The Fair at the PNE

PNE beer garden

I have always thought that I had outgrown the PNE. It had been one of things I would look forward to when I was younger up until my early teenage years. Michael was lucky enough to get a pair of complimentary tickets and we were really excited to go. Michael convinced me that there was going to be lots of tasty food, especially a new burger stand called Gourmet Burgers. The Fair at the PNE has really gone over and beyond to advertise this burger place, claiming a new spin to the food at the fair. I wasn't too keen on the idea because it doesn't sound believable regardless what the ad or Michael has to say. But I was happy that Michael was happy to go.

Fried pickles

At the fair we got to see a lot of musical performances, lots of interesting stands, and we even got to visit a "beer garden". I have a love for sour food and I have always wanted to try deep fried pickles. My first time trying them at the fair was absolutely amazing. I ordered my pickles for $6 at a stand that offered lots of various deep fried goodies - ice cream, Oreo cookies, fries and other fascinating fried goods. My pickles had a light crispy exterior skin, fried enough that it didn't hide the sour tang of the pickle. There was also a creamy ranch sauce on the side. Surprisingly the creaminess of the ranch didn't take over the tang, it balanced out quite nicely to the light batter.

Crocodile, wild boar and venison sliders

Michael was overly excited about these so called amazing burgers, we walked around for awhile to search for the burgers. When we finally came across to it I was surprised that their menu didn't have a wider range of selection. The one thing that popped out was that they offered exotic meats such as alligator, kangaroo, wild boar, venison and crocodile, three sampler burgers with a side of kettle chips for $12. I can rarely handle some of the common meats, so let's not carried away with other parts of the animal kingdom. My precious little dog loves venison and my parents often feed him venison as part of his diet, and Michael always said that him and my dog were long lost brothers, I guess venison just runs in this long lost family of his.

Crazy Monkey burger

I have made it pretty clear that I don't eat beef and when I do, it has to be some damn good beef. Like steak and frites at Le Faux Bourgeois. As a dedicated Food Network watcher, I have noticed a lot of street carts have started to incorporate peanut butter into burgers, creating a salty and sweet effect. I was hesitant to order the Crazy Monkey ($10) because it's on a beef patty. But my love for peanut butter got the best of me. So I got the order minus the deep fried banana inside. It was served along with a strip of bacon and a slice of ham.

Gourmet Burgers

I was very disappointed with my order. The number one cardinal rule in burger making is always, always, always toast the bun. This one was extremely overcooked and I can tell by the overly wide patty that the patty was likely flattened during cooking - letting the natural juice squeeze out. I am certain that we could have gotten a much tastier and cheaper burger at a fast food restaurant. I almost had to force myself to finish this burger because it was so expensive. I felt I had a sacrificed my waistline for some thing  that was very much a let down.

Overall the burger tasted very dry and the peanut butter didn't add a sweet kick in there, it appeared that the peanut butter just sat there incompatible with everything else. The bacon tasted like a cheap meal on a cheap airplane, there was no smokey flavour to it at all. They call themselves Gourmet which is a very high standard to live up to. So therefore they need to live up to the name they have given themselves. They have received so much publicity that they need to really step up their game. I'm sorry but they are clearly not haute couture, they are very much off the rack that ended up at the outlet mall.


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Kypriaki Norte

After a long day of driving and walking around Whistler village, we decided to return to our hotel room to relax and brainstorm where we could go for dinner.  I wasn't sure if I was hungry at all, Michael thought we had our oyster snack a little too late in the day so he wasn't too hungry.

Kypriaki Norte

We finally settled for a Greek restaurant, Kypriaki that wasn't too far from where we were staying at 4122 Village Green. The reviews were hit and miss with place but we thought we should take a chance. Since we already get fabulous Greek food from our favorite Greek man we rarely go anywhere else for Mediterranean, if we do it would feel like we're cheating on George.


Indoors


When we arrived I thought the place looked a tad tacky and dodgy. Their decor was around the restaurant screamed out loud and busy. There was statues and hanging flower plants in every corner and bright paintings on the wall. I thought to myself, alright, they may not know how to decorate but hopefully they can cook.

Originally I was going to get a light appetizer and their chicken penne with a creamy rose sauce. It sounded safe, but I thought since I'm at a Greek restaurant I wanted the Mediterranean flavours. Lots of strong citrus and herb taste. Michael said that he was going to get their three course menu ($35) and I thought sure why not, I'll do the same.

Complimentary bread

Our seat looked directly into their dimly lit kitchen and we could see some of the chefs do their thing. We can also see the waitresses cut the bread for diners, using their bare hands. I thought they should've done that out of view of the guests or used a cloth or gloves, especially when one of them was playing with her hair right before she cut the bread.

When our bread arrived at our table, I just a poked a mini hole in the middle and dipped it in the balsamic vinegar and olive oil that was served along side. It didn't taste very good though.

Lobster and butternut squash soup

For the two starting dishes Michael and I got the same dishes. We both got the lobster and butternut squash soup. I thought it tasted like any cream based soup, a neither here nor there. There was a faint taste of well, something, it didn't taste like lobster or squash. I fished out some chunky bits of what may have been lobster pieces but I wasn't sure what I could make out of it. Let's hope it was lobster. The soup was just a mere "meh."


