Sailing with Five Sails

We went to Five Sails Restaurant for out first Dine Out Vancouver 2012 for our Chinese New Year eve dinner.  We were seated near the window where we can see the sea and North Vancouver. Wonderful lights.  Wonderful scenery. Wonderful food.  

Lobster bisque "cappuccino" with fresh Atlantic lobster

They started me off with a really wonderful dish -- lobster bisque.  I enjoy how it was served in a cup.  I can smell a very strong lobster fragrance from the bisque before tasting it.  I was very excited when I found a small piece of fresh lobster in there too!  If I wasn't sitting in a five star restaurant, I probably would have lick the bowl.

Creamy wild mushroom risotto shaved parmigiano reggiano

The risotto was very nicely done too.  Usually, the amount of risotto served would have made me very full but this one didn't make me feel that way.  I like the bland but appetizing taste of it.  The sauce did not take away the points from the risotto and the same can be said with the risotto.  They complement each other very well.




Lobster for Chinese New Year dinner is the best thing ever.  Even though it's a small piece but the side dishes that came with it make up for everything else.   The different flavours from each dish complement each other very well.  The bland vegetables complement the flavourful meat.

Duo of butter poached 1/2 fresh Atlantic lobster orange & tangerine scented butter emulsion
Crisp Kurobuta pork belly berry gastrique, roasted squash puree & shiitake mushrooms

The lobster was very fresh and sweet.  It was a little bit overcooked. Just a tiny tiny tiny bit otherwise it would have been very dry.  With the sauce that came with it, my complaint can be swept under the rug though.


The sauce on the pork belly was amazing.  It has a very strong flavour but did not turn me away.  Nicely done! A story on the side... I am not a big fan of fat.  So I left the fat part of the pork belly at the side of my plate.  My friend stared at it for a long while and decided to ask, "Are you going to eat that fat?" I told her no. She immediately took it and finished it! 


I was amazed at the vegetables that was on the plate too.  I think they used the same sauce for the pork belly to stir fry the mushroom slices.  The mushroom slices were then put on top of a plain but well cooked radish.  The strong flavoured mushroom slices brought out the sweetness of the radish. 

Pavlova with fresh seasonal & exotic fruits fruit coulis
& silky creme Anglaise

Dessert time!  We ordered both types of dessert.  I have never tried pavlova before.  When it was served, both my friend and I said, "A huge macaroon? "  It was very sweet but the fruits were very fresh.  There was a lot of whipping cream on it but it did not turn me away much. In fact, I enjoy having it with the pavlova itself while having the fruits on the side.

Crisp phyllo pastry with chilled lemon cream salted caramel sauce,
roasted pear & golden pineapple warm sour cherries

I might have mentioned this before -- I am not a big fan of sour stuff.  Lemon is one of those scary thing to me. But this was not too bad for me.  The ratio of lemon and phyllo was just right. However, I would like the phyllo to be a little more crispy.






They served us two tinyyyyyyyyyy pieces of chocolate ganache when we asked for our bill.  They were really nice.  I wish I can share this with someone another day <3