Restaurant Information
Restaurant Name: Linh Cafe
Address: 2836 W4th Ave. Vancouver, BC.
Phone number: (604) 559-4668
Website: http://linhcafe.com
By applying the art and technique of traditional French cooking to modern Vietnamese cuisine, Linh Cafe is a frontier of the west and east food culture exploration. The culinary vision of chef /owner Tai Nguyen is magical. There is always something surprising in the seemingly traditional dishes that he creates, which makes people rethink what it means to be a classic and what else can be that surprising twist of delight.
Appetizers
My visit to Linh Cafe was during late dinner time. The menu has a good selection of appetizers and main courses. It is great for those who perfer to share plates. We started off with a mussel dish. The mussels were cooked in a creamy white wine sauce with fresh herbs and served with fresh homemade toast on the side. The Salt Spring Island mussels were big and juicy. The toast was crunchy on the crust and soft in the middle. The sauce is a well balanced bowl of broth enriched with the taste from the salty flavor of the mussels and the slightly acidic wine.
The chicken livers were sauteed in a creamy Dijon mustard sauce and sprinkled with fresh butter lettuce and Parmesan cheese slices. It is a heavier dish with the more meaty texture of the chicken liver and cream sauce. Yet, it is well balanced with the addition of the crunchy butter lettuce. The leftover toasts from the mussel dish were perfect pairing with the chicken liver and the sauce.
Main Courses
For their Gigot dish, Linh Cafe chose lamb meat for their meat of choice. This 12 hour braised lamb legs in red wine and mirepoix is a tribute to the traditional French cuisine. Garnished with red carrot dices and garlic, the meat is tender in the inside while the outside has a chewy texture.
No visit to a Vietnamese restaurant is complete without a bowl of their famous pho. Linh Cafe’s appetizer mini pho bo is a bowl of delicious braised beef flank and rice noodle. The soup is flavorful in its own right. The meat is well seasoned, while the noodle retains its shape and texture even it has been sitting in the soup for a longer period of time. It is a great comfort bowl for anytime a stomach needs that hearty homemade goodness.
After a wonderful dinner experience, I look forward to the day to visit Linh cafe during brunch hours to try their famous Poutine Breakfast. There is the option of adding half a butter poached lobster for extra. I just hope I have enough stomach space to fit such a treat. Yummm….
#LinhCafe #FrenchCooking #VietnameseFood #BCrestaurants #BCtourism #ExploreBC #Pho #Kitsilano #CobraChomp #KailaSo
