Jacqueline

I've been wanting to visit Jacqueline in Portland for quite some time.  I mean, I've been out in Portland 6 times in the last 6 years!  I've always envisioned dining their with Jacqueline (@pork_ninjas) just because they share a name (yes, I'm juvenile like that).  However, it just never worked out.  This time around, I got a reservation and boy did that come in handy.  To say the place is busy is an understatement, there was a huge line for happy hour when we arrived.   For those who are familiar, Jacqueline opened in 2016 and relocated to its current location in 2024.  The place is well known for their seasonal menu that focuses on fresh seafood.

Seeing how we arrived in time for Happy Hour, we went straight for the $1.00 oysters.  We ended up with a dozen of the Salazar Puget Sound Oysters, which were mid-sized.  Even thought they appeared to be small like Kushis, they were deeper and hence more plump.  We found them to be rather creamy and intensely briny.  We had several accompaniments including hot sauce, dill vinegar, classic mignonette, ponzu and Fresno chili vinegar.  My favorite was the hot sauce as it paired well with the salty oysters.

Even though they have a good value tasting menu at $90.00 each, we ended up doing a la carte.  The first plate to arrive was the Hamachi Crudo.  This was freakin' delicious with buttery slices of hamachi and charred & pickled pineapple.  To go with the natural sweetness of the fish and the pineapple, we found classic Thai flavors in the mam nem with lime leaf, mint and peanuts.  We had intense brininess from the fermented anchovies as well as balancing sweetness and tang.  Nice hits of herbaceousness from the lime leaves and mint.

Something as simple as bread can often be overlooked on a menu.  Luckily I asked about Emerson's Focaccia and ordered it.  Turns out it was an excellent choice as the fluffy bread was great on its own.  It had a crispy top that also was nicely salted.  However, what really made this dish was the side of toasted kombu oil with aged balsamic.  It was so punchy with umami and tangy sweetness.  Although we had a lot of dishes coming, we couldn't stop eating the bread!

This was followed up by a few smaller dishes including the Grilled Asparagus with marinated Ota tofu.  Normally, we would find some firm tofu in these types of dishes, but the Ota tofu was so delicate and soft.  Each cube almost broke upon contact, which made it so buttery in texture.  The toss in XO sauce ensured that the tofu was fully-seasoned with spice and brininess.  Asparagus was still had a bite despite being cooked through.  Some preserved meyer lemon added some salty brightness.

Another full-flavored dish was the Snap Peas with fish sauce lemongrass vin.  Beyond the crunchy sweet peas (that were split lengthwise), we found toasted rice powder, fava leaf, lime leaves and crispy tiny shrimp.  The mix of all these components ensured we got a bit of everything.  The fish sauce with lemongrass provided salty umaminess and bright hits.  Toasted rice powder not only add a bit of dry texture, we also had some aromatic nuttiness.  Fava leaves and lime leaves gave that background herbaceousness while the shrimp were a bit crunchy and totally briny.

Presented in 4 huge balls, the Smoked Black Cod & Potato Fritters were more like croquettes to me.  Once we got past the firmly crispy exterior, the soft and creamy potato filling was airy and light.  It was totally seasoned by the salty and smoky black cod where it was impactful from the first bite.  In the bowl, we found a green peanut sauce which was "green" tasting with some nuttiness.

We also tried both the Grilled Honey & Turmeric Chicken Skewer and the Grilled Lamb Merquez Sausage Skewer.  Nicely charred and juicy, the chicken skewer was smoky and earthy.  That sauce underneath was creamy and cooled things down.  As for the lamb sausage, it was also tender and moist with a decent amount of charring.  The addition of an anchovy provided another layer of brininess to go with the rich lamb meat.

Served on a house made bao that had been deep-fried, the Lobster Bun was packed full of tender shredded lobster.  There was enough mayo to keep things together and also acidity (from the zucchini pickles) to keep things from being too heavy.  The whole thing exhibited good textural contrast with the crispy bun and the fluffy lobster salad.  This wasn't very big, but super tasty.

The Seared Scallops were hard-seared on one side which created a crust.  They were aggressively seasoned and hence, were salty.  I could still taste the sweetness of the scallop and in fact, the salt only heightened the flavors.  Texturally, they were buttery and soft while cooked all-the-way through.  Underneath, the sauce was earthy and rich.

