Cork & Fin should be renamed Cork & Shell - or maybe Cork & Snore.
I was immediately hooked when I heard about this new Gastown restaurant. Given the name, I naively presumed it would serve lots of fish. For reasons unknown, Vancouver is strangely lacking in contemporary, casual fish eateries, where one can indulge in simple, pan-seared lingcod or grilled, local rockfish.
Lesson learned: Never read a restaurant by its signage.
As it turns out, Cork & Fin is a wine-forward raw bar - which Vancouver certainly doesn't lack. The smallish, small-plates menu offers just as much meat and poultry (braised lamb and pan-roasted game hen) as it does finned fish (milk-poached smoked sablefish and ahi tuna carpaccio), while the derivative shellfish selection is comprised of familiar hot and cold standbys that we've all seen (often with better results) before.
Located in the recently renovated Alhambra building, where Blake's Bistro once stood, the sunken heritage room does have lovely exposed-brick and wooden-beam bones, tastefully appointed with bevelled mirrors and white tablecloths covered in sheaths of white paper. Soaring sash windows are partially frosted, a gently winding banister leading to the cozy mezzanine is painted cream.
Although it's a relief not to find hanging fishnets or any of the other clichéd trappings of many a seafood restaurant, the décor is almost too pared down, lending it the hollow feel of a staged home that's been fluffed for sale and divested of any personality.
Take, for instance, the small oyster display neatly arranged on round plates inside a glass box that sits atop a curvy wood bar. Is it artful furnishing or food?
Our coolly aloof waiter doesn't say anything that would entice us to go press our nose against the glass or make us eager to order a signature seafood tower ($33 for one tier of oysters, mussels, manila clams and tiger prawns, or $55 for two tiers, which also includes Dungeness crab legs). He doesn't even tell us what oysters are available.
Kilpatrick oysters ($3.25 each) are lightly baked on the half shell with a generous sprinkling of meaty, diced bacon that drips into the briny broth, infusing it with a nice, earthy clove smokiness. I think they're Kumamotos. Again, the waiter doesn't specify.
Cork & Fin, which opened at the beginning of the Olympic Winter Games, is owned by sommelier Francis Regio and chef Elliot Hashimoto, both formerly of Tapastree.
Mr. Regio's wine list is short but sweet, with some boutique gems from the Okanagan's Cassini Cellars and Central California's De Angelis Wines. The best thing I can say about Mr. Hashimoto's menu is that it's decently priced.
Ahi tuna carpaccio ($13) is sliced unusually thick and heavily drizzled with olive oil and a creamy "truffle" aioli that doesn't give off a whiff of truffle. Shrimp cocktail ($11) is a messy, yet generous portion of baby shrimp heaped over a vapid bourbon cocktail sauce and topped with plain hunks of avocado.
The menu is confusing. It's divided between hot and cold items with several side-order "additions," which makes me think it will be served tapas-style (although they're not served with utensils for sharing).
But then the waiter implies that there is some sort of distinction between courses, suggesting we order our (cold) appetizers first and more substantial (hot) mains later. So why doesn't he clear our dirty side dishes or replace our cutlery between courses?
A side order of pommes frites ($6) arrives before the so-called mains. They're crunchy, thick-cut wedges served with a shockingly tart lemon aioli.
"Is it supposed to be this citrussy?" I ask the waiter, thinking he may have grabbed a ramekin of lemon custard dessert by mistake.
"Oh, yes," he nonchalantly replies, indifferent to the sour pucker on my face.
Dungeness crab pappardelle ($13) is lightly tossed with crème fraîche, crisp pea and shredded crab meat. It would be an okay dish if the noodles weren't cold and overcooked.
The special of the day is pan-fried halibut ($17) in a Taiwanese broth that tastes mainly of mushroom. But the fish is softly flaky and seared with a perfect, pale golden crust. The menu could certainly use more items like this.
We're almost finished everything else by the time the crisp green beans ($7), tossed with ground hazelnuts and crème fraîche, arrive.
The dessert menu is limited to a scant three items, which include a pot de crème, chocolate mousse and poached pear with lemon sabayon. Aren't these the same desserts being served at Salt Tasting Room around the corner and the Irish Heather across the street?
Cork & Fin may do well as a neighbourhood restaurant. The night we visited, housing advocate Jim Green (who now lives at Woodward's) was eating solo at the bar as writer Michael Turner dined with faculty from the nearby SFU contemporary art campus. But it wouldn't reel me in again.
Alexandra Gill