Bistro 101 at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts had a $18 Dine Out Menu and it proved to be very popular, the dinner hours booking solid on the first day the Dine Out Menus were released. I've been wanting to go back ever since we went last year, and this time, we invited our parents along.

I liked the look of the Dine Out menu and in addition to this you can ask your server if there are any specials that day. When we went, we could order a chicken dish as the main if we wanted to.

Like always, we get a complimentary bread basket and this time there were a lot more varieties of bread: baguette, brioche, sun dried tomato focaccia, cheese sticks, and a whole bunch more. I loved them all but especially the brioche. It was light and airy and so delicious! We polished the basket off in no time and was asked if we wanted a second. Hurray! More brioche!

With the bread basket, came three types of flavoured butter: sun dried tomato, chive and Parmesan.

As an amuse bouche, we were given scallop bruschetta with lemon zest. We all agreed that this tasted amazing!

BC Scallop with apple cider infused beet puree and micro kale salad

Mom chose the scallops for her appetizer but said the amuse bouche tasted better. lol

Yukon Gold Clam Chowder with homemade naan stick

K said the clam chowder was good but nothing special.

West Coast Seafood Cake - with fennel and arugula salad and mustard seed cream

I knew my mom would go for the scallops so I went with something different. I decided to try the West Coast Seafood Cake instead. It was pretty good, made up mostly of salmon.

Steelhead Trout en Croute with eggplant ragout and braised winter greens

On to the mains, my mom had the Steelhead Trout and gave some for me to taste and really liked it! It was cooked perfectly.

Pilsner Braised Boneless Short Rib with caramelized roots and pearl onions

Dad had the short rib but didn't find it amazing. He said it was a little salty.

Pan-roasted Duck Breast with rosemary gnocchi

I had the duck bread with gnocchi and it was delicious. I wasn't too fond of the sourness of the sauce but overall the plate was great.

Poached Pear and Amaretto Tart with Candied Ginger Ice Cream

Mom chose the poached pear tart and it looked amazing. She enjoyed eating it too.

Torrone Semifreddo with rum syrup

K and dad had the semifreedo. They seemed to like it.

Chocolate Cardamom Truffle Cake with coffee essence

Mmm truffle cake. The sauce tasted like coffee. It didn't really look that nice plated like that. But appearances, aside, the cake was deeelish!

At $18, the meal was well worth it. Their usual cost for a three course meal is just $24, which is still a good deal! Great place to eat good food at low cost. Always worth the repeat visit!

Here was their $18 Dine Out menu:

Appetizer

Entree

Dessert