Oakridge Park and the Fairmont Pacific Rim have partered to feature a new pop up concept – Picnic in the Park. This experience offers a menu of gourmet picnic baskets paired with refreshing summer sips. This is the perfect experience to enjoy on their sunny patio space that features daily live music performances. The baskets feature a menu of delectable sandwiches and accoutrements including house-made pasta salad, fresh red pepper dip, crudité, and freshly baked cookies. The perfect selection for patio dining or to take-away while exploring the city. The Pac Rim Park Patio is open daily from 11:30 a.m. till 8:00 p.m. with a full food and beverage menu and live music. Check out my full review of the Picnic in the Park experience below.
Oakridge Park x Pac Rim Patio Pop Up – Picnic in the Park Baskets
The Pinic Basket for Two is $70 per basket and features your choice of two sandwiches from the following:
- Braised Beef Short Rib – caramelized onions, fontina cheese, roasted garlic aioli
- Organic Chicken Salad – apple, celery, cucumber, arugula
- Pork Schnitzel – shaved cabbage slaw, spiced mustard aioli
- Green Goddess Veggie – cucumber, avocado, sprouts, mint
We went with the Braised Beef Short Rib and Pork Schnitzel. The Braised Beef Short Rib was so tender and the carmelized onions were the perfect accompaniment. The bread was so soft with a nice toast and this was my personal favourite and recommendation.
The Pork Schnitzel had a sizeable piece of perfectly fried pork. The bun was so soft and contrasts well with the crispiness of the pork schnitzel. The cabbage slaw adds a nice freshness to an otherwise decadent sandwich.
All the baskets also include two mineral waters and the following:
- Summer Pesto Pasta Salad – sweet tomato, basil, parmesan
- Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Cheese Dip
- Farmers Market Vegetable Crudité
- Yukon Gold Sea Salt Potato Crisps
- Artisanal Pepperoni Sticks
- Valrhona Chocolate Chunk Cookie & Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie
The Summer Pesto Pasta Salad was light and refreshing with a strong basil flavour. The curls in the pasta held the sauce well and this was a generous portion.
The Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Cheese Dip was really flavourful and my second favourite item of the day. The dip is savoury with just a hint of smokiness. There’s also a slight tang which balances out the richness of the dip.
It goes so well with the vegetable crudité. The rainbow carrots were my favourite, but the vegetable selection was so colourful and varied! There were red and yellow bell peppers, cucumber, celery sticks and carrots.
The Pepperoni sticks have a strong fennel taste so if you’re not a fan of liquorice this may not be your preference. The cookies were a nice sweet treat to end a very filling picnic – my favourite was the Valrhona Chocolate Chunk Cookie.
Worth a Try?
Yes! The patio space is so cute and it’s really lovely dining on the picnic tables under the patio umbrellas. The Picnic basket set is really generous and can definitely feed 2-3 people comfortably. I went by on a chillier day but they had blankets readily available. I can definitely see this being a really fun summer activity once the weather warms up!
Oakridge Park x Pac Rim Patio Pop Up
Address: 1038 Canada Pl, Vancouver, BC V6C 0B9
Website: https://www.fairmontpacificrim.com/dine/patio/