Thursday, July 9, 2009

Tofino Wrapup

Home now after a great week trip in Tofino - I'm so sad as I miss the waves already. We didn't take too many photos as we were too busy having fun and surfing in the rain!

I did get some snaps of a really delicious dinner at The Spotted Bear Bistro. This relatively new restaurant is in the location that used to belong to the Rainforest Cafe. It's quite small, and reservations during the summer are recommended. Inside, the decor is westcoast (long cedar bar, First Nations prints and arts) but uniquely modern. Like their food, it's Westcoast with a modern twist.

We were extremely hungry after a day in the surf so we started off quickly with two appies to share. We ordered the Beef Tartare with local organic greens and thinly sliced Yukon potato crisps and a Seared Albacore Tuna with garlic foam, crunchy chickpeas and greens. Both were wonderful - really nicely balanced in terms of flavour. Not usually a big fan of foams on my food but the garlic foam added a surprisingly tactile touch which enhanced the dish. The beef tartare was marinated very nicely and the little thin chips added just the right amount of crunch.


For our mains, hubby ordered Seared Scallops with Wilted Greens and shitake mushrooms, and I had seared duck breast on a bed of roasted yukon golds (no doubt with the duck fat as it was sooo delish) and asparagus. Again, these dishes were smashing. Perfectly seasoned, just rich enough to be satisfying and light enough to want every last bite.

We were getting very full but since it's been spot on so far for this bear, we wanted a last course. I ordered a Molten Chocolate Pudding and hubby savoured a selection of cheeses. Heavenly!

Tofino has nourished not only my belly but my soul. As the carefree days of Tofino fade away, I am looking ahead to the next couple of days - the Southlands Classic Horse Show. I am ready to compete on Friday and Saturday, and there's lots to do before then. Wish me luck!

5 comments:

Kelly said...

yum!! i see the chef is a big fan of foams... haha reminds me of top chef a few seasons ago.

good luck with your horse shows!

oh and i'm just wearing white havaianas flip flops with that last outfit - nothing special.. had to do a lot of walking that day.

VancityAllie said...

Yummy! That looks SO good!

I haven't been there yet in Tofino, but maybe I'll give it a try ;)

Glad you had fun! I wish I could have been there.

Those scallops look soooooooooooooooooooooooo good I'm telling you!

Well it's off to Costa Rica for me tomorrow morning, so take care! :)

The Anthology said...

So here I am: starving and waiting desperately for dinner. Should never have checked your blog -- those scallops are torture. They look amazing.

Haute World said...

Looks like you had a terrific time! Thanks for sharing all your Tofino pics with us. I've been drooling over the food and admiring your surfer pics... wish I could surf but I'm so bad at balancing, I'll just stick to scuba diving. Those dishes look amazing by the way!

And good luck with the horse show! I'm sure you'll do great :) Then again, anything is better than riding on of those Fanling Jockey Club horses ;-)

MizzJ said...

Mmm looks so delicious! Tofino is becoming quite the tourism town.