Goldfish Pacific Kitchen | Yaletown, Vancouver
As part of a blogger marketing campaign, Marcelo and I recently had dinner at Goldfish Pacific Kitchen, a spacious, alive and sexy restaurant in Yaletown. From the time we walked in right up until we left, the service was fantastic - the hostesses, servers, kitchen and bussing staff were all attentive, friendly and efficient.Most important is the food, which focuses on seafood fusion. We ordered the prawn and chicken gyoza with ginger red vinegar ($9) to start. They were very tender, so much so that they tended to fall apart when you picked them up. Nevertheless, they were quite delicious and I'd order them again.
Marcelo is usually on the hunt for a restaurant that can cook a good ribeye steak. Goldfish's came with a brandy peppercorn sauce and mushroom risotto spring rolls ($35) - risotto spring rolls? That one sounded strange. I ordered the pan-roasted halibut with prawn meringue and baby bok choy served in a lemongrass broth ($26).
We have noticed that quite a few restaurants in the city underplay how large the portions are and always suggest ordering a "side dish". The servers often say the main doesn't come with much more than a tiny "garnish". We should have known better, but went ahead and ordered the pan-roasted corn with green chilies and cilantro ($8) and the hand-cut fries with lemongrass-scented ginger aioli ($6).
It turned out that both mains were quite substantial. Underneath my tasty piece of halibut was a healthy amount of bok choy - enough to complete the meal. The first few sips of the lemongrass broth were quite spicy (and I love spicy), but I felt it sort of overpowered the fish. Overall, the fish was cooked well and the dish had nice flavors.
Marcelo's medium-rare ribeye steak was a delicious cut of meat that was cooked perfectly. We both did not like the two risotto-stuffed spring rolls that accompanied it though. While we appreciate fusion cuisine, we thought this one was taken way too far. In our opinion, spring rolls and risotto just aren't meant to be friends. It seems wrong. (I bet the eyeballs of a certain Italian I know would pop out of his head if he reads this.) The risotto was mushy and competed with the flavor from the oil in the wrapper. I always admire the restaurant that keeps their menu simple and is able to nail each component. We both would have preferred a small side of perfectly-cooked risotto to dig our forks into.
The presentation for each plate was quite nice but the disappointing part was there was just too much food. We are not light eaters?but the additional sides were not necessary as the mains were generous enough. However, we both loved both the fries and the spicy pan-roasted corn. The sad part is that there was absolutely no room for dessert.
Overall, dinner at Goldfish was very pleasant. We'll visit Goldfish again, but will make a mental note to order less. Try it out for yourself.
Tagged as: [ culinary restaurants review vancouver ]
Posted by Kimberley Slobodian on July 14, 2008
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