Whet Kitchen Bar Patio VanEats Package

This was my first VanEats package and I won it through their website! Hurrah! I love the names of their packages...This was a dining package for 2 called Whet UR Appetite.
I decided to take the sous chef out for a little date night. Whet is located right at the entrance area of Granville Island, right where the Old Sammy J Peppers used to be. This location means a nice view of boats docked in the harbour and the False Creek Seawall.

The interior of Whet is really nice, big solid wooden tables, cozy booths, a semi-open kitchen, and a rustic quasi maritime feel to the decor.
The Whet UR Appetite Package was:

1. Prawn, Shrimp, and Wild Mushrooms Salad, pan seared prawns and wild local mushrooms, hand peeled shrimp, arugula, grapefruit, taro root crisps, lemon-hazelnut vinaigrette
2. Coconut Scallop Ceviche, hand peeled shrimp, citrus juices, ginger, jalapeño, corn chips, tobiko & ikura
3. Choice of the following:
   • Crispy Duck Leg, Confit of Fraser Valley duck leg, sweet chill ginger sauce, yam and plantain chips, sesame seeds, grilled plums
   • Red Honey-Curry Coho, wild BC Coho, saffron yoghurt, hot pickled lime puree, candied almonds, cinnamon market vegetable
4. 2 Sleeves of Angry Scotch Ale, Russell Brewing Company’s strong, dark ale with dominant malt accent that originated in Edinburgh. Made with Scottish specialty malts including Peated Malt imparting a slight smoky character to the beer                  *This package does not cover tax or gratuity

We kicked off our dining package with two pints of the Angry Scotch Ale. This is a really delicious beer. I tend to veer to ordering lighter beers, but there are some dark beers that I really love. This is one of them. Slightly smoky, rich, full-bodied and not too bitter.

The two appetizers came out first, the Prawn, Shrimp, and Wild Mushroom Salad, and the Coconut Scallop Ceviche. Really enjoyed them both. 

The salad was a nice balance of light and refreshing, with the citrus, peppery arugula, and earthy flavours from the mushrooms. The seafood with nicely cooked and seasoned and the taro chips added a nice crunch. 

The ceviche was different than your typical ceviche. Instead of the seafood marinating purely in citrus, this was a coconut milk dominated dish. This was also a refreshing and light dish. I liked the roe topping and the scallops were wonderfully tender and juicy. I did think that the coconut flavour dominated the dish and muted the others. I also wished the ceviche either came with more chips, or something different like a flatbread. I found the chips didn't really work well as a vessel for this extremely liquid-y ceviche.

For the entree, we went with the Red Curry-Honey Coho, with the saffron yogurt on the side. This was a really interesting and creative dish. The fish itself is essentially smothered in curry paste, giving it a slight crust, giving it a mild spice and beautiful flavour. This was a quality piece of fish and wonderfully cooked - every bite was texture and flavourful excellence. The additional flavour kicks from the candied almonds, hot pickled lime puree and saffron yogurt were wonderful. The salmon came on a bed of broccolini.

We did feel the portion sizes were a bit small and that this dining package was a bit skimpy for two diners. All in all, these were delicious dishes served up in a nice restaurant. I was also impressed with their craft beer menu!