Update: This restaurant has closed.
Abigail’s Party is a restaurant that’s offering a $28 Dine Out menu this year. They’ve always been a restaurant I’ve wanted to try, but in previous years, their dine out menu didn’t entice me at all. This year though, for some reason, their simple offerings of steak frites and fried chicken intrigued me, so off I went.
Abigail’s Party is located in Kitsilano. Funny side note…when I invited Six to come with me, he thought I was inviting him to my ‘friend Abigail’s Party’. He was so confused until I cleared it up for him lol.
It’s a small little, narrow place. Basically all you see here is the length of the restaurant plus two more 2-person tables and a slightly bigger bench near the kitchen. Very cozy, and quite romantic actually. But you do get the smell of food stuck in your clothes though.
For appies we both got the A Winebar Bruschetta. When it arrived I was surprised that it wasn’t tomato-based. Their version has triple creme brie, caramelized onions, garlic confit, honey and cracked pepper on top of ciabatta.
This was a great start. The ciabatta was fresh and lightly toasted so it wasn’t overly hard and crusty. The triple creme brie held the caramelized onions and garlic together so you get a taste of everything in each bite. The flavor of onions was quite prominent. The smallish portion was actually perfect as this was quite the rich opening act.
Six had originally wanted their lingcod entree, but after sneaking peeks at our neighbour’s dishes, he decided he wanted the Steak Frites dinner that I had wanted to order instead. So being the INCREDIBLY generous and flexible person that I am 😉 I let him have it.
First thing Six commented on was that the Kennebec fries were incredibly good. I had a taste and they were like a fresher version of New York Fries, which I actually think quite highly of. They had a thin crisp exterior and were perfectly salted. The sirloin was done a perfect medium rare and drizzled with a red wine demi-glace. On the side is a simple arugula salad.
The bites of meat I got to taste were tender and flavorful, with a melt in your mouth quality. However, as with most restaurants I’ve been to lately, this dish was quite lukewarm.
Since I couldn’t have the steak frites, I went with my second choice which was the Southern Fried Chicken. When the dish arrived it was exceptionally aromatic. This dish actually arrived piping hot and the buttermilk-marinated deep-fried chicken was steaming when I cut into its crispy shell. The chicken itself could’ve been salted a bit more but the meat was very moist and tender.
I only wish they had provided more gravy for both the chicken and the cheddar & chive biscuit, and I ended up asking for more gravy, which in turn cost us an extra $1.50 =/. The small portion of wilted kale & walnut salad was mild flavored.
For dessert, Six had the Chili Chocolate Ganache which was served on top of an elderflower gastrique and a sprinkling of toasted hazelnuts.
As expected, the ganache was incredibly rich, which is one of the reasons I’m not a fan. I would say though that this chocolatey concoction was not overly sweet and the chili flavor was present, and Six even commented that there was quite a kick.
I got the Okanagan Apple Crumble with Bourbon maple oat topping and vanilla bean chantilly. This dessert was again done well in the sense that it was not overly sweet. There were enough apple pieces in it to live up to its namesake and the chantilly just lightened everything up. I love oats and maple so that just added extra points to everything.
Six and I were very impressed with our dinner here at Abigail’s Party. Service-wise…could be better, they didn’t manage to keep our water topped up even though it seemed like they weren’t exactly being slammed with business.
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