Friday night was not our regular date night, rather it was time to collect on my winnings for succeeding the bike challenge. It was a night full of food and drinks with good friends. We dined at Calabash (428 Carrall St) in Gastown. This tiny restaurant has quite the happening vibe and it was packed!! I guess everyone wanted to get their Carribean cuisine fix and to get their jerk on!
My friends Mike and Karen have been telling us about this drink called Dark and Stormy. After all the rage, we got to try it out. Ingredients included rum, ginger beer, bitters topped with coconut shavings. You can barely taste the alcohol, and it has a nice warming feeling from the ginger when it goes down. A bit on the spicy side, reminds me of a Moscow Mule (but that's made with vodka).
Poutine was up next, not the regular type of poutine with the cheese curds, it was spicy and topped with brie cheese! I liked that the amount of gravy wasn't too much. I don't like it when it's super soupy and my fries are swimming in it. The fact that it was topped with brie made it very different and tasty. Spicy and things with creamy textures go well together!
For the main course, we had the jerk duck confit served with rice and veggies. Since its not the French style duck, it wasn't salty, rather it was spicy. The meat was so juicy and tender, it fell right off the bones. I eat a lot of duck, I'd have to say this has been of the best duck I've ever eaten! We also ordered a tart made with duck, ackee and goat cheese, however, due to hunger we devoured that before we had a chance to take a picture. Overall, the Caribbean experience was spectacular, I look forward to coming back.
Gudrun.
When the season gets cold and the rain is upon us, one of my favourite places to go is Gudrun (3500 Moncton St). Nestled in the small town of Steveston, you can find a large variety of wines and beers to sip on while noshing on some spectacular meats and cheeses. The variety is always changing, just check on their chalkboard.
We love getting the charcuterie! The best thing about this place is their selection. Most often, you can get meats and cheeses you've never had before. Unless you go too often and the board hasn't changed yet. Tonight was one of those night where everything on the plate was new to us.
We ordered the Cheese and Charcuterie B, it comes with two kinds of cheese and three kinds of meat accompanied with some fruits, nuts and condiments. In the bottom of the picture, those slices are Red Leiceister, a type of cheese from England. The taste reminds me of cheddar, but the texture is hard like cave aged gruyere. To the right of the Red Leiceister, there was a blob of homemade grape jam and to the right of that is the Gaulas. Gaulas is a creamy type of cheese, if you like brie, you will like this one, it has the same type of texture. The creaminess of the Gaulas is wonderful, so suiting and comforting for a rainy day. Moving counter clockwise, the first type of meat is the Finochionna, this to me tasted like cervelat or prosciutto but less fatty and less salty. The meat at the very top of the plate was called Lardo. This is by far the best type of meat I've had while eating charcuterie. I don't know how to explain the taste but its absolutely wonderful!! It paired so well with the Gaulas and a slice of apple! The last meat was the Szegedi, this one reminded me chorizo, however, it's more thinly sliced and less spicy. Szegedi paired well with the grape jam.
Gudrun is another one of my favorite restaurants in Steveston. If we're not at the Blue Canoe, the next place to find us would be here =)
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