C Restaurant is situated in downtown Vancouver overlooking False Creek and has beautiful views of the Burrard Bridge, Granville Island and the marina. The contemporary mainly seafood restaurant offers a raw bar, an adjacent patio area and hundreds of fish friendly wines. The Canadian fine dining experience is more laid-back compared to the standard international city, just as is the whole city of Vancouver.

The trendy, modern décor does not inspire too much on either of the restaurant’s two floors so dine at the waterside patio for some fantastic views weather permitting or make sure to at least have a window table. The cuisine is mainly based on fresh seafood even if you can have some meat dishes as well. On the menu you will notice the “Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise Program” logotype.

Thanks to Executive Chef Robert Clark, C Restaurant is the founding restaurant of the Vancouver Aquarium Ocean Wise Program for issues surrounding sustainable seafood. Hopefully that is not just a local trend and that many more fine dining restaurants serving seafood will follow C Restaurant’s example.

C Restaurant is a part of the restaurant entrepreneur Harry Kamboli’s business, and Executive Chef Robert Clark and Chef de Cuisine Lee Humphries make sure to serve seafood delivered daily from local and international waters. You can choose to have your brunch, lunch or dinner à la carte or having one of the two tasting menus.

The most extravagant menu is called Chef’s Grand Tasting Menu and if that is your choice for the evening you will have pacific kiss oysters, Quebec Foie Gras, slow cooked sturgeon, sablefish & short rib, seared scallops, BC spot prawn, wild salmon and Northumberland lobster to mention the most interesting dishes with the sablefish as our favourite, among disappointments the far too much use of beetroot in some of the dishes.

C Restaurant is serving some of the freshest and best seafood in Vancouver, but the service often lacks and be prepared for the typical North American ‘the table is not yet ready’ when you show up on time or even a bit late and you will be escorted to the so called ‘leaning bar’ for some additional restaurant income in the form of drinks.

A fine dining restaurant should always have your table ready at the time you have made the reservation and then it is up to you if you like to have a drink before you are seated and not up to the restaurant. There are several fish dishes that need more innovation and most of all more genuine taste to inspire more and justify the quality of the ingredients. Beautiful waterside patio dining, but the team of C Restaurant can do better and they should.

Images courtesy of C Restaurant

Written by Andy