#23: Forage - March 7, 2014

The lead-up to our visit to Forage was pretty uneventful, so this introduction is going to be a hodgepodge of completely incoherent thoughts.

Incoherent thought #1: Writing a blog is hard. At first I was super motivated and would write my reviews as soon as I got home. After a while, the thrill faded. Stephen now has to extort me into writing reviews ("If you don't catch up on all your reviews, we can't go to any more restaurants" or "If you don't catch upon all your reviews, you can't watch House of Cards"...ass hat). Last week, I posted something on Twitter to the effect of "Should we go to @Flying Pig, @Kingyo or @Tavola this weekend?" (I was totally too lazy to check my Twitter posts to see if those are the restaurant's actual Twitter handles) and Kingyo was all over it! I quote, "KINGYO KINGYO KINGYO KINGYO....(140 later)...KINGYO!" They tweeted that it was cool that I met Mark McEwan and that they love Top Chef, and then Mark McEwan tweeted them back thanking them. Needless to say, I felt a little shitty when we ended up going to The Flying Pig (review to follow...in like 4-6 weeks if Stephen's threats keep up). I'd like to end up going to Kingyo in a weekend to follow, therefore I have to catch up on my reviews to comply with Stephen's threats.

Incoherent though #2: If I had written this review sooner, I would have said, "I haven't yet found a place like Trois Petits Bouchons where I felt confident enough to tell the staff to bring us anything." However, at The Flying Pig, I got a good vibe so when asked what I wanted to order I replied, "Bring me whatever tastes the best." Unfortunately, it didn't work and the waiter just started describing stuff that was good. I just wanted him to walk away and come back 20 minutes later with something awesome. Didn't happen. Trois Petits Bouchons, you're still the winner!

Incoherent thought #3: And this is actually pertinent to this post. I had the best burger in my entire life at Forage. It was unexpected, and I was stunned when the waiter told us what it was made of. As I mentioned in my review of Romer's, I'm an expert burger eater, and not a self-proclaimed expert burger eater. An actual one. Like I appeared on Burger Week MTL's Top 3 Burger Eaters 2 years in a row. I didn't think Montreal's Art Brgr could be beat, but Forage proved me wrong.

Alright, here we go.

We made a reservation at Forage only about 2 hours before we went. When we arrived we waited a bit to be seated at the bar while our table was being cleared (or so we were told). I don't mind sitting at the bar for dinner. I actually love all the action at and around the bar of any place. We like people-watching, and a busy bar usually has the best views. There were 2 problems with us being at Forage's bar that night. Firstly, there was 15 minutes between the time we got the drink menus and the time someone asked if we were ready to order. It might take that long to get settled at a dining table and pick your meal, but not to choose a drink. Secondly, we sat at the bar a little too long. Based on what the hostess told us, I expected to be at the bar for about 5-10 minutes. With that expectation, we didn't bother looking at the dinner menu or settling into where we were sitting. After 20 minutes we were ready to either be told we'd have to stay at the bar (we had already offered to do that but the hostess insisted it would only be a moment), or get up, move to our table, and get the service started. I know I'm nitpicking about something really dumb, but I felt aggravated about at the time. 

The place was clearly busy, and I felt like they were short-staffed. Eventually, Stephen managed to order the 6oz taster trio plank: Killer Bee, Red Branch and Uber Nutter. Stephen is loving the appreciation for craft beer in BC. Personally, I'm not a fan. He would have ordered any of them again, but expected each of their unique flavours to be a little more pronounced. The Uber Nutter was not nutty enough, the Killer Bee was not sweet enough, etc. Obviously, Forage didn't brew the beer, so we can't hold that against them. 

The trio plank was supposed to come with a featured snack, which we figured would hold us off at the bar until we got out table. It didn't arrive until after we moved to out table and mentioned it to our "permanent" waiter. It wasn't a stellar day for service up until that point. Finally we got it, and it was worth the wait. This is going to sound a little gross, but it tastes amazing: hard boiled, smoked, pickled egg. As you know from my breakfast/brunch-related posts, I'm very particular about my eggs. I don't like egg whites, and I don't like cooked yolks. I am, however, a avid fan of all things smoked and/or pickled. It still had the hard boiled egg texture, but the taste was a mix of vinegar, brine and BBQ. It was an unexpected hit.

