I’m a huge fan of Ancora Waterfront and their delicious Peruvian and Japanese fusion cuisine. I was very excited to preview their new feature – Ancora Champagne and Caviar Wednesdays. Every Wednesday from December 2nd to January 13th, Ancora will feature Northern Divine white sturgeon caviar along with a bottle of Laurent Perrier ‘Cuvee’ brut for $200.
In addition to this new feature, they are adding new menu items featuring sustainable seafood with local and international ingredients. I had a selection of their new items and everything was absolutely delicious (as always).
Ancora (both locations) is also a part of First Table. First Table is a great way to dine at stunning restaurants like this for half the price. Book on their website (use my code for a discount), and you will get 50% off your entire food bill! Unfortunately the caviar experience is exempt from this discount.
Champagne and Caviar Wednesday
This is such a luxurious experience and everything was top notch. I wish I could do this every Wednesday, however it really is a ‘treat yourself’ type of experience. To start, a delicious bottle of Laurent Perrier ‘Cuvee’ brut. It is light, sparkly and a great accompaniment to the caviar.
Northern Divine caviar is the first and only Certified Organic caviar producer in North America. Metal can impart an undesirable flavour to the caviar, for that reason, caviar is usually served with a Mother of Pearl spoon.
The caviar is served with the traditional accompaniments – housemade blini, hard-cooked eggs (yolks and whites chopped separately), minced onions, crème fraiche and chives. The whole experience was top notch. The caviar was fresh and the accompaniments were expertly made.
Appetizers
Next up we had their new Smoked Prawn Causa ($17.00). A causa is one of Peru’s most popular dishes. It is traditionally made with yellow potato and a variation of toppings. This dish consists of Yukon Gold Potato, crispy quinoa, guacamole and panca emulsion. The emulsion imparts a spicy kick from the chili. The prawn has excellent grill flavour, however the flavour of the guacamole is a bit lost in the stronger spices.
Following that, we had Beef Tartar ($21.00). This is a classic preparation with tenderloin, sourdough, sunny side eggs and cured egg yolk. The bread has some very lovely grill marks that add a great char flavour to the dish. It was the perfect vehicle for this tartar. It is quite possibly the best tartar I have had in Vancouver.
Main Course
After being thoroughly blown away by the amazing appetizers and caviar, we were further amazed by the main courses. To start we had the Steelhead Trout ($32.00). The Japanese influence on this dish is very apparent. This dish comes with braised daikon, broccolini, shimeiji, nikkei grains and dashi. This was fantastic. The trout was so moist and flavourful, and the skin was so crisp. The daikon was melt in your mouth tender. Overall, a must order for me.
In keeping with the seafood theme we also had Scallops ($43.00). This dish comes with ajo blanco, huacatay sorbet, black pudding and drunk apples. Hucatay are Peruvian black mint seeds and are a staple in Peruvian cuisine. It is my first experience with it and I would say the taste is similar to coriander. The scallops were seared perfectly, and the flavours all worked so well. The black pudding was on the chewier side and quite salty, so I would eat that in smaller pieces next time.
Overall, the meal was fantastic. The service was top notch as always and the food was divine. The Champagne and Caviar Wednesday is the ultimate luxury experience, and I highly recommend it as a splurge. However, it is a pricier experience so it may not be for everyone.