Wow! Where do we begin? We were in Vancouver to spend Easter with family and perhaps celebrate my husband’s birthday….at home with kids and grandkids. Well, when the door was opened at Suzanne’s house, there stood oldest son, Trevor. SURPRISE!
Now Trevor and the family(10 of us in total) drive over to West Restaurant http://www.westrestaurant.com/menus/dinner. This is above and beyond anything you could imagine for class, observance, being attentive to guests, quality of food and wine selection.
When you look at this menu you will see so much to choose from and, believe me, ten different people ordered 15 different items or more….at least it seemed like it.
Our server, Chris, was one of THE best we have encountered in any of our travels. Knows his wines, pairings, what’s what and takes the time to explain it all, even if he had to repeat it a time or two. Might I add, it was always with a smile.
I ordered the lobster gnocchi and two scallops. OMG! It was not over whelming in quantity (I was advised of this prior to ordering) but the flavour, quality of ingredients and richness could not be beat. Believe me, between the appetizers some of the family ordered to the Entrees and wines, there was nothing left over on the plates except, perhaps, the drool from everyone explaining how wonderful it all was.
The range ordered was from lobster gnocchi, lamb, salmon, pasta, beef, oysters, crab salad, carrots, frites and mushrooms. If I missed anything that anyone ordered, I am sorry!
Suzanne made a checkerboard birthday cake for BOTH of us and they allowed her to bring it to the restaurant and have it served. Although my husband is much older than I am, our birthdays are only one month apart. (I lied, he is 30 days older than me, but for that one month he sure gets teased).
When the meal was over, I offered my card to Chris. He was so polite and said he wanted to read what I was going to say and then returned with the card of his manager and a listing of the other restaurants in their group.
Were we impressed? You bet we were. Oh I forgot to mention…when ladies got up to go to the rest room …a waiter was at the door opening it into the hallway, then another came and put domes over their food so it would remain hot and always, always folded the napkins up and placed them on the side of the plate. These domes were removed as soon as the ladies returned from the rest room and before they sat down. Attention to detail….was never taken for granted by the staff.
This establishment works very hard to learn the ingredients and wine available, give that knowledge back to the guest and pay extreme attention to detail in the presentation of the foods to replacing the napkins.
If you can, go here for the experience. We will again. Thank you Trevor and family for the lovely dinner out and thank you Chris and all your assistants for being there to help us throughout the evening.
