***½~ (3.5/5)

I’ve known about Goldfish Pacific Kitchen as it has been in the Taste of Yaletown for the past few years. I finally got to go for my mom’s and brother’s joint birthday dinner. As we arrived we noticed that they had an engagement party completely with bunny ears. Anyway, the restaurant looks really cool and trendy. The decor is really nice, and the restaurant is actually quite big. I think they had an outdoor room in the back with white sofas…or at least it looked open.

Goldfish has a 3-course set price menu for $28 between 5PM – 6:30PM (I believe it was $25 a few months ago). They also have happy hour between 4-6PM on weekdays.  I decided to try out other stuff on the menu, while the rest of my family went for the prix-fixe.

We ordered drinks to start. I copied my brother and dad and got Tiger beer from Singapore. It came with what seemed like chilled glasses, but once we got it, it seemed pretty warm. Cool, but not ice cold. It made the beer taste crappier. I wasn’t a fan. They had a bunch of cocktails that seemed good, but I didn’t order it this time.

Anyways for my meal, I started the Pulled BBQ Duck Spring Rolls ($12) which came with nuoc cham, fresh mint, and butter lettuce. For my main I ordered the Korubata Pork Ravioli ($25). The spring rolls were nice and crispy and fresh from the fryer. I think it came with 3 rolls cut in half diagonally. I’m not really too sure what was in the dipping sauce (nuoc cham), but it was very, very mild. I’ve noticed that restaurants are using butter lettuce even more now (also at Hapa Izakaya) for wraps. I guess they are better because they aren’t as hard/crisp as other lettuces. They are better used for wrapping, as they are pretty tender and soft, but also can keep its curved shape. I’m grateful they cleaned the leaves, but they didn’t do a very good job of drying the leaves. So I was instructed to wrap the the spring roll in the lettuce, and place a mint leaf inside, and dip in the sauce. The flavour of the spring roll itself was good, and when combined with everything on the plate it added a few more layers of flavour, even though the sauce didn’t add too much.

My Ravioli was quite different. You could definitely see the fusion going on here as you had ravioli in a coconut cream type of sauce. It came with 4 pieces of ravioli. The pasta dough seemed a bit different than regular Italian pasta dough. The coconut curry sauce was really good, and had a bit of spiciness to it which I enjoyed. The ravioli was stuffed with pulled kurobuta pork and very tender. Nice asian fusion here.

I wanted to try some stuff on the dessert menu like the Vietnamese Coffee Cheese Cake, the Toasted Cocnut Tart, and the Warm Banana Spring Rolls with Lychee mint salad. Thankfully I didn’t, because the Spring Rolls have a cashew butter in it (says the online menu)..I was going to come back to give these a try. Uh, on second look, it seems like they changed the cashew butter with hazelnut on the menu at the restaurant. Maybe I can go back and try =).

For the fixed price menu:

- Appetizers: Soup of the Day (Tomato) or Wild Mustard Green Salad or Tuna Tataki
- Main: Fish and Chips or Shaken Wok Beef Tenderloin or Pan Roasted Artic Char or Maple Soy Chicken
- Dessert: Creme Brulee or Sorbet (Grape fruit)

I got to try the Shaken Wok Beef Tenderloin, and it was OK. Flavour was pretty nice, and the meat was fairly tender, but it could’ve definitely used some rice! It was just a plate of beef topped with bean sprouts, fried garlic, and bit of pepper for heat. I liked the fries with the Fish and Chips though. I also defied death again and tried some of the fish and chips (I can’t help myself recently). Since, I’m not very familiar with it, and since I just had a few slivers, I can’t really comment. The fish lightly battered, and wasn’t too crispy.

I was also able to try both desserts. I really wasn’t happy with the Sorbet. I don’t like grapefruit to start with, and this was no exception. It was tart, and had a pretty bitter after taste. They also forgot to bring the almond cookie, but we got it after asking. The brulee was tasty. Had a nice solid torched top, and a nice custard inside. The jasmine was very subtle.

Overall the staff was nice and friendly. The manager even liked talked with my almost 1 year old nephew as he was staring at the party with bunny ears. The food didn’t blow me away though. I’d come back on a night out for some drinks and dessert.

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Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
1118 Mainland St
Vancouver, BC

(604) 689-8318

http://www.goldfishkitchen.com

***~~ (3/5)

I was in Granville Island area this weekend on a beautiful sunny day, my friends and I decided to visit Go Fish Ocean Emporium for some fish n chips. The Go Fish Ocean Emporium is located just off Granville Island, and has made itself quite the popular fish n chips place.

We got there about an hour after their opening time at 12:30pm and there was already a line up to order food. We waited for about 15 minute to get to the front of the line. There were quite a few items on the menu and a lot of them sounded really good. We decided to get 2 pieces of Cod n Chips, an Oyster Po’ Boy, a Grilled Scallop sandwich, and a Seafood veggie chowder.

If you think this is a place to get a quick bite, think again on a weekend. We waited for another 25 minutes to get our food. We were sooo hungry by that time, and we were so ready to just stuff our face by then.

The Cod n Chips were served in a steam basket, which was a cleaver and unique presentation. The fries from the Cod n Chips were really tasty. They were well seasoned, crispy and soft on the inside. As for the fish, it also had a really nice crispy batter on the outside. The cod was well cooked, and it was pretty juicy.  The whole dish was good, but aside from the yummy fries, there was nothing special or super fantastic about it when compared to other places that sells decent fish n chips.

