A Night with the Four Course

In my previous post, I talked about the Cedar Room and its unique wood structure exterior and interior characteristics on our little excursion to Tigh Na Mara Resort on Vancouver Island. It is however the fabulous seafood that attracted people from all over the world.

It was the Sunday night during the Easter long weekend. We just came from a wedding in Victoria, and were rather looking forward to having a nice quiet meal. The menu was simple, just a couple pages. I have always preferred dining establishments that have a simplistic menu, based on my opinion that if a restaurant claim to do well in too many things, then they really can’t excel in anything. Nick ordered a simple Steak off the menu, straight up rare. I ordered their four course menu, which came highly recommended by the server. I am a seafood fan, and every item on this four course meal except the desert are all seafood oriented. The first course was fresh steamed clam from a local cove, cooked in fresh garlic, cracked pepper, parsley and white wine. It set a high standard for the rest of the meal, as it was done in perfection with just the right amount and mix of spices and alcohol to induce a flavor so intoxicating that it left us anxious to see what coming up could possibly outshine this first course. We were certainly not disappointed by the second course, sautéed warm tiger prawn salad. I have had seafood salad before, in Thailand. This dish was quite different from the Thai dish, for it had a sweet and sour foundation that was derived from the watercress and spicy chili garlic vinaigrette. Once we had our appetite teased, it was finally time for the main course, Fresh local halibut baked with Dungeness Crab Mascarpone and Basil, wild rice and Pea Saute. There is nothing quite as enticing as seafood caught the same day, and it was baked to perfection and artfully garnished by the chef. We topped the meal off with a little In-House made raspberry cheesecake, which completed a wonderful meal that left us with a new appreciation for not just the abundance of our local seafood source, but the creativity and dedication of the local kitchens that literally made us craving for more.