'There are this many people in Vancouver?"
It's Thursday night and the recently relocated Coast Restaurant is pumping. My friend, a jet-setting London expatriate, is pleasantly astounded.
Stepping through the outdoor sidewalk patio, flanked by two glass-encased fireplaces that shoot flames where less dramatic eateries would typically plant boxwood, we stop and stare agog at the oyster bar. The circular showpiece - lit up in neon, steaming with chowder kettles and piled high with fresh shellfish on sparkling mounds of crushed ice - is unlike anything Vancouver has ever seen.
The Glowbal Group has done it again. This loud, flashy, high-energy flagship, now twice the size of its former Yaletown location, was meant to feel like a classic San Francisco seafood restaurant. But with its soaring turquoise walls, shiny pearl accents and sexy nightclub-sizzling O Lounge off to one side, the two-level, 350-seat extravaganza owes more to Las Vegas.
The new Coast is a scene, to be sure. And it obviously won't suit everyone, so book your reservation with caution. The main-floor tables beside the open kitchen and those on the raised platform area next to the oyster bar are extremely noisy. The mezzanine is much more relaxed, but quite deep. If you don't want to be stuck in an airless back corner, request a balcony table (the best seats in the house).
As with any stylish revamp, the kitchen was bound to change. At the original location, I had become quite fond of executive chef Josh Wolfe's clean approach to cooking fish. Many of his new dishes are now slicked in the creamy, buttery, candy-for-adults formula that the ownership group (Glowbal, Italian Kitchen, Sanafir) does very well. But there's so much to be had on this oversized menu - fish and chips, sushi, steak (if you must) - it really does offer something for everyone.
Before dinner has even begun, we sink our teeth into an amazing amuse bouche of cold-smoked gravlax topped with dill crème fraîche, red onion and arugula, on house-baked leavened flatbread that has a nicely crisped crust and yeasty chew.
Wow. I'd actually rather more of this than the crowd-pleasing crab cake ($14), which, although opulently thick and dense with large hunks of meat, are browned only on top and bottom, bound with mayonnaise and almost too rich. That said, it's an unbelievably good deal.
Another popular item is the raw ahi tuna ($14) dotted with tiny slices of jalepeno, wee wedges of lychee, a sprinkling of cilantro and a splash of sesame oil. The hot-and-sweet flavour combination sounds odd, but works wonderfully.
The sushi bar is worth more than a passing glance, especially when Masa Katsuno, a former chef at the Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar, is at the helm. While I wasn't crazy about the unctuous eel and barbecue salmon roll ($12) - fattened up with creamy avocado and sweet sake sauce - I'd be curious to come back and try the Fish 'n Chips Cone.
Peering down from the balcony, we soak up the hustle and bustle of sharply suited servers darting across the mosaic-tiled floor. The managers are wired with earphones. The seafood platters ($29 per person) are flying out fast and furious. The action is non-stop.
Recession? What recession? Where did all these customers come from?
"They were all sitting in the Shangri-La until we opened," owner Emad Yacoub later jokes, referring to what he affectionately calls "the rounders" - a trendy flock of scenesters who swoop through the hottest new places to see and be seen.
Mr. Yacoub knows how to draw a crowd. But if you've ever witnessed the weekend lineups at Glowbal or flank of Ferraris parked outside Italian Kitchen, it must be said that he also knows how to keep them coming back.
The daily halibut special ($32) is the type of dish that could easily become habit-forming. The flaky slab of succulent white fish (caught by David Marenyke aboard the Pacific Siren outside the Queen Charlotte Islands, as the menu thoughtfully informs) is served on a bed of lobster-bacon mashed potatoes, piled high with a tower of fresh Nova Scotia lobster and crowned with crisp pieces of bacon. Personally, I find it a few lashes of butter past the tipping point of luxurious indulgence, but I doubt many people would pause long enough while hoovering up all that creamy richness to agree.
Loup de Mer ($35) is more my style. The simply prepared European sea bass is grilled whole at extremely high heat until the skin is crackly, and served with lightly roasted tomatoes on the vine, lobster-stuffed new potatoes and a tomato gastrique. With a little more salt, this Mediterranean classic would be perfect.
After desserts, which included a piping hot banana coconut cake ($8), drizzled tableside with an excellent crème anglaise, we descend to the bar. Bad idea.
What is it with the guys here? It's kind of creepy the way these rounders just sit back and stare. You could probably shuck more life out of the Kumamoto oysters chilling on ice.
Which is exactly what we plan to do the next time we're here. The bar boasts at least 10 types of oysters. And once you get past the hype and fashionable flurry, it's the freshness of the fish and the unbelievable selection of seafood that makes the new Coast a catch.
Coast Restaurant:
1045 Alberni St., 604-685-5010
