Montana's (Langley Bypass)

It was roughly a year ago that I last visited Montana's out at Coquitlam Centre. I find that with most people, it is a love or hate relationship in regards to the food. Why such a polarizing sentiment? I guess it is partially due to the menu itself. After all, it is not a vegetarian-friendly place. With a giant moose head hanging from the wall, this is probably a vegetarian's worst nightmare (other than Samba). In fact, if it's your birthday, you'll be presented with a moose antler helmet while they sing "Happy Birthday" to you. So for those who are not meat lovers, it is quite obvious that the food needs to be outstanding for them to even tolerate it. Much like how a vegetarian meal must absolutely blow me away in order to not elicit gag-like reflexes. So I totally get where people are coming from. To further complicate matters, being a chain restaurant, Montana's doesn't have that "originality" factor. To many, it's a ho-hum place that serves up generic food. Now by virtue of being a chain restaurant, you'd assume there would be consistency. Yes and no. Definitely the decor is consistent, as well as the service and attire. However, from my personal experience (having eaten at Montana's a good dozen times), the star of the show - the ribs - can be hit and miss. Sometimes, they can be super tender and very meaty. And at other times, they can be charred beyond recognition and stringy. For their sake, I really hope they can fix that because it annoys me. Furthermore, for those who don't admire meat on bones, it could be the last time they visit Montana's if that was the case.

Today, we had a fairly large group visiting the Langley Bypass location. We weren't really planning on such a carnivore adventure for lunch; but Olive Garden was packed. I still really can't figure out why that is either... Maybe it has something to do with it being the only location of Olive Garden in BC? Anyways, Montana's was empty and that suited us fine. I guess a full rack of ribs for lunch may or may not be that attractive compared to a plate of pasta with AYCE salad and breadsticks. Honestly, I'd rather go to East Side Mario's instead. They have soup and choice of salad. I digress.

We started with the Beef Nachos to share. Not a really exciting dish to talk about; but they were good. The chips were thin and crispy, lots of beef and fresh toppings. However, they were a bit stingy with the cheese. So for this visit, I decided to do something different as in the Beef Short Ribs. Now, unlike the short ribs you'd normally see at a Korean restaurant, these big bones are not cut across the bone into thin slices. Rather, they are cut lengthwise with all the meat intact along the long rib bone. Thus, the meat is able to retain quite a bit of moisture and flavour. These bones were massive. Think the Flintstones. I felt like a barbarian eating those ribs. I got 2 and I swear each of them had at least 12 ounces of meat on them. As mentioned, the meat was extremely tender and moist. There was a good smoky char on the outside and just enough BBQ sauce to provide the necessary flavour (in this case, I go the Apple Butter). Either I'm completely losing it or I'm a wimp. I could only finished one of them.

Juan Valdez went for the 12oz Sirloin Steak prepared medium-rare (more to the rare). As you can see, there are perfect grill marks on the outside and absolutely flawless execution on the inside. It was tender, juicy and full of flavour. He devoured it so quickly, I'm amazed I even got a chance to take a picture of the cross-section. On a side note, the veggies on both my order and his were still crunchy while cooked completely through. Pomegranate went for the classic - Pork Baby Back Ribs. This time around, the ribs were tender, not overly fatty and nicely charred on the outside. I wish the ribs would turn out like this every time. Unlike the ribs at places such as Memphis Blues and Ozark's, the ribs here are precooked prior to BBQing. Thus, they are usually quite moist. Sacrilegious if you were to serve this to true Southern folk, it works for me at least since I don't prefer dry ribs.

On the topic of sacrilegious, Hot Mama opted for the Apple Pecan Harvest Salad. I am beginning to think that she can give Miss Y a run for her money in terms of ordering the wrong items at restaurants that specialize in a particular type of food. With that being said, everything was fresh and there was no absence of flavour and texture. She enjoyed it and didn't even want to eat meat! Fortunately, to exorcise the demons that possessed her to order a salad, Double H went for the Great Canadian Burger. With bacon, cheese, and BBQ sauce, it was a pretty decent burger. Nothing ground-breaking; but it does the job if someone wanted a burger here. The fries were forgettable though. It was your standard frozen fries. Something that I've never had here are the Sizzling Chicken Fajitas. Probably since I come here for the ribs, I don't pay attention to anything else... I didn't get a chance to sample it, but it looked alright. No better or worse than any other chain restaurant fajita I've seen in the past. And of course that sums up Montana's quite nicely. Nothing ground-breaking; but it does satisfy the meat-cravings. I personally like the place; yet there have been times the food has not come out the way I would've liked.

