Osetra

One of the newest restaurants in Downtown Vancouver has opened up on Georgia Street at Homer.  Osetra (yes, the same name as the caviar) now occupies the former location of Bar Haifa.  It has a focus on coastal cuisine that features fresh seafood.  Now with a name like Osetra, you might have guessed they have a love for caviar as well.  That they do and we even got some randomly during our meal!

Before we got to the caviar, we had the Scallop Crudo.  This was doused in an apple and coconut nage.  This was plenty creamy and aromatic.  There was also an avocado vinaigrette which added even more richness as well as some acidity.  I wasn't completely sold on the serranos on top, but it did make things pop.  As for the chopped scallop, it was buttery soft, fresh and clean-tasting.  I enjoyed eating this with less of the sauce, since it was rather heavy.  Flavours were good though and the seasoned crisps were perfect vessels for the scallops.

For our Caviar appie, it featured a crispy buttermilk and chive waffle that was lightly sweet and a bit nutty.  We found some smoked crème fraîche and chives occupying 2 squares on the waffle while there was a toasted pepper and egg yolk gel settling in 2 of the other squares.  However, the most important ingredient was the dollops of caviar in the remaining squares.  I thought when everything was combined into one bite, there was a good balance.  If you are familiar, you'll notice that they re-imagined the typical condiments served with a tin of caviar, such as the egg yolk, crème fraîche and chives.  Quite clever really and in general it worked.  Possibly the only thing I would've changed was the waffle itself.  Something thinner would've helped highlight the brininess of the caviar more so.

It was suggested we order the Grilled Sourdough to accompany the Squid Plancha.  Great call on that as the nutty, smoky and crunchy sourdough mopped up that delicious sauce beautifully.  There was a nice dousing of single origin olive oil on the bread itself, where it ate well without sauce too.  The little bites of squid nestled in the n'duja & confit tomato sugo were tender and buttery.  I found the sugo to have a mild tomato flavour while exhibiting some spice.  Some preserved lemon provided the acidity and a balanced saltiness came from the manchego espuma.

Two of our vegetable sides came out next in the form of the Oyster Mushrooms in a rendang sauce and the Potato Pavé with pecorino and kimchi powder.  Really enjoyed the mushrooms as they were seared nicely.  The rendang was creamy and earthy with the usual coconut aromatics.  As for the pavé, it was not pan-fried.  Rather, it was deep fried which created a uniformly crunchy exterior that was also buttery and nutty.  Inside, it was still tender and revealed the multiple layers of potato.  I didn't notice the kimchi powder as much as I wanted, but it did provide a slight bite.

My favourite item of the night was the Dungeness Crab served in its own carapace (or head shell).  They de-shelled the whole crab and mixed it with a ginger & scallion emulsion.  I found the crab meat to be excellent being fluffy with a slight bounce.  It was naturally sweet and a bit briny with the emulsion complimenting rather than dominating.  We had some acidity in the form of lemon and the whole thing contained a good amount of crab.

Now we had crab, so the next would be Lobster right?  This was a half-lobster with diced meat that was mixed with a motoyaki mayo sauce and baked.  It was also topped with chives and ikura.  The result was tender morsels of sweet lobster that were lightly bathed in a mild-tasting sauce.  Underneath, we found some watercress gomae that added some freshness and texture.  The pops of brininess from the ikura was a nice break from the creamy sauce.

I thought the Carrots was probably the best veggie side dish we had.  They were aggressively charred which made them smoky and heightened the sweetness.  That honey mustard toffee on the bottom of the plate was richly sweet and buttery with a slight sharpness from the mustard.  Adding texture and nuttiness, there was puffed rice  was strewn across the plate.

Had to end the meal with caviar right?  So we had the Fior di Latte & Lemon Gelato topped with Osetra caviar and drizzled with single origin olive oil.  Creamy and sweet, the gelato benefited from olive oil with extra silkiness and of course the flavour of the oil.  Of course the caviar on top provided a "je ne sais" quality to the dessert that was only in the background.  Overall, the food we tried at Osetra was good.  There might've been a few things that could've been refined a bit more (such as the scallop crudo) and possibly the plating on the squid was a bit flat, but nothing outrageously deficient.  Atmosphere and decor fit the Downtown theme and pricing was okay, especially compared to Aquafarina across the street.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Good Downtown vibes and atmosphere

- Food was generally well-prepared

- Fresh seafood

The Bad:

- Some dishes could use further refinement

Aqua Seafood & Caviar Restaurant By Chef Shaun Hergatt

Okay, we've had some pretty good eats at 3 of Buddy Valastro's restaurants, but it was time to change it up.  Oh and did we ever...  We went bougie with a visit to Aqua Seafood & Caviar by Chef Shaun Hergatt.  Yes, that is quite the mouthful, but with a Michelin chef in its namesake, Aqua definitely has cachet.  The restaurant is tucked away in the new Resorts World just North of the Venetian (former Stardust location).  It certainly looks the part of a high-end establishment and we were also very excited to dine there.

