Follow Me Foodie to the Vancouver Christmas Market!

Folgen Sie Mir Foodie zum Vancouver Weihnachtsmarkt!

It’s the 2nd annual Vancouver Christmas Market from Nov. 24-Dec. 24. Yes, that also means I’m last minute with my post although it’s not too late for you to check it out! Located outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in downtown Vancouver, BC it’s one of the holiday’s biggest attractions. For rates, opening hours and tickets see here.

I was invited on a private tour of the markets and to be honest this was the first year I’ve seen them. I was happy when Vancouver finally introduced the idea, which has existed in Europe for centuries, however I never went to them because I’m a bit spoiled having experienced the traditional ones in various European countries before.

If you’ve been to any of the Christmas Markets in Europe, you’re going to find it difficult not to compare them. The Vancouver Christmas Market would seem like “the little sister”, but it’s still a fun festive activity that’s good for all ages and it’s nice to support local vendors and artists. In Vancouver this is the closest you’ll get to a “real” Christmas Market, and that’s just a fact.

I know last year it had ridiculous lines and the set up was a bit disorganized (which contradicts the stereotype of traditional German ways), but this year was apparently an improvement. I still witnessed a line up to get in and purchase tickets, but once inside it was a good flow of traffic and it felt spacious. It pretty much looked like a smaller, cleaner and nicer version of the Richmond Summer Night Market.

There is a small $2-5 admission to get in depending on the day and time you go, and personally I think it should be free or by donation. It would get a lot more traffic and people wouldn’t only consider coming once and checking it off the list. Parking can also be a pain and get quite costly and if they can afford to have it free to the public they should. The food is pretty pricey too so it becomes an expensive event.

I know $2-5 isn’t a lot, but it’s a psychological thing and when you advertise things as free, people come. Whatsapp started charging $.99 for the app and I’m sure some people stopped downloading it. If e-mail cost money I bet not everyone would have it either… just my 2 cents… which I’ve provided free.

So what can you find at the markets? Carolers!

Germans!

Swarovski!… which is Austrian.

A Chocolate Lollipop Christmas Tree Decorating Station.

And of course food! You knew I was warming up to this. If you’re the type that B-lines to the food, then let me give you a glimpse of what you can expect. There’s lots of other non-food related vendors, but this is Follow Me Foodie not Follow Me to Arts & Crafts. The food is more or less about half of the Vancouver Christmas Market, but for me it’s the most delicious half!

What’s a German Market without beer? Boring… or barely authentic.

Bratäpfel! Huh? It’s a German style Baked Apple ($5.50). It’s one of the most popular desserts here and the traditional version is stuffed with walnuts, raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon.

And just to make you drool they serve it with hot vanilla sauce poured over top!

Dussa’s Ham & Cheese, Vancouver, Granville Island – making Swiss Raclette melted on Ciabatta bread garnished with Bindenfleisch (dry cured beef) & cornichons $10

Pickled vegetables from Goodies by Thelma

German Pasta from Das Deutsche Nudel Haus – I was really curious about this one because you won’t be able to get it once the market is over. I’ve had it before, but not from here. It’s hand made Schupfnudeln (rolled noodle) that’s served savoury with bacon and sauerkraut or sweet with cinnamon and sugar. I’ve had both versions, but it was so unusual to have noodles that tasted like churros for dinner. It’s not bad, but just different.

Oh god… I was brought back to recent memories of my Stollen Smackdown where we tested 18 to find the best!

This was Artisan Bakery Shoppe in North Vancouver and we had them included at the Stollen Smackdown. The one bite sample they give you isn’t representable of the full thing, so just a heads up. This is a traditional well liked German bakery in Vancouver though and you can visit their actual location after the market closes.

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”… well sort of. Not necessarily something you can’t find on the downtown streets of Vancouver, but it isn’t a market without them!

This was Italian not German, and along with roasted chestnuts were biscotti, candied nuts, torrone, coffee and espresso.

Loose leaf organic teas. Last minute Christmas presents perhaps?

Gluehwein – German mulled wine. At $7/glass it’s pretty pricey. I thought it was mulled beer at first and it’s very strong with cinnamon, cloves and spices. There’s also red wine, citrus fruits and sugar, and it’s quite sweet. Most people I’ve talked to either hate it or love it. I found it heavy in spices and it’s not my favourite mulled wine, but the occasional sip here and there was okay.

Sugarnuts – More candied nuts. These are all natural.

Das Waffelhaus – This looked and smelled really good and they come with various sweet or savoury toppings. Waffles on a stick > lollipop.

This took me back to Oktoberfest in Munich. It’s not the Auntie Anne’s American pretzels, but the German pretzels which I find you have to eat fresh and warm. Personally I prefer the “butchered American ones”, but they’re almost incomparable.

Chocolate fondue from Powers Chocolate. I got a hot chocolate here with whipped cream which was pretty good, but if you want something really decadent, rich and indulgent this season, then try the one at Mink Chocolates.

Liebrecht Lebkuchen Haus – Yeah I can’t even try to say that. It’s basically a shop selling imported German goods and mainly sweets. They sold the packaged stollens we included in the Stollen Smackdown.

And what’s a German fest without a sausage fest? (Sorry, that was too easy!)

Black Forest Delicatessen is one of the few authentic and good German delicatessens we have in Vancouver. Grab a pretzel, beer and bratwurst and it’s a nibble of Okotobest. If most of the people attending were Italian or Spanish and they allowed standing on tables and singing… it would be a bite of Oktoberfest! Also “currywurst” is not some Vancouver fusion twist, it actually exists in Germany too.

Okay so that was my tour of the Okotberfest… oh no I meant the Vancouver Christmas Markets! So after seeing all that food and stopping for nibbles here and there, where do you think I went back to? I was looking for dinner and by process of elimination I went back to one place.

Chocolate? No! I already mentioned I had a hot chocolate…

Stollen!? No, I already had 18 at the Stollen Smackdown!

Okay stop. I don’t only eat dessert!

It was this! I went back to where I first started! The pork knuckle! This is so classic German and it’s one of the few that I won’t be able to get after the Vancouver Christmas Market ends, so it was the obvious choice! It was either this or the German noodle, but I’m an oinker. By the way that rotisserie oven is from Germany and it’s exactly what they use in Germany to make these.

Pork Knuckle Combo - 4/6

• 1 grilled pork knuckle with red apple cabbage and a dumpling $16.50
• Yes! Come to mama! You cannot get more German than this. Meat and potatoes.
• It was really expensive in this market context, but it was pretty good! I’d say it was $9 good.
• The knuckle was crispy, crunchy and juicy just like the skin on suckling pig and porchetta.
• The cabbage was sweet instead of acidic and the dumpling tasted like stuffing and there was little potato and it was mainly bread.

