Bridges Restaurant
By Janis Connolly
For 30 years, Bridges on Granville Isle has been delivering heart stopping views of the North Shore Mountains, the Vancouver skyline and Vancouver's cool marine condo environment... not to mention inventive well prepared cuisine.
Bridges offers a great choice of dining options. If you crave an amazing dessert concoction and a cuppa tea, the Sugar Bar is just the place for a sweet fix. On the main floor, there’s a funky bar for quaffing local made-on-the-island beers to pair with hefty and delicious burgers. Also at ground level is a bustling Bistro that extends out to an al fresco dining experience in the summer months. Upstairs, there is a formal dining room for a more intimate dining experience.
Popular items on the Bistro menu include the superb thin crust pizzas, the smoked salmon a much ordered favourite. On a recent visit my friend and I both inhaled the slow braised lamb shank with couscous, matching it with a heady Malbec. The hot seafood Caesar is massive and good to share and the snapper tacos a tasty lunch option.
Cuisine goes more upscale in the upstairs dining room where appetizers feature tasty tiger prawn crab cakes in a pool of lobster curry reduction and a tangy beet and Cambozola salad. Earning rave reviews is the paella as well as the West Coast sturgeon in a huckleberry gastric.
You’d be wise to consider just coming for the desserts – either in the Sugar Bar – or ordered off the menus in all the other restaurants. Indulgers are dazzled by something called the Milano, assembled with chocolate chip cookie and Ferro Rocher chocolate gelato slathered in caramel sauce. An old fashioned Banana Split is much ordered with several spoons for sharing.
Wine selections cover the world spectrum, but concentrate on the BC wine scene including good selections from Mission Hill and Quail’s Gate.
Bridges is located at 1676 Duranleau Street, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC. Their bistro and pub are open 7 days a week from 11 AM and their fine dining room is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 PM. For reservations, call 604 687 4400 or go online at www.bridgesrestaurant.com