Bishop’s: Valentines Day 2020
Bishop’s is a Canadian/Pacific Northwest restaurant located in Kitsilano, Vancouver. Since its opening 30+ years ago, Bishop’s has been voted “most romantic restaurant in Vancouver” several times. Because of this, we reserve our spot for our Valentine’s Day dinner here to try their special 4-course Valentine’s Day menu.
Read where we went for Valentine’s Day dinner in 2019.
Update: Bishop’s will be closing starting August 1, 2020. John Bishop retires to write and spend more time with his family, so make sure you check this place out before they close!
Interior
Bishop’s is not a large restaurant, which they use to their advantage by creating very intimate pockets of spaces for each table. They have 2 floors and all the tables are warmly lit with candles and white tablecloth.
We are seated on the second floor aligned to a wall with some sort of Indigenous art on the wall. We are right in between a little nook where they store their wine bottles in a bucket of ice and wine glasses, and the hallway to the kitchen and bathroom. Despite this, we do not feel like we have no intimacy. It is cozy and romantic.
Valentine’s menu
Bishop’s 2020 Valentine’s Day menu includes 4 courses with choices and a champagne flute of sparkling rose. It costs $115 per person.
Sparkling rose
We kick off right away with the sparkling rose. They actually give us quite a lot since their champagne flutes are not that small. It is bubbly and tastes good (lol my very inadequate description of what this tastes like).
We also order a half bottle of white wine for $30.
Starters
We are given some free bread to start and their amuse bouche for the day. Amuse bouche is a single, bite-sized hors d’oeuvre (mini appetizers).
Free bread
Their bread is cheesy bread (as I like to call it) and is crusted with cheese so it tastes good even if you don’t add a lot of butter. We got our bread refilled twice without asking.
Amuse bouche
The amuse bouche we get to try is a lamb meat with cranberry sauce and cranberry. I don’t eat a lot of gamey meats, but this one does not taste gamey at all. The cranberry accents also give it a fresher kick.
First course
For the first course, we can choose between the Winter Beets or the Heirloom Potato. Although both dishes are vegetarian, we both opt for the heirloom potato.
Heirloom Potato
This first course arrives very quickly. The heirloom potato is a salad with black truffle and a fresh farmed egg. Upon first impression, it is a very pretty dish because the potatoes are thinly sliced into scallop-style/circles. I am very excited to see the black truffle pieces sprinkled on top.
We cut into the egg and it oozes magnificently over everything. The menu doesn’t specifically say it is a salad, so I am a little surprised when I take my first bite and find that the whole dish is cold. There is a potato salad mixture at the bottom that is soft, but the scallop potatoes on top are crunchy. The egg yolk becomes the sauce for everything and the truffle gives it a deeper flavour.
Second course
For the second course, we can choose between the Pacific Crab or Diver Scallops. We each choose one to try both.
Pacific crab
Similar to the heirloom potato dish earlier, the pacific crab seems to be hidden by slices of thinly cut potatoes. These slices are actually kohlrabi, AKA a German turnip. They are also crunchy but give off a more sour taste.
I slide off one piece of the kohlrabi and I see uni (sea urchin)! The uni is your standard amount and sits on top a bed of cold crab salad. Again, this dish is cold and a little similar to the potato dish due to the salad mixture at the bottom.
The uni definitely makes this dish taste better. Sometimes when I eat crab salad or even potato salads, there is too much mayo and the whole thing just tastes like mayo, but in this case I can still taste the freshness of the crab. Also, it smells really “crabby”, if that is even a word.
Diver scallops
Our immediate reaction upon seeing the diver scallops is that they should remove the “s” in scallops and just say one lol. Granted, the scallop is quite large (although thin) and is seared and marinated with caviar (salt-cured roe).
The most interesting dish for me is the mixture under the caviar. I’m not sure what it is, but it tastes kind of like an apple – crunchy and fruity. But in between those squares, there is this translucent gelatin that is packed with flavour! It tastes like it was soaked in some sort of seafood broth. Very yummy and surprising.