The Good:
- If you like meat...
- Good family-friendly place
- If you want precooked meats prior to BBQing, this is it

The Bad:
- Can get expensive (due to the high cost of the ingredients)
- Sometimes inconsistent with food execution
- If you want true Southern BBQ, this isn't it

Sushi Turn House

Once again, Rich Guy has returned from the Philippines. That can only mean one thing - food! Oh, not only eating out; but also goodies that he brings back for me. He always good for some Cornnick and this time he brought back nukeable chicharrón. Score! Instant pork rinds, nothing can get better than that! Well, snacks can be good; yet what I was really looking forward to was more eating out. He and Rich Gal were in the mood for some Japanese food, so we picked spot somewhere in between. Thus, it led us to Sushi Turn House in Coquitlam. I've actually had their sushi a number of times and so far, its been pretty solid. Mind you, we've never actually set foot into the place itself since the times we have tried it were at family get-togethers where someone would buy the party trays. Not knowing what to expect, we were a bit taken aback as to how small the place was. Luckily for us, Rich Guy had arrived early and snapped up probably what was the best table.

Actually, we were a bit late because of the parking lot known as Clarke Street in Port Moody during rush hour. I think we essentially crawled bumper-to-bumper from Barnet Hwy to Lansdowne. Good thing Rich Guy ordered some stuff beforehand since he food arrived as we sat down. Presented on a bed of ice, the Salmon Sashimi was decent. It looked, smelled and tasted fresh (of course as fresh as flash frozen can be). I know this might sound picky, but the pieces were oddly cut into big thick chunks. We also got an order of Toro, which was presented on a bed of ice as well. If we compare it against the salmon, the toro was not as good. I wouldn't say it was not fresh; rather it was softer and slimier than I'm accustomed to. It was a little on the bland side as well.

He also got an order of the Fresh Oysters from the featured menu. Lightly dressed and served with lemon and Tobasco. These were more or less decent. Once again, it was served on a bowl of ice. Not a big deal really, since it keeps the items cold; but the presentation was a big haphazard (especially with the sashimi). On the topic of presentation, the Rainbow Roll was poorly made. With each piece, it was akin to picking up a plate of marbles. If we weren't steady with our chopsticks, the entire thing would became a sushi salad. With that being said, the roll is a fantastic value since it was large enough to be counted as 2 separate rolls. Consisting of what is essentially a California roll in the middle and with bands of hamachi, ebi, tai, salmon and tuna on the outside, it tasted better than it looked. Of note, I found the rice on the gummier side of the sushi rice continuum.

Now as we moved into the cooked foods, the meal started to turn sideways. We found the Gyozas to be quite average. A bit light in colour, these dumplings had quite the chewy exterior while the filling lacked flavour. As per usual, we got a Tempura Udon for the kiddies. The udon itself wasn't too bad being slightly chewy. On the other hand, the broth was no good. It was bland. The accompanying tempura was also a miss. The combination of too much batter and old oil didn't make it look appetizing. And predictably, it was both greasy and doughy. With the small order of Chicken Karaage, the use of old oil was even more evident with the resulting dark colour. Texturally, it was fine with a tender and juicy meat. A sprinkle of salt added some flavour.

For some reason or another, we added some Nigiri at the end of our meal. We really shouldn't have and pretended we did. The nigiri was very poorly made and no matter how I angled it, I couldn't get a nice picture. Taste-wise, it was alright; but the presentation was quite lacking. Actually, all of the food was pretty much rough around the edges. Nothing was particularly carefully made or outstanding. I realize that this is a small Chinese-run sushi joint and we shouldn't expect much. So really, with the large portions at reasonable prices, this is your typical good value, not necessarily great Japanese food joint.

