Thursday, November 11, 2010

Restaurant: McLean's

This place is in the heart of gastown in the Le Magasin building, a few steps from the steam clock. Despite being owned by our former Canuck goalie, Kirk McLean, it is not a "hockey themed" place.

The ambience is nice. It has an interesting contrast of sophisticated chic with some subtle edge (thick beams of raw lumber). I liked the ceiling of what looks like cast plaster. It has three areas -- bar dowstairs, lounge and the dining area. There are fresh flowers on the tables (altough, the roses look like they were on their last breath).


We ordered a plate of charcuterie (sopressata, capicola, genoa, bocconcini, pecorino and variety of marinated olives). This was a nice variety, it had a good range from the mild to a bit of a bite. I wish that they didn't bring in the bread before they served us the charcuterie because we ended up eating it all by the time the order came. We followed it with mussels in white wine with a side of fries with some tarragon aioli. The wine flavour was quite pronounced, it was nice. I would have prefered if maybe they use a bouquet garni that they can pull out before serving, and sparingly sprinkle with the herbs for garnish. I don't really like biting into too much rosemary, it's way too pungent. If you don't like garlic, don't have this dish because there were plenty of huge cloves.


For dessert, we had the classic crème brûlée. It was a little too much on the brûlée side, it was, therefore, a bit bitter. It was a garnished with some raspberries and coulis.




The service was good. It wasn't very busy (Tuesday night), so the bartender was attending to our order. He was quite attentive, coming back every so often to check if we needed anything.


I would like to go back there again and try something else.



I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

McLean's
200-332 Water StreetGastown, Vancouver, BC
604.669.1112