Tonight we made a special drive down to Cultus Lake to check out Dine Chilliwack, the city’s food festival, encouraging locals and visitors to try restaurants and cafes that they might not otherwise think to.
Not quite by the lake or on a beach, Lakeside Beach Club is still worth a visit when in the area. They have a spacious patio and a large dining room centred around a 360 degree fireplace.
Their featured Dine Chilliwack menu is 3 courses for $65 per person. You have your choice between what they are calling “the beginning”, “the middle”, and “the end”. No add-on options, each plate is crafted to satisfy as intended, in impressively large portions. This wasn’t what we expected in the more rural area, and were thus thoroughly impressed.
We started with the accompanying cocktails for this menu. The lighter of the two was the Lavender Sour with Empress gin, house made lavender syrup, egg white, and lemon. A citrusy and floral bouquet, made sweet with the egg white, in the iconic empress purple hue.
The Smoked Whiskey was more my speed. Canadian rye, cherry-infused vermouth, and orange zest. It is smoked and served table side with some flourish.
It is also accompanied by three garnishes that enhances the cocktail in a choose your own adventure kind of way. Turkish delight, bourbon cherry, and cotton candy. Together they sweeten and flavour, or simply offer a chase. An unexpected fun and interactive cocktail.
As for food, it was hard to choose between the appetizers that read like mains. The Seafood Chowder was a chunky mix of salmon and vegetables enrobed with heavy dill. A little dense on its own, nice as a dip for the side of fry bread, that was just as heavy. By looks alone, we originally thought this was fried fish, but learned it was actually their take on bannock.
The Black & Blue wasn’t quite like what was advertised. This was essentially an open faced steak sandwich, but the strips were more well done than blue and rare. It was still tender enrobed with plenty of truffle aioli, sitting on a garlic buttered ciabatta bun with bacon jam, shaved grana padano, and micro greens. Plenty of flavour in each bite, the kind you want to lick your fingers clean of. I especially liked the richness of the creamy truffle balanced by the sweetness of the salty bacon jam.
Not part of the Dine Chilliwack menu, but the yin to the black and blue yang is the Prawn & Smoked Salmon Toast. Smoked salmon, garlic buttered prawns, goat cheese, lemon dill aioli, and fried capers; all on a garlic buttered ciabatta bun. It was like a dressed up salmon and lox combo, with the addition of sweet prawns. Between the two, this was my favourite, and I am glad we went off the featured menu for this one.
For the Dine Chilliwack mains we went with the Duck Breast which is pan-seared Fraser Valley duck breast served medium over a rice pilaf, alongside candied brussels sprouts, pumpkin purée, and a citrus gastrique. This ate like an elevated and modern take on a Thanksgiving meal, especially with the iconic pumpkin and tangy cranberry combo. The latter added a nice creaminess to the harder and dry rice, and heightened the roasted honey quality of the perfectly prepared duck skin and the spiciness of the semi-crispy Brussel sprouts in contrast. This was fulsome plate that fed. Although, I would have liked potato as the starch instead of the rice which felt like an outlier due to its texture. However, I would get that below.
The Braised Short Rib was braised 12-hours and served with a parmesan & thyme infused pomme purée, roasted root vegetables, and a rosemary wine jus. If it was Thanksgiving above this was the stuffing to go with it. The plate had the bold fragrance of rosemary throughout. It was a great base for the saucy beef and firm carrot and beets. Another hearty and tasty entree that fully satisfied.
Also not on the Dine Chilliwack menu, but something we wanted to try was the Mushroom Ravioli from the regular menu. Forest mushroom & ricotta ravioli, truffle cream sauce, goat cheese, pistachio dust, and balsamic pearls. We took our server’s recommendation of adding on some braised beef to the mix, and the result was that this was my favourite thing we had. The same delcious short rib as above over firm squares of pasta. This was sumptuous and worth savouring. I just wished we were hungry enough to finish it.
For our Dine Chilliwack dessert we went with the Earl Grey Creme Brûlée that was made in house using Columbia Valley grown lavender. The creme based was served warm with a full bouquet of florals. It felt foreign and was not what we know creme brûlée to be in texture, consistency, and temperature. It became overwhelming with the thick layer of candied sugar to crack through. It made things too sweet, and a little much when coupled with the softened sugared donut holes on the side. I liked the idea, just thought the execution could have been more refined, like the savoury dishes before it.
The Chocolate Pie was more like a freshly baked, chewy cookie. House made chocolate & marshmallow pie, dark chocolate sorbet, and brandied cherry. A little rugged compared to the presentations above, but it made it all the more homespun. A little sweet for my taste and I would have liked lighter, more palate cleansing desserts to end on, giving how heavy and rich everything else was before it.
In short, this isa great spot for a meal in Cultus, and a restaurant I could see myself visiting often if it was located in the Lower Mainland. Worth trying if in the area and to take advantage of the their Dine Chilliwack special.
Lakeside Beach Club
4131 Columbia Valley Rd, Cultus Lake, BC V2R 4Y1
(604) 858-3374
lakesidebeachclub.ca
I appreciated how the author made the topic relatable without oversimplifying it. It felt like a genuine conversation rather than just another article.