Travelzoo’s annual Restaurant Month is back and they’re bringing in some delicious deals for diners for the month of March.
Seaside Provisions is located inside the new Seaside Hotel in North Vancouver’s Shipyard district. All the dishes feature local and regional ingredients as much as possible. The restaurant is easily accessible by transit (we took the Seabus), but there is plenty of parking available on site as well.
For Travel Zoo Restaurant Month, Seaside Provisions is offering two options: an $85 option (regular price $125) shared seaside experience dinner or the $150 option (regular price: $200) which includes their seafood tower. Both options come with a cocktail each or a bottle of wine to share, followed by tea or coffee. We went with $150 option.
The restaurant was bustling when we arrived early evening and it stayed busy throughout our stay. The room was beautifully appointed with natural wood throughout and a gorgeous magnificent raw bar near the back of the restaurant.
We started off with a warm hunk of sourdough from Lift Bakery. The crust was chewy giving way to a soft fluffy interior. It was the perfect vehicle for the delicious whipped butter featuring tamari. Tamari is a thicker fermented soy sauce and the umami flavour worked well with the hearty bread.
Jamón Ibérico is a cured ham made from Black Iberian breed pigs and is typically produced in Spain and Portugal. This paired well with the sourdough, as the bread helped offset the saltiness of the ham.
The burrata was smooth and creamy, but I felt the white anchovies overpowered the delicate taste of the cheese. The salty brininess of the the anchovies was the dominant flavour and the chive oil and tomato flavours were lost. The grilled sourdough was a nice accompaniment with a good char flavour.
The Seafood Tower was an impressive two tiered affair. The tower features Kushi Oysters accompanied by chili oil vinaigrette, ponzu and and meyer lemon in cute little droppers. There was also a cute little flower pot of crudites, olives, pickled pearl onions, a red pepper dip and tortilla chips to round out the top layer.
The bottom tier featured mussels in chili oil, crab croquettes, tuna ceviche, razor clam conserva, and lobster rolls.
The stand out for the top tier was the oysters. They were fresh and shucked well, but I found myself missing a punchy mignotte and horseradish.
The bottom tier standouts was the crab croquettes and lobster rolls. The croquettes were fried well and full of crab. The lobster rolls were stuffed with a delicious shrimp and lobster filling that wasn’t too heavy on the mayo. The bread roll was soft and buttered – the stand out dish on the tower.
I found the other dishes on the tower to be overwhelmingly fishy and salty. The tuna ceviche in particular was drowning in a soy based dressing. The mussels like wise had a slight fishy taste as well.
Shortly after we were served with the main course. The three dishes were presented on three tiers – similar to a high tea tower.
The quarter hen was moist and juicy with a good flavour from the lemon. The crispy potatoes was the definite stand out for me. The exterior was fried and gave way to a soft and fluffy interior. The garlic aioli was delicious and the spicy tomato added a nice punch to the dish.
In my opinion this was not wagyu beef as advertised on the menu. It was quite tough and the flavour was lacking. There was no salsa verde as described, so the dish was lacking flavour overall. This was the weakest dish of the trio of entrees served.
The squid was grilled and was tender and flavourful. I enjoyed the large thick slices and it paired well with the quinoa tabbouleh. The tabbouleh was bright with a strong acidic kick that went really well with the charred flavour of the squid.
At this point we were positively stuffed but we ended the evening with two desserts and our choice of coffee or tea. The dessert options offered differed from what was posted on the menu, but they were delicious nonetheless. I was disappointed that the pavola was not available as it is one of my favourite desserts.
The concept of this dessert was cute, but I found the donut to be quite oily. The fresh apple garnish helped to cut the oiliness a bit.
The tart was served warm and the chocolate ganache was thick and not too sweet. It was the perfect ending to a very filling dinner.
For the price point, this is definitely a very filling dinner in a gorgeous setting. However, there were definitely some kinks that need to be worked out in terms of dish execution. If you are a fan of raw and tinned seafood then the $150 menu option is a good choice. However, I think the best value would be the $85 menu option.