604 Foodtography

Finally, I’ve been waiting so long to try out Market by Jean-Georges!

Last summer while working downtown, I walked by the construction site of Shangri-La everyday, and was pretty stoked for its completion.

Market offers a very affordable lunch menu, two plates and a dessert for $28.  If you went out for Dine Out Vancouver this year (I went to Cobre and The Point in Steveston [whao, I didn't post that, I'll have to do that soon]) then you can definitely afford to try out Market.

Now onto the food, pictures, and my thoughts.

The severs were very friendly, attentive, though at times I felt they were very pushy with their drinks. We were given our menus, and after placing our order they gave us some bread.

The bread was hard….could barely pry it apart and the butter was also hard! What’s the point of butter if it’s not even spreadable?

Not to mention the fact that once I took my camera out, the lady at the table right beside us kept staring at me, like I was committing some heinous crime.  I hate eating at these kind of fine-dining restaurants because it just feels like everyone will judge me!

Eh…anyways, I started off with the Arctic Char Sashimi + Cherry Tomatoes + Shallot and Basil. This was a great pairing of flavors, the soft texture of the salmon with the “bite” of the shallot, the fresh crunchiness of the tomatoes and the acidity of the oil mixture (not completely sure what it was a mix of) all worked together very well. I especially liked the use of the purple tomatoes you see at the top right and leftmost of the picture.

While my dining companion had the Dungeness Crab Cake + Ginger – Lime jus + Marinated Cucumber. I had a bite of it, and it was so soft and fluffy, so definitely a good choice.

Next was the entree, and she got Parmesan Crusted Organic Chicken + White Asparagus + Lemon Sauce. Mmmmm the couple bites I had of this, I wish I had ordered it myself. What I thought was the skin of the chicken was actually a crust of parmesan. From the menu, I thought it was just parmesan sprinkled on top of the chicken. The sauce was light and provided a nice kick, and the white asparagus was a nice visual and textural balance.

While I got Seared British Columbia Hanger Steak + Gingered Mushrooms + Soy-Caramel Sauce. I was really disappointed with this. The steak was cooked medium rare like I wanted, but that was pretty much the only positive about this plate. The abundance of the soy-caramel sauce completely overpowered everything, and I couldn’t even taste the caramel portion of the sauce, it was just pure saltiness.  The mushrooms were a mixture, with enoki, button, portobello, etc, but I couldn’t taste the “ginger” part of it.  It left me feeling pretty dry in the mouth, and I actually didn’t finish it, which is rare for me.

Finally it was desserts, and she had Chocolate Pudding + Softly Whipped Cream + Crystallized Violets. The pudding itself was quite soft, not as firm as pudding should be. I really liked the crystallized violets on top though, that shows a lot of creativity. Hidden underneath all of this in the middle of the glass was a bit of chocolate cake.

A closer look at the crystallized violets.

I had the Ice Creams and Sorbet, pretty simple stuff. From top left, it was vanilla, caramel? (it tasted like creme brulee), and dark chocolate sorbet. As you can see, I had a spoon of the chocolate before I took a picture because I forgot! The chocolate sorbet had a gritty texture, and was not very sweet, just the way I like it.  This was a good dessert, but for me it was too much, as I don’t have a very good tolerance for sweets.

The ambience and service, along with the price for lunch makes this a good place to try out, and reservations are highly recommended as they are very busy!  There are three different dining areas, and all offer different menus, so be sure to check their menu and call to make sure which you would like to be seated in.  The crowd is definitely an older one, mostly of the business type, and there is a business casual dress code (of course).

I wouldn’t mind going for lunch again.

Reserve online NOW!