Last week I was very fortunate to be invited to Establishment Lounge for a tasting of their new menu. Chef Victor Bongo has recently joined the team at Establishment and has put together one of the best menus I’ve ever had. If you are looking for a new place to check out, a place that has amazing food, I highly recommend checking out Establishment Lounge and their new menu.

Having never been to a tasting before I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had thoughts of awkwardly trying to mingle with people while juggling a plate of food, camera, purse and glass of wine in hand, but was pleasantly surprised to see that this was a sit down event. It really allowed each guest to sit, relax, and focus on the food!

We were each given a mini menu of the foods we were going to be tasting. I could not believe how many things were on this menu! The list included…

Vegetarian Peanut Soup
A sans chicken version of Chef Bongos famous African Chicken Peanut Soup. Made velvety smooth with coconut milk, this soup also features a number of veggies and a blend of Chef’s signature African spices.

Black Truffle Saccottini Pasta
Tossed in a vanilla Galliano cream sauce, served with sweet pea puree, garnished with merlot micro-greens and fresh pancetta.

Bison Sliders
Tender and juicy bison slider topped with port-wine cheddar cheese, cranberry onion relish, and a fresh beet aioli.

Okanagan Goat Cheese & Fig Souffle
A freshly baked souffle served with golden beet carpaccio and drizzled with maple truffle vinaigrette.

Shrimp and Lobster Cakes
Almond crusted and accompanied by chipotle sauce, miso saice, and jerk aioli

Lamb Merguz Frank
In a warm croissant with chipotle aioli, cucumber pico de gallo, and a fresh honey mint yogurt.

Malaysian Chicken Satay
Free range chicken infused with exotic Malaysian spices and served with a signature peanut sauce.

Thai Tiger Prawns
Served with coconut steamed rice and cucumber raita.

Moroccan Lamb Lollipop
Topped with Chambord fig jam and goat cheese creme friache.

Latin Pan Seared Scallops
Served over chile morita on a sweet corn cake with avocado mousse and chipotle aioli, accompanied by a pico de gallo.

Chilled Raspberry Soup
A blend of plain and banana yogurt, soda water, fresh basil, Triple Sec, and Chive creme fraiche.

Everything that we had was amazing. I can’t stop saying it. AMAZING. Though it was very hard to pick favorites, I think mine included the Vegetarian Peanut Soup, Black Truffle Saccottini Pasta, Bison Sliders, Okanagan Goat Cheese & Fig Souffle, and the Chilled Raspberry Soup. I was even surprised how tasty the Moroccan Lamb Lollipops were, considering Lamb is something I usually do not like.

There were a handful of pretty ladies at the menu tasting that I knew as well, including Alicia, Melissa, and Jessica, and I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Bria of Framework Magazine, who was the sweetest, most loveliest girl on the planet!

It was a fabulous evening with great friends, great conversation, and amazing food. I can not wait to go back and try even more of their menu!

For a great review, check out Eating In Vancouver’s photos and thoughts!