The Good:
- Good portions
- Reasonable prices
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- Food lacks refinement
- Food is mediocre
- Very tight seating

Cork & Fin

Have you ever looked in the Entertainment Book and after perusing all the restaurants, you end up not ripping out a single coupon? Is it just me, or are most of the restaurants in the book just not all that appealing? And even if something does look interesting, one look a online reviews, it turns out to be a bust. After I hit all my usual favs in the book, it begins to collect dust. Furthermore, some places seem to think that their coupons are not applicable. Such was the case at Red Fort. Viv had gone to meet up with the girls and when they presented the coupons, the staff denied them! Yah, and how about the times you pull out the coupon and the staff give you dirty looks like you've just committed a crime? If you don't want people to use coupons, then don't offer any!!! Duh! So every 1st of November, I end up throwing a barely used book into the recycling bin. Then you can understand my excitement with discount programs such as Let's Go for Dinner and Groupon. Finally, there are actually some restaurants that I would like to visit and I can use it over and over again. As I was browsing through the Let's Go For Dinner site, I noticed a new seafood tapas place in Gastown. After a quick look at their web page, we decided to give Cork & Fin a go. Joining us tonight are Vandelay and Donna Chang, who have been MIA for quite a while. That's what happens when you have a kid...

Located across the street from The Irish Heather on Carrall Street, Cork & Fin is situated in what is fast becoming the hub of activity in Gastown. Places like Chill Winston, Terracotta, Six Acres, Judas Goat, Salt, Cobre, L'Abattoir and Alibi Room are all nearby. With outdoor seating and nearly outdoor seating along the front, we really couldn't have picked a better day to dine here. Fresh air, great lighting for my pictures and random yelling from the locals (it borders the Downtown Eastside), it was truly the Gastown experience. Since the menu is all about the small plates, we ordered a bunch of items to share. Well, the first item wasn't exactly small though. We went for their Large Seafood Tower. With a bevy of seafood laid out on 2 tiers (with the 3rd being mostly condiments), the darn thing looked impressive. We were treated to fresh prawns, clams, mussels, oysters and crab legs. I found that most of the items were perfectly cooked, especially the crab which was meaty and fluffy. The prawns were slightly more cooked than we would've liked. Lime and lemon wedges with house-made cocktail sauce, red wine vinaigrette and a cucumber sunomono rounded out the platter. For $55.00, I think the tower is a pretty good deal considering that Blue Water and Joe Fortes charge much more. It's true that the one here is smaller; but in terms of what you get for the price, it's well-priced.

While we were listening to our server explain the daily features, I heard Lobster Salad and that was enough, it was as good as ordered. And I'm glad we did since there was a good amount of lobster for the $12.00 we paid. The lobster had the slightly chewy texture we were looking for and the sweetness too. The pickled shimeji mushrooms were very potent; but combined with all the ingredients it worked. I only wished they eased up on the salt. Our Tuna Steak seemed more like thick pieces of tuna tataki than anything else. However, it was perfectly cooked and the accompanying tapenade was surprisingly subtle. This way, it didn't overwhelm the delicate tuna; rather it provided only a understated salt compliment.

Next up was the Crab Pappardelle with peas and crème fraîche. If there was ever an example of being over al dente, this would be it. It was very chewy; but you know what, I personally like it. I can see how some wouldn't. To get it this al dente, dried pasta would've been used. I have no problem with that since I prefer it. As for the dish itself, the sauce was very understated. That allowed the ample pieces of crab to be the star. And the natural salty sweetness is all the pasta needed. Staying with seafood (since this is their specialty, although I was tempted to order the lamb...), we got the Sablefish poached in milk and grainy mustard. Yet another delicately flavoured dish. With the natural sweetness of Napa cabbage and a slight tartness from the mustard, we could still taste the fish (which is good since sablefish is quite mild tasting).

