Locus restaurant lounge recently launched their new spring/summer 2019 menu. I haven’t been there before but I was invited to try out their new menu items so I decided to give it a try.
Once we were seated, we were given the menu which only confused me more. My interpretation of what was going to happen was that we were going to be given a few items to try out. I eventually asked our server about it and she said we could get a drink each and everything else we order would be 50% off.
Locus restaurant lounge menu
Anyway, Grayson and I ended up looking over the menu. After a while, the executive chef, James Green came to introduce some of the new menu items to us and give some recommendations. Shortly after that we put in our order.
Cocktails
We each decided to get a cocktail. Grayson went with the pineapple ginger mojito and I went with the french kiss. Both drinks were super super strong. Now I don’t mind getting more alcohol in my drinks for what they’re worth. However, they were so strong that it felt like we were drinking straight shots instead of light refreshing fruity cocktails.
Since my drink had elderflower liqueur, pineapple juice and cranberry it was a bit lighter and sweeter than Grayson’s who’s had dark rum and grand marnier that took over the drink entirely.
We ended up making our own concoction by mixing our drinks together. To be fair, I overheard that their bartender recently quit so this probably led to the heavy drink situation…so I recommend sticking to wines and beers until they are able to find a new one.
Potato bread
At this point we received a basket of potato bread with spicy butter. The potato bread was fluffy and soft. Neither of us were too sure about the spicy butter but it added a nice touch of spice to the bread to add flavor. It was a nice change to your typical whipped or garlic butter.
Jumbo black tiger prawns
We went with the jumbo black tiger prawns as a starter. It came with 4 glistening tiger prawns, spinach, chardonnay-fish nage, and grilled crostini. The jumbo black tiger prawns were cooked to perfection and you could taste how fresh they were. They were transluscent and had a bite to them. Needless to say, they were amazing. We soaked the crostini in the broth on the bottom to pack them full of flavor before enjoying each bite of crunchy goodness. Yum.
So we were super excited for our meal after enjoying our jumbo black tiger prawns but it took 30 minutes before our main entrees came and the restaurant was not very busy. This left us waiting, hungry and impatient. This is never a good combination of feelings.
Gnocchi
Eventually our gnocchi came but weren’t too impressed with the wait time between our two courses. They have gnocchi on their menu every season but they change the ingredients in it to make sure it stays seasonal. Something I like is that they make their wild spruce tip chevre gnocchi in house and this helped keep them nice and pillowy soft.
The dish came with arugula pesto which offered a nice alternative to your typical basil pesto. The pesto here is also made extra chunky so you can get all the bits of pinenuts in every bite. The dish came with grilled summer squash and asparagus to add earthiness and then topped with fresh strawberries to brighten it up. The goat cheese and balsamic reduction tied everything together but I can see how it cam be too many flavors going on for some if you’re used to having simpler dishes.
Drambuie Fraser Valley Chicken Supreme
Last but not least we got the Drambuie Fraser Valley Chicken Supreme. With a name like that, we expected a lot. It’s not mentioned on the menu but the chicken is from Two Rivers Market which is a local butcher shop in North Vancouver that have their own farm they get their meat from.
The chicken breast was topped with a sunflower seed crust that was full of flavor and we appreciated the crunch of the seeds adding another element of flavor. Even though it was chicken breast, it wasn’t dry because the skin helped keep the juices intact. The veggies on the bottom included fennel, kale, pickled red cabbage and fingerling potatoes. Everything in the dish went well together and we would have it again if it weren’t for the long wait.
Quick bites:
- Food is great!
- Service needs some work
- I hope they find a new bartender soon because their drinks sound good but they weren’t executed well.
Was there ever an explanation offered as to why a complementary tasting became a discounted tasting. I would have a difficult time arguing about the difference.