• We had them slice the meat off the bone since I was sharing, but otherwise I would have asked for it to be wrapped around a napkin and ate it like a drumstick.
• That’s how I ate it in Germany, like a Turkey drumstick… but in Vancouver this is considered less barbaric.
• The meat was moist and it was actually not salty or greasy, well not greasy for what it was.
• I have a high tolerance for salt so I found it slightly bland, but I think it might be okay for most.
• It definitely beats a Nando’s roasted chicken for dinner, but at $16 I hope it would.

Follow Me Foodie to the Stollen Smackdown!

Eating my way through 18 stollen to find THE BEST in town!

Be stollen my heart! 18 stollens traveled near and far for a spot in the “Stollen Off” or “Stollen Smackdown”! From Vancouver to Victoria, Quebec and Ontario, and of course even Germany, it was a search for the best stollen in town… or just out of whatever we could get our antsy hands on!

I’ve done some pretty crazy foodie things in the past and this was one of them! Let us loose and we’ll just embrace the fat kid inside. From epic summer BBQ’s, to pie parties, and now stollen smackdowns, we’re a rowdy bunch of food obsessed geeks and the only shame we have is on the person who brought the worst thing. Or what’s worse? The person who brought the generic mass produced “grocery store” brand. Yes, put us all together and you might not even want to be invited, although I promise the only thing being judged is your food. We save the juicy talk for after you leave

Anyways, this year, or holiday season, I became obsessed with stollen. It’s happened before when I get on these mini food obsessions and go on mini hunts to find “the best” of whatever I’m craving for at that moment, and this was one of those times. I’ve done it with pizza, tacos, XLB, tamago, duck confit, runny egg yolks, short ribs, poutine, Japanese sablefish, wontons, egg tarts, BBQ pork buns, ramen, macarons, almond croissants and small things like that, but not to this degree. This was legendary.

Boy I must have been super good this year to be invited to this magical holiday moment. Of course being the Gemini I am being super good also meant being able to be super bad. So bring on the stollen (pronounced schtollen) and let’s get this party schtarted. It came down to 18 stollens (some doubles), 8 stomachs, 2 jugs of Avalon eggnog, one winner, and no Pepto Bismol.

Okay for those of you who don’t know what stollen is and think we stole 18 loaves of bread, no, that’s not the case.

What is Stollen?

Stollen is traditionally a German cake, or sweet and rich German bread eaten during Christmas. It is traditionally hand formed in a loaf shape and made with milk, butter, sugar, eggs, yeast, rum soaked raisins, dried or candied fruits (usually orange and lemon), almonds and Stollen spices which may include cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace etc. There are different types and styles of stollen, but my favourite has a stick of marzipan (ground almond paste) baked into the centre which is called Marzipan Stollen. All stollens are covered with sugar, icing sugar or powdered sugar after it bakes. It is best eaten a few days to a week and a half after it’s baked so the flavours have time to set and the texture is right.

I have to say that this is not a typical “Christmas Cake”. I guess it is a “German Christmas Cake”, but it’s definitely not one of those gross Christmas Cakes most of us feared as kids and thought only moms and grandmas ate. This is Christmas Cake 2.0 even though it’s existed for centuries.

The first stollens were actually made without milk and butter due to advent and respect to religion, and it wasn’t until later when people protested for the ban to be lifted. Those are my kind of people! And then to celebrate they threw stollen into the water… just kidding, it’s not the Boston Tea Party!

This may be the only occasion when I discriminate against shape and size. Authentically, the shape of the loaf has a bump in the middle to resemble the camel’s hump. The stollen is symbolic for the camel and the gifts it brings to Christ Child on its First Christmas. The “gifts” and “treasures” are supposed to be the candied fruits. Others say the stolen is supposed to resemble Christ Child in a blanket, which sounds super creepy to me, but in the end it just better taste really good!

What I look for in a Marzipan Stollen:

1) Freshness (best eaten 5-10 days after and not fresh or stale)
2) Size/Shape/Density
It should have a hump in the middle, and if it has marzipan it should be 5% of the Stollens’ total weight. It should be dense, but not hard.
3) Aroma
There is an aroma when you take it out. It smells like rich bread, warm spices, almonds, or fresh citrus fruit.
4) Sugar coated exterior
There’s a thin dusting of sugar, powdered sugar or icing sugar.
5) Moist and rich buttery flavour in the bread
6) A lemon or orange scent and flavour which can be mild
7) Texture is consistent and not crumbly, too bready, or chewy
8 ) Sweetness of bread and marzipan
The bread shouldn’t be that sweet since it has the fruit, and the marzipan should have the flavour and texture of ground almonds, but still be creamy.
9) Ratio of marzipan to bread (A good amount of marzipan)
10) Quality of ingredients (butter or margarine, natural or extracts)
11) Type/Amount of raisins and candied fruits
No fake candied fruit. Slivered or whole almonds as opposed to sliced, moist rum soaked raisins as opposed to dry, and a good amount of fruit without being a fruit cake.
12) Stollen spices (not overwhelming, but noticeable)

Of course what is traditional is arguable and what is “authentic” might not be what tasted best, so in the end it’s always what you enjoyed most and personal tastes. The perfect stollen can be forever debated and I’m not a professional pastry chef, but there was a professional German baker testing these stollens out with us and guiding us along the way. Generally all stollens are sweet cakes that are always pretty good, but when you have them back to back like this, you can really separate the “bad” from the good.

Note: The “ratings” are just my personal tastes and only for the stollen and not for the bakery.

On the table:

**Thomas Haas Stollen - 6/6

• Small about 350g $17 Large about 800g $27
• Available at Thomas Haas stores and Whole Foods Market.
• I know it seems like the most obvious and the “I could have guessed it” choice, but you try all 18 and you tell me this wasn’t the best. I bet it’ll be in your top 3 at least.
• We knew it was known as “the best in town”, but the thought of it getting better at some less known bakery was something worth researching.
• This was the first stollen I’ve ever tried, and that’s pretty much getting Dom Pérignon as your first sip of champagne.
• I love Thomas Haas, but even in a blind tasting I still picked this and the Four Seasons Stollen as my tops.
• It had a classic granulated sugar and dusting of powdered sugar on the exterior, but it was thin so it wasn’t too sweet.
• It was one of the richest and butteriest in flavour without being oily and greasy.
• It was almost like a moist and rich shortbread cake and very buttery in an authentic stollen way, not a butchered “American stollen” way too.
• From bread to marzipan the whole thing was creamy and consistent in texture with all parts being moist.
• The marzipan centre was fairly large and it wasn’t that sweet and I could tell it was actually made with ground almonds and not just all sugar.
• The marzipan was creamy and soft and it had a real almond flavour and not just extract, although I wouldn’t mind a bit more extract.
• It had no grainy granulated sugar texture either and it was less sweet than most.
• It had a good amount of slivered toasted almonds, lots of juicy plump big golden raisins and moist rum soaked dark raisins.
• I prefer all golden raisins, but I don’t mind the dark, which are the ones usually used anyways. The golden ones are a bonus.
• It had an orange scent, but no candied orange or lemon pieces. I like candied citrus fruit if it’s fresh, and I’m neutral to them being in stollen.
• The stollen spices were on the mild side, likely to suit tastes of the mass market, but overall it was delicious.
• The only other thing was the shape. I wish it had been the traditional stollen shape with the hump in the middle. It didn’t affect flavour, but it’s part of the aesthetic.
• I was actually told that they used to make it in traditional shape, but I guess with the high demand, it’s now the more mass produced looking rectangular loaf.

