Unveiling @dinePrestons’ new menu

I was recently invited to Prestons (the restaurant of the Coast Coal Harbour hotel) for a media event to unveil its new menu. I have purposefully spent less time attending media events and more focused on my academic career, and thus have not attended many media events. But this one had a few characteristics that made me join. First, I had already been for dinner and another media event at Prestons, and really liked it. Second, it was on a Monday (strange as this may sound, media events on a Monday are less problematic and less likely to conflict with another event. Third, it was probably the only chance I was going to get in 2011 to see my fellow foodie bloggers and traditional media food writers. So, I went for it and I brought along my two interns, Anabelle and Jessica.

While the purists may complain about how we ate bite-sized portions, I really liked this approach. I know for a fact that larger size portions will not be reflected in these bites, but it does allow me to sample a broader variety of dishes. I liked the mini Thai red curry (spicy coconut curry, chicken, eggplant, peppers, red onion, on steamed jasmine rice) the best. It was flavourful, the spice heat content wasn’t so high that it would be non-edible for delicate palates, and it packed a good punch.

Given my fully-admitted dislike for cheese, I avoided the poutine, but did have a few pieces of eggplant parmesan sliders (stewed red peppers, basil pesto and feta cheese). I did not remove the cheese, but found that most of the slider was the eggplant and red peppers, which masked the feta cheese. I also loved the dungeness crab cakes (tomato vinaigrette and fried capers) which are very much a staple appetizer. And of course, who can say no to gyozas?

While I found the two different sets of sliders interesting, the ones that I loved more were the eggplant parmesan. But who can say no to braised BBQ pork sliders? Certainly not me.

Really enjoyed having a chance to catch up with so many of my fellow food writers (full disclosure, there was open bar so I’m sure many of us had more than one drink). The French martini (vodka, chambord and pineapple juice) was refreshing and I found myself surprised by how much I loved the Venetian Spritzer (aperol herb liqueur and brut served on crushed rocks).

I became enchanted with the Toblerone martini. Four words: vanilla vodka and chocolate. For dessert, we had more than one mini matcha creme brule. You know how much I love it. Overall, a fantastic event and will have to bring along my friends for dinner and/or drinks. Thanks for inviting me and my interns!

Disclosure: While I was neither paid nor expected to write a review post, nor a positive review at that, myself and my two interns were invited to participate in the media event where we consumed complimentary food samples and drinks. We also did receive a swag bag. As always, I retain editorial control on anything published on my site