Restaurants
Vancouver's 10 Best Meals - continued
published Mar 3, 2010
We asked 10 food lovers what meals they most vividly recalled from the past year, and received wonderfully varied responses. Consider their suggestions a primer for your next evening out
Marine Corps
My one and only New Years' resolution for 2009 was to enjoy more fish, and my favourite meal of the year is a tasty testament to that resolve. Top dishes included Cioppino's delicate, intense applewood-smoked yellowfin tuna carpaccio, moistened with the most invigorating lemony dressing. The campachi tuna melts in the mouth, the lemon citronette electrifies, and a glass of crisp Greco completes the experience. The fish I love most, though, is sablefish (Oceanwise, of course), and Cactus Club's Rob Feenie's crispy-tender sake-soy-marinated rendition was sublime. The ample cut floats in exotic dashi broth with shiitake mushrooms, fingerling spuds, and crunchy asparagus, and begs for a B.C. Gewürztraminer. - DJ Kearney
Cioppino's 1133 Hamilton St., 604-688-7466. Cioppinosyaletown.com
Cactus Club Various locations. Cactusclub.com
Small Wonder
It was the type of meal every restaurant critic dreams about. I arrived at DiVino Wine Bar with no expectations and left in a daze of utter amazement. From pillowy pan-fried gnocchi filled with pure ripened goat cheese to a delicately swollen molten-chocolate soufflé that gushed a river of hot, thick, dark chocolate when pierced, chef Jefferson Alvarez seduced me with every bite. I knew this unassuming Commercial Street boîte was up to something different as soon as I spied a reserve wine list stacked with vintage Krug, Château Margaux, Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and numerous other trophy bottles. Even though the wines were priced unbelievably low (as a public gift of sorts from the owner's private cellar), the extravagance seemed oddly out of place in this small, unpretentious room. But then I sank my teeth into a soft slice of duck confit on toasted brioche spread with buttery foie gras mousse and studded in sour cherries, followed by a mouthwatering belly of nouvelle Chinois Wuxi-style pork gently crusted in a tingly riot of exotic spices. Ah, I said to myself. This is a perfectly decadent, deliciously eclectic pairing. I've since returned to taste Chef Alvarez's truffle foam on oxtail ravioli, nitro-frozen Tattinger champagne sorbet, and other modern molecular creations (all whipped up in a narrow box of a kitchen smaller than you'd find in most Yaletown condos). But I still can't get over that first dinner that took me so completely by surprise. - Alexandra Gill
DiVino 1590 Commercial Dr., 604-258-0005. Divinovancouver.com
Southern Comfort
My most memorable meal had none of the earmarks of traditional fine dining. It was May 7, and chef Robert Belcham (of then-called Fuel Restaurant, now the more casual ReFuel) had scored the first local spot prawns of the season from Steve Johansen at Organic Ocean a day before any other restaurant in the city. His plan? A good old-fashioned Southern Boil-no candlelight, no cutlery, no plates. I was lucky enough to secure one of the 12 seats at the bar. We watched in anticipation as Belcham dropped pounds of live, twitching prawns just hours out of the water into an aromatic court bouillon with smoked chorizo. Moments later, he strained the broth and dumped the contents of the enormous pot all over the bar. We tore into these bright pink delicacies with our bare hands, exposing the firm, sweet flesh, and shovelled them into our maws with abandon. We paused only to grab our pints of R&B Raven Cream Ale with juice-slicked fingers, or to jolt our palates with the odd hunk of chorizo. It was messy, uncivilized, and absolutely glorious. - Chris Gonzalez
ReFuel 1944 W. Fourth Ave., 604-288-7905. Refuelrestaurant.com
Just Desserts
In food, as in physics, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. With many chefs (not to mention us punters) collectively sighing with relief over the passing of molecular gastronomy, it seems like 2009 was all about getting back to basics. The beakers were sent back to the lab and the edible paper was composted. And if it looked exactly like a fried egg, it probably was. To whit, chef Neil Taylor of Cibo Trattoria and his deliciously low tech and delightfully honest semifreddo (translation, "half cold"). No fancy machinery here: this ice cream-like dish dates back to 19th-century Italy, and requires a double boiler, a whisk, and some room in the freezer. In Taylor's richly textured version, soft, creamy goodness gives way to crunchy praline and sweet, chewy chunks of pistachio nougat. The partially whipped then frozen cream is soft but just firm enough to hold all of the other textures in each bite. Unlike gelato, semifreddo doesn't use water to create that frozen sensation in your mouth, just silky smooth, melting butterfat. I'll take that over fish-flavoured candy floss to cap off a meal any day of the week. - Murray Bancroft
Cibo 900 Seymour St., 604-602-9570. Cibotrattoria.com
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From the pictures shown, the menu is a very inviting my tastes. But I've never felt all that, I think that is very nice. So far I only feel the steak.
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I've never been to this restaurant, but I've heard from people that restaurant It provides meals very tasty. I can not wait to try it.
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Restaurants should have to bear in mind that they are ought to provide a healthy food among their customers. It's not enough to be delicious but be very particular to its nutritional value.Kentucky Fried Chicken must be demolished. I think in the pursuit of this "low carb" business many people have gone completely too far with the meat sandwich idea (sans buns) and have used it as the inspiration for some serious evil. Really – the KFC Double Down is ridiculous. Sandwiching bacon and cheese between two fried (or grilled) chicken patties is just grosse. Each and every time somebody thinks about buying that, another cardiologist knows he'll never need payday cash advances. You basically are buying a doctor a new Mercedes and renewing his country club membership when you eat something like that.
