served with potatoes and red cabbage. In GX’s opinion, it was good though “my mom can make better”. OK, GX, whose mom can’t make a better version of their local dish??? ^_^;

YS ordered one of the specials that day: duck breast with potatoes (thought this was more like home fries) and broccoli. It was reported to be good as well.

As for myself, I ordered Rinderroulade – a meat (beef in this case) roulade – with spätzle and red cabbage. It was served with a really savoury gravy. The spätzle (a pasta dish made with flour, egg, salt and water – similar to other pasta but a lot better I might say) mixed with the gravy was a good side-dish. In fact, I think it beats almost any Italian-style pasta dish I have had in a long time. And the red cabbage, ah, at first, I thought it would be bland. Well, it had a soft texture; however, bland was not. Rather the taste was subtle. The roulade itself was a bit dry (probably because the cut they were using for the roulade was too thin?) but, again, mixed with the gravy… Ah, it was delicious.

Finally, we ordered two desserts to share:

Baked cheesecake – not too different from other cheesecakes I have had before; however, it was dense!

Unbaked cheesecake! No, really! It was cream cheese based and, of course, not baked. It was light and fluffy. If I have to choose between the two, I think it will choose the baked one but by a really thin margin.

By the time we were done with our meal, the restaurant was packed. Bar was full and dancing floor was full! Yes, this is probably the reason why reservations were recommended!

Overall, I must say it is a shame there aren’t that many other German restaurants because this meal was quite good. Would I return? Certainly; however, if I do it, it must be a large party, as I am not sure if I would go on my own (or even if it is a party of two). Also, something I did not mention above: most of the diners were easily over 40, if not over 50 years old. In other words, don’t expect anything hip.

On a final note, GX explained to me, though the food is German, there are different German regions and the dishes in Deutsches Haus do not completely represent Germany as a country. But, if you want schnitzels, OK, they have them in the menu, too…