For many years, Steven and I have been quietly celebrating Chinese New Year's in our Port Orford home. Most of the time, I prepare a couple of traditional dishes for us to feast on while we reminisce about our many Asian friends, including our "adopted" daughters living in China and Japan. Frequently, we vocalize a desire to drive to San Francisco to participate in their world-famous New Year's activities but have always let go of this dream thinking that Chinatown would be simply too crowded during this holiday for us to enjoy.
However, we were determined to make 2017 our year to be a part of a Chinese New Year's celebration and, after much debate about the sanity of doing so, we headed up to Vancouver, BC, where 100,000 spectators typically line the New Year's parade route.
Fearless as we are from time to time, we found ourselves waking up Sunday morning in this lovely coastal seaport and planning to head for the parade. Unfortunately, due to sleeping late and being turned off by the drizzly weather, we missed much of it.
Yet, the lion dancers that roamed the streets of Chinatown, the surprise appearance of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau on the street corner where we were standing along with the many performances at the Asian Mall by cute kids and graceful dancers and entertainers, all these things more than made up for the loss of viewing the entire parade.
Later in the day we attended the Chinese Benevolent Society's dinner marking the start of the Year of the Rooster at the Floata Seafood Restaurant where we and 999 (yes, there were 1,000 people scheduled to be in attendance at the banquet) of our closest friends and acquaintances were quite overwhelmed by the abundance of dishes. Delicious food started arriving at our table around 6:30 and when we left at 10:00 the waitstaff was still serving more entrees. Although we really wanted to sample the desserts, we were simply done in by the bounty and extravagance of the evening and had to head back to the hotel!
Our dinner experience the night before at The Fish Shack was in stark contrast to this banquet. For at The Fish Shack there was a focus on intimacy and preparation of singular dishes.
We had discovered this little gem on Saturday afternoon while exploring the area around the Executive Hotel, walking along the waterfront to Stanley Park and then up into the streets around the hotel and finally along Granville Street. And who wouldn't have noticed The Fish Shack! On a sunless afternoon, its welcoming lights streamed out onto the sidewalk and its reader board outside the restaurant enticed us with its menu preview. We quickly agreed to return to The Fish Shack for dinner later in the day.
Picture this: prompt and attentive service, clever décor (for example, wood pallets on the wall), lively and energetic sounds, a diverse menu with well-prepared items, and perfect portion size. Sounds like a great restaurant, doesn’t it? And, that is just what
The Fish Shack was for us when we two Oregonians dined there late in January.
My husband opted for the pound of steamer clams in a classic sauce of wine and herbs for his entree. I couldn’t resist ordering the January Dine Out selection which started off with an appetizer of crab and shrimp hush puppies served with an aioli sauce. The entrée was a fried chicken breast that had been stuffed with chorizo and prawns and was accompanied by green beans. Dessert was a show stopper. It was a generous portion of a decadent black forest cake drizzled with a vanilla sauce and topped with cherries and shaved chocolate. Needless to say, we both thought this was a perfect finale to our visit to The Fish Shack.
The Fish Shack
1026 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z1L5
604.678.1049