Without further delay, we got to the main event immediately with a 50g tin of Caspy Osetra Caviar with all the condiments including homemade blinis, crème fraiche, chives, capers, shallots, egg white and egg yolk.  Oh this was such a treat where the caviar was briny without being overly salty or fishy.  The blinis were fluffy and light while the condiments added the necessary textures and complimentary flavors to each bite.  I could've eaten this all-by-myself but sadly, I had to share!

Onto some smaller bites, we had the Beggar's Purse containing shrimp mousse, avocado mousse and caviar.  The whole thing was wrapped in a folded crepe and served atop a lime wheel.  These precious creations were delicious where the shrimp mousse was delicate, sweet and aromatic.  The addition of caviar provided the unmistakable brininess of the fish eggs while adding the necessary saltiness to give the bite impact.  The crepe itself was soft while offering up some texture.

If that wasn't enough caviar already, we were treated to more with the Wagyu Toast.  Served on toasted brioche, the thinly-sliced wagyu was buttery soft and super beefy in flavor.  That in itself was a textural delight, but they had to add some black olive spread to kick it up a notch with salty tanginess.  However, the generous amount of Caspy Golden Osetra Caviar on top was the proverbial icing on the cake.  It added pops of briny goodness. 

From this we moved onto the Hamachi crudo dressed with Satsuma vinaigrette, ninja radishes, citrus segments and rhubarb.  This was a beautiful plate of food that was a feast for the eyes as much as our taste buds.  Supremely fresh being buttery and sweet, the hamachi benefited from the acidity of the vinaigrette as well as the citrus.  This kept things bright as well as making the dish appetizing.  Loved the texture of the rhubarb where it added a textural contrast.

Now I don't usually talk about bread, especially bread that comes with a meal, but this has to be talked about!  The Brioche Buns were super soft, airy and served warm.  Beyond the texture and aromatics of the bread, the accompanying butter was fantastic.  It was creamy and not salty while super spreadable and melted nicely within the steaming warm layers of the brioche.  We really didn't want to fill ourselves with carbs, but it was irresistible.

Onto the mains, we had the gigantic Kataifi Scallops with green coconut curry sauce and kaffir lime oil.  First off, these are the largest scallops that I've ever laid eyes on.  They were literally the size of a roll of scotch tape.  Beyond that, they were prepared perfectly being rare in the middle and buttery soft.  The sweetness was quite apparent and even though the scallops were beautifully seasoned, we could taste the natural flavors.  Loved the texture from the crispy kataifi on top.  Aromatic and mild, the curry helped compliment the scallops without overwhelming them.

The hits kept on coming with the Lobster Potato Gnocchi with shaved black truffles.  Normally, we find only claw meat used in such a dish, but not here.  There was a bevy of tail portions found throughout the dish.  Furthermore, the pieces were beautifully cooked being moist and bouncy.  Again, the natural sweetness came through and accented by the woodsiness of the truffle.  The gnocchi came in fairly large pieces which were pillowy soft yet retaining a minor bite.

All of these dishes were excellent and the Alaskan Black Cod was no exception.  I mean, look at the dish, it was so appetizing by its appearance!  Well, eating it was even better with its buttery texture and caramelized glaze.  This was served with sweet potato & ginger puree, baby bok choy, garbanzo beans and yuzu beurre blanc.  Personally, I would've liked to see a different vegetable other than the bak choy, maybe pea tips perhaps because it would be less clunky in appearance.  Other than that, the ginger and yuzu kept things bright.

For dessert, we shared the Dark Chocolate Cake with edible gold on top.  Sure, this was probably the least IGable item of the meal, but in reality, it was really good!  The cake was super moist and semi-sweet.  It was still rich, but definitely a great way to end off a memorable meal.  Wow.  Really, this was such a treat!  Honestly, if we weren't hosted at Aqua, we would've never even had it on our radar.  I really hope that with more fanfare, this place gets its due.  The food is just plain excellent while made with quality components.  Put this on your list for Vegas if you want eat well!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post*

The Good:
- Oh that caviar!
- High quality eats
- Exceptional execution

The Bad:
- A bit farther off the main portion of the strip, worth the trip though