Q4 Restaurant – Dine Out Vancouver 2013

So how long has it been since we last visited Q4? Well, the last time we were here, it was still known as Quattro on Fourth… speaking of which, it was still located on 4th at the time. Rebranded a few years ago, Q4 is now located about 5 blocks south from the original location but it’s still serving up tasty Italian fare.

Our meal began with soft bread served with evoo and balsamic vinegar for dipping… a dangerous combination with the white tablecloths.

The Q4 Meatballs ($13) on the regular menu looked appetizing so I added an order of the blended veal, beef, and pork meatballs covered with a marsala tomato pomodoro sauce and fontina gratin. The meatballs themselves were juicy and I loved how the fontina melted.

The tender Calamari Ceviche was served with frisee, sundried tomatoes, olives, chorizo, artichoke and drizzled with lemon evoo.

Equally tender was the Braised Tripe served on a bed of creamy parmesan polenta. I would have enjoyed it more if there was more tripe to the dish. Unlike the tripe that you get at dim sum, the tripe in this dish was super soft and not the least bit chewy.

The Pork Belly Cacciatorre came with a large serving of veggies and a tomato ragout over crispy potato gnocchi. My only complaint about this dish is that it lacked variety in texture. Usually, I expect pork belly to come with a bit of crispness to parts of it. Also, the “crispy” potato gnocchi really wasn’t crispy at all. I could see on some pieces where it had been grilled up but it didn’t create a crisp skin. Instead, it turned the usually pillowy soft morsels into something that was too dense and chewy.

The Braised Short Ribs was served with roasted seasonal vegetables, creamy polenta and natural jus and tasted pretty good but I suppose it was a bit lacking in textural depth and wasn’t as interesting as I would have liked it to be. I heard that the Seared Snapper with frutti di mare was really good though so maybe that would have been a better choice.

I think the desserts at Q4′s Dine Out were better than the ones we had recently at The Oakwood.

Who doesn’t love a Chocolate Brownie? Served with a caramel sauce and housemade vanilla gelato, it’s definitely the safer choice between the two Dine Out desserts and the richness of the brownie is quite pleasing if not a bit heavy. Given how filling the rest of the meal was, it was a bit difficult to finish.

The description of the Ciliege Filate wouldn’t normally interest me because I’m generally not a big fan of sour cherries but I was quite happy with my selection (I asked our waiter how to pronounce this dish but after hearing it, I still couldn’t pronounce it). The phyllo pastry had a crisper/harder texture to it from being candied and it was layered with whipped cream mascarpone. I really enjoyed how the soft mascarpone played with the crisp phyllo and the cherries weren’t nearly as sour as I was expecting them to be.