CAVU Kitchen & Bar is located inside the Hilton Vancouver Airport Hotel in Richmond, BC and best known for their gourmet burgers and globally influenced main dishes. They have recently launched a new winter menu that is more hearty and heavy for the colder months. We were invited to check out a few of their signature dishes on this new menu.
Interior
The space is modern and looks like it was recently renovated. For a hotel restaurant, this was not bad at all. It has enough space for small to large groups.
Fried Chicken Basket
There are 2 types that you can choose from – regular or Nashville Hot Style. It is also served with a side of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, which delivers a bit of an acidic punch. Of the two types of chicken we tried, we found the Nashville Hot to be superior. It added more flavours and make it feel more moist and tender.
Mediterranean Labneh
This is a soft cheese spread with Arbequina olive il, dukkah, olives, rosemary and dipping bread. Very good flavour and a good item to share among the table.
Crispy Chilli Fried Squid and Prawns
There is togarashi spice, shishito pepper, green onion, yuzu aioli, chili oil, and sesame puff. It looked great but the flavours were lacking even though there were lots of ingredients that went into it.
The Baller
This has an 8oz beef patty, sautéed lobster, bernaise sauce, asparagus, arugula, dijonaise, and all between a brioche bun. The beef patty was a bit on the dry side and lacked seasoning. It was ok, but the baller effect fell a bit flat.
Le Big Mac n Cheese Burger
8oz beef patty, cheddar cheese, raclette cheese, bacon, and ketchup between the mac n cheese ‘bun’. The burger was the winner of the 2019 Le Burger Week racking up the most votes. This was a very unique burger and it is served with your side of soup, salad or fries.
The Mac n Cheese ‘bun’ is quite bland and the other ingredients don’t add too much flavour to it. We asked for some extra sauces to enhance it like their kimchi ketchup and chipotle aioli. Highly recommend asking for those sauces.
The best way to eat this burger is with a fork and knife as it’ll get messy.
Pan Seared Lois Lake Steelhead
The Pan Seared Lois Lake Steelhead is paired with braised leeks, saffron butter sauce, and rosti potatoes. It was delicious can’t can’t go wrong with a beautiful piece of salmon.
Cioppino
Inside the Cioppino is rockfish, mussels, squid, and prawns in spiced tomato broth. It is served with crusty bread on the side. The broth had a nice flavour and well spiced. Good sized pieces of seafood too.
Stout Braised Beef Shortrib
My favourite dish of the night was the Stout Braised Beef Shortrib. It has pomme pont neuf, steak mushrooms, peas and carrots, and a stout jus. The shortrib was very tender! All the ingredients worked well together.
Spiced Rum & Raisin Bread Pudding
This has bourbon vanilla ice cream, candied pecans, salted caramel and toasted marshmallow. This was a pretty good dessert and my favourite of the two.
Molten Chocolate Cake
This has a hazelnut ganache centre, custard ice cream, hazelnut crunch and gingersnap. I personally didn’t find the cake to have the ‘molten’ centre.
Final Thoughts
The new menu items are a hit and miss but you can’t go wrong with their starters and entrees. Their burgers are very very creative, but the taste just misses the mark. My favourites of the night were the spicy fried chicken basket, shortribs, and the bread pudding.
Address:
5911 Minoru Blvd, Richmond, BC
Website:
http://cavukitchenbar.com/
