2741 W 4th Street, Vancouver (Kitsilano)
If you ever wondered what Canadian cuisine was, The Oakwood Canadian Bistro may just be the place where you figure out exactly what it was. Located on bustling West 4th Avenue in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood, The Oakwood is like going to a friend’s house for dinner. Step past the outdoor patio and you are instantly greeted by a warm, candlelit room that brings together family dinners, catching up with best friends or romantic date nights. With leather booths, long communal tables and cozy fireplaces, it truly is like someone opened up their home to the neighbourhood - complete with a very fancy bar and kitchen, of course. The Oakwood offers an extensive wine list that features Canadian wines but also those from the United States and the rest of the world. With my dinner I had a Kettle Valley Pinot Gris, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Since I’m not a wine connoisseur by any means, I’ll leave it at that. If you are not a wine person, don’t worry: The Oakwood also has an extensive cocktail list that features some very unique cocktails, as well as a selection of craft beers. In terms of the food, The Oakwood serves each of their dishes in a share plate format, with dishes being served as they are ready. This means that patrons could potentially get their dishes all at once, one right after the other, or have long gaps of time between each dish, depending on what you order. Luckily for my friend Elaine and I, we fell in the category of getting one dish while we still were working on our first one. The dishes we tried were the fresh spaghetti and the ling cod. The spaghetti was absolutely delicious: fresh spaghetti with a roasted mushroom and brown butter cream, garlic pangrattato, pickled shemiji and topped with a poached egg. Let’s be real: I have no idea what some of these ingredients are. But what I do know was this spaghetti was unlike anything that I had ever tried. I’m so used to your stereotypical red sauce/white sauce pasta dishes that this was something completely different and out of my league. The butter smell was overwhelming, but in a good way. All of the savoury flavours blended so well together and were balanced out by the sourness of the pickled shemiji. Following the chef’s instructions, we cut open the poached egg and mixed it in, and it just brought the whole dish home. Despite it being served in a small bowl, the portion was perfect and definitely could be one person’s entree. Along with the fresh spaghetti, we had the pan roasted ling cod that had zucchini and cauliflower fritters, roasted garlic cream sauce, green beans, and topped with herb oil, pickled shallots, and puffed rice. This was another harmonious dish that, despite what I thought to be random ingredients, fit so well with each other. The ling cod was perfect and the fritters my favourite part of the dish. Aside from dinner, The Oakwood is a popular place for brunch, which I hope to one day return for. But regardless what course you are stopping in for, The Oakwood serves nothing but the freshest ingredients and showcases the great foods that Canada is known for. It is a bit of a stretch on your wallet, particularly if you are on a student budget; however, if you are looking to treat yourself to some good food, consider The Oakwood for a home away from home meal. You’ll feel right at home.
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