L'abattoir in Gastown

So I've been trying to go to L'abattoir for about 4 months now.  It didn't work the first time because we thought they don't take reservations (silly us)  and the 2nd time, my friend made a reservation on a wrong day.... ha... ha... We were even deciding on what to order on our walk over to L'abattoir on that day... We did end up going to Bao Bei, hence my previous post and my friend who made the mistake got crapped on my a bird on our way to Bao Bei.  XD (karma?)

I finally got the chance to make a reservation just before my departure to Korea.  I really wanted to sit in the atrium so I wrote it down in the little blurb while making the reservation through Opentable and we did get the seats in the atrium!  L'abattoir is beside Blood alley and it was originally the site of Vancouver's first jail.  In the 19th century, the restaurant apparently supported the city's meat packing district hence the name L'abattoir (The slaughterhouse).

The menu

 The girls

 Ben, Stacy and I ordered the Gastown Swizzler ($10)

Plymouth Gin, Aperol, passionfruit, fresh lime, Fernet drizzle. 

I am not familiar with half the things that are in the drink so I had to google it (yay google!)  Fernet is a type of bitter herbal liqueur, and aperol is liqueur made from  bitter orange, gentian, rhubarb and cinchona among others. 

Ben has been raving about this drink ever since he went the first time so I had to try it.  It came with a metal swizzle stick/ straw and I wanted to secretly take it home with me...  The drink itself was sweet but not too sweet but I thought it was a little too strong.   A gentleman's drink I would say.

Clover Club Refashioned $11  

Gin, fresh raspberries, sweet vermouth, mint, fresh lemon

This is the epitome of a 'chick drink'.  Sweet and yummy.  It almost tastes like juice.

 El Camino ($12)

Watermelon-infused tequila, Campari, fresh lime, grapefruit pop, salt

 

Caipirinha ($11)

Cachaca, fresh muddled limes, sugar, crushed ice

Simple and Fresh. 

 

 Bread basket

The bun had bacon bits in it and the stick had anchovies.   I liked the one with anchovies but Ben thought that it was a little fishy.  I grew up eating a lot of fish and not a lot of meat so I am used to eating any kind of seafood.  I guess one's childhood and what their mom cooked for the family has a huge effect on what kind of food one will like/ eat as an adult.  Until university, I naively thought that everone will enjoy the dishes I REALLY love because it tasted good to me. 

Pan fried veal sweetbreads on toast  $14  

Sauce gribiche with veal tongue

This was too tiny to share among 5 people.. Ben kindly said that we could have it all so 4 girls basically devoured it.  The veal was cooked well and it was a good start to our meal.  I really enjoyed the onions on top.

Dungeness Crab and chickpea toast $14

Toasted brioche, light garlic custard, carrot pickles

  

 

 The garlic custard was great with the crab.  I personally really really REALLY like crabs.. so..  afterwards I just wished I had a bucket full of this.  Our dishes came out at a decent pace so when we were done the appies, our main was served not long after.

Pork shoulder cooked in milk 25  

Turnips, char grilled kale, salsa verde

I thought the turnips were the cute touch to the dish.  The pork was tender and the kale was sour which I thought went well with the dish.  I think Adrianna refused to eat the kale. Eat your veggies girl!

 Steak Diane 29 

Charred onions, potato fondant, peppercorn condiment

First of all.... Gorgeous plating.. like wow.. The steak was cooked well and I thought that the potato fondant was very unique.  Ben told us that he tried making it at home but failed haha.  Definitely expensive for such a small portion but the main dishes are generally around that price at L'abattoir. 

 

Roast scallops with lemon marmalade 28  

Corn, smoked pork hock, vegetable salad

Holy moly.  Bolivia (Ben+ Olivia) has been telling me about the scallops and how tasty they are...  I like scallops but when Olivia gave me a piece of scallop to try... It was actually SO GOOD.  I kind of regretted afterwards for not ordering this.  Scallop was cooked perfectly and the dish itself was a work of art.   

Loin of rabbit stuffed with its legs 27

Radish, panisse, bacon, mustard sauce 

This is what I got and I liked the veggies and panisse which was nice to have on the side but I personally thought that the rabbit was a little too mushy.   The presentation was pretty awesome though.  I guess the plate is like a canvas for chefs.

Chocolate custard tart 9

Vanilla frozen yogurt, meringue and blackberries

This was a lovely chocolate dessert with yogurt inside and meringue on top.  It wasn't too sweet and the berry coulis made it slightly more sweeter and I thought it was perfect. We also ordered an Apricot clafoutis but we were too busy eating it so I didn't get to take a photo .  The Apricot clafoutis was served hot with vanilla icecream on top and it had cherries and peaches inside.   

any hot dessert with ice cream = yummy.

Fancy dining at L'abattoir was definitely special and I would love to come back on a special occasion.   It is quite pricy but I think the experience is worth paying for (I already know what I am going to order when I come next time! SCALLOPS)

What a great way to start my vacation!  I am going to miss these girls but I am only away for 2.5 weeks so I will see them soon.  I am currently writing this as I wait for my flight in Seattle.  My flight got delayed by 2 hours so I had some time to kill.  I am quite excited to be visiting Korea/ Japan but I am already exhausted and dreading my 11 hour flight.  I am going to be doing a series of photo journal of my trip to Korea/ Japan so stay tuned please!



Thanks for reading,



Rei