**Four Seasons (The YEW) Stollen – 5.5/6

• About 450g 1lb $20
• Available at Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver at The YEW Restaurant.
• This was easily my second favourite and part of the creme de la creme of stollen.
• It had a classic coating of crispy granulated sugar that wasn’t too thick, but I do prefer the powered sugar (not icing sugar) and that’s just personal.
• It was super moist and buttery without being oily or greasy and it’s very slightly less rich than the Thomas Haas one.
• It was still like a rich shortbread cake, and just like the Thomas Haas one the whole thing was creamy and consistent in texture with all parts being moist.
• It was sweet, but not too sweet and full in flavour.
• It had a pretty big stick of marzipan (bigger than the Thomas Haas one) in the centre that was soft, but slightly floury in texture with less almond flavour than the Thomas Haas one. I was hoping for a bit more almond extract or natural almond flavour.
• The marzipan was heavy and still made with ground almonds and smooth in texture.
• It was mild on the stollen spices, but it had lots of crunchy toasted almonds, no dark raisins, and only juicy plump golden raisins which I think is best. It tasted better than most of the raisins we had in all the other stollens.
• It didn’t have much or any orange and lemon peel though, which again I’m neutral to if it’s fresh and good quality.
• Like the Thomas Haas one it was the loaf shape instead of the traditional hump shape, but at least it didn’t affect flavour.
• The differences between this one and the Thomas Haas stollen are extremely marginal, and in the end it comes down to personal preference.

Even side by side they looked almost identical. I liked that the FSV stollen was made with all golden raisins, but I liked the richer flavour of the Thomas Haas cake.

Note: It’s interesting to note that Thomas Haas’ (who previously worked for Four Seasons before opening his own shop) stollen recipe is likely inspired by the long time Four Season Vancouver pastry chef, Gerhart Witzel, who comes out of retirement to make the FSV stollen.

Sweet Thea Stollen – 2.5/6

• 350g $10 600g $15
• Sweet Thea found at the local Farmer’s Markets in Metro Vancouver.
• This was the first one we tried and it was pretty dry and there weren’t many stollen spices.
• It wasn’t very buttery in flavour and it had some raisins which weren’t very plump or juicy and some almonds, but no apparent citrus fruit flavour.
• The marzipan was noticeable grainy and very sugary and sweet.
• The outside was dusted with icing sugar and I prefer granulated or powdered sugar.
• It didn’t really taste like a stollen and it was lacking in flavour in the bread part and in general.
• It would be good for bread pudding and we had a bread pudding pile.

The Sutton Place Hotel Stollen – 4/6

• 450g $15
• Available at La Boulangerie at The Sutton Place Hotel, Vancouver
• This was decorated with a candy cane and fondant flower and it looked a bit bake sale like.
• Oh no! Is that a green candied cherry? I can’t say I’m a fan of those anytime I see them.
• This was more bready with layers than cakey and it wasn’t too sweet, but it didn’t have as many raisins or almonds.
• It actually tasted like a Hot Cross Bun/Cake, so it wasn’t really stollen. The bread part was almost layered.
• It wasn’t too sweet and it was moist with some raisins and some candied lemon and orange zest.
• It also had some sliced (not slivered) almonds, so they were almost unnoticeable and just added in texture.
• I could taste more stollen spices in this than the Thomas Haas and Four Seasons Stollen which I liked.
• The marzipan was on the small side and off centered, but it was creamy and it wasn’t all sugar. It had a good amount of almond extract in it and it had great flavour. It was a good marzipan!
• The outside was a crust of granulated sugar and icing sugar and it was a bit thick, but not overwhelming either.
• Despite it being more like a Hot Cross Bun than a stollen, I liked it!

“Last Year’s Winner” Home Made Stollen – 2/6

• This was last year’s winner at the Stollen Off and it was the exact same recipe this year, but it didn’t turn out so well.
• It ended up breaking apart and was a bit dry and crumbly, so it just shows you how high maintenance and technical it is to make.
• Bread pudding pile.

The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver Stollen – 3/6

• $22
• Available at The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
• This one is a bit difficult to order because Hotel Vancouver doesn’t really advertise it.
• You kind of have to ask for it and you might want to call ahead to avoid confusion. The person who brought it did called ahead, but there was still confusion.
• It comes wrapped in plastic wrap and it’s quite rustic, but the whole ordering/picking up operation is a bit “black market” stollen.
• This was the most yellow in colour out of all the stollens.
• It had a bit of a floury aftertaste which I only noticed going back to it after the Thomas Haas and Four Seasons Stollen. I thought it would be an eggy aftertaste if anything.
• The marzipan stick in the centre was a bit small, but it was super creamy, melt in your mouth soft, almost a bit doughy, but not chewy and also not too sweet. I actually really liked the marzipan in this one! It was one of my favourite marzipans.
• I could taste the stollen spices, but it wasn’t too strong and it had nice pieces of orange peel, lots of moist dark raisins that weren’t particularly large or plump, and some almonds although not many.
• My other concern was that the outside was a bit dry and the centre was moist so it was slightly inconsistent.
• The outside was very lightly dusted with powdered sugar which I liked.
• Despite this not being an authentic stollen, although it did have the nice hump, it was actually pretty good.

Fieldstone Stollen – 1.5/6

• 800g $15.95
• Available at Fieldstone Artisan Breads in South Surrey/White Rock, BC.
• This was just sitting on the table and it didn’t look like their specialty. Their other baked goods looked fantastic though!
• It was crusted with a thick layer of icing sugar on the outside which was way too sweet.
• It tasted quite stale and bready and the raisins were a bit dried out and there was a lack of flavour and stollen spices.
• It wasn’t very eggy and the marzipan was small, creamy and not sweet, but almost oily looking.

This is just to show proper shape for an authentic stollen.

Artisan Bake Shoppe Marzipan Stollen – 4.5/6

• Rum Stollen: Small (500g) $9.99 Medium (700g) $13.99 Custom order large (900g) $19.99
• Marzipan Stollen: Small (500g) $12.99 Medium (700g) $14.99 Custom order large (900g) $29.99
• Available at Artisan Bake Shoppe in North Vancouver, or the German Christmas Market in downtown Vancouver.
• Their Marzipan Stollen still has a bit of rum because the fruits are soaked in it.
• This one had a sugary granulated sugar coating that was a bit too thick and crunchy for my liking.
• There was a gap between the marzipan and bread which isn’t very ideal, but can be overlooked. I’m not sure if it’s like that all the time.
• It smelled and tasted like a dense cinnamon raisin bread more so than a stollen, but it had a good amount of stollen spices and aroma.
• The cake had a nice butteriness, but not as rich as the Thomas Haas and Four Seasons one.
• It had moist dark raisins, juicy plump golden raisins, a bit of candied orange pieces and a decent amount of almonds, but the bread was slightly dry.
• The marzipan was creamy and almost not that sweet at all, but I could have used a bit more extract or almond flavour. There was a good amount of it.
• It took on the authentic shape of a stollen and it was pretty good!

