Nu

We bought a number of Groupons over the holidays and decided to use up our Nu one last Friday.  We have not been there since they converted their menu from west coast cuisine to greek, so we were very curious to see what had changed.  We were seated right next to one of the floor to ceiling windows which gave us a great view of the water and of Granville Island.

We each had a glass of Rose wine.  It was ok, but we've had better.

We started off with two appetizers - the grilled calamari and the homous:

Grilled Calamari - Spicy sausage stuffing,

skordalia, tomato, crispy squid, preserved lemon

$12.50

Nu's Homous - crisp eggplant, grilled pita
$9

The calamari was stuffed with chorizo and was quite delicious.  The only downside was that when it was served to us it was a bit cold.  The homous had a nice lemony flavour, and the pita bread was soft and chewy, although I thought it was a bit expensive.

For our mains, we both chose the slow braised lamb shank:

Slow Braised Lamb Shank - Cloves, 

braised greens, zucchini, toasted walnut sauce
$20

Lamb shank is my favourite way to eat lamb and this was pretty well executed.  The lamb was tender and moist and flavourful.  The menu mentions zucchini, but I don't remember there being any of that on this dish.  The braised greens (some kind of leafy vegetable) were a nice crunchy contrast to the lamb.  This comes with couscous with a pomegranate jus.  The couscous was unreal, so creamy and delicious.  The pomegranate added nice sweetness that complemented the saltiness of the meat well.  The walnuts offered another different texture but were a fairly forgettable addition.

For dessert, we were feeling quite full so we split the sorbet:

Pomegranate and Walnut Sorbet 

$6.50

The pomegranate in this case was nice and tart, which made it a very refreshing end to the meal.  The little biscotti that came with it was fine but unnecessary.

Overall Impressions:  I really want to eat that couscous again.  The service was excellent, and they have someone walking around with water at all times, so your water glass is never empty.  Mine was filled up without me noticing on one occasion.  I'd like to try their brunch menu out next time as it looks quite interesting.

Nu

1661 Granville St.

Vancouver, BC

604.646.4668

http://www.nurestaurant.com/