It’s a Saturday night and Marv and I are off to Joe Fortes to meet up with my friends Belinda, Meryl and Sharon for a belated birthday! Happy Belated Birthday Belinda! 🙂 Alright, no outside shot since MARV messed it up 🙂 (heh heh..since he always complains about MY photo taking skills… it’s my turn to rag on him haha)
Joe Fortes
777 Thurlow Street, Vancouver BC
Tel#: (604) 669-1940
We arrived right on time and the restaurant was pretty packed already. We were promptly seated and Marv befriended 1 of the wait staff members who informed us that none other than Zac Efron had dined at this restaurant 7 times when he was in town shooting a film. (Actually, we were told he was seated at this specific table each time he dined here.) Marv is his biggest fan! Upon hearing this, we could not wipe a grin off his face, lol!
The table decided to start off with a bottle of Riesling.
Our waiter started us off with the Smoked Salmon Tart.
The salmon was a bit bigger than I expected in this tart. It was a bit heavy, but tasty.
Next up, the complimentary bread arrived to the table.
The dish to the right was the lobster oil with balsamic vinegar for the bread. The dip was excellent. This is where Marv befriended 1 of the wait staff members to entice him to leave the bottle! Sadly, that did not happen…
As I’m not a big fan of seafood, the table decided to get 2 dozen oysters.
Our waiter helped us decide on which oysters to get since none of us were experts in choosing which types of oysters to order. They had quite a list of oysters to choose from. Out came 3 types of oysters on 2 platters. Everyone seemed to enjoy the smaller ones most.
Belinda: Oysters were amazing – fresh, although more expensive I preferred the smaller oysters – Kumamoto and Kusshi with the Kumamoto being juicy and sweet.
The Sawmill Bay oysters are good as well. For a bigger oysters, they were not bad but I’d have to say I prefer the Effingham oyster from a previous Joe Fortes dinner.
Meryl: Oysters were EXCELLENT!
Sharon: The expensive oysters were much better, no bitternish.
As for entrees, Belinda ordered the Miso Marinated Sablefish.
The sablefish was delicious – tender and flaky, done just right, the miso glaze provided just enough flavor – not overpowering.
Side of rice and bok choy were ok, nothing special about them – can probably make the rice better at home.
Sharon went with the Duo.
The trout was better than the other one.
Meryl decided on the Steelhead Trout.
The trout was the perfect amount of flavor but I think the timing wasn’t quite right – the dish wasn’t hot enough for me.
Marv decided on the Kurabota Pork Chop 12oz
This came with the mashed potatoes. He has never had Kurabota Pork before, so he decided to give this a try even though we were in a seafood restaurant :p It was very tender and melted in your mouth. There was a smokey aroma from the pork. He thoroughly enjoyed this dish. I’m surprised he even gave me a bite to taste! 🙂 Even though the picture shows the pork as being quite pinkish in colour, it was actually perfectly cooked.
Now…OF COURSE THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR HIM….:) He decided on a side order of Mac ‘n Cheese.
We found this to be quite creamy, the cheese was flavourful but not overpowering. For a side order, this dish was quite generously portioned. In actual fact, Marv ordered this for me to eat since I’m a Mac ‘n Cheese fanatic. 🙂
As for myself, I decided to order the Halibut Cheeks.
The halibut was delicious. The tomato provencal sauce complimented the fish very well. However, I only ate 1 piece of the halibut and decided I only wanted to finish the Mac ‘n Cheese. Thankfully Marv stepped up and finished off his plate, my plate and the rest of the Mac ‘n Cheese that I could not finish.. lol! 🙂
As we were about done the meal, dessert on the topic of conversation. Out came a curveball, and Belinda and Meryl decided to order a dozen more oysters for dessert!
Meryl preferred the local beach oysters over the kusshi in the 2nd batch .
Since no actual dessert was chosen, the waiter came by with a complimentary creme brulee for the birthday girl! 🙂
Belinda: Crème brulee was not too bad but I did find the carmelized top tasted a bit burnt.
Meryl: Dessert was really good, but I’ve never had bad crème brulee come to think of it =) excellent subtle vanilla flavor.
Sharon: creme brulee was perfect.
Overall we all thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Joe Fortes. The wait staff was very personable and friendly, they were well equipped with recommendations and helped enhance our dining experience. 🙂
Post by Colleen
Of course the wait staff pick oysters for you that are on the pricier side of the menu. I’ll have to try the Effingham oysters as Bel recommends.