AnnaLena
https://www.annalena.ca/
After hearing so much good about
AnnaLena, we were very excited to give it a try last night. It is a small restaurant located in the Kitsilano neighborhood and has held 1 Michelin star since the guide started rating restaurants in Canada.
Inside the restaurant it is very dark and moody. Thanks to the small size of the venue, it is not very loud even though it is likely going to be full house each night.
The only item available is the $154 eight-course tasting menu, which can be "upgraded" with an additional $100 to come with caviar, truffle and grade 5 Wagyu meat. In our experience the upgrade is not worth the price, since the base menu is excellent on its own.
Some items on the menu change every six weeks or so, but there are a lot of permanent items on it, like this "cheeseburger", which was very tasty start to our dinner.
red storm, mimolette, elk tartare, tallow caramelized onion
More appetizer goodness.
oyster, shaved foie
market crudo, cherry, smoked ponzu
pork & chicken liver spring roll, preserved apricot, basil emulsion
baby beet, roasted sunchoke, nước chấm
There were two main courses, both of which were excellent and very filling.
charcoal sablefish, mushroom broth, alkaline noodle
beef bavette, braised cheek, charred cabbage, vadouvan, madeira jus
Onto desserts and boy were they good!
goat cheesecake, sourdough, quince, white chocolate
carrot ice cream, orange, tonka bean meringue
Final bit was a specialty not on the menu. It was essentially the best tastes of an apple pie, served on top of a sneaker, because why not?
We enjoyed our dinner greatly and it is no wonder that AnnaLena has held a Michelin star since 2022. Normally even fine dining restaurants serve something that one doesn't care for, but everything on AnnaLena's tasting menu here was very good.
It is no wonder that getting a reservation at this small restaurant is such a challenge, but the experience will be worth it!
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