Plöger Marzipan Stollen – 1/6

• Marzipan Stollen: Small (350g) $20 Large (680g) $24.95
• No Marzipan Stollen: Small (350g) $10 Large (680g) $12
• Available at Plöger Delikatessen in Vancouver.
• Plöger Delikatessen is a traditional German Bakery in Kitsilano that’s been open since 1935.
• I haven’t tried their other stuff, but this was probably one of my least favourite stollen and it was the most expensive without the quality to back it up.
• The bottom was scorched and there were very little raisins and it was the driest stollen with the least flavour.
• There were no almonds and the marzipan was almost like a jelly and it didn’t seem house made.
• It had a dusting of icing sugar and the right shape, but it was quite stale and disappointing.

Fol Epi Organic Stollen – 4.5/6

• 550g $26
• Available at Fol Epi Organic Bread & Pastry in Victoria, BC.
• This was an organic stollen and you could tell the ingredients were high quality.
• It was quite dense and it had the strongest cardamom flavour of all the stollens.
• It was loaded with a variety of raisins, currants, lots of fresh candied citrus fruit, and whole toasted organic almonds.
• It was definitely more like a fruit cake than a stollen.
• The marzipan was also the most noticeable and it was the only one where it wasn’t smooth and I could actually bite into ground almond crumbs. I actually kind of liked that too because it made the ingredients taste really fresh.
• It was almost overly moist, but all the ingredients are organic so I’m not sure if that’s why it was like that. It could be from the abundance of fruit too.
• It came across as a Christmas Cake meets a raisin bread and the overall flavour was strong with spices and fruit.
• The outside was dusted with granulated sugar and there was an apparent cinnamon and clove flavour coming from it as well which made it very aromatic.
• It had the strongest cinnamon and cardamom flavour of them all.
• The bakery itself is worth checking out despite the stollen not being the best.

Stickling’s Marzipan Stollen – 2.5/6

• Small (450g) $10 Large (1200g) $20
• Available at Stickling’s Specialty Bakery in Peterborough, Ontario.
• The marzipan centre was very small and it was grainy and sugary without much ground almond flavour and texture.
• It had almonds, raisins, candied orange and the bread was quite moist, but inconsistent.
• The outside was a bit dry and the centre of the bread was moist so you had to eat it together.
• It had a light dusting of powdered sugar and it was edible and okay, but not necessarily a good one.
• This went in the bread pudding pile.

Ruby Eats Stollen – 1/6

• 750g $10.99
• Available at Ruby Eats Toronto, Ontario.
• This one smelled like cheese so I’m not sure if it went off or if it always smells like that.
• The fake candied fruit was overwhelming and visually displeasing already.
• It was quite dry and stale and it tasted more like a shortbread cookie.
• The coating looked like cheese and smelled like it, so we didn’t put this in the “bread pudding” pile.
• If you toasted it, it would be passable biscotti.

Nougat Marzipan Stollen – 1/6

• 480g $7.50 (He said it was a “special price” on Dec. 14, so it could vary.)
• Available at Nougat Bakery & Delicatessen in Kitchener, Ontario.
• This was one of the least favourite and it was incredibly stale and hard to cut, bite and chew.
• There were big hazelnuts in it which is unusual and the marzipan was almost a sheet in the centre.
• I love hazelnuts, but these ones tasted a bit old.

Grain Harvest Marzipan Stollen - n/a

• Sizes, with or without marzipan all between $5-11
• Available at Grain Harvest Breadhouse and St. Jacob’s Farmers Market, Ontario.
• This one smelled like rotten eggs so I think the outer coating went off during travel time. That’s why I rated it “n/a”.
• Nonetheless, it didn’t look good with the giant pieces of candied green cherries that I really dislike.
• I did try the bread part and it tasted like regular bread with no spices and it was quite dry.
• The whole almonds were the best part and I just plucked those out.

La Mir Matinale German Christstollen Stollen – 3/6

• 2lbs (1000g) Stollen Dresden, 1lbs (750g) Stollen Dresden
• Available at La Mie Matinale bakery in Montreal, QC or you can order online.
• This is a lesser known bakery in Montreal and they use a stollen recipe that’s been in the family for 50 years.
• This had an overwhelming amount of icing sugar coated on the outside and it was just cracking into bits as we sliced it.
• Not only did it have and an icing sugar crust, but it also had a coating of granulated sugar so it was extra sweet on the outside.
• There was very little marzipan that was off centered and it was a bit stiff, chewy, grainy and sugary and almost like fondant.
• It was very dense and loaded with almonds, plenty of semi-moist raisins, lots of candied orange and lemon pieces.
• It even had walnuts and dried sour cherries which aren’t traditional to a stollen although still tasty. This was the only one with those ingredients.
• It was bordering on a Christmas/fruit cake, but the minimal bread part there was, was quite dry and crumbly.
• I could taste the cardamom and aromatic stollen spices and it had a ton of ingredients in it, but it was on the sweet side.
• If it wasn’t for the overload of icing sugar crusted on the exterior and the grainy marzipan it was actually pretty good.

KuchenMeister Stollen - 2/6

• Available packaged at specialty grocery stores like Galloway’s Specialty Foods in Richmond, BC. Marzipan stollen in a box $11.49, Marzipan stollen not in a box$7.49.
• KuchenMeister – Imported from Germany. 750g for$10.99 online.
• This is a very popular store bought brand of stollen in Germany.
• It had lots of raisins, cranberries, candied orange and lemon peel which were a bit fake.
• The marzipan was moist, but off centered and it didn’t have much ground almonds.
• The coating of icing sugar was overwhelming and it was really sweet overall and bready and it had a perfume like aftertaste.
• It’s servable, or good for bread pudding.

Bahlsen Edel Marzipan Stollen - 2/6

• Available packaged at specialty grocery stores. Bahlsen – Imported from Germany. 500g for $9.39 online.
• This is another popular store bought stollen in Germany.
• It wasn’t as sweet as the KuchenMeister Stollen and I’d rather serve this one if I’m serving something in a package.
• The marzipan was in a swirl rather than in the middle so it was almost like a Marzipan Stollen roll.
• It was soft and bready and the crust separated from the cake.
• The raisins were quite dry and it was good for bread pudding and not bad for being mass produced and packaged.

Oebel Marzipan Stollen - 1/6

• Available packaged at specialty grocery stores. Oebel – Imported from Germany. 500g for $7.59 online.
• This is made in Köln in Germany and it was another packaged stollen.
• The icing sugar was too heavy and the bread tasted stale which was obvious in flavour.
• The marzipan was chewy and there were a lot of raisins, but it tasted like dry raisin bread.