We also got a couple of sides to round out our meal. The Crab Mashed Potatoes were pretty good in my books. I could really tell that there was a generous amount of butter in the potatoes (so darn creamy). Furthermore, lemon butter was drizzled all over it too. Heaven. You can't see it in the picture; but there was plenty of crab meat as well. I really liked this. Lastly, we got an order of the Pomme Frites with aioli. I'm sorry to say this was an epic fail. The fries were cut quite thick resulting in a soggy product. They were not crispy at all. Yet, this was probably the only major hiccup in an otherwise very pleasant meal. I liked how they didn't use seasoning to hide the natural flavours of the seafood. Moreover, I felt that the prices were quite reasonable for what we got (especially with the LGFD discount too!). Combined with good service, I can honestly say that I'm planning a return visit.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Generally well-executed seafood items
- Loved the ambiance (even with the random yelling from the streets)

The Bad:
- Limited menu
- Restaurant is quite small, best to keep your party small

Hapa Izakaya (Robson)

Over a year ago, I had visited the original Hapa Izakaya and it turned out to be a great meal. Mind you, Costanza and Snake weren't really there for the food... Ah yes, Hapa is one of those places where the scenery can be equally as appealing as the food. But honestly, I really am only interested in the food, no joke! And no, it's not because Viv reads my blog either. Tonight after Friday night hockey, Milhouse and I met up with Lionel Hutz and Truditini at the Robson location. There were several reasons for my return visit. First, I love Izakaya and I rarely turn it down, even if I've been to that restaurant before. Second, if you've noticed, I'm beginning to revisit some restaurants as an update of sorts. Third, my pictures on the original visit sucked. And four, my visit to the Yaletown Hapa was a bit average of sorts (time to see if the original can make it up).

Initially, there would've been other people joining us; but once they heard Downtown, they all bailed. Oh c'mon guys! It's not that far and parking isn't that hard to find at this time of night. Lack of dedication to food, how very, very sad... Well, luck would have it, I did get a parking spot nearby, right in front of Gyoza King in fact. Hmmm... I should pay a return visit to here too! Since Lionel arrived earlier, we didn't have to wait and got seated right away. I'm not sure if we were really all that hungry; but at any place that serves shareable food, we often order too much. I think in the end, we got a total of 10 dishes for 4 people. We started with the Ebi Avocado Salad. Topped with an obscene amount of green onion atop soft avocado and mesclun greens, there were crunchy ebi swimming (very punny...) throughout. We enjoyed the salad, it was large, had just enough dressing and the ingredients were fresh.

One of my favourite items at any Izakaya is the Ebi Mayo. Last time at the Yaletown location, the batter was a bit gummy. I was very happy to see that this version was much better. Crisp, like it should be, and only moderately dressed with chili mayo, these rocked. Went really well with my Asashi Black. Well, it also went with the sake that Lionel ordered also... You see, I already had quite a few cocktails from the Foodie Tour earlier in the evening. I think my liver was wondering what it did wrong to deserve that kind of treatment... Anyways, Milhouse really wanted to try the Gyoza. We warned him that this was no ordinary dumpling. Rather, it is filling sandwiched in between 2 thinly sliced pieces of lotus root, battered and deep-fried. I personally am not a fan of this take on gyoza. It appeared that Milhouse was not either. I'm sure some people like the different textures at play here; however, we are not one of them.

I'm not sure who ordered the Tuna Carpaccio; but whenever we get this, it is definitely quality over quantity (at least we hope so). We ended up with thinly-sliced Ahi tuna with a slighty spicy ponzu dressing. I liked that it was not some vinaigrette (which some places use) since it just tastes non-Izakaya-ish. Not that it can't be good, I just prefer ponzu instead. Something about the tartness which goes well with raw slices of fish. We then went from yummy and small to yummy and meaty. Milhouse was very happy to see the Beef Short Ribs. He's a meat man and the tuna carpaccio was not enough meat in his eyes. With nice char marks and being tender, these ribs hit the spot. I particularly liked that they were meaty without being fatty. Some have so much fat, there isn't much else to eat. Also, the ribs were marinated just enough to provide flavour without taking away from the natural meat taste.

