Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Boneta

Big M and I celebrated our one year anniversary on May 29.  We had talked about returning to Vegas, where we got married, but instead we spent that money on a trip to Red Deer for my Mom's birthday.  Red Deer is just as awesome as Vegas.  (Hi Mom!)  But that did leave us with what to do for anniversary dinner. I always enjoy a chance to dress up and be fancy so I sent Big M a "short list" of about 12 restaurants from my wish list and he chose Boneta. Hooray!

I was working in Gastown when Boneta opened up on the corner of Cordova and Carrall St back in 2008. I will admit that at the time, I thought this was a crazy choice and they wouldn't last. This was before the Woodward's building were complete and pre hip restaurant explosion in Gastown. Prime Time Chicken was the closest competing restaurant. Well, I was sure wrong on that prediction.

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Our waitress said that the building used to be an old bank. It is a very large room divided into a lounge/bar area and a couple of levels of seating with some private booth areas in the back. I like the mirrors hung on the ceiling. They have the menu projected on the wall above the kitchen. You can see that from outside when you pass by. I have always thought that was cool.

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We decided to go for a shared appetizer, separate main courses and shared dessert- it was a romantic night after all. And nothing says romance to me more than...

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gravy.

Poutine, Hand Cut Fries, Fresh Okanagan Cheese Curds & Proper Gravy- $10.00. I love that they offer poutine. Looking around that night, it was a very popular choice. I asked the waitress what "proper gravy" meant and she said it was made with real meat juice from what they cooked there. It was perfect. An excellent french fry to gravy ratio with a good amount of cheese. The gravy was rich and tasty and the fries were perfectly crisp. It wasn't overly salty either, which can easily happen with poutine. I would get this again, but alas, I have limited myself to one poutine day a year. But now I have something to look forward to in 2012!

Big M went with a Pork Belly dish. (sorry no description, it is not on the online menu at the moment) It had a couscous salad and beets.

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He really enjoyed everything. I found that the top of the pork belly was really solid, to the point of being hard to eat. He didn't seem to have that problem with it. He liked everything that was served with the pork. The presentations of the plates were really excellent.

I went with Halibut Cheeks, Crushed Peas, Bacon; Watercress Salad; Brown Butter- $24

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Wow. It was beautiful, to start with, and tasted wonderful to boot. I am now a big fan of halibut cheeks. They were so tender and flavourful. The brown butter sauce was really nice with the fish. I think I had an alternate version of the salad listed above as mine had pea shoots and mushrooms. They seem to be really on top of updating the menu on the website- which I appreciate except for when I am late on posting blogs...

We ended with Almond and Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Fudge; Rhubarb Sorbet- $9.00

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A perfect ending. My favorite part was the rhubarb sorbet. The cake was warm and gooey and perfect. Big M enjoyed most of the fudge as it is not really my scene.

The serving size of all the plates made just the right amount of food. Along with my meal I had an cocktail from a really excellent cocktail list. I went with the Galleon- A little taste of Churchill's naval tradition. A quote worth looking up...Goslings Black Seal rum, Amaro Montenegro, fig syrup, orange oils and bitters. I chose this one because of the rum and fig syrup combination. A very nice cocktail. At $10.00 a drink, a little on the expensive side for me but after I tried it, it was $10.00 well spent.

Our only complaint about the night was the really large group of 30 or so who were seated on the level right beside us as they were really loud. Other than that, it was a perfect anniversary night. We looked good, the food was excellent and the service was top notch. I hear that they will be closing this location soon and moving to a new location, so I am happy that we got to try it before they moved.

Boneta on Urbanspoon

Big M- Happy Anniversary, Sweets. I never expected to be someone's wife, but I will be eternally happy to be yours. xoxox

wedding

1 comment:

  1. for 2012 you should go to Kaboom Box for poutine... the food cart on Granville and Robson... it's FANTASTIC!

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