It’s not often that a restaurant will leave me speechless, but Archer has done just that in the best way possible. The menu at Archer is designed to be shared family style. They encourage you to sample as many dishes as possible, and let me tell you all of them sound so delicious you’ll have a hard time choosing. The menu at Archer uses local organic vegetables, ethically raised meat, and BC products. In addition to a stunning food menu, they have an equally exquisite wine and cocktail menu as well. Check out my full review of Archer below!
Archer – Small Plates
To start our meal, we had a selection of small plates:
- Smoked Oyster ($24.00)
- Foraged Mushroom ($25.00)
- Chicken Pate ($23.00)
If there’s a signature dish that’s making it’s rounds for Archer it’s the Smoked Oyster. This visually stunning dish comes with 4 local oysters (daily chef’s choice), cucumber, sour apple, ikura, and miso mayo motoyaki. The smoke was a lovely tableside element. The oysters themselves were small and sweet and I love the burst of saltiness from the ikura. I can see why most tables ordered this delicious small plate!
The Foraged Mushroom features charred maitake, roasted lobster mushroom, sauté and pickled chanterelles, toasted hazelnut, edible dirt, green moss, charred romanesco and broccoli puree. This dish has such a beautiful presentation! It really does look like a forest floor. The mushrooms were so flavourful, but my favourite part was definitely the sauce with its strong and rich umami flavours. Friendly reminder – the log is just for decoration!
The Chicken Pate features mille feuille, house brioche, chicken liver pate, fig jam, squash & cauliflower puree, umeboshi, cucumber, mustard seeds and hearts on fire. As with the previous dishes, the presentation was stunning. However, this dish was my least favourite of the night. It was tasty, but not very memorable, and the mille feuille was quite soft, so it didn’t have that crunchy and flaky textural contrast I was looking for to balance this dish.
Archer – Large Plates
Moving on to our mains we went with the following:
- Hokkaido Scallop ($42.00)
- Duck Breast ($46.00)
- Sablefish ($48.00)
For our mains we went with Hokkaido Scallop which features seared scallops, pickled shallots, confit fennel, braised kohlrabi, puree, arborio & cauliflower risotto and corn veloute. The scallops were seared perfectly and absolutely delicious. All the ingredients work so well together and the natural sweetness of the scallops pairs well with the risotto.
The Duck Breast features seared 5 spice duck, honeydew & beetroot warm salad, cauliflower floret, celery puree, potato pave, leek hay and sweet tamari jus. This duck is the best duck I have had this year. It was so tender that I could cut it with a butter knife with absolutely no problem! The potato pave was decadent and crisp. I could eat an entire plate and be happy.
Our final savoury dish of the night was the Sablefish. This dish features black cod papillote, baby zucchini, kabocha squash, nasturtium, salmon roe, herb spätzle and a miso glaze. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this sablefish was stunning. Quite frankly one of the best dishes of the year for me. The spätzle was light and crispy which went so well with smooth and moist sablefish. We ate this dish in record time.
Archer – Dessert
To end our fantastic meal, we had to try at least one dessert. On that front, we went with:
- Flaming Cheesecake ($16.00)
You can’t end dinner without Archer’s signature Flaming Cheesecake. This stunning dessert features a 70% dark chocolate dome, white sesame crust, miso caramel cheesecake, sour cream cremeux, blood orange gel and a flaming grand marnier shot. Everything about this dessert was on point. It’s so impressive being set on fire at your table, and the melted chocolate dome complements the cheesecake so well. I love the nuttiness of the white sesame crust paired with the saltiness of the miso from the cheesecake. A winning dessert in my book!
Archer Additional Photos
Worth a Try?
Absolutely. This dinner at Archer is my top meal of 2022. From presentation, taste and service – everything was top notch. I was raving about this spot from my first bite down to my very last bite of dessert. I cannot recommend Archer enough!
Archer
Address: 1152 Alberni Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 1A5
Website: https://www.archerdining.com/