Feenie’s Vancouver
Sunday, January 13th, 2008Filed Under Other Restaurants, Restaurant Reviews, Vancouver BC
I am sure all the food network fans out there are familiar with the name Rob Feenie - one of the few chefs to win the battle against the ultimate Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto on Iron Chef America. He used to be the executive chef at Lumiere in Vancouver, one of the best restaurants in Canada, and has consistently won the top restaurant in Vancouver award for years. We had the most amazing meal there in 2005, where we even met Rob Feenie. Well, we didn’t really meet him, we saw him sitting at the bar. I was looking forward to meeting him this visit, and possibly get a photo opportunity.
Dining at Lumiere is an experience on its own, not to mention expensive. It is truly a special occasion dining destination, but Feenie’s - the more casual bistro next door- is more relaxed and much less expensive. So, if you want to experience an iron chef’s menu, without putting a dent in your wallet, Feenie’s is the place to go. That is exactly what we did on our last visit to Vancouver during the Christmas holidays.
While doing research for this piece, I came across this sad news - Rob Feenie has been forced out of both Lumiere and Feenie’s, and now they have a new executive chef! So, even though we had dinner at Feenie’s, we actually didn’t have Feenie’s food! It is not like he was personally cooking all the meals even before, at least he had the creative control over the dishes. No wonder we didn’t run into him this time. But I am glad we got to visit Lumiere while Feenie was still in charge! I am not sure if Feenie’s food was different before Feenie left the restaurant. This time, the food definitely was great, but not extraordinary, we had high expectations especially after the meal we had at Lumiere.
We frequently drive to Vancouver, about a 3 hour drive, for food and shopping. There are a bunch of restaurants that we absolutely love, Nooru Mahal - a Sri Lankan restaurant, Green Lettuce - an Indo-Chinese restaurant and Vij’s - a fine Indian restaurant, to name a few. Since we want to maximize the gastronomical returns of the trip, we tend to eat smaller meals at different places. So, we didn’t order any starters, we split a soup and went directly into the main course. The portion sizes are big enough, but not too big, this was a perfect meal.
We started with the seasonal soup of the day - a Celeriac and Leeks soup with an apple, cabbage and walnut garnish and some basil oil drizzled on top. We split the soup, and they brought the soup divided into individual servings - a big plus always in my book. I hate it when we have to move the soup bowl back and forth to share. The soup was light and creamy and the flavors were out of this world!
For the main course, I got the Feenie Burger - 100% certified Angus beef with sauteed mushrooms, cheese and bacon. The burger is only $16, but you can add on some sides for an additional charge - $25 more to add pan-seared foie gras, and $7 for beef short ribs. As much as I’d have loved to get the foie gras, I couldn’t think of eating a $41 burger at the time. I was going to skip the sides, but Siv wanted the short ribs, so I got a side just for him.
The burger sure was one of the best I had ever eaten. The beef was cooked medium, very juicy and flavorful.
The burger came with a quadrant of Feenie’s custom made sauces, I don’t remember exactly what they were, but I specifically remember the mayonnaise with Sambal Oelek that made a great dipping sauce for the perfectly crispy fries. There was a mustard with chilli flakes, that I put in my burger, and the other two sauces were equally creative.
The short ribs were so soft and succulent and fork-tender. I put some inside my burger, beef with a side of beef, is just my kinda combination.
Here is another close-up of the burger. Doesn’t it look great?
Siv has been on a pork streak lately. He tends to order pork chop from every new place that we go to. According to him, if they can do the pork right, they know what they are doing! I am not a huge pork fan, I love to have a few bites, but can never finish a whole dish. He got the Pan Seared Brined Pork Chop - with sauteed rapini, potato gnocchi and an apple jus. I thought the flavor combination was good, the pork was tender and juicy. Siv enjoyed the dish, but he said he had better versions elsewhere. I guess Feenie’s didn’t pass his Pork chop test. 
We started the dinner really late, by the time we finished the dinner, we were the only ones left in the restaurant. So we skipped dessert, though there were a few tempting options in the menu. I want to say next time, but given the fact that Vancouver is a good three hour drive away, and there are way too many favorites, I don’t think we will be going back to Feenie’s for dinner. The brunch menu is fantastic though, last time we went there for brunch without making a reservation, we couldn’t get seats. Seeing how popular the brunch is, next time we are in Vancouver over a weekend, we will definitely try to get a table.
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16 Responses to “Feenie’s Vancouver”
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The fries are very inviting..Good review Sig!
Adopt me so that you can drag me along to all these outings!
Beef with a side order of beef - you’re my kind of gal!
Hmm, mayonnaise with Sambal Oelek, that must have been one yummy dipping sauce! The fries are looking so tempting as well. The soup story reminds me of Bangalore, where one could ask for a “by two” without any hesitation
Enjoy the foodie travels, dear 
the soup looks great…i think i will try making that combo at home…and those fries
..makes me soo sad sig! has been more than 2 months i have had any…reason!!…just lazy to stop and pick up some 
There’s something about guys and pork chops… even S was on a spree at one time with the same thoery as Siv… and the thing is… out here, they never get it right!
I too like restaurants who serve soup “one by two”
gr8 review Sig. I am not a cornivore..but that food pic can leave any foodie..:drool:
Babes, your blog takes unusually long to open. I had to wait 20 mins before I could see your awesome and yummy pics!
The soup’s polka-dotted!
You can give me the burger any time
Talking about foie gras we had it for New year, but then before that my daughter geve me a whole explanition on how these birds were force fed i coudn’t eat them anymore and i used to love it.
u r a true foodie, sig! i like the way u experiment at diff restaurants & various cuisines
soup sounds yummmm
The mayo and sambal dip must’ve been great with the fries.
Happy Monday Sig! They all look yummy. I made some Fish dishes this weekend!!YAY!:D
“Detoxing” myself from blogging, will open comments in Feb,see you then!:)
I am going to sue you sig,for short circuiting my keyboard
The pictures are getting yummier which makes me 
all over the board 
As said earlier the site and every page here opens within 3 secs for me
BEAUTIFUL pics sig and that soup with oil drops yummmmm
I remember reading about Feenie being ousted a while ago - too bad, I love Lumiere too, though Vij is still my favourite restaurant in Vancouver.
A pair of serious meat junkies!