OO La Cha is a fairly new restaurant in the Versante Hotel in Richmond, BC (about 20 minutes from downtown Vancouver, and near the airport). The concept is interesting as they offer aged meat and seafood. Upon entry to the modern, and beautiful dining room, I was excited to see display cases showing off the aging products:
We went for the dry aged “experience”.
You can also order al la carte and there is also a tasting menu.
The meal started off with a presentation of the raw ingredients which got us excited to eat.
We were given a complimentary dry aged hiramasa crudo to start. The fish was good and the anchovy provided a lot of umami. There was a touch of spice on the back end.
The first course was the seafood. In general, we were very happy with this course.
- Sashimi – delicious. Although they provided 3 condiments, ponzu, a creamy type sauce and escabeche, it was best traditional, with some soy sauce
- The lobster was simple and delicious as expected
- The oysters were good but the caviar should of been more generous
- The scallops were good
The restaurant also provided the collar bone and some of the fish grilled. It was provided with fish jus.
The meat course was ok, but not as good as the seafood:
- lamb – good taste, a bit dry and overcooked
- steak and foie gras – flavor was to die for but the steak itself was dry. The sauce was very good.
- mushrooms – packed with flavor
For dessert, a selection of pastries; the middle was my favorite and had a nice cream center.
Overall, the service was very good. The food was exciting and unique. The setting is gorgeous. Although not every dish was on point, I would still go back as its a great overall experience. The only other downside is the location outside the core of the city.