The Oakwood Canadian Bistro

I am so sorry for such a delayed posting on this one....

We dined here to celebrate mother's day with Jordan's mom.  The diners of the evening was Jordan's sister Jennifer, her husband Peter, his mother and myself.

I really didn't know what to expect when I first heard that we were going to dine at this place.  Perhaps it was because I had no idea what was uniquely Canadian other than poutine!  Anyhow, feeling a bit confused, off we went to the Canadian Bistro.

Their menu is really small - so if you are going with a larger group, you can pretty much order everything off their menu.

The decor of the restaurant is quite rustic, and it really emphasized on the use of "woods".  It definitely had an ambiance of native BC forest!

I started my meal with an imported beer as recommended by the server (because they didn't carry any honey lager!)

Kronenbourg 1664 - $6.50/bt (3.5/5)

It was one of those imported beer that you see pretty often on commercials.  Kronenbourg was indeed quite smooth and had a clean and sweet finish.  I liked it but didn't love it... where is my honey lager?

warm kale salad (4/5)

Both Peter and I started our meals with the warm kale salad (I can't seem to find it on their current menu now; so I am assuming it is seasonal?) - they were little morsels of heaven!  The kale was cooked perfectly being tender yet not mushy; loved the parmesan and lemon juice that helped cutting through some of its greasiness (it was really cooked in a lot of grease!)

The fried onion string on the top provided some textural difference which was absolutely lovely.  Over all, we really liked this dish! 

All Canadian Poutine - fries, curds, gravy, smoked brisket - 4/5

Yum!!

The fries were fried and seasoned perfectly and the abundance of smoked brisket made the carnivores at our table really happy!  Though it might be a bit heavy for an appetizer - we loved their generosity in mounting lots of smoked brisket and curds onto the fries.  Please order this if you decide to visit this restaurant - it is worth every penny!   

confit pork belly - apple slaw, maple mustard meringue, pork crackling - 3/5

This dish was quite heavy - if you were order this, you must finish it before it gets cold.  I had it later on during my meal and it got cold so the fat coagulated and made the dish very unpleasant.

Otherwise the flavour was great and even though it was cold, the crackling was still crispy.

garlic mussels - shaved fennel, grilled crostini - 3/5

The mussels were quite plump and sweet!  It wasn't a particularly memorable dish but I really have to give them credits for using fresh mussels.  I loved the shaved fennel on top and the crostini were great for soaking up the sauce on the bottom of the pot.  The sauce had a prominent garlic flavour and quite strongly, white wine (citrusy, clean - might have been a pinot blanc? but could also have been chardonnay.... too difficult to tell!! )

8oz sirloin - potato croquette, onion jam, red wine jus, dijon hollandaise - N/A

This dish had a really busy appearance - though every item on plate looked really appetizing!  This was Jordan's dish, so I didn't really try anything other than the squash.  I remember the squash being cooked nicely and it exhibited some sweetness; but other than that, I can't comment on the plate.  I remember asking Jordan about the meat and he only said that the steak tasted mediocre and that the meat at the Keg tasted better! (I actually don't doubt him because he actually knows his meats :$)

Over all, our experience at The Oakwood Canadian Bistro was pretty good.  The ambiance was hip, the decor was rustic, the food was good and the service was attentive but not overly so.  We will be back!

Food - 3/5 - good; but only slightly above average

Service - 3/5 - good

ambiance - 4/5 - really cute and intimate