I thought the Halibut was just a bit over, yet at the same time, most of it was still flaky and moist.  Once again, things were salty for this dish including the hard sear.  The miso maitake mushrooms were far too salty, but the texture was great.  We also found some new potatoes that were robust, yet still tender.  The nettle sauce vert was green-tasting, peppery and bright.

Loved the Fig Leaf Pannacotta as it was creamy and light while topped with sweet strawberries, Marcona almonds and white chocolate.  This was quite refreshing and light with an on point texture.  It was properly set, yet not too firm.  By using fig leaf, the flavor of the pannacotta tasted like aromatic coconut and vanilla.  It would've fooled me if it wasn't in the description.  Strawberries naturally added tangy sweetness and texture while the almost added butteriness and crunch.

We had one scoop each of the Blood Orange Sorbet, Strawberry Rhubarb Gelato and Hochija Gelato.  Things were rather sweet, but naturally refreshing at the same time.  Blood orange was tangy, so it offset the sweetness.  Strawberry rhubarb had enough tang to balance the sugar as well.  For the hochija, that was the sweetest of the bunch, but I enjoyed the toasted and nutty flavor.  Overall, the meal at Jacqueline was mostly great with a few things that were a bit too salty.  Portions were generous and pricing was reasonable.  Service was genuine and friendly, if not a bit inattentive.

The Good:

- Generally tasty

- Generous portions and reasonable prices

- Nice people

The Bad:

- Some things were pretty salty

- Service was nice, but not particularly attentive (water not refilled and plates not changed)

Folietta

I've always been a fan of the family of restaurants run by the Wentworth Hospitality Group.  These include Tableau, Maxine's and Homer St Cafe.  So when I heard they opened Folietta Italian restaurant out on Nanaimo Street, I was anxious to try it out.  Turns out that Viv beat me to the punch and went for their Happy Hour first.  With positive feedback, I decided to book it for my mom's birthday dinner.  Since it was an early reservation, we were able to order some items off the Happy Hour menu as well.

As such, I ordered quite a few things off of that menu including the Focaccia with Ricotta.  We enjoyed the creaminess of the ricotta combined with the black truffle and olive oil.  The flavours were not strong but definitely there to provide some aromatics.  The focaccia itself had a firm crispy exterior giving way to a softer almost airy interior.  We also ordered a plain focaccia with EVOO and balsamic.  That was great with the pastas.

Also part of the happy hour menu, the Wagyu Beef Carpaccio was sliced paper-thin.  As such it was also super buttery and tender.  The fact there was only a modest amount of fat helped its cause as too much would make it chewy.  On top, we found pickled mushroom, bagna cauda, smoked egg yolk and shaved reggiano.  The combined flavours resulted in acidity, brininess and nuttiness.  Didn't get a lot of smokiness from the egg yolk though, but loved the texture.

When Viv suggested we go for the Insalata Mista, I thought she was joking.  When she pointed out that there was cubes of salumi and crispy pieces too, I was sold.  That itself gave the salad plenty of robust saltiness to compliment the tanginess of the dressing and the pickled peppers/olives.  Greens were crisp and fresh while the generous amount of sharp provolone afforded extra body to the salad.

From salad to all meat, we had the Polpette e Sugo.  These meatballs consisted of veal and pork.  They were soft and moist with an almost fluffy texture, but while retaining a certain meatiness.  The slow-roasted sugo was bright and very tomatoey.  Nice tanginess and balancing sweetness.  That toasted focaccia was great with the sauce as it had a smoky crispiness.

Up until this point, the appies were quite good, yet the Calamaro was my favourite.  Each strip of Humboldt squid was soft and tender while having a slight chew.  Exterior was crispy and light as the coating wasn't too thick.  Yet what really made this dish was the Puttanesca underneath.  It was intensely flavourful with hits of brininess, salty tanginess and slight spice.

Rounding out our appies, that were all from the happy hour menu, was the Parmesan Crocchette.  These were $3.00 per piece.  I thought they were tasty with a crispy shell that revealed a soft and creamy mochi-like texture.  Definitely could taste the salty nuttiness of the parmesan.  With grated prosciutto di parma and reggiano on top, we got an extra hit of saltiness.

Onto our mid-course, we had some pastas including the Bigoli with Venetian duck ragu.  This was absolutely fantastic with firm strands of thick bigoli.  The texture of the pasta held onto the ragu well and each bite was impactful with rich meaty notes and sweetness.  Extra body and nuttiness was provided by the cheese. Loved the texture of the crispy skin pangrattato.

