I experienced Salmon House on the Hill for the first time ever one recent evening and discovered that the exterior and main entrance to the restaurant do not betray the contemporary and stylish interior that lies just beyond the awning.
I have lived in Vancouver for 28 years. As a child, I was very lucky to have been brought to some of the city’s best restaurants by parents who would be described today as foodies.
And yet somehow, I had never been to Salmon House until I visited for this review. I think this omission is largely due to my perception of the place as a view restaurant, a spot less interested in turning out creative and interesting food than filling a south-facing, window-lined room with patrons who will go to the mats for a coveted table with an unobstructed perspective on the glimmering lights of the Lions Gate Bridge, fading to black at its far end as it enters the tree-cloaked causeway of Stanley Park.
As it happens, the restaurant has been serving up West Coast, seafood-focused fare for 40 years now. In that time, I would suggest, they have managed to hone in on a signature style of cooking, one that puts emphasis on the central fish or shellfish ingredient of any given dish with minimal fuss. We’ll talk more about this style in a moment.
On the basis of this recent visit, accompanied by frequent co-conspirator Gil, the restaurant has also managed to earn the designation of the single most expensive meal in this columnist’s entire Dish archives, which now span nearly three years. The meal was admittedly ambitious, with three appetizers between us, but still featured a relatively modest bottle of wine and two starter cocktails, entrées that fell within the middle ground of the menu pricing, and a single dessert between us. The meal approached $300, gratuity included.
Now, this price tag prompted an interesting discussion between us around the question of whether or not a meal’s perceived quality is impacted by its cost. Would my carpaccio have tasted different in the context of a $150 meal? Would I have seen it as better value and enjoyed it more or, by contrast, did I don a more critical hat in light of its expense here?
I sit somewhere in the middle on this question. I would suggest that for $300 my expectations are pretty high, but that ultimately good food is good food and, as the prices on the menu are listed clearly, the onus is on me to determine my willingness to spend that kind of cash on a meal in the first place. If I am willing, I should concede that although the dishes that comprise the meal ought to be well executed, they are largely divorced from their cost and need to be evaluated on their own merit.
Was our dinner at Salmon House well executed? Yes, it was, by and large.
We began with a cocktail each, a bracing and tart Bourbon Sour for Gil and a pint of Red Truck Pale Ale for me. The wine list at Salmon House runs deep, with some prized, cult bottles in the mix, but there is still good value to be had, as with the Nichol Pinot Noir we ordered to go with our meals, a fine and elegant, earthy, cherry-like example of the varietal from a very good B.C. producer, priced at just $64.
We mulled over the appetizer list and settled on Salmon House Seafood Chowder, Peace River Bison Carpaccio and a shared plate, the Salmon House Sampler, featuring Seared Scallop with Candied Salmon, Togarashi Albacore Tuna Sashimi, and Prawn Springroll with Apple Mango Slaw.
The Manhattan-style (read: tomato-based) chowder had ample fish content complemented by shrimp, celery, carrots and onions, and had a faint flavour of fennel on the back palate. It was a hearty fish soup, but suffered from a subtle metallic aftertaste that was hard to ignore and ultimately made half a bowl more than ample. The Peace River Carpaccio was appropriately thinly cut but was topped with thicker-than-usual shavings of sharp Parmesan, along with chipotle pepper aioli, enoki mushroom and arugula salad and house-made potato and sea salt gaufrettes.
The bison was tender and simply dissolved on the tongue and the Parmesan provided some much-needed saltiness. This exceptionally reserved use of seasoning became a theme throughout the meal and actually prompted Gil and I to query our server about whether this was an unusual omission for the kitchen or a deliberate stylistic choice.
According to our server, light salt content is an intentional choice by the kitchen, designed not only to appeal to a regular clientele that has expressed the wish for lower salt in their meals, but also to avoid bogging down the seafood with heavy-handed seasoning.
Gil and I were satisfied with the explanation and adjusted our expectations accordingly. The approach was novel and made us consider just how much salt most other restaurants employ to make our palates notice its absence so keenly. The explanation was given even more credibility by the fact that every single piece of seafood that arrived at our table was perfectly cooked, moist and appropriate for the specific ingredient, even when multiple proteins occupied the same plate, suggesting a very proficient chef brigade behind the scenes.
Gil was the winner in the entrée selection competition, choosing Alder Grilled Smoked Sablefish. I was concerned the smoking and grilling would overwhelm this silky, delicious fish, but the preparation was wonderful; the fish retained moisture throughout, despite a hefty waft of smoke on each bite, and shone through with its buttery, round flavour. My entrée, the Seafood Paella, consisted of sockeye salmon, halibut, prawns, scallop, smoked oyster, clam and mussels with little rounds of spicy chorizo and garlic croustade. Again, the temperatures on each of these seafood ingredients was textbook perfect and the fish was undeniably very fresh.
The accompanying rice was understated in flavour and I was grateful for the sausage rounds, providing a salty edge to what was, once again, a very lightly seasoned meal.
Last up was Okanagan Apple Bread Pudding with Caramel Bailey’s Gelato, a generously portioned and filling confection with a lovely presentation featuring a glistening caramel tuile atop the gelato and some colourful edible flowers calling out to the imminent arrival of Spring.
Our meal was $230 before gratuity. Salmon House on the Hill. 2229 Folkstone Way, West Vancouver. 604-926-3212. salmonhouse.com
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. A self-described wine fanatic, he earned his sommelier diploma in 2001. He can be reached via email at [email protected]. North Shore News dining reviews are conducted anonymously and all meals are paid for by the newspaper.
