PiDGiN Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

No doubt taking inspiration from the cultural enclaves of the communities around it and integrating a bit of that West Coast love, Pidgin restaurant is a fine culinary manifestation of the mosaic Vancouver enjoys.

The interior marries casual and fine dining; wooden accents against neutral tones paired with an ambient duo of perfectly dim lights and candles. The perfect place for me and my partner to take her parents out for her father's 50th.

We were greeted by our server, Ryan T, led to our table, given a little spiel about the restaurant, and let our predetermined order of the tasting menu be known.

That day's particular amuse bouche caught me off guard; in-house made kimchi, agedashi tofu, and pickled vegetables. Familiar with all three, I almost brushed them off, however, the meticulous simplicity spoke to me. Three different cooking styles: fermentation, frying, and pickling, all done really well and working together on one plate to create a nice balance. Not overly complex, the importance of the integrity of ingredients was showcased in this. This one humbled and prepared me for the rest of the menu.

A spin on the popular chicken ballotine, the pheasant ballotine. I was happy because the presence of the pheasant shows the restaurant's commitment to the West Coast. Knowing that pheasant requires discipline when cooking, I was happy with the texture of the ballotine itself. Paired with the sweet chestnut jus and the suuuper rich foie torchon, possibly one of my favourite bites of the menu.

My partner's favourite course comes next. A medley of grilled squash from Hannah Brook Farms, paired with citrus concoctions and mustard seeds. As people who enjoy a good kabocha dish, we were thrilled with the combination of the sweet and nuttiness of the squash, citrus from the sauces, and the sweet texture that the mustard seed provided. Almost wanted to lick the plate!

After a dish perfect for the colder seasons, we were reaffirmed of Pidgin's commitment to the integrity of their ingredients and food. A nice chirashi bowl consisting of Uni and Ikura did the trick. The sushi rice was good, however, I suspect the sushi rice not hangiri-made; the rice vinegar and seasoning could have been more even, there were pockets of the rice with less flavour than others. I'm kind of a stickler for rice if you couldn't tell haha. I was REALLY impressed by the uni though. I often use uni as a test to see how well a sushi place handles product because there is a carefulness needed when playing with uni. Pidgin delivered. Buttery, creamy, and rich, this uni melts in your mouth without any of the brininess that some restaurants struggle with. Paired with the pop and juice of the ikura, and some nicely done kombu, this pairing is a simple reminder of the importance of texture in a dish.

The sake-kasu sablefish that followed was great; I always find that dishes like this remind me of an oasis that surrounds a large body of water. I am not really a fan of sake-kasu, I find it a bit too strong for me, however, I'm always intrigued to see how people balance the flavour. The rich bacon-dashi cream did a good job at dialing down the booziness and provided the fish a good environment to thrive on. The vegetables, greens of the oasis, provided some nice mild flavours that expanded the range of the dish.

The Wagyu Bavette. Phenomenal. I've been acquainted with Bavettes that have had a bit more of... chew on them, however, because of the fat and marbling of wagyu, it makes this dish super safe and super tasty! This dish almost made me feel hedonistically guilty haha. Wagyu, gnocchi, and well-cooked vegetables, what more could you want?

Dessert was nostalgic. A heartwarming end to the tale.Tapioca pudding with Japan-inspired mulled fruit jelly, ovaltine rocks and a breath of shiso in the dish to give us that jolt of energy for whatever came after dinner.

Prompt plate changes, mise en place, stealthy refills, course timing, amazing romancing, and product knowledge. Ryan for sure killed it.

Great food, great...

We’ve been wanting to dine at PidGin for a long time, finally had the excuse of a birthday and came here to celebrate. No need to look any further than the seasonal, always changing tasting menu: it’s incredibly good, based around the best of local products and excellent value. Not a single course missed the mark: to single out any as favourites in no way suggests the others were lacking: each course was designed to build the progression of the meal while being able to stand on its own merits. That said: the dish with the braised lentils was OUTSTANDING: sure there was some perfectly cooked sturgeon sitting on top, with some lovely sautéed greens, but the lentils…OMG: braised with butter, mirepoix, red wine and a stock that tastes like it was days in the making with a depth of flavour that is the hallmark of a skilled chef: just ladle me up a bowl of that and walk away from the slurping noises…. Can’t overlook the soba noodles and mushroom dish either: it hit my partner’s #2 ranking after the lentils: rich and nutty and full of earthy nuances. But we were also treated with a surprise extra of the rice cakes with gochujang bolognese: I had read about this dish before and it is as good as the rave reviews say: one of those dishes that just can’t ever leave the menu… this one took my #2 spot. Even so, there were a lot of comments along the line of “what about”….the ‘fish’ toast: uni, a gorgeous compressed, citrusy snapper, a perfect bite. Or the celeriac sonata that followed… and the tempura: who knew that a piece of ginger, battered and sprinkled with flaky salt, could be so good? And the duck dish, which as my partner said, fantastic but just not quite as fantastic as those lentils, sorry! We finished up with a dessert pair - again they treated us to a little extra: a lovely light custard that had my partner wanting to shamelessly lick the cup out, and then a perfect beignet with Szechuan pink pepper and a beautiful miso caramel. Onto the service: we lucked out and had Jordan, who is one of the sommeliers (WSET wine AND sake) who curated the drink pairings for us this evening. Do just put yourself in these skilled hands if you can: the wine pairings were excellent, diverse and perfectly matched to their respective courses, but the sake pairings were even more nuanced and truly elevated the food as they should. If you haven’t had the pleasure of an expertly guided sake flight or pairing then you should try it as soon as you can: good sake matched well makes the food sing. Service was personal, warm, and quietly impeccable: the courses were timed perfectly, we had time to enjoy each dish but never felt like we waited at all for the next one. Descriptions of each course were interesting, detailed yet concise. Also a nod to the kitchen team: a shellfish allergy that can often be a nuisance with a tasting menu was handled without so much as a hiccup: a quick substitution on one course and a condiment served on the side for another was done without fuss. So refreshing compared to the places that pretty much roll their eyes when you request them to work around a genuine allergy...nothing says happy birthday like a side of epinephrine. Definitely have to give top marks to Jordan though who was really a big part of making it such a lovely evening: attentive service without being stuffy or hovering. Michelin has listed this restaurant and I expect that soon we will see another red star added to the Vancouver listings. But more to the point, we will be back as soon as we can to see what’s in season, and we already have the list of friends who we know will enjoy this lovely experience as...

Pidgin….. where to begin. We were a party of 10 celebrating a birthday and decided to go here, given all the raving reviews and positive experiences seemingly across the board. What we experienced was unfortunately not what we expected. Admittedly booking a large table for 10 on the night of Messi possibly showing up at BC place meant we each arrived at various times past the 7pm reservation. The restaurant had graciously allowed us to trickle in (thank you). But then for some reason we were told we HAVE to order the tasting menu (we didn’t ask for a recommendation of what to order) and they said it enough times to almost convince us until they coughed up that it was only strongly recommended after we asked a few times why? I’m not sure if this was a joke or a strange sales tactic but it put half our party off from ordering said tasting menu. No where on their website or menu does it state that it was mandatory that everyone needs to order the tasting menu. We expressed that although we understood that this was a sharing style dining place, due to the number of people in our party and being that a couple of the girls had some dietary restrictions, sharing plates was not favoured among us. A few went with the tasting menu and the rest of us ordered a la carte (you can order the tasting menu individually as well at market price). Maybe I missed the explanation (if there was one given?) but didn’t know that the dishes come out in the order of the menu. ie if you ordered the quail like I did (which is further down on the menu), you won’t see your food in front of you until much later. The food itself tasted great (although rather sinewy) - but what food isn’t when you have waited almost 2 hours for it to get to you? We ordered by 8pm and left at 11:30pm. This is an astronomically long time to dine, even by fine dining standards.

I’m not a food critic, and certainly you might not give much thought to my review, it’s likely buried in all the glowing reviews above and below, but I had soaring expectations for a Michelin guide restaurant (as I would with any Michelin recommendation). It is sad that our first experience here was less than. Perhaps a culmination of multiple factors but we did not feel welcome here. Service for us was not “exceptional” and we felt forgotten. We kept waiting for the incredible dining experience everyone else is talking about. The other parties here for date night and as smaller groups looked like they were having a blast and I think that is the way to go to fully enjoy the dining...