Seasons in the Park (Vancouver)

I’ve always heard about pleasant dining experience at Seasons in the Park but never really been there myself. This year, I was determined to pay a visit during Dine Out Vancouver. One good thing about it was that the lunch menu is exactly the same as dinner, but $10 cheaper. I would assume it comes in the form of portion differences.

 Located inside Queen Elizabeth Park, I would assume that is where it got the name from – Seasons in the Park. Even before I came, I’ve heard about the view that it has. And boy oh boy, it was quite a view. First we were lucky that the weather was pretty good. Then we were able to get a table facing the view. It would have been even better if it’s just right beside the window.

I also loved on the interior was very similar to the Teahouse. This was quite understandable, considered they belong to the same dining group. I could imagine how people could use this space as wedding reception venue. It’s especially fitting when the weather was clear. But I digress… let’s talk about food.

Complimentary Bread

The sliced French bread was nice and warm – very crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Spread with butter and a little bit of ground pepper = good start for the meal.

Yukon Gold Potato Soup

Coincidentally, we all had the potato soup as appy. The soup was drizzled with chive crème fraiche and placed with a small piece of brioche crouton in the middle. The texture was starchy and dense. A little light on the seasoning but I didn’t mind about it.

Braised Beef Short Rib

The braised beef short rib was placed on a bed of potato puree. It was very tender that it came off the bone easily. The flavour was through and through, but a bit single dimension.

Grilled Steelhead Salmon

The salmon, nicely grilled, was accompanied by braised lentils. It wasn’t too dry and had a nice charcoal flavour to it.

Tomato Basil Linguine

Aside from tomato and basil, the linguine was also mixed with pine nuts and grana padano cheese. It was light and colourful – I thought the pine nuts were nice addition to this pasta dish.

Hazelnut Chocolate Torte

The chocolate torte had the banana puree on top along with ground hazelnut. The chocolate had a fair aroma but strong aftertaste. I didn’t feel it was overly sweet until after a couple bites later. The texture was quite dense and a bit dry for my taste. I thought the banana puree overkilled the torte a bit.

Vanilla Gelato

The vanilla gelato was served with amaretto, chilled espresso, and almond biscotti on the side. I liked how the chilled espresso was full of creamy aroma when mixed with the vanilla gelato. It was quite enjoyable.

Most of our items were a bit light on the seasoning, making the flavour blend and none distinctive. The atmosphere, particularly the view, was quite impressive; however, the food was just decent. I would come back again since it wasn’t too bad, and because the view was a good plus for the dining experience.