WildTale Coastal Grill
1079 Mainland
604-428-9211
Open daily for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, until late.
For such a renowned port city, Vancouver, sadly, has always had a noticeable dearth of accessible seafood restaurants. Fish and chips a-plenty, yes, and high-end spots like Blue Water Café that deservedly win awards for their elegant and expressive dishes; but when it comes to casual restaurants that offer quality seafood in the West Coast style, most of my fingers are wiggling in vain for places to tick off.
WildTale, which just opened a few short months ago in the old Glowbal location in Yaletown, is a remediating step in the right direction. Opened by John Crook and Erik Heck, the pair behind the popular Flying Pig, the restaurant is all about simply-prepared seafood, at reasonable prices.
The amazing chef’s fresh sheet features everything from lingcod and giant, local scallops, to ahi tuna and steelhead. Pair with your choice of two sides – choose from a nice list of starches and vegetables – and enjoy a plate that rings in around the mid-$20s.
My halibut was perfectly cooked; flaky, no translucence, and beautifully moist. I chose the whipped potatoes and asparagus to go along with it, and added on the $3 lobster supplement for the mash. The potatoes were so silky and pure that I conveniently decided to ignore how much butter must have been used. Scallops were another winner. Seared lightly and seasoned simply, this is how to serve such a delicate morsel.
The scallop, shrimp and halibut ceviche was lovely and simple, and a steal at under $9, but I was confused by the packages of Ritz crackers that came with it. Really? I wasn’t sure if this was a joke at first, but our server informed us that the owners had been playing around with this dish and had an impulse. Inspired flights of fancy can pay off well, but, in this case, the spiced wontons that came with the rather bland ahi poke ($10) might have been a better option. The excellent Hawaiian ahi in the latter was entirely overwhelmed by the avocado and yellow peppers, and needed more citrus to come alive.
Likewise, the sauce that came with our fresh oysters, redolent of cocktail sauce mixed with mayo, would have been better served with the prawn cocktail. If I wanted to hide the taste of the oysters, I’d have ordered them deep-fried.
On the whole, however, the menu here is full of excellent choices, and the prices won’t give your wallet a hangover. That might, instead, come from the solid cocktail program. The house take on the classic French 75 is light, refreshing, and much too easy to down in groups of five. Pair (one) with the ceviche and call it a night.
All ratings out of five stars.
Food: ★★★
Service: ★★★★
Ambiance: ★★★★
Value: ★★★
Overall: ★★★★1/2
• Anya Levykh has been writing about all things ingestible for more than 10 years. Hear her every Monday on CBC Radio One’s On the Coast and find her on Twitter @foodgirlfriday and Facebook.com/FoodGirlFriday.