Greek salad


For our second dish we both got the Greek salad, which tasted pretty generic I found, just the classic cucumbers, red onions, olives, tomatoes and peppers with olive oil and feta cheese sprinkles all around. Michael thought he really liked the salad, it tasted light and refreshing. He thought it was the best part of the meal, since there was a whole bunch of cheese and lots of veg for him to munch. For myself it was another mediocre salad to me. I thought there wasn't much flavouring to this salad dish.

Roasted lamb with roasted potatoes and vegetables

For the entree,  Michael got the roasted lamb with roasted potatoes and steamed vegetables, with tzatiki on the side, which everyone raved about in the reviews. The vegetables that came on the side were nothing spectacular, but he thought the dish was huge for its price, easily enough to feed two. The meat was definitely fall-off-the-bone, but Michael thought the flavouring was a bit too powerful for his liking. He ended up being unable to finish the dish since he was too full.

Roast chicken with goat cheese stuffing

For my entree, I got the roast chicken with goat cheese stuffing, with potatoes and steamed vegetables on the side. A perfect oven roasted chicken, in my opinion, would be a light-crispy exterior with juicy goodness oozing out. Just let the natural flavours flow, let the chicken fat do its magic, and toss on a light seasoning of basic salt and pepper, no more. My chicken at Kypriaki was so burned it shattered in to pieces when I poked it with my fork. Definitely overcooked and dry. The goat cheese seemed as if it had not melted and sat in the chicken in curds, and was absolutely incompatible with the overdone chicken. Since the chicken was dry, I stole Michael's tzatiki sauce, which was probably the only thing that was right about the dish for the night.

We took a chance, but clearly our luck dried up, for myself at least. I know Michael really liked his lamb, but that wasn't a surprise since everyone wrote in their reviews that the lamb is the only thing that is good. I would suggest giving Kypriaki a pass.


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Araxi

For the longest time Michael and I have talked about Araxi. Why? Because Michael and I are huge fans of the hothead chef Gordon Ramsey. The grand prize for winning Hells Kitchen on one season was to be head chef at Araxi. Unfortunately, the winner of the show didn't stick around at Araxi for a very long time.

Araxi

Michael and I decided to do a mini vacation to Whistler. Our first day of arrival we hit up the village and walked around. We came across the holy of the holy restaurants in Whistler, Araxi located in the heart of the village  at 4222 Village Square, they had a huge sign advertising 12 fresh shucked oysters for $12 from 3-6pm. A buck a shuck, well don't mind if we do.

In my previous entry I had mentioned that it is rare that Michael and I visit high-end dining. We appreciate good food and of course love, love, love food. But we don't feel that paying 30 something dollars for a plate of food is right. I love my fair share of fine dining when I'm with my mom of course, nothing beats a little mother daughter time... when she's the one taking care of the bill. Naughty me. So it came as a nice surprise to see that a high-end place like Araxi was offering such a sweet deal.

We were seated outside of the restaurant to enjoy the beautiful sunny day in Whistler and of course we did some people watch. We ordered our oysters with an order of truffle fries ($9.50). We only ordered two items and two drinks: a beer and a fruity non-alcoholic beverage, but we had to wait an awfully long time for our food. We noticed a lot of other diners got pretty angry as well. We also thought our waiter was a little curt, we thought maybe because we look so young. But excuse me for our fountain of youth, that's coming out of your tip mister!

After a long time of waiting our food finally arrived. The Zen oysters we were told came from Cortes Island, it was served with a sherry vinaigrette sauce. The oysters tasted amazing and beyond. Michael and I joked about, just a few years ago, when I didn't love oysters and I'd only ever eat one whenever we ordered them.

Zen oysters

Michael and I both agree that they tasted really fresh, just sliding down beautifully. The fresh seafood aroma was just magnificent and incredible. Slurp! slurp! slurp!  The vinaigrette was sour, tangy, with a hint of garlic taste. The sour taste added the sweet oyster flavour and enhanced everything the oyster has to offer. Although oysters from Rodney's were much bigger I also felt Rodney's did a better job shucking the oysters. I came across a lot of bits and pieces of unpleasant shells here. Michael on the other hand didn't find any of these unappealing shell bits.

Truffle fries

Moving on to the truffle fries, I have a great passionate hate for mushrooms, but I have had a minor appreciation for truffles. My mom and I eat at The Market at the Shangri-La Hotel often, and that's really changed my opinion on truffles after trying their delicious truffle pizza. The fries were simple but very tasty. Ah the difference between posh fries and fast food fries! It had a crunchy exterior, there was a light truffle drizzle taste over the fries that was also seasoned with light salt and parmesan shavings. The truffle flavour of the potato and the light salt seasoning just gave the natural flavour a slight push that completed the dish.

Complimentary bread worth mentioning

Last but not least is a dish that we wouldn't even call it a dish actually. Our complimentary bread, it was very tasty for a complimentary item. It looked hard as a rock but was very soft. We were served with organic butter and extra virgin olive oil. Of course it's usually with either just butter or evoo with balsamic vinegar.  But replacing and mixing the butter and olive oil together created quite something, a creamy factor. Towards the end Michael was scraping off the butter with his bread as if he was scraping gold.

Perfect Breeze and a Whistler pale ale

It was a light snack and for a hot summer day it's perfect weather to slurp some shucked oysters. The definition of west coast dining, but as much as we enjoyed lunching at Araxi, Michael and I do believe in loving food, putting an effort in the food and also getting more bang for our buck in it as well. What do you think?


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