Edible Obsessions | Wild Rice Restaurant Summer Patio Menu

Wild Rice | Mini Poke Bowl and Chicken Adobo Steam Buns

I was so excited to try Wild Rice Market Bistro's new patio menu, not because I love food, but because it was my first ever media tasting as a blogger! I finally feel like I am part of the influencer food squad because I got to dine alongside fellow foodies. YAY - so this meal was not paid by me.

The media tasting started with a toast of Gin & Tonic, a rosemary infused Victoria premium gin and tonic water. I rarely drink so I was not expecting how strong it would be! One sip and that was it for me. 

Wild Rice | Vegan Kale Caesar Salad

Our dinner began with the Vegan Kale Caesar Salad which was dressed with cashew tofu dressing and balsamic reduction, topped with roasted garlic cloves, crispy chickpeas, red olives and red onion. I enjoyed this salad as it was fresh and I really appreciated the kitchen not being heavy handed with the dressing. I could honestly see myself having this for lunch, but I would pick around the garlic cloves. Far too much garlic and nobody likes garlic breath!

Wild Rice | Gluten-free Polenta Fries

We moved onto the Vegetable Potstickers and I loved these little guys.  Potstickers, dumplings, mandu, loompia or whatever name they go by, they are always delicious! These little pockets of goodness were filled with smoked tofu, napa cabbage, shitake mushrooms and carrots, served with a ponzu dressing. I often find potstickers to be meat filled, so it was great to see Wild Rice serving a vegetable potsticker. The Gluten Free Polenta Fries were not as familiar to me. Long strips of polenta were coated in cornmeal before being fried to a golden perfection. They were a little gritty and far too oily for my liking, but the chilli aioli, now that was bomb. We were also served their Berry Mojitos (mine was done 1/2 alcohol - thank you!) made with crushed bramble berries, mint, lime and rum. The colour was really pretty and I enjoyed the sweetness. 

As I tend to not eat seafood, I let my tablemates enjoy the Gluten Free Salt & Pepper Squid which was fried calamari served with a fied jalapeno, house tartar sauce and a grilled lime. Everyone LOVED this dish and was probably the favourite of the night. If you like squid, definitely order this because it was the crowd pleaser. 

The Chicken Adobo Steam Buns were a new addition to Wild Rice's menu, but unfortunately the execution was poor. Perhaps we all got a bad batch, but there was far too much dough to filling, almost 80% of the steam bun was dough making the filling non-existent. The Adobo Chicken was delicious, but I just need a little more in my bun!

Wild Rice | Mini Poke Bowl, Ocean-wise salmon substituted for tofu

The chef was kind enough to make me a "tofu" poke bowl in place of the salmon. I was so happy that they did that for me as I always feel incredibly left out on the poke food craze. Alongside the tofu, there was chipotle spiced fresh mango cubes, pickled cabbage, roasted tomatoes and scallion verde. Honestly, anything with fresh mango is going to make me happy, but honestly, it was really good. 

No dinner is complete without dessert! But before we got to the sweets, we were treated to Wild Rice's original cocktail, Twisted Fashions, bourbon, ginger reduction and orange bitters. It had some lovely citrus undertones, but I really have no clue what I am talking about when it comes to alcohol. 

Wild Rice | Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with berry coulis and mint ice cream

What I am an expert at is dessert and my patience was finally awarded with their Gluten-free Chocolate cake served with  a lovely berry coulis and mint vanilla ice cream. The cake was a rich smooth chocolate piece of heaven and the coulis brought a nice tart flavour. I am not a gluten-free person and avoid pastries that are as they are often tend to be dry, but Wild Rice did a fantastic job. It was moist and I would re-order this dessert. The mint in the ice cream completely overpowered the dessert, but it was a last minute substitute as they had run out of their vanilla bean ice cream. 

My PIC (partner in crime) @itsjosheats was there and I finally got to meet other Vancouver foodies: @pork_ninjas, @pekopekolife, @jaquelinehychui, @everydayisfoodday, @panda.dlights, @pearlthefoodie, and @vancityduo. 

I am looking forward to trying more new restaurants and hopefully my crazy big personality does not deter @vancitytastes from inviting me to future food events. 

BYES

disclosure: media tasting