Chambar: 3-course set menu for group dining

I have a long list of reviews and photos of places I’ve eaten in the last year, but haven’t had a chance to post on this blog – this is one of them!

I visited Chambar back in late September 2022 for a group dining to celebrate a friend’s bachelorette. Chambar is a pretty modern and upscale French/Belgian restaurant located in Chinatown. I’ve visited Chambar before for Dine Out Vancouver several years ago.

Recommended: Read about my last experience at Chambar during Dine Out Vancouver 2020.

Because we are a large group, we didn’t order al le carte from their menu, but instead, opted for a 3 course set menu that is available if you are looking for some sort of private or semi-private group dining option. The 3 course set menu is priced at $70 and the 4 course set menu is priced at $80 per person.

3 Course set menu ($70 per person)

So here we have all the choices for the 3-course set menu. Looking at this, I decide to go for the le bouef, moules frites ‘congolaise, and the pavlova.

Le bouef

My first course is described as a Chicago-style hanger steak, with cippolini onion rings, pine nuts, candied morels, truffle mayo and gated parmesan. I was quite surprised at the presentation of the dish because the hanger steak is essentially cut into small bite-sized portions and everything else is kind of just daintily scattered around the plate. The presentation is pretty, but I just expected something totally different when I read “hanger steak”.

Overall, it is an ok appetizer. I found it a little strange to eat because everything is separated and there’s this really thin layer of grated cheese on the whole plate.

Moules frites ‘congolaise

For my main, I choose the mussels and fries. The mussels are cooked in a tomato coconut cream with smoked chili, lime and cilantro. On the side I am actually served yam fries instead of french fries, which hey I love yam fries just as much!

The portion for this entree is actually really big – I couldn’t finish my food and had a hard time even though it was delicious. I really liked the tomato coconut cream broth! It’s got a bit of tanginess and sourness and goes really well dipped in some bread.

Overall, highly satisfied with the entree.

Pavlova

For dessert, I choose the pavlova. I don’t often see or choose this as my dessert so I wasn’t really sure what it was. Essentially, it is a big cut of meringue. Meringue usually doesn’t have much flavour in my opinion, but this dessert is topped with some plum and nectarines, a pistachio cream, balsamic reduction and some white chocolate and vanilla cream.

I found this dessert to be nice and light, which is nice because I was already so full from the mussels. It is not too sweet and the meringue gives it more of a harder texture compared to the soft fruits and all the cream. Really liked the pistachio with the plums and nectarine combo.

Final thoughts

Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had a fun and tasty dinner at Chambar with my friends. The group dining menu was nice because there are options featuring veggies, meat and seafood options (and they can also accommodate any dietary restrictions).

For the first course, I actually think the scampi might’ve been a better option for me since I saw other people order it and it looked delicious and full of shrimp and seafood. But since I knew I wanted to order mussels, I didn’t want all seafood.

For the main, I don’t regret choosing the mussels at all – super delicious and filling and also homey in a cozy way. I would return to Chambar just to have their mussels again.

Dessert was a new treat for me as I’ve never had pavlova before, but I don’t know if I would order it again, especially al le carte.

Overall, the dinner costed around $110 after tax and tip (they charge 18% gratuity for large parties), which includes my 3-set menu and a split cost to cover for the bride’s meal. I think a $70-80 set menu price is not that bad considering Chambar is not a cheap restaurant to go to al le carte anyways, so it is actually pretty reasonable. Food quality is good and service was good too. The only thing was that the space wasn’t private as we were in the main dining area with the rest of the customers. An option to consider if you are looking for private group dining options for a birthday or another type of celebration.

Just a reminder that I did come here September 2022, so since then there may have been changes to the group dining menu and/or prices.

Sincerely, Loewe