A weekend of Glowbal brunches
3 Comments
Karen Hamilton
March 19, 2008
Glowbal touts itself as one of the places to see and be seen in Yaletown. Everything about it screams young, hip, trendy. I like to think that I am still somewhat young and hip, but my aversion to “Yaletown trendy” had thus far caused me to keep my patronage of Glowbal to the occasional work luncheon.
So it was indeed peculiar when last weekend, a bank convinced myself and lunch companion Bruce to reconsider Glowbal. Here’s the story.
CIBC Yaletown’s grand opening
Bruce and I originally targeted sushi haunt Sakana as the next Tiny Bites dining adventure. Sadly, we discovered that Sakana was closed on Saturdays. As was Tequila Kitchen, a new restaurant next door to PHAT Deli that just opened shop last week. Bruce had suggested Glowbal as part of the Yaletown restaurant run-through, but I quickly dismissed it as being a mite pretentious.
As we continued to to walk around Yaletown and discuss our dining options, the mouthwatering scent of street-vendor hot dogs wafted our way. We turned towards the source of the aroma and discovered that the new Yaletown branch of the CIBC was decked out for its grand opening in a multitude of balloons, with local radio station Crave at the scene blaring pop music and vending hot dogs to all passersby.
Bruce and my husband are both CIBC customers, so we decided to walk inside the jam-packed branch to check out the festivities. A fresh-faced CIBC rep met us at the door with cake and a smile, neither of which we were inclined to turn down. Further into the melee, we found an artist drawing caricatures, a juice and espresso bar, prize giveaways, and last but not least, many servers from Glowbal’s catering division who were offering hors d’oeuvres to the crowd.
We ate everything that was offered and with great gusto: prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, smoked salmon and caper bites, bruschetta in extreme miniature. I didn’t pay attention to who was catering the affair; it was only after we chatted with the guy at the juice bar that we discovered it was Glowbal behind all the tiny bites (yes, I did just work that in).
Thoroughly impressed by the calibre of the food we sampled at the CIBC, we decided to follow through with lunch at Glowbal, traversing the block and a half it took to arrive at its doorstep.
Saturday brunch with Bruce and a dead camera
It was a sunny day so the patio was the place to be. We were ushered to our seats and immediately presented with a plate of …banana bread? Who gives people banana bread?
After my surprise at not receiving the standard serving of bread rolls, there were no more complaints. The banana bread was tastier than any lump of sourdough could have been, and whet our appetites for the brunch to come.
Sadly, my camera battery was on its last legs from having gone camera crazy at the Gilberto Santa Rosa concert the night before. It blipped out just before I was able to take a photo of the beautiful Blue Banana smoothie I ordered. Tried to pop the battery in and out to tease one more shot out of it. As we couldn’t tell whether it was successful, Bruce put his artistic talent to good use and sketched out my smoothie, so that this part of the post wouldn’t be so bereft of imagery.
I ordered the sickeningly sweet Belgian Waffle while Bruce got a couple of tidbits from the satay bar plus the daily soup (roasted root vegetable). The soup was pretty good: a puree of butternut squash, potato, and carrot with a hint of cumin. Tarragon creme fraiche topped the dish. The tequila lamb satay was too dry and gamey for my taste, but the tempura mushroom satay was a hit. With no camera to document these dishes, Bruce once again sketched the lay of the table, and has promised to send his rendition in short order.
Our antics certainly didn’t go unnoticed. The table of four next to us struck up a conversation, intrigued by Bruce’s sketching. We tried to explain ourselves and were awarded with puzzlement and awkward compliments. At any rate, brunch for the most part lived up to our expectations. We discussed the possibility of my returning to Glowbal the next day with a fully charged camera battery and attempting another go at this.
Sunday brunch with the husband
Glowbal, take two. I managed to convince my husband, Kurt, to brunch with me this time. We again chose to dine out on the patio and got assigned to the same server from the day before. She not only remembered my prior visit but even recalled some of the menu items that I had expressed interest in. We must have made an impression (whether it was a good or a bad one is known only to her).
There was no way that I was going to order the caramel overload that was Saturday’s belgian waffle. This time, I tried one of the daily specials: panettone french toast with berry compote and vanilla creme anglaise. Oh folks…it was heaven. Even swimming in all this sauce, the panettone retained its structure, airiness, and bite. The level of sweet was perfect. Such a shame that this isn’t on the regular menu.
Kurt’s choice was also lipsmackingly good. His crab frittatta had dollops of melted mascarpone strewn about the surface, adding a silky richness to the otherwise delicate nature of the dish. My repeat samplings earned me dirty looks and a reminder that I had my own meal to see to. He must have liked it enough to resent the sharing!
My carnivorous appetite was still craving meat after polishing off the french toast, so I ordered some ahi tuna, braised short rib, and bbq baby octopus from the satay selection. The ahi tuna was disappointing: stale and dry, as if it had been sitting in the fridge uncovered overnight. The rest passed the taste test and are worthy of a re-order. We left the restaurant with bellies full and tastebuds satisfied.
That wraps up my weekend investigation of Glowbal’s brunch menu. If you are still following along, congratulations! This baby was a long post!
For more photos and per-dish reviews of Glowbal, please visit its Tiny Bites restaurant profile.
Categories: Downtown, Food, Restaurants, Yaletown
Comments
3 Responses to “A weekend of Glowbal brunches”
Got something to say?
About Tiny Bites
Tiny Bites is a food blog that explores all things edible and imbibable in Vancouver, British Columbia. More >
Articles by Karen Hamilton
Read the food and non-food articles that I've contributed to sites other than Tiny Bites.
I actually found a handwritten thank you card from our waitress waiting in my mail slot after I returned from my last work trip.
Always nice when a restaurant makes it known that they’re reading your comment cards.
What a great website ! I am so often stuck in the rut of going to the same old places, this new bookmark will be my inspiration.
Thanks
J
I recently wrote a post on the bartenders / staff at Glowbal. It was a great experience…
Check out my post here: http://www.civilizedspice.com/2008/08/05/the-glowbal-bar/