Dine Out Vancouver 2010 - Chambar

So my first dine out of the 2010 year was at Chambar on a thursday night, which I thought wouldn't be so busy since it is a weekday after all. I made reservations anyways, and good thing i did. My reservation was for 8:45, and when I went it was still pretty packed. The restaurant itself is literally hidden, which seems to be pretty common for a number of fine dining restaurants in Vancouver. The Restaurant has no flashy signs, no boards directing you to the restaurant. When I arrived there, I wouldn't have even know it was a restaurant if it wasn't for the number of people going into it. The restaurant is located near BC place, and literally right beside Stadium skytrain station. The first part of the restaurant is a lounge/bar type of area where it was pretty much packed with people drinking and having a great time. I was brought further into the restaurant, where it turns into more of a dining room, with a pretty nice view of GM place. The atmosphere of the place was great, and all the tables were full. For starters I had the Carpaccio de thon grillee - Charred yellowfin tuna carpaccio, celery, daikon & citrus brunoix, pomegranate molasses, red shiso. My friend Jorge, had the Les Champignons de Kerala-Black trumpet, cardamom & truffle soup, roasted king oyster & curried goat cheese. I really liked eating the tuna, it tasted very fresh and smooth, and the mixture of the shiso and celery made it quite exquisite. I'd say of the best things about Chambar as that the service was great. Our waiter, Patrick attended to us right away, and even though we were sitting in a corner, it didn't feel like we were being ignored. Another highlight of the DOV menu was the wine selection they had for dine out. I had a glass of Torres ‘Viña Esmeralda’ ‘08 Moscatel, which is a white wine from Spain, since I ordered seafood as my entree. The wine was absolutely spectacular, and at that price I justified getting another glass of it. Jorge isn't much of a wine drinker, but he got a glass of red wine, and I think it was a local merlot, but I'm not too sure. For the entree, I ordered the mussels that people always talk about at Chambar, Moules-frites-Mussels cooked with white wine, butter, braised celery, leeks & coarse black pepper. It came in a fairly large pot, and eating all those mussels was definitely filling. It also came with some fries and belgian dip (chipotle and mayo?) Jorge ordered Tagine de Boeouf- Moroccan braised shortrib, chickpeas, zucchini, apricots, almonds & parsley, and the presentation of both dishes was very pleasant. All the food looked so delicious that I almost forgot to take pictures of them, cause I just wanted to start eating. The moscatel I was drinking went very well with the mussels, and the mussels were simply perfection. For dessert we both had the chocolate pecan cake, but i totally forgot to take pictures of the dessert, and when i remembered, it was all gone.

Chambar was simply an amazing experience, and DOV 2010 gave me the opportunity to try out such a great restaurant. I will definitely be back for more great food and drinks, and I would recommend this restaurant for somebody who wants some casual fine dining.