Taste of Yaletown 2015

Taste of Yaletown 2015 - La Pentola

Most of the items on the Taste of Yaletown 2015 menu for La Pentola are on their current seasonal menu, so keep in mind that this review is really only for their Taste of Yaletown 2015 menu, and doesn't necessarily reflect on the restaurant itself.
That said, you could infer that they won't always blow you away with their creations on the 7- or 10- course family-style dinners. But with so many courses per dinner, there will be bound to be some hits and misses.

$45 Taste of Yaletown Dinner Menu
1st course
Cauliflower and Endive Salad with bagna cauda and pecorino
or
Parmesan Soufflé with roasted beets and balsamic carrots (veg)

2nd course
Taglierini with octopus, arrabiatta and bottarga
or
Tagliatelle Bolognese
or
Taglierini with arrabiatta, bocconcini and basil (veg)

3rd course
Grilled Skirt Steak with arugula, pine nuts, balsamic and parmesan
or
Ling Cod with roasted tomato purée, peppers, baby squid and black olive oil
or
Wild Mushroom Risotto

Dolce
Lemon Cream and Biscotti
or
Tiramisu

TIP: Don't worry about making sure your Taste of Yaletown choices have enough filling carbs as they give you apparently unlimited baguette slices.

I went with the Vegetarian Option. For $45, vegetarians should consider eating elsewhere.

Parmesan Soufflé

Airy soufflé had a slightly eggy flavor. Not much parmesan flavor even with the parmesan shavings. Somewhat bland. Pass on this.

Taglierini Arrabiatta

Basically tasteless bocconcini did not help the boring noodles which had some kind of weak tomato sauce that had a wimpy amount of spicy-heat. Pass on this.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Visible chunks of mushroom, nice creamy texture. But too salty. Pass on this.

Tiramisu

Deconstructed and with a sour chocolate paste at the bottom. How are you supposed to eat this? Unless you smush it into a paste, it probably won't taste like tiramisu. Pass on this.

Dolce Vita (?)

Some sort of non-alcoholic cocktail which sounded interesting but turned out to taste like a not-too-sour lemonade. At least half my glass was ice.
I was quoted $6-7 but it turned up as $9 on my bill. Pass on this and get a lemonade instead.

TIP: While you are in the washroom, look for the monitors with grainy video feed of the lounge where you can spy on what your friends are doing while you are freshening up (or, in the case of guys, taking a leak).

TIP: Check out the glass wall separating the mens' and ladies' washrooms. There are chain curtains on either side, but that glass ain't no mirror...

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 3

A picture from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. I can't remember why I had this couple in the picture, but I do vaguely remember this to be in London, on the first official day of the tour group getting together. Their insistence on my helping them take a picture caused the three of us to be late getting back to the bus. The local tour guide had a "rule" about lateness, that we had to buy chocolate to share with everyone. As it turned out, later in the trip, on at least two occasions, we were stuck on the highway on either a long commute or a traffic jam, and I had chocolate and chocolate-covered marzipan to share. About the chocolate-covered marzipan -- Apparently we were in Austria just as they were celebrating Mozart's birthday with special marzipans wrapped in foil with the famous composer's picture. I'm pretty sure it was Mirabell Mozartkugeln . Anyway, there were enough to go around the en...

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 10

The last of my pictures (at least the ones that survived the cheesy disposable cameras) from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. Below is the obligatory group photo. Not sure everyone's in it, actually. I'm pretty sure this one was taken by the tour director, Mike Scrimshire as I'm in the back row, on the right side.

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 9

More assorted couples on my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. An American couple who joked about being from "the land of the giants" -- and with good reason, because both of them were really tall! A cute Jewish mother-daughter pair who ducked out part-way to divert to Israel. I vaguely remember the issue of the daughter being an orthodox Jew was highlighted in France when, to make things easy, she just declared herself vegetarian for the wait staff. I also remember there was some logistics error in France because our party size was way underestimated or simply relayed incorrectly, and there was a shortage of food at dinner. Dessert came as an unopened can of yogurt. It did not seem like they tried to make it up to us later, either. Plus there was smoking every which way in France, and I had a helluva time with that. We were also in a hotel that seemed tucked away in the burbs, and not walking distance from anythin...

Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

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