The fish & chips also came with their own version of coleslaw. the coleslaw had sesame dressing on it instead of mayo. It was different and lighter version of the regular coleslaw.

The Grilled Scallop Sandwich was one of their specials of the day. It was grilled scallops, topped with caramelized onions, mayo, lettuce and sweet chili sauce. The sandwich was alright. I couldn’t particularly taste the scallop because it was mostly masked by the sweet chili sauce, but the texture of the scallops was there.

The other sandwich we had was the Oyster Po’ Boy. A Po’ Boy is simply just another word for a sandwich. I originally was expecting deep fried oysters in the sandwich, but instead, it was just cooked oysters. The sandwich also had caramelized onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and I believe thousand island dressing (I could be wrong). It was a pretty good sandwich. It was flavorful, and you could definitely taste the oysters. It was the most flavorful item out of the ones we ordered. I still couldn’t stop thinking about how it’d taste with deep fried oysters, probably better because it’d have the crunch. But regardless, I still enjoyed the sandwich quite a bit.

The Seafood and Vegetable Chowder was another special item of the day. From the looks of it, it looked  more like a regular soup than a chowder. It wasn’t creamy, and it was tomato based. The soup was packed with vegetables, and a lot of fish. It the flavor wasn’t too overwhelming, it was light, very nice to eat on a sunny day.

The final verdict, I would return but only under the condition that I won’t have to line up.  Honestly, it was pretty regular. I did like their location. The location was great, it’s got a nice view, and a small patio for seating. It’s a great place to get a bite to eat on a sunny day, only when it’s not super busy.

Note: For weekends, expect constant line ups. If you don’t like to fight for seats, there’s a lot of space to sit and eat along the sea wall.

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Go Fish Ocean Emporium
1505 W 1st Ave
Vancouver, BC V6J
(604) 730-5040

***½~ (3.5/5)
I never really knew where the Cannery was. It’s actually in the Port of Vancouver and you have to go through a security gate to get in. Make sure you go in through the Clark Dr entrance off of Hastings. Ring the buzzer and tell them you are going to the Cannery and you should be let in without a problem. Go through the gate, and then turn left. My Garmin GPS had no clue what it was talking about, so I was lost for a good 15 minutes, and I found out you can’t get in through the other gates without a pass. The restaurant has a pretty big free parking lot.

The restaurant was very busy, and I think there were at least a couple Christmas parties there. The restaurant has two levels, and the place was packed. Our party had a group of about 25 people, and we chose the 2009 festive menu.I think it’s a bit of a ripoff to add $4-5 per person per extra choice of entrée or dessert. For our party that would’ve been an easy extra $100 or more.

The waiters were pretty attentive. Each table got a basket of bread, along with an oil and balsamic vinegar to dip. I asked my friends who got there before me why the oil was so orange. It turns out it was Lobster infused olive oil. I got a bit freaked out and slowed down because I didn’t wanna die. It was pretty good though. Whenever we ran out of bread or oil and vinegar, someone came right along to give us more. It seemed like they had a waiter there who specifically poured the lobster oil and balsamic vinegar only.

For our 3 course meal, we got

the choice of two appetizers:

SELECTION OF YOUNG GREENS

Julianne apple, goat cheese, Hazelnut vinaigrette, toasted pumpkin seeds

CARROT GINGER SOUP

the choice of two entrées:

AGED ALBERTA AAA BEEF STRIP LOIN

Roasted shallot, thyme demi glaze

GRILLED PACIFIC SALMON FILLET PRAWN AND SCALLOP BROCHETTE

Orange miso glaze, ginger beurre blanc

a dessert:

BELGIUM CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CAKE

Preserved Abbotsford raspberry coulis

You probably know what I chose for my entrée. So, I started off with the Carrot Ginger soup, and it was basically just a puree of carrot. I hardly tasted the ginger at all, but it was a very mild carrot flavour also. It wasn’t completely smooth, as it had some texture to it still. It was good for a bit, but I didn’t feel like finishing the entire cup.

For my main course, I got the AAA Beef Strip Loin which was served with a tiny scoop of mashed potatoes, and some roasted vegetables like red peppers, zucchini, and bok choy. It wasn’t that big of a piece of steak but it was good, and the sauce complimented it well. I ordered mine medium rare and it was cooked perfectly. My one big gripe was that the steak knives were duller than butter knives! It took a lot of effort to cut each bite. Each of the three guys at my table who ordered the steak agreed, but we all liked the steak.

For the seafood dish it was inconsistent. The girls at our table were saying that the salmon was a bit dry. But the same dish at another table said that it wasn’t dry and that it was really good. It came with the same vegetables, but I’m not sure if it had mashed potatoes. It also came with a skewer or two of prawns and scallops, which I heard was pretty good.

The dessert was OK. I’m not that big of a fan of chocolate cake. After I finished it I wasn’t overly full, so I guess the meal was just the right size.

Overall I believe I paid $66 for my 3 course meal and a glass of Pinot Noir that our waiter paired with my steak.

For a party of 27 it was a bit hard to manage eating there. The space between our tables wasn’t very big, and there were always waiters walking around. It was very hard to take pictures without being interrupted by a server trying to get through.  I know for sure that my friends would go back because there were so many seafood dishes on the menu that look good. However for me, I probably wouldn’t because it is mainly a seafood restaurant. However, if you want to go, you’ll have to go soon because the Cannery is closing for good sometime in March.

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The Cannery Seafood Restaurant
2205 Commissioner Street
Vancouver, BC V5L
(604) 254-9606
http://www.canneryseafood.com