The restaurant's concept is shared plates, which I love. I'd take a tasting menu or sharing menu over a 3-course dinner any day. I like to have a variety of smalls things, rather than 1 monstrous, repetitive plate. We ordered the "award winning" seafood chowder, charcuterie plank, perogies, and burger. Here is how they played out.

In addition to being expert burger eaters, as mention in my review of Coast, after our trip to PEI we are also expert chowder eaters. Forage's chowder was alright, but I'd really like to put it head-to-head with a PEI chowder, winner gets to call their chowder "award winning." It was a typical chowder: seafood (generous amount, I'll give them that), some diced veg, heavy cream, roux and topped with a soggy chicharron. Nothing special. It also wasn't very share-able. Overall, it was a lackluster starter, a very small portion for the price, and needs to lose the misleading "award winning" label.

En suite was the charcuterie plank. I'm going to say this now: GET IT. You can't go wrong with freshly sliced, local salami and prosciutto, pork pate, chicken liver mousse, spicy pickled beans, sweet pickled onions, candied walnuts, and IPA mustard. Any combination on their assortment of bread and crostini is amazing. My favourite part of the dish was cracking through the salted chicken fat to get to the chicken liver mousse, and putting both on a piece of bread without feeling any guilt. No crazy cooking techniques involved; another victory for simplicity and high quality ingredients.

Next were the perogies. They were stuffed with roasted squash and swimming in a cheddar sauce. These weren't perogies; they were raviolis. To me, perogie dough is rolled out a lot thinner. Regardless of that, the flavour and texture of the raviolis was wonderful, and a nice twist on a classic. The sauce was meh. The problem with using cheddar is that it often becomes boring and bland in anything besides it's rawest, longest aged form. Unfortunately, Velveeta has more flavour than the best made cheddar sauce. I would have loved a big dollop of sour cream on the perogies/raviolis instead of the cheddar sauce. I wouldn't bother with the perogies.

Here comes the boom! I'm not sure what "Here comes the boom!" is supposed to mean, but it sounds like something my cousin Bobby would say, and he's in the military, and has been to Afghanistan, and jumps out of planes and stuff, so it's theoretically a very intense phrase. The burger. Oh the burger! We didn't initially order the burger. We debated ordering dessert or ordering the burger. Clearly the right choice was made. A burger seems like a simple thing, but really a complex ratio needs to be achieved for it to be great. The bun has to be big enough to contain the burger and toppings, soft enough to be able to fit it in your mouth, dry enough to absorb the juices and sauces so your fingers don't get messy...don't get me started on all the other components. It's just a complicated thing. This burger was perfect. The bun was the perfect size, it was dry enough to soak up the juices, it had a great crust, but it was still moist and chewy. In Stephen's words, "It was a good fucking bun." The bacon was thick-cut, smoked and crisped. It has amazing sweet onions that tasted like they were caramelized in apple juice. The aged cheddar was thick-cut, just like the bacon, so it melted nicely but it's flavour didn't get lost. There was a generous layer of arugula to cut the sweetness and add some crunch. The patty was cooked perfectly medium and was sooooooooo juicy! Here is the big surprise: it wasn't a beef patty! Usually, if you use anything except for beef for burgers, you get a dry brick because of the lack of fat. The patty was a mix of bison and elk, both extremely lean meats. I want to say that some kind of animal fat was added to the patty mixture, but a cross-section of the patty didn't have little "fat buds" as I call them. All that to say, FUCKING AMAZING BURGER.

The last note on the food and drink goes to the Brutus: Forage's version of a bloody Caesar. It was absolute crap. I don't even know why we finished them and didn't send them back. Garbage. Don't do it.

