The Mackenzie Room
415 Powell | 604-253-0705 | TheMackenzieRoom.com
Open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday, 5pm-10pm; lunch Tuesday-Friday, 11:30am-2:30pm.
One of the biggest challenges for any new restaurant is getting the team to work as one harmonious unit. No matter how skilled and experienced individual members of the front and back of house may be, it’s how they work together that sets the tone for the guest experience. At The Mackenzie Room, that experience is all but guaranteed to be excellent, thanks to a team that’s been working together for more than a handful of years and moved back to Vancouver en masse from Toronto.
Owners Andrew and Katie Jameson (Andrew runs the FOH), along with their business partner and executive chef Sean Reeve, opened the restaurant four months ago. There’s something pleasantly rough-and-tumble about the room. Layers of paint, plaster and grime from the former diner space have been stripped away to reveal exposed brick and concrete overlaid with patches of faded plaster. Antique pennants from small towns face a wall of old silver serving trays, the whole overhung by ornate chandeliers. The bar is a thing of beauty, all reclaimed, polished and sealed wood in massive drifts, and echoed by the tables in the 50-seat space. Chairs are comfortably padded and vintage.
The menu is, at first glance, a rustic, comfort-food-focused selection, but closer inspection shows a level of depth and complexity – and fun – that belies the much-abused comfort food mantra. Duck in a Pie ($27) is exactly what it sounds like, except the filling comprises every part of the animal, including kidney, heart, breast, et al. It’s all enveloped in some light, flaky puff pastry and topped with a foie gras ice cream that manages to cut through the almost-excessive lushness of the dish while still adding a touch of richness. The Root of All Evil ($12) is a phenomenal vegetarian dish. Smoked sunchoke is topped with leek ash and turnip. It seems too simple for how it tastes, but each element balances the others perfectly. Bone Tongues & Harmony ($18) – yeah, they’re having some fun naming dishes – is another stunner. A large roasted marrow is topped with braised beef tongue and pickled beets, and some fresh pea shoots and micro-greens. It’s served with a large slab of the house focaccia, which Reeve bakes in enormous pans daily. Its crusty-salty exterior hides some seriously addictive and butter-soft bread. Speaking of butter, you can order the bread on its own with some whipped lardo for $5, which is excellent value.
In fact, the entire menu offers seriously good value. Mains can range as high as $29, but the quality of the ingredients and the cookery justify a higher price point. Reeve sources everything as locally and seasonally as possible, and for such a tiny kitchen (open to the room, it’s roughly the size of a postage stamp), they are turning out some major flavour and artistry. The best deal, though, just might be the I Want It All ($53). This is exactly what it sounds like. You get the entire menu, around 12-14 dishes, for $53 per person (you need a minimum of four people to order this). If it’s available, there’s also a pig’s head for four that you shouldn’t miss. Our neighbours polished one off one night in record time.
To round things out, there is one new member to the team, in the person of Arthur Wynne, erstwhile barkeep at Blacktail in Gastown. Wynne is having fun here, with solid offerings like the Cold, Buttered Rum ($14) and even zero-proof drinks like the Cardamom Sour ($6), an apple juice-based concoction with lime, egg white and cardamom syrup.
Taken all together, it’s an excellent vibe in an excellent room that is serving up some seriously good food and drink. What’s more comfortable than that?
All ratings out of five stars.
Food: ★★★★
Service: ★★★★
Ambiance: ★★★★
Value: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★
Hear Anya Levykh every Monday on CBC Radio One’s On the Coast. Find her on Twitter @foodgirlfriday and Facebook.com/FoodGirlFriday.
Rating guide:
★: Okay, nothing memorable.
★★: Good, shows promise.
★★★: Very good, occasionally excellent.
★★★★: Excellent, consistently above average.
★★★★★: Awe-inspiring, practically perfect in every way.
