Dine Out Vancouver 2012 Glowbal Group menu (media preview)

I love the Glowbal Collection of Restaurants and fortunately, they love me back too. I have a long history of mutual collaboration with them. I have served in the front line at their UGM/Glowbal Group Texas BBQ, they have supported several of my giveaways for Father’s Day, etc. and of course, I have had plenty of dinners at their restaurants. Glowbal Grill having a special place in my heart, followed closely by Coast and Society, without forgetting Italian Kitchen, Trattoria Italian Kitchen and Sanafir. And yes, I’ve visited Black + Blue, if you want to know. AND they are partnering with me for Dine Out Vancouver 2012 (have you entered my giveaway, by the way?)

I was part of a group of writers who participated in the Glowbal Group media preview of the Dine Out Vancouver 2012 menu for the Glowbal Collection of Restaurants (you can read the menus directly on this PDF). As I was reviewing my photos, I realized several are blurry or over-exposed and I’m disappointed so I’m only going to write about the dishes whose photos are relatively ok and presentable on my site. The menus are all extremely good (I visited Black+Blue, Glowbal Grill and Sanafir, as I had to miss Society due to a conflicting event).

We began our culinary tour at Black+Blue, where we consumed “Bacon ‘n’ Eggs” – thick cut double smoked bacon, fried duck egg, spicy maple syrup, wild arugula. Interestingly enough, I found it tasty but I wasn’t convinced that this would be a dinner dish. BUT, who can say NO to bacon?

Black+Blue’s three-course Dine Out menu is $38. Choose from “bacon ‘n’ eggs” (thick cut double smoked bacon, fried duck egg, spicy maple syrup), or tuna carpaccio to start. Entrée options include: Angus tenderloin; roasted sablefish; or roasted onion tart. Dessert is a classic crème caramel, served with orange-almond biscotti and orange liqueur.

I am much more of a fan of the tuna carpaccio as a starter, and knowing the culinary level of Chef de Cuisine Chef Jason Labahn I am definitely convinced the Angus tenderloin and the roasted sablefish should be delicious.

I skipped Society and met the group at Glowbal Grill (which, I have fully admitted, is one of my absolute favorite restaurants all around). Lucky for me, my photos of the Prawn Cocktails and Grilled Beef Tataki weren’t absolutely horrid. Delicious starters for the $38 three-course Dine Out menu at Glowbal Grill.

glowbal’s three-course Dine Out menu is $38. Choose from roasted butternut squash soup, grilled beef tataki or prawn cocktail to start. Entrée options include: Beef tenderloin; seared Alaskan black cod; or wild mushroom gnocchi. Dessert is chocolate crème brûlée with cinnamon and pear compote and almond biscotti.

While I loved the starters, my absolute favorite were both mains, Beef Tenderloin and Seared Alaskan Black Cod. You know I’m a bit annoying when it comes to beef, and prefer it cooked medium-well, but this beef tenderloin was cooked to perfection and very flavourful. The bed of mashed potatoes made it really filling. The Alaskan Black Cod was very nicely done and drenched in a sauce that almost reminded me of Bechamel (though it wasn’t!)

I love that Glowbal Group thought about the vegetarians and offers a vegetarian offer with every Dine Out menu. Finally, I crashed Sanafir for some cocktails/port wine and desserts. Frankly, even though I had no more space, I would have wanted to try the actual menu at Sanafir, more than the desserts. That’s because I rarely have this kind of cuisine. But the desserts we were offered (which included milk, dark, and white chocolate truffles, pistachio macaroons, watermelon jelly, baklava and zelbias) were delicious.

Sanafir’s three-course Dine Out menu is $18. Choose either the pan-seared tandoori prawn, tabouleh salad, yellow coconut curry, with lemon chutney and a papadum crisp, or the fried chickpea and saffron cous cous salad, with mint and tomatoes, to start. Entrée options include: Singapore prawn cashew curry with aged basmati rice; butter chicken with aged basmati rice and papadum; or almond cauliflower korma with papadum. Dessert is cardamom-dusted zelbias, cinnamon crème anglaise and chocolate bark.

Overall, I would definitely recommend to try the Glowbal Group Dine Out Vancouver 2012 menus, from what I tried, they will probably be a full hit, without a doubt. I’ll publish my Dine Out Vancouver 2012 suggestions before tomorrow so you can make your choices.

Disclosure: I was invited to the media preview for the Glowbal Collection of Restaurants, which means that all the food and drinks were compliments of our hosts. I have, however, had dinner at all of their restaurants and always have had a very good experience both with food and service. As always, I retain full editorial control of anything published on my site.