Teahouse

Talk about a classy place to eat for very reasonable prices.  It's been years since I went to the Teahouse in Stanley Park, but I always remembered (incorrectly) the place having prices beyond my comfort level.  My friend Eric first introduced me to the Teahouse more than 10 years ago, and I guess I was still a struggling college student.  To my pleasant surprise, the prices are not that far off from places like The Keg or Cactus Club. 

We were seated in a room surrounded by glass, and it was nice and cozy inside while it poured outside.  The room was actually dimly lit, with a few candles and a gas fireplace.  A lot of my pictures didn't turn out so I should have used the flash. 

I'm not much of a wine connoisseur, and have no idea about wine pairing at all of that.  I do know that scotch tastes good and I happened to like Chivas Regal with just about any kind of food.

For starters, I had the Teahouse Stuffed Mushrooms.  The crab and shrimp stuffing was rich and creamy, but not overwhelming where it leaves your head spinning.  I could have eaten these all night without getting sick.

The bread was....well, bread, but it was a welcome sight because prior to showing up, I was starving.

I was going to order the Duck Leg Confit, but decided to take a gamble and try the BC Salmon.  Most of my experiences is that Salmon is easy to overcook, and often times I go to a place and find it well done and dried out.  I figured this should be a good guage to see if the place is any good.

The gamble paid off, the salmon was incredible.  It was moist inside...incredibly moist.  You could almost describe it as juicy, even though it was cooked through.  It was like the fillet was infused in moisture and flavour.  The menu said it was served on braised Swiss chard, and Lemon Caper Emulsion....I have no idea what those were, but it tasted good.  I sampled the salmon on it's own and it was delicious, and when mixed with the lemon caper emulsion, I guess the best way to describe it was a really good party of flavours. 

Decadent Petit Fours, a combo of mini deserts was a nice way to end off the night.  I just wish I ordered some tea to go with it.  I still don't know why I didn't order any tea....

As you can tell from my other posts, I'm not a regular patron of fine dining, and most of my experiences have been with my pal Eric.  But there's this little thing called Dine Out Vancouver that has given me the courage to try places I don't normally go, and as a result, I have found that the prices at the Teahouse are quite reasonable considering the setting. 

Would I go back?  In a heartbeat.  It's not like I could afford to eat here every night, but it's definitely not so restrictive as I remembered.  It's nice to spoil yourself once in a while, dress up (again, there's no dress code, but you won't see anyone in there with ripped jeans and sneakers) and emerse yourself in a different atmosphere.