ORU: Beautiful and Foodgasmic

February 4, 2011 at 12:44 AM | Posted in Pan-Asian | 1 Comment
Tags: dessert, fairmont pacific rim, lamb, lobster, oru, pan-asian, passionfruit, sablefish, scallops, sexy

“I just can’t resist” was the message I sent out to my friends after I was tipped by a few friends and coworkers to try out Oru Restaurant, located in Fairmont Pacific Rim, which is also the location of my favorite gelato place, Bella Gelateria.

Oru is a sleek and sexy restaurant that serves Pan-Asian cuisine. The restaurant has a stainless steel and marble open concept kitchen and floor to ceiling windows that offer a sweet view of the Convention Center with the wonderful backdrop of the North Shore mountains. Before I continue on, I’d like to say that the entrance to the restaurant and the interior of the restaurant is just so beautiful that it reminds me of the beautiful hotels that I’ve been in Las Vegas. This is one sexy hotel in Vancouver!

Oru is part of the Dine Out Vancouver and has a price point of $28 for a 3-course meal. Since I was excited and couldn’t resist trying it out, I invited Vegemite Girl and R.Co to join me on this food adventure.

Once we stepped into Oru, we were kindly greeted by the servers and led to our seats. As we walked, I took in the captivating interior design of Oru. After snapping a few shots of the restaurant, we ordered our items.

 

Vegemite Girl ordered the Crispy Squid & Spicy Sausage with ponzu mayo for her appetizer. The squid was lightly battered and crispy. It was aromatic from the garlic and scallions and had a slight kick to it. When the squid was dipped into the ponzu “sauce”, it provided a slightly tart contrast to the natural sweetness of the fresh squid. The reason why I called the ponzu sauce a sauce rather than a mayo is because it was a really runny dipping sauce, rather than the creamy texture of mayo.

 

 

R.Co and I ordered the Sake Kasu Sablefish. The sablefish was accompanied by gingered tomatoes and sweet miso sauce. The sablefish was melt-in-your mouth delicious. The tomatoes had a bite and a sweetness to it as it had been marinated in ginger juice. The miso sauce was light and mild and provided a umaminess to the sablefish.

 

 

For the entrée, Vegemite Girl and R.Co chose the Tandoor Roasted Lamb Loin with squash risotto. The lamb was cooked medium and was quite fragrant (with a touch of smokiness), tender and juicy. The squash risotto was creamy and had a hint of sweetness to it and savoriness from the parmesan cheese.

 

 

For my entrée, I chose the Roasted Scallops and Lobster Dumpling. I chose this because I wanted something light and seafood. The scallops were cooked perfectly, tender in the middle and slightly crispy on the outsiede. The lobster dumpling was delicious and when eaten with the black garlic emulsion, the taste of the lobster was enhanced.

As you can see in the picture, the lobster dumpling is full of filling. And underneath the salad, there were chunks of lobster. This dish was a perfect balance of sweetness, tartness, umaminess and savoriness.

 

 

For dessert, we all chose different desserts to try. Vegemite Girl chose the Dark Chocolate Pudding with passionfruit purée and sesame cracker. This was served with crème fraiche. Of all the desserts, this one was my favorite. It tasted like heaven in my mouth, especially with the creamy dark chocolate and the tartness of the passionfruit purèe.

 

 

R. Co chose the Vietnamese Coffee Pannacotta. The pannacotta had a really rich coffee flavor and was really creamy. It wasn’t too sweet as well.

 

 

I’m not really a cheesecake person but I ended up choosing the Coconut Cheesecake with lychee purée and mango caviar. The cheesecake was rich and slightly tangy. When combined with the lychee purée, it provided a sweet balance to the cheesecake.

I’m not sure if you notice this, but all the dessert pictures have some kind of crumb on the side or on the dessert. It’s interesting but not really necessary. I think they put the crumb to provide a textural component to the dessert.

Overall, Vegemite Girl, R. Co and I enjoyed Oru. It is one sexy place with a beautiful view and serves up beautiful and delicious food. From all the “Mmm’s” and foodgasm faces from my friend(s), this place is definitely a place I would definitely re-visit to check out their other menus.

Oru at Fairmont Pacific Rim
1038 Canada Place
(604) 895-0612

Food:
Service: – Thanks to Kadiga for being an excellent server!
Value: Since this was DineOut, with all the elements combined, it was definitely worth it.
Ambience: Chic, casually elegant. Right by the water with floor to ceiling windows, this place is sure to impress.