going West

Vancouver dine-out has officially started (January 14th) and will continue on til February 1, 2009. Last night, we went to West, a place my chef friend has been to last year for dine-out and still continues to rave about every chance she gets. So, of course I had to go and taste it for myself.

The restaurant didn't look like much from the outside, but the interior was lovely. Swirly mirrors on the ceiling combined with the traditional decor of the room (dark stained wooden shelves for wine storage, dim lighting, rectangular mirrors on the walls, etc) created a nice contrast. They had an interesting menu for dine-out and I decided upon the veloute of pumpkin with cinnamon marshmallows for my appetizer, the bio-dynamic aged risotto with David Woods goat cheese, red onion and pesto dressing as my main and for dessert, the white and dark chocolate tower with peanut toffee, popcorn ice cream and caramel wafer. I chose the dishes based on their unique ingredients (cinnamon marshmallows? Bio-dynamic risotto? Popcorn ice cream?!), and I was pleasantly surprised.

The veloute of pumpkin was velvety smooth and with the cinnamon marshmallows swirled in, it gave the soup a slightly sweet flavour without it being too overpowering. There might have been some squash mixed in as well, not that I'm complaining. My entree was so rich and I liked the pesto dressing, but I still couldn't figure out what was so bio-dynamic about the risotto. I could've done without the fried curls of red onion sprinkled on top, but it did add a nice texture to the risotto. Dessert was fabulous, you can't go wrong with chocolate and the popcorn ice cream was yummy! One day, I might have to go and find that flavour when I visit the 150+ ice cream shop. I had a Leong-Lei cocktail (lychee liquor, vodka, apple hearts, green tea syrup) to accompany my meal. What can I say, I'm a sucker for lychee liquor.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures as I left my camera at home and the photos on my phone came out all blurry. So, you're going to have to trust me when I say that West was definitely worth the visit.