The service got significantly better when we were finally seated at a table. We were seated at a nice corner banquette looking out over the bar and the rest of the tables. It was great for spying on what others were ordering (we're creeps, I know). I didn't get our waiter's name but he was friendly and quick. Forage is also known for using local and seasonal ingredients, so we asked a lot of questions about them. We could tell that he was a little rushed by the crowded restaurant because he answered our questions, and had to run off. It was understandable, and he doesn't control the staffing. He did a great job given the circumstances, and was much better than the staff at the bar.

I have a grievance about the sharing concept. Most of the dishes were easily shareable between the two of us, with the exception of the chowder. We couldn't have shared with another person or another couple. There just wouldn't be enough to effectively go around. You'd probably get one bite of something, want to go back for another, and there would be nothing left. If you were a group of 3 or 4, I would highly recommend ordering double of each plate. I think Forage needs to adjust their menu for single, double or triple portions and prices, and allow you to chose what you need for your group. Just a thought. A coherent one this time.

The Trio Plank

The deceptively amazing smoked, pickled egg.

The not so "award-winning" chowder

Incredible. Delicious. Well executed. GET IT!

We cleaned the plate to reveal a very pretty branded plank.

The mediocre takes on caesars: the Brutus

The perogies / raviolis. 

The best bite of the night. The fries and house ketchup were also excellent!

THE STATS - Out of 10

Taste: 8 - Burger and charcuterie plank get 10's, but the rest gets 6's.
Creativity: 7 - I feel like Forage deserves some points for creativity, but besides the elk and bison burger patty nothing was really WOW in terms of creativity. However, I gave them points for the traditional French preparation of the pate and mousse. We would expect every Montreal restaurant to use the same preparation method, but we didn't expect it in a trendy Vancouver joint.
Service: 4 - As I mentioned earlier, the service was crap at the bar. We expected much more from the staff, especially since they preach "local, local, local." You can't just serve local; you have to serve the locals. And serve them well. Our waiter at the table was much better, but he was rushed through no fault of his own.
Bang for your buck: 8 - The plates are very reasonably priced for the volume of food, quality of ingredients, and variety. Stephen's thoughts when he got the bill were, "it's wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be."
Overall experience: 7.5 - Some of the food was fantastic, others were just good, others we could have done without. The service was not where it needed to be for the type of atmosphere they are trying to achieve. We've been spoiled by the staff at Trois Petits Bouchons, Le Bremner, the now closed Baxo (such a shame) and Garde Manger. All of these Montreal legends are known for staff that are passionate about food and have their co-workers' backs. Forage achieving the same quality of staff would be a great improvement.

Would I go back? Stephen says yes, but I say maybe. I was a little disappointed, but Stephen insists on trying more menu items.
Who would I recommend it to? Adult couples. Do not bring your kids under 16 here under any circumstances, even if they are of the well-behaved variety. It just isn't the place. I didn't feel like the plates were as share-able as Forage thinks, so I'm less inclined to recommend it to a big group. If you go with a group, order multiples of each item. It's casual enough and has a suitable price point for a nice, any weekend dinner, but trendy and up-scale enough for a first date or special occasion. It has a great balance in that respect.
For what occasion? Any. Romantic date, birthday dinner with friends, couple's night out, drinks and small bites after dinner. Endless possibilities.
It was better than: The really good parts of the meal were better than l'Abattoir, Fish House in Stanley Park, and Coast.
It wasn't as good as: The Flying Pig or Oakwood (reviews to come!)
Expect: You need a reservation to get a table. We made a reservation and still had to wait at the bar. Maybe it was an isolated event, but the staff was over-whelmed. The crowd is varying, so no matter who you are, you won't feel out of place. The vibe is unpretentious and welcoming overall.

Top 50 Worthy? I'm on the fence. Some parts were epic, some parts were disappointing. If Forage can achieve more consistency of great flavours on their menu, I would label them as being Top 50. I'll probably give them another chance at some point and decide then. This visit was a little too variable. 

#2: Blue Water Cafe & Raw Bar - March 19, 2014

I have to give Stephen's boss credit for this one. Stephen reminded him that he owed us a dinner (for reasons unknown to me), and he independently and conveniently chose Blue Water Cafe & Raw Bar. I don't mind taking advantage of the opportunity to order some amazing food and writing a blog post about it on someone else's tab. Though a few more meals like this might encourage us to stay in Vancouver a little longer. Hope you're reading this boss-man!

