Hi Belle！！　

溫哥華美食節揭開序幕

每年都必須參與的美食活動今年也不例外
吃過的每一家餐廳都會慢慢分享 希望給大家做個參考
也算是紀錄嘗試過的餐廳 明年有個方向哈哈

今年的美食節價錢大約分成$25, $35, $45 
比往年又增加了$5加幣 年年漲價

We visited AnnaLena once before and enjoyed a great time, so it was on my must-try list for the dine-out festival. The dine-out festival is an annual event where the participating restaurants will offer menus ranging from $25 to $45 with their signature dishes, showing off their skills, flavour and creativity in different cuisines. This is our first time trying AnnaLena dine-out and we were very excited! We were somewhat disappointed by Pidgin last year and are hoping for a better experience at AnnaLena. 

It's a restaurant with popular demand. I booked on the first day and already most spots had been taken. Luckily, I was able to RSVP a Sunday dinner for us. We arrived half an hour early and forunately there were tables available so we could be seated right away. 
 

The service was friendly and attentive. We were offered the menu right away. No time wasted (I appreciate their efficiency).

我們之前吃過AnnaLena tasting menu, 對他的炸雞念念不忘
2019 dine-out menu中也大方推出許多美食所以立刻約時間搶位置
AnnaLena真的是大人氣呢! 慢一步就沒有位置了>< 可以約到星期日的晚上真的很幸運

我們提早半小時到 還好有位置可以馬上入座
用餐時間是1.5小時 人潮不斷所以有時間限制

Dine-out menu也是特別挑選的 跟平日還有我們之前吃過的都不一樣

開胃菜有三個選擇 我們當然是挑了炸雞
本來以為分量會很小 其實非常大份呢!外皮非常酥脆且沒有油漬
口感不油膩 雞肉多汁鮮嫩 非常美味

We loved their fried chicken from before so it was our top choice (and nothing else!) The chicken came in large portion, which was surprising. The skin was golden and crispy. The meat was juicy and tender. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

上層的脆黃瓜讓人胃口大開 準備好主餐的到來

主餐我選了flank beef 中文應該是牛腩
一般在中餐廳才會吃到 在西餐廳很少見 因為好奇會如何料理所以就選他當我的主食

I ordered beef flank for entree because I was curious to see how they would cook a flank. Usually, you see beef flank offered in a Chinese restaurant, and seldom would you come across such an option in a western eatery. Flank is a cheaper type of beef as it is hard to cook to perfection. It is on the tougher side and requires much time to braise in order to tenderize the toughness. 

Mr. H noticed the beef as well. He's a steak lover but he chose the fish. His rationale was that beef flank is tough to cook. In order to avoid disappointment, he'd opt for the fish just in case.

(In the end, he made the right choice...)

Mr. H說牛腩一般都很難烹煮所以他還是吃魚好了比較保險
免得點了一個很難咀嚼的肉類...

Beef flank的份量不大有點失望

服務生特別解釋料理方法是用sous vide 烹煮20小時而成
sous vide就是真空低溫烹調法 用低溫進行長時間加熱的料理方式
聽見是sous vide後我有點失望 因為只要有那個機器將水加溫後就可以把肉丟進去
不需要很多技巧 只是時間長短 是極簡單的烹調方法
在餐廳花大錢就希望可以吃到比較創意的料理方式= = 
所以這讓我有點無言呢~ 
口感偏硬還是難咬 心得是: 牛腩還是交給中餐廳吧!! 

My beef flank came. The server explained that the flank had been sous vided for 20 hours. I was disappointed to hear that. Because sous vide is just cooking meat at a constantly low temperature- no skills required. You just drop the meat in and let it sit in the sous vide. The flank was still tough and kind of chewy... which was not up to par.
 

Mr. H真是選對了 魚做得非常美味
外皮金黃酥脆 大概是七分熟所以內裡還透出粉紅
入口即化 味蕾滿足極了

Mr. H's fish was made to perfection. The outer skin was crispy with a medium rare inside, so it's still pinkish and melts in your mouth. He made the right choice, indeed. 

Dessert time! We had miso chocolate and the apple crumble. 

點心也有多選擇 
最下面是chicken skin 雞皮很有趣 哈哈 
沒想到外國人也開始喜歡華人吃法 連雞皮都入料

我們點了miso chocolate & apple crumble

巧克力是dark chocolate吃起來有點苦味 搭配上冰淇淋口感不錯

The miso chocolate cubes were too creative for us. It was a mix of miso and dark chocolate which was very salty (!) and hard to eat. We could not finish it (but we wiped out the sorbet though haha). In the end, we cleaned the apple crumble muhahaha. They also had a "milk stout" which was horchata beer- interesting flavour! I liked the beer except it contained much caffeine so I couldn't drink much or I'll be tossing for the entire night. 

另外還有兩個味增巧克力塊 吃起來真的太鹹啦!! 完全可以拿去煮湯用...

Apple crumbles 味道普通但跟味增巧克力相比簡直美味 XD 

所以我們把apple crumbles吃光光哈哈 味增巧克力就...試過就好 真的太鹹

整體心得是給高分 8.5/10 價錢跟料理成正比
另外也有其他搭配的料理可以點 不強求只能點dine-out菜餚 
我們點了tear bread 柔軟的像雲朵 搭配charcoal butter 黑炭奶油太創意

最後吃得很撐很滿足呢

明年如果再次推出dine-out的話非常推薦大家來踏踏
AnnaLena dine-out was a beautiful experience and it was our first date night of the year (hehehehe). Regardless of how long you've been together, date nights are still important and priceless! Our first dine-out was the bomb with a high score at 8.5/10. The food and experience were wonderful and I would definitely revisit.