Acquafarina: Michelin Guide recommended Italian restaurant in Vancouver
For my friend’s birthday in March, we had dinner at Acquafarina, a Michelin recommended Italian restaurant in downtown Vancouver.
I actually heard that Acqufarina used to ban phones, as in customers were not allowed to take photos inside the restaurant. But in 2022 as the covid pandemic started to die down, they lifted this ban. Probably a good thing because I likely wouldn’t go to a restaurant that doesn’t allow me to use my phone/take photos – food blogging is something I actually enjoy 😊.
The vibe
You first enter a separated lobby space where the host/hostess greets you and takes your coat for you.
We were a table of 5 adults and seated near the back on the first floor. The first thing that caught my eye was the very high ceiling and the lit up wall of wine that we walked by – very pretty and had a nice glow to it. It also had a big hanging art sculpture of a person/wooden puppet right above the main door.
Our table had one side booth lining, and 3 plush leather chairs on the other side – very spacious and comfortable.
The vibe and general interior is quite dark with elements of warm lighting/gold tones. It feels quite posh and modern.
Food and drinks review
We shared appetizers and ordered our own mains. We also shared a bottle of red wine for $120.
Prices are rounded to the nearest CAD for simplicity.
Bread
We started off with some free bread, which I love. The bread was actually really delicious and baked in house – fluffy on the inside with a more crispy skin on the outside. The server was talking about how special the bread was, but all you need to know is that it is pretty damn good with just some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
We actually ended up ordering the bread again at the end of our meal. This time it was not free so I got maybe $1.50 charge on my card for the second round of bread, but it also came with some truffle butter which we didn’t have the first time.
Polpo alla griglia ($32)
For our first appetizer to share, we got the grilled octopus.
It came covered in a glass lid with smoke and the server will gracefully take it off so that the smoke swirls above you like a little dance. The smoke comes from the smoked tomato marmalade and on top they have it decorated with some nori (seaweed) crackers.
I could definitely taste the smokiness of the octopus so it was tasty and I did like the marmalade it was paired with. The flavours were quite sophisticated.
My main gripe is that $32 is kind of pricey for such a small appetizer. We shared this between 5 girls so we each got like 1 bite of the squid tentacle 🤣.
Wagyu beef carpaccio ($29)
For our second appetizer to share, we got the wagyu beef carpaccio.
This dish was plated very prettily with more colours than I expected. We have thinly sliced carpaccio, truffled egg yolk in several spots, shallots, radish and shavings of black truffle. The portion is much better to share.
I thought this carpaccio tasted good as well, but it is not very memorable for me in terms of all the carpaccios I’ve had in my life.
Frutti di mare ($45)
For my main, I got the seafood risotto, which included Hokkaido scallops, clams and lobster.
I have PTSD because sometimes you go to “fancy” restaurants and you order scallops but they only actually give you 1 scallop (why do they pluralize it then 😩?). So I was glad to see my risotto featured several pieces of scallop. I was happy with the amount of seafood in it even though my lobster tail is quite small (hey at least it includes some lobster 👍!).
The risotto plating is ok (kind of looks like a pizza or a Kimchi pancake 😂) because it is plated in a thin/flat layer of risotto, but portion size is fine. I think for $45, this dish is definitely worth it and it was highly recommended by our servers also.
Linguine all’ astice ($55)
The other main some of my friends ordered was the lobster linguine. This is probably one of the most popular dishes at Acquafarina.
This pasta includes a (bigger) lobster tail, parsley purée underneath, lobster oil and caviar.
The plating was very pretty to me – I like the way they twirl the linguine and I actually think for lobster and caviar, the $55 price tag is reasonable. The only thing is that it’s not a very saucy pasta and the parsley purée is quite light, so overall the flavours are light to pair with the lobster.
Tiramisu ($16)
For dessert, the birthday girl got tiramisu so dessert was on the house.
The tiramisu looked modern but has all the same elements as a classic tiramisu – mascarpone, marsala and espresso sponge cake.
Portion size looks small in the photo, but it was actually enough to share between the 5 of us – some of us were full from the dinner also. I would say you can definitely share this between 2 sober people and not 5 tipsy girls 😂.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
In total, I spent around $123 after tax and tip. This includes a 5-way split of the birthday girl’s meal, the first bottle of wine, and the 2 appetizers.
Acquafarina hovers between 3-4 stars for me. Service and the vibe were 4 stars – really awesome servers and a cool space. The staff were very knowledgeable about ingredients, the way things are made, and had real recommendations on the menu instead of just “everything tastes good”.
Food was beautifully plated and everything tasted good, but there isn’t a dish I am dying to come back for.
Sincerely, Loewe