Blue Water is located on a really trendy looking strip of Hamilton Street in Yaletown, reminiscent of some parts Montreal's (fake) Old Port. People from Montreal will understand why the Old Port is in fact "fake", for everyone else, enjoy the cobblestone. We went on a Wednesday, and despite the very high price point and huge square footage, the place was full. I was a little surprised at the apparently average age in the room. Since the place looks like the spots that Don Draper went on networking dinners with potential clients and the wives back in Seasons 1 and 2, most of the guests seemed to be in their late 20's and "shi-shi." That may also be because there is something in Vancouver air and water that causes it's residents to look 10 years younger than their East Coast counterparts. I have a theory on this, but it would likely offend 99% of the Vancouver population, so I'll save it.

It took us a loooong time to decide what we were going to have. I think the waitress came around to take our orders 4 times before we were ready. Our two dinner companions aren't big fans of raw seafood, so the obvious choice of the massive Blue Water Cafe seafood tower at $128 was off the table. Not to worry; they had a scaled-down version that can generously be split by 2 people, or 2 people plus 2 others who just want to taste bits and pieces as was the case for us. It came with prawns, clams, mussels, seared red tuna, smoked salmon jellyfish (yes, jellyfish), scallop ceviche, and raw oysters.

There isn't anything new to be said about prawns, clams and mussels that are served bare. They are either really bad or really good. These were obviously the latter. The oysters were wonderful; salty, delicate and served with a perfect mignonet. The red tuna was just seared on the outside and served like a tartar. It was very fresh and citrus-y. It is worth mentioning that scallop ceviche is really hard to pull off. Blue Water's version was very well executed with hints or lime, cilantro and cucumber. I saved the best for last: the jellyfish. I know it sounds bizarre, and I had never had it before. The texture was very similar to an al dente fine vermicelli noodle. It had a strange crunch and then soft texture, and a flavour similar to calamari. Along with the salmon, it was smoky and salty. Even if you aren't getting a seafood tower, I definitely recommend asking for a bowl of it just to experience the weirdly amazing jellyfish taste and texture.

What better way to enjoy a fresh tower of seafood than with 36+ year old scotch? We each ordered the "Better With Age" flight: Highland Park from the Orkney Islands, Glenury Royal from Stonehaven, and Bruichladdich from Islay. Three different regions of Scotland, three very different flavours of scotch. Young scotch and whiskeys can't hold a candle to real scotch that is 10 years older than you. The Bruichladdich was my favourite. I found the other 2 much more acidic and less smooth than the Bruichladdich. Stephen's boss subsequently looked in to getting a bottle for himself, just to speak to quality of the scotch. 

As a main, I ordered the Ling Cod. It was served with a stew of chickpeas, eggplant, tomatoes and roasted red peppers, and topped with chorizo and a herb pesto. The stew was like guilt-free comfort food. It had a thick texture and smoky notes from the paprika. It tasted like a play on Persian ghemeh from Teheran in Montreal. The stew was the right thickness to accompany the perfectly cooked, dense, white fish, and the pesto hit you with just the right amount of freshness. I understood the need for the meaty chorizo, but I didn't think that the thick slices topping the fish were quite right. I would have better appreciated a very fine dice incorporated into the stew.

Stephen ordered the Kobe Style Beef Short Ribs. I think Stephen has a habit of ordering short ribs and crème brûlée with the sole purposes of challenging the restaurant's chef. Both seem simple, but are extremely hit or miss. Often, short ribs turn out very tender, but have the offensive and boring flavour profile of shoe leather. The flavours of coffee and ancho chile sauce as described on the menu were perfectly present. The portion of ribs was probably twice the volume of my fish. The ribs came with a generous serving of blanched and sautéed fiddle heads and carrots, and creamy celeriac purée. The sides were traditional takes, but suited the richness of the short ribs. Fries or mashed potatoes may have caused a heart attack.

