The Cannery has been on my wishlist for a long while. When I was younger, my dad worked at a seafood company and their annual company dinner would always be here, but I was never brought along. Perhaps my parents thought I was too young to appreciate fine dining…well to that I say pooey, look at me now!

Since their announcement of their imminent closure in March due to Vancouver Port security reasons, I have been desperately searching for a reason to go. Strangely enough, the reason why I ended up here for dinner one cold December night was because Ellie has…a heart of gold. Knowing that I haven’t been here before, she made me a deal that if I were to book it, we would go. I couldn’t have phoned in for reservations any faster!

Getting to The Cannery is tricky for the uninitiated. When asked through the intercom at the gate, you just simply tell them you’re going for a kickass meal @ The Cannery. Okay, don’t say kickass, they probably wouldn’t like that. After you’re let through, just keep driving till you see a bunch of cars. You can’t miss it.

Dinner was reserved for 730, but I waited nearly 20 minutes because Ellie wanted to give me a “test” of what a “real date” would be like. Oh please…8-). We had a nice seat upstairs, right by the window overlooking the Burrard Inlet.  The place was packed, with birthdays left and right. While I waited, I observed the servers and they all were very keen and attentive.

After El arrived, our server went through the daily specials, and even gave me a special rundown of their menu & classics as it was my first time. Jeff had told me that their lobster oil is to die for, and I agree.. I probably went through a basket of bread by myself!  Only thing negative about the bread is that I wished it was served warm.

Settling on an appetizer was a little bit difficult with Ellie being picky, (no raw, no shellfish, etc) and me not wanting to eat boring regular stuff like a Caesar Salad or Grilled Calamari, but with a little bit of persuasion, she pushed her boundaries and agreed on …mussels! I ended up eating like 3/4 of it.

ROASTED MUSSELS – $16.00

on a sizzling cast iron pan, chorizo, pine nuts, caper “beurre noir”

This picture is horrible, but it’s the only thing I have to show you. I must say, I was even more so intimidated to take pictures with everyone around me in their nice suits & dinner dresses. Before I came, I had my heart and mind set on ordering this, but Ellie strayed from her normal Lobster dinner, so I took the gentlemanly route and let her have it. We ended up sharing half half anyways.

It was huge. The salmon was a little dry, but I guess because of the way a Wellington is prepared anyways, it’s difficult to prevent the moisture from escaping.

SALMON WELLINGTON – $32.00

a Cannery classic – local salmon, fresh shrimp meat and mushroom duxelle, baked in golden puff pastry, pinot noir sauce

I had one of the days special, half salmon & mahi mahi. My salmon was moist, still a little bit pink, just exactly what I was looking for!  Beautifully prepared and executed…

We took a long while eating the mains, but still I couldn’t resist dessert.. El went with something classic.

Vanilla Crème Brûlée – $8.00

While I ventured a little farther went for a trio. 

Jacques’ Favorites – $11.00

Dark chocolate hazelnut praline cube, blood orange crème brulee, house made caramel pecan ice cream on a crispy spoon

Oh so chocolately…I’m a lover of dark chocolate, but it was quiiiite bitter.

House made caramel pecan ice cream. There was no crispy spoon, which was what originally had intrigued me most about this trio, because they had ran out. After I asked our server, he came back with a stick, which was just basically a flour and water mixture, deep fried.

My favorite of the three. I wanted more of this, the delicious intoxicating flavor of blood orange just permeated through every molecule of the creme brulee…

I enjoyed every aspect of my visit to The Cannery, and can definitely see why it has such a strong reputation and significance within the Vancouver Restaurant industry. It is truly a shame that the place will be closed come March, and as such, this will not be my last visit.