One of the biggest reasons why I love Vancouver is that it truly is a food city. We have some truly world class restaurants and we are offered all sorts of international cuisine. Expert chefs take fresh ingredients and really do turn them into a work of art. Art that you can eat, that is.
That’s why I did not hesitate to take advantage of the Taste of Yaletown, which goes on until the end of the month. Much like the better known Dine Out Vancouver promotion, Taste of Yaletown collects a number of restaurants and gets them to offer a prix fixe three-course menu for $25, $35, or $45. It’s a more affordable way to try out some places that you may not have otherwise tried.
I decided to go to the Goldfish Pacific Kitchen on Mainland Street. It is a part of the Kanke Restaurant Group, which is also responsible for the Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House. Joe Fortes is perhaps best known for its fresh oysters, but there are lots of other places around Vancouver with great oysters too. With Goldfish (which also happens to be on Twitter; they tweeted me shortly after my visit), you get a little more Asian inspiration for the fusion-geared menu.
For instance, take a look at the king crab tempura pictured above. It was one of the appetizer options on the $35 set menu. The kicker is that the king crab is wrapped in bacon for extra savory goodness. The breading was nice and crunchy. My only complaint is that there was only one piece!
Another appetizer that we ordered was the tuna poke. This is basically a tartare-like dish with ahi tuna, hamachi, and chopped scallop. There were a couple of pieces that were a little too stringy, but the portion size was quite good and I enjoyed the flavor profile.
For my entree, I selected the Bison Flat Iron Steak. Since it was bison, I fully expected the meat to be very lean and that’s exactly what I got. It wasn’t quite as tender as some bison that I’ve had in the past and it would have been nice to get a couple more pieces, but the overall taste was just fine. Ironically enough, the highlight of the dish were the “smashed” potatoes underneath. I think there were some chopped up shiitake mushrooms in there.
As our other main dish, Susanne selected the Prawn Gomiti Pasta. There was a definite “bite” to the spicy coconut sauce, making for a Thai-inspired pasta dish. There were about a half dozen prawns buried in there, and while there was enough sauce to go around, the presentation left something to be desired. It looks too plain and simple to be offered at a place like Goldfish.
For dessert, we ordered the chocolate lava cake, as well as the white chocolate and jasmine creme brule. The chocolate lava cake was very rich, as expected, so it’s good that they provided a scoop of vanilla ice cream to accompany it. The creme brule had a nice crisp “brule” top and you could definitely taste the white chocolate in the custard below.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience at the Goldfish Pacific Kitchen. Service was fantastic, the ambience was cool, and the food was quite great. I’ll be back.
All the food looks real good Michael. I’m sure you enjoyed the Bison, it has a very light game flavor from the few I’ve had. Not as gamy as some Venison I’ve had in the past.
A lot of people don’t know how to make poke well. The sushi place I frequent here in Sarasota does a very good Spicy Tuna poke served with White Tuna Sashimi on the side.
I really like a lot of these tartare-like dishes. I had some venison tartare the other night that was very good too. Not too gamey.
I’m glad you didn’t share your earlier concerns in order for me to do my own review of Goldfish. I had a great time when I went there, but I can totally see your point here. It must be REALLY frustrating when a restaurant delivers good stuff at times and bad stuff at times. I had a similar experience with other restaurants.