As if our recent visit to Miku was not enough to satisfy our Aburi Sushi quotient, Lionel chose the Aburi Salmon. By virtue of trying the Aburi Salmon Oshi at Miku just the night before, the version here was pretty average. Appearing quite small comparatively and topped with only a modest amount of sauce, there was both a lack of flavour and texture. I thought the pressed sushi rice to be a bit too dense. Although Hapa is not known for its sushi, we went ahead and ordered the Spicy Scallop Roll anyways. Presented in a very artistic manner resting on a spicy miso sauce, we quite liked it. Nothing amazing; yet it was very pleasant to eat. The spicy sauce was actually quite mild and didn't interfere with the natural sweetness of the scallops. The toasted sesame seeds added a nice nuttiness as well.

We got an order of the Habenaro Wings just for the heck of it. Despite the threat of spiciness, the sauce was actually mild with only a slight kick at the end. I liked the slight smokiness from the sauce itself. Furthermore, the wings still were quite most on the inside. On our original order, Lionel wanted to get the Bin Toro, which we forgot. So, he made sure to get it before last call. Luckily we did, it was pretty good. It's simply seared Albacore tuna dressed in ponzu. Sometimes simple is best when it comes to food. This was both straight-forward and delicious. Rounding out our dishes was the Katsuo Tataki. It is essentially Skipjack Tuna or very similar to dried  Bonito flakes (which is used to make dashi). As such, you can imagine the flavour profile is much different than the mild tasting albacore tuna. Thus, when we were eating it, there was a pronounced fishiness to it. This was served with ponzu sauce as well. It turned out to be a nice contrast to the Bin Toro.

It was nice to eat at Hapa on top of its game. Of course, when I visited the Yaletown location, it was quite new and some of the kinks were still being worked out. Thus, it probably warrants a revisit. Yet, for this meal at the Robson location, it once again reminds me that the food is solid and quite predictable. Price-wise, it falls somewhere in between Guu and Kingyo. For Lionel Hutz, that doesn't really matter since he prefers the scenery first and foremost.

The Good:
- Predictable and generally well-executed food
- The scenery is predictable and generally well-executed
- Menu has a good variety

The Bad:
- This particular location probably needs some renos
- Pricier than Guu and Gyoza King, is it better? Depends on who you talk to.

Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe

*Restaurant is now closed*

The grand opening of Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe back in February created quite a splash, for all the wrong reasons. Originally Anthony Sedlak, celebrity chef on the Food Network, was touted as the Executive Chef. However, as construction delays persisted, he pulled out to pursue other TV endeavors. That left partners Steve Da Cruz and Andre McGillivray without a star chef; but that is where Chef de Cuisine, Jason Liezert comes in. Since then, there have been a wide range of differing opinions about the place. I'll be honest, I was in no rush to visit. However, I got an invitation to try it with an offer of a free entree. I mulled it over and decided that my one entree would not be very representative of the food. Furthermore, my schedule has been so nuts lately, I wasn't even sure I could make it out there. Thus, I sent them back an email with a better idea. Since I already eat out after Monday softball, I would bring my softball team out after our game. This way, I could kill 2 birds with one stone. Or in this case, we could cover much more of the menu. So, instead of me getting free anything, the arrangement would be 25% off the total bill. Hey, I need to somehow persuade my team in joining me! To respond to the complainers ahead of time, it is true they were expecting us. However, I truly believe a restaurant cannot improve or degrade +/- 10% just because they knew we were there. If the food ain't good, it won't improve overnight. Conversely, if the food is good, it ain't going to all suck in the same period of time.

