Attention to all my vegetarian and vegan friends! There is a new fine dining spot in town for you to try. Nightshade Restaurant in Yaletown is Vancouver’s newest plant-based restaurant. The restaurant explores the boundaries of vegan cuisine, focusing on farm-to-table ingredients with a global twist. The food and drink menu is completely plant based. There is an egg and dairy option for some dishes. The interior of Nightshade is very calming with lots of natural wood accents and plants. After dinner, don’t forget to check out Lightshade an intimate speak-easy-inspired bar hidden behind Nightshade. Check out my thoughts on Nightshade below!
Nightshade Restaurant – Plant Based Cocktails
The entire menu at Nightshade is plant based. To start we had Angkor Say Wat ($14.00) and A Tokyo Affair ($15.00). I love the quirky names of all the cocktails on the menu. The Angkor Say Wat features Flor de Cana 7, Ginger of the Indies, Tapioca Syrup, Mango Puree, Lime Juice, and Kalamansi Bitters. It was fruity with a kick at the end. A Tokyo Affair features Shin Yuzu Wine, Beefeater, Gekkeiken Sake, Yellow Chartreuse, Lemon Juice, Aquafaba, Lime Leaf Bitters. This was a strong drink and I like the use of Aquafaba (chickpea water) to mimic an egg white topping.
Nightshade Restaurant – Plant Based Appetizers
From the appetizer section of the menu we chose – Jiacama Ceviche ($17.00) and Taro Roll ($15.00).
The Jicama Ceviche features lightly roasted Jicama sliced into thinly and dressed in lime and ginger. Garnished with saffron pickled cucumber, pickled mustard caviar and salsa verde. This was a very interesting take on Jicama. Generally I associate a crunchy texture with jicama but this was softer. The overall flavour was very mustard and pickle forward. It’s a good dish to whet the appetite, however it is a bit overwhelming as an appetizer.
The Taro Roll was a table favourite. This dish features rice paper stuffed with a peppery taro filling and fried until crispy. Served with fragrant herbs, lettuce, and a palm sugar dipping sauce. This dish is reminiscent of a dish I had at Do Chay. The Taro Rolls were nice and crispy and went well with the Thai basil and lettuce.
Nightshade Restaurant – Plant Based Entrees
Following our appetizers we chose two entrees to try – Grilled Mushroom on Toast ($22.00) and Truffle Tteokbokki Gnocchi ($26.00).
The Grilled Mushroom on Toast features local mushrooms cooked 3 ways served on house made Focaccia layered with Maggi butter and mushroom pate then garnished with miso pickled daikon. This dish was amazing. However, portion wise it is definitely on the smaller side. The flavours however really make up for it! The mushrooms pack such a huge burst of flavour, but doesn’t overwhelm the dish. Each component works so well together and the focaccia was a work of art. It was crispy on the outside and so soft and fluffy on the inside. I could have eaten a whole tray of bread and been a happy camper.
The Truffle Tteokbokki Gnocchi features rice cakes tossed in local wild mushrooms, sunchoke puree, and garnished Parmesan cheese and truffle. The rice cakes were soft with a slight chew, and the mushrooms were very flavourful. However, overall the dish was quite bland. I could see specks of truffle, but couldn’t really taste or smell them. The dish has a spicy oil drizzle to finish the dish which added a much needed punch to the dish.
Plant Based Sushi
Nightshade has quite a few sushi rolls to choose from. We decided to try the Fire Roll ($17.00) and the Shisho Lovely ($17.00). The Fire Roll features house-made organic kimchi, sweet shiitake mushrooms, avocado, sambal, tempura crunch and togarashi. We like this one of the two rolls we tried. The kimchi had a nice kick, and the avocado was creamy and went well with the mushrooms.
The Shisho Lovely roll features shisho, avocado, pickled cucumber, chickpea and tomatillo salsa verde. Unfortunately we were not a fan of this roll. It had a very strong and slightly unpleasant herb flavour (perhaps from the salsa verde). There was no detectable shisho flavour.
Plant Based Dessert
To end the meal we had the Rosewater Apple Tart ($14.00). This dessert features Pink Lady Apples baked in a lightly sweetened and garnished with hibiscus and spiced milk foam. The crust was nice and crumbly and the tart itself is served warm! The apples were sweet, and the dessert felt like a warm hug after a cold walk. It was a nice ending to the meal.
Worth a Try?
If you are living a plant based life, then yes. For a plant based restaurant there was a lot of innovative and interesting takes. However, I do think some of the dishes need more refinement. As they are in the opening stages, service while warm and friendly was on the slower side. I noticed that a few times did have to wait quite a long time for their food, however the staff does continually check in. Overall, while there were some definite highlights, I would give Nightshade Restaurant a couple more months to iron out their kinks.