Okini Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Vancouver

I really wanted to like this restaurant – I really did.

I heard a lot of really good reviews about Land and Sea from friends, Instagram, and others that have mentioned this place in passing. Given this, my expectations were reasonably high given the consensus of reviews and the targeted price point of their dishes. Our dining experience was mediocre to alright at best – good food (props to the kitchen for creativity and designing a menu that pushes the boundary on fusion cuisine) but there were multiple setbacks due to the disappointing and inconsistent service which unfortunately tarnished the experience. The following review is a critical, but warranted summary of my dining experience on January 29, 2023.

For drinks, we ordered the Smoked Old Fashioned ($19) and the Blackberry Lemonade ($7). Both are decent (8/10).

Ora King Salmon Soba ($31) - Our server had recommended it as the chef’s signature dish. The salmon was sweet and buttery, flavourful and was definitely the star of the dish. It was presented with ikura and tobiko, over a bed refreshing soba. Soba was light and refreshing, with a hint of salinity from the ikura and tobiko topped on the salmon. Props to the kitchen for execution and taste of this dish – it did not disappoint, and would recommend it as a must order. (9/10).

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio ($26) – This is an OK beef carpaccio with a generous portion, but ultimately fell short of expectations. I am taking multiple points off here as the bread was significantly under-toasted and could have benefitted from being on the grill for another minute to give the dish an added textural (crunchy) component. I referenced other pictures from reviews on here, and there is a big difference with the way the bread looked on those plates. In addition, there was way too much parmigiano reggiano grated on top which was overpowering the dish. (5/10).

Entrées:

Vongole XO ($36) – This is a creative take on a Spaghetti alle Vongole with homemade XO sauce and clams. This dish was spicy, creamy, and delicious. Pasta was cooked to perfection at an al dante, and the unique clam flavour of the dish stood out. No complaints here, aside from it was a touch on the saltier end. (9/10).

Miso Glazed Sablefish ($45) – Decent approach on a sablefish entrée. Have to deduct a couple points here as the Sablefish was a touch overcooked for my liking and not as well executed as the Salmon Soba appetizer. I enjoyed the flavours here, with the flavourful tomato dashi being the highlight of this dish. (7.5/10).

I am thoroughly disappointed with the service that we received, and this is where majority of the stars will be deducted. Our server, while attentive at the beginning, fired all the dishes we ordered at once. We got our two appetizers, and our Vongole XO entrée at the same time. With no room on our table, the Sablefish entrée was also brought out. We were asked if wanted our sablefish entrée at a later time, which we advised would be a good idea. Ridiculous that a restaurant of this calibre would not know how to course things out properly.

Further, our server did not ask if we wanted a plate change, yet spent majority of the time at another larger party table behind where we were sitting conducting plate changes, filling up waters, etc. I understand that large parties are where the focus is from a service perspective (i.e., gratuity), but that leaves no excuses for neglecting other tables.

Only after we finished our first three dishes, did a new server come by to check on us, bring our last entrée and to conduct a plate change at that time (which we had to request for). We also had to request extra serving tongs as our server in charge of our table failed to bring it to us while delivering our Vongole XO entrée. Of note, we were also not asked whether we’d like another drink in the entirety of our meal. A small birthday treat was presented at the table at the end – but unfortunately did not make up for the lacklustre service...

I’ve been super curious about Okini and it was worth the wait. I celebrated my birthday here and when first entering, it had a very cozy, festive vibe. It’s quite an intimate space, where people do dress a bit nicer, and it has an open kitchen concept.

We started off with the salmon soba, endive caesar and green salad with burrata. The king salmon was fresh and fatty, as expected. The portion was smaller than expected, but the soba with ponzu was a good balance to the fatty salmon. This was definitely the mos indulgent appetizer of the three. I felt the endives was a good choice considering how rich the caesar dressing was - the bitterness balances it out well. The dressing itself wasn’t traditional, they added some Japanese ingredients to make it their own (in a good way). Oddly enough, the green salad with burrata was my favourite appetizer. I’m a person who likes simple flavours, so a salad with a good crunch (texture) and acidity to balance things out with that yummy burrata cheese makes me happy!

