Langley BC
Did you know South Langley has some wineries?
One of them, Chaberton Estate (formerly Domain de Chaberton) has a bistro that I’ve heard good things about.
As we also have a friend that works there we thought we’d go check it out.
Bacchus Bistro (Bacchus is the Roman god of wine)
You have to work your way around the main building from the parking lot to find it.
The inside of the bistro I’m not particularly enthused with. Painted cement bricks, an electric fireplace that’s clearly an afterthought, dated mirrors, a bit of a tacky bar wedged into the corner and a cold tile floor. Not my my idea of a cozy bistro.
The patio is closed today but it would be a lovely spot to sit in the nice weather overlooking the vineyards. I suspect this is the true appeal of the location.
After a visit with her friend we moved onto lunch.
Disclaimer – The head Chef was out today due to that illness of mysterious Chinese origin. A junior chef stepped in to run the show.
Up first – Rabbit Rilette
A rilette is similar to confit, where the meat is cooked in fat. It was very rich, I really didn’t need such a big portion. The mustard and pickled beets were a nice compliment cutting through the richness of the rabbit. Could I have identified this as rabbit had I been pressed? Unlikely. Unfortunately the brioche was quite over toasted.
For my main I had the quiche. I don’t have a photo unfortunately.
It had leeks and roasted garlic. The quiche itself was very light and fluffy, however a tad bland for my taste. Get out the salt shaker. Once I zinged it up I enjoyed it a lot.
But the dish that Merilynn had, that was something. Something awful. Something from the pits of hell. Something for vegans.
This is organic butternut squash with a spiced garbanzo mash and a basil pistou topped with a pea shoot salad.
If you’re unsure what a pistou is, I had to look it up as well. Basically a pesto from France minus the pine nuts.
Honestly I’m not sure what they’re thinking with this dish. Other than trying to appeal to the vegan crowd. It’s awful.
The pea shoots tasted like grass. I found it quite unpleasant. The spiced garbanzo mash seemed to be missing the spice. Where’s the heat? It was so bland. The squash itself was okay. But the texture of the squash combined with the texture of the mash made for a very one note texture dish. After about three bites I could not eat anymore. I really don’t know how anyone could finish this, other than a hardcore vegan who has fewer options. The only thing remotely appealing was the basil pistou, and man cannot live on pistou alone.
Too bad it didn’t actually come from hell. At least the char might have given it some flavour.
Having said all that, a table came in shortly after us that apparently are regulars and all three had this dish. I think I maybe saw a forked tail peeking out from under one of their dresses.
Props to the underling that carried the day though. Running a kitchen isn’t easy at the best of times. When the head chef is out sick even more so. They did a pretty amazing job all things considered.
Am I going back anytime soon?
Maybe when it freezes over.
As for a score…..not even gonna bother.