From wine tastings to collaborative dinners with chefs from around the world, Dine Out Vancouver Festival has a packed full 17-day schedule of delicious events offering unique culinary experiences.
Ocean Wise is a global ocean conservation organization focused on protecting and restoring our world’s oceans. It started as a community based not-for-profit originating at the Vancouver Aquarium. Their mission is to inspire people in every corner of the planet to participate in creating healthy oceans. Ocean Wise has partnered with Tourism Vancouver to present a Sustainable Walking Tour featuring four Ocean Wise partner restaurants.
We started off the tour at Fanny Bay Oyster Bar. This flagship location is Vancouver’s only tide to table oyster bar and shellfish market. Fanny Bay Oysters joined the Ocean Wise Seafood program in 2010 as a shellfish producer partner.
Here we tried their Sablefish Collars. Traditionally these collars are cut and discarded, but Executive Chef Chris Andraza wanted to showcase these collars as they have a lot of really delicious meat left on the bones. He deep fries these soy marinated collars and serves it with lime and a punchy wasabi mayo. The crispy exterior from the fry was a nice contrast to the buttery smooth fish.
Our next stop took us to the newly re-branded Holts Café (formerly Colette Grand Café). Holts Cafv has a 100% Ocean Wise Seafood menu and they have been partners of the Ocean Wise Seafood program since 2016. Here we got to sample an entirely different preparation of sablefish.
The miso sablefish was one of the most unique preparations I’ve had. The peanut sauce was a surprising addition but the nuttiness of the sauce complemented the fish really well. I liked the rice cakes – they weren’t as chewy as mochi, but had a nice bite to them. A really excellent dish, that I will definitely come back for.
From Holts Café we headed over to Hula Poke in Yaletown. I’ve been to their food court location at Pacific Center many times, so I was excited to try out their first brick and mortar location in Vancouver. Hula Poke is a 100% Ocean Wise Seafood partner (all of the seafood items offered are recommended by Ocean Wise as an ocean-friendly option) and they have been a part of the program since 2018.
They prepared five of their main sellers for us to choose from – Yuzu, Tiki, Bahamian, Koko and Ancho.
There is a generous serving of kale which overwhelmed the fish and other ingredients a little. The kimchi added a nice fermented kick and really brightened up the whole dish. The base of this poke bowl was coconut rice, which is on the drier side but had a nice coconut aroma.
Our final stop was just a half block away at Minami Restaurant. Having recently dined there for their $45 Dine Out menu, I was excited to try their offering on this tour. Minami has been a partner of the Ocean Wise Seafood program since opening in 2012. Its sister restaurant Miku has been part of the program since 2009. They didn’t disappoint with their BC Albacore Tuna and Kaiso Seaweed Tartare.
This tartare was quite complex with a variety of ingredients, but it didn’t overwhelm the tuna at all. The wasabi crème fraîche added just the perfect punch of creaminess and intrigue to this dish. A must get appetizer at Minami.
This tour is sold out for 2020, but it’s one to keep an eye out for next year. We got four composed tasting plates that featured high quality ingredients and Ocean Wise seafood. I learned a lot during the tour about sustainable seafood and it was great to be an environment of like minded foodies, who love food and love our planet.
Great photos and commentary! Thanks so much for joining the event and indulging in the wonderful food offerings and learnings with us 🙂