La Regalade

La Re...diculously great!!!

Food:

'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la, la...LA! With the holiday season come holiday dinners, holiday cheer, and of course, lovely holiday eats (not to mention holiday weight gain)!  First dining destination of the holiday season? Le Regalade, an authentic, cozy little French bistro situated in the semi-boones of West Vancouver (though, it's not as far as it seems! :))

We were served a basket of French bread to start.  As for an appetizer, I started off by sharing the Foie Gras Duo with Black Pepper and Fig.  Yum!  It was served alongside a huge piece of toasted, wheat French bread (?) and a bit of greens.  The foie gras was soft, creamy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  I enjoyed the Foie Gras with the Fig more (vs. the one with black pepper) for its soft, creamy and sweet combination, paired wit a nice, toasty piece of crostini.  A delightful start, indeed!

1/2 Roasted Duck with Sauteed Apples

For my main,  I originally was quite ecstatic (and quite anticipating) to try the Veal Liver (that was listed on their online menu), but only came to a disappointment when I noticed that it wasn't listed on the actual menu.  Instead, the server had recommended the 1/2 Roasted Duck with Sauteed Apples.  Being quite a lover of the French's preparation of how they like to cook their duck, I opted for that instead.

Our mains arrived in huuuge cast iron pots/skillets, piping hot, and bursting with scents of aromatic deliciousness.  My entree was nicely presented in a wide skillet, surrounded by diced apples, and topped with tiny pieces of chopped onions.  It was perfectly roasted, the skin was crispy and I really enjoyed the (unsually) sweet flavours the apples brought to the dish.  The apples were plentiful, sitting in a bed of sweet, tangy apple jus.

Beef Shortribs in Peppercorn Cream Sauce

As for the other mains, my fellow d.c's decided on the (braised) Beef Shortribs in Peppercorn Cream Sauce (soooo good, best of the night, imo).  The sauce was so creamy, so rich and so flavouful.  The shortribs were as tender as you can get, while accompanied by carrots, onions and other delicious veggies.  I also sampled the Beef Cheeks - rich, tender morsels of deliciousness.  The scalloped potatoes and the mac'n'cheese was good (though, not great), but served as good carb fillers to the entrees! (I believe all entrees came with a side) 

Complimentary assorted Macarons

Though we chose not to have dessert (remember the 1/2 roasted duck!?), we were given complimentary Macarons to end our  savoury meal.  There were 3 flavours: Strawberry, Caramel, and Chocolate.  They were to-die-for, especially the Caramel one - sticky, chewy, sweet and light-tasting all in one circular, edible wheel! Mmmm...

Service:

Our server wasn't necessarily rude, nor did he exhibit a poor attitude in any respect...BUT he was quite unaware, unknowledgeable, unattentive, uninformative (and ultimately, unhelpful).  By "quite", I meant that he had no knowledge of what types of wine paired well with certain foods (didn't even know what kind of wine the restaurant had), gave a d.c Sprite (when she clearly asked for lemonade), and totally misinformed another dining companion when she asked what "coquillettes" was in English.  He said it was scalloped potatoes, but clearly it arrived to be mac'n'cheese!


Value:

Very reasonable and fair - huuuuge entree portion sizes!


Ambience:

Totally bussstlin' in the bistro! We arrived to a mad fullhouse, a semi-loud atmosphere with servers running to and fro, an open prep area/kitchen right when you walk in.  Seating wasn't very comfy (as we had a table situated right in the corner, near the cash machine and bar)


Overall: 8.3/10

Yay:  Come here for some nice, scrumptious, hearty authentic French cooking! Generous portions.

Nay:  Not the ideal scene for a nice, romantic, candle-light, dim, sobre night out.

***Interesting fact:  Their only other location is a recently opened location in Manila, Philipines! Lucky Manilians!





Posted by: J