Mother in Law's Birthday at the Blue Water Cafe

I do apologize, as our visit to Blue Water was some months ago and I have not been able to keep up with the Blog positing as of recent. However, My wife and I took her mother to the Blue Water Cafe for what we thought would be an enjoyable dinner for her birthday.

Let me tell you the experience we encountered at the Blue Water Cafe was nothing more than mediocre.  Frank Pabst's food was severely over priced, over complicated and the whole experience was grossly overstated.

We began our meal with the some sushi created by Sushi Master Yoshihiro Tabo.  The three of us decided upon the Stamina Roll and the Spicy Tuna Roll.  The Stamina roll consisted of fresh crab, barbecued eel, smoked salmon, sweet soy glaze, while the Spicy Tuna contained chopped albacore tuna with sesame and chili. The freshness and quality of the sushi was mediocre as was the presentation.  The Stamina Roll cost $18.50 while the Spicy tuna Roll was $10.00.   As comparison to put things in perspective, Tojo's only charges $26.00 dollars for his most expensive roll and the sushi here was absolutely no comparison.  You could find this quality, presentation and expertise in sushi at any average sushi restaurant in Vancouver.

With a full brigade of cooks, chefs and employees or total dining experience was over 2 hours.  Our reservation was for 5:45 pm and we did not leave the Blue water cafe until after 8:00 pm.  This was not due to us taking our time but from delay in between courses from our Server, nd further more the Kitchen.  The arrival of our Main courses took over an hour to arrive after our starters had been completed.

For our entrees, Plats Principaux, and or main courses, we decided on three separate menu items. My wife decided upon the West Coast Sablefish with Miso Sake glaze,  Baby Bok Choy, Edamame
Quinoa and Shiitake mushrooms, Bonito Dashi with Soy and Yuzu.  (This was my original choice but I had decided upon something different due to my wife making her choice public by announcing it to the table before me.) The flavors of the dish were complimentary and  were in fact delicious.  However, this is a menu item I have seen numerous times at numerous restaurants. I feel this preparation it is a safe and trendy choice for chefs utilizing Sable fish on there menu.  A perfect example is the creation of Rob Feenie for the Cactus Club's current menu which showcases an almost identical dish, Sake - Maple marinated Sable Fish.  You know an food item has gone main stream when it is hitting the circuit of the major restaurant chains in the Lower Mainland. Very uninspired.

For myself, I had the White Sturgeon served with Chioggia beets, pumpernickel crust, cauliflower puree
garnet beet agro dolce. This dish was a disappointment from start to finish.  I understand that Sturgeon is a very oily fish however the Sturgeon was pan seared in what appears to be 5 liters of oil and was so obviously overcooked it was dry and very, very bland.  The Pumpernickel crust did not live up to its name and was a soggy mushy coating over top the Sturgeon.  The highlight of the dish was the Cauliflower puree,  however it was cold once it arrived.

My wife's mother had the special of the evening, which was a poached fillet of Salmon, served with BC spot prawns finished over risotto and served with a Chicken and Meyer Lemon Jus.  The Salmon was cooked nicely and was tender and very fresh. However, the whole dish was very under seasoned and bland.  Nothing special to write home about with this one.

Finally, for dessert we decided to once again to have three separate menu items to share. I chose the Creme Brulee, my wife chose a Ricotta cheesecake and the mother in law chose a lemon tart.  Out of all the courses, this was by far the best, but it was still not a home run.  With having an in house Pastry Chef that was not only trained in France but has a Masters degree in Pastry, one would expect the restaurant to have signature items that were out of this world creatively, this was not the case.  The desserts were nothing more than average and somewhat of a disappointment for a chef of this caliber.  The presentation was very clinical and it felt as thought the passion for food had been lost in these dessert items.

All said and done, this entire dining experience cost me $250.00.  The Blue Water cafe in my opinion is living off a reputation and of days past and the proprietors seem to not care about the future and long term vision of the establishment. I understand Franck Pabst took home gold and won the Gold Medal Plates competition in 2008, but this in my opinion, is simply not enough to ensure long term success of the Blue Water Cafe.

Overall:

FOOD: ★★☆☆☆
SERVICE: ★★☆☆☆
PRICE: $$$$



Anti Chef