For the mains, we got the yarrow meadows duck, miso glazed sablefish, and vongole XO. They cooked the duck to perfection and I’m not sure how they did it, but they made the edible (yes, a bit dramatic) - I find whenever duck breast is served, you never eat the skin because it’s always too chewy. Mushrooms were tasty and having some vegetables to eat the duck with was a nice touch. I feel miso glazed sablefish is usually good and this was no exception. Fish was cooked well and had a nice crust on it. I really like how they paired it with egg tofu, it’s not a common pairing with sablefish, yet it worked! This dish was just as good as you’d expect it to be. Lastly, the Vongole XO. To those who don’t know what XO sauce is, it’s kind of like a mild chilli oil that uses dried seafood to give it some more umami and flavour beyond just spicy. So I’d describe this as a Spaghetti Vongole, but add the heat and extra flavour boost from the XO sauce - a great combo and very garlicky to say the least. This was the most filling dish and I was surprised by this dish, since I didn’t know what to expect.

For dessert, we ended things with the strawberry lemon panna cotta and black sesame chocolate brownie. Also got complimentary matcha ice cream, which was my favourite. Honestly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the strawberry lemon panna cotta, then again, I’d rarely order panno cotta myself. It wasn’t bad, it was just sweeter than I’d like it to be. The black sesame on the other hand was delicious. It was indulgent, but good in small portions. I did say matcha ice cream was my favourite because it had a strong matcha flavour to it (you’d be surprised by how sugary some are), and I find the bitterness balances the sweetness. I’m not a fan of super sweet desserts.

Overall, this was a great dining experience and I have no complaints. The service was great and the pacing of food was great. The presentation (refer to pictures) is instagram worthy to say the least and this is definitely a place where you need to value quality over quantity. The price you’re paying is definitely a combination of the vibe, service and presentation of the food - it’s not cheap. However, there are much more expensive places in Vancouver, which I feel aren’t nearly as good as Okini. I would definitely recommend coming here for a...

Brought my family in to celebrate a birthday over dinner and we chose Okini based off the different reviews found online and through food influencer friends of my own.

We had high hopes for this spot.. until we sat down.

Upon entrance, it was a fabulous first impression that soon disappeared into thin air as soon as we were brought to a really small table for 3, right in front of the open kitchen counter.

Sure it was pretty cool watching a middle aged Asian man bossing his kitchen fellows around but before we even got our appetizer, our first line of smell was a burnt, charred scent that was unappealing and we felt like we were surrounded by a group of long term smokers.

We ordered two appetizers to share and 3 main courses. The first appetizer to start made the experience a bit better,, the Salmon Tartare will probably be one of the three reasons why we will potentially reconsider giving this place a second chance.

The second appetizer which was the Wagyu Beef Carpaccio.. we’ve had better plated carpaccio that does not turn into a lump of goop after the first pickup. This plate could’ve been better designed.

Then came our entrees, we had ours one by one more so because our table was so tiny, all 3 entrees would not have fit.

The first entree was the Sablefish - 15/10 recommend! The flavour was so well done, we were all in love. This dish really set the tone for the rest of our expectations… and thus we began the road to disappointment.

Second entree was the duck breast. It was satisfactory, the duck breast was too thickly sliced which meant chewing on it was like trying to get thru rubber. The knives they gave us couldn’t even cut properly..

Last entree was the Salmon belly.. for THAT PRICE, it was a massive disappointment. It came to the table with no garnish but a half of a lemon. Yes, it says on the menu but for that price, we’d expect a bit more effort. We could’ve just run next door to the market and get our own slice of salmon belly and do a better job than this. Half a belly was $40 and a full belly was nearing $75!

As we were wrapping up our meal, we were curious of the table decor. Here’s the kicker: there was no label saying don’t fiddle around and second of all, rather than assuming we were playing around the whole time, maybe check in to see that yes, after the first push, we realized the setting of the table light had changed so we tried to change it back. It was misinterpreted by the wait staff (tall, Indian male wearing an extremely small shirt to show off his man muscles) - who instead of explaining why he tore the table lamp off our table with an aggressive pull, stormed off to the back kitchen to readjust the light.

This could’ve all been avoided and cleared up had there been ANY communication.

The head chef finally came off his high horse, walked over and briefly said “we appreciate it if the ambience lighting was not toyed with” (or along the lines of)

Again, without checking in to see why it had happened and went with assuming the worst: that we were those idiotic guests that muck up everything in their paths.. like hi, get to know your guests a bit more rather than judge from the back.

Our only satisfaction with staff is the White Female with long curly reddish hair and the greeting hostess (younger Asian female possibly Japanese or...