L'abattoir - Vancouver, BC (Dine Out 2013)

We've been to L'abattoir twice, both times during Dine Out Vancouver. We've committed that we will go every year during Dine Out Vancouver. L'abattoir is one of the restaurants which provides high quality food during Dine Out Vancouver. They are super packed during Dine Out Vancouver season, so if you do not make a reservation, there is no way you would be able to dine here.

The ambient is very relaxed and soothing. The waiters and waitresses there are quite casual.

We love their appetizer bread. It's very different than other restaurants. What I mean is that they put effort it. They provided us with four different kinds of breads and they were all very delicious. Normally, we would not finish the bread provided by the restaurant but with L'abattoir, we always finished. 

I ordered confit of Albacore Tuna, with Lettuce and crispy bits for appetizer. This was a very interesting dish. The white square looked like marshmallow and when we tasted it we had no idea what it was. We had to ask the waiter and it turned out to be egg white. The crispy bits were pretty much like bacon but very delicious. I was so intrigued by the other ingredients on the plate that I didn't pay too much attention to the tuna. The dressing was very refreshing and went well with the dish. It was a very tasty and interesting appetizer. 

Boyfriend ordered Steak Tartare with egg yolk and biscuit for appetizer. He said he liked my salad better. The tartare was done well but he didn't find it to be that different other other steak tartare he had. The biscuit definitely added some crunch and texture to it and made the dish better. 

For my main, I ordered the homemade cavatelli pasta with poached egg, pumpkin, brown butter with sage. The dish is making me salivate as I am typing this. This dish was very yummy. The runny yolk mixed with the pasta that's al-dente. The pumpkin added some sweetness to it and the brown butter just added some extra flavour. At first, I was wondering how this dish would turn out because I don't usually order dishes that are vegetarian on the menu but the description attracted me to try and I am so glad I did. I couldn't finish the dish though because I was full from eating the bread and the appetizer. 

Boyfriend ordered pork schnitzel, cabbage, swiss cheese with mushroom gravy. He was excited about this dish when it came but was disappointed when he started eating it. The sauce itself was good and the flavour was good but it just reminded him so much like a Japanese style pork cutlet. This was not as thick and juicy as the Japanese style pork cutlet that we usually have. 

We were so excited when this dessert came. We saw others beside us ordered it. This was frizzy raspberry lemonade with raspberry frozen yogurt, meyer lemon and basil granita. This was so good and refreshing. We loved the flavours of raspberry, meyer lemon and basil. They all complimented each other very well. Also, the fact that the basil was in a granita form added texture to the dessert and brought it to a whole new level. Did I say this dessert was sooo goood?

Boyfriend ordered the banana poundcake with passionfruit and caramelized white chocolate. Banana poundcake was something we had not tried before. Since we make a lot of banana bread, it was interesting to see how banana pound cake would taste. We liked that it wasn't too sweet and the passionfruit balanced the white chocolate out. This dessert was still really good and there were many components to it but the dessert earlier just set the bar high that made it hard to get excited about this dessert. 

We are definitely coming back again during Dine Out Vancouver Next year or maybe having one of our birthday dinners here. I will keep you guys updated.