The steakhouse-inspired restaurant is housed in the former Browns Socialhouse location at 18th and Lonsdale<\/p>\n
Scanning Lonsdale Avenue for the restaurant\u2019s name, I spot a giant NOW OPEN sign almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one\u2019s going to miss that sign,\u201d I say to my 16-year-old son as we head inside to check it out.<\/p>\n
Housed in the former Browns Socialhouse location at 18th & Lonsdale, Nova Kitchen & Bar is the restaurant\u2019s second location, following its Port Moody opening in June. Just three months later, the North Shore location opened its doors, bringing its steakhouse-inspired vibes to the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
Inside, midnight blue and orange zest set a moody-but-modern tone, with brick accent walls, cozy booths and bright windows softened by greenery hanging above the open kitchen. And then there\u2019s the bar.<\/p>\n
My son immediately points it out as his favourite part of the room, and I can see why. A backlit wall of bottles is framed by glossy, brown-striped tiles that catch the light. The central bar is surrounded by wraparound seating, and by the time we\u2019re halfway through dinner, the seats have filled up.<\/p>\n
As we settle into our table by the window, we scan the menu. It\u2019s tight but surprisingly diverse. Before dinner, I treat myself to a Silk Road, one of Nova\u2019s signature cocktails made with Tanqueray, ginger, yuzu, nigori sake, honey, cardamom, and egg white. Fresh and slightly sweet, it\u2019s exactly what I need after a busy work day.<\/p>\n
My son and I decide to share a few dishes. We start with the Coastal Calamari, crispy Humboldt squid with cajun spice, Calabrian chili aioli, shishito peppers, radish and lemon, along with the Sticky Gochujang Maple Chicken, coated in a sweet-and-spicy gochujang-maple glaze with sesame, pickled vegetables, scallions, and radish.<\/p>\n
Owner and chef Vik stops by our table, and I ask him about the restaurant\u2019s culinary theme.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur food takes inspiration from different parts of the world, but we put our own NOVA twist on those ideas,\u201d he tells me. And you can see that pretty clearly on the menu. NOVA may be a steakhouse at heart, with prime cuts of 100 per cent Canadian certified angus beef taking centre stage, but the menu goes well beyond beef. Fresh oysters and mussels are listed alongside gochujang chicken, Thai red curry, and five-spice pork belly.<\/p>\n
For my main, I embrace the steakhouse side of Nova with the Steak Frites: a tender six-ounce beef sirloin with cabernet jus, seasoned fries, and arugula and tomato salad. My son goes for the Beer-Battered Cod Tacos, three crispy pieces of cod with Cajun spice, mango-lime aioli, purple cabbage, pickled onions and cilantro.<\/p>\n
By dessert, we\u2019re both pretty full, so we decide to share. Chef Vik recommends the chocolate molten cake with pistachio ice cream, but my chocolate allergy sends me in a different direction. I opt for the Vanilla and Frangelico Cr\u00e8me Br\u00fbl\u00e9e, which turns out to be a pretty good Plan B.<\/p>\n
Before I leave, I note Nova\u2019s Golden Hour menu, offered daily from 2-5 p.m. And Wednesday nights, from 6-9:30 p.m., live music and 50 per cent off wine are offered \u2013 perfect for a mid-week date night.<\/p>\n
Best Bite: The steak was delicious as expected, but the Coastal Calamari caught me by surprise. I\u2019ve had my share of calamari, but this one was thickly sliced and tender (not rubbery). The Cajun spice added a pop of flavour, while the Calabrian chili aioli brought just enough heat. The cherry on top? The shishito peppers and fried red peppers made it feel like a tasty mini meal. Let\u2019s just say we cleaned that plate quickly.<\/p>\n
Bianca Bujan is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in National Geographic and Food & Wine. She is a Lonely Planet guidebook author and cookbook contributor. As the food columnist for North Shore News, she writes about local food and the stories behind it. Contact: [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The steakhouse-inspired restaurant is housed in the former Browns Socialhouse location at 18th and Lonsdale Scanning Lonsdale Avenue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-921209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}