Little did I know, David took that to heart and bought me tickets to surprise me! (Who says he doesn't listen...?)
On Friday, June 19, David and I dropped Sherlock off at my mom and dad's for a play date with Shadow and we took off with plans to go to the Flying Pig Yaletown for dinner and then head to the show.
If you know me, you know I like when things go according to plan, and I have a STRONG dislike when they do not. Naturally, things could not be perfect, as traffic was horrifying and it took us 45 minutes to get from Willingdon exit on Highway 1 to Downtown. As it crept closer and closer to showtime, and we seemingly crept farther and farther from our destination, we realized we may have to change our dinner plans, much to my chagrin.
I grabbed my phone to do some googling, popped an Ativan to keep me "level" (I will post more on struggles with anxiety another time), and made our decision.
Chambar it is! We will park close to QE and head down there for a quick bite.
After a few loops around the block as we missed the parkade entrance, we didn't arrive at Chambar until 45 minutes before show-time. Not a lot of time for a fancy dinner! When we got there, we told them we were going to the show starting in 45 minutes and were informed it would be a 20 minute wait... UGH! That really leaves us no time to enjoy our meal!
*Good thing I took my chill pill*
We waited...and waited... and had our whole orders pre-planned before we sat down (because I like planning, remember?). Lucky for us, Chambar waiters are used to us rushed Vancouverites, and our service was impeccable; as was our meal.
What did we eat?
- Pain du jour - Fresh baked bread, whipped butter
- Scampi - Harissa prawns, preserved lemon, herb salad (we got 2 orders of this)
- Fromages - Selection of cheese, condiments
What did we drink?
- Chardonnay/Viognier/Riesling; Poplar Grove 'Companion; 2013 Okanagan Valley
- Cabernet Franc; Catena 'San Carlos'; 2012 Mendoza Argentina
Our mostly eaten cheese plate. I panicked realizing I didn't take a picture of it before we demolished most of it.
Our favorite part of dinner was the cheese plate. All the cheeses were purchased at Benton Bros on Granville Island. With the crackers/chips, the plate included:
- 3 year Aged Gouda paired with candied almonds, walnuts and pecans
- Triple Creamed Brie paired with some thinly sliced cucumbers
- Double Truffle Brie paired with syrupy strawberries
- Double Creamed Brie paired with fig jam
- **Blue Cheese paired with caramelized onion jam**
**this one was my favorite even though I typically don't like blue cheese! It must have been the blend of the earthy, pungent cheese, the full-bodied wine, and the sweet onion jam.**
DELICIOUS! If you read my first post, you know that wine and cheese is my love language. I was in heaven.
After we paid our bill it was off to the show! I was giddy with excitement. Last year Janine took me to see Wicked at the QE, and we enjoyed it so much and had such a great time that I took my dad to see it again for Father's day/his birthday! Janine and I went again to the QE in December to see the Nutcracker. Live theatre has always impressed me, and I would love to continue to go to shows like this when I can.
The Lion King is rated a 5 star show, and is considered a must-see classic by many theatre critics. I can't blame them! I loved every minute of it.
Highlights:
- The costume design and set decoration was very impressive. I wasn't sure how they would have humans come across as safari creatures, but they did an amazing job, complete with life sized elephants and frolicking antelope
- They stayed very true to the movie, with quotes and general tone, which made it extra enjoyable for those who have seem the movie dozens of times
- Timon, Pumbaa and Zazoo were wonderful and welcome comedic relief, as expected
- Rafiki was as brilliant, crazy and unpredictable as one could dream
- I LOVE the Lion King soundtrack, so hearing all the songs again accompanied with the spectacle was very exciting for me
Lowlight (if you can call it that):
- I, personally, felt Scar could have been more evil. I've seen the movie and listened to the soundtrack so many times, I know every inflection and speech pattern of the Disney Scar, so I had a certain image in my brain. The Broadway Scar was excellent, but had a more sarcastic, sociopathic(is that a word?)/flat evil tone.
No pictures or video allowed during the show, but this gives you an idea of our view of the stage, and the Safari- feel at the QE before the show.
I would always encourage folks to go see a live theatre show, but I would DEFINITELY recommend seeing The Lion King if you can. Worth every penny, and it's a wonderful date night. It also makes you (or maybe just me) feel cultured and fancy.
Thanks for reading!
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