mindless ramblings

Esther and I have been wanting to go the Cannery for the longest time, so my birthday was a good excuse to go there! It’s an interesting experience getting there, you have to drive into the Port of Vancouver and get buzzed into the port itself just to get to the restaurant. Once you get there though, it’s a nice building situated at the water’s edge.

The interior is really quite nice, it feels like a giant log cabin with a view that is just fantastic. Every seat in the house is able to get some kind of view, so not to worry if you end up far away from the windows, you’ll still be enjoying the view! I think coming slightly earlier (maybe 630 at this time of the year) to catch the sun setting would be just perfect.

The menu mainly consists of seafood dishes, although they do have steak, chicken and lamb. A nice touch was a customized menu with my name and birthday wishes on them, I’m sure they get a lot of anniversaries and birthdays so it’s probably something they do for everyone who mentions such occasions. The seafood on the menu is all sustainable, so don’t feel bad eating it… it is nice to see restaurants making efforts like this! I chose a lobster bisque to start, and went with the chef’s creation for my main, while Esther had a filet mignon and tiger prawns combo.

Lobster Oil
The Cannery makes a big deal out fo the fact that they have this special lobster oil. They even have a dedicated page about it on their website! After you place your orders, a server will arrive with some bread and 2 bottles. He will then proceed to explain that he is now serving you lobster oil mixed with balsamic vinegar. I must say it is actually quite good! We managed to clean up 3 fairly large pieces of bread thanks to the oil.

Lobster Bisque
Fancy presentation! First a large bowl (with a teeny piece of lobster in the middle) is placed in front of you. The server then proceeds to scoop soup out of a aluminium container into the bowl. Why they don’t just serve the soup directly in the bowl is beyond me, but I suppose it adds to the perceived level of service. The soup itself was tasty, I just wish there was more lobster in it.

Chef’s Creation
This was a combination of wild coho salmon and halibut in a dijon cream sauce, with a couple of miniscule prawns, garlic mashed potatoes and veggies. I liked the halibut over the salmon, which tasted a bit too fishy for me. The halibut was nice though, very soft and less flaky than the halibut at Go Fish. The rest of the dish was solid if unspectacular. The carrots were surprisingly tender and sweet though.

Filet Mignon and Tiger Prawns
The filet mignon was good! The beef was cooked exactly the way we wanted it (medium rare), and it was topped with some buttery thing. The tiger prawns were pretty average though. Not the biggest prawns and we didn’t find them all the good. Nothing wrong with them, just not up to our expectations I suppose. I’d give the prawns a skip next time.

We ended off with some dessert. One thing that we found really weird is that they place the dessert menu in front of you without asking if you want dessert… kinda rude if you ask me but I suppose it helps their bottom line. We got this selection of desserts from the pastry chef that was… interesting. There was a raspberry tiramisu which tasted nothing like tiramisu to me, peppermint ice cream on a edible spoon which was not bad, and a strawberry salsa which was just chopped strawberries and mint leaves. I also got a chocolate mousse cake thingy for my birthday but it was just too heavy for me to finish off.

Overall it was a wonderful evening. Great company, food, service and view all came together for a most pleasant experience. However, now that I have finally gone to the trouble of getting there and having a meal, I’m not sure if I would do it again. The prices aren’t all that cheap and I’d personally rather try all the other places that I want to before heading back. Not their fault though, and if you haven’t been there you really should check it out!