As great as the first pasta was, the Linguine was equally delicious.  It featured Zeke's spot prawns and the briny sweetness combined with the shellfish jus made this pasta memorable.  The natural shellfish flavours created a connection with the prawns.  Quite often, a seafood pasta is disconnected from the components as there is no seafood flavour.  Not the case here.

We moved onto the main dishes starting with the Pollo e Crostone.  As much as its appearance was fantastic, the chicken itself was rather dry.  However, the piece of charred focaccia with garlic jus was super tasty.  On the side, we had the Piselli Grigliati.  I wanted to like the grilled spring peas but they were so limp and overdone, there was no texture left.  On the other hand, the lemon ricotta at the bottom was creamy and tangy.

We weren't a fan of the chicken, but the Maiale was on point.  The spiced pork chop was cooked beautifully where it was slightly pink inside, but fully cooked.  Sporting a cheesy taleggio crust, there was some tanginess already, but the fennel sausage soffritto was money.  It was meaty, salty and tangy.  Really complimented the pork with brightness and umaminess.

Onto the sweets, we only shared 2 because we had a Trafiq cake waiting at home!   With the marscapone crema poured on top table side, the Tiramisu was quite good.  I found the ladyfingers to be soaked until moist while not being mushy.  There was a balanced espresso hit while the marscapone itself was creamy and purposefully sweet.  I thought the presentation was an interesting touch.

The other dessert we had was Dolci al Cioccolato Trio featuring dark chocolate terrine, chocolate salami and chocolate torte.  This was a chocolate lovers dream!  I loved the salami as the pistachios added crunch and nuttiness.  Torte was rich and smooth with an appealing density.  Nice sheen on the ganache in the terrine.  Those candied hazelnuts added crunch.  Overall, our meal at Folietta was good.  I'd skip the chicken and snap peas though.  Service was excellent and we would be open to a return visit.

The Good:

- Loved the pastas

- Lots of selection with the happy hour menu

- Excellent service

The Bad:

- It was busy, so food came out a bit slow

- Skip the chicken and snap peas

La Terraza (Happy Hour)

As mentioned in my previous post, many people are looking for value these days when it comes to dining out.  Hence we see the increasing popularity of all-you-can-eat (AYCE) as well as the veritable Happy Hour.  There are quite a few options in the GVRD with many being at chain restaurants.  However, did you know that a fine dining spot has a rather affordable Happy Hour that features some appealing items?  La Terrazza has been a Yaletown staple since it opened in 1998 and yes, they have a Happy Hour menu from 5:00pm - 7:00pm.  Only 19+ as it is only served in the bar area.

Jackie and I dropped by prior to a concert at Rogers Arena.  We began with the 1/2 Dozen Oysters.  Totally wasn't paying attention to what was the type, but they were definitely Westcoast.  Small like kusshis, these were clean-tasting, a bit briny and pretty sweet.  They were shucked properly with no shell fragments.  Condiments included yuzu pink peppercorn vinaigrette, horseradish, hot sauce and lemon.

Staying with cold, we also had the Chilled Tiger Prawn Cocktail.  These were prepared well being cooked just enough where the bounciness of the prawns were cold-water crunchy.  This was served with a horseradish rose sauce that was tangy and slightly sweet with a bite at the end.  Now if that wasn't your fancy, there was also a seared half-lemon too.

Still with the cold appies, we had the Beef Carpaccio served with a side of freshly-baked fontina flatbread.  This was a competent version where the Angus Reserved beef tenderloin was tender and moist.  Possibly, there could've been a bit more condiments to this, but the black truffle vinaigrette did have impact with its tangy woodsiness.  Loved the flatbread as it was warm and slightly crispy.  Plenty of nuttiness as well.

We moved onto some pastas including the Gnocchi al Forno.  Baked with plenty of mozzarella on top, this was plenty cheesy and robust.  We found the gnocchi to be good where they were soft, but not too much so that there wasn't any texture.  As for the San Marzano tomato sauce, it was nicely balanced where it was naturally sweet with only a bit of tanginess.  Lots of depth and it was bright.

Our favourite dish of this Happy Hour menu was the Strozzapretti Bolognese.  Starting with the pasta, the shaped held onto the sauce effectively.  On top of that, the texture was spot on where it was tender, but had a firm bite as well.  Oh and the bolognese, it was so delicious.  Just slightly creamy, but plenty tomatoey, the cooked down meat was tender and full of umami.  I could eat a few of these myself!

