Miku first opened in 2008 at Hastings and Thurlow, as restaurant group Tora Corporation’s first location outside of Japan. Since then, Miku has moved to its current waterfront space, opened the near-identical sister restaurant Minami in Yaletown, Gyoza Bar and expanded to locations in Toronto, all under its Aburi Restaurants Canada brand.
Month: January 2021
Freebird is an Asian-style chicken shack, one of the newer additions to famed local chef Angus An’s culinary empire. It opened a few years ago in New Westminster’s River Market, but never seemed as busy and popular as his other ventures, such as Longtail Kitchen which was literally around the corner from Freebird. It then closed in 2019 and moved into a cafe-like space in Chinatown. That location closed too this past summer, with Freebird becoming a takeout-only restaurant operating out of Maenam‘s kitchen.
Although I’ve still been dining out for dim sum during the pandemic and have generally been satisfied with the social distancing and sanitation measures that restaurants have been implementing, it’s gotten a little less appealing lately as our numbers continue to rise. On this occasion I had a craving for dim sum and decided to give takeout a try!
L’Abattoir has always been one of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, offering a level of sophisticated and modern cooking that frankly isn’t very easy to find in our city. This French-inspired West Coast restaurant opened in 2010 under chef/owner Lee Cooper, who previously trained at The Fat Duck in the UK (a three Michelin star and former “best restaurant in the world” run by molecular gastronomy pioneer Heston Blumenthal).
L’Abattoir’s delicately plated dishes and unpretentious service was one of the things I missed most during the pandemic, and when I finally dined-in this summer I could tell they haven’t missed a beat. Little did I realize they also offered takeout! But does it live up to the expectations? Read on to find out!