Once again, we brought down the level of class with our attire. Milhouse really topped it off with his ripped T-Shirt. TS, who joined us for dinner for the heck of it was the only one nicely dressed. Prior to our visit, I was already aware of the bright blue coloured chairs; but wow, those things are loud. Distinctive? Yes. My style? Nope. Another thing that struck me right away was the extensive selection of booze adorning the whole East wall. Their drink menu is huge! Too bad, other than Miss Y, none of us were in the mood for cocktails. Maybe next time. We got some Gougeres as a amuse bouche and it was a bit too doughy and dense. Then, we got more carbs in the form of bread with corriander/pepper butter. Our table enjoyed the butter and kept eating the bread. For myself, I decided to get the Baby French Onion Soup to start. The server remarked that it was small and she wasn't kidding. If I had to describe the size, it would be equivalent to a small teacup. Despite its size, the soup packed quite a punch. Unlike many other versions I've had, this one wasn't too salty. Rather, there was ample natural sweetness from the caramelized onions. And as a side note, I'm not a huge fan of onions in general, so this was good.

For my main, I went for the Beef Tenderloin with veal bone marrow crust. As always, I was troublesome and asked for the steak to be done medium-rare, closer to rare. And from the picture, it is obvious that it was executed perfectly. Did they try extra hard since they knew we were here? Possibly; yet once again, if they are incapable of doing so, they wouldn't have succeeded. Sitting atop the tenderloin was the aforementioned marrow crust and blue cheese butter. I did like the rich taste of the crust; however, it was more crumbly than a crust per se. Although the blue cheese butter rocked. It added only a understated flavour (the blue cheese was not overwhelming at all) and smoothness to the well-seasoned meat (good thing too, tenderloin is not all that flavourful). The arugula and red onion salad provided a nice bitter/tart counterbalance to the heaviness of the steak and condiments. The side of Pomme Frites was good and bad. It started off being fantastic. The frites were very crispy and well-seasoned; but as I got closer to the bottom, the small little pieces were almost impossible to pick up and eat. As for dessert, I opted for the Vanilla Bean Crème Brulée, partly because Silent Bob picked the dessert I originally wanted. No duplicates! I liked the hard torched sugar topping and the strong vanilla taste of the custard. It was not too sweet and I found the portion size to be gigantic. However, the custard itself was too thin. It kept dripping on the table as I ate it.

Silent Bob and Milhouse both went for the 24/7 special which includes 2 courses for $24.07. Be sure to look out for the daily 24/7 tweet from @thecornersuite. If you retweet it, you get a free sorbet for dessert. The 24/7 special for tonight was a Cauliflower Soup with truffle oil followed by a Flat Iron Steak over black quinoa salsa & tagliatelle pasta. Milhouse thought that the soup had a nice consistency being not too creamy. It didn't taste like cauliflower with the flavours being subtle. (without the pungent aftertaste). As for the steak, he thought it was nicely cooked, tender and went well with the quinoa. It gave a nice firm feel and a texture that was a contrast with the softer steak. Lots of nice flavours. For dessert, Silent Bob selected the Lemon Meringue Pie with rhubarb sorbet. I liked the presentation as a small little tart instead of the more common slice of pie. However, Silent Bob said it was very, very sweet. He tried to figure out what was making it sweet, the crust or the meringue. Either way, he thought it was good; but very sweet.

Bear, as always, went for the Duck Confit with English pea purée, spaetzle, preserved lemon, jus. He felt it was a solid 'B'. Taste was good, but not quite an 'A' (I'm sure he was referring to the one at Cafeteria). The meat was just slightly on the dry side. The skin was a bit crispy, which was nice. The accompanying potato gratin was just okay - the presentation was better than the taste/texture. The brandied cherries were a nice touch, but he only ate one because he avoids wine/brandy (allergy). In terms of desserts, Bear is our expert and unfortunately, the Chocolate Tasting was inedibly sweet. The chocolate ice cream and pot-au-creme were brutally sweet - and that's an assessment from Bear, who's got a high tolerance for sugar! The flourless chocolate cake was okay, but he was not a big fan so it was also a bust. Overall, he thought it was the biggest dessert disappointments ever. I know this sounds harsh; but I would have to agree. I tried every piece and the sugar just overwhelmed everything, I could barely taste the chocolate.