It was very out of character for me to order the crème brûlée instead of Stephen. I usually go for cheesecake or something really chocolaty, both of which are present on the menu. Looking back on the menu though, "caramel" and "chocolate" in the title probably got me hooked. Definitely no regrets. God was it ever good! I'm going to coin the term "puddle rink" to describe one of my favourite parts of crème brûlée. The top of the crème brûlée should crack like when you step on a frozen-over puddle. Too thin a coat of a sugar topping and you don't get the right cracking sound or the jagged edges around the point of impact. Too thick, and you're jabbing your spoon at the Rideau Canal in February. The crème brûlée itself was a beautiful balance of creamy banana, tart passionfruit, and sweet caramel. To the side was a scoop of sweet and spicy cinnamon chocolate ice cream made in house. The ice cream was just good. I can't complain about it, but I wouldn't rave about it either.

Stephen got the Pomegranate Mascarpone Cheesecake. The cheesecake itself was not very memorable. It was just your run-of-the-mill cheesecake. The same goes for the poached pear compote. The diced pears were sweet and soft, and had nice hints of cinnamon and cloves. However, it was similar to other pear and apple compotes that we'd had in the past. The ice cream was the star of this dish. We love savoury takes on ice cream (just wait until you hear about the ice cream we had at Kingyo, OMG), and the addition of the fennel was amazing. There was just enough pear to balance out the fennel. It was a lovely combination.

Overall, it was a solid meal. It you're a seafood fan, you have to drop by. I will say that had this not been a "business dinner," the meal may not have been as memorable. We probably would have stayed away from the seafood tower and scotch flight, which were the highlights of the experience. I'd recommend going there with the expectation of laying out "a few" extra bucks for not only a great meal, but a memorable experience.

One tier of the seafood tower

Another tier of the tower

The complete tower accompanied with our flights

My delicious ling cod

The very well executed short ribs and their wonderful sides

The creme brulee

The cheesecake

THE STATS - Out of 10

Taste: 8.5 - Simple and delicious flavours
Creativity: 6 - Most of the menu is extremely traditional. I upped the creativity score for the little trendy twists (like caramel crème brûlée, and fiddle heads instead of simply beans) and the jellyfish.
Service: 6 - Our waitress was very friendly and light hearted, but the service overall was satisfactory and unmemorable.
Bang for your buck: 3 - I nearly gave it a 0. The meal is going to put you back. And by "the meal" I mean a real 3-course meal with drinks. Alcoholic drinks. Like scotch. 40-year-old scotch. Not water. Water is for sissies.
Overall experience: 7.5 - It was a nice dinner. The novelty of the tower and the scotch flight, and the ambiance are something you wont get anywhere else. However, it is very expensive, and with the exception of the scotch, it's hard to justify their prices.

Would I go back? Not on my own dime.
Who would I recommend it to? Adults only. I know I say "don't bring your kids" all the time, but seriously, DO NOT BRING YOUR KIDS HERE. It's just not appropriate to walk in with your rug-rats. The space is big enough to accommodate couples, and small and large groups. If you don't like seafood at all, obviously don't come here. You'd be wasting your money.
For what occasion? Only special occasions. Unless you're an A-list celebrity and/or a millionaire, in which case you should go every day. I wouldn't even classify birthdays as being a special occasion for this one. Big anniversary is more like it.
It was better than: Fish House in Stanley Park, and the mains at Coast.
It wasn't as good as: I feel like I could have gotten something similar and maybe even better for $10 less per plate at l'Abbatoir
Expect: A pretentious atmosphere. Like I said, Don Draper, Season 1 and 2 shi-shi. Expect for your wallet to hurt like hell until your next pay check (unless of course you are Don Draper).

Top 50 Worthy? Yes and no. The food was great, however, the restaurant overall is just very inaccessible to most due to it's price point for the experience that you should have here. You should get a tower, mains, dessert and hella old booze. WWDDD: What would Don Draper do? He would order the scotch and a good bottle of wine. But by doing that, you're putting out $250-$300 per head.