I am a fan of local Chef, William Lew, having tried his cuisine across various restaurants and events, and having followed his career since my first taste. So I was excited to learn that he was now the Executive Chef for Pacific Reach property management and working on several projects to bring his contemporary style of Asian fusion cusine to Vancouver’s food scape. As he put it, there are plans to “bring restaurants to hotels”, as he listed familiar properties that could use a rebranding and a fresh approach, starting with Hotel Belmont. This is the fun and funky hotel that is painted bright pink and black on the exterior and themed to rooms of a house in its interior.
Today we would be visiting The Basement, left vacant until this Popup. This is “Frost and Fable” a 4 weekend long bar Pop-up. Opened for the month of February. Fridays and Saturdays from 5pm to 2am. It is reservation only, for those wishing to visit.
Today we were getting a sneak peak of the concept through a tasting of three cocktails and three dishes from their full limited edition menu. The new Living Room menu, also updated and refreshed by Chef Will as of last Friday (when we visited), is also available for ordering in the space.
Both menus are a cross between elevated Asian fusion as per Chef Will’s style. With The Living Room placing importance on its overnight hotel guests with remakes of “safe” and “familiar” dishes like a Korean bbq take on a “McRib”, as per Chef William himself.
As we traversed down into The Basement guests were given a glass of sparkling wine in welcome. Having been in the arena before, much of it has been sectioned off with black draping. Seats were only around the bar. The room kept dark to allow for the glow of blue and golden rod lights to shine through. Themed like an “ice cave” with no actual ice, but a colder temperature to foster the ambiance. With a bit of crumbled irredescent film, glossy stickered brick backsplash, and blue LED lights behind cotton, the theme comes together.
Overall, I found the frost theme more relevant in the decor and drink menu than the food menu, minus the cold seafood platter.
We would explore the three catagories of their drink program through the three cocktails to come: refreshing, bold, and indulgent. They didn’t directly pair with the dishes we tried today, but do work with select flavours of the menu. The new Living Room drink menus promises “Bold, balanced, and expertly crafted cocktails, each telling a story through rich spirits, seasonal flavors, and an unexpected twists”.
The first was Hatsukari with Botanist Gin, Luxardo Maraschino, Kumquat, Toasted Rice Syrup. Japanese Plum Wine, Fresh Lemon, and Burnt Pomelo. A great starting line cocktail with refreshingily fragrant citrus, from the flame kissed pomelo rind that finished off the glass. It jump started the appetite with saltiness and sweetness, in the contrast to the bright kumquat and fragrant plum wine. Didn’t get much of the botanicals from the gin, but more from the florals of the plum. The cocktail’s zest did well to highlight the seafood to come.
This was paired with the Ice Cave Bowl with Oysters, Prawns, Tuna Tartare, Wasabi Cocktail Sauce, Honey Yuja Mignonette, and Lemon Taro Chips.
For those familar with Chef William Lew’s style, a flamboyantly topped oyster is his signature and this one did not disappoint. The curated bold citrus burst over the texture of a raw oyster was perfection. This is not about the moullusk in its natural state, but how it can be transformed into a botanical garden through its accompaniments.
I enjoy eating the seaweed garnish for its texture, and found the green ones minty and the maroon bland.
The shrimp cocktail is a classic with firm shrimp, the sauce is where you get all the flavour. A better balanced cocktail sauce than many that I have tried with musky wasabi and a good amount of acidity that I found complimentary to the tuna below.
The Tuna Tartare is a generous serving given the amount of taro chips accompanied with it. A tower of slightly spicy sesame marinaded tuna over whipped smooth avocado paste, almost too heavy for the thinly sliced taro chips to carry, but necessary for textural interest. As I mentioned earlier, mid way through, to help elongate the flavour profile we found adding in some of the cocktail sauce with its acidity helpful, and wished that we thought of this sooner while we still had chips available to enjoy it with.
Our second cocktail was as bold as our second course. The Firebrand Marg spoke to a fire you would stoke to keep warm in winter, with plenty of its accompanying smoke from the use of mezcal. This was most unique with its colouring derived from Cabbage-Infused Mezcal mixed alongside Grand Marnier, Black Tea Agave Syrup, Fresh Lime, and Smoked Salt. This was a classic sweet and smokey lime margarita where you didn’t get any of the vegetal flavour of the purple cabbage juice, but you do get some of the bitterness from the tea. The hue becomes this hot fushia-pink thanks to the acid from the lime juice. My only critique was to add some jalapeño spice to temper it, or some chilli power alongside the course sea salt rim to better balance out its overwhelming saltiness. This cocktail perfectly aligned with the fried chicken below.
The Fire Torched Fried Chicken was dressed in a Motoyaki Sauce featuring Duck Fat Chili Caramel Glaze made from local MaMa in the Kitchen Condiments, and topped with house made pickles. Each piece was of a good size, hearty and meaty with plenty of tender gristle. I would have liked more pickles to help cut into the saucy richness of the chicken or a starchy side to accompany the bite as a base, like a mashed root vegetable. The pieces of chicken remained crunchy sitting in a pool of the chilli oil for dipping into, offering additional heat and a kick. A very refined serving of fried chicken. I found it impressive to have something so common be done so nuanced.
The Calamari was just as inventive, another popular dish given a glow-up, presented in this new way. Citrus forward with another one of Chef William’s signatures: the Yuzu Tobiko, alongside Jalapenos, Sweet Onions, Wasabi Ume Aioli, and Chili Threads. I enjoyed it all mixed together with the segments of raw onion for the necessary fresh breaks in between the heavier oiler bites from the thorough deep fry. I did also appreciate the varying pieces that the squid was sliced into. Not just small nibbles, but larger strands for more meaningful mouthfuls alongside the heavy cream and juicy spice.
And dessert was presented in a glass. The Viridis Velvet with Matcha and Irish Whiskey Infused Cream, Licor 43, Lavender Bitters, Strawberries, and Rose Petals. It read like the perfect cocktail to celebrate Valentines Day with, in a pale green shade, sprinkled with vibrant red strawberry dust.
This is a cocktail that stands alone. The flavour profile is so leveled with many variables that it does not compliment nor pair with anything. It had a soy bean milk-like texture in the mouth. Bitter from the matcha with the sweet fruitiness of the strawberry on the nose, and it ends floral and slightly medicinal. A drink that takes you on a journey and encourages its sipping.
In short this was a great way to enjoy a tasty menu in a unique setting that won’t be around for much longer. I cannot wait to return to enjoy a meal at The Living Room, not being too impressed by its last reincarnation, but optimistic with Chef William’s influence.
As always, a visit is not complete without a selfie in their funky washroom with this suggestible lipstick mirror decal and boobie wallpaper on the ceiling. I am also curious to see if they update the decor of the hotel to match this new elevated cuisine approach. And if so I might need to look into a staycation at the property with room service!
The Basement
Hotel Belmont Vancouver
654 Nelson St, Vancouver, BC V6B 6K4
(604) 605-4333
hotelbelmont.ca