Judes went for the Qualicum Bay Scallops with salted consommé, mushrooms, potato dumplings, radish salad. It's funny that she was even here with us being that it was her wedding anniversary! She thought the scallops were amazingly tender, a descent size and tasty. The presentation of the food was awesome, the veggies were cooked also to perfection and complimented the scallops. Amazingly enough even though she thought it was a small portion for the value, she was full. Maybe she was already filling up with bread & H2O? There was a mustard sauce, hoisin sauce and some seedy sauce. She tried all combinations of sauces with the scallops and came to the conclusion that she did not care for any of them. The salted consommé was a little too salty for her tastes. From the last time we had dinner at Cafeteria, Boss Woman was complaining there weren't any burgers on the menu. Although it really isn't a criteria for that type of restaurant, I guess it doesn't hurt to have one on the menu. And lo and behold, there it was, the Station 7 Burger on Corner Suite's menu. As described on the menu, it's a loaded burger with thick-cut bacon, aged cheddar, tomato, onion and BBQ sauce. She was quite disappointed in its size initially. However, it was juicy and the toppings more than made up for its small size. The frites were nice and crispy, not soggy. Very satisfying, especially since she was starving. Only disappointment was it took too long for the food to come out.

Miss Y ended up ordering 2 smaller plates for her meal. She started with the House-made Gnocchi with poached egg, bacon, English peas and mint. I had a try at this dish and I liked the soft gnocchi (soft, but not mushy, still had a nice bite). The flavours were subtle with a
understated smoke from the bacon and herby taste from the mint. Her second item was the Dungeness Crab Cake with crushed peas, bacon & quail egg salad and carrot purée.
She thought the crab cake was fairly standard; it was nice, and not too greasy. What made it stand out were the "fixings" ...a quail's egg and carrot puree. She loves pureed vegetables; but the carrot puree was fairly salty. It was probably meant more as a condiment anyways.

Now in the words of TS: Perusing the menu, I came upon their cheese menu. Wow. I don't think I'll ever come upon a point in my life when I would need that much selection of cheeses. Although the 24.07 menu sounded like a really great deal, I decided to order "light" since I had actually already eaten dinner before joining Sherman and his team. I decided to order "light".
I had the mini Croque Madame, endearingly called Croque Mademoiselle, from the petits bijoux (small jewels) section of the menu and the large entrée-sized Tuna Niçoise Salad (as opposed to the appetizer size). The Croque Mademoiselle was nicely done. There was enough of ham and cheese in each bite, and the whole sandwich was nice and golden-brown. It appeared that they dipped the sandwich in egg before frying. In keeping with the 'petit' theme, they used a quail egg for the fried egg component on top. How can one resist a quail egg? The sandwich was served with some cornichons, which helped counteract the richness of the croque mademoiselle.

The Tuna Niçoise was also well executed. The tuna was nicely-seared while each salad component was lightly (not overly) coated with a simple lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Boiled fingerling potatoes, roasted tomatoes (a nice touch to ensure they were nice and sweet), hard-boiled egg(s), olives, haricot verts: is there any wonder I love niçoise? There was also a good mess of dressed arugula, which was a pleasant surprise. Much better than your garden variety (pun? haha) mesclun. I tasted Sherman's frites and they were very good as well (TS! That doesn't sound right!). I wasn't expecting much from The Corner Suite, but I was proved wrong. (Now, I didn't get dessert, but I don't usually. So, if they have bad desserts, that's still fine by me.)

So I think we plowed through a good sample of the menu, except for the cheese and cocktails. The consensus among all of us was satisfaction. None of our appies or main dishes were amiss and in fact; some were very good. Did they put in extra effort this time around? Possibly. But case in point, the desserts were quite weak as a whole. Thus, the chef(s) are only capable based on their current abilities. Despite the discount, we still ended up paying a pretty penny for our meals, so the prices here aren't exactly cheap either. Mind you, for the more expensive entrees, the equivalent at Earl's or Cactus Club would cost nearly the same. The real litmus test is this: would we come back? At least for me (and TS too), yes. We'll just go somewhere else for dessert.

The Good:
- Entrees and appies were solid
- Extensive drink and cheese menu
- It's hip (despite the chairs... LOL)

The Bad:
- Desserts need work
- Kinda dark, hard to see the food (I know, it's for ambiance...)
- I dare you to find parking