Papa’s Night Out to Ensemble Restaurant in Vancouver
I can’t believe its been so long since my last blog post – July 11th !! Time goes by so fast ! I have so many blog posts to catch up on as well. The next one will have to be Hot Water Tanks Part 2.
So this past Wednesday, a few of the techs and myself ventured out to Ensemble Restaurant in Vancouver. We are huge fans of Canada’s Top Chef Dale MacKay and couldn’t wait to try his culinary cuisine !
Of course I left it to the last minute and tried to get reservations that same day.. should have called a week before, but I have been so consumed with paper work it must have slipped my mind !
Luckily Top Chef Dale MacKay is great with social media and Twitter. He probably has a million other things on his mind but he is always on top of his Twitter feed and always takes time to tweet his customers back – awesome customer service !
Sitting at the bar? We would have sat anywhere !! So off we went, venturing from the Surrey office
to downtown Vancouver
Ensemble restaurant was just buzzing !! We took our seats at the bar
where Toni and Cho took good care of us. We let Cho do the ordering for..
he knew EXACTLY what to order and we just went with his recommendations for the whole night ! Both him and Toni were busy serving the bar guests (us and a few others) dinner and also making drinks for the guests in the dining room. It was getting pretty busy but they were doing a phenomenal job at juggling both – were very calm and patient about it as well.
Oh and.. big surprise for us.. Top Chef Dale MacKay pays a visit to the bar and spends some time talking to Papa. Luckily he came to visit before, because as the night went on the restaurant just got busier and busier !
So back to the culinary delights that Cho ordered for us.. oh this is all on the website as well.
Papa Manj & Papa Dale started with Flat Bread: Loved it !
Papa Igy started with a Tomato & Watermelon Salad : Mascarpone, Vanilla Balsamic Dressing: its best salad he has ever had ! Great flavor.
Papa Sony was content with his Beer on tap.
Papa JOY (me) started with Potato Gnocchi: Tomato Butter Sauce, Rocket, Olives. I was somewhat hesitant when Cho recommended this for me, I have had gnocchi before and wasn’t very impressed. This Gnocchi was AMAZING !! Each bite just melts in your mouth, so divine !! After this course, I was a believer.. bring it on Cho – I BELIEVE !!
Now for our second course:
All 4 Papa’s that were present decide to have the same dish: Roasted Lamb Loin: Radish, Shitake puree, Bulgur Wheat, Black Garlic Jus. They all loved it and Papa Igy even ordered a plate for home.
I am a big fan of risotto.. and so thats what I had. So creamy, so delicious !
For desert:
Papa Manj & Igy had: Chocolate Sundae: Bailey Ice Cream, Biscotti Crumble.. yep they were in heaven !
Papa Dale had: Chocolate Fondant: Hazelnut-Nougatine Ice Cream – delicious !
Papa Sony had: Precious Pavlova : Fresh Citrus Fruit
and compliments of Chef Dale MacKay – who is of course totally awesome: Warm Citrus Madelines !
oh we had also brought a gift for The Top Chef:
he can keep it under his kitchen sink just in case !!.. oh come on now – We had to give a plumbing related gift !!
Through out the whole evening Cho and Toni were on top of our drinks, making sure we were happy with everything.. just awesome guest relations ! Each dish was carefully prepared and presented – much like what Papa would do with your plumbing or heating !!
The bar indeed had the best seat in the house !
Thank you Ensemble, Top Chef Dale Mackay, Cho, Toni, all the Staff at Ensemble.. Papa Plumbing had an amazing night ! We will definitely be coming back .. and look forward to trying more of Chef Dale’s culinary delicacies !
Ensemble is located at: 850 Thurlow Street
e-mail: info@ensemblerestaurant.com
T: 604.569.1770
F: 604.569.1786
Papa’s Poll: 5 Stars all the way !
Here are some more pictures of the restaurant from our visit.. loved the ambience:
