Coast Restaurant

[Mooshmouse]

Took a peek at the Coast DOV thread and noted Eric's and PaoPao's positive reviews therein... does anyone have reviews of non-DOV dining experiences there? We've never been and are considering it for our Dining Out For Life dinner.

Thanks all!

[Shellback]

hi Mooshmouse,

Yes, I posted my review last summer when Coast first opened. Please see below:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=45914&hl=

Since then, I have been a couple more times and each time found Coast to be excellent and very consistent. The last time we were there, we were sitting at the chef's communal table and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Chef, Sean Riley, took us on a fabulous culinary tour around the world:

We started off with Cuba - a couple of Vanilla Mojitos and a grilled crispy Cuban Seabass with braised tomatoes. Then, off we went to Japan with marinated Ahi Tuna garnished with a couple of slices of dungeness crab stuffed in cucumber. Onward to Thailand with sauteed prawns in coconut lobster bisque. Then, a little tour of South America with a seared Chilean Sea Bass sprinkled with pine nuts and pesto sauce. My sister and I shared half a caraf of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I was very full by then, so I stopped munching. My sister finished off with some venison carpaccio which she said was delicious!

To top everything off, we had an amazing dessert platter created by Steve: apricot puree in champagne, classic cheese cake with some exotic French liqueur which name I cannot recall, warm plum crumble cake, chocolate mousse cake and a couple of chocolate truffles.

We had to roll ourselves out of the restaurant. If you are looking for a quiet romantic evening, Coast is not. But if you want a little fun and great food - Coast is it.

[Mooshmouse]

Thanks for this! I did a site search before I posted my query but, somehow, your review didn't come up. We're planning to head out with another couple, and Coast sounds like a great venue for a fun evening out.

Greatly appreciated.

Edited February 20, 2005 by Mooshmouse (log)

[chef koo]

i'ce been there once with some staff from the restaurant i work at. we all enjoyed it. couldn't reallly see anything to complain about. the food i would say is fairly simple, elegant. nice dining room. nice wines. the price is right for what you get. i'd say go and judge for yourself

[jamiemaw]

Took a peek at the Coast DOV thread and noted Eric's and PaoPao's positive reviews therein... does anyone have reviews of non-DOV dining experiences there?  We've never been and are considering it for our Dining Out For Life dinner.

Thanks all!

←

Mighty Moosh,

from the August, 2004 Vancouver Magazine Diner-- "Piscine Contest"

"David Nicolay, the designer/restaurateur, fashioned a tall blond room for the owners of Coast, the newest entry in Vancouver’s piscine contest. Two storeys of wood and light (the upstairs is available for romantic liaisons, meetings and private parties), with a central communal table and two handsome bars, the slate-floored room looks born and bred in Vancouver. Long glamoliers dangle from the ceiling, looking very much like bull kelp. Fish prints, a wine wall and a patio complete. So do executive chef Sean Riley’s menus, for the most part well executed by restaurant chef Jeff Massey from a close-up open kitchen. Cold preparations, which take the form of a half dozen oyster types ($1.95 to $2.75 per piece), seafood nectars ($7) that might combine stock with kaffir lime, coconut and ginger or a more straightforward one of lobster essence, are commendable entries. The “1/2” coastal seafood platter ($60) combines prawns, oysters, octopus salad, mussels, crab cakes, crab ahi and caviar. Parties of four can supplement additions of lobster, marinated escolar, tuna and salmon for double the price. Seafood bowls ($14 to $38), also from the first page of the menu, include a mess of clams with chorizo and tomato, P.E.I. mussels Provençal or whole crab or lobster.

We detoured to an oven-braised lamb shank, billed under the “on shore” section of the menu, served with a roasted tomato and taro root mash ($21). It reached a little beyond its grasp. Slightly dry from its reheat (a constant nag for osso bucco in Vancouver), it lacked both the punch of a quality gremolata and the deep undernotes of a more layered braising fluid.

Back to the seafood menu. A softball-sized piece of halibut, cloaked in a light tempura batter, arrived with hazelnut- and-sesame-coated fries: fish and chips ($22). A house-made tartar sauce completed. It was a sound effort, if not in the same league as a piece of grilled Mediterranean sea bass ($29), served à la Basque (in the same bouillon of clams, mussels and chorizo as the earlier seafood bowl).

Although we haven’t eaten at the central communal table yet, which enjoys the interaction of having its own chef, it provides an active and lively fulcrum for the whole room. And later, it became clear that the owners, Emad Yacoub, Shannon Bosa-Yacoub, chef Sean Riley and GM John-Paul Lamb, want this room regarded as a serious restaurant. Unlike their nearby Glowbal, which screams late into the night, Coast began to empty after the second seating, and by 11 o’clock or so, most of its patrons had departed for other venues, there to admire Yaletown’s dangerous mix of testosterone and sling backs, flavoured vodka drinks and lithe abdomens. We were left to admire some solid cooking, a long wine list and service that never sagged. Over a shared plate of desserts ($8 each)—comprising sorbets, a vanilla bean soufflé and warmed date and ginger pudding with caramel sauce (from pastry chef Steve Hodge)—we talked about how we had found our coast, for the most part, and in a restaurant that looks precisely like what it is."

Hope this helps,

Jamie

Edited February 20, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[Mooshmouse]

"Piscine Contest"... love this lithe turn-of-phrase Jamie! Thanks for this. I did remember that you had written a review, but the month had eluded me for a proper search through the VanMag archives. Merci bien!

Mighty Moosh.... hmmm, maybe I'll have to get me a cape to go with those Yaletown slingbacks of mine.

Edited because every post about Yaletown needs a good reference to Manolos and Jimmy Choos.

Edited February 20, 2005 by Mooshmouse (log)

[Foodie in Vancouver]

Glad to hear the positive comments about Coast. We were recently at Silver Star for a week of unbelievably great skiing - snow and sun in abundance, and ended up meeting many, many folks from Britain and Australia. This is one of the restaurants we recommended to a couple from Aus who had a single night in Vancouver before they headed to Washington DC. Interestingly, the guest services desk at Silver Star made a reso for them and when the couple offered to reimburse them for the phone call the guest services desk assured them it was all part of their service - they wanted them to have the best experience possible while in BC - and if helping them to get a dinner reservation in Vancouver was what the guest needed, then that was what they wanted to do. Made me proud! Anyway, I will follow up and let you know if dinner worked out.