Grain Tasting Bar Business Lunch-3

Grain Tasting Bar has been open for just under a year in the heart of downtown Vancouver. Their locally-sourced menu features shared plates, smoked wood-fire pizza, a raw bar, and build-your-own cheese and charcuterie board.

I’ve had several chances to enjoy their dinner fare, but hadn’t yet made it in for lunch.

Mosaic on Burrard Executive Chef Thomas Heinrich

This week, a group of media were invited to enjoy dishes from Grain’s lunch menu. We sampled Crab Louie and Chopped Farms salads, tuna sliders, chicken salad club and Spring Creek prime rib sandwiches, and assorted cheese and charcuterie. Chef Thomas Heinrich oversees the menu here as well as upstairs at Mosaic Grill.

Grain Tasting Bar Chopped Farms Salad
[Chopped Farms Salad: Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red peppers, sweet corn, red onion, feta]

Grain Tasting Bar Chicken Salad Club
[Country chicken salad, lettuce, tomato, naturally-cured bacon, fruit and nut loaf]

Grain Tasting Bar charcuterie board and condiments
[Grain’s charcuterie board and condiments]

House-made mustard, spiced nuts, truffle honey and bread accompanies the cheese and charcuterie, artfully served on a wooden board.

Grain Tasting Bar Tuna Sliders
[Seared Albacore tuna, fennel and apple slaw, lime aioli, brioche bun]

Cheese options range from Salt Spring Cheese’s Montaña to Natural Pastures Comox Brie, while Kazu Coppa, Okanagan red wine proscuitto, and truffle salami are some of the meats served at Grain. The boards are completely customizable: two of each ($14), three of each ($18) and four of each ($22) on a board. As I’m more the cheese lover, I went right for the Comox brie, a mellow-flavoured rind cheese with a lovely buttery taste.

Grain Tasting Bar cheese and charcuterie board

The Farm House Alpine Gold is a semi-soft, wash-cured and wash-rind rind cheese with a delightful mild flavour, perfect with those nuts. I did try Oyama’s Okanagan red wine proscuitto and found the slightly salty taste and soft texture were also very good, compared with many proscuittos I’ve tried.

The Chopped Farms salad is loaded with sweet corn, cow’s milk feta, tomato and cucumber and was a refreshing compliment to my Litchi Martini ($12), a crafted concoction of Okanagan Spirits vodka, Hana Lychee sake, cranberry and pomegranate juices, plus juniper and lemongrass syrup.

Grain Tasting Bar Litchi Martini
[Litchi Martini]

It’s colourful with a fruity/mild flavour suitable for the summer heat. You can read about my recent Grain Tasting Bar cocktail and specially-crafted pizza experience here.

Grain also pours regional wines, domestic and imported beer (on draught and in bottles), and distilled spirits. My cheese and nuts were made even better by a glass of local favourite Howe Sound’s ‘Devil’s Elbow’ IPA ($6), a nice, heavy bitter ale with a gorgeous aroma.

Grain Tasting Bar Business Lunch-2

The retractable windows were again open to allow fresh breezes and lovely views to permeate our conversation as the lunch made for a great way to catch up on summer adventures.

Grain Tasting Bar is located at 655 Burrard Street, on the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver. Visit the website for opening hours and current menus.

Disclaimer: My lunch, cocktails, and beer were compliments of Grain Tasting Bar.

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