For the Love of...: ...Blue Water Cafe (Yaletown, Vancouver)

Overall - 9/10
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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.