Swiss Bakery Stollen - n/a

• $15 $20
• Available at Swiss Bakery.
• I tried this one at The One of A Kind Show in Vancouver and I liked it so much I bought it.
• However now that I’ve tried so many, I’m actually not sure where this one would stand anymore so that’s why I rated it “n/a”.
• This one had just the powdered sugar coating with no granulated sugar or icing sugar which is what I prefer, and it’s not thick so I liked it.
• The marzipan is pretty big, but since the stollen is so large overall, the marzipan looks a bit small and the ratio is a bit off.
• There were a ton of moist plump dark raisins, lots of cranberries and whole almonds.
• It had no orange or lemon candied fruit or flavour or golden raisins. I do like the golden raisins better.
• I actually liked the flavour of the marzipan better than the Thomas Haas one, but it was small relative to how much bread there was.
• The marzipan was softer, creamier, a bit sweeter with a tad more almond extract, but it didn’t have as many ground almonds as the Thomas Haas one either.
• It was a bit more on the bready than cakey side and it was moist with a decent amount of stollen spices, but not a lot.
• This one is made with natural and artificial rum flavours.

**Fol Epi Panettone – 6/6

• Available at Fol Epi Organic Bread & Pastry in Victoria, BC.
• This was pretty much the star of the show, which isn’t even fair because it’s comparing apples to oranges, but it was hands down the best panettone I’ve had to date!
• Do you hear what I hear?… Do you see what I see?” Perhaps a Follow Me Foodie to the Pannettone Playoffs in 2012!?

Restaurant: Falconetti’s East Side Grill
Cuisine: Hot Dogs/American/Fusion/Pub Food/International
Last visited: March 4, 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC (Commercial Drive/Grandview)
Address: 1812 Commercial Drive
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5 (based on what I tried)
4.5, for just the sausage itself
Service: n/a
Ambiance: 2
Overall: n/a
Additional comments:

• Locally owned
• Italian & Polish owners
• Bar/pub
• Famous for house made sausages
• Popular for hot dogs
• Home made sauces
• International/Fusion pub food
• Very casual
• Cheap eats/budget friendly
• Popular for drinks/beer
• Nightly live music 9pm and on
• Lat night hot spot
• Energetic/loud
• Attracts 20-30
• Open late
• Brunch/Lunch/Dinner

**Recommendations: Polish Sausage,  Hot Italian, Quesadilla with Hot Italian Sausage

My Friday night ended with me tweeting: So full of sausages and it hurts… thanks to Falconetti’s I was stuffed from 6 sausages and a couple stains to help me remember the night. Think foodie mind, not dirty mind! Falconetti’s is a restaurant, not a person, actually it could be named after a person… in which case my first sentence could stir up a lot of rumours!

Falconetti’s is a locally owned pub and restaurant opened by two best friends, one Italian and the other Polish, and I tried both their sausages. Okay I really gotta stop… actually no, you gotta stop! But I really did try their sausages, in the most literal sense of that sentence!

I have to say that I’m really not the demographic for this place. It attracts people my age 20-30 and it’s really lively, fun and energetic, but I felt like the old broad in the corner drinking hot water and lemon. Okay let me rephrase, I was the old broad in the corner sipping my hot water and lemon. The only redeeming factor I had from this crowd would be the fact that I had a table with 6 sausages in front of me. That’s right! I may be the only one thinking it was too loud, and not drinking beer, but I can sure handle my sausages damnit! It’s definitely a joint where people come for a casual beer and some affordable food, but it’s really not a place I would come to on my own.

So, what the hell brought me here then!? Like I said, the sausages! It may not attract a “girly girl”, or it might… but it sure can attract a foodie. Falconetti’s East Side Grill is famous for their gourmet sausages which are made in house, with natural casings, and no preservatives or fillers. When you bite into these meaty sausages you just know you’re getting a quality product. They don’t have snappy skins and they’re all coarsely ground tender meats and each one has a different seasoning. It’s moist without being greasy and oily, and they’re excellent sausages made with house blend seasonings and spices. So I was actually more excited to see the sausages than they were to see me (Side note, to see a very greasy sausage, but very delicious for different reasons, see my post for Smitty’s Market here)

I came specifically to tackle these sausages with another sausage… errr I mean friend by my side. Say hello to Sherman! We, or I, encouraged this sausage feast, not fest, and he took the awesome photos to prove it. To be honest I was only keen on trying the sausages since I heard from others that it was the only “rise” in the menu. Overall the sausages themselves were quite stellar and delicious, but in the context of eating them as hot dogs, I definitely had my favourites.

The menu is basically pub food with some Americanized Mexican and Asian offerings, but all the sauces are home made and it’s all very affordable. A couple other dishes I saw looked pretty impressive for this somewhat divey looking bar, so I’ll admit I am curious to see what else Falconetti’s can do.

We came to do some serious sausage research and the meal was partially comped. It’s a dead giveaway with Sherman‘s flash as well, which pretty much acted as the spotlight for the live entertainment. Oops! Anyways, honesty is my policy and I’ll base my experience as a paying customer as always.

On the table:

**Hot Italian - 4.5/6

• Topped with parmesan, tomatoes, onions and house sauce $7.50
• And a HOT Italian sausage it was! I mean hot like the Paris Hilton way, not really the spicy way, although it did carry some flavourful heat.
• The bread and meat ratio was right on for all the hot dogs. The bread was a soft and fluffy Portuguese bun, except it didn’t have a crunch or very grilled or baked exterior.
• The hot dog reminded me of Mexican nachos or tacos in a hot dog form, especially with the raw onions and fresh tomatoes.
• The sausage was savoury, smoky and slightly sweet and the pork was meaty, fresh, moist, but not bursting with juice, nor grease for that matter.
• It had a natural sweetness in the beginning with a slight heat to follow, but everything was well balanced.
• It didn’t have a snappy skin, but I think the pork was coarsely grounded pork shoulder, with some tender non chewy or gelatinous pork fat mixed in. It gave it such a tender yet firm chew, rather than a crumbly one.
• The house sauce is a mayo that tastes yogurt based with maybe some cheddar cheese or cream cheese melted into it. It was creamy and cheesy, but it still had a slight tang and spicy heat to it.
• I wish the Parmesan was a better quality, or more aged, because it tasted more like a Parmesan blend.  It wasn’t nutty or salty, but mild with a Mozzarella, or even White Cheddar cheese flavour.
• Overall the ingredients didn’t overpower the Italian sausage, but I think it tasted more Mexican than Italian. I wouldn’t have minded if it had more garlic in it too.

