Discover culinary excellence at Wildlight Kitchen + Bar, a Michelin-recommended gem located at UBC (The University of British Columbia). This upscale restaurant offers a unique dining experience with a menu that highlights fresh, locally-sourced ingredients and innovative dishes. They have a lovely patio to enjoy during the summer and an elevated yet casual ambiance. Their dishes have a strong farm to table focus with dishes made from ingredients found close by and in season: fresh Pacific seafood, just-picked produce from UBC Farm, and ethically raised meat from local growers. Check out my full review of Wildlight Kitchen + Bar below.
Wildlight Kitchen + Bar – Small Plates
To start of our dinner we got a selection of small plates:
- Wildlight Pescatarian Board ($45)
- Grilled Beet & Burrata ($31)
- Wagyu Beef Carpaccio ($22)
The Wildlight Pescatarian Board is a signature item here and it features house-made salmon pastrami, trout merguez sausage, uni pate, smoked cod rillette, crab claws, pickled sea asparagus, smoked olives, pappadum, nori cracker.
There was a good selection of items here and most are pretty unique. In particular the trout merguez sausage was something I have never seen or tried before and I really liked it!
The Grilled Beet & Burrata features fresh burrata cheese, heritage greens, endive, shaved fennel, dill crème fraiche, compressed apples, roasted hazelnut, chervil powder. The burrata was fresh and creamy and pairs so well with the earthy beets. The dill crème fraiche adds a really nice herby note to the salad.
The Wagyu Beef Carpaccio features Brant Lake Wagyu, tempura maitake leaves, koji mayo, pickled onion & chanterelles. This carpaccio was beautifully presented and I really like the addition of pickled mushrooms. It helps break up the overall richness of the dish.
Wildlight Kitchen + Bar – Large Plates
For the mains we went with:
- Gindara Sablefish ($48)
- BC Duck ($42)
- Ribeye Steak ($65)
The Gindara Sablefish features black pepper jam glazed, mustard stem lo bak go, charred scallion, dashi emulsion. The sablefish was perfectly cooked and so moist. The deep fried lo bak go (chinese turnip cake) was an interesting addition but definitely needs some reworking. It was very gummy texturally and the flavour just wasn’t there.
The BC Duck features aged Fraser Valley duck breast, confit leg croquette, carrot puree, dijon spaetzle, orange marmalade glazed vegetables, pickled chanterelles, duck jus. I have always been a huge fan of the duck dish at Wildlight and this version did not disappoint.
The duck was perfectly cooked and it was so tender and juicy. The carrot puree adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the dish and the pickled chanterelles lighten up an otherwise decadent dish. This is my recommendation everytime for Wildlight.
The Ribeye Steak features 10oz CAB ribeye, mushroom vol au vent, peppercorn sauce, blue cheese butter. The steak was so tender and a nice medium rare. The mushroom vol au vent has a nice variety of mushrooms and the crust was very buttery.
Wildlight Kitchen + Bar – Dessert
No dinner is ever complete without a sweet ending, so of course we had to pick a couple desserts. We tried:
- Strawberry Fraisier ($14)
- Haskap Berry & Chia Seed Cake ($15)
The Strawberry Fraisier features Joconde biscuit, mousseline cream, strawberry jam, lemon crumble, sichuan pepper and strawberry gel, strawberry ice cream. The strawberry was sweet and fresh and the sichuan pepper adds just a hint of heat at the back of the tongue. It’s a unique and fitting summer dessert.
The Haskap Berry & Chia Seed Cake features Haskap sponge cake, lemon gel, citrus cookie, lemon ganache, haskap meringue, marshmallow. This reminds me a bit of a cheesecake and the lemon flavour is quite nice with the berry.
Worth a Try?
Yes! Wildlight is a great spot out at UBC for an elevated dining experience. They have a large selection of dishes to choose from, a great wine list and a lovely patio to enjoy the great summer weather in Vancouver.
Wildlight Kitchen + Bar
Address: 5380 University Blvd #107, Vancouver, BC V6T 0C9
Website: https://wildlightrestaurant.ca/