Just to round out our meal, I just had to get the Truffle Parmesan Fries.  Yah, probably other things to order off the menu, but I just love fries!  These were serviceable being crispy and well-salted.  The star of the dish was indeed the truffle aioli.  super creamy and nutty.  Overall, the Happy Hour menu at La Terrazza is a steal in my opinion.  In this economy, it is nice to see we can still have a meal with quality ingredients for an affordable price.  Located in Yaletown too!

The Good:

- Affordable, especially for Downtown

- Lovely setting and service

- High-quality food

The Bad:

- Only in the bar area, so pretty dark and limited in space

Alchemy (Happy Hour)

Considering the state of the economy, dining out is now considered a real luxury (if it wasn't before).  Hence, that is one of the first things that is cut out of people's budgets.  Yet, there are ways to save some money and still dine out - taking advantage of Happy Hour menus.  We've seen many of them including those at chain restaurants such as Cactus Club, Earls and Tap & Barrel.  We also find them at many independent restaurants too and that brought us to Alchemy in Yaletown.  Located at the end of Mainland, it is a bit hidden as compared to the rest of the businesses.

What drew me to their happy hour menu was the fair pricing especially for Yaletown.  We started off with the Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Dip served in a beautiful tree trunk platter.  Surrounded by multi-coloured tortilla chips, we found a ramekin filled with dip.  They delivered on the promise of cheesy where it was stringy and fairly thick.  Really solid cheese dip and we actually needed more chips to dust it off.

For $15.95, we felt the Beef Carpaccio was a good value.  It came with a large piece of pizza bread that was soft with an appealing chew.  The thinly-sliced beef tenderloin was tender and dressed with arugula, shaved Grana Padano, capers, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.  Nice balance of acidity, tang, saltiness and nuttiness.  Solid dish.

One dish that was just okay was the Smoked Salmon Bruschetta.  I'm not even sure if this is on the menu anymore either.  In actuality, there was nothing wrong with the individual components as the crostinis were crunchy, yet not too hard while the tomato and basil mix was tangy, sweet and bright.  I just didn't think it went particularly well with the salmon.

The best deal and also the best thing on the Happy Hour menu in my opinion is the Classic Cheeseburger for $15.95.  Even though it was on special, the burger was still a good size and it included crispy fries.  We found the beef patty to be juicy and tender with a nice sear on the surface.  The tomato and lettuce was fresh and the brioche bun was soft.  Solid burger.

We had one of their pizzas in the form of the Capricciosa with Tomato sauce, mushroom, mozzarella, smoked ham, artichoke, sliced black olives, bocconcini, oregano and grana padano.  This was fully loaded with not only all of the above ingredients, but the amount of cheese was generous.  That meant each slice was meaty, saucy, cheesy and flavourful.  The pizza crust was fairly crispy with a chewy interior.

Another item off the regular menu, we had the Spaghetti Carbonara.  This was also quite good with lots of rendered bacon and nutty parm.  Hence, this was bordering on salty, but didn't go over that line.  Pasta was al dente and was fully coated.  Overall, the food at Alchemy was pretty solid, especially for the price.  Given its Downtown location, the Happy Hour menu is a good value and features some appealing items such as the burger and artichoke dip.  Would come here again.

The Good:

- Well-priced

- Solid eats

- Decent portion sizes

The Bad:

- Location is at the far West end of Yaletown, so far from the action (could be good for some people though)

Gigi's

I used to live in Coquitlam during the 90's and let's just say it was a black hole when it came to great food.  Things began to improve in the early 2000's and things are heating up as we move into early 2026.  With the rapid development of the city and the addition of the Evergreen Line, there needs to be more services and restaurants to serve the population.  With that in mind, it was probably a good move by the Kitchen Table Group to open up Gigi's in the Tricity Pavilion on Christmas Way in Coquitlam.  The building is gorgeous and has its own parking lot.  It also houses a location of Nemesis.

We arrived shortly after happy hour and the place was hopping.  A few appies were in order including the Calamari Fritti.  I wanted to like this, but as you can see, it was pretty greasy.  Batter was crispy though and well-salted.  Maybe some of the pieces could've been bigger as well.  There was some fried herbs and fennel to compliment as well as a verde aioli, which was creamy and bright.

Moving into a lighter direction, we had the Albacore Tuna Crudo.  This was a competent dish with fresh slices of fish that was dressed in a chili vinaigrette.  I didn't think it was all that spicy, rather it was fruity and tangy due to the orange slices and caper berries.  We also found pickled onions, shaved fennel and fennel fronds.  Hence, there was added crunch, tartness and brightness.

