Rare - Vancouver
While in Vancouver, BC I ate at Rare, a restaurant that themes its dishes on the concept of rare: from rare meat to rare ingredients. Service was excellent.
Our party of 4 decided to try the seasonal tasting menu in four courses.
First was an amuse bouche featuring smoked salmon.
It was good, but nothing spectacular. They told us more than once that this represented their concept, and what would follow. I became worried.
The menu was nice; it came customized for us with our name on it. They offered two tasting menus plus traditional entrées.
The most disappointing dish was the duck terrine. I am getting tired of having to spread things on toasts. And this one was a tad dry, and not spreadable. However, when combined with their beet salad, a little magic began to happen. The beet contribution was incredible, to an otherwise failed dish.
Next came a loin of halibut for 2 diners: this came well-seasoned, and quite delicious.
I opted for the pork, two ways: smokey on one, pulled and barbequed, on the other. This was the best dish, in my opinion, spicy, deep, and the flavors of this dish matched perfectly the spicy British Columbian Syrah we tried from their cellar.
What looks like moisture on the plate was a small bit of foam.
We all said later how we wished there had been 2 appetizers. instead, they gave us a “pre-dessert” then a dessert. The first was a blueberry fritter with a buttermilk ice cream. These were all fine, but not superlative. The fresh blueberries were plump and full-flavored, but I wanted something “more” out of the fritter.
The final dish combined some odd flavors: almond in the panna cotta, oregano, and a berry “salad.” This looked simple, but combined a lot of different (but well blended) flavors. We enjoyed this one a lot.
As I mentioned earlier, their Sandhill Syrah from the province was excellent. While Rare provided a quite enjoyable dining experience, I recommend it more for the quality of service and price, more than on the fortitude of the food alone.
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