Vancouver, BC: Fanny Bay Oysters
Finally after three full days of dreary overcast, the sun came out.. Not a cloud in the sky! It was our last day in Canada, and to be honest I was feeling a little under the weather. My throat usually hurts from hotel AC towards the end of a trip, so I chalked it up to that and got ready for the day.
The light on the buildings changed the scenery in such a drastic way, I had to shoot them again.
We had a bit of a fiasco in the afternoon. We’d initially planned to have high tea at the Fairmont Hotel across the street, but it turns out they only host it from Thursdays to Sundays. Gah! And that seemed to be the theme for many other places. We finally found a place in Burnaby, and my initial gut instinct was to call them to make sure they were open, but we ended up not doing that… A 30 minute drive later, and lo and behold it was closed! So we drove back and ended up going straight to Fanny Bay Oysters for a somewhat early dinner.
We opted for walking from the hotel, because it really isn’t that far from the Hyatt Regency. I will say that it felt longer because I was hungry, but it was a pretty pleasant stroll somewhat downhill.
I don’t usually drink alcohol, but if I can order a White Russian, I will. It’s a strong drink for me, but the cold creaminess is unparalleled. Unfortunately for the bartender, I have yet to see the Big Lebowski, so we had a sort of awkward moment when he asked me about a reference from the movie. I’m sorry! I promise I’ll watch it!!
Started off with their miso caesar salad. Yum!
Ordered their manila clam chowder, which was incredibly unique (and a little spicy!). They have the recipe for it on their blog, which I thought was really cool. It’s heartier than most, and the taste was not like your usual chowder. I’m not sure if it would be everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed it!
Their scallops, meltingly buttery goodness. The sauce was soooo good!
We were so hungry, we ordered quite a bit. The mussels were super good, too!
My mom also tried their fish tacos. She said they were pretty good but could use more flavor, and unfortunately I couldn’t eat them to contest or agree.
And the star of the night, half Fanny Bay oysters (Baynes Sound) and half Virginica oysters (Totten Inlet). I won’t pretend to be some connoisseur of raw oysters, since I’ve only recently been eating them this year at my uncle’s encouragement – but my goodness they were amazing! I’ve been learning a lot about ways to describe oysters (brine, plump, clean, etc) and I will leave that kind of review to the professionals (lol), but I would have to say that I liked the Fanny Bays much more than the Virginicas. The Virginicas were meatier and felt significantly larger, so it took longer to chew. I can understand why people are weary about raw oysters and its textures – I think I much prefer smaller ones so I don’t have to think about it too much.
I missed this walking in, but you can see the oysters all laid out to the side of the ramp heading into the restaurant! It reminded me of Pike Place Market.
All in all, I HIGHLY if not EXTREMELY recommend to check out Fanny Bay Oysters if you’re in Vancouver and enjoy seafood. This was absolutely the highlight meal of our trip. I’m so glad my family recommended them, it was just as amazing as they said it would be!