Today I was in North Vancouver to check out the second and newest location of Nova. The original is in Port Moody and its opening came with a who’s who of local food and drink celebrities helping to craft and curate the original food and drink menu.
The goal of Nova has always been to showcase flavours from around the world and to have something for everyone, despite the chef’s owner’s background being from Australia.
The North Vancouver location promises an elevated menu with a larger offering, but still pulling from the original concept put together from the above mentioned consulting chefs, sommeliers, and bartenders.
We attempted to start with a couple of drinks knowing their pedigree, but most of what I wanted was not available. We came earlier in the afternoon but it was already sold out.
My guest ordered the Negroni Tropicalé with Mezcal, vanilla rooibos campari, pandan, martini bianco, and cacao. Here, she was given the option of how many orange wedges she wanted. We found in odd, but she rolled with it. This was a lighter take on a classic negroni, she found it more refreshing and heavy handed on the bitters. She was hoping for some of the listed tea flavour, but got none and noted it would have been a darker colour if that was indeed the case.
I eventually settled on the Money Tree, originally not wanting a sweet drink like this with Ketel one, lime leaf, jasmine, melon, sparkling wine, and bergamot foam. However our server and bartender was pushing this one and kept mentioning it, after I was refused the drinks I did want. I eventually caved. It was basically a French 75 with a strong yuzu flavour and the texture of fine bubbles. I struggled to find the aforementioned melon, and got more lemon meringue pie. This would make a great brunch drink.
For our second round my guest got the Papa Platano, which is their take on an espresso martini. Made with Planteray coconut rum, espresso, banana, and nutmeg. Although we didn’t get anything outside of the coffee from this.
I got the Silk Road with Tanqueray, ginger, yuzu, nigori sake, honey, cardamom, and egg white. It was on the sweeter side thanks to the latter. Topped with saffron you can smell it and it affected the taste. Overall I found that it had a cleansing tea quality to it.
As for food we were delighted that our chef/owner came out and we were able to ask him directly what his recommendations were, and we took majority of them. We started with the Coastal Calamari with crispy humboldt squid, Cajun spice, Calabrian chill aioli, shishito peppers, radish, and lemon. I loved how thickly cut these pieces were, each offering a more substantial mouthful. Although the plate itself felt smaller and less than, when compared to other dishes of calamari I have had more recently. Although I did appreciate how some of this was offset thanks to the larger cuts of red pepper and the whole shishitos in the mix. The chef boasted that they were marinaded over night to ensure a softer texture. All under the crispy layer of fry using a different version of flour. This was super tasty.
I typically don’t order mussels, but the chef was insistent, stating that these were today’s special. PEI Mussel with Calabrian chilli and sausage. This was a soft paste, smeared on the side of the dish that we could then use to inject flavour to any shellfish that we choose. All served with a larger slice of focaccia toast that made for a great scoop to capture some of the excess zesty sauce that came with a peppering of spice.
The Citrus Tuna Crudo was a must, considering this was our Chef’s speciality. Yellowfin tuna, coriander aioli, citrus-orange vinaigrette, chilli oil, and herbs. I enjoyed how dressy the plate look. This was not what I expected from this more casual West Coast inspired restaurant. He spoke to how he wanted to make this more than just olive oil and lemon and to incorporate additional Asian flavours into each delicate slice of fish. It was lovely and all of it didn’t overwhelm the tuna, that was the intended star of the dish.
For our entree we ordered a steak after the sirloin shack burger was recommended to us, but we didn’t want the bread of a burger. The Black Truffle Sirloin is a 6oz grilled sirloin with a side of truffle mac and cheese and seasonal vegetables. I was disappointed that I didn’t get much truffle outside of what was in the Mac and cheese. It and the steak were good, but nothing memorable. Nothing to have it distinguishable from any other steak.
I was impressed by the Five Spice Pork Belly. This was tender slices of thick cut pork belly served with roasted cauliflower, apple chutney, and a sherry gastrique. Given all the colourful and fresh vegetable, I have never seen a pork belly made to look this healthy. The vegetables are literally framing it and the way it was rendered made it less fatty, while still maintaining caramelized ends. The flavours sort of reminded me of pork chop with an apple sauce twist.
In short, this is a lovely spot in North Vancouver, if looking for a causal restaurant designed to serve all sorts of appetites. Like a modern Cactus Club with lots of seating, but refined and geared towards the neighbourhood.
Nova Kitchen & Bar – North Van
1764 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver, BC V7M 2J7
(236) 429-6670
novarestaurant.ca
