This week I had the pleasure of driving around in the 2025 Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring PHEV. A luxury sedan with the features to make everyday commuting an added pleasure.
The Corsair is a beautiful looking vehicle, sleek with its angled body lines and sportier frame. City style with an edge that followed into the interior.
There is seamless entry as the vehicle recognizes when the key is near, and projects the Lincoln logo on the ground, just before the driver’s door. Although the latter is only visible in low light conditions. Similarly, to access the trunk there is no button or handle. Hands-free access with a wave of your foot under the censor.
This was meant to be a more compact sedan, and therefore it had a tighter cabin, leaving you feeling very close to your passengers, front and back. At least your seat was your own and you had full control of it. Ergonomic, but narrow. Hard, but with comfort from the massage function.
I liked the perk of the massage, but found its motor loud and distracting. The constant sounds of the gears grinding was a deterrent from the music, or in my case audiobook. Although it was drowned out by the noisy sounds of the street outside. Air against sides of the vehicle, the tires against the road, and the whizzing of every car passing. However, this didn’t stop me from using the massage function every chance I got, as a feature not readily seen within other vehicles.
The vehicle had a variety of driving modes like slippery, excite, and preserve EV. Although it was challenging to select the mode you wanted, as the dial wouldn’t register, and I was set on “conserving”. The latter most above would have only helped if I had the ability to charge the vehicle daily.
I could have used more compartments for more storage. What appeared to be two individual bins within the front half of the centre console was only one, hiding the wireless charger and both the C and USB cable ports. The centre armrest was set at a good height, but there was hardly enough room for comfort.
As for the way it handled, it had good control with solid steering. An easy drive with a light weight wheel and intuitive breaking from its built-in safety features. I enjoyed the wind down of the hybrid engine as a vehicle started and came to a full stop, even when not in electric mode. The melodic hum, a tranquil melody to further the relaxing nature of the vehicle.
I did find it odd that after every drive the 2025 Corsair suggested that you check the rear for occupants, even when there was nothing on the seats. Helpful in retrospect, but also redundant at the same time. I eventually grew fond of this concerned care.
I took it easy on Monday, but found myself catching up with an old friend Tuesday. He works at Ocean Mama, an import company, and I drove out to visit him at their head office in Delta. He is their in-house Chef in charge of development, working there for the last 14 years.
We enjoyed each other’s company over lunch, where Chef showcased a few of their imported items currently on the market and some soon to come.
We started with their popular shrimp dumplings available at T&T and on the menu at a few local restaurants. They had plenty of flavour with a spiciness from the greens, all wrapped in a steadfast shell. Handmade in Thailand, comparable to that offered at Trader Joe’s. This is their number one item sold.
They are looking to bring in Australian wagyu to the city. They are currently working on a program to import it in as fresh as possible, and already have some notable luxury clients. I had a taste of this sous vided and pan fried, finished with a sprinkle of coarse salt, served bloody. This is popular as a leaner cut of wagyu, not as fatty as Japanese wagyu, so you can eat more.
Our final course was their ahi tuna, crusted in black and white sesame seeds. It was sliced thiner and served over a slaw of celery, carrot, mango, and raw almonds. Tossed in lime juice and fish sauce. The slaw was necessary as a flavour agent, I found the tuna bland without it.
And for dessert it was birds nest, also known as swallow nests. Actual bird nests created from solidified saliva by edible-nest swiftlets. This is harvested for human consumption for its perceived health benefits. Offered as a shot in a glass bottle, by its spokesperson, the winner of the Miss Chinese Vancouver pageant, Kitty. The idea is to have the product daily like vitamins. But at $30-40 a bottle it isn’t an easy habit to sustain.
On Wednesday I treated myself to a bottle of Glenturrent from Everything Wine. It was my first time in any of their 7 locations and they I learned they have a lot more than just wine. The size of a warehouse, the Marine Drive location was huge. Plenty of space for wide isles and clearly divided sections of beer, wine, spirits, and vintage bottles. They even have a classroom, where they host ticketed seminars.
I liked the fact that you can do a wine tasting on the spot, without booking it before hand. A rotating list that features sales bottles on discount, so you can basically try before you buy. This is served straight out of the bottle at their tasting counter or from their enomatic machine which preserves integrity of finer wines.
Since we were already in the area we decided to stay and have dinner after. Kokoro is my go to for their one of a kind saucy and garlicky udon. They now have happy hour specials and we thought to take advantage of the promotion on this day. More on that in its own post.
Thursday it was a world wind, starting with an afternoon of Italian wine at the Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri Canada Trade Tour. Hosted at the Hyatt Regency, this offered guests a lovely downtown Vancouver view as we travelled from booth to booth trying various Italian born wines.
After, we checked out the new to open Chocolats Favoris in Gastown . This is a French Canadian ice cream parlour established in Quebec. Previously, the closest location was in Victoria. They specialize in chocolate dipped cones and can adorn any with candies and cookies.
With a variety of cone sizes we went for the smallest at “baby” and found it just the right amount of sugar to have as a snack. Plus, this allowed us to try multiple flavours during our visit.
The night then climaxed at a limited release Bowmore X Aston Martin tasting. This was in celebration of their 4th and last master collaboration bottle, and was accompanied by an Aston Martin that we were able to climb into and rev the engine of. More about that experience in its own post.
The on Friday the week came to a roaring close with the 16th anniversary celebration of Lavish Liquid and the birthday of its owner.
But first we stopped at Peya for dinner. I have been meaning to check out this modern Indian fusion restaurants for a while now. If there was a day, today was we it, considering how close of a walk it would be to the party after.
At Peya we would enjoy a couple of creative cocktails, paired with some appetizers to share. But more on that in its own post.
Then we danced and sang the rest of the night away at East Vancouver’s Famée Furlane, Lavish’s venue. There were light bites, a Photo Booth, an open bar, and even samples of vitamins to help avoid a bad morning after.
All this centred around karaoke with a larger stage than most people are accustomed to. Naturally the more we drank the more sang, shutting the venue down at midnight. I left with a raspy throat and sore feet, a wonderful way to close out the week.