Our favourite appetizer was the Wagyu Beef Tartare.  This featured Australian Wagyu, which I find less fatty (from past experiences).  That was a good thing though as unrendered fat can be rather chewy.  This tartare was not chewy, instead it was silky and buttery.  It was dressed with black garlic mayo and topped with parmigiano reggiano, grainy dijon and shaved black truffle.  This added earthiness, umami, nuttiness and tang.  Nice balance here as it wasn't heavy nor too tart.  Smartly, this was served with the popular cacio e pepe chips that inspired the Miss Vickie's version.

We had one item from the Burrata Bar being the Pistachio Pesto.  Since the burrata is served within 48 hours after being hand-crafted in Puglia, it is pretty much as fresh as it can get (unless you fly to Italy).  Beyond the firm, but thin exterior, the creamy and stringy goodness of the fresh cheese was evident.  No watery mess inside!  That pesto was on point with an herbaceous nuttiness complimented by saltiness of the parm.  We found some extra EVOO on the side and house-made foccacia.

When the Mortadella Pizza arrived, it sported extensive charring and leoparding.  Now there is a growing movement that is moving way from this as Neapolitan-style pizza should only have a few spots.  For me personally, I'm still all for the charring as it creates crispiness and nuttiness.  The dough was well-seasoned and appealingly chewy.  There was plenty of mortadella on top drizzled with pesto, crushed pistachios and pecorino.  Underneath, we had a sauce bianco (white sauce) which was nutty and lightly creamy.  Of course, there was some fior di latte as well.

Onto the pasta course, we had three of them including Alla Vodka.  This employed sedani rigati which held onto the vodka sauce well.  About that sauce, it was quite good with a tomatoey richness that was velvety and balanced.  The amount of vodka used was conservative and it was cooked down properly.  Hence, there was a hint of it, but it stayed in the background.

My favourite of the bunch was the Luigi's Bolognese with rigatoni.  To some, this may be a bit defaultish, but don't sleep on this as it was plenty delicious.  The bolognese was made with veal, beef and pork which made it plenty meaty.  It was creamy enough to take the bite off the tomato and there was natural sweetness.  Along with some parm and al dente pasta, this was a solid dish.

The most interesting pasta we had the Ragu Bianco sporting shredded braised beef cheek.  The ample amount of beef cheek was gelatinous and super tender.  It also had a nice beefiness to it.  Moreover, the creaminess of the sauce created a velvety texture.  With a bit of parm, there was some nutty cheesiness.  The most unfortunate thing was that the campanelle was rather soft.

We had the 16oz Ribeye Steak as our main.  We asked for it to be prepared medium-rare and as you can see, it was spot on.  It was also properly rested with no juices leaking all over the plate.  As such, each slice was tender and moist while mildly-seasoned (with porcini).  There was a decent sear on the outside and it was even on both sides of the steak.

To go with our ribeye, we had the Kale Caesar.  As much as the kale can be poofy in a pile, this was still a rather large portion of salad.  Properly trimmed without the spine, the kale was tender with some chewiness.  It was lightly dressed in an anchovy and caper dressing which was slightly briny with a balanced saltiness.  It was further enhanced by the parm and crunchy pangrattato as well as the focaccia croutons.

We ended up with two desserts including the light and refreshing Roasted Pistachio Panna Cotta with a tangy raspberry coulis and a biscotti crumble on top as well as dark chocolate shavings.  The pannacotta itself was creamy and not overly gelatinized.  It was mildly sweet with some nuttiness.  With a hit of tangy raspberry and crunchy biscotti, there was balance and texture.

The other dessert was the Classic Tiramisu.  Unlike other versions I've had lately (including in Italy), this one was on the heavier side.  Thick and cheesy, the mascarpone cream was nice by itself, but in a tiramisu, it was too dense.  That didn't make the tiramisu bad though as the lady fingers were soaked with just enough espresso.  The dessert wasn't overly sweet either.  However, due to the richness, this was thankfully shared among the 5 of us.  Overall, our experience at Gigi's was decent with a beautiful dining space with fairly good service.  Food was generally good with a few things that could use further refinement.  Pretty nice for Coquitlam, but probably not on the level of Downtown quality.

The Good:

- Beautiful space

- Good service

- Decent eats, especially for Coquitlam

The Bad:

- Some more refinements needed with some dishes