**Polish – 5.5/6

• Beef sirloin with sauteed sauerkraut, onions & grain mustard $7.99
• This was my favourite sausage of the night! It was the most memorable and unique.
• I enjoyed many sausages in Poland and I was really looking forward to this one. I was actually really surprised the Polish sausage was made out of beef, but a nice touch it was!
• The beef sausage was naturally a bit juicier and it was delicious! It had the meatiest chew and texture, and the casing isn’t snappy.
• It is a tangy hot dog with just the right amount of mustard to bring out the smokiness, with a slight heat to follow. There may have been some house made honey mustard mixed into it because I tasted a bit of sweetness. It had a nice savoury flavour that was different from all the others.
• The sirloin was quite lean, tender and it was roughly ground again, but meaty, chunky and fresh with actual chunks of sirloin.
• It had some whole grain mustard mixed right into it, giving it an extra burst of mustard flavour and mild heat.
• The sauerkraut wasn’t too pickled, but it did add a nice texture and background tang, however the grainy mustard was also noticeable tangy already.
• It was the European version of hot dogs with onions and mustard, and it just brought it to a whole new level.

Honey Bratwurst – 2.5/6

• Old world flavor, dressed with our honey mustard, and caramelized onions $7.50
• The sausage was pretty good, but for some reason it was slightly drier and tougher than all the other sausages… coincidence that it was the German sausage… lol j/k!
• The sausage was still coarsely grounded and very meaty with a nice balance of pork shoulder and tender fat with no snappy skin.
• I had many brats in Germany as well, made with pork and veal, so I’m super spoiled in that sense. This one was just made from pork, which for $7.50 is fine, however I found it lacked ingredients. The honey mustard and sweet onions didn’t do enough to really justify its value.
• This sausage was sweeter with perhaps some honey mustard mixed into it, but I prefer a bratwurst that is more heavily spiced. I think a heavily spiced bratwurst would be a nice contrast to the already sweet honey mustard and onions too.
• For me a classic pairing with bratwurst is a grainy mustard, so I was hoping for a honey mustard made with a whole grain mustard, or at least a stronger mustard flavour in general. It was made in house and it was sweet with a slight tang, but not that stand out for me.
• The onions were sweet, but the downtown hot dog vendors have it pretty nailed when it comes to caramelizing onions anyways.
• Alone the sauce was actually quite sweet, but eaten together with the bread and meat it kind of fell in the background and wasn’t that obvious.

Chaurice – 1.5/6

• Cajun style chorizo with diced tomatoes, red onion, house & hot sauce $7.50
• This was my least favourite of the night. It just reminded me of a concession stand hot dog from a baseball stadium that was really hot rather than flavourful spicy.
• It was pretty damn spicy, and I love spicy, but I couldn’t taste anything for a while afterward.
• It had this house sauce that ended up tasting like Queso nacho cheese sauce especially with all the other ingredients. It was the same sauce on the Hot Italian, but it worked so much better in that one. Even the toppings were similar, but this one wasn’t as well balanced, but it too reminded me of very spicy nachos.
• It’s not a smoked chorizo sausage, and it’s made with heavily seasoned pork, but it was to the degree of very hot, and not flavourful anymore. It doesn’t have a chewy, dry or cured quality because it’s not a typical chorizo.
• The sausage must have been seasoned with hot chili powder and there was too much cayenne pepper going on. It was beyond Cajun, and more Creole, but just really spicy with a heat that lingers for a while.
• The hot sauce wasn’t a flavourful hot sauce either. It was overwhelming and it was being hit with hotness twice. I found the sauce ended up enhancing the cayenne pepper in the sausage and it almost tasted bitter from the double hit of heat.

Chicken Thai – 3/6

• Coconut, curry, lime & ginger, with asian veggies, sesame oil & hoisin $7.75
• It was not bad, but I wouldn’t care to order it again, maybe because I’m Asian, so it wasn’t anything I’ve never tried.
• It reminded me of a lettuce wrap meets hot dog and that’s pretty much what it was.
• It’s tastes more Chinese than Thai and I would actually prefer a Japadog in this case, although the sausages here are better.
• I could taste the sweet hoisin meets teriyaki sauce in the vegetables, and the meaty sausage was seasoned with coconut milk and curry powder, so it was quite sweet, but the curry did come through. The play on the coconut sweetness and hoisin-terriyaki sweetness was quite nice, but the outcome was less exotic tasting than the description.
• The sausage again was well flavoured, coarsely ground, meaty, and fresh, without a snappy skin, but it wasn’t particularly special on its own. This one was chicken and it didn’t have as much meaty or savoury flavour as the others, so the flavour was a bit replaced with the coconut curry marinade instead.
• I couldn’t taste any lime and there was some ginger in the background, but it’s not really spicy. I think these flavours came in the form of a vinaigrette mixed with the Hoisin sauce used in the vegetable sautee.
• The veggie slaw was carrots, cabbage, sweet bell peppers and celery and that part reminded me of a Chinese lettuce wrap.

**Quesadilla – 5.5/6

• Grill toasted traditionally with our Chaurice sausage, 2 cheeses and salsa. $11.99 Not feeling spicy? No problem, choose any other sausage at no additional cost. Substitute chicken $2  Add Sour Cream or House sauce. $1.50
• I tried it with the Polish sausage, but I think it would be better with the Hot Italian sausage. The mustard seed in the Polish sausage just got overpowered and it tasted regular.
• It’s a very American style quesadilla and it’s freaking delicious! This is something I would nominate to be featured on Food Network’s Triple D!
• It was almost like a pizza pocket meet quesadilla, without the tomato sauce, and I would have totally overlooked it until it was highly recommended by the manager. I definitely did not expect what I got!
• It was baked and then pan fried before serving so it had a nice crispy crunch and it was loaded with ingredients. It was definitely a hefty and hearty quesadilla.

• It was greasy, flavourful, delicious and bursting with loads of ooey gooey cheese, caramelized sweet onions and bell peppers and some fresh tomatoes on top.
• The sausage was diced up and it no longer became the highlight when used in a quesadilla, but it was still good nonetheless. However the meaty bite of the sausages are something not to be missed, so you have to try them whole, in hot dog form as well.
• As greasy as it was, it was still made with fresh ingredients and it was served with this wicked house made freshly pureed green tomatillo sauce. It was so refreshing, slightly tangy and sweet and it cut through the grease of the melted Cheddar and Mozarella cheese. This was some serious quesadilla worth trying!

Restaurant: Thomas Haas Fine Chocolates & Patisserie – Pastries
Cuisine: Dessert/Bakery
Last visited: July 28, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Kitsilano)
Address: 2539 West Broadway Avenue
Price range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: 6
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 6
Additional comments:

• Owner/chocolatier: Thomas Haas from Germany
• Independently owned, 2 locations in Vancouver
• Staff of 22 all chocolatiers/pastry chefs
• Smells like chocolate
• Freshly baked gourmet pastries
• Cappuccino bar
• Specializes in chocolate, cakes, pastries
• Prepared in small batches
• No preservatives/artificial flavours/organic
• Local produce when possible, imported high quality ingredients as well
• Whole cakes available
• Coporate gifts/Gifts/Take-home goods available
• Eat in/Take-out
• Tues-Sat. 8am-5:30pm
• Closed Sunday and Monday

**Recommendations: Almond Croissant, Cherry Turnover, Pear tart, Double chocolate chip cookie, Chocolates

Thomas Haas Fine Chocolates & Patisserie is a famous Vancouver institution and must try in Vancouver, BC. It’s a small bakery with 2 locations offering the most gourmet and delectable baked goods and hand crafted chocolate. The man behind it all is owner, Thomas Haas, who is the pastry chef and chocolatier master. Along with his wife and team of 22 highly skilled chocolatiers his store has gained recognition as one of Vancouver’s best bakeries. Locals and tourists come to visit his shop and enjoy his artistic chocolate creations and creative desserts and pastries.

The small cafe offers a small selection of baked goods and desserts and it’s only open until 5:30pm. Every item he offers is prepared with care and attention to detail and you can taste the passion that goes into everything. From the quality of ingredients to the presentation, all the recipes and execution are well thought out to the point of perfection. Other bakeries that reach, or even exceed this level of sophistication for me are Bakery Nouveau in Seattle and The Loaf in Malaysia. Local bakeries in Vancouver, like Kreation Artisan and Ganache Patisserie are similar to the style of Thomas Haas, but overall I find the Thomas Haas desserts most memorable.

Besides desserts and chocolates, Thomas Haas offers a small selection of healthy gourmet sandwiches as well as some danishes and other baked goods. Everything is made fresh daily and if you want to try one of his infamous almond croissants you have to get to the bakery before 2pm as it is often sold out. It’s extremely difficult making a decision because everything looks divine. Chocolates are also a must try signature item – see my post for them here. Thomas Haas Fine Chocolates & Patisserie is really a beloved bakery in Vancouver and a taste of heaven. It’s the perfect answer to satisfy any chocoholic or dessert connoisseur.

On the table:

**Cherry Turnover – 5.5/6

• $2.95
• This was the substitution for the almond croissant since they were sold out. It was a great substitution though!
• It was a sour cherry turnover that was wrapped around a croissant like pastry.

• The turnover was layers of very buttery, flaky and crunchy pastry with a beautifully caramelized exterior and it was matched with a wonderfully sour cherry filling. There was a nice crunch when you bite down and then it became all soft and chewy.
• The filling was made with whole sour cherries and the tartness was balanced with a little added sweetness and the sweetness of the pastry itself. I wish he used Amerena cherries instead though, which is an Italian sour cherry that is even more intense in flavour.

**Pear Almond Tart – 5.5/6

• Shortbread crust, almond cream, cassis gelee, poached pear, hint of cinnamon$5.50
• I love pear and I love almonds, so this was a natural choice for me.
• This is a very gourmet version of a French style tart. I had a simplified, yet still traditional, version of it at Salade des Fruits although this one was much better.
• French tarts are in between a cake and a tart. This one was almost cake like with a soft and very moist and buttery shortbread crust.
• The entire centre is pretty much half a poached Bartlett pear on top of almond pastry cream with a very moist cake like pastry that surrounds it.
• In between the tart and the pear was a thin layer of cassis gelee, which is a French jelly made from black currents. The cassis gelee was almost like a tart jam and it balanced out the sweetness of the pear. The aromatic and sweet almond pastry cream was still apparent apparent and it was followed by the subtle hint of cinnamon spice to tie things altogether.

Pistachio Sour Cherry Tart - 4.5/6

• Shortbread crust, pistachio cream, Cognac sour cherries, light Kirsch chantilly cream $5.50
• This was a richer dessert, but still not too much for one person. It’s not too sweet, but there’s a strong liquor taste to it and it’s very fruity and aromatic.
• The liquor tastes comes from the Kirsch (a clean fruit Brandy made from cherries) chantilly cream, it was very thick and rich whipped cream infused with Kirsch and a slight hint of vanilla. It was sweetened, but the liquor taste was still evident.

• The chantilly cream was almost like Mascarpone cheese and it was very fluffy. It added the perfect creaminess to the plump and tart cherry filling and the nutty crunch of pistachios was the perfect compliment for texture and flavour. The Cognac in the cherries was pretty much cooked out but it did intensify the flavour and added some boldness. Nothing was overpowering and it had a wonderfully soft and buttery shortbread crust to hold it altogether.
• I loved all the ingredients in this dessert and it’s the perfect combination of sweet and tart with light cream to round it all out. It’s a very aromatic creation with lots of strong and subtle flavours, however the liquor taste is quite obvious with slight bitter notes at the end, so you have to like that taste to enjoy this.

**Double Chocolate Chip Cookie – 6/6

• $1.25
• This could be one of the best double chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. It was delicious!
• It’s not too big, maybe about the size of a small hamburger patty. They’re individually wrapped so they’re great on the go or even as gifts.
• It’s a super soft and very chewy cookie that’s very rich and chocolaty in flavour. The qulaity of chocolate is just so high and it’s not too sweet, but the sweetness comes from the quality of the chocolate. It’s a grown up double chocolate chip cookie with bittersweet chocolate and little bits of Thomas Haas chocolates that just melt  in your mouth. This pre-packaged cookie looked simple and unexciting next to everything else, but it was tres excellent!

Calamansi – 4/6

• $3.95
• Besides a cappuccino bar and a selection of coffees and teas, they also offer some fruit concoctions and exotic drinks.
• Calamansi is a very popular drink in Malaysia and it’s made from the Filipino fruit, Calamansi, which is an acidic orange. It tastes like a very tangy lime juice, but it’s sweetened.
• Of course this will not compare to the Calamansi drinks in Malaysia (see here), but it was still nice and refreshing.

The Topic: Quest for Vancouver’s BEST Poutine on Davie Street

The Contestants:

• La Belle Patate
• La Brasserie
• Fritz European Fry House
• Conclusion

4 Poutines later, the results are in!

The poutine at La Brasserie is in a different league, so I almost feel it is unfair to put it in the same category with La Belle Patate and Fritz European Fry House. If I do put it in the competition, their breakfast poutine takes the lead hands down. For a gourmet poutine on Davie Street, La Brasserie seems untouchable (unless another restaurant wants to challenge them…?)

1st place Most Authentic French-Canadian Poutine: La Belle Patate
1st place Best Tasting Poutine: La Brasserie’s Breakfast Poutine

BONUS VIDEO – Breakfast Poutine

Please subscribe, rate & comment at my Follow Me Foodie YouTube Channel. Thanks!

La Brasserie offer 2 different poutines: A truffle poutine that is offered as a hot appetizer for dinner (or as a side), and a breakfast poutine that is offered for their Saturday and Sunday brunch. I was lucky enough to try both!

The breakfast poutine will keep you full until dinner and maybe even a bit sleepy…but it’s totally worth it!

On the table

La Brasserie Breakfast Poutine – 6/6

• Poached egg, bacon, truffle oil, Hollandaise sauce, cheese curds, pork gravy $12
• I’m really mad I didn’t get a picture of this for my blog entry, I totally forgot. You can see it in my “Best Poutine on Davie” video though.
• Poutine for breakfast? Really? Yes, really…and don’t complain. But again, why would you? You won’t for this one at least.
• Oh my gosh…could I have died and went to heaven? Figuratively and literally? Yes, quite possibly. But would I have at least died happy? Yes, because this breakfast poutine is freaking tasty.
• Ok first off, put an egg on anything and I’m there. Poach it like the way their chef did it…I’m so there! It was a perfectly soft poached egg and when you poked the yolk it ran all over the fries and mixed in with the Hollandaise and gravy. I’m drooling all over again.
• This was a very well prepared poutine. Many things stood out, but the first flavour I got was surprisingly not savoury, but actually tangy! The tang was from one of the best parts of this poutine: the Hollandaise sauce. It’s made in house and from scratch. It’s buttery, creamy, thick, rich and intensely flavourful with a strong lemon taste. There’s also Worcestershire sauce to add to the tang and give it a kick, it’s one of the best Hollandaise I’ve had.
• The bacon was fresh pieces of bacon. Not those thin bacon strips, but actual pieces of bacon meat. They were lightly pan fried, and not that crispy ( I kind of wish they were though), but they almost had a dry chewy quality to them. It was salty, but not too salty. This is a Franco-German Bistro so they know their pork…thus the pork gravy is great too. The same pork gravy in the truffle poutine they serve at dinner.
• I could definitely smell the truffle oil even though they used less than they did on the truffle poutine. However the truffle oil became secondary to the Hollandaise and to everything else going on. To be honest, it didn’t even need to truffle oil because it was that well prepared.
• With everything combined it really is something can’t be missed. It’s surprisingly only $12 too, totally worth it! It’s super hearty, filling, and rich, but really who cares when there’s so much to enjoy? I highly recommend this…but park further away so at least you’re walking back to your car…

Truffle Poutine – 5/6

• Fries, cheese curds, pork gravy, truffle oil $9

Added note: This review is a little different because it was for my video blog. Therefore the food at La Brasserie was complimentary, (although I did offer to pay) but my opinions are still honest and as non-biased as I can be. The opinions and views expressed in “The Quest for Vancouver’s Best Poutine on Davie Street” review and video are those of Follow Me Foodie/Mijune only. There is no paid advertising and as always I write for the benefit of the customers and not for the restaurants.

This is Vancouver’s Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 2 of 4.

For the other posts in this Best Poutine on Davie Street series:

• Part 1 – La Belle Patate
• Part 3 – Fritz European Fry House
• Conclusion

Please subscribe, rate & comment at my Follow Me Foodie YouTube channel. Thanks!

This video blog/review/post will be the post for Monday Feb. 1 and Tuesday Feb. 2. The following is the written review as well as more details about La Brasserie that are not included in the video.

Restaurant: La Brasserie

Cuisine: German/French
Last visited: January 7, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Downtown/West End)
Address: 1091 Davie Street
Price range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5
Service: n/a
Ambiance: 4
Overall: n/a
Additional comments:

• Franco-German restaurant
• Specializes in Franco-German bistro food
• Casual fine dining
• Seats 35, intimate setting
• Opened by brothers Michael and Stephen Wiese
• Neighbourhood gem
• Everything made from scratch
• Lunch daily 11-2:30pm
• Dinner daily 5pm-12am
• Brunch Saturdays & Sundays 10am-3pm
• Busy for dinner
• No reservations
• Offers a charity brunch on the 1st Sunday of every Month

Recommendation: n/a (I’ve tried food here before, but I’m staying poutine focused)

The Topic: Quest for Vancouver’s BEST Poutine on Davie Street

The Contestants: La Belle Patate, La Brasserie, Fritz European Fry House

4 Poutines later, the results are in!

La Brasserie was my 2nd stop for my quest for Vancouver’s Best Poutine on Davie Street!

The poutine at La Brasserie is in a different league, so I almost feel it is unfair to put it in the same category with La Belle Patate and Fritz European Fry House. For a gourmet poutine on Davie, La Brasserie seems untouchable (unless another restaurant wants to challenge them…?) However when it comes to authentic French-Canadian poutine, I’d have to give 1st place to La Belle Patate.

Originally I was only supposed to compare the poutines from Fritz European Fry House and La Belle Patate. La Brasserie was unexpected and a last minute entry because I wasn’t aware that they served poutines until I randomly scoped out their menu while walking by.

La Brasserie offers 2 different poutines: A truffle poutine that is offered as a hot appetizer for dinner (or as a side), and a breakfast poutine that is offered for their Sunday brunch. I was lucky enough to try both! For those of you that are reading this, and did not ONLY watch the video… here’s a “secret”: I’m featuring their breakfast poutine in a bonus video

What is Poutine?

Using the most common definition a poutine is fries, cheese and gravy. However the real authentic definition of a poutine is fries, cheese curds (specifically fresh cheddar cheese curds), and poutine sauce or “gravy”. (Some people will object to the word “gravy” – but it’s supposed to be a chicken based sauce).

On the table

Truffle Poutine – 5/6

• Fries, cheese curds, pork gravy, truffle oil $9
• Why are you paying $9 for a poutine? It’s the Truffle oil! The first thing this poutine triggers is your nose. They’re not skimping on it either. It’s seriously the first thing I could smell and I could taste it throughout too. This isn’t an authentic poutine as much as it is a poutine with a gourmet twist.
• The fries are hand cut, skins on, Kennebec potatoes, and were nice and freshly fried. The fry held really well and didn’t lose form or texture. This potato is rarely used for fries and I was surprised that it wasn’t a Yukon Gold. To be honest, I couldn’t really tell, but they became secondary to the gravy and truffle oil.

• The gravy is pork gravy that’s made in house and it was really flavourful. It had a bit of a kick to it and I’m not sure if it was just from the freshly cracked black pepper it was served with or if it was from an additional sauce…perhaps Worcestershire sauce? The gravy was the best out of the 3 places I tried.
• The cheese curds weren’t as fresh as the ones at La Belle Patate and they were using a mozzarella cheese rather than an actual cheese curd.
• If you like the stringy, ooey gooey quality to your poutine (which isn’t authentic, but still really good) then you’ll love this poutine. Itís savoury, very aromatic with the truffle oil, and has a slight kick.
• This is really the definition of gourmet comfort food or comfort food with a gourmet twist. I mean when truffle oil is an ingredient can you really lose? On the rare occasion maybe… actually no, not even on the rare occasion.

• I wasn’t a fan of how it was served though. It was all packed into a really tiny bowl so I found all the ingredients on the top. I would have liked to see a shallower and wider bowl or dish.
• Note: I had other Vancouver food blogger friends visit on a another night and they ordered this truffle poutine and didn’t experience the strong truffle taste…so I can’t speak for consistency.

Added note: This review is a little different because it was for my video blog. Therefore the food at La Brasserie was complimentary, (although I did offer to pay) but my opinions are still honest and as non-biased as I can be. The opinions and views expressed in “The Quest for Vancouver’s Best Poutine on Davie Street” review and video are those of Follow Me Foodie/Mijune only. There is no paid advertising and as always I write for the benefit of the customers and not for the restaurants.