Cuchillo: Dine Out Vancouver 2023
Dine Out Vancouver is a food festival where participating restaurants offer 3-course menus at a set price. This year it is running from January 20 – February 5 and is designed to help boost restaurant visits during a traditionally slower time of the year (after the holidays and before Valentine’s Day).
My girl friends and I decided to check out Cuchilllo for this year’s Dine Out Vancouver menu. Cuchillo is located in Gastown and serves up Latin American and Mexican small plates. The Dine Out Vancouver menu actually has 4 courses and is priced at $40 per person.
Interior
The interior of Cuchillo is more industrial. They have bar seating and bar-height seating on the first floor. In the downstairs floor, they actually had a birthday event going on so you can likely reserve or rent out their downstairs space for large parties.
Our table of 6 adults were seated in one of the communal bench tables in the middle. It is quite spacious and they have hooks underneath the table even though it feels kind of gross to put your hand under there (I fear there is gum), but the height is still bar height so you are actually sitting higher up and there is no back support. They have more regular dining tables in the back.
Casual, hipster, comfy enough.
Food and drinks
We mostly all order the Dine Out Vancouver menu, but we notice some of the places comes in 2 items so I was able to switch one with a friend and try different items.
Sons of Vancouver nino sour ($14)
I order this cocktail because I am looking for something fruity but also strong. I also prefer my cocktails in a pretty glass like this one. This nino sour uses amaretto & London dry gin, peach bitters and lemon. For $14, I say this is a pretty decent cocktail!
My other friends order the following (but I didn’t try so I can’t comment): the paloma, margarita, a red wine (comes in a big glass!) and a non-alcoholic beverage that has ginger soda and guava juice.
Blistered shishito chillies ($12)
My friend orders this appetizer dish that is not part of Dine Out Vancouver (so it is al le carte). It is nicely plated with some coriander hummus, tree nut chimichurri, Morita chile salsa matcha and plantain. I liked eating the hummus and chimichurri with the plantain chips – crunchy and tastes healthy. The shishito chillies are also super yummy, not spicy for me.
First course: Prawn ceviche
For my first course, I select the prawn ceviche. It is a small appetizer with Argentine shrimp, causa amarillo, wasabi avocado purée and some yuzu tobiko. I like shrimp and found this appetizer to be refreshing albeit small (but hey, usually Dine Out Vancouver menus are only 3 courses so I don’t mind an additional 4th course!). The wasabi avocado paired nicely with the shrimp and the yuzu tobiko, and I didn’t get a very strong wasabi flavour that would make my nose hurt.
The big ball/most of the dish actually kind of tastes like mashed potato, and I am a potato-loving girl so it was like a small potato salad with shrimp and avocado.
First course: Scallop ceviche
The second option that some of my friends selected for their first course is the scallop ceviche. It is a similar serving size to the prawn ceviche, except it uses Peruvian scallop, Mandarin Oranges, shaved chayote squash, Thai basil Mint, and a ginger fish sauce.
The third option for the first course is quinoa ensalada (vegetarian option) so none of us chose it as none of us are vegetarians.
Second course: Cabeza de puerco
The second course is tacos! They come with 2 tacos per order and I select the pork taco as my choice. Inside the pork taco, they put crispy Fraser Valley pork, negro refrito, serrano tomatillo salsa Verde and chicharron.
I found the pork taco to be very juicy and full of flavour.
Second course: Ensalada de marisco
Some of my friends choose the squid taco instead. Inside this taco, they have crispy pacific squid, maple candied salmon lemon papas and minted pea y avocado.
I was able to switch one of my pork tacos with a friend so I got to try the squid taco as well – it looked like little calamari inside with a random potato. Again, I love potatoes but thought it was a little strange to have a potato in there – would have preferred more squid instead!
Third course: Roasted lamb sirloin
I don’t like lamb so I didn’t order this as my main, but this is what the lamb entree would look like. Again, it comes in 2 pieces like the tacos. The dish is served with coffee hibiscus adobo, pasilla chili brussel sprouts, tortilla crusted zucchini and a chimichurri verde.
Third course: Pan seared sablefish
I am a sucker for sablefish, so I select this one as my main. It is served with pistachio gremolata, Yukon gold papa smash, crispy yucca, and a Tijuana baby caesar salad.
Generally, I think the portion of sablefish was not bad. The fish itself is cooked and seasoned well, but I wasn’t a big fan of pairing it with (more) mashed potato. The caesar salad part was very minimal (like 1-2 pieces of lettuce maybe) but I did like the red tomato-like sauce. Presentation is pretty.
Third course: Char grilled pork belly confit
The last main entree is the pork belly, which is morita honey glazed, served with braised fennel, blood Oorange ensalada, walnut brittle and some roast cumin vinaigrette.
I actually switched one of my sablefish with my friend’s pork belly so I got to try the pork belly as well. The pork belly meat isn’t as tender as it could be (not pull apart soft), but the flavour has a big impact. Really liked the honey glaze, walnut brittle and the vinaigrette. The dish tasted much more savoury than it looked. The orange elements were nice to have, but wasn’t the star of the show.
Fourth course: Chocolate mousse azteca
The first choice for dessert is a chocolate mousse – it is infused with Ancho chili and bittersweet mexican chocolate so it is spicy! There’s a cherry and a churro.
I found the mousse to be not bad, it wasn’t that spicy at all if that is what you are wondered about. I found the churro to be a little hard/stale possibly.
Fourth course: sorbet
For a lighter dessert option, you can choose the sorbet, which is a duo of strawberry and pineapple sorbet, and a Plantain “spoon” – cute!
Fourth course: Coconut lime rice pudding
I choose the rice pudding for my dessert because I’m not a big fan of chocolate. It comes in a small cup and inside there is passionfruit curd, vanilla bean and a totopo crumble. Small, fruity and still sweet – nice way to end my meal.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
In total, I spent $67 for my meal after tax and tip. This includes my $40 Dine Out Vancouver meal and my $14 cocktail. All in all, not a bad price for a night out and 4 courses too! One of the things that have kind of “turned me off” for Dine Out Vancouver this year is the increase in menu prices. We now find menus going up to $65 or more, whereas before it used to be $45 max. I feel like I can go to some of these restaurants another time during the year and still spend $70 so I don’t need to do it during Dine Out Vancouver.
Cuchillo was tasty and has an elevated take on simple Mexican and Latin American food. Out of everything we ate, I liked the pork taco and the pork belly the most – lots of flavour! I also really liked how the tacos and the mains came as 2 pieces so you can share with friends and try a bit of everything. And bonus points for their online menu actually including photos of the dishes!
Sincerely, Loewe