...Blue Water Cafe (Yaletown, Vancouver)

Overall - 9/10
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Food - 9.5
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10

 

We love seafood. From an early age fresh fish, lobster, crab, oysters and shrimp were a part of special occasions at our Chinese dinner table. Most of the dishes were served simply: steamed with ginger, green onion and soy sauce allowing the subtle sweet seafood flavours to really shine. Since then, our appreciation for good seafood has only grown.  Our recent trip to Vancouver had us eagerly anticipating a seafood feast at one of the cities most highly regarded restaurants: The Blue Water Cafe.

Herbed butter and chickpea spread were the accompaniments to the bread rolls

Being so close to the coast we couldn't pass up the fresh selection of West Coast oysters. That evening included the Kusshi, Sawmill Bay and Kwakwala varieties with a raspberry mignonette, horseradish and lemons. Our favourite had to have been the Sawmill Bay which had a sweetness and smokey finish just as advertised on the menu.

We followed up the oysters with an offering from the sushi bar. We thought it was a wonderful idea to have an in-house sushi bar to take advantage of the amazingly fresh seafood at this restaurant. The Stamina Roll, full of fresh crab, BBQ eel and smoked salmon was among the best sushi rolls we have had in a long time. The rice was delicately seasoned with each grain cooked perfectly and the combination of crab and smoky fish were excellent.

The appetizer selection was quite extensive and instead of limiting ourselves to one dish each, we chose the seafood tasting for two. Small tastes of four of their feature appetizers were served on a dramatic tower and included a fresh crab, shrimp, jicama and mango salad; scallop ceviche; albacore tuna tartar and finally a smoked sockeye salmon terrine. Each dish had a unique flavour profile from the tart and refreshing scallop ceviche to our favourite, the fresh tuna tartar served over an impossibly crisp tempura fried nori strip.

Our main courses continued to impress. One of our favourite fishes is sable fish which has a wonderfully buttery and rich meat. The miso sake glaze added a nice sweetness to the savoury profile of the dish.  The only thing that we felt could be improved upon was the broth and bok choy which was relatively bland and limp in comparison to the fish itself.

 The special of the evening was a seared halibut served alongside roasted brussels sprouts, chanterelle mushrooms and lentils. This wonderful fall dish was full of warming earthy flavours perfect for the season.

 If you ever get the opportunity, we would highly recommend Blue Water Cafe in Yaletown, Vancouver.  It definitely lived up to our expectations and everything a high end seafood restaurant should be.

Read More

...Hog Island Oyster Co. - San Francisco Oyster Bar

Overall - 9/10
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Food - 9/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10

Our week spent in San Francisco back in May seems like ages ago. The standout meal that we remember very fondly to this day was our lunch at the Hog Island Oyster Company located in the historic Ferry Building. It must have been the amazingly fresh seafood served next to the beautiful views of San Francisco Bay that make us think back to this meal so often. This casual eatery is popular amongst visitors and locals alike and does not take reservations.  We were very excited for this meal, so we milled about the entrance an hour prior to the opening at 11am to ensure we got a table especially since we had Baby S in tow. Our over eagerness paid off and we found ourselves at the head of a line that wound itself down the boardwalk 30 minutes before the doors even opened.

We started our lunch off with a half dozen of the freshest pacific and atlantic oysters we've ever had. They were served perfectly chilled with a shallot mignonette and lemons. The bread served alongside was sourced from the Acme Bakery next door and was your quintessential crusty sourdough loaf.

One of the specials that day was a marinated razor clam dish served with kumquats and fried crispy shallots. Razor clams are much more tender then their round shelled cousins but no less flavourful. This was our first time having a dish with kumquats as an ingredient but the sweet fruit and slightly bitter rind added a great complexity of flavour to each mouthful.

Next up was a bowl of steamed Quahaug clams with sausage. As expected, the clams were tender and fresh while the broth was rich and warming. Our attentive server was quite generous with the sour dough bread and ensured we had more than enough to mop up the delicious broth.

Our main dishes were the delicious seared piece of wild Alaskan salmon served with a sweet pea relish and crispy fried potatoes and a rustic seafood stew. These two dishes summed up what Hog Island Oyster Bar is all about; perfectly cooked fresh seafood and delicious but unpretentious flavours. The seared piece of salmon in particular was the most memorable due to how fresh and intensely flavoured the fish was without any hint of fishiness.

Hog Island Oyster Bar definitely has set the bar to which we now compare our future oyster bar/ casual seafood experiences. Stay tuned for our opinion on how our local Rodney's Oyster Bar stacks up!

Read More