Third course
For the third course, we order the Sea Bass and the Venison.
Sea bass
The presentation for the sea bass dish is quite simplistic and lovely. They pour the broth in after they place the plate on my table.
The sea bass is slow cooked and beside it, they have “textures of broccoli”. I am very curious as to what this really means, so I try the vegetable part of this dish first and it tastes amazing. The little pieces of broccoli (the pieces that actually look like broccoli) taste like brussel sprouts to me. They are super savoury and kind of crunchy – does not taste like usual broccoli at all! The other textures, I assume, is the broccoli puree (the green foamy stuff), which is sweet and smooth. The last texture I believe are these thin cut strips of greens. They look like they are just the stem of the broccoli (no leaves) and are more crunchy.
The sea bass is cooked well and pairs nicely with the broth. The skin is crispy and stays on the fish (does not fall off immediately when my spoon touches it).
Venison
The venison is roasted with beets and onions. The presentation of this main is very red, but still pretty. There are two chunks of venison meat and they are soft and easy to cut. Once paired with the beet, the venison meat seems to come alive in my mouth. It tastes 10x better with the flavours of the beet or the onions.
Again, I don’t eat a lot of venison or gamey meats, but it does not taste gamey.
Fourth course
For dessert, we choose a lemon tart and the sticky toffee pudding. We are surprised when it arrives at our table because to us, the lemon tart looks like the sticky toffee pudding and the sticky toffee pudding looks like the lemon tart (please tell us we are not crazy?!).
Sticky toffee pudding
Does pudding look like a slice of cake??
The sticky toffee pudding is not so sticky – only the small drizzle of the sauce is. The pudding is like a fluffy chocolate cake except it tastes much lighter and fluffier. Even though the slice is quite big, we devour it in seconds as it is not overly sweet.
Lemon tart
Does this not look like a pudding???
This lemon tart is in a big cup. The lemon part is on the bottom (obviously) and in between there are sprinkles similar to graham crackers (but they are not graham crackers lol). There’s also a layer of perhaps cranberry or raspberry crumble, cream and white (pistachio? chocolate?) shards.
The reason why I don’t know what is really in this is because the menu does not really say and I can’t really differentiate it in my mouth because this dessert is so sour.
Maybe we messed up and ate the toffee pudding first, but man this is soooooo sour. My face cannot even control itself. The proportions between the lemon at the bottom and the sweeter things like the cream on top, is not really balanced so the sourness definitely overpowers the mildly sweet toppings.
Sweets
After the desserts, they give us a small plate with 2 little sweets in it. One is a jelly-type candy that is sweet and fruity. The other is a coconut crusted ball. It is very similar to the sweets we are given at Araxi.
Final thoughts
I find all the dishes to be unique in some way with beautiful plating. I do consider Bishop’s to be fine dining, but I left the restaurant feeling full and not hungry. Between the pacific crab and the diver scallop, I prefer the diver scallop. And between the sea bass and the venison, I prefer the sea bass, although I think venison is more bang for your buck. As for the dessert, I can actually say I do not like the lemon tart (no sugar coating here). I would not order or try that again as it was way too sour. I actually had such a hard time trying to finish it that I gave up.
Service was impeccable and everyone was very friendly and also casual at the same time. They made us comfortable and so did the atmosphere of the restaurant. I looked around at the tables and did not see any other couples who looked near our age so perhaps we were the youngest ones there for that dining service.
Do I think this meal is worth it for $115 per person, which is around $330 after tax and tip for 2 people? Even though I enjoyed it greatly, I have to say I prefer where we ate last year instead. This is mostly because of that lemon tart dessert and the fact that I prefer Japanese over Pacific Northwestern cuisine. The quality of food and the fresh ingredients used are worth its price point, even on their regular menu.
Sincerely, Loewe