Washington Avenue Grill By: Lezah Williamson

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Visit Washington Avenue Grill

I went out last night with a couple of friends to the Washington Avenue Grill in White Rock. It was kind of a special occasion - one of my friends is moving away, so a farewell dinner of sorts. She's a White Rock native, so we left the choosing of the venue up to her. She couldn't have made a better choice.

The Washington Avenue Grill is on the far east end of White Rock beach. This a a good thing for a number of reasons: easy access to the freeway; free parking; its situated right in Semiahmoo Park, right across the water from the twinkling lights of Blaine. And if that's not enough, the restaurant is situated in the top floor of a 1913 heritage building with tons and tons of character. Our table was out on the enclosed patio, which in turn is draped in muslin. It gives on the feel of eating in one of those fabulously fancy but extremely temporary enclosures that top chefs like Jamie Oliver might throw up in the middle of a field in order to showcase some of his protégés.

The food was fantastic, too. I started with a Prawn, Scallop and Goat Cheese salad with spinach, strawberries and a red wine shallot vinaigrette. Next I chose, from the small plates menu, the Maui Flatiron steak with julienned pomme frites. The salad was great and I loved the steak - it was superb. The pomme frites, I felt, were perhaps julienned a little too small - or else cooked a little too long. But they weren't too bad. To finish, we shared a chocolate fondue that had a variety of pastries for dipping, as well a sliced bananas and strawberries. It was sublime. Altogether, it was a fantastic meal, and the setting was lovely.

I highly recommend it.