Vancouver - Joe Fortes (Lunch)

We were very impressed by our dinner the night before, and we were too stuffed to order any (more) oysters, so we returned the next day for lunch and more oysters. Joe Fortes serves lunch from 11 to 4pm. Their most crowded period is between 12 and 2pm, so we went there after 2pm. We ordered a dozen oysters in total. We had the Kusshi and the Kumamoto.

The menu even gives a description of the oyster's aspperance and taste.

Premium West Coast ($19.95 per half Dozen)

Kusshi Cortes Island, B.C - smaller, smooth, deep cut, mild salty flavour, sweet finish

Kumamoto Washington - small size, deep cut, rich buttery, salt flavour, sweet light finish

West Coast ($14.95 per 1/2 dozen)

Chef Creek Vancouver Island, B.C. - round deep cup, salty, sweet flavour

Fanny Bay Baynes Sound, B.C - plump and firm, salty, sweet cucumber flavour

The premium west coast oysters were much smaller than the un-premium west coast oysters. Being Singaporean, and since my taste buds aren't extremely sharp, the west coast oysters are definitely more value for money - they're both very fresh and the difference in taste is very very subtle. Overall, I couldn't really taste what the menu described (especially the 'cucumber flavour'). There's a very small difference in the taste and texture, but if I had to choose my favourite, I'll go with the Kusshi oyster. But give me any kind of oyster from anywhere, just as long as it's fresh and raw, I'll eat it ;)The lunch menu - any 2 dishes (appetiser/ main / dessert) for a very affordable $13.95.

Caesar salad - quite a good portion, and it was drenched in sauce.
New England Clam Chowder - very tasty and not so salty. There was lots of seafood pieces inside too.
Steelhead Salmon with Jasmine Rice and extra virgin olive oil. I think it was cooked on a cedar board cos there was this sweet woody.
My salmon was medium rare and the inside was all nice and semi-raw. Delicious! I'm missing sashimi now!
The other main we tried was the Prawn Linguini. 3 pieces of tiger prawn in marinara sauce. I thought that this dish wasn't that fantastic - we should have ordered 2 salmons instead. Oh well, I guess it's good to give everything a try.

Joe Fortes
777 Thurlow Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 3V5,
Canada(604) 669-1940‎
joefortes.ca