Dine Out Vancouver - Five Sails

Our final restaurant for this year's Dine Out Vancouver was Five Sails at the Fairmont Pan Pacific Hotel.  Its elegant decor is complemented with a gorgeous view of Coal Harbor.  

 We were seated promptly and given water and menus.

After we had ordered, some bread and butter was brought to our table.  There was a dried fruit bread which kind of tasted like raisin bread (it had a cinnamon flavour to it) and an olive bread which I enjoyed but no one else did as they didn't like olives.

Assorted Breads

We were then given an amuse-bouche of beef consommé with ginger and noodles.  This was a nice start.  It was light and flavourful.

Beef Consommé With Ginger 

For our appetizers, 3 of us ordered the Winter Salad and one of us ordered the squash risotto.

The risotto had the option of adding 2 prawns for $8 and they were well worth it, tender and delicious.  The red kurri had a very nice flavour to it, and the rice was cooked perfectly.

Creamy Red Kurri Squash Risotto -

Shaved parmigiano reggiano, with sautéed wild

Pacific prawns added

The duck confit in the winter salad was pretty good but overall this salad was a bit underwhelming.  The dressing didn't add much and the overall effect was just that of a normal everyday salad, nothing special.

A Winter Salad Of Watercress &

Select Greens, Walnut Oil Dressing - 

Dried cranberries, figs, dates, Fraser Valley duck confit

topped with shaved chestnut

All four of us had the beef entrée.  Two of us opted for the optional fois gras for $8 extra.  Again, this was well worth it as it was like butter and very flavourful.  The whole roasted tenderloin was cooked perfectly and was incredibly tender.  The bearnaise sauce added a nice complement to it, and the vegetables were nice and crunchy.  The potato and what appeared to be a braised short rib were good, but I found the short rib slightly tough.  The flavours were good though.

Braised Alberta Beef & Glazed AAA 

Whole Roasted Tenderloin - 

Dollop of Bearnaise sauce, potato mille-feuilles,

vegetables in season, with pan seared Quebec 

foie gras added

For dessert, three of us had the lemon phyllo pastry, and one of us had the pear tatin (not pictured).

The lemon dessert was really light and refreshing, a nice ending to the meal.  It wasn't too sweet and at times hovered at the edge of being too tart but never went over.

LUXE LEMON MILLE-FEUILLES - 

Delicate layers of crisp phyllo pastry,

chilled lemon cream & smooth lemon parfait

The dessert that is not pictured, the Okanagan Pear Tarte Tatin, served warm with pear ice cream was a different story however.  The ice cream was really nice, with the colour, shape, and taste of a pear.  The tart may have been good, but it was completely ruined by the caramel sauce the waiter poured over it.  There was some kind of alcohol in the sauce that completely overpowered everything and made the entire dessert (save for the ice cream) inedible.  It almost tasted like really bad scotch.  I have no idea what the pastry chef was thinking, but we weren't the only ones to experience this as we could see the dubious expressions of people at other tables who were eating this dish.  The only tables that seemed to enjoy it were the ones where the waiter didn't pour the sauce over top of the tarte.  Thankfully only one of us ordered this dish.

Overall Impressions: The restaurant itself is very nice and has an amazing view. The food was amazing with the exception of one major misstep on the dessert course.  However, I'd definitely go back to try other items. 

Five Sails

Suite 410 - 999 Canada Place

Vancouver, BC

604.844.2855

http://www.fivesails.ca/