A report from a recent trip to Vancouver BC.
Susan & I were thrilled to get the chance for a little getaway to our wonderful neighbor to the north. This was quite a treat as the Tulip Festival has exploded through the door since an almost total lack of winter to slow spring’s arrival. We set up shop in our always trust worthy friend, the ever affordable Sylvia Hotel. Not only does it offer a ridiculously awesome location(English Bay and Stanley Park) but they love our dog Rocky aka The Rock Star. It was pretty much a wide open faucet of a rain storm so we spent a lot of time looking for places to eat. This of course was fine with me!
Getting into the city we made a bee line for one of our favorite spots and could scarcely believe our eyes. Bo Kong, the Buddhist Chinese restaurant had been shuttered! We have had many strange and wonderful meals there and were dismayed to see it go. There was a sign that they were just renovating but there was a different name on the door so we’ll see, perhaps another trip will bring a happy result.
For our first evening we settled on A Kettle of Fish for dinner. This place has been on our radar for a while, coming highly recommended by a Vancouver friend so it was off we went swimming through the dark flowing streets. There are a lot of seafood restaurants in Vancouver of all types. From Eurocentric, Chinese, Japanese some of the best seafood oriented dining on the west coast is in Vancouver. An example is the memory of a celebration meal a few years back at C restaurant, simply a wonderful dining experience. This level of excellence came at a price, a BIG price which wasn’t our market for this evening. What we found at A Kettle of Fish was top notch local seafood at a comparatively reasonable price. The room is a romantic atrium with full trees spreading there leaves against the rain pelted glass. A simple dish of mussels steamed in cream with Sambuca had a slight smokiness. Plump, fresh and succulent, I just spooned the delicious broth up with a shell! Second was a local seafood Paella. This tasty sampler featured a Qualicum Bay Scallop, Albacore Tuna, Black Cod, Sockeye, Spot Prawn & Mussels nested in a pool of creamy carnaroli rice. Another aspect of this place that we noticed as a recurring theme was the all B.C. wine list. Many spots are big boosters of local wines. The Rain City Grill has been doing something like this since the early 90’s with its all west coast list. The trend seems to have caught on all over Vancouver. One draw back I felt was seeing many repeat appearances on different lists.
First thing the next morning we took the little foot ferry under the Burrard St. Bridge, across False Creek to Granville Island and headed to the food stalls in the public market. Mixed hot grain cereal with spiced fruits and brown sugar from The Stock Pot was just the thing to warm us up. If you haven’t checked it out The Stock Pot is a really cool spot. In addition to the supper cheap breakfast they have daily hearty soup specials and all the basic stocks from Veg to Veal Demi-Glaze. They are all available to go which is really nice for home cooking when that recipe calls for 2 cup of veal stock or whatever. Every thing is made from scratch.
It was then off to find the Artisan Sake Maker! This took some persistence as the maps for Granville Island are oddly confusing. Fighting through the storm was well worth the revelation that a waited. Out of his tiny shop Masa Shiroki brews a batch of sake four times a year with each season. This is the only small batch sake made in Canada. Junami Nama Genshu is the first free run sake. This is a very aromatic wine with tropical fruit, dry and very robust; this wine will really open your taste buds to what sake is all about. There are two other wines made by successive amounts of lees pressing, resulting in a cloudy Junami Nama Nigori and the lightest of the three Junami Nama. A taste of all three is $5 bucks and totally worth it. Each wine offers something different. You’re going to want all three.
After getting back to the hotel and drying poor little water logged Rocky off, and much deliberation we settled on Octopus&rsquoSQL_INJECTION_ATTEMPTd the necessary contrast to all the creaminess giving you a mouthful of powerful briny ocean flavor. I loved it! Next was the big deal; Sashimi. As with all the food we saw the garnishes were living seasonal plants like Salmon Berry branches, Camelias & Magnolias. Fanned on a scallop shell were the lighter fare, Snapper & Calamari Roll which was suggested we dip in a little pot of Ponzu sauce. Then separately we enjoyed, Himachi, Sockeye, Toro (fatty Tuna belly) with gold leaf, Geoduck, Spot Prawns (with the head) and Saba (Mackerel). Sada, our chef and host, not the fish noticed me sucking out the heads of the prawns, so these came back deep fried which I happily crunched down. The Wasabi was the real thing, ground on shark skin. Over all this was the best Sashimi Susan and I have ever had. Next, yes incredibly there was a next, was the Lobster Roll. A whole tempura Lobster tail rolled with Mango and Avocado. This was rich, opulent and decedent. By this point we were defiantly reaching our limit. Last was a house made Sesame Green Tea sorbet that was a bit like a frozen Halva. All in all this was superlative Sushi served in a warm a friendly atmosphere. If you like sushi, go to Octopus’ Garden.
Before we reluctantly left our urban get away we decided to try a little whole in the wall we had noticed just around the corner called Acacia Fillo Bar Café. This turned out to be a surprisingly sunny little spot with very warm nice folks. They feature a Bulgarian fillo dish called Banitsa or Banitza. There are different options but the Spinach and Sirene (a sort of feta) sounded good to Susan. What you get is an incredibly light not greasy Pizza like slice of tubes of the filling rolled in Fillo. We had never heard of it and it was delicious. I enjoyed poached Eggs with wild Mushrooms and Spinach on a toasted muffin with a Yogurt sauce. This was wonderfully honest delicious food at very reasonable price. When you find a spot like this your heart warms. It feels as if there is a reassuring order to things, like things are going to be OK.
We sure are looking forward to our next trip, so many delicious discoveries to share with you!
