Tag Archives: dinner

Shady Tree on New Years Eve

Sheepie and I and a couple of friends wanted to check out the fireworks in Whistler for New Year’s Eve. Not surprisingly, all the restaurants in Whistler were fully booked out, or were charging outrageous amounts for a NYE dinner. We decided to stop by Squamish for dinner instead, but it was still hard to find one that had tables available and weren’t doing a NYE course dinner special. We finally came to Shady Tree pub which we have gone to previously and had a pretty good experience.

Their NYE special dish was the Steak and Lobster Tail for $18.95. Everyone one of us ended up ordering it – with a different rareness to their steak. It was a fabulous deal – who could resist?

The portions were pretty decent for the price, and we were pretty full by the end. The lobster, unlike many lobster you may have wasn’t chewy. Instead, it was plump, juicy and flavourful. I wish I could swap out my steak for another lobster, as I’m not much of a steak eater. My meat was more raw than what I imagined a ‘well done’ to be. Later on, we figured that maybe one of my friends got my well done, and I had her medium rare.

Some of us dessert, they had Kahul, Lava Cake and Tiramisu. We all got to try a bit of everything. Everyone said they liked the Kahul the best, but I enjoyed the Tiramisu the best. I guess I’m just more into creamy desserts.

The service was pretty good despite being NYE. I think this will become our regular stop if we want a nice sit-down meal between trips to/from Vancouver and Whistler. It’s easy to find, right of the highway.

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Trattoria Italian Kitchen in Kitsilano

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For our company’s Christmas dinner, we decided to dine at Trattoria. Hearing that many other companies were also hosting their dinners there, we were excited for our dinner experience.

We made reservations and arrived around 5:30pm. The table was set very nicely with menus, glasses and cutlery wrapped in red-checkered napkins.

For appetizer, Sheepie and I shared the Caprese $13.95. Surprisingly, our dishes came out already separated on two huge bowls. Mine were with sliced red tomatoes, while Sheepie’s was mostly yellow tomatoes. We were kind of puzzled with how the burrata looked. Taste wise, it was pretty good, but was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t in it’s traditional form. The texture of the sliced burrata, tomato and sandwiching some basil leaves in between was something I was looking forward to. The three colours of red, white and green is supposed to resemble the colours of the Italian flag, and usually, this dish jumps out at me because of the vibrant colours.

For my entree, I had the Wild Salmon $24.95 with sweet pea risotto, lemon beurre blanc and seasonal vegetables. The salmon was well done, maybe slightly dry, but was pretty good. I’m not sure why I like congee, but not so much when it comes to risotto. When it comes to western rice, I prefer them to be very dry. But maybe it did compliment the salmon.

For dessert, I had the Vanilla Crème Brûlée $8.95 with seasonal fruits (meaning a tiny slice of strawberry and mint leaves) and gluten free chocolate cookies (actually, only one piece).

Sheepie had the Zeppole al Cioccolato $8.95 which were five Italian-style donuts with chocolate gianduja and vanilla creme angalise. It reminded Sheepie of Timbits, but of a fancier and larger version with chocolate filling.

Service was excellent even with the busy, but cozy atmosphere.

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Black’s Pub in Whistler

The restaurant spans from the main to the upper floor. We got the patio upstairs which was nice, though we couldn’t watch the people walk by, nor see the road bike competition going on on the hills as there were trees blocking our view. The patio was full, but the upper interior was almost empty. Since all other restaurants were packed with long lineups, we were glad to be seated right away.

I ordered the Chicken Penne $18. At first it seemed a bit bland, but once you got to the sauces sitting at the bottom, it was just the right saltiness. Love the olive oil with the, juicy and tender chicken. It doesn’t seem much, but I was pretty full by the time I finished the dish.

Sheepie had the Classic Burger $13. Thick, juicy patty fresh veggies. The thick big fries with paprika was super good, esp when hot. Thumbs up!

Our friends had the Supreme pizza $27 (large 14″) with tomato sauce, mozzoarella, pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers. It was nicely presented, and was enough to fill 2 adults.

Our server was very friendly and chatty, even with Sheepie